Year: 2015
New York City – Five Fave (& Free) Places to Take a Pause
I love New York for its energy; I can’t think of another place that is so emblematic of humanity. But sometimes, I like to remove myself from that frenzy and just observe and really savour the life of the city. The following are my five favourite spots to do just this (and they’re almost all free!).
- Brooklyn Bridge - walk from the Brooklyn end into Manhattan. I think it’s a really great way to spend an hour - the views from the bridge are spectacular as is peering at...
Pic of the Day – Yosemite Deer
I took this photo just around sunrise in Yosemite. There was a herd of deer by the road as we were driving by so we stopped and I got out of the car. They were quite oblivious of my presence (along with the other cars driving by) so I had to make a slight noise before the stag looked up. Shot on a Nikon D800 at 200mm zoom, manual setting of ISO2500, F4, 1/100.
Piedmont – More Than a Oenophile’s Dream
Given Tuscany’s medieval and renaissance jewels, visitors often overlook Italy’s other wine region Piedmont. But with its delicious Barolo and Barbaresco wines, super restaurants and sculpted vine covered hillsides, Piedmont is a worthy culinary and scenic destination especially since it’s within easy reach of Milan. Best of all, you can get a great meal and a fantastic room at prices well below that of comparable establishments in Milan and much of Tuscany.
I discovered...
Piedmont’s La Ciau del Tornavento – All the Wine to Dine For
For a Michelin one-star establishment, La Ciau del Tornavento packs a punch. The restaurant sits on a hilltop in the town of Treiso in Piedmont with the dining room opening up onto a fantastic view of the vine laden slopes and valley below. The cuisine takes Piedmont’s traditional dishes up a notch - largely recognisable, nothing foamy here. But best of all it has the most impressive wine collection I’ve ever seen with its cellar holding more than 38,000 bottles.
We came here on...