Niagara Falls

 

 

While we had the most incredible girls weekend, we were not impressed by Niagara itself.  Being in Niagara Falls (we stayed on the Canadian side) feels similar to staying in Times Square.  Everything is overtly and unnecessarily expensive and there are tacky lights and all chain restaurants/hotels around.  Our favorite part of the trip was visiting Niagara-on-the-lake (a southern Ontario town chockfull of incredible wineries).

This sounds terrible but the falls are just not all that impressive unless you are in a boat or directly up close to them.  From the hotels, no matter which one, the views are just not spectacular.  Photos of the “view from the hotel” are completely falsified and exaggerated.  The reality is the hotels are all pretty far off so it makes the falls look like beautiful fountains… The best view we had from anywhere in Niagara was in the Marriott restaurant (see above and below).

Our stay at the Marriott in NF will go down as one of our worst stays in a Marriott of all time; poor service overall and everything was ridiculously overpriced.  Starbucks, as an example, cost $6.25 for a TALL pumpkin spiced latte… seriously!  That is how over the top this tourist trap is!

            One of the best days of our entire life was spent at Jackson-Triggs winery in Niagara-on-the-lake.  We had PERFECT weather, amazing food (and wine!!), and the very best company (my best friend/sister).

We took the quick tour of the property and found it fascinating.  I think it was about $15 each.  Then we bought the large cheese/bread/spread picnic assortment and a glass of wine each.

In order to save on transportation (which is very expensive), we walked to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed some delicious pizza and salad.  Then we took a taxi back to the hotel in Niagara (about 35 mins and way too much $).

 

San Antonio, Texas

Although I’ve been to San Antonio many times visiting my grandparents growing up, this was my first time to go as a tourist and Brandon’s first time to visit at all. We spent the majority of our time at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. It is absolutely incredible! Probably the best experience at a chain hotel we’ve ever had. As you can see, the facility is extremely new. The Rustic/southern yet modern family is executed perfectly.

 

     

The gigantic public lounge area has plenty of room for seating and as well as a bar, fountains, and a sports entertainment area including pool tables.

The rooms themselves were gorgeous and spacious (and overall fancy pants).  If you go to this property with a big group and he would like to have your privacy, that is certainly manageable. However, if you want to  be able to check in with them frequently, I recommend making sure that your rooms are close together because they can easily be spread apart by an extremely long long walk.

The restaurant Cibolo Moon is incredible. However, it is also expensive (to be expected at a resort of this caliber). The brunch was unreal. Once again they implemented the adorable country chic theme into every detail.

For the company-wide dinner, they placed us in a somewhat small room but provided great service and excellent food. The company booked a hospitality suite to be utilized by our group throughout the weekend and they did an amazing job of keeping it well-stocked with goodies and constantly checking in. The service was truly incredible.

 

Outdoors there is a Great patio with lounge chairs and a festive Christmas tree light show going on every evening during the holidays. Beyond the patio, we could see the far reaching property including the magnificent lazy river that we wish we could have enjoyed. We can’t wait to return at a time when it’s warm enough to partake in the water festivities.

We also ventured over to the conference center and spa. My experience at the spa was only so-so. The conference area, however, was really neat. There’s also a Starbucks and a couple little shops on property.

We spent our last day in the heart of San Antonio.  Especially since I had been many times before (and I don’t find Texas history that intersting – sorry), that’s all the time we needed.  Only thing I would have done differently is I wish we would have had time to have an evening meal on the Riverwalk since I haven’t done that in years.

Of course the two most iconic (and well worth it) spots in SA are the Riverwalk and the Alamo.  There are tons of restaurants and bars right on the water and clearly the view is fantastic.  I think this is the prettiest I’ve ever seen it; I love all those fall colors.

