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Travel

You Need to Visit Malta

June 29, 2016

Ever heard of Malta? Neither had we until a few months ago. Our Barcelona buddies suggested we meet there this May. Being that we had some reward points to burn, we booked it no questions asked. After booking, we finally did some Google searching to discover that this tiny Mediterranean island looked amazing! From beaches to cliff diving to ancient temples and cities; we’re going to show, and tell you a shit load of reasons for why you need to visit Malta.

If you are like we were, then you have no idea where Malta is or how to get there. Picture the map of Italy. You know how it looks like boot? Picture the island that “the boot” is kicking. That’s not Malta, it’s Sicily. Right below Sicily, you’ll find Malta. You can fly to Malta from many of the major European airports on Air Malta or AlItalia. From many locations, a ticket on these airlines will be less than $100. Lacey and I traveled to Malta from Rome for $70 a ticket.

What’s so cool about Malta? Literally everything, and I don’t use the word “literally” as loosely as some. Malta and it’s neighboring islands Comino and Gozo, are responsible for some of the most amazing geographical features in the world. Places like the Blue Lagoon, Azure Window, and St. Peter’s Pool are just a couple featured spots off the top of my head. As if the beauty of the island weren’t enough, the history of Malta is even more incredible. Ancient cities, megalithic temples (older than the Pyramids), and the roots of Christianity can all be found and explored here. For all of you Game of Thrones nerds out there, Malta is also responsible for numerous breathtaking backdrops in the earlier seasons of this show.

We felt pretty overwhelmed at first while planning this trip. There was so much to explore and there were only 4 days to do it. We couldn’t afford to lose time relying on public transportation to trek us around. We decided to reserve a rental car. Renting a car was trickier in Malta because I needed an international driver’s permit and oh yeah, they drive on the other side of the street. Yikes!

Our first day was spent cruzing around St. Julian’s Bay which was a block from our hotel, the Hilton Malta. We would definitely recommend staying in this area as it is very close to a ton of restaurants and night life while also being a central take off point to all of the sites you’ll want to visit.

Day 2 got off to a quick start as we were touring the capital city of Valletta before noon. We popped into St. Paul’s Shipwreck Church, took some pics of Ft. St. Elmo, and grabbed some lunch before taking off toward the city of Marsaxlokk. Yeah, try to pronounce that…Marsaxlokk. Just outside of this city, Lacey found St. Peter’s Pool, which ended up being a major highlight of the trip. After a few hours of cliff jumping and swimming, we made our way back to St. Julian’s for a lot of pizza and wine. This day was so much fun!

The next day was, to this point, the best vacation day of my life. We caught an early morning ferry to the Blue Lagoon on the island of Comino. Words can’t describe the beauty of this place. It’s probably easier to just check out our pics below. The Blue Lagoon is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

After the Blue Lagoon, we loaded up our rental car on a giant ferry and headed for the island of Gozo where the Azure Window is located. This landmark is so grand and spectacular. Unfortunately it’s rapidly eroding away so you better get over there and see it soon! After a couple hours of hiking around and eating a late lunch, we headed out. On the way back to the ferry we realized that there were some megalithic temples along the way, so we stopped to check ’em out. I would recommend anyone interested in Aliens and the Ancient Astronaut Theory, to read up on these temples. There were a bunch of elongated skulls found there as well as other locations in Malta.

Our final day was relatively mellow as we spent the day at the ancient city of M’dina and then at the Golden Sands Beach. I think we were all still a bit tired from the action packed day before. It was nice to finish up the trip with a relaxing beach day with friends.

Malta is incredible! I would recommend it to anyone.

Let us know if you have any questions!

Click here to see our video edit from this trip.

Click here to see how we used rewards points to book this trip for free!

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Reviews

West Elm Boise Grand Opening

June 21, 2016

Mat and I were ecstatic when West Elm reached out to invite us to their grand opening for a private tour. We love West Elm and actually just recently purchased our bed frame and duvet cover from them online. We have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the West Elm Boise store since the first sign went up in the window of the old Anthropologie space. It doesn’t hurt that it’s only a few blocks away as well. 🙂

The day of the tour we were welcomed by Nicole Sutliff (I basically want her to be my new bff) and were showed around the new space. It’s absolutely beautiful and I want to move in. Nicole showed us the new lines, their recently updated wedding registry with gorgeous mix and match options, seasonal items, and some amazing reclaimed wood furniture. Gorgeous! Nicole also pointed out how many grab ‘n go gift-y items they have, such as decorative glassware, table topper, succulents, etc. I basically want it all.

We especially loved how much West Elm involves local artisans in their stores. They have an entire section where local Boise artists sell their homemade goods. Nicole also let us know that when someone uses their (free!) styling service, West Elm likes to work with local shops to include items from their stores as well. I’m desperately trying to convince Mat to let us use this service, because our bedroom is really needing some TLC and direction.

