We only went to this place to have a coffee at the bar and paid it 2.50 € each (other coffees in Paris costed 0.95 - 1.20 €). They said it's the price written in the carte but we didn't see it, and anyway they made us pay as we had table service but we didn't! I think it's not honest from them and I'm happy we didn't have dinner there.
The worst part was not that they added 13,50€ to the bill of a lunch for 2, but how terribly they treated us when we complained about it. We ordered a dish of calamaris to share, spaghetti with clams and risotto with seafood. When we asked for the bill, we saw that the price of each of the main dishes had been increased in 2€ and that there were 2 dishes of calamaris instead of the single starter we had ordered, so double of the price indicated in the menu. The waiter accepted without apologising that the price of the main dishes was incorrect but refused to let us pay just the starter we had ordered because we had already eaten it. This after having tried to convince us, with no success, that in fact they had already discounted one of the portions because the whole price of the calamaris would have been 36€. The menu clearly indicated "calamari fritti 9.50." No comments. Then the waiter invited me to go to the hall to meet "il direttore" if I still was not happy with the amount to pay. It was later when I understood how this allowed the director to shout at me and insult me without disturbing the rest of the clients. However, I'm sure everybody heard how he called me "stronza maleducata" while he yelled "when I travel in Spain, I pay what they ask me to" (I'm Spanish.) I decided then to ask for the complaints book. This only made things even worse, with the director holding one of my arms, his other hand raised and shouting at me if I was trying to eat for free. The waiter was also extremely disrespectful to us, saying lovely things as "who do you think you are to complain" and "if you don't have enough money to pay just leave." The funny thing is that before we could even imagine the terrible scene we would have to suffer, we had already regretted having chosen this place for lunch as the food was too salty to be enjoyed and the decoration really tacky, with pictures of old fashion landscapes and plastic flowers among other beautiful details.
My worst experience so far in a restaurant and the only bad incident I had in my, apart from this disturbing episode, wonderful holidays in Sardinia.
Showing posts with label landscapes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label landscapes. Show all posts
“When they try to cheat tourists...”
Umbria -Archaeology in the Hill Towns
Umbria -Archaeology in the Hill Towns
Instead of concentrating on the medieval churches and their paintings, we go further back to tribes of pre-Roman Umbria and the gradual increase in importance of the area during the Roman period.
This is an unusual way of looking at the beautiful area of Umbria, home to the classic landscapes of tall cypress trees, ancient hilltop towns and olive groves which, for many travellers, represent the essence of central Italy.
The Iron Age Umbrian tribes inhabited independent cities which were as likely to be at war with each other as with outsiders. They shared a common language, related to Latin, but more closely related to that of the Samnite tribes to the south.
In 220BC, Caius Flaminius built a great road through Umbria which linked Rome to the East coast of Italy. This road had a dramatic effect on the communities of Umbria; those situated close by could take advantage of it and flourish, and those further away declined. In the turmoil of Rome’s civil wars, control of the road became important and Umbria was turned into a battlefield.
The trip is based in a single hotel in an attractively renovated fortified 15th century house on the plain west of Assisi.
Our tour traces the changing fortunes of the Umbrian landscape, the development and flourishing of Roman settlements in the valley, sited for ease of communication and trade, and the later creation of hill-towns sited for defence.
Instead of concentrating on the medieval churches and their paintings, we go further back to tribes of pre-Roman Umbria and the gradual increase in importance of the area during the Roman period.
This is an unusual way of looking at the beautiful area of Umbria, home to the classic landscapes of tall cypress trees, ancient hilltop towns and olive groves which, for many travellers, represent the essence of central Italy.
In 220BC, Caius Flaminius built a great road through Umbria which linked Rome to the East coast of Italy. This road had a dramatic effect on the communities of Umbria; those situated close by could take advantage of it and flourish, and those further away declined. In the turmoil of Rome’s civil wars, control of the road became important and Umbria was turned into a battlefield.
