Pebbles Kitty Cat Café - Rotterdam, NL

There's a cat on my table.

As we were walking down a random street in Rotterdam looking for a chill place to grab a drink in the afternoon. We stumbled across this cat café. I knew they were popular in Japan, and we even have one back home in NYC. The one time I tried to visit the one in NYC, the reservations were so far out, I didn't even bother. Since I've never been to one before, I decided to stop in just to check it out. To our surprise, the hostess said they had some open tables! 

The café was pretty cool with 5-6 cats running around. It had a nice mix of sofas, tables, and chill places for both cats and humans. Although, some cats might prefer the tables. 

Cats are normally pretty skittish, but these cats were pretty active with these new human strangers vying for their attention. I started to feel guilty trying to get the attention of these cats, whereas my own cat wants to cuddle all the time and I usually push her away. 

Anyways, Pebbles Kitty Cat Café has a great mix of coffee, tea, snacks, and even "high tea". It's worth a stop if you're in the area and looking for something fun and different. 

Pebbles Kitty Cat Café
Hoogstraat 30a, Rotterdam

Konnopke’s Imbiss, Berlin, GR

Love me some currywurst... 

Currywurst, currywurst everywhere. The Berliners really love their sausages with ketchup. I don't blame them, they're pretty good with a side of fries and a cold beer. Konnopke's Imbiss has been around since 1930, and the first (or one of the earliest) purveyors of this sausage-ketchup deliciousness. Gauging from their Wikipedia page, which is only in German BTW...  the scarcity of meat and ketchup in East Berlin after the wall was built led to the popularity of currywurst. The location of Konnopke's Imbiss is directly underneath the train tracks near Mauer Park and very easy to get to. Totally worth a visit!

Konnopke's Imbiss
Schönhauser Allee 44B, 10435 Berlin, Germany

KAL Korean Airline Business Class Lounge

Korean Air Lounge

One of the best perks of having a credit card that offers Priority Pass is the access it gives you to lounges all over the world. If you've never been in an airport lounge before, you are missing out. It could make the grueling process of waiting for hours in uncomfortable and overcrowded airport gates less miserable.

I think the three biggest perks of lounges are; food, wi-fi, and the immaculate bathrooms. 

Food 

Free food and alcoholic drinks are a huge plus. It's even more fun when you can share drinks with friends.  The quality of the food varies from each lounge, but for the most part they're pretty decent. It will save you about $10-$20 over buying food and drinks in the food court.

Instant ramen and booze. 

While we speak, I am having some ramen and white wine. It's enough to kill some time before my flight boards.  

Wi-Fi

Mpst places in the airport you go have pretty bad wi-fi, everyone is trying to use it at the same time. The internet connection in the lounge is usually good enough to do some work and not lose connectivity. It's also great to download some last minute audiobooks and podcast before your flight. 

 Bathrooms

Lounge bathrooms are pristine. Marbled counters, cleaned regularly, and often times has showers so you can freshen before a long flight. If you never took a shower before a flight, it feels amazing! 

Even if you don't have Priority Pass, sometimes it's worth it to treat yourself if you have more than 2 hours to kill at the airport. But seriously, get a credit card with Priority Pass, it will change the way you travel. 

Frituur n°1 - Antwerp, Belgium

Belgian fries? Yes please. 

I'm not sure why we call "fries", French fries. In my time traveling, the Dutch and Belgians are actually known for their fries. We should really call them Dutch fries or Belgian fries. 

If you find yourself in Antwerp, Frituur n°1 is supposedly the best fries in the city. The reason why we know is because we asked a bunch of hip college girls, "Where's the best fries in Antwerp?" The fries are medium cut, tasty, and you can pick a variety of sauces. Eating it becomes a sticky mess with the amount of sauce they put on your fries. A very delicious mess! 

Unless like in America, where we only eat our fries with ketchup (can you say boring?) the Belgians (and Dutch) like to dip their fries in all sorts of fun and crazy things. Try it! And sit in the main square overlooking the beautiful town hall. 

Address
Hoogstraat 1
Old City Centre, Antwerp 2000, Belgium

L'Eclair de Génie - Paris, France

Are these eclairs too pretty to eat?

This spot was not on my original itinerary, but for some reason on this trip to Paris, I had the biggest craving for an eclair. Thus, the search for the best eclair in Paris was born. After a combination of help from Google, Travel Advisor, Yelp, and Instagram, I found this spot in Le Marais. Perfect! We were going there for lunch at a place recommend by a Parisian friend. 

I was blown away walking into the eclair shop. The cream filled pastries were like pieces of glossy art that were too beautiful to touch, let alone eat. There must have been about 2 dozen different flavors, all uniquely designed. If I could I would have purchased all of them. But at 6€ per eclair and the hundreds of calories, we had to refrain to pick the three very best ones. 

Close up of the Red Velvet eclair. 

Needless to say, they tasted just as good as it looks. This is not always the case with super fancy foods. If you're in Paris, definitely worth a stop!

Address
L’éclair de Génie
14 Rue Pavée, 75004 Paris, France

Be fearless when trying new foods.

Lampredotto sandwich from Florence, Italy. A regional delicacy. 

One of the best parts of traveling all over the world is trying out all the cuisine that's out there. You'll find the popular foods you can find at home in the United States, but there are so many local specialities that are unknown in the US... and for good reason! They're not for the faint of heart. 

Being adventurous is more than exploration of new places. It's just as important to be willing to try new things, such as food. You never know if you might end up being a favorite of yours.

The main photo featured in this entry is a local favorite of Florence, Italy. It's called Lampredotto and it's made from the fourth stomach of a cow and then turned into a sandwich. It's a regional delicacy that was supposedly it was popular streetfood during the Renaissance. To my surprise, it was actually quite delicious. It was buttery soft and seasoned perfectly. 

Gelatinized Eels, commonly called "Jellied Eels" in London, England.

This dish took a little more convincing to try. I'm glad we did, because it is a famous (or infamous) London dish that was served during the recession after the World Wars. They're called Jellied Eels. Essentially, the backstory of this dish was that eels used to be plentiful and cheap. They were fished to great abundance from the Thames River. The Brits would then cook and gelatinize the eels in a  refrigerator. This dish was actually rather plain and you could add this spicy vinegar sauce to it. The meat pie, mash, and jellied eels sauce (on the left) was pretty good though! 

During the visit to the restaurant, we were the only ones there (go figure), and we got a chance to chat up the 3rd generation grandson of the founder. It was interesting hear from someone who had such knowledge of British heritage and history. Even thought it wasn't my favorite, I'm happy to know there are still businesses passed down from generation to generation that are still open. It's a shame that there are so few left, and due to various reasons, many are closing their doors. 

Yours truly, inspecting the cricket he's about to eat. Yum!

This one is more of a bonus one since it's really in my hometown, New York City. One of my favorite taxidermy shops, Evolution, sells these Salt & Vinegar Crickets. I chose this to illustrate that sometimes foods that gross you out, might surprise you. Initially, my friend, Hugh, and I got this as a gag and we wanted to try it for fun. It turns out, they are actually very delicious! I'll let you try it to find out what it tastes like, but imagine a cross between popcorn and salt & vinegar chips. I will gladly have these again... they're high in protein, right? 

Okay, so try to keep an open mind when it comes to food. It's impossible to try everything in every city. But if there are cuisines unique to the area, try it! Don't be the person who is eating spaghetti and pizza every day when you're in Italy. 

Bon Appetit!