Beloved Verona..

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Part I - Verona

Last autumn I travelled to Milan to spend a few days in Northern Italy with my friend Esther.

We were based in Milan, however since we didn't enjoy the city as much because of the few parks and green spaces, we went on day trips to some other towns.

Firstly we visited Verona, the city where Shakespeare's play "Romeo & Juliet" takes place.

"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

We arrived early in the morning at Verona Porta Nuova and made our way to the historic centre. There are a lot of ancient Roman edifices which can be found all over the centre. I especially loved all these small balconies filled up with flowers and other plants.

It is obvious and at the same time amusing that Verona takes advantage of Shakespeare's play which results in heaps of different touristic activities or souvenirs (e.g. the Romeo cake). Thousands of people pilger to Verona only to take a peek at the various places where scenes of "Romeo & Juliet" might have been set at.

Anyhow, Verona is a precious little city which offers many interesting sights and great walks along the river or the centre itself.

Steph

Cake recipes..

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Part 1: Estany Cake (my very own creation)

Ingredients

~ 250 g of butter
~ 200 g of sugar
~ 4 eggs
~ 400 g of flour
~ 1 tsp. of baking powder
~ 200 g of crème fraîche
~ 750 g of mixed fruit (I used apricots, nectarines, greengages and a pear)
~ some flaked almonds

1. Mix butter and sugar. Gradually add the eggs.

2. Preheat the oven to 190° C/370° F and rougly cut up the fruit.

3. Add flour mixed with baking powder.

4. Lastly add the crème fraîche.

5. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes.

6. ENJOY!

Steph

Kitesurf World Cup in SPO..

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From the 1st till the 10th of August the annual Kitesurf World Cup was held in St. Peter-Ording at the North Sea in Germany. The Surf Cup attracts many spectators each year by offering different activities such as beach volleyball, huge beach parties at night and of course the centre of attention - kitesurfing.

Many professionals from all over the world came to the small coastal town to participate in various competitions. The winners of this years' World Cup are Karolina Winkowska (Poland) and Aaron Hadlow (United Kingdom).

I visited the camp of the world cup on the 6th of August. Although the wind wasn't strong enough on that day to provide good surfing conditions I spent the day walking along the broad beach and soaking up the sun with some friends. It was also lovely to see all these colourful kites lying on the beach or soaring up in the air.

I will definitely return to beautiful St. Peter-Ording.

Steph

Dîner en blanc..

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Last week the city where I live hosted a "Dîner en blanc" (White Dinner) in one of our main streets.
The "Dîner en blanc" was invented in Paris by François Pasquier about 25 years ago and has been held in numerous cities around the world since then (eg. New York City, Sydney, Nairobi, Barcelona,..).

On the original homepage it is stated that the "Dîner en blanc is simply a friendly gathering whose sole purpose is to create a magical evening".

Of course the event that was hosted in my city didn't reach the size equal to the Parisian one but it was still a great opportunity to get together and to enjoy a picnic in style.

Let me know if you've experienced a "Dîner in blanc" before and where!

Steph

My favourites so far..

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Since this is my 50th post, I thought I'd share my Top 10 photos from all of my blog posts.

If you're interested, click on the picture to read the original post.

Steph