When Blonde and Brunette did our first home exchange we committed to a month in Calella Palafrugell in the Costa Brava (aka Catalan) region of Spain. We’d spent three weeks in the region the previous year so were looking for new places to explore this time. We were told that Collioure, France was a lovely coastal town less than two hours from our home base. It … [Read more...]
Search Results for: home exchange
Conjuring in Calella
Last year Blonde and Brunette were in the Costa Brava region of Spain and kept intending to go to the Cap Roig Botanic Gardens but somehow never quite made it there. When we began to plan a return trip to the region this year the person with whom we were arranging a home exchange mentioned the annual music festival held at the gardens. Brunette began feverishly plotting an … [Read more...]
Our one year anniversary of travel blogging
We began this blog barely a year ago. It was begun with no goal other than to see if people would enjoy reading about our travels, our frequently-inadvisable behavior and our humor. After more than 10 years of traveling as a sister duo Blonde and Brunette (thanks to Brunette) had a treasure trove of notes and what we thought was an endless supply of stories and photos. Blonde … [Read more...]
Pros and cons of independent versus group travel
What's the best way to travel? We talk to people who stress that they always travel independently and it's the superior way to travel. And then we speak to others who have no interest in independent travel. They think it sounds like a hassle, could be dangerous, and they want to leave all of the planning to others. So who's right? As is so often the case in life it's … [Read more...]
Our suggestions on how to spend a day in Bergen, Norway
How to spend a day in Bergen, Norway We spent a day in Bergen at the end of our Viking Homelands cruise with Viking Oceans. We had taken a short walking tour with Viking the previous day which gave us overview information and our bearings so we knew what we wanted to do with our full day. Bryggen When you see these colorful, iconic buildings along the harbor they may … [Read more...]
5 Easy steps to take to avoid travel fees
Yes, travel does cost money but here are 5 easy steps - most of which we learned the hard way - that you can take to avoid unnecessary travel fees. (Please keep in mind that we're travel bloggers, not lawyers, CPAs or financial advisors. That should be a relief to everyone.) Don’t buy unnecessary travel insurance We have purchased travel insurance for every … [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...]
5 Reasons to travel to Greece
We can always come up with long lists of reasons to travel to Greece but it’s especially easy right now. We’ve seen a lot of Greece and want to see even more – Santorini in September maybe? These are the top 5 reasons we love Greece so much. (The first is true now but not always.): #1 Travel in Greece is affordable If your home currency is the euro then you are … [Read more...]
The Inca salt pans at Salineras de Maras, Peru
History of the Salineras Back in the 1400s even the amazingly clever Incas hadn't figured out that salt might cause high blood pressure, but they knew it tasted good so they made and consumed a lot of it. Oh those were the days! About 30 miles from Cusco you can tour the Salineras de Maras. Our group muddled out there on a gloomy day but, even in the gloom, … [Read more...]
Layover in Frankfurt? Do a Rhine River Cruise.
Blonde was making the long journey from Bhutan home to Florida and decided to break up the travel instead of enduring an unnecessary marathon of misery. Part of the plan was to spend 2 nights in Frankfurt in order to have one full day to go into the city and explore. But Blonde didn't follow her own requirement of always looking at holiday calendars before … [Read more...]