.All Trips / Europe / Food / Italy

More Almond Art

01a Marzipan, Cafe Etoile D’or Catania

I’ve previously published a post on “The Art of the Almond, featuring some of the beautiful marzipan creations we came across in Venice.  While sorting through my photos from Sicily, I found a few more nice examples.
Marzipan is made of ground almonds (almond meal) mixed with a sweetener like sugar or honey.  Marzipan is molded into the shape of fruit and vegetables and colored accordingly, producing these beautiful creations.
As with many things in life, the illusion is better than reality.  In my opinion, these creations look better than they taste — too nice to eat.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge photos)

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.All Trips / Asia / Food / India

The Meena Bazar, Delhi

00 Meena Bazar, Delhi

Meena Bazar is located in Old Delhi close to the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Red Fort. It’s an old sprawling market that’s impossible to completely take in during one visit. It seems as though most people shopping here knew what vendors they wanted to patronize, although of course there was a lot of browsing.
The Bazar was created during the Mughal era as a place for women from the Red Fort to go shopping (for clothes, jewelry, sarees, carpets, etc.). The market has grown significantly beyond its original presence inside the Red Fort and caters to all now, not just to women. It seemed to me that just about anything you might want, you could find for …

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.All Trips / Europe / Food / Poland

Jama Michalika cafe, Krakow

00 Jama Michalika Krakow

It was a cool damp fall day when my brother and I explored the King’s Road area of Krakow. We’d wandered around for a few hours and were looking for a cozy place serving something warm and good to eat.
We came across the Jama Michalika cafe, established in 1895.  It was warm and pleasant, if a little dim inside, but the decor was unusual and interesting and the café definitely had historic appeal.  The café had been a gathering place in the early 20th centuries for artists, actors and “modern thinkers”. 
The food was terrific! My brother enjoyed a bowl of borscht and I had some tasty dumplings (perogie). After lunch we headed to Krakow’s fabulous Market Square.
(Click on thumbnails to …

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“Pic of the Week”, June 4, 2021: Ray’s Seafood Restaurant, Seward

02 Seward Ray’s Restaurant

An excellent restaurant to consider when visiting Seward is Ray’s. Situated on the city’s beautiful harbor, it offers terrific views of the boats as they move about and the mountains of the Kenai peninsula. Ray’s has been a winner of the Alaska Best Restaurant Award.
The seafood was so good at Ray’s that we ate both dinners we were in town here.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)

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.All Trips / Central USA / Food / Missouri / North America

The Keeter Center, Branson

Keeter Center, College of the Ozarks 03

One of the most unusual colleges I’ve ever visited is the College of the Ozarks, and within that campus one of its most interesting buildings is the Keeter Center.
The Keeter Center is a beautiful multi-functional building that features excellent dining (the reason we visited the college was because the restaurant was so well regarded and recommended), a hotel, and an events center.  What makes the Center so unique is that it is staffed by college students who use their labors to “pay” for their studies as part of the College’s Work Education program.  By working 15 hours a week, students earn their tuition and can graduate college debt free.
Dobyns Dining Room is a beautiful space that …

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“Pic of the Week”, April 9, 2021: Etoile D’or Catania, a Sicilian Cafe

03 Cafe Etoile D’or Catania

It was surprisingly cold and damp when we visited Sicily a few Februaries ago. After walking about Catania for a few hours, it was always nice to stop for a cup of coffee and a pastry, to rest and warm up some.
A most pleasant finding was this fine bakery/cafe/snack bar in Catania, which we visited daily while in that city. The place exuded elegant 19th century charm, like so many in Europe. Here we met a wonderful cafe employee who was very kind to us but whose name currently eludes me. He treated us like welcome members of his family. 
The place specialized in a large variety of fresh-baked pastries and snacks (like pizza and buns with meat). Everything looked great …

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“Pic of the Week”, March 12, 2021: A Produce Shop in Brera

01 Fruit Market Brera neighborhood (2)

While exploring the Brera neighborhood of Milan, my wife and I came across this rather nice fruit/produce shop.
While not a farmer’s market, I was impressed with the freshness and high quality of the produce, and how attractively it was displayed.
(Clock on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)

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.All Trips / Asia / Food / India

Shopping in Jojawar, Rajasthan

02 Shopping

Jojawar is a small city in Rajasthan. Walking its streets is a good way to get a feel for how the people in the region sell their goods, shop, and live.
We spent a few days in Jojawar and had several opportunities to explore the area near our hotel. There were a large assortment of vendors selling everything from textiles and clothes, fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs, to assorted commonly used household goods.
(Clock on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)

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