Solo Traveller Adventures: From Florence to Paris, with Love

I could tell you so much more about Florence - about the great people I spent time with, about that night we - a Trini, some Italians, a Polish grad student and a Kazakh went to a belly dancing show after our wonderful aperitifs, about the smells and sounds of San Lorenzo Market, where I spent a few hours just people watching, buying coffee (of course!) and truffle oil and wine tasting, about how I accidentally ended up in Trattoria ZaZa while looking for another place (of course I got lost!) and had the most amazing lunch ever.

Ossobuco from Trattoria Za Za

But then if I went through all that, I would not be able to share a few photos from my relaxing return to Paris. I planned nothing at all for Paris - no tours, no visits to monuments. I just had a hotel reservation and that was it. I wanted to just be - to be unorganised, unscripted, unscheduled. Wanting to not be a part of the mad rush that Paris typically is, I chose to stay on the hill - Montmartre - my favourite part of the city. And during my short visit, I headed to my breakfast spot every morning with my Kindle, had a bowl of coffee, brioche and jam, visited the Sacre Coeur, people watched, drank wine, ate pastries, ate French food, spent time with a long lost friend, drank more wine, spoke in broken French.

I had this the first morning I had breakfast at Coqueclicot in Montmartre and could not finish it all
Breakfast after that was much lighter. lol. A bowl of coffee was too much even for me!

Le Sacre Coeur - oui!

I love walking through Montmartre - fave part of Paris

Montmartre views

Th view of Paris between the trees on the hill

Wonderful little place if looking for a bite in Montmartre!

Dinner at Autour du Midi, Montmartre

This is what you call a mall!!! 

I also took a trip out of Paris for a day in Provins - a well preserved medieval city about 2 hours away from Paris by train. What a lovely day out of the city. Provins was not only quiet and stress-free, but also very quaint with its medieval fortresses, bistros and homes.

I just liked this.

Le Tour Cesar in Provins

Loved this church in Provins

The town is really well preserved. It was a real throwback kinda visit.

Lovely crepes were had here!

The view while walking along the top of the defensive ramparts

For those who love doors

Of course no visit to Paris would have been complete without one special visit. You just must!

No description necessary

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Solo Traveller Adventures: Cooking in Florence

Having visited Florence before, I had done all the major sightseeing and really wanted to take it easy a bit. Of course, this did not happen, as I kept myself busy doing all sorts of new things, including a wonderful one day cooking course.

For those who are regular readers of my blog, you know food is an integral part of my life – dining out, cooking and trying new recipes, including making healthy eating exciting and fun. So when I saw this activity listed among the various tours one could do from Florence, I booked it.

The tour hosted by the great team at Walkabout Florence (my second time using this great tour company) and would start in Florence itself, and as predicted, I got lost trying to find the meeting spot. Let me just say that this time, Google Maps led me astray. Getting lost meant being late, which meant keeping the group waiting, which made me angry, cause I hate making people wait, but woosah – let’s continue.

Our wonderful guide, Valeria first took us to the various markets, where we picked up the various main ingredients for preparing our menu for the day. Quite an interesting little walk, as we learnt which types of tomatoes were best for sauces or for bruschetta, for example, sampled cheese and also had a very important stop before heading to the bus that would take us to the farmhouse – a coffee stop. I am sure it was a bit of a lesson for some of the Americans on the tour to learn that frappuccinos are a Starbucks invention and Italians’ idea of a cold coffee beverage is the shakerato – espresso and ice cubes shaken in a cocktail shaker with a bit of syrup, and served. For the hot day, everyone had one of these except me – gimme a cappuccino, buddy. Give it!!!

Fresh veggies at the market - ready for our bellies

Picking up our awesome pork loin for roasting at San Lorenzo Market

Shakerato - espresso shaken (not stirred) and my lonesome but awesome cappuccino

Next stop – the farmhouse, in the hills not too far from Florence, but absolutely gorgeous. Here we would meet our ‘teacher’ for the day, the lovely Carmela who spoke no English but her passion for her cooking and for food was evident. Our guides, Valeria and Lavinia took us through what we would be doing for the day and our menu included

• Bruschetta 
• Fresh homemade egg pasta 
• Ragu meat sauce 
• Pizza 
• Roast pork 
• Patata al rosamarino (Roast potatoes with rosemary) 
• Tiramisu 
• Florentine gelato 

This was the best fun and the best tour I have done. While the dishes themselves were not that hard, there were little gems shared during the day which would serve me well in the future with my own cooking. While I do a fair amount of cooking myself, I was always a bit gun shy about going to a class, but this was a lot of fun, with a great bunch of people.

