Honeymoon Part 2: Monte Carlo, Monaco

--Part 2 of 14--

Honeymoon

For those of you who are just tuning in, Dan and I had an amazing month long European honeymoon and I'm just getting around to sharing the pictures of our epic adventure. We started in Barcelona, Spain where we spent a few days exploring the city before we boarded a ship and sailed to Monte Carlo.

What a beautiful place to wake up to! We spent the day at the beach and visited Prince Rainier's private car collection {Prince Rainier married the fabulous Grace Kelly in 1956, too cool huh? By the way, did you ever see her wedding dress? AMAZING!}. We had a perfect morning lounging on the beach, eating leftover croissants with jam and nutella that we smuggled from the ship. We found nice spot to set out our towels at the far end of the beach.

Beach Babe. And tiny shells instead of sand.^^^

^^^We decided to hike up to the fortress on the hillside for some great views of Monte Carlo.

^^^A nice couple offered to take our picture on the deck of the ship {sorry for the picture quality, we were using Dan's waterproof camera}.

^^^The Famous Monte Carlo Casino

^^^Is it weird that I like taking pictures of peoples windows? Yeah...it's borderline creepy, but I think they are lovely. Look at those shutters and lace! I would love to be a fly on the wall to see how people live here.

^^^It's crazy how these houses are built on the side of a cliff -- almost on top of each other.

^^^We walked through a tunnel to check out the other side of the city and found these pictures for sale posted on the tunnel wall. Grace Kelly you were one classy lady! 

^^^I found our boat. How magical is this? I dig the bohemian hammock. This will be our little putz around boat, we can dock it next to our giant yacht. Right Dan? No? We'll see...

^^^Pretty details everywhere you look!

^^^Prince Rainier's private car collection. So many gorgeous cars, immaculately restored to their original condition. 

^^^Love that red!

^^^Dan's in Heaven.

^^^ Some kind of snow cat used for polar expeditions.

^^^By the harbor with the palace in the background.

^^^Walking up to the palace.

^^^Picturesque old town Monaco.

^^^A view of Musee Oceanographique de Monaco

^^^A closer look of the rooftop garden and skate park from the previous picture.

^^^My favorite part of the day was when we were walking back to the ship {we had 30 minutes until departure}. We found these cool concrete stairs at the edge of the city that dropped off into the Mediterranean Sea; deep dark blue water as far as the eye could see. We both looked at each other and decided to run back to the ship and change into our suits for a quick swim. 

"Do we have enough time? Will the ship leave without us? We'll be soaking wet when we get back on!" 

So worth it. It was one of those moments that you want to freeze in time. We dove in and floated there. I clung onto my amphibious husband, a little terrified at what might be swimming around us but amazed at where we were -- surrounded by a palace on the hillside and Monte Carlo in front of us. How many opportunities do you get to do something like that? It was priceless.

^^^If you ever find yourself in Monte Carlo, check these out.

What a day!

P.S. We made it back to the ship in time!

Pictures: Grace The Art of Film, Fashionstatement, Too Much Grace

Ladurée French Macaron Recipe

I made a batch of  French Macarons the other day. Boy do I love these little things, but they are a pain to make...until I tried this recipe! Daniel and I honeymooned in Europe and we stopped in Paris to try the ever coveted Ladurée macarons. They were amazing! I picked up their English Sucré cookbook so I could make them at home. Be patient, say a prayer and they will turn out beautiful. 

This is a macaron shell recipe from Ladurée -- the crème de la crème of macarons in the world! And I whipped up the filling recipe myself...

Makes approximately 50 macarons

Bake at 300F

Macaron Shell Ingredients

2 ¾ cups + 1 tbsp (275 g) fine almond flour

2 cups + 1 tbsp (250 g) confectioners' sugar (aka powdered sugar)

6 +1/2 egg whites (room temp)

1 cup + 1 tbsp (210g) granulated white sugar

3 drops of whatever food coloring you desire

Directions for Macaron Shells:

1. Combine the ground almond flour and the confectioners sugar in a food processor. Pulse a few times until the mixture resembles a fine powder {do not over mix or you will end up with paste! Nooo!}. Sift through a sieve to remove any lumps.

2. In a large bowl {I use my KitchenAid}, whisk 6 egg whites until foamy. Once they are frothy, add a third of the granulated sugar {precisely 83.3 oz}. Whip until the sugar has dissolved. Add another third of the sugar. Whip for 1 minute. Add the last third of the sugar and whip for one minute. Egg whites should be glossy and hold soft peaks. Using a spatula, delicately fold the almond flour and confectioners' sugar into the whipped egg whites. In a separate bowl, beat the remaining 1/2 egg white until just frothy. Then add it to the final mixture, folding gently to slightly loosen the macaron batter.

