Trend: Voluntourism

What is it?
When people take time out of their busy lives and donate their time and money to organisations or causes. Most notably, volunteering their time in developing countries in areas that lack facilities in housing, education, health and sanitation. Lack of basic needs and facilities attract international attention and garner the consideration of people from developed countries.
Trends today show that voluntourism is most popular amongst people in their twenties and thirties, which is believed to be popular because of the idea of added risk with going to under developed countries. Another few reasons young people volunteer abroad is to boost their CV/Resume, travel in a group with friends for a rewarding purpose and for a way to see the world.
Why is this trend important?
Voluntourism is important as it gives back to communities who may not even have a form of tourism or any basic facility. People living in dyer situations with no water, no food and rely on the help of international resources to help them survive. In countries where starvation and dehydration is too common, it's incredibly important for people like us, living in countries where if we get too full, we throw our food in the bin or let the water run down the drain. It is important for us to not take things for granted and give back to these people who suffer immensely. But volunteering isn't just heading off to a developing country or a country hit by disaster. People can go and volunteer in many different aspects both domestically and internationally. There is volunteering time on behalf of an organisation in hopes to raise money i.e Climbing Kilimanjaro and getting the community to donate to the cause.
Helping out at events and international celebrations i.e Heading to Stockholm to help out at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Volunteerism takes many forms and generally has people doing it out of interest, concern or hoping to better themselves through helping others
Pros and Cons:
Skills; It's all well and good to be investing time and money to travel away to go volunteering but it's another thing to be useful wherever you go. Different projects require different skills and expertise. Although people are good of heart to go and help, they may not be qualified. It can be difficult on organisations to refuse help but volunteers are much cheaper then paid staff.
Image: By volunteering, it looks good on CV's and Resumes. It gives a person a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment knowing they've helped and done something good for those in need.
Motivation: Aprés Volunteering, it gives people a sense of motivation with their lives when they see first hand just how bad some people are living and do their best to help out. It gives the mindset that some people have it worse and motivates and drives people to do more with their lives.
Integration: It is a problem that volunteer staff, although may be highly educated, dominate over the local staff as they think they know best.

It is important to consider volunteering for the part that it gives back to those who need help in the world. Organisations do need the help in most cases and volunteering should be emphasized more in communities.

Eurovision Season

With the first part of this years semi-finals over, and 16 acts already through to the final, the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is truly underway. For me, the Eurovision is like an unwritten tradition of mine. Every May, it's fun to sit and watch the competition and then wasting all my call credit on texting in. 

But for those who aren't European, what is the Eurovision?
The Eurovision Song Contest is an international TV song competition and is the longest-running annual song contest of this scale. The Eurovision Song Contest is primarily held between countries that are in the European Broadcasting Union and has been going on for the last 60 years (Since 1956).
The basis behind the Song Contest is for each participating country to create, submit and perform an original song that is then put to the public vote, with the catch that you can't vote for your own country. The show has gone on for the last 60 years and has become the one of the most watched non-sporting event in the world with annual figures between 100 and 600 million internationally. It has also been shown in countries that don't even participate i.e US and China. 
One of the recent changes that made Eurovision history was the addition of

Australia as a participating country even though it wasn't a member of the EBU. To date, Ireland holds the most wins (7), has a 3 in a row streak and has won 4 times in 5 years (Ain't that great!).
The great thing about the Eurovision is that is creates a platform for international music creativity and gives artists a platform they may never have had before. Shows other countries music in other languages, different styles of music, cultures and demonstrates the diversity in the European Broadcasting Union. Some of the most popular winners to have successful careers after the contest would be: ABBA (Swedish Winners in 1974), Bucks Fizz (UK Winners in 1981) and Celine Dion (Swiss Winner in 1988).
How important is the Eurovision Song Contest?
I believe the Eurovision is a really important, if not a key staple of the reason the European Union exists, the reason why positive international relations is

important and is possibly the way forward for the world to be accepting of different customs and cultures. In terms of economy, I think it is probably one of the most important events for tourism as it brings huge crowds to a country. Take a country like Serbia who won in 2007 and hosted in 2008. That year, 43 countries participated and that means supporters from each country came along to Belgrade to watch and support their act. The Kombank Arena in Belgrade holds 18,300 approx. people coming to Belgrade, staying, eating, drinking, shopping, sight-seeing. The Eurovision doesn't just bring people together but also helps the economy of a country, boosts the the artist's profile and keeps a sense of bringing people together. 
Since 2002, the host broadcasters comes up with the slogan of their hosted Eurovision and from there, the theme and visuals are designed. These slogans, I think, detail what the Eurovision is about, for example:

