My top six places to eat in Toulouse

Hello everyone! In this article, I will be sharing with you my favourite places to eat at in my hometown, Toulouse!

Toulouse has a lot of history, a friendly culture, the most beautiful scenery and some of the most beautiful architecture I have seen. Delightful squares in the centre of the city, small streets running through the houses and plenty to look at in the busy yet relaxed capital of France’s southern Occitanie region. Not to mention the people who are helpful and very charming 😉

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Eataly World Bologna – Italy’s first food theme park

When you hear the word ‘theme park’ the things you probably think about are roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, whitewater rides and ghost trains. Things that may come to your mind when hearing the word ‘Italy’ are probably historic centres, beautiful weather and… DELICIOUS FOOD!

Love food and enjoy visiting theme parks? Then you will certainly be delighted to learn that the Italian city of Bologna will be home to a theme park entirely dedicated to Italian food: Eataly World!

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Bordeaux – one of my favourite cities in Europe!

Hello everyone! Having Bordelais (Bordeaux) blood and having lived there for quite some time, I thought it is time write a blog post about things to do in Bordeaux. You might not know what to do with a day or two in one of my favourite cities in Europe. Or, you may be lucky enough to attend a French language course for one week or more.

We have previously written about insider tips, but I want to give you suggestions about my favourite places in Bordeaux to eat and fun things to do. So without further ado, let’s start!

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Do not underestimate Santiago de Compostela

Barcelona and Madrid are the most visited cities in Spain, but there are many more amazing places this fascinating country has to offer. One of those is undoubtedly Santiago de Compostela!

In this blog post I would like to explain what makes this spectacular city in the Spanish region of Galicia so special… and why it is absolutely worth taking your next language course abroad in Santiago de Compostela!

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Gastronomic specialties of southern France

Hello everyone! This post is going to be all about gastronomic specialties from Provence and a little bit beyond. I love food and have been about a bit. You might say that I know a thing or two about the gastronomy in this region!

I grew up in a town in the Var region called Grimaud, which is about an hour and a half away from Aix-en-Provence. My paternal grandmother is from Toulon in Provence. My paternal grandfather grew up in Strasbourg and his family was from Bordeaux. My grandparents on my mother’s side are from Toulouse but have German origins.

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A Day in Paris…the Parisian way!

Hello everyone, Maria here! Today, I am going to write about how to spend a day in Paris the Parisian way, which means avoiding all sorts of mainstream tourist attractions where no real Parisian visits. In fact, many Parisians dread the Champs-Elysees, Eiffel Tower or Louvre. They even pray to never have to set foot in one of these places and some even find them tacky and cheesy.

My guide will include everything from breakfast to dinner as well as all sorts of morning and afternoon activities to make the most of your time in Paris. Full addresses and example prices are listed at the end of this post.

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The Rhine – Cologne’s wonderful waterway

Lake Toma, amongst the stunning mountains of Switzerland, is home to the source of the Rhine. Leaving here it continues its journey through to the Netherlands, where it flows into the North Sea. On its way the biggest city it crosses is cosmopolitan Cologne. Cologne would only be half as beautiful without this fantastic river running through it. The Rhine gives this city a unique and relaxed atmosphere. On its banks visitors to Cologne like to spend their time relaxing alongside the locals, known as ‘Kölner’! I am proud to call Cologne my home town and can speak to you at first-hand about life around this significant river of Europe. Hopefully I will also entice you to explore Cologne yourself!

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English in Liverpool – Friday – my last day

Start reading about my time in Liverpool from Day 1.

Following on from my Thursday post, my last day on an English course in Liverpool has arrived. I am reluctant to say I am sad, as it seems impossible to be sad in Liverpool!

As expected, the last English classes I had were amazing. The day before we talked about reading so, naturally, that Friday we talked about cinema!  Read more…

English in Liverpool – Thursday

Following the great day on Wednesday, Thursday’s class was also extremely interesting! A real generic English lesson! It started by introducing us to the Hemingway “six words” bet. Whether it was false or not, the story goes that the American writer won a bet because he could write a story in just six words: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”. After we had discussed this short story, we read an essay about a journalistic venture that asked people to write their own story in six words. The results were fascinating. People will always surprise you!

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English in Liverpool – Wednesday

The next morning, as promised on Tuesday, our teacher brought back up the story with the random suggested words. He also spent some time going through our homework with us whilst we were engaged in other useful tasks. Actually, in the stories all the verbs were only at Past Simple or, (horror!) at Present Simple!

It was so satisfying to be able to edit and check that texts and it was useful to consolidate all the Narrative Tenses knowledge as well. IMPRESSIVE WORK!

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