Weekend in Venice

Destinations

My weekend in Venice

There’s really no place in the world like Venice and somewhere everyone should go once in their life whether its with a significant other or just friends! We took a train from Naples to Venice which was about a 4 hour ride. Once we got out of the train our Air B&B was about a 10 minute walk which was  super exciting with our suitcases going up and down stairs of little bridges but gotta do what you gotta do. Hotels on the island in venice could be super expensive especially in July when we went. We found it way cheaper to get an Air b&b and this apartment was stunning! It was a 5 minute from San Marco square and just the perfect location.

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If you’re looking for a gorgeous dinner spot and want to splurge for the night I highly recommend Club Del Doge at the Gritti Palace (place also looks super cute for lunch). The views were stunning, food was delicious and service was great!

Two words.. Gelato Fantasy. A must if you like Gelato. A must even if you don’t like Gelato. I had Gelato any time I could in Italy and this place definitely topped them all!

We took a day trip (booked on Viator) to the Island of Murano and Burano. Murano is known for their glass making. We got to see how glass was made and then looked at all these gorgeous pieces that I’ll never be able to afford haha.

The Island of Burano is known for their colorful houses. It’s really beautiful to just walk around and take it all the beauty this place has to offer.

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Tips for Venice:
1. Book ahead of time & look into air bnbs
2. Eat as much Gelato as you can
3. Take a Gondola ride

 

POSITANO DREAMS

Destinations

Positano is probably my favorite place on earth thus far. It’s so overwhelmingly beautiful you just have to experience it for yourself! We took a train ride from Rome to Naples which is the closest port of travel to the amalfi coast whether its by train or plane. We also rented a so we can do things at our own pace!

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We stayed at this beautiful B&B which was in between Sorrento and Positano it was called Villa La Ventana. The owners were so acoommdating, cooked us fabulous breakfasts and dinners and really made us feel at home. There was maybe a total of 4 couples in the entire place but we never saw any of them!

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Villa La Ventana

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Villa La Ventana

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Home Cooked Meal at Villa La Ventana

We took a day trip to Capri leaving from the port of Positano. It was the best $84 dollars I ever spent on Viator. Our captain Pepe was amazing! It was a gorgeous luxury boat with a max of 12 people on it. On the way to Capri there is a gorgeous cave called the Blue Grotto. You can only get on a little boat that fits 2-4 people and because we were a small group we basically got go in front of all these groups who were on larger boats. It was only a couple of minutes but it was the best few minutes of my life..

Capri is the cutest island I’ve ever seen!!! The photos speak for itself.

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Capri

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There is this Gorgeous hike called Siento Deli Day aka the Path of Gods. There are many areas to begin and end the hike. I did a lot of research on what people said on forums of where to begin the hike and there are various routes you can take. I found this website being the easiest because it talks about each path! http://www.pathofgods.com/into-the-path/from-east-to-west/from-bomerano-to-nocelle/

We ended up doing the east to west path starting from Bomerano to Nocelle. We were driven by the owners of the B&B to Bomerano which was literally the top of a mountain essentially. From then we basically followed the photos on the website listed above and once you’re on the trail its pretty self explanatory and you’ll see people on the way as well!

Tips for Positano:

1. Book ahead of time!!! We booked 4-5 months in advance and most hotels in Positano had 1-2 rooms left and were extremely pricey

2. Everything in Positano is steps!! and thats the only way down to the beach so make sure you know how many steps it is from your hotel to the beach.

3. Be prepared to pay money for beach loungers (welcome to Europe 😀 )

4. Walk through this beautiful beach town and savor every moment!

5. If you are there longer i would look into going to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii

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ROME-ing Around

Destinations

I spent about two days in Rome which I felt was more than enough. We stayed at Tewnty One Hotel which was a chic modern hotel that was very reasonably priced (booked on cheaptickets)

Rome is somewhere you have to go in Italy but it was not one of my favorite places. Because of lack of time we did a 9 hour combo tour (booked on Viator) That included a skip the line to the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Petersburg Basilica and Colosseum Walking Tour. I HIGHLY recommend booking something that involves skip the line for any of the places I just listed above.

Keep in mind you do have to have your knees and shoulders covered in the Vatican which was not the most fun considering it was 98 degrees that day… But it was worth it.

Food in Rome was delicious I must say!! Everything is so fresh and delicious you will just have to see for yourself 😛

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EIFELL IN LOVE WITH PARIS

Destinations

Bonjour! My boyfriend and I took a straight flight from JFK to Paris where we began our Eurotrip. Paris can get very confusing with their neighborhoods, like any city some areas are better than others. I stayed in Hotel Plaza Étoile which was in arrangement #8. It was in the Champs Elysées area which is considered the “fifth avenue” of Paris. Great shops, restaurants and designer stores. This hotel was super affordable compared to the others in the area but the room was TINY and I mean tiny.

