Ramble the world Archives - Page 2 of 7

Galveston, Texas – A Charming Beach City

October 28, 2016/8 Comments/in Ramble the world /by Mila

I travelled to Galveston, Texas, a couple of months ago for a wedding. It was a pleasant surprise to discover how charming this beach city is. Green, colorful, warm, and with a good amount of vintage shops!

It has a cute and small historic Downtown surrounded by neighborhoods with Victorian houses, most of them colorful and adorable.

Galveston has two main geographical areas: the historic neighborhoods close to Downtown, and the beach life close to the sea. Everything within a short distance. Driving north of the city, you find modern and gorgeous homes sitting on columns and looking out at the ocean. This area is prone to hurricanes, so most homes are hurricane proof.

My favorite places to visit were Downtown, obviously, and the Galveston Island State Park, which has a gorgeous beach and a lot of beautiful hikes.

Here are some photos of the trip and some tips if you decide to visit:

How To Get There And What to do

Galveston is a 1 1/2 hr drive from Houston. Not difficult to get to. I rented a car, which allowed me to explore more of the place. I like to be independent and not worry about mobilization. Although the city city is small, and you can perfectly well walk or take taxis around downtown, it is best to have a car to visit places far away from the city, like Galveston Island State Park, or other northern beaches.

If you go with kids (or without), spending the days at the beach is your best bet (make sure you go to one where swimming is allowed). For short adventures, the Railroad Museum and the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier are good options. The Pier, for example, has carnival games and souvenir shops. Also, as I mentioned above, the Galveston Island State Park is a must.

If you like vintage shops like I do, there are a few in this beautiful city. Spending and afternoon walking around downtown, looking at shops, having a coffee, and finding vintage stores are a perfect use of vacation time, don’t you think?

Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier Color, color, and more color. Downtown Galveston

Where to Eat

There are plenty of cute restaurants and coffee shops in Galveston.

I liked eating at Eatcetera. It has a couple of tables outside and a vintage shop at the other side of the street.

MOD Coffee & Tea House was my favorite to have a coffee because of the ambience. Lots of people in there, plenty of couches and chairs, plus a cute outdoor space for those who like to seat outside.

For breakfast, Mosquito Café is the place to go, unless you want to be closer to the water, in which case, Miller’s Seawall Grill is your best option, but beware, this restaurant is touristy and it gets crowded.

Go to La King’s Confectionery for ice cream and sweets. Kids love it here. Candies galore.

For dinner, your best options are Rudy & Paco, Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar, BLVD seafood or Mama’s Teresa Flying Pizza.

Eatcetera

Where to Stay

So many options here.

I stayed at the Four Points Sheraton. The hotel was fine, nothing special, but it had an excellent location.

Better options are The Tremont House in Downtown, or the Hotel Galvez & Spa, right in front of the beach. Although they are more pricey.

Galveston Island State Park
So many flowers, everywhere you looked. It was a beautiful scenery.

Goodbye, Texas! It was a lovely stay.

Also, photos of our trip to Austin here.

Let Us Connect:

An Outing To The Aquarium Of The Pacific

My friend Paloma and her son, Diego, came for a visit, so we took them to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It is one of my five top places to take friends with children when they come to LA. Kids (and adults) love it so much.

(Places like this remind me of how different was my childhood from the one my kids are having. I was born and raised at the “end of the world,” one of the southern most cities of the American continent Punta Arenas, surrounded by beautiful landscapes and people, but not much access to the “world”. My kids, on the other hand, have access to almost everything the world has to offer, including an amazing, gorgeous, and informative aquarium with hundreds of sea creatures just 30 minutes away! They are spoiled. I know it.)

So, let’s talk about the Aquarium of the Pacific. It is not a HUGE aquarium, but it is big and you can easily spend 5-6 hours there if you enjoy the different events and special exhibitions they have. If you just want to see sea creatures, you can be done in 2 hours. It has two floors and an outdoor area.

My favorite things to look for are the aquariums inside the building with the Horses and Dragons. Sea horses have all the colors and shapes you can imagine. My kids’ favorite is the Shark Lagoon. The sharks and stingrays get fed a couple of times a day; which is a lot of fun to watch. The Lorikeet Forest is a highlight, too. You are allowed to feed the birds while they walk all over your arms and hair. Did I mention there is a baby penguin? And a tunnel that runs in the middle of a seal swimming pool? Yeap, lots to do, for sure.

Here are some photos:

Nemo!!! All kids know Nemo and love seeing it in the natural habitat. This is a shark egg. That right in the middle is a shark. Kids can see all the different stages of shark development inside an egg. Precious.
Look at these glowing colors. Just WOW! Don’t you think?
Jellyfishes are beautiful. So graceful and serene.
Yes, this is a sea horse, can you believe it? The Lorikeet Forest. More and more color.

Paloma and Diego. Love you both!

My only problem with the Aquarium is that is expensive. It is better to buy a family membership and use it many times through out year to make it worth it. Otherwise, you will pay $29.95 for adults and $17.95 for children every time you go there.

Tips for your visit

Get there early to avoid crowds, especially on weekends.
There is a restaurant where you can buy food and drinks. They have healthy options.
There are some water games in the outside area. Some kids can get wet, so you might want to bring a change of clothes.
It is hot outside during the summer, bring sunscreen!

Hope you like it!

Aquarium Address
100 Aquarium Way,
Long Beach, CA 90802

www.aquariumofpacific.com

Open 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m – Every Day of the Year, Except Christmas Day (Dec. 25) and During the Grand Prix of Long Beach (April 15-17, 2016).

