A Taste of Travel looks at the ways food connects us with a culture and each other. Sharing the recipes and restaurants we have encountered along the way... Channeling the wild heather of the Scottish Highlands, the lavender combines a floral note with the vibrancy of lemon curd–like filling to make an unforgettable flavor combination. Make the [...]
The Atlantic Ocean along outer Cape Cod is considered one of the world's top ten places for whale watching. Our favorite tour company, Dolphin Fleet out of Provincetown, has been in business since 1976 and is committed to responsible whale watching and protecting the marine environment. Every trip includes a naturalist commenting on what we are seeing while actively [...]
When traveling, we suggest you register all international trips with the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Program. STEP's (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program) online form allows the State Department to know where you are in the event of national security issues. Plus, they send out pre-travel alerts and updates regarding political and military problems or natural disasters in your destination country. This should be done [...]
Did you know... Saint Anthony Chapel in Pittsburgh's neighborhood of Troy Hill contains the most relics outside of the Vatican. This church dedicated to the "wonder worker," Saint Anthony of Padua, is home to a vast collection of 5,000 relics - religious items related to Christ and his saints.
On the Trail of the Holy Grail: Knights Templar and Cathars Château Montségur, a seemingly impregnable castle perched in the Pyrénées Mountains, became the final stronghold of the Cathars–a heretical religious sect against whom the Catholic Church launched a ferocious crusade in the mid-thirteenth century. The Cathars supposedly fled to this mountaintop château with their [...]
A Taste of Travel looks at the ways food connects us with a culture and each other. Sharing the recipes and restaurants we have encountered along the way... Filled pastry dough is a culinary tradition found in most cultures: think pierogies, dumplings, and empanadas. The English have a knack for filling puffed pastry with stew-like fillings, [...]
On the Trail of the Holy Grail: Pyrénées Mountains Holy Grail traditions and Mary Magdalene’s enigmatic legend persists from the southern French coast inland to the mountains. Rennes-le-Chateau, a sleepy village in the foothills of the Pyrénées Mountains, plays a central role in several Grail stories. In the 1890’s a poor parish priest named Father Bérenger [...]
Did you know... Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is nicknamed the "City of Bridges" for its 446 bridges within the city limits. It is officially the city with the most bridges in the world- outranking Venice by only three. The downtown "Golden Triangle" area alone has 29 bridges crossing over three rivers. The three bright yellow sister bridges spanning the Allegheny River [...]
On the Trail of the Holy Grail: Southern France Southern France is a hotbed of grail tales with a far flung cast of characters ranging from medieval jongleurs to Knights Templars to the biblical Mary Magdalene. Local Provençal legends persist that the grail, along with other treasures looted from the Holy Land during the crusades, are hidden in caves, castles, and cathedrals throughout [...]
A Taste of Travel looks at the ways food connects us with a culture and each other. Sharing the recipes and restaurants we have encountered along the way… Fazzoletti Herb Pasta Does your herb garden runneth over? Here is a sublime way to capture the end of summer on a plate. Fazzoletti, which in Italian loosely [...]
