I love Montreal’s public markets. Especially if I’ve arrived by train, so I don’t have to worry about stuffing potentially smelly purchases into a carry-on bag. On this trip I visited three of the city’s most famous markets, Atwater, Maisonneuve and Jean-Talon. Even before you step inside the building, especially at Jean-Talon and Atwater, you … Continue reading
Follow Rue Notre-Dame west to the end of your tourist map and you’ll come to one of Montreal’s hottest neighbourhoods, Saint-Henri, where new shops and restaurants are opening weekly. We began our tour at Lionel-Groulx metro station, a short walk from Atwater Market. In the early 1900s, St.-Henri was home to French Canadians and working class … Continue reading
Greetings from Zanzibar, an island (actually several) off the coast of Tanzania. I’m sitting on a table under a sea almond tree, its trunk wrapped in colored lights. If I reach to the left I can almost touch the sand. The Indian Ocean is maybe 30 feet away, the water black and quiet, though I … Continue reading
In the fertile volcanic soil around Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, grows a plum tomato considered a treasure in this part of Campania. Bright red with a pointed end and dimples on the sides, the oval pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio is harvested in July and August and stays fresh until the following spring, giving pasta … Continue reading
Night falls in the village of Porto Palo, steps from the ocean on Sicily’s southwest coast. We got here just in time. Not sure we’d have found the Da Vittorio B&B and restaurant in the dark, and we would have missed the orange and olive groves along the narrow road. Our rooms are large but spare , a letdown after our lovely hotel rooms of … Continue reading
With its smattering of palm trees and Mount Vesuvius volcano in the distance, the region of Campania in southern Italy doesn’t look at all like the Wild West, yet 100,000 water buffalo roam its grassy plains. When they tire of roaming, the shaggy horned beasts hang out in a barn, ankle-deep in mud, (it makes … Continue reading
I was so excited about eating “real” pizza in Naples, first stop on a whirlwind southern Italian food trip, I didn’t give a thought to what the city itself might look like. Map in hand on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I walked a few minutes from the hotel and ran smack into a wall of … Continue reading
Greetings from Lisbon, capital of Portugal, famed for its long history, lively neighbourhoods, dazzling light and good food. Though local women in stiletto heels seem to have no problem managing the cobblestoned streets and steep hills, I only lasted half an hour in my sensible sandals before switching to running shoes. Walking is the best … Continue reading
I left green T.O. at 9 this morning and landed at 6 p.m. (3 p.m. Arizona time) in the desert. It feels like another planet … spiky brown hills rising in the distance out of what looks from the air like an ancient seabed, dry and cracked. We stepped off the plane into a wall … Continue reading
On our last full day in Croatia, we set off south from the hilltop town of Buzet to the heart of Istria to hunt for truffles. Both black and prized white truffles are plentiful in the triangle between Pazin, Buje and Buzet, especially in the valley of the river Mirna and in the lush Motovun … Continue reading
