Cooking school at Hacienda Petac is a recipe for good taste

Hacienda Petac outside Merida, Mexico offers exquisite culinary delights  (Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Merida, Mexico — Hacienda Petac is an elegant private estate situated just 30 minutes from Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and light years away from Taco Bell.

Hacienda Petac has built its reputation as a food lovers dream destination thanks to hands-on cooking classes conducted in  its state-of-the-art kitchen.

Breakfast in bed
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

But that's only half of the story, because without the regular excursions to nearby markets to shop for ingredients, it would be impossible to work the culinary magic of the destination.

So popular has Hacienda Petac become that notable chefs are now creating tour packages for small groups wishing to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of Yucatan cuisine.

Chic accommodations and tranquil surroundings are a trademark
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Rounding out the experience by not allowing "too many cooks to spoil the broth", visitors also have an opportunity to tour the Mayan ruins at Uxmal, enjoy a picnic at a hacienda museum, explore the wonders of Merida and swim in one of the region's numerous cenotes.

A cenote is a natural pit or sinkhole resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes the groundwater beneath. The pools are particularly common in the Yucatan region where they had important religious significance for the ancient Maya civilizations.

Fine dining is the standard
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Incorporating flexible concepts to adapt to the needs of virtually any touristic lifestyle, Hacienda Petac can arrange all-inclusive packages for foodies who wish to organize their own small groups that include accommodations, cooking classes, drink demonstrations, market tours and much more. In addition, the resort staff provides first rate service with personal attention to every need.

Singles or couples need not miss out either. Hacienda Petac offers a selection of 6-night travel programs through several tour operators that include their cooking immersion classes as well as excursions.

Cooking at Hacienda Petac is a hands-on experience
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Tour de Forks will feature Michelin-starred celebrity chef Anita Lo with February dates called "Cooking in the Yucatan." Says Lo “Travel is one of the most obvious ways to expand your palate and integrate new flavors into your cooking.”

If there are too many things on your plate in February, Edible Destinations has year-round itineraries where guests can digest the region's best recipes in hands-on side-by-side classes conducted by gifted Mayan chefs.

Chorizo burrito
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

All it requires is an adventurous spirit and a "taste" for travel.

The masterfully restored Spanish colonial estate of Hacienda Petac nestles on 250 protected acres with a capacity for only 14 guests. Better yet, it can only be booked by one group at a time, ensuring the fact that when you stay at  400-year-old property you have the whole place to yourself.

Each of the seven bedrooms is spacious and elegant
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Seven spacious bedrooms, housed in three separate buildings, are beautifully appointed with soaring ceilings and oversized showers and tubs designed from polished native stone.

Other amenities include a heated pool, spa, gym, game room, media salon and a chapel available for weddings.

Bright colors add to the magic
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Throughout the villa, walls have been painted in richly pigmented hues of ochre and cornflower blue using traditional methods. Handcrafted textiles and antiques mixed with modern furniture lend warmth and authentic charm.

The heart of the property is Casa Principal, home to the dining room, bar, library and several shady terraces which are crisscrossed with trails that are ideal for bird-watching and leisurely strolls.

Mayan ruins are a favorite day trip from the resort
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

Off grounds tours include Mayan temples and ruins, a wetlands reserve with a flamingo colony, the colonial city of Merida and, of course, the talcum powder sand beaches of the Gulf Coast.

Swim in a cenote, a sinkhole created by limestone bedrock
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac) 

Located just a half-hour's drive from Merida Intenational Airport, four major airlines provide service to the area; Aeromexico, American, United and Westjet from Canada.

Hacienda Petac can also provide transfers from Cancun for an additional fee.

The bird dock at Hacienda Petac at sunset awaits a new day
(Courtesy: Hacienda Petac)

For the ultimate escape, filled with the luxurious solitude of living in a private estate where you and the staff are the only humans in a pristine wilderness, it might just be worth your while to see what's cooking at Hacienda Petac.

After a visit to Hacienda Petac you're sure to come a way with new knowledge of what constitutes "good taste" Yucatan-style.

www.haciendapetac.com

Reflections of World War I at the In Flanders Field Museum

Devastation of Flanders during World War I
(Courtesy: Imperial War Museum)

YPRES, BELGIUM -- For the Baby Boom generation and younger, the First World War is, in many ways, a ghost of the past because World War II dominates with reflections of parents and grandparents who fought so valiantly to preserve our liberty and freedom in the 1940's.

All the more reason the In Flanders Fields Museum in Belgium is a permanent reminder that we should never forget the tragedy of "The Great War."

