PoSH Travel Stories and Reviews

The first of many photographs from our trip to Rome

2011-12-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

Between the holidays, colds, everyday life, and over 300 photographs it's taken me a long time to begin editing our photos from this trip. More will be coming :-)

One of the ceilings in the Vatican Museums

Part of the fountain in the Piazza del Popolo

Ponte Rotto

St. Peter's Square

One of the fountains in the Piazza Navona

Baking at home - inspired by traveling

2011-12-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

My family and friends would say that a word to describe me is Wanderlust. I am always looking to explore and travel but when I am home I would say they would describe me as Creative. I create jewelry using polymer clay, I take fine art and portrait photographs, I enjoy cooking, and I love to bake.

Every Christmas I create cookie baskets for my friends and family. I usually try to make at least 12 different cookies, bars, or candies. Here are some photos of the cookies I have been testing. I have also included some pictures of desserts I have made this year. As I continue baking I'll share photographs and details!

Chocolate crinkle cookies and Lavender flavored stars

..Lemon buttermilk cookies - inspired by our trips to South Carolina and Georgia.

Cherry vanilla biscotti - inspired by trips to Italy.

Coconut oatmeal cookies and French Macaroons - The macaroons were inspired by our trip to Nice France.

The Elvis Cupcake - Banana cupcake, peanut butter frosting, with/or without bacon, and a caramelized banana.

Seafoam candy and sea salt caramels - inspired by New England beaches.

4th of July inspiration - Vanilla cupcakes with Italian Meringue frosting and fresh fruit.

Strawberry and Prickly Pear teacup cupcakes w/ powdered sugar art and white chocolate decorations.

Day 7 of our trip to Rome - finally (sorry for the delay)

2011-12-13T13:59:00.000-05:00

A Sunday in Rome is a mix of the old and the new. Some restaurants and stores are closed while others remain business as usual. You have tourists wandering around the city while families make their way to church.

We started the day with breakfast at our hotel - can't get enough of the coffee at The River Palace Hotel. We made our way down to the Campo De Fiori however there are only a few vendors here today. We purchased some pasta and nick nacks and headed to the bakery. We stopped at Il Fornai for some delicious although expensive cookies. My purchase ended up being 23 euros for a bag of almond macaroon cookies (boccacini della nonna). My opinion - totally worth it! As a side note: I came home and scoured the internet and finally came up with my own recipe for these cookies (almost as delicious).

Our last gelato in Rome was at Blue Ice again. Greg's lemoncello was bright and tart while my melon gelato was full flavored and reminded me of summer. Yes we went shopping again. I have a hard time finding presents for my parents whether it's at home or away so I visited the various shopping districts once again.

Weather.com told us that it would be cold and rainy all week in Rome however the first rain drops of our vacation didn't occur until this afternoon. We were near the Spanish Steps and the rain was mild and only lasted about 20 minutes.

Walking towards our hotel we stopped for lunch at Canova in the Piazza del Popolo. We started with a beer and prosecco and some grilled vegetables (mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, and sweet peppers). For entrees we enjoyed Straciatella Soup and Black Truffle Risotto. All were delicious and the service was rushed but friendly.

The end of the trip means time to proceed with the daunting task of packing. We always throw out any old clothes or shoes and definitely don't take home any toiletries. This usually leaves us with plenty of room for any purchases. We also now travel with a luggage scale so we don't get surprised with any excessive charges from the airlines.

Let's go out for one last dinner in Rome.....think again! Downpours, lightning, and thunder! Okay we'll stay in, grab some pizza from mondo arrancina and watch tv. Hmmm the satelite tv is now out and never comes back on.

The next morning we have the bell staff help with our luggage, check out of the hotel, and our driver from Rome Cabs is already in the lobby for us. We arrive at the airport and head to US Airways counter. I will never understand why you have to check in at a Kiosk, then check in with a person, then drop off your luggage! Next up the 40 minute wait for security. We make our way through the airport purchasing little things to use up our Euros and finally board our plane home!

Day 6 of our trip to Rome

2011-11-28T13:30:00.000-05:00

After breakfast we make our way down Via del Corso for what seems like the hundredth time. Our goal for today is the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We walk at a slow pace taking in the atmosphere, stop for pictures at sights along the way and finally make it to the Forum.

A few years ago we were able to visit the Forum we realized today that we only saw the Palatine Hill side. We pre-purchased our tickets so after a quick bathroom break we walked right in. Taking our time, we stopped by all the ruins, walked through the buildings, and experienced as much as possible. Unfortunately, I started feeling poorly again (stupid cold) so we decided to head over to the Colosseum.

Thanks to our pre-purchased tickets we by-passed all the lines and headed right on in. Starting at the top we viewed the "museum area," walked around to take pictures of the different view points. We then started going down a level and took pictures of the seats, windows, and views from the Colosseum. I have seen the sites of Rome several times and I always have the same feeling of awe and amazement. For some reason I didn't get the same feeling about the Colosseum (this being my 2nd time here). I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't feeling well, the crowds, or that it's just not one of my favorite structures.

We were getting pretty hungry at this point so we stopped at a restaurant near the Forum. We dined on fried zucchini flowers and potato croquettes. These starters were disappointing, they were more like Chinese chicken fingers and fried mashed potatoes. Next we were served Roman style pizza. My Margherita was average and Greg's pizza consisting of anchovies, olives, capers, and peppers was delicious. When it comes to our lunching in Rome we seem to struggle with finding a good restaurant (I planned restaurants for dinners but should have gone a step further for lunch too).

After a rest and refreshing at our hotel we headed out for the night. We decided to go casual for dinner tonight at a pizzeria near the Spanish Steps. We dined al fresco even though it was a tad windy. Greg ate an entire pizza (unfortunately I can't remember what kind) while I enjoyed a few slices of potato and rosemary pizza. For dessert we ventured over to Venchi for gelato. This was my favorite gelato of the week! I enjoyed Torrone and Aztec chocolate. Greg still maintains that Grom was the best. Venchi also offers artisan chocolates so we picked up a few boxes to bring home. Yum!!

Day 5 of our trip to Rome

2011-11-23T09:27:00.001-05:00

What a rough start to the day!!! This morning my cold is a lot worse, neither one of us can wake up, and in 15 minutes we're going to miss breakfast. Luckily, Greg has enough energy to go and get us some coffee and we'll worry about food later.

We decide to do some souvenir shopping this morning. Unfortunately, we never found the store I was looking for. On to the Capuchin Crypt (for Greg not for me). Sadly, Greg was disappointed apparently only a small portion of the crypt was open due to construction. Greg was in and out of the church in under 10 minutes. For lunch we decided to try Pepy's Bar in the Piazza Barberini. We enjoyed a couple of panini's, water, and a peroni beer.

After a bit more shopping for shirts for our nieces and nephews we went back to our hotel for a quick change of clothing. The clothes that we brought were to be worn in layers. We had read that November could be cold and rainy. Fortunately, the weather was sunny and in the mid 70s all week. This was fabulous for many reasons but with our layers and all of the walking we easily got hot and in need of lighter outfits.

Off we went to the Campo De'Fiori. Apparently having no breakfast means we had a sweet tooth today lol. We stopped along the way at a delicious bakery we found near the Pantheon for some boccocino della nonna cookies, and we enjoyed Gelato at Blue Ice. Hmmm is that Cardinal O'Malley from Massachusetts. Why yes it is apparently he also enjoys the Pantheon area of Rome. We just missed the market so opted for some pictures and headed back to the Pantheon area.

Today started the festivities for the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification in Rome. The Piazza del Popolo is filled with Romans, tourists, and Italy's armed forces all enjoying a classical concert. The crowd received Italian flags, and brochures about the festivities which I thought was a nice touch.

For dinner we decided to go back to Osteria St. Anna, yes it was that good! Tonight we dined on the marinated fish and fried artichokes. For entrees we tried the pasta alla'matriciana and the carbonara again. Accompanying the meal was a sparkling water and an Italian Novello (again similar to the Beaujolais nouveau in the way it's only 2 months old). After dinner we walked around a bit. Some of our favorite moments is walking around Rome late at night with all the sights being lit up and fewer people around. Naturally we had to purchase some more roasted chestnuts for our walk.

Medicine and Bed time for me!!!
I love taking pictures but I hate being in them so to show some real people here are some fun pictures of Greg in and around Rome :-)

My Travel Checklist - Packing and Enjoying your trip (3 of 3)

2011-11-22T13:23:00.000-05:00

Am I an over-packer, am I an under-packer, do I get a large suitcase, do I go lightweight? There is no wrong answer to these questions but it is important to take into consideration the type of vacation you are planning when you pack.

Things to keep in mind:

Cruise ships, and European hotel rooms don't offer a lot of room for luggage storage.
Most airlines have you pay for luggage but some still allow one free bag per person when traveling internationally (Jetblue domestically).

A few ways to get around this is to pack one large suitcase (usually has to be less than 50 pounds) and two carry ons - remember to keep liquids larger than 3 ounces in your checked suitcase though.

Here is my must pack list:

Documents (everything from post number 2 of My Travel Checklist)
Neck pillow and blanket for plane
Appropriate clothing (shorts and tank tops for the beach, pants and shirts with sleeves for visiting churches, etc.)

here's where I differ from many people. I over pack! I add at least two extra items in each category (shirts, shorts, bathing suits, jeans, etc.).

Dressy clothes
Shawl or Pashmina
Jacket
Shoes (dressy, flip flops, walking, boots, etc.)
First Aid Kit

band aids
neosporin
benadryl cream
aleve
sudafed
cough drops
nose spray
cold medicine

Seems a bit unnecessary right? Here's the reasoning why I bring all of this. I have found myself sick on vacation twice. The first time, I was in Italy with a head and chest cold. At the time I wasn't sick enough to warrant going to an Italian doctor. The downside to not going to the doctor is that I wasn't able to purchase any medicine other than nose spray. When I got home from Italy I ended up have double ear infections, strep throat, bronchitis and it all turned into mono. The second trip I was sick was in the Caribbean with the same type of head and chest cold (I did bring some medicine with me on this trip however I ran out). While we were in St. Thomas we had to scour Charlotte Amalie for a drugstore. Finally we found the drug store which was in back of the curtains and lace store. I was able to purchase cold medicine but it wasn't the brands I liked and it was at a much higher price.

Emergency supplies (from post 2 of My Travel Checklist)
Hair products
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Shaving products
Soap
White Vinegar

if heading to the ocean, helps with jelly fish stings, fire coral, sea urchins, and more - we know from experience (my husband is a magnet for injuries)

Static Guard - travel size
Lysol - travel size
Air freshner - travel size
Handi-wipes, antibacterial gel

most cruise ships do provide the gel throughout but I also like to keep some on me.

Travel toilet paper and seat covers

Public restrooms - enough said

Make up
Jewelry

I used to travel with all of my nice jewelry however these days I go with my wedding rings and then all costume / fashion jewelry. It's not worth losing an important piece.

Umbrella
Camera
Laptop / Netbook
Ipod
Flip or Video Recorder
Cellphone

Don't forget your chargers for all of your electronics

Converter / Adapter

Check your chargers to verify the correct voltage requirements

You're on your way
You have been dreaming about your vacation for a while now, getting excited, and thinking up a perfect mix of all your hopes. Therefore it's really easy to hit a snag or two and consider your trip filled with stress and unhappiness. There have been many bumps along our road and we continue to keep a good attitude and roll with the waves!

The Airport

Between lines for check in, luggage lines, security lines, and pushy people the airport can cause many headaches. Remember to get there early so that if wait times are longer than usual you don't stress out. Grab a coffee and a snack sit back and people watch. Walk around the stores and maybe find a must read book.

On a trip to Aruba we once had a flight delayed which turned into cancelled, which turned into getting a new plane, which turned into an extra stop for more fuel. Greg and I were exhausted and sad we were missing the start to our vacation but we did what we could do. We went back to my parents house and relaxed until we had to be back at the airport, we brought books for the plane and tried to rest considering it went from a day flight to a night flight. Instead of fighting the other passengers for taxis at 2 am in Aruba we waited our turn and laughed at them. We didn't get the best room naturally since it was 2 am so the next morning we just asked to be switched. In the end we got a humorous story, and a relaxing rest of a vacation.

Weather

Mother nature doesn't take into consideration your wants or desires. You can check the weather reports as much as you want but they aren't always accurate. We have been on vacation where it was supposed to rain the entire time and we were so upset over it. It turned out we had two showers in 7 days and we got ourselves worked up over nothing.

Pack a little for all occasions and you won't go wrong. If it rains, grab your umbrella and head on out and explore. We have found that when we play tourist in the rain we run into less crowds, find cute shops, and delicious food for when we need to try and dry off.

Bad Service

Yes you are on vacation and it's only natural that you want people to help you maximize the fun and relaxation. However, people are human. They have problems, stress, exhaustion, and aren't always too keen on seeing others have a good time on a vacation they might not be able to ever enjoy.To quote Billy Murray in What About Bob "I treat people, as if they were telephones, if I meet somebody I think doesn't likes me I say Bob, this one is temporarely out of order. You don't break the connection, just hang up and try again!"

Don't get discouraged, frustrated, or angry. Remember you are on vacation, ask to speak to someone else, find a better solution to the problem, or change your plans if things are that bad. Then go get a drink, or sit on a beach, or go explore and focus on you and your traveling companions.

Always keep in mind that you have the power to make the best of any situation. Find ways to show yourself the best time no matter what. A positive attitude can make a difference.

Day 4 of our trip to Rome

2011-11-22T13:22:00.002-05:00

This morning my sore throat is getting worse. Unlike 1996 (ended up with double ear infections, strep throat, and mono) I have decongestants, cough syrups, and throat losenges. It appears though that I have forgotten my aleve which would have been helpful with any aches and pains. Side note: We found the aleve in another bag on day 6 of our trip lol!

Today we walked through Prati for some shopping. I found some scarves, a pair of pants, and a dress. We then walked on to the Vatican. We were early for our assigned time of entry to the Vatican Museums so we visited St. Peter's Square first. The line for the Basilica was incredibly long so we decided to take our chances for an early visit to the Museums. In the end we worried for nothing, we were handed our tickets and walked right in.

Being surrounded by history, art, and sculptures from different time periods is an undescribable feeling. I'm not sure if it was the enormous crowd or the hype but when I compare the museums and St. Peter's Basillica to the Sistine Chapel I was a bit disappointed. I feel like the grandeur of the other buildings affected me more for some reason.

My husbands fabulous idea (sarcasm) was up next. Taking all the large, small, curved, and claustrophobic stairs to the Cupola. The Vatican charges 5 euros for walking and 7 euros for the elevator and stairs, the cost didn't play into Greg's decision he thought it would be an adventure to walk. The first part of the stairs are normal, rather large concrete steps. This opens up to a roof top with some views. The second part is a bit tougher. The steps get smaller, the walls slant inward, and eventually you get to a tiny spiral staircase with only a rope to hold onto. The view from the top of the Cupola is amazing. You are able to see all of Rome and thensome. However you are on a balcony with rows and rows of tourists. To exit you have to go down the same tiny spiral staircase, then onto a roof top where there is a souvenir shop, finally an elevator which takes you down into St. Peter's Basillica. The Basillica is my favorite part of Vatican City and has been since my first visit 16 years ago. The Church is awe inspiring and welcoming if a bit formally. That's how I describe it anyways.

Here's a kind request to all tourists visiting sights. Take your time, leave your pushiness at home, respect the guidelines provided to you. Everyone will get a chance to see everything and everyone will be happier for it.

We completely underestimated the time we would spend at the Vatican. We probably spent 4 hours at the Vatican Museum, an hour for lunch, and probably an hour and a half walking to and from. Needless to say we decided to go back to the hotel for some R&R.

After resting and cleaning up a bit. We walked down to the Jewish Ghetto for dinner. We enjoyed some roasted chestnuts along the way and stopped for pictures of the Vittoriano at night. Just in time and we only got lost once we made it to Nonna Betta's. We dined on artichokes in the jewish style and marinated anchovies for appetizers. Our entrees were gnocchi with pesto and semolina gnocchi with eggs and cheese. The staff were very friendly, the atmosphere was great (we actually had the restaurant to ourselves), and the food was incredible!

Considering it was a 2 mile walk to the Jewish Ghetto we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel.....or not. No taxi's at the first location, or the 2nd, or the 3rd. Okay how about a gelato and a long walk back to our hotel lol.

Day 3 of our trip to Rome

2011-11-16T11:20:00.000-05:00

It's 9:00 a.m. and we are walking over to the Western Union. Yay! It's open, the money is there, and we have cash!! We count the money at the Western Union, walk back to our hotel and count the money again, put the money in the safe and head to breakfast.

After breakfast we take the longest route possible (not on purpose) to the Galleria Borghese. We walk through the Piazza del Popolo, around side streets and through the gardens. Our new mantra (thanks to this trip) is "all roads lead to Rome but most take you longer"!

We have made reservations for the museum before out trip and it was only a short wait to pick up our tickets. Next we waited unnecessarily in a very long line to drop off our bags. Apparently there are two lines (no designation though until the very front). One line for drop off and one line for pick up. Tip: you can not take in any bags, purses, cameras, or phones into the museum. Everything must be checked. The museum is fabulous! Between the magnificent ceilings, the Bernini statues, and my favorite painting by Raphael Portrait of Young Woman with Unicorn Portrait of Young Woman with Unicorn we were completely awestruck.

After the museum we came back to our hotel to change our shoes and for me to take some cold medicine (yes I caught a head cold on vacation once again). Unfortunately, we discovered 20 euros missing from our just picked up cash. We searched our room, verified our receipts making sure we didn't take it and spend it, searched our bags, checked underneath furniture and tossed everything we could think of. The only conclusion we could come up with was that either the safe had been tampered with or we dropped it on the floor and instead of placing it on the table someone took it. We spoke to the front desk staff at our hotel and explained that we're not mad, but concerned. The told us that two people in the hotel did have access to the safe and that they will talk to the staff. At the end of the day we felt that if someone needed the money badly enough to take it from us then it we hope it serves them better than us. We also did take better care and notice of what and where we put stuff.

All in all the first few days have been fabulous and frustrating. We feel like we did "all the right things" and yet we are still running into problems. A person can end the day with being thankful for supportive family, thankful for our blessings, and make the best of their situation.

To shake off our bad mood we decided to go and enjoy the atmosphere of the Spanish Steps. We purchased some eggplant pizza, potato and rosemary pizza, and pepper pizza. Our absolute favorite is the potato pizza (something my father had years ago in Italy and makes for us at home on a regular basis). For a bit of a sweet we tried a gelato shop on Via del Corso (not really worth mentioning as it was a bit like going to dairy queen). The flavors we tried were cassata and amarena cherry.

Tonight we decided to try the happy hour at the River Palace Hotel. We enjoyed a whiskey and a bellini. Tip: River Palace Hotel offers 50% off drinks from 6 - 10 p.m. every night. It was still early to head right to dinner so we decided to grab some roasted chestnuts and take a slow stroll to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona areas. Greg has become addicted to roasted chestnuts! We have found a great way to make them at home but are still going to try to roast them outside like in Rome. Tip: Make a cut through the chestnut (lengthwise) until you can see the inside. Place the chestnuts in a pan and cover them with water and add a tsp of salt. Bring them to a simmer. Remove the chestnuts from the water and place them in an ovenproof pan. Roast the chestnuts in a preheated oven (425 degrees) for 15 minutes.

Dinner time! We made reservations at Casa Coppelle tonight. We started with the Misto Fritto (fried zucchini flower, panzerotti, meatball, and fried onion) and the prosciutto di parma with mozzarella. Our entrees were the Tonnarelli con caci e pepe with zucchini flowers and the lemon and thyme risotto. Accompanying the meal we enjoyed the house red wine and sparkling water. Casa Coppelle is a must eat restaurant!

For dessert we went to GROM for gelato. We devoured the toroncino and the extra dark chocolate gelatos. Our walk back to our hotel was as usual with the addition of some protesters near the Column of Marcus Aurelius. The protest was peaceful but we still thought it best to walk around it rather than through it.

