Hotel review - Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius

The room was very nice. The breakfast was good the first day. The next day the pastries were not refiled and the omelet had a shady texture.

Free public parking and free wi-fi.

Trip to Trakai, Lithuania

Trakai is a short drive away from Vilnius. It's famous for its island castle and the small village around it.

Hotel review - DoubleTree by Hilton Krakow Hotel & Convention Center

Nice junior suite. Unfortunately the air conditioning blows exactly over the bed and you are bound to get a cold after a night there (we had to change rooms).

The breakfast was delicious. The food at the lounge was good.

Private paid parking.

Yogurt and strawberry cake - recipe with step-by-step photos

Ingredients for the dough layers:

• 100 grams of chocolate
• 70 grams of crushed walnuts
• 40 grams of butter
• 7 spoons with sugar
• 5 eggs
• 4 spoons with flour
• salt

Ingredients for the strawberry jelly: 

• 350 grams of strawberries
• 3 spoons with sugar
• 4 grams of gelatin sheets

Ingredients for the yogurt filling:

• 300 grams of fresh cream
• 400 grams of yogurt
• 6 spoons with sugar
• 7 grams of gelatin sheets
• a few spoons with milk 

Ingredients for the cover cream:

• 200 grams of fresh cream
• 3 spoons with sugar
• 3 spoons with strawberry jelly (set aside from the jelly prepared from the ingredients above)

Prepare the  dough layers:

Melt the chocolate with the butter.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites.

Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar until they double the volume.

Add the melted chocolate / butter over the beaten egg yolks.

Add the flour, the crushed walnuts and the salt.

Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar. Add the beaten egg whites over the chocolate composition. Mix well.

Put the composition in an oven tray bake it in the oven at 180 Celsius degrees for 30-40 minutes or until ready.

Divide the dough in two layers.

Prepare the strawberry jelly:

Mash the strawberries and put them on the fire with the sugar for a few minutes.

Remove from fire and add the hydrated gelatin sheets (prepared as indicated on the envelope) and mix until well incorporated. Let it cool!

Prepare the yogurt filling:

Beat the fresh cream with the sugar. Add the yogurt and mix.

Heat a few spoons with milk and add the hydrated gelatin sheets. Then add this over the yogurt/fresh cream composition and mix well.

Assembling the cake:

In a detachable circle, add one base layer, then half of the yogurt filling, then add all the strawberry jelly (except 3 spoons which will be used later for decoration), the remaining yogurt filling and on top the second base layer.

Prepare the cover cream:

Beat the fresh cream with the sugar. Divide it in two parts.

Add the 3 spoons of jelly over half of the fresh cream and use it to cover the top of the cake.

Use the remaining cream to decorate the sides of the cake.

Add some strawberries and wild strawberries on top and ... voila.

Enjoy!

Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, Denmark

Odense people seem very proud of Hans Christian Andersen.

So if you follow closely the signs in the pavement, you will be taken to the house of the writer and along the way you will discover statues of some of the characters from his stories.

Portughese sweets

While in Portugal, we tried every kind of sweets we found. We weren´t that impressed.

Cat's Eyes cake - recipe with step-by-step photos

Ingredients for the dough:

• 400 grams of flour
• 150 grams of butter
• 130-150 milliliters of water
• 15 grams of fresh yeast
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 spoons with honey
• some salt

Ingredients for the filling

• 100 grams of crushed walnuts
• 2 egg whites
• 2 spoons with sugar
• jam

Mix the yeast with the water, the honey and 1 spoon with flour. Let it rest for a few minutes in a warm place.

Mix the flour with the salt and the butter at room temperature.

Add the egg yolks and the fresh yeast mixture and mix. Make a non sticky dough. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough in 3 equal parts.

Prepare the filling:
Beat the egg whites with the sugar. Add the crushed walnuts and mix.

Spread one piece of dough on the table. Spread jam all over the dough and roll the dough from both sides from exterior to interior. Don´t unite the two sides of rolled dough - keep some space between them (see photo below). Fill that space with the egg whites/walnuts composition.

We used raspberry, plum jam and apricot jam. One type of jam for each piece of the dough.

Put the tray in the oven at 180 Celsius degree for 25 minutes or until baked.

Above you can spread some powdered sugar before serving.

Enjoy!

Hotel review - Château Mont d’Onel, France

The castle is newly renovated .The rooms were big and clean. The hosts, nice Welsh folks, tried to make our stay unforgettable.

The breakfast was good: the pastries were fresh; the same for the cheese and fruits.

Free wi-fi and free parking places.