Category: food

Bikepacking Patagonia – day 7/8

On By Rick McIn best bike rides, cycling, food, travelLeave a comment

Jan 20-21, 2019 – 98km Castro to Parque Tantauco

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I’d gotten all the information I needed at the Castro office for Parque Tantauco. I anticipated a first class operation. 🙂

For some reason cycling felt easy today.  Perhaps the rest in Castro helped.

The ride was 80km of minor highway. Then 18km up a hilly gravel road. I didn’t stop for photos.

 

About 7pm I rolled up to the Park gates. Staff was playing with a family of foxes!

Too late in the day to make it to the first campground, friendly Rangers recommended I camp just outside the gates. For free.

Next morning I enjoyed a leisurely 20km ride stopping frequently to enjoy the sights. 😀

flush toilets!
800 years old
Lake Yaldad

It’s not crowded. There are only about 8000 visitors a year. This is considered a remote part of Chile.

I didn’t think the 38km road to Lake Chaiguata was particularly difficult in dry weather. Apparently you need a 4-wheel-drive when it’s wet.

I carried up only what I needed for one night. Stashed the rest of my kit back by the Park gates.

Tantauco Park is an attractive ecotourist destination due to the remarkable biodiversity of its nearly untouched Valdivian temperate rainforest.

Chaiguata is one of two campsites. The other is accessible only by floatplane, boat  … or 5-day walk.

Lake Chaiguata campsite

The billionaire President of Chile developed this Park privately. I have to say it’s MUCH grander than if the government of Chile developed it.

Park entrance is C$7.

The campsites are fantastic. As good as anywhere in the world. At C$30 / night each, they are expensive for Chile. It was raining as I set up.

Unique are these domes available for rent.

There are hot tubs for rent too.

My favourite spot was the expensive restaurant.

I highly recommend visiting unique Parque Tantauco. It’s a memorable experience.


parquetantauco.cl

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Christmas dinner 2018

On By Rick McIn food, McCharles familyLeave a comment

Rob and Yvonne hosted. Bev and Reg both contributed plenty of goodies.

As always, cards were a big part of the evening.

The food was GREAT. Traditional turkey dinner. A huge bird.

I ate too many desserts.

Reg’s home made chocolate covered candied ginger was the highlight for me.

The Bird and Baby, Oxford

On By Rick McIn books, food, travelLeave a comment

The Eagle and Child, nicknamed The Bird and Baby, is a pub in St Giles’ Street, Oxford, England, owned by St. John’s College, Oxford. The pub had been part of an endowment belonging to University College since the 17th century. …

When I stopped in for lunch, neither  Tolkien nor  Lewis nor any of the Inklings were there. Too bad.

I asked the barkeep for a recommendation. He suggested bangers and mash.

While I was there a library was hosting an exhibit titled Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth.

visiting Bled, Slovenia

On By Rick McIn food, hiking, travel1 Comment

Bled is a super popular tourist town on a tiny, lovely lake.

I had arrived at the hostel in Ljubljana at 10pm. Next morning by 9am I had joined a group headed for Bled.

It’s an adventure tourism mecca: rafting, canyoning, cycling, rock climbing, mountain climbing. I watched scuba divers climb into the lake first thing in the morning.

We had 2 cars and one motor bike. Fellow travellers from the U.K., California, Belgium, France and Singapore. One reason why I like hostels so much better than hotels.

I paid for my ride in beer. Standard hostel currency.

We circumambulated the lake. Visited the “castle“. Then drove off to hike Vintgar Gorge.

An excellent day was punctuated by this sunset.

Don’t forget your camera.

At dinner we met two guys from Zurich. One hoped to climb Triglav 2864m. With guide that costs about 200€. It’s tough to get an alpine hut booking during high season so he came in October.

I asked for a traditional Bled meal. Mostly meat.

T-bone steak at Rick’s Casablanca

On By Rick McIn food, movies, travelLeave a comment

Rick’s Café Casablanca …

My table.

Opened March 1, 2004, the place was designed to recreate the bar made famous by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the movie classic Casablanca.

Set in an old courtyard-style mansion built against the walls of the Old Medina of Casablanca, the restaurant – piano bar is filled with architectural and decorative details reminiscent of the film …

As Time Goes By is a common request to the in-house pianist.

I splurged on a steak, the best meal I’ve had in two months on the road.

Casablanca the 1942 movie was filmed entirely in Hollywood. They never came to Morocco.

Marrakesh’s crazy night market

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

Definitely the city highlight for me.

Jemaa el-Fnaa is a square and market place in Marrakesh‘s medina quarter (old city). …

During the day it is predominantly occupied by orange juice stalls, water sellers with traditional leather water-bags and brass cups, youths with chained Barbary apes and snake charmers despite the protected status of these species under Moroccan law. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My best experience in the city was here. At night. It was packed at 9pm on the Holy Day.

April 2011 there was a terrorist bombing her killing 17 people. Now there are cameras and a significant but discrete police presence. Still, you stay alert for scams and pickpockets.

traveling to the Lofoten Islands above the Arctic Circle

On By Rick McIn food, travel3 Comments

A couple of weeks have passed since I left Norway. I’m now in hot Morocco.

But what sticks most in my mind are the Lofoten Islands. I’d highly recommend you add this unique destination to your travel bucket list.

Here were my first impressions.

Finally made it to this unique, fascinating destination.

Å (the town) is located towards the southern end of the Lofoten archipelago.

I arrived there first, starting at the beginning. Later I learned Å is actually the LAST letter of the Norwegian alphabet.

arriving via ferry from Bodo

Raining and late, I decided to get a hostel room (in the museum) rather than tent.

Needing to eat, I ended up with a gourmet salmon dinner at the only restaurant open late Sunday night.

Next morning I wandered about enjoying the quirky, end of the road fishing village.

Why do people live on the Lofoten Islands?

Stockfish (mostly cod) and now tourism. Massive annual harvests here were historically dried on racks for export to nations including Portugal and Italy.

Stockfish is a staple of Nigerian cuisine too. And they like the fish heads in Nigerian cooking.

Like many other places in traditional Norway, sod roofs are popular here.

Until the late 19th century, it was the most common roof on rural log houses in Norway and large parts of the rest of Scandinavia. …

… it helps to compress the logs and make the walls more draught-proof.

In winter the total load may well increase to 400 or 500 kg per m² because of snow.

Sod is also a reasonably efficient insulator in a cold climate. The birch bark underneath ensures that the roof will be waterproof.