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algolstare · 6 months ago

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When you're able I don't know if you can advise. I have recently ended up in a DV shelter and am having to go jobhunting etc no time to process the horrors. I have very limited funds and same for help with food, it's very limited. I'm just asking if you can share what you eat and any tips for food as a kind of model to follow. This is the first time I've ever had to live like this tbh. My family won't help me and say I basically deserve the fallout after the breakdown of my relationship because they told me so. Yeah they're right I see that now but 😭

First & foremost I am so so so so so proud of you lovely, you did amazing to survive & get into a shelter.

You deserve the world, your family are wrong, & I'm so sorry you can't rely on them.. I know how painful it can be to move thru the world without a family to depend on, in the way so many take for granted, in the way people assume we all have. I promise you it is possible, & you will find your people along the way

Honestly I'm not sure if I'm the best model when it comes to food, & what is best depends on what you have access to - do they have a stove or microwave for you to use? A fridge? It can be really difficult to follow the best guidelines for nutrition when you're limited, I've mostly been focusing on breads & pastas & carbs carbs carbs because when I eat them I feel more capable of doing it all (& I find it difficult to figure out what to shop for anyhow as I never had autonomy with what I could eat.)

Pick things you can reliably have the implements to cook, things which are shelf-stable, things which are filling & things you feel better after eating, is my best advice. For me that is ramen, pancake mix, kraft mac n cheese, bread.. not the most balanced focus at all but I do eat other things too, these are just the core of it.

Having orange juice whenever I want has been my great pleasure since getting on foodstamps, I remember I was so glad to have gotten it the last time I was at the ER from the harm done to me, now I can celebrate it safely freely & savor it.. also prevents scurvy

But more than food shopping with what you have, look into what food banks & other such resources are in the area - if you're in the US you can look up 211 (you don't have to call if you don't want) & they have tons & tons of info. It's easier to get help with food than with housing, unfortunately & fortunately

Then, again it's US specific advice, but being homeless w/ no income can make you qualified for expedited services w/ foodstamps!! & also for me it waived their requirements to work a certain # of hours per week, being homeless. If you have access to a computer (or I think even a phone is fine?) you can apply online, if you have no computer public libraries often have them, if you have neither there should be a public office of some sort with paper applications but what it'd be called depends on where you are.

Also I recommend looking for specific things at a time so you don't get overwhelmed trying to decide what is best all at once, when searching for aid. Especially with big collections of orgs like 211 & others, it can be just way too much & too many decisions to make in one go. Take it one step at a time.

So to say it in a list as I know I veered off track a bit:

1. With what funds you have to put towards food, focus on foods that are filling, that you can cook & store reliably.

2. Don't get scurvy but don't feel bad either, all foods are good foods & completely value-neutral. Lots of the foods that get maligned by our fatphobic culture are super dense & filling & glorious for when you have limited access. (O potatoes, bread & pasta, how I love you!)

3. Look into food banks & similar orgs if you haven't already, utilize 211 or a similar collection

4. Apply for foodstamps if you haven't already & if you're in the US

5. I'd highly recommend making a mind map on paper or otherwise of your current resources, current needs, & anything you know you need to do but don't have the resources to get done. (Not having the mental resources to expend across the board to all things is *normal* it isn't your fault. Being homeless is exhausting, a constant crisis lessens how much you can do.) Having things out externally in a way you don't have to just try to remember can really help to keep on top of things, it has for me at least. Mine looks a bit like various connected boxes - like "Housing", "Income", "Transportation" & "Baby", with the various potential paths I'm figuring for fulfilling each underneath, & some smaller ones that got thrown by the wayside for a bit like "Health insurance"...

Please know that you are so worthy of better. Even when you struggle, even when others don't acknowledge this, you are worthy of good. It's hard because it's hard, you are doing your best, the coldness of the world is not a reflection of you. Each life has dignity, including yours & mine, no matter what!! I am rooting for you!! Take it one step at a time lovie dove, I am so proud of you. Please come back & let me know how you are doing whenever you wish to, I am wishing for your happiness always.

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b-yeonder · 4 years ago

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Hey are the requests open? If so, can you do a a-z nsfw for Lucifer? If they're not open then please ignore this. Anyways, I love your writing and I'm looking forward to more 😊😊😊

I’ve never done one of these before so I hope it’s okay. Also I struggle to take anything seriously so of course there’s gonna be some dumb shit in here. Anyway, hope you enjoy and thank you so much!

Warnings: NSFW, mentions of murder

NSFW A-Z: LUCIFER

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Lucifer can be rough - he's known to be a sadist after all but that doesn't mean he doesn't know how to look after you once he's had his way. Softens his voice, asks if you're okay, if there's anything you need. Will clean you up and praise you for how well you did. If it's him needing the aftercare, he's very quiet, playing over what just happened. Appreciates a drink and gentle caresses to bring him back down to earth

B = Body Part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

I think that Lucifer has quite a lot of insecurities - being told you're perfect all the time can make you dwell more on your flaws (or what you deem to be flaws.) But one thing he does like is his eyes. He knows he can make you lose yourself in his eyes with a single look. One look from across the room and he can have you begging for him within moments.On you he loves your hands. He doesn't let many people get close, let alone touch him, but your hands can ease his pains and make him feel loved. Massages, caresses, the way you hold his head against your chest at night, or the way you grip his cock so eagerly once he's riled you up. Also ties into a little somethin' I'll mention below in the D section eh ehhhh. (Oh and your mouth is a close second. (And not just because you called him baby boy once and had him malfunctioning for a whole hour.))

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Lucifer doesn't like the thought of cleaning up, so prefers to cum inside you - it's his main way of showing that you're his. But accidents happen and there have been times he's slipped out at the last minute and coated the skin of your stomach/back and for a moment he found himself admiring it - like a new way of marking you as his. Oh he also likes painting your tongue with his cum too because watching you swallow it makes his pride bl o s s o m.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Dirty to him anyway - he actually likes submitting to you. (Once you two are quite established.) Shock horror! But you're the only one he trusts to completely let loose with, and sometimes when you have this much pressure on you it's nice to let someone else take control. BE HONOURED. OH and the hand thing. He will fucking worship your digits. Kiss 'em, suck 'em, nuzzle 'em. OOF.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He's been around for a long time, so it goes without saying he's had plenty of experience. He's well versed in the basics and is quick to pick up on every little thing you like to use against you (in the best way possible).

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Likes being able to see your face, to watch every little sound escape your lips, every little sign of pleasure. Feeds off of it. But is not averse to shoving you face first into the mattress and fucking you senseless until you can barely utter a word. So y'know depends on his mood really.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Serious. But dumb shit can happen during sex and even the Mighty First is not immune to this. Will laugh stuff off and get things quickly back on track by muttering naughty things in that delicious voice of his. If you insist on being jokey he'll insist on making it so you can't do anything but moan ;)

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

He's a busy guy, but he makes sure to always be groomed. This does mean that things get on top of him and well...don't blame the overworked tired bean if he gets a little unruly down there sometimes, okay?

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

He's almost always quietly praising/encouraging you - in between the teasing of course.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

He's a stressed mess, he needs to release his frustrations somehow. Does it less so since you came along, and honestly didn't masturbate too often before, but when he does it's a scene. He takes his time, making sure to work up to a glorious finish so that he can truly relax afterwards.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Probably has a Sir or Daddy kink. Kinda likes choking you as well. One time your hand slipped from his chest to his throat without you thinking and that's when he realised he kinda likes being choked too oii oiiii.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

His freakin' giant glorious bed because he's old and has back pain. Also bending you over his desk after rather troublesome days works too.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

You teasing him throughout the day. "MC you're eating that corn too sexually I'm going to have to teach you a lesson later." "Did you just call me mum? I don't care if it's an accident, I'm going to have to punish you later." "Did you just breathe? That's it, you asked for it." In all seriousness he rarely shows his want for you on the outside, but inside he'll be raring to ravage you. Depends on the day - one day you could have him popping a boner simply by rubbing your foot against his calf. The next, stripping naked and grinding on his face might not even make him blink.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

"Roleplay as Satan for me, Lucifer." You're probably dead before you even finish speaking those words, sorry I don't make the rules. (Oh wait I kinda do right now oops.)

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Prefers to give as he likes having the power over you to make you come completely undone. Can feel a little vulnerable receiving - maybe he got bitten by a devious ex lover, who knows, but once you get going and his confidence with you grows he likes nothing more than grabbing the back of your head and urging you to take more of him.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

He can be both. Fast and rough are his go-to, and when he does go slow, his thrusts are still usually on the harder side.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

He loves taking his time with you, as he likes driving you crazy for him but if the mood calls for it he has no issues with bending you over his desk and taking you right then and there. Will probably take extra care of you next time.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Damn straight he's down to experiment. Is curious to see how far both of you can go and what you're willing to do.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Only one round, his back hurts too much. I'm kidding, he can go a few rounds, and can last a long time. There have been a couple occasions he's cum rather fast - either when drunk, or it's been a while since the last time. Gets very embarrassed over it but knows it's natural and happens sometimes. (That’s not the norm though, he promises.)

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

He got a bit crazy when you came along. Anything you like the sound of, he has. Already had blindfolds and things to bind you with - rope, ribbons, string cheese, you name it. But now you're here he has a whole collection of toys to tease you with. Even has a favourite vibrator he loves to leave strapped to your thigh so you can't get away from it. Ah, good times.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Biiitch. BIiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch. This monster is the biggest tease. "Hm...I'm not sure you deserve my cock today, MC. Now now, begging will get you nowhere." (It probably will eventually, just saying. ...Maybe.) He'll leave you on read for days but magically turn up just as you're about to pleasure yourself like "nuhuh bitch, not today."

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Fairly quiet - any sounds he does make are low in his throat, deep. Loses control closer to reaching his climax - gets breathier, speaks a little louder and noises are more frequent. Buuut once he did manage to wake up everyone in the house but that was because you'd been teasing him all day, you hadn’t slept together in like a week, and he'd been drinking and-- the list of excuses go on.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Was once convinced to try out women's underwear once after a conversation with Asmo and was pleasantly surprised by how nice his ass looked. Will never EVER tell anyone this though, not even you and shit I shouldn't even be writing this he's probably gonna-- Oh heyyy Lucifer, nothing to see here I was jus--*gurrKH*

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Decent length, decent thickness. Just enough to take a bit of work to fit in but not too much that it's uncomfortable, y'know?

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Not very high, definitely not above average. Can definitely go without, but his mind might wander.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Depends how tired he is, and how much is on his mind. You'll probably be the one to fall asleep first most of the time, which is great because he's good at giving after-sex cuddles. Plus your steady breathing makes it easier for him to sleep as well so...win win?

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markwatkinsconsumerguide · 6 years ago

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Consumer Guide / No.81 / singer-songwriter Lisa Redford with Mark Watkins.

MW : What can we expect from your new EP - Edge Of Love?

LR : Edge of Love has five self-written songs that are a blend of styles that I’m inspired by: Americana, country, folk, soul and classic pop. The songs are really heartfelt and I’m so proud of them; they really represent me as an artist.

It was produced by José McGill - who produced my last EP Another Place and Time - and there is a mix of band tracks and acoustic songs with really creative arrangements and instrumentation including dobro, pedal steel, acoustic and electric guitars, cello and piano.

There’s a real warmth to it with José adding some really lovely subtle sonic layers and textures. Lyrically, it’s romantic and bittersweet, exploring aspects of love and relationships with a theme of letting go. This includes realising how hard it is, and also letting yourself go; whether you know you need to, or letting yourself go emotionally – letting down your guard, even if that means the risk of getting hurt.

MW : When and where can we get hold of it?

LR : Edge of Love will be released worldwide on 10th May (2019). As well as being on all the digital platforms, it will be for sale at my website and Bandcamp store.

I’m really excited about the EP and can’t wait for people to hear it. So far, there has been an amazing response with lots of radio airplay, and lovely reviews.

MW : Will there be a video?

LR : There was an official music video for the first single Anything But Easy which was released on 22nd February (2019). It was filmed on a beautiful day in Walberswick and Dunwich in Suffolk by a really talented videographer called David McKenna.

We were fortunate that it was a glorious day and he captured such a wonderful light. The natural landscape where we filmed really compliments the song and was exactly what I wanted for this particular track.

Here is a link to the video:

https://youtu.be/8cT1opG9HiU

MW : Any plans to tour?

LR : I will definitely be doing shows to promote Edge of Love and I am also playing some lovely festivals in the summer.

I’ll be launching the EP at a special concert in my home city of Norwich on 9th May (2019) - the night before the release date - which will also feature some of the amazing musicians who played on the release.

I would really love to tour more of the UK, and Europe. The best way to see where I’m playing is to keep an eye on my social media and website.

MW : Looking back, what were some of your music highlights of 2018?

LR : Album highlights of last year include You Are Someone Else by Fickle Friends - and - I saw them play a brilliant set at Latitude festival last year, Love Is Dead from Chvrches, Ruins by First Aid Kit, and May Your Kindness Remain by Courtney Marie Andrews - who I also saw play an incredible gig in the summer at Norwich Arts Centre.

I have recently started hosting a music show on Future Radio in Norwich, and the playlist is an eclectic mix of indie, folk, Americana and electronic : so I listen to a lot of bands, and artists, old and new, and still love discovering new music.

MW : How's your music column going?

LR : It is going well. Currently I’m really busy promoting the EP but I love to write about music, and in particular songwriting, when I can. Last year, I did some interviews for Songwriting Magazine which included Courtney Marie Andrews and Ethan Johns. They both provided fascinating insights into their writing and recording processes. I’ve also previously interviewed Sarah Darling and Bob Harris. As well as Songwriting Magazine, I write an arts and music column for website All Things Norfolk where I also share my music adventures and do reviews.

My most recent article for Songwriting Magazine is all about the inspiration behind my latest single, Anything But Easy, in a feature called Song Deconstructed:

https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/interviews/song-deconstructed-anything-but-easy-by-lisa-redford/44573

MW : How's Bob (Harris) keeping? Is he still a source of support and encouragement?

LR : Yes, I saw Bob recently at the AmericanaFest conference earlier this year when he hosted a lovely In Conversation with John Oates. It’s always lovely to catch up.

It’s definitely been a real source of encouragement having had Bob’s support. I have been invited to record two Under The Apple Tree sessions on separate occasions, and he has featured all of my releases, first playing Be Around (a ballad from my first album Slipstream).

He also played my song, Dragonfly, on a “Best of British Special” amongst major artists such as Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. I’ve also recorded two live sessions when he hosted a BBC Radio 2 show on Saturday nights. “Whispering” Bob’s also introduced me on stage twice: once at The Borderline in London, and again at C2C Country to Country Festival at the O2. It means such a lot to me having someone as respected as him be a supporter.

MW : What’s your view on the public outcry over dumping plastic?

LR : It saddens me that there is such a huge threat to the oceans. Plastic doesn’t go away. Only a small percentage of plastic is recycled worldwide.

I try to be conscious of my own plastic use, and reduce, and reuse as much as I can. For example, I always bring my own reusable shopping bags to shops, and completely avoid single-use plastic bags. I never use straws, and carry around my own water bottle rather then buying bottles. Naturally when I do use single-use plastics that can be recycled, I always ensure I recycle them.

It is important to stay informed on issues related to plastic pollution, and to try to raise awareness of the problem.

MW : Describe your music room and/or record collection and how you may be adding to it or re-organising it, and formats...

LR : I have lots of treasured music memorabilia that I try to keep organised and in good order. It is an extensive collection of vinyl, music books, CD’s and more unique items - mostly by The Smiths and Britpop artists. I have previously talked about the memorabilia for a BBC People’s History of Pop documentary and love how they bring special memories of going to gigs and festivals.

MW : What is your favourite plant, tree, garden?

LR : Sunflowers. I’m drawn to the sun and love how they’re vibrant, big, daisy-like and evoke feelings of happiness. They were also famously the subject of Van Gogh’s series of stunning paintings, definitely my favourite still-life.

Tree? It would have to be the mighty oak tree - chosen as the national tree of many countries and a beloved symbol of strength. It evokes feelings of nostalgia and memories of many dreamy summers.

Garden? The Plantation Garden in Norwich, which I often love to visit. It’s a stunning restored Victorian town garden, and its features include a gothic fountain, flower beds, lawns, woodland walkways, rustic bridge, Medieval wall and lots of architectural details. It’s beautiful and dreamy - a tranquil space in the city - and I have filmed some live acoustic videos there, and had photos taken. In the summer there are also outdoor Picturehouse cinema film screenings, which is a lovely way to spend a summer evening.

MW : Do you keep a ‘To Do’ list?

