Room with a view, courtesy of Erik Vokel Boutique Apartments

Land of bull fights, jamón, flamenco, tapas, fútbol and oh so much more, Spain needs no introduction and nowhere can you better experience the captivating mosaic of Spanish culture than Madrid.

That’s exactly where I started my visit to Spain, a return 10 years in the making. Having called the vibrant city home a decade ago I was eager to return and just as keen on finding the ideal home base. My previous stay in Spain, I lived with a family in the ‘centro’ district and was hopeful I could find an equally central location without giving up that great sense of what it feels like to be a local.

With my new location independent career path and given that I’d be dedicating a few hours each morning of my stay to work, I was looking for a place with more elbow-room and flexibility but also somewhere that would give me integration with locals. Eschewing a hotel, I was on the hunt for the perfect ‘apartmento madrileno’ and scored big. Eric Vökel Boutique Apartments offered to host me at one of their Madrid apartments and it proved to be an ideal and quite luxurious locale to base my stay.

My Madrid "office" for the week at Eric Vökel Boutique Apartments

The apartments are designed by a Copenhagen-born design and architecture enthusiast and I was treated to a stay in the penthouse suite which offered a two bedroom, two bath apartment and a spacious terrace with views over the Madrid skyline. What I particularly liked about the apartment design is the combination of bright, warm Mediterranean colors with minimalist elegance and simplicity. The natural wood flooring was the perfect complement to the fresh design and comfortable furnishings, all which played together beautifully. It was a superbly inviting ambience to relax in after a day of exploring the city or to work from each morning.

The eco-friendly apartment is fully-equipped – washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc. – but it was the extra touches that really set the apartment apart. The check in process was seamless. I had a delayed flight in from Rome which got me in hours after reception had closed. An uber efficient check-in kiosk allowed me to check in at whatever time I pleased and I was welcomed in my room to a basket full of gourmet goodies – olive oil, olives, pate and a handful of other Madrid delights.

The only downfall? The apartment was so comfortable I had trouble getting myself motivated to venture out each day – no joke!

The apartment is truly ideal for the independent-minded or business traveler. You have access to all the amenities of a luxury hotel (fine linens, soaps, etc.) and the comforts of home in a foreign city. What more could you ask for?

Eric Vökel Boutique Apartments

Price: Ranges from €135 and up
Website: http://erikvokel.com/

(Note: Many thanks to Eric Vökel Boutique Apartments for hosting my stay at their wonderful boutique apartments – our opinions are, as always, our own.)

Those were my first thoughts upon landing in Havana against the wishes and the law of the United States government. Using a friend’s wedding in Mexico as the perfect cover and jumping-off point, Laura and I decided to steal a surreptitious look into that “inner sanctum” they call Cuba.

While the cars and prices may not have changed much, Cuba no longer represents the warm and vibrant party-like atmosphere that attracted so many Americans to these parts in the 40’s and 50’s. Cuba, I soon learned, can be a depressing place. But to describe it solely in those terms would be a terrible injustice. No, the Cuba that I found was too pregnant with contradictions to be summed up in a neat little package with a bow around it. Ideologically isolated, yet geographically close, Cuba can best be described as a forbidden fruit, possessing multiple layers and begging to be explored.

What I, like many Americans, failed to consider is that Cuba is much more exotic to us than it is to the many others free to travel there. For tourists coming in from Europe for their Cuba holiday, the island is full of sun and sand and a place to relax for a long weekend to escape the winter doldrums. That I was not one of a few very brave foreigners that dare enter Castro’s domain immediately gave me a feeling of disappointment.

Crumbling beauty of Havana, Cuba

But, this is not to disparage travel to Cuba. No, in fact, I highly recommend it! Surprised? Cuba is a truly unique place, and not only for notorious reasons. My earliest observation is also the most memorable in my mind. Driving into the city from the airport, I was struck by nature’s primacy on the island. The lush vegetation we saw everywhere was not simply a result of tropical temperatures taking course; instead, it was a conscious effort on the part of the government not to be conquered by capitalist interests. There are no Cancun-style high-rise condos, no copycat T-shirt stores or souvenir shops lining every street and no unctuous sales types trying to lure you into their Carlos O’Something Irish bar, quite refreshing for incoming tourists.

In that same vein, save a few Che or Fidel pictorials, there are no billboards, no advertisements and no marketing materials constantly fighting for your attention. Given that Laura and I were both employed in the marketing field, this struck another chord – our jobs, our entire industries rather, did not even exist here. Disappointing perhaps, but on a base level, I think this is again refreshing.

Music continues to play an integral role in Cuban society. Because the musical arts is one of Fidel’s pet projects, musicians are encouraged through state patronage. It seems every which way I turned, there was live music flowing out of dilapidated music halls and into the streets, giving credence to the belief that Buena Vista Social Club is not even the best musical outfit Cuba has to offer. In this way, Cuba, and particularly the cultural and political capital of Havana, still maintains the Latin musical flair and history that it has long been synonymous with.

