Day trip to Victor

The unimaginable happened today. I gave up my usual exercise routine and went on a full day trip to Victor Harbor with hubby!
I kind of felt like I owed it to him as the night before, he’d asked me to cut his hair (and believe me, I’m not hair dresser) Normally I cut his hair during the day because after 3pm, my brain cells have given up on me and it’s a risk at best.
So he gets home at 5.30pm and I’m already a couple of wines in and I start cutting. I’m actually congratulating myself at how quick I’m going. I really FEEL like a hairdresser for the first time in years! Snip, snip, snip… oh, and I’m doing something a little different back here but it seems to be working… until I comb it all down. No.. that is not right at all and I hoped to God he hadn’t seen the expression on my face. I tried to fix it as best as I could and I’m pretty sure I got away with it. It will grow…

So, after no exercise we got into the car and drove! Such a gorgeous day in Adelaide today.
Just perfect for driving and being out in the world.
Our first stop was McDonalds. What’s a road trip with some Macca’s after all???

It was still fairly early when we got to Victor. We parked and decided we were going to walk along the bluff to Rosetta Head.
I probably should add that while hubby does exercise, he’s a reluctant exerciser…

 

These are the nice pictures. After this bit, the grass was dry, the air smelt bad and everything was so sparse. Hubby was in a grumpy mood because he didn’t want to walk. He said he’d rather be walking in Italy, Japan or Greece.
I tried to sell the nature to him (hard at that exact moment) but it didn’t work.  Do you know how hard conversation is with a grumpy person?

At one point he asked me if I wanted to go for a bike ride when we got back home. The last time I had answered “yes” to that question was over twelve years ago and why is he even thinking of that when today has not even started!

We saw Rosetta Head in the distance and I suggested to hubby we should just walk to the cafe, have a drink, then if we felt like going further we would or we could just turn back.

I saved us a table while hubby went to get some cake and coffee. After a little while he comes out with a brown paper bag. “Don’t open it yet” he says. He knows there’s a high probability that whatever yummy thing is in there, is likely to be picked at by me if I can see it.
He went back for the coffee and I peeked.

While it may not look that exciting, the apricot squares were pretty delicious and I had the difficult task of looking surprised and excited when he opened the bag up in front of me.
Sometimes my life is so exhausting.

After the coffee and cake, and the promise that we didn’t have to walk any further, hubby’s mood greatly lifted.

By the time we got back into Victor we were starting to think about having some lunch. We walked past restaurants and cafes and hotels yet nothing seemed suitable for hubby. “No, not there, no that place doesn’t look good, no, not enough people sitting in that one.”
We walked and walked, then went back to the car and drove. We were on our way to Goolwa, potentially stopping somewhere along the way if we saw somewhere decent to eat.
I had lost all hope and said “I feel like we’re never going to eat” and hubby replied “What? We can stop wherever you want!” Seriously, like that last 90 minutes hadn’t happened…

We drove through Port Elliot without stopping, through Middleton without stopping and soon found ourselves in Goolwa.

We got out and walked to the waterfront.

Nice places but not anywhere that hubby wanted to eat.

I heard the Cockle Train so ran to try to get a photo but just missed it!!!

All that was left were the puffs of black smoke…

So we finally went to the first hotel we saw.
I won’t name it here. It was fine. Food was average. Not bad, not fantastic either. Drinks were fairly cheap.

Hubby had the Chicken Caesar (left) and I had grilled fish. Not sure mine was cooked all the way through but it still tasted ok.

After lunch we walked down the main street towards the bakery. We always get something from there but unfortunately we were later in the day and most of the cakes were gone already.

We bought this cherry yeast loaf/bun thing and a Chester Slice. Hubby seems to think the Cherry bun is all his.

Oh and we went by the Convenient Chef’s but they were closed.

How inconvenient!

Little message for Betsy there too….

We stopped at Horseshoe Bay on the way back. Before we got there, we heard that Cockle Train and guess what? It crossed right in front of us so I was able to get some photos!!! And then waved at everyone in the train. I got a couple of waves back too!!

Out of the car and down the steps, then hubby went straight for the rocks. It’s not like people get swept off them by rogue waves or anything.

He got quite invigorated down there which led to this clip…

The very next thing he said to me was “Did you see me Parkour?”

Few more pics as we walked along. We didn’t go all the way down to the middle of the horseshoe of Horseshoe bay because it was down hill and hubby knows downhill means an uphill is coming…

We took a different turn on the way back home which may not have been the best option. The road was narrow and curvy and I just had to shut my eyes and hope for the best.I know hubby is a fantastic driver but it’s everyone else I’m worried about.

Not sure what this is but we passed it along the way…

Our last stretch was along the coast. How beautiful is the state I live in!!!
We are so lucky to have these beautiful places right on our doorstep.

