Writing prompt – colourful vegetables
Vegetables on sale at a farmers’ market in Morocco
A few years ago my wife, daughter and I travelled through magical Morocco for two wonderful weeks. One of the places we visited was the village of Sefrou which is about 30km from the city of Fes. It was one highlight in 14 days filled with many highlights. You can read more about my journeys on another site I write for: Trevor’s Travels (click here).
On our visit to Sefrou we wandered through the local farmers’ markets, featured in today’s photo above. Farmers from the surrounding districts had brought in their produce for sale, set up on stalls in the streets, squares and lanes of the town. The locals crowded into the cramped spaces buying up delicious looking vegetables and fruits. We bought some yummy bananas and mandarins as a treat. Other fruits included oranges, apples, dates and many more. The vegetable range was even more diverse, with tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, silver beet, cauliflower, capsicum, beans, cucumber and much more.
The displays, like that shown in today’s photo above, were colourful and inviting.
Writing prompts:
Here are some ideas for writing. Use these prompts as an exercise in warming up your writing at the start of the day, or perhaps even as the start of a short story or poem.
- Describe the scene shown in the photo above.
- Imagine being one of the vendors shown in the photo. Describe what you are feeling.
- Write a short story from the point of view of a young child lost in the marketplace.
- Tell the story of the journey from the farm to the home of the buyer. Try it from the point of view of the farmer – or perhaps even a vegetable.
- Write a poem describing the sounds, colours and smells of the market.
- Write about how you would feel if you had no money and was starving and you saw the above scene.
Good writing.
Writing prompt – favourite foods
Our pizza lunch at GPK Chatswood, Sydney
Many people write about food on their blogs. Some have even elevated this to writing for prestigious glossy, social magazines and yet others make a living from critiquing food and restaurants and writing about it in various forms.
It is my one regret from several trips overseas that I didn’t take more photos of the wonderful meals we enjoyed, especially in Morocco and Spain. Now that I have a smart phone with a decent camera, I intend to correct that oversight of the past.
On our current trip to visit family in Sydney we celebrated my daughter-in-law’s birthday. Her choice was to go to the local Chatswood GPK pizza restaurant. GPK stands for Gourmet Pizza Kitchen, and the one we visited is one of a chain throughout various cities here in Australia.
Between the six of the adults in our party we ordered four different pizzas which we all shared. I’ve shown only two here on this post today. The two grandchildren had their very own pizza. The menu is extensive with many named after prominent cities or countries of the world. Each had a particular cultural and culinary focus appropriate to the country. For example, we liked the Moroccan pizza as well as the one called Kathmandu.
With the term gourmet attached to the name of the restaurant one quite likely pays a little extra. But these are not your common or garden pizzas delivered by a pimply teenager to your front door late on a cold winter’s night. These are far superior in every way.
The flavours are intense and a delight to the taste buds. Some featured some surprising ingredients – such as broccoli – which worked amazingly well.
My rating: 8/10
Writing prompt: write about your favourite restaurant, your favourite food, great meals or gastronomic disasters.
Further reading:
- GPK Official Website – complete with downloadable menus.
- Five hundred meals away – the blog of a former student of mine who has travelled the world, writing about the food he has enjoyed – or endured – and the cultures and people he meets – and near disasters which seem to follow him. Onya, Andrew.
Our pizza lunch at GPK restaurant, Chatswood, Sydney
Writing prompt: the colour of spices
Colourful spices for sale in Fes, Morocco
In December 2011 my wife, daughter and I travelled extensively through magical Morocco. One of many interesting experiences was wandering through the medinas of the old parts of cities like Fes. The huge variety of things for sale was overwhelming, as were the sounds, aromas and the thronging crowds everywhere.
Such vibrant and exciting places. I wrote a great deal of poetry during our visit, along with an extensive daily journal.
Writing prompt: write about the foods you love, including the colours, aromas, textures and tastes. It could be in journal form, or poetry or even as a backdrop of a fictional piece, such as a short story.
Good writing.