Travel Location: Paris,France

Travel About: architecture,big-city,nightlife,road-trip

7:15 Comenzamos el segundo día con ganas y nos pegamos el madrugón para no perder ni un rayo de sol. Desafortunadamente, lo que nos encontramos tras desayunar y salir a la calle es que está volviendo a llover intensamente. A las 8:15 ya estamos en carretera, y durante las dos primeras horas el chaparrón es constante.

Dejamos atrás ciudades como Angoulême, Poitiers (y su Futuroscope, que descartamos visitar), Tours (aquí perdimos mucho tiempo en encontrar la entrada a la autovía) y Orléans; fue en ésta última donde paramos a comer unos sandwiches de la “caja de la comida”, sobre las 13:15. En estos momentos hemos dejado atrás los nubarrones y disfrutamos de un tiempo agradable.

Tras esto tomó el volante Puro para llegar a Versalles casi dos horas después. Pese a que era temporada baja, la villa presentaba una invasión total de autobuses de turistas, sin duda atraídos por el mayor interés del lugar: visitar el Palacio de Versalles, fantasía hecha realidad por el afán de ostentación de Luis XIV y sus benditos sucesores…

Para empezar, tardamos media hora en aparcar. Luego tocó sacarse los tíckets (13,5 € por cabeza), que pagamos con sumo entusiasmo. El último trámite fue coger los cascos de la visita guiada (incluidos en el precio, claro).

Resuelto lo anterior, pudimos comenzar a pasearnos por los interminables pasillos y desmesurados salones del Palacio. El lugar es impresionante, difícilmente se puede imaginar algo más gigantesco, recargado y opulento. Dimos vueltas y vueltas pero aquello parecía no tener fin (de hecho, son 50.000 metros cuadrados de Palacio abiertos al público).

Las 800 hectáreas de jardines también tienen su miga (se alquilan cochecitos para recorrerlas…), y tan sólo echamos un vistazo general.

Como aspecto negativo de la visita, resaltaré la EXCESIVA presencia de turistas, especialmente orientales, a los que Puro empezó a coger cariño.

Nos fuimos de allí bastante cansados, la kilometrada matutina pasaba factura (600 km), y es que fue una de las mayores del viaje. Pero aún quedaba entrar en París y buscar el albergue. Puro me volvió a ceder el volante y nos metimos en la maraña de tráfico. A trancas y barrancas, entramos hasta el barrio de Clichy sin sufrir percances, pero cometiendo alguna que otra tropelía circulatoria.

Eran las 18:30 y ya estábamos en el albergue, con una habitación entera para nosotros. Subimos hasta el 6º piso cargando con las maletas por las escaleras (ascensor en reparación justo cuando llegábamos). Nos duchamos y salimos a cenar algo sencillo: McDonald’s.

Unas cervecitas en la terraza de un bar parisino sirvieron de relajado colofón a un día bastante duro. Ya en la habitación, aprovechamos para distraernos viendo unos capítulos de “Joey” en el portátil de Bur (que era lo único que había).

Con la iluminación de la Torre Eiffel entrando por la ventana, nos acostamos sobre las 23:15.

Distancia recorrida: 640 km

Gastos: 70 € (Gasolina, Peajes, Visita Versalles, Parking, Albergue, Cena, Cerveza)

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Travel Location: Lake-Como,Italy

Travel About: natural-wonder,road-trip

So, Como is said to be an industrial town, but historically it was set up as a defense area against attacks from the Alps. I think it is beautiful and peaceful. It is built into the mountains surrounding a very deep lake, and the villas surround every inch of the shoreline.

I feel that this is my Christmas. Not only because it is decorated accordingly, and the weather feels like Wisconsin in December, but because of my approach to my week here. I am relaxing! I am staying at a B and B run by an Austrian woman who speaks wonderful English. I have a whole apartment to myself with a patio overlooking the lake! It is so plush and nice compared to most of the places I have been staying, it is my Christmas present to myself. While the price is a little more than my normal accomodations, it is not bad because it is low season here. I have been lounging on my couch, sleeping under my down comforter, and sipping my hand delivered coffee every morning looking out at the lake and the mountains in the background. This is definately the life.