Cloth Hall as it looks today

Located in the renovated historic Cloth Hall of Ypres (pronounced "ee-per"), the In Flanders Fields Museum tells the dramatic, heartbreaking story of World War I in the West Flanders region of the country.

In Flanders Fields Museum is a reverent place. Like similar sites such as the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, it is a place of solitude, a place of peace, a place of quiet, a place where visitors pause to solemnly consider the echoes of conflict a century ago.

Cloth Hall during WWI
(Courtesy: In Flanders Fields
Museum)

The death and destruction of the "Great War" still linger 100 years later. Here more than 600,000 fell. Here more than 425,000 graves and names etched on memorials that dot the landscape trace the horrors and devastation of human insanity.

Each museum visitor receives a "Poppy Bracelet" as they enter. Poppies are the symbol of the WWI conflict in Flanders, northwest France and Gallipoli where constant bombardment disturbed the soil and brought the seeds to the surface.

Fertilized by the nitrogen in the explosives and the lime from the rubble of destroyed buildings, combined with the blood and bones of millions of men, horses, donkeys, dogs and other animals, the soil where they died became a place where poppies thrived.

Exterior of the In Flanders Fields Museum  (Photo: Taylor)

The bracelets activate a chip which selects the appropriate language for each visitor, relating the personal stories of four individuals who dramatically tell their tales in vivid video detail. It is perhaps the simplicity of their narratives that is so mesmerizing.

Each narrator stands alone with a neutral background as they describe the personal intimate details of their experiences. There is no music. No fast editing. No computer gimmicks. Only the solemn remembrances of four people who enter the frame, then softly, almost painfully, relate their accounts before disappearing silently into the darkness.

Artillery shells and other weapons are on display
(Courtesy: In Flanders Fields Museum)

The exhibition focuses upon the invasion of Belgium, the first weeks of mobilization, the four horrifying years of trench warfare, the end of the war and the permanent remembrances since.

Trecnhes at Hill 62
(Photo: Taylor)

It is the intent of the In Flanders Fields Museum to encourage visitors to view the actual sites themselves. Places like Sanctuary Wood Museum Hill 62 where guests can walk through trenches that remain in the Belgian countryside. Places like Essex Farm and Canadian Hill 62 Memorial where a sculpture of a brooding soldier looks down upon landscape architecture designed to recreate the first use of gas warfare in combat.

The city of Ypres, officially known as "Ieper" in Flemish, was completely leveled during the war and then rebuilt stone by stone afterwards. Thus no building in the city today is more than 90 years old, though they have been lovingly restored to their original appearance.

Visitors are always reverent, silent and in awe of the displays
(Courtesy: In Flanders Fields Museum)

One of the more dramatic displays in the In Flanders Fields Museum is a diorama that incorporates moving colored lights to highlight troop movements and battles in the region.

Appearing as amoeba-like blobs of light shaded to represent the combatants and their movements, the lights glide across the 3-dimensional exhibit, combining into larger bubbles of light or dividing into smaller ones.

Mounds of mud were home
(Courtesy: In Flanders Fields
Museum)

In the end, the most telling aspect of the exhibition is the futility of the conflict where one side pushes while the other retreats and vice-versa in a perpetual tug-o-war of death.

The In Flanders Fields Museum is much more than a reflection upon the past, however. It is designed as a personal cultural and artistic representation that conveys a  universal contemporary message of peace.

Ypres, in fact, is known as the "City of Peace" for obvious reasons. As the museum reminds us, the "nature of war does not change in time."

The Bell Tower is now open
(Courtesy: In Flanders Fields
Museum)

Until recently the Cloth Hall Bell Tower had been closed to visitors, but has now been re-opened as part of the tour of the refurbished museum. Be warned, there is no elevator, so guests must climb 231 steps to reach the top.

If successful however, they are rewarded with       a high-angle view of the many of the Ypres Salient battlefields that dot the landscape.

In military terms, a "salient" is a battlefield feature that projects into an opponent's territory.

Cutaway 3-dimensional model of battlefields and bunkers
(Courtesy: In Flanders Fields Museum)

The Ypres Salient was formed by British, French, Canadian and Belgian troops in a defensive effort to halt the German incursion in 1914. Surrounded on three sides by German soldiers, the allied troops occupying the salient were vulnerable to attack.

Museum hours vary according to season. Winter hours from mid-November through the end of March and Sundays are from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Between April 1 and November 15 closing time is an hour later at 6 p.m. There are also holidays when the museum is closed; December 24-25, December 31-January 1 and January 7-21, 2019.

Admission for adults is 9 Euros, visitors 18 to 25 pay 5 Euros, ages 7 to 18 are admitted 4 Euros and under 7 get in free. There are also group rates for a minimum of 15 guests but they must be booked in advance.