Check me out cutting up that bread for our bruschetta

Aren't our tomatoes sexy?

Bread toasting and wine - Round 1. lol.

Always amazed at how simple but how amazing bruschetta is. I heart bruschetta!

It seemed to be a great bonding activity for couples especially, with newlyweds, not so newlyweds, and newly engaged couples, joining us three single solo travelling girls on this culinary adventure. My favourite part was preparing the pasta, which I always thought was beyond my amateur skills, but it is so easy it is ridiculous.

My pasta - the finished product - left to dry for 30mins before boiling (and eating!)

Our ragu doing its thing - slow cooked for 2 hours!

The end result of our hard work - this was so nom nom

Oh wait – that was my second favourite part, after eating the pasta and all the other goodies we slaved over a hot kitchen table in 40 degree heat to prepare.

We also made our own pizzas and washed that down with Italian beer 

Our roasted potatoes

This pork was everything. I have already replicated this awesomeness since being back

A for Awesome - Awesome tiramisu. A is also my first initial.

Eating and drinking. We did a lot of drinking too. A lot! Lol.

The belle of the ball - Chianti Classico. And our hosts were not stingy with it either. 

I would do this again in a heartbeat and it is such a great activity for single girlfriends, or couples to do together as an aside from the sightseeing. I met some wonderful people, learnt how to make some of my favourite foods, ate a lot (soooo much food!!!) drank some amazing Chianti reds (and beer) and made a lot of great memories.  Thanks to the Walkabout Team for a great day and to great peeps like - yes, gonna give you a shout out - Danielle, Jamie, Libra, and Sarah - for the laughs and the good times.

You can check out more tours on Viator or go directly to Walkabout Florence and just choose one or two, or five! They are a great bunch! My next post will feature Walkabout again as I took a trip out of Florence for some coastal fun.

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Solo Traveller Adventures: My Return to Florence, Italy

I have told friends that so far, Italy is my geographical and spiritual soulmate. Of course, if I continue to be blessed enough to travel to more new places, this may change but what will not change is how connected I always feel when I am in Italy. And moreso, in Florence.

I first visited Firenze back in 2010. I had a lot on my mind at the time. Funnily enough, I also pondered whether I wanted to take a vacation this year, but again, I went with God and jumped on the plane and I thought, one of the most relaxing and wonderful trips ever was my trip to Florence and so I added it to the itinerary and in fact, it was the primary destination as I stayed here the longest.

Someone asked me why I love Florence so much. It’s hard to put into words why you may love a place as much as you do.

If I had to liken it to a boyfriend or lover, I guess one could say I love Florence for its -

Warmth – My first visit to Florence was my first visit to Italy, and the city set me up for the fall I later had in Rome. The friendliness and warmth generally from the people I met along the way made me feel at home and ever so comfortable. Rome was the complete opposite as you know – cold, bordering on hateful (#travellingwhileblack). Before I left, I told one of my Italian friends that I hoped Florence had not changed, or that the love I felt five years before was not a one-off. But like an old friend, Florence welcomed me back with open arms.

Smells and Tastes – Robin Leach said ‘In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine’. Florence, to me, is synonymous with great food. Add amazing Chianti wines and you are never short of gastronomical pleasure. The food was the main highlight of the trip!

The best ossobuco ever 

I took a lunch break in Fiesole and decided it was the perfect time for pizza

Chianti! Chianti!

Beauty – Florence and the rest of Tuscany are like a living postcard. One sight that always captivates me, no matter how many times I see it, is the magnificent dome of the Duomo rising into the clouds, looking down on the city. You have to see it to understand how jaw dropping it really is. I think what I also love about Florence is that it is a city that does not have that stifling city feel, like Paris or Rome. Add to the fact that it is in Tuscany, and you are a heartbeat away from rolling green hills, vineyards, fresh country air and a much simpler life, and Florence is really pretty damn perfect.

