• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • ABOUT
    • All About Grantourismo
    • Work With Us
    • Meet Lara and Terence
    • Itineraries, Tours & Retreats
    • Media Coverage
    • Contacts
  • SLOW
  • LOCAL
  • EXPERIENTIAL
  • RECIPES
Grantourismo Travels Homepage

Grantourismo Travels

The website of globetrotting professional travel writing and photography team Lara Dunston and Terence Carter

Grantourismo Travels Homepage
  • AFRICA
        • KENYA
          • Masai Mara
          • Mombasa
          • Tsavo West
        • MOROCCO
          • Essaouira
          • Marrakech
        • SOUTH AFRICA
          • Cape Town
  • ASIA
        • CAMBODIA
          • Battambang
          • Phnom Penh
          • Siem Reap
        • INDONESIA
          • Bali
        • JAPAN
          • Tokyo
        • LAOS
          • Luang Prabang
        • MALAYSIA
          • Borneo
          • Kuala Lumpur
          • Penang
        • MEKONG RIVER
        • SINGAPORE
        • MYANMAR
        • THAILAND
          • Bangkok
          • Chiang Mai
          • Isaan
          • Phuket
        • VIETNAM
          • Dalat
          • Hanoi
          • Hoi An
          • Saigon
          • Sapa
  • AMERICAS
        • ARGENTINA
          • Buenos Aires
        • BRAZIL
          • Rio de Janeiro
        • COSTA RICA
          • Manuel Antonio
        • MEXICO
          • Mexico City
          • San Miguel de Allende
        • UNITED STATES
          • Austin
          • New York City
  • AUSTRALASIA
        • AUSTRALIA
          • Adelaide
          • Darwin
          • Gold Coast
          • Melbourne
          • Perth
          • Sydney
  • EUROPE
        • AUSTRIA
          • Vienna
          • Zell Am See
        • ENGLAND
          • London
        • FRANCE
          • Céret
          • Paris
          • Perpignan
        • GERMANY
          • Berlin
        • HUNGARY
          • Budapest
        • ITALY
          • Alberobello
          • Calabria
          • Italian Lakes
          • Sardinia
          • Venice
        • MONTENEGRO
          • Kotor
        • POLAND
          • Krakow
          • Zakopane
        • PORTUGAL
          • Porto
          • Portugal Wine Regions
        • SCOTLAND
          • Edinburgh
        • SPAIN
          • Barcelona
          • Jerez
          • Mallorca
        • TURKEY
          • Istanbul
  • MIDDLE EAST
        • JORDAN
          • Desert Areas
        • QATAR
          • Doha
        • UAE
          • Dubai
Summer in Italy is Best Spent Living Like Locals in Apartments and Holiday Rentals. The Navigli, Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Summer in Italy is Best Spent Living Like Locals in Apartments and Holiday Rentals

Summer in Italy starts in August for most Italians. It’s when the kids are on school holidays and most Italians head to the beach – which is why living like locals in apartments in the cities the Italians escape or the beaches that locals go to is my idea of summer in Italy.

Summer in Italy for Italians is the month of August. While many Italians take the whole of August off, the traditional summer holiday dating back to Emperor Augustus is called Ferragosto and runs from 15 August until 1 September. This is when the very best restaurants and many shops and small family-operated businesses close.

However, not everything closes as not everyone goes on holidays, so it’s a perfect time to get away from the centres of cities where the tourist traps will be open, and instead rent an apartment in neighbourhoods like the Navigli in Milan, which will be buzzing with locals.

And when you’re ready for the beach, avoid the Cinque Terra, Portofino, Positano, and the Amalfi Coast, and make a beeline for the coastal areas that Italians go in Calabria, Puglia, Sardinia, and the quieter towns on the Italian Lakes.

