When I first learned that legendary Polish composer Frederic Chopin and his lover Parisian writer George Sand lived in a monastery when he spent time in the gorgeous Spanish island of Mallorca, I was puzzled as to why anyone would want to live there if they weren’t monks. But then we went to visit the […]

Fall foliage has peaked in New York City’s Central Park, and as usual, it’s magnificent. Yesterday was Jazz and Colors, my favorite Central Park event in which 30 jazz ensembles play the same set in different locations all over the park for the whole afternoon. Last year, I brought an almost two-year-old who was sort […]

Whoever said that the best things in life were free wasn’t trying to travel on a budget! But when you travel to a fabulous city like Barcelona, there are tons of great things to do and see that are free. And any money saved can go right to your tapas bill… Here are my favorite free things in Barcelona, which also happens to be one of my all-time favorite cities.

In the fourth grade, I did my State Report, a rather long and involved project for the time, on Mississippi. I didn’t know when I’d have the chance to visit The Magnolia State until I received an invitation to speak on the Social Media panel at the 2013 SATW (Society of American Travel Writers) Convention on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Biloxi. So here was my opportunity to visit the Deep South, y’all. My 44-hour stay (from Monday late afternoon to Wednesday at noon) was short but sweet. And full of shrimp.

It’s been more than a year and a half since, Gossip Girl went off the air and I still miss it. So I certainly wasn’t going to pass up my chance to take a tour of The New York Palace, which has just completed a $140 million renovation. This luxury hotel, famous for its large courtyard that faces Madison Avenue, played a starring role in Gossip Girl, as almost half of the main characters have lived there (or even own it) at some point in the show. The Palace always looked good on TV, but this new facelift makes it absolutely spectacular. As Mayor Bloomberg said in his speech at last night’s grand opening party, “Serena van der Woodsen would definitely approve.”

Whenever I hear of someone visiting Santorini, I feel a twinge of jealousy. Like, how come they get to go there, too? It’s not fair. Only I should get to go there. Even though Santorini is among the most visited islands in Greece, it’s such a special place that it manages to feel like your […]

When I arrived in Lake Placid, New York, after a five-plus-hour drive in August, I was very excited to see Lake Placid itself. I was so excited that I erroneously assumed that the lovely lake in the town of Lake Placid (of which I had a great view from the High Peaks Resort) was Lake Placid. But no, it was Mirror Lake. I didn’t see Lake Placid until I went to the famous ski resort of Whiteface and rode the Cloudsplitter Gondola.

A delicious six-course Italian tasting menu overlooking Lake Geneva? Yes please! Not only did we have an unforgettable stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Des Bergues Geneva, but we also had an unforgettable meal at Il Lago, the hotel’s signature Italian restaurant. Switzerland borders Italy, and 6.5% of Switzerland speaks Italian (typically Swiss Italian) as […]

It’s so nice when my toddler, husband and I can agree on something when we’re traveling or even when we’re not traveling. We all agreed that by far the best part of Geneva’s Botanic Garden is the Carrousel des Fables, which translates to the Carousel of Fairy Tales. This beautiful carousel has unexpected animals that […]

Geneva is an elegant city and the pinnacle of elegance is the Four Seasons Hotel Des Bergues Geneva, which opened in 1834 as the city’s first hotel to welcome visiting statesmen. Now elegant is typically not the kind of adjective that you would align with family-friendly… and yet, the Four Seasons Geneva was family-friendly beyond my wildest dreams, the kind of vivd, travel-fueled dreams that an early-rising toddler usually disrupts.