There’s much more to the island of Oahu than Honolulu and its busy Waikiki. If you go to the most known island of the state of Hawaii, be sure to rent a car and drive around the island exactly like we did. It is worth the experience.
We are very excited to have our first invited blogger and first post in Spanish!!!
Our first contributor writer is Ariel Ferrero, a journalist from Argentina with over 20 years writing about travel and tourism for diverse media outlets in his native country. Currently, Ariel is a correspondent for the Italian news agency ANSA and has his own travel news website, www.sunnytravelnews.com.ar He often works as a freelancer with newspapers like Perfil y La Voz del Interior.
Ariel recently traveled to Chile, specifically to Santiago, Concón y Reñaca. Below, he recaps his culinary experience.
Spending two days or even less than 48 hours in a busy city is never enough, especially if you are visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Capital City. However, you can definitely see, do and eat a lot!
My recent visit to the island was short but longer that usually. I often go for one day and come back the next one. But this time I had a little bit of kosher time and I took full advantage of it. So if you have 2 days or less to go to Puerto Rico, here are a few suggestions
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| View of Waikiki |
When we started planning our long overdue honeymoon, a few of our friends and co-workers told us that Oahu was the less Hawaiian of the 8 archipelago islands. Why is that - we asked. Well apparently is because of the famous Waikiki, the busy and modern beach area of Honolulu, Hawaiian capital city.
It is indeed modern, with a lot of hotels, restaurants, stores and popular hang out places for tourists: Senor Frogs, Margaritaville, Hard Rock Cafe and many others. It is often compared to Miami Beach in South Florida, due to its crowds of curious tourists that fill the known hotels like the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach (home to the Hula Grill restaurant) and the very expensive and exclusive Halekulani, where a lot of Hollywood stars stay. Honestly, we don’t know what the fuzz is about this hotel, aside from its security, since it is very simple. It is beautiful, but we found that it was very simple. However, it has one of the best places for brunch on Sundays and to watch the sunset every night, the House Without a Key bar.
Is the new trend, the coolest way to eat and we couldn’t agree more! Food trucks are the new best things to hit the food scene!
And in Orlando, Fl – like other cities in the nation, it is growing and growing and therefore is hard to keep up with the many trucks, the pods and the bazaars around the city. The bazaar is when several trucks get together in one place at the same time, offering a lot of yummy options to hungry fans.
There are a lot of trucks and all with different offerings, all good in there own right.
In this post we want to give you a sample of some of our favorites trucks and where to find them. We will be sure to revisit this topic as more food trucks are added to our list of ‘must eat there’ almost every week!!
Argentina is known for many things (wine, meat, polo, soccer – Messi and Maradona, anyone?) but one of its most important gifts to the world is the tango dance and music.
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| Tango in the streets of Buenos Aires |
History says that the tango has origins in Spain and Cuba, it became popular in Argentina by the European immigrants and the low class society of cities like Buenos Aires. It has its roots in the depression eras and the music and lyrics are usually sad and about lost love. But the dance is sensual, sexual, and passionate.
Sao Paulo is one of my favorite foodie cities in the world. Is like NYC, a melting pot of cultures and food: Italian, Japanese, Brazilian and more. Food heaven!
In one of my recent trips to Sao Paulo I had the opportunity of going to one of the city’s many farmers markets. In the heart of Jardins, one of the most secure and exclusive areas of the city, every Sunday morning local vendors get together to showcase their products (fruits, veggies, flowers, cheese, seafood and meat). There were things that I have never seen before in my life… I was fascinated!
Before the craze and trends of the food trucks hit Central Florida there was a Mexican family in Tampa making and selling delicious tacos and burritos 24/7 on a pimped out bus.
It is called the Taco Bus and due to its success, the owner Rene Valenzuela decided to open another bus, this time in St. Petersburg.
Located at busy Central Ave not far from downtown St. Pete and a short drive from St. Pete Beach/Treasure Island, Taco Bus St. Pete offers the same delicious menu that their counterpart in Tampa. The bus, this time a bright yellow food truck, is the kitchen where yummy Mexican food is prepared. The menu is very simple, but be prepared to know how to order in the Taco Bus fashion.
