Destinations, New York

New York City Sights: Tour Manhattan from the Hudson

In a previous post on NYC Sights, I recommended the Staten Island Ferry for incredible views of Lower Manhattan, One World Trade, the Statue of Liberty, and the entire Manhattan skyline for free. Now, with some strategizing (getting to the ferry terminal early before the line forms, asserting your spot on the Statue side of the ship, and making an efficient loop to get back on the same ferry), this is an excellent way to view the harbor and the Manhattan skyline.

However, if you want to avoid the masses and spend a longer, carefree, quality amount of time on the water, you have other options.

This past Saturday, I tried one of those options, namely a day sail on Classic Harbor Line’s Schooner America 2.0. When I researched boating opportunities for NYC, Classic Harbor’s harbor cruises had great reviews and the sailboat I wanted. Continue reading “New York City Sights: Tour Manhattan from the Hudson” →

Destinations, New York

New York City Sights: Battery Park City

New York City is absolutely impossible to “do” in a weekend. However, with some research beforehand (like visiting my blog, you savvy internetter you) and knowing what kind of NYC experience you want, you can tailor your time for an amazing weekend in the city that never sleeps.

The Battery Park City waterfront offers views like this.

This is the first post of my New York City Sights weekend series. First stop: the summer meets skyline delight, Battery Park City. Battery is located on the west side of Lower Manhattan, right on the waterfront, with a direct view of the Statue of Liberty. Along the waterfront there are walkways, park benches, dining options including a beer garden, dockings for boat tours of NYC, and an events area with extensive grassy areas, perfect for picnics or a lazy day outdoors with a view. The Consulate of Sweden in New York, for example, hosted their 2014 Swedish Midsummer celebrations in Battery Park City, with the very traditional festivities and midsommarstång or maypole contrasting with the skyline behind it. Continue reading “New York City Sights: Battery Park City” →

Destinations, Washington DC

DC Destinations: Jazz in the Garden

A DC summer can have some miserable moments, especially when all the important people doing important things have to face the heat and humidity in their important clothes. Whew! DC went directly from polar vortex to summer sweat, but everyone is still pretty happy that they are not wearing their parkas.

As one of my coworkers said to me today, as soon as it is warm out, regardless if the weather is heat stroke worthy and “10,000% humidity”, Washingtonians love to crowd together outside and drink. One such event happens every Friday evening on government property: Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art. Continue reading “DC Destinations: Jazz in the Garden” →

Anchored, Home Design

How to Have an Environmentally-Sound First Apartment

For most recent college grads, sustainability is not the top priority for your first place. You’re mainly concerned wth location, price, and quality of life in said apartment (cleanliness, age of kitchen, and whether a washer and dryer are in the unit, for example). Unfortunately, the dream world of planned environmental design is not your reality, and that is perfectly fine. But, you can consider small details that make a big difference in the overall footprint of your first place both while you’re searching and when you have found “the one”. Continue reading “How to Have an Environmentally-Sound First Apartment” →

Destinations, Europe, Sweden

Midsommar: Swedish Midsummer

Midsummer is a celebration on one of the longest days of the year. While it is and has historically been celebrated through most of Northern Europe, the Swedish midsummer is, well, uniquely Swedish. Uniquely Swedish things seem to fascinate non-Swedes, inspiring things from the very popular “Swedish Midsummer for Dummies” video (an excellent multimedia supplement to this post) to an original NBC TV series premiering in the US on July 10th.

This past weekend, all of Sweden and Finland (and several other countries as well) celebrated midsummer. I had the chance to teach some of the quirks and intricacies of celebrating midsummer to some of my closest non-European friends, and it inspired me to write a travel blog post this week. Here’s a selection of things you don’t want to go to midsummer without, whether you’re celebrating in Sweden, NYC (the biggest organized midsummer celebration outside of Sweden apparently), or elsewhere: Continue reading “Midsommar: Swedish Midsummer” →

Destinations, Getting There

4 Trends in the Cruise Industry and Their Impact on Your Onboard Experience

In celebration of finishing my undergraduate career today, I am back in action with a new blog post. I have been waiting for a vacation to write about my vacation (this evening is my minivacation), and with cruise ships positioning themselves for the summer season, I would like to share my thoughts on the cruise industry.

In March I had the opportunity to sail on Princess Cruises’ newest ship, the Royal Princess. Thanks to an extensive travel background in almost all modes of travel, this was my tenth cruise with almost 100 days at sea. My latest cruise experience and supplemental research indicates four key trends for the major cruise lines. Continue reading “4 Trends in the Cruise Industry and Their Impact on Your Onboard Experience” →

Accomodations

Fresh Hospitality: The Marriott-IKEA Millennial Venture

In my Global Retail Marketing class this week, my professor mentioned what I think is a brilliant development in the hospitality industry and branding: the announcement of a joint venture by IKEA and Marriott to create Moxy Hotels, a millennial-geared, low-cost, Scandinavian-designed, quality hotel brand. Continue reading “Fresh Hospitality: The Marriott-IKEA Millennial Venture” →

Destinations, Getting There

Cruising from Retirement to Real Life

Princess Cruises

You could say I am a bit of a cruise connoisseur. At the rate I’m going, I will be one of those little old ladies that has racked up months or years’ worth of sea days that you meet at the Captain’s cocktail parties… except super tall and in the midst of young adulthood. The true irony is that I am an expert in retirement and I haven’t started my career yet!

This, dear readers, is one of the many gifts of growing up with retired parents. The way I see it, these cruises are a win-win method of travel for us. My parents revisit places that they have already enjoyed properly, that is, in a much deeper way than a few hours walking about, and I explore them for the first time and make note of where I want to go back. Continue reading “Cruising from Retirement to Real Life” →