The pension where we students live provides breakfast and lunch, but not dinner, so most nights we eat at typical three course Italian meal at a restaurant; pasta,

The white, milk and dark chocolate cell phones were perfect to nibble on with a strong espresso on a cold day in Florence.

meat and a dessert. After inhaling such a large meal, we usually stroll around Florence.

Last week we stumbled upon the famous Chocolate Festival in Piazza della Republica, the largest square in Florence, located in one of the oldest sections of town. During the Roman Era the piazza was home to the forum. Later in the Middle Ages a food market hall was built on the spot. Today all that remains of the historic area is the Colonna dell’Abbondanza (Column of Abundance).

We found abundance in all forms and colors and shapes of chocolate. Dozens of booths offered flowing warm chocolate fondue, artistic chocolate statues, pure melted chocolate served in cones and every type of chocolate bar, and shape, one could imagine. It was a chocolate lovers’ heaven.

Fresh fruit kabobs dipped in warm chocolate

I couldn’t resist a chocolate kabob, with fresh strawberries, bananas and grapes, dipped in a fondu fountain of milk chocolate. It was the best dessert decision I have made yet! The fruit melted in my mouth, as shots of sweet chocolate complimented it. My taste buds went crazy!

One friend bought a silver chocolate wrench and hammer for her dad, another found a chocolate puppy to ease her longing for her puppy at home. A chocolate shoe, shaped like a soccer cleat, made a perfect gift for a college friend who is a soccer star.

The Chocolate Festival lasts nine days, February 10-19^th, and is a must-do for your taste buds if you are in Florence during mid-February.

Last weekend I fell in love with a new city, Paris. For three euphoric days I ran around the City of Lights and, like most first time visitors, I tried to see all the tourist attractions.

We climbed the Eiffel Tower in the teeth-chattering winter weather, fell into a trance listening to the boys’ choir in Notre Dame, found the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, meandered through Ste. Chapelle, Luxembourg Garden and admired Monet’s paintings at the Musee d’Orsay.

When I left the guidebooks behind and ventured off the beaten path, I discovered my own Paris in the small streets, courtyards and neighborhoods. Maybe it was laziness, or the fear that I would “miss something” that made me so attached to them. But somewhere along the line, my attitude changed. Maybe it was curiosity or independence.  I learned that I like to stumble upon places and make discoveries for myself.

Near Notre Dame on the Left Bank I nestled into a hole-in-the-wall bookstore and read for a few hours in a comfy armchair. Behind the tall book stacks, there are sleeping facilities with thirteen beds in which as many as 40,000 people have slept in over the years. The book stacks open up in a Harry Potter manner, in which the sleeping facilities appear between thousands of books.

I had stumbled upon Shakespeare and Company, famous for being the gathering place for writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein.

A secret world unfolded for me in Place Du Tertre, the square behind Sacre Coeur. Local artists set up easels to paint and display their work. I settled into a café on the square with a strong espresso and sweet Nutella crepe.

I did what the French do; I allowed myself the luxury to sit and savor the ambiance and sensation of daily life. I watched couples aimlessly strolling by, fashionable women shopping and noticed that the waiters danced among the crowded tables.

Place Du Tertre is at the heart of the Montmartre quarter. At the beginning of the 20^th century many penniless painters such as Picasso and Utrillo lived there.

After dark my friends and I strolled through the neighborhood around our hostel in Montmartre (Le Village Hostel). When we heard music and laughter we popped into a local Karaoke bar, L’Epoque. We spent hours singing and laughing hysterically with the Parisians as we all sang along to American classics, such as Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline and John Denver’s Country Roads.

Although I only had three short days in Paris, I have started a love affair that may last my entire life.

London on parade

London has no shortage of attractions. Whether you’re into food (best Indian   food, hands down), shopping (Harrods…need I say more?), sports (nothing better than a pint of ale and some footie in the pub), or art (Tate modern, V & A, the British Museum, to name a few)—there is something for everyone. Even for the hard-up traveler.