The one adventure here is the bus! I have to catch the bus on a windy road outside my B and B. It is always packed full of locals, and no one seems to know a word of English. I have to describe my stop to the bus driver in my broken Italian, and pray he understands me! I also have to close my eyes most of the ride. Imagine, a giant stone wall on one side, a cliff leading to the lake on the other, and cars speeding directly at you on a narrow road. Who will stop, who will veer? Will we crash or plummet to our deaths? This is the joy of riding in an Italian bus in the mountains! Ha, ha! These drivers do this day in and day out, but I could never drive here!

I am staying directly across the lake from George Clooneys villa. For all you celebrity watchers, he is not here! Oh, well. He is actually in Egypt discussing Dafur with the president there. Good for him. Anyway, I am loving this relaxing week.

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Travel Location: Killybegs,Ireland

Travel About: nightlife,road-trip

A sunny morning dawns on the day of Robin’s 29th Birthday! We spent most of the day driving through 6 counties (at least a part of them) – Donegal, Leitrum, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare. It was a long day of driving but we saw lots of countryside and ended up in the delightful town of Ennis. We went out for a good B-day meal and then made our way to Brogan’s Pub for some live traditional Irish music.

A sunny morning dawns on the day of Robin’s 29th Birthday!

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Travel Location: Invercargill,New-Zealand

Travel About: natural-wonder,hiking,road-trip,trek,sailing,climbing,glacier

As some of you already know, I spent the last 2 weeks on a road trip in the South Island. The whole trip, while exhausting, was a total blast and absolutely chalked full of incredible scenery. Here’s a rundown of the trips events:

I flew from Auckland into Christchurch on Feb 7th, met up with some friends and we hit the road early on the morning of the 8th. I drove the whole day (so weird driving on the wrong side of the road at first, but I adapted to the change rather quickly much to the relief of my travel buddies) We headed south to Dunedin, where we crashed at a friends place and then the 5 of us took off the next morning after exploring Dunedin’s botanical gardens. We made a quick stop at Caroline Bay for lunch, picked up our last travel companion at Lake Waihola and then we headed out to the Catlands. They were beautiful. TONS of sheep and green hills everywhere you look. We even encountered some minor cattle confusion when we came speeding around a turn and right there in the middle of the road was a herd of stray cows running toward us. Sooo funny.

Anyway, we visited Nugget Point and Nugget Point lighthouse, (the southern most lighthouse in the WORLD!) and went on several short hikes out to Purakaunui Falls, McLean Falls, and Florence Hill – all so cool. I took 100’s of pics! By this time it was late afternoon (good thing it is summer here and does not get dark until 9) and we made one last stop at Porpoise Bay campground out in the middle of nowhere. It lived up to it’s name. We saw a huge pod of dolphins surfing the waves and leaping out of the water. There were a few people there who were swimming with them and I wished I had my wetsuit so I could have gone out. Unfortunately, the water is too cold at the southern most tip of NZ (it is only a 4 hour charter plane ride to Antarctica from there…burr!) so I was confined to the shore.

That night I stayed in my first hostile in Invercargil and after exploring the town, we retired to bed and got up at the crack of dawn to hit the road to Milford Sound. Milford Sound was incredible. It is known as the 8th wonder of the world and for good reasons. We took a sail boat ride throughout the sound through the towering cliffs and observed the many waterfalls and rugged mountains. We cruised through the sound out into the Tasman sea for a while and then returned to land. If you ever decide to travel to NZ, this is a MUST DO! Don’t miss Milford Sound! You’ll be sorry!

When the day was done, we drove back to Te Anau for the night and stayed at another hostile right on the lake. The next day we drove non stop to Queenstown, which is the adventure capitol of NZ. We rode up the gondola as soon as we arrived and took in the unreal views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkable Mountains. At the top of the gondola is a lugeing track (a cement track you race little cars on wheels down – sooooo much fun). I had a great time with that. The next morning we went on this crazy hike in the Ben Lomond forest and a couple of us drove out to the Shotover river and went on the worlds most exciting jetboat ride. The boat weighs 3 tons, operates in 3 inches of water, has an incredible turning radius so you rip into 360’s constantly at no warning, and zooms through the river canyons getting you inches away from the gorge walls. Some people were screaming because it was scary at times, but I thought it was a blast. Overpriced, though. Not a must do, but a good time.

