All posts filed under: budget vacation

a villa in tuscany – vacation paradise

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Between the condo renovation, work hiccups and other matters of family and home, I actually needed a break from the norm today by focusing on my vacation plans for the Fall. Although I love Paris and will consider spending every vacation day there, every single year, I have opted for  a trip to Italy this year because I needed material for my second novel. This time, I am considering  a villa stay in Tuscany just to “veg out”  and get inspired to at least draft the outline for the novel, if not more.  Since that is my plan, I  turned to my favorite site here which I used to use during my travel planning days, to get information about villa rentals abroad. The problem is, most villas house 3 or more vacationers and only a handful are available for just 2 guests. But through my persistance,  I found one villa just perfect for my needs. The problem now is I have to do alot of convincing to hopefully book the villa for our Tuscany portion of the …

as my mind travels to all good things paris

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I have to tell you, I just can’t help myself no matter how hard I try. The worst is that the closer it gets to summer, the more I get restless about taking a trip to Paris. The worst part of it is that most any travel website I visit or go shopping anywhere, there is always a reminder of my favorite city via a photographer of the famous Eiffel Tower. I never realized how impressionable the darn thing is in most everyone’s lives? The only other icon most of us are touched by, one way or another, is a  silouette of Mickey Mouse’s head. (I know you know what I mean) Anyway, back to Paris and some of my favorite reminders. Enjoy and happy weekend to you all.

travel recommend: cinque terre, italy

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This weekend marks the beginning of my official travel recommends.  As I stated before I get the travel itch sometime in March, but it doesn’t really flare up until about mid May when I discover my circle of acquaintances are planning their trips. In light of the fact, my first recommend is what is known as Cinque Terre in Italy. Located along the western coats of Italy, this area consists of five small villages which literally cling to the Ligurian cliffs. The villages are small  and close enough that you can actually walk from own village to the next within a matter of hours. The first time I discovered the area was actually when I coordinated travel plans for college students. I heard a group of them talking about buying a railpass and finding their way to the area.  That same year, I decided to take a trip to Italy and after locating Cinque Terre on the map, I chartered my course on how to incorporate Cinque Terre into my trip. To make it easier …

boutique hotel pick – four seasons – florence, italy

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One city I plan to include in my fall trip to Italy this year, is of course Florence. Although I have been there many times, it seems I can never get enough of this fascinating destination. Outside of the fact the city’s architectural and artistic makeup, it is to me one of the most romantic places to consider spending with a loved one. Now, although there are many hotel options to choose from while vacationing in Florence, my favorite recommend is the Palazzo della Gherardesca. Currently known as The Four Seasons Hotel here. Apparently the hotel is the first of it’s kind for Florence. It is a resort with a pool, a spa and various other amenities too many to list here. However, please click here to read about how the hotel came to be. Enjoy the photos and have a great weekend.

when the going gets tough – escape to greece

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Right about this time of year, I get the vacation planning itch. Although I pretty much know where I want to go every year, at the beginning of the year, sometimes what life decades throughout the year, almost forces me to imagination of a place I can actually escape to, where I could just sit by the ocean or sea and think through my problems. Well, today was one of those days, as I wrote the train to work this morning, I put on my i-pod and closed my eyes and quickly escaped to Greece. So I decided to post this entry and share some of my favorite photos of Greece.

pacific heights – san francisco – an architectural marvel

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San Francisco is probably one of the most beautiful travel destinations I can recommend. But of course you all already know that, right? What I truly appreciate the most about my city is the fact, that even though it is comparatively small to most other metropolitan cities, the hills more than make up for the size and of course the fact, within walking distance or (a Muni ride) away, you can experience different cultures within each district (or neighborhood), making it actually and suggestively  a huge city. My choice of exploring any city is of course walking and one of my favorite neighborhoods to explore, not only because of the challenging hills, which give me a great work out, but also the architectural marvel for my visual therapy away from the 9×11 computer screen. Now, I have included some street signage for you, amazing tourists from around the world and neighboring states and Southern Cal  as a guide, so that when you are visiting the city, you can chart your walking tour based on the …

boutique hotel pick – hotel splendido – portofino, italy

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Ahh, the wonder of Portofino, Italy. As if I need to sell the idea of Italy to anyone. The most amazing thing about Italy is that no matter what part you visit, it is a must see for sure and so if you ask me to add a part of Italy that is a must see, just in case you haven’t been, I would have to say Portofino here. As you know I leave the tourist information details to someone else to talk about, but I do suggest a boutique hotel in most places I have visited often and love dearly. So, with my own personal blog tradition, I have included yet one of my favorite hotels, Hotel Splendido to consider to make your trip to Portofino a dream vacation for sure.

boutique hotel pick – hotel balzac – paris, france

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Need I say more. I mean I can spend the entire year picking hotels throughout Paris and all of France to recommend on this blog and believe me I am having a heck of a time controlling myself. But, once in a while I will let one slip by. Here is another one of my favorite places to stay while in Paris, Hotel Balzac which is located just off the Champs-Elysses and close to the Arc de Triomphe. The reason I love this property, besides it’s romantic ambiance, is the fact some of the rooms have skyline views of the Eiffel Tower (You must request this and it’s also based on availability).  This is the hotel I can honestly spend weeks in, while writing my novel. Anyway, I will stop writing and let the photos do the walking. Have a great weekend everyone!

eiffel tower in home decor

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Oh what I would give to have a place with a view of the real Eiffel Tower (above photo) but since I haven’t figured out a way to do just that, I decided to include photos of  decorating ideas which may just help.  Let me know what you think?