Tag: travel

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Honeymoon to Croatia and Italy

by The Impatient Traveler, posted in Croatia, Dubrovnik

What a whirlwind the weekend has been! After marrying the love of my life at the Trinity River Audubon Center outside of downtown Dallas on Saturday, my new husband and I set off Sunday afternoon for our honeymoon to Croatia and Italy.

We decided to honeymoon in Croatia after hearing that it was just as beautiful as the Amalfi Coast in Italy, but with fewer tourists and lower costs.  After, seeing photos of Plitvice Lakes National Park online and being avid watchers of the best show ever, aka Game of Thrones, which is partially filmed in Dubrovnik, we set our hearts on Croatia and started looking at flights.

We wanted to book through American Airlines to get points, however, American’s site said the fastest route to Dubrovnik was +$3K with 40+ hours of travel and 3-4 stops! I couldn’t believe that was our only option so I started researching alternatives. I found some reasonably priced, direct American flights to various places in Europe and then researched European airlines that flew from those hubs to Croatia. The cheapest and quickest route was via a 10-hour, direct flight to Rome and then a cheap, 50-minute flight to Dubrovnik on Vueling airlines, for a total travel time of 14 hours and a few hundred dollars in bonus savings. We also decided to utilize our layover destination by tacking on another week to our honeymoon in Italy! When in Rome, right?

I find trip planning to be an essential part of the travel experience because it gives me months to daydream with excitement about all of the fun things planned, however, with all of the wedding planning on top of a busy work load, I gave myself a break from honeymoon planning and went the travel agency route for the Croatia part of our trip. Zicasso tours, a luxury travel site that curates top travel agencies across the world and matches you with the best agencies in the destination you are looking to go to, had some amazing Croatian itineraries. I filled out my travel interests on the site and was introduced to Andrea, a Croatian travel planner living in the US. She put together an amazing itinerary for us. I compared the cost / details of her plan against what I could book myself to make sure we were getting a good deal, and things lined up perfectly so we booked the trip!

When booking through an agent, I always suggest price comparing their recommendations as they can up-charge by hundreds to thousands over the same trip if you booked on your own. The cost of connivence can be expensive! For example, when I looked into offers for the Italy portion of the trip, the proposal was over $2K more than what I could book it for AND I found 5 star hotels within my lower budget when the proposal only had 4. Since I have been to Italy before and knew what I wanted to do that, I decided to save money and plan that leg on my own.

Since we were leaving around noon on the day after our wedding, we had all of our gear packed for our trip beforehand so we could grab our bags and head straight to the airport. With all of the “marrying my best friend” excitement, I literally could not fall asleep and I watched the clock until 6 AM the morning of our trip. Unfortunately for me, my alarm was set for 8 and I was so exhausted. Thank goodness for travel induced adrenaline!

Check-in at the airport was easy and we found some awesome massaging neck pillows to relax us on the plane. Yes, they were 100% worth it and I am ashamed of my previous judgement of neck-pillow enthusiasts.

Best purchase ever- massaging neck pillow

After a quick bite to eat, we were on the plane and ready for take-off. I tried to sleep for al little while but ended up watching 3 movies instead. While the 9 hour flight to Rome went quickly, our 3.5 hour layover in Rome took a while. We didn’t have our gate information so we took the airport tram to a central terminal, went through security, and sat by a coffee shop to wait for our 11:45 AM flight gate to populate. An hour later, we still did not have gate information and were falling asleep, so we decided to walk around. We went the wrong way and took the tram back to our original terminal. We still did not have gate information and we couldn’t find a Vueling counter so we decided to hang by an information screen for a while. There was nothing to do and we were pretty unimpressed by the Rome airport. We twiddled our thumbs there for about 2 hours and, with one hour until takeoff, we were concerned that our flight info was still missing. I went to the restroom and returned to a frantic husband exclaiming that our flight started boarding already at gate E9 while we were at E-61! We had 45 minutes to switch terminals, go through security (again), run to our gate, and check-in for our flight since we could not do so online. Talk about a panic! When we finally ended up in the right terminal, we saw it was filled with awesome shops and restaurants which would have easily made our layover much more entertaining. That was a bummer but at least we got to the gate right in time. We took a shuttle to our Vueling plane and got two aisle seats next to each other. I tried to get some sleep on the 50 minute flight and ended up using my neighbors shoulder as a pillow – oops!

