Tag: vacation

Visiting Las Vegas on a budget

As a Southern California native and a frequent visitor to Las Vegas, I have a love/hate relationship with the city. Expensive, commercial, hot, and crowded, it is also a destination laden with treasures and beauty that you don’t find everyday. A fellow blogger put together this fabulous Vegas guide, and I am reblogging this post because it is so rich with information regarding finding those treasures in Vegas but not spending a fortune. Hope you’ll also find it useful!

One of my favorite views in the world

The view from the Rialto bridge in Venice is – in a word – indescribable.  Yes, you are submerged in tourists.  But if you can just face forward and take a deep breath and let the beauty of Venice pour in, you will never forget the moment.  The curve of the Grand Canal teeming with activity just below your feet, the pastel painted buildings lining the water with bobbing boats parked steps away.  Yesterday was a warm, sunny day, and the canal was gleaming with energy.  Even the birds seemed to know this was the place to be.

An Innocent Roman Sunset

Living far away from home isn’t always easy.  But this sunset view of St. Peter’s Basilica just off of the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta in Rome has a way of melting away all of my homesickness.  Just one gentle sweep of my eyes across the Roman rooftops and all my worries are gone…

Art Basel: A visual delight in my own backyard.

I live in Bologna, Italy, a mere five and a half-hour drive from Basel, Switzerland, which hosts one of the most important annual modern and contemporary art shows in the world, Art Basel.  In my two years of living in Bologna, did it ever occur to me to make a trip to Basel?  No.  Why not?  Good question.  Laziness…money…ignorance perhaps…I guess it gets the best of us sometimes.  Our own backyards are sometimes the last place we explore.  In this case, I was lucky enough that my friend Zong rescued me from my remiss by inviting me to meet him at his gallery’s exhibition this year at Art Basel.

Having virtually no visual arts education and not being a fan of fairs and trade shows in general, my decision to go was in the spirit of adventure, friendship, and trust in Art Basel’s excellent reputation.  And, well, why not?  The exhibition spanned a full week in Basel, with about 300 galleries exhibiting, strictly chosen from a group of 2,000 applicants.  It sounded promising.

Simply put, Art Basel wholly lived up to its reputation and in scale, was truly the most impressive collection of modern and contemporary art I have seen in my life.  And I really can’t stress this enough – you don’t need to know anything about art to enjoy an exhibition like this.  From all-star artists like Picasso and Warhol, furniture and design displays, photography, and installation art, there is something for everyone.  And don’t even try looking at everything – there’s no time.  Just stop and look at what really gets you.

Statistically speaking, there is something for everyone, and because this is not your average art show, that something is likely to be, well, amazing.  I will never forget the moment I walked into one of the exhibit halls at Art Basel, roughly the size of a football field, and realized the entire hall was dedicated to installation art.  This is not the sort of thing you find every day.  I suddenly felt like an eight-year-old that just walked into Disneyland.  I spent the afternoon weaving my way between larger than life paintings with their own soundtracks (think Moby Dick dressed in costume complete with whale sounds and a recorded reading), huge sculptures, through installed walls of fictional deserted businesses on an urban street, and into countless dark rooms with video projects, each one like a treasure waiting to be pulled out of a grab bag.  By the end of the day, my mind was soaring from all the stimulation from so many visual delights.  I was thrilled.  I even managed to convince my athletic and left-brained travel companion, David, to come.  He found solace in the visual mind tricks from architecturally inspired installations.

And the cherry on top of the fabulousness that was Art Basel was the beautiful, accessible, and relaxed city of Basel.  While the city was packed with people attending the exhibition, there was plenty of room for everyone (aside from the steep hotel prices – book in advance).  I spent a relaxing evening enjoying a stroll along the River Rhine, soaking in the beautiful architecture and the wonderfully relaxed vibe.  My friend David spent the day hiking along the river, which he filled me in on with his iPhone photos when we met later for dinner at a local favorite for beer,  The Fischerstube.

