The Best Eats of the American South

To say I was looking forward to Southern food would be an understatement. I literally planned the whole #SouthUSA trip around what I would be eating! Southern food is rooted in so much tradition and has so many geographic influences, from Africa to France to the Caribbean to Ireland, and I was so excited to finally try it for myself.

Traditional Southern food also has the reputation of not being so healthy. While you can eat healthy-ish in the South if you’re committed and have iron willpower, traditional food here is very heavy. Lots of butter, lots of cream, lots of fried food. If you’re trying to eat healthy, I recommend that you indulge with one traditional meal per day, ideally at lunch, and make up for it with a salad at dinner.

But if you’re happy to dive into the culinary goodness of the South, your taste buds will thank you. The food here was just as good as I imagined.
Here are my favorite food experiences, from New Orleans to Charleston:

Beignets at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana

Trust me — this is the ONLY way to begin a perfect day in New Orleans. Cafe du Monde is one of the culinary icons of New Orleans and the menu is so short that it’s printed on the menus. Coffee. Beignets. That’s it.
These aren’t just donuts. They’re more akin to the fried dough you get a theme park — but better. More flavorful. Square. And a single serving includes three beignets! Believe me, you’ll need to stop yourself from going back multiple times each day.
Just know that you will get powdered sugar all over yourself. This might not be the time to eat black.
Serving of three beignets, $4; cafe au lait, $2.

Shrimp and Alligator SausageCheesecake and Fried Chicken at Jacques-Imo’s in New Orleans

Jacques-Imo’s shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake was by far the most unique dish I tried throughout the South — and one of the most delicious. I was ready to eat another after finishing the first!
Jacques-Imo’s is such a cool, hip restaurant in the Uptown area, far from the French Quarter (take the streetcar, but you’ll need to take a cab during Mardi Gras). It’s colorful and friendly.
Accoutrements include this cute cornbread:

And the salad, which comes with an adorable fried oyster!

Next came the fried chicken, which was highly recommended by the staff. They think it’s the best fried chicken in the city, the waitress told me.

As for that chicken? So much juice. So much flavor. I’ve never had a fried chicken that moist in all my life!
Jacques-Imo’s was my favorite high-end restaurant of the trip, and it’s well worth the journey to Uptown New Orleans. Make sure to head there earlier and check out the cute shops around the restaurant.
Alligator cheesecake, $9; fried chicken, $18.95 including dark or $19.95 for all white meat.

Ferdi Special at Mother’s in New Orleans

What is a Ferdi Special? A baked ham sandwich with roast beef, debris, and gravy. What is debris? Pieces of meat that fall off the roasting meat into the gravy.
If a sandwich is capable of making me cry, this would be it. I never dreamed that this combination of ingredients would work so well together and melt so well together into a pile of delicious glory.
Mother’s Restaurant is a casual restaurant in the central business district, around the corner from the French Quarter. You’ll have to wait in line to order food, sit down, and your food is brought to you. Tipping is strictly forbidden here.
And the Bloody Mary here is one of the best I have EVER had anywhere.
Ferdi Special, $11.75 for a regular or $10.25 for a 2/3 portion. Bloody Mary, $7.

Broiled Oysters at Half Shell Oyster House in Biloxi, Mississippi

I am an oyster aficionado and considered myself a purist — raw or nothing! — until I had these incredible oysters at Half Shell Oyster House in Biloxi.
I’ve said a lot about them already, so I won’t reiterate it — but these oysters, particularly the signature Half Shell oysters broiled with garlic and parmesan, were the best oysters that I have ever had in my life. What a marvel, and what a find in Half Shell.
12 broiled oysters, $18.

Pulled Pork Sandwich at The Shed in Ocean Springs, Mississippi

It’s rare to find a place that does both food and design SO well. The Shed is one of those examples, and it’s no surprise that there is now a Food Network TV show based around this restaurant!
The pulled pork sandwich is their most famous item on the menu, and it will blow your mind. The pork falls apart so easily and beautifully.

The Shed is made from salvaged objects and random objets d’art found in junkyards and at the end of driveways. But you can obviously tell that someone with an eye for design pulled the whole place together. It’s well worth a visit if you’re driving through coastal Mississippi! In fact, we met a man who travels often between Pensacola and New Orleans for work and he told us he always stops at The Shed en route.
Pulled pork sandwich, $7; jumbo pulled pork sandwich, $9.

