Travel - The Hungry Nomad

Athens, Bakery, Bar, Brunch, Coffee Shop, Europe, Food, Greece, Greek food, Ice Cream, Travel, Wine Bar

The Hungry Nomad’s Guide to Athens | Greece

July 23, 2013 1 Comment

After living in hot and lively Athens on and off for almost four years, I’m now on to new adventures. About high time for a small, and very personal, guide to my favorites in the city! Also, just in time for Tala’s visit and I can’t wait to see how she will experience the city and what she will add to this list.

I absolutely loved living in Athens, it’s such a bubbly, messy and creative city. Times have changed though in the last years and I’m so happy that the owners of my favorite places are still going strong. If I would have to say why I would recommend most of the places below, it’s because they are lovely people (do take your time to chat with people here), they promote either local produce or local design, and usually give a modern twist to Greek tradition which I thoroughly believe in and, not unimportant, enjoy immensely. Most are located in amazing central spots, aren’t ‘touristy’ and simply serve great stuff. All of these are based in or very close to the centre (no suburb recommendations, sorry!). Thus, easy to find if you’re in town only for a couple of days or great to frequent if you’re staying here for a longer time, as I have done. Do wander the backstreets of Athens, you’ll surely find many more hidden gems.

I hope this guide will help you explore and love this city with all its contradictions as much as I do.

Acropolis & around

Filistron | Restaurant

Apostolou Pavlou 23 (in between Acropolis & Thissio Metro stations)

Close to one of the oldest open-air cinemas in the centre of Athens, an upscale tavern with great versions of traditional Greek food (pictured is the delicious Greek bottarga with dried figs & cream cheese), good wine list and the absolute best view of the city. Do make a reservation for the roof terrace (not open in winter), it’s one of the few places in Athens that needs one. Open for dinner only.

Fabrika Arts & Crafts/PSIT Jewelry/Sous-Sol Furniture & Lightning | Shops

Veikou street 9/6 (Acropolis Metro station)

Our little neighborhood behind the Acropolis is up and coming. More and more little independent shops have opened, offering you great hand-crafted alternatives for the traditional souvenirs. If you’re lucky, you’ll stumble upon one of their street parties!

Gelatopoli | Ice Cream & Coffee

Dionysiou Areopagitou 8 (Acropolis Metro station)

Close the new Acropolis Museum (which I believe we will continue to lovingly call the ‘new’ museum forever), simply sweet ice cream and delicious fair-trade freddo cappuccinos that are very reasonably priced for this area. Do try iced coffees if you’re in town during the summer. The Greek generally prefer ‘frappes’ made with nescafe, but I personally like either iced espresso or cappuccino. When you order, add whether you want it sweet, semi-sweet or without sugar and you’ll be sipping your favorite cold coffee in no time.

Makriyianni 3| Coffee Shop & Sandwiches

Makriyianni 3 (Acropolis Metro station)

Click on the link to check out an earlier post I wrote about our favorite neighborhood cafe. In the past years it has been surrounded by new cafes and bistros, but we still return to this lovely shop.

Fresko | Dessert

Dionysiou Areopagitou 3 (Acropolis Metro station)

With frozen yoghurt being the hype for a couple of years now (and being mainly very disappointing), Fresko serves actual Greek yoghurt with your choice of traditional Greek spoon sweets. Do ask to sample all their different yoghurts, you’ll be surprised by the flavors.

O Takis | Bakery & Sandwiches

Misaralioutou 14 (Acropolis Metro station)

Known by virtually everyone in the center of the city, Takis is hands down the best bakery in town. A family store for generations, they serve absolutely amazing traditional fare such as cheese pies, koulouria and little bread rolls with olives and feta, but also delicious carrot cakes, rye bread, sandwiches with grilled veggies and fresh croissants oozing with chocolate. Go early in the morning before it’s all gone! Usually closed for holidays a few weeks in August.

