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Caroline EdwardsCaroline Edwards
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Just a girl full of wonder, looking for adventure. Read more Seattle, United States
  • Around the World 2.0
    Day 8–10

    Sapporo

    April 28 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    Fast train to the North Island of Japan, Hokkaido. The train is so fast the Findpenguins app actually thought we were flying. Didn't have huge expectations of Sapporo. Don't really know why. It’s a great city—easy to get around, good food, and a huge, 2-level underground city (like 1km long) since they get so much snow in the winter.

    Caroline had her restaurants picked out long before we got there, so after checking into the Royal Park Canvas Hotel right by the TV Tower (Sapporo landmark), off we went in search of dinner.

    The area we went to was hopping with nightlife, mostly younger adults. This meant that there were long lines for the restaurants, especially the high rated ones Caroline picked. Anyone who know me knows that I am not a stand in line guy, so off we went to find other options. Got lucky with a hole-in-the wall ramen joint in the bowels of a building. 8-seats, ticket vending machine, nice lady behind the counter. Spicy miso ramen with extras and a beer for ¥4,000 (~$25) for both of us. Heaven.

    Day two, we took the metro to the end and then walked two minutes to a bus meeting place. Hopped on the bus which dropped us off at Makomanai Golf Club in the forested hills above Sapporo, where we played in Japan for the first time. It was lovely, even with the flat tire on the golf cart on our 3rd hole. After the round, the caddie master asked how it was. Caroline said, “Great, I won!” He laughed, looked at me with a big smile and said, “Loser!” We were just starting to walk away so it took a few seconds to register what he’d just said. Harsh! Haha. That has been entertaining us for days now.

    Day three we pack our bags and head off to pick up a rental car for a week-ish of roadtripping & golf. Yikes.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapporo    Read more

  • Around the World 2.0
    Day 6

    Tokyo: Kaiseki dinner @ Ise Sueyoshi

    April 26 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Kaiseki is a traditional 7-14 course meal structured to provide a harmonious balance of flavors, textures, and temperatures through a focus on seasonal ingredients, artfully presented to create a sense of tranquility and appreciation.

    I first heard of kaiseki on a Top Chef episode so when Tokyo ended up on our itinerary, it just HAD to be part of our itinerary. Found Ise Sueyoshi through Time Out (great website, even better market/food halls scattered around the world) and snagged a booking for our 2nd evening in Tokyo (because jet lag).

    The restaurant occupies an intimate (aka tiny) space on the 2nd floor. Stepping in, we were immediately welcomed and seated at the 5-seat bar behind which Chef Yuuki Tanaka and his 2 assistants had apparently been casting spells and sacrificing virgins earlier to create a spectacular dining experience.

    And experience it was! Each course had a unique table setting—stunning dishes, sake cups & glasses (and a box!)—and was elegantly presented in a manner I can only call quiet deliberation.

    And the food…sweet baby Jesus, absolutely divine.

    Most of the ingredients are sourced near the chef’s home in the Mie region, southwest of Tokyo, and his pride and love for the area and its producers definitely came through in the food and how he spoke about it. In front of our place setting was a book showcasing featured ingredients and their producers, which the team opened to the corresponding page for each course. Really fun hearing the dish described, and then tasting it while deep diving into an ingredient to learn more about it and the producer’s philosophy. (Is “food nerd” a thing? *sheepishly raises hand*)

    The sake pairings were perfect and opened our eyes to the spirit’s diversity and versatility. My favorite was served in a fresh cypress wood box (took a minute to figure out how to drink from it without spilling down my chin)—the floral aroma of the wood with the crisp sake was transcendent. And we even got to take the boxes home!    Read more

  • Around the World 2.0
    1
    Day 5–8

    Tokyo 2.0

    April 25 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 54 °F

    It has to be one of my favorite cities. Last time we were here was for rugby World Cup 2019. There’s just so much going on. Beautiful parks, fabulous food, probably the best public transportation system anywhere. What’s not to like?
    Did I mention the visual stimulation: Fish markets, knife shops, restaurants, expensive cars, cab drivers with white gloves, baseball, rugby and fashion. It’s a must for those who can.

