Iceland!

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

I know it’s really popular for people to travel somewhere tropical in the winter, but what about going somewhere cold? That’s what prompted my trip to Iceland earlier this year. You can visit Iceland year round, but I wanted to experience it in its true form – COLD! And although I didn’t get there at the peak of cold, I’m still happy I went when I did.

I went to Iceland with my mom at the very end of February/beginning of March. The weather (although chilly like I had hoped) was not great, but I think it was just more so bad luck than anything. It was either rainy or overcast most days, except for a few pokes of sun and the day we did our glacier hike. The time of year we went is also apparently great for northern lights, but because of the weather, we did not have the opportunity to see them. I unfortunately had the same problem in Finland.

Iceland was really fun and I’d highly recommend it for anyone interested in seeing a lot of nature and having an active vacation!

Day 1: Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik

I flew from San Francisco to Newark a few days early because my mom lives in NJ. This was easier and cheaper than the other option, which was the airline taking me to Denmark first for a layover and then to Iceland.

We took a red-eye together from Newark and arrived in Reykjavik at 6am. The Blue Lagoon is closer to the airport than it is to Reykjavik, so we made that our first stop. We had a 9am reservation and getting there early after an overnight flight was really nice!

If you’re not planning to rent a car, there’s a shuttle from the airport you can take to the Blue Lagoon. Because we were renting a car for the latter part of our trip, it was actually cheaper to just rent the car for an additional few days and drive ourselves to the Blue Lagoon than to take the shuttle. It didn’t seem super difficult to park in Reykjavik, but we parked once and did not move until we left Reykjavik. Our hotel recommended parking around the Hallgrimskirkja (famous church) parking lot because it was free.

The Blue Lagoon was a really fun stop. The pool is definitely man-made at this point (the bottom is concrete, but made to feel natural), but obviously filters in the water from the lagoon. I thought I’d get bored sort of quickly, but it’s so relaxing that it was nice to just float around and chat with my mom. Included with the regular admission is a silica face mask and a drink from the bar, which can be a few things. We got the juices and they were really delicious. My only gripe was that the locker rooms could have been a little better maintained and larger. They were sort of crowded and it wasn’t even that crowded.

After the morning at the Blue Lagoon, we checked into our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Leifur Eiriksson. It was a cute hotel with a good breakfast. I was excited to try Icelandic Skyr (yogurt)! We walked around Reykjavik to get a feel for the city. It’s super walkable and very cute. There are a bunch of shops, bars, and restaurants.

We ate Bastard Brew & Food for dinner. I got a burger, it was SO good!

Day 2: Explore Reykjavik

We took our second day to walk around Reykjavik. We went to the National Museum of Iceland, The Settlement Exhibition, the Icelandic Punk Museum, the top of the Hallgrimskirkja and the Kolaportið Flea Market.

I would recommend the museums to get a sense of the history and culture of Iceland. The Punk Museum is very tiny and was more of a kitschy thing to do.

We stopped at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur to get Icelandic hot dogs for lunch. What makes Icelandic hot dogs unique is that they’re mostly made of lamb. Lamb is super popular in Iceland, so you’ll have plenty of chances to try it. Lamb can be hit or miss for a lot of folks. For me it’s OK, but not something I would actively seek out to eat. I didn’t think that the hot dogs had a very strong lamb flavor though, so I would recommend trying them.

We got local fish and chips for dinner at Reykjavik Fish Restaurant and ice cream at Sæta húsið for dessert. Despite it being cold, ice cream is very popular in Iceland!

Day 3: Golden Circle Tour

On day three, we took a small group tour of the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is a popular sight-seeing route that includes Thingvellir National Park, geothermal pools, Geysir, and the Gullfoss Waterfall. We went with this tour because it included the Kerid Crater, which some others did not. It was great! Our tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. We felt like we had enough time at each stop and although the weather was not great, we had enough time to see everything on the tour.

If you wanted to, I think you could definitely do this tour yourself. The next day we did the South Coast Tour ourselves on the way to Vik. It is nice though to do tours sometimes because you often learn a lot more about what you are seeing as well as the culture of the country.

We decided to switch up the cuisine a bit and try Fuku Mama at the Pósthús Food Hall & Bar.

Day 4: South Coast Self Tour and Drive to Vik

Since we were expanding our trip outside of Reykjavik, we decided to see the South Coast stops ourselves on the drive to Vik. We just put the stops into Google maps and it brought us to the correct spots.

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano – you can see it from a distance on a clear day. In 2010, this volcano erupted and shut down European air traffic for a few days.

Skógafoss Waterfall – you can climb the stairs to see the waterfall from the top. There are also many hiking trails at the top as well. There is a cute restaurant called Skogafoss Bistro Bar here where I tried Kjötsúpa (Icelandic lamb soup) for lunch.

Dyrhólaey – a lighthouse atop a bunch of cliffs. Amazing views of the ocean and black sand beach.

Reynisfjara – black sand beach. We decided to skip this stop since the Airbnb we were staying at was on the beach (and we had seen it from afar already).

Vik is an incredibly small town, but there are things to do! We had a reservation for the Icelandic Lava Show, which I would highly recommend. (They also do it in Reykjavik if you don’t make it to Vik.) You learn a lot about volcanoes and even get to see a demonstration of real lava. Very cool!

On the way to Vik, there’s also an Solheimafjara, which is an abandoned plane on the beach. We passed this without realizing it and then figured we could get it on the way back, but we somehow missed it again.

Lastly, there’s apparently a really cute cafe called Skool Beans Cafe that serves coffee and such out of an old school bus, but they were still closed for the season.

We stayed at this Airbnb on the beach and it was SO beautiful! Very comfy and warm, too. I wish we could have stayed longer. Since we were staying at an Airbnb, we got some simple stuff for breakfast and pre-made sandwiches from the Bonus (grocery store) in town.

We ate at the Smiðjan Brugghús brewery in town. I had a vegan burger, and we tried the beer!

Day 4: Katla Volcano Ice Cave Tour

Our fourth day was probably the most perilous! I’m being a little dramatic, but after hearing all about the dangerous and potentially live volcanoes the night before at the Lava Show, it was hard not to be mildly concerned about venturing into a volcano’s ice cave.

This tour was really cool, but the weather made it unpleasant. First off, it was windy and rainy, so it felt like we were stranded on an arctic tundra. Although, to be fair, I’m not sure what the “normal” weather for where we were was. We wore as waterproof clothing as we could (as was instructed), but still ended up pretty wet because we had to stand outside of the cave for around 45 minutes while our guide was apparently making sure it was safe inside. We finally were able to go in and you basically need to walk along very thin planks while holding on a rope. There’s very violent rushing water below you so everything is wet, it’s very loud, and very dark. So the tour guides are yelling, it was sort of crowded and we were only able to go a little bit of the way through since the rest of it was deemed unsafe. It was rated ‘easy to moderate,’ which personally I would disagree with. My mom is almost 75 and she’s pretty active and she felt uncomfortable.

Regardless though, it was an experience and I can’t blame time of year or weather on the guide or company, but maybe this tour should only be taken when things aren’t actively melting. Although, despite the terrible weather, apparently we got very lucky it’s not often that the glacier ice is such a vibrant blue. So while we didn’t see any northern lights, we did get to see this rare occurrence!

We grabbed sandwiches and some snacks at Bonus and went back to the Airbnb to dry off and relax.

We went up to Vik i Myrdal Church to see some pretty views of the town and went to the restaurant, Restaurant Suður-Vík, at the bottom of the hill. We got a wild game platter that included smoked charr and caribou, and cured goose. I also went full in on the lamb and got a filet. We went pretty early here for dinner, but I would recommend making a reservation any other time.

Day 5: Drive to Hof, Diamond Beach, and Skaftafell Glacier Hike

We woke up early the next morning to drive to Hof (about two hours) so we could go on our afternoon Skaftafell Glacier Hike tour with Troll Expeditions. We were running a bit late, but decided to still go all the way down to Diamond Beach before the tour. We had about 20 minutes there. The views were really beautiful, but we did not see the giant chunks of ice on the black sand.

The weather finally cooperated with us for the tour! This was probably my favorite activity that we did in Iceland. Our guide was really wonderful and the hike was easy to moderate. My mom definitely got a workout, but it was not beyond what she was capable of doing by any means. The views were spectacular and it was just a really surreal experience to be hiking on a glacier!

We stayed at Adventure Hotel Hof. It is a nice hotel, but they were a little rude when we asked if we could either check in early or drop off our stuff. So we had to leave it in the car for the tour (which was fine since Iceland is very safe). We ate dinner at the hotel since Hof is even smaller than Vik! If I remember correctly, most of the restaurants are only at hotels in this area. The hotel is on really beautiful grounds and the room was nice. You do have to share a bathroom like a hostel though (which we knew going in, but agreed for one night it was OK).

Day 6: Drive back to Reykjavik and return home

On the last day we drove back to Reykjavik, returned the rental car, and took our 5pm flight home!

Driving in Iceland this time of year wasn’t bad. There was an hour and a half stretch about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik where it was very dark, foggy, and mountainous. That was a fairly scary and unpleasant drive. Also, note if you want to buy gas with a credit card they probably will ask for a PIN (which we don’t really use for credit cards in the US). So either set that up before you leave or be prepared to buy gas gift cards inside with cash (or maybe you could use your card for the gift cards, I don’t remember). Although one place was requiring a PIN for my mom’s credit card and not for mine.

My mom was a bit shocked at the prices of things (specifically food), but living in the Bay Area of the US, I did not find it that much more expensive. In fact, I felt like restaurant food was a little cheaper because you don’t have to tip. However, compared to other parts of Europe, everything was a bit more expensive (including hotels and tours). So if you’re looking for a budget trip, Iceland might not be it. BUT you absolutely don’t have to spend a crazy amount either; I felt like we did everything we wanted to and spent reasonably with the above itinerary. Also, everywhere took credit cards, so while I do usually carry local currency, we did not really need to use it.

In terms of souvenirs, there are many to choose from. Iceland has not shied away from giving tourists what they need! Whatever you want, they will have. I got a handmade wood ornament at Hallgrimskirkja (the church), some lava salt, a few watercolor postcards that I intend to frame, and a photo coffee table book. There were a lot of different Icelandic books – specifically photography books – which I thought was a really cool souvenir. There is not really anything to get in Vik or Hof, so do your shopping in Reykjavik.

12Mar2023

Belize, Take Two!

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

Belize was so nice we went twice! My husband, Kevin, and I were looking for an easy vacation this summer since we planned it a little last minute. We just wanted to go somewhere to escape and sit on the beach after a stressful few months. We loved Belize the first time, so I figured it would be a fairly easy vacation to plan since we had already been there back in 2018 and loved it.

