After climbing almost 250 steps to the highest point in the city, we felt we earned a toast with a view!

Cheers!

We have been toying with the idea of adding more video to our blogs; bought the MAC, learning iMovie, now shopping for the video camera!  What better way to practice than with a video of us getting ready for Ellen??

TAKE ONE! “Take one what? A break? A nap? What am I supposed to take?” Lisa

“That’s just movie lingo for the camera is filming. Do something funny. Practice your dance moves. That’s definitely funny.” Cheryl

“I can’t find my snorkel or my Mardi Gras mask! Do you know where they are?” Lisa

“No, but we can’t forget to pack the blender in the suitcase. We’ll DEFINITELY need that when we go to see Ellen!” Cheryl

We had a blast making this short video and now are completely hooked!  Props, background, storyboard, editing (so, that is the not so fun part!  30 minutes of video for a 1 minute spot..  lots of bad footage on the editing room floor for sure!). The neighbors think we’re nuts filming ourselves in snorkel gear outside in February, but hey, it’s all for the fun!

We even created a Twitter hashtag for our Ellen visit #GonnaCEllen so we can Tweet all the way to Hollywood!

Let us know what you think about our first What Boundaries Video attempt, and for any of you video bloggers out there, please help us find the right tools!  What do you use for your video blogs?

Now – ONWARD to The Ellen Show!!!

Ellen Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

One of the fastest growing popular trends in the world of travel today is house sitting. Housecarers.com is the most visited house sitting site in the world. They’ve matched thousands of traveling homeowners with house sitters worldwide. In return for house/pet sitting, you’ll have a place to stay for free!

For the cost of your airline ticket – don’t forget to take advantage of those reward programs – you could be living like a local in some of the most beautiful places in the world. By staying in a home instead of a hotel, you’ll have the opportunity to become part of the local community. Meeting neighbors, shopping in the markets, and even volunteering in nearby schools and clubs is an option if that suits your personality.

Most house sitting listings are looking for someone to watch over precious pets as well. What better way for a traveler to get their “pet fix” by loving on a happy dog or cat every day?

How does Housecarers work?

For a $50 yearly fee, you’ll have access to search their extensive database, set up your own listing, upload photos, and receive e-mail notifications when new listings are posted. A free limited membership is also available, but without the ability to apply directly for house sitting opportunities.

Once you’re registered with Housecarers.com, you’ll have the opportunity to write a few paragraphs and upload photos. This helps the homeowner get to know you better. The goal is to them feel comfortable with you watching their most prized possessions. House sitting guides and samples of listings are provided. Daily e-mails of new house sitting opportunities plus a huge multi-country database literally puts the world at your fingertips!

We’ve become affiliates and strong supporters of this site – and plan to use them VERY soon for a new adventure of our own. What do you suggest, Molokai, Hawaii or Fiji? Or perhaps New Zealand might be a good place to start? We’ll keep you posted on how it all works out!

Ohhh and Ahhh over chocolate carousels, gargantuan festooned Christmas trees,  gingerbread castles, and then cap it off with Epcot spectacular fireworks…where else but Walt Disney World can you spend an entire day oogling for FREE?

Downtown Disney – Port Orleans French Quarter – Port Orleans Riverside – Contemporary Resort – Polynesian Resort – Fort Wilderness – Grand Floridian – Animal Kingdom Lodge – Old Key West Resort – Swan – Dolphin – Beach Club – Yacht Club – Disney Boardwalk

Here’s how to do it!

Park FREE at Downtown Disney to take in the Festival of the Seasons – there’s Santa, a chocolate sweet shop and coffee to fortify for the day ahead!

By bus, we head to Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside Resorts. A dose of the Big Easy and lavish plantations take us back to time of Southern charm and fragrant magnolias.

The Sassagoula River Cruise boat meanders through the forest back to Downtown Disney for another cup of coffee and a free sample of Ghirardelli chocolate.YUM!

