Pizza My ❤️

Grano Pizza is my favorite place in Trondheim. Not only because its pizzas, sandwiches, and bread are all out of this world, but because of an event that happened here 2 years ago.

Pass the tissues, please - 

Grano was the last date I had with my boyfriend before I left the ship to go back to NYC in….February 18th, 2020.
😭 Yes, it was our last outing together before the pandemic.

2 years ago though, this place had either just opened or was going through renovations because it looked a little different. 

Back then, there was no formal sitting area, we just sat at the window and ate our pizza out of the box. 

Now, however, the place has walk-in and reserved seating, as well as menus and payment that you can access via a QR code. The only challenge is that to use this QR code you need to have a Norwegian number. But no problems, you can just go up to the counter and order and pay there. 

With a busy lunch crowd, the atmosphere, brick walls, tile flooring, and overall decor transports you right into the heart of Italy.

Now enough about me, my history, and the looks of the place - let’s get down to it: THE PIZZA.

Oh. My.

I ordered a few different pizzas on different visits this year, but my favorite will always be the 

Al Tartufo pizza - truffle cream, truffle salami, mushrooms, and cheese.

It is surprisingly light, flavorful, and has a crispy bottom while keeping a nice chewy dough (I feel like I’m on the Great British Bake-Off with these descriptions)

This is a must-stop if you are ever in Trondheim.

Haven’t Been to Trondheim Inna Long Time 😂

Please tell me you read the title in the rhyme I intended.  

Okay, enough of that…😅

Trondheim is actually my favorite city in Norway, and I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t stop somewhere for coffee without doing some research beforehand (classic 🙄)

Dromedar Kaffebar has a few different locations in Trondheim, each having a unique layout and feel (yes I visited three locations at different times)

I actually ended up getting the same order every time because it was so good and unexpected: 

Caramel Latte (cuz I be basic) and a chia seed yogurt parfait. Which - Let me tell you - was amazing. I have had chai seed pudding before, but I also noticed that a lot of parfaits I saw around town (yes I was looking because this was strange to me) also had peaches as the fruit base. 🍑

I don’t know if this is a thing anywhere else…but in the U.S. a standard sad parfait is yogurt, oats, and either strawberries or berries. So I was excited that a different fruit was used for this baby.

So this parfait, right? So it had the peaches (unique) it had chia seed pudding (yeah also unique) and homemade granola with dried tropical fruit and EDIBLE FLOWERS - I mean, how cute is that!! 🌼🌷🌺

I spent many hours downloading movies and music while hanging out in this awesome spot(s) in Trondheim. I highly recommend you check it out if you ever find yourself here!

***Honorable mention: A great bakery that is also always packed and totally worth a visit is Hevd - I didn’t have a chance to go this year, but I went a few years ago and I remember it well!

Waterfalls and I’m-scared-of-heights-why-is-everything-so-steep-help ⛰😰

If you are looking for a small town with beautiful views of the mountains, water, and waterfalls and that has plenty of hiking, then look no further than Geiranger, Norway 🇳🇴

I often found myself thinking “Wow, these people are so lucky they live in such a beautiful place!” 😍

That was until I found my gaze wandering over to the thin, steep, and treacherous mountain roads that led out of the village. 😅

That being said, it was quite a strange situation to sail a huge cruise ship to the end of a Fjord. It sort of felt like we had somehow transported this giant ship into a lake, as the water was so calm it was hard to believe that they connected to open ocean waters.

Since this ship docked here many times while I was working on board, I was able to do quite a bit of exploring (mostly vertically ⛰🥵)

Despite the steep climbs, the town is filled with great options for relaxation and dining. There are quite a lot of farms around as well.

One farm, in particular, is located high above the town. Attached to this old farm is a B&B called Westerås.

Inside the cafe, you can smell coffee and food being prepared, with sheep skins and local jams for sale in the entryway. ☕️🥪

On the wall, there are old photos of the farm’s past, including from the family that lived there for generations.

And of course, step outside onto the deck overlooking the fjords and you’ll be met with the most breathtaking views. 😳

We didn’t have enough time to actually stop for a meal, and it was a big regret after climbing all the way up the mountain to see it!

