Lost in Translation, Dazed & Confused both film names spring to mind when it comes to getting to grips with Japanese Culture, it is not weird as some sites say it is just totally different and it takes some time to get used to, even for seasoned travellers. However some tips on what to expect and how to make the experience easier will I hope be welcome. There are however a few conundrums that I have to mention.

In a country where in cities bars are open till sometimes 5am and restaurants are often open 24 hours a day the public transport stops by midnight……….

7-11 shops are a  necessity, it is one of the few places that visitors can use foreign currency or debit cars, thank you 7-11 Bank. For Japanese salary men who have had a very late night of beer, highballs & sake followed by karaoke they can buy a new white shirt & black tie for going to work………..

You do not smoke in the street but you can in bars and restaurants…………….

The list is endless so let’s start on the information you need

Addresses

One thing that is difficult is addresses, there are not street names and numbers as such, addresses comprise the prefecture (think county), then municipality (city), then district, followed by city block and building number. Given the added fact that restaurants and bars can be in basements or on upper floors this can make finding a specific place hard unless it is a major site. Get an app for your phone such as CityMaps2Go by Ulmon, load the cities at home, add hotels, restaurants etc. and you can then check them when you are out and about without using data roaming. Invaluable when you are trying to find your hotel on arrival after a long flight.

Travel – Train

If you are travelling around the country a JR Rail Pass is essential, it has to be bought before you go, can be for one, two or three weeks. You then exchange it when you arrive at a JR office, you must have your passport with you, decide what date you want it to start and which trains you wish to take and staff will make the bookings. You cannot travel on the Nozomi, the fastest bullet train, but you can travel on the Hikari which in most cases is the same model train, as the Nozomi it just stops more and does in fact travel at the same speed. You should reserve a seat as although there are un-reserved carriages on all trains they are not as comfortable as the reserved. If you are exchanging the Voucher at Shinjuku Station, the worlds busiest, the office is at the New South Gate a ten minute walk from the main east & west entrances. Shop around as prices can vary for the pass, not by much but some give free guide books etc.

Stations are huge, but in most cases there is plenty of signage, make sure you know what line you are using as there are the Shinkansen, Bullet, lines but often many other local lines. Check the type of train, usually a Hakari, the train number and the time, as there are frequently a number of trains going to the same destination around the same time, from the same platform.

Check your carriage number and queue up at the appropriate number on the platform, the trains, usually 16 carriages long,  come in and go out within a few minutes so it is important to be a the correct place. There is limited luggage space and it is always at the far end of a carriage, there will be two queues for say coach 11 one at each end. Work out the direction of travel, always shown on the platform, and you want the queue at the rear of the carriage – simple.

Your JR pass also works on local JR lines and ferries such as on a trip to Miyajima and on the train to Naoshima and Kurashiki, and the Hiroshima tour buses.

Travel – Bus & Subway

There are a number of travel cards you can buy to simplify travel in Tokyo on Subway, JR Yamanote line, buses etc. We chose the Suica which can be bought at main stations, there is a Y500 deposit and a minimum top up of Y1,000. They are essential and make travelling around the city so easy, they can be topped up at any subway or train station. In addition they can be used in Kyoto on bus & subway although day bus tickets are better value and in Osaka. They can also be used to pay for luggage lockers at stations, very handy.

Subway & train etiquette is fascinating, people use mobile phones but DO NOT talk on them at all, also people routinely sleep on the subway and wake up just at their station, probably after a very late night out.

Subway stations are vast, trains very long and many exits so finding the correct way out is very important. Stations have all the information you need to make sure you find escalators, lifts and the exit you need, very important with luggage. One station in Osaka required four lifts to get from street level to the correct platform with suitcases.

Escalators are another minefield, stand on the left at all times, EXCEPT when you get to Osaka, then you stand on the right.

Buses and trams  can be a great way of getting round, particularly in Kyoto and Hiroshima but again you need  crash course in where to board and what fare to pay. Most do not board at the front, some are flat fare, some you take a ticket which has a stop number and then you pay depending the number of stops you go, shown on a screen, when you get off at the front. It is all part of the fun of travel in Japan.

Hotels

Accommodation does not have to be expensive and if like us you do not fancy capsule hotels then business hotels as mentioned in the city pages are the answer, however there are some things that you need to know.

Rooms can be incredibly small, check out sizes when you book, also check the bed size, a double can in fact be a large single bed. There is limited hanging space, buy plastic  hangers from a pound shop before you go, essential if you are away for a few weeks.

The rooms however are usually packed with things you do not need, trouser presses, kettles, humidifiers etc, when what you want are a few drawers for your clothes. The bathrooms always come with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel, plus a toilet that has so many controls you always fear pressing the wrong button !

Check-in times are usually strictly adhered to, rarely is there a chance that if the room is ready you will be able to check-in, 3pm means 3pm. You can always leave cases on arrival or when departing, we also found reception staff spoke limited English, fine for check-in etc. but other information was more difficult to obtain.

Restaurants

First of all models of food in windows is good and not to be avoided as in other countries, they also help you decide what delights to choose. Be brave if a place looks interesting go in, ask if they have an English menu and if not decide if pictures will do instead. We had some wonderful food and found that in the main the simpler places were better and of course far cheaper and less daunting than some of the upmarket ones.

Stations and Department Stores are great sources of eating places, everyone seems to eat out all the time and in most department stores the restaurant floors seemed to have queues at many of the choices. Lunch time set meals are a great way to try the variety of food on offer and are great value.

It is also common to queue at other restaurants and there may be a line of seats which you move along as the queue gets seated, sometimes there is a list of names to which you add your own, all part of the Japanese queue addiction.

Bars

These are a minefield in Japan, the Japanese like to go out and enjoy themselves and colleagues going out after work is commonplace, as is consuming large amounts of alcohol. I have mentioned the main options for types of drink on the city pages and prices can vary from incredibly cheap highballs in stand-up bars to cover charges and incredibly expensive drinks in up-market bars. Ask if there is a cover charge if in doubt, as paying the same again as for a beer if you are only popping in before dinner is a rip-off. Also there are many small bars where visitors are really not wanted, this may sound anti-social but there are always lots of other places where you will be welcomed, bought drinks and sometime given small plates of food.

Department Stores

A must to visit in Japan, the best department stores are truly incredible and the food halls are fantastic to wander around, take note of the price of some of the items such as certain types of fruit which will leave you amazed. £100 for a melon, £15 per apple and as for the grapes !

