Erdigg in Summer

There is a place my family and I love for doing weekend picnics and it is called Erdigg. It is located in North Wales  in the city of Wrexham, and it doesn’t matter if it is a rainy day or a sunny day because this place is perfect for doing walks, especially during the summer months.

Erdigg was for many years home of the Yorke family and the mansion now belongs to the National Trust of England. It is possible to visit the mansion or do a tour to see the rooms that have 20^th century furniture, ceramics and textiles. Something special is the collection of servants portraits, the ones who worked very hard maintaining the house and grounds for many years. My favourite room is the kitchen, because it is really spacious and it had everything you needed for doing big banquets. Something you don’t expect to see is a small collection of carriages,old cars and vintage bicycles. Also the children would be happy to see horses in the old stable yard and they can also pet them while a  lady tells  about the life of the horses and how they look after them.

The mansion has massive gardens with a great variety of plants and flowers. There are also many fruit trees, like apple trees and to my surprise also small banana trees as  they usually grow in warm climate countries. There is also a big pond with fish and ducks, that is one of the favourite spots to stop for a picnic.

When walking by the gardens you will find  a sign for the ‘Wolves Den’, this is a place with games for children, all made of old trees that have fallen and have been shaped. Children love this place and there is an ice cream kiosk near the entrance to the den.

If you don’t want to bring a picnic there is a restaurant and tea room with lovely cakes freshly made. Erdigg is dog friendly and has some areas where dogs are allowed, so you can bring your little canine friend with you.

Uncle Tetsu’s is fabulous!

The one and only Japanese Cheesecake

For many years I have been a big fan of the classic American Cheesecake, which is something you cannot find easily in England. So everytime I travel to the United States I look for a place that sells the delicious cheesecake. I wouldn’t imagine any other cheesecake better than the American one, but since coming back from Canada I have a new favourite cheesecake. In Toronto there is a place where they have a unique tasty cheesecake and it is called Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Angel café. I was having a walk around Toronto City Centre with my niece and nephew when we saw the shop located in Dundas Street.

I remember we saw this guy with a paper bag of Uncle Tetsus in an icecream parlour, and he was the one telling us how much he loves it and gave us the address.

Uncle Tetsu’s cheesecake was born in 1985 in Hakata, Japan. The cheesecake is very soft in texture, it is not so sweet and this is good as this makes you enjoy the delicate cheese taste. In Toronto there are four Uncle Tetsus cafés, which shows how popular and successful Uncle Tetsus cheesecake is. I went to the one in Dundas Street and the first thing that caught my eye was the cute character that appears in the shop logo which is a chubby angel holding a heart in one hand and a cheesecake in the other. This logo is the one that also is stamped in the cheesecake itself.

And the cheesecake comes inside this bag.

I have seen videos in You Tube of people queuing to get cheesecake early in the morning, and maybe I was lucky because I didn’t need to queue when I went. It is interesting to see the staff making the cheesecake, and this shows you that the product is definitely fresh. The cheesecake costs CAD10,00 Canadian Dollars which is about GBP 6,00, and it can be shared between a party of 5 or 6 people, unless you like it so much that you decide to keep it for yourself.

Uncle Tetsus is very popular in Asia and expanding not only in Canada (there is four shops in Toronto) but also in the USA, Indonesia and Brazil. I really hope they open shops in the United Kingdom soon too.

Flash Break in Toronto

Landing in Toronto

This was my first time in Canada and it was great!. I did a last minute booking and I travelled with only carry on luggage to make the trip easier. There was a very important family celebration with my niece getting married in Toronto, and that was the main reason for me travelling. I couldn’t stay very long in Toronto because of work reasons and I only had a four day short break.

On the way to Toronto City Center

Toronto is a big and multicultural city, it is safe, clean and people are friendly. I was staying with family so it was easy for me to get around thanks to them. The weather in Canada is similar to the English weather so it is always good to have an umbrella handy.

One of the many places you can eat sushi.

