The last place you will find me this time of the month is an indoor shopping mall. It is a place all should avoid for fear of being spritzed with the latest scent by a celebrity or for fear of being rundown in the parking lot by an SUV. However, the first place I found in Milan was just that, the original indoor shopping mall, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. What would become Milan’s idea of a shopping mall in the 19th century, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II opens up to a dramatic archway. Within a ceiling of steel and glass, you can still spot the heavens. It’s design takes on the shape Continue Reading
Sweet December Travel
He stirs the mixture of hot sugar, just one point in the process to create a simple candy cane. A father lifts his son on his arms to see the silver saint as an entire island elbows in between. And a lighthouse watches over a Christmas tree composed solely of lobster traps. I don’t often travel in December, mostly due to family filled schedules and of course the chaotic airport scene. After boarding a flight on Monday, a boarding process that took far longer than it ever should, I watched as people jammed their holiday gifts and jackets in the overhead bins, ignoring all announcements to leave Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of December 19, 2011
As I begin the mad dash for last minute holiday shopping, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new to this site, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, tweet the article on Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and place a link to the piece on my Facebook page. The following week, I select my five favorites to be featured here and the stumbling begins again into the next week. Just a few things to keep in mind, please only submit one post per person each week. Leave your Continue Reading
Cork, Ireland Wishes You Were Here
Driving into Cork, I noticed an abundance of high school students. And then, I realized I’m getting older. These are college students attending the University College Cork, home to around 7,000 students. Cork’s youth is apparent, even if a little more immature. You don’t sense age in this city, just pure youth and innocence. A good day in Cork begins at the Old English Market, with no connection to the wood cleaner brand. I am delighted to find not bottles of wood polish but rather stall after stall of random goods. T-shirts and meats, delicious fruit tarts and vegetables, the market is Continue Reading
The Annoying People You Meet in The Airport
My bag took a tumble down the escalator as I made my way to airport security. Before being intercepted by a man, I watched in horror that I could possible take down someone before his or her flight. I could just read the headlines, “Girl loses control of suitcase, injures 1”. The scene at the airport, especially around this time of the year, is usually one of complete and utter chaos. You have your novice fliers, those who are just headed to grandma’s house, their one trip of the year. Then you have your families, clustered together with a mom just hoping all will go smoothly with the three Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of December 12, 2011
After another week flies by, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new to this site, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, post a link to the article on Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and place a link to the post on my Facebook page. The following week I select my five favorite submissions to be featured here and the stumbling begins again into the next week. This segment is intended to help travel writers and bloggers receive more attention for their work. Just a Continue Reading
The Tivoli Gardens of Copenhagen Wish You Were Here
A few screams fill the cool night air of Copenhagen. My first time in the city, I was skeptical of its amusement park at the center. The Tivoli Gardens fill Copenhagen’s heart on more levels than one. You come here to be entertained, but strangely not in a kitschy, amusement park sense. The Tivoli Gardens have class. As I walk around Tivoli Lake, I take in what I believe to be this 8-hectare garden’s best attribute, its lights. While the space is made up of rides, restaurants, concerts and even parades on occasion, it is the soft glow of the Tivoli’s lights that make it seem the work of Continue Reading