Postcards from the Amalfi Coast

We just returned from an exhausting but amazing three days in the Amalfi Coast. I have been traveling to the Amalfi Coast for about seven years now and I never grow tired of it. It is one of my favorite places on earth (well, that I have been to).

For the student tour we give them a taste of everything -- a boat ride around the island of Capri, eating fresh seafood overlooking the sea, a beach day in the adorable town of Positano, hiking Vesuvius, and visiting the ruins of Pompeii... all in three days!

So before I dive into the details next week (details on the lemon dress are coming, I promise!), I thought I would share some of my favorite snapshots (I can't tell you how happy I am with my new camera).

hat available here

And you can read more of my posts about the Amalfi Coast here:
20 Tips for Traveling in the Amalfi Coast
Packing for the Amalfi Coast
My Favorite Hotel in the Amalfi Coast
Postcards from Amalfi (last year)
10 Things You Must Do in Positano
And some history on the region

Beautiful Boston

Sadly, much of my time in Boston was spent in conference paper sessions. But my presentation went great, I got to listen to a lot of interesting and new scholarship, and I made essential career connections. What little free-time Jess (my conference partner) and I did have was mainly during meal time, so we took a lot of your suggestions and ate our way through Boston.

I did get to sightsee a bit when I arrived Wednesday morning. I walked from Copley Square up Boylston street to the park and Commons. I then hit up a bit of the Freedom Trail (don't worry I did the entire thing when I was younger) before grabbing some coffee and meeting Jess at our hotel. We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling Charles Street (I fell in love with this dress) and sampling pastries at Tatte. That evening we went to this adorable speakeasy near our hotel called Wink & Nod. It was very hipster-chic and the crispy brussels sprouts were delicious.

Thursday morning I was invited to attend a tour of Boston College's amazing Jesuit library and manuscript collection. I got a little up close and personal time with some incredible documents. Not to mention the campus is gorgeous! Before I left for my tour, however, Jess and I checked out Flour Bakery and Cafe, which is definitely a must. The french toast and egg breakfast sandwich are beyond tasty!

Both Wednesday and Thursday were warm with blue skies, but the wind on Thursday was ridiculous. If you saw my snaps, then you understand. We attempted to talk some outfit photos, but it took about a million frames to get these six decent photos. Thursday evening we returned to Flour and grabbed some sandwiches to go. After a long day we were ready to relax in our jammies in the hotel (#sorrynotsorry).

Friday morning was my paper presentation (at 8:30 am no less). Needless to say it was another long day of conferencing. We did manage to find some time to stop by Kate Spade and peak at their adorable new arrivals (I need this adorable coin purse!). We also headed out to the North End for dinner that evening. I am very tough to please when it comes to Italian food, but I will say they had a great selections of wine.

Saturday was the last day of the conference and the closing reception (hello free wine and food). On our to the conference, we checked out Blackbird Artisanal Doughnuts. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we stuffed ourselves with the strawberry honey, slated toffee, and cookies and cream.

After catching up with friends and colleagues from Florence Saturday night, Sunday morning we made one last stop before heading to the airport... for brunch of course! We had an incredible brunch at Back Bay Harry's. They had these fresh cinnamon and sugar donuts with marscapone dipping sauce that was out of this world.

After lots of flight delays (thanks Boston for the freak snow storm), I finally made it home late Sunday night. It was a great trip and it was so nice to have Jess there with me.

PS - I am bummed I didn't make it to the Isabella Gardner Museum, but now I have a reason to go back!

Postcards from DC

outfit details here

I had such an amazing time this past weekend in DC with my cousins. We explored all of downtown DC and Georgetown. Thank goodness we did most of this by foot, because we also sampled all of the cupcakes, poptarts, and scones DC had to offer.

