On our last day in Belgium, we wandered around Brussels a bit aimlessly. A happy and relaxed last-day-on-holiday sort of aimlessness. Eyeing the shop windows for choccy, stopping in for moule frites, exploring some back streets and churches. Blissful wandering.
Camera in hand as always.
So many treats…
Byeeeee. x
Ghent was indeed quite beautiful, but Bruges really stole my heart and I didn’t want to leave. ❤
Bruges is where I really let my chocoholic flag fly proudly.
Who doesn’t need a big pair of chocolate boobs?
No shortage of beer!
And beer flag of course.
Mmmmmmmmm KWAK!
Beer bible! The only bible for me!!
Satan makes delicious beer. No surprises there.
Birthday Food was wonderful as well!
Fondue…
Vol-au-vent au poulet
And Bruges, itself…simply stunning.
Basilica of the Holy Blood
DALI Museum
Probably should have split this up into more posts! Oh well. x
Who’s in the mood for some motherflippin waffles?!
The answer is: ALL Y’ALL.
I did some investigative “wafflesearch” (as you do). So there’s this place called MAX in Ghent.
It’s this super cute but 100% touristy little art nouveau cafe that says they invented the waffle.
Isn’t it a beautiful building?
Of course, I ordered a waffle.
A big, fluffy, light-as-air, splendid and amazing waffle. Crispy. Slightly Sweet. Yum.
And a really dumb fancy coffee.
And then I ordered an apple fritter because I’m insane.
Next up – LIGHTOPIA!!!!
Ahhhhhh Belgium! So many reasons to visit this beautiful country.
Picturesque cottages. Quirky Cobblestone streets. Beer. (REALLY AMAZING BEER) Art. Chocolate. (REALLY AMAZING CHOCOLATE) Swans. Misty canals. Moules Frites. Medieval churches. Waterzooi. More beer. More beer. More beer.
I chose Belgium for OPERATION: DECOMPRESS VIA ALL OF THE BEER.
The old Monastery conversion we stayed at in Ghent was absolutely stunning!
And the historic town centre itself is incredible.
Sint-Michielskerk glowing at night…
Graffiti tunnel…
Had a beautiful dinner at De Graslei where I ordered the very traditional Flanders dish “Waterzooi”
It was SO YUMMY.
All the walking around in the freezing rain made us VERY thirsty. So we spent a lovely evening sampling (pouring beers directly into our faces) a few of the 250 beers on offer at Pub ‘de Dulle Griet’
If you want to drink the gigantic “Max” beer, you must hand over one of your shoes. It goes in the basket, the bell is rung, your shoe is lifted high to the ceiling and here comes your beer!
And then you drink the rest of the beers…
ALL THE BEER! Up next…The Design Museum Exhibit Lightopia and WAFFLES!
Annnnd we’re back! I decided to cram the rest of the photos into one last post so this is your warning that it’s a LONG one!
So picking up from where we left off with part one of our Paris trip, after a sweet little breakfast at Maison Lacombe we made our way toward Notre Dame and the Centre Georges Pompidou.
Centre Georges Pompidou!!! Amazing!!!
The walk to Notre Dame…
My beautiful parents!!!
Cutest lunch at Aux Arts Etc Cafe’ Galerie
The owner was soooooo lovely!
Off to the Pantheon…
Eiffel Tower!
Collectively sharing our feelings about selfie sticks…
The sweetest older lady and dog duo there ever was…
We were completely destroyed from all the walking and had a simple charcuterie and cheese feast for dinner…
Yum.
The next morning we took a boat cruise on the Seine from The Eiffel Tower…
Then a quick little pit stop in Bistro De Montemartre…
My beautiful mother who never seems to age!! ❤
Followed by a walk through the beautiful and sombre Montmartre Cemetery…
Our journey to Sacré-Coeur began with more walking around Montmartre…
SACRE-COEUR!!!
Loviest of birds… ❤
Our last dinner was at a tiny neighbourhood restaurant in Ternes called Le Petit Acacia.
We were incredibly lucky to yet again, have a stellar meal.
The parents look pretty darn happy and relaxed! 😉
The FOOD!
Roasted Bone Marrow
Suckling Pig
Confit Duck
Creme Brulee
On our last day in Paris, we toured the Musee D’Orsay then dined at another fantastic restaurant Le Recrutement Cafe for one final Parisian feast.
They still look happy after all of the endless walking! Success!
Lovingly threatening my darling with my Escargot tongs…
Which was short-lived because then there was escargot! YUM.
Beef stew
Salad with duck gizzards and foie gras
Cheesecake (my mother says this was the best she’s had)
Cheeky Cheese Plate
Apple Tart with salted butter ice cream
And creme brulee #2 for moi.
One final look before heading to Gare Du Norde…
So that’s it. Sadly!
Thank you for taking the time to scroll through all the photographs!
Goodbye, beautiful Paris. See you again soon! x
My folks flew over for 10 days (they are still here actually!) and we took the Eurostar over for a little Parisian city break!
We rented a beautiful flat in Ternes for 3 nights and had the dreamiest time exploring Paris!
