Travel – Page 2 – LongLegsBigCity

3 Last-Minute Days in Stockholm

September 27, 2022 3 Comments

Remember back in August after our honeymoon, when I said I was going to be in town for 6 full weeks? Well, that is not exactly what has happened. I was looking forward to a slow and relaxed September with 0 flights on the agenda, but the world had other ideas. First, on Labor Day weekend, someone in my husband’s family was in an accident so we went down to Texas to visit. Then, 2 weeks later, my sweet husband said, “I kind of want to go somewhere between jobs, what are you doing next weekend?” I didn’t have any plans, and I was expecting he would suggest upstate New York or something. But no, he suggested Stockholm, Sweden. I know you’re probably wondering if there was some deep reason why he picked Sweden, but the answer is simple: Delta flies there nonstop, and the prices were semi-reasonable for a 3-days-in-advance booking. Chris loves his Delta flights. And I love him.

Honestly, I was a bit anxious about the trip. I am already spending a lot of money and energy planning a trip to Australia for October, and I am heading into my busy season at work. Also, Chris loves to sit in a hotel room but I have this compulsion to explore new places and see ALL THE THINGS. It’s a lot of pressure to plan an itinerary solo with 3 days’ notice! I know this is serious first-world-problems, but I put a lot of stress on myself. Thankfully, a lot of people on the internet have done research for me. I googled “3 days in Stockholm” and sure enough, I found a lot of blogs and sample itineraries, things to see, and food to buy on a budget.

We booked it, and we were on an 8-hour redeye Thursday night, to get in at 10 am Friday Sweden time. The actual trip to the airport was more stressful than any other part of the trip (except the trip back, I’ll get to that later). We forgot it was the UN General Assembly, so traffic was standstill, basically a parking lot. We asked our Uber to drop us off at the subway instead, however, we had packed LARGE bags and I definitely regretted going to the gym earlier that day. After 2 subways and an Airtrain, and a walk because the Airtrain station at our terminal was closed for construction, we got there in time to check our bags and go to the Delta lounge for a small pre-flight dinner.

The flight was uneventful, although I couldn’t sleep at all. When we arrived, thankfully the hotel had the room ready so we could take a 2 hour nap. We stayed in Gamla Stan, or “the old town,” which is a perfect location for sightseeing right next to the Royal Palace and Parliament. We quickly realized that the next day was the Stockholm Half Marathon, and the finish line was around the corner! Before you ask, no, I did not braid any hair.

Since I have a big trip coming up next month, I didn’t take any days off of work, which meant that I had to work from 3-11 pm Stockholm time on Friday and Monday. After my nap, I went to a cell phone store to try and get a sim card (unsuccessful), and then I went to a hotdog stand that I read about in my research. It was called Bruno’s Korvbar, and they had 25 different types of sausages, spicy to mild, and many topping choices. I got a “baguette double” with the House spicy sausage and the lamb merguez. It was AMAZING. Possibly the best thing I ate in Sweden. And it was $9. I headed back to the hotel to work, and then later went to the lobby restaurant for Chris to eat dinner even though I was still full. The couple sitting next to us struck up a conversation, and it turned out the woman randomly knew me through my work AND had seven mutual Facebook friends with my dad. What are the chances??? Small world.

The next day was Saturday, so I was ready to hit the town early for some sightseeing. Chris… was not. But that’s ok, I know we vacation differently, so I knew I’d be a solo tourist. I started the day with a cinnamon bun, or kanelbullar as they say in Sweden. To be honest, I started EVERY day with one of those. Anyway, after an iced latte and sugar fuel, I headed to a 9:30 am Free Walking Tour. Free walking tours are the best when you first arrive in a new place because you learn things, get your bearings, AND it’s an easy thing to do solo and meet people. There are other tourists to take pictures of you, and the guides are always willing to give tips on things to see, places to eat, and where to spend your time.

The tour guide gave me my next destination, the changing of the guard. Supposedly this happens at the Royal Palace daily. It was a lot of pomp and circumstance and it took FOREVER. I left after about 40 minutes of the band playing and young soldiers marching around. I headed next to the Wooden Horse Museum, which is a souvenir shop, but it was still pretty cool. Wooden dala horses are kind of a symbol of Sweden, dating back thousands of years. After that, I went to the Nobel Prize Museum, which was small, but I learned a lot! Supposedly the Nobel Banquet is televised every year on December 10^th and goes on for 5 hours. Meanwhile, I had never heard of it. I also learned that at the banquet, the only acceptable dessert to serve pre-2010 was ice cream. I had no idea. Me… an ice cream connoisseur!! They serve the famous ice cream in the museum café so of course I had to get this for lunch. It had sorbet, ice cream, and cotton candy. Also, it had Hanukkah gelt! (It was actually a fake chocolate coin Nobel Prize, but same thing.)

I searched Atlas Obscura for other strange things to see and explore, and found myself at the Public Library, which has supposedly been named one of the most beautiful libraries by Conde Nast Traveler. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of construction happening, but I still got a chance to walk around the 360-degree balconies of books. After my exploring, I needed a snack, so I checked out another food stand I found in my research. This one was known for fried herring. I was extremely hesitant, but I ended up LOVING it! I got a smaller portion, kind of like an open-faced rye bread sandwich, for $4. The best part is, the half marathon was running right by the stand, so I took a seat on the bench and watched people run 13.1 miles while I reflected on my day of food: cinnamon bun, ice cream, fried herring.

I headed back to the hotel and woke my husband (it was 6 pm) for dinner. I saw from my quick online research that many people recommended a place called Pelikan for authentic Swedish food. It was in a neighborhood we hadn’t been to called Södermalm, which was described to us as the Brooklyn of Stockholm. I thought that was sus, but sure enough, I understood why they said that. The streets were filled with too-cool-for-school people, vintage stores, coffee shops, and bars. Very BK-esque. I ordered the Swedish meatballs for dinner (or just… “meatballs” in Stockholm), which were delicious and SO filling, I could only eat half! I was very glad we had a 30-minute walk home to digest.

Day 2! Are you exhausted yet? Thankfully I was not because Sunday was our ONLY sunny day. After my Day 1 discovery of the kanelbullar, I decided to google the best ones in Stockholm. Of course, they have an annual cinnamon bun competition, as one does. So I set out early to two bakeries that made the top 5 list to conduct my own taste test. That meant heading back to Södermalm. While I was there, I went to two lookout points to take in the sunny views, and it was absolutely breathtaking. I went back to the hotel to share my five pastries with Chris, and then we headed out to the HIGHLIGHT of the trip: Segways!!!

I am not going to go too much into Segways, because a full blog is coming. I actually can’t believe I haven’t written one yet! This was one of the best tours we had been on, mostly because the people were fun, no one was a beginner, and it was LONG! We got to go all around Stockholm and learn things, like that there is a whole island in the archipelago dedicated to ship-building, and that Sweden supplied torpedoes and other things to the Nazis (not too many locals advertise this). We only had 3 other people in our group and we had a BLAST zooming around the city for 2 hours.

We worked up an appetite and felt like something more substantial than a pastry, so we went for burgers at Boo Burger. I had no blog recommendations for this place, only google reviews, but they did not lead me astray – it was delicious!

Ever since I started researching Stockholm (3 days prior) I had heard it was the “Venice of the North” and I was dying to get on the water. Unfortunately, when I researched over lunch, I realized that the sightseeing tours only leave at 10:30 and 2 pm, so we missed out. Good news though, Stockholm has an extremely efficient public transit ferry system. We hopped on a ferry, which was very easy to access by just tapping our credit card at the entrance, and we did a little self-guided tour on Ferry 80, thanks to Google and “wikivoyage.” We had a very busy day, so we rewarded ourselves with a few hours at the hotel spa. They had a sauna and cold plunge but we just hung out in the “warm room” and read books. We capped off the night at Pharmarium, a cocktail bar that is in the building where the first pharmacy in Stockholm opened in 1575. It was cozy and the drinks were delicious.

