Did you notice food tours and pasta-making classes are my favorite activities when I travel? Yes, especially as a solo traveler! They are opportunities to interact with other travelers, eat good food and learn new things about the area that I’ll continue to wander around in the upcoming days.
But first I wanted to walk away from city center, along the coast and have a good appetite for my pasta-making and eating later in the day. It’s a beautiful sunny day and always with a wind; a joy of being on a coast! I discover a 10km race is happening and they too are going my way! So I felt like all of us were on a walk-run activity. I cheered them on, even as I noticed no sidewalk spectators did, and also offered to take group photos as needed. Never planned any of that interaction, but it was fun! I turned around at their 4km sign to head back to city center.
A beautiful day for a walk.And for some to run… or walk.Or parasail… others were sailing and surfing!And I observed this egret and some black-winged stilts on a thin canal.
Later in the day was pasta-making time! This pasta-making class was with 14 other people at a restaurant! We made tiramisu, a couple of pastas with a pasta-making machine, and then sat down to eat! We started with prosecco at a fine dining table. The restaurant doesn’t open till 7:30PM so we’ll be out just before then.
Restaurant style!Equipment for all!
We made the tiramisu and pastas with all levels of success. I think I’m catching on how to use the machine. Our chef only spoke Italian so we had a translator. My fellow participants were from Romania, Germany, Denmark, Tunisia and 2 other people from USA.
I loved the Primitivo wine with my meal and we finished it all with limoncello! Tomorrow morning I have time to walk and relax before catching a train to Brindisi.
My longest train ride is happening right now as I head to Bari from Bologna. My goal is to visit the southeastern coast of Italy for a first time; but what a long 6 hour train ride!
Finally arrived, checked in at my lodging and off to the waterfront with its couple of ports and plenty of boats! As one looks east from Bari, Italy to Albania, which you cannot see, just know it is an 8-10 hour ferry ride across the Adriatic Sea. Albania is where I started this trip 6 weeks ago!
Anyway, I’m here now to see this city and explore the food! Walking the lungomare, a walkway along the coast, I stopped in at Teatro Margherita where an art exhibit was happening. Various materials were used by the artists to create their work; here are some:
Sofia Loren created with various media
These artists are talented!
Bari’s “old town” was crowded with people as I walked the narrow places and was near Castello Svevo. It was a castle built around 1132 by Norman King Roger II. I thought it a fortress, it is huge! No, it was a castle in its day and now a museum.
Plenty of churches in this town! Huge basilicas … amazing construction when one thinks of the century they were built!! Basilica of Saint Nicholas (San Nicola), houses his relics brought from present day Turkey. It was consecrated in 1197 and is a pilgrimage site for Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Apparently he is the inspiration behind Santa Claus.
At San Nicola, a gilded wooden ceiling!!
Cathedral of Saint Sabinus (San Sabino) does have an entrance fee allowing one to also visit the museum and see archeological ruins. Churches were built one upon another through the centuries. I was amazed to see some of the old mosaics floors many feet below the current church.
No way to capture the size and beauty of this church!Ruins of an older church underneath this one.Notice mosaics on this underground floor!
Of course I joined a street food tour! Wherever I am in the world I love knowing about the food of the region. Plus each local guide puts their spin on the food so I always learn more and eat in good company! A panzerotto is similar to a fried calzone but only with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. It washes down nicely with a glass of Primitivo wine! Next we had focaccia with delicious olive oil, tomatoes and olives, yum! Our orecchiette pasta with tomato sauce was okay, but I loved the one served in olive oil. Italians cook their pasta al dente, cooked to be firm to the bite, supposedly to help our digestive system. Gelato was our final tasting! What I learned new on this tour is that the gelato should not be out in swirls for all to see, but to stay within their metal bins to retain the best tasting gelato and served from there!
Panzerotto cut in half.Orecchiette
This woman could make that pasta with here eyes closed!
Wow!