Last time we went to Ambergris Caye and my mom and I went inland to San Ignacio for two days. This time we decided to go south and check out Placencia. Placencia is a sleepy fish village that’s even more sleepy in the middle of August. No surprise that Belize is HOT and HUMID during August, but honestly it’s the tropics, so this is what I expect! I love it. Anyway, I personally enjoy going places during the “off season.” Yeah sometimes the weather is hit or miss, but each time I’ve been to Belize in August, it’s been lovely. Yes, hot, yes humid, but it’s so quiet and just really nice. It only rained once.

We flew into Belize City and decided to take a shuttle instead of a bus or plane. The shuttle takes about 3 hours and they will pick you up from the airport and drop you off at your hotel. It’s a little expensive ($229pp USD round trip), but I found this less stressful than needing to get into Belize City (which for us coming from SFO already requires a layover) and then navigate to the municipal airport to catch a puddle jumper down to Placencia. We used Barefoot Services and it was very smooth. The prices go down pp if you have a larger group.

We stayed at Dolce Cabana Airbnb, which is on the lagoon side of Placencia – just about a 5 minute walk to the Placencia sidewalk, which has a very interesting history and is where most of the restaurants, other hotels, and stores are. Dolce Cabana was great because it is RIGHT on the lagoon water and there’s a palapa and deck you can hang out on. You can swim in the water and it’s overall just gorgeous and very relaxing. They also have a small pool, which was refreshing. I personally like staying at Airbnbs because you can cook some of your own meals, which we did a few days for breakfast and lunch. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is hit up the local grocery store and see what people eat!

We spent most of the week relaxing, eating, and reading. I went scuba diving one day (Kevin doesn’t dive), which was breathtaking and fun. I booked this through SeaHorse Dive Shop. I actually decided to do a PADI refresher course because I hadn’t been diving since the last time I was in Belize and am generally an anxious diver – I have never gone without my dad (despite trying a few times, both of which were canceled due to weather or me having a bad cold), who is an extremely experienced diver. So I felt like having a chaperone would be nice, and it was! We took it easy and I was very satisfied.

We also did a Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary & Jaguar Preserve tour through the dive shop as well. Surprisingly our tour guide was our shuttle driver as well! This was unfortunately the day that it rained, so it did put a small damper on our tour because we couldn’t go see the waterfall because it was too slippery. Generally I was a little confused about this tour because I was under the impression it was a hike through the sanctuary and then a float along the river. We did float on the river, but the hike was more of a walk TO the river. We were carrying our tubes the whole time. The reason I was confused was because we were told to wear hiking shoes, long shirt/pants, etc for the hike, but then how were we supposed to wear that while in the water? So we walked the entire way in water shoes and bathing suits, which was not ideal – because it was slippery and also bugs! Anyway, because it was raining, the water was a bit rough and fast, but the tubing was a fun experience.

And the rest of our trip basically consisted of eating! Belize has really delicious food that has its roots in Mexican and Caribbean food. You’ll see a lot of tacos, quesadillas, and the like, but also things like cajun shrimp and fresh snapper (both of which I tried). And there’s also always a ton of bar food and those kinds of restaurants as well. I had my fair share of tropical drinks at those places. The one exciting thing I did get to try was a Fry Jack. I had read about these, but I didn’t see them when we were in the other parts of Belize. It’s basically a giant fried up piece of dough that sort of puffs into a ball, but it’s hollow inside. And don’t forget to try Marie Sharp’s hot sauce and Belikin beer.

We ate at:

The Tipsy Tuna

Wendy’s Creole Restaurant and Bar (we ate here twice!)

Cha Chi’s (great pizza)

De Tatch Restaurant (great breakfast and you can literally sit on the beach!)

Barefoot Beach Bar

Placencia Beach Club

SmoQiz Bistro

Beaches & Cream (coffee shop)

Stuffed fryjack and fresh juice for breakfast at De Tatch Restaurant

Pretty much everything was the same about Belize from when we went the first time – it’s not super cheap, but also not insanely expensive.

The conversion rate is still $2 BZD to $1 USD (in cash, slightly more accurate on a credit card). All places still take USD and many credit cards.

There are many souvenir shops along the sidewalk. We ended up with two souvenirs – a handmade beaded frog and a small handmade wooden bowl.

Kevin did get bit by a few more mosquitoes this time. I found Placencia wasn’t quite as windy as Ambergris Caye and staying on the lagoon side was also not as windy as the ocean side.

Overall, we loved our second trip and perhaps you’ll be reading a round three at some point in the future!

29Dec2020

A Plastic Free You & Me: Sustainable Kitchen & On the Go

Posted in #vegan, Cooking, Eco-Friendly, Plastic Reduction by LaurOfAllTrades

Welcome to the last installment of my plastic-free, sustainable living series! This post’s focus is on kitchen and “on the go” items. We naturally consume a lot of plastic when we’re on the move and in the kitchen because it’s convenient. It doesn’t have to be that way, though! There are plenty of options out there that will help you consume less and still maintain a level of convenience.

On the Go

Reusable water bottles and reusable grocery bags are the easy ones here. I’m confident to say that we all probably have a bunch of these lying around. I usually keep some reusable grocery bags in the trunk of my car so if I forget to bring them with me, they’re right there. I also keep a water bottle at my desk to bring if I go out to lunch so I don’t need to use a cup.

At some point in your life, you’ve probably received a reusable water bottle with a random company logo on it. I’ve taken to getting some cool stickers (like when I visit a national park!) and using them to cover up the logo.

Taking reusable grocery bags a step further, I was gifted a set of reusable produce bags. These have been really useful at the grocery store when purchasing small piece produce – think brussels sprouts or green beans. In general though, I typically use a bag for produce very rarely. In my opinion, you don’t really need it for larger items like tomatoes, potatoes, even if you’re getting a few. I don’t even use one if I’m only getting like one jalapeno. But if you’re buying small things like brussels sprouts, you do need a bag. These are really useful and I have them live in my grocery bags so if I don’t remember to actively bring it, chances are there’s one in one of the bags I’ve brought. I also keep a few in our cabinet to use for storing produce at home like potatoes or a half head of cauliflower.

I also carry a set of bamboo reusable utensils I bought off Etsy to keep in my backpack that I bring to and from work. It’s been really great to use when I need a utensil and the only ones available are plastic. It came with a handy holder, so I usually just wipe whatever utensil I used off with a napkin and wash it when I get back to my office. It’s also been great for using at the airport and traveling!

Kitchen

I think in general I typically do a good job keeping my kitchen plastic free. I rarely use cling wrap, and we have a variety of different tupperwares that we use to store food. The things I find myself using most in the kitchen are aluminum foil, plastic bags, and paper towels/napkins.

I reuse plastic bags as much as possible and invest in compostable ones for items I know I won’t want to wash (like meat). Depending on your location, you can likely find compostable sandwiches and snack bags at your grocery store. They’re a bit more expensive, but my suggestion is to only use them for things where you know you’re going to throw the bag away. I’d really like to try Stasher bags eventually, so stay tuned on those.

Food Wraps

Etee is a great site that has a bunch of plastic free items for your home. I’ve purchased their vegan food wraps twice and they work really great. With moderate use, my first set lasted for over a year. They work well for covering bowls that don’t have a top, covers for the ends of produce (like half of a cucumber), and transport for things like hard boiled eggs (vs using a baggie). The best part is that when they’ve reached the end of their life, they’re compostable!

A tip: Use a milder dish detergent and cold water to wash and they’ll last longer.

Reusable Napkins

I was gifted these and I really love them. They’re definitely worth the investment and we use them fairly often. I usually use one for a day or two and then will wash it when I’m ready to do a load of towels. In the in-between time, we usually use the napkins we’ve received from takeout if we have them.

Reusable Paper Towels

There are a lot of options out there for reusable paper towels! One option is Swedish dish towels. I was also gifted these (yes, same time as the reusable napkins!). They work surprisingly well, but do get a little gross-looking after a while (so I’ve spared you the picture). I haven’t quite figured out what their lifespan is yet, but despite their looks, they seem to still be working well after around nine months.

I was also gifted (can you sense a pattern here?! No complaints though – I love it!) a complete roll of reusable bamboo paper towels. In my first few uses, these have worked very well and wash easily. They feel like regular paper towels, but much stronger!

All of these reusable napkins and towels have come in handy during COVID since there have been multiple bouts of paper towel shortages. I’ve been able to go a while without needing to buy paper towels, saving money and the environment! I have a bag hanging in my laundry room that I throw reusable items into and when it’s fairly full, I’ll do a load to wash them.

In Conclusion…

I’m only one person, but I believe strongly that if we all make small changes in our behavior it will make a difference. I hope these posts were helpful and provided you with some ideas to invest in plastic and waste-free options for your own home! I have some other products I’d like to try – like eco-friendly hair ties and the Stasher bags. It’s just a matter of making the investment and also depleting my current stock of what I have on hand before buying the new, eco-friendly version! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!

3Nov2020

A Plastic Free You & Me: You Don’t Need Plastic to be Beautiful!

Posted in Beauty, Eco-Friendly, Natural Stuff by LaurOfAllTrades

Beauty is probably one of the harder categories to avoid plastics because the vast majority of beauty products come in some kind of plastic container and/or packaging. While I haven’t been able to replace all of my bathroom, makeup, and skincare products with plastic free options, I’ve been able to make a dent in a few of them. Here are some of my experiences with hair, floss, deodorant, soap, and period products.

Hair

There are a lot of shampoo and conditioner bars out there. Because of that, this part of my grooming routine was one of the easier parts to replace.

I first tried shampoo and conditioner bars from Lush. Specifically Honey, I Washed My Hair for shampoo and Sugar Daddy-O for conditioner. The shampoo bar is great; it foams/suds really well and smells nice. The conditioner bar was a good conditioner, but it was very hard to use. You really have to rub it in your hands to get any kind of lather, and it takes a long time to get enough for all of my hair. Oftentimes I didn’t have the time to get enough and needed to supplement with another conditioner I had in a bottle (or just use that outright).

I’d heard a lot about HiBar and decided to give that brand a try. I ordered the Moisturizer line shampoo and conditioner bars. I was really happy with the packaging – all paper and no plastic! These make my hair really soft and the conditioner bar is much easier to extract conditioner from than the Lush bar. I plan to keep using these for a while because they smell nice, produce enough to coat my hair, and make my hair look great!