Monday was our final day in Stockholm and by this point I bet you can guess how it started: pastries. I saved the top museums for the final day because it seemed like the perfect rainy morning activity before I had to start work. Chris came with me to museum #1: The Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a ship that went on her maiden voyage in 1628… for 20 minutes. Then it sank. 300 years later they found her at the bottom of the water almost completely preserved. The ship stands in its 98% original form in this museum and it really is remarkable. We did an English guided tour and explored for a bit, then Chris took the ferry back to the hotel. I went to the Abba Museum, which the internet specifically said not to go to alone, but I’m not one for rule-following. I did some singing to Dancing Queen, I did the photobooth, and I learned a LOT about ABBA that I did not know before (I knew almost nothing).

I went back to the hotel and worked for the afternoon and evening, until we went to dinner at the pièce de résistance: the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, “home to celebrities, high-profile events and everyday bon-vivants since 1874.” This hotel is magnificent, and they host a nightly smorgasbord buffet at a reasonable price. Unfortunately and fortunately for us, it happened to be a seafood buffet that night. Unfortunately, because it was 2.5x the price, fortunately, because it was delicious and we ate all of the lobster and shrimp and crab and salmon and all other fish to our heart’s content. The views were also impeccable. It was a special way to cap off our trip.

But our adventures were not over! The next morning, we headed to the airport… without Chris’s passport, which he had left in the safe in the hotel room. We made it to the airport within the check bag window by 5 minutes. This was the second time in 7 years that he forgot his passport for an international trip. That man sure does love to keep me on my toes!

If you’re interested in seeing videos of my days, I made an Instagram Reel for each day of my trip!

And of course, a compilation of food.

Travel

The Honeymoon Phase

September 2, 2022 No Comments

Well guys, we got married. I guess that means we are now in the “honeymoon phase.” However, we have been together nearly 7.5 years so I think that era is long-gone (sorry, babe).

Good news is, getting married did give us a great excuse to take a vacation! And I know what you’re thinking, wasn’t your wedding in Cabo? Wasn’t that vacation enough?? And the answer is clearly “no.” Cabo was gorgeous and we had the most amazing time with family and friends, but we wanted time to hang out with each other and relax, and a wedding is not that.

When choosing where to go on a honeymoon, I was thinking of far-flung, once-in-a-lifetime places. Like Africa. Or the Maldives. But my husband, Mr. Finance, wanted a place that was in a relatively similar time zone in case he needed to check emails, and preferably with a nonstop flight since the flight delays and cancellations this summer have been terrible. Also, we planned to go in August so we had to think about hurricane season, and try to avoid it. Since we went to Aruba last summer, we decided to go to Curacao, its slightly larger next-door neighbor. The ABC (Aruba-Bonaire-Curacao) islands are below the hurricane belt, and JetBlue flies there direct 3 times per week!

The best part about a honeymoon is the feeling that you can splurge. And yes, I probably should have started this blog with an acknowledgment of our privilege but, yeah, we were not thinking about money at all during our trip. That said, things are not too expensive, so we didn’t spend a crazy amount. We did upgrade to EVEN MORE SPACE seats, though. BALLIN!

We decided not to stay at an all-inclusive resort. There are certainly pros and cons to both, but not having food included in the price opened up our budget to try new restaurants, new neighborhoods, and to be honest, it meant I drank a lot less! There’s this feeling at an all-inclusive that you need to eat and drink your money’s worth. At a regular hotel, there was all-day availability of drinks, and when I wanted one, I got one! I had an Aperol spritz almost every evening while getting ready for dinner. That said, it felt less like a booze-fest because I was more thoughtful about getting drinks and there was no alcohol in the room. Another big advantage of no all-inclusive was that we felt we could be more flexible about when and where we ate. For example, after jet-skiing (more on that later), there was a little bar at the pier and we decided to stay and hang out and do happy hour there. Since the drinks weren’t included at our hotel, there was no feeling of having to get back to “take advantage.”

More about the hotel, since we didn’t stay at a crazy all-inclusive resort, we were able to book the BIGGEST suite in the entire hotel. It was wholly unnecessary for 2 people and we felt like king and queen of the resort. I even filmed an MTV cribs-style video of the whole thing, it took 3:15 to walk around!! We had 2 separate wrap-around balconies, two full bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bar, a dining table, a soaking tub, it was MASSIVE. And it was $200 less per night than the cheapest all-inclusive.

Our suite had double doors, that’s how you know it was big.

It’s no secret that Chris and I like to vacation differently. That’s why you see me always going on vacation with my friends. My friends and I love to explore and do ALL the things. I usually come back from vacation and feel like I need another immediately. Chris, on the other hand, likes to take vacation to RELAX. As in, he likes to stay in the room. In bed. Hang out. Watch tv. Be on his laptop. The good news is, we’ve been together a long time so we know this about each other. I tried to be respectful of his ideal vacation when I was looking at activities for our honeymoon. I tried to think of our top 3 activities we were both interested in doing, and then mixed in days between where we relaxed. Extra perk – I got a great tan reading on the beach and I finished two books! I also spent a lot of time on Alabama Rushtok. Typical honeymoon, amirite?

Last summer when Chris and I went to Aruba, we went on an ATV tour and had a blast. This year, we wanted to do something similarly adventurous, but a little different so we decided to jet ski. To be completely honest, it was not great. We chose to go at 4 pm so between the sun setting in our eyes and the salt water spraying in them, the visibility was abysmal. Also, I had never been on a jet ski before and the instructor didn’t really want to instruct. To make matters worse, my jet ski was broken and started to beep uncontrollably when I slowed down, and then stalled out. This meant I had to constantly go very fast, on a vehicle I’d never been on before, and when I couldn’t see. Not ideal. Halfway through, the instructor switched jet skis with me, which was terrifying on open water, but definitely helped because I never stalled out again! I pulled my adductor gripping on to the thing for dear life, which is still recovering, but I don’t regret doing it. It’s a story!

The next adventure we did was a full day boat trip to Klein Island, or little Curacao. This was way more our speed. We showed up to the dock, and they drove us around. The waters on the way there were ROUGH, but I had read about that in a lot of the reviews. I am not exaggerating, we ran out of barf buckets and had multiple people just heaving into plastic bags. Once Chris and I went to the top level to get away from the vomit, things went a lot smoother. We spent a leisurely day at the beach, on the boat, snorkling, and hiking to see an old lighthouse. It was a great day and while it was technically an excursion, it didn’t involve too much energy expenditure.

Our final big excursion was a day of beach hopping. We went to Grote Knip, where we heard the beach was one of the most beautiful on the island (it was). We went to Playa Forti to jump off of a cliff. By “we” I mean “me.” But my husband did an excellent job of watching our towels and filming the content for Instagram. An equally important role. We also went to Playa Piscado to snorkel with sea turtles, and I actually saw two! The water was SO clear it was amazing. We attempted to see wild flamingos on the way back to town, but unfortunately they were hiding from us, or from the heat.

Throughout our trip, we ate at great restaurants, and being on a small island for a week meant we had time to revisit some of our favorites. We had breakfast twice at BijBlau, where it was inexpensive, delicious, and you could sit literally on the beach. We had dinner twice at Rozendaals; Chris still dreams of the apple tart dessert. We had lunch and snacks twice at Gouverneur de Rouville and watched as the Queen Emma Bridge swung open and closed for boats. One night, we went to Coconut Night at Shelterrock Paradise, where they cooked our dinners in coconuts over an open fire, and ended with a lively night of karaoke led by both staff and guests. Chris impressed the crowd with his version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, and I killed it in a song fitting for a honeymoon: Let’s Hear It for the Boy.

My honeymoon outfits were *chef’s kiss” if I do say so myself. I brought a combination of outfits I had bought specifically for the honeymoon, dresses I bought for our wedding in Mexico (look at me, so thrifty!), and I also subscribed to a month of Rent the Runway so I could have fun, new-to-me clothes. Unfortunately, despite my research prior to the trip, while the airport had plenty of American-style electric outlets, our hotel had zero. So my hair tools did not work and my hair… has definitely looked better. I tried my best using my limited resources, and I’d say we still had a great time despite my hair looking awful.

