Colorado
We have made several trips to Colorado. In this post, we look at several destinations we have covered so far. A trip to Colorado is always exciting. There are so many places to visit across this beautiful state. Even through the three trips we have made so far, I believe we have barely scratched the surface. The massive Rocky mountains range has so many varied landscapes layered between them. Also, the state has a huge number of interesting towns with great eating out and recreational options.
Breckenridge
Although Breckenridge is a place known for it’s ski resorts, we traveled in the summer for a conference. The timing was actually good, the landscape was lush and it was a great time to hike in the mountains. Breckenridge has several really good restaurants as well.
Places:
- Blue Lakes, very close to Breckenridge
- Mayflower Gulch, about a 30 minute drive away, beautiful hike
- Chief Mountain Trail, an hour away, closer to Mount Evans, an easy, yet beautiful hike with brilliant views
- Biking along the river
- Hoosier Pass: we passed the Hoosier Pass to reach Breck. /the drive from Colorado Springs was great, especially the views through the pass at sunset.
Favorite restaurants:
- Blue River Bistro: good soups and burgers
- Tin Plate pizza: great pizza with a really good crust and cheese
- Piante Pizza: amazing vegan pizzas
- Aurum: good high end italian
- Sauce: good Italian
Aspen
We visited Aspen on Fall weekend, in time for the fall foliage on Aspen trees. Maroon Bells was the highlight of our trip. The landscape is fairly similar to the Breckenridge area. Fall is good time to visit.
Places:
- Maroon Bells: no doubt a must visit, especially during the Fall. We hiked up to the Maroon Bells Lake, which was the highlight of our trip
- Glenwood Springs: thermal springs, we loved the experience
- Aspen Gondola: Good views at the top, but no hiking, and way too much crowd for our taste
- Aspen town: nice, walkable town with art galleries, nice streets, plenty of good restaurants
- Castle Creek Road: good views, worth a drive, there are a few hikes off the road
- Independence Pass: good views, we did a couple of small hikes at the top of the pass, though it was a bit tiring because of the altitude
Restaurants
- Mawa’s Kitchen: great breakfasts and plenty vegetarian options
- Campo Di Fiori: good, pricey Italian, loved their trout preparation
- Paradise Bakery: good breakfasts, ice cream
Colorado springs and the south
We were supposed to visit the Rocky Mountain NP, but a late season snowstorm made us change our plans. We visited Colorado Springs instead. Spring or early summer is a great time to visit this area, when it’s not too hot and there’s a lot of snow on the peaks.
Places:
- Pikes Peak: We drove most of the way up, followed by a shuttle at the end. Views are phenomenal. Take care of your car while driving down, read up on precautions to take while driving down slopes.
- Garden of the gods: Beautiful rock formations, we did a few small hikes around the park, some nice view points as well, definitely a good idea to wait until sunset
- Great Sand Dunes National Park: Fabulous sand dunes, the drive the NP is great too, with huge mountains all the way. We would have liked to climb one of the dunes, but the sudden thunder storm stopped our progress. Plus, it’s much harder to walk on sand than you think. This park is definitely worth an entire day.
Denver
We haven’t stopped much in Denver ever, but here are a couple of recommendations.
View points:
Lookout Mountain Park, for the views
Red Rock amphitheater: a must visit, for the views
Restaurant:
Tamayo, brilliant Mexican food
Pictures
Hoosier Pass
Chief Mountain Trail
Mayflower Gulch
Blue Lakes, Breckenridge
Maroon Bells
Castle Creek Road
Maroon Bells Lake
Pikes Peak
Garden of the gods
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Mountains everywhere in Colorado
Red Rock Amphitheater
Oregon Coast
We did a fairly short 4 day trip of the Oregon coast, while traveling from Seattle to San Francisco in August 2020. The beauty of the coast was stunned us! This was our first trip in the middle of the pandemic, so quiet Oregon coast was the perfect choice. I understand that 4 days is hardly enough to scratch the surface of the Oregon coast, but we are glad we traversed the entire coast and got to see a huge variety of places on the coast. We now know our favorite spots on the coasts, and since we live in Seattle, we can make regular visits to the coast.
Itinerary
Day 0: Drive to Astoria, stay overnight.