LR : I do have a to do list. I always have my notebook and diary with me. It’s a busy time at the moment with the new release, so I’m making a daily ‘To Do’ list and updating it helps me keep up with what I need to accomplish each day.

MW : If you could have six guests over to dinner, who would you invite & why, and what would you all eat & drink?

LR : Richard Curtis and Emma Freud - such a lovely, warm and benevolent couple. Emma recently made a lovely comment about my latest music video on Twitter, and I also make a very brief appearance in Richard’s new film, Yesterday, as a festival goer.

Stephen Fry - he would be full of fascinating conversation, is such a font of knowledge and we have a Norfolk connection.

Tom McRae - he’s such a brilliant songwriter. I love his witty and dry sense of humour. He asked me to support him at a recent concert. He is a inspiration.

Bob Harris - always love to spend time with him and talk music. He would of course be a lovely addition.

Adil Ray - we’ve chatted on social media. He’s really funny and intelligent. It would certainly be a special evening of laughter and stimulating, fun conversation.

We would have scallops to start, and then for mains we would enjoy pan-fried salmon with creamy garlic sauce and vegetables. Dessert would be a choice of mocha chocolate fondant, or tiramisu and, as I’m a real savoury fan, there would also be a selection of cheeses with crackers, red onion jam and ruby grapes.

Drinks would be a choice of red and white wine with some Dom Pérignon Vintage flowing throughout the evening too! Cheers!!

LINKS : -

https://twitter.com/lisaredford

https://www.facebook.com/lisaredfordmusic

https://www.youtube.com/user/lisaredfordmusic

https://www.instagram.com/lisaredfordmusic/

https://lisaredford.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/lisaredford

http://lisaredford.com/

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travelonlinetipsofficial · 3 years ago

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Restaurants in Rio de Janeiro

New Post has been published on https://www.travelonlinetips.com/restaurants-in-rio-de-janeiro-3/

Restaurants in Rio de Janeiro

Foodies visiting Rio de Janeiro should make a beeline for the breezy, beautiful and bohemian hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa, where the steep cobbled streets are lined with dining opportunities to suit all tastes and budgets.

There’s fine French-flavored dining at Térèze, while cozy Bar do Arnaudo entices with its fair prices, vast portions of northeastern dishes, and and friendly atmosphere. Cafe do Alto is a haven for families and fussy eaters – this centrally-located Northeastern restaurant offers vegan and gluten-free goodies alongside meaty stews and sausage dishes, and kids are offered crayons and paper. There are organic, gluten-free treats at Cultivar Brasil, while those looking for a more formal dining experience can enjoy al-fresco meals with glorious views at the delightful, somewhat hidden Aprazivel. Santa Teresa is also home to some of the best examples of the carioca boteco.

Botecos are informal bar-restaurants where the conversation and ice cold beer flow freely, and two of the city´s most inviting are the Santa Teresa institutions Bar do Gomes and Bar do Mineiro. A little farther off the tourist track, Bar do Bonde offers delicious bar snacks and a perfectly-crafted caipirinha, sometimes to the sound of live samba music.

Santa Teresa is fast becoming the destination of choice for interesting dining options, and Espirito Santa is a firm favorite on the neighborhood’s dining scene. Chef Natacha Fink has created a menu that makes good use of fresh ingredients from across Brazil, including Amazonian piranha and hearts of palm. Even the drinks list has a tropical flavor, with native fruits such as cupuacu used in place of the standard lime and mixed with cachaca (sugar cane rum) to make an interesting take on the traditional Brazilian caiprinha. The building itself, a handsome colonial building dating back to 1875, is another point in the restaurant’s favour, with the small balcony providing the best seats in the house on warm evenings.

Recommended for Santa Teresa’s Best Restaurants because: For a taste of deliciously diverse native Brazilian ingredients, this is the place.

Lucy’s expert tip: Try the mixed entree platter – while ingredients vary according to the season, it usually includes grilled palm hearts served with a delicious chutney made from Acai, the Amazonian ‘power berry’ renowned for its energising properties.

Read more about Térèze →

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#Destinations

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nowtravel · 3 years ago

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Rejecting the nauseating mix of new age spiritualism and old age religion that defines the Camino de Santiago, Bert Archer embarks on the lesser-known Via de la Plata

The road is just wide enough for a pick-up truck loaded with building supplies to rumble higher up into the hills that overlook Baños de Montemayor, still terraced after 17 or 18 centuries. The road is mostly flagstones, mostly level, with tufts of beaten-down grass poking up between them. But every so often, there’s a stripe of more obviously found stones, rounded and less evenly spaced, laid around the same time the terraces were being carved, that gave the Via de la Plata its name (which, despite sounding like it has something to do with silver, actually comes from the Arabic al balat, which means “cobblestone road”).

Following the pick-up are five men, aged probably 25 to 50, Croatian by the sound of them. Three have wide-brimmed straw hats, the sort that were probably conceived as modest country hats but that stand out these days as the millinery equivalent of the peasant dress; two of them have thick socks under sandals; all have conspicuously large and conspicuously new backpacks: pilgrims, on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

I hate them on sight.

These are the people that make the more popular parts of the so-called Camino de Santiago so intolerable; these are the people I wanted to get away from when I took the Via de la Plata, a lesser known pilgrimage than the Camino.

I like the idea of a structured route with some heritage as much as the next guy, walking in the footsteps of thousands who have walked the same road. I just can’t stand the arch admixture of new age spiritualism with old age religion that infuses the very dust kicked up by every be-sandaled foot that strides the Camino.

Born in the Dark Ages from a myth about the mystical appearance of the clam-encrusted body of St. James, executed by Herod in Jerusalem in 44 AD, the pilgrimage route had slowly fallen into desuetude until the 20th century, when people realized they didn’t have to walk anymore. They still visited the church where the mythical body of the saint mythically rests, but they got there by 20th-century methods: planes, trains, and automobiles.

Then came the 1970s, a decade that has a lot to answer for: the Khmer Rouge, China’s Cultural Revolution, Idi Amin, Allende/Pinochet. To that list may be added a resurgence of pedestrian pilgrims, dedicated souls who cut through the undergrowth to reveal the neglected paths, going back to primary sources, like Pope Calixtinus II’s 12th-century guide to the camino, the Codex Calixtinus, to re-establish the route. There were some faithful in there, certainly, but the fact that the resurgence came at the same time as the international marathon boom is not pure coincidence.

As the line-ups at Machu Picchu and the final approach to Everest’s peak attest, an increasingly leisured and monied Western population has taken rather warmly to artificially reproducing the sorts of physical hardships their ancestors fought so hard to put behind them. Iron Man competitions, extreme sports, and the blooming of a hundred million six-packs all bear witness to a population for whom leisure has become oppressive and regular achievement—stable income, family, housing, a general lack of conflict—is too easy, no longer enough.

Marathoners and Everest climbers are noxious enough, but what makes the Camino so intolerable is the added celestial righteousness. I have no pilgrims in any of my social media networks, but I have read the comments elsewhere: regular reports on how far, how much, how great, with the added bonus of conspicuously quiet—but not silent—averrals of how grounded they feel now, or what inspiring people they met along the way, like the 82-year-old woman who did it barefoot, or the uncle who did it for his cancer-stricken nephew. Ugh.

And those who do not believe they have a friend in the sky, but follow the same route as those who for more than a thousand years did and made the trip in the hopes they’d escape the business end of his supernal hob-nailed boot (though for those who still believe, the route is still, as the Catholics say, “indulgenced”) seem to me disingenuous and possibly deluded, like mindful college kids who think Buddhism is an alternative to organized religion, or people whose third car is electric.

Robert Ward, who wrote two good books on the subject of being a secular pilgrim on the Camino, is neither disingenuous nor deluded. He started out as a guy who just liked walking. Then he heard about the Camino, and something happened to him. In the middle of many good sentences in these books, one about walking parts of the Camino several times over the course of a decade, the other about tracking down as many depictions of the Virgin Mary along it and similar routes, he comes out with ones like “While we’ve all heard it said that life is a pilgrimage, it is also true that a pilgrimage is a life,” and “I was a pilgrim and always had been one. It was something that dawned on me day by day, not a lightning flash on the road to Damascus, but a slow recognition that ‘pilgrim’ is another way of understanding who we are, and that to make a pilgrimage is only to formalize that understanding.” There’s something about walking holy roads that makes you think big, beyond what’s in front of you, that attempts to give it all a meaning that transcends the cafes and the bars, the jamon and the queso, the beer and the fina.

There is one very good thing about the Camino though: It goes through small towns that would otherwise never attract travellers. As the route increases in popularity, however—there were 237,886 pilgrims in 2013, according to the official count—they are becoming more and more like standard tourist towns, albeit catering to a very particular demographic.

The Via de la Plata is different. It’s been around as long, and has been used from time to time over the centuries as an alternative, all-Spanish route to the tomb of St. James (the standard Camino routes begin in France). But it has never been primarily that, and that has made all the difference.

The Via, also known as the Ruta de la Plata, began life as a pre-Roman trade route, first for the transport of tin, then as a way for the Romans to conquer various bits of Iberia, who later, according to Pliny the Elder, used it to trade gold and copper, running as it did between the copper mines of Rio Tinto and the gold mines in Las Medulas.

Practical people built practical settlements, unlike those who, from Charlemagne forward, built basilicas and monuments to saints and martyrs around which towns like Redecilla and Ourense grew. There are churches in Fuente de Cantos and Casar de Caceres on the Via, but they’re not the main attractions and not being on the Camino has meant they’ve been thrown back on their own devices to come up with economic engines to replace the trade no longer being done along the route, which is now the A-66, which, though it pretty much follows the old Via, allows you to efficiently bypass all the towns. (In fact, a drunken holler in a Seville bar asking if anyone had heard of Fuente de Cantos drew a chorus of equally bibulous “No’s,” and one meek response from the kitchen, “I think it’s a town.” Fuente de Cantos is just 37 miles north of Seville, and the A66 is the way you get from there to Madrid.)

When I got to Fuente de Cantos (population: 5,002), the church was shut, so I visited the house of the doctor of the mother of the second most famous Spanish painter of the 17th century. Francisco de Zurbaran lived the first 16 years of his life here, before his father sent him off to Seville to be a painter’s apprentice. Specializing in monks, nuns, royalty, and, in the painting that’s become his most famous, a cup of water, Zurbaran was second only to his friend Velasquez in esteem in their day.

Since then, he’s not fared too well in international circles, though in Spain, he’s still fairly well known. He’s Fuente de Cantos’ favorite son, and since the house he grew up in is still in private hands, the modest museum dedicated to his time here is in the house he was actually born in. It’s a small affair, renovated last year for the 350th anniversary of his death, so actually having any original Zurbarans was out of the question—as the museum-keeper told me, the security expenses will probably never be feasible. So, on the walls there are pictures of his pictures, blown up and framed. There’s also a new touch screen counter where you can flip through a PDF catalogue of his work. It is thoroughly charming, if earnest but underfunded and mostly amateur projects charm you.

Seville, where by some definitions the Via begins, is gorgeous. The Alcazar, recently re-celebrated as the stand-in for Game of Thrones’ Dornish palace, along with its cathedral, its jamon iberico, and many, is as glorious as you’d expect. But Fuente de Cantos, with its single visible bar, where the tapas is still free (even though the bars tend to close pretty early), and its streets lined with white-washed houses populated only by pint-sized Iker Casillases and David Silvas is unexpected, which is where its beauty lies.

The cheese you get a few miles north, in Casar de Caceres, a tiny suburb of the larger Caceres, is slightly more famous than Zurbaran. Torta del Casar is a raw sheep’s milk cheese; soft and either white or pale yellow, it’s most often served as a spread or dip. It’s a designated cheese, which means the sheep have to come from this part of Extremadura, where shepherds began making the torta accidentally, when bunches of the harder, more regular white cheese they were trying to make spoiled during humid spring seasons. Until quite recently the cheeses were given away free with the purchase of one of the more popular hard cheeses. Then an American food writer stumbled on it, praised it to the heavens, and, over the next couple of decades, turned it into one of Spain’s most expensive cheeses.

Every town along the Via has its version of the torta, something unique they’ve cultivated and are waiting for the world to recognize, from the never-quite-finished Gaudi-esque house in Los Santos de Maimona, lovingly constructed over the last three decades by a passionate septuagenarian builder named Francisco González Gragera, to Hervas, with its annual Jewish festival that celebrates the fact that it is one of the only towns in Spain that didn’t tear down its old Jewish quarter with its gentile citizens dressing up in their versions of Jewish costumes and doing little dances they think might also be Jewish.

But my favorite is the parador in Plasencia. A former nunnery, it provides a striking contrast to another one I visited just outside Fuente de Cantos, one of the few bits of evidence, aside from those Croatians, of the seeping influence of the religious pilgrimage into the Via de la Plata. The Albergue Convento Vía de la Plata de Fuente de Cantos was a modest but lovely little former convent turned into an albergue of the sort that dot the Camino de Santiago, cheap, with communal facilities and a cafeteria where you get your daily bread, and not much more, before heading out again.

Except here, it’s the exception rather than the rule, and when I called ahead to say I’d be coming, and that I thought I’d like to write about it, there was enough excitement that the mayor invited me to lunch in the albergue cafeteria, where big aluminum platters of modest food like cheese on toast and slices of jamon were served as we talk about tourism, the fantastic success that other route has made over the past couple of decades, protecting many of its small towns from the financial crisis that’s still going on here, and how she’s trying to get some of that sweet pilgrim cash out her way, to add to the mostly school group business of the Zurbaran house.

I sympathize, but later, as I sit in the vaulted brick cellar of the Plasencia parador and a waiter who knows his gin brings me a gin and tonic, served in a big-bowled stem glass packed with ice, the way they’re doing it in Barcelona and Rotterdam these days, with Fever Tree tonic and garnished with a sprig of basil, I silently hope she fails.

By the time you reach Baños de Montemayor, where I ran into my Croatian pilgrims, it’s almost time to turn off to Madrid. The Via continues, all the way north to Astorga, but this isn’t the Camino. There’s no one, in heaven or earth, tracking your progress or waiting to be impressed with your endurance, self-abnegation and weeping blisters. You can do the rest some other time if you like; the bars are open later in Madrid.

#walking tours

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sussex-nature-lover · 4 years ago

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Sunday 3rd January 2021

Review of the Year Q3. July, August, September 2020

The weather stayed good and we were very glad to be able to get outdoors and to see so many visitors to the garden, even if some of them were rather naughty.

Question: when are squirrels well behaved?

Answer: let me know when you find out.

2020 was a huge year for Deer in the garden and they hardly seemed bothered by us at all. Sometimes they come alone and sometimes in a group. So called Hooves of Fire wrecked the seed tray and kept churning up the grass. If we can get that sorted this year, just a year behind schedule, we will. Given all the Pheasants and the Deer, it seems a bit of a forlorn hope but we’ll see.

Forlorn. Hah!

17th July saw Captain Tom Moore knighted at Windsor Castle in a socially distanced, outdoor ceremony (scene portrayed by models)

23rd July was my birthday

As a rule the family would gather and we’d have a nice social time. This year we sat at one side of our front porch and Ms NW tY stopped by after work for a drink and some nibbles. She was seated at the opposite side of the porch like we’d sent her to Coventry.

The origins of this phrase aren't known beyond doubt, although it is quite probable that events in Coventry in the English Civil War in the 1640s are the source.

For those not familiar with the UK, Coventry is an industrial city in Warwickshire, England. It is well-known for its two cathedrals; the modern cathedral being built in 1962 to replace the old cathedral, which was destroyed during an intense German bombing raid in 1940.

In the 17th century, when this phrase is supposed to have originated, Coventry was a small town. It has been suggested that the phrase, which we now use figuratively, originated from people being actually sent there.

The story is that Cromwell sent a group of Royalist soldiers to be imprisoned in Coventry, around 1648. The locals, who were parliamentary supporters, shunned them and refused to consort with them.

Over the year I took a few photos that formed a kind of series. One was Birds on the Line - very popular locations, as shown by these Starlings. I did capture rather a lot of Wood Pigeons and Crows though despite my best efforts to find something a little more exotic.

Male Common Darter at Bateman’s NT

There were plenty of posers around for me including Dragon and Damselflies on a bench at Bateman’s. Seeing the new Cheviots up at the farm was a surprise and below, the young Kestrels were comical, striding up and down the barn roof.

Blue Tit on the Christmas Tree

It’s always quite lovely to see the fledglings thrive and 2020 was a good year for Tits and Robins.

Juvenile Robin

We probably made a lot more use of the garden last Summer, as we couldn’t go anywhere else much and the conditions became quite like being away-away.