Other photos are below. I did not try an octopus sandwich. I’ve eaten octopus, but apparently there is a place here with the best sandwich! Tomorrow I want to see a beach and then I have a cooking class! That will be part 2… Caio!
Best gelato and they have a place in Manhattan, New York City!Wind and downpour just as this bride stepped into San Nicola Church.Always wander when you travel!How often will you see red peppers that size? Keep wandering!
I confess! A large meal/dinner after 7pm does not work for me. If I did eat then, I would need to stay active till after 11pm! Okay, that’s not happening.
Instead, for my 7pm time, I discovered “Bottega Botle” so I could try any amount of wine from a dispenser, with available snacks, and a tablet with info about the wine I was drinking. Cool! What’s not to enjoy? I may return!
However, before all of that evening fun, I saw many Basilicas and markets as I wandered the streets of Bologna. Here are some I stopped at as I began to understand why it takes decades to build these magnificent cathedrals! Just hauling a column into place seems a massive undertaking to me!
First, statue of Neptune!Basilica of San Petronio with Meridian Sundial! This is the 6th largest brick church in the world, 22 chapels and 2 oldest working organs besides the sundial!I was there at noon.Palazzo Dell’Archiginnasio, built 1562!Biblioteca deli ArchginnasiaSanta Maria della Vita
Fish markets, meat markets and if you walk the touristy main road you can find all kinds of things!
I stopped for late lunch and with my beer came olives and potato chips, followed by my spaghetti alla carbonara. I am forever a critic and this is still not my best meal. I travel on!
Late in the day I stopped in at Bottega Botle and that was fun. Met other travelers from California and enjoyed various wine and delicious mortadella bologna! Great place to try various wines!
Life for me now has changed as our tour group heads home and I stay on as a solo traveler. My goal is to spend time on the eastern coast of Italy. Now to see the Adriatic Sea from another view!
Note Bologna, Bari, Brindisi
Visiting Trieste, Italy first….
I am only here for 2 nights so I immediately headed toward the Grand Canal. Plenty of cafes along the canal, jellyfish in the water, and musicians playing.
There were many jellyfish!
I stepped into churches: Saint Antonio Taumaturgo and a Serbian Orthodox one. Each beautiful. Then I walked to the huge Piazza Unità d’Italia where a “Maker Faire” was happening. Tons of people at booths checking out puzzles, 3-D printing, robotics and I return here the next day too. So many displays! Really fascinating, but I wanted to walk the Molo Audace, a long pier out into the water. People are walking or sitting and enjoying the simple rock pier. After walking the waterfront and back by side streets and seeing numerous statues, I decided to eat. My pizza with eggplant at Barattalo restaurant was delicious!
The next day I considered going to Miramare Castle. It was built in 1856 -60 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian. I figured it and the gardens would be beautiful. I was too early to catch the Delfino Verde ferry for the 50 minute ride, so I decided to visit other places I had in mind. (BTW… ferry to and bus 6 back was the recommendation to me for Miramare, in case you want to easily get there from Trieste.)
I headed to San Giusto, a healthy uphill hike from the waterfront. I worked my way past a couple of old churches to the Cathedral of San Giusto and attended mass. Interesting listening to the Italian language spoken and sung by a choir. Of course the “peace be with you” handshake was clearly understood as I shook my neighbor’s hands.
Mosaic work was unbelievably beautiful!
Walking down a rocky hill isn’t the easiest. I stopped at some ruins, such as the Arch of Riccardo and the Roman Theater and was glad to be on level ground at the “Maker Faire” again. I loved seeing people of all ages engaged in the activities.
My late lunch was at La Caprese Trattoria and there I had spaghetti with eggplant and clams. I have been drinking small Moretti beers with my meals.
Then hours were spent at the Revotella Palace and Gallery of Modern Art. Baron Pasquale Revoltella, in 1872, left his artwork, books and furniture…. his house to the city! I walked through the modern art museum first and then this historic house! Amazing paintings, sculptures and some info in English, but all easy enough to follow. The house is opulent!
Not your ordinary house!
