Winter Europe travel

A Taberna do Mar: The Most Reasonable Tasting Menu in Lisbon

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As you may know, Dan and I have spent a lot of time in Portugal, including getting married there in 2017! We tried a fantastic and inexpensive seafood tasting menu on our last trip, and it was one of our best finds yet! Yes, I’m talking about A Taberna do Mar or, in English, The Sea Tavern. It really just sounds much better in Portuguese. This is my review of Taberna do Mar!

A Taberna do Mar is a tiiiiiiny restaurant in Graça are of Lisbon (think Alfama). The chef, Filipe Rodrigues, learned to cook from family in the Algarve and has worked at a number of Japanese restaurants in Lisbon. As a result, A Taberna do Mar offers a small menu of local seafood prepared in a cross between Portuguese and Japanese technique. The menu changes regularly, but often features similar things, and offers ordering a la carte and a tasting menu. The tasting menu was only 25 euro per person during our visit (yes, you read that correctly!) so we opted for that! Everything was fantastic, but the menu is almost exclusively seafood, FYI for non-seafood eaters.

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A Photo Tour of Innsbruck, Austria.

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Our every-other-year Oktoberfest trip took us to beautiful Innsbruck, Austria after Oktoberfest  2023. This was our first time in Innsbruck, but our third in Austria. It rained a lot during our time in Innsbruck, but it was still such a beautiful city! We absolutely need to go back without rain. Since it was so pretty, these are some of my favorite pictures of Innsbruck.

This is the town hall where weddings take place. The “love” sign if for a wedding that happened earlier in the day.

Even in the rain, Innsbruck is gorgeous.

I really loved this building.

Lots of flowers all over town, even in late September.

Innsbruck is very European.

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Eating My Way Around Rome In A Golf Cart With My 80 Year Old Mother!

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One of my favorite things to do in Rome is a food tour, and I have previously been on great ones in Testaccio and Trastevere with Eating Europe, as well as one in the Centro Storico with another company (really good!). This holiday season we were traveling in Rome with my mother and decided to try Eating Europe’s food tour via golf cart, as it would have been difficult for her to do a full walking food tour in the December evenings. We all really loved this tour, as it was really fun and allowed us to explore several areas of Rome via an open air golf cart, from Prati, Gian, Trastevere, and Testaccio!  Our tour met at our first stop near the Vatican in Prati and then we legit drove around Rome on a golf cart until the tour ended! Be sure to bring a coat, but the experience in the golf cart was pleasant and I would absolutely recommend this tour. This post reviews our tour, including what and where we ate!

Our trusty golf cart for the evening!

STOP ONE: A TRAPIZZINO AT AL SORPASSO

The first stop of our tour was for a new Roman food (for Rome and me!), the Trapizzino! And by “new Roman,” our guide described the trapizzino as a Roman food created in recent Roman memory. A trapizzino is similar to a pizza pocket; a triangle of bread stuffed with your choice of pizza “toppings,” meant to be eaten on the go. I loathe “eating on the go” so I was very happy that were sitting down a table with cutlery for my first trapizzino. I was also super excited to try a trappizzino on this food tour, as I had never had one despite visiting Rome many times.

Your classic trapizzino.

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Visiting Assisi at Christmastime!

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Assisi is an absolutely adorable hilltop town in Umbria, Italy, about 35 minutes from our beloved Montefalco, and 2.5 hours from Rome (via train). Dan and I first visited Assisi in 2008 (when we studied abroad in Rome for a summer!) and, although we adored Assisi in 2008, did not return until December 2023! That was a mistake, and we won’t wait so long next time. This time around, rather than a couple nights as we did in Summer 2008, we stayed in Brufa, Italy at the Borgobrufa Spa Resort and took a short (but expensive taxi) to Assisi and back. This post reviews what we did during an afternoon in Assisi at Christmastime!

Dan & I in Assisi, circa Summer 2008.

ASSISI, UMBIRA

Assisi is known to many tourists as the home of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals, who was born in Assisi, lived in Assisi, and died in Assisi.  In addition to Saint Francis, Assisi is also home to another famous Saint, Saint Chiara (a lady saint!) and so many churches for a tiny little town. You truly cannot visit Assisi without seeing multiple churches and related religious things.  All the religious stuff being said, Assisi is also a beautiful Umbrian hilltop town complete with views of the surrounding Umbrian countryside and its own ruined castle. I recommend Assisi to, of course, those coming for religious reasons, but also to those in Umbria and wanting to see a gorgeous hilltop town. Stay the night to see Assisi without the crowds if you can, which are worst during the middle of the day when day trippers and tour groups come from all around.

Assisi from the top of town in December 2023.

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Elementi Fine Dining – A Christmas Michelin Experience

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In our recent stay at Borgobrufa Spa Resort over Christmas (2023), we dined at Borgobrufa’s Michelin-starred restaurant – Elementi Fine Dining – on Christmas evening. Our meal was really fantastic, and quite reasonable for a Michelin star restaurant. This post reviews our meal and experience at Elementi Fine Dining. In sum, everything was great and I highly recommend a meal at Elementi!

Elementi Fine Dining.

Elementi is located on Borgobrufa’s property, right behind the main checkin area. The entrance is rather grand, with a main entrance that kind of resembles an American Olive Garden (this is the only thing reminiscent of the OG) and a pretty garden.  Oddly enough, Elementi backs up to Borgobrufa’s other restaurant, Quattro Sensi (which was also fantastic and has a Michelin mention!).

The courtyard beside Elementi Fine Dining.

Once inside of Elementi, the main dining room is quite small, with only a few smartly appointed tables in what resembles, in my opinion, an upscale living room. The dining room gave kind of a 70s vibe, and I was certainly into it! There is also a real fireplace and if you visit in the summer, you will be treated to gorgeous views before sunset.

The main dining room at Elementi Fine Dining.

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