Part 2: Gustavia, St. Barts

Hello everyone! Today I am so excited to share with you the second installment of the Caribbean trip: St. Barts! This little island is truly the embodiment of France, even if it is across the Atlantic Ocean. In Gustavia, the red-latched-roofed huts were sprinkled all around the tropical oasis, adding an interesting contrast to the turquoise blue ocean.  White boats were intermittently parked throughout the harbor, covered in towels and tan-armed sailors resting for the day.

My family thought the perfect way to see this little slice of heaven would be to rent a car, a yellow jeep none the less.  We zipped through the streets, as our hair got tangled in the salty wind.  Beautiful villas are in every corner of this place, so even if you can't stay at one, it's always fun to look! Unlike some of the other more beachy island towns, St. Barts has a wide range of different shops to explore. The Louis Vuitton is not only adorably petite, but also fitted with specialty products, like a St. Barts beach bag.  If that is not in your exact price range, there are so many little beach shops with fun bikinis and flip-flops. A very popular souvenir choice is a leather necklace garnished with an oval-shapped pearl.  You can see these all over the town, glittering in almost every window. There is even a store where you can have one custom made; I created one that was a soft brown leather with two creamy pearls. This accessory would be a great memento to remember your time there. Overall, I would say it's a bit of an expensive island, but even if you don't purchase anything, just walking around and hanging out by the beach is an experience in itself.

Another fantastic way to spend a sunny evening, is in an ocean side bar. During our visit, The World Cup was getting down to the wire, so we often watched it in a packed beach bar full of fans. And you can get soda in little glass bottles, which isn't as common in America.








The island is also home to the infamous "Eden Rock," one of the most beautiful seaside hotels. It reminds you of a place that James Bond would stay at; the epitome of class and style. I personally did not stay in this hotel, but I spent an afternoon eating in the restaurant and lounge on the beach. This would be the perfect place for a honeymoon.

And the cherry on top to any tropical vacation, would be a macaroon! Luckily, Gustavia has a specialty macaroon store where you can fill your boots up with a variety of different cookies.

oxoxox 

Sophie 

Intro to the Caribbean Summer Party: Part 1

Hey everyone! I am so sorry for the lack of content on this blog the past few months!! Rana and I have seriously let the ball drop on this, and that is ending today! The upcoming posts are going to be so excited and fun, so please stay tuned!

This summer I spent two weeks in the Carribean, on a boat no less! And it was really, really fun.  The great thing about the Carribean is that all of the islands are close together, so you can see so much in a very small time frame! A boat was a great option for island hopping. That way, we didn't have to book hotels or flights or anything like that. Cause let me tell you, those airports are sketchy beyond belief. It was nerve racking to see those little planes try to land on the runways. You do have to fly to the islands... so I suggest flying to St. Maarten. This island has two parts: St. Martin and St. Maarten. I don't see how that could ever get confusing! Just kidding, it's extremely confusing. But St. Maarten is the Dutch side of the island, where the airport is located. It's really easy to get a cab directly after you exit the building, so transportation shouldn't be an issue. For us, we landed, and then a major tropical storm hit. The rain was INSANE. We were driven to the French side of the island, where the charting company was located. 
Once we arrived at our boat, we were introduced to Slyvia and Patricia, our captain and chef. Soon after, we were off! That night we stayed in the harbor of St. Martin. A cool attraction of the island is light-up bridge that connects the two sides. At night, it changes to all the colors of the rainbow. So we we spent our first night under the stars with the glow of the bridge to comfort us! 
We spent the next night in St. Maarten, at the coolest beach bar called "C'est La Vie." It was literally on the beach, not on a deck or over looking terrace, but in the water. They had delicious virgin strawberry daiquiris, I imagine the alcoholic ones were just as good. Here is my baby bro, dad, and I looking super tan. I also was trying the dreadlocks look in this photo, but immediately regretted that decision. Protip: Do not whistle at the waiters, they will get angry at you! My brother tried that, and the waiter turned instantly sassy.

Here is a colorful photo of the dock the day we left:

Because we went to a few islands, and they each come with there share of adventure, I am going to do the Caribbean series in a few parts. I hope you enjoyed! 

XOXOXO 
SOPH

Fiji Memories

Here are some snapshots from my amazing trip to Fiji! This is just a little preview :) Enjoy cuties! 

A little Pinsteration...

