These posts are on the authentic local things to buy that we think make great souvenirs, from local handicrafts to regional produce, and will cover what to buy and where and how to buy it.
The best Vienna chocolate shops in Austria’s capital range from Demel, the former royal court confectioner, loved by Viennese for its decadent chocolates as much as its Sachertorte to Austria’s more innovative, smaller, boutique chocolatiers, such as Tiroler Edl, available at enormous gourmet emporium of Julius Meinl. Vienna’s chocolate history is long and rich and … Read more
In the streets surrounding our apartment in the Fifth District in Vienna, and across the Linke Wienzeile, the street that runs parallel to the Naschmarkt, in the neighbouring Sixth District, there are literally dozens of vintage clothes, design, and furniture shops. This part of Vienna is retro heaven if you’re a lover of all things … Read more
Ever since I first tried truffles in a restaurant in Zurich, I get excited when the Northern Hemisphere winter comes around and I can look forward to fresh black winter truffles. Many years ago, when I worked in publishing in Sydney, my right-hand-man had a rather tempestuous relationship with his girlfriend who was head chef for … Read more
When we mainly stayed in hotels when we travelled we rarely went to supermarkets. Perhaps just to pick up bottles of water and some cold beers, maybe some snacks. But hotels became increasingly strict about what you could take into rooms, many installing mini-bars with sensors so that the moment you shifted something to clear space … Read more
It’s rare that I devote an edition of Take-Homes to one shop. In the eleven months of our grand tour, I’ve done it just three times before, in Ceret (La Boheme, a shop keeping traditional Catalan fabric alive), Bali (Threads of Life, a fair-trade textiles and crafts co-op), and San Miguel de Allende (Ave Maria, … Read more