Inspiration and Tips for Traveling the World
Las Noches de las Luminarias
This year we visited Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Lighted paths take you through a series of trails in which the botanical gardens are illuminated in colored lights. Sprinkled throughout the paths are places to stop and buy a drink. We saw visitors drinking coffee, hot chocolate or buying a bottle of wine. This special event ran from November 27th through December 31st. We visited the day after Christmas. Here’s a few photos from our evening.
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The Spa at the Conrad Maldives
We were waiting excitedly at the Male Airport, (Conrad Lounge) for the seaplane. The seaplane would fly us to the Conrad Maldives, Rangali Island. A massage therapist from the The Spa offered complimentary mini massages while waiting to board. We took up the offer! After a mini shoulder and neck massage the therapist let us know about a deal at The Spa. If we signed up for a 60-minute massage on that day (to be done at The Spa on Rangali Island) we could get 30 minutes tacked on for free. So, in essence, getting a 90-minute massage for the […]
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L’atelier de Torréfaction, Paris
L’atelier de Torréfaction is a coffee shop near Place de la Bastille in Paris. We took the metro from our hotel to Place de la Bastille. We were exploring the area and came across a quaint looking lane – Cour Damoye. As we walked through the open metal gates our nasal passages were smiling all the way to the front doors of the coffee roaster with the bright red canisters, L’atelier de Torréfaction. Curiosity always gets the best of us and we are drawn to off the beaten path places like this. Our blog is called Cafes and Alleyways, and L’atelier de […]
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Keep or Cancel our American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card?
The American Express Hilton Aspire card comes with a strong set of benefits. This includes: Diamond status with Hilton A $250 resort credit at select Hilton properties A $250 Airline credit An annual free night at Hilton Properties It also comes with a $450 fee. We’ve had the card for over a year, and got great value for the $450 annual fee. This card easily paid for itself during our trip to the Conrad Maldives in February of this year. This week the annual fee once again hit our account. With travel on hold, we couldn’t justify paying $450. So what to do? Options included: […]
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The Pie Hole, Los Angeles
On a hot Summer Saturday in Southern California we spent the afternoon in the City of Orange. The old town area is blocked off for pedestrians. One of our stops was the Pie Hole on the corner of Glassell and Maple avenue. We tried the Mexican Chocolate Pie Hole, the Strawberry Lavender Pie Hole, and a slice of Earl Grey Pie. The shop is located on Zirkle corner, former site of Wally’s Market. Here’s some pictures from our visit. 🥧 🍊
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Saving Our Trip to Paris – Why We Applied for an Air France Credit Card
As the saying goes, “Paris always a good idea”. We love visiting Paris and had a trip planned for May 2020. The flight was booked with Air France Miles. The trip was cancelled due to Covid 19. We called Air France, cancelled the flight, and the Air France miles were redeposited into our frequent flyer account. So far so good. The problem is, these miles, along with our existing balance, resulted in over 300,000 Air France miles that were set to expire in May 2021. This is over $3000 worth of travel that would evaporate unless we took action. Air France miles expire […]
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Our passion to travel takes us to cafes and alleyways around the world. From neighborhood cafes in Paris to a street market in London, we’ll take the road less traveled to hidden gems, new experiences and mouth watering eateries.
Whether it’s your first time abroad or you’re an accomplished traveler, we’ll share inspiration and tips for traveling the world. Let’s pack our bags, grab our passports, relax in our seats…we’re now ready for take off!
Mike and Mariah