Travel - A Couple Cooks

3 Best Sedona Hikes

Alex Overhiser — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 11:32:40 +0000

Looking for the best hikes in Sedona? Here are three great Sedona hikes that give you amazing views and drool worthy photo opps.

Sedona, Arizona is truly incredible. While the Grand Canyon is awe inspiring, I prefer hiking the majestic red rocks of Sedona. Everywhere you look, you’re surrounded by beautiful red cliffs, that make the most incredible backdrop.

The best part about Sedona Arizona is that there are literally hundreds of hikes to choose from! While awesome, it can be overwhelming. Here are three of the best hikes in Sedona we’ve found: best Sedona hikes meaning best views. Since we’re photographers, we’re all about them views! If you’re looking for hard core intense mountain hiking, this isn’t the list for you. But if you’re looking for drop dead gorgeous views and photo opps, keep reading!

Related:What to Wear in Arizona

Sedona Hike 1: All About That View (Secret Slickrock)

Our first best Sedona hike is nestled behind Cathedral rock, giving you all of the amazing views of this monument without so many crowds. The “hike” is called Secret Slickrock and it is a VERY easy, very short ½ mile from the trailhead to the wide open views of Cathedral Rock. If you’re lucky, there will be pools of water filled with rain reflecting the rocks and the sky! This is an incredible secret viewing spot and not to be missed! As you can see, these views are otherworldly.

Secret Slickrock is a great to do with kiddos: just keep in mind you’ll have to corral them once you get to the viewpoint because there are no fences! Larson (age 2) loved throwing rocks into the pools of water. But he does tend to run quickly so we kept a VERY close eye on him. Mostly, we kept him in our hiking backpack while we snapped photos.

The Secret Slickrock trailhead has a very small parking lot, so aim to get there early or on less busy days! Follow the signs for Secret Slickrock.

Sedona Hike 2: Simply Beautiful (Teacup Trail)

Our second best Sedona hike is classic Sedona! Starting at the edge of a neighborhood, you slowly climb towards the magnificent red rocks until you are practically hugging them. The trail is nice and wide at most parts and the biggest obstacles are avoiding the cactus! You get truly beautiful views and lots of varied landscape, but the hiking difficulty level is beginner.

For our toddler Larson, we mixed hiking with him in our toddler carrier and letting him run free. Again, throwing rocks was a huge highlight in his book.

The Teacup Trail parking is at the Sugar Loaf Trailhead. There’s a mid-sized parking lot available. We did about 1.5 miles of hiking out-and-back. Many different trails connect from this point, so you could spend a whole day exploring if you wanted to! Just make sure to pay attention to the signs on the trail.

Sedona Hike 3: The Instagram Star (Devil’s Bridge)

And our final Sedona hike: the perfect photo opp! Sedona has become very popular over the past couple of years and you’ll find slow traffic and completely filled parking lots on busy weekends. There’s a good reason for all of this: Sedona is amazing! And Devil’s Bridge is one of the most famous of Sedona hikes.

Maybe you’ve seen in on Instagram? Devil’s Bridge is a beautiful natural arch at the top of a Sedona canyon. The hike itself requires a bit of scrambling and has some elevation gain, so it’s definitely a more moderate hike. When we went there was a crowd at the top taking turns for portraits along the bridge: and lots of nervous people with queasy stomachs. It’s not as scary as it looks! But we also didn’t allow our toddler out on the bridge: he’ll have to wait a few more years for that!

For the Devil’s Bridge hike, many people park at the Devil’s Bridge parking lot. However, we recommend parking at the Mescal Trailhead and following the Chuck Wagon trail to connect to the Devil’s Bridge trail.

Where to stay in Sedona?

When we stayed in Sedona, Arizona most recently, we stayed in this Hilltop Lounge Airbnb. It’s a bit pricey, but the views were absolutely incredible! A favorite memory is drinking wine and eating a picnic dinner on our patio watching the sun set.

And that’s it: three Sedona hikes we love to recommend!

How about you: have you been to Sedona? What hikes have you enjoyed?

What to Wear in Arizona

Sonja Overhiser — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 12:31:50 +0000

Wondering what to pack for vacation? Here’s how to plan a travel capsule wardrobe for what to wear in Arizona! Affiliate links are included below.

Alex and I just got back from a little getaway to Arizona, where we toted 2 year old Larson around to Phoenix, Sedona, Tuscon, and Flagstaff! We for went the hiking, the pizza (AZ has some of the country’s best!), and time with friends and family. After we took our dream trip to Europe last summer, so many of you asked us about what I wore and what to pack! So here’s a version of my travel capsule wardrobe for what to wear in Arizona! We went in the spring so we had some varied weather in each city we visited. Links in the Packing List section below.

And now: what to wear in Arizona?

A fabulous sundress

It’s nice to have at least one fancy sundress that works for daytime and going out our the evening! You’ll find that everything I’m sharing here has multiple uses. This one is perfect with flats in the morning, and wedge heels in the evening. It’s from an ethical French company called Sézane. Their clothes are a little more expensive, but SO worth it for being really well made. And, I love the French style!

Find it: Sézane polka dot dress

A casual sundress

What to wear in Arizona? This dress. This one is the exact opposite of the dress above: it’s casual and inexpensive! This one is great because it’s so versatile: it feels like you’re wearing pajamas, but you can dress it up or down accordingly. This was perfect to wear for sightseeing, and then dress up in the evening for dinner.

Get it: Look alike Madewell yellow dress (mine is already sold out!)

A fun skirt

It’s also nice to have one versatile skirt that again–works for daytime sightseeing and evening dinner. This one is from Sézane again, the ethical French company that makes the dress above. I love the Euro flair! I’m into redish browns this season, and this mid-calf length skirt is apparently “in”.

Get it: Sézane brown skirt

Versatile tank tops

These tank tops are fantastic: you can wear them hiking with jean shorts, or dress them up with cropped pants and heels for going out. I have two: orange and gray! For going out, I paired the orange version with some reddish orange cropped pants. Finding what to wear in Arizona had me vibing on reds and oranges for the desert vibe. See below for the hiking version!

Get it: Madewell tank Red cropped pants or Everlane cropped pants

Me at Devil’s Bridge in Sedona

One casual and one dressy shorts

These paperbag shorts are a fun look for everyday wear that also dress up well at night. During the day with sandals, during the evening with heels. You’re probably sensing a trend here…

Get it: Boden paperbag shorts

I’ve had these jean shorts for quite a while, and they look great while hiking or for everyday wear. Here they are with the same tank as above that I wore hiking. Hiking in Sedona is all about layers, as you can see below…

Get it: Look alike Madewell jean shorts

A versatile sweatshirt

Arizona is all about temperature swings, especially in the spring when we went! Here I am hiking in Sedona; I like having a sweatshirt that works for hiking but could also be worn as everyday wear. We weren’t doing intense hiking where you’d have to be wearing activewear, so these worked perfectly.

Get it: Look alike Madewell jean shorts Look alike Everlane sweatshirt

Stylish hiking boots

As you can see above, for hiking I like a rustic style versus of activewear. These Teva hiking boots are SO comfortable and are legit hiking boots, with a stylish flair. I’ve had them for years and years, so I don’t have an exact link to them. But we found a look alike below!

Get it: Look alike Teva hiking boots

Stylish walking shoes

These are truly the best walking sandals ever. I got them for our Europe trip as a shoe that didn’t scream tourist! but could hold up to many miles per day. Alex found this brand called Naot. It’s based out of Israel and they’re all about comfort and style. Alex picked this Naot Pixie stylish wedge sandal for me, and when I put it on, it truly felt like I was walking on air! And they held up: I wore these sandals walking miles through Europe and never did my feet get tired. Some days we did 25,000 and the Naot Pixie still kept up. Since it’s a stylish walking shoe, it worked for dinner as well!

A great hat

Here is my best tip for ladies for looking good with no effort on vacation: wear a sun hat!. I know, it sounds deceptively simple. But honestly, you don’t have to do your hair, it blocks out the sun and keeps you cooler, AND it’s the perfect accessory to any outfit. Win, win, win! As you can see from these photos, I wore it just about 24/7. This covered up the days I didn’t shower! Most days I preferred to be out adventuring instead of spending time doing my hair.

Find it: Urban Outfitters Panama hat

A durable purse / bag

Another thing I wore just about every day was my purse / handbag. I’ve never been good at finding a bag I liked, but I think I finally found one in this Madewell carryall. It’s made of leather so it’s super durable, but it’s stylish at the same time. I prefer having a large bag so I can carry lots of things, and found this bag was the right size for me. I use it in everyday life not just vacation, and it truly goes with any outfit style.

Find it: Madewell Zip-Top Transport Carryall

Some online shopping tips

Now, Alex has been asked by my friends for YEARS what his tricks are for online shopping for clothes! Since I didn’t know myself, I asked Alex for his secrets to online clothes shopping. Here are Alex’s best online shopping tips for a travel wardrobe:

Sign up for email newsletters from online stores; they’ll often email about sales as much as 40 to 60% off.
Don’t buy too much at once, since it can be overwhelming to return things when you have a lot of pieces.
Shop at sites that have easy returns (either free or cheap, like $5).
When you’re browsing for clothes online, use the filter and sort features to narrow to the size and colors you’re looking for.
Only keep things that you absolutely love and want to wear all the time. Just because it looks great, don’t keep a shirt you’ll only wear once or twice.

Some of the online clothes shopping sites we frequent are: Everlane for high quality ethically made basics, Madewell for cute and unique pieces, and Sézane for super high quality ethical French-styled clothes.

