If it could only be like this always – always summer

Summer Hammock Chable Resort Merida

The Point Resort

Summer was on the way; Jem and I awaited it with impatience. Summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the tree house; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill.”   ―Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Lisbon Flower Shop

“In the summer, the days were long, stretching into each other. Out of school, everything was on pause and yet happening at the same time, this collection of weeks when anything was possible.”   ―Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

One & Only Cabo

Outdoor Shower Chable Resort Merida Mexico

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”  —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Puglia, Italy

Lake Como Villa d’ Este Aperol Spritz

“We thread our way through a moving forest of ice-cream cones and crimson thighs.” ―Jean-Dominique Bauby, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Lake Como Summer Lunch Villa d’Este

Puglia Coconut Treats

“When people went on vacation, they shed their home skins, thought they could be a new person.” ―Aimee Friedman, Sea Change

Puglia

Lanai Four Seasons Hotel

“At these times, the things that troubled her seemed far away and unimportant: all that mattered was the hum of the bees and the chirp of birdsong, the way the sun gleamed on the edge of a blue wildflower, the distant bleat and clink of grazing goats.”  ―Alison Croggon, The Naming

Puglia

Ol Doyno Lodge Kenya

“All in all, it was a never to be forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.”

—L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams

Local Food Lisbon

Lisbon is famous for its ‘Pasteis de Nata’, or more simply described as a much perfected and sumptuous type of custard tart. An emblematic sweet, these delicious little pastries can be enjoyed on every block and locals stop several times a day to indulge. The hilly cobbled streets work off the calories! The recipe dates back to the 16th Century, when the confections, like many other Portuguese sweets, were made by nuns in convents.

Pasteis de Nata’ Lisbon, Portugal

In 1837 Pasteis de Belem began making the original Pastéis de Belém, following an ancient recipe from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. That secret recipe is recreated every day in their bakery, by hand, using only traditional methods. The beautiful district of Belem is home to the grand Jeronimo Monastery, renowned for its immaculate gardens and magnificent views across the Tagus River and the famous Pasteis de Belem patisserie. The “pastel de nata” is Lisbon’s best-known cake, best served hot with powdered cinnamon and, preferably, in pairs.

Paper thin layers of buttery crisp pastry are filled with a rich custard of egg and sugar. The pastry surface blisters in high heat, adding a toasty taste of caramel to the savory sweets.

Best savored at the counter with a shot of espresso. There is a sweet shop or two on every block, Lisbon locals love their savories.

Sweets