Day 1: Canon beach, Cape Meares, Lincoln Beach, Newport, stay at Waldport
Day 2: Visit Cape Perpetua and Yachats
Day 3: Drive to Gold Beach stopping at Bandon on the way, Samuel Boardman corridor rest of the day
Day 4: Drive to California, stopping at Brookings and the Redwood forests on the way
Favorite picks
- Yachats: Thor’s well and Cape Perpetua
- Gold Beach: Whaleshead beach, several beaches off the Samuel Boardman Corridor
- Bandon and the road to Gold Beach
- Depoe Bay: beautiful views of the ocean and waves, nice walkway, all the view points before and after the town
- Newport: beautiful views of the ocean along several spots before and after the town. Yaquina Head is great, the walk up the hill has amazing views. Moolack beach is great.
What would I do differently:
- While we just wanted to scratch the surface of the coast, I recommend spending 2 – 3 days at each of the destinations, unless you are sure you are never visiting the area ever again
- We stayed at motels all the while, which did the job, but there are some really good properties along the coast with gorgeous views
- Edit: we visited the central part of the coast, spending a lot of time around Depoe Bay and Newport.
Favorite hotels
- Clarion Surfrider resort: excellent beachside rooms, not the best kept resort, but great value for money. Views are hard to beat.
- Moolack Shores Inn
Destinations and Reviews
Cannon Beach: A gorgeous beach indeed, however, significantly crowded. Sunsets are a great time to visit. You must walk the entire beach to see all the rock formations. Off the leash dogs were a nuisance. A great beach to visit nevertheless. But it’s just the beginning of the amazing Oregon coast. Ecola State Park is close by with beautiful views of the Cannon Beach, however, we did not find parking when got there.
Cape Meares: The drive down from Cannon Beach was particularly beautiful. Several view points to stop by. The drive to the beach at Cape Meares is very beautiful, the beach itself is pretty solid, and very few crowds when we went. The lighthouse was unfortunately closed when we went. The entire area is very quiet and worth spending an entire weekend.
Drive down to Yachats: The drive all the way down to central Oregon coast is stunning. So many beautiful sights, I really wish I had stayed for longer and visited each of them. Our favorite spots were the Depoe Bay and the Devil’s Punchbowl. Several unnamed beaches on the way as well.
Yachats and Cape Perpetua: Thor’s Well and the surroundings are brilliant, best visited around high tide. Cape Perpetua lookout is brilliant, the lookout is best visited early in the day, and at sunset as well. Beaches close to Yachats are pristine, some of them beautiful feeding grounds for migratory birds. Another place worth visiting while in the area is Heceta Lighthouse. Beautiful views, but slightly crowded. There are a few interesting trails in the area, which I would like to visit some other time.
Gold Beach: Another spectacular drive all the way up to Gold Beach, passing through the towns of Bandon, Port Orford, all having spectacular views on the way. Each of them deserve a weekend trip on their own. Our main destination was the Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor. Several beautiful viewpoints on the way, and several beaches, most of them accessible by a small hike or a gravel road drive. We visited one of the beaches, which was almost like a private beach. Very quiet and pristine. Pistol River scenic point has views of beautiful rock formations.
Favorite places to eat:
There have been several great meals, but here are the ones I remember:
- Georgie’s, Newport
- Side Door Cafe, Glenden beach, near Depoe Bay
- Jack sprats Bayfront, Newport
Verul and Ajanta caves
Verul ( Ellora) and Ajanta caves are treasures form ancient India
Itinerary:
Day 1: Drive from Pune to Aurangabad, visit Bibi Ka Maqbara, followed by Daulatabad fort. Stay near Daulatabad at Hiranya Resort.
Day 2: Spend the entire day at Ellora / Verul caves.
Day 3: Drive to Ajanta caves, spend several hours, drive to Jalgaon, stay
Day 4: Return back to Pune
Where did we stay?
I would recommend staying close to the Ellora caves. We stayed at Hiranya Resort, close to Daulatabad. The location and food at the resort was really good, especially their hurda and gavran ( rural) menu, which is available in the winters. There is a MTDC resort close to the Ajanta caves.
Reviews
Ellora caves
Absolutely stunning, even an entire day felt short on time.Must visits are the Jain caves and the Kailasa temple, the Kailasa temple is to be seen to be believed. A government certified guide is great to have, who can guide you through all the caves and educate you on the history and background of the caves, several details engraved and their significance and get some perspectives on various philosophies which emerged out from the ancient times and how they relate with the caves. The details would make you appreciate the caves even more.
Most of the caves and the temple is best visited early in the morning before the crowds pick up. Later in the afternoon and evenings are great for photographing the Kailasa temple.
