23.12.14

2014, what a year!


2014 was a busy but great year!
It was a year of lots of traveling:

  • Andalucia - a hot road trip in one of my favorite places in Spain after a stop in Cordoba to visit the breathtaking Mosque, we headed to Seville and found a nice shadow under the trees at the Real Alcazar gardens and the Plaza de España arches - and oh, the food!
  • I still have to write about a weekend we spent at the beach in Rimini, another one in Barcelona, Hamburg, our first visit to the Snails Festival in Cherasco and also about a Mexican Paradise... so stay tuned for 2015!
2014 was also a year with lots of food:
And lets not forget the hotels like the Buddha Bar in Budapest and the toilet we won't forget :), the views of Seville's rooftops from the Hotel Fontecruz,  the modern Eurostars Palace in Cordoba, the comfortable 99 Bonham in Hong Kong, the Swissotel Shanghai and the weird gas mask in the drawer and even the nearby (but great if you have an early flight) Sheraton Malpensa.

But mostly, I will remember 2014 because the blog has finally started to be featured in other websites, newspapers and guides, and I couldn't be happier about this! There were the interviews with ExpatsBlog and Cheryl Howard's blog, my tips on the Radisson Blu Milan's blog, the feature on Die Zeit's Milan guide and my first article published on Matador Network (also in Spanish)! 

Happy holidays and a great start of 2015 to you all!
Hugs,
M.

10.12.14

Snapshots of Budapest

Random photos of cool places in this cool city.

8.12.14

Hungarian Parliament, Budapest

A quick post on this impressive building, world's third largest Parliament house.

14.11.14

Golosaria Food & Wine exhibition, Milan 15-17 November 2014

Hi all!
This Sunday, November 16, around noon (Italian time) I'll be live-tweeting from Golosaria Food & Wine exhibition in Milan!
So, what is Golosaria?
Golosaria is an exhibition that focuses on quality food and wine. It was created by Paolo Masobrio (wine and food critic, editor and opinion leader) and it's dedicated to all those who are "gluttonous for life" so, if you like good food and good wine, Golosaria is also for you.
Distributed in 8.000 square meters at Via Tortona's Superstudio Più, Golosaria will host Italian culinary excellences like Milanese caviar, lactose free cheeses from Crema, truffle from Le Marche, Sicilian panettone, etc. but also quality street food. There will be many conferences, meetings, labs, wine tastings, show cooking, etc. There will also be a reference to the coming Expo 2015, which is focused on food and sustainable growth.

So follow me on Twitter to check out my tweets and photos of the day! (My twitter account is @TheTFoodie)

Or if you want to visit Golosaria yourself this weekend, here's the info:
Golosaria 2014
15, 16 and 17 november 2014
MILAN - Superstudio Più via Tortona, 27
Nearest metro station: MM2 Porta Genova
Saturday 14 - 23, Sunday 10 - 20.30, Monday 10 - 17 
Tel. 0131261670 - email golosaria@clubpapillon.it
Ticket (at ticket office): € 10 for 1 day
Online ticket: € 8 for 1 day
2days ticket: € 15 - 3days ticket € 20



6.11.14

Top 5 burgers in Milan

Tired of having pasta, pizza, gelato, tramezzini, panzerotti & co. in Milan? Here's the deal with the burger scene in town...

27.10.14

Pesti Diszno, Budapest

Cute bistro nearby Budapest's opera house specializing in Hungarian classics and pork dishes.

23.10.14

Casa Ramen, Milan

We finally made to this famous tiny ramen place in Isola...
... and ramen here is as good as it gets.

14.10.14

Thermal bathing experience in Budapest

Trying the thermal baths in Budapest should be in everyone's to-do list while visiting the city.
As you might recall from this post from a couple of years ago, we were positively surprised by the thermal baths in Budapest, we thought the experience was going to be difficult and probably meh, but we found ourselves back home still thinking about how nice it was so as soon as we booked our tickets to go back to the city for some days, my research about the baths began.

9.10.14

Borkonyha Wine Kitchen, Budapest

I already knew there was good food in Budapest, but we were pleasantly surprised it turned out to be really good, I mean, Michelin-star good, so of course a visit to the recently awarded Borkonyha Wine Kitchen was mandatory.

1.10.14

Szimpla Kert, Budapest

Why is Szimpla Kert one of the coolest bars we've ever been to? Keep reading and watch the photos!

25.9.14

CultiVini, Budapest

This cool wine shop/bar/gallery kept us coming back for more everyday durnig our stay in Budapest, with great Hungarian wines and an interesting concept.


