Category Archives: Trip Reports

a heart made of coffee beans

Shelli’s World Coffee Tour – Coffee Houses in Madrid, Spain (Part 3)

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I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a wonderful holiday in Madrid, Spain. And though it was hard to tear myself away from the incredible pinchos and rioja, I did explore the coffee houses, and I’m glad I did. I drank plenty of coffee, talked with baristas, and I’ve got lots to share with you. Let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Madrid style. If you haven’t had a chance to read Madrid coffee part one and part two, I suggest you do because they offer in-depth explanations of the general coffee scene and talk about how people in Madrid typically drink coffee. And of course, I give you my best recommendations for where to drink coffee! Continue reading →

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Crete Trip Report Part 2: Crete Safari ATV Tour to Milatos Cave, Feed Monkeys, Taste Olives & Visit Churches

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Good morning everyone, I hope you enjoyed reading yesterday’s post, Crete Trip Report Part 1: Radisson Blu Beach Resort & Nearby Milatos Fishing Village.  In today’s post, I am going to share a lot of photos from Crete Safari, a guided ATV tour around the Milatos / Sissi area of Crete.  I did a little research on Trip Advisor and the ATV tour was highly rated.  During the 5-6 hour guided tour, we went inside the Milatos Cave, fed monkeys in a zoo, tasted various olives at an olive oil factory, had lunch, and visited a few churches.  I believe the tour cost 150 Euros total for the two of us.  We shared an ATV and I drove the entire time.  On the back of the ATV was a lock box, so we left our backpacks and valuables locked inside – which was a really nice ATV feature.  Spoiler alert, the ATV tour was awesome and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys ATV tours :)

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a flag flying in the air

Crete Trip Report Part 1: Radisson Blu Beach Resort & Nearby Milatos Fishing Village

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  After a short stay in Athens (post 1 and post 2), we had the pleasure of visiting Crete.  It is the largest of Greece’s islands, but doesn’t get as much love (or tourists) as Santorini or Mykonos.  I didn’t know anything about Crete, but I knew I wanted to visit.  I looked up chain hotels on Crete and only found the Radisson Blu Beach Resort in Milatos, Crete.  I booked 3 nights using a bunch of Radisson Rewards Points.  The property is an all-inclusive, but there are different tiers of “all-inclusiveness.”  As a Radisson Rewards Gold Elite Member (thanks to having a few US Bank Radisson Rewards credit cards), we received complimentary breakfast every day.

Even though the beach resort is beautiful, with a nice beach cove and several crystal clear hotel pools, there is a great little fishing village just around the corner.  Laura and I walked over to the fishing village twice during our stay.  There are several restaurants and a small market in town.  We had a delicious lunch, grabbed some snacks at the local market, had a fish dinner (during our second visit) and walked back to our hotel.  In this post, I will show you the beautiful Radisson Blu Beach Resort and share some photos from the small fishing village. In tomorrow’s post, I will share some photos of my amazing ATV tour around Crete… stay tuned!

a beach with chairs and umbrellas

Image source: https://www.radissonblu.com/en/resort-milatos

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a group of people sitting at tables outside

Heading to Madrid, Spain? How to Save Money, Time… and Eat Well!

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Have you ever gotten a tip about a place you were about to visit that just didn’t make sense? I have. And it taught me a great travel lesson. When someone gives me tips about a place I’m visiting, I’ll always ask them, “When was the last time you were there?” I just prefer tips to be as recent as possible. So having recently returned from a really wonderful time in Madrid, Spain, I’ve got a variety of tips I think you’ll enjoying knowing about.

Of course, we start with food. Here’s a fun question for you. Do you like to throw your napkins on the floor after you use them? Then I’ve got a restaurant in Madrid to recommend! And not just because of the napkin routine :) Orio is a Basque style tapas bar in the Chueca area of Madrid. If you’ve never tried classic pintxos, you must! Orio is fun, delicious, and a great value. The fresh oysters may have been some of the best I’ve ever had. Don’t be shy about asking questions because the staff is warm and welcoming. And don’t forget to throw your napkins on the floor!

a group of food on a black board

Pintxos at Orio in Madrid, Spain. Image source: http://gruposagardi.com/en/restaurant/orio-gastronomia-vasca/

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4 Travel Products / Services I Use on International Trips

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I just got back from a 2 week trip to Greece and Malta and I had a great time.  Even though I like to “disconnect” from real life while on vacation, I still like using my iPhone for Google Maps, taking photos, checking emails, reading travel blogs, etc.  So when I travel internationally, I always take these 4 travel products / services with me.  I have written about all of these travel products / services on my blog before, but I thought I would put them in one post so you don’t have to look around the blog to find them.  Without further ado, here are the 4 travel products / services that I use on international trips:

SkyRoam Solis Global WiFi Hotspot with 24 Hour Daypasses

Whenever I travel to a new place, I rely on Google Maps, Uber, Trip Advisor, and Yelp to help me get to where I want to go.  Unfortunately, all of these iPhone apps require an internet connection to work.  There are WiFi hotspots all over the world, but they never seem to be just where you want them, or they are painfully slow, or they only work for 30 minutes before requiring you to pay for them.  Forget those public WiFi hotspots and create your own WiFi hotspot wherever you are.  I used the SkyRoam Solis Global WiFi Hotspot everyday in Greece and Malta and it worked really well.  Each daypass works for 24 hours and you can connect several devices (smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) to the same hotspot.  I would turn the hotspot on in the morning, put it in my backpack and be connected to the internet all day long.  Then I would charge the SkyRoam Solis at night so that it had a full charge for the next day.  It definitely made my trip to Greece and Malta a lot easier.  Click here to learn more about the SkyRoam Solis Global WiFi Hotspot.

a hand holding an orange circle

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