When I travel, one of my favorite activities is eating and drinking my way through where ever it is that I am visiting. I am not sure if I would qualify as a “foodie”, but I can say that I do have a deep love for food and I enjoy trying new cuisines when I can! So obviously, when my boyfriend and I decided to go to Portland, Maine this past weekend, my first question to all of my friends who had been there before was, where should we eat?

We were only there for a short time, from Saturday around noon to Sunday afternoon, so I tried to squeeze as much food as possible in during that time. I compiled a list of suggestions that I would recommend after trying them, as well as a few that I didn’t get a chance to try, but are on my list! Hopefully next time any of you are in Portland, you will be able to try some of these tasty choices!

Places We Tried That I Recommend:

1. Bonobo Woodfire Pizza: This was a cute and cozy woodfire pizza place near our Airbnb in the “west end” area of Portland that was recommended by one of our friends who lives in Portland. They also have a local craft beer selection (which my Boyfriend loved, I am not a beer fan). We absolutely loved this place. The ambiance was super cozy and they had cute string lights hanging on the ceiling. The pizza was honestly one of the best pizzas I have ever had. It had a thinner crust and had a lot of flavor. My boyfriend ate an entire pizza to himself, which I would have done myself if I could have fit it in my stomach. He got the pepperoni, and I got the caspian roasted chicken, both of which I would strongly recommend!

2. The Bar of Chocolate Cafe: For anyone that knows me, it is common knowledge that I have a sweet tooth, in particular for chocolate. So of course, when I heard from a friend that there was a small bar completely dedicated to chocolate, I had to try it. It is a very tiny place, easy to miss if you are not looking for it, on a cobblestone street which I loved. We really enjoyed this place as well, and it was the perfect spot to grab dessert and drinks after dinner. The name says it all – the bar has a collection of chocolate martini drinks, as well as chocolate desserts. My boyfriend and I had such much fun here getting chocolate “wasted.” 🙂

3. The Holy Donut: Almost every single person that I asked to recommend food in Portland, immediately said that I had to try The Holy Donut. I am a huge donut fan, and do love trying different donut places, so I made sure to make this a top priority to check out, and it did not disappoint. The donuts were absolutely delicious (and they have gluten free options as well!). My boyfriend said it was the best donut he has ever had, and I can’t disagree. They had many delicious flavors, but I especially loved the vanilla and the cannolli flavor. I read later that the reason for the consistency being so different is because the donuts are hand-made with Maine potatoes. They really do melt in your mouth and I would recommend trying these for breakfast or a yummy snack!

4. DuckFat: Alongside the Holy Donut, this place was across the board the most recommended to try. Everyone said that I have to try the poutine as well as the milkshake. The (not-so-secret) secret ingredient in the Belgian fries and poutine, was that they were all fried in duck fat. This place was absolutely amazing! It is very tiny, and they do not take reservations, but luckily we didn’t have a wait. We did, however, have to sit uncomfortably close to the people next to us, which was my only complaint. The AMAZING poutine and milkshake completely made up for it. I could immediately see why this place was recommended so many times – it definitely was the best poutine I have ever had, and the milkshake was super delicious as well.

Places We Missed That are Still on My List:

1. Petite Jacqueline: This restaurant is actually owned by one of my boyfriend’s friends sisters, so we stopped by, but after all of the other food we ate that weekend, didn’t have any room to actually eat here. However, I would love to come back again and try it. As you may have guessed from the name, it is a French bistro, with French selections including Steak Frites, Crepes, and delicious french pastries such as Macaroons (My favorite). The food looks delicious from what I scoped out on Yelp, and it has great reviews, so this will definitely be a must for next time we are in Portland.
2. The Honey Paw: We actually walked past this place when headed to Duckfat, and I was found myself staring/drooling at someone eating noodle soup in the window (sorry, dude but your food looked awesome). This Asian fusion cuisine includes broths, wantons, and noodles galore – basically the perfect place to go when it’s cold outside and you want some warm soup. This place also has great reviews and I will definitely be making my way here next time in Portland!
3. Central Provisions: I discovered this place when researching about Portland beforehand. It is a tapas restaurant with a really unique looking menu. One of my favorite things about tapas is that you can have a little of everything, which works well for me because I can be very indecisive when it comes to food! Can’t wait to try this place next time around.
4. Taco Escobarr: This place was recommended by a friend, but we didn’t get a chance to check it out quite yet. If you are in the mood for some Mexican food and Margaritas, this looks to be the place! The photos I’ve seen of the food look absolutely delicious, so next time I am in Portland and need a Mexican food fix, I will be sure to check out this spot!