Cyclists

Beware of cyclists, not in Tokyo but in other cities such as Kyoto and Osaka an amazing amount of people cycle, but they cycle on the pavement so beware when stepping out of your hotel or a restaurant or shop. They seem to mage to avoid pedestrians very successfully, cycling around people, but be aware.

Crossing Roads

No one J-walks they all wait for the green light, even when it is a narrow street with no traffic in sight, the possible exception is Osaka where rebellion seems to be a trait of the citizens.

Toilets

Amazingly clean in stations, shops and restaurants but so complicated it is not true. Automatic seat lifting and closing, background noises while you are using the facilities to avoid any embarrassment, sprays of every sort and every pressure that photographing the amazing varieties can become an addiction.

If you visit Japanese homes or of course a temple you will have to remove your shoes, if however you then visit the bathroom you will have to put on a pair of bathroom slippers.

Other

Too many to mention but vending machines, Pachinko arcades where since gambling for cash is illegal winners exchange tokens or prizes for cash at places nominally separate from the arcade – only in Japan.

If you are going –  enjoy, thinking about it – don’t hesitate, or not even thinking about it – start ! It is an amazing country, with fantastic culture, great food and some incredibly friendly people.

PS There is a book called Japan by Kiriko Kubo a Japanese cartoonist who lives in London, the book is intended for Japanese students but is full of fascinating information and drawings about Japanese culture it answers many of the questions that will strike you during a trip to Japan. We enjoyed it so much when we saw it in Osaka that we bought a copy when we got home.

A trip to South Africa to include Cape Town, the Wine District, Johannesburg and finally a Safari stay at the Kruger Park arranged independently and for non car drivers may sound daunting but when you see how much you can save on advertised packages and also learn that it can be done safely this soon becomes a very reasonable reality. Choosing a time of year when air fares are reasonable and the country is coming out of winter is important. Also worth bearing in mind is selecting a time when you have the most chance of spotting as many animals as possible on your safari, September worked on all these. We chose an open jaw ticket into Cape Town and out of Johannesburg and Qatar Airways offered by far and away the best prices and good flight times and with no jet lag as you are flying almost directly south, a slight eastern detour to allow a very simple transfer at Doha is no hardship.

First stop was Cape Town, as Edinburgh residents we are used to four seasons in one day and Cape Town certainly offers that, you have to choose your time to ascend Table Mountain carefully as it can be shrouded in mist called the Tablecloth for days. We can attest to this as our downtown apartment had a balcony that faced the mountain.

Cape Town stands out to me for two things, it’s spectacular setting best seen from the top of one of the regular tour buses which does a 2 hour tour of the Peninsula area and the quality of the food. I can honestly say we had some of the best food of our world travels in the Cape area and at prices, with the rand currently at 20 to the pound, so reasonable you are searching for the calculator to make sure your conversion is correct! Information of places to eat can be found on the Cape Town city page.

The city has huge contrasts as you would expect, wine estates in Constantia, seaside houses at Llandudno which are some of the most expensive properties in the country and so many people on the streets in the Central Business District. Not always an easy city but one worth exploring in depth.

The Cape Winelands offer a few days of non city time, soaking up in more ways than one the excellent wines available as well as the scenery and historic sites of the area. Stellenbosch was the first stop, a beautiful town famous for it’s university and the lovely Dutch architecture of the historic centre.

It’s wineries require transport to reach therefore we moved onto Franschhoek, the home to French Huegnots in the 17^th century. The setting is stunning, at the end of a valley, hemmed in by mountains on three side and more than 40 wineries in close proximity. It is also the culinary capital of South Africa, it is impossible not to fall in love with the town. A wine tram runs on two routes visiting a good selection of the wineries and a couple of days can happily be spent enjoying the wines, the scenery and the fantastic food. More details on the tram and restaurants can be found on the individual page.

We arranged transfers through taxi companies recommended by the Tourist Office and drivers arranged by our Guest Houses, all were good, reliable and very reasonably priced, Cape Town to Stellenbosch cost the same as 2 singles with Greyhounds buses but were door to door.

We returned to Cape Town for one night in order to catch the Shosholoza Meyl train for our 26 hour journey to Johannesburg. Having done our research on various options we chose this because reports were that it was comfortable, safe and very reasonable priced and it was ! To put this into perspective the famous Blue Train costs around £900 per person for the same journey, the Premier Classe train costs nearer £200, the Shosholoza costs around £35 for the journey including a berth in a 2 or 4 bed compartment.

The train was clean and comfortable, in fact the most comfortable sleeper I have experienced in any of our many long overnight train journeys during our travels. The train was safe, plenty of security on board and at stations. There was a restaurant car and bar serving plain, decent food and drink at very reasonable prices. The scenery on the first part was spectacular and even arriving four hours late, a common occurrence, did not spoil an excellent experience at a bargain price.

Johannesburg was our next stop for three nights, people in Cape Town were amazed we were stopping there but everything I had read made to want to spend a least a couple of days there. We stayed in Melville, a cool area with restaurants, bars and quirky shops but had to get used to the fact that at night you really do not walk anywhere, but cheap taxis and tuk tuks made this simple. The open top bus tour was a great way to see what a vast city this was and to learn about it’s history. The Apartheid Museum was on the must visit list and it was a sobering but fascinating place, as was our visit to Soweto, the scene of so many important events in the history of the country. I had read about the people being welcoming and proud of their city and this was indeed the case, it was fascinating to see the regeneration of parts of the city centre and I am pleased we chose to spend some time in Jozi.

One of the main reasons for the trip was to include a Safari holiday that was affordable, well located and allowed us as non-drivers to see as much of the wildlife as possible. We took the short flight from Johannesburg to Mapumalanga Kruger Airport then a transfer to Mvuradona Safari Lodge. From the minute we arrived we loved the lodge, for those that have seen the film Out of Africa this was it with such style. The lodge only sleeps 14 which to me seems a perfect size and the care and attention to the rooms and to the guests is fantastic. It certainly fulfilled all our requirements.

We took three safaris from the lodge into the Kruger, one sunrise, one night and one sunset, all were excellent and yes, we did see the big five and so many other animals and birds. The first bonus was being able to stroll from the lodge along the fence that borders the Kruger and Crocodile River and view the animals near the river, lions, elephants and hippos amongst the animals we saw on our daily walks. The second bonus was the zebras, giraffes, warthogs etc. wandering into the garden of the lodge, just magical. A wonderful, chilled experience with lovely food, great service, if another safari is ever undertaken the only place to go would be Mvuradona.

