Travel – Page 2 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

City Guide July 9, 2015

Durango City Guide

In 2012, my parents bought a home in Durango, much to our dismay, as we were rooting for a lake house in Austin. We are now so glad they ignored our pleas, as this old-timey city has definitely won over our hearts (and the lack of Texas humidity is a huge bonus). Durango has everything you could possibly need in a getaway city – great food and drinks, amazing views, fun activities, good shopping (well, not high fashion), and perfect weather (ahem, except perhaps the freezing cold winters). We’re fortunate enough to live just two streets over from Main Avenue, which is where most of the restaurants and shops are found. Given that most things in Texas are driving distance, it’s nice to be able to walk to dinner. We also take advantage of the proximity to the mountains and Animas river, and spend the days outside hiking, biking, rafting, running, etc.

If you’re looking for a fun Colorado vacation spot, I highly recommend making a trip to Durango. And if you come, I suggest trying some of the following restaurants, juice bars, ice cream shops, parks and adventure centers. If you have already been to Durango, am I missing anything?

Food and Drinks

Carver’s Brewing Co.: This brewery is a favorite in our family, as it’s just two streets over from my parent’s house and the food is delicious. I typically order the Sesame Seared Ahi Stir Fry (substitute tofu for Ahi) or the veggie burger without the bun and a salad versus fries. Both options are delicious. Sasha normally gets the Tatanka (buffalo) burger and also loves it. They have big to-go beers called “Growlers” (discounted refills), so naturally Sasha and Dad have to drink one or two of those to prove their Colorado manliness.

Personal June 12, 2015

Tips for Traveling with a Baby

We recently got back from a 10 day trip to France and Russia, and when I tell people we brought our almost one year old, they’re shocked. Everyone wants to know how traveling with a baby went, and honestly, it wasn’t bad at all. I think that a sightseeing type of trip is probably easier with an infant (versus a beach), as she spent a lot of time snoozing in her stroller while we toured the city. We typically woke up, ate breakfast, walked a mile or two to a museum, church, site, etc. and she would nap while we were there, then we’d go to a park and she would play, then eat lunch, then another tourist activity (and nap), followed by another park then dinner and bedtime. Isla was very well behaved so long as we stuck to this routine! The hardest part of the vacation was definitely the flight to Paris (with a layover in Frankfurt), but I learned my lessons and the return trip was much better. I’m sharing some of my travel tips today so hopefully you don’t have to learn the hard way!

Rent an apartment versus staying in a hotel, if possible. If it’s more convenient to stay at the latter, then look for a hotel with a decent suite rate. We stayed in a suite at the Hotel Novotel St. Petersburg, which was so nice because we could put Isla down in her room, then spend the rest of the evening in our room and not worry about waking her up. I’ve also read that you can have them sleep in the bathroom, but that seems like a challenge to me. We rented an apartment with Airbnb in Paris, and had the best experience! Look for one with two rooms and a kitchen and ideally, a washing machine too (buy these Purex 3-in-1 sheets if you have one!)! Also, check to see if there is an elevator, and if not, how many stairs do you need to climb! I forgot to check, and we lucked out on only climbing two sets (which was still a lot!).

City Guide June 2, 2015

Paris City Guide

Four perfect days in Paris. Ahh, is it even possible to accomplish all you want to see in such a short period of time? Ideally, anyone going to the City of Lights would have weeks on end to stroll through this gorgeous city, but knowing that isn’t the case for many, I’ve decided to write a four day itinerary (longer than most of my other City Guides). During these 96 hours, I’ve included nearly all of the must see places you’ve seen in movies and heard about since you were little, like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, etc. I also added smaller gems, like L’Orangerie and the Place des Vosges. You can see everything on a map here – I’ve also embedded it at the bottom of this post.

If you’ve been to Paris and think I’m missing some wonderful restaurants or sites, please let me know! I’d love to try new places when we visit next. Also, if you have any specific questions about this itinerary, please email me!

Bon voyage!

Day 1

Start your morning off early with breakfast and coffee at Les Deux Magots in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area.
Walk by La Duree and stop in for a few famous macaroons on your way to the Louvre (cross over Pont du Carrousel) – the line may be long, but it’s worth it in order to see some of the most famous pieces of art in the world (the Mona Lisa may be underwhelming, but it’s still cool to see!).
If you’re hungry after walking around the massive halls of the Louvre, walk to lunch at nearby Cafe Marly or Claus (recommended by a friend who lives in Paris).
Stroll through the Jardins des Tuileries, and stop in at L’Orangerie for the most awe-inspiring Monets you’ve ever seen – this is one of my favorite museums in the world.

International June 1, 2015

Final Days in Russia

We landed in Houston yesterday after traveling for 18 hours from St. Petersburg to Frankfurt back home. The two flights we took on our trip back to Texas were infinitely better than the ones going to Europe, as Isla slept much longer (thanks to Frozen being played on repeat) and I didn’t get sick. Isla will probably be battling jet lag for a few days, as I think it’s much easier for adults to acclimate than it is for babies. I cannot (repeat: cannot) believe that we will be celebrating her first birthday on Thursday and throwing her a confetti-themed party on Saturday. It makes me want to cry, so let’s not talk about it for now.

