All in Travel

Mar 6
Mar 6 Take to the sky - Hot Air Ballooning in Albuquerque, New Mexico

5:00 AM: "We are going to be late if you don’t hurry”. I get woken up by the wife with the usual alarm. On any other morning I'd have shrugged off the panic and tried to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep – but not today. Its one of the, no, the only non-gastronomic activity we have planned in Albuquerque. If you’ve guessed it- you are right. It’s the day for the Hot Air Balloon ride. Our first. And so we are going to put to test the notion that any first trip to Albuquerque is incomplete without a hot air balloon ride. We check the weather forecast, all is clear.

Feb 17
Feb 17 Food Adventures in Portland, Oregon

aparna krishnamoorthy

Food, Travel

Before heading to Portland (Oregon), I did my research. After all, I was heading to one of the best foodie destinations in the country. Naturally, a lot of our day was planned around our meals, and I’ll tell you right away, there’s no getting around the calories in a trip to Portland.

Many of our meals consisted of local ingredients, and were described as innovative, hearty cooking. No Portland list can really cover all the great stuff there is to find, but I’m eager to share what I tried, and what I think is a good representation of what food in Portland is really about.

Feb 12
Feb 12 An adventure in learning - a visit to the Sake One brewery in Portland (PDX)

aparna krishnamoorthy

Travel, Food

I am not a huge saké drinker and I must confess I knew nothing about the drink before visiting the Saké One kura (brewery) located in Oregon wine country just about 25 miles from Portland. There are about 6-10 sake breweries in the country, but Sake One is the only American owned operation, and is the only brewery outside California.

Feb 3

Feb 3 Urban Winery Southeast Wine Collective -Wonderfully Portland (PDX)

aparna krishnamoorthy

Travel, Food

Firstly, the rumors about Portland are all true!! The food, the coffee, the creative, and yes, the hipsters too! But now add wineries and wine making to the list of what makes Portland truly unique as a culinary destination.

On my trip to Portland, I was really looking forward to wine tasting at the Willamette Valley vineyards, which I did and absolutely loved (more about that in another post). However, I had also heard about the “urban wineries” and was intrigued by the concept. Basically, a group of small, burgeoning winemakers get together and establish a venue for commercial wine production within the heart of the city, producing wines from grapes grown all over the Pacific Northwest. What a fabulous idea!

Dec 11
Dec 11 It's been quite the year - looking back at 2014!

aparna krishnamoorthy

Travel

2014, travel wise, was a GREAT year for us. We brought in 2014 with good friends in Honduras, spending a few days in Roatan and Utila – snorkeling the beautiful beaches, waking up to fresh homemade Honduran breakfasts (baleadas, yum!) and having a boat and captain at our disposal for daily adventures. And adventures we had!

In January, I visited Texas for the first time – spending a weekend in Austin biking around, having amazing meals, and then meeting friends in Dallas for a couple of days. Other firsts on this trip – barbecue (I know!) and kolaches!