Author: The Slow Pace

Starskin masks

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A few weeks ago we confessed our recent obsession with face masks. You can read the post here. We tried a few brands for the purpose of research and the Starskin Anti-aging Silkmud Green Tea Clay Mask really stood out. In fact, we loved it so much that we inmediately bought a bunch of them, not only for us but also as a present for our friends. Since the change we saw in our skin was so impressive, we decided to widen our research and try more Starskin products. A few dead cells later, here you have the results… We started with the Foaming peeling puffs. The yellow package contains a patented Alpha Hydroxy Acids, Carrot and Broccoli extract infused puff that, once you have added a few drops of water, creates a rich lather that claims to slough away dead skin, help reduce wrinkles and bright up skin tone.  We were a little bit afraid of this one since we both have sensitive skin but, apart from a light sting in my left cheek the first time …

Bibo Madrid

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The moment we booked our latest holidays in Spain we made our reservation at Bibo Madrid, the new restaurant of Spanish Chef Dani García. We finally got a table at Bibo Madrid! It’s a long story: last Summer, when we heard this new concept, a mix of traditional classics and nomadic cuisine, was opening in Madrid we tried to book a table, but sadly we came back to Germany before it opened. Bad timing. Last Christmas we tried again, but couldn’t make it because it was fully booked for the whole holidays. So this time we were determined: we were going to make it! And we did! After all the waiting and failed attempts, Bibo Madrid did not disappoint. Quite the opposite, we were mesmerised by the incredible food, the attentive service, the fun atmosphere… and the bathrooms, graced by the sound of birds! They’ve thought about every detail to make a dinner at Bibo Madrid a delightful experience. Everything was perfect. We started with a cocktail, of course. The innovative menu in the form …

Travel FOMO

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Last month we spent our Easter holidays in Copenhagen. We love Copenhagen, in fact our first slow-paced weekend guide was dedicated to this delightful city. We rented an Airbnb and we ate in our favourite resturants, we took long walks in our favourite parks and we went back to our favourite pastel coloured streets. We had a fantastic time! It was our 13th visit Copenhagen.     Fast forward one month. We are planning a few leisure days on the beach, trying to decide on the destination. Sardinia is high up in our bucket list, Santorini has been under our radar for a couple of years as well, Maldives sounds like paradise… but finally we choose to go back to Ibiza. What can we say? We love what we love. However, there’s always that question: Should we explore new places or should we come back to the destinations we already know and love? We have to choose: we are normal people and we don’t live in a perpetual vacation. Besides, do you know how much a …

Chocolate and mascarpone pots

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This week has been particularly long. It has been one of those “just give me a pint of ice cream and a Big Bang Theory marathon every night” kind of week. But since everytime we buy our favourite ice cream we eat in in one sitting, we decided to create our own substitute for ice cream. Just to keep fitting through the doors, basically. Fear not, we are not going to give you a recipe with frozen banana / stevia / avocado cream / black beans / whatever “healthy” ingredientthere’s left in the market. These chocolate and mascarpone pots are as naughty as it gets, but we’ve tried to minimized the damage (and the guilt) by using skimmed milk, bio yogurt, dark chocolate and just one tablespoon of sugar. And no palm oil, the latest enemy of human health. Is this good for you? Well, it’s better than supermarket bought ice cream, that’s for sure. You can lick a pear if you want to stay skinny, but we need our chocolate fix no matter the …

Capsule wardrobe: one month, one piece

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During the last couple of years I’ve been reading about the capsule wardrobe concept. It’s something incredibly simple but it attracted my attention from the beginning. However, my interest was not achieving the perfect wardrobe or being more conscious about what I was shopping. Not at the beginning, at least. It sounded appealing to me because everytime I looked at our walk-in closet I would get scared thinking that eventually we will move away from Germany or relocate. And the mere thought of such a big move gave me the heevie-jeebies. So, during the last year we’ve been donating lots of items: from homeware to, of course, lots of clothes. We owned too many things, everything looked untidy and I hate moves. But in January I really thought about how I was going to approach the capsule wardrobe trend. It’s a trend, yes, but I find that it’s a very clever one. I really wanted to reduce the amount of things that I was purchasing, I wanted to own just a few edited pieces of …

The slow-paced weekend guide to Lake Como

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Our slow-paced weekend guide to Lake Como is live! We’ve put together all the information you need to enjoy a fantastic weekend in the heart of Lake Como, full of great food and long, serene walks in the most beautiful gardens and promenades. If, like us, you just want to relax and eat well while travelling (granny style much?) and you’ve always wanted to visit the area, you will love it. Check the Weekend Guides section in our front page… or just click here!