I was very curious about Chinatown as my niece said I would love it and she was right. It was exciting to go for a walk to Chinatown and I felt like being in China. I was surprised by the many shops, restaurants, markets and spas, all with signs written in Chinese and English, but mainly Chinese. I was told there are eight Chinatowns in Toronto itself, so there are many Chinatowns to explore and there is also a Koreatown. I am a food lover, especially when it is about Asian food, and it is fascinating to see so many varieties of restaurants in Toronto Chinatown. We were walking along a road with signs for Korean food, all you can eat Sushi, Vietnamese Restaurants, and many more.

Toronto University

We also went for a walk to the grounds of Toronto University, located in Queens Park. The University buildings are lovely with a Gothic style, it is just beautiful and looks like a small Hogwarts. There are black squirrels running everywhere and they seem to be friendly, maybe they expect you have nuts for them!. It is nice and peaceful to walk in Toronto and, after a long walk we stopped to have something to eat. We went to Kenzo a ramen restaurant where I had the best ramen ever! Also we went to Tsujiri, famous for their matcha icecream. Not far from there is Uncle Tetsu’s shop, an Asian franchise with the best Japanese Cheesecake. The cheesecakes are fresh and you can actually see how they make them.

At Kenzo, a place with a very good ramen.

On another day we went to the Pacific Mall, the largest Chinese mall in North America and it is located in Markham. It is a place where you can get many products at a good price, like Korean beauty products, Japanese and Chinese candy, Anime toys, clothes and gifts. My nephew and niece invited me to have lunch and I had a lovely Chicken Katsu meal, with rice and vegetables, it wasn’t very spicy and I really enjoyed it. After that we went to Happy Lemon where they have drinks you never imagined existed! like Salted Tea Cheese and a variety of lemon tea drinks. I tried the Mango Green tea and I loved it!

A shop that sells only Maneki-Nekos! or lucky charm cats.

Something I discovered is that people in Canada aren’t interested in Starbucks, and this is because they are all in love with Tim Hortons, a coffee franchise that not only sells amazing coffee but have their own delicious donuts. It didn’t surprise me to see Starbucks practically empty when Tim Hortons is next to them with a lot of happy clients. Well, I brought to England packs of Tim Horntons coffee, Japanese candy and Canadian Maple tea boxes, tasty souvenirs.

A day exploring Toronto Downtown

I would like to say thanks to Antonella and Dan who were fantastic tour guides and I enjoyed their company very much. I haven’t finished exploring Toronto, so I will be back and next time will be a proper long holiday.

Peruvian Alfajores on Valentine’s Day

Its Valentines day and my husband and I celebrate it our own way. We don’t like spending money on expensive gifts and instead we like to do simple special things. Yesterday when I arrived home from work, my husband got these beautiful roses for me and I thought of doing something special for him too.

My husband and I love Alfajores, they are a traditional dessert in Peru, and I wanted to surprise my husband by making them for Valentine’s Day. Alfajores are two biscuits (sometimes up to three) put together and filled with toffee fudge (‘dulce de leche’ in Spanish). They became popular in South America with the arrival of the Spaniards and the word ‘Alfajor’ has Arabic roots as it refers to the filling inside the biscuits. Most alfajores are filled with dulce de leche, but others are filled even with chocolate fudge or nutella. Alfajores are usually round but as you can see in the picture I made the heart shaped version.

In Peru you can find many different types of Alfajores, the biscuits could be made with sweet potato flour or corn flour, it depends on the region. For example in the North of Peru you will find what is called ‘King Kong’ a giant rich alfajor filled with dulce de leche (called ‘Manjarblanco’ by Peruvians), fruit jam and peanuts. In Argentina the production of Alfajores is massive, and they are made in cities like Santa Fe, Cordoba, Tucuman and Mar de Plata. Alfajores are also produced in Chile, Colombia,Costa Rica and Mexico.