• 2002 (Tallinn, Estonia)- "A Modern Fairytale"
• 2004 (Istanbul, Turkey)- "Under the Same Sky"
• 2010 (Oslo, Norway)- "Share the Moment"
• 2013 (Malmo, Sweden)- "We Are One"
• 2015 (Vienna, Austria)- "Building Bridges"

These slogans create a sense of coming together and show the initiative of the Eurovision and it's commitment to having people share the moment, build

bridges and becomes on under the same sky! It's always lovely to see on TV that people holding different flags cheering and enjoying making friends.

If you haven't checked out the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, the second semi-final is on Thursday (Ireland performs) and the final is on Saturday where the next host and the winner of this years contest will be crowned!

To watch and find out more, check out: http://www.eurovision.tv

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What has been your favorite year of the Eurovision? If you've ever been, what was your experience? Favorite act you ever had? 

Leave a comment below!

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Travelling to Italy: Assisi

Going to nice regional places in Italy like Senigallia and around Fabriano was a really nice thing to do on a trip as it gave a sense of non-tourist dense Italy like Rome or Milan. Many people to this day wonder why I picked Marche of all places to visit, but I don't regret it as it was an experience that I won't forget as it was different and very homely because I was staying with a family. Being in rural Italy was a real cool experience because I got to see the culture of the

town and area, 
One of the places I got to experience was the quaint but religiously significant town of Assisi. Assisi is an hour drive from Fabriano, in the Marche Region and 2 hours away from Florence and Rome. Assisi is in the provence of Perugia in the Umbria region of Italy, bang smack in the middle of Italy.
The story behind Assisi is that it is the birthplace of St. Francis (San Francesco), the man behind the the Franciscan order, St. Ciara (San Chiara) who is woman behind the Poor Sisters order and Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. All these religiously iconic saints were said to have been born, lived and done their duty to god in Assisi. In total, there are 7 saints who are said to have been from Assisi.

One morning, deciding what to do in Italy was a surprisingly difficult thing to figure out. Many options were thrown out on the table. Eventually it was decided to go to Assisi. I never heard of the place before but I was trusting that it would be a cool place to visit and a cool place to see the sites, in the heart of Italy. My friend, his father and I got in the car pretty early in the morning and headed off to make Assisi in good time and have enough time to come back home. The day that was in it was very warm and sunny, perfect really for traveling. 
The drive to Assisi was really nice. There wasn't a cloud to be seen and the landscape was amazing. The hills that had houses on them really intrigued me, it was like they were suspended in gravity from falling off the hill. If it were me, I'd be having a panic attack every time I got home. The road was in between valleys for a majority of the way so it made the drive very relaxing and didn't heat up the car too much, so no passing out from heat exhaustion (Yay!).
Driving into the area, you could tell which was Assisi. The Basilica di San Francesco was easily recognizable. From a distance, it was a magnificent looking building and couldn't wait to take a look around it. Driving in, it was actually quite busy. Buses of tourists disembarking and walking around in a group. Typical tourists with their hats, glasses and fanny packs. So it was difficult to find a parking space. But eventually going to the underground carpark. We went down so many levels I was wondering when we'd meet Satan. Thankfully we didn't and found a parking spot and I was getting kind of energetic to see this new place.
Coming out of the carpark was like a slap in the face with heat. I kind of lost my breath going from cold carpark to summer sun. But looking around at the tourists and the views of Perugia was absolutely amazing. Hoping for a better view, my friend said that Assisi, you walk up the way so I would get a better view eventually. Walking up the streets was actually the coolest thing. Seeing the old style Italian houses and how tall they were. They actually curved, they

