abroadtravelingabroad

Sachertorte, Schloss Mirabell and St. Nicholas Market: Sweet Secrets of Salzburg

Leave a Comment / Europe, Food and Wine, Holidays, Shopping, Sights to See, Solo Travel, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

Sachertorte has a sweet secret. In 1832, the Austrian State Chancellor challenged his kitchen staff to prepare a “dessert to impress” special guests. With the Head Chef taken to his bed, his 16-year old apprentice, Franz Sacher performed the original culinary magic creating a chocolate cake which soon gained a cult following. From the imperial

Sachertorte, Schloss Mirabell and St. Nicholas Market: Sweet Secrets of Salzburg Read More »

For Beautiful Scents of France, Visit Fragonard…

1 Comment / Europe, Shopping, Sights to See, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

Here are a few pics of Grasse on that summer morning… A little about Fragonard. It’s not just a luxury French perfume. It’s a French treasure. Eugene Fuchs, a former Parisien notary with a fondness for fragrance founded the company in 1926 in one of the oldest factories in Grasse. Perfume as Art Monsieur Fuchs

For Beautiful Scents of France, Visit Fragonard… Read More »

Not to Miss: The Cliffs of Moher and The Aran Islands

Leave a Comment / Europe, Shopping, Sights to See, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

The three Aran Islands lie across the waters of Galway Bay on Ireland’s west coast. Sometimes called “the Islands of Saints & Scholars” they are a hallmark of Celtic culture not only for their stunning geological formations but because of their linguistic and cultural heritage. I fell in love with the Islands on a recent

Not to Miss: The Cliffs of Moher and The Aran Islands Read More »

Les Bijoux De La Couronne Galerie D Apollon

Secrets of France: Jewels and Lingerie

Leave a Comment / Europe, Shopping, Solo Travel, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

The French know jewelry. With an historical pedigree from Cartier · Chaumet · Boucheron · Chanel · Dior · De Grace · Breguet, yessir, France has a lock on luxury baubles. On a recent Louvre excursion I spent time in rapt appreciation of the magisterial collection of Crown Jewels enthroned in three showcases in the

Secrets of France: Jewels and Lingerie Read More »

A “Must See” in Tel Aviv

Leave a Comment / Blogging, Middle East, Shopping, Sights to See, Solo Travel / Pamelahawthorne

Neve Tzedek, my favorite little neighborhood in Tel Aviv. Got off the bus solo and wandered around Tel Aviv’s first and oldest neighborhood away from the “balagan”, the chaos of city life. A tangle of narrow streets and limitless eclectic portraits, the “artsy section” and oldest of the city with a rich, cultural history. Neve

A “Must See” in Tel Aviv Read More »

yoga masai village africa kenya africa tourism

Yoga in Africa

1 Comment / Africa, Blogging, Shopping, Sights to See, Solo Travel / Pamelahawthorne

On my last trip to East Africa, another of my female traveling companions and I were the fortunate guests of a Masai Village at the base of the Ngong Hills in the Masai Mara region of Kenya. This nomadic, warrior tribe which once held vast swathes of pre colonial Kenya, still retain many of their

Yoga in Africa Read More »

Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi (Part 1)

Leave a Comment / Asia, Food and Wine, Shopping, Sights to See, Solo Travel / Pamelahawthorne

I’m always asked if I liked Vietnam so for the record, yes, I LOVED visiting Vietnam. Even though my trip coincided with the moment that Covid was silently enveloping the world in March of 2020, I was experiencing my first solo trip to Southeast Asia with a tour group whittled from its original twenty-four to

Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi (Part 1) Read More »

Madaba, City of Mosaics

Leave a Comment / Middle East, Shopping, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

One of my most treasured purchases from a recent trip to Jordan is a pendant depicting the Tree of Life, a relic of Byzantine art, in amazing, microscopic mosaic detail. I was fortunate to meet the artist, a young man in his 30’s and the shop owner who detailed the seven month-long process he used

Madaba, City of Mosaics Read More »

Dreaming of Chocolate

3 Comments / Blogging, Europe, Food and Wine, Shopping / Pamelahawthorne

I love chocolate. And yes, there is a big difference between “ours” and “theirs”. We celebrate chocolate. Thinking about the gigantic red hearts filled with bite-sized confections in their pleated brown nests, the foil-wrapped eggs in Easter baskets, the Hershey bars we drop into Trick-or Treater’s bags and the chocolate coins and Santas we stuff

Dreaming of Chocolate Read More »