For sake of travel

Art of traveling corner for this weekend-share.

Travel with style beauty creativity and uniqueness from place to place all decades with different ways and different lives sometimes to find your self or lose sometimes to go deeper and meditate or just to forget about all life and happenings or sometimes just to find happiness and stillness and peace sometimes to go away with no reason  just to be away. no meaning and not living. just feeling and being where you are. who you are. as you are. excepting. no judging. no hating. forgiving. healing. just loving.

Finally still traveling or just traveling  in your mind deeply until no longer you travel but find somewhere to settle in travel. maybe in your heart maybe in this world. maybe eternal. maybe internal or external. maybe here or there. wherever you are what ever you are just travel with all your heart and being.

Park City – Utah!

Hello from… Park City, Utah! 

What a cute town this is, it stole our hearts during our week visit. Incredible mountains and views, nature…   

We knew it was very popular during winter for skiing but just realized how beautiful it is during summer.  Hiking at 8-10K altitude anyone?  

Horseback riding on mountain paths with a cowboy…   

We even paid a visit to the Olympic park and watched future Olympians practice – how inspiring!  

The town also has great restaurants and a cute Main Street filled with shops.  
So next time you want an extended weekend or weeklong quick getaway… think Park City!!

Mira Spiaggia Spa – Sicily, Italy

Another spa another different experience!

From different kind of massages we choose the one with karite butter candle which heals the skin and of course with our luck we meet Rosy and her experienced hands they know exactly how to massage not too hard not too light just as it should be and her positive energy also change the athmosphere and how you feel, her smile too was relaxing and of course the warmth of melted  karite butter was amazing.

You can gift some of this relaxed moments to your friends via this aromatic candles.

Rosy’s special karite butter treatment started with emotional shower then continued with bagno turco (hamam) and sauna then soaking in jacuzzi….

If you like you can relax few minutes before having your massage and finally the healing hands and karite butter of Rosy gives you the massage.

Also you can have very special dinner for two or cocktail at the roof top of the spa with wiev of San Vito beach and San Vito lo capo too. You only need simple reservation before to make sure it’s available too book. For a 3 star hotel their food is pretty much 5 star so enjoy the beauty of San Vito and Sicilian food.

Catania Fish Market

We spent some time in the city of Catania while in Sicily.  Though short it was full of action and the kind we like: adventure and food!!

Private tour guide helped make most of our tour. Will tell you more about that next time 😉 

We love local markets, seeing the live local culture in action is just priceless…

A short walk from our hotel, the Catania fish market was waiting to welcome us. It was like heaven for us, the variety of days catch – all sorts of fish, shellfish, octopus,… lively stall keepers shouting for their goods…  

At the skirts of the fish market the vegetable and fruit stalls and accompanied by olive and cheese tables.  Making sure the shoppers will have a pick of the best for tonight’s dinner!

For more photos follow us on Instagram: surprisesaffron

Riserva di Zingaro

To go or not to go? Yes! Go! 

We took a 4 hour tour of the Zingaro by boat. It is refreshing to go by boat and see all the different coastal spots of this reserve.    

You will see rock formations, old caves, secluded white beaches… and Bella Mare!  At this particular excursion they let us swim in two spots, we saw many fish and jellyfish. No, that did not stop us from swimming.  

Take a big excursion boat. We took a small one, it was ok but they were not well equipped, no fins, no food, no snorkel gear… It was too bare bones. If we could do it over we would go with a bigger boat.   

Go and enjoy the natural beauty of Sicilian coast!! Buona Giornata!! 🇮🇹

Buon Giorno from San Vito Lo Capo!

We are posting from the beautiful beach of San Vito Lo Capo today!!

This is the best beach in Sicily and arguably in southern Italy.  If you are a beach lover and can’t go to Maldives, this will do for now.   For our Maldives paradise adventures see our past posts :))  

The sea is clean, clear and gradually getting deeper. Buoyancy is high, the water is very salty. We love it like this!

The sand is very fine and light yellow. To rent a one um fella and two chairs roughly will cost you $12 euros. There are zones on the outskirts that you can just put your own chair and towel – but we recommend renting since they are situated in the best zones of the beach. 

🇮🇹 Ciao!  We must go swimming now 💦🏊 

Lecce’s native son and artist Alberto Buttazzo!

One lazy afternoon while strolling the cute streets of Lecce, we entered an unassuming shop. It was hardly recognizable as a shop from the outside.  Inside Alberto and Dino were sitting and chattering away as if they have been waiting for our arrival all this while…

We did not know that we were looking at the portrait of an artist, until we started looking around the shop. I saw a print and immediately knew it would be mine. Maker turned out to be Alberto himself. 

 

When people like each other no matter what the languages they can communicate. Though we know some limited Italian it was easy to connect with him.  He told us about his art and showed us his books, prints, the printing machine and more. 

  

 This is Alberto’s passion!  He has been doing this since 1934, his father founded the La Teatrale typography shop in 1926.

 

Dino, his brother in law, and AnnaMaria, his sister – a soprano, joined our lively conversation.  Also we had the pleasure of meeting Antonio, Dino’s talented son.   

