ViewsAndShoes

Pura Vida My husband and I took a trip to Costa Rica in June of 2019. It was love at first sight. The country is eco friendly and their people are even friendlier .  We stayed at a beautiful hotel called Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest resort . We flew into San Jose and took a cab to Quepos where our hotel was located. Along the way our wonderful driver stopped to show us some of the sights including the alligators. Our hotel was located by the beach so we spent a lot of our 7 day trip (two days of mostly travel) at the different beaches in the area.    Day One  Was spent all day at the beach and at the different pools. The resort had two pools and access to two beaches.  We were also located in a rainforest so we got to see sloths hanging around the property along with lizards and iguanas.  Day Two   We went on a horse back ride through the rainforest. This was my first time riding a horse and it was wonderful. The tour company w...

Mom's 65th Birthday In April my mother turned 65 which meant I needed to make her birthday extra special. I wasn't sure how but I knew it meant taking her somewhere she'd always wanted to go. I'd heard her say she dreamt of taking a gondola ride in Venice and seeing Vatican city, so a trip to Italy was the perfect gift. One month before the trip I decided to tell her so she can plan accordingly. She was in shock but also very excited for our week in Italy.  DAY ONE Our trip started in Rome where we explored the city and all its wonders. The outskirts of Rome looked like any other city and it surprised me how much graffiti could be seen. First stop was the Pantheon which was a short wa lk from our hotel. It was very crowded and there was a long line to get inside but luckily I had purchased tickets beforehand so the wait was not as long.  We then headed to Piazza Venezia and The Altas of the Fatherland . Along the way we stopped to try the gela...

Three Days in Mexico In November I traveled to Mexico with a friend and stayed in a cute hotel in Tulum.  We were a bike ride away from the Tulum ruins and the white sandy beach. We decided to visit Tulum instead of Cancun to connect with nature and avoid the party scene.  Our first stop was to visit the ruins of Tulum where we also were able to take a dip in the private beach. The water was clear, warm and although there were quite a few people visiting the ruins that day the beach didn’t feel crowded. We skipped the guide and went exploring on our own which was perfectly fine because the guides could be overheard explaining everything to their groups.   Our next day we took a nice trip to one of the seven wonders of the world, Chichen Itza and also visited the ruins of Coba. We got to climb to the top of a pyramid which was fun for me but for my friend who was afraid of heights, the climb was terrifying. I was very proud of her when she made it to the top and...