My last week in New York (for now) rolled around, and so I decided to take some time off and not hide behind my laptop the whole time, which is what I had done pretty much all month. Instead, I made time to hang out with friends and enjoyed a few more of my favorite summer activities in New York – cycling, sunset picnics, food markets and al fresco dinners (on a rooftop no less!).
This year, I also got to kayak on the East River, something I’d been wanting to do for the past two summers. It was just as awesome as I expected it to be, and was a good reminder that I need to get into a kayak more often (the last time I was in a kayak was in May in Austin).
And I went on a street art walk in Williamsburg, hunting down some new graffiti pieces and murals, which I love doing, no matter if I’m in New York or in Bangkok or Buenos Aires. A highlight of that day was stumbling upon a Gregos face – exactly a month after stumbling upon one in Berlin.
By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls
New York City Gay Travel Resources
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Nine years in the making. European Gay Ski Week 2017, the biggest and most spectacular “Gay Winter Sports and Music Festival” in Europe, will take place in Avoriaz in the picturesque French Alps, from March 11th-18th.
Fremont Park in Sacramento is playing host this weekend to a cool art event – Chalk it Up brings together a bunch of chalk artists to create their masterpieces, and runs for the full three day weekend.
So I landed in Rio de Janeiro, for two weeks, during the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. I have been in Rio countless times, but always discovering new locations, hotels, restaurants and attractions. These are some of my findings during my recent visit. Also see all my minute-to-minute past/current/future posts and experiences in Rio de Janeiro.
When it comes to beachside cities that are amazingly welcoming to LGBTIs, there are a handful that are sometimes overlooked. Sun-drenched party capitals like Gran Canaria and Ibiza get most of the attention. But what of the smaller hotspots in Europe obscured by their bigger brother gay destinations?
Here we visit four such cities with gay friendly beaches, while hitting some of the top local stopovers with holiday experts On the Beach…
1 Coral Beach Hotel & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus (5*)
Loved by two million tourists a year for its jagged natural beauty, the island nation of Cyprus legalized civil unions in December 2015. Which is impressive, given its close proximity to countries not traditionally known for being LGBTI-friendly, such as Lebanon, Turkey and Syria. On the island’s south coast is Paphos, a city of 32,892 that’s been selected as a European Capital of Culture for 2017.
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Tamarindo Bay Boutique Hotel (Adults Only 18+) began construction four years ago and opened its doors three years ago in the center of Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica.
This very private and discreet boutique hotel was designed as a spacious modern oasis surrounded by tall green walls, secured key pad entry points and security cameras and personnel to provide comfort, beauty and security. The modern contemporary architecture combined with old world hospitality create an ambiance of serenity and comfort.
The owners have travelled and lived in many magical destinations and decided to create a modern contemporary destination that would be built using the very finest environmentally friendly building materials and implement green sustainability practices in the daily operations of hotel.
The property features the only UV non-chlorinated pool in the area, spacious second level restaurant and exercise area, complimentary vegetarian breakfast options, complimentary concierge service, pool floats, surf boards, beach cruiser bikes, mountain bikes, snorkel gear, coolers & beach chairs. This boutique property is an excellent choice for adult couples, friends or groups seeking the comfort and personalization found at a B&B and the space and amenities of a contemporary modern boutique hotel.
Our guest will usually describe their experience with us as a charming, zen vacation in a private oasis in the center of our very active beach town.
I started the month in Germany – a rushed three-city trip to Erfurt, Leipzig and Berlin to say goodbye to my nephew, nieces, my brother and my sister. Because my flight was out of Berlin, I decided to head there a day early to meet up with some friends before flying back to the States.
Most of the month was spent in New York, but I boarded a plane to Los Angeles yesterday, and I’ll be spending the next few weeks in Southern California.. but I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s look back at the past 31 days:
First of all – albeit traveling much less this month, I ended up sleeping in 8 different beds in the past 31 days, only three less than in July! So much for slowing down.
Overall, August was a weird month, because I felt somewhat unsettled and uneasy the entire time, even though I was ecstatic about being back in New York. I missed most of my beloved New York summer this year, and was happy to get to spend at least one month there. And August is such an amazing month in NYC – it was scorching hot (much needed after I was chilly most of the time I was in Germany!), there were plenty of outdoor activities: open-air movies, sunset dates, rooftop drinks, bike rides, New York pizza (time to update my New York Pizza Guide again), beach days, kayaking, picnics in the park and island getaways (Governors Island and Fire Island). I didn’t get to do as much as I wanted, but reflecting on the past month now I feel like I fit in a lot, considering the heavy workload I was dealing with.
Originally a quiet surf beach and fishing village, Tamarindo has evolved to be the areas most developed and popular tourist destination.
Playa Tamarindo or Tamarind Beach is home to many nationalities from around the world living in harmony while continuing to shape the town into a perfect blend of boutique businesses and services designed to provide something for everyone who visits. Our unspoiled beaches are second to none in Central America featuring long wide stretches of sand, coconut trees, tamarind trees, calm and inviting shallow tide pools and world class surf.
A recent stay at a hotel in Buffalo opened my eyes about hotel safety issues. After checking in, taking the elevator to my floor, I opened up the door to my assigned room only to find someone else’s belongings scattered across the bed. I closed the door and retreated to the front desk for another room assignment.
The person at the front desk told me there’d be been a mix-up and apologized. But her explanation left me with more questions. How could this have happened? Don’t hotels have a bullet-proof process in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening?
While I’m grateful the occupant of my first room wasn’t in residence when I entered, I began to think of what I’d do if role had been reversed. What if someone entered my room while I was in the shower – or worse, just emerging from the shower? What if I wasn’t there and the unexpected guest decided to rifle though my belongings? What if?
As a woman who travels alone a lot, I take hotel safety very seriously. Needless to say, my sleep that night was restless. Not only did I not feel safe, I felt my concerns were dismissed far too quickly by the hotel staff.
