If you want to add a little spice to your travel plans, let me suggest a slightly off-kilter way to choose a destination. I call it “label travel.”
I first explored this technique years ago when I read the label on a bottle of olive oil. It said it was from Lucca, Italy. I thought it would be quite exciting to visit Lucca, located in central Italy on the Serchia River.
So I joined a tour group going to Italy and eventually wound up walking atop the ancient wall that surrounds Lucca and then entering the city through a tunnel and walking along its picturesque cobblestoned streets. I recall great pasta dishes, excellent espresso and Americano coffee, and lots of sunshine. A most enjoyable trip.
So next I looked closely at the label on a bottle of hot sauce and saw it was made in New Iberia, Louisiana, specifically on Avery Island. I lined up a visit to that locale and discovered that Avery Island is located atop a giant salt dome. Also, the area is a bird sanctuary and there were lots of white egrets on the grounds.
Most impressive was the sight of big wooden barrels in a storage warehouse. I was told salt for the sauce was mined from the salt dome. Hot peppers were grown in nearby fields and the pressed-out juice was stored in those barrels for some three years. Quite a lot of trouble to make a lowly hot sauce, but I was assured the wait insured a quality product.
My very last label trip was to Shiner, Texas to visit the brewery where Shiner beer is produced. There were quite a few folks on the tour and we were informed the brewery location was chosen since a reliable artesian water well was nearby to provide good water for the beer.
I am still open to travel possibilities based on labels. For example, I have a can of arctic sea salt flakes from Denmark and a sriracha chili sauce from Thailand.
I think either place would make for a very nice trip.
