We positioned ourselves in Wanaka both coming from and heading back to Christchurch. For simplicity's sake we decided to stay at the same B&B both times and we're glad we did. Suzy and Caroline...
Blog posts from restaurants
France Nov 2014: Toulouse evenings
In Toulouse we tried several restaurants plus two different Belgian beer bars. Le Point D'ogre - Eric's colleagues took us here on our first night, and it was Leandra's first 3+ hour French-style...
Candidasa: Food & Drink
Le-Zat Many restaurants in Candidasa offer car pickup which was a really nice feature - even though the main part of town was a manageable walk from our hotel, the narrow roads and alleys make it a...
Sonoma County: where we ate (and drank beer)
There are lots of great places to eat and drink (outside of the plethora of wineries) and we visited a few interesting places on this trip. Santa Rosa Belly Left Coast Kitchen - Planning to go to...
London 2014: food and drink
Food La Brioche -- After landing and enjoying a refreshing shower on Friday morning, I was on the hunt for a good breakfast spot. I wanted to go to the Natural History Museum so I started my search...
Toulouse, February 2014
In mid-February I returned to Toulouse, France, on another work trip. Much of that trip I was quite busy, and given the early winter sunsets, I didn't manage much sightseeing. However, several...
San Diego 2014: bars and restaurants
San Diego has no shortage of great restaurants, so I did a little research before we left and set up an outline of places to have lunch and dinner plus some nearby options for grabbing a drink as...
Summer Euro 2013: Lanzarote wine tasting
One of the more unexpected things on a dry, volcanic island like Lanzarote are the vineyards. The hills in the La Geria region are dotted with semi-circle stone walls, each housing a struggling vine...
Scotland 2013: food & drink in Callender and Stirling
The Lade Inn -- We were only in this area for one night, so when we found out that this place not only had good food and their own beers on draft (thanks RateBeer!), but live music on Saturday...
Scotland 2013: food & drink in Edinburgh
Bow Bar - Our first pub of the trip, we ordered a Black Isle porter and an Edinburgh #3 from Stewart Brewing. Beers were good but the standout was the delicious blue cheese and steak pie for 2£! At...
Montreal: food & drink
Restaurant Mai Xiang Yuan - I have always been a fan of dumplings in many forms, steamed, fried, whatever, so I couldn't turn down a chance to try this dumpling shop that had stellar reviews on...
Budapest 2013: food
Belgian Brasserie Henri -- We walked quite a lot on our first day in Hungary and found ourselves on the Buda side near dinner-time, so we choose this Belgian pub as a place to grab a beer and and...
Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee
Last weekend we took advantage of our Southwest Airlines companion pass to visit our friend Leah in Nashville. Saturday We arrived Saturday morning and were impressed by Nashville's arrivals area--...
Curacao 2013: food & lodging
Hotel Floris Suites - Unlike most of our trips, for this getaway we booked a package deal with airfare and hotel through AA vacations. We considered 6 different hotels, and though the Floris Suites...
Asia/Australia 2013: Sonoma food & lodging
Hotel Gaige House Back in November, Jetsetter was running a Cyber Monday deal for $75 off any available property. We still hadn't figured out where to stay in San Francisco, but when this hotel...
Christmas 2012: food & drink finds on Long Island
With a week in NY and some planning on our part we had the opportunity to try several new-to-us restaurants and some interesting new beer and wine establishments. Bellport Beer & Soda, Bellport...
Belgium 2012: overnight in London
On our way home from Belgium we had a 20-hour layover in London, so after clearing customs we dropped our carry-on luggage at the hotel and took the tube into central London. Our intended...
Belgium 2012: food & drink in Ghent
Beer Waterhuis aan de Bierkant - It was a bit chilly during our visit, so while Eric was wandering around taking photos, the rest of us pulled up a chair next to the heater and sampled a few beers....
Our Itinerary
2026 Trips
Parrish, FL (Jan)
Medellin, Colombia (Feb)
Wilmington, NC (Apr)
Asturias, Spain (May)
Galicia, Spain (Jun)
Ireland (Aug)
Vietnam (Nov)
Laos (Nov)
Cambodia (Dec)
Singapore (Dec)
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Doha, Qatar (May)
Bristol + London, UK (Jul)
Long Island, NY (Jul)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
day trips from Bologna (Oct)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
Greensboro, NC (Nov)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)