WIFI in the Fjords 👩🏼‍💻

Growing up in Upstate New York and going to the Adirondacks in the summer, I was sort of used to ⛰ = No WIFI

So I was pleasantly surprised to find that wifi and cell data coverage were quite abundant in many of the Fjord towns we visited on the ship.

Now before you judge me for bringing up wifi before I talk about the gorgeous fjords, I need to remind you of something 😅

I came to Norway via ship. And may I add - a ship I had already been living and working on for 4 months.🥸

Now, when you are a crew member on a ship, you don’t have any access to the outside world, except via your phone. So every few days, it is necessary to go on land and find either wifi or cell data to accomplish basic communicational tasks like calling your family and checking your work email. 👩🏼‍💻📱

For me, I would also sometimes need to look up music for shows, but also it would be a great opportunity for downloading movies to watch after work since we can’t stream anything on the ship wifi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~⚓️~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our first stop in the Fjords was beautiful Nordfjordeid. Two places, in particular, caught my and my colleagues' attention. Here’s a quick breakdown:

📍COCO - Great people working there, super friendly and sweet. They sell ice cream, coffee, and AMAZING pastries along with some retail. This was a friendly haunt for those in our group without an EU SIM who needed some great wifi and a snack.

📍Cats Cafe - Not sure why it's called that, for there are neither cats, nor is it quite the definition of a cafe (rather a pizzeria), but I’m guessing it is because they share the building with a pet store. This place had been recommended by some friends because of its large and tasty kebab (which I can attest, it is both large and delicious)

⏰1 Hour…Go!

Kaffebrenneriet.

But what a short pitstop it was on my one-hour adventure in Oslo…

🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

When working on a cruise ship, we sometimes will only be able to visit a port once - and the job doesn’t stop just because you want to go outside and explore 💃🏻

There are also other challenges besides work hours - without good wifi or mobile data…and planning at the last minute…you may not have time to even research the city you wake up in.

So on this day, I only had one hour to explore a city I’d never been to, not researched, and, frankly, could not afford 💶 🧐

On days like this, the best course of action is to just start walking into the city center.

One of the first things I noticed about Oslo was just how walkable the city center was - along with great access to shopping and restraints, the Nationally Theatre, famous Opera House, and a multitude of museums were within a fifteen-minute-walking radius.

And of course, there was sooooo much more to this city than where I explored.

Along with the cultural and architectural pluses of this city I also quite enjoyed exploring a few of the marinas filled with sailboats ⛵️⚓️

However, in general, Oslo reminded me of many other major cities and capitals I’ve traveled to; Grey and Metropolitan.

After visiting the major standout to me - the opera house - I ventured to the closest coffee shop I could find.

Kaffebrenneriet - I was not expecting anything, but my friend, you served me well.  In cases like these, you aren’t expecting anything too crazy or exceptional, and yet, I was very surprised to find such a cute coffee shop that sold its own beans and made a heck of a cappuccino ☕️

 (👀 that froth though…)

❤️💙🤍

Next Stop, Norway! There were many stops in this wonderful country. Along with some amazing foods, I also witnessed the most beautiful views of the Fjords!

🇳🇴☕️🥐☕️🍰☕️🍕🍩☕️…☕️☕️☕️🇳🇴

Check back in a few days for the first city featured: Oslo 🤩👩🏼‍💻

Flashback 🗽

I remember one time my dad texted me saying he was flipping through channels on TV and landed on an episode of Sex and the City. He thought of me and asked if I ever spend my days galavanting around NYC like Carrie Bradshaw. 🏙

 “Ironically,” I replied, “ I just got out of the salon on the UWS where I touched up my roots and got a blowout and now I’m on my way to meet for drinks with a few friends” 💇🏼‍♀️💁🏼‍♀️

 The irony here was true, as my usual NYC days back then consisted of…

⏰waking up at 4am to get to midtown by…

🗒 5am to wait in line to put my name on the audition list and then…

☕️ by 6am get a coffee and then go back to the studio at…

📜 7am to put my name on the official list and get my audition slot for 10am then…