Hey buzzy travelers!!! So I don't know about anyone else, but Pinterest is where I have been spending a lot, a lot of time, like a lot. I found some awesome pictures and quotes about the cra awesomeness of traveling! Check it y'all... I hope this helps you get through the boring school days so that when summer comes the traveling can finally start again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OXOX SOPH

Sailing in the Porquerolles

The next stop on our sailing trip was one of the bigger islands, Porquerolles, where we spent two fun, adventuresome days. On our first night there, us and our friends anchored out in the bay, enjoying the protection of the mountain and looking out at the beautiful sunsets. 

the bay we anchored in

sunset on our first night

group picture before dinner on the island 

 Porquerolles is a relatively big island so throughout the day there is a large amount of tourists who visit. At night though, the packed boats have headed out, leaving the locals and vacationers in peace.
To get to shore, we took a put-put, but ours was a wreck and broke down more than once on the trip.

boarding the put-put to head to shore

 Here are a few pictures of the town on the island, it's very cute and charming with people riding bikes, vendors selling ice cream, and families in the square playing bocce ball or pétanque.

people playing bocce ball in the square

the church at the end of the square

We began the next morning by swimming around the bay. The water was pretty amazing, except for a few jellyfish swimming about. We ended up swimming all the way to the shore in search of sea glass. Although the swim to the beach was a little rocky, the sea glass we found was definitely worth it. As the photo below shows, there were tons of beautiful colors and so much of it scattered and hidden under rocks and the soft sand on the beach. 

The adventure had barely begun at this point... We later decided a nice, casual bike ride would be a fun way to spend the afternoon. Our ride began as we coasted through the bustling town and then into the peaceful trees on a smooth dirt path. This, of course, was just not enough exercise for my dad so he forced both our family and our friends to take a detour, and take the longer path. 

What the map failed to tell us was that this path was for hiking and not biking. We ended up having to carry our bikes up steep, rocky slopes, something that was really meant for a rock climber. But the view at the top was pretty spectacular and almost worth the fun time we had carrying our bikes up a mountain. 

 After this extreme hike/bike we rode down the mountain as fast as we could to get to the bike store in time before they closed. By this time it was late afternoon and time for us to move our sailboats from the bay into the actual parking area. This is a whole other ridiculous ordeal and nearly impossible to get a decent spot, if one at all. Most of the time, half of the boat spots will be open, they just won't let you take one, for no apparent reason. In the end, after much yelling and chaos, we got a spot but our friends were denied one even though there were plenty available. The system is ridiculous and one of the biggest issues with this place, if you're planning on sailing here. 

Overall though, the two nights we spent here were a blast and filled with tons of great memories. The scenery is gorgeous and the town is a great atmosphere and the perfect place to stock up on some much needed food before sailing somewhere new. Here is a photo of one of my favorite desserts, la tarte tropezienne, something that is very popular all over the South of France but especially in St.Tropez (where it got its name).

tarte tropezienne 

XOXO Rana 

Sailing Trip, South of France (Day 1-Cassis)

Over the summer, one of my absolute favorite trips was sailing in the South of France. My family and I have done this a couple of times and each time always proves to be a crazy adventure. 

A few summers ago, the sailboat we rented actually burned down days before we were supposed to take it out. Then, after planning to rent out a new boat we had to deal with the problem of a skipper. Everything was set until the morning of our departure we learned that our captain had gotten in a car crash and was now in a coma! Clearly there was a ton of bad luck circulating us. Aside from all of this, it was monsoon season and when we did finally set out it poured rain on us for the 7 hour sailing trip. This year was not nearly as crazy but as usual we planned the entire trip and boat rental basically the night before departure. 

We ended up getting a boat called Idra and a great captain to sail it.

The sailing there was amazing and much more peaceful than the previous time. The water was smooth as glass and it was a beautiful day to lie on the deck and relax. 

We sailed to a place in Cassis, to a gorgeous little cove, enclosed by the surrounding rocky cliffs.  

the cove by Cassis 

The parking here was a bit of an ordeal as we had to rope the boat around a rock, which was extremely difficult to do. 

Once that was settled though and we had some extra rope, my brother and I attached our boat to our friend's boat. This turned out to be a great transportation system as we took the little dingy back and forth between boats using the rope as a guide. On the downside though, there were a ton of rope lines running everywhere so it was pretty much impossible not to fall over them.

The water was gorgeous and a great temperature so we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming around the cove.

This serene cove made for one of my favorite stops out of the whole trip. The next morning we took a small detour to the actual town of Cassis. Here are a few photos I took of it... 

