Category Archives: Travel

Where to stay in Boston

14 Sunday Jul 2013

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One thing I loved about Boston is how close the airport is to the downtown. We arrived shortly after 8am on a Saturday and were at our hotel in the lobby by 9am! We stayed at the fancy-shmancy Langham Boston located in the financial district.  We were able to walk everywhere – the Freedom Trail, Italian area where Paul Revere’s home is, the waterfront and Boston Common. And the subway to Cambridge was just a couple minute walk away too.

I used Priceline to book the room and got a great deal of $160 a night. (of course I had to pay a little extra after booking having forgot that Priceline only guarantees a double or queen bed and I was travelling with my dad)!  Having walked around I can say that the Marriott at the Wharf is in a great location but you might have to pay a bit more to be right on the water. There are a whole lot of hotel options in Boston that will allow you to explore Boston on foot.

The fancy Langham had a great concierge, a big comfy room and a turn down service with slippers and dark chocolates! I’d stay there again if I could get myself the same deal!

Chocolates & weather report

Chocolates & weather report

Eating my way through Boston

01 Monday Jul 2013

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Last weekend I enjoyed 4 days and 3 nights in Boston. I didn’t do much pre-planning but was able to find some of the yummiest places in Beantown thanks to TripAdvisor & some Twitter friends.

Line up behind me - out the door!

Line up behind me – out the door!

First day while wandering around I checked on TripAdvisor for somewhere to eat in the Little Italy area of Boston and found Galleria Umberto (#6 in Boston) The menu is simple but delicious and so cheap. We had some pizza and rice balls – the line up behind me was out the door! I even ordered extra slices to have in the hotel while watching Italy play Brazil.

Too many choices!

Too many choices!

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed back to Little Italy to find the pastry shop friends had recommended – Mike’s Pastry.  We hear they have line ups out the door also. We were one of their first customers that day and took away three cannoli. They have dozens of flavours and had to be the best thing I ever tasted.

YUM!

YUM!

And on Monday I couldn’t wait to try Sam LaGrassa’s, number 4 in Boston on TripAdvisor.  They too get line-ups out the door and according to the poster from Drive-ins, Diners and Dives they sell over 2,000 sandwichs a day! They too did not disappoint, piling my sandwich with coleslaw and cheese and turkey.

 

And I know this is going to sound boring but we frequented the Faneuil Hall Marketplace for dinners. It was so close to the hotel and had such a great energy! I had an amazing clam chowder there the first night and then a shrimp cocktail another night.

Can't resist a bread bowl!

Can’t resist a bread bowl!

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Biggest shrimp I ever ate

 

 

 

 

If it hadn’t been for all the walking and biking I would have gained 10 pounds on this trip! Stay tuned for more posts about where to stay and what to do in Boston.

Take the gun... Leave the cannoli

Take the gun… Leave the cannoli

Airbnb.com: One of my favourite travel sites

13 Sunday Jan 2013

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I wanted to share with everyone one of my favourite travel sites and applications on my iphone.  Airbnb!  I have used the site twice for bookings – Istanbul and Mont Tremblant and thoroughly enjoy the ap on my iphone.  It now suggest some of the most unique places to stay in across the globe – I could waste hours navigating the site and marking off my favourites. Check it out!

Who wouldn't want to stay in a treehouse!

Who wouldn’t want to stay in a treehouse!

Avli – most perfect place to stay in Rethymnon

20 Thursday Sep 2012

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The second stop (and first island) on our great vacation through Greece and Istanbul was Rethymnon in Crete.  We flew there from Athens on a short, inexpensive flight.

Tip: It is easy to get around Greece and her islands with planes and ferry trips.  All are reasonably priced (cheaper than flying around Canada!) and pretty painless to book. 

Garden (Avli means garden in Greek) seating

I had arranged a car from the airport (for the hour long ride) with the help of Thanasis the hotel manager at the  Avli – I had found this amazing, welcoming place to stay on Airbnb – that is a whole blog post on its own still to come.

As we got close to the hotel Elias our drive told us Thanasis was the man on the corner and he was waiting for us.  He also mentioned he was funny.  Elias was right.  Thanasis was the one to greet us and as a good host he also saw us off three days later early in the morning. I think the only way to describe the experience at the Avli was like being welcomed in to someone’s home – every member of the staff must truly love what they do as we were always met with smiles and conversation.

Delicious!

The food was wonderful at the restaurant – we had breakfasts and a dinner there.  The wine selection is the best on the island.  Our room (ask for the Cristina when you book) was quaint and comfortable with a balcony overlooking the patio of the street covered in flowers.

Thanasis also arranged a tour for us with Elias on one of our days in Crete as he recommends to everyone who visits to get out and see a bit of the island not just the town of Rethymnon.  Our evenings were happily spent sitting outside under the trellises at the Avli restaurant sipping wine and chatting with others staying at the Avli and the staff.

