quinta-feira, 24 de abril de 2014

Pita Gyro

The food section of this week comes from Greece. The Gyro Pita consists of roast beef, pita bread, vegetables, sauces and chips. 
The meat can be beef, pork, chicken or lamb, is roasted and sliced ​​on a vertical skewer before serving. Then it is placed in pita bread with the accompaniments. The traditional is eat this dish with onion, tomato and tzatzki sauce (sauce consisting of yogurt, cucumber, garlic, salt, olive oil, black pepper, dill, lemon juice and parsley or mint). In the end, some chips are added and the tzatzki in the potatoes stays delicious.



terça-feira, 22 de abril de 2014

Around the World in 16 days - Bosch World Experience

16 days, 6 destinations, 3 continents, 5 known locations and 1 unknown. London, Panama, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore are part of this adventure! 
The initiative is called "Bosch is more than you think" and you can sign up here. You can travel around the world, sharing your experiences and knowing the "Bosch World". 
You can win one of three Samsung Galaxy S4, one of the three cameras GoPro Hero3 or one of five PlayStation Vita, too. You can also participate in the contest live from July 20 to August 5, and have the chance to win one of the three tickets Fly Around The World for two people. 

terça-feira, 15 de abril de 2014

Holiday Packages - HolidayPirates

About 3 months ago, through a friend, i discovered the HolidayPirates site. Completely unaware, never used it (i confess), but from then until now is part of my travel search sites.
For those who have flexibility in taking holidays from one day to another and want a cheap package or just a flight in the next few weeks, do not forget to take a look at this site. 
The site collects offers from various agencies, can choose hotels, cruises , car rentals, bus trips, flights ... Be aware that, in general, flights leave from UK.

For example, a today publication:

14 Nights in Florida, includes Flight from manchester, 3 * hotel and car rental for only € 652.
Hotel 3 * - Coco Key Hotel & Water Park Resort (TripAdvisor 4/5 rating )
Offer available for departures on April 29, 2014

The site is reliable, the flights are mostly in great airlines and a large number of offers are from the holiday operator Thomas Cook .

Do not forget to take note of the website.

Ibis Hotel

In the previous post, I spoke about a few sites where you can book your hotel at a lower price. When I decide to make reservations on these sites, always opt for hotels of 4 and 5 stars, in order to reduce the associated risk. However, there are times when even with the discount the final value is above my budget and i decide for a Ibis Hotel.
If you are looking for a cheap place to sleep, don´t like hostels or want to avoid any risk on sites like priceline / hotwire or something without many luxuries, simple and clean...Ibis is your solution!
The Ibis family consists with three kinds of hotels. 

Ibis traditional that strives for comfort, with breakfast from 4am to 12pm and customer service 24 hours a day.
Ibis

The Ibis Style hotel, has a colorful design, the breakfast is included and free extras.
Ibis Style

And then we have the Ibis Budget, for "small budget and heavy sleep", no luxuries, low cost breakfast and rooms for one to three people. The Ibis Hotel is a very economical option to expensive destinations. Is readily accomplished by forty euros per night in Paris or London. Some are far away from the city center but with public transport on hand, others not so much. Just to have an idea, I'll go to London in July and I opted for Ibis Budget for 56€/night, 4km from the city center, I think it was a great deal! 
It is important to refer that this class of Hotel, has soap / shower gel and towels, but there are no hair dryer or a bathroom called "normal", the sink is in the room, there is a shower cubicle and a toilet room with . At first it's strange but after a person becomes accustomed.
Ibis Budget


(ref. bibliográfica. ibis.com)

Hotel - Best Price

If you are looking for a hotel where to stay on your next trip , but your budget is limited or you want to get a more comfortable hotel for the same price you would pay for a simpler hotel , especially if you are not averse to the risk then Hotwire.com or Priceline.com are your solution .
Priceline.com and Hotwire.com are two sites for hotel reservations, car and flight ticket, but focused mainly to hotels " opaque "deals. 