Alfajores are always delicious together with a cup of coffee. So now you know about alfajores and remember to try them when you visit South America.

A Winter Short Break in Tuscany – Day Three in Lucca

Lucca Cathedral

It is our last day in Pisa and we decided to visit the walled city of Lucca. The city is about 20 minutes by train from Pisa, so it is easy to get there. Lucca has beautiful churches, and it is the place where composers Boccherini and Puccini were born.

The walled city is a perfect place for a long walk or a bicycle ride. My family and I love walking so I studied the city map and did our own walking plan. We started by visiting the Duomo at the Lucca Cathedral, also called Saint Martin. Inside we saw sculptures and the walls had many beautiful paintings. we follow the road ahead to a small Piazza where we there was an ice skating ring, it has been a long time since the last time I went ice skating and my son wanted to give it try. There were many families with children ice skating and having a great time.

An Italian cat sunbathing in a Vespa

The streets in Lucca are quiet, clean and there are many gift and ceramic shops, churches, buildings with balconies ( Rome and Juliet style ones), and there are many trattorias. It was lunch time and we were looking for a place to eat when we found this lovely trattoria called L’Oste di Lucca. The trattoria has walls with stones and bricks from years ago which makes the place very special, it is beautifully decorated. We had the biggest pizzas to share, one with Italian sausages and onions and another with prosciutto. This popular trattoria and offers home made pasta and many Tuscan dishes.

After lunch we went to see the Roman Amphitheatre, well it was a proper Amphitheatre long time ago and now houses have been built on site. The old arches are still kept in place with a nice piazza or square. We realized it was siesta time in Lucca as many shops were closed when we were on our way to the Torre Guinigi, a 14^th century tower. I have seen pictures of Torre Guinigi before and I have been curious about the trees showing on the top of the Tower. It is a very old tower and my husband and son were not very happy about going up, this is because to be honest the stairs look so fragile it was like they could break anytime. Once we arrived to the top we knew it was worth it as the tower has an incredible view of Lucca and the mountains near by. There is a small garden on top of the tower with Holm Oak trees, people say they symbolise ‘a new beginning’.

Torre Guinigi

It was time to go back to Pisa so we took the train feeling a bit sad as we wanted to stay for a few more days. Tuscany has much more places to visit like, Siena, Chianti, San Gimignano, Cortona, and the list of towns is big. I miss Italy, the beauty of the towns, the delicious food and the kind friendly people.

See you soon again Tuscany!.

A Winter Break in Tuscany – Day Two in Florence

Florence Cathedral

Some people prefer renting a car during holidays and some would use public transport, just like me. I enjoy walking, and I think renting a bicycle and travelling by train is fun. I have been witness in how difficult is to park in Italy because of tourists parking somewhere they shouldn’t. The Pisa Centrale Train Station was about twenty minutes walk from our hotel in Pisa and we decided to get train tickets to visit Florence.

Italy has a good network of trains and they are very punctual. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Pisa to Florence by train and the journey offers lovely views of the Italian landscape, the green fields, rivers, and farms. Florence is a charming big city, and I knew it would be impossible to visit the entire city and all attractions in just one day, so that meant we had to be careful regarding the time would spend there . Florence is a city where museums and galleries are everywhere and at a short distance so it is easy to walk from one place to another. First we visited the Duomo and Cathedral, and we were very impressed in how big the Cathedral is, and after making a long queue we got inside to see the beautiful paintings and frescoes. After that we went to look for a place to have lunch, and not far from the Duomo we found a restaurant called ‘Tavernetta del Battistero’ in Via dei Servi. My husband and I ordered sea food spaghetti and our son ordered a giant calzone filled with meat and sausages. We loved the food, the service was excellent and I found myself speaking in Italian with our waiter who was very kind.

Sea Food Spaguetti

After lunch we visited the Leonardo da Vinci museum which is a small museum but it is perfect for children as they can actually interact and play with the machine displays.

