When is it good manners to snort, grunt, and guzzle your food with no regard to your company? Only when you're a wild rhinoceros and your guests are part of a walking safari! This walk on the wild side definitely stands out as one of the most unique and exciting things we've ever done.

A walking rhinoceros safari can only be experienced in Livingstone, Zambia, at Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. "Mosi-oa-Tunya" translates to "the smoke which thunders" in reference to the power of Victoria Falls. And during our visit, it wasn't just the water which was thundering. Between our beating hearts and the stomping of feet and hooves, there was a lot going on during our morning with the rhinos. 

There's nothing I love quite like a layover, the chance to discover a city and explore a destination all while you're in between flights. New York City is the perfect layover location. There are easy transportation connections to every nearby airports, there is plenty to see and do no matter the weather, and it's the kind of place that never gets old.

I've learned a bit about New York City and layovers since our first round the world trip in 2013. New York was our first stop! Once again, on this round the world trip, we were in New York first and, like last time, we had a scant 12 hours to explore. Fortunately, I knew exactly what to do. On Location Tours offers bus and walking tours that highlight television and movie scenes that were filmed in New York City. We boarded their signature TV And Movie tour several years ago and loved it. It was the perfect way to discover the city! This time, I knew I wanted to dig a bit deeper, discover some new neighbourhoods, but still enjoy all the amenities that their bus tours offer. Their Sex And The City tour was the perfect solution. I was a fan of the show AND it would take me into brand new areas of New York. Perfect!

As lead character Carrie Bradshaw might say "I couldn't help but wonder...." what I'd discover along the way. Turns out it was a lot! Here is everything I loved about On Location Tours' Sex And The City bus tour.

Our meal at Black Tartan was sponsored by Ontario's Highlands Tourism Organization and we thank them for their support. 
​Some links within this blog post are affiliate links, which means we are paid a small commission should you make a purchase .

Do you remember the time we feasted on desserts across Budapest, including some showstopping plates at a Michelin star'd restaurant? Or that time when we had an incredible meal at a near empty Parisian restaurant after a late night river cruise? We sure do! We love eating our away around the world and our list of good meals,  restaurants, and experiences is endlessly long.

But what about GREAT meals and restaurants? No, not just great. How about the absolute best? People ask us all the time about the best meal we've ever had or the best restaurant we've ever visited and we always struggle to answer. I've realized it's not just that food enjoyment is subjective. For us, it's also about having our expectations surpassed, about being overjoyed to discover that a meal we anticipated would be merely satisfactory is actually sensational. Sometimes it's been an order from room service that blew us away so much that we are STILL talking about how perfectly creamy the sauce was. Other times, it's an unassuming country bistro, the last place we expected to find a cheese lover's heaven. In every case, the food isn't just good - it's surprisingly, unexpectedly fantastic. 

After much debate, we've finally narrowed down our list of the best meals we've had around the world, using the criteria above. None of those incredible restaurants in Budapest or Paris made the list. They were wonderful - but we expected them to be wonderful. An element of joyous astonishment just wasn't there. We also eliminated any experiences that we enjoyed solo - this list is all about the places that Ryan and I have enjoyed together and have the same reaction to. Looking back on all our delicious destinations has been a fun trip down memory lane, but also a sad one. Should we go back? Would things be just as great a second time round or are our expectations now skewed? It's a good reminder to always savor the moment as much as the food! 

Bon Appétit!

Do you remember the first time you tried pesto? I do. I had just turned 19 years old and I was living in Kingston, Ontario. I walked into a tiny, narrow, downtown restaurant on Princess Street called "Lukes!" In a few years, the titular Luke himself would turn 15, take over as the restaurant's executive chef, pivot the brand to "Luke's Gastronomy", and become Canada's foodie wunderkind. But in 1999 it was just Lukes! and I was just a student (likely with a coupon in hand...) who ordered the cheapest meal on the menu. Pesto pasta. It cost $9. Or maybe it was $12? In any case, there were long noodles and there was pesto, a deep muddy green mix of silky oils and granular cheese, nuts, and herb stalks. It was like being punched in the face with the most incredible mix of salty earthiness, the pungent herbaciousness of the basil wrestling with its own undertones of licorice and pepper. 

I was a goner. It was love at first bite.

Living in Kingston was like attending a culinary finishing school and I was a rough and tumble debutante who had never once moved past mashed potatoes. It introduced me to flavors, ingredients, and textures that were actually rather commonplace but had never crossed my path before. Things like hummus (smooth, but not too smooth, spread over triangles of firm pita bread and topped with red onion and cucumber), sky high cheesecake with ingredients like blackberry with peaches or Oreo crumble with swirls of Irish cream, scalding hot cafe au lait -too bitter for me to properly enjoy (don't worry - I evolved!) - and large, squishy cubes of tofu, flash fried, coated in a spicy sweet black bean sauce, served with bell peppers that were barely al dente. 

Amazing.

Little did I know when I was indulging on pesto pasta for the first time that I was sitting in the middle of what would soon be Canada's food capital. Today, Kingston, the first capital city of Canada, boasts the highest number of restaurants per capita in the country. It's second only to New Orleans in all of North America. When I had the opportunity to return, this time with student life long behind me, I knew I had to dive into Kingston's food scene once more.

If you love watching CSI marathons as much as I do, you'll no doubt have picked up on a particular habit of shift supervisor Gil Grissom. When the introverted, cerebral, bookish Grissom needs to unwind, he heads to one of Las Vegas' spectacular roller coasters and lets the breakneck speeds and thrilling loops clear his head.

Like Grissom, I too love bees and books (dead bodies, not so much...) Could I possibly love roller coasters as well? 

The answer is a resounding NO! If you follow my Facebook page, you'll know that roller coasters are one of the many "nope" activities for me. Bungee jumping, hang gliding, mountain climbing, roller coasters - they're all "nopes". They terrify me!

But what about a mountain coaster?