Reuniting with Zong in what really did turn out to be a mecca of modern and contemporary art, I really started kicking myself for not being more proactive with my travel adventure research and coming to Art Basel sooner.  How many other amazing places are there to explore and things to do in the world am I missing because, well, no one has invited me?  I’ve really got to get on this…Next year, Venice Biennale, here I come!

Here’s a slide show of my favorite photos from Basel:

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Art Basel 2013, a set on Flickr.

Why We <3 Bologna

We are thrilled to introduce our first of a series of videos about our travels around Europe and afar!  Please check our YouTube channel!  Our adventures aren’t the same without you guys to share all of our stories with.


Bologna is not the most famous city in Italy. It has no world-famous monuments or museums. There are no destination resorts or breathtaking seaside.


But Bologna is our home. And we love it. For good reasons I might add. Actually, for reasons so significant they beg the question: What makes a city famous? And what should make a city famous? Is what we need for living so different from what we want when we travel?


We think no.  Because if there is anything we can be sure of when we travel, no matter where we go, no unforgettable travel story every started with, “So we were standing in front of this monument.” Ha! Instead, how do these travel tales that you tell for the rest of your life begin? Perhaps, “We wandered into this amazing restaurant,” or “We made some new friends that showed us the town….”


These are the experiences that you are going to find in Bologna. So if you are concerned with seeing some of the world’s most famous monuments, definitely don’t come here. But if you want to eat some pretty awesome food and make some new international friends, all on the backdrop of a undeniably medieval city, then don’t miss it. Seriously. Because what more can we ask from life than great food, new friends, and some medieval eye candy?


And for those of you who still aren’t convinced, here are Lena and I’s top reasons why we can’t live without Bologna…


1. The food
Bologna is internationally famous for its cuisine. And with good reason. The food here is, well, excellent. Spaghetti Bolognese (tagliatelle al ragu), tortellini al brodo, lasagna, and mortadella (aka Baloney). Rich and decadent, don’t come here if you are on a diet. And if you do try the mortadella, you better bring some home with you…unless you are worried about making Oscar Meyer jealous.  For a classic Bologna mortadella experience, try Tamburini (via Caprarie, 1), which is in the heart of the center of Bologna, and popular with the Bolognese.  Another favorite of ours for mortadella is Marsalino (via Marsala, 13), with a hipper feel in contrast to the classic Tamburini, and a super cute staff that always makes sure you are taken care of.


2. Fun to be found at all times (except in August)
In our humble opinion, what makes a city great is when the streets are filled with people enjoying life. And this is truly a signature of life in Bologna. Taking an afternoon stroll, hanging out with friends and family and enjoying the scene, almost nothing is powerful enough to keep people off the street in Bologna.  Pick up a bottle of wine at one of Bologna’s plentiful enotecas, and head to the nearest piazza to relax and people-watch like the locals do.


3. Beauty in every nook and cranny
Bologna boasts the typical Italian beauty – narrow, winding streets painted in bright warm colors, shuttered windows, wrought iron terraces. But what sets Bologna apart from the rest of Italy are its portici, otherwise known as arcades. These portici are multifunctional – easy on the eyes, and a godsend when bad weather abounds. Thanks to the portici, I don’t even own a functional umbrella. 


4. The people
We at Gracefully Global believe that traveling is about getting into the heart of the places we visit, which really means getting to know the people who make these places unique. Bologna is no exception – actually, Bologna’s heartbeat is undeniably the people who are on the streets every day and every night, in every shape and form, from around Italy and around the world. If you want to avoid large hoards of tourists and immerse yourself in the European experience, Bologna is a great place to begin.  Once you’ve finished your bottle of wine and enjoyed the ambiance of the piazzas, just follow the crowd to the nearest pub.  You’ll make friends in no time.