Our lovely apartment…
A beautiful first meal near the flat at L’ANNEX.
I enjoyed a few well-deserved glasses of crisp grassy Sancerre…
Followed by the most gorgeous Escargot…
Rare Rib of beef…
And SWEETS!
Apple Tart…
Panna Cotta with Raspberry…
Then a night walk to the Arc du Triomphe for some magical night photography fun.
Love them!!
…and many many stairs to the top!
We awoke the next day to gorgeous electric blue skies and had a beautiful little breakfast at Maison Lacombe.
I had read that people travel all over for their croissants and I completely understand why as I was unable to get a photograph after shovelling the croissant into my face in record speed.
I shall leave you with these and pick up at Notre Dame and all the rest tomorrow! x
Where did we leave off? Breakfast in England. Quick afternoon flight to Italy. Seaside dinner in Piran. Cheeky drinks in Croatia. This clearly is a great way to start a holiday.
As our eventful first night was nearing a close, I suppose we were well within our rights to pass out when we got to Uros’ flat in Ljubljana, but noooooo. HOLIDAY!!
We freshened up and high-tailed it to Zlata Ladjica – The Golden Ship, to drink more beers and meet more friends.
This is where I fell in love with Bevog Tak:
One of the most beautiful beers I’ve ever had. And the artwork is amazing as well.
I’m not sure how easy is is to get your hands on Bevog, but if you see it in your local specialty beer shop, snatch it up. It’s excellent.
Here is a very blurry and VERY MERRY snap of us after a few drinks:
On the way home I noticed a little vigil in support of Ukraine…heavy times…
On that note, we grabbed some street food and made our way back the flat for a well-deserved sleep.
I was lucky enough to wake up to beautiful Slovenian donuts filled with peach jam and super thick dark coffee.
Yum. Thank you to Uros’ brother Niko!!!
We ventured out in the rain to roam around the city…
Dragons!
Translation: Tits
The sculptures around Ljubljana are like something out of a Tool video. Which obviously makes me love it all the more.
Nightmarish pope related Church doors!
Yes, that is a turd sculpture. Bronze turds with faces. Spectacular.
We met up with Ajda and her wee little pup Laika (like the dog the Soviets sent to space!)
We stopped at an adorable coffee shop for a spell…
The sun came out eventually…
Dragon in the sun!!!
We spent the rest of the day in an Irish pub watching Six Nations and took an early night to prepare for the next day’s events.
x
On a hike through New Forest, a few months back when the weather was still bitter and the Spring flowers were desperately trying to push through, I encountered ponies. Velvety, soft and magnificent ponies. Gentle and wild all at the same time.
It was extraordinary and it made me feel very pleased to be alive and grateful for EVERYTHING good in the world.
I also found some super fluffy sheep and some delightful foresty bits.
Towards the middle of the day, after hiking for a couple of wintry hours, we stopped in Burley for lunch and I saw this in a shop window…
This immediately reached in and dredged the whole bittersweet flutter pony childhood tale from my memory banks.
And then on the last leg of the hike, I climbed over mounds of prickly bushes and through deep pockets of mud just to say hello without trying to “capture the moment”…
My husband pulled out his iPhone just at the right time and snapped this sweet little blurry shot of me COMPLETELY in my element.
Life is beautiful. xx
It’s been a year! First stop – CLEVELAND. Seeing my beautiful Aunts. x
I even got to spend some quality time with the family pets!
And no trip to CLE is complete without stopping by Cedar Point.
We rodes some epic and terrifying coasters…
Ate some massive BBQ turkey legs…
Then we passed out from jet lag exhaustion!
Followed by a quick flight to Nashville!!
I immediately had a bar party and invited everyone to come out and give me a year’s worth of hugs.
They complied!
Toasts were made…
I was so excited to spend time with some of my besties…
And baby!
OOooohhh baby!
There were lots of babies being made whilst I was away…
Big fat squooshy pretty babies!!!
Aunt Jamie ❤
And some of the babies I knew a year ago weren’t babies anymore, but little tiny people…
Lunch with my LaLa. ❤
My mom was just as pretty as I remember her being…
My brother was still a massive fantasy football dweeb…
Becca and her fantastic fiance Josh took us out to Dinner at Silo
Elevated Southern cuisine welcoming me home proved to be JUST what I needed…
Especially deviled eggs three ways…
Deep fried greenbeans…
And pork belly…
We even visited my beloved Bombay Palace
They were all super excited to see me too! HA!
Actually, we did a lot of eating.
And of course, we had to work some of it off…
No better place than Edwin Warner Park…
See ya soon Nashville xx
I just wanted to share some of the food I DEVOURED in Spain
A simple lunch…
Followed by a decadent dinner…
Tomato and goat cheese salad
Beef carpaccio with sheep’s-milk cheese
Tuna carpaccio with pink peppercorn and dill
Filet mignon with foie
Vanilla bean panna cotta with black currants…
Me in action!
Grilled calamari for another yummy lunch…
A little scampi party…
Tasty tapas…
x
I have always wanted to go to Scotland. I’m not exactly sure why.
I probably watched too much Braveheart growing up.
Oh wait, maybe it’s the accent. I LOVE that accent.