The trip is based in a single hotel in an attractively renovated fortified 15th century house on the plain west of Assisi.
Our tour traces the changing fortunes of the Umbrian landscape, the development and flourishing of Roman settlements in the valley, sited for ease of communication and trade, and the later creation of hill-towns sited for defence.
Tunisia Carthage to the Sahara
Tunisia Carthage to the Sahara
The magnificent sites of northern Tunisia, the wide rural landscapes and the extraordinary artistry achieved by the north African mosaicists are described on the previous pages but yet more awaits those who have time to explore Tunisia further.
Our onward journey south leaves the Mediterranean climate behind. One notices the olive trees spaced further and further apart as they compete for the scarce moisture, until we arrive in the strange white landscapes of the chotts - the area of great salt lakes which divides the country in two - and enter the fringes of the great Sahara desert.
On the way, we continue to follow the story of the Roman world into the realms of its military past, climbing the foothills of the Aures Mountains to seek out the only legionary fortress in the whole of this vast province at Haidra, and exploring the empty landscapes of the south in search of traces of the frontier zone.
We drive south into the sand-sea desert in order to experience the real Sahara and to stay at a remote (but very comfortable) camp site under the stars.
In the semi-desert regions of the south, fortified farmsteads (Ksour) were a feature of the landscape from Roman times right through until the recent past, their remarkable Berber architecture demonstrating the ingenuity of the local people in adapting to harsh living conditions.
The magnificent sites of northern Tunisia, the wide rural landscapes and the extraordinary artistry achieved by the north African mosaicists are described on the previous pages but yet more awaits those who have time to explore Tunisia further.
Our onward journey south leaves the Mediterranean climate behind. One notices the olive trees spaced further and further apart as they compete for the scarce moisture, until we arrive in the strange white landscapes of the chotts - the area of great salt lakes which divides the country in two - and enter the fringes of the great Sahara desert.
On the way, we continue to follow the story of the Roman world into the realms of its military past, climbing the foothills of the Aures Mountains to seek out the only legionary fortress in the whole of this vast province at Haidra, and exploring the empty landscapes of the south in search of traces of the frontier zone.
We drive south into the sand-sea desert in order to experience the real Sahara and to stay at a remote (but very comfortable) camp site under the stars.
In the semi-desert regions of the south, fortified farmsteads (Ksour) were a feature of the landscape from Roman times right through until the recent past, their remarkable Berber architecture demonstrating the ingenuity of the local people in adapting to harsh living conditions.
Prehistoric Morocco early rock art
Prehistoric Morocco early rock art
All over the world, in remote and seemingly inhospitable landscapes, people over thousands of years have left physical renderings of what was important to them. In the foothills of the Atlas and anti-atlas mountains of southern Morocco lie boulders and fractured rock strata covered with incised animals, some typical of the Savannah and some domesticated species, as well as enigmatic symbols whose meanings remain obscure.
Over 250 sites have been identified in this region, and antelope, gazelle, ostrich, elephant rhino and lion, as well as cattle, horses and camels have all been immortalised on rocky boulders in an area from which the real animals have long disappeared.
This all provides the focus for a most unusual journey through southern Morocco. It focuses on the rich legacy of rock art sites, but even those with no interest in the art could not help but be impressed with the journey, the landscapes and the glimpses of contemporary life in this remote region.
The route follows non-tarmac roads and wheel tracks, and all needs to be covered in 4x4s rather than a coach. You will see extraordinary oasis towns, with gold, pink and orange walls which blend beautifully with the desert colours, impressive mountain scenery, pomegranate and palm groves.
All over the world, in remote and seemingly inhospitable landscapes, people over thousands of years have left physical renderings of what was important to them. In the foothills of the Atlas and anti-atlas mountains of southern Morocco lie boulders and fractured rock strata covered with incised animals, some typical of the Savannah and some domesticated species, as well as enigmatic symbols whose meanings remain obscure.