The moment the Duomo starts peeping above the city is my fave sight
while walking through the streets of Florence

View from Fiesole

The romance of Florence - sunset over the River Arno

Next I will tell you about the best experience I had in Florence this time around and of course, it involved food.

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Solo Traveller Adventures: Eating Out in Venice, Italy

The general rule of thumb when eating out on vacation in Europe is - do not eat in places near the main tourist attractions. These places generally are geared towards convenience and sightseeing appeal, and not focused on quality or taste. I am sure or hope that there are exceptions to this rule, but safer to go off the beaten path when it comes to grabbing lunch or dinner. There was one night in Venice when I broke this golden rule because I was so hungry and it was so late that I sat myself down at one of these establishments, hoping that this would be one of those exceptions. It wasn't.  Eating that dinner that night made me remember a conversation with an American duo who claimed Venetian food was the worst - clearly they had eaten at one of these places.

I did not leave Venice with the same conclusion though. Asking locals for a recommendation is usually a good call so don't be afraid to go beyond your comfort zone as a visitor to a new city. Even before this very bad experience, I had already been lucky to have two amazing meals at Impronta Cafe, which is not a traditional, hole-in-the-wall type of place but a more modern cafe experience. The lunch, aperitif and dinner experiences at Impronta Cafe were all very good - great food, very well done and presented and great service.

Spinach and ricotta ravioli in pesto. This was beautiful. Grazie, Impronta Cafe.

Impronta Cafe's roast suckling pig with purple potato mash and apple puree. The pork was decadent.

The best meal I had in Venice was in one of these hidden gems off the beaten path - a place recommended by Damiano, my B&B host. One needed to make a reservation to dine at La Zucca - a small, intimate place not too far from the San Stae vaporetto stop. I completely loved this dining experience. If you are looking for that romantic Hollywood setting for dinner, then no - you will not find it here. There were no tourists, no romantic view of the Grand Canal - in fact it is located on a back street and the view was of graffiti on the opposite wall. But from the moment I sat down to the moment I bid the owners a good night, it was an amazing evening. Great food and service that was so warm that you almost felt like family. You want to feel that when you are away from home. I appreciated it. This was a great, great, great recommendation!

I had an outside table so I could people watch. Check out the graffiti wall view in front of me.

It was so fresh. So fresh. No description needed. But La Zucca's pesto was 'burst in your mouth' fresh.

Grilled pork cooked in marsala wine with baby onions at La Zucca. This was everything!

La Zucca dessert - panna cotta in chocolate sauce. Possibly the best panna cotta ever.

I also enjoyed a couple gelatos from Gelateria White - a very slick and contemporary gelato establishment, where the gelato was self-service and sold based on weight and mix of toppings from candies, to fruit. You basically create your gelato fantasy yourself and it is pretty good gelato as well. Great stop while walking the streets of Venice after hours.

And while I can surely not make a sweeping conclusion on who had the best aperol spritz in the land, I will recommend this aperitif to any visitor. Aperol, prosecco, sparkling water and an orange slice - so simple but so wow. It was my drink of choice for my entire stay in Italy (and even beyond) and the best ones I had at Da Sandro Bar. and Al Todaro. I did try the Hugo aperitif as well but while it may be all the rage, it did not do it for me like the tried and tested aperol spritz, but we still took a photo!

Hugo aperitif - champagne, elderflower syrup, lime juice, mint and a view of the Grand Canal.

While Venice may not be Bologna, Naples or Florence when it comes to the foodie excitement, if you do your research and due diligence, you can leave the city with super fond memories of a great dining experience.

But up next...we move on to my fave Italian city (so far) and my second visit to Florence. Love.

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Healthy Eating in the Southland - The GoSmart Food Company

It's been a while. I have totally broken my 2015 resolution to have at least one blog entry a week with my absence but real life calls. Today was no exception and with a full day, which meant I was up at the crack of dawn (okay, not quite but 6.30am on my day off is pretty early) and out of the house with just a slice of toast in my stomach. Thinking ahead though, I ordered a meal from The GoSmart Food Company - a door-to-door delivery service providing healthy gourmet meals. Their website describes the approach best

We exist to provide healthy gourmet food to our clients in a way that is convenient, utilising smarter choices and clean eating concepts. We believe that if you live smarter, you will indeed live a better life.
Our philosophy is that when you decide to GoSmart you are making a lifestyle choice as eating healthily should be a way of life and not a fast-track approach to weight loss.

