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...]
Durnstein, a treat in the Wachau Valley
Our last Danube river cruise only offered a tantalizing glimpse of Durnstein in the Wachau Valley of Austria. It was just long enough for Blonde's wallet to get a catch of thwarted longing in its throat. But on this cruise the wallet's dreams were fulfilled (and the wallet was emptied). Durnstein appears to have received its first mention in recorded history in 1112 when … [Read more...]
Szentendre, Hungary
Why visit Szentendre? If you’re going to Budapest try to find the time to take a half-day trip to Szentendre. And do it using Viator, even though we stupidly didn’t! We use Viator all over the world and should have for this trip but instead we used a local provider our hotel recommended. We do not recommend them and, to make matters worse, we don’t even remember their name, … [Read more...]
Places we’ve loved: Akureyri, Iceland
Blonde was fortunate enough to win a trip to Iceland courtesy of SadCars. Brunette has a highly uncooperative respiratory system that would clearly have gone on strike in the chilly climate of Iceland. Luckily we have a third "honorary" sister, "Pinky". (OK "Pinky" refers to {some of} her hair color. You should respectfully think of her as Nola of NewTake Travel but we … [Read more...]
Places we’ve loved: Kangaroo Island, Australia
When we began to plan our trip to Australia, Brunette - who has a ready mental to-do list in her head for at least 123 countries - announced that we had to go to Kangaroo Island. Blonde had never heard of it but she's generally pro kangaroos and islands so agreed. Kangaroo Island is Australia's third largest island after Tasmania and Melville and it has less than 5,000 human … [Read more...]
Places we’ve loved: Begur, Spain
Begur, and the surrounding area, is so charming, untouristy and beautiful that we have been hesitant to write about it. We are afraid that if we paint an accurate picture then more people like us might go there. But after the fabulous week we enjoyed in the region we reluctantly decided to be generous and let you in on what we discovered. Begur is in the heart of the Costa … [Read more...]
Places we love: Naples, Florida
Reformed Florida-basher (and now resident) Blonde and lifelong Florida-booster, Brunette, knew Naples would be featured in one of our "Places We've Loved" posts the moment we began to slobber into our bowls of smooth, creamy gelato from Barbatella's. Naples is the Kate Middleton of Florida: well-bred but not pretentious, pretty, smart and fun. Marco Island is Pippa but with … [Read more...]
Places we’ve loved: Binibeca Vell, Menorca, Spain
Binibeca Vell is Blonde's location version of an ideal date: attractive, well groomed, friendly but not intrusive and doesn't expect you to spend the night after enjoying its pleasures. When Blonde and Brunette went to Spain for the TBEX Travel Bloggers' Conference we managed to turn a three day conference into a three week trip. Five days were spent on Menorca, one of … [Read more...]
Places We’ve Loved: Genoa
When Blonde and Brunette planned our trip to the Cinque Terre and the Italian Riviera we scheduled a stopover in Genoa. We expected Genoa to be exactly that - a stopover, not a destination. As is our habit we bumbled into town in a small car strewn about with our possessions hoping we would be able to find the Hotel Bristol Palace where we had reservations. As we were arriving … [Read more...]
Places we’ve loved: Perth, Australia
Perth, Australia is a place you should go on purpose! You know how sometimes you go one place just as a means to get somewhere else? Say you go to a party at a homely poor girl's house because the beautiful heiress you want to hit on is going to be there. Once there you realize that you prefer the homely poor girl. No, we can't imagine that either so we may have to drop this … [Read more...]