Category Archives: Travel

Windy City – Wildcats – Wine – Beach

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Happy Sunday everyone!

Did everyone have a good weekend? I most definitely did. We had our friends come over on Friday night and we had a fun night of drinking wine, board games and sitting outside eating delicious foods.

I had promised to share the photos from the weekend REB and I were in Chicago for my sister’s graduation, so here it is! A week late, but the idea is still there ;) Hey, it’s been a busy week!

We started our journey last Thursday June 14 and it actually went quite smoothly. Gryff actually did really good in the car ride. I don’t think we’ve taken the dog on a long car ride before, but he slept pretty much the entire time. We made a pit stop at the Indiana border (at their welcome center) so the dog could TCB and REB and I could eat the light dinner I had packed for us :)

We got into Chicago kind of late and checked into our hotel (allowed dogs!) and went to sleep. We were exhausted! The next day, we had to get ready for my sister’s graduation. She got her bachelors 10 years ago, but decided to go back and get her masters in Engineering Product Development and Design. REB and I got dressed and headed over to Northwestern’s campus, parked the car, then met my sister, brother-in-law and my sister’s team mates (who she was graduating with!) for brunch and a pre-celebratory drink!

Words can’t express how proud I am of my sister. She has worked so hard and she’s so incredibly smart! She had a hard three years studying while working full time and tackling everything else going on in her life, and she managed graduating from school with flying colors! I’m so proud of her. She just continues to do things that make her an even bigger inspiration to me!

My sister and her teammates!

 

The proud hubby :)

After her graduation, there was a reception with open bar and appetizers, but we ate light because we were going out later in the night. REB and I stopped back at the hotel in Skokie to check on the pups and hang out for a bit before we drove to my sister’s house. From there, we went to this bar called Lush where one of her teammates had reserved an event for all of us! It was an unlimited wine bar w/ heavy appetizers! Holy crap was it so much fun!

Progression of sloppiness

There were so many great wines we got to try, a board full of cheese, fig, jelly; bowls of bread and tall breadsticks; boards of meat (we steered clear of that one ;)); they also served us a yummy shaved brussel sprout coleslaw. It was unbelievable and even though it was just heavy appetizers, we were stuffed! In all honesty though, I could eat tapas any day.

From Lush we walked to this weird little bar called Beauty Bar. It looked like an old salon-turned-bar. You walk in and if you paid enough in drinks, you got your nails done for free. They also had those old hairdryers set up every where. By the time we got to this bar, I was feeling miiiiighty good so I opted to dance around like a weirdo before we made our very fun, drunkard cab ride back to my sisters.

Thank goodness REB was not as hammered as me so he could drive us back to our hotel. I don’t remember the end of that evening, but apparently I was pretty amusing trying to put on shoes on the way out. I deny everything :) haha.

Saturday was super fun! We spent the day at the beach! My sister’s friends birthday was that day, so we went North Shore Beach near their apartment, and spent an evening on the beach barbecuing and hanging out. It was such a beautiful afternoon!

We couldn’t stay long though, since Gryff’s eyes were getting really irritated with the sand blowing :( We didn’t have any of his drops either, so we had to leave, but it was still a lot of fun! And we did have fun at my sister’s with her friends who also came out for her graduation, so it was all in all, a really good day :)

It’s always sad to leave Chicago but it was one of the most fun weekends. I know I say that every time when I leave the city, but it’s true. I’ve never had an awful time in Chicago and I don’t think I ever will. I’m so glad I was able to be there for my sister’s graduation, too! :)

Until next time, Chicago!! <3 <3

What’s your favorite city you’ve visited?

Not A Leaf Meets The Veggie Next Door

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Hello friends!!

I had mentioned in the previous post how I spent St. Patty’s weekend in Chicago. While Saturday was fun drinking in the city – literally (oy lol), Sunday was fun too! I got to have a mini blogger meet up with Diana from Veggie Next Door!

I remember I had originally started reading her blog when I randomly saw that someone had been writing about Ann Arbor, the art fair here, Seva (my favorite vegetarian restaurant here in town) and Zingermans. It turned out to be Diana and I was instantly excited about her blog because she too is a vegetarian and has some great recipes to share. We already had a lot in common and I didn’t even know her that well at the time! We kept in touch over the past 9 months, commenting on each others blogs, tweeting, sharing restaurant reviews, recipes and emailing one another. Then finally we had an opportunity to hang out this past weekend!

As it turns out, this gorgeous girl lives in the same neighborhood as my sister! Talk about small world. It’s things like this that make me realize that Chicago isn’t so big – it only seems that way. When we found out we would be in the same neck of the woods, we decided to meet up for brunch and hang out for the afternoon. It was so much fun. Plus the weather was so nice that it just made for a really great Sunday.

My sister and I met Diana at Cafe Selmaríe, which is in Lincoln Square. It’s a little French-type bistro and I’ve been wanting to eat there since my sister and brother-in-law bought their house in the area. The problem is on Sundays there’s almost always a wait since a lot of peeps dig the whole brunch scene. Luckily this time, the wait was only about 30 minutes so it worked out great because we were able to be total chatterboxes while waiting to be seated.

Gorgeous Diana!

Cafe Selmaríe had some great options for brunch, a lot of which were vegetarian – a plus! Diana had mentioned they have a really good vegetarian chili, but sadly they weren’t serving it on this particular Sunday. Next time! They had a lot of other yummy things for us to choose, though.

The first thing we needed was something to drink. It was already getting to 80-degree weather that afternoon and three of us were parched. So we started with an Iced green tea.

