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Honeymoon for a Princess

For the last few weeks I have been working on an itinerary for my daughter’s honeymoon this fall. My daughter is known as “La Princesa de Westchester” by our Cuban-American family which translates roughly to” Princess of Westchester”, Westchester being the Miami neighborhood where she grew up. I will leave the reason she got this nick name  for another day (I’m sure you can guess at some of her “Princess” qualities) but now you know the reason for the title of this post!

The original honeymoon trip idea was to take a leisurely two week driving tour of Spain staying in AirBNB type vacation rental apartments. Since I have traveled extensively to both the north and south of Spain, planning this trip sounded easy enough! The Princess’s Dad, aka Guy-with-the-Girl-in-the-Aisle-Seat, thinks they should tour the north of Spain visiting Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian and the Cantabric coast. We were absolutely enchanted with the north when we toured last year. But to me, it just seems that the south is a must do when visiting Spain for the first time. My recommendation was to visit Madrid, Barcelona, Andalusia and the Mediterranean coast.  But wait, that’s not the end of the itinerary dilemma! The original plan has now morphed into joining a group of friends for a week-long stay on the Greek isle of Mykonos then touring Spain alone for another week.

Wait, what? Including a week with friends on a honeymoon? Once you hear their plans, though, I think you will understand. One of the friends is a prosperous business man who rented an eight bedroom mansion on Mykonos generously inviting several couples to stay with him.  I’ve seen a picture of the place and it is amazing! I mean, how often do you get invited to stay in a mansion on a greek island for free? This was just too good to pass up!   Plus, there will be one couple getting engaged on this trip (shhh, it’s a secret!) and now one honeymoon as well.

So, now my task is to design an itinerary combining a week on Mykonos with a week in Spain.  As I worked on the itinerary I realized that with only seven days allotted in Spain and so many awesome places I wanted them to see, this would be a challenge! But, no one can say I am not up to a travel planning challenge! So, here is the itinerary I planned for my Princess and her Prince:

Day 1: Travel from Miami to Athens

Day 2 : Morning arrival in Athens with time to use the Hop On, Hop Off bus to explore the historic sites like the Acropolis, the Parthenon and the Temple of Zeus then catch a late ferry to Mykonos.

Days 3 – 8: Enjoy the amazing Mykonos Mansion with side trips to other Greek isles such as Santorini, Naxos or Paros

Itinerary for Honeymoon in Spain

Itinerary for Week Two of a Honeymoon in Spain – Flying in from Athens

Day 9: Travel to Madrid. Explore Madrid’s Plaza Mayor and Plaza del Sol, visit the Prado museum, the Placio Real, Cibeles and Parque del Retiro. Enjoy an evening of tapas or a late rooftop dinner.

  • Madrid's Puerta de Alcala

Day 10: Explore more of Madrid then dinner and Flamenco show at Casa Patas.

Day 11: Take the early train to Sevilla. Enjoy the afternoon and evening in Sevilla.

Day 12: Sevilla.  My daughter and her fiance are big fans of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. They are excited to visit filming sites such as the Alcazar used to represent the water gardens of Dorne in Game of Thrones and the Plaza de Espana used in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

  • Bull Ring with Sevilla's signature ochre trim

Day 13: Drive to Malaga on the Mediterranean Costa del Sol. Spend some time on the beach followed by lunch then drive to Granada.

  • Beautiful beaches

Day 14: Granada. Visit the Alhambra, Generalife and Albaicin neighborhood

  • The beautiful Alhambra, a Unesco World Heritage site

Day 15: Drive to Valencia for sightseeing the City of Arts and Sciences, old town and a paella lunch. Drive to Barcelona, evening dinner, drinks and illuminations drive.

  • Old Town Valencia contrasts with the new and modern...

Day 16: Barcelona. Visit Las Ramblas, Sagrada Familia cathedral, Parc Guell, Barceloneta beach

  • Olympic Port

Day 17: Travel from Barcelona to Miami

A lot remains to to be discussed with the happy couple regarding how active or leisurely they want to go, what they want to do, airfares, budget and so on so, who knows, this trip could continue to morph. Whatever they decide to do, I will publish on my itineraries page. Let’s see how this puppy turns out!

Loving the process,

The Girl in the Aisle Seat

 

 

San Francisco

My San Francisco Recommendations

 

Restaurants:

The Pub at Ghirardelli Square – great, amazing BBQ! The location is very nice with a view of the bay if you get outdoor seating.

Bistro Boudin at the Wharf – we went for breakfast and it was OMG! They are famous for their sour dough bread and their bread bowls. You will even see the bread for sale in the airport. It’s not a table service place – you order and pick up at a counter then self-seat at any table in the restaurant. There is a very nice outdoor seating area with a fireplace – we were there in October when it was cool so the fire was very nice!

Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop – a must see, must do when in SFO. Have an ice cream sundae and buy some chocolates!

