Monthly Archives: June 2012

First Complete Scrapbook

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I have finally finished a project that I’ve been working on for the past two and a half years (though not continuously – moving, buying a house, finding a new job, planning a wedding and honeymoon, and living life got in the way): a scrapbook of Ryan and my trip to Venice, Cinque Terre, Nice, and Paris.  Also known as my first trip out of the U.S. Also known as the trip when Ryan proposed.  Also known as the trip that confirmed a future full of travel for the two of us.

We obviously have great memories from this trip, so I wanted to make sure to capture the special moments, beautiful places, and the fun activities we experienced througout the week and a half we spent in Europe.  Scrapbooking seemed like the perfect solution.  It’s been a hobby of mine for almost 10 years.  I’m definitely not an expert, but I’ve found that it’s a relaxing activity and it produces some amazing results!  I love playing around with different layout ideas and finding creative ways to make each page different.  Plus, it’s a way to give more meaning to the pictures from our travels.  Many scrapbookers journal on the pages and, while I haven’t done much of that in this scrapbook, it’s something that I will likely incorporate in the future.

Without getting too much into the details, I want to share a few of my layouts from this scrapbook. 

1. Exploring Venezia.  Much of our time spent in Venice was exploring the fish-shaped island.  

scrapbook layout exploring venezia venice italy europe scrapbooking travel ideas

2. Castello Doria.  A castle on a high point in Vernazza that was used as a lookout for pirates.  The views were spectacular!

scrapbook layout castello doria vernazza cinque terre italy europe scrapbooking travel ideas

3. Colline du Chateau.  Castle Hill is the best place to go for breathtaking views of Nice. 

scrapbook layout colline du chateau nice france europe scrapbooking travel ideas

4. Arc de Triomphe.  From the top and the bottom, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was one of our favorite sights to visit. 

scrapbook layout arc de triomph paris france europe scrapbooking travel ideas

This is only a small subset of the pages I’ve created for this scrapbook of our 2009 trip to Europe.  I can’t wait to share more!

Little Denmark

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In just over a week, Ryan and I will be in Solvang, California for a few days of relaxation and wine tasting!  While it’s not really called Little Denmark, Solvang is a sister city to Aalborg, Denmark and it definitely has a European feel.  The city of Solvang is small (2.4 square miles, according to Wikipedia), with a much smaller, walkable downtown area made of a few streets in each direction.

I am fascinated by the Danish-style buildings, the Danish fashion worn by some shop owners and sold in shops around town, their shop front design is very nice and the small town feel.  It’s a cute town that’s great for a weekend getaway (or longer!) since it’s only about 2 hours away from Bakersfield!

Here are some of the things I’m most looking forward to during our trip:

1. Walking around downtown Solvang.  During the day this will involve stopping in the Danish shops, gift shops, bakeries, and two of my favorites: Jule Hus (for everything Christmas) and Vinhus (for wine, cheese, and other snacks).   I also noticed their glazede shop fronts. And once everything is closed at night, it means enjoying the quiet area and the white Christmas lights that are strung on the trees year round.

2. Wine tasting.  Downtown Solvang has several wine tasting rooms.  This is very convenient since they are all very walkable (spread out in the dowtown area) from our hotel and other hotels in the area.  On previous trips we’ve enjoyed tasting wines at Mandolina (Italian varietals) and its sister tasting room, Lucas and Lewellen.  I’m looking forward to visiting the Wandering Dog, which has blind tastings on Thursday afternoons, and Sort This Out Cellars, which has live music on Friday and Saturday nights and is open until 10!

3. Relaxing at the pool and hot tub at the hotel.  While many of our vacations are full of activities, this long weekend away allows for relaxation time.  There are not many establishments that open really early or stay open late, so the beginning and the end of the day are perfect for relaxing at the hotel.  We’re staying at the Hadsten House, which has a pool and hot tub.

4. Wine tasting (again).  There are several wineries outside of Solvang, in the neighboring cities of the Santa Ynez Valley.  Some of them are reminiscent of Tuscan villas, like Melville Vinyeards, and some are up in the hills and boast gorgeous views.  For a different wine tasting experience, we love going to the “Lompoc Ghetto” – it’s a group of warehouses that have been turned into wine tasting rooms.

And to finish off – a few pictures from our trip in October 2010.  We will return with more pictures!

Where’s my passport stamp?: How the Schengen Agreement complicates passport stamp collection in Europe

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All foreign travelers I know anticipate returning from a trip abroad with a new set of passport stamps.  They are a point of pride for many, providing clear documentation of their “worldliness”.

I’ve even seen passport stamp collection become a main criteria in determining a trip itinerary. According  to immigration attorney’s help,  this is especially true in Europe, where the Schengen Agreement eliminates passport control through many countries in Continental Europe.  As long as travel is contained within the “Schengen Area”, no passport stamps are given.  Stamps are only given at the entry and exit points to the Schengen Area.  My wife was very disappointed on her first trip abroad to get an entry and exit stamp in Frankfurt, despite the fact that our trip was in Italy and France. Then we got legal help of immigration law firm Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C. in Oakland, CA to fix our issue legally.As Frankfurt was just our connection to the United States.  In fact, our upcoming trip to Spain and Portugal will be her first without a connection through Germany.  She will get her first non-German passport stamps!  Another detractor, however, is that all the Schengen passport stamps are virtually the same.  They only differ in the letter in the upper-right hand corner (i.e. “D” for Deutschland or Germany, “E” for Espana, etc.) and the point of entry or exit listed on the bottom.