Let Us Connect:

The Arts District, DTLA – A Great Place For A Date

September 23, 2016/2 Comments/in Los Angeles, Ramble the world /by Mila

Right now, it is all happening in the Arts District, DTLA. Nice restaurants (have you been to Bestia?), cool galleries, vintage shops, bars… It is a great place to be so we have been taking advantage of it. It is close(r) to home, not that crowded (yet), and in Downtown, which is my favorite place to go out in LA.

If you are planning a night out with friends, I highly recommend going here. You can see art, have a drink, look at murals, watch people taking photos -million of IG opportunities here-, take a selfie -cause you know why-, and then have dinner somewhere.

Most galleries close around 6 or 7pm, but the Hauser Wirth & Schimmel closes at 8pm on Thursdays. Here you can get a drink and see some art before dinner. Shops like Hammer and Spear close around 7 pm, Poketo closes at 10pm on weekends, etc.

The last couples of times we went there, we ate at Fritzi. A small and modern restaurant; kind of unpretentious but hip. It is small, and never too crowded. The drinks are tasty and the food, too. The fried chicken is their signature dish, and it is delicious. The fries are great – double fried, which is the only way of making good fries. I like to sit outside and do some people watching.

The Arts District Brewing is just next-door. It has great beers and drinks, plus a relaxing vibe.

After dinner, walk over to Little Tokyo. There are even better bars over there and all the fun of a neighborhood that resembles Japan.

Here are some photos I took in one of our outings. Hope you like them.

Let Us Connect:

Paso Robles, California

September 13, 2016/4 Comments/in Ramble the world /by Mila

From all the places I have been wine tasting (and I have been to a lot), Paso Robles is one of my favorites. The setting is what makes it for me. The narrow roads covered by trees make the drive between wineries as nice as the actual wine tasting.

It is a magical place.

My favorite area to visit is west of the 101, and my favorite road to drive through is Vineyard Rd. Here you can find wonderful wineries, like Justin, Halter Ranch or Lone Madrone… because WINE! Wine is a wonderful thing. Unless you drink too much of it and get a horrible hang over, which seems to happen often when you are older than 30.

To sleep, I like to stay in San Luis De Obispo, 30 minutes south of Paso Robles, because it has a fun downtown area and good restaurants. It is easy to find all kind of hotels and entertainment here. Among them, is the Madonna Inn. Having brunch or dinner at the Madonna Inn is a must because the décor is kitschy and crazy, and the food is not bad. When you step into it, you are transported into an alternative world where hot pink and bright green are he main decorating dishes. It is fun and unexpected.

For a day trip, aside from the wineries, you can go to the Hearst Castle, located 40 minutes away from San Luis De Obispo. It was one of the homes of William Hearst, a media mogul that spent time here in the first half of the 1900s. It is an incredible sight. How did a man manage to create such a monumental place in the middle of nowhere, almost 100 years ago, baffles me. But he did. If you decide to go, make reservations! It can get busy and, this way, you don’t have to wait.

Here are some photos of a weekend trip we took a couple of weeks ago. Hope you like them.

Let Us Connect:

Camping At Buckhorn, Los Angeles National Forest

August 18, 2016/2 Comments/in Los Angeles, Ramble the world /by Mila

Camping trips are a nice bonding opportunity for the family. I felt that on our trip to Idyllwild last year, where it was only the four of us for three days doing everything together.

This year, we wanted to have a similar experience, so we decided to take the kids to the Buckhorn Campground in the LA National Forest. 2 hours from my house and 1 hour from Pasadena.

What is nice about Buckhorn is that you are truly “incommunicado.” As soon as you start climbing the mountains, cell phone service is out. It is just you, your family, your car, and your fears, so make sure you bring everything you need-including a book!

Buckhorn is a first come, first served campground. No reservations needed, but you need to arrive early morning on a Friday (8-9am) to get a site. If it is a busy weekend, like 4^th of July, you better arrive on a Thursday.

The bathrooms are not clean, there are no showers, and no park rangers on site, so it is a pretty wild situation for those city people that like the city life, but the place is beautiful and “remote”- if you consider a place that is 45 minutes away from a 15 million people city remote. In my dictionary (and the dictionary of every other human being I know), not having cell phone service “classifies” a place as remote, or simply hell. If you are in the “hell” category, don’t go to Buckhorn.

FOOD AND FUN

This time, I wanted the experience of eating food to be a memorable one. There is no reason why you can’t bring nicer table clothes, serving plates, and food. I wanted to be able to have a nice meal, and that is what we did.

I like wildness with civility. Ugliness depresses me (I am a Taurus, there is nothing I can do to help this), so I made sure to bring a couple of things to beautify the table and my soul. It worked.

Good salads, appetizers, skewers, fruit, marinated steak were all part of the menu, and, for dessert, marshmallows (duh!) and cookies. Simple and sweet.

Wouldn’t you agree that one of the best parts of camping is eating (and drinking); well, in reality, one of the best parts of life is eating (and drinking), so I would recommend putting extra effort in that part of the planning.

KIDS GO WILD

In the beginning, it was a little difficult for my kids to entertain themselves. A bunch of nature didn’t seem to be enough to stimulate their creativity. Well, by the end of the camping trip they were making up games and having fun in such a beautiful and valuable way. That change made the trip well worth it.

We went for a couple of hikes and I was impressed at how much these kids can walk. One day we went all the way up a mountain, away from trails. Kids loved that. Another day we went to a stream, the kids were so happy going in the water naked and free.

As a side note, don’t forget to bring a small First Aid Kit. At some point, your kids will need a Band-Aid, so you better have it on hand. This is the voice of experience talking.