As a student living in Barcelona, my classes all ended before lunch. One of my favorite activities was to walk the short distance to Plaza Catalunya and then down las Ramblas, eventually steering into el Barrio Gotico. People watching was cheap and entertaining, so I’d get a coffee at a café and nurse it for…
In 1999, I was a young exchange student living in Barcelona and having the time of my life. While there I went on a tour of the Sagrada Familia. At that time, the tour did not have a set price, but donation based pricing. And the “tour” was simply access to the museum on Gaudí…
“We need to meet the tour bus at WHAT TIME?!?!?!” That was my reaction when I found out my mom booked at tour to Montserrat, the famous mountain just outside Barcelona with a cathedral dedicated to the black Madonna, but left Plaza Catalunya at 6:45am…on our first day in the city. To get breakfast and…
“You should really take your kids to Gilroy Gardens, they’d love it!”. That was my best friend, R. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’d get around to it” I said. So when our weekend getaway was coming to an end, we had a choice, see more of Monterey, or try and check out Gilroy Gardens. On a…
Walking around Monterey I kept seeing ads with the famous Dali melting clocks advertising a Dali exhibit. While walking toward Old Fisherman’s Wharf, we were surprised to run into the museum. And not only was it a permanent exhibit, but it was a Museum dedicated to Dali’s works! Apparently during the 1940s the famous Spanish…
On our recent trip to Monterey, I had little to nothing planned, something that I rarely do. That’s how I found myself on the second night of the trip Googling “Monterey with Kids” and “Things to do with kids on Old Fisherman’s Wharf” after the kids went to bed. My searches brought up one thing…
“DENNIIISSSSS!” Those Xennial moms like me can remember Saturday Morning cartoons and watching week after week Dennis the Menace’s antics on our television screens. Those older remember him from the popular cartoon strip, where the five year old boy always seemed to get in some kind of trouble, usually involving Mr. Wilson. Dennis the epitome…
When you hear Cannery Row, if you are a Steinbeck fan, you immediately conjure up imagines of a gritty factory filled row that smells of fish and poverty. At the very minimum you imagine factories and lots and lots of metal and aluminum. What you likely don’t imagine is world class shopping and dining, luxury…
Just two hours from my home is one of the most famous aquariums in the world, the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have a confession, even though I’ve taken my kids all over the world, I have never, ever been to the aquarium. In fact, I hadn’t been to Monterey since I graduated from my MBA…
When I decided to stay in California for a job 11 years ago, it was about $200 – $250 round trip to New Jersey. That ticket included food, two checked bags (not that I used that much), a seat selection, and a understanding of basic comfort. Now, I think it’s a good deal if I…
Growing up in small town NJ, I had the privilege of having my grandmother close to us almost all of my childhood. We often would travel with my grandmother, doing road trips, going to Puerto Rico to see family, and even once doing a family cruise with five of us in a small stateroom on…
“Over the river and through the woods to Stinson Beach we go!” Even though Stinson Beach is considered “right outside” San Francisco, it’s actually a beautiful cove hidden behind miles of the twists and turns of the Marin Headlands. Living in the East Bay our entire Californian lives, we had never made it to Stinson…
A little more than 13 years ago I got a phone call that changed my life. It was one of the admissions counselors at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. She had called to tell me that not only was I accepted to their Full Time MBA program, I was being offered a…
My sister was coming to town with her family, and it was her husband’s first time in California. I had one day to take off and I knew that wine tasting in Napa was a must. But I had had a slew of visitors in the winter, and I was tired of all my usual…
Packing with two little ones used to be a nightmare. It was a process that required multiple large suitcases, and careful coordination with car seats, temporary beds, and shipping ahead diapers and baby food. Then something happened. My babies became kids. They had their own seats on the plane and were able to drag their…