After leaving Queenstown on the 13th we headed to Wanaka and visited Puzzle Place, this trippy little place famous for the illusion rooms and great maze. Then we drove to Haast, stopping for a day hike and rock climbing at Fantail Falls on the way. From Haast we set out for Fow Glacier, one of 3 glaciers in the world surrounded by tropical forrest. When we got into town, we had time before our glacier hike, so we walked the trail around Lake Matheson (one of NZ’s most photographed places). We were blessed enough to make it to the viewing deck where the famous shots of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman are taken for the 5 minutes that the clouds cleared enough to see them. They view was reflected like a perfect mirror in the lake (I’ll put up a photo). It was truly PERFECT timing.

Then it was time to set off on the glacier hike! Fox Glacier was soooo cool. It is huge, and we only got to see a miniscule part of it, but it was great. Tons of fun hiking in those big spiky boots with crampons. I felt like a real explorer. Haha! One of the coolest parts about the glacier is the color of the ice. It is such a weird shade of blue. Very exciting, climbing on a glacier, especially because it is active and you can hear it moving underneath you!

We stayed that night in Greymouth and visited the Pancake rocks in Punakauki the next day, then headed to Kaikoura for whale watching. However, I got sick with the stomach flu and oddly enough (lucky for me, unlucky for my travel mates) the weather was bad so they canceled all whale watching trips for the day. So we all missed out! They opted to go wine tasting while I slept in the car, so not all was lost for them. They had a pretty good time and I ended up having to drive while sick for the rest of the day, seeing as to the ramifications of their fun. But it was still a good time.

We ended up back in Christchurch that day (the 16th, and spent all the next day at Christchurch’s famous flower festival, which was beautiful. Then the morning of the 18th came around and we got back on our plane and headed for Auckland! Fun times though, and I’ll never forget all the incredible sights! Really, I wont because I took 1200 pictures in the 11 days I was down there! But it is good to be back and settled in. I have some much needed catching up on sleep to do, so more later. I’ll have another entry up by the end of the week about international orientation (starts tomorrow) so hopefully I’ll have some stories to tell!

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Travel Location: Moses-Lake,United-States

Travel About: natural-wonder,road-trip

This entry is really not about Moses Lake. It is about the drive from Spokane to Seattle. The landforms and sights we saw on the way deserve their own entry, apart from any destination.

The landscape of Washington is largely volcanic. The eastern half includes thick layers of ash deposits, and layers of basalt. The land went through a catastrophic period of erosion, described at the Eastern Washington Univesity website. The eroded landscape is very strange, with many small rock walls and tables exposed; the early White settlers called this gnarly eroded landscape “the Scablands.” (See pictures) The farmers grow wheat here on what little rain they get, and the plumes of dust billowing above the harvesters that can be seen for miles remind me of the movie version of “Dune.” Giant sand worms would have made the spectacle complete.

Giant sand worms would have made the spectacle complete.

Past Moses Lake, we hit the gorge of the Columbia River, where there is a scenic overlook worth a stop. On the opposite bank stands Gingko Petrified Forest State Park. The view is spectacular (see picture), and shows the layers of deposition much further down than we could see from the road cuts. There are also lizards to chase, so our son was quite happy to be there.

Further west and we begin our climb into the eastern most tier of the Cascades. For those of us used to the bumps in the eastern states, the climb seems endless, but it is only a small warmup for what is to come later in the trip. The world is still quite dry and brown. As we hit the crest, we are stunned to see Mt. Rainier, a volcanic cone towering to 3x the height of anything in front of it. (See picture)

As we pass over each successive tier, the world gets greener and greener. Approaching Seattle, we got a chance to watch the Blue Angels performing over the city. The down-side was that they closed the floating bridge on I90 for spectators, and we had to watch. It opened up soon enough, and we had a few hours left to explore before bed-time.

GT

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Travel Location: Bridgetown,Barbados

Travel About: beach,road-trip,relaxation

Wednesday, Dec 26

Our trip started at a very early hour but was greatly brightened when after seated on the plane our names were called and we discovered we had been bumped to First Class. Flying through Miami from San Francisco to Barbados, the trip lasted all day and into the night. When we landed at 11 PM, we were the first to clear customs as we had carried on all of our luggage.