I also learnt quite a lot about nature in 2020, it was a combination of having a Guru on Twitter to run all my queries by and doing a lot of internet research. One of my discoveries was about Great Spotted Woodpecker (amongst others) having an extra protective eyelid, which makes perfect sense actually if you think about it. I’d never spotted it before though.

Aliums on a hot day

Like Goldfinch (below) the Common Buzzards were plentiful in the skies above and their call could be heard across the valley multiple times a day. Photographing them was quite another matter.

The photo above caused a lot of debate with local ornithologists who debated long and hard before settling on a Honey Buzzard

They’re known to frequent the Reservoir over Summer months.

The days were long and peaceful, sunsets almost Mediterranean. I lost track of how many times we were sat out saying it was just like being on holiday, just without the fight to reserve a lounger or the sounds of the sea. Sometimes when the breeze rippled through The Apostles though, if you closed your eyes you could more or less imagine it.

‘The Apostles’ as seen from ‘Goldfinch Alley’

Our garden at sunset looking exotic

One of my favourite birds, the Nuthatch, did really well and there were lots of young, so we had loads of visitors of varying sizes enjoying both the food and the water.

We spent a lot of time looking at the skies, admiring the clouds and learning a bit about the formations. It was so, so clear and a bit of a revelation to us.

Throughout the year the mystery cat kept visiting. Boy or girl? No idea (still) Nicknamed by us Monsieur Flambeau after a character in the Father Brown books, I always greet them with a cryptic ‘We meet again Monsieur Flambeau’ I’ve heard it said that about 80% of ginger cats are male but this one’s so pretty who knows.

In August,on our walks, we were finding lots of Horse Chestnuts hiding conkers and green acorns falling already.

And in August, two lots of new fencing and new gates - all done on Ms NW tE’s birthday, not that she’s seen in yet, but it certainly tidied the boundary and we were very pleased with it.

I haven’t written about all the National Trust visits we went on through the year. They were mostly for the chance to walk in different territory and gardens. If I started to list them we’d be here for ever, but I did get some nice nature pictures for my collection. The ones below were taken at Standen House, East Grinstead.

I’ve put a tab at the top of the Blog with links to all our usual haunts.

Small Copper Butterfly

Small White Butterfly

White Tailed Bumblebees

We were still enjoying the clear skies and glorious sunsets but Mid September brought the harvest across the lane

and all the leaves started to turn

Sheffield Park

Scotney Castle

Late September brought about a change in the weather. The rolling Sussex skies moved in and the garden took on a totally different look.

Photo taken between 3 and 4pm

Below, pond up at the farm - with added sheep

But it wasn’t all gloom. We got sighting of a Spa Day. Remember them?

and everyone wanted IN.

NOTES FROM THE GARDEN AND KITCHEN:

Direct quote from Crow ‘they can’t be far away, as soon as I went out (with the fat balls and seed) they came’ ...Re The Girls

The last couple of days I’ve noticed quite a lot of activity amongst the Wood Pigeons and the Blackbirds in particular. We seem to have a lot more of both in the garden all day long and the males and females are being quite friendly. Watch this space.

Because we didn’t have a turkey this year we’re not one of those households furiously thinking what can be done with seemingly endless left-overs. We did get quite a good selection of cheese though and have enjoyed some rather nice warm croissants filled with cheese and ham, they keep you going most of the day and we’ve had a couple of meals with salmon, which is a nice, light change.

Decoration of the Day:

A lovely sparkly star for the 10th Day of Christmas because I don’t have Ten Lords a-leaping. I don’t have the Pipers piping or the Drummers drumming come to that.

MUSIC OF THE DAY:

Relaxing piano and birdsong by Peder B Helland

youtube

#review of the year #nature #birdwatching #piano music #naturephotography

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lookaheadsearch · 4 years ago

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Meet Steve

In our final staff profile, we interview Steve, without whom there would be no Lookahead. He does business in the best way; he finds top talent for young start ups and huge companies and his clients and candidates become long time partners and friends. He doesn't take on too much work as he wants to give the very best service to all.

What do you do at Lookahead and how long have you been working with us? I’m the founder so my start date was Mar 2012 :) I’m a technical recruiter but nowadays it’s my job to get things out of the way for others. Helping out with advice and running business improvement projects. I have recruited for all of our long term clients at some point, so can offer context and chip in on searches.

What’s your background? Where were you in the tech industry before joining Lookahead? I was a nerdy kid and grew up loving computers. In the late 90s I played way too much Quake II and started a clan (basically, a team). Looking back I realise that was an important moment - it accidentally gave me a taste of leadership and a reason to learn how to make a website. The site got hacked by a now famous Aussie entrepreneur who then came to our LAN party and taught us how he did it. Good times.

After finishing high school my uncle got me to set up a network for his business. Before I knew it, other referrals came in and I found that fixing computers and making websites paid my way through uni. About 2 years into my degree I landed a big project so one of my best friends Myles and I deferred our degrees to start a company.

Some of our clients were recruiting firms. After observing what they did I figured recruiting for a year or two would be a good experience. Here I am nearly 14 years later.

What do you like about Lookahead? Amazing people in a work environment that’s perfect for me. That was the idea at the start - make Lookahead somewhere I love going to every day. We’ve never grown for the sake of growth which has helped keep it that way. Our hires tend to be opportunistic - we are always looking and ready when someone incredible comes up.

There’s a light + plant filled office space that feels nice to be in. Through Covid, Kat and I have been venturing into the city just to water those plants :D

We are nerdy foodies. We eat well and buy nice computers. We pick our clients and they’re all rad in their own way. That becomes clear each year at our birthday party - you’re in a room full of friends. I pinch myself because I get to call this ‘work’.

What are you passionate about?

People. They’re all so interesting and you can learn something from everybody. I feel rich because I have amazing people around me all the time - both at work and at home.

I’m also passionate about being in the water and food. 40 years from now I’ll still be trying to get better at surfing and cooking.

What was the last book you read or podcast you listened to? “Primed to Perform” – it’s about motivation at work and actually uses science to back up their theories. Long story short- focus on play rather than money. They have a survey you can take to measure your total motivation score: https://app.vegafactor.com/take_the_survey

Podcast: I’m subscribed to 34 😳. My faves are: 99% Invisible, Derek Sivers, How I Built This, Making Sense with Sam Harris and Joe Rogan.

If you weren’t at Lookahead where would you be working or what is your dream job? This is my dream job - recruiting is a craft and you could work on it forever and still be getting better.

It would be cool to one day build a product - I’ve seen many startup journeys as an early stage investor as well as a recruiter. Would love to test myself in that arena.

If I had to work in another company it’d be Basecamp. We used their product back in ~2005 to manage client projects, and it’s how I heard about Rails. Ended up subscribing to their blog and have taken a lot of lessons in business from them, which has helped make Lookahead what it is.

First Car? A ‘93 Corolla Hatch. That was what I could afford and it’s probably for the best. Over the years I’ve worked my way up and have a car I take to the track.

Hidden Talent?

Finding things underwater.

I’m a divemaster and a trained free diver. Can dive 32 meters on a single breath! At our team hang some idiot dropped their sunnies off the pier (me). Managed to find them hours later and it was a glorious moment.

Proudest Accomplishment? Lookahead. Maybe one day I’ll have kids and it’ll be them, but for now it’s this wonderful little place we get to call work. From day 1 it’s gone surprisingly well and continues to surprise me.

The Most unusual item in your office or home? A balance board.

It used to be in the office and it’s the first thing I took home when we went Covid-remote. When you are feeling burned out from back to back meetings, jump on that and move around. It’s a great reset.

Favourite Sports Team? Not really a sports fan but I was huge on basketball cards back in the day. The Chicago Bulls in the 90s were incredible, and I’m not just saying that because of the Netflix series.

What makes you weird? I say I’m a minimalist but also own five surfboards. Wait, seven.

What piece of technology seems like magic to you? AirPods. How is it that I have a computer dangling out each ear? Went for a run with my partner Jess and we’re sharing the one audio source. She had to run back to get something and even though I lost range the music buffered for ~40 seconds. When I think back to my Discman that would skip constantly I realise we are living in the future.

Guilty Pleasure? You know the bit of the sourdough starter you’re meant to discard? We make them into crackers. That with cheese or peanut butter are my kryptonite.

What’s on your Bucket List? Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia. During WWII a fleet of Japanese ships were sunk and now lie on the bottom of the ocean. Many still mostly intact. It’s a wreck diver’s paradise and basically an underwater museum.

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obtusemedia · 5 years ago

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The best songs of the 2010s: #75-51

#75: “The Only Thing” by Sufjan Stevens (2015)

It was tough to pick a single song from Sufjan Stevens’ masterpiece, Carrie and Lowell, for this list. The album, about his dead mother, is consistently beautiful and tragic throughout.

But “The Only Thing” has the most devastating line of the whole album, and possibly the whole decade, delivered in a wobbly falsetto: “Should I tear my eyes out now?/Everything I see returns to you somehow.” Case closed. Now please excuse me while I cry for the rest of the day.

#74: “Best Song Ever” by One Direction (2013)

If you can’t appreciate this slice of pop-rock perfection that shamelessly rips off The Who, I’m not sure we can be friends.

“Best Song Ever” still sounds as the pinnacle of One Direction’s career, with its fizzy arena-rock chorus and adorable lyrics about that one special night with a mysterious woman, never to be seen again. The Millennial Whoops are plentiful, and they are irresistible.

Yes, “Best Song Ever” is a corny boy band song. But A) it’s the best possible version of a corny boy band song. And B) boy bands are wonderful. Just embrace the cheese.

(Also, One Direction was the greatest boy band of all time. Don’t fight me on this.)

#73: “Pray For Rain” by Pure Bathing Culture (2015)

Portland shoegaze duo Pure Bathing Culture delivered the closest approximation to a prime Cocteau Twins single since the early ‘90s.

It’s got the icy synths and shoegaze guitars to throw any listener into a hypnotic groove. The secret ingredient that makes “Pray For Rain” stand out, however, is the thumping, snare-heavy beat that invokes both military drum lines and trip-hop. It adds a propulsion to the otherwise dreamy track, creating a dissonant yet incredible experience.

#72: “Not” by Big Thief (2019)

Unlike the hushed folksy whispers of Big Thief’s first 2019 album, “Not” is a furious, noisy firebomb of an indie rock jam. Lead singer Adrianne Lenker’s warble is pushed to its limits, as her vocals crack and strain while the song’s tension (and noise level) slowly ratchets up in the song’s first half.

Then, the pent-up energy is finally released for an explosive, discordant two-and-a-half minute guitar solo. It’s pure chaos and anger distilled into one instrument, and the greatest moment so far of Big Thief’s promising career.

#71: “Dog Years” by Maggie Rogers (2016)

The strength of Maryland indie-pop prodigy Maggie Rogers’ first few singles is how in tune with nature she sounded. I’ve dubbed it “REI-pop.”

And none of her songs are more reminiscent of a high-end outdoors store than “Dog Years” — and yes, that’s a compliment. “Dog Years” incorporates noises like wind chimes and owl hoots to its soulful synthpop production for a unique flavor. Rogers delivers on the vocal end with a stunning performance reminiscent of blue-eyed soul greats like Daryl Hall.

It’s a bummer that mainstream indie pop nowadays is going to mostly sound like Jeep ads. But “Dog Years” proves great art can still be created in that avenue.

#70: “The House That Heaven Built” by Japandroids (2012)

With “The House That Heaven Built,” Vancouver, BC indie rockers Japandroids made a perfect road trip anthem. The chugging guitars shoot to the sky, the drumming is furious, and the fist-pumping “OH OH OHs” are plentiful.

“House” is like a Bruce Springsteen collaboration with The Replacements: righteous fury backed by raucous, bar-friendly punk-rock. When lead singer/guitarist Brian King informs the listener that if “Anything try to slow you down/Tell em all to go to hell,” it’s something anyone can feel in their bones.

#69: “Adorn” by Miguel (2012)

“Adorn” is dangerously smooth. The chillwave-meets-80s-R&B production gets you halfway there, but Miguel’s buttery vocals are the main attraction here. From his endearing ad-libs (“whoap!”) to his effortless vocal runs on the gorgeous melody, he sounds like a seasoned pro.

I’m going to give y’all a hot take — “Adorn” is the Millennial “Sexual Healing.” It strikes that same nocturnal, sexy flair, and Miguel is working it just as hard as Marvin Gaye did. It’s too bad Miguel never was quite able to make something quite as impressive as “Adorn” again, but that single (and its accompanying, phenomenal Kaleidoscope Dream record) will cement him as a ‘10s R&B icon.

#68: “The World’s Best American Band” by White Reaper (2017)

White Reaper never claimed to be the world’s best band. Nope — they want to be the world’s best American band. So it’s only fitting that Louisville’s finest dirtbags cooked up a warm slice of some of the greasiest, sleaziest and most proudly stupid capital-R RAWK in years.

This is the kind of music Van Halen would’ve made if they were a low-rent Millennial indie band. This is the kind of music Gardner Minshew probably listens to. And it’s glorious.

#67: “I Just Had Sex” by The Lonely Island feat. Akon (2010)

This list isn’t really trying to measure importance or anything like that. It’s basically just the songs that made me the happiest this decade. And there are few songs that make me smile as much as The Lonely Island’s pathetically hilarious “I Just Had Sex.”

There’s so many golden moments here, from “I called my parents right after I was done!” to “The best 30 seconds of my life!” and “I think she might have been a racist?” The comedy trio was really on their A-game.

But what makes “I Just Had Sex” more than just a goof is that it’s also catchy as hell. That Akon chorus is legitimately one of the best pop hooks of the decade. What made The Lonely Island so brilliant in their turn-of-the-decade peak is their ability to make songs that often surpassed the actual pop hits they emulated, while not sacrificing hilarious lyrics.

(Also, shoutout to “Jack Sparrow” and the legitimately impressive baseball-themed “Let’s Bash,” both of which could’ve also snuck onto this list.)

#66: “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry” by Run The Jewels (2014)

Sometimes, you turn to hip-hop for inspiring messages and thoughtful, provocative lyrics (something Run The Jewels has certainly delivered on with tracks like “Early”).

But sometimes you just want an aggro banger that makes you want to smash through a brick wall like the Kool-Aid Man. That’s what “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry” brings to the table, thanks to its heavy helping of fuck-everyone defiance and El-P’s trademark apocalyptic, frantic production.

#65: “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski (2016)

In her signature song, “Your Best American Girl,” Mitski took the thrashing ‘90s guitars and epic chorus of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today” and turned it into a conversation about race, insecurity and love.

Mitski, who is Japanese-American, vividly describes the angst of trying to fit the lily-white image of the “American Girl” for a boy. The song begins with insecurity — “Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me/But I do, I think I do” — and then flips that statement into a proud stand for her roots: “But I do, I finally do.” It’s a powerful declaration, fitting of one of the decade’s most powerful rock anthems.

#64: “A Real Hero” by College and Electric Youth (2010)

Consider this spot a placeholder for all the best songs from the 2010′s best soundtrack: “Drive.”

Out of that soundtrack’s three stand-out singles, “A Real Hero” is the best by a hair. College’s slick, pulsing production is a perfect contrast to Bronwyn Griffin’s whispered, ghostly vocals. It’s the perfect love theme for an aggressively hipster-y movie where Ryan Gosling plays a dude in a gold satin jacket, drives around L.A. silently, and crushes a guy’s head in an elevator.

But shout out to the other two classics on Drive, “Nightcall” and “Under Your Spell,” which are also musts while driving around at night feeling moody.

#63: “Birthday Song” by 2 Chainz feat. Kanye West (2012)

“Birthday Song” is gloriously stupid. It’s the kind of song you laugh at the first time you hear it, but after a few more listens, you’re rapping along with 2 Chainz and Kanye.

And it’s hard not to rap along when there’s this many quotable lines: “SHE GOT A BIG BOOTY SO I CALL HER BIG BOOTY.” “I’M IN THE KITCHEN. YAMS EVERYWHERE!!” “Last birthday, she got you a new sweater/Put it on, give her a kiss, and tell her, ‘DO BETTER.’” And of course, the most iconic line of them all: “All I want for my birthday is a big booty hoe.”

“Birthday Song” is so ridiculous that it’s only a couple jokes removed from a Lonely Island single. And that’s what makes it so fun.

#62: “Every Day’s the Weekend” by Alex Lahey (2017)

Aussie indie rocker Alex Lahey made the best Blink-182 song of the decade with “Every Day’s the Weekend.” It’s got a soaring chorus with the all-important “WHOA OHs,” a chugging guitar riff, and it’s catchy as hell.

Just toss in a lackadaisical attitude and a “I Gotta Feeling”-style days-of-the-week chant and you’ve got a pop-punk classic.