Monasteraki & Plaka

TAF (The Art Foundation)| Art & Coffee/Drinks

Normanou 5 (Monasteraki Metro station)

The door always seems closed, but push it open and you’ll find yourself in a lovely courtyard surrounded by tiny traditional houses filled with ever changing art exhibitions. During the day it’s a cool hang-out for a coffee, at night delicious cocktails and good music.

Six D.O.G.S | Art & Coffee/Drinks

Avramiotou 6-8 (Monasteraki Metro station)

The bars are a bit too hip to my taste but walk down the steps through the tiny tunnel and you’ll find their garden, to me one of the nicest surprises in town. They serve just about anything: coffee & snacks (mediocre), organic wines and cocktails. One of the coolest places in summer during the day and with all the lights on in the trees at night. Click here to check out an earlier post I wrote about Six D.O.G.S.

Ice Scream | Ice Cream & Coffee

Pandrosou Street 19 (Monasteraki Metro Station)

Conveniently at the edge of the neigborhoods of Plaka & Monasteraki and close to the main shopping street Ermou, Ice Scream easily serves the prettiest (and perhaps tastiest) ice cream in town. They also serve milkshakes (hard to find in Athens) and my favorite frothy freddo cappuccino.

Yiasemi | All-round Cafe (coffee, dessert, drinks)

Mnisikleous 23 (Monasteraki Metro station)

Smack in the middle of the beautiful old neighborhood of Plaka, this seems the only cafe not catering towards tourists. Lovely people, home-made pies which you can pick out from a huge table (savory and sweet, all delicious!) and a few small dishes (the garlic and butter-filled mushrooms are my favorite). Great to have a break while showing your friends around the old town. In the summer sit at the lovely steps, in winter sit next to their fire place with some rakomelo. Click here to see an earlier review.

Hellenic Art & Design| Shop

Herefondos 10 (Acropolis or Monasteraki Metro station)

Tiny store selling beautiful and funny modern arts and crafts from Greek designers (including from the people at Greece is for Lovers and Paper Kingdom). The lovely owner loves a chat and tell you all about her wares.

Syntagma & around

Oinoscent | Wine Bar & Shop

Voulis 44A in between Syntagma and Plaka (Syntagma Metro station)

Awesome wine bar and shop. I love these guys (we got engaged here so I might be partial) and ordered lots of really good Greek prosecco from them for our wedding. Knowledgeable about wines, serving delicious ones from all over Greece and abroad, wonderfully paired with their plates of cheeses & cold cuts. Take your favorite bottle with you from their shop or get it delivered.

Ippolito | Shop

Voulis 38 (Syntagma Metro station)

If you’re looking for a unique bag or clutch to take home with you, this is the place. Gorgeous Pavlina designs beautiful, elegant and quirky leather bags in small quantities, accompanied by her adorable Geppetto (look at him striking a pose in the picture below! His dog collar is also by Ippolito).

Filema | Tavern

Romvis 16 (Syntagma Metro Station)

Our favorite laid-back tavern and the one I’ve visited most of all restaurants in town and the one I request to go to every time I come back from abroad. Real central Athenian vibe (a bit gritty and extremely likable at the same time) just behind the bustle of Ermou street. In the summer you sit at the side of this little street. Service is personal and informal, food is simple, fresh and of great quality. You will find all your Greek favorites here from beef burgers and tzatziki to fried anchovies and Greek salad. Check out this post for pictures.

Korres| Shop

Ermou street (Syntagma Metro Station)

The beauty products of Korres are sold in all pharmacies throughout Greece (and are also popular abroad), but since the beginning of this year Korres also has its very own store at the start of the main shopping street of Ermou. Natural products that smell delicious (such as Vanilla Cinnamon and Bergamot Pear shower gels) with great design. I’ve been a loyal fan ever since I first came to Greece seven years ago.

