Category - Travel

DiningTravel

Dinner at Zazu (Quito, Ecuador)

10:30 PM We’re in Quito, Ecuador, thousands of miles from anyone who knows us. We’re passengers in an unmetered taxi, making our way back to Casa El Eden from Zazu — widely regarded as the best restaurant in Ecuador. Our...

February 25, 2015
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5 min read
Travel

A Tale of Two Guides (Quito, Ecuador)

On our first day in Quito, we book a walking tour of the Old City through ToursByLocals.com. He is an older gentleman, pleasant enough, but he is neither a local (he’s American, transplanted here), nor does he take us on a tour. He’s terribly...

February 21, 2015
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228 views
6 min read
Travel

Casa el Eden (Quito, Ecuador)

After a long day of touring in Quito and Mindo, what a gift it is to come home to Casa el Eden, a bed and breakfast right in the heart of the Old City. Beautiful wooden doors open on a frescoed hallway, which, in turn, opens on an airy central...

February 20, 2015
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3 min read
Travel

Chocolate from the Source (Mindo, Ecuador)

Any tour that starts with a shot glass full of liquid chocolate is a good tour. And that’s how things begin at the Mindo Chocolate Makers tour. Once we’re seated in the cheerful cafe, Jose Meza (one of two owners) brings us a brownie with a sidecar...

February 19, 2015
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390 views
3 min read
Travel

Death March to Casada Reina (Mindo, Ecuador)

I am two hours into a hike to Cascada la Reina, “The Waterfall of the Queen.” The slimy, treacherous trail is often no more than two feet wide. On one side, the path is bounded by the wall of the mountain: clay, twisted roots, ferns...

February 16, 2015
1 comment
607 views
11 min read
Travel

Morning Walk in the Old City (Quito, Ecuador)

For the first time ever, we’re waking the narrow streets of the Old City in Quito, Ecuador. Before arriving, we purchased a walking tour of Quito from ToursByLocals.com. Our guide is polite and nice enough, but because he has no sense of story...

February 15, 2015
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5 min read
Travel

Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden (Chonburi, Thailand)

A giant white buddha guards the entrance to both heaven and hell. At least, that’s the case in Chonburi’s bizarre Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden — a theme park designed to expose mom, dad, and the kids to the glories of heaven …...

February 1, 2015
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3 min read
DiningTravel

The Essex Spa and Cook Academy (Essex, VT)

When I booked us into a “Fireplace Mini Suite” at a Vermont-based resort hotel, I pictured us in a cozy room, our twin wing-back chairs pulled up close to the hearth, basking in the glow of a crackling fire. So I’m a bit disappointed when I discover...

January 26, 2015
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5 min read
Travel

Vermont Guided Tours (Burlington, VT)

When in or near Burlington, VT, you couldn’t ask for a friendlier local guide than Greg Doremus, who operates Vermont Guided Tours. We enjoyed his company, and he did a particularly good job of presenting local history and working it casually...

January 26, 2015
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2 min read