#61: “Take a Walk” by Passion Pit (2012)

While MGMT burned their cultural capital by making zoinked-out psych rock (which was pretty solid!), their peers Passion Pit doubled down on their signature synthpop sound in the early ‘10s. Their 2012 album, Gossamer, is one of the all-time great albums with a happy, bouncy sound but crushingly dark lyrics. So naturally, its first single is a perky pop tune about financial struggles!

“Take a Walk” is so catchy and uplifting musically — just try getting that iconic synth riff out of your head — that Michael Angelakos’ lyrics about the Great Recession seem out of place at first. But it gels anyways. The uplifting music just emphasizes the dire situation Angelakos and his then-wife found themselves in, and it makes the soaring synth riff read as more melancholy than optimistic.

#60: “Gretel” by (Sandy) Alex G (2019)

"Gretel” is like an indie-folk song that went to the Upside Down. All the requisite parts are there — gently strummed guitar, lyrics with a man-of-the-people feel, humbly Middle American vocals — but it feels warped and twisted.

The easiest way to describe it is like if a typical folk-pop song CD was left in the sun for a solid week or so, allowing it to melt. And then you tried listening to it. It would sound positively spooky. Yet through the oddball production and eerie vibe, Alex G’s defiant chorus still shines through. A statement like “Good people gotta fight to exist” somehow sounds more powerful in a bizzaro song like this.

#59: “Downtown” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Eric Nally, Grandmaster Kaz, Melle Mel and Kool Moe Dee (2015)

Macklemore might have been the 2010′s most unfairly hated artist. Yes, he’s corny. Yes, Kendrick should’ve won those Grammys instead. But the dude was fun, inventive and a unique voice in hip-hop at the time.

“Downtown” is a prime example of Mack’s talent. Or at least, his knack for assembling a fantastic supporting crew. Old-school rappers Grandmaster Kaz, Melle Mel and Kool Moe Dee deliver some forceful interludes, and Eric Nally and his wildman vocals give “Downtown” a killer, Queen-esque chorus. And of course, producer Ryan Lewis helps sell the song, with a constantly-switching beat that ranges from ‘70s funk to bombastic arena rock. Even Seattle legend Ken Griffey Jr. makes a cameo in the Spokane-filmed video!

In a late-’10s hip-hop scene filled with mopey sad white boys like Post Malone and NF, Macklemore’s goofy vibe and dad jokes are sorely missed.

#58: “Flesh Without Blood” by Grimes (2015)

In a decade filled with wonderful alt-pop weirdos, Grimes might have been the weirdest. One of her standout songs, “Kill v. Maim,” is about Michael Corleone from The Godfather Pt. II, but if he was a time-traveling, gender-switching vampire (yes, really).

“Flesh Without Blood” is comparatively normcore, but it’s still Grimes’ best slice of bonkers pop magic. Written from the perspective of a fan angry that she sold out, the track rides a surf-rock guitar groove into the oblivion. Grimes’ squeaky vocals are almost taunting in tone, but the hooks are so massive and the production is so fresh that I doubt listeners mind.

#57: “Slide” by Calvin Harris feat. Frank Ocean and Migos (2017)

Arguably the biggest name in cheeseball EDM took a shockingly sharp pivot into silky-smooth funk with “Slide.” And it worked! It worked weirdly well!

Of course, it helps that Calvin Harris has always had impeccable taste in guest vocalists, from Florence Welch to Haim. And by snagging once-in-a-generation talent Frank Ocean (and the fun, if not legendary, Migos) for “Slide,” he possibly pulled his greatest coup yet.

...well actually, no. His best song will always be the gloriously trashy and very British “Dance Wiv Me” with grime legend Dizzee Rascal. But the slick tropical grooves of “Slide” are a worthy contender.

#56: “I Belong in Your Arms” by Chairlift (2012)

I could’ve sworn this was in an old John Hughes movie. The wintry synths and retro-chic vibe of “I Belong in Your Arms” certainly would’ve fit snugly into the Pretty In Pink soundtrack, but no — Chairlift’s best single came out this decade.

“I Belong in Your Arms” is stunning in its atmospheric beauty. Singer Caroline Polachek’s vocals are almost Elizabeth Fraser-esque, drifting over the waves of keyboards while still packing a heavy punch on the chorus. And the song’s burst of energy doesn’t feel like a temporary sugar rush — it feels like the real thing.

#55: “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monaé (2018)

“Make Me Feel” is unabashedly a Prince homage. And if anyone in modern music could successfully replicate the Purple One, it’s Janelle Monaé.

The genre-blurring, impossibly funky “Make Me Feel” immediately grabbed me upon release, with its sharp guitar edges, soft-loud-soft production and sticky hook. But Monaé’s vocal performance is what truly makes the track pop. She clearly had the time of her life here, switching on a dime from smooth and sultry to giddy yelps. If there’s a perfect Janelle Monaé song cooked up in a lab somewhere, it’s probably nearly identical to this.

#54: “Some Nights” by fun. (2012)

Jack Antonoff has always excelled as the second-fiddle. Whether that’s in being the less-famous person in his former relationship with Lena Dunham or being the behind-the-scenes production wizard for megastars like Taylor Swift and Lorde, he works best in the shadows (despite his solo side band, Bleachers, being pretty damn good).

And of course, the project that first brought Antonoff into the mainstream was his band fun., in which he was the lead guitarist and a songwriter. At the time when the band hit their brief apex in 2012, it seemed like frontman Nate Ruess, with his vocal acrobatics and theatrical style, would be most primed for solo fame, but that fizzled.

Eight years later, “Some Nights” stands as a testament that Antonoff (and the other two guys in fun.) can write an incredible arena rock anthem just as easily as a synthpop banger. The song turns a quarter-life crisis into a soaring epic that sounds like a glorious U2-Queen hybrid, with a drumline added on top. Despite cribbing its chorus from Simon and Garfunkel, “Some Nights” still holds its power.

#53: “The Less I Know The Better” by Tame Impala (2015)

There’s one thing that instantly hooks you into Tame Impala’s Instagram-filtered indie pop masterpiece: that bassline. It carries the whole song on its back.

Not to say the rest of “The Less I Know The Better” isn’t good — Kevin Parker’s jealousy-tinged lyrics are fairly relatable, the twinkling synths are nice, the melody is appropriately yearning. But that slap bass ropes all those elements together into a legitimately funky rock tune. If Tame Impala’s mediocre new singles had that bass, maybe they’d be less forgettable.

#52: “Shake It Out” by Florence + The Machine (2011)

Florence Welch might be the decade’s most underrated vocalist. Her voice has the power of a Mack truck, yet she can still convey subtlety when needed.

“Shake It Out” is not one of those subtle moments. It is arena-pop filtered through gospel; a song that sounds like it was meant for a cathedral. Welch describes battling her personal demons like they were literal demons. Couple her wailing with layers upon layers of organs and massive drums imported from the “In The Air Tonight” solo, and you’ve got a song too big to fail.

#51: “Young Blood” by The Naked and Famous (2010)

I really, really wanted to include more tunes from the golden era of radio-friendly indie pop, circa 2008-2012. But a lot of the best stuff — MGMT, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix — fell in the previous decade. And others are more nostalgic faves for me than actually great songs (sorry, Grouplove and Matt & Kim).

But The Naked and Famous absolutely still hold up. “Young Blood” still has the insanely high-pitched vocals and twinkly synths of that era, but the New Zealanders throw some distorted ‘90s guitars to create a unique sound. It’s like the Weezer writing a Passion Pit song (but way better than that would imply). Lead singer Alisa Xayalith’s piercing voice is an instrument all of its own, soaring across the synthesizers and guitars like a bolt of neon light.

“Young Blood” might be an early ‘10s time-capsule, but it has hooks for days and a somehow-still-fresh groove.

#top 100 songs of 2010s

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newyorkermusic-blog · 8 years ago

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Ninth Time’s the Charm

TL;DR: I’m talking about the same band twice in a row, sue me

So in my last article I talked about Spoon, and I mentioned their next album was dropping very soon. Well, it came out, and I bought it. That was about two weeks ago, which makes this the obligatory review article.

If you’re not familiar with Spoon... well, just start going back through my previous articles and you’ll learn way more than you need to about them. This is Hot Thoughts, their ninth studio album (hence the name of this article), and first impressions are... weird. Looking back, we’ll probably end up calling this Spoon’s electronic record, which isn’t terribly surprising to me, given the direction they went with their previous album, They Want My Soul, as well as the increased writing input from Alex Fischel, fresh recruit in Spoon on that record after first playing with Britt Daniels (Spoon’s frontman) in Divine Fits. It also gets by far the most artsy, which seems to come in waves with this band, but I’m all about that kind of thing as long as it still sounds good. Melophobia, for example, was Cage the Elephant’s artsy album, and the truly weird parts of that record (like the atonal piano breakdown at the end of “It’s Just Forever”) ended up being my favourite little bits. Cage went back to something more like their old stuff with their next record, so we’ll just have to see where Spoon decides to go next.

Anyways, on to the record proper.

Hot Thoughts is weird for me in that the songs I like are songs I love, but the rest get dangerously close to mediocrity.

Firstly, the good: the titular opening track, “Hot Thoughts”, is sick. It’s pretty repetitive, and it’s clear they were really trying for a hit with it, but it’s super funky, gnarly, and a little bit gross when it wants to be. None of these are terms that describe music, but you’ll get what I mean when you hear it. So far it’s my favourite, though time may change that.

“Can I Sit Next To You” is another big highlight for me, with an Arabian-inspired synth line that puts the icing on a really excellently crafted dance-rock cake. To give you an idea, this is like Spoon channelling Arcade Fire, mixed with Klaxons, and a little LCD Soundsystem, but it’s got some major cojones. Coming from someone who loves dance-rock, and speaking about a band that hasn’t really done dance-rock before, they’ve certainly done an excellent job on that front with this record.

“Us”, the album closer, is a deliciously weird instrumental that focuses on saxophones and what I can only assume is a hefty dose of improvisation. This one feels like the music from an indie video game’s opening cinematic, if that makes sense. Among some other firsts, Spoon didn’t really do instrumentals prior to this album, but they did a good job here. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but for me it’s an improvement for a band that routinely struggles to end an album in a way that satisfies me. This makes three, two of which are in a row, so here’s hoping the streak can continue.

“Tear It Down”, while being accidentally politically astute, is a nice throwback to an older Spoon. The chorus goes perhaps a little too far into the cheese factory, but the piano driven verses are totally movie-montage levels of juice. It isn’t quite the Van Morrison of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but it wouldn’t feel out of place in that record. It’s very pop radio rock, almost specifically early-naughties pop radio rock, and Spoon continue to be a driving force in this area.

Moving on to the meat of the record, we get a handful of songs that really want to be highlights but just aren’t quite doing it for me. “WhisperI’lllistentohearit” (that’s Whisper I’ll listen to hear it) proves a point I made about The Heavy way back when I talked about The Glorious Dead in my podcast. They had a song on that record called “Just My Luck” that swaps back and forth between a fast-paced rock feel and a slower ballad feel. I thought it would have been more powerful if they only swapped twice: open with the fast part, eventually go into the slower part, then end with the fast part again, rather than flip-flopping like they do in that song. “Whisper” doesn’t quite do that, but it starts with this atmospheric synthy first half that speeds up into a noisy, rocking second half, and it works brilliantly. I have two complaints here though: firstly, this should have opened the album instead of “Hot Thoughts”, and secondly, they needed to commit to the noisy synth they transition with. Instead they strip it out too quickly without putting in anything more than the bass guitar to replace it, then they never bring it back. It could have been an amazing sucker punch, on par with “Can’t Play Dead” as a 10/10 opening track, but as-is it’s more of a disappointing slap.

“Do I Have To Talk You Into It” is what I call a groove-walk song, in that it sounds like the song the cool badass guy would be introduced with in a John Hughes movie - everything’s about the strut (think “Stayin’ Alive” from Saturday Night Fever). Instrumentally I love it, but this is actually an instance where I think Britt falls behind in the vocal department, a feeling I don’t think I’ve ever felt before. The verses check out, but again the chorus falters, with a vocal melody that sounds a lot more juvenile than I think what they were going for. Oh and don’t worry; despite the title, this isn’t actually creepy in a way like “Blurred Lines”.

“First Caress” is the most unabashedly dance Spoon has ever gotten, and it mostly works really well. The big thing here is that it never really goes anywhere. The verse is great, the chorus builds on it, but there isn’t a payoff. I might be too ingrained in the Foals school of writing songs (especially from Total Life Forever), but to me, this is a song that could have had one hell of a climax, but just... didn’t. I can appreciate them wanting to make it a shorter song clocking in at 2:49, so perhaps a 5 minute climaxing song wouldn’t be for the best, but I still think they could have made it an even 3:00 and done something more.

“Pink Up” is a pseudo-instrumental that introduces a lot of themes “Us” later plays with, and is a nice atmospheric sort of track in the style of “The Ghost of You Lingers” (from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), minus the staccato keys that were the focus of that track. Seeing as Spoon is a band that doesn’t write ballads, this takes the place of a ballad in the album structure. This sort of a song is a staple of dance-rock records in the style of Arcade Fire or Primal Scream, and in that regard it’s very well done, feeling like the end to the A side of a vinyl record (which it probably is - I don’t know where it cuts on the vinyl release). The reversed vocals near the end are extremely unsettling, but otherwise it’s a great song to groove out to. I do think it’s a bit lazy to have both instrumentals be so melodically similar, however. As a general Spoon song, it’s sort of out of place, but since this is their electronic/dance record, I’ll allow it.

“I Ain’t the One” is so close to being a ballad it’s almost a little scary, since I like the fact Spoon just doesn’t do ballads. It’s followed by “Tear It Down”, and the two together sound the least weird, which is a nice reprieve. In anyone else’s hands, this might be regular ballad fluff, but here with a drum machine and a very nicely distorted Rhodes, it’s a nice way for Britt to be more vulnerable than what we usually get. Between this and “Tear It Down”, this record briefly becomes a standard pop-rock thing, and it’s actually really nice. Not at all what I expect from Spoon, but perhaps a nice way to show someone Spoon without getting too weird. Definitely a little corner of this record that I warmed up to.

Now, there’s only one song left to talk about, and I’m going to have to get a little ugly. The song’s called “Shotgun” and it is the single worst song from Spoon that I have ever heard. There is a caveat: I haven’t listened to their debut album, which is apparently pretty garbage, but going strictly off the rest of their stuff (which is all good), this is the worst. I know what they were trying to do: the upbeat, hectic dance track that sounds a lot like “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones that most any dance record seems to require. I’ve seen it done really well, but for whatever reason, Spoon just did not do a good job. They did other dance-rock staples pretty well, so perhaps they felt like this was a box to check off their list (which is a terrible practice in my opinion), but this song just should not have been released, not like this.

It’s incessantly repetitive, never goes anywhere, and is frankly nonsensical. It opens like “I Was Made For Lovin You” by KISS, which really should be enough of a red flag. There is some cool synth breakdown stuff that shows up a couple minutes in, and I wish they focused more on that than the extremely old-sounding rhythm section thing they went with. It’s a blemish, but one that isn’t so severe as to seriously affect any of my other opinions.

One criticism I’ve heard a few times about Hot Thoughts is that it sounds like a transition record, as if Spoon wanted to go in a direction but didn’t quite get there. I adamantly disagree. I don’t see Spoon becoming a fully electronic band, so making this a dance-rock record rather than a full dance record, to me, is committing. Sure there are a couple songs that are a bit more like older Spoon, but that’s fine. Screamadelica was the album where Primal Scream merged alt rock with house music, and the songs on that record go all the way from just alt rock to just house. Hot Thoughts does something similar, with “Tear It Down” being on one end of the scale, and “Pink Up” being on the other. They hit most of the same beats I’d expect from a dance-rock record, so it all checks out to me.

If anything, that’s one of my biggest criticisms, that the record seems to be checking boxes a little too much, which I mentioned previously. As much as I get on Spoon’s case concerning song order, at least they keep things a bit surprising. Having said that, song order is much better this time around, with my only complaint being that “WhisperI’lllistentohearit” and “Hot Thoughts” should be swapped. Otherwise, I’m actually really impressed in that regard.

I also think a few of the songs could have used another month or so to tweak the arrangements, even just the band jamming out to it and coming up with a few more little ideas. Other than “Shotgun”, all the songs could have been amazing, they all have that potential. I’m sure in a month or two I’ll have warmed up to some of them even more, but I don’t think I’ll ever see this as a record of perfect successes.

