Eating & Drinking | David McGuffin Exploring Europe: Tour Operator & Travel Information

Never short on a song in Ireland

by David McGuffin | Jun 5, 2014 | Adventures in Tour Guiding, Culture & Customs, Destinations, Eating & Drinking, Experiencing Europe

Ireland is fast becoming my most popular tour destination. I’ve just returned home from leading a great group of people on my “Best of Ireland and Scotland” tour. Later this month, I return to the Emerald Isle for two more of my “Taste O’ Ireland” tours. Ireland (and Scotland) are a perfect destination for summer travels as the temperature rarely climbs above 68°F, the countryside is draped in 40 shades of green, and the photo ops for sheep are plentiful. We are scheduling tours for the summer of 2015, so keep an eye out for my tours to Ireland!

Traditional folk music and singing is a nightly occurrence in Ireland. No matter what town or village, I can always find a pub with a music session. These sessions vary according to the ability and style of the musicians, but are always filled with heartfelt choruses and toe tapping jigs. It is almost as if every person on the island pops out of their mother’s womb with a song instead of a scream.

I’ve been a musician all my life, so when I hear a band in the distance or a song wafting out the door, I go for a listen. I sometimes run across situations and events that are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities where I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. In Venice, I recall sitting in on an impromptu singing session with a few salty old fishermen belting out operatic arias. On successive trips to Venice, I’ve tried to duplicate that experience and have been disappointed. Try as I might, there is no way to “manufacture” these impromptu experiences for the folks on my tours. You’ve just got to be in the right place at the right time and let it unfold around you!

Knowing all this, I shouldn’t be surprised when a gem of an event unfolds around me. This time, it all started when I coaxed a few of my tour members into a deserted Irish pub. When I say deserted, I mean just that… there was not a soul in the place except for the bartender, and he looked like he was packing it up for the evening. In fact, when we asked for a pint of Kilkenny (the local ale), he had to go to the back and fiddle with the taps just to get the stuff flowing. I began making apologies to my group for bringing them in this desolate place, but the bartender had spent several minutes getting the taps to flow, so we felt obligated to stay and have a pint. There we were, just the six of us quietly sipping our pints and looking for an exit strategy.

This was the third night of the tour and our first night out of Dublin. I was hoping to introduce my group to some traditional small town pub music. But it seemed tonight would not be the night. So, instead of experiencing music, I decided to at least tell my group about the “typical” pub music session to get them prepared for a future musical evening. As I was explaining the typical fiddling and singing found in a pub music session, a gentleman walked in the door. Dianne, one of my tour members, asked him, jokingly, if he was the singer for tonight’s session. He said no, he had just come in for a pint after playing two rounds of golf, but if we wait a bit we might coax one of his friends to belt out a song or two.

Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, the pub filled with 20 or so Irishmen who were in Kilkenny on a golf outing. They told us this was a yearly get together to play golf, have fun, and get away from their wives (said with a joke and a laugh). So, the first gentleman says to his buddy, “this lady wants to know if you are the singer.” We all expected a laugh and a swift no, but to our surprise he stood up and belted out a heartfelt ballad about “Annie Moore”, Ireland’s first immigrant to the United States.

Then began a chain reaction where each man stood and sang his favorite song. All was done a cappella, without accompaniment, and from the heart. They took great pride in their singing and in the message of the song. We were an audience of six Americans who were looking for some music, and boy did we get it! By the end of the night we were invited to join them in “God Bless America”, finally finishing the session at midnight belting out “cockles and mussels… alive, alive oh.”

[space height=10] You would think with six of us witnessing this impromptu singing session we would have taken some video. Unfortunately, all were having too much fun to waste time on video. So, this short segment is all I have to offer. You’ve just got to be at the right place at the right time! [space height=10] [column col=”1/2″] [youtube height=”200″ width=”290″ align=”left”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw4yqb8s9hI[/youtube][/column] [column col=”1/2″ last=”true”]

WOLFGANGSEE – SALZBURG

by David McGuffin | Jul 17, 2013 | Adventures in Tour Guiding, Destinations, Eating & Drinking

My friend Asa Jernigan told me some years ago about a beautiful lake near Salzburg he had visited. I tucked that tid-bit of info away in my noggin’ and somehow recalled it earlier this summer. I was scheduled to stay in Salzburg for two nights but a week before the tour commenced we had two additions making our group larger than expected. Short by one room in Salzburg, I decided to look for accommodations in the countryside.