Over 250 sites have been identified in this region, and antelope, gazelle, ostrich, elephant rhino and lion, as well as cattle, horses and camels have all been immortalised on rocky boulders in an area from which the real animals have long disappeared.
This all provides the focus for a most unusual journey through southern Morocco. It focuses on the rich legacy of rock art sites, but even those with no interest in the art could not help but be impressed with the journey, the landscapes and the glimpses of contemporary life in this remote region.
Scholars today have attempted to classify these into groups on stylistic grounds, to date them using science and what is known of environmental conditions at various times, and to guess at their meaning/
The route follows non-tarmac roads and wheel tracks, and all needs to be covered in 4x4s rather than a coach. You will see extraordinary oasis towns, with gold, pink and orange walls which blend beautifully with the desert colours, impressive mountain scenery, pomegranate and palm groves.
Travel ocity: Ancient Mexico
Travel ocity: Ancient Mexico
To date our Mexican tours have tended to concentrate on the better known giants of ancient Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, but Mexico was one of the world’s major independent cradles of civilisation. The varied landscapes and environments across this vast country produced a great range of adaptations and of fascinating local cultures, the focus of this new tour.
To date our Mexican tours have tended to concentrate on the better known giants of ancient Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, but Mexico was one of the world’s major independent cradles of civilisation. The varied landscapes and environments across this vast country produced a great range of adaptations and of fascinating local cultures, the focus of this new tour.
Peoples with exotic names such as the Totonacs, Toltecs, the Cholulans, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs shared the same calendar systems, held certain gods and views of the cosmos in common, practiced human sacrifice and played a game with a rubber ball in a special court that was of great ritual significance. Yet they spoke a range of separate languages and produced an array of different styles in art and architecture that display a striking individuality and vivacity.
The splendid achievements of some of these local cultures of ancient Mexico are becoming better known through the archaeological work of recent years: El Tajin, for example, in the steamy hotlands of northern Veracruz, was a great city with a unique architectural style and eleven ball-courts, and Cacaxtla with superb and intriguing wall paintings, flourished in the very different temperate environment of the valley of Mexico.
At other times it was part of the Hellenistic worldWe also fly south to explore a whole new and archaeologically rich area of ancient Mexico, the marvellous upland region of Oaxaca, land of the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, and still home to traditional communities of their descendants today.
To date our Mexican tours have tended to concentrate on the better known giants of ancient Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, but Mexico was one of the world’s major independent cradles of civilisation. The varied landscapes and environments across this vast country produced a great range of adaptations and of fascinating local cultures, the focus of this new tour.
To date our Mexican tours have tended to concentrate on the better known giants of ancient Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, but Mexico was one of the world’s major independent cradles of civilisation. The varied landscapes and environments across this vast country produced a great range of adaptations and of fascinating local cultures, the focus of this new tour.
Peoples with exotic names such as the Totonacs, Toltecs, the Cholulans, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs shared the same calendar systems, held certain gods and views of the cosmos in common, practiced human sacrifice and played a game with a rubber ball in a special court that was of great ritual significance. Yet they spoke a range of separate languages and produced an array of different styles in art and architecture that display a striking individuality and vivacity.
Travelicity- Albania
Travelicity
Geographically, and until recently, also culturally isolated through a post-war Stalinist regime, Albania is unlike any other European country. Homeric landscapes, for the most part untouched by modern life, hold ruinous Classical cities which once vied in splendour with their neighbours in Greece and Italy. Greek coastal colonisation provided new stimulus to the native population, and recent excavations of their Illyrian hilltop cities, such as Byllis, have revealed the successful absorption of Hellenistic architectural ideas in their planned layout.
Oliver Gilkes, Andante’s archaeologist guide, has witnessed at first hand how the country has struggled to assert its new-found freedom during his 15 years of excavating and working here. His observations make fascinating listening, and add interest and depth to our study of this land in ancient times. More varieties of wild flowers grow here than anywhere else in Europe, and the high mountains provide one of the last refuges of bears and wolves.
