Where – She Went Wear

Cruising in Croatia

Croatiaaa

Landing in Split, all I could think of was ” YACHT YACHT YACHT”. You know, Yacht Week? If you haven’t heard of yacht week, google it. I’m still waiting to embark on that adventure, but after you google it, you will find that you need a whole squad to actually enjoy it and my friend list is slim… so if you have any room for a plus one, invite me.

Anyways….

My time being limited ( 2 days) we hit the ground running to explore the city. Split had a very unique and old charm to it. Every time I step foot outside of the Americas, I am reminded how young our country actually is, or when it was colonized.

All the buildings had so much soul and character, even the cracks in the pavement seemed to have a story to tell.

After exploring the city, we found all these tours being offered along the shore. Naturally, we grabbed a bunch of brochures and took them home to decide which one would be the most beneficial for our short time here.

The next morning we were at the pier bright and early ( a little too early if you ask me) ready to set sail. We chose a 5 island tour that included a stop to their blue cave & Hvar. We met with our captain and hostess and then set full speed ahead to our adventure!

First stop, Bisevo. From here we would take a smaller speed boat to the blue caves. While we waited for our turn, we explored the island a little bit. It was so cute and quaint. You could tell the island didn’t have many inhabitants but we did spot a cute little house up the hill.

Our turn came, and we were so excited to visit the blue caves.

Amazing! I love all things water related so our next stop had my name written all over it. This was my first time swimming in a cave ( I grew up in Chicago, geographically its pretty flat) and after that experience, it will not be my last.

Next, swimming to the coast of Vis. In order to walk on the beach you had to swim to it, haha. It was a small beach with no pier so to see this beauty you had to put in a little work.

Luckily, The tour guides had extra googles for us to use and I was so glad they did. The water was so clear that you could see the many variations of fish that called Vis home.

Now onto a popular stop on Yacht Week, Marinkovac, which was a nice stop for us since we were starving and needed an island with food. Swimming in the sea tends to make me tired. Who knew?!

Last but certainly not least, Hvar. The first stop with ACTUAL locals. This city felt a lot more “posh” than Split, but still had loads of character. We walked the streets, visited a few of the shops, and enjoyed some delicious gelato. After two hours passed, we were beat and ready to go home to Split.

It really sucks that I had to rush all of this in a day, but as you can see, Croatia should be on EVERYONE’S LIST. I had a fantastic time. I’m even planning to go back next summer and spend a week (or two) there.

Until next time my beautiful Croatia

Who has been to Croatia? What else is there to see/do for my next time I’m there?

You’re the Best, Budapest

Hello Budapest,

As you may not know, I make it a mission to blend in wherever I go, even though standing at 5’10” its pretty hard to do. But in places like London, Milan, even Cologne, I blended in pretty well. You didn’t realize I wasn’t a local until I opened my mouth and you heard my “American Midwestern Accent”.

Well, in Budapest, as soon as I stepped onto the plane at LHR to BUD, I received stares, glares, and anything else you could think of. The stewardess even asked me “so what brings you to Budapest?”. I stumbled a bit with my answer, other than the famous baths, I knew nothing of the city. All I knew was that I was meeting one of my best friends there and we were prepared to see what Budapest was about.

Night 1 was definitely interesting. We stayed in Buda, which to my knowledge is the older part of the city, its separated by a river and once you make it to this side its a pretty steep hike to the top. Buda is home to many museums, castles, and cathedrals, as well as the occasional gothic-style architecture that makes you think you left the 2000s and stepped into Dracula’s lair.

Aah, don’t fret, Dracula is Romanian, so technically not his lair but definitely a cousin whom was twice removed.

It was also the night Hungarians celebrated St. Stephens day. There I was thinking it’s completely normal to greet every American with fireworks… This party was not for me, I was the girl who showed up uninvited… but I had my dancing shoes on and I was going to dance!

Walking around Buda felt a lot like being transported into a portable time capsule. While everything was somewhat modern, there were so many remnants of the past. Like these vintage Houdini posters for a magic show that was held at the shop we refused to go into. (Sorry not sorry, those flyers did not look very welcoming)

Actually, now that I think about it. The statues didn’t look very friendly either but I assume that’s the point. Cool to look at, but don’t touch! Fear invoked, good job.

One thing we thoroughly enjoyed was visiting the Gellért Baths. A must if you plan on visiting!

Welcome to the vibrant and hip side, Pest. I feel like once we moved to our Airbnb in Pest our attitudes changed immediately. Moving to Pest reminded me of spending the summer at your Gran’s house, then a week later your cousins show up. Pest = Cousins. It was so refreshing and felt less vampy. Even the people hosted more smiles on their face.

After being acclimated to the change in culture, the days and nights were filled with adventure, fun, and lots of Rośe.