Day 2 of our trip to Rome

2011-11-15T11:13:00.000-05:00

At home we're not really into having large multi-course dinners so this morning we weren't too hungry for breakfast. I can tell you that the River Palace Hotel offers fruit, cereals, pastries, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, cold cuts, and a variety of beverages including mimosas. We knew today was a holiday - All Saints Day but we underestimated the impact this would have on the city. Rome was filled with italian and non italian tourists. Yes many churches were open to the public, but also restaurants and stores were open longer, and the atmosphere was vibrant!

Today would be our longest outing! We decided to hike all the way down to Testaccio and back with many many detours! Along the way we stopped in to the Vittoriano Museum (one of my favorite buildings). We walked through the museum, and also checked out the view from the top. Next we walked through Palatine Hill, the Forum, and Circus Maximus. Along the way we also saw the Temple of Vesta, Temple of Portunus, Arch of Janus.

Our next detour is something we happened upon by accident and we were so happy that we did! Aventine Hill is a fabulous walk, beautiful churches (especially St Sabine Church), lush gardens, and an amazing view of Rome and the Vatican. I had read about the Knights of Malta Keyhole but didn't know its exact location. Hmmmmm could that line of people to the left of us be the Keyhole? Why yes it is -yay! On our way again we stopped by the Piramide for photos and made our way to Via Marmorata. For a quick break we enjoyed espresso and pastries at Pasticceria Barberini. Unfortunately, next door Volpetti was closed for the Holiday.

Heading back through Rome we decided to walk along the Tiber River. We were able to see the Ponte Rotto, Tiber Island, Ponte Fabricio, the Temple of Apollo and Theatre of Marcellus. We detoured through the Jewish Ghetto to see the area but also to find where Nonna Betta's was for dinner one night. Heading north again we were walking through the Campo De Fiori where surprise we walked past Cardinal Law (from our home state of Massachusetts). Feeling the need for a gelato break we stopped at Frigidarium - absolutely delicious gelato and totally worth the wait!

It suddenly dawned on us that besides sweets we didn't eat anything today so we decided to play ultimate tourist. We decided on some antipasti and wine in the Piazza Navona. Naturally the food was average but we ate grilled vegetables, proscuitto, mozzarella, and bruschetta. We eventually made our way to the Pantheon area where we found a market for some large waters (sold at 1 euro for a large bottle vs. 2 euros for a tiny bottle at most stands), and some kinder chocolate for later (one of my favs).

Then our happy bubble burst! Previous to our trip we opened an account with Bank of America for the sole purpose of this trip. We verified an ATM card would work in Italy, verified our daily limit, verified the fees would be waved by using BNL bank in Rome, and gave Bank of America our travel dates for reference. Guess what.....it turns out that after 3 very expensive phone calls to the U.S. Bank of America ATM cards don't work outside the U.S. only their debit cards.

Okay we'll go to plan B. Again, previous to our trip I contacted my credit card company. Asked for a pin number and even explained it would be used in emergency situation in Italy if our ATM card didn't work. Also gave the credit card company our travel dates for reference. Guess what....after another expensive call to the U.S. oh this card won't work for cash advances outside of the U.S.

Lesson: Ask specific questions! Will this specific card work out of the U.S. for credit, debit, or atm!!!

Luckily, I have wonderful parents who went and took money from their own accounts and sent it to us via Western Union. Unfortunately, it was now after 9:00 p.m. and all western unions were closed.

Stay tuned for Day 3 :-)

Day 1 of our trip to Rome

2011-11-14T11:34:00.001-05:00

We checked into the River Palace Hotel, thanks to Sergio. Unfortunately, our room wouldn't be ready for 2 more hours. We organized our bags and had the hotel hold the rest and off we went to explore!

We headed to the Piazza del Popolo, onto the Trevi Fountain, and then to the Spanish Steps. Naturally we looked around a bit and took some photos but at this point we were pretty tired and didn't explore too much. Finally we grabbed some pizza from Cin Cin restaurant across from the Vittoriano Museum for the walk back to our hotel.

Our Junior Suite had an entrance way (with large closet and safe), a sitting area (with table and chair, couch, flat screen tv, and a mini bar), a bathroom (with sink, toilet, bidet, large tub with shower attachment), and the bedroom (with a full size bed, end table, minibar, and a flat screen tv). Tip: as part of the turn down service the drapes are fully closed and include a black out curtain so set an alarm otherwise you may never wake up.

We ended up crashing asleep instead of resting for a bit. We finally got ourselves upright, cleaned up, and headed out for the night. We wondered around a bit to see Rome and night and then settled in for dinner at Osteria S. Anna. For starters we enjoyed the Antipasti (prosciutto and melon, eggplant caponata, lentils, and beans), Greg also tried the marinated fish. For our entrees we enjoyed Pasta with Octopus, and I had the Pasta alla'carbonara all accompanied by the house red wine. For dessert Greg opted for an "Italian" glass of grappa, while I enjoyed an apple purse.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed our complimentary bottle of chianti as a night cap.

A few pictures to accompany our trip to Rome

2011-11-11T11:37:00.000-05:00

The creation of Stacy and Greg (the day of the dead design)

Greg worrying about if our flight to Rome will take off from Boston tomorrow.

Us shoveling our way out of our house to get to Logan Airport.

Yay! We made it to our flight to Philadelphia, PA!

Watching the sunrise as we prepare to land in Rome, Italy!

The beginning of our trip to Rome 2011

2011-11-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

Recently I wrote an article about traveling and learning how to roll with any small problems that may happen during your trip. I found this quite ironic since this trip was so much fun but at the same time filled with small problems.

Saturday the 30th of October....

Here is this years 1st and a historic nor'easter. Wind, rain, trees, hanging down to the ground and 4+ inches of snow. We are in the middle of packing, shoveling, and worrying about whether or not our flight will take off tomorrow.

When we wake we are thankful that the snow isn't as bad as everyone thought for the Boston area - our flight will be on time!! We drive over to my parents house who will be baby sitting our boys (our two dogs Bucket and Fred). We get them settled and wait for my dad to take us to the airport.

As we're heading to the airport our 2nd problem hits....literally! A driver swerved into our lane and hit my dads brand new car on the drivers side. Now its time to exchange information and take photographs before we can drive the other 2 miles to the airport.

Finally we get to Logan Airport! Yesterday I went online and checked in at USairways.com thinking this would expedite the process. Wrong! For some reason USair makes you check in again at a Kiosk and then speak to a person to drop off any checked bags. This took forever as there were only 3 associates to help and the kiosk we used broke.

Yay, through security and ready to have a glass of wine at the bar! Now we're prepared for our flight but oops...gate changed time to find the right gate for our flight to Philly. We're only 15 minutes late landing in Philadelphia and we make our way to Terminal A (international terminal). A tip: Check in for your international flight if you just came from a change over. The agents need to verify your passports again. US airways didn't announce this until right before boarding time!

During our flight we both opted for the Vegetarian Meals.....wrong choice!!! We were given rice and vegetables which were inedible, salad, a roll, and some fruit with shredded coconut. Luckily I had a bag of chips with me!! The seats didn't provide much room (even the two seats together) but we did have our own tvs so we could choose from a variety of movies, tv shows, and music.

Bon Giorno bella Roma! We arrive in Rome 45 minutes late and head to Immigration and Customs. Neither areas bothered to even look at our documents, and didn't get a stamp for into the country. We grabbed our bags and headed to the Meeting Point. We were met by Rome Cabs for our trip to the River Palace Hotel. Our driver was friendly, fast, and efficient!

I will be adding more to this review everyday and will also be adding pictures as soon as I organize them! Hope you look forward to the rest of our story!!

My Reading List Part 2

2011-10-07T09:54:00.000-04:00

Here is the 2nd half of my reading list from this year (so far). Most of these books are from the travel writing category. I have read other books during this year however, the lists I post on my blog are the recommended reading. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Finished Reading:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Caliphs House by Tahir Shah
Pasquales Nose by Michael Rips
A Trip To The Beach by Melinda and Robert Blanchard
Mediterranean Summer by David Shalleck and Erol Munuz
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner
Tales Of A Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman
The Summer Of My Greek Taverna by Tom Stone
Everyday in Tuscany by Francis Mayes
Bella Tuscany by Francis Mayes
Stolen Figs by Mark Rotella
Lunch In Paris by Elizabeth Bard
Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz

Currently Reading:

Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney

Will be Reading:

Dreaming In Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich
Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's by Dianne Hales
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah Macdonald
An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude by Ann Vanderhoof
The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Olive Oil in the South of France by Carol Drinkwater
The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife by Janna Cawrse Esarey
Live What You Love Notes from an Unusual Life by Robert Blanchard

Fall in New England

2011-09-22T07:32:00.000-04:00

The first thing I think about doing every Fall is apple picking! Whether it is just Greg and I or us and family and friends it's one of our favorite "day trips." We grab a coffee for Greg and a pumpkin spice coffee for me (Greg doesn't like pumpkin) and head north to Hollis, NH. Hollis is an hour north of Boston, and a half hour south of Manchester.

The best apple picking in my opinion is at Brookdale Farm in Hollis, NH. Brookdale offers 19 varieties including our favorites of Honey Crisp and Baldwin apples. We usually fill a bag to the very top and our total is $20.00. A fab deal in our opinion! We then pop into their country store to see if there is anything new or that we just have to buy. Brookdale also offers a corn maze, hayrides, and an ice cream shop for more fun!

Before heading home we also make a stop at Lull Farm also in Hollis, NH. We don't pick apples here however Lull Farm has beautiful mums every year. The farm stand at Lull is also terrific. This year we were able to get some heirloom green tomatoes, spring mix salad with edible flowers, and local frozen custard.

For those of us who love to shop and need a little bit of retail thrown in when heading back to the highway you will find a shopping plaza with LL bean, Kohls, Christmas Tree Shop, and Starbucks.

My Travel Checklist - Getting ready for the trip (Part 2 of 3)

2011-09-22T07:07:00.000-04:00

A few weeks prior to our vacation I purchase any items we don't normally use, gather all documents, type up tips/recommendations, and organize ourselves in case of an emergency.

When traveling out of the country there are a few items we purchase that we don't have around our house:

Converter or Adaptor (you may need more than one kind depending on voltage, three pronged or two pronged devices).

A converter is necessary if your device does not have a voltage abilitiy of 220 or higher. An adaptor is necessary to allow american plugs fitting into european plugs (does not convert electricity).

Neck pillow and/or blanket for long flight times
Order Foreign currency (check XE, Bank of America, and Travel EX for rates)
International Drivers Permit
For those who like to go a step further and be prepared for any emergency you can also purchase items like these:

Water purification tablets
Mylar thermal blankets
Light sticks
Meal replacement bars

My next task is to gather all of my documents and make sure we didn't forget anything

ID or Passport

Copy of ID or Passport

Credit and Debit Cards

Copy of Credit Card front and back

Foreign Currency, cash, travelers cheques, etc.
Flight Itinerary
Hotel details and reservation details
Car rental or Car transfer details

Considering you get your travel details in email, online, and sometimes mailed to you by travel agents that it seems a bit ridiculous to have printed copies with you but sometimes it is worth it. I have read too many stories about people getting to their hotels and the hotels saying there is no reservation, or the reservation wasn't paid in full, sometimes having to pay an extra "tax." If you have a copy of your reservations, showing the payment, and the specifics of your vacation it's a lot easier on you.

Travel Insurance details
Listing of restaurants, shops, museums, must buy items, regional cuisine, and local activities. Don't forget to look up the hours of operations for places as they can change seasonally. Also if you are out of the country don't expect businesses to operate as and keep American hours.

For the above listings I look all over the internet, magazines, and newspapers. I have used Tripadvisor (look under the city you are going and check out the "forums" and the "things to do sections"), Conde Nast, Rick Steves, National Geographic, New York Times, Boston Globe, AFAR, Frommers, Fodors, Travel Channel, and personal blogs that come up when I type in keywords.

Travel guides or maps - I love the day by day series from Frommer's. Great tips, plans, and small maps included.

Calling and providing important information:

Provide your airline with your home phone number, cell phone number, and emergency contact information (family or friend)
Provide a copy of your itinerary with a family member or friend
Contact the Post Office to have your mail held
Contact your bank and credit cards to let them know of your travel plans and dates
Provide your travel plans to the government in case of an emergency:

US Citizen Travel Registry https://travelregistration.state.gov/...
Canadian Citizen Travel Registry http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/sos/roca...

My next post will be about packing for your trip and how to make the best of your trip!

My Travel Checklist - Pre-trip planning (Part 1 of 3)

2011-09-21T11:35:00.000-04:00

I probably am an overpacker, and worrier but I believe in better safe than sorry when it comes to traveling. Some of these steps are time consuming and I understand that others can't do all of this and therefore work with a travel agent. Thanks to my travel experience I feel as though I'm my own "travel agent" and I also help out family and friends. Here is a detailed list of everything I read, check on, and bring with me.

Pre-trip:
Our first step to traveling is to decide what we want out of the trip. Do we want to relax, be adventurous, explore, swim in the ocean, walk around historical sites, etc. Next comes how we want to travel. Should we do a road trip, fly to a new destination, or board a cruise ship. Once we have a game plan it's time do some research. If we are doing a land based vacation I head over to Tripadvisor and look at hotels, reviews, what's nearby, how the area is, recent photos, and the message boards. If we are looking at a cruise I visit Cruise Critic and check out reviews, photos, and the message boards.

It's really important to know what you are looking for and to gain information from real people's experiences. Being in a bad neighborhood, not knowing the ins and outs of the hotel or cruise ship, and having to spend more money than planned can really have a negative impact on your trip. I have read so many reviews from people about properties I have stayed at and I couldn't believe they didn't research what they were purchasing and therefore were surprised and angry at the property. For instance, we recently stayed at the ME by Melia in Cancun. This hotel recently converted from standard hotel procedures to an all inclusive property. Before we went on the trip I contacted the hotel and asked what was included and what wasn't included (this hotel does have tricky do's and don'ts but if you ask they will tell you and also post some of this information on their site). People were really surprised that not everything in the room mini-fridge was included without extra cost, surprised that a special dinner on the beach was an added cost, and that the beach and pool beds weren't included. Thanks to my research we knew what we were getting into.

The next step is to price out your trip. Never go with the first price you have been given whether it's from a website, travel agent, or an advertisement. A few of the places I visit are:

Orbitz
Expedia
Priceline
Travelocity

For the above sites it's also good to check online for coupon codes. I tend to use Retail ME Not.

Travel Agent

If you find a lower price on a competitors site most travel agents will match it. The downside to a travel agent is that when you have a question, or need help you have to work with their availability (hours of operation, days off, and response time).

Apple Vacations
Directly with an airline
Directly with a hotel

My new third step is to buy travel insurance. After you are stuck on vacation from a cancelled flight you realize how lucky you were to have trip insurance. We purchase ours directly through Access America (this is also who Orbitz uses). In the end Access America reimbursed us for our seats together on our return flight, food, airport transfers, and our hotel (including all inclusive). They did not reimburse us for our phone calls needed to secure our travel plans (not even the cost of the call to contact Access America.).

In my next post I'll let everyone know my tips for necessary documents and steps in the weeks before your trip.

Why I now believe in purchasing Travel Insurance

2011-09-21T10:14:00.001-04:00

My husband and I usually travel 3-4 times a year and up until last month we have never purchased travel insurance. We truly believed that it was just an extra cost that we would never get back. We were very wrong!!

Last month we were traveled to Cancun, Mexico. A month before our trip we were watching the weather forecasts and realized that tropical storms were happening more frequently this year. We sat down and decided that we didn't want to chance our vacation getting cancelled and losing our money so we purchased trip insurance through Access America. A week before our trip we read through all the fine print and contacted Access America to verify what our allowances were and what to do if we had an emergency.

As things turned out, our return flight was cancelled not from weather in Cancun but because of a Hurricane hitting New England. Needless to say we never imagined this happening but were extremely thankful for having our insurance. So there we were sitting in Mexico trying to figure out what to do. My husband contacted Jetblue (phone call was not covered by insurance) and the next available flight wasn't until 4 days after our originally scheduled flight home. Next he contacted Orbitz, who we booked the vacation through (online chat service was unavailable, and our phone call was not covered by insurance). Orbitz was completely unhelpful, we were told that the call we made to Jetblue was the best option and that if we needed a hotel we should look online.

While my husband made these calls I contacted Access America (supposed to be collect call outside of U.S. however I was charged for the call and not reimbursed by Access America). The first call didn't go so well. I don't know what the gentleman was looking at on his system but the benefits information he gave me was totally incorrect and much lower values than I had on my itinerary. The second call finally reached someone who actually pulled up my information, reiterated the values I had, and helped me start a claim. The next step was to find a hotel for 3 more nights. I contacted The Royal Cancun who had availability but my credit card had been declined for security (I contacted my credit card prior to our trip but these dates were now outside of the dates I provided them). I called my credit card company explained the situation and got everything cleared up, and our hotel finalized.

After we got home I pulled together all of the necessary information for our claim. We filled out the claim form, receipt for hotel, transfer, phone calls, food, and seats on our flight home. Six days after I filed the claim I hadn't heard back from Access America so I contacted them. While I was on the phone with the agent he went through my entire claim and asked me to hold so that he could go through all the documents. This lead me to believe that no one had viewed my claim yet and because I was on the phone they would finally take care of it. In the end Access America agreed to reimburse me for everything except for the phone calls (which I still disagree with especially since one of them was to Access America). The agent explained to me that my check wouldn't be cut until the next Tuesday (yesterday). Hopefully this is true and I'll receive the check shortly.

Cancun Mexico our 5 day vacation that turned into 8 days

2011-09-15T16:56:00.000-04:00

After spending an incredibly uncomfortable night on an air mattress at my parents house we caught a cab to the airport. We received an email the day before our flight informing us that our "Even more legroom seat" on Jetblue flight 771 would also come with "Even more speed" access. This allowed us to drop off our luggage and head right to the front of the security line. We were off to Cancun with one million children! Headphones....a new blessing!

When multiple flights land at the Cancun Airport, customs can take forever. We waited 45 minutes for customs, retrieved our luggage and waited another 15 minutes for immigration. Yay the green light let us through without a further step! We were met by the grayline representative outside the airport, however we received a Mercedes van instead of a car. Also disappointing was the fact that they then asked us to meet their other representative at our hotel at 6:15 pm that same day to reserve our return transfers – also known as what other stuff can we try to sell you.

After a short but nice ride we arrived at the ME by Melia Cancun. Our check in was fast, nice, and efficient. We decided to ask if any upgrades were available and we were offered an ocean view for $20 per night (we were good with this as we don't expect to get things for free). We were given a double upgrade to an ocean front view. A few tips for the check in staff: A map of the resort would be helpful, as well as a listing of times the restaurants open and close. Our room offered a fabulous view (the pool, beach, ocean, everything). Our room had a large closet, king bed, night stands, safe, bar, artwork, flat screen tv, dvd player, table and chairs, rain shower, separate toilet and sink area.

Sounds good so far right? Then came the funniest issue! We were getting ready to go to dinner (had a half hour). My husband went to iron his pants and while heating up the iron the room had an electrical issue and the power went out. This wasn't so bad as it was still a bit light out. We contacted the front desk and after a few minutes a maintenance worker came up and opened the fuse box and corrected the problem. Not even five minutes later the same thing happened! Note to self – use iron on low only!

Our first dinner at the resort was at Salt. We enjoyed the pumpkin soup, oyster chowder, shrimp and linguini, arroz with pork. All delicious. The service was friendly - just yell out “henry.” However it appeared that Henry was the only waiter we saw and therefore dinner took almost two hours (20 minutes waiting for the check). While the food was good, I must admit I was a bit disappointed. None of the menus matched the website menus and the current offerings were of less options and less impressive.

The next morning we went out to the pool area and reserved a bali bed with the concierge before breakfast. Breakfast at Salt is a delicious buffet. There was everything form cereals to eggs, to crepes, to Mexican specialties like tamales. After breakfast we headed over to our bed on the beach. It was great for us – we had reserved the beach bed with the large pillow. In addition to this they laid out towels for us to lay on and rolled as pillows. The beds come with “curtains” they can be left for a perfect amount of shade or removed if you prefer more sun. Our waiter came and checked on us often and brought us drinks, waters, and food from a menu if desired.