Packing List: What to Wear in Arizona

With those tips in mind, here is what to wear in Arizona in list form. Again, caveats are that this is for women only (sorry!) and summer specific. For the pieces that I had existing or were not available, we’ve provided some look alikes!

Dresses & Skirt:

Shirts

Madewell tanks (gray & orange)
Everlane sweatshirt

Shorts & pants

Accessories

And that’s it! What to wear in Arizona.

And obviously, these suggestions work for travel to any warm weather location. Let us know if you have questions in the comments below!

The Best Gelato in Rome

Alex Overhiser — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 18:48:05 +0000

How do you find the best gelato in Rome? Here’s how to find the tastiest gelato that will have you coming back again and again.

How do you decide on the best gelato in Rome? The romantic says it’s the ice cream in hand. The sentimentalist says it’s from a centuries old shop. The foodie says it’s from the place with the wackiest flavors. We say: you can’t pick just one–and you shouldn’t! I’ve been on five trips to Rome, and have done my best to sample as many flavors and types of gelato just for you! Here we’ve narrowed it down to three of the best gelaterias in Rome: the shop with the most pure flavors, the classic gelateria, and the best modern gelato shop! We recommend you try them all on your next trip to Rome!

The best gelato in Rome: Pure flavors

First up in our Best Gelato in Rome wins for pure, simple and mind-blowing gelato flavors. Think strawberry that tastes more like a strawberry than an actual strawberry itself! That’s all the gelato flavors at Hedera, a little shop that prides itself on using natural and seasonal ingredients. The gelato is pure and smooth, perfectly executed and extremely high quality. Hedera is in the Borgo neighborhood up near the Vatican, so plan on stopping by after a trip around St. Peter’s Square. It’s also an extremely quaint location that’s camera friendly (see me enjoying some of that tasty pure chocolate gelato below).

Related: Try it: our lemon gelato recipe!

The best gelato in Rome: Classic gelateria

Next up in our Best Gelato in Rome: a sentimental favorite of ours, Gelateria del Teatro. It’s just outside the Piazza Navona, making it easily situated for romantic walks home after dinner. Just make sure to plan your timing accordingly: they’re only open until 11:00 pm! The flavors here are traditional but also inventive: think chocolate red wine, stracciatella with mint, rosemary honey and lemon, ricotta fig and almond. Eleven years ago when we came to Rome for our honeymoon, we came here every night (maybe twice). We were happy to see on return trips that Gelateria del Teatro was still alive and well, and they’d even expanded their storefront!

The best gelato in Rome: Modern gelato

The final favorite of our Best Gelato in Rome: Fatamorgana! This gelateria one is the most inventive of all: it has a myriad totally exotic flavors. You’ll find gelato flavors like Kentucky (Chocolate and tobacco), rose petal and violet, and basil and black rice. But along with the inventive flavors there are also the more traditional ones like stracciatella and chocolate hazelnut. The creamy texture is intensely good! Here’s my chocolate tobacco and caramel: the chocolate tobacco had a lightly smoked aftertaste and was so, so good. You’ll find Fatamorgana near the Campo De’ Fiori, and we recommend it as dessert after a perfect lunch at nearby Antico Forno Roscioli. Pro tip: Fatamorgana now has a location in the US in LA too!

These are our recommendations for the best gelato in Rome! We challenge you to walk to all three in a row, it only takes 25 minutes to walk the route and you’ll be glad you did!

Travel Capsule Wardrobe: What to Pack for a Trip to Europe

Sonja Overhiser — Sat, 09 Mar 2019 19:17:51 +0000

Wondering what to pack for vacation? Here’s how to plan a travel capsule wardrobe, with packing tips for Europe and other summer vacation destinations! Affiliate links are included below.

(Blue Wrap Dress; Beach Sun Hat, Naot Pixie Sandal)

Alex and I just got back from a 3 week trip to Europe, where we toted 1 ½ year old Larson around to Italy, Croatia and Spain. We went for the food, the views, and time with friends and family. But what so many of you have been asking after seeing our photos is something we didn’t expect: Tell us how to pack a travel capsule wardrobe! This was a surprise to us, because we’re food bloggers! So this article is outside our typical healthy recipes. But you asked–and we did learn a lot of helpful tips from our packing list for Europe! So what to pack for two or three weeks in Europe? The three of us traveled to Europe for 3 weeks with just 2 suitcases! Here are our secrets to the best travel capsule wardrobe and packing tips for Europe (including the best comfortable and stylish walking shoes)! Links in the Packing List section below.

Bring enough to wear each outfit two to three times.

The top tip we learned from seasoned travelers about a travel capsule wardrobe: only bring enough clothes to wear each outfit two to three times. What, two to three times each? YES. Our goal was to travel light since we’d be visiting several places and much of our luggage space (we used Samsonite hardside luggage) was taken up by kid stuff. So for 3 weeks in Europe, that’s outfits for just 7 days! We stayed mainly in Airbnbs, so we were able to do laundry when necessary. If you stay in hotels, my parents (who are world travelers) wash things by hand in sinks, or sometimes there is an afternoon in a laundromat.

For us, it helped that it was summer so most of our clothes were on the small side, not bulky sweaters like in cooler weather. As a woman, my main clothing pieces were: 5 dresses, 1 maxi skirt, 3 shirts, and 2 pairs of shorts. I mixed and matched these throughout the trip — scroll down to “My packing list” for links to exactly what I packed!

Determine your style & colors.

Before you start building a capsule wardrobe for any destination, determine: what’s your vibe? The vibe of your travel capsule wardrobe depends on both your personal style and the location you’re traveling to. What to wear in Europe in the summer? Honestly, my first thought was the movie Under the Tuscan Sun and Diane Lane’s gorgeous vintage dresses. So, I decided to stick with a sundress theme with dresses and skirts that were vaguely vintage-inspired. My own personal style is pretty feminine, so I feel most comfortable in a sundress. Perhaps you have a more casual personal style: and that’s perfectly ok! The style in Italy and Spain is a bit dressier so what I chose fit right in. However, do make sure that you’re location appropriate. We took a trip to Alaska a few years ago, and you wouldn’t want to be caught dead in a sundress there! It was flannels and boots all the way.

Next, consider a color theme. This is only important because it allows you to mix and match pieces and bring less clothing overall. In my everyday wear I generally stick to neutrals: white, black, grays, and neutral blues. But for a summer vacation to Europe, I added a few splashes of color to my neutrals inspired by the Mediterranean: bright blue, yellow, and orange red. Every piece of clothing I brought fit into this color schema, which made it easy to mix and match! Now, how to find these pieces…?

(Blue Wrap Dress; Madewell Carryall, Naot Pixie Sandal)

(Red one piece swimsuit (similar); Beach Sun Hat)

Buy just a few new pieces.

Confession: Alex buys pretty much everything I wear. Eeek, I said it! Yes, my husband buys all my clothes online. This happened out of convenience, because I’m a terribly slow shopper. I have a hard time finding things and a harder time making up my mind. Alex happens to be amazing and efficient at Google searching and finding anything online. So, we’ve resorted to Alex picking out and buying all my clothes. It just works better that way! Over the years we’re changing to buying higher quality pieces that are a bit more expensive but that I love and can wear for several years. No more Target runs for shirts that fall apart in a few months! While my individual pieces may be a bit more expensive, the size of my wardrobe has been significantly reduced over the last few years.

Important: DO NOT feel like you have to go out and buy an entirely new wardrobe! Quite a few of the pieces that were part of my travel capsule wardrobe were pieces I’ve owned for years.

(Beach Sun Hat, Naot Pixie Sandal, some look alike dresses below)

Some online shopping tips

Sign up for email newsletters from online stores; they’ll often email about sales as much as 40 to 60% off.
Don’t buy too much at once, since it can be overwhelming to return things when you have a lot of pieces.
Shop at sites that have easy returns (either free or cheap, like $5).
When you’re browsing for clothes online, use the filter and sort features to narrow to the size and colors you’re looking for.
Only keep things that you absolutely love and want to wear all the time. Just because it looks great, don’t keep a shirt you’ll only wear once or twice.

Some of the online clothes shopping sites we frequent are: Everlane for high quality ethically made basics, Madewell for cute and unique pieces, and Asos for bargains with a European flair.

(Naot Pixie Sandal)

Find stylish walking shoes for travel.

One of the most important things I wanted to find for my travel capsule wardrobe was stylish walking shoes for travel. Since we’d be walking many miles per day, I wanted to find comfortable walking shoes for Europe that also didn’t scream Tourist! Alex scoured the internet in search of the perfect stylish walking shoes for travel, and found a brand called Naot. It’s based out of Israel and they’re all about comfort and style. Alex picked this Naot Pixie stylish wedge sandal for me, and when I put it on, it truly felt like I was walking on air! And they held up: I wore these sandals walking XXX miles through Europe and never did my feet get tired. Some days we did 25,000 and the Naot Pixie still kept up. Aside from flip flops, this was the only pair of shoes I brought. Since it’s a stylish walking shoe, it worked for dinner as well!

Find it: Naot Pixie Wedge Sandal

Another dress option: Sézane polka dot dress

Find your best packable sun hat.

Here is my best tip for ladies for looking good with no effort on vacation: wear a sun hat and sunglasses. I know, it sounds deceptively simple. But honestly, you don’t have to do your hair or have your eyes open in photos! Not only does it block out the sun and keep you cooler, a sun hat is the perfect accessory to any outfit. Win, win, win! The best packable sun hat we could find was this one, and as you can see from these photos, I wore it just about 24/7. This covered up my beach hair and the days I didn’t shower! Most days I preferred to be out adventuring instead of spending time doing my hair.