Daulatabad fort
Another gem in the area. The impregnable fort which has almost never been conquered towers over the landscape. I would recommend getting a guide here as well, who can navigate you through the sophisticated protections built within the fort. The last climb up to the top of the fort is a bit steep, however, the views from the top were worth it. Plan to spend at least a few hours here.
Ajanta caves
Beautiful caves in a pristine setting. The paintings are to be seen to be believed. The paintings have lost a lot of colors in the last few decades due to misuse, but now are being cared for well. We found several caves to be very interesting, about 3-4 caves have well preserved paintings, and a couple of them have some beautiful carvings. About 3-4 hours was a good amount of time to spend at the caves. There are no government guides available and vendors are pushy, but the caves are impressive and deserve a visit.
The restaurant at the MTDC right at the beginning of the caves serves pretty good food.
Aurangabad
We visited the Bibi Ka Maqbara. While it’s often compared to the Taj, it’s actually beautiful in it’s own right. Definitely worth the detour into Aurangabad.
Where did we eat?
- Shelke mama dhaba: close to Daulatabad, spicy and tasty local food, try their patudi in kala masala
- Hiranya Resort: Their restaurant is alright, however, their hurda party menu is as authentic as it can get. The other “gavran” menu they serve is brilliant as well, dal batti, pithla, bhakri, bharit, puran poli and so on.
- MTDC Ajanta caves: good, simple food
- Bhel at Pandharicha Pool, between Aurangabad and Ahmednagar
- Rajasthani thali at Bhoj Thali, Aurangabad, absolutely delicious
Big Island – Hawaii in 8 days
We traveled to the Big Island in the Thanksgiving break, here’s a snapshot of our trip with some reviews of places we visited.
Itinerary
Day 0 : Land in Kona
Day 1: Explore Kona, farmer’s market, pick up rental car, drive to Airbnb in Waikoloa village, stopping at Kua Bay, Manini’Owali white sand beach, sunset at Anaehoomalu Beach
Day 2: Drive to Polulu Valley, hike down to the beach and back, spend evening at Mauna Kea beach
Day 3: Hapuna Beach, spent most of the day here. Afternoon drive to Waipo lookout, evening at Wailea Bay/ Beach 69
Day 4: Mahai’ula white sand beach, followed by evening at Waikoloa beach
Day 5: Drive to Green Sand beach, hike one-way. Evening again at Waikoloa Beach
Day 6: Early morning snorkel with Hawaii Oceanic at Captain cook (Kealakekua Bay), evening at Hapuna Beach.
Day 7: Drive to Hilo, stopping by Akaka Falls, lunch at Hilo, explore Farmer’s market, drive to Volcanic National Park: Holei Sea Arch and Kilauea Overlook, dinner at Pahoa and drive back to VNP late at night, view lava, stay in Hawaiian Paradise Park
Day 8: Hear the crashing waves at Maku’u Point, lunch in Hilo, some time at the Carlsmith Beach Park, drive back to Kona, late evening flight back to Seattle
Favorite places/things to do
- Snorkeling at Captain: not to be missed, we went with Hawaiian Oceanic, and loved the tour. Great introduction to the coast and the island geology with the guides.
- Lava flow: A surreal, one of it’s kind experience. We walked from the Devastation trail lot, starting at 10.30 PM, a 2 mile RT straightforward trail.
- White sand beaches of Kohala coast: many of them were really good, some better than others. Favorites were Mahai’ula beach and Hapuna beach.
- Hamakua coast: this felt like “real Hawaii”, with it’s greenery, cliffs, black sand beaches, rough ocean, fruit stands.
- Green sand beach: Beautiful hike to the beach, all along the ocean. The beach itself is smaller than I expected, but is still worth the drive and the hike. There are 4WDs you can use to get to the beach, however, it’s illegal and not recommended, also we found the hike to be very pleasant and fairly easy, so it’s just better to walk to the beach.
- Fruits and fresh catch: several fruit stands with amazing fruits all along the Hamakua coast and some near Kona as well
Beach Reviews
- Hapuna beach: One of the finest white sand beaches on the Kohala coast, great waters for swimming. One of the non-rocky beaches in the area.
- Mahai’ula beach and Makalewena beach: A super rough drive off the highway, however, doable with a 2WD if you are slow enough. You pass 3 beaches, with Makalewena beach being the last one. All the beaches are really good. The water was the clearest and the most turquoise blue in this part of the island. Relatively less crowds.