We decided to venture over to the beach house for lunch. We dined on the ceviche trio, vegetable sandwich, and fish tacos. Everything was delicious. Our server was very friendly and helpful but our dinner issue seemed to pop up again. Lunch took a long time and the longest part was waiting for the check.

Today was our first day to verify the services of our room. Maid service was terrific, they provided extra amenities and towels and came early in the day. Mini bar service does come later in the day but replenished what was missing and also gave us extra water as requested (however we don't believe they ever came back during our stay). We decided to just order room service for dinner after a full day in the sun. We enjoyed nachos with pickled jalapenos and a goat cheese and mushroom pizza.

Prior to breakfast on our third day we met JJ by the pool and reserved our favorite bed on the beach. Breakfast at Salt, again delicious. A small tip though, do not reserve a table by the window. The morning sun is still very hot and the AC in the restaurant isn't too strong.

Today the sun was extremely hot and not a cloud in the sky (so much for weather.com and weatherunderground forecasting thundershowers). We couldn't really complain as the bed was comfortable, the ocean refreshing, and the cerveza's and mojito's kept coming. When lunch time rolled around we felt a bit limited. The beach house restaurant was the only restaurant open for lunch (salt is supposed to be open but wasn’t) and it doesn't have any air-conditioning. So opted to get a reprieve from the sun and enjoy room service again with yummy nachos and a burger. Note, room service is available but $5 surcharge per person - not the best option for an "all inclusive."

We then headed back out to the beach and enjoyed the shade in the afternoon. We decided to go explore and see what kind of knick knacks we could find. We showered and first walked to the Flamingo plaza. I would not recommend shopping here. We read online that it was a handicraft marketplace and offered margaritaville and bubba gump (not that we wanted to eat at the restaurants but showed promise). The mall is in a sad state of affairs. Run down, half closed, and not true handicrafts. We decided to leave without any purchases and walk to La Isla mall. This mall pretty much offers all of the same items as home (Hillfiger, Starbucks, Pandora, Planet Hollywood, Hooters, etc.) however it also offered a few Mexican handicraft stores and also offers AH Cacao. A must try is the Maya Chocolate beverage. We also purchased some chocolate, vanilla, cacao beans, and more.

For dinner we made reservations at Silk. The sushi was delicious! We enjoyed crab and serrano rolls, spicy battered tuna rolls, veggie roll, tiraditos (which was tuna marinated with mango, chiles, and other spices), and steamed edamame topped with chili powder. The server was nice as usual but seemed totally out of sorts and overwhelmed. He was constantly checking his watch, complaining to the manager, and ignoring tables. We were never offered dessert or other drinks and had to request our check a half hour after our plates were cleared.

We had a hankering for something sweet so we spoke to the front desk. We explained the situation and that we would like to order dessert from room service however didn’t want to be charged the $5 per person surcharge. They were kind enough to waive the fee. Downside is that room service always takes at least a half an hour!

On the morning of our fourth day I was roughly woken up by my husband telling me our flight home (supposed to be the next day) has been cancelled from Hurricane Irene. We are fortunate that I brought my laptop, and that my husband and I have become very skilled in searching for travel information. We ended up having to contact Jetblue, Orbitz, Access America (travel insurance - first time ever purchased), The Royal Cancun, our Credit Card (to inform them of our extended stay), Friends and Family. Jetblue over the weekend had been horrible to try to call (we kept trying to get updates on if our flight would be cancelled) however this morning we were able to get through right away. Then the big hit....there weren’t any flights available until Thursday. Orbitz made us wait 30 minutes and then proceeded to tell us that the flight we found on our own was our best option. Then when we asked about help finding a hotel she informed us that the rates she could quote were the same as online – Thanks! Access America didn’t have too long of a wait however the first gentleman I spoke to obviously didn’t know what he was doing and quoted me incredibly wrong information then when I asked to speak to a supervisor he transferred me to the medical department. I called back and spoke with a nice woman who confirmed my insurance benefits and began a claim for me. The Royal Cancun had rooms available at a good price however my credit card became declined since it was outside of the dates I provided to them so therefore I had to call the credit card company and then contact the hotel again. I will be posting separate reviews about our experiences with orbitz and access america and what to do if this happens to you.

Finally, we were able to disconnect from technology and head to breakfast (upon checkout we realized our morning on the phone translated to roughly about $250). Before breakfast we stopped by the pool concierge and JJ hooked us up with our favorite bed on the beach. With our favorite waiter Gustavo. Downside was that today it rained all morning and so we didn’t head to the beach until noon. The beach was still on the warm side although cloudy but nice weather to lay down and read a good book.

In the afternoon we finally were able to meet up with our Grayline transfer rep and confirmed that we could switch our car to the airport to a car to the Royal Cancun (a whole 4 hotels down from where we were). Next we walked back up to Isla Mall to just look around and stretch our legs.

For dinner we decided to brave Silk again because the food was so good even if the service was lacking. We enjoyed Tampico roll, spider roll, spicy tuna roll, pork dumplings, and tuna tiraditos. The the service was friendly as usual however I think it’s a staffing or management issue. There seems to be only 2 waiters per restaurant with 3-4 "helpers". Sounds okay but this situation creates issues. It appears the helpers can bring you water but everything else must be delivered by the waiter. So naturally it gets frustrating when you see your food ready but no one can grab it and then the usual dinner is finished and we wait a half hour for the check.

As we checked out of ME we ran into a bit of a confusing stretch trying to read our bill. We understood our $250 in phone calls however the rest wasn't nicely explained. We stepped into our transfer and drove 3 blocks further to our next hotel ….The Royal Cancun.

Upon check in we were greeted nicely in a beautiful open air entryway. We were offered a glass of champagne and asked if we would like to upgrade to a corner suite. Considering our crazy situation we figured why not naturally this would be on us though and not on our insurance. Unfortunately, we were given a sales pitch on the way to our room (trying us to go to a "breakfast"). Eventually I just said thank you but we're really not interested. Our room was terrific! It featured a King bed, flat screen tv, jacuzzi, large wrap around balcony, seating area, separate bath area, steam and rain shower. The first sign that this hotel was a true all inclusive was our drink center. The large armoir opened up to a coffee maker, 4 bottles of alcohol (vodka, rum, whiskey, and tequila), water, beer, soda, and snacks. This room also comes with a designated beach cabana so you don’t have to fight the chair hogs. We decided to relax a bit and enjoy the complimentary bottle of red wine and take in the view on our balcony.

We decided to walk around and look at the property. We went to the beach and pool area both are gorgeous. We enjoyed lunch at Pelicanos. We dined on a cactus salad, tostata, tortilla soup, and a shrimp and olive pizza. Inside we visited the shops, game room, and the lobby bar. You will never go thirsty or hungry at this property!! There is even an hor deurves section in the game room.

To relax a bit we decided to test out our steam shower and reduce some of the salt in our system. Dinner was booked at the Chefs plate. A little weird at first that you have to enter Maria marie’s and then escorted down to a separate room where you eat at one long table. You are then presented a tasting menu but if you have any food allergies or are vegetarian they will accommodate you. For a starter we were served a lobster ravioli with a tomato sauce and a lime bubble. Next came a leek soup with a potato froth. The third course was seared scallops with a beet spread and lime caviar also with fried sweet potato strings. The next course was a rose and red wine palate cleanser. The first main course was a beef wellington however they made a vegetable lasagna for us vegetarians. The second main course was a grouper rolled and breaded. For dessert we enjoyed a chocolate souffle with a green apple liquor bubble.

When traveling please try to keep in mind that everyone is different and you should always try to be courteous to others around you. We were woken up by our neighbors at 5:30 am with a tv blaring, radio playing, and hysterical laughter. I don't think this would normally be an issue for people however our room was a connecting room so therefore we heard everything through that thin door.

At a decent hour we got up and ready and headed to breakfast at Spice. This is a buffet style breakfast with lots and lots of options. The food and service were both excellent. After breakfast we headed to the beach and our beach bed. This would be the one downside compared to the ME the beach bed isn’t in terrific area, there is no beach concierge to set up your bed and no personal waitstaff. We finally found a waiter named Jonathan who was very sociable and friendly but who was taking orders for the entire beach. The beach itself is just as pretty as ME (remember only 4 hotels down).

For lunch we decided to try the buffet since we were still in our swimsuits and cover ups. The buffet still had a large selection but not the best option for a vegetarian. The desserts were miniatures but large in flavors. The 2^nd downfall to this resort was our room service today. When we checked in our concierge asked when we would like our room cleaned, turned down, types of pillows etc. We chose an eleven o clock cleaning time and when we came to our room to change the room was still not cleaned at noon. We decided to leave and head back out. Well at 2 our room still hadn’t been cleaned. We finally contacted our concierge and a few minutes later the maids arrived.

Prior to us getting ready for dinner we found that we had two things to watch from our balcony. First was our personal dance crew! There was a large family staying in one of the swim up suites below us. One of their sons set up towels on the floor around the pool and was dancing up a storm (including a move where he would fix his hair), then another son joined in. We were dying laughing and he would just wave. We turned around to look at the other balconies near us and sure enough people were also watching and video taping him! The second was the set up of the beach party as well as the start of the party. This hotel really goes all out for their entertainment of their guests. The beach beds were positioned for a crowd, white fabric was hung around the entire beach area, special lighting brought in, a new bar was set up, as well as a dance floor and dj. When the party started we noticed they had dancers brought in (trying to be trendy and sexy although the end result was a bit cheesy). However, the dancers did get the guests up and on the floor. The beach party ended prior to us finishing dinner (but I found that respectful to the guests that music wouldn't be blaring for those trying to sleep).

For dinner we had reservations at Maria Maries, a french Mexican fusion restaurant. The staff were friendly, attentive, and made sure we enjoyed everything. We started with shrimp carpaccio (the peanut oil was too over powering), and the guacamole bombay. For entree we enjoyed the dover sole fillet veronique and the T bone steak. Dessert was a bit of a let down. The creme brulee trio was one dish and it was more like panna cotta over a thin layer of cake The chocolate macadamia cake looked pretty but tasted old. After dinner we decided to get a drink and people watch at the lobby bar. This was fabulous entertainment! A band was playing so we got to sit back and watch a bunch of people try to salsa! Hilarious!

On the morning of our 7th day, we went back to Spice for breakfast. After breakfast we ventured on down to our beach bed. The weather was warm however we could see in the distance a lot of clouds and rain. We sat out for a bit and enjoyed a couple of cocktails. We could tell the storm was getting closer to us so we packed up and headed inside. Not 15 minutes later the storm hit! Complete downpour, thunder, and black skies! Needless to say everyone came into the lobby and the hotel got a bit crowded. Luckily our room was large, had a covered balcony, and had 4 bottles of alcohol with mixers!
This day was pretty much over. A few hours later the storm passed us but everything was soaking wet and extremely humid. We decided to rest for a bit and watch some tv or sit on the balcony and read. We were hoping for some chips and guacamole from service and even though it wasn't on the menu they were happy to send us some. In the afternoon we went for a drink at the lobby bar, one of the things that would have been helpful is that if the bartenders would promote their best drinks. Anytime we asked a bartender or waiter what drink they would suggest we were met with an I don't Know look.

We had reservations at Asiana for dinner. This restaurant is a fusion of Asian cuisine but it also offers teppanyaki. For us, we're tired of teppanyaki, we have multiple restaurants surrounding us that offer this cuisine so when we found out our reservations had been made for the teppanyaki tables without us asking for them we had to switch to the regular restaurant. The food was delicious and service friendly but there was an error when our entrees came out before our appetizers. The second error was that instead of take the plates back they served us everything at once. For appetizers we had ordered the veggie salad and the shrimp au green curry. For entrees we ordered the shrimp au coconut vinegar and the kraton tong. We had asked if the dishes could be made spicier than normal and the kitchen happily complied. We skipped dessert at the restaurant and stopped by the Cafe. We took a mini flan, mini fruit tart, and two chocolates to go. After dinner we joined the rest of the hotel at the Lobby bar. Tonight there was going to be a "tribal dance" show. We did get good seats for the show but we didn't end up staying to long as it was a bit cheesy.

I forgot to talk about the turn down service so tonight's experience with it was great. The light a few candles that added a lavender scent to the room, dimmed the lights, turned down the bed, laid out two robes, and left two chocolates. Speaking of those chocolates...I don't know if the hotel makes them or buys them but the are delicious you can get them at turn down and also at Spice restaurant. Some of the chocolates are filled, all are milk chocolate and decorated with edible transfer sheets (decorations).

We finally get to go home on our 8th day in Mexico! We woke up and went down to Spice for our final breakfast and it was still just as yummy. After breakfast we headed upstairs and for the first time in our travels just threw our stuff into our suitcases. Needless to say an extended vacation means no clean clothes left (luckily I'm an over-packer). We had a car coming for us at noon so we checked out of the hotel around 11:30 and 10 minutes later our ride was there. Two days before we were now set to leave I contacted Jetblue to try to get our seats together (instead of 12E and 25F) unfortunately Jetblue made us pay $80 for the extra legroom seats so we could sit together. As it turned out it's a good thing we did. The check-in line for Jetblue was insanely busy and I would have hated to not get seats together had we waited.

We breezed through security and headed for some last minute shopping. Honestly, sounds kind of bad picking up gifts from the airport for family and friends however we found the liquor to be the best options and price. So a few bottles of liquor, some more chocolate, and some pickled peppers and we were ready for some lunch. Note - the duty free shops do not let you take your purchases with you. They will ask for your ID's and boarding passes, write down your info, and have the purchases brought to the gate where you will pick them up before getting on the plane.

I know kind of cheesy but we enjoyed lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Not too many options though when your in an airport. We ate Cajun peel and eat shrimp, a shrimp po boy, and a BBQ hamburger. The drinks however were too sweet!

We found our gate and began to board the plane. Then of course we heard everyone around us talking about how their flight was cancelled too and this was the first available, people fighting over seats because they were separated, and people trying to sit together in seats that should be occupied by others. Again...Headphones....a new blessing!

Landed in Boston, found our luggage, joked with the immigration officer about our situation, and headed home to be with our boys....Bucket (beagle) and Fred (Shorkie)!

My reading list 2010 - 2011

2011-04-19T16:58:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of years I have been reading books about travel writing, greener living, protecting animals, and ways to better myself. Many of these books have brought me to Spain, Italy, India, France, Portugal and many other exciting places. Others have helped me realize how I want to live my life, how to appreciate the small things, and how there are others out there that need our help. Here are the books I have enjoyed so far and can recommend:

EAT PRAY LOVE Elizabeth Gilbert
DRIVING OVER LEMONS Chris Stewart
THE MAGIC OF PROVENCE Yvone Lenard
ALMOST FRENCH Sarah Turnbull
WITHOUT RESERVATIONS Alice Steinbach

Frances Mayes
A YEAR IN THE WORLD
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN

Marlena De Blasi
A THOUSAND DAYS IN VENICE
A THOUSAND DAYS IN TUSCANY
THE LADY IN THE PALAZZO
THAT SUMMER IN SICILY

VEIL OF ROSES Laura Fitzgerald
JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB Karen Joy Fowler
DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE Isabel Allende
LET'S TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME Gail Caldwell
THE SECRET Rhonda Byrne
ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
HARVEST FOR HOPE Jane Goodall

My small goals to achieve my dream of traveling the world

2011-04-13T10:52:00.000-04:00

When I think about the way I wish my life would be I think of the word adventure. To never really have a home base, to be up for anything, and to not be afraid of experiencing new things. I have always felt that somewhere within me there is a bit of gypsy blood. The gypsy in me wants to constantly be on the move, making a living in different ways during the different seasons, and learning about the ways other people and cultures live their own lives.

In reality I have a happy but average life. My husband works full time and I take care of our home. Day by day I am either cleaning, cooking, working out, or visiting with family and friends. My creative side does get to come out and play when I have time. I am a photographer, baker, reader, writer, and jewelry designer. All of this is only part of who I am. When I feel at my best it is when I am traveling. My husband and I travel as often as we can usually taking 2-4 trips a year (depending on size and locations).

Together we have traveled to 2 Continents, 12 Countries, 9 World Heritage Sites (we will visit 3 more within the next year),1 Volcano (we will visit at least 2 more in the next year) and 2 of the New Seven Wonders of the World (we will visit 1 of the original Wonders this year).

The hard task at hand is trying to figure out the best grouping of goals so that we are able to see the whole world in our lifetime. The first goal that we came up with was to visit each of the New Seven Wonders of the World. So far we have visited Chichen Itza in Mexico and The Roman Colosseum in Italy. The other amazing sites we will visit are The Great Wall in China, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, The Taj Majal in India, and Petra in Jordan.

Some of our other goals (in no particular order) are traveling to each continent, traveling to as many volcanoes as possible, checking off as many World Heritage Sites as possible, and swimming / or touching all the various oceans of our planet.

I love to travel and think about it often so I decided to make this blog more than just about what has happened. I am going to continue to add my plans, ideas, locations, and much more to this blog. I hope others out there will join in and together we can appreciate all the beauty in the people and places of our world.

Our Road Trip to Savannah GA

2011-04-12T14:13:00.001-04:00

On this road trip it was my husband, myself, and our friends plus their 1 year old. Since we were traveling with the baby we all decided to take two cars and drive through the night until our first destination, Jonesville NC. Driving all night long definitely has it's advantages. The time seems to go by faster, the kids don't need as many bathroom breaks, and you meet interesting people along the stops.

Our first route took us from the Mass Pike to Highway 84, to Highway 81, and finally to I77. We drove through Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. In case anyone was near us - yes we were the ones honking our horn as we entered each state.

This was our second stay at the Hampton Inn Jonesville/Elkin. We were also traveling with friends and their 1 year old son. We were early for check in and were really hoping for rooms to be available (since we just drove 12 hours overnight) and the staff didn't disappoint. We received two rooms on the first floor near each other. We did forget about the rooms having mini-fridges and microwaves so this was a great surprise to our friends. Our friends were able to keep food fresh and /or warm it up for their son. We all enjoyed the popcorn, cookies, and water in the afternoon, and the breakfast in the morning. For dinner that evening we decided to be a little silly and venture out to the Pirates Landing. The food and service were good and priced well. The restaurant is nice and not overly animated. The one bad thing was with it's first impression. The fish pond out in front of the restaurant did smell badly and probably needs a really good cleaning.

The next day we decided to take a small detour and show our friends the Lone Star BBQ and Mercantile in Santee, SC. We hopped back onto I77 to I26 (I26 was a slower paced road but a very pretty drive). We have visited Lone Star Barbecue several times and have always enjoyed ourselves. This year we went with friends and none of us could come up with one bad comment. The restaurant is good for meat eaters and vegetarians. Lone Star offers several types of meat, lots of hot vegetable dishes, cold salads, and desserts. Don't forget to have the Banana Pudding!

After lunch we filled up the gas tanks, jumped onto I95. Naturally our luck had us pulling into our hotel right as the skies opened and sent gallons of water right onto our heads. Since there were so many of us we decided to try out the Homewood Suites Savannah Midtown hotel. We had reserved a two bedroom suite and received a great pre-pay rate. Our room had an entry way, bedroom with it's own bath and 2 queen beds, living room with table and chairs plus a fireplace, kitchen, and a master bedroom with it's own bath and a king bed. The rooms were all clean and well appointed. The layout was perfect for all of us and the amenities made it easier for our friends and their son. While we were in Savannah the weather was terrible. There was very loud thunder, large lightning, and downpours. The windows in both of our bedrooms did leak a little bit but we figured it was due to the extreme weather. The breakfast was very good everyday. There were always a selection of hot items (omelets, potatoes, egg sandwiches), grits, cold cereals, and pastries. The one downside to breakfast is that there never seemed to be enough tables (more than likely though it was because everyone ended up going to breakfast at the same time). The hotel is very clean, staff is always available, there is a comfy feel, and it's very close to the historic district, shopping, and restaurants.