There are massive museums and galleries in Florence and in order to visit all of them you would have to spend maybe between three or five days in the city. You could try to get the tickets for the museums near The Duomo but there are very long queues and the numbers of tickets are limited so they sold out quick. We were told it is far better to pre-book the tickets in advance online, like two or three months before our next holiday in Florence.

 Ponte Vecchio

It was middle afternoon and we went for a walk to Piazza della Reppublica which is a very colourful and busy square. We walked along a street with many high street shops like Versace and Gucci, and shortly arrived near the Arno river. There is this special place in Florence where couples in love get engaged, and it is a bridge called Ponte Vecchio. The bridge has many tiny antique shops, and it has a sort of magical feeling, it is like the bridge is enchanted.

Locked in Love

We were short of time and we had to make our way to the train station but before that I wanted to stop in a coffee shop, so that’s how I found the little Caffe Corsini. I couldn’t leave Florence without having a nice cup of coffee. We would love go back to Florence and next time stay for maybe a week to keep exploring and visit the other side of the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

Coffee Time

After visiting Florence we went back to our hotel in Pisa, we were knackered but happy! And it was time to rest as we would visit Lucca the next day. So my next post will be about the city of Lucca.

A Winter Short Break in Tuscany, Day One in Pisa

The view from our bedroom, best view ever!.

Every time I visit beautiful Italy is like having a perfect holiday. The north of Italy has been in my list of places to visit, so I thought it would be special to go there during the Christmas season, and I did a booking for a 3 day short break in Tuscany for my family.

Many may ask, what can you do in three days when Tuscany is so big?. Well, you can actually do a lot, and that involves walking, so you don’t have to worry or feel guilty about eating pizzas or calzones because you will be doing a lot of walking and burning calories. There are many places to visit in Tuscany so we decided to go to Pisa, Florence and Lucca.

Oh it is so heavy! : )

We arrived to Pisa early morning which gave us plenty of time to check in at our hotel and explore Pisa the first day. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Duomo which is well located near the attractions in Pisa. The hotel is very old but charming and it gave me a feeling of staying in a mansion because of the wooden walls, paintings, leather sofas, and chandeliers, I just loved it. Something very special about the hotel is the bar they have in the top terrace, there you will fall in love with the view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, especially at night it is absolutely beautiful.

Of course Pisa major attraction is the famous Pisa Tower, and it is located in what its called ‘The Field of Miracles’ or Campo Dei Miracoli and there you will find other places of interest like Pisa’s Cathedral and The Duomo, the museum and Baptistry and Camposanto. You will need to purchase a ticket to access the attractions from the Tourist Office near The Duomo.

Our favourite place to eat in Pisa is called Ristoro Pizzeria Da Antonio, in Via Santa Maria in front of the Gran Hotel Duomo. They have lovely pizzas, many popular pasta dishes at a good price and it is child friendly. We loved it so much that it became our favourite place to have dinner every night.

Tiramisu, you are so yummi!!

I think Pisa is a good start point if you plan to travel around Tuscany by train. It is about twenty minutes walk from Pisa to the Train Station, and from there we purchased our train tickets to Florence and Lucca. Pisa is a quiet charming little city and at night it was nice to walk between the Pisa Train Station and our hotel. During Christmas the streets are lovely decorated, people are doing shopping, or walking their dogs or having ice cream (yes it was freezing cold but it doesn’t matter, ), and my son didn’t hesitate to try an Oreo flavoured gelato. Well and of course it is a must to stop in one of the many coffee shops, because cappuccino and cake are extra special in Italy.

My next blog will be about Florence, so I am looking forward to share it with you.

How Learning English changed my Life.

I was starting my first year of high school when my mum told me it was time to learn English. At that time I was living in Peru, a Spanish speaking country where schools teach English but lets say it is more like a basic language holiday lesson. My mum said that learning English would be very important for my future, so I started having intensive English lessons in a British Institute outside high school.

