Obviously American

Living in Brussels provides easy and often inexpensive access to Paris. Hooray!

That said, while I love to go with first-timers, it can also get a bit monotonous.  I know- Paris, monotonous?  What a jerk.  But as anyone who has lived in a tourist city knows, that’s exactly what happens when visitors want to see the exact same things.  So, while the hot ticket items like the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Jardin de Tuileries, Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame are must-sees, I always try to throw in something different based on the visitor to make it a unique experience for their sake as well as mine!  These are just a few notes from my most recent visits.

Sacre Coeur

Notre Dame

Arc de Triomphe

Musee d’Orsay

Depending on how much time I’m in Paris (and although I know it is SO touristy), I will do the Big Bus tour for one of the days.  Paris is bigger than you think and I’ve done it without the tour, using the metro instead.  It’s doable for the entire time but exhausting.  Paris also has Uber so it’s a great alternative if you can’t find a taxi.  Especially if you are arriving at Gare du Nord... the taxi line can be horribly long. 

SHOPPING

Skip the Champs Elysees which is quite touristy and not terribly exciting.  Many of the stores are commonly found in most major cities so I opt for Rue Saint Honoré.  You will find a great mix of high end shops and cute boutiques.  It runs parallel to Rue Rivoli so it’s close to the Jardin de Tuileries- a popular desitination to visit anyway.  

EATING & DRINKING

We had a gorgeous dinner at Clown Bar.  The staff was really friendly and spoke English much better than I speak French.  Which, to be honest, is not difficult.  

If you’re out and about near Notre Dame, walk through Ile Saint-Louise toward Place de la Bastille to Bofinger.  It’s a quintessential Parisienne bistro with a busy dining room filled with bustling waiters delivering delicious food, wine and champagne.

Bar 228 at Hotel Meurice is the perfect destination if you’re into a high-end sexy bar.  The location on Rue Rivoli is easy to miss but once you’re inside, it’s an oasis from the hive of tourist activity outside.

Le Red House in the 11th is a fun place to go if you’re into a casual night with great cocktails and maybe a plate of nachos.  They make a spicy tequila cocktail that is my fave!

TO-DO

The Musée Rodin is beautiful and if you have time, really worth the visit.  There are sculptures both inside the Hôtel Biron and in the gardens.  If you’re visiting on a nice day, the gardens are absolutely picturesque.  

Les Catacombes is located in the 14th arrondissement and easily accessible by metro.  We tried to get tickets on the website but (for some reason) there weren’t any available for the same day.  Thankfully, we booked tickets through Headout and were able to get the audio guide and skip the line.  Bonus!

Part of our Extreme Iceland Tour

Taken from my iPhone using the Northern Lights Photo Taker app

Sunrise

Black Sand Beach 

Eyjafjallajokull Volcano (aka “The Volcano”)

Skogafoss Waterfall

Kerid Crater

Thingvellir National Park

I recently visited Iceland with my dear friend and sister.  We had the most extraordinary experience and were blown away by the beauty of the island.  

A few months before our trip, TripAdvisor had a sale on various tours in Iceland so we were lucky enough to book some things ahead of time at a discount.  As we learned, many people choose to book their tours once they arrive but we didn’t want to chance not being able to do exactly what we wanted.

A few tips below:

Book FlyBus as transportation to/from the airport.  It is inexpensive and very easy.  They also have WiFi- major bonus!

Tours we loved: Extreme Iceland (Sensational Iceland South Coast tour) and Reykjavik Excursions (Reykjanes Peninsula tour)

It really depends on what kind of traveller you are but we really loved our tours.  Most of them were designed to be small group tours and although we are not “tour group people”, we really enjoyed the tour setting.  The guides are knowledgeable and we learned so much about the island and its history.  Many of the destinations were a few hours away and the burden of the driver would have been quite substantial... especially on the South Shore day.  

Pack snacks!  I suggest bringing things like energy/granola bars, trail mix, and any other relevant snacks you enjoy.  Traveling around Iceland does not allow for very diverse culinary adventure and we found ourselves eating a lot of sandwiches on the road.  Having something easy and familiar as a quick snack came in very handy!

Iceland is expensive.  $25/$30-burger-expensive.  We were shocked, even though we had heard that it was pricey.  Just be prepared.  There are great happy hour deals though (at all times of the evening) so be sure to download the AppyHour app.  The same goes for all of the advice to buy booze at duty free... do it.

If you plan on seeing the Northern Lights (you’re in Iceland so it’s kind of a must-do) but you don’t have a DSLR camera, no problem.  Download the app, Northern Lights Photo Taker.  It’s only .99 and completely worth it.

Living abroad during this year’s Presidential Election has been strange for several reasons but mainly these two.  

I am not a “token” American

I am American and a Hispanic Democrat from Texas who spent the vast majority of my voting-age years on the East Coast.  I am, in no way, capable of answering the question: “What is happening in America? Why are people voting for Trump?”  I know that our country is incredibly diverse and the coasts are not reflective of greater America but I too am disappointed in the rhetoric, behavior and outright anger of Trump supporters.  It’s shameful to even acknowledge the Republican nominee but he was chosen for a reason - one I cannot comprehend and I continue to shake my head in disbelief.  No country has a perfect political process (ahem, Brexit) but it is ours and I will defend mine against the critics.  My candidate may not be perfect but she is the most qualified and fought to get where she is today and (in my opinion), deserves to be President.  

Lack of sleep

Last week, my husband had the audacity to say, “You know, the outcome of the election won’t change just because you stay up to watch the debate.”  His usually-charming smirk was met with an evil stare.  “EXCUSE ME?”  Yes, yes, yes, I know that whether or not I watch one or all of the debates, nothing really changes in the world of politics but it makes me feel closer to home during a time when so much of the country is on the edge of their respective seats.  Sure, I may be a zombie the next day, slightly cranky and have puffy eyes with dark circles so let’s be honest... I am fairly certain THOSE are the reasons I am being discouraged from staying up late.