We started our first full day in DC at the Library of Congress, which is heaven for a nerd like myself. And since my cousins are just like me, we registered for reading cards so we could explore fully. Sadly, the LoC had very little on the late Medici Court. After pretending we were in a scene from National Treasure, we did a little walking tour past the Supreme Court, Capitol building, and Georgetown Law (where my cousin attends). Michael had one last class before spring break, so Shelby and I headed over to Georgetown to explore.

Hands down, Georgetown was my favorite part of DC. I instantly fell in love with this adorable and historic neighborhood. Shel and I spent the afternoon strolling and snacking before meeting back up with Michael for some Indian food.

Our next day was all about museums and monuments. We strolled down the National Mall to see the Washington and Lincoln Memorials before heading to some of our favorite Smithsonian Museums. We started with the American History Museum to see the famous American flag that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner and Abraham Lincoln's top hat. Next, we hopped over to the National Archives to look at the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Although I've seen all of these before, the historian and archive-lover in me can never get enough of old documents.

After so much American history, I was in desperate need of a little European history and art. We headed over to the National Gallery of Art so I could feel at home with the Medici, Da Vinci, and Fra Angelico. After lunch we headed back to Georgetown so Michael could show us around the University Campus before dinner.

For our final day, we tackled the rest of the monuments we had missed - the Jefferson Memorial, Rosevelt Memorial, and the MLK Memorial. I really loved both the Rosevelt and MLK memorials. Both were beautifully done and moving.

Unfortunately, our flights back to Florida were not coordinated well and I ended up having an extra day by myself in DC. You can guess where I spent it. Yep, shopping and strolling in Georgetown.

Here is a little summary of my DC favorites:

Favorite Bites:
Homemade poptarts from Ted's Bulletin 
Cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes
Cupcakes from Baked and Wired
Lunch at Napoleon
Scones from Lady Camellia
Taj of India

Favorite Sites:
National Portrait Gallery (Hall of Presidents)
Library of Congress
Rosevelt Memorial
Georgetown (in general)
National Archives
American History Museum (Smithsonian)
National Gallery of Art (Smithsonian)

What are your favorite spots in DC?

Postcards from NYC

I had an absolutely fabulous time in New York City this past weekend (well, long weekend) and that is mostly because of my amazing tour guide Emily. I have been to New York several times throughout my life and covered most of the major attractions - the Statue of Liberty, the Met, Guggenheim, MoMA, Times Square, Empire State Building, Grand Central, etc. - so I was happy to relax and just enjoy the city with Emily.

I arrived mid-morning Thursday, and after checking into my adorable little boutique hotel, The Blakely, I met up with Emily in Tribeca to head to the TRESemme hair studio. It was the last day of fashion week and we wanted to take full advantage. We emerged fabulously coiffed and headed for lunch at Balthazar, which was probably one of the best meals I have had in a long time. We worked off lunch by exploring (and shopping in) SoHo. Eventually, we made our way to the original Magnolia Bakery in the West Village, because we had to have some of their famous banana pudding. After several hours of exploring and taking pictures, I was exhausted from travel and headed uptown to my hotel to relax for the evening (I had been up since 4 am to catch my flight!).

The next day Emily and I decided to live out our Upper East Side Gossip Girl fantasies. We brunched at Sarabeth's (where I met Emily's friend Kate who joined us for part of the day), strolled through Central Park (naturally by Blair's duck pond), stopped by the Plaza, and sat on the steps of the Met (which we also went inside to see the costume gallery and the newly open Le Brun exhibition). After being spotted on the steps of the Met, we headed to Ralph's Coffee to refuel before our appointment on The Top of the Rock.

The Top of the Rock was great and I highly recommend it. It's a perfect view of the city and photo op. After another long day, I grabbed some sushi to go and headed to my new hotel, Le Parker Meridian, to review my notes for my interview the following day.

The next day was the day of my big interview. I was full of nervous energy, so I headed back to Central Park to walk it off. After my interview was over, I did a bit of window shopping down Madison Avenue before heading to Mood (which, sadly, was closed). I also stopped by J.Crew and picked up this adorable gingham lined jacket (pictured above), but more on that later.