Washing up in a trench was part of the daily routine
(Courtesy: Saskatchewan Military Museum)

In Flanders Fields Museum is a great place to begin an understanding of the Baby Boomers "forgotten war." Once there it will be forgotten no longer, for it is a visit that will be forever etched in your memory.

On the high seas to every continent with Silversea Cruises in 2020

See the world as never before with Silversea's "Legends of Cruising" in 2020  (Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

CHARLOTTE, NC — Silversea Cruises will embark on one of the most ambitious world cruises in history at the beginning of 2020 when it will become the first passenger shipping line to visit all seven continents.

Silversea Whisper will be refurbished and ready to sail the world
(Coourtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Along the way, Silversea Whisper, which will undergo major renovations for the journey, will dock in 62 ports in 32 countries in 140 days. With the starting fare at $62,000 and rising to a quarter of a million dollars for the best rooms on the ship, the "Legends of Cruising" itinerary will be among the most luxurious adventures of its kind.

Last week we reviewed the first four segments of the cruise (segments are not as yet being sold, leaving five legs to highlight for modern-day Magellans seeking to circumnavigate the planet.

Sydney Opera House
(Courtesy: icsydney.com.au)

We begin with Stage Five in Sydney, Australia bound for Singapore. Sydney Harbor with its world famous white shelled Opera House is always abuzz with activity where thousands of yachts glide silently over deep blue waters. Blessed with dazzling beaches, a sunny climate and friendly people, Sydney is a great place to embark on a sea-going adventure.

Balinese dancer
(Photo: Taylor)

Bali, the only non-Muslim island in Indonesia, is a great place to "eat, pray and love" amid a myriad of pristine beaches, terraced rice fields and gorgeous dive sites. There are seemingly more temples than people filled with traditional dancing, rituals and local crafts. It's more than enough to give you a "Bali High."

Not far away is Java and the ancient city of Semarang, one of Indonesia's oldest towns. In 1677, it became the headquarters and the seat of the Dutch governor of the northeast provinces. Semarang's usefulness as a port waned due to the gradual silting up of the harbor and, by the 19th century, Surabaya had eclipsed Semarang as Java's premier port.

The harbor in Singapore is alive with color and activity
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Shaped like a flattened diamond, Singapore is just 26 miles east to west and 14 miles from north to south. Near the northern peak is the causeway leading to West Malaysia—Kuala Lumpur is less than four hours away by car. At the southern foot of Singapore is where you'll find most of the city-state’s action with its futuristic solar-powered "supertrees," that serve as vertical gardens.

Segment Six of this deluxe sailing travels from Singapore to Mumbai, India with visits to Thailand, Sri Lanka and Cochin, India among other ports of call.

Phuket is a favorite destination for visitors to Thailand
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Phuket is one of the region's economic powerhouse with more than 6 million annual visitors. If you've never been to Phuket, you will likely love it, however returning visitors are discovering a new island that eagerly greets the next wave of tourism. Koh Phuket is linked to the mainland by a causeway, and the rest of the world by an international airport.

Sri Lanka's capital and largest city, Colombo is a microcosm of the island nation with fine restaurants, lively nightlife, good museums and beautiful Buddhist temples. The beach resort of Mt. Lavinia is only a short taxi ride from  downtown and offers a golden, sandy beach with breathtaking sunsets. By the way, there's no need to  look for a little detective with a slovenly raincoat, this Colombo has an identity all its own.

Typical daily street scene in India (Photo: Taylor)

If you're a "people person" India is the place for you. Once known as Bombay until 1995, Mumbai  encapsulates the dynamic, chaotic parts that make up modern India.

Here you'll find everything from succulent street food to haute cuisine, bargain-basement bazaars to the finest haute couture, humbling poverty to staggering wealth, sacred temples to hedonist nightclubs and, of course, people, people and more people.

Roadside barber shop in India
(Photo: Taylor)

Mumbai is India—vibrant, hectic, frustrating, enervating, and exhilarating. It is a city of extremes, described perfectly by the title of the popular film Slumdog Millionaire.  

Segment Seven of Silversea Whisper's elegant world cruise is transitional as the ship begins to sail into more familiar destinations en route to the Civitavecchia, better known to most of us as Rome.

On the way, the lush landscape around Salalah is the intriguing result of a quirk of nature that is uniquely situated in the path of the Khareef or South Western Monsoon. Covered in fine mist this portion of the Dhofar Coast receives frequent rain from mid-June through mid-September. When the monsoons cease, the entire coastline is a verdant stretch of waterfalls, rolling grasslands, and thickly wooded wadis (riverbeds) thriving beside rapid mountain streams.

