Alethea's Excellent Adventures

I Need Your Vote!

2012-01-17T19:07:00.000-06:00

Anyone that knows me (or has seen photos of me from behind) understands that the LAST thing in the world I need are butt-enhancing underwear.

That's me on the left in the orange shirt NOT wearing anything to enhance my already well-endowed butt!

Unfortunately, that is exactly what I received at the Holloway family Christmas gift exchange in Bluffton, IN a few weeks ago.

Are you kidding me???

But luck was on my side, as I discovered the Wyndham Rewards My Horrible Holiday Gift contest shortly after I returned home. Thus it was a no-brainer to submit Greg's photo of me opening my lovely gift. Today, out of almost 1,000 entries, my photo/gift was picked by the judges as one of five finalists for the grand prize of 2,000,000 Wyndham Rewards Points!

The five finalists; mine is the 2nd photo from the right.

The catch is that the grand prize winner will be determined by who receives the most votes over the next week. You can vote once per day, for a total of seven votes. Those two million points are worth $10,000 so I REALLY need your help!

Please click on the link below to cast your vote. You do not have to provide any personal information or sign up for Wyndham emails.
https://www.wyndhamrewards.com/trec/consumer/holiday.action?variant
Please remember to vote once per day through January 23rd (add a reminder to your calendar if necessary)! And please forward this to all of your family & friends so they can vote, too! Many thanks!!!

When Less Is More

2012-01-16T17:29:00.000-06:00

A good rule of thumb to use when packing for a trip is to get out everything you need or want to take, then reduce by at least half. You should be able to carry your own luggage up & down stairs, or, at minimum, walk a quarter mile with it. The reality is that if you pack wisely, you really don't need that much stuff. I'm trying to apply the same principle to our move to Oregon and to life in general.

Despite my best efforts, I still have way more clothing & accessories and other stuff than I'll ever need. This is the result of a couple of things. Early in life I learned that if something was a bargain I should buy it, never mind if I actually needed it or not. Also, because I had dual residences in either California & New York, or New Hampshire & New York, for over seven years, I had two sets of everything. Not to mention that I changed jobs several times over the five years I most recently worked, which required additions to my existing wardrobe. Finally, in preparation for my extensive travels of late, I bought the most comfortable, durable, functional clothing & gear I could find.

All of this seems understandable. Clothing, however, is heavy and takes up a lot of space. And, of course, I have even more stuff to accent the clothes. Twenty watches, fifty pairs of earrings, a multitude of belts, hats, gloves and more. There's never just one of anything. Yes, it's nice to be able to wear a different outfit every day of the year and to never run out of options. But who really needs thirty pairs of shoes and a closet's worth of clothes for every season?! I strongly feel that this mentality, which can be applied not just to our wardrobes but to everything in our homes & lives, is a large part of what is wrong with our world today – excessive consumerism.

Why is it that it took me thirty-five years to get to this point? I say thirty-five (I am thirty-seven now) because I think the motivation to change hit me when I had to spend over $2,000 to move the remainder of my belongings from New York to Nashville in July, 2009. The cost basically equates to $1 per pound meaning I still had over 2,000 pounds of stuff! Considering I have no furniture or electronics, just clothes, toiletries, books, artwork, keepsakes and some kitchen items, this is ridiculous. And you have to keep in mind that I gave away a few carloads of stuff before I moved!

So what is the problem with having too much stuff besides the cost of buying it in the first place and then moving it around the country? As Annie Leonard so effectively describes in her Internet film The Story of Stuff and in her book of the same name, our consumption-driven economy is destroying our planet.

That is one of the reasons why I've been spending an average of four hours a day for the past two weeks inventorying everything I have left. I do not want to spend another $2,000 (or more) to move a bunch of stuff I don't really want or need to Oregon. And, the way I see it, I have a lot of things that other people need far more than I do. Yes, I'm trying to sell some of the more expensive items as I spent a lot of money to acquire them. But ultimately I am willing to give away over half of my current possessions.

One challenge I'm facing in the reduction process is that I don't know what kind of job I will get after we move to Portland. Thus I can't get rid of all of my formal business attire or all of my more casual clothes. And just because the first job I get may require one type of wardrobe, there are no guarantees that something wouldn't change so that I would need the other. I certainly don't want to over-reduce and then have to go out to buy more stuff! But I simply don't need the quantity of clothing (and other things) I currently have so it's time to purge.

This is all part of a much larger goal to live by the philosophy “less is more.” I don't like the idea that by buying all of that stuff over the years, I contributed to environmental damage, social injustice, health hazards and more. There are many ways, large and small, to change our lives in order to save the planet (see Appendix 2 of The Story of Stuff book for some tips). As Ms. Leonard states, “Each time we visibly choose quality of life over quantity of Stuff... we demonstrate the possibility of another way.”

This purging of my closets and my grandmother's garage is just the beginning. As I have mentioned before, one of the many reasons Greg & I are moving to Portland is because it is one of the most environmentally friendly places to live in the U.S. I'm confident that by choosing a city that embraces the “green” lifestyle, it will be that much easier to minimize my overall ecological footprint. I hope everyone reading this will consider taking their own steps toward more conscious consumption “that can improve humanity's well-being and the state of the planet.”

The Roulette Whisperer

2012-01-12T14:58:00.000-06:00

Tunica, Mississippi was never at the top of my “must see” list. But when I placed fourth in The Tennessean vacation photo contest last year, and won a trip to the third-largest gaming region in the United States, I suddenly had an excuse to check it out.

my winning photo from the Vatican Museum in Rome, Italy

Originally I thought I would go with my husband, Greg, who is not a frequent gambler but enjoys playing Blackjack if given the right opportunity. I prefer Texas Hold'em when it comes to card games. But since my best friend, Amy, and I were planning a short girls-only getaway before I move to Portland, OR, we decided to take advantage of this almost-free trip for our little “escape from reality” the week before Christmas.

Amy enjoys a Coalminer's Stout at Blackhorse Brewery in Clarksville, TN

It's about 243 miles from Clarksville to Tunica and a pretty easy drive on I-40W. However there's not much to see along the way, so we spent the four and a half hours in Amy's minivan catching up on the past few months of our lives. I have written about my friendship and adventures with Amy before, so I will not rehash our life story here. Suffice it to say that I have known Amy since we were four years old and she knows me better than anyone on Earth!

My photo contest winnings included a two-night stay at Sam's Town Hotel and Casino, two vouchers for any meal at the Great Buffet, and a $200 voucher for dinner at Twain's Steakhouse. After we checked into our large double room, we set off to explore the property. One of the first things we did was sign up for Boyd Gaming's loyalty program, called B Connected. In return we each received $5 credit towards slot machine play. Since we had some time to kill before dinner, we decided to try our luck at the penny slots. This turned out to be a comical endeavor as it has been years since I've spent any time in a casino (with the exception of a brief visit to Sky City in Auckland, New Zealand in 2010) and Amy had only been to a casino once about 14 years ago!

entrance to Sam's Town

I chose a machine I liked based on such important criteria as appeal of graphics, option to gamble as low as one cent per game and the distance from the nearest smoker (most casinos allow smoking throughout the premises). I decided to try one spin and then planned to move on to the next machine. But we quickly discovered that you can't cash out promo points so I was stuck with playing the full $5 credit on that machine. It also took us forever to figure out how you win. There were no clear instructions on the machine so we thought three of a kind on the same line (my machine had five symbols per line) in any order should result in a credit, but it is actually the first three symbols that count!

Stuck with Lion Dance (my machine) and Stinkin' Rich (Amy's machine), we settled in for the long haul. A waitress brought us free drinks (gin & tonic for me; Jack & Coke for Amy) and we took our time getting familiar with our machines and all the options for betting on multiple lines and for placing larger bets. It took us about an hour to gamble our $5 credits and I ultimately cashed out with $2.57 winnings and Amy won $1.88.

my penny slot winnings

Since we would have plenty of opportunities to gamble over the next 24+ hours, I wanted to brush up on my table game skills. As it was still fairly early and not too busy, we were able to stand & observe the play at the roulette table. The dealers & players were very friendly and didn't hesitate to offer instruction on how to play. With the help of the free brochures I picked up near the casino entrance, I soon understood how to place a bet and to calculate what the payout should be on a winning bet.

Sam's Town cheat sheets

Soon enough it was time for dinner. We went to Twain's Steakhouse and asked the manager if we could split the $200 voucher over two meals as it was originally written to only be valid towards one meal and any unused amount would be forfeited. With much persistence, she finally got someone to agree to split it into two $100 vouchers so we could eat dinner there both nights.

The regular menu at Twain's is quite pricey, with the average appetizer costing $15 and the average entree $40. But they have a great early (5-7pm) or late (9-10pm) dining special which includes your choice of a soup or salad, one of six entrees and one of three desserts for only $25. The restaurant was pretty empty at 6:30, so Amy & I chatted with our server, letting her know we were not in a hurry and would like to enjoy a leisurely dinner.

We ordered some drinks to start and were given a complimentary amuse bouche (a crab concoction served on a spoon) and a nice basket of bread to dip in olive oil & balsamic vinegar. Our first course was a generous Caesar salad, which was followed by a 6 oz tenderloin served with a mound of garlic mashed potatoes and snow peas. I always order my steak rare but Amy ordered her steak (in honor of her husband, Eric) medium rare to medium. However both of our steaks came out very rare and, Eric would be happy to note, Amy still ate hers that way. We were already stuffed but could not pass up the dessert course, for which we both chose the chocolate pecan pie. Then, at the end of the meal, we were served two chocolate-covered strawberries! It was 9:30 by the time we left the restaurant with a total bill of $102 (so all we owed was $2 plus the tip). So, if the food only cost $50, how did we spend the rest of the money??? Over the course of the meal I drank two Gray Goose vodka martinis (straight up with olives) while Amy had one mixed drink and a Baileys with coffee; then we ordered two Sprite/vodka/cranberry juice cocktails to go!

There was no way we could go straight to bed after eating all that food so we returned to the casino. Amazingly, the same people from before were STILL playing roulette so we observed for another 30 minutes then I finally got up the nerve to play. I exchanged $5 cash for 50-cent chips and proceed to play for over two hours without losing. I typically bet only the $2 minimum per game but did well enough that one of the dealers started calling me the “Roulette Whisperer!” It was after 1am when I finally gambled my last chips.

We slept in the next day then ate an early lunch in the Great Buffet. We opted not to use our vouchers as the buffet was half price ($4.94 per person) with the Thursday B Connected Gal Pals promo. I spent some time checking email while Amy skyped with Eric. Not wanting to spend the entire day in the casino, we decided to drive into downtown Tunica.

Mississippi farmland

Of course, if you have ever been to Tunica then you know that there is absolutely nothing to do there besides gamble! Surrounded by miles and miles of farmland (primarily soy beans & cotton), downtown Tunica consists of a small square and a few businesses. It didn't take us long to survey the area so we also drove to the TunicaRiverpark where you can visit the Mississippi River Museum, ride the Tunica Queen riverboat, or walk along the EcoTrail. But since it was the off-season everything was closed and it was too cold to be outside for very long.

an explanatory sign at Tunica Riverpark

We were back at the casino by 2:30pm so we decided to use our new $5 credit (from another B Connected promo) to play the penny slots again. After about an hour I cashed out with $2.57 (an intentional effort to match my winnings from yesterday) while Amy won $5.50. Wanting to relax and enjoy some quiet time, Amy returned to our room to read while I sat in on the $10 hands-on Blackjack table (which turned out to be very intimidating), then moved on to the $5 table, which was much more enjoyable. Note that I was not playing, only observing, so I could decide if I would be comfortable playing later on. I certainly did not expect a friendly couple at the $5 table to give me $10 of their chips so I could play with them! I managed to hold my own for about 30 minutes before I lost the money but did hit Blackjack once so I walked away with a 50-cent piece (I won 1.5 times the amount of my bet or $12.50, but tipped the odd $2 to the dealer).

I returned to the room around 5:30 to meet Amy for dinner. We looked forward to eating at Twain's again and essentially did a replay of the previous night. We started with another (different) crab amuse bouche, followed by chef salads. I ordered the pork chop which was served with mashed sweet potatoes and more snow peas, while Amy had the steak & shrimp skewers which were served on a huge plate of rice. This time we didn't manage to eat all of our entrees, but we still ordered dessert (bread pudding). In another homage to her husband, Amy had two Gray Goose martinis (dirty, with olives) while I drank mine straight up. Then we each ordered a Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan beer to go and once again, our bill totaled right at $100.

We returned to the casino where Amy decided she would try her hand at roulette. Initially I watched, then when I was sure she was enjoying herself, bought in as well. Amy started by using $6 of her total slot machine winnings while I gambled $25 (including my $5 total slot winnings). Eventually Amy lost all of the first $6 and bought another $5 in chips. We managed to play for a couple of hours, with Amy eventually cashing out with $15 and me with $45. Not bad for two novice gamblers!

After a good night's sleep we used our remaining vouchers to eat breakfast in the Great Buffet and then hit the road towards home. We did make one special stop in downtown Memphis so I could buy some famous Rendezvous barbecue as a Christmas gift for Greg.

serving up charcoal ribs at Rendvezvous in Memphis, TN

While Amy & I enjoyed our girlfriend getaway, mainly because it provided the opportunity for us to relax and catch up, I cannot particularly recommend Tunica as a vacation destination. Yes, if you live in the Southeast and like to gamble then it is a much more affordable option than Atlantic City or Las Vegas. But with few other activities on offer, most people would quickly get bored. I was just happy that the overall cost of the trip was minimal because of my prize package, not to mention that Amy & I both walked away from the casino with more money than we started with!

I am also very happy to report that as I write this, Amy's husband, Eric, is on his way home from his one-year deployment in Afghanistan. I know Amy & the girls are thrilled to welcome him home! Before the end of this year they will be moving to Germany where Eric will serve his remaining time before retirement. Greg & I are planning to visit them in Clarksville before we move to Portland and hopefully we'll get to see them one more time before they leave for Germany in the fall. Of course, knowing our inclination to travel, we'll also visit them in there!

The Norwegian Experience - Part III (Summary Review)

2012-01-04T18:45:00.000-06:00

This is my final post about our week-long Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Pearl. It's time to summarize my overall impressions of the ship, itinerary, and Norwegian Cruise Line as a whole.

Food & Beverage

From Day 1, I found the food in all of the no-fee restaurants (Summer Palace, Indigo, Garden Cafe, Blue Lagoon) to be overly salty, sometimes to the point of being inedible. It didn't matter what type or style of food I tried, even the steaks were salty! I was disappointed that virtually no green vegetables were served with the Summer Palace entrees and thus I generally preferred to eat at the buffet where there were more healthy options. However the buffet food was not always very hot so then I worried about safety! I did enjoy the daily regional specialties offered in the main restaurant like gumbo and Jamaican jerk pork chops, and the buffet featured plenty of international dishes (Indian, Chinese, Italian, etc.) as well. The 24-hour Blue Lagoon cafe had a fun (and tasty) menu featuring bar food like hot wings, hamburgers & hot dogs, sandwiches, chips with artichoke dip and more. However, in comparison to the 5-star quality of food on our recent Holland America cruise (which included lobster tail, jumbo shrimp, foie gras, osso buco, gourmet cheeses, and so much more), the food on this ship was 3-star at best.

two thumbs up for hot wings in the Blue Lagoon

The overall dining experience was hit or miss. I like the concept of anytime dining but we learned that if we didn't want to wait for a table for two, we had to be seated before 6pm (you can only make reservations for the specialty restaurants). Some servers were very good – attentive, friendly and professional. Others seemed to be less experienced or enthusiastic about their job. One particular complaint I have is that, in the Summer Palace, cleared food & dirty dishes were left out (in full view of diners) on trays near the waiter stations. On one occasion I felt like I was eating next to a trash bin! Also, when dining at the buffet restaurants, we would put our cloth napkins on our seats when we went to get more food or drink but often the table would be completely cleared when we came back, so we learned that only one of us should go and the other should stay at the table.

