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TRAVEL

ITALIAN DAY’S | When in Basilicata

January 21, 2019 MissWidjaja

Hello Lovely Readers and welcome back to part two of my Italian days’ blog. As I mentioned before, part two is about our trip to Laurenzana. Laurenzana is a town in the region of Basilicata. The whole region is surrounded with beautiful mountains and wonderful landscape of mother nature. BREATHTAKING it is!

Hopefully the pictures they do some justice of how beautiful it really is over there. So I apologies in advanced for the many pictures in this blog, but they are all worth to click on and see them in full size. Trust me on this one. By far, the most beautiful place I ever saw of Nature, Mountains and Stargazing at night.

View from Laurenzana – Don’t mind the gloves

We spend our Christmas holidays in Laurenzana and we went to explore some other villages, towns in Basilicata. As usual grab your favourite tea, relax and enjoy reading !

Laurenzana

Laurenzana is located in the province of Potenza and in the region of Basilicata. It is a really old town as some ruins were found from the 12^th and 13^th century near the Laurenzana Castle. It is not a touristic place which makes it much more enjoyable to relax and enjoy nature at its best. Already the cold fresh mountain air and the beautiful sky makes you feel like you are somewhere special. It is definitely a hidden treasure.

The first few days we just relaxed and enjoyed the Christmas days with my Italian family. I ate a lot of new and very delicious things. Of course I gain a bit of weight, but that is life, especially around Christmas we can keep our eyes a bit closed. Haha! I like trying new things, so I was ready to taste some great Italian local food. I was not at all disappointed, it was all very delicious!

Laurenzana in the winter can be cold, however we were lucky with the bright sun during almost every day. As soon as the sun left us by the end of the afternoon, the temperature dropped and it was much colder. I think it was always around the 1 or -1 degrees Celsius at night or lower. It feels much colder in the mountains. In every home in Laurenzana, you will find a fireplace. I really like the cosiness a fireplace brings beside the main function that it has. They are very efficient, the only thing that was a bit strange for me is, it smells like fire (burnt wood) all over the town, which in a big city like London or every other big city is not a good sign. Luckily here it is and it means it warm and cosy inside.

What to see in Laurenzana? The town is very small, so it is easy to walk through it. The part where the castle is, is called the Ancestors part of the town. Most likely the oldest part of the town with the Castle on one side and the main Church on the other side. The view from here is amazing. If possible go to this main Church, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta and the Castello di Laurenzana and see how beautiful they are from the inside.

Walking through the town gives you so many breathtaking views from the surround mountains, other towns, nature and the sky. I had to stop so many times just to capture it on my camera.

Anzi – Planetarium and Observatory

Anzi is the town on a mountain in the middle surrounded by many mountains and other towns. With only 5% of light pollution, this is the best place for an observatory and planetarium. For fellow stargazers, this is a must see! They organise nights for just ten Euro, where they explain about the galaxy and diverse related topics in the planetarium. After that and this is the best part, you are going to the observatory to see the topic of the night. That night we went, it was regarding the moon and Orion, we even saw a nebula of Orion (amazing right?) through the telescope. For the first time I saw the craters of the moon super detailed. Amazing what you can see through a telescope at the observatory. Unfortunately, the planetarium presentation was only in Italian. It would be great if this was explained in English as well. As a enthusiastic stargazer, I didn’t mind so much and I was much more amazed of what I saw through the telescope and from just stargazing into the sky. Might be busier in the summer, which you will have a better change for an English guide/ presentation at the planetarium. Not sure too be honest.

If you are in Basilicata, go a night to this observatory and if you have your own telescope, bring it with you. You will be not disappointed. After the evening, you can just set up your own telescope and see how beautiful the galaxy the WHOLE NIGHT LONG. You will be surprise how many stars and constellations you are able to see (even with your bare eyes).

Castelmezzano

Castelmezzano is a small town not to far from Laurenzana. It is a beautiful village with a Normans Castle. View from everywhere in this rocky town is amazing. From this town you can take the zip line to another town called Pietrapertosa. Open in the summer period. You can find a lot of bed and breakfast facilities here. Great for romantic get aways. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Basilicata. A big plus, a lot of cute cats live in this town for the cat lovers among us.

Matera

One of the highlights of the trip is this ancient town Sassi di Matera. This city was founded by the Romans in the 3^rd century BC. This year 2019, it is declared European Capital of Culture and in 1993 awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO.

There are two part of Matera the new part, with new modern buildings mainly for the residents of the old part, Sassi di Matera. The city is like an amphitheatre, the lower you go down in to the city, the more you will be surrounded by the beautiful old town, Sassi di Matera. Every corner is amazing. You will find a lot of Bed and Breakfast and restaurants here.

