Category: Non-US Destinations and Events
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Wanna see my super fun hotel in Paris? It’s 123 Sebastopol
Okay, so it’s not MY hotel, but I sure felt at home there. If you’re traveling to Paris anytime soon, you should check it out. I found 123 Sebastopol on my last business trip to Paris and it was so fun it would be wrong to just keep this one to myself. (Although let’s not…
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Charming and quaint hotel stay near the bustle of Rome: Santa Maria hotel in Rome, Italy
Buon Giorno! This week I am spending some time in Italy for a few business meetings. My first destination was in Rome, where I stayed at Santa Maria, a very charming hotel in the Trastevere area. I discovered the hotel on Trip Advisor where it had glowing reviews. Even thought I was there less than 24 hours,…
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Trip Journal: First Day in Chile, Part 2
As I mentioned in Part 1 of our first day in Chile, our trip started out with a few bumps and bruises and some carsickness. But things most definitely got better. Our re-discovery of Hotel Oceanic brought a huge smile to my face. And soon, that smile grew even bigger. While the kids and I…
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Trip Journal: First Day in Chile, Part 1
Travel doesn’t always go the way you hope. There are bumps and bruises and other things along the way— but there are also many unexpected gifts to be found if you let yourself take the adventure. Our first day in Chile held all of those. After arrival and the lines of immigration and customs, my…
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When I realized I was in Florence, Italy
This May I attended the Master of Wine Symposium in Florence, Italy. In preparing for the trip I studied up on Italian wine, labored over what to wear to look professional, made sure I had enough business cards and converters. But it wasn’t until I was sitting outside on the balcony of the hotel bar…
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Greetings from Edinburgh, Scotland! Again. :)
Good morning, friends! It is 9 am here in Edinburgh. We arrived here just under 24 hours ago and I am in love. Again. Let me back up a bit. About one year ago I asked my husband if we could return to Edinburgh to visit some very dear friends. You know those friends that…
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Canoeing on Lake Louise in Banff National Park in Canada
Have you ever canoed in more beautiful water? That’s my younger son canoeing in Lake Louise, Canada, in Banff National Park in June 2013. I snapped that picture with my iPhone and without any fancy filters. When we walked up to this lake and saw its beautiful turquoise waters, I turned to my husband and…
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One gorgeous view in Banff National Park in Canada
I love this gorgeous view for several reasons. The obvious beauty to you may be the mountains. The mountains in Banff National Park in Canada are breathtaking. Everywhere we looked on that vacation, we saw incredible mountains climbing up to the sky, and I mean everywhere. I love this photo, though, because my kids are…
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Trip Journal: Desert Safari in Dubai
Have you read my other Trip Journal entries about Dubai? I had to take a break from sharing the rest of the trip, but now I’m back to share the details from our desert safari: We arranged the trip through Arabian Adventures and our guide came right to our friend’s home to pick us up…
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Legoland Windsor near London
Yesterday I posted about the FREE Lego Mini Build events and download. If your kids are into Legos, click over and download so your child can make a Lego bouquet this weekend. We’ll wait. Now that we’re all here, I can tell you all about our last visit to a Legoland park. I have to…
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Trip Journal: Snow Skiing in Dubai
Today we went skiing in the desert. Well, sort of. Actually, we went skiing in the mall. We arrived at the Mall of the Emirates near the Hotel Kempinski and walked through a hotel cafe on the the way to Ski Dubai. We caught a glimpse of the slope from the restaurant: Even though I…
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Trip Journal: Our Second Full Day in Dubai
Last night I stayed up with our hostess drinking champagne, eating cookies, watching Modern Family and chatting until 2:30 when our oldest woke up and had trouble getting back to sleep. We made him toast with Nutella and then decided to call it a night. This morning I was expecting to pay the price of…
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Trip Journal: Our First full day in Dubai
Arriving in Dubai was simple and amazingly hassle-free. The airport was spacious and going through passport control, collecting our luggage and getting on our way was amazingly simple. I expected to see people covered in abayas (women) and dishdashas (men) everywhere, but there were many more people dressed as we were. R, our friend for…
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Trip Journal: Dubai- The plane facts
I’ve already shared a bit about why we are going to Dubai and what the week was like getting ready. In case you are interested, I thought I’d share a bit about our flight. (I’ve got lots of free time to write and have already watched two movies, so why not?!) We got to the…
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Trip Journal: Traveling to Dubai
I am flying to Dubai. Can you believe that? I can barely believe it myself! I am on an airplane over Spain, my daughter (in her Hello Kitty slippers) and son wiggling and mostly asleep on one side of me, an aisle, my husband, other son and mother-in-law asleep on the other side of me.…