Living in Philadelphia, the weather is very moody this time of year. By the time March rolls around I am ready to escape to warmer weather. Miami is the perfect little getaway, with only being a 2.5 hour flight from Philly. We spent 4 days with Loews Miami and it was amazing!
Our last evening in Miami we dined at another on-site restaurant, Lure Fishbar. The restaurant's decor is a swanky nautical atmosphere with dim lighting. We started off with some cocktails, of course. I got the Sake 75 which was Tanqueray gin, Soto sake, basil, cucumber, honey, and Prosecco. It was beyond delicious! Josh got The 4 B's which was Bulleit bourbon, Brute Americano, Banane du Bresil, and bitters. We started with spicy tuna crispy rice, oyster deviled eggs, and tempura shrimp tossed in spicy sesame mayo for appetizers. If you know me you know sushi is my favorite food. So for dinner we got a Kenai Roll: spicy wild king salmon, cucumber, fried shallots. HellFire Roll: spicy tuna, cucumber, temporary flake, brûléed tuna, avocado, with kimchi sauce. Dynamite Roll: spicy scallop topped with spicy tuna, yellowtail, and tobiko and a side of the house fried rice. This meal was some of the best sushi I ever had and a great ending to a much needed trip! Thank you Loews Miami for an amazing time.
We stayed at The Alexis Royal Sonesta Hotel Seattle. The boutique hotel is in a dreamy historic building from 1901 that was given a luxurious remodel with neutral tones, and is decorated with local art! Our room was unreal. Super cozy with a king bedroom, spa like bathroom with a rain shower, big comfy living room, dinning area with a wet bar and great views of the water! Overall our room was bigger then our apartment in Philly, haha. The Alexis also has great added amenities. Bicycles you can take out for the day, complimentary umbrellas, the chroma spa, dog friendly, and they have parking.
The Alexis Hotel is in a perfect walkable location to so much! Pike Place Market, the very first Starbucks, Pioneer Square, with tons more restaurants and shops only steps away. The staff was incredible nice and helpful, they gave us great recomendations and made our stay enjoying and carefree. We absolutely loved our stay with The Alexis Sonesta and are planning to stay there on our next visit to Seattle!
If you know me, you know traveling is my favorite thing. I look at it just as I would paying my bills, it's something I will always spend money on and I need it. Over the last year traveling has been very different, but Pack Up + Go gave me a great travel experience right in my city of Philadelphia with one of my closest friends Jimmy!
Pack Up + Go is a surprise travel agency. First starts by you answering a short quiz on personally interests. (Examples; staycation, road trip, outdoors, plane, trains etc.) You will set a destination, a budget, and a timeframe along with favorite types of food, activities, and just the basics on how you like to personally travel. The best part is everything is a complete surprise until your about to leave for your trip!
The morning of our staycation I received a fun envelope with an itinerary for the weekend. To start we had check-in instructions for the Kimpton Hotel Palomar, we were welcomed with a bottle of wine and desserts waiting in the room. Kimpton Hotels are all over the world not just Philly. If you ever get a chance to stay in one, do it, each location is so unique and beautiful! In our itinerary we were given our plans for dinner at Parc, a charming french bistro that Jimmy has never been too. (Parc is already one of my favorite restaurants in Philly, their french onion soup is to die for!) Along with tickets to a walking food tour for the next day. We explored different food stops in the city included a Philly Cheesesteak of course and ended at the famous Reading Terminal Market.
Overall Pack Up + Go put together a perfect weekend for us based off the questions I answered before the trip. I would highly recommend their service. Would be perfect to surprise a significant other, girls trips or even a solo trip to explore a new city! Thank you for a wonderful weekend, check out my Instagram for a fun reel from the weekend!
When it comes to traveling, you could say we travel for food. I love to experience new foods and different cultures. I will seriously eat anything or at least try it once! I usually do lots of food research before traveling and make a list of places to go. So for Amsterdam I wanted to share the places we enjoyed the most on our trip!
Bam Boa - Bam Boa is not right in the city central area but worth the trip. We rode bikes along the Amstel canal to get there. One of the main reasons we went was because a girl I follow on Instagram is the owner of Bam Boa. Besides the food and drinks being delicious, the inside is so Instagramable. By the way, the food was great for any meal of the day.
Blue Amsterdam - Want to eat with a view? You need to go to Blue Amsterdam! I would recommend this place more for lunch or even coffee / breakfast. The restaurant is located at the top of a shopping area with an entire 360 view of the city. They even have binoculars on the tables for you to look out while eating! Both our sandwiches were SO good and the drinks were unique, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
The restaurants mentioned above are more of a sit down eating style. Next I'm going to share more of the "street food" places we really enjoyed and some things that you must try in Amsterdam!
The Happy Pig - This place is unreal! They serve rolled pancakes, almost like crepes. Josh and I got a savory and a sweet one to be able to share and enjoy both kinds. I ordered smoked gouda cheese with bacon and Josh got fresh strawberries. He asked for half to have melted chocolate and the other half to be drizzled with honey. Best of both worlds! We walked over to a canal and sat along the water to eat them which was very enjoyable because there’s very little room to sit inside!
Kibbeling & Herring - These fishes might be the most known “street food” or “snack” in the city. They have stands all over the city just like the hot pretzel stands here. We rode our bikes to the trendy neighborhood of De Pijp to try them at an outdoor market called Albert Cuyp Market. Kibbeling is fried salt cod chunks that comes with tons of dipping sauces on the side. Herring is served raw with diced raw onions and sliced gherkins on top. We definitely loved Kibbeling more, but try both to get the full experience of Dutch culture!
Croquettes / Bitterballen - You can find these anywhere and everywhere in Amsterdam. So f*cking good! I ate way too many on our trip, haha! You can even find them in vending type machines off the street. You put 1 euro in the machine and it opens up and pops out a hot croquette. A lot of these quick-mart type of places also serve up hamburgers which seemed to be quite popular in Amsterdam too!
French Fries - Another dish you can find on every street corner. French fries are a true weakness of mine. Of course, I was eating them left and right with the “mayo.” The dutch mayo does not taste anything like the one here in the US. It has a more garlicky foundation. I need to figure out where I can buy their kind in bulk! There are Fry stands all over and they come packed in a paper cone full of fries. You’re supposed to able to eat them on the go while walking! Most of the places we came across have tons of unique sauces to add on the side for dipping as well.
Kapsalon - We were recommended by serval people to eat Kapsalon. It’s not fancy, but it’s so damn good! Considered a fast food dish in Amsterdam, Kapsalon is a layer of french fries served in a dish topped with shawarma meat and gouda cheese, all melted in an oven. Yum! Once that is heated up it gets topped with a “salad” which is made up of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and onion. Lastly, it’s dressed with a healthy bit of garlic chili sauce.
Food Hallen - This is like a food hall market, with a wide variety of different cuisines. They even offer venders with gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian options. Josh and I got a few things from different spots to be able to try a little bit of everything. We got Dumplings, Spanish tapas, Bitterballen, Sausage sandwich with bacon and mustard, and a variety of cheeses on little baguettes!
Lastly I wanted to mention the Coffee Shops, which I figured was appropriate to add into the food category hahah! A coffee shop in Amsterdam is not what a coffee shop is in the U.S. Over there, coffee shops are where you can buy cannabis or hash. Of course we went to a few… you have to if you’re visiting! The cutest one that I would highly recommend (if you’re into it) is Boerejongens Coffeeshop, go to the one at Utrechtsestraat 21, 1017 VH, Amsterdam. The inside is all gold and marble and the workers are dressed up fancy!
Click here for my Amsterdam Travel Guide!