With that in mind,a different approach to our time in London is in order.

1)    Don’t Eat Out – Though London is known for its smorgasbord of cuisines and fine dining options, if you are visiting on a tight budget, the biggest mistake you can make is to fritter away your money on overpriced restaurants. Instead of succumbing to the allure of artfully arranged ambiances and fancy cocktails, opt for less pricey meals at places where you aren’t paying for the atmosphere. Some of the best meals I had in London were from one of the many markets serving fresh food for cheap. You will find everything from Pad Thai to delicious quiches at the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Just because you are on vacation, it doesn’t mean you have to eat out—there is nothing wrong with a frugal meal of bread, cheese, and wine in your hotel room before heading out to explore the city.

2)    Don’t Take Cabs – Unless you are intoxicated and find yourself at the last Tube stop in Cockfosters at some ungodly hour, there is no excuse for taking a cab in London. London is a pedestrian friendly city (although the cabs do race down the streets—look both ways!) with restaurants, pubs, and shops around every corner. Though it seems like a novel idea to us Americans, walking is always the best way to go. The next best option is to use the London Underground. Instead of buying a single ticket which equals one ride, buy a ‘Pay As You Go’ Oyster card, which is cheaper than paying with cash and can be bought at the station, online, or at a newsstand. The card also works on buses, and can get you into London attractions.

3)    Don’t Let Down Your Guard at ATMs – Another tip for the coin-conscious traveler: don’t get what little money you have stolen. London is notorious for ATM thefts. I had a friend who was robbed by a man who tapped her on the shoulder, asking if she dropped five pounds. When she turned around to look, he grabbed her card as it was ejected from the machine. Though she chased him for several blocks, he managed to evade capture. Moral of the story: use the mirrors on the ATM to see if anyone is watching you enter your pin, or even better, go in pairs.

4)    Don’t Go to Fabric – London’s nightlife is extensive…and expensive. Clubs like Fabric boast three different rooms and a vibrating floor, but cover and drinks will have you weeping at your balance the next morning. As with most London clubs, it is man-heavy, loud, and far too easy to get lost in (I lost my friends within 5 minutes, never to be found again). However, if clubbing is your cup of tea, check online for the nights with deals or go early when cover is discounted.

5)    Don’t Go On Tours – There is nothing worse than driving around the city in a bus as an annoying tour guide attempts to crack a joke about Big Ben. So don’t do it. All you need is an Oyster card, a London guidebook, and well-rested legs and you can be your own guide (and get a great workout).

By Claire Cudahy who  lived and worked in London, on a budget.

Claire with wanderlust and not the wallet to support it.

I was in Ecuador when it happened to me. Many seasoned travelers had warned me about it, but I, with my buoyant wanderlust, had always haughtily considered myself above the adverse effects of foreign travel. No, I was certain. It couldn’t happen to me.

But it did. And I still remember the look in my victim’s eyes.

Culture shock stalks even gutsy travelers

It was a beautiful day in Cuenca, the kind of day that I lived for. Cool in the shade, warm in the sun and perfect for strolling home from class in a worn out tee shirt and jeans. Ordinarily, I would have ambled along the colonial cobblestones with a swagger, faintly bobbing my head and feeling hip in my iPod and aviators.  That day, however, this happy-go-lucky optimist had been replaced by a dark doppelganger who stomped down the street frustrated, fuming and loathing everything about her previously beloved city. The sun was too hot; the buses were suffocating; the people had evidently never grasped the concept of personal space. I was the anti-traveler. And I was huffing and puffing and scowling my way back to my host home when I lived out one of my most vivid travel memories to date.

Out of thin air, he burst into my path. As I passed a dark, narrow alley he popped out in front of me and walked backwards, keeping pace face-to-face as he harassed me and tried to force me to acknowledge him. He just kept desperately thrusting his goods in my face, smiling, refusing to take no for an answer.

