• Of Buffalo Mozzarella and the Kindness of Strangers

    One of the reasons we went to Paestum, besides the incredible ruins, was to visit the birthplace of buffalo mozzarella and hopefully see how it’s made. The day before we’d attempted to visit Vannulo dairy and arrived in late afternoon…

  • Restaurants in Naples, Italy

    I have a personal rule regarding restaurants; I’ll never willingly wait in line to eat for more than half an hour. I simply refuse to buy into the hype that any restaurant is worth waiting an hour or more for…

  • Nanzen-Ji Temple and Dinner at Asuka

    Across the street from the Keage Subway station and the Westin Miyako Hotel, is an arched entrance to a brick lined tunnel with leads to the Southern end of the Philosopher’s Walk. This pathway follows a canal lined with cherry…

  • Shinkansen Tokyo to Kyoto and Our First Okonimiyaki

    Taking the Bullet Train from Tokyo to Kyoto Our reservation is on the 8am Shinkansen train from Tokyo station to Kyoto and it’s raining. Hard. On a nice day, without luggage, it’s about a 10 minute walk from the Tokyo…

  • A Visit to Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo

    After ourtwo breakfasts at Tsukiji market, we took the subway to the Asukasa neighborhood. We stopped in the tourism office, where we picked up a local map and were asked where we were from which was duly recorded. They said they…

  • A Tale of Two Breakfasts in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market

    Monday in Tokyo Despite waking up in the wee hours of the morning, we got a later than expected start. Walking to Shinjuku station during the morning rush hour is like fish swimming upstream against the crush of people headed for work in the…

  • Tokyo Restaurants; Hitsumabushi and Tsunahachi

    Hitsumabushi (unagi/grilled eel) The Hitsumabushi restaurant on the 12th floor of the Ginza branch of Tokyu Hands department is the main branch of a well-known Nagoya eel restaurant. They are famous for their special Nagoya-style tamari sauce on unagi (eel)…