I want to preface a score with the ratings I would give to other Spoon records, just to give you a relative idea. Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and They Want My Soul are all 8’s from me, with each excelling in a different way to the others, but none of them being as consistently excellent as something like Foals’ Holy Fire, which is a 9. I don’t think Hot Thoughts is as good a record as any of those. I do however think it’s better than Transference (which is a controversial statement among Spoon fans), which I give a very shaky 6. I guess that makes Hot Thoughts a 7, which seems to be my rating for every review I do, and while I don’t see that improving with time, it could improve to a 7.5 if I did half points (which I don’t).

I think that about wraps it up. This one’s really long for an album review from me, but I had a lot of thoughts (hot ones perhaps?). I could have made this an episode of my podcast, but I didn’t want to do Spoon again so soon, and I wanted to get something out before too much time had passed since the album’s release. I think a few weeks hits the sweet spot between the took-way-too-long-to-come-out piece I wrote about Hurt and the Merciless and the too-soon-to-get-cozy-with-it piece I wrote about What Went Down. Let me know what you think.

I also tried a lot fewer jokes, and you’re welcome for that.

Cheers

#spoon #hot thoughts #music #music article

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timeinthemarket · 5 years ago

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We recently took a nice relaxing trip to Atlanta. It was our anniversary! YAY, we made it to year 1, the big ONE, the greatest anniversary yet! Naturally, we chose the most romantic place in the world; Atlanta, Georgia. We wanted to get away for a bit, eat good food at the best restaurants in Atlanta, explore and relax.

Why Atlanta? Well, the flights were cheap and direct and you can’t beat that. On top of that, there’s some cool places to visit and we always like checking out new cities. Plus, any place can be as romantic as you make it!

Beyond that, the food scene in Atlanta is pretty good. I’m a big food guy and I often plan my trips around hipster restaurant joints and this one was no different.

It was a 5 night trip and I had reservations for four of those nights. I figured five days of fancy food was a bit much. Clearly, four was just the right amount. However, every other evening was filled with four elegant restaurants. We planned to dress up, have some fancy food and gaze longingly into each other’s eyes while we chewed our food. ROMANCE!

Since it was our anniversary, I also said as such with every reservation. It was basically “HEY ITS OUR ANNIVERSARY, CELEBRATE US AND MAYBE GIVE US FREE STUFF?”

I didn’t concern myself with prices too much. After all, I save to be able to live well and part of that for me is spending money on good food.

The reality is that while I might spend a lot here, often after these trips where we eat, eat and eat, I’m tired of eating out. That means we save money later by not going out the next few weeks when we get back. It all works out in the end! In either case, it was our anniversary week so definitely time to splurge and try new stuff.

For me, dining is a process that starts weeks in advance. I scour the James Beard award winners, look at menus, read reviews and eventually book stuff. Food is pretty much a hobby for me and I love reading about it so the process is very enjoyable. The reason I start so early is that a lot of these high end places in cities book up very early especially on weekends. Hell, some of them require you to pre-pay these days.

After all that research, I narrowed it down to four places. One of these was as mentioned above and required booking and paying in advance via tock, a common thing these days at high end restaurants.

What an outrage! I guess it does help them plan their menus and reduces late cancellations. The others were pay after you eat but some had cancellation fees if you cancelled without a 48hr notice. The dangers of high end eating at fancy restaurants!

I was excited to eat a bunch of food and also see what kind of difference dining on your anniversary would make. After all, it was my first one ever so I didn’t know what to expect. I’m not one for fanfare(I never say it’s my birthday when dining) BUT clearly the big first anniversary is a time to change that.

We went, we ate and now here I am telling you about these places in case you want to check them out. Beyond a food, Atlanta was actually a really cool city but that’s a topic for another time. This one’s all about the food!

Thee places below are four of the best restaurants in Atlanta. I was actually quite surprised by how many interesting food places the city had and I’m sure a few great ones didn’t make the list. After all, we were only there 5 nights so it was impossible to fit everything into our trip. There’s only so many dinners we can eat!

However, we arrived in Atlanta eager to eat and eager to have some fun in the city.

Dinner #1 – Bacchanalia

We arrived on a Tuesday, hit up the Trader Joe’s then checked into our AirBnB before heading out for dinner.

Bacchanalia is a staple of the Atlanta food scene. They’ve been around since 1993 in various locations. Their latest iteration is a large hip space in an industrial park-ish area. The restaurant is adjacent to star provisions, a meat and cheese store that has the same owners.

The space is large and wide open with hanging light bulbs and exposed duct work. It’s that type of hipster chic that’s super common in a lot of newer restaurants these days. If that wasn’t enough, they also had a bunch of rope separating seating areas which really made the hipster inside you nod in approval.

Just by the design, you can tell that the location is relatively new. For some reason, they chose weird metal seats that really gave your back a good workout with the digging they did. I let my wife sit on the leather seat which had it’s own problem as the heavy table had to be pulled out if she wanted to go pee. Life can be tough.

Bacchanalia is a four course menu situation with around six choices per course. There’s an appetizer, an entree, a cheese course and then the dessert. There’s also a bunch of expensive supplements you can take.

For example, you can have caviar service for $140 or replace your entree with A5(the highest of As) Wagyu for a $35 supplement. The four courses themselves cost $95/pp before any additions or drinks.

The food itself was quite good. It started with two small amuse-bouches, a cheese filled puff pastry and a cracker with some squash pate. I’m always a big fan of surprise courses and Bacchanalia didn’t disappoint there. After my beef tartare appetizer(pictured below), the server brought two bowls to accompany the entree. In the meantime, I had some bites of my wife’s crab fritter which was quite good. In the bowls were a lightly pickled cucumber salad and some sauteed turnips.

Mmm, meat and hey, all right, free stuff!

We both had the dry aged NY strip which was perfectly cooked.

However, I found the cheese course a bit weird. Maybe it’s just me but I think it’d fit better before and not after the entree. Beyond that the burrata didn’t really pair well with the dry oats but I did enjoy the scuppernong. That sounds like some video game monster but apparently, they’re a type of grape more common in the south. They’re also the state fruit of North Carolina. We’re learning stuff about food guys and gals!

They must have been in season because we saw them at a lot of restaurants during our week here. They had a sweet scent and a nice taste so I wasn’t complaining.

Speaking of those bad boys, after our cheese course was done, we got a cute little jar filled with scuppernong juice to get us ready for dessert. It’s a fun word to say, scuppernong!

We both went with the chocolate for dessert. It was one of those melt in your mouth flour-less chocolate cakes that I absolutely adore. I typically eat KETO but that went out the window a little bit this week as I experienced all that Atlanta had to offer(many carbs).

The only negative was that it came with a lavender chocolate gelato. Eww, flower flavors. The gelato would have been much better without the lavender. I am not a fan of flower flavors in my foods but at least it wasn’t overly strong.

Beyond that, since it was our anniversary, the server brought us a little plate of stacked cupcakes with a candle to celebrate. It was a nice little gesture and we hoped a sign of things to come. FREE STUFF!

The meal ended with a small plate of petit fours, in this case, chocolates to share. Before we left, the person at the front desk also asked us if we wanted some fresh bread for later which we took.

Service was excellent. The staff was welcoming, fast and responsive. Our waitress was great at explaining everything and the food came out at a good clip. On top of that, the bathroom had cool wallpaper of farm animals so that’s a huge plus.

Cows

Sheep

Pigs

Overall, Bacchanalia really hit the spot as the first stop in our tour of the best restaurants in Atlanta. After eating here on day 1, I was eagerly waiting to see what else Atlanta had to offer.

8/10

Dinner #2 – Spring

Spring in Marietta was dinner on Day 2 of our Atlanta trip. I’m not exactly sure if Marietta is part of Atlanta or a separate town but it’s on the list either way. We’re throwing geography out the window here!

Marietta is a good little day trip from Atlanta either way. It’s not too far and Marietta Square and the area that surrounds it has some nice stores, eateries and parks to visit plus it’s very walk-able. Plus, it’s got sloths for some reason. Sloths are cool. Stay slothsome gang!

We made our way here after doing some escape rooms at The Battery(Atlanta Braves stadium area). A plus was that it had decent and free after 5 P.M. parking(it was a weekday though). I’m super keen on free parking anywhere I go!

Spring is this tiny little place right off of Marietta Square. It’s got a bit of an awkward entrance in the back of a building by some train tracks and all that guides you is this little sign that’s easy to miss.

Saying it’s by some train tracks makes it sound creepy but it really isn’t, it’s just an odd entrance. It’s not like you’re gonna have to fight off train monsters and avoid getting mugged while you get there.

The place is small, maybe just north of a dozen tables in one long room. It was empty when we arrived and got seated. We are 35 going on 65 so we like to eat around 5:30 so that wasn’t a surprise. However, the place filled up pretty quickly as the evening wore on.

The service is simple as is the decor making the food the star of the show and it sure was.

Spring was one of the best meals we had in recent memory. It’s a simple and small menu with four starters, four entrees and four desserts.

My tuna crudo was a treat and my wife’s apple endive salad was a good mix of bitter and sweet flavors. My crudo looked so pretty and the fish was very fresh!

The dry aged ribeye was nothing short of amazing, seasoned to perfection with a good accompaniment of various vegetables. The only negative was that the braised short rib that came with was a bit too fatty for my taste.

On the dessert side, my wife’s gianduja custard(chocolate and hazelnut stuff) was great but it would have been better without the cherries hidden within.

And then came my dessert. Simply put, it was glorious. The best sweet thing I’ve eaten in quite some time. I’m not a sweets guy but my panna cotta was the perfect mix of flavors. There was a light sweetness with a hint of vanilla combined with the tartness of the citrus fruit that came with it.

It was heavenly, I want more of it. I’d go back to Atlanta just to eat it again. The cute little candle they added to our bowl was a nice touch for our anniversary celebration. They also comped one of our desserts as well.

FREE STUFF PART DEUX!

Service was good, not over bearing and the food was just a treat.

9/10

Dinner #3 – Staplehouse

Staplehouse’s claim to fame is being named best new restaurant in America by bon appetite magazine in 2016. The story behind the place is sad as it starts with the owners husband passing away from gallbladder cancer as they were planning to open Staplehouse.

However, it speaks to the power of community support and the good that can come from tragedy. The people who run Staplehouse donate all of their profits after payroll and taxes to The Giving Kitchen, a non for profit the owners started after the diagnosis.

You need to reserve via Tock to eat here and that requires full payment in advance. That’s $105 + taxes + gratuity which means a dinner for two here will run you $280 before drinks.

Staplehouse is a tasting menu situation. That means there’s no picking or choosing what you want to eat. You just get several dishes in small portions and eat them as they come. It’s a great thing for people who are into food but not great for those who are picky eaters. In the case of Staplehouse, they don’t even give you a menu at the start so you don’t really know what’s coming.

The whole affair is about two hours with a dozen or so plates to try. I’m a big fan of this type of menu format as you get to try a lot of things that you wouldn’t normally eat. My wife is less excited about it as she finds some of the weirder stuff gross.

The food comes at a good clip without and the wait staff does a good job of describing the food and answering any questions.

After all, there’s no menu at the start so you want to know what you’re eating! The plates start off small with small bites like the first one where the highlight was the corn puree cannoli with roe then switch to small appetizers like a tasty ribeye beef tartare.

The standout in the middle was actually a squash dish with wonderful flavor and the added crunch of some roasted quinoa.

It looks kind of sloppy but it was quite good.

The plates start to get bigger as we proceeded to a wonderful sablefish with mushrooms. This is more of an entree sized portion which is then followed with a very pretty chicken liver tart. I found the flavor too strong though and my wife thought it tasted disgusting. She did enjoy Grandma Lillian’s potato bread(a family recipe) that came after.

Sablefish

Liver Tart

Grandmas Bread

The final course before dessert was an aged duck which was bursting with flavor. If the meal ended there, it would have been quite great but the dessert had some issues.

It started with a kombucha as a plate cleanser then was followed by a very disappointing slice of cake paired with buttermilk ice cream. The ice cream was fine but the cake’s mix of muscandine grapes and sunflower was a real miss. The flavors didn’t pair well and the texture was too dry on one end and too soft on the other. I just don’t see sunflower a dessert flavor and that was the case here in a big way. My wife who has a big sweet tooth didn’t even finish off that course.

It was disappointing but at least the tiny scuppernong(welcome back friend!) jelly and miso chocolate we received to end the meal were delicious.

Disappointing Sunflower Dessert

Jellies and Chocolates!

Overall, Staplehouse was an uneven meal. Most courses were delicious but some were downright bad and given the price point, that’s a bit of a downer. I’d still do it again because the highs were greater than the lows. The squash dish was as good as squash can taste and the sablefish might have been some of the best fish I’ve had. Plus, since the menu changes often(monthly for big changes and nightly for small changes), the lows might not stick around that long. However, I do think that the liver tart is a staple so uhh, I guess that’s good for liver lovers?

My wife, the picky eater, liked most of the dishes as well. The liver tart was particularly hated and she didn’t find the beef tartare particularly amazing.

Service was good and the food was delivered at a good pace.

As a nice little keepsake, they gave us a tiny little notebook with happy anniversary on it before we left. It came with a cute little pencil too.

How nice of them but I think I’d have liked a better dessert instead.

7.5/10

Dinner #4 – Lazy Betty

Lazy Betty was our last meal on our last night in Atlanta. Like Staplehouse, Lazy Betty offers a tasting menu. However, here you can choose between a 7 course menu in the dining room or a 10 course menu at the chef’s counter.

We went with ten course menu which has you sitting right in front of the kitchen where the chef’s cook. It’s a cool experience and well worth the high price of admission if you’re at all interested in seeing how a restaurant runs. At $165/pp, it’s one of the more expensive dinners in Atlanta but I had high hopes given the pedigree of the chefs and reviews I’ve read.

Dinner at the chef’s counter runs about 2-2.5 hrs and includes a good amount of interaction with the chefs. They bring out each course personally, explain it to you and see if you have any questions. The head chef came by a few times too to chat and ask us how things are going.

I will say that being a picky eater is hard at this place since the chefs can look at you as you eat. My wife felt embarrassed to pass off the one or two dishes she disliked to me with the person who made it standing right there.

The meal started with three small bites, salmon, duck and a little cup of roe; all quite good.

My wife actually liked most of the food here. However, the two dishes my wife she did dislike came early on.

First was the cucumber cannelloni filled with horseradish. I loved it but the horseradish was strong and my wife doesn’t handle that type of flavor well. It was definitely a dish that spoke to my Polish roots with the variety of slavic flavors. After that we had the cauliflower “bone marrow”. That succeeded at looking a bit like it’s namesake and had a mild but appealing flavor.

My wife’s next secretive pass off was the foie gras that looked pretty but wasn’t overly pleasing in flavor or texture. The pastry that the foie was encased in didn’t have the right texture and just came off as chewy.

Bursting with horseradish flavor

Bone marrow-ish

Foie gras – wife wasn’t a fan

My wife had no issues with the rest of the meal nor did I. The crab in a dashi soup was tasty and the charred Spanish octopus was cooked perfectly. My wife even ate her octopus and crab. That’s a surprise as she is not a big seafood person at all.

I will say that neither of these dishes wowed me but they were solid nonetheless.

The dukkah crusted lamb was the highlight of the meal. It included three types of lamb on two separate plates. The waiters made a big show of lifting the top plate with the weird indentation and revealing the bottom plate which had more meat! Apparently, they had the plates made specially for that dish and it took months to figure out the design. I guess it was impressive. I don’t know.

The lamb loin came with a lamb ragu and a lamb rib. All three were absolutely fantastic and made me want more as the portion was very tiny. The flavor, cook and spices were on point.

Dessert was excellent as well. The plum sorbet with ginger crumb and pomegranate foam was a good start. The foam actually had a lot of flavor which was nice to see as sometimes these foam dishes are just putting on airs.

Afterwards, our big happy anniversary plates of Bavarian with white chocolate and apple sorbet arrived. The apple sorbet was downright amazing, just full of green apple flavor. As a white chocolate fan, I also quite enjoyed the other parts of the dessert. The presentation was just as pretty as the taste and the whole thing was a perfect end to a good meal. My wife loved this dessert as well.

It wasn’t quite as good as the dessert as Spring but not much can match that.

Before we let, we got another little plate; first was another scuppernong jelly alongside a white chocolate ball and a peach macaron.

No free stuff here though. How dare they not celebrate our amazing union!

Overall, Lazy Betty was a very good and consistent meal. The highs were just as good as Staplehouse if not better and the lows were much less frequent. I’d only count one dish(the foie gras) as a miss. That’s a pretty good hit rate when you’re looking at a ten course menu. The lamb was great and the desserts really ended the meal on a high note.