Or the sheep.
Or these MASSIVELY ADORABLE HIGHLAND COWS.
First Stop, St. Andrews!
Lunch was at Mitchell’s Deli…http://www.mitchellsdeli.co.uk/#
And the food was AMAZING.
NEXT UP, EDINBURGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shame on me. Always disappearing from this here blog world without even a warning or a friendly goodbye.
On top of that, I never even got around to posting all the Chicago food/art photographs that I promised I would! And now it’s January!
Seriously, shame shame shame!
Well, the only way to make up for it is by making up for it!
Chicago is just windy and busy enough to have provided me with the perfect training wheels for my big move to London.
It was REALLY high up and I was getting a little dizzy/clammy/panic-stricken…
I’m talking about REALLY HIGH.
When you go to the bathroom at the bar on the top floor the wall is simply a giant window so you step out of the stall feeling like you are about to topple over and directly out of it.
Which makes you feel queasy and generally uncertain about your safety.
So then we got some cocktails and everything seemed okay again…
Mandarin and Strawberry you-aren’t-going-to-die Martini
Long Island death-is-not-imminent Iced Tea
We happened upon this little vegan gem a couple of blocks from our hotel in Boystown and gave it a whirl.
Native. Chicago. Do it!
The Rockin-Moroccan Veggie Bowl with fried tofu tower of freedom…okay I added that last bit…
UN-chicken sandwich
Wickedly decadent peanut butter parfait
And the guiltiest pleasure of all, the exquisite French Lavender steeped Lemonade
(Be careful with this lemonade as it is danger-zone level sweet and will give you a sugar crash like you have never before experienced)
Time for some art!
My friend Nikki was nice enough to get us a couple of free passes to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Sometimes I love Modern Art…
This was my favourite piece hands down! By Nick Cave.
Sometimes I find it irritating…
I apparently like my art filled with porcelain woodland creatures.
I also had the pleasure of visiting The Chicago Art Institute while I was stuck on my own the next week. It was jaw-dropping.
And I took a healthy amount of photos so get comfortable!
WASN’T THAT THE COOLEST? Le Sigh. I ❤ Art.
Also, I was impressed with how well my camera did in all of the different parts of the museum, some rooms very very blue and bright, some were very dim and red…everything came out ok! Still learning!
My spectacular trip to London this Summer involved my first ever Peking Duck experience, which I shall never forget, no matter how many more brain injuries I sustain in my life.We did a little sight-seeing…
Before you know it we were on a tipsy mission, wandering the streets of London in search of a duck feast.
Soon enough we were seated in a fabulously elegant Chinese restaurant ordering a duck and a half, and even more wine…
Patiently awaiting the duck feast!
Snacks!
THE DUCK!!!
MMMMmmmmmmm…
Duck Skin…
The spread…
So here is what you do to make your taste buds have the biggest most fantastical explosive party in your mouth ever…
You take a pancake, you spread some plum sauce on it, you add cucumber and spring onions…
You grab a nice tender chunk of duck meat and top it with a crispy crunchy lacquered duck skin crackling and you roll it up as quickly as possible – inhaling it is preferable.
Oh! And they clean the rest of the duck and stir fry it with bean sprouts!
There is no shame! Only joy!
xx
Ah! Arizona! Yes. I went to visit my best friend Abigail…it’s all coming back to me now.
There were lots of treats consumed in Arizona.
Specifically Sedona, Jerome, & Cottonwood.
Home of everything magical, mystical, and holistic.
I ate quite a bit of yummy vegan and vegetarian fare and visited the cutest little breakfast/gelato cafe.
Also, a visit to candy mountain (sort of) and a cute wine bar with an insanely scrumptious foccacia appetizer.
Let us begin!
The following delights are from New Frontiers in Sedona…
Kale salad that made my face happy.
The best cold falafel I have ever eaten, also from New Frontiers grocery store.
Deviled eggs (because they are delicious)
Pear and Mesclun salad.
Magic healing bars!
Now, onto my breakfast at Crema Cafe in Cottonwood, AZ.
THINGS TO EAT! Just my kinda place!
Quick and gorgeous little egg & cheese croissant delivered by the sweetest server.
Close-up!
Pretty much the lightest, fluffiest, most breakfasty cloud of sunshine you could possibly introduce your taste buds to.
Oh, and the super sweet server!
Isn’t she just adorable?
AND, there was gelato!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to sample the gelato as the croissant was the size of my face and very filling!
Scones & biscotti
Who wants to take a trip to candy mountain?
Rock candy in everyone’s favorite flavor “BLUE”
SCOOPS!
There was a time in my life where I would have attempted to eat all of these lollies in one sitting.
Finally, the Focaccia to put all other Focaccia to shame at Grapes Restaurant & Bar in Jerome, AZ.
It doesn’t look like much, but trust me, a little olive oil or marinara dipping action and you have a masterpiece of textures and flavors that satiate all carb-loading desires.
Crunchy, pillowy, buttery, sweet, savory…
MOUTH MAGIC!
http://grapesjerome.com/
http://www.cremacoffeeandcreamery.com/
Nashville girl 