I think the culinary experience is a very important part of the travel experience - maybe because I like my food a lot. You learn a lot about their culture through food and I always cringe when I see people travel half way around the world and order the same food they would eat at home.
Sounds like you girls had a great time
Yeah I don't get it with ordering the same food you are used to eat in general too, but we prefer to cook at something at the accommodation to save money that we could use afterwards to see even more of what that place has to offer.
Either way, I do have friends that travel exclusively to try culinary traditions from more parts of the world, so I can understand both situations.
Eating out can be a very expensive affair when on holiday and you might end up in not so nice places because the reviews says they're good, but all those reviewers are tourists like ourselves. Been stung many times before myself!
Eating in is a very good option, we go away often with one sister, her husband likes cooking, and the markets in Europe had a much nicer selection of fresh produce compared to UK. I always says it's like travelling with our own private chef