Museo del Jamon/Museum of Ham and the Alcazaba de Malaga

The further uphill in Malaga you walk the more authentic the city becomes.

Follow the streets towards the old Roman Ruins and look for the Museum of Ham.  This establishment sells a selection of the famous spanish hams of various types, ages and prices. This is a franchise and not actually a museum!  I like this concept and often call in their fast moving stand up eatery when in Madrid.  Normally for breakfast.

Its a very good way to learn and taste without overcommitting your budget to a full racion in a restaurant or bar.

I always to try to call here if I have a flight back the following day, I ask the staff here to make me a little lunch box of their ham and cheese to eat on the flight home.

If this is your first taste of the ledgendary iberico acorn fed black pig air dried ham, taste it with a good wine or even better a dry glass of fino sherry.

Then if the sun is not too intense walk further up and explore the Alcazaba.

It's very minimal in cost to enter and for me a Master of Pure Andalucia

Undisputedly one of my favourite historical sites, rarely busy, but truly memorable. 

Malaga Central and the Sherry Bar

There are only two platforms for the trains at Malaga Airport.

Nearly everyone takes the train to the beaches/costas, direct from here.  We however, and the occasional local, stand on the other platform and take the train to Malaga itself.  This is a beautiful city and as authentic Andalucian as they come.

You either exit at Malaga Maria Zambrano the main station.  Here you can get a taxi or bus or coach or train to just about anywhere OR stay on to the last stop Malaga Central.  Where you exit by the river in the heart of the city.  You then cross the main road on foot where all the flower sellers are and look for the Sherry Bar named Antigua Casa De Guardia.   I say look as there are no signs just iron railings on the windows and a wide open door if open. (it's near Burger King as a landmark).

Upon entry you take yourself up to the long bar and point to one of the huge selection of sherry barrels.

You will be asked "glass or bottle"  and they then chalk up your tab on the bar there in front of you.  If your lucky they often sell fresh mussels from the fish market located behind, as a tapa. This is the perfect start to any Andalucian Adventure.

However, if they are closed as they don't stay open late, carry on on foot towards the Cathedral and take an off shoot street (see your street map) and find Lo Gueno spanish for "the good stuff".

This has a top flight restaurant serving suckling pig on one side and an amazing tapas bar opposite.

I always go to this tapas bar every time we visit Malaga.  You wait impatiently in the small "L" shaped corridor of this busy bar and seize a bar stool when they become vacant.  The tapas selection is vast and the service openly friendly. The staff know me here, so I order a tapa and then Ask Them what I should drink with each small plate of warm, rustic and vibrant smelling food.

I have been given various wines, sherries and even brandy, all outstanding.

We have stayed in Malaga city centre many times.  Always advised to use Maria Zambrano station.  We have walked in the heat, booked taxis to and from the centre and even dragged our hand luggage with an intense hangover early the next day.  Not knowing the unmarked subway entrance in the city centre is in fact Malaga Central !  Only used by locals and not on any maps!  Probably Malaga's best kept secret !

The hotel receptionists and taxi drivers are all very good but I admire their sense of humour and code of secrecy !!

Exploring Tuscany by Train

Touring Tuscany and Umbria by train for me is the ideal way to explore.  No stressful driving and parking and the rail network service is extremely well run.

However, take care here, as once you have purchased your rail ticket Don't forget to punch it before you get on the train or this could lead to a fine.

We flew into Pisa and made this our base camp.  Staying at the Hotel La Pace, within easy walking distance of the railway station, with an old style Sicilian restaurant just opposite.

 We enjoyed our railway journey to Lucca for lunch, full of its high towers, and superb lunch time restaurants just over the bridge of the Serchio river.

This is the birth place of Puccini and is still unspoilt.

The following day our rail ticket took us to Florence.

However, Florence needs more than just a day time visit so we will have to return.

We lunched up in the overlooking hills with an impressive view of this iconic city.

Each evening we returned to Pisa and always found a different amazing restaurant.

In fact, when visiting Bernardos the specials were so exciting I could not decide so I ordered Both !!

We enjoyed the house wine in every establishment and know we only scratched the surface of these beautiful cities.

