Sunny Fort Lauderdale!

It has now been a month since my last post...sorry it has been awhile!  It has been a crazy past few weeks.  I recently went to Fort Lauderdale, FL and it was nice to escape the cold weather!

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66.  It was a nice hotel and had great views.  The reason we chose this hotel was because it was near one of the WaterTaxi stops.  Unfortunately, they recently redid the pier and the stop had not opened up yet.  In order to get to another stop, we had to walk across the draw bridge- which was not a short walk!

We actually got caught walking over the bridge when we heard that we had to get to the other side before it went up.  We sprinted across- what a sight!

We hopped on the WaterTaxi and took in the sights.  Fort Lauderdale calls itself the "Venice of America" because of all the canals.  It was nice to just sit on the WaterTaxi and look at all of the beautiful houses and yachts- and there were so many of them!

So if you are going to Fort Lauderdale, here are some things I recommend.

Dining:

YOLO: 

on Las Olas Blvd.  We went here for NYE and it was good! Definitely try the cornbread!

Flip Flops, Shooters, or the Chart House:

all on the water.  Flip Flops and Shooters are more casual.  We went to Flip Flops and it was delicious!

Pan'e Dolci: Italian Bakery

This bakery is also on Las Olas and serves delicious gelato, cannolis, pastries, and coffee.  I definitely recommend trying this place!

We also went to places like The Cheesecake Factory and Panera, which are always good.  

Shopping: 

Sawgrass Mills and Colonnade Outlets:

If you love to shop like I do, I definitely would recommend checking out Sawgrass Mills and the Colonnade Outlets (same location- map found here).  There are so many great outlet stores like: Kate Spade Outlet, Tory Burch Outlet, Burberry, Michael Kohrs Outlet, Barneys New York Outlet, Prada and Valentino- just to name a few.  Of course there are the normal stores as well in Sawgrass Mills.  Definitely a nice place to check out!

Galleria Mall

This mall is smaller than Sawgrass mills, but it is closer to downtown Fort Lauderdale.  They also have a number of restaurants like P.F. Changs, Seasons 52, and the Capital Grille.  There is a cafe, Piazza di Giorgio Cafe, which has a number of different options to choose from.  A great place for lunch.  

Sight Seeing:

WaterTaxi

This is a great way to see everything on the water.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend it if you need to get somewhere quickly, but if you are just enjoying the ride and taking in the sights it is a great way to get around! 

Everglades Holiday Park

The Everglades are very interesting to see.  I would recommend taking an AirBoat tour.  These boats take you around the Everglades and last about an hour.  We saw many alligators and other wildlife. It is also the home of the Gator Boys Alligator Rescue, a show on Animal Planet.  It was kind of frightening to see them interact with the alligators in the way he did, but it was also very fascinating.  

Can you spot the alligator?

We only had 4 days in Florida, and one was spent in Miami, where we took an excellent Culinary Tour.  That post will come out tomorrow.  

Have you done anything amazing in Fort Lauderdale? 

Bonjour Paris!

Early Saturday morning, my family took the chunnel from London to Paris.  The idea of the chunnel is really cool but when you are in it for the 15 minutes, you can only see the dark tunnel surrounding you.  However, I loved looking out at the scenery for the rest of the two hours.  There is so much to see in the world and the only way to get out and see it is to travel.

Once we arrived in Paris, I was very surprised that I didn't have to go through any type of customs or security.  I literally walked off the train and went to the line for the taxis.  Nothing.  Coming from the United States, I expected security or at least some place to stamp my passport!

 

Train station number 1. 

We hopped in a taxi and went to our hotel, Les Jardins du Marais.  The hotel is located in the Marais district of Paris and it is very close to the train station that we would need to be at the next morning to catch our next train.  My family and I literally had 18 hours in Paris.  We had been to Paris before so it wasn't a big deal to only be there for a day.  

The hotel was nice.  I would say that the area immediately around it was in wasn't very touristy, but it was still nice.  It wasn't a far walk from the Bastille monument and the Opera House, Opéra Bastille. 

 Bastille Monument

Since we did not know the area very well, the hotel recommended a freeish walking tour, lead by a local Parisian.  The tour was strange to say the least.  She showed us many of the uncommon places of the Marais district and she told us many stories that were really not important.  Furthermore, she did not take us to any major sights like the Bastille monument or the Opera House. 