Our favorite breakfast spot on the beach

Since we went to Aruba last year, a lot of people have asked me which island we preferred and it’s tough to say! We had very different trips. For one, in Aruba we stayed at an all-inclusive and did not rent a car. While we did a few excursions, we mostly stayed on the hotel grounds. Also, it’s much smaller so a car isn’t needed as much. In Curacao, we were there longer, we explored more, we drove around the island, and we ate all of our meals outside the hotel. There was no room service at all, so we really explored restaurants and snacks/drinks places. It also felt a lot more foreign! The first language in Aruba seemed to be English. Everywhere we went, people greeted us in English and took US Dollars. In Curacao, it seemed we were the lone Americans. Most tourists were Dutch and spoke Dutch, and the menus were all listed in Antillean guilder (ANG), or NAf. Both islands had gorgeous beaches, perfect, sunny days, and amazing Aperol Spritz. And of course my adorable husband!

Now we are back to real life and already dreaming of our next vacation.

Travel

Portugal – Lisbon, Algarve and Alentejo

October 3, 2021 2 Comments

Olá! Jet-setter here. I just returned from 5 days in Iceland, 10 days in New York, then 11 days in Portugal. Have you missed me? I’ve missed you. For Portugal, we didn’t book flights until 8 days before. That meant we did very little planning. The whole time we were there, we said we wished someone had written a blog about the places we went, things to know, and the necessary things to see. Maybe someone did write one and we just didn’t have time to research. Or maybe no one has and that’s why I’m writing one now. Don’t worry, I won’t take you step-by-step through our journey because it was so long! But there are a few things we did that I wouldn’t want you to miss.

First of all, you need to know where we went. We landed in Lisbon (non-stop flights FTW), stayed there for a few days while some of us worked remotely. Then we went to the south coast (Algarve). We stayed in Portimão but traveled to Sagres, Lagos, and Albufeira. Then we drove up to the Alentejo region where we stayed in Cuba and traveled around to wineries and Evora. Then we drove back to Lisbon and stopped in Montemore-o-Novo for lunch at A Ribeira. See below, you won’t want to miss that place.

Tram 28 in Lisbon (I ended up falling asleep due to jet lag, woops).

Let’s start with things you need to know about Portugal:

First of all, they are very laid back around time. Things are super sleepy in the morning, and just like siesta time in Spain, most things close from 3-7 in the afternoon. Don’t expect to eat during that time. One of my friends had to settle for gelato, which, tbh, is never a bad thing. Also, since the dinner time is relatively short (8-11 pm), you’ll need a reservation in most places. Our first Airbnb in Lisbon had a binder of useful info, and we learned one of the best tips from it: the app called TheFork. This app is a combination of TripAdvisor, Groupon, Seamless and OpenTable. You can read reviews, see the menu and pricing, book a table, and best yet, a lot of restaurants offer huge discounts if you book a table through them! We ate at 4 different restaurants where we got 30% off our meal (food only, not wine) just by reserving a table on the app. You can’t beat that. Also little-known fact, since parts of India were Portuguese colonies for 400 years until the 1960’s, there are a lot of amazing Indian restaurants. When we were tired of seafood, we had Indian (twice) and it was a delicious change of pace.

Important tip: taxes are HIGH. Like 23% high. This means that if you are renting a car, expect those extra charges to add up big time. 5 Euro/day/extra driver is a lot more when you add 23% tax! Good news is, tipping is not really a thing, so restaurants are still way cheaper than in the US. At least cheaper than New York by far. And remember to use TheFork!

Another important tip: ROUNDABOUTS. The Portugese loveeee them. There are barely any traffic lights outside of the main cities. At first, we thought they were super fun. That is, until we realized they have super complicated laws about them and they are STRICT. We saw 3 police cars pulling people over for violating the rules in a very tiny town. Read up on your roundabout rules, especially for the 2- and 3-lane ones.

Fun fact (sorry about this Mommy): Strip clubs. We were approached by a promoter in Portimão to come to a strip club because it was 10 Euro entry fee and it included a drink. WHAT? So cheap. Most importantly, the strippers are on salary. I guess this makes sense, since they don’t want people throwing coins on the stage at unsuspecting half-naked (or full naked) people. But the fact that they are not begging for money makes it an entirely different experience. It’s like a drink and a show instead of a crazy hectic pushy environment. Also, at this particular club is was men and women strippers that switched off. Unfortunately we were too busy having fun and dancing at a nearby bar so we only got there 10 minutes before closing, but this was still a hot tip I couldn’t leave out.

Hot tip: take a unique tour. I didn’t write a blog about Iceland, but I was supposed to do a snowmobile tour on a glacier and it got canceled. After that experience, I really wanted to do something unique. We knew we needed to get on the water in the south so we could view the caves, particularly the famous Benagil cave, from a unique view, and we booked a sunset boat tour. Unfortunately, when we got to the port, the boat was coming in from the last tour and they said they had an engine problem and couldn’t take us out. That may or may not have been true, but we knew we needed an alternative plan. We got some gelato (always the answer) and started trying to rearrange our itinerary for the next day so we could take a different tour. One of my friends was pushing for a kayak tour, because she thought we would be able to go into smaller caves unreachable by boat. She was right. I was nervous about my arms (10 days of no Peloton and copious amounts of wine meant I was very out of shape), but we took a tour that was half catamaran, and half kayak, about one hour on the kayaks. It. Was. AWESOME. We went in about six caves, and we were able to pull up on the beaches and walk around. It was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Plus we got a workout and amazing photos.

If you aren’t sure where to eat, check google and TripAdvisor reviews. You never know what you will find. For example, on our way back from the standing stones, Almendres Cromlech, we wanted lunch and looked to google for suggestions. We found a restaurant that mentioned singing and stand-up comedy. We were sold. We didn’t realize it would be singing, stomping and clapping on a center table the whole time. It took us an hour to realize he was singing THE MENU. We were in for a real treat when we paid the bill – he sang the entire thing to us in Portuguese while pointing to the things on our table and explaining. And he made sure to add “plus whatever you want to give me as a tip” at the end. It was a true experience. Plus it was cheap and delicious!

Last hot tip: WINE IS SO CHEAP. This is true everywhere in Europe, but honestly you can buy wine for $4-6 American dollars for a BOTTLE. The “expensive” wine from the wineries is still under $15/bottle. Related hot tip: red wine doesn’t really give you a hangover. Also cheap: UBERS. I mean dirt cheap. We took $4 Ubers all throughout the south coast. We couldn’t understand how they made money! We had a rental car, but this way we didn’t need a DD. They didn’t have many Ubers available in the Alentejo region, but along the south and in Lisbon, they were readily available. Even our Uber from the airport was $13 USD.

Now for a quick list of places NOT to miss:

Sagres: we went there in the morning for a quick excursion, and we were so glad we did. This used to be thought of as the end of the world. It’s the Southwestern tip of Europe. Portugal was the world power in exploration in the 15^th century, and many famous explorers left from here, never knowing if they’d make it back. The views are breathtaking, and you can climb along a lot of the cliffside.

Lagos: Again, cliffside climbing but here there are boardwalks with railings so you can feel safer. You will see a lot of people climbing all the way down the cliffs but there are many, many signs warning people not to do this. In fact, there are spots where you can see the cliffs have collapsed. Stay on the boardwalks or far from the edge.

Evora:

Chapel of Bones. This place is literally made of human bones. It’s creepy but also very cool! Only 5 Euro and includes a museum that has hundreds of Nativity scenes made from different materials.

Aqueduct and Roman Ruins: If you haven’t been to Rome or Athens, Evora is an awesome place to view Roman ruins and step wayyy back in time. The Aqueduct is truly impressive. We ate in an Italian restaurant right under the aqueduct and asked our server if the water was from the aqueduct. He either didn’t understand our joke or just didn’t think we were funny.