…roads are very rural and beautiful…

Since we had been unable to book a rental car (they were all booked due to the holidays), we grabbed a taxi for our hotel, the Accra Beach Hotel in Rockley on the south side of the island, which, as are most things on Barbados, was only a few miles away.

The hotel clerk greeted us and said we would be treated to a rum punch at the bar which closed at midnight so we quickly headed out to the bar by the pool to enjoy, as it was nearing midnight.

We wandered to our room (#4105) and were delighted to find that we had been upgraded from the ocean view room which we had booked to an ocean front room. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves breaking on the beach just outside our balcony.

Thursday, Dec 27

We awakened early to the sound of the ocean waves … yes, we are here. After drinking some coffee on our balcony, we headed downstairs to the Coco Patch Restaurant for breakfast. We chose to sit at an outside table (we were the only ones outside) and enjoy the pretty beachside location.

Since we did not have a car, we walked down the street a ways to explore and check out the strip mall across from the hotel (Quayside Shops), where we stopped at a convenience store for a few incidentals which we needed, as we carried our luggage onboard, and it’s difficult to pack 3 oz of sunscreen. We decided to make this a “relax on the beach day” since we didn’t have a car to roam about the island. I actually am appreciating the ability to relax today and not feel that I must tour, tour, tour. That we shall do later.

After a relaxing morning on the beach on the loungers and under the umbrellas provided by the hotel, we grabbed lunch at the same restaurant where we had breakfast. We grabbed a table by the window and had Caesar Salad with shrimp (me) and with chicken (Gary) and iced tea. Very nice.

We checked with the concierge about hiring a car, even if for one day. She confirmed there were no cars available. As we conversed about taking the very plentiful and inexpensive busses, the concierge was calling several rental agencies (they are all small family owned companies on Barbados, no big Hertz or Avis, even Europcar goes through the family companies). On her third or fourth call, which was to 1st Choice, she was able to get us a car for Saturday, the day of our departure on the Royal Clipper. We were to pick it up Friday night delivered to the hotel at 5:30 PM. We were elated.

In the late afternoon, the phone rang, and we found that there had been a cancellation and that the car could be available for another day. We arranged for delivery the next morning.

We spent the rest of the the afternoon on the beach, reading, relaxing and getting wet.

Friday, Dec 28

Our rental car was deliverd this morning at 8:30 by 1st Choice Rental Cars. We decided over breakfast to spend the day exploring the island using one of the tour books in the room. Our main goal is to see a lot of the island and hopefully get some nice photos, rather than shopping or seeing museums and the like. We drove from the hotel into Bridgetown and the drove by the Cruise Terminal to kind of scope it out for tomorrow. We were concerned about where to store our luggage between the hotel checkout at noon and boarding the Royal Clipper at 4 PM.

From there, we drove north through Holetown and stopped at the historic St. James Church which was originally built in 1628. We continued along the west coast road toward and through Speightstown to Port St. Charles. There we stopped for some pictures, my favorite of a decrepit boat named “Big Hooker”. We continued inland to the Barbados Wildlife Refuge. Once there, we then actually read the guidebook, and found that the best time to go was at 2 PM for the monkey feeding, the only time you are guaranteed a look at the wildlife. In this park, the animals roam freely through the forest, so you may not see them at all. We decided to have lunch, and then return for the 2pm feeding.

In our search for lunch, we ended up on the east side of the island headed south to Bathsheba. There we discovered the historic Round House Inn, where we could dine on the terrace with a gorgeous view of the beach and the coast line. We were happy to have discovered this place as it in well off the beaten path.

It’s very important to have a good map when you drive here, and sometimes directional signs are either not obvious or are missing completely. The roads are very rural and beautiful and I was lucky not to be driving as you need to drive on the left side here. Or as our taxi driver from the airport put it, “we drive on the right side here”, meaning we drive on the “correct side”. We took some wrong turns somewhere trying to get back to the Wildlife Refuge, and eventually found ourselves going south when we needed to be going north. Fortunately, Gary has a compass in his watch which proved to be very useful. By the time we got back to a proper road and direction, we found we were unable to make it to the monkey feeding, so we forged on to the next stop, the Morgan Lewis Windmill, the only working sugar mill windmill left in the world (according to the tour book in our room). Just up the road is Cherry Tree Hill and just past there is a beautiful avenue of mahogany trees that form a canopy over the road and , of course, we stopped to get some pictures.

