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# Tuesday, 28 October 2008

blogoftheweek_thumb This weeks Travel Blog of the Week is Slow Europe written by Pauline Kenny and Steve Cohen. The blog as the name suggests looks at travel within Europe and offers a number of interesting articles. The most recent post starts with an open letter to vacation rental agencies and vacation rental owners and asks "Please, Tell us who you are!". The post highlights the fact that many vacation rental websites do not give any information about the owners of the accommodation and often don't include prices and availability meaning you need to email them to find out vital information. The good news, however, is that there are some websites that do this rather well and these are highlighted in the article. The Castle Montalto website is recommended for this reason. It gives a photo of the owners and some background information. You can even see a picture of the person who will meet you when you arrive and the name of the pet dog. The names of the two cats, however, are not mentioned, shame, cats have feelings too. Still, the main thing is that with these recommendations you should be able to plan your perfect holiday before you go instead of leaving things to chance.

Another post looks at how to make your own European style bread. Although she confesses to being an inexperienced baker Pauline appears to have perfected the recipe and gives a step by guide that even the worst cooks amongst us should be able to follow and if the photos are not enough there are videos as well. The important thing appears to be using a mix of whole wheat and white flour. You then to need to make up the dough and let it rest before shaping it into a ball. Unusually no kneading is required the bread is simply left to rise for a couple of hours before baking in a covered pot. It looks great I will certainly be trying this out at home.