Find it: Lanzom Women Beach Sun Hat (Fedora style)

(White Eyelet Button-Down Dress (similar); Beach Sun Hat, Madewell Carryall)

Find a durable purse / bag.

Find it: Madewell Zip-Top Transport Carryall

(White Eyelet Button-Down Dress; Beach Sun Hat, Madewell Carryall, Naot Pixie Sandal)

Bring a steamer.

Living out of a suitcase for three weeks is no fun. As you’d expect, things get pretty wrinkly. My parents are expert world travelers and much of what they buy is fabric that doesn’t wrinkle. A few of our clothes were less wrinkly material, but it made my head spin to try to find pieces all in wrinkle-free material. SO, we got a travel steamer! We LOVED it until we fried our steamer due to the European voltage. Alex has since found a travel steamer with worldwide voltage, so we’d recommend this one. For the remainder of our trip, we made do with Airbnb irons, which also did the trick: so this is optional. But we found it to be helpful (also, we’re terrible at ironing)!

Find it: Travel Smart by Conair Pro Portable Garment Steamer

(White and Peach blouse, Madewell Jean Shorts, Beach Sun Hat)

My packing list for a travel capsule wardrobe

With those tips in mind, here is my travel capsule wardrobe for Europe in list form. Again, caveats are that this is for women only (sorry!) and summer specific. (Are you interested in what Alex and Larson packed? Let us know.) What to pack for two or three weeks in Europe will obviously differ from different countries and seasons that you’re travelling in, but hopefully this can help to give you a starting point. For the pieces that I had existing or were not available, we’ve provided some look alikes!

**For a few updated looks, see our NEW What to Wear in Arizona

5 Dresses:

White Button-Down Dress (similar, similar)
Blue Polka Dot Antonia Wrap Dress or Sézane polka dot dress
Yellow Mango Tie Back Mini Dress — look alike
Navy Blue Dress
White Wrap Dress

1 Maxi Skirt:

Gray maxi skirt — look alike

3 Shirts

Yellow top
Striped blouse
Black and white striped New Perfect Fit tee shirt — look alike
And 1 long sleeve that I only wore on the plane (it was hot!)

2 Shorts

Madewell Jean Shorts
Yellow Shorts (similar, similar)
And 1 pair of jeans that I only wore on the plane

Accessories

Naot Pixie Sandal
Madewell Zip-Top Transport Carryall
Red one piece swimsuit (similar)
2 other swimsuits (they’re small!)
Lanzom Women Beach Sun Hat (Fedora style)
Underwear and bras: I took enough for 9 days and did laundry a few times

Other

P.S. This was our first big trip with the Samsonite hardside luggage and we loved it! The big one was large enough to fit Larson’s crib and the smaller one held all of our clothes. Plus, there’s something nice about the hardside luggage protecting all of your stuff and not getting beat up. We’d definitely recommend it.

Best Broad Ripple Restaurants

Sonja Overhiser — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 21:55:54 +0000

Looking for Broad Ripple restaurants? Here are the best restaurants in this Indianapolis neighborhood for lunch, breakfast, and everything in between.

Looking for Broad Ripple restaurants? We’re so glad you asked. Hi, I’m Sonja, and my husband Alex and I are cookbook authors and food bloggers who’ve lived in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis for the past 15 years. (We can’t believe it’s been that long!) When we moved here, the Indianapolis food scene was just getting started. Today, it’s exploded into a renaissance of farm to table restaurants, hipster coffee shops, trendy bars, and local breweries. It’s been a thrill to see Indianapolis claim a food culture that’s all its own. Come along with us while we share our neighborhood haunts with you!

What is Broad Ripple?

Broad Ripple is an Indianapolis neighborhood that is north of downtown. The exact definition of Broad Ripple varies, but we’ve included Broad Ripple restaurants that are in the “village” area on Broad Ripple avenue, all the way down to College and 49th Street (considered South Broad Ripple or SoBro).

What’s on this Broad Ripple restaurants list

It’s often that Alex and I are asked, what are the best restaurants in Broad Ripple? Just like determining the best of anything, it’s difficult to say one specific place. Because it depends on the situation: do you want lunch? Breakfast? Bars? Fancy dinner? Coffee? Dinner with kids? Because there are so many different scenarios, we’ve included many different recommendations on this list.

There’s a wide variety of Broad Ripple restaurants: some a little more formal, but most more casual. On the whole, Broad Ripple has a casual vibe. You certainly won’t need to dress to the nines in Broad Ripple! Though really anything goes in terms of wardrobe.

Alex and I have lived in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis for years and years, so we’ve eaten at a lot of Broad Ripple restaurants. HOWEVER: we have not eaten at every single new place that pops up, so this is just a list of the Broad Ripple restaurants that we’ve been to and enjoy. (Of course if you’re a Broad Ripple restaurant owner and want us to stop by: please drop us a line!)

And if you live in the area and there’s a Broad Ripple restaurant missing on this list that you think we should try, give us a shout in the comments!

Buffalo cauliflower wings at Twenty Tap

Broad Ripple restaurants: Dinner

Napolese

Dinner: A signature Broad Ripple restaurant, Napolese has truly great artisan pizza and fresh, inventive seasonal salads. It’s a perfect place for a date night, out with friends, or even to bring the kids. You can eat outside in the summer (our favorite). For a starter, get the baked goat cheese. Split a few of the salads and pizzas among the table: the Margherita pizza with quail egg is a must. It’s one of our favorite inspired Italian restaurants in Indianapolis.

Taste it: Our Baked Goat Cheese with Fire Roasted Tomatoes recipe inspired by Napolese!

Ukiyo

Dinner: Perfect for a date night, Ukiyo is a Japanese fusion restaurant has incredible small plates and sushi served in a trendy atmosphere. The omakase is a special tasting menu prepared by the chef that you have to reserve in advance; it’s available Fridays and Saturdays.

Bar One Fourteen

Dinner / cocktails: Bar One Fourteen feels like you’ve walked into a hip club in Paris, but you’re still in Indianapolis! It’s super dark and serves great cocktails and trendy French-inspired food. Perfect for date night! Their truffle burger is the best burger in town. The popovers are also fabulous. It’s another in the Patachou family of restaurants (which includes Napolese and Public Greens).

Half Liter Beer & BBQ Hall

Lunch or dinner: Great for a cozy and casual lunch or dinner, Half Liter serves up Texas-style barbecue in a large hall. There’s also a lovely patio for the warmer months. Boasting house made beers and a deep whiskey list, Half Liter is family friendly with a 21-plus upstairs lounge. Eat plant based? The have a vegan BBQ option too!

Taste it: Our BBQ Soy Curls inspired by Half Liter!

Studio C

Coffee, lunch or dinner: Studio C is not a traditional restaurant: beware! One of Indy’s top chefs Greg Hardesty uses the Studio C space to host private and pop-up dinners. Studio C offers takeout coffee during the day, lunch on Tuesdays, and pop up dinners — you have to watch their Instagram or Facebook to get tickets! Or you can reserve it for a private dinner for friends cooked by Chef Hardesty himself.

Fat Dan’s

Dinner / drinks: Looking for greasy bar food in a Chicago style deli and pub? Fat Dan’s is where it’s at for a splurge, though we’re more into healthy food, Their fries are our favorite in the city, and come out on a big sheet of parchment paper perfectly salty and crisp. If you’re into wings, their wings are to die for. And don’t worry, they’ve also got a great veggie burger!

Twenty Tap

Dinner / drinks: Twenty Tap is a Broad Ripple institution serving tons of craft brews and delicious casual food with a veggie-centric twist! It’s a place where you can get a huge burger or a Vegan Jackfruit Tostada on the same menu! Another favorite was their Brussels sprouts served with harissa and goat cheese, which inspired us to make our own rendition!

Related: Our Brussels Sprouts with Harissa and Goat Cheese, inspired by Twenty Tap!

Broken yolk margherita pizza at Napolese

Broad Ripple restaurants: Breakfast & lunch

Patachou / Petit Chou

Breakfast / lunch: An old standby for lunch and brunch, Patachou has straightforward, really good real food served in a fresh atmosphere. The vegan Cuban breakfast and tomato artichoke soup are our faves. It has great vegetarian and vegan options. Petit Chou is Patachou’s the French bistro sister and has a lovely French menu. Petit Chou also serves dinner.

Related: Our Tomato Artichoke Soup recipe inspired by Patachou!

Just Pop In

Lunch / snacks & drinks: Located on the main strip in Broad Ripple, Just Pop In is a gourmet popcorn bar featuring small plates, beer, wine, and bubbles. The setting is super trendy and the patio is open in warm weather. When we’re in Broad Ripple, we love stopping by for a snack and a drink. The hummus platter is one of our favorites in town.

Public Greens

Lunch / Casual dinner: Broad Ripple restaurant Public Greens is super casual fresh, delicious food served cafeteria style. What we love about Public Greens is it offers veggie forward, delicious food without a big wait. It’s right next to the Monon Trail, so the patio is perfect in warm weather. The menu is constantly changing and it’s perfect for families. Some of our favorites: fries, the vegan chili, and their many salads. Public Greens dedicates its profits to The Patachou Foundation, which feeds at-risk and food insecure children in the Indianapolis community.

Related: Our Quinoa Black Bean Vegan Chili recipe inspired by Public Greens!

Burger at Petit Chou

Gallery Pastry Shop

Sweet treat / brunch or lunch: Gallery Pastry Shop is one of our favorites, offering supremely high quality pastries in a trendy but relaxed atmosphere. They’re well known for their macaroons (hit them on Wednesdays for $1 macaroon day!). Gallery is a perfect meeting spot for coffee and a croissant, or brunch any time of the week.