On to our next goal which was Little Bay, a beautiful bay of exposed reef (at low tide) and spectacular views down the east coast. The winding drive is certainly worth this gorgeous scenery. The next stop was River Bay, a bit further north. After climbing up on the cliffs, we were rewarded with some more gorgeous views of the island and the coast, as we watched thunderous waves pound the shore, sending spray 50 feet high at times. This is the windward side of the island, rough seas and strong winds. The sea is pounding the island. The island here is of vulcanic rock, while not immune to the sea, it puts up a good fight to keep the sea from reclaiming the island.

The next stop and the place I most wanted to see here is at the northernmost tip of the island, the Animal Flower Cave. For an entrance fee of only BDS$15 (US$7.50) you receive a guided tour of the caves. Animal Flower takes its name from the sea anemones found in the pools in the cave. They were named “animal flowers” in 1750 in Griffith Hughes book “The Natural History of Barbados”. The views from inside the caves through the windows in the rock to the ocean beyond are worth every bit of effort to get here. Bring your swimsuit to enjoy the pool inside the cave. I didn’t have mine but my husband did and he enjoyed a swim here and taunted me by standing at the cave opening as large waves were breaking. I really have to recommend this spot to anyone who wants a bit of adventure in their touring. The guide we had was superb. And I say that because he handled the somewhat hesitant American tourist as she had some nervousness at crossing the wet rocks on the way into the cave with great care and courtesy. He gave encouragement and a steady hand when needed. Definitely recommended. I purchased a bracelet of some natural stone to remember this experience and will make some nice earrings out of it … a nice souvenir.

From here we headed south toward our hotel, as it was about 5 PM and we stayed on H2A most of the way. Once back at the hotel, we thought it would be relaxing to enjoy the jacuzzi hot tub on our balcony and though it took a long time to fill, it was certainly relaxing and with a great ocean view. We decided to walk the mile or so from our hotel to “The Gap” (officially on the street named “St. Lawrence Gap”, which runs along the coast) for dinner. The Gap is known as the place for great restaurants and night spots on the island and this area comes alive at night. We were shown the Gap by our taxi driver from the airport, who recommended it for dining and night spots. We walked only about two blocks before we stopped at Sweet Potatoes – “Good ol’ Bajan cooking” on the first curve at the west end of the Gap. The restaurant was built on stilts and looked very Caribbean. I ordered Pot Belly Flying Fish stuffed with vegetables. Flying fish is a dish unique to Barbados and delicious. Apparently this fish has many bones and is a challenge to prepare but on this island they take pride in it even going as far as having competitions for fastest deboning. We also ordered a chicken in jerk sauce which was accompanied with Duck Pond 2005 Pinot Noir from Oregon. Though we should have walked back to the hotel, we got lazy and took a taxi which turned out to be relatively inexpensive (US$5).

Saturday, Dec 29 Last day in Barbados

This morning we took our time while we packed and checked out of the hotel. We have been happy here and we wouldn’t mind coming back (they even have meal plans which are quite reasonable, though you need to purchase for a three day minimum). We packed our suitcases into the trunk of the rental car and set about exploring the city of Bridgetown. The main goal was to purchase a few items we needed, which was not a problem here with all the shopping options.

One thing we did find difficult were the many one way streets which change directions seemingly every couple of blocks. Sometimes it seemed like we were driving in circles. We were driving in circles. Unbeknownst to him, we finally decided to follow a small truck with a local driver. We followed him in a circle, then he eventually got out, and we got to where we could navigate on our own. Odd that a local was as confused as we were. He was probably wondering what sort of idiots were following him in circles!

We found a parking lot which charged only one $1 BDS or fifty US cents per hour, and walked through much of the locals shopping area (we stayed out of the tourist area as we will probably see a lot of that later on). However, they must enjoy chicken, as there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) shop seemingly every block. They are as plentiful as Starbucks in Seattle!

