Have you ever thought about what tasty treats the Baltic nation of Lithuania has in store for you? No? I hadn’t either. It turns out that Lithuania is a great place for a traveler with a sweet tooth. It has a wonderful mix of familiar and exotic tastes.
Cakes at AJ Sokoladas
Three days in Amsterdam isn’t a lot of time, but it’s certainly enough to stuff oneself with the local delicacies. (Insert obvious joke about managing the munchies here.) There are lots of really good, simple foods to try that are filling, easy to find, and generally pretty easy on the budget. And since you’re probably going to be riding a bike around the city, why not make sure to up your daily calorie intake? We’re full of good ideas on this blog.
Say cheese!
On my first day after arriving in Malaga in Southern Spain, I was greeted with a bit of culture shock in the form of a cookie. It was mid-March, two weeks before Easter Sunday. Unbeknownst to me, I stumbled into the beginning of one of the most important weeks in Spanish culture: Semana Santa. This week, also known as Holy Week, celebrates the end of Lent with huge parades through the city streets. The main event is the procession of the brotherhoods who are dressed in their traditional uniforms (capirote). The capirote on the cookie looked a little too familiar…
Holy Week Cookies
Portland, Oregon is a great place to be a vegan. This mid-sized Northwestern city has a number of excellent restaurants and shops catered to those on a plant-based diet, many of which are popular with even the most die-hard meat eaters.
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The Bible describes Israel as the land of milk and honey. I would add cinnamon and chocolate to that description. I’m not sure if it is because I grew up with them, or if I just really love the flavor profile of Israeli sweets, but I was literally as happy as a kid in a candy shop in Israel. During my ten days traversing the country, I gorged myself on cinnamon buns, rugelach and ice cream…and I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
Chocolate Pastries
Belgium is a small country. Lots of people have never really thought about it; you rarely hear “Brussels” on the lips of people planning a round-the-world trip, which is a darn shame. The majority of people only really think about Belgium in one context (and it ain’t because of NATO headquarters): the Belgian waffle. And so it came to pass that when we began planning our trip to Belgium, I devoted myself to the idea of eating waffles. Waffles for breakfast, for dinner, for a post-dinner snack: I was going to eat waffles in amounts that would qualify me for a stint on “Celebrity Rehab”…if I were a celebrity anywhere but in my own head. I did–and it was glorious.
Street waffle selections
Unless you avoid alcohol for health or personal reasons, it is essential to try a native beer while in Belgium. Belgians are master brewers and Belgium is home to some of the most potent, complex, fragrant, and flavorful beers on the planet. Kwak, Chimay, Delirium Tremens Beer, the various fruity lambics…all delightful. Of course, this being Europe, you’re going to want a little Old World atmosphere to go with your perfectly poured Kwak. A few blocks off the Grand Place in Brussels lies the perfect location to indulge: Toone.
Toone Bar
Although India is a large and multicultural country with an enormous and varied culinary repertoire, most Indian restaurants outside of the subcontinent serve more or less the same basic North Indian dishes. However, as many visitors to India are surprised to learn, the country’s cuisine goes far beyond just dal and tandoori chicken. Here are a few delicious Indian dishes you may never have heard of:
My brother – a New York transplant since 2005 – is fond of saying, “The only thing constant about New York is change.” He ain’t kidding – every time I head home, I see that at least a dozen new chain stores have taken the place of boutiques I used to visit. New art exhibits on new corners. New fare hikes for the subway. And, of course, new restaurants.
image by author
I have to admit, I don’t mind the new restaurants all that much. After all, food is food, and I like food. And for my last night back home, my brother suggested we hit a place on the Lower East Side. “Trust me, sis,” he said. “This is a place you won’t find anywhere else but New York City.”
Northern France is a sweet tooth traveler’s dream location. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if the food would be as good here as it was in Paris. Let me put your mind at ease; it was even better! Lille is pretty close to the Belgian border, which means that not only was I treated to typical French food, I also got amazing Belgian food.
I was lucky enough to be in Lille during their Christmas market. There were tons of booths filled with cute handmade goodies, but of course my favorites were the waffles. They had my favorite Liege waffle, and another one called a stuffed waffle. It’s a smaller, flatter dough that’s cut in half and filled with a thick flavored sugar paste. I chose vanilla and it was AMAZING!
