Miami & Nassau, Bahamas

If you follow me closely on my Social channels, you'll already know that for my 30th Birthday, I flew out to Miami and went on a Carnival Cruise to Nassau, Bahamas. Reaching this milestone chapter of my life, I knew that I wanted to do it BIG! I had never been to Florida or the Bahamas before, so I was so excited and grateful for the opportunity to experience this new adventure with my closest friends and family.

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I arrived in Miami Thursday evening on January 5th. My sister, cousin, friends, and I settled into our hotel room and adjusted to the heat and humidity, unlike the cold and stormy weather in the Bay Area. We then headed out for dinner at Versailles where I had my 1st Cuban Mojito and Cafe Cubano. Both were DELICIOUS!

After dinner we discussed the possibility of taking a salsa lesson and going salsa dancing, only to realize how tired we all were from traveling. We decided to try to go salsa dancing when we arrive back in Miami on Monday. The next morning we had brunch at The Local House and checked out South Beach before boarding our cruise at the Port of Miami.

The cruise ship was amazing! We spent a lot of time familiarizing ourselves with the ship layout, especially considering the casino, the Spa, and where we could eat. A majority of us made spa appointments for the very first night, so we'd be extra relaxed and energized when we arrived in Nassau the next morning.

Our day in Nassau was fun and exciting, while still being pretty slow-paced and relaxing. We saw the Queen's Staircase, Fort Fin Castle, Junkanoo Beach, and went to John Watling's distillery for a rum tasting and tour. One of my favorite aspects of the trip was how friendly and accommodating everyone we met was. At the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fin Castle, there were insightful guerrilla historians giving out history lessons, which were absolutely fascinating!

We spent Sunday at sea on the cruise ship. I luckily won $85 playing slots at the casino and spent some time in the steam room, since I wanted to relax and sweat a bit more and the thought of working out in the gym while on a moving ship scared me. lol That evening we had our formal dinner night, where I also celebrated my birthday. :)

We ported back in Miami on Monday morning. Being our last full day before flying home, we went to the Wynwood Walls to enjoy some street art, ate lunch at RUST Wynwood, and attempted to go salsa dancing at Mango's Miami. I say "attempted" because our plans were interrupted by a bomb scare that shut down Ocean Dr. where Mango's Tropical Cafe was located. We had to settle on more drinks, dinner at Naked Taco, and nearby hookah bars.

My 30th Birthday adventure was everything that I had hoped for, with the exception of missing out on learning how to salsa dance of course. lol I explored two places that I had never ventured to before and created lasting memories with my family and friends! I definitely want to check out other Bahamas Islands and return to Florida again one day.

Have you been on a cruise before? Where did you go? What did you do for your 30th Birthday, or what do you want to do? Were there other places I should have checked out while I was in Miami? Let me know in a comment below!

XO,
Denise

EAT | Austin, TX

As I was going through my Instagram feed late last night, I found myself pausing once I reached my posts from last April when I was in Austin, TX. I was immediately inspired to create this 2nd post as part of my "EAT" photo series from my personal food adventures in various cities all over the world.

In mid-April, I flew out to Austin, TX for Elevate Summit Austin 2016 (formerly known as "UserConf", a Customer Support Conference). It was my first time in Austin (as well as Texas), and I was incredibly eager and excited that I had the opportunity to explore the city. 

My first night in town I had a blast listening to live music followed by mini donuts, drinks, and dinner (Al pastor tacos from a food truck, "Art of Tacos", which I was to hangry to take photos of... LOL) on Rainey St. We also later met up with other Elevate Summit conference goers at a cocktail bar downtown, Whisler's.

The Crystal & The Whitney - Icenhauer's

Pistachio Lavender Vanilla with chocolate dipping sauce - Little Lucy's Mini Donuts

The next day at the conference, I had catered breakfast tacos, (not documented) and Salt Lick BBQ. After free beer and wine at the wrap party, we all met up with others for more drinks at The Ginger Man and more drinks and dancing at Coyote Ugly.

Salt Lick BBQ

My last full day in Austin, I had brunch and more BBQ for dinner. I also ended up at Oilcan Harry's where I attended to my first Drag Show, and had the pleasure of seeing Naomi Smalls from RuPaul's Drag Race perform. I ended the night back on Dirty Six again for karaoke at a place that I cannot recall. I only remember that one of my new friends bought me a shot called "Unicorn Cum" that tasted like Skittles. LOL 

Fried Egg Sandwich - Hillside Farmacy

Cappuccino - Hillside Farmacy

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

Besides the amazing food, I had so much fun exploring Austin. I only wish that the rain had let up, so I  could have seen and done everything else I wanted. 

Barton Springs was closed due to the heavy rain and wind. The Lyft drivers I had also told me that there's usually lots of people kayaking and stand up paddle boarding along the river, which I would have loved to do. I also didn't get the chance to see the bats rising from beneath the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge at sundown. 

As much as I enjoyed dancing and drinking indoors, where my hair was safe from the rain, wind, and humidity, I'll definitely have to go back one day. 

