Around the world in 15 meals

1) Instanbul, Turkey

What is there better than a plate of meze on a hot day in Istanbul? This is supposed to be just an appetizer, but it worked fine for me as a light lunch. It included various dips like hummus, eggplant salad and haydari, then dolma (stuffed vine leaves) and some cheese. Everything with vegetable sticks for the dips. By the way, that puffy bread is called lavas and I love it. 



Meze lunch in Istanbul

2) Mostar, Bosnia

One of my favourite meals in Bosnia and of the whole Balkan trip was the Hadzijski cevap (marinated beef with peppers and rice) that I had in the old town of Mostar. It was simple but delicious, and also really cheap! 

Bosnia

3) Amsterdam, Netherlands

What to do when you are visiting a country that is not really famous for its cuisine, you've already tried the obvious and looking around you can only see burgers and fries? In big cities in central or northern Europe, like Munich or London, I usually find that Asian food is top notch. So while in Amsterdam, I repeatedly stopped by Indonesian and Thai restaurants. My favourite was Bird Thai restaurant in Chinatown (close to the red light district). 

Red Thai curry in Amsterdam

4) Lisbon, Portugal

If I could recommnend only one Portuguese dish it would be  bacalhau com natas. The Portuguese have many ways to cook cod, but creamy bacalhau com natas is my favourite. I was lucky enough to participate in a dinner organized by my hostel in Lisbon and this is how I got to taste this delicious typical dish. I am already making plans to go back to Portugal and have it one more time. This is how much I liked it!

Bacalhau com natas

5) Schwangau, Germany

It might not be haute cuisine but I just had to try currywurst in Germany, if only for curiosity. The history of this spiced sausage is quite interesting, because it was invented in Berlin just after WWII borrowing curry powder and ketchup (or possibly Worcestershire sauce) from British soldiers. It became a popular snack with the workers who were rebuilding the devastated city, and it is still today a popular take-away food, not only in Berlin but all over Germany.

Currywurst in Germany

6) Marrakesh, Morocco

Vegetarian tagine in an informal restaurant in the medina of Marrakesh - my favourite kind of place where you don't feel weird if you're eating alone (in this case I wasn't). Tagine is the name of the earthenware pot where food is cooked, so you could have many different of tagine: chicken with vegetables, but also with sardines by the sea or with meat and dried fruit. I had this with a glass of orange juice, which seems to be ubiquitous in Marrakesh.

A vegetarian tajine in Marrakesh

7) Paris, France

This dish had a name so long that it did not fit in a single line on the menu. Then it turned out to be a steak with potatoes. Overall, my experiences with food in Paris went better when I blatantly tried not to order French food: for example at felafel joints or at a Korean restaurant. I think I owe Paris - and France - a second chance. Next time I'll document myself and try to order some French food with a better understanding of French cuisine.

A meal in Paris

8) Mdina, Malta

From a culinary point of view, Malta is a mix of influences. And how could it not be so? In spite of having been an English colony in the past, Malta is decidedly more Italian than British when you sit down for lunch or dinner. These spaghetti all'amatriciana - which means in a tomato sauce with pancetta (or even better guanciale) and chilli peppers - were really good. I discovered later that many Italian restaurants in Malta are owned by Italian people, hailing from all over the country and enjoying Malta's relaxed lifestyle and mild weather. 

Pasta all'amatriciana in Malta

9) Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

I'll always remember this bento box meal I had in Shakespeare's hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. The Japanese chef was entertaining us, pretending to throw bottles at the clients and things like that. The food didn't look that Japanese, apart from the yakitori, but it was the first time that I had lunch in a box, and I loved the idea.

10) Valencia, Spain

You cannot get bored with all the food in Spain: pintxos from the Basque Country, tapas that may include fish or cured meats like chorizo or jamon iberico, and regional specialities such as the Andalusian gazpacho. After more than three years in Spain I am still busy discovering all its variety. Nothing beats, however, a good seafood paella in a fishing town. 

A paella in Valencia

11) Split, Croatia

For the most part I found Croatian food uninspiring.  They once served me cod telling me it was a more prestigious seabass, while risotto and pasta were only an imitation of what you would have in Italy (which is so close after all). This tuna salad, nevertheless, on the city beach in Split, was really good, and just what I needed after a morning of sunbathing and dipping my toes in the turquoise waters of the Adriatic.

Tuna salad in Split

12) Kotor, Montenegro

All over the Balkans you will find these spiced sausages: ćevapčići. Sometimes - especially in Serbia and Bosnia - they serve them with a piece of flat bread, with chopped onions and sour cream, but in Montenegro I had it with French fries. I really enjoyed the meal, plus I had a perfect view of the main square of Kotor.

