Welcome!!!

Hi!!!

Thank you for visiting.

What is this blog about? 
The idea of this blog is to offer some of my "insider" information about the cities that I know. This can be almost anything, but mainly where to eat and nice places to have some drinks.

Why?
The idea came when I moved to London... I was very excited!!! Few places in the world offer the opportunity to live so different cultural experiences. In fact, we are so excited that my boyfriend and I decided to create a blog to describe our Londoner adventures. This gave me the idea to write about the other lovely places I have had the opportunity to live in too. However, it did not last long and now we are living in Bristol! therefore another city to write about :D

Which cities?
So, you can find info about Cogoleto, Genova, Norwich, but also Guayaquil and Quevedo! I love all these places in different ways. Now I am in Bristol! The smell of new adventures is always sweet!

Guayaquil

I grew up between Guayaquil and Quevedo. Guayaquil is the economic bulk of the Ecuadorean economy, therefore the largest city in Ecuador. It is not the most touristic place in the country but it is worth to visit (I love it, there must be a reason!!!). This city has impressively changed in the last 20 years and now offers many more opportunities for tourists than it used to. Of course, it is still dangerous in some aspects, but... com'on! we are talking about South America! If you want to see some real Ecuadorean-coastal-city life, this is the place to go. And even if you do not want to, it is highly likely that you land in Guayaquil if you are flying from abroad, so you have little choice. The main thing I love about this place? the street food. I am a street food lover, and in Guayaquil you can have street food since early hours in the morning (the best breakfast in the world!) until early hours in the morning again!

Quevedo

Quevedo is a relatively small city, called El pueblito - the little town - by many (mainly my father's generation), but more recently I have heard calling it Ciudad de la furia - Fury city -.  I prefer the former, but in general I just say Quevedo. I do not think it is in any tourist guide - I do not think the Lonely Planet spends a single word on Quevedo! (I still need to check this though) and I do not even want to lie! If I were a tourist myself, I might just see the city and walk away. But living there I did find many things to do, places to go, nice food, and mainly nice people. Most of my childhood friends are from this city. Why should any one go there then? Well... Quevedo has its relatively importance within the country. If you travel by bus from Guayaquil to Quito, you definitely go through Quevedo. It is the contact point between the capital and the economic centre. It is a large commercial town, point of trade of Sierra and Costa goods. The markets are huge and you can find products from all over the country (translated: nice food!). To this I should add that in the range of an hour of bus ride you can see stunning places that join the Andes with the coast such as rivers, water falls, etc etc.
(Unlike the rest of the photos, the photo of Quevedo is not mine. I borrow it from google images. I could not find a photo of Quevedo in my computer archives!!!)

Cogoleto

After Ecuador, I did my big move to Italy. I lived in Italy for almost 10 years, and even now I go there very often. I moved to a little town on the Ligurian coast: Cogoleto. I think this place is simply stunning. I love Cogoleto. It is a typical beach town in Liguria, but at the same time is not that typical! During the summer is packed with people, the population almost double, gorgeous weather, nice promenade. Like almost every beach-town around. The difference is that Cogoleto has free access to 51% of the beaches (as you might know, in many beaches in Italy you have to pay to access :-/); it is also less known than Arenzano or Varazze, which makes it a bit quieter, the shops are less touristic traps, and the restaurants offer more genuine food (I hate touristic menus). During summer nights I can still go to a normal bar and have a good beer, or a good cocktail even if I am wearing my very-very casual clothes.

Genova

Cogoleto is 25 km from Genoa. Genoa is most well-known among tourist. Remember, Christopher Columbus is from Genoa! (In fact, he was born in Cogoleto!!!).  I did not technically live in Genoa city, but I did spend most of my time in there while living in Italy. University, work, and friends were all in Genoa, so either by train or car I travelled everyday. Not a long journey honestly, 40 minutes by train, 25 driving. There are so many places to visit in Genoa, and so many pubs, bars, restaurants that I cannot even start imagining. In fact, there are many too nice guides of Genoa that you can read that there is no point to describe many of these places here. I will only describe my favourite ones, or the ones that are not in guides, either because they are difficult to reach (and trust me, many places are very difficult to reach!), or because they are not tourist-friendly. Be aware that one of the Ligurian people characteristics is that they are not very friendly and at first-sight they might even seem a bit rude. if you do not pay too much attention to this, you will find many pleasant things to do.

Norwich

Studies brought me to UK, to the fine city of Norwich. After living here for few months, I understood why it is called the fine city. People is very friendly, and it shows a strong community spirit. You can find everything you need in Norwich, from shops to nice pubs and many churches! In fact, once I heard someone saying "Norwich has a church for every Sunday and a pub for every night" (or something along those lines). In fact, if you do not go mad about churches (I am not a big fan), you can enjoy having a beer in one of the many independent pubs around the city. In addition, the city council organises several festivals during the year so that there is always something to outdoors (I know, it is cold, but you are never completely outdoors, there is always a pub with a beer - or an ale - ready to warm up your night out). If you move towards the coast, you can see a gorgeous natural life. Norfolk coast has many things to offer. I love seal-watching and in general wild-life, but the little towns around the coast deserve a visit.

London

Finally, London!!! Even if I have visited London many times, it is never like living in there. London is many cities all together. You really need time to see them. You can find food from all over the world (have you notice that I quite enjoy food?) and the cultural offer is infinite! museums, theatres, galleries and many of these places are free-entry. Without considering the markets and the many activities going on in the parks. I loved living in here!


NEW ENTRY!!!! ******* BRISTOL *********

This is a real surprise! I did not expect to be in this part of the world, but job took me here and I enjoy it! This is a truly exciting place! visit people! visit Bristol! :D