Mama Roux | All-round Cafe (coffee, lunch, drinks)

Aiolou Street 48, near Kolokotroni Street (Monasteraki or Syntagma Metro Station)

Mama Roux is one of Athens’ internationally oriented places serving American pancakes for Sunday brunch (brunch! Impossible to find elsewhere in town), falafel for lunch and cocktails & music for your night out. I’ve tasted just about everything on the menu and find it all delicious. Great, relaxed vibe. Check ahead if you’re coming this August, they’re closed part of the month.

Heteroclito | Wine Bar

Fokionis 2 (Syntagma Metro station)

Just off Ermou street, this new and hip wine bar also serves other hard-to-source local drinks such as specialty beer from the island of Zakynthos (which even my Zakynthian husband had never even heard of and absolutely loved). Great fresh snacks too.

Psyrri

Cantina Social |Bar

Leokoriou Street 8 (Thissio or Monasteraki Metro Station)

Hidden at the end of a little stoa, this bar has a great garden with videos playing on the huge wall that surrounds it. Also serves coffee. Good music, cocktails and relaxed crowd. Visit after having taken a stroll throughout the neighborhood of Psyrri during the day when it is quiet and serene before the party-goers arrive.

Kerameikos

Bios Terrace & Elvis Souvlaki | Bar & Mid-night Souvlaki

Peireos 84 & Plataion 29/Leonidou (Kerameikos or Thissio Metro Station)

Excuse the photographs, but I really wanted to add these two to my list of go-to places. During the summer the Bios terrace is open with an absolutely amazing view of the Acropolis (for the surprise factor I didn’t add that specific picture, ha!). Just turn into the side street when you reach Peireos 84 and go up the stairs. When you’re done sipping your drink, meeting some nice new friends and staring at the view (they have one of those old-school coin-operated binoculars) you can head into the gritty neighborhood towards Elvis and get the traditional late-night snack of Greece: souvlaki. Great night out.

Last thoughts

There is so much more to see and to eat than what I’ve mentioned above.

Go take a walk up Filopappou hill at dusk to get an awe-inspiring view of the city and the sea.
Go visit the Acropolis museum (gorgeous! the light! nice restaurant too) and Benaki museum (roof terrace, beautiful building!).
I would definitely recommend visiting the neighborhood of Exarcheia (originally the anarchist area of town) where there are great bars and taverns to be found and to understand the versatility of this city.
Also the residential area of Petralona is worth a visit food-wise. A favorite among all my friends there is the French bistro Chez Lucien where you can practice your French with the patrons and imagine you’re in Paris for a little while.
Look around you at all the great street art: stencils, graffiti and stickers.

Lastly, if you don’t have the time to go explore on your own or simply want to see Athens like an insider, check out Alternative Tours of Athens. I’ve been on one of their free tours (great concept) focusing on new designers and I loved it!

p.s. A little warning to prevent disappointments: most Greeks go on holidays during August and some shops might be closed if you visit during this month. Check ahead, I added links whenever available.

p.p.s Athens sadly is not the best European city to visit if you have a mobility impairment. However, the areas around the Acropolis (including the museum and the pedestrian street of Dionysiou Areopagitou), Monasteraki and the main streets of Plaka are doable. Plus, in general people are extremely helpful if you need a hand.

Lisbon, Portugal, Travel

Bar Food Portuguese Style (Lisbon, Portugal)

July 13, 2013 1 Comment

The Portuguese are a proud people and have a beautiful history and culture. Moreover, they claim that they have the best food in the world. As a foodie, I’d have to say that it is one of the most underrated cuisines and one of the best.

Always on a quest to blend in with the locals, we found a local tavern with the menu written on the blackboard wall and a crowd of Portuguese men standing at the bar. Always a good sign. With little next to no Portuguese we made good use of our fingers to point at what we wanted and ended up with the two most simple yet incredibly delicious sandwiches. Fresh bread, jamon and tomatoes and a plate of crispy chips. Freshly squeezed lemonade helped wash down the meal.

Travel

Olá Lisboa, Portugal

July 9, 2013 No Comments

Our first stop on our European journey is Lisbon, Portugal.

