Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

For some reason, I have been drawn to Bali for years... even before I knew much about it.  After learning about their religion and culture, I knew it was a place I HAD to experience.  There really are no words for me to explain how special that island is or the way their people live on it. 

I researched for months on what I wanted to do and see, where to stay and how to get around.  Ubud Bungalow is where we stayed, and we loved it, the service, the people and the fresh breakfast!  It's on Monkey Forest Road and right near all the restaurants and shops.  We hired an amazing driver, Wayan Lia, which I will make my next post just on him.

First, we spent 5 nights in Ubud  which is central Bali and known for it's artistic vibe. The villages in the area are known for many things such as painting, silver smithing, wood carving, dancing, and playing the traditional gamelan. We got to visit them and buy their crafts, and it was pretty neat to see the artists at work.  The gamelan and dance performances we saw were beautiful.  They were a bit touristy, but the Balinese really do play the gamelan and dance at their temple ceremonies so it was great to get to see and hear all that. 

Our driver took us all around the island.  We saw lakes between mountains, many beautiful temples, colorful markets, unique beaches, and best of all, Bali life.  Seeing the Balinese women carry offerings on their heads, dressed in colorful sarongs is quite a beautiful site.  The rice terraces and fields are so beautiful, and it was amazing to drive through the country roads and see the farmers working on their crops.  

Now, let's talk about the food.  Oh the food!  It is so fresh and full of so much flavor.  They don't have the means of the mass production so most everything is grown on the island.  Literally, everywhere you look, there is food growing.  I find that to be the best way to eat.  The fruits aren't quite as sweet because they are real fruits and not genetically tampered with.  Every single thing we ate was phenomenal!  And Wayan took us to some really amazing restaurants with fabulous views too!

All throughout the island offerings are given.  Each are handmade with dried palm leaves and include different things but mostly flowers which are grown just for offerings.  You can see a lady making them here.  The video shows how they're made as well as how they use them.  We happened to be in Bali on a holiday so the offerings were abundant as were the unique, handmade decorations.

Bali is beyond beautiful. I imagine it being similar to the Garden of Eden. But the most beautiful thing about that place is the people. I believe they are so wonderful because their hearts are full. Their entire life is centered around their religion. They don't have the money that America does, but I find that to be a great thing. Money doesn't control their lives. Love does. They live their lives by focusing on what is most important to them which is their religion, their family, their village and their culture. They are in touch with nature and have a love and respect for it. They look at you and smile when passing. They love striking up conversation to see how your day is going, and they truly care to know. Being around this loving energy is such a great feeling.

I am forever changed by Bali.

Wine Country

This is my heaven!!!!  There really is no way of describing the beauty of Sonoma and Napa.  It's just something you have to see for yourself.  We went during October which was especially great because the foliage was just spectacular.  The trees and grapevines were all shades of beautiful fall colors, and the grapevines were everywhere!!

We did a full day in Sonoma and a half day in Napa which we were both happy with as we enjoyed Sonoma more, and it's also where we decided to stay the night.  We booked The Sonoma Valley Inn which was a recommendation from several clients. The location is perfect!  It's walking distance to the square, and there are little firepits outside to wind down after a day full of wine tasting.  Speaking of the square, this is where we found The Sonoma Cheese Factory.  Ummm... all I can say is this is just a little store of perfection.  Seriously!  Cheeses you've never even heard of are at that place.  We stocked up on a plate for a picnic, and it was divine.

The wineries we visited in Sonoma include: Viansa, Jacuzzi, (which were our favs) Kenwood, Schug Carneros, Enkidu, and Valley of the Moon. Viansa and Jacuzzi both had stunning views and olive oil tasting too which was neat! 

The wineries we visited in Napa were Cakebread and Peju.  At Cakebread, we did a whole tour with the tasting since it's such a big name.  It was okay, but we did enjoy the smaller name places more.  Peju has amazing gardens to walk around as well.  This was one of Joshua's favorite places.  Our lunch in Napa is also worth mentioning.  Rutherford Grill was one of the best meals ever!  Be sure to check it out if you visit Napa.

But back to Sonoma and why we loved it more than Napa..  It's got such a cozy, down to earth feel to it.  While I was getting ready in the morning, Joshua went driving around on some country roads then took me around to show me what all he found.  It was really neat to see how the locals live amongst glorious grapevines and stroll the small roads with their dogs.  Sonoma really is quite heavenly.

The city by the bay

San Fran!  After walking through the scary part of San Fran due to getting off the subway too early, we found Hotel Fusion. It's walking distance from Union Square.. nothing fancy, but I'd stay there again. 