Floss

There are a few reduced plastic floss options out there. I decided to go with Dental Lace because it seemed to be the best option. For your first order, you’ll order a small metal and glass container that will house your floss. It comes with a spool of refillable floss.

They have two different floss options: Silk and Vegan. The Silk floss is certified compostable and the Vegan one might be compostable. It contains PLA – a bio-based plastic made from corn. There’s research that it does compost, but Dental Lace hasn’t officially tested it. You can find out more about the compostability of each of them in their FAQ section. Given the questionable compostable-ness of the Vegan version, you sort of have to decide here which battle you’d like to combat. Just keep in mind that in order to be compostable, you likely need to include it in your compost. It will not just break down in the trash. I decided to try both and I found that the Vegan version breaks a little less.

They have a bunch of fun colors to choose from for your case. The packaging overall is plastic free – the bags the floss refills are stored in are made from PLA. I do wish there was a better option for that, but overall this is one of the better plastic free floss options I’ve been able to find. They’re reasonably priced and last a very long time.

Deodorant

So far I’ve tried two plastic free deodorant options. The first was (again) from Lush. I was unimpressed. The Aromaco block was very hard and I felt like I wasn’t able to get enough on without ripping off my skin. As with the conditioner, it was too difficult to use.

I then went on to try Myro. I was a little disappointed in their packaging. I was aware the dispenser was plastic and you’d get a refill each month (or when you need it) to fill the dispenser. However, the refills are encased in a thick layer of plastic. So while it’s probably less plastic than a traditional stick of deodorant, it’s really far from a less-plastic alternative.

My second gripe with Myro was that at some point I think they changed their formula. My first order lasted me a very long time (that’s because I don’t need much deodorant though) and it stayed in a stick the whole time. My second order earlier this year melted almost completely and never regained its structure. Our air conditioning broke and our house hit maybe 85 degrees in May. My Myro sticks turned to mush and stayed mush. So now to use them I have to use a tissue to wipe it on my armpits because I don’t want to waste what I already have. Le sigh. Once I finish the “sticks” I have, I’ll be on the search for a deodorant that a) doesn’t melt and b) actually is plastic free. I was sad because I really liked the scent and it worked pretty well.

My melted Myro in the container and an unopened container.

Lush

While I’ve griped on a few of Lush’s products, I really do love their brand. Their focus on sustainable packaging and stance against animal testing/cruelty is something I admire greatly. Like I said above, I really liked their Honey, I Washed My Hair shampoo bar and I also like a lot of their other products. They have great lip scrubs in glass containers, and are famous for their (packaging free) bath bombs.

Lush is also really great for soaps. Instead of using liquid body wash in the shower which needs to be housed in some kind of packaging, I use a bar of package-free soap from Lush. They have so many and it’s really fun to try new ones!

Any of their lotion consistency items are sold in black pots, which they accept back to the store for recycling. You can bring back five of them and receive a free face mask! They are cleaned, ground into pellets, and heated and remolded back into pots by Lush’s recycling partner.

Period Products

There are a number of plastic and waste free period products out there. Diva cups, underwear, reusable pads, etc. I decided to go with Aisle’s (formerly LunaPads) period pads because I felt they offered a little bit more flexibility than period underwear (aka easier to change) and I was also a little confused if period underwear was more for preventing leaks or if it was meant to replace pads/tampons completely. Anyway, I also really liked that their pads were made of organic cotton and they offered a dye free option at the time (less potential toxins, thank you!).

These have worked well for me, but if you have a heavier flow, I’d recommend only wearing them in something like jeans as they do slide around slightly.

I also bought a wet bag and stain remover from Aisle as well!

Random Suggestions

A few random bathroom suggestions! I invested in a metal tongue scraper, which will last forever. That one from Amazon comes with two and is super cheap.

Instead of using liquid hand soap, just use a bar of soap in a dish – maybe one from Lush! Or one of the 8000 you accumulate from hotels (pre-COVID, you know, when we traveled). You’re probably thinking, “Ew! Bar soap?” I don’t know if this is a millennial thing or just a me thing (please let me know in the comments), but I think sharing bar soap with people you don’t live with is a little gross. I get it, it’s soap so it’s clean but there’s just something about it. I’m totally fine with this arrangement for members of my own household, but I wouldn’t put a bar soap option in a guest bathroom.

So here’s what I do. For our downstairs half bath, which guests use (again, pre-COVID, maybe we will never have guests again, I don’t know), I use the liquid hand soap from Blueland, which I talked about in my last post. And then in our upstairs bathroom (which only we use), I have a soap tray and use bar soaps only for hand washing. Works out great.

In Conclusion…

I’m still working on upgrading my beauty routine to use less plastic. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m still heavily reliant on plastic for skincare and hair styling products. My skin is very sensitive, so I haven’t been able to do much experimenting there. If anyone has any suggestions, please send them along! My next beauty ventures are: finding a new deodorant, toothpaste tabs, and lotion from Lush.

Stay tuned for my final post this round that will focus on plastic free kitchen and “on the go” items!

6Oct2020

A Plastic Free You & Me: Cleaning, Laundry, and Pets

Posted in Eco-Friendly, Natural Stuff, Plastic Reduction by LaurOfAllTrades

I think it’s safe to say that we have a plastic problem. Plastic is everywhere and virtually impossible to avoid these days! The build up of plastic is harming the environment and ourselves. We’ve all seen the pictures of birds, fish, turtles (list goes on) with bags over their heads or straws up their noses. Plastic particles are making their way into our drinking water and plastic is increasingly being rejected for recycling.

I’ve recently been making a conscious effort on how I can reduce my plastic consumption. I truly believe change starts with yourself. Your dollar speaks. The success of plastic free companies is often a support for a small business and makes a positive environmental impact. Where your money goes, the big companies will eventually go too.

It hasn’t been easy reducing plastic, and there are still times where I do use plastic products out of necessity or lack of other options. However, the companies and products I’m highlighting in this post offer effective reusable, plastic-free, and eco-friendly options if you’re looking to “go green.” This particular post will cover Home Cleaning, Laundry, and Pet Care. I’ll cover Beauty, Kitchen, and “on-the-go” in future posts.

Home Cleaning

Home Cleaning was where I found the most available and comprehensive options for going plastic-free. Cleaning supplies take up a lot of waste! There are a number of companies out there that offer a suite of refillable cleaning supplies that also contain eco-friendly ingredients.

Cleancult

I was drawn to Cleancult’s earth-friendly formulas and reduced-plastic containers. They will send you a starter kit that gives you containers for dish soap, hand soap, all purpose cleaner, dishwasher tablets and laundry tablets. (Their products have changed a bit since I stopped using them, and it now looks like they offer liquid laundry detergent.) After you have the refillable containers, they will send you refills in paper packaging (for the tablets) or cartons (for the liquids). Cartons are a step in the right direction to reducing plastic use, but some municipalities don’t offer recycling for them. Also, originally their cartons had no plastic top, but it seems now they do.

I used Cleancult for a little over a year, but ultimately stopped my subscription for a few reasons. First, their laundry tablets would often not break down completely in cold water or with a larger load. Part of being environmentally-conscious when doing laundry is washing in cold water, so I thought there was a bit of a disconnect there. Second, my fiance didn’t care for their dish soap. He felt it was hard to wash off things. Third, I think they sent me dish soap labeled in an all purpose cleaner carton once. And lastly, they continuously would ship my subscription without sending me an email about it to make changes. Every other subscription service I’ve had sends an email to allow you to make changes for that month’s subscription. There were a few instances where this email was nowhere to be found (I literally looked everywhere in my email), so I ended up not being able to edit my subscription for that period and ended up with a lot of duplicate products.

It looks like Cleancult has gone through a branding update, but I still wouldn’t recommend their products because there are other options out there that have better packaging.

The remaining things I had from my Cleancult subscription – dish soap and laundry tablets.

Blueland

Blueland is another refillable home cleaning company that I’ve been using since stopping Cleancult. I’ve had a better experience with Blueland so far. One major difference is that their products are in more sustainable packaging. Instead of sending cartons, they send tablets that are wrapped in compostable paper packaging. In your first order you’ll receive refillable containers and a few tablets. You fill the containers with warm water, drop in a tablet and let it dissolve for a few minutes. Then Voila! You’re ready to clean. Their dish soap is a powder in a very well designed dispenser. My fiance liked this powder more than the soap from Cleancult.

They offer: foaming hand soap, glass cleaner, multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, dish soap, laundry and dishwasher tablets. I haven’t tried their tablets because I use another company, Dropps for those. (I’ll get to them later.) Overall, my experience with Blueland has been great. Their multi-surface cleaner’s scent could use some work, but overall I’m happy with Blueland and would recommend this brand over Cleancult for plastic free cleaning.

Tip: If you’re not able or willing to pay the upfront costs of the containers, you can likely use old containers you have and just buy the refill tablets.

Reusable Cloths

Reusable cloths come in a variety of different options. The two I use the most are Mr. Clean Wipes (bought at our local grocery store) and some microfiber cloths I bought on Amazon. They both work very well when wiping down counters, dusting, or cleaning floors (specifically the microfiber cloths for that last one). You can use the microfiber cloths wet or dry. They are both machine washable in cold water and hang to dry.

Tip: You can also use an old, partner-less sock or rag for dusting or cleaning as well!

Laundry

The most effective way to be plastic free for laundry is by using laundry tablets and wool laundry balls!

Dropps

Dropps offers laundry and dishwasher tablets that are shipped in all cardboard, so zero waste packaging. The detergent in the pods are contained in a water-soluble film. Their shipping is carbon neutral and ingredients are clearly outlined on their site. I would highly recommend Dropps! Both their laundry and dishwasher pods are efficient and work great.

Wool Laundry Balls

These are used in lieu of dryer sheets and can be used for a long, long time. I’m going on five years on my first set. Dryer sheets take a very long time to break down and contain a lot of chemicals that can be harmful to you, your dryer, and your clothes. Wool laundry balls are a once or twice time investment and because they’re made of natural materials, they will break down responsibly. If you really like the smell from a dryer sheet, you can add a few drops of an essential oil to your laundry ball, and it will have your clothes smelling wonderfully. Because these are an animal product, please do your research on where they come from. Dropps offers wool laundry balls from sustainable and cruelty free sources.

Pet Care

Our dog’s a happy guy, but he’s not happy when he knows he’s harming the environment. We all love our reusable bags, but have you thought about your dog’s poop bag? There are a decent amount of “compostable” poop bags out there (looking at you, Pogi’s), but compostable can be a confusing word. A lot of times things labeled “compostable” need to be entered into an industrial composting facility, which typically don’t want animal waste. So not everything labeled compostable will break down how you think it will in a natural environment or landfill.