Our walk on the run way in the Dubrovnik airport

The flight went quickly and our plane was literally the only one at the Dubrovnik airport. While all 5 airplane terminals were open, we deplaned on the runway, took a 2 minute shuttle (it honestly would have been quicker to walk) to the security line, and were out of the airport in 15 minutes or so. We had a driver waiting to take us to the Hotel Dubrovnik Palace and were pleasantly surprised when the driver lead us a suped-up Mercedes. Living the lux life, right?!

The view on the drive to the hotel was astonishing and we got a glimpse of Old Town Dubrovnik (aka King’s Landing from GOT). We drove another 10 minutes or so from Old Town and to our hotel which was right on the coast. Boy was it beautiful!

We got upgraded to a junior suite and were flabbergasted by the room. There was champagne waiting for us, we had a living room, 2 bathrooms, and a huge balcony with the most beautiful view. We unpacked and relaxed, finally able to be on our honeymoon officially.

After freshening up and popping our bottle of champagne, we decided to explore the hotel. The hotel had a beautiful spa, quite a few restaurants, a scuba shop, and a pool with a swim up bar right next to the water. The ocean looked a little too choppy for us to take a dip, so we went to the bar by the water for some cocktails before dinner.

Dinner was at the hotel’s Maslina Tavern restaurant that overlooked the ocean. The restaurant was so romantic with live music and an amazing view of the sunset.

Our first dinner on our honeymoon at the Our view from our room at the Dubrovnik Palace Hotel, Croatia

We enjoyed a delicious squid ink seafood risotto, crispy sea bass, and duck with roasted sweet potatoes, plum sauce, and red cabbage. The seafood was caught that day and, boy, it was delicious!

With full stomachs and a little wine in our system, it was time for some much needed sleep at a scandalously late, 8 PM bed time.

Continue reading this adventure…

Roxborough State Park, Colorado

Denver To-Do List

by The Impatient Traveler, posted in Colorado, Denver

As I am sure you have heard, there is so much to do in and around Denver, Colorado! From the thrill of skiing to the amazing views found on the trails, exhilarating white water rafting to relaxing at a brewery, there are so many options and nailing down your exact itinerary can be a little overwhelming, which is why this post is here to help!

There are two main types of Denver vacations – warm and cold weather. If you are going in winter to ski outside of Denver, I recommend renting a 4-wheel drive car, planning for extra-traffic through the mountains going to the airport on our way home, and checking out my ski-trip packing list and skiing 101. If going in warmer weather, check out the below:

Things to do in downtown Denver:

  • Breweries, breweries, and more breweries – There are 4 of the top 50 breweries in the US located in Denver and many breweries within walking distance of each other. We went to Hogshead and the Denver Brewing Company. Not only did the Denver Brewing Company have an awesome patio and great beer, they were having a block party when we went. There were tons of games, other vendors and food trucks giving out freebies, and tons of adorable dogs since the whole place is very dog friendly.

Denver Brewing Company

  • Go to a Rockies baseball game at Coor’s Stadium – Coor’s Stadium has a super cool top deck bar area great for socializing, grabbing some drinks, and enjoying the game in a “sports bar” type of vibe but at the stadium itself! If you do not want to go into the stadium, check out Viewhouse – a huge bar across the street with a giant rooftop patio, outdoor lawn game area, cabanas, and awesome food and drinks.
  • The Denver Modern Art Museum – The Art museum is 5 floors and spans over two buildings connected by a sky bridge. It has a diverse mix of modern and historical artifacts and you can spend about 2-3 hours there easily.

  • Shopping – Feeling in the mood for a little shopping but don’t want to spend such a nice day indoors? Check out the Denver Pavilions outdoor mall in downtown for an open, outdoor shopping experience.
  • Check out the food co-op for lunch or dinner – Trying to find a restaurant with indecisive people or ones with conflicting opinions on cuisine can be tough. Luckily, Denver is home to the Avanti Food Court which has 7 different eateries, 2 bars, and indoor and outdoor seating, to greatly satisfy any wants or needs!