Sintra: This is a very adorable town 30 minutes from Lisbon. We took an Uber there because they were so cheap, but you could also take an inexpensive train. There is a big castle (Pena Palace) at the top of a hill which you could walk to, but we took a tuk-tuk and it was SO much fun. Our driver was a little bit crazy (he had a little flag that said “tip driver, help buy wine”), which made it even better. The views are spectacular, and they have huge gardens to walk through as well as a chalet made of cork that looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale.

Overall, the trip was so much fun, and I feel like I need to go back to Portugal so I can explore the north, like Porto and the Douro Valley. I’m feeling sad because I don’t have any other international trips on the books for 2021, but who knows – maybe I’ll book something with 8 day’s notice again soon!

Travel

Travel Frenzy

September 13, 2021 2 Comments

Once again, readers, I abandoned you. I haven’t written in my blog for so long that the folder wasn’t even in my recent documents! Then again, I have a lot of work documents in my recent docs. How funny is it that I created a folder in March 2020 called “Work From Home Covid” because I thought it would be temporary? Now, 18 months later, I’m realizing I should probably buy a new laptop solely for work (instead of a folder) that functions better. But I digress.

I haven’t really been absent because I’ve been working, I’ve been absent because I’ve be absent. Out of office. Flew the coop. Sayonara.

Before I regale you with my travel shenanigans, I must add that yes, I know it is dangerous. I know Covid is still raging. I now know many people who have gotten the virus. But personally, I try to stay as safe as I can. I’m vaccinated, I test often (6 times in the last 5 weeks!) and I always wear a mask around people. That said, I finally reached the end of my rope. I was stir-crazy. I needed to go out and see the world! Also, TBH, I want to have kids and my eggs are going to expire before this pandemic is over so YOLO.

PHEW! Now that that’s out of the way, want to know where I’ve been since Alaska back in May? Wellll… Philadelphia (twice). Seattle. Aruba. France (Paris-Aix-en-Provence-Cannes-Nice-Eze-Monaco-Paris), and Iceland. It’s been a whirlwind. Oh, and I’m leaving for Portugal in 6 days (pending yet another Covid test).

This blog would be 100 pages long if I told you about all of those trips, so I think I’ll just stick with some of the generalities around Covid travel.

It’s COMPLICATED. Like, VERY. Every country has its own rules. Are you allowed in? Do you need to be vaccinated? Do you need to quarantine when you arrive? Do you also need a test? PCR or rapid? Within 48 or 72 hours of departure? Or of arrival? Do you need a special app or QR code to board the plane? Do you need to fill out an attestation form online first? And don’t get me started about testing to come home. You need that too! And if they don’t speak English? Good luck getting your results.
People have similar values. If you go somewhere like Iceland, where 75% of their population is fully vaccinated, you will find a lot of people who have similar values. In fact, we met multiple groups of tourists who were home-bound for years, and mentioned it was their first vacation in 2 years. My favorite line? “We are so happy to be in Iceland. You couldn’t pay me to go to Florida right now.” Everyone was happy to test periodically, even at their own cost. And when we went on a free walking tour, everyone put their mask on as soon as we walked in a building. It’s refreshing and it feels safer and kinder than being in the United States.
People are happy and thankful. Like I said before, people are just relieved to be OUT. Away from their homes. Spending time in a new place. Everyone is up for adventure and in good spirits because they waited so long to travel. For example, we had a crazy experience in Iceland where we booked an excursion to go snowmobiling on a glacier. Not only was it pouring rain all day, but our van broke down on the side of the road. In the middle of nowhere. We pooled our bottled water to pour it on the engine because we ran out of coolant (not really sure if that’s what they did, I donated water but I have 0 mechanical expertise). We pulled up to a glacier river where two men on our tour refilled our water bottles and carried them back to the van for a few trips. No one yelled. No one cried. We never made it to the glacier or the snowmobile. Under ordinary circumstances, I think people would have been PISSED but post/during Covid? We were like *shrug* “sh*t happens, at least we’re still in Iceland.”
Uncertainty abounds. You need to be comfortable with being uncertain if you want to travel now. Booking a nonrefundable ticket? You’re rolling the dice. Booking an Airbnb with a 50% refund policy? Godspeed. Traveling without your laptop and hoping you don’t test positive and get stuck there? You’re a more confident person than I am. I’ve traveled every trip with my laptop, because you really never know if you’ll get stuck. Until that return Covid test comes back negative, you’re in limbo. You just need to get used to it.
Booking refundable is safest and easier than before. The best part about travel now is that most non-budget airlines have more flexibility. Both Delta and United are allowing cancellations for their most basic fares. You can’t get a refund, but you CAN get flight credit. Always check the small print about this, but in general, tickets are more flexible than they would be during other times. Hotels are always the safest bets if you are worried you will have to cancel, but even some Airbnbs have good cancellation policies, you can even filter by that.
Best yet? IT’S CHEAP. That’s right, I’m pretty sure you can fly to Europe for cheaper than an Uber to the airport. I’m barely exaggerating. I got roundtrip nonstop tickets on Delta to Iceland for $350. I booked my Portugal trip 7 days in advance for $482 RT. It’s crazy!

If you don’t follow me yet on Instagram (but actually… why don’t you?) then I know you came here solely for the photos. Here’s a dump of some of my favorites. Have any of you done some Covid traveling? Let me know where you’ve been in the comments below!

May trip to Seattle and surprise Hot Tub Boat for my birthday!

Travel

Alaska – The Last Frontier, My First Foray Back into Travel

May 27, 2021 2 Comments

I just returned from the trip of a lifetime to The Last Frontier! It’s been a LONGGG time since I’ve written a blog about my travels, but I am #vaxxed and ready to explore again! Initially, I wanted to travel internationally but it was incredibly complicated and then they canceled our flights last minute soooo we decided to go domestic but as FAR as we could get from New York.

My best friend and I booked our flights 7 days in advance. They were $259 round trip. If that isn’t a meant-to-be price, I don’t know what is. Plus, it opened up a lot of our budget to do amazing cool things basically every day. I won’t bore you with ALL of the details, but our rough itinerary was:

Night 1: Fly into Anchorage, arrive at 2 am Alaska time, 6 am Eastern Time. Woof.

Day 1: Explore Anchorage, drive to Seward

Day 2: Kenai National Park Fjord Tour (on a boat), explore Seward

Day 3: Drive back to Anchorage, stop along the way at the Wildlife Conservation center and in Girdwood at the famous Alyeska ski resort to take the tram to the top. Drive to Thunderbird Falls for a quick hike, then to Eklutna Lake for more photos and scampering about.

Day 4: Matanuska Glacier Hike. Drive to Denali, stopping along the way in Talkeetna.

Day 5: Drive to Fairbanks, stop in Nenana, explore a bit of Fairbanks, see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, see NORTH POLE Alaska, say hi to Santa, go to the Chena Hot Springs, dinner in Fairbanks at a BBQ place recommended by Guy Fieri

Day 6: Denali Bus Tour (the only way to see the park besides multi-day hikes), drive back to Anchorage

Day 7: Fly on a TINYYYY plane to Lake Clark National Park. VERY long hike (was supposed to be 3 miles, ended up being 8, oops), cook dinner for ourselves

Day 8: Fly back on tiny plane, explore Anchorage, see world’s largest chocolate fountain, the railroad depot, and a suburban street where every house has its own airplane hangar (atlas obscura FTW).

Are you tired reading that? I am! I need a vacation from my vacation! Honestly, this blog could be 20 pages long, so instead of going into each of those things in depth, I’ll talk to you about the highlights:

Food and Drink

As I read many blogs in the 6 days between booking our flights and getting on the actual flight, a lot of people talked about how expensive the food is because everything in Alaska is imported. We didn’t have that experience, but that is likely because of 2 things: 1. We live in NYC where everything is ungodly expensive so anywhere we go, things are cheap in comparison. 2. We ate 1-2 meals a day because we were so busy.