A suggestion is to stay till late or go a second day and stay till late evening. Matera by night and the sunset are very beautiful in this city.

So what to see in this magical ancient city? Of course, go to Sassi di Matera, and see the Matera Cathedral, a Cistern and water collection, walk through the many stairways to heaven. The Tramontano Castle is on the higher side and also a site to see.

Probably you know that Matera was used for many movies as it has an ancient primeval- looking scenery. The latest movie where a part was filmed here, is Wonder Woman 2017.

If you would like to eat in Sassi di Matera, it is a great idea to book a table in advanced. We had a wonderful dinner at Osteria Belvedere al Vecchio Frantoio and in Trattoria del Caveoso. Both in different parts of the ancient city. For the last restaurant we did not book and we had to wait a long time to get a table. Not ideal, but the food is superb. So not complaining at all.

A fun fact is, if you go to Basilicata with the car, you will see on some point near the bridge, coming into the region on your left side, a ghost town Romagnano di Monte. Of course, not if you are the driver of the moment, but for the other passengers, if you look good, you will see an empty town on the cliff of the mountain.

A bit sad that the holidays went so fast, I had an amazing Christmas Holidays with my Italian family. Very grateful for that! I can highly recommend to go to Basilicata and enjoy Mother Nature at its best. This is truly a magical place to visit, also if you have kids. The best place to enjoy spending good old fashion time together and relax. An amazing place to do some active stargazing as well, so bring your telescope if you have one and otherwise no worries, just go to the observatory in Anzi.

I hope you did enjoy reading my blog and I hope you got inspired to go to the South of Italy.
Miss Widjaja

If you liked what you have just read, please rate this blog with a few stars. If you really know someone who is going to Basilicata or loves Italy, please share on Facebook.

I really appreciate the time and effort you took to read this blog. Thank you!

TRAVEL

ITALIAN DAY’S | When in Rome

January 10, 2019 MissWidjaja

Happy 2019 Lovely Readers! Wishing the best for every one of you with lots of love, health and wealth. I hope that we all could take a step back and relax during the Christmas Holidays and that we all enjoyed spending time with our loved ones, family and friends. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This time we spend our Christmas holidays in Italy – Laurenzana with family. I was super excited about this, as this was my first trip to Basilicata. This magical place is definitely worth a visit if you love mountains, fresh air, beautiful landscape, nature, lovely people and good food. Do I need to say more? Well, Stay tuned for part two of this blog, which will be about our Christmas Holidays in Basilicata.

First part, which is this blog, is about our time in Rome with family before we went to magical Basilicata and the time when we came back from the South to celebrate New Years’ Eve in Ancient Rome.

We spend a few lovely days in Rome. I am surprised that after many visits to Rome, I am still finding some new things to see and to do. We did also manage to go back to our favourite restaurant (YEAH) and we discovered some new ones as well. So grab your cup of tea and enjoy reading this blog! Do not forget to grab your notebook as well, if you are heading off to Rome any time soon.

Christmas and shopping always go well together. I think I buy much less these last years than before since I moved to London. (This can always improve of course) I love buying gifts for others and myself around Christmas time. So let us start with the shopping. Another thing I love doing in London, is going to second-hand shops. So why not try this here in Rome.

Pifebo Vintage Shop and Pifebo Vintage Kilo Shop

Pifebo Vintage Shop is a great vintage shop which thick all the boxes if you are looking for some classic pieces, like leather jackets, Levis jeans, Doc Martens, designer pieces and many more. Prices are around 25 Euro and above. The Levis jeans were great, unfortunately they did not had any in my size. Just next door, there is a Kilo shop from the same franchise. It is a shop where you can find occasionally something special. At that moment, it was a bit of a mess unfortunately. You never know with second hand shops, sometimes they have that thing you wanted or not.

Dafano Omero and Cinzia Used Clothes

These two vintage shops are in the same street somewhere near Piazza Navona. Both shops are a bit small, smelly and they had many items to offer. It is a bit of a challenge, but you can discover some great treasures I think. (Might take a while though!) Both shops had some vintage designer items that are worth to check, like some vintage classic Gucci, Fendi bags and cute sunglasses.

There are many vintage shops in Rome and they are not too far located from each other. A suggestion is to check first on internet which shop you would like to visit from one area, so when you go, you can see them all at once.

Bata

For leather shoes, this shop is well equipped. Go for the season sale, you will find some good quality shoes for work or anything else for a good price. I love the ones I bought.