Ah Lisbon. It’s been a while. The last time I walked the shiny marble cobble streets of Lisbon was over 9 years ago. I immediately fell in love with the city, people, culture and food and vowed to return one day.

A city full of life, sun and color. A city that is vastly underrated by tourists. All the better for us. Less line ups at breathtaking sights, good food and nice genuine hospitality. Follow along to see what we see, where we go, and what we eat.

Europe, Food, Spain, Travel

A Day in Asiego, Spain

June 26, 2013 1 Comment

Although most people think of sun, sangria, and flamenco dancers when they think about Spain, I recently returned from a part of the country that is a bit different from these things. I spent a semester in Oviedo, Spain, studying Spanish language and culture. While I have been studying the language for many years, I really didn’t know much about the culture of Spain before I moved there. Like many people, I only knew of the Spain I saw on TV promoting cruises that stopped in places like Barcelona and Ibiza, and these ads did nothing to prepare me for the lifestyle of Oviedo.

Oviedo is the capital of a region known as Asturias. Asturians are proud of their culture and many of the people I met in Oviedo had families that had lived here for generations. One part of the culture that I obviously enjoyed was the food and drink. Every month, the group of students from Temple University was taken out by our program director in order to try Asturian food. Once we were able to see where a lot of these traditional foods are made by taking a trip to the village of Asiego.

Here we participated in a two-hour tour of the area where we discovered how the popular Asturian hard cider called sidra and Cabrales blue cheese are made. Over these two hours, the man who owned the farm told us about the fermentation process for sidra and how the Cabrales that the farm produces is a mix of both cow and goat milk. Even though most of us were looking forward to the dining portion of the trip, we definitely learned a lot about the way that these foods are created.

After the tour, we were served a traditional Asturian spread for lunch which included over 10 dishes. We each began the lunch with sidra and although it is a cider, it is very different from the cider we drink in the States. It is normally served by a waiter who pours the drink by holding the sidra bottle above his head and the glass around thigh height.

This process carbonates the drink and after a few seconds of pouring, a glass with about an inch of sidra in it is presented to you and you promptly chug it. I tend to prefer sidra to other ciders because it’s a bit more tart and acidic than the canned American brand.

Quickly after we were done with our first glasses of the drink, the family of the man who gave us the tour started to bring out lunch. By this time it was around three in the afternoon, typical lunch time in Spain. It began with salad, bread, and both Cabrales and Manchego cheeses. The Cabrales was accompanied by an apple jam and honey in order to balance out the strong taste of this blue.

I started to feel full after just this course, but it was followed by chorizo cooked in sidra, blood sausage, and some of the best wild boar I’ve ever had. The wild boar was one of the stand out dishes for me since it was incredibly tender, flavorful, and it isn’t something I have the pleasure of eating often.

Overall, all of the food was great, and the controversial blood sausage was the only dish people disagreeing about since a lot of the students were a bit too squeamish to try it. After lunch we were served a homemade pudding with applesauce and nuts on top which provide a nice, light, refreshing end to the meal. While I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences during my year abroad, this feast in Asiego was one of the events that really stood out to me and is one dining experience I don’t plan on forgetting anytime soon!

Food, Hoi An, Travel, Vietnam, Vietnamese

The Last Great Taste of Hoi An Food Tour (Hoi An, Vietnam)

June 23, 2013 3 Comments

Hoi An is a magical place in Vietnam. Full of color and beauty. The cuisine is also one of the best we tasted on our journey through Vietnam. With more than 100 restaurants catering for tourists, there were so many restaurants to choose from and within the restaurants so many dishes to interpret. Most offer some Vietnamese dishes including the local specialties of White Rose, Fried Wontons, Cao Lau and Mi Quang along with some house variations of Vietnamese food.

The best way to learn more about Hoi An delicacies was through a food tour of which there were a handful. After a lot of research over the internet through tripadvisor and other travel review sites, we settled for one led by an old Australian couple who have resettled in Hoi An (something I wish I could do). The tour is called, The Last Great Taste of Hoi An and is highly recommended (although it is quite expensive for Vietnamese standards).