- Manini’Owali white sand beach: A beautiful beach which is easily accessible, slightly crowded, but not too bad.
- Waikoloa beach: a bit crowded, but great at sunset, explore the strip of beaches along the coast
- Mauna Kea beach: restricted access to only 40 cars at a time, worth trying in the morning or early afternoon, beautiful sandy beach with moderate crowds
- Spencer beach park: Less crowds, but less sands and more rock.
- Green Sand beach: beautiful views, some crowds, great hike to get there, if it’s not too sunny, rough ocean, care advised while swimming in the ocean.
- Polulu Black Sand beach: Great hike, rough ocean, beautiful views of the cliffs
- Carlsmith beach park, Hilo: rough oceans, some rocks, moderate crowds, but good swimming
- We found the beaches near Kona way more crowded than the beaches on the Kohala coast
Places to eat
Kona: we found more restaurants suited for our tastes in Kona than in Waikoloa
- Journey Cafe: Great vegan food, good jackfruit dorias and vegan pizza
- Patricio’s Tacqueria: good fish tacos and vegetarian mexican food
- El Maguey: flavorful mexican food
- Swami’s : ok-ish south indian food
- Kamana: decent, indian food with good views
- Quinn’s: good fish sandwiches
- Shaka Tacoz ( Captain Cook): brilliant tacos, both fish and vegetarian
- Herbivores: decent vegan food
- Farmer’s market: brilliant fruits, especially passion fruits, mangoes, pineapples
Waikoloa and Waikoloa village: more high-end restaurants, however, we did find a few places for our likings
- Pueo’s Osteria: excellent Italian food, particularly the fresh catch
- Los Trex Mex: decent mexican food
- Island Lava Java: great breakfasts
- Charley’s Thai: good thai food
Hamakua coast: some really good fruit stands, one near Polulu lookout, another near Akaka waterfalls ( one of the best pineapplues and sugarcane we had), one near Waipo valley, where we had good custard apples
Hilo and Pahoa: we really liked the restaurants here
- Hilo Bay cafe: great views, good fish, several vegetarian dishes
- Island Pineapple Fresh cuisine: great fresh catch, good pasta and a really well done lilikoi ( passion fruit) pie
- Ning’s Thai: amazing thai food
- Pele’s Kitchen: really good breakfasts
- Southernmost Bakery, not close to Hilo, but near the Green sand beach: great pineapple and guava buns ( malasadas).
Tips:
- Volcanic National Park: for lava flow, it’s better to go later in the night, plan on reaching at least after 10 PM, later the better
- Hit the beaches early in the morning, 8 – 9 AM is the best time
- Ideally, if you can, split your stay between Kona, Waikoloa and Hilo. The beaches are the best near Waikoloa, snorkeling and a few attractions near Kona and the VNP and the Hamakua coast near Hilo.
Spain, Andalusia and Madrid: Winter 2016
Read more: : Spain, Andalusia and Madrid: Winter 2016
Segovia Cathedral
Mirador Valle, Toledo
Alhambra
Lisbon Old Town
3 days in Paris and a day in Belgium
Itinerary: 3 days in Paris and a day in Belgium. Between this was a 3 day work trip to Dijon. Paris Itinerary: Day 1: Sacre Couer, Paris Opera and Eiffel Tower Day 2: Louvre, Notre Dame Cath…
Tuscany : San Gimignano and Montefioralle
San Gimignano
Started the day with a good breakfast at the Mercato Centrale, left for the bus to San Gimignano, the town was pleasantly quiet. The beautiful sun lit town was well over the fog, everything looked so misty and mysterious from the top. One of my best moments of the trip. I walked all across the town, was very beautiful and medieval(if you choose to ignore the swanky branded-ish shops). The views from top of the castle like structure were great.
I then walked over to the Via Veccia and walked for atleast a mile along the road admiring views of the entire town,, the road passed across several vineyards. Came back to the town, had a good lunch at one of the few places open, again strolled around the town, went to the sunset spot for a good sunset. The bus going back was at around 5 PM, and it didn’t look like the towers would be illuminated. So I left by the bus, returning back to Florence at 7 or so. Had a good dinner at OSteria Santa Spirito, good, but not the most favorite of my meals on the trip.