Throwed Rolls and Fried Frog Legs at Lambert’s Cafe in Foley, Alabama

Throwed rolls! Really, they’re a thing. In this restaurant, if you want a roll, it won’t come on a plate — it will be thrown at you by a designated roll-thrower.
Lambert’s Cafe was first founded in Missouri more than 70 years ago. Today, bizarrely, there are two Missouri restaurants and one here in the small town of Foley, Alabama. Lambert’s features pure Southern home cooking, and a LOT of it.
Servers come around with apple butter for the rolls.

I have to point out that this was an extraordinarily difficult place to shoot photos. It’s dark inside, and the roll-throwing is an action you don’t want to miss. My photos are all so grainy due to the ISO, even with noise reduction; this makes me want to get a camera that can handle low light better!
The roll-thrower threw me a throwed roll of my own.

The roll throwers aren’t aggressive at all — they won’t whip it at you or make it difficult for you to catch. It’s just a fun, friendly thing that they do.
As for the main dish, we both had the fried frog legs. “If you haven’t had them in a while, you need to try these!” reads the menu. And they were lovely — gently fried with a great seasoning..

In addition to the entrees, Lambert’s offer “pass-arounds” — servers walk around announcing, “Fried potatoes and onions…fried potatoes and onions…” and serve you a generous portion if you’re interested. They’re free in addition to entrees and are unlimited.
At Lambert’s more than anywhere else, I felt like I was DEEP in the South. Foley isn’t remotely a tourist area, and it took us an hour to get there from Pensacola. We were surrounded by locals. (A quick glimpse at the website shows that famous people do drop into Lambert’s every now and then, mostly country singers.) If you want a very local experience in the South, this is where to go.
Frog legs with throwed rolls and pass-arounds, $15.99.

Key Lime Pie at The Shrimp Shack in Seaside, Florida

You can’t go to Florida without trying some key lime pie. I was actually nervous over whether Mario would like this. He spent forever contemplating his first bite of pie, chewing slowly, thinking, and just before I was about to explode, he said, “This is the key lime pie of my LIFE.”
The Shrimp Shack has a lighter, creamier pie rather than a dense, tart one. It’s smooth and the perfect dish to eat on the sun in the far-too-picture-perfect village of Seaside.
Key lime pie, about $5.

Lunch at Mrs. Wilkes’s Boarding House in Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is a city steeped in ritual and tradition, and no place exemplifies that better than Mrs. Wilkes’s Boarding House, arguably the most famous eatery in town (and definitely the most famous one not owned by Paula Deen).

Every weekday, people line up starting at 9:30 AM for the first seating at 11:00 AM. People are welcomed in, sat at large communal tables and fed family-style — after the food is blessed, of course. Afterwards, you clear your plate and pay a flat $18 per person, cash only, at the door.
As for the food, this will be one of the very best home-cooked meals you will have across the South. Some of the standouts include the stuffing, greens, and black-eyed peas — but in my opinion, it’s the best fried chicken that I had across the South.
Family-style lunch, $18.

Fried Chicken and Coca-Cola Cake at Jestine’s Kitchen in Charleston, South Carolina

If you want a hardcore fried chicken, Jestine’s is the place. While I thought Mrs. Wilkes had the best overall chicken and Jacques-Imo’s had the moistest chicken, Jestine’s is for people who love skin. Particularly if you go crazy for Chinese take-out chicken wings. The skin is thick and fried perfectly, a luxurious indulgence on a fried chicken.
You can’t go to Jestine’s without asking if they have Coca-Cola cake for dessert today:

Extremely sweet, and it makes you wonder why we don’t use Coca-cola instead of water in all of our baked goods. This place is a must for any trip to Charleston and it’s in the heart of the downtown area.
Fried chicken plate, $12.95; desserts, $5.95.

Bites Along the Way

While I wouldn’t put these items in the top tier, here are a few memorable meals we had along the way.

Gumbo at World Famous N’Awlins Cafe and Spice Emporium in New Orleans. This place is 100% geared toward tourists and in the heart of the French Market, but don’t let that stop you — this place has a more extensive menu of unusual Cajun and Creole dishes than anywhere else I saw.
Gumbo, about $8.

Fried Oyster Po Boy at Magazine Po Boy Shop in New Orleans. If you’re exploring the Garden District, this is a great place to stop for a bite. I loved my fried oyster po boy, and it definitely needs a bit of hot sauce!
Fried oyster po boy, about $10.