These poop bags from My Alpha Pet are made of cornstarch and biodegradable, and effective for backyard composting (meaning they will break down naturally). Unfortunately the only place I can find these is Amazon, otherwise I’d provide a direct link. I can vouch that these work great. My dog is small, but his poops are mighty and I’ve never had an issue with these bags breaking.

Another item we have purchased for when nature calls are these reusable dog diapers. Our dog’s a little older and when he gets upset, he pees. A solution to this pee-venge problem is having him wear these diapers when he’s in a situation that might call for some pee. Let me tell you, they work great. We’ve had them for over a year and half and, trust, they have seen some pee. With proper care (a good soak before washing in hot water using mild detergent and air drying), they are still good as new. They absorb a lot and have never leaked. If your dog has incontinence issues (or is just an angry pee-er like ours), I would highly recommend these. There’s no need to spend money on disposable ones.

Poop bags + diapers (also known as belly bands for male dogs). Plus our dog modeling them.

I hope these product and company suggestions have been helpful! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or further suggestions in the comments.

Stay tuned for more information on Kitchen, Beauty, and “on-the-go” in a future post!

7Sep2020

Next to a Lake in Oregon

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

Alright, so I had big plans this year. But it’s 2020, and the universe decided I didn’t anymore. I’ve been keeping busy working, working out, reading, gardening and watching a decent amount of Netflix.

I haven’t done too many crafts or done a lot of traveling, but Kevin and I did drive up to Southern Oregon for a few days to at least enjoy some travel and get out of house. It was our first time in Oregon, too! We stayed on a lake, went to Crater Lake National Park, and did a lot of outdoor activities!

From the Bay Area, the Klamath Falls area of Southern Oregon is about a 5.5 hour drive. We stopped for a bathroom, gas, and lunch break, so it ended up taking us about 6.5 hours.

Where to Stay

Klamath Falls is very close to the boarder of OR and CA and is considered the “large” city in the area. We stayed about 30 minutes north of Klamath Falls in a town called Chiloquin.

We stayed at this Airbnb in Chiloquin on Agency Lake from Thursday to Tuesday. It was clean and very cutely decorated with a bear motif! It also had big bed and comfy blankets. Agency Lake is absolutely beautiful. The only downside is you can’t swim in it since it’s a shallow lake. There are also a lot of midge flies, which don’t bite, but they will swarm any light in the evening and you can’t really keep the windows open (even with screens). I took our dog out to pee in the dark and left the front light on. When we came back inside, I spent 20 minutes battling a swarm of midge flies that decided the front hallway was their new home. In general though, they’re really more of a passive nuisance than anything. Fun wildlife includes TONS of birds on the lake, which you can see from the deck. The Airbnb hosts also provided us with binoculars and a telescope.

Activities

On Friday, we drove the 30 minutes to Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is America’s deepest lake! It is a fairly small park and Oregon’s only National Park, so a day is enough time to drive around the rim of the lake and do a few hikes. You can also pre-purchase your pass online to save time.

Crater Lake is interesting because you mostly see the lake from above. There’s really only one way down to the lake, which is a fairly steep hike. Apparently the water is very cold, too, so we weren’t really interested in doing the hike. We drove past the trail and it was very crowded, so we felt better about skipping after seeing that. You can also take a shuttle boat on the lake to Wizard Island, but I don’t think that is running because of COVID.

I was a little surprised how many people were at the park, but I guess people are looking to do stuff outside and National Parks are a great outdoor getaway! We brought along our dog Indy, and toted him along in his backpack. We thought Crater lake was pretty awesome; Indy was largely unimpressed.

Taken in front of the sign at the visitor center. Just kidding – yes, this is a real picture!

On Saturday, we had an easy morning and went for a bike ride in the afternoon. Kevin has a mountain bike, and I rented one from Sky Lakes Wilderness Adventures. It was only $30 for 4 hours and came with a helmet and lock. This was my first time mountain biking and I loved it! We went to Annie Creek Sno-Park on the suggestion of Sky Lakes. It was a great ride along the fire roads with some great views!

The next day, Sunday, Kevin relaxed at the house, and I went out to a beach on a swim-able lake, Lake of the Woods. Lake of the Woods is about a 45 minute drive from Chiloquiln and it was $7 to get access to the lake at Aspen Point Day Use Area. Lots of people were camping and enjoying the water in boats, floaties, kayaks, etc. It was a bit smokey and hazy when I was there, but I still enjoyed reading while sitting at the shore and in the shallow parts of the water.

Monday was our last full day in Oregon and we took a kayak tour of the Wood River Wetlands and Agency Lake through Sky Lakes Wilderness Adventures in the morning. The tour and guide were both excellent. We saw a ton of wildlife, including frogs, water otters, beavers, heron, pelicans, and a variety of other birds. We decided to bring along Indy, which they were cool with (we emailed beforehand to ask if it was OK). He’s small and extremely calm and comfortable in pretty much every situation, so we were confident he would not be disruptive to the others on the tour or wildlife. He exceeded those expectations and was essentially unimpressed the entire time and slept. It was pretty cute.

The one time Indy was awake on our kayak tour.

Tuesday was our last day and travel home day. We left early because we stopped at Lava Beds National Monument on the way home. It will add around an hour to your drive. You could probably add this as a day trip, especially if you’re staying closer to Klamath Falls. We spent about 3 hours total at Lava Beds. You probably could spend more time there, but we didn’t want to get home too late and a lot of the park was closed because of a recent fire. There wasn’t much hiking to be done because of the fire. We also had our dog, who even in the backpack, we didn’t want to bring into the caves, so we went in individually. Going in individually definitely limited my time inside each cave because, quite frankly, they were super creepy!

The park was extremely quiet. We only saw three other small groups. The caves were absolutely pitch black, so it’s a little unnerving to be in there alone! There are only two lit caves – all the others are pitch black. Mushpot is lit with lights and has some signs to give information about the lava bed caves and how they are formed. This was Kevin’s favorite cave because he learned so much. There is also Sunshine cave, which has some holes in the ceiling, so parts of it are lit.

The caves are also very big, so you can go in and do legit caving. I’m talking hands and knees crawling through tiny spaces. This isn’t really something I want to do even with a partner though, so I was totally fine climbing down, walking maybe 50 ft, and then going back up. The caves are ranked by ease and complexity, so you can do some of the easy ones if you’ve never been caving before. Bring flashlights!

Where to Eat

Given COVID, we didn’t do much eating out. We’re not ready to dine indoors and we haven’t even been outdoor dining yet! So there were limited options in Chiloquin. We got a bunch of BBQ and lunch items from Albertson’s and cooked our own food, enjoying it out on the deck.

We drove into Klamath Falls to try to hit up the Sotum Thai food truck, which I was really excited about, given its excellent reviews. The first time I think we were too late (they close at 7pm and we got there around 6:40pm…soooo in reality not though haha). Then the second day they had a sign up saying they were going to be closed for 2 weeks (even though their Google page said they were open). So I was pretty disappointed about that.

However, these mishaps yielded some nice discoveries. We tried Papa Murphy’s for the first time. I had no idea what Papa Murphy’s was, but they basically make the pizza for you and you take it home to cook! That was pretty cool. Then the second night we got takeout from Los Potrillos. I didn’t see outdoor seating, but we got our food to go and there was a random picnic table outside that we ate at. It was wonderful.

Overall, we had a great time in Southern Oregon. It was really nice to get away and do some outdoor activities, and I would highly recommend taking the trip!

30Oct2019

Polish Eats: What to Eat and Where to Get It

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

In my previous post, I went over all the things to do and where to stay in Poland. And now, I’m going to talk about one of my favorite parts of traveling…THE FOOD.

I was fairly well-versed in Polish food before traveling to Poland because my grandmother would make it at special occasions and holidays, so I was really excited to try all of that food, plus some other classic polish foods that I researched before going. I was really happy because the food lived up to all my expectations!

Main Dishes

Pierogi: If you don’t know what a pierogi is…maybe you shouldn’t be traveling to Poland. (Joking.) It’s a potato and cheese, cabbage, and/or meat filled dumpling topped with butter, sour cream, bacon or fried onions! They can also be filled with a fruit like blueberries or strawberries for dessert. You can get these at literally 90% of the restaurants in Poland.

Get pierogi in Zakopane at: “Restauracja Rusałka”
Ok, so I’m not sure if this is the actual name of the place, but it is attached to the linked guesthouse/hotel. Outside of a Michelin Restaurant we ate at, I think this was the best food I had in Poland. The restaurant is kind of a hole in the wall place, but we got meat pierogi, potato and cheese pierogi, and a fried chicken breast plate. They all came with boiled potatoes (which were somehow just AMAZING) and a side cabbage salad (also AMAZING). This is maybe a 10 minute walk from our Zakopane hotel Villa Belweder and it closes fairly early – I think around 7pm. So stay out of the main city, have an early dinner, and hit up the hotel spa for the evening.

zakopane food

Get them (and a beer) in Przemyśl at: Piwiarnia Warka
Since not many folks in Przemyśl speak English, we somehow managed to communicate our order to them. It was a bit confusing because it wasn’t clear if you order food at the table or inside and we were all getting a little hangry. I also accidentally ordered 0% alcohol beer here, so be aware that is a thing. Surprisingly not that bad. (You order everything at the bar inside btw.)

warka beer

Bigos: Bigos is a hunter’s stew that mostly consists of shredded cabbage and kielbasa and thick bacon-like cuts of meat. It’s served with a brown rye type bread. If you don’t like cabbage, you will not like this.

Get bigos & pierogi in Warsaw at: Gościniec Polskie Pierogi
You can get like 20 different kinds of pierogi here. I tried bigos here and blueberry pierogi with sour cream and they were both great.

Galumpki/Gołąbki: I think the former is the Americanized spelling. It’s basically meat and rice wrapped in cabbage leaves and topped with a tomato sauce. 10/10 would recommend.

Kopytka: Basically a potato dumpling, but different than a pierogi – kind of more like a gnocchi. I wasn’t to jazzed about these. Even soaked in butter they didn’t have much flavor.

Get galumpki and kopytka at: Kuchina n Doroty
Great restaurant for traditional Polish food

Fried Potato Pancakes and Goulash: Goulash sounds scary, but it’s just a meat stew. These usually come together and they’re so, so good.

Get it in Krakow at: Kuchina n Doroty
Get it in Zakpane (along with other regional foods and a beer flight) at: Ciupaga

Borscht: Borscht is a beet based soup. Not going to lie, I had never tried borscht before Poland and I’m not a huge fan of beats. However, borscht was delicious!

