Edinburgh’s Old Town is a particularly striking one. Or, perhaps, dominant is a more accurate word. The way it rises above the city, castle perched on its rocky crags, is the sort of drama that leaves an impression. The Old Town is also one of the busiest areas of Edinburgh, often THE busiest (and definitely … Read more
If you’ve ever been to Edinburgh for Fringe, then you already know that lots of shows take place at the Radisson Blu Hotel Edinburgh City Centre. And it’s one of the few spaces in the city where the shows are actually air conditioned. (A big F’in plus. – Riley) Seeing Fringe shows is actually how … Read more
Calton Hill is one of Edinburgh’s top lookout spots (there are several of them in the city), a place you can climb up to to get a sweeping view of the cityscape and its surroundings. And that’s its main appeal. The view really is beautiful from up there. You’ll find it on tons of postcards … Read more
Edinburgh’s Christmas Market (aka the Edinburgh Winter Festival) is a lot like any European Christmas market. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Except, not really. In our experience, what sets one Christmas Market apart from another is its use of space, the way it infuses into a city, curling along its thoroughfares and … Read more
Way back in 2013, we stayed at our first ever Motel One when visiting Munich and I loved it’s modern simplicity. And the toasties. Since that first experience, I’ve been all about staying at Motel One hotels whenever we’re traveling where we might find one as an option. That is, until the experience at the … Read more
(Before I begin, I’d just like to say I know I’m courting the wrath of Québec, New Orleans, and several other municipalities for even writing this title. But I have to at least suggest the possibility. Now on with the glowing review.) Le Bistrot is an unusual gem of a restaurant. It’s like a ruby … Read more
While I know that Olive Garden is known for pasta instead of pizza, I can’t help but think of Pizza Express as the Olive Garden of the UK. Why? Because they seem to be everywhere, they are always packed with people, and the prices are super affordable. Plus the food is pretty good. In fact, … Read more
We have been in a lot of haunted places. Not haunted in the touristy sense (though Mary King’s Close did have some of that and there are plenty of ghost tours in Edinburgh), but haunted in the legitimate sense. Places where you get that feeling of history. Where spirits live inside the walls. Where, if … Read more
I’m going to go ahead and make an appeal to you right up top to go to Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival. I’ll make one later too, but I want to put this highline, so you know exactly where my heart’s at. Edinburgh Fringe is, simply put, one of my very favorite things in the entire world. … Read more
Edinburgh. It’s always Edinburgh. Every time we end up there, we think it again – this is our favorite place in the entire world. The cobbled closes. The castle above the city. So much about this place is like stepping out of time. Yet, nothing of this city’s fabled past lies dead and buried. Its … Read more
You could describe Valencia’s Plaça de l’Ajuntament as a lot of things. You could say it’s the heart of Valencia, and that would be pretty close to true. It does lie almost exactly in the historic center (which I guess would make it more the stomach than the heart, but still…) and it’s also home … Read more
European markets are some of the best things. Seriously. The quality of product and variety of product and sometimes the strangeness of product you can find in them is simply unsurpassed. Sure, they’re just big farmer’s markets/fish markets/meat markets. But they’re like big farmer’s/fish/meat markets everyday set in (typically) very cool buildings. Mercat Central de … Read more
Is Valencia, Spain the best city we’ve been to for street art? It very well might be. Only Brussels may top it. Maybe. It’s very, very close. But, best or not, I CAN tell you unequivocally Valencia has some damn good street art. AND. SO. FREAKING. MUCH. OF. IT. How much of the city is … Read more
If you like Dale Chihuly’s work – and we do, we’ve seen it all over the country – you’ll probably be stoked to know Chihuly has a permanent presence in Las Vegas. (Well, permanent for now. You know how things go.) His work appears at the Bellagio, and it’s free. Chihuly created the ceiling display … Read more
Casey, Illinois is the tourist destination that I never knew I needed in my life. As a result, this may truly be the most unintentional of all the guides here on Enter the Lens. And it’s all a result of the combination of our unwillingness to fly economy more than 3 hours and a surprise … Read more
The Strip may not be one of our favorite places in Vegas, but we won’t deny the casinos do décor very well. Not just in the kind of everyday grandeur that fills resorts like the Venetian, Caesars Palace, and the Wynn, but in seasonal décor, the small (and sometimes not so small) arrays that bring … Read more
It might seem weird to include a library on a list of a city’s must-see attractions (especially in a city like Vegas), but the Las Vegas-Clark County Library system has really done their most. If you’re a reader, local art seeker, or just someone with an extra hour on your hands on the west side … Read more
You might think Las Vegas, being desert-bound as it is, is not an ideal place for a botanical garden. And you would be right. As someone who has attempted to grow outdoor plants here (and who simply has to survive the summers), I can state with some authority that Vegas’s heat and low humidity are … Read more
Staying on The Strip is one of those things we never really intend to do as locals, but we recently ended up there anyway. You see, we’d booked the 20,000 Leagues dinner at Lost Spirits and assumed that we’d be far too intoxicated to make the 25-minute drive home afterwards. (That was a correct assumption!) … Read more
