AK Month-to-month Recap: July 2023

Wanting again at July 2023, I’m in disbelief. How did this a lot stuff occur in a single month? This a lot journey?!

This was the most important month I’ve had in a while, starting with our Boston marriage ceremony on July 2, and taking me to seven international locations in whole (!), most for only a few days.

Let’s have a look — one of the best of July 2023!

Locations Visited

• Boston, Beverly, and Gloucester, Massachusetts
• London, Abbots Langley, Watford, and Bushey, England
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Mondsee, Salzburg, and Sankt Johann in Tirol, Austria
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Čilipi, Croatia
• Žabljak, Durmitor Nationwide Park, Bitine, Dabojevići, Podgorica, Perast, and Kotor, Montenegro

WHEW.

Highlights

Our Boston marriage ceremony! (I do know, I do know, you’re sick of listening to about marriage ceremony stuff — THIS IS THE LAST WEDDING IN A MONTHLY RECAP.) We knew we needed to have a Boston marriage ceremony for my household that couldn’t make it to Prague, and initially assumed it will be a small affair, perhaps one thing at a restaurant.

Then it rapidly snowballed into a marriage of round 60 — and changed into a wonderful occasion.

It rained fairly exhausting that day, however Charlie and I received married in Boston Public Backyard surrounded by our buddies in umbrellas, and our bridesmaids in rain-soaked pastel clothes! (And due to the rain, no one else was within the park!! What a bonus to a downpour.)

We had our reception at Bostonia Public Home within the Monetary District, which had SO a lot good meals and placed on an important occasion for us all. We completed with an after-party on the tiki bar subsequent door.

The day earlier than, the marriage, my bridesmaids and I went for afternoon tea on the Boston Public Library, and that night, everybody was invited to a get-to-know-the-guests gathering at NightShift Brewing. Each tremendous enjoyable occasions.

General — the Boston marriage ceremony was largely for my household and buddies who couldn’t make Prague, although Charlie had a handful of “his folks” there too, and it was SO good to have fun with everybody from my household to my school buddies to journey blogger buds. And to have the ceremony within the Public Backyard, a spot I’ve beloved since I used to be eight, made it all of the extra particular.

And our officiant canceled on us on the final minute — however Charlie and I requested our good friend Chris to step in on the final minute, and he did SO AMAZINGLY with a significant ceremony.

The skilled marriage ceremony images are by Joe Gonzalez-Dufresne, who did a FANTASTIC job with essentially the most ethereal wet images, and we will’t wait to see the remainder of them!

Past the marriage, in Boston we went to a Purple Sox sport, visited my dad’s new condominium on the North Shore, and spent a day hanging out in Gloucester, the place I hadn’t been in awhile (extremely advocate the Azorean Restaurant when you’re on the town).

A pleasant few days within the UK. And now to see the British facet of the household! Charlie’s sister placed on a celebration for us to have fun with some family members who couldn’t make any of the weddings. It was so good seeing them (and having fun with his sister’s pizza shack within the yard).

Moreover, I all the time attempt to do one thing new each time I’m in London, and this time it was the Jurassic Afternoon Tea on the Ampersand Resort. It is a dinosaur-themed afternoon tea — equally enjoyable for teenagers and adults, and the meals is so good! You can see my Reel about it here.

Barbie film mania! My good friend Klara and I dressed up in our Barbie finest, we went with Charlie and our good friend Nick, and we LAUGHED OUR ASSES OFF. I didn’t anticipate the film to be that hilarious — I believe it’s the toughest I’ve laughed in a theater for the reason that ending of The Hangover!

We went to a brand new Sichuan/Chongqing restaurant in Prague beforehand, Nali, and the spotlight was shrimp and pork dumplings swimming in pulsatingly sizzling chili oil.

French market in Prague! That is certainly one of my favourite meals festivals of the 12 months, happening the week of Bastille Day. They’ve now moved the competition from the Mala Strana finish of the Charles Bridge to Troja Chateau, which is a much more airier and fewer touristy location, making it extra of a neighborhood occasion.

A pleasant weekend in Austria. Charlie had an appointment within the Austrian city of Sankt Johann in Tirol on a Monday morning, so we determined to make a weekend of it and drive all the way down to Salzburg beforehand.

This was my first time in Salzburg in additional than a decade, and it was good to revisit town — and make sure that the Salzburg Card is one of the best metropolis card in Europe. We every paid 30 EUR for a 24-hour card and received greater than 120 EUR worth with out an excessive amount of effort. I’ll be going into that in a submit!

We additionally briefly stopped by Mondsee to see the brilliant teal lake, and Sankt Johann in Tirol was a beautiful little city the place we loved an evening out at a brewery overlooking the mountains.

A stunning few days in Copenhagen. Charlie had a enterprise journey, and I tagged alongside for the weekend earlier than. It had been awhile since my final Copenhagen go to, and it’s such a stately, cool metropolis.

A number of the highlights have been taking a very nice guided tour on our first morning, hanging with my Copenhagen good friend Alex, revisiting my favourite Copenhagen restaurant Høst, having fun with excellent cocktails at Pluto, and eventually visiting Tivoli Gardens, the amusement park proper within the coronary heart of town.

