October 31, 2012

Muyil, Riviera Maya, Mexico: Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve; things to do

Just south of Tulum.  With a name that translates in Mayan as "Where The Sky Is Born," the vast Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve nature preserve and UNESCO World Heritage site is composed of more than one million acres of lush jungle and beaches.  It is on a small peninsula but is home to nearly half the world's flora and fauna species, including monkeys, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, rays, crocodiles, and more than 400 bird species.  Here, you’ll see mangroves, ancient Maya canals, and miles and the Great Maya Reef.  Additionally, this reserve houses the rustic, mostly undeveloped Muyil pre-Columbian archaeological site. 

Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Muyil, Mexico
Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Muyil, Mexico
 

Community Tours Sian Ka'an  

Office in Muyil.  Ecologically responsible technologies are used by this tour cooperative that makes a strong effort to be community-centric.



More things to do in the Riviera Maya.

More UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

More ideas for exploring Canada and Mexico.


image c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

October 29, 2012

Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico: Diablito Cha Cha Cha; restaurant review

On Calle 12/5th Ave., 984 803 4507. 

Located on a side street known for its popular clubs, this bar (and restaurant) is famous for its Mango Diablo—a pretty drink composed of mango, lemon, and chamoy with tangy and colorful chili on the glass rim.  Things don’t get going around here until after 10 p.m. 



More things to do in the Riviera Maya.

More ideas for exploring Canada and Mexico.

image c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

October 26, 2012

Eugene, Oregon: McMenamins High Street Brewery & Cafe; restaurant review

1243 High St., (541) 345-4905.

Situated inside and outside of a repurposed 1900s house, the McMenamins High Street Brewery & Cafe pub has a cozy interior with copper table tops and a large deck in back with picnic tables under tall trees plus lawn seating in front. It is the town’s first microbrewery since Prohibition and offers a selection of fresh brews. The pub fare menu includes a delicious cheeseburger.





image c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

October 24, 2012

Eugene, Oregon: Marche; restaurant review

Marche  

In the Fifth Street Public Market, (541) 342-3612.  B-L-D daily; $$. 

interior of Marche in Eugene, Oregon
interior of Marche in Eugene, Oregon


Featuring a French flair and a name that is the French word for market, popular Marche features a sophisticated decor and some spacious booths inside as well as courtyard dining outside.  The locally sourced menu changes with the season.  Summer might see a very French salade Nicoise made with fresh albacore tuna and aioli and perhaps a delicious “Almond Financier” prepared with a roasted fresh peach or roasted figs with thyme honey.  It always features individual pizzettas and a delicious house burger with blue cheese and pommes frites, as well as oysters and mussels, a soufflé, and steak frites.  Cocktails, wine, and beer are available along with a simple and unsweetened house watermelon soda and lavender lemonade. 





image c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

October 22, 2012

Veneta, Oregon: Our Daily Bread; restaurant review

Our Daily Bread 

Restaurant 88170 Territorial Rd., 15 mi. W of Eugene on Hwy. 126, in Veneta, (541) 935-4921. $.

exterior of Our Daily Bread in Veneta, Oregon
exterior of Our Daily Bread in Veneta, Oregon


This bakery restaurant is situated on the main drag inside a small former one-room church. Family-owned and –operated, Our Daily Bread serves an extensive made-from-scratch menu as well as local wines and microbrews. The house specialty chicken borscht soup is thick and delicious and served with a big freshly baked roll. Sandwiches are positively huge--don’t miss the roast beef with horseradish sauce or The Featherbenders Grill made with turkey breast, Swiss cheese, tomato, avocado, and bacon on a grilled French roll. I recommend that two average-appetites each order a bowl of soup and share a sandwich with steak fries. That will leave some room for a piece of cake or perhaps some fresh marionberry pie. A small gift shop is stocked with Oregon wines and some local products.  

