The Catedral de Mallorca is an imposing Gothic structure on the outside, and inside is even more impressive. Said to have 61 stained glass windows, the central rose window is a highlight and...
Blog posts from International Travel
Europe Spring 2024: a weekend in Palma, Mallorca
While there are a lot of areas to explore in Valencia we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a weekend getaway. Initially we considered options that were a reasonable train ride away, but...
European Spring 2024: Madrid, pt 1
We arrived in Madrid after a turbulent overnight flight in business class. I think Leandra was glad to be off that plane! Even though we had a metro card we could recharge, we decided to take an...
European Spring 2024: 30 hours in Chicago
Our flight to Spain left Chicago O'Hare on Monday, so we decided to position ourselves in the city on Sunday just in case of travel delays. Unfortunately, Southwest only had an early Sunday morning...
2023 Year in Review
Previous years-in-review – 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 In 2023 we focused on longer, slower trips. That led to less total flying than in...
Seychelles: snorkel excursions
Snorkel Trip with Geoli Charters (Praslin) There was 100% chance of rain according to Google but we awoke to sunshine, yay! We were picked up by van a little after 9am at our hotel, the driver was...
Seychelles: La Digue restaurants and takeaway
Glorious Bakery We stopped in for take-away pizza (margarita) on our first day. Better than the Lobster Bay pizza on Praslin and priced fine at 150scr ($10.50). Enough for us to split with two...
Seychelles: La Digue sights
Anse Severe This was our 'local' beach, just down the street from our accommodations, and featured multiple beach bars. Eric tried snorkeling on our first day but the combination of shallow water...
Seychelles: Praslin restaurants and takeaway
Lobster Bay Restaurant Our first dinner on Praslin, conveniently located just a 2 minute drive from our hotel with a few parking spots out front. We had stopped in earlier to make a reservation and...
Seychelles: Praslin sights
Fond Ferdinand Park Vallée de Mai is the most popular spot to see the famous coco de mer palm trees, but it is expensive at $30pp. Instead, we opted for the smaller and less expensive Fond...
Seychelles: Mahe restaurants and takeaway
La Perle Noire Restaurant This was our first night on the island, and we arrived right as they were opening at 6pm. Even though the restaurant was fully booked, the owner kindly gave us a table...
Seychelles: Mahe sights
Anse Royale Beach Our flight landed in the morning, and we had several hours to kill before we could check into our self-catering place. Since the weather was nice Eric pointed us to Anse Royal...
Seychelles: transportation (ferry, cars + bikes)
Since we wanted to explore multiple spots and didn't want to rely on a travel provider, we needed to arrange ferries to get between islands, plus either a car or a bike to get around each island....
Seychelles: where we stayed
Villa Bella (Mahe) Our check in was easy - the owner was waiting for us and showed me around while Eric unpacked the car. There was an additional tourism fee that needed to be paid in local currency...
Seychelles: flights & lounges
Altogether, we took a total of 7 flights going and returning from the Seychelles. Three of those flights were standard Southwest Airlines flights to position us to Chicago, or get us from New York...
Seychelles: introduction
Photos of the tropical Seychelle islands have intrigued me for years. Beaches lined with palm trees and massive boulders, plus large tortoises and the world's largest coconut? Yes please. However,...
September 2023 Wine and Rugby: evening in Madrid
We dropped off the car at the airport and took an Uber into the city. After relaxing in the room for a bit, I stopped into ALE-HOP to look for comfy socks and found a pair of fluffy rainbow slippers...
September 2023 Wine and Rugby: wine tasting in Rueda
Bodegas Muelas Walking the walls of the Cuellar castle put us behind schedule so we had to hustle several blocks from the (free) parking lot in Todesillas to make our reserved tour of the bodega....
Our Itinerary
2026 Trips
Parrish, FL (Jan)
Medellin, Colombia (Feb)
Wilmington, NC (Apr)
Madrid, Spain (May)
Asturias, Spain (May)
Galicia, Spain (June)
London/Cotswolds, UK (July)
Long Island, NY (July)
Western Ireland (Aug)
Vietnam (Nov)
Laos (Nov)
Cambodia (Dec)
Singapore (Dec)
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Doha, Qatar (May)
Bristol + London, UK (Jul)
Long Island, NY (Jul)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
day trips from Bologna (Oct)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
Greensboro, NC (Nov)