Blue Lagoon menu

The specialty restaurants cost $10-25 per person. When you're already paying at least $80 per person per day to be on the ship, it's hard to justify that extra expense. You also have to pay for espresso, cappuccino and other coffee drinks, even in the main dining room (these are included with dinner on HAL). Alcohol prices were reasonable but still more than we wanted to pay. Only prices for wines were listed so you have to ask how much for anything else. There was a margarita special ($4.95) every day from 5-9pm but it was only offered in one bar. The drink of the day, available in all bars, was priced from $7.95 and up. Draft beers cost $5+ or you could get a bucket of six bottles for $25. There is a $15 corkage fee if you bring your own wine onboard (anything else will be confiscated until the end of the cruise).

a quiet afternoon at the Maltings Beer & Whiskey Bar

Entertainment

The Pearl offered many options for entertainment in multiple venues throughout the day (movies, live music, etc.). Show times in the Stardust Theater were typically at 7:30 & 9:30pm. I appreciated the diversity of talented entertainment – on our cruise the guest performers included a comedian (Sam Fedele), a Frank Valli & the Four Seasons tribute group (Oh What A Night), Second City improv, and a circus-style act (Sharkbait). In addition, the ship's staff performers did two shows, one of which was a fun Broadway revue.

photography wasn't allowed for the main theater performances, except for the crew talent show

On Board Activities

It was hard to run out of things to do on such a large ship! For sports fans, there were NFL & college football games available on the in-room TV's and on the giant screen in the atrium, where you could also play Wii games at designated times. If you wanted to work up a sweat, the gym had all the basic equipment or you could sign up for yoga, spinning and more (usually for an extra charge). There were also daily sports competitions on the outdoor sports court or you could bowl a few frames (for a fee). For a more relaxing experience, the spa offered the usual fee-based services or you could swim or hang out in one of the hot tubs. If you wanted to have fun without sweating, you could attend the towel animal or napkin folding classes, learn how to juggle, do arts & crafts projects, and more.

napkin folding class in the atrium

There were also lots of gaming options for those interested in trying their luck in one way or another. The casino offered all the usual table games and plenty of slot machines as well as poker and other tournaments. There were daily Bingo games in the Spinnaker Lounge. And, for the more socially-inclined, there were couples game shows, karaoke competitions, and more.

bowling, anyone?

If you like to shop there were also plenty of choices. From clothing to souvenirs and jewelry to fine art, you could spend hours browsing the selection in the onboard shops & galleries. My biggest complaint in the activity category (which I also mentioned in yesterday's post) is that if you did NOT want to do anything other than read & relax, there were virtually no quiet spaces other than your stateroom. And since when do cruise lines charge a fee ($55 per person) for a ship tour?!?!

Q&A with ship's officers in Spinnaker Lounge

Ports of Call

Although I covered our port activities in detail in yesterday's post, I did want to mention that I thought this was a well-balanced itinerary for a Caribbean cruise. There were not too many days at sea (only two out of seven) and we visited a nice variety of destinations which offered diverse shore excursions and other activities. The port calls were long enough (average eight hours) to have time to get off the ship and explore, and we docked at piers which offered easy access to the key sights either on foot or via public transportation (which is nice for independent travelers or for those on a tight budget).

walking from the International Pier to downtown San Miguel, Cozumel

Dress Code

One of the perks of cruising with Norwegian is that there are no formal nights so you can wear whatever you want 99% of the time. For those people that do enjoy dressing up, you are always welcome to do so and there were one or two designated nights for portraits and other formal activities. Even in the Summer Palace, which has a posted dress code of smart casual attire (collared shirts, long pants and closed-toe shoes for men), the hostess always said Greg was fine in a t-shirt, convertible travel pants & Tevas.

a photo of a professional photo of us taken in the Summer Palace restaurant

Service

While the dining staff in the more casual restaurants typically personified “happy, happy, washy, washy” (referring to them spraying our hands with sanitizer before we could enter the restaurant), we did not always encounter cheerful, smiling crew members. Initially our cabin attendant did not greet us and he never introduced himself by name; as the week passed he was more likely to smile & say hi. There were some minor oversights in our stateroom – we had to ask for the shower gel dispenser to be refilled and our towels were changed even if we left them hanging (a placard in the bathroom says to conserve water and to put towels on the floor if you want them changed). In other areas of the ship, the crew were generally friendly and helpful but no one ever went out of their way to make sure we were having a great experience.

crew farewell on Day 7

The Norwegian Experience Overall

In conclusion, there are a few reasons I didn't LOVE this cruise. First, my standards have been set pretty high by both Celebrity (Alaska – August, 2008) and Holland America (Transatlantic – November, 2011). In addition, I have cruised on smaller luxury ships like Windstar's Wind Spirit (Mediterranean – September, 2002) and Uniworld's River Duchess (Danube – December, 2003) which offer a much more intimate experience. I actually don't mind the bigger ships and appreciate the diversity of activities, food and more. But I have been spoiled by the 5-star amenities & experiences on my previous cruises and Norwegian is closer to a 3.5 to 4-star line.

this gives you an idea of some of the activities & entertainment offered during our cruise

This cruise had the most diverse guests of any I've been on so far. Many nationalities were represented although the large majority of passengers were American or Canadian. There were infants to seniors but I would guess the average age was about 40. As a result, there was much more of a party atmosphere and most people seemed to be drinking all day long. Of course, the crew encouraged this, with lots of dance music blasting throughout the ship and late night bar specials & parties starting at 10:30pm or later.

guests of all varieties by the Tahitian Pool

If I evaluate this cruise purely from the perspective of someone going on a week-long vacation, I'm sure I would have had a different experience. As it was, Greg & I were both tired from three months of traveling and neither of us were 100% healthy due to a stomach virus. While we were willing to spend the money for the cruise itself, we did not want to pay a premium for alcohol, specialty restaurants and extra-charge activities or shore excursions since we had already spent thousands of dollars on the first part of our honeymoon. Plus we weren't in the mood to stay up late to dance & party with everyone else. All of these things are a key part of the Caribbean cruise experience for most people and since we did not participate it is probably not fair to judge Norwegian in that respect.

they're teasing us!

As a whole I did enjoy the cruise but in the future I will probably book one of the top-rated lines even though they do cost a little more. I still want to try Royal Caribbean and Princess for the sake of comparison as they are generally rated higher than Norwegian and are considered comparable to Celebrity and Holland America. The luxury lines, like Crystal, Seabourn and Silverseas, are mostly out of my price range plus I'm worried that the affluence of the other guests might be a bit intimidating. But I would love to try one of them if I ever have the opportunity!

the Norwegian Pearl (right) docked next to a Royal Caribbean ship in Cozumel

For anyone that is thinking about cruising for the first time, I recommend that you do some research on Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor and TravelTruth. And don't hesitate to contact your favorite travel agent, particularly one that specializes in cruises. Happy Sailing from someone who was born during the week that the #1 Billboard song was Rock the Boat by Hues Corporation!

The link to my Norwegian Pearl cruise photos is embedded in this post's title.

Windstar's 148-passenger Wind Spirit as seen from Bodrum, Turkey

Uniworld's 134-passenger River Duchess docked in Durnstein, Austria

Celebrity's 1,950-passenger Millenium anchored in Icy Strait Point, Alaska

Holland America Line's 1,404-passenger ms Rotterdam docked in Tangier, Morocco

Norwegian Cruise Line's 2,394-passenger Norwegian Pearl docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica

The Norwegian Experience - Part II (Ports of Call)

2012-01-03T17:48:00.001-06:00

Our seven-night cruise on the Norwegian Pearl departed from the Port of Miami on Sunday, November 27^th. We had two complete days at sea and visited a total of four ports of call, which I will describe here. I have already detailed what we did on Day 1 in my last post, published yesterday.

the Norwegian Pearl anchored off Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

Day 2: Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

According to my research, Norwegian was the first cruise line to establish a private island as a port of call for their ships. They purchased Great Stirrup Cay in 1977 and have been developing the island as a cruise destination for the past 30 years. I have been to The Bahamas before (Nassau & Andros Island in December, 2007), so for this cruise I didn't mind that we were missing out on the true Bahamian experience.

ready for a bike/kayak adventure with new friends at Small Hope Bay, Andros Island, Bahamas - December, 2007

Greg was still suffering from a stomach virus so he stayed in bed all day. I took a tender ashore around 11am, happy to feel well enough to enjoy the beautiful weather. The sea was a bit choppy which made for an interesting 15-minute ride to shore. I walked from the main developed area with its shopping huts, inflatable water slide, food pavilion and bars to the far end of the island and back. The sand seemed very clean and not too hot so I walked barefoot, except on the rocky sections. I didn't feel like swimming so after thoroughly exploring I eventually found a lounge chair away from all the action and relaxed for about an hour before returning to the ship.

the beach at Great Stirrup Cay

Norwegian is spending millions of dollars to make even more improvements to the private island experience. One section of the island was filled with construction equipment, although it was hard to discern exactly what they were building. While I was generally impressed with the current offerings – free lounge chairs by the beach, barbecue lunch with plenty of seating at the dining pavilion, live music, and toilets at both ends of the main beach area; I was disappointed that everything else cost extra: floats, snorkel gear, beach umbrellas, etc. You even have to bring your own towel from the ship!

directional signs at Great Stirrup Cay

Day 3: At Sea

Since Greg & I were still recovering from the stomach virus, we were happy to have a day at sea to rest. After breakfast we attended the Cruise Critics Meet & Greet with the ship's management team and enjoyed chatting with our fellow cruisers. Later, just for entertainment value, I went to the hour-long "shopping show" at sea, which made me painfully aware of what is wrong with the world today (greed, emphasis on material things, etc.)!

at the Cruise Critics Meet & Greet

I wanted to spend the afternoon reading but one of the problems I discovered with the Pearl is there are no quiet and comfortable areas to sit. Good candidates, like the Spinnaker Lounge which has beds(!) and lots of plush chairs, often has activities scheduled so there is usually loud music and/or ambient noise from bingo games, etc. The two designated quiet areas are both outside and exposed to the sun & wind so are not good options. The library is generally quiet but very small and has only a few seating options plus there is a TV so it's not exactly a peaceful environment. The Bliss Lounge has lots of cozy seating but is dark and also has gaming machines and a bowling alley so it can be pretty noisy.

Greg pretending to sleep in the Spinnaker Lounge

Since we both chose to skip lunch, we ate an early dinner in the Summer Palace, then went to the 7:30pm theater performance of "Oh What A Night" (a Four Seasons tribute which I thought was excellent). Afterward we were entertained by comedian Sam Fedele in the Spinnaker Lounge before we turned in for the night.

Day 4: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Ocho Rios was another destination I had visited before, on a day trip during a vacation at Couples Sans Souci in December, 2006. Thus I had already climbed Dunn's River Falls, which is one of the most popular shore excursions in Jamaica. Greg was okay with just walking around town, so we got off the ship just before noon and made our way to the main street.

climbing Dunn's River Falls - December, 2006

One of the unfortunate aspects of port calls is having to deal with the unlicensed tour operators and salespeople that bombard you when you get off the ship. This was especially the case in Ocho Rios where we were approached by "taxi/tour" offers every step for over 30 minutes until we had walked far enough down the main drag away from all the other tourists. Of course then we didn't feel quite as safe and there was nothing to see anyway, so we made our way back to the tourist zone.

Greg near the entrance to Turtle River Park

We discovered a small public park (Turtle River) that was free to enter so we strolled around the quiet walkways for awhile and found some shade to escape the intense sun & heat. The area near the port is filled with shops and bars so, with nothing else to do, we decided to check out a couple of the “malls” and people-watch. And, on a tip from the shopping seminar I attended yesterday, we picked up free bamboo necklaces from Cariloha (a shop specializing in bamboo clothing & accessories).

Greg enjoys a free cup of Blue Mountain coffee while wearing his new Cariloha bamboo necklace

Exhausted from walking in the heat, we eventually made our way to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville where we shared a pitcher of Red Stripe for $20 (including tax & tip) while watching shell necklace & hair braiding vendors ply the beach. Then, as we were walking back to the ship, we spotted a bar offering $2 bottles of Red Stripe so we couldn't resist stopping one more time since our goal was to NOT consume any alcohol on board due to the fairly high cost of drinks (average $5 per beer, $8+ for mixed drinks, $30 per bottle of wine plus 15% service fee automatically added to the bill).

get your shells here!

Day 5: George Town, Grand Cayman

We were very lucky to make our Grand Cayman port call. Their weather had been bad for the past three days and, due to rough seas, no ships had been able to dock. Even on the day we were there all other ships had canceled. And, due to the still unfavorable conditions, we had to "park" on the south side of island and tender in, then transfer to town.

tenders ferry passengers to & from the Norwegian Pearl on the south side of Grand Cayman island

Greg & I had no specific plans but were interested in snorkeling if we could find something for a reasonable price. After tendering in, we talked to a local lady at the information booth and she advised us to book with Captain Marvin's. We had to wait almost an hour for the next scheduled tour, but it was worth it because we paid only $35 per person for the 2.5 hour Stingrays & Reef Snorkel which cost $70 per person if we had booked it as a shore excursion on the ship.

trying to figure out where exactly we are on a Grand Cayman map

After transferring in a mini-bus to the Captain Marvin's booking office near downtown, we rode another few minutes to the dock and boarded our boat, Miss Anna. It was nicely equipped with a toilet & changing area and the snorkel gear, optional life vests and nonalcoholic drinks were included in the cost of the tour. It took about 30 minutes to reach our first stop, the Stingray City Sandbar.

Yay! We're going snorkeling!

Because of the absence of the other cruise ships, there were only a few boats at the sandbar and thus not very many people in the water. Our boat had only 12 other guests along with two “guides” and one photographer. This excursion appealed to me because the stingrays are not captive (they swim freely in the wild) but are guaranteed to show up at the sandbar for some treats. While it was quite intimidating to be standing in the 3-5 foot deep water with these massive creatures (5 foot wingspan!), they are pretty docile and seem to enjoy interacting with humans.

Greg gets a stingray massage

Greg was feeling more adventurous than I so he spent some 1:1 time with one of the female stingrays. First he held her in his arms, then he kissed her on the mouth, then he got a back massage. WOW! All I could handle was some light petting and a quick kiss. :)

this is about as close as I wanted to get

After spending about 30 minutes with the stingrays we got back on the boat and motored about five minutes away to the Coral Gardens snorkeling site. The water was a bit choppy but clear and we could see plenty of fish. If you have snorkeled before, this particular site is not that colorful and just has the typical variety of fish, but it was enjoyable enough for about 30 minutes.

That was the end of our tour so we returned to the dock and boarded another mini-bus for the ride back to the ship. We had already arranged to be dropped off at the Cayman Islands Brewery, which was located about one mile from where our ship was docked. We browsed the small gift shop, chatted with some of the workers and drank FREE 7oz samples of their beers (Caybrew, CayLight, Ironshore Bock, White Tip Lager). By chance the British Governor of the Cayman Islands, Duncan Taylor, was getting a private tour of the brewery at the same time we were there, so we got to meet him, briefly, and took the opportunity for a unique photo.

Greg & Duncan Taylor at Cayman Islands Brewery

Greg was worried that we would be late getting back to the ship if we walked, so we hailed the Cayman Islands version of public transportation – a shared minivan – and paid $2.50 each to cover the short distance to the tendering location. Thus we made it back in plenty of time to catch the last tender and soon the ship was under way for our next destination.

Click here to view all of my Stingrays& Snorkel pics.

Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico

In stark contrast to the utter lack of tourists on Grand Cayman, when we reached Cozumel the next day we were one of six cruise ships in port! We docked at the International Pier, which is about 1.5 miles from downtown San Miguel. As the weather was nice and not too hot, we decided to walk into town, which at a leisurely pace took over an hour. It was still enjoyable as there is a sidewalk which parallels the waterfront. Plus we were never harassed by taxi or tour operators!

Welcome all cruise ships! ( two other Norwegian ships docked in Cozumel - neither is the Pearl)

Upon reaching downtown we were ready for an adult beverage and I had previously researched where to get the best margaritas. Pancho'sBackyard is at the far end of town but it was worth the extra few blocks walk for the strong, refreshing house margarita. While not exactly cheap, they were totally worth their $5.50 each price tag.

Greg enjoys a fantastic margarita at Pancho's Backyard

As we started to make our way back towards the ship we decided that we would initiate a beer/margarita crawl. We just had to decide where we would stop next! Wanting to avoid the most touristy places (like Margaritaville or Senor Frogs), we wound up at Jeanie's, where a bucket of five beers plus free nachos was only $12.

ready for beer & nachos at Jeanie's

After we left Jeanie's, we stopped at a convenience store where Greg bought a beer “to go” and proceeded to drink it, undisguised, as we walked back along the waterfront. Our final stop was for another round of margaritas at an open air bar/restaurant called Ernesto's. There was a noticeable difference in the lesser quality of these drinks versus the ones at Pancho's and they still cost $6 each although the glasses were larger.

lifting my jumbo margarita at Ernesto's

I had been eying these great “masks” sold by the street vendors all day long. I wasn't really sure what they were for, but I loved the bold colors & designs. When we reached the cluster of shops at the pier, I had to have a closer look. I convinced Greg to get one, too, but unfortunately the one he wanted (Spiderman) was too small. As it was the end of the day, I negotiated with the shop manager and got the mask I wanted for $10 and proceeded to wear it all the way back to the ship (although they did ask me to take it off at the security checkpoint)!

wearing my new mask at the International Pier (our ship is on the right)

Day 7: At Sea

The final day of our cruise was spent at sea, covering the distance back to Miami from Mexico. It was cloudy and very windy which deterred my best efforts to stay outside. There were lots of activities on offer, some free some not. I went to the officer Q&A featuring the ship's captain, chief engineer and hotel manager (interesting); watched the food & beverage demonstration by the pool (pretty lame); watched the International Crew Talent Show (not bad, but had minimal participation from the crew); attended the juggling class offered by Sharkbait (fun); and looked at all of our cruise photos taken by the onboard photographers (but they were $12.95 for each 5x7 so we didn't buy any).

crew performance "Fountains"

We had asked at reception if they would refund our $15 corkage fee (x2) since we had not opened either of the bottles we brought onboard on Day 1. Because it was last day of the cruise, they agreed to remove the corkage fees from our bill AND told us it was okay to drink the wine if we wanted to. So, of course, we opened our bottle of Corsican white wine and enjoyed it for the rest of the evening! The other bottle, a Madeira from the Portuguese island, was brought all the way back to Tennessee where it was consumed by Greg & his parents before Christmas.