My English lessons were always very early morning and I would practically run to catch the bus to make it in time from the institute to the high school. I had a special authorization from the school head teacher to arrive a bit late. It didn’t took very long for my classmates to realize that I was good at English and they would ask me for help when doing homework or when having a test.

In the 80’s we didn’t have Internet so I had penpals in order to practice English writing. My first penpal was a girl from Kent, England. We used to exchange postcards, stamps and posters of music idols. She would be the one who sent me a magazine page with the picture of Rick Astley and he would become my idol, I learnt the lyrics of all his songs and still now I am a big fan. In Peru I didn’t listen to radio stations in Spanish and instead I preferred to listen to radio stations that played songs in English, that actually helped me a lot into understanding the language. On Saturday afternoons I used to spend time at the British Institute library where I was fascinated with the books in architecture and history.

Years later I traveled for the first time to the United States where I struggled a bit because I was speaking ‘British’ and at times people would tell me I was saying things wrong (when I wasn’t) and it didn’t bothered me. American and British English have different vocabulary and also sometimes grammar could be different. For example: A ‘butty’ in British is a sandwich, the ‘petrol station’ in America is the gas station, and British go to the ‘toilet’ not to the bathroom. A very useful book about how to speak British is called ‘The very Best Of British’ by Mike Etherington, this book is a must read if you come to visit England.

Definitely speaking another language helped me with job opportunities. At a very young age I worked for important companies speaking English and Spanish, met new people who became great friends, and suddenly I found myself travelling to many places for work and pleasure. My love life was not good and it wasn’t going anywhere, so I forgot about ‘normal’ dating and decided to look for love in a very different way. It was time to find Mr Right so one day I subscribed to an Online Dating site. I was very serious about it despite one or two people who thought I was doing something really crazy. There was something special and sexy about flirting in another language, the long distance issue was not important and that is how I met my husband.

I think it is never too late to learn a language, actually I learnt Italian a few years ago and I have been thinking for a while about starting Japanese lessons. Learning languages open doors leading to opportunities in life and I truly believe it can even change people destiny.

A Short Break in Stratford Upon Avon and Coventry

The autumn season has arrived in England and this time seems to be colder than usual. Anyway the weather is never a problem when it comes to go out for a nice walk, specially in the autumn season I enjoy to see colorful trees everywhere, to me its like a gift from nature. In England we don’t have a proper summer season and that is why many people spends summer abroad. Most of clothes in my wardrobe are summer clothes and I only use them when I am away on holiday, this is sad I know. Soon it will be winter and the only thing I like about it is that if it snows then we can play snowball fight with my family.

The best place to welcome the arrival of autumn is the countryside so we went to Shakespeare County for a short break. Stratford Upon Avon is one of my favourite places in England and with many things to do. We went for a walk along the River Avon where we saw swans, ducks and many canal boats along the river. Not far from the Avon Boating Center it is The Butterfly Farm a very special place where once inside it’s like being in the forest with many butterflies flying around. It is the UK’s largest tropical Butterfly Farm and also they have an area in the farm called ‘Mini Beasts’ with displays of live spiders, scorpions, an ant farm ( it made us feel itchy when we saw it), and there were many insects from places around the world.

My son is into cars at the moment so we decided to also visit the Coventry Transport Museum. I was very impressed of such a big collection of bicycles, motorbikes, and cars. My favourite brand in cars is called Mini, but instead of the modern Mini I prefer the classic Mini like the one in the Italian Job 1969 movie. There was also a collection of Jaguars, very luxurious cars, and I loved the detail in the old models with a small silver Jaguar jumping at the front but the modern models don’t have it anymore due to safety reasons.

Before coming back home we decided to have lunch in a place called Wightwick Manor and Garden. It is a property of the National Trust of England with a lovely Victorian house to visit and many beautiful gardens to explore. The trees are losing all their leaves now and my son didn’t hesitate to jump on a big pile of yellow leaves. The house has a small restaurant (tea room) where they offer home made meals, hot drinks and cakes. We had a fantastic time enjoying nature, it was very relaxing to just be away for a couple of days and we are already thinking in our next short break.

