Travel Archives - Page 17 of 28

North Carolina Spring: The Triangle to the Piedmont

April 20, 2017April 21, 2017 JWF Leave a comment

GARDENS

The greens are different in North Carolina and spring is softer than Florida. We were in Chapel Hill and Greensboro over the Easter weekend visiting my two sisters and their families. Lots of laughter, plenty of good food, and a chance to wander in several gardens. All the trees had leafed out, but the shade was between the yellow green (lime) of early spring and the robust hunter green of high summer. The azaleas were in full flower, iris too, with only the late variety tulips still hanging on. On our way to Winston-Salem, we stopped in the small town of Kernersville and explored the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Gardens, a small public garden with lots of potential. The visitors’ center is closed on weekends (strange, we thought), but we’d been told there were still tulips in bloom. The first beds we came upon were disappointing, but then on another side of the property were beds and beds of tulips still upright and mostly intact. A pleasing array of color. In Winston-Salem, we wandered around the Reynolda Gardens, on the former estate of R. J. Reynolds. Aside from the trailing wisteria, there was more to see inside the conservatory than outside. I was particularly struck by the bold gerbera daisies.

EATING AND SHOPPING

It was a family tradition for many years that every Hancock Reunion (held in the summertime) included a ham dinner. That was roast ham served with scalloped potatoes, a vegetable such as green beans or corn, and, most likely, a green salad. For dinner with my sisters, their husbands and my niece and her husband one night, it was potluck style. Ham provided by the hosts was the centerpiece (Honey-baked), along with a salad of greens and herbs from one sister’s garden, and a porcini mushroom rice dish from my niece and nephew, followed by brownies and lemon squares for dessert. Times do evolve; the previous generation would not have related to those mushrooms!

In Kernersville after the Ciener garden, we had lunch at a small place called Bistro B. Their claim to fame seems to be specialty wine dinners with a set menu and also a nice selection of tapas. Our lunch was simpler fare, but very satisfying. I had their grilled chicken panini while others enjoyed a classic Reuben and a Cubano sandwich. All were enhanced with beer from their wide range of choices.

Pittsboro is a very small town south of Chapel Hill. Founded in 1787, it’s the county seat for Chatham County. Along with some attractive historic buildings, it boasts a street of arty shops and an old-timey soda shop. It was the S & T Soda Shoppe that drew us back for our third or fourth visit. Re-created to look old fashioned, it has a wooden counter and a series of booths and tables. Menu items are mostly sandwiches and burgers and a host of ice cream flavors. Their tuna melt on sunflower bread is consistently good as are the hot dog and the cheeseburger (my choice). We were there on Good Friday and followed our post working life rule of “always be early.” Arriving at 11:30 we had our choice of booths. Half an hour later, the place was packed with family groups waiting.

After lunch, we did the shops—that is, my sister and I. The men mostly sat on one of the several benches on main street. Several shops include artists’ note cards and other gift items along with painting and sculpture. French Connections is a treasure trove of French fabrics and table linens, statues and art work from Africa, lawn art, and baskets, while Circle City Books Music, ostensibly a used bookstore, had more new books than one would expect.

I’ve touted this other bookstore in the past, but it’s such a great store, I have to mention it again. It’s McIntyre Books in Fearrington Village (a bit south of Chapel Hill) and it’s a wonderfully well-stocked independent bookseller. We spent a good hour browsing and then, of course, buying! I picked up several paperback novels for myself, a children’s book for my granddaughter as well as several note cards. Simply heaven!

On our last evening in North Carolina, we were back in the Triangle area and enjoyed a lovely dinner at a small French restaurant, Rue Cler, in downtown Durham. We had the place mostly to ourselves and appreciated host Ryan’s warm welcome and friendly, efficient service. The black North Carolina sea bass entrée I had was superb! The fish was sautéed and served on a bed of spinach and capers with roasted potato cubes crusted with grainy mustard. Equally pleasing were the scallops of salmon with béarnaise sauce and the beef. To start, some of us had the house green salad, while others liked the frisee with French fries and the onion soup.

Images: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Down Memory Lane: Betsy’s Travels

February 24, 2017February 24, 2017 JWF 1 Comment

BON VOYAGE!

