I thought I’d take part in the travel link up hosted by Binny at Binny’s Kitchen and Travel Diaries with Follow Your Sunshine, Adventures of a London Kiwi and SilverSpoon London, as it combines 2 of my favourite things…food and travel!
The question posed…if travel was a menu, what would be your starter (short haul), main (long haul) and/or dessert (a place with a lasting impression)?
Starter:
Choosing my starter is difficult! Living in England, we’re incredibly lucky to have so many short haul places available to us. We can get to the majority of Europe in a few hours. I initially was going to pick Spain as we took a 6 week adventure there in 2016 and it’s where I had many holidays as a child. However, I’ve opted for Rome as it’s somewhere that we both instantly fell in love with the minute we arrived back in September 2016. We were only there for a few days but we managed to cram SO much in. From the Trevi Fountain to the Vatican, the Colosseum to the Spanish Steps and the Piazza Navona to Pyramid of Cestius there is so much history to see, even if you aren’t huge history boffin like us.
The people were lovely, the food was fabulous (endless pizza and pasta…what’s not to like?!) and lashings of wine and prosecco to wash it all down with.
One of our favourite activities was the food tour where it went away from the tourist traps and lived like a local for a morning.
![img_0136 img_0136](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0136.jpg?w=284&h=379&ssl=1)
![img_2209 img_2209](https://i1.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_2209.jpg?w=284&h=379&ssl=1)
![img_2309 img_2309](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_2309.jpg?w=284&h=379&ssl=1)
![img_0134 img_0134](https://i1.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0134.jpg?w=284&h=379&ssl=1)
![img_0068 img_0068](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0068.jpg?w=284&h=379&ssl=1)
![img_0053 img_0053](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0053.jpg?w=693&h=292&ssl=1)
![img_0180 img_0180](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0180.jpg?w=219&h=292&ssl=1)
![img_0128 img_0128](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0128.jpg?w=293&h=292&ssl=1)
![img_0154 Trevi Fountain Rome](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/img_0154.jpg?w=219&h=292&ssl=1)
Main:
For my long haul trip, I’ve chosen America…
I went to New York for my 30th (although I’ve NO idea where my photos are from that trip…annoying!) and had such a great time with my Mum. I’d really like to go back with JB as he’s never been. There’s SO much to see and do, I think you could go for 2 weeks and still come back with a list of places you never got to! I made Mum take a helicopter trip over the city and it was the best way to see the city.
We took OB to Los Angeles in April 2015. I managed to get flights with Air New Zealand for a complete bargain – £777 for the 3 of us. It was our first experience using VRBO rentals and I was a little wary about getting to the house and it not existing however (if I do say so myself), it was a brilliant choice! Just a couple of hundred steps from Marina Del Rey beach which then was a 20 minute walk to Venice Beach.
One of the funniest memories was getting JB to drive us up the coast to Calabasas to see if we could do any Kardashian Hunting (unsuccessful)…on the way back we stopped at Santa Monica and I’d love to visit the town again as we didn’t stay very long. We did SO much during our 10 days including a short trip down to San Diego, a trip to Universal Studios and a tour of Hollywood where we had our very own X-Factor type car!
We’re off to Las Vegas in October for JB’s birthday and I can’t wait to experience the complete over the top-ness that comes with it!!
![651360140e36cf34e45a096e80415ac5e93fb74a9edd26c8e8abe31e7feaf733f4a00672 651360140e36cf34e45a096e80415ac5e93fb74a9edd26c8e8abe31e7feaf733f4a00672](https://i1.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/651360140e36cf34e45a096e80415ac5e93fb74a9edd26c8e8abe31e7feaf733f4a00672.jpg?w=716&h=955&ssl=1)
![2249080141eae6c335b69da1ac6e243aacb83f1ca11dcaefb457103bf52fd627a4ce84b4 2249080141eae6c335b69da1ac6e243aacb83f1ca11dcaefb457103bf52fd627a4ce84b4](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2249080141eae6c335b69da1ac6e243aacb83f1ca11dcaefb457103bf52fd627a4ce84b4.jpg?w=716&h=955&ssl=1)
![17017852a9843980b7ca25c3c74f423e19f4183465bfbbc5eacedde6ee19b23ad5079440 17017852a9843980b7ca25c3c74f423e19f4183465bfbbc5eacedde6ee19b23ad5079440](https://i1.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/17017852a9843980b7ca25c3c74f423e19f4183465bfbbc5eacedde6ee19b23ad5079440.jpg?w=901&h=1202&ssl=1)
![43814710acc8d065a5740d9bb50d07834af0b0867cf1f9aa0ac5034fa58449553aa12f97 43814710acc8d065a5740d9bb50d07834af0b0867cf1f9aa0ac5034fa58449553aa12f97](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/43814710acc8d065a5740d9bb50d07834af0b0867cf1f9aa0ac5034fa58449553aa12f97.jpg?w=531&h=398&ssl=1)
![8838522318f07d5a08943ae014bcb8328a0491f64c323f3f09faf166479584718d6542b1 8838522318f07d5a08943ae014bcb8328a0491f64c323f3f09faf166479584718d6542b1](https://i1.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/8838522318f07d5a08943ae014bcb8328a0491f64c323f3f09faf166479584718d6542b1.jpg?w=531&h=398&ssl=1)
![671654191f406b904e39d384825b8001cb7726e2a1195a96cc66fd41e0d36d2e3d604a2d 671654191f406b904e39d384825b8001cb7726e2a1195a96cc66fd41e0d36d2e3d604a2d](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/671654191f406b904e39d384825b8001cb7726e2a1195a96cc66fd41e0d36d2e3d604a2d.jpg?w=531&h=398&ssl=1)
Dessert:
My dessert has got to be Australia – this is where we went for our honeymoon. There’s so much diversity from the cosmopolitan cities to the mountains, the wine regions and the incredibly beaches. Australia has a huge amount of special memories attached to it for me. We were away for 3 weeks in total and visited some truly incredible places, non of which was like the last. We stayed in a variety of super posh hotels to small lodges.