If you find yourself wandering around Valencia, Spain with a bit of a sweet tooth, then there is only one place that can scratch that itch. (Is this a mixed idiom? Or do you think people are walking around with itchy teeth? – Riley) It’s the DDL Boutique. This place is so insanely good that … Read more
When it comes to Vegas, we love to tease people away from The Strip. Yes, we have freely admitted The Strip is cool and worth seeing, but as far as the best things to do in Vegas, The Strip just ain’t where it’s at. (Disclaimer: We do realize “cool stuff” is super subjective, and if … Read more
Since Riley has a lot of food allergies and sensitivities, we always try to find restaurants that have organic ingredients or do things like farm-to-table. That’s how we found El Dorado Cantina in Vegas. Cause they use organic and non-GMO ingredients for their dishes. Though, it took us a really long time to visit El … Read more
One of the first restaurants that we discovered after moving to Las Vegas in 2015 was CRAFTkitchen. Now, technically, this place is located in Henderson and not in Vegas proper – but I guarantee you that it is 100% worth the trip from the Strip. The only bad thing that I need to warn you … Read more
If you know anything about the Vegas food scene, beyond the celebrity restaurants and buffets of The Strip, Lotus of Siam is probably what you know about. The reason that you likely know about it is that, back in 2014, Anthony Bourdain declared it as pretty darn amazing. It used to be. In fact, it … Read more
Have you ever wanted to have a drink on a submarine? Or explore the labyrinthine streets of a circus town? Lost Spirits Distillery in Las Vegas describes itself as part modern cirque show, part rum distillery, part cocktail party, but that scarcely does the place justice. (It can also be a bit hard to visualize.) … Read more
If you find yourself planning a trip to Las Vegas and need something really unique to do – and you have an adventurous palate – then put the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea dinner at Lost Spirits on your itinerary. This 16-course Jules Verne-inspired fine dining experience at Lost Spirits Las Vegas does require an … Read more
Do you know what the “M” in Ethel M Chocolates stands for? I didn’t when our chocolatier asked us that at the beginning of our tasting there. (Though I would have had I actually perused their website thoroughly. The answer is literally right in the footer of their homepage.) The answer, it turns out, is … Read more
True story. We were once walking through the Venetian in Vegas and overheard a woman say it was better than the real Venice. It isn’t (it might be a bit cleaner and smell a bit better), and it has to be one of the dumbest hot takes we’ve ever heard, but there’s one random woman’s … Read more
Most people who come to Vegas for vacation never seem to venture far from The Strip. They get a car from the airport to their casino hotel and split their time between casino floors and other attractions on The Strip, which mostly means drinking and gambling and gluttony. Maybe a show or two, if they’re … Read more
Las Vegas. Ah, home sweet home. As a couple, we have lived here longer than anyplace else. Five and a half years and counting. In two separate spurts. I’d like to say ending up here… twice… was intentional. But it wasn’t. The first time we decided to move to Vegas, we did it because we’d … Read more
When you are walking around the city center of Valencia, it’s impossible to avoid the art of David de Limón. It’s around so many corners, you feel as though you are being stalked by it. And that’s a good thing. De Limón is responsible for what has to be the most iconic (it’s certainly the … Read more
If you’ve been searching for the Holy Grail – and let’s be real, who hasn’t? – Valencia, Spain has one entrant into the race. It’s located inside the Valencia Cathedral in the Capilla Del Santo Caliz (the Chapel of the Holy Chalice) – I know… just a little on the nose, right? – and it’s … Read more
Sometimes you’re walking around a city and you get to a place you’re not quite ready for yet, but it’s where you are, and you’re already there, and it offers some relief from the heat – some, let’s not get too enthusiastic here – and you think Welp, may as well do it now. And … Read more
You know how sometimes you’re in a very beautiful spot in the middle of a very beautiful city, and you just suddenly wish you weren’t there? Sometimes it’s because you’ve scheduled that slightly-too-long trip and are ready to be home. Sometimes it’s because the place isn’t what you expected and disappointment sets in. Most of … Read more
Any American who has been in Europe with a craving for Mexican food already knows just how dire the restaurant situation is when it comes to things like tacos. (You would be stricken with horror if you saw what the Dutch think nachos are… it’s bad, it’s really bad.) In most of Europe, if you’re … Read more
Have you ever gone into a restaurant that was basically empty and had the best damn meal of your entire life? For us, that was Manaw Wine Bar in Valencia. The food here is Nikkei cuisine, which is a mix of Peruvian and Japanese cuisines. So, if you’re a foodie and you like fusion restaurants, … Read more
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Spain because it’s energy really speaks to me and I love parts of it (like the cheap wine), yet I hate other parts of it. Valencia is the perfect Spanish city to demonstrate this strained relationship that I have with Spain. There are things about Valencia … Read more
When we first heard LA was getting an NWSL expansion team, we did hesitate for a second. LA is a fair drive from Vegas, after all, and that’s without the traffic. We also know how things come up for us (i.e. we decide to take big trips on a whim even though we have season … Read more
After learning that the town of Solvang, California is known for their Danish bakeries, I immediately knew my mission. Sample all of the bakeries to find the definitive winner for my own selection of the the best bakery in Solvang. Little did I know that I would also uncover the new title holder of best … Read more