Can pasta-making be this much fun? I’ve given it a try in Croatia and will again Bologna. Wow, that’s how she makes that shape!?!
This step, then shaped on her finger!
As I was winding down my day, I decided to try an aperitif which is typically a pre-dinner drink. My late lunch was already enough food, but I decided to try an Aperol spritz. If I like it, maybe in the upcoming weeks I’ll enjoy it as a pre-dinner drink … like it is meant to be!
Got to admit, great advertising there!
So the drink has aperol: a blend of bitter orange, rhubarb, cinchona, and gentian with Prosecco and soda water. A fresh orange slice is a garnish. (I researched cinchona – comes from an evergreen tree in South America and the bark contains quinine. Cinchona is used to treat malaria and possibly irregular heartbeats. I see it is used as a pre-dinner drink to increase appetite.) Okay now knowing all that, I can decide if it will continue to be my drink of choice! I’m still wrapping my head around eating dinner after 7pm. So far I like a late lunch. But one also has to eat before 3:30pm as many places close till 7pm.
I walked 10 miles in 2 days and still have more to see plus Miramare Castle. I’ll have to return another time. Off to Bologna… I’ll post again in a couple of days.
Food in any of the countries was delicious! While I took a photo of every food I think I ate, there is no way to include them all here! Some meals were washed down with water, juice, soda, local beer or wine and a few times with rakija! Wow… strong one! Also, tea or coffee was offered at the end of meals.
Meals with meat were chicken, lamb, pork, beef or goat. Seafood choices included mussels, oysters, octopus, and most often sea bass or shrimp. Typically with a potato on the plate too.
Salad was often red peppers, corn, zucchini, greens of some sort, cherry tomatoes, cheese, red onions, cabbage and olives in a bowl served family-style.
Pastas include spaghetti and different shaped pastas. I especially loved our pasta-making class as that was freshly made! Some pasta meals included truffles!
Breads were delicious! With olive oil, we often were dipping our bread!
Unique foods:
Burek: a filo dough with spinach and cheese and often in a spiral shape.
BurekCheese and Swiss chard in it, delicious!
Ekmet dessert
Cream custard with shredded wheat
Black risotto was unusual option at times as more often it was regular risotto. No, teeth were not black at the end of the meal from the squid ink which makes it black.
Black risotto
Just when you think you’ve seen risotto, here was delicious beetroot risotto with burrata:
Risotto with burrata
Swiss chard or stinging nettles were often with a meal. So was polenta.
Pizza varied wherever I was; however, I had the absolute best pizza at Roko Pizzeria in Opatija, Croatia. Off course I’m on my way to Italy so I may find better pizza!
The best!!
Here was another amazing pizza with 4 toppings:
Artichokes, mushrooms, ham and cheese pizza.
My favorite meal and I wished I had it more than one time was ćevapi.
Sausage, red pepper relish, onion, cheese, tomato and stuff all into flatbread.
Desserts were often lava cake, tres leches, strudel or of course, often gelato! But let me taste Italian gelato and decide which is best! I’m off to Italy!
We drove about 50 minutes to Pula, the largest city and major port on the southernmost tip of the peninsula. Our guide explained the importance of this location was because it has a protected harbor. Now however you only see abandoned ship building projects and maybe small boat repairs. At once I realized how beautiful our 5 nights in Poreč is compared to staying in Pula.
However there is plenty of history here. Our first stop was at the Roman amphitheater built between 27 BC and 68 AD. It has all 4 walls intact and I was reminded of my first visit to Rome’s amphitheater. This one in Pula is one of the world’s six largest surviving Roman arenas. Centuries ago there were gladiator contests, now it is a tourist attraction and concert venue.
Walking into the arenaLooking down and into the arena
We also saw the Temple of Augustus built between 2 BC and 14 AD. He was the first Roman emperor and the temple was probably built during his lifetime.
Temple of Augustus
The Venetians built the Kaštel Fortress/Pula Castle in the 14th century on the hilltop which provides great views of the city. After walking around the fortress, you can take an elevator to 2 lower levels with access to a network of tunnels. This was amazing to see as the tunnels are a good size and long.