I snapped this photo of one of the ship's photographer's shots of us at dinner

We capped off the evening by watching the theater performance “Broadway Showtime: Encore!” and ate a late dinner at the Garden Cafe buffet. I had decided I preferred the buffet over the Summer Palace restaurant because of the wider variety of food on offer and the option to get small portions of different items, including more vegetables, so I could try to find something that wasn't too salty.

That's it for the ports of call. My next post will summarize our overall Norwegian cruise experience.

The link to all of my cruise photos is embedded in this post's title.

The Norwegian Experience - Part I

2012-01-02T12:00:00.000-06:00

Despite what you may initially think, this post is not about our recent travels in Norway. I wrote about that beautiful, but very expensive, country in a previous post. This post is one of three about our week-long cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines' Norwegian Pearl.

After shuttling from our hotel to the Port of Miami, we were deposited directly in front of the Norwegian cruise terminal. There was no clearly marked area for dropping our luggage, nor did anyone offer any assistance, so we hand-carried it into the building. Security spotted our two wine bottles when they x-rayed our bags so we had to pay $15 per bottle to carry them on with us (otherwise we could have checked them for the duration of the cruise and they would have been returned to us when we disembarked at the end of the week). Next we entered a large open room with five or six very long check-in lines. We stood in line for over 30 minutes before reaching the desk where they took our headshots, our credit card was swiped for any onboard purchases and we were handed our room keys and boarding passes. Finally we proceeded upstairs to a waiting area where we sat for another 20 minutes before our group number was called to board. Upon boarding the ship we were told that the cabins would not be ready until 2pm so we checked our luggage (we were still carrying everything) with a concierge and went to the main dining room (Summer Palace) for lunch.

docked at the Port of Miami

Service was a bit sporadic -- to be expected on a busy turnaround day. We waited almost 10 minutes for someone to take our order. Our appetizers and entrees, which took another 10 minutes to be served, were okay but not great. Plus I had to flag someone down to refill my water glass. By the time we finished eating it was already 2:00 so we picked up our bags and proceeded to our room. It was still not ready and I quickly realized that the two twin beds pushed together took up almost the entire room so there was only space for one of us to get in from the side of the bed; the other would have to climb in or out from the end. I located our cabin attendant down the hall and asked him to separate the beds so we would have more room. Then we decided to occupy some time by exploring the ship.

our stateroom 8613 with the beds separated

our bathroom

The Pearl is a much different ship than the Rotterdam, not that we were expecting them to be the same. It is almost twice as large, with 2,380 passengers & 1,154 crew capacity (versus 1,316 + 593). There are 12 restaurants, 11 bars & lounges, 2 swimming pools, 4 hot tubs and lots of extras: a water slide, sports court, climbing wall and bowling alley to name a few. Our standard inside stateroom (Category J) on Deck 8 measured only 143 square feet (versus 182 sq ft for a comparable Category K cabin on the Rotterdam). Our cramped room even had a pull down bed on one side so it could technically sleep three adults. Yikes!

overlooking the Tahitian Pool, water slide & hot tubs on Deck 12

After thoroughly exploring the ship, we made our way to the Sky High Bar on Deck 13 to meet some of our fellow Cruise Critics for a SailAway party. If you're not already familiar with the website, Cruise Critic is a great way to get information on and reviews of almost every cruise ship currently sailing and many ports of call, plus the opportunity to "meet" other people who have booked the same cruise as you in advance. We hung out with our new friends for awhile, amused by the all out dance party & barbecue in progress by the pool below (quite a different scene than on the Rotterdam!), and watched the Miami cityscape fade into the horizon.

sailing away from downtown Miami

As I still wasn't feeling 100% after battling a stomach virus for the past three days and Greg was starting to have similar symptoms, we had a very quiet first evening on board the Pearl. After sailaway, we browsed in the small library and each checked out a book (Greg's selection was On Rocky Top by Clay Travis about the 2008 University of Tennessee Volunteers football season; I chose Monica Ali's Brick Lane about London's Bangladeshi community). We then retired to our stateroom to read and watch football. I did venture up to the buffet later for a simple dinner of cooked-to-order pasta, but that was the extent of my efforts. I hoped that I could get a good night's sleep so I would be able to enjoy our first port of call the next day!

Greg weighs himself in the ship's gym on Day 1 of the cruise

I will use the next two posts to discuss the ports of call and our overall cruise experience.

The link to my cruise photos is embedded in this post's title.

Prelude to another cruise

2012-01-01T12:32:00.000-06:00

When Greg & I arrived in Miami on November 21st after our 15-night transatlantic cruise aboard Holland America's ms Rotterdam, we had no definite plans other than to spend a few nights with my friend Adena. Adena & her husband, Raul, live in a 21st floor penthouse in the "Miami Vice" building (the Atlantis on Brickell) which gained fame for being featured in the opening credits of the television series. Adena & I worked together often as flight attendants for Delta Air Lines and we also vacationed in China together in 2005.

Adena & I in Beijing - May, 2005

We spent two lovely days & nights with Adena & Raul, enjoying a walk around South Beach, spotting Dan Marino at The Delano, strolling Lincoln Road Mall, and a delicious meal at the famous Cuban restaurant Versailles in Little Havana, not to mention just relaxing and catching up.

Miami's South Beach

We had already been considering what to do for the remaining two weeks prior to our scheduled flight back to Nashville on December 7th. Not wanting to fly anywhere or rent a car, our options were pretty much limited to chilling out in a beach house somewhere in Florida or taking another cruise. As it turned out, our first beach choice, Key West, was definitely the more expensive option plus getting there wouldn't be easy without flying or renting a car. And I really wanted Greg to experience another cruise so we would know if it was a viable vacation option for the future.

toasting our return to the U.S. on the balcony of Adena & Raul's apartment

Choosing which cruise to book at the last minute was made easier, once again, with the expert help of Sherrie Funk at Just Cruisin' Plus in Brentwood, TN. I had made an appeal for help on Facebook prior to booking our transatlantic cruise and we were referred to Sherrie by her step-daughter, Angel Funk, with whom Greg & I attended high school. We were able to book everything for the first cruise via email and Sherrie was the one who made it easy & stress-free. This time, since we were back in the U.S., it was much easier just to dial her toll-free number!

Surprisingly, there was still plenty of availability for cruises out of either Miami or Fort Lauderdale on the weekend after Thanksgiving, considering we were booking only five days before departure. We used a variety of criteria to pick which cruise to take: it couldn't depart on or before November 25th (we had nonrefundable hotel reservations), it had to return by December 7th (for our flight back to Nashville), the overall itinerary/ports had to be accessible to independent travelers who didn't want to book shore excursions (ie so we could walk off the ship or take public transportation to see the sights), and we were only interested in Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Norwegian cruise lines (to compare to my previous cruise experience with Celebrity and our recent experience with Holland America). As always, the total price was also a big consideration. Including taxes and approximately $11 per person, per day (pp/pd) in tips, the one option on Royal Caribbean priced out at $97pp/pd; the three options on Princess were $81-96pp/pd; and the one option on Norwegian was $78pp/pd. It was then pretty easy to eliminate all but the two cheapest cruises - on either the Ruby Princess or the Norwegian Pearl. Then it was 50/50 with Greg leaning toward the Pearl primarily because it was the absolute cheapest option.

Will we be able to top our Holland America cruise experience?

Once we had booked the cruise, we had more time to relax and do research on the ports of call. We had already reserved three nights at the Homewood Suites Miami Airport/Blue Lagoon in anticipation of higher occupancy or higher room rates over the Thanksgiving holiday. With a separate living area and kitchen apart from the large bedroom, we had plenty of space to spread out. We saved money by buying a few simple groceries and cooking meals, but mostly took advantage of the free hot breakfast every morning as well as the free weekday dinners which included beer & wine. Unfortunately I got sick with a stomach virus so didn't feel very well over the holiday. Plus it was a little depressing to be alone in a hotel room on Thanksgiving Day while the rest of our relatives were feasting on turkey & dressing and enjoying the warmth of home & family!

We still needed one more night's accommodation prior to boarding our cruise on November 27th. The best rate the Homewood Suites was offering was $140 per night so I went online and found a comparable hotel (Springhill Suites) closer to the Miami cruise port for only $97 per night, plus they offered shuttle service to the port for only $6 per person. We packed up and transferred to the new hotel (using each hotel's free Miami airport shuttle service) and spent our final evening watching football, eating Papa John's pizza and doing laundry.

The link to my Miami photos is embedded in this post's title.

Saying Goodbye to 2011 (and to life on the road)

2011-12-31T15:05:00.000-06:00

One year ago today, Greg & I were in Vientiane, Laos. We had survived a harrowing 11-hour bus ride from Luang Prabang two days prior so I was quite glad to be on solid ground for a few days. Although there wasn't much to do in the capital city overall, we rang in 2011 at a huge party in Vientiane's main square complete with live music, bubbles, firecrackers and cheap beer.

Greg celebrates the new year in Vientiane, Laos

This year things will be quite a bit more subdued. Since returning to Nashville on December 4th from our 3-month honeymoon we have been busy planning for our move to Portland, OR. Originally scheduled to fly out on January 4th, we quickly realized that with all the Christmas parties and other things we had planned over the past month, we would not have sufficient time to prepare. Not to mention we still haven't found a place to live! So we delayed our departure until January 25th which gives us a bit more breathing room.

Yesterday I went to Summit Primary Care for my annual physical and well woman exam. I had almost forgotten that our insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield TN) provides 100% coverage for these checkups once per calendar year and luckily I was able to snag an early-morning appointment at the last minute. The last time I saw a doctor was in Rome, Italy in late March for treatment of bursitis in my left shoulder. And the last time I had a physical was prior to our round-the-world trip in May, 2010!

They ran all of the typical bloodwork, did a chest xray and EKG, and I got poked & prodded pretty thoroughly. The good news is that the doctor pronounced me in good health overall (assuming all the test results come back clean) with the exception that I need to see a dermatologist to have a mole removed on my upper back (one that has gotten larger & darker over the past year). Unfortunately I returned from our Christmas trip to Indiana with a cold so I am now suffering with sinus congestion and frequent sneezing. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic in case it gets worse but in the meantime I have to rest and let it run its course.

I don't plan to stay up to ring in 2012 tonight. And sadly I won't even spend the night with Greg since I'm trying to avoid making anyone else sick. Instead I'll have a quiet night at my grandmother's house in Hermitage and probably go to bed by 10pm.

I want to end this post on a more positive note with a few highlights of 2011. Greg & I completed the first leg of our RTW trip on May 4th after 278 days of traveling through 22 countries and 4 continents. Greg proposed to me on Memorial Day so we spent the next couple of months preparing for our wedding and organizing all of the parties we decided to have as an alternative to the typical same-day post-wedding reception. We got married on July 29th in a small, meticulously planned ceremony in Nashville. Then we were featured as Couple of the Week in The Tennessean's Wedding section on September 11th. Finally, we traveled to 23 countries in 92 days for our honeymoon!

I am thankful for the quality time we were able to spend with friends and family over the past year. We were actually "home" for about five months total, during which we spent lots of time with our immediate families, visited with our extended families a couple of times, took a trip to New York City to see friends there, incorporated visits with friends in Europe and the U.S. into our honeymoon, and I got to take two separate trips (girlfriend getaways) with my best friend Amy. On a sad note, my maternal grandmother passed away on November 9th, so I am especially thankful for the extra time I got to spend with her this year.

Greg & I with Grandmother Patterson at one of our wedding parties this summer

I have no idea exactly what 2012 has in store for us. For the first time in our three year relationship, we are actually planning to stay in one place for longer than a few months! We will soon be searching for new jobs in Portland, OR but are looking forward to enjoying all of the things we love about the city, including lots of craft beer, the mild climate and a car-free lifestyle. I am sure we will face many new challenges that are quite different from what we encountered while traveling in the U.S. and abroad over the past two years. But I think with patience, compassion, good communication, and lots of love we will not only adapt to but also thrive in our "new" life together. Happy New Year, everyone!

check out my star tiara!

Chasing Rainbows - Cruising Across The Atlantic Ocean

2011-12-25T13:16:00.000-06:00

I wrote this post over one month ago but have been gradually catching up on my blog over the past few weeks. Today is Christmas and since I am sitting in the Delta SkyClub in Nashville on a 3-hour mechanical delay, I thought I would put the time to good use. Merry Christmas everyone!

*****

While the first week of the cruise was busy with port calls, for the final seven days there was not a speck of land in sight. While wary of turbulent waters, I looked forward to this time to catch up on my writing. I discovered a desk tucked back in a quiet corner of the library on Deck 5, where I could work undisturbed for hours. There was even a window looking out to the expanse of blue stretching to the horizon.

Other than my writing, our ship offered plenty of diversions during our days at sea. The daily program was filled with activities divided into four categories: Our World, Food & Entertaining, Technology, and Wellbeing. I attended talks by the two guest lecturers - Warren Salinger, who worked in international development and whose seminars focused on globalization; and Dick Magaldi, a retired police commander and sea captain, whose talks covered diverse topics like diving for treasure, piracy, and maritime history. However, while both were good speakers, their lectures were always rushed and jumped from topic to topic a bit irratically, so after a few tries I moved on to other things.

In addition to the lectures, every day there were cooking demonstrations, computer classes, spa seminars, jewelery seminars, gambling tournaments, trivia challenges and many, many more activities to choose from, almost all free to attend. We also took the behind-the-scenes kitchen tour, getting a glimpse at how the culinary staff prepares over 6,000 meals each day.

Greg & I developed a routine of getting up at 7 or 8am, working out in the gym for an hour (walking on a treadmill or using an elliptical machine is interesting when the ship is rolling), then eating breakfast in the Lido Restaurant (buffet-style). We usually split up to do our own things until around 5:30pm, when we'd regroup for dinner. Since we were assigned open seating, we could dine in La Fontaine (the more formal dining room) any time between 5:30-9:30pm. However we preferred to be seated by 6pm, as service was not always expedient and dinner sometimes stretched to almost two hours. But the food was consistently delicious!

After dinner, we had to choose between seeing that day's feature film (mostly new releases) in the small movie theater, or catch the early musical performance in the Showroom at Sea. Often we did both, watching the movie first, then catching the late show at 10pm. We also celebrated Greg's birthday during our crossing. I made arrangements to have surf & turf on a night when it wasn't being served as well as a custom-made red velvet & chocolate birthday cake. The waitstaff even sang Happy Birthday in their native language, Bahasa!

I really enjoyed the variety of entertainment that was offered. The in-house performers were all very talented, from the Adagio Strings (an all female string quartet that played in the dining room), to the pianist and guitarist who played in the bar, to the house band "HALCats" and the stars of the Showroom at Sea. While the cast shows were entertaining, I especially enjoyed the guest performers: Tom Sutton (comedian), Passionata (Flamenco Fusion dance performance), Julian Gargiulo (pianist), Livewire (husband & wife Celtic duo), and Jay White (Neil Diamond impersonator). The crew show on the final night was also original and entertaining.

We were very fortunate to have good weather for the crossing. Sometimes there were swells that caused the ship to roll a fair amount, but generally it was quite calm. During the entire week at sea, I only had to take Sea Calm (meclizine) twice and that was just to combat the dizzy feeling; I never actually got sick. In fact, on the couple of days that it was extraordinarily calm, to the point that you almost couldn't tell you were on a ship, I was unnerved by the lack of motion!

After experiencing cool nights during our port calls, the warm & humid air during the crossing was a pleasant surprise. While skies were often overcast, sometimes the sun would shine and the glare on the water was almost blinding. One morning it was raining off & on while we worked out in the gym (on Deck 8 facing forward) and I saw a brilliant rainbow off the bow of the ship, thus the title of this post. All in all it was a great cruise and if you're looking for a mix of port calls and relaxing on a ship (and have about 15 days to spare), I would highly recommend a transatlantic cruise.