I hope this list was helpful for you if you are headed to Portland, Maine anytime soon. There are tons of good food places there, and this is just a small list so feel free to leave any additional suggestions in the comments!

 

Why Mallorca?

Growing up, my Nana was a travel agent, so her and my Gramps traveled all over the world. If you threw a dart on a map, they had probably been there, from Africa to Bhutan to countries I didn’t even know existed. However, despite having the world at their fingertips through the exclusive deals of working in the travel industry, they returned summer after summer every year to this sun-kissed island off the coast of Spain, to the point that they even had local friends welcoming them with open arms on their return trips.

For those of you who have never heard of Mallorca, it is the larger, tamer of the Balearic Islands, a sister site of the well known party capital of the world, Ibiza (but you won’t be taking any crazy pills here, or at least not as many, Mike Posner). It is known for its amazing white, Mediterranean beaches and mountainous terrain.

It seemed as if it was fate that I ended up there. My company is headquartered in Paris and we have a yearly summit in France (major perks of the job). The first year I worked at the company, they even compensated our travel flights prior or after the summit (Thank you, Criteo) if we chose to add on a vacation. We ended up deciding to do Barcelona, and then Mallorca. I can honestly say it is one of the best trips I have ever had. It certainly is in the top five, if not the number one most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. However, the vacation was not without a few hiccups. Hopefully hearing about our trip will help you plan one of your own!

When to go

Summer. Mallorca has a typical Mediterranean climate, heating up in the Summer between 70-80 degrees on average. To enjoy the full beauty of Mallorca in warm weather and be able to tan and swim in the water, you definitely want to go in the Summer. We went mid-June, and the weather was absolutely perfect.

How to get there

Fly. Flying from Europe is the quickest way to get to Mallorca. We flew from Boston, then to Barcelona for a few days, and then to Mallorca. I really wouldn’t recommend any other way (Unless an 8 hour ferry from Spain is your cup of tea). It was also extremely cheap, somewhere around $70-80. The flight was only around 45 minutes. It was so quick, my friend joked that he went to the bathroom after the flight took off, and by the time he was done, we were descending. EasyJet truly is just that – super easy. RyanAir is a great option as well.

Transportation

Rent a Car. If you want the ability to travel all around the island at your own independence, and because the island has so many hidden gems and is quite big, I highly recommend renting a car to get the full experience.

However, this is where our first hiccup came up on the trip. What we did not know, was that majority of the local rental cars in Mallorca require an international license to operate. So here we are arriving to pick up our vehicle, to find that we could not legally drive it. We had to actually refund the car, which was a nightmare as the employees did not speak English very well, and then wait in a long line at Hertz to get another rental car.

Lesson learned: Hertz is one of the only international rental car companies that enables you to drive a vehicle with only a U.S. license!

Another side note: It is very hard to find a rental car that is not a stick-shift, so hopefully one of your friends can drive stick!

Also: A MAJOR perk of renting a car, is driving through the beautiful mountainous terrain of Mallorca – it is a view I will never forget.

Where to stay

Airbnb! We wanted Mallorca to feel like our home away from home, and this is why we went with Airbnb. This was by FAR the best decision we made on the trip. I would recommend doing some research to decide which location on the island is best for you. Check out See Mallorca here, for some specific details about the island.

