Flashback: It’s Cold Outside!

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

Given the beautiful weather we’ve been having in Los Angeles the past few weeks, and the frigid temperatures on the east coast, I thought it would be fun to re-visit a post I wrote for the Frankly Penn blog last year (March 13, 2014 to be exact):

I work in Penn’s Los Angeles office, and I always enjoy returning to campus for some seasonal weather. When I was back on campus the last week in February for campus meetings and the annual Penn Alumni board retreat, I was treated to a real winter blast.

I left this in Los Angeles….

And arrived for a week of cold weather and some snow!

My Sweeten House colleagues were less than excited to see more snow given the harsh winter this year, but I couldn’t have been more thrilled. I even enjoyed bundling up in all my winter clothes that I never get to wear in Los Angeles, especially on Friday, when the temperatures were in the teens.

The next time I’m on campus, for Alumni Weekend, campus will be lush and green and in bloom for spring.

This article originally appeared on the Frankly Penn blog on March 13, 2014.

Zoom, Zoom and Vroom, Vroom for CARS on #FriFotos

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

The theme for #FriFotos a few weeks ago was cars. It was hard choosing which pictures to share from the myriad car shows and races I have attended, in addition to the photos of cars spotted while traveling around the world.

(The #FriFotos theme for tomorrow, February 20, 2015, is CHOCOLATE)

Every August, we head to the Monterey peninsula in northern California for a weekend full of car shows, auctions, viewing and races. We attend the annual Concorso Italiano celebration of Italian-made cars, watch the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, marvel at the cars up for auction at the many car auctions taking place throughout the weekend, and walk the greens at Pebble Beach for the highlight of the weekend, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

No matter where you are that weekend, you’ll see exotic cars, vintage cars, and expensive cars driving the local roads or parked in Pebble Beach, Carmel, Monterey and all the neighboring towns.

Here’s one car that we happened to pass by while taking a bike ride on 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach – the Bugatti Veyron. It seemed to be a professional shoot for this Hermes edition of the car, but as you can see, everyone stopped to take some photos of their own.

The Bugatti Veyron was posed for a professional photo shoot.

Beautiful interior of the Bugatti Veyron Hermes edition.

The paparazzi were out in full force to photograph the Bugatti Veyron.

For more views from the professional shoot, click here.

A few years ago, we traveled to France in June in order to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans), the most-famous and most-respected endurance car race in the world.

A few days before the race, there is a driver’s parade through the streets of Le Mans. The drivers for each race car (three drivers share driving duties during the 24 hours of the race) sit on the back of an open-air vehicle to parade through the town for the gathered crowd of car racing fans.

We were lucky to see Audi Team Joest drivers Tom Kristensen (aka “Mr. Le Mans”), Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish in the driver’s parade. During the race, I managed to capture one picture of McNish driving – the cars are so fast, it’s hard to capture them without blurring the photo!

Audi drivers Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish in the driver’s parade for Le Mans, 2010.

Allan McNish driving the Audie Team Joest car at Le Mans, 2010.

In 2007, we traveled to Italy for a group trip to Lake Como. Luckily, the weekend before the trip began was the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Italy at Monza.

I think this Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is beautiful, and during the race, it is the slowest car on the track as it serves as the official safety car.

F1 Safety Car at Monza.

As you might imagine, the Italian GP is the home race for Ferrari, and Ferrari fans, the tifosi, are always in attendance.

When I traveled to Cuba in 2011, it was fascinating to see the many 1950’s era cars driving around on the roads. It made it seem like I was in a time warp to another era.

The lavender shade of this car was perfect for the hot sunny days.

Cars in Havanna – not all of them were old.

About #FriFotos on Twitter

Here’s a quick guide of the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

#FriFotos was started on 15 October 2010 by Jonathan Epstein (@EpsteinTravels). Jonathan is the President and Owner of Celebrated Experiences, a company focusing on travel to the UK and Ireland. He is passionate about photography, his favorite hobby. Each week Jonathan cohosts #FriFotos with Stephanie Diehl (@TravelDesigned), Charles Yap (@CharlesYap), and two guest co-hosts that change each week. Jeffrey Epstein (@jeffreyinmotion), CEO of HBIM was a key advisor in the creation of #FriFotos and continues to assist in the Forum’s growth and success.

Wood for #FriFotos

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

Last week’s #FriFotos theme was wood, and here are the few pictures I shared via Twitter.