Service was good and sitting at the chef’s counter gave me a good view at what was going on in the kitchen. It was nice to have the chef right there to ask any questions but it was also weird to have them there in case something sucked. The counter itself was also a bit high for the chairs. Hell, even my tall ass felt like I was a kid sitting at an adult’s table. It’s like they’re forcing you to be polite and remove your elbows from the table. Still, I quite enjoyed the meal.

It’s expensive but quite good.

8.5/10

The Best Restaurants in Atlanta

It’s SPRING. Crown it; the best restaurant in Atlanta. I’ve made the decision and I matter!

In all seriousness, Atlanta has a lot of good food. I only spent five days there but had four fantastic meals. However, I’m sure I missed out on a lot of places that are deserving to be on a list like this. A man who visits can only eat so much!

I was most excited about Staplehouse. However, it turned out to the worst dinner I had in Atlanta. I say worst in the best possible terms. It was still a good meal but it missed in a few spots. Perhaps that speaks to the quality of the food that’s currently on offer in Atlanta.

I’d highly recommend all four of these places. All four should be in the conversation for the best restaurant in Atlanta. I missed a lot though, I am sure of that.

These are just four of the places that stood out to me when I was doing my research. There were a ton of others that fell of the list for one reason or another. However, I still left the city very happy with the food I ate there.

Spring was definitely the best meal as shown by the rating. It was also the cheapest too so that’s a double bonus. The food was simple, straight forward and delicious.

However, if I lived in Atlanta or if I ever visit again, I’d happily visit all four of these places in a heartbeat. The food was across the board delicious. I rarely see Atlanta on any of the lists for best foodie places in America. However, after eating at these four places, I think that’s a mistake. I’m sure that will change quickly as more and more people eat at these four great places and all the other places I missed out.

For all you Atlantans(is that the right term); let me know what other places are a must try. I’m sure I’ll make my way there again sometime.

Four Anniversary Dinners at The Best Restaurants in Atlanta We recently took a nice relaxing trip to Atlanta. It was our anniversary! YAY, we made it to year 1, the big ONE, the greatest anniversary yet!

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foodmeupscotty · 7 years ago

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The plethora of talented chefs hitting our shores is quite amazing.

And it seems as if the minimum requirement to open a ‘hot’ new restaurant in Hong Kong is a chef with an impeccable pedigree and an eye for detail. Instagram ready food that’s crowd-pleasing is a must, along with an atmosphere that is hip, buzzy and oh-so-very-cool.

I’d spied some glorious food photos of a hot new restaurant on Insta a little while ago, the earthy name Beet catching my eye as well. But it was only after seeing the pedigree of Chef Barry Quek that Beet hit my list of ‘must try’ dining spots. I mean, a stint in Worlds50Best restaurant Attica from Australia, as well as time in perennial favourite of mine, Joel Robuchon; and I was totally sold.

We were catching up with usual dining buddies Alex and Aaron; it had been ages since our last outing due to travel and Christmas, and we wanted to share some BIG news (more on that another day) with them, so hitting an uber cool spot seemed…… right.

I was the first of our quartet to arrive and Beet was pretty much empty; which gave me some time to take in the feel of the dining room. All the hallmarks of contemporary fine diners were apparent – informal but cool dining, open kitchen with chefs on view and not a tablecloth on site. I also noticed that each of the placemats had a stem of wheat, which perplexed me until I figured out that it was their way of tracking who’d ordered drinks.

Once we’d all arrived and had our drinks orders under control; I casually set the scene and blasted our dining companions with our BIG news (got you wondering, right?) and they were gobsmacked….. And it meant that we were quite distracted for a while, which I think frustrated our waiters as we took ages to order.

There were numerous options on the menu, a la carte of course, but also two tasting menu options – of which we went the most expensive but still incredibly reasonably priced (by HK standards); five courses for $850.

Things happened pretty quickly once we’d ordered and a trio of small bites flew out of the kitchen; starting off with a ceviche of snapper mixed with apple on a light sweet rice cracker. There was a strong bite of the citrus that the fish had ‘cooked’ but balanced by a sweet aftertaste from the apple and cracker.

The chicken liver parfait with crispy chicken skin and grape was a big hit with the table; presented on a slice of log, the creamy parfait was sweet and delicious. The parfait was sitting on a crumbly biscuit that offset the creaminess of the key ingredient, crunch chicken skin further adding texture to the palate.

Last was the gougeres (French cheese puffs), which didn’t look amazing on the plate but were warm balls of love; the gooey soft cheese inside the choux pastry had a subtle bite and the shredded cheese on top just added to the overall sweet/savoury hit of the small bite.

Amuse Bouche done, the first course of the tasting menu quickly followed; the Geoduck was a dish which was universally (well, at least at our table) criticised. We all thought that the dish looked lovely, the vivid green colours contrasting against the simplicity of the white bowl. But we felt that the main ingredient overpowered the dish, was a little too fishy and was missing some seasoning. I quite liked the soupy whey that made up the base of the dish and the edamame was nice, but the slightly chewy geoduck (a big clam) didn’t hit the mark for me.

It was the only (food) miss of the night.

Up next was the bread course. Yep, you read that right, Beet considers bread a course (as part of the 5-course tasting menu anyway). Now, I think the fresh, warm and crusty bread was wonderful; in particular, when paired with the smear of room temperature salted butter that accompanied it. We all raved about that bread and butter (which was replaced once consumed), but to be honest, a course? Really?

Sigh.

Anyway, back to reality, and our next (real) course was the Hokkaido Scallops, served with grilled corn, spring onions and a wonderful creamy foam. There was a light caramelisation to the scallops, which were large but fairly thin, and the sweetness of the scallop worked well when contrasted against the slightly crunchy corn. I couldn’t quite place the foam, but it had a lovely earthy quality to it that enhanced the flavour of the scallops and made me want to lick the bowl clean.

There was no let up on the pace of food delivery, and shortly after the scallops were consumed, our Black Label Wagyu was placed. We were never asked how we wanted our steaks prepared, a bold move by the restaurant; but thankfully, we all really loved the medium rare beef that had bags of flavour from the veins of fat that were prevalent in the beef. There is something quite delicious about that sweet fatty taste of great wagyu…. We all really loved the quenelle of onion jam that accompanied the beef, and the leek hearts provided a little bit of astringency to counteract the fattiness of the beef.

A super dish!

Dessert was a total winner, and to be honest was probably my favourite part of the meal. Hay Ice Cream was served in a bowl with macerated strawberries and a hint of basil ‘soup’ underneath. Crunchy texture came from toasted grains, which were lovely against the super creamy ice cream that had a warming flavour of hay (hard to describe the taste). However, the dessert really elevated once the strawberries were mixed with the ice cream, totally yummo.

The meal finished with an aniseed tea (ignored by myself – yuck, aniseed) and a little square jam filled ‘cake’ that was scrumptious.

We were basking in the glow of a very decent meal (especially when considering the price) when we were politely but firmly asked to pay the bill and vacate the table for the next sitting.

Now, this was a bit of a buzz kill, primarily because at no stage during the booking process, being seated or during the meal, were we advised that we would need to leave by a certain time. Let me be clear, I have zero issue with this practice when advised, but it’s not cool to find out minutes before the table is to be re-used…

Anyhow, the minor quibble of the geoduck and being asked to move on aside; we really enjoyed our meal at Beet, there was a slight Nordic feel to the cuisine, which is obviously very ‘now’. I enjoyed watching the kitchen throughout the meal and we found the service to be really friendly during service.

I tell you, Beet will be a place that I’ll be going back to. You should get along and check it out yourself, but just check what time you need to give back your table…

https://www.beetrestaurant.com

@FoodMeUpScotty

There is a lot to like about new restaurant, Beet; earthy and raw and tasty! The plethora of talented chefs hitting our shores is quite amazing. And it seems as if the minimum requirement to open a 'hot' new restaurant in Hong Kong is a chef with an impeccable pedigree and an eye for detail.

#Award Winning #Central #Fine Dining #New #New Casual #Nordic

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thedeadshotnetwork · 7 years ago

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A Week In New York City On A $40,000 Salary Welcome to Money Diaries , where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar. Have a money diary you'd like to share? Right now, in addition to our ongoing diaries, we're looking for potential diarists along the following theme: Your Spending In Your State: Starting in January, we want to run one Money Diary from a different state each day. Want to rep your state? Submit here ! This week: We're looking at Money Diaries during the (often expensive) holiday season to see how people save up — and spend. Today, for the last entry of our holiday MDs: a film distributor who makes $40,000 per year. She spends some of her money on mini-chocolate champagne bottles. Occupation: Film Distributor Industry: Film Age: 26 Location: New York, NY Salary: $40,000 Paycheck (Once Per Week): $598.07 Monthly Expenses Housing: $550. I live in a family-owned apartment. My roommate and I each pay my parents $550 per month to cover the taxes, fees, and utilities my parents pay on the apartment. Loan Payments: $0 All Other Monthly Expenses Gym: $10.45 MoviePass: $9.95 Spotify: $9.99 Health Insurance: $179 Hulu Netflix: $0. I use my parents' accounts. Cable Internet, Water Electricity: $0. Included in $550 rent payment. Day One 10:30 a.m. — I get out of bed after my Emergency Don't-Sleep-Later-Than-This alarm goes off, and am uncharacteristically energetic. I slip on jeans and a t-shirt, eat a hard-boiled egg, make a pot of coffee for my thermos, brush my teeth, and head out the door. Trader Joe's is packed, even though it's before noon on a Sunday. Last night, I babysat with my best friend and she told me about a “cleanse” she recently started. The dietary restrictions and required discipline seemed too farfetched for me, but my biggest takeaway was to try cutting my sugar intake. She says that doing so has worked wonders for her skin and energy levels. I normally spend $30-35 per week on groceries, but spend a bit more today. I buy Stevia packets, avocados, green peppers, bananas, Greek yogurt, spinach, three pre-packed salads, frozen chicken breasts, chicken sausage, brie, two boxes of pasta, and frozen berries. $53.37 1 p.m. — I take the subway (my company pays for my monthly MetroCard) to the Upper East Side to meet a college friend for bagels at H H. I spring for lox and we catch up for a while before walking a few blocks north to see Coco ! I have a MoviePass subscription so my ticket (normally $15) is “free”! We laugh, we cry, we leave, and it's dark out because winter is coming. $11.92 4:45 p.m. — Hop on the downtown subway and instead of going home, walk into DSW. I have $140 of babysitting cash burning a hole in my wallet, and I need a new pair of boots. I spend nearly an hour perusing, but nothing speaks to me, so I leave empty-handed and walk home. I get home and am craving something sweet, so I have a few too many pretzel M Ms. Cutting down on sugar is going really well. 8:30 p.m. — After a few hours of catching up with my roommate, watching last night's episode of Saturday Night Live on Hulu, and journaling, I finally find myself a little hungry. I make organic tomato and roasted red pepper soup! (A.k.a., I heat up Trader Joe's soup on the stove.) Daily Total: $65.29 Day Two 7:25 a.m. — I reluctantly roll out of bed after hitting snooze once and get in the shower. After, I pick my outfit for the day and put my Trader Joe's salad in my bag for lunch. I also remove a frozen chicken breast from the freezer to defrost. I'm not very hungry yet, so I consider waiting to eat breakfast until I get to work. After making a cup of green tea, chatting with the roommate after she returns from yoga (and sharing which T. Swift song is stuck in our heads — “Delicate” in mine, “Gorgeous” in hers), I get dressed and leave my apartment to take the subway into Brooklyn for work. 9:35 a.m. — I arrive, slap on a smile, make a cup of coffee from the Keurig, and raid the snack cabinet for a rice cake. I add peanut butter and honey on top. For the next few hours, I answer various emails, read a lot of tweets, and watch the number of “Articles You Have Left This Month” on The New York Times ' website go down. 1:30 p.m. — Lunch time! I work above a food court, so I take my salad and a book downstairs to the big dining area, and use my full hour to eat, read, and scroll through Instagram. 6:01 p.m. — I am OUTTA there! I'm a firm believer in leaving work when you have no more work to do, so I'm saved by the 6 o'clock bell! I take the subway home, rocking out to a Christmas playlist I made in high school, and taking a detour at the Trader Joe's wine shop. Sometimes there is a line out the door to just get in, but fortunately it's pretty quiet. I grab two bottles of pinot noir because it's Monday — and hey, maybe I'll bring one to a holiday party! (Or not.) I walk home, feeling grateful the day's over. $12.50 8:30 p.m. — Finally feeling hungry, I make chicken, green peppers, and penne after briefly catching up with my roommate before she goes to a concert. I, on the other hand, have been parked on the couch in front of E! News since I got home. 9:30 p.m. — I'm two glasses of wine in, mindlessly swiping through Bumble (I'm newly single), and watching the hilarious Search Party . I'm also scrolling through Twitter (being a millennial is all about multitasking, isn't it?) and reading about the president's endorsement of a child molester for Alabama senator. Furious, I make a donation to Doug Jones' campaign before going to bed. $10 Daily Total: $22.50 Day Three 7:30 a.m. — Getting out of bed is so hard today. It didn't help that I was in the middle of a stress dream when my alarm went off, so I start my day in a weird mood. I hop into the shower, get out, chat with my roommate (she is the absolute best and we love each other very much!), and she leaves early so she can walk to work. I'm not very hungry, so I make a bowl of Greek yogurt with granola and a little honey before I leave. 9:40 a.m. — I get to work a few minutes late and immediately make a coffee from the Keurig. Perhaps the yogurt wasn't as filling as I thought, because the coffee goes right through me and I am jittery AF. The most exciting email I receive is an invite to go into my boss' office to pick a name for Secret Santa. I'm excited that I pick out the name of a girl I know fairly well! I brainstorm what to buy for her, feeling grateful for the $20 limit. 1:30 p.m. — A new employee joins me for lunch, and we go downstairs with our lunches from home. I have a different Trader Joe's salad today that is purely vegetables and I am nervous, but it ends up being pretty tasty and very filling! Maybe what they say about vegetables is true — that you should, like, eat them. 5:55 p.m. — My to-do list has shrunk, and I'm really excited about my evening plans. I leave the office and take the subway to the Greenwich Village. I have a major pizza craving, so I stop into Joe's Pizza but it's cash only. Double ugh: I left my wad of babysitting cash on my bedside table. I withdraw $20 (with a $2.75 fee) from the ATM outside of Joe's, and eat the most delicious slice of cheese pizza ($3) I've had in a long time. $5.75 6:50 p.m. — I walk two blocks through the rain to meet my friend at a cool Belgian beer bar. We haven't seen each other in a few weeks, so after I order a beer (she's been there for a few minutes and already has one) we quickly catch up, commiserate about work, and brainstorm festive Christmas-y things to do together. At 7:30, we realize we're running late to our big event, so we ask for the check and split the bill. I insist on paying for half of “her” fries because I definitely ate half of them. $13 8:15 p.m. — We wait outside in the pouring rain for 30 minutes before finally being let into the movie theatre to see World of Tomorrow 2 , a short film by one of our favorite filmmakers! We are surrounded by fellow film nerds and it is glorious, and the Q A with the filmmaker is an added bonus. Well worth the $15 I spent on the ticket I ordered two weeks ago. After the movie, we split ways and I take the subway home, chat with my roommate, and get ready for bed. Daily Total: $18.75 Day Four 7 a.m. — I'm up earlier than usual today because I have a pre-work coffee meeting at 8. I roll out of bed, change into appropriate attire, and eat a banana. Somehow this takes me 55 minutes, and I realize I'm going to be a few minutes late. So, I power walk up the street to the café where I'm meeting someone for the first time in two years; he messaged me on LinkedIn last week asking to catch up. Networking is so awkward, but it's vital in my industry. 8:15 a.m. — He is running a few minutes late, so I buy myself a coffee to end the awkward stare down I'm getting from the barista. $2.75 9:15 a.m. — The meeting goes really well! He basically tried to offer me a job interview, which was flattering. I would have liked to stay longer but I'm running quite late to work, so I head out and take the subway into Brooklyn. Once I get to the office, I resist taking a free doughnut from one of the FOUR boxes on the kitchen table, and opt to make a rice cake with peanut butter and honey. 1:30 p.m. — I'm borderline hangry after a company-wide “Investing 101” meeting. I eat lunch by myself today, and it's my last Trader Joe's salad of the week. I take my full hour, then come back upstairs with just a few emails to answer. I make a cup of tea in the office kitchen, and get back to work, which consists of emailing a few people and FedExing a couple Blu-rays. 6 p.m. — The workday is done! I take the subway into Manhattan and walk through Washington Square Park to watch the Christmas tree lighting. About 200 people are crowded around the giant tree, singing carols along with a brass band. I stay for about 10 minutes, reveling in holiday cheer, before walking to a bookstore on a mission to buy a Secret Santa gift. I spend 45 minutes wandering the aisles, and end up getting a 2018 planner for myself and a mug for my Secret Santa. $33.86 7:45 p.m. — I walk home and heat up leftover chicken from two nights ago. My roommate comes home from yoga a little after 8, and we catch up and watch Elf together while I paint my nails. Daily Total: $36.61 Day Five 6:30 a.m. — I try to go to the gym before work at least once a week, and today's the day. Out the door at 6:45, I walk to the gym and spend about 45 minutes there. I walk home, say hey to my roommate who has the day off, and hop in the shower. 8:30 a.m. — I am running ahead of schedule for the first time since my first week at my job six months ago. I use that extra time to make a smoothie with soy milk, nonfat Greek yogurt, half an avocado, spinach, and a frozen berry medley. After one sip, I confirm that I am a smoothie genius. I take it to-go, and head to the subway. On my commute, I listen to a “Before a Difficult Conversation” meditation tape. 10:15 a.m. — I've been at work for 35 minutes, and it's time to do something I've been planning for months. I quit my job. Well, I put in my two weeks notice. But yes, I quit my first ever full-time job with (minimal) benefits and a steady salary. It is terrifying and I may have cried a little, but I am so relieved when it's over. I've freelanced in the film industry for the past four years, and while the salary ranges from $10,000-$20,000 per year, my happiness pursuing my various passions fulfills me beyond belief. I text approximately a million friends and receive a wave of congratulatory messages. I absolutely do not need coffee, because between working out this morning and quitting my job, I am feeling energetic AF. Eventually, though, the smell from the coffeemaker in the kitchen draws me in, and I give in. 1:30 p.m. — Thursdays and Fridays are generally the days I treat myself to lunch from a nearby food hall. I stroll inside with a coworker, and we decide on sandwiches. Normally, their wraps are an obscene $14, but on Thursdays, they have an $10 special on everything. Of course, I pick out the wrap that is $1 extra. After tax, my bill comes to $11.98. My coworker and I eat together and dish on my resignation. I am relaxed at lunch for the first time in months. After eating, we take a look inside the chocolate shop in the food hall. They have the cutest chocolate mini-champagne bottles that I've always needed an excuse to buy, and I decide that there's no better day than today to buy them. I pick up two ($6 each) - one for me, one for my sister, who I'm visiting this weekend. $25.05 5:30 p.m. — Everyone in the office ducks out early for a holiday party hosted by the building for all the tenants. There's loud music, dancing, and most importantly: free food and drinks. I have a white wine, a mulled wine ... another mulled wine, and two pieces of pizza. I'm skeptical this will fill me up for dinner, but it's certainly delicious. An hour into the party, I call it a night and take the subway into Manhattan. 7:40 p.m. — My roommate and I meet at our favorite Mexican place for a celebratory drink. Me quitting my job is almost as exciting for her as it is for me, because she's had to spend the last six months consoling me. I order two tacos and a Paloma, and she gets a taco salad and tequila on the rocks. We split the bill and walk home. $29.22 Daily Total: $54.27 Day Six 8 a.m. — I'm taking a mental health/work-from-home day. I love how getting up at 8 feels luxuriously late. I chat with my roommate as she gets ready for work, and I make a cup of tea, eat a banana, and take a shower. 10:45 a.m. — After reading a few emails, I walk around the corner to CVS. I pick up makeup, deodorant, toothpaste, and movie theater candy for my Secret Santa. Normally, I have a bunch of coupons, but today I'm coupon-less and paying full price. Damn. $33.12 12:10 p.m. — I'm starving and a little headachey. I realize I haven't had any coffee yet, so I make a cup from our Nespresso machine and my headache dissipates. Last night, my mom texted to say that she and my dad have a box of cookies for me at their apartment. I walk over to pick them up since they live a few blocks away from me. On my way home, I stop in Pret A Manger to buy a sandwich, as I don't have any lunch food at home. $8.15 2 p.m. — After a 30-minute work conference call, I take the bags I packed this morning and walk to the subway to get to Penn Station. I get there with about 20 minutes to spare before my train, and it's a nice change from frantically running through the station. I buy a one-way NJ Transit ticket to Philadelphia. Off to see my big sister! $26 5:30 p.m. — I get to Philadelphia, and per my sister's instructions, take a trolley to meet her at a restaurant. The trolley ticket is $2.50. The trolley system is so confusing compared to the New York subway; there is no way to know where you are because they don't announce each stop! I somehow manage to get off the trolley at the right stop, and walk across the street to meet my sister and her coworkers for dinner. Two glasses of wine and a few slices of pizza later (the four of us split the bill — $29.56 each, including tip), she and I walk back to her place. $32.06 Daily Total: $99.33 Day Seven 9 a.m. — We sleep in a bit and wake up to a winter wonderland! We each have a bowl of cereal in my sister's kitchen, get dressed, and decide to walk through the snow to get coffee. When we get to her favorite coffee place, there are no seats available; looks like everyone in the neighborhood also wanted a picturesque morning! We walk a few more blocks to a vegan doughnut shop and each get a coffee. I also order a cinnamon sugar doughnut, and she orders a lemon raspberry. I pay for both of us. $9.18 10 a.m. — We make a few stops on the walk back to my sister's place, including to a little bookstore, a pet store (sooo tempted to adopt one of the kittens in the window), and her food co-op. She buys groceries so we can make lunch, and insists on paying. 2 p.m. — After we make lunch (rice, beans, and veggie stir fry) and eat a few too many of the cookies my parents gave us, we walk around the corner to watch a free choral performance in the outdoor pavilion of a gardening store. Super cool! 6 p.m. — We spend a few hours warming up in her apartment, then take the trolley ($2.50) into downtown Philly to check out a huge ice rink and winter lodge set up by the river. It is so beautiful and festive, and “All I Want For Christmas Is You” plays about three times in a row. I am in heaven. We warm up next to a fire, then walk into the most Christmas-y looking pub we can find for dinner. Feeling a cold coming on, I order a hot toddy (sister does, too) and am shocked at the low price of $7.50. “Welcome to Philly!” my loving sister taunts. I get a hamburger, she gets fish and chips, and we each get a drink called “Festive Fashioned” after our hot toddies. This spin on the Old Fashioned is a price I'm more used to, $11. Totally worth it. We split the bill. $40.70 8 p.m. — I need to buy another ride on the trolley to get home, and my sister suggests I buy two trolley tokens for $4 instead of one trolley card for $2.50 in case we ride the trolley tomorrow. I'll say it again: the Philly subway/trolley system is confusing. $4 9 p.m. — We get home after an extraordinarily snowy and festive day, and call it a night — happy to be cozy and warm together. Daily Total: $53.88 Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual women's experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29's point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior. The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend — to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day . For more money diaries, click here . Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here: r29.co/mdfaqs Life is expensive and oftentimes our salaries don’t totally cover our bills. We want to hear about your side hustle, how much money it brings in, and is it really your passion? Let us know here , and your answer might be featured on Refinery29! Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? A Week In Baltimore, MD, On A $62,000 Salary True Life: I Found Out About Santa Claus The Hard Way A Week In Houston, TX, On A $47,000 Salary December 25, 2017 at 02:47PM

