Food Culture

Many times when I think back about the places we've traveled, I think of the food. I know, I know it’s the fat kid in me. But food really is an important part of every culture. Every country varies, or every region for that matter. In the states BBQ is a good example, one country but it’s super divided on what good BBQ is. Some people say pork, some say beef, some prefer mustard, some vinegar, and some tomato based. A lot of my life has been spent over indulging on food. While now I try to think of it as fuel, I think it’s still important to embrace it while traveling. You might have to work extra hard when you get home, or pay a few visits to your hotel’s gym but sometimes you should splurge. Don’t be afraid to try new things, the taste will dissipate if it’s not for you!

I think back about eating asparagus risotto and sipping limoncello in Venice, and yes, of course it was at an outside cafe in a courtyard.

We ate pasta overlooking the Grand Canal, cheap gigantic pizza slices and another day fresh fruit.

Gelato in San Marco Square and this decadent berry crème brulee. Venice was kind to us, to say the least.

We ate dolmades in Mykonos, they definitely weren't my favorite(or Josh’s)

but it was something new to me and I respected the experience all the same.

This was the fare in Istanbul. I found it quite good until dessert, something about the texture of it just wasn't for me.

 

Josh’s overstuffed pastry from Barcelona, our favorite treat to melt away the heat, and some yummy Mexican we found. Apparently we forgot to take pictures of tapas night, but know they were amazing!

 

Amazing subs on baguettes on the Champs Elysse in Paris. Also that bug infested place we ate at super close to the Eiffel Tower,

lucky for you, I don’t have a picture of that. ;)

This grilled cheese in Amsterdam, serious, it was that good!

Dutch pancakes in Amsterdam, and this sandwich I got to go on the day we left.

That sandwich shop was a little slice of heaven!

 

Belgian waffles in Belgium                                    

Mozart Balls in Salzburg and a pretzel larger than Josh’s head =)

 

The meals we had on the way back from the Eagle’s nest in a small (I believe) German town

If you've heard about Mine and Emily’s India trip you know the food was not our friend. Just know it looks similar to what’s on the left. In it’s defense this was a very good dish, but the thought of food in India still makes me queasy. The picture on the right is a strange yet comforting chicken noodle soup I got. Closest thing to comfort food, at some point in time we had to quit the potato chips =] 

Nepal was MUCH kinder and offered many options. Once again, chicken noodle soup and french fries the cure-all. The second is fried rice, the Nepal version of pot-stickers called momo, and Em’s pizza. The Third is yak-cheese pizza. Em and I swore by this place and ate there at least 3 times in the 2 days I believe we were in Pokhara. hah.

 

Our list from Okinawa is endless but a few interesting things have been sea grapes, the experience of the fish market on Kokusai and lobster head miso soup. In the market you pick your meal and then head upstairs and they cook it for you.

Hot pot(Tokyo)                                  

Cheeseburger sushi and the Okinawan specialty, taco rice

 

If you’ve made it this far, you’re either disgusted or super hungry. Once we return stateside I’m going to figure out the perfect asparagus risotto ;) But for now it’s pantry emptying time since we’re getting down to the wire. What’s your favorite food, be it from afar or right next door?

Valentine’s update

Today is Valentine’s day in Okinawa! Yes, they do celebrate it but there is a slight twist on it. On Valentine’s women are supposed to give the men in their lives a gift, something simple like chocolates. But don’t fret ladies, it comes back to us on White day(March 14) which is where the men return the favor ;)

All is well in Oki and today is a gorgeous day. There’s still a bit of chill in the air, but that won’t last long! We are working on getting out of here towards the end of April. I’m growing more and more excited about the idea of getting out of here, and seeing all of my family and friends! We have so many beautiful babies to love on when we get back, I can’t wait. We have web orders right now to New Orleans but we’re waiting on Josh’s actual orders so we have a date for everyone wondering when we’ll be back. Once the time comes, please please be patient with us! We have so many people to see, places to go, and things to eat(you know we’ll be eating EVERYTHING) that we will be quite busy! So for now, I suppose it’s time to start decluttering the house and selling or donating anything we don’t need.