Traditional Polish Roast Duck with Apples or Kaczka Pieczona z Jabłkami

Get borscht and duck in Krakow at: Restauracja Sasiedzi
We randomly came across this Michelin Star Restaurant and decided to stop because none of us had ever been to a Michelin Star Restaurant before and it was SUPER cheap. It might have been one of the greatest meals I’ve ever eaten.

Kielbasa: Polish pride and joy. One of the most delicious sausages you will ever eat. Also a popular street food – get it on a roll with onions.

Street Foods

Zapiekanka: This is essentially a French bread pizza with fun toppings. Corn, cucumber, ham, and mushrooms seemed to be the “traditional”, but in Krakow you can get it with a thousand different combinations. My favorite part is that it’s topped with ketchup. YES KETCHUP. AND IT’S AMAZING. Apparently putting ketchup on pizza is popular because we went to a pizza restaurant in Przemyśl and everyone was putting ketchup on their pizza. So as a ketchup lover, I happily lathered up my pizza in ketchup. It was a little different than American ketchup – a bit sweeter, so I feel like it went a little better with pizza than the ketchup I’m used to here in the US.

Get it in Krakow at: Mrs & Mr Zapiekanka
They have like 30 different variations of zapiekanka and it’s amazing.

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Get it in Przemyśl at: Mega Zapiekanka Stand
A tiny little stand toward the beginning of the main street area. Traditionally zapiekanka have mushrooms on them, but I hate mushrooms. You can order about 4-5 different kinds of zapiekanka here, luckily including ones without mushrooms.

zapiekanka

Obwarzarnek: This is like if a bagel and a pretzel had a baby. Served topped with poppy seed, sesame seed, or salt. They have these in carts all over Krakow’s Main Market Square.

Obwarzarnek in Krakow’s Old Market Square. There are many small carts selling these!

Oscypek: Smoked sheep’s cheese. They usually serve this with cranberry jam from a small kiosk or cart. I saw this in Warsaw and then again in Zakopane where it’s literally everywhere. Very delicious.

Oscypek

Baked Goods

Pączki: Poland’s national donut! Essentially a jelly donut, but more delicious

Get it in Przemyśl at: Pączkowo Lodowo

Pączki

Babka: The babka I grew up eating has a sweet, light, almost citrus flavor and has more of a bread consistency. There’s also another kind of babka that can be made with chocolate and has a heavier consistency. We were able to find both.

Makowiev (Poppy seed roll)

The taller one is a babka and the flatter one is the poppy seed roll.

Sernik: Polish cheesecake

Get it in Zakopane (with a beer) at: Roma
Roma a small place at the foothills of hiking to waterfalls. There’s outdoor seating and we enjoyed a sernik and beer after our hike.

sernik and beer

Chrusciki: This was the only thing on my list to eat that we didn’t find. These are kind of like very thin crunchy dough sticks and are popular for special occasions because they’re hard to make. Almost like the outside of a cannoli.

Non-Polish Foods to Eat in Poland

Pizza!

Get it (with a Bloody Mary) in Przemyśl at: Mamma Mia Pizza
Let me tell you, this was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. Maybe it was because it went so well with the ketchup Polish people put in pizza, but damn it was delicious. Also had my first taste of Polish vodka in a Bloody Mary.

Kebabs

Get them in Przemyśl at: Kebab Reina
As in a lot of Europe, kebab places are really popular in Poland. We went to this one twice and it was delicious. Get the wrap.

Burgers

Get them in Krakow at: Beef Burger Bar or Well Done
Well Done is an American restaurant that has everything from burgers to fajitas to ribs to pancakes.

Snacks!

I love getting random snacks in foreign places, so don’t forget to grab fun snacks on your road trips or just while you’re walking around.

26Oct2019

POLAND

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

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About six and then again two years ago I took two separate trips to Germany where I was able to see the dorfs (villages) where my grandmother and grandfather lived before they immigrated to the United States in the 1920’s. My mom still keeps in contact with some of her cousins and relatives there, so we were able to see them, and I was able to see some cool family history like the house where my grandfather lived before he moved to the United States and the house of my great-grandparents. It was a very cool experience to see your family history come alive and be in the actual place where your recent ancestors lived.

The other (mostly) half of me is Polish, so I wanted to do the same for Poland. Unfortunately the family history there is not as simple/known, so it was a bit more tricky to pinpoint an exact location. Regardless, I still wanted to go and that is what prompted my cousin and I (and our partners) to take a vacation to Poland!

Poland was a wonderful place to visit. There is enough to do that you won’t be bored, but also not so much to do that you’ll be overwhelmed by everything you need to see. There is a tourism infrastructure in the larger cities, but it’s not overrun by tourists. Poland gets around 15 million tourists a year, while somewhere like France gets 85 million. The people are friendly and many in the larger cities spoke English. If you greet people with a “Dzień dobry!” (Hello!) you will probably get spoken to back in Polish, which is a great thing! By the end of the trip I was able to do some very basic communications…aka mostly ordering food and saying hello/thank you. Poland was also so, so cheap. It’s a member of the EU, but still uses its own currency, the złoty, which currently has an exchange rate of 1 złoty to $.25 USD. Prices are not inflated and you can get a full meal + beer and water for around $8 USD.

The easiest place to fly into if you’re coming from the US is probably Warasaw. We all flew into Warsaw, traveled to Przemyśl (which is where our great-grandfather is from and five hours southeast from Warsaw), Krakow (2 hours west from Przemyśl) and parted ways. My cousin and her husband went to Austria, while my fiance and I went to Zakopane (2 hours south from Krakow). We drove back up to Warsaw (5 hours from Zakopane) to get our departing flight. Because of our stop in Przemyśl and the fact that there was four of us, we decided to rent a car at the Warsaw airport the day we were departing Warsaw to go to Przemyśl. Driving in Poland was pretty simple, but people do drive very fast and will be on your bumper if you don’t move out of the left lane fast enough!

Because this post is so long, check out my other post solely about Polish food and all the yummy food we tasted on our trip!

Warsaw

We stayed in Warsaw for two nights and one full day. I felt this was enough to see everything I wanted to see in Warsaw (except the Neon Museum – was a little bummed to miss that), but I could have stayed another day to see ALL the main points of interest. Unfortunately Warsaw was 80% destroyed during WW2, so in terms of history, there is not much to see. The city itself is very modern and there are plenty of parks, museums, and the public transportation is excellent.

What To Do

Old Town, Royal Castle & St John’s Cathedral – Old town was fun to walk around and the Royal Castle and church were really beautiful. There are lots of restaurants you can eat outside at or grab a drink. I tried Polish wine here and it was the only place we went to where I saw Polish wine on the menu (vodka is more their thing).

Inside the Royal Castle

Fotoplastikon Musuem – very small and cheap museum that uses an old machine to show you old pictures in “3D.”

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Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

River Walk – simply walk along the river. By our hotel on Saturday night there were a bunch of food trucks and people playing music outside

A few things we didn’t get to see – Łazienki Królewskie Museum & Park – Church of the Holy Cross – Neon Museum- Warsaw Uprising Museum – Palace of Culture and Science

Where We Stayed

We stayed at Warsaw River View. It was a very simple city hotel, which is what we wanted. You get a wonderful breakfast included and it was clean and in a good location.

Przemyśl

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Przemyśl isn’t exactly the hottest tourist destination in Poland, although it does have its own tourism app and public wifi! It’s essentially on the boarder of Poland and Ukraine and we decided to go here because it is the hometown of our great grandfather. Not only that, Przemyśl was really cool because it’s one of the oldest settlements in Poland and it’s clearly not heavily visited by non-Polish tourists. This is what made it one of my favorite parts of the trip because I felt like we got to see what “real Poland” looks like. We arrived in the late afternoon on Sunday and left for Krakow Tuesday morning.

What We Did

Fort Borek – This is a pre-WWI fort that you can walk around. It was very quiet and we had the entire thing to ourselves which was pretty cool. On our quests to find these forts and in search for another fort we ended up driving through a legit cornfield for wayyyy longer than we should have. They were doing road work on the normal route, so we decided to take a different way that Google maps had mapped as roads, but they were definitely not real roads. So don’t be fooled. To get to Fort Borek I think you do have to go on a dirt road for a little, but it’s not long and also is a normal dirt road, not through corn 🙂

Przemyśl Underground – These are 15th and 16th century tunnels. The whole thing will take you around 30 mins and is in the center of town. It’s an interesting part of Przemyśl’s very old history.

Franciscan Church in Przemyśl – Baroque church right in the town square. I was surprised at how ornate it was inside given the fact that Przemyśl is a smaller city.

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Casimir Castle – Not much to see inside, but you can go up to the top and see really nice views of the city.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at this Airbnb. I would highly recommend. It was a really nice Airbnb and was about a 10 minute walk from the city center.

Krakow

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What We Did

Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) – There are lots of restaurants where you can sit outside (I’d recommend only getting a drink though; they are most likely very touristy), get an obwarzarnek, and do some shopping. We also did a vodka tasting and visited the famous Polish chocolate company’s store E. Wedel. It’s worth a stop! You can also see traditional horse drawn carriages and do all your souvenir shopping in the yellow building in the middle of the square. In this huge building there are tons of vendors with all kinds of Polish handicrafts. Out of all the places we visited, I would recommend getting souvenirs here. Zakopane also has a decent market, but I thought the one in Krakow was the best.

Obwarzarnek in Krakow’s Old Market Square. There are many small carts selling these!

Plac Nowy – really cool if you like flea markets and street food. Here is where we got our zapiekanka in Krakow. There’s also a meat stand with kielbasa as well as an ice cream stand. There’s a variety of different vendors selling things from carved rolling pins (so your pin will make a design in the dough) to traditional flea market type stuff, including some very “interesting” WW2 memorabilia (German stuff…if you catch my drift).

St Mary’s Basilica – I’ve been to a million churches in Europe at this point and I must admit, this one is pretty cool.

Wawel Royal Castle – We didn’t end up going inside, but walked around. There is a legend of a Krakow dragon that if you go inside I’m sure you’ll learn more about because he allegedly lives in the castle. Outside the castle on the water-side, there’s a iron statue of the dragon that randomly spews fire! We saw the fire, but when we waited around for a few minutes, he didn’t do it again.

Polish Aviation Museum – this is a bit outside the city so we saw it on our way out. It was a really comprehensive Aviation Museum with a gigantic outdoor lot filled with old planes. Kevin said it was the best aviation museum he’s ever been to because it had a bunch of old WW2 era planes, new planes, and a bunch of design failures, so you got to see plane designs you wouldn’t normally see.

