We have come to the end of the year and this is the perfect time to start reviewing the year. You can read what my Top Travel Posts for 2015 here. It has been a wonderful year for our family and we have had some great opportunities to travel both locally, nationally and internationally. My husband was able to make a few trips to Vancouver (his home town) to see my in-laws and to spend some quality time in beautiful British Columbia. The highlight was probably trying out the new Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish with my in-laws and my daughter or maybe it was the drive to Banff? That is always a memorable trip but when you get upgraded to a convertible, its even better.
For the most part the highlight of my year was going to Costa Brava and Barcelona in Spain and then riding a TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) high-speed train to Paris. Paris was a whirlwind but we had the time to visit Costa Brava and some very unique places. We both fell in love with Spain: the food, the sights, the easy travel. They were some of our most popular posts of the year. I am pretty sure that means, I will be doing more travelling in the new year. Here’s crossing my fingers and writing more about our family, solo and conference travel.
Top Travel Post on @DownshiftingPRO
It was all about the food for my the first two most popular posts on DownshiftingPRO:
1. Good Eats in Montreal, Food you MUST try! Travel Tips from DownshiftingPRO
This post was all about the great food that you can have in Montreal and the local joints that you can have them in. There is nothing better than a steamy and fries from Lafleurs or maybe you want to have a smoke meat sandwich… have a read and find out where in Montreal.
2. Full Food Experience: Try a Cooking Class in Barcelona Spain
One of the highlights of our trip to Barcelona really was spent in the kitchen. I never thought I would say that but I have to admit that the trip to the market, the preparation of the food and then the meal was fantastic. I have found my new ‘must do’ in a city. Take a cooking class and learn how to make delicacies of the country that you are visiting and you will appreciate it all the more.
3. 10 Fun things to do in Paris
There are many things that you can do in Paris that are ‘must see’ and ‘must do’ but you can also do a few things just for fun. On our trip to Paris in the spring, we decided to do some fun things that I think let you have a true taste of Paris. Have a giant ice cream sundae on the Champs Elysee, go shoe shopping in Les Galleries Lafayette or take in the longest running screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Don’t just go to the Louvre, have some fun and enjoy the City of Lights!
4. The Oldest Farmer’s Market in Ontario
Stratford, Ontario is not just about the theatre. You can also go see one of the Oldest Farmer’s Market in Ontario off the beaten track. Take in the food, the goods and the fun that is going to a farmer’s market all year around!
5. Food Trucks in Lloret de Mar, Spain
Nothing could have prepared me for a night out in the seaside resort of Lloret de Mar, Spain. As I attended the TBEX conference in Costa Brava, I ventured out on my own and came across this wonderful plaza with great music and many food caravans. In North America we would call them food trucks but these small 1970s trailers have been converted into gastronomic-mobiles… You gotta eat there!
6. Surrealism – A visit to the Dali Theatre Museum in Spain
I promise you, you have never seen a museum like this. It is one thing to go to a museum and see it full of art from different sculptors, painters, photographers and artists but when all the art in one large museum is by the same artist and that person is Salvador Dali… you will be amazed. If you are in Costa Brava you must go. Take the train from Barcelona and have a visit in Figures, I promise (you again) you will not regret it.
7. The Ultimate Paris Bus Tour #Travel #Paris #France
You can take a tour of any city on an expensive bus tour but you always have the option of taking a tour of the city by public transport. I lived in Paris in the 1980s and I got around the city by metro and by bus. My favourite was taking a city bus because you could see all the sights as you made your way home at the end of the day. I put together a few routes that would be helpful for you to see the City of Lights by just purchasing a bus pass.
9. The Bruce Peninsula: Beauty in Ontario Guest Post on #TravellingMaple
The Bruce Peninsula has a majestic beauty that can only be found where Lake Huron meets Georgian Bay. We have spent most of our summer family vacations there as both my husband and I love the area. My son wrote this blog post about our family vacation as a guest post for the Travelling Maples blog. They have some awesome content from Canadian bloggers and you should definitely check it out. The link is in the blog post.
10. 70 Travel Prompts or Topics for the Month of November
I have started to blog more about travel this year and I wanted to give myself a few ideas on what to blog. So I put together 70 travel Topics that you can blog about. It’s a pretty comprehensive list and has topics that are local, national and international in scope. I hope that I see some of these topics on your blog! Make sure to add your title to the comments if you do end up using one of the prompts.
