Ayla is the brand-new full service restaurant up at the Nayara Tented Camp at the Nayara Resort in Costa Rica. We ate here on one of our last nights, and considering that at home we are transitioning to a Mediterranean diet, and we recently ate at Galit in Chicago (check out my review here!) which serves very similar fare, eating at Ayla was definitely on the list for us. The ambiance at Ayla is glamping chic. Ayla is in a…
So like I mentioned in my overview post here, Nayara offers about a billion different tours ranging from super adventurous to very low key. We are definitely more low key travelers, and picked a few tours that challenged us a little, but weren’t anything like zip lining or doing anything having to do with cliffs. Brian and I are extremely amateur birders, and I keep a life list in a note in my iPhone. I really keep thinking I should…
As I mentioned in my intro post here, there are three different resorts in one at the Nayara Resorts Grounds at the base of the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. Each of those resorts has a different vibe, and there are also several pools you can choose to hang out at. There are also a group of hot springs pools between Nayara Gardens and the Tented Camp. We checked out most of the pools, and I break them all down…
We just got back from an amazing anniversary trip to Costa Rica, and this post is going to give you a bit of an overview of the resort and what we did there. In the weeks to come, I’ll be posting individual articles providing more detail about the important stuff: excursions and activities, the pools, and the restaurants. I booked Nayara Gardens on a stay 7, pay 5 deal, and it’s a great deal! Everyone was so surprised that we…
Pasta Veneta is one of the newest restaurants in the poppin’ west loop area, and I visited here recently with my cousins. This place prides itself on making fresh pasta, and it shows. There is a sizable appetizer menu, but the mains are all primarily pasta based. The space is very open and very fresh and new, with a casual, bistro-type of feel. There is a very heavy straight-line/geometric shape thing going here, which is really cool. The lighting was…
Every single person I told that we were going to Nicaragua said, “Whoa! Why on EARTH would you go there?” Well, there are a thousand reasons to visit this beautiful country, and when we visited, it was a relatively safe place to go, since politically it was pretty chill at the moment. That did all change shortly after we were there, which is a massive shame, but you can still totally visit this country, see absolutely amazing sights and feel…
We were excited to try Galit, one of the newest Michelin-starred restaurants on the block, earning their first star just last April. Galit is a pretty casual-ish Middle Eastern food spot, with an extensive Middle Eastern wine selection including some of the big names like Chateau Musar from Lebanon among other lesser-known wines. The space is pretty large and has bankettes, tables, as well as a long bar-like table along the bustling open kitchen. I love open kitchens, and I…
We are leaving for our second trip to Costa Rica THIS WEEK, so I thought it would be a good time to start all of the Costa Rica content with a short little nostalgia post about Brian’s and my first trip to this gorgeous country in 2014. Brian and I had just started dating about 3 or 4 months before this trip, and if you really want to get to know someone well, go on an adventure with them! I…
I love going to Las Vegas, and you will see a lot of reviews of Vegas hotels, restaurants and activities on this site in the future. I love the weather there, I love the frenetic vibe, and I love the fact that you can just get away for a few days and forget about real life, pretty much instantaneously, once you start hearing the dinging of the slot machines. I come here to see my family who live in California,…
Bronzeville Winery recently opened on the south side of Chicago, not far from where we live, to a lot of hype, so when they were offering a special restaurant week menu, we decided to book a reservation and check the place out. Bronzeville Winery, more accurately a wine bar or wine-focused restaurant, is a very hip place in a brand new building on South Cottage Grove. Their drink menu not only specializes in wine, but also props up and supports…