Travels; 24 Hours in Aruba

The nice thing of living in the A,B,C Islands is the possibility to Island-hop. Passed week I spent one day in Aruba. One of my friends was there and I could not stand not seeing her. Besides quality time with my friend, it was like a real (one day) mini vacation. 

and we did quite a lot!

What to do.....

1. I stayed at my friends, close to baby beach (east of the island).

In the AM do some kind of water sport. We Kayaked, swam and snorkeled. 

2. For lunch we stopped at Charlie's bar in San Nicholas, It was delicious. We snacked on conch fritters with wedge potato and a shrimp seviché. The potato wedge had the perfect crunch to it and the seviché has wonderful flavor with a little kick to it. 

3. While driving, sight see. Instead of driving on the main road, drive along the coast passed the local beaches like Mangel Halto and Spaans Lagoen. 

4. Take a coffee break before heading to the city "Playa" Coffee House Aruba. Had the best iced latte yet. and the prices are very decant. It feels like a European coffee house (in the tropics!).

5. After roaming the city for a little while, continue onwards to the beaches passed the hotel chain. We took a walk at Malmok Beach and Arachi Beach, where you will see the light house at the tip of the island. 

6. Right before sun-down we made it to Palm Beach and had a drink at Pelican's Nest.

Although it rained earlier that day, we had an amazing sunset. And I had a wonderful mini vacation.

Big thanks to my friend for taking me around and showing me a good time!!

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Italian tour 2.0 - THE FOOD

After touring the north of Italy, we tracked south towards Florence, Chianti wine region and Rome. the food, the food, the food! Along with the food, came the wine. 

After climbing over 400 steps of stairs (the bell tower above), we went for lunch at the well reviewed by many;  'Ino. They serve fresh panini with fresh, local products and of course wine or beer. 

While in Florence we came across this wineshop that sold by the glass. Along with your wine, free toast with ham, bell pepper and onion spread. It is a family business, mother and son serving and selling. They bottle and cork their own bottles as well. If in florence stop by this Enoteca Alla Sosta dei Papi.

Then we continued our journey through Chianti, Stopped for a wine tasting at Castillo Verrazzano. We where advised to pass by the goat cheese farm at the end of the road, down the hill. However when we got there the farmer told us they did not have any cheese, since their goats have given birth recently. The fun thing was he told us we could go play with the baby goats!

We stopped in Greve in Chianti and visited the famous butcher shop; Antica Macelleria Falorni, a carnivores heaven I suppose. It had any meat, sausage, salumi, chops, imaginable! Attached a little cafe/wine shop where you could do tastings, worth a trip!

In the mean time, I have been experimenting with my own Italian cuisine. Visiting local markets and supermarkets, (trying to) order my groceries in Italian. Fresh, local, Italian produce, YUM! 

After driving through wine country and enjoying many beautiful views, we arrived in Rome. Admiring many of the amazing sights, we stopped for lunch at Obika. A Mozzarella bar, with an amazing menu. we went for the simple, yet tasty stuff. Cherry tomatoes, basil Stracciatella and burratta. A creamy, whipped form of mozzarella; Ah-MA-ZING!  

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