As it was nearing midday, we headed to the waterfront area and grabbed lunch at the Limelight Cafe on the top floor of the Bridge House. After lunch, we drove to the Cruise Terminal on the north end of town. There we left the rental car in a prearranged parking lot, we locked the keys in the car in a special location and headed to the terminal. We were very happy with our rental experience with 1st Choice, especially considering that they were able to get us a car at the last minute. Their service was great and very personal, they delivered to the hotel and picked it up from the cruise terminal at no extra charge.

We have certainly enjoined our short visit to Barbados and it would be great to come back here sometime in the future. We would guess 80-90% of the visitors here are from Great Britain. Also, the local people remind me very much of the people of Jamaica with their lovely accents.

As we drove into Bridgetown this morning, I could see the five tall masts of the Royal Clipper in port. Goosebump time! I have really been looking forward to the cruise.

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Travel Location: Zion-National-Park,United-States

Travel About: park,hiking,road-trip,camping,zion-national-park

Before I get to Zion, a quick interlude. Although we are confident many of you have stopped checking this blog since we never update it, we would like to briefly toot our horns. This was our Editor’s Pick write-up:

http://blog.realtravel.com/2007/07/04/the-american-road/

Pretty park, but hard to enjoy when you are a sweat factory.

Apparently, this site is monitored (possibly maintained? I don’t know & Jon is in the game room playing Shinobe) by the San Francisco Gate and every two weeks they do a write-up on their editor’s pick. They erred a mite here and there, but we forgive them and are glad to have somebody else make our vacation seem glamorous.

So, Zion. One of the things I’ve been doing on this trip to keep myself entertained is compulsively checking the weather via Google Text. (I don’t have enough battery power right now to explain how to do that; google’s web site can if you need.) Anyway, I was under the impression that once we got into Utah, the temperature would drop. At least that’s what Google Weather told me.

But it liked like a dirty dog. See the temp on the dash after lunch at Subway about 40 miles from Zion. It was still well over a hundred when we pulled into the park and remained that way until after sunset. Pretty park, but hard to enjoy when you are a sweat factory. After sundown we took the little shuttle ride up and down the park, which was nice. Zion has a brilliant thing where you can’t drive your own car to the scenic overlooks, you have to take the shuttle. Because it’s a small park, this is a reasonable and very environmentally friendly proposition.

In addition to it being hot, there were scattered thunderstorms and the ranger told us fires had already broken out in the park from lightning. We decided to be bold and camp anyways, and the temperature did eventually drop to a reasonable level.

We got up very early in the morning to hike before it became a disco inferno again and had a brief chat on the shuttle bus with a father and son who had just come from Moab, Utah (where there are other parks, maybe Arches? I don’t remember) where it was even hotter. According to Pops, the temp at 4 a.m. in Moab was 98 degrees. Unfortunately he was not talking about a boy band. As usual it was nice to remind ourselves that it could have been worse.

The morning hike was nice, as was a big breakfast afterwards at the Lodge. We went back to camp, packed up Tentus Maximus (as we’ve taken to calling our beloved lodging) and rolled out. Zion is pretty, but I think if you’re going to go, don’t go when it’s July. Also, before we left, I was in the bathroom and ran into a woman who had hiked 8 miles into the Zion Narrows where she was going to camp for the night, only to find that the forest fires were raging and she was literally smoked out. So she turned around and hiked 8 miles back in the dark.

As I said, it could always be worse. Luckily, many good things awaited us in Bryce, not the least of which was cooler weather…

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Travel Location: Glasgow,United-Kingdom

Travel About: architecture,art-&-museum,road-trip,winter-gardens,people’s-palace,gallery-of-modern-art

Getting up at (approx) 7:30am for breakfast wasn’t that bad. We got coupons for breakfast, which would normally cost around 10 euro (I guess). Really nice buffet with mostly everything you could think of for a European breakfast. Took my time working in a few croissants, some bread, a boiled egg and some fruit.

Got my bag from the cabin and headed back up to the 7th deck before 9am, when we were supposed to arrive, and we did. It took ages to get off the boat as they had just tightened up the security at the borders; 2 days before there was a bombing at Glasgow Airport, so they checked every passport carefully.

This meant we could relax until nearly everyone had left and then get to the exit!