Wolfgangsee is a glacial lake situated about thirty miles south of Salzburg in the region known as Salzkammergut. It is about five miles in length and 370 feet at its deepest point. The settlements around the lake, especially St. Wolfgang and St. Gilgen, are popular resort towns, mainly in summer.

WOLFGANGSEE

view from my balcony

I used bookings.com to locate rooms for my group at a little community outside of St. Wolfgang known as Reid. HAUS WINDHANGER was a wonderful choice! Hemmed in by the lake, the mountains, meadows, and cows, this proved to be a comfortable and peaceful place to stay.

HAUS WINDHANGER

Upon arrival, owner Annemarie met us at the door, showed us our rooms (with balconies and beautiful lake views) and provided a brief introduction to the village, dining options, and walking activities. As we had been driving most of the day, we were ready for some food. Annemarie suggested two guesthouses with restaurants about 500 meters up the road. We donned our jackets and struck off up the road. This pleasant walk took us along the lake with endless views of pastures and cows all framed by the soaring mountains in the distance.

We stopped at the first place we came upon. LEOPOLDHAUS looked like a charming old-styled guesthouse done up in the typical fashion with lots of wood and a clean, spic-and-span atmosphere. We were greeted by the owner, who at first thought we were looking for rooms, which she was ready to put us in! Explaining we’d like dinner, not rooms, our group was seated in a private dining room and served by the owner’s charming daughter. We made an evening of our dining experience! Being carefully guided through the local menu choices by our waitress, we feasted on fresh-caught fish, rich beef, and venison. All this was complemented by traditional salads, local cheeses, potatoes, and of course, local wine. By the end of the evening we had our waitress sitting with us at the table filling us in on her life and what it’s like living out here in this beautiful countryside.

FRESH LAKE CHAR FISH

our waitress and the crew

Crunch-crunch-crunch… the sound of our group walking back up the gravel road to our guesthouse. After that hearty meal, we needed a short “stretch of our legs”to get us moving again. Crunch-crunch-crunch… a dog barks in the distance, a low-pitched horn is heard from a boat on the lake, a cow shakes her head and moos, bells from the goat herd tinkle on the distant hills. We walk in silence taking in the pleasant smells and sounds. Stopping to look at the moon’s reflection off the water, we see the twinkling lights from St. Gilgen on the distant lake shore. Crickets chirp and a wise old owl lets out a series of “hoots”. Crunch-crunch-crunch… off we go to throw open the windows, throw on the down comforters, and listen to the sounds of the night. zzzzzzzz……

-David

A Dining Adventure in Ireland and Scotland

by David McGuffin | Jul 29, 2011 | Destinations, Eating & Drinking, Experiencing Europe, Restaurant Reviews

We began the tour early one morning in Glasgow, Scotland. By the early afternoon, we had toured the Scottish lowlands, Stirling, the Trossach’s and the Roy Roy and William Wallace historical sites. In Oban, I discovered THE TEMPLE RESTAURANT, quietly located away from town in a small bayside park. Luckily, I arrived by about 5:00 and made a reservation for 8:30; otherwise, we would not have gotten a table. While dining, we learned that the present owners had just taken over the restaurant two weeks before. The meal featured platters of what was fresh on the day’s catch. We ordered two of the platters featured above. Pam, on the right, was not a fan of shellfish or seafood, but this platter convinced her otherwise. All the ingredients were fresh from the sea, with such an amazingly clean and sea-salty flavor. There was a lot of food, but yet none of us were uncomfortably stuffed upon leaving. As of this moment, THE TEMPLE RESTAURANT does not have a website. Eilidh (pronounced like Kaliegh) the proprietor, can be contacted by telephone at 01631 566000.

