Our 2016 travel plans We have excitedly been pulling our 2016 travel plans together over the last couple months. Admittedly Blonde already went to Panama and Iceland this year but those were trips with friends not "official" blog business. When planning this year's travel we mainly selected places we have never been before. To the extent that we have any other common theme … [Read more...]
Enjoying Reykjavik in the winter
Enjoying Reykjavik in the winter - seriously? Yes, even a Florida-living blonde enjoyed Reykjavik in the winter. Misgivings about Iceland being brutally cold and dark in winter proved to be unfounded. Over the course of a 4 day visit 3 days featured bright blue skies and one was snowy but not impressively (or depressingly) so . The temperatures were in the mid 30s … [Read more...]
Capturing Amazing Photos of the Northern Lights
Prepare, before you leave home, to photograph the Northern Lights When Blonde received a call, in early July, to go see the Northern Lights in Iceland in February she immediately agreed and fantasized about how she would take amazing photos of the Northern Lights. She would become an admired and sought-after photographer, silencing any naysayers who may have criticized her … [Read more...]
How to maintain your fitness while on a European River Cruise
The popularity of European River Cruises European River Cruises have enjoyed a consistent upward demand curve for quite a few years now and many of the dominant players have high numbers of repeat travelers. Blonde and Brunette are enthusiastic river cruise advocates. We have done 4 in a little over a year and have already booked 2 for 2016. Why are European River Cruises … [Read more...]
Top Travel Bloggers’ Favorite Places from 2015
Top Travel Bloggers' Favorite Places from 2015 After we wrote our annual year in review place and enjoyed reliving some of our favorite trips we wondered what some of our blogger friends had enjoyed the most in 2015. So, using our in-depth investigative techniques we sent them emails and asked them! Without further ado (we were too lazy to edit) here are their interesting … [Read more...]
2015: Where we traveled, what we liked and what we didn’t
2015 Travel Looking back on where we traveled in 2015 we (meaning at least one of us) went to 12 countries; 4 for the first time. Now we can see why our friends think we travel all the time. We, oh so cleverly, tend not to travel to places we don't expect to enjoy so when we do our year-end review sometimes it can be hard to come up with a lot of things we … [Read more...]
Lisbon on a budget
Lisbon is a city for all budgets It is possible to enjoy Lisbon on a budget and experience its architectural beauty, manageable size, mild climate, friendly citizens and lack of siestas. We are not the ones who will tell you where to find a 15€ hostel room (although this site will) or how to put together the least expensive possible stay in Lisbon. We are the ones who … [Read more...]
University of Coimbra – Capes, Ribbons, Bats n’at.
The University of Coimbra in Portugal seems to prove the adage "everything old is new again". Capes were just featured on the runways of New York's Fashion Week. Consumers value products free of chemical pesticides. E-book sales are declining as readers return to print. Ribbons are a hot topic on Pinterest. The University of Coimbra never knew capes went out of style. … [Read more...]
Only 2 types of people should take Christmas Market river cruises
Christmas Market river cruises Have you seen advertisements for Christmas Market river cruises in Europe? And have you thought "I wonder if I would enjoy one of those"? And, if so, what excuse could I come up with to justify it? Or have you thought, "who wants to go on a cruise about Christmas"? It's hard enough to ignore Christmas at home. But if you did want to go, how … [Read more...]
Pena National Palace, Sintra (proof that it really matters who you marry)
Brunette is a savant about UNESCO World Heritage Sites so it was pre-ordained that our trip to Lisbon would include a visit to Pena Palace, Sintra. Sintra's UNESCO status The "cultural landscape" of Sintra is what has UNESCO status, not the Pena Palace, as many less intellectually rigorous travel writers fail to clarify. (This is nearly impossible to believe but there … [Read more...]