Food, Drink & Travel | Viator Travel Blog

San Francisco: Weekend Getaway

24. June 2009

Welcome to San Francisco, that exotic city of hills where east meets west, high tech lives with crunchy granola and bohemian culture births movements and culture known around the world. The Beats, the Hippies and the Summer of Love flowered here as well as music from the Grateful Dead to The Dead Kennedys. The cities fabled attractions are seen on countless postcards and TV programs; Fisherman’s Warf, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the famed cable cars. But we’ve done the tourist trail on previous trips. This time we’re exploring neighborhoods.

Adelaide: Australia’s Most Underrated City

15. June 2009

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Adelaide: Australia’s Most Underrated City

South Australia’s capital, Adelaide, must be Australia’s most underrated city. It’s also one of the country’s most attractive cities with lush botanic gardens, shady parks, charming beachside suburbs, elegant historic buildings and splendid old churches. In short, it’s the kind of city that makes you want to explore it on an old-fashioned bicycle with a cane basket on the front.

Paris Chocolate Tour

3. June 2009

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Do the words "chocolate" and "French pastries" get you excited? If so you should keep reading. Otherwise this borderline Paris food porn post will rub you the wrong way. You have been warned. It all started a few days ago, when we noticed an excellent review of our Paris Chocolate & Pastry Tour by Marie Maguire on the Contra Costa Times website.

Things to Do in New Orleans: Uptown Jazz to Carrollton Crawfish

2. June 2009

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Things to Do in New Orleans: Uptown Jazz to Carrollton Crawfish

This is where dreams of New Orleans become reality. There I sat in a timeless bar, in the cradle of jazz music, listening to a screaming clarinet player, propelled by a drummer, stand-up bass, piano and banjo. Time and space ceased to exist as the music, beer and crowd flowed into a singular composition we call New Orleans. It was a perfect opening night because we’re here for the French Quarter Festival, a festival that celebrates the culture of New Orleans.

Lisbon: Top Things to See and Do

28. May 2009

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I call Lisbon my impossible love. While I adore the city’s low-key energy, the bittersweet saudade sentiment that echoes through the zigzag of its hilltop streetscapes, I know it’s a love that can’t be sustained. Perhaps because Portugal’s poignantly pretty capital still has the provincial feel of a backwater town. Perhaps because the slow mentality gets to a fast-paced New Yorker like me after a while. Perhaps because I need a place more frantic, diverse, open-minded… But none of that stops me from loving Lisbon

Dublin: Guinness Brewery Celebrates 250 Years

26. May 2009

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Dublin: Guinness Brewery Celebrates 250 Years

Arthur Guinness, he was one smart fella. Here's what I know: Your man walks into a Dublin real estate office in 1759 (pre-global mortgage meltdown). He's thirsty. He's thirsty for something in the very way that John T. Coke and Thomas Daiquiri and Jane Champagne and Abraham L'Emonaide were once thirsty, years before their eponymous fame. So Arthur Guinness walks into the agent's office and says, "I have a dream. I dream of flaked barley and roasted barley coming together in a stout silky brew. This dream I call it - a pint of Guinness. Pour on, ye black pint." Then he promptly signs a 9,000-year lease on the St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin.

Things to Do in Memphis, Tennessee

24. May 2009

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Along the highway in Arkansas, a bright pink billboard for Graceland got my heart a-thumpin’ for Memphis, and even though Timmy was driving, I pushed the eject button right in the middle of "Truckin’" and popped in Chuck Berry’s “Memphis, Tennessee.” Such a sad and beautiful song. Timmy cursed a blue streak all the way across the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, and seeing we still had half a tank of gas, pronounced he was good for another 200 miles. We didn’t stop until we were halfway through Mississippi. That was my first, tragically short glimpse of Memphis. I hopped off Timmy's bus in New Orleans and that was the last I saw of him.

Astoria, Oregon: Maritime History Meets Beer

20. May 2009

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Astoria, Oregon: Maritime History Meets Beer

Lewis and Clark couldn’t wait to high-tail it out of the area back in 1806 when they set up their winter camp near Astoria. Then again, they didn’t hang around until spring when the flowers bloom, the sun shines, and the Columbia River glistens and shines. At least it did the weekend we visited. If you want a quick getaway to the Oregon coast at an affordable price, Astoria, Oregon, might be your ticket.

Paris’ Village: Cook, Eat and Walk in Montmartre

8. May 2009

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Paris’ Village: Cook, Eat and Walk in Montmartre

I just love desserts. But in these credit-crunch times, it's home cooking that’s all the rage. So what’s a girl to do? Go to Paris in the springtime, of course, and learn the ancient art of making desserts. Food in the City of Love. Now what could possibly be better than that?

DIY: Clotted Cream Teas in Cornwall

17. March 2009

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"You can't come to Cornwall without having at least one cream tea. And one again tomorrow. And one again on Wednesday." I turned quickly but this obvious expert had put the scone into her mouth before I had time to find the answer to a question haunting me all afternoon: jam first or cream? I was in Cornwall, England, in the small ex-fishing village of St Ives, now popular for beach holidays (and voted Best Seaside Town in 2007 by The Guardian newspaper!) Tiny white houses with blue trim crowd the narrow, winding streets and everything has a seaside theme. Along the beachfront, all the shops sell buckets and spades, fried chips and postcards. Old men lean on the stone wall gazing out over the sea they used to fish.