Happy Writing!
11. Havana Central – Authentic Cuban Food Near Time Square in New York City
We were tired and hungry when I had the brainchild idea to get my daughter to find us a great restaurant near Time Square in New York City. She came up with a few options but we decided to go to have an authentic Cuban Food Experience. We found ourselves at Havana Central and you can imagine how good the food was. So… Yummy.
Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.
I love the cooking lesson one in Spain. That’s a great idea for any new country you visit. This is great. Thanks for putting this together.
Great!! it inspire to travel more!!
Gaaah! This just reminds me why I want….no need to travel more! I’ve been traveling more than I used to, but there still so much to see and do and so much fun to be had!
Ooooo loving your Paris post!!!! Paris is on our travel bucket list for 2016!
Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is great, as well as the content!
Thank you for your kind words. I have been blogging for about 7 years now but have really concentrated more in the last three years. Thanks for dropping by and please check out some other blog posts on Organizing and Family life.
I can’t wait to try out Barcelona and the cooking class and very inspiring to see that you were able to travel to all these great places in 2015! Great hearing your wonderful adventure.
Thank you Tracy. I’m glad that I was able to do that last year. This year, my focus is on Sweden where the TBEX conference is being hosted in July. I know it is a long shot but I plan on opening up the possibilities by working hard and networking more.
This round-up is so interesting! I can’t wait to read about all these adventures…I am a travel enthusiast and love to read about other people’s experiences!
We can never travel enough, right? I love being at home with the kids over the Christmas holidays but there was a part of me that wanted to see what it was like in far, far away places. Where have you travelled recently? Please leave me a link if you want…
I can’t wait to read all of these posts! I love to travel and love reading about other people’s travel adventures!
I think travelling is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. I have to admit, I want to do more of it this year so stay tuned!
Travelling is so much fun! I am happy that you were able to accomplish much and toured these beautiful places. Cheers to a new year of new adventures!
You have been a very busy traveller to this year… I’ve been following along on your blog. I hope someday I am able to do as you do and travel the world with my family. Have a great year Annemarie!
I still need to make my recap post! I love the Paris post. It’s certainly on my bucket list to go there!
Thanks so much for reading Krystal. I would love to see a re-cap post on your blog. There would be so much to choose from. Good luck with that! Happy New Year!
Gotta love those food trucks. And Paris is on the top of my dream destination list. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Lynndee. Always a pleasure to have you drop by and say hello. You must get to Paris but go on off season. May or October are great months to go. Here’s wishing you a trip to Paris for 2016!
What wonderful destinations! We don’t travel a lot but these places look ideal for someone who does!
I also like to travel locally. I’m two hours from Toronto and just love going there also. Lots to see. You don’t have to go far to see a brand new world.
I am going to have to go through these, I would love to travel more in 2016 and it sounds like you had, had a wonderful year of adventure. x
Sarah, I had the Barcelona trip in my sights since the fall. I worked at and accounting firm for 8 weeks during tax time just to be able to afford that trip. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope to have more travelling adventures to share so stay tuned.
I am totally going to have to spend sometime looking around at these posts, I would love to travel more in 2016 and it sounds like you, have had some wonderful adventures. x
These are indeed amazing posts and fantastic places to visit. Spain is one place I would love to travel to just for the beauty of the country and culture along with Paris too. Congrats on a great year.
Rebecca, I so desperately want to return to Spain because I did not have enough time in Barcelona. It was a great trip with my eldest child. Thanks for your well wishes and I hope you have a spectacular 2016!
These are all such amazing posts! It looks like such an amazing year – Happy New Year!
It sounds like you have had an amazing travel year. I love your take on travel. It’s informative, enlightening and entertaining. I wish you all the bes in 2016
Wow, nice round-up! I love each and every one of these posts! Make sure to come over and link up your non-sponsored posts every Monday to #MyPostMonday because I will tweet it out and make a general fuss about your post!
I can’t wait to read all these blogs. I love anything to do with travel I love traveling myself.
Just like you I have been fortunate enough to travel to Spain this year! Absolutely love it! Thanks for sharing your experience. Have a wonderful New Year!
This is a great collection. I love to travel, and when I’m not traveling, I loved to read about travel. 😉