travel + eat

The technical distinctions between cupcakes and muffins are the ingredients as well as the processes through which they are made, which then determine the leavening agents and leavening processes.

A Muffin is either within the quickbread subset of breads or just a bread depending on the recipe: 

Italy is intimate, romantic, noisy, dirty, and generally an "in your face" experience. I have always felt comfortable traveling in groups at all hours in the cities I have visited. Like most places theft is a problem so the tourist should be aware. There is a lack of safety both for the driver and pedestrians on roads; informational signage is absent on many roads other than the autostrada (highway). Once again, caution is required. Also some things such as hours of service are not so convenient. For example, many food vendors and markets are open only in the morning. Even gas stations are not always attended. But once you accept the difference in the culture it is very possible to enjoy yourself immensely in Italy. Living there is very different from visiting. The cost of living is high and the wages and hours are modest. Many people work more than one part-time job in their fields. Getting an education, even though it is almost free at public universities, is a long difficult task and many professional programs have cuts. Taxes I believe are high and pensions are low. Therefore, Italy desperately needs and wants our tourism dollars. So go as often as you can afford to and experience Italy as deeply as your love for culture, food, art, natural beauty, etc. indulges you.

 

It depends a lot on where you go. Eastern Europe is much cheaper, England is very expensive. I would say that you could get by on 50 Euros per day for Western Europe if you really tried hard, less for Eastern Europe. These numbers are based on my personal experience in addition to travel budget numbers submitted by multiple people at www.budgetyourtrip.com

 

A good North-Western trip could be :

- Paris : a lot of walk in the historical city, museum, restaurants, opera...
- Normandy : Deauville (where parisians spends their holidays, beautifull city, with seaside resorts, casino... ), Omaha beach, "La pointe du Hoc" and American cemetery at Saint-Laurent (if you like WW2 history, you must visit it), Mont-Saint-Michel (a city and a cathedral built on a rock, surrounded by the sea... impressive but touristic)
- Britain : Saint-Malo (old city of corsair) or Dinard and Dinan (nice cities, restaurants to taste buckwheat pancake), Perros Guirrec (in Côtes-d'Armor, called "The Pink Granite Coast", beautiful, wild and authentical)... you can also visit Rennes (student city, with a lot of bar !), and the Paimpont forest (Broceliande forest of Arthur King legend)
- Atlantic coast : Nantes (student city, museum, restaurants, bar...), and the islands near the coast : Quiberon, Belle-Ile, Normoutier, l'Ile-d'Yeu : natural trip, hikes, sea activities and beach...

A travel for the end of spring or summer...

by: Marie Adam, 2011