After the tour, my family and I walked around the area a little bit and then returned to the hotel to see if our room was ready.  We changed our outfits, got some water, (we were so thirsty!) and headed back out.  One of the great things about Paris is all of the bakeries! For dinner, we stopped at a food truck serving crepes!  And were they good! He made them fresh and I ordered the nutella and bananas crepe.  They had sweet and savory crepes which made the selection to choose from very big.  We also bought some macarons, because we are in Paris and why not! My family and I have a pretty big sweet tooth :) 

We then jumped in a taxi and headed to the Eiffel Tower.  We had been to the Eiffel Tower before, just never to the top, since when we were there last, it was raining, windy and cold.  My mom had also heard about "Fast Pass" tickets to the top so she got those.  And thank goodness she did! Once again, we literally went to the top with barely any line.  It was a timed group tour, but the group only walked from the store front to the Eiffel Tower and let you loose from there.  

After the Eiffel Tower, we went back to the hotel.  The rooms were nice, but I got worried when I was walking back to the rooms,  Our room was on the first floor and directly outside was a restaurant/bar area.  I was very worried I would not be able to sleep.  Thankfully, they were not that loud and I feel right asleep.  

The next morning, we had to wake up at like 5:00 in the morning so we could catch our next train to Monte Carlo, Monaco! 

Until next time! 

All pictures are taken by me. 

Tea at Buckingham Palace!? ~London Part 2

Buckingham Palace is open to the public for a few weeks every year.  Luckily, we were there one of the first days that it was open.  We had purchased tickets early in the year so we could see the Palace. Click here for more information about visiting.  We got the "Royal Day Out" Package which allowed us to visit the Mews (where the carriages and horses), the Queen's Gallery, and see some of the Staterooms and Gardens.  

We first went to the Mews.  It was really cool to see the different carriages that the royal family rides in- including the Diamond Jubilee carriage which cost about $4.5 million to complete... WOW!

Next my family and I went into the Queen's Gallery.  This is her private collection of art.  If you like to look at art, this would be perfect for you.  It was interesting to look at for a little bit, but not necessarily my thing for long amounts of time.

We finally went to through the Staterooms and Gardens which took about two hours.  They were incredible.  Buckingham Palace is HUGE and extravagant! I couldn't imagine living in a place like that.  The Staterooms they had open were many of the ones you saw on TV or public pictures.  Just being in the rooms made you feel part royal.  :)  It was a glimpse into how the royals live.

Of course there was a cafe for people to buy food and drinks once you left the Staterooms and walked into the gardens.  This is where my family had "lunch" (AKA more desserts) and of course tea.  We love our desserts, okay?!  We had to say we had tea at Buckingham Palace.

After the Palace, we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit.  We had been walking around all day and still didn't adjust to the time change.  We walked to Fortnum & Mason and bought dinner for us to eat at the hotel. This is another place you shouldn't miss- especially if you love food.  I would describe Fortnum & Mason kind of like Eataly if you have been there.  It is a giant UPSCALE supermarket where you can buy food as well as eat it there.  They had plenty of desserts and macarons on the first floor and if you walked downstairs this is where they had produce, meat, and fish.

I got Salmon which was actually very good.  They had a number of different items you could purchase.  We walked back to the hotel where we ate our dinner.

After we ate, we walked down to the London Eye.  (Also a LOT of walking on this trip if you haven't noticed yet).  My mother had read online about buying a "FastPass" to the London Eye.  And thank goodness we did! The line for the Eye was long but my family and I basically walked straight on thanks to our FastPasses.

The London Eye is so cool.  We went at night so we could see the city lit up and it was well worth it.  The panoramic views were incredible.  It was also a clear night so we could see for miles (or kilometers over there).

After that we walked back to our hotel and started packing for our next adventure.

Until next time~off to Paris!

Tower of London Poppies

So if you read my previous post about London found here, you read that there were poppies in the moat at the Tower of London.  Well here is the information about that.  I wanted to make a separate post about it because I think it is that special!

This year marks the 100th year since the British joined the first World War.  Throughout the course of WWI, 888,246 British lives were lost.  Volunteers were putting 888,246 ceramic poppies in rememberance of the lives lost- one for every person.

How cool is this?

Seeing all of those poppies made me think about how many livers have been lost fighting for what we believe in.

Each poppie was made by hand by a team of artists and volunteers.  They worked non-stop, with shifts 24/7 in order to make sure all of the ceramic flowers were made in time.

If you want to find out more about the ceramic poppies go to this link here.

Summer Travels- London, England Part 1

Can you believe it is already October 1!? Where has the time gone?   Ready for all of the details of my summer vacation? Be prepared, it will last over MANY, MANY blog posts.  Let's begin.
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London, England

My family and I arrived in London on July 31.  We left the US Wednesday night and took an overnight flight.  One of the best things about flying overnight?  Your body adjusts to the time zone easier- at least that's what I think!  Sleeping on the airplane, even if it is for only a few hours, always helps you adjust to time changes.  