5. The aperitivo
This is the simplest of explanations. We love Bologna because it is one of the few places in the world that a drink can buy you access to an all-you-can-eat dinner buffet.  Buy one drink, and a light dinner buffet is included, for free, at many of Bologna’s most popular bar destinations. What more could we ask for (as starving students and English teachers that is…)? 😉  One of our favorite aperitivo destinations is Lab 16 (Via Zamboni, 16), located very close to Bologna’s famous two towers.  They have copious amounts of food (the pizza is great!) served between 7:30pm and 10:00pm, with just a small surcharge on top of your drink purchase (and they have great fruit drinks for those that don’t drink alcohol).  The best part is during the summer they set up tables in the small piazza in front of Lab 16, which happens to be one of my favorite perches in all of Bologna.

San Diego Uncovered: My favorite experiences

They say you can take the girl out of San Diego, but you can’t take the San Diego out of the girl.  I am no exception to that rule.  As I write this blog entry from exactly 6,201 miles away from San Diego – according to Google maps – in my current home of Bologna, Italy, I should feel far away.  But I can still feel that unmistakable cool ocean breeze, I can tase my favorite burrito at Rubio’s, I can still see my friends smiling.  San Diego and my nearby hometown of El Centro, CA still feel like they are right around the corner.

But, logic prevails, and I must admit that 6,201 miles are a lot.  Chances are, you’ll be heading to San Diego before I do.  So I thought I’d give you my personal rundown of my fave experiences in San Diego, the moments that I pursue when I want to forge out of the predictability of my routine and forget that I’m a local, forget stress and responsibilities and just be a tourist in my own fabulous city for a day.  These are also my go-to’s for showing out-of-town-guests the best San Diego has to offer.

San Diego is not a place that can simply be taken at face value, and quantifying and explaining all it has to offer is no easy task.  While it is famous for surf, sun, and the zoo, if you give it a chance and just dig a little deeper, San Diego will show you a side that you never expected.  Not only can you get a tan, but you can also find exactly what your heart desires.

Here’s my list of favorite experiences, in no specific order.  Each experience will be a separate blog post that I will be publishing over the next few weeks.

1. Enjoying some of the best beer the United States has to offer
2. More than just pasta and olive oil in Little Italy
3. A day on an island
4. Beach bums at their best in Northern San Diego County
5. Two for one – Culture and nature in Balboa Park
6. Baseball and Hipsters in the East Village
7. A day at the mall
8. Lavish elegance in downtown San Diego
9. Taco Tuesday in Old Town – A little bit of local, a little bit of tourist
10. Downtown La Jolla – Tradition happens for a reason
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So, without further adieu, I present experience number one: Enjoying some of the best beer the United States has to offer.

Happy exploring!!!!

Illustrious Instants: Taking the Back Road

You know those instants when the beauty of a moment transcends your eyeballs and you are actually viscerally affected by the amazingess?


On this marvelous summer day, driving the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania about an hour and a half outside of Pittsburgh, I experienced one of those moments.  And I was so overtaken by the perfection of the world at this moment in time, that I pulled off the road and took a picture.


I only wanted to record the feeling that I was experiencing, somehow, and I was only shooting with my iPhone 3, so I wasn’t expecting anything special from the photos.  I was just optimistically striving to create a visual reminder to help me pull out this memory sometime in the future.


But, I guess the amazingness of the moment not only transcended my eyeballs, but it also transcended my iPhone.  By some miracle, this little butterfly entered my frame at the exact moment the shutter snapped.


I am so grateful that this instant was made immortal by this photo that lingers on in my life.  I love it dearly.  It now proudly represents my many trips up and down the Lincoln Highway, which to this day remains one of my favorite travel memories.


