Wonderful Wednesday! Three Ways to EAT: Food Markets in NYC

August 11, 2015 By Tam Warner 7 Comments

A Guest Post by Suzanne Simone Stavert of ADVENTURES OF EMPTY NESTERS!

One World Trade Center,The Freedom Tower, NYC

There is never a shortage of amazing food markets in New York City. Picking a favorite is like choosing which of your friends you like best..impossible! Just like with the number of friends, the more markets the better!

When we travel, one of our favorite activities (besides eating) is to visit local and specialty markets in the cities we visit. However, when it comes to markets, we all win the lottery in New York City. You name it, you can find it. In the Big Apple there are specialty stores for every type of cuisine in the world.

There are also extraordinary “foodie” markets, places that make you giddy with excitement if you love to cook or love to eat. On our recent trip to Manhattan, we strolled through the revitalized Wall Street under the shadow of the brand new, magnificent Freedom Tower, to see Le District, a delicious new French-inspired market and food emporium curated by chefs and food experts. The slogan “New York with a French Attitude” sums it up pretty perfectly. However, I did not receive any attitude, only friendly, helpful merchants and so much variety, it will make your head spin. Le District is divided in to four districts: Market, Garden, Restaurant and Cafe.

Le District

Vibrant and bustling, Le District offers gastronomic delights from buttery, french baked goods and rainbow colored candy to freshly caught fish at the Poissonnerie. The stacks of fragrant cheese are piled high at the Fromagerie and you will find walls full of tangy, french mustards. C’est magnifique!

Chelsea Market

Just a quick cab ride away from Le District, is the gritty, urban and ever so busy Chelsea Market, You will find everything from flowers and wine to chocolate brownies and kitchen supplies. The vibe is hip, down to earth and the thirty-five different vendors provide a fantastic variety. Located in the Meat Packing District, next door to the elevated park, The High Line, the Chelsea Market has been in existence for 15 years. Amazingly enough, every time I visit, I find something new and delicious to eat and more intriguing stores to visit.

Old brick patina and repurposed metal are part of the uniqueness of the hallways and building design. This revitalized food retreat, which is a block long and a block wide, offers a entirely unique view of the foodie world and I love it too.

An assortment of brownies — An assortment of brownie flavors at The Brownie Witch

UrbanarchitectureChelseaMkt — This is the wall next to the elevator door – love the design.

After a tasty, farm to table Cobb Salad and stroll through Chelsea Market, we needed to work off the calories. We walked several long blocks over to visit my Italian roots where the intoxicating smells of refrigerated salumi and enormous wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano welcome you. Located in the Flatiron Neighborhood, Eataly is upscale, gorgeous, grand and an absolute must visit in New York City.

Eataly

Fun Fact:

Food markets are such popular tourist destinations that Eataly tops the vacation itinerary for almost everyone who loves food.

Flat Iron Bldg — The Flatiron Building, across the street from Eataly.

Savor antipasti, eat pizza, drink wine, buy olive oil, (if you can manage to choose one of the hundreds available). Just try to decide which fresh pasta, gorgeous produce and imported cheese you want to take home. There are seven incredible restaurants at Eataly: Pranzo, La Pizza & La Pasta, Le Verdure, Il Pesce,La Birreria, Manzo and La Piazza. Then, if you still aren’t quite full enough, stop for a cafe latte and a cup of gelato on the way out.

Each of these specialty food halls warms my heart in a different way and it is nearly impossible for me to choose my favorite. However, after giving it some thought, I do usually put aside an hour or two during each trip to New York just to visit Eataly and soak it all in. I guess perhaps Eataly is my favorite because ultimately I gravitate to the delicious, comfort food of growing up in a large Italian family. My grandma would be happy to hear me say this.

Fab Photos Friday: The Biggest Fish in the Ocean

August 6, 2015 By Tam Warner 9 Comments

Andrea took this awesome photo of me with the Whale Shark! — Field scientist Dr. Andrea Marshall took this awesome photo of me with the Whale Shark!

The incredible Whale Shark is the biggest fish in the ocean! And it is such a beautiful, gentle fish! It has to be said that whale sharks probably don’t have Einstein’s IQ since they have the smallest brain in the ocean for their size, but give them a break …they help keep plankton and krill under control, which is necessary for our oceans and for life on earth. I just returned from the Yucatan peninsula where possibly the largest aggregation of whale sharks occurs, and it was a spectacular trip. Here are some Whale Shark Facts along with the photographs I took!

1. The largest fish in the ocean can grow up to 65 feet and 75,000 pounds. They are as large as many whales, and as big as, or bigger than, a city bus!

I took this photo of the vertical, pregnant whale shark and our Kiwi!

