Grasse France might be the sweetest smelling city in Europe, widely known as the perfume capital of the world. Known for its leather tanning work in the Middle Ages, this hilly French town would eventually become the center of the French perfume industry after it began manufacturing perfumed gloves in the 16th century and farming a number of flowers used for fragrances. Grasse still enjoys an international reputation in the perfume industry and is the home of dozens of fragrance companies. Even the flowers used for making the world-famous Chanel N°5 are grown and harvested here. In addition to the perfume industry, Grasse also provides travelers a break from the crowded Riviera coastal towns and offers a glimpse of the real Riviera away from the tourist route. We spent a full day and night in Grasse and we’ll share what you need to know to plan your own trip to… Read the rest
Itsu’s Fishing Supplies: Our Favorite Shave Ice (a.k.a. Ice Shave) on the Big Island of Hawaii
Now that Spring has arrived, I am finally able to return to blogging from my outdoor patio (yeah!) and this warm weather has me wishing for some Hawaiian shave ice. Shave ice is where a block of ice is “shaved” and formed into a ball with flavored syrup poured on top. The treat is typically served in a paper cone or cup. Often the flavor and calories are amped up by adding sweetened condensed milk on top, adding ice cream to the bottom, and/or adding azuki bean paste. It’s similar to a snow cone except the ice has been shaved rather than crushed, resulting in “fluffier” ice. This dessert, which is believed to have originated in Japan over a 1,000 years ago, has become a local island food in the state of Hawaii, particularly on the Big Island. On the Big Island, it is also called ice shave by many locals,… Read the rest
Lettr: The New Digital Way to Send Custom Postcards
As frequent travelers, we love buying and sending postcards and we were very excited to hear about a new service called Lettr. Lettr allows you to create custom postcards online that are then mailed to anyone worldwide. While traveling, we love sending postcards from awesome locations with short notes to people back home to let them know we are thinking about them. But as much as we love the perfect photos on the front of postcards, we have wished before that postcards could be a bit more personalized. Lettr is a new online service that solves this issue by allowing you to take and use your own photo for the postcard. So instead of sending your mom a postcard of the Eiffel Tower, you can send your mom a custom postcard with you in front of the Eiffel Tower! While you customize the postcard online, a printed postcard is still… Read the rest
Alcatraz Night Tour: Our Visit to The Rock with Alcatraz Cruises
After over 3 years of living in the San Francisco Bay area, we finally made it to Alcatraz Island last week and did the Alcatraz Night Tour and explored the famous prison. While primarily known and visited because of the 29 years it served as the home for the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the tiny island has a rich and varied history. Long ignored by native people, the island would in turn serve as a strategic place for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, a federal maximum-security prison, the site of a 19-month occupation of Native American protesters, and finally a national recreation area and top tourist destination in San Francisco. Ironically, while for many years people would have done almost anything to get off and escape from Alcatraz, Hollywood celebrities now come here to shoot films and paying tourists line up in droves to come over and… Read the rest
A Visit to the Impressive Gothic Köln Cathedral in Germany
Dominating the skyline of Köln (a.k.a. Cologne in English) in Germany, the Köln Cathedral is one of the few structures that remained standing after the vast majority of the city was flattened by aerial bombs during World War II. While construction of this gargantuan Gothic church begun in 1248, the building (including what is today much of the façade) was not actually completed until around 1880 due to a series of wars and lack of funds. Standing in front of this immense and powerful Gothic church is enough to make anyone feel like a tiny church mouse. Given its status as Germany’s largest Gothic church, designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and being a long-held important stop on the Roman Catholic pilgrimage route, it is not surprising that Köln Cathedral is the most visited landmark in all of Germany. We’ll share all the basic information you need to visit… Read the rest
California Roadside Attractions: Pea Soup Andersen’s in Buellton CA
Pea Soup Andersen’s is one of those quirky, roadside restaurants that has a strong cult following in California and its fame can be attributed to the humble pea. For generations, locals and travelers alike have swung by this old-fashioned restaurant for friendly service and a hot bowl of pea soup! The restaurant is probably one of the largest purchasers of peas in the world, serving thousands of bowls of the hot green stuff each day, and is known as the “Home of Split Pea Soup”. What began as a small roadside café in 1924 opened by Anton Andersen and his wife Juliette has morphed into two restaurants, an inn, gift shops, and even a small museum. However, the primary reason to stop is still to try a bowl of their homemade pea soup made from Juliette’s original French recipe. If you’ve driven Highway 101 along California’s Central Coast, you’ve probably… Read the rest
PortaPocket: Versatile Travel Accessories for Storage & Safety
If you ever find yourself digging in your luggage or purse for your passport, credit cards, cell phone, or airline tickets, you may be in need of a few PortaPocket travel accessories. If you find yourself hiding money, credit cards, or tampons in your socks, bras, or shoes, you definitely need to check out PortaPocket! These nifty accessories are designed to store all your small personal belongings and keep them safe while you travel, exercise, dance, or just wander around a shopping mall. PortaPocket accessories are unique from other travel safety products in that they consist of several interchangeable pockets and straps so that you can place almost anything on any part of your body. So if you are looking to strap your passport to your waist, smartphone to your bicep, or your lipstick to your thigh, yeah you can make that happen! We were so excited to have the… Read the rest
Segway Tour in San Francisco: Our First Segway Tour Experience
Ethan and I took advantage of the recent holiday and spent the day off work doing a Segway tour in San Francisco. Segways are those 2-wheeled battery-powered contraptions where riders stand up and navigate through body positioning and a handlebar and you’ve likely seen them being used by mall cops, police officers, park officials, theme park visitors, or other people who need to cover long distances. This was our first time taking a Segway tour and we thought that Golden Gate Park might be the perfect place given its vast size. Golden Gate Park is actually 20% larger than New York City’s Central Park, consisting of over 1,017 acres of land. We had recently walked across the park in search of the American bison on the west end and it was a long trek from the east to west side on foot, so we figured we could cover a lot… Read the rest