The Chichen Itza Experience

The Riviera Maya has everything you need for a perfect holiday, with beautiful beaches, nature, water sports, adventure and a lot of history. Since I was a child I have a big interest in archaeology and ancient cultures and there was something I had in mind for a long time was to visit Chichen Itza.

Our hotel had its own Tour Desk and we did the booking with them. They offered different options regarding tours to Chichen Itza and you can choose one depending on your budget. Some tours may include breakfast, buffet lunch, visiting the city of Valladolid, or visiting a Cenote. Before going on the tour make sure to bring insect repellent, sun block (the highest factor you can get!), sunglasses, and comfortable shoes. If you booked the tour including a visit to the Cenote you will need a swimsuit and towel. The tour to Chichen Itza takes all day, it’s about two hours journey from Playa del Carmen to Chichen Itza and before getting there the tour bus stops in a Handicraft Market where you will find souvenirs and you can get snacks too. My husband almost had a heat stroke because he wasn’t drinking enough water, so I advice you to drink plenty of water at all times. The weather in the Riviera Maya is extremely hot, or I should say it is wild!.

During our bus journey the tour guide tour giving interesting facts about the Mayan culture. The Mayan language is still spoken in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Something curious about the language is that some words are similar to Chinese in pronunciation and reflects the Mayans being distant relatives of the Chinese! It seems to be that the Mayas built their buildings without using the wheel and no metal cutting tools have been found, which is still a bit of a mystery. Itza was the name given to the ancient warriors from the Yucatan peninsula but Itz-a means ‘water wizard’, and Chi-Chen means ‘mouth of the well’. So if we try to translate Chichen Itza into English, then it would be something like ‘Mouth of the Well of the Warriors’.

On arrival to Chichen Itza we were very excited and ready to explore. And there it was in front of me ‘El Castillo’ a pyramid dedicated to the god Kukulcan. El Castillo is proof that the Mayans were architects, experts in maths and astronomy. It is incredible how the pyramid was built to perfection by the Mayans. People also call it the Kukulcan Pyramid, because of the Mayans serpent god.

Each side of the Pyramid has 91 steps which together with the step on the top give a total of 365 steps and that is the number of days in a year. Perfection!. Many cultures built pyramids on top of another and this is also the case for El Castillo. The Mexican government did further studies and excavations and they found another pyramid or temple buried inside El Castillo. Yucatan peninsula is famous for their sink-holes or cenotes, some could be small and some could be big. Cenotes were sacred places for the Mayans and there are two of them at Chichen Itza. In 2015 archaeologists found a Cenote inside El Castillo pyramid and with this discovery was clear that Cenotes had a deep religious meaning for the Mayans. On the Equionix (on march 20^st and September 21), if you watch El Castillo it looks like a snake descends the pyramid when the sunlight hits it and appears to go down to the serpents head that is carved at the bottom of the Pyramid. This represents the god Kukulcan with the start and finish of the agricultural season. It is very cleverly achieved by the shadows cast onto the pyramid on those specific dates and is one more illustration of the Mayans architectural and astronomical skills. Around the Kukulcan pyramid you will find many other buildings such as the Warrior Temple, The Observatory, the Venus Platform, The Ballcourt and The Temple of the Jaguar.

After the tour we went to a Mexican restaurant to have a delicious buffet lunch and also the tour included a visit to the Cenote Ik Kil near the city of Valladolid. Cenotes were sacred places for the Mayans and its believed that getting inside one purifies the body and spirit. We didn’t get inside the Cenote as it was crowded with people diving and swimming. Anyway it was a nice place to have a good rest and enjoy ice creams.

I felt more energized and full of joy after visiting Chichen Itza. The Riviera Maya is a place where adults discover having an ‘Indiana Jones spirit’ and children have fun learning about history. Thank you Chichen Itza for this wonderful experience.