If you made it this far, thanks for sharing this day trip with us!
Feel free to leave any comments.

Until next time…

Greece is the Word – Day Thirteen

Today was out last full day in Greece. Though I’m sad about that, we have seen and done a lot of things in a short time here. I loved seeing all the historic sites and I loved shopping for trinkets. Today was mostly about that.

Something I’ve noticed here is that often we’ll hear loud shouting. We look around anxiously thinking people may be fighting or something may be going down but it’s usually just a couple of people being very passionate  in their conversation.

We headed back into the centre of Athens. The traffic was just horrendous! I’d hate to drive here. In fact, I’m almost certain I wouldn’t

We were so looking forward to shopping but before we did that, we stopped to see the Greek Parliament which is housed in an imposing building situated at the east side of Syntagma Square.
At one point the guards started doing something. It may have been part of the “changing of the guards” ritual but I’m not sure. I didn’t ask but I did take some video and if you’re interested, you can see it here. I didn’t video the whole thing.

 

I also took a few pics of that area… including of the people who actually allow these rats of the air to land and eat seed off of them!!!!!

Gross!!!

 

We stopped for a quick bite to eat. I can’t believe how cheap some of this food is here.

We got a couple of “wraps”.
That’s how they were described on the menu. I had chicken meat in mine.
They also come with fries in them. I realised too late that I didn’t take a photo of the one I was eating but it was pita bread, wrapped cone like, with the meat, chips (fries), tzatziki and some salad stuff in it.

It was only 2.8 Euro!

So cheap and so filling!

I did take a picture of the display in the shop window though.

You like?

We headed into the flea markets in Plaka after that.

I must admit, I was a little nervous.

There are all sorts of people there trying to get money off of you one way or another.
Either they are just begging for it or trying to deceive you by offering “free” gifts.

There’s also sad cases.

We saw a couple of people afflicted by some condition and it just broke my heart to see them out on the street begging. It just doesn’t seem right.

All these people throwing away money at touristy junk while other people are fighting  for another 24 hours to live.

We had some lunch. We were told the pizza at this place we went to was amazingly different to anywhere else. It was traditional Greek pizza. I would have to agree it was different. I don’t know that I’d go out of my way for it but I did like it.
Hubby and I don’t eat seafood but I took a pic of the seafood platter that came out for those who are into that sort of thing (see above)
I ordered grilled vegetables and just absolutely loved them!!! Eggplant is fast becoming one of my favourite vegetables.

Oh and I’ll just leave this here. Make of it what you will but these “items” are sold all over the place in tourist shops.

There must be some meaning, I’d imagine to do with fertility, but I haven’t looked into it.

Who are buying these things????

We had had a leisurely lunch so it was quite late when we headed back.

Hubby and googled and found there was an outlet mall very close to where we’re staying.

We asked to be dropped off there but once our ride had left, we discovered it was NOT an outlet mall at all. It may have been once upon a time, but it was now very much deserted!!!

Lots of closed up shops. The only thing that was open was a Marks and Spencer Store.

We walked home but not before heading into a supermarket for a few supplies to last us these next 12 hours.

You will not believe what I found…. If only I had seen this 12 days ago!!!!!!!!

Diet Lemonade I have missed you so much!

We headed into Glyfada for our last night. I’m going to miss this. Late Summer nights. The coast, the company, the atmosphere. Greece you have been good to us.

Tomorrow we are having a change of pace and it will be interesting to see how different it will be…. I’m not sure how reliable our internet is going to be but I hope to have the next post up within twenty four hours.

Where will we be this time tomorrow? Stay tuned!

BarZaar

Today on the Dining Diaries…

A Lamb Shank creates food envy,
A wonderful server makes us feel right at home and
Good food at a reasonable price right in Unley!

Diners today we were at BarZaar on Unley Rd and what a good little place this turned out to be!

We had seen this place popping up on our Facebook news feed and were actually thinking it was referring to another establishment. I’m so glad we looked into it a little further today.

The first thing you notice as you walk in is that it’s like an older type dining room with a modern feel. There’s lots of orange and brown colours. I was still trying to work out if I liked it or not when a nice young server came and spoke with us.

He gave us some menus and said he’d be back to take our order. He was super attentive, informative and helpful and made us feel welcome and comfortable.

From our table we could see the outdoor area and noticed this cute little herb garden. There was a sign there saying the chef grows his herbs there but anyone is welcome to take what they need as well. How cool is that!!

It was way too cold to consider eating in that outdoor area today but I bet it would be a great place to sit in the Summer time… if you don’t mind traffic noise that is.

There is some association with the SANFL Sturt Football Club but we didn’t really find out anymore about that. If you’re supporter, you probably already know about this place!