Broad beans and mozzarella toast

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This time of the year is the best to have colourful, bright and light dishes on the table. Going to the farmers market is pure joy and we try to make the most of the seasonal produce we find every Saturday. It’s our very own tradition: on Saturdays we go out for breakfast and then we visit the farmers market. And those simply things make us happy. Like finding the first green, fresh, sweet broad beans of the season. A couple of weeks ago we prepared these broad beans and mozzarella toasts for dinner, inspired by the chef Martín Berasategui. He has been a source of inspiration lately, as you would have seen in one of our latest recipes: this mushroom and Parmesan rice. We loved the result so much, that here you have our take on the recipe: You will need (Serves 2): 150 gr fresh broad beans (the smaller, the better) Mozzarella cheese (the amount depends on how much you love mozzarella) 2 slices of your favourite bread 1 garlic clove, peeled 1 …

Spring vegetables salad

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We love a good salad. It’s been years since we forgot the boring tomato and lettuce “I’m on a sad diet” kind of salad and we started incorporating lots of delicious ingredients that made salads complete meals full of nutrients and flavour. In this blog we have shared with you a few salad recipes, always seasonal, including our very favourites like this mango, avocado and chicken salad, this white beans and tuna salad or this amazing peach and chicken salad. Now that Spring is here and Summer is around the corner there are lots of great vegetables in season and that means colorful, delicious salads with juicy vinaigrettes. Today we bring you a recipe with one of our favourite Spring ingredients: asparagus. Lately, we’ve been having grilled asparagus for dinner every other day and while we love this simple way of eating our veggies, we wanted another alternative to enjoy them. We’ve already shared with you this wonderful asparagus and potato tart and this brunch salad, but we wanted something different. Enter this spring vegetables …

Face masks

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Everyone knows I have a soft spot for everything beauty but, surprisingly, it was my wife who wanted to do this post because recently she has developed an addiction to face masks. Not that I complain! I’m more than happy to try as many face masks as she wants. And since we have a long weekend ahead and there’s nothing better than a pampering session in your pajamas on a Saturday/Sunday/bank holiday night, we thought you might want to read about our face masks discoveries. We bought six masks, three for her and three for me,  and we’ve tried them during the last weeks (one mask each per week). They were all different because we have different skin types and therefore different skin needs. We chose three brands that we’ve never tried before: Dr. Jart+, FaceInc and Starskin. They all were inspired by Korean beauty and we found them at our local Douglas (for those who don’t live in Germany, it’s a chain similar to Sephora). We thought some of them were nice, others not …

Lenno and Villa del Balbianello

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Today we bring you the last instalment of the series that we’ve dedicated to the most beautiful villages around Lake Como. And we’ve saved the best for last. Our day trip to Lenno and the incredibly beautiful Villa del Balbianello was the most special highlight of our days in Lake Como. Finding the words to describe how magnificent the gardens of the Villa are is going to be difficult, but we are going to try. Just in case, we’ve added tons of pictures in this post. Lenno is a quiet village a short 10 minutes away from Bellagio. However, it’s not one of the preferred destinations in the lake. Most people come to visit the wonderful Villa del Balbianello and that’s about it. And while the Villa absolutely deserves a visit, Lenno can be a fantastic destination on its own. Quiet, with lots of hidden alleys to explore, a lovely oh so quintessential Italian main square, the beautiful church of S. Stefano, the Acquafredda Abbey and a breathtaking view over the Golf of Venus, Lenno …