It was the perfect thing on such a hot day. Oh yeah, did I mention it was March 18th? I don’t think it’s normally that hot in the city in March! As far as good goes, we all got some tasty treats. My sister got their breakfast croissant: scrambled eggs and gruyere on a croissant (she got it without ham), mixed greens salad and diced potatoes – looked so delicious! Diana ordered the wild mushroom omelet with the mixed greens salad – also looked uber delicious. I saw one thing on the menu and knew instantly I had to get it.

No…it wasn’t the corned beef hash (nast).

Egg florentine had my name all over it. I find it weird that I hate getting my eggs over easy or over medium, but poached? Love ‘em. I know it doesn’t make sense, but what did make sense is that this dish was delicious and totally hit the spot.

Diana was also the biggest sweetheart and surprised me with a little gift from her Asian adventures this past fall. She gave this little bag (that had two little bags in it!) and it was made from recycled materials.

I already plan on using them as lens bags for my camera. Thanks Diana! <3

After brunch, we walked to the Chicago Public Library branch in the area, which excited my sister since she needed to renew her card. While she was in line for that, Diana took me up to the cooking/cookbook section (WE ARE NERDS) and showed me all these great cookbooks she’s checked out before. One stood out that I plan on ordering - Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I looked through the book a the library and there were so many yummy looking recipes in there, some of which Diana had made before and recommended. She had a great idea though: let’s try our luck and see if a used book store might have the book. So that was our next stop.

Unfortunately my sister needed to head back to her place, so Diana and I continued our Lincoln Square adventure! I took her to the Ravenswood Used Books store right on N. Lincoln.


I had been there before with my sister and she reminded us about checking it out. And since Diana hadn’t been there before, it was a great idea to check it out that day. It’s a quirky little store. Literally…little!

This place is floor-to-ceiling with books. It’s so tiny and you have to maneuver your way around all the little aisles, but it’s full of so many different kinds of books – some are even super old.

Love love LOVED this sign. There were a lot of them every where in the store!

We scoped out the cookbook section (duh)…after taking a while to find it (we kept passing it lol). We ended up buying one book each. I bought 15-Minute Vegetarian Gourmet by Paulette Mitchell. There area  lot of great recipes in there I can’t wait to try and at $6, you can’t beat it! I didn’t find Vegan Brunch, but Amazon is a beautiful thing ;)

Diana resisting the urge to buy 5+ cookbooks!

Once we had bought our books and had our fill of the bookstore, we walked down to the Delicatessen Meyer/Gene’s Deli on N. Lincoln. It’s a German market, which I thought was just a butcher place since they hang meats and stuff in the front window (No joke. It’s gross!), but I was surprised to see that it was a full market with produce, world items, tea, all kinds of wine and more!

View from the second floor

 

I'm such a sucker for neon signs!

After that we walked across the street to this cute little toy store, then we walked next door to the Chopping Block. This store is really great but really expensive. The entire store is basically a store for Le Creuset (drool but spendy!) and little kitchen knick knacks. But they’re best known for offering cooking classes and knife/cutting technique classes.

Once we were done buying some kitchen goodies we had to part ways, but I am so so glad I got to finally meet her! It was such a fun day and we realized we have so much in common and our significant others have a ton in common too. I can’t wait to hang out with her again maybe later on this summer when I’m back in the city or if she comes back to A2 :)

I look crazed :P

Do you like exploring your neighborhood for new stores?
What’s the best one you’ve found?

Green Weekend

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Hi everyone!!

Sorry I’ve been MIA all weekend. I was in Chicago visiting my sister! It was probably one of the most fun weekends. I think a lot of it had to do with the weather being so beautiful. I always hate leaving that city and leaving my sister’s place. I just love Chicago!

Anyway, I have a big post I’m going to be writing, so I’ll just make this a picture post and show you some snaps I took from my phone from St. Patty’s Day :) Enjoy!

Green river!

 

Seester and me

 

Famous for chocolate shakes. I won't go into detail on what that means.

 

Chicago neighborhood

 

Hmm…I guess I don’t have more pictures! I have more in the next post, which was spending Sunday meeting with Diana from the Veggie Next Door! Stay tuned!

I always feel so sad to leave to leave Chicago.
Is there a city near you (or not) that you love to visit and hate saying goodbye?

Paris in Pictures

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Since my last Paris post was mostly about the food, I thought it might be nice to show you some of the pictures of our actual time in Paris. I’ve said it a million times since returning, but I really want to go back. I can’t wait 10 years again fore I make that happen ;) Enjoy! <3

 

Pretty pretty :)

Climbed up the Tower!

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We couldn't go all the way to the top, but this was just as cool :)

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Pyramid at the Louvre

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Art clockwise from left: Mona Lisa (as close as I could get to it :P), Venus de Milo, Winged Victory and Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (one of my favorite scupltures of all time <3)

 

Photography wasn’t allowed in the Orsay. This wasn’t the case 10 years ago, but it is now :\ They also took out the huge clock. And you can’t get to it :( Glad I got pics the last time I was there with my sister <3

 

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My favorite monument in Paris <3

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Goooorgeous!

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<3

 

When in Rome

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The last stop in vacation was the ancient city of Rome! Our travel agent, who is also a very dear friend of mine, told us that we needed to have a train ride through Europe. I forgot how much I love to ride through Europe by train!

But one thing I haven’t ever done is ride through Tuscany. Can someone buy me a vineyard there? ;)

If you're lucky enough to find someone to be awkward with you, you know it's for real :) <3

 

We are capable of taking a good picture though :-D

A four hour train ride can seem like forever, but we finally reached Rome!

We were staying in the Piazza Fiume at the Hotel Fiume. This hotel was PIMP (for lack of better words). We had stayed in pretty quaint hotels in the other cities. And by quaint I mean really small and not very modern ;) This was the most modern hotel we stayed in, but as the last stop in our trip, we needed that extra comfort.

