Search Results for: small town

Off the Beaten Path in Europe

January 16, 2014

I’m in Hawaii currently for work and catching up with my parents here for the few days I’m here, but while I’m away I got to thinking about some of the “off the beaten path” places we’ve experienced, those places that aren’t as advertised as say, Paris and London.

Many of our travels have been to major cities around the world or within our own country, but often it’s the lesser known places that have a different impact on you when you travel. Many times, it’s the smaller, less known locations that truly show off the best qualities of that country. It’s something I’d like to do more of this year as well, to trek outside of the major cities and see more of the rest of the country. But so far, here are some of my favorite places we’ve visited in Europe, places that are a bit off the beaten path.

While Bushmills might be famous for its Whiskey, it’s definitely not a huge tourist destination in Northern Ireland. The town of Bushmills is still a small little town with old buildings and cobblestone streets. We stopped and had lunch here on our way back from the Giants’ Causeway as we headed to Belfast and thoroughly enjoyed the old-world feel of this Northern Irish town.

While Cannes and St. Tropez seem to get most of the credit as the famous towns on the French Riviera, Nice (while not entirely off the beaten path) isn’t credited enough for the beauty that it is. While you may get the celebrities in Cannes and the gorgeous beaches in St. Tropez, Nice will offer the old feel of France with a little more reserve.

When I say St. Andrews, I’m not talking about the golf course which most people visit the town for. I’m talking about the town of St. Andrews itself, the little winding side roads, the colorful buildings and the magic of Scotland bottled into a landmark on the coast. To get here you wind through gorgeous Scottish countryside and through small country towns until you spill out onto roads lined with stone buildings and chimneys. Explore the town itself and you’ll never want to leave.

Iceland is a country where the “off the beaten path” locations really mean just that. The vast expanses of land and gorgeous countryside are what make Iceland. So while you might base yourself in Reykjavik, there is nothing more compelling as the countryside and Thingvellir is a spot that will take your breath away. Take it in at sunrise before the tourists arrive to take in the site of the first Viking parliament and note the cracks in the earth’s surface here where the North American and Eurasion plates meet.

While I’ve talked before about my lack of affinity for Italy, Verona at least tugged at me a bit more than the larger Italian cities. Verona is a charming spot, complete with it’s own colosseum, a medieval castle and of course the home of the famous Romeo and Juliet. Complete with Italian charm, colorful buildings and cyprus trees, Verona is definitely a location not to be missed in Italy.

Driving Around Northern Ireland

December 11, 2013

On the 4th day of our recent trip through the UK & Ireland, we headed off to Dublin Connolly Train Station for a morning train up to Belfast. We learned in the cab ride to the train station that Belfast had had a bomb scare the previous day (which made us wonder if our train would be running) but all seemed fine, so we enjoyed a scenic 2 hour train ride to Northern Ireland.

Upon arrival in Belfast, we were planning to head straight to the airport to pick up our rental car and head up to the Northern Coast and eventually to the Giant’s Causway, a UNESCO world heritage site that Nick in particular really wanted to see and photograph. After a crazy cab driver (who we couldn’t understand one word from), figuring out how to drive on the wrong side of the road and figuring out the freeway system in Belfast (which is excellent by the way), we were on our way North, albeit much later than we had anticipated. Long story short, after meandering through a few small Irish towns and having lunch by the harbor in Ballycastle, we arrived at Giant’s Causeway at 4:17pm, with light darkening and tickets stopped being sold at 4pm, we decided we’d just extend our car rental for the following day and come back when there was more light and we could enjoy it more.

We headed back for Belfast (a pretty quick 1hr 30min drive) and spent our evening exploring the amazing Christmas market under the sparkling lights of the Belfast City Hall. This was my first European Christmas market and it did not disappoint! We wandered around, ate apple strudel, roasted pork, yorkshire pudding and took in the magic of the holidays!

