Little Luxe City Guides

Keeping up with the topic of traveling with little kids...

I mentioned Luxe City Guides before on this blog, mostly for their cool designs. Recently, they have launched their Little Luxe City Guides line, just in time for us. For now, there are only three destinations available: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bali. My top preference among these three would be Bali; Rob, however, keeps telling me that he may need to go to Singapore and perhaps Hong Kong for work at some point, so we may start from there. And if we go with Baby O, we'll make sure to get these guides.

The brand new series is designed for families on the go who still want to travel and explore new areas but need a little help planning a trip with their children. Sounds like just what we need. The very good thing about Little Luxe is that they are written by resident editors with families who share their tips on the best spots parents should know on a foreign city. 

I can't wait to book a holiday now!

Oh the Sale!

It's so difficult to resist the sale these days...there are further reductions everywhere!
I have just bought this lovely shirt dress

so me and so perfect for our trip to New Zealand later on in October...can't wait!

Are you going sale-crazy too? What have you bought?

Right Now

Right now I fancy a trip to Sicily and for the occasion I would be wearing this gorgeous Stella dress.

My Stockholm

Several friends who got married recently recommended taking a pre-wedding trip somewhere to relax and unwind a month or so before the wedding day, so Rob and I were happy to follow their suggestion and took a short trip to Stockholm. 

We both really liked the city and these are the things we would recommend:

1. Gamla Stan: this is probably the most peculiar and authentic of all the islands Stockholm is built on.  By the way, did you know that Stockholm is made of 14 islands? This certainly makes the city one of the most intriguing I have ever visited. Gamla Stan is the old part of the city, and like any old part of any city, it is the most interesting one. Here you will enjoy the narrowest streets with the most colourful and beautiful buildings. The main square, Stortorget, is simply a gem. 

2. Another island I really loved is Djurgarden. This used to be a royal hunting ground and now that it's open to everybody it is the city's greenest space and the most visited one on sunny Sundays. Here you'll have to visit the Skansen, a lovely open-air museum and definitely the Vasamuseet, a must in Stockholm. I rarely get impressed, I must say, but this left me speechless! While wandering around the park, take a break in the most lovely cafe' serving the most delicious homemade cakes: Bla Porten.

3. Visit as many tube stations as you can. They all have some art hidden on the platforms. I loved the white and blue cave at T-Centralen.

4. For some authentic Swedish food head to Nalen. I believe I had the best salmon in my entire life there. And speaking of restaurants, you must book a table at the super cool Gondolen. A tip: book a table as late as you can if you visit Stockholm in summer and you'll get the most romantic and amazing sun-set view. Our table was booked for 9.30pm and the sun was about to set.

I am sure there is more that I could recommend but this is it for now. I'll probably go back and tell you more...

Stockholm Getaway

Rob and I will be going to Stockholm at the end of May as a little getaway before the wedding. I didn't realise how expensive hotels are in this city. I am still looking but this is on top of my list. It's very quirky and arty, right up my street!

Have you been to Stockholm? Any suggestions? What should we see? Where should we eat? 

I am very excited and am sure it will be wonderful to take a little trip to such a cool city just a month before the wedding. It will be relaxing and inspiring!

Honeymoon Dilemma

Rob and I are facing a serious *honeymoon-destination-crisis*. We have been discussing quite a lot about our dream honeymoon destination over the last few weeks, however, we haven't reached a conclusion yet. In fact, we seem more confused now than a month ago. When we first started looking at honeymoon destinations, neither of us had a specific destination in mind; we both wanted a nice location, a place where neither of us had been before and most importantly safe. We originally said "No Europe, No America", simply because we think we would have other occasions to visit these Countries. When the search began, it proved to be quite complicated to find a safe place in this world. Shame. So we found ourselves looking at Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands. After a quick chat with a tour operator, we agreed that Australia wasn't perhaps the right choice for us. Too big to visit in just two weeks. We then opted for a mixture of relaxation and adventure in the Fiji Islands and New Zealand. Not wanting to stress ourselves too much, we then decided to consider New Zealand and New Zealand only. So we settled on two full weeks in New Zealand with a stop over in Los Angeles. Our tour operator worked on a provisional itinerary for us, made a couple of changes to accommodate our requests and then sent it to us. The itinerary is just lovely. However, Rob and I are now having second thoughts about New Zealand all together. It's a very long flight, there will be quite a bit of traveling involved in the two weeks we'll be there, we will need to wait at least until the end of October to wait for Spring/Summer time there (we get married in June!) and it's very expensive. We don't know what to do. We have spent the whole day thinking of options and let me tell you, it's not an easy task to find a place we both agree to visit.