We started our walking tour visiting the colorful local Tan An Markets where we met and chat with stall holders about their food. Our walk then continued along both high streets and back streets, discovering out-of-the-way producers and street vendors making and selling a wide variety of exotic foods. Our final destination was a local restaurant where we enjoyed refreshments and tasted small samples of a wide selection of the local delicacies bought directly from the vendors – most of whom we saw or met on the tour.

Information for visitors:

http://tasteofhoian.com/

Tour Times
7.30 am – 12.00am

Bookings Essential
Family Restaurant
108 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street
Hoi An Ancient Town
Telephone: 09053TASTE (0905 382 783) or 0121 7621 693
Email: theteacher@tasteofhoian.com

Food, New Orleans, Travel

Bonjour New Orleans!

June 5, 2013 3 Comments

The Hungry Nomad is spending this week in New Orleans discovering new restaurants and old favorites.

Food, New Jersey, Travel, USA

A Foodie’s Guide to Cape May (Cape May, New Jersey)

May 8, 2013 7 Comments

I’ll admit my experience and knowledge about New Jersey was very limited prior to moving to Philadelphia. It mostly involved landing in Newark airport and heading straight to New York trying to dodge Tony Soprano and other New Jersey cliches like MTV’s Jersey Shore and Bravo’s Housewives of New Jersey. I had no idea that the Jersey Shore would be so alluring and would break all those stereotypes I’d build over the years in my mind (thanks to cable tv).

Adapting to the culture in Philadelphia, we make it a point to frequent the ‘Shore’ on occasion when we need to get out of town for a quick getaway. And it may come as no surprise that our destination on the Jersey Shore is none other than Cape May: the oldest beachside resort in the country and the southernmost point in New Jersey. Cape May has stood the test of time, breaking all Jersey stereotypes and making it through stormy weather (of most recent, hurricane Sandy). This historic seaside resort was settled by wealthy Philadelphia families in the 18th century leading to the Victorian architecture which the town is known for.

Sleep: There are many beautiful Victorian bed and breakfasts to choose from including the Virginia Hotel but if in the mood for complete indulgence the Congress Hall is the hotel of choice. The hotel is set across the street from the beach offering beach cabanas, a pool, yoga classes and stunning views of the sea (not to mention great dining).

Eat: Amongst the many wonderful restaurants where lobster and seafood are a plenty a few stand out. For a fine dining experience, the Ebbit Room at the Virginia Hotel should not be missed. Other less expensive and delicious choices are Louisa’s Cafe, Tisha’s Cape May and George’s Place. For a good brunch served alongside a perfect Bloody Mary, the Mad Batter restaurant is our go to place.

Sweets: After lunch a stroll through Washington Street is the perfect way to work off the calories unless you have a sweet tooth like me which means you may be in trouble. Each trip is never complete without a trip to the saltwater taffy haven at James Candy Company where you can choose from a range of flavors and pay by scale. Just a few minutes away is the Cape May Popcorn factory where the smell will lure you in before the brilliant yellow and green colored building attracts you visually. In the summertime, crowds will line up to get their hands on some tasty frozen custard from Kohr’s Brothers. My favorite is the vanilla/orange creamsicle blend. It’s not to be missed. Just off Washington street lies the cutest and tiniest chocolate shop I’ve ever seen. Louisa’s Chocolate Bar is not to be missed if you like gourmet chocolate treats.

HCMC, Travel, Vietnam

Journey to Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)

May 1, 2013 2 Comments

After almost a week in Hoi An relaxing by the beach, eating delicious Hoi An specialties and buying enough lanterns to fill an entire suitcase, we took a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). HCMC was exactly the opposite of Hanoi, commercialized, busy and overall what you would expect from a large city. Besides posters of Ho Chi Minh and communist flags there was little evidence of communism.

We spent 2.5 days in Saigon which in my opinion was enough time if you have a tight travel schedule. The best part of our trip was our incredible stay at the Intercontinental Saigon which was well located in the middle of everything, the rooms were incredibly comfortable, service top notch and the breakfast buffet was a feast not to be missed.