We get in a little more shopping and then back on the bus for a quick stop at the Contemporary Resort. A Holiday Gingerbread  Tree awaits. Made of of 750 pounds of flour and 510 pounds of honey, it got our mouths watering for a taste.

Oh, there’s the monorail! We hop on here for a quick ride to the Polynesian Resort. The spirit of Aloha is evident throughout the resort with hibiscus and fragrant leis hanging on Christmas trees. The pool looks so inviting we take a peek as we board our sleigh on the water.

Motor launch time! Smell the gingerbread from the front door of the Grand Floridian Resort. WOW! There’s a Gingerbread House that defies the imagination. One of the Disney chefs puts on a wonderful demonstration of decorating a gingerbread house of your own and did I mention the Christmas Tree? This lavish display of Christmas is something not to miss!

Back on the boat, it’s time to get rustic. Deep into the woods for the Wilderness Lodge. There’s a campground and a soaring tree in the enormous lodge that makes it feel as though you are far away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando.

Back on the boat and then on to the Magic Kingdom Entrance. From here we hop a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where all sorts of wild animals roam. A beautiful African inspired Christmas tree with animal print decorations filled the lobby. For a look at the animals, go outside on to the boardwalk where you can see the giraffes, zebra, ostrich and various antelope roaming around the property.

Now the bus takes us to back to Downtown Disney to the Marketplace Station where we pick up the next bus to Old Key West Resort. What a charming place! The nautical theme reigns over this decidedly more residential vacation club. Be sure to stop into the Gurgling Suitcase bar and say Hi! to Joe the bartender, he’s awesome!

One more bus to Boardwalk Disney as the day winds down and the lights begin to shine.

Take a peak inside the Swan and Dolphin Hotels, check out the colored palms shining on the waterfront, then a trip along the boardwalk to explore a little more and perhaps a pint at Big River Grille and Brewing Works.

Gotta pop in at the Yacht Club Resort to see the vintage electric train village. There’s just something about a train set at Christmas!

Last stop at the Beach Club Resort to see if we can find the 12 hidden Mickey’s in the chocolate carousel. The white chocolate pony named Wonderland is my favorite, what’s yours?

If you time it just right, a perfect spot to watch the Epcot fireworks is on the bridge. The night was perfect and the fireworks typical of Disney – awesome!

You’re welcome to follow our route for a day of family fun yourself — all you need is a comfortable pair of shoes and the Disney Christmas Spirit!

TIPS:

• Parking is free at Downtown Disney, but get there early. We started at 8:45am and got a front row spot.
• Buses from DTD Marketplace start running at 9am
• The Sassagoula River Cruise can take you from the Port Orleans French Quarter to the Riverside, but it’s only a pleasant 0.5 mile walk along the river.
• DTD is a great spot to start and end. It is essentially a hub for all bus traffic.
• While gaping at the massive Grand Floridian gingerbread house, don’t forget to buy a gingerbread Disney character or chocolate covered gingerbread Mickey Ears to share.
• We decided to take a break at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to grab a light late lunch at the Sanaa restaurant downstairs. It was past lunch seating and not yet dinner but we were invited to order appetizers from the bar. Being practically the only ones in the restaurant, we decided on a Safari Amber (brewed on site for the Animal Kingdom Lodge) and an order of Bread Service for Two. The bread order blew us away! We picked 3 breads and 3 accompaniments. Ordering the Naan and Paneer Paratha breads with cucumber raita, coriander chutney and roasted red bell pepper hummus. The appetizer was only $8.99 and the one order filled us up completely. Not a bad price for a Disney Resort.
• Every park (Epcot, WDW) typically will have transportation options to any of the resorts.
• Resorts will typically bring you to a park (WDW, Animal Kingdom, Epcot) but not to another resort.
• Definitely take some boats! With ferries, motor launches, and river cruises available, these are nice rides and many are faster than other transportation options. The were usually less lines at the boats as well.
• Fireworks at Epcot begin at 9:30pm to end a LONG day!

