Category — PLACES

Have you heard about the cronut craze that’s sweeping the nation? Here’s the story in a nutshell: some guy in New York took the fried, glazed goodness of a donut and introduced it to the flaky layers of a croissant. They had a baby and behold, the cronut was born. And people are out of their minds over it. Like, spending $40 to buy one black market cronut out of their minds.

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Harissa is a spicy North African sauce or paste made from dried chilis, toasted spices, garlic, and oil. In Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya, people use harissa like mustard or ketchup–it goes on many, many things. It’s hard to find a really excellent version to buy in the U.S., but luckily it’s pretty easy to make at home. I like to make a large batch and preserve it in cute jars so I can give them as hostess gifts.

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I just got back from a long weekend in Isla Holbox, a little island off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Holbox is a weird name for a Mexican island, right? It’s actually a Mayan word meaning “black hole” and is pronounced “Ohl-bosh.” Whatever you call it, it’s pretty great.

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I’m heading out to Mexico tomorrow, but before I go, I wanted to share these photos. On a trip to Park City last month, I found I was in a prime position to capture some incredible views from my little airplane window on both the outbound and inbound flights. I have flown in and out of SFO probably hundreds of times, but the approach on my return flight is one I have literally never experienced, and made for some neat photos of my favorite city. We flew in from the northeast, over Marin or Sonoma county, then looped back down on the western (Pacific Ocean) side of the Golden Gate Bridge. It made for some stunning views of all of the major bridges and a clear outline of the city’s distinctive 49 mile peninsula.

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Kamakura is a small, peaceful beach town about an hour (by train) outside of Tokyo. It was the political capital of Japan for a couple of hundred years, but that ended in 1333; still, the town is rife with beautiful temples and Shinto shrines, some with hundreds or thousands of clay figures used as funerary offerings.

Kamakura is also home to the Great Buddha, which is known as the Daibutsu. It’s the second largest Buddha in Japan and is thought to have been cast in bronze sometime during the mid-1200s.

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A few years ago I had one of the most incredible travel experiences I have had so far – two days of tracking the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. I am probably not skilled enough as a writer to describe how moving and unbelievable the experience was, but I will try.

I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to write about this, but it might have something to do with the fact that I have hundreds of gorilla photos to wade through, and when they are this cute – it’s hard to choose which ones to share.

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We have been getting the most gorgeous strawberries from a local farm stand out near Petaluma. In fact, we bought a 3-pack on Sunday morning and they were gone within a few hours. We stopped back at the stand for a full flat that afternoon, and after eating, sharing, and cooking pounds and pounds of strawberries for 24 hours – by Monday night they had all somehow disappeared.

One of the best things to come out of this strawberry extravaganza was these brown butter shortcakes. With the strawberries baked right into the fluffy, slightly sweet biscuits, all you need is a little ice cream or whipped cream and you’re good to go.

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What could be better than spending the day with dozens of sweet, energetic dogs pulling sleds through the snow? In a word, nothing. Sure, it’s cold and snowy, but the exhiliration of guiding your own eight-dog team takes care of that quite nicely. A major plus of this experience is that I got to spend a little time in the picture-perfect Old West town of Livingston – a treat whether you’re hanging out with huskies or just on your own. 

I arranged my dog sledding experience through the funky and fabulous Chico Hot Springs Resort. Rumor has it that Teddy Roosevelt once stayed there, too. 

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I am guessing you have never heard of Matera, a city in the far south of Italy. Despite its incredibly unique and beautiful architecture and its fascinating history, it doesn’t even make it into most Italy travel guides.  Truth be told, I had never heard of it until I saw an obscure article about a hotel housed in old cave dwellings. I put it on my mental bucket list and found myself thinking about it from time to time. When a family trip to Italy was in the works, I knew I wanted to make a special trip to check it out in person.

It is stunning.

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Lake Atitlan is a beautiful volcanic lake in Guatemala. No matter which of the many towns you visit there, you are sure to find friendly people, breathtaking vistas, and relaxing spots to sit and have a beer. You might even get to see a glass wing butterfly or a soccer match! To see more about Guatemala, you can also check my post about the impressive Day of the Dead kite festival.

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