The last two days in Russia were spent doing something I’m normally not the best at on a site-seeing vacation: relaxing. We saw a few historical monuments (but did so leisurely), and it wasn’t on purpose. It wasn’t until the eleventh hour that we realized our planned day-trip cannot work because the palace is closed for a private event, so we decided to seize the opportunity to leisurely stroll through the city, eat our favorite frozen yogurt, drink our favorite cocktails (to go) and eat at our favorite restaurants. I am going to publish a detailed St. Petersburg travel guide to add to my City Guide collection, and I cannot wait to share all of the must-sees of this gorgeous Russian city.

Some of the highlights from our last two days in the city included:

Going to Vasilyevsky Island and taking our first family photo of the trip next to the Stock Exchange and Rostal Columns on the Strelka.
Eating lunch at Restoran, which seriously looked like a Restoration Hardware catalog and I was gushing over the decor the entire time we were there – the food was delicious too!
Walking around the Peter and Paul Fortress, including the beach area and the famous cathedral.
Playing with Isla in Alexandrovsky Park, where she made the longest walks we’ve ever seen – this shocked us, as her walking progress had halted since we got to Europe. She had one epic tumble at the end, and we called it quits for the day.
Getting frozen yogurt for the third time at Egurti (please see the Russian name for this to better understand our constant confusion!).
Eating at Leica, Cafe Idiot and Furtuk (again – love it!) – the food in St. Petersburg was phenomenal. I am starting BBG immediately.
Visiting the beautiful Kazan Cathedral, which was holding a service, so we lit candles, walked around and quietly left.
Exploring a Russian grocery store (Stockmann) – we bought lots of dried mango and granola bars, both which were delicious. It’s quite interesting not being able to read food packaging whatsoever.

Sasha and I recapped our trip during the long journey home yesterday, and we made a lot of wonderful memories over the last 10 days. We laughed and laughed when we both had Isla’s new obsession with waving to everyone at the top of our lists. She would literally wave incessantly at every single person in a cafe until they waved back. It was the funniest thing. Europe really brought out her friendly side.

What are your thoughts? Would you ever visit St. Petersburg? Where is the favorite place you’ve ever visited?

International May 28, 2015

Welcome to Санкт-Петербург!

It’s late here in St. Petersburg, and we’ve just finished our second full day. We arrived on Tuesday at our hotel around 4pm, so we just wandered around the city after unpacking to get our bearings. My crazy itinerary (see this post on planning) has a number of restaurants picked out from various sources (Trippy, Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor, etc.), and I had Fartuk lined up for dinner that night. We wandered the streets aimlessly looking for a Fartuk sign, only to eventually turn on Data Roaming on my phone in order to see the actual street address. It turns out all restaurants are written in Cyrillic (like St. Petersburg is in the blog post title)… cue lots of confusion in trying to find the Latin-names. Sasha speaks passable Serbian and his parents both read and write in Cyrillic, but unfortunately he doesn’t. So far, we have played lots of charade with people at stores and in restaurants. There is not a lot of English spoken here, which is exciting but confusing all at the same time. I love the thrill of this though (except probably in high stress situations, which we hope to avoid!).

Anyways, our meal at Fartuk was one of the best we’ve both ever eaten, and the atmosphere was perfect too (seriously considering scratching future plans to go back). Come to find that a ton of restaurants here in St. Petersburg are très trendy – the Russians know what they’re doing on the food scene. I’m going to do a detailed St. Petersburg travel guide when I get home, but to rattle off a few of the things we’ve enjoyed so far:

Visiting the Hermitage Museum, which is one of the largest in the world and is totally gorgeous and seriously could take all day to wander around. We caved and got English audio guides, which were really helpful. Our favorite sighting was Da Vinci’s Madonna and Child. We wandered through Palace Square before entering (as well as looped around St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which was swamped with tourists).
Strolling through the city’s many parks, including Alexander Park and Mikhailovsky Gardens. Isla needs to get out and stretch her legs after riding around (and napping) in the stroller for a lot of the site-seeing.
Going to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, which was one of the most gorgeous sites I’ve ever seen. The inside was covered in detailed mosaics, and we spent ages just looking at all of the intricate scenes inside.
Taking a cruise through the many canals of the city (called “Venice of the North”) – passing the Mariinsky Theater, among many other iconic sites.
Popping into the Faberge Museum – we’re trying to decide on an egg for Isla (probably a teensy tiny one!) – the music ones remind me so much of Anastasia.
Eating delicious meals and drinking coffee/homemade lemonade (something every restaurant has!) at Azia, Fartuk, Zoom Cafe (another favorite), White Night Istanbul, Park Dzhuzeppe, Coffee Bar Bonch, and Coffee Shop.

Fancy a glass of … umm, bubbly? Any guess how to pronounce that?