2. The largest fish in the ocean eats the smallest creatures in the ocean: tiny plankton, small fishes, and small crustaceans. They are filter feeders, they gulp the sea water through their gills, and when the water is pushed out, prey gets stuck to their gill plates. Yum!

Andrea photographing. — Photographing and swimming with Whale Sharks.

3. Whale Sharks are sharks and do not have bones, but cartilage. Cartilage does not fossilize as well as bones do, so there is not a huge fossil record of sharks. Most of what we know of ancient sharks come from their teeth.

This lousy photo gives you a sense of the scale of these animals!

4. Female Whale Sharks are bigger than the males and are found in all warm oceans: Pacific, Indian and Atlantic.

Two feeding sharks..the white dots and scatter is food! Tuna spawn draws the Whale Sharks to the Yucatan every year.

5. Whale Sharks are gentle creatures and one can swim right next to the animal with no fear.

6. Each whale shark has a unique spot pattern from it’s gill to over the pectoral fins. When swimming with whale sharks, it is best to take ID photos to upload into a scientific database like www.whaleshark.org.

7. Thanks to tagging and ID photographs much more is now known about Whale Sharks compared to 10 years ago. We know they migrate thousands of miles to opportunistically feed…Mexico is a hotspot, particularly the Yucatan where tuna spawn in the summer. The whale shark may live up to 100 years!

8. It is not common to see pregnant females like the one pictured here. Much of the time one sees juvenile males. A female whale shark has been known to hold 300 fetuses. It is possible that female whale sharks may “save sperm” in order to fertilize their own eggs as they are made, but more study needs to be completed in order to know for certain.

Feeding Series. This is the first shot I took. — Feeding Series. This is the first shot I took of this glorious pregnant female!

Feeding series 2. I swam in front of the shark to get a shot and she buttoned up. — Feeding series 2. I swam in front of the shark to get a shot and she buttoned up! Proof that she knows I am not food.

Feeding series 3. She opened back up when I reached her other side.

9. Sadly, the Whale Shark is “vulnerable” according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List. Whale Sharks are protected in most areas of the world but are still killed for their fins (for shark fin soup). Sharks are very toxic to humans so they are not a good food source, and humans have been very toxic toward sharks since we are responsible for the deaths of 75 to 100 million sharks a year.

If you wish to learn more about these fascinating sharks, check out www.marinemegafauna.org. Marine Megafauna Foundation studies large pelagic species in order to understand their ecology and protect them from illegal fishing practices. You can even adopt a shark, manta ray, or sea turtle! The proceeds go toward scientific study of the animals for conservation purposes. Marine Megafauna also offers expeditions (like the one I was just on in the Yucatan) in order to assist scientists by performing citizen science. We are all responsible for the condition of our planet, and we all need to contribute in some way. If you’d like to learn more about sharks and the state of our oceans, I recommend going to www.sharkwater.com and seeing the documentaries of Rob Stewart, or checking the BBC or Discovery Channel.

Citizen Science with Marine Megafauna Foundation

August 2, 2015 By Tam Warner 15 Comments

We did two days of diving with Rodrigo Friscione, of Solo Buceo in Cancun. I’m on the far left.

The Marine Megafauna Foundation Ray of Hope Expedition 2015 included a marine biologist (USA), a geneticist (Japan, living and working in the US), a biologist from the Maldives (a Scot by birth), a scuba instructor from the Maldives (a Kiwi, otherwise know as a New Zealander), a Penn biology major (from Mexico), a videographer (South Africa), and those of us, scuba divers and/or photographers, who care deeply about our watery world, both Canadian and US. Our mission was to photograph animals (Whale Sharks and Manta Rays) for Identification, upload to Whaleshark.org and MantaMatcher.org, and to take genetic samples from the Manta Rays of the Yucatan. We were not entirely successful with the Mantas…the elusive creatures, well, they eluded us! We did manage to get 7 or so, but we fell far short of the desired 30 samples.

Scientists and Citizen Scientists at Whale Shark Festival, Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

Whale Sharks, on the other hand, were in abundance. The Yucatan is one of the world’s largest aggregations of whale sharks, if not the largest. We headed out in the mornings for a 90 minute boat ride to the shark area, typically just before sunrise, and seeing the dawn out on the calm Caribbean Sea was a serenely beautiful experience. Once out to the shark area (wherever the whale sharks are gathering and feeding that particular day) it became disheartening to see all the tourist boats. There must have been 50 boats on some days.

Please do not get me wrong. We are trying to conserve and preserve these animals by showing how valuable they are to tourism, and valuable they certainly are. Tourists are out in droves to see and to swim with them. 40 or 50 boats at a time can seem pretty excessive, though. The first day we hung out on the edges, swimming with the sharks who were on the periphery of the tourists. We were on a scientific vessel and had a permit to be in the water with them for study. The first day was very shark rich, and I was able to get several ID shots, as were other members of the group. The best day was ahead, however.