Mostly, we went to breweries. There were bars and breweries EVERYWHERE! Maybe because there is not much else to do, or maybe because after hiking, all you want is a beer. We went to Seward Brewing Company, Denali Brewing Company, and 49^th State Brewery (twice!). The food was great, kind of like elevated bar food. Most days, we opted for seafood because it was amazing and fresh. We had fish and chips with fresh Alaskan Halibut, we had clam chowder/seafood chowder more than once, we had panko-encrusted tilapia, etc. etc. Also, we tried some gamey meats. Reindeer sausage skillets, yak burgers, etc. Honestly, everything was delicious. My favorite was probably the crab artichoke dip or the crab cakes. If you go to Alaska and want food reccos, come to me!

We also tried lots of local beers, usually only one per day because of the amount of driving we were doing. But in Anchorage, there were multiple breweries walking distance from our hotel – score! Also, we bought 3 bottles of wine at Walmart on Day 1, so we had some alcoholic supplies on the road for the hotel rooms after our longer drive days.

Freedom of a Rental Car/Having Two Drivers

Speaking of drive days… WOAH did we drive! We picked up the rental car the day after we arrived (or the day we arrived, technically, since we landed at 2 am and passed out immediately). The car was by far our biggest expense ($1500 for the week, plus $20/day for an extra driver), but it was necessary. We never would have been able to see what we saw without one. It was fun to have the freedom to add or remove stops whenever we wanted. Like on the last day, I decided to go to 3 random places I saw on Atlas Obscura. And on our drive to Fairbanks, we realized we were 15 minutes from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline so we went to go see it.

Not to mention the freedom of leaving all our crap in the car. As a New Yorker, I forgot about that! On Day 1 we bought a case of water and we drank almost all of it. Great way to stay hydrated on the road and not have to physically carry much. Also snacks. So many snacks. We were slightly worried about being BEAR AWARE with all the snacks in the car, but thankfully we moved them all to the trunk each time we parked and we were safe.

The best part of a road trip: two drivers. There’s no way I could have done multiple days with almost 8 hours of driving by myself. Most days we switched off every 2 hours, but on days with a lot of driving, or when it was getting late, or we got up really early, we switched off every hour. Sometimes we had a place to stop along the way, and sometimes we just pulled over and did a quick switcheroo.

Long Days

I mentioned long driving days, but I didn’t mention that the days were literally LONG. I’m talking 5 hours of darkness long. This really came in handy because we had days that were packed from sunrise to sundown, so like, 6 am-midnight. Knowing we weren’t trying to beat the sun meant we could drive longer, eat later, and do things until far into the night. Also, it meant we didn’t need to worry about being stuck in the forest on a hike with no cell service in the dark. This came in handy because we got lost on a hike. As in… a 3 mile hike turned into an 8 mile one. Woops! Good news, it stayed light. Bad news, we were STARVING because all food was required to be in bear-safe containers, which we didn’t have, so we didn’t bring any with us!

Wildlife

Speaking of bears… the wildlife in Alaska is top-notch. First, moose. They are EVERYWHERE. Actually! Most roads have 12-foot fences because they roam onto the road. In fact, they are killed often by cars and you can even get on a roadkill list where they will give you a killed moose to eat! We saw 3 while driving, just standing beside the road, and we saw many, many more in Denali National Park. Also along the road, we saw porcupines! I had no idea these were in the wild. In Denali we also saw Dall sheep (the only white sheep in North America), hawks, and many, many caribou.

But even cooler than the land animals were the sea animals. On our second full day in Alaska, we went on a boat tour to the Kenai Fjords and National Park. It was the craziest day for wildlife viewing that our boat captain had ever seen. He kept saying “Wow ladies and gentleman, what a day for a sail. I’ve been doing this a long time, and… we are having a very lucky day.” We started straight out of the port with a bald eagle. Then we saw many seals laying about. THEN WE SAW WHALES. Not just saw, they literally swam up to us, around us, under us. It was crazy. The humpbacks were the largest animals I have ever seen. After the humpbacks we saw Orca (killer whales) and they were jumping all around us! We also went right up to the Holgate Glacier.

Glaciers, Waterfalls and Other Amazing Scenery

Everywhere we went in Alaska, the scenery was breathtaking. On our very first day, we drove down to Seward and along the way we stopped at a place called Beluga Point, trying to see Beluga whales. We didn’t see any, but the views were actually unreal. They looked fake! I kept saying I felt like I was on the Truman Show. Throughout our trip we were constantly in awe with the beauty of nature. We stopped multiple times in the middle of a drive just to look around and take pictures.

My two favorite parts of the trip revolved around amazing nature: the Matanuska Glacier Hike and the Hike to the Tanalian Falls in Lake Clark. The glacier hike was pretty difficult. We were in the port-o-potties when they assigned groups, so when we came back, we needed to quickly tell them if we were in the “advanced” or “slow-moving” group. We picked advanced, not sure why, since we are city dwellers who have never donned a pair of “micro-spikes” before, but there we were trekking along with our helmets. It was AMAZING. We got to see crevasses wider than cars, and moulins (basically the black hole/kitchen sinks of glaciers), and we even got to refill our water bottles from a glacial waterfall.

Speaking of waterfalls, the Tanalian Falls were so beautiful. Honestly impossible to capture in photos or in words. Even though it took us 3 hours longer to get there than it should have, it was worth it.

Planes!

The last amazing piece of the trip was the planes. Planes, planes everywhere! Supposedly you learn to fly in Alaska when you are 14 and there are more unlicensed pilots in Alaska than in any other state. There was a lake right by our hotel in Anchorage where planes take off and land from the water all day and night. And we even went to a suburban neighborhood where each house sits on a private runway and has an attached airplane hangar like a garage! Totally wild. For our final adventure to Lake Clark, it is only accessible by plane. We took a 10-seater and tried not to pee our pants. It was VERY scary but SO COOL. They let us sit in the front seat as copilot (me on the way there, my friend on the way back), and the views of Alaska from the sky were even more breathtaking than from land.

If you were thinking about going to Alaska – do it!!! Warning, they barely wear masks at all there, so get vaccinated first. If you have questions or are building an interior Alaska itinerary, I’d be happy to give you all of my recommendations. Now today I’m off on my next adventure. I’ll update you on that soon!

Travel

Lake Tyler Covid Getaway

September 11, 2020 1 Comment

Well guys, it’s been 6 months of quarantine/social distancing. SIX. MONTHS. HALF A YEAR. How is it possible that I feel SO TIRED from doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?? I know I am coming in strong with the all-caps. I promise to calm down. I wanted a great way to express my frustration with 2020. Yelling via capital letters seemed fitting.

After 5 months of sitting in the house, my fiancé and I decided we needed a weekend away. Or rather, I decided I needed a weekend away, and he said he’d come with me. I promised to do all of the work as long as he split the cost. I know there are people out in Instagram-land who are now comfortable traveling by land or by plane, gathering with friends, renting houses together, going to the beach together etc., but the more I look at the science and facts about Covid, the less comfortable I am doing any of those things, which limited the scope of my “weekend away” plans. I had three goals in mind:

Change of Pace/Change of Place
Alone
On the water.

For the past 6 months, we have been staying at my fiancé’s family’s house. Don’t get me wrong, we are thankful. It is beyond generous that they have allowed us to stay this long. But I have not lived with kids or parent-figures in 15 years. And I have lived ALONE with my boyfriend for more than 3 years. It is not the same to have kids running around asking if I’m working (yes, it’s Monday), or if I can play (no, I’m working). There are also (cough cough) certain parts of a relationship that are difficult when there are 6 other people constantly in the house.

And as for a change of place on the water… I really miss the beach. I am a Florida girl at heart, and despite not living by the beach for a decade in New York, I ALWAYS make at least 2 trips to the beach per year. Sometimes it’s the Jersey Shore, sometimes it’s Greece and Italy. Being land-locked in a state larger than most countries has felt a bit like being in jail. I missed the water. A lot.