This Friday, the theme is RED, no doubt because Valentine’s Day is Saturday, February 14th. I can’t wait to see the beautiful photos that everyone will share.

The parliament building in Budapest has beautiful wood carvings.

At one of the Christmas markets in Budapest, I saw all these Santa faces painted on a slice of wood.

I loved the beautiful wood on these trees I saw while hiking above Park City in October.

This Lipizzaner horse peaks out of his wood stall in Vienna.

About #FriFotos

Here’s a quick guide of the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

An Adrenaline Filled #FriFotos

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

Last week’s #FriFotos theme was adrenaline (July 25, 2014). At first, I thought, I don’t have anything to share because I don’t sky dive, mountain climb or ski (or ski that often). Then my memory turned to one of my favorite trips, to South Africa, and to a safari I took during that trip.

Riding in the bush looking for animals was at times monotonous, but then we’d see a beautiful bird or a delicate spider web and be in awe. All of that riding around paid off though, when we encountered large animals.

We briefly crossed into Botswana while we were stationed at the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia, and took a boat ride down the Chobe River and loaded into safari vehicles to see elephants in Chobe National Park. We saw lots of elephants milling about, many bathing themselves in water.

Our group got a real adrenaline rush when we were watching a baby elephant. The momma noticed us, and thought we were a bit too close for comfort. As she approached our vehicle in a not so friendly manner, it was scary.

Momma elephant guarding her baby from our vehicle in Chobe National Park, Botswana.

Later during our trip, we stayed at Shishangeni Lodge just outside of Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Although this crocodile was heading away from us, it was still pretty scary to be that close.

Crocodile – even when they’re heading the other way, you get a bit of adrenaline!

On one of our first drives during our stay, we were lucky enough to encounter some lions. They were just waking as it was early morning, but seeing them watch us was still nerve-wracking!

Lions waking up but sitll watching us as we stopped to watch them.

Lions waking up but watching us as we stopped to watch them.

After our morning safari drives, we returned to the lodge for breakfast and leisure time. There were safari guides that offered to take us on bush walks. They seemed to think it was a perfectly normal thing to do, so I decided to go along. But, when you have guides with rifles and large bullets, you quickly realize walking alone in the bush can be dangerous.

Here our bush walk guides survey the landscape.

At one point, there was a rhino very near us, and they could tell that he could smell our group. It was frightening hearing this very large animal sniffing and breathing so close to us. They quickly gathered our group, and told us if we were being charged to stand behind a tree, because the rhino wouldn’t be able to turn that quickly and get to us.

During an afternoon game drive, we happened upon this momma rhinoceros and her baby. While they didn’t seem to notice us, or at least care much that we were snapping lots of pictures of them, it was still a rush to see them up close.

Momma and baby rhino.

I thought of other times I’ve had adrenaline rushes, and one of them was of a very different sort. Dave and I have been to the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monza, Italy, twice. Both were very memorable and exciting – our first trip there in 2007 was the first time I had been to a Formula 1 race, and it was amazing to see how fast the cars zoomed around the track.

For our second visit, we went early for a fan day, where holders of three day tickets can visit the track on Thursday for a pit walk. Being a Ferrari fan, I made my way down to the Ferrari pits, and wiggled my way up to the front – and was able to get 2007 F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen’s autograph before snapping a few pictures of him. Quite an adrenaline rush to be so close to the Ice Man!

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen signs autographs at Monza, 2009.

Ferrari driver Giancarlo Fisichella races around the Monza track.

It was fun remembering both my trip to South Africa and to the F1 race in Monza with an “adrenaline” perspective.

I’m looking forward to this week’s #FriFotos – the theme is HEAT.

About #FriFotos

Here’s a quick guide of the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

#FriFotos – Signs

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

The theme for this past week’s #FriFotos (July 18, 2014) was SIGNS.

I take photos of signs when I travel to remind me of the different languages I see and hear when I’m in a different country. The words look beautiful.

Here are the “signs” that I shared.

Go Kings Go signs in Manhattan Beach during the Stanley Cup Parade for the Los Angeles Kings

Sign for the Wharton San Francisco building

Protestors in Zadar, Croatia carry signs.

Sign for a flower shop in Paris

McDonald’s signs as seen in Kyoto

Sign above a sushi restaurant in Kyoto, Japan

Neon signs in Hong Kong

Street signs in Helsinki, Finland

Signs marking the anniversary of the solidarity movement in Gdansk, Poland

Subway signs in Beijing, China

Do you take photos of signs when you travel? What signs have you seen?