I hope this blog will encourage people to think about independently arranging a South Africa holiday to include a Safari particularly since our 3 week holiday cost around a £1,000 less per person than a 2 week advertised package. Ours excludes meals except for on Safari but trust me great food and wine is incredible value. Go for it !

It all started in Madrid with the Mercado San Miguel, it was an old fashioned typical neighbourhood market in the centre of Madrid then it closed down and re-opened in 2009 as a “Gastronomic” market with a huge variety of places from which you can buy food and drink to eat in a central area and it has become one of the top visitor attractions in the city. I loved the idea initially but think that the quality of the produce has gone down while the prices have risen. Also the locals no longer have a produce market nearby. It is frequently so packed that finding anywhere to put your food and drink can be almost impossible. It is certainly worth a visit when in the city but having seen how this idea has flourished in other cities, mainly in Spain, I feel there are other and possibly better ways that local markets can be refurbished to cater for both local and visitor needs.

 

Traditional markets are found in most local areas of Spanish cities and are an integral part of life, everyone goes to buy their meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, also perhaps get their shoes mended and maybe stop for coffee, wine and tapas or even lunch at the always present bar or bars in the building. San Miguel now has no such facility for locals who live nearby. The Mercado San Anton in Chueca was the next in Madrid to have a make-over. However some stalls have been kept on the ground floor for buying produce, on the upmarket side it has to be said, and eating and drinking options have been introduced to the first floor and the lovely roof terrace. I enjoy it far more than San Miguel as the food is more reasonably priced and it is very popular but not too overcrowded.

Other local markets in Madrid also seem to have changed slightly over the last five or so years for example Mercado de Anton Martin also in the centre of the city. It is still a traditional market but there are a number of newish small places where you can eat for example cold meats & cheeses with a good range of wines by the glass or sushi at a very popular Japanese place. It however still retains the old style bars for breakfast or lunch.

It is worth mentioning that one of the finest markets in the world La Boqueria in Barcelona is the subject of local controversy. This is still a working market with an amazing range of produce and also many places to eat, some of which have been in any self respecting guide book for years but it is also one of the top visitor attractions. Locals frequently mention how it is impossible to shop there these days because of the number of visitors in the market. Now that is a difficult one to resolve, turn it into a San Miguel and loose most of the locals or try and restrict large tour parties.

Various cities in Spain including Valencia and Cordoba have adopted a similar model to San Miguel and having visited both of those in the last year I feel they have not quite worked. Not having the produce areas perhaps means that the locals are less likely to visit and both are in locations where visitors are not as likely to visit as at San Miguel.

Seville adopted the same model and a well known ex-bullfighter has transformed what was once the old fish market into the Mercado Lonja de Barranco. I visited with a local friend in December and we were both disappointed, it was expensive, service not great and such a shame that one stall selling pulpo, octopus, as it’s speciality did not have any white wine only red. We left and visited the Triana market just over the bridge, what a change, a real market with produce and stalls doing food and wine, one with one of the best ranges of G&T’s I have seen, a Spanish obsession !

In Seville also well worth a visit is the Mercado Feria, the oldest market in the city, it has great produce stalls, including a good wine shop and also some good eating places especially La Cantina, with a lovely outdoor terrace, specialising in fish and seafood. Now this is the sort of market I would want in my area.

I am saving my two favourite market transformations to last, both of these have retained the old produce markets but have added eating and drinking places and in both cases improved the market.

Cadiz’s Central Market was a typical, traditional market with open air spaces around the central part. It was refurbished and re-designed a few years ago and retains all the traditional stalls in the centre while round the outside are food stalls with meat & cheese platters, seafood, empanadas from Argentina and dozens more options. There are a number of bars with wines, beer and soft drinks. In the open air part there are tall tables and chairs and benches where you can enjoy the food and drink. In the winter the eating part mainly seemed to be open during the day but I think in the warmer weather more places will be open in the evening. This is such a sympathetic refurbishment bringing the best of both traditional and new to the city.

Leaving Spain and moving to Lisbon in Portugal the transformation of the Mercado de Ribeira has been outstanding. Long one of my favourite cities, the old market in a prime location was a bit of a sad place, a lovely building but with only a few produce stalls. The restaurant that was once there apparently had gone and something had to be done. Along came Time Out and in 2014 the Time Out Mercado de Ribeira opened to great reports. I am delighted to say it does not disappoint, the produce section which was rather empty seems to have had a new lease of life. The food part has a mix of some of the top Lisbon chefs offering reasonably priced freshly cooked full dishes to smaller stalls offering a variety of “tapas” style dishes. The prices are in the main very reasonable and it seems popular with both visitors and locals.

Hopefully new places trying to “revamp” old markets will learn from some of the more recent openings and not focus on trying to re-create San Miguel.

PS – Update from Italy

Italy seems to have joined the trend in re-vamping traditional markets based on our recent visit to Florence. The old traditional produce market, Mercado Centrale, has had an update . The first floor has been opened up as a food hall with a main restaurant, pizzeria, beer bar and café. In addition there are a dozen or so places selling their own types of food from traditional Lampredotto, a tripe sandwich, to a Truffle Specialist. There is also a large wine bar selling dozens of Chianti’s by the glass and bottle, there is a list and it is worth asking for this and spending a bit more on a really good glass. The market is open 365 days a year and till midnight each day giving the area a much needed place for an after dinner drink. The prices seemed reasonable, but worth a good wander round first before settling on somewhere. Eataly the Italian food emporium have a supermarket there and also a cookery school

PPS Update from Holland

Holland is following the trend of food markets with new examples opening up in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We visited the new Foodhallen in Amsterdam recently and were very impressed. It is clear that the owners have looked at other examples and have taken the best aspects of these into the new venture. Located in the Oud West area of Amsterdam, a rapidly changing area, the market is in a converted tram depot and has been very well designed. There is plenty of seating areas, sadly lacking in many other markets, there is a wide variety of food and drink available and most seems to be reasonably priced. The building also has a restaurant and brasserie which both looked impressive. This is definitely a welcome addition to the dining options of Amsterdam.

I first visited Marrakech over thirty years ago while working in Morocco back then it had two types of tourist, the very rich and those on the hippy trail, it was not the easiest place to choose as a holiday destination but boy was it fascinating. We have been back three times since, all in the last eight years and have noticed a huge change, many more visitors, most for short breaks thanks to the arrival of low cost airlines, a much wider choice of places to eat and drink but still a fascinating destination that is only three and a half hours from the UK.