Santorini, Greece, seems to be an exception. We both love it. Santorini has been on my list of places to visit for quite a while and I am surprised I haven't been before. I have been to Greece several times but I have never made it to the Cyclades. I know we said "No Europe" but we could reconsider that...

We have found an amazing boutique hotel, Grace Santorini, that looks exactly like what we are after. What do you think we should do? Two weeks in New Zealand at the end of October/beginning of November or ten days in Santorini (+ other small islands) in July? Otherwise, what else would you suggest?

Trullallero Trullalla' ...

Every time I go to Italy, I realise how much I actually miss it ...

Rob and I have recently gone to my hometown for a couple of weeks and had a great time. While there we took a short trip with the family down to Puglia and I must confess I totally loved it there! By far the town I enjoyed the most was *Alberobello*, a fairy-tale little village were all the houses are old trulli, traditional Apulian stone dwellings with a conical roof. The place is enchanted! We rented a massoneria made of 11 trulli, *Il trullo dei ricordi*. It was simply magical to sleep inside a real trullo, I would totally recommend it to everybody. The whole area, La Valle d'Itria, is quite marvellous. Places to visit: Locorotondo, Cisternino (very good for dinner too, this little town is famous for its delicious meat!), Martina Franca and definitely Ostuni, *The white city*. On the way back we drove through the Northren coast of Puglia, known as Gargano.

The coastline is breathtaking and the sea super blue. To visit here: Monte Sant'Angelo and Vieste are a must! Let me know if you plan to go there, I would love to offer extra tips :)

Amsterdam: canals, narrow houses, tulips and lots and lots of bikes

So, Rob and I spent a few days in Amsterdam, the city of tulips! Did I ever mention that tulips are my favourite flower? Well, I am saying it now. I have loved them for a very long time and now I like them even more. Did you know that there are over 1000 varieties of tulips in the world? And did you know that tulips didn't originally come from Holland but Central Asia instead? I have learnt this and more at the Tulip Museum, a little, cosy museum you must visit next time you are in town. Of course, we went to the flower market as well and bought some bulbs of black and blue tulips. We'll plant them this weekend and can't wait to see them blooming!

Amsterdam really is the city of flowers, they are everywhere. And everywhere are canals and little, narrow houses...

not to mention bikes! Please be careful when you walk, bike riders really don't care about pedestrians, they are the queens and kings of all the roads!

We stayed in this beautiful hotel, full of character and great design, Hotel Arena. Don't you just love these chandeliers? If I had a big enough house, with very high ceilings, I would definitely buy them. They are a bit weird, perhaps, but so am I!

So, a few recommendations:

MUST SEE

The Cat Cabinet: if you love cats as much as I do, go ahead and visit this amazing museum completely dedicated to cats. At the entrance there will be two cats welcoming you and if you show them enough love, they will follow you around the house. The house is a gem in itself and certainly worth a visit.

And of course Rembrandt House and Anne Frank House. Don't bother to go to the Van Gogh Museum, you will spend 14€ to see paintings that *inspired* Van Gogh and just a very few of his own!

MUST EAT

A very big highlight of the trip was this burger diner suggested on my guide: Burgermeester. This is your chance to taste the delicious Blonde d'Aquitaine, and no, it's not a beer, it's a type of meet! Believe me when I say that I have never, ever, eaten a better burger, not even in the States!

So, I would definitely advise you to book a trip to Amsterdam as soon as possible! And one final piece of advice: don't breath in the air too much, you'll find yourself all stoned even if you haven't touched a sigarette :)