Redfish Meuniere at Coop’s Place in New Orleans. Coop’s is a casual bar and restaurant in the French Quarter that everyone seems to love. It’s a nice place to stop for a not-too-pricey meal, and I loved my Creole redfish topped with shrimp.
Mario got the taste plate, which included seafood gumbo, shrimp Creole, Cajun fried chicken, red beans and rice, and rabbit and sausage jambalaya — a great option if you want to get a taste of everything.
Redfish Meuniere, $17.50; Coop’s Taste Plate, $12.95.

Pralines at Magnolia Praline Company. You’ll see pralines all over New Orleans — and Savannah, as well — but you can’t beat a fresh, warm praline newly formed after resting on the counter. It will melt in your mouth — and you’ll never be able to have one again!
Fresh praline, about $2.

Buffalo Blue Cheese and Tacos at alFRESCO food truck park in Pensacola, Florida.
Don’t think that food trucks are restricted to hipster hangouts. We found alFRESCO in the heart of downtown Pensacola, a short walk from the historic area.
I can’t resist a good collection of food trucks, especially when they’re made from Airstream trailers, and went to the Z Taco truck while Mario went for grilled cheese at Gouda Stuff.

Fun fresh food, and a nice break before hitting up Pensacola Beach.
Blue buffalo grilled cheese sandwich at Gouda Stuff, $5.50; Z Tacos at Z Taco, $3.50 each.

Grouper Chowder at Boss Oyster in Apalachicola, Florida. While I sadly wasn’t impressed with the oysters, I did enjoy the grouper chowder, made in a style similar to New England clam chowder.
And only in America can you have a peanut butter pie for dessert!

Totally processed…but sometimes you need a dessert that is essentially candy on a plate.
Grouper chowder, about $6; peanut butter pie, about $5.

Pizza at Vinnie Van Go Go’s in Savannah. They are huge, and they are delicious. (Thanks to Kristin for her wonderful Savannah food recommendations — I definitely wouldn’t have found this place without her!)

Believe it or not, we only had two tiny slices left when we were done.
Large pizzas from $12, medium pizzas from $10.

And One Major Issue

It really bothered me seeing how much food was wasted in the South. I’m not sure if this is as common throughout America these days or simply amplified in the South, but it’s definitely something that you notice after traveling the world and seeing how little food is wasted elsewhere.
At Mrs. Wilkes’, most of the family-style bowls on the table had only been half-eaten by the time we had left. Add it up and that’s a TON of food that could be donated to a soup kitchen.
But due to health codes, you cannot re-serve or eat anything that has been served to customers. Even if it’s served family-style like this.
But SO MUCH was left over. Maybe our table didn’t eat as much as most, but it seems like there would be no harm done if they served the food in smaller dishes and brought out more when it was needed.
Lambert’s was another place that made me feel uncomfortable. Plates filled with food were left behind by customers. The portions were so enormous, even before adding the pass-arounds, and most of the time people wanted to catch the throwed rolls for fun, not to eat them.
While it seems like the solution would be simply to REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF FOOD SERVED!!, it’s not that easy for restaurant owners who have to contend with keeping their customers pleased. I do hope that places keep this in mind.

This Summer: Quirky Festival-Hopping in Europe!

I’m finally able to reveal it to you all — my big summer plans involve festival-hopping all over Europe!

Must Love Festivals

Must Love Festivals is a campaign highlighting quirky, unusual, lesser-known festivals in Europe. You won’t see us running with bulls, throwing tomatoes, or hitting up the festivals that get all the attention. Instead, you’ll see a different side of Europe — a side where regions celebrate their music, their food, their arts, their culture, their sports, and much more. Festivals that are mysteriously absent from pop culture.

Must Love Festivals is the brainchild of my dear friend Kash Bhattacharya, the Budget Traveller.
Members of the team include myself, Frankie Thompson of As the Bird Flies, Michael Turtle of Time Travel Turtle, Victoria Watts and Steve of Bridges and Balloons, Bethany Salvon and Randy Kalp of Beers & Beans, Peter Parkorr of Travel Unmasked, Dylan Lowe of The Travelling Editor, Sophie Collard of Sophie on Track, Abigail King of Inside The Travel Lab, Sebastian Canaves-Börner of Off The Path, and Alex and Ben of Hejorama.

