A taste (and a whiff) of travel

I’ve heard it said several times that smell evokes the strongest memories out of all the five senses. It certainly makes sense: many places I’ve visited are now in my mind strongly associated with a particular odour. When I think of Paris, for example, I immediately remember the slight whiff of burnt rubber that pervades the metro system. It’s a bizarre memory, but it’s a smell that featured heavily in my daily life in the city, where I spent at least an hour every morning commuting.

It’s perhaps no surprise then that food also plays a prominent role in most of my travel memories – after all, taste is closely linked to smell (and, what’s more, I love to eat!). When I think of Barcelona, the rich flavours of the chorizo al horno and the lemon-soaked prawns I used to gorge on in my favourite tapas restaurant (Ciutat Comtal on Rambla de Catalunya, if you’re interested) immediately spring to mind. Conversely, whenever my boyfriend remembers our recent trip to Japan he can’t help thinking about the taste of what he refers to as ‘the tentacles’ (deep-fried, battered octopus legs which are a speciality of the island of Miyajima) – unfortunately not a pleasant memory for him. But he does have some fond food-related memories of our travels together too: the delicate sword fish carpaccio we enjoyed at a an ivy-clad courtyard restaurant in Certaldo Alto, Tuscany; and the steak he tucked into in South Africa’s Cape Winelands, which he maintains to this day is the best slab of meat he’s ever tasted, and the meaty gyoza dumplings which warmed us up after a day spent searching for snow monkeys in the freezing Japanese Alps.

My recent trip to Madrid is a perfect example of the importance of exploring a place through food. As you might know, I haven’t always got on well with Madrid, thanks to a series of minor disaster which have marred my previous stays in the Spanish capital. But I now have many happy memories of the city and, at the risk of sounding greedy, they’re mostly linked to eating. The weird but wonderful apple and blue cheese-filled pasta I sampled at vegetarian restaurant Isla del Tesoro (trust me, it will convert even the most hardened carnivores); the enormous plate of chorizo I worked my through at a tiny and rather shabby pavement café in the Retiro, accompanied by a glass of cheap red wine and a dose of sunshine; the crisp, sugar-sprinkled skin and soft, doughy inside of the churros I enjoyed at a street stall hidden among the crooked alleyways of the old city… I could go on, but it’s making my stomach rumble so I’ll stop there.

So what about your food memories? What tastes and smells remind you of certain places? And what are you culinary must-eats around the globe?

Top tips: travel photography

I’m often asked for advice about how to take memorable travel photographs, so I thought I’d share my top tips.  

Put a different spin on famous landmarks

There are hundreds of thousands of photos of famous sights, so make your pictures stand out by looking for an unusual angle or showing the landmark in its wider context, perhaps by including foliage or photographing it from a distance. Monte Carlo casino, for example, would have looked quite boring on its own, but taking the below image through the water of a nearby fountain added interest. It’s also worth trying diagonal images as with the picture of Florence’s Duomo.

Don’t be afraid to look silly

Sometimes you have to be prepared to attract some strange glances from passersby in order to get an interesting image. I’ve been known to crouch in undergrowth or lie down on the ground in the middle of crowds to find an unusual angle – often to the embarrassment of whoever I’m travelling with.

Look for the hidden detail

Sometimes the smallest detail can reveal an enormous amount about the place you’re visiting, providing an interesting glimpse of the culture or the architecture. When visiting Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong, for example, I found that a close-up shot of burning incense was far more evocative of the spiritual atmosphere than a wider picture of the monastery complex.

Include people in the shot

When taking pictures of landscapes or buildings try including a person or two in the frame to create a focal point and highlight the scale. I waited for a group of school children to appear before taking the below shot of the Olympic Village in Athens, as I wanted the sheer enormity of the structure to come across in the picture.

Consider black and white

Monochrome images often have far more impact than colour pictures, as they create drama and focus attention on the main subject. The picture of Florence’s Duomo below looked too busy in colour as the red and green of the building clashed with the deep blue of the sky. In black and white, however, the detail of the architecture stands out.

Don’t use flash

Don’t automatically turn on your flash when taking pictures in low light as it is often too harsh and can mask atmosphere. Try using slower shutter speeds to compensate for the lack of light while creating a softer effect, but bear in mind you will need to stay very still in order to avoid blur. If you don’t have a tripod then look for a stable surface (I often resort to walls, benches or even car roofs) and use the self timer to prevent accidentally shaking the camera when you click the shutter.

Show movement in your images

Showing motion can add excitement to your pictures by depicting the life and pace of your destination. If you have a DLSR then play around with shutter speeds to freeze movement or show blur. If you have a compact camera try moving the camera itself to create interesting effects.

Don’t delete anything!

Most importantly, don’t discard any shots until you’ve had chance to view them on a computer screen. Some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken actually looked mediocre on the camera’s small screen – in fact I almost erased the lion shot below to free up space on my memory card as I thought it was too blurred at the time!

Monte Carlo casino

Florence’s Duomo

The Olympic Village, Athens

Po Lin, Hong Kong

A black-maned lion in the Karoo