Things to do within an hour of Denver:

  • Red Rocks Amphitheater – The Red Rock Amphitheater is a concert venue tucked into giant red rock outcroppings about 45 minutes away from Denver. Not only can you see awesome concerts there, you can do yoga in the theater and there are tons of awesome hiking trails that provide insane views!
  • Go for a hike – Day Hikes Near Denver is a great resource for finding the perfect hike for you. It outlines the trail maps, details what the trails are like from difficulty level, time it takes to complete the trails, elevation changes, scenic stops, and proximity to Denver city. You can even see George Washington’s sleeping face (See below)! Additionally, check out my recommendations for a hiking packing list to keep you prepared wherever you go.

Arrowhead Golf Course in Littleton, Colorado

  • White water rafting & ziplining – Just about 35 minutes away from downtown Denver, there are multiple place to raft down the exhilarating rapids and zipline in adventure parks.
  • Stand up paddling or kayaking – There are quite a few manmade lakes, reservoirs, and ponds with beaches to relax on and water to sport in. Check this out to for the top 10 places to water sport outside of Denver.

With so much to do, especially a bit outside of Denver, I recommend renting a car so that you do not rack up a huge ride-sharing bill. You will have a lot more flexibility to go to and from your points of interest with a rental car but, of course, if you are doing a lot more partying in downtown and are not venturing out too far, drive responsibly or get a ride-share.

There are so many options for fun in Denver, what will you choose?!

Hiking through Roxborough State Park, Colorado

Sonoma, California

Sonoma Bachelorette – Part 2

by The Impatient Traveler, posted in California, Sonoma

We were taken to a little, three-sided barn where a long table was set up and we, yet again, had personalized menus for the party! All of those touches made things very special. Additionally, there were bread sticks and all of the girls went crazy of them – they were live savers after all of that wine from the vineyards before!

About half-way through our tasting, our wine connoisseur told us to grab our glasses because the rest of the tasting was on the go! He showed us around the grounds, through the barrel room, and into the vineyard…

They even had a chicken farm with multiple chicken coops and a peacock! After we finished the tour and the wine, it was time to hop back into our Sonoma Wine Tours shuttle and head back to our Airbnb.

We had three or so hours before our dinner reservation, so we decided to take full advantage of our awesome Airbnb’s back yard and jacuzzi! We popped some bottles, played “never have I ever”, and laughed until we were in tears.

Eventually, it was time to get ready and call Ubers to head to Harvest Mood Cafe for a delicious dinner. We were sat on the patio and it was pretty chilly, however, that kept us awake and talkative (we were all pretty tired from the day’s festivities). I had a delicious pesto pasta appetizer and chicken main, and then we all sang happy birthday to my sister and shared her celebratory chocolate cake (which may or not have been a good idea as there was debate to if she had mono or not!). It was so yummy but we sped through it so we could all get back inside into some warmth. While it was 70 and sunny during the day, the temperature dropped into the 40’s at night and we were not prepared!

While the initial plan was to go out after dinner, we were pretty tired, so we headed back to the Airbnb and to bed.

Sunday May 28th –

Today was “explore downtown Sonoma” day! We had a relaxed morning getting ready, eating bagels, and figuring out the game plan. We called some Ubers around 11 AM and took off to Sonoma square!

We originally wanted to do lunch at the famed The Girl and the Fig restaurant, however, even though we arrived when the doors opened, they did not have any tables open for the entire day! Roche Winery was right next store with an amazing patio, so we decided to go there instead. As luck would have it, the wine seller told us that The Girl and the Fig would deliver cheese and charcuterie to us on the patio, so we got the best of both worlds!

The wine was flowing, the cheese and meats were scrumptious, the weather couldn’t have been better, and I was with all of my best friends. I literally could not have been happier than I was on that patio.

After a few hours of enjoying, we decided to walk around the square and explore the stores and other wine cellars. Our first stop was the Sonoma Cheese Factory which, as you guessed, had lots and lots of cheese! Even better, they had wine and free cheese samples! We walked around and tasted all of the yummy cheese varieties and browsed all of the fun knickknacks they had for sale.