Only one good picture at night of the place. ...whoops

Once we dropped our bags, we decided to walk to the Spanish Steps. But before that, we grabbed some lunch at a pizzeria near our hotel. I got the Roman style pizza and REB got the Napoli style.

You might remember in the previous post that we weren’t a huge fan of the Roman style pizza. We preferred the Venetian. I know it doesn’t look it, but the minute we let our pizza cool and we cut into it, it just fell apart :\ The flavors were kind of there, but they weren’t as seasoned or flavorful as the pizzas in Venice. Kind of a shame, but that didn’t stop us from eating the entire thing ;)

A good end to lunch!

So something I didn’t know about Rome is that we actually stayed in the ancient city of Rome. Outside the city wall (which is still in tact by the way!) is the rest of the city of Rome. I assume that’s where most people live and work and drive. The ancient city is actually super tiny and we could have walked every where, but taking a cab ride there is ridiculously cheap. However, we did walk. We walked through this underground tunnel to reach the Piazza di Spagna and went to see the Spanish Steps!

From there we walked up to the Medici house and walked around their gardens. Then we walked to the Piazza di Popolo, which actually faces directly to St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican City. But before we walked through the Medici gardens, we got a good view of the ancient city.

That dome waaaay in the back is St. Peters!

After walking through the gardens and seeing the Steps, we headed south towards the Trevi Fountain. It was CROWDED when we got there. It was getting to be evening time by then, so we decided to get some dinner and then go back to the fountain at night.

Gorgeous by night :)

The fountain is absolutely beautiful in person. The details in the carving, the columns, it was just gorgeous. We did throw a coin in while we were there. I guess that means we’re going back one day ;)

The next morning we got up super early to beat the crowd at the Colosseum. It was also REB’s birthday that day! Beating the crowd is one of the best tips I can give anyone wanting to see a huge famous landmark in a huge city.

Besides, the light is so beautiful in the morning. Made the whole place glow and look golden!
We did go inside the Colosseum, and it is just magnificent in there. I really can’t describe it in words…

SO WE’LL USE PICTURES! HOORAY!

We actually did the “Caesar Shuffle” from the Colosseum to the Palatino, Roman Forum, up to the Campadoglio (the capital house), and then up to the Pantheon.

Augusta's Palace in the Palatino

 

The Roman Forum

 

From there we walked to the Pantheon, which is another fantastic monument. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good shot of the whole thing since it was so ridiculously crowded there. But I did get a few shots of the details…

After that, it was time for one of my favorite things: time to eat!
Like I said earlier, it was REB’s birthday, so we had to have a nice feast. We knew we weren’t going to eat until much later, so we made the most of our mid-day meal.

Limoncello and Paparadelle con Funghi

He got a shot of Limoncello and got this amazing ribbon pasta with the mushrooms. We love all kinds of pasta, but he’s always wanted to try this particular kind. …So when in Rome… ;)

Me? I wanted risotto. I asked the waiter what kind of risotto they had because their menu just said “risotto” on it. He asked me what kind I wanted. He suggested mushroom and I said “Sure”. So what did they do? They made me something not even on their menu.

I don’t think I need to tell you that it was absolutely delicious. The picture speaks for itself!!

After our wonderful lunch, we had a lot of time to kill. I actually surprised REB with a ghost story tour of Rome at night, and we had a lot of hours to kill. So we hopped a cab and decided to go to the Vatican City.

St. Peter’s Basilica is quite beautiful. And I don’t mean any disrespect, but…it seemed a little over the top.  Just wasn’t our thing, I guess. They claimed to have strict rules about who they let in based on what they’re wearing (as in, dress nicely because it’s a place of worship), but we saw them letting in girls with the shortest shirts or low-cut shirts. Just seemed more like a show than anything else.

But I won’t lie, it is beautifully constructed.

Pope's window to address the people

 

This doesn't even show the whole thing, but it's at least the main part. Someone buy me a wide angle lens so I won't feel deprived next time ;)

 

So the ghost tour of Rome at night was so much fun! We also took a crypts and catacombs tour the following day, but photography wasn’t allowed on that one since we were in churches and places of respect or whatever. Anyway, before we set off to meet our group at San Andreas Basilica, we had to get some gelato ;)

There was this great gelato shop by our hotel called Flor. And it was SO good. It was also open until the wee hours of the morning. The nicest people worked there so we made sure to stop in there at least once or twice a day :)

So! We met our group at the church and found out our tour guide, who went to both Michigan State and Michigan (woot!). So we learned some cool stories based on the areas we were walking around.

The first stop was in the Piazza Campo dei Fiori to see the statue of Giordano Bruno.

The story goes that the pope killed him because this guy was a scientist like Galileo and his ideas were “dangerous”.  Anyway, they burned him at the stake while he was alive. When Rome became its own democratic country, they built this statue facing the Vatican to remind the church of its past crimes and why people should have democracy. We just liked how you know, they built this statue as an apology to his family. 200 years later.

Then we walked to the next site and on our way we passed by this old church that had skulls all over it.

This church was used to bury the people who died from the plague. Except, these were people who didn’t have families or have money for a burial. So the monks would just scout the streets for dead bodies and if someone clearly didn’t have a family, they would take the person and give them a proper burial and put them in the catacombs below the church. This is very similar to the church we saw the following day on our catacombs and crypts tour. We went to the Capuchin Crypt, which has six “rooms” made entirely out of the bones of monks.

From there, we walked to another little piazza and our tour guide asked us, “So which one of these buildings has a window where you think a potion maker would live?” So we all looked around and looked up and then we saw this window:

The top window there was the home of a woman who was a potion maker. The story goes she used to make an odorless, tasteless poison (I always think if Iocaine powder from the Princess Bride haha), disguise it as holy water and sell it to women who were in bad marriages where their husbands beat them or whatever. However one woman had a change of heart about killing her husband so she turned this potion maker in to the police and she was killed. The story goes if you’re a man with wickedness in your heart, you can see her ghost wandering the piazza at sunrise.

