pictured rocks national lakeshore

After deciding to escape the city this past Labor Day holiday weekend, we now were faced with the difficult decision of where exactly would we be escaping to. My boyfriend did a quick google search of destinations within a day's drive from Chicago. He found a place neither of us had heard about before. After looking at about two pictures, we couldn't wait to get there. 

postcard from the pilsen wall

I'm a sucker for street art. Thankfully, Chicago is littered with some great pieces. When I discovered a stretch of wall that runs along the 16th Street viaduct in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen via Instagram, I knew I had to pay a visit. The art on this wall is an initiative between the neighborhood and the Chicago Urban Art Society. It allows various street artists, many of whom are internationally known, to beautify the landscape. It is definitely worth the trek to Pilsen to see some really amazing work by some greatly talented artists.

grand teton national park

Just ten miles south of Yellowstone lies Grand Teton National Park. The park is a bit smaller in size covering only about 480 square miles in the state of Wyoming. What it lacks in size, it makes up for it in stunning views. 

wild america: yellowstone national park

 

Mother Nature is one heck of a lady. She has created some jaw dropping scenery around the world. Among her many great achievements is Yellowstone National Park. It is the world’s oldest national park along with being America’s largest, covering nearly 3,500 square miles within Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Yellowstone is home to many dramatic canyons, lush forests, stunning lakes, numerous hot springs and gushing geysers.  Hundreds of animal species call this place home including bison, elk, bears, moose, wolves and antelope. Yellowstone stands alone as one last piece of wild America.

All those things were more than enough to convince me to book my flight as soon as possible. With only four days, we tried our best to see as much as we could of this vast park.

until we meet again, dubai

When I was booking flights for my recent trip to India, I was lucky and found a cheap(ish) fare on Emirates that would give me a fourteen hour layover in Dubai. My plan was that I would visit the observation deck at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world and photograph the Burj Al Arab, the only seven-star hotel in the world, in extremely short time I had.

Seemed simple enough, right? Well, not so much.