3. If you only want to make one color of macarons, then add your desired food coloring to the batter bowl. If you want multiple colors, divide your batter into separate bowls and add coloring to each. Try not to over mix.

4. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag {you can also use zip lock bags with a cut corner}. Pipe small macaron rounds 1 1/2 inches in diameter onto a  lined baking sheet. I like to line mine with a silpat or this fancy macaron mat. Parchment paper will also do. Lightly tap the tray on the counter to release any air pockets. Allow the macarons to sit uncovered for 10 minutes, so a thin dry coat forms on the top {you should be able to gently touch them without the batter sticking to your finger}. Now they are ready for the oven. Only bake one tray at a time. Bake at 300F for approximately 15 minutes or until they form a smooth shell and little foot.  

*You can prepare the next tray while you wait for the first batch to bake.

5. Ok here is where you'll need to be extra patient. Wait until the macarons have completely cooled before peeling them off the mat. If they stick, they are not ready. * My method {because I'm impatient} to speed things up, try placing the hot baking sheet on top of cold damp dishtowels. This can cut your waiting time in half!

Macaroon Filling Ingredients

8 tbsp jam

4 tbsp soft butter

splash of whipping cream

Fills approximately 50 macarons 

{If you want to make different flavors on a smaller scale just measure 2:1 ratio for jam and butter}

Macaron Filling Instructions

Easy part!

1. You can use any flavor you want. For these macarons, I made different flavors for each color -- peach, strawberry, blueberry and chocolate. Mmmmm. My friend gave me some amazing homemade jams that I mixed with butter and a splash of whipping cream.  Your measurements will vary depending on how much filling you want for each flavor. Just mix jelly, butter and whipping cream until you reach a semi-solid consistency at room temp. This one is pretty hard to mess up.  

*I used Nutella for the chocolate hazelnut filling.

Good luck my friends!

               

           ^^^ Whipping the egg whites and sugar                       ^^^Smooth shell and little foot!                                                  

Done!

^^^Blood orange and framboise macarons from Lauduée on our honeymoon.

We jumped on a bus and took our macarons to the Eiffel Tower. Cliche? Yes. But this was a perfect moment for us. We sat on a park bench, gazed at the tower and savored every bite of of these Frenchy treats. Macarons, a pretty day in Paris and the love of my life... what more could I want! 

Carry-on Essentials For International Travel

 

Here is a list of goodies that I always have in my carry-on when I travel out of the country. Yes, I do have this much stuff in one bag! Sure, Dan makes fun of me for bringing everything but the kitchen sink, but you know what? He always comes to me when he needs something. Yeah, that's right...who's the smart packer now!? You'll be so thankful for all these little necessitates, they make traveling that much easier and enjoyable. I promise that you'll use all of them! Ok here we go.

 

1. KIND Dark Chocolate Nuts Sea Salt Bars

I love these! All of the KIND bars are healthy + tasty = A rare combination

 

2. Hat This is my attempt at being somewhat fashionable. I like bringing a hat or beanie for the plane because they're great for hiding your smooshed sleepy face or blocking the overhead lights.

3. Colored Pencils For doodling when you get bored. It's a fun way to pass the time.

4.Travel Umbrella Any compact umbrella will do the trick. They come in handy when it's raining at your destination. To save space, research the weather before you leave and pack it in your checked luggage if sunny skies are in your immediate future.

 

5.Michael Kors Chronograph Watch My all time favorite watch -- pretty and waterproof! Perfect for traveling  if you plan on leaving your phone at home and need a reliable watch to keep track of time.

 

6.Solar Calculator + Notebook Features 120 lined pages and a solar-powered calculator. *Now this isn't something that you'll need on the plane, but I use it daily to figure currency exchanges and our budget while out and about. So I thought it would be best to add it to the list.

 

7.Eos Smooth Sphere Lip salve Sweet Mint This lip salve is the best. I feels so good on your lips and has an amazing mentholated cooling sensation. Your lips will stays moisturized for hours.

 

8. Ear Plugs {for sleeping} I bring these EVERY WHERE! Dan is a loud snorer so I wear them nightly...but they're also great for when you need to sleep on the plane and cancel out all that noise.

 

9.Travel Toothbrush & Toothpaste Sometimes it's refreshing to brush your teeth mid-flight.  Remember to bring some water with you...don't use the bathroom sink water in the plane!

