Posts tagged: Travel Tips

Some time ago (number of years not to be disclosed here) Nutmeg travelled to San Sebastian, Spain via train. At that point, backpack travel was heavily influenced by “Europe on $20 a Day” and where your Eurail pass would take you. So, she and her travel companion spent a total of two hours in Biarritz and about the same in Bordeaux.
A visit to France’s southwest was long overdue.
This time G&N are not travelling on Eurail passes or sleeping in hostels. They were booked on a six-day guided walking tour through the Pays Basque. Nutmeg convinced Ginger to visit Bordeaux, its famous vineyards and venture to the Atlantic coast for a few days before the walking trip started. As their available time shrunk, so did the itinerary. In the end, they decide on two nights in Bordeaux, two in wine country and two in Biarritz. Spain would have to wait for another time.
The drive from Provence to Bordeaux is a…

Recipes & Travel:
Blaye, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Wines, France, Travel Tips

Finally, G&N landed “down-under” on a 30-day Australian “bucket list” trip –  it had been a 25-year discussion.
Described by friends as “Vancouver without the mountains” and “Stockholm with more people,” Sydney is Sydney without any comparable. Not entirely sure what to expect of the five-million person (not including visitors) metropolis the twosome stumbled out of their Darling Harbour hotel to explore the highlights. Late morning, after the 20-hour transit including a 16-hour flight leg the only thing on Nutmeg’s mind was finding a strong flat white coffee (maybe two).

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Recipes & Travel:
Hiking, Manly, Opera House, Sydney, Transit, Travel Tips, Urban walks

Unkempt and a bit frayed at the edges New Orleans just woke up with bed head.

This is the kind of place where potholes can swallow a car tire in a single bite and construction projects take decades. Flash flooding is frequent when it rains because there is nowhere for the water to go. The city’s residents have adapted, basements are practically unheard of and definitely a folly, slab on grade construction begs for slightly damp walls, and there is a festival of some description almost every day.

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Recipes & Travel:
GPSmyCity, New Orleans, Travel Tips, WWII Museum

Kasia Dietz is a transplanted New Yorker who has called Paris her home for the last seven years. The “City of Light” lured Dietz into its fabulous web of art, culture and fashion while she was studying International Marketing in London. Ok, there might have been a swarthy Italian too, but she says, “It’s always been a city I dreamt of calling home.”

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Recipes & Travel:
Fashion, Handbags, Kasia Dietz, Paris, Tours, Travel Tips, Weekend

The group emails started well before Christmas…
Would Nutmeg be interested in a girl’s getaway to Uzès?
Seriously?
As if, anyone needs to escape Provence.
Yes!

The proposed itinerary was to include a short visit to Uzès in the Gard. Many visitors who venture westward in Provence to see the Pont du Gard aqueduct, the amazing restored Roman structures in Nimes and the ancient walled city of Uzès, might not even realise they had crossed a regional border. The boundary today is indicated by a road sign, in the Middle Ages, it was marked by bloody religious and territorial battles.
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Recipes & Travel:
Gard, History, Hotels, Road Trip, Travel Tips, Uzès

Key West is mile zero on Florida’s Highway 1 (U.S. Route 1).
In 1928, it was also point zero for Ernest Hemingway and his pregnant (7-months) wife Pauline. Their Model-A Ford was not ready when they disembarked in Key West from Cuba, a 90-mile ferry crossing. They were going nowhere fast. The car dealer found accommodation for the couple in an attempt to make amends (try that today…).
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Recipes & Travel:
Florida, GPSmyCity, Key West, Must do Tips, Travel Tips

Nutmeg fully admits she is a Francophile, in her mind everything in France is superior to anywhere else – just ask Ginger. In fact, Nutmeg used a recent trip to the UK, for a family matter, as an excuse to head to France for 12 days. This year she has had the opportunity to expand her horizons with a couple recent trips to England and now has a growing appreciation for towpath walks and gastro-pubs. While Nutmeg definitely cannot understand driving on the “wrong side” of the road, she does appreciate an interesting travel tip, in this case, three…

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Recipes & Travel:
Archway Theatre, London, Saint Dunstan Church, Soane’s mausoleum, Travel Tips

Lonely Planet was wrong!
The road to Quinta Santo Antonio’s perch was not rutted, but it was vertical. Ginger and Nutmeg arrived at this B&B, balanced on tiny foothold of flat land between Douro Valley vine terraces, in a state of somewhat rattled marvel.

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Recipes & Travel:
Douro, Port wine, Porto, Portugal, Things you should know about Portugal, Travel Tips, Wines

Have you ever wondered…why do they take 200ml of body cream away at airport security only to let you buy 250ml in duty-free before boarding? Well, at least the plane was still scheduled to fly to Lisbon.

Nutmeg’s discovery of Portugal’s must see sights started with an email to 12 women with a tempting offer of accommodation in a Portuguese farmhouse. The email suggested a generally loose itinerary for the week and “bring your yoga mats.”
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Recipes & Travel:
History, Portugal, Travel, Travel Essentials in Portugal, Travel Tips

The French ski resort of Val d’Isère is buried at the end of a snowy alpine valley with the Italian border just beyond its steep ridges. For serious skiers, the allure of Val d’Isère is magnetic, as the childhood home of Jean Claude-Killy, the three-time gold medal winner at the Grenoble 1968 Olympics.

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Recipes & Travel:
Skiing, Skiing in France, Travel Tips