Barcelona is the favorite city of both Blonde and Brunette and one reason is that, although there's no shortage of interesting places with high admission fees, there is also a good selection of free (and legal) things to do. The nightly music and light shows at The Magic Fountains top our list of attractions. On our last visit to Barcelona we stayed in the Sants-Montjuïc … [Read more...]
Possibly heaven on earth: The Maldives!
You may deny it, but you know you have fantasies. And, if you're over the age of 35, you secretly fear that if your fantasy actually happened it would never live up, in reality, to the fantasy version. This is one case where it not only lived up to it but exceeded it! Blonde and Brunette had dreamt and schemed for years about going to the Maldives but it was always just too … [Read more...]
Qatar Airways Business Class: Living The Life We (think) We Deserve!
The day we learned we were the very fortunate recipients of two business class tickets to any destination served by Qatar Airways was a very happy day. A happier day than when Blonde got married (admittedly an easy one to top. Changing the cat litter tops that day.). And way happier than when Brunette occasionally remembers she's still married. We'd always dreamt of going to … [Read more...]
How to prioritize and accomplish your bucket list
The American movie The Bucklet List came out in 2007 and featured Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men (who seemed to be in shockingly good health) doing all the things they wanted to do before they died, or "kicked the bucket." The term was around long before then but it really took off in popularity after the movie's release. We don't actually use … [Read more...]
Trip insurance: get the right coverage (Not exciting, but important)
We know this isn’t a sexy topic (although we’ll at least try to get some questionable taste comments in here) but if you are spending a fair bit on a trip, and you don’t have the budget left to fund unforeseen events, you’d be very smart to buy trip insurance for issues that could potentially cause you to incur major additional costs. Ever since we started buying trip … [Read more...]
Ten things to know about shopping in foreign countries
Our call center does not have adequate staff for all of the calls coming in asking for advice about shopping in foreign countries. So we are writing this informative post to save you having to learn lessons we (like to think) we have already learned. These are the top 10 things you should always ask yourself before making a purchase in a country other than your own (and … [Read more...]
Home Exchange – Wish we knew then what we know now
Don't we all! For one thing we wouldn't have married the men we did. Whoops - got off topic - sorry! This is supposed to be about our home exchange experience! Late last year Blonde listed her (then) Boston home on HomeExchange.com . A fellow blogger had convinced her to take the plunge. The process is like Match.com. You put a picture of your home looking better than it ever … [Read more...]
How to plan a beach getaway
The first snow hits the ground or the sun doesn't come out for a week and all of a sudden someone says "Let's plan a trip to a beach". Someone else agrees and they each have totally different thought bubbles over their heads as to what this means. Unless you think and talk through these things ahead of time you may find yourself wanting to get away from your partner or spend … [Read more...]
A visit to Cnoc Suain (easy for you to say)
Blonde and Brunette weren't exactly chipper when we received our morning wake-up call to go to a family-owned homestead to learn about authentic Gaelic experiences. We would have preferred some authentic sleeping in and we are usually loathe to learn actual information when we travel. However, this proved to be a case of the educational aspect being interesting (and some more … [Read more...]
5 Reasons to Take a River Cruise with Scenic Cruises
They’re from a good family –Scenic Cruises is privately owned. As such they do the things they believe are best for their customers and the environment, not their stockholders. That can make all the difference in the world! Also, with their more than 25 years of experience we would feel confident that they could quite capably deal with any unexpected development that might … [Read more...]