Fushin for sushi

I am spending the weekend in Port Elizabeth to celebrate a big birthday with friends. I grew up here and love the usually too short visits when I get to come "home" and catch up with old friends. 

On Friday night, we ate out at Fushin in Stanley Street, Richmond Hill. I lived a few blocks ago before I moved to Johannesburg and area was not at all close to being as cool and trendy like it is now. When I lived here, many of the houses were pretty run down and the only shop in Stanley Street was a bit of a dodgy cafe that you thought twice about entering after dark. 

A few years ago, the lovely Vovo Telo was born in a beautiful Victorian cottage and slowly the area picked up with other trendy shops and restaurants opening. Some of the more run down parts remain and old ladies still walk the streets.

At Fushin though, we ordered two sushi dishes that were out of this world. I have a fair bit of sushi both in Johannesburg and even in Asia but these two dishes shot straight up there on the "best sushi ever" contenders list. Little bit different combinations and exquisitely served.

A winner for sure!

Kruger park

I am sitting on my little patio and a kingfisher hoots in the distance. There is a little forest of Mopani trees in front of the house that overlooks the sandy riverbed. 

We arrived in the Kruger park on Thursday and stayed one night in the Satara camp. On Friday we drove north to Letaba, a camp filled with trees and small tame bushbuck wandering around between the houses. We overlook the sandy riverbed that teems with waterbuck, hippos, impala and elephants. Such peace on earth.

The view out of the patio 

The house we are staying in.

Midwinter Stylecraft

During the course of the past year, I have had a mild case of shopaholic-itis, and the objects of my affections have mainly been vintage silver plated items and crockery.

It started with buying mostly inexpensive silver plated table items... Salt and pepper sets, tea trays that have made their way to the walls of my dining room. At a point I started reading up on the few sets of teacups and saucers that I have that were my granny's. It's opened up a whole world of history. 

One set that my gran owned is cups and tennis plates (the have place for your cup and eats on one plate) made by James Kent in a chintz pattern called "Du Barry".  Since I have been watching, I can see crazy prices being reached for this one pattern... Not sure why except that it seems that have become popular around the world too. 

I have also built up a collection of Royal Albert in a pattern called "Rainbow". A lovely multicoloured ombré set - it has pastel pink, lilac, yellow, blue and turquoise. It's quite fun to scour online waiting for the right shape teacup to be listed and all I am waiting for now is the right pink set to come onto the market to complete my collection of 12 trios (teacup, saucer and cake plate). 

I could blog just about all the things I have my eye on, but this evening three little beauties from a less popular make arrived three months after I bought them. There is a cake plate, sweetie dish and a pretty jam dish with the spoon that rests in the detachable handle. 

They are made by Midwinter and the range is called Stylecraft, and they date to the 60's. They were pretty inexpensive, all three were bought for less than R200. There are some lovely patterns made by the same company designed by Jessie Tait that just scream Midcentury modern. Other pretty ranges designed by Hugh Casson were called Cannes and Riviera. 

It makes me happy to make place and a new home for pieces that were loved long ago.

Day trip to Capri

On the second day we were in Rome, we planned to do a day trip to the island of Capri. 

We booked a trip through Viator long before leaving home.  The link with the details of the trip are http://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Capri-Day-Trip-from-Rome/d511-2390GRET14.  

Because we weren't staying a hotel, we didn't arrange a pick up from our hotel.   The tour company's offices were very close to Termini train station so we used the Metro to get to Termini and then walked one block to get to the tour company. There was a little corner shop near the offices, and we picked up a water and some snacks for the trip beforehand.

Because we were early, we managed to get good seats on the bus and managed to sit together. The bus also took people to the Pompeii site, so was quite full. The commentary was in English, Italian and Spanish and was quite repetitive! I was glad I had downloaded an audio book to listen to during the trip. 

The bus dropped the Capri visitors off at the port in Naples, so unfortunately we didn't see much of Naples, but did get a view of the countryside on the drive out of Rome. We passed Montecasino along the way.

The ferry set off not long after we arrived at the port. Unfortunately the weather outside was drizzly on the day we went, so we didn't get great views apart from the massive ocean liners in the harbour. 

When we got to Capri port, we were advised that the speedboats that usually take visitors to see the coastline and Blue Grotto (cave) weren't running as a result of the weather. We were quite grateful as we had more chance of exploring the island. Our guide perked up at the chance to actually show off the island, which apparently doesn't happen too often!