Auschwitz-Birkenau – Auschwitz-Birkenau is an intense place to visit, but it’s also an important part of history. Words cannot describe visiting a place like this. It is solemn, sad, and shocking, but there’s also a juxtaposition that it was a beautiful day, with trees and green grass. But then you go inside and see the rooms filled with hair, shoes, and other possessions of the victims as well as their pictures on the walls with their arrival and death dates, and it brings the reality back that this happened. It’s extremely important to remember what happened here and to keep this part of history preserved, albeit dark and devastating, so future generations understand that this happened.

You can take day tours, but we had a car so we were able to drive ourselves. I believe you need to reserve a tour in order to see the entirety of the monument and museum. A few tips – plan to get there at least a half hour before your tour. Your tour will leave on time and if you’re late, they will make you catch up to that tour. You’ll miss some important parts and also be “those people” in a place you definitely do not want to be “those people.” We were running a little behind because of traffic and road construction that caused us to miss our exit and instead of letting us join the next tour, they had someone find our tour guide and walk us through to meet them. Considering it was very crowded, it was kind of a long and awkward walk/push through a ton of people.

You also have to go through a security line that includes a metal detector and are only allowed to bring a very small bag. Think like a 12” thin bag. I had to check my bucket bag I usually travel with.

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At the end of the war, the Nazis destroyed the gas chambers to try to hide their war crimes.

There are plaques in each language of the people who were murdered there.

Other things to do we didn’t get to: St Francis’ Bascilica – Oskar Schindler’s Factory -Wieliczka Salt Mine – Kościuszko Mound

Where We Stayed

Because we were traveling as a group, we decided to stay in an Airbnb again. Personally if I’m traveling with a group of people, I prefer to stay at a place where we can hang out and decompress together for at least a few of the nights. This Airbnb was in Kazimierz, which is Krakow’s historic Jewish Quarter. It’s right by the Plac Nowy flea market and a bunch of cool restaurants. It was large and clean. If you have a car in Krakow, you can easily park it on the street. It was a little confusing at first to figure out where exactly you can park it (since all the signs are in Polish), but we mostly just followed the lead of other cars by parking in between people who were already parked. You need to pay for the day to park, but the good news is you can pay for a few days in advance and just put the ticket on your dashboard. I think it was around $10 USD/day to park.

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Zakopane

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Zakopane wasn’t actually my first choice of mountain destination in Poland because it seemed a little built up and touristy. The original plan was to visit the Table Mountains, but Kevin requested air conditioning and absolutely reliable wifi, so I compromised and we visited the Tatra Mountains in Zakopane instead. It reminded me a bit of Poland’s Lake Tahoe or Yosemite. It wasn’t as touristy as I thought and we quite enjoyed it. We were able to get some hiking in and overall enjoy the scenery. If you’re going in the winter and are into skiing, there is also plenty of skiing in this region as well.

Beautiful wood carvings all across the region!

What We Did

Siklawa Waterfalls & Tatra National Park – It’s about a 50 minute hike to the foot of the waterfalls into the Tatra Mountain National Park. I’m not sure if there just wasn’t enough rain, or we just didn’t get close enough to see them. It was still a nice two hour total hike and we got to see some beautiful views and scenery. For the more serious hiker, there are TONS of hiking trails further into the mountains as well.

Gubałówka Cable Car – It will take you up to the top of the mountain so you can see some really beautiful views. There are also restaurants as well as a bunch of souvenir stands. (The souvenir stands are better at the bottom of the mountain though.) There’s another cable car on the opposite side of Krupówki Street as well – Mount Kasprowy Wierch Cable Car – but I read that one can have very long waits, so I decided to with Gubałówka. There was essentially no wait and it went very quickly.

cable car 1

Market & Krupówki Street – Krupówki street is great for shopping. There are a bunch of regular clothing stores, restaurants, and souvenir shops. At the food of hill (by the Gubałówka cable car) and Krupówki Street there is a huge market that has a bunch of things like traditional scarves, crocheted lace, wood carvings, blankets, and lots of oscypek.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at Villa Belweder. It was definitely one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. (I think its rival is the resort I stayed in in Nha Trang, Vietnam.) The room was huge and decorated with unfinished pine. It was quiet, the breakfast was delicious, and there was a free spa you could use in the evenings. They were also very accommodating for a minor request I had regarding room choice, which I appreciated. It is about a 25 minute walk from the town center/happenings, but the walk is so nice that we didn’t mind. In fact, I walked it round trip four or five times over the course of our two days in Zakopane.

Back to Warsaw

After our time in Zakopane we drove on Sunday for most of the day to get back up to Warsaw. We stayed at Airport Hotel Okecie this time since we planned to get back to Warsaw around 8pm and our flight was the next morning at 6am. They have a shuttle and also a really nice restaurant where I had a mouth-watering udon noodle curry.

We really loved Poland and I think you will too. It’s cheap, has all the charm of Europe, but with a little bit more edge. We went around Labor day and the weather was great around that time.

Souvenirs

Knowing a lot about Polish culture, I had an aggressive souvenir list. I typically try to stick with jewelry, a piece of art, and/or a Christmas ornament or food as things to bring back for myself or others. There are a lot of cool things you can get in Poland, so here’s my list. I was ready to purchase everything, but realized that my grandparents and parents have a lot of these things already, also from Poland. As dark as it sounds, I’ll eventually inherit these one day, so I took it easy on certain things, like the wood carvings. For instance, I saw a carving of the Polish eagle and my Dad pretty much has the same exact thing.

Painted and/or carved wooden eggs – these are displayed in homes around Easter. I only saw these at a few stands in Krakow’s Main Market Square, so get them there.

Wood carvings – there are a TON of beautiful wood carvings all over Poland. You can get boxes, sculptures, plates. These are really popular in Krakow and Zakopane. I got a carved and painted plate, which is something my grandmother had also brought back for my mom.

Ceramics and Crystal table settings are very popular. There were a lot of these in the Krakow main market square.

Amber jewelry is all over the Krakow market. I already have some of this, so I didn’t get any while I was there.

Anything that says “POLSKA” – I really wanted a hoodless sweatshirt that said one of the cities we visited, but I wasn’t able to find one (not even at the airport!), so I left a little disappointed. There were lots of tshirts and hats though. We did get a really cool beer glass that says “Krakow: Satisfaction Guarantee” (yes, that is exactly what it says) at the Plac Nowy flea market.

Dolls – There are these Polish porcelain dolls (or plastic, too) dressed in traditional Polish outfits. Are you surprised to hear that I already had these as well? You can also get Polish nesting dolls – they are very similar to the Russian and Ukranian ones you are probably familiar with.

Ornaments – For some reason I was expecting a lot more Christmas stuff (even though we went in September), but there wasn’t much. A few places in the Krakow market had really nice ornaments, but there were NONE in Zakopane.

Traditional Polish outfits! These looked like they were mostly kid sized, but there were definitely some adult ones too. My cousin and I’s grandmother used to dress us and our brothers up in these as kids (our parents were also subjected to this as children)!

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Please note: These are based off my own experiences and are not to be taken as absolute facts. As with anything in the world, things are subject to change at any time and your experience might not be the same as mine. Also, all of these pictures are my own and owned by me. Please contact me if you would like to use them.

11Mar2019

COLOMBIA

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

Colombia has long been on my list of adventures! I love South and Central American culture and want to continue exploring more of those regions. I also traveled to Peru in 2013 and want to see more! Colombia only solidified my belief that this part of the world is one of my favorite places to travel. I went with my friend Charlotte in the beginning of December, and it was a fun time to go because there were Christmas decorations everywhere! Charlotte also speaks fluent Spanish and traveled extensively through Colombia a few years ago, which made the trip a lot easier and felt more authentic. Our itinerary consisted of Bogota, Manizales (in the coffee triangle), and the Caribbean coast.

Bogota

Bogota is huge. It might not be as “cool” of a tourist destination as Medellin, but there is still plenty to do! We stayed for two days and I thought that was enough to see everything I wanted to see there. We mostly explored La Candelaria and Usaquén neighborhoods.

What to Do

Mount Monserrate – Take the teleférico (cable car) up to the top!

Gold Museum – Inexpensive, unique museum

Botero Museum – Free! Great museum with a lot of Botero’s works.

Plaza Bolivar – Not much to do, but it is a bustling place with lots of people. In the vicinity and the road leading up to it, there’s lots of artisan goods, snacks, and street performers.

Usaquén Market – We spend the larger part of the afternoon at this market. It. is. huge. Great place to purchase art, jewelry, and other handmade souvenirs.

Graffiti Tour – We didn’t take one of these, but I wish we did. There’s so much cool graffiti in Bogota, and a lot of these tours are “free” (they ask for tips only)!

Views from Mount Monserrate

Graffiti in Bogota

Where We Ate

El mejor ajiaco del mundo – We ate here for breakfast on the first day – get the hot chocolate with melted cheese (sounds weird, but it’s a Colombian must-try!).

La Puerta Falsa – There is usually a line since this is the oldest restaurant in Bogota! We had the changua (milk and egg soup) and tamale for breakfast.

De Una Travel Bar – very good Peruvian restaurant

Bogota Beer Company

Anywhere you go in Colombia make sure to get fresh juice, all the breads at panderias (bakeries), and arepas! Most popular breads are Pan de Queso, Pan de Yuca, Almojábanas, and Pandebono. You also must try the guava paste with cheese as well!

Happy at La Puerta Falsa!

Changua at La Puerta Falsa

Cheese and guava paste and bread

Hot chocolate and cheese

Where We Stayed

Graffiti Hostel in La Candelaria – Great location. If you’re looking for a hostel with a social scene, I wouldn’t recommend as it was pretty quiet, but it was great for me because I’m not really into nightlife or socializing (#sorrynotsorry). The room was very clean, but the bathrooms really needed to be cleaned more often. La Candelaria is definitely a great area to stay in.

Getting Around

We took a taxi from the airport and short distances around Bogota, and we took an Uber TO the airport. Uber technically isn’t allowed at the airport I believe, so our driver said if anyone asked, we were dropped off by a friend. Colombia still has a weird relationship with Uber – read more here if you’d like to know more.

We also took the public bus when we went up to Usaquén since it’s a ways north of La Candelaria (like 30+ minutes by taxi). It worked out in the end, but it wasn’t very clear and everyone kept giving us different directions. I couldn’t tell you how we got there or back to the hostel; it just kind of happened.

Manizales

We took a flight from Bogota via EasyFly to Manizales. Note that the EasyFly terminal (as of the time of writing this post) is not in the main terminal, but in a smaller terminal. Our Uber driver was very sure we were in the correct place, but we were not. We had to get on the airport shuttle bus which literally goes around the entirety of the airport and it was not very clear to us where to get off. However, a few friendly people on the bus helped us and we made it. Luckily there were like five people in the terminal and we were still early.