22.9.14

Borbíróság, Budapest

Surprisingly good meal right by Budapest's Grand Market Hall.
Borbíróság is a cute restaurant in a quiet square just next to the bustling Market Hall - that's where their ingredients mainly come from.

20.9.14

Buddha Bar Klotild Palace, Budapest

A great stay in this modern hotel hosted inside a beautiful historic building.
The cool Buddha Bar Hotel in Budapest is hosted inside the beautiful Klotild Palace, right off Vaci Utca, Budapest's main shopping street, right outside the Ferenc Ter metro stop and minutes away from the city's main sights.

13.9.14

Carlsberg brewery, Copenhagen

This is the sign you see as you arrive to Copenhagen Airport which states that, according to the World Happiness Report 2013, Denmark is the world's happiest nation, therefore we should toast with a Carlsberg! (and since we're there, visit this historic brewery...)

7.9.14

Copenhagen Street Food

You know I love all things Danish: design, food, beer, mentality, etc. So when I heard about this place selling all kinds of street food, I knew I had to visit and I was sure I was going to love it but, there were a couple of hiccups that made it less great for me.

5.9.14

Mangiari di Strada, Milan

After a bad experience with street food in Milan (keep reading if you want to know), we finally tried Mangiari di Strada and were not disappointed!

3.9.14

Plaza de España, Seville

 A walk through the impressive monument built for the Ibero-american exhibition in 1929.
Perhaps you remember it from Star Wars: it was used for some of the scenes of a couple of episodes of the saga. Also on Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator.

1.9.14

Garlochí, Seville

This tiny bar filled with virgins, velvet and inciense is definitely a must-see in Seville.

30.8.14

Real Alcazar, Seville

The Real Alcazar is another UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the most beautiful constructions in Seville, Spain and the World.

28.8.14

Triana market & Guadalquivir river, Seville

After the visit to the Cathedral and climb to the top of the Giralda tower, we went for a walk under the summer sun along the Guadalquivir and arrived to the Triana market.

26.8.14

Cathedral of Seville

"Let's build a church so beautiful and big that those who see it will think we're mad"
The impressive Cathedral, with its five naves is the largest Gothic building in Europe and part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites' list.

16.8.14

Hotel Fontecruz, Seville

Nice design touches and excellent views of the Cathedral from the rooftop of this 4-stars hotel in the heart of Seville.
 

10.8.14

Snapshots (& food) of Cordoba

"Nunca merezcan mis ausentes ojos
Ver tu muro, tus torres y tu río,
Tu llano y sierra, ¡oh patria, oh flor de España!"
- Luis de Góngora, A Córdoba
([if] my absent eyes should never again deserve
 to see your walls, your tower and your river 
your plain and mountains, my homeland, the flower of Spain!)

Cordoba might be considered a small city now, but as we read in this post, it was once the capital of Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) and the center of its cultural and political life.

7.8.14

Cathedral Mosque, Cordoba

One of the world's most impressive monuments, rich of history and culture.
As much as we wanted to, we couldn't spend the whole day in Cordoba at the Mercado Victoria eating & drinking, so the time came to visit the breathtaking Cathedral Mosque.

4.8.14

Mercado Victoria, Cordoba

"Happy ever after in the market place..."
 
 The Mercado Victoria is one of those pleasant surprises Cordoba has to offer. Especially for market nuts like myself.

2.8.14

26.7.14

24.7.14

Wong Tai Sin Temple, Hong Kong

A colorful temple for 3 religions in Hong Kong.
The Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple is home to Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism but it's mostly famous because it "makes every wish come true upon request".

19.7.14

10 ideas for the summer in Milan

Summer is finally here but... what if everyone is leaving town and you're stuck in Milan?
Here are 10 ideas to survive the Milanese summer:

17.7.14

A day in Macau - part 2

As I was explaining in the last post, we arrived to the A-Ma Temple, next to the Maritime Museum in the southern part of the Macau peninsula.

15.7.14

A day in Macau - part 1

Macau is a Special Administrative Region of China. It was once a Portuguese colony and it is now the Asian capital of gambling, which is why it's called the "Las Vegas of Asia", although it generates more revenue than Las Vegas itself.
Macau is not only gambling and big hotels, after centuries of Portuguese colonization (it was the first and last European colony in Asia), historical, cultural and culinary remains can be seen all over the place.

11.7.14

Tung Po, Hong Kong

Excellent seafood in a joyous atmosphere in another Bourdain-featured restaurant in Hong Kong

Have you ever entered a restaurant with such a happy atmosphere that made you smile? Even if you had to drink your beer from a tiny pot and the floor cracked under your feet from the water/trash where you were stepping on? All this while drooling over the dishes as they kept coming out of the kitchens? If not, then you probably haven't been to Tung Po.