Canal Cruises in Paris: A Boat Ride on the Canal Saint Martin
On our last visit to Paris we took a boat cruise on the Canal Saint Martin. While a good percentage of Paris visitors take a boat cruise on the famous Seine River, very few venture onto Paris’ canals. In fact, I think most people don’t happen to know that Paris has canals, let alone that there is over 80 miles of canals that form the Paris canal network, which also includes the interconnected Canal de L ‘Ourcq and Canal Saint-Denis. This canal network was commissioned by Napoleon I in the early 1800’s to provide Parisians with clean drinking water and provide an alternative waterway for industrial boat traffic other than the Seine. Today there is little industrial boat traffic on the Canal Saint Martin, but the city has recently invested millions of euros in developing the areas around the canal to allow for boat cruises, biking, and scenic walkways. If… Read the rest
The Ruth Bancroft Garden: An Amazing Garden of Water-Conserving Plants
The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California is a nationally recognized public dry garden that contains a variety of rare and extraordinary cacti, succulents, trees, and shrubs from around the world. The 2.5 acre garden is unusual in that it focuses almost entirely on water-conserving and drought-resistant plants and was the first garden in the United States to be preserved by The Garden Conservancy. As water conservation becomes increasingly more important (e.g., California is facing the worse drought in recorded history), this non-profit garden hopes to not only preserve its current collection but to serve as a model for similar gardens. Ethan and I were invited as local travel writers to do the Valentine’s Day themed “Lover’s Day Aloe Tour” at the garden. We were not really sure what to expect as a collection of “drought-resistant” plants doesn’t really fit with our stereotypical image of a pretty flower garden…. Read the rest
Travel Blogging: Six Steps to Branding a Travel Blog
Today I want to talk about the issue of branding a travel blog as I think it is an important concept that can help bloggers focus their content and increase their readership. First things first, what does branding a blog mean? Many people think of branding as applying only to cattle and commercial products; however, the concept of branding can be very important to bloggers. Here are a couple of definitions of brand from dictionary.com: “a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a particular product” and “kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like”. Essentially, I think branding, as it applies to blogs, comes down to two main things: 1) The core message, values, and goals conveyed by your blog 2) The visual “stamp”, design, and logo of your blog While you may not be trying to make money from your blog… Read the rest
Paris Museum Pass Review: Is It Worth It? Tips for Buying and Using the Pass
If you are planning a trip to Paris and want to spend some time admiring great artwork and visiting grand monuments, you’ll likely save money and time by purchasing a Paris Museum Pass. The Paris Museum Pass not only allows for free admission to a number of the top-visited attractions in Paris (i.e., Louvre, Orsay Museum, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles), but it also allows you to skip the long entrance lines at many of these attractions. However, in some cases, the Paris Museum Pass may not be a good deal for you, especially if this is not your first visit to Paris or you have only a day or two in the city. We’ll help provide all the information you need to know to decide if the Paris Museum Pass is a good deal for you, decide on which pass to buy, and how to get the most value out… Read the rest
Getting Naked in Germany: Relaxing at the Friedrichsbad Baths in Baden-Baden
The Friedrichsbad Baths, located in Baden-Baden Germany, is an elegant bathing complex that originally opened in 1877 as one of the most modern bathing establishments in Europe. Originally catering to European aristocracy, this beautiful neo-Renaissance style bathing house is still open to all looking to soak in the curative mineral waters or just enjoy a quiet few hours of relaxation. Sitting upon the ruins of baths used by Roman generals, those who visit Friedrichsbad will follow a 17-step Irish-Roman bathing ritual that includes a sequence of hot air baths, steam rooms, showers, pools, and optional massages. Perhaps the best part is that your 2-3 hours here are spent within a steamy haze of marble, brass, colorful titles, and majestic domes. Friedrichsbad is also the place where Ethan and I got up the courage to go completely nude in a co-ed place for the first time. Interested in visiting or just hearing… Read the rest
Travel Health: Traveling with a Pacemaker
One of our first thoughts when we heard that Ethan may have to get a pacemaker was “what are the restrictions related to traveling with a pacemaker?”. As some of you probably know, Ethan was born with a congenital heart condition and recently had his fourth open heart surgery. While this last surgery was successful overall, a complication of the surgery led to Ethan having a prolonged stay of 3 weeks in the hospital and the insertion of an internal pacemaker. A pacemaker is essentially an implanted medical device that uses electrical impulses to regulate the beating of the heart to treat disorders that cause the heart’s rhythm to be too slow, fast, or irregular. Interestingly a search of the Internet turned up only a handful of articles related to traveling with a pacemaker and we wanted to share what information we discovered based on our research and discussion with… Read the rest
A Guide to Ziplining on the Big Island of Hawaii
Ziplining on the Big Island of Hawaii is one of many potential adventures you might embark on when exploring this wonderful island. Zip line adventures allow you to soar from tree to tree in rain forests and across canyons, allowing you to take in views of waterfalls, rivers, and tropical wildlife from a bird’s point of view. The Hawaiian islands are a popular place for ziplining and several companies on the Big Island offer the opportunity to zipline above the tree canopies. It was on the Big Island that Ethan and I both went ziplining for the first time together! We had so much fun and felt like it was a perfect place to have our first ziplining experience. We’ll list some of the popular ziplining tour companies on the Big Island, let you know which company we chose, and share our experience and photos of ziplining on the Big… Read the rest