The last part of our brought us here, the Castle of Saint Angelo. It’s an absolutely beautiful building, with a dark story behind it… ;)

This was home to the Barberini Family. The head the of the family was a bad dude, so the rest of the family killed him so they wouldn’t be caught up in beatings, lashings, etc. The pope didn’t like this so he had the family killed. If you remember from the story of Giordano Bruno, the pope used to be the mayor of the city, not just a religious figure. So, because he ruled the city, he had the mother beheaded and the other children killed for turning against this rich man Barberini.
However, the youngest in the family, a boy, was about 12 years old and couldn’t be tried as an adult. So his punishment was to be castrated so that he couldn’t carry on the Barberini name or inherit the estate. If you’ve been to Rome before, make sure you stop by the Piazza Barberini, named for the family. What is it with Romans building monuments in the name of people wrongfully killed as a form of apology? I guess better late than never!
Anyway, the story goes is at sunrise you can hear the screams of the mother as she worries for her son’s punishment, and you can see her ghost holding her head wandering the bridge looking for her son. That is, you’ll only see her if you are a man with a wicked heart ;)

This tour and the one we took the next day were so amazing and interesting. It was a great way to see the city and hear some of the stories that people still talk about today!

I know we had the most fun in Paris, but Rome definitely come in second. It’s such a beautiful, ancient city with gorgeous architecture and culture.

whoosh!

Our entire trip was just amazing.  It didn’t last nearly long enough, even though we were happy to be home (does that even make sense? haha). We’ve taken away so many memories and so many photos. We’re already planning our next trip to Europe! There is so much more to see!

I’ll be posting one more with just some pictures from Paris since I mainly talked about the food in that post ;)
However, I hope you all enjoyed the series of posts related to our honeymoon! Ciao lovelies! <3

One Day in Venice

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After we left the delightful city of Paris (and I promise I’ll include photos of the actual city, soon!) we jetted off to Venice. Literally.

We landed into Marco Polo around 9 p.m., and had to take a bus to the island of Venice. Then from there, we had to take a water bus to the stop by our hotel.

We were pretty loopy since it wasn’t the longest flight, but it felt like a long day. The airport is actually located on the main land and if you’re going to the island of Venice, you need to take water buses around once there. You can take a water taxi but we found out those are €90! Much too much money if you ask me. It would be a private ride, but that’s just too much. So, we took a water bus…which was an adventure figuring out where they line up and which one we needed to take. Since we got there so late, a lot of the buses we thought we had to take weren’t running anymore and no one seemed polite enough to help us out :\

We were staying in Canareggio area aka the Jewish Ghetto. It’s one of the older parts of the city and it’s also in the eye of the city. In case you never noticed, the island of Venice is shaped like a fish (now that I know this, this is all I see LOL) and we were staying near the eye. It’s also the area closest to the terminal that takes you to the main land.

After we got to the San Marcuola stop, we had to figure out how to get to the hotel. When nightfall comes, there are no lights in Venice. What we learned the next day from our guide, is that it’s up to the owners of the building if they want to have a lamp post or light outside their building. Apparently a lot of people opt out of this, making it very hard to read street signs and/or maps ;) We finally made it to our hotel and realized we were starving! Once again we hadn’t eaten for a few hours and needed some sustenance, no matter the hour. So we walked down our little street and found the first restaurant that was still open and decided to sit in. Lucky for us, we found a restaurant with two hilarious waiters who kept things fun and telling jokes.

REB and I were really excited to eat, too. We knew we were going to have pizza, which is a big deal. Neither one of us is Catholic, but we always give up something during Lent just to see if we can give up something we love to eat or drink or whatever. And one of our favorite things to eat is pizza. So, we gave up pizza. And then we were in full-fledged health mode before the wedding, so we made a deal that until we got to Italy, we wouldn’t eat any pizza.

So in case you missed that, we hadn’t had pizza for 6 months before we got to Italy.

We. Were. STOKED.

Vegetarian pizza

So yes, I got the vegetarian pizza. REB got the cheese pizza. And they were both so freaking delicious. Now that we’ve been to Rome as well, I can honestly say that I prefer Venetian pizza over Roman or Napoli. Roman pizza is far too thin and all the toppings just sort of slide off, which is unfortunate. Napoli pizza is slightly thicker, but again, the sauce is so watery that the toppings are kind of swimming in it and they just fall off. But Venetian-style pizza was a thin crust, that was firm, topped well, seasoned well and baked to perfection.

The next day, REB had gotten me a real treat. As an early birthday present to me, he arranged for us to have a private walking photography tour with a professional, around the city of Venice! It was unbelievable! The tour was super early that day; from 8-10:30 a.m. Normally I hate getting up early on vacation, but I was actually very excited. Most people know that the best times to take photos is really early in the morning or around sunset when the light is best.

Venetian sunrise <3

We were almost late meeting her at San Marco’s Square, but we made it just in time. We also realized that no one else had signed up for the tour so it was just us and her. So perfect.

I will say this here and now: Venice in the early hours is so beautiful. It’s so quiet, peaceful and not crowded. I’ll be honest, we weren’t the biggest fans of the city once everyone came to the island. It seemed like an amusement park to us. No one lives on the island and at 10:30 or so, it just becomes this ridiculous, crowded mess of people. Every two feet is a souvenir shop, people trying to sell you something, waiting in lines to get into stores, see the bridge, whatever. It just wasn’t our cup of tea. And then promptly at 8 p.m., everyone leaves the island and it becomes totally dead. But in those early hours when the city is starting to wake up, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Eve, our photographer tour guide, was an amazing guide. She showed us these cute little streets, alleys, waterways, and houses that we wouldn’t have found on our own.