Dylan and Peter will be diving into Asian culture in The Hague. Frankie combined the best of comedy with a dose of snowboarding in Austria. Kash will be eating all of the oysters and Guinness in Galway.
Altogether, we’ll be visiting more than 40 festivals this summer!
For more details, check out the Must Love Festivals website. You can also become a fan of Must Love Festivals on Facebook and follow the hashtag #mustlovefestivals on social media to see the latest updates.
Must Love Festivals is brought to you by the Budget Traveller with lead partner Expedia and in association with Visit Finland, Ireland.com, I Feel Slovenia, Rotterdam Festivals, Malta Tourism Authority, Germany Tourism, Eurail, Den Haag Marketing, Austria Tourism, Puglia Events, Generator Hostels and Meininger Hotels.

Why Festivals?

It’s been more than two years and I’m still raving about Up Helly Aa, the Viking fire festival in the Shetland Islands, to everyone I meet. Dancing to traditional Shetland music with a bunch of “Yarrr!”-yelling Vikings until 8:00 AM was one of the most exhilarating nights of my life and one of my most cherished travel memories.
Songkran, a water-throwing festival celebrating the new year in Thailand, was three days of sheer fun and madness. Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain, was a crazy celebration of fire with explosions and music around the clock. Mardi Gras in New Orleans was a melange of music and beads and beignets and debauchery.
And on a hometown level, I love spending Marathon Monday and the Fourth of July in Boston, when everybody seems to be in a great mood.
Joining a festival is a way to get to know a community, let them show off their best assets, and feel like a local, if only for one day. Simply put, festivals rock!

So, where am I going?

I’m scheduled for five festivals and I’ve attended one so far. Here’s the lowdown:
In Limerick, Ireland, I attended several events in Limerick: Ireland’s 2014 City of Culture. I saw so much modern art, a beautiful flamenco ballet performance of Carmen, climbed castles, marveled at architecture, and learned that Limerick is not remotely the bleak environment as which it was portrayed in Angela’s Ashes.
I’ll be writing about Limerick soon, but let me tell you for now that I am so impressed at the beauty that can emerge when a city chooses to invest generously in the arts.
Next, in early July, I will be attending the Ana Desetnica Street Theater Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I have fervently wanted to visit Slovenia since I was in college and I’m so glad the time is finally now! I look forward to seeing performances, gaping at the architecture, and falling under the spell of a city that has claimed several of my friends’ hearts.
In late July, I will be attending the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Kuhmo, Finland. Now, this is a special festival — every year, some of Europe’s finest classical musicians convene in Kuhmo, a rural town in Finland’s lakes region, where they perform exquisite music in an environment absent of urban noise. It sounds fantastic and peaceful.
This is my first time in Finland, and I’m ready to explore its natural beauty, saunas, and chocolate.
In early August, I will be attending the Carpino Folk Festival in Puglia, Italy. While Italy is my favorite country in Europe and I visit a few times a year, I haven’t been south of Rome in nearly a decade (!). Puglia is the heel of the boot and, many have told me, the best culinary region in the south.
I’ve been to several events catered by Puglia Tourism in the past few years, and if their food is a fraction of what lies ahead, I will be extremely happy.
In late August, I will be attending the Cologne Music Festival in Cologne, Germany. This will be interesting because I’m not a concert-hopper at all — I’ve been to about six major concerts in my life, mostly the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls. My music taste could not be more mainstream. So I’m wondering if I have what it takes to blend in with a crowd of German hipsters! I’ll be staying at the Meininger Hotel in Cologne on this leg of the campaign.
I’m also going to be using Must Love Festivals as an opportunity to stay a bit longer and visit the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the surrounding regions. As I write this, I’ve just visited the incredible Skellig Michael in Ireland, my 80th World Heritage Site, and I’ll probably visit about 10 more sites around the festivals.

Monthly Recap: Most-of-May 2014

Now that I’m transitioning from SOTM Tour recaps to monthly recaps, this is the one monthly recap that will be a bit wonky — it’s just for three weeks, from May 10 to 31.

Destinations Visited

Daventry and London, England

Limerick, Ireland

Favorite Destination

Balham, London — I love this neighborhood. South London may not be as “sexy” as other parts of the city, but believe me, this is a NICE neighborhood. So many cool restaurants and cafes and a nice, young-but-not-too-young ambiance.

