Marrakesh

The city of spices, flavors and smells

We travelled to Marakkesh from Madrid after having spent a good 10 days in Aldusia region of Spain (South spain). The thing with  Europe is that whether you like it or not, you just get used to the orderliness of it all very quickly. And so travelling straight away into a place like Marakkesh can be a bit overwhelming to start with all its chaos.

It is very Jaipur-like in its soul. I mean that I felt almost immediately after setting my foot there but then as you slowly uncover the city, it does reveal very its Moroccan soul.

We stayed in the Riads, which is pretty much the centre of Old Marakkesh.  

We had picked up this small, quaint Riad called Riad Linda run by a German woman quite obviously called Linda. The entire street is lined with many many Riads such as this one with a beautiful door which completely enamoured me.

The good thing about living in the city centre is that you are within walking distance of most of the famous souks. And souks are the soul of this city.

They will call you, capture your imagination and then make you reminisce about an era gone by, because time does stand frozen here. The souks are a treasure trove of all things beautiful- the glass works, the ittars (perfumes), the spices, beauty products, the argan oil cooperative shops. Sometimes you can’t help think like you are running in a disney world set of Aladdin and Chalees chor.

Don’t believe me, just watch: 

The pots and pans - Aah! the explosion of colours

The story in all these weaves

 This is sheer beauty- All these dishes and those tagine pots

Somewhere near a Hammam

The flowers and the smell

  If looks could kill- mountain of spices

The beauty  in all these  dishes

 On way to Atlas mountain

At Atlas mountain

This city has an abundance of my favourite colour

The  Atlas mountains

Marakkesh you stole my heart. 

I promise to see you some time again...

The food and the foodie in Goa!!

Goa, Cochin and Udaipur are the three cities in India that I visit ever so often. And given that me and my husband are the types who love exploring new places all the time , it actually says sth about these cities. Every time we go to these places we discover sth new, we do something new. So this year, we sort of broke away from our tradition of an annual Goa trip in the monsoons. For this year we celebrated x-mas in Goa.

Even before we landed we had decided that we are going food tripping in Goa this time around. A lot of my friend found the idea weird given that we are vegetarians and to them Goa spells sea food heaven with a capital S.

So now I am going to straight away tell you about all the awesome restaurants that we visited and all the food awesomeness that happened. 

Here s the grand list : Veenu's list of Goa restaurant:

Tried and tasted:

Restaurants-

1. La plage, Ashwem: 

The location, the uninterrupted view of the sea and this flower salad is reason enough to keep coming.

Flower Salad, La PLage, Photo Credit: Veenu Gupta

2. Anteras, Vagator: Run by a young Australian woman , I loved the name of the restaurant and then I had seen it featured on TLC so anyways I knew I was going to go this one. Once in, wasn't disappointed by the food at all. I mean it was pretty MasterChef types given the chef s background. Just check this icecream here 

Amazing Ice-cream, Antennas, Photo Credit: Veenu Gupta

3. Cafe Blanche, Assagoa: this one was off the beaten track, with no beach in sight but such a pretty little bistro run by a German lady. What I loved the most was that there was such simplicity in all the vegan stuff that the flavours spoke for themselves. 

Cafe Blache, Pretty pretty place, Photo credit: Veenu Gupta

4. Gunpowder cafe, Assagoa: The food was good but what was better was the ambience. Its like tropics defined for one. The colourful umbrellas, the sun filtering through them is enough for anyone to feel soul quenched. The food is all Indian and yum..

5. A Reverie, Calangute: This place is an experience and the food is a sight to behold. Tastefully done decor and beautiful food presentation defines the place. What i liked the most was that the way all the flavours come together in a simple and 

The deconstructed Bharta, A Reverie, Photo Credit: Veenu Gupta

6. Om made cafe, Anjuna

7. Thalassa, vagator: A greek restaurant with open view of the sea, soft breeze, awesome setting with good food. Need I say more..

9. One calangute, calangute: Frankly this was always more of the husband's favourite. But i won't deny that the setting is pretty awesome and its right  on the calangute beach and their crisps are pretty much the best crisps in the town.

10. Sol de Goa, Nerul: A quaint hotel by the river side, I loved sitting here for hours 

11. Black sheep bistro, Panjim: This place, this place and this place. When it comes to food and experimentation there are no parallels to this one. The red salad was simply out of the world. So was this dessert which is a take on Indian Kheer. 

Dessert, Black Sheep Bistro, Panjim, Photo Credit: Veenu Gupta

12. Fisherman wharf, Panjim: The soulful music, the goan food and the fresh sea food (even though i don't eat it) make it a must visit in Goa

13. L' Atelier, ashram : Another little gem by the Ashwem, with beautiful view of the waters