We continued our walk and smelt the incredibly seductive scent of freshly made ice-cream cones at Scoops. After being told by multiple people throughout our trip that Scoops was a must try, we could not resist some home-made ice-cream.

With ice-cream in hand, it was time to find some more wine. We found this enchanting flower path that led us to yet another tasting room!

The winery that we found had an awesome deal on wine bottles, so we bought quite a few, and the wine sellers told us we could drink the wine in the park! What a perfect plan. We walked back down the flowery path and about half of us made it across the street to the park before the other half was called back. A woman from a different wine room ran out after us and told us that we could get arrested for having wine outside of the part (which was about 100 yards away). We decided to “risk it” and all ran dramatically back across the street with great (sarcastic) relief when we made it unscathed! It was pretty fun being rebellious!

We found a nice area in the park to sit and enjoy our wine. About 30 minutes into that, this strange man in a dress shirt, athletic shorts, and Crocs started talking to us and was so creepy we had to move! We were getting pretty hungry at this point, so we decided to go to Sunflower Cafe for a Turkey Pesto sandwich that hit the spot.

The last place on our agenda for the day was Muscardini Cellars. They were having a big Memorial Day Weekend celebration with live music and they had a beautiful outdoor garden, so we were excited to check it out.

Unfortunately for us, the music was actually the day prior to our arrival, but we still had a marvelous time in the outdoor space.

Eventually, it was time to head back to the Airbnb for spaghetti night (sorry Betty)! For some reason, I was under the assumption we did not have enough garlic bread, so we asked our Uber driver where the best garlic bread in town was. He suggested some restaurant that was “on the way” and I called ahead to order a $25 loaf of garlic bread.. Let’s note that there was a lot of wine involved in the decision-making process here. Anyways, we get to the restaurant and I bought this giant pizza box filled with bread. About five minutes of driving later, our Uber driver stops on a hill and announces we were at our Airbnb – which was definitely false. Somehow the GPS had the right address but wrong county and we drove 20 minutes in the wrong direction! Oops. I supposed the good thing was that the other girls had pretty much finished cooking dinner by the time we finally arrived back with our now 3/4 full box of bread. We relaxed by the fire pit on the patio while, enjoying what was left of the sun’s rays, until the food was ready.

Dinner was delicious and, afterwards, we played bachelorette party games until late in the evening!

Monday May 29th –

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. We spent most of our last morning packing up the Airbnb. My sister was able to get us brunch reservations at The Girl and the Fig so we drove over and had a relaxing meal on their patio.

We were all tired, but in good spirits, and we decided to go to the Palace of Fine Arts on our way back to San Fransisco airport.

The Palace of Fine Arts was built for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915. It was massive and so impressive. I would have never imagined such a thing would exist in the middle of San Fransisco!

The drive back to the airport was scary. Waze took us through the middle of San Fran and up some hills that were so steep, we didn’t think we were going to make it! I was driving and the girls in the back of my car kept telling me to “stop messing around”, since the accelerator on the car didn’t seem have enough power to make it, and to “just keep going!” through stop signs since stopping on the angle seemed like certain death. It was like a roller coaster and, thankfully, we survived! We made it to the airport and back to Dallas all in one piece.

Special thanks to all of my amazing friends who made this weekend one of the best of my life! Also thanks to M. Hood for taking some great photos!

Playa Del Carmen – Passion by Martín Berasategui

by The Impatient Traveler, posted in Mexico, Playa Del Carmen

With such a hilarious Michael Jackson show in the day prior, we couldn’t pass up seeing the Aladdin show playing in the Paradisus La Perla theater. We had an 8:00 reservation for dinner and Aladdin started at 7:30 so we were only able to catch the first 30 minutes of the nostalgia generating performance! Between the costumes, the semi-coordinated dancing and lip syncing, all the music from my favorite Disney movie, and two glasses of wine, we were very entertained.

After we got our Aladdin fix, it was time for dinner at the world-renowned restaurant, Passion by Martín Berasategui. Berasategui has several Michelin Stars from other restaurants and launched a fancy resultant at our hotel. Even though this dinner was not included in our all-inclusive, we decided to give it a go – and boy were we glad!

