Trying New Food While Abroad - Fun or Disastrous?

When I travel I absolutely love to throw myself into the culture, that includes the food! Trying new food is always so tempting, but I've found it's incredibly important to play it safe sometimes. Finding the balance can be tough, so I thought I'd share some of my experiences.

Korean Barbecue in Downtown Singapore

While staying in Singapore, my husband introduced me to an AMAZING restaurant in downtown Singapore that served Korean Barbecue. I know it sounds odd to try Korean food while in Singapore, but Singapore combines the best of many asian countries' cuisines. I have to say, hands down that meal has been my favorite food I've ever had on my travel. I didn't worry too much about what it was I was eating, we just sort of went with it! Now, here I was staying in one city for a few weeks so if I did have a reaction to the food, it wouldn't be the end of the world. If I had to leave for an international flight, I probably would have played it a bit safer. Luckily, it worked out just fine! My husband and I had a great date night with some delicious food.

Streetfood in Malasia

This situation was a bit more high risk! My husband and I were going to be flying back to Singapore on the same day, but we really wanted to go for it! We had local friends who showed us around the Kuala Lumpur and brought us to their favorite street vendors. We had some immodium at the ready and decided it was worth the risk. We ate some pretty unique foods while there! We sampled some frog, ate a century egg (it was black and gelatinous!) and tried a bite of something that I have literally no idea what animal it came from - they didn't know the word in english. I must say my stomach did have a bit of trouble afterwards, but nothing disastrous. All in all, it was successful!

Portuguese Cuisine 

Finally, while in Portugal we finished off our trip with a classic portuguese meal in a lovely local restaurant. The restaurant was recommended to us by our hotel concierge, then we asked the waiter for advice on which local dish was best. I went for a pork dish (tasty!) while my husband took a risk and ate octopus! I originally considered a sausage dish, but those tend to not end well with me so I took that into account and went for pork chop rather than a sausage dish. Meanwhile, my husband threw caution to the wind (we had an international flight the next morning) and went big! I am no where near as adventurous as he is, but I still like to enjoy the culture.

Whether you are a foodie or like to play it safe,  I've found that dessert is always a decent bet. In Italy I ate gelato on the daily! Those dishes tend to use similar ingredients across the board and have some seriously amazing flavor!

No matter your food preferences, my company, Miles Into Memories Travel, is happy to organize a trip that suits your needs! Check out MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com to get started today!

Hiking the La Luz Trail - Albuquerque, NM

Now that we are back from Portugal, we've already started brainstorming ideas for our next trip. We are tentatively thinking about hiking the Grand Canyon which got me reminiscing about our hiking trip to New Mexico in 2015. It was gorgeous, and I don't think I properly shared photos from that, so here we go!

Our biggest hike was La Luz, which is a trail that goes up the side of Sandia Mountain. I believe it's roughly 8 miles, but it does go up a mountain so leave yourself plenty of time!  That elevation change will get ya. We took our time and enjoyed the views, so it wound up taking us about 10 hours.

But look at the views! So beautiful!

And here's a shot of the triumphant gang at the top of the mountain. Go team! If you're in New Mexico, an outdoor enthusiast and up for adventure, I highly recommend this hike! 

A Night in the Beautiful Bussaco Palace

On our road trip around Portugal, we made a pit stop at the GORGEOUS Bussaco Palace in Luso, and boy, was it beautiful! It is technically a five star hotel, but the accommodations aren't what you would typically think of as a five star hotel. It is literally a palace, which means it's old and it does show it's age a bit. Somehow, that only seems to add to the beauty of the place. 

It is honestly like a fairy tale! It's so beautiful!

You can spend literally hours hiking around the grounds. The palace was used as a hunting palace a long time ago so the grounds are expansive. There are so many fun walkways and path ways, I doubt you'd ever have time to explore them all.

You can even stay overnight in the palace - our room was darling! As I said, not a lot of fancy adornments, but it was very sweet. We thoroughly enjoyed the comfy bed, and the bathroom was very nice as well. No complaints there!

And finally, I don't have a picture, but I HIGHLY recommend enjoying a fancy dinner out on the terrace. My husband and I had a magical time. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was phenomenal! It's probably one of my favorite memories from the trip. 

Overall, the palace is a little out of the way (hard to access via public transportation), but it's worth the drive. We had a magical time and absolutely would visit again.