Approaching the star-shaped fortressA lower level tunnel
Arch of the Sergii was another stop on our walking tour of Pula. This 1st century Roman triumphal arch was built and fully paid for by a family member to honor three members of their family.
So much history… and then we saw stone shelters. Many places you will find the dry wall stone construction, but seeing this stone shelter was fascinating!
Our hotel is on the Dubrovnik Riviera, a stunning spot as we look out from our cove to the Adriatic Sea. We are a 20 minute bus ride from “Old Town”. A local guide spoke about the 13th and 14th century history of the Old Town area and more currently about what was destroyed in the 1991-92 war. In the olden days 4,000 people lived within the city walls, now only about 900 people. Their economy relies on tourism so visitors will see many shops and churches, museums, restaurants. I took advantage of the opportunity to walk the entire rampart/fortified wall. We are not here at peak season, but it is busy here with tourists. Since it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, only 2 cruise ships per day are allowed. Game of Thrones was filmed here prompting an increase in tourists.
Side street within city walls
We visited the War Museum toward Srd Mountain. A local speaker, who was 24 years old at the start of the Homeland War in 1991, shared her experience with us. She recalled the sporadic military attacks and then the 3 months: October -December when there was no water or electricity. The September sporadic bombing probably was purposeful. The world did not know what was happening to the people especially in Dubrovnik, but then the destruction was more frequent and destructive in the “old town”. Plenty of history here and if you want to know more and are visiting, I would recommend a visit to the War Museum.
Looking down on the “Old Town”Signage, videos to learn the history at War Museum
Cable car ride back to Old Town. I walked the Jesuit Stairs, a Baroque staircase consisting of 136 stone steps, connecting Gundulić Square to the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Stopped in to say a prayer then joined a couple of my fellow travelers for a beer at Buza Bar. Beautiful view from the bar as it is on a rocky hillside!
Jesuit StepsInside the churchAt Buza Bar you can walk further down the rocky side.
Dinner was at a rural Konavle region outside of Dubrovnik. A fun way to end the day! We tried his cherry brandy… delicious! Learned about olive oil … and reminded to only use cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Also do not cook/heat olive oil! Sauté whatever with another oil, then put olive oil on the cooked food. Cooking olive oil destroys the healthy benefits of it! Night ended with us singing and dancing after a delicious meal: cheeses, prosciutto, bread, olive oil, fish, potatoes, salad, and dessert of a fig and apple pie. We had plenty of his wine! I drank his red wine: 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon… wonderful!
Owner at farmstead and his cherry brandy … so delicious!Music and dancing… a fun night!
We are off to Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow, so I’ll be back in a few days with a post!
The Adriatic Sea is rarely mentioned in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea, yet the Adriatic Sea is a northern arm of the Mediterranean Sea. My travels for the next few months will be to explore the Balkan Peninsula, not really a peninsula, and Italian Peninsula separated by this 500 mile long body of water.
For those of you who love water, I learned, the Adriatic Sea is relatively shallow, has clear, turquoise water and over 1,000 islands. Wonder if island hopping is a thing people do?
My time will be split: group tour and solo time. The entire travel involves places I have never visited, so this will be a true exploration! My blog posts are usually twice a week, however, if writing time is available, I’ll post more often.
Looking at a map, I’ll visit Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and some locations on the eastern coast of Italy. If you have visited any of these areas, let me know what I should not miss! Thanks!
My sketch below is to orient myself to the locations of the countries I’ll eventually be visiting. I’ll start on the Southeastern European side. Can you name the countries labeled B thru F? Then I’ll visit eastern coast of country labeled A. Will not visit country labeled “?”, but needed to include it for my sense of the area.
Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. Can you name the countries?
Here are the answers:
A= Italy
B= Slovenia
C= Croatia
D= Bosnia and Herzegovina
E= Montenegro
F= Albania
How did you do? What about upper right corner with question mark? Answer: Serbia
Time to travel … and explore foods, birds, history with eyes wide open and to meet people from all over the world!