And a lesson learned – who needs the Turnpike?  Slow down and take the back way.  There’s probably a butterfly or two waiting for you…

Jackson Hole: A well-known wonder of the western United States

The love my friend Andrew has for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is so evident in his photography and in his stories of his adventures there.  He has spent much time throughout his life in Jackson Hole, as his family has a tradition of meeting there during the summer.  I asked him to share some of his photos and some history about Jackson Hole.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
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In the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming (not China), Jackson Hole is a valley nestled in between the Teton Mountain range to the west, Yellowstone National Park to the north, Teton National Forest and the Gros Ventres Wilderness to the East, and the Bridger National Forest to the south. Surrounded by wilderness, humans did not occupy the valley year-round until the 1870’s.
A seemingly remote destination, any way you decide to set forth into Jackson Hole is an experience in itself, largely due to the amazing views and the sense of truly getting into the wild. However, when you touch down at the airport, pull into the cities of Jackson (the only incorporated town in the valley) or Teton Village (the town surrounding Jackson Hole Mountain Resort known for its steep terrain and North America’s Ski Area with the highest vertical drop), you realize there are parts of the valley that are well trodden. In the midst of the summer tourist season it is difficult to find the hidden treasures and get away from the crowds; most treasures were uncovered and marketed to the worldly tourist years ago.
The valley is popular for good reason. The splendor of the indigenous wildlife and the natural scenery is unparalleled, and even led to a conflict over the killing of elk and the use of their teeth for jewelery.  This practice was outlawed  by the state of Wyoming in the early 1890’s for fear of the Elk becoming extinct in the valley, which led to a conflict known as the Bannock war of 1895.  Unfortunately, conflicts in the region of Wyoming were not limited to the Bannock War.  The region has been a battle ground on many occasions due to the conflicting interests of ranchers, hunters and conservationists over the years.
A visit to Jackson Hole without seeing moose, deer, bison and elk is unlikely especially if you time your trip during the late summer and early fall. Bison seem ubiquitous at times; my grandmother even nicked one with her car one summer. The bison was fine. The Toyota needed a new bumper.
In addition to the splendor and largely due to the growing popularity of the area as a tourist destination, the roster of activities is large and growing. One can hike, bike, climb, fish, boat (canoe, sail, kayak, whitewater raft), paddle board, para-glide, camp, and I’ve been told the shopping is quite good if you are so inclined.
A gallery preview of Andrew’s pics of Jackson Hole:

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Jackson Hole, WY, a set on Flickr.

Priceline: How to make it work for you

Priceline has forever changed the way I book hotels when I am traveling within the United States.  I now see pricing and booking hotels as a process of negotiation, and the better I am at it, the more I save, and the more I can travel.  Over the years, I have acquired a few techniques for maximizing Priceline’s potential to save me money.  Here I’d like to share a few with you.

1.  Don’t settle for face value – always “Name your own price!”

It may seem a bit risky to bid on a hotel room instead of choosing your hotel directly through Priceline’s hotel listings.  But believe me, whatever risk is involved (very little, in my opinion) is minimal compared to your potential savings (up to 75%!). It is true – when you bid, you don’t know what hotel you are booking with until your bid is accepted.  But Priceline allows you to specify how many stars you prefer, and this makes it highly likely that your hotel preferences will be met.

In my experience, the hotels I have stayed in through Priceline bookings are on par or sometimes even better quality than I would have managed to find on my own, and I most likely would have spent much more.
The biggest drawback to the bidding process is a loss of control regarding where your hotel is located.  In general, the bigger the city, the more likely that Priceline will give you the flexibility of narrowing the neighborhood where you prefer your hotel will be located significantly enough to ensure your satisfaction with the location.

Please remember that if you have a car and are trying to stay in the city center of a large city, there are usually large parking fees for the hotel garages.

2.  Time is your friend.
Sometimes the bidding process is not ideal if you know exactly what you want from your hotel and what you want to spend on it.  If your bid is very specific, there are potentially only a small number of hotels that can meet your bid, and you have no way of knowing what their bottom line is.  Priceline controls your bidding process by forcing you to broaden your search by decreasing your star level or increasing the areas you are willing to stay every time you lose a bid.

