World's Most Romantic Hotels

Shangri-La Hotel, Paris

Back in February, the folks at Travel & Leisure put together a round-up of what they deemed the world's most romantic hotels. It is definitely serious travel eye candy clicking through the list.

I appreciate that they expanded their definition of romantic beyond sandy beaches or Paris (although they are present, of course) and sometimes thought a little outside the box (hello awesome igloos!). Here are a few of the spots included....

Anantara Kihavah villas, Baah Atoll, Maldeves InterContinental, Hong Kong
Hotel Kakslauttanen & Igloo Village, Finland
Ranch at Rock Creek, Philipsburg, Montana
Palais Amani, Fez, Morocco
Aldeia da Cuada, Azores, Portugal
Biras Creek Resort, British Virgin Islands

All photographs courtesy of Travel&Leisure

Move, Eat, Learn

Way better than that terrible "Eat Pray Love" is this trio of short films by Rick Mereki, Andrew Lees, and Tim White (commissioned by STA Travel Australia) called "Move," "Eat," and Learn." Three one minute travel montages that will make you want to get off your couch and go somewhere amazing...

"Move"

   

 "Eat"

"Learn"

{discovered via lovely little things}

western bound

via hannah***

The house is in upheaval. The dissertation could stand a serious re-edit. I'm a big fat pregnant lady who has a hard time getting off the couch (and out of it too). You know what all this means? It's time to take a vacation!! Since my husband and I did not take a real honeymoon and have a baby due at the end of the summer - we figured why not get away before we can never get away again? So we're headed to Montana. Land of flying fishing, big sky, and the reading lots of books (I'll be only participating in 2 out of 3 of these activities). Here's hoping that when I get back I'll be refreshed enough to make it to the other side of this pregnancy!

video trio

This clip from the IFC series "Portlandia" makes me laugh - mostly because it's so true (everything is better if you put a bird on it!):



 These videos by EF, "Education First," make me want to run away from home and learn a new language. Here's the Paris video:



And I love, love, love this short by Pixar, titled "Alma." It's spooky and beautiful and begins with the typical childhood experience of peering into a doll shop...

CORRECTION: As one of our wonderfully-informed readers discovered - this short may not be by Pixar, but may instead merely be Pixar-like (see comment). Go here for more information. And thanks Mason!

City Walks

City Walks Paris Deck

I am a strong believer in taking a walk- whether it be in the city, on the beach, with a stroller or with a pooch, holding hands or flying solo- walking is the best way to take a place in and, as a bonus, the fresh air never hurts. 

Chronicle Books puts out a series called City Walks that would please both the inexperienced and seasoned traveler. For each of the sixteen cities featured in the series, there is a deck of 50 cards and every card contains a self-guided walking tour of an area of that city. The front of the card is a detailed map and the back is filled with bits of information about where the walk takes you. 

The decks would be a great gift for folks planning trips to these destinations, but I also think picking up the deck of a city where you happen to live could be great too- there is always more out there to see and do!

Greenwich Village:The West Village Card

a dream...

This plan, illustrated by Maira Kalman, is not quite a possibility for me this weekend, but I am going to stop admiring Kalman's work from afar (and on the nytimes) and buy one of her books.

I own way too many books and I've decided that I'm only going to add to my collection if it's something I will reread many times (poetry) or something that I love (art) or something, of course, that covers both criteria (children's picture books). And, you know, she has illustrated Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" and as an English teacher I should own a newer version than the paperback copy I still have from college. And if I am going to buy myself a required text than I deserve to go ahead and treat myself with "The Principles of Uncertainty," right? (It's the art of justification a beautiful thing?)

Have a lovely weekend!