The MAP of our route – but if you’re limited on time here are our NOT-TO-MISS Favorites:

Epcot Fireworks from the Boardwalk Bridge
The Grand Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian
Disney Beach Club – Chocolate Carousel

Be Not Inhospitable To Strangers Lest They Be Angels In Disguise

Just across the Seine, in the shadow of of Notre Dame, on 37 rue de la Bucherie sits a booklovers dream – the famous Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. Named in 1964 as a tribute to Sylvia Beach’s famous 1920′s gathering place for writers we love today like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Today the bookstore serves as a nucleus in Paris for writers and readers alike.

Iconic Eiffel Tower

You can feel the excitement in the words from our travel journal! We had made it to Paris, the spectacular City of Lights. The first few days had a bumpy start – from getting pickpocketed (TWICE!) to learning our way around Metro systems and trying out awkward French phrases we’d practiced so hard. But once we settled in, this place felt like where we were supposed to be. Our days were spent hunting Hemingway’s ghost down crooked boulevards and resting tired legs with a glass of wine. And how many times did we just sit and look around saying, “We’re really in Paris, aren’t we?”

From our journal: Paris was all it promised and much more! The city of so many gorgeous spectacles you can’t possibly take them all in — we’ve been tourists non-stop for several days and decided to change gears to slow down and really visit some of the places we’ve only passed for a few minutes while the tour guide gave a quick explanation.

Paris has a current of creative energy running through it as deep as the River Seine. Artists, writers, sculptors of all periods have called this area home and it’s easy to see why. The monuments, the cathedrals, even the streets call to the artistic spirit and you can feel that spirit everywhere!

The gargoyles from the cathedrals are intriguing — taking LOTS of pictures of the creepy guys.

Gargoyle of Notre Dame

We left the comfort of the Marriott Rive Gauche (a beautiful hotel) and headed toward the more “artsy” area of Montmartre for our final two nights in Paris.

Our hotel/hostel room was MUCH smaller, but being in the center of the shadow of Sacre Coeur made up for it. Climbing the 402 VERY steep steps to the top of the dome gave an amazing view of Paris – the 402 steps down gave amazingly sore calf muscles the next day.  Our award awaits at the bottom of the steps…A toast to the awe-inspiring cathedral!

After the hike up those 402 stairs!

We even managed to stay up for the twilight lighting of the city – it was 10PM after all!

Night Falls

We saw the Eiffel Tower begin it’s hourly light show. It looked like diamonds shimmering up and down so fast it was hard to photograph. This city is so amazing!

Diamonds at Night

How we got there and around town:

We decided to take the train from Brussels to Paris on Rail Europe. They offer pretty decent deals on either rail passes or one way trips.

We stayed at the Hotel Altea Utrillo, in the heart of Montmartre, 5 minutes walk from Sacre Coeur.  It was a little more pricy than our typical hostels, but we wanted to splurge – we were in Paris after all!  Cost was about $70 USD per room (not per person like most hostels).  You can see some great reviews and pictures at Hostelworld.com.

Almost every destination we jumped on the Open Top Buses to get a tour of the area and map out where we wanted to spend more time.  We used City Sightseeing most of the time.  Check to see if they offer the 2-day pass, well worth the additional Euro and it gave us transportation for 2 days to get around the town!

Some of the above tips include actual services we used and that we have developed affiliate relationships with.  We had great experiences, or we would not promote them!  Safe Travels!

As our bus started down the road leading to this magnificent monument the cameras started to click.  The Atomium is certainly a site!  It was originally built for the Brussels World Fair in 1958, and while intended to be a temporary structure it remains today as one of the major attractions for visitors to Brussels.  The structure itself is composed of 9 spheres and represents the cell of an iron crystal that has been magnified 165 billion times.

You can actually enter the monument which contains escalators that connect each of the spheres.  Inside you will find various exhibits.  Certainly worth the the trip!