But, you can continue to bid without changing anything about your original bid once every 24 hours.  So, if you plan ahead, you can begin your bidding process several weeks ahead of time in order to ensure you get the lowest price possible.  What I have done in the past is begin my bidding very low ($40), and then re-bidding with the same parameters and increasing my offer by $5 when I am permitted to every twenty-four hours
Keep in mind, this process is absolutely not necessary if you are flexible about your star levels and location, because as long as you change your bid parameters each time you bid, Priceline allows you to continue to bid as many times as you like.

3. Do some research first – your potential hotel is not as much of a mystery as you may think.
If you spend just a few minutes looking at the hotels listed at face value on Priceline’s site for the city and dates you need, you are actually looking at the inventory Priceline is pulling from to meet your bid for the “Name your own price” side of their site.  If you like what you see, you can be confident that you will be happy with whatever hotel accepts your bid.

Most importantly, this research allows you to familiarize yourself with the pricing of hotels for your city and time-frame so you have a better idea of where to start your bid.  If the lowest listed price for a hotel within your preferred star category is $150, then you can be pretty sure that your starting bid has to be a decent offer, and if you are bidding last-minute, you will need to bid higher.  On the other hand, if the price range of hotels you like on the site spans as low as $75 for example, you know your starting bid can be much lower.

4. Get an app!

With the help of my iPhone Priceline app I have booked hotels while standing in a theatre lobby in mid-town Manhattan, while in the passenger seat driving through South Carolina, standing in line at the airport, etc.  Many times I have used the app and literally checked into my hotel as little as a half hour later.  The app makes the process simple and quick.  It doesn’t have all of the information available through the website, but it will redirect you to your phone or iPad’s browser if necessary.

5.  If you are indecisive, Priceline is either your best friend or your worst enemy.
If you have trouble deciding on hotels and often find yourself spending hours of time researching every hotel option in the city you are traveling to, Priceline is a godsend because it does the research for you, in that the hotels it works with are comfortable and usually rank highly in customer reviews.  You can finally let go and save yourself all the research time and spend that time researching other critical things, like transportation options to and from the airport (if you are flying).

On the other hand, once you book a hotel through Priceline, you are charged immediately for that hotel.  If you happen to need to change your dates for any reason, this can be difficult to impossible to pull off.  So beware.  In this case, Priceline might end up costing you money instead of helping you.

Please note: I am in no way making money from advertising or sponsorship related to my travel tips.  I write these tips solely from personal opinion.  Also, these tips are related to booking hotels through Priceline, as I do not use Priceline for airline bookings.

Maui, Hawaii

There is really nothing I feel I can say to do justice to a place like Maui.  Being here is like visiting another world that you have always hoped existed.

Somehow, the moment I stepped off the airplane in Maui, an overwhelming feeling of relaxation overcame me.  I don’t know if it is the climate or the beauty or the energy of the area, but this feeling is unmistakable.  That being said, there are many different experiences that can be had on this island, despite it’s small size.  When I visited, I frequented less touristy areas thanks to some friends I was visiting that worked on the island, and this made a huge difference in my experience.  They took me to beaches that had no more than ten people in sight.  This was a huge shock, as being from southern California, I am used to beaches stuffed with people.  We were everywhere on the island, from the endless beaches as far as you can see, to the mountains in the center of the island.  Literally everywhere you turn you find incredible beauty.

That being said, this vacation has it’s limitations.  As a city girl, as much as I love Maui, a two week vacation is a perfect amount of time for me to be in this fairly isolated environment.  Things are pretty expensive here, as most goods have to be shipped to the island.  And this is not a vacation for a foodie.

But, whoever said anyplace is perfect?  Truly, everyone sometime in their lifetime must experience a day on a Maui beach, more beautiful than words can express, and nearly deserted.  My hike with friends here in the bamboo forest remains one of the most memorable travel experiences of my lifetime.
So, in summary, go to Maui.  As soon as possible.

A gallery of my favorite Maui photographs:

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Best of Maui, a set on Flickr.