5 Most Memorable Travel Meals

My favourite thing about travelling is eating (tbh that's actually my favourite thing to do at any time) the meals I have and share with travel partners become memorable moments that punctuate each country I visit.
You can experience a culture through it's national dishes and truly connect to a place with the food it feeds you. These special meals are memorable for different reasons and I like thinking back on them and where I was in my life when I had each meal.

Fish in Venice

I was in Italy with my English boyfriend. We were in Venice and had gone to the Lido and spent the afternoon lounging in the sunshine and splashing about the very warm water. This evening, we wandered the maze like streets and found ourselves in the fish market (closed for the day) with several restaurants along the canal. We had fish stew and salmon on crustinis. It was all so fishy and fresh. Also, this was the first time I tried Prosecco and oh boy!

Wood Pigeon at a hookah bar

This was a lady date. We were in central London to experience the Icebar London, once our cool cocktails were consumed, we were hungry. Next door was MoCafe (Momo Restaurant), this cool Moroccan restaurant got us to try several new things that night. We selected our flavoured Sheesha Pipes and got down to the business of ordering food. As soon as we saw Pigeon Pastilla we knew what we were getting. Wood pigeon in a filo pastry with almonds and cinnamon. It was surprisingly, amazingly delicious.

Escargot in France

I adore snails, like actually, the little slimy, slow moving slugs are incredibly fascinating to me. I even kept a few in a DIY terrarium as a kid. But never once did I think they looked tasty. That said, I was curious as to how they would taste. The verdict; I'm a fan of garlic butter and if that means eating a snail to get it, then I can be down.

Christmas Dinner in Paris 

It was 2004, I was with my parents in Paris and I was just coming off of a full week of not being able to eat from a tasty tummy bug. The restaurant was magical and Christmasy. The air was filled with piano music and the smell of garlic and melted cheese.

Thanksgiving Dinner in London 

I was on my semester abroad in London and most nights were spent in our hostel's dining hall. The food was pretty good, but I was starting to get a bit homesick, missing home cooked meals. Come thanksgiving time, I think a few of us in the class were feeling the same and we decided to plan a thanksgiving dinner for us all to enjoy. We cooked two chickens (couldn't actually find turkey) with all the fixings. It was a group effort that took over the kitchen and dining room in our residence. It was a great party!

Moose in Newfoundland

I didn't know eating moose was a thing. But when I went to Newfoundland, it became a quest to find it, to try. When had rented an airbnb in Bauline East and had to procure our own dinner for the evening. It was the perfect opportunity! We made a wonderful picnic meal and barbecued the meat. It was lovely.

What are your thoughts about eating special meals while travelling? Do you like to try the foods of the places you are visiting or is pizza just as good anywhere you go?

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The Wonderful Foods of Lima, Peru

Peru literally has the pick of the crop when it comes to agriculture and Peruvian cuisine is not only influenced by its own indigenous cultures but also by the cuisines brought in by immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Africa. The food is a fusion of cultural techniques and traditions with locally available ingredients. 

Before heading to Peru a quick Google search will show that everyone has food on their minds as page after page comes up with '10 things you have to eat in Peru' or 'Don't miss out on these foods in Peru'. Using these as my guides we ate our ways around the country through Cusco and Lima.

One of these said searches brought Canta Rana restaurant to my attention. The decor looked fun and the food looked good. Located at Genova 101, in Barranco District we arrived to an empty restaurant. Normally I would have misgivings about eating at a seemingly unpopular restaurant, (not always bad reasons to be empty as I had discovered in Vienna) but to be fair it was pretty early for supper and on a random weekday. 

I opted for the ceviche as I had yet to have any during my travels through Peru and Bolivia, which is just a crying shame. Our foodie tour guide told me that actually ceviche is something that Peruvians only really eat for breakfast as that is when the fish is freshest. Totally makes sense, but what can I say? I was a tourist on this one and it was delicious despite being my dinner instead of breakie.

Eimear ordered the Lomo Saltado which is a typical Peruvian dish consisting of marinated beef with stir fried veg, french fries and rice. It was also quite good. (Yes, I tried it! You go to a restaurant with me, you better be sure I'm having a bite of whatever you're having.)

My favourite food spot of Lima was La Lucha Sangucheria Criolla on Av. Sta. Cruz 847 in Miraflores, which I believe to be more or less fast food, but Peruvians are known for fresh ingredients  so even fast, it's quality. Place your order at the counter, pay, take a seat and wait for the food to be brought to you. While standing in line, trying to decipher the Spanish into food items we knew, a very kind, older gentleman overheard us and gave us a hand translating the menu. (I do love travel moments like that!) In the end I went with Pollo con Pina & queso (chicken with pineapple and cheese) with a side of fries and it was divine.