Driving up from Newcastle to Carlisle to Glasgow was pretty nice. Some hills here and there, and at least Newcastle had a through road coming from the port. Practising my tour that I was going to have to do in Glasgow the next day, and sleeping off the little hangover that was there and the nice views on the bus was a perfect start of the day.

Once arrived in Glasgow we drove through the city to get to the hostel. Glasgow seems to be quite a large city as it took us a while to get there. We were happy to finally arrive at the Eurohostel, and checking in with the whole group was okay. Stayed with the boys and some girls in a big room with 12 or 16 beds on the 3rd floor. We had a nice view on the huge glasswork of St. Enoch shopping centre and some of Glasgow’s Downtown area.

Bernard, Tymon and I had a quick stroll through St Enoch and a couple of other streets to find a cap for Bernard. The hat he was wearing was a bit too warm, and he wanted a few cap, so we went looking for one, but alas, we couldn’t find one in the time that we had (was just 45mins). Brought my camera out though, so I enjoyed Glasgows architecture and took a few shots. I thought Glasgow, the city that grew during the industrial times, would be a quite modern and maybe a little boring city to visit. Nothing like it – I loved it and you’ll see why in the pictures!

At 3pm we had to gather in front of the hostel for our first museum tour in Glasgow: People’s Palace and Winter Gardens. While walking over to People’s Palace through Glasgow Green it started raining. Not a very nice start of our ‘vacation’, but what could you expect from Scotland? Luckily it stayed dry most of the other days in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

I’m not really a museum person, but it wasn’t that bad. I liked the paintings on the ceiling and the ‘tour guides’ weren’t too bad. I think half of them passed ha.

The Wintergardens were a LOT smaller than I thought they would be, and not as pretty. I thought it would be a spectacular thing, I guess I didn’t look it up carefully enough.

After the museum tour we decided to walk our own tour. We had already walked a part of it anyways, up to the winter gardens. This would be a great idea to snap a few pictures too, as we wouldn’t be able to do so tomorrow morning when we were going to do the tour.

The first sight we came across was Templeton’s Carpet Factory, which I had imagined to be quite an ugly, gigantic red building. I actually quite liked it when I saw it, with the great texture of stones. Amazing to see the building turn out nice after all haha.

Not being able to find some things we asked a passerby or a police officer where a certain sight would be, but most of the time my memory would be enough to guide us through the tour. Couldn’t find the Old fruitmarket and the police officer didn’t have a clue either. Seems the it’s really old and the last one market they had in that street was a longggg time ago! So don’t go looking for the Old Fruitmarket!

Glasgow’s got (and probably more buildings in the UK, don’t know about that) some nice, different buildings with blue clocks on them. Don’t remember clearly the names of them but I could look them up if you want.

Going from Hutcheson’s Hall on Ingram Street to the Italian Centre, which is definitely worth visiting (inside). We were getting up to the big George Square, where the City Chambers are located at. The City Chambers is a huge building, built in the high point of the city’s wealth, and it’s supposed to be very impressive on the inside too. We unfortunately didn’t a chance to go inside, but I could really recommend it.

From George Square we walked northwest up to Buchanan Street, towards the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. We wanted to visit the Buchanan Galleries, big shopping mall, but we were too late – closed at 6pm!

The Royal Concert Hall is a nice modern building located at the end of Buchanan St, where you have an excellent view back down the street. Around the corner is the tallest cinema in the world, if you’re interested (UGC CineWorld). It’s just a big glass building with 18 screens.

Back on Buchanan St. take a left after 400m towards the Gallery of Modern Art. Quite an impressive building too, with a nice colourful triangle in the top.

Getting nearly to the end of our tour we decided to get a pizza, my feet were killing me - I was wearing the wrong shoes for lots of walking! Getting blisters on my feet so I had to walk carefully and slowly. Good thing the day had almost come to an end.

Just studied and rewrote and studied some more for the tour the next morning. The boys all wanted to go out and have a blast, but I had to concentrate (with still half the hangover from the boat and being pretty tired from the 3-hour walking today). So I laid down on one of the nice couches at the hostel and relaxed there while studying.

When I got back upstairs to the room to sleep, everyone was still there getting ready to go out. I didn’t like the fact that they were smoking on the room, but they were just leaving so I left it. Niek stayed and I asked him to quit smoking, and he respected that and did so. The ladies weren’t too nice when they got back from going out later that night and complained they had to go smoke in the hall. Tough shit! They weren’t even allowed to smoke inside anyways.