The Alamo is a short walk away and you can spend as little as 5 minutes seeing the outside briefly for a photo op or 1-2 hours reading every piece of historical information available.  Regardless, it is worth visiting San Antonio at least once and I think the fall is a great time to do it when it’s not disgustingly HOT.  These photos are from December – I recommend going in September/October if you can and hopefully you can still enjoy the lazy river at the resort.  If you have a whole week here, you should bring your family to Schlitterbahn (an amazing water park) and check out Austin as well.

   

St Petersburg, Russia

We had 2 days in St Petersburg on our Baltic Sea cruise.  I believe you could technically stay the night there if you wanted but you’d have to get a visa, pay for a hotel, and find your own way around the city (at a time that tension was high because of the Snowden drama).  We opted for the “Best of St Petersburg” excursion through NCL, a 2 day tour that included transportation back to the ship at the end of each day before dinner as well as our visas.

 

The visa line (as you can see in the first photo below) was extremely long and slow.  The fam is mocking me in the photo because I was so excited to see Russia that the line didn’t phase me but they were OVER it. 🙂

 

We took a lengthy (1 hr?) bus ride to Pushkin to see Catherine Palace.  The constant driving in a large bus was rough just because we were getting up early and every drive lulled me to sleep!  The palace was neat but I would say I could have done without this part of the tour since the palace on the second day was so much more grand (and ultimately very similar).

 

^ The meals included in the tour were very good.  The dining was much higher quality than we expected.  The service was good and the food was bizarre at times but there was plenty to eat and several courses.  I wish I had photos from the first lunch we had; we ate in what appeared to be a ballroom as if we were at a wedding.  The atmosphere was very formal and enjoyable.

^The Hermitage was an incredible experience.  I’m a sucker for museums and art (in moderation) and I felt like we could have spent a lot more time here than at Catherine’s Palace.  It was still plenty of time to see most everything (just not time to soak it all up) before we had to get back on the bus.  The Hermitage very closely reminded me of the Vatican Museum.  Monet, Rembrandt, a little bit of everything!  It was incredible to witness.

 

^The weather was perfect!! This was taken right outside the Hermitage.

One thing I think they excursion planners could really improve on is they gave us too many “shopping” breaks.  Every shopping stop was filled with the same crappy overpriced trinkets and if you hadn’t already bought something after the first place, why would you get something at the fourth one?  Our whole family was sick of these pit stops by the second day; I would have much preferred an extra hour or two at the Hermitage.

 

Now here comes my very negative review of the advertised “Russian Ballet”.  What. a. joke.  It ended up being a horrible community college level performance.  We received a partial refund for this deception from NCL.  We paid extra to do the Russian ballet experience and what we experienced was  a comedy show.  Oh well!  We spent lots of time laughing about it and we still got to see the ballet in Russia (Bucket list… check!)

Day 2 

 

^At Peterhof we were required to wear these little shoe covers which made for some extra fun (and some nearly dangerous falls haha).

 

Above and below you can see Peterhof from outside (where you’re actually allowed to photograph).  It was a really amazing property inside and out and thankfully the weather was great again.

 

  

They then took us by a little boat to our next stop.  It was a little nauseating but it was kind of a nice change of pace from the bus.  We had such a blast!

Tallinn, Estonia

We made a very short walk from the ship directly to this tiny port town.  Surrounded by strong city walls, you will walk into Tallinn feeling as if you’ve just been transported to Medieval times.

 

We stopped for coffee and dessert at the DELICIOUS and cozy Kohvituba Coffee Shop since it was icky and raining outside.  We then made our way walking around the town, shopping, and checking out the historical sites.

 

The highlight of our trip was an extremely AUTHENTIC medieval lunch at III Drakon.  They literally cook the same foods from the 13th century with the same cooking methods and everything. No electricity, no credit cards, etc.  Surprisingly delicious, too!

We stopped later on for some ice cream in a stand and it was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had!! Even in the cold nasty weather!

  

 

Berliner

We took a 3 hr train ride from the port, Warnemunde, to the amazing city of Berlin for the day.