We went straight to our hotel, Le Meridien Piccadilly.  Overall, it was a nice hotel.  The location was great for what we needed. We were able to walk to many places- the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Fortnum & Mason, Picadilly Circus, etc.  We were on the club level, which was good because we ate there a lot! Overall the hotel was good for the two nights that we were there.  

Anyway, once we checked into the hotel, and got our bearings, we walked down to the Westminster Abbey pier.  My mother had bought tickets for the CityCruises boats that make 2 (well 3) stops: Westminster Abbey/London Eye, Tower of London, and Greenwich.  We thought that taking the boats the first day would be best since we were all pretty tired and the less walking and thinking would be best.

The river boats were great!  It was a great way to see a lot of London since most of the city is built along the River Thames.  We went all the way to Greenwich and walked to the Observatory.  We did not stand over the actual Meridian line (the line was too long) but we did see it!

Our "lunch" for the day was ice cream.  We don't usually have a full 3 meals a day- most days consist of ice cream or pastries for dessert :) You only live once right? 

We had dinner at Caffé Concerto, a London restaurant serving Italian food.  I got Ravioli Spinach & Ricotto for my main course and then the Tiramisu for dessert.  Both were delicious and I would recommend going there if you want a good meal.  I know that is is more of a "chain restaurant" but it was good, located close to the hotel, and a descent price.  

Friday mornig we woke up early and went to the Tower of London.  Thankfully my mother had read to get to the Tower of London as soon as it opens and head straight to the Crown Jewels.  Since we were some of the first people there, there was absolutely no wait for the Crown Jewels, which gets very crowded, very quickly.  

The Crown Jewels were amazing! Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures, but the Jewels are huge.  I can't believe how big some of them were.  There were also swords and other incredible pieces of gold that have been part of the royal family for centuries.  We took the Beefeater tour which was interesting but basically told a bunch of stories while walking around the Tower. 

One of my favorite parts of the Tower of London were the poppies volunteers were putting in the "moat".  I'll post more about this later.  

I'll leave you all with that information- which is a lot!  My next post should be coming out tomrrow afternoon so be prepared for more London! 

Thanksgiving

Yep, this post is about 2 weeks late.  But better late then never!   I love spending time with my family.  Sometimes they can drive me crazy, but if your family doesn't drive you crazy sometimes, something is wrong.  My family LOVES to bake, especially my father and my middle sister.  Thanksgiving is no exception.  We ended up making cupcakes, a chocolate pecan pie, and apple and cherry strudel.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Chocolate Cupcakes

I don't have a good picture of the strudel.  Otherwise I would post it!

I am on winter break now so expect many more posts.

Family Weekend and Lincoln Park Conservatory

So as I mentioned in my last post, my family came up to visit me.  It was Family Weekend at Loyola last weekend and this past weekend was my fall break.  But of course none of the craziness stops!

Lincoln Park Conservatory

One of the places my family went before they left on Sunday was the Lincoln Park Conservatory.  It was a gorgeous day! Literally perfect weather.

The Conservatory is in Lincoln Park and there is no enterance fee!  I don't have a picture of the inside but all of the flowers are beautiful! It was a nice to just walk around and enjoy the beautiful flowers.  You can spend as much or as little time as you want there.  I definately recommend checking it out sometime! 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.  

I just love Chicago. :)

I loved seeing my family in Chicago and at home in Cincinnati.  

Chicago Food: Giordano's Pizzaria and Crumbs Bakery

So I've realized that I need to tell you more about the places I am going and what I am doing instead of every detail of my weekend. :)  But don't worry, I will still add many details about my week.  I might even do two posts: one describing what I am doing and one describing an awesome thing that you should also do!

Giordano's Pizzaria

You can't go to Chicago without trying Chicago style pizza! One of my favorite places for deep dish is Giordano's Pizzaria.  Their deep dish pizza has topping baked in the middle! So not only do  you get toppings on the top, but also in the middle.  I wish I took a picture to show, but next time I definately will!   My family came up last weekend and they wanted to try Chicago style pizza.  I took them here and they loved it! 

Crumbs Bake Shop

My sisters and I LOVE to bake and eat desserts.  Both sets of grandparents were bakers so you could say it is in our genes. :)  When we were shopping at Watertower Place, we finally decided to try Crumbs.  We had tried many other cupcake stores around Chicago so we thought it was time to try this one.  I bought a Blackbottom Cheesecake Brownie Cupcake and my sisters split a Cannoli Cupcake. 

This is a picture of my cupcake.


One last suggestion: If you are in Water Tower Place and want a meal, I recommend the food court on the first level.  It isn't a traditional food court with restaurants.  When you walk in you get something like a credit card and you can get whatever you want.  There are so many different options to choose from! When you want food you hand them your card and when you are ready to leave you go to the cashier, hand them your card and pay and then you leave.  Fast and Easy!