During our time in Savannah we walked through the Historic District, the Gardens, River Street, Tybee Island, Fort Pulaski, and we can't forget about our shopping and/or our eating.
Here are a few reviews of where we ate:
Moon River Brewing Company: During our visit the service was slow and the first impression wasn't great. Upon greeting us our server began to tell us all the items the restaurant was out of and then started to tell us how no one in the area had Fried Green Tomatoes because they were so expensive. We didn't find this to be true anywhere else (Savannah or Charleston).We did enjoy the 6 degrees beer and the Rosemary Ale. The food was good but not memorable.
Crystal Beer Parlor: Fabulous and friendly service, very cool atmosphere, and unbelievably delicious food. You can not go wrong visiting the Crystal Beer Parlor. For drinks we enjoyed Crystals Strawberry Flirtini, and my husband enjoyed Schlitz on tap. Must haves from the menu are the Bleu Chips, Deviled Crab Burger, and the Oyster Sandwich. Yum!
The Lady and Sons: When we first arrived in the Historic District we walked over to the Hostess Stand (we had read that you needed to get your names in early). At the time we put our name in there weren't many people nearby so we didn't think to much of it when we got a 3:00 lunch time. At 2:30 we checked in for our reservation and at that point they were telling people the next available time wasn't until 9:00 p.m. After we were seated we were given hoe cakes, and cheddar biscuits - both were delicious! Half of our party ordered from the buffet while the other half ordered from the menu. If you are looking for more than just the experience, order from the menu. The food was far superior. Greg and I ordered from the menu and enjoyed broiled scallops and a crab cake burger.

For fun places to shop visit:
Paris Marketplace - gifts, home goods, jewelry, accessories
Savannah Bee Company - honey, gifts, cheeses
Terra Cotta - clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories
River Street Sweets - Pralines
The Grateful Hound - Dog treats, clothing, collars

At this point in the trip our friends had planned to head on home while Greg and I ventured on up to Charleston, SC. Just like the rest of the trip it began to downpour when we all got into our cars and headed north. We decided to try the scenic route taking US17. I'm sure normally it's a beautiful drive however we weren't able to see much nor really stop as the rain was horrible.

We arrived in Charleston just as the rain was slowing down so we decided to head right over to lunch. This was our second visit to Poogans Porch. We had no trouble getting seated during the busy lunch hours. The staff was friendly and welcoming. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch of fried green tomatoes, spinach salad with friend shrimp, and the oyster po'boy.

It had been a tough debate for us in regards to a hotel. We kept going back and forth between the Harbourview Inn, French Quarter Inn, and Market Pavilion. We finally decided to stay at the French Quarter Inn and we are happy that we did so.

We were a little to early for check in but the staff helped us with our luggage and took down our information so we would be able to come back to the hotel and just pick up our keys. After walking around and shopping for a bit we headed back to the hotel. When we walked into the hotel the valet informed us that our luggage was already waiting for us in our room. Then the front desk staff handed us our keys and told us a little about our room. We were not offered the champagne and lady fingers at check in - I believe because it was 15 min. before 3 p.m. (I have a feeling they are very set to their schedule). However, the service at French Quarter Inn still can't be beat. We entered our room and realized we had been upgraded to a Business Suite. Our room had a large bathroom, King size bed, armour, small table and chairs, computer desk with a computer, and an oversize balcony. We loved it!! The hotel offers guests refreshments throughout the day. On the 1st floor you can get hot and/or cold coffee and tea plus sweets. One the other floors there is a hot tea and coffee station. In the evenings the hotel sets up a wine and cheese reception. We had our breakfast delivered to our room and it was delicious. We ordered coffee, fresh fruit, and pastries (chocolate croissants, apple fritter, croissants).

During our stay in Charleston we visited the Art District, the Historic District, the Shopping District, and the waterfront. Don't forget to shop at the City Market. Quick tip - visit the market on multiple days. The artisans do work different days so the merchandise changes. We weren't aware of this and so we missed out on purchasing art from a favorite vendor of ours (we assumed she was no longer there). On a previous trip we had stayed out on the Isle of Palms and enjoyed the beach and Charleston. With this trip we wanted to focus on the city itself and really find all the gems.

Here are a few reviews of where we ate:
High Cotton Maverick Bar & Grill: The restaurant was just a quick walk from our hotel and upon entering we only had a minute wait (we did have a reservation). The attire is business casual and the atmosphere was cozy. We dined on the Pea Shoot and Arugula Salad, I had the vegetable plate (normally I wouldn't have been happy with a mixing of sides for a vegetarian option but this was beyond tasty), and my husband enjoyed the swordfish. During dinner we also got a show. Someone set fire to one of the barrels on E Bay Street, and one of the city workers did put it out but not before the fire department had been called. Definitely made for an interesting dinner.
Gin Joint: Went to The Gin Joint for a pre-dinner drink. We loved the atmosphere, the staff, and of course the drinks. I enjoyed a Julep No 1 and my husband enjoyed Bittered Holland Sling.
Amen Street Raw Bar: We decided to change things up for dinner and cancel our reservations for something more casual. When we were greeted at the restaurant we were told it was a 45 minute wait however we could eat at the bar. The bar was fine for us however the service was a little slower than it should have been. We dined on Mussels (the kitchen apparently ran into some trouble serving these as we waited a half hour) that were delicious. Tuna Carpaccio and two kinds of Oysters.

Our plan was to take two days driving back home however we got a bit antsy and started missing our boys (Bucket - beagle, and Fred - shorkie). So we made the 18 hour trip home in one day. Of course we had to make some of our favorites stops though. We first stopped at the Young Plantations Outlet for some South Carolina Treats. Our second stop was at the Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence SC. It's a must to stop here for some Sweet Potatoes, Boiled Peanuts and either Strawberries and Peaches when in season!

After an annoying traffic mess in New Jersey we finally pulled into our driveway at 3 in the morning. We brought a few items into the house and crawled right into bed and couldn't wait to wake up and see our boys (Thanks to "grandma and grandpa" bring them up to us).

Our Caribbean stress reliever

2010-12-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

After a rather long and difficult year we decided to be a bit indulgent and go on a Caribbean vacation. We decided to stay in Puerto Rico pre and post Southern Caribbean Cruise on Princess Cruise Line. Away we flew on Jetblue from Boston to San Juan. Jetblue made me happy while they still made an extra profit. We upgraded to the "even more legroom" seats for the extra room but also for the newer priority boarding! On a very full flight to San Juan right after Thanksgiving this was a blessing!

Arriving in San Juan we picked up our luggage and grabbed a cab to the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino. We booked this hotel for one night pre-cruise. The hotel looked modern, clean, and interesting. The reception staff seemed helpful, our room wasn't ready but we would receive a call when it was. We decided to have lunch at the pool bar which was good. However, the bar was definitely understaffed. The pool and beach area seemed nice but the noise from the airport was just too much. We definitely wouldn't want to spend a week listening to it.

Two hours later (around 3:30) we decided to go and check on our room. Another person was working the reception desk, didn't say hello to us and when we asked about our room responded with one word - no. As we walked away stating that the couple next to us got a room the staff followed after us saying your room is now ready. We headed up to the fourth floor and entered our room - that's right - - the house cleaning staff was still in it. The rooms appear nice but the floors were never cleaned and we didn't see anyone using or hear a vacuum the entire time. That evening we decided to have drinks in the lobby bar. As I began to nibble on the pretzels / nuts provided I looked over and saw the waitress eating the pretzels out of the bowls that she would we then bring over to the guests - yuck! Overall the hotel looks nice and could be 4 stars however it appears there is no management watching over those that interact with the guests.

The next day we hopped in a cab and headed to the Pier. Hmmmm that looks like traffic up ahead - yes it does! A half an hour in the cab with the ship in sight - luckily Puerto Rico has set rates from the different taxi zones. Check in at Princess was pretty easy maybe a half hour wait total. As we walked through the Caribbean Princess it reminded us of the Crown Princess however this ship doesn't seem to flow as nicely. Walking to our room I noticed balloons and streamers for different celebrations - I was expecting this on our door as well for Greg's B-day. However, we never received them. We met our stateroom attendant has a complimentary glass of champagne and headed out to explore the ship.

Unfortunately the ship experience wasn't up to our past trips. Our stateroom was always clean but no special touches, the food for most of the ship was bland, the staff was mostly friendly, and the activities were lacking. Here are a couple highlights and/or complete misses:

1. The Spa staff - always friendly, helpful, and the Thermal Suite was perfect! I ended up catching the flu during this vacation and the Thermal Suite truly helped my breathing and sinus pressure. If it wasn't for the Thermal Suite I think my vacation would have been ruined.
2. Sabatini's - terrific staff, delicious food, huge portions, no rush, and all around fantastic.
3. The Ultimate Cooler and Passionfruit Mojito - always yummy

4. The buffet - rude staff, pushy staff, no seating, not enough vegetarian options

5. The International Cafe - friendly staff but the cafe itself is very small and limited options unlike the Crown Princess.

The best part of a cruise is visiting our favorite islands and the new and/or familiar experiences.

On St Thomas we decided to start our vacation with a bit of relaxation. We decided to go to Magens Bay Beach. The drive to the beach is beautiful - scenic view, rising hills but the stop at the junky wares could be left out. Magens Bay Beach is a very nice long but narrow beach. The water while we were there was colder that we have experienced before though. Next we headed into town to do some shopping and have a bite for lunch.

Whenever we travel my friends and family make fun of me. The first reason is because I am a list maker. I have to stay organized and have everything written down. The second reason is a bring a little bit of everything in my medicine cabinet. Fortunately, I brought some cold meds with us this trip however they quickly ran out. So there we are walking around the town looking for somewhere to purchase some cold meds. Hmmm a sign for a drugstore in the back of a linen store. Sure enough you walk through the linen store, through the touristy wares and there is a decent variety of over the counter medications - - Yay I'll be able to breathe again shortly! For lunch we decided to try out a restaurant I researched online. Glady's Cafe. The service was warm and inviting, the food was delicious, and the hot sauces were the perfect accompaniment. Greg even bought one to bring home.

Our next island is our favorite - Tortola. In the British Virgin Islands we have been fortunate to visit Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Norman Island, Marina Cay, and a few snorkeling spots. We have always wanted to visit Jost Van Dyke but never found the time. We boarded our "ferry" to the island and we ready for an adventure. Sure enough half way there the seas were a bit rough and the waves were after us. Unlike most people we enjoy this. If you are on a boat in the Caribbean waters, heading to a beach, and the sun is shining why not get soaked by a few waves. As we maneuvered into the amazingly clear turquoise waters we were greeted by a sea turtle. We hopped from the boat onto powder soft white sand and were instantly laid back. In between swimming and sunning we visited a few of the local bars and enjoyed a few Painkillers. Unfortunately, it was time to go so we boarded another boat and headed back to Road Town. One of our requirements if we are on Tortola for a short time is a stop into Pussers Road Town. We enjoy a Painkiller or a Nelsons Blood and gush over the best Conch Fritters in the Caribbean.

The next stop was Antigua. This was a bit of a disappointment as we booked a beach excursion but were taken to Halcyon Cove by Rex Resorts. I was less than impressed with the facilities, the transportation drivers, and the staff. After getting back into St. John's we decided to grab lunch at Hemingways Caribbean Cafe. "Honey wasn't that the same man who asked you if you wanted some green a few years ago" response "yup that must be his corner." LOL, laid back style in the Caribbean. We have been to Hemingways before but this time the food wasn't as good seemed to be a bit on the dry side.

I'm sure we're the weird ones but we aren't big fans of St Lucia so at this stop we decided to relax on the ship and do a little shopping at the pier. Unfortunately, our pier was the one not near the shopping. We paid a few dollars for the ferry and then realized we waited a half hour instead of the every 10 minutes. We ended up doing a little shopping, mostly for art and rum. When we were ready to head back to the ship we went to the ferry pick up area and saw the long line of people waiting and the ferry no where in sight. Ready for adventure we decided we would walk all the way back to the ship. So there we go walking through the tour providers, past the cab drivers, saying no thank you to the "green" providers, half way there still don't see the ferry picking up the other guests, 25 minutes later made it back to the ship before everyone else.

Barbados our last Caribbean island. We headed over to the Cockspur Beach Club - yes we were a bit immature and chuckled over this. A few years ago Greg purchased a Cockspur T shirt for his brother and it became a running joke and then here we are at their Beach Club. The staff was very friendly, the beach is beautiful, the drinks were good and it was a very enjoyable time. We were considering going into town after the excursion but when we entered the pier the traffic was atrocious and we could imagine fighting to get back out and into the pier again.

After a relaxing sea day we arrived back in San Juan. We changed our deboarding time to 8:15, we were off the ship and at the Marriott San Juan Resort & Stellaris Casino by 9:30 am. We booked this hotel for post-cruise. We arrived very early to the hotel so naturally our room wasn't ready. The hotel looks very nice, modern, and clean. We decided to go across the street to Starbucks for breakfast - don't go at 9 a.m. we waited in line for 25 minutes (we decided we were nuts to do so). Next we hopped into a cab to head into Old San Juan - just as we arrived the hotel called to let us know that our room was ready.

We visited a few of our favorite places in Old San Juan. El Convento Hotel, Puerto Rican Arts and Crafts, and tried a new restaurant - El Jibarito. The food, service, and atmosphere were perfect. The restaurant is in Old San Juan but it's in more of the residential area which also makes a nice walk and atmosphere.

When we got back to the hotel we picked up our room cards and headed to the 12th floor. Our room was large, high ceilings, clean, large bathroom, bath and body works products, and a city view. The hotel is also in a nice area we walked around a bit and found the walgreens, restaurants, other hotels, luxury shopping, and even found a nice farmers market. The staff from the reception, to the casino, to the housekeeping were friendly and always smiling. We also found that the coffee bar in the hotel offered nice beverages and breakfast treats. The pool and beach area are nice but small when we compare it to the large resorts in Rio Grande.

The next day we flew back to Boston on Jetblue thankful yet again for our priority boarding!

Boston to Disney World: Our first solo road trip! Long Report!

2010-04-28T15:49:00.017-04:00

Day 1:
Tip #1 When driving from Boston to Disney leave at midnight! I know it sounds crazy but it really is the best option! We missed all of the traffic in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore! We also got to drive longer between breaks because Porscha (8) slept through the night (kids and the bathroom breaks - any parent knows what I am talking about).

Our first stop along our road trip was in pursuit of Aunt Ruby's Peanuts. Unfortunately, all we could find were the homes and closed stores of Enfield NC. This town has such a quaint feel but looked like it was hit hard by the current economics of our country. Further down the highway we stopped in Rocky Mount NC for some BBQ. Gardners BBQ wasn't our idea of BBQ food it was more southern comfort food. That being said, the food was delicious! They offered everything from fried chicken, trout, pulled pork, pulled turkey, vegetables, soups, desserts, and more.

We had reserved a hotel room in Fayetteville NC however it was 3 in the afternoon and we were all wide awake so we decided to push on and reserved a hotel (thanks to Tripadvisor.com) in Brunswick GA. I had previously looked up two farmers markets along our trip. The first was the NCDA&CS Southeastern Farmers Market in Lumberton NC. Here we found some veggies, canned goods, hot ginger ale, and friendly conversation. The next farmers market was the Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence SC. We just made it to this market before they closed and by all that we saw we knew we would have to do some shopping here on our return trip.

Finally pulling into Brunswick GA around 9 p.m. we found the Comfort Suites Golden Isles Gateway hotel. First impressions of the hotel was that it was newer, modern, clean, and friendly. We did run into a snag at check in (a little big of computer error) but soon had our keys and headed up to our room. When walking into our room you have a small hallway with a large bathroom on the left, a sitting area with couch and table, two double beds, flat screen tv, and many other accessories. All three of us had a great night sleep and thanks to our extra effort in driving we got to sleep in until 8 a.m. Got dressed and headed down to the free continental breakfast. The hotel provides: coffee, juice, cereal, biscuits and gravy, bacon, and even waffles.

Day 2:
Lunch:
Back on the road and we realize that we are now going to check in to Disney about 4 hours too early. I checked online for dining reservations at T REX in Downtown Disney and sadly nothing was available. I called our Itinerary Planning Office at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (concierge level rooms) and spoke to Summer. Summer went out of her way for us by calling the restaurant to see if they could fit us in at 12:30 p.m. Needless to say that fit us in and we had a terrific lunch (T REX is soooo much better than Rainforest Cafe).
Shopping:
We then outfitted Porscha with a new purse, pen, and autograph book and headed to our hotel.
Check in:
We pulled up to the main gate area of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, showed our ID and were on our way to the Jambo House. The Concierge staff met us at our car, waited with us for our baggage to be unloaded (We had 13 bags - and the staff kept telling us all week that this wasn't a lot at all compared to others), escorted us directly to our room, and checked us in. We were given room 4321 (easy to remember). I can totally understand how everyone feel about the concierge rooms needing to be bigger, luckily ours had bunk beds in it so it was a big roomier. Porscha was so excited first at hearing all about Hidden Mickey's, then finding some in our room, and then BAM looking out our balcony and already seeing warthogs, zebras, giraffe's, and more! We decided to head upstairs and check out the concierge lounge. We were in time for afternoon tea - yummy and cozy.
Dinner:
We made reservations at one of our favorite restaurants - Jiko. Our server was Marty and he was very nice, attentive, and even agreed to be Porscha's first signature in her autograph book. During the dinner Porscha found a hidden Mickey - we all thought she was crazy at first because no one else could see it. Finally another patron was able to make it out as well. When in Jiko if you are dining in the room off of the bar area (not the main dining area), walk into the room, turn around to face the entrance, look to the beaded curtain on the left and try to find "Porscha's Hidden Mickey." At dinner Porscha enjoyed carrots and celery, and the kids pizza - both were yummy. Greg's appetizer was the Chef's specialty flat bread and my appetizer was the Taste of Africa. Both were amazing! For entrees Greg had a vegetarian dish (I can't remember the name and the menus are now different than those on WDW or Allears.net) and I had the Spice crusted Tuna. Both dishes were outstanding however Greg's was better. After dinner we headed up to our room and changed and then rushed out to the Magic Kingdom.
Park:
Here's the one and only problem with Animal Kingdom Lodge......the bus system. We waited 25 minutes for a bus to the Magic Kingdom and naturally when it finally got to us was packed. Arrived at the Magic Kingdom and walked around the parade and in the rain (yup rained our first day in Disney) to Tomorrowland for the Wishes Dessert Party. I had heard previously that they staggered the guests times for arriving, this is no more. Everyone arrives at 9 p.m. and it causes a huge line for check-in. Once you are checked in the staff escorts you to a pre-reserved table. YES! We are right up front with prime views! The buffet was incredible sweet after sweet after sweet. The fireworks were fun and exciting even without Tink. When we were first booking our vacation we saw that Magic Kingdom was going to be open until 3 a.m. our first day we thought it was crazy. EMH to 3 a.m. plus rain = best time to visit the Magic Kingdom! We got to ride Stitches Great Escape, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Monsters Inc., Snow White, Peter Pan, and more without any lines!

Day 3:
Park:
After sleeping in a bit we got ready to head out and stopped by the concierge lounge for a muffin or two since our breakfast reservations weren't until 11 a.m. Off to Epcot we go. Right after getting into the park Stitch was nearby so naturally had to get his autograph. We then headed right over to Soarin. This ride is amazing - we all loved it!
Breakfast:
We were running low on time so had to make our way over to Norway for breakfast at Akershus Hall. Porscha was beyond happy here! She was able to meet and get autographs from: Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel. Breakfast was also yummy with the buffet, hot eggs, bacon, sausage, and potato casserole. We decided to spend the entire day at Epcot since we had dinner reservations at Chef de France for 5 p.m. We enjoyed Test Track, Nemo, Mission Space Green, shopping in Mexico, making a mask in Italy, and then came China. Porscha did the traditional find a pearl and naturally the lucky kid got a shell with 2 matching pearls in it!!! When starting to exit China we realized it was pouring out! Porscha and I had ponchos so Greg went hunting for either a poncho or an umbrella within the store (not an easy task).
Dinner:
So there we are completely soaked, running to France for dinner, squishing along and Porscha is loving every minute of it. Apparently do to the rain Chef de France wasn't busy so they didn't even really look up our actual reservation. We were seated right away and had a very nice waiter. Porscha had Cheese Puff Pastry for an app and Fish for her entree claiming both were awesome! Greg and I had both had the Maison Salad for an app and our entrees were the Fruits de Mar Kebab and the Duck. Both outstanding. Best part of today for me was getting to see one of my best friends and her husband. Diana met us at the hotel and we hung out on our balcony for a little while. We then showed them around our hotel, stopping by the concierge lounge for cordials and dessert - YUM!