All news, all the time channels were made for me.  I love watching the news and don’t mind hearing the same stories over and over because if the presenter is different, to me, it’s not the same.  In any case, I miss that.  I miss Sundays with the morning news shows, reading the New York Times all day... also brunch but that’s another topic.  Thankfully, I can stream cable and network news and have great political podcasts so it’s not all lost.

So, that said- my vote is in and now I wait...

Over the weekend Brussels hosted the largest food truck festival in Europe... maybe the world but the jury is still out on that one.  The day was gorgeous and warm - a welcome change in Brussels!

Highlights:

Not a Highlight:

Slight disappointment that every truck wasn’t directly representative of the movie Chef.  Like, real sad.  Cubanos shouldn’t be made with Ciabatta.  They just should not.

Full disclosure: we visited the drink trucks a lot more than the food trucks.  

So, I just visited the surface of the sun.  Dubai is hot.  I’m from Texas so I thought I knew what hot was but, no.  This was next level.  We were there at the end of April which isn’t even the hottest season so I can’t imagine it being worse.  Oddly enough, it rained two of the ten days although that seems to be par for the course on my travels lately.  

I had a vision of the Middle East which I now understand probably fits better with Turkey or Oman.  Dubai is very western-looking from a glance.  Up close, you see that the building architecture is more daring and beautifully creative than most places in the west.  The structures are bold and unapologetically tall.  The metro stations (yes, I took the metro as any good New Yorker would) look like galactic portals.  It is truly something to behold. 

 I ventured to the Spice and Gold Souks in Bur (Old) Dubai one evening which was a fun experience and a bit more like what I was picturing.  I was called “Maria” a lot walking up and down the stalls... a funny generalization which clearly meant that my nationality was evident- no doubt my tan helped!

The Marina is apparently a newer part of Dubai in the past few years that has been built up and it’s beautiful.  A lovely walking path is framed by rows of restaurants on one side and lawn turning into the beachfront on the other.  The lawn has a lot of activities for children as well as areas for volleyball and football/soccer.  Again- so hot but a lovely place to be if you choose to be out.

The Dubai Mall is unlike any mall I’ve ever seen.  They have a beautiful waterfall structure and an Aquarium although more than that it’s just the inside structure of the building itself and the layout.  Of course, there is every shop you can possibly envision.  My takeaway is that if a shop of notoriety exists anywhere in the world, it likely also exists in Dubai.  My New York self was humbled.

After those sites, there wasn’t a lot to do.  To be fair, I was hoping for a bit more art and culture which sadly, I couldn’t find.  That said, I didn’t go to the Mall of the Emirates which has the indoor ski slope or Wild Wadi Waterpark, so there is certainly more to do in the city.

Friday Brunch.  Oh. My. God.  We met with friends at Jumeirah Mina A’Salam and it was incredible.  The most food I’ve ever seen.  Ever.  Also- 90% of the women were straight out of Real Housewives with the outfits, hair and makeup.  Bravo would have been proud.  Getting dolled up with every type of food imaginable, non-stop flowing champagne... sign me up!  

One of the best (and latest) evenings was spent at the Barasti Beach Bar.  Picnic tables spread all over a massive beach front, shisha at every table, massive stage with DJ spinning... so much fun.  

Overall- pretty amazing ten days.  Despite the strict rules on alcohol, that didn’t seem to have an impact on my fun.  Who would have imagined?!

Paradise.

We stayed at Luv Tulum and it was the most wonderful experience.  They have a private parking area which worked out well as we rented a car (although used it only once).  The hotel is surrounded with palm trees and is set within a space of the beach that feels isolated (in a good way!) amidst the rest of the beach front.  The website photos are realistic and we could not have asked for a better spot!  The staff was kind and helpful and the continental breakfast was simple but filling.  Like most places on the beach, they offer 2 for 1 happy hour starting at 3pm which we took full advantage of on most days!

We had a few standouts during the week:

We were in Tulum for six nights and ate at Simple for three of them- it was that good!  My favorite was the Ceviche Trio... octopus, fish and shrimp, each with their own unique and incredibly delicious flavors.

Loved Arca!  Friendly staff, fab cocktails... but the food- the food was unbelievable!  We had the red snapper and whole grouper which were both fresh and delicious.  The surprise of the evening was the grilled zucchini.  The setting was beautiful and romantic with the lighting, even with communal tables.

La Eufemia was so much fun!  Perfect laid back beach bar (I didn’t wear my shoes once) with amazing tacos, margaritas and people watching.  Loved it!

Sanará was my yoga destination of choice.  It was a bit pricey at $20 per class but the setting was beautiful and they offered mats and all equipment (including towels) as well as a green juice shot after class.  

It’s over! Ahhh...

Hightlights:

Tom Hiddleston’s everything

Hugh Laurie is a fabulous baddie

Love, love, love her

Girl crush

A visit to London brought with it more downloads of The Night Manager (hooray!) and visits to some of our favorite spots.

Truffle Brie, thanks very much!

Delicious brunch at Bluebird in Chelsea.

I think I can blame the fact that we live in Brussels with being late for The Night Manager adoration/obsession.  But now that I know- Oh. My. God.  

I’m now counting the days until we can be in England again and download more episodes (international streaming restrictions are my Richard Roper).

Well, actually, they were covered with snow.  Amazing weekend in Grindelwald skiing with friends.  I was very thankful for the vin chaud ... cheers for apres ski!

Gorgeous apartment rental at The Chalet overlooking Eiger Mountain and within minutes (easy to ski straight down to the house!) to Kleine Scheidegg.