Berlin is one of the only cities we have ever visited that we felt like was impossible to see even the highlights in a day.  Our travel style has been “getting a taste” of each city and seeing as many different places as possible so that we know where we’d like to return for a longer stay.  After only a few hours in Berlin we knew we’d HAVE to return to get a full glimpse of this lively place.

There is so. much. history. here.  It was unbelievable to see the remnants of the Berlin wall and know that very little will remain when our children and their children visit in the future.

^ My family visited the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen (former concentration camp).

We left the train station Hauptbahnhof and walked quite a distance to see all the highlights by foot. I personally think that is the best way to do it but, like I said, you need more than a day here.  We heavily relied on our Trip Advisor City Guide app that we had previously downloaded. There are several free walking guides that you can utilize from this app that include relevant and fascinating historical information.

Our first stop was the Reichstag building and then Brandenburg gate. Next, my family went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

After that it was already time to stop for lunch since we had been on the train for several hours. Again, our city guide app was incredibly helpful in finding unaffordable and delicious stop.

One of our best meals of our trip was lunch in Berlin at Weingalerie u.Cafe “No!”  Check out TA reviews here.  The service was not phenomenal (I was a little annoyed because it took too long for someone to acknowledge us and seat us).  But, the owner and waitress (who appeared to be the only ones working) were both friendly.  The reason we loved it was simply the atmosphere, the fact that it truly is full of locals, and the food was YUMMY.  We initially ordered the 25euro sampler plate just to try a little bit of everything but the owner was surprisingly hesitant about our order and essentially convinced us to go another route.  He explained that they were having some special (which was explained in a confusing way because I didn’t get why he’d want to change my order if I was going to pay him more).  The special was that the flatbreads and other entrees that were usually 9,50-10,50 but the deal was 9,00 for the entree AND a sparkling wine before the meal or an espresso after the meal.  I ended up going with the 9,00 mediterranean flatbread with sparkling wine.  The wine was not good but the flatbread was delicious.  Brandon got the turkey and spetzl special that came with a cucumber salad which was also fantastic.  We saw someone else get the coffee and we wish we would have gotten that instead of the wine.  The bread beforehand was also great.

Here are some other restaurants I’ve heard are very good in Berliner:

• Arleccino italian
• Lubitsch Tea
• Curry 36
• Enjoy a coffee and pastry along one of these cafes along under visit Gemaldegalerie

After lunch, we walked to Potsdamer Platz and enjoyed the oddly modern section of the city.  Berlin is so unique because of the way it is sectioned off  after the years of separation.  The area of Potsdamer Platz is very urban and industrial, unlike the rest of the city because this was a “no man’s land” during the separation.  We went on the “Potsdamer Platz” tour on the TA app; at the Sony Center they were actually hosting the Berlin premiere of “We’re the Millers.”  We missed the actual red carpet event, unfortunately, because we had to leave to get back to the boat.

Next we soaked up history at the Topography of Terror and Checkpoint Charlie. On the way between the two there were several other free outdoor exhibitions to learn from.  I had such a difficult time moving on when we were so limited on time because I wanted to read every fascinating word!

^Checkpoint Charlie was not really worth stopping but it was worth passing by.  We took the U-bahn from the station here over to East Side Gallery.  You can see below that the art was breathtaking and every piece of the remaining wall was completely unique.  FYI, U-bahn is underground and S-bahn is their overground public transit like a tram.

     

Below you can see the way they marked where the wall used to be all around the city.

 

After strolling around East Side Gallery we made our way to the Lichtenberg train station so we could return to Warnemunde.  We can’t wait to return – for at least 3 days next time!