The Garden Table

Breakfast / lunch: The Garden Table features fresh juices and healthy, plant based foods along with heartier, meaty ones. Our favorite location is the downtown location because of its trendy vibe; it also serves dinner. See below.

Related: Our Vegan Banh Mi Sandwich recipe inspired by The Garden Table!

Ezra’s

Breakfast / lunch: For the hardcore plant lover, Ezra’s features raw,vegan and gluten free foods in a casual and brightly colored atmosphere. It’s perfect for breakfast and brunch. Our favorite is the Buddha bowl: lots of veggies with delicious savory raw falafel balls. They also have some inventive vegan and gluten free dessert creations.

Related: Our Raw Falafel Buddha Bowl recipe inspired by Ezra’s!

Pots & Pans Pie Shoppe

Broad Ripple Restaurants: Sweet Treats

Nicey Treat

Sweet treat: It’s not a Broad Ripple restaurant per say, but for a sweet treat look no further than Nicey Treat! It’s a seasonal, local gourmet popsicle company. All of their flavors are insanely good: think pina colada, avocado, strawberry mint, and frozen hot chocolate. Our favorite? Almond butter dipped in dark chocolate (a $1 adder and totally worth it).

Cake Bake

Sweet treat / lunch: If you’re looking for a spot for a girl date, Cake Bake Shop is sumptuously decorated with all things pink and sparkly! It’s outfitted like a Parisian fairytale and serves enormous three layer cakes, pies, and pastries, most of them topped with glitter. They also have some savory lunch options like sandwiches. I take our niece here for tea and cake on a little date every year.

Pots & Pans Pie Shoppe

Sweet treat / snack: Pots & Pans is very new and we’ve only visited once, but we added them to our list because it’s a fun little spot to grab a pie. Boasting artisan savory and sweet pies, you can head over for their Vegan Pot Pie or Biscuits and Gravy Pot Pie as a meal, or a fruit pie as a sweet treat. They serve our favorite local coffee roasters, Blue Mind Roasting, and have a quaint vibe.

Upland College Avenue

Broad Ripple Bars

There are actually lots of bars that are, well, your typical bar in Broad Ripple. Here’s a list of places we like get a drink in Broad Ripple:

Sangrita Saloon: for margaritas
Upland College Ave: for beers
Bar One Fourteen (above): for cocktails
Twenty Tap: for beers
Louie’s Wine Dive for wine

Things to do in Broad Ripple

Surprisingly, there are things to do in Broad Ripple other than eat! Here are some of our favorite things to do in Broad Ripple:

Walk the Monon: we love strolling through Broad Ripple and up near the Indianapolis Art Center; there’s a lovely sculpture garden (and cute coffee shop Perk Up).
Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market: If it’s the season (May through November), head to the farmers market for a beautiful morning of produce vendors, live music, and lots of good eats (grilled pizza, fresh squeezed juice, tacos, you name it).

What Broad Ripple restaurants & bars are we missing?

Let us know in the comments below!

Best Restaurants Downtown Indianapolis

Sonja Overhiser — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 15:00:20 +0000

Looking for restaurants in downtown Indianapolis? Here are the best restaurants from two local foodies for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks!

Looking for restaurants in downtown Indianapolis? Take it from us: this city has never had more going on in food! I’m Sonja, and my husband Alex and I are food bloggers and cookbook authors who’ve lived in Indianapolis for the past 15 years. When we moved here, the food scene was just getting started. Today, Indy has exploded into a renaissance of farm-to-table restaurants, hipster coffee shops, trendy bars, and local breweries. It’s been a thrill to see Indianapolis claim a food culture that’s all its own. If you’re looking to navigate the many eateries Indy has to offer, here are all our favorite restaurants in downtown Indianapolis: including bars and best places to grab a drink!

Related: Best Broad Ripple Restaurants

What’s on this restaurants in downtown Indianapolis list?

So, what are the best restaurants in downtown Indianapolis? It’s a tough question. Just like determining the best of anything, it’s difficult to give just one answer. Because everything about the answer depends on the situation: are you looking for brunch? Lunch? Breakfast? A fancy night out? Dinner with kids? Drinks with the gals? Since there are so many different occasions, we’ve broken down this list to our favorites in each.

There’s a wide variety of Indianapolis restaurants: some a little more formal, some more causal. We’ve tried to note the vibe for each restaurant or bar below! On the whole, the vibe for downtown Indianapolis is a little more hip than other neighborhoods in Indy (for example, Broad Ripple is super casual). However, Indiana as a whole is pretty casual: so if you’re traveling here from out of state, you can truly get away with wearing anything for a night out.

Alex and I have lived in Indianapolis for 15 years, so we’ve eaten at a lot of restaurants in downtown Indianapolis. HOWEVER: we have not eaten at every single new place that pops up, so this is just a list of the restaurants that we’ve been to and enjoy. (Of course if own a restaurant in downtown Indianapolis and want us to stop by: please drop us a line!)

And if you live in the area and there’s a downtown Indianapolis restaurant or bar missing on this list that you think we should try, give us a shout in the comments!

Bluebeard

Restaurants in downtown Indianapolis: Dinner

There are so many restaurants in downtown Indianapolis it’s hard to keep track! Here are some of our fast favorites of places to eat in our city. Again, we’ve mentioned restaurants that fit various occasions. Because best Indianapolis restaurants means the best restaurant for the occasion: be it lunch, girls night, date night, or drinks!

Bluebeard

Dinner / drinks: Perfect for date night or a night on the town, Bluebeard is one of our Indy faves, serving up sophisticated Italian inspired small and large plates. In its first year, Bluebeard was a James Beard Award semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant. Named after a book by Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, and the dining room showcases a variety of books and typewriters to fit with the literary theme. The cocktails are great (their gin and tonic is my favorite in the city) and the revolving menu of seasonal inspired dishes is always spot on.

Vida

Dinner: Vida is an upscale spot perfect for a night out, with a 4-course tasting menu that changes seasonally. You can also order a la carte. Think courses like Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower with apricot and pumpkin seed dukkah, and Sea Bass with curry emulsion and Thai basil. It’s got a great bar and elegant dining room.

Tinker Street

Dinner: Tinker Street is another great spot for a night out. Enjoy sophisticated, farm to table food in a cozy urban cottage. The dinner menu is always inspired and excellent.

Nada

Brunch / lunch / dinner: Nada is a fun, colorfully designed space to enjoy gourmet Mexican downtown. Their habanero “kreeper” salsa is to die for (if you like a little spice), as is the queso. They’ve got delicious tacos and large plates; a great spot for dinner with family, or a night out.

Shoefly Public House

Dinner: Shoefly Public House has a super casual atmosphere with great food, perfect for a family dinner or a night out. The menu is always changing, but we love their sweet potato fries with various tosses, and their vegan meatloaf with gravy is very tasty. Think comfort food, with lots of veggie options.

Napolese

Dinner or lunch: Napolese has truly great artisan pizza and fresh, inventive seasonal salads. It’s a perfect place for a date night, out with friends, or even to bring the kids. You can eat outside in the summer (our favorite). For a starter, get the baked goat cheese. Split a few of the salads and pizzas among the table: the Margherita pizza with quail egg is a must. It’s one of our favorite inspired Italian restaurants in Indianapolis.

Taste it: Our Baked Goat Cheese with Fire Roasted Tomatoes recipe inspired by Napolese!

Broken yolk margherita pizza at Napolese

Rook

Dinner: Rook offers up street food inspired contemporary Asian fusion, and it’s over the top delicious. It’s perfect for a date night or night on the town. Think fried avocado steamed buns, glass noodle salad, and curry ramen.

Related: Our Easy Vegetarian Ramen inspired by Rook!

King Dough

Dinner: King Dough offers up super high quality pizza in a trendy-casual atmosphere and a whole lot of personality! Think flavors like Destroyer, Pork & Pine (Canadian bacon & pineapple), R&B (ricotta and basil), and Stinky Pete. They’ve also got burgers, starters (the patatas bravas were fun!), and cocktails.

The Garden Table

Restaurants in downtown Indianapolis: Breakfast & lunch

Provider

Coffee / lunch: Provider is our favorite place to grab a drink on the way to downtown Indianapolis. It’s quickly made a name for itself as a coffee shop and bar, but they also have a light menu. We’ve tried a vegan banh mi that was very tasty, and their cocktails are fabulous. The atmosphere is trendy but laid back: the perfect place for working meetings, settling in with a laptop, or meeting a friend for a drink.

Public Greens

Related: Our Quinoa Black Bean Vegan Chili recipe inspired by Public Greens!

The Garden Table

Breakfast / lunch / dinner: The Garden Table’s downtown Indianapolis location is picture perfect for Instagram, and we love the menu selection! It’s full of fresh squeezed juices and healthy vegan and vegetarian options set off by meatier comfort foods. It’s perfect for weekend brunch: and the downtown location also offers dinner. It has the best acai bowl in town.

Related: Our Homemade Acai Bowl recipe!

Milktooth

Brunch / lunch: Milktooth immediately attracted national attention for its inventive brunch menu. This fine diner has become one of the most lauded restaurants in downtown Indianapolis! It’s brunchy comfort food served up in a quaint old gas station. Think massive sourdough waffles and inventive takes like deconstructed Chicago dog risotto.

Milktooth

Goose The Market

Lunch: A lovely lunch spot and gourmet grocery, Goose The Market has locally cured meats and an extensive cheese counter, as well as lots of local Indiana products. Head to the basement and you’ll find an assortment of wines. For lunch, order a prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich and wash it down with a glass of white wine. Oh and there’s gelato!

