Weekend in Madrid

Plaza Mayor

This weekend I made my way for the first time to Madrid. I really didn't know what to expect but I can say that I fell in love with this amazing city. One of the things I was excited about was the food of course, and the famous Spanish Tapas. The weather was amazing, sunny and hot. I found the 'Madrilenos' to be amazing people, they are extremely friendly and really made an effort to understand my embarrassing efforts to speak Spanish. While walking around the city I found a few "Museo del Jamon', which literally means 'Ham Museum'; this was my paradise. An entire store selling exclusively pork products, and sandwiches stuffed with any kind of ham you could possibly imagine.
I loved the Spanish lifestyle, people were so relaxed during the day, and so active at night, it was really amazing. Pan y Tomate for breakfast, Jamon sandwich for lunch, Patatas Bravas for dinner, and the warmth of the sun on my face made this weekend a truly memorable one. I will definitely make my way back to Madrid!

Croquetas y Patatas Bravas 

Amazing Tapas Bar/Cervezeria in Plaza del Tirso de Molina

Amazing night-life

Haggle Vinyl

I recently just happened to walk into this store, trying to find a place to hide from the rain, not knowing exactly what I was going to find inside. I am not a vinyl collector, but I always love looking at them, and this is the place for vinyl lovers, and was a lovely discovery to make while hiding from the rain. The first thing I noticed when walking inside is the owner, an extremely charismatic and friendly man who started talking to me as if he had known me for years. The store itself is a real treat, packed with records that span entire genres and decades, I can easily see how someone could end up spending hours in there, chatting with the owner and looking at records. It's very easy to get to and only minutes away from Islington.

Haggle Vinyl

114 Essex Road

N1 8LX London

Rock 'n Roll at Ed's diner

One of my favorite things about eating in the States is the diners. There really is nothing like them anywhere else in the world, and sometimes I really just crave a Burger or a Hot Dog and Milkshake, and of course the atmosphere of the diner with its booths and its bottles of mustard on each table. The other night we had dinner at Ed's which is an American themed diner; it is a chain so there a few of them in central London. I must say the burger wasn't the best I've ever had, but the rock and roll music was fun, the waiters were extremely friendly, and it all came with a very reasonable price; and for a night it kind of felt like we were in a real American diner.

Sea and fish in Bari

This weekend I was lucky enough to go back to Italy for a long weekend, but instead of going directly to Rome, I found flights that go straight to the south in Bari. There are many reasons why I love going to Bari: first, my grandmother, my perfect Italian grandmother who starts calling me every day a week before my arrival, just to be sure she is going to buy the right food for me and cook the right meals. Just because she is scared I am going to go hungry, and because according to her "There is no real food in London". The other main reason I love Bari is the sea; and along with that comes the raw seafood. I personally do not like Sushi, but there is just something about the raw seafood that you can buy directly from the port that makes me go crazy. Not all of the restaurants serve them because things like raw mussels, sea urchins and oysters can be quite dangerous, but I always make sure to go to Il Sorso Preferito, where the chef Pierino always makes sure to let me have a whole plate of raw 'Frutti di Mare' just for me. If I don't go there, I go to the fish-seller on Via Melo, who now knows me as 'La Romana' (The girl from Rome) and lets me have a taste of everything he has in the shop. Amazing.

Orecchiette con le Cime di Rapa cooked by my Nonna

Burrata and Focaccia in the backround

Sea Urchins or 'Ricci'

Frutti di Mare at the restaurant

Cuban Tapas in Angel

Angel is one of my absolute favourite neighbourhoods, and so today I took advantage of the sun and the day off University to walk around Angel with a friend. We found an incredibly cute Cuban restaurant/bar called Cuba Libre, that had a special offer on Tapas for lunch. The interiors were a bit too much, and with a bit too many pictures of Che Guevaras, but once we tasted the food, it made the overly decorated room perfectly fine.  The list of Tapas makes it impossible to choose, along with the menu which has a varied and long list of Cuban dishes. I ended  up getting 4 plates of Tapas for 7 pounds (perfect discovery for a student!), and was stuffed by the end of the meal. Really Latin environment and music, great food and reasonable prices, will definitely go back for another Tapas lunch.

If you have some time after lunch, walk down Essex Road , and you will be able to see  one of Bansky's works. It's not in the best of shape, but it was still cool to be able to see one.

Fresh air in Oxford

I am very sorry I haven't been keeping up the blog, but have been busy spending time in New York, Rome and settling back into my London lifestyle.
I've been back for a little over a week and already felt the need for some fresh air. And so my friends and I decided to take a day-trip to the beautiful Oxford. We started our day with lunch in a pub called The Duke's Cut. With a lovely view on the nearby river, a sunny terrace and a menu based of gourmet foods it was a wonderful discovery. We walked around the whole town, visited a few campuses and of course payed a visit to the famous Christ Church (where a lot of Harry Potter was filmed). There was plenty of nature and plenty of fresh air, a great way to slowly settle back into living in the UK. Make sure to go on a sunny day because it just made everything so much more beautiful.

Grand Central Oyster Bar

Me and the family have been in New York this Christmas, and that is why I you will have to excuse me if I haven’t been keeping the blog up to date. I’ve been to NY many times since I was a kid, and each time we find new buildings, museums, restaurants and shops. But there is always one place I make sure to go to in our time in NY: Grand Central’s Oyster Bar. 

The first time I ever went, I was probably about 10 years old accompanied by my dad, who had been telling me how he just loved the place. The thing that made me fall in love with this is place is the fact that it is so old fashioned; it is huge with it’s high vaulted ceilings and a feeling that you are stuck in the 20’s.

They have a huge variety of seafood to choose from, but I find myself always ordering the same thing : New England Clam Chowder and Grand Central Oyster Platter. They have over 17 kinds of oysters to choose from, and if you find yourself too overwhelmed by the choice, just go for the mixed platter like I do, it’s delicious. Also, I would advise to skip the line of people waiting to be seated and just make your way to the bar where the rule is “First come, first serve”.