But the BEST part of it all - they are based in SOUTH TRINIDAD!!! I always love when I can get great food options on my side of the island, and so hell yeah, I was going to support.Because I work in Port of Spain, the window of opportunity for trying this out would be small to nil, but I knew I would be in San Fernando all day and eventually would feel the hunger worms biting, so I placed an order yesterday for delivery today.

The service delivers to clients in San Fernando and surrounding areas, and because I also do not live in San Fernando (the universe is really against me here), but would be doing business in the area, my delivery was planned accordingly.

So how was it? The meal was excellent. It was fresh, wholesome, very filling, well packaged. On the menu today - Rainbow prawn with stir fried kale and bok choy, with ginger-garlic rice noodles, and a light mango and coconut mousse.

This is such a great service for Southerners who may not, like me, cook all their lunch-time meals during the week but still want to eat clean and be healthy. It is convenient as all you have to do is use the order form, drop them a message via their Facebook page, or give them a ring and the food is brought to you. No traffic, no fuss. It's great. I wish them all the best as they continue to make great meals for the great people of San Fernando.

You can check out The GoSmart Food Company -
Website - www.gosmartfood.co
Facebook - The GoSmart Food Company
Email: orders@gosmartfood.co
Tel: 397-6278

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Fat Girl Problems

After the gym, sometimes breakfast has to be quick
aka smoothie alert. Blueberry and almond protein smoothie

Trying to lose weight is a real nightmare. Putting it on is fun and easy. Date nights with girlfriends, with those yummy cocktails and cute fried appetisers; along with rich entrees and decadent desserts. Weekend stay-ins with Netflix and shrimp fries with Thai sweet chili sauce. The real killer - work events - schmooze and lose...lose your willpower to resist glasses of great wine and bite sized goodies that demand you pop another and another and another. Family get-togethers, where there is always food, always a lot of alcohol and aunties watching you cross-eyed if you try to politely refuse.

But when you are trying to get all this excess baggage off your body, not that easy. The early morning wake up calls to unwillingly subject oneself to cardio and other torture devices, or to try to get a workout outdoors before the morning heat and glare get the better of you.

Last night the family got together for a good ole family time. I drank nothing and when offered a plate heaping with roti and curry - my kryptonite - I politely (yeah, that is my excuse) ate the vegetables, a bit of the chicken and gave my mother 95% of the rest. Nightmare.

It has been tough going but the competition element of it has been keeping me really honest. The first couple of weeks, I admit, I had chips once in a while. But I have been super good this past week and for good reason. The people at work are hard core in trying to win this thing and I see my chances of winning slipping away. But I am still doing it because it needs to be done and I need to do it for myself. Still...winning would be nice.

The numbers thing is always complicated. I hate scales and on my second weigh in, the weight numbers were up ever so slightly but the fat percentage was down. This is apparently a good thing, but when you have been programmed to count just the pounds/kg, it can be a bit of a buzzkill. But rallying.

Eating lots of salads and veggies, soups (I love soups so this is easy) and cut out the sugar and the snacks. The snacks have always been my problem so this is a small miracle. No cake. No cookies. No chips. No Haagie. Lots of water, tea and my post-workout smoothies. Getting more sleep, though still not enough. The hardest part has probably been trying to keep my meals fun and creative. I am not one for those crazy diets - onion soup diets or liquid diets. I eat like a real person, just without an excess of the "fun" stuff. Food should never be boring, even if one is trying to be healthy.

Part of my weekly supermarket stash last weekend. Fruits and stuff for teas, fruit juices and smoothies.
Greens for salads.

Chicken quesadillas and greens for dinner. Salad by itself - not food. That's torture...

...unless the salad is epic like this one - mixed greens, grated carrots, roasted onions,
chopped black grapes, pommerac, homemade garlic croutons, and some baked chicken.

So wish me luck. The battle wages on. Another weigh in this week so game on!

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