were so tall. It was so unique and it felt Italian to me! Walking up these small streets, it was our mission to first go to the Basilica di San Francesco, the main guy of Assisi.
Mesmerized by the whole place, I didn't notice the walk up to the Basilica. Watching the different people on the streets and the cool souvenirs. We came up the entrance of the basilica which was an amazing building, Truly it was spectacular. The whole design of the place and the architecture was so cool. Going in, it was amazing. The ancient feel to the building and the whole history. The different artists that worked on the building and how uniquely designed it was, was one of a kind. It was so different to Irish artistry and from anything I've seen. Walking around, you can feel the depth of history and how much the building has seen and how significant it was.
Our next stop was to the Basilica di Santa Chiara. The woman behind the Poor

Sisters was woman steeped in history and her tomb lay in the basilica. The church dates back to 1260 and apparently her remains lay in the earth under the alter of the church. The place was very ominous. I think it was mainly due to the fact that her remains were there. It kind chilled me out. The place itself was really really cool a place that's over 700 years old and preserved so well, it was really amazing to see how cool it was and even the way to see her the area where her remains lay was a cool sight to see.
And then came the key point of my day. Food. The only constant in my life that keeps me content. Being in Italy, breakfast, lunch and dinner was on another level. So of course I had to go and have lasagne. At this point, it was the only Italian food I hadn't tried in Italy. We walked around a little plaza, deciding where to eat. We came across this nice place: Hosteria terra Chiama. It was a

lovely quaint place and not too many tourists were there, thankfully. The menu, all of its items were just as nice as the others. But lasagne was the only Italian dish I hadn't tried in Italy, so I had to order that.
Being in a place of Religious importance, the food was a godsend! Like, a miracle to my taste buds. I can't even describe the emotions I was feeling I was eating. It was a lot to comprehend. All I know is that it was amazing.
The food was gone in minutes, it was just so good. And it was so well priced too! Like, 6 or 7€ for a nice slice of lasagne with a drink. It was heavenly! After

lunch, it was time to wash it down with a nice coffee under the sun. We came to this nice place in a plaza called "Bar Minerva Assisi" which was really amazing because it was outside the Temple of Minerva (Roman Goddess of Craft and Wisdom). We sat and drank a coffee in the unwinding day. Just ahead of us was a guy making chalk painting on the ground. The painting was of the Virgin Mary and it was spectacular. Walking around this courtyard were a lot of Franciscan monks, which were so cool to see. 
As the day came to an end, I made sure to get some souvenirs for my grandparents. Being in a place so religious, it'd be a sin if I didn't get them something! So picking up a couple of bits and pieces, it was time to set off. On the way down to the car, I looked out at a high point and the view was one of a kind. Looking across the heart of Italy. I've never seen anything to compare to it yet. It was really something amazing. And that was our day in Assisi, getting back in the car and heading back as the sun was starting to come down. It was a perfect day and probably the kickstart into loving tourism I got!
*Pic Credit: ciaoumbria.it, italia.it, marcovoleri.it, geoplan.it, homemadeitalianrecipes.com, assisiitaly.ca*
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Leave a comment if you've ever been to Assisi or a place that left you speechless!
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Sun Holidays-Europe's Upcoming Destinations

Considering how sunny it is (In Ireland. I'm confused too), it seems appropriate to address those big ol' sun holidays.
Going about your business on a day to day basis gets repetitive and people look forwards to time off and time away from all those adult responsibilities (Scary, I know). And nothing sounds nicer when you're stressed out than booking a