Accommodation options have also changed since my first visit, over the last ten or so years riads, traditional Moroccan houses built around a courtyard, have been converted into small boutique hotels. These are found in the traditional medina areas, north and south of the famous Jemaa El Fna square, the heart of the city. They are a wonderful way to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city on your doorstep while having a quite oasis of calm for relaxing. A lot of the riads are owned by Europeans and in some instances they leave the management almost entirely to local staff, sometimes this works but sometimes it does not. This means choosing a good riad is very important as many people want to enjoy the spa facilities often on offer or to try Moroccan food cooked and served in the riad.

We prefer the southern medina near the Bahia Palace, handy for transfers, the Jemaa El Fna, and many of the main sites. I always research reviews and comments even more thoroughly than for any other travels and this time were delighted with the choice of the Riad Houma. This is a fairly recent addition and is French owned, the care and attention to design is obvious as soon as you enter and the small number of rooms offers a range of options that are good value for money. The staff are all excellent, very helpful and friendly, and starting your day with an excellent breakfast on the terrace is glorious on the frequent sunny days.

On previous visits we have visited all the major sites and this time the main aim was to try new eating places and to do our Christmas shopping, although shopping in Marrakech is a must on any visit. Among the many new places to eat in Marrakech we tried two that stand out, Nomad in Place Kedina and Le Jardin, 32 Souk El-Jeld both in the northern part of the medina.

They are owned by local restaurateur Kamal Laftini who also owns the Café des Espices in Place Kedina. Nomad was my favourite and so enjoyable that it was revisited on the last day. The food is very good, the terrace setting lovely and the service friendly, they also sell alcohol, not that common in the medina. Really good starters of courgette fritters and a beetroot pastry were followed by excellent mains of lamb brochette with aubergine and chicken brochette with cous-cous. Le Jardin is housed in a beautiful courtyard and was a very enjoyable setting for dinner but perhaps slightly lacking atmosphere on the night we went. Our choices were all traditional Moroccan dishes but there were a number of other options available.

For a birthday celebration we tried Ksar Essaaoussan, this is housed in a sixth century riad and offers a set menu of a pre dinner drink, three courses, wine, and mint tea and Moroccan pastries for just over £20. The food is good but what makes it truly memorable is the atmosphere, service and surroundings, you also get a chance to explore the building before you sit down to a long, relaxed dinner. An old favourite Le Fondouk was revisited and while prices are now on the high side, as ever the food was very good and the service excellent. There is always a dish that they produce that just cries out to be photographed and this time the beef and tomato tagine was it, really delicious. There are many other updated recommendations on the city page for Marrakech.

A couple of days in Essaouira were also on the agenda for this trip and we booked tickets for the Supratours bus through a company called Marrakech Tickets, www.marrakechtickets.co.uk who purchase them on your behalf and deliver the tickets to your hotel. There is a surcharge of which part goes to a local charity but the service is worth every penny as it saves you having to go to the Supratours office in the new town.

Essaouira is on the Atlantic coast, around three hours from Marrakech It is a lovely town and very relaxed after Marrakech. The town is set to be even more popular with the opening of a direct flight from London with Easyjet in 2015 and since we had last visited seven years ago there had been a large increase in choice of places to eat. There is also a wide choice of riad accommodation and this time we chose the Chems Bleu which was very good, reasonable priced and easy to find, a short walk from the Supratours terminal.

Apart from wandering around Essaouira and taking dozens of photographs of the port and the blue and white buildings one highlight we were looking forward to was returning to Elizir Restaurant for dinner. The owner Abdellatif worked for a number of years in Italy and had not long returned to his home town when we first visited. The food, a mix of Moroccan and Italian influences, was memorable and did not disappoint on this visit. The restaurant’s eclectic mix of furniture and collectables and the good music complement the great food. The organic chicken tagine with walnut and gorgonzola and the beef fillet in balsamic were both top notch and went brilliantly with the house red wine.

Back in Marrakech the Christmas shopping still had to be completed but having decided what we were looking for, identified the areas for the purchases and practiced our bargaining strategy we were ready to set forth to the souks. We had a very successful day buying original gifts for friends and family at home, made even better by the glorious weather and refreshed by fruit juices Café des Espices and a lovely lunch at Nomad before heading to the airport for the flight home.

It was great to be back in Hong Kong especially after a twenty hour overnight sleeper journey from Shanghai, the deluxe soft sleepers are very good but soft is not really the word that should be used for the bunks. The journey however was excellent although there was less on offer in the way of snack trolleys than on the Xi’an to Shanghai sleeper but we had our own Shanghai picnic.

 

Having been in Hong Kong about five years ago we felt less pressure to dash round seeing all the sites which was great after the amount that had been seen in our three stops in China. Our five days here were to be spent exploring certain areas in more depth than last time but also to include a day trip to Macao which we hadn’t managed to fit in last time. The other main activity was to be eating some great food in a wide range of places, easily done in HK.

 

Our day trip to Macao was easily arranged as we were staying in Kowloon at the Royal Pacific Hotel and we discovered while exploring the hotel that the China Ferry terminal was contained within the complex. The first time ever on our travels that the hotel complex has contained among other things an outlet mall, a supermarket, numerous eating places, a ferry terminal and a stop for the airport shuttle express bus – all within one vast building.

 

 

We booked our Macao tickets in advance and on the day simply checked in, completed the various immigration forms and set off on the hour long journey on a very large and fast catamaran. As a great fan of anywhere on the Iberian peninsula it was lovely to arrive and see everything written in Portuguese and in the heart of the old part be surrounded by the old colonial style buildings. It was also good to sample some traditional Portuguese cooking and of course the famous custard tarts.

 

Macao is also famous as the only place in China where gambling is legal and since a local monopoly was ended in 2002 the big names from Las Vegas have moved in. The revenue from gambling in Macao apparently overtook that of Las Vegas several years ago. It is quite a shock to see the huge casinos on the way back to the ferry terminal from the old part of the city. If like me you set your heart on lunch at the Clube Militar de Macao make sure your partner is not wearing shorts, we were turned away and I so wish I hadn’t looked at the menu first.

 

Back in Hong Kong we had not made any restaurant reservations in advance but one on the list was ABC Kitchen ( a better cooking kitchen) set up in the Queen Street Cooked Food Market in Sheung Wan by two guys who were previously at the now closed highly rated M on the Fringe. We were lucky enough to get a table for Saturday night and in the hall containing a selection of eating places it was easy to spot ABC by the red checked table cloths. The service was excellent, the food very good, the famous suckling pig did not disappoint and the black sesame soufflé was brilliant. The very reasonably priced wine list, the food and the service made the total bill seem even more of a bargain that it was already.