Summer in Italy is Best Spent Living Like Locals

The first summer in Italy for Terence and I was a hurried one. It was our first summer in Europe and we were young and we chose to backpack. We did one of those crazy “if it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium” holidays. We visited too many cities in too short a time, travelling by train, feasting on cheese and salami and cheap red wine. We stayed in cheap but far from cheerful two-star hotels, but we loved it all the same.

I remember catching the vaporetto down Venice‘s Grand Canal, gazing up at the obviously more affluent tourists sipping Prosecco in glasses (not plastic cups) on elegant palazzo terraces (not windowsills, as we did in our budget pensione) I think I actually sighed out loud. I remember thinking to myself that one day that was how we were going to spend summer in Italy.

Smitten with Italy – particularly with its fantastic food – we returned again and again. We’d hire a car and drive around, spending longer in each place – at first several days, then a week. One trip was focused on northern Italy, from the Dolomites to the Italian Lakes, another largely devoted to the south – from Rome we went to Naples, Capri, the Amalfi Coast and Positano, Sicily, and the Aeolian Islands. Ah, Panarea…

Initially we still stayed in hotels, albeit nicer ones than that first trip. We were a little older, but not yet wiser – because in Italy extra euros might get you a better bathroom and glassware, but it doesn’t always buy extra space. It took us a while to realise that we could be renting an apartment for a fraction of the price.

Over time, we began to seek out more interesting, idiosyncratic and intimate hotels. And that’s when we started to think about how we really liked to travel. In Italy, small boutique hotels are often on back streets, tucked into forgotten corners of quaint, quiet neighbourhoods.

It’s amazing what a difference location makes: being in those out-of-the-way spots gave us a taste for everyday life beyond the postcard images of churches and beaches into the laneways where washing was strung from balconies and old people gossiped on park benches.

The next year, we took things a step further, booking a studio in a centuries-old palazzo in Venice that I found on a real estate agent’s website. There was no HomeAway or even Airbnb back then. Located at the end of a skinny alley, between Cannaregio and Castello, two of Venice’s least touristy sestieri (districts), it really felt like a secret.

We had to convert our sofa into a bed each night, the bathroom was bigger than the kitchen, and we didn’t have that terrace I coveted. In fact, our two tiny balconies weren’t much bigger than the two-star windowsills where we’d sipped vino years earlier. But there were frescoes on the walls, antique candelabra, and the Rialto market with its fresh produce was a short stroll away.

Each afternoon gondolas would glide down our picturesque little canal with camera-snapping tourists who had no hesitation including us in their pictures. Did they envy us sitting up there with our tumblers of table wine from a hole-in-the-wall shop around the corner where staff filled our empty one-litre water bottles from a wooden barrel for two euros?

We didn’t care. We got more of a thrill out of saying buongiorno to the guys who manoeuvred their small barges down the same canal to collect our rubbish twice a week. Ironically, it was participating in the routines and rituals of everyday life – taking the rubbish out, shopping in the markets and cooking, the very things we usually go on holiday to avoid – that gave us the biggest kick. They afforded us an insight into local life that you don’t get as tourists. And we were hooked.

A couple of years later, after we’d established ourselves as guidebook writers, we spent much of one summer in Italy in Milan in an apartment overlooking the Naviglio Grande canal, above. It was August, too, and Milan was (blissfully) like a ghost town in spots, with everyone on holidays. Those left behind, however, were very much enjoying themselves.

An arty neighbourhood, the Navigli was fairly quiet mid-week in August, but on weekends the canal-side streets livened up with an antique market, and after dark the neighbourhood positively buzzed when intrepid foodies descended upon the local aperitivo bars and trattorias.

Eager to live like locals, every evening we participated in the Italians’ beloved aperitivo ritual, sipping and snacking at different bars. As in Venice, we took our cues from the little old ladies pulling their vinyl shopping trollies when it came to deciding which specialist vendors to frequent and what produce to buy. And it delighted us when our favourite cheese-seller tried to teach us how to order in Italian, little by little, each day.

As part of our 12-month grand tour we returned to Italy to live like locals – in Puglia, Sardinia and Venice. In Puglia, we stayed in a trullo, a whitewashed, conical house among olive groves just outside Alberobello.