I cannot start writing about food in Argentina without first mentioning “mate”. This is a caffeine-rich drink shared amongst friends in many of the places I was visiting in Argentina. It would be similar to me having my mug of tea each day, except I am not sharing my mug with others and not carrying around a thermos of hot water to refill my cup throughout the day.
The dried yerba mate plant leaves are put into a “gourd”-shaped cup. Hot water, not boiling, is poured into the cup, and drunk through a filtered metal straw. One person oversees the making of the mate and in being sure it is shared among others.
Yerba mate
Drinking mate
BBQ, especially out on the ranches, is very common. It was a delicious lamb BBQ at one location.
Lamb BBQ
Lamb BBQ served and with vegetables
Argentinian food includes beef, chicken and fish; however, here are a few unusual foods I tied. Isn’t that what travel is all about?
Pickled rabbit … not a favorite of mine.
Wild boar stew was tasty
Guanaco stew with potatoes and chips on top … definitely did not like this meal.
Sometimes a plate was with a variety of foods on it. Such as this one with muffins, ceviche, 3 different empanadas and passionfruit dessert in the middle. The food item with a brown, sweet block of something on top of a cube of cheese was very different.
Empanadas.. 3 beef, chicken, fish, ceviche, muffins and passion fruit dessert on one plate
Someday I will visit Mendoza, Argentina’s wine country! I drank Malbec wine while in Argentina and tried some cerveza … beer!
Local beer
Malbec … my favorite of the trip!
Our guide introduced us to a liquor: Fernet-Branco. It has 39% alcohol, so we had a third of a glass with Fernet and the other 2/3’s with Coca cola. I would not run anywhere for this drink; however, it is known to be a digestif.
Fernet 39% alcohol then add coke
Snacks though I am always looking for, especially since Snicker bars, my favorite travel snack is not in the local markets. One snack, I also found on restaurant tables, was alfajors. These cornstarch sweet snacks have dulce de leche, a caramel filling, which you’ll find everywhere in Argentina.
Alfajor
Alfajor
In Calafate, Argentina there is calafate jam and ice cream often served. The calafate berry is on a thorny plant and similar to a blueberry.
Calafate ice cream
We made a dessert with chocolate cookies dipped in coffee and placed on a layer that had dulce de leche, caramel filling, spread on it. One photo shows us making it and then the finally look at it before eating a bite!
Making of this dessert
It was delicious!
Other snacks:
The same snack if you were to buy it at a store.
Snack … chocolate snacks were everywhere!
The food was delicious everywhere I went. What I loved most were the local markets where people bought their food. There we had an opportunity to watch the fish be filleted, see the giant garlic bulbs, and enjoy the interaction with local people. It was a great opportunity to be on this adventure.
I have no green thumb, but I do know when I see a good thing happening! I was talking with some birders who mentioned Desert Meadows Park was their next birding stop in the day. I had never heard of the place so I decided it was on my way home and time to visit.
What a wonderful park! It was established in 2014, maintained by garden club volunteers and is a microcosm of the Sonoran ecosystem. I want to acknowledge all these people have done so please read their sign below:
I love the park; it is colorful, with such variety while also looking at native plants. I love the numerous cushioned chairs and swings in the place! I find myself writing this post and showing you everything but the plants, but know they are there! I love the garden plots … brought back memories of when I lived in upstate New York and had a community garden plot for my tomatoes to grow! Here ten tons of fresh produce are donated … fantastic … no doubt appreciated by local food banks!
I discover the Juan Bautista de Anza Historic Trail is located here too. As you may recall from a past blog post, the 1,000 mile trail is from Sonora, Mexico to California.
Unique to this park: a self-serve nursery, bee hive, and labyrinth. I have provided some information about the labyrinth since one does not see one to often, and if you do, then you might want to walk within one. If you are in the Green Valley, Arizona area, stop by and visit Desert Meadows Park!