Cevapcici in Kotor

13) Brno, Czech Repulic

Czech Republic might not be famous as a culinary destination, but I had a few good meals there. It was long ago, but I still remember having Smažený sýr, different kinds of fried cheese served with potatoes and salad. This was in Brno and not in Prague (I must be the only person in the world who has been in the Czech Republic but hasn't been to Prague).

Smažený sýr in Brno

14) Bangkok, Thailand

I arrived in Bangkok after travelling for many hours (and after two sleepless nights) and I went directly to take a much deserved nap. A couple of hours after I woke with a grumbling stomach and went for a Pad Thai in the neighboorhood. It was not long after that I became addicted. It is a simple dish after all: noodles with  bean sprouts, some prawns or seafood, and cashew nuts sprinkled on top. Oh, and don't forget a sprinkle of lime and some chilli peppers to have that caracteristic taste. 

15) Pisa, Italy

And last but not least Italy, my country. Even though I am Italian, each time I visit a new region I discover new things to taste. Italy is not only pasta and pizza, as I keep saying to those who think that Italian cuisine is boring! We have plenty of that, for sure, but also other dishes: risotto in the north, delicious grilled fish and seafood served with plenty of vegetables, soups with pulses in Tuscany and meat with mushrooms or polenta in the mountains. My favourite, though, is always pizza!

A pizza in Italy

Four enchanted places you should visit right now

1) Chefchaouen

Believe me when I say that I love Morocco, but I must recognize that in big cities like Fez or Marrakesh you can easily feel overwhelmed. The strong smells and the chaos of the medina, the touts, or simply the amount of people walking down the street can make you feel like you've already had enough of this country. In that case a good idea is to spend a few days in Chefchaouen, a small quiet town nestled in the hills of northern Morocco.

A quiet street in the medina

There I just walked around, taking ridiculously gorgeous pictures, and shopping for Moroccan slippers or scarfs without feeling the pressure of the vendors in bigger towns. The walls of the medina are painted a deep blue and even the doors, the stone stairs and the furniture are often blue. 

Men wear the traditional djellaba and look like mysterious wizards, as if they were the last of a disappearing population of magical beings. In Chefchaouen I found people to be extremely welcoming and I appreciated the fact that children could play happily on the quiet streets and small squares. 

Add that to the fact that there are great hiking possibilities all around and you have your perfect Moroccan getaway from the bustling city life of Moroccan cities.

Read more about Chefchaouen in this post from April 2015.


2) Bled

Did you ever wonder what the place where Snow White and Prince Charming come from might look like? I think it must look like Bled.

Lake Bled

If you've never heard of this lake, maybe it's because it is found in a tiny and relatively unknown European country called Slovenia. Other than being the birthplace of Melania Trump, this Alpine country is little known. In a novel by Paulo Coelho a librarian from the capital Ljubljiana decides to commit suicide after reading an article in a magazine about her country, making people believe that she did it because people don't even know where Slovenia is.

Lake Bled seen from the castle

I have a plan to visit Bled in every season: in winter with snow, in autumn with yellow leaves and in spring with flowers in bloom. I have already been in the summer and it is gorgeous: I cannot think of a better country than Slovenia to breathe some fresh air and rest your eyes with a palette of colours unlike that of any other country.

Read more about Bled and Slovenia in this post, which is actually the first one I wrote on this blog.

3) Sintra

In "Journey to Portugal" Saramago described this small town a few kilometers from Lisbon: as an "English folly, paid for by the cloth trade ...  a monument to an age that had every taste imaginable, but never really defined any of them ....  eclectic to the point of eccentricity .... As empires dominated the world economically, they amused themselves with alien cultures". 

Palacio da Pena

Sintra resembles the dream of a king that went slightly mad  at the end of his life.  Several royal palaces dot the hilly landscape, each one slightly crazier than the other. Some elements are Gothic, others call back to traditional Muslim architecture, or to the Portuguese Manueline style. As if this wasn't enough, mysterious gargoyles look at you from weird angles.



Palacio da Pena

The most charming palace according to me is Quinta da Regaleira, especially the Gothic-style gardens. I spent a couple of hours exploring the grottoes, the statues and the ponds, wondering what the upside-down staircase might mean and feeling that every pinnacle and gargoyle has a secret to reveal.

The gardens of Quinta da Regaleira

If palaces are not your thing in the small town the charming yellow-trimmed houses are a pleasure for the eyes, and the streets bear the names of the writers and artists who tread and wrote about this place, including Lord Byron. 

Read more about my trip to Sintra in December 2015 here.


