dolomites: why the italian alps should be your next mountain adventure

THE REGION:
a few months ago the first country that came to mind me when thinking about "hiking in europe" would be switzerland, no questions. the dolomites, though, are an insanely epic and much less touristy part of the southern limestone alps located in northeastern italy [UNESCO site]. to be honest, until a friend mentioned this mountain range to us i had never even heard of it. the overall vibes are pretty much split from east to west, each with it's own unique culture and style. THE EAST [cortina d'ampezzo] is much more italian in terms of language, food and culture. THE WEST [bolzano] fully embraces the fact that they tightly hug the austrian border, with german being the primary language and schnitzel showing up more than pasta on menus. 

GETTING THERE & THINGS TO KNOW:
you will 100% need a car and at least 4-5 days, as the region itself is quite spread out and there is a lot to see. we drove in from florence which took about 4 hours and the drive is beautiful. venice is also very close [3 hours], or you can easily come in from the opposite direction, innsbruck austria, which is 1 hour by train. we visited in late september and the weather was a dream – sunny most of the days and chilly at night, and the [minimal] tourists from summer had died down. 

WHERE TO STAY & THINGS TO SEE:
we stayed a total of 6 nights, 4 in the east and 2 in the west. starting in pozzale, we had the perfect airbnb tucked in the mountains that was our home base for a lot of great hikes. i could not have loved the host or the location of this apartment any more. we later moved west and met up with friends in south tyrol [more on that later]. some of our favorite things include: hiking to chisetta di san dionisio,  lake misurina, hiking tre cime [and seeing tiny horses], hiking to lago di sorapiss and seeing lago di braies & hotel briol in south tyrol. 

SEE HERE FOR MORE INFO ON WHERE TO HIKE
 

SEE HERE FOR MORE INFO ON WHERE TO HIKE IN THE DOLOMITES.

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4th of july weekend in portland, oregon

months ago we were sitting on our sofa and noticed a virgin america sale from SFO to PDX. being that our last trip to portland was in the brick of winter [seen here] we figured a warm july weekend would be the perfect time to get back. over the following months we softly recruited friends and somehow ended up with a group of 10! it was such a hilariously fun weekend and i'm feeling major withdrawals. 

we all arrived friday evening after a few flight delays and quickly settled into our mississippi street airbnb [see my portland wishlist here].  the weather was perfect so we wandered the streets, admiring all of the street art and architecture, before grabbing cocktails at clyde common & the ace hotel. dinner at mediterranean exploration company followed [the "chef's tasting" option here is perfect for groups] and we later found ourselves bar hopping and dancing. 

the next morning we picked up coffee and blue start donuts right near our house [the long line at voodoo just seemed like a waste of time. these are just as good and easy to get without waiting]. we later rented bikes and spent the day crusin' on two wheels. we had lunch at neighboring spots, BUNK and bollywood theater [if you like indian food, this place is insane!], and afterwards grabbed cones at salt and straw. we brewery hopped, checked out the park, popped into local shops like powells and had a relaxing afternoon back at the house with cocktails on the patio. that night we had a really fun and casual dinner on the patio of mississippi studios [right near our house] and of course did some more bar hopping afterwards. portland is one of those cities i think we can go back to time and again and always find something new and cool. i'm so grateful we were able to explore a new place with so many great friends. 

see the full travel guide HERE 

^^ on our last day we explored the warehouse district with lunch at olymipa provisions and antique shopping at grand marketplace. there are a ton of other cool antique/flea markets in this hood that we popped into. such a cool area. 

airbnb wishlist: the joshua tree house

airbnb is one of our favorite ways to travel for so many reasons – the unique homes in locations that hotels would never survive, the feeling of being "home" rather than a tourist, the constant creative inspiration, the way it brings our friends & family together on vacation ...  and so much more. i've started to build out more of my "wishlists" so that i don't forget cool places i've seen in my random airbnb browsing black holes i fall into far too often.  

one of my favorites i recently came across is the joshua tree house. it now seems to be popping up everywhere now that i've noticed it, and i want to get myself in one of those hanging chairs asap!

the rest of my desert wishlist can be found here. 

all images via apartment therapy

mexico city | long weekend in roma & condesa

our dear friends j + j arrived just in time for the weekend and the 4 of us + mexico city was a match made in heaven. we had so much fun exploring this massive city together. we didn't have enough time to see everything on our list, but some of my favorite moments are: two trips to panaderia rosetta, an amazing french/mexican bakery, street taco after street taco, the BEST mango margaritas of my life at condesa azul, grasshopper quesadillas!, tasting (and getting tipsy off of) pulque at the pulqueria duelista, catching the bus to visit the pyramids, taking a second trip to both mercado de medellin, and mercado roma (where we had a cocktail at the best little beer garden), bar hopping for various mezcal sippers, and lastly our visit to plaza garibaldi which was the best decision we ever made. i've never seen so many mariachi bands in my life! 

take me back!

airbnb review: mexico city [condesa/roma]

one of the cooler airbnb's we've stayed in – this condesa flat is remodeled and designed by a husband and wife couple [both architects]. not only is the apartment extremely well decorated and comfortable, the hosts live on site and are extremely helpful and accommodating. it's also in a very fun neighborhood that is walkable to many bars and restaurants. 

DETAILS:

where: mexico city, mexico [condesa/roma neighborhood]
airbnb listing number: 3245738
time of year: april, 2015
how to get there: we flew into mexico city through houston, and used uber to get around the city
price per night: depends on time of year [roughly $80/night]
travel guide:  mexico city was one of our favorite trips – view our full travel guide here! 
 

all images via the airbnb website