NEW Social Network for Foodies ...

Aloha!

USA Today just published this article about FOODILY ....

" ... Foodily, a secretive start-up headed by a pair of former Yahoo executives, today took the lid off what it claims is the most comprehensive website for food lovers.

The ambitious undertaking launches days before Super Bowl Sunday, which is the second-biggest food day of the year, based on money spent.  Only Thanksgiving is bigger.

Social media is just about everywhere, for every topic at any time.  But with one huge exception : the $1 trillion food industry.

The Twitter-verse is teeming with foodie talk and Facebook is filled with photos of food dishes, but only a few social networks focus on food, says Anfrea Cutright, former Yahoo marketing executive who is CEO of Foodily (Food-I-Love-You in Twitter-ese).

"One of the most social things you do is eat". yet there isn't much in social media beyond Google searches and some activity on Groupon, says Cutright, who founded Foodily.

The start-up is generating plenty of buzz in Silicon Valley.  It raised $5 million in a round led by Index Ventures last year.

Foodily indexes millions of recipes from hundreds of websites - including Food Network, Epicurious.com and Rachel Ray - retailers Wholte Foods Market and Williams-Sonoma, The New York Times and bloggers.  By comparison, All recipes.com has about 50,000 recipes.

Foodily features a search engine for recipes and ingredients.  It also lets users create events on Facebook to make planning for parties and dinners easier.  "People love to plan meals, share recipes and go out to eat," says Cutright, who held several marketing positions at Yahoo from 1999 - 2007.  "With so many people playing games on Zynga or shopping, why not food?"

Many food sites aggregate recipes and content from bloggers, but few are full-serivce social networks for foodies, say food experts.  Foodily "is the most ambitious site of its kind," says Gary Vaynerchuk, who runs a social-media consulting firm.  The closest thing to a Facebook-like food site is BakeSpace ..."

Here is the link to see the compete article - Enjoy!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-02-02-socialfood02_ST_N.htm#

Spain ... Italy ... France ... here we come!

As the above title suggests, I am in the midst of putting together a trip in September/October 2011 to Spain, France and Italy.  It is a combination of a 12-night cruise with pre- and post extensions in Barcelona and Paris.

The cruise is on Celebrity Solstice, a three-year new ship.  It's the cruise line's "new class" of ship, accommodating 2850 passengers.  Large as it is, the Solstice has one of the best interior architecture designs (modern) and passenger flow.  Even at full capacity, the ship never feels crowded and long waiting lines to embark/disembark is a thing of the past.  I can attest to this as I sailed on Solstice's sister ship, the Equinox, a year and a half ago on a 14-night Eastern Mediterranean cruise.

Celebrity Cruises offers the best price value for it's class of ship.  Classified as a "premium" cruise line, it is among the most sophisticated of the mega cruise lines.  As an example, the cost for a Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with a veranda starts at $2,049 per person for our September/October cruise.  This comes out to $171 per day per person for your accommodation, which includes all three meals or more if you count the stops at the ice-cream bar (liquor excluded)!!  Compare this against what you would pay (in Euros) for hotel accommodations in a 3-4 star hotel at a major European city and you begin to see the value.  Our group chose to stay on the "Aqua Class" (AQ) staterooms, which is the top tier for the staterooms.  Next category up would be the suites.  Our AQ staterooms went for $2,449 per person.

The itinerary for our cruise starts in Barcelona with the next port of call being Nice in the beautiful Cote d'Azur.  Following Nice is Florence/Pisa, then Rome followed by Naples/Capri.  We then have a day at sea to relax.  Dubrovnik, Croatia is our next port of call.  Then comes the magical city of Venice where we overnight.  Leaving Venice the next afternoon, we head for Kotor, Montenegro.  Our last two days are at sea before returning to Barcelona.

We will spend two nights exploring Barcelona before boarding the ship.  Upon getting off the ship, we will spend another day in Barcelona before heading to Paris to spend another three-days exploring and eating our way through the "City of Lights".

With the itinerary set, my upcoming posts will be on the results of my research into each of our ports of call.  Until then .... adios ... arrivederci ... au revoir!!

20 Best Trips of 2011 -- National Geographic

Just received this from National Geographic. Some great ideas of places to visit that are a bit "off the beaten path". As usual, the photography is amazing.

20 Best Trips of 2011 -- National Geographic

Enjoy!!

Aloha Readers ...

"Traveling Foodie" was started at the suggestion of my cousin who is also an avid foodie.  Besides the love of food, my other passion has been traveling to experience new cultures and destinations.

It is my belief that through the local cuisine of each destination, you gain a better insight into the destination and the way people live.

Furthermore, with years in the travel industry, a common thread I have found with fellow travelers when they are vacationing is this recurring topic of conversation ..."Where are we going for dinner tonight?" ... or ... "What are our plans for lunch?"  Similarly, travel articles in lifestyle magazines inevitably weave an element of cuisine to complete the flavor of the destination.

Hence it is with these beliefs I venture forth in sharing my traveling adventures (with a little style infused), while discovering the local cuisines!

Let the journey begin .....