Where to get a drink (bars & restaurants)

Here’s a list of places we like get a drink in downtown Indianapolis — many of these also have great food, too!

Spoke & Steele is our favorite place to get a drink: the cozy, luxe interior is perfect for a night out. They also have a full menu — which we still haven’t tried!
Union 50 is also a great place for a drink; the dinner menu is great as well. It’s got a trendy atmosphere and live music events (see their website).
Bakersfield is where to go for pitchers of margaritas! And they have great tacos too.
Hotel Tango is a local distillery with a cozy tasting room. (Every time we’ve tried to go it’s been closed, so we’ll report back!)
Libertine is super cool and trendy, with fantastic cocktails.
Bluebeard (featured above) is great for a drink at the bar (our favorite: the gin and tonic).
La Revolucion has a great patio for sipping pina coladas, margaritas, tequila or mezcal: accessorize it with tacos and guac.
Ball & Biscuit, Thunderbird — a few places we haven’t been yet, but need to review!

Things to do in downtown Indianapolis

Of course, there are many things to do in downtown Indianapolis other than eat! Here are some of our favorite things to do in downtown Indy:

Walk the Circle: It’s always festive to stroll around the Soldiers & Sailors monument.
The Canal & White River Park: This is and always has been our FAVORITE part of Indy! Rent a surrey bike (so fun!), gondola, or Segue and explore the beautiful downtown Indianapolis waterways. It’s a gorgeous park and essential Indy. (Seriously, those surrey bikes are the most fun!)
Walk on Mass Ave: Make sure to stop by Silver in the City and Homespun (and look for our cookbook on the shelf, Pretty Simple Cooking!). Maybe grab a juice at Natural Born Juicers.
Walk or bike the Cultural Trail: It connects downtown Indianapolis and is so much fun to stroll on.
Take a walking tour in Lockerbie: Lockerbie is the cutest historic neighborhood; there are some fun walking tours like this or this.
Head to City Market: it’s full of delicious eatery vendors!
Go to the Symphony: Hilbert Square Theater is right on the circle downtown and makes for a fun night out.
Go to the Zoo: It’s great for kids, and has beautiful grounds.
Go to the Children’s Museum: If you’ve got kiddos, this one is one of the best in the nation. If you’re near there, stop by Duos Kitchen for a fantastic breakfast or lunch with lots of veggie-friendly options.

What bars & restaurants in downtown Indianapolis are we missing?

Let us know in the comments below!

Best Indianapolis Restaurants

Sonja Overhiser — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 02:05:50 +0000

Here are all the best Indianapolis restaurants from two local foodies: Broad Ripple, downtown, breweries, sushi, and all the places to eat in Indianapolis.

Indianapolis is poised to become America’s next big destination says Travel + Leisure, and that couldn’t make us happier! My husband Alex and I are food & travel experts and cookbook authors who’ve lived in Indianapolis for the past 14 years. Since we’ve lived here, places to eat in Indianapolis have exploded into a renaissance of farm to table restaurants, farmer’s markets, hipster coffee shops, and local breweries. In short, Indy is where it’s at these days. So we’re excited to share with you all the best Indianapolis restaurants in the city we call home.

How we made this best Indianapolis restaurants list

People often ask us, what are the best restaurants in Indianapolis? Here’s our take: it’s hard to give a specific answer because it depends on what the occasion is (night out on the town? dinner with kids?) and where you are in the city. Because of that, our list of best Indianapolis restaurants is fairly large and organized by neighborhood. We’ve noted why we like them and what occasions they’re best for; we’ve also included Indianapolis breweries and coffee shops.

Alex and I have lived here for 14 years and eaten at a lot of Indianapolis restaurants. However, there are new restaurants in Indianapolis popping up each day! So, this is not an exhaustive list: it’s just the places to eat in Indianapolis we’ve been to multiple times and would recommend. Also disclaimer: our areas of most expertise are Broad Ripple restaurants and restaurants in downtown Indianapolis. There are lots of great restaurants in other areas– for example, the West side has lots of international food options that we’ve only just begun to explore! If you see a best Indianapolis restaurant you think we should try, give us a shout in the comments!

Buffalo cauliflower wings at Twenty Tap (Broad Ripple restaurant)

Broad Ripple Restaurants

Alex and I live in the Broad Ripple neighborhood, so naturally we’ve tried more Broad Ripple restaurants since we love to stay in our ‘hood. Here are the best Broad Ripple restaurants, breweries and coffee shops we enjoy.

Napolese

Related: Our Baked Goat Cheese with Fire Roasted Tomatoes recipe inspired by Napolese!

Ukiyo

Bar One Fourteen

Patachou / Petit Chou

Related: Our Tomato Artichoke Soup recipe inspired by Patachou!

Broken yolk margherita pizza at Napolese (Broad Ripple restaurants)

Just Pop In

Public Greens

Related: Our Quinoa Black Bean Vegan Chili recipe inspired by Public Greens!

Petit Chou (Broad Ripple restaurants)

The Garden Table

Related: Our Vegan Banh Mi Sandwich recipe inspired by The Garden Table!

Ezra’s

Related: Our Raw Falafel Buddha Bowl recipe inspired by Ezra’s!

Nicey Treat

Gallery Pastry Shop

Sweet treat / brunch: Gallery Pastry Shop is one of our favorites, offering supremely high quality pastries in a trendy but relaxed atmosphere. They’re well known for their macaroons (hit them on Wednesdays for $1 macaroon day!). Gallery is a perfect meeting spot for coffee and a croissant, or brunch any time of the week.

Cake Bake

Pots & Pans Pie Shoppe (Broad Ripple restaurants)

Pots & Pans Pie Shoppe

Fat Dan’s

Bluebeard (downtown Indianapolis)

Restaurants in Downtown Indianapolis

There are so many restaurants in downtown Indianapolis it’s hard to keep track! Here are some of our fast favorites of places to eat in Indianapolis. Again, we’ve mentioned restaurants that fit various occasions. Because best Indianapolis restaurants means the best restaurant for the occasion: be it lunch, girls night, date night, or drinks.

Bluebeard (downtown Indianapolis)

Bluebeard

Vida

Tinker Street

Dinner: Tinker Street is another great spot for a night out. Enjoy sophisticated, farm to table food in a cozy urban cottage. The dinner menu is always inspired and excellent.

Goose The Market

Shoefly Public House

Dinner: Shoefly Public House has a casual atmosphere with great food, perfect for a family dinner or a night out. The menu is always changing, but we love their sweet potato fries with various tosses, and their vegan meatloaf with gravy is very tasty. Think comfort food, with lots of veggie options.

Provider

The Garden Table (downtown Indianapolis)

Garden Table Downtown

Related: Our Homemade Acai Bowl recipe!

Nada

Milktooth (downtown Indianapolis)

Milktooth

Rook

Rook offers up street food inspired contemporary Asian fusion, and it’s over the top delicious. It’s perfect for a date night or night on the town. Think fried avocado steamed buns, glass noodle salad, and curry ramen.

Related: Our Easy Vegetarian Ramen inspired by Rook!

Asaka (Indianapolis sushi)

Sushi in Indianapolis

Alex and I are big sushi fans. While Indiana is landlocked, there’s still some great sushi in Indianapolis. Here are some of our favorites for sushi in Indianapolis:

Asaka

A family run business, Asaka serves up super high quality sushi in a cozy atmosphere, made by woman sushi chef Nina Takamure. The party platters are insanely beautiful, and all the fish is insanely fresh. Unexpectedly, the kabocha squash roll is incredible: savory sweet with a crunch of tempura. It’s up in the Castleton area so it’s harder for us to access, but it’s absolutely worth a mention.

Ukiyo

As mentioned above, Ukiyo is a Broad Ripple restaurant that also serves sushi. There are traditional rolls along with inventive takes, like yellowtail and green apple.

Sakura

Sakura is straightforward, classic sushi served up just outside of Broad Ripple. It’s next to nearby Sakura Market, a lovely Japanese grocery that stocks a lot of Asian specialty products.

Other Indianapolis restaurants

Here are a few more Indianapolis restaurants that deserve a mention but didn’t quite fit in the categories:

Duos is a huge favorite for lunch or catering. They have a cafeteria location in the International Medical Group building, right across from the Children’s Museum. All their food is out of this world, especially the vegan and vegetarian options. I’ve had a Spring Roll Noodle Bowl & Crispy Cauliflower Tacos that are simply incredible!
Oakley’s Bistro is a fantastic restaurant in the Castelton area; it’s got very high quality, sophisticated and inventive food.
Cafe Korea in Fishers serves up our favorite dolsot bibimbap in Indianapolis.
Hotel Tango is a local distillery that’s great for drinks: every time we’ve tried to go it’s been closed, so we’ll report back!

Best Indianapolis breweries

So, what are the best Indianapolis breweries? The craft brew scene has blown up so fast that we can hardly keep up with all of the great breweries around town. Our friends over at the Drink Culture podcast helped us to put together this list of their top 5 Indianapolis breweries. You can find them on draft at bars and restaurants around Indianapolis, or check out their breweries for tours and tastings!

Sun King — Downtown
Black Acre — Irvington
Daredevil — Speedway
Big Lug — North Side
Central State — Downtown with a taproom at The Koelschip

Your thoughts?

There are so many other Indianapolis restaurants that are fantastic: some that we haven’t discovered, and others in the suburban areas! Our list includes what we find to be the best restaurants in Indianapolis proper that we’ve been to multiple times and enjoy. We’d love to know your thoughts on other Indianapolis restaurants that you love! Also, we’ll be constantly updating this best Indianapolis restaurants guide. Continue to check back in the future to find all our current restaurant recommendations!