Finally I snapped, shocking him and everyone else around me with a string of obscenities that would have astonished even the hardest of thugs. I’m not sure if it was the look on my face or my impressive knowledge of back alley gutter Spanish, but he stopped dead in his tracks and I saw the eager kindness disappear from his soft, wrinkled eyes. He slowly staggered away in disbelief with his tray of colorful iced clown-faced cookie pops. Yep. I’m a horrible person.

Upon verbally assaulting a kindly (if not slightly overzealous) old baker, I realized that not even I was impervious to culture shock.  On my previous trips, I had never experienced the famous “anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is em-placed in a new culture.” However, after a series of irresponsible decisions that had resulted in the loss of my debit and credit cards, I was broke, helpless and utterly desperate. The situation was compounded when I ached to be home and was instead met by unwelcome cat calls, reckless drivers and one particularly pushy cookie salesman.

The truth is, at some point we all have moments when we want to throw in the towel and curse the inconveniences of other countries and go home to the good ole’ USA where roads are marked and people speak our language and we can scream at our friends and family instead of total strangers. When I started this article, I intended to give you some advice on how to get through the inevitable troughs of travel. But the truth is, there is no panacea for homesickness. You just have to suck it up, stomp away and look forward to the next day when you will once again appreciate that you can buy a homemade sugar cookie from the affable old man waiting for you in the alley.

By Molly Dugan, Cubical Correspondent.

What can I read to help plan a trip? Here’s a selection of books we love for travel inspiration or escapism.

Selections are from the GutsyTraveler and readers. These fiction and non-fiction books will transport you to the destination through the setting, the way the author uses words and immerses you into a different culture. Send us your suggestions and we’ll add them.

One of my recent favorite book to try to understand the French

France and Paris

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway.Sketches of the Author’s Life in Paris in the Twenties.

The Yellow House, Martin Gayford, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Provence.

La Seduction, by Elaine Sciolino the longtime Paris bureau chief of The New York Times.

Chocolat, Joanne Harris. A novel of magic in small town France.

Is Paris Burning? Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. How Paris evaded the fate Hitler envisioned for the City of Light.

In 1888 van Gogh and Paul Gauguin shared a yellow house in the south of France where the artists painted and exchanged ideas.

Two Towns in Provence, M.F.K. Fisher

Toujours Provence, Peter Mayle

The Paris Wife, Paula McLain tells the story of Hadley, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife during the years they lived in Paris.

The Three Ps of Engaging Your Kids in Your Family Vacation

Every year, I’d take my kids on a family vacation—the Grand Canyon, the

Teens love tech gadgets and games. Urban Adventure Quest is a new way to explore a city.

Monterey Aquarium, Yosemite. When they were little, it was easy to keep them engaged and happy. Then they hit their teenage years and it was all I could do to get them in the car, let alone see some excitement about going to Washington, DC. Based on their long faces, you’d have thought I was sending them away to a work camp instead of flying them to the national’s capitol for a summer vacation. Over the years, I discovered several tricks for creating family vacation experiences that even my teenage kids could get excited about. Here are my three Ps for engaging your kids in your family vacation.

Planning

Bring your kids in on the planning process. You’ll find they are little wizards when it comes to surfing the net, so give them some basic parameters—the cities you’ll be visiting, budget restraints, time limitations—and see what they can find. When they help plan the trip, they are more involved. My son’s interest in exploring caves led us to the Grand Canyon Caverns, a cave tour on the way to the Grand Canyon; something I would have missed.