    According to Numbeo.com it is significantly less expensive than Seattle. Tell my wallet that. Haha

    https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_c…

    The photos will give a glimpse of our adventures. We are currently on a high speed train under the Sea of Japan. See you in Sapporo.    Read more

  • Around the World 2.0
    Day 2–4

    Montreal

    April 22 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    Montreal became the kickoff point for our RTW ticket through the whole misspelled name debacle—in rebooking the whole trip, we found business class award seats from Montreal to Tokyo. 🥳

    We started off with an evening walk from our hotel down to and along the waterfront, where we learned that Montreal was, at one time, the largest port in N. America. First impressions: clean, a spectacular church every few blocks, and a cold wind that WILL cut straight to your bones. Next trip we’re for sure trying the Spa Boat!

    Day 2 was a sunny & gorgeous 65 degrees, perfect for our chef’s tour through Jean Talon market. In summer it hosts 150 stalls open 7 days a week. You know what late April in Montreal is not? Summer. 😕 So basically we walked around the edge of the yet-to-awaken market, shopping for our dinner ingredients that evening. We did have a few delightful bites of North African merguez sausage and a beef hand pie with cinnamon & ground almonds, plus divine Chinese soup dumplings and fried dumplings stuffed with shredded lamb and oozing with lamb fat. Chef Rob has a very diverse culinary background and shared a ton about the past and present of Montreal’s culinary scene. Also, it was super fun counting the number of famous people name drops, failed attempts to share a relatable anecdote or otherwise get a word in edgewise. 🤐

    Needless to say, we were a little trepidatious about a private dinner featuring more of Chef Overtalker but we’d prepaid so off we went. Another lovely walk through the city to arrive at his very stylish apartment, filled with gorgeous smells and a few plaintive meows from behind the bedroom door. Oh boy.

    Well…..Dinner. Was. Incredible. Chef Rob chose to highlight the emerging ethnicities in Montreal and nailed it—Korean caprese, Caribbean pork belly, Persian white asparagus, & Thai duck curry & duck w/ mushroom broth, all topped off with a Quebecois composed cheese course. He layered flavors in perfect balance, along with a cider or wine pairing for each course, including a lovely bottle of Sauternes I’d been saving for a special occasion.

    Did you know Duck could taste like the most amazing piece of filet mignon you’ve ever had?

    P.S. Chef Rob was much more relaxed and engaging in the kitchen. Especially once his meows were let out (he checked with us first) and turned out to be two Cornish Rex cats that are THE friendliest, most human-loving little cuddle bugs. Might be one of those in our future…IF we ever settle down. ❤️    Read more

  • Around the World 2.0
    Day 1

    Vancouver

    April 21 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    Caught the train from Edmonds to Vancouver. Some spectacular views along the way…
    Quiet evening with Caroline’s family Morgan & Scott. Korean food and ice hockey.
    Early start to Montreal.

  • Around the World 2.0
    Day 1

    How it all began

    April 21 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F

    Japan. October 2019. Rugby World Cup. An amazing trip and we vowed to return. Donny found a smokin’ deal to transfer AmEx points to ANA. Boom.

    Yeah, Boom as in Pandemic. ☹️

    Three (hundred) years pass and those miles are going to expire. Start searching, discover Star Alliance’s Round the World ticket. Used their great planning tool (link below) to map out a route that checks the box on bunch of our travel goals:
    • Japan because cherry blossoms (plus bullet trains! And geishas! And food!)
    • Egypt because Donny’s niece’s wedding (plus Pyramids!)
    • Ireland for family (new baby!), horsey things (racing season & RDS!), and golf (of course!)
    • Cape Town because native friends will be there too (plus safari!)
    • South America because retiring in the USA is $$$$ (plus Pampas! And polo! And the Andes!)

