Lille skyline

Lille at Christmas. I thought that I should put up some architectural details of Lille the city skyline so that you wouldn’t think I only had my nose in the sweet treats and market stalls.

~ Spotted Cow

Weekly Photo Challenge: Treat

My treat is weekends away. I don’t do it nearly enough. Last weekend I was in Liverpool with the Fabulous Duo, and one of the unexpected surprises was Liverpool Cathedral. I’m not one to visit cathedrals normally, but the Beatles tour cabbie insisted that we couldn’t miss it. Liverpool’s cathedral is Britain’s largest and relatively modern as it was finished in 1978. It is a truly glorious stone building, with bits that look like it could be Hogwarts on a Harry Potter set.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Treat

~ Spotted Cow

Stockholm. Immediate impressions

The two things that struck me on my Stockholm city weekend was life on the water and the ubiquitous greenery. The combination made it feel fresh to be outside, and we were blessed with good weather to savour it. The picture above was our view while having a beer on the evening we arrived.

Stockholm sits on 14 islands, and water is everywhere. As I mentioned, the weather was good and we walked around a lot. Every so often, we would have a rest at one of the many bars and enjoy the calm of our surroundings. It’s not often you hear the words “tranquil” and “city” together.

It made me wish that we made more of London’s river and riverbank life. It’s not non-existent, but it could use a healthy helping of green.

~ Spotted Cow

Madrid this week

I’ve had barely a breather from my long weekend in Stockholm and I’m now in Madrid for the week, visiting my lovely friend J and enjoying the sunshine. More soon on both these cities.

~ Spotted Cow

Bank holiday weekend again !

It’s bank holiday weekend again. Yay ! I’m off to Stockholm for a city break and I’m excited because I’ve been looking forward to it for ages. It promises to be sunny. Meatballs are on the list. And I don’t have to be in the office. What more could I ask for?

A few weekends ago, with the help of a lovely friend, I put up a world map decal on one wall of the spare bedroom so that I could look at the world and dream about it. It’s a good thing that the decal comes off easily because it took us awhile to get the words to line up properly. If you want one, I bought it from eBay. There’s an example here, but you can simply type in World map wall sticker in the Search box.

~ Spotted Cow

Spring break. Planning trips

March weather is unpredictable. One day it’s mild and sunny, and I’ve tossed aside the hot water bottle. The next day it’s cold and wet, and I’m wrapped up again in the duvet coat. However, there is no doubt that spring is near and I am ready to come out of hibernation.

I pulled out the diary and flicked off the dust. The following dates have been penned in:

• Several weekends taking in the sea air in Brighton;
• A day out at Bletchley Park to see the code-breaking Enigma machines;
• Bank holiday city break in Stockholm;
• And, a week visiting a friend on sabbatical in Madrid.

I’ve been couch-surfing jauntful.com and cntraveller.com for recommendations. Jauntful is a crowd-sourcing site where people have compiled their travel lists with handy printable itineraries and maps. CNtraveller is the Conde Nast Traveller site that has luscious photography and helpful lists. I love the food and restaurant lists. On both sites, you type in your destination and away you go. Oh, and of course I have to get my Everyman map guide.

And not to forget my lovely friends at the Slow Pace, who will definitely get a look-in because they know Madrid well and they’ve just been to Stockholm. How handy is that! I’ve already written down their recommendation for the best meatballs in Stockholm.

~ Spotted Cow

Seville, in August

In the last week of August, I went to Seville. I love Seville and I’ve been more times than I can count, with various friends and family and different times in the year.

This time, I did a flamenco dance course with the inimitable Pastora Galvan, whose hip swivels, shoulder shrugs and backward bends left me both frustrated and inspired by the end of the week, not to mention the lighting footwork and razor-sharp finger snaps.

I didn’t take my camera because I spent 3+ hours every morning in the school, and then there was the necessary eating, showering and cooling down afterward. The afternoons were stupendously hot – on two days it was above 40ºC – and the sun was intense. I stayed indoors, flat out on the bed with the air-conditioning on full blast. So, no pictures, apart from the few that I’ve taken on my phone.

The Slow Pace girls gave me a list of eating recommendations – thanks ! I wish I could have got to all of them, especially Abades Triana which they wrote about on their blog. The heat got the better of us. Next time. It was difficult to narrow down, but I’m going to put my Top 5 eating/drinking/flamenco tips from this trip.

1. Ena, the terrace bar at the Alfonso XIII hotel. Calle San Fernando, 2. The Alfonso XIII is a beautiful old world hotel built in the mudejar style. I didn’t stay here – I wish ! – but we had sunset cocktails on the terrace bar, sitting on comfy cushions against the lush setting of the gardens.

2. El Rinconcillo. Calle Gerona, 40. A really lovely traditional bar and restaurant with hanging hams, a long wooden bar, and beautiful tiled walls. We had Sunday lunch in the salon. My favourite dish is the espinacas con garbanzos or spinach with chickpeas. Theirs is Sevillian style, fused with plenty of cumin.

3. Casa Morales. Calle Garcia de Vinuesa, 11. A traditional tapas bar, just south of the Cathedral, where you sit among large terracotta earthenware jars. It’s small and gets crowded quickly at lunchtime. The menu is on the blackboard, and the wait staff will tell you the day’s special. On the day we went, it was arroz con carrillada, or rice with Iberian pork cheeks. Delicious !

4. Victoria Eugenia. Calle Cuna, 2. A restaurant that seems to specialise in cod dishes, because that’s what made up much of the menu. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve eaten here even though I saw later that the tripadvisor reviews were mixed. This time it was cod croquetas and artichoke hearts with cured ham. So good ! It’s a couple of doors down from the Casa de la Memoria – below – which is handy after watching a flamenco show.

5. Casa de la Memoria. Calle Cuna, 6. There are plenty of flamenco shows in town, but Casa de la Memoria is my favourite because they have good artists, so you’ll always get a good show even if you don’t know who they are. This is where I first saw Pastora Galvan years ago. It’s a lovely intimate venue and there are two showings a night at 19.30h and 21.00h. Also, they don’t make you buy a food and drink package, which I think is a bonus.

~ Spotted Cow

City Guides

Several readers have asked what guide books – if any – we use on city trips. Well, we do a fair bit of internet research at home first, but take the Everyman Mapguides along with us.

The Everyman guides are handy because they are pocket-sized and you can tuck them away into your coat or into a small handbag. They don’t weigh much and we find them especially useful in cities. The guide divides the city into sections and each has a foldout map as well as listings of places of interest, eating & drinking holes, and shops. The front and back covers also carry some cultural and logistic information.

There’s a decent spread of global cities but bear in mind that Everyman don’t update these guides very often. Places of interest remain unchanged for decades but the eating/drinking and store listings tend to be old favourites and granddaddies, rather than the hip and trendy. That doesn’t bother us too much because we discover those ideas online, through recommendations or with the concierge.

That doesn’t mean we don’t get lost. I had a long weekend in Marrakesh with The Ladies where we couldn’t make head or tail of the labyrinthine streets and alleyways of the souk and they weren’t always signposted. No matter … there were lots of ‘helpful’ citizens who led us round in circles, only to ask for a healthy tip at our destination !

Let us know how you plan your city breaks. We might indulge in a bit of crowd sourcing on this blog soon.

~ Spotted Cow