4) Ait-Benhaddou

I know, I'm listing Morocco twice in this list, but it's merely because that country of djinns is literally bewitching. Moreover Ait-Benhaddou is one of the most incredible places I have been to.

Ait Benhaddou

You may have seen it as the location for countless movies and TV shows, including as Yunkai in Game of Thrones. It is usually portrayed as a city made of sand that appears like a mirage in the middle of the desert. And that is actually what it is: a particularly good-looking ksar that is not completely abandoned and that is at the edge of the desert. The Touareg guides in blue turbans lead the way into a magic world, where you may find anything from Ali Baba's lamp to an ancient amulet.

A berber guide in Ait Benhaddou

This was one of the highlights of my trip to Morocco. It is a perfect stop on the way to the Sahara desert and it is a good opportunity to learn about the ancient trade routes that pass through this part of the world.

Souvenirs in Ait Benhaddou

Read about my trip to the Sahara desert here.

A rainy day in Meknes

Since I came back from my second trip to Morocco in March, I have been having a recurring dream hat I plan a new itinerary in the country, and there's always a trip to Volubilis and Moulay Idriss that gets postponed or cancelled. As a matter of fact, when I was in Fez, I had to cancel my trip there, mostly because of the rain that didn't want to stop.

I did start my day with a train to Meknes, though. In my experience, trains in Morocco are safe, comfortable and cheap. A trip to Meknes from Fez of about 40 minutes cost me 20 dirham, less than 2 euro, but the train was half an hour late. Once in Meknes I was supposed to take a cab to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, but the pouring rain  and the aggressiveness of taxi drivers in this city put me off the trip. I decided to explore Meknes instead.

Meknes is not as touristic as Fez, but it is still one of the imperial cities of Morocco. The most beautiful thing are the gates: totally fascinating, colourful and very old. Bab Mansour is the most famous, but a trip around the city walls by taxi will show you the others.



One of the gate doors in Meknes

Overall, I found Meknes to be a bit dull, if compared to other places in Morocco. The main square, Place Lahdim, resembles Jemaa el-Fna, only without the life that makes that square one of the main tourist attractions of Marrakesh.

Place Lahdim

The souqs here are rather modern, with unattractive clothes made in China. I did take a walk in the more traditional parts, but I didn't find the whole experience as alluring as a walk in the medina of Fez or Essaouira. The irony was that Meknes was my 50th UNESCO world heritage site, and it was overall a bit disappointing.



Moroccan fashion

Since it was raining when I arrived in Meknes, I took shelter in Museum Dar Jamai. Like Museum Dar Si Said which I visited in Marrakesh, it was worth it more for the beautiful palace than for the exhibits. Inside the museum I met a French man who was travelling alone without a guidebook or anything, picking up advices from other travellers. Somehow he senses that I speak French, so I told him about the Roman ruins and he was very happy about it.

Inside the museum

Another room of the museum/palace

Meknes is not completely devoid of charm: you can find nice spots here and there, but I wouldn't make a detour to visit this city. The taxi  drivers here seemed to be desperate to make more money out of the few travellers who stop by, which is something that I haven't seen in Fez, where I found it very easy and stress-free to take a taxi.

 

I don't know if it was the bad weather, but even when it stopped raining I didn't see anything special in this city. What the locals referred to as great views ended up being just a glimpse of the hills around the city, the restaurants didn't look as inviting as in other parts of Morocco, and the city in general seemed a bit lifeless.



Street life in Meknes

 





Have you ever been disappointed by a UNESCO-listed heritage site? And if you have been to Meknes, did you have a different experience?

Fez - A walk in the medina

Fez has the reputation of being the closest thing you can get in Morocco to a medieval town, with its labyrinthine medina. It can intimidate at first, but during my three days in town I learned to navigate its narrow streets and become acquainted with its smells and colours. The gates of the old town, Fez El Bali, soon became familiar sights, especially Bab Boujeloud, commonly called by foreigners the Blue Gate.

In the medina of Fez, I saw many traditional jobs that have almost disappeared in other parts of the world, but that are still very much part of everyday life in Morocco. There is a square dedicated to coppermaking, for instance, with a picturesque tree in the middle. While walking through the medina I glimpsed people carving Arabic writings on marble tablets, working wood to make beautiful decorations or sewing leather slippers.

 

Man at work

 

 

What struck me about Fez, though, is the number of religious buildings within the walls of the medina. You cannot walk too far without encountering a mosque, a medersa (Koranic school) or a shrine. Unfortunately, in Morocco the entrance to religious buildings is mostly forbidden for non-Muslims. What you can do is glimpsing through the open doors, having a look at the beautiful decorations, and observing the people taking off their shoes and entering the mosque to pray.