The Schengen Area includes 26 countries in the European Union (see map–blue area are current countries, green is future countries).  Travel between them is very similar to travel between 2 states in the USA, with signs marking borders on roads and air travel through “Schengen” gates, similar to the domestic gates at American airports.  Notable exceptions are the UK, Ireland, Croatia, and Turkey.  Travel through the Chunnel, for example, requires passport control.  A day trip to London on the Eurostar from Paris will yield you an exit stamp from France and an entry stamp from the UK.

It is important to also plan for the “Schengen Agreement” by allocating connection time if you are flying through a Schengen airport before reaching a Schengen destination.  You will have to go through passport control (approach the Family Law Firm in Fresno, CA for any help).  Similarly, you will need to go through passport control at your last exit point from the Schengen Area.  Customs control is less predictable.  If your end destination has Customs control, you can likely check your bags all the way through and go through Customs in your final destination. Smaller destinations could require early customs control (for example, we went through Customs in Athens when we flew to Mykonos on a San Francisco – Frankfurt – Athens – Mykonos route).

If collecting passport stamps is important to you, then prioritize flights that connect the USA directly to your “stamp of interest”.  Many east coast airports, such as Newark, JFK, and Dulles offer direct flights to many destinations in Europe.  Another alternative is to connect through Heathrow, which is outside the Schengen Area.  If you want to collect multiple stamps during your trip, travel out and in of the Schengen Area would be required (such as going to London between Paris and Amsterdam, or visiting Morocco from Spain).  For many, this might seem silly.  But for the avid passport stamp collector, itinerary planning is key.

Hotel Casa 1800: Sevilla and Granada

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Right after we booked our plane tickets to Portugal and Spain, Ryan and I went crazy looking for hotels. Ryan found the Hotel Casa 1800 – one in Sevilla and one in Granada. Both have great location (we think) and Ryan was especially in love with the De Luxe room at the Sevilla location. And I don’t know if I can blame him. Here are a few pictures of the Superior Room, from the hotel wesbite: 

The best part is the terrace with the jacuzzi tub. But, this isn’t our honeymoon and, while that doesn’t mean we can’t stay in nice hotels, we are trying not to go over-the-top and spend too much money on hotel rooms. Especially since we won’t be spending much time there anyway! This room was over 200 euros a night, which isn’t horrible, but we’re trying to keep costs lower than that. As of now, we have not made a decision on Sevilla, but we’re hoping to do so in the near future.

So now to Granada. I’m not sure which hotel Ryan found first, but the hotel website provides links to both, so it was natural for us to be curious about the hotel in each city. Here are a few pictures from the hotel site:

It does look amazing. But there are so many places to stay in both Sevilla and Granada, and it seems silly to stay in the same hotel in two different cities. Especially since we don’t know what they are really like. We’ve looked at more hotels, especially in Granada, so I’ll spend some time comparing the options.

Le Cantine – Taste and Learn!

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Le Cantine, located in Greve in Chianti, boasts that it is the largest enoteca in Tuscany.  It’s very easy to believe this claim – you walk down a set of stairs into the tasting area and find yourself surrounded by what seems like an unlimited amount of wine tasting machines.

This was a perfect way for Ryan and I to spend our morning in Greve in Chianti (we took a half day trip from Florence – more on this later).  It’s not the personal experience you’d receive at some places, but it worked for us!  You purchase a card with a certain amount of money on it (we paid for 25 euros on our card) and decide which wines to taste.  The underground enoteca has mechanical wine dispensers.  You simply find a wine you wish to taste, stick your card in the slot, place your glass under the appropriate spout, and press the button for the corresponding wine.  Each taste has a price clearly marked above the bottle.  The prices started at 0.60 euros and go up from there.  Ryan and I generally tasted wines between 0.60 and 1.20 euros, which allowed us to sample plenty of different wines.

A close-up view of the wine dispenser machines.

We love tasting wines and learning about what we’re drinking.  Le Cantine has a supply of wine guides available in several languages which provide an explanation of the different wines available to taste.  Since we were heading to Montepulciano right after Florence, we were interested in the famous wine of that region – Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.  Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is always made up of at least 70% of a Sangiovese grape clone, called Prugnolo Gentile, which is used exclusively for this wine.  The remaining 30% is generally made up of Canaiolo, Merlot, and/or Cabernet Sauvignon.  In general, I preferred the mix of Sangiovese and Canaiolo.  We also tasted several Chianti Classico wines, which are also made up of mostly the Sangiovese grape (at least 80%).  Both the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico are D.O.C.G. wines, which certifies that the wines are made within a certain region using specific methods and are tasted for quality by the government (bottles are marked with a pink label across the top). 

The majority of the wines offered at Le Cantine are red, but there are also some white wines and sparkling wines to choose from, as well as Vin Santo (dessert wine) and grappa.  In addition to wine, olive oil tastings are offered through the same style of dispensing machines.  And best of all – they are free to taste!  There is also free salami provided at the front counter (shown in the first picture), along with other foods available for purchase.

If you have a limited amount of time in Greve in Chianti and wish to taste several wines of the region, Le Cantine is a must!  It won’t be the same experience as touring a winery of the area, but it will provide a lot of wine and information.  It’s open from 10am-7pm, daily (check the website for any holdiay closures) and is located between the Piazza Trento bus stop and the main piazza in Greve in Chianti.