We decided to take our friends' suggestions and book the hop on hop off tour.  Willie was the best tour guide!!!  He had us cracking up so we just ended up using the tour as public transportation since we were really only going to the touristy spots anyway. 

We did all the stuff everyone does when they go to SF so I won't bore you with that.  I'm not a city girl, but I really did enjoy SF.  The architecture, the water, the trees, the energy- it's just a great place to be!  But the best thing is that it's so close to wine country so of course we had to rent a car and head out there!

Our first anniversary in NYC!

 It's our first anniversary, and we decided to celebrate in NYC!!! I've been a dozen times, but I finally got to show the hubby around. I always like to stay around Times Square, though it's quite touristy, because I love seeing shows at night so it's easy to walk back.  This time, we chose The Paramount Hotel which was very convenient, but reallllllllly tiny!  It was literally the smallest room I have ever seen!  The good thing is that you only need a place to lay your head at night since there's so much to be done during the day.

We did pretty much everything. Empire State building, Rockefeller, Central Park, 5th Ave, Ground Zero, Wall St, Battery Park, Times Square, Canal, Little Italy, Soho, Greenwich and everything inbetween. I took him on my favorite view of Lady Liberty from the Staten Island ferry which is FREE. I also love the view from Battery Park. I got to do 2 firsts in NYC... Serendipty which was great but not worth the wait and walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Now that was a great experience and fantastic view!!  I think I'll put that on the intinerary from now on!

I always wait in line at the TKTS booth for discount tickets which we did for 2 shows. We saw In the Heights which starred my most favorite dancer ever from So You Think You Can Dance, Will Wingfield. We also saw Promises Promises starring Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes who played Jack in Will and Grace. This was amazing for me because I'm a HUGE Jack fan!! And to top that off, we saw OPRAH!!!!!! She was doing something in Times Square with Bette Midler, Dr. Oz, Mary J Blige, and Jennifer Hudson, but most importantly, I saw Oprah herself!!

Of course, we hit up some of my favorite restaurants including Johns Pizza, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, and Little Italy. You can't go wrong with any restaurant there. We got to have a nice lunch, top it off with a glass of Prosecco and reminisce about our Italian honeymoon only a year ago. Ahhh happy anniversary to us! Cheers!

Day trip to Capri

 Capri is a short ferry ride from Sorrento so we had to make the trip. It's a beautiful place! We had lunch and saw a famous soccer player. We had no idea who he was, but everyone was following him and taking pictures. After lunch, we found a trail that was a bit longer than expected to lead us down to the water. After lots and lots of walking, we found a quaint little beach and had some relaxation time before heading back to Sorrento. We also found the famous Carthusia perfumery and each bought a bottle.
This was a great little day trip, but I probably wouldn't stay the night here. I enjoyed Sorrento too much.

 

 

This is the life!

We rented a car in Rome to head down to the dreamy Amalfi Coast.  After the anxiety packed car ride from Rome to Sorrento, I was ready to relax, and this was just the place! The entire drive down was really quite beautiful, but the cliffs were a bit freaky.

When we drove up to Hotel Belair, we were actually parked on top and had to ride an elevator down because it was built into the side of the mountain. Our room was great and spacious, and best of all, we had a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean. I woke up during the night just to take a look at the boats and beautiful lights shining on the water. Our breakfast area and hotel pool were also both overlooking the ocean which gave us some time to unwind after lots of touring all around Italy. Sorrento was the most perfect place to cap off the trip!
    
The Amalfi Coast is known for lemons which can grow to the size of a melon! It sure makes some tasty lemoncello which is exactly what we enjoyed after meals. This area is also known for pottery, olive oil and handmade sandals. I found a great little shop where a man put together shoes just for me!  We did lots of shopping and lots of eating!

Sorrento was the last stop on our Italian honeymoon, and we were quite sad to leave. The food, history, art and culture are some of the best in the world. Maybe the hubs will take me back for an anniversary! hmmmmm

Roma!

I didn't plan very well for Rome. We had already been traveling for about a week straight with no breaks and tons of walking, aching feet (my feet haven't hurt so badly since my pointe years in ballet) and tired eyes. On top of that, we slammed everything into a very short amount of time. Luckily, we saw everything we'd hoped to see.
The Colosseum, the ruins, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, St. Peters Basilica, the Vatican, and our favorite, the Sistine Chapel. Wow! I could not believe that ceiling! Announcements were being made to not take pictures, but we still snuck a couple. The detail and the time it must've taken was absolutely breathtaking.  Seeing the Sistine Chapel was by far our favorite thing we saw in Rome and a huge highlight of our honeymoon.
The history in Rome is spectacular! It's a bit more metropolitan than I had expected, but it was just as amazing even though difficult to enjoy due to my poor planning.