I was happy when they brought bread to our table.
It seems fewer and fewer places are doing that.
Not only did they bring bread, but it was crunchy and had those delicious sesame seeds on top.
Yum!

We decided to share a starter. Hubby chose the Lamb Kofta. I must admit, I was too busy faffing about to see it on the menu so I wasn’t really sure what he’d ordered but I thought it would probably be yummy.

And they really were yummy!!! They brought out a sauce to have with them. I thought it was like a tzatziki but hubby thought it was more like sour cream and chives. I think I was right. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a menu online so I can’t confirm it.
Either way, these were really delicious. They were flavourful, held their shape and just glorious when dipped in that refreshing sauce!

For main I thought I’d try the Lamb Shank! It’s been ages since I’ve had one but what sold it to me was that it was served with couscous.

It looked soooooo good when it came out! As soon as I put my fork to it, morsels of lamb fell away from the bone. It was exquisite! I could see hubby was getting jealous… I’ll get to that in a moment. Not only was the shank really well cooked, but the couscous was just so delicious! It had bits of eggplant, capsicum, onion and I think there were sultanas in there too? Such a beautiful combination of flavours. I could have had a plate full of only that!

Hubby was pretty food conservative today and went for a chicken parmigiana.

Even though he had this pretty and colourful plate in front of him, he kept looking over at mine. I pinched one of his chips and thought they were really seasoned well!! Nice, crispy and were just tasty.
He said the meat was well cooked and there was certainly a generous amount of cheese on there! The salad was also really well dressed. I just can’t eat bits of lettuce and tomato if there’s no dressing on them but so many cafe’s do that!

Even though he was eating his meal, he was still eyeing off mine and jealousy can be a cruel master so I let him clean my shank bone. What a good wifey am I.
He eagerly took it and got the remaining bits of meat off.

BarZaar is not some fancy place, it’s an every day bistro on Unley rd and if you’re looking for a good honest meal, you just can’t go past it!

Have you been to BarZaar?
What did you think?
Let me know in the comments below!!

Till next we chow…

 

Vay Cay to Jay Jay – Part Nine

Our last full day in Tokyo.

One thing that continues to surprise me is that hubby wakes up every morning and puts the television and AND watches it, even though there is nothing on but Japanese TV.

There’s nothing on in the English language.
I understand some people have it on for comfort or background noise, but he sits there and watches it.

Every morning I’ve been going for a walk first thing in the morning and every morning, even on weekends, I see most of the men dressed in black pants and white shirts. Often they’re in full suits. Where are all these people in business attire going?
They’re just walking down the street in this non business district so why are they dressed like that.
In fact often hubby and I will just look at each other and say “Where are all these people going??”

When you think about it, it’s not surprising as it first seems as there are millions and millions of people here. They all have to be somewhere!

Our first stop today was Yokohama. As I write this, today is Tuesday and that means that a lot of places we wanted to visit in Yokohama were closed.

As we left the train station  was again impressed at how everyone keeps to the left of the escalators. Why can’t they do that in Adelaide!!!

We exited the station in Yokohama and went through to the Nissan building.

Hubby was very impressed!

From what we saw as we left the station, we thought Yokohama looked newer than other parts of Japan that we’ve seen and it was almost like a ghost town! Where were all the people? Even the footpaths were clear of biked rushing past!
It almost felt wrong.

We walked past the amusement park and eventually found ourselves in a shopping area but really, there were hardly any people around.

We went into that building on the top right above. Hubby had to keep watching where he was walking as many ceilings are just not built for his height.

One of the places we went into had a food court. They really really really love Hawaii here!

I was enticed by a picture from one of the food places but unfortunately, it didn’t come out like the picture and I felt disappointed when we got our food.

After this we walked to China town and I was EVEN MORE disappointed that we’d wasted our time eating in the “Hawaiian” mall.

There were so many good foods everywhere. Hubby and I had these honey sesame balls. I was too late to take a photo!!! But they were delicious and I had that sesame taste in my mouth for a while.
There was food everywhere including roasted chestnuts on most corners.
I read that this China Town in Yokohama is the largest in Japan and from what I saw today I’d have to believe it! It was huge!

We even saw a place that advertised “foot massage”. But what it was, was similar to what I’ve seen in Bali where you put your feet in water and have those little fish come up and nip at you. Apparently your skin is nice and smooth after that!

We walked around a bit more and eventually found ourselves at a familiar sight!
Hard Rock Cafe!!
We were quite “thirsty” so it was a given that we’d go in here for a drink and I’m glad we did!

We met a nice server who was happy to practice his English with us while I enjoyed a Sangria or two..

I’m glad we made the trip out to Yokohama today even though the “Noodle Cup Museum” was closed. That would have been interesting to see!!

