The Palacio Real in Madrid is literally the largest palace in Western Europe with 3,418 rooms. The number of rooms that are open to the public are …. 29! But, while you are seeing barely fraction of the place, you can really get a good idea of how ornate and beautiful the rooms were and continue to be. We purchased the audioguide, which was very well put together with about 1.5 minutes of explanation in each room, which was…
OK, so, disclaimer: Oak Brook is not actually Chicago. Oak Brook is a western suburb about 20 miles from downtown Chicago, but Oak Brook Center is one of my favorite places to go at any time of year. It is an upscale, outdoor mall, offering a ton of great shopping, and also a very cool and luxe atmosphere. I have always loved coming here, even if I wasn’t buying anything, just for the beautiful surroundings. I get it – you…
Our pandemic trip to St. Lucia in February 2021 landed us at the all-inclusive resort Anse Chastenet, with a fabulous view of the famous St. Lucia Pitons. One of the best things about our stay at Anse Chastenet was that it is a sister hotel to Jade Mountain Resort, consistently rated as one of the best resorts in the Caribbean, so we were able to eat dinner at the Jade Mountain Club for a $40 surcharge per person. Even though…
My husband and I traveled to Rome with our teenagers, then 15 and 16 years old, in July of 2019. I was not looking forward to this trip at all. I typically prefer to go out into the country to explore, rather than staying in the capital cities, and going to Rome in July just sounded hot, crowded, and miserable. When you are traveling with kids, however, summers and breaks are the only time you can go. Well guess what? …
So this is primarily a post about Eataly, Chicago, but I have to mention from the get-go that I have also been to Eataly, Las Vegas many times, and it is just as amazing, though with a much smaller dry goods grocery section and no produce. The Las Vegas outpost is more of a grab and go food place, or stay and drink a glass of wine under a beautiful glass-ceilinged canopy, than a place you would go and get…
One of our anniversary trip stops took us to the Copal Tree Lodge in Punta Gorda, Belize for a week in February of 2019. Punta Gorda is about as far south as you can get in Belize before Honduras, and is pretty rustic compared to other, more toursity places in Belize. You have to take a small plane that makes several stops at towns along the way either via Maya Island Air or Tropic Air. Punta Gorda is the…
HOT TAKE My husband and I typically go on a trip to someplace warm in February. February is the coldest, snowiest month of the year in Chicago, and so it’s a great time to get away. It also happens to be our anniversary month! This year, our anniversary trip took us to Guatemala, our fifth time in Central America, where we spent two nights in Antigua and five nights at Lake Atitlan. We absolutely love visiting Central American countries because…
This is more of a nostalgia post, rather than a wine post, because I visited this winery and wine region with my now-husband (who proposed to me during this trip!) back in 2015. This winery and this trip are so special to me for so many more reasons besides the fact that we got engaged while we were here in northern Spain. We chose coming to Rioja, Spain for this trip because I was just starting to teach my…
Bavette’s Steakhouse and & Bar is located in the relatively newly renovated Park MGM Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Park MGM used to be the Monte Carlo Hotel and got a much needed, massive facelift between 2016-2018, including adding a bright and airy Eataly out front. I love staying at the Park MGM because it is new, fresh, mid-range price, and the casino is non-smoking. It is also in a very good, pretty central location on the…
HOT TAKE Let’s get this out of the way: I friggin’ love Walt Disney World! We used to come here as kids almost every year when my Dad was in Orlando for a work convention and so my childhood memories are full of the Mouse. In fact, Minnie Mouse was my imaginary friend when I was a child. Like many families, as we got older, we stopped going to Disney after a while. After about 20 years, my brother and…