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Travel Location: Orlando,United-States

Travel About: road-trip,caving,vacation-villa

Day 4 of our journey got off to a great start, with a visit to the Florida Caverns, in Marianna, Florida. Just minutes from our hotel, we had the opportunity to tour Florida’s only tour-guided, dry cavern (there are apparently plenty of guided tours of underwater caverns in Florida).

Jennifer led 16 of us on a 45 minute tour of the cavern. We were worried that we would get cold, since we forgot to pack any light jackets or shirts with long sleeves. However, this turned out to be the warmest cave we’ve ever toured. The cave tour only goes down to a depth of 50 feet, and most of our tour probably took place 20 to 30 feet underground. At one point, there were actually tree roots exposed in the ceiling of the cave.

Whoo Hooo, we are finally in Orlando!

This cave had your standard formations you would expect to find: stalactites, stalagmites, bacon, draperies, and soda straws. The Florida Caverns were once at the bottom of an ocean floor 30 million years ago. Jennifer pointed out to us in several locations where we could actually see seashells embedded in the limestone. The kids liked “the Christmas room” (you’ll have to ask them for details), and the part where we got to touch a stalagmite (felt kinda gross!). Mallory became great friends with the tour guide, much like last year. At one point, she even got to lead the group for a short distance while the tour guide turned off some lights in a room we had already passed through.

The Cavern has been popular for a long time. Native Americans used it, as well as the Spaniards in the 1600s. It was used as a hideout by Seminole Indians during the Seminole War, and by Civil War soldiers.

The Visitor Center was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), as well as performing all the work within the cave to make it tour-able. Growing up, I was familiar with the WPA, but only recently have I heard much about the CCC. The men who worked in the CCC during the depression era, would make $1 per day, $30 per month. They were required to send $25 of that back home to their families. The CCC offered an opportunity for men to engage in healthful, outdoor work on projects of definite practical value to all people of the nation. (This concludes today’s history lesson.)

After the tour, we met up with KK and PK (they decided to pass on the cave tour) for a picnic lunch in the Days Inn parking lot. That was not our first choice, as we were actually looking for a City Park somebody had told us about, but since we couldn’t find the Park, and the Days Inn parking lot had a huge tree in it, we set up shop there.

At 1:00, we hit the road for Orlando, and we drove on Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System the entire way. WHOA! You can really make some good time on those roads!! We got into Orlando about 7:00, and with some minor, yet expected, navigational issues, we first located a Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries, and then arrived at our Vacation Villa at 9:00. (That is not a lot of detail for 8 hours of our day, but when you drive on the Interstate, you’re not expecting to see anything exciting.)

We LOVE our Vacation Villa (“rent house”). It looks even better in person than it did on the Internet when we booked it 4 months ago. We utilized the previously referenced “Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World”, which told us about a website called www.vbro.com, or “Vacation Rentals By Owner”. We would have never found this site if it were not for the book. So far, the book has earned TWO BIG THUMBS UP.

We avoided rain the entire 4 days, until we got to Orlando, and at this point, the skies opened up and it was a downpour while we were inside Wal-Mart and on our way to the Villa. Since we have our luggage on top of the van, we are running all our clothes through the dryer tonight in order to have something to wear tomorrow.

KK & PK drove to the Orlando airport to pick up the Happy Couple, and Erin’s brother Adam, as they were to arrive around 10:30 p.m.

We’re all very excited about Thursday, when we will tour the Animal Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World.

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Travel Location: Boston,United-States

Travel About: road-trip,travel-tips,top-10,top-10-list

As I’m winding down, mostly just processing (that the trip is over), Carrie suggested I write up a top ten. Now, I have eight more entries to go as of today, but I liked the idea of condensing, an exercise in brevity, hah! This isn’t in any order, although I think it’s chronological.

Top Ten Spots for the Extended American Road Trip

first attempt at processing- top ten style!

1. Driving Highway 1

I took off from charming Cambria under perfectly blue skies and forceful coast winds, and drove highway 1. The road curved and climbed and fell. The afternoon was glorious. I stopped for the futile attempt to capture the view every other scenic outlook or so. The Big Sur strip of 1