GT Prime Steakhouse, Chicago, USA November 29, 2022

GT Prime Steakhouse, Chicago, USA November 29, 2022

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Every year, I take Brian out for his birthday to a fancy steakhouse here in Chicago. Chicago is known for its steakhouses, and there are no shortage of restaurants to choose from. GT Prime is one of the only ones we haven’t visited yet, and getting reservations early on a Tuesday evening was easy. The restaurant itself has a very moody, yet bright vibe, with black-brown floors and tables and walls, but bright bronze-gold accents and lighter brown leather chairs…

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The Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2022

The Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2022

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Some people say you can skip the Guinness Storehouse because it’s touristy and you don’t actually get to see the beer being made. When I was in Dublin in 2012 I did skip it, but I always kind of regretted it. This time, I made a point to be sure we came here. How can you go to Dublin and not pay homage to the most Irish of all beers? I purchased tickets in advance, which I highly recommend, just…

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The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2022

The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2022

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We stayed at the Shelbourne for five nights from October 20-25, 2022. I chose this place for a ton of reasons, but the number one reason was to use up a bunch of Marriott Bonvoy points that had accumulated over the pandemic. Because I was using old travel credits for the flights for this trip, I wanted the trip to be as free as possible, so I cashed out about 250,000 Marriott points to stay at one of the most…

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High Tea at the Lord Mayor’s Lounge, The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, October 20, 2022

High Tea at the Lord Mayor’s Lounge, The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, October 20, 2022

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So I love doing a high tea when I go on vacation – especially if there is a fancy one in a fancy hotel that is KNOWN for tea. (I also love a high tea here in Chicago as there are a ton of amazing places for it!) Tea is also a great thing to do on the first day when you arrive in Europe or somewhere else where you may be feeling pretty tired or jet laggy. The 2…

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Dublin Castle, Ireland, October, 2022

Dublin Castle, Ireland, October, 2022

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Dublin Castle is a nice way to spend about an hour of your time while in Dublin. It’s not as grand as The Palacio Real in Madrid (which you can read all about here!) and doesn’t even come close to the grandeur of Versailles, but it is a neat place nonetheless. We came here early on a Saturday morning, and while I did get tickets in advance, it was not necessary since there were barely any people here. You are…

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Glover’s Alley, Dublin, Ireland, October 22, 2022

Glover’s Alley, Dublin, Ireland, October 22, 2022

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We were very excited to add another Michelin Star to our list, and Glover’s Alley in Dublin was the place where we did it. While I can’t say it was the best meal we had in Dublin, it was certainly the longest and most expensive. The best part about our meal were the wines, which were all incredibly exquisite. The place itself is super cool with an ultra mid-century vibe. The upholstery is pink and velvety, or teal and leathery,…

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The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October 2022

The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October 2022

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The National Gallery was at the top of our list of places to visit on our short trip to Dublin. Can you guess why? Yes! They have a Caravaggio! The Gallery is centrally located, right on Merrion Square just to the east of Trinity College. We trudged here in the absolutely pouring rain. Unfortunately, they did not have an operating cloak room or lockers, so we had to carry our wet jackets and umbrellas around. The National Gallery is free,…

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Delahunt Restaurant and Sitting Room, Dublin, Ireland, October 21, 2022

Delahunt Restaurant and Sitting Room, Dublin, Ireland, October 21, 2022

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When you think about Dublin, you don’t typically think about elevated cuisine. Usually its more of the fish n’ chips and bangers n’ mash variety of food. But don’t let its cruddy reputation fool you – Dublin has some really amazing eateries and we enjoyed a wide variety of cuisine from, yes, fish n’ chips, to fancy fish we have never even heard of like “plaice”! Delahunt was easily my favorite meal of our five nights in Dublin due to…

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Trinity College/Book of Kells, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2022

Trinity College/Book of Kells, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2022

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So you can spend a ton of time here, or just a little bit of time – it is completely up to you. The first time I came to Dublin in 2012 I did a full tour of Trinity College walking around the campus and learning about different cool spots and its history. It takes about 1.5-2 hours depending on how long you linger at the Book of Kells and the Old Library. This time, though, we got tickets just…

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Malta Itinerary, August 2022

Malta Itinerary, August 2022

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This is going to be an article about our full 8-day Malta Itinerary, with a whole bunch of links to other articles and websites to help you plan your own amazing getaway! We went to Malta for our oldest daughter’s high school graduation trip (delayed one year due to COVID). Anna is a geography major at Augustana College, and thought that the capital of Valletta sounded cool, and didn’t want to go anywhere “basic”. I’m kind of going all out…

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