Oval Forum in Jerash, Jordan
Courtssy: traveljordan.com)

Today, Aqaba is a resort town on the Red Sea, but in the movie Lawrence of Arabia it was a strategic military location in Jordan. Over time it has built a reputation for being one of the best sites for snorkeling in the world.

Travelers doing the entire cruise will also transit the Suez Canal as well as the Panama Canal.

The Suez Canal opened under French Control on 17 November 1869, establishing a gateway from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea that enhanced the colonization of Africa for the next 50 years as well as facilitating World Commerce.

Taormina's ancient Greek theater is still active today
(Photo: Taylor)

The medieval cliff-hanging town of Taormina in Sicily has natural beauty that is difficult to dispute. The views of the sea and nearby active volcano, Mt. Etna, are panoramic  perfection. Writers including Goethe and D.H. Lawrence have extolled Taormina's beauty almost since it was founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC.

Kissing the Blarney Stone
(Photo: Taylor)

This leg ends in Rome before embarking on Segment Eight on the way to Dublin, Ireland.

One way or another Barcelona's infinite variety of street life with its nooks and crannies of the medieval Barri Gòtic, the ceramic tile and stained glass of Art Nouveau facades, its music and food will find a way to grab your  attention. The capital of Catalonia is a banquet for the senses, with a beguiling mix of ancient and modern architecture, tempting cafés and markets and sun-drenched Mediterranean beaches.

Travel like the locals on the little yellow trams in Lisbon
(Photo: Taylor)

Rome isn't the only European city with seven hills, Lisbon, Portugal lays claim to the same number. In the oldest neighborhoods, stepped alleys whose street pattern dates to Moorish times are lined with pastel-colored houses decked with laundry. Here and there, miradouros (vantage points) afford spectacular river or city views while grand 18th-century black-and-white mosaic cobblestone sidewalks border wide boulevards.

Gorgeous Irish wilderness
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

The grand seven continent adventure concludes by sailing from Dublin to Amsterdam with a visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since hostilities have ceased in the north, this part of the island has witnessed rapid popularity for tourists. With the Titanic Museum, Giant's Causeway and world renowned linens, Belfast has become a major player on the world stage of wanderlust.

With its quaint pastel wood houses, historic wharf, winding cobblestone streets and Hanseatic relics, many visitors fall in love with Bergen, Norway's second-largest city. It doesn't  hurt that Bergen is the gateway to Norway's majestic fjords either.

Norway's Flam Railway is a
must-do excursion
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

In addition, one of the most scenic train routes in Europe, the Flåm Railway, chugs high into the mountains in this region between the towns of Myrdal and Flåm.

Yet another seven hill city is Edinburgh, Scotland for which Charlotte Bronte once wrote, "Edinburgh is to London as poetry is to prose." Edinburgh is one of the world's stateliest cities and proudest capitals, making it a striking backdrop for the ancient pageant of history which exists in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle as it peers down upon Prince's Street and the famed Royal Mile.

Edinburgh's castle dominates the city  (Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

The final port of call is Amsterdam with its 17th-century Golden Age city center and remarkably laid-back atmosphere. Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam, like Venice, is also known as the City of Canal. Amsterdam however, is content to live within its own moonlight serenades and its former glory.

Amsterdam is a great place to finish the round the world cruise
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

There you have it, 140 days to every continent on the globe.

Time to start saving your money. There's still more than a year before you sail and Bon Voyage!

Siversea Whisper prepares to cruise to all 7 continents in 2020

Moai Isla de Pascua  (Moais Sculptures on Easter Island)
(Horacio Fernandez -- www.panoramio.com/photo 107053120
Creative Commons 3.0)

CHARLOTTE, NC -- Phileas Phogg managed to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days, but it was nowhere near as luxurious as the Silversea Round the World, 7 Continent cruise in 2020. Passengers on the Silversea Cruise Line will accomplish the task in 140 days, almost twice as long as it took old Phileas, but they will also visit 62 ports in 32 countries.

Silversea Whisper will be refurbished for its deluxe 2020 global advemture (Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

With a capacity of only 382 people, Silver Whisper has no intentions of challenging Mr. Phogg, at least for time. Rather luxury is the order of the day, making the most unique aspect of this cruise the first to call at every continent on the planet.

Setting sail from Ft. Lauderdale on January 5, 2020, Silversea says it will be the first ever cruise to visit the seven continents in a single itinerary. Of course the price tag won't be inexpensive coming in at $62,000 per person on the newly refurbished ship. Then again, there's an entire year to save your shekels before embarking on the deluxe adventure.

