How many of you have dreamed of taking an Italian cooking class that is actually in Italy? Yes, me too! Last summer I enjoyed my time with Tuscan Women Cook so much, but I was traveling alone. I had a total blast, but often I was thinking how much fun it would be if my family was there with me too!
We recently had an absolute blast traveling to this exotic paradise with long time friends and our grown kids. Our dear friend Pam has lived on the island for 30 years and insisted on taking us to her favorite spots. We were able to experience Oahu from a locals perspective and now you will benefit too from her awesome ideas!
Angela, my dear friend from college and avid traveler, has returned to the blog to share their luxurious adventure in Portugal. I didn’t know nearly enough about this incredible country, but now I know that a trip to Portugal must be at the top of my travel adventure list!
Portugal had been on our travel radar for some time. Between reading about it on travel sites, seeing Porto featured on my favorite fashion blog, and one of our daughters having visited Lisbon when she was studying in Madrid years ago, that was enough to whet our appetites.
Well, first of all this is a TALL order. Second of all, it takes some work. Third of all, nobody’s perfect, especially me.
I think there is a misunderstanding that when someone sees a post of an amazing restaurant dish or fabulous handcrafted cocktail, they assume that we eat this way all the time. No, not true at all. By the same token when we post happy things on Facebook all the time it implies that our lives are perfect! Nope, not true either! Read on my friend…
It seems that lately since the whole Facebook privacy scandal, social media has become more of a negative than a positive. There are certainly a great number of attributes I do not like about it, but there are plenty of things social media does well.
Using Instagram as a referral system is definitely a popular activity and many people (like me) use it as an important food and travel resource. Prior to traveling to a new city, I peruse the hashtags and check out the restaurant accounts and often find some pretty yummy things. Receiving a New York City restaurant recommendation from a reliable source and not just from YELP is a much better scenario. At least for us, it is. I do trust those sites, but when the Editor in Chief of Bon Apetít Magazine recommends a local, smallish, out-of-the-way little restaurant and says “It is some of the best food I have had in a while”, I listened!
We traveled to New York City this past weekend in order for me to attend NYT Journeys Travel Smarter Weekend: Food and Photography in New York City. Sounds like my kind of adventure, don’t you think? I honestly did not know what to expect exactly, but knew that I would come away with lots of inspiration and definitely a few handy tips and tricks for successful and enjoyable travel.
More food info today – I just can’t help myself. I have been introduced to so many delicious dishes recently that my inner foodie is doing cartwheels!
While in Japan we ate some ridiculously amazing food that I could really write about for days. I am spreading it out so as not to make you hungry every freaking time you come to the blog!
My traveling foodie friend Angela is currently enjoying a fantastic three-week trip to Portugal. She sent me a kind of cryptic message via Facebook that said “Do you know about this?” There was no link and just the photo of the pizza with no other references. It turns out that Anderson Cooper (Yes, that one from CNN) posted this enticing pizza photo on Instagram and raved about his friend’s new restaurant in San Francisco.
Part of the fun of travel is to immerse yourself in the local culture. To visit the farmer’s markets, fish markets and fruit stands to see what is fresh and in season is always at the top of our list of adventures. Our trip to Japan with Collette Travel was no exception, we were treated to some fantastically prepared meals, visited charming local markets and ate like kings and queens.
Although you may have read about some of these experiences here individually, seeing them gathered together in one large travel menu is a fun exercise. I have had the opportunity to reflect upon additional details and nuances of each experience or meal, plus you can compare and contrast!
Culinary travel is BIG and also a perfect way to get closer, to mingle with the locals and even learn something! I believe that this type of foodie discovery is here to stay and will only get more focused for future opportunities.
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