Regularly voted one of the most liveable, happiest, and greenest cities in the USA, Madison is the kind of place we wanted to stop and stay for a while. As a capital city and university town, it has a balance of sophistication and fun. Take all those cosmopolitan offerings and surround them with 5 lakes…
Guanajuato City feels like one of the happiest places on Earth. The cradle of Mexican Independence, nationals come here to pay homage to their forefathers and celebrate all night long. The city doesn’t get many international tourists—making it one of the country’s best-kept secrets. We first came to this state capital in 2016 and were…
A picturesque Mediterranean port city, cascading down Mt. Carmel to the sea, with the world-famous Baha’i Gardens in between…Haifa holds it’s own for beauty and culture. Not a big tourist-draw, it’s is a real city that prides itself on its harmoniously mixed population of Jews and Arabs. We particularly loved the street market and art…
Set high in the mountains, just 20 miles from the capital with cool temps and views to the ocean, Sintra has always been in fashion. From the Moors to medieval royalty to the European jet-set, people have flocked to this seductive locale for more than a millennium. Each group left their stylistic mark, from foreboding…
Where would we like to revisit, live, or retire? We have very different answers to these commonly asked questions, but when it comes to our “golden years” … Mazatlán, Mexico has dibs on us. With 300+ days of sunshine per year, beachside apartments for less than $250/month, incredible food, affordable health care, and a two-hour…
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic doesn’t get nearly enough credit. It’s the oldest European city in The Americas (est. 1496) and home to the first cathedral, university, castle, monastery, and fortress in the New World. If you knew that, good on ya, but I feel like every person we’ve told is as surprised as we were….
We got an email asking, “Have you ever honeymooned in the Nantucket of the Caribbean?” It was this intriguing note that brought us to Eleuthera and Harbour Island, the former British capital of the Bahamas with its pastel-colored colonial homes, pink sand beaches, and golf-carts-for-cars. Sure, it has similarities with Nantucket’s charming clapboard homes and…
A luxury cave? A modern 3,000-year old home? These are the paradoxes of the Museum Hotel that make it the only Relais & Châteaux property in all of Turkey and one of the most unique hotels in the world. Its home in Cappadocia is marked by volcanic eruptions and a blanket of thick ash that…
The sound of trumpets, trombones, and snare drums is getting louder and louder…we roll over in bed. Then a crescendo hits like it’s pounding at our hotel door. There is no sleeping through this–Cuenca is calling. We threw a jacket over our pajamas and chased after the music. We followed a brass band of dapper…
Our month-long journey through Ecuador begins with a whirlwind tour of the capital…Quito! Join us as we explore this UNESCO World Heritage Site from historic churches to markets to the center of the world… Quito in 12 hours Quito Fast Facts:
A tricked-out Jeepney blaring Bon Jovi pulls up to the stoplight. The driver, wearing a stone-washed jean jacket belts out, “You give love a bad name,” touches his rosary dangling from the rearview mirror, and drives away. Where are we? The Philippines, colonized by the Spanish then the Americans (yes, the U.S. had colonies) is…