Pace

Having pre-planned activities every day can take its toll on even the most seasoned traveler. If you think you are going to get your teenage daughter up every morning at six for some tour…think again. But if you alternate a day of “doing nothing” with a touring day, you can satisfy your longing for seeing the sights with your kids’ desire to do nothing. On a recent trip to Cancun, we alternated pool days with excursion days. On pool days, the kids slept in, swam in the pool, played video games, and hung out with friends. The next day, we were up at seven for a day-long tour that included a jeep ride to a Mayan ruin, snorkeling in cenotes (underwater sinkholes), and ziplining through the jungle. I didn’t hear a single complaint all day and we were all ready to do nothing the following day.

Participation

Museums are a hard sell, as is anything to do with history. So how do you make a trip to DC’s monuments or Boston’s historic sights a blast? You look for interactive experiences that turn touring into a game. One company that does just that is Urban Adventure Quest. They have interactive scavenger hunt games that turn cities into a giant game boards. In Washington, DC, for example, the game takes players on an interactive tour to several museums, sculpture gardens, and historical sites, where participants solve clues and complete challenges on their smart phone. The game even manages to “sneak in” local history and fun facts along the way. Because this interactive tour is played on a smart phone, your kids’ natural affinity for anything electronic makes it easy for them to lead the way. And when children lead the way, they are engaged.

Christine Walker shares fun new way to explore a city with your teens.

Christie Walker is the mother of two and an avid traveler. As a fan of the Amazing Race, Christie looks for adventure-type experiences that will engage her entire family when she plans her trips. She invites you to check out www.UrbanAdventureQuest.com for interactive tours in 12 U.S. cities including Washington, DC.

Marybeth Bond is the nation’s preeminent expert on world travel. She’s visited over 90 countries and written 11 travel books with National Geographic and Travelers Tales. She landed on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has been featured over 1,000 times on TV, radio and print. She is a Contributor to CNN, CNN Airport Network and CNN.com   She is also an in-demand speaker and spokesperson.Contact Marybeth at mbond99@yahoo.com

Download press photos

Scroll down to see CNN News CNN Airport Channel Segments with Marybeth.

What makes Bond “Gutsy”? She has hiked, cycled, climbed, dived and kayaked her way through more than ninety countries around the world, from the depths of the Flores Sea to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. She studied in Paris for four years, earned two degrees and had a business career in high-tech marketing.

Summer 2010 found Marybeth and her daughter on a grand coast-to-coast adventure—3,114 miles of riding their bikes by day and blogging by night to raise funds and awareness for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Through mountain passes in the Rockies, headwinds in Nevada, chigger bites in Kansas and wild dogs in Kentucky, they persevered and raised $52,000 for Osteoporosis Education and Research.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRfrEIb_iIg

Video: In this clip from CNN, Marybeth shares great advice for travel safety and hotel security while you travel. “Don’t let fear keep you at home!” says Marybeth. “Use your common sense.” This is an especially helpful video for business travelers.

Books

Marybeth Bond is an award-winning author/editor of eleven travel books including Best Girlfriend Getaways Worldwide, 50 Best Girlfriend Getaways in North America (National Geographic), A Woman’s World, Gutsy Women, Gutsy Mamas, A Mother’s World, A Woman’s Passion for Travel and
A Woman’s Europe (Travelers’ Tales). Marybeth is also the Specialty Correspondent for TravelGirl Magazine, Marin Magazine, and the National Geographic Blog.

Media Personality

• Featured guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show,
• The travel expert for CBS/Evening Magazine,
• NBC, ABC, Fox News Network
• CNN Headline News,
• CNN Travel Channel, Oxygen
• She on over 1,000 TV stations, 250 radio stations.

Spokesperson

Marybeth’s work as a spokesperson for corporate clients includes: in-studio interviews on national TV networks, Satellite Media Tours (SMT’s), National Live TV Tours in local markets, Radio Media Tours (RMT’s), B-Roll production, and writing travel tips/advice content for scripts.

Her clients include Burson-Marsteller, Johnson & Johnson, British Airways, National Geographic, Discover Card, Fleishman Hillard, Sprint, Procter & Gamble, and more.

