My personal highlight: 10 random chosen people feeling like a family on a 15 meters long yacht enjoying the beauty and power of the Balearic sea.

When it comes to choose how to spend summer holidays I love to go for an adventure trip on a sailing boat. I experience the sea as a space to feed my soul and mind with fresh energy.

A journey on a sailing boat offers all the unexpected you desire. You have tranquility on one hand, while out in the middle of the sea listening to the sound of the waves. You follow the sun and admire the huge red glowing ball setting down at the horizon every night. It’s my favorite live TV channel on board! On the other hand, you depend on the power of the weather and nature deciding the intensity of the journey. This combination gives you the extra portion of excitement if the sea gets rough.

On top of that you have the crew. We were 10 people on our yacht. Sounds a lot but worked perfectly. Taking care about each other felt like being on a trip with a family.

Our boat was a solid, comfortable yacht from the boat-builder Jeanneau, SUN ODYSSEY 509 with a length of 15.38 meter, 5 cabins. 2 cabins even had an own toilet!

How 1o random chosen people manage well together on only 15 meters

I guess what united our spirits on board was the pleasure of enjoying the moment of peace out in the deep blue sea. Everybody detached from the daily routine left at home very fast.
Sailing can mean anchoring in a bay, staying away from busy harbors, sleeping on deck admiring a sky full of stars or waking up in the morning for jumping into the sea before breakfast on deck.

When all of this is given, you don’t really have arguments to feel stressed. And yes, the chemistry between people can even contribute to a relaxed atmosphere on board, too.

What you need on board is good music and good food. This gives the extra chilling feeling!

How to find a sailing boat?

Back in 2014 I walked to the Marina of Bali and found my crew directly there. This option requires time and flexibility. An other option is to get a yacht by having a skipper friend.
If all of that is not the case, here is the solution: Book your holiday with Join the Crew. They are experienced in organizing this kind of trips, great people included. Their choice of sailing destinations is excellent.
Caribbean Sea, Seychelles, Thailand and plenty of destinations in Europe as Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, France and the Baltic sea. Find more details here. They have access to modern yachts and skilled skippers.

Sailing from Palma to Formentera and back

Our trip started in Palma de Mallorca. We sailed to Ibiza and Formentera where crystal clear waters waited to be discovered . The longest leg From Palma to Ibiza was about 12 hours. Kind of challenging but for sailing lovers a real adventure. For your first sailing trip it may be more ideal to choose a destination with a less long sailing leg. On our trip we anchored in marvelous bays. If we wer in the mood of touching a bit of land it was fun to take our dinghy boat and get a refreshing cocktail at a beach bar!

What about the costs?

A week of sailing in the Mediterranean Sea costs around 800 Euros. (food on board and diesel incl., excl. flights).

The sailing week in a glimpse, useful hints

• Check in advance how strong your stomach, try a day trip on a lake or sea. Bring some seasick medicines or use the sea band, they seem to work well. More details on that product here.
• Bring your favorite music playlists, you will get home with new followers!
• Bring life stories to share with your friends on board
• Share your recipes and cooking skills, keep it simple.
• Once at the harbor, create a shopping list with your crew and go shopping together for your week on board. Create teams and focus on your strengths! Buy some junk food, sweets and alcohol, you are on holiday!
• Be prepared for the unexpected, bring patience and flexibility. Sometimes you have strong winds, and you are active on the boat. Some days you have weak wind and you enjoy chilling on deck.
• Bring your sleeping bag if you love to sleep on deck. It can get chilly at nights.
• Don’t forget your rain jacket, yes, it can get stormy!
• Adapt to the natural move of the waves and let yourself swing into sleep.

Need some inspiration on what to cook on board? Read my article of Greece sailing 2016!

Find more stories about my travels here and get inspired. See you out there somewhere.

My personal highlight: Packing fresh made ravioli by myself listening to Gianna Nannini music and learning, that Ravioli have to be threatened as little babies, with soft hands!

Here I am, back on food discovering tour in Zurich. This time I discover Zurich Höngg in Kreis 10, where the company Bravo Ravioli has its production site and delicacy shop.
The place is managed by the couple Daniela and Samuel Binkert. A lovely team that takes care about preparation of pasta dough and filing from scratch.

Bravo Raviolis can be found in several gastro places in the city, too. Their quality pasta is well known and loved by many Zurich people.

How are Bravo Ravioli produced?

The production of the pasta is professionalized. Established Italian pasta machines for industries are used. These machines are treated with love and need maintenance and care. Every process is thought-out. I observe with pleasure, that everybody helps each other. The kitchen is very clean and organized.

Gina the Ravioli machine

Can you think of the idea that the machines received names? This particularity made me feel amused! Pasta machine Gina is the one that kneads and forms the ravioli. Angelo is the industrial fridge that keeps the ravioli at the right temperature, once ready to be packed. The ravioli get shock frozen at -25 degrees, in order to keep their lovely shape during transportation.

Having lunch with the team and trying the ravioli and the famous chocolate cake rounds my time off at Bravo and makes me feel a satisfied food blogger. Thank you Daniela, Ludi, Michele and Kathrin for the super fun time.

Ravioli facts & numbers

Gina kneads ca. 23 Kg of dough a week.

This gives ca. 200 Kg ravioli a week.

For such an amount of dough, 53 local eggs are used and broken all by hand.

Ca. 10 Kg of quality hard wheat is used.

Some of their herbs come from their garden, some neighbors even sponsor rosemary !

Shopping ravioli and other delicacies at Bravo’s

Find around 30 different sorts of Ravioli. Vegetarian, seasonal and classical ones with meat (wheal or beef) filling. Buy them fresh or frozen to prepare at home.

Daniela revealed that there is nothing that cannot go well into a Raviolo. So their creativity of fillings has no limits. Fig and  brie, walnut and stilton. Salsiccia. I like the naturally colored ravioli to make the plate look fancy. Get a fresh pasta menu for take away at lunch.
Beside ravioli they produce tagliatelle, too, which makes a lot of sense to me, since these are the piece of pasta that remain once the machine has cut out the ravioli, food waste is reduced where ever possible.

Their delicacy shop is a little paradise for foodies. You get plenty Italian specialties. Seasonal vegetables as wild asparagus in spring, super tasteful tomatoes or huge green olives. Find fantastic cheese sorts and salame, prosciutto, sun dried marinated tomatoes or artichokes. Their olive oil is absolute worth trying, it comes from their own trees in Tuscany.

www.bravo-ravioli.ch