Bermudaful

Bermuda is a beautiful island off the coast of Virginia, less than a 2 hour flight from New York. We chose it for our week long vacation because it was one of the few islands relatively close to the US that is Zika free. We soon discovered that it also boasts incredible beaches, lush greenery, bright flowers, plentiful wildlife and friendly locals. However, it should be noted that eating and drinking on the island can be very pricey. You should also plan to spend a bit more on transportation as tourists cannot rent cars and there are virtually no pedestrian walkways on the island. Despite those small drawbacks, Bermuda is very easy to navigate using public transportation. There are numerous activities and places to explore so I've outlined my top choices below by area, or parish.

Paget Parish
I'm starting with Paget Parish because that is where we stayed, at the darling St. Helier B&B run by two delightful people, Sally and Scott Godet. Elbow Beach, a 10 minute walk away from our place, offers lovely, pristine sands and crystal clear water. The Elbow Beach Resort has several good restaurants. Mickey's is right on the beach and serves a mix of light French themed dishes. We also tried the Sea Breeze, another casual option closer to the water. Their menu consists of Asian and Italian influenced tapas style plates. There are some other resorts on the other side of Paget Parish but we didn't have a chance to check them out.

Southampton Parish
Further down the coast from Paget is the Fairmont Southampton. We did our Scuba diving from a dive shop at this resort and ate several meals at their beachside cafe.

Next to the Fairmont is Horseshoe Bay, another long stretch of beach with the pinkish sand. You can rent chairs and umbrellas here and they have a small snack bar. If cruise ships in town, I would avoid this area like the plague because it can get very crowded.

Also in Southhampton is Gibb's Hill Lighthouse. It has incredible views of the entire island and a great restaurant on site- The Dining Room.

Another beautiful beach (they were all amazing) in this area is Church Bay Beach. Several people were snorkeling and you could even see some fish just standing on the beach.

Railway Trail
While this isn't technically a parish, the railway trail spans the entire island and can be used to travel between Paget, Warwick, Southhampton, even all the way to Dockyard. It's beautiful to walk, run or bike along.

St. Georges
This area is the located on the far tip of the island, near the airport. At the recommendation of our hosts, we decided to explore Cooper's Island Nature Reserve. I'm not going to lie, it was very difficult to get to. It entailed taking 3 separate ferries to Hamilton, Dockyard and St. Georges then catching a bus to St. David's Island then about a 20 minute walk to the entry to the reserve. By that time, we only had an hour to explore the area. It had several beautiful beaches with rocky cliffs and lots of trails. I'm not sure if it was just a windy day or the area is especially wind prone, but be prepared. On the way back, we decided we were over the ferry and just took the bus back to Hamilton.

The town of St. Georges is also worth checking out. While very small, it does have one of the oldest surviving Anglican churches outside of the British Isles, St. Peter's.  There are also a few shops and restaurants to peruse.

Flatt's Village
Unfortunately it rained for about half of our trip so that left us scrambling for inside activities. We decided to check out the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo in Flatt's Village. While very small, it was fun to see some of the fish that we saw diving and learn their proper names. The zoo also had some interesting birds and reptiles to watch. We stopped for lunch at Rustico, which had good pizzas and salads.

Hamilton
The main town in Bermuda, Hamilton, is a mix of business people, tourists, sailors and locals. We tried several restaurants. The Pickled Onion had decent food with a number of craft beers. I would skip the Hog Penny, it was probably the worst meal of our trip. Devils Isle had the best local, fresh fair but the service was not very on top of it.

Otherwise there's not much happening in Hamilton. It shuts down pretty early and shopping isn't too exciting.

Dockyard
This is where the majority of the America's Cup events will be taking place. The area itself is designed for cruise ship passengers so it feels very touristy. There were a few local shops selling art prints and local products. Restaurants didn't look that great but we did hear they had a good bakery that was already closed when we got there.

Weekend in Barcelona

I studied abroad in Barcelona in the fall of 2004 and Kent and I returned for a weekend trip 11 years later. I waited so long to return to the BCN because I wanted to see other parts of Europe, but as soon as I was back walking the streets of Barcelona, I remembered exactly why I love this city so much. Besides the beautiful modernist art and architecture, delicious, fresh food and unbeatable shopping, the people in this city are super friendly and fun loving. Here's a quick hits list of some of the best places in the city, but part of what makes it so incredible is that you can find something new, different and special wherever you look.

What to see

Sagrada Familia: this church in progress is unlike anything you've seen before. It is truly spectacular. Buy tickets online beforehand.

Hospital de Sant Pau: one of my favorite places in the city and very much under the radar of the hordes of tourists. I discovered it because I lived right by it but there is actually a pedestrian walking street that goes from Sagrada to Hospital. Definitely do free the tour, which explains the history behind the buildings and gives you a bit of insight into Lluís Domènech i Montaner, one of the most important modernist artists, right up there with Antoni Gaudi. 

Palau de la Musica Catalana: another one of Montaner's buildings that is absolutely stunning. There is a tour or you can buy tickets to one of the shows. 

Park Guell: a quiet escape with some quintessential Gaudi architecture and sculpture.

Bario Gotic: this is a fun neighborhood to explore. It has great boutiques and small restaurants.

L'Eixample: Passig de Gracia is another good shopping street in the L'Eixample neighborhood. But wander off the main street to see some beautiful buildings, cute little bars and shops.

El Raval: this is a mostly student and immigrant heavy area but it was once the most important parts of the city so you will find the Boqueria Market and several other Gaudi designed houses here. If you are lucky, you will run across El Gato de Raval, an awesome life size cat sculpture from Colombian artist Fernando Botero.

Where to eat

Firo Tast: this tiny little tapas bar is located on the street that runs between Sagrada Familia and Hospital. We ordered a wide range of items and everything was delish!