A little more Tuscany, Montefioralle and a little of Bologna
I had about half a day before our flight back from Bologna. So I got the bus to Greve-in-Chianti, got down just before the town, walked along the road for atleast a mile or so. The road was quite pretty, it was a little uphill along vineyards. The houses, vineyards all were very pretty. Finally I reached the village, it was really really small, but pretty. Walked round the village, walked till the other side of the village, Montefioralle looked like a nice, imposing castle-village. We walked around the private vineyards wherever I could find paths, finally hit a road which got us back to Greve.
Came back to Florence, had a quick lunch at Zaza Trattoria, mostly some truffle based dishes, which were pretty good. Did some quick food shopping at Mercato Centrale, I bought pesto, truffle cream and some pasta. I got a high speed train to Bologna, the journey was pretty drab, though the countryside was beautiful, most of it was through tunnels so I couldn’t see anything. I had a couple of hours at Bologna before the flight, so quickly parked our luggage at the train station, walked till the main squares which were absolutely amazing, they were big, busy, red and very aesthetically built. Sat around for a while and came back to the train station and left for the airport by the shuttle. And so ended the trip.
San Gimignano Towers as seen from Via Veccia
Morning fog around San Gimignano, classic tuscan landscape
Morning fog around San Gimignano, classic tuscan landscape
Town of San Gimignano
Morning fog around San Gimignano, classic tuscan landscape
Vineyards around Montefioralle
Village of Montefioralle
Greve in Chianti
Vineyards near Montefioralle
On the way to Montefioralle
Tuscan countryside around San Gimignano
Pisa : Great half-day trip from Florence
Got a really good Pesto-mozarella sandwich at one of the stalls at the Mercato Centrale, Cantuccini at one of the specialty cantuccini shops. The journey was quite good, the walk to the tower from the station wasn’t bad and there was a Christmas market on the way.
The Pisa Complex was excellent, the white marble, and the green lawns made a good combination. The battistero’s a very attractive building, and so is the cathedral’s façade. I didn’t go inside, just checked out the cathedral, walked around the complex and walked back to the station, took a train to go back. The return journey took a long while, the train took a longer route to get back to Florence.
On returning I checked into Hotel Montreal, went for dinner to Ristorante Caffagi, the Ravioli and Risotto I had were really good, and so were the desserts. Took a long stroll along the river and ended the day.
Leaning Tower of Pisa with the Cathedral
Pisa Battistero
Siena
Did Siena as a day trip from Florence.
Siena’s no less, the red buildings, the Cathedral, the Tower, the Plaza, views over the countryside make it another star destination. I left by the early morning bus from Florence. The old town certainly makes you feel as if you’re in a different era. The Piazza Del Campo was outstanding, one of the best squares I’ve ever seen. The entire had fascinated me by now. Went up the Tower ( Torre Del Mangia), the climb was quite a bit, but the views of the surrounding area and the town was totally worth it. Next was the Cathedral and the Duomo. The cathedral is probably unlike any other you would see in Italy, so richly decorated, huge and dark. Very different from the ones in Rome and Florence. I got the combo ticket for the Gates of Heaven. The Gates of Heaven tour takes you up the cathedral and you walk all around the cathedral, so you get to see the entire interiors of the cathedral from a good height. Later, visited the Picolomini Library, the paintings were really good and well restored. It’s also well lit and the lighting goes well with the color of the paintings.
Now it was lunch time, headed to Osteria Al Grattacielo, a very local place. Had a good vegetarian plate, with several unique items like barley in pesto sauce, cauliflower-cheese cake, potatoes with basil, aubergines, ribolita, all done very well.
Post lunch headed to the Battistero of the Duomo, another wonderful and grand building, then walked up the Campanile of the Duomo, to get beautiful views of the town and the tower and Piazza. The surrounding countryside too looked really good. Siena from here looks like straight out of your dreams or the movies. Then walked around the town looking for views of the countryside, but couldn’t find any, however the park down the town is worth a visit. Quite a green change from the red town.
Picked up a gelato, wandered around the main square and got an evening bus back to Florence. Had dinner at a place near Santa Maria Novella, had a colossal mozzarella salad, unfortunately I don’t have the name of the place, but it’s one of the well rated ones.
Piazza Del Campo
Siena
The town of Siena
The main square in Siena
Gates of Heaven, Siena
Siena Cathedral
Piccolomini Library
Piccolomini Library paintings
Meal at the local restaurant, Siena
Inside the Battistero, Siena
Siena Cathedral
The Torre Del Mangia
Tuscan countryside at the horizon
Piazza Del Campo
Streets of Siena
ashwinbahulkar 