Fog Harbour Fish House – right on Pier 39. The food was really good.

Franciscan Crab Restaurant – On Fisherman’s Wharf. Nice view of the bay and harbor through huge glass windows but average food for the money. We didn’t have crab – maybe that’s the key.

Hang Ah Tea Room in Chinatown – this is a small, out of the way place that serves authentic Chinese food. It was delicious.

 

Sights and Attractions:

49 mile scenic drive – get a good map or app to guide you because the road signs are few and far between. This is a great way to see a lot of the city. It will take several hours.

Presidio – this is a neighborhood that is on the 49 mile scenic drive. It is quiet and quite beautiful. Very green and great views of the Pacific Ocean. There is a park with an overlook by the side of road that is worth stopping for.

Golden Gate Bridge – can’t miss this, of course! We took the city bus to get there. Take the time to walk across it at least halfway.

Chinatown – interesting to walk through and stop in at a couple of the grocery shops. The dragon gate is pretty.

Fisherman’s Wharf – lots to do here. Restaurants, ferries to Alcatraz and other boat tours, see the Sea Lions on Pier 39, the Embarcadero and Ferry Market building. Many souvenir stores too.

The Embarcadero

Ferry Building Marketplace – another indoor marketplace with food galore!

Cable Cars – we waited in line to get on at the turn around and later saw people just hopping on and off everywhere along the route. This you must do!

Lombard street – Take the cable car then get off at the Lombard St stop to see the twistyest street. You can hop back on to continue riding the cable car or walk down hill on Lombard St.

Twin Peaks – you drive up the hill to get a panoramic view over the city. Great photo opps there and it’s a nice drive. It’s on the 49 mile scenic drive.

Coit Tower – it’s up on a hill so you get great views of the bay, Alcatraz and the city from the top

Ghirardelli Square – it’s mostly about the chocolate – shops where you can buy it and the ice cream parlor. It’s on the site of the original factory.

Pier 39 Sea Lions – you can watch the wild sea lions that congregate here. The pier has lots of restaurants and shops to stroll through too. We saw a free comedy show in the plaza here.

Alcatraz – we didn’t get to go but it is the #1 SFO attraction on Trip Advisor. Gotta leave something for next time!

 

Tips:

Parking – it’s very expensive – $40 and up per night at hotels. You can get around central SFO easily on the metro – BART, on city buses and on the cable cars.

Paris Dining

Here are my recommendations for dining in Paris:

 

Latin Quarter:
La Rotisserie du Beaujolais – 19 Quai de la Tournelle
This is the sister restaurant of La Tour D’Argent. and the place where we had the most awesome duck. It’s served in two courses and it is delicious! Say hello to Beaujolais the cat!

Rotisserie Duck

Duck at La Rotisserie du Beaujolais

L’Auberge du St Severin – 28 Rue Saint-Séverin
This is the cozy little cafe where we always ask for Penelope the cat (sensing a pattern?) and they get so happy they offer us a free drink! Great boeuf bourguignon, escargots and desserts.

Ile St Loius
Bertillon – 10, 12 Rue des Deux Ponts
This is a must do for ice cream when in Paris.

St Germain
La Palette 43 Rue de Seine
We had lunch here. It was on Andrew Zimmern’s Paris show if you care to look On Demand or Netflix. We had THE best Croque Monsieur here. They also had great quiches, salads and charcuterie plates.

Croque Monseiur at La Palette

Croque Monseiur at La Palette

Le Relais de l”Entrecote – 20 Rue Saint-Benoît
They have several locations in Paris. We’ve been to this one and to the one on Rue Marboef. They are both great. They do one thing and one thing only – steak frites but OH My! – what steak and fries! it’s delicious.

Eiffel Tower Area
Au Petit Sud Ouest – 46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
This is the other best place to eat duck. It’s the one with the
flying saucer shaped potatoes fried in duck fat and the little toasters on each table. Must have the pate, the Armagnac cake for dessert is really good.

Tuileries
Angelina – 226 Rue de Rivoli
Famous for it’s hot chocolate which I must admit is AMAZING! You must have the macarons and the Mont Blanc dessert.

Hot chocolate, Macarons and Mont Blanc dessert at Angelina

Hot chocolate, Macarons and Mont Blanc dessert at Angelina

Champs Elysees Area
Le Relais de l’Entrecote – 15 Rue Marbeuf
After strolling the Champs Elysees and bypassing all the pricey places to eat on it – go here for steak frites – it’s a few blocks off the Champs. They usually have long lines of people waiting outside but it moves fast and it’s worth it. The best steak and french fries! And great, fast service!

Montmartre
L’Ete en Pente Deuce – 8, rue Paul-Albert
This is a tiny little place that is kind of hard to find in Montmartre at the bottom of a long flight of stairs from Sacre Coeur basilica. It’s a great place to order a carafe of wine, a quiche or a cheese plate and just sit a while. It’s in a quiet, secluded little square.