This is the trip that literally saved my mental wellbeing. When the pandemic began in America in March of 2020, all travel was halted. Our trip to Paris in the summer was cancelled, and there was no hope of rebooking it any time soon. For someone who needs travel to keep their head space in check while living a mostly ordinary life with a stressful day job, the toll of not being able to plan a trip for so long…
One of our stand out dinners in Barcelona, Spain was at Martinez Restaurant. I chose this place because of the high recommendations from several sources regarding their paella. It also would be the only time we could get to the high hill on the southern end of town, Montjuic. We took a cab here as it was much too far to walk, and we were dropped off right next to the restaurant. We were a bit early, so we took…
My two local cousins and I all have birthdays in July and August, so every year, we usually book a nice summer outing to celebrate each other and enjoy a nice evening out. This year, we chose to check out a relatively new restaurant in the West Loop neighborhood called ROOH which calls itself, “Progressive Indian Cuisine in a Vibrant Atmosphere;” and vibrant, it is! Every corner of this place is seriously insta-worthy and I took a TON of photos!…
As we were walking around Madrid, we noticed that there were quite a few Argentinian steakhouse restaurants in the area near where we were staying in the literary quarter. We figured this would be a nice change of pace from all of the tapas we were eating, and who could resist the aroma of juicy steaks emanating from these restaurants? As we walked by several of these places, their grills were right in the window, inviting us to come and…
We took a weeklong trip to Spain from June 10-18 with our two youngest kids, aged 10 and 12. This was their first time in Europe, so I was really motivated to show them some cool stuff. Madrid was the easy jumping off point, due to so many flights going there directly from O’Hare Airport, so that’s where we began our adventure. I had been to Madrid once before, so a lot of what we did I had already done…
***Update: Roister closed in the fall of 2024, and has already reopened it’s doors as Fire. As soon as I go there, you know you’ll find my review right here on ChiLuxe! Oh, Roister, you have never disappointed me! This was my third visit to Roister restaurant in Chicago and I went with my brother to celebrate his 40th birthday! Roister’s Chef is Grant Achatz, of Alinea fame. The Chef was actually on hand on this evening working in the…
After visiting La Sagrada Familia and having lunch, we took a taxi up to Parc Guell. The park is a relatively compact 12 hectares, as it is not super wide, but instead just goes higher and higher up the hill. It is a beautiful area, and was actually not mega crowded when we went around 3pm. I also booked tickets in advance for this experience to avoid waiting in lines. You can do so on their website, and you can…
We were originally planning to have a free day to simply walk around and get lost in Barcelona on our most recent trip, however instead I decided to book a tour up to Montserrat to see the Basilica, the cool views, the weird mountain, and check out a winery. I booked through Castle Experience Tours. There are about a billion tour companies offering different tours from Barcelona to Montserrat, however I chose this one due to the winery stop for…
One of the highlights of sightseeing in Madrid is its excellent art museums. We purchased the “art walk” ticket (in advance, of course), which would allow you to gain access to the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofia museums in one day for a pretty decent discount. Purchasing regular priced tickets for all three museums would cost a total of 40 Euros. The Art Walk ticket costs 32 Euros, and you can purchase it off of any of the…
Anyone who does even the most remote amount of research before visiting Barcelona, Spain, knows that the city swims in Gaudi architecture. The crown jewel is La Sagrada Familia Basilica (The Sacred Family). Like any other massive tourist attraction, I highly recommend booking tickets in advance, and you can do so without worry of scams or upcharges through the Sagrada Familia website. There, you can choose whether you just want base level tickets, a tour, tickets to go up into…