Taking a look inside

The shrine and tomb (zaouia) of Moulay Idriss II is one of the most fascinating places in Fes el Bali, the medina. At the entrance of this shrine - dedicated to the 9th-century ruler and founder of the city - there are women selling candles to light in the shrine and small satchels with many kinds of nougat, a common pilgrimage gift.

Selling nougat

It's not Fez if you are not invited to visit one of the many rooftops, and of course you're expected to leave a tip if you enjoyed the experience. On a rooftop, among looms where the women make carpets and the laundry of a random family, I noticed the green roofs of the srhine and the central mosque, which is the spiritual centre of the city.



The green roof of the shrine

View from a roof

 

I also visited the medersa Bou Inania, which is hidden behind a door very close to Bab Boujeloud. Since I had visited medersa Ben Youssef in Marrakesh I knew more or less what to expect, but I didn't know that the two Koranic schools are so similar. If you are visiting both Marrakesh and Fez, I advice you to visit medersa Ben Youssef, which is better preserved and allows you to go upstairs in the former bedrooms of the students. Medersa Bou Inania is the subdued version, but the mosaics and the decorations are just as beautiful.

From one corner you have a perfect view of the minaret, and from the door you can observe how the life outside goes on busily while you are within the quiet walls of the medersa.



Medersa Bou Inania

Of course the medina is full of smells and surprises: spices of all kinds, hens tied to their cage for sale in the food market, or a man pushing a cart full of strawberries.
 

Spices in the souk

 

Hens for sale in the food market

 

Jewels and small tagines in the medina

 

Every now and then you'll come across one of the many fountains. They are all covered in ceramic tiles and intricate marble carvings. Some of them will have a glass tied to it with a cord or a chain, and kids will be washing off the dirt from their feet, while women will be cleaning vegetables.

A fountain with azulejos in Fez

Needless to say, I was invited to see the famous tanneries, a young man leading us along the narrow streets of Fez for what seemed to be a very long time for such a short distance. What a way to try to earn a tip! Once we arrived at the rooftop from where you can see the tanneries, we were introduced to the ancient tradition of making leather goods by hand, bags, slippers and jackets that are sold to the visitors. They were not pushy, but of course they appreciate if you buy something or if you leave a donation to the cooperative. 

 

A view of the tanneries

 

Everything around me looked interesting, and I have many tales, because everything surprised me, from the Coca-Cola with the Arabic spelling to young people's obsession for Barcelona football club. In Bab Rcif Square, I saw men cooking snails in a stall, and serving them in a broth, and I was  offered a taste.

Selling snails in Fez

The mellah, which once was the Jewish quarter, is another part of Fez that is worth having a look at. Here I found a graffiti reproduction of one of the fountains I encountered within the walls of Fez El Bali. This is a less visited part of the city, almost gritty, with kids playing football and men sitting in crowded cafés drinking endless glasses of tea.

A graffiti in Fez

A row of women chatting near Bab Rcif Square

I found Fez to be an interesting town: a bit less aggressive than Marrakesh, but also a bit more difficult to appreciate. It's not as immediately exotic, and its beauty is more in the small details or in the scenes of everyday life. It's touristic but not as much as Marrakesh, and it's overwhelming at times. It has quiet corners, and really friendly people who are never to pushy. Overall, I think that Fez should be included in every itinerary of a tour of Morocco, and it should be approached with calm, without prejudice. I think that in a city like Fez it is important to try to savour every bit of Moroccan culture, observing without intruding, with friendliness and never scared of asking questions.  

Chefchaouen - dreaming in blue

There is a place in the foothills of the Rif mountains of northern Morocco that has enchanted independent travellers for decades. It is Chefchaouen, locally called simply Chaouen, a small town with houses painted blue and the verdant hills all around it.

I arrived in Chefchaouen on a Tuesday afternoon after a four-and-a-half bus journey from Fez (it costs 75 dirhams, which is around 7€): it was the end of March, and the weather was miserable. With three nights booked at Riad Baraka, I hoped that it would get better, so that I could enjoy my stay properly, and perhaps do a little hiking in the mountains as well. Since it was raining hard, I spent the first night in the hostel, warming up against the electric stove and chatting with the other guests, as if we were on a ski holiday. It was a nice evening: we were all travelling alone in Morocco, we came from many different countries and had previous experiences of independent travel.

A cat in the streets of Chefchaouen

It was during that first evening of rain that I learned about the history of the town. Chefchaouen was founded by Berbers of the Ghomara tribe, and it was later resettled by the Moriscos and Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. The entrance to the city was forbidden to all foreigners, and especially to Christians, until 1920. The few travellers who managed to enter back then found Jews still speaking 15th-century Andalucian Spanish. The houses were painted blue in the 1930s by the Jewish inhabitants of the town, who have since left for Israel or other parts of the world.