On another day, after a morning of admiring the grand architecture of the old town of Lima we getting hangry for some lunch and just wanted something cheap and cheerful. We found a small sandwich shop with the tiniest upstairs seating area and enjoyed ham and cheese sandwiches and of course an Inca Kola (It is the national drink of Peru after all). As we paid our bill at the counter on our way out, an interesting looking biscuit caught Eimear's eye. We have no clue what it was, but it was the perfect ending to a light lunch. 

Stepping into hole-in-the-wall food places while travelling helps you experience life like the locals. We dined with the regular lunch crowd, away from the tourists and those tourist trap restaurants. 

Of course we also partook in the tradition of libations while travelling. A few Peruvian beers here and a Pisco Sour or two (or three) there. There's some debate over the origin story of the Pisco Sour, but this lime, simple syrup and egg white cocktail has been in the Peruvian tumbler for over 100 years.

Eimear was the photographer of this photo of my cheekbones  

The Trad Pisco Sour on the left

We seemed to be doing pretty well on our own, finding great local digs to eat and even getting to try some cultural foods. But we wanted more.

Eimear and I decided to find a food tour. I don't remember what exactly lead us to want to do it, as neither one of us have ever done one before, but I love food and I love trying new food so really I'm just surprised it's taken me this long to do one.

We did a little online research over our hotel breakfast and booked in with Food Walking Tour Peru for a food tour of the Bohemian Barranco District. Our tour was to start in the early evening and turned out to just be the two of us with our guide. We met at the Plaza de Armas and went to our first stop, Juanito Bodega Bar. 

We were served a plate of Aji de gallina (delicious chicken curry) and told a story about the owner. On the wall is a wooden go kart with a photo of the owner at 12 years old riding in said kart. It's a family run restaurant and you can tell that it's more than just the food that people visit come to this place for.

The owner behind his bar

The next stop was Cevicheria Union. We had a seat on the breezy patio and snacked on Canchita (giant seasoned, un-popped popcorn snack) and I'm addicted to these things. I've never seen the kernels quite so big!

The soup came out which was a Chilcano de Pescado, a fish broth soup that is known as a local hangover cure. Our guide suggested adding aji (chili) hot sauce to the bowl. The options came in 3 colours; red is from the coast, green the south, yellow from the jungle.

We were next taken to the Puente de los Suspiros (Lima's Bridge of Sighs), a wooden bridge which spans the Bajada de Baños. And as all good, small, wooden bridges do there is of course a legend to go along with it. Crossing the bridge for the first time you are granted one wish, but only if you are able to hold your breath while crossing the 30 meter length. 

Eimear forming her wish and preparing to hold her breath for the crossing

On the other side of the bridge is Javier, our next restaurant stop. As we walked to our seat I saw a poster for the infamous Anticucho (beef heart) and I hoped that's what we were there for. I'd been wanting to try this Peruvian street food, but hadn't been brave enough. Sure enough the smoking grilled beef hearts were brought out to us and they were oh so good. 
We mentioned to our guide that we were also interested in trying Picarones which are fried dough circles (like a fried doughnut) served with syrup. The dough is principally made up of squash and sweet potato. It's not sugary sweet, but it is a nice dessert.

Once we finished our food at Javier it was time for second dessert at a small food stand in Federico Villarreal Park. There sat these two beautiful woman who serve up warm cupfuls of Arroz con leche. I'm usually not a fan of rice pudding, but this one lovely.

Now it was time to wash down all our food with some liquids. First up was the Inca Kola from a corner store. People were gathered in the store socializing and drinking. You don't walk away with the glass bottles here in Peru. Drink up and pass the bottle back to the store clerk.

And to finish our 4 hour food tour off we stopped at another street stall, Obdulia Emolientera, that concoct various health drinks, for us they made the thick Peruvian health drink Emoliente that contains no less than 18 ingredients. I couldn't list them all and even a Google search doesn't list that many, but everyone does agree of the health benefits of this warming Peruvian drink.

Aloe Vera being scraped into the drink

Anyone else now hungry?

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10 Reasons to Travel

I first discovered my love of travel when I was lucky enough to attend my high school Europe trip. Three countries (one principality), ten days, 25 girls, three teachers, one amazing experience. I had been fascinated by the Roman Empire (still am) and adored being able to learn more about it from my same history teachers right in the very spot things went down. We were even at Julius Caesars grave on the Ides of March!
After this first trip I knew I was hooked and there were so many more places I wanted to see and experience.