🏃🏻‍♀️ go back to my apartment and get ready and review my songs and warm up…

🎒then leave to go back to the studio at 9am with my work bag with me and…

🎵 do my audition at 10:30 because the slot got delayed and then…

🥸 hop around for another two hours and try to get seen for some more auditions…

💃🏻 go back to the dance callback at 2pm get cut by 4pm

🥯 eat and change quickly for catering at Rock Center by 5pm and…

🤵🏼‍♀️ work until 2am

🥵

My biggest regret about these days would always be…my lack of food choices! I would get fast food coffee and bagels and then spend the night serving Filet Mignon and Red Snapper…

 So folks, the moral of my story here is to make sure you TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF! It’s so easy to get lost in your daily routine.

 You don’t need to travel the world to gain new experiences or treat yourself 🌻

 (Although…it is really fun!)

👊🏻So…start today!

 Find a new cafe or restaurant in your area to try out - or even go to your usual hang-out and try a new dish you’ve never had before…

 Although I would stay away from the Diner Lobster…🤢😅🦞

Boba Tea 🧋

I feel like bubble tea has finally exploded in Europe. Just in Hamburg, there are maybe 4 or 5 locations within Zone AB 🤩

I was about to go to the dentist, was starving, and needed to treat myself, so I walked to the nearest point on Google Maps to my current location. 

 📍Dream Cafe is the cutest little place - and quite unexpected. It is really close to the main shopping area in Hamburg Central but on more of a corporate parallel street. It is located in a basement space, but the decor makes the place feel light and happy.

 It definitely gives off a cute coffee shop vibe rather than being a specialty bubble tea house. They have a wide variety of tea and coffee drinks/bases to choose from, as well as a decent amount of boba alternatives as toppings for your drink. 🥳

I was really hungry and in a daze and just needed something sweet, so I got a peach green tea, low ice, 50% sugar with grape jelly. 

I had never tried grape jelly - and if you are not familiar with bubble tea toppings, I should explain that jelly in this context refers to a topping that is almost like a gummy with mild flavoring. Also, different places make/purchase their toppings differently. 

But usually, the classic boba pearls are made in-house and are definitely the way to go - I just opted to make more of an experiment out of it. 😎

 (Here is a hilarious video from Violinist Duo and Boba Tea Fanatics, TwoSetViolin, that breaks down the 10 Levels of Ordering Bubble Tea: 

Anyway - I had never tried grape jelly and surprisingly I really enjoyed this combination with the peach green tea. 🫖🍑 + 🍇 = 😋

Also, the two lovely ladies working the counter were super friendly and were able to help me order in English once my German language failed me.

If you find yourself shopping at the Europa Passage or walking along the water that looks out to the Asterfontäne, then you should stop by this cute place!

Cafe May, My Bae 💝

Cafe May is a place near and dear to my heart 💛

Located in Hamburg, Germany, I believe there are three other locations (I have a thing for cafes with multiple locations, apparently), but this location on Seilerstraße takes the cake - and my god are their cakes truly delicious! 🍰

 But no - it is not simply their cakes that make Cafe May one of my favorite places in the world.

We have a history. 

 It was in Cafe May where I sat for my first meal with my work colleagues in 2019 - 2 days after arriving in Hamburg and stepping foot into Europe for the first time 🌍

 It was here where I tried my first franzbrötchen - a Cafe May and Hamburg Staple. Imagine a croissant and a cinnamon roll had a baby. Franzbrötchen is that “little French bread” baby.

It’s funny, when I brought some of my friends here for the first time, they were like “Wait, THIS is the place that you have been anticipating going back to for 2 years” - Not that it was bad or anything 😂 I think I had just hiped it up so much that they were expecting something more than just a cute corner cafe. Oops 🤷🏼‍♀️

 Now, from the outside to the average person this place would not seem the most inviting.

 🥐First, like most of St. Pauli and the Reeperbahn area, the building is covered in graffiti. 😬

But it is quite a normal thing to see in this area. Unlike many cities in the U.S. or UK, the graffiti on buildings around here is not a sign of the area being unsafe…most likely 😏… Rather, it gives the building an artsy edge.