 



A street in the medina



In Chefchaouen the men all wear the djellaba with the hood on, as if they were Moroccan wizards, and some of the women wear a traditional costume that includes a straw hat.





A man with a djellaba



 





A wall in the medina of Chefchaouen

 

Luckily, the following morning the rain had stopped, even though it was still chilly and cloudy. In spite of relying mostly on tourism, I found Chefchaouen to be authentic and charming. The choice of food to try seemed to be more varied here than in other parts of Morocco, including Fez and Marrakesh. I tried anchovy tagine, home-made yogurt, squid, sardines, and of course the harira soup that you're offered at the beginning of most Moroccan meals. A dinner at Bab Ssour - a very friendly, cheap and traditional restaurant we found hidden in a corner of the medina - only cost me 65 dirhams (6€).

Selling fruit in the medina of Marrakesh

 

In the main square of the town, Place Uta el-Hammam, there is a Kasbah that you can visit for a few dirhams, with great views of the hills from the top of the tower and a good exhibition on history, traditions and customs in the area. I also hiked to the Spanish Mosque, which is worth not so much for the building itself, but for the views.

View of Chefchaouen while hiking to the Spanish mosque

On the way to the mosque you pass by Ras-el Maa, a small waterfall where women do the laundry and locals come to take a walk. The hills, when they are surrounded by clouds, give a rather mysterious aura to the place. At times, I thought I was in a Central American small town.

 

A view of Chefchaoen and its hills

Once we arrived to the top of the hill,  where the Spanish mosque stands, we found a relaxed atmosphere, and sat there for a while, observing the women who were looking after sheep and goats.

Grazing sheep in Chefchaouen

 

 

People come to Chefchaouen to relax, to learn about Moroccan culture, or to hike. Most likely, you will not find annoying tourists who shout or behave in inappropriate ways. Even though Chefchaouen is in the middle of an area which is famous for the production of kief and for the easy access to marijuana, I found that the kind of people that make their way to Chafchaouen do not care too much about it. I didn't meet anybody who wanted to get stoned all the time, or that was really interested in touring the illegal plantations.  

 

 

The rooftop of Riad Baraka

The medina of Chefchaouen is small, clean and not at all smelly. What a change from the aggressiveness of the medina in Fez with its smells and its touts! Nobody will bother you here, except the occasional man who unconvincingly tries to sell you hashish or lead you to your riad. It is a relaxing experience if compared to a walk in the medina in Fez or Marrakesh. A few days in this town will introduce you to the culture of northern Morocco, with its mish-mash of Andalusian and Berber influences.

 



A door in the medina

 

A corner of the medina

Selling dry fruits in the medina

When strolling around town, among blue doors and colourful pots with plants of all kinds, prepare for an array of pleasant surprises. During my wandering through the narrow streets I found  a local art gallery, a hole in the wall selling samosa-like pastries for 5 dirhams (0,40 €) and an improvised market stall (in the picture below).

 

An improvised market stall in Chefchaouen

 

An art gallery in the medina of Chefchaouen



I did take a hike on Thursday. Together with other 5 guests from the riad, we made our way to Parc National de Talassemtane, about half an hour away with a grand taxi. The return trip cost us 400€ (€37,50), the six of us squeezed in an old Mercedes. There are several possibilities here: either you make your way to God's Bridge, or to Oued El Kelaa waterfall. We chose the latter, two hours and a half away. The hike was overall I bit more difficult than we expected: it had rained a lot, and because you have to cross the river several times by jumping on some rocks, it was impossible not to get wet.

 



The canyon in Parc National de Talassemtane

The landscape, with canyons, clear bodies of water, and wooden huts with refreshments, reminded me of my hike in the Samaria Gorge in Crete. On the way to the waterfall we encountered very few people, most of them Moroccans. At the end of the hike, we finally found the waterfall. It is a beautiful sight, in peaceful surroundings, and we were the only one exploring the area.



Oued El Kelaa waterfall

We were told that there was going to be food, but probably because it was not high season, we found the bar unprepared. We managed to order a few fried eggs, served without cutlery, a pot of tea and some biscuits.

We quickly made our way back to the entrance of the park and we found a local restaurant, where we ate a delicious kefta tagine and a plate full of grilled sardines. This was one of the best meals I had in Morocco, and not only because I was hungry.

My three days in Chefchaouen ended with warmer weather and finally some real sun.

View from the Kasbah