Apparently it can get cloudy enough in Manizales to delay or cause issues with landing, so keep that in mind. We didn’t have any issues, but we did have to circle the area twice before landing.

Even height with this outrageously high mountain!

Where We Ate/What to Do

After we landed in Manizales we got breakfast at Delicia’s De La Catolica. It was a delicious breakfast with nice outdoor-open seating. We explored the town for a little, visited a chocolate shop called Chocolates Artesanales, saw the Torre de El Cable, and rode on the teleférico. The teleférico is right at the bus terminal, and really cool and very cheap. We simply rode it to the top and rode it back down to enjoy the views.

Manizales Teleférico

Where We Stayed

We stayed at Hacienda Venecia Coffee Farm, which is a bit outside of the actual city of Manizales, so you have to take a bus to this random restaurant, Las Palmas, that is on the side of the highway and then the hotel will come pick you up. We stayed in the main house area of the farm and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed! There was a pool, the grounds were perfectly manicured, and SO MUCH wildlife. There were different species of chickens, peacocks, iguanas, butterflies, so many birds, and more. The room and building were beautiful and open. I was a little concerned about the open-ness of the room and lack of fan/AC because I’m paranoid about mosquitoes, but we were only there for one night and I came prepared with my permethrin, bug spray, and citronella oil. While I did see some mosquitoes, they didn’t bother me.

Since it’s not easy to get out of the coffee farm, expect to eat there. It’s extra money, but is a delicious home-cooked Colombian meal served family style with the other guests. There is hiking around the grounds as well, and you can take a number of tours that the hotel provides. We did the coffee tour in the morning and learned a lot about how coffee is produced in Colombia and got to taste some directly from that farm.

Homemade lunch

All the coffee!

Getting Around

After spending our time at the Hacienda coffee farm, we made our way to Pereira, a larger city in the coffee triangle, so we could catch our flight to Cartagena. There were no direct flights from Manizales to Cartagena, so we opted to travel the hour to Pereira. Hacienda Venecia was kind enough to drop us off at the highway (about a 15-20 minute drive from the hotel).

I’m not quite sure how to describe what happened next but I’ll do my best. I noticed that in Colombia everyone will tell you a different way to do something or get somewhere. And, although everyone tells you different things, somehow it works out even if it’s not the advice anyone gave you. Our original plan was to get a bus back to Manizales and get a bus there to Pereira. But then some people told us we could get on a bus directly to Pereira on the highway near Las Palmas. Apparently sometimes they stop, sometimes they don’t. I had read that it’s actually illegal for buses in Colombia to stop at unauthorized stops and pick people up, so either this isn’t the case or people ignore that law.

Anyway, we first decided to wait on the side of the highway for a bus to *maybe* stop for us to take us back to Manizales. The highway was sparsely populated, so at this point I’m casually thinking “this is where it ends; I’m on the side of the road with all my belongings. Someone is just going to drive by, say ‘I want your stuff’ and I’ll be standing on the side of the road with nothing except the clothes on my back.” Luckily that didn’t happen. There was actually a transit checker on the other side of the highway going toward Periera (so maybe this was a bus stop?) who was counting the number of people in the buses. We asked him and he said they do stop and one could take us directly to Pereira.

After about 20 minutes of waiting, a bus did come and stopped for us.

After a very beautiful bus ride that included a rainbow, we arrived at the Pereira bus terminal. Since we were only there for a stop-over, we decided to get dinner at a Colombia fast food restaurant called Frisby. Not gonna lie, it was pretty good.

Our airport experience was…interesting. It’s a new airport, but it’s very small and very crowded and we were concerned driving up that our taxi had driven us to the correct place. Apparently our flight to Cartagena was stopping in Cartagena, letting people off, but also having more passengers join to continue to the US. Because of this, the security was crazy. They took everything out of everyone’s bags, and took shot glasses from us because they were “sharp objects”. Employees were constantly patting each other down, there were police dogs everywhere and they were doing random checks inside the terminal as well. Right before the plane was closing its doors, a woman and her young son got off the plane without telling everyone. They brought on a whole security team to thoroughly check the area and bathrooms. According to the US Dept of State, there is some domestic terrorist activity in Colombia, so after all that we were a bit nervous! NOTE: We had a normal experience in Bogota when boarding a flight to the US, so IDK what was happening in Periera.

We survived the plane ride and made our way to Cartagena only to find that our Airbnb had not notified the doorman that we were coming, so he couldn’t let us in. We finally got in touch and the doorman was able to let us in. If that wasn’t enough, the Airbnb wasn’t ready and the sheets were lined up to dry, and it wasn’t necessarily up to the same standards as the picture explained. It wasn’t BAD, just wasn’t quite the same. It was a whole thing. We finally figured out the wifi and were finally able to get some sleep after a long day.

Cartagena

What to Do

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas – fortress built in the 1500’s

Beach – I was not very impressed with Bocoagrande, the main beach in Cartagena. They have very fine, darker sand, so it’s almost like dirt and the apartment/hotel towers started to shade the beach at an early hour. There were also a LOT of people walking around selling things, the beach wasn’t super clean, and they have “cabanas” but they are just plastic chairs with a tarp over them. Apparently if you want nicer beaches, you can take a 45 minute boat to the Rosario Islands.

Walk around and enjoy the colorful buildings and surroundings! Be aware of your surroundings because someone told me that apparently if you’re going to get scammed in Colombia, it’ll be in Cartagena. One lady randomly started braiding Charlotte’s hair and was trying to convince us to come find her later so we could continue. A police officer came up and told her to stop and then told us basically not to talk to strangers (they might be distracting you and steal your things) and that it was illegal for them to do hair braiding outside of the beach. Overall it was a pretty funny experience though.

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

Bocoagrande

Catch a free show at night!

Where We Ate

Malanga – very colorful ceviche and juices! But don’t get the pulpo (octopus); it wasn’t good.

La Esquina del Pandebono – great for a quick breakfast of bread and juices.

Always get yourself some bag water when in South America!

Where We Stayed

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the Airbnb we stayed at, but we did stay inside the Walled City, near the San Diego neighborhood. That was a great location to see all the city has to offer.

Getting Around

Lots of stuff in Cartagena is walk-able, but we took taxis when we didn’t want to walk.

In the afternoon on our second day in Cartagena we made our way via Marsol bus to Santa Marta. To reserve the Marsol bus, I had to WhatsApp them to make a reservation. Even then I don’t think they cared if we had a reservation, but it’s always good to make one. We took a taxi to the Marsol office in Cartagena and Marsol dropped us off very close to our hostel in downtown Santa Marta.

Santa Marta

Things to Do

Scuba/snorkeling – We snorkeled in Tagana (about a 15 min taxi drive from downtown SM) with Ocean Lovers Tagana. I was hoping to scuba, but unfortunately I had developed a cold, so I wasn’t able to. The snorkeling was really awesome though and I’m glad we did it. After snorkeling we had lunch by the beach.

Lunch by the beach after snorkeling

Club Colombia beer!

Visit Tagana – There is a beach in Tagana that I thought was a ways away, but apparently it’s only a 10 minute walk if you cut through the large hill. I was not aware you could do that until we were already back in Santa Marta. There’s not much to see in Tagana or Santa Marta, but there’s A LOT of nature in the area.

Tayrona National Park – We decided to take a tour as it was the last day of our trip and we were pretty tired. It was about $40 USD. The tour company we went with, Samaland Tours, doesn’t really have an internet presence; we found them in the city center. Tayrona National Park is amazingly gorgeous. To get to Cabo San Juan beach, it is a 8.4 mile hike total (to go there and back). You can take a boat there or ride horseback, but we opted to hike because it’s part of the experience. It was truly an amazing hike, but I was soaked with sweat toward the end. We saw a ton of wildlife, including a crocodile hanging out a few yards from us at the beach.

Where We Ate

There is a bustling row of restaurants and live music each night, and I would recommend eating there because there’s a lot of variety and you can sit outside at most of the places. Hopefully The Funky Band is playing!

Lulo – Really good. We had what we called “hipster arepas” meaning they were arepas but with a bunch of other stuff you don’t normally find on arepas piled on them.

La Muzzeria – We had these bowls called kokiyas. They kind of were like chicken pot pie type things without the top. I’ve never heard of these, nor has google, so I think they’re something unique to the restaurant (but please correct me if I’m wrong here). Very rich and very delicious.

Arepas at Lulo’s

The Funky Band

Where We Stayed

We stayed at Mauricio Babilonia hostel. It wasn’t in the nicest area of town ever, but it did have air conditioning. The room we stayed in (“Budget Room”) was on the ground floor and there was a large window that went to the floor. While you couldn’t see in and it was barred, it wasn’t totally sealed at the bottom so there was a lot of dirt and dust and a giant roach visited us in the night. Maybe stay elsewhere or in a different room.

General Info

Because I only do this for fun, I didn’t write down all the places we ate at and had a hard time tracking them down, so I just wrote down what I remembered. Don’t be afraid to eat at the street vendors! I have used Travelan on two international trips and have avoided getting sick on either (may be the Travelan, may be luck).

Biggest arepas we have ever seen in Cartagena

Beaches – I know a lot of people assume that Caribbean coast = beautiful. I didn’t really find that the case in Colombia. I was unimpressed with the beaches that were easily accessible, and the ones that are special are either very far from city centers or hard to get to.

Safety – Just be smart. Overall if you’re street smart and pay attention, you’ll be OK. Other than a few instances that could have happened anywhere (see: the bus stop and airport) I felt comfortable throughout the trip. Also, just say no to drugs. You will be offered them in Cartagena.

Mosquitoes – I did see mosquitoes in Manizales and the Caribbean coast, but I was covered in 800 kinds of repellent so they didn’t bother me. Our bus driver told us about this scary bug that will burrow into your skin at Tayrona Park that can only be repelled with vitamin A, so we asked a pharmacist about it. I think she gave Charlotte strong vitamin B tablets and said that would protect against some kind of bug. I was already taking a heavy dose of vitamin B + garlic pills, so I didn’t buy it. Apparently it’s kind of an old wives tale that vitamin B and/or garlic repels against mosquitoes, but I figure it can’t hurt so I take it anyway.