ENOTECA DIVINO is located three floors down in the wine cellar of a popular Italian restaurant in Edinburgh. I was lucky to find this place and even luckier to get a table. The “enoteca” (that’s Italian for wine merchant/bar) featured authentic food and wine in a high-tech environment, yet comfy cave atmosphere. We ordered a tasty “antipasti” mixture for our first course, that consisted of fresh mozzarella, crostini, pate, several kinds of cheese, prosciutto, cured ham, salami, and bread. Everything tasted first quality, just like eating it in Tuscany. We all chose something different for our “secondi” and it must have been good because, by the time I got around to taking a photo of the food, it was all gone!

A few days later, we flew from Edinburgh to Dublin. For dinner, I booked us into my favorite French Restaurant outside of France. LA MERE ZOU is nicely tucked into a basement just across from Stephen’s Green, the huge city park. I found La Mere Zou many years ago and have been coming back ever since. Our starter consisted of succulent Duck Confit on a bed of fresh greens and topped off with a tangy vinaigrette; even the folks who had never tried duck were impressed and gobbled it all down. We continued with a roasted lamb shank cooked in the style of “beef burgundy,” with plenty of juices. Finally, we finished off our dinner with a variety of desserts.

OLIVER ST. JOHN GOGERTY is a favorite pub on Fleet Street in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. We dined here twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. On our last evening in Dublin, I slid down a dozen raw oysters drizzled with a little red wine vinegar and lemon. Gogerty’s serves food all day and has music on all day as well. Go here for good food, good music and good craic!

The Biggest Wine Glass ever!

Actually, this was the decanter for our “Vino Nobile de Montepulciano,” a masterly crafted Tuscan wine that is smooth as velvet on the taste buds. RISTORANTE RINUCCINI is without question, my best pick for Italian food outside of Italy! Like “La Mere Zou” in Dublin, I discovered Rinuccini some years ago and have been coming back ever since. I booked us a table for the “early-bird” menu offering three courses for about € 30. Again, I don’t have any pictures of the food because we all were too busy eating it! However, I do remember my menu: fresh Wexford mussels steamed in fresh tomatos, garlic and white wine, fillet of chicken in a cream sauce of mushrooms, and pancetta and white wine and creamy Tiramisu for dessert.

Fresh wild-caught salmon – Out of the Blue, Dingle, Ireland

Several years ago a friend recommended I dine at OUT OF THE BLUE the next time I was in Dingle. I did and have never had a better seafood experience! Consequently, I keep coming back! However, it is a small place so reservations are strongly advised. “Out of the Blue” is only open when and if there is fresh fish brought in that morning. If there is no fishing, there is no food! This particular evening, we all decided to pick one item off the blackboard menu (they have nothing in print because the menu varies with the fresh fish caught that morning). I ordered the Monkfish (pictured above) which was fresh, clean and flakey, but firm enough to stand up to the pepper sauce. The other five plates were met with yummies and silence as we ate.

I did not think to take a photo of the fresh fish menu, but we did get our waiter to pose with the dessert menu.

I don’t want you to think we ate gourmet food every night. We mixed it up with a variety of exceptional “pub grub,” featuring this Irish filet of beef and onion ring, hamburgers, beef and Guinness pie, mixed salads, fish and chips, and even some tasty black pudding with goat’s cheese!

Full-Irish Breakfast

Finally, we had the option to begin every morning with a full Irish or Scottish breakfast, as pictured above, or a more reserved menu featuring ceral, oatmeal, fruits, and cheeses. On the plate above (beginning clockwise from 12) Irish Bacon, Black Pudding, Fried Egg, Orange Wedge, Tomato, Sausage Link and White Pudding in the center.

Fishy-Fish: A multi-lingual guide to ordering FISH on any menu

by David McGuffin | Jul 27, 2011 | Eating & Drinking

I like to eat fish, but often the European menu does not describe the selection in terms that I understand. Recently, I was in Dingle, dining at my favorite fish place. I came across a multilingual fish guide for travelers. I took a photo of the menu, added my descriptions and ended up with my “fishy-fish” chart. I hope it makes choosing a fish dish from a foreign menu less challenging.