What to Do in Rome Italy

Alex Overhiser — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 19:45:14 +0000

Looking for what to do in Rome Italy? After many visits we know all the best spots: Colosseum and Pantheon, where to eat, and the best area to stay in Rome.

Eleven years ago, Alex and I honeymooned in Italy. And we fell head over heels over the country: its charm, natural beauty, the people, and the food—oh, the food. Back then, we were two wide-eyed 20-somethings with a point-and-shoot and a guide book. Now, after eleven years of marriage, five camera upgrades, and hundreds of recipes cooked together, we returned to our favorite spots in Rome…three times! Here’s what to do in Rome Italy, including the Colosseum and Pantheon in Rome, where to eat and the best area to stay in Rome…and of course, the best gelato! (See our post specifically about the best gelato in Rome.)

Best area to stay in Rome Italy: The Piazza Navona

Of the three times we’ve been to Rome, we’ve found the best area to stay is near the Piazza Navona. We love walking everywhere, and this area provides a perfect starting point for walking to all sorts of sights. It’s within walking distance of the Vatican, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Roman Forum. Even the Colosseum isn’t that far of a walk! On each of our trips, we’ve stayed in Airbnbs that have been fantastic. Our favorite airbnb apartment was this one. We can’t say enough good things about this place: centrally-located, comfortable, immaculate, and beautifully decorated with a mix of ultra-modern and historic open wood beams.

Things to do around the Piazza Navona

Do you love history but hate spending vacation time in crowded museums? Us too! We recommend taking a few hours in Rome to spend time exploring the area around the Piazza Navona. When people ask us what to do in Rome, this is where we like to start.

First of all: where to eat in Rome near the Piazza Navona? The best coffee nearby the Piazza Navona was a 50 cent espresso from Emporio alla Pace. For gelato, head to Gelateria del Teatro, and for a simple lunch get pizza at Da Baffeto (where we first fell in love with Italy!) or a sandwich from Baguetteria del Fico.

The amazing thing about historic central Rome is that every building, every door, and every street corner is jam-packed with history. You don’t have to go into one of the many museums in Rome to find world class art. In the churches around the Piazza Navona you can find (among dozens of other artworks):

A trio of Caravaggio paintings of St. Matthew in San Luigi dei Francesi
Caravaggio’s Madonna di Loreto in Sant’Agostino in Campo Marzio
A Raphael fresco in Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace

Also make sure to really look at the details of the Piazza Navona itself! The piazza still retains the horseshoe shape of the ancient Roman stadium that it is built atop. Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers is a masterpiece; make sure to check out the details of the sculpture and the obelisk which is a 2000 year old copy of an Egyptian obelisk!

One final thing to do before you leave the Piazza Navona area is to take a few minutes and quietly slip into the Biblioteca Angelica. This public library is one of the oldest in the world, having opened in 1604. You’ll be amazed by the beautiful architecture and massive leather-bound books.

Rome walks: Piazza Navona, Pantheon & Trevi Fountain

What to do in Rome? Walk the streets! The street scenes are what we love the most about Rome. Rather than try to hit all the museums, we spend hours getting intentionally lost in side streets, trying to capture the natural beauty of the city with our camera. Our favorite places to walk are the Piazza Navona and Pantheon areas. And we typically walk everywhere we go when we’re in Rome!

Here’s a perfect Rome walk if you have time one evening:

At sunset, start at Castel Sant’Angelo with views of St. Peter’s Basilica and then cross the river on the Pont Sant’Angelo with the wonderful Bernini angel sculptures.
Wander your way towards the Piazza Navona (stopping by Teatro for gelato!) and linger in the Piazza Navona and people watch.
Slip down alleyways towards the Pantheon and stand underneath the columns of this masterpiece.
Finally, work your way into the throngs around Trevi fountain and throw in a coin! Legend has it that if you throw a coin in the Trevi fountain, you’ll return to Rome. It’s worked for us so far!

Here’s a map of this walk for reference! Though of course we recommend you wander a bit, too.

The Pantheon in Rome

Our favorite building in Rome: the Pantheon. The Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome; it’s a pagan Roman temple. Alex and I can’t help but take a hundred different photographs of it; we also like to just sit in the piazza and people watch. You can go inside the Pantheon during the day: it’s free and open to the public. We always try to wander past the Pantheon in many different lights to capture its mystery.

Where to eat in Rome

If you’re in Rome, you must go to Roscioli! It is so, so good in so many ways. It’s part bakery, part fancy deli, and they have the best pizza and cacio e pepe in Rome. This pizza reminded us of the style of the most famous pizza maker in Rome, Gabriele Bonci: a fluffy crust, crispy on the bottom and cut into thick squares. The toppings were incredibly flavorful: like burrata and tomato with bright green pesto, or roasted eggplant with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil, and a spicy tomato sauce. Everything at Roscioli is executed to perfection. The cacio e pepe was also best in its class: the classic cheese and pepper pasta was perfectly savory, cheesy, warm, and comforting. It’s a must visit!

Related: Make it at home: Our cacio e pepe recipe!

Another favorite of where to eat in Rome is a trendy brew pub called L’Osteria di Birra del Borgo. A brew pub in Rome Italy, you say? Hear us out. This brew pub was started by that famous pizza maker, Gabriele Bonci, and it was the most inventive food we had in Rome. There was pizza, yes, but also small bites, pasta, and really trendy drinks. For example, we started with some incredible house made potato chips and a “Veggie garden” with soil made of olives and several dipping sauces. One of the pizzas, the Diavola Pizza, was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had in Rome. And our favorite ended up being a tonnarelli pasta with garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, smoked tomato, and Parmesan. This was a fantastic restaurant we’d highly recommend.

Related: Make it at home: Our spicy vegetarian diavola pizza!

Rounding out our where to eat in Rome is a classic Italian restaurant: La Tavernaccia. This place serves classic Roman dishes in a sophisticated atmosphere. The Pasta amatriciana, rigatoni in a spicy red sauce, was to die for. Though we prefer more creative than straightforward takes on Roman cuisine, this is a nice traditional option. It’s a bit of a hike from the Piazza Navona area, so Uber is a good option.

The Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Capitoline Museum

Of course no visit is complete without the seeing the Colosseum in Rome! We always take a walk to go see it in all its glory. If it’s your first visit, definitely book a guided tour in advance! Check out Tripadvisor for private guided tours of the Colosseum and forum. They’ll take care of the tickets and be able to explain the thousands of years of history you’re taking in.

One Alex and my our favorite places on Earth is the Roman Forum. Layers upon layers of history are packed into this place, making your head spin. On our honeymoon, we spent hours in the evening when all the tourists were gone just gazing into the ruins and pondering what it might have been like in Caesar’s day.

The Capitoline Museum sits at the opposite end of the forum as the Colosseum. It has great galleries full of ancient Roman history. If you have plenty of time in Rome, it’s worth a visit. However, we won’t blame you if you decide to ditch the museums and try the best gelato in Rome instead! The ruins of a statue of Constantine in the Capitoline Museum are a must see if you do go!

The Vatican, The Vatican Museums, and St. Peter’s Basilica

The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica are absolutely worth a visit. If you have time, we’d also recommend The Vatican Museum which houses a massive collection of art and the famous Sistine Chapel. The most important thing to know is that you can buy your “skip the line” tickets ahead of time online. This will save you a couple hours of waiting in line. There are also lots of guided tour options for the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s. Again, it you can swing it financially, it’s worth every penny to have a real person describe the art and the history to you! At the very least, bring a good guidebook.

(The Gallery of Maps in The Vatican Musuem, on the way to the Sistene Chapel!)

Walking the streets near the The Vatican

While you’re over by the Vatican, walk the streets in the Borgo neighborhood, which is very picturesque. Make sure to stop by Hedera for gelato! The Vatican neighborhood is also perfect for night walks. We love walking across the river at dusk with the lights of St. Peter’s Basilica reflecting in the river.

And that’s it! What to do in Rome Italy

As you can see, we’re pretty into Italy. Are you looking for things to do in Rome? Let us know if this post was helpful in the comments below!

Related: All our Italian recipes!

Best Baby Travel Bed

Sonja Overhiser — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 22:18:40 +0000

What’s the best baby travel bed? Take it from two pro travelers: this one is the absolute best and works for kids 0 to 3 years!

OK, we hear you. You’re parents but you don’t want to lose your freedom to travel. And we’re there too! Alex and I have a 2 year old, and when Larson was born, we made a pact: Let’s travel with kids. So once he was 4 months old, we started traveling with baby in tow! But one of the biggest challenges to traveling, especially internationally: what do you do about a crib? Luckily, we’ve found the best baby travel bed that works for kids 0 to 3 years. Keep reading for more about it!

Get it: Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light | Amazon

What’s the best baby travel bed?

We love to travel. When our son Larson was 17 months, we said: Why not go to Italy, Croatia and Spain? Most of the places we stayed, all of them Airbnbs, were not equipped for toddler sleeping situations. So, we decided to find a baby travel bed to bring with us.

What baby travel bed did we use? This Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light. And it’s the best. We cannot recommend this crib enough! A few reasons that we love it:

It’s super light, perfect for traveling.
It’s easy to assemble. I could even assemble the Baby Bjorn travel crib all by myself, which is saying something because I’m terrible even at putting together Pack N Plays! But the best part?
It fits into half of a large suitcase! This was crucial to our ability to tote it halfway across the world with us!

The Baby Bjorn baby travel bed fits right into one side of this suitcase: Samsonite Winfield 2 Hardside 28″ Luggage. This left the other half for our son’s clothes and our clothes and other items. We’ve continued to use this baby travel bed for road trips in the US and it’s worked perfectly ever time. Basically, we could not recommend it more!

