Over the years, I have developed a huge admiration for murals. At first, I saw them as purely decorative, something colorful to brighten up a dull corner of any given city, but the more time I spent in different cities, the more I amassed a photographic collection of their murals, and that’s when I started to notice different themes emerging. Whether the artists were telling a story, alluding to history or social issues, or just having fun, as a collective, murals seem to embody the culture around them. Here are a few of my favorite examples from some of my favorite cities:
Québec City
Québec is still new to me, but upon my first observations, I’d say Québec is proud. This city is proud of its unique history, its industrious people, and even its imperfections.
Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa is inclusive. This capital city is basically a microcosm of Canada’s Mosaic – there’s a little something from everyone on display here.
Guadalajara, México
Guadalajara is vibrant. This city, and much of the country really, is so alive and so fun, and that is immediately evident in its street art.
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is colorful. The people here are about as colorful as they come, and all those different cultures and backgrounds come together to make the beautiful rainbow that is Orlando.
Hefei, China
Hefei is prudent. This is a place where art and function collide. Like the city and its inhabitants, the art here is generally purposeful as well as captivating.
Łódź, Poland
Łódź is quirky. The dark events of its past are evident, but the people here are experts at remembering the past while still enjoying the present.
Of course, it’s easier to see these patterns and make these connections when living in the heart of a city, experiencing the culture day after day. But I think if you look carefully, you can pick up the vibes of any city from even just a glance at its art. Here are some more examples of murals that I think capture the spirit of their homes.
Athens, Greece
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Bogotá, Colombia
Cancún, México
Denver, Colorado
Hong Kong
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Montevideo, Uruguay
Paris, France
Pisa, Italy
Quito, Ecuador
Reykjavík, Iceland
Singapore
Tampa, Florida
Tokyo, Japan
Toronto, Canada
Townsville, Queensland, Australia
So, what do you think? Do the murals match the vibes?
As I was writing about all the fun things to do in Ottawa, I realized some of my favorite places in the city wouldn’t make it on the list. They don’t have activities per se, but they’re really beautiful and perfect for just walking, sitting, thinking, and/or taking pictures. So, in no particular order, I give you:
October in Ottawa is absolutely stunning, but I think regardless of the season, Ottawa might just be the prettiest place we’ve ever lived! But what about all the places we’ve visited over the years? To answer this extremely important question, Tucker and I scrolled through my Facebook albums to come up with our gut-reaction, top 10 prettiest places we’ve been list (in rough geographical order). It wasn’t an easy task, but somebody’s got to do it, right? Okay, maybe not, but it was still fun to do!
#1 Banff, Canada
As I think will become quite clear as this lists progresses, we love a good mountain scene, especially in fall/winter, which is why Banff had to be mentioned. Even before stepping foot into Alberta, we knew Banff was going to be pretty based on all the media constantly swirling around this vacation destination, but we were still absolutely blown away by the dynamic beauty of the Canadian Rockies.
#2 Moab, USA
If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know my favorite place in the United States is Arches National Park, located in Moab, Utah. I don’t know exactly what it is that I love so much, but ever since I first laid eyes on it (around 20 years ago, mind you), it has been one of my favorite landscapes in the world.
#3 Quintana Roo, Mexico
Although not usually beach people, Tucker and I have to concede that the beaches along Mexico’s Caribbean coast are simply on another level. Of course, it’s not just the beaches that we found so alluring – the cliffs, the cenotes, the lagoons, all of the nature and even some human-made structures in Quintana Roo really stand out to us on the prettiness scale.
#4 Cotopaxi, Ecuador
For pure, rugged beauty, there might not be a better example than Ecuador’s Cotopaxi National Park. Volcanos, calderas, pampas – even if you’re not a geologist, you can easily see the beauty these amazing natural features bring to the table.
#5 Ushuaia, Argentina
With beautiful snowy mountains, clear waters, and pink skies, Ushuaia is the closet you can get to Antarctica without a boat, and not only is it pretty, it’s pretty freaking awesome. Known as the “End of the World”, the remoteness only added to the beauty of this far-flung location.
#6 Bergen, Norway
Tired of snowy mountains yet? Well, what if we add fjords to the mix? Bergen is another place we’ll always mention when talking about gorgeous surroundings. Of course, we loved it in winter, but I have friends who visited in summer, and their photos also took my breath away!