I went on VRBO and started looking for waterfront properties within 5 hours driving distance of our house. I set a budget of $400/night. If there was a hammock, it got extra points. I whittled my list to 5 properties and sent it to Chris to pick. (This a strategic thing I always do, so that if the property ends up being bad I can blame him. But if it’s great then of course it’s because I put the list together!) On the list, I had a few lake-front properties in Texas and Louisiana, and one in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. We went with a place in Whitehouse, Texas, on Lake Tyler, which was only 2 hours from our home. It was $199/night and only slept 2 people – perfect! Our plans were almost ruined when the dueling hurricanes in the Gulf threatened to hit our place, and I felt very lucky that Chris picked a property in Texas, not Louisiana. Go Chris!

We drove to the house after work on Thursday, and thankfully Chris drove so I could snack. Sure, the drive was only 2 hours, but I packed enough road trip snacks for an approximately 24-hour drive. We hit a slight roadblock when Google Maps led us to a road where there was no house with the number on it. Thankfully, the property owner picked up his phone right away and explained there were TWO roads with the same name. After a 15-minute detour, we got the right place and unpacked our things.

If you are looking for a blog about all of the things we did on our vacation weekend, you won’t find one, because we did NOTHING and it was GLORIOUS. Most of the time was spent sitting outside on the covered deck. Eating meals. Reading books. Listening to music. Reading more. Listening to an audio book. Watching Love Island. Eating some more and lounging around. It was fabulous.

I am a HUGE Fitbit fan, and despite working from home, I have been trying to keep up with my 10,000/day step goal since social distancing began. The last day I had not met my 10K goal was April 6^th. The first day at the lake I got 3.9K steps. And I was proud of that.

The second full day we were there, we did a few activities. We rented paddle boards from the owner of the house, I floated around in blow-up floats I bought from Amazon for the weekend while we listened to country music on our Sonos speaker, and then we played Corn Hole on the owner’s lawn. There were so many games in the house including mega-Jenga, Horseshoes, Poker, and cards. We played a few rounds of Phase 10 in between episodes of Love Island.

Not to be corny, but it felt like we were on our own love island! The house itself was AMAZING. We didn’t know at the time of booking, but it was set back behind the owner’s house, completely separate from his home, and surrounded on all four sides by water. It was fully renovated with a dishwasher and bathroom and water views from every room. Also, there was a covered and uncovered deck. The décor was adorable, with “Lake Life” and “Lake House” accents everywhere. Also, it was tricked out! They had a state-of-the-art dishwasher/fridge/ice machine/blender/convection stovetop, fully stocker Keurig, etc. They even had a wine cooler. There was an Apple TV (we brought our own, because duh), and a Bluetooth speaker we could bring onto the deck (we also brought our own because duh), and I wish I could have stayed there a whole week.

The only issue with Covid “vacationing” is the food. We had to BYO everything and we weren’t sure about the availability of delivery. Especially in Texas, we wanted to limit our time in grocery stores/anywhere in the sticks where people are less likely to wear masks. There were many trips back and forth from the car; 3 meals a day for two people is a lot of groceries! Not to mention a case of beer and pina colada mix. To make cooking easier than it is at home, I made Chris sit down and meal-plan with me before we left. We had options for each meal. Breakfast: eggs/cinnamon rolls/sausage. Lunch: Sandwiches/grilled cheese/tacos. Dinner: Burgers/Frozen Pizza/Chicken Parm. Cooking was easier with only 2 people’s dishes and a dishwasher. For some reason it felt WAY simpler than cooking at home.

The owner was available for any questions all the time, and we saw him a few times when he came down to take his boat out (not included in the house LOL), but he always texted first to warn us. Also, he gave us a better deal on the paddleboards than he advertised on his listing, and provided life jackets, which was nice of him. He was kind enough to mention to me that we just missed the Trump Boat Parade the weekend before. (Not the infamous one from last weekend. See pics below, there were still plenty of boats left with flags on them.). Chris lost his Goodr sunglasses in the lake and I left my flip flops on the grass (guess I had too many ciders playing corn hole) but besides those two losses, we had only wins and successes. My best friend had been telling me for months how important it was for mental health to get away and have a change of pace; I should have listened to her earlier.

We booked one more weekend trip for this upcoming weekend, our LAST weekend in Texas! This time, we got a BIG house, lakefront again, and we’re bringing the whole family as a last hoorah! I can’t wait to share more with you about it. And if you’re ever in the Lake Tyler area in Texas, I’ll send you the VRBO listing, I can’t recommend it enough!

Travel

Pre-Travel Tips and Tricks

September 25, 2019 2 Comments

It’s almost time for another vacation! Even though I didn’t blog about my recent adventures to Italy and France, you probably still know that I travel A LOT. When I turned 27, I realized I had barely traveled outside of the USA/Caribbean, and I starting budgeting and credit card churning to make sure it happened more often. I’ve been making up for lost time, and for this upcoming trip to Greece, I paid for my flights completely on credit card points!

When you travel as often as I do, you get it down to a science. I want to share a few tips with you that I use to make my packing and traveling seamless. Last year, I took 10 round-trip flights, and if you include train travel, I made even MORE trips. I’m a pro.

Tip #1: Have a Good Suitcase.

For more than a year, I had a suitcase that only had two wheels and one of them was jacked up. I basically had to drag it through airports using sheer strength. Don’t be like me. I ordered a new suitcase from Amazon that was $60 and had a year-long warranty. It has 4 working wheels and it is a breath of fresh air. Especially when you live in New York and your pre-travel travel includes blocks of walking, subway turnstiles and many stairs, a good suitcase is essential. I won’t say “invest” in one because they’re NOT EVEN EXPENSIVE!

Tip #2: Use Packing Cubes.

Nowadays, you basically always need to use a carry-on bag because airlines charge you for everything from a seat to air. Suitcase space is limited and very important. The best way to cram as much stuff as your can into your suitcase, while still remaining organized, is packing cubes. First, I accidentally purchased a set of varying sizes and only the smallest two sizes worked for my purposes, so I found smaller ones that work much better. They were $21 and life-changing. You can basically view them as zip-able drawers for your suitcase. I usually separate underwear, swimsuits, socks, and sports bras in one, workout clothes in another, dresses in another, and jeans (rolled) in the 4^th.

Tip #3: Keep Your Travel Toiletries Ready and Together.

This is probably my biggest time-saver. I keep a Ziploc bag pre-packed with travel body wash, travel/disposable loofah, shampoo, conditioner, razor, lotion, zit cream (I’m so refined), toothpaste etc. It’s all in one place so I can just throw it in my bag when I go on my next trip! The key here is that you need to refill everything when you come home and replace the loofah. This way everything is set to go next time!

Tip #4: Use & Keep a Pre-Made Packing List

THIS IS CLUTCH. Personally, I use an app called Wunderlist on my phone. I put EVERYTHING on this list. Every. Thing. My current list has 84 items. I even put toothbrush and toothpaste as separate items. This insures that I do not forget anything! I only check the item off when it is physically in my bag. If I am wearing my sneakers to travel in (more on that next), I do not check it off until they are on my feet that day. Also, if I forget anything, I add it to the list ASAP. This happened fatefully on a girls’ trip to Spain with LOTS of drinking when I had forgotten Advil. Never again.

Here’s a tip: you can have multiple lists for different kinds of trips (international, business, leisure beach, leisure in the winter), OR, you can just have one big list and include anything you’d want for any type of trip. I choose to do the latter and I check off the items first that I know I don’t need. For example, there’s no need to bring my Global Entry card or electricity converters for a domestic trip, but I just check those off first when I’m going within the country. Another tip: don’t check the item off if you want to triple check for it before you leave the house (I do this with “Passport”).

Tip #5: Plan to Travel in Your Largest/Heaviest Outfit.

This goes without saying, but clothes take up space, especially if you are 5’11” like me. Shoes also take up space. I try to wear my largest items like my jacket and my sneakers (or boots, depending on season). Like I said before, having a small/light suitcase is more important than ever, so try to remember that strategically!

Tip #6: Bring an Empty Reusable Water Bottle.