Highlights

Moving into our new place in Balham. It is SO NICE to relax in a place of our own after being on the road constantly for the past eleven months. And the place itself is a wonderful apartment, nicely sized and well-maintained and a four-minute walk from the tube.
We went a bit above our budget (and it’s WORTH IT because that extra 100 pounds per month makes a big difference in quality) but paradoxically, we’re actually paying less than we would have for a cheaper place in another neighborhood because Balham is part of Wandsworth, which has some of the cheapest council tax in all of London! (Council tax in the UK is like property taxes, only it’s paid monthly by both owners and renters.)
Balham is a great neighborhood and I’ll be writing about it once I get to know the local haunts a bit better. Pictured above is one of my favorite spots so far: Lavish Habit, a cafe/boutique/antique shop!
Meeting and reconnecting with London friends. I got to see several of my blogger friends at the monthly Travel Massive meet up, and I met up with a few other bloggers, readers, and London people I’ve known. It’s nice to be back in a place among friends.
Launching “Must Love Festivals” and enjoying culture in Limerick. I’m excited about the summer Must Love Festivals campaign, which will take me and several other bloggers to 40 festivals all over Europe this summer. I started off my share in the city of Limerick, Ireland’s 2014 City of Culture, filled with art events year-round, and saw so much art and performances and castles!

Challenges

No major challenges this almost-month, and for that I am grateful. Just know that moving is a miserable process, no matter how great the eventual outcome, and driving a big van through central London is not for the faint of heart. (Mario drove and did a great job; I navigated.)

The Miracle Church of Mosta, Malta

 
If anywhere on the planet is more Catholic than the Vatican, it’s Malta.

From giant paintings of the Virgin Mary hanging in Maltese bedrooms to religious festas with saints carried through the street each summer to incredibly ornate churches thanks to generous donations from parishioners each year, Malta is a place where life revolves around the Catholic faith.

Malta is home to more than 360 churches in total — an incredible feat when you consider that the island is 122 square miles.
There’s the Church of St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Valletta, which purportedly holds the wrist bone of St. Paul. There’s St. Mary Magdalene’s Chapel, a tiny, one-room church overlooking the Dingli Cliffs. The church of Xewkija in Gozo has the second-largest church dome in Europe after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

And then there was the Mosta Dome — the church that held a miracle.
During World War II, Malta was heavily bombed, being a strategic outpost for the Allies. The bombing was so extensive that by the end of the war, Malta had become the most-bombed nation on the planet. (Laos holds this title today, following its bombing during the Vietnam War.)

On April 9, 1942, two German bombs fell on The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady in Mosta, a city in central Malta. Mass was going on at the time, and more than 250 parishioners were in the church.
Alarms rang out ahead of time, and while some people left the church, others stayed inside and prayed.

The first bomb pierced the dome, ricocheted, and fell onto the floor of the church.

The second cleared the left side of the triangle on top of the church’s facade.
Those bombs had every reason to explode — but neither of them did.
It was hailed a miracle. Somehow divine intervention prevented the church — and the town — from turning to rubble.
The bombs were promptly defused by the military and later dropped into the sea.

What is the point of bombing a church? Seriously, what is the benefit of this? As horrible as war is to begin with, why would an enemy choose to drop bombs directly on a house of worship filled with innocent people? Why get people in the one place where they feel safe?
It could have been that the bombs were released at the wrong time on the way to a port. Or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe they intended to demoralize the population in the one place that meant the most to them. Believe me, in Malta the churches are sacred.
It’s a question that still resonates today, now the age of drone strikes.

Today the Mosta Dome is celebrated for its miracle, and you’ll even find a replica of the bomb that fell through the dome in the back.
Of all of Malta’s 360+ churches, you won’t find one with a better story than here in Mosta.

Contest Alert: Brag Your Way To a Holiday

One of my continuous annoyances while traveling is trying to stay online. Some hotels still charge insane amounts for internet. Others make you sign in every time you pick up your phone. And more often than not, I somehow end up buying a SIM card that doesn’t even work indoors.

You know what would be easier? Just turning on your phone.

Well, now you can do that.
There is now an exciting solution from Three UK, the phone company I’ve been using since I moved to London in 2012. Three is introducing a new initiative called Feel at Home — in short, you can use your Three minutes AND data plan in several different countries at no extra charge.
Got unlimited data at home? You’ve got unlimited data on the road. This is a big deal.
There are currently 11 countries where you can use your data and minutes at no extra charge: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and the USA.

Starting on July 1, you can add Finland, France, Israel, Norway, and Switzerland to the list.

Finland, you say? I just so happen to be heading there in July for Must Love Festivals. I’ll be trying it out there for sure.

Finding a hidden beach in Gozo? Definitely a holiday braggie.

