Tag: cooking class

10 Things to Do in DC When You Have Done Everything Else

M's Adventures

When you have seen everything else you need to see in DC as a tourist, try these things (or look at my list of walks):

Listen to the Drum Circle at Meridian Park, Sundays at 3 pm. It’s free and loud.

Visit the Library of Congress. Free but timed tickets required.

The Capital Wheel at the National Harbor.

Go to the National Harbor and the National Wharf. Free areas with restaurants and outdoor activities.

Visit the oldest farmers market in the USA in Alexandria. George Washington sold stuff at this market… Free, only on only Saturday mornings 7-12 noon.

Shop at Eastern Market. On the weekends, there are also outdoor stalls with art, fresh vegetables, etc. The market is over 130 years old. Free and on capital hill.

Take a water taxi from Georgetown to Old Town Alexandria or Mount Vernon or to the National Harbor. It’s a cheap way to get a boat cruise.

Go on a wine tour. There is one right in DC and there are many about an hour or two from DC. Read about all these great places from this Washingtonian article.

Harpers Ferry is one of my favorite day trip destinations from DC. Go for a hike up the other side but make sure to learn some history in the town. Free.

Hike or drive in the Shenandoah. You might go there to visit the famous cavern, but driving along Skyline Drive is fantastic too. Or stop for a hike. Fee for entering the park. Or buy a year pass.

Take the train to Frederiksburg, Richmond, Baltimore, or Annapolis. All within a two hour train ride.

Watch a comic or movie at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse (this is a historic, if tired, art nouveau building from 80 years ago). Price of tickets, but you will likely not see other tourists here.

Take a paint and sip art class. See this list. Or a cooking class or some other class. Check out this site for more info.

Go to a Korean spa like Spa World or King Spa, or go to a hammam. Scrub yourself away to another world.

Cook Italy – Food Tour in Bologna

M's Adventures
Bologna’s streets will make it hard to move on.

Do you know someone who is so extremely picky? As in, never satisfied? Oh, maybe YOU are that friend.

If you are one of those people who has such high standards for everything and never quite finds things up to scratch, then Carmelita of Cook Italy is the guide for you.

She will talk a lot about tortellini.

We booked her for a food tour. I mentioned some of the places earlier. We met at an excellent pastry shop where I am glad that I got a good breakfast.

Carmelita then showed us the formerly great, the famous, the touristy, and the abominably disgraced. She then showed us the still great shops and vendors downtown. Along the way, we had a snack stop and the history of why Bologna, “La Grasso” is translated too literally — the nickname refers to the bounty that is Bologna.

[A note about bologna, boloney — mortadella. It is a whole separate food product in Italy. It can be eaten sliced, cubed, and in a meat pate like a smear. There are required amounts of lardons per product and, of course, there are standards. People eat it like proscuitto. Yes, just like having slices of proscuitto on a charcuterie board… that’s how they eat mortadella.]

Bologna is a bountiful foodie city with warm red brick porticoes, shopping opportunities galore, and enough foodie gems for a month of feasts. One of the best things about the tour was being taken to the “horse” emporium.

This shop is a knife shop but so much more.

Carmelita ended our tour at an enoteca who kindly stored our wine while we went to Carmelita’s newest “project” – a new gelateria called Sablé. Check it out!

The pastry chef who owns Sable.

Carmelita also offers cooking classes. I found her through a friend, even though I see that she is famous on TripAdvisor. For a food tour, this was the least amount of food that we ate but the pace was very nice for the more mature traveler. It was a relaxed tour. Carmelita is very communicative and will send all kinds of recommendations even after the tour. A tour with Cook Italy is a gently paced tour.

But Carmelita’s standards and critique of the gastronomy scene is fierce and pointed. Carmelita is passionate about those she disdains and even more passionate about those whom she admires. If you want that style of guide, then she is for you.

Those hams are all the same because of special selection.

Here are some of Cook Italy’s recommendations:

Best aperitivo

Gamberini via Ugo Bassi
I Conoscenti via Mazzini
Stefano Cardi same street

Best gelato

Sablè  – in a Class of its own
Cremeria Santo Stefano – via Santo Stefano
Cremeria Cavour – in Piazza Cavour

Best little cakes  

Pasticceria mignon

Regina de Quadri – via Castiglione
La Borbonica  – via Riva Reno
Stefano Cardi as before
Gamberini as before

Inside Enoteca Italiana

As my friend commented, we had the least amount of food on this food tour. But, we did stop for a quick snack, and then for the light lunch. Also, a balsamic tasting. For three hours, the tour cost 280 euro for the group.

Carmelita will also come after you after the tour to write reviews. Beware. In the nicest way, but you are forewarned.