This is the entire kitchen of “Out of the Blue Restaurant.” The restaurant has only a few tables, so it is important to make a reservation. Their policy is if there is no fresh fish caught in the morning, they will not open their doors at night. Each day, the menu is listed on a chalkboard; once the fish is “finished,” the item is crossed off.

For me, “Out of the Blue” is the best choice for fresh fish on the island! Oh yeah, the wine list is selected to pair specifically with fresh fish. One of the waiters is from France and has a lot of input in the wine selection process. I can’t remember his name (it is such a shame for me) but he has been around to help me out for three years now. If you are in Dingle, go to “Out of the Blue!”

MY FISHY-FISH CHART

English	French	Italian	Spanish	German	Description
Sole	Sole	Sogliola	Lenguado	Seezunge	Flat-fish family and mild in taste. Bottom-feeder and hides in the mud, but don’t let that discourage you… very mild.
Cod	Cabillaud	Merluzzo Bianco	Bacalao	Kabeljau	Mild flavor, low fat content with a dense white flesh that flakes easily.
Pollack	Lieujaune	Merluzzo Giallo	Abadejo	Pollack	An Atlantic white fish with a fairly strong flavor. Most commonly used in “Crab sticks.”
John Dory	St Pierresan	San Pietro	Pez De San Pedro	Peterfisch	North Atlantic cold water fish. Firm-textured and white-fleshed. It has a mild, sweet flavor and low fat content.
Monkfish	Lotte	Rana Pescatrice	Rape	Seeteufel	Firm in texture. Mild slightly sweet taste. Sometimes considered poor man’s lobster.
Brill	Barbue	Rombo Liscio	Rémol	Glattbutt	North Atlantic. Similar to turbot in having succulent, slightly sweet flesh.
Lemon Sole	Limande-Sole	Sogliola Limauda	Mendo Limón	Limande	North Sea and English Channel. Mild white fish.
Turbot	Turbot	Rombo Chiodato	Rodaballo	Steinbutt	Turbot are harvested in European waters from the Mediterranean and North Seas to Iceland and Normandy. Prized for its delicate flavor. Prepared simply, such as baked or broiled.
Plaice	Plie	Passera	Solla	Scholle	Bottom dwelling white fish. Commonly used in fish and chips. North Sea to the Med.
Mackerel	Maquereau	Sgombro	Caballa	Mackrele	Its meat is off-white in color and has a strong fishy taste. Its meat is darker than cod or Tilapia.
Hake	Colin	Nasello	Merluza	Seehecht
Haddock	Eglefin	Assinello	Eglefino	Schellfisch	Taste similar to cod. A white flesh fish with very low fat content.
Seabass	Loup de mer/bar	Brenzina	Lubina	Seebarsch	Semi-firm white meat with a sweet flavor. Great for people who don’t usually eat fish.
Scallops	Coquilles/St Jacques	Capasante	Vieiras	Jacobs Muscheln	The edible portion of the scallop is the white muscle that opens and closes the two shells and is called the “nut.” The reproductive glands known as “coral” are also edible and widely consumed in Europe.
Anchovy	Anchios	Acciuga	Anchoa	Sardelle
Mussels	Moules	Cozze	Mejillones	Muscheln
Shrimp	Crevette	Gambero	Camarón	Garnele
Salmon	Saumon	Salmone	Salmón	Lachs	Mild distinct flavor with a soft texture. If your not much for fish, Salmon is recommended. Wild-Fresh caught is the best. Other varieties are farm-raised.

Dining Choices – Good and Bad

by David McGuffin | Jul 23, 2011 | Adventures in Tour Guiding, Eating & Drinking, Experiencing Europe, Restaurant Reviews

I took my final “student educational tour” in 1999. This trip was a bit different from my previous “student educational tours” in that it was designed as a performance tour for my band students and me. Leading up to the tour, I did a lot of planning and selected all the destinations. In my now famous “McGuffin tour style,” we stayed in some out-of-the-way locations, as well as visited big cities. In fact, the company handling my tour arrangements had never taken student groups to a few of our destinations. Although this tour was well planned, we still had to put up with mostly poor hotels and the usual tasteless dinners.