Brag Your Way to a Holiday

Three UK is giving away three lucky holiday braggers trips worth £5,000 each! Each trip will be to one of the 16 Feel at Home destinations. This challenge runs from June 9 through June 27 and is all about showing off what you see when you travel.
Think what you could do with £5,000 in these locations. You could live it up in Vegas or on the French Riviera. You could go to Australia or Hawaii. Or enjoy a trip to Switzerland or Norway for less than the cost of your firstborn!

To enter the challenge, you can post pictures along with the weekly holiday braggie theme.

Here are the themes:

Week 1: Selfies

Week 2: Landscapes, cityscapes, rooms with a view

Week 3: Freestyle

Tweeting my toes from the pool in Dubai on my 29th birthday was definitely a holiday braggie. Nobody needs to know that it was 115 degrees and the sweat was pouring off me, even in the pool…

How to Enter

There are three ways to enter the contest:

1) Visit the Three UK “Feel at Home” contest page on Facebook.

2) Tweet a picture with both @ThreeUK and the hashtag #HolidayBraggie.

3) Instagram a picture with both @ThreeUK and the hashtag #HolidayBraggie.

That’s it!

The first week’s theme is selfies, and I DARE you to beat this one of me on stage with Vanilla Ice back in 2007!

I’ll be judging the contest entries with several of my fellow bloggers and I will be sharing my favorite submitted photos with you. Really looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

San Blas Bay: A Hidden Beach in Malta

In a country as tiny as Malta, there aren’t many new places to discover. Every geographic nook and cranny is well-documented — and if any two Maltese meet, I guarantee they will have at least have a few friends in common!

But if there is such thing as a secret beach in Malta, it’s San Blas Bay on the island of Gozo. It’s hidden, tough to access, sparsely visited, and breathtakingly beautiful — everything that you want a secret beach to be.

“San Blas!” I yelped out while perusing Google Maps as Mario drove up a steep hill. “One of my readers said that’s a nice beach! Let’s go there!”

Last time we were in Malta, Mario had borrowed his friend’s falling-apart car, aptly named The Beast. Having zero confidence in how The Beast could perform on Gozo’s steep, rough roads, we had stuck to the smooth roads on the beaten path for our first day on Malta’s second island.
But by the time we returned nearly a year later, Mario’s friend had sold The Beast, and so we rented a little yellow Peugeot I nicknamed The Daffodil. She could take the rough roads — and so we drove north from the town of Nadur, following the signs for San Blas Bay, bouncing down a hill until we found a tiny parking lot.
There it was — San Blas Bay.

It wasn’t just one steep, rough road in order to get to that point. Beyond the parking lot was an even steeper, rougher, narrower road leading all the way down to the beach. Few vehicles would be up to the task. We elected to walk down.
From the first few steps, I knew that my calves would be hurting for days.

After 10 minutes of walking downhill, during which we passed trees swollen with lemons the size of footballs, we arrived on the tiny beach — small, clean, and nearly deserted, save a few couples and a family with a young kid.
Oh, and two naked dudes sunbathing behind a rock. (Which wasn’t good. Malta is a surprisingly conservative country and topless sunbathing is forbidden, let alone PEENS OUT sunbathing!)
That said…this beach was just as lovely in person as it appeared from afar.

Have you ever seen water that clear in your life?
It was just a short visit and a small part of our day trip, but San Blas Bay has earned a spot on my list of favorite beaches in the world.

Gozo feels like a world away from Malta — though the architectural style is the same and the natural environment is similar, Gozo is one of the quietest, most chilled out, most relaxing places I’ve ever visited.
Next time I want to spend several days here and relax on beautiful beaches like these — even if it means climbing up that steep hill at the end of the day.

Famous Place In Dubai

Famous Place In Dubai

A travel information guide to Dubai attractions, beach resorts, city tours, spa resorts, ... on them to have everything that you need, including the famous big bus tour. ... makes Dubai an ideal place for beginners and professional anglers alike.

 Akshay Kumar : Like everybody knows before Bollywood Actor , Akshay kumar had been known as cook in Bankok. It was not fun for him when he was doing so but now he really enjoys cooking and admire it. His famous show Masterchef India presented his interest towards cooking.

Famous Place In Dubai

Famous Place In Dubai

Famous Place In Dubai

Famous Place In Dubai

 The only way to enjoy Dubai on a maximum scale is from the sky. So China Moon Champagne Bar is the perfect place for you. Surrounded by glass apex of the new Raffles Hotel, it is one of the hottest bars in Dubai. What makes this place really fabilous is the view: 360 degrees of sky out to the Arabian Desert.

Famous Place In Dubai

Famous Place In Dubai