Along with great music comes great dancing. One of our favorite nights in Cuba took place in a neighborhood square in the colonial town of Trinidad, home to the plantation mansions of the the 18th and 19th century sugar barons past. Mojito in one hand and a cigar in the other, I watched as the square filled with locals of all ages coming to dance, beginning with live music at 10pm and continuing on until the early hours of the morning. This is how the locals escape, so to speak, and forget about the difficulties in their lives, taking pleasure in something so simple. Our last night brought us to one of Havana’s most popular music clubs where a spectacularly entertaining band created a blend of jazz, rumba, mambo and salsa using a variety of African and Caribbean beats and instruments.

Cuba is now, in its own way, creating a new style of communism – state-run capitalism, not too dissimilar to that of China. The government now uses 50% of tourist revenue to rehab crumbling colonial edifices, many being turned into hip cafes, art houses and restaurants in the Old Town area of “La Habana Vieja.” The other 50% of tourist revenue is then pumped back into schools, hospitals and other resources the citizens need. This is long overdue, in my opinion, and sadly still benefits tourists more than locals. But, it’s a step in the right direction.

So, after reading this, you might be confused as to how I feel about Cuba. For that, you are forgiven, because in many ways, I am, too. With Cuba, you can’t peel away a layer and see or feel the soul of it. I realize now that finding the unique core of this place takes time, patience and persistence. As an explorer, I haven’t met a destination yet that I haven’t longed to discover more of or get to know on a deeper level. I guess in this way, Cuba presents a hefty challenge. I’m up for it.

Remnants of our travels surround us. In the historic neighborhood of Old Town just north of downtown Chicago, we’ve created a home for ourselves in the form of a travelers’ den. A hand-carved chess set from Zambia sits on our coffee table, a tea set from Burma at the foot of our ottoman and a wooden shelf from northern Thailand is lined with guidebooks. A montage of black and white portraits of the orphans in Zambia puts our days in check and a world map suspended above a well-worn sofa, inspires adventures to come…Here, we feel at home.

While we dream up our next travel adventure, we’ve been trying to figure out just what to do with the 25,000 photos we captured from our journey. Enter: Easy Canvas. Easy Canvas Prints is a canvas creator that turns your photos into art. We were thrilled when they recently contacted us to do a review of their canvas prints and offer a giveaway to our readers.

Our Canvas Print

Thumbing through thousands of photos from our travels, it was hard to decide which photo to choose. We wanted something simple yet memorable. With the red-robed, stoic Masai Warrior against the great, green earth of the Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania, this photo stood out.

We were thrilled to receive the 16 x 20 canvas print from Easy Canvas and were really happy with how it turned out. Because it’s on canvas, it looks and feels more like a painting of a photo than an actual photo. For the photograph we picked it turned out to be a good fit.

There are several ways you can customize your print. You can select the border wrap (depth) of .75″ or 1.5″ and you can choose the side of the canvas as either solid color, an image wrap or mirror wrap. We selected the .75″ and image wrap and were extremely pleased with the results.

Reader Giveaway

Now it’s your turn. In time for the holidays, we’re offering a giveaway for a free 16 x 20 print. If you’re looking for a great gift for a traveler friend or just looking for a creative way to display one of your favorite travel photographs, it’s easy to enter. Simply leave a comment below (or on our Facebook page) describing the photo you’d like to turn into a canvas. Feel free to share a description or link to the photo and we’ll select our favorite photograph as the winner of the contest. If you’re looking to make some more of your own prints, “Like” Easy Canvas on Facebook and they’ll give you 50 percent off your next print.

This contest is limited to readers in the US or at least those that have a shipping address in the US. It will run for a week and we’ll announce the winner next Monday, December 12.

Our print and this giveaway are sponsored by Easy Canvas Prints. However, the review of this product is our own opinion.

In three weeks we’re running the Chicago Marathon for these two (find out more here). We hope their stories will inspire you and perhaps move you to make a donation to their cause. If interested, please click the button below.

I can assure you Joseph and his little Momma will be eternally grateful.

We’re excited to share that the Chicago Marathon was a success and our marathon fundraising efforts a victory for those twelve little ones in Africa. We’ve raised nearly $3,000 for the kids and are still going strong. We are grateful for the support and the donations will certainly go a long way in Zambia. We’ll be working closely with the director of Oz Kids over the next few weeks to figure out how best to allocate this money. We’ll certainly be in touch to share details on how your contributions have benefited the children.

In the meantime, we wanted to share our path to the Chicago Marathon and a warm “Talumba” (thank you in the local tongue of Tonga) on behalf of the kids. Please check out the video below and thanks again for helping us make their world a little brighter.