Spoonik: make a reservation in advance for this tasting menu only joint where the chefs personally describe the different ingredients and inspirations and the lighting, music and art changes depending on the course. You also sit with strangers so hopefully you get a good crew like we did!

L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele

After debating the merits of several different pizzerias in Napoli with our kind Italian host, who spoke about 5 words of English and used Google Voice to translate for us, we decided that we would go big or go home: Da Michele it would be! And not because someone named Julia Roberts went there in Eat, Pray, Love. But because it claims to be the oldest pizzeria in Napoli.

We arrived at the perfect time: 6:00 pm. The wait would be approximately 1 hour. We decided to pass the time at the cafe across the street with some Peroni's. When the host finally called our number (in Italian) we consulted the other people in line and they confirmed it was in fact our turn. Slightly buzzed, we took our seats in this nondescript restaurant where all guests pass by the enormous brick oven and the crew tossing pizza dough in the air.

I would have the Margherita pizza with extra cheese. My friends would have the same. And, another Peroni of course.

About 10 minutes later, our food arrived. The first bite was everything I had hoped for and more.

Neighborhood Spotlight: Le Marais, Paris

My family and I spent a wonderful week in Paris at the end of October. I found an incredibly charming apartment that was built in the 17th century through HomeAway in the Marais. The girl that rented it to us was very helpful and provided us with a detailed list of her favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. Here are some of the places we enjoyed:

Art deco decor at Café Charlot

Café Charlot: The first thing I wanted when I arrived in Paris was steak frites with a huge glass of Burgundy and that is exactly what I got at this delicious neighborhood bistro. While the waiters were less than friendly, the food and local charm were totally worth it.

Steak frites at Café Charlot

Nanashi: All I knew was that I wanted some legit Asian food while I was in Paris since the options in Germany are less than adequate. I would say that Nanashi was a mix between super awesome vegetarian food and inventive Japanese. I ordered a bowl of salmon poke with puffed sesame, leafy greens and brown rice. It was super close to ahi poke bowl from Pacific Catch that I would order at least twice a month back in SF. For dessert we split a black sesame custard that was super different & very tasty and a green tea cheesecake that was okay.

Salmon bowl at Nanashi

Marché des Enfants Rouges: Oh how I wish that a market like this existed around the corner from me because I would eat there everyday! This special place, that I talked about in a previous post, is a foodies' dream come true. You can not only buy fresh fish, veggies, breads, cheese and patés, but you can also dine at an incredible number of food stalls serving specialities from Morocco, Italy, Japan, and Jamaica, to name a few. There are gourmet burger stands, fresh falafels, homemade foie gras and anything else you can think of. We decided to go for the Moroccan and feasted on stuffed eggplant, chicken tajine and fresh pepper flatbread.

Marché des Enfants Rouges

134 r.d.t.: This inventive bakery is across the street from one of the best confiseries in Paris, Jacques Genin, that I previously wrote about. We sampled a crusty roll with figs and nuts, a pain au chocolate and a croissant. All were delicious!

Sweets from Jaques Genin

While there are hundreds of great options for eating and drinking in the Marais, there are thousands of options for shopping, but that is another post!

Eating on Hvar

We absolutely loved the Croatian cuisine! Everything was fresh, local and delicious! While we did make most of our meals with produce we purchased at the market in Stari Grad, we had a few memorable meals out and about.

Fresh produce on the island

Antika- located on a side street in Stari Grad, we randomly chose this spot because it looked slightly off the beaten path. We were very lucky we did because we had a delicious meal. Kent ordered beef medallions with truffle sauce and I had a fresh tuna steak that was perfectly seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary. The waiter was very entertaining and the music was a mix of the best classic rock songs.

Konoba Kokot- technically described as in Stari Grad, this charming family-run restaurant is actually in the village of Dol, which sits in the mountains above Stari Grad. We arrived later in the evening so unfortunately we missed the sunset, but we imagine it would have been incredible from this location. We started our meal with complimentary shots of a herb schnapps then ordered the sheep cheese appetizer, which was made with milk from the owner's flock of sheep, one of the only remaining flocks on the island. We were told that the restaurant's specialty was local boar so Kent ordered a burger and I ordered a ragu with gnocchi. I got the better deal. While we were stuffed to the brim, a complimentary dessert of fried dough balls covered in cinnamon and sugar arrived, shortly followed by another free offering of carmel custard. We could barely walk by the time we left! And we had doggy bags that provided the following day's lunch.

View of the island from the village of Dol

Taverna Milina- we stopped at this small beachside village located halfway between the beautiful beach of Uvala Dubovica and Hvar City. While Kent had originally researched a restaurant online before we set out, when we arrived, we couldn't remember where exactly it was located so we stopped at one that looked crowded and offered a lovely waterfront location. It's always a risk when you pick a restaurant based on its view but this time we got lucky! Taverna Milina had fresh seafood pastas in heaping proportions. I ordered a tuna salad and seafood linguini while Kent got a caprese salad with lobster gnocchi.

Beautiful seaside setting at Taverna Milina

The beautiful beach of Uvala Dubovica

Giaxa- after a rainy day on the island, we looked to Giaxa to provide us shelter from the storm. Unfortunately they were completely booked inside but offered us a table outside under an awning. Given we were already drenched, we said fine. The menu looked incredible so I chose the octopus salad and stuffed gnocchi with asparagus sauce (I know, so much gnocchi on this trip) and my fiance got the shark salad and fish with vegetables. When the amuse bouche and fresh olives arrived, we were very excited for this fine dining experience. However, the food did not live up to it's promises. It was generally flavorless and over cooked. To top things off, the heaviest rain came during our main course dropping a waterfall all around us. The only bright side was the friendly staff.