Hotwire :

In hotwire, the hotel price is already determined , but the client does not know which hotel that the site offers. The site shows the hotels with its value , without specifying its name only identifies the geographical area and the number of stars ( = evaluation of customers and not self - rating of the hotels ). It is important to read the information about customer recommendation and evaluation of Tripadvisor.com readers .

Example: I search for a hotel in Madrid between the 3rd and 6th of May , 2014 The first hotel that results of the research is described this way : ".Madrid Barajas Airport area hotel , 5 * , € 178 , recommended in 95 % of Hotwire customers reviews " and one of these chains: Le meridien, the Luxury Collection, Intercontinental and others .
Usually, the breakfasts is not included in the booking price. It is essential to know the area where you want to stay. After the reservation, you will know the name of the selected hotel .

Priceline:

Priceline is a auction hotels, here you define how you want to spend , the area where you want to stay and the stars . The bet always refers to a double room. It is possible to reach discounts up to 60 % of the value quoted on other websites . However, this will depend on demand at that moment . If the bet user is not accepted, you can just try again to the same area and category of hotel 24 hours later. However, nothing prevents you from looking into other areas or change the category of the hotel  in the following hours . Importantly : the value of the room will only be taken from your credit card  if the bet is accepted .
You can even book your hotel in the " Express Deals " tab , with discounts up to 55 % . In this section , such as Hotwire , the name of the hotel is hidden and will be chosen according to the stars and elected area . The Priceline also has the " normal" option to reserve hotels in "sale " as happens nowadays in with Booking.com " Deal Value " option.

Are there risks ?

Yes you can leave a hotel you do not like; stay with the worst room in the hotel; not able to choose the type of bed and generally the money is not refunded in case of change in dates .

sábado, 12 de abril de 2014

Have a Nice Weekend

                            Funny Weekend Ecard: I can't wait to get away from the city this weekend to the same place as everyone else from the city.

It happens so often ... well Enjoy the weekend!

sexta-feira, 11 de abril de 2014

Travel wallet

When traveling is important not forget anything and especially put your money in a place that is the more safe as possible. 
There is a multitude of wallets for traveling. The important thing is to feel ourselves comfortable. 

A few years ago, I went to Barcelona and bought like this,to avoid bolder hands on the famous stree Las ramblas.
Nowadays, I have a wallet like this one. Wallet that was offered by a very special person. Here I put the passport (if i go outside the European Union), the 'boarding pass', documents / tickets to museums / shows that have been purchased in advance. 
I also have always the craze to take some extra money in other place, like on the cabin bag for example. To prevent a non working credit card or stealing.
For more travel wallets see here!


quinta-feira, 10 de abril de 2014

Canelé - Speciality from Bordeaux

Following the line of issues discussed this week , I will share with you the recipe of the traditional sweet of Bordeaux. On my trip to Bordeaux, last weekend, i ate, enjoyed and repeated canelés!
Its name derives from the shape of copper rib (canele) used for their cooking. This caramelized and moist interior cake is scented with vanilla and rum, can be preserved for 4 to 5 days at room temperature or frozen.
Its origin is linked to the process of filtering the wine with eggs whites. In this case, the unused gems were donated to nuns who have created the candy.

Canelé

Ingredients for 12 canelés:

50 cl milk
25 g butter
2 egg gem
250 g of sugar
125 g flour
½ vanilla bean
1 tablespoon rum
1 tablespoon lemon zest
A few drops of essence of bitter almond
Edible bee wax or melted butter
Fluted cake forms of copper

Preparation:

1.Ferver milk , butter, vanilla beans with lemon and almond. And cool.
2.Bater the eggs with the sugar and incorporate the flour without beating too .
3.Acrescentar the above mixture gently milk and stir to form a smooth dough.
4.Acrescentar rum.
5.Deixar the dough to rest for 24 hours, covered.
6.Untar forms with the wax ( or butter ) and bake at a temperature of 130 ° C
7.Pré-heat the oven to 210 ° C. Fill the forms up to 1 cm from the edge and bake for 30-45 minutes. The caneles should stay with caramel color.
8. Cool and then unmold.