Once again, airlines have started to suck more and more. Some airlines refuse to offer water now. Even on international flights. This just happened to me on my way to France. Be aware of the airline you are traveling on because dehydration on planes is a huge thing! You are allowed to bring a water bottle through security as long as it is empty. Every airport I have been in recently has water fountains by the gates, so fill up your bottle before you board. You’ll thank me. You can also use it when you get to your destination. DRINK MORE WATER, PEOPLE!

Tip #7 & 8: Print Everything and Give Someone A Copy of Your Itinerary.

I know we LOVEEE our phones. Trust me I know, I have 3 Instagram accounts. But sometimes phones mess up, or get stolen, or there’s no wifi, etc. Print out your arrangements before you leave, whether it’s hotel reservations, train or museum tickets, or Groupons for Segway tours (duh). Also, write down your itinerary, bring a copy with you, and give a copy to someone else stateside for safety! If you are a crazy person (like me and my friends), you can just put it in a Google Sheet, print a copy, and share the document by email with your emergency contact. Safety First!

I have many more tips, but I should probably stop writing and start packing – I leave in 48 hours! Hopefully I will have time when I get back to tell you about my trip and share GORGEOUS photos. If you aren’t already, follow me on Instagram for daily updates!

Travel

Free Walking Tours

March 27, 2019 2 Comments

I love free walking tours. First of all, they’re free – my favorite price. My very first blog post was about finding free things in New York, and this is a great way! Second of all, they allow you time to walk around and explore new places while learning. And best of all, they require no tour books or preparation; you just show up and absorb knowledge.

It feels like there should be a catch, but in fact, there is not one. Here’s how it works: You google the place you want to explore + “free walking tour” and then you show up at the specified place at the specified time. Sometimes it requires a sign-up ahead of time, but they never require payment. Then at the end of the tour, you tip the guide whatever you think the tour was worth. This varies based on the tour (and the country… Americans always tip more!).

I discovered free tours last year in Spain, where I went on 5 tours in 4 cities in 10 days. You may think I got carried away, but why not? Tours last anywhere from 1-3 hours, and sometimes cover a lot of miles. I went on tours in Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada (x 2!) and Madrid. As I said above, the best part is learning about your surroundings, both contemporary and historical, without having to get a book from the library. Also, you can meet other tourists and locals. I love to walk close to the guide and pepper him/her with questions along the way. In my experience, they always know more than they let on, and rarely can’t answer a question. My favorite part of the tour is always the end when I ask local tips about the best happy hours, free tapas, best paella, etc. The local guides are the key!

Also, the guides know their way around if you need directions. Once, we were on a tour when the skies opened up and it started to pour. Our guide found us a covered place to wait it out, but when it became obvious that the rain was not going to stop, she told us how to navigate the back roads of Spain to get to our Air BNB as quickly as possible with the most overhead coverage. Also, if you are booked back to back (I often over-plan my trips), the walking tour guides can tell you which attractions are must-see, and which ones you can skip. And their advice and tips are all free!

Although I have taken free tours internationally, and I find them to be more popular in Europe, they also have them all around North America! I went on a tour in Chicago last year after my success in Spain, and I LOVED it! Our guide was a young woman who had a true love for the city, which came through in her tour. I learned about architecture, city history, and some of their landmarks. I was so inspired, that I decided to also go on a free tour in my own city! I had a random day off last summer (Jewish holidays FTW) so I went on a free tour of the Financial District, Little Italy and Chinatown in New York City. I learned a LOT about the original colonization of New York, the Native Americans who were displaced, and of course, the mob in Little Italy. Later last year, I went on another free tour from the same company, Free Tours by Foot, of Grand Central Terminal. I found that one incredibly interesting because it’s a place I have walked through MANY times, but never knew anything about! Did you know the famous clock in the middle is made of opal and is worth $10-$20 million?? Did you know that there are hidden acorns throughout the terminal architecture because it was a Vanderbilt family symbol? Try to find them, like hidden Mickeys!

Inside Grand Central Terminal, with the most valuable clock ever.

Although I said there is no catch for the FREE tours, the way most of these companies make money is that they offer tours for a cost, as well. Often at the end of the tour, they will plug their non-free tours, and offer discounts if you sign up then. In Cordoba, we happened to be in town during the infamous Patio Festival (Fiesta de los Patios). In fact, our Air BNB was even one of the Patio destinations! After our free walking tour, we found that the same tour company was offering a tour (for a cost) of the patios. Since these patios are hidden all around the city, we decided it was worth it. It was. Not only did we get to see hidden gems of beauty throughout the village, we also learned history of the festival, found out how winners are chosen, and learned about how the owners of these homes work all year to prepare their courtyards for the fiesta. Our guides were amazing. Best part: your guide is a built-in photographer! She took fantastic group pics of us, some of our only non-selfie group shots of the trip!

Patio Festival with our tour guide photog.

If you haven’t realized yet, I am addicted to these free tours. I am now in the habit of googling “free tour + [some city]” whenever I have a free block of time! Most recently, I went on a free tour of the New York Public Library and learned a BUNCH. I also got to see the original Winnie the Pooh dolls they have on display in the children’s reading room. And that one didn’t even require a tip because the docent is an employee! I am leaving for Italy in 3 weeks and you can bet I have a few free tours on the itinerary. I can’t wait to report back! Do you guys have any free tour ideas for me to check out? Let me know in the comments!

Outside the infamous 5th Avenue Library (yes, it was in the Sex & The City Movie)
The Reading Room
The original Winnie the Pooh dolls!

Travel

Harris Hill Ski Jumping Road Trip

February 26, 2019 2 Comments

Last weekend I went to Vermont to watch an event most people will never see in their lives: ski-jumping. And guess what, it wasn’t even my first time. I hopped in the back seat of the car with my sister and brother-in-law, loaded up with snacks from Trader Joes, and we took off for Brattleboro, Vermont Saturday evening. It’s quite a drive to begin at 7 pm, but we made a few stops along the way.

To start at the beginning, my sister and brother-in-law have been attending the famous Brattleboro Ski Jump competition at Harris Hill for 6 years. My brother-in-law went to college in Vermont, which is sometimes a detour we make on our road trip, but I don’t even know if that is how he originally found out about the event. Two years ago, I made my first trip up to watch, and it was everything I dreamed of and more. This year, since it was so fun, I made my best friend come, too.

I did some pre-ski-jump-watching braiding, because duh.

This year’s 38-hour road trip included a few stops to see my brother-in-law’s friends, and a quick beer at one of his favorite college bar hangouts, The People’s Pint in Greenfield, Massachusetts. We stayed for the night in a DELUXE SUITE at the Comfort Inn (jk, but they did have free breakfast!). The next morning, we went into downtown Brattleboro to get delicious coffee at Mocha Joe’s. We were not the only ones with that idea – there was a line out the door! But we had stopped there the last time I went on the road trip, so I knew it was worth it. I got a maple latte, which was AMAZING, and we headed to the hill.

The town of Brattleboro’s biggest event! There were signs up in every store’s window.
GREAT coffee.
THE CREW!

Ski jumping is a sport that most people have seen on TV in the Olympics, and let me tell you, it’s nothing like how it is in real life. People plummet down ramps at 55+ mph with no padding or anything, and only skis on their feet. Then they free-fall/fly with their legs and arms akimbo like a flying squirrel, and somehow land on their two feet. And you can watch it from feet away from them. If you’re thinking, “WHAT?!,” then you’re thinking the same thing as me.

Each year, male and female jumpers in Junior, Open and Masters categories jump to their death. Well, hopefully not to their death, but it surely looks that way to a novice. Speaking of novices, the junior category is comprised of CHILDREN. And speaking of jumping to their death, we actually witnessed an injury this year, where a 14-year-old girl became unconscious after a fall. Thankfully she was fine, we followed up on her on the internet. Anyway, there is definite danger involved. And despite the fear of injuries, people come out every year to watch. It’s the most extreme sport I’ve ever seen up-close.