#7 Skopje, North Macedonia
North Macedonia surprised us from the moment we landed. We ended up in Skopje because it was one of the cheapest places we could fly to at the time, and I’m so glad it was! The city is full of beautiful architecture, and with Matka Canyon only a short bus ride away, I’m continually surprised that it isn’t yet packed with tourists!
#8 Gorkhi-Terelj, Mongolia
Another one for the “rugged beauty” column, Mongolia is truly in a world of its own. More wide-open spaces than I’ve ever seen in my life and the bluest of blue skies gave us such a pretty picture of a place we never imagined we’d be able to see in person.
#9 Yunnan, China
As with several countries already on this list, sometimes we found it difficult to narrow down to just one region. China has a lot of extremely beautiful places, but the one that tops the list for us (excluding any biases, of course) is Yunnan. A province in the southwest corner of the country, it is blessed with an abundance of flora and fauna, and its capital is known as the “City of Eternal Spring” – it doesn’t get much prettier than that!
#10 Brisbane, Australia
And last but not least, Brisbane, Australia rounds out our list! It’s located between Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, which even sounds pretty, but what struck us even more than the beautiful beaches nearby was the city itself. Gorgeous skylines, quirky architecture, and the only (and therefore most beautiful) “city beach” we’ve ever seen. Definitely worth the long trip Down Under!
Honestly, getting this list down to just 10 was really tricky, but in the end, I feel good about our choices. Of course, the pictures never really do the places justice, so if you can, I highly recommend seeing these beauties in person some day! If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a trip must be worth a million.
Last month, Tucker and I continued our Canadian explorations with a trip to Banff, Alberta. Of course, Banff had been on our list long before we knew we’d be living in Canada, and we can now say with absolute certainty that it should be on everyone’s bucket list! We were truly blown away with the seemingly infinite number of stunning views, trails, waterfalls, glaciers, and all sorts of other incredible landscapes. In fact, I had trouble narrowing down our plans to fit neatly into a one-week trip (many people spend weeks or months trekking around Banff and Jasper National Parks, and I now know why). But since most of us can’t do that, I thought I’d share our experience, which could be useful to others in planning their own epic trip to Banff!
Calgary, Alberta
But before we get to the city of Banff, we have to get to the province of Alberta. The vast majority of visitors fly into Calgary, which is the nearest major city. This is what we did although we also considered flying into Edmonton and driving down through Jasper as an alternative. Ultimately, Calgary won out because it was closer and the flights were cheaper. I’m happy this was our choice though because it meant we got to spend several days in Calgary, which turned out to be a really fun city: two beautiful rivers running through it with gorgeous parks throughout, a very lively and impressive brewery scene, and several bar and restaurant streets where we were able to try the famous Albertan ginger beef. Seriously, don’t let the airport be the only thing you see in Calgary!
Of course, our main reason for being in Alberta wasn’t the cities, it was the beautiful Rocky Mountains, so how to get out there? Well, they’re really only about an hour drive from downtown Calgary, and you have several options. There are buses and shared cars aplenty, but we, like most people, ended up renting a car. The price was as expected: reasonable if you return it to the same place, outrageous if you don’t. In hindsight, having your own car is absolutely paramount if you want to see anything outside the teeming tourist bubble. One of the best parts about driving ourselves around Alberta was that we could (and did) stop at every possible turnoff for views, trails, signs, etc. not to mention the total freedom we had when driving the Icefields Pkwy. But if you’re sticking close to Banff (as in Banff City and the lakes) you really wouldn’t need a car at all if you didn’t want one.
Canmore & Banff
Once you’re successfully into the mountains, you have another choice to make: where to stay. If you’re camping, the options are limitless, but if you’re afraid of bears and/or you’re not a millionaire, you basically have two choices: Banff City or Canmore. Canmore is a little further from the main attractions and isn’t quite as touristy; therefore, it’s slightly cheaper, but there’s much less to do, which means you’ll likely be driving (and having to find parking) more often, or so we heard from fellow hikers. We stopped in Canmore both on the way out of and back into Calgary, and we really enjoyed it. It’s basically a baby Banff, and I think it’s a solid option, especially if you prefer a more low-key home-base.