My favorite items that are on the “to get” list are:

This light for our bedroom

This rug for our dining nook

This pillow for…anywhere. I just want it.

These Euro shams to go with our all white bedding.

And of course this to create our own faux headboard!

Let us know what you think of the brand new West Elm Boise location!

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Travel

Rome and the Italian Open

June 16, 2016

After a few fun filled days in Florence, Mat and I took the TrenItalia south to Rome, the Eternal City. Mat and I visited Rome on our last trip to Europe two years ago, but this time we were back for a specific reason: the Italian Open! Neither one of us had ever been to an international sporting event, and we both really wanted to experience that.

Since we saved money booking our trip, this allowed us to splurge on an experience we might never have otherwise been able to have. When we bought our tickets we didn’t know who would be playing in the semi-finals, but we lucked out and got to see the number one player in the world, Novak Djokovic play the number six in the world, Kei Nishikori. The cherry on top was that the match went into a tie breaker!

The entire day leading up to the game was pouring rain. That’s didn’t deter us much, we still walked around this gorgeous city and saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Piazza Venezia. We were so worried that the match would be rained out, especially because it was held outdoors on an uncovered clay court!

We took the (super, extremely) crowded bus to Foro Italico and literally one hour before the semi-finals match, the clouds parted and beautiful blue sky peeked out. It was unbelievable!

The day before the match we checked into our favorite B&B, Gli Scipioni. If you are ever going to visit Rome, we highly suggest staying here! The location is amazing, just steps away from the metro and Vatican City. Plus, they always keep the kitchen stocked, and the freezer full of delicious ice cream! Antonella is such a wonderful human and treats everyone like family.

After we dropped our bags off, we spent the afternoon eating pizza, hanging out by the Trevi Fountain, and visiting St. Peter’s Basilica. I wasn’t able to see St. Peter’s the last time we were in Rome because the line was too long and we didn’t have time. We figured it would be the same situation this time, so we were prepared.

The weirdest thing happened as we were walking toward St. Peter’s; we were in St. Peter’s Square and saw a giant line, as suspected, so we went through security preparing for a lot of standing and waiting once we made it through. However that didn’t happen. Somehow miraculously, or perhaps accidentally, we got in a different line and literally walked directly in without waiting. We are still scratching our heads trying to figure out how it happened. Absolutely zero wait time, even though we could see the line of people wrap around the courtyard.

I wasn’t complaining because I was so excited to see this world renowned church! If the outside seems impressive, the inside is breathtaking. I love thinking about all of the amazing things that have happened in these type of places, and the famous people from history who have walked on the same floors that I was lucky enough to stand on. When we were there the choir came out from some seemingly secret door and serenaded us. They also had a section closed off for church-goers to be able to take Communion. I mean, come on! Take Communion in St. Peter’s Basilica? If I was Catholic I would have to add that to the bucket list for sure.

That evening we had an amazing dinner and easily polished off a bottle of wine. We then walked down the streets of Rome eating gelato, listening to street musicians and then out of nowhere we turned a corner and there was a giant, centuries old building with huge pillars. I’m still not entirely sure what that building was, but that is the just an example of why Rome is so incredible; the mixing of modern buildings with ancient.

We finished the night back at the Trevi Fountain. It doesn’t get much more romantic than the Trevi Fountain at night. As a bonus, it was some of the best people watching of the trip!

There is still so much of Rome we would like to explore, but ever since Mat got me this for our anniversary, it makes it more difficult to not want to put a new pin in for each vacation, so I think we will be visiting the southern portion of the country when we head back to Italy!

What are your favorite sites to see in Rome?

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Travel

3 Days in Florence, Italy

June 9, 2016

The second stop on our 15 day vacation extravaganza was Florence, Italy. Still riding the momentum gained from the 2 previous days in New York City, Lacey and I were ready to start the international leg of our trip. With our pre-purchased museum tickets in one hand and vouchers for a Vespa tour in the other; we were ready for Florence!

The last 2 times I’ve flown to Italy, I didn’t sleep a single minute on either flight. This results in a hyper-delirious first day as I end up being awake for about 20hrs straight. Luckily, Italy has the best coffee on the planet (yeah, I said it! Whatchu got Colombia!?), so I’m usually still somewhat functional that first day.

We landed and were settled in our Air BnB in Florence by about 3pm. We were set up in a beautiful 1 bedroom loft a block away from the Piazza del Duomo. We’d highly recommend staying there if you’re planning a visit. Tell Frederica we said hello!

After dropping our bags off and doing our best to avoid passing out, we met a few of our friends at a nearby cafe. We quickly hammered a couple of cafe Americano’s before hopping on some bicycles to check out the Ponte Vecchio, and the Piazza Michelangelo where we had some gelato while enjoying the views of the city. After a fun downhill bike ride from the piazza we had some delicious pizza and wine from GustaPizza before passing out for the night. It was a pretty successful first day considering how tired we were.