The competition began back in 1922 and is a two-day event that attracts jumpers from around the globe. This year, there were jumpers from Slovenia and Austria who jumped up to 102 meters down a hill and landed on their skis. It was amazing to watch. Even better with hot coffee in my hand and trail mix in my pockets. We watched the warm up jumps from the bottom of the hill, so they landed and skied right in front of us. Also, this put us next to the commentator’s tent. It was helpful to listen to the commentary, because I knew nothing about the sport, and they explained quite a bit as they were killing time. One of the commentators, Nicholas Fairall, was a former Olympian in the ski jump, who was paralyzed from an injury. Even with his injury, and after witnessing the 14-year-old girl lay unconscious on the snow, he said that the sport was “one of the safest.” I do not believe him at all, but I was still happy to watch safely from the sidelines.

Our view from the bottom. Look how high that is!!
FAST BRAIDS! This was one of the jumpers.
ALL FOR THE GOLD AND THE GLORY!
These super young jumpers, ready to plummet.

The best part of a sport that consists of one single downward slope, is that there is no bad place to watch! After the warmup jumps and the first round, we went on the stairs up the side of the hill to watch the final round. Being on the stairs means that I could see exactly where they landed on the hill after they appeared from nowhere, flying over the edge of the slope. It is impossible to describe, so I will refer you to my Instagram videos for videographic evidence. It was thrilling to be so close to the action.

Our view of the bottom, once we went up the stairs.
HOW COOL IS THAT!?
They landed right in front of us!
Spot the flying man!
An almost-fall.
And back up again!

The weather was GORGEOUS and sunny, but it was melting all the snow and ice from the previous days. After a few hours standing in cold slush, we left and grabbed lunch in town, then headed back toward New York. We took a final pit stop at another friend’s house and ate dinner at the quaintest place called The Norwich Inn, and continued our drive back to the city. We stopped one MORE time for food, because of course, at The Donut Dip in West Springfield, MA. The donuts were supposed to be phenomenal, but it was 9:30 pm at that point, so they were just ok. An ok donut is better than no donut, though. I’d like to go back and try them fresh in the morning. Maybe next time!

I can’t wait to go back and watch again. Maybe next year I’ll compete, the entry fee is only $25 and it includes lodging! KIDDING MOMMY, THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. But I will most definitely watch from the sidelines.

Next year… meet me at the top!
That’s me!

Travel

Mystery Weekend in Hudson, New York

February 14, 2019 No Comments

I love surprises. I don’t understand people who don’t. Why would anyone not like the suspense and excitement behind someone planning something for you!? It’s the best! Thankfully, my mystery (emoji) boyfriend knows this. I mean, he better, it’s been a while, ya know? In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a blog about one of the best surprises he’s pulled off.

He has taken me on many mystery date nights before. From random restaurants he has found, to dinner at a restaurant I love but he doesn’t, and even to row 4 tickets of a Broadway show! You may remember that he even took me to a staycation once in a hotel room that overlooked the freedom tower. I know, I know, I bagged a good guy, here. Well, not to gloat, but he outdid himself. This time he planned a whole getaway!

I went to Washington DC for MLK weekend, and since I was going to be away all weekend, he asked me what I was doing the next weekend. I assumed he wanted to Netflix and chill, because we are old and that’s the usual date night for us. But then he asked me what my plans were for all weekend, and I knew he had something up his sleeve! I told him I’d reserve the weekend for him. The next Friday, I packed an overnight bag, and we walked 4 blocks to Avis. He had told me that Amtrak was too expensive (it generally is, if you only book a week in advance), so he rented a car instead. I had no clue which way we were going until we got on the west side highway toward the George Washington Bridge and realized we were going north.

I wish I could tell you I figured it out then, but I didn’t. Plus, with traffic, we were barely out of the Bronx an hour later. And then I had to pee. Word to the wise: don’t drink coffee before a road trip. We had to stop at McDonalds for a pit stop and a few Chicken Selects. Because duh. We finally arrived at our destination at 10:15 pm, thankful for the fast food sustenance along the way.

We were in Hudson, New York! Not Hudson Valley, Hudson Hudson. I knew we were driving for a while, but I didn’t realize how far it was until our Uber driver later told us he lived in Albany. I gasped and said “wow, you must have taken a long trip to get here!” And he told me it was 40 minutes. Woops.

Unfortunately, we arrived so late that only two restaurants in town were open, so we took an uber to one of them, and had drinks and appetizers. The food was good, but we were exhausted. We went back to The Wick, where we were staying, and fell asleep within minutes.

Thank goodness for these drinks after a long drive!

Hudson, New York is home to a very quaint strip of restaurants and stores, and is supposedly a food destination. This is why my emoji man chose it for our getaway. What he didn’t know, is that it is also home to Etsy headquarters. I happen to have a good friend from the gym who works for Etsy, and she spends a good amount of time in Hudson. As soon as she saw I was there (because if you don’t Instagram it, it didn’t happen), she started sending me recommendations. Funnily enough, when she goes to Hudson for work, she stays in the same hotel we were in! She told us the best food and drink spots around town, and we took one of her recommendations, Le Merche, for brunch. She did not lead us astray! This place was fab. I had an egg sandwich on SUPER fresh bread, and my bf had the Croque Madame, which was delicious, fresh, and HUGE. I tried it, of course. And the side of potatoes… let’s just say that the food was so good I barely had time to take a photo of it. And we all know how rare that is.

My delicious breakfast sandwich on freshly baked bread.

The rest of afternoon I spent doing nothing, while my bf worked. I asked him before we left if he was sure he wanted to go away with so much work to do, and he assured me that he did, and a change of scenery would be nice. Meanwhile, I read a book and styled my hair 5 different ways. I need to keep creating content for Braid in Manhattan to keep my followers happy! Also, my bf is becoming quite the insta-husband. He is so great at taking hair photos! I told he better be careful or I’ll make him go full-time.

So many hairstyles.
And even more hair pics.
Spot my gray hairs?
Emoji man loves to take pics when I’m not ready.

After many hours of blissfully doing nothing, we went to dinner at W.M. Farmer & Co., which we heard was the SPOT. In fact, every online article about food in Hudson mentioned this as the best restaurant. We made a reservation. Unfortunately, we are underwhelmed. The food, although farm to table, and not bad, was not overwhelmingly good, and it was very expensive, even for people from Manhattan. The one remarkable part was the cocktails. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a GREAT drink. We each had two and were very impressed.

Since the only reservation available was at 6:30 pm, we had plenty of time after dinner to mill around. Unfortunately, it was 20 degrees outside, so we speed walked to a bar my friend had recommended. It seemed like a cool vibe, but the inside was very smoky (maybe because they are famous for a mezcal slushy?) and we decided it was too much for us. We went to a bar next door and had a beer. Then, surprisingly, after a day of doing absolutely nothing but eating, we were tired and went back to the hotel. We watched Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in bed and went to sleep. We really are an ancient couple. But that bed was so comfy!! I just love a king size bed. Someday when I move out a shoebox NYC apartment, I’m going to get one of my very own!

The next morning, we packed up and got ready to leave. The life of a man in finance means work on a Sunday, so we had to get back to the city. However, we needed sustenance first! Thankfully, my friend offered a final breakfast recommendation 10 minutes outside of Hudson, Gracie’s Luncheonette in the Catskills. We went from watching Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, to pretty much being in an episode of our own. We ate more delicious food and got a freshly-made donut for the road. We tried to leave quickly, because it started to snow as we ate. Not just flurry, but SNOW! I’m from Florida, and my bf is from Texas, so neither of us are too used to driving in a white-out. Thankfully, he took the wheel and I handled the donut. I’m pretty talented at feeding the driver, if I do say so myself.

We took toll roads back to the city, and got back within 2 hours! My bf dropped off the luggage and me, then returned the car, and I settled back into regular life and meal prep. Overall, it was a great 42-hour getaway with plenty of food and relaxation, and time with my better half. I have to keep reminding him of how much fun it was, so he knows to plan more surprises for the future! I promise to keep you guys posted. Do you have any fun mystery date ideas? Do you know my mystery man behind the emoji? Send him a text with an idea!