Summer Streets

I used to have a hot pink bicycle that I loved to ride around my childhood town. A gang of prepubescent outlaws, the other neighborhood kids and I would stick baseball cards in our spokes and whizz up and down quiet, tree lined streets, yelling "no hands" as we flew down gentle hills that seemed like the Colorado Rockies from our eight-year-old perspective. When I entered high school and moved elsewhere, my trusty pink bike became a pre-license form of transit that got me to friend's houses--leapt off and casually discarded in front yards with little worries of bike locks or consequence. 

One of the things that I dislike about New York City is that it is a difficult city for leisurely bike riding. When we were in Vancouver, we loved renting bikes and riding around Stanley Park--embracing the plentiful and well-designed bike lines. While friends in Brooklyn always claim that they ride bikes everywhere, up here in Manhattan, biking seems like sort of a daredevil move only to be committed by adolescents lacking the forethought and fear of death that would result in restraint from impulsive behavior like riding in bike lines often filled with trucks and illegally parked cars.

"Summer Streets" occurred this Saturday in New York City. Each summer, for three Saturdays, Park Avenue is closed to cars all of the way down to Brooklyn Bridge. The streets fill with bikers, runners, and rollerbladers and, for that one day, New York City feels a little like childhood. M. and I rented bikes on Saturday for this fun summer event and rode down to--and across--the Brooklyn Bridge and then found ourselves enjoying the experience so much that we rode around Brooklyn and then back over to Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge. From there, we followed a bike path (that we didn't even know existed) all of the way up the East River until around the forties where we crossed over to First Avenue and continued back into the Upper East Side. On our jaunt, we found a community of bike riders who were happy to share tips about where to ride, we also found ourselves in the midst of cabs on a slightly scary venture up one part of First Avenue, but, most importantly, we rediscovered our city on a bicycle. 

While NYC still has much progress to make in order to be a truly bike friendly city, I am no longer terrified of biking here and am even considering becoming one of those people who bikes to work. I am planning to test it this week, so I'll let you know how it goes! I am already dreaming of a grown-up version of that trusty little hot pink bike that I had so many years ago...

Summers in New England

We are back after a great couple of weeks in New England for some seaside vacationing, time with friends and family, and capped off with an amazing wedding in Provincetown, Massachusetts. 

Here are some of the highlights from our New England trip:

It was great to see my friends from high school and catch up on life lately!

We loved hanging out in the Mystic area, which included some wandering around Old Lyme, a Taylor Swift sighting in Mystic, and a delicious meal with M's parents at the Daniel Packer Inne!

We loved renting a house out on the Cape! While I love international travel, there is nothing easier than driving somewhere (we non-drivers adored the novelty of the radio!), grilling food, lounging on nearby beaches, exploring kitschy little Cape Cod towns, relishing in outdoor showers where one can look up and savor the view of trees rustling in the wind, roasting marshmallows over a fire, and seeing the stars clear and bright each night before bed.

Exploring Provincetown was a blast! 

We loved stopping for a wine tasting at Truro Vineyards, a place my sister has been raving about--with good reason--for years, our lunch view at Fanizzi's by the Sea, our hike to Race Point Beach, and my cousin's awesome wedding at Ten Tables!

I loved all of the awesome details...including her adorable cocktail selection. 

My favorite was "Paint the Town Red," which was a perfect blend 

of cava rose, fresh strawberries, and St. Germaine! 

While it is good to back, nothing beats the slow pace of a New England vacation...

Travel Tales

Learning to Canter--sort of...

While my horseback riding fantasies were fulfilled, M. 

was kind of nervous on his stubborn horse (who kept biting his feet, stopping to consume 

large quantities of grass, and snapping at my horse when she tried to pass him) 

and preferred to sit back and film! 