Christmas Market in Piazza Navona

The nicest thing about a Christmas walk, is hopping around a cosy Christmas market. Am I right? I found one Christmas market at Piazza Navona. This one is not huge, but it will bring you definitely in the Christmas Spirits.

Museum of Rome

If you want to know more about the history of Ancient Rome, go to this museum. The name says it all. An extra is that you can see the Piazza Navona (The Christmas market) from the second and third floor of the museum.

Al 179
(located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 179)

This shop is a heaven for the perfume lovers. Check out this shop full of lovely niche perfumes you might not know yet. One of my favourite perfume is from Lorenzo Villoresi. The employees are really specialised in fragrances. They can help you find the perfect perfume for you or someone special you would like to surprise.

Oi Sushi – Brazilian Japanese Fusion

This Sushi restaurant is in the same area – around Piazza Navona. I think we were only exploring this area of Rome. It is not your regular sushi bar, but a fusion of Brazilian food and Japanese sushi. I was positively surprised, the food was amazing and super delicious! The tartare dishes are definitely a recommendation. The interior in the restaurant are also worth a visit, feels almost like you are stepping into another world. Staff was super friendly and helpful. It is definitely instagrammable, but be aware it is not a cheap restaurant.

Anni 50

Classic Neapolitan restaurant with great (of course, what else!) Neapolitan pizza and my favourite Insalate di Mare. I did mention this one before in my blog HELLO ROME Fiumicino in 2017. Click here to go to my previous blog about beautiful Rome.

Melrose Bar

Too bad that this café – bar closes early. They close at 7pm. The interior looks clean and sleek. Love the mirror on the walls. Great for some Instagram pictures and great to try some Italian Caffè corretto or an Aperol Spritz.

Mizzica

When in Rome always go to this place to try their Arancini. That is all I have to say.

Castroni

This Gastronomy – shop is great for coffee and high quality traditional Italian products, like wine, oils and food. It is a great shop to find some gifts for home. They have the best customise coffee blends to bring with you when you want that Italian feeling at home while preparing an espresso.

New Year’s
Eve – Cenone di Capodanno

For New Year’s Eve do as the Romans do, go for a New Year’s Eve dinner also known as Cenone di Capodanno. Unlike every other city around the world, you do not need to book months in advance. Just make sure, you give them a call one or two weeks before the date. Definitely, a recommendation, celebrating New Year with other people, depends where you go, but if you are lucky drinks are included. So usually, it started around 20.30 until after midnight, full of food and drinks. We went to Ristorante Pizzería Andrea on via Castelfidardo, which was close to our B&B.

B&B Rome Termini House

Cheap B&B near Termini station if you need to be up early to go back to the airport. It is an okay B&B, but for one night or a few nights, this is perfectly fine. Breakfast is included and there are shuttle buses and trains going back to the airport from Rome Termini. Always check this in advance.

Hope you enjoyed reading my Italian days – Christmas Holiday in Rome. Part two of the trip, our trip to Basilicata will be soon online.

If you liked what you have read, please give it a few stars. In addition, if you really know someone who is going to Rome or loves Rome, please share on Facebook.

Many thanks,

Miss Widjaja

FOOD CORNER

Hello Food | Easy 3 steps homemade Chili Oil

December 15, 2018 MissWidjaja

Hi Lovely Readers, it is THE time of the year and probably you are thinking of some spicy Christmas recipes you can make, right? No worries I got you, for the spicy lovers between us, here is a new spicy Food Blog. Just the right time to prepare this at home so, it will be perfect and ready for your special Christmas dinner. It might be even a great gift if you know someone who loves a bit of spiciness in their lives. This oil is just to spice up any recipe with a few drops only.

For this super simple recipe, you will need only 3 ingredients and in 3 easy steps it is basically done! So even if you are a bit lazy the result will still be amazingly spicy!

Maybe you will need to go to the super market to grab your favorite spicy peppers and some good quality extra virgin olive oil. Just go… we will wait for you!

The peppers can be any from super hot Komodo peppers to Bird Eye peppers or to something that is just spicy enough for your taste. A suggestion if you like a nice coffee aroma and really a hot chili oil, go for the Madame Jeannette peppers or the Adjuma peppers. Not so sure where to find them here in London, but online you can get them from anywhere I suppose. I usually get my hot peppers from the Netherlands (thanks to my family). Trust me these hot peppers go really well with a lot of different recipes if you add just one drop of the oil at any time.

What do you need to make the Chili Oil:

Only these 3 ingredients

The pepper (super important, without this ingredient there is no chili oil)
Salt, Sea Salt will be easier to remove later on
Good extra virgin olive oil

Just 3 steps away from a super hot homemade chili oil

Scotch Bonnets peppers fresh cut with salt

The first step is to put on some kitchen gloves (disposable gloves) then cut the peppers in to small pieces. The gloves are there to protect your hands from burning. You will thank me later for this. After cutting, place the small pieces on a plate.

