We were in the Basque region of Spain before it was a gastronomic mecca - indeed probably before anyone had ever heard of it. Even before all the famous restaurants - I loved the ingredients - especially the seafood - and a lot of the simple preparations. We missed out 100% on the big deal restaurants in Spain when they were finding their "voices". We had to deal with aging older dying parents for a lot of years - and the most we could do outside the US during those years was a quick trip here and there to a place like London.

For younger people who are interested in dining - I recommend "dining trips" outside of big cities. Especially in western Europe. Where it's easy to rent cars and drive all over. We did that multiple times in the UK and France. Also trips to Spain - Scandinavia (Norway and Denmark) - Italy - Switzerland - Germany. Stayed in restaurants with rooms. There are lots of fabulous restaurants in western Europe that aren't in big cities. And the only way to dine at them for the most part is by hitting the road. Do it while you're young guys. When you get older - like we are - you probably won't want to drive along 1 1/2 lane narrow roads to get to that 3 star Michelin restaurant - or on a 80+ MPH autobahn either . Robyn