Tag Archives: Food and Wine

Family Stories, Festivals, Food and Drink, Lombardia, Markets, Travel - Italy, Wine

Wine in the Springtime

April 21, 2014 Greg 4 Comments

Who doesn’t love a good festival? The combination of food, games and fun in an outdoor setting is always guaranteed to be a success. I mean, what more could you ask for? But if the name of the festival is Primavera dei Vini (Wine in the Springtime) and the location is in the remote Italian countryside – then you’ve got all the ingredients you need and more!

Vineyards of Rovescala along our drive into town

The farmers have been producing wine for over 800 years — The farmers have been producing Bonarda wine for over 800 years

If you check Wikipedia to learn about Rovescala, you will discover that this small commune (municipality) is located about 50km southeast of Milan. Aaaaand… basta (stop). That’s it. If you research the festival itself, you’re likely to uncover only two or three short blog posts about it, aaaaaand… basta! So this event is a relatively unknown festival in a small, remote Italian town – why on earth would anyone be interested in going?! Because it’s a relatively unknown festival in a small and remote Italian town, of course! In our experience, these are usually the best gatherings – genuine and unpretentious, just as it should be in Italy.

I was loving the group of Harley riders that rolled into town

Of course, what Italian festival is complete with a collection of Vespa's?! — Of course, what Italian festival is complete with a collection of Vespa’s?!

Continue reading Wine in the Springtime →

Cruises, Food, Humor

Some Great… “Qsine” on the Celebrity Silhouette

March 17, 2014 Greg

If you’ve been a reader of this [travel] blog for sometime, I may have convinced you about the benefits of cruising. You might even think that I’m lobbying for a job with one of the major cruise companies… and seeing as how I’ll need to resume gainful employment sooner rather than later, you may just be right. If I haven’t yet convinced you to book your next vacation on a massive floating wonderland, let me quickly state my case once again. Cruising offers you the opportunity to be pampered day and night while visiting far-off locales in multiple countries without unpacking more than once. You can soak up culture, splurge on shopping, enjoy theatre, gamble in the casino, relax in the spa or simply sit in your room and enjoy room service while taking in the most magical of views.

Julia is no stranger to being pampered. It scares me that two year old now hands me the phone and tells me to "order dinner" — Julia is no stranger to being pampered. It scares me that my two year old now hands me the phone and tells me to “order dinner”

On top of all that, you will enjoy delectable cuisine any time of day or night. In my opinion (which, I’ve found is more fact than opinion since I’m right 98.8% of the time… just ask Jen), one of the best things about cruising is the food. I once read that the weight gain for your average cruise-goer can be up to a pound a day (do the math for a two week cruise). If the food can be the star of the show, truth be told – it can also be the downfall of your vacation if you’re served meals that are no better than bad banquet food (and you thought you had a lousy meal at Moritz Rosenstien’s bar mitzvah?). That is why careful research about your cruise line (and more importantly, the specific cruise ship) is of the utmost importance. We chose our most recent Mediterranean cruise on one of Celebrity Cruises newest ships, the Silhouette based on the itinerary and overwhelmingly positive reviews of the food. We were not disappointed.