We got dressed up and entered the fanciest restaurant on the grounds. Our white-gloved waiter greeted us and presented us with a selection of waters from across the world. I have never been offered a water selection… it was so lux. We decided on bottled water from Playa Del Carmen and it was poured over a rose petal in our water glasses.

We were then presented with two amuse-bouches dishes first that were totally to-die-for! The first featured balsamic watermelon, beef and caper tartar over a wonton crisp, parmesan cheese puffs, a grapefruit puree, and another puff of some kind. It was an off-the-menu surprise of a first course into an excellent meal.

The second amuse-bouche was a light calamari salad with a lemon drizzle.

After we finished with the first two courses, our tasting menu began. Our waiter set down a marble block with 5 different butters that were to be paired with a different bread over the next 5 courses. I have to say, the butter was one of my favorite dishes of the meal! From truffle, to citrus zest, to Italian herb, the butters were so creamy and paired so well with each bread variety that I had no butter left by the end of the meal. I was in calorie heaven! Our first butter was accompanied by thin slices of tri tip steak over foie gras royal.

Next up was organic egg yolk with liquid salad, red tubers and smoked cheese. I typically do not like any type of egg unless it is scrambled, but when this infused, red egg yolk was popped and mixed with the other flavors, the egg was taken to an entirely different flavor level.

Next up was a dashi and mushroom broth over liquid cheese spheres with dewlap and crispy quinoa. The broth was poured over the dish and added an interesting mushroom flavor. Additionally, there have only been two different instances in my life where I have eaten and tolerated raw tomatoes. Note, I love sun-dried tomatoes, ketchup, pasta sauce, and salsa, but I just cannot stand raw tomatoes! Outside of the tomato dish at Gaggan in Bangkok, Thailand, this is the only other time I have eaten tomatoes and not died inside – it was that good!

The 4th course was totoba with false shiitake mushroom risotto and creamy rice. It was good but was probably the least remarkable dish of the night. I did like the crispy skin on the fish though.

Our waiter delivered our 5th course of picanha with truffled tubers and olives and then rolled over a cart of salts. We picked some salt flavors and then added a dash to each bite of the steak as we enjoyed the dish. I tried a volcanic  and grasshopper salts and, wouldn’t you know, they were both delicious.

After a quick palette cleanser, my favorite dish of the night of lemon ice cream with basil essence, green bean and almond was served. The lemon was actually a cold, white chocolate shell that contained an incredible lemony cream inside. I cracked it open with my spoon and the cream picked up pieces of the dark chocolate crunch underneath, making for one of the most scrumptious bites of food I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. On the other side of the plate was mint infused ice. The cool sensation of the ice ,when enhanced by the lemon and chocolate still lingering from prior bites, was simple and exquisite. I would eat this every day of my life if I could.

The last dessert on the official menu was a chocolate Bailey’s ice cream with vanilla and coffee toffee and it was then followed up by a “chef’s treat” of other various mini-desserts and jellies. Needless to say, we were totally stuffed after a total of 11 dishes (plus all of those yummy butters and breads!).

Playa Del Carmen

Playa Del Carmen

by The Impatient Traveler, posted in Mexico, Playa Del Carmen

The good thing about catching and early flight is that there is no traffic on the way to the airport. The bad thing about a 7:25 AM flight is that you have to wake up at 4:30 AM – yuck! Thankfully, the adrenaline brought on by our vacation to Playa Del Carmen got me out of bed, in the car, and to the airport with plenty of energy.

Getting through security was a breeze so early and the check-in people were about as awake as we were. We grabbed some breakfast from Starbucks and, after a short wait, hopped on a 50% full American Airlines flight to the Cancun airport. We had a whole row to ourselves and indulged in some movies during the 2.5-hour flight. Talk about an easy start!

Flying to Cancun Airport

We arrived in the Cancun airport right before 10AM and headed out to our shuttle. There is a horde of travel agents at the exit of the airport ready to sell you excursions to everywhere you can imagine. Word of advice, just keep walking straight to the exit and don’t let them take up your time for the pitch! If you can, try to pre-arrange your shuttle to your hotel before you go so all you have to do is hop in and be on your way. We used Happy Shuttle to get to our Playa Del Carmen all-inclusive. The shuttle was clean and private so we didn’t have to spend beach time dropping other people off. Additionally, it was only about $65. The cab ride back from our hotel was only $34 since it costs less upon departure, so I recommend only booking your shuttle to your resort in advance.

