European food III - a final catch up

This is the third and final food-focused post from our European honeymoon in September (parts I and II are here and here). Given it's now 10 weeks since we returned home, that is probably just as well. My memory for food-related events is remarkably good, but passing the three month mark might have been problematic even for me.

Stop one: Zizzi Restaurant, Canary Wharf, London.

Zizzi is an Italian chain restaurant that is slightly more upmarket than Pizza Express. It was recommended by Lonely Planet and there are over 80 restaurants across England, Wales and Scotland. We visited the Canary Wharf branch, which was located around the corner from our London apartment. It had views over the Thames River and was warm and cozy inside.

Thames-side views

We had examined the menu earlier in the day, so I knew Zizzi provided a good range of salads and some appealing pizzas. I decided on the Superfood Salad, which came with butternut squash, ribbons of courgette, lentils, broad beans, mint, balsamic vinegar dressing, and bonus dough sticks. The standard version would have come with goats' cheese, but I asked for that to be omitted.  Having eliminated the cheese, there was nothing I didn't like. It was a gorgeous salad. I could have eaten it twice over.

Superfood Salad

It's fortunate I didn't eat it twice, though, because Mr Bite ordered the Primavera rustica pizza in part so I could share a slice. (I did offer him some of my salad, but he inexplicably declined.) Zizzi offers 'classic' pizzas and 'rustica' pizzas, with the rustica variety having a larger and thinner base and providing a higher proportion of toppings to crust. 

The Primavera is topped with aubergine, artichoke, peppers, olives, tomato sauce, mozzarella and goats' cheese. It was easy for me to eat around the cheese and we both loved it.

Primavera rustica pizza

Unfortunately, we weren't able to re-create our positive Zizzi experience when we visited the York restaurant a week later. I ordered the beetroot and ricotta salad minus the ricotta (the other ingredients included asparagus, artichoke, rocket, and pumpkin seeds), but found there was too much beetroot and I couldn't finish it. I regretted not ordering the Superfood Salad a second time. Mr Bite did order the same Primavera pizza, but Zizzi had changed their rustica pizza bases in the week between our two visits. They now do a wholemeal base and have a different type of tomato paste. I liked it, but Mr B did not.

Our York experience aside, I would recommend Zizzi for easy, well prepared food and extensive menu options. Both of the restaurants we ate in were attractive and well-located and the staff were happy to modify my salad orders for me.

Stop two: Sainsbury's Supermarket, Arnison Retail Centre, Durham.

Our Durham accommodation was next to a small collection of shops that included a large Sainsbury's Supermarket. Despite my enjoyment of Waitrose in London, Sainsbury's is probably my favourite English supermarket chain. In typical British fashion, even supermarkets carry class connotations and Waitrose is unmistakably upper class. It carries luxury products that are only affordable if you are riding on Australian exchange rates, or have a large amount of money to allocate to supermarket shopping. Sainsbury's sits above the bargain-focused stores, but allows you to shop without bankrupting yourself.

The only problem with our Durham Sainsbury's was our (my) inability to buy as much food as we (I) would have liked. Still, even browsing was enjoyable. I also found a variety of frozen yoghurt that delighted me enough to initiate dancing in the freezer aisle.

Vanilla flavoured pumpkin seeds. In frozen yoghurt. In natural frozen yoghurt.

The other flavours of YooMoo frozen yoghurt are pretty appealing too, but this angelmoo variety was love at first sight. And more love at first taste.

Stop three: Pizza Express, Brindley Place, Birmingham.

Having tried Zizzi twice, we thought it only fair to visit Pizza Express for comparative purposes. As with our Canary Wharf Zizzi experience, the location of the restaurant we visited was fantastic. The Brindley Place Pizza Express overlooks the newly developed Birmingham canals, and was busy despite being a weeknight.

Birmingham canals at Brindley Place

As with Zizzi, Pizza Express offers a number of pizza varieties. In their case, they are classic, romana (thin and crispy) and leggera (a ring of the romana dough, with a hole in the middle filled with salad!).

Mr Bite ordered the classic Giardiniera pizza topping, but on the romana base. The Giardiniera includes artichokes, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, leeks, olives and garlic oil on a tomato and pesto base. Unlike his Zizzi pizzas, it was too cheesy for me, but it was nonetheless a step up from your standard take-away pizza. Moreover, he enjoyed it, which is the important thing.

Apologies for the photo quality...
Giardiniera pizza above, warm vegetable salad below

I ordered the warm vegetable and goats cheese salad, minus (can you guess?) the goats cheese. This was delicious. The salad included chargrilled aubergine and peppers, roasted tomatoes and artichoke, cucumber, lentils, mint and basil. It also came with dough sticks. I would struggle to say which I preferred out of this and Zizzi's Superfood Salad.