Day 4:
Breakfast:
We didn't have any reservations for breakfast today so we enjoyed the lovely spread in the concierge lounge. They offer pastries, bagels, cereals, fruit, oatmeal, quinoa, coffee and juices. Off to the Magic Kingdom we go - detoured of course by the long wait for a bus.
Park:
Arrive at the Magic Kingdom in full Fairy outfit (well Porscha did anyways). We took a quick but fun spin on the Teacups and got to have a chat with Alice. Alice asked Porscha to do a small favor for her. She wanted Porscha to tell the fairies that Alice said "Tag your it no tag back!." We found Pixie Hollow and waited in an hour long line to meet the fairies (long but worth it). On this day Porscha was the only other "Rosetta" that we saw so everyone made a big deal over her; she loved it! After hanging with the fairies for a little while we thought it best to complete the look by having her face painted in Rosetta fashion. With a little time left before lunch we visited the Haunted Mansion. Porscha liked this ride but did admit it was a little spooky.
Lunch:
We made reservations at The Wave inside the Contemporary. Sadly this was the only bad meal we had all week. Our server was pleasant but went no further than that. We never received a breadbasket, or assistance with the menus. Porscha had celery and carrots along with pizza and said it was good. Greg and I split The Wave for 2 as an app - definitely not worth it. It was tasty but tiny tiny portions. For entrees Greg got the Reuben and I got the Burger both were good but nothing outstanding from a Table Service restaurant. As we left the restaurant we all decided it would be nice to just head back to the hotel and go swimming. I am so disappointed in everyone who complained to the Animal Kingdom Lodge about the "swimming hole." We both thought it was imaginative to have the pool really fit in with the African theme. Now the hotel has a regular blue pool - boring!
Dinner:
Tonight dinner reservations for the Flying Fish at The Boardwalk Hotel. Another great tip: If you are valet parking at your hotel then you do not have to pay for valet parking at the other resorts. After walking through the hotel you find your self on the Boardwalk. We absolutely loved it here and will be staying here on our next trip. You have stores, restaurants, games, performers, views of the lake, and so much more. The Flying Fish was the first restaurant that went above and beyond for "celebrating." The hostess greeted Porscha with First Time and Happy Birthday Buttons and showed us to our table. Our waitstaff also went above and beyond for Porscha's entree. Oddly enough she doesn't like anything breaded (fish sticks, chicken fingers, etc.) so our waitress accommodated her with a sauteed piece of fish rather than the kids fish sticks without us having to buy her a separate entree. For appetizers Greg and I had calamari and the crabcakes. For entrees we had Potato wrapped Red Snapper and the Scallops. All dishes were outstanding! Like all other Disney restaurants the Desserts were a little lacking however the Flying Fish Desserts were the best.

Day 5:
We booked the Tusker House Breakfast this morning and so we had to head right over to the Animal Kingdom Park. The bus ride was quick however we still ended up missing the morning parade.
Breakfast:
I had read previous reviews but it was still a little sad for Porscha that Donald would not sign autographs outside the breakfast. Upon entering the Tusker House you walk through the buffet area which is enormous! Our waiter came over and greeted us and brought coffee and juice. The Buffet had so much variety it truly had something for everyone. Every dish we tried was delicious!! Best Breakfast! The first we saw of the characters is when they would call up the kids, pass out instruments, and had a small dancing parade (Porscha was too shy). Eventually Daisy, Mickey, and Goofy came by the table for photos and autographs. Now the downside to our breakfast. After giving our card to the waiter he came back and tried to tell us we didn't have any dining credits (I knew we had 18 left). At first he wanted us to pay for the meal and figure out the billing later - to which I replied no and that I would like to speak to a manager. The manager tried to tell me the same thing but there was no way I was going to have to argue my bill at a later date when I paid for the dining plan to avoid all this. Eventually the manager figured out that Greg's card was deactivated (however he was still able to get in parks and use it for charging - go figure) and found that we did have more than enough credits and ended up using my card.
Park:
Of course the park was beyond packed today! After the breakfast fiasco we lost a ton of time and couldn't go on any rides with long lines. Luckily It's tough to be a bug had a short wait (it's a fav of mine). We started to head over to some rides and Porscha found the hair wrapping. After waiting for a couple of people it was finally her turn. By the time she finished we had to head over the our meeting area for our 1 p.m. concierge only Safari Tour. The tour was terrific! We got to see a lot of the animals up close, learned interested facts about the animals and learned how Disney cares for the animals. After the tour we were in need of some ice cream! We made our way through Asia, hung out with the monkeys and headed over to Dinoland for a ride on the Primeval Whirl! After this we all thought it would be good to head back to the resort for some pool time.
Change of plans!
We were supposed to check out of Disney and head over to Daytona Beach. We were having such a great time, and wanted to see more of the Magic Kingdom so we headed to the concierge for help. The person we spoke to reserved us a pool view (concierge level was sold out) and we were fine with having to be moved. The concierge staff also informed us we had the best of both worlds. We would have a new room and not have to check out plus our dining plan and concierge level access were still available to us until midnight the next day.
Dinner:
Tonight we made dinner reservations for Narcoossees at the Grand Floridian. The first thing I noticed is that it's a little hard to find - thank you to the valet staff for guiding us. When we checked in for dinner we were handed a buzzer for a little bit of a wait. Fortunately, this worked out great as we were then able to be on the deck and watch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom. We were also able to watching the floating lights parade as it made it's way around the lagoon. Pretty cool! For appetizers we had the Calamari and Crabcakes (we wanted to compare from the Flying Fish - Flying Fish wins) and they were good. Greg had the Snapper and I had the Etouffee for entrees both were delicious.

Day 6
Prior to checking out we enjoyed breakfast in the concierge lounge. After eating I went to check us out with the concierge staff. I happen to ask about us checking back in and before I knew it she was checking us in and printing our new room keys. Of course our room wasn't ready yet but it was fabulous to not have to check in at 3 pm with all the new guests! Concierge level totally worth the money!!
Park:
Had another horrible wait for a Magic Kingdom Bus! You really need to work on this AKL! Finally arrived at the park and went to check out Adventureland. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Treehouse, enjoyed a Dole Whip and hung out with Lilo and Stitch. Next we went over to It's a Small World followed by the Liberty Square Riverboat and the Frontier Shooting Arcade.

Lunch:
We didn't have any reservations but we thought why not try to get in to Tony's Town Square. Just as the parade was starting and right before closing they were able to fit us in! For appetizers we enjoyed Mixed Greens and the Tomato and Mozzarella Salad. For entrees we enjoyed Tony's Flat Bread and the Special: Turkey Club Panini. Both were good however the panini was enormous and way too stuffed. It ended up just falling apart.
Snack Credits:
Throughout the week we got a couple of snacks here and there: zebra domes, grapes, ice cream, etc. On our final day at Disney we had 18 snack credits left. We were visiting friends who lived nearby tonight so we thought why not bring dessert. Head over to the Confectionery and pick up cupcakes, frosted cookies, fudge, and a must have: German Chocolate Chip Cookie! In addition to that we brought home cookies, fudge, and more.
Dinner:
Drove up to Oviedo to visit with one of my best friends. We went to one of their favorite places - Tijuana Flats. Fun atmosphere, yummy food, lots of variety. It kind of reminds me of Wahoo's (minus the fish tacos unfortunately). Loved being able to catch up with everyone! Finally headed back to AKL around 11 p.m. and had to organize or stuff for the car. Our game plan is to leave at 5 a.m.

Day 7
Time to call the valet and baggage. Luckily I remembered to have Porscha go to sleep in what she would be wearing today. Greg loaded up the car and carried her right to her next "bed." There we are making good time and bam - police lights in our rear view. $215 later I find on the internet that a certain county in GA is infamous for pulling people over and getting large sums of money from them. To quote another blogger "if they pull you over you will definitely be getting a ticket."
Lunch:
Finally pass into South Carolina and we stop at a store in Santee SC that we previously pulled into. This time I noticed a sign that said Lone Star Barbecue and Mercantile 1 1/2 miles down the road. We decided why not! All I can say is YUM YUM YUM! The original buildings (however moved to this location), cute store, terrific buffet, and friendly staff this is a must have stop! For today's BBQ we all had the pulled pork the sides we all tried were: sweet potato casserole, fried okra, tomato casserole, cole slaw, rice, and peach cobbler. We ended up getting our order to go as it wasn't really lunch time yet. I was so disappointed when I realized we didn't stop here on the way to Florida - we would have been able to have their Shrimp and Grits which I can only imagine are fabulous!
Shopping:
Next we headed back to the Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence SC. Naturally I had to purchase sweet potatoes for my parents, boiled peanuts for us, strawberry bread and peach almond bread for all of us. We stretched out legs and then enjoyed our delicious lunch from Lone Star. Right up the road is the Youngs Plantation Outlet. Here you will be able to try and purchase lots of local foods. We tried everything from Pecans to Bene Wafers! Great place to pick up gifts!
Let's keep on driving!
Back on the road again and I have started to look at where we should spend the night. Somehow my husband talked me into driving straight through. Here we are making good time again and then we hit Hartford CT. There was a car fire in one of the underpasses and so they rerouted all traffic from the highway through the city. One would think that in the middle of the night this wouldn't be a huge issue but it was. Some of the streets had cops directing traffic, some streets and lights, there were all sorts of vehicles going every which way. To top it off when we finally got back on the highway, the highway we re-opened. Pulled into our driveway around 5 a.m. everyone ran right to their beds!

Overall we had a terrific trip, fabulous memories, and the desire to do it all again!

A day in Portsmouth New Hampshire

2010-03-23T07:40:00.007-04:00

A weekend away in New England during the month of March can be tricky. This past weekend we had the best luck! 70 degrees with full sun for some shopping, drinking and eating in Portsmouth. While it was 3 hours before check in time, the Hilton Garden Inn accommodated us right away. The front desk staff was friendly, helpful, and efficient however the valet service could use some refreshing. Our room had a King Bed, large TV, lounge chair, microwave, refrigerator, large bathroom (shower only). I had read previous reviews about how fabulous the beds were at this hotel. We did not like these beds at all, I don't know if it was our room, us, or others are used to horrible beds.

We decided to do a little bit of shopping before we had lunch. One of our favorite stores to visit is Mainely New Hampshire. On this trip we found our favorite hot sauces; Capt. Mowatts - YUM! We also picked up some Jalepeno Wine for my dad from LaBelle Winery. For lunch we tried the Portsmouth Brewery. Both of us are pescatarians so naturally the typical brewery burgers were out. Settling on some appetizers and beers we ordered the Rhode Island Style Calamari and the Spicy Curried Mussels. The Calamari was a little soggy but well seasoned. The Mussels were phenomenal! Spicy broth, cooked perfectly, toasted bread to accompany.

After Lunch some more shopping! A few of the stores we visited were Macroscopic (for all things fun and different), Treehouse Toys Limited (adorable toy store), Ganesh (clothing, accessories, pashminas, bags, and homegoods), and Scallops Shell Emporium (my little cousin asked us to bring back sand and a bottle of water from Portsmouth so we thought we could do a little better).

Mainely Gourmet offers handmade candies, chocolates, and smoothies. I was very interested in their "Evil Chips." Evil Chips are ruffled potato chips, dipped in caramel, dipped in chocolate and then rolled in crushed almonds. I was unimpressed by these as the minute you broke into it the chips in the middle fell apart and had zero toppings. The top hats (Marshamallow dipped in caramel and chocolate) along with the chocolate covered peeps were cute. At Stonewall Kitchen I was able to find a yummy butter pecan syrup however their dips and sauces left a lot to be desired. For instance we tried the Strawberry Balsamic Jam. While the Strawberry flavor was bright and fresh tasting there wasn't even a hint of Balsamic vinegar. We felt throughout their products the most expensive ingredient was always limited and therefore no taste from them.

After dropping off our packages it was Tapas time! Everyday from 3:30 - 5:30 Cava offers afternoon tapas. We absolutely loved this restaurant and can't wait to go back for dinner. We sampled: Moroccan Spiced Shrimp with Cucumber and Yogurt (the least favorite), Roasted Date stuffed with Manchego & wrapped in Ham (Delicious), Chickpea Fries (My favorite), Bocadillos Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt & Pistachio Oil (Unexpected and yummy), Marinated Olives and Marcona Allmonds (Fabulous and served warm). So that we could try different places we headed over to Popovers for dessert. This was the only disappointment in our day, the desserts were bland and dry.

Continuing with our appetizers instead of meals we visited the Muddy River Smokehouse. Muddy River serves one of our favorite Hawaiian Beer, Kona Pipeline Porter. A couple of beers, some cheesy fries, and interesting atmosphere. Finishing off our night we enjoyed a bottle of California Sauvignon Blanc in our room.

The next morning we decided to head home early. There was one stop that had to be made before we could leave the area though. My whole family loves the bread from When Pigs Fly. Naturally we had to go to their Kittery location right when it opened. We purchased the Chocolate Bread, Banana, Maple, Pecan & Brown Sugar (my favorite), and the Sicilian Green Olive with Hot Cherry Peppers.

Black Friday Sale!!!!!!

2009-11-27T17:45:00.002-05:00

50% off all Fine Art Photography (including sale items)

PoSH Gallery provides the world with Fine Art Photographs, Framed Photographs, Matted Photographs, Decoupage Frames, and Note Cards.

www.PoSHGallery.etsy.com

PoSH Gallery Grand Re-Opening

2009-10-26T14:49:00.004-04:00

www.PoSHGallery.etsy.com

First 10 sales will receive a 20% discount and free shipping.

In addition to this sale I am donating sales to 2 charities I support:

50% of each sale from the "In the Wild" Collection will go to the Defenders of Wildlife Organization.

50% of each sale from the "Stallwagen Bank Whales" Collection will go to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Coming Soon - PoSH Gallery Grand Re-Opening!!

2009-10-20T13:27:00.011-04:00

PoSH Gallery will be having a Grand Re-opening on October 26th 2009. Some of the new features will be:

Rotating Photo Collections:

Most of my photographs are grouped into collections. The new website will display several collections at a time. Collections will be changed monthly to allow for a greater number of photographs to be made available.

New Print Sizes:

With the addition of a large format printer, I am now able to offer fine art prints in a variety of sizes. Each print is offered in a recommend size but if you don’t see the size you would like, please contact me and I will accommodate you!

Eco-Gallery:
I am please to offer a collection of animal photographs I have taken over the summer. The animals pictured in the photographs range from Humpback Whales captured feeding off the Stallewegan bank, to endangered Cheetahs. As noted in each of the description, a portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to charities supporting animal conservation and protection.

Two Hawaiian Islands

2009-10-07T09:50:00.016-04:00

My husband and I just got back from an amazing trip to Hawaii. Of course there were a couple of hiccups along the way but any true traveler pushes through those and enjoys the rest!

Lately we fly only Jetblue airlines. Direct flights, low fares, more room, and personal tv's are hard to pass up. For this trip we chose to fly United - they are definitely no Jetblue! Between the time my reservations were made and we get to the airport United changes our seats around 4 times (3 times without informing us). I finally call to complain and get a very nice gentleman on the phone who tries to get me better seats as well as let me pay for our baggage online as their website wasn't working properly.

We arrived at Logan airport to find out that they had changed our seats again.......they were kind enough to put us in the more leg room area. Board our flight and off to Chicago we go. So there were are landing in Chicago when hmmmm ground getting close and we start climbing again......yes that would be a missed approach landing. Yay! Finally land and look for some breakfast. Board our next flight to Honolulu - rather annoying that the gate is such a small area but what can you do. Next problem - we were given a smelly, moldy, disgusting blanket!! Yuck!

AAAHHHHH land in Honolulu - lets get bags and start to enjoy.....oh there's my bag....what the ****. Yup my bag is destroyed! Handle ripped off, bag torn, stuff sticking out of it! Luckily, there is a nice customer service agent who looks at my bag and heads to the back room where she pulls out two similar suitcases like mine that I can choose from (hmmm does this happen often?).

Finally, we get to grab our rental car and head up to the North Shore of Oahu. Views of pineapple fields, trees, mountains, etc. lovely! Let's play tourist for a second and stop into the Dole Plantation. A must do for us is always to stop in there before heading to the hotel and grabbing some pineapple champagne (Tedeschi Vineyards) for our balcony. Next we get to pass Haleiwa, pipeline, sunset beach, Teds Bakery, and then we get to our destination Turtle Bay Resort!

We have stayed here previously and enjoyed our stay however, lately we read a lot of bad reviews and so we were a bit nervous that things have changed. Here comes the staff for help with valet and bags.....OMG is that.....yup it's Thomas who helped us during our last stay! In addition to being nice, friendly, and helpful Thomas was memorable to us because his brother lives in the city next to where my parents live. We head to check in, where we're still joking around with Thomas now the check in staff is laughing about it with us too. We're given a room on the 5th floor, room 565. The room is great for us. It has a large balcony with two chairs and a table, desk and chair, tv armoire, bed, 2 end tables, a dressing area with large closet, wetbar, safe, coffee maker, bathroom. Yes some of the furniture is scratched a bit and the tiles could be re-caulked but hello it's not the staff who makes pieces look weary that would be the guests who do that! So note to self, on your next vacation take a little more care with your belongs around the hotel rooms furniture etc.

During our stay we got to hike up the beach at the hotel, visit the horses at the stables, relax and swim at the beach (why so many people hung around the pool when there is a beautiful beach just on the other side of the hotel is beyond me!), hike Waimea Valley, watch the surfing all along the North Shore, shop Haleiwa, check out Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head Crater, Byodo Temple, China Mans Hat, and visit a Macadamia Nut Farm.

For us dining was a little more difficult as we are pescatarians (vegetarians who eat fish and dairy). At the hotel we truly enjoyed Ola! Some reviews we read didn't like Ola at all - the only thing I can say is that you're in Hawaii if you're looking for a steak go to Texas. During our stay we tried the garlic edamame, baby octupus, scallops, poke, and salads. Everything was delicious! We also used room service a couple of times - banana pancakes, homemade granola, salad pizza, and bruschetta were some of our favs! Off property we enjoyed the Shrimp Trucks - our favorite was Romy's, Ted's Bakery - can't go wrong with anything they serve, and Haleiwa Joe's. When we would go into Waikiki there aren't that many non-touristy restaurants so you do what you have to do.....Cheesecake Factory for salads, and Jimmy Buffets for Veggie or Fish Sandwiches!

We originally planned to do the Hawaii Foods Tour - Hole in the wall but decided it wouldn't be for us since we can't eat any meat and also didn't want to be disrespectful to the establishments if we chose not to eat something. We called and left a message for Matthew Gray explaining the situation (we also stated that we understood the cancellation policy) and never received a call back (poor customer service).

On Wednesday we flew over to the Big Island for the night. We didn't really have any plans for the day except to explore. This island is definitely not a favorite of ours but here are the things we did like. Greenwell Farms coffee plantation in Kona - yummy coffee, Volcano National Park - truly a must see, Volcano Winery - friendly staff, delicious wine, Hawaiian Vanilla Company - great lunch, fabulous vanilla products, nice staff, very informative tour.

We decided to stay at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott for the night (I had previously reserved a great special for an ocean view room). I called the hotel earlier in the day because we were going to arrive after check in and I didn't want to end up with a "leftover room." The valet staff were the first people we saw and they really weren't the friendly welcome one hopes for. We head to check in where Beau notices that I got the "special ocean view rate" and then proceeds to "sell" me on a room on the 3rd floor (ignore my request for a high floor room). We head to our room and look out our balcony and see nothing but a giant tree! We call Beau back up and explain the situation he tells us he'll try to find something else and finally gives us another room on the 3rd floor. The view is okay and the room is nice and new then the music starts! Apparently on Wednesday nights the hotel puts on a luau - - right in the middle of the grounds that the hotel surrounds (apparently this is the only place they could come up with).

This area is truly a tourist trap we prefer more of a natural area with local flair. You have two hotels, premium shopping, and all chain restaurants. To the left of this area is lava rock, to the right is lava rock, behind the area is lava rock, and in front is the ocean - there is no where else for you to go!