There’s so many things to do in Paris but we were only there for a few days so we tried to hit as many of the major highlights as we could. We went in July and walked just about everywhere but you can definitely do Uber.

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Sacré-Cœur

I highly recommend taking a day trip to Chateu du Versailles. This was one of the best parts of our trip. I booked this through Viator.com there are many options make sure you get a castle tour AND garden/fountain tour. The garden and fountain are stunning and not one to be missed. With this tour (link to tour) we met our group by the train station they give you train tickets for there and return. It was a nice pleasant ride to Versailles where you met with the actual tour guide who will take you around the castle and garden. After the tour you are free to roam around or take the train back home.

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Many European cities have something call hop on hop off bus. Basically you pay a small amount and you can get on and off a bus that comes super frequently to hit all the major landmarks you’d wanna see. We did this to see Eiffel Tower, Norte damn, scare couer etc. you can pre load a map so you can plan accordingly where the closest bus stops are to you and the route you want to take.

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I highly suggest seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. I think it’s more stunning during the day because it sparkles every hour on the hour for about 5 minutes. It’s truly romantic and magical.

If you are into museums of course I suggest the louvre: yes the Mona Lina is there, no it is not that impressive (it’s very tiny and people crowd around it) but it is something you of course want to see. Try to appreciate the rest of the museum because the art work is truly beautiful and mesmerizing.

We went to musee d’orsay which I also found to be a cool thing to see. I purchased this tour through get your guide app which allowed me the day of to buy a skip the line ticket to the museum! Don’t forget to see this cool clock tower on the top floor as you roam around the museum. You can see a cool view of the sienne river and for some more importantly it makes a good photo for the gram of course😉

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Tips:
1. If you are going in the summer I suggest buying skip the line tickets for any museum/tour you book! Your time is precious and what’s a few more dollars if you’re saving time 🙂
2. Purchase a hop on hop off bus ticket or at least look into it
3. Majority of the Restaurants accept  all major credit cards
4. Tip isn’t necessary but when they know you’re from America they expect one and we left tip most of the places we went. Plus I thought the service was excellent regardless
5. Go to Laduree and get yourself some yummy macaroons. I’m from New York and we have that here but what can I say everything tastes better in Paris 🙃
6. If you’re into parks I would suggest going to jardin du Luxembourg for maybe a cute picnic! Or Tuileries garden and take a Ferris wheel ride (right outside of the louvre)

Restaurant Recommendations:
1.L’Avenue
2. Chez Francis on Champs
3. Lasserie
4. Laduree
5. Le Relais De L’entrecote
6. Maison Lacombe
7. L’ouiseu Blanc
8. Café De Flore’

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Love Lock Bridge

CURAÇAO

Destinations

If you need a warm non-expensive getaway than Curaçao is calling your name. I went with two of my girl friends to Netherland Antilles aka Curaçao. Jet blue has some awesome vacation packages that are super cheap!

We stayed in the Curaçao Marriot beach Resort and Emerald Casino (UPDATE: its closed).  But I would recommend Sunscape All inclusive Resort OR Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort. I highly recommend renting a car. I think it made our trip that much better and we were able to freely do what we wanted.

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Take a joy ride to Grote Knip Curacao. It’s this small beach on the west side of the island that’s opened to the public. The water is stunning and its a perfect place to relax.IMG_0503.JPGIMG_0456.JPG

 

Two words: Klein Curacao. Klein Curacao is basically an uninhabited island off of Curacao that has the most stunning white sandy beaches you’ll ever see. I recommend booking with Bounty Adventures. You drive to the starting point which has parking available across the street and you take a 2 hour catamaran trip to the most stunning island. We went snorkeling with turtles and had an amazing BBQ and unlimited alcohol :).  The pictures speak for itself…

 

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If you’re not staying at an all inclusive resort (sunscape I believe is the only one) I suggest driving into town (10 minutes) and going to some restaurants there. There is a movable walking bridge called Queen Emma Bridge that you cross by foot to get to the other side of the town (Punda). Just remember.. it’s a bridge.. therefore boats tend to pass every so often. We were casually walking down the bridge taking pictures ofcourse and heard a faint bell and suddenly we saw people running but we didn’t understand why. We see in the distance the bridge is starting to separate from the platform and we jetted for our lives and ended up jumping from the bridge to the platform. Worse case scenario is you get stuck on the bridge for like 20 minutes with nowhere to go.. so just pay attention and walk fast if a boat is coming! While the bridge is separated there is a ferry that takes you from one side to another every 5 minutes which is nice.

Tips For Curacao:
1. Rent a car
2. Go to Town and DONT get stuck on the floating bridge…
3. Go to Grote Knip Beach
4. Trip to Klein Curacao is a must
5. Do an excursion to the Blue Room
6. They accept USD everywhere other than for parking in town you need their currency

Restaurant Recommendations:
1. Gouverneur De Rouville (has amazing appetizers and cheap happy hour)
2. Seabreeze Swim up bar and restaurant

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