Well, I am back from a little traveling. While it is always nice to return home to the comfort of your own bed, I do love traveling and can never quite seem to get it out of my system. This trip was a short, essentially three country jaunt, with just brief glimpses into three very different places. The itinerary began in the borderlands of Guatemala and Belize, followed by some time in the islands of Belize, and ending with a trip up the Yucatan Peninsula through Mexico. It had all parts adventure and relaxation that my kind of travel requires and was an awesome trip.

Purchasing extremely last minute tickets, M. joined me and he has never been to the countryside of Central America before; the contrast of poverty and wealth is always somewhat overwhelming and eye opening when one first experiences it. After arriving in Belize City, we immediately headed west towards Guatemala. This portion of our trip included a death defying car ride (that we definitely could have skipped but provided lots of fodder for laughter retrospectively!), eating lots of plantains, rice and beans, taking in the sights of a world far different from our own and visiting with people, hearing stories that both change one's worldview while confirming the similarity of people everywhere, consuming much delicious coffee, crossing a wide river on a hand cranked ferry, eating a local meal in the middle of the jungle with a parrot as our table companion, watching monkeys swing from branch to branch above us, an amazing eight mile horseback ride through the jungle, and a majestic hike up to the sacred Mayan site of Xunantunich where we were nearly the only visitors and had the place pretty much to ourselves.

From here, we crossed the entire country of Belize to the coastline and jumped on a boat to get to Ambergris Caye. On the Caye, we biked, relaxed on the beach, drank a lot of ice cold Belikans (the beer of Belize), jumped off docks to swim and observe the famous reefs of the Caye, and enjoyed a wide variety of delicious meals. It was extremely relaxing and the perfect way to counter the hiking and horseback riding of the earlier part of the week.

While Belize was highly relaxing, we knew we wanted to be complete beach bums for the end of our trip and so, from here, we crossed the border via a water taxi (that I would incidentally never recommend to anyone else ever--I actually have bruises on my right arm from the incredibly bumpy ride that ended with machine gun laden Mexican police and their trained dogs sniffing our luggage--little stressful...) to Chetumal where we made our way up the coastline to spend a few days in Tulum, Mexico.  Tulum was probably our favorite place and both of us agreed that we would definitely go back. It was an incredibly easy place to travel and was so relaxing. We spent our days under palapas in lounge chairs reading, ordering fresh guacamole and mojitos, and stirring only to swim in sparkling turquoise waters--not bad. At night we would venture out to eat and stroll on a moonlit beach. I am already thinking about returning in the cold stretch of northeastern winters to go to a yoga retreat! 

From here, we made our way to our last stop in Mexico--Playa del Carmen. Perhaps because we fell so in love with Tulum, Playa was fun, but had we planned differently we might have skipped it. Life in Playa was analogous to my conception of life in Miami. Living in New York City, where we travel to get away from busy, appearance-conscious living, and have the constant opportunity to eat at glitzy restaurants, it was just not exactly what we were looking for, but, nevertheless, I can't say we didn't enjoy lounging on the white sand beaches and swimming in the crystal clear waters!

We returned via Cancun, with this little Dia de Muertos trinket to serve as a lovely little reminder of a wonderful little summer trip.

And, most exciting about the whole trip was the news that my lovely friend delivered a healthy, happy (nearly ten pound!!!!) baby on my birthday! So excited to share this day with the little one of someone so special to me.

Driving the Coast of New England

After attending a friend's wedding on Saturday, M and I headed up to Portland, Maine with stops in Boston, Portsmouth, Kittery, and Wells.  It was great to see my cousin along the way and enjoy some delicious Indian food in her neighborhood.

Portsmouth was adorable. We stopped for brunch at Michelle's on Market Square and had some eggs and delicious French toast. Then we wandered around the cute little town. I really loved the paper store Gus and Ruby Letterpress!

From here, after a quick shopping detour, we drove up to Laudholm Farm--one of our favorite Maine hikes. This beautiful woodside walk meanders through the fall foliage, with apple trees, farms, and barns along the way, until it ultimately reaches a breathtaking beach vista. 