We landed in Sydney and stayed at the beautiful Westin Hotel. It’s centrally located and within easy access of everything. One trip that we did was over to Watson Bay and I think it’s here that really left a lasting impression on me. We had fish and chips for breakfast from Doyles Restaurant whilst sat looking back over the sky line of Sydney. I don’t know why, but it’s a memory that fills me with happiness when I think of this.
From Sydney we started a huge road trip which took us to the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley for wine tasting, Byron Bay, Broadbeach to see family friends of JB’s, Brisbane (the only place we went that I didn’t like) and then up to Fraser Island.
From Fraser Island we then flew down to Melbourne which is totally different to Sydney. It was whilst in Melbourne we experienced 45 degree heats and watched the Australian Open Tennis which was brilliant.
We only saw a teeny tiny section of the country and we’d LOVE to go back one day.
![P1020876 P1020876](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1020876.jpg?w=916&h=688&ssl=1)
![P1020614 P1020614](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1020614.jpg?w=516&h=688&ssl=1)
![P1020466 (1) Beach at Watson Bay](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1020466-1.jpg?w=456&h=342&ssl=1)
![P1020583 P1020583](https://i1.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1020583.jpg?w=256&h=342&ssl=1)
![P1020488 P1020488](https://i2.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1020488.jpg?w=456&h=342&ssl=1)
![P1020518 P1020518](https://i0.wp.com/happywiseowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1020518.jpg?w=256&h=342&ssl=1)
This was REALLY difficult to choose a country for each course – what would your travel menu look like?!
Come and join us and link up a post. Just pop your post up over the first week of the month (the 1st – 7th May 2017), add it to the link up widget found on Follow Your Sunshine, Adventures of a London Kiwi, SilverSpoon London, or on the blog of lovely guest host Binny’s Kitchen and Travel Diaries from the 1st. There are no rules – basically all we ask is that you check out some of the other cool bloggers that are involved in that months travel link up; make a few comments here and there and tweet a few of the posts out to your followers that you think they will love. It’s a great way to meet some new travel bloggers and share some blogging joy!
COMMENT / LIKE / FOLLOW & SHARE
lovely post #travellinkup
Rome has been on my list for so long! I really want to go there soon now and especially after seeing your pictures!
Rome has been on my ‘to visit’ place for so long! It looks like a stunning place with so many things to see and do! I also love America and Australia is also a place I would love to visit!
Oh I really want to visit Rome and Australia! My starter would probably have to be Amsterdam, I’ve been twice and I just loved how relaxed and chilled out it was despite the fact it’s a busy city. My main course would be New York. I went when I turned 21 and it was my favourite trip ever. So much more that I have to explore and see. I’m not too sure about my dessert. Maybe France? As it’s where I took all of my childhood holidays and it’s a country I absolutely loved.
Lauren | Lauren the Daydreamer
I love that you picked the United States as a main! It’s such a massive country you could discover it fo trips on hand
Urg so many typos my apologies. I meant *for trips on end. Okay makes more sense now 🙂
LOVE this idea, and you have some great picks. I think my starter would also be Italy (Rome or Florence). Main would be Cambodia as I have always wanted to visit there. To finish I would have to go to Mauritius, as my and my gran have always promised each other that if we wont he lottery we would take each other there
Ok so this is a really cool way to right this post, absolutely LOVE the idea. Rome is defo on our must go lost, My boyfriend is dying to go!
Iamfoxxtailz | Alternative Style Diary