15 tom whalesharks feeding on surface — Whale Sharks feeding on the surface

On the third day of the expedition we headed out looking for mantas, and skipped the whale sharks until around noon. By that time, the boats were gone. We had 30 or so whale sharks to ourselves, and one other boat. It had to have been one of the best animal encounters I have ever had. Without the hoarde of boats, one could be patient, waiting for feeding whale sharks to swim by. We didn’t have to chase them, or even swim that hard to stay up with them (they may look as though they are moving slow, but they are really going much faster than you think) because they were lazily filtering the surface of the water, knowing they were pretty much alone and in no hurry. With several boats, it gets confusing, and the sharks often have to change course to avoid snorkelers, but on this day, they were content and feeding happily on tuna spawn. Every time we got out of the water we had to brush off tuna eggs from our wetsuits and hair.

15 1 looking down — Looking down, into the Big Blue.

I have not been happy with the whale shot photographs I have taken over the years. On this glorious day, alone with whale sharks, I took the best photographs I have ever taken of these spotted, gentle giants. Just incredible! I’m going to save many of those photos for Fabulous Photo Friday this week! My dream has always been to watch a whale shark vertically feeding in the water, and to capture photographs of it. My dream came true with a huge, pregnant Whale Shark who had to be 40 feet long. She was immense, and it was amazing to watch her, vertical and still, while she filtered tuna spawn. Ah, she was such a beauty! And lucky for me, Dr Andrea Marshall (the Director of Marine Megafauna Foundation and Ray of Hope) was in the water and captured an incredible, once in a lifetime photo of me with the whale shark. Yes, I will be framing it! I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to have a photo of this quality! Thank you, Andrea!

15 1 whale shark one ID shot LEFT2 — Whale Shark ID shot: these spot patterns are unique to each individual.

I took several ID photos and uploaded them to www.whaleshark.org. It was exciting to receive a few matches, telling me that I had photographed a shark who had been photographed several times over the past 5 years. It’s also exciting NOT to receive matches, meaning I uploaded photos of sharks who were new to the system. I am thrilled to be able to assist conservation science by being a Citizen Scientist.

“In today’s world, it’s clear that our natural environment cannot be preserved and protected by the few people officially designated with this task. It will take all of us, in all parts of the world. We all need to find ways to help in this monumental task.

Citizen Science offers each of us a path to find special ways in which we can each help protect our part of the world. It’s an elegant, efficient, and engaging solution to the huge environmental problems we face in the 21st century.” www.citizenscientists.com

I cannot begin to express the wonder and the thrill of being next to these ocean pelagics. It is truly awe-inspiring…and I am so grateful I can help in their conservation. Check out http://www.citizenscientists.com/ and check out how many ways there are to help!

The Ultimate Dive Experience! Part Two.

July 30, 2015 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

A gorgousRock Hind on Palancar Horseshoe — A gorgous Rock Hind on Palancar Horseshoe

My favorite part of the Ultimate Dive Experience at the Occidental Allegro in Cozumel? The diving of course! Let’s turn the dives into Fab Photos Friday, and check out Pro-Dive Mexico!

Pro-Dive Mexico boat (http://www.prodivemex.com/diving/cozumel/

The dive experience at Pro-Dive is friendly, efficient, and quick! Gear is placed in bins with your name on it, and when it is time to board, simply take your gear to the boat and put it together. They have both air and nitrox (no extra charge for Nitrox!), and a Nitrox Analyzer on board. All dive guides are fully certified Master Scuba Diver Trainers, Instructors, which is part of the safety standards for ProDive. I found the dive guide, Louis, from France, to be helpful and professional. Not to mention that I loved his accent. It didn’t take long to get organized and off we went to Palancar Horseshoe Reef.

Pro-Dive’s website is fantastic, giving you all kinds of information on Cozumel diving. Palancar Reefwas made famous by none other than Jacques Cousteau in the 1960s, and it is so large it has to be dived in sections.

2015-07-03 10.35.06 cp lobster — Gorgeous Lobster on Palancar Horseshoe Reef.

2015-07-03 11.00.53 ph balloonfish eyes — Balloonfish are very well camoflauged!

Since I was a lone diver I was buddied up with Martin, who turned out to be an excellent diver. It was a pleasure diving with him and the dive master.

An Arrow Crab...this little guy will fit in your palm. — An Arrow Crab…this little guy will fit in your palm.

2015-07-08 10.46.34 sr wall — There are mountains of coral! A photo cannot capture the wonder of it.

