Press trips always mean a ridiculous amount of food, but this was the first time that food included enough vegetables to satisfy my personal love affair with them! Since the food of a destination is part of the experience, I’m sharing it here before the next post on all the adventures.
Here are a few of the most popular foods we found making an appearance throughout the week (you’ll notice 3 very common ingredients chickpeas, sesame seeds and oil).
Hummus
Like real true made from scratch good stuff (though Sabra is based there!). Hummus is simply blended chickpeas, sesame seeds and olive oil, but it’s like nut butter…once you taste a little you just want more!
Tahini
A delicious nut butter made of ground sesame seeds. I’ve often used it as a dressing with steamed veggies and sweet potatoes, but thought I was so original…nope! (so many from this list featured here from Rama’s Kitchen)
Dates/Dried fruit
Dates are a top export for Israel, so interestingly the best dates are shipped out and the lesser left to eat inside the country! We thought they were amazing, so I need to see out some Israeli dates here.
Halva
A flaky dessert made of tahini, egg whites and sugar. Sounds simple enough, but then they add thousands of amazing different flavors. While the ingredients are similar to a number of other foods it has a very distinct taste. Not my favorite dessert, but hey who am I to turn down sugar. 
Bread, bread, bread….especially challah!
“At its root, challah is a very straightforward bread to make. The dough is enriched with eggs and oil, while a few tablespoons of sugar add some sweetness. The real magic comes in braiding the loaf. Even a simple three-stranded braid is impressive, though a four- or six-stranded braid (as shown below) will bring the house down. ” The Kitchn
Israeli salad
Finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, fresh lemon juice, quality olive oil shows up as a staple side dish everywhere. (I was surprised/delighted to even see it along with lots of other veggies at the pre-race pasta dinner!)
Vegetables
Beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet potatoes made repeat appearances in our meals. In fact, I was thrilled at the volume of veggies everywhere. Lots of greenhouses were spotted throughout the country as we drove to the Dead Sea and most Kibutz or small villages have their own gardens.
Nana (aka Mint Tea)
Actual spearmint leaves steeped in hot water create a drink that is both wonderful for digestion and enjoyable to sip as you simply chat post dinner! Imagine that, taking time to enjoy a meal!
The flavor of this alone is delicious and beautiful, but you can also add a bag of green or black tea. Mostly we opted just to enjoy the flavors alone. This is traditionally a Moroccan tea, which is now a staple in every Israeli restaurant. 
Fish Balls/Falafels
Either fish or chickpeas all ground, mixed with spices, bread crumbs and other yummy stuff to form a ball that is then baked or fried….in to complete deliciousness. 
There you have it, just a few of the beautiful and delicious foods you’ll find traveling throughout Israel.
Usually I come back from press trips with a pound or two to lose from all the desserts and this was no different…but I was also stuffed to the gills with quality whole foods and have never enjoyed dining quite so much!
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Luckily 2014 provided just such an opportunity thanks to the Honolulu Marathon, but oh we did so much more than run!
the ocean, which we were lucky enough to see from our room! Of course with weather this gorgeous and so much to see, we didn’t spend much time there, but it was a great way to start each day sipping some hot tea and watching as the beach slowly filled up with surfers, swimmers and loungers.
This volcano, which has been dormant for over a century, is part of a volcanic chain tat dates back 500,000 years. You’ll pass World War II military bunkers as you stroll along the rim of the crater and see the amazing views of Honolulu at the summit.
The ascent up th e600-foot-long Dunn’s River Falls is definitely a bit of a workout, especially at the beginning, but it is a climb that most reasonably fit people can easily accomplish.
This was absolutely our favorite experience and definitely the most comical.
While biking down we stopped at a number of beautiful waterfalls for photos, then at a small spot for a provided lunch while overlooking much of the mountain. Here they provided the world famous Blue Mountain Coffee and talked more about the production process.
Old San Juan, the heart of the capital city of Puerto Rico, combines history, art, architecture, food and fun. The neighborhood, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was first settled by Europeans in the early 
Slow-roasted pork and chicken are popular as are simply grilled fish and seafood, pulled from the surrounding sea. The Spanish influence can be seen in dishes like paella (a one-dish combination of rice, meat and seafood) and chorizo (the traditional Spanish sausage.) You’ll also find a wide selection of tasty street food from vendors along the waterfront and surrounding the parks.
A few things I gleaned from friends before heading out and few I learned the hard way:
5. Weekdays are usually better days to start. Of course the weekends are going to be busier, it doesn’t mean the slopes are crowded, but it does mean when you’re brand new and feel you have zero control over steering yourself or stopping you spend a lot of time fearing that you’ll plow into someone.
7. Rent before you buy. It’s probably a no brainer to mention this, but don’t let your excitement for this new sport have you dropping money at REI before you’ve spent a few days on the mountain. You may not even be aware of all the pieces you need.
When I first heard about 
The Inbody 520 provides not only body fat readings, but measurements that help you to see where your weight is distributed and if you have any imbalances like one arm or leg heavier than the other.
Additionally, they do some fitness tests to help you see how you improve your endurance and cardio throughout the week.
Because the focus is weight loss, this isn’t like going to a standard resort.
Of course there are also the standard things you’d expect when working out multiple times a day:
Beyond drooling over this scene made of chocolate we learned some interesting tid bits like: Psycho used chocolate syrup for the murder scene and German Chocolate cake isn’t German at all!! I’ll let you find out the rest on your own visit.
After finishing the boat tour you can head over to Park Street right there in Winter Park or shopping at some small local stores and plenty of fabulous dining next to the huge park which also allows for some time to spend outside
While I could have spent my entire day simply walking around the square exploring the little shops and cafes, there was so much more to see what we had to keep moving! This didn’t do much to keep me from wanting to explore as it seemed every corner reveled new secrets.
Seen in the background is our next stop the second piece of what put Telc on the UNESCO Heritage list, chateau Telc.
Outside the castle is a beautiful garden with paths that you can use to get from once side of the town to the other or of course like me to enjoy a beautiful morning run!!
If you can visit in July or August, you’ll be treated to some great festivals in the town square!
While the tunnels were mostly designed for mining silver and as cellars to store things, they were of course used in war. One particular tunnel is rumored to be where the Nazi’s tested some chemicals.
I used these on my recent cruise, which was one of the roughest many seasoned passengers had experienced, and felt better than I have on any other!
Step one after disembarking is always the most harrowing… you board an oversized looking golf cart and it drives you haphazardly through the hills to your location. No seat belts and umm yeah driving on the wrong side of the road, those crazy people.
Jumping in to our two person kayak, I said a little prayer that my controlling tendencies wouldn’t be an issue. Hey it’s why I like kayaking over canoeing, my boat my pace!
After kayaking along the mangroves, which are over 500 years old, our little merry band of paddlers found a beach to pull up our kayaks. My arms loved the workout and my brain was thrilled to find the waters were smooooooth as glass!
Since we paddled to our location we didn’t see some of the insanely colored fish I remember from Key Largo, Key West and Costa Rica.
Sighhhhh.
It was indeed a working cruise for me and I just couldn’t quite get my brain around a bikini + colleagues, so a one piece it was! I think this also made it easier to bounce around activities without wondering if I’d lost a top or bottom!