The second step is to add salt over all the peppers on the plate. This is an important step. The salt will take all the extra moisture out of the peppers and therefor it will prevent the peppers to ferment in a later stadium. Leave it for 2 or 3 days. Check and dispose the extra moist that is coming out the peppers in the meantime.

No more salt on the peppers straight in to a clean container

The third step is after the waiting. After the third day they should be almost dry. If they are almost dry, put some gloves on again and remove as much salt as you can see on each and every piece of pepper. Place the clean pieces in a clean container and fill the container up with the extra virgin olive oil.

Voila! You’ve made some hot homemade chili oil. If you want the oil to be hot, give it a month or so for the oil to extract the spiciness of the peppers. So please keep it aside and trust me you will enjoy it much better after some time. Add a nice label on it and give it away as a present. Guaranteed you will be original with your homemade Chili Oil.

Chili oil is one of my favorite things to make at home. Super easy to do as well. This time for the blog, I did use the Scotch Bonnets peppers.

Hope you got excited to make one yourself and if you like this blog please give it some stars below.

Thank you, MissWidjaja

LIFESTYLE

Hello London | 5 go to apps while in London

November 26, 2018 MissWidjaja

Hello Lovely People and welcome back to another “What to do in London”Hello London Blog. It is already more than a year that I live in this beautiful city. It’s a city that never sleeps, but I have to say, you really need to find where everything is happening if you want to have a great time and not spend too much of course.

So this month I would like to discuss some useful apps that I am using the last year or so and so far I think we found some great (local) events / fun nights out while using one of the recommended apps.

Please give it a go while you here in London. You will find there is much more to discover in London to have a great comfortable time in this magical city. Especially in the winter when Christmas is just around the corner.

Don’t forget to grab your pint of beer, phone to download the apps and enjoy reading this blog.

#1 Fever

Fever is my number 1 app to find some fun events to do in the weekend. They have everything from cinema tickets for cheap to stand-up comedy shows.

You can find Odeon tickets for the cinema on Fever for halve the price, which is a great deal if I may say. Another fun event you can find on this app are stand-up comedy tickets from different organisations. Great deals on festival, parties, music, restaurants events and clubs. Trust me, just open this app and you will find something you will like to do here in London that you didn’t do before!

Check the apps here for your phone;

Android
IOS:

#2 Resident advisor

This app is to find great parties in London and when you have no time to search for one. The best thing is you will find more local parties and not only the commercial parties here in London. Great way to meet locals and to go to small scale parties. Check out some great local parties in and around Shoreditch and Hackey.

Check the apps here for your phone;

Android
IOS

# 3 Via Van

A great way to travel through London Central when you go out at night or when it is really bad weather. We all know this might happen here in London. Via Van is an app where you, just like Uber, can find a taxi / cab for cheap.

This concept is that you share the taxi with random people which make it cheaper than getting a black cab. Just download the app for the time being and get a free first ride with different codes. If you use my code it will give you £10 pounds for a free first ride through the centre: danielle3p3. I can confirm this is definitely working as I used a code from one of my colleagues and I got a free ride without any attachments.

Definitely a recommendation with the cold weather here in the UK. There is no subscription needed, so if you only want to use it once and cash in that free ride, go ahead, it is possible! If you are not from UK, just so you know, you need to connect your Via Van account with your google pay or a credit card, just like Uber and no strings attached.

Check the apps here for your phone;

Android
IOS

#4 Time out London

I do check this on my Facebook, so I will see all upcoming things happening in and around London on daily base. The app might be better to search for the following topics for a specific day or a planned weekend trip here in London like; things to do, restaurant-bars, theatre shows, art and upcoming events.

You will find everything you will need from Christmas markets to art events and where to find the best food around the town.

The best is to download this app before your arrival and find out things to do on the date that you are here in town.

Check the apps here for your phone;

Android
IOS

#5 Secret London

Secret London is a bit like Time out London, but less advanced. So you can find some great events – cultural events – bars and restaurants and upcoming events for locals and visitors.

The only thing that is missing is to search on that specific date that you are in town. If you are here for a longer period of time, this is a nice application / website to use. I use this application through my Facebook account, so I can see upcoming events on daily base.

Check the apps here for your phone;

Android: not available – via Facebook
IOS: not available – via Facebook

Let me know if you used any of these app when you are in London or what kind of content you would like to see next on misswidjaja@gmail.com. Feel free to rate this blog below.

Till next time,

Miss Widjaja