 

10.Dogeared St. Christopher Necklace The Patron St. of Travel. It reminds me to say my prayers for travel blessings and protection. I have a cool story about this...A long time ago I was in the Doctors office getting shots for a trip to Egypt. My Mother was worried about all the commotion in the Middle East and she didn't feel that I should go. Just as she was telling me this, a shiny object caught my eye on the floor of the waiting room. It was a necklace and on the back of it was inscribed, "A Guardian Angel is Watching Over You". We both took it as a sign that I should go. To this day I wear that necklace every time I travel. I even stuck it in my shoe when I walked down the aisle on our wedding day.

 

11.Stainless Hot or Cold Thermos I like to fill this up after the security check. It's also convenient for backpacking. You can have a hot or cold drink throughout the day.

 

12.Headphone Splitter This is the best idea...credit goes to Dan on this one. We only have one iPad, so we plug the splitter in so we can both watch movies or listen to music without bothering our neighbors or taking turns. Genius.

 

13.Wallet Well this is an obvious one...you'd be surprised how many times I've forgotten it. Now I write it down on my packing check list.

 

14.Gold Makeup Pouch. It's nice to have a makeup touch-up when you're feeling a little frumpy. All that stale plane air and cramped seating can take a toll on you. I like to bring the basics...face lotion and powder, lipstick and mascara. *Make sure that your liquid make-up sizes adhere to TSA regulations.

 

15. Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitizer Bath & Bodyworks has a fabulous selection of mini hand sanitizers that smell soooo good. I get a few of them and stick one in my carry-on and the rest in my checked luggage.

 

16.  Travel Brush,Hairbands & Bobby Pins My hair gets crazy knotted on long flights...so this is one of my biggies.

 

17.Voltage Converter Ya need to get this! It's very important if you're traveling abroad and need to use electrical outlets. Get a pack that has a complete world set...that way you can research your outlet fitting before you go and take the one(s) you'll need.

 

18. Face & Hand Wipes I don't go anywhere without them! Life savers {especially if you're traveling with babes}!

 

19.Lavanila Fragrance {Small Roller} A mini roller of perfume or  a sample spray is a real treat to bring along. Make sure the it's small enough for TSA regulations.

 

20. Kai Moisturizer This stuff smells so wonderful! I get compliments on it every time I wear it. A small lotion is always a good idea to bring on the plane...skin can get really dry on a long flight.

 

21.Chimes Ginger Chews Candy Ginger chews are good for settling stomachs and fighting off nausea while flying.

 

22. Small Note Pad Incase you need to jot down a quick note.

 

23.Glasses I'm blind without them.

 

24.Pen For filling out customs forms and other important stuff.

 

25.iPad & Earbuds I love, love, love the iPad! We can play games on it, read books, watch movies, listen to music and for a small fee most airlines will hook you up with Wi-Fi. It's beyond great and so useful when you're on the plane or exploring a new country. Dan and I took it with us to Europe and stopped at cafes and McDonalds when we needed directions or to book a hotel and buy tickets to museums so we didn't have to wait in line. It's also useful for storing pictures when your SD card fills up in your camera. *Remember to bring your charger and an adapter.

 

26. Ritter Chocolate I am addicted to these German chocolates. Dan and I tried a new one almost everyday when we were in Berlin. They have marvelous options like White chocolate with hazelnuts, cocoa mousse, butter biscuit, marzipan, praline,  peppermint, apricot brandy etc. They are all amazing. You can buy them here in the US too! I've seen them at Trader Joes and Ralphs.

 

27.BYRON & Brown Leather Passport Cover My cousin got me a pretty leather passport cover for Christmas when I was young...she loved traveling and has passed the bug onto me. I use it to keep my passport clean and safe from torn pages and folds. Remember to bring your Drivers License too! It's smart to bring an extra form of ID and photo copies of each {to put in your checked bags}.

 

28.Scarf Believe it or not, I find the a scarf to be one of the most versatile travel accessories. It's my take on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy {a towel is the most useful thing in the universe}. I use it as a cover-up when I sleep on the plane, a hand-towel when I can't find anything else, a blanket when I get cold, a head scarf to keep my hair back, a tie for my bag etc. the possibilities are endless.

 

29. Trident Tropical Twist or Orbit Gum It's nice to have fresh breath and it's also a good icebreaker for meeting new friends. "You want a piece?" "Oh sure thanks. Now let me tell you my life story." ;) I really like Tridents Tropical Twist. It tastes so good and I swear you can smell that wonderful gum from a mile away... everyone will want some.