trip away to the coast of some tropic or Mediterranean country and relaxing with a cocktail in your hand.
In the last decade or two, sun holidays have increased in popularity. If you went to south east Spain for a trip away during the summer, you'd be lucky to find a spot on the beach to even place your towel, let alone rent a sun lounger. So when it comes to the summer seasons and you get time off, you don't want the added stress of walking along a beach in hopes of finding a place to sit down. Not saying there is anything wrong with highly crowded beaches, kids tend to make friends and there is generally a good atmosphere from the people.
When it comes to the idea of going on a sun holiday, however, the idea is generally to go for what's cheap and go for what's easy. A place that has sun, booze and a waterpark. The essentials! In the last 5-10 years, people are stepping away from the typical locations of sun holidays and finding alternative places that not only give a unique place for a nice, relaxing sun vacation but also a great experience. These destinations would not have been incredibly popular for the general tourist in the past but are now on an increase to becoming nice places to visit for sun holidays and of course, reaping the benefits of increased tourism.

Here are 3 of the upcoming destinations from my personal opinion and feedback I've gotten from tourists as to where are growing places for sun holidays, where to stay and how to get there:

• Croatia: In the last couple of years, I have heard from many people that
  
  they went or are going to Croatia for sun holidays, "lads" holidays or even just weekends away. Croatia offers good value and is one of the least spoiled countries in Euripe, if not the world. But where to go in Croatia?
• Dubrovnik. This is the capital of Croatia and is a coastal city. Dubrovnik is accessible by many airlines including Ryanair, Easyjet, Iberia, Croatia Airlines, Aer Lingus and British Airways
• It has many beaches and places to relax including:
• Buza Beach
• Copacabana
• Banje Beach
• Just off the coast of Dubrovnik is the Elaphit Islands which contain Lopud and Kolocep, two islands with sandy beaches.
• Where to stay in Dubrovnik?
• Hotel Kompas- Hotel which overlooks the Lapad Bay
• Tirena Hotel- http://www.valamar.com/en/hotels-dubrovnik/tirena-hotel
• Valamar Club Dubrovnik- Free Airport Transfer
• Hostel Villa Angelina (Old Town)
• Split: Croatia's second largest city. It lies on the coast of the
  
  Adriatic Sea. The city acts as a link to the Apennine Region and Adriatic Islands. Split's Airport is served by airlines such as: Eurowings, Easyjet, British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines and Thomas Cook Airlines.
• Being on the coast, Split has many beaches.
• Kasuni Beach
• Kastelet Beach
• Ovcice Beach
• Where to stay in Split?
• Divota Apartment Hotel- http://divota.hr/
• Cornaro Hotel- http://cornarohotel.com/
• Split Guesthouse and Hostel- http://www.splitguesthouse.hostel.com/
• Sicily: The Island off the Italian Coast and situated in the Mediterranean sea. It is the largest island in the Mediterranean. It has 2 main airports. Catania International and Palermo International. These airports are
  
  served by: Ryanair, Easyjet, Volotea, Germanwings etc. Where to go for a sun holiday in Italy?
• Palermo: A city in the north-east of Italy and the Capital of the Island. Palermo is in a region famed for its art, history, culture and gastronomy. Palermo is served by Palermo International and has many beautiful beaches, for examples:
• Mondello Beach
• Aspra Beach- With Beautiful Boats in the town.
• Cefalu Beach.
• Where to Stay in Palermo?
• Hotel Porta Felice- http://hotelportafelice.it/en/#slide-2
• Hotel Bel 3
• Mondello Home Hostel
• Catania: Situated between Messina and Syracuse, this city rests
  
  near Mount Etna and has very unique landscape as a result. It has a beautiful location on the Ionian Sea. It is served by Catania Airport. Being on the east coast of the Island, it has many cool beaches:
• Playa
• Scogliera- Famed for it's seafood gastronomy
• Ognina
• Where to stay in Catania?
• UNA Palace Hotel- http://www.unahotels.it/en/una_hotel_palace/catania_hotels.htm
• Hotel Biscari- http://hotelbiscaricatania.com/
• City-in Hostel B&B- http://www.cityinhostel.it/en/
• South of France: The South of France is somewhat seen as a destination for those who are endowed with money and seen as an exclusive place, or at least it used to be. In recent years, it is a recently increasing destination
  