Four more ports of call

2011-12-17T14:35:00.000-06:00

This post is a continuation of The High Seas of the Mediterranean, which covered the first three days of our transatlantic cruise on Holland America Lines' ms Rotterdam.

As mentioned in my previous post, our 15 night cruise included six ports of call in the first seven days. Part of the reason we chose this particular itinerary was for the diversity of destinations, which, with the exception of Barcelona, were places we had never visited before. It was also attractive because all were ports where you could walk off the ship to see the sights without needing to book a tour or transfers.

our ship docked in Cartagena

Our third port of call was Cartagena, Spain. The city is an important naval seaport dating to the 16th century but has been inhabited for over three thousand years. While there are not many highly rated tourist attractions in Cartagena, Greg & I enjoyed exploring the city on foot for about three hours. Most of Cartagena's oldest monuments date to the Roman Empire and there are several archaeological sites of interest. We did not pay to visit any of them but were able to see pretty much everything by climbing up to vantage points in the free public parks. It was also free to enter the Art Nouveau City Hall and the Caridad church. I particularly enjoyed strolling the Calle Mayor, the pedestrian-only street in the heart of the city lined with boutiques and bars.

Roman Theater ruins, Cartagena

Day 5 of our cruise brought us to Malaga, in southern Spain. It was a beautiful day and after a 30 minute walk from the ship to the city center, we picked up a map from the tourist information office, then started our explorations at bustling Atarazanas Market. Paying little heed to the cruise tourists who were converging on the market, the locals continued their shopping for fresh fish, meats, fruits & vegetables and other items. We got to sample some tasty salted almonds and would have loved to spend much longer browsing the tempting stalls. But the market was busy, so we continued our walk with the intention of seeing as many of the old churches as we could.

Atarazanas Market, Malaga

The narrow pedestrian-only lanes in the historic center were a joy to discover and we happily meandered from one church to another for over an hour. Upon reaching the massive Cathedral, we ultimately decided not to pay the 5EUR per person entry fee but just took photos of the awe-inspiring exterior.

a bell tower of Malaga's Cathedral framed by an orange tree

After being offline for a couple of days, I was anxious to check email and see if there was any news from my family. We grabbed an outdoor table at a cafe that had free wifi and ordered a pitcher of sangria. Unfortunately, as soon as I connected, I saw a message from my mom indicating that my grandmother's health had further declined and that she did not expect her to live much longer. Then, there was a one-line message from my step-dad, "Your grandmother passed away at 11:30am today." That message had been sent the previous day, so it had already been almost 24 hours since she died.

the jug of sangria we ordered before we checked our email

Of course, I was very upset to receive this news, despite knowing that there was a good chance when we left on our honeymoon in early September that I would never see my grandmother again. I was especially sad for my mother, who had taken care of her for the past six years. I was also sad that I could not be with my family to mourn our loss together. Thankfully, I was able to talk to my mom on Google Talk shortly after I read the messages. It was difficult because I was outside, didn't have my VOIP headset, and there was lots of background noise. But I was still comforted to hear my mom's voice and to know that my grandmother did not die alone.

a Bird of Paradise I saw as we were walking back to our ship; one of my grandmother's favorite flowers

Not in the mood to do any more sightseeing, we made our way back to the cruise ship along the Avenida de Cervantes. With beautiful weather year-round, Malaga's trees & flowers are almost always in bloom. We detoured through a small park with fruit-laden orange trees and wonderful-smelling roses, then walked along the Malagueta (beach) to reach the ship.

our shadows on the Malagueta

The following morning we arrived in Tangier, Morocco. This port call was one of the primary reasons we chose this cruise; I have always wanted to go to Morocco and this was the only transatlantic itinerary fitting our schedule that included a stop in North Africa.

We had to laugh when we got off the ship and were greeted by vendors hawking all sorts of exotic souvenirs plus individuals offering their services as tour guides. The relentless pestering continued as we made our way into the Medina (old town) which is enclosed by 15th century ramparts and dominated by the Kasbah, a palace and administrative quarter since Roman times. The map that was provided by our cruise ship was not very detailed and we had much difficulty identifying any streets. After walking uphill with the primary intent of entering the Medina, we eventually found ourselves at the entrance to St Andrews Church.

vendors lined up by our ship in Tangier

The history & architecture of the church is very interesting. Open to all denominations, the church was consecrated in 1905. The interior is a fusion of many architectural styles, most notably Moorish. The cemetery outside is filled with war heroes, well-known bankers and historically famous generals.

St. Andrew's Anglican Church

Having asked the church's caretaker for directions to the main tourist sights, we made our way to the Grand Socco, the city's main square. However we still were at a loss as to how to get to other specific locations, like the American Legation Museum and Jewish Cemetery. One local gentleman even offered to help point us in the right direction but he couldn't make any sense of our map nor could he instruct us with a simple "turn right, turn left."

Sidi Bouabib Mosque in the Grand Socco, Tangier

Getting frustrated that we would not be able to see everything I had identified as places of interest, I gave up on using the map and decided to step through a passageway into the Medina. It wasn't long before two young boys, about age 12, offered to lead us around and show us all the sights. Speaking to them in French, I conveyed that we had no money to give them (we really didn't -- the only cash we had left was a 5 euro note and a few small coins). Still, they stuck with us so I decided to let them be our unofficial tour guides, with a little apprehension that we would be unwillingly led into many shops but also knowing we could say no at any time or else just walk the other way.

following our "guides" through the Kasbah

Our impromptu guides turned out to be fairly knowledgable for their young age and not only gave us plenty of space, letting us follow along a comfortable 10 or more paces behind them, but also rebuffed other wanna-be guides and trinket sellers. With their help, we thoroughly explored the Kasbah and the Medina and even got a glimpse into a local bakery. We were only led to one shop where we first climbed up four flights of stairs to a beautiful rooftop terrace overlooking the entire Medina and beyond. In appreciation for the view, we patiently let the salesman roll out a few carpets but then nicely turned down his offer of tea and merely browsed in the downstairs shop for a few minutes before thanking him again and continuing on our way.

When we reached the lower Medina, next to the Grande Mosquee, the boys said our tour was over as we were now within sight of the harbor and our cruise ship. The primary guide said "You give us each 15 euros." To which I replied, "No, I already told you we don't have any money." Then he tried "10 euros." Again, I said "I'm sorry, we really don't have any money." But I had already indicated to Greg that it was okay to give them what we had left, so as a demonstration of good faith, I asked Greg to (carefully) open his wallet to reveal the remaining 5 euro note. I gave that to the boys who replied "What about the change?" so we gave them all of it, too (a total of about 80 euro cents). They were already starting to bicker about who would get what so I had to admonish them with "Partagez, partagez" which means to share in French. They didn't seem too disappointed with their haul and I thought it was well worth the equivalent of about $8 to have seen all the main sights in Tangier with much less hassle than we would have encountered on our own. Also note that we were in Tangier on a Friday when children are not in school. If I had thought that the boys were skipping school to make money off tourists, I probably wouldn't have "allowed" them to be our guides, much less given them money.

locals hang out by the Grande Mosquee after a funeral

After a two nights and a full day at sea, our final port of call was Funchal, the capital city of the Portuguese Madeira Islands. It was overcast and rainy on the day of our arrival. Since our ship was docked a good 30 minute walk from the old town, the cruise line provided free bus transfers into town. We started our exploration with a walk along the Avenida do Mar and within minutes were caught in a downpour. After taking shelter and putting on our rain jackets, it quit raining and didn't rain again the entire time we were off the ship.

walking toward the Fortaleza de Sao Tiago in Funchal

As it was Sunday, many shops and attractions were closed. Since our only intention was to explore the town on foot as well as get online for a few minutes, this didn't pose any problems for us. After walking as far as the 17th century fort of Sao Tiago we made our way back to the area near the Central Market. There we bought a bottle of Madeira wine from the grocery store which is in a large shopping complex where we also picked up a free wifi connection in the food court.

a pedestrian-only alley in Funchal

After checking our email one last time (we would be offline for a full week during our transatlantic crossing), we continued exploring around the town hall and cathedral, including a brief walk through the Sao Francisco municipal gardens. Already tired and hungry, we then caught the next bus back to the ship where we ate lunch and spent the remainder of the afternoon reading until the ship sailed at 5pm.

view of Funchal from our ship

At first I watched the two tugs and pilot boat from a table on the pool deck (8) but eventually made my way to the rear of the ship on Deck 9 where I stood at the railing, enjoying the fresh air and last sight of land for the next seven days.

The link to all of my cruise photos is embedded in this post's title.

A Grand Duchy and a city with three identities

2011-12-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

Luxembourg was an intriguing destination for a variety of reasons. First, it is the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. It is also one of the world's smallest countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world (although that the number is inflated by the Belgians, French and Germans who commute to Luxembourg for work).

Place de Metz, Luxembourg

We spent a brief two nights in the capital city as we made our way south from Germany to Italy, with one full day for sightseeing. The main tourist office is located in the heart of the historic center and, since I had discovered on their website that they offer a free self-guided walking tour brochure, we stopped there first. We also picked up information on the American Cemetery and ultimately decided to start our exploration there.

To get to the cemetery from downtown we took the #15 bus to the next to last stop and then walked 20-30 minutes, following the signs, to the cemetery entrance. We arrived right at noon and were treated to Amazing Grace playing at the chapel. There were only a few other visitors so it was very peaceful as we walked around the memorial, studying the pylons with operations maps and the names of the missing, then making a loop through the graves area which contains the remains of 5,076 American military dead. We finished our tour at the grave of General George S. Patton, Jr.

Patton's grave at Luxembourg American Cemetery

We retraced our route to the bus stop and caught a ride back into the center of town. From there we started our City Promenade as outlined in the brochure. However, it was easy enough to deviate from the designated route in order to focus on the areas or sights in which we were most interested. After a quick look around the Cathedral to the Blessed Virgin (dating back to 1613), we made our way to the Corniche, which was described by Luxembourg writer Batty Weber as "the most beautiful balcony of Europe."

view from the Corniche

From there it was a short walk to the Bock Promontory and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed casemates, a network of underground tunnels and bombproof rooms built upon the rocky foundations of a 10th century fortress. We decided to pay three euros each for the privilege of wandering through the tunnels. Unfortunately, the brochure provided at the ticket desk was not very informative and there wasn't much to see or do in the casemates other than try to imagine them filled with thousands of soldiers.

view from the Bock Casemates

We returned to the center of town and eventually settled on a simple cafe for dinner where I decided to order grilled horse. Yes, I have eaten horse steak before, usually in France. If not overcooked it is a very lean and tender meat with a taste similar to beef but slightly richer. Greg opted to have a more standard meal of sausages & potatoes.

Luxembourg's Adolphe Bridge at dusk

After dinner, we enjoyed a sunset walk back to our hotel, which happened to be across the street from the train station. Not wanting to miss out on any cultural enrichment, we did take a quick detour into the red light district which was only one block long and was pretty tame around 7pm.

Luxembourg's red light district

The following day we continued by train another three hours to Basel, Switzerland. We shared a compartiment with an elderly Belgian lady who was accompanied by her 27-year-old nephew. I passed the time by editing photos and occasionally chatting with the lady in French (she wanted to know where we were from, where we were going, etc).

inside the Basel train station - this way to France

Our arrival in Basel was confusing. The conductor announced "Basel" and the train soon came to a stop. But I knew we were supposed to disembark at Basel SBB and the signs only said Basel, so I stepped off to ask a rail employee. He did not speak English or French very well but what I came to understand was that we had stopped at the French station and if we stayed on for a few minutes we would stop at the Swiss station. Soon enough the train reversed and backed up just far enough to switch tracks, then proceeded forward another few hundred meters into the Swiss station.

Basel tram

We picked up the Basel walking tour booklet from the tourist info center in the train station then caught a tram to our hostel. All accommodations in Basel offer a "Mobility Ticket" which allows free use of public transport for the duration of your stay, including transport from/to EuroAirport. As the cost of a day ticket is 8.50CHF ($9), this is a nice perk if you're staying outside the city center.

Unger Brewery next to Basel Backpack

When we arrived at our hostel we discovered it was located next to a brewery; very dangerous you would think! But with beer costing about $5 for 33cl and food at a restaurant averaging $20 per entree, we decided we would save money by purchasing our beer at the nearby grocery store. And since our hostel had a kitchen, we could also cook basic meals there, too.

these must be the narrowest houses in Basel

As we only had one full day for sightseeing, we decided to use the walking tour booklet to maximize our time. It features five walking tours of the historic Old Town which are named after famous citizens (e.g. Erasmus, Hans Holbein, etc.). While the walks are well-signposted, the map in the booklet only listed a handful of street names, so was otherwise useless for navigation purposes. We ultimately chose to do a combination of all five walks, fully circling the city as well as criss-crossing the center, and thus seeing all of the key sights.

Munster Cathedral and the Basler Herbstmesse (autumn fair)

Once we had exhausted ourselves after hours of walking, we stopped in for a late lunch at Fischerstube Brewery (not the one by our hostel, which was Unger Bier). Luck was on our side; the young couple seated next to us had a voucher for a free 2-liter jug of beer and, as the man was the only one drinking, he graciously offered to SHARE his beer with us! We splurged on some pub grub to accompany our beer and enjoyed a few leisurely hours at the restaurant until it closed for an afternoon break.

a Fischer of beer

We returned to our hostel to do laundry and prepare for our early-morning flight to Rome. At 5am the following day we were walking through the empty streets of Basel, back to the train station, where we caught a bus to the airport. According to Wikipedia, Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg is one of the few airports in the world operated jointly by two countries, France and Switzerland. It is located completely on French soil but has both French & Swiss sections. Due to its unusual international status, EuroAirport has three IATA airport codes: BSL (Basel) is the Swiss code, MLH (Mulhouse) is the French code and EAP (EuroAirport) is the international code.

sunrise on our 7am flight to Rome

This was the last part of our honeymoon adventure that wasn't cruise-related. We only spent one night in Rome since we had just spent a full week there in March. Then we departed on our 15-night transatlantic cruise. I have already covered the first couple of days of the cruise in a previous post. My next few posts will be about the remainder of the cruise, my overall impressions of Holland America Line, and what we decided to do upon our arrival in Miami.

nave of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome

Here are the links to my photos:
Luxembourg
Basel

A Friendly Foray in Germany (by way of Vietnam)

2011-12-07T18:08:00.000-06:00

Last December, Greg & I had already been on the road for over four months and were traveling in Southeast Asia. We had started our tour of Vietnam in Hanoi, followed by an overnight boat excursion to Halong Bay, then traveled by train to Sapa in the far north. There we had booked an overnight trek to a traditional village. That's how we met Karl Strotmann.

Greg chats with Karl as we prepare for our trek

As there were only four in our group (Greg & I, Karl, and a girl named Monica from Romania), we had plenty of time to get to know each other quite well over the 24 hours we spent together. Traversing steep valleys and the mud & muck of rice terraces, it took the better part of one day to hike almost 20km from Sapa to the village of Tavan. With no reprieve from the wet weather, we spent a soggy & cold night at our homestay. But we were warmed by our natural camraderie and whiled away the hours chatting about our lives and travel adventures, toasting each other with local rice wine.

that's Karl, always far ahead of us!

A few weeks later, we were sitting, improbably, at a Texas barbecue restaurant on the main backpacker road Bui Vien in the southern capital of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, and who should walk by but Karl! We shouted for him to join us and spent another hour catching up on our latest adventures and discussing our future travel plans. We also exchanged contact info as there was a possibility we could cross paths again in Cambodia or Thailand.

Greg walks along Bui Vien street

While we never ended up being in the same place at the same time, we kept in touch with Karl for the duration of our trip as well as after our return to the U.S. So when our honeymoon travels unexpectedly brought us to northern Holland, we realized we were quite close to Karl's hometown of Munster. He offered to pick us up from Martine's house in Emmen, and that is how we came to spend two lovely days & nights with Karl in Germany.

Karl lives in a one bedroom apartment near the perimeter of Munster's old town. It is a cozy, light-filled space with a beautiful view of the surrounding neighborhood. After giving us a chance to settle in, Karl served us a delicious lunch of homemade German potato salad along with wursts (hot dogs). Then we hopped back into the car for a driving tour of Munster.

view from Karl's apartment

Our first stop was the newly revived harbor area along the Dortmund-Ems Canal. Instead of tearing down the old warehouses and factories, they have been renovated and now house trendy cafes, art spaces and offices. We strolled the length of the canal then stopped for a beer while the sun set.

the revived canal district of Munster

Continuing our driving tour, Karl took us to the Aasee, a large lake surround by footpaths. The Annette Allee is where some of the most expensive homes in Munster are located on prime waterfront lots. After pointing out some of his favorite houses, we stopped by the grounds of the old zoo, where the beautifully-designed zookeepers home is still located.

