Sentiment of the Day

“Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” 
– Freya Stark

The Brewster Inn - Cazenovia, NY

Travel inspiration: Paris

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A very good friend just returned from her honeymoon in Europe and mentioned how romantic Paris was, just strolling the streets. Sebastian and I hope to take one cultural day trip to Versailles; however, since we've both been to Paris before, most of our plans for the City of Lights revolve around meandering new neighborhoods, afternoon picnics and sipping champagne (preferably, Laurent-Perrier's Cuvee Rose Brut). Any must-see's that I should know about from your own Paris adventures?

xoxo,
M.

Travel inspiration: Edinburgh

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Counting down to my trip to Europe this summer! It's been two years since I've been across the Atlantic - two years too long. While I'm looking forward to visiting my best friend in England and strolling the streets of Paris with my love, the city I'm most curious about exploring is Edinburgh, Scotland. Anyone have any recommendations for Scotland? I have a few stops planned out, but would love some first-person suggestions!

Island paradise: Turks & Caicos

A recent public relations press trip took me to Turks & Caicos - my first time in this gorgeous island nation, located just southeast of The Bahamas. I stayed on Providenciales, at The Somerset on Grace Bay, an all-suite hotel located directly on Grace Bay Beach, which is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

And it's easy to see why! On our first night, we were welcomed with The Somerset's weekly Beach BBQ. The party included a buffet featuring chicken, ribs, salads and desert - and tables were set up down on the white sand.

There was even a bonfire, rum bar and a DJ that encouraged everyone to get up and dance after dinner!

I tried to squeeze in a bit of exercise on my trip - rotating between The Somerset's gym, snorkling down the beach, and swimming laps in the pool. It really was a pretty active beach vacation; we spent our afternoons enjoying the resort's water sports - ocean paddle-boarding, kayaking, sailing, and more. The ocean was so calm, perfect for all of the little kids splashing around in the clear turquoise water.

We also explored Provo, visiting Da Conch Shack for some cracked conch and conch salad (my favorite), the world's only conch farm, and the island's cultural center for an overview of the destination's history.

And my suite? All I can say is that the kitchen was bigger than my entire New York City apartment. The accommodations start at a sprawling 1,400 square feet - HUGE!

I must get back to Turks & Caicos soon. It would be great for a weekend getaway, with such short, direct flights from New York. Forget the east coast beaches, I want to relax on Grace Bay Beach.

The Sunshine State

Business travels took me to Florida this fall and Sebastian was able to find a cheap Delta flight ($159 round-trip, can you believe it?) and join me for the weekend. We stayed in chic Bal Harbour - first, at the historic Sea View Hotel and next at the five-star ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa. Both lovely with their own charms! I'd stayed at ONE previously, but this was my first time at the Sea View.

Our first night, I enjoyed a great lychee martini at Makoto, Stephen Starr's new Japanese restaurant at the Bal Harbour Shops before sitting down to a late dinner at Carpaccio with Sebastian's friends from Paraguay who were staying in Miami for the weekend. The next day, we woke up early to head to South Beach. We spent the morning walking around Lincoln Road and then relaxed at the beach for a few hours, until Sebastian was stung by a swarm of jellyfish - poor guy.

All in all, it was a great weekend...

 Drinks at Makoto

Dinner with Tony and Nadhia at Carpaccio

 View from our room at ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa 

 Soaking tub at ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa

South Beach

 Lunch at Mister Collins

Flashback: SCRUBS in The Bahamas!

As a travel publicist, I've had some incredible business trips, from Bal Harbour, Florida to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Among some of the surreal experiences: working the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando (a blog post for another time); working in the media center for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada (another upcoming blog post); staffing a Sports Illustrated swimsuit photo shoot in Banff, Canada; and hosting the cast of Scrubs in The Islands of The Bahamas. Tough job, but somebody's gotta do it, right?

One of my first exciting business travels was to the gorgeous Out Islands of The Bahamas. I helped coordinate the logistics for a week-long television shoot throughout Hope Town, a quaint village that's part of the Abaco Islands. Around 100 cast and crew members flew a charter flight from LA to Abaco and the TV shoot resulted in two great episodes featuring a destination wedding and plenty of ice-cold Bahama Mamas. Behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot is posted on YouTube:


The following are some photo highlights of our week with the super-friendly cast and crew:

And my very favorite:

Sentiment of the Day

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” -Kerouac

Phabulous Philly

New York City to Philadelphia and back in one day? Easy.

An early morning Bolt Bus, cheesesteaks at Jim's, frozen custard at Rita's, a peek at the Liberty Bell, a photo-op on the "Rocky" steps, a quick tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an afternoon beer outside at Rittenhouse Square, a bite to eat at a local pub and a bus back to New York City.

DONE.

Photo of the Day - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Photo was taken from Granville Island, looking out on False Creek during a 2010 Winter Games press trip to British Columbia.

A Spanish Honeymoon

A friend is going to Barcelona, Sevilla and Madrid on her honeymoon and requested my advice. I told her:

In Barcelona, definitely go to Parque Guell, the Sagrada Familia, the Picasso Museum (one of my favorite art museums in the world...and I've been to MANY as the daughter of two artists), and of course, the beach. Definitely go to the Alhambra (amazing!!!!) in Granada, when you're down in Andalucia. In Sevilla, check out the huge mosque (soak up all you can about Spain's rich history of the Christians/Jews/Muslims while you're there...they call the interaction for so many years the "convivencia,"...it's really fascinating). Along those same lines, if you can while you're down in Andalucia, go to Cordoba and see the Mosque there - it's pretty cool (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_C%C3%B3rdoba) and maybe the Jewish Quarter, which is nearby -- I think it's the largest in Europe.

In Toledo, wander and get lost around the little streets - it's a fabulous little ancient town. In Madrid, check out the Palacio Real, go to Plaza Santa Ana and have some tapas outside in the big square, go shopping at El Corte Ingles (Spain's biggest department store) in Plaza del Sol (the center of the city), relax outside and walk around Retiro Park (maybe rent one of the paddle boats and go out on the pond in the middle?), go to the Prado Museum, and go out ALL night! If there's a Real Madrid soccer game while you're there, that could be really fun too. Spaniards love their futbol. For nightlife, I suggest Palacio Gaviria, it's this really cool huge club in what used to be a palace in the middle of Madrid. Just beware --- drinks are $$ there!

Must Do's for Spain (anywhere you go): drink some Rioja red wine and sangria, eat some tortilla espanola, and enjoy the blue skies and SUN.

***Would you add anything?***

Slum Tourism

According to the New York Times:

"Slum Tourism, or 'poorism,' as some call it, is catching on. From the favelas of Rio de Janiero to the townships of Johannesburg to the garbage dumps of Mexico, tourists are forsaking, at least for a while, beaches and museums for crowded, dirty--and in many ways--surprising--slums."

....Really?