Thursday, October 29, 2009

Quebec City, the birth of a Nation

I fell behind in my blogging in no small part because almost immediately after landing after our Istanbul to Athens cruise, I was off to a business trip in Quebec city.

It was a cold weekend with winds howling and light snow creating havoc.

A cruise ship was in the port. I couldn't imagine how the guests must have felt facing those winds as they first walked on to the shore.

But while Quebec would certainly be better visiting during the hot days of summer, this quaint city, with its narrow streets and historical buildings can warm the soul of the coldest termperatures.

Amazing shops, majestic hotels, exceptional restaurants, and a history that while not as long, is as impressive as those anywhere.

This is Canada's birthplace, a city over 400 years old.

I am going back in May. I wil take my wife and we will explore the region for a week or two.

I say be proud Canada because even as I love travelling around the world, this country offers its own never ending beauty and impactful memories.

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posted by That Travel Guy @ 12:26 PM  |  0 Comments

I want to go back to Greece

It has been many years since I visited the Greek islands. It will not be as many before I go back.

We ended our journey in Athens and I could not think of a better conclusion to an exceptional trip.

We dined in the Plaka, the food and entertainment district, a lot. But we also spent time in the downtown and business area where the major department stores are.

The Acropolis will always represent a special place, even though similar experiences can be had at a number of islands.

Every island gives you something different. Certainly you will see antiquities in all of them and finding an undeveloped island free of tourists is now a near impossibility, but the typography can be dramatically different as is the lifestyle you come upon as you move from one to the other.

On the cliffs above the water or on the beaches that are laden with bikinis and restaurants, the view is always dramatic...once your eyes move beyond the bikinis.

A trip to Greece is an education, an opportunity to party, a culinary taste sensation, and a digital dream.

If you want to know more or share your observations please add to this blog.

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posted by That Travel Guy @ 12:14 PM  |  0 Comments

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Cooking Alaturka

We left Istanbul this morning on our way to our first port of call in mykonos.

But what a great decision it was to take the cooking class with Eveline at her little cooking school.

We shared the experience with eight other couples, each person cutting, chopping, and mixing the ingredients for 5 separate dishes.

Eveline is a trained chef who came to work in Turkey as a chef in a large hotel.

Then she moved over to rent a hotel property which she ran for herself.

When the property was not available she didn't know quite what she would do so went back to her roots with this idea...teach people on location how to cook Turkish style meals.

We had a lot of fun creating the meal and learned a lot in the process. One of the items was a stuffed eggplant dish.

I am not a fan of eggplant but this was exceptional.

After the food was cooked we all sat together over a couple of glasses of wine to consume what we had cooked.

We have he recipes to recreate for guests, and we have new knowledge which can be applied to other recipes as well.

I strongly recommend this as a good way to appreciate the tastes of Turkey.

Her website is www.cookingalaturka.com

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posted by That Travel Guy @ 9:04 AM  |  0 Comments

Thursday, October 1, 2009

What a food find in a restaurant

We are staying at the Polat Renaissance as I wrote above.

It is not downtown but adjacent to a very nice area of homes and apartments, so it is not at all like the commercial downtown.

Just 3 blocks away we noticed a small shopping area with a few stores and restaurants.

As we are walking we notice a very nice restaurant with a bunch of flowers in front...and I mean big bunches with ribbons etc.

We walk by it and conclude it looks like the best place.

We are seated and handed a menu with pictures of the items we can choose from which is very nice to get a sense of how they will come to us plated.

The restaurant is called Rumeli kofte & Et at Sipahoglu Cad. No 13 Yesilyurt. It is a family type business full of local customers and managed by a young man by the name of Ugur Yilmaz, who is one of the partners.

The meal was excellent and I recommend the restaurant for service and taste, not to mention a pleasing environment.

We choose to dine on the outside as opposed to inside and it was an exceptional evening.

It seems we dropped in on opening night...explaining the flowers.

It was pretty much a family affair and after a half hour or so we had become one of the family.

It is clear they are nice people and I wish them all the success in their new venture.

This was truly an exceptional experience and if you are in that area, make it a point to visit. you won't be dissappointed.

And tomorrow try an entirely different food experience at a place called www.cookingalaturka.com .

In the morning for almost three hours we will learn how to make a five course Turkish meal by participating in creating the menu items.

Then we will sit down over a couple of glasses of wine to consume our creations.

Both of these are sides of Turkey we never got to experience on our first go round in this country

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posted by That Travel Guy @ 2:34 PM  |  0 Comments