She also taught both of us how to take pictures at different angles, which I realized I don’t do nearly enough! She also showed us her favorite spots in the city where she likes to take photographs.

Like this bridge solely to look at the water for the reflection:

Or this water street for the bridge, colors and perspective:

REB held onto my shirt so I wouldn't fall into the water. Luckily there was a wall to help lean my camera

There’s no denying the entire city is filled with charm, beauty and old-world style.

So quiet in the morning

We learned some neat little facts about the city from Eve as well. Like how an area we were in was the red light district called “Casi no” or as you and I know it…casino. It literally translates to “bad house” or whatever. It basically meant that gambling, prostitution and other saucy things were taking place in certain buildings. And the way you knew if a house was bad was if there were wooden shutters on it. That was usually a good indication that prostitutes might be hanging out up there calling down to the boatmen.

casi no

Other things she taught was about the wells that were situated in areas around the city. The wells were the way people got water back to their house.

Or if you were rich enough, you had a courtyard in your home and a well of your own. Only a few of these houses still exist in the city today.

I love the light in this photo. So warm :)

So the tour lasted 2 1/2 hours but it felt like it flew on by! She showed us some fantastic parts of the city and even suggested some things for us to do on our own for the rest of the day. Anyway, we couldn’t navigate the narrow streets of Venice the way she did, but we did finally find the Rialto bridge and then….we saw this….:

I’ve never seen such a beautiful view! I had heard stories of the Grand Canal being pretty cool, but when you seen it in person it’s just as busy as the photo shows. But again, it’s only like this once the city wakes up. I kind of wish I could have seen it in the wee hours of the morning. But either way, it was just magnificent!

Walking around the city really worked up our hunger. We didn’t eat breakfast since we had to get to the Square so early for the tour. The best solution? Pasta!

I got the pomodoro and basil, and REB got the pesto. Both were pretty delicious

I don’t know how it happened but this place was actually a little past our hotel. We somehow got from the Rialto Bridge back to Canareggio. Lucky for us, we were in an area that Eve actually suggested for us to see that isn’t a big attraction. She told us that one of the oldest bridges in Venice was in this district. And we found it!

So searching around the city of Venice works up an appetite for an afternoon snack. What better snack in Italy than gelato!

I got the pistachio on the left there and REB got the mint chocolate chip.

Our journey continued and we decided to visit the three islands by Venice: Murano (where they do the hand blown glass), Burano (Italian lace!) and Torcello (…I’m actually not sure what it’s known for, but it’s old and pretty haha).

En route to Burano

So while we were in Burano, we actually didn’t stand around to see the lace demo. We wanted to take advantage of the 30 minutes we had on the island, so we walked around.

We may or may not have had gelato within a 3 hour span.

Coffee flavored nomz!

….but we did ;)

Torcello was a beautiful island. Really old, small and had this beautiful church on it. I think that might be what the island is known for, but I honestly can’t remember…

I looove those beams!

 

Pretty shadows <3

We also saw something I had never seen before in person: a pomegranate tree!

Hard not to pick one but I think the homeowners would have been mad...

So when we got back to Venice, it was about 6 or 7 p.m. and we were hungry again. Walking can do that to a person, I guess ;) Being a vegetarian in Italy isn’t so bad. You get to eat a lot of pasta, pizza, cheese and ice cream. However, I’m sure that can get pretty old and unhealthy. We totally indulged while we were there though! We walked along the Grand Canal to find some good restaurants and just decided to sit at one of them. REB got pizza and I had pasta (again).

Not as good as the one we had the night we got there :"

 

Arrabiata

When we were done with dinner, we had remembered something Eve had told us in the morning. The area where we were staying was apparently the Venetian nightlife hotspot. So that was exciting for us. We were ready to have a drink and just wind down before we had to get up early for our train ride to Rome. So we walked past our hotel and into the street she told us about.

The nightlife of Venice? It’s really just four bars lined up next to each other and they’re open until 10 p.m. while the rest of the city closes down at 8 p.m. as mentioned earlier. So anyway, we found this cute little bar and had a drink.

Bellini and white wine

So yeah…nightlife? Here’s the nightlife.

There it is. So the city might not be open super late and no one might live on the actual island itself, but we did have a nice time. I’m glad we were only there a day. I don’t know what we would have done if we were there for more than 2 days. Maybe go to Florence for a day (next time!) or something.

We did have a lovely time in Venice, but we were ready to keep heading south and spend the last part of our honeymoon in historic Rome. But the beauty we saw in Venice will remain with us forever. That’s for certain <3

European Eats – Paris

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Like you even have to ask if I’m going to write an entry about the food we ate on our trip. I’d be a fool if I didn’t take pictures of the delicious foods we ate and then talk about it with all you lovelies!

Now, please bear with me. This will be a longer post, but I assure you it will be worth it! Well, maybe it won’t to you, but it is to me – haha – and I hope you stick around to hear about our adventures of eating! :) We’ll start with Paris since that was our first stop. Then we’ll move onto Italy.

For those of you who don’t know where we went, we spent two glorious weeks in Europe: Paris, Venice and Rome to be exact. We had a hard time choosing where we would go. REB mentioned his interest in wanting to see Paris at least once in his life and even though I’ve been there before, I haven’t been there with him, so we picked Paris. I told him that I spent a night in Milan and fell in love with northern Italy (Lake Como, Milan, the Alps, etc.) so I would love to go back there, so we decided on Venice since I haven’t been there before. Then we picked Rome because…well, why not? Haha. So that was our trip!

So our first stop was Paris and we spent about 5 days there. That may not seem like a lot of time, but it actually worked out perfectly. We knew what we were going to do there ahead of time and we had enough time to do it all and also just sit around and relax.