After our first dive, we went to dive one of my favorite reefs…Francesa. Francesa Reef is full of life…you never know what you might find, and we found quite a bit!

A Banded Butterflyfish, a small but crucial fish on any reef…it is a cleaner fish.

Beautiful Green Sea Turtle with a gorgeous shell

The greatest finds on the dive were these two Porcupinefish! They are usually very shy, but obviously they are in love and weren’t going anywhere. At least, not during mating season!

The two of them were together, and would not be separated. So sweet!

fr 15 porcupinefish 2 of them — They are fascinating fish.

Travels with Tam gives Pro-Dive Mexico two thumbs up for their professionalism, friendliness, and dive skill. From top to bottom, they are a smooth operation. (Plus, all Nitrox is free on both Cozumel and the Riveria Maya! No extra charge!)

If you are looking for a great dive vacation, be it with your family, your dive group, or just you, you can’t go wrong with the Ultimate Dive Experience at the Occidental Allegro in Cozumel. There is something for everyone!

Let them know that Tam sent you!

The Ultimate Dive Experience! Part One.

July 26, 2015 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

The Ultimate Dive Experience at Occidental Allegro in Cozumel!

Spending the last month in Cozumel and Cancun has been delightful, and while I was on the island of Cozumel I had the opportunity to check out the Ultimate Dive Experience! Occidental Allegro Hotel and Resort and ProDive Mexico have created a diver’s haven in Cozumel.

For the diver who wants a great dive package with VIP treatment, Occidental Allegro’s Ultimate Dive Experience is really something. The divers have their own private area of the resort. There is even an exclusive Check-in and Check-out for guests of the Ultimate Dive Experience. Let me give you a glimpse of the resort, the diving, and fantastic San Francisco Beach. Carla Guardiola, Dive Coordinator of UDE, gave me the 5 star tour!

Need to use a computer? Check in has you covered.

First, there is the exclusive check-in/check-out service (9:00am – 5:00pm) for divers. There is also a separate lobby and lounge for the UDE. Divers receive a special ID bracelet which identifies them as an Ultimate Dive Experience guest. The accommodations are lovely for the avid diver, it comes with a wetsuit drying rack, a 32″ Flatscreen TV and DVD player, a multi-media docking station, a stocked minibar (I love minibars!!), free internet, a private pool area and a self-service bar with complimentary afternoon snacks. UDE guests recieve 2 preferential a la carte restaurant reservations during a week’s stay…book with Carla early!

A private lounge and bar for divers with complimetary afternoon snacks.

Chill out and enjoy the Ultimate Dive Experience!

They also have an option for a romantic dinner right on the beach! Carla can make magic happen.

I would say that the UDE at Occidental Allegro is similar to a liveaboard…one of the best things about it is that the divers have a part of the resort and beach to themselves, and getting to know other divers is always a terrific bonus. To be able to meet likeminded individuals, and dive with them, is always desirable.

Pro-Dive is located conveniently on the beach of the resort and the dock is easily accessible. With the Ultimate Dive Experience one receives one free single tank boat dive per day (24 hours reservation required), and an upgrade to a two tank dive is only $37.00 per dive. Pro-Dive offers free equipment storage at the dive shop so you don’t have to lug your gear back and forth to your room every day (I love that amenity!) One also receives a 15% discount at the dive shop toward apparel and retail items.

Keeping track of the day's dive schedule. — Keeping track of the day’s dive schedule.

Pro-Dive’s boats are nice and roomy, and for every 8 divers there is a dive master. The location of the resort is perfect for diving…right in front of the hotel is Santa Rosa Wall and Santa Rosa Shallows, two of the very best dive sites in Cozumel. No long, tiring boat rides to worry about, the beauty of the southern reefs of Cozumel is at your fingertips.

Are you a young family? The Occidental Allegro has your child’s day taken care of! The Kids Club has supervised and scheduled activities for your children or grandchildren, along with a Pirate themed water park. I think you might have trouble tearing your child away from the club!

Cool Kid's Club includes a water theme park. — Cool Kid’s Club includes a water theme park.

When you need some relaxation, check out the spa, or have a massage in front of the beach and feel the ocean breezes.

There is no need choose between a “family” vacation and a “dive” vacation. The Ultimate Dive Experience with Pro-Dive Mexico at the Occidental Allegro gives you both options. The Ultimate Dive Experience is a fabulous concept, and it is done well at the Occidental Allegro. I give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up! If planning a dive vacation to Cozumel, I recommend that you seriously look into the Ultimate!

Tune in to Friday’s Fab Photo Friday post, the Ultimate Dive Experience Part Two, and I will tell you all about my day of diving with Pro-Dive! The diving was, as always in Cozumel, spectacular!