From the harbour, we took a very small bus up the steep hills and stopped at Capri town. The island is full of lemon tres growing and has such a Greek/ Mediterranean feel which was lovely. 

We walked through the little narrow streets of Capri town and walked through some beautiful public gardens to see the view. 

After stopping at the obligatory limoncello shop, it was off to town of Anacapri for lunch. From the reviews of the tour, we weren't expecting much but this certainly was our foodie lowlight of the whole trip! I would not like to relive the experience. In retrospect for a first time, it was an easy option to take a tour and I loved the island but if I went back I would do the research and do this independently. 

After lunch we had a chance to view the little shops in Anacapri and go on the chairlift to see the island (we didn't do this) instead we managed to find a pretty good gelato shop!

Once our guide had warmed to the group, we found him to be an avid gardener (probably not surprising as Italians seem to be keen on growing produce in the smallest of places) and he was keen to point out interesting fruits and plants I had never seen before. 

The trip ended with a ferry ride back to Naples around 5pm, and a bus ride back to Rome that meant we arrived back at the apartment at around 9pm. A long day but really worth the experience. 

Donna Hay's Classic baked cheesecake

A few weeks ago I saw a springform baking pan in Woolworths and at R150, I decided it was something I need in my kitchen.

I found the recipe for Donna Hay's classic baked cheesecake and saved it on my Pinterest board some time ago. 

I tried it yesterday, and it looks promising so far - will have to get some more experienced baked cheesecake eaters in this afternoon to test. 

It actually wasn't as hard to make as I expected. Here is the recipe...

Donna Hay Classic baked cheesecake

Filling

330g cream cheese (I needed to buy two tubs)

500g ricotta (three tubs!)

4 eggs

295g caster sugar 

60ml lemon juice

1 T grated lemon rind

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 T cornflour

1 1/2 T water (cold)

Base

40g almond meal (from my never happened macaron attempt)

105g flour

55g caster sugar

90g butter (I melted this but recipe says chopped)

Preheat oven to 150 deg C.

To make the base, rub the almond meal, flour, caster sugar and butter. Line the base of the springform pan with baking paper and press in the mixture. The recipe says to bake for 15 minutes or until light golden. I ended up baking for double that time. Set aside.

To make the filling, place the cream cheese, ricotta, eggs, sugar, lemon juice and rind and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor. I used my kitchenaid mixer with the mixer attachment as I don't have a food processor. Combine cornflour and water until smooth and add to the mixture. Process (or mix!) until smooth. 

Lightly grease the sides (I released the base and used Spray n Cook), and poured in the cheese mixture. Tap to remove and bubbles. Bake for one hour (I was worried it wasn't cooked for cooked for another 15 minutes until it was a little brown on top) and then leave it in the oven but switch off the oven for another hour. 

Donna Hay's recipe says to then refrigerate and serve when cool. I wasn't too sure when to release it from the pan. I left it in the fridge overnight and lightly went around the edges with a knife this morning before releasing the pan. It came out beautifully and looks pretty okay for a first attempt. It does seem to have a crack on the top which I suspect is because of leaving in the oven for the extra 15 minutes. Taste testing will tell!

Dinner at Red Rabbit

I have eaten lunch at Red Rabbit in Bryanston twice before and enjoyed the food and service. My husband hadn't been there though so we decided to do dinner there on a rare evening when our toddler was sleeping over at his granny's house.

The restaurant is set within the Nicolway shopping centre, but the restuarants are gently lit at night and the centre was busy on a Friday night with diners. The decor at Red Rabbit is a bit French influence with exposed brick walls and wood beams and they always had lovely woven wicker chairs at the tables.  These seemed to have been replaced by smaller chairs last night to enable seating more diners. A pity.

We enjoyed a good Meerlust red wine with our food... A crumbed Camembert starter, served with sweetish sauce and Melba toast and some tossed greens with a few strawberries. The Camembert was delicious, I was looking up recipes on Pinterest this morning to recreate this starter.

For the main course, I had the duck pie that I enjoyed but the thin potato fries on the side were a bit cold and didn't feel fresh.  My husband had a rather large prime rib that had a mustard sauce. I only had a little taste but it seemed good.  I didn't have dessert but had a mouthful of his pistachio ice cream that came with a little jug of espresso to pour over, which gave an interesting flavour to the dessert.