Our caretaker, Maria, would turn up unannounced to hang a bunch of semi-dried tomatoes from the ceiling of our charming little kitchen or bring her wooden board, rolling pin and colossal bag of flour over to teach us how to make the local pasta. Another day she showed us how to stoke the wood-fired oven attached to the home and taught us how to make Puglian style pizza. We insisted she call her family to come over and we all feasted together by candlelight in the courtyard.

But it was that early summer in Venice (before all the hoards of tourists arrived) that was the most memorable. We finally graduated to a sprawling palazzo apartment overlooking the Grand Canal – even if the mezzanine-level bedroom looked like it had been added in the 1970s, the crockery was of the same era, and the wallpaper was peeling.

We stocked the fridge with prosecco, Aperol and Campari, and established our own aperitivo ritual. Each evening we stood at our window – no, we still didn’t have a terrace – and sipped our homemade spritz while watching the vaporetto cruise by. And I know I sighed.

(A different version of this story appeared in the Guardian in 2003.)

Our Tips to Spending Summer in Italy Living Like Locals

  • Instead of trying to see the whole of Italy in one summer, when trains will be packed and roads gridlocked, settle into an apartment in one city to soak up culture and everyday life.
  • Rent an apartment in cities like Milan that while a lot quieter than more touristy cities, such as Florence and Venice, are still lively. Venice, as much as we love it, is mad in summer. Book Milan apartments on our partner accommodation site Booking.com
  • In summer in Italy cities like Milan can sizzle, so book an apartment with air-conditioning and/or a corner apartment with plenty of fans windows on two sides of the building for the best breezes.
  • Do as the locals do and go out in the morning, return to your apartment after lunch for a siesta or relax and read a book, then head out again in the late afternoon or just before sunset. Remember it won’t get dark until 9pm in summer in Italy.
  • Adopt local habits and rituals, such as shopping the markets every morning, enjoying a long lunch, and participating in the nightly aperitivo ritual.
  • Check local entertainment websites such as Where Milan to see what the locals who aren’t heading to the beach are getting up to. There are always summer concerts and festivals.
  • One thing the locals who stay in Milan in August will be doing is shopping. It’s summer sales time with incredible bargains. Look for the signs that say ‘soldi’.
  • Note that many of the Michelin-starred and World’s 50 Best restaurants will be closed, which means you’ll be eating in local neighbourhood trattorias and pizzerias, which will be busy with the locals who have stayed at home.
  • And when you’re ready to head to the beach, go where the locals go to the beaches in Calabria, Puglia, Sardinia, Rimini, and more local spots on the Italian Lakes. They’ll be just as crowded as Venice and Florence, but they’ll be crowded with more locals than tourists.

Are you spending the Italian summer in Italy – like the locals or are you doing the touristy thing?

Support our Cambodia Cookbook & Culinary History Book with a donation or monthly pledge on Patreon.

Related Posts You Might Like

Advertisement

Find Your Italy Accommodation

Booking.com

Shop for related products

SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

45 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Yummly

About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Josie says

    January 19, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    Hi Lara,
    Hope all is well! I’m from Montreal and I’m looking to have a summer internship in Milan for the months of may and June.
    Do you have any advice as to where I can live?
    I would like to have my own bedroom but a shared living space with girls preferably.
    Let me know if you have any advice as to where I should be looking :)

