StringGrrl sees the World

Grilled Prawn and Squid http://www.tripadvisor.it/Restaurant_Review-g187855-d2196089-Reviews-Osteria_La_Cena_Coi_Fiocchi_Cucina_Viva-Turin_Province_of_Turin_Piedmont.html Primo piatto of Mussels  http://www.lacenacoifiocchi.it/index.html StringGirl gets attacked by the PrimoPiatto of fried seafood Fried seafood first plate Crudo Salmon and Bufala StringGirl Strikes back Victory Zabione

On our most recent visit to Torino, Italy, we had some amazing food just about every day--lunches and dinners. In fact one night just for a change of pace, I opted for discount sushi (also good) to take a rest from all the rich and widely varied Italian food.But perhaps the most surprising meal was the one I had in the grocery market, Eataly. Preserves, jarred sauces, and other condiments  Eataly is a chain of upscale markets throughout Italy, with locations in the New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Yokahama, Istanbul, Dubai, Brazil, and Seoul. There mission and manifesto , revolve around bringing quality of food, life, the world up through the sharing of Italian food culture. I went in looking only to find a reasonable bottle of wine to bring home, and left after buying a couple bottles, eating dinner, and sampling a few glasses of Piemontese wines. The surprise dinner, they were celebrating something with a limited time menu featuring this Duck Breast The duck dinner was a fe...

Panorama from the parking near the refuge  About 1 hour of driving from the city of Torino (Turin) Italy, you can visit a mountain refuge with fantastic vistas, nearby climbing and mountaineering routes, room and board. StringGirl posing with the rifugio in the background I did not know exactly what to expect when friends offered to take me up to a mountain shelter just outside the city of Torino on a recent work visit to the "Motown of Italy". Rifugio Selleries  is a Hotel and Restaurant located on the grounds of the Piemontese Regional Park of the Hautes Alpes (Regione Piemonte Ente di gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Cozie ). The trek in on car is 5km of single lane dirt/rock road with some at some dizzying heights When Fabrizio mentioned that we could drive to the refuge (his wife is 9 months pregnant and due the day after we visited), I figured that we would drive up to some tame little visitor center with ample parking and well provisioned r...

Really sad to hear that HitchBot has come to an end. http://m.hitchbot.me/about-me/canada/ Hitchbot is a robot from Port Credit, Ontario. conceived by Dr. David Smith (McMaster University), and Dr. Frauke Zeller (Ryerson University) to travel the world by the good acts of strangers. Or as put in his own words on the HitchBot blog: Simply put, I am a free-spirited robot who wants to explore the world and meet new friends along the way. I am an avid instagrammer and tweeter. On my downtime, I can appreciate a good game of trivia and would never pass up any opportunities to bake desserts. On instagram @hitchbot   has posted photos from the many travels around the world. Oh dear, my body was damaged, but I live on back home and with all my friends. I guess sometimes bad things happen to good robots! My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thank you to all my friends: http://goo.gl/rRTSW2 A photo posted by @hitchbot on Aug 1, 2...

Dusseldorf Haven  In a very significant shift from the first time we had visited Dusseldorf Haven we visited during the summer months. Dusseldorf Haven in December of 2009 while they hosted the World Cup of Nordic Skiing. In the winter of 2009 I visited the old center of Dusseldorf for the first time. That was with StringGirl 1.0 in her original incarnation. No broken arms or legs, lemon yellow tresses, and bright pink shirt. She was only at this point only traveling for about one year, Maybe less. Sunny warm days very different than when here for the Weinachtsmarkt  StringGirl 3.0 missed this trip. She was left behind rather callously by me as I tried to get to the airport after several false starts. After years of traveling and building up a repeatable routine, I find now that if I break that routine in anyway I completely lose my head. In the bustling Japanese Asian quarter plenty of izikawa styled restaurants at street side  I have been touring the ...

The Sushi bar at this bustling Japanese Place in Troy  I wandered into Haru Noodle and Sushi thinking of focusing on their Ramen offerings. I had been on a Ramen kick after a recent trip to Zurich when a colleague brought me to the local ramen place there. Truly, it is hard to isolate when the Ramen kick started maybe in kindergarten? Lunch Special, Sashimi salad But as any plan needs to be flexible, i had sat down for only a moment before I noticed the display of the lunch special for the day. Wrapped in cellophane at the front of the restaurant just like I would expect in Japan was a wonderful looking bowl with the daily special assembled underneath. Large chunks of tuna, salmon, whitefish, and "krab" over rice and veggies made the lunch special of the Sashimi Salad a welcome surprise. Udon Noodle Soup that came with the lunch special

The exterior of Johnny Noodle King in a very modest part of town In the shadow of the ambassador bridge this area has yet to catch up to the kind of resurgence going on in nearby Corktown. However, with the amount of demolition and clearing of old buildings and the ever looming potential of another bridge in the area that may change. The interior is completely Hipster Chic As I was only there for a quick bite before having to head to Comerica Park for training on operating the concessions (doing it as a fundraiser for the school chior and drama programs), I only had time for one simple bowl of Ramen. I went for the Shoyu which seemed to be the most like any classic ramen option. Ordered it with the Pork Belly (Chasu). The Shoyu Ramen For a noodle joint like this the speed of service for the ramen was not bad. The place was empty at the time with only 4 other patrons when I entered. All of whom appeared to have already ordered. One large stock pot was visible from t...