If Australia's pizza chains would start serving warm vegetable salads, I would be very happy.

Stop four: Vegan marshamallow mix.

This Angel Food vegan marshmallow mix actually originates in New Zealand, so I find it amusing that I picked it up in Birmingham. From an air miles perspective, this is a very well traveled packet - embarrassingly so. As I now know, Angel Food ships to Australia (an exciting discovery if ever there was one), so I could have waited until I was home and ordered this mix online. At the time, though, my thought process went something like "vegan marshmallows-ohmygoodness-I have to have them-I need them-Mr Bite wait I need to buy these-Mr Bite come back!-vegan marshmallows squee!".

There was no waiting.

I haven't yet used these - I am saving them for a "special occasion", which better arrive before April next year - but am extremely excited to do so.

So there we have it - the end of my European food experiences, at least for now. Have you tried any of the things featured here? Or made / bought vegan marshmallows more generally?

On a more sombre note, my heart goes out to those affected by the recent Connecticut shootings. I don't have enough words to convey how awful the event seems. Shooting innocent children at school should never happen. I hope it never does again. It is heartbreaking.

Tweet

England - Durham, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and some family history

From a national park in Western Australia, I'm taking us back 5 weeks and to the other side of the world. (Who says time travel isn't possible?!) This post picks up where my York one left off, as we drove north from Yorkshire to County Durham and surrounds.

One of my favourite views of Durham - glimpses of the castle and cathedral behind the river

I was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, which is about 45 minutes north of Durham. After the maternity hospital in Newcastle, I then returned 'home' to a house in Durham. As such, the area has a certain amount of significance for me. In saying that, after I left as an infant, I didn't return to visit the region until I was 17. I am hardly a local. It is a part of England that I love, though, and I was thrilled to be able to share it with Mr Bite on this trip.

Before launching into our time in Durham and Newcastle, I wanted to touch on my mother's family and their background in England. If you aren't interested in family history matters, feel free to jump ahead to travel photos and tales. For me, the background of this region is part of what makes it important to me, so it seemed appropriate to jot some thoughts down here. I've dot pointed things below, so it's easy to distinguish the history points from the rest of this post.

• My maternal grandfather grew up in London's north, with summer holidays spent with his grandparents (plus parents and two siblings) on the coast of Sussex. When World War II developed, he joined the British Royal Air Force and was based variously in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. His involvement in the RAF allowed him to attend university after returning to England, something that he says wouldn't have been possible otherwise. He studied geography at Cambridge University and went on to a obtain a PhD in geography and spend his working life in academia.
• After finishing at Cambridge, my grandfather swapped continents for a teaching job at the College of Wooster, a liberal arts college in Ohio, America. My (American) grandmother was a freshman student at Wooster at the time. She describes the arrival of my grandfather, plus one other British teacher, in the following way: "At the beginning of my second year, two Englishmen joined the faculty. One was a good-looking geographer about whom the female students acted so silly I was determined to find fault with him." 
• Amusingly, my grandmother went out with the other Englishman (the one she wasn't determined to find fault with) about a year later, only to end the relationship with him and subsequently start seeing my grandfather. They married 6 months or so into their relationship and have been happily married ever since - nearly 60 years now.
• From Ohio, my newly married grandparents visited England briefly before going back to the US. There, my grandmother finished her Master of Arts degree and attended her graduation ceremony very pregnant with their first child, my mother's older brother. Shortly after his arrival, the now-trio moved to Syracuse, New York, where my mother was later born. A few years later, they shifted to then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in Africa, where one of my mother's sisters was born.
• From Africa, the family moved back to America, to Hanover, New Hampshire, where my grandfather taught at Dartmouth College and my mother's other sister was born.
• Apparently determined to pack in a huge amount of travel, Hanover preceded a return to Africa, this time to Nigeria. My grandparents loved Africa in many ways and they remain heavily involved in African-focused charities to this day. 
• Given the limited school options in Africa, my mother and her older brother were sent back to England for schooling from the age of 9. In part to avoid this happening on a long-term basis, the family moved from Nigeria to Jamaica when my mother was 10. 
• Through all of the above, the one constant visiting place was Sussex in England, where the family returned for any available holidays and where my mother's youngest sibling, another boy, was born during one visit. In case you've lost count, there are 5 children in total, 3 born in America, 1 in Africa and 1 in England (now, 2 of the 5 live in England, 1 in Australia, 1 in Canada and one in Hawaii!). My grandparents current house is in that same region of Sussex.
• When my mother was 16, the family returned to England - to Durham. My grandfather took a job at Durham University just in time for her to complete her English A levels there.
• Although my mother left Durham after school, and spent time in mainland Europe before she met and married my father, she returned to where her parents were living before having me. My own parents were based in Oman at the time, for my Dad's work, but planned to return to England for my delivery. It made sense for them to head to Durham where my mother's parents still were, which is why my birth happened in that particular part of the country.