A return to Montenegro! For my birthday this 12 months, I needed to be in Montenegro. We began out by driving from Dubrovnik to the spectacular landscapes of Durmitor Nationwide Park. After a full day there, we headed all the way down to Ostrog Monastery, Podgorica (LOL) after which the stunning village of Perast on the Bay of Kotor.

Perast is certainly one of my new favourite locations. This beautiful village has a inhabitants of 300 and simply sufficient services for every part you want. And whereas Kotor has turn into massively overtouristed prior to now decade, Perast has not. Not but, a minimum of.

Challenges

Oh boy, there have been a variety of snafus with the Boston marriage ceremony. I assume we have been due some points after two good weddings. The rain, the cancelled officiant, lacking flower baskets for the children, and some different issues. But it surely’s okay. We had enjoyable with our family members, and that’s the vital half.

Many pillow debacles. I’ve talked earlier than about how I’m having rising bother utilizing a pillow that’s not a contour pillow. I’ve been touring with a bit of contour pillow after I can, however I didn’t this month, and right here’s what went flawed:

In Boston, the unsupportive pillows left my complete physique in ache for days and made me understand I REALLY must journey with a contour pillow any more, no exceptions.

In Salzburg, I by accident left my full-sized pillow behind within the lodge (although received it on the best way again from Sankt Johann the subsequent day).

In Copenhagen, I didn’t have room in my carry-on for the pillow, and each pillow within the room was so unhealthy that I ended up downstairs on the entrance desk at 2 AM, begging for another type of pillow. And regardless of this being a fairly upscale lodge, that they had ZERO different pillow sorts.

They promised to get me one other one from a special lodge the subsequent day. They lastly did…and it was the SAME pillow squished right into a pillowcase half the dimensions, making it nearly spherical.

So I ended up operating out to Jysk the subsequent day, which seems to be a Danish firm (who knew?), and grabbed a couple of nicer contour pillows for me and Charlie. We nonetheless have them right here in Croatia as I sort this.

Charlie flew with the pillows from Copenhagen to Dubrovnik, so I missed them for one night time. However you already know what works in a pinch when you’re like me? A rolled-up towel on your neck. That was one of the best out of a bunch of unhealthy choices.

The worst sushi ever in Podgorica. Nicely, the worst sushi ever that didn’t make us sick! How does a restaurant have images of sushi on their menu but put together sushi that appears nothing prefer it?!

(Why eat sushi in Montenegro? After a couple of days of Balkan meat platters, you’ll be craving anything.)

The Bay of Kotor follies. On our first day in Perast, I needed to get images of Budva and Sveti Stefan within the morning mild. I headed out on the bus to Kotor very first thing within the morning, having purchased my bus ticket from Kotor to Sveti Stefan on-line upfront. That bus was packed like sardines.

After I received to the bus station, the road snaked across the nook. My bus confirmed up, I confirmed them my ticket, they usually WOULD NOT LET ME ON as a result of it wasn’t printed out (!!). Apparently you’re supposed to attend in that super-long line for the station to print it out for you.

I regarded to get a cab to Budva. There aren’t any ride-sharing apps in Montenegro, and the cabs quoted me 50 euros. Which is INSANE. When did Montenegro get this costly?! On precept, I gave up and headed again to Perast to sit back.

Lacking my kittens loads. This month we left them with two completely different live-in cat sitters, each of whom love them they usually love, however I really feel unhealthy being away from them a lot.

Weblog Posts of the Month

Yeah, not a variety of time to weblog this month.

Solo Female Travel in Portland, Oregon — Is it Safe? — I invite visitor author Susan to jot down about her beloved city of Portland, and what makes it so superior for solo girls vacationers!

Guide Membership This Month

Our subsequent ebook membership will on Sunday, August 13, at 7:00 PM ET. We will probably be studying In the Shadow of the Mountain by Peruvian creator and adventurer Silvia Vasquez-Lavado.

“Limitless ice. Skinny air. The specter of dropping into nothingness hundreds of ft under. That is the climb Silvia Vasquez-Lavado braves in her page-turning, pulse-raising memoir chronicling her journey to Mount Everest.

A Latina hero within the elite macho tech world of Silicon Valley, privately, she was hanging by a thread. Deep within the throes of alcoholism, hiding her sexuality from her household, and repressing the abuse she’d suffered as a baby, she began climbing. One thing concerning the brute drive required for the ascent—the chance and spirit and sheer dimension of the mountains and demise’s shut proximity—woke her up. She then took her greatest ache as a survivor to the most important mountain: Everest.

‘The Mom of the World,’ because it’s recognized in Nepal, permits few to achieve her summit, however Silvia didn’t go alone. She gathered a bunch of younger feminine survivors and led them to base camp alongside her. It was by no means simple. At instances hair-raising, nerve-racking, and all the time difficult, Silvia remembers the acute anxiousness of main a bunch of novice climbers to Everest’s base, all of the whereas coping together with her personal nerves of summiting. However, there have been additionally moments of peace, pleasure, and therapeutic with the power of her fellow survivors and group propelling her ahead.

Within the Shadow of the Mountain is a outstanding story of heroism, one which awakens in all of us a lust for journey, an urge for food for threat, and religion in our personal resilience.”

You can learn more about the book and buy it here.