XOXO Rana 

The Best of New York City

For my first trip to NYC, there were some pretty high expectations, derived mostly from t.v. shows like Friends and Seinfeld or any of the hundreds of famous movies made in this city. After experiencing the gorgeous fall weather, chaotic city life, and delicious and diverse food right around any corner, I have fallen in love with this place.

For this post, I want to focus on giving a few of my favorite places that we visited, starting off with restaurants. In New York, it is pretty hard to get a bad meal, so either way chances are you will be eating well here. But still, it is good to have suggestions, so if you are going to the city any time soon, here were some of the highlights: 

#1: IPPUDO NY 

Hidden behind the busy street life on the outskirts of New York University, this restaurant has the most delicious food with incredible flavors. Known famously for their noodle soup, we had to wait 25 minutes to get a table but it was most definitely worth it. Theres a small menu so here's what you need to know: 

Pick and chose your soup, there are about seven options. I chose the only vegetable based one (the others had pork) and loved it. All the soups are served with noodles but if you want more, say "kae-dama, please". 

My absolute favorite item on the menu was an appetizer, the Hirata Chicken Wings with a special black pepper sauce. Words cannot describe how good these were, so you have to go and test them yourselves!


Aside from amazing food, Ippudo had insanely good
  service, everything on the table was always provided or out of the way when needed and meals were served in record time. The atmosphere here was awesome too, overall its a 5 star restaurant and a must if you're visiting the city.

The address and website below for more details.

65 Fourth Avenue, 
New York, NY 10003 

http://www.ippudony.com

#2 TAMARIND  

Number two on the list is a fabulous Indian restaurant, also around the NYU or Tribeca area.
The food here was made with so many diverse flavors, everything was delicious.

The naan is my personal favorite, I love the warm lightly baked bread and of course it goes perfectly with any of the dishes.


Other than bread, I recommend the Dal Makhni, a lentil dish that has been simmered overnight on a slow fire, creating an intense creamy rich flavor.

99 Hudson Street 
New York, NY 10013
Tel 212-775-9000








Aside from eating, there are a million things to do here in New York City, something I really loved while I was here. Starting with the tourist traps:

Empire State Building 
Only do this if you have the patience to wait in insanely long lines and don't get claustrophobic in elevators. Also this little adventure to the top of a building costs a fortune, its around 100 dollars per person. Here is a picture of the view for free, minus 5 elevator rides:

All in all it was a pretty spectacular view and a good thing to check off the bucket list. One thing I learned the hard way though is that when you are 108 floors higher than ground level, the wind is a LOT stronger so avoid wearing skirts. I almost got blown over twice just getting outside to the observation deck.

Central Park 
Another icon of New York City... we were welcomed here by a screaming man waving around his social security card and yelling explicits in peoples faces. But other than that, the park was a really nice place for our first visit...

Rockefeller Plaza 
This was one of my favorite places in the city, for a couple of reasons. First of all the actual place itself is such an icon, just like Central Park, and it was amazing to see it in person.

We went one step farther, in actually going to see the Today Show Saturday morning. If you plan on doing this here is what you need to know: 

Try and go on a week day, that way you can see the main newscasters, like Al Roker or Savannah Guthrey. And if you do go to one on a week day or more importantly on a Friday (when they usually have concerts/special guests) make sure you arrive early to get a good spot. Depending on the day, I would say earlier than 6:00 to get there and go through security. And if you want to be on T.V make a sign! 

And if you're a Saturday Night Live fan, like me, you can visit the NBC studio and take a tour. But even better, you can attempt to get stand by tickets the Saturday morning before the show at 7:00 a.m, they're sold right outside of the Experience Store.
Visit this website for more details:   http://www.nbc.com/tickets/

Two last things, Dylan's Candy Bar and Henri Bendel. Dylan's Candy Bar is awesome and obviously perfect if you love candy, there is a huge circle of different kinds and you can fill a jar or bag with your favorites. 

Henri Bendel, located right on 5th avenue is also a great store if you like shopping. They don't carry a clothing line anymore, but have many small sellers for miscellaneous products. For example, my new favorite jewelry line, ela rae. They have awesome and unique pieces here. Here's there website: http://elarae.com 

I know this post was a little long but there is so much I wanted to talk about due to the endless amount of things to do in NYC. It is probably one of my new favorite cities and I am so glad I got to experience it!

XOXOXO Rana