The Reeperbahn is the next street over; the famous red light district of the city and known as a great place to party. You may have also noticed that there is a sex store right across the street from Cafe May. Did I mention that the cruise entertainment building that I worked in was right next store? 😅

 Although, admittedly, I did notice that over the pandemic the city has gained a lot more graffiti, Cafe May not excluded.

 🥐Second, the inside looks like someone’s parents/grandparents’ living room. It is super comfortable though, even with the mismatched furniture.

And the coffee bar…

I mean, THE COFFEE BAR.

It has a window filled with pastries and goodies. Which, to the untrained eye, may look like average baked goods, but they are truly out of this world. (And even on a Monday - the line to get in is out the front door)

🥰 

 So on this day, I decided to order my regular - Zwei Franzbrötchen und einen Cappuccino, groß. (Not sure if this was correct, written here or when I spoke it lol)

And as usual, since mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut, and apparently neither is my accent, I was greeted with a hearty, English, “Of course! For here or take away?!” 🙃

***Additionally, I would like to apologize for my bad photo skills. Hopefully, with time, (and by taking my time 😅) my skills will improve. Stick around to watch that hopefully happen!!

Hamburg, DE 🇩🇪

🖤❤️💛

Back to where I touched down in Europe for the first time, only a few years ago 🥺 Hamburg will always have my heart for that!

 🇩🇪🥐🧋☕️🇩🇪

Check back in a few days as I tell you about two places I was able to visit on my quick trip into Hamburg for a few hours 🤩👩🏼‍💻

👀What places do you think will be featured? Let me know in the comments ☕️

Markthal Has It All ✨🤩

 It would be remiss of me not to include some great places in Rotterdam that I visited but didn’t have time to take photos of. 🤓

 📢So here is a quick list of some great stops at and near the Rotterdam Markthal 📢

🍴Ekmekci @ekmekci_nl

 It seems like they were known for their Gozleme, which looked and smelled amazing. However, I was too much in a rush, so I just ordered the XL Siggar Feta and Spinach Burek to go and it was perfect.*

 🧇Goudstroop @goudstroop

 A bit expensive, but if you are looking for arguably one of the best and most convent stroopwafels in the Netherlands, this is a stop you must make. They will make it for you fresh on demand. Or, you can pick up a tin at any local grocery store - but fresh is hard to beat once you’ve tried it once.

 🍜Takumi Ramen @takumimarkthal

 There are a bunch of these everywhere, but if it’s good, it’s good. I had the Spicy Ebi Kara Age Ramen, which sounds all over the place - and it was - but in the best way. I would eat that once a week for the rest of my life, it satisfied all of my cravings at once.

 🍜Hinoki Noodle Soup @hinoki_rotterdam

Another fantastic ramen stop that is just a few steps from Markthal and much more unique. I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen Black-Special - it was amazing. I highly recommend it if you are a slut for garlic like myself.

🍸 Spikizi Bar @spikizibar

This is quite far from the Markthal but is worth the walk for their unique and tasty craft cocktails and super sweet and knowledgable bartenders. It's also a super intimate and cool space. I ordered the Ultima Palabra because I’m obsessed with mezcal.

 * 👀I miss burek so much after first having it in Novi Sad a few years ago! If you know of any great places, comment below - I don’t care where in the world it is, I will find it!!!☕️

 **Also, a bit of advice - many small towns and neighborhoods around Rotterdam (Like Schiedam) do not accept Visa or MasterCard, but usually grocery stores will have an ATM. Additionally, vendors at Markthal do not like large bill cash, so make sure you carry change or have a card handy!

 ***Disclaimer: Obviously, this is from my personal experience and there are always exceptions to these observations.

Picnic Day 🧺

So… on our last day in the Netherlands, I came back to Vlaamsch Broodhuys, this time with a bigger group. We got there around closing, where we got to talk to one of the workers named Daan. 