Hungry for dinner, we ate some delicious German food at the traditional Altes Gasthaus Leve, where I ordered the huge pork knuckle. After our leisurely meal, we made one last loop in the car by the Schloss, which was originally built as a residence for a prince-bishop but now houses the central administration of the Westfalische-Wilhelms University. Then it was back to Karl's apartment to relax, drink beer and listen to some of his records until we eventually went to bed.

yummy pork knuckle

We awoke to another beautiful day and after a wonderful breakfast featuring assorted meats, cheeses, breads, granola, and more, we set out on foot to explore the heart of Munster. Walking first through Karl's neighborhood, which is enhanced by many architecturally-striking pre-World War II townhomes, we then reached the promenade, a foot & bike path which encircles the old town. While I'm sure it's beautiful at any time of year, the promenade was like a path of gold on this fall day.

Munster Promenade

We turned toward the city center, passing through the Kuhviertel, a street with many popular bars, as we made our way to St. Lambert's Church, which originally dates to around 1000AD but has been destroyed and rebuilt many times (most recently after WWII). We continued meandering, with Karl always pointing out specific buildings or other sites of interest. We eventually returned to the Prinzipalmarkt, the heart of the old city. There we stopped to have a beer at the historic Ratskeller.

drinking beer at the Ratskeller on Prinzipalmarkt

The Stuhlmacher restaurant next door features lots of old photos of Munster and is well worth a look, which we followed with a brief stop at the town hall where the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648. We then headed to St. Paul's Cathedral, the largest in Westphalia, consecrated in 1264 with a fantastic astronomical clock dating to 1540. We made our way to a modern construction, the Munster Arkaden, a popular shopping mall in the city center. After a brief look around, and ready for something to eat, we had a budget dinner at China Corner, where you can get nicely prepared Asian cuisine for about five euros.

St Paul's astronomical clock

The next stop on our walking tour was the Aasee, where we timed it just right to see the sunset. We strolled along the footpath before circling back to have a few beers at one of the trendy waterfront bars. From there we passed the Schloss on our way back to the Kuhviertel where we were "treated" with some Halloween candy (a holiday that is largely unobserved in Germany) to go along with a round of beers at the Blue House.

sunset on the Aasee

Our final stop was Karl's favorite neighborhood bar, Meyer's, where we were surprised to discover that smoking is still allowed indoors in Germany. This is possible in restaurants or bars that have two separate rooms and then it is the owner's discretion as to whether to designate one room as smoking (but there must always be at least one nonsmoking room). We then returned to the apartment for another relaxing evening, already sorry that we had to continue our travels onward the next day.

German beers under a heat lamp at a bar on the Aasee

Neither Greg nor I had expected Munster to offer much in the way of sightseeing, but this turned out to be a completely inaccurate assumption. Not only are there many diverse museums (which we didn't visit), but this university town is full of historic churches and other buildings of interest. Plus it is an immensely enjoyable place to walk, with a high percentage of green space and foot/bike paths. Karl was an encyclopedia of historical & cultural information and proved to be a fantastic tour guide and host. I just hope he will come to visit us in the U.S. as we would love to repay his kindness and have no doubt he would enjoy the relaxed & friendly vibe as well as the multitude of beer in our future hometown Portland, Oregon!

Karl as tour guide

The link to all of my photos is embedded in this post's title.

A Homecoming in The Netherlands

2011-12-06T18:21:00.000-06:00

When I was a senior in high school, I worked in the school office a few days each week. Early in the school year, I was in the office when a girl I didn't know came in very upset. I overheard her speaking to the guidance counselor; she was an exchange student from the Netherlands whose original host family had backed out and she had nowhere to live for her year abroad. Having stayed with a French family in the suburbs of Paris for a few weeks the previous year and imagining how scary it would have been if they had cast me out with nowhere to go, I was very sympathetic to her plight. Without hesitation I told her I would go home and ask my parents if she could live with us.

Martine is on the left in the peach blazer holding a tennis racquet

That is how Martine Neutel became a member of my family. She slept, at first, in the closet under our stairs as we did not have a spare bedroom to offer. Eventually my parents bought a mattress and she slept on the floor in my mom's sewing room, which, at least, gave her a little more space. Martine lived with us for the entire school year, from August 1991 to June 1992. Her boyfriend Jacco came to visit over Christmas break; her grandparents came during her birthday the following spring; and her entire family (mom & dad, sister & her husband, and Jacco) came to the U.S. after our graduation and traveled together for six weeks from the east coast to the west in a camper van.

Martine was the big sister I never had. While I was very busy with school activities & sports, applying for college scholarships and in a serious relationship with my boyfriend Billy, Martine was a breath of fresh air. Mature, smart, funny and laid back, she showed me how to enjoy life more fully. It helped that she had already finished her studies at the same level back home, so grades were not so important.

When they left Tennessee that summer, just after my 18th birthday, I did not see Martine and her family again until the fall of 1998, although we had kept in touch by writing letters. Martine was just finishing her specialized university studies. I was having a sort of early-life crisis, not sure what I wanted to do next, so I had quit my job and was backpacking solo through Europe for two months. My first stop was Amsterdam, where Martine picked me up at the airport and I spent the first five nights of my trip with her & Jacco at their apartment in Groningen. Later, after two weeks of traveling on a very tight budget, I got sick with the flu and, wanting the comfort of home, returned to northern Holland to recover at her parent's house in Emmen. I also stopped in again one more time, at the very end of my trip, to attend Martine's graduation before I returned to the U.S.

I took this photo of Roelof & Jellie (Martine's parents) with Martine & Jacco in Emmen, 1998

I visited again briefly in 2003, when I took my paternal grandmother to the Netherlands to see the spring blooms at Keukenhof, the largest flower gardens in the world. Martine & Jacco had moved into a beautiful house in Emmen, very near to her parents, and had one daughter, Rosalie. Her sister Edith, now divorced, also had moved to a house in the same neighborhood with her three children, Hielke, Sietse and Amarijns.

Jacco, baby Rosalie, Sietse, Grandmother Smartt, Amarijns, me & Martine at Emmen Zoo - April, 2003

So it was with great anticipation that we finally met again a few weeks ago. Plus, I had a surprise: my mom and step-dad Ronnie would also fly over to visit. When Martine met us at the Emmen train station you can imagine the emotions as it was her first time to see my mom in almost 20 years! After picking up her two youngest daughters from school, we returned home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and catching up.

a tearful reunion

On our first full day in Emmen, Martine's parents, Roelof & Jellie, brought us to their house to look at the photo albums from their trip to the U.S. in 1992. After reliving the happy memories, we drove to Giethoorn, the Venice of the Netherlands, where we ate a delicious lunch of pannenkoeken (traditional pancakes with your choice of ingredients) and gehaktballen (Dutch meatballs) then took a private boat cruise along the canals with their picturesque thatched cottages. Next we stopped in Blokzijl, an old seaport which was cut off from the ocean in the early 1930's when the Noordoostpolder was drained to reclaim land for farming. Blokzijl still has dozens of 17th century houses, as well as the Grote Kerk, one of the country's first Protestant churches. We enjoyed a nice walk along the old harbor and through the small town before returning to Emmen.

Ronnie & Diane, Greg & I, Jellie & Roelof in Blokzijl

For dinner that night, we had a reservation at Flamingo Plaza, a popular buffet-style restaurant in the city center. The entire family was present (Roelof & Jellie, Martine & Jacco and their three daughters, Edith and her three children, and the four of us). It was a special evening of delicious food & drinks with our Dutch family.

the entire family at Flamingo Plaza

The following day, a Friday, everyone skipped work & school so we could go to the market and the zoo. The weekly Emmen market takes up most of the pedestrianized center and has everything from food to clothing to auto parts. We browsed for over an hour, eventually stopping for lunch at one of the fish stalls, where they were not only selling a wide variety of fresh fish but preparing some of it to eat immediately. We had a stand-up feast of kibbeling, raw herring and fried mussels then proceeded on foot to the Emmen Zoo, which is in the heart of the city.

enjoying a seafood feast at Emmen market

We stayed at the zoo until closing time, doing our best to see every animal in residence. Then we returned to Martine's house, where she & Jellie prepared a delicious spaghetti & salad for dinner. While they were cooking, Ronnie, Greg & I joined Jacco for Ditte's riding lesson. Seven years old, Ditte loves all animals and, after playing field hockey in previous years, opted to take horse riding lessons this year. Once the lesson got underway, we grabbed beers from the equestrian center's bar and watched as she and her classmates pranced around on the ponies.

Ditte's riding lesson

After two active days, we decided to have a leisurely Saturday. The women went grocery shopping while the men went fishing in Jacco's father's boat. We regrouped back at the house then Jacco took us to his office (he owns a construction firm) and showed us some of the local projects he has worked on recently.

Ronnie "catches" a neighbor's chair

As it was our final full day in Holland (Mom & Ronnie would try to fly home on Sunday morning), Martine's sister, Edith, invited us all over to her house for afternoon tea. After first enjoying some sweets (apple pastries, muffins, doughnuts, cookies and more), the next thing we knew glasses of wine & beer were being offered. This was followed by a beautiful party tray filled with Dutch cheeses, smoked meats and other savory snacks. Afternoon tea soon gave way to an evening dinner party, where platter after platter of delicious finger food was served. The original plan had been to return to Martine's house where she would cook dinner, but with all the food lavished on us at Edith's house, we certainly didn't need another meal! Instead we chose to continue hanging out with the rest of the family, lingering in the warm embrace of love & kinship.

a specially-prepared party tray at Edith's house

The following day we had to say tearful goodbyes. Who could have foreseen that a random meeting in a school office 20 years ago would blossom into a lifelong family connection? We were so lucky to have Martine in our lives that year and every time that we have gotten together since has been like a homecoming for me. This visit was no exception, made all the more special because Mom & Ronnie joined us. The Neutel's (as I collectively refer to the entire family) are absolutely wonderful people in every way; I just wish we could see them more often. Of course, we are all hopeful that they will plan a trip to the U.S. in the near future!!!

Jacco, Martine & their daughters Vlinder, Ditte &Rosalie with Greg & I and Mom & Ronnie at Emmen Zoo

The link to all of my photos is embedded in this post's title.

Copenhagen and a Dane in Sweden

2011-11-27T09:49:00.000-06:00

It was actually just as cheap to fly from Bergen to Copenhagen (on SAS) and much more convenient and timely (1 hour flight) versus an overnight ferry or a 12+ hour train ride. I had spent several days in Copenhagen just two years ago, as a prelude to our vacation in Eastern Europe (Greg was still working and couldn't take as many days off so we met up later in Berlin). Despite liking the city, I was less keen to spend much time there. However, with our now-limited travel schedule, we agreed to spend four nights in the capital so Greg could get a taste of Denmark.

The Little Mermaid - overrated tourist attraction in Copenhagen

The only budget accommodations in the city center are around Istedgate, the main street near the central train station, where a private room with shared bath goes for about $100 per night. However the area is particularly seedy, with multiple porn shops & erotic dance clubs as well as hookers and drunks sharing street corners. While I never felt threatened, I probably would not recommend this location to anyone other than world travelers like ourselves, who, having been exposed to just about everything, can more easily turn a blind eye.

Istedgade looks pretty tame from here

The one positive aspect of Istedgate, other than its convenient location within walking distance to all the sights, is that it offers many budget dining options, especially of the Turkish kebab variety. You can find doner cafes on nearly every block, along with a large number of Asian restaurants, interspersed with an interesting mix of trendy cafes & higher-end eateries. Amazingly, one of the best beer bars in town, Mikkeller, is also located here (at Viktoriagade No. 8).

taps at Mikkeller

Our hotel's breakfast buffet, while only featuring cold items (meats, cheeses, pate, boiled eggs) was still of very high quality. We maintained our routine of eating a big breakfast around 9:30am, thus allowing us to skip lunch and just eat an early dinner. Food & drink, as elsewhere in Northern Europe, is expensive. Ethnic foods, like the aforementioned Turkish kebab platters, are much more reasonably priced (~$10), so that is generally what we ate, saving our kroners for good beer.

chicken platter at Konya Kebab

There are actually some very good Danish microbrews so Greg & I included a few "sessions" on our self-guided walking tours of the city. At Norrebro Brewery we had the Westlev 4 Grain Stout & Ravnsborg Red. At Olbaren (a tiny beer bar) we drank Beer Here's Ammestout & Ra Urt. And at Mikkeller Bar we had the Monk's Elixir & Sorachi Ace IPA.

Norrebro Brewery

Having spent all of our money on beer (just kidding!) we limited our Copenhagen sightseeing to only what was free. Thankfully, the excellent National Museum fits this criteria. You can easily spend several hours exploring the museum, where the exhibits are organized chronologically and feature good English descriptions. Another interesting detour is Christiania, a "free city" established in 1971. The hippy, laid-back atmosphere is a window to another world but note that there is a strictly-enforced no photos policy because marijuana is bought, sold & smoked out in the open.

Nyhavn - harbor area of Copenhagen

We also took a side trip to Roskilde, 30 minutes by train from Copenhagen. The town was deserted at midday Sunday in late October but we were there for the UNESCO World Heritage List cathedral. However we were shocked when we discovered admission was 60DKK ($11) per person when all of our research had indicated it would only be 25DKK. Since we had already spent $48 for our train tickets we reluctantly coughed up another $22 to enter the cathedral.

Roskilde Cathedral

While the history of the Roskilde Cathedral goes back to the 12th century, it is primarily known for housing the tombs of 38 Danish kings & queens. Unfortunately, the free brochure provided with our admission had little in the way of explanation of the history of the church but simply mapped the location of the tombs. Still, we spent over an hour examining the royal burial chapels. I was most intrigued by the modern design (in contrast with the rest of the cathedral) incorporated in the recently (c2010) installed Chapel of St Andrew and King's Door as well as the sarcophagus that has been designed for the current (living) queen of Denmark.

a tomb fit for a queen - Margrete I

The following day we traveled across the Oresund Bridge to Malmo, Sweden where my friend Henrik greeted us at the train station. Henrik and his wife Birgitte were both born & raised in Denmark (and still maintain their Danish citizenship), but actually live in Sweden with their two children, Emma & Emil. We spent the first afternoon exploring the area near their home in Vintrie, picking up a few groceries for dinner along with a requisite stop at System Bolaget for an assortment of beers. We then enjoyed a long and relaxing evening of drinking, music and great conversation.

many spreads come in tubes in Sweden

On our final day in Scandinavia, Henrik provided some historical background on how Sweden took the land around Malmo from Denmark, with stops at Holy Cross Church in Dalby and Lund Cathedral, followed by lunch and a walk around the newly developed Western Harbor area of Malmo, topped off with a quick stroll around the historic city center. Too soon we had to say goodbye at the train station, where we caught a train back across the bridge to the Copenhagen airport for our flight to Amsterdam.

Calatrava's Twisting Torso and the Western Harbor area of Malmo, Sweden

It is always nice to visit with friends when we travel. After weeks of being together 24/7 with little interaction with other people, I am thankful for someone else to talk to. Plus we learn so much more about the place we are visiting by staying with people who live there. Henrik & his family were wonderful hosts and it was the perfect way to wrap up our travels in Northern Europe. It also set the tone for the week to come, when we would spend seven out of eight nights with friends in two countries.

view of the Oresund bridge from an airplane

Here are the links to my photos:
Copenhagen & Roskilde
Malmo, Sweden

Oslo & Norway in a Nutshell

2011-11-26T18:51:00.000-06:00

We arrived in the Norwegian capital after a scenic six hour train ride from Stockholm. The area around Oslo's central train station is, somewhat surprisingly, a bit seedy. On the short walk to our hostel, we were approached by several people of dubious intent. Even the receptionist told us that lots of drug addicts "live" in the hostel where we were booked so we were thankful to be "upgraded" to their sister hotel next door. Note that drug addicts are allowed to hang out around the train station because the government has realized it cannot eliminate the problem so thus tries to confine it to one small area of the city.

outside Oslo's train station

The following morning, we were pleasantly surprised by the huge breakfast buffet offered by our hotel. We had booked the cheapest accommodation we could find in the city center ($125 per night including breakfast) so had not expected anything more than the typical cold meat, cheese & bread. But we were overwhelmed by the scrambled eggs, sausages, roasted potatoes and baked beans, not to mention the wide assortment of cold salads, yogurts, pickled herring, etc.

a "budget" dinner

This turned out to be quite a blessing because food in Norway is heart-stoppingly expensive. For starters, you have to pay more to eat in a restaurant versus takeaway (25% tax for eating in versus 12% for takeaway). Trying to save money, we bought pre-made sandwiches and a can of Pringles at the grocery store; the total cost was still $20. We did find a budget Vietnamese restaurant near our hotel where the average entree cost 90NOK ($17). But most restaurant entrees (still not high-end ones) were priced from 129NOK ($23) and up.

the cheapest restaurant we could find in Oslo -- thankfully it had very good Vietnamese & Thai food

As in Sweden, the sale of alcohol is controlled by the state, so you have to shop at Vinmonopolet if you want something stronger than 3.5% ABV. They have a great selection, but unless you want to pay, for example, almost $100 for a one liter bottle of Jameson (versus about $25 at home), I would plan on abstaining while in Norway. We did indulge our craft beer fancy one time, buying two bottles of Nogne-O (Porter & 100) on our last night in the country for 144NOK ($24).

yummy Nogne-O beers for $12 each

Besides using our Rick Steves guidebook's self-guided walking tour to get a glimpse of Oslo's most interesting sights, we also found plenty of other enjoyable ways to explore the city without having to spend any money: Oslo Cathedral, City Hall, strolling the Akershus Fortress grounds, Frogner Park, the Vigeland Museum (free during winter months), the path along the Akers River gorge, and the new Opera House. In addition, the National Gallery (with it's Munch Room) is free on Sundays. We did pay 50NOK ($9) each to visit the Norway Resistance Museum. While it was interesting enough, I would only recommend it for World War II history buffs.