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activefamily · 7 years ago

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There’s so much to do in Argyll

With Argyll Holidays currently celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary, and summer now in full swing, what better time for us to compile 50 things to get up to in Argyll over the coming months!

1 - Bag a Munro

Climbing a mountain is one thing, but in Scotland there are 282 mountains with a summit of more than 3000ft, including 19 right here in Argyll & the Isles. These can be tricky to navigate, but are certainly rewarding when you get the views from the summit. Click here for more information.

2 - Shoot Some Zombies

Don’t worry – we don’t mean literally! Argyll Adventure - based just outside Inveraray – offer hours of endless fun with their zombie-themed paintball & crossbow games. They’ve also recently invested in a state-of the-art indoor laser storm venue, perfect for families, hens & stags, or groups of friends. You can book here, with Argyll Holidays guests receiving 10% discount.*

3 - Sample the Local Produce

We’ve a delicious range of food & drink producers on our doorstep, from locally reared venison and Scottish Atlantic halibut, to cheeses, jams and home ground coffee. Food from Argyll brings together suppliers from across the area, and not only have they opened a fab new café in Oban, but we’re delighted to offer their hampers as an optional extra to our holiday guests. Click here for more info.

4 - Strip the Willow at a Ceilidh

No trip to Scotland’s West Coast is complete without an evening spent at a ceilidh. The traditional Gaelic gathering offers the opportunity to enjoy a drink and a dance, whilst getting a little dressed up on your holidays. You can find a list of upcoming ceilidhs (and other events) here.

5 - Compete in a Highland Games

Taking place in Dunoon from 24th-26th August, Cowal Highland Gathering attracts the finest athletes, dancers, pipers and drummers to battle it out for the championship titles. Competitors can sign up here but don’t worry if you don’t want to take part, the games also attract thousands of spectators annually. Tickets can be purchased here.

6 - Visit a Famous Castle

Towering at the edge of the quaint town of Inveraray, the iconic Inveraray Castle is the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of the Clan Campbell and a must-see visitor attraction on the West Coast of Scotland. You can tour around the castle, or simply take a trip around the beautiful gardens. Argyll Holidays guests receive 20% discount* on admission, and you can find more info here.

7 - Attend a Music Festival

Argyll and the islands are not short of family-friendly music festivals, celebrating traditional West Coast music, and offering a chance to soak up the Scottish culture. The popular EDF is a little further afield but offers fantastic music in breathtaking surroundings, whilst the Argyll Gathering have announced a huge line-up for the highly anticipated first year of their event. Best of the West Festival is also perfect for all ages, and offers something to do later in the year. And if you fancy a trip to Campbeltown, why not give MOKfest a visit? Read all about the festival scene in Argyll here.

8 - Feed a Highland Cow

Get up close to our hairy highland friends - adorable ‘Heilan coos’ can be spotted throughout Argyll, and are often the highlight of many visitors’ trip to the local area. Click here to find out more about highland cattle.

9 - Go on a Loch Cruise

What better than witnessing the sheer beauty surrounding the famous ‘Bonnie banks’ than from the loch itself? Cruise Loch Lomond, in Tarbet, and Sweeney’s Cruises on the East side of the loch both offer breath-taking cruises, with 15% discount for Argyll Holidays guests*. Cruise Loch Lomond have recently added to their fleet as well, so it really is the perfect time to try them out! Bike hire is also available from their Tarbet base.

10 - Have a Treetop Adventure

TreeZone offers an adrenaline rush from the treetops overlooking Loch Lomond. Featuring zip wires, balance beams and tight ropes, this is truly an unforgettable experience. More good news; Argyll Holiday guests get 10% off* their visit to TreeZone, so you can try out a new experience for less.

11 - Treat Yourself to a Massage

We all know it can hectic on holiday, so why not relax and revitalise after a long day of activities? With a range of holistic and beauty treatments, The Treatment Rooms are guaranteed to help you unwind.

12 - Admire the West Coast Sunset

With summer comes longer evenings, and often breath-taking sunsets. There are many spots in Argyll that make for the perfect location to sit back and catch a glimpse of the stunning colours in the sky as the sun disappears below the horizon – check them out here.

13 - Take a Pony Ride

Fancy a pony ride in some of the most stunning surroundings? Argyll Adventure offer scenic treks alongside Loch Fyne, as well as faster rides, and even lessons, making it perfect for all levels of expertise. Argyll Holidays guests receive 10% off rides.*

14 - Embark on a Doggy Adventure

Grab a poo bag, a handful of treats, and embark on an adventure with your four-legged friend. With an abundance of local tracks, streams, woodland and even caves, they’ll be in doggy wonderland! Read all about walking in Argyll.

15 - Go Wild Swimming

You can try loch swimming in a wetsuit or go in search of somewhere quieter – there are many rivers, waterfalls and pools waiting to be explored in Argyll, and there’s nothing more refreshing than going for a dook on a warm day. Read more about safe wild swimming.

16 - Wakeboard on Loch Lomond

If you’re into the adrenaline rush then you might want to try this - Loch Lomond Wakeboard is Scotland’s first purpose-built wakeboard school and they guarantee you the ride of your life, on the calm waters of Loch Lomond. Argyll Holidays guests enjoy 20% off wakeboarding excursions & lessons.*

17 - Taste Award-winning Seafood

Loch Fyne Oysters are renowned for supplying delicious seafood across the world, but their small oyster bar on the banks of Loch Fyne is where it all started, and we simply couldn’t put together a list without mentioning them. Pop into the restaurant for a bowl of the most delightful haddock chowder, hand dived scallops or crispy oysters with horseradish.

18 - Enjoy a Singalong in a Local Bar

What better than sitting back with a cold beverage in your hand, whilst enjoying some live music? The Goil Inn in Lochgoilhead hosts live music evenings most Fridays, with regular jam-sessions from local acoustic performing residents ‘The Goilers’ providing the perfect evening singalong.

19 - Get out on Two Wheels

Cycling is one of the best ways to explore Argyll - With striking scenery, off-road trails and quiet country roads, you’ll be experiencing cycling and mountain biking at its very best. Bike hire is available from Drimsynie Estate in Lochgoilhead and Hunters Quay in Dunoon. View our favourite routes here.

20 - Go on a Romantic Stroll

While visiting Argyll, you’ll want to make sure you take full advantage of the magnificent landscape. With plenty of routes for walking and exploring, you can truly immerse yourself in the great outdoors, and some of the most romantic locations in the world.

21 - Visit an Island

Argyll has 25 inhabited islands – more than any other region in the country. Cal Mac runs regular ferry services to most of these islands, meaning you can visit as part of a day trip. Add to this the rich history that these islands possess, and the fact there’s so much to explore, and it’s easy to see why this is an essential ‘to-do’ when visiting the area. Visit the Cal Mac website for a full list of destinations.

22 - Board a Famous Steamboat

The iconic Waverley is the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world. Magnificently restored with towering funnels, timber decks, gleaming varnish and brass, it offers the perfect opportunity to explore the lochs & islands off the West coast of Scotland. Argyll Holidays guests enjoy a kids-go-free incentive* (exc Saturdays). View timetables.

23 - Tour a Working Brewery

Located at the head of Loch Fyne, Fyne Ales state-of-the-art brewery offers guided tours to see exactly how their wonderful beers are made, as well as tutored tasting. Afterwards, you can sit in their courtyard and enjoy the sun with a pint of your favourite beer – we recommend Jarl!

24 - Meet the Birds of Prey

Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre is situated in a stunning location within the Lomond Shores complex. If you are looking for a Bird of Prey encounter then this is the place to head - There are over thirty five birds of prey and owls - so why not get close to these amazing creatures? Argyll Holidays guests receive 20% off entry.*

25 - Scale the Heights

The giant custom-built climbing wall at Hunters Quay Holiday Village offers a great deal of fun for all ages (well most ages… it’s 7+), and is a popular attraction. Users can choose whether to take a climbing lesson, or go freestyle – it’s completely safe, but can prove trickier than it looks!

26 - Hit the Beach

Golden sands and light blue seas: some of Scotland’s most beautiful beaches can be found across the coastline of Argyll and the Isles. Whether it be the two-mile stretch of Mahir Bay in Islay, or Ostel Bay on Argyll’s secret coast, it’s the perfect opportunity to have a picnic, go a stroll, or fly a kite. View a complete list of beaches in Argyll here.

27 - Explore Glorious Gardens

In a magnificent mountainside setting on the Cowal Peninsula lies Benmore, an enchanting Garden steeped in history and surrounded by dramatic scenery. The park is managed by experienced rangers, and offers a host of guided walks, explorer tours and kids activities. Benmore offers 2 for 1 admission for Argyll Holidays’ Guests.*

28 - Go Fishing

Argyll is well known for being a fishing paradise, with its well-stocked shores, lochs and rivers attracting many keen anglers, and there's no shortage of opportunities. Inverawe Country Park - just past Loch Awe - offers trout lochs and salmon rivers for all levels. The fantastic instructors can even offer lessons, getting you hooked on a life-time hobby.

29 - Try Your Hand at Archery

Ready? Aim. Fire! Let an experienced Archery leader show you how to shoot a high performance bow with accuracy and hit the gold with ease, at Drimsynie Estate or Hunters Quay. With fun, games and competition, there is something in the sessions for everyone.