All in all it was a great trip for us. Thanks for keeping it weird Budapest, we’ll be back 🙂

Ciao

Birthday in Cancun

It’s my birthdayyyyyy, I can fly to Cancun if I want to!

It’s only right to celebrate your birthday in Cancun at a 5-star resort! Because where else would I spend my birthday? Don’t answer that.

I travel a lot. But rarely do I travel to 5-star luxury resorts where everything is all inclusive! Maybe 24 will be that year for me *cheers to luxury* haha.

I’m only slightly kidding.
We flew United, cautiously, and headed to Cancun from Ohare. The flight wasn’t that bad, honestly. A little less than 4 hours and a 20-minute cab ride to the hotel to be greeted with Moët and a few other surprises unbeknownst to me 🙂 it was worth it.

I just wanted to share a few pictures/videos from my vacay as I’m not sure when I’ll post again about Cancun.

Thank you, Mommy! 💗💗💗

I Ditched the City for Hell…

Not literally, of course.

But I did drive 3 hours to hike a few trails at Devil’s Lake State Park. Its been on my agenda for a very long time but I struggle with procrastination. So on one of Chicago’s warmer days, I decided to flee the city and its “Sunday Funday” shenanigans in exchange for a nice hike in nature with awesome company!

I wont bore you with why I wanted to get out the city, but I think nature has a good way of helping you find peace and hitting reset. Maybe you can find peace by looking at these photos, hopefully it’ll motivate you to plan your own hike.

P.S. As I’m typing this my legs are still sore, but I regret nothing. 🙂

Where Should I Move?

First: Sorry for using a selfie as a featured image. I know it has nothing to do with the post, but I ran out of images. Ha.

I’m at such a weird crossroad in my life. I know that I want to leave the States, but I also know that I want to be smart and right now I should be patient and make the most out of my days here.

“I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me. ”

-Tracee Ellis Ross

So with that being said, I am creating something beautiful out of this space I’ve been given. Creating art, making money, dismantling my flaws, reinventing myself and being still. But just because I am still, does not mean that I am not planning my future. I will be moving in the fall of this year… I’m just not sure where!

I could go back to Italy and finish out my Italian courses. Go to Portugal and learn Portuguese and live out that fantasy. Go to Spain and focus on my writing and find muses to finish out this collaborative book that Muneek and I started. Or go to Germany and obtain my Master’s.
Oh, then there is always Morocco. 🤔

Who tf knows? Help.

Travel Highlights of 2016

2016 was one for the books. I traveled a lot, my job sent me to some awesome new cities, I got a boyfriend, I lost a boyfriend, I started my blog :), I interviewed some wonderful women, and did I mention that I traveled a lot?

This year has also taught me a great deal about myself. 2016 was the first time in a long time that I actually craved something stable. I wanted some place to call home, I got tired of hopping around from city to city. I didnt have luck in finding that one stable thing, but it helps me to know that thats one of the things I’m looking for in the future. Dont worry, Im still going to travel its just time for me to start figuring out who/where/what I want to be in the future.

Anyways,

Here is a highlight of my 2016.

Cruisin’ the Eastern Caribbean

In the spirit of the holidays, I decided to share a post on my second most recent trip. To escape the cold and sweat off the calories from Thanksgiving (I’m American, I know) my family and I embarked on a Carnival Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We set sail from the Port of Miami two days after Thanksgiving and our itinerary was as follows:

Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas
Fun Day at Sea
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Grand Turk
Fun Day at Sea
Miami, FL

I think everyone should at least try a cruise once to get a feel for it. It’s the laziest way to see the world. Haha. All jokes aside, it’s great for those who want to have a stress free vacation that caters to your every need.

Below you will find photos from my week long voyage. I did not label each photo, as I will be doing individual posts on the islands later on, as well as my experience with the Carnival Cruise line.

If you are somewhere cold like me (Germany) I hope this warms your souls and gets you thinking about where to visit next!

Enjoy 🙂

Walk With Me: Yves Saint Laurent Garden

Words honestly fail me when trying to describe the vibrant garden dedicated to Yves Saint Laurent. While it is a small garden in comparison to others that you may be used to seeing, for example, Garfield Park Conservatory is much bigger in size. What YSL Garden lacked in size it made up for in beauty.

They do have a small museum located in the garden for an additional fee, but we opted out and just enjoyed the garden alone. Twas enough for me.

Walk With Me: Cologne Cathedral

While shopping in Cologne, we stumbled into the beautiful Cathedral. With the sun shining down on the Cathedral it made for a very colorful and picturesque interior ( with the assistance of the stained windows that told stories of Christ).

Even if you’re not religious, its nice to visit these building with such intricate design constructed all the way from the mid 1200’s. You get lost. Take a walk with me.