The holiday that revolves around lunch…

Bologna, Italy.

Ask anyone who knows me well, about my love of good food, and they’ll tell you I plan my days around meals with considerably more enthusiasm than is probably considered normal. If eating were an Olympic sport, I’d at least make the training squad.

I am perfectly capable of planning a trip around architecture, beautiful hotels and places I want to photograph. I am also equally capable of planning an entire day around lunch.

In fact, some of my favourite travel days have involved very little other than walking around a beautiful city, stopping for coffee, wandering into a few shops and eventually finding somewhere wonderful to eat.

And by eventually, I mean that I am quite happy to walk past several perfectly good restaurants if I suspect there might be something better around the next corner. This can be a risky strategy, particularly when everyone is getting hungry.

The best lunches are rarely rushed. There’s a table outside (preferably with comfortable chairs), perhaps a little spot in the sunshine, a beautiful view, a bottle of wine, something delicious arriving from the kitchen and absolutely no reason to be anywhere else for the next two hours.

I love watching the world go by while I’m eating. The people at the next table. The waiter who seems to know everyone. The locals who have clearly been coming to the same restaurant for years. The couple who have been talking for so long that their food has probably gone cold.

And, of course, the occasional person who appears to have ordered lunch purely to photograph it before eating. I understand the temptation, and I’m hardly in a position to judge.

I love the way a meal can become part of the memory of a place. Years later, I might not remember everything I saw that day, but I’ll remember the restaurant with the wonderful terrace, the sweet waiter with the gorgeous accent, and the amazing pasta I ordered. I’ll remember the atmosphere, the sounds of the street, and the feeling of having stumbled across somewhere that made me want to stay much longer than originally intended.

Sometimes, a meal is even better because of how you found it. A restaurant tucked down a side street, a little courtyard you nearly walked past, or a place you chose simply because the tables looked inviting and everyone sitting there seemed to be having a very good time.

“A restaurant tucked down a side street, a little courtyard you nearly walked past, or a place you chose simply because the tables looked inviting and everyone sitting there seemed to be having a very good time.”

These are often the places that stay with you.

This is also why I am not particularly interested in an itinerary that schedules every minute of a holiday. I like having a plan, and there are always places I want to see, but I don’t want to be checking my watch throughout lunch because I have a museum booking at two o’clock.

If lunch is good, the afternoon may need to be reconsidered.

Of course, I still want to see the architecture, visit the galleries, photograph the beautiful buildings and explore the streets. But I don’t want to do all of that at the expense of enjoying where I am.

Sometimes the best thing you can do in a city is find a wonderful restaurant, settle in and let the rest of the day take care of itself.

And if that means abandoning a few sightseeing plans, I think I’ll manage. After all, the buildings will still be there tomorrow.

Lunch, on the other hand, is calling.