Day 1: Starting off at the Intercontinental we walked to the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral.

Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral- No. 1 Cong truong Cong xa Paris St. A massive site and reminder of French colonialism dating back to the 1800’s. The Cathedral is made from materials shipped in from France like the red bricks of the outside walls which retain their bright and lively red color. To the right of the Cathedral stands the Central Post Office another beautiful site designed by France’s own Gustave Eiffel (as in the Eiffel Tower). The walls are covered with paintings of historic maps of Saigon, Cholon and South Vietnam. Walking further across the square in front of the Cathedral, we arrived at 30/4 Park, a perfectly manicured green space with many large signs of Ho Chi Minh, reminding those who forget that the country is formally a Communist nation. After a walk through the park, we arrived at the grand Reunification Palace (formerly the Independence Palace).

Reunification Palace: 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. It is a site worth visiting for the history buffs and those who remember the North Vietnamese tanks breaking through the gates of the Palace on April 30th, 1975. The palace was built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City and designed by architect Ngo Viet Thu. As Vietnam was split into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, the building served as presidential home and workplace (with eerie underground bunker beds and war rooms). It is now a museum and a reminder to all of Vietnam’s past. The building itself is a mix of traditional and modern design.

Next, we walked across town to the newly built Bitexco Financial Tower which really seems to represent today’s Vietnam. For 200,000 dong you can ride all the way up the 68 storey building to take in the view of Saigon. The building is designed in a shape of a lotus flower bulb although I really did not see the resemblance. Walking through a close by market really highlights the contrast of the old and the new, summing up today’s HCMC.

In the afternoon, we decided that the best way to see as much of HCMC as we could we would sign up for a city tour. It turned out to be a great experience, our tour guide well conversant in English and explained the history and importance of every place we visited thoroughly. The tour started off at the Jade Emperor Pagoda.

Jade Emperor Pagoda- Phuoc Hai Tu, 73 D Mai Thi Luu). A small pagoda set north of the botanical gardens on Nguyen Binh Khiem, in a side street filled with turtles, birds and clouds of incense smoke. Did you know that the smoke from the incense represents a path for followers to send their message to the Buddha? The pagoda was built by the city’s Cantonese community at the turn of the century, the Jade Emperor guards the entrance to heaven and decides who gets in. Inside of the main sanctuary is the Hall of the 10 Hells. I would have understood nothing had it not been for our tour guide who explained that the wooden panels depict the 10 levels of hell and what is awaiting sinners in each level.

We then made our way to the Ben Thanh Market where our guide gave us 30 minutes to shop around. We were told to offer 30% of the asking price on anything (sadly we only learned this on the second to last day of our trip). This made things difficult as it’s hard to bargain when coming from a country where bargaining is practically non-existent. The market itself was also built by the French in 1870 and was called Les Halles Centrales (similar to Les Halles in Paris) before being renamed in 1912. You can find practically anything in the market although nothing is that cheap. We left with little in hand. And made a visit in the evening to the neighboring night market to scavenge for good deals. Again left empty handed. But the food at the market is not to be missed. This is real Vietnamese food at its best. One section of the market is lined with food stalls offering freshly made to order dishes.

We were then transported to buzzing, energetic and colorful streets of Cholon in District 5– the Chinese district of Saigon. Prior to visiting the area I had my Western vision of a distinct ‘Chinatown’ like the ones I am used to seeing in Canada and the US. However, there was nothing distinctly Chinese about the area except the history. Cholon meaning ‘big market’ is covered with a series of streets filled with various vendors including traditional chinese herb shops and everything else you may need if you search long enough. The area also is home to the Binh Tay market, a Chinese style architectural market which strictly sells wholesale goods.