That evening I met up with Emily who took me to the most delicious Mexican restaurant, Toloache (in Midtown). We drank fancy margaritas and indulged in a lot of guac and mole. After dinner we strolled through Times Square and headed to Junior's for their famous raspberry swirl cheesecake... because when in New York!

For my last day in the city we started our day brunching at Two Hands in Little Italy before exploring the Lower East Side (where we found the cutest heart wall) and heading down to the Brooklyn Bridge. Thank goodness we got lucky with the weather, it wasn't sunny but we were so happy it wasn't freezing on the bridge. We strolled across, stopping along the way to take a million photos. Afterwards we made a brief stop in Emily's neighborhood, Wall Street, before I had to head uptown and catch an Uber to the airport.

Hopefully I will have good news to share soon as a result of my interview (although, it didn't go spectacularly, so I am not getting my hopes up). But either way, I had an amazing weekend and made a lot of fabulous memories!

XOXO

Postcards From Burano

Apologies for my lack of a post yesterday. I have been battling the flu, and let me tell you, there is nothing worse than being super sick in a foreign country. DayQuil, why have you forsaken me? The good news is that I am finally feeling human again, just in time to travel again this weekend. I know, I know, I do this to myself...

But anyways, back to the adorable town of Burano.

Burano is probably the cutest place on earth. I mean seriously, it is almost too cute. It is a tiny little fishing village on an island in the Venetian lagoon, and it is the perfect little day trip from Venice (you can take the “vaporetto,” or water bus, which takes about 45 minutes). This colorful little village is a photographers dream! There isn’t a lot to do on the island, but if you like strolling, taking pictures, leisurely sipping prosecco, and eating well this island is for you!

I even turned one of my favorite pictures from Burano into a print!,

Postcards From Munich

As much fun as Oktoberfest is, the city of Munich is even better! So, it is essential that you also see this beautiful city and not spend your entire time in the beer tents. Munich is perfectly sized -- it is big enough to have all of the major stores and a great diversity of restaurants, but small enough to navigate on foot. I have been to Munich a handful of times now, and I still really enjoy the city every time I go. I am also super biased because I am coming from Italy, and any city with a Starbucks and a Thai restaurant is going to make me happy lol.

But, back to Munich. Each time I go, I try to discover/do something different. This time, I took a bike tour through the city, discovered the Bavarian Historical Museum, explored the English Garden, and visited the Nymphenburg Palace.

Biking through Munich is a great way to see the city. The historical center of the city is easy to navigate by foot, but with a bike, you can explore Munich’s amazing green spaces, like the English Gardens. The English Gardens are massive! It is actually larger than Central Park. I stuck to the southern part and ate outside near the Chinese Tower (highly recommended, the food was a la carte and delicious). You can also check out the famous river surfers in the park. I should also warn you that there is a rather large nudist colony that likes to sunbath in the park. So that was interesting.

Another sight worth seeing, but far from the historical center, is the Nymphenburg Palace. This gorgeous seventeenth-century baroque palace was the official summer home of the Bavarian rulers. As with any baroque palace, it doesn’t disappoint. The rooms are ornately decorated and the gardens are simply gorgeous! We even stumbled upon a couple having the wedding photos taken in the main ballroom, it was breathtaking.

My last stop was the Bavarian Historical Museum, which was one of the best museums I have visited. I was surprised to find a large collection from the Medici princess I study (including some portraits). She was married to the brother of the Bavarian ruler and after she and her husband died the territories were combined under one ruler and the collection of her objects and paintings were transferred from Dusseldorf to Munich. So that was an amazing surprise! Besides the personal connection, the museum is well done, interesting, not crowded, and has a fabulous cafe (with amazing wifi). It is definitely a must-visit in Munich.

Have you been to Munich? What is your favorite thing to see or do?