Have you been to Austin, TX? What fun things have you done there, and what delicious foods did you get to eat? Please leave me a comment below with any and all recommendations! :D

XO,

Denise

Away from Home... in London, Paris, & Rome

The highlight of 2016 by far was my 10 Day Europe trip in London, Paris, & Rome this past January. I decided that I wanted to travel during my birthday month last Summer, which gave me plenty of time to save up money and allocate my PTO accordingly. Through my most recent travels, internationally (London, Paris, & Rome) and within the US(Seattle, WA, Austin, TX, & NYC), I've discovered that even though travel is definitely a luxury, the experiences I've gained from being out of my element and thrown into an unknown, unexplored city (at least to me) is PRICELESS!

MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME

After extensive research, I purchased a 10-Day Europe trip to London, Paris, & Rome through CONTIKI. As mentioned in a previous blog post, this was my first time traveling internationally without my parents, so choosing a group where I could easily make new friends seemed ideal. (Note: My sister, Danielle, was there with me too, but I'm definitely looking into doing more solo traveling!)

Before I get into the trip itself, I can't not recognize these amazing individuals. I didn't realize it then, but these wonderful ladies whom I met by chance would soon become my travel family. (We still keep in touch and make plans to hopefully travel together in the near future.) I've said before that I get awkward and painfully shy at the most inopportune moments, but that never happened during my trip, mainly because of these girls. With them, I became more confident approaching and interacting with strangers and felt free to ask an exuberant amount of questions. 

LONDON
The morning of my 1st full day in London, while I was eating my English Breakfast, my sister and I sat next to Marija, who soon after introduced us to Claudia, Marissa, and Michelle. (Pictured above clockwise from bottom: Claudia, Marija, my sister Danielle, Marissa, Me, & Michelle) Though we were from different parts of the globe (Austraila, Canada, Italy, Serbia, & the United States), we quickly bonded over our excitement of being in a foreign country and getting to see what London had to offer. We discussed our plans for the day then headed to the London Underground, making our way to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards.

In the days after, we saw Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the British Museum, Tate Modern, King's Cross (Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4). We even got to see a West End Musical! 

LONDON TO PARIS

Though the day from England to France was uneventful for the most part, we took a ferry followed by a coach ride into Paris. On the coach, we passed by the spot of the Paris attacks from the weeks prior. It was truly surreal. 

I also really wanted to share my experience seeing fields and fields of Syrian refugees camping along the French countryside. It was heartbreaking to see so many people with nowhere to go. We even had check points along our route to ensure that no one had tried to stow away on our coach to Paris. Our tour guide shared that though they're technically not allowed to be where they are, the French government understands that they cannot go home and there's no where else to send them until the EU makes a final decision. 

PARIS

Whenever someone asks me which of the three cities was my favorite, I always say Paris for many reasons. The first reason being the beauty of the city itself, followed by it's fascinating history, art, and architecture. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that I had retained my basic "traveling" French from high school. I quickly became the translator for our group. Some of the girls had negative experiences dealing with Parisians, but once I intervened with a "Pourriez-vous me dire..." (Can you please tell me) attitudes immediately changed and Parisians who once claimed to not speak English could very clearly. I confidently asked for directions, ordered food, and translated between French and English for servers, bartenders, and taxi drivers.

I've been to Paris once before with my family, but returning as an adult was a completely different experience. Seeing the landmarks, taking the Metro, and roaming the streets without a map (because I knew how to ask for directions) was exhilarating!

ROME
Last but definitely not least, ROME! Though the city itself was not as architecturally beautiful as Paris, it was amazing to randomly come across ancient ruins around every corner. The city was abundant in art: sculptures, tapestries, & paintings. The buildings themselves were works of art in their architecture.

Being Catholic, I was really looking forward to Vatican City. I felt in complete awe within the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and staring up at Michaelangelo's ceiling and back wall in the Sistine Chapel. I felt a spiritual connection as I took it all in. (Note: Photography isn't allowed within the Sistine Chapel, so I do not have any photos to share of the ceiling or the back wall. Though there were others who blatantly ignored the rules and took photos regardless, I couldn't even fathom being so disrespectful in a holy place.)

The Colosseum was amazing! It was the highlight of Rome for my sister. I knew it was massive, but I didn't realize the intricate details of each level within as well as the underground labyrinth.

This city was my favorite place to eat for quite obvious reasons. I woke up every morning looking forward to a foamy cappuccino. (Cappuccinos here in the US can't even compare!) Rome practically ruined me for all Italian food. I can't eat bruschetta, pizza, pasta, or gelato without making a comparison.

I definitely want to return to all three cities one day, but I have a lot of other cities/countries to cross off my list first. The thing that I personally love most about travelling is your ability to completely immerse yourself in a different culture and lifestyle. The more time I spent in each city, the more I learned about each city's distinct identity. I could picture myself living in each one of these cities loving life. I have a much deeper appreciation of culture, history, art, and architecture. 

I've made a promise to myself to continue to explore the world. I want to go to places that I've never been to before, whether they're in the US or halfway around the world. I want to continue to get lost in new places and remind myself that in the grand scheme of things, there's so much more happening outside of my little bubble that I call home. 

XO,

Denise