    Thank you,
    Josie

  2. Lara Dunston says

    January 19, 2022 at 9:13 pm

    Hi Josie,
    Oh, I’m so jealous! Lucky you! May is lovely in Milan. Things are starting to warm up in June but it’s still very pleasant. It’s such a beautiful city and you’ve got the Italian Lakes in your backyard. Do make sure you get to the Lakes on a weekend or two.
    We really love the Navigli neighbourhood, which is the area we write about in this post. It’s definitely our favourite part of Milan when it comes to settling into the city for a while.
    But Milan is a big sprawling city, so where you live really depends on where you’ll be doing your internship. To take advantage of the Italian lifestyle, it’s nice to be close to work, so you’re not wasting time in traffic, but, again, depends on the location.
    I would actually ask the organisation/company you’re doing the internship with for some advice — the HR person or person responsible for internships should have some information they can send you.
    If they don’t, search for a Milan expat page on Facebook — there should be one — and ask for advice there.
    You will probably want to look at the accommodation in person and, if you want to share, meet the people you hope to share with, so I’d be inclined to rent an Airbnb/apartment rental close to work for a week and once you arrive get stuck into home-hunting as soon as you arrive.
    Let me know if you have any questions.
    It’s such a cool city, you’re going to have a blast!
    Best
    Lara

  3. Susi William says

    April 12, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    Wonderful post! I always dreamt of visiting Italy someday as I love various types of cultures and architecture and Italy is home to some of the most famous traditions and architectural marvels. My plan was to fill an Italy visa application form and explore the popular cities. And as I will be visiting Italy during Summer, I might as well take some tips from your blog to make my travel experiences even more delightful.

  4. Lara Dunston says

    April 12, 2022 at 9:00 pm

    Hi Susi, I’m pleased you’ve found our tips helpful :) I’ve had to remove your visa link, however, as we don’t allow ‘ads’ in the comments. Enjoy Italy! ;)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

About Grantourismo

Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
READ MORE…

Featured Posts

Best Fish Sauce Recipes – Ways of Cooking with Fish Sauce from Salad Dressings to Stir Fries. Thai Nam Prik Ong Recipe. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Best Fish Sauce Recipes – Ways of Cooking with Fish Sauce from Salad Dressings to Stir Fries

Holiday Rental Apartment, Istanbul, Turkey. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Our Istanbul Holiday Rental Apartment

Oyakodon Recipe for a Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl. Japanese recipes make home style Japanese comfort food. 10 most popular recipes of January 2022. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

10 Most Popular Recipes of January 2022 – The Recipes You Cooked in January

Footer

ABOUT GRANTOURISMO

  • All About Grantourismo
  • Meet Lara and Terence
  • Work With Us
  • Itineraries, Tours & Retreats
  • Media & Advertising
  • Media Coverage
  • Contacts

THE GRANTOURISMO SHOP ON SOCIETY6

The Grantourismo Shop on Society6

GET THE BEST MANAGED WORDPRESS HOSTING

Get the Best Managed Wordpress Website Hosting with Flywheel

IMPORTANT DETAILS

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments Policy
  • Advertising
  • Privacy Policy

AMAZON AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

Grantourismo Travels is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program.

GRANTOURISMO AFFILIATES/SUPPORT

Grantourismo is reader-supported. Posts contain various affiliate links. If you click through and purchase something, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That income supports the work we do to create content. Here are more ways to support Grantourismo.

SUBSCRIBE

Follow us on Socials

INSTAGRAM FEED

Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

SAFETY WING INSURANCE

Safety Wing Insurance

Footer Widget Header

WEB LOVE

As Seen in The Guardian As Seen on NineMSN As Seen on Tnooz
As Seen In The Independent As Seen on Frommers As seen on Viator
As Seen in Afar As seen on Gadling As seen on Context
As Seen in Fathom As Seen on Matador As seen on Inspirato with American Express
As seen on the Daily Mail website As seen on the Forbes website Grantourismo on the SilverKris website

ALL MEDIA COPYRIGHT © 2009–2023 GRANTOURISMO | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
DESIGNED IN APARTMENT RENTALS, HOTELS AND RESORTS AROUND THE WORLD BY GRANTOURISMO MEDIA.
ASSEMBLED IN SOUTH-EAST-ASIA.
GRANTOURISMO TRAVELS AND ‘MAKING TRAVEL MORE MEANINGFUL AND MEMORABLE’ ARE ™ TO GRANTOURISMO MEDIA.