All posts filed under: Highlights

Portugal Wine Tour: Part 1- Porto and Douro Valley

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Ehem, no, I didn’t go to Portugal again, but I’m writing about the trip I made 2 years ago.  I couldn’t post it then because my blog was down but I thought I’d share my experience since it was not only great but also educational. It’s always better late than never, right? Someone out there might get some useful tips from my post, who knows? Blogging is a great way to document and relive good moments, I believe. So if you’re planning to visit Portugal, this might help you. It was our honeymoon trip and we rented a car and drove all around Portugal. It’s a great country to do so and I highly recommend it. Also, advice from friends, mutual friends and blog friends was invaluable in making the trip great and memorable. Though the ultimate destination was Porto, our trip started and ended in Lisbon, and got to see more of the country than we’d thought because flying to Lisbon from Istanbul was more convenient. Mr.O and I had no idea where to visit as we usually …

Delicious Sicily: Part 1- Santa Anastasia Winery and Castelbuono

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**The short film in which I made an appearance, “Romance and Spirit of Sicily” has won awards at several international film festivals. I hope you you’ll enjoy it!** Hello! I’m finally back! Please forgive me for the long absence. For a girl, who had wandered around the world for over 10 years, to finally become Mrs. was a good enough excuse to have a break, I thought. To justify the long break, I had planned to make a grand comeback with a new website but well, this is as much as I could do. But I have many exciting stories to share with you in months to come, and I’ll start with the latest culinary trip to Sicily, the mysterious island that everyone desires. Yes, it was full of wonders and beauty, and didn’t disappoint me in any sense. The people were so generous and friendly, and it was so good to be in a timeless place where everyone says hi to everyone. After a week, I felt like I’d lived there for a year! Cefalu, where Cinema Pasadiso was filmed, was …

massimo villas

Delicious Sicily: Part 2- Palermo Market and Cooking at Massimo Villas

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This is probably the highlight of my Sicilian trip and it’s because of the wonderful home cooking experience. Since the cooking was in the evening, we decided to visit Palermo, more precisely the street market, yipeeee! Before I start, I’ll share the video of the home cooking, Private Chef, Cefalu by Joolzy on for those who prefer to watch rather than to read. Julian did a great job in delivering the true atmosphere of the evening in his short video, and I’m looking forward to seeing more videos  on the rest of the trip soon. So now let’s move on to the market. The market we went to is Ballarò in Palermo. Living in Istanbul, I’m used to the bustles and shouts of vendors but in Sicily they were a lot louder, making strange whistles and tunes! There are so many photos of foods but I can’t and won’t share them all. There was a huge variety of produce and some of them had odd shapes and sizes or were strange like this snake-like long zucchini, cucuzza. What caught my attention …

Georgian food

Let me fill your glass with my past stories: Part 2 – Georgia

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I’ve done it finally! Now I’ve unearthed the mysteries and secret talks surrounding Georgian wines and Caucasus mountains! My devoted love and curiosity about wine, which started in the New World, has led me to another ancient wine-producing country. My wine pilgrimage routes: Australia and New Zealand – France – Spain – Italy – Turkey – Greece – Georgia – next ? Here I am in Batumi, Georgia, where I entered and re-entered the Sarpi customs building at the Georgia-Turkey border 8 times in total, messing up my passport with 8 stamps on a single journey. Duh! I’m crossing the border where mosques are instantly replaced by churches. The Sarpi customs building is built in the shape of a key to heaven, by the way. We arrived in Batumi later than scheduled due to the delayed flight in Istanbul. My first impression of Georgia was very different to what I’d imagined. Batumi had many casinos and the area around them was clean, well-maintained with renovated old buildings as well as modern architecture. Our plan was …