  to travel to. Here are some places in the South of France to travel to:
• Marseille: The second largest city in France after Paris. Marseille is situated in the Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur region. It is a popular city along the South of France for visitors and is served by the Marseille Provence Airport which hosts airlines such as: British Airways, Lufthansa, Pegasus, Twin jet, Easyjet and Ryanair. It also has some beautiful beaches:
• Plage du Prado
• Plage des Catalans
• Calanques at Cassis (In the nearby town of Cassis)
• Where to stay in Marseille?
• Residence de Vieux Port- http://www.hotel-residence-marseille.com/en/
• Hotel Bellevue- http://hotelbellevuemarseille.com/en/
• Vertigo Centre Hostel- http://hotelvertigo.fr/
• Toulon: Toulon is situated in the same region as Marseille but however, does not have it's own big airport. It's airport does
  
  regional flights to Bordeaux, Paris and Brest. As well as domestic, there are international flights to Amsterdam, Southampton and Tunis with airlines like; Air France, Jetairfly and Flybe. Toulon is a port city with it's famed function being a military base for the French Navy. Toulon has some nice beaches also:
• Mourillon
• Plage de Pipady
• Plage de la Mitre
• Where to stay in Toulon?
• Les Voiles Hotel- http://www.hotel-voiles.com/en/
• Grand Hotel Dauphine- http://www.grandhoteldauphine.com/
• Hotel Bonaparte

These are some of the destinations that are on the rise as new places to go as sun holiday locations and are not to be overlooked when you want some downtime. On one hand, sure, it's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of life. But on the other hand, different countries offer different experiences with so much culture, history, art, heritage and cuisine to offer. Set yourself outside the box!

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Leave a comment if you have suggestions or places you've been on sun holidays!

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Topic: Adventure Tourism

Worldwide, adventure tourism is steadily growing annually as a tourism market and many people globally will take part in some form of it during a vacation or trip away. Adventure tourism is a niche segment of marketing that involves an aspect of exploration and comes with a perceived level of risk which would require you to have a particular skill set.
According to Adventure Tourism studies conducted internationally, Adventure tourism falls within 2 sub categories, Soft Adventure and Hard Adventure. Soft Adventure Tourism is a form of travel experience that steps outside the box of a regular travel itinerary. For people engaging in soft adventure tourism, it is a rewarding experience for the mind and the spirit and does not require an excessive amount of exertion and is regarded as being quite safe. Examples of such type of soft adventure tourism would be biking, camping, walking etc.
Some international companies working in soft adventure tourism would be:

• Country Walkers (US)- http://www.countrywalkers.com/  "At Country Walkers, we want you to experience the best the world has to offer, whether that means midnight kayak rides through Icelandic lagoons or games of khuru with Bhutanese villagers"  (Taken from Website)
• PureTrails New Zealand (NZ)- http://www.puretrailsnewzealand.co.nz/ "Our Tours are well planned, thoughtfully paced, and full of fun and adventure as well as excellent" (Taken from website)
• Adventure South NZ (NZ)- http://www.adventuresouth.co.nz/ "Our walks offer pure off-the-beaten-track opportunities as well as some of the best sections of some of the more famous walking trails" (Taken from Website)

Hard Adventure Tourism is a travel experience that has a more physical aspect to it and comes with a higher element of risk added to it. Hard Adventure Tourism is seen as a very physically, emotionally and spiritually rewarding

experience as it pushes people outside their comfort zones, people overcome fears and people push themselves. People who perform acts in favor of hard adventure tourism tend to keep doing it due to the rush and adrenaline of it all. Types of Hard Adventure Tourism includes: Bungee Jumping, Mountaineering, Cliff Diving etc. 