We opted to stay in an Airbnb in the northern part of the island, so we could be close to all the beautiful beaches. The exact location was called Sa Colonia, and I was able to dig it up, see here!

This amazing place had 5 floors, was RIGHT on a beautiful beach, had an indoor pool, and a master bedroom where me and my other friend slept. The place literally looked like something out of a Rick Ross music video. For how amazing it was, the price was unreal. It was $354 a night total, so only $70 per person to literally have our own beach-side home and live a life of luxury for 5 days. I can truly say for a small moment I felt like I was living the life of the rich and famous. If you cruise through Airbnb options in Mallorca, its amazing the luxury villas and homes you can rent out for a quality price, and they are worth every single penny.

Here are some photos I snapped, not too professional but for better photos check out the Airbnb link:

*Our luxurious living room overlooking the water.

 *The boys enjoying the indoor pool.

*My Friend Chris Mcdonough enjoying a nice glass of wine to take away some of the pain of his sunburn on our back patio. Rough life.

*Enjoying a cup of coffee at breakfast with an insane view.

*Sunset view from our balcony.

What to do

• Book a Boat Trip: One of the best days we had in Mallorca was a day we went on a catamaran boat tour. There are many boat tours you can take in Mallorca, including some with your own personal skipper. They took us around several areas of the island and Mediterranean, served us lunch and drinks, took us to some great snorkeling spots (snorkel gear included) and entertained us with their good company and a guitar. I unfortunately do not remember the exact company we used – but a simple Google search you will find many options, or take a look at See Mallorca here. Here are a few photos from our boat trip:
  *This is exactly what it looks like.
  
  *My friend Chris enjoying the boat entertainment, most likely dancing to Bailando by Enrique.
  *Pure relaxation at its finest.

• Visit Cap De Formetor: Cap De Formentor is on the Northern most part of Mallorca and forms the peninsula. It is a point you can visit that has the most AMAZING views. We drove there, which I believe this is the easiest way to get there, as it was very hilly and would be tough to bike or walk (unless your some sort of professional biker). I would HIGHLY recommend this due to its pure beauty. It’s a fantastic photo op, and home to some very cute mountain goats (which my friend scared away, still upset about it). Here are some of our photos from Cap De Formentor, although they don’t do the place justice:
  
  
• Beaches: I did a lot of research on beaches to go to prior to the trip, mostly using the See Mallorca website. Some of them were absolutely amazing, and some were a disappointment as they were overcrowded with Tourists.
  • Alcudia beach: I would definitely avoid this beach at all costs. It was not only crowded, but did not turn out to be very pretty and we did not enjoy it at all.
  • Can Picafort: This was another more crowded beach. However, I do have to say that Can Picafort was very beautiful and the watercolor was exceptionally light here, so if a crowded beach doesn’t bother you, check it out. Additionally, It is near Alcudia which is a town we visited quite frequently that had cute shops and restaurants that I highly recommend exploring.
  • Son Serra de Marina: This was the beach right near our Airbnb. It was a very quiet beach that we did enjoy. There is also a lot of nude bathing there as a heads up – so don’t be alarmed!
  • Cala Formentor Beach: We snorkeled to this beach from our Catamaran boat. It is a gorgeous beach, known as being one of the most beautiful on the island, but was somewhat crowded (not quite as much as Alcudia).
  • Port de Pollenca: This beach was near the port we went to to catch our boat. However, one thing to note is you did have to pay for a chair here (which we tried to avoid, and played a bit of musical chairs for a bit but ultimately had to succumb to).
  • Cap De Formentor Hotel Beach: This was my all-time favorite beach in Mallorca. We came across it completely on accident on the way back from Cap De Formentor. The view from this beach was breathtaking, surrounded by mountains and some of the clearest water I have ever seen. In addition, since it was right near the hotel, there was a bar right nearby so you could grab drinks and sit on a chair by the water – what could be better than this?
    
    

    I hope this post was helpful for you if you are planning a trip to Mallorca anytime soon. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about traveling here, and I would be happy to help!