Woodland Walks and Y Polyn

We drove past the National Botanical Gardens of Wales and headed further towards Nantgaredig seeking out Y Polyn , sheltered quietly Away from busy roads and crowds of people.

With a new extension upstairs and a new menu we felt an air of excitement when we entered and were not disappointed on arrival or at any stage of our meal.

We sampled the real ales and house wines and gave them the thumbs up, choosing a bottle of the Viognier French white. Then ordering confit of chicken risotto with pearl barley, very old world (I havn't had pearl barley in years) and duck breast with a beetroot rosti.   Both very impressive.

Followed by their sherry trifle and their stem ginger cheesecake.   To compliment our desserts I asked the young lady for advice as to which dessert wine to have and she recommended a Californian Mango infused wine I would never have dreamt of ordering, excellent choice.

I was quietly impressed and only had positive things to say about this little Bastion of honest cooking.

We drove back stopping to admire the woodlands and the eruption of fresh growth.

In the shade a mass of wood anemonies were alive and an abundant carpet of four hundred year old blue bells.

This is such a short season and prefoundly pleasing to observe, breath in and be enveloped in Blue.

Bluebells and Paxton Tower

The last weeks of April and the first weeks of May, give us this ancient wild phenomenon of british woods filled with the occasional and rarely found bluebells.

Sadly people walking on them is the biggest killer and gardens are being substituted with Italian bluebells.  But if you are extremely lucky and manage to immerse yourself in the intense smell and extreme of Blue of the British bluebell woods in their full glory, you will trigger a memory to last permanently in that place way back that only knows good times.

These woodlands we ignore are often hundreds of years old and totally unspoilt.

Paxton Tower stood proud and lonely on its look out from above, and one feels slightly rude being there as this site is never visited.  But stands without human contact for each generation to disregard.

Venice on a Budget

Venice is undisputedly one of the most romantic cities.  You know if you ask a lady to visit here with you, she will always say YES.

However, as memories fade, I observe that most people only tend to talk about the smell of the canals and how expensive it was!

Sadly, anywhere where tourists gather in vast numbers you tend to attract the odd local who will try and rip you off.  this depressingly is travel, but more obvious in Italy.

Some people fly in and/or arrive by train, and this is ok.  But the FIRST time you see Venice it should be from the sea arriving by boat.

We had elected to stay further inland and visit Venice using a pre-bought hop on hop off freedom public transport ticket, giving us unlimited use of buses, ferries and the Venitian Vaporetto (water buses).  Excellent idea!

the expensive water taxis and gondolas

On arrival however, we decided to break away from tradition. If you sit in St Marks Square drinking Italian coffee listening to the classical music.  Then, treat your partner to a trip on a gondola followed by a bellini cocktail in Harry's Bar,  Yes you will have ticked off some of the Big Guns, but also incurred a credit card bill to haunt you for a very long time.   These people have huge rents to cover and we are their only income.

So we strolled through St Marks Square but after loitering for a while kept going and lost ourselves in the narrow lanes - Your suppose to!!

My target, the Numerous small Venitian sandwich bars ! We hoped on and off the water buses with the locals.

the less expensive flat bottomed larger Vaporetto

Then seeking narrow ally ways looking out for bars displaying their famous sandwiches.

Here take note:

In such places do as the locals do and STAND at the bar.  You will often see a blackboard, chalked up with different Italian wines for you to choose.  But with two prices.  It works as follows.  If you stand, you are charged the budget rate.  if you sit the price doubles.  If you choose to sit outside the price will often triple or quadruple depending on the View.

We elected to stand everywhere at each bar, choosing for me either a glass of Montepulciano or Vapolicella and the wife a Soave or exceedingly dry Frescati,  accompanying each round with a famous sandwich.

It was the month of May and Asparagus season.  So the egg and white asparagus sandwiches were for me a classic.  So much so I told a young bar maid, who called over her father.  He agreed and offered to take me early the next morning to the market.

Unfortunately we were moving on the next day so I declined, leaving me with a disappointing gap in this story.

I had a whale of a time here, the wine and food amazing, and to be honest spent very little !