Sanibel Island

 

 

 

We had heard so many amazing things about Sanibel island. Although he had a really wonderful trip together, this is not our favorite destination and it was certainly not in our top Beach list. The beautiful seashells and sunsets, however, are worth mentioning! Overall, we found everything to be really expensive and the beach itself was not as nice as some of the ones closer to home

Now, everyone enjoys a different type of beach. We have been spoiled by cruising (very affordably) out of Port Canaveral that we prefer white fluffy sand and Aqua water.  Our favorite local beaches in Central Florida are New Smyrna and Playa Linda. Sanibel beaches have much harder sand and not as white and fluffy and the water itself was beautiful but still blue and not quite as translucent. We stayed in a very cute little cottage through Seahorse Cottages which was a good deal for the island. We were able to utilize bikes there for free to get around the island which was probably our favorite part of the trip.  *The island is still big enough where we needed to drive a couple times*

We were recommended by several people to try The Bubble Room for dinner on Captiva Island. We found this place to be extremely expensive. I’m talking One of the most expensive meals we’ve ever had.  The food was good it just wasn’t five-Star-steakhouse-$80-for-two-good. It’s popularity also derives from the quirky theme and decor. As you can see in the pictures here, it is a wild circus theme and honestly it’s sort of creepy.

We waited for a lengthy amount of time for every meal on our getaway because we were trying the ones our friends recommended.  No other meals were noteworthy unfortunately.

 

We were grateful for an amazing time the two of us but personally we would not choose to return.  We know families who have been going there every summer for years and years.   I am so glad that we tried it out for a weekend getaway but I am also relieved that we didn’t spend too long of a time there because we would’ve spent way too much money. I can’t see myself returning and I wouldn’t recommend that people from out of state turn to Sanibel as their Floridian vacation destination.

 

Helsinki, Finland

We had one day in Helsinki while on our Baltic Sea cruise.  It was a neat city to wander around and everyone was very pleasant.  Everything was very expensive from the food to the taxis.  However, it’s not like there’s anything to pay for activity-wise and it was expected since it is the Baltics after all.

^Above is a shot of us in front of the Lutheran Cathedral.  Below the many stairs is Senate Square.  These were the most “touristy” of all the spots and not even remotely crowded (how refreshing!)

  

 

We were so fortunate to have great weather almost every day of our time in the Baltics (we visited in August).  The Esplanade  is a historic walking area that offers beautiful views.  It was another great port to roam freely once you reached city center.

We found a delicious lunch stop at Karl Fazer Cafe.  If I had to liken it to an American chain, it is sort of like a bizarre cross between the Cheesecake factory and a Luby’s.  It was very formal and expensive but you pick out your food in cafeteria fashion.  The atmosphere was great and service was decent; the food was delicious.

^In front of the Uspenski Cathedral (very neat little stop).

It was really bizarre when we first arrived and we looked off our cabin balcony:

^This was our exact reaction.  Hideous right?!  Unfortunately this is one stop where you really do need to just suck it up and pay for transportation.  You can’t really just walk from the port to the city.  We walked for a while until we could get wifi at this electronics store less than a mile away.  But once we got there and downloaded our maps from the amazing TripAdvisor CityGuide app, we realized we were still a good distance away from the city center.  We made our way to the tram station and purchased tickets in the somewhat difficult to use self-service kiosks.  I only knew how to order them because of my research prior to the trip.  You can check out more info on Helsinki public transit here.

We visited a few markets with everything from fresh produce to fully prepared meals and desserts – I enjoyed a delectable warm belgian waffle!  Like all places we’ve visited in Europe, the markets blow our hometown’s farmer’s market out of the water.

8 reasons to love Copenhagen, Denmark

 

 

1. The water.

2. The architecture.

 

3. The Metro.

The metro system in Copenhagen was unbelievable.  This was the nicest, cleanest public transportation system I have ever witnessed.  We walked the majority of the time but there were 3-4 times (twice from the airport) that this was necessary and it was a very good experience.

