Knock Knock

The Door Knockers of France & Spain

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From The Holy Mountain

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Title: From the Holy Mountain Author: William Dalrymple Genre(s): Travel, History Earlier this year a new name appeared on my twitter feed,William Dalrymple. Usually retweeted by my favourite Kerryman (yes I have one).  After reading a number of his tweets over the space of a few weeks I decided to follow him myself, which by the way William you have not reciprocated, however we'll let that slide. His tweets were usually about India be it history or society and drew me in from a travel and history point of view.  A google search revealed his books and newspaper articles.  A chance meeting with my favourite Kerryman lead to a discussion about Mr.Dalrymple's books.  "Any good?" I asked.  "Outstanding, says the Kerryman, probably my favourite book ever".  And Kerrymen don't lie.  So off I took myself to O'Mahonys Bookshop in Limerick and purchased a copy of From The Holy Mountain. Eased into my favourite armchair I started to re...
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Riot Rye - Bread Making Course

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I attended the level 1 bread making course at Riotrye recently.  Riotrye is based in the Eco Village, Cloughjordan, Co.Tipperary and is run by Joe Fitzmaurice and Julie Lockett.  They specialise in baking sourdough and the emphasis is on natural products, organic flour and sustainability.  To involve you in the whole process and to get you thinking about sourdough you're encouraged to make your own starter about a week before you attend. The course ran from the civilised hours of 11am to 6pm, not a drill instructor in sight, and is aimed at the home baker. So jar of starter tucked under the arm I entered the bakehouse.  My fellow enthusiasts trickled in and soon the eight of us were sat at our baking stations.  People were from a variety of backgrounds and attended for a plethora of reasons.  The first hour or so Joe introduced us to the differences between grains such as wheat and rye, he explained the importance of soil management and the link bet...
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France & Spain Road Trip, Part 3, Llanes, Asturias

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Close your eyes and think of Spain.  What do you see?  Chances are that you see endless sunshine, paella, bull fighting, flamenco, sangria, a shimmering Mediterranean sea, El Cid and Don Quixote.  That is not Asturias.  Asturias is Espana Verde or Green Spain.  Asturias is mixed weather, fabada, pipe music, cider and a hissing Atlantic ocean.  Asturias is not the Spain that the tourist board have painted but it is the Spain to where I headed. Bilbao from above Crossing the border into Spain is seamless, the road signs become Spanish, that's about the only difference.  Picking up the Autovia del Cantabrico we were soon passing signs for cities familiar from previous trips, San Sebastian, Vitoria Gasteiz, Gernika.  Soon we were driving over Bilbao trying to get an aerial view of  the Guggenheim.  Mountain tunnels This part of northern Spain is hemmed in between soaring mountains and a continuously charging...
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