We stayed in the 7th District on the Rue Cler and oh. my. god. I fell completely in love with that area. We were about a 15 minute walk to the Champs de Mar and the Eiffel Tower and we were staying on the cutest street filled with cafes, cheese and bread shops, markets every morning. It was just so lively! After we checked in and dropped our bags, we walked across the street to the Cafe Central. This cafe ended up being our local spot where we’d get Cafe Garamonds, cappuccinos, lunch, wine, etc. And it was ALWAYS open. Anyway, we were starving after our long flight – our flight that didn’t take note that we asked for vegetarian meals and we never got them :\ We just ate the snacks we bought (candy and chips basically) so we were starving. The one thing I needed right away? Breakfast, even though it was about 1 or 2 p.m. by the time we reached our hotel. Lucky for me, the French eat bread for breakfast and things like salads and eggs for lunch ;)

Omelet with tomatoes

It was cooked to perfection: fluffy, flavorful and filling!

Now something we both totally support about the French lifestyle is snacking throughout the day. And REB’s favorite snack was eating crepes of course! There were creperies every where and I was actually surprised to know the most common filling was Nutella. Either way, we had our fair share of crepes every day.

Hard to see, but the left three photos show the dude making the crepe. So good!

They were so delicious and the perfect snack to eat while walking around.  They were also ridiculously HOT. But I suppose that’s a good thing. The Nutella was just melted right in and got every where, but it was worth it. Simple, light and delicious. This was probably REB’s favorite snack while we walked around.

My favorite snack? Cafe Garamonds. It’s basically a plate with three little desserts (usually mini creme brulee, pudding, a mini cake, macaron or eclair) and then it also comes with a little cup of espresso. I absolutely loved it.

Cafe Garamond at Cafe Central <3

 

Cafe Garamond at a cafe on the Champs Elysees

Another sweet treat we grew to love were macarons! And there were shops for them all over! They’re becoming quite the trend here in America and I can totally understand why!

Our favorite flavors were: pistachio, lavender, espresso, lemon and sea salt caramel!

 

Michigan State macarons ;) Go green!! <3

 

REB’s coworker actually stayed on Rue Cler when he visited Paris before and told us about this great little chocolate shop near our hotel. It’s the Jeff De Bruges chocolate shop. Founded by Phillipe Jambon, this brand of chocolate is ridiculously tasty. So we made sure to get a little cellophane bag filled with different kinds of chocolates.

Totally worth it!

Speaking of famous, there was another famous brand we made sure to go see. I record Barefoot Contessa regularly on the DVR because I love Ina Garten’s recipes and I love hearing about her adventures in Paris. She actually owns a little apartment in the 7th district off Ave. Rennes. One of the things she’s talked about in several of her French-related episodes, is the Poilâne boulangerie. It’s a pretty well known bakery in Paris known for their breads with the signature “P” on their loaves.

We found it!

 

Just beautiful

 

Let's eat!

We learned quickly that eating bread and/or pastries and drinking espresso is the typical breakfast for many French. Or eating baguettes on the go from a street cart. This is a tradition I can get on board with ;)

And yes, we ate the whole thing. We are not ashamed.

 

Beignets filled with chocolate!

 

Chocolate eclair filled with chocolate

and of course….

A cappuccino to wash it all down! (my preference over espresso lol)

I wrote a post a few days ago about the goat cheese salad we had in Paris and we tried recreating it at home. Well, now you can see the pictures of this amazing salad from Cafe Bosquet. We went there twice. We found the cafe since it was near our hotel and the first time we went, REB got the goat cheese salad while I got the provencal veggie dish. But I ended up grabbing more bites off REB’s dish than eating mine. There’s a reason why. This goat cheese salad, or salad chevre chaud, was one of the best things we ate in that entire city. And the way this cafe prepared it was just delicious!

Ok first you need to see the dishes we got the first time we went. So I had the Vegeables Provecal and in the back there is that gorgeous goat cheese salad that REB ordered.

So our last day in Paris, we went back to Cafe Bosquet for lunch and I ordered the goat cheese salad.

Yuuuuum

 

Here's a better look at it. Doesn't it look super tasty?! It was too. I still have dreams about this salad. I also know now what we need to do the next time we make it so it can be like this!

So while I enjoyed this salad, REB ordered a croque monsieur. Now, this dish is traditionally made with ham and cheese. However, our awesome server picked up on the fact we were vegetarians and instead of just omitting the ham and leaving it as a cheese sandwich, they put tomato in it. So cool!

Note to self: Order this next time!

As vegetarians, it’s actually pretty hard to eat in France. In a country known for its beef, hams and duck con fit, it was really hard to find something to eat on the menu aside from eggs, goat cheese salads or pasta. So we took it upon ourselves to see if we could find any vegetarian restaurants in the city.

We were able to find one that was vegetarian and also had a handful of dishes that were vegan, so we decided to check it out. It’s called Le Grenier de Notre Dame located in the Latin Quarter. It was a tiny restaurant on a side street off the main avenue.

 

We definitely took advantage of the outdoor seating

REB ordered this delicious chocolate pistachio milkshake. It seemed like an odd combination, but it was actually pretty refreshing and tasty!

Their menu was interesting. It actually had a lot of Asian and Indian flavors tied into a lot of the dishes. So for an appetizer, we ordered the spicy goat cheese, which came with vegetables and raita. It was a pretty good dish since it was served warm and the yogurt was nice and cool!

For our entree, REB and I split the casoulet. I’ll be honest. It was just OK. It was filled with lots of beans, tomatoes and other vegetables, but it wasn’t very flavorful. It could have used some kind of spice, herb or even just salt! But, it was filled with protein, and it was filling, so I guess that was good.