One thing that made us giggle seeing an “Eggs and Things” place. We had seen these all over Honolulu when we were there and there was ALWAYS a huge line out the front. One day, curiosity got the better of us and we lined up too. We wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Once we’d eaten there, we didn’t understand the obsession. We just didn’t get it. The food was average. What’s the attraction?
Anyhow, in this Eggs and Things place in Yokohama, there was also a line out front!!! Seriously!

Once we got home we picked up some food locally…. some chicken fried things, spring rolls (so oily!!), rice and noodles all to share.

We’ve been to this place many times this week as it’s close to home so it’s very convenient. I wonder if they’ll miss us when we’re gone?

Tomorrow we leave for Osaka which is a food lovers paradise!

I’ll just leave you with this sign that we saw close by the Hard Rock Cafe in Yokohama.

Vay Cay to Jay Jay – Part Eight

Another beautiful day in Japan today! I love that we’re experiencing gorgeous warm weather. I think I might have to move here during the Winter months in Adelaide!

One thing I don’t understand is how the majority of people seem to be slim when their food is so processed and fried. The supermarkets are full of ready to go meals. Most of them are fried.
There are so many places that sell those delicious looking pastries and cakes and they all seem to be so highly processed!
You won’t easily find diet soda’s here and in fact there aren’t many “soft” drinks around. Actually it’s not really that hard to find it, especially as the West continues to have an influence, but it’s not as common as you’d find back home.

Hubby and I are almost out of ideas for what we want to do.
This morning we decided to walk to Ueno, have another look around and then maybe, eventually, make our way on foot to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building.

We stopped for a coffee at Starbucks. See that pic on the right? That was in their cake display. Alongside the delicious looking cakes they had a meat pie!!

We sat there enjoying the scenery in Euno park. It was very relaxing!

 

Next stop was Harajuko. I seem to get these places mixed up. I just didn’t remember going to these shops before!
Hubby says it must be wonderful being me, it’s like I’m experiencing it all for the first time every time I go there…

We walked down Takeshita Street again and this time I noticed the huge Candy Canes!

Can you see it on the left?

It doesn’t look as big in her hands as it did when a four year old was holding one.

There was a huge line to get these as well!

We’ve been noticing a few places here that do Kebabs. I can’t imagine that they would be like “our” kebabs but today curiosity got the better of us and we had to get some.

 

One Beef and one Chicken.
They actually tasted not bad!

I don’t know if you can notice the meat as it’s cooking.

Chicken on the left and beef on the right.

This guy was quite busy too!!

And alongside him was a place that was selling fries…

Moving right along…
After walking past the high end stores of Harajuku again, we decided to walk to Shinjuku.
I have to confess, I really love saying it. Shinjuku. There’s just something about that name!

We walked past the Meiji shrine and were amazed at how close it was to the station. Last year when we’d come here we’d gone via another station and walked a few kilometres to get to it.
The more you walk, the more you realise that so many stations are so close to each other that you probably don’t have to take the train as often as you think.

I found the display of the old wine and sake barrels very interesting.
Hopefully you can read the information in the pics below.

 

I just LOVE the Metropolitan Government Building.
Firstly, because it’s free to go up it!!

 

There’s great views of Tokyo from there and on a good day, you can even see Mt Fuji.
Today was not one of those days but we did see Fuji last time we were here.

 

Secondly, I like coming here because there’s a couple of gift shops and a restaurant.
Yes, the gift shops are slightly over priced but there’s not many people around and while hubby goes to have a coffee in the restaurant, I can take my time and really look at everything they have for sale.

I came away with a few goodies that are now tucked safely in my suitcase!

 

Another thing we love about Shinjuku is Brooklyn Parlor!!
We stumbled across this place last time by accident and this time, sought it out.

There’s just such a great atmosphere here!!! Hubby and I were definitely the oldest ones in there though.
We had a couple of drinks and shared some fries while giving our feet a bit of a rest.

As we made our way back I couldn’t help but wonder what side of the road we’re actually supposed to walk on. They drive on the left so you’d figure when walking on paths you should keep left. This is especially true as you share the path with so many bikes!!! Yet people don’t tend to keep left. I don’t think they stick to any side actually!

At the train station they have signs keeping you to keep left or right. Sometimes it’s left, sometimes it’s right.
When riding escalators, everyone keeps to the left… or right… (I love how they do that!!!) Leaving the other side free for people that want to race on by.

I was too late to take pics of our dinner but dumplings and rice made another appearance (not surprising)
I do like the food here but I’m not one who says I LOVE the food. I kind of miss having different vegetables and fruit. While you can have those things here, a lot of them tend to be very expensive and I don’t see them as a common thing being offered in restaurants.
I could be wrong, just what I’ve noticed in the short time we’ve been here.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Tokyo… I’m not sure what that day has in store yet!! Time to plan.