I am iced in. No water, limited cooking, and a book I am having a hard time getting into, so this week I thought I would explore romantic places. It is February and the month of Valentine's Day and romance isn't it?
So, what is a decidely single girl who is traveling the world via the internet supposed to do? Well, for one, work the Valentine's Dance instead of getting all girlied up and having a hot date. But that's ok. Not many people get to have a radio station sponsor a party for their birthday and then let her work too. But that's quite all right.
I get to go to the 50 most romantic places on earth, at least according to travel and leisure.com. So let's start with the list and go from there. Just in case any of you with unlimited time and budgets are in the market for a change from the traditional, dinner, chocolates and roses...
1. Moroccan Moyen Âge
2. Garden over the Big Apple
3. Rule India
4. Enchanted Evening in Italy
5. Petite Promenade in Montreal
6. Baroque Belgium
7. Illuminated Vieques
8. La Source Shiraz
9. Sedona by Firelight
10. Spanish Idyll
And, look, Paris didn't even make the top ten! But I am adding one...New Zealand. Here's what I read on BBC this morning...."New Zealand: a microcosm of ecosystems". I just had to go there! So, it is number eleven!
I think I will stop here. It will take a while to check out all of these places and we only have a little over a week until Valentine's Day. So let's start at the top...
Morocco...ahhh...one of my favorite places - Africa, and NO, I didn't put it first on the list - they did! It's the home of Casablanca and Marrakesh.
Who can forget one of the best all time movies "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart and Ingirid Bergman? Who can forget "Play it again Sam" and the words to "As Time Goes By"?
Let's have a look around Morrocco...I couldn't resist after reading this on Travel and Leisure: "The sounds, scents, and colors of the cobbled alleyways and mosques, the figures cloaked in djellabas—all create an intoxication that teeters on the overwhelming. Moroccan National Tourist Office, 212-37/681-541; www.tourism-in-morocco.com."
Starting of course, in Casablanca...
photo courtesy of www.photozones.net
I love the caption for Casablanca on Travel Zone. net ...'Casablanca, Morocco: Entertain your wildest fantesies". Now isn't that what Valentine's Day and romance are all about?
And of course, we have to move on to Marakesh. How could I resist after reading this list of reasons to go on fodors.com
Top Reasons to Go
Wander amid the sizzle and smoke of the Djemâa el Fna—the world's most exuberant marketplace.
Lose yourself (literally) in the alluring lanes of the bizarre bazaars of the souk and the city.
Image courtesy of Photo Radar.com
I could loose myself for days in a place like this...
Stay in a riad and sip mint tea in the airy confines of your bougainvillea-filled courtyard haven.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Can't you just see yourself having your morning coffee here?
Step back in time to the elaborate tombs and palaces of the Saadian sultans, and the calm and beauty of the intricate medersa.
On to stop # 2...Garden over the Big Apple
Table for two anyone??
Stop #3...Rule India
"The sandstone fort in the town of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, rises from the eastern desert like a volcano emerging from the sea. ... Government of India Tourist Office, 213/380-8855; www.tourisminindia.com."
Those words were all it took for me to take a look around...
http://www.photography-match.com/views/images/gallery/Jaisalmer_Rajasthan_India.jpg
I could spend hours touring Rajasthan, but time to move on to #4...
4. Enchanted Evening in Italy...
I love Italy. Not that I have ever been there of course, but the pictures, the music...all impart great images of romance...
This You Tube video of Luciano Pavoritto singing Oh Sole Mio says and shows it all...
Forget the nose, the photos of Italy behind it are well worth looking at ...
Can't you just picture yourself in a gondola in a place like this?
Photo courtesy of Beautiful Places to Visit.com
Eat - Recipe: How could I pass up a recipe for Gnocchi when it read like this, " Both Luca and SImone, my cousins, promised me the experience I would have as each delicate bite of the fluffy gnocchi hit my tongue would be like consuming a piece of a fluffy cloud in the sky."