Thursday night fly back to Oahu - thank goodness all the wine, vanilla, coffee, etc. made it as checked luggage in my small carryon! Our last couple days on the island are just spent relaxing on the beach trying to get a bit of a tan. The morning we were leaving we decided to just go grab some coffee. Thanks to a fellow guest we were informed that a Hawaiian Monk Seal was resting on the beach. Grabbed my camera and were able to photograph a truly beautiful endangered animal.

Hopped back on United (praying for my luggage to survive) head to chicago and on to Boston. Luggage made it this time - woo hoo!

Great Aunt Aggies Chicken Wings

2009-06-30T08:31:00.002-04:00

Last week my mother and sister went to see Lisa Williams. Lisa Williams is a medium and has a show on tv. While they were there Lisa Williams mentioned several people who have left us. One of those individuals was Aunt Aggie. Aunt Aggies name was directly mentioned as well as a story about me losing her wedding ring when I was in High School. In honor of Auntie Aggie I wanted to share her Chicken Wing recipe. I hope you all enjoy it!

12 large Chicken Wings
1/2 cup honey
2 Tbsp worcestershire
1/3 cup soy sauce
juice of 2 lemons
1 clove garlic (minced)

Marinate wings for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake chicken wings for 1 hour.

Featured Etsy Street Blogger: Lazy T Crochet

2009-06-09T11:30:00.005-04:00

I would like to introduce everyone to a new shop I visited called theLazy T Crochet. Lazy T's shop is filled with everything from hats, and shrugs to patterns. In the shop announcement Tricia (Lazy T) invites you to look through her shop, sold orders, as well as send custom orders.

In her sold orders I found my favorite piece a Dark Charcoal Hooded Button Cowl. Just by looking at the pictures I could tell it would keep me warm during the winter months and I could still look fashionable!

Starting June 10th through the 14th Lazy T is also participating in the 2nd annual Yart Sale.

Congratulations again to Lazy T for being this months featured blogger on Etsy Street Bloggers.

Don't forget you should also check out Lazy T's Blog!

First Etsy Street Bloggers Post

2009-05-25T11:32:00.007-04:00

I recently joined an Etsy team which helps connects our creative sides. This weeks theme for me is about the June birthstone. Pearls.

I was only 19 when I married so as you can imagine most people didn't think we'd make it. One person who believed in us was my favorite Aunt....Diana. As an early wedding present she had taken a strand of pearls to her jeweler and had the clasps made into earrings for me and the rest into another necklace made for her daughter. The earrings are beautiful four pearls in each earring surrounded by white gold and diamonds. 5 months before my wedding my aunt passed away after a long battle with cancer. I miss her terribly but felt so fortunate that I was able to have those earrings as a tribute to her on my wedding day.

9 years later I was able to give those same earrings to my aunts daughter as "something borrowed" on her wedding day. Forever linking the three of us by those pearl earrings.

San Diego - May 2009

2009-05-19T08:22:00.012-04:00

Prior to leaving for San Diego we decided to purchase the even roomier seats on Jetblue. While it was an unnecessary expense it felt good during the 6 hour flight! The flight itself was normal the only interesting part was having Mitt Romney on our flight.

We picked up our luggage, met our family, and headed over to the Loews Coronado Bay Resort. Maybe the hotel is secluded, far away, or it was just because we were tired and it was late but seemed to take forever to get there. However, once we arrived we were happy with our stay. The front desk staff is very professional while still friendly and tried to find us a nice room (it was our anniversary). The room itself was nice, clean, and inviting. We had a king bed, flat screen tv, mini bar, seating area, and a balcony over looking the pool and marina. The bathroom had a large tub, large sink area, and a separate shower. The shower was nice (glass enclosure) however it was kind of like a cruise ship shower - impossible to shave in! After checking out the room we said goodbye to our family members, ordered some room service, and fell right to sleep.

Our first day in San Diego was "play the tourist day." We met up with our family and headed out to breakfast at The Mission - North Park. Yummy! French toast, pancakes, soy chorizo burritos, and awesome coffee! We drove over to Old Town (one of my favorite places) and purchased tickets for the Trolley Tour (like I said tourist day). We had a half hour before the tour so we visited the shops and purchased a few gifts. Once on board the trolley we had the pleasure of meeting Deb. Deb was voted as the trolley tour operator of the year in San Diego. The Tour brings you all over San Diego while the operators give you a bit of history and information on the stops. Some of the places you can visit are Old Town, Balboa Park, Coronado Island, Little Italy, and Seaport Village.

Balboa Park is filled with beautiful gardens, museums, shops, and restaurants. We didn't visit the museums while we were there but we did visit a few gardens, the outdoor theater, shops, etc. After our visit in Balboa park we hopped back on the trolley and headed to Old Town again. For lunch we decided on Cafe Coyote. Yummy! Carnitas tacos, potato tacos, rice, beans, etc. At this point the time change, early start to the day and our activities are catching up with us. We head back to our hotel for a quick nap and then get ready to head out for the night.

Dinner was enjoyed at Kensington Grill. Our waitress gave us a complimentary glass of champagne since it was our anniversary. We enjoyed a bruschetta plater (not your typical bruschetta) - Mango and Brie, Shrimp Ceviche, Pancetta, etc. Our dinners were good but our family did tell us that the experience was actually less than they had previously had there. After dinner we decided we weren't completely stuffed so a stop at HeavenSent Desserts was in order. Yummy! I loved the Mexican Hot Chocolate!

On our second day in San Diego (Anniversary Day) we had reservations for a VIP Tour at the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. We met our guide Stacy (hmmm meant to be..... same name as me and even spelled the same way) who fit right in with the four of us! Stacy took us through the park (minus the Asian side) and told us all about the animals and how they're cared for as well as how the park is set up. Some special highlights were stopping at the elephant exhibit and going into the keepers area. We saw the different areas where the elephants get checked on and taking care of in. While we were there we got to see the adult male elephant be put back into the exhibit and checked on.

Another special stop was to the Okapi's. We were actually able to see into their beds and where the keepers take care of them. Then we were allowed to feed the Okapi's some lettuce. We fed Safina who is due to give birth to a new Okapi any day. At the last special stop we were brought to where the "performing" animals were taking a break. We peeked in on the cheetah, hyeanna, possum, kangaroo, etc. Stacy was able to bring out a snake and an anteater. We got to look at them up close and even pet them. After our tour we headed over for some "park food" - needless to say I had the fruit salad. After lunch we visited the gorillas, catfish, lions, and the baby cheetah. After all of this activity we were exhausted! We headed back into San Diego for some R&R.

For dinner we visited the Prado at Balboa Park for a romantic al fresco dining experience. Our service and our food were great. I will say that the mushroom risotto is more like watery rice but it was very flavorful. For dessert my cousin surprised us with a mini 2 tier wedding cake. The tiers were made up of our flavor wedding cake as well as their flavor from their wedding. How sweet is that! Now for the bad part. Do not order cakes from Flour Power in San Diego. My cousin had ordered the cake weeks in advance with instruction for it to be covered with fondant and have a a fondant bow (similar to my original cake). The bakery called to tell her that she wouldn't want that on such a small cake (this was the day before she was scheduled to pick it up). When she went to the bakery it didn't have the fondant, nor sugar flowers it was a plain white buttercream frosted cake. On top of that the bakery gave her a huge attitude when she complained that this was not what she ordered. My poor cousin was so stressed out from this that she was actually crying to them and they didn't care! We were all able to laugh it off in the end but be sure we are spreading the word not to use Flour Power.

On our third day in San Diego we all decided we needed to sleep in. We relaxed ordered some room service (yummy). Got ready and headed over to The Hotel Del. We walked the beach, played in the sand, and watched insane teenagers walk in the water wearing jeans! After we cleaned off a bit we headed to check out the hotel. The shops and restaurants look nice and the outside of the hotel is really pretty. The inside of the hotel is definitely not for me though. While it is historic and beautiful craftsmanship it's very dark and and feels like it caters to an older crowd.

For lunch we headed over to Tartine. Awesome panini's that come with a side salad! Very cute cafe! The desserts looked amazing too! We wanted to try them but were really looking forward to some Gelato. My cousin took us to Nado's Gelato and boy was it worth it! Amazing Gelato! The flavors were spot on, it was smooth and creamy, just delicious! I had the panna cotta and pistachio - yum! I told them it was my 2nd favorite gelato (right behind a small shop on Capri). After the gelato we found a little vintage store called “the attic” that had so many fun pieces of jewelry, housewares, and gifts!

We decided to head into little Italy where we found the most amazing clothing store. For Joseph clothing store. Scarves, Jewelry, Jeans, Shirts....Awesome! It was finally time to go to my cousin's place and rest for a bit. It was nice to just relax and hang out and play with the honey bear (they're adorable dog). It was time to change our outfits! 4 T shirts, 4 different colors and different colored lettering all saying......MAS TACOS! That's right it was time for a taco crawl!!

Our first stop was at the Blue water Grill. This stop was the winner for one of us. The rest of us though the fish was delicious (Grilled, great seasoning and perfectly cooked) but too much cabbage and not enough sauce. After we chowed one taco each ((as per taco crawl rules) we took a photo it was time to slam down the drinks and head on to the next stop!

Our second stop was actually a last minute entry (on the way to use the bathroom) Los Panchos. The tacos here were battered and fried, good amount of toppings but rather flavorless. This location was actually a drive through so there wasn't any drinks to slam down but we did get ready to move on.

Our third stop was El Zarape. This was the favorite of 3 of us. We each tried the fish taco as well as the scallop taco. Delicious! The fish was cooked well, just enough toppings and sauce, and fun atmosphere. At this point we were supposed to head to a fourth stop but we decided that we all really liked las Olas (from a previous trip and we couldn't imagine another place topping el zarape) so let's get some dessert! For dessert we headed over to Babycakes for some cupcakes. My red velvet cupcake was good but it's definitely not made in the southern tradition. Everyone else really enjoyed theirs.

On our last day in San Diego we decided to shop as much as we could. Our first stop was to Balboa Park to look at all the Native American artwork at the 25th Annual Indian Fair and Market. We met an amazing artist named Daniel B. Ramirez. His work is beautiful. I was only able to buy a couple of cards since we were flying home but I fully intent to buy one of his prints. http://sites.google.com/site/danielramirezart/

Our second stop was to the Little Italy Farmers Market. The produce looked amazing! The food stands smelled yummy! We ended up just getting a couple of things. First was Frogs Balls.....pickled brussel sprouts. This were actually really yummy! The second was a really cute purse made out of a coffee bag. What made the bag different from others I have seen was that it had added fabric inside and outside to add a splash of color. Later in the day we headed over to Mille Fieulle for some French Macaroons to take home. The cookies are for the most part delicious and made traditionally. However some of the fillings taste a little too artificial. I also wondered if they used egg whites or a substitute. For dinner (of course we had to eat before getting on a plane) we had yummy hamburgers at Crazy Burger. The burgers are large portions and are delicious. We had tried the regular hamburger, the veggie burger and a kangaroo burger (that one was my husband, definitely not me).

We dropped off our rental car at Budget Rental – and will never use them again! They're system was down so they couldn't check us out. Told us they'll email us our receipt. Upon receiving our receipt noticed we were over charged. Instead of checking us in when we dropped the car off, they checked us in a full four hours later, resulting in an additional days charges. It took 4 calls to they're office, the regular customer service office, and 2 managers to correct their mistake. We still await an itemized bill to ensure the correction is accurate. Finally, we jumped on our Jetblue flight, tried to catch some zzzz's, headed home and slept for most of the day - jetlag stinks!

Massachusetts

2009-04-09T14:10:00.009-04:00

I occasionally complain about living in Massachusetts and sometimes I have real reasons to do so. One example is the extreme weather, over this past winter we received over 70 inches of snow - yes 70!! Summer can be just as difficult. I love hot weather, sunny days, and beautiful surroundings but as a woman with naturally curly hair I hate Massachusetts humidity! – (on a humid day my hair volume will double in size) But with all the things that annoy me, there is also plenty of things to appreciate.

Here are just a few of the things I love about Massachusetts

Downtown:
I love shopping on Newbury Street (boutique to high end), Harvard Square (funky, and laid back), and Faneuil Hall for tourist souvenirs.

I enjoy eating at casual places when I'm in town so I head over to Faneuil Hall and walk back and forth through Quincy Market eyeing all the places to eat. It can be hard to narrow down which stand I want to purchase from. Do I want fresh seafood, a burrito, a steak and cheese, or some pizza? Decisions, Decisions! If I feel like sitting down at a historic restaurant I go to Durgins Park, across from Quincy Market. They have the best corn bread I have ever eaten! Heading into the North End is a must for desserts, I recommend visiting Modern Bakery or Bova's Bakery.

For tourists I always recommend the Aquarium, USS Constitution, Swan Boats, Old North Church, catching a Celtics or Bruins game at the Garden, and of course a Red Sox game at Fenway.

North of Boston
I love Caribbean beaches but when I can't get away I head to Crane Beach in Ipswich. The beach is nice and wide, clean, has walking paths, sand dunes, and usually offers calm waters. If you love to hike, my new favorite is Weirs Hill in North Andover - Beautiful!!

My favorite "discount store" is Nordstrom Rack in Danvers. Where else can I get a juicy couture necklace, Dior sunglasses, and Michael Kors shoes and spend less that $300?! A new favorite of mine store is a store in Lawrence called Rose & Dove Gourmet, LLC. It's a home accents, fine food and wine store. I loved that Rose & Dove have organic wine, children's books, purses, and local artists’ jewelry.

If you want a gourmet meal in a casual and fun atmosphere definitely check out Evenfall Restaurant in Haverhill. A few other favorites are Glory's in Andover, Capitol Grill in Burlington, Nana's Steakhouse in Chelmsford, and Pho 88 in Lowell. All have excellent eats and great environments.

South of Boston
Shopping at Wrentham Village Premium Outlets (Wrentham) can be so much fun, even when I spend too much!

In May, a good mini vacation is to visit the Cape and the Islands. We make a stop at Ikea on the drive down (I am always in need of kitchen gadgets). Arriving in Falmouth, where we stay, we always grab some mussels and beer at Liam Maguire's Irish Pub. The next day we take the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard and rent a car for the day to visit all the different areas. Another favorite South Shore area is Chatham. The beaches are nice, the shopping is eclectic, and occasionally you can check out some surfing.

Disney World

2009-03-30T11:29:00.004-04:00

I know that Disney World doesn't seem to fit into my travel lifestyle but I am just a big kid. I think part of it has to do with not experiencing Disney World until I was 9 years old. Since then I have been to Disney 8 times. I have tried many Disney vacation packages, including budget on property hotels, moderate on property hotels, downtown Disney area hotels, Kissimmee hotels, and vacation club rentals.

My favorite experience would be the complete Disney experience. This entails staying on property, using the shuttle services, the all inclusive meal plan, and going to Cirque Du Soleil. This package can be pricey so we balanced it out by staying at one of the moderate Disney hotels. Our two favorites are the Caribbean Beach Resort and the Coronado Springs Resort.

Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort is nice because it's spread out. You have the option of being close to the main entrance (restaurant, pool, check in etc.) or staying away from the main area and having less noise. Each "island" (section of rooms) has it's own pool area and most have their own beach area along the river. The restaurants in this resort are pretty much cafeteria style and really only good for a quick bite.

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is similar to the Caribbean Beach Resort. This hotel does have the same type of layout, beach, 3 pools, and restaurant area. If you stay at this resort try the Maya Grill. We had a really nice dinner there - the chimichurri dip is a must try!

I love all of the parks in Disney World but here are some of my favorite attractions.
The Magic Kingdom - Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight.
Epcot - World Showcase - All of it!
Disney Hollywood Studio - Studio Backlot Tour, The Great Movie Ride, Rock N Roller Coaster
Animal Kingdom - It's Tough to be a Bug, Kilimanjaro Safari, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, The Tree of Life

Here's a list of some of my favorite on property restaurants.
Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jiko
Magic Kingdom - Crystal Palace Character Brunch
Contemporary Resort - California Grill
Downtown Disney - Wolfgang puck, Bongos, Portobello Yacht Club, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain

Appetizer inspired by Italy

2009-03-18T09:13:00.001-04:00

Arangini (Rice Croquettes)

1 LB Arborio rice
3 2/3 cup water
2 ½ cup chicken broth
6 - 10 Tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
salt, pepper, parsley to taste
¼ tsp paprika
3 eggs beaten
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs to coat

Combine water, chicken broth, and rice over medium – high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook stirring frequently until moisture is absorbed. Approx. 15 minutes. When cooked cool completely.

Add next 4 ingredients to rice. Mix well by hand.
Wet hands and take a walnut size portion of the rice mixture. Roll mixture to form an egg shape (oval). When all of the mixture is formed, dip in beaten egg then coat with the breadcrumbs.

Pre-heat large deep fry pan, and then add 1-2 inches of olive oil (or canola oil). When oil is ready gently place the croquettes in the pan. Cook each side of the croquette until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag.

Optional fillings:
Hamburger
Peas
Sprinach
Mozzarella

Carlsbad California

2009-03-13T14:33:00.013-04:00

We were going to California as part of a destination wedding party. The Bride and Groom were from Denver, we're from Massachusetts, and along with help from a cousin in San Diego we planned a great wedding / vacation.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach. The Hilton Garden Inn was priced nicely, the accomodations were roomy and clean, and it was located close to everywhere we wanted to be. However, I will say that I would not stay at this hotel again. This property is the type of hotel I stay in when on a road trip or when visiting family. When we are on vacation in a beautiful area we like to have a higher level of service. Our favorite areas on this trip were Carlsbad, Encinitas, Old Town San Diego, and Hillcrest.

Carlsbad - The beach across from our hotel was great for pictures but to relax on the sand we drove about a mile north for a nice long stretch of beach. One of the prettiest sites from the area around or hotel was the Flower Fields (visit in April). A couple of our favorite restaurants were Fresco Trattoria, Fish House Vera Cruz, and Harbor Fish Cafe.

Encinitas - The wedding was held at sunset on Moonlight State Beach. The weather was perfect, the beach beautiful (exactly we imagined a California beach to look like), and the sunset provided the most amazing back drop. Our favorite casual thing to do in Encinitas is to stop off at Las Olas for a fish taco and a cold beer. Yum!

Old Town - Shopping in Mexico without your passport at Bazaar del Mundo. Picking up cucumber bath salts at US House Apothecary & Soap Shop. Eating pork carnitas (told you they're my favorite) at any of the delicious Mexican Restaurants.

Hillcrest - Visiting my cousin and her husband is always a favorite thing to do! Enjoying fabulous Indian food at Monsoons and enjoying some pie at one of their local hangouts.

Mexico Vacation Inspired Recipes

2009-03-12T18:28:00.007-04:00

One of my all time favorite meals is Pork Carnitas. Carnitas are slow roasted pork meat shredded inside of a fresh tortilla. Yum! Enjoy!

Pork Carnitas
2 3lb boneless pork butts

Spice mixture:
3 Tbsp Paprika
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Mexican Chili Powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp chipotle peper powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking dish (large enough to hold both pork butts side by side) with tin foil. Generously rub the spice mixture onto all sides of the pork butts. Place the pork side by side in the baking dish and seal tightly with tin foil. Roast in the oven for 4 hours. Remove from pan. Using two forks shred all of the meat and place back into the pan with the juice.

Serve with fresh tortillas, and any or all of the following toppings: pico de gallo, lime wedges, lettuce, cheese, hot sauce.

Tortilla Recipe
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp crisco
dash of salt
hot water as needed

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the crisco into smaller pieces. Using a fork or a pastry cutter combine all ingredients until it looks like a crumble. Add hot water a little at a time, mixing with a fork. The dough should gather together and also separate easily from the bowl and fork (not too sticky).

Separate the dough into the portion sizes you want for each tortilla. Lightly dust your working surface, the dough, and a rolling pin. Roll the dough into a very thin round.

Using a tortilla pan, or a griddle pan on med-high heat. Cook tortillas on one side until you see bubbles appear. Flip over tortilla and cook on remaining side to your liking.

