If you would like a wonderful experience in learning to cook traditional Keralan style food, I recommend that you contact Nimmy Paul. I heard about her via various web searches for cookery classes before I travelled to Kochi and I saw lots of people were already praising her 'at home' cooking experiences as Nimmy has been a professional cookery teacher for over 20 years. We went as a group of three friends to Nimmy's house and she took us slowly through four different dishes, which was then followed by a wonderful meal. Nimmy and her husband welcome you into their home and could not have been more helpful. We were all given a small recipe book to take away and since coming home I've attempted about four different dishes - all wonderful!

www.nimmypaul.com/
Variamparambil, Chakalakal Road, Cochin, 682 015, Kerala, India
+91 484 2314293

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This is a very good chocolate shop and cafe. With a couple of famous names behind it - the brothers Albert and Ferran Adrià. I had a late lunch there - glass of wine, starter, sandwich and two tasting shots of chocolate, all for about £10. Then I went and bought a box of truffles to take home. The chocolate flavours are far from the ordinary as you might imagine! The place is great and somewhere very relaxing to spend an hour over lunch or coffee. It's near the Mercado de Colon which has lots of cafes - but save yourself for this place just round the corner instead. A nice surprise!

Calle del Conde de Salvatierra de Alava, 19
46004 Valencia, Spain
www.cacaosampaka.com
Google map: tinyurl.com/3ykzdvu

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The new Alexandra bookstore on Andrássy opened in November 2009. The building is quite striking from the outside, however, when you walk in and take the escalator to the first floor, a magnificent frescoed ceiling (complete with huge chandeliers) is revealed as part of the in-store cafe. The place is stunning with so much to gaze at and lots of seating. Coffee was pretty good and reasonably priced. Go and take a look - it's not in the guidebooks yet, but it will be.

Andrássy út 39. Close to Oktagon.

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This hotel is part of the Habaguanex group which a friend recommended to me. You should pre-book in the UK as you will get a better rate than you will otherwise. Located close to the Plaza Vieja it is an art nouveau style building - we had a beautifully furnished room on the top floor which was vast. Breakfast was good too. It was very tranquil in the first week in November but at peak times it might be less so. Good view from the roof terrace.

www.dtcuba.com/HotelInfo.aspx?hc=336

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