Over Thanksgiving 2021, I traveled to El Salvador in Central America. El Salvador is the least visited of all the Central American countries and was the last one that I had yet to visit. It has become one of the favorites. The country has had a turbulent past to say the least. Having come out…
Category: wanderlust
Quick Guide to Healdsburg, Sonoma County, USA + Valette Restaurant
Northern California. What a wonderful place to visit. Food, wine, outdoors, and all within fair and easy reach from San Francisco. California wine country is vast and diverse. You have the most famous one, Napa Valley, its more quaint but equally great neighbor, Sonoma, and the many other dotting the entire state like Paso Robles…
Day Trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina from Dubrovnik
As mentioned in my Dubrovnik, Croatia post, during one of my days in the Balkans/Dalmatian Coast, I opted to book a full day tour to visit neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically to see the beautiful city of Mostar. A day trip or tour from Dubrovnik to visit Bosnia is well worth it if you do…
72 Hours in Dubrovnik, Croatia Game and Thrones with UNESCO Oysters and Wine
In October 2021, I ventured out to Dubrovnik, Croatia for the first time. Dubrovnik has long been on my list, especially as a Game of Thrones fan. Further Croatia was supposed to have been part of a cancelled Summer 2020 family vacation. Finally, Delta Air Lines operated a season JFK-DBV flight summer of 2021, and…
Review: Six Senses Douro Valley
Intro In September 2021, following a quick but delicious and productive 24 hours in Porto, I was off on a 2 hour train ride from Porto to Douro Valley, specifically the city of Peso de Regua, which is one of the biggest and main gateways to the valley. The 2 hour journey flies by as…
24 Hours Eating Through Porto, Portugal with Culinary Backstreets
In September 2021 I revisited Portugal, except this time I ventured to Northern Portugal to Porto and the Douro Valley. I can say that I like this part of Portugal more than Lisbon and its surrounding areas. They say Porto is the culinary capital of Portugal and I can certainly see why. It is also…
36 hours in Dufftown, Scotland; Scottish Highlands
Ah Scotland. What a place. Deliciously fresh food, whisky, friendly people, rich history and culture, and amazing scenery be it rain or shine. It is to this day one of my favorite parts of the world to visit. And I have only been twice. The first was a spectacularly luxurious journey aboard the Belmond Royal…
Review: Palace Restaurant, Helsinki, Finland
As mentioned in my Helsinki post, a restaurant that is definitely worth checking out in Helsinki is the 1 Michelin Starred Palace Restaurant. I had no idea about Palace Restaurant or really any of Helsinki’s fine dining scene until I was doing my research for the trip. Palace Restaurant was the first Finnish restaurant to…
Quick Guide to Helsinki, Finland
Hello there! It has been quite a while, in fact almost a year, since I last posted. This happened for a variety of reasons, including getting quite lazy. But we are now back at it and am going to try my best to make up and post about the many trips I have taken since…
La Table d’Hôte (La Cuisine du Chateau) at Domaine de Primard Hotel, Guainville, France
In my previous post, I reviewed and introduced Domaine de Primard Hotel in Guainville, Normandy, France. I mention there that one of two highlights of my time there was the La Table d’Hote dining experience. It was so special and enjoyable I figured it could use its own post. Summary Absolutely worth doing. Definitely worth…
Review: Domaine de Primard Hotel, Guainville, Normandy, France
The European Union recently placed the United States on their green list allowing for fully vaccinated travelers to enter within each EU nation’s own parameters. One country that was fully open without any restrictions except for proof of vaccination is France. I chose to stop by France for a couple of days on my return…
A Day in Woodinville, Washington and Stay at Willows Lodge
Background and Intro As mentioned in my prior post on The Herbfarm Restaurant, I spent Memorial Day weekend 2021 in Seattle. Part of the plans was to spend a night at Willows Inn in Lummi Island, 3.5 hours north of Seattle, but those dreams got dashed when the NYT Expose was published and we opted…
TheGastronomicTraveler 