PoSH Gallery

2009-03-08T18:34:00.004-04:00

This weekend has been very eventful. It's Sunday night and I just launched my Etsy online shop, the PoSH Gallery. For those of you not familiar with Etsy, it is a website dedicated to handmade goods and products. Consider it the Amazon.com for artisans.

The Gallery will host my photography from around the world many of them are of places referenced in this blog. Currently there are 10 prints viewable. I will be adding prints regularly and hope to offer around 100 different prints at any given time.

Most prints are 8 X 10 and can be customized with matting and framing. You can go directly to my gallery here: www.PoSHGallery.etsy.com

Road Trip to Colorado

2009-03-04T15:03:00.008-05:00

I love to travel, experience new places, try new foods but a must do trip for me is always a road trip from Boston to Colorado. My family and I have made the journey almost every year of my life and it's not always a great trip but it is always memorable. We have taken two different routes to Colorado so I'll give you the highlights of both.

The first route takes us from Boston, through New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and into Colorado. The second takes us through New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska and into Colorado.

Food: When taking a road trip there isn't a "diet" happening nor is there our "foodie" attitude. Some of the places we must stop at on this route are Cheeseburger in Paradise (Hilliard, OH), Stuckeys (these used to be all over but they are getting to be harder and harder to find), Sonic (these restaurants are everywhere except N.E. where we live), and Dairy Queen (need to have ice cream on a summer road trip). Most of the time we don't get to explore small towns or mom and pop shops (I'm usually outvoted) but I can assure you future road trips will be to those small restaurants and shops that should get more acknowledgement.

Now, I'm a New Englander so I'm supposed to love Dunkin Donuts but I will admit that the brief time they were here I loved Krispy Kreme Donuts. In Kearney Nebraska there is a place called Delight Donuts and they have the best donuts I have ever had!

Stops: Our first stop has always been in Marysville, OH. The main reason for stopping in Marysville is to visit family but we have enjoyed many local attracations. Some of the attracations are: The Columbus Zoo, Der Dutchman Restaurant, and Polaris Fashion Place. Our second stop is always St. Louis. In St. Louis we always walk by the River Boats, visit the Gateway Arch, and wander around for a bit of touristy shopping. In Colorado we visit both Colorado Springs and Denver. Below are some of the highlights.

Colorado Springs: Favorite place is the Garden of the Gods. It has beautiful scenery, great hiking, and you usually get to see a variety of wildlife. Next up would be Canon City (about 30 minutes away). In Canon City you can visit the Royal Gorge, take a train ride following the river, go white water rafting, driving over the gorge and visit the gift shop, go to Buckskin Joes, or visit The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. If you visit the Winery a must buy is their Apple Blossom or the Vineyard Sunset. Another great area is Manitou Springs. Manitou has a combination of tacky arcades, street food, antique shops, and unique stores. It's always a must stop for us. When we visit Colorado Springs we really don't eat out too much, blame Nana's yummy Mexican / Spanish Food.

Denver: When we're in Denver we really spend most of our time playing with my niece and nephew but here are some of our favorite haunts. In the Denver area we love the Denver Aquarium (The Manta Rays love my brother in law, one tried to jump out to him), another must do is Denver Zoo. GoodTimes Burger, Mimi's Cafe, New York Burrito, 3 Margaritas, Jamba Juice, and Nordstrom Rack aren't the highest rated attracations but they're the places I always go to when in Denver. GoodTimes have the best fast food burgers (freshes ingredients). Up until recently we didn't have a Nordstrom Rack near us so I had to do my "designer" shopping in Denver (Gotta love Dior sunglasses for a fraction of the retail price)! For a nice dinner with the family drive over to Golden Colorado and enjoy The Briarwood Inn.

If you travel a out a little further two of my favorite places are Estes Park and Boulder Colorado. Estes Park is great for the outdoors people (Hiking, rafting, swimming, fishing, etc.). It also has a quaint town feeling for shopping and eating. Boulder is one of my favorite places. It's a combination of free thinking, eco-friendly, funky shopping, organic food, and friendly people. How could I go wrong!!

Turtle Bay Resort - Oahu, Hawaii

2009-03-03T11:09:00.012-05:00

After landing on Oahu we were greeted with lei's, beverages, local snacks, and a guide to give us tips about the island (my husbands little surprise to me). After retrieving our luggage we picked up our rental car and headed up to the North Shore.

Turtle Bay Resort:
Turtle Bay is a large resort with nicely decorated rooms, well manicured land, and attentive staff. The hotel has a good mix of the laid back lifestyle and luxury. The beach at the property is okay but you should definitely venture out to the nearby beaches on the North Shore.

We had most of our meals at the resort and the food was always good. For breakfast my husband loved the "north shore hash." One of my favorite items was the ice tea (it comes with a piece of sugar cane). The hotel did have a Sunday Brunch while we were there and the food was good but it was pretty pricey.

One night we drove down to Haleiwa for dinner. We decided to try Haleiwa Joes. The restaurant is a bit tourisy but the food was good. A must have is the Burnt Caramal Macadamia (Macadamia nut ice cream, covered with fresh fruit and topped with burnt caramal). However the memorable moment from that night was something different. As we were driving we noticed two cars pulled over on the side of the road (no biggie right?).......walking between the two cars was a completely naked woman!

Must sees:
USS Arizona Memorial, Waikiki Beach, Polynesian Cultural Center, and the Dole Plantation. One would think we would go to Dole for the pineapples or the maze but for us it's to purchase wine from Tedeschi vineyards on Maui.

While we were on Oahu we tried two different luau's. The one we liked best was at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We found this one to have the best activities, food, and entertainment.

When we went to Oahu we were kind of scaredy cats and we definitely missed out! Here are three things we will be doing next time we are on Oahu (and suggest to others):

1. Get fruit and drink from coconuts at one of the roadside stands!
2. Go to a shrimp truck in Kahuku (roadside trucks selling fresh or cooked shrimp from the local shrimp farm.
3. Shop locally/handicrafts as well as the larger stores in Honolulu.

Viva Wyndham Maya - Playa del Carmen Mexico

2009-03-02T16:47:00.008-05:00

This vacation was the perfect combination of laid back lifestyle, and fun in the sun. Prior to our vacation I signed up for the Wyndham Rewards Program. When you sign up for the program you get several amenities some of those are: complimentary room upgrades, wine and snacks, internet access.

The Viva Wyndham Maya is not a luxury property but it worked for us. Our room was nice, clean, and spacious. The staff was really nice, and very attentive. The one downfall (and this is with all wyndham properties) is that they have too many staff members dedicated to selling you a timeshare property.

When dining at the Maya you get several options. You are able to eat at the restaurants at the Maya property, the Viva Wyndham Azteca property (just down the road), and a restaurant that Wyndham owns in Playa del Carmen (the private restaurant did have a nominal fee). The food at all properties was mixed. For example, during lunch time I lived off of french fries and only french fries. However, the dinners were good and plentiful.

I think the one of the best memories of this trip was watching the Red Sox in the playoffs (against the yankees) while we were away. Because there weren't any tv's at the bars, we would go to dinner then run to the bar, get a bucket of beer, and run back to our room. Now that's true fans!

Playa del Carmen (downtown) is an interesting mix. On one hand you have all the local vendors coming up to you on the street trying to sell you everything, then in another area you have all the chain stores and restaurants (Fridays, etc.). Finally, you have my favorite area - boutique hotels, bars, hookah lounges, and small restaurants.

There are a lot of other activities in the area. Cancun is only a 40-60 minute drive, Cozumel is a 30 minute ferry ride, and don't forget all of the Ruins. Chichen Itza ia a great day trip. The hot temperature, no shade, and the climb are all totally worth it! A pretty stop along the way to the ruins are the caves and cenotes.

For our next trip to Mexico we're hoping to be able to go to Xcaret and Xel-Ha as we have heard raves reviews of them as well.

Allegro Resort, Cozumel Mexico May 2003

2009-02-27T21:46:00.006-05:00

What not to do the night before you leave for a vacation (especially an early morning flight): Don't entertain visiting family members. What happens is you have dinner, great conversation, a couple of drinks and all of the sudden it's 1:30 in the morning and they're just leaving. Which isn't too bad on an average weekend but when you have to get up for a flight at 3:30 in the morning - it can be a rough start to a day of traveling.

We finally met up with friends at the airport and boarded our plane to Cozumel. Upon landing we hailed a taxi to take us over to the Allegro Resort (we were told by many people not to rent a car).

Check in at the hotel was really nice. The lobby is a big open space with some metal sculptures, a small bar (where the premium liquor was kept), and friendly staff. We walked over to our room which first appearances was great! Round room, tiled floor, clean, good size bathroom, and cute thatched roof.

Throughout the week we learned to dislike our hotel room. This property is an eco-friendly hotel (which I am 99% of the time in favor for) but when in Mexico at an eco-friendly hotel you end up with giant bugs that will not die. During the day everything would appear normal but when nightime came around your room was overtaken by them. My husband would cover my head with the sheet after I fell asleep to protect me from them!

Other than that little problem we really enjoyed ourselves. The property is nicely spread out, properly groomed, the food was good (if you're not terribly picky), the beach was beautiful, and the snorkeling was great.

We have stayed at several all inclusive resorts. We usually enjoy our stays and get what we needed out of our vacation. However, staying at all inclusive resorts also means that you don't always get premium liquors, gourmet food, and you don't get to truly experience the rest of the destination.

Beach Tower - Atlantis, Bahamas February 2007

2009-02-24T12:42:00.013-05:00

My husband and I both enjoyed our stay at the Atlantis property but decided that it wasn't somewhere we would return to. Atlantis does tend to feel more like an amusement park to us but here are some of the reasons we enjoyed our stay.

The property is gorgeous. Lots of pools, scenic views, waterslides, and lush grounds. The aquarium is fun to walk through and the giant manta ray tends to just keep drawing you back in. The beach was nice and clean, warm water, and had lots of lounge chairs. The hotel is conveniently located to a few restaurants, stores, and the market.

One of our favorite areas is the marina. The yachts that are anchored there are incredibly gorgeous! Every morning, I walked through the marina to get breakfast, Jamba Juice, and headed over to the beach. In the evenings we would return to the marina area for drinks at Bimini Road, listen to the live music and just people watch.We stayed in the Beach Tower and our room was nice and clean.

The good part of staying in the Beach Towers were that we were very close to the beach, away from a lot of noise. One night had perfect views of a fireworks display at the property. The bad was that the pool designated for our area was closed the entire stay. There was construction around our area during the day, and any time you went to the marina, restaurants, casino, or main pools it was a bit of hike.

We tried a couple of the other restaurants and the food was good, but it is definitely more Americanized. If you are thinking "I'm going to the Bahamas so let's try some local dishes", you'll need to eat outside of the resort.

Pussers Marina Cay, Tortola, BVI - November 2006

2009-02-24T12:27:00.011-05:00

I thought I had previously written a review about our stay here but it has gone missing. So I thought I would just write about some of the highlights.

We booked a two bedroom villa (along with another couple). The Villa is perfect for a quiet vacation. There were two bedrooms (with ceiling fans), two baths, a living room, partial kitchen area, and a large balcony. There wasn't - any phones, computers, tv's, radios etc. just the incredible sound of the ocean. During our stay it was rather warm and humid, "insect season" -making it necessary to use mosquito nets over the bed. I had no problems my husband on the other hand had an intimate relationship with every mosquito in the Caribbean.

Allison (island manager) is a terrific host. She was able to help us with everything we needed or wanted. Including when my husband went snorkeling and was attacked by everything possible. Informational note - if you ever have any bad encounters with the ocean or sealife bring white vinegar. I had read other reviews that said the waitstaff and barstaff weren't too great but we had the complete opposite reaction.

Experience: There are three rules in the Caribbean. The first rule is to realize you are on island time. The second rule is treating others as you want to be treated. The third rule is talk to the locals / staff - you'll find that they become fast friends!

Tortola is a beautiful island. It has great beaches, scenic views, friendly people, and good food. I'm sure they have many excursions for those needing some adventure. For us driving around the island is plenty of adventure. Small roads, large cliffs, fast speeds, and us as tourists - Phew!

Some of our favorite restaurants on the island are:
Fat Hog Bob's - Good BBQ, Great views
Capriccio Di Mare - Great simple Italian Food
Myett's Garden & Grille - Good Breakfast

Wyndham Rio Mar, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico - January 2009

2009-02-24T12:19:00.006-05:00

My husband and I just returned from a week stay at the Rio mar. When we landed we picked up our rental car and drove to the hotel. The ride is only about 40 minutes (however if you take the toll road 66 you will probably bypass a lot of the lights on Rte 3).

We are By Request Members so upon check in we were upgraded to a junior suite. The room itself was nice. It was large with a seating area, very clean, and had a nice bathroom. Of course some things could have been nicer - large crack in the ceiling of the bathroom, mini fridge should have been cleaned better etc.

The grounds of the hotel are very nice. The grounds staff really works hard on the property. The pools are a bit small compared to other resorts we have stayed at but we are more ocean people so it didn't bother us too much. We did rent a cabana one day on along the pool. Definitely worth the $150 comfy chairs, plenty of towels, cooler with water, snacks, fruit plate, and designated waitstaff.

The beach was great. Very clean, lots of chairs, warm water, and plenty of room. The ocean did have some strong waves while we were there but that just kind of made it more fun. You could stay in the shallow area, or body surf in the big waves, or just hang out in between.

After reading other reviews we decided we didn't want to eat at the restaurants on property we wanted to experience Puerto Rico's food. The only exceptions to that was our breakfasts we went to the ERL next to the casino for coffee and pastries and we tried the appetizers at Boleros lounge and the lobby bar.

We ate dinners at Antojitos (on the road to the rio mar) - they have delicious food and great staff. We also tried La Parilla (Kiosk #2 at luquillo beach) - great food as well. For lunch one day we tried Richies - the food was good but you could tell it was a little more touristy. We did try a non Puerto Rican meal one night because it was so recommended. We went to the Sushi Boat in Fajardo. A must try is the Tempura Shrimp Roll - delicious!

A must do is driving to San Juan for a day of sightseeing or shopping but take the scenic route. Take Rte 3 west to Rte 187. The road takes you through Rio Grande but then you head along the coast through Loiza, and Pinones. There are some great small beaches, sand dunes, and picture perfect stops along the way. In San Juan we had tapas at el picoteo in the El Convento hotel (our favorite San Juan hotel) - the tapas were our favorite meal - simple and delicious!

We did encounter a few problems with the hotel. The first is the drink prices. I know it's a resort and I have no problem with marked up drinks but I will say the Wyndham is definitely at the top of the higher prices. $10 for a mojito or a capirinha is definitely over priced considering the only alcohol in it is rum or cachaca and it was not premium liquor (I don't qualify Bacardi as premium especially when it's local). The next problem is the pool side restaurant. We stopped in twice and everytime it was closing. One day it had literally been open for an hour and a half. On the last day of our vacation we finally received a document detailing when restaurants should be open and what activities should be happening - would have been nice to get this the first day of our stay though.

I know that Wyndham really wants to sell their vacation property so okay they have sales people at the towel hut so every time you go there they ask you if you're interested. That was fine with us didn't bother us at all. Then we tried to use the conceirge - big problem! We originally booked with EGBH sailing but the Captain was sick and in the hospital so they had to cancel. We tell the conceirge our problem and ask them to help us with finding a private sailing tour. First thing they say is probably not a private one - is this not a resort, do you not have contacts on the island? The second thing they say is have you been asked about joining our breakfast to learn more about our property. I finally give them my name and room number and ask them to contact us with the information about tours (even with other people) - not once did they contact us all week.

Overall we had a nice vacation. The hotel is nice and located near anything you need but (with the exception of the Bell Service Staff ) the service at the Rio Mar is inconsistent. When we go back to Puerto Rico we decided we would try another resort.

Paradise Island Harbor Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas - May 2006

2009-02-24T12:15:00.007-05:00

The Good:Close distance to shopping. Close distance to Atlantis. Close distance to Cabbage Beach (very nice public beach)

Just Okay:Clean room (although the room was old and worn, fixtures looked a little dirty but it was actually large chips in the metal). Food was okay but a lot was fried and oily (after 1 1/2 days we went out to Atlantis to get a better quality food as well as more options).

The Bad:Front desk staff never smile, never seem willing to help you (you're more of a bother to them)Upgrading - I called the hotel prior to our trip to upgrade our room, I was told that they could only do that at check in. So of course at check in there weren't any rooms available even though that morning I went online to check and see if I could still book another room and they were available on their website. Liquor - the worst possible liquor you could buy ( basically the $5 a bottle liquor, they did have a couple of Cruzan flavored rums but I never saw them use it). Activities - received a flier once under our door. During that day we didn't see any activities happening. During the rest of our stay we never received another flier. Pool area - incredibly small for the amount of people staying at the property.

I read reviews stating how beautiful the area was - - it is not that nice, at best it's average. Beach area - rocky beach filled with a volleyball net, a ton of chairs, and barely any water to swim in. They would have been better off just expanding their pool area that trying to make a beach scene. Cabbage beach is less than a 10 minute walk and it's a really nice area (if you ask the staff for directions to the beach and they say go towards Atlantis - - ask someone else it's the longest way possible).

I can't speak for everyone's experience but we wouldn't return to this property it's worth the extra money to stay at Atlantis and have access to all of their property.

Norwegian's Gem, Mediterranean Cruise - July 2008

2009-02-24T12:05:00.007-05:00

July 12, 2008 We left Boston flying on Aer Lingus. After a little trouble with figuring out which gate was ours (they kept flipping between gates 4 and 5). We settled into our flight and ended up arriving in Dublin a full half hour early. The Dublin Airport is a bit crazy! You first have to go through customs (whether or not you are staying), then through security, then to get to your gate you have to go through basically it’s a mall with tons and tons of people. We found our gate and then decided that since we were in Ireland let’s have a pint of Guinness - at 6:00 a.m. Boarded our next flight and again arrived in Barcelona a full half hour early.

July 13, 2008 Barcelona We went through customs, got in a cab and I had read on the boards to write down the pier and ship name for the cab drivers. What I did was learned how to pronounce and also wrote down the pier name but in Spanish. The pier in Spanish is called Muelle (pronounced Moya) Adosado. Our cab driver recognized it immediately.

We arrived at the ship and checked into the VIP line (both of us booked Romance Suites). After check-in we were escorted to the VIP Area where we met Claudio and Ivana. After reviewing our keys and our shore excursions we noticed a problem. Our excursion in France was completely wrong. We had to provide Ivana with our printed confirmations (always a good idea to print everything from their website) and she said she would remedy it and have our corrected excursion tickets delivered to us later that day. Around 11:30 we were escorted onto the ship and brought to the Bliss lounge until the restaurants were open at noon. For some reason not one person mentioned that we could go to Cagney’s until I asked about it. We did have lunch at Cagney’s and it was very good. The menu offered a lot of options as well as lighter meals considering it was a steak house. After lunch we went to check on our rooms. Both rooms were "ready." Problem number two of the day - our bathroom was dirty, the chairs and the dresser with lined with dust. There isn’t a number for the room stewards so we contacted the butler who in turn contacted the stewards to come and re-clean our room. Apparently on embarkation day the actual room stewards do not clean the rooms.

Romance Suite 10664

Good - the room is of good size (small than other lines though), a great balcony, great storage space, with restaurant reservations you get window tables, daily treats are nice little snacks.

Bad - Occasionally there is a strange smell in the hallway upon entering the room. Our butler, Orlando was very inconsistent. We didn’t actually meet him until the 2nd day. The entire trip we only received one card to write down what daily snacks we wanted. The fruit bowl was not always replenished. My in-laws had the same problems with Orlando regarding their room. My husband did tip him and tells him it was going to be my birthday during the cruise so he did decorate the room and after that the service did seem a bit more consistent.

Our Concierge, Claudio was nice when we met him. The only contact we had with the concierge was the first day to make dinner reservations for the week. Problem number 3 - we made all of our reservations for 9:00 p.m. one night the system listed it as 8:00 p.m. and so the hostess gave us an attitude and assumed we just were running late and didn’t show up until we felt like it. After dinner I contact Claudio regarding this problem and nothing was done and we were given a not so heart felt apology.After exploring the ship a little jet lag finally caught up. We attended the life boat drill which was done efficiently. That evening we had dinner in Tequila’s. The food and service were terrific. After dinner we headed to the Casino and played some automated Roulette (very addictive).

