Tag: Travel (Page 1 of 2)

Wining with Mel’s first time ever in Niagara!

October 31, 2022 / Mel / 4 Comments

If there’s one thing that most people don’t know about me, it’s that besides a middle-school trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see a play at the Shaw Festival, I have never been to Niagara.

Shocking, I know.

What self-respecting Canadian wine writer has never visited the nation’s largest viticultural region??

With a milestone birthday coming up, it was time to remedy this travesty. I started dropping hints months ago about going to Niagara for the big event. So when my husband told me to pack a bag for a surprise birthday trip last weekend, I had my suspicions about where we were going.

Pizza and Brouilly wine — Pizza with Chateau de

Food sensitivities, pizza and wine

April 26, 2019 / Mel / 0 Comments

Travelling with people with food sensitivities can be tricky. When sailing, we are lucky that we have a galley kitchen on the boat and can make meals onboard to our tastes. But it means getting creative sometimes. Continue reading

Wine and chocolate in the Caribbean

April 4, 2019 / Mel / 0 Comments

Hello friends!

It’s that time of year again when I resurface from a hiatus!! We are nearing the end of our sailing season in the Caribbean. It has been a great winter of island hopping, hosting friends on board and enjoying a slower, simpler kind of life.

But all good things must come to an end, and our time in the Caribbean is no exception. And there is nothing more depressing for a cruiser than watching your boat come out of the water. Except maybe knowing that you are flying home to subzero temperatures and snow still on the ground. And then I seriously question all my life choices. And consume a vast amount of chocolate. And (obviously) drink wine. And that helps a bit. Continue reading

Wining in Valpolicella: an afternoon with Bertani

October 6, 2018 / Mel / 0 Comments

A year ago, I was in Italy, eating a ridiculous amount of pasta and pizza, and drinking copious amounts of aperol spritzes and delicious Italian wine. Looking back at those pictures makes me want to drop everything and get on a plane. Maybe that explains the Italian kick I’ve been on lately. When planning our trip, I was a bit nervous about Italy. I had spent a lifetime hyping it up in my head. Would it live up to my expectations? It’s Italy—of course it did. It was everything I dreamed it would be, and more.

Wining in Provence: AOC Palette and Château Simone

March 11, 2018 / Mel / 0 Comments

There is a certain sense of romance associated with the south of France, n’est-ce pas? The turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, palm trees lining the Côte d’Azur (aka the French Riviera), groves of olive trees and fields of lavender. And vineyards, bien sûr.
Continue reading

Bordeaux meets Antigua

February 28, 2018 / Mel / 0 Comments

What do you think of when you hear Bordeaux? France, certainly. Row upon row of vines. Left bank and right bank. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Highly structured reds that cellar for years, even decades. Fried chicken. Wait, what? Continue reading

Wining in Sint Maarten

December 30, 2017 / Mel / 0 Comments

Hello from the Caribbean! Continue reading

French kiss: a glimpse into the food and wine of Languedoc

October 20, 2017 / Mel / 0 Comments

Languedoc. Land of three kisses. Everyone knows that the French greet each other with kisses on the cheek. However, the French kissing custom can garner intense confusion for visiting foreigners. Like a secret code that only locals are privy to, the number of kisses exchanged varies based on geography, ranging anywhere from 1 to 5 (!!) kisses. Continue reading

Wining in Portugal

August 23, 2017 / Mel / 0 Comments

Hello friends!

For those of you who haven’t been to Portugal, you should go. It is an amazing country with something for everyone: friendly locals, a crazy selection of UNESCO world heritage sites, beautiful beaches, amazing seafood (which makes sense given its 1,794 km or 1,115 mi of coastline), and delicious and affordable wines. So affordable in fact, that on our first night in Lisbon, we ordered a 7-euro glass of wine. But when the server arrived with our order, we realized that the price was for the whole bottle! Of course, I was immediately smitten with Portugal. I don’t think we paid more than 10 euros for a bottle the whole week we were there. Continue reading

Once upon a time…

June 2, 2017 / Mel / 0 Comments

Once upon a time there was a valiant lady who won a great challenge. Her reward was to select the theme for the subsequent challenge, one that would allow the competitors an opportunity to momentarily set down the burden of their duties, have a cup of nectar and pick up a quill to pen their tales. Continue reading