We Ate And Drank Our Way Through 2018

Food and Drink Were Plentiful in 2018

We were away for about 6 months of the year in 2018. So it is fair to say that we ate out – a lot – in 2018! And we had lots of opportunities to try different food experiences. Luxury travel experiences brought us great hotel treats. And of course, we found lots of chocolate on our travels. Local specialties tempted us on our spring trip to Central Europe and in the fall in Asia. Travel closer to home let us enjoy fair food and gourmet food trucks. Without a doubt, we ate and drank our way through 2018.

Chocolate From Beginning To End

It should not be surprising to hear that many of our food experiences centred around chocolate. We started the year with a tour of a cacao farm in St Lucia and learned how to make chocolate. Of course we had the most delicious chocolate treats and drinks on our stay.

On our trip to Philadelphia for July 4th, we made a detour on the way home. We could not visit Pennsylvania and miss a stop at Hershey’s Chocolate World.

When we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Geneva, we enjoyed a wine and chocolate pairing. It was fascinating to see how the flavours mixed. With a speciality chocolate shop off of the lobby, we received delicious chocolate selections every day.

Throughout our luxury hotel stays in Asia, we often were treated with chocolate surprises. The chocolate Terra Cotta Warrior was the perfect treat before we visited the vast Terra Cotta Warrior site.

And there was no better foodie delight than to finish our year at Christmas with a cruise to Cuba with Oceania Cruises. David made sure he had his list of his favourite chocolate desserts. And looked for new ones to add!

As we ate and drank our way through 2018 we found chocolate on every travel stop.

Great Food At Sea

We know that we can always count on finding great food at sea. We cruised with Oceania Cruises to the Southern Caribbean and had great gourmet meals.

Shortly after that we cruised the western Caribbean with Windstar Cruises. And enjoyed great spreads at bbqs on the ship and at the beach.

When we cruised on the Yangtze River with Viking Cruises, we got tasty traditional food. But we were also treated several times to full Chinese buffets.

As we cruised at sea, we ate and drank our way through 2018.

Local Specialties Tempted Us

From Prague to Budapest we enjoyed traditional local cuisine at every stop. The food was heavy and filling. But tasty.

No visit to Austria and Switzerland was complete without a thorough vetting of their sweet treats. Sacher tortes and strudel were plentiful.

On our 8 week trip to Asia, we enjoyed local Asian meals every day. We managed to deal with our aversion to hot spicy foods. And were surprised at how much vegetables we ate! We enjoyed making pasta when we travelled in Italy. And enjoyed entertaining pasta making demonstrations when we cruised with Oceania Cruises. But on our Viking trip to China, we also go to see Asian noodles being made.

We ate and drank our way through 2018 and enjoyed the local specialties as we travelled.

Food On The Go

We visited Philadelphia for July 4th. Food trucks lined the street. And offered every kind of food and drink.

At home in Toronto, we finished the summer at the big Toronto Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). The food building provided all kinds of options. Food trucks served local delights and drinks. And of course we found typical fair food.

As we ate and drank our way through 2018, we enjoyed our food on the go.

Coffee, Tea And Me

We are self-admitted coffee snobs. So we often seek out coffee shops as we travel. We found great coffee at some places. But we also found coffee that was made better with just a little gelato to make an affogato.

We stay away from chain stores like Starbucks. But in Shanghai, we found the greatest Starbucks Reserve coffee roastery.

As we travelled through Asia, we discovered a lot more about tea. The tea shops in Old Shanghai provided a wide range of choices. Far more than we could taste test. And we even watched as tea leaves were prepared.

The Pu ‘er tea we bought on a short stay in Lijiang China was billed as the cure to all ills. In Beijing we visited a tea shop and learned all about the proper way to make and drink tea.

As we ate and drank our way through 2018, enjoyed both coffee and tea.

Beer, Wine and Spirits

David loves to try the local beers as we travel. We tried beer from the Caribbean to Europe to Asia. But the most interesting beer stop was in the Czech Republic. Did you know that Budweiser originated in Czech?

But beer was not the only local drink we got in the Czech Republic. When we stayed in Prague for 10 days, we made sure to visit a funky absinthe shop. We were not sure if the building or the process to prepare the absinthe was more unusual.

Our travels were celebrated with wine and bubbly. We love to enjoy our days at sea. And on our Oceania Cruises trip to the southern Caribbean, we indulged in a wine tasting at sea. This was the second time we had enjoyed such a treat.

When we stayed in the small village of Slavonice, we got a tour of the host’s private wine cellar. And a fun demonstration of sabrage!

But this was not the first time we saw sabrage. We visited Washington DC in the spring for cherry blossom season. For a delightful treat one day, we had Afternoon Tea at the lovely St Regis. And after the tea finished, we were treated to our first demonstration of having a champagne bottle opened with a sabre.

As we ate and drank our way through 2018, we enjoyed our alcoholic drinks too!

We Definitely Ate And Drank Our Way Through 2018

As we looked back on travel over the year, it was easy to see that we ate and drank our way through 2018. We had some amazing food. And had a great variety in the food and drink. It was no wonder we found the need to diet between trips such a necessity.

Did you get hungry as you watched as we ate and drank our way through 2018? What was your favourite foodie treat?

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