Tag Archives: Wine

Montefalco, Umbria – A wine tour

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Umbria is often referred to as the green heart of Italy.

The view across the Umbrian valley from Assisi with its patchwork of fields confirmed this. Umbria has a reputation for its food, wine and olive oil; all of which we can confirm from our stay in Assisi.

Our days in Assisi, a medieval town that looks across the valley, had enabled us to sample the wines. Montefalco Sagrantino and Montefalco Rosso were becoming favourites.

We visited a local wine bar, Bibenda, that had a reputation not just for the wines but also for its sommelier owner who has a truly extensive knowledge about the region.

We’d seen in a “things to do” post from Airbnb about a “new experience”, being a wine tour of a Montefalco winery and decided to see if we could make it work without a car.

Who wants to drive if you are doing some wine tasting? Continue reading →

A short trip to Victoria

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Tahbilk Wetlands Cafe

In the couple of weeks before we head to Europe I needed to conduct some further research interviews. It provided an opportunity to head to Melbourne and then to a couple of wine regions in Victoria.

We decided to fly and hire a car this time. This meant forgoing a stop in Nhill to see the talking horse and a stop for dinner at The Bridge Hotel in Bendigo, but did allow us to see family in Melbourne before driving onto country Victoria.

These days we stay near the Southern Cross Railway Station, making transport into the city easy on SkyBus. That end of town is a little less fashionable but has plenty of accommodation, some nice bars and restaurants. For us Higher Ground for breakfast and drinks at Kirks Wine Bar have both become favourites. Continue reading →

Reality hits – I need to collect some data!

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As our time in the UK fades into the background, and the year ends, I have come to the realization that I need to collect data for my PhD research and get writing about it. Hopefully the many draft blog posts for my Diary of a Slow Traveller blog posts will make sure it doesn’t become a distant memory.

My favourite person made the observation while we were away that perhaps 2018 might need to be a year to stay close to home. With children getting married and the prospect of grandchildren not to mention a PhD, her observation struck a chord, albeit a jarring one!

In the weeks since we’ve returned to Adelaide I have been ruminating on my literature review. I have some feedback from my supervisors on it. The good news, at least 3 of my 25000 words are useful!

I’m now in the phase of re-editing it. There are some sections that I’m so over, it makes me nauseous to read them. That’s a challenge but it needs to be done. Why is it that’s each time you read something you feel the need to make sweeping changes?  My goal is that by very early January the latest draft will be completed and sent to my supervisors for a further and final review because I really need to move on.

My favourite person’s observation that 2018 needs to be about my PhD makes sense. I’m a long way behind where I’d hoped to be.

There are good reasons, Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – The Food, Siracusa, Sicily

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Sitting at our favourite local coffee shop on a lovely Adelaide Autumn day, my favourite person and I quickly returned to our usual conversation – Sicily and when we can get back there.

There are so many things to talk about when it comes to Sicily but it’s the food that becomes the centre piece of pretty much all of our coffee conversations. Is it the freshness, the fish caught that morning, the local vegetables (seasonal produce only) or  the sweet temptations?

Oranges and Grapes a t the market

Oranges and Grapes a t the market

I guess it depends on what takes your fancy and across our nearly 2 months in Siracusa it all took its turn in delighting us. Staying so close to the Ortigia food market all food thoughts started at this truly special local market, just over the bridge on the island of Ortigia and next to the ancient Temple of Apollo. The choices grapes, pears, carrots, brocolli romanescue, bread, meats, fish and cheeses.

Fresh fish - Ortigia Market

Fresh fish – Ortigia Market

Even on days when we didn’t plan to cook in our apartment,  we still seemed to find things to buy at this delightful local market. Continue reading →

Out and about in Rome – Frascati

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Villa

Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati

Continuing with a desire to expand our horizons away from the heart of The Eternal City we decided to “Do as the Romans Do” and go to Frascati for the day, or more particularly for lunch.

Frascati is a small town located about 30 minutes by train from Rome. It is a favourite amongst the inhabitants of Rome to get away from the heat in summer or for an evening meal. Judging by the number of teenagers that shared our train ride it’s also a favourite place to get away from your parents on a Saturday afternoon.

After a late breakfast we caught the metro to Rome Termani and decided to walk around the up and coming Monti district which is located near the station.

Making us acutely aware of how much the world had changed in recent months each metro station had members of the army inside with hands on their machine guns. I’m pretty sure that they are not there to stop fare evaders!

imageMonti was once a poor area but is now quite trendy. Just the place for people like us. There are new modern bars and coffee shops and for the first time in months we saw food that was not just Italian . I saw a coupe fo Indian Restaurants and had instant cravings! Monti is also home to sone very trendy boutiques that immediately caught my favourite person’s eye as well as my daughter’s back in Australia with the benefit of WhatsApp.

There was lots of browsing in the boutiques but no purchasing. Continue reading →