We arrived through the ornate gates of the Paradisus La Perla, a Melia brand resort, and were immediately greeted by “Bienvenidos”, a cold towel for our face and hands, and a beautiful spa-like entry way. We stayed at the ME Cancun two years ago, a sister property of the Paradisus, and loved our stay so much that we wanted to stay within the Melia properties again for this trip.

Check-in was a little tricky because our reservation was under “Jessica Jessica without my last name. No idea how that happened, but all of the staff referred to me as “Jessica Jessica” for the remainder of the trip! Check-in also came with a purple sparking champagne drink, and then we were introduced to Marcos, our concierge. He welcomed us, gave us a map tour of the hotel, and walked through the 14 different restaurant options so we could make reservations for the various options. It was all very exciting!

Paradisus La Perla

Marcos also pitched us a “special deal” that included a free massage and free dinner at the Paradisus premier restaurant, “Passion by Martín Berasategui”. We were hesitant at taking the 90-minute pitch to sell us a Melia Club membership, but the $330 worth of free goods and a 3 night’s stay at another Melia property made us inclined to do the pitch. We made a pact though that, no matter what they pitched, we were not going to sign-up.

After we finished up with Marcos, we went to The Grill; the lunch buffet restaurant on the adult’s side of the hotel. I love all-inclusive’s because you can order everything and anything you want with no repercussions outside of a very full belly! We got some margaritas (it was a bit hard to explain “skinny margs” to the waiter but we got it eventually!), calamari, focaccia flat bread with pears, pesto and chicken, stuffed fish, and salmon. All totally delicious!

Satisfied with our lunch, we decided to explore the hotel. We walked through the mangrove forest separating the hotel from the beach, saw bunches of iguanas sunning themselves along the way, and headed to the water front! While the beach was not as wide and long as that in Cancun, it was still beautiful and calling to us to go in! Unfortunately, our room was not ready and my sneakers / active wear was not conducive to salt water swimming. We walked down the beach, back into the resort, through the pool area, and back to check-in to see if our room was ready. We initially arrived at 11:30 AM so getting our room did not seem too unreasonable, but we had to wait another 45 minutes to 3 PM to finally get our keys. Sipping a margarita on a day bed looking at the ocean helped, but it was still a bit annoying!

Enjoying a margarita at The Grill at Paradisus La Perla, Playa Del Carmen

We were finally escorted to our room with our bags and, boy, were we impressed! Our room had a huge tub, a double rain shower, a nice sitting area, and a huge balcony that looked over the mangrove forest and into the ocean. Score! I did think that our room had a live fish tank too but to my chagrin, it was just a picture of one…

Anyways, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool for some late afternoon rays. There were tons of people there drinking, laying out, and playing water volleyball. We laid in some beach chairs and drank cocktails while talking to some South Carolinians and Canadians next to us. One of the best things about these resorts is meeting other people.

Around 6 or so, we decided to get ready for our reservation at the Fuego restaurant; a modern Latin place with a flair for ceviche. The restaurant had fiery ambiance to it and the wait staff was very friendly. We started with some delicious tempura and ceviche, had a glorious quinoa and chicken salad, enjoyed flank steak and veal for the entrees, and finished with apple cream and creme brulee desserts. I must say; the meal was excellent but the dessert was a little subpar.

After dinner, we heard that there was a Michael Jackson show going on in the theater on the family side of the resort. With wine in hand, we sat and watched one of the most ridiculously entertaining and strange shows of our lives! The guy playing Michael Jackson was a great dancer and did a fantastic job lip syncing all the songs. In between his bits, there were 2 guys and a girl who slow-jammed thriller and totally butchered some of Jackson’s other songs but they were so into it one couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. There were even acrobats doing aerial and flexibility stunts similar to, but not quite the caliber of, Cirque Du Soleil. I must say, we went in not knowing what to expect, and were totally overjoyed with surprise of this ridiculous show!

After MJ, we grabbed another glass of wine at the open-air bar, and then headed back to the room for some shut-eye.