Day 2 in Florence got off to a quick start, literally, as we hopped on some Vespas and took off for wine country! The scooter tour was Lacey’s idea and I’ll hand it to her, I originally thought this was a lame idea but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the entire trip. Well done wifey, well done. Not only was the simple act of hauling ass on a Vespa in Italy super fun, but we saw so many amazing views of the city and country side. We made quick stops at a gorgeous church and private vineyard before making our way to a private estate where an authentic Italian meal was prepared for us. The meal was accompanied by some tasty wine grown from the vineyard we had visited. This was so much fun, as you can see from our trip video edit.

Later that day, we climbed to the top of the historic Duomo in Florence. The views from the top are unbelievable! Be careful though as there is only a waist-high fence in between you and certain death at the top of the dome. Other than that, it’s a really good time! 😉

Our third and final day was spent touring the amazing art galleries of Florence. After all, Florence was the heartbeat of the Renaissance and we owed it to the city to acknowledge it’s beautiful art. We swung by the Galleria dell’Accademia to check out Michelangelo’s statue of David before heading over to the Ufizzi Gallery to take a look at Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. While we may not know much about art, we still appreciate how important these pieces are to the history of this region. People treat famous artwork like celebrities nowadays. Everyone pushes and shoves to get close enough to take their all-so-important selfie with the painting or statue. Somehow that factor makes seeing pieces like these in-person both better AND worse somehow.

Our final night in Florence was a mellow one spent at our cozy BnB as we watched Netflix (The Office) on my cell phone as we fell asleep. There couldn’t have been a more perfect ending to a great 3 days in Florence.

Rome was up next! More details from that trip to come shortly!

For details on how we used reward points to book this 15 day adventure for free, check out our previous post.

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Travel

Weekend in New York City

June 2, 2016

To break up the long flight from Boise to Italy, Mat and I decided to enjoy a weekend in New York City. Mat had only been to New York once, and I had only ever experienced Manhattan on previous visits, so we thought it would be a good time to explore other neighborhoods. Plus, one of our friends was going to be there that same weekend and wanted to go to a Yankees game. Done and done!

I was in charge of planning our first evening’s activities, so I made dinner reservations at The Print restaurant only for the mere fact that it let us get into the rooftop bar The Press without waiting in line. If you follow us, you know that we are lovers of rooftop anything….bars, restaurants, gardens, pools, etc. I’m not sure if we were just starving or what, but our meals at The Print were absolutely amazing; I even ate the veggies on my plate! After dinner we took the elevator up to The Press and the views from this rooftop bar were stunning! I really wanted to feel like Carrie Bradshaw and order a cosmopolitan while in Manhattan, but my outfit wasn’t cute enough so I just settled for the view instead. Next time New York, next time!

After dinner and the views at The Press (and quite possibly the worst Uber ride of our lives) we went to Serendipity for dessert. Surprisingly, this was Mat’s idea, not mine. Luckily our last stop of the night was close to our hotel so we could walk off a few of the billion calories we had just consumed. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue which was so grand it reminded me of what the Titanic must have looked like. We could never afford to actually stay there, but luckily it was free because my husband is brilliant with travel points. Everybody there knew we couldn’t afford to stay there, and thus treated us so. Mat totally experienced a Pretty Woman situation (we call it getting “pretty woman’d”) when he approached the concierge to inquire about the brunch that was being offered one morning. The response was basically “We know you can’t afford it so go away.”; capital R rude!

Our second day in the city we spent in Brooklyn, which we absolutely loved! Manhattan is amazing and all, but Brooklyn seemed to be much more our pace and style. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and hung out down by the pier. We also had pizza at what is considered the second best pizza joint in the city, Juliana’s. This started our official pizza tour for the trip and it did not disappoint! We had wine and shared a margarita pizza, then had ice cream by the water while gazing at the beautiful view of Manhattan.

That evening we took the subway up to The Bronx where Yankee Stadium is located. It was so fun to be traveling the same direction with all of the rowdy Yankee fans! I especially loved the area right where you get off the subway; there were cute little restaurants with outdoor patios that had music blaring, street vendors selling Yankee gear and so much hustle and bustle! I bought a Yankees beanie (because I was so cold) and then we went in to find our seats. Yankee Stadium is so pretty! I also love that the subway runs directly by the field, so you can see it blurring by between the giant billboards above the stands.

Our last day in New York we started off with breakfast at a legitimate New York diner right off Wall Street, Pearl Diner. After the most delicious chocolate chip pancakes and coffee, we set off to experience Wall Street on a bustling Monday morning. I was slightly disappointed because I only saw a few men in suits-everybody else were just tourists like us. Then we went to check out the Freedom Tower real quick before we had to head to the airport for our flight to Florence.

Our few days in NY were jam packed but so fun! A few places I didn’t mention that we also visited were Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Radio City Music Hall.

Let us know if you have any questions on how we booked our hotel and flights for this wonderful weekend in New York City…for free!

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