Newspaper & Magazine Articles
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
USA Today
Denver Post
Houston Chronicle
Dallas Times Herald
Copley News Service
Universal Press Syndicate
Chicago Tribune
San Francisco Examiner
Travel Holiday
Travel & Leisure
Redbook
First for Women
New Women
Travelgirl magazine

Marybeth continues to criss-cross the globe educating, enlightening and empowering others to explore it through travel.  Whether your idea of a “gutsy traveler” is taking your first plane ride across the Atlantic, navigating the promenades of Paris, or going rafting in the Rockies, Marybeth’s travel tips, know-how and practical advice will guide you along the way.

Marybeth is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and was an adviser for Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

She lives in Northern California with her husband (whom she met while trekking in Nepal) and two daughters.

Contact Marybeth at mbond99@yahoo.com

If you could go anywhere, for a week of unparalleled luxury and exoticism,  consider Bali.

Spacious stilted villas and three infinity pools offer exceptional views from their hillside locations amid frangipani and bougainvillea at the Amankila in Eastern Bali.

On my fourth trip to Bali I was introduced to the Amanresorts’ award-winning, secluded properties.

Already well known to discerning global  travelers,  the exclusive Amanresorts are also popular with Hollywood stars. There’s a buzz among the well-heeled Aman-junkies who are treated like royalty for a honeymoon, anniversary or big celebration.

A warm welcome at the Amankila in East Bali.

My Favorite Amanresorts on Bali and neighboring islands.

Amandari is located near the culturally rich town of Ubud, Bali’s artistic center and gateway to the mountainous region to the north. Amandari, is built to look like a village with stone walkways and traditional shrines. The huge freestanding thatched-roof suites are constructed of coconut wood and teak. They overlook the terraced rice fields and the sacred Ayung River. Several have individual infinity pools. Facilities include a 32-metre swimming pool, tennis court, gym, and spa offering massage and beauty treatments. Complimentary activities range from an Ayung River trek to an Amandari massage.

A children's dance group from the village shared their talent at the Amandari. Dancer and gamlin players ranged from six to sixteen-years-old.

Amankila is a cliff-side resort in the eastern part of Bali. Thirty-four thatched-roof suites are perched above two levels of infinity pools and take advantage of the spectacular views across the Lombok Strait. The Beach Club, with yet another swimming pool, is located on the private beach below the resort and offers a range of water sports such as cruising and windsurfing. Complimentary activities range from a morning cruise to an East Bali trek or a nighttime dance performance on the beach. Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report
2011 Reader Survey Awards ranked the Amankila among the Top 20 Beach Resorts in the World. 

Amanusa is a secluded resort just 15 minutes from Denpasar Airport and close to the nightlife and shopping areas of Kuta, Sanur, Legian and Seminyak. Amongst a wide array of activities, guests can play golf on one of Indonesia’s finest courses located adjacent to the resort. Complimentary activities range from an Uluwatu Temple tour to a soufflé cooking class.

. . . AND BEYOND

Amanwana is a wilderness hideaway and the only resort located on the island of Moyo. Overlooking the Flores Sea, the protected marine park offers some of the best scuba diving and snorkeling in Indonesia. Jungle treks on the island offer guests the chance to discover waterfalls and a variety of bird life.

Amanjiwo overlooks Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist sanctuary, and rests within a natural amphitheater boasting a picturesque backdrop of the Menoreh Hills. Guided visits to Borobudur are a highlight of a stay at Amanjiwo and are included as a complimentary activity.