Companies that work in Hard Adventure Tourism:

• River Boarding (NZ)- http://www.riverboarding.co.nz/index.html 
• Mountain Madness- http://www.mountainmadness.com/ "We've taken the time to pioneer the most interesting and scenic routes, scout out the best campsites, and discover incredible things off the beaten track." (Taken from website)
• Gravity Bolivia (Bolivia)- http://www.gravitybolivia.com/index.php?mod=homeb "Some of the best technical downhill mountain bike trails in the world are located just outside of La Paz Bolivia, and Gravity can take you there" (Taken fron website)
• Kiliwarrior Expeditions (Tanzania)- http://kiliwarriorexpeditions.com/ "With superior quality, safety, service and great attention to detail, our team of experts is recognized as the premier trekking outfitters helping people, like you, reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro" (Taken from website)

Internationally, considering the increase of demand for adventure tourism, countries are adapting their tourism products and segments and put themselves in the mix to become good adventure destinations. The #AdventureCapital is an online, social media hashtag campaign being used in places of high adventure content i.e New Zealand and is now becoming a worldwide trend. New Zealand would be considered one of and if not, the most popular Adventure Capital and has worldwide recognition for this. 

In recent years, Ireland itself is pushing itself to use its natural resources and

find opportunity in what we have to become an adventure capital. Watersports in Ireland is particularly famous with surfing, SUPing and hiking being particularly popular adventure activities. The Wild Atlantic Way initiative is an indicator of Ireland's dedication to promoting many forms of tourism along the western Irish coast, one that dominates however is Adventure Tourism with the Atlantic coast in Ireland being a hotspot for international surfing. Other famed activities and events along the western Irish coast would be the Redbull Cliff Diving in the Aran Islands, Mountaineering in Connemara etc.

Adventure Tourism provides a knock-on effect for business and for some, creates a doorway for them to conduct business in the market. With surfing being a popular sport along the Atlantic coast of Ireland, surf schools have opened in popular surfing destinations like Strandhill (Strandhill Surf School- http://www.strandhillsurfschool.com/ ) or the businesses I mentioned earlier. 

New businesses are emerging through fashion and are using their brand as a form of promotion for adventure tourism and use their social media as a way for their customers to highlight their experience through their brand. i.e AdventuristCo. An adventure lifestyle brand that "share a passion for the

outdoors, sports, travel, photography & more" they provide adventure t-shirts . @adventuristco (Instagram)

Adventure Centers across are popping up internationally as a way for adventure to be more than one activity. Adventure Centers offer activities like surfing, rock climbing, zip lining etc. 

An example of a popular Adventure Center would be Donegal Adventure Centre (http://donegaladventurecentre.net/) which offers groups an array of adventure and teambuilding activities which, I myself have done and found very fun!

Adventure Tourism is an incredibly popular niche segment in tourism and should be focused on by tourism authorities worldwide as a plausible and very important form of tourism. With a variety of what can be considered tourism, its a very dynamic segment in the tourism industy. Not only has Adventure Tourism as a tourism product grown significantly and continues to grow but Adventure tourism has become so significant as part of education in Tourism. Courses that teach a module in or have majors in Adventure tourism teach the ins and outs of adventure tourism, which is important for sustainability of the Adventure Tourism market.
Some Institutes that offer such courses/modules in Adventure Tourism:

• Institute of Technology, Sligo (https://itsligo.ie/courses/bb-in-tourism-with-event-management/)
• Queenstown Resort College, New Zealand (http://www.queenstownresortcollege.com/diplomas/adventure-tourism/course-outline/)
• University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland (https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/courses/ba-hons-adventure-tourism-management)
• West Coast Adventure College, Canada (http://www.westcoastadventurecollege.com/)

*Pic Credit: aqualandia.it*
**The people at AdventuristCo are giving my readers a 15% off promo code. Check out this link: https://teespring.com/adventuristco?pr=TPST

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Food Review: The Draft House

