The Traveling Foodie…It’s going to be an interesting summer

As individuals who love both food and travel we often try to combine the two in an effort to satisfy both of these major passions at one time. This summer will once again be just such a opportunity.

We are going on what is refered to as an RTW if you’ll forgive the travel parlance or simply a “Round the World” trip. The plan is for us to be heading west from our Southern Alberta home and continuing to do so until some 27,000 miles, ten flights, several bullet trains, numerous subways, an unfortunate number of crowded commuter trains, a gondola, 3 ferries, one hydrofoil, an elephant, a horse, two camels, a few tuk tuks, a rickshaw, a jeep, one mini van, far too many taxis and a single tiny rental car with the wheel on the right later we end up right back here. Pheww… my chiro is gonna kill me.

We’ll be stopping first in LA where a 5.5 hour layover affords us the chance to head out and enjoy some Southern California munchies. We’ll then be boarding the world’s largest airliner -an A380- on which we’ve been lucky enough to be seated on the upper deck…score!!! (hey.. airplane geek here, okay?) while heading to our first major stop, Japan. Here we’ll be visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Hikone, Nara, Osaka, Tokushima, Matsuyama, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Fukuoka over three of the major islands in Japan. Next comes a ferry to Bu San Korea and trip North via Daegeon to end up in Seoul before departing from Incheon.

We next land in Guangzhou China for a quick layover and perhaps a little dim sum. From China we head to India and tour through the area known as “The Golden Triangle” where we visit Delhi, Neemrana, Jaipur, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra. We’ll also be visiting several smaller towns and such along the route.

Following India we will be stopping in Jordan and visiting Amman, Um Qais, Ajlun, Jerash, The Dead Sea, Mt. Nebo, Madaba, Wadi Mujib,  Kerak, Petra, Beida, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. Between the desert hikes, the heat and the camels I may be in traction following this. Thankfully I’ve booked a spa at the dead sea close to the end of this leg.

After a very fast-paced and travel filled month long trip we head to London where we’ll try very hard to escape the crowds visitng for the Olympics and finally fly to Belfast so we can spend a week or so relaxing and driving around the Irish countryside.

How does this fit being posted to ChowTown you may ask. Well, as Foodies we won’t be simply doing the touristy things most might on such a trip. We’ll also be doing the following special things along side our usual habit of sampling the best street food and local restaurants…

• Dining at Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo. Where the master Itamae 86 year old Jiro Ono, widely regarded as the world’s greatest sushi chef will prepare an omakase meal the likes of which we are surely never to experience again in our lives.
• Visiting the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market to select our own fish before having it prepared fresh at local restaurant.
• Sampling a variety of Ramen in Tokushima, the home of Japan’s most famous soup.
• Indulging in many of the unique foods in Korea such as sannakji (live baby octopus), one of the foods considered rather dangerous due to the habit it has of clinging to the throat and choking diners to death. (we’d wanted to try Fugu (Blowfish/Puffer) but it’s not in season.
• A private cooking class and dinner with the owners of Naila Bagh palace in Jaipur India.
• A home visit with an Indian family for a formal dinner.
• Attending a special cooking class in Petra Jordan to learn local cuisine from a master chef.
• A private food tour through the streets of Amman to sample the very best Jordan has to offer.
• Dinner in one of Amman’s most popular Arabic restaurants with a local family.
• Consuming my body weight in pub food, Guinness and Irish whiskey. 🙂

I’ll be posting on these adventures upon my return and providing pictures and maybe even some useful information… assuming I survive. 🙂