I loved Gustav Vigeland's sculptures in Frogner Park

One of my stipulations for our travels in Northern Europe was that we had to see the Norwegian fjords. This proved to be more difficult than I expected since we were traveling in the off season. While the standard "Norway in a Nutshell" itinerary is available year-round, is is much harder to deviate off the beaten path outside of May to September. Not wanting to rush through this beautiful area (the Nutshell itinerary can be done in 24 hours), we decided to break up the journey with an overnight stop in Flam.

all aboard!

The first segment of the Nutshell itinerary involves taking a scenic five hour train ride from Oslo to Myrdal. The "best" scenery started about 2.5 hours into the trip, when the train began to wind its way up through the mountains, passing forests & lakes. We reached the snow line about 1.5 hours later and by the time we passed through Finse (at 1,222 meters the highest point on the Bergen Railway) we were in a winter wonderland.

near Finse on the Bergen Railway

In Myrdal we transferred to the Flam Railway (Flamsbana). It takes about one hour to descend the 20km of track from 866 meters to 2 meters, criss-crossing the Flam valley. The breathtaking Norwegian mountain landscape is replete with waterfalls; the train even stops briefly at one so you can get out and take pictures.

view from the Flamsbana

Flam in the off-season is about as quiet as you can get. It's a tiny village at the head of the Aurlandsfjiord with just a handful of hotels & restaurants. As it was mid-October, virtually everything was closed (or else had very short opening hours). With limited options, we had to fork over $160 for a night in a budget hotel and a whopping 365NOK ($65) for two simple fish & chips dinners (along with Aegir beers - yes, Flam has it's own microbrewery!).

view of the Aurlandsfjord from the village of Flam

Our Nutshell journey continued the following day with a two hour fjord cruise from Flam to Gudvangen. It had been raining off & on all morning but luckily cleared up a bit for our afternoon cruise through the Aurlandsfjord and Naeroyfjord, both arms of the Sognefjord. Still, we wore our full Goretex rain gear to stay warm in the damp & chilly fjord air as I couldn't resist standing outside to take photos of the beautiful scenery during most of the trip.

cruising the Naeroyfjord

From Gudvangen we traveled by bus (1 hour) to Voss where we caught a train (another hour) to Bergen. The sun had long since set, so I can't say much about the scenery on this leg of the journey. Luckily, it was barely sprinkling when we finally arrived in Bergen around 8:30pm. After a steep uphill hike from the train station to our hotel, we were rewarded with a huge room overlooking the lake (perhaps because I had notified them in advance that we were on our honeymoon).

steep streets of Bergen

One day was all we needed to sightsee in Bergen. We weren't particularly interested in the museums, having visited so many around the world over the past year, so we simply took a long walk around the university area near our hotel, then down to the harbor, along the historic Hanseatic quarter (Bryggen), circling the Bergenhus (old fortress), wandering through the residential area near the Domkirken (12th-13th century cathedral) and back to the train station. We bought dinner provisions from the grocery store, supplemented by a vegetarian entree from a Thai restaurant, then enjoyed our feast in the beautiful dining room of our hotel. The total cost of our budget meal, excluding those two Nogne-O beers I mentioned earlier, was still $40.

Bryggen rooftops

Despite our multiple cost-saving measures, Norway turned out to be the most expensive country we've ever visited. The transportation alone for our Norway in a Nutshell itinerary cost $450 for two people. We only spent six nights in Norway, but burned through $1650, an average of $138 per person per day. By comparison, in Japan, the most expensive country we visited independently during our round-the-world trip, we only spent an average of $105 per person per day. As with Sweden, though, if you have the time & money, I would still recommend a trip to this beautiful country.

Here are the links to all of my Norway photos:
Oslo
Mountains & Fjords
Bergen
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The Splendors of Stockholm on a Budget

2011-11-26T09:25:00.000-06:00

It is hard not to write about how expensive everything is in Northern Europe. As mentioned in my previous post, we stayed with friends in Finland and thus had minimal expenses; over five days & nights we only spent $250. We had planned to spend more than a week in Sweden, but opted to cut everything but the capital city out of our itinerary in order to save money. Stockholm is a lovely place to visit but it is easy to let the cost of traveling in this part of the world overshadow how enjoyable it is.

crossing the bridge to Reimersholm

We arrived in Stockholm at the pre-dawn hour of 5:45am. By 6:15 we were off the ship and walking to the nearest subway station where we took the T-bana then a bus to our hotel on the small island of Reimersholm. While not exactly in the city center, we had chosen our hotel primarily in regard to budget, as it still cost $120 per night for a private room with shared bath compared to well over $200 per night anywhere else.

the T-bana

Public transportation in Stockholm, while efficient and expansive, is not cheap either; one ride on a bus or subway costs around $5 (compared to New York City, where even after recent fare increases a ride still costs only $2.25). We saved money and gave ourselves more flexibility with a 3-day transit card which covers unlimited local transport for 250SEK (approx. $37 per person). While Gamla Stan, the historic core, is compact and walkable, the modern city and other sights of interest, like the museums on Djurgarden, are spread out amongst the various islands that make up the capital.

Changing of the Guard

We primarily spent our time on foot using our Rick Steves guidebook's self-guided walking tours to explore Gamla Stan, where we enjoyed watching the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace (free), and the modern sights of Norrmalm & Ostermalm. Because entrance to museums and other attractions is hard on the wallet, we chose to visit only one out of dozens of possibilities, and paid 110SEK ($16.50) per person for the privilege of seeing the Vasa, a royal warship which sank in Stockholm's harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628. The well-preserved wreck was salvaged in 1961 and the now-reconstructed vessel is 95% original. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the museum's six floors of exhibits but the most awe-inspiring sight was the ship itself. We ultimately decided the admission fee was reasonable in light of the money they are spending to figure out how to continue preserving the almost 400-year-old wooden ship.

Vasa

Another way to save money when traveling in Sweden is to eat your main meal at lunch. While this poses a problem if your hotel provides a complimentary buffet breakfast, allowing you to eat enough that you won't be hungry until dinner, we still modified our eating patterns to take advantage of the "dagens ratt" or daily lunch specials. For an average of 85-95SEK (~$13) per person, you usually get an entree, salad, bread, and unlimited drinks (water & coffee or tea). Otherwise, if you wait until after 3pm to eat, prices increase to more than 150SEK per entree (not including anything else).

a Thai version of dagens ratt

By saving money on food, we allowed ourselves more leeway with our drink budget. Sweden has a surprising number of microbreweries, not to mention a large number of bars in Stockholm that feature local beers. However, the average .5 liter of draught beer is 80SEK or $12 (tax is a whopping 25%). Outside of restaurants & bars, any alcohol over 3.5% ABV can only be purchased from Systembolaget, the state-run liquor store. While cheaper than drinking "out", prices are still more than twice as high as you would pay in the U.S.

Akkurat

Despite the cost, we did our best to try as many Swedish microbrews as possible and were impressed with the overall quality & variety. At Akkurat we drank Narke Black Golding starkporter and Sigtuna South Pacific Pale Ale. At Glenfiddich Warehouse #68 we had the Oppigards Starkporter and Gotland Brewery's Wisby Red October, then got free tasters of Nynashamns Brannskar Brown Ale, Wisby Stout and Helsinge Porter. At Monks Porter House we drank the Monks Maddeleine Stout and Monks Dark Lager after tasting Monks Enbars. Note that the total cost of all this liquid gold (equivalent to only six beers total) was $60 and no, we did not drink it all in one day!!!

tasters at Glenfiddich Warehouse

Not wanting to limit our Swedish adventure to the capital city, we took a side trip to Uppsala, a university town about 40 minutes by train from Stockholm. Round-trip tickets cost us $24 per person. The city center is walking distance from the train station and two of its main attractions are free. The Uppsala Cathedral is Scandinavia's largest and tallest church built between 1270-1435. The nearby University Library (Carolina Rediviva) is the oldest in Sweden, founded in 1620, with a small exhibit space displaying the famous 6th century Silver Bible, the Carta Marina by Olaus Magnu (the earliest largely correct map of the Nordic countries) and Mozart's own draft of The Magic Flute, amongst other interesting treasures.

Uppsala Cathedral

Greg & I really enjoyed our time in Stockholm, and not just because of the great beer. However, despite our cost-saving measures, our average cost per person per day in Sweden was still $120. But if you have the time & money, I would highly recommend a visit to Scandinavia's heartland.

Stockholm sunset

The link to all of my Stockholm photos is embedded in this post's title.
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Sick with the flu in Finland

2011-11-24T19:21:00.000-06:00

I had been looking forward to this part of our trip ever since we left the U.S., as I couldn't wait to see my friends. I had traveled to Helsinki before, on business, when I worked for Nokia but by then I had already formed a close bond with most of my colleagues because of our daily chats either on the phone or via video conference. Of course, it was impossible to see everyone during this brief visit. Thankfully, my friends stepped up to the challenge and organized a wonderful dinner party for Greg & I.

Temppeliaukio Church

Our one day to sightsee in Helsinki turned out to be very wet so we had to don full rain gear as we waited for a bus from the ferry terminal to the main train station where we could stow our luggage. Free of all encumberments, we used our Rick Steves Scandinavia guidebook's self-guided walking tour to navigate our way around the city on foot. I actually did most of the walk from memory as it was too wet to have the book out very often.

Nikki Mondschein, Irmeli Millner, me, Eija Laine, Marjut Saastamoinen at Farang

Exhausted from my continuing illness, we stopped for a beer at Hemingway Bar before meeting up with my friends at Farang, one of the top-rated restaurants in Helsinki. They had arranged for us to have the 8-course tasting menu, a fantastic and stress-free way to experience the amazing culinary talents of the chef and his take on Southeast Asian cuisine. The meal was blow-your-mind delicious and, coupled with bottles of Alsatian Fleur de Lotus wine and the company of dear friends, the evening was truly magical. It was quite late when we said our heartfelt goodbyes and left the restaurant and, after retrieving our luggage from the train station, piled into my friend Eija's car for the one hour drive to her converted schoolhouse home in Tausta.

Eijalandia, on Eija & Vesku's property in Tausta, Finland

After a good night's sleep in our cozy cabin, nicknamed "Eijalandia," I woke up still sick, now compounded by bronchitis. We relaxed and chatted with Eija's partner, Vesku, an extremely talented artist (of every imaginable medium) and musician while Eija cooked us a delicious lunch of smoked salmon & forest mushroom casserole and baked salmon & crayfish salad. Wanting to show us one of her favorite places, we drove about 20 minutes to a shop called Kasvihuoneilmio which translates to something like "Greenhouse Phenomenon," an appropriate name for the wonderful hodgepodge of arts, crafts, home & garden decor and much, much more that we happily browsed for more than an hour. Driving back through the beautiful Finnish countryside, we stopped briefly at an old farmhouse-cum-conference center where Eija once worked as a cook & waitress. I even managed to pet a sheep; they're very skittish, not at all like my mom's pet goats who come running when you pull in the driveway!

sheep at Myllyniemi farm

Back at home, Eija prepared us a traditional Finnish sauna (pronounced SOW-nah) -- using wood, not electricity -- and Greg & I luxuriated in it's warmth for over an hour. Unfortunately it did nothing to help my illness and I went to bed feeling quite horrible, with sinus congestion and a deep cough. I was sick enough the following day that I actually stayed in bed half of the day but perked up when Eija gave me a eucalyptus/menthol drink (Finrexin) and cooked us another delicious meal, this time a wonderful tasting menu of Finland including fried herring in vinegar, a local specialty pork & potato sausage, potatoes & mushrooms, beets, lingonberries, cheese with cloudberries, and a zucchini & pear meringue pie. YUM!

a beautiful afternoon in Fiskars

On Sunday I felt well enough to go for another drive, this time about one hour away, to Fiskars. Not realizing it until we arrived at the village, I have a personal connection to this tiny town. While I was growing up, my mom made her living as a seamstress and, of course, had multiple pairs of orange-handled Fiskars scissors. To earn a little spending money I often helped her in the sewing room. Little did I know that one day I would visit the place where her scissors originated!

at the Fiskars factory store

Besides scissors, the Fiskars Village is now a vibrant arts & crafts community, something dear to Eija's heart as she herself is a brilliant artist (weaving, knitting & jewelry are just a few of her talents). One of my favorite shops was the littala factory store, a company that makes porcelain. I particularly loved their blue owl design. After further wandering around the scenic river-side town, we treated Eija & Vesku to a nice meal at Martina Restaurant in Lohja, then returned home and stayed up chatting for another few hours since it was our last night in Finland.

Tausta sunset

The following day Vesku drove us to a bus stop along the motorway where we only had to stand about 10 minutes until the Express Bus to Turku arrived. The driver seemed surprised to see us (we had not booked tickets in advance), not least of all because we were obviously not Finnish. It rained off & on throughout the 1.5 hour drive. We caught a local bus from the Turku bus station to the harbor then checked in for our overnight cruise to Stockholm and stowed our luggage in a large locker.

Turku Cathedral

After catching another bus back into the city center, we explored Turku Cathedral, mother church of the Lutheran Church of Finland and the country's national shrine. We then ate a tasty & filling budget meal at Milan Kebab Pizzeria, which offers a Northern European spin on Middle Eastern comfort food: my gyro meat was served over mashed potatoes with blue cheese crumbles and topped with some type of French dressing. Finally, after strolling the pedestrian-only shopping street, we settled in for a microbrew at Koulu Brewery before returning to the harbor to board the ship.

the Finnish version of a kebab platter

For such a civilized country as Finland, the boarding process for Tallink Silja's M/S Europa was more like a cattle call. They literally herded all of the hundreds of passengers, in no particular order, first through two narrow lanes for scanning our boarding passes, into a large and very crowded room, then through a tiny doorway and up multiple flights of stairs to the ship. Exhausted by the effort and still recovering from my illness, I didn't even bother to explore the ship; I just took a shower and climbed onto my top bunk and tried to get some sleep.

the calm before the boarding chaos

I want to end this post on a positive note and mention that despite being sick the entire five days we were in Finland, I still had a wonderful time. This is 100% due to the generosity of my friends and especially to the hospitality bestowed on us by Eija & Vesku. This was the first time during our honeymoon trip that we actually "couchsurfed" and we thoroughly enjoyed getting a more personal glimpse of life in this part of the world. We are already looking forward to catching up with more friends in the weeks to come!

The link to all of my Finland photos is embedded in this post's title.

A Brief Tour of the Baltic Capitals

2011-11-24T17:01:00.000-06:00

Our first taste of Vilnius was bitter and cast a shadow on the two full days we spent there. We arrived in Lithuania around 10pm after a 3-hour flight from Ireland. It took almost an hour to clear immigration and retrieve our checked bags, so it was almost 11pm when we exited the deserted airport to confront the line of taxis. I picked up a leaflet listing the different taxi companies and their starting fares to the city center. I also had noted what our hotel told me should be the approximate fare (metered). However, when we approached the drivers who were huddled together smoking cigarettes, the best offer was 80LTL ($31), which was four times what I expected. We tried to negotiate, but with no other option available and weary from our travels, we reluctantly got in the cab. When we arrived at the hotel I told Greg I would go inside to check with the receptionist but he didn't realize what I was trying to do was get someone to come out and argue the fare with the driver. By the time I convinced her we were being ripped off and to please come help, Greg had paid the 80LTL and the taxi was gone.

