As we look out the window of our sublet in Berlin today, leaves are changing colors, temperatures are dropping, and intermittent rain storms are battling with a sun that struggles to peek through the clouds. No doubt about it: summer is fading away in the northern hemisphere.
So we offer a suggestion on how to hold on to the taste and freshness of summer: Vietnamese summer rolls. Good thing is, they’re easier to make than you think.
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When we poked around Buenos Aires earlier this year, our food quests were focused not only on understanding Argentine cuisine but also seeking out various ethnic cuisines that we hadn’t encountered much while traveling the Andes and Paraguay. A couple of times a week, we’d head out with a restaurant recommendation, a gigantic map of the city, and scribbled notes as to our bus route.
We often got lost. We always ate. And we discovered something.
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Panorama by Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
Have you ever heard of the banana millionaire? Continue Reading »
Some places are best suited to road trips. They speak: move at your own pace, get lost, stop off in small towns, have the flexibility to enjoy whatever experiences might come your way.
The area around Salta and Jujuy in northwest Argentina is one such chunk of perfect road trip territory. Listen and watch the audio slideshow below to find out why. Continue Reading »
- Road Trip Northwest Argentina: Where Gauchos Go To Party
- Three Vignettes: Beautiful Everyday People of Northwest Argentina
- Audio Slideshow: Northwest Argentina, Road Trip Style
I am not a linguist, so when people find out that I am conversant in five foreign languages (French, Estonian, Czech, Russian, and Spanish) – most of which I’ve picked up on the fly instead of through formal study – they often ask me how I do it.
I don’t have a “get rich quick” secret for learning how to speak a new language. It can be challenging, humbling, and frustrating. So why do it?
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Before we backpacked around Europe in 2000, I got my hands on a used copy of Rick Steves’ “Europe Through the Back Door.” (If you are inclined to do so, don’t hold it against me. I was young and impressionable; it was the only English language travel book available.)
Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, was described as having “a frosted cake feel.” Sure, the old town is small, cute, medieval and full of cobblestones, but Tallinn is more than just a pretty dessert.
But maybe I’m biased. Continue Reading »
So their eyes are growing hazy ‘cos they wanna turn it on, so their minds are soft and lazy. Well, hey, give ‘em what they want.
– Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs) in “Candy Everybody Wants”
Have you ever come across a photo in a magazine or on another website and thought, “Hey, that’s my photo!”?
We were poking around BBC Travel the other day and came across an article about a tango festival in Argentina. I looked at the lead photo and thought, “Hey, that’s our photo!!”
Ha! That’s everyone’s photo. Continue Reading »
When I think about my first contact with the concept of Argentine cuisine, I recall a discussion twelve years ago with an unassuming foodie friend in San Francisco.
“I bet the food in Argentina is great!” I offered with blind optimism as visions of gauchos stepping to a tango beat danced in my head. Argentina seemed so damn far away; therefore the food must be exotic and varied.
My food-wise friend brushed off my enthusiasm without skipping a beat, “Yeah, if the only thing you like is steak and wine.”
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I recently shared our stories of Chandigarh with a group of new friends over a beer and was shocked to find someone who not only knew of Chandigarh but also asked me what I thought about the “Rock Garden.”
As cool as the Nek Chand Rock Garden is, the story of its construction and evolution in the unlikely city of Chandigarh is even cooler. Continue Reading »