30 - Sledge Down a River

River sledging is big in the US and New Zealand, but it’s relatively new to the UK, so it’s fair to say that this activity is creating a lot of excitement around Loch Lomond. In Your Element are the new activity provider on the ‘bonnie banks’, and this is perfect if you’ve got the taste of adrenaline and adventure. Even better, Argyll Holidays guests get 10% discount.*

31 - Travel Under a Mountain

On the face of it, the trip to a power station that generates up to 440MW on the National Grid might not seem that exciting. However, add to this the fact that the hydro station is hidden deep inside the Ben Cruachan ‘hollow mountain’, and it makes for a fantastic adventure. The guided tour will take you deep inside the mountain, as the experienced guides tell you all about the fascinating history behind this engineering feat. You can read more here, plus Argyll Holidays guests get an exclusive discount.*

32 - Sample Some Tubing

To get to the location, involved travelling on one of the most scenic routes in the country, and we just couldn’t put together a list of things to do without mentioning tubing at Glencoe Mountain. What is tubing you ask? It involves sitting on a doughnut, and sliding down an artificial ski slope - great fun for all ages!

33 - Experience Life Behind Bars

…don’t worry, they’ve promised they’ll let you out! Stepping through the doors of Inveraray Jail is stepping back in time to a 19th-century prison. Experience what life was like for the men, women and children who were locked up here. Explore the historic buildings and meet the costumed characters who animate the past in this unique living museum.

34 - Visit a Whisky Distillery

You don’t have to be in to your malt whiskies to know how special they are throughout Argyll and the Isles. With 14 world-class distilleries dotting what’s known as the ‘whisky coast’, there’s nothing quite like taking a tour, and finding about the history and culture behind this industry – And, of course - sampling a dram straight out the cask. Find your nearest distillery.

35 - Chill in an Outdoor Pool

Brand new to the shores of Loch Fyne, Portavadie’s leisure and spa complex offers the ultimate in relaxation – you can chill out and watch the world pass by, in a heated outdoor therapy pool, right on the edge of the loch, appreciating all that Argyll has to offer – bliss!

36 - Get Close to the Local Sea Life

The Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary near Oban, and the Sea Life Loch Lomond Aquarium both offer the chance for groups to get up close to the local sea life. The two attractions host a series of events over the summer, as well as live talks, feedings and the opportunity to hold some of these interesting creatures.

37 - Tone Up

Want to tone up over your holiday in Argyll? Look no further than Quay Fitness. Offering classes including Freestyle Aerobics, Pilates, Zumba, Kettlebells and much more, this is a fantastic way to shape up over the summer.

38 - Have a Picnic with a View

There’s no shortage of locations in Argyll which are easily accessible, and allow you to admire the views up high. Pick a local spot, (this website is good), pack a picnic and set off with your family for a lunch with a stunning view.

39 - Get the Hot Tub Experience

You know the saying “there ain’t no holiday like a hot tub holiday?” Okay, we just made that up. But what better way to chill out on a break to Argyll, than in a private hot tub watching the world pass by? Argyll Holidays’ Hot Tub Collection is all about luxury and indulgence, and can add that extra something special to your holiday.

40 - Have a BBQ

It’s not been a proper summer until you have a BBQ – right? Dig out your portable BBQ and get the burgers sizzling, or head to the shops and grab a couple of disposables. If you don’t fancy the cooking yourself, you can head along to one of the regular summer BBQ’s throughout Argyll.

41 - Follow a Gruffalo Trail

Ardkinglas Woodland Garden lies in the small village of Cairndow and is renowned for its fine collection of conifer trees. The new Gruffalo Trail will be sure to capture the imagination of your little ones, as they embark on an adventure, following the mouse to find the Gruffalo. A perfect family day out.

42 - Enjoy First Class Leisure Facilities

The indoor heated swimming pools at Drimsynie Estate and Hunters Quay can be used to relax in, to keep fit or to have fun throughout your stay in Argyll. Or why not relax and indulge yourself in the modern sauna, steam room or Jacuzzi? After all, you deserve to relax whilst on holiday.

43 - Experience Quad Biking

If the idea of an off-road, mud-churning adrenaline adventure excites you, then look no further than getting out on the quad bikes at Drimsynie Estate. The Quad trails are simply breath-taking – you will enjoy panoramic views over Lochgoilhead whilst blasting through the open hillside and rugged forest terrain.

44 - Dine Out

Dining out is an essential part of a holiday, or a trip away. So it’s important that you browse around, and pick a café or restaurant that suits your taste buds. Hunters Bar & Grill – at Hunters Quay Holiday Village, Drimsynie Estate’s Rob Roy Lounge, and The Goil Inn all offer delicious bar meals prepared by experienced chefs. Whether you’re after West coast fish & chips, or spicy Mexican enchiladas, you’ll be sorted.

45 - Captain Your Own Boat

Nestled on the shores of Loch Goil, Loch Goil Cruisers have a fleet of day boats for hire that are perfect for enjoying the stunning scenery, the diverse wildlife, on-board picnic-ing and fishing. Take your own boat out with friends or family come rain or shine, and enjoy all that this stunning loch has to offer. Guests of Argyll Holidays can take advantage of free fishing rod hire.*

46 - Attend a Sheep Show

Argyll is rich in farm life, so you can do worse than to attend a local sheep show to revel in the local culture. Taking place at Corrow Farm on 22nd July from 130pm, Argyll Holidays 50th Anniversary Sheep Show offers just that – with sheep dog trials, sheep shearing demonstrations and even a good old-fashioned tug ‘o war, you’ll be sure to have a great time.

47 - Go on a Road-trip

What better than grabbing the keys, jumping in the car, and going on a road-trip? Well, there’s plenty of country roads and fascinating drives throughout Argyll. We’d recommend the secret coast, which is an area of natural beauty, consisting of wild and rugged land (and sea), perfect for a photo opportunity. Click here for more information on the secret coast

48 - Play a Round of Golf

There are ample opportunities for a round of golf within Argyll & the Isles, with some of the most scenic and well-kept courses in the country that’s home to the famous game. Drimsynie Estate is home to its very own 9-hole golf course overlooking Loch Goil. This great little course spans 3604 yards, is a Par 62 and is open all year round.

49 - Tour a Farming Township

Step back in time and discover Scotland’s rural history at Auchindrain, just a short drive from Inveraray. Auchindrain is the most complete and well-preserved example of a Scottish Highland farm township, and offers a deep insight into way of life for inhabitants of the this area, deep in the hills of Argyll. Argyll Holidays guests can enjoy 20% off entry.*

50 - Walk on Water

With Argyll Holidays WaterWalkerz, you can experience a thrill like no other. Located at Hunters Quay & Drimsynie Estate, try and try again to walk, balance and run inside a giant inflatable ball on the water – it can be trickier than it looks!

With all of these, and so much more to do in Argyll over the summer, it’s the perfect time to book an Argyll Escape - you can view the latest deals on short breaks to Argyll here.

*T&Cs apply. For more information click here.

#holidays #family holidays #argyll #things to do #summer #activities #fun and games #active family

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thesylvalining · 7 years ago

Text

Sometimes I feel like my life is like a conversation between myself and Tom Petty.

Me: Man, I’ve got the travel itch.

Tom: Time to move on, time to get going.

Me: But where?

Tom: You belong somewhere you feel free.

Me: Duh! Where would you suggest? Italy?

Tom: You belong on a boat out at sea.

Me: But Tom, you know my track record with seasickness…

Tom: Let me get to the point, let’s roll another joint…

Me: Okay, now we’re getting somewhere!

It’s all my dad’s fault: he listened to Tom Petty for ages before I could even say “Tom Petty.” In truth the first complete sentence I said — “Go play on the freeway,” to a cute little old lady at the grocery store — was his fault, too. Supposedly I heard him say it to the dogs… apparently it’s real kids understand more than you think.

Speaking of kids… munchkins actually play into the way things are evolving but first: I want to touch on the way I’ve been feeling lately: like a leaf in the wind. Every day I am blissfully unsure of how things will unfold. It’s the most free and open I’ve possibly ever felt in my silly little life.

So when I read this bit of “Jitterbug Perfume,” by Tom Robbins (borrowed from my Italian friend/queen Lisa) I almost fell off the toilet where I do most of my reading. In this section one of the main characters, an ex-king named Alobar, is having a conversation with the village shaman, who speaks first:

“I encourage you to ride this strange wind that is blowing through you, to ride it to wherever it will carry you.”

“But which way shall I go?”

“That is between you and the wind…”

Lately the wind and I have been having a riveting dialogue, because in the last 72 hours, the “plan” (if anyone can call it that) has changed. It’s worked itself out in the most enchanting of ways, unrolling like pastry dough on the counter, ready to be filled with crema, nutella or marmellata… But the last couple days, my friends, are a story all of their own. Long story short, I am not coming back to the States until September… but the details are still evolving and all of that deserves its own glorious post.

So, while this new direction works itself out like a much, much more pleasant kidney stone, let’s allow the wind to blow us back to Rome, shall we?

We therefore pick up the trail in a hot and humid afternoon breeze outside the train station in Spagna, the Spanish quarter, in search of our quaint hotel. Kelly and Jacob are uncomfortably warm; I — the lizard — am in my happy place.

After ditching our bags at in our cool hotel room and chugging an appropriate amount of water, we burst back into the sun to check off the first item on our tourist list: the ancient Colosseum. And on the way, enjoy horse hats, the stately Altare della Patria and some more really old crap.

Not to be that person (although I’m gonna be that person)… but last I spent time in Rome, it was March of 2005 with my good friend Amy (AP Photo!) and her friend, Sherry. The streets — and the Colosseum — were cold, but deserted. This round it was busier than centro on market day, but nonetheless, the ancient, enchantment of such a structure remained intact.

With throngs of other humans we wandered in awe past old columns the size of Redwood trees and arches that had watched not only gladiators, but now — with an ancient eye roll — modern-day Selfie Stick aficionados battling with their Smartphones. I personally don’t need one because I was born with an arm… actually, two of them…

Boom! The Colosseum 🙂

Frands.

The big picture.

Old crap.

Selfie sticksssss.

More selfie love.

Even people carried from across the globe and deposited there like so many pieces of guanciale in a really good Carbonara (one of Rome’s specialties), the magnificence of so much history was not obscured. To read the Colosseum was regularly flooded for ship battles is incredible; to read people were tossed into the labyrinth of the Colosseum with lions like fish food into a fish tank to be ripped into tiny little fish food-sized pieces is gruesome… but fascinating, to be sure. Ahhhh, history.

Outside the Colosseum, with sweat moving like curious ants through crevices on our bodies which — unlike the Roman ruins we stood among — had somehow until this point avoided excavation, we spotted something incredible: free cold water. Throughout Italy a refreshing army of potable water pours from the frozen metal maws of lions or stoic faces but here, there was a choice between naturale (still) or frizzante (sparkling) water. From that moment on, the fizzy water stop became mandatory on all expeditions.

Post-Colosseum we paused for our daily gelato stop and found an appropriately ugly spot to suck it down…

We took the scenic way home, bypassing the chaotic, clogged but more direct shopping hub on Via Del Corso, stumbling across this lovely courtyard that probably has a story of its own…

After the hot sun went to bed, we decided a trip to Trevi Fountain — featured in Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” — would be next. Despite feeling more like a zoo than one of Rome’s most ancient water sources (the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct built 19 B.C. provided water to the Roman baths and Rome’s central fountains), Trevi fountain at night was still magical. We grabbed a bottle of wine from a nearby enoteca and pizza al taglio (pizza baked in large rectangular pans, sliced in squares and re-nuked) and observed people chucking coins in the water. After some wine and some time, we noticed most people tossed over left shoulders, turned backwards. The key to a wish come true, apparently, is not to watch after the coin leaves your hands.

After leaving the zoo, we retreated to our cool, dark room and passed the flip out.

In the morning it was ____. Yep, you guessed it, hot! After an Italian-style caffeine-pastry breaking of the fast, we headed towards the Roman Forum, rented audio guides and proceeded to march around learning about, among so many other things, the 7th century Temple of Vesta, Umbilicus Urbis (the Roman entrance to the Underworld) and Basilica Julia, built by Julius Caesar. Over it all sat a blue sky over which the brilliant sun ruled; Kelly and Jacob sweated to death and soon retreated to a popular shady area to revamp; I continued my wandering, sweating to life 🙂

Listening to some audio…

The remains of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

Temple of Saturn, in the distance…

The Temple of Saturn.

Sharing grounds with the Forum was Palentine Hill, one of Rome’s Seven Hills and where Romulus first founded the original city in 753 BC. We wandered among the House of the Vestal Virgins, learning those lucky ladies had to keep their virginal, ahem, properties intact or, of course, they were killed. Lovely.

Kelly and Jacob kicked it in the shade while I ran up to the top of Palentine Hill to check out the garden atop it and of course, the view!

Post-Forum we made a pit stop for acqua frizzante with a herd of other thirsty humans, found more pizza al taglio for lunch and made our way to Via Labicana to rent three neon bikes from Wheely Bike. With the wind in our hair, we zipped over to the (free!) and glorious Pantheon. Formerly a Roman Temple, the Pantheon was constructed between 118-128 BC.

Inside, with everyone else, we gazed silently upwards to marvel at the Pantheon’s spectacular oculus. And — equally stunning — to postulate how, almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon is still the world’s largest un-reinforced concrete dome. My mind still struggles to wrap itself around such a feat like a thick spaghetti noodle around a fork in a bowl of cacio e pepe (cheese, pepper sauce — another irresistible Roman culinary masterpiece).

After the Pantheon, we zipped through nearby (crowded) Piazza Navona on our way to the river and our obligatory gelato stop of the day: Gelateria Del Viale, some of the best gelato in Rome, according to a friend of mine. We cooled off along the river and rode the long way back to Wheely Bike to return our neon steeds…

DCIM101GOPRO

Gelateria del Viale.

Looking down from steps near Altare della Patria.

Exiting the bike path by the Tiber River.

Coming around the back of the Forum…

After we ditched bikes, we figured we’d have enough time to trot over to the room, powder our noses and head to dinner at the charmingly-named Guilio Passami l’Olio (Guilio, pass me the olive oil). But suddenly we were the Lemony Snickets amongst a series of Unfortunate events: First, missing the first bus because we were on the wrong side of the street. Second, Sylva — The One Who Has Been to Italy Many Times Before forgot to pop in a Tabacchi and buy tickets before catching the bus. And the third bus (of course) was late enough to push our delayed arrival into the realm of “maybe they’re not actually coming at all…” Eventually, we threw in the cheaper public transportation towel in and hailed a cab.

At Giulio Passami l’Olio we found a hopping scene and our reservation had somehow gotten lost in the shuffle like an olive in a very loud, well-dressed salad. Eventually, however, we sat in sweaty clothes and tennis shoe to eat delectable food and consult the restaurant’s fantastic wine bible, or Wible.

To digest and enjoy the temperate evening, we wandered back along the river, enjoying the play of the lights on the water, the trees swaying in the breeze and the feel of a big city under darkness.

Back at the ranch, we made quick work of falling dead asleep. In the morning, at 8:30 a.m., we had a hot date with the Vatican and the even more infamous Sistine Chapel…

Morning found us squeezing onto la metropolitana with the rest of Rome — the Romans to work and us to Vatican City. Like an open bottle of red wine, we poured out onto the streets, directed this way and that by hawkers and helpful folks associated with the Vatican — problem was, it was impossible to tell the difference. But with such volume of people heading to gawk at the plush, art-full innards of the Vatican, we found ourselves funneled right into the gaping, rope-lined mouth of the museum. Luckily, we bought tickets in advance and soon marched up a long spiral staircase into the Vatican.

A sign presented two options: a short tour and a long tour. Two plus hours, Egyptian heiroglyphics, Roman statues, ancient painted maps and medieval tapestries, several Salvador Dali pictures and a Sistine Chapel later, we couldn’t even imagine what the long tour entailed…

From one of the many Vatican windows, Rome, on and on…

Old ass stuff.

The Hall of Muses.

Some of the coolest maps of Italy and Europe possibly ever.

The Vatican’s dome.

Salvador Dali! One of my favorite artists!

In the Sistine Chapel, I was a very, very bad monkey and — amongst loud, firm admonitions via intercom for “Silenzio, per favore; silence, please!” and “no pictures” I fake sneezed, glanced both ways and pointed my very incognito camera straight up:

Oops…

After the Vatican, we located some grub and had just enough time to sprint up the Spanish Steps for a view before getting sucked back into the cockles of la metropolitana and the expansive Roman stazione for the ride back to Faenza…

On subsequent episodes of The Sylva Lining… there’s Venice and I answer the same question The Clash pondered: Should I stay or should I go now? And furthermore, how? As they say, where there’s a will there’s a way. Or, as this Roman street artist penned:

La Dolce Vita Sometimes I feel like my life is like a conversation between myself and Tom Petty. Me: Man, I've got the travel itch.

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