Vilnius, Lithuania

How much did we lose? The equivalent of about $23, which I know is quite insignificant in the whole scheme of things. But considering that we later found out this so-called "taxi scam" has been going on for years in Vilnius, I was angry with the hotel for not warning us (because I had communicated with them multiple times by email prior to our arrival so they knew we would have to take a taxi from the airport), with Greg for "giving in," and with myself for not being patient enough to call the hotel from the airport to tell them what was happening so they could help us. Lesson learned: always thoroughly research your transport options & costs in advance, especially if you will be arriving late at night and thus won't have many alternatives nor staff on hand to assist you. Have back-up plans in place and be sure you & your traveling companion(s) are in agreement as to how to handle any issues that might arise.

really good Lithuanian beer

The remainder of our time in Vilnius was enjoyable enough, but it was hard to shake that first impression. We drank some surprisingly good beer (at a microbrewery - Prie Katedros), enjoyed the mild weather as we explored the old town on foot, and had a sobering look into this country's sad history at The Museum of Genocide Victims, located in the former KGB offices & prison. On that topic I will say a bit more as history played out similarly throughout the Baltic region. Alternately occupied by the Germans & the Soviet Union for a period of more than 50 years (this is simply their recent history), in Lithuania alone more than 500,000 people were either imprisoned, deported or killed. There are comparable statistics for Latvia & Estonia.

great way to travel around the Baltics

We continued our journey through the Baltics to Riga, Latvia, a scenic 4.5hr bus ride north of Vilnius. By contrast to Vilnius, our first impression of Riga was quite favorable -- I had arranged a transfer from the bus station to our hotel (they sent a large, private van) and when we got to our room were greeted with three red roses & a bottle of Rigas champagne (congratulating us on our recent marriage). After an orientation stroll around our neighborhood, we ate a traditional dinner of pork ribs, sauerkraut & potatoes before calling it a night.

for the honeymooners

Awaking to a beautiful fall day, we completed our morning chores (laundry, hair cuts) before setting out for an afternoon of sightseeing. We decided to visit Riga's Museum of Occupation, wanting to compare the Latvian experience with the Lithuanian. It puts everything you see in these "newly" independent countries into context. After spending several hours on foot and needing a "vitamin fix" after weeks of meat & potatoes, we ate a delicious dinner at Kamadena Vegetarian Restaurant before retiring to our hotel room for the night.

veggies!

Our final day in Riga involved crisscrossing the entire old town on foot to better enjoy the beautiful weather, expanses of green space, Art Nouveau architecture, the market and other historic sights. Unfortunately, I could also feel a cold coming on, and suffered through the afternoon with a stuffy nose. I still managed to enjoy my sauerkraut soup and Russian-style beef kidneys for dinner but we returned to the hotel immediately afterward so I could get some rest.

Old Town Riga

The following day involved another long bus ride, this time from Riga to Tallinn, Estonia. It was drizzling all day but had stopped raining by the time we arrived at the bus station in Tallinn. Still weary from our experience in Vilnius, I avoided the taxi queue and although it took multiple queries with random strangers, most of whom spoke little or no English, we managed to take a local bus to the ferry terminal area where our hotel was located.

at the Latvia/Estonia border

After a restless night, due in part to the loud noise emanating from the hallway and the rooms above & around ours, as well as the full onset of my illness (now feverish & congested), I opted to take a day off from sightseeing and rest in our room. As it was overcast, windy & rainy all day, I was thankful there was a pharmacy in the building adjacent to our hotel where I bought a bottle of chest expectorant. Also, I didn't mind "losing" a travel day as I had just visited Tallinn a couple of years ago so had seen all the sights already anyway.

reflections in medieval Tallinn

After another sleepless night, primarily due to the noisy teenage guests surrounding us, I went to the front desk and demanded that we be moved to another room immediately, which they did without hesitation. After re-settling, Greg & I discussed how we probably needed to consider amending our Northern Europe itinerary as a cost-reduction measure. I wanted to get some fresh air and, since it wasn't raining, we walked into Tallinn's old town for a few hours. Upon our return to the hotel, there was a bottle of champagne, fresh fruit, chocolate & nuts and a large bouquet of flowers plus note of apology in our room. Very nice!

maybe we should complain more often?!?!

We boarded a ferry the following morning for the two hour journey to Helsinki, Finland which I will write about in my next post. To summarize my impression of the three Baltic capitals, I will first say that Riga was my hands-down favorite, although each city has its own charms. Riga feels very cosmopolitan and western European with well-developed public transportation, inviting public spaces and multitudes of cultural offerings. Vilnius has less to see overall and while I love Tallinn's quaint & compact medieval core, it is a bit touristy and often filled with stag & hen partiers who have ferried over from much more expensive Northern Europe.

leaving Tallinn by ferry

While we did encounter a language barrier throughout the Baltics (the average citizen does not speak English but more likely Russian as their second language), most tourism industry employees can communicate with you well enough. Everyone was friendly, if reserved, and these three cities were the ONLY places on this trip where we received a honeymoon "gift" in every hotel room. Traveling between the capital cities was easy, comfortable and wallet-friendly on the LuxExpress bus line. As a whole, the Baltics are very affordable compared to the rest of Europe and, without cutting corners (in fact we ate & drank quite well), we only spent an average of $49 per person per day. With budget carriers like Ryanair offering cheap flights from almost anywhere in Europe, any of these cities would make a fun weekend getaway or, strung together as we did them, a nice 8 or 9 night vacation.

Here are the links to my Baltics photo albums:
Vilnius, Lithuania
Riga, Latvia
Tallinn, Estonia

The Full Irish

2011-11-23T20:56:00.000-06:00

I decided to call my summary post on our 3-week tour of Ireland "The Full Irish" partly in reference to driving 2,305 km around the entire island but also because it refers to the hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, black and white pudding, tomato, toast, homemade bread and coffee or tea that was included at most of the 16 different places we overnighted (almost all of which were B&B's). After 22 days of eating some variation of that breakfast, you can imagine that our bellies were bulging, to say nothing of our clogged arteries!

One advantage of eating such a large breakfast every morning is that we were almost never hungry again until the early evening, thus allowing us to save money by skipping lunch. Even at dinner, we discovered that main courses were really way too much food for one person (although we usually still ordered two entrees out of habit). Irish food, at least the lower-cost version we consumed mostly at pubs to stick to our budget, is still heavy on the meat & potatoes. But it washes down easier with a cool pint of beer!

As I mentioned in several of my previous posts, one of the best cost-saving things we did was purchase Heritage Cards, which cost 21 euros per person and are good for one year from the date of first use. We visited a total of 17 sites that were covered under the pass (but there are more than 100), which would have cost us 79.50 euros each if entrance was paid separately at each site.

first site where we used our Heritage Cards - the Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin

Some people may find driving in Ireland a bit difficult or stressful. First, you have to adjust to everything being the opposite of what it is back home (i.e., if you live in the U.S., Canada or most of Europe you sit on the left-hand side of the car and drive on the right). And, despite purchasing the recommended Ordnance Survey: The Complete Road Atlas of Ireland for 9.99 euros, we quickly discovered that it doesn't designate one way streets and is not very detailed for city centers. Considering that most of the 2,300 km we covered were not on major motorways but on the more scenic regional roads, there were many times we completely missed a turn due to lack of signage (and sometimes never found the road we thought we would take). There were as many tractors (and sheep) on the roads as there were cars and an abundance of sharp curves with little advance warning or room for error. We also observed that in many places where the speed limit is posted as 80 or even 100 kph, it should really be 50 because of the narrow, windy roads. But we still chose to rent a car because there is not a well-connected network of trains or buses in Ireland and we wanted the freedom & flexibility to explore more remote areas.

I know some of you who are reading this may be considering a similar trip to Ireland and are trying to decide whether to travel independently or as part of a group tour. As always, you must compare the overall effort & planning required if you are doing everything yourself versus the much less stressful but more costly organized tour. While I will always highly recommend Rick Steves' tours, the reality is they are not cheap; a 14 day tour starts at $3,895 per person, not including airfare. By comparison, our 22 nights in Ireland cost a total of $4,000 for two people (not including airfare but including every other dime we spent) or an average of $91 per person, per day. If anyone would like more detailed information or suggestions for places to visit in Ireland tailored to your specific interests, please don't hesitate to contact me via email or Facebook.

That wraps up our exploration of this beautiful country. Needless to say, we didn't see everything although we did get a taste of all the different regions and their correspondingly different landscapes and the people that inhabit them. While tourism has touched almost every corner of Ireland, it is still not too hard to get off the beaten path and better experience some of the mystical qualities of this magical land.

The link to some of my favorite Ireland photos is embedded in this post's title.

Ireland's North - Part II

2011-11-23T19:36:00.000-06:00

There was no obvious indication of our crossing into Northern Ireland (the UK) other than speed limits changing from kph to mph and prices changing from euros to pounds sterling. We arrived in Derry in the early afternoon and since we were only staying one night, set out on foot to see the sights.

We used our Rick Steves guidebook to get the most meaning from the Bogside Murals, which memorialize the events of January 30, 1972, better known as Bloody Sunday. The 12 murals are painted on the ends of residential flats along the streets where the protest march took place and 14 innocent people were killed by British troops.

We also used our guidebook to "Walk the Walls" of Derry. The walls were built from 1613-1618 and are almost 20 feet high and thick, forming a mile long oval loop that encircles the city. It is free to walk on top of them and there are informative signs along the way. We walked the most interesting half, then proceeded to the new Peace Bridge, a pedestrian bridge across the River Doyle linking the predominantly Protestant Waterside neighborhood with the predominantly Catholic Cityside neighborhood.

Our next stop in Northern Ireland was Portrush, a Victorian resort town. As it was the off-season, and much too windy & cool for enjoying the beach, we primarily used our B&B as a place to rest and do laundry. This area is also home to several enticing attractions: Bushmills Distillery, Giants Causeway, and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, all of which we visited and can highly recommend.

Giant's Causeway video
After driving the scenic Antrim Coast road along the northeastern corner of the island, we arrived in Carrickfergus where we spent an interesting hour touring the Gasworks Museum before continuing on to Belfast, rendez-vous point for our weekend with my friend Louise White, who flew in from London to see us. After a late dinner and leisurely hours spent catching up with Lou, we got a good night's sleep in preparation for a full day of sightseeing.

A great way to see Belfast is the open-top bus tour, which makes a full loop of all the sights in 1.5 hours with the opportunity to hop on & off as many times as you wish. We also enjoyed the free City Hall tour which provided an interesting glimpse of the inner workings of this still divisive city's government. After requisite pints of Guinness at historic White's Tavern, we had a delicious dinner at the popular Made in Belfast restaurant followed by another round of beers at the atmospheric Crown Liquor Saloon.

The following morning we enjoyed a full Irish breakfast before thoroughly exploring the lively St. George's Market but then, sadly, it was time to take Louise back to the airport and say goodbye. Afterward, Greg & I made our way to Dundalk, mostly in pouring rain. As we had crossed back into the Republic of Ireland, I have covered the remainder of the trip in an already published post Ireland's North - Part I

Here are the links to all of my photos for this region:
Derry
Portrush
Belfast

The High Seas of the Mediterranean

2011-11-08T06:27:00.000-06:00

I am writing this offline while in our stateroom on the ms Rotterdam. Flagship of Holland American Lines, this is our home for the next 15 nights. We booked the cheapest, last minute fare for an inside cabin, only $599 per person ($705 including all taxes & fees but excluding tips). Compared to a relatively quick, one-way flight home (approx. $250pp flying standby on Delta), this seemed like the far more adventurous option!

The Rotterdam holds only 1,316 guests and 593 crew, small by today's megaship standards. Our inside stateroom on the Main Deck (level 2) is plenty spacious at almost 200 square meters. Despite emailing guest services prior to departure to inform them that we are on honeymoon, this is Greg's first cruise, etc., we did not receive an upgrade nor any special welcome. Initially disappointed, after two rough nights of sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy to Ajaccio, Corsica and then on to Barcelona, Spain, I am now quite thankful for our stateroom's location low and in the middle of the ship.

The embarkation process did not go as smoothly as I expected based on previous experience. It turns out that the ship had to be thoroughly sanitized due to a recent outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. In addition, service procedures have been modified to minimize the risk of person-to-person spread of illness, so, for example, the normal self-service buffet is currently full service, the pool & hot tub are closed, and library books, magazines & newspapers are quarantined.

Once onboard, we explored the ship from top to bottom before we left Civitavecchia. It started pouring rain shortly after we set sail and, by dinnertime, the ship was rocking along in the open waters of the Mediterranean. I managed to make it through dinner, a game of free bingo, and an introductory performance in the Showroom at Sea without getting sick (I was wearing my Sea Bands from the minute we left port). However I did not get much sleep the first night due to the "unbalanced" feeling.

The weather was nice & warm for our port call at Ajaccio on Monday and Greg & I enjoyed exploring the "birth city of Napoleon" on foot for a few hours. Upon returning to the ship we joined about 100 other cruisers for the "Team Trivia Challenge", in which our team of six placed a respectable 3rd by answering 9 out of 15 questions correctly. We also found out that the average age of all the people on our ship (excluding crew) is 65. HAL is known for attracting an older crowd and this cruise is no exception. But we chose this specific cruise for the itinerary, not to party with people our age.

Since the second evening was formal night (one of four during our cruise), we had to eat in the Lido (buffet) Restaurant as we chose not to bring (or rent) formal attire. Again the ship was rocking to the point that our water glasses were sliding across the dining table. It continued to get worse as we got further out to sea, so I took a second dose of Sea Calm (25mg Meclizine HCL, dispensed for free from reception) and retired to our stateroom. We "rented" a movie, The Good German, and laid low for the rest of the evening.

Arriving in Barcelona around 8am this morning, the captain of our ship made an announcement apologizing for the rough seas last night. In fact, the weather was much worse than forecast with 60-70 knot (69-80mph) winds. It was bad enough that they filled two water tanks to help act as a ballast to stabilize the ship and had to change directions so the ship could better "ride the waves." Luckily the Sea Calm worked like magic and I only woke around 2am during the worst of the swells when the bottles of wine in our room starting sliding around the desk and I had to get up to secure them.

Speaking of alcohol, HAL has a very liberal policy regarding carrying your own beverages on board. Many other cruise lines are very strict, allowing you to bring only one bottle of wine for the entire cruise (thus forcing you to pay a premium to drink their alcohol). Since the average beer is over $4 and mixed drinks are $5.75 & up, it is nice to be able to buy wine in port and carry it onboard to consume in our stateroom or even pour a glass and walk around the ship with it. There is an $18 corkage fee if we bring a bottle of wine to the dining room, so we just drink tap water with our meals.

Despite the rough seas, we are settling in to the cruise routine quite nicely. We'll be busy for another four days with port calls but then we have a full week (seven nights) at sea. I'm expecting the transatlantic crossing to be rough but hope I will feel well enough to catch up on more writing as well as participate in more of the fun activities offered all day long (cooking lessons, trivia, working out in the gym, evening shows, etc). We are trying not to overeat, which is difficult when there is so much good food available virtually 24/7. It helps to take a look at our fellow guests, most of whom are overweight!

Signing off for now so we can go ashore and find a free internet hotspot as well as stock up on supplies (wine, toiletries, etc.). I'll try to post again from our last port of call, Funchal, Madeira, in a few days.

The link to my photos from the cruise so far is embedded in this post's title.

Celebrating a milestone and saying thanks

2011-11-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to say that it has been almost one month since my last post. It's not that I haven't been writing every day, I just haven't had time to condense my thoughts & experiences into something I wanted to publish here. Soon enough I will have some downtime and hope to catch up on all of my writing and photo editing.

In the meantime, I did not want to let today pass by without mentioning a few of the things we've done lately. Today we traveled from Germany to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. This officially marks the 50th country I have visited in the world. In order to qualify, the country must be self-governing (e.g. many Caribbean islands are overseas territories of another country so they don't count) and I must have visited several tourist attractions and/or cities in the country (i.e. just transferring at the airport doesn't count). Considering there are only 196 officially recognized countries in the world, this is a huge milestone! And there are still so many more places to see!!!

with Louise White at the Crown Liquor Saloon in Belfast

Other than "collecting" countries, Greg & I have spent the past seven nights out of eight in the homes of some very dear friends (in Malmo, Sweden; Emmen, Netherlands; & Munster, Germany). In late September, one of my friends flew from London to Belfast to spend the weekend with us. And in early October, we had a wonderful dinner with some of my colleagues from Nokia (my last employer) in Helsinki, Finland and then spent four nights with one of them. I will write detailed posts about our time in Northern Ireland, Finland (and everywhere else we've been recently), but I just wanted to mention these special visits in relation to our recent travels.

with Nikki Mondschein, Irmeli Millner, Eija Laine and Marjut Saastamoinen in Helsinki, Finland

Having the opportunity to spend time with family & friends while we are on the road is always a wonderful break from the typical sightseeing routine. We get the local perspective on world politics, the economy and many other interesting topics, not to mention the gemütlich atmosphere of our friends' homes along with abundant & delicious food & drink. Plus our hosts always go out of their way to show us the interesting (and much less touristy) sights in their regions. Again, I will write about all of these individual visits over the coming weeks, but I did not want another day to go by without saying a collective THANK YOU to everyone who has been a part of our journey up to this point.