About #FriFotos

Here’s a quick guide on the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

Bountiful in #FriFotos

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

Finally, I’m collecting my #FriFotos posts in one spot, and although I’m a day late for the official FriFotos sharing, I did post these pictures yesterday on twitter.

This week’s theme is bountiful. Here are a few of my “bountiful” photos.

Lots of cheese in the Netherlands

So many bikes it looks like they grow them!

Lush green outside Kinkaku-ji temple in Kyoto

Bountiful citrus in Zadar, Croatia

Purple flowers everywhere in Copenhagen

More flowers in Copenhagen

What have you seen that’s bountiful on your travels?

New to #FriFotos? Here’s a quick guide on the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

We Ran for the Lives of Dogs

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

To celebrate Independence Day, I took my dogs Koa and Lau Lau to Riviera Village in Redondo Beach, California, to participate in the Village Runner Redondo Beach 4th of July 5K.

We were running and walking to help raise funds for Rover Rescue, a local dog rescue organization that saves dogs from Los Angeles shelters and helps them find permanent homes (my original post is here).

Koa and Lau Lau are trying to remain calm before the race starts.

Dave and I adopted first Koa, then Lau Lau, from Rover Rescue, and we admire and respect the commitment they have to find the right home for the dogs that they save. We want to make sure that all dogs find a safe and loving home.

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. Summer morning are usually like this due to the "marine layer."

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. Summer mornings are usually like this due to the “marine layer.”

I posted here, and on Facebook, and asked friends and family to donate money. Although it was a bit of a last-minute fundraising effort, I’m pleased to report that we raised $600 for Rover Rescue! We are still accepting donations. If you would like to contribute, visit the pledge and donation site here.

The group at the front is already on their way to the finish line.

Koa and Lau Lau were dressed in red, white and blue bandanas to celebrate the birthday of the U.S.A., and I wore my U.S. Soccer hat and Rover Rescue t-shirt. The boys were very excited on race day, probably because of all the people gathering before the start of the race. We stopped by the Rover Rescue tent to visit our friends there. We saw a group of runners from their vet, Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach, and even said hi to the vet tech who recognized them (Koa thought he seemed much nicer when he wasn’t trying to poke and prod him).

The race begins!

The race started at 8:00 am, and while everyone dashed off, we waited a bit so that we’d have more room to run – zig-zagging around walkers and runners is a bit more difficult with two dogs on leashes.

We walked and ran the course, and while we weren’t particularly fast, we sure had fun! We finished with a race time of 42:04.

Dave found us along the way and took some action photos. You can see more photos of the entire race in the Village Runner 5K Facebook page and on their website.

After the race, the boys posed for some photos.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my efforts on behalf of Rover Rescue. Koa and Lau Lau want to especially thank dogs Travis, Charlie, Natalia, Lizzie, Mario, and Luigi for their donations. It’s nice that both two and four-legged donors support us!

There’s still time to donate – help us reach our goal of $850! Click here to contribute!

We had so much fun running with fellow neighbors and citizens from all over the South Bay, and loved seeing everyone in red, white and blue. Look for us to race again next year!

How did you celebrate July 4th?

Running for the Life of a Dog

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

This July 4th, Koa and Lau Lau are taking me to the Village Runner Redondo Beach 5K where we plan to run, walk, wag our tails, get some head scratches and raise funds for Rover Rescue.

Rover Rescue is a a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue & placement of homeless dogs from Los Angeles animal shelters. Rover Rescue’s mission is “until every dog has a home.” You can read more about the organization here.

Koa and Lau Lau found us through Rover Rescue, and we can’t thank RR enough for caring about rescuing and finding the right homes for dogs in Los Angeles shelters. We want to make sure that all dogs find a safe and loving home.

Rover Rescue asks that each participant raise $200. I plan to contribute that amount but hope that with Koa and Lau Lau’s adorable photo above that some of you would be willing to help me raise more.

We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

Please click here to make a donation. Rover Rescue is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Thank you for your support!

Woof, woof,

Kiera, Koa and Lau Lau

Protected: Freshman Move-In 2016 (84 Weeks To Go)

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Kiera Reilly

Welcome to A Curious Traveler

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Kiera Reilly

I hope to share my passion for exploring the world here, along with tips, photos and stories of my favorite experiences.

Follow me on Twitter @KieraReilly.

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We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

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