We have dedicated a few posts to the fabulous food that we had in Spain. But to have great tapas you don’t have to travel all the way to the Madre Patria!
In Orlando, where we live, we have two wonderful Spanish restaurants that satisfy our tapas cravings and sangria.
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| Sangria at Mi Tomatina |
Mi Tomatilla Paella Bar, located on West New England Avenue in Winter Park, is a relatively new restaurants that we discovered around the FIFA World Cup in summer 2010. We actually saw the final game there that of course, Spain won. They have sangria, Alhambra beer (light and dark), pan con tomate (bread with tomatoes), patatas bravas, paella and other traditional Spaniard dishes but with a gourmet twist.
Let’s face it, we travel to Italy not only to see the Roman Forum, the Vatican and the Colosseum. We go because we want to eat authentic Italian food: pasta, pizza, chianti and birra! Just like Julia Roberts’ character in Eat, Pray, Love did.
We’ve heard many times that people often get disappointed with the food in Italy, not enough flavor, not a lot of red sauce, small servings, extremely al dente pasta. And that dear readers, is all true. If you are expecting eating the same dishes you get at Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill and Carrabas, you are in for a big surprise.
Puerto Rican food – I have to say not because I’m from the island – is one of the best in the world.
However, is not that healthy… it is greasy, fat and oh so good! When on vacation at least you are allowed to cheat a little bit on your diet, right?
So when in Puerto Rico be sure to have an alcapurria, a bacalaito, taquito (not to be confused with a Mexican taco, is quite different), a pastelillo or empanadilla and a pionono to just name a few… You don’t have to eat all of them but at least you have to try two or three of them.
“Cuisine is the motor for rebuilding our identity, our independence” Peruvian Chef Gaston Acurio, CondéNast Traveler July 2011, page 72
Lately, more and more travelers are planning their vacations or trips around food. Yes food!!!
Bars to have a signature drink, re-known chefs’ restaurants, hole in a wall eateries and restaurants with a view are now on the must do list of seasoned and newbie travelers. Food is now as important as going to a museum, park or coliseum. Hooray!
We are getting ready for our long overdue honeymoon in Hawaii… and during our research of places to go, things to do and of course where to eat, we discovered a restaurant called Puka Dog, which has several establishments around the islands.
So what is a puka dog? Let’s start with the meaning of puka… it means hole… and dog is for hot dog… The hot dog instead of being sandwiched in a hot dog bun like they are usually done, they are inside a sweet Hawaiian bread that it’s filled with unique sauces like mango, pineapple and more… It sounds kind of weird right?
If you are in Boston one day, especially during the months of summer or even late spring, you have to have in your schedule attending a baseball game in the Fenway Park, the park where the Babe pitched. It’s truly a one of kind experience.
In one of my visits to the city, I had the opportunity to go and just walking around the area where the park is located, you see the city transform and realize that is game day.
When we arrived to Madrid, our friends wanted us to have our first typical Spanish meal. They took us to a town in the outskirts of Madrid called Escorial known for its Monasterio or The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo El Escorial - now a museum and school with beautiful gardens- and El Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen), a national cemetery where dictator General Franco is buried.
San Francisco, one of the most popular and populated cities in the state of California and the United States. And it is also one of the most beautiful and foodie cities in the world! And let’s not forget, romantic... We got engaged in San Francisco after all!
As other foodie capitals in the world, San Francisco is a melting pot of cuisines: Italian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, American, Mexican and many more. It also has the best seafood that we have ever had - in the states.
We spent two weeks in Spain and although 14 days seem long enough, believe us, it is not! Our time was divided between Madrid (with side trips to Escorial, Segovia and Toledo), Córdova, Granada, Valencia and Barcelona. I have to say that we saw a lot but we wished to have more time to explore other cities like Alicante, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Cadiz and many more... Another trip to Spain is definitely in our bucket list.
During our visit to Madrid, we stayed at the house of our friends Miguel and Yaire, located in the outside of the city. One of the nights, our hosts prepared a delicious yet simple dinner that can me transformed easily into a Spaniard brunch.
Our passion and love for Spain, La Madre Patria, started the moment we arrived at the international airport Madrid-Barajas. There was something in the ambiance and the attitude of the people rushing in and out of the gates.