Nice evening with good service from the staff. Mostly I am keen though to try out a Camembert starter for myself!  The recipe I found said to dip the round of Camembert in milk, and dip in bread crumbs. You can put in the fridge overnight to keep its shape, but not necessary. To cook, spray lightly with some olive oil and bake on a tray for 15 minutes at 180 deg C, turning over halfway.  Serve with bought cranberry sauce mixed with some caramelised onions. 

Yum.

The rest of the first day in Rome

After a little rest in the apartment, we decided to take a walk to explore the area where we were staying.

I find that it's hard to tell the scale of a place until you have been there, Rome seemed big, but the central area where we stayed was very walkable. Luckily I brought very comfortable shoes with me!

 The best part about this walk was that it kind of just happened as we went along. 

The route we took was walk south along the Via del Corso, a wide street with shops, churches and lots of people. We cut across some streets to head west to the Piazza Navona.  It was actually a bit drizzly on the day we were there, but that didn't dampen my surprise and delight at seeing this beautiful space for the first time. 

After spending some time taking pictures and taking in the beautiful sculptures, we decided to keep on with our walk. We headed east, and arrived at the Piazza della Rotunda and the Pantheon.

What I didn't expect was to see such beautiful buildings right in the midst of everyday life and right in the centre of town. Maybe I didn't have many expectations. But I was once again wowed by the building that you really didn't even have to queue to get into or even buy a ticket. It was super busy inside, but there was a church service taking place as we walked around. It felt like a good place to say a little prayer.

After going inside the Pantheon, we walked east and crossed over the Via del Corso again, this time heading for the Trevi Fountain. 

Again a beautiful place, but boy was it cramped! It was one of those situations were I tried to take picture of the fountain above people's heads, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of just how crowded it was too! And lots and lots of teenagers and young people for some reason!

We ended up eating dinner close to the apartment that night, enjoying out first Italian antipasto platter and me having melanzane for dinner (aubergine bake). 

We also managed to discover a really good gelato spot called Venchi right around the corner from apartment. They also sold beautiful chocolates, but the gelato was enough to keep us returning night after night while we stayed in Rome. These are some of the chocolates, I was too busy ordering and eating my gelato to worry about photos!

Airplanes and boys

It was a public holiday on Monday and a friend suggested taking our toddler boys to the Harvard Cafe at Grand Central airport in Midrand for breakfast.

What a find! 

Breakfast was good but the view of small planes, helicopters, refueling trucks, a fire engine and a tractor won hands down! And the playground area was new, clean and filled with safe equipment and nice clean astroturf with two child minders on duty.

I am sure we will be back soon! 

http://www.harvardcafe.co.za

Malva pudding

The recipe that I use for Malva pudding is a bit of a concoction. I wanted to make this for the man in my life, and didn't have a recipe. I called my mom who was working in Botswana at that time and she gave me a recipe out of her head as she didn't have any recipe books with her.

I have tried other people's Malva puddings over the years and they don't have a touch on this one!

Here is the recipe.

Mom's Malva pudding

Ingredients

Pudding

1 T butter / margarine

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 T apricot jam

1 cup flour

Pinch salt

1 cup milk

1 t vinegar

1 heaped t bicarb of soda

1. Beat together to cream butter/ margarine, sugar and the egg.

2. Add apricot jam.

3. Add the flour with a pinch of salt.

4. In a separate dish, mix the milk, vinegar and bicarb. 

5. Slowly add the milk mixture to the batter mixing in little by little.

6. Pour into a greased baking dish and place in a pre-heated oven to 180 deg Celsius for +- 40 minutes. 

Sauce 

1 cup cream / 1 cup milk OR 2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter / margarine

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl if going to use the microwave (low heat for 10 minutes) or in a saucepan and melt together until the sugar has dissolved. 

Once the pudding has cooked, pour the sauce over and prickly the pudding with a fork (especially around the edges) until all the sauce has gone into the pudding. 

Enjoy warm with whipped cream.

Fathers Day winter food

I don't particularly like eating oxtail stew and baked puddings are not on top of my dessert list, but tomorrow is Fathers Day and the dad in our house loves both of these.