So there you have it! Our adventures in Parisian eating! It wasn’t super unique food or anything, but we had our share of foods we don’t normally eat. I hope you all enjoyed and maybe if you ever go to Paris, you’ll use these tips and/or restaurant recommendations and check them out for yourself!

And if not, then pull up a chair and have a glass of wine with us.

Rural South

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Traveling for work is something I never thought I would do as frequently as I do. The down side is obviously being away from home, away from REB, the dog, the bird, my bed (oh how I love my bed) and enjoying weekends there. But a real perk to our job is being able to explore surrounding areas or cities where ever we are. I’ve been fortunate enough to see some amazing places because of this job (The Yukon Territory, Grand Canyon, Eastern Seaboard, etc.). Exploring is a ton of fun and yesterday was incredibly tiring, but we saw some cool places here in the rural south.

We started our day with some breakfast at the local IHOP. Coffee, egg-beaters veggie omelet, and fresh fruit. The perfect start to our busy day!

Then we headed 10 minutes north into Illinois to visit Metropolis. Now, if you haven’t been to Metropolis, it’s a trip! If you haven’t already figured it out, it’s where they have this huge statue of Superman – ha! It’s pretty hilarious. They also have a museum, but we didn’t go through that. We took a bunch of pictures in front of Superman and then visited the statue commemorating Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane. Definitely make a stop in Metropolis if you’re ever in southern Illionis. It’s weird, and kitchy, but that’s what you’ll find in the rural south!

Both my coworker and I love railroads and trains, and we found a track nearby so we decided to go explore that area too….

After we explored Metropolis, we decided to drive an hour west to Cairo, IL. The interesting thing about Cairo, from what my coworker told me, is that it used to be this up and coming town back in the day where very wealthy people lived. However, when African Americans came to the town, they wanted nothing to do with them, so they all packed up and left. The town just sort of deteriorated and literally has become a phantom town.

By the time we were done being super emo hipsters taking pictures of rural decay, we worked up an appetite. As it turns out, we were near some town in Missouri called Sikeston. Another 30 minutes west and we were in Missouri at the famed Lambert’s Cafe – home of the throwed rolls. Down-home, southern comfort food doens’t get much better than this. We waited about 1 1/2 hours (expect to wait that long or longer!) but it was so worth it. To have rolls thrown at you (literally!), all the sides you want (fried okra, black eyed peas, macaroni and tomatoes, pulled pork [none for me though!]…goes on and on!), the most GIANT cups of sweet tea (or unsweetened if you’re my coworker), this place is so much fun. We left completely stuffed. My coworker literally got a skillet of ribs. Unbelievable.

At the end of this excursion, we were so tired. It was well worth it though. The one tip I can give people when traveling: check out all the little treasures nearby! You never know what you’ll find!

On the Mighty Mississippi

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Well, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this thing! Sorry about that.

Actually, I’m not sure who I’m saying sorry to. I don’t think anyone actually reads this thing. (–_–;

I’ve been pretty busy with work, which is actually a blessing in my line of work. I kind of depend on being able to travel so that I can make some more monies (other than what I make of course). The last time I was on site was when I was sent to Bryan, OH back in January. So it’s definitely been a while.

A lot has happened since then (which, I’ll need to write about at some point. I’m actually working on this huge thing, but having some writers block. Hate that.), but it’s finally nice to be on the road. Well, sort of. I love being on the road, but I miss my loves like crazy. I’m so lucky to have them in my life, so when I’m away from them, it’s such a crime. True story.

This time around, I’ve been sent to Burlington, IA which is right on the Mississippi River. Although my time here is coming to a close (my last day is tomorrow), it hasn’t been a completely horrible experience. It’s a neat little town, but doesn’t have a lot to offer. Situated about 1 1/2 hours southwest of Moline, IL (where I flew into),  Burlington is basically known for trains and the rail yard. Ever heard of a little line called the Burlington North Santa Fe (BNSF) railway? It’s only the biggest freight rail in the entire country and runs all over the Midwest-to-West regions.

The rail yard just so happens to be situated directly behind the newspaper I’ve been working at for the past two weeks. I don’t know how people here can be so used to having to stop at the railroad every few hours! These trains are 100+ cars and they go at a snails pace through the city since there are so many curves on the tracks. You could be sitting and waiting for up to 20 minutes!

Regardless, I’ve been able to see some really pretty and interesting things while I’ve been here. I mean, I figure I need to make the most of any place I go – I’m stuck there for two weeks, which includes a weekend.


This is the Great River Bridge. In case you didn’t know, this mighty river separates the Illinois and Iowa. I love bridges though. I love all kinds of architecture and structures. It makes me wonder why I didn’t go into engineering.

…oh yeah. I hate math.


Have I mentioned I like night photography? I was determined to get a shot of the bridge at night because I love when structures are all lit up. It’s just fascinating. On top of that, anyone who frequents my Flickr account knows my whole thing with reflections (thanks to my amazing photographer uncle). This was a no brainer.

Front St. is right along the river and has a few restaurants, a walking area and really nice views of the river and this bridge. It’s definitively an area a lot of locals go to for evening walks. Or so I could see.

Over the weekend I wasn’t sure what I should do. Someone at the paper suggested I make a visit to Snake Alley. It’s apparently the country’s most crooked street. However, the one in San Francisco gets more credit and tourism probably because 1). it’s longer and 2). it’s a more notable city than Burlington, IA (or so the same person at the paper said to me).


Make a trip out to this road though. Incidentally, it’s still being used! I figured it was a historical marker or something, since it was all “old-looking” [translation: I think anything brick or cobblestone means unusable apparently]. However, I saw a truck with extended cab make their way down this road. Crazy!


Remember how I said love structures? I mean, look at this! For one thing, I love Cam because he was able to capture this for me, but I also just love how raised parts of the road are. It just shows how old it is and how sturdy it still is.