 

30. Mighty Leaf Vanilla Bean Tea Because it's a beautiful thing to relax with your favorite cup of tea.

 

31.Journal I keep a travel journal and write about the things we've done/seen together. It's mostly little notes and bullet points of places or moments that I don't want to forget {the things we ate in Italy or the name of our funny tour guide or a recipe from Positano...}

 

32. Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18.0-Megapixel DSLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens

I've had my camera for about 2 years now and I absolutely love it. I highly recommend it!

 

33.Levi's Waxed Canvas Backpack A midsized canvas backpack or shoulder purse is perfect for a carry-on. I can fit all these goodies in it and then roll it up when I need to put it in my backpacking backpack or suitcase. I would suggest bringing a smaller, more formal purse as well for days when you can leave your big items at the hotel.

  

*Not pictured --> I always wear a jacket on the plane and pack an extra outfit just incase our luggage gets lost! And when I travel with little people, I bring coloring books, small puzzles, easy/clean crafts and lots of snacks to keep them happy and occupied.

  

Honeymoon Part 1: Barcelona, Spain

Dan and I LOVE traveling. Neither of us had ever been to Europe (besides a layover here and there), so we thought that our honeymoon would be the perfect opportunity to take time off of work and see the places that we were dreaming to see. Asking for a month off was a bit of a stretch, but luckily our jobs were flexible enough (and bosses gracious enough) to swing it. Once we got the a-ok, Dan and I began brainstorming for possible destinations. “Should we go to one place and stay for a few weeks or should we travel all over and only stay a few days in each spot? Hmmmmm…what to do?” We ended up doing a whirlwind trip, stopping in 10 different countries and 17 cities! We thought it would be best to see as much as we could with the time we had.

Our first half of the trip was a Mediterranean cruise that started in Barcelona, Spain and ended in Venice, Italy with 8 stops along the way. And for the second half of our honeymoon we bought a Eurail Pass and traveled in a huge loop that ended in Paris, France. It was the perfect trip -- a grand adventure with my hub. We loved every second of it, even the running around like chickens to catch trains and getting lost in Berlin and Istanbul! It was all magical.

-- Honeymoon Part 1 –

1 of 14

Our plane landed in Barcelona, Spain and we had 3 amazing days of exploring the city until we boarded the ship. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called AC Sants located near the SantsTrain Station and Plaza de España. The front desk was very helpful... they mapped-out all of the places we were hoping to see. It also helped that Dan is fluent in Spanish, God bless him and his bilingualism!

We took a walk down to the beach. It was fun to see the hustle and bustle of the Mediterranean cafe's and the colorful changing closets on the boardwalk. Dan jumped in the water and swam out to the furthest buoy {this is a habit of his}. The water was WARM and the beach was spectacular.



{Barcelona's fish sculpture, known as Peix in Catalan by Frank O. Gehry}

{Exploring La Boqueria was my favorite!}

{So many bright colors and tasty treats!}

There were tons of mini restaurants with bar seating in La Boqueria. We found a crowed counter at El Quim {crowded usually means good food right?} and we snagged two seats after a couple left. People were elbow to elbow, drinking wine and eating beautiful dishes like huevos fritos con llangueta y chipirones {Fried eggs with baby squid in ink sauce}.

It's always somewhat hard getting pictures of the two of us together when we travel {unless if you do the one-arm selfie}. Our tip is to ask someone who's holding a camera, chances are they're from out of town as well and they won't mind helping you out.  Offer to return the favor. "Can you please take our picture? We can take one of you too!"

{Gaudi's Casa Batlló and Casa Mila}

The gorgeous Sagrada Familia! Construction started in 1882 with Francisco de Paula del Villar and then with Gaudí until his death in 1926. Since then different architects have continued the work. They say it will take another 20 years to complete. Yikes! But what a magnificent sight it was!

{Feeling very small}

 {At Park Guell}

{Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia AKA Barcelona Cathedral}

{A lit door in the depths of the cathedral. What's inside!? }

  

I heard of this little gem -- Granja La Pallaresa on a travel show and knew we had to find it. They serve crispy churros  that you dip in thick hot chocolate! Gaaaa it was to die for. We got lost along the way and must have asked 15 people for directions. We finally found it amongst a menagerie of windy little streets in El Barri Gòtic.

Carrer de Petritxol 11, 08002 Barcelona, Spain (El Barri Gòtic)

 P.S. Danny looks so handsome ^^^^

{In our happy place} 

Churro Recipe Here!

 {I dig this house. When can we move in?}

The McDonalds in Europe are super luxurious two-story mansions with plush chairs, chandeliers and real drinking glasses. They even had macarons! We had to try one. Why can't we have fancy McD's at home?

{Barcelona you are beautiful and amazing}

Check out Part 2 of our trip in Monte Carlo!