 

Bargain eating continued on our last full day in HK and we ventured out of our local Kowloon streets to Prince Edward to try the famous One Dim Sum, one Michelin star, and boy was it worth it. We were given a number and told that the wait would be about 30 minutes, sitting outside in the shade and choosing our dishes from an English menu the time soon passed. I knew it was good when the Shao Mai arrived they were the best I had ever tasted and every other dish was equally good, the steamed rice noodle with BBQ pork was delicious. We had six dishes and the bill was 130 HK$ the equivalent to £10, if we hadn’t been leaving the next day I would have gone back to try even more !

 

As always in our travels there has to be a variety of places and on the horizon as we explored Wan Chai on Sunday was brunch at Jason Atherton’s 22 Ships. I had looked at the menu and the reviews on line and was keen to try it but when we passed and saw it was packed and how good the place looked it was a definite to try. We came back after an hours wandering and were lucky enough to get two seats at the communal window table. As in any of Mr Atherton’s places that we have tried the service was outstanding and the food as in La Esquina in Singapore loosely based on Spanish Tapas. The seafood paella and the belly pork with squid and chickpeas were both outstanding, riots of flavour and colour and accompanied by a bottle of excellent white wine what better way to spend a Sunday lunchtime.

 

Lastly on our culinary journey was Yardbird, beak to tail eating, Japanese style, this is in the Asian top 50 restaurants list from San Pellegrino and had been on my own list from the start of planning this trip. The fact that a director at Temple Restaurant in Beijing had also said it was a must made it a definite to visit. No reservations are taken therefore we were at the door before it opened at 6pm by which time a small queue had formed behind us, by 7pm the number of people waiting had seriously grown. We were helped in our choice by the knowledgeable staff and shared a half portion of the great sweetcorn tempura, followed by six skewers of various parts of the chicken, some not often eaten, all excellent, the final dish was a half portion of the KFC cauliflower – amazing – a really good HK experience.

 

While we were in HK the pro democracy protests were taking place and it was the most peaceful, most polite and most tidy protest I have ever seen. Our travels were not disrupted, the protestors were incredibly polite informing us about their reasons and wanting to make sure that people were not being inconvenienced. They tidied up constantly making sure that none of the gifts of food and water that they were receiving created rubbish. It certainly added to making this a memorable visit.

 

There is lots of information on the Hong Kong city page about things to do and other places to eat but as I said at the start our last stop in Hong Kong was a lot about eating some good food and we succeeded.

We were visiting Xian for one major reason, the same one as most of the other visitors, to see the Terracotta Warriors. Having done my research before the trip I realised that Xian was a large city but I had not realised how large. We arrived from Beijing on the high speed train at Xian north station and took a cab to our hotel within the city walls, the journey was over 13km but the fare was the equivalent of £3.50. Checking later on the size of the city it has a population of similar size to London.

If you arrive at the north station beware of the masses of taxi touts, do not be tempted, instead queue at the official area and even in the driver change over time between 3pm and 5pm there will be a steady stream of drivers who will then use their meters.

Xian is well worth two or three days as the city walls that enclose the centre are excellent and the Drum and Bell Towers in the centre are a must to see. In addition the Great Mosque is well worth some of your time in the City.

Staying near to either the Drum or Bell towers give you easy access to the excellent “muslim” street , as it is known, where the various food stalls offer local dishes such as Rou Jiamao the Xian hamburger and skewers of lamb, fish and other choices. The area is also full of shops for souvenirs of your visit, remember to bargain. Also nearby is Defu Street, known as the bar street. It is packed with bars offering happy hour in the early evening and many places stay open till 4am. Most places also offer food and there are some small stalls offering the usual lamb kebabs if you get peckish.

The main event has to be visiting the Terracotta Warriors, as in the case of The Great Wall you can do this as part of an organised tour but you can also do this on your own very easily. If you are staying near the Drum and Bell Towers there is a local bus to the main railway station, not the north one used by the high speed trains. This is bus number 611, they run almost every five minutes and the fare is the equivalent of 20p, the final stop is the station and you catch the bus back from the same stop. Once you have got off the bus walk towards the station and to the right hand side you will see an area packed with buses. The bus you want is 306 and there is a stand with a queue which you join and they load the buses from this queue. There are very regular buses and you pay for your single fare on the bus, the equivalent currently of 70p. One thing to note is that lots of people get off before the last stop which is the Terracotta Warriors, the conductor on the bus will ask you where you are going.

You then walk to the main entrance and get your ticket for the site. The warriors are incredible, the site contains Pits 1, 2 and 3 and if I was to go again I would visit 2 and 3 then Pit 1 last. This way you get to see the best last. If you do Pit 1 first the other two will probably seem rather disappointing. There are loads of souvenir shops and places to eat outside the main entrance before you reach the bus park but the toilet facilities are not as good as in the site itself. The buses return from the same place as they arrived.

There is more information on Xian on the City page on the web site.

Arriving at Shanghai main railway station on an overnight sleeper train from Xian it was good to see easy access to the main concourse and directions to the well organised taxi stands that were simple to follow, after spending time in a few Chinese railway stations over the past weeks we knew this was not always the case.

After Beijing and Xian, Shanghai, even given its size and vast population, seemed less frenetic. Crossing the road while still dangerous was less of an ordeal, queuing was more organised, the crowds in the metro were not as daunting and the interchanges between lines short, unlike Beijing.

You immediately feel that while this is obviously still China there is more of a Hong Kong feel, less police and more relaxed security. There is so much to see but not the huge sites that there are in Beijing just the enjoyment of selecting an area getting a feel of that part of the city, the architecture, the eating, the shopping and perhaps chilling out in a café or bar.

I had wanted to visit Shanghai for a long time and had read much about the Bund, the famous riverside area with grand buildings from the colonial time of the city when the British, Americans and French had their settlements. It did not disappoint, particularly at night when looking at these fantastic old buildings and the brand new skyscraper buildings on the other side of the river in Pudong. The brand new Shanghai Tower is still to be completed but will soon look down on the Shanghai Financial Centre with its futuristic bottle opener top and the beautiful pagoda style Jinmao Tower. Given the queues for the observation deck at the Jinmao I would suggest the Hyatt Cloud 9 bar one floor below, opens at 5pm and gives you staggering views of the city on a clear day.