5. Petite Promenade in Montreal
When I first started looking for pictures of Montreal, I only saw pictures that reminded me of any large city - towering skycrapers and typical street scenes. I was wondering "Why Montreal?" A little tenacity paid off and I found this photo and a link to a site called "Design Sponge" and a wonderful guide to visitng Montreal. Now, I understand.
Photo courtesy of Design Sponge.com
Eat - Recipe:
6. Baroque Belgium
Belgium has always been on my list of places I would like to visit. After looking at this picture I wonder....hmmm...what kind of mission work could I do there??
7. Illuminated Vieques
I had absolutely no idea where Vieques was when I fist saw this list. Now I know it is in Puerto Rico. I am quite certain they need mission work there ...
What could be more romantic than a table for two and the end of a candlelit walk on the edge of the ocean?
All About Luxury News describes it as "Vieques has all the classic elements for a romantic escape: superb beaches, balmy weather, a languid pace. But the highlight is the bioluminescent bay on the southern shore of the island, filled with microscopic organisms that flash bright blue and light up the water with what looks like a million stars."
I'm packing my bags...how about you?
8. La Source Shiraz
And I thought Shiraz was just a wine! Little did I know that it is a place of such great beauty in Iran. Persia.org describes it as "the city of roses and poets". How much more romantic than that can you get?
http://www.theworldwidewine.com/Wine_and_Food/Wine_and_Fowl/waterfalls_near_shiraz_iran.jpg
9. Sedona by Firelight
Now, Sedona, might be a little easier for most of us to get to, but I don't think it keeps it from being one of the most beautiful places on earth...
To learn all about Seona, take a minute to visit their travel guide Azjerome.com
And last, but certainly not least, on my list is...
10. Spanish Idyll
What more can a girl ask for than beautiful ocean and mountains all in one pace! The link above takes you to a great story about living there.
I could soooo see myself curled up here with a good book to read....
RECIPES...
Now that I have "visited" all these places, I thought I would try a few recipes. A girl has to eat after all doesn't she? Check out the Recipe Page for the recipes. Try as many as you like and let me know which are your favorites.
First stop of course is Morroccoo and Kefta Meatballs in Butter Sauce. It's a quick and easy recipe I found on About.Com
Moroccan Kefta Meatballs in Butter Sauce
Photo © Christine Benlafquihhttp://moroccanfood.about.com/od/beeflambandgoatrecipes/r/Kefta_in_butter_sauce.htmI skipped right over New York City, what good ol' Texas girl would admit to eating anything from "New York City"?
So, I jumped across the ocean and headed for India and found this recipe for
Semia Pakodi
It's an Indian snack and the one thing you need when you've been iced in for three days is a snack! I don't know about you guys, but I get kind of tired of eating the same old chips.
Skipped over a few others and headed straight for Shiraz. How could I not, when I found this ""Sharing poetry on a Persian Plate"! - Yea it makes sense because Persians are very romantic about their food. During a regular meal or otherwise, people can hardly restrain themselves from singing the praise of the food laid before them. Every food has a tale to tell and the eaters take turns to extol the virtues of the food through a poem, or a story. The Persian food culture is valued for the richness of the taste and honored for the abundance of literature. The quotes sang in the praise of food are drawn from ancient Persian literature." (http://www.ifood.tv/blog/sharing-poetry-on-a-persian-plate)
And last, but certainly not least, a meal is just not a meal without desert, so it is off to Belgium we go for some incredible Crepes with Salted Butter Carmel. It just sounds decadent, doesn't it?
My problem, I can tell with cooking all these meals is, I haven't found anything I don't like so far. The other problem is, that with only two pans, I sometimes have to adapt. Tonight it was having to reheat the gnocci. I dumped it in the pan with the Kefta and it toasted a little and soaked up some of the lemon butter sauce. I don't think I will ever make it differently again! MMMM!
Pray
This week, I am praying your lives are full of love, laughter and romance!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Click on the links below to learn more about PCUSA's work in these countries and I hope you will take a moment to pray for the work and the workers...
Love
I love this new website I found supporting women survivors of war rebuild their lives...Women for Women International Check it out and learn more about what they are doing...
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