We are having lunch with the family tomorrow to celebrate. It's pretty chilly outside and the perfect weather for a stew and malva pudding, both South Africa specialities. I made the Oxtail stew this evening....

Oxtail stew

This recipe I used is adapted slightly from the popular You magazine recipes and the original one can be found at http://you.co.za/food/oxtail-stew/

1/3 cup flour

1T paprika

1.5kg oxtail cut into pieces

Oil for frying

4 medium carrots peeled and sliced

2 onions peeled and cut into quarters

2 cloves garlic chopped

3cups beef stock

1.5 cans chopped peeled tomatoes 

250g green beans chopped into 3/4 cm pieces

Salt and pepper

Fresh parsley

1. Mix flour and paprika and cover the oxtail pieces in the flour mix.

2. Heat oil and brown the meat in a big pot.

3. Remove meat from the pot and set aside.

4. Fry the carrots, garlic and onion in the pot until the onion is cooked.

5. Add the meat back into the pot. Then put in the stock and tomatoes. 

6. Simmer for about an hour or until meat is tender.

7. Add the green beans and leave to simmer again until done.

8. Before serving, season to taste and add the parsley before serving.

I made everything to step 7 tonight and will warm again and finish the dish before serving tomorrow.

Last time I made oxtail with this recipe, I actually enjoyed it myself. I think a lot of oxtail stew recipes call for red wine in the recipe. This recipe uses beef stock instead and it is not as "watery" as a result. The stock thickens and makes a lovely gravy.

Here is what the end product looks like this evening...

A few days in the Drakensberg

I spent two nights in the Drakensberg for a work conference this week.  We were treated to a stay at the Champagne Sports resort. We drove down from Johannesburg very early on Wednesday morning, stopping along the way for a quick breakfast and coffee and were at the resort in just over 4 hours.

Between Winterton and the resort is a little centre called Thokozisa, that had a little antique shop, shoe shop and mohair shop that we went into.

I managed to find two beautiful vintage cream coloured platters at the antique shops, for a very reasonable price.  I found a pack of 5 mohair socks for R120 each at the Cape Mohair shop, and also some gorgeous boots for my son that were marked down by 40% in the little shoe shop. I think I did pretty well for somewhere at the side of the road!

Our stay at the resort was a good one with nicely decorated rooms and pretty surroundings. Lots of amenities and the food was good too. It can get really cold in the mountains though and we were surprised that there was not much apart from a panel heater in the room we stayed in. No air on with heater, no electric blanket on the bed. Not what we expected from a hotel in an area that gets as cold as it does there.

We stayed at another hotel in the same area over Christmas time, Cathedral Peak. If I had to choose which one to stay in based on having stayed at both, I think I would prefer the Cathedral Peak hotel over the Champagne Sports. The Cathedral Peak hotel was more toddler friendly. There was a "baby/toddler" swimming pool that was fenced off and set a way away from the hotel building. The pool at Champagne Sports was right next to the dining room and patio - not great to walk around in your costume with a mommy-body! Also the pool wasn't fenced off which really would have kept us on edge.

The food had a better variety at Cathedral Peak, but the room at Champagne Sports was finished to a better quality. 

One other thing was that once you get to Cathedral Peak, it's quite a drive to do any sightseeing whereas the Champagne Sports resort was really close to some shops and activities. Cathedral Peak is literally in the mountains, whereas Champagne Sports had the mountains in the distance by comparison.

I managed to get a peek at the timeshare units at Champagne Sports and these were three bedrooms with loads of beds, nice lounge and dining room and kitchen area.

What we did in Rome - Day one in the morning

The first full day we were in Rome, we had booked a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum through the Viator website here. When booking, we upgraded to a small-group tour (12 people). We arrived at 8:15am to start the tour at 8:30am and it took 3hrs in total.

 

We bought a Metro ticket at the Spagna station (Euro 1.50 pp), took the A train to Termini, and changed over to the B line, getting out at Colosseo station.  When we exited the station, we immediately saw the iconic building in front of us!  There was some scaffolding to the one side, but still it was hugely impressive!

 

 

These are some pictures I took on the inside.  The tour started on the outside, led by a really knowledgeable guide.  I was very interested that the tour company we used had small packs with earphones that you could listen to the guide on, without having to stay really close to hear what she was saying.  Big plus for me.

The tour included going into parts underground and up on the top levels of the building, which were the highlight for me.