Of course, it you really want to splurge, you can go top of the line for a mere $250,000.

Greek theater, Taormina, Sicily
(Photo: Taylor)

As of now, Silversea is not selling segments of the cruise. That will come later when the entire itinerary will be broken into 9 separate itineraries. Ports of call will include many traditional destinations combined with some more exotic lesser traveled sites in the world.

Among the highlights will be a stop at Pitcairn Island, the remote setting for Mutiny on the Bounty, Vanuatu in the South Pacific featuring a water dance festival on Champagne Beach and three days in Antarctica with glacial expeditions conducted by nine specialists. Zodiac tours will speed passengers along to the stunning frozen beauty of the world's final frontier.

A leopard seal relaxes on an iceberg in Antarctica
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Zodiacs are small inflatable raft-like boats that are ideally suited for navigating the icy waters of Antarctica.

The "Legends of Cruising" extravaganza concludes in Edinburgh with a farewell dinner at Mansfield Traquair, the Scottish version of the Sistine Chapel.

The first segment of the cruise travels from Ft. Lauderdale to Buenos Aires with stops in Puerto Rico, Barbados, Brazil and Uruguay before disembarking in Argentina.

Abandoned Dreyfus Hut
Pitcairn Island
(Photo: Philipp Weigel)

Among the highlights is a call at the discarded key-shaped island off the coast of French Guiana known as Devil's Island, site of one of history's most infamous and feared prisons.

The prison now lies dormant after being closed in 1953 it now exists as an isolated foreboding purgatory.

The second leg of the cruise sails from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, Chile including the ports of call in Antarctica.

The Falkland Islands are also part of the itinerary which sails around the southern tip of South America.

Stunning beauty of Antarctica (Courtesy: Antartica Epeditions)

Antarctica's breathtaking iceberg sculptures are captivating and spectacular. Add in up-close-and-personal encounters with a variety of marine mammals and colonies of penguins and you have sense of time travel nearly two centuries into the past when the only visitors were explorers, whalers, sealers and scientists.

Chilean fjords and glaciers
(Courtesy: Silversea  Cruises)

Next come the winding expanses of the Chilean Fjords filled with seals, dolphins, waterfalls and plant-life that clings to the barren rocks. Here small fishing boats from Punta Arenas ply the waters in search of king crab and other fish.

Though Leg #3 only docks at five ports, it may comprise the most exotic collection of sites on the cruise.

Even the name Robinson Crusoe Island conjures romantic images, if for no other reason than the recollections of Daniel Defoe's classic 1719 novel, Robinson Crusoe. Many readers believe the tales are so realistic that Crusoe was a real person and his travelogue accounts are true.

Exotic wildlife of Robinson
Crusoe Island
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Nestled roughly 400 miles off the coast of Chile, the rugged island of volcanic origin is a UNESCO site and the largest of a tiny archipelago known as the Juan Fernandez Islands.

Ever wonder how Easter Island got its name? The answer is simple really, it was discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is among the most remote places on Earth situated approximately 1,700 miles off the coast of Chile.

Famous for its eerie Moai stone statues, archaeologists continue attempts to unlock the mysteries of the ancient Rapa Nui language which was written on what are called "rongo rongo tablets."

Easter Island is also famous for its beaches 
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

More Polynesian than South American in character, Easter Island also features stunningly beautiful beaches, coral reefs and crystal clear waters.

Embarking from Papeete, Tahiti to Sydney, Australia with ports of call in Bora Bora, Tonga, the Cook Islands and Vanuatu among others, this segment is among the most active legs of the cruise.

For most of us, Papeete and Fiji, another port of call on this leg, would be off-the-beaten path enough, but not on this Silversea itinerary where Bora Bora and Tonga are added.

Bora Bora is stunning from every angle
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Just the double name Bora Bora captures the imagination and it lives up to expectations with thatched wooden huts standing out over shallow seas and vivid schools of fish swimming just beneath the surface.

Elsewhere, Tonga is an archipelago consisting of 169 islands of which only 36 are inhabited. Uoleva Island is one of the most beautiful anchorages in Tonga, and except for three small resorts, it is largely uninhabited. Talk about getting away from it all.

Uoleva Island is a great place
for whale watching
(Courtesy: Silversea Cruises)

Uoleva is one of the best places in the world for sighting humpback whales while snorkelers thrive in the clear blue waters and colorful marine life.

Now that we are half way around the world, doing Jules Verne and Phileas Phogg proud, we'll take a break from our sea going adventure and return next week with the final five segments of Silversea's unique "Legends of Cruising" world cruise in 2020.