Category Archives: Trip Reports

a heart made of coffee beans

Shelli’s World Coffee Tour – Coffee Houses in Madrid, Spain

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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.

a cup of coffee with a note

Cortado at Faraday Coffee

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a close up of a bag

50 Longest Highways in the US: How Many Have you Driven on?

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Planes, trains, and automobiles! We can be so miles and points centric that planes become our number one way of getting from place to place. But sometimes you just want a road trip idea! Especially in such a large country, like the US. If you’re looking to take a road trip in the US, here’s an article about the 50 longest highways you can choose from. I learned something interesting about what used to be one of my favorite highways: it’s a highway no more!

I’ve always loved the leisure of car trips and have been across the US by car many times, so I enjoyed this article and hope you will too. Give it a read!

a screenshot of a road

a black letter b and b

Use Uber in Athens, Greece to Request & Pay for Local Taxis

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  This is my last post from Athens, Greece, before I head to the Radisson Blu Beach Resort in Milatos, Crete.  If you missed my post yesterday, be sure to read Heading to Athens, Greece? Book the Small-Group Culinary Walking Tour.  In today’s post, I will explain how Uber works in Athens (the only part of Greece that has Uber).  If you are not an Uber rider, join for free (thanks for using my referral link).

Technically, Uber doesn’t exist in Greece, but you can request and pay for taxis with the Uber app (the taxi drivers use the Uber app like all other Uber drivers).  The only thing that is strange is that you cannot see the total price of your Uber ride until after the ride is over.  All the taxis have a set price schedule for rides, so your rides will always be priced right.  Unfortunately, I could not use my Uber credits in Athens, so I paid for all my rides with my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card (my referral link) since I earn 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards Points on Uber and it has no foreign transaction fees.

We used the Uber app to request a ride from the Athens International Airport (ATH) to our hotel, the InterContinental Athenaeum Athens.  The Uber pickup was a bit tricky, since our ride was in a taxi and there were many taxis waiting at the airport.  Our driver told us where to meet him, but it was still very difficult to find him (he ended up finding us).  Our ride to the hotel took 45 minutes and cost 40.70 Euros ($47.43).  As of June 25, the exchange rate is 1 Euro = 1.16 US Dollars and I will use that exchange rate throughout this post.  In comparison, a shuttle van to/from the airport and the hotel would have cost 100 Euros ($116).

a screenshot of a trip

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a flag flying in the air

Heading to Athens, Greece? Book the Small-Group Culinary Walking Tour

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Good morning from Athens, Greece (or as the Greeks would say “Καλημέρα από Αθήνα, Ελλάδα).  I am writing to you from the InterContinental Athenaeum Athens (35,000 IHG points/night).  If you are heading to Athens, Greece, I highly recommend the Athens Small-Group Culinary Walking Tour, where you walk around the city, lead by a local, English-speaking tour guide and try some of the best, most authentic Greek food in the world.

I am not going to cover everything we saw, ate, smelled or learned on the tour, but here some of my favorite photos.  Our tour guide handed us a piece of paper showing us which foods we would be experiencing on this tour (I will reference names and restaurants throughout the post).  At the beginning of the tour, we stopped by a local street vendor selling Koulouri, the “Greek breakfast” that is a round piece of bread covered in sesame seeds.  You can find Koulouri all around Athens, at any time of day, and the price is only 0.5 Euros.  I ate a few of these around Athens :)

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a close-up of a logo

Trip Report: Kimpton Glover Park Hotel in Washington DC

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I had a one night stay during a work trip to Washington DC, and decided to try out something new since it was less expensive than my usual hotel, the Kimpton Glover Park Hotel.

Location: The hotel is located on Wisconsin Avenue near the Naval Observatory, across from the Russian Embassy. It’s about a 20 minute walk to either Georgetown or my alma mater of American University, and a 10-20 minute drive from downtown DC depending on traffic. Unfortunately it’s not particularly transit-accessible, but they offer a shuttle to the Woodley Park Metro Station and other destinations in a 1-mile radius.

View out the window

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