Charleston’s historic downtown is remarkably walkable and each street offers its own views of stately antebellum houses, many of which date to the early 1800s. We decided to spend our third day in the area touring Charleston entirely on foot.
Read MoreHotel Silence takes place in Iceland for the novel's beginning and ending and sandwiched in the middle it takes place in an unnamed country that is emerging from a recent war. While it isn't possible to pinpoint a country for the largest segment of the book, in some ways it can represent anywhere that finds itself seeking to recover post-conflict. A place name is meaningless in a place struggling to redefine itself. What attracted me to this and other books by Ólafsdóttir is that is she an Icelandic writer.
Read MoreThe Nickel Boys primarily takes place in Florida with portions set in New York City. As with any book that sheds light on iniquities or abuse of the powerless by the powerful, it doesn't really whet the appetite for a visit. For a place called The Sunshine State, this novel shines a blinding light on a dark part of Florida's past.
Read MoreEdinburgh is a relatively compact city that can be toured by foot, which is what we did. Depending on the amount of time you have in the city, your interest in walking, and how much you’re trying to see, you may prefer to look into public transportation or other options as well.
The main part of the city of Edinburgh is comprised of the West End, Old Town, and New Town, descriptive in their origins. The entirety of our time was spent in New Town and Old Town.
Read MoreIn April 2016, we spent 4 days in Charleston with a day-trip to a really cool island off the coast. We actually had to cut the trip a day short because we got sick and so got to miss seeing a few other sights but still had a wonderful time.
First, a short geography lesson - Charleston is a 17 mile long peninsula sandwiched between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. At its tip is Charleston Harbor, an inlet just off of the Atlantic Ocean. In the downtown portion, the width of the peninsula is about a mile, with the downtown area in a 4-5 square mile area. In short, it is incredibly walkable. And with so much to see, walking around the city is a great way to go!
Read MoreButterflies in November takes place in Iceland, initially in the capital city of Reykjavík and then along the southern to eastern leg of Iceland’s Ring Road. Having driven the entirety of Ring Road ourselves in Summer 2018, this novel did a great job evoking that journey and so is a must-read for anyone planning on taking that trip or wanting to reminisce!
Read MoreFinding books about Bermuda to read before we went was more difficult than expected! After Google searches that didn’t provide any lists or suggestions, we even contacted the tourism board in Bermuda to inquire (no response received). The first book below was suggested to us by a reader on Twitter, and was one of the best pre-reads we could have come across!
Read MoreLet’s start with a thought experiment. What if tomorrow morning all of white America woke up, climbed out of bed, and found themselves with new knowledge on a host of race-related matters already embedded in their brains. They would wake up with an understanding of the holistic black experience throughout American history and straight up to the present as told through historic events, literature, various forms of art, and first-person narratives.
Read MoreIf you were playing a game of word association and someone said ‘Bermuda’, the words that would likely come to mind would be warm-weather related words like beach, ocean, and snorkeling. Bermuda also has a good number of off-season options if you prefer to explore the other activities provided by the island nation and - better yet - to avoid crowds.
Read MoreWe weren’t really sure what to expect from Bermuda’s dining scene before we went. Visiting without any preconceived notion, we found ourselves surprised by the multicultural and eclectic options. It became evident in our experience that Bermuda has combined the flavors from many parts of the world and put its own Caribbean spin on some classic dishes.
Read MoreThe simplicity and humanity of Olive and her small Maine town are at the heart of this novel, which first introduces Olive’s husband, the local pharmacist, as his eyes wander in the direction of his helpless new employee. Olive is secondary, trying to draw her husband’s attention back her way through a series of overt and covert actions and a healthy dose of passive aggressive behavior.
Read MoreWe found Bermuda to be a very easy place to visit, but there are some tips that we would recommend you consider when planning your own trip to Bermuda to ensure your trip goes smoothly and you’re prepared!
Read MoreBermuda is just a tiny dot of an island in the middle of the ocean, so transportation around the island must be a breeze, right? It turns out that transportation options on Bermuda can get a little complicated and so planning ahead is a must so that you can enjoy your trip and have easy access to whatever is most important to you.
In this post, we’ll cover the general lay of the (is)land and the various spots you may wish to get to and from, the transportation options available to you, and tips and lessons learned to help you plan accordingly.
Read MoreIf you’re planning an off-season trip to Bermuda and wondering what to pack, you’ve come to the right place! We weren’t fully sure ourselves when we took a 4-day trip in late November. Here are the tips we picked up while there.
Read MoreOne of the magical things about books is that we see ourselves in them in some form or fashion. Sometimes they are a mirror, reflecting parts of our life experiences back at us; other times, they can serve as a microscope, helping us come away with new insights about ourselves or others.
And while the words themselves don’t evolve over time, we do, and so reading a book at one point or another in our lives can lead to very different ways of experiencing them.
Read MoreLet’s face it: sometimes the best form of travel is an engaging, never-ending series of books that pick up your mind and plop it into another world. Particularly in these times where travel has been placed on indefinite stand-by, this is a great chance to explore some wonderful book series that just may inspire your next trip once travel again becomes possible.
Read MoreIf you’re looking for some outside time exploring a less populated part of Bermuda, we’d recommend you check out the small area that holds Blue Hole (a bright blue swimming hole), Tom Moore’s Jungle, and Walsingham Nature Reserve.
Read MoreFor the second morning in a row, on Saturday we returned to Dangelini's Cafe and Bakery along Front Street where I ordered a cappuccino and ham and swiss cheese croissant, and Dustin had a mocha with a turkey, egg, and cheese melt on an English muffin. For breakfast dessert, which is totally a thing, we split an apple turnover, which was delicious and not overly sweet, which is how breakfast desserts should be! We noticed that at least in the off-season, Dangelini’s wasn’t open on Sundays so made a mental note that we wouldn’t be able to return the following day.
Read MoreOur destination for the day was to be St. George’s, the parish at the opposite tip of the island and closer to the airport. While Bermuda is a small island, the roads are curvy, narrow, and roundabout so that getting anywhere takes longer than the mileage would suggest it should.
Read MoreArriving in another country at night is an odd experience because it’s nearly impossible to get a sense of the place. We knew we were driving on a causeway over the water right after the airport but could only hear it, not see it. We got flashes of brightly colored houses as the taxi’s headlights shifted on the curved, narrow road (more on Bermuda’s roads later).
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