We ended up staying in Banff though since this was our first time, and we had no idea what to expect. Since we went at the end of September (right before a lot of attractions and roads are to be closed for the season), there was a plethora of visitors. Options for accommodations were somewhat limited either by availability or by price. Fair warning – Banff is beautiful, but it is not cheap. We chose to stay in a private room at a hostel about 1.5 miles (2kms) from the city center. It was an easy walk, but there is also an amazingly quick and efficient public bus that runs through town and out to many of the resorts as well. Several hotels/hostels give free passes for the duration of your stay, but you can also buy a day pass for $5CAD.
The city of Banff has much more to do than we originally thought. On our first evening, we climbed the nearby Tunnel Mountain, and there were countless other trails into the surrounding mountains and valleys. Evidently, there’s also a famous golf course there – who knew? And the town itself is well-worth a wander. Little shops selling everything from mountain gear to homemade fudge, lots of cozy cafés, and restaurants that run the gamut: we saw a McDonald’s right down the street from an extremely lavish steakhouse. We ended most of our days in Banff eating and drinking after spending the day outside hiking, and the choices were surprisingly diverse for such a small town.
Lake Louise & Moraine Lake
Likely two of the most famous views in all of Canada (maybe even North America) are those of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. No matter how you feel about large-scale tourism or throngs of tourists, you can’t come all the way to Banff and NOT see these two icons. Somewhat recently, Parks Canada decided to close off the roads to the lakes for all private vehicles. The only way to visit them now is to take a shuttle (or a tour) from a parking lot/ski lodge just outside the park. This was very confusing to us when reading about it online, probably because it’s new, but it was actually really easy to do. You reserve a time slot and a direction (either LL->ML or ML->LL) and then present your digital “ticket” to the bus driver. The buses leave every 20 minutes, and as long as you get on within your window, you’re fine.
Lake Louise is huge. There are trails on either side of the lake and up the mountains on both sides with bird’s-eye views. You can also rent canoes and take to the water if you want ($145 for 30 minutes – yikes!) My advice for Lake Louise is to play it by ear depending on the time you’re there, what the weather is like, how many people you see going in either direction, etc. We were there in the afternoon, and it was quite crowded, so we took the path less traveled up to the Fairview Lookout on the lefthand side and found it absolutely perfect. There are signs everywhere showing the lengths and difficulty levels of all the trails, so you can pretty easily decide once you’re there. Just remember to bring water and snacks because there’s not a lot of options once you’re on the tourist circuit.
Moraine Lake is not as big, and because of how it sits, you’re sort of on top of everyone else trying to see/take pictures of the lake. There are several trails here too, but most of them take you away from the lake. We did the 4-mile (6-km) trail to the Consolation Lakes and felt that they lived up to their name lol. In hindsight, I’d have rather brought a picnic and found a nice place to sit and eat while looking over one of the lakes. All the hikes were lovely, of course, but the views of the lakes were better. Also, we did see signs about hiking/traveling in larger groups because of bears, which we didn’t take very seriously then. After recent events, we plan to be more aware and prepared next time, and I would urge anyone else to do the same.
Icefields Pkwy & Jasper National Park
Our last great adventure in the Canadian Rockies was a drive from Banff City up to Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park and back. This stretch of road is known as the Icefields Parkway because there are over 100 glaciers along this path, which gave us some of the most incredible views we’ve ever seen from a car. It’s only about 3 hours up to Athabasca Falls, but it took us over 4 because of all the stops we made along the way: the Columbia Icefield, Sunwapta Falls, Mistaya Canyon, Peyto Lake, and dozens of other incredible stop-offs. This drive was easily my favorite part of the trip, especially in the fall. We didn’t see very many people along the way, but there were endless signs teaching us all about the region, the various landforms, flora, fauna, you name it. It was very much like a DIY field trip, which, of course, I loved!
Ugh! After writing this and reliving all these incredible moments, I’m ready to plan a trip back to Alberta. Somehow, I feel like this might be a Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) situation, in which you haven’t really seen it until you’ve seen it in all four seasons. I do hope I’ve inspired you to put your plans to visit Banff into action not only because it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, but also because some of these places won’t always be there for us to see in the future. Time really is of the essence, so bon voyage!