Reading the Tripadvisor forums, there is a strong push for tourists to book directly with the establishment for this same underground and top level tour.  It worked out alot cheaper, but I only saw this advice once I had actually booked with the private tour.  I think I would probably pay more for the headset and the guide who gave background before and included the trip and information about the nearby Forum.  The tour guide we had booked with was required to hand over to the official Coloseum guide at a point, but it was only a small part of the overall tour that we had.  I suppose it depends if you enjoy the information from the tour or prefer to read up yourself and how much you want to spend on the experience. 

Once we had seen the inside of the Coloseum, we walked across the road, saw the building constructed by Mussolini and then went into the Roman Forum area.  Layers on layers of buildings, up a steep hill with beautiful gardens, this was an interesting experience.

The tour stopped at the top of the hill with the Coloseum in the background and a monastry on the hill.  We sat in the gardens resting our weary feet for a bit before walking through some of the ruins and looking down on the Circus Maximus. 

We walked down the hill and exited onto the road near the Circus Maximus.  We decided to use the next Metro station, Circo Massimo to get home.  This area was alot more residential than other parts of the city we had seen until then.  Small neighbourhood convenience stores, clothes being sold on racks in the street, hairdressers....

We decided to have a little lunch and found the Bar Circo Massimo that had fresh sandwiches and food ready to eat.  I had a panini with beautifully grilled aubergine and mozarella. Delish!

Yum Yum.

Weekend in Clarens

We spent this last weekend in Clarens in the Free State. We took Friday off work, and left pretty early in the morning, around 6 am.

We did one stop along the way for a quick breakfast, some hot drinks and a milkshake for the youngest member of the family, who clearly didn't get the memo that the temperature was 0 deg Celcius outside! We were in town just after 12.

It was really cold the whole weekend, although luckily the accomodation we stayed in was really geared up to the weather... Wood fireplace, underfloor heating and electric blankets. At a point, I actually had to move away from the lounge area as I was getting so warm from the fireplace! More information on where we stayed is here.

The area is really beautiful. Stark landscapes with grass that is brown in winter, huge sandstone mountains and the older buildings in the area (farmhouses etc) clad in the sandstone. 

The village itself is pretty small, with a large village green with shops and restuarants around it. We ate outside at a place that had an old rusty tractor - quite the attraction for a small boy. The food was good and hearty with a varied menu. We were the only people sitting outside and I think the waiter thought us a bit mad. It was actually quite warm when you were in the sun though.

On Saturday morning we took a drive to a nearby National Park, Golden Gate. More rolling brown grasses that make for some interesting bird watching if you have the time and patience. We got out at one point but it was pretty cold with a windchill so we quickly hopped back in the car. We saw zebra, birds of prey and some buck along the way.

I spent some time that afternoon exploring the shops and art galleries. We stopped for a milkshake and fries at a restaurant we enjoyed many years ago, the Post Office. It's in the old Post Office (sandstone) building and the food was just as wholesome as we remembered. They had trout on the menu that I would have tried again had I been hungrier.

The place we stayed at was very close to the village green and was really nice for the price and amenities, http://clarenslodge.co.za/index.php/en/.  It was really reasonably priced too and comfortably accommodated two couples and our toddler who shared the room with us.

I liked the way one or two of the shops I visited had been styled, but most seemed to keep things that weren't really unique or locally sourced. In the past, I seem to recall that there was more original things for sale. It may just be my memory... The art galleries seemed to have a lot of the same type of commercial work and I didn't really see much that stood out for me.

For a short weekend trip, it was nice to enjoy the peace, the pretty views and the decent food that was within walking distance.

The highlight for me was definitely being able to spend some time together with my family that we joined up with on this trip. I can always shop when I am at home, but it was nice to spend quality time just being with people who I love.

Trip to the zoo

In the approximately ten years that I lived in Johannesburg prior to having a child, I think I took the total of one trip to the city's zoo. 

Since having had our son, we have had two visits to the zoo. A year ago, we had a short visit before it was nap time and time to rush home. We visited again this Sunday with friends whose son is friends with our son.  The boys are two and a half plus years old and it seemed like they were the perfect age to enjoy the experience.

We arrived at around 09h30, and found a little converted truck taking people for R5 fare to the far end of the property. It was well worth it. The boys really enjoyed the "bus" trip.

