Category: Travel
La Sultana Marrakech: I’ve never set foot in a more beautiful hotel. Words to describe it? Timeless. Graceful. Opulent. Stylish. Unique. Palatial. Every last detail of this hotel was pure perfection. 
The Alhambra, Granada
I’m in the middle of writing a bunch of travel articles about my trip to Spain and Morocco. Highlights? Tapas y sangria, seeing Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica in person (!), catching a flamenco show, massive cathedrals and ornate palaces, chasing Hemingway’s shadow, Museo del Prado, Moroccan cooking workshops (yum!), the Majorelle Gardens…I could go on and on and on. This time around I got to visit Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, Marrakech, Fes and a few more places.
My favorite cities of the bunch were Madrid and Granada…I absolutely fell in love with Granada, with its laid back attitude, sun-drenched streets populated with orange trees, plentiful ice cream parlors and sidewalk cafes, dazzling Moorish architectural influences, and the Alhambra fortress towering over the city with a backdrop of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains. Fantastic! I’ll be posting photos someday soon when I can sort through them all, but for now check out some of the posts and articles I’ve written about my trip so far (more on the way):
culturevixen.com/tag/spain/
culturevixen.com/tag/morocco/
Plaza Mayor, Madrid
Moroccan Mint Tea= fantastic!
I am SUPER excited for my latest adventure: Spain and Morocco! First stop? Madrid!
On the must see list: triple museum goodness, that is: the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Of course there will also be tapas, sangria, and more tapas, along with live flamenco & Spanish guitar, a jaunt to the royal palace, and a side trip to Toledo…
By a stroke of luck, the festival of San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid, will be in full swing. What does that mean? Corridas! (daily bullfights) and fiestas galore!
¡Salud!
Images by Marcus Obal (center) and Krzysztof Dydynski.
Gayle Wheatley, Oil on Canvas, 12″ x 9″
View of Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington from Seattle’s Best coffee shop.
Halloween has come early this year! Disneyland’s got a fun new event going on Tuesdays and Fridays leading up to Halloween where you are free to don a costume, trick or treat openly, and enjoy the unique experience of reduced crowds and no wait time for rides! (At least, that is the way it was on the rainy night we went.)
It was kind of an amazing night with both T and I hand-picked by Disney staff to ride on a float in the Disneyland parade with a select group of costumed partygoers, and a bunch of fancy Disney monsters and dancers. What are the chances of being picked out in a crowd of hundreds of thousands? Anyway, all the kids loved our costumes, and we got frequent requests to pose in other people’s pictures. Now I have the unique challenge of coming up with an idea to top this amazing party for the actual Halloween…
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT SUITE101 TO GET THE INSIDE SCOOP
I’m still going through all the photos from my trip to China…seems I fell into a total photography frenzy and took roughly 10,000 photos. (shame) But in my defense, I was there for a month…
Anyway, after years of reading and studying about Chinese art, history, culture, religion, and language, I finally made it to all the places I’ve always dreamed of seeing! Traveling to 5 cities in 4 weeks, the trip was a whirlwind of adventure full of gourmet delicacies, temples and palaces, visiting friends and relatives, and travel writing.
Highlights? Well, in HONG KONG, I had some of the best meals of my life! I also spent quality time with family, went to the famous bun festival, had my fortune read at a local temple, sipped afternoon tea at the Peninsula, bet at the horse races, bargained like crazy at the Temple Street Night Market, paid a second visit to the Big Buddha on Lantau island, had dinner on the Peak, got stuck in a tropical storm at Stanley beach, shopped until my feet hurt, and took a side trip to MACAU. Flew to BEIJING and hiked an un-touristy stretch of the GREAT WALL. Was awestruck by the massive Forbidden City. Saw the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, and a Beijing opera. Went to the World Fair in SHANGHAI, strolled along The Bund, and caught a train to picturesque HANGZHOU to explore the famous lake of Chinese lore. All in all, it was a fantastic trip full of wonderful experiences.
When I get through the photos, one day, I’ll show off some more of them! —G
I made it to The Great Wall of China!!!!! Avoided the massive tourist crowds by trekking out to one of the further sections of the wall at Mutianyu 慕田峪, which is one of the best-preserved, and oldest parts of the wall. There was a brief rainstorm, and the whole place cleared out completely. Hiked all the way to the top of the mountain, past old watchtowers and right through the rain. Can’t believe I finally made it here!!!
I just got back from an amazing, mind-blowing, life-changing, fantastically incredible vacation in Iceland!!! I have always felt a strong pull to Iceland’s isolated strangeness, and have longed to travel there for quite some time. I finally decided to take the journey, and it ended up being one of the best trips of my life!!!
I love Icelandic art, from it’s stunning visual edginess to it’s bright modernness. I adore Icelandic artists and musicians, and was inspired by so many of the classical and contemporary artists working out of Reykjavík, as well as so many other things: stellar design, colorful architecture, fresh & sustainable food, animals that weren’t the slightest bit wary of humans, beautiful Icelandic horses & of course the people of Iceland.
And I was especially influenced by the many diverse landscapes I encountered! It all felt otherworldly, like I was exploring another planet at times. From bubbling geothermic mud pots, to the blue lagoon, to farms full of frolicking goats and sheep, to glacial lakes covered in jumbo icebergs, to black lava sand beaches, to quaint fishing villages located on fjords, to steaming volcanoes, to immense lava fields & craters, to the Arctic Ocean, to vast wildernesses of bouncy moss, to the thousands of waterfalls and rainbows– and of course the midnight sun that never set.
In short, Iceland inspired me. It changed me, charmed me, and recharged me. Artistically I’ve been flooded with new ideas and have been working on a couple of new series inspired by Icelandic landscapes and my experiences. This is the first piece in my series:
Gayle Wheatley
Iceland, Abstracted: #1
Watercolor on Paper
2009
Also I’ve got thousands of photographs to sort through still, but will post some soon once I get though them!
Skál!
(cheers in Icelandic)
I’m traveling around Iceland right now, and it’s truly AMAZING!!! I love it!! This is definitely one of my favorite destinations in the world. This shot was taken in Reykjavik at midnight! Lovin’ the arctic sun!
Just returned from Sin City, from a lovely few days of luxurious indulgence. Afternoons were spent lounging poolside and succumbing to daily shopping frenzies. Food consisted of celebrity chef specialties, fancy cocktails, and beautiful sweet treats that made my stomach jut out unfavorably. Nights were glittery and magical, and I finally caught “O” which was mind-blowing. I had to keep reminding myself to close my mouth, which hung open in amazement practically the entire show! Here are a few images from the trip:
Out on the strip!
Chums posing by the Trevi fountain
swirls!
Oktoberfest @ Hofbräuhaus…Vegas!
T gets a birthday spanking
Cool bar at the Wynn
Chillin’ outside Bellagio
