Brittany Greer

Myself and three others from St. Julien Hotel and Spa were awarded an all inclusive wine tasting extravaganza in Napa Valley, CA, where we were treated like kings and queens - truly "wined and dined." The first night there we stayed in the Montevine mansion and had a fabulous meal where I discovered Moscato wine and berries. It was love at first taste! During the course of the trip we tasted well over 100 different wines (some straight out of their aging oak barrels), went on endless beautiful fall walks around the vineyards, ate the most delicious meals prepared by Jeff Star each, course accompanied by it's perfectly paired wine, met the most wonderful people with the most carefree lives, and best of all, experienced the entire process step-by-step of wine making, from the grape picking ... read more

When in Portugal, we explored Lisbon (the capital city) for a day/night and a small beach town named Lagos for three. Lisbon is very city like, although it’s definitely not your average city. It has a lot of old Moorish influence, which comes from the ancient Arabs and Moroccans. There is a labyrinth of windy roads with no names in the middle of the city. One of the explanations for this common street work with the Moors is that it was a self-defense tactic against any invading enemies. It’s very common in other places I’ve been too, such as Morocco and Granada. The city is settled on the banks of an inlet and there is a large red bridge (highly resembling the San Francisco bridge) that connects the two banks. Just outside the city limits, deep ... read more

I took a daytrip to Penedes, Sitges, and Sant Piere. Penedes is only a forty minute drive from the Barcelona city center. Here we took a tour of the Codorniu cava vineyard, where we learned how cava was made. Cava is essentially champagne but it is technically illegal (in the world of wine laws) to call a substance "champagne" unless it’s from a specific region in France. Hence the name "sparkling wine" for bubblies coming from California. In Spain they call it cava. For something to be cava it must have two requirements; first it must go through a second fermentation process in the bottle (this is where yeast is added with the sugar content, making the bubbles) and second it must age for at least nine months once completed. At this vineyard in particular they ... read more

Morocco was hands down the most rewarding trip I have ever been on. We went for six days with an excursion program called Discover Seville who had everything planned down to a t (including three fabulous meals a day!) Of course, we did have to buy our own souvenirs, but that was the only cost not included. It was great for us because we didn’t have to do or plan anything - all we had to do was sit back and enjoy Morocco. The fact that it was all inclusive made it completely devoid of any stress, which left plenty of time for pure enjoyment! There wasn’t a single thing I would change about the way Discover Seville arranged it, everything was perfect - the food, buses, hotels, campsites, Berber guides, English guides, site seeings, excursions, ... read more

Valencia is a town south from Barcelona, about midway to Granada. Our program went for a day trip to check out all the history that exists within the city. We even went to the church that houses the Holy Grail…yes the true Holy Grail. Unless of course, you don’t believe the grail is a cup and rather the bones of Mary M, a labyrinth map, or something of these sorts. Valencia is known for its new Museo de Artes y Sciencias, which has a very contemporary design and lately is what brings all the tourists, such as ourselves, in. They also have a great aquarium where we were able to catch the last dolphin show of the day. And the people! They had almost as much pride as Catalunyans do...our guide says they have the biggest ... read more