As I've grown older, I've become more philosophical about travel. Meeting people who want to travel, but don't, people who have no desire to travel, people who have travelled the world and are done and others who just can't ever get enough. There are all kinds out there, but I've come to the conclusion that travel is not only fun it should be necessary in developing a well-rounded, well-adjusted, progressive, productive citizen of the world.

You don't even have to go all that far. Canada is a very large country and no two provinces are the same. Venturing out of your home town and meeting people in a new community brings the universal truth into glaring light. And that is; we are all just trying to muddle through doing the best we can for our families and ourselves.

I've been wanting to write this post for some time now and as co-host for this months #TravelLinkup "10 Things..." it seems a good a time as any especially in this post-Brexit, post-President Trump times, to look at the reasons why I travel and why you should too.

In no particular order, travel offers:

10) Experiencing history

Learning about history through well written textbooks is good and all, but when that history comes to life, you cannot help but feel connected to a timeline. Stand in the place historic figures stood before  you, see the same architecture built by past civilizations. This is all our story.
The first time I stood in the stadium seating of the Colosseum looking down to the arena I got chills as I could finally imagine what that must have been like 2000 years ago.

9) Exposure to different perspectives

We all have our own perspective, formed from our experiences, backgrounds and history. Our perspective is how we see life and everyone is different. Being exposed to different perspectives means we can develop a better understanding of people.

8) Meeting people

People are great. There are so many great, interesting people out there in the world with a story to share and something to teach us.
When my parents first moved to Ho Chi Ming City they were exploring the city and admiring the architecture. A local business man noticed them and struck up a conversation. He invited them to dinner at his house with his family and they still keep in touch to this day. In my experience this isn't something that happens at home. We are more closed off to the people around us, focused on getting from point A to B and not making eye-contact with the human beings around us. 

7) Change of scenery

Before I moved to London on my two year work visa I felt like I was stuck in a rut. Sleep, work, walk the dog and repeat.

Life is too short to feel like everything is ho-hum. A change of scenery can help put a pep back in your step and refresh your soul.

6) A great big world

We are but a small cog in a much larger machine. Yes, our problems are important to us and our feelings are valid, but when you travel it really helps you get out of your own head and see there are other people in this world.

5) Food

There is so much good food out there. As culinarily diverse an area can be there is still an issue with authenticity. Some ingredients just aren't available everywhere. What better way than to experience a culture than through it's food? That sounds like heaven to me.
The Peruvian cuisine is an example of just this experience, as different cultures moved to the country they brought with them their traditional dishes but have used local ingredients making an interesting fusion of food that can only be found in the restaurants of Peru.

Lomo Saltado (stir-fry meat with fries and rice)

4) Tourism industry

Some regions rely on the business generated by tourists. Do you part for local economies, travel.
Tourist attractions are tourist attractions for a good reason (for the most part), don't avoid them all.

3) Same, same but different

Here's a little story for you. While on Isla del Sol, as we were waiting for a pace of donkeys to move along the walking path, I was struck by just how different my life is from the people that live on this small island in the middle of Lake Titicaca.

That is until Eimear voiced her opposing opinion. We were at our family run hotel trying to communicate with the landlady when her husband came out and gave his opinion on what she should tell us. We didn't understand the exchange but we certainly comprehended the eye-roll and humouring smile she gave us. Despite how different our lives seem, we are all essentially the same. We have relationships, we feed our families, we do daily chores, we love, we get angry, we laugh. We might do it in different languages, but we are all essentially the same.

2) To push you

Comfort zone? What's that? You don't know what you are capable of until you find yourself outside of that zone.

1) FUN

I mean seriously, who doesn't love a little holiday. A break from the every day. Travel is just pure fun, even with all the stress and hiccups that can arise.



It's important to broaden ones horizons. Being in one place doing the same things with the same people every single day of your life will only get you so far. Increasing the things you know, experiences you have and your capabilities never a bad thing. So get out there and read everything you can, engage in conversations (in person), and travel beyond your familiar boarders.

An InLinkz Link-up

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The Lake District is Picture Perfect and Now Heritage Listed

Last week the Lake District in England was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list and this made me reminisce about my time spent there this past April. Expect some blog posts to come, but for now I thought I'd share some stunning photos of the region I was in.

We were in Rydal for a long weekend wandering around Loughrigg Fell. It was my kind of hiking, nothing super strenuous (although my hiking partner had to provide occasional physical and emotional support), gorgeous vistas,  and incredible sunshine.

What's your favourite UNESCO heritage listed site?

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