See what I mean? I found this street so interesting.

The unfortunate thing about Burlington is that there aren’t that many good places to eat. There was one place, ritzy Martini bar on the fourth floor of some corporate building and it overlooked the Mississippi River. It’s a good place with a LOT of martinis ranging from $8-12. Not bad actually, considering I’ve had martinis that were more than that (and not worth it mind you). It also has decent food. Lots of expensive entrees, but their appetizers are where it is at!

The other place I went to that was pretty good was a local Italian restaurant called La Travola.



The restaurant is super tiny. I counted a total of 7 tables. This is probably why the front desk at the hotel told me to call ahead to make a reservation (o_O) But in any case, it was a very small place with huge portions and friendly service. It wasn’t horribly priced either. The seafood dishes with mussels and all that stuff were over $20, but I think the most expensive thing on the menu was about $25. The average price was between $10-12.


I have a third of this amazing dish left in my hotel fridge. It was one of the biggest portions of pasta I’ve ever had! It’s the Cavatelli with broccoli and it’s in this amazing white wine sauce. A little on the oily side, but very flavorful nonetheless. And like I said, it was clearly enough for 3 or 4 people.

So yeah, overall, this place isn’t HORRIBLE, but I probably wouldn’t come here on a family vacation or anything. It’s a neat little town with a lot of local history and a very active railroad.

I have met some really nice people though. I run into all kinds of people with this job. Up-tight-nose-for-news type newsies and super fun, laid back newsies (mostly in the sports department).



I know these past two weeks haven’t been easy for them, and I know a lot of them really hate that I came in and told them “Yeah, your current system is going to change. Sorry ’bout that.”, but they worked through it and they’re using it and I’m satisfied with how I’m leaving things.

Burlington may be a neat little town, but I’m very anxious to get home to my loves. Like that one chick once said: there’s no place like home! …And I can’t wait to get there.

I'm no Dum Dum

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I’m coming to you live from Bryan, OH. Please, stop cheering. It’s not that exciting.

The rural city of Bryan, OH may not have a lot to offer in terms of rest and relaxation. To be honest, the local hang out for the high school kids is to cause a ruckus at the local Wal-Mart. But when you’re 45 minutes west of Toledo, and 45 minutes east of Fort Wayne, and you’re here for two weeks and don’t own a dairy farm, you have to find something to do so you won’t go insane.

Unfortunately, it took me 11 days to realize that Bryan, OH, as boring as it may be, is home to a Spangler Candy Company, the factory that makes Dum Dum lollipops and other sweet treats!

In 1906, Arthur Spangler bought the Gold Leaf Baking Powder Company for only $450. Doesn’t seem like much, but back then, you had to be a pretty wealthy person to have that kind of loot. Especially to buy a company of your own. After his brothers joined the venture, the name was changed to Spangler Candy Company in 1920 after the decision was made to make candies and sweet treats.

Now, after more than 100 years, this business is the second largest employer in Bryan, OH (the first being the hospital) and still produces over two billion pieces of candy each year. Although now it’s run by non-family management professionals, it still has long-time employees, one of which who has been there for 61 years working on the factory line.

If you’re ever in the area, or taking a cheesy cross-country road trip, make a pit stop in Bryan and take a tour of the factory. It costs just $5 and you get to ride in a little trolley around the factory to learn about the history of Dum Dums, Spangler candy canes and other candies produced by the company.

Unfortunately due to FDA regulations, visitors aren’t allowed in the kitchen area where the the Dums Dums are born, but you do get to ride through the packing area and watch them fall off the conveyor belts into the packages to be boxed up and shipped.

The summer time is their busiest season, which means you should call ahead to make sure they can have a spot for you to take the tour. The tours only last about a half hour and run on the hour. Since it’s winter now when I went to the factory, I didn’t have to call head or anything. It’s a lot slower for them so I was able to walk in and have a private tour…because I was the only person there.

Cutest little trolley ever! Along the tour, as you ride through the various parts of the factory, you’ll take stops to watch videos that show how the candies are made.

I know how jealous you are of my sexy hair net (-_-; Everyone’s required to wear one when on the tour, though. The little old guy who gave me my tour, insisted on a photo so I could “show my family”. Gotta respect those elders, right?

Another downside is that aside from this trolley area and the gift shop, photography is not allowed, which can kind of suck when you’re a photog like myself. But that’s OK. The trolley is cute and more than makes up for it.

Make sure you stop into the gift shop to take a look at the glass cases, which highlight some of the fun candies they’ve discontinued and have other memorabilia. And of course, you can buy lots and lots of Dum Dums and other candies!

Enjoy a free Dum Dum while you walk around the gift shop.

I almost bought this. Cream Soda is my favorite Dum Dum flavor and they make candles in various smells (Butterscotch, Chocolate, Cream Soda and Watermelon). However, they cost $12 a pop (no pun intended)

Fun Facts:
•The Mystery flavor? It’s created during the flavoring process. When they run out of one flavor and start with a new one, the part of the two flavors that blend together..? That’s the mystery flavor. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

•Dum Dums currently have 25-30 flavors. I thought they had more! Their Quality/Assurance department is always developing new flavors, but a lot of them never make it past the first round of tasting. Can you imagine if your job was to test candy?

•First introduced in 1966, the Dum Dum Drum Man became the mascot and friendly face of Spangler Candy Company. The actual costume didn’t come until 20 years later. I was told that the Spangler men have dressed up as the Drum Man for parades and other public appearances. He’s pretty cute, isn’t it?

It might be silly and lame, but I actually had an OK time. The tour was cheap, interesting and really cute. It sure beats just spending another night watching TV int he hotel room!

So don’t be a Dum Dum! Go check it out for yourself!