There were some memorable dining experiences in the small villages I had chosen. I remember the little family-run hotel in Rot-an-der-Rot with a basement bowling alley. The mom and pop chef team were happy to feed us and keep the second helpings coming until the pot was empty. The same was true with the hotel restaurant in Interlaken. However, beyond that, dining was disappointing.

I don’t have many “dining” photos from those early student tours. I did find this one of my son and his friends at a “nice” restaurant in a village on the Rhine River. Notice the plate of fries and breaded meat. On another occasion, I recall being taken to a Moroccan restaurant in Paris where we were served undercooked chicken and couscous. How can that be? We were in Paris, the gourmet capital of the world, and we were served, not escargot and steak frites, but Moroccan cuisine from another continent!

In contrast, here is a photo I snapped on one of my student tours a few years ago in Rome. The dinner consisted of three courses, the second being filet of beef, roasted potatoes, veggies, and a strawberry and chocolate garnish. Not only was the meal a dining experience, the ambiance and location was amazing. This dinner is at the Café Bernini on the very popular Piazza Navona. ROME: Dinner on the Piazza Navona

Here are some food-related comments from a recent tour. The question posed is, “In general, what did you think of the dining experiences [on your tour]?

“The food and wine were fantastic every night. The last time we went to Europe we didn’t eat nearly as good. It made the trip much more memorable being able to enjoy good food and not having to worry about trying to figure out what to order.”
– Paris to Rome Tour, June 2011

“What kind of question is this??? Haha. Almost always delicious, and I am a VERY picky eater, by American standards. Often, I wish there was some sort of choice for dinner, but perhaps that’s not the way things work over there. Also, I found the food in Switzerland to be subpar.” –Paris to Rome Tour, June 2011

If you would like to read more comments from my tour alumni, take a look at my tour comment page. Or, you can leave your own comments about “dining with David” right here!

Cooking Is a Cultural Experience

by David McGuffin | Jul 21, 2011 | Eating & Drinking, Experiencing Europe, Restaurant Reviews

I’ve grown to enjoy cooking over the years. I remember my first crack at it was when my wife traveled on a six-week business trip to Washington. My children were in college and out of the house, so I was left at home to “fend for myself.” So… I cooked.

It’s said that the best way to learning something is to study hard and practice the art. I’ve done a lot of both. Consequently, now that I’ve been at it for more than a decade, I’ve got a pretty good concept of what tastes good and more importantly, why it tastes good.

Years ago, I began taking my students on “educational” tours to Europe. These tours were organized by huge travel companies that packed a bus and ran them through Europe as cheaply as possible. There were many things I did not like about these early tour experiences, but for now, I’ll concentrate on eating and food choices.

In my experience, a typical meal on a student educational tour consisted of weak pasta or salad, a mystery meat cutlet, French fries, and a fruit or ice cream cup. Getting a variation of this day after day simply was not my idea of European cuisine. It certainly did not match the grand dining experiences of which I had so often read in books and magazines. On many occasions, I remember returning to the USA and rushing to the first “American” restaurant just to get a good meal. My students’ first stop was often McDonald’s! You can read my account of these early days of eating in Europe at my blog entry titled: “I always came home hungry.”

With this in mind, it is no wonder that quality dining experiences are an integral element in my “Exploring Europe” travel philosophy. For me, eating is a cultural experience no less important than seeing the sights, visiting a museum or chatting up a local. It brings the locale to life and presents an authentic and literal “taste” of the destination. I’ve developed an uncanny knack for finding good places to eat. Most often these are far off the “tourist” radar and feature fresh local cuisine, passionately prepared and served by a caring chef. However, I’m not opposed to breaking away from a traditional menu, of say, meat, and potatoes in Ireland, and supporting an eclectic chef’s fusion-style menu.

In my next few blog entries, I will share my passions of European travel, cooking, and dining. I hope it makes your taste buds tingle!