Situated near the shore of Strandhill beach, on the road towards the promenade, the Draft House is a light blue colored restaurant in the Strandhill area of Sligo.
On Sunday afternoon, during a visit from my family, taking into consideration a few hungover heads, one of the main things we decided to do was to go for

food. After a brief debate as to where to eat, varying our options between Sligo town's many eateries and my option to head out to Strandhill to check out their restaurants. 
The day that was in it, it was arguable whether or not going to a beachfront restaurant would be the best place to have lunch but to me, the scenery at Strandhill, no matter what the weather, was enough to take a trip out for lunch. It wasn't raining but it was windy and the clouds were grey. Considering the nice drive out and the fact that it wasn't raining, I won the debate as to where to go. Go me!
From what I've heard previously from residents of Strandhill, The Draft House is a lovely restaurant with top quality and well presented food. After spending the last two Wednesday afternoons out on Strandhill beach, I've passed the restaurant and it looked like a lovely place to go and eat.
We arrived at Strandhill and the wind was quite strong coming towards us. Luckily we parked literally across the street from the restaurant. The pale blue colour of the building was very inviting and quirky. A few exterior touches made it look really interesting. Entering the building, it was humming with the sound of conversation and people enjoying their food, which was a very inviting sound. We were swiftly met by a member of the waiting staff and were seating by a window upstairs which gave a nice view of the sand dunes and the golf course of Strandhill beach.
Then it came to the ordering! The whole menu had very nice sounding dishes. Duck Confit, Spiced Pork Belly, Pan Fried Red Snapper and many more delicious things. Being plain and incredibly Irish, two of us ordered Fish and Chips and my sister ordered the Beef dish. The wait for the food was not particularly long and I seemed like the only one at the table with good expectations for the food. The waitress came out with dishes for other table and we weren't expecting an enormous platter of food, but then came our turn to receive our food. As stated in previous blog posts, you know how important food is in my life. It means a lot. So seeing the plate of food being placed in front of me, it was quite the emotional rollercoaster.
Besides the mouthwatering food, it was very pleasing to hear the good comments coming out of my family as they ate their food. "This is the nicest beef I've had in a while" "These chips are really nice" and "I'm not even half way through and I'm so full". So it's safe to say that the food went down well. 
About the food:

• The Fish and Chips: The fish wasn't your typical piece of battered cod. It
  
  was like, breaded fish pieces places on a bed of homemade chips served with a side of spiced pureed peas and a lemon mayonnaise dipping sauce. The fish was nicely breaded and tasted very fresh, the breadcrumbs were not too much either. The homemade chips were really nice and were how chips should be! The lemon mayonnaise sauce was really interestingly paired with the fish and it was also unique to try the cool puree peas that had a hint of thai infusion which gave a little kick to it. 
• The Beef; Saying that the beef was the "nicest beef I've had in a while" was a fair statement. It was really nicely cooked and wasn't too dry. You could opt to not have the Jus with it and have gravy, the gravy was a real compliment to the beef. The slices of beef was served on a bed of vegetables and came with a roast potato. The roast potato however wasn't the greatest, it was nice, but not so good. As a whole, the dish was really delicious also.

The price range for The Draft House was quite reasonable. Maybe a tad bit pricey but it's actually quite understandable given the quality of the food and how beautiful it was. 

I would definitely recommend having dinner out in the Draft House and then taking a nice walk out on the beach afterwards, it makes for a nice refreshing experience overall. The Draft House has high quality food, at good prices and has good views surrounding it. 

A solid 9/10 for The Draft House

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Travelling to Italy: Part 3- Senigallia

Senigallia is a port city in the same province of Italy that Fabriano is in. Senigallia is situated along the Adriatic Sea. 
One of the days that I stayed in my friends house in Italy, his father had to go on a work trip to Senigallia, which I had never heard of but was excited to see what kind of a place it was and what it had to offer. It was said to be a nice place from the Italian people I had met and spoken to in Fabriano so it was definitely worth a visit.
It was the evening to go and I packed my little suitcase and we left quite early for Senigallia. My friends father is the head teacher of a few schools, like an