Get it: Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light | Amazon

The travel crib fits right into half of this suitcase!

Why travel with a baby travel bed?

What’s another benefit of using a baby travel bed? Sleeping in the same toddler travel bed every night is crucial for kids adapting to travel. For our Europe trip, we stayed in many different cities throughout the 3 weeks that we were gone. But each night at the end of each night, Larson had the same bed! So by the third night of our three weeks, he was totally adjusted to that travel crib.

Questions?

This is the best baby travel bed that we’ve found! And our son Larson loves it. What other questions do you have about travel? Let us know in the comments below! Also, we have a detailed post about Traveling with Toddlers: A Survival Guide with lots of other recommendations.

Spain Travel Guide: Malaga to Barcelona

Sonja Overhiser — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 20:49:33 +0000

Dreaming of Spain travel? Here’s our Spain travel guide, including Málaga and Barcelona Spain, the Alhambra palace, the best beaches in Spain, and paella.

In 2003 I was a young university student in Madrid, Spain, and the experience impressed me deeply. I’ve been talking about it ever since: tapas and paella, the rocky coastal beaches, the kindness and warmth of the Spanish people. My poor husband has had to hear about the glory days one too many times! This year, we decided it was finally time for Alex to experience Spain himself! We brought along our 1 year old toddler son Larson too. Showing this beautiful country to my husband and son is something I’ll never forget.

Our summer trip to Europe started in Italy and Croatia, then ended in Spain—a most fitting finale! Keep reading for all about Spain travel: Málaga, Barcelona, the Alhambra Palace, beaches, paella, and more.

Where did you travel in Spain?

Though I studied abroad in Madrid and loved living there, it’s not my favorite city in Spain. There are so many beautiful regions in this country that it was difficult to decide where to go on this trip! From the balmy South with arched doorways and palm trees, to the green cliffs in Northern Galicia that look like Ireland, Spain is full of contrasts.

How did we choose starting in Málaga? Alex found a cheap flight to Málaga on Wizz Air from Vienna, where we were staying with friends (and taking a road trip to Croatia). We also had friends who offered to let us stay with them in Barcelona at the end of our trip. So with those book ends, Alex, Larson and I set out on an epic road trip from Málaga to Barcelona, with all sorts of adventures in between.

Frigiliana & the white villages of Spain

Our trip started in Málaga in Southern Spain. But the highlight of our time there was our day trips, specifically to the lovely whitewashed village of Frigiliana. Southern Spain is known for its pueblos blancos, or white villages. They look just like the bright white villages on Grecian islands, except they’re high up built into the cliffs of Southern Spain. Alex researched and found the town of Frigiliana was about 1 hour drive from Málaga. I wasn’t sure quite what we were getting into, but we set out on a drive to find out.

Frigiliana was even more lovely than we imagined. The light bouncing off of the whitewashed walls, the bright pink blossoms, and the bright blue doors were something out of a fairytale. We spent most of the day wandering down the charming narrow streets with little Larson. (Both of us remarked that it looked very much like our trip to Santorini, Greece, without the ocean views.)

Our first true meal in Spain was in Frigiliana, where we stopped at the tiny La Taberna del Sacristán for lunch. Bright red gazpacho, that cool tomato cucumber soup, tasted even more refreshing in the hot Spanish sun. We also got a plate of cheeses and meats, including traditional Manchego cheese and jamón serrano (a cured meat similar to prosciutto). The waiter took an immediate interest in Larson. At the end of the meal Larson started to wander off, and one of the waiters came over, helped him wash his hands in a fountain, and then promptly kissed him on the head! It was such a sweet interaction and set the tone for the way Larson was treated in Spain. Waitstaff consistently took such joy in serving kids, which made it the most pleasurable experience for us too.

That gazpacho…

These last two photos are of another pueblo blanco: Mijas Spain! We went to Mijas for another short day trip. While we enjoyed it and it’s super charming, we loved Frigiliana more.

Granada & the Alhambra palace

The other day trip highlight was Granada and the Alhambra Palace. I’d visited Granada back in my university days, and the Alhambra palace was seared in my memory. A mysterious Islamic palace, it has some of the most beautiful architecture I’d ever seen: filled with mosaics and intricate carvings. The Moors inhabited Southern Spain for hundreds of years, and the Alhambra is one of the most famous reminders. Since we were staying in Málaga, we spend just the day in Granada. Granada is such a charming city, with white buildings fading into the cliffside.

We got tickets to the Alhambra Palace ahead of time, which we’d recommend. Since it was summer, there were very long lines in the hot sun. The Alhambra lets groups of people in every half hour. We chose a time as late in the day as possible. Not only was this better for the light, we were hoping there would be less crowds. (There will still lots of people, but we didn’t have anything to compare it to!)

The Alhambra is truly awe inspiring: the hum of the indoor fountains and beautiful mosaics bring a mysterious calm. If you can, I’d recommend finding a guided tour so that you can understand the history and significance of the building. Since we were with a toddler, we opted out of this for this trip–next time! When I was a university student, I went on several guided tours and it gave even more significance to this special spot.

After our Alhambra Palace visit, we walked down the hill into Granada to find a quick dinner of tapas. We stopped into Bodegas Castañeda, which served pretty traditional tapas. Standing at the bar with Larson, it was busy and loud, but it felt like a perfect Spanish dinner. With glasses of crisp white Spanish wine, we ordered tortilla de patatas, one of the most traditional tapas: a potato and egg omelette. Alongside it, a huge salad, a spinach and cheese empanadilla, and ensaladilla rusa, a mayo-based potato and tuna salad that’s very traditional. (I’m not a huge fan of ensaladilla rusa, but it gives me good memories of my prior time in Spain!) The servers behind the bar bustled about under a canopy of ham legs, used for shaving off the jamon serrano. This is Spain, I said to Alex and Larson. We were really here!

View of Granada from the Alhambra palace

Málaga, on the beach

Málaga was our home base in Southern Spain. Our Airbnb was in a high rise that was steps from the beach, and our window view was beach umbrellas and palm trees waving in the breeze. Since we were there in the heat of summer in July, the beach was pretty hazy and very hot. Because it was so flat and hazy, the beach in Málaga was less picturesque than we expected. So if we were to recommend the best beaches in Spain, we prefer the rocky beaches of Cartagena and Valencia — keep reading!

The historic town center of Málaga was fun to wander around and explore. We had a lovely lunch at El Pimpi, where we dined on salmorejo, a thick cold tomato soup (garnished with jamon & hard boiled eggs), ajoblanco, a creamy white almond and garlic cold soup, and salad. The dessert put it over the top: it wasn’t traditional Spanish, but the vanilla peaches with whipped cream cheese and mint was pretty perfect.

The beach in Málaga

The Málaga historic center

Salmorejo, a cold tomato and almond soup

Cartagena Spain: an undiscovered gem

On to Cartagena Spain! The next stop on our road trip was Cartagena, a 4 hour drive from Malaga. Full disclosure: when we planned our stay in Cartagena Spain, we based it on the photos we saw online of Cartagena Colombia! A few weeks before the trip, we realized the brightly colored quaint streets we were looking forward to were actually in Colombia, not Spain! (Ooops.) But Cartagena Spain was absolutely worth the stop.

First of all, where we stayed was on point. Our Airbnb balcony opened right onto a Roman theater built in 5 BC! This apartment was centrally located in town, and had the most killer view of the ruins. Cartagena is full of Roman ruins, and how impressive it was to live next to them for a few days versus simply go on a tour. We spent many hours looking out onto the Roman ruins with a glass of wine in hand, watching the people mill about touring the theater. What a romantic view!

While the town of Cartagena is charming to wander, the best thing we did was another free activity: finding a hidden beach! One of our goals was to find the best beaches in Spain. And since the flat, hazy beach in Malaga didn’t rank for us, we went in search of a beautiful rocky Southern Spain beach near Cartagena. After doing some intense internet research, Alex found an undiscovered hidden beach just a few minutes outside of town in Cartagena.

The beach was outside of town, near a squater town where people had built small houses right on the water. When we saw the handwritten sign for the beach, we knew we were in for an adventure! We threw Larson in our baby carrier and hiked out a few minutes to the rocky beach. And when we got there, we couldn’t believe it: what wild, untamed beauty! There were only a handful of locals in this spot, precariously jumping off of the rocky cliffs. We splashed a bit in the water, and sat uncomfortably on some rocks as we stared at the impossibly blue green water. Though unconventional, to us the hidden Cartagena beaches were some of the best beaches in Spain.

We had some great food in Cartagena, including a lovely meal in the view of the Roman ruins at sunset at Restaurante La Catedral. I’ll always remember sitting at the table under the window of our apartment, doing “cheers” with my wine glass to little Larson as we devoured Manchego cheese and bread. Of all the things we ate in Cartagena though, one of our favorites was a snack we found at a local grocery. Crespillo was a round cracker bread made of masa, salt, pepper, and paprika, which tasted a bit like a high end Goldfish cracker! It was so good that we bought it often to accompany cheese and wine that we munched on while watching the sun set over the Roman ruins out our balcony.

The town center in Cartagena

Calamari, patatas bravas and other tapas

The hidden beach in Cartagena

The Roman theater ruins right out our window! (Our Airbnb was the yellow building)

The restaurant outside the Roman ruins (La Catedral)

Crespillo! We hope to recreate this one…

Valencia: the best paella, hidden beaches, & Spanish tile

Next stop: Valencia! Valencia was a short stop for us on the way to Barcelona, but Alex and I had some lofty goals. First, to find the best paella in Valencia! Valencia is the birthplace of paella: a mix of saffron and paprika spiced rice, vegetables, seafood and meat cooked in a shallow pan. It’s one of the most traditional Spanish dishes and I have incredible nostalgia about eating paella in Spain from my college days. (We’ve since developed an authentic paella recipe: hear me wax on and on about paella in our Open Fire Paella Recipe!)

