BURLINGTON

I really, really liked Burlington. The tiny city is extended on the shores of Chaplin Lake, and it is quite the charm-large streets, historical buildings, streets markets, cafes and restaurants, boutiques, and lots of musicians.

The city hosts the University of Vermont as well as a few community colleges; therefore, its population is quite young.

We spent two days there, resting and enjoying the picturesque town.

We arrived late, so we just had enough time to walk around the main street-cafes and bars were crowded, lots of multicolored lights illuminated the pedestrian-only-street, jazz music was playing, and the night was warm-and it was great.

Next morning I went for a run on the bay. The sun was shining and the water glistened-the bay is a great place to run or bike by the way. Also, Downtown Burlington is great for biking and strolling around. They have really nice and cheap restaurants because of the students-stop at The Vermont Juice Company for smoothies, juices, and bowls; likewise, the Sherpa Kitchen is also delicious and extremely cheap for a two-course meal plus a drink.

We spent one of the nights at the North Beach Campground- which is a few minutes from a gorgeous beach. The sandy beach was beautiful, with cool water and plenty of space to just walk around and chill. The sun´s rays produced a golden color on the faint-blue sky, and then it was gone.

On the following day (Saturday morning) we headed to downtown Burlington for the famers market. The little market wasn’t so tiny-numerous tents framed the closed street and central park, a couple hundred people wondered around with full bags, and the smell of freshly-baked goods filled the air (if you are a big fan of local, healthy food, and variety of baked goods, GO to the farmers market in Burlington!).

 

BEN & JERRY´S ICE CREAM FACTORY

Who doesn´t love ice cream-especially from Ben & Jerry´s? Well, the world-famous ice cream actually started in Vermont back in the 70s. There, they have a tiny store, an ice cream shop (of course), and a factory tour-with free samples in the end! Now the brand has a few other factories scattered around the world: Canada, Israel, Holland and etc…

STOWE

This tiny village is the main destination for snowboarding and skiing in the east coast, for it is surrounded by mountains (known for its icy slopes, while the west coast is powdery). During summertime Stowe is filled with nature lovers who seek outdoorsy activities.

Since it was Sunday morning, we went to a Lutheran Church. It was quite different from what I was raised in.

But one of Stowe´s most famous attractions is the Trapp Family Lodge-built by the Von Trapp singers. Now, if you are familiar with The Sound of Music movie or A Noviça Rebelde you would like to visit the hotel where the actual family lived in. Unfortunately the original house burned down in the 80s and tours don’t regularly happen, but if you go down to the convenience store and ask the cashier about the family-if it´s the lady who we talked to-she will be glad to explain things to you (there are plenty of photos of the original family too). The lodge itself is really pretty, wooded and rustic, located on top of a mountain with a superb view of valleys and mountains-it reminds me of the opening scene of The Sound of Music.

 MONTPELIER

The tiny town of Montpelier is the capital of Vermont State-being the least populous state capital in the U.S. We only spent a few hours there, mainly grocery shopping at the COOP, but I thought the town was quite nice. It reminded me a lot of Bellingham (the city I used to live in back in WA State) because of its “hippiness”. As we strolled around the town we saw lots of welcoming cafes and restaurants, sweet people, and the Vermont State House-a beautiful white edifice with a golden dome.