Emma & Emil Bowadt in Vintrie, Sweden

Finally, a note about our upcoming travels. After a brief two night stay here in Luxembourg, we will continue by train to Basel, Switzerland where we'll spend another two nights. From there we'll travel by plane to Rome, Italy where we'll have only 24 hours before continuing our journey. We don't need to stay in Rome any longer than that because we just spent a full week there in March of this year!

Jacco von Oosterom, Martine Neutel, their 3 daughters Vlinder, Ditte & Rosalie, my mom Diane & step-dad Ronnie in Emmen, Netherlands

Ronnie, Diane, us and Martine's parents Jellie & Roelof in Blokzijl, Netherlands

On Sunday, November 6th, we'll board Holland America's M/S Rotterdam for a 15-night transatlantic repositioning cruise. This is how we decided to travel back to the U.S. instead of the typical 8-hour flight! The first week of the cruise will be busy with ports of call (Ajaccio, Corsica; Barcelona, Spain; Cartagena, Spain; Malaga, Spain; Tangier, Morocco; and Funchal, Madeira). That is followed by seven nights at sea. I have cruised multiple times before and know there will be plenty of diversions on board should I actually have time to get bored (this is when I plan to catch up on all that writing I mentioned before) so my only concern is the weather for the crossing as I really don't want to be seasick for seven days! However this will be Greg's first cruise and I really hope all goes well so cruising can still be a travel option in our future!

Karl Strotmann & Greg in Munster, Germany

Upon our arrival in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Monday, November 21st, my friend Adena will pick us up at the port and then we'll stay with her in Miami for a few nights. We are still making plans for Thanksgiving and the weeks after as our return flight to Nashville is not until December 7th. So, as you can see, we still have many adventures ahead of us in the days & weeks to come! Bring on the next 50 countries!!!

Ireland's North - Part I

2011-10-07T05:26:00.000-05:00

The regional term "Ireland's North" covers a total of 10 counties, but since we spent nine nights in a total of four of the counties and traveled through five of them, spanning both Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland, I will split this region into two blog posts based on political geography. Thus this post will cover Counties Donegal, Louth & Meath (which is technically in the region called "Near Dublin") and the subsequent post will include Counties Derry, Antrim & Down. This does upset the usual chronological order of my posts but since I will be writing a summary post of my impressions of our 3-week trip around the country as a whole, that will serve to tie it all neatly back together.

There isn't much to see or do in Donegal town itself; the usual assortment of restaurants and pubs, shops, a small harbor, and a 15th century castle. We stayed about 5km outside of town, at the grand, modern Rossmore Manor B&B where we had the largest bedroom & bathroom we encountered during our travels in Ireland as well as a lovely view over Donegal Bay.

After a relaxing evening and filling full Irish breakfast the next morning, we stopped at the castle (included in our Heritage Pass) before driving to the Slieve League cliffs which were absolutely beautiful and much more remote and unaffected by tourism than I expect the Cliffs of Moher would have been. Also, at 601 metres (1,972 ft), the cliffs at Slieve League are almost three times higher than the Cliffs of Moher.

As we continued our drive north, we passed what I think were "famine villages" - lots of abandoned, crumbling stone houses without roofs. We dodged lots of sheep in the road and finally got to see recently harvested peat bogs up close (not in pouring rain). I found this region of Ireland to be equally as scenic as Dingle Peninsula.

watch out for sheep!

We spent the next two nights in Dunfanaghy in remote northwestern Ireland. There is even less to do here, but that was the whole point. We could have played golf, rode horses, or any other number of leisurely outdoor activities, but we were there to rest & relax and not be tempted to sightsee.

this is Dunfanaghy

The entire town of Dunfanaghy is situated on the main road (N56) and consists of two blocks of shops & restaurants. But it had everything we needed: a grocery store and a good pub. We used our downtime to research & book accommodations for the remainder of our travels in Ireland as well as to start looking at options in the Baltics. I also worked on a photo book of our RTW trip.

a jug of Guinness at Whiskey Sky Bar in Dunfanaghy

The following day we set out for Northern Ireland, first stopping at Glenveagh National Park. The castle there is only accessible by park service bus or by hiking, but we opted for the bus since it was threatening rain. We took a guided tour of the interior (no photos allowed) then walked around the gardens before it started raining. Our Heritage Pass covered the 8EUR per person entrance fee & bus ride, an amount we wouldn't have been willing to pay if it hadn't. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and thought it well worth the time & effort to get there.

Glenveagh Castle as viewed from the gardens

We continued east to Derry, thus crossing the border into Northern Ireland. I will now skip forward to Counties Louth & Meath, where we spend our final two nights in the Republic of Ireland. I will cover the time we spent in Northern Ireland in my next post.

After re-crossing the border into the Republic on the afternoon of 25SEP, we settled in Dundalk for the night. We had a nice walk around town then bought provisions for a "picnic" dinner at our B&B, to compliment the bottle of Bollinger Champagne that my friend Louise gave us when she met us in Belfast. There is nothing particularly exciting to do in Dundalk; we were simply using it as a starting point for our sightseeing in County Meath the following day.

St Patrick's Pro Cathedral c1849, Dundalk

Our first sightseeing stop the next day was the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Center in the 18th century Oldbridge Estate. This was the site of a bloody battle on 01JUL1690 (11JUL on modern calendars) between Roman Catholic King James II of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Protestant King William III ("William of Orange") who had deposed James the previous year. The outcome eventually led to the penal laws against Catholics and, in the much longer term, the lingering resentment between Protestants & Catholics, particularly in Northern Ireland. The victory is still celebrated on 12JUL every year, which often results in confrontations between unionists & nationalists. After looking at the exhibits and watching a 13-minute video about the battle, we continued on to Bru na Boinne, the access point for visiting the megalithic passage tombs of Knowth & Newgrange.

Oldbridge Estate, now the visitor center for the Battle of the Boyne

Upon checking in at the visitor center and paying the entrance fee (11EUR, covered by our Heritage Pass), you are assigned times to be on the bus to visit each site. Once you take the short bus ride from the visitor center, you check in at the site, then are given a guided tour by an OPW (Office of Public Works) employee. We visited Knowth first and enjoyed climbing to the top of the main mound for 360 degree views. Upon returning to the bus "corral", we transferred to a different bus for the short ride to Newgrange, famous for its carved entrance stone and access to the inner chamber. Finishing up our 3+ hour visit, we had a quick look around the visitor center before completing the drive to Navan where we spent our final night in Ireland.

approaching the megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange

We had originally planned to stay in Trim, location of the remains of Ireland's largest Anglo-Norman castle, but lodging prices were cheaper in nearby Navan. After checking into our B&B, we walked around Navan's town center and ate a nice 3-course dinner (for only 14.95EUR) at Marini Restaurant. The following morning we enjoyed our last "full Irish" breakfast before visiting Trim Castle and driving to Dublin airport for our flight to Lithuania, where we toasted our successful tour of Ireland with a pint of Guinness.

Greg has the key to Trim Castle's Keep

Links to photos from Counties Donegal, Louth & Meath:
Donegal & Dunfanaghy
Dundalk & Navan

The West of Ireland

2011-10-04T10:35:00.000-05:00

The West of Ireland is comprised of Counties Clare, Galway, Mayo, and Sligo. Some of the highlights of the region are Galway city, the Cliffs of Moher, the mountains and coastline of Connemara, and the countryside of Mayo. Having to pick & choose what to see and what to skip due to our limited time, Greg & I chose to spend our four nights in this region in Galway, Inishmore and Westport.

Our drive from Dingle to Galway involved dodging a few sheep in the road, as usual. After crossing the scenic Conor Pass, the highest mountain pass in Ireland, we stuck to the main road to keep our drive as short as possible. Skirting Limerick, we decided to skip the Cliffs of Moher and thus the better part of County Clare as Greg had briefly visited this area in 2007 and, after all of the beautiful scenery we had already seen, we couldn't justify the 6EUR per person expense to see the cliffs (not covered by the Heritage Pass).

view towards Dingle from Conor Pass

We arrived in Galway around 3pm and, after checking into our B&B located next to the greyhound stadium, walked about 15 minutes into the city center. After a quick look around, we stopped in at Inkfingers where I had prearranged a consultation for a new tattoo. I had already come up with the idea before we ever left the U.S. -- to get a claddagh tattoo as a souvenir of our honeymoon in Ireland. I chose the claddagh (and to get it in Galway) specifically because this is where the ring originated and it is symbolic of our marriage.

prelude to a tattoo

With the unique design sorted out, we found a budget place to eat some Irish lamb stew for dinner then stopped at on off-license shop on our way back to the B&B where we relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

I had a 9:30AM tattoo appointment so after a full Irish breakfast I headed into town alone (Greg prefers not to observe the process). I loved the skylit room where Sean Ricketts creates his masterpieces and was thankful that this was a relatively painless one (on my upper left arm). Greg was waiting for me when I finished at 11:45.

my Irish souvenir

We walked through town and across the river to Galway Cathedral, dedicated in 1965. It features beautiful stained glass windows, Connemara marble floors, and a vaulted wood ceiling. From there we walked to Monroe's Tavern for a refreshing beverage; I had a Beamish (my favorite Irish stout) and Greg had the locally-brewed Galway Hooker IPA. Now you might think the name of Greg's beer refers to a particular occupation, but it is actually a traditional fishing boat built to withstand the rough seas in the area. We actually saw a reconstructed one in the free City Museum which was our next stop.

beautiful interior of Galway Cathedral

History lesson complete, we returned to Galway's West End where we were quite content to spend an hour or two at The Salt House Pub. Besides the opportunity to try many local and international craft beers, we got to chat with the Four Corners distributor rep who paid a visit while we were there. In addition to a generous free shot of Bushmills 21 year malt, an extremely rare whiskey costing at least 125EUR per bottle, the bartender gave us pint glasses, lapel pins, a bar mat and a knit cap, all to congratulate us on our marriage (and for our love of beer)!

the king of cool at Salt House Pub

Departing Galway the next day, we drove for about an hour along the coast to reach Rossaveal, where we parked the car and caught a ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. According to Wikipedia, "the island is famous for its strong Irish culture, loyalty to the Irish language, and a wealth of Pre-Christian and Christian ancient sites including Dún Aengus, described as 'the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe.'" This is just what we set out to experience after checking into our B&B and renting bikes. While the day was overcast, we were lucky it didn't rain and thus were able to better enjoy our 14km round trip bike ride to Dun Aengus and back. As a reward for our efforts, we had a pint at Ti Joe Waddy and then a filling meal at the American Bar, where we were entertained by the local fishermen and their incessant use of "fook" and "shite."

riding bikes on Inishmore

Satisfied with our island experience, we took the ferry back to Rossaveal the following day and drove through on again/off again rain to Westport. The heart of Connemara was quite beautiful with lakes, hills and waterfalls but we only stopped a few times to take pictures. Having read about the peat bogs near Leenane, we went out of our way to see them but had to endure nasty weather when we got out of the car for a quick look around.

Killary Harbor in Leenane, a brief moment when it wasn't raining

Arriving in Westport in the late afternoon, we relaxed before dinner at our cozy guesthouse, Augusta Lodge, where the owner was nice enough to do our laundry for free when we inquired about facilities. Donning full rain gear, we walked into town around 7pm and had dinner at Cosy Joe's before heading over to Matt Molloy's Bar, whose owner and namesake is the flute player for The Chieftains. Hoping to hear some great music we stayed late (until almost midnight), despite the bar being umcomfortably packed, but our efforts went unrewarded. There were some youngsters playing a few rooms back but we couldn't even hear them from the front room where we were at. Still, we agreed it was our most authentic Irish pub experience to date!

Matt Molloy's pub on a Friday night

After breakfast the following morning, we watched Ireland beat Australia in the Rugby World Cup then set off towards Donegal. We stopped at a few more worthy sites in "The West of Ireland" before we crossed the regional border to the north: the interesting National Museum of Ireland - Country Life (free), Sligo Abbey (covered by our Heritage Pass), and W..B. Yeats' grave at Drumcliffe, where we also had a pint in his honor at the local tavern bearing the poet's name.

Museum of Country Life

Links to all of my photos from this region:
Galway
Inishmore
Westport

Southwest Ireland

2011-10-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

Southwest Ireland includes Counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick. This is a spectacularly scenic region of the country and we made a point to visit as much of it as possible. We managed to cram a lot of sightseeing (and driving) into only four days & nights!

On our way from Cashel to Kinsale, we stopped in the city of Cork for a few hours. As I was generally trying to avoid large cities on our tour of Ireland, we only wanted to have a good walk around to get a feel for the place. We accomplished that, including a visit to the English Market, St Fin Barre's Cathedral, the Huguenot quarter, etc. I had read about a few local brewpubs that I wanted to try but most were still closed when we passed through the city around mid-day. So we settled for the tiny Hi-B bar where we had a nice chat with the bartender and eventually were joined by the locals (all 70+ year-old men). We even met the owner's wife who stopped in to settle up some paperwork.

a pint of Murphy's Irish Stout at Hi-B bar in Cork

From Cork, we drove to Cobh as it was mentioned as worth a stop in our Rick Steves guidebook. However the weather had taken a turn for the worse at this point in the afternoon and was quite foggy & rainy, so we spent less than an hour exploring the tiny coastal town, notable as a major departure point for emigrants to the U.S., the final port of call for the ill-fated Titanic, and the place where both survivors & victims of the Lusitania sinking were brought.

Cobh

We only spent one night in quaint Kinsale. Despite the pouring rain the evening we arrived, we donned our Goretex and walked into town from our B&B, where we had fish & chips at a local pub. The following day brought clearer skies and we used our Heritage Pass to visit the ruins of 15th century Desmond Castle and the late 17th century Charles Fort before continuing on the N71 coastal route to Kenmare.

Charles Fort

Kenmare is a great place to regroup before or after you drive the Ring of Kerry. Since we were making our way north, we spent one night there before driving the Ring. As it was the weekend, we were able to park anywhere in town for free, plus we took the opportunity to wash all of our dirty clothes at a self-service launderette. The heart of Kenmare consists of two parallel roads, each one way in opposite directions. It is totally walkable, with numerous restaurants and shops to keep you occupied for a few hours as well as plenty of lodging options. Mindful of our budget, we shared a nice seafood stew and listened to some live traditional music before returning to our B&B for the night.

Greg sorting laundry in our trunk in downtown Kenmare

Knowing we had a long day of driving ahead of us, we filled up on salmon & scrambled eggs for breakfast then hit the road. We had already decided not to backtrack towards Killarney (meaning we would not get to see the popular Muckross House) as it would add another two hours of driving to our journey. Our first stop was Staigue Fort, accessible by a one lane gravel/dirt road which was quite interesting to negotiate when you encountered someone coming the opposite direction. To make matters worse, it started pouring rain, reducing visibility to a minimum. In spite of the weather, we still got out of the car to have a quick look around the 1600-year-old circular stone fort.

Staigue Fort in the pouring rain

Continuing along the N70, the weather cleared as we reached Derrynane House, home of "The Liberator" Daniel O'Connell, an Irish politician who campaigned for Catholic emancipation in the first half of the 19th century. From there we drove the R567, a very narrow, windy road with spectacular views over Ballinskelligs Bay and St. Finan's Bay. Luckily I only had to "squeeze" past a couple of large tour buses, a heart-stopping experience. We finally arrived in Dingle in the early evening, where we welcomed our hearty dinners and pints of beer at John Benny's Pub. Afterward, we drank hot tea mixed with a bit of Jameson whiskey while sitting in our B&B's atrium listening to the howling winds of Hurricane Katia.

driving the Ring of Kerry

The following morning we were treated to more hurricane-strength winds mixed with intermittent sun & rain. Despite the weather, a neighboring farmer decided to move his sheep from one grazing area to another, and we were entertained by his working dog's expert ability to respond to calls and gather the herd. I shot a couple of videos of the process, which ended with all of the sheep being piled into a small trailer to be driven to the other site.

Later that afternoon we spent a few hours navigating Slea Head Drive, a 47km circular route that begins & ends in Dingle. We used our Rick Steves guidebook to help understand the points of interest. We included a stop at the Blasket Center to learn more about the now-abandoned island then had a beer at what is probably one of the most remote microbreweries in the country, Tig Bhric. After returning to town, we took a short, self-guided walking tour followed by a beautiful sunset on the harbor. We ate dinner at Marina Inn and actually stayed up late to listen to some traditional music.

sunset in Dingle harbor

What a wonderful way to mark the end of our first full week in Ireland!

Links to all of my photos from this region:
Cork & Cobh
Kinsale
Kenmare and the Ring of Kerry
Dingle Peninsula