My own hotel, Endsleigh House in Devon, is a slightly unloved child at the moment, poor thing. But I’m not Superwoman, so I’ve employed an amazing manager. As I get older I’m very conscious that there’s less chance of me being able to produce a second child – and if these years with Olga are all I’ve got, I don’t want to miss them. It would be wonderful to go down to Endsleigh as guests for the odd weekend but when we tried this I received such a foul comment on TripAdvisor afterwards that I was put off. A couple wrote that I’d behaved badly by sitting in the drawing room and not tending to their needs. The reality is that I was there as a customer but obviously having me there not working was more than they could bear. I was so upset that I couldn’t even post a reply.
My own hotel, Endsleigh House in Devon, is a slightly unloved child at the moment, poor thing. But I’m not Superwoman, so I’ve employed an amazing manager. As I get older I’m very conscious that there’s less chance of me being able to produce a second child – and if these years with Olga are all I’ve got, I don’t want to miss them. It would be wonderful to go down to Endsleigh as guests for the odd weekend but when we tried this I received such a foul comment on TripAdvisor afterwards that I was put off. A couple wrote that I’d behaved badly by sitting in the drawing room and not tending to their needs. The reality is that I was there as a customer but obviously having me there not working was more than they could bear. I was so upset that I couldn’t even post a reply.
Global travel
My travels
The Andes fascinated me long before I got to see them. I had been brought up on the Andean tales of my paternal grandfather, a former railway engineer in Chile and Bolivia. On my mother's side I had ancestors who hailed from the Italian Alps, where so many of the great Andean climbers and adventurers originated. The Andes, as the world's longest continuous mountain range, came to hold the promise of an endless succession of extreme and sublime landscapes.
I planned an ambitious transcontinental route that would begin by following Humboldt and Bolívar through the northern and central Andes and end up with Darwin at South America's southernmost tip. I estimated that it would be six months of near-continuous travelling, largely by bus, but also by train and boat, and even on horseback and on foot.
On reaching Colombia, I concentrated my attention on the magnificently preserved Andean colonial towns, uncanny reminders of a bygone Spain. Travelling from the vibrant salsa capital of Cali to the whitewashed colonial jewel of Popayán, and then south through emerald green scenery towards the Ecuadorean border, I began imagining myself on a journey ever closer to paradise. I found my own personal Eden in the Laguna de la Cocha, a secluded lake outside the far southern town of Pasto, surrounded by flower-filled meadows and forested mountains, and with a Swiss-style wooden lodge where I ate delicious trout before being rowed out to the island of Corota. This surviving enclave of rainforest, dense with lianas and giant bromeliads, was described to me as a "centre of energy" rivalled only by Peru's Machu Picchu.
At Pasto there were numerous indications that I was approaching at last the heart of the Andes, including guinea pig, a famous Andean delicacy, being served at the local restaurants. Overshadowing the landscape was the active Galera volcano, which marked my arrival at a long corridor of volcanoes forming the backbone of neighbouring Ecuador.
In the south of Ecuador I hired a horse and guide to take me on the section of Inca road that leads from the exposed mountain village of Achapullas to the ruins of an Inca palace and temple at Ingapirka, huddled in a deep valley.
The achievement of the Incas' efficient transport system over some of South America's most difficult terrain seemed even more extraordinary when compared with what I would soon find in Peru. For much of the next two months I would be travelling on rickety buses along perilous mountain roads.
The sensational 150km dirt track from the remote northern town of Chachapoyas to Celelendín climbed up to a height of more than 4,000m before descending along a crumbling ledge clinging to a sheer precipice.