July 14 2008 Sea Day We ordered breakfast to our room (great tip on the boards to write in other requests). The activities planned on the ship sound great the one downfall is so many of them are at the exact same time and are only hosted for one time during the whole week. Therefore you really don’t get to do everything you would like to do. Having the AFT balcony is great not only do you get to relax in the sun without the wind but you have full view of everything around you. The only downside to the balcony is that you do tend to get ash from people’s cigars and cigarette from the Great Outdoors.For dinner we dined in Cagney’s the food and service was again great. I still need to email NCL and get a few of their recipes!

July 15 2008 Malta We woke to the message that Malta was having a transportation strike. Luckily for us we didn’t have an excursion planned. The view from our balcony was great, we arrived as all the fishermen were heading out for the day. We walked up to Valletta, and this is not an easy hike for some people especially when it’s 80% humidity out! The town of Valletta is nice within the main touristy areas. The architecture is beautiful, stores are both upscale and small craft shops, churches and museums are close. Once you get out of the touristy areas though that city is rather dirty and rundown. After walking back to the ship for some much needed air conditioning, we headed across the pier to a restaurant for a couple of Cisk beers (local beer) and snack food.

We met up with my in-laws and decided to order lunch from Cagney’s to our room. This is another area where Orlando (butler was inconsistent) we ordered 4 different lunch entree’s and he only brought us two sets of silverware.That evening we went to the Spinnaker lounge for a pre-dinner drink. Another good tip from the boards was that you can see Mt Etna around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. on the port side of the ship. We headed to the Grand Pacific dining room for dinner. The service and the food were horrible! It took 15 minutes to get water and menu’s. The food was bland, dry, small and the service was nonexistent. It seemed that the main dining room is an after thought when compared to the pay restaurants.

July 16, 2008 Naples Our excursion was "Capri, Sorrento, and Pompei". All of us loved this excursion and at the end of it we were energized rather than exhausted like others have mentioned. The only downside is that there are many tours that head to Capri first thing in the morning. Therefore, lots of people loading on the boat and funicular.
Capri is very pretty, and the gardens and cliff views are spectacular! Capri is small and with so many people it can seem very crowded. We just wandered around, ordered some gelato, and people watched. We then drove over to Sorrento where we had lunch at ristorante parrocchiano. We were seated in the garden area of the restaurant. Which had lots of flowers, lemon trees, and was picturesque. Lunch included water and wine. A first course of cannelloni, second course of chicken with roasted potatoes, and a third coarse of a lemon cake. After lunch we were given some time on our own for shopping.We boarded the bus and headed over to Pompei. Pompei is amazing! Enzo (our guide) was terrific when talking about life in Pompei. This is one location you do not want to miss when visiting this area.

That evening we went to the Orchid Garden for dinner. Service was really slow at first, the restaurant appeared to only have two people for wait staff. After 10 - 15 minutes more help arrived and from then on the food and service was very good.

July 17, 2008 Civitavecchia Our excursion was "Rome on Your Own". I had previously been to Rome but only saw the Pantheon and the Vatican so I was hoping to see a lot of the other sights. The bus drops you off right around the corner from the Colosseum. Another great tip from the boards - go to the Roman Forum to buy tickets to the Colosseum (no line)! We ventured into the Colosseum - truly amazing and different from what we pictured based on movies. Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain. Here I found a little pizza shop (go to the shops where it isn’t listed in English) that had terrific eggplant pizza! Our next site was the Pantheon - this is one of my favorite places and has been since I was in H.S. A few blocks from the Pantheon are Gelateria Della Palma. It is a little touristy but very good gelato!From here we walked to the Piazza Navona. We stopped at a restaurant for some wine, antipasti and people watching. We definitely got all three - as we were leaving a couple of men were selling purses in the piazza when all of the sudden two plain clothes officers chased them, tackled and arrested one of them. This was done literally 5 feet in front of us. After that little excitement we walked to the Campo di Fiori (an open air market). Before we had to head back to the bus we went into the Roman Forum and in addition to seeing the ruins we were able to watch a team excavate new ruins.

In the evening we went for our pre-dinner drinks. We chose the martini bar tonight. The chocolate and key lime pie martini’s are really good. For dinner we ate at Le Bistro. We all agreed this was our favorite restaurant on the ship.

July 18, 2008 Livorno Our excursion was "Siena and the View of Tuscany". The two-hour drive to Siena can be good and bad. You do get beautiful pictures thanks to the amazing scenery. The bad is that you are pretty tired from the previous days and therefore you tend to fall asleep on the bus.I must admit I was a little disappointed with this tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about Siena but that also meant she was very long-winded. We spent about 2 and ½ hours seeing two churches and a courtyard. For lunch we went to La finestra where the food was terrific but lunch was definitely on Italian time! Lunch consisted of wine and water, a first course of asparagus risotto plus pasta with mushrooms, a second course of veal in tomato sauce (but they were kind enough to make me chicken), and a third course of a berry panna cotta.Unfortunately, this left us with about 45 minutes of free time to shop. We ran over to a small store to buy wine, and olive oil. Next onto Nannini’s a bakery known for its panforte and riciarelli cookies. Finally, a quick stop for gelato at Brivido.

Tonight we had pre-dinner drinks at Maltings. My husband now loves Mythos Beer. We dined at the Teppanyaki restaurant. Where the food and service were also great but be warned this is not a health conscious meal! Lots of butter, oil, and salt!

July 19, 2008 Villefranche Our excursion was "Nice and the view from Eze". Nice is a beautiful, friendly, and welcoming city! We were first driven through nice to see a few sites. The bus parked so that we could have some free time to wonder around the flower market. The produce here is amazing! My husband and I are both foodies so this was fabulous to us! We were able to pick up some truffle oils, jams, mustards, candies, herbs etc.! A definite must try are French macaroons!We then drove over to Eze, the drive over has wonderful panoramic views of the coast and city. Eze is a bit of a climb but definitely easier than Malta. Our guide showed us a few sites along the climb and then gave us another hour of free time. The shops are so cute, some of them built right into the rock so they are like little caves. Eze is great for finding local crafts to bring home.After the excursion we had lunch had a restaurant adjacent to the pier. Delicious French lemonade and seafood! Problem number 4 - tendering back to the boat! NCL really needs to rethink their tender process! They are far behind other lines. After lunch the line was along the pier, through the building, and around the corner. We waited in line for at least 45 minutes.Back on the ship we tried another of the daily special’s drinks and some more automated roulette.

We were able to go and retrieve our liquor purchases - unlike I had previously read they seemed very organized about this.Since it was our last day, we decided to try out the Bingo. Honestly, kind of a rip off - tickets are a minimum of $30 and up to $50. You can also spend more money on instant win tickets. Each game has very specific symbols you have to make. Also, the game has lots of rules to help the house have the advantage. We have played on other lines and NCL really seemed out to just make more money rather than entertain.

For tonight’s pre-dinner drinks we headed up to the Great Outdoors where my father in-law made friends with a bartender throughout the week. The two of them together are good for some laughs! We dined at La Trattoria which the food was good but the service could definitely use some improvement.

July 20, 2008 Disembark THE VIP’S get to either take their luggage off or have it picked up and held in a designated area. We chose to have ours picked up. Claudio was there waiting with the luggage and of course my husband’s wasn’t where it should have been. No help was provided. Once we had everything together, we asked for help from a porter who loaded us into a taxi. The Barcelona airport was outrageously busy! I had read on the boards about confusion regarding where to check in for Aer Lingus. The problem is that Aer Lingus does not have a permanent check in area. They switch between Terminal A and Terminal B. Most airport staff doesn’t know where Aer Lingus should be. We did find one information desk in the airport that did know the location. It’s best to check all the screens (they are updated based on the flight departure times). We finally found our check in desk but it was still being used by another airline. We decided to just stay there and wait - it was a good thing we did because here came 50 students all traveling to Ireland together! We boarded our flight and then Problem number 5 - delayed! The Dublin airport had been having radar problems for a week so we were grounded for 50 minutes. This left us with only 10 minutes connection time in Dublin! We asked the flight attended for some help regarding this and she was able to have the pilot contact the airport for help.

When we arrived in Dublin there was an agent to meet us. Aer Lingus was going to hold the plane for us and have this agent escort us to it. In 15 minutes we got another couple their boarding passes, went through Irish customs, security, filled out U.S. customs forms, went through Immigration, to another terminal and onto our plane. I really was overwhelmed with how helpful Aer Lingus was, most airlines wouldn’t have gone through this for us.

Problem number 6 - - I caught the flu! I was sick and in bed for the week after our cruise! Oddly enough the last time I went to Europe I came home and ended up with mono! See a pattern?

Princess's Crown Princess, Eastern Caribbean Cruise December 2007

2009-02-24T11:58:00.009-05:00

Day 1 San Juan: Departed Boston on Jetblue non-stop to San Juan. With the help of a porter and a taxi we headed over to Hotel Convento. We arrived at the hotel around 1:30 so our room was not ready yet. For lunch we headed over to Barrachina. Both of us had the Mofonogo (one shrimp, one seafood) plus Pina Colada’s - Delicious all around! When we went back to the hotel there seemed to be a bit of a problem with room availability. After a few errors we were upgraded to a Junior Suite. Shannon at customer service is very friendly and efficient even in all the chaos of answering phones, people waiting, people yelling and the heat! Our room had a long entrance, living room, separate bedroom, good size bathroom and plenty of storage space with views of the stores and restaurants.In the evening the hotel hosts a wine and cheese hour on their terrace. Wonderful place to sit for sunsets with views of a lovely church (a wedding was taking place while we were out there).

Day 2 San Juan: Got a late start and decided to do a little more shopping around Old San Juan - lots of fun stores! We decided to head back to the hotel for lunch in their courtyard. After lunch we checked out of the hotel and headed over to the ship.We were able to use the priority check in thanks to our Suite. Between check in, the liquor store, security, and pictures we were on the ship in 15 minutes. Once on the ship we headed to our room R405 The Dominica Suite. The Suite is very spacious and well laid out. We met our room steward - Jose Rene.....very nice and took great care of us all week long. In regards to the noise aspect of the PH suites we heard noise the night of the sail away party, the Caribbean party(were notified with a letter that their could be noise) and only once in the morning when the staff was cleaning. Otherwise hardly any noise at all (sometimes there was more noise coming from our hallway then above us). Initially we did not receive any cards about our on board credit or bottle of wine. However both were in Princess’s system and we did receive them. The very next thing I did was read today’s Patter and what did I see.......THE CHEF’S TABLE! I called dining services and made a reservation right away!We then headed to wander around the ship - had a few drinks, did the spa tour, and just poked around. The international café food looked terrific. We did eventually try the panini’s, tapas, and gelato - yummy! The only problem we experienced was our 4th piece of luggage (my dresses of course) didn’t arrive until we left for the muster drill. Leaving me not too many options for dinner that night.Headed to dinner at 8:30 and met the Head Waiter Antonio. We were seated at a table for 2 next to the window (Table 292) and were fortunate enough to have Diana and Ronald as our waitstaff. We had such an amazing time with them that we decided to make a standing reservation for that table every night. A special Thank you to Antonio, Ronald, and especially Diana for all of your help. After dinner we stopped by our room and had the bed turned down, chocolates, and the breakfast menu along with the fruit menu, and hors d’oeuvre menu (favorite two were the proscuitto/melon breadsticks and the grand marnier profiteroles).

Day 3 at Sea: Headed over to deck 7 and walked 3 laps around the ship. Great way to start the day! We had a bit of trouble with our breakfast through room service this morning. For whatever reason we didn’t get breafast until 10:30 asked for it to arrive at 9:00. For lunch we tried the Buffet - first and last time for that! Too many people, too little space plus the choices were just so random. Nothing seemed to flow. Tonight was a formal night for dinner. We did receive our flowers but opted not to wear them. After dinner we had our photos taken by John - terrific photos both times. We stopped by our room and were welcomed by a towel elephant and a towel puppy. Headed over the bars and popped in to see Princess pop star......some good, some bad, very interesting.

Day 4 Barbados: We did the 5 star Tiami Catamaran sail with turtles. I can not say enough about this excursion, the crew, or the island. After our first stop (the turtles) we had a medical emergency a woman was stung by a jellyfish. The crew remained calm, quickly assessed the situation, gave her oxygen, asked around for help with an epi pen, and called for another boat to take her to the hospital. Later in the day the crew even followed up to see how she was doing and let all of us know that she was okay.The rest of the excursion was great, saw more colorful fish at a second snorkeling site and then headed over to Sandy Lane beach. After dinner went to Explorers to watch Wavelength - good band!

Day 5 St. Lucia: Chose the Jungle Reef excursion. Our transfer was a small ferry like boat for about a ½ hour ride down the coast. The excursion stated that you can go biking, snorkeling, or relaxing on a beach....all technically true however the beach is very small and very rocky. It was nice to see a black sand beach though. Lunch was provided and it was very good however I was hoping for some more local dishes. Boarded the boat again and basically just around the corner were the Pitons. Stopped for a minute or two for pictures and then headed back to the pier. Overall we had a good time but wouldn’t choose this excursion again.

Day 6 Antigua: Chose the Antigua Beach Break, boarded a bus for a short ride. Received a lounge chair, rum drink and got to relax on a powder soft sand beach. The waves were a bit strong I must admit to being one of the people knocked down and dragged back to the beach by a wave (probably looked goofy but was able to laugh at myself). We received a letter about the Chef’s Table and it stated we needed to have closed toe shoes. So while in Antigua I asked around and was sent to the IT store. I was able to find a pair of closed toe shoes as well as a new dress. Headed over to Hemingway’s for lunch - delicious especially the dipping sauce for conch fritters!Tonight was the Chef’s table. We were to meet the Maitre’D at the international café. We were then brought into the galley to meet the Executive Chef for Champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Next we sat down at a special table in the Michelangelo dining room. The menu does change depending on the what the Chef wants to make and there are lots of surprises along the way. The Chef’s table is something that you shouldn’t miss!!! After dinner we went to the Explorers lounge for the hypnotist show - hilarious!

Day 7 Tortola: Chose the Tortola Beach Break - had a bit of trouble with passengers not showing up and therefore causing the rest of us to have to wait around. If you book an excursion and decide not to attend please let someone on the ship know. Boarded an open air bus for the lovely and scary ride up ridge road (I have been on this road several times and I never truly get used to it). Headed over to Cane Garden Bay - lovely beach. Had breakfast down at Rhymers - so yummy! Eventually this beach became way too crowded. So we opted to get another taxi and head into town. We visited our favorite stores for some spices, and jewelry, and shirts, etc. Of course we had to stop in at Pussers and get our yearly Painkillers in mugs (little upset the mugs didn’t have the year printed on them this time). Enjoyed some more conch fritters and chicken roti. Tonight was our 2nd formal night with the Champagne waterfall. Came back to our room to a towel monkey hanging from the ceilling and two swans on the bed.

Day 8 St Thomas: The Customs line was very long. Thankfully when they opened the doors and accepted people the line moved quickly. Went shopping for different items and had to visit our friends (Especially Chad) at Liberty Jewelers. Liberty Jewelers is family owned and operated with great people, terrific prices and lovely pieces of jewelry. We were actually in there for about 3 hours and they were so nice that when they found out we loved Indian food they offered to have us try some of their home cooking - sooooo good! Plus I got a great tip about vegetarian chicken. Used the internet café and I never had a real problem with it but there were several people in there complaining about the computers being slow. Dinner was great again and we will truly miss joining Diana and Ronald every night!

Day 9 Back to San Juan: Left our room round 8:00 am and headed over to the Crown Grill thanks to our Suite. I’ve heard people say that it’s not a big deal for Suite holders to stay in the Crown Grill because you are their with elite and platinum members. Let me tell you - it was a big deal from where we were the Club Fusion and the Explorers lounge was a mess. People and luggage everywhere!! We were so happy to be in the Crown Grill with our drinks and pastries. Plus we got to play a few rounds of Checkers before heading off the ship (I sadly only won once). Headed off the ship around 10:30 again with a help of a porter and taxi headed over to Jetblue and waited to head home to Boston. Arrived home to the cold, plus ice and snow - not too happy about that one!!!

Holland America's Zuiderdam, Eastern Caribbean Cruise October 2005

2009-02-24T11:41:00.008-05:00

We left Boston on the morning of the 15th and arrived at the pier around twelve thirty. Check in was a little long (the line for online check in was a much longer line - go figure). Our room wasn’t ready yet so we headed to the Lido for some lunch - right away the food was good. I will agree with many others on the board that the sushi needs some work.

The decor: The ship was for the most part nice however there were some random pieces thrown in. The ship is a little worn but nothing that you would notice if you weren't looking for it. The only exception I can think of was the elevators - they were pretty beaten up. I think we just have to remember that this ship carries 1800 people on it every single week.

Our room: We were in a VA on deck 7 - perfect for two people! Good size room, great size bathroom compared to Carnival, bathrobes were so comfy, and balcony was nice but would’ve liked a bigger table out there. Our package came with the pinnacle grill for two plus two bottles of wine - both certificates and wines were in our room. Prior to our trip I had ordered appetizers and the Bon Voyage package - the appetizers also made it to our room but the Champagne did not. After two calls to the front desk the Champagne was finally delivered (5 minutes before departure). The only complaints about the room were the bathroom door didn’t lock properly and the bathtub drain was very slow. Our room steward was very nice, and always did a wonderful job of our room - however he never did actually introduce himself.

Dining: We had the 8:30 dinner seating at a table for six and were extremely fortunate in having two great couples seated with us, the best waiter (Roni), and an excellent wine steward (Ramon). The food in the dining room was delicious - especially the blueberry soup!!! On the sea days the dining room was open for lunch but I never liked the menu - I do feel this needed some work. The Lido for lunch was always very good and the staff was always friendly.

Ports:

Half Moon Cay - we had waitlisted for a cabana but reserved a clamshell. My husband and I were actually glad we didn’t get a cabana because we spent 80% of our time there in the water. The sand was so perfectly soft and the water was beautiful and warm. The BBQ was nicely done and the food was good but not on the same level as on the ship.

Tortola - we did the Virgin Islands Sail Away excursion and had a great time. The Catamaran sail over to Norman Island had some of the best scenery ever! The crew was great, the drinks were good, and my husband snorkeled and loved every minute of it! We then headed over to Pussers Pub for some lunch and Painkillers (the best drink but be careful because after just one I definitely wasn’t feeling any pain).

St Thomas - we did the Champagne Catamaran Sail to St John we again had a great time! The sail was great, the food was good, the drinks were great, snorkeling was good but not as good as Norman Island. Honeymoon Beach was very nice! We then went shopping in town. Overall we liked Tortola better than St Thomas - St Thomas is much more city like and touristy but that’s just our opinion.

Nightlife: My husband and I never went to any of the shows - which was unfortunate but we would join our table mates in the casino, or in one of the lounges, etc. I’ve read several reviews about people saying the ship was empty after 10:00 and this was definitely not the case on our cruise - people were always out and about especially in the Northern Lights.....good music, great bartenders, fun little booths. We would sometimes be out till 3:00 am and the place would still be packed when we left.

We had a great time and would definitely sail again with HAL but we did end up having two problems. The first was because of Wilma our stop in Nassau was cancelled so that we could refuel in San Juan in case we had to stay out at sea. We understood this was the best option for our safety and we weren’t overly fond of Nassau anyways so we were fine with this. The second problem we had was that we were without a toilet for 13 + hours - someone in the vicinity of our room blocked the toilets so everything had to be shut down until the engineers could find and fix the problem. We were never notified of the problem, nor of the progress, nor when it was fixed - we had to just keep going back to our room and checking and/or calling the front desk. The way the situation was handled by the front desk and the Guest Relations Manager was very poor (Which was so strange to us because every other employee on the ship that we in any way encountered was amazingly friendly and outgoing). Also, corporate headquarters would not provide any compensation as it was due to another passenger. Later that day we received a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, pineapples, and macaroons - we assumed this was sent to us because of this situation. This was nice but I didn’t feel this was in any way an appropriate apology for being without a bathroom for 13 + hours.