 

 

4. The markets.

My favorite part of our time in Copenhagen was the “Antik Marked” on a Sunday morning.  I was amazed by the variety and high quality of the items available.  There were so many locals buzzing around and we wished we could take at least one goodie from each vendor home (but our suitcases wouldn’t allow it).  The scenery was gorgeous with long rows of the quintessential colorful connected buildings lining the water.  The weather was also perfect!

After visiting each and every tent/truck we picked out our treats and sat out for somewhat of a picnic.  Right next to the market there were antiques for sale and a *free* gallery day (I guess because it was Sunday).  It was such a treat.

 

5. The art.

This whole city is just oozing with CULTURE and LIFE and ACTIVITY.  We loved it.  Everywhere we went we came upon another event or piece of art.  Many of the streets are lined with these colorful walls you see below.  We came across several flea markets (see above) throughout our visit as well as concerts, yoga gatherings, and more.

   

The NY Carlsberg Glyptotek was a pricey gallery but it was absolutely incredible.  There was a 3 story Degas exhibit open when we went and we also got to witness pieces like Rodin’s “The Thinker”.

 

 

 

 

6. The Stroget.

The Stroget is the only place in Copenhagen where we felt like we “found” the tourists.  It’s the Times Square of the city and filled with hotels, restaurants, and lots of high end shops.  It’s fun to stroll through but it was not my favorite part of town (too crowded!)

 

7. The food.

(See my other post fully devoted to foodie stops in Copenhagen here).

 

And, of course…

8. The bikes

Biking is a huge part of Northern European culture in general.  Copenhagen is no exception.  The photo below is just one example of the huge stacks of bikes lining streets and buildings – can you imagine if your bike was pinned inside of that mound?  What a mess.  However, the city is EXTREMELY bike friendly; even small staircases have a ramp to roll your bike down easily.

  

 

What to eat: Copenhagen

Our favorite meal was at Cafe Norden off the Stroget.  Check out reviews and appetizing photos here.  It is a popular location right off the main shopping street (which we typically avoid when traveling) so I’m sure there were plenty of other tourists.  However, this was a unique and worthy stop.  We spent hours here enjoying a few courses (best of all, dessert!) and it reminded us all of one of our favorite spots back in Houston: Black Walnut Cafe.

My mom and I split this vegetarian trio below and it was really delicious and original.  Brandon had this jam-packed burger and the rest of our family thoroughly enjoyed all of their choices as well.

This place^ was a good find; funky atmosphere and decent service/food.  Best of all, reasonable prices!  It was clearly a local spot which we always love to try.

Joe & The Juice is not just a European thing; however, I had still not been to one in the States and I loved fueling up on the yummy fresh greens on the go any time I needed some energy .  As I’ve said, Copenhagen is way expensive.  So this was a cheaper breakfast or pit stop when I just wanted a small something.

Make sure you have at least one meal on the water.  You could definitely enjoy a meal actually on the water in a restaurant boat touring the canals.  But, we opted for eating ON the canal and waving to the boats as they passed.  We had just returned from a cruise so I was a little over the constantly-moving-thing.

For another meal we ate at Cafe Mandela off Onkel Dannys Plads.  The food was RIDICULOUSLY expensive.  But it sure was good.  The atmosphere is nice but service was not so great.

Hjjemmelavet Is was a delicious and affordable ice cream stop off the water.  There was a concert of some sort going on beside the river so we people-watched and enjoyed our nommy treat.

One of the best days of our entire trip was our very last, spent wandering the Copenhagen streets freely.  We came upon this amazing farmers market filled with tons of unique foodie treats.  I had an amazing veggie stacked sandwich by Prinsessens Laekre Bag.  The atmosphere was so perfect and relaxing; we loved all the people watching and wished by had enough room in our luggage to take home a taste from every vendor.

 

 

Every coffee shop we visited was outstanding.  This place was located right next to the apartment we rented.  I enjoyed how lattes came in a glass instead of a mug in Europe and that they had sufficient foam.  Mmmmm 🙂