It’s December! Only a few days from the official start of winter! You might already know this about me, but I absolutely love this time of year. Of course, I know not everyone feels the same way, and I also know that this year is different (in about every way possible). Typically, during the holidays, Tucker and I do some traveling: we disconnect, explore someplace new (often somewhere we can play in the snow), but alas, 2020 has kept us pretty tethered…in Florida of all places. So, for this month’s post, I ask you to humor me as I look back at some of my favorite winter destinations of years past. I’m aiming to turn this pining into planning, and I invite you to do the same. There’s always another winter coming!
Tatra Mountains, Poland
This is the trip I always find myself looking back on around this time of year. Magical is the best word I have to describe our snowy hike in the Tatra Mountains. It felt and looked exactly like a fairy tale (well at least until our inadequate clothing choices had us pondering the effects of frostbite). Zakopane was the little mountain town we based our trip around, and the mulled wine, grilled oscypek (a mountain specialty), and the handmade wooden crafts in the local markets made it all the more beautiful.
Harbin, China
Even if you don’t like the cold, you should still be able to appreciate the incredible Snow and Ice Festival in Harbin, China. I’ve never been to the North Pole (or any city that associates with it), but I definitely got Santa’s Village vibes while we were there. Snow sculptures as far as the eye could see, entire buildings and playgrounds made of ice, and, if I recall correctly, there was even a VR experience with penguins. Definitely worth the icy eyelashes!
New York, USA
A post about winter trips must include New York City. It’s truly lovely any time of year, but bundling up on a ferry crossing the Hudson, drinking hot chocolate while watching the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center, and feeling the fierce winds tunneling through the skyscrapers are some of my favorite memories of this iconic destination. I also feel pretty strongly about the fact that it smells much better in winter – no baking garbage or sweaty subway seatmates. Bonus!
Bergen, Norway
We actually booked our trip to Bergen on a bit of a whim because we found cheap tickets from Warsaw, and we had the time off. In hindsight, I can’t believe we hadn’t already had such an amazing place on our travel list. We loved strolling down the snowy cobblestone streets, and the fjords and scenic train rides were absolutely breathtaking. If you ever find yourself in Norway debating whether or not to do one of the “Norway in a Nutshell” tours – do it!
Chengdu, China
Perhaps a somewhat surprising winter location, but since Chengdu is known as one of the “Furnaces of China”, I vowed to stay away in summer or anything summer adjacent. Thus, we visited in January and had the most amazing time! Pandas are adorable year-round, and I found the outdoor tea houses and consumption of extremely spicy food much more enjoyable in cooler temperatures. The mountains (and yaks) just outside the city were also extremely beautiful covered in a pristine blanket of fresh snow.
Sydney, Australia
Just for fun, let’s say you’re like me and would love to have TWO winters in a given year. A trip to Australia can grant this wish! The Southern Hemisphere, of course, has their winter from June-August, so one year, we spent July in “wintery” Sydney. It was a mild winter to say the least, but the general vibe was there as we walked by ice rinks and snowflake décor all around the city. Like NY, Sydney is an amazing place to visit any time of year, but the less touristy off-season was perhaps even more enjoyable.
Lisbon, Portugal
Another, slightly warmer location we really enjoyed one winter was Lisbon, Portugal. The city is incredibly gorgeous, but really hilly, so we were very happy for cool weather/less sweaty hikes. The local wine and food we had was also very fitting of the season: thick stews, warm egg tarts, and strong vinho verde, just to name a few of our favorites. I’m also a big fan of quiet oceanside walks in winter, and Lisbon’s coastline did not disappoint.
Chiang Mai, Thailand
And finally, because I realize many people take vacations to hotter climates in order to escape winter, I’ll include Chiang-Mai on this list. We were there in January one year, and let me tell you, it can definitely be considered a “hotter climate”. While Bangkok and Phuket might be the more famous of Thailand’s must-see destinations, Tucker and I fell in love with CM. The temples, the mountains, the food (omg), and the small-town feel with some of the friendliest, calmest locals we’ve ever encountered, Chiang-Mai is a great place to relax during one of the most stressful times of the year.
So many memories, so many possibilities! My mind is spinning thinking about future winter trips! But for now, I’ll make do with reminiscing and enjoying a quieter, calmer winter. Happy holidays everyone!
Dani Francuz Rose 