The unique setting and cultural activities of each resort can now be combined in a seven-night experience for around $800 a night. www.amanresorts.com

The awards they have won recently include:

Zagat Survey
World’s Top Hotels, Resorts & Spas
Gallivanter’s Guide
The 2011 Gallivanter’s Awards for Excellence
Best Hotel Group Worldwide – No. 1

From sex change to cannibalism, the natural world is filled with wild mating strategies. In a new aquarium gallery titled Animal Attraction, the California Academy of Sciences delves into the science of sex, exploring the remarkable and often surprising techniques animals have developed for attracting mates and producing offspring. Visitors will encounter hermaphroditic banana slugs, barnacles that win the award for most well-endowed, cannibalistic praying mantises, parasitic anglerfish, and more than a dozen other creatures. Animal Attraction opens to the public on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

In a series of eighteen tanks, the exhibit will explore the concept that nothing in life is more important than reproductive success. Sex—the passing on and mixing of genes—drives evolution, and is responsible for much of what we consider beautiful in the natural world. If not for reproduction, plants wouldn’t bloom, birds wouldn’t sing, and deer wouldn’t sprout antlers. For the first time, the Academy will use iPads as exhibit labels, allowing visitors to zoom in on gorgeous images, watch videos of these strategies and behaviors in action, and guide their own digital explorations using interactive touch screens.

Extreme Mating

Truth can be stranger than fiction when it comes to reproductive strategies in the animal kingdom. When a male Ceratioid anglerfish finds a mate, he literally latches on and won’t let go. After biting into the female, the two fuse permanently, and the male will gradually atrophy until he’s nothing more than a pair of gonads. This extreme sexual dimorphism ensures that when the time is right, the female has one or more mates at the ready. For promiscuous garden snails, also part of the exhibit, males who successfully fire a “love dart” at a prospective partner double their chances of paternity.

The Art of Attraction

Cutting through the clutter is serious business when it comes time to attract a mate. Male bower birds of Australia construct bowers—elaborate display arenas decorated with twigs, leaves, and brightly colored objects from berries to bits of plastic—in which to woo females with their architectural prowess, flashy dances and vocalizations. The exhibit will include a colorful bower modeled after an example found in the wild.

Dangerous Sex

Courtship is often at odds with survival. But the need to find and seduce a mate is one of the most powerful forces of evolution. In some species, like the praying mantis and salmon pink birdeater spider featured in the exhibit, females will sometimes devour males before, during or after copulation, a practice known as sexual cannibalism. For coral banded shrimp, also on display, the trick to a monogamous relationship is fierce aggression toward others of the same sex. Living in pairs, these shrimp will fight their mate’s potential suitors to the death. Visitors will also get up close and personal with a coconut octopus – for this animal, like other octopus species, sex is a tragic milestone. After mating, male octopuses die within months, and females will stop hunting in order to care for thousands of eggs, surviving just until they hatch.

Creative Parenting

Parental care in the animal kingdom ranges from intensive to practically non-existent, with numerous permutations in between. At the climax of courtship, male and female splashing tetras (small silver fish native to the Amazon) lock together and leap out of the water to lay and fertilize clutches of eggs on the undersides of leaves, away from the reach of predators. At that point, mom’s job is done, and dad hangs around for another 36-72 hours, using his tail to splash water on each egg cluster at one-minute intervals, until the eggs hatch and fall into the water, at which point parental care ceases. Depending on the species and environment, male Betta fish will care for their yet-to-hatch fry by constructing a bubble nest at the surface of the water, or by keeping the brood in his mouth for one to two weeks until they hatch.

The California Academy of Sciences is home to Steinhart Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium, Kimball Natural History Museum, and world-class research and education programs—all under one living roof. Admission to the Academy is: $29.95 for adults; $24.95 for youth ages 12 to 17, Seniors ages 65+ and students with valid ID; $19.95 for children ages 4 to 11; and free for children ages 3 and younger. Admission fees include all exhibits and shows. Hours are 9:30 am – 5:00 pm Monday – Saturday, and 11:00 am – 5:00 pm on Sunday. During peak periods, including some holiday weekends, an admission surcharge and extended hours may apply. Visit www.calacademy.org or call (415) 379-8000 for more.

* Thanks to the California Academy of Science News Department for this information.