On arriving at the lion enclosure at the far end, there was a nice play area and space to have the picnic brunch we had packed with us. The play area had modern safe playground equipment and nice rubber flooring all around. 

From there, we walked past the Polar bear enclosure. Someone told us that the Polar bear was sad as his or her mate had passed away. This stuck with my son, who is now a bit worried about this and keeps checking with each of us whether we are happy or sad.

We walked from there past enclosures with buck, storks and wild cats. The highlight of the elephant enclosure was certainly not the elephants themselves but rather the very big half tractor tyre in its enclosure to provide, I imagine, a scatching post / entertainment.  The bodily functions of the ellie came a close second in the wow stakes. Similarly, the rhino himself was not nearly as exciting as the shower in his enclosure.

I am not a fan of seeing wild animals in cages, but being around for example the polar bear made me think how times have changed and how hopefully we won't see new polar bears coming into a smallish enclosure with concrete and some water and no ice for a few thousand kilometers.  I grew up in Port Elizabeth with the oceanarium on our doorstep. There, the remaining dolphins were sent off to Hong Kong a few years ago and the facility now has a few seals and rescued penguins. There won't be more dolphins coming I am sure in the foreseeable future. 

When we visited the zoo last year, I think the majority of the time was spent in the "farmyard" section and the highlight was the "tractor" constructed from wooden poles. I am almost sure that our son remembered it from that visit!

It just shows how simple things can be exciting when you are small. A ride in a "bus", some tyres planted in the ground and something with a steering wheel that resembles a tractor to drive. And the joy of walking alongside your friend chatting away when you are only just both really starting to speak in full sentences. 

Being around my child teaches me what's important in life.

ps Don't forget to bring your pushchair... Even if it's just to provide wheels for your picnic basket! 

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

I read of a local Roman speciality called Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe before travelling to Italy.

When we were in Rome, I noticed that the food was generously seasoned with black pepper. I hardly ever put black pepper on my food apart from when it is called for in recipes. Somehow, in Italy, it just tasted right.

I saw Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe on menus, bit didn't try it while on holiday.  I did some googling for a recipe and found this one on the internet.  

http://talesofambrosia.com/2013/03/04/how-to-make-spaghetti-cacio-e-pepe-like-a-roman/

I stocked up on the ingredients last week and got a chance to make it this evening. It was pretty delicious.  Apparently the secret lies in using good ingredients, especially the cheese part.

It feels good to bring the holiday inspiration home with you. 

When in Rome...

I usually try and stay in a central spot when traveling, somewhere near public transport links. 

For the Rome part of our Italian trip, I initially planned on staying in a hotel near the via Repubblica that I found on www.hotels.com. 

Then my husband’s wish list was to stay nearer to the Piazza Navona area.  I looked at this area and wasn't finding anything suitable.  I started looking at the area around the Spanish Steps (Campo Marzo) and the hotel prices seemed a bit crazy. 

I found a fantastic website called www.airbnb.com that lists apartment rentals and managed to find a gem of a place.  The nice thing about Airbnb is that you can see a bit about the owner and the reviews of the guests that have stayed there before.    The place where we stayed was in a fantastic location and was equipped with everything we needed.  The link to the site is here.  I would definitely recommend it.  The nice thing about booking through this site was that we could pay upfront and not have to worry about what the currency would do later, which proved a good move on this trip! 

The owner of the apartment arranged for a driver to collect us from the airport to the apartment which really helped after the long trip.

She and her husband showed us around the area near the apartment, pointing out quaint streets like the Via Margutta, the nearest convenience shop and good places to eat breakfast and lunch.

Airbnb is not really well-known amongst people I have spoken to, but we had a good experience using the site and the reviews were very accurate.  A nice way to meet local people.

Getting a visa

South Africans passport holders need to apply for visas for the Schengen area before traveling to Italy.

You can only apply for the visa three months before the trip.  The visas are done through the company Capago, who are based in Wierda Valley in Sandton (if you live in Joburg).  Their website is https://www.my-europe-visa.com/ and all the information that you need is there.  We took our photos at their offices and also paid when we were there with a credit card.  The visas took a week to get back. So quite speedy.

I usually make the appointment a few weeks in advance which forces me to get the paperwork together in time.

Friday thoughts

I came home and there was a little decorated cupcake waiting in the kitchen.  The spoils from Friday playgroup.  When the little one got back from his walk to the park, it was quickly gobbled up.