The roads remained largely unpaved and vertiginous as I continued along the Andes' spine to the battleground of Ayacucho (in 1824 the Spaniards suffered their final defeat here, which led the independence of Peru), and then down towards the Inca capital of Cuzco. From southern Peru, through Bolivia, and into northern Argentina, my route alternated between the luxuriant jungles on the Andes' eastern slopes, and deserts on the west. Each day brought landscapes more spectacular than the next, though perhaps my most memorable walk was into Peru's Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world. Condors hovered above as I descended a near-vertical slope before ascending the other side to some half-deserted 16th-century hamlets accessible only by footpath.
The autumn was well advanced as I headed south into Patagonia, through near-uninhabited landscapes of lakes, forests and glaciers; the first flurries of snow had begun to fall as I reached the point when the Andes is shattered into a labyrinth of fjords and islands. I finished my journey on a small boat that sails every week from the Chilean port of Punta Arenas to the intimate island town of Puerto Williams, the most southerly community in the world. The exhilarating boat trip, lasting 36 hours, took me across the notoriously stormy Straits of Magellan, through the glacier-lined Beagle Channel, and to places where Darwin had concluded that life barely existed at all. By now I had come to think of the Andes almost in human terms. On seeing them disappear into the choppy, icy seas, I could have been waving a final goodbye to a dear old friend.
The Andes fascinated me long before I got to see them. I had been brought up on the Andean tales of my paternal grandfather, a former railway engineer in Chile and Bolivia. On my mother's side I had ancestors who hailed from the Italian Alps, where so many of the great Andean climbers and adventurers originated. The Andes, as the world's longest continuous mountain range, came to hold the promise of an endless succession of extreme and sublime landscapes.
I planned an ambitious transcontinental route that would begin by following Humboldt and Bolívar through the northern and central Andes and end up with Darwin at South America's southernmost tip. I estimated that it would be six months of near-continuous travelling, largely by bus, but also by train and boat, and even on horseback and on foot.
At Pasto there were numerous indications that I was approaching at last the heart of the Andes, including guinea pig, a famous Andean delicacy, being served at the local restaurants. Overshadowing the landscape was the active Galera volcano, which marked my arrival at a long corridor of volcanoes forming the backbone of neighbouring Ecuador.
In the south of Ecuador I hired a horse and guide to take me on the section of Inca road that leads from the exposed mountain village of Achapullas to the ruins of an Inca palace and temple at Ingapirka, huddled in a deep valley.
The achievement of the Incas' efficient transport system over some of South America's most difficult terrain seemed even more extraordinary when compared with what I would soon find in Peru. For much of the next two months I would be travelling on rickety buses along perilous mountain roads.
The sensational 150km dirt track from the remote northern town of Chachapoyas to Celelendín climbed up to a height of more than 4,000m before descending along a crumbling ledge clinging to a sheer precipice.
The roads remained largely unpaved and vertiginous as I continued along the Andes' spine to the battleground of Ayacucho (in 1824 the Spaniards suffered their final defeat here, which led the independence of Peru), and then down towards the Inca capital of Cuzco. From southern Peru, through Bolivia, and into northern Argentina, my route alternated between the luxuriant jungles on the Andes' eastern slopes, and deserts on the west. Each day brought landscapes more spectacular than the next, though perhaps my most memorable walk was into Peru's Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world. Condors hovered above as I descended a near-vertical slope before ascending the other side to some half-deserted 16th-century hamlets accessible only by footpath.
The autumn was well advanced as I headed south into Patagonia, through near-uninhabited landscapes of lakes, forests and glaciers; the first flurries of snow had begun to fall as I reached the point when the Andes is shattered into a labyrinth of fjords and islands. I finished my journey on a small boat that sails every week from the Chilean port of Punta Arenas to the intimate island town of Puerto Williams, the most southerly community in the world. The exhilarating boat trip, lasting 36 hours, took me across the notoriously stormy Straits of Magellan, through the glacier-lined Beagle Channel, and to places where Darwin had concluded that life barely existed at all. By now I had come to think of the Andes almost in human terms. On seeing them disappear into the choppy, icy seas, I could have been waving a final goodbye to a dear old friend.
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