Close to these towering buildings and with easy access to the metro is the IFC Mall, possibly one of the smartest malls I have ever seen, the range of designer shops is incredible but much more fun is choosing where to eat from the huge selection or choosing a bottle of wine from Enoterra a wine shop where there is no corkage if you choose a bottle from the huge range and drink it in their bar area.

Shopping and food seem to be the main pastimes in the city and as you would expect these both range from very expensive to incredibly cheap (and good). We booked lunch in advance at Table No 1 which is part of Jason Atherton the UK Michelin starred chef’s expanding Asian empire. This is in the Cool Docks area of the river and is part of the industrial chic Waterhouse hotel. The set lunch is a bargain at the equivalent of £18 for 3 courses, the food was outstanding and the service excellent, a really great experience.

At the other end of the scale we had one of the great food streets of Shanghai on our doorstep. Close to the Shanghai Concert Hall and Peoples Square is Yunnan Street, it contains everything, roast duck and pork stalls, dim sun, kebabs, hotpots and seafood places. The best seafood place is on the corner of S. Yunnan Rd. and E. Ninghai Rd., we found it when searching for a cool beer late at night and discovered a place packed with locals eating plate upon plate of delicious looking food. The beer at £1.20 for a large bottle of chilled lager was a winner and we came back regularly afterwards to eat from the huge menu and nothing ever disappointed. Four excellent dishes and four beers cost on average the equivalent of £16. The translations on the menu were wonderful including dishes described as sexual harassment dried bamboo shoot and German groping, neither of which we tried. There were lots of other choices apart from seafood.

Still on the subject of food, we also sampled Hot Pot in Shanghai, although perhaps more associated with Beijing and further North there were a huge number of options in the city and we opted for Hai Di Lao, a national chain renowned for the best service possibly in China – it is used as an MBA study model. In the busy times you get snacks, drinks, shoe shines and manicures while you wait. We went at a less busy time and it was excellent, menus are on IPads and we chose a split hot pot, part tomato broth and part mushroom broth, with half portions of meats and vegetables to cook in the broths. Great quality and good fun and there are many pastes and spices you can add or dip into to suit your taste.

The last must on our food list was the “to die for” dumplings at Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain with places in all the main cities, and yes they are more expensive than other places but boy are they worth it and you don’t get black truffle in your dumplings in most places. The choice and the service were truly top notch.

We managed to fit in some culture as well and the highlight was without a doubt the Shanghai museum, it is said that the citizens of the city do not look back and tend to disregard tradition, an exception being this marvellous museum, designed in the shape of an ancient bronze cooking vessel. The bronzes on the ground floor of the building were truly stunning, some dating back to 21BC, the intricate work and design was jaw dropping. The other galleries particularly the ceramics were fabulous but the bronzes I can still picture.

There will be lots of details on places to eat and visit on the Shanghai page on the web site but sadly it was time to leave the city on another overnight sleeper, this time heading to Hong Kong.

Nothing can prepare you for the vastness of Beijing, the sheer size of the city and the number of people is staggering, but it is also a city of huge varieties. In the middle of some of the main shopping areas with all the designer names such as Chanel and Prada and more high end watch shops than you can count there are still small lanes of grey brick houses called hutongs where families live and little eating places and local shops thrive.

We were lucky enough to be staying at the Red Wall Garden Hotel in a central hutong area, fifteen minutes from the designer shops and five minutes from the nearest subway. This is an oasis of calm built round a lovely courtyard where you can enjoy a meal or a drink after a hard day’s sightseeing. For the adventurous you can pop into one of the nearby eating places, we frequented one we called the donkey place. There is an obvious reason for our nickname in that all the meat dishes use donkey meat, the speciality being a warm flaky pastry sandwich filled with the tasty meat for 60p, excellent with a 600ml bottle of local beer for 50p.

Getting around the city to see the sites is best done on foot, but beware of the distances involved, or by taking the subway which is easy to use, clean, frequent and incredibly cheap. It can be busy during the peak times of morning and evening rush hours but at these times the frequency of trains is one a minute. One thing to note is that the interchanges between lines can be a very long walk. Get a travel card which has a £2 refundable deposit and then add some cash, each journey is the equivalent of 20p and it can also be used for trains to Badaling to see the Great Wall, more below, and on the buses where it gives a discounted fare of 4p – yes that is correct.

The major sites in the city are on a grand scale and the distances you walk inside these attractions can be considerable. There is so much to see in Beijing, in five days we managed the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Lamma Temple, Tian’nemen Square, The Lakes and of course a day trip to the Great Wall. This still gave us plenty of time to enjoy the eating delights of the city from a fine dining experience at Temple restaurant to street food lamb skewers, a speciality.

Temple, which we booked in advance, offers a three course lunch for the equivalent of around £13, this may sound reasonable but when you also get a small glass of champagne and five different dishes of appetisers, an additional fish course, and extra desserts, all complimentary, it becomes incredibly reasonable. When you have experienced the top notch service and excellent cooking it quickly becomes a bargain. The prices on the wine list reach the stratospheric but there are some reasonably priced choices but one tip is avoid the bottled water as it is way too expensive and ask for the regular purified water.

You are never far from an eating place in the city but most small basic places will have no English menu, they may have a picture menu and with the help of a phrase book to point at the words for beef, chicken etc. you can always manage as we discovered even on our first night after a long flight. Lunch and dinner are eaten earlier than in Europe but there are loads of basic places which open 24 hours a day.

One essential dish is of course Peking Duck, and there is great debate about the best place to go, you can read debates about how the duck is prepared, the service, the cost etc. on numerous web sites but we chose Bianyifang, reckoned to be the original, with a number of locations and a locals place. It was excellent and the theatre of your own personal duck chef carving for you was great – as was the duck.

Visiting the Great Wall can be done as an organised trip but on many you have to endure visits to shops and minor attractions which you may not want to see and then have a very limited time at the wall itself. The closest place to Beijing is Badaling, which is decried for being the most touristy and also because the wall has been largely rebuilt. On the plus side it has a cable car and it can be reached by train in 75mins from Beijing North railway station. There are a few vital things that you need to know, get a travel card because you may arrive 2 hours before the train to be greeted with a notice saying all tickets for your train have been sold and the next one is in 2 hours. If you have a travel card this does not matter, it will be swiped and you will be free to enter and wait for your train to depart.

