Eating our way around Thessaloniki

The city of Thessaloniki is set on the coast, and the centre of town is a marina (rather than a beach), which means there is a lovely boardwalk to wander along in the sunshine, eating ice cream or delicious Greek pastries.

The city is an old walled city, but most of the remnants of the walls have disappeared.  Sadly, a lot of the history of the city seems to be ignored, or locked up.  There are various churches built 2000 years ago which are locked to visitors.  There are archaeological sites that are completely unprotected – with graffiti on ancient ruins.   

We really enjoyed wandering around the edges of the city, coming across the remnants of ancient Greece, but I wish that there was more money in Greece to take care of the ‘old stuff’.

We did exert ourselves somewhat to make our way up the White Tower – like the Round Tower in Copenhagen, the White Tower is an internal ramp, rather than stairs.  At the top the view over sunny Thessaloniki was lovely. 

The city is full of delicious food.  In addition to the Greek pastries, we ate cheeses, olives, fish and salads.  

There were so many tempting things to try, that it became difficult to find enough to see and do in between each meal or snack (I know, a terrible problem to have).  Probably the most delicious meal was our final dinner, where I had a delicious pasta with fresh tuna.

Thessaloniki is a lovely city, pretty perfect for a weekend, or a couple of days, where you want to do a little sight seeing, and eat a lot of delicious food.

Our Roman Holiday

We’re in the midst of ‘making the most of it’ mode, so headed to Rome for the weekend – we arrived at about 8:30 on Friday night, and left at lunchtime on Sunday.

We made the most of it in our style – focussing on the delicious food we could eat, and seeing what sights we could (even though a good amount were shut on the Saturday due to the Treaty of Rome 60^th anniversary celebrations).

The food market at Termini – which is otherwise an unpleasant place to stay for long – was amazing.  There are heaps of stalls, and you can order from different stalls, grab a seat and settle in.  People will come by with drinks carts and it’s very easy to build up a small pile of used glasses and plates.  The cacio e pepe pasta was the highlight, but the salmon tartare was a pretty close second.

Another delicious meal was some foccacia stuffed with mozzarella and zucchini flowers, followed by gelati of course!  

We went to the Vatican, but didn’t join the 3 hour (minimum) queues to get in, saw the Trevi (ugly surrounds, but lovely fountain itself), and went into the Pantheon – squeezing in all the sights we could and covering a good amount of ground.

We enjoyed some really delicious wine and cheese that night, before some pizza, and falling into bed. 

Sunday morning we were up bright and early and queuing at the Colosseum before the railings were even up for the day, and as we’d pre-booked our tickets we were inside, on our own, as the hordes waited to buy their tickets. 

We spent some time wandering on the Palatino (which we could see from our lovely hotel), and through the Forum, before buying some lunch in the Jewish quarter, grabbing our bags and heading back to the airport.

We have the best new neighbour

Geoff and I recently welcomed a new next door neighbour.  A young Turkish guy, who says he works from home and travels a lot, so we don't expect to see him much. We recently opened our door to find our new neighbour with an offering of pistachio baklava.

oozey and delicious.

Kate and Geoff ate Paris

Before going on our trip to Paris, I joked that we were going to eat all the croissants in Paris, as we had a list as long as our arms of the patisseries that we wanted to try!  As well as lots of oysters!

In no particular order, here are some of the delicacies we enjoyed:

Butter croissant at Du Pain et des Idées

Supposedly one of the best butter croissants in Paris, and it did not disappoint.  Flaky, crispy, moist in the middle, rich and smooth.  Absolutely delicious. 

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

Apparently the cakes sold here are called ‘Merveilleux’ – little meringues, that are still slightly chewy inside, surrounded by a delicious flavoured cream, and nuts, or chocolate shavings. Light and airy, incredibly satisfying to a sweet tooth

François Pralus

Pralus sells a brioche studded with pink praline (almond and hazelnuts) and was so buttery and especially lovely with a cup of tea

Berko

We devoured a delicious piece of lemon meringue cheesecake – tart lemon curd swirled through the cheesecake and topped by billowy meringue.  Lovely.

Stohrer

A much more traditional looking French patisserie, and I really enjoyed a religieuse – a coffee flavoured choux pastry bomb!  Highly recommended. 

Chapon
Yes, this is a cone of chocolate mousse, covered in crumbled praline.  There were 5 mousses to choose from - different chocolates from all over the world!

The raspberry challenge

Through the combination of AQIS and sheer distance, it was much easier to cook seasonally in Australia. 

Fresh figs were available from February to April, brussels sprouts in winter, and my favourite, raspberries, were summer fruit.  It's a treat to see them at the market, an immediate opportunity for miso glazed figs or to make little apricot cakes. 

As the weather turned, the summer berries and stone fruits were replaced by early season apples and eventually even the tegan blue plum would cede to mandarins. Our fruit bowl once full of various purples and reds of the summer fruits, would fill up with apples and Geoff's bananas.

Crunchy and crispy

Winter's staple fruit in our household

Summer come quickly!

In the UK, there doesn't seem to be any restriction on mporting fresh food. A pineapple from Costa Rica costs just £1; a punnet of Spanish raspberries is £2 and lovely, red tomatoes are available at bargain basement prices too. 

It's really easy to say 'I want to eat seasonally' or more broadly, find ways to minimise my footprint on the earth.  But I'm finding it really hard to resist my favourite foods when they are easily available. 

I'd be interested to hear any tips of following through on the commitment to eat seasonally - though we don't have a freezer to store fruits bought in season.