Where to Stay in Northern Ireland

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A Hotel Review of L’Hermitage Hotel in Vancouver BC

November 13, 2013

L’Hermitage Hotel – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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From the minute we walked in the gorgeous lobby to the beautiful suite, to the balcony overlooking the city, I was very happy with this hotel and would highly recommend it if you’re in Vancouver BC. The location is also fantastic, right downtown but a 5 minute walk to Yaletown and a quick drive everywhere else! Here is my honest Hotel Review of L’Hermitage Hotel in Vancouver, BC.

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LOVE

Room – We happened to get a 1 bedroom suite, which truthfully, I’m not sure why but this room was cheaper than a typical room when I booked, so I just went with it. Our room had a full kitchen, washer/dryer, living room, balcony and bedroom. It was plenty of space and decorated beautifully!

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Design – The design was gorgeous in this hotel and really well kept up. I loved the mix of patterns and luxe fabrics. The palette was really calming but still felt very upscale and chic.

DIDN’T LOVE

Check in – The one issue we did have was that we pulled up to the valet to find no one outside. I had to run into the lobby to get someone to valet our car, but as soon as we took care of that, check in was wonderful and very easy.

Bathroom – My one complaint about the room would be the bathroom. It wasn’t connected to the bedroom and was sort of out of the way. Seeing as how large the suite was, I was surprised at how small the bathroom was, but for 1 night it suited us just fine.

Exploring New York City in the Summer

August 27, 2013

Nick and I had an amazing weekend in New York City. And though, while quick (we took the red-eye Friday night and left Sunday evening), we enjoyed every minute of our brief trip. This wasn’t our first time to New York so we planned the weekend just to wander around the city without a true agenda. The weather was gorgeous, low 80’s, no humidity and bright blue sky both days we were there, which made it perfect to walk around and take in the city.

We started Saturday morning bright and early, after arriving at 7am at JFK, we headed to our hotel to drop off our bags. After that, we headed out for the day (until we could check in to our hotel at 3). We started with breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien at Bryant Park, then we spent a while just hanging out in the park, watching the people and Nick snapping photos. Bryant Park is one of my favorite spots in Manhattan, perhaps because the buildings that surround it are so unique and beautiful… such an urban surrounding to the small park.

Next, we jumped on the Subway and headed uptown to the Upper East Side and Central Park. We stopped at the Apple Store (one of Nick’s traditions) and then headed up the edge of the Park, stopping to get Laduree macarons along the way. Then we meandered our way through Central Park as we’d never walked all the way through to the Upper East Side before. And what a gorgeous day to wander through the park! We eventually stopped for a bit and just laid on the grass and enjoyed the day.

Afterwards, we walked back through the Park’s East edge and jumped back on the Subway to head down to Madison Square Park for Shake Shack for lunch. We’ve always wanted to try it and had recommendations from friends in NYC, so we decided to just wait the line out and do it. I will say, it was well worth it if you have the time to wait.

By this time, it was around 3pm, so we headed back to our hotel to check in and grab a quick nap. Around 5pm, we grabbed a car on Uber and headed to Brooklyn. Last time we were in NYC we explored DUMBO and loved it, so this time we decided to check out the area under the Brooklyn Bridge near Brooklyn Heights. We wandered around the pier, had some ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, and then watched the sunset over the Manhattan skyline. It was truly a lovely and magical way to end our first day back in the city.

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The Places I Have Called Home

June 3, 2013

While I speak a lot about Portland on this blog and a bit about my childhood abroad in Saudi Arabia, I realized I haven’t really touched much on the other places that have shaped me into who I am and those places that I have called home over the years. Each place has touched me in different ways and each place has had its own unique challenges and joys.

Places have such a way of showing us who we are, we click with some places, others not so much and there is something about where you live, the setting around you, that really creates so many lessons in our lives. I thought it was fitting to touch on each place I’ve lived and what I took away from it. As I begin, keep in mind that “home” for me has always been somewhat of a fluid concept. I don’t have a childhood home or town I can go back to and growing up, that was a struggle for me. But in the end, each place that I’ve called “home” has become a sort of connection for me I’ll always have.

1. Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia

This small ARAMCO compound situated right on the Persian Gulf on the Eastern Shore of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was my childhood home. I spent my days here at the beach with my family, swimming in blow up pools in my backyard and playing with the neighborhood kids. I grew up here among the sand dunes, the call to prayer and schwarmas in Rahima (a neighboring Saudi town). It was normal life, it was home, my first home at least.

My time in Saudi will forever shape me but the most important lesson I learned growing up as a pale, blue eyed American girl in the deserts of Saudi Arabia was tolerance and acceptance. I was different and while I knew that, I never felt like it hindered me as a child there. I met people from all over the world and grew up with them around me, they embraced me and I embraced them, no attention to their skin color or their nationality… we were all just people, trying to live the best we could.

My brother and I in our front yard in Saudi in a rare rain storm.

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2. Medford, Oregon, USA

When we moved back to the States, my parents chose Medford for a number of reasons. We wanted to be close to family in Oregon but far enough away to have our own lives. And they didn’t want to go from Saudi’s heat to the constant rain of Northern Oregon, so we settled in the mid-size city of Medford about 15 minutes from the California border. Medford was where I went to middle and high school, formed new relationships, and created an identity. It’s not a place I would now choose to live, but looking back, it was those years in Medford that opened my eyes to the world in ways my childhood never had. It pushed me, it challenged me. I went through deep longing for my childhood home, I found teenage freedom here and made mistakes, and I had friendships that challenged me deeply… as all teenagers do, I learned my own definitions for right and wrong. Medford for me was about lessons in personal beliefs, what I was willing to do and what I wasn’t.

Holding my first dog Maggie in Medford.

3. Portland, Oregon, USA

I moved to Portland for college and it is in this city where I reside again now, that I first truly fell in love with a place. It’s also the first place since Saudi that I really felt like “home,” like I belonged here. It’s also the city where I fell in love, got married, found myself and bought my first home. It’s a city that has taught me so much. It’s a city that showed me the rain that I love so much, a city that has held my hand through some of the hardest things in my life. It’s a city that has taught me love. I have learned patience here. I have learned that life is about so much more than jobs and money, Portland has shown me that life is about a great meal, spending time with those we love. It’s about long walks alone finding yourself and afternoons spent at coffee shops exploring your dreams. I credit Portland as the place that I really found myself, that I shaped my beliefs and the place that a little girl that grew up in the Middle East embraced the gray rainy skies of the Pacific NW.

Wandering around the Pearl District of Portland.

4. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

After college, I moved to Hawaii for a couple years to work. The islands have perhaps taught me the most of any place I’ve lived as an adult. During my time there, Nick was still in Portland and we carried on a long distance relationship. It was challenging to say the least and left many lonely nights in my apartment high above Honolulu. While my years there were tumultuous, they taught me more than I ever thought they would. Hawaii wasn’t the place for me, but it showed me things in myself I never knew existed. I learned the true meaning of endurance in Hawaii, in both my relationship and in my day to day life there. I learned that sometimes you need to take that leap and that’s perfectly okay, like jumping on the red eye flight back to Portland for the weekend 3 hours before it leaves. I learned that just because you might live somewhere most people dream of, it’s still life and while it may appear perfect on the outside, it’s probably far from it. I learned the importance of family and spent a lot of time with my parents, but also the need for the moments alone, watching the sunrise over Honolulu or a long coastal drive. I learned that it’s okay to not click with a place, but to appreciate its beauty and find the importance in other things.

The view from my apartment balcony in Honolulu.

Each place I’ve lived has truly changed me. Each place has taught me more lessons than I can count. Each place has installed something in me, and no matter where I go or what I do, I’ll carry each of them with me forever.

Off the Beaten Path in Europe

Driving Around Northern Ireland