Dreaming of Italy....

For the past few months I have been longing to go back to Italy, maybe Capri, Sicily, Sardinia or maybe the mainland, hard to choose. I have been drawn to all things Italian and have delved into my cook books to seek out Italian recipes and have been shopping with an Italian theme in mind.


For my Birthday, I recently acquired a beautiful book called VENEZIA Food and Dreams. The photographs are so beautiful and the recipes look delicious and tempting.




Another image from the book. That chandelier is so beautiful!


Nesti Dante soaps are made in Italy. They are the most wonderful soaps! On a recent visit to Dartmouth, I bought more as they are not always easy to find locally. I had only just ran out of them.


Moving on to food...

I have quite a few Italian cook books, reflecting my love of Italian food.

One of my recent book buys is Two Greedy Italians. The TV series is very enjoyable, if you haven't already seen it yet you will be entertained.




Would like to have a meal at this restaurant in Capri, on a warm balmy evening...


There are a number of online Italian Delicatessens where speciality foods can be bought. I like Sardinia's flat crisp bread called pane carasau also known as 'carta da musica' (music paper) as they are so thin. I bought them from Tre Stelle, they are perfect with dips, on their own broken up as a snack or used in lasagne as an alternative to pasta. The recipe for that dish is featured in the Two Greedy Italians book.
The bottle of Mirto is a speciality from Sardinia. I discovered it whilst on honeymoon in 2006.


I have subscribed to Italia! and every month get my fix Italian images and news. It covers all apects of Italy, travel, food, politics, language, property etc.




This is the book that I am reading at bedtime: Head over Heels - Seduced by Southern Italy by Chris Harrison. It is based on his real life experience of having fallen in love with an Italian woman and leaving his country behind (Australia) to go and live with her in Italy. I like his humour and the way he describes what it is really like living and working in Italy. I am not half way through the book yet but I have already learnt quite a bit about Italians or Italian way of life which I was not aware of before. A very good read so far!


Next book waiting in the wings...


There are quite a few films set in Italy which I have enjoyed watching and this is one of them. An easy going romantic film with stunning views of Italy throughout it. It's a lovely film.



Well, that's my little tour of Italy over for now...Thank you for letting me indulge in a bit of dreaming...

Do you have a favourite place in Italy?

A bientôt!

Isabelle X

Celebrating in England's prettiest's village!

Following on from my previous post, Alan and I spent the day in Wiltshire yesterday.
Our destination: Castle Combe which is part of the Cotswolds. It is often referred to as the prettiest village in England and when you arrive there, you can see why. Neither Alan or I had been there before. We both love discovering new places and were pleased to have discovered this special one on our anniversary.
Castle Combe has been used as a location for films and TV including Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989) "The murder of Roger Acroyd" TV episode, Dr Doolittle (1967), Stardust (2007) and The Wolfman (2009).




Top right, we bought a piece of lemon drizzle cake from this stall outside a house and got chatting with the owner as he was painting his windows. He told that us he has lived there for 20 years and loves living in Castle Combe.



We had lunch at The Castle Inn Hotel. We were blessed with clear blue skies and sunshine. As it happens, the same kind of weather as we had on our wedding day 4 years ago.
We chose to sit outside in the small stone walled garden. As we sat down, the delicate scent of roses perfumed the air. It was fairly quiet, we were lucky enough to have the garden to ourselves the whole time. Had we been there at the weekend, it would have been a lot busier.
The garden overlooks the church and little cottages. It all made for the perfect lunch!

Alan soaking up the atmosphere


I quite liked the sink in the "Ladies" and couldn't resist taking a picture of it! I was keeping my fingers crossed that no one would come in whilst I was taking a picture of a sink. They had matching toilets too...Sorry no pictures! ;-)








Market Cross



On our way back home, we decided to stop in Corsham which is not far from Castle Combe.



There were some nice shops









I saw this old type writer in a shop window but unfortunately the shop was closed.




I was really quite taken by this "modern" alabaster effigy. It is a memorial to Eleanor, Lady Methuan who died in 1958. The detail and art work are incredible! Alabaster makes it look more real than stone. The effigy had a beautiful translucent quality and looked peaceful.


We didn't have the time to visit Corsham Court as we arrived in Corsham towards the end of the afternoon. That will be for another time.

Thank Alan for a wonderful anniversary!

I wish you all a very good weekend.

A bientôt!

Isabelle X

P.S: Thank you for your anniversary wishes and lovely comments ;-)

EXMOOR WAY

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a good weekend. Have you been up to much?

On Saturday we headed for Exmoor, Somerset. It is an area which I like very much.
As some of you know, Alan has a website called Somerset 3d. Every week he updates the website with a Somerset town or village not yet featured. This means that he has to drive around Somerset's towns and villages on a regular basis in order to have a constant supply of photos. Alan keeps the prettier places for when we both go exploring and some of the more industrial or plainer looking places for when I am not accompanying him.

We drove through and walked around several pretty little villages. We stopped in this village to have some lunch.






After lunch and having a walk we drove to Dulverton
Dulverton is a nice little town. I had not been there before and look forward to returning there again.

We arrived towards the end of the afternoon so unfortunately some of the shops were already closed.







I spent quite a bit of time in this shop, Number Seven. They have a very good selection of cards, gifts and books. I had a nice chat with the lady who served me. So many lovely things, I could not come back empty handed!














I love this parasol! It can also be used as an umbrella too as it is waterproof.


I went in to this shop pictured above but as it was quite busy, I decided to go elsewhere and come back to take some photos. Unfortunately they were closed not long after I left! The exterior was so beautifully displayed. They had a French style bench painted in blue and some pots plants on the window sill. It would have made a great photo. Never mind, next time...



As we left Dulverton we went in search of a couple more villages to photograph.


We parked in a lay by to look at the map before setting out again to this village








I love these old sign posts, I hope that the highways never get rid of them.


On our way back home we drove past the Glastonbury Tor. You probably need to click on picture to see it better.

This is the sight that greeted us by the time we returned home.

I had to lighten the photo a bit as it came out too dark

I came back home with a few things





I am very pleased with this find, I was lucky to get it as the shop I went in to closed their doors just a minute or so after I walked in.

Yesterday the weather wasn't brilliant, it rained so we stayed in and got on with some work.

The sun is back out again day and I have enjoyed putting the washing out to dry. I love doing that but I'm not that keen on doing the ironing afterwards...;-)



A bientôt!

Isabelle X