Durham castle

So! Long history aside, Durham does mean a lot to me. It is also an incredibly beautiful town. The university is based in and around Durham Castle, which adjoins Durham Cathedral, and both are World Heritage Sites. It is very much a university city so it doesn't take long to walk around the town, but it is scenic if not particularly large.

More of Durham river

We had two nights in Durham, with one day allocated to within the town. Unfortunately, Durham Castle was closed as it was the first week of the new university year. The castle includes some of the student accommodation, and was taken over by Fresher week celebrations and welcomes.

Lucky students that live in here!

We did visit the cathedral, however, and even climbed the tower (yes, another one), which I hadn't done before. It provided impressive views, back over the river and towards the castle and town centre beyond.

Cathedral views

On our second day, we visited Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. I could allocate a whole post to that city, too, with it's change from a run-down industrial city to its current day form, but I will restrain myself. I will finish with two photos instead, capturing Newcastle's river area (there are many, many bridges) and some old town architecture - complete with hire-as-you-go bikes.

It was a really lovely few days.

Are there places, geographically speaking, that mean a lot to you?

Tweet

England - London (otherwise known as, the city of amazing food and over-excitement)

I was rather pleased to read some of the comments on my last post, which suggested that I put aside my efforts at containing excitement and let my enthusiasm for London bubble over. 

Readers, it may be bubbling.

Just off Trafalgar Square

I love England. I have never lived there outside of infancy, and appreciate that visiting somewhere, even if for extended intervals, is not the same as living and working there. Nonetheless - I love it. I love London particularly. Our approach to Gatwick Airport on Sunday afternoon, over oh-so-green fields, saw me leaning over Mr Bite to peer out the window in glee.

Moving through passport control on my British passport, and then onto a train to London Bridge, saw me smile even more widely, despite the cold and rainy weather. We timed our visit to coincide with England's wettest autumn in 30 years, and some parts of the country received 6 months worth of rainfall in 24 hours. A wet 12'C was certainly a shock after the sunshine of Spain and Portugal, but it wasn't enough to dampen our enthusiasm.

Canary Wharf by day

Our London accommodation, another apartment (the smallest to date, given London being London!), was at Canary Wharf. We picked the location primarily because the apartment was there, but it proved to be a wonderful place to stay. 

After sleeping in a loft in Madrid, we got to sleep in a magical trundle bed in London

The high rise office buildings were offset by the wharfs and docks, there were great transport connections, and underneath the tube and Docklands Light Rail stations was a sprawling shopping complex with just about everything you could possibly need or want.

Looking out from Canary Wharf at night

Including, to my complete and utter joy, a whole heap of food.

Itsu snacks...note the chocolate coated edamame beans!

There were cafes and restaurants and supermarkets galore, including lots and lots of coffee shops, where I could place my order in English and know what I was ordering; multiple frozen yoghurt shops; multiple vegetarian-friendly cafes and restaurants; and multiple Asian-inspired shops, including Itsu, with its wonderful range of snack foods and a great vegetarian-friendly main menu.

More Itsu snacks...

There was also a Marks and Spencer's food hall, which is possibly my first English food love. They have the most wonderful salads and wraps and fruit and I could eat them almost endlessly without getting bored.

Sorry about the photo quality...edamame bean salad with chilli and coriander dressing

Figs (Turkish rather than British, I must admit...), plums, apples...

To top everything off, there was a Waitrose supermarket of Amazingness.

I hyperventilated in Waitrose.

So many new-to-me products!

And plain, tart frozen yoghurt that one could take home!

And lookee the wasabi chocolate!

When I found their vegan and raw food aisle, I nearly lost all capacity to speak.

Raw vegan chocolate truffles!

And raw vegan chocolate bites!

And vegan flax crackers of wonderful flavours!

Mr Bite decided, sensibly, to leave me at the shops whilst I toured and giggled inwardly and took photos and bought so much food (details will have to come in a separate post). He went to our apartment to read up on results from the Western Australian Football League grand final, which his (and thus my) team won for the second year in a row. All in all, therefore, it was a great afternoon for us both :-)

We ate at home that first night, drawing on some of the food purchased earlier in the afternoon - a Waitrose cheese and onion pastie for Mr Bite, a Marks and Spencer's 'nutty grain and vegetable salad' for me (quinoa with lentils and almonds and vegetables, plus a soy and ginger dressing), and asparagus and carrot for us both.