As we made our way to Portland, we were lured by many quintessential New England fall sites. There is nothing like a field checkered with pumpkins and mums to draw in the fall spectator. 

Finally we arrived at our destination where we enjoyed a meal at Duckfat. My cousin recommended that we have churros with caramel sauce for dessert and it was a sweet ending to a perfect weekend...

This sweater weather is divine.

And that's all I have to say about that.

In Search of the Craic: Ireland Travel Guide

Prior to traveling in Ireland, I had never heard the term "craic" before. The "craic" is essentially good talk, enjoyable conversation, a good time and it is found anywhere from teashops to bars to street corners in Ireland. Ireland has to be the friendliest place to which I have ever traveled and the "craic" is definitely one of the best attributes of traveling there. While there are a million different itineraries one could take in driving around Ireland, this was ours...


Warning: Major Photo Dump to Follow...

After leaving Dublin, we drove to Bunratty where we toured Bunratty castle and the grounds, got lost and wound up on a picturesque winery, dined at Durty Nelly's (the oldest operating tavern in Ireland, supposedly), and stayed in the beautiful Bunratty Castle Hotel:

From here, we were off to Galway. I wish I could remember the names of all of the beautiful places we saw along the way, but seeing as in Ireland, pretty much everywhere you look there is natural beauty, it is hard to keep everything straight. Definitely see The Cliffs of Moher. Gorgeous.

Apart from that, the one stop I must recommend (but that might be difficult to locate ever again!) was this amazing restaurant somewhere in County Clare. We were starving and saw a sign that said "food" so we drove up to this beautiful stone farmhouse with a green swinging dutch door, colorful potted plants, and picturesque views all around us. It was the best meal ever. Everything was really local--like, their farm local, the furniture was hand carved, the floors were stone, and the hearth made me think a cold winter night in this restaurant would never be cold. If you should find yourself driving the road from Bunratty to Galway and you see a little farm tucked away off the side of the road with a sign that says "food," I urge you to pull over...

Galway was such a great stop! I would definitely recommend it. It was here that we were sitting in a tea store, having high tea on china, that a local man introduced himself and wound up giving us a tour of the town. We talked to him for at least an hour about everything from politics to his second cousin who shares a last name with M. When in Galway, I recommend An Pucan (meaning "boat" in Gaelic) for traditional Irish music and the "craic," Cupan Tae for high tea and the conversation with the locals, Ard Bia, a delicious place to stop for lunch, and then a lot of wandering, as Galway is a great place to just explore.

After Galway, we headed to Connemara State Park and Kylemore Abbey, which were both beautiful. Connemara was a really (windy) fun hike with gorgeous views of the countryside and the ocean.

From here we went to Clifden via Sky Road, which was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. In Clifden we stayed at this lovely bed and breakfast where I insist you stay should you ever find yourself here. Across from a castle and a sheep farm, this peaceful and adorable bed and breakfast was relaxing and quintessentially Ireland. When in Clifden, check out Mitchell's (be sure to make a reservation) for fresh seafood...

From Clifden we were on to Westport, an adorable seaside town with lots of places to eat, shop, wander, and enjoy a piping hot cup of coffee or a cold perfectly poured pint of Guinness. We ate lunch at The Pantry and Corkscrew. From a perfect potato leek soup to a light, flaky, delicious, savory quiche, the food here was phenomenal.  We then wandered around before jumping back in the car to go to Knocknarea for a beautiful, quick hike and to a nearby megalith with a final stop in the quaint medieval town of Donegal.

Donegal was a beautiful Medieval town that provided more fun wandering opportunities and a lovely meal at the Old Castle Bar and Restaurant.

The next stop was Slieve League. I'll let the pictures tell the story...It is a not-to-miss spot, for sure.

On the way back to Dublin we drove through Northern Ireland and made it back to the car rental place ten minutes before the vehicle was due...

For such a small country, Ireland has much to offer and much to see. We were already talking about the millions of other routes we could travel should we find ourselves in search of the craic in the future.