Faroe Islands Foodie Friday

We're going far, far away for our Foodie Friday this week to the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are a chain of islands west of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway. It is an "autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark." One of the things I most enjoyed about this trip was traveling to places I'd never visited before and in the case of the Faroe Islands, knew very little. The islands are beautiful and people I traveled with said that the Islands looked very much like the coasts of Scotland and Ireland.

One of my favorite parts of the entire trip was a boat ride to the Vestmanna Bird Cliffs. We sailed thorough grottos and saw the nesting places of sea birds. The scenery was fabulous. 

I spent the rest of my visit in Torshavn, the major port city of the islands. I took a lot of pictures of houses with traditional grass roofs.  

I also visited a mall in Torshavn. I enjoy seeing markets around the world and the Faroe Islands didn't disappoint me. There was a great supermarket and I was taken with this refrigerator case with assorted fish products. A major industry in the islands is fishing. Usually my Foodie Fridays focus around ice cream or bakeries, but I thought this made an interesting foodie contribution. 

I hope you've enjoyed our Foodie Friday from the Faroes. How's that for alliteration! 

I'm pretty much back to my regular routine now, sleeping better and I'm all unpacked. I've been on the subway a few times and there's nothing like a subway ride at rush hour to remind me I'm not on vacation anymore.  I took a number of "pink" pictures and I'll be sharing them tomorrow for Pink Saturday fun from Iceland and Norway.

As always, thanks for visiting and take good care. Wishes for a great weekend and prayers for peace.

The Monday After

It's now the Monday after BookExpo and I'm trying to settle back into my usual life in New York City. Between being in Connecticut for Memorial Day weekend and BookExpo, it's taking a little effort to return to my daily rhythms. But there's nothing like an empty refrigerator for motivation and I made the trip to my favorite fruit and veggie market. I love markets all over the world, and while this one isn't exotic, it's colorful and has a great assortment. My snack for the next few days is cherries, one of my favorite fruits.

 I love the rainbow look of the fruits and vegetables. 

Yes, my eye immediately went to the super special sign in the front of the photograph.

 Grapes are on my shopping list for later in the week. Are you a red or green grape fan? I like them both.

This is a shout-out to my dear friend and devoted blog reader, K, on the first Monday of her retirement. Welcome to a wonderful club! K, I have no advice for enjoying retirement, because I know you will and have great plans already. I do think you'd be a wonderful addition to BlogWorld. 

Just one year ago -- literally -- it was my first Monday not going into a workplace. I'll be doing a recap on my year of retirement later this week. This year has taken me places I never dreamed I'd go. I'm grateful for all of the opportunities I've had, but again more later.   

A little blog housekeeping...Dear friends, please leave me a way to get in touch with you if there's a giveaway. This is especially important if you don't have a blog or are a "no-reply" blogger. I left a message on Google+ over a week ago for the winner of the "4 Ingredients" cookbook and I haven't had any response. If I don't hear from Maria Simon in the next few days I'm going to pick another winner. Maria, if you are out there, please leave me your email in a comment. There are a couple of readers who asked for Grumpy Cat postcards and I don't have a way to get their addresses. If you're reading please leave me an email address. Grumpy Cat wants to come and visit you!  

As always, thanks for visiting. Take good care and happy reading. 

Give Me Grape Giveaway!

Purple -- in all its permutations -- is just about my favorite color. I know I'm not alone in this. A colleague of mine at the Hartford Public Library, my first job with a W2, only wore purple. I'm not that big a fan, but I do love the color. During the trip to Rochester I was delighted to come upon fabulous purple shopping bags and knew I had to do a blog giveaway to share with my friends. The bag is from one of my favorite markets anywhere, Wegman's. Unfortunately none of the pictures of Wegman's came out very well, except for this one of the shopping bag.

The drawing will be random, but for fun, what is your favorite purple item? I love lilacs, grape jam, grape Nehi soda and grape popsicles, though I haven't had the last two items in easily thirty years. I'll announce the winner on Wednesday, May 25, so please leave your messages by May 24. There's an extra entry if you post this in your blog and let me know and this is an international giveaway. I will be happy to mail  anywhere in the world. I note a number of visitors from outside the United States, so please leave a comment and say hello!  

Thankful in April...The Bounty of the Earth

I am thankful for oranges. You were my "go-to" fruit all winter...

But I am delighted to welcome the berries to the fruit market!

Blueberries, I am so happy to see you! Melons, we're waiting for you!

This is one of the local groceries. I always enjoy the fruit displays in front of the markets and wanted to share it with all of you. I usually buy fruit and vegetables at the little markets and this one is one of my favorites. 

Can't thank you all enough for the lovely and caring messages you left about Janet's passing. I am -- as always -- thankful for friends and all you give so generously. Hugs and blessings!

Markets of the World...Madeira

Madeira sits as a small, perfect jewel in the Atlantic Ocean, 350 miles north of Africa and 600 miles from Europe. I was enchanted by the view of the ocean, the lush vegetation and the beauty of the island. It is a region of Portugal. Whenever I heard the word "madeira" in the past I had thought of wine, generally featured in a Regency novel.

A street in Funchal, the main city of Madeira

I was delighted to find a supermarket and literally ran inside to take some pictures...

It was bright and well stocked and had most of the products I might find in my grocery on Broadway, even though we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There was also a big book section, clothes and housewares.

I made a find that particularly delighted me. Growing wild throughout the island was this sweet flower...

 ...the Bermuda Buttercup!

Markets of the World...Barcelona

I love to look at markets when I travel. Some are fascinating for the luxury items --Paris -- and some for the exotic and unfamiliar items -- Macao. But all of them give a great picture of how people live throughout the world. In Barcelona we found the Mercat Santa Caterina and had a delightful visit.

Everything looked delicious...

Or very interesting...

I'm not sure that I'm ready for an emu or ostrich omelet. 

I would like to shop for groceries here on a regular basis. I was so enchanted -- actually with all of Barcelona --   that the idea of renting an apartment for a few weeks has become a regular thought. Wouldn't that be fun?