That may sound simple but an hour before the train is due to leave the queue will start, people will push in front and general chaos will ensue until they open the doors and then they will all run and sprint the 300 metres to where the train is sitting. Why they cannot bring the train to end of the platform is a mystery. Those not lucky enough to have got a seat can buy small stools from the platform vendors. The trains are comfortable and the journey currently costs the equivalent of 60p one way. There is now a shuttle bus to meet the train and take you up to the ticket and cable car office and the same going back just make sure to get off at the rail station as some buses go on past there. You will have to endure the same queue mayhem on return but given the cost, the freedom to choose your time to go and return, and the facilities when you get there it is not such a bad choice. Also the way the wall snakes about and down gives picture postcard views, I don’t think anyone will realise it has been rebuilt.

There is lots of information on the Beijing city page on places to eat and drink but as usual in my blogs here are a couple of tips on local drinking habits. Beer is the most common drink and there are a number of bar and nightlife areas. Nanluogoxiang is one of the nicest, this is an old hutong area that has largely been taken over by small shops, bars and eating places. It has a lovely feel, even when busy at the weekends, and there is a huge variety of places to sample beer, wine and cocktails. Prices are reasonable by European standards. The area bordering the upper lakes is also full of bars and restaurants but prices by the lakeside seemed higher. There were a couple of bars with wine lists where the top end prices were in the hundreds of pounds, obviously catering for the Beijing high rollers. Further back from the lakes in the hutong streets were more attractive and more reasonably priced options.

One vital tip is about crossing the road, even when you have a green light traffic still comes round corners and from all angles, they may not stop so be careful but you will get used to this after the first few times.

Another tip is always carry a roll of toilet paper and for European style toilets you have to visit places like Starbucks and McDonalds and the more up market bars. All tourist attraction will have these sort of toilets, look for the signs on the doors !

Also worth mentioning is that all the guide books talk about being pestered by people pretending to want to talk English and this leading to various scams. We did not find that we were bothered very much at all, a couple of people wanted photographs with us but there really was far less than expected.

Another thing that we found was that contrary to what the guide books said, taxis were not easy to find and our hotel told us that for short distances taxis are just not interested. Taking a taxi to the west railway station we had to agree a price in advance rather than using the meter, not something we found in other cities. Be aware of this if you are out for the evening as the metro only runs till approximately 11pm.

The crowds, the noise, the lack of personal space and the queue jumping and pushing locals can at times all seem too much but being able to see the most incredible sites that Beijing has to offer makes all these minor irritations worthwhile.

This was our first visit back to Palma in seven years and this time we were renting an apartment in the old part of Palma in a neighbourhood called Sa Gerreria. This was the area of merchants and craftsmen and it retains much of the original character with narrow winding streets and small squares.

It is minutes from the main shopping streets and the Plaza Mayor but has it’s own unique feel. It had gone through a period of considerable decline but in recent years has seen many improvements and investment in the area. In estates agents speak it is up and coming, there is an excellent range of bars and eating places and a real feel of community. I cannot wait to return and to catch up with all the great people we met – in the meantime I thought I would share some of it’s highlights with you.

One is a restaurant called La Juanita, La Sala dels Flassaders 4, I was almost reluctant to share it as a really is such a gem that we ate there twice in two days and only wish we had found it earlier. It had been recommended by someone we met and although he did not know the name we were certain we had found the place one lunchtime, a blackboard with four dishes on it was outside the door and the owner came out and translated them from Mallorquin, the local version of Catalan. This did it for us and we sat outside shared some home made foccacia style bread then had loin of cod with grapes, and fideua (short noodle paella) of rabbit and squid, a Thai flavoured milk pudding, a decent bottle of white wine from Catalunya for 30 Euros, great cooking, wonderful fresh flavours, a bargain.

Next day we went back and ate at the counter with Albert, owner, chef, waiter, cooking in front of us. We shared a chicken confit with cherries and fruit to start, then had bonito, a type of tuna, with avocado, including an ice cream and melon, on a very hot day this was just fantastic. The other main merluza (hake) fried with garlic and chilli and served on potatoes was simple but just so perfectly cooked. Poached pears and raspberry sorbet to follow, the same white wine and all for 38 Euros left us speechless with the quality of Albert’s cooking. We had seen him shopping that morning in the market so can vouch for the freshness.

The reason I am sharing it is that three days after we got home The Guardian newspaper published a page on where to eat in Palma and included this place, so the secret is out, he also apparently does cookery lessons.

There are many other places nearby Quina Creu, Carrer de Corderia 24, was just below our apartment and is a more sophisticated looking place, there is a restaurant which offers a good lunchtime menu as well as a full a la carte menu and the bar has excellent hot tapas to order and pinchos on the bar, this is the cool and trendy side of the area and deservedly very popular.

Just opposite is a bar called Ca La Seu, the premises were a basket making shop which was in business for almost 500 years. The bar has kept the original feel, the owner Carolina is lovely and the pinchos both hot and cold are innovative. A real favourite with us and the locals we met.

An especially good night to visit the area is on a Tuesday when they have the Ruta Martian, where a number of bars offer a small beer or wine and a pincho (tapa on a cocktail stick) for 2 Euros. The bars get packed and there is a great atmosphere, it is not a late night as the bars shut at 11.30 to allow the residents a good night’s sleep some other ones to try are below.

El Carmen, Carrer Hostals, owned by Maribel a good local bar with a wide range of tapas and pinchos

Molta Barra, Carrer del Pes de la Farina, a buzzy bar with a youngish crowd, busy every night

Bar Flexas, Carrer Llotjeta, not on the Ruta but the original bar in the area before it became popular and definitely worth a visit

Ambigu, Carrer Carnisseria, sits in a small square just beside the rear of Santa Eulalia church and is a lovely bar with excellent taps, the tortilla is yummy, and on the Ruta,

Ca’n Joan de S’aigo is an ice cream and chocolate parlour founded in 1700, it is full of locals drinking hot chocolate or eating ice cream and has fabulous cakes and pastries including the traditional ensaimada pastry, try the apricot ones.

The Mercado Olivar, is about ten minutes walk away in Plaza Olivar and is just the sort of market you want on your doorstep, it has traditional stalls for shopping, a good wine shop, and stalls to eat at but has not become a place that only visitors can afford. There is a great seafood stall where you can sample the various types of oyster with a glass of chilled white and also a more modern bar with prawn and salmon nibbles to accompany a glass of pink cava. What we did not sample but was mentioned by the Guardian is Cervecaria Anfos on the first floor where you can sample various simply grilled fish dishes or buy your own and ask them to grill it for you for a small charge.

There are a couple of other special places to mention that are technically not in Sa Gerraria but are close by and both are on the firm favourites list.

