12 July 2005
Around the World in 25 Days
Well, not all the way around the world – but I have been travelling quite a lot recently... which I guess is my poor excuse for not having posted much recently. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to:
Firenze (Florence), Italy – 16th to 23rd June 2005
It had been three years since Suzy and I had been on a holiday abroad, so we decided to take advantage of the cheap flights to Pisa being offered at the nearby Doncaster-Sheffield Robin Hood Airport and book our accommodation via Venere.com.
Before we went, we’d been told by several people to visit a restaurant called Il Latini. If you’re planning a trip to Florence, I’d definitely recommend trying to get a table there. And when I say try to get a table there, that’s exactly what I mean! We’d been warned that this was a popular restaurant but we were still shocked to find a crowd of probably more than 50 people waiting outside at 19:00 – and they don’t even open the doors until 19:30! Be prepared to share your table with other people as they really do cram their customers in; the food is well worth it though!
Another restaurant we’d highly recommend was Golden View Open Bar at Via dei Bardi 58r. (Their website’s in Italian and the menu is crazy – but don’t let that put you off!) Bored with the usual restaurants offering the same menus, we crossed over the Ponte Vecchio and stumbled across this place by accident – and we’re glad we did! The atmosphere was perfect, the food was outstanding, the service was great and the prices were very reasonable (and it seems that many people on the Internet agree)!
You can view some of the more scenic photos on Flickr:
Some more personal photos are available on Blueyonder Photos.
Montréal, Québec, Canada – 29th June to 6th July 2005
Rue Sainte-Catherine, Montréal
This was my first business trip abroad. I say "business" but perhaps that’s a bit misleading as I managed to work it over a long weekend, as Canada Day was on the Friday. Not only that, but the International Montreal Jazz Festival was also in town for the week I was there!
Most of the signs are in French, people speak a mixture of French and English (or Franglais), they have an underground city of shops and restaurants for when it gets cold (i.e. -20°C to -30°C) and all prices are displayed without tax (which means you have to add on around 15% to get the "real" price of something)! Eating out is cheap, the bars are open until 3:00 in the morning and (as I kept being reliably informed by my colleagues over there) all the women are hot! :-) Montreal truly is a fascinating city.
Again, you can view some of my photos on Flickr:
(As you can see, I was very busy in the office!)
Wetheral, Carlisle, England – 9th July 2005
Not quite as impressive as Florence or Montreal, but a nice place nevertheless, we visited The Crown Hotel in Wetheral to attend the wedding of Mr Chris Riley and Miss Dawn Nelson. (If you want to see photos of the stag do, they’re here.)
The weather was perfect, the hotel was picturesque, Dawn looked stunning, Chris looked stunned (© 2004 Andrew Stewart), there weren’t any major disasters (as far as I’m aware) and all-in-all the day (and night) was a lot of fun!
My photos of the wedding are available on my website:
For more photos, see The Best Man’s blog.
Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Riley and thanks for a wonderful end to my trip around the world!
Labels: food, personal, photos, restaurants, travel
