Please welcome back Angela Light, my longtime friend and traveler who spent a great deal of time and energy to write this fantastic post for all of us! Her over-the-top amazing vacation in the Portuguese countryside absolutely captivated me. The dreamy descriptions and elegant accommodations coupled with world class cuisine is my kind of vacation. Take a minute to enjoy this post, it is incredible & I just loved her adventure!
Every Labor Day weekend, The Los Angeles Times holds their annual food and wine festival and it is uniquely Los Angeles. Aptly named The Taste, this fabulous culinary bash at Paramount Studios is the place to nibble and celebrate all of the culinary talent here in Southern California.
For the first time, The Taste food fest will continue for one more weekend in Costa Mesa, CA on October 19-21. Check the highlighted link above for the details.
As a fourth generation Los Angeleno, I am especially proud and excited to indulge and taste the eclectic food possibilities unique to our city. It is our fifth time attending this spectacular event and we mark our calendars way ahead of time to make sure we are available. We chose to attend on Saturday evening, but The Taste LA actually began Friday evening with the Opening Party and there is one more party on Sunday evening.
Ah, life in a luxury hotel! You can’t beat it. Do we always stay in places like this? Not always, but we certainly try!
After our final stop in Prague on our Viking River Cruise, my travel writer friend Tam of Travels with Tam and I determined that we could not be so close to Hungary and not make a stop in this extraordinary country! We have both always wanted to visit, but Hungary is not around the corner, but on this trip we were right next door!
When it was time to plan, I reached out to several luxury hotels and immediately received a welcoming and delightful email from Barbara Bagi, Marketing & Communicaitons Manager from The Ritz Carlton Budapest. How lovely! She and I exchanged several informative emails and we were offered a very reasonable rate even during the busiest season of the year. We were all set!
Since neither Tam nor I had been to Budapest, everything was new and exciting and we could not wait to arrive!
Who knew that a tour food in Berlin would be part of my Viking River Cruise? Bonus! In my opinion, food touring is the perfect companion to every city tour. What better way to understand the city culture than to taste the food that locals love to eat!
Like me, haven’t you always wondered what it was really like to take a Viking River Cruise? I have always been curious and actually never been on any kind of cruise. You may find that surprising, but it has never really been at the top of our travel adventure list. But that list has been re-written!
Recently, I was presented with the opportunity to travel with Viking River Cruises on the Elegant Elbe River Cruise that begins in Berlin, Germany and ends in Prague, Czech Republic. My friend and fellow travel writer Tam Minton of Travels with Tam, took this first (for both of us) river cruise with me as well.
Side note: On the first evening of the cruise, the Cruise Director, the fantastic Benne Bennison, asked for a show of hands who had been on a Viking Cruise before. Every single hand went up except Tam’s and mine. How is that for validation! They keep on coming back for more!
How many of you have dreamed of taking an Italian cooking class that is actually in Italy? Yes, me too! Last summer I enjoyed my time with Tuscan Women Cook so much, but I was traveling alone. I had a total blast, but often I was thinking how much fun it would be if my family was there with me too!
For our trip to Tuscany, trying to decide the best itinerary and finding the perfect accommodations was a fun process, but truthfully a bit stressful for me. I am confident when I plan travel for myself or with just Craig, but to include six other discerning travelers, I wanted everything to be just right. No one dictated a thing, it was just my need to make sure that everyone had the very best possible experience! Through the tour company Palio Tours, we found the perfect size villa for our party of eight. The enormous house was just big enough to allow every couple to have their own room and offered several indoor and outdoor living spaces where we could all hang out, but it never felt overwhelming or too large to navigate.
Hey fellow adventurers! I wanted to check in to let you know that we are embarking on a BIG Summer Travel Adventure!
Craig and I will be traveling with our family to see The Palio in Siena, Italy with a quick couple of days in Rome! Next, we say goodbye to the family and fly to the gorgeous island of Majorca, Spain. We visited last summer and it was so spectacular that we just had to go back! And there’s more…
The Palio di Siena is one of Italy’s most famous sporting events. It is a horse race with unique rules and centuries-old history. My guess is that you may have never heard of it either! About ten years ago our close friends Nick and Victoria, who are world travelers (67 countries), shared their story of the Palio in Siena. Craig and I were captivated and totally hooked. We vowed one day we would see this special event as well!
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