external examiner, for a few schools in the region. It was a nice evening, sun was setting and the breeze was just nice. We packed up and made sure we had food for the night and for the whole weekend. It was a priority to have food. The three of us took off and headed further east to the port city.
The drive took a good hour but it wasn't as long as driving from Rome to Fabriano. It was nice and kinda relaxing to drive in the dark with the cool Italian breeze. The music on the radio was quite Top 40, but it was fun to see what music was on their charts. A lot of Imagine Dragons and Anastasia but it was good music! 
We arrived in Senigallia at about 8pm and it had gotten quite dark and once we got in, it was time to unpack and get dinner started (I was so ready). We chilled around and connected to the wifi so we could be anti-social until food was cooked. It was nice, the three of us just sitting around and having what is now one of my favorite Italian food, Pasta Pesto. It was so nice. The nice cool beer we had went down really well with the homemade pasta, which was heaven after the travelling. That evening, there wasn't much energy left to do much else. so hitting the hay seemed like the best option! I got into bed and tried not to get distracted by social media but that didn't work but eventually sleep came to me. It was in the middle of the night however that I woke up and started to burn up super quick. Which was strange because I had the balcony door open. I got up and checked the heating systems. They were all off. It was really humid at this stage. So I went out to the balcony to see that on the Adriatic Sea, there was lightning hitting the water. I stood and stared at this amazing spectacle until my eyes started to dry out from the dry heat of the lightning. So sleep from there on out was near impossible.

The next morning, my friend and I were stumped for ideas as to how to spend the afternoon while his father. Seeing as it was approaching brunchtime, we headed down the promenade to get to dinner at this small beachfront restaurant. The weather was really nice. It wasn't too hot and the breeze wasn't strong. It was the perfect temperature! We came to this little restaurant. I didn't see any names on it or anything. It had a yellow exterior and looked kind of rustic. (Sorry I don't have the name!). We went and sat down. It was a morning that had me feeling like I wanted to try new things. So looking through the menu, one thing came to my attention. Tortellini. My Italian friends had often spoken about this amazing Tortellini that I could only try in Italy. We placed our orders, the waiting staff looking at me like I was an alien (I'm sure it was my pale complexion). We sat out overlooking the beautiful Adriatic Sea. I'm telling you, nothing is more therapeutic than sitting listening to waves and having some good food. The waitress came back with my tortellini. It was a euphoric moment. Eyebrows raised. Eyes rolling. It was a beautiful moment! The tortellini got a quick death. To the point where I had to waddle out of the restaurant like a penguin. So the only solution was to walk it off.
We walked down along the promenade towards the Rotunda. All along the

beach were different places to eat, people playing beach soccer, volleyball and other games which looked super fun. Let me tell you, Italian people are a beautiful people. Watching people under the sun, they're just a beautiful nation! We kept going until we got to the Rotunda at the end of the promenade. I'm still not sure what the Rotunda was for and neither did my friend, but it was a really pretty building and architecturally cool. With still time to kill, and even though it was mid-afternoon, we went for a drink in the nearest bar. A nice cocktail bar that whipped up a citrus vodka granita which was absolute deliciousness. We spend a little more time at the bar just chatting until we decided to get up and head into the town.
We took the bus into town. We walked from the bus stop across the street and how you got to the town was around the grounds of the Roca Roveresca fortress which is a really cool, really large gothic castle. It was really unique how to get to the town, you had to cross the bridge around the castle. Coming into the city square. The whole place hustled and bustled with people in the darkening evening. Families lounging around having drinks and enjoying the company. So we went and had a look around the little streets and it felt so nice, the atmosphere was perfect. 
It was coming up to 8pm in the evening and my stomach was beginning to tell me it needed feeding. We walked along the streets until we came to this yummy looking pizzeria called Pako's Pizzeria on the Piazza Roma. I ordered the

Rocket Margherita Pizza that was your basic margherita with rocket spread on top which made for a delicious, flavor filled pizza that went down an absolute treat.
We went to walk off the pizza. And came to a nice gelato place called Il Gelato di Rosita. A place that had every type of ice-cream you could want. This proved to be the best dessert to top of the last night in Senigallia before we headed back to Fabriano the day after.
The trip to Senigallia was different and was nice to see a different part of Marche. The food was awesome, the weather was so cool and the whole atmosphere of Senigallia just needs to be experienced.
Pic Cred: cocinadecloe, thetraveltester, 
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This was my story of Senigallia. If you'd like any more info on Senigallia, contact me (Info in bio)
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