Bar Espana, Calle Can Escursac, is a minute from the Plaza Mayor near the steps that lead up from Carrer Union and is a firm favourite from our first ever visit to Palma. Very popular with locals it does good tapas to order as well as pinchos on the bar and when a hot special such as morcilla with a quail’s egg appears the plate empties in seconds. The guys that run it are great and it is a comfortable place to hang out.

The last but certainly not the least is La Vinya de Santa Clara, this became a nightly stop during our stay, it is a comfortable 10 minute walk from the heart of Sa Gerreria towards the cathedral. This small wine bar is owned by Esteban who although originally from Argentina has been in Palma for a number of years. He has a great selection of wines and will happily assist you with a choice to suit, he also serves meat and cheese platters. He is great company and it is a lovely place for some wine or a beer and chat.

Cannot wait to return again to Palma and in particular Sa Gerreria and check out the Palma page for other recommendations.

May has arrived and time for our third trip to Galicia in Northern Spain, this time with four friends, two of whom have been before but two have not. The aims of the trip are to taste some great local wines and eat great seafood and for the two newcomers to get a taste of Galicia and we sure did all three. I’ll start with some places and end on the amazing wines.

Our first stop was Lugo one of Galicia’s provincial capitals and famous for being the only city in the world surrounded by completely intact Roman walls, there is a great walk round the top of the walls, well used by locals for their morning walk or run. Lugo however has another claim to fame, probably the best free tapas in Spain. I am lucky enough to have a friend who lives there and on our first visit was staggered to be offered a choice of one hot and one cold tapas with each drink. Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch ! The Rua Nova is teaming with bars, one of the best is A Nosa Cerra and the nearby streets are full of places. Close by is a gem called Pazo Das Pombas, Rua do Mino 9, as well as being an excellent restaurant and bar the owner, an ex history teacher, has created almost an in house museum with original Roman artefacts. The steps leading from the cathedral to the square are named after Luis Pimental, a famous Galician poet from Lugo who was my friend’s uncle by marriage. In the square one of his poems is cast into a tree statue.

We moved onto A Coruna, a large city set on a spectacular headland with a busy port and a great beach. The city is dominated by the Tower of Hercules and below it a statue of Breoghan the Celtic king who in Celtic myth founded the city. The streets leading up to the main square Plaza Maria Pita are packed with bars and restaurants where you can try the incredibly fresh seafood. El Rey de Jamon, Rua Franja 45, as you may guess however specialises in jamon (ham), it is a grocers and delicatessen with a number of tables and a great selection of meats, cheese and wine along with friendly service. For fish and seafood try La Sarten de Coruna, Plaza de Espana 11, to eat in the restaurant at the weekend you need to book and while it is not cheap it is good value for the quality of food on offer. Jamoneria la Leonesa, Plaza Santa Domingo, is in the old town and is a local haunt well worth a visit. Bar la Bombilla, Calle de Torreiro, is a city institution and has the cheapest tapas in the place, very popular.

Santiago de Compostela has to be on everyone’s list for Galicia and while it is incredibly busy with both pilgrims and visitors from across the world it should not be missed. It also gives you a chance to experience a truly memorable eating experience at Abastos 2.0, they have two places and we ate at Ghalpon just by the market and had the market menu. It consists of a selection of five tapas, followed by a vegetable dish, a fish dish, a meat dish and finally two deserts for currently 35 Euros, for another 10 Euros you can have 4 matching wines. It was truly outstanding, one of the most memorable meals in my travels, every single dish was brilliant. There are a couple of wine bars to recommend, Bierzo Enxebre in Rua de Troya specialising in wines from Bierzo. This is a region not well known outside Spain but it produces some really excellent wines, more on wines later. Also Cervantes, Calle Abazacheria which has a great selection of wines from various regions and also good food. For the more basic option pop into Bar Dubres also in Abazacheria, attached to the supermarket, the free tapas are consistently good and you feel like a real local.

The best known white wine from Spain is probably Albarino and the heart of the production is Cambados a lovely small town famous as well for its seafood, some of which is collected by local women at low tide. I suspect that in the summer the town is probably very busy and although quiet when we visited there were still one or two places worth recommending to try. Lume de Lena, in the Plaza de Rodas, has excellent tapas and wines and lovely service. Most popular with the locals and you can see why is A Casa de Miguel, Calle Real, the free tapas were just staggering not just the quantity but the quality.

If you are travelling by car then a couple of places well worth visiting are Betanzos and Muros both beautiful examples of small Galician towns and Pontevedra a larger city but with a beautiful old part full of colonnaded streets. You should also try to get to Finisterre, the end of the earth, what a spectacular place.

I am cheating by mentioning Villafranca del Bierzo as it across the border in Castilla Leon although I now know it is Galician speaking so can definitely be included. It is in the heart of the Bierzo wine country and is a small attractive but sleepy town, worth a stop for one night if only to try Mi Tienda, Calle Jesus Adran, a grocers shop and wine bar with some great local produce and if you are lucky, customers who are some of the local wine producers.

So onto wine from the region, DO, Denominacion de Origen, is a regulatory classification system used in Spain and Galicia has 5 such areas. DO Rias Baixas is the coastal area centred around Cambados and is famous for albarino white wine, now incredibly popular abroad. There are many wineries you can visit although not that many will have English speaking tours, one of the biggest and best known is Martin Codax on the outskirts of Cambados and a tasting tour can be organised with them for around 15 Euros. Some of the fun is trying the wines in local bars and restaurants and they mostly have a staggering selection, a few names to look out for are Terras Gauda, Don Ricardo and Martin Codax Lias.

DO Valdeorras is on the eastern edge of the province and produces amongst other wines the lovely godello white wine, this is becoming more popular and is similar in many ways to chardonnay and do not let that put you off. One that we tried was called 1957 although I have been unable to source the winery, other well known names include Louro, Godeval and Guitian.

DO Monterrei is a relatively small area on the Portuguese border and from there we tried Quinta da Muradella white from treixadura grapes and what an outstanding find it was, although many in this area also use the godello grape.

The remaining areas are DO O Ribeiro, mainly white wines and DO Ribeira Sacra, mainly red wines, this area contains some spectacular scenery around the very high terraced vineyards which seem to hang on the edge of the gorges.

There has to be a mention for DO Bierzo which produces some amazing red wines mainly from the mencia grape. We visited the winery Dominio de Tares and were amazed by the quality and the entrance fee for a four wine tasting of I think five euros was deducted from any purchases. Look out for the reds from Bierzo.