Martha Stewart, really?

I'm a Tv series addict, specially those gooey romantic comedies and so, in most of them and also all the gooey romantic comedy movies that I watch, I've always heard someone mentioning Martha Stewart! So, of course, I know who she is, what she looks like and what she does, but until a couple of months ago, I had never seen her on tv. Until then I really thought she was great, like female Jamie Oliver with decorating skills, everyone always talks about her like she's a goddess, and of course I'd never doubt my favorite characters, then again, who would???

Martha before watching her show

So, as I was saying, a couple of months ago I received an email from iTunes store with an ad for a Martha's "How to make pumpkin pie" video, and I decided to watch! Really??? Really?? That's what Martha Stewart is?? She looks like a robot, she doesn't feel anything, she has no charisma at all...now my question is, how did she get where she is now? I have absolutely no idea! Like, everyone on food tv has their one thing that makes people like them, Jamie Oliver is charismatic, Ramsay is crazy nervous, and people love to see others getting yelled at, Nigella is passionate about all food, and doesn't mind eating as much as she wants to, Andrew Zimmern eats everything you don't want to, so that's pretty interesting, Anthony Bourdain travels and bring history unto food's life, but Martha, she does everyday food with no passion, no jokes, no anger, no traveling, no history, nothing really!

Martha after

Well, I'm sorry crazy americans that love her, but that's not for me, but I'm open to whatever you wanna say you see in her, is it the kitchen? Cause it's actually a nice kitchen, but not enough to watch her! Or the website, cause the site is great, really, I love it, I wish I had never seen her on tv, I'd probably still like her...damn you iTunes ad!!!

See you soon!

Mettlach - the german city of Outlets

Since I moved to Switzerland I've been wanting to buy a set of Villeroy & Boch china for my future new home. I'd usually just go to a big "galerie" like Galeries Lafayette or Printemps, but I decided to go to Villeroy's website to see if they had a big store somewhere in Europe, and for my surprise they have a really big OUTLET STORE. The store is in Mettlach, a small town in Germany, right next to the borders of Luxembourg and France, which for me is just perfect as my husband's aunt lives about 45 minutes from Mettlach.

We went this weekend to his aunt's home for easter and on our way back we've passed through Mettlach to see what they had. The Villeroy's outlet is amazing, they have most of their china and cutlery at 20% off or more. It's really worth it, and in the city you'll find other outlets like Silit and Rösle, two great brands for kitchen ware. 

But outlets are not the only thing you can find, Mettlach is a medieval city with the Saar river by it's side, you could visit the city by walking and also don't miss the Villeroy & Boch's discovery center, where you can learn about the history of ceramic and tableware and also take a walk through the gardens of Mettlach's old abbey. The abbey was acquired by Jean-François Boch in 1809 to become their first ceramic factory and today is the main headquarters of Villeroy & Boch.

Villeroy & Boch headquarter in Mettlach's old abbey

The region is also very lovely, with small towns, boat excursions through the Saar and the Mosel river, wineries all over the place, with great Riesling tastings. Not to far away is Trier, the oldest city in Germany where you should visit the Porta Nigra, a gate from about A.D. 180. 

The Saar river

Other cities to visit: Saarburg and Bitburg(and their brewery Bitburger - attention, their presentation is only in German) 

Have a nice trip, I know I had!!!Oh, I'd advise you to go on spring, it's beautiful!!!

Villeroy & Boch outlet hours: 

Monday-Friday 9:30 am - 7:00 pm

Saturday 9:30 am - 6:00 pm

Sundays 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm

website: http://www.villeroy-boch.com/en/us/home.html

New York's biggest secret!!!(for anyone who likes to cook)

I know, I know, it's been too long since my last post...but as I'm moving to Switzerland and am actually homeless, it's not quite easy to write, but I'll try to be more generous with you from now on, and I am gonna start with this great tip!!!

New York is a really big city with lots of amazing things to see, eat, drink and do, so one post isn't gonna cut it, but as this blog is not only about traveling, but about food too, I decided to write this post about a marvelous hidden bookstore I discovered last year.

This is really not a tourist spot as it's exactly 2 streets down from where the upper east side turns into east harlem, but it's worth the trip and it's a nice way to get to know another part of New York city, and it's actually quite interesting to see a place with no tourists(or almost none) and observe the daily life of the "latino" neighborhood of New York.

Kitchen, Arts and Letters is the name of this heavenly place and if you are as addicted to cookbooks as I am, consider at least half a day to spend it there! Don't underestimate it by their size, because they are quite small, but they have a lot to offer, you just have to look through it! There's a lot of old cookbooks, most of them are not even printed anymore, they have a section for business books, like "How to open your restaurant", those kind of things, and much more. The owners(at least I think they were) are really nice, so don't mind asking questions or even asking them to find a book for you, even if they don't have they will try to find it!

That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed it!

How to get there:
Address: 1435 Lexington Ave, New York 10128 (between 93rd and 94th)
Subway station: 96th street - line 4 or 6
Hours: Monday 1-6 pm
Tuesday to Friday 10 am - 6:30 pm
Saturday 11 am - 6 pm
website: http://www.kitchenartsandletters.com/