Hey Daan 👋🏻

So though there are 19 locations, this particular location is special because the owners live around the corner! Maybe that’s why it feels so nice and homey ❤️

And though the goal was just to pick up some sourdough bread to take to our park picnic, we could not help ourselves 😅

We each grabbed a coffee to-go, some savory waffle wafers, and a rhubarb tart 😬 

 You can’t go into a bakery like this and not expect to leave with your hands full 🤷🏼‍♀️

———————— 🍞🍞🍞 ————————

After the bakery, we ran to the local grocery to grab some more goodies…🥳

One fact about living on a ship that most people may not know is that we are not allowed to bring raw or unpackaged goods onto the ship. 

The reasoning may not seem too obvious at first, but with thousands of passengers and crew - well, let's just say, having open food in every cabin could attract foreign bacteria… or worse (🪳🐭 🤢)

Anyway….

My colleagues and I decided to have a picnic with all the foods we were not allowed to bring on board with us:

🧀🥑🫒🥒🧈🍇🥂🍾🥖🍅🍰

 And boy, did we have a feast!!!

The Smoked Salmon🍴

Vlaamsch Broodhuys is a chain of cafes with 19 locations all around the metropolitan Netherlands. 

But of course, I didn’t know that when I arrived! Like I told you guys in earlier posts, I am more of a “walk by and see what’s going on inside” level researcher 😅

No, I was under the impression that I stopped in a cute little hipster/industrial warehouse style, one-of-a-kind bakery and cafe 😆

It was actually impressive that they still had visitors, considering they were doing work on the road between the cafe and the canal. But it still had some cute small-town charm, sitting in one of the older-style buildings in the town. 

I’ve been told by my Dutch friends that Schiedam is a pretty typical town in this country, but as it is my first introduction to the Netherlands, I was actually really impressed by the architecture and the town planning. It’s just so cute. 😍

It reminds me of a town where I used to work in New Hampshire called Portsmouth. And similarly to The Friendly Toast, this cafe chain does a great job of masking that it has multiple locations and marries itself to the style of the neighborhood it is in.

Once you look past the street construction, you see a cute, modern bakery 🍞

As you enter, you are immediately met with artisan-style baked goods and bread, as well as shelves filled with homemade nut spreads, jellies, and more.

Some of the pastries are even overcooked (in a good way) giving the impression that there is just one old man who works in the back and wakes up at 2am every weekday to prepare the croissants and, oops, he slightly over-baked this batch, but the brown bits just make the sugar in the pastry more present…

A tart made with love 💖

As in every Dutch establishment, the woman behind the counter was extremely sweet and switched to English as soon as she saw my confused face. I love the Dutch and I’m sorry I couldn’t speak the language!

🤷🏼‍♀️ I decided to order an apple tart, a cappuccino, and the smoked salmon toast with horseradish. A bit too much food you say? Please refer to the name of this blog. Also, this was going to get me through my work day!

Though there were at least a half dozen people already in the place and it had just opened around 10 minutes ago, everyone was receiving their orders pretty fast. 

I mean I’m no cook, but I am also no idiot - all they have to do is grab my order and compile it onto the plate 😅 BUT the speed and efficiency were still a stand-out that I appreciate.

…As you now probably know, THIS was the smoked salmon that started me on this blogging journey, and it truly was remarkable.

I don’t know if it was the atmosphere, the fact that the last smoked salmon I had was a leftover in the crew mess on the ship, or that I was starving, but at this moment, this was the best smoked salmon I had ever tasted 🥺

I’m no foodie, so I’m not going to go into the details about where the fish came from, why farm/stream fish is better, or whatever it is professionals talk about. I’m just here to tell my story. 

…The fish was good, you should try it.

The apple tart instantly brought me back to my childhood around the fall time, when my dad/mom would make an old family recipe we call “apple koo-gen”…

…Which, after my time in Germany and studying the language, I’m thinking was actually apple kuchen, which just translates to apple cake 😂 But I swear it’s more interesting than that. 

🍏 Just like how my dad would make it, the tart had a pastry bottom with the apple slices candied on top.

 …Again, I’m not great with the food descriptions. Hopefully, that will come with time.

10/10 would recommend. 

On my “Top 10 Tarts I Ever Had”. 