 

October 8, 2012

Eastern Galilee, Israel: breakfast buffet at Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim, Israel; hotel review

Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim  

In Rosh Pina, (+) 972-4-6994555. 99 rooms. No children under 10. Indoor pool; outdoor & indoor hot tub; fitness room; dry & wet sauna; health spa; 1 tennis court. 

breakfast buffet at Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim in Eastern Galilee, Israel
breakfast buffet at Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim in Eastern Galilee, Israel


In the Upper Galilee at the foot of Mount Canaan, near the artist village Rosh Pina and the Kabbalah city of Sefad (and rumored to have hosted celebrity Madonna), the romantic Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim resort/health retreat is spread over 37 acres. It opened in 1968, when this property was mostly barren, hot, and dry desert, but is now lush, like an oasis, and features fragrant gardens, walking paths, and ponds. It is well-known for its organic fruit and vegetable gardens as well as an organic dairy farm with herds of sheep, goats, cows, and chickens. Because the soil is considered sacred, no one poisons it with pesticides. Rock mounds in the vegetable garden attract and protect insect eaters. The 30-acre organic farm grows 100 different vegetables and 70 kinds of fruit, and in spring there is an amazing bloom of wild flowers. The owner works twice a day in the fields just because he enjoys doing so.

Each guest room here has a unique decor, heavy on English style. Mine had a large bathroom with vintage white marble floors, a pull-chain toilet and pedestal sink, and an oversize whirlpool tub with separate glass-walled shower. Furniture included a desk and armoire, and the bed faced an upper wall of windows that looked out into trees and over a duck-pond below. Guest rooms are spread between the main building and four other stone buildings. Oriental rugs and charm reign throughout, and a central atrium holds a 7-story-tall Washington palm tree that hugs the ceiling (it is NOT dead). One person I chatted with said, “I come for the silence.” 

The freezer-less Vegetarian Restaurant serves everything fresh, including fish from the Sea of Galilee, while Muscat Restaurant offers refined dining and menu items such as beetroot ravioli filled with goat cheese and hazel nut oil, and organic duck with pomegranate-caramel sauce with five passion spices and organic vegetables. The morning breakfast buffet is beautiful, bountiful, and an organic delight. A daily activity program includes classes and tours—perhaps bread making and a healing workshop or a guided tour of the farm. In addition to hundreds of cows, the hotel has 200 goats and 100 sheep. View my video of the baby goats:








The hotel has been leading the trend of ecotourism and sustainability here for almost 40 years. A house bakery makes everything fresh daily, and the dairy provides all the organic dairy foods and some meats.




More vegan-vegetarian places.

More things to do in Galilee area of Israel.

More ideas for exploring the Middle East.


image and videos c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

October 5, 2012

Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico: La Cueva del Chango; restaurant review

La Cueva del Chango  

Calle 38/5th Ave., 984 147 02 71.  M-Sat 8am-11pm, Sun 8am-2pm.  

La Cueva del Chango restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
La Cueva del Chango restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico


Featuring a jungle garden atmosphere, popular La Cueva del Chango is primo for breakfast.  The menu then includes fragrant fresh papaya, fresh-squeezed juices, huevos a la Méxicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and chiles), a selection of chilaquiles (I especially like the one with pasilla salsa), molletes (like melted cheese sandwiches), and warm tortillas as well as empanadas and cappucinos. 

October 4, 2012

Portland, Oregon: Helser’s on Alberta; restaurant review

Helser’s on Alberta

1538 NE Alberta St., (503) 281-1477. Daily 7am-3pm; $.

interior of Helser's on Alberta in Portland, Oregon
interior of Helser's on Alberta in Portland, Oregon


Breakfast is served all day in this simple corner spot, with a $4.95 early bird special available weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. (note that coffee is not included with the special but is included with the regular breakfast, making any savings almost a wash). The usual is done nicely, but you’ll want to try some of the specialties at Helser's on Alberta: smoked salmon or mushroom hash, an array of Benedicts, a Scotch egg (a hard-boiled egg wrapped in bratwurst, then lightly breaded and fried) with potato pancakes and horseradish cream, a German pancake/Dutch baby. Lunch items are also available from 11:30 a.m.

image c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

October 1, 2012

Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico: Aldea Corazon; restaurant review

Aldea Corazon  

5th Ave., next door to Hacienda Tequila, 984 803 1942. 

Aldea Corazon restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Aldea Corazon restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico


Delicious contemporary Mexican cuisine is served here at Aldea Corazon in a lively interior.  In back, an exquisite garden seating area with strangler figs is adjacent to a dry cenote.  It can be very dark at night, when it is also hopelessly romantic. 

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