My mom popped around and had dinner with us.  I decided to make pizza. Used up the mushrooms in the fridge, fried up some bacon, added a little onion marmalade and topped with cheese and thyme. Baked for 15 minutes and then added rocket from the garden and a few slices of avocado. There wasn't time to take a photo but it tasted good.

Flying away

For the trip we just recently took to Italy, we flew into Rome on Air France via Charles de Gaulle airport and out of Florence.  There are no direct flights to Italy from South Africa, so it was a case of a connecting flight and the question was via where…

I usually check which flights are the best prices on www.travelstart.co.za and then check the most competitive prices on the airlines own websites as well before deciding on a plan. We learned the hard way that it's better to do an open jaw flight when we went to France and our train took double the time to get back to Paris than it was meant to and we ended up having to pay for another flight to get home! And extra taxi ride, extra night in a hotel with lots of stress... In the end we had a special evening, but I wouldn't like to repeat that experience!  Air France’s website allowed us to do the open jaw flight effortlessly on their website for not much difference in the ticket price.

One nice thing with Air France was that we could pre-book seats on the international leg of our flights.  We booked seats on the upper deck, and were seated in two seats next to each other. We were also able to pay a little extra to book exit row seats, which meant we had lots of space.  I always seem to find people in front of me who are quite happy to recline their seats as far back as possible which makes me really grumpy, so this was a bonus! There are only a few rows of economy class on the upper deck, which meant the flight was nice and quiet too. Helped along by a little sleeping tablet too!

We left quite a big time gap between the connecting flights... Just in case! In the end, all the flights we took were running on schedule but it would have been stressful if any one of them had been delayed. And we had a few hours to kill time in Charles de Gaulle both ways.

We mostly read on our iPads, walked around a little, checked out the shops that were either the equivalent of a not very exciting news agents or totally high end boutique. The eating places at the different terminals ranged from small and dingy to quite nice but expensive.  I was glad that I had a good audiobook loaded on my iPod and tried to zone out.  The airport offered 15 minutes of free wifi per device that allowed me to quickly check email and let everyone home where we were. You could extend the wifi at a reasonable cost, but I didn't think it was necessary. 

Having flown enough international flights to know which I liked and didn't like, this was one provider and route I would gladly do again. 

Preparing before you travel

I love travelling and discovering new places in the world that I have dreamed of going to. But I suspect that I get more enjoyment out of the planning that happens before the trip.

It keeps me going for months before the trip actually happens and so, by the time I actually travel, I feel like I am already immersed in all things to do with the place I am going. The more self planned travel I have done, the more tips and tricks I have picked up along the way and the more adventurous I seem to have become.

A few weeks ago, we (my husband and I) took a beautiful two week trip to Italy. I have been asked by people I know to share the itinerary, which I will do in the next few posts. I spent a good few months planning this trip and was really pleased that everything went according to plan.  

My first overseas trip was in 2004. I had known my now husband for a year when we went, and he convinced me that a trip to the UK with only the flights booked and a bit of reading in the guidebook would be sufficient. He had travelled there a number of times before and I trusted him on this. We travelled for a friend's wedding. The trip started with the wedding for the first few days whereafter we were handed the keys to their car and the keys to the flat in central London. And please to fetch them at Heathrow on a Sunday night in two weeks time (easier said than done in those pre-GPS days!). 

We had a super trip but seemed to waste a lot of time trying to find places to stay once we had settled on the area we planned to stay that night. I am glad we did that trip in such a spontaneous way because it convinced me that that way of travelling probably isn't the best thing for my personality. And that Basil Fawlty's brother wearing a string vest really did run a small B&B in Brighton and he really did serve sausages that closely resembled cardboard for the breakfast. It was a "once in a lifetime" experience that I am not sure I would like to repeat anytime soon!

When we travel, I am conscious that I won't see "everything" in this lifetime. I try to remember that there are no travel police checking that I see the 10 best things to do in a place. So, I try and plan that we don't just do a whistle stop trip of all the places we are going to, and rather try and see fewer places, and spend a few extra days in each to really savor them.  Of course, there is only ever so much time and money and I try and balance this. So my trip to Italy didn't do the three typical highlights of Rome, Florence and Venice, because we decided to do Rome, Umbria and Florence instead.  And it seems to work for us.