Hard not to fall in love with culture, art, passion… we felt lucky that we walked in on this history waiting to be told and heard.

 

If you are visiting Lecce, drop by and say hello to Alberto and family. The shop is located at Via dei Perroni, 21 Lecce.  If you are far away then follow him on Facebook at Tipografia Del Commercio Lecce.

Grazie Alberto!!!  

Cooking with Lecce’s best Chef Gianna !

We had been waiting for this cooking experience for weeks. It was important to us to make this travel a learning experience since we love to cook and eat. 

Chef Gianna and Giorgio gave us the full experience of cooking in traditional Lecce style.  We met in the early evening by Piazza del Duomo.  We strolled together to the market in a leisurely way while getting to know more about each other.  We all have a passion for cooking, eating, and enjoying good company as a common characteristic.   

Market experience was fun, we watched how Gianna and Giorgio selected cheese, tomatoes, and other ingredients. The market owner and staff were great.  This is an integral part of feeling and breathing the whole experience.  These are the kinds of memories that are priceless.  We loved it!! 

 

We arrived at the beautiful Cooking Experience kitchen. This is where they cook and entertain the guests.  

 

It is lovely, comfortable, fully equipped with anything needed for cooking a great meal.   

The menu was focaccia, orecchiette, stuffed eggplants, and pastacciotto , which is the local custard desert.  

   
 Drinking wine 🍷🍷 while we cooked made the whole process even more fun. Chef Gianna is full of great tips and lessons. We made the entire dinner from scratch!! 

  
 

Learning how to make the orecchiette was amazing. We made eggless pasta dough that could be used for any type of pasta. Chef Gianna showed us in detail how to make the pasta.
  

We tried our best to follow Chef Gianna’s instructions. Yes! she did use the pasta we made for dinner. She was gracious and kind to say we did well.  We think we need more practice 😉

The fully hand on experience was very satisfying. We made everything together. Giorgio assured us not to worry about taking notes since he send the precise recipes to all the students. This helped us relax, concentrate and have more fun. 

 

Voilà!!   the finished pasta… it was as delicious as it looks.  What’s remarkable is that time flew by, we had great laughs, and a great meal while learning without any strain or intimidation.  Giorgio and Chef Gianna have this easy going style that makes any level cook feel comfortable.  
While we did only one day, you can customize and book several sessions with Chef Gianna.  Start planning your cooking experience; contact Giorgio for details at cookingexperiencelecce@gmail.com 🇮🇹
 

Spa Salus PerAquam – our respite in Lecce, Italy

Our long time followers know about our Spa addiction. We have been in Spa’s around the world.  See our past blog entries for Maldives, Seattle, Kohler, Thailand, etc…

In Lecce, we have been walking everywhere. When you walk all day long and have fun it’s important to rest and treat your body well. It will pay you back!

Our hotel Risorgimento Resort luckily for us has a lovely spa. It is perfect for after a long day of site seeing and travelling.  We recommend that you book at least a day ahead. 

Our favorite spa expert is Monica Valiani – ask for her by name.  She speaks Italian, English, French, and German.  We had spa services with her for two days and it was simply excellent. 

 

Turkish Bath (Bagno Turco) after a good salt scrub on the entire body transforms your senses and starts the relaxation process. The emotional shower (rain, breeze) with special light therapy completes the whole treatment. We left clean, relaxed, and energized for our dinner party.

 
Next day we returned for facial and the special Cinque Sensi massage created by Monica. She designed this massage based on chackras. We loved it and our faces were radiating after the facial.  If you want a couples massage ask Monica for her signature massage designed for couples. 

The prices are middle range. For a great 50 min massage we paid €80. The Bagno Turco was €20. They have manicures, waxing, and many other facial and body treatments. You can also request something more tailored for your needs. 

The spa is small but tranquil and you can reserve it for privacy. You will be surrounded by unobtrusive service and positive energy.

  

Monica – thank you for awakening our cinque sensi and make our journey even more special! Grazie mille!! 🇮🇹

 

Restaurant Hopping in Lecce – Italy

So, if you find yourself in Lecce and need to eat… you have many choices. Since none will tell you the truth about which restaurants are good or not, we will!!

Avoid rooftop restaurant at Risorgimento Resort hotel. Food is mediocre at best and expensive.  Service was ok. So instead go up there for drinks, desert and the view.  Food was so bad that I actually got sick from it.  We loved the view, but regretted having dinner there. 

 
Take a chance at Nonna Tetti. Cute little restaurant in home cooking style. Food is great, relatively cheap but… ignore the rude staff if you can. Tell yourself you are here just for the food.  The pasta sagne was especially delicious!!  Make sure to order the house starter plates; they are small plates of side dishes like fried eggplants, pickles, beets and other yummies. 

Best place we had dinner at was Blu Notte! Everything we had was fresh, delicious, and memorable. We had pasta, fish, octopus, muscles, and desert. It is not cheap but not too expensive either.  Staff was well trained, friendly and efficient.  You might also get lucky and find a table without reservation, like we did. We recommend that you don’t take the risk and make a reservation.

 
 

Maybe you are wondering about paninis, sweets, and gelato — well, come back another day for our special focus on these dolci!!