Articles by traveleatlove

New Zealand- Part 1 Hi everyone, I am Kelly from She Wears a Red Sox Cap and I am very excited to be writing this guest post for Meghan. I LOVE to travel so I hope you enjoy reading about it… I began my trip to New Zealand quite differently than most other trips. Normally, I anticipate a trip for months beforehand. I research every place to visit, every hotel to stay at, every restaurant worth trying, etc. However, my New Zealand trip happened quite differently. I was planning to study abroad in Australia, my plane ticket came with one stop over, so I picked New Zealand and so it was booked. Then, I studied abroad for five months enjoying what felt like a 5-month long vacation and just when it was time to go home and see my friends and family I remembered I had a New Zealand trip to go on. At this point 5 months of fun had caught up with me, I had a terrible cough and while I was excited for New Zealand, I probably would’ve chosen to just relax in Sydney for another week if I had a choice. On my flight down to Auckland I was definitely “one of those” people on the plane, coughing and coughing and driving everyone around me crazy. I was supposed to meet up with two of my college friends and travel around the country with them. Due to my sickness, I decided to pick a town and park myself there for a few nights so I could get better. I picked Dunedin. Dunedin is a college town located on the South Island of New Zealand. I had to take 3 two more planes to get there, but it would make it easiest to meet up with my friends later in the week. I found a random hotel on the outskirts of town (I had been staying in hostels, but I didn’t want to be that person on the plane AND in the hostel) and I made myself comfortable. Over the next three days I feel in love with Dunedin. There is so much to see and do, and so many cute coffee shops to park yourself and read Harry Potter (which is what I did when I needed a break). Dunedin, I later learned, actually is the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh and I can definitely some resemblances between the two. Dundein’s central point is referred to as “The Octagon” and is a nice place to sit on a bench and eat lunch, or read a good book. The Municipal Chambers of Dunedin is also located there. The first place I visited in Dunedin was the University of Otago, New Zealand’s oldest university. What a gorgeous place!

Almost made my wish I studied abroad there. Except that it was December (summer time in New Zealand) and I was still wearing a North Face fleece. Continuing north from “The Octagon”, I next visited the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. Even though it was cold, it was such a beautiful day for walking around such gorgeous landscape.

Going even further from the center of town (I probably hopped on a bus at some point), I visited the World’s Steepest Street! I know, major tourist trap, but it did not cost any money and it was really cool to say I’ve walked up the World’s Steepest Street. The street is called “Baldwin Street.”

Coming back more to the Octagon area, there is a lot of other fabulous architecture to be seen. I was not taking a train anywhere, but look at this amazing railway station…

Inside was just as amazing:

Also, standing above the Octagon is St. Paul’s Cathedral, which has the only vaulted ceiling in New Zealand…random I know.

Finally, if you are a chocolate fan, no trip to Dunedin would be complete without a visit to…

And yes, you do get free chocolate. You also get to enjoy a tour through a chocolate smelling factory. What could be better? Also, New Zealand (and Australia) have lots of Cadbury products that are not sold in the US, so be sure to try some of those. If you are not sick and relaxing like I was, I would definitely recommend a trip out to Otago Peninsula. You can see the more rare species of penguin, the yellow-eyed penguin, ONLY on Otago Peninsula. Very cool. Stay tuned for tomorrow when I get more adventurous and begin to really see the countryside of the South Island.

I was so excited to be able to be a guest blogger for Travel Eat Love because that means that I can post a bit more about my travels and the food I’ve enjoyed on those trips!  I decided to go with our most recent adventure; this spring my husband and I were able to spend about 10 days touring around Northern India!  Indian food is one of my absolute favorite ethnic cuisines; I love all the flavorful spices and especially the naan! :)  During our trip we were able to visit about 8 different cities, and I just loved getting to taste what were the local favorites.  By the end of the trip I was able to even start recognizing some words on the menu to even know what I was ordering instead of just pointing to something on the menu and hoping I would like it (which, of course, always did)! 

Here are a couple of our favorite meals and areas.  Of course, the Taj Mahal makes the list of the most incredible places I have ever seen.  Before we arrived, I thought it was going to be a tourist trap that looks amazing in every picture but is just “okay” when you’re really there…wow, was I wrong!  I could have stared at it for hours and never ceased to be amazed.  We took the advice of the locals to see it during the sunrise, and as you can tell, it was just breathtaking!

This other photo was taken during a boat ride in on the Ganges River in Varanasi during another sunrise that I will never forget.

Varanasi is an incredibly unique city as just in this short boat ride, we observed people mourning the loss of loved ones, others beginning their day with a holy bath or silent meditation, people washing their clothes in the river and a mix of rituals, celebrations and religions.  I learned so much during our short stay here and feel so grateful that I have been able to experience this rich and diverse culture! This was an amazing trip that I will never forget! Now I just hope to learn a little more about how to be able to cook my own Indian meals at home!  🙂 ~Simply Life

Thanks so much to Gina for sharing this amazing trip with us. Is anyone else hungry now? 🙂 Check out her blog at simplylife.blogspot.com. You will want to move in with her and her husband just so you can eat dinner with them every night!

Hello from San Francisco! I should be getting ready right now, but I couldn’t stay away! I am hoping to cover this event as “live” as I possibly can! We made it quickly on the BART to our hotel right after we landed, and we were able to check right in. Score!

I was STARVING when we got to our hotel, so we walked a couple of blocks up the street to a little Thai place called Banana House. I ordered a spicy tofu curry that had bell peppers and avocado with a side of brown rice and a salad dressed in peanut sauce. I adore peanut sauce. I also had a Calistoga sparkling water.

Hubs had a mountain of Pad Thai. So good. After lunch we walked over to Foodbuzz central, the Hotel Vitale so that I could register and pick up my bag. I finally met Mardi from Eat Live Travel Write!

It is super warm here, and I definitely overdressed. I NEEDED to head back to the hotel to get a quick shower.On our way back I saw another person carrying the very heavy Foodbuzz bag, and it turned out to be Andrea from http://highlowfooddrink.blogspot.com. It was great to meet her, and hopefully I will see her again tonight when I am feeling cleaner and more of a normal human being! Before I go for the night, a glimpse of the swag. . .

Have a fantastic night! I wish you were all here, but whatever you do tonight make it fun!!