View from our balcony

I can tell you we were truly sad when we left the Avli on to Santorini by Ferry.  Now the beauty of Santorini helped easy our sadness but I can tell you we didn’t find anyone like Thanasis and his team anywhere else along our travels.

Some day I hope to get back to the Avli to stay again with Thanasis, George, and Zoey.  I recommend you give them a try if you ever plan to visit the island of Crete – I can’t say enough good things about the Avli.

Sunset in Oia

17 Monday Sep 2012

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Anyone know this hotel? I want to stay here!

One of our trip’s highlights was the time we spent in Oia – if you have been you know what I am referring to! The magic of a town built in the rocks above a sparkling sea that just dazzles when the sun sets.

Classic image of Oia

Tip: We took the bus to Oia, which was super simple since there is one major road that goes along the coast and our hotel was in between Fira and Oia on that road.  It cost less that 2 Euros!

In Oia we shopped and took lots of pictures waiting for the sun to set.  I even took the opportunity to walk down to the water and back up – +300 steps, in flip flops, passing stinky donkeys!

Tip: Wear FLATS! No heels. 

Donkey Row

Also, while waiting for the sun to set we enjoyed watching the people and listening to their animated comments as they came down the stairs and encountered donkey row and all its fragrances.

Oia is pure magic, I could post a 100 pictures from that night and each is more stunning that the former.  Oia is a place I will return to for certain.

Istanbul – history, food, culture & sensory overload!

14 Friday Sep 2012

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I have been home just over 12 hours and wanted to get started on posts from my vacation and thought it would be best to start with the most recent since it is fresh in my mind.

We almost didin’t make it home (okay slight exaggeration but it could have been a distaster.  Istanbul has two airports and thousands of cab drivers that don’t speak English and we were unlucky enough to flag one of them.  Barely understood airport! I almost jumped out but didn’t and thank goodness I had read an article about the 2nd airport and where it was and realized we were going the wrong way and was able to tell him ‘No, other one’!

Tip: Find out what airport you are at (and no, it doesn’t say on my email confirmation and no it isn’t like hear where Pearson would be where you’d catch a long haul flight not Billy Bishop) and write it down for the driver.  Our driver shouted at us in Turkish – I am assuming he figured the louder he said it the more likely we would understand?  It was something out of Amazing Race!

Also, everyone says 2 hours is enough time.  Go 3 in advance – there are 2 security checks and 3 passport checks before you board that plane! 

Istanbul is a bustling city with a population over 20 million! Be prepared for sensory overload! It took us a day to settle in and a day with a local tour guide (she was worth every Euro!) which I recommend to everyone.

Basilica Cistern – something out of another world

We saw the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the Spice Market, a rug manufacturer and wholesaler where we saw a woman weaving a rug by hand, the Grand Bazaar and did a cruise on the Bosphorus where I saw dolphins swimming along side our boat.

Yummy Turkish treats

The food is great, the people are too (well most of them – we had some experiences where we were ignored or felt like we were being treated differently) but it is a culture so very different from our own – not that that is a bad thing, just something to be prepared for.

Our second day there we ventured out on our own and went back to the market and the bazaar for some haggling for souvenirs.  Our last stop was a traditional hammam – try one if you are ever in Turkey! We went to Cemberlistas which is an historical hammam built in 1584.  We were scrubbed, washed and massaged – it was peaceful compared to the bustle outside but not for those that are shy as there is very little covered up on you and your ‘washer’.

Tip: One thing that we learned once we had our local tour guide is that we got ripped off by the driver from the airport (Welcome to Istanbul!) – he charged us more than it should have been when we asked and with the tip it was probably double what it should have been.  It pays to do some research on what cab fares should be to and from parts of the city to the airport. 

Much more to come in the next days and weeks!

One week in Greece – a quick summary!

07 Friday Sep 2012

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I should have been blogging daily to get all my details up about my trip to Greece … now I have a lot of catching up to do and think that longer posts will be done about the places and things that I truly loved.  This post will be a summary and some tips.

Flight – LONG… we flew from Toronto to Istanbul and then to Athens. It was 9 hours for the first leg and we were in comfort class on the Turkish Airlines flight which I recommend but of course didn’t pay for since that was part of the prize.

Athens – had so much history and graffiti! We had 3 nights there and for me that was plenty to see things and then move on. The Acropolis is worth going to Athens for.

Crete – such amazing people and the place we stayed too has been one of the trip highlights so far – the Avli is where we stayed. The Avli will get its own post but for now you can check out my recommendation on TripAdvisor and you can check out Avli on it’s own site too.

Santorini – has to be one of the most stunning places on earth.  It is so beautiful here but is missing the hospitality we had in Crete.  Much more of a tourist location although we have a nice quiet spot in between Fira and Oia.

Next we are off to Rhodes by overnight ferry and back to Athens before wrapping up in Istanbul. There will definitely be more posts with pictures when I am back at home with a better wifi connection!