    Over to ANA’s booking site to search award seats for each flight, ONE frustrating day at a time. Learned that ANA must not play nicely in the Star Alliance sandbox because award seats available on other members’ sites do not exist in the ANA universe. 🤔

    Booking via phone was relatively straightforward (after the 1+ hour hold time) given all the award flight searching beforehand. 400k ANA miles + $3k and we’re ready to roll on 8 biz class flights over 1 year covering ~35,000 flight miles.

    Three weeks later, an email arrives from ANA announcing a minor change to one flight time. I happen to notice my name is spelled Carloine (which, consequently is now my cool Godfather name).

    No big deal to just swap those two letters, right? Hahaha, that’s adorable. It is, indeed, a VERY BIG DEAL. 😳

    I’m told by a lovely woman (after another 1+hr wait on the phone) that not all the carriers allow name changes so we can basically either take a chance on correcting my name at the time of each flight or rebook the whole thing from scratch. I end the call and pitch an absolute lose-my-sh*t conniption fit. Then, as Donny says, I stick my hand up my arse and pull myself together and start over.

    Award Seat Search 2.0 went much faster thanks to lessons learned the first go-round and resulted in 2 wins: biz class on our first leg (we just have to get to Montreal) and a few better route choices. One final hour on hold, then rebooked our updated itinerary, sans cool godfather name but $500 cheaper. 🙌

    Obsessively confirm my name spelling on the new itinerary. 🧐 Ready to roll!

    ______________
    Tools I found helpful for award flight search:

    Star Alliance Round the World tool (for rules, hubs & routes, and calculating total flight miles to determine how many airline miles you’ll need): https://roundtheworld.staralliance.com/staralli…

    Flight Connections (for possible connecting flight routes, in case award seats on direct routes aren’t available; subscription required to filter by alliance or carrier): https://www.flightconnections.com/

    Seats.aero (for finding potential award seat availability and alerts; covers most major airlines and route, but not all; monthly subscription required for extended search beyond 60 days): https://seats.aero

    Airline Alliance and Award Point Infographic: https://welltraveledmile.com/airline-transfer-p…

    Interactive & customizable world map (for visualizing flight routes and calculating distance flown): https://www.greatcirclemap.com    Read more

  • Europe 2023
    Day 13

    Golf in Puglia

    October 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌬 77 °F

    Acaya Golf Club:
    Beautiful clubhouse, low-key, very walkable inland course. Aggressive rough in terms of grass height and thickness. Not sure I’d return for another round.

    San Domenico Golf:
    Gorgeous course fronting the water. Sunny and warm - thank god for the breeze.

    Would be a great couples’ golf getaway from the colder parts of Europe, staying nearby at what looks to be a lovely resort with a stay-and-play package.    Read more

  • Europe 2023
    Day 1–14

    Puglia Italy

    September 19, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 91 °F

    Caroline has wanted to travel to the heel of Italy for some time. So we flew into Brindisi and picked up a rental car. We spent the next two weeks traveling around the whole of southern Italy. We visited Bari, Matera, Lecce, Amalfi, Naples and Pompeii. These are the big towns we passed through so many more. We had a great time and fantastic food. We stayed in horse stables, hotels and rooms with shared kitchens.
    It is a fantastic part of Italy, enjoyed it immensely as there was lots to do and see and was not too busy. In fact some places seemed that they were almost uninhabited. We did the Amalfi drive. Check... We also golfed twice while here. Both times very enjoyable. Of our trip to the south the only thing that I wish was better was the water temperature.
    Train to Milano :)    Read more

  • Europe 2023

    Ireland

    August 8, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We arrived in Ireland on August 8th after a brief stopover in Seattle. We had a busy five weeks. Golf, The Fleadh, horse racing, wedding and a golf trip with the Sandpoint CC Tuggers to the north of Ireland. It came and went so fast it made my head spin. We had a wonderful time with family and friends and look forward to going back.Read more

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