Before the age of 50, my mother, Betsy, had made one trip to Europe (25th wedding anniversary to England and Portugal) and several to Ontario, Canada, but that was it for foreign travel. In college, she studied Spanish and Portuguese and aspired to be an archaeologist in South America. That was before her good friend Marie introduced Betsy to her brother Erich. She married Erich, my father, and most travel, except visiting relatives in the Midwest, was shelved while they together raised four kids.

Widowed at 49, Betsy spent the next twenty-five years making up for lost time. She and my Aunt Lee, also a recent widow, traveled to Puerto Rico together—the first of Betsy’s many jaunts. In the early years, she routinely booked trips with the Smithsonian and bravely signed up to share a room (she was not a wealthy woman). These well-curated trips took her to much of South and Central America—Brazil, Peru, Santo Domingo, Haiti, and Guatemala—and then to Spain, the Netherlands and Egypt, enabling her to experience Machu Picchu, Dutch tulips, and the Pyramids. And to satisfy her curiosity about other cultures while feeding her keen interest in architecture. Later on, her trips were more domestic as she explored Seattle and Vancouver, New Orleans and Cajun Country, Baltimore and the Walters Art Museum, Santa Fe and the Southwest, and the art museums of the greater LA area. Wherever she traveled, she took photos. These were the days of film cameras and slides and more slides.

The last remnant of my mother’s memorabilia of more than 90 years of life is carousels and cartons of slides. I’ve been reviewing these slides, carousel by carousel, box after box. Those of weddings, graduations, and family reunions call up happy memories of my childhood and young adult years and good times with siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. Recently, I sent a big box of these slides off to a scanning service in California and, some weeks from now, my siblings and I will each receive a DVD of this precious snapshot of the past.

Going through the travel slides, most of which have no personal significance for me, I have been reminded of the extent of Betsy’s journeys and how much pleasure she gained from these trips. She read some of the suggested books beforehand, she kept notes, and she took pictures. Frequently, she used these slides as material for the talks she gave to Roundabout, a women’s study club she belonged to for more than 50 years.

I share some of my mother’s thirst for new horizons and new experiences. I was fortunate to begin my international travel in my 20’s with a 3-week trip to England, Germany, France, and Switzerland with my then newish husband. Thanks to the Chief Penguin’s scientific career, we two, and then three with our son, got to Europe and Asia a number of times for his commitments and once to Jerusalem for a library conference for me.

In retirement we have continued to travel to new venues (Vietnam and Valencia, for example) and old favorites (London, in particular). About every six weeks, I get itchy feet; it’s time to go someplace! It can be a weekend away, four weeks in NYC, a long trip, whatever, just a change of scene to mix things up. I understand my mother’s pent-up need to see the world.

Notes: Header photo of Machu Picchu and Kodak Carousel both from the web; flag globe from dreamtime.com

Gastronomic Valencia: Part 3

November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 JWF Leave a comment

MEALS

After time in Valencia, we traveled down the coast to the town of Denia where we enjoyed several Michelin-starred meals, a tasting and lunch at the home of vintner Gutierrez de la Vega, noted for his sweet Moscatel wine, and short visits to the Borja ducal palace in Gandia, and the 11^th century Moorish castle in Denia (under restoration). Shown here is the palace. Other high points included lunches at Casa Manolo in Daimus (I loved their take on caprese salad) and L’escaleta in Cocentaina (a really tasty sweetbread ficelle sandwich ) and the five hour extravaganza at Restaurante Quique Dacosta where we were served twenty-six different tastes or bites.

The theme at Quique Dacosta was Fronteras, translated as “borders,” but I might better call it “frontiers.” This was cuisine at its most refined and most creative, in some ways more of an intellectual experience. Precise attention to presentation and form in this meal. Everything from little puffs of cod, tuna belly with seaweed, a slice of dried octopus, to a beautiful crushed and dried tomato (the maître d’ came around with his hammer to do the crushing, one of my favorite courses), a langoustine with green curry, avocado and corn, to mushrooms served on the forest floor, a piece of completely black charred bread with romesco sauce for dipping, to a slender vase of roses with a tangle of apple in the center. Shown here the battered tomato, seaweed, part of one dish, and the wrapped langoustine. All quite amazing!

