Destination: Bali

Bali offers a magical blend of culture, people, nature and culinary diversions that will have you scouring the island. Earlier this week several family members spent a day trip to the island of Nusa Penida with snorkeling at Mantay Bay along with stops to take in Kelingking Beach, Broken Cliffs Beach and Angel Bllabong Beach.

Most of Bali is mountainous which is great for hiking, but Broken Beach is an incredible cove with an archway that wraps around the bay allowing the ocean to flow in and out of Nusa Penida Island. Kelingking Beach is hidden with framed towering cliffs, deep turquoise blue water and white sandy shores with the most amazing views.

Jatiluwith UNESCO heritage site of rice terraces along with Tanah Lot temple, Pura Ulun Danu Beratan and Mengwi Taman Ayun temple. Love the cats in the lower right photograph [pretend they’re tigers]!!!

Travel stylishly,
Kathleen

Destination: Philadelphia

Two weeks ago a few of us popped up to Philadelphia by way of Amtrak from DC, which in itself is a wonderfully civilized way to travel by not dealing with the I-95 corridor on a Friday. The City of Brotherly Love is a hybrid of classic and cool, along with being less than 2 hours from home. You can’t help exploring the city’s land-marked buildings and cobblestone streets, along with checking out the booming food scene. Our first stop was in the midtown village, where we had dinner at a vegan restaurant called “Charlie was a Sinner”. It’s a swanky cocktail bar that serves meals on “small plates” with a menu that showcases a variety of cultures, such as Mediterranean, Korean, and Italian. We ordered a few plates to share and ended up taking a few items back to the hotel.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a must, outside of seeing the “Rocky” steps. You have to check out the adjacent Rodin collection, it’s the largest public collection of the sculptor’s work outside of Paris and when you walk into the gallery the first item to view is a copy of Rodin’s The Kiss. Carved in marble in 1929 the artist focuses our attention on the couple’s heads, while using their hands to convey the sensitivity of the moment.

Don’t forget adding The Barnes Collection to your itinerary. They have a stunning assemblage of impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modern paintings by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso.

Travel stylishly,
Kathleen