Instagram



from Instagram

quarta-feira, 9 de abril de 2014

Biarritz

Without planned, we decided to stop in Biarritz on the return trip from Bordeaux. 
It was a very enjoyable time, the thermometer marked above 22 º C, there were people in the beach, british people in the street and full coffees. Smelled like summer! 

Biarritz, located on the Basque coast, in the south of Aquitaine, especially known for its surfers, is a pearl in the French southwest. 

Here are the photos, calling the heat and the summer!






terça-feira, 8 de abril de 2014

Instagram Report

In order to be able to share with all my followers my instagram pictures, from today and now on, the blog is connected to my instagram
Will be published pictures about travel, food, interests and day thoughts.

Bordeaux - Trip -

We left early, with the focus to arrive at Bordeaux around 12 am. 
Arriving there, we had lunch, did the check in and went to discover the city. 
I just want to say: the city is stunning! Have a Parisian mystic in a reduced scale, is a small Paris. France is undoubtedly a fantastic country. The more I visite,  the more I wanna visite! 

I visited, by day and by night, the Place de la Bourse and its water mirror. The palace is reflected in the water and it is possible to get exceptional photos.


We saw the Place de la Comédie, where is the Opera House, the heart of the city!








We visited the Porte Cailhau and Grosse Cloche de Bordeaux. 
In the historic center of Bordeaux resists four city gates, the most beautiful is the Porte Cailhau. Built between 1493 and 1496 to honor King Charles VIII after the defeat of the Italians. The remaining five ports are located a few meters from Porte Cailhau, highlighting the Grosse Cloche.





We walk in busy streets, with particular emphasis on the street Santa Catarina.




We saw the tower Pey-Berland, Notre Dame English church and the Ville Hotel.







We walked in the Public Garden, which contains a great terrace to relax on sunny days and temperatures above 22 º C. And Sunday was the perfect day for it!






We ate macaroons and the sweet typical of Bordeaux, Canele (caramelized sweet with a touch of vanilla and rum).



We drank wine and went to the famous store, L'intendant, to buy a few bottles. In this shop as you move up the stairs,from floor to floor, the wine is more expensive and therefore they have more years. We stayed on the ground floor and brought some bottles for 9 and15 €,  with 5 years!




In the comming back trip, we stopped in Biarritz to enjoy the setting sun, in the sea.

A nice weekend!

A weekend with everything, including more pounds...


quinta-feira, 3 de abril de 2014

Pintxos

Today i'm going to talk about food. 
Yesterday was my bday, so i thought that the day deserved a different meal. I decided to taste pintxos! 
Pintxos, typical basque food are consumed in bars or taverns and have a certain similarity with traditional spanish tapas. The main difference is that pintxos have a toothpick that is used to keep ingredients from falling off the bread, as well as to keep track of the number of items that the customer has eaten. 
They put them in the bancony of the taver and we only have to pick up and eat.
Can be hot or cold portions and the drink (usually Cider) is included in the price. 
There is an endless variety of flavors and types, from the simplest to the most elaborate, the cheapest to the most expensive. Can incorporate any food, but the most common feature is cod, mushrooms, anchovies, peppers and tortilla.






terça-feira, 1 de abril de 2014

Random Portugal











Booking Bordeaux

If there exists a site that more satisfies me,in finding a hotel, is the Booking. It's fast, intuitive, has a good interface and it's very easy to understand. By  the rating/opinion, of guests who pass by, it is possible to have a perception of the hotel conditions. And, in my experience, the overall score has proven to be quite faithful to the local conditions. 

For my next trip, i will have this weekend, the hotel is already booked and i'm reading this book

More news of the trip soon. Stay tuned!

(Geoff Livingston)

Greece