Coming back down to earth on our last day, we had a brisk walk in the lovely riverbed park in Valencia pausing only to gaze on Calatrava’s jarring and beautiful architectural forms: opera house, music hall and science museum. The final lunch was at a popular bar in working class neighborhood called Casa Montana. Here the food was comfortingly familiar looking. We began with sweetish vermouth over ice with tiny arbequina olives in the front of the bar. Then ducking under the counter to get to the back room (it’s a tradition to duck), we sat on high stools at longish tables for an array of tapas courses. From Iberian ham to braised broad beans, tuna marinated in seven spices, cod brandade, little roasted red peppers stuffed with tuna (my kind of tapa!), tiny slices of grilled beef with garlic (yum!) to several kinds of sheep cheese including a grilled cheese toast and, lastly, homemade chocolate truffles. All washed down with three different wines, a white and two reds. What could be better!

INGREDIENTS

I was both surprised and disappointed when the guide book to Spain I purchased in advance of our trip had no discussion whatsoever of Valencia and the surrounding region. This city and its environs are one of Spain’s autonomous communities and with such a richness of culture and cuisine deserve to be discovered. Like the farm to table movement, there is great emphasis on local produce and local fish and meats. Below are some of the foodstuffs that were repeated in the meals we enjoyed. And, if I had taken copious notes, I could have reported on all the many and marvelous wines we sampled!

Eel. I am not a big fan of eel, but we had it simmered with potatoes, garlic and paprika, smoked on endive, and flamed and dried.

Rice. Every chef has his or her rice dish (arroz) and in addition to two kinds of paella, we had two dry rice preparations, one with mushrooms, a soupy wet rice with chicken (delicious!), and creamy rice with pumpkin and mussels and one with pork flank and mushrooms.

Tuna. Tuna was served in several ways: tuna belly with tuna rillettes, tuna cured in paprika, and tuna stuffed red peppers.

Pork. The Iberian ham was delectable, but we also saw pork in a creamy rice dish and shoulder of pork crusty with onion ash and charred quince.

Seafood. Prawns, langoustines, squid, and the occasional clam or snail appeared on some menus. I like the shrimp family, but not always the squid.

Local fish. Besides cod in several forms and we also ate red mullet which I found very fishy and strong.

Fruits and vegetables. No green salads the entire week unless you count the lettuce and sliced tomatoes on the breakfast buffet in Denia. Lots of citrus—oranges, lemons, quince—and also apples and tomato added as a flavor component of several dishes. Asparagus, beans, endive, and vegetable tempura.

Oreos. We were told that it was de rigeur that each chef create an Oreo hors d’oeuvre. These are mini size (think an American quarter) and we had one with parmesan and bacon (think the cookie was made from squid) and another from white and black garlic with salted nougat filling.

Now we’re home and after all that food and wine, it’s time to diet! And get back to our regular exercise.

Header photo–Calatrava building in Valencia

Gastronomic Valencia: Part 2

November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 JWF Leave a comment

A LESSON IN PAELLA

On our second full day in Valencia, we visited the ceramic museum to see some beautiful tile work and also the museum of fine arts for works by older Spanish artists. The afternoon was devoted to paella, a demonstration of how it is made (a long process) by a prize winning paella chef. We were in the town of Alafar close to the home of paella at the La Matandeta restaurant. It all starts with a wood fire (sticks of pine and some orange branches) and a very large paella pan filled with olive oil.

Once the oil is hot, the meats (in this case rabbit and chicken) are added to the oil to cook. Next, long beans, garlic and saffron are added, then some snails, and eventually the rice and small branches of rosemary. Once the rice is in, there is minimal stirring. It is traditionally a man’s project (like barbecuing in the U.S.) and managing the fire to have it hot enough and then near the end cooling it down, requires adding sticks at the appropriate time and then knowing when to move them off to the side. While the cooking was happening, we enjoyed meats and cheeses and other tidbits served with pitchers of sangria. When the paella was ready, we sat down to a tasty lunch!