A few weeks ago, the Prince and I headed to Belgium to celebrate our one-year anniversary and had the most romantic weekend in Bruges! Can you believe it’s been one year already?! What a wonderful, crazy, adventurous first year it has been! We started our relationship while living in two different countries, visited six additional countries together, and I ended up moving to Germany!
When I was younger, my mom used to take me and my siblings to a local farm after school once or twice during the autumn season. I remember getting apples, apple cider, caramel apples, and everything in-between! It is still such a fond memory for me and something I reflect on often.
In case you’re not following along on my Instagram, I’m in CUBA right now! My family and I are on a one-week cruise around the entire island for my mom’s 60th birthday. We spent two days in Havana and will be pulling into Cienfuegos today. Tomorrow, we will spend the entire day in Santiago de Cuba before docking back in Miami on Sunday.
I’ve stalled on writing this post for almost 3 months because I’m not really sure how to express myself. Blogging, especially travel blogging, gives me the opportunity to experience and reflect on the cultural, historical, and political events of each country that I visit. However, I think visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau left me speechless and wordless because I knew that what I wrote wouldn’t be adequate enough to capture all the feelings, emotions, thoughts, and imagery.
I have officially finished my first week in Hamburg and I’m absolutely loving it here! I think I’m being totally spoiled with warm weather and sunny skies. After work almost every day, my boyfriend picks me up and we explore a new area of our neighborhood. We also stopped by a delicious wine festival Thursday night that was complete with live music and food trucks 🙂
Poland has been high on my travel list since I started this blog almost three years ago. When I initially outlined the 30 countries I wanted to visit before I turned 30, Poland was number one. However, even though it borders Germany, I never had the opportunity to visit the country when I lived in Germany. Thankfully, cheap flights from Edinburgh to Poland and a university break allowed me to take full advantage of traveling through the entire country.
To be honest, I only booked my plane ticket to Gdansk because it was non-stop and super cheap. Prior to booking the flight, I hadn’t really even heard of Gdansk and thus decided to only spend a night in the city. Well, that ended up being one of my biggest regrets because Gdansk is GORGEOUS. Seriously, out-of-this-world stunning! Please excuse me in advance for the amount of photos I’m going to share with you!
Nestled between West and East Grand Traverse Bay is Old Mission Peninsula. One of the oldest areas of Traverse City, Michigan and home to the beloved cherry orchards of the region, this 19-mile strip of land has emerged as one of the best wine regions in all of the United States. Although a relatively new industry, the wine region of Traverse City has won many accolades and awards including – One of the 7 Top Wine Regions to Watch in the USA (only wine region outside of California) by Tasting & Touring magazine, One of the 7 Under-The-Radar Wine Regions in the World by Thrillist, and One of the Top 10 Places to Enjoy Local Wines by USA Today. If you haven’t noticed, I’m just a bit proud of my adopted hometown of Traverse City 😉
Blogging friends, if you are expecting to read a blog post from Jordan, I’m afraid that I have to disappoint you. After having been referred to as “the Prince” in many previous blog posts, having had my girlfriend observe differences in my country on no less than three occasions (read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), and having her even disclose my funny mistakes in the English language and my sleep talking habits, it is finally time for me to have my own say! 😉
Obviously this rare opportunity had to be chosen wisely! After having just completed a wonderful two-week trip in the USA with Jordan, what could be more fitting than my very own list of observations on America?
Between the Upper and Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and right at the intersection of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is the hidden gem of Mackinac Island. Conde Nast magazine famously named it as one of the Top 10 islands in the world! As a child living in Washington, D.C., my family frequently visited Mackinac Island in the summers. There are videos of me as a two year old waiting for the ferry to arrive and me screaming, “I see the boat, Mommy! I see the boat!” Needless to say, I was a very excitable child 😉
When I think of heaven, a tiny island in the Adriatic Sea immediately comes to mind – Hvar. A two-hour ferry ride from Split, Croatia, the island of Hvar is a paradise that is remote enough for a weekend retreat yet close enough to easily get to mainland Croatia.