29Nov2018

Whirlwind Week Through Vietnam

Posted in Travel by LaurOfAllTrades

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Vietnam is a bustling, vibrant, beautiful country with a rich history. My friend Jennifer and I went on a week long trip during the first week of October 2018. We had an aggressive itinerary – 3 cities + 3 day tours – there is just so much to see in Vietnam! Our main hubs were Saigon, Nha Trang, and Hanoi. Fortunately, Jennifer speaks some Vietnamese, which helped a bit. However, even if she hadn’t spoken Vietnamese, we would have still been able to easily get around. Vietnam has a mix of unique cities, beautiful beaches, and stunning nature. It’s a wonderful country with a lot to see and AMAZING food.

Ho Chi Minh City

We started off our trip flying into Ho Chi Minh City and stayed there for three days. No one really calls Ho Chi Minh City by its name; it’s almost always referred to as Saigon, the original name. Saigon is fast paced, lush, and somehow gritty yet elegant at the same time. You can definitely see the French influences on the city in the layout, parks, and architecture.

Lil guy at Jade Emperor Pagoda

What We did in Saigon

Admire from outside/walk around – Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office

Take tours – Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum

Jade Emperor Pagoda – beautiful Buddhist temple, busy with people in the morning stopping to pray

Ben Thanh Market – crazy huge market with food, trinkets, and lots of fake bags, sunglasses, and shoes. This is where Jennifer’s Vietnamese helped the most by haggling to get amazing discounts!

Bitexco Financial Tower (Saigon Skydeck) for views of the city and also has a swanky top floor bar with equally spectacular views.

Mekong Delta Day Tour of Mỹ Tho through Asiana Link Travel – This tour was jam packed with a variety of activities. While I felt it was a little “touristy”, it was still fun to take a few boat rides on the Mekong Delta, see a honey farm, and have a delicious lunch. We also got a refreshing fresh coconut on the way back! Plus, on the way there you stop at a Vĩnh Tràng Chùa, a temple with huge Buddha statues.

Honey + bee pollen tasting

Vĩnh Tràng Chùa

Food

We had pho at both Pho 2000 (multiple locations) and Pho Hoa Pasteur – 260C Pasteur, Ward 8, D3. Pho 2000 was better in my opinion. We also drank a lot of Vietnamese iced coffee, milk tea (my favorite was peach), and ate a ton of bun cha, bahn mi, and lots of spring rolls, washing it down with some Tiger beer! We stayed at Bay City Hotel, which was a clean, business-y hotel with a rooftop pool. It was down the street from lots of restaurants, so the location was pretty good. Another notable place we ate at was Secret Garden – it is a rooftop restaurant and you have to go up a few flights of dingy stairs to get there, but it’s worth it!

Getting Around

We felt safe walking around Saigon. We were on the hunt for a dessert shoppe one evening and failed to find it, and after walking around for about a half hour in the dark, we decided to hail a taxi and go home.

I enjoy walking around cities, but we used taxis in Saigon more than I usually do since they were very cheap ($3ish USD for a ~15 min ride) and our time was limited. One caveat – use Vinasun only. We found those were the cheapest and the most reliable. We got in a different brand taxi and the price was 2x what we had been paying in Vinasuns, even with the meter. Most taxis go by the meter, so they are fairly reliable, and you can hail them on the street or the hotel can call you one.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang was once a sleepy fishing town, but it’s transformed itself into a bustling beach club city.

We stayed at Mia Resort. It was a bit outside the city (a taxi ride into the city was about $20-$30 USD, so pricey!), but it was one of the few resorts in Nha Trang that are actually ON the beach. And let me tell you, it was STUNNING. I’m not usually a resort person, but this place was impeccable – the pool, the beach…all of it. The food was amazing (they have a Vietnamese buffet a few nights a week), as were the drinks. For about $180 USD (we were kind of on a shoulder season), we got a huge room with an outdoor patio area, an in-room breakfast fit for a king, plus the gorgeous grounds.

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We were able to enjoy the resort, and the second day we went into the city of Nha Trang in the afternoon to see the Po Nagar Cham temple towers and have dinner.

Hanoi

We made our way to Hanoi on VietJet and unfortunately did not arrive to our Hanoi hotel until around 2am because of flight delays. It was very frustrating because both the flights we booked on VietJet were delayed in some form, so it made us arrive a few hours late to Nha Trang and at an obnoxiously late time in Hanoi. The flights were outrageously cheap, but there apparently are overnight and regular trains from Saigon to Nha Trang as well.

What we did in Hanoi

We used Hanoi as a hub for two day tours – one to Nihn Binh and the other to Ha Long Bay. We were able to see Hanoi by night and the morning before we left. We stayed at the Pearl Hanoi Hotel, which was in a great location in the old town and the Hanoi weekend night market was a short walk away, as was Hoan Kiem Lake Park and many restaurants. The night market was super crowded with so many different things to purchase, ranging from clothes to handicrafts to snacks, and seemed to go on forever! If you are traveling around Vietnam, I would recommend waiting to get your souvenirs in Hanoi. There seemed to be a lot more of that stuff there than the other areas.

Nihn Bihn Tour – Nihn Bihn is still a bit off the beaten path, and rightfully so. It’s basically the middle of nowhere, but is described as a landlocked Ha Long Bay. It’s absolutely gorgeous. On this tour, we went to a temple in Nihn Bihn, took a boat ride on river/canals in Tam Coc, and had a bike ride through the countryside. I appreciated this tour because the bike ride was substantial and we really got to experience the town. Fair warning, the bikes suck and our tour guide was biking like he was in the Tour de France, which made me a little frustrated. However, once he made it clear he was not going to leave me and a few other slow riders to fend for ourselves and was realizing how awesome the experience was, I was less annoyed.

Ha Long Bay via IndoChina Junk – What can I say about Ha Long Bay? You gotta do it. It is a long, long day (the bay is 4 hours from Hanoi). I would suggest if you have the time to stay overnight on the boat or stay closer to the bay in a city like Hai Phong, you should do it. But, if you can only do one day, Ha Long Bay is still doable. I always find tours and driving nice because, you do get to see a lot of countryside, even if it is from the car. Unfortunately it was a bit overcast during our tour, but it was a beautiful experience and I enjoyed the boat ride. We also got to kayak, and saw a stingray jump out of the water and a really beautiful jellyfish.

Food

Hanoi is famous for its street food and we tried some pho at Pho Ga 26. It was amazing. It was interesting to experience the regional differences of pho – beef in the south and chicken in the north. We also finally got the dessert we were searching for in Saigon – coconut ice cream with toppings inside a giant coconut! I’m not quite sure if the place had a name, but the address was at 29 Hang Than in Ba Dinh District. We also ate at Highway4, which has a few locations. It was a bit fancier and had some interesting Vietnamese dishes that are meant to be shared, and a cool atmosphere. Craft beer is having a “moment” in Vietnam right now and I was able to enjoy a really delicious mango cider there.

Overall the coffee was SO AWESOME in Vietnam. It is typically served iced + condensed milk. I topped off the trip with a Hanoi favorite, egg coffee! It’s basically coffee, but with an egg yolk to make the coffee super rich and creamy. It’s surprisingly delicious.

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Other Things:

Visa – If you live in the USA, don’t forget your visa, you need one to enter Vietnam. We got ours through the Vietnam Consulate rather than do the visa on arrival. While more expensive ($100), it is quicker upon arrival and seemed like there would potentially be less problems.

Weather – I was honestly expecting it to rain at least once a day when we were there, but it didn’t rain once. October is kind of a shoulder season for the north and south and I found the weather hot and humid (worse in Saigon), but overall tolerable. It’s the start of the rainy season in Nha Trang.

Bugs – Jennifer got one bite on her foot, but we were also lathered in bug spray. I think we saw a few mosquitoes, but didn’t really have an issue with them.

Wifi – the hotels had great wifi and many restaurants did as well!

Getting around – to get from city to city we flew (more on our VietJet experience above), and getting around cities we either walked or took taxis. Sometimes we hailed them from the street, and in some instances we booked them in advance (usually when we were to be arriving/department the airport at a weird time). We used Hanoi Airport Transfer in both Saigon and Hanoi. While it was a bit more expensive than getting one of the street, it was nice for a 1am arrival time at Hanoi airport to have a taxi waiting.

In Nha Trang, the closest airport (Cam Ranh) is about 45 mins away from the city, so be prepared for a hefty bill if taking a private taxi. They had group minivans at the airport for cheaper than a private taxi at 100,000 VND (~$4.30 USD). The only weird experiences we had with taxis (other than the 2x the price one in Saigon) was in Nha Trang. Our driver going into the city screamed obscenities at two women on a motorbike…for a very long time (we had no idea what they did wrong, but Jennifer could decipher a little). He also at one point pulled off the main road into a neighborhood, got out of the taxi and left us there for about 5 minutes. He came running back, got back in the taxi, and we kept going. We think he had to pee.

Lastly, anywhere crossing the street in Vietnam you are basically taking your life into the hands of everyone around you. Cars and motorbikes are everywhere and traffic lights are few and far between. It’s a steady flow of traffic, so the cars/bikes don’t necessarily stop for you if you are in the road, you have to eloquently dodge them and they do the same. It’s kind of nuts, but eventually you’ll get the hang of it. Follow a local is the best tip I can give. There were a few instances where very nice women helped us cross the street. Hanoi was worse than Saigon, but have been in Saigon first we already had some practice!

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Day 1: Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik

Day 2: Explore Reykjavik

Day 3: Golden Circle Tour

Day 4: South Coast Self Tour and Drive to Vik

Day 4: Katla Volcano Ice Cave Tour

Day 5: Drive to Hof, Diamond Beach, and Skaftafell Glacier Hike

Day 6: Drive back to Reykjavik and return home

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On the Go

Kitchen

Food Wraps

Reusable Napkins

Reusable Paper Towels

In Conclusion…

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Hair

Floss

Deodorant

Lush

Period Products

Random Suggestions

In Conclusion…

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Home Cleaning

Cleancult

Blueland

Reusable Cloths

Laundry

Dropps

Wool Laundry Balls

Pet Care

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Where to Stay

Activities

Where to Eat

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Main Dishes

Street Foods

Baked Goods

Non-Polish Foods to Eat in Poland

Pizza!

Kebabs

Burgers

Snacks!

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Warsaw

What To Do

Where We Stayed

Przemyśl

What We Did

Where We Stayed

Krakow

What We Did

Where We Stayed

Zakopane

What We Did

Where We Stayed

Back to Warsaw

Souvenirs

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Bogota

What to Do

Where We Ate

Where We Stayed

Getting Around

Manizales

Where We Ate/What to Do

Where We Stayed

Getting Around

Cartagena

What to Do

Where We Ate

Where We Stayed

Getting Around

Santa Marta

Things to Do

Where We Ate

Where We Stayed

General Info