Josh medaled at division matches and I couldn’t be prouder! He got silvers in both rifle and pistol. He’s been the platoon sergeant again for a while but is about to hand it over to someone else so that we can get out of here! We’ve both started working out more. Josh is trying to gain muscle and I’m trying to burn off this fat! I started an 8week boot camp about 5 weeks ago and I’m pretty sure it’s the best thing I’ve done for myself. I have barely seen the scale move, but luckily I’ve lost quite a few inches off my waist and hips! So I’m just replacing that fat with muscle, I’ll take it! We’ve been going to zumba together the past few times and it’s been really nice to have him there. We laugh, sweat, shake it a little, but it’s just nice to do something active with him. Other than that our lives have been pretty boring. I guess what they say is true, no news is good news…

Hello Old Friend

I often forget to post on our blog, actually I always forget to. It’s been quite some time since my last post and my how time has flown by. A few more life changing vacations in between, new friends, and new ideas, but the same Shauna and Josh. I laid away in bed this morning thinking of a moment on our last vacation together and thought maybe I should take a chance to write it down and change the approach of our blog. I’d like to share some stories instead.

As most of you know, who know us, we went on a Mediterranean cruise this past summer. It was one of those truly life changing vacations. Not because we saw the Colosseum or the Parthenon, but because we made amazing friends and had too many amazing experiences to recant. We made friends with two couples(Kasia and Mario, and Regina and Kevin) who we really ended up getting to know along the way and enjoyed their companionship so much, maybe even too much! We drank too much wine and ate like we would never eat again and every second was amazing. I would say that we laughed too much, but one can never laugh enough. One moment that will forever stick out in my mind was in Florence, coincidentally on Josh’s birthday.. We were walking from the Galleria Accademia towards the Basilica Di Santa Maria Del Fiore(above picture). We had just seen the famous statue of David and plenty more of Michelangelo’s works, but we were rushed and herded through the gallery much like cattle. I was thankful that we were able to see everything we wanted to that day but cruise excursions are so pushy and obnoxious at times. We were walking back towards the square when we heard the most beautiful sound. Once we made it to the street exit we could see there was a man sitting on a park bench beside the Church playing a cello solo. Josh and I stopped in amazement and listened with all of the hustle and bustle around us. The acoustics of the area couldn’t be more perfect and each note rang deep throughout our souls(as cliché as it sounds) in such a moving way. It didn’t take long for my eyes to well up with tears to the point where I didn’t want to speak, because I knew that at any second they would stream down my face. We couldn’t stay long because we had to catch up to the group and get on to the next attraction. I wish I could have stayed and just listened for hours, but those minutes gave me enough to cling to for a lifetime. All day I marveled at the sound I had heard that morning, and ever since it pops up in my mind and I can hear it all over again. Of course we tipped him well, it would have been hard not to. He did what most musicians wish they could do, in less than 5 minutes. This morning I woke up and I’m not sure why but that cellist popped into my head and kept me up for several hours. I thought about the music and about how beautiful that moment in my life was. I thought about how fortunate I am to have had such a moment, and others like it. I thought about how close I felt to Josh in that moment. I wish I could thank the cellist for such an amazing memory. I hope that everyone has a moment as profound that they can relate to and I hope that in some point in our lives you’ll share it with me.

Salzburg

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Paris

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Brussels!

 

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This is the photo album from Brussels. We weren’t entirely sure what we were going to do here, but it turned into a good time.

Amsterdam!

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Sorry to anyone who has been waiting for me to upload my plethora of pictures. Also sorry that we’ve kind of lost contact with a lot of people lately. Life has been interesting. Hope you enjoy these pictures from Amsterdam, they aren’t great but they’re all we’ve got! It’s fun to look through them again and remember how crazy these two weeks in Europe were.