Yankee Stadium: Catch A Baseball (or Soccer) Game in NYC

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New York City has its fair share of professional sports teams and there’s something for everyone here as a tourist to this great city who wants to catch an iconic team play at one of the NYC stadiums.  There are so many sports arenas in the NYC area: Madison Square Garden (just “the Garden”, to locals), Barclay’s Center, Giants Stadium (now MetLife Stadium), Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Red Bull Arena, Prudential Center… and a few more all call the New York metropolitan area “home”.

Yankee Stadium at night

Enjoying a New York Yankees baseball game is a great way to spend a spring, summer or fall afternoon in New York City.  For the soccer (football) enthusiast, maybe you want to catch a NYCFC game instead.

Yankee Stadium exterior

This post covers the perhaps most iconic stadium we have here in the City That Never Sleeps: Yankee Stadium. This NYC stadium is home to the Yankees and the New York City Football Club.

However, going to a game can be a really expensive endeavor, and neither NYC stadium is centrally located in Manhattan, so it’s a bit of a trek to go to each. I’d guess that, unless you’re a die-hard sports fan, only one event like this will be part of your NYC trip. So, you’ll have to pick between this or Citi Field.

Going to a baseball or soccer game in New York City is a true hometown experience and I would recommend even folks who do not like sports to go check out a game. The atmosphere, camaraderie, merriment and energy are contagious – you can’t help but have a good time at an NYC stadium.

Here’s a brief rundown of Yankee stadium, how to get to there, what to expect once you’re there, and what it’s all about. Continue reading →

Brunch in Boston – North Street Grille

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Oh my God, you guys. On our recent trip to Boston during July 4th weekend, we decided to go get some brunch at the North Street Grille after some researching. It was easily one of the best brunches that we have ever had. The menu is à la carte, so no unlimited buffets or unlimited drinks here. But it doesn’t even matter. I dare you to try to finish one of North Street Grille’s massive entrées.

From our research, we knew that there would be a long wait for a table, so we tried calling ahead and making a reservation. Unfortunately, we had a party of 5, and reservations are only taken for parties of 6 or more. Remember this. We ended up waiting outside (the place is tiny!) for about an hour and 15 minutes for our table. Every time the hostess came out to announce a new party being seated, our hopes were immediately raised and then unceremoniously dashed.

It might actually go quicker normally, but it was the hostess’ first day on the job. I had read that the wait was astronomically long and that they lie to you about how long it will actually be. They did tell us that the wait would be about 20-30 minutes at first. So, that’s probably true.  But, I’m telling you about this wait because it was so. worth. the. wait. I would have waited 2 hours if I had to, in retrospect. We busied ourselves with conversation and reviewing their menu online, so that we would be ready to rock as soon as we sat down. Continue reading →

A Visit to the Heineken Experience (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

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Heineken Experience

The “Heineken Brouwery”, aka the home of the Heineken Experience

One of my favorite stops during a trip to Amsterdam, the Heineken Experience does the whole interactive museum thing right – brilliant design and a fun “ride” make this destination a must-see for beer lovers and friends alike.

Heineken Experience

Replicas of scenes of the past are quaint and imaginative.

You can do a self-guided tour through this experience and stop at interesting stuff along the way, where staff are on hand to explain things. The tour takes about an hour and a half to two hours, depending on how much you want to learn.

The place itself is a lot like another favorite destination of mine – the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland. It combines education with a bit of fun and, of course, alcohol at the end.

Don’t miss the bottle “ride” Continue reading →

Our Tasty Tuscany Food Tour with Tuscan Wine Tours

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My husband and I did this Tasty Tuscany food (and wine) tour in October 2014, while on our Maltese-Italian honeymoon. We had been looking for something to splurge on during our trip, but wanted to find something interesting and exclusive to spend our money on – no run-of-the-mill bus tour would do. I’m so glad we found this tour by Tuscan Wine Tours, because it was one of our favorite days of the trip, all thanks to our guide Caterina, the fabulous company, and amazing destinations and local producers we met throughout our memorable day in Tuscany.

Our small group of 8 were all couples, all happened to be from the states, and were all really cool, like-minded and adventurous travelers. I was a bit hesitant to book the tour since it was a bit pricey at 300 Euros per person, but as we met in the Piazza Giuseppe Poggi that morning, all my anxiety melted away as we boarded the comfortable minivan with our cheerful co-adventurers and met Caterina, our tourguide/driver extraordinaire.

Caterina was a fantastic guide, who educated us on the wines and foods of Tuscany between our various stops on the tour. We were really excited because it turned out that our tour was the last of its kind before the itinerary was modified to make different stops.

The Stops

Stop #1 – Fresh Pasta Maker

Our first stop was at a fresh pasta maker.

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This spot was no joke. It reminded me of some of the shops in Mendoza, Argentina that the Italian-Argentine families run, who churn out fresh pasta daily to buy by weight and prepare at home.

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After a brief lesson on what the different types of pasta are called and which ones were “native” to Tuscany (pici!), we were whisked into the back of the shop – to the kitchen, to see the pasta making in action. Continue reading →

Le Mani in Pasta (Rome, Italy)

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I’m going to be 100% honest when I say that we included a night in Rome during our honeymoon just so we could eat at Le Mani in Pasta, finally, after having discovered it in 2010 and not being able to eat here at that time. I wrote about our evening in Trastevere right here. To say that we had high expectations after 4 years of anticipation would be a gross understatement.

This time, we were taking no chances on eating here. We had our hotel (the Abitart) make a reservation for us immediately upon our arrival and headed to the Trastevere neighborhood early to have a quick glass of wine nearby before dinner.

We arrived to the unassuming, bustling restaurant five minutes prior to our reservation time and they were getting our table ready. To pass the time, we busied ourselves with reading the menu and planning our attack. Do not let the fact that the font is in Comic Sans fool you. They’re serious about food.

Le Mani in Pasta

Planning our attack.

We then were shown to our table, and walked approximately 5 steps inside the venue and took our seats, sitting just inside the front windows.  Our cheerful server greeted us with menus and the wine list, and our Roman culinary adventure commenced.

Le Mani in Pasta

Waiting for the culinary bonanza to begin!

We brought our appetites that night. Our first real meal since our wedding reception night (which, as many of you married folks know, is usually not a night where you actually get to eat a lot – being insanely busy), we threw down on some serious Italian and Roman specialties. It was the survival of the fittest. You’ll see why. Continue reading →

Get Your Sleep On – Paradisus La Perla (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)

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The Paradisus La Perla in Playa del Carmen, Mexico is a really beautiful hotel and is kept spotless. On the surface, the staff all seem very nice and polite and seem very eager to help make your stay as enjoyable as possible. However, the food and the service fall seriously short of the experience they claim to deliver and it made for an extremely disappointing stay.

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It’s almost as if someone read a book about what a luxury resort should have, and bought all those things, and gave the staff brief instructions on what to do, and just left. One example: Continue reading →

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