The Central Market of Cádiz is memorable to say the least.
Over 100 food stands in an ancient stone marketplace.
Surrounding the Market are different stalls where you can sample the best of Cádiz’s traditional cuisine.
Street urchins.
I wasn’t all that adventurous, opting only for the very popular street paella.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Scouse (/skaʊs/; formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English is an accent and dialect of English associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside. …
Scouse is also a general term for this pan-ethnic community or Liverpudlians in general. The accent is named after scouse, a stew eaten by sailors and locals. …
You can’t be called a “scouser” unless you eat this stew — every day, I assume. 😀
Lunya restaurant was recommended. Their version has a Catalan twist.
The more books I read in the Dordogne Mysteries series, the more I like them.
Bruno is the Chief of Police in a small French town in the Périgord region.
Bruno’s friends remind me a bit of the folks in Three Pines, Quebec.
Charming.
Each murder is almost incidental to the scenes of rural life. Especially the food!
In this one, after a death seemingly from heart attack, Bruno discovers that both a local retirement home and their insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch.
An excellent tale.
To Kill a Troubadour (2022) is 15th in the Bruno, Chief of Police series.
Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges is the superhuman village policeman in a small town in the Périgord region of France.
The British author has a home there. Walker is an excellent writer though I found this book somewhat overly complicated and detailed. It slowed down the story which revolves around Russians trying to disrupt Spain around the issue of the Catalan independence movement.
… a wonderful mix of crime investigation, scrumptious food, Périgordian history, Bruno’s friends and colleagues, and of course, Bruno himself.
And readers also get a healthy dose of Bruno’s basset hound, Balzac, and Balzac’s adorable new pup, “the Bruce”. …
Review of To Kill a Troubadour
I do recommend the book.
I cycled out to Silver Meadows Farm to join in their annual Thanksgiving Fall Harvest Market.
FUN.
Mary hosted Thanksgiving dinner. This year a CHICKEN rather than turkey.
Out at Goats on the Roof on VANCOUVER ISLAND there’s a fire engine with a grill on the roof.
Recommended.
Dad and I quite liked both the burger and dog.
I visited Oxford in 2018. Really enjoyed it.
So in 2022 I planned a trip to rival Cambridge. Home town of Pink Floyd. 😀
The University of Cambridge was founded in 1209. And even today the highlight of the small city are the Colleges.
Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.
As the Church ran education in the early centuries, there are plenty of Churches.
One place I really did enjoy was The Orchard Tea Garden outside of town.
On advice from a local, I had the FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST mess at Cafe 24. I ASSuME this is where Sir Isaac Newton broke fast. 😀
I do think it would be super inspiring to be a student here.
The libraries and bookstores are fantastic.
Cycling town I happened to come upon AstraZeneca. The British-Swedish multinational company has its Head Office here. Moderna has headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts so there’s a bit of symmetry.
Click PLAY or watch the tourist pitch on YouTube.
Described as one of the “most beautiful cities in the world” by Forbes in 2010, I personally found it frustrating to explore on foot and by bike. MUCH is locked down. Bicycles prohibited. Views limited.
Oxford is better for the tourist.
I happened to be in London during the Notting Hill Carnival, which had been cancelled the previous 2 years due to Covid.
Fun. Loud. Fragrant with the smells of cooking barbecue.
Dancing. Drinking.
I particularly like how ANYONE with any kind of body and any kind of costume is welcome to join in the parade. Very body positive.
Saturday is the family friendly parade. Plenty of activities for kids.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
No anger or violence that I could see. Of course there’s a large police presence — all very friendly.
… an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1965 … each August over two days (the August bank holiday Monday and the preceding Sunday).
It is led by members of the British Caribbean community, and attracts around two and a half million people annually, making it one of the world’s largest street festivals, and a significant event in British African Caribbean and British Indo-Caribbean culture. …
Everyone welcome. If I’d put on my make-up, costume and peacock headdress, I’d have fit right in. 😀
My only previous experience with Carnival was in Colonia, Uruguay in 2018.
related – Notting Hill carnival 2022 – in pictures
EVERYTHING is expensive in Norway. 😕
For the most part, I ate supermarket food. Cooked in a hostel or on my camping stove. SPAR was by far my favourite chain. They have grocery stores in 48 nations.
SPAR is the only chain that always has hot deli food, often discounted by 50% late in the day. As everywhere, rotisserie chicken is the best value food in Norway. At least for me.
SPAR sells a low-cost brand called “First Price“ which is often WAY cheaper than name brand alternatives.
The most recommended (lower priced) seafood in Tromsø was the Dragoy Fish and Chips restaurant. I tried both these two meals for about US $21 each. OK — not great. And not worth the price.
I asked for something local, traditional at another restaurant — and got this … something like meatloaf with an egg on top.
My favourite restaurant meal was reindeer stew. This glass of wine was the only booze I had in Norway. Beer is everywhere, including grocery stores. Wine not all that popular.
To be fair, I don’t like restaurants anywhere unless I’m socializing with other people.
Happily, Diet Coca-cola is not expensive in Norway, IF you buy 4 bottles at a time. And I’m OK with that. 😀
Weirdly, many hostels did not have a toaster. Gourmands of my class only require kettle, microwave … and a toaster.
I went to cycle and hike the Lyngen Alps inspired by Matthew’s recommendation.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Starting in the tourist town Tromsø, I cycled out to stay 2 nights at Magic Mountain Lodge is in Lyngseidet.
It’s an excellent adventure hotel that also offers dorm beds for about $35 / night.
I’ll never forget their reindeer stew with lingonberries served me on night #2.
I cycled to enjoy the best views I could get of the Lyngen Alps. Finishing in Nord-Lenangen where I caught the fast ferry back to Tromsø late on a Sunday night.
Click PLAY or watch highlights of my 3 day adventure on YouTube.
Here are a few of the photos I captured.
Rick McCharles 