Delicious.

The next day, I managed to shift my focus away from food and onto the city as a whole. It is, of course, a wonderful city.

We spent some time in the City area of London, which includes Chancery Lane and the Inns of Court. These are featured in the 16th century books of C. J. Sansom, which I read and loved over the last year. It was rather fun walking the streets he refers to, and history drips from every corner.

We also went up Monument, on the edge of the City, which was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London in 1666. It has 311 spiral steps to the top, and good views from the top.

Good views were also to be found from the new Emirates Air Line cable car, which crosses the River Thames.

Cable cars as seen from below...

This is actually the third cable car we have done on this trip (!), but we were very glad we did it. It beat the Madrid and Porto ones in length and views and even in price, as if you have a London Oyster (travel) card it costs only slightly more than a standard ride on the tube.

...and in the air.

London also saw us visit the Wellcome Trust Collection, a small, free museum of medical history and curiosities, and the Churchill War Rooms, part of the London Imperial War Museum. I am not usually very enthused by war museums, but would wholeheartedly recommend the Churchill one. The War Rooms were the headquarters for WWII operations and are located underneath the government and prime ministerial buildings in Westminster. They are set up as they were then and provided a great insight into WWII.

As Mr Bite had never been (I don't know how), we did an additional, brief museum stop at the Science Museum. It is far too big to see in brief, but entertained us for an hour and whetted Mr B's interest for a proper visit in the future. To our amusement, a heat imaging camera also provided confirmation that my hands are dead with regard to circulation. They radiated no heat whatsoever.

Note the person with blue hands...

Our final day in London was spent as a day trip to Rye, in East Sussex, to see my grandparents. It is an incredibly quaint town, and one that is so quintessentially English it sometimes doesn't feel real.

We are now in York and I see my posts becoming more and more belated as our last week of holiday and honeymoon stretches ahead of us. I plan to spend the next week soaking up every minute of this country, and hopefully not too much of its rain!

Do you have a country or city that you love above all else?

Tweet

Portugal - Porto

As I alluded to in my first Portugal post, we liked Porto more than we liked Lisbon. For a start, we liked it immediately - already a step ahead! - with our arrival being characterised by the River Douro sparkling in dazzling sunshine. From then on, the city remained attractive, with a small but nicely set out centre and the twisting, steep roads that seem to characterise Portugal. It is not a city I could see myself living in, but it was a city I was pleased to visit.

River Douro, looking across from the Ribeira district that is the front of Porto's core centre

Porto is a port town in both sense of the word. It has a lot of port of the alcoholic variety, and historically it served as a ship hub. The town still revolves around the river, and we were fortunate to be staying right on it, in an apartment three floors up and only half a block back from the water. The above picture was taken from our window.

By virtue of being in the 'old' Ribeira district (a World Heritage Site), the apartment was not new but it was spacious. Given that Mr Bite had three days to fill independently while I was at my conference, we wanted something that was more than a hotel room and it definitely filled that requirement.

On our first afternoon, we walked through the main centre of the town, guided by only the vaguest of plans and being happy to take left or right turns on whim. We saw more tiled walls, impressive architecture, and scenic streets.

We were also amused to discover a rather quaint food hall within a shopping arcade (containing, you may note, our Porto Wok to Walk).

Wednesday was our one joint full day, and we were fortunate to have more sunshine. We decided to hire bikes, and had a hugely enjoyable three hours riding along the river and then the coast, before having a Subway picnic lunch and following bike paths back through the city. It was great fun and I will definitely keep bike hiring in mind as a holiday activity for future trips.

Coastline of Portugal

Subway salad wrap - carrot seems to be absent in Porto Subways, but corn and oregano were available

In the afternoon, we walked to the other side of the river, and then took a cable car ride up to the top of the central bridge.

More panorama playing - looking back at the main city centre

The cable car was long enough to be a ride, but not so long it lost novelty value before the end. The views were wonderful too.

The cable car route...

...and up the top.

My conference also went well, providing the sort of renewed work focus and energy I need every now and then, and had a worthy and full programme. Nonetheless, I am glad to be back on holiday! 

We are now into our second full day in London, and I am so delighted to be here, truly my favourite place in the world, that I am in a constant state of slight over-excitement. I shall try to moderate it into a coherent post eventually :-)

Those of you who loved Lisbon - have you visited Porto?
And has anyone else used biking as a way to explore a new city?

Tweet