One of our favorite memories of our Spain trip was our trip to find the “best paella in Valencia.” It was a Sunday afternoon, and we followed our phone navigation to what was supposed to be an “authentic” restaurant just outside of Valencia. The landscape got increasingly more isolated. I remember asking Alex, “Are you SURE this is the way?” Sure enough, the mountain path came upon a small village and an unassuming white stucco building in a sleepy town: Bar Restaurante Parpallo. Opening the door, we were greeted with a surprise: the restaurant was filled to the brim with Spanish families shoveling yellow rice out of massive paella pans! The hostess almost turned us away since we didn’t have a reservation, but we got squeezed in to a small table with “paella for 3”. There was no menu; the dishes just started to arrive: empanadillas and croquetas, a salad, and then a massive pan of rice. The paella was fabulous: the yellow saffron rice was studded with artichokes, snap peas, white beans, chicken, and meatballs, and served with wedges of lemon. To us, this unexpected surprise was the best paella in Valencia.

Another highlight was our search for the best beaches in Spain. Since we’d found such a fantastic hidden beach in Cartagena, why not try for one on our way to Valencia? After a lot of internet research, Alex found a remote hidden beach in a small town on the way to Valencia. As we followed our phone navigation into the small town, the streets got narrower and narrower. Finally we were on a narrow one way street, walled on both sides. After parking, Alex found an unmarked metal door. “This is where the beach is!” he said. What? They were no people around, and it seemed impossible that this random metal door would be unlocked, let alone what a beach behind it. Alex assured me that the Spanish-language video he watched on a travel website showed people going through this very door to access the hidden beach. We crossed our fingers and Alex pushed in the door: sure enough, it opened to a view of rocky cliffs and transparent blue green water! The beach was incredibly rocky, and we joined a handful of Spaniards soaking up the waves and marveling at the razor sharp cliffs. What an adventure.

To round out our time in Valencia, we stayed in the cutest little Airbnb in the El Cabanyal neighborhood. This neighborhood is pretty rough around the edges, and apparently used to be full of drugs and violence. However, it’s on the mend and chock full of the most incredible Spanish tile house architecture, circa the 1900’s. Every single street has the most unique and beautiful homes clad in authentic Spanish tile. It was a complete surprise to us, as we didn’t know much about the neighborhood when booking the Airbnb. We wandered around the neighborhood, snapping photos of the homes and storefronts, sipping horchata, and wishing we had more time in this fascinating neighborhood. We also spend a good bit of time on our terrace sipping wine and listening to the sounds of the city. My new life goal is to photograph a coffee table book of these unique homes! Valencia left us wanting more, and I hope we can return.

The mysterious hidden beach door, which led to…

The secret beach outside of Valencia

And the unassuming paella restaurant…

To Larson, it was the best paella in Valencia!

Our sweet little Airbnb in the El Cabanyal neighborhood

Spanish tile houses in El Cabanyal

Barcelona: Gaudí, tapas, & more

The finale of our Spain travel was Barcelona! This city had captivated my imagination 15 years ago, and I was itching to return. Even better, our friends Ali and Barclay (of Gimme Some Oven) had been living in Barcelona for a year and invited us to stay at their apartment. From the moment we stepped in, weary from travel, Ali greeted us with a cheese board of various Manchego cheese and olives, and glasses of Spanish vermouth. This set the tone for our 3 days there, where Ali and Barclay demonstrated the most epic hospitality. Their passion and delight for the city was evident, as they shared stories of the people and food they’ve grown to love as expats in Barcelona.

People in Barcelona don’t consider themselves part of Spain. They’re from the region of Catalunya, and speak Catalan. We loved hearing stories of Catalan traditions (ever heard of Caga tió?) and food. And the more time we spent in this cosmopolitan city, the more we fell in love with the sights and sounds of this Catalan city.

The crown jewel of Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia, a huge church designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí. Gaudí worked mainly in the 1900’s, and his architecture style was colorful, imaginative, mysteriously fascinating to look at. The Sagrada Familia is his life’s work, and he actually died before it was completed. Get this: it’s still under construction today! Construction is rumored to end in 2026 to align with the 100 year anniversary of Gaudí’s death. Perhaps you’re thinking, another European church? La Sagrada Familia is different and is truly one of the most beautiful, awe inspiring buildings in the world. Even if you’re not a person of faith, being inside the Sagrada Familia is a spiritual experience. Alex and I were moved to tears at the beauty of the building. And how tragic that Gaudí never got to see his masterpiece! He’s buried in the catacombs, and entrusted his work to people who have spent their entire lives devoted to the construction.

There are so many things to do in Barcelona, it’s a little overwhelming. Here’s a list of the things we did and loved:

La Sagrada Familia. It’s a must visit. You can get tickets in advance here. (Perk: there’s a playground right outside of La Sagrada Familia, so Larson got to play in the shadow of it.)
Casa Batlló: Gaudí designed many other houses and outdoor spaces in Barcelona. My favorite is Casa Batlló, mainly because of the iridescent dragon scale roof. We took a tour this time, and it was fun to see the inside. (You can get tickets when you get there! We went in the late afternoon and there were no lines.)
Park Güell: I went to Park Güell on my first visit to Barcelona, but it’s currently under construction! Once construction is over, it’s part of a great visit to Barcelona. Park Güell is a good example of Gaudí’s tile work.
Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic): Wandering through the Gothic neighborhood is a must. Make sure to duck into the cathedral Santa Maria del Mar.
Beach: The beach seems like an entirely different Barcelona. We had paella here (see below).

Of course, most of our memories in Barcelona center around FOOD! Here’s an abbreviated list of where to eat in Barcelona:

Paella: Barraca is a paella restaurant right near the beach and all organic. The paella was delicious: we got seafood and vegetable! Just as good were the ocean breezes, Cava toasts, and munching on olives.
Tapas: Ali and Barclay took us to their favorite places for tapas, and we loved all of them.Bar del Pla was a friendly neighborhood join where we got patatas bravas, pan con tomate (toasted bread spread with fresh tomato and garlic), and something totally unique: a shaved mushroom, Parmesan and strawberry salad. Sounds odd, but it was incredible! At Centric we got a spread of tapas: fried Padron peppers, pan con tomate, and patatas bravas. To be totally Spanish, Ali and Barclay taught us to drink Spanish vermouth, which is sweet and tastes a bit like Coca Cola! Chowing down on tapas while Larson ate octopus and pinned stickers from his sticker book onto David from Green Kitchen Stories is one of our favorite memories from the trip. We also loved the patatas bravas at Bar Mendizábal.
Dinner: Our favorite dinner was at Teresa Carles. It’s a vegetarian restaurant that has a fusion of Spanish food and healthy, vegetarian cuisine. The food was excellent. For example: a green salad with quinoa, cherries, peaches, and savory miso dressing, root vegetable patatas bravas (carrot, beet and sweet potato), with spicy aoili, and stuffed piquillo peppers with smoked eggplant.
Chocolate: After visting Casa Batlló, we stopped at Faborit Casa Amatller. It’s an adorable cafe full of options for either a quick bite or lunch: soup, salad, or a taza de chocolate! I got a cup of thick chocolate with some bread for dipping. It’s similar to churros con chocolate, but I loved dipping the savory bread. It was delightful little spot!
Croissants: Hofmann Pastisseria is a famous bakery in Barcelona, and the croissants are to die for! If you’re a baked good fan, it’s a must visit.

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive guide to Barcelona, check out Ali’s Barcelona Guide. She’s an American expat living in Barcelona, so she has wide expertise on this subject!

Cheese board to greet us at Ali’s

That mushroom Parmesan and strawberry salad tapa…it was stellar!

La Sagrada Familia…

Croissants from Hoffman Bakery

Patatas bravas

A tapas spread at Centric

Wandering the streets with David, Ali and Barclay

Paella at Barraca

The Barcelona beach

The Gothic Quarter

Casa Batlló with its dragon roof

Una taza de chocolate at Casa Amatller

Lingering around the table

By the end of our travel in Spain, we realized: we came for the food, but what we found was more intangible: community, hospitality, and lingering. The way Spaniards (and Catalonians!) linger around the table and enjoy friends and family, treating them as the #1 priority in the world at that moment, is something we’re bringing back to our table in America. The memories we made in Spain are indelible: The value of time spent around the table relishing dear people. Appreciation of the rugged beauty of this world. Treasuring new customs and foods. The exhilaration of going off the beaten path. A fresh look at the world through the curiosity of an adventuring 1 year old.

Spain, you’re etched on our hearts. We can’t wait to return.

Spain inspired recipes

Many of our recipes have been inspired by Spanish cuisine, and we hope to create many more! If you’re like to taste Spain without traveling, here are a few of our recipes inspired by Spain travel — and a few recipes from Gimme Some Oven as well!

Open Fire Seafood Paella, Spanish Paella or Vegetarian Paella
Vegan Patatas Bravas
Pan Con Tomate (Tomato Bread)
Classic Gazpacho
Spanish Tortilla

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Sedona Hike 2: Simply Beautiful (Teacup Trail)

Sedona Hike 3: The Instagram Star (Devil’s Bridge)

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A fun skirt

Versatile tank tops

One casual and one dressy shorts

A versatile sweatshirt

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A great hat

A durable purse / bag

Some online shopping tips

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Buy just a few new pieces.

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Find a durable purse / bag.

Bring a steamer.

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