Though not top 5.

Does that help?

🥱Anyway, between the location, ambiance, and tasty food, I would definitely recommend this to any food fan like myself. If you find yourself in Rotterdam, be sure to take a short ride out to Schiedam, or find one of the many other locations!

Up First...

❤️🤍💙

As I mentioned in my previous post, my first 2(ish) stops are in the Netherlands!

 🇳🇱🥖🧀🥂☕️🥐🇳🇱

 Check back in a few days where I will share with you my inspiration for this page 🤩👩🏼‍💻

A Stroke of Inspiration 💡

I’ve never been more excited to start anything, and it begins right here and now. 🌻

As I write, I am in Schiedam, Netherlands, 2 weeks into dry dock on AidaPerla.

 As you read…I’m sitting on my bed in Brno 😂

 But back to the past….

It is now a nice spring day in early May. 🌷

We’ve been in the Damen Ship Yard for 2 weeks already in what is called “Dry Dock”. This happens to a ship every 3-5 years, where all the passengers leave and the ship is raised above the water for maintenance to be done.

Every dry dock is different as it depends on the needs of the ship, but there is always a consistency of long work hours, noise pollution, and inopportune times for water shut-offs (usually right after the smelly work day)🤢

Having had my first morning off in such a long time (two weeks 😂), the foodie in me searched for a bakery. 

💐💐💐

I had already spent some quick afternoons in the library/cafe right on the canal that features an indoor courtyard - one of the most beautiful and hipster spaces I have seen since entering the Netherlands. 

But unfortunately, they didn’t open until 10 and I was hungry. I have limited time and a need for fine coffee and a pastry.

It all started with the best smoked salmon I’ve ever seen/tasted, and a strike of inspiration.

Stay Tuned…😉

About You 👀

This isn’t the blog for foodies, but rather a place for the average reader…

🤓 Those who love creating Pinterest boards of food inspiration but have no esthetic understanding…

🤓 Those who love to eat but are really bad at juggling the Yelp reviews and just say “well, f*ck it, I’m just gonna go here because it has at least 3 stars" and ultimately regret their decisions

🤓 Those who are very overwhelmed by decision-making at a restaurant, but are also too shy to ask the waitress for her recommendation because “she just seems too busy I shouldn’t bother her….” (For real, I almost always order a cappuccino 😂).

This is for the ones who walk by a cute cafe and say “ I’m gonna try this”, and even though the cappuccino tastes like any other cappuccino they’ve ever had, they totally buy into the cute esthetic of the place. 🤩

 And of course, it is for those who love to travel and explore new places and cultures.

 But I’m no professional and neither are you 😉

🌸Now let’s just look at the (sometimes) pretty pictures, and if you fancy a blog-style-read-of-the-day, go ahead and look at the words as well.🌸

Welcome to Rob Travels For Food 🤩

As a creative person with a love for travel, my biggest passion has always boiled down to…eating.

I love food and travel and, honestly, have such a hard time holding onto any of the other 1000 passions I have in the creative field. 

So with a visit to the cafe that started it all, some tasty smoked salmon set me on the road of this new adventure. 😎

 I’m a woman of many interests. 

🎥 I interned under a video engineer in high school…

🎼 went to college for musical theater…

🤵🏼‍♀️ worked in New York as a cater-waiter for some of the biggest and most exclusive parties (saw a lot of celebrities but kept it cool in the moment lol)

😎 hosted the late night shift at a bar in the village and occasionally worked as the bouncer

💃🏻 choreographed a new show being developed…

🎹 wrote some songs and helped orchestrate a musical…

⏰ did my time as a stage actor in many summer-stock theaters in the US…

🛳 worked on a cruise ship as a singer…

👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻met a Serbian man and started dating him…

🎙started a podcast with him…

👩🏼‍💼got a job as a project manager for a podcast branding agency…

👩🏼‍💻started writing articles for medium, did some copywriting gigs and…

🇩🇪 returned in January 2022 to the German Cruise-line, Aida.

On this platform, I will be sharing with you my many adventures across Europe and beyond through the food I find in each place I visit.

 Thanks for joining me!