While traveling through the area we were repeatedly told to watch out for our belongings, even to the point of taking off any gold necklaces, storing cameras in our bags and keeping a low profile. But more scary than the prospect of being robbed was dodging the millions of motorbikes which drove on with purpose and an amazing orderly chaos which is quite admirable. Day 2: Cu Chi Tunnels

We decided that our second day in Saigon would be spent floating through the Saigon river to the Chu Chi Tunnels. Although hesitant at first I am glad that I chose to do this as it was one of the highlights of my trip (although my minor in college was history and I spent a lot of time studying the Vietnam war- it might not be a priority for those who don’t care much about war remnants). We went with a boat tour that served breakfast and lunch on the high speed boat arranged through our hotel. It was the best way to visit the area. Once off the boat we were taken to a shelter where we were shown a black and white war propoganda movie. Next came the tour of the underground tunnels which are slightly scary, especially for those who have claustrophobic tendencies. I for one could only make it half way and had to retrace my steps back out gasping for air. To think that entire villages lived underground in these conditions for years during the Vietnam War is truly heartbreaking.

Our stay in Saigon was short and sweet. Despite it being a large city there is plenty to do and see. During most of our stay in HCMC we were warned by hotel staff, restaurant staff and anyone who chose to talk to us to becareful with our belongings and my prized Nikon (I chose to leave it in the hotel safe on the second day out). Despite the warnings, we had a relatively safe stay in HCMC, with the only minor detail of paying a coconut street vendor almost $20 dollars for 3 coconuts. If you have good bargaining skills and street smarts you should be okay. Ending our trip to Vietnam in Saigon was bittersweet. I fell in love with Vietnam, the people and the food. There is so much history and so much beauty to this place, it’s no wonder so many countries were fighting over it for so long.

Philadelphia, Travel, USA

A cheeselover’s wonderland at Di Bruno Brothers- Italian Market (Philadelphia, USA)

April 30, 2013 No Comments

A trip to Philadelphia is never complete without a visit to the Italian Market made world famous by the scene in Rocky where Silvestor Stallone runs through the streets as a struggling boxer. But beyond the land of Rocky, it is the land of Spaghetti, Rigatoni and Fromagi. And if you are a cheese-lover like me you will not want to miss a trip to Di Bruno Brothers on 9th street (909 South 9th) where you can get your hands on more than 400 varieties of cheese, olives, bread, pastas, charcuterie and so much more. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and won’t say no to persistent attempts to try every single cheese on the menu.

Food, Hanoi, Hotel, Travel, Vietnam

The Hungry Nomad’s Guide to Hanoi (Vietnam)

April 12, 2013 12 Comments

Before leaving for Vietnam, I had heard mixed reviews. Travelers either loved it or hated it. Many said it was their least favorite country based on the attitude of the locals and how they were treated. I was skeptical going in and was expecting to come out the other end disliking it. I went in equipped with my prejudice and tales of other’s travels. But, after spending several weeks in the country, the verdict is in: I loved it (and my travel companions loved it). I loved the people, the food, the country and history. Of course, there are always isolated incidents of doing bad business, not bargaining properly and getting ripped off, or coming across someone who is having a bad day and just feels like being nasty. But I didn’t find my experience to be any different from my time in other countries like Thailand (remind me to tell you the story of the time I got kicked by a seller in Bangkok after walking away from a bad deal on a necklace).

We spent three whirlwind days in Hanoi. Arriving late at night, we were greeted warmly at our hotel, Le Mercure in the Hoan Lake District (94 Ly Thuong Kiet Street) [See map]. Our first traveller mishap occurred when my travel companion left his brand new iphone in the taxi. The hotel which had cameras on the outside, called the taxi agency and tracked down the driver who within 10 minutes brought back his phone! Besides their wonderful service, the hotel was beautiful, elegant and very clean. The staff were professional, courteous and very helpful. A continental and Asian breakfast was served from 6-10 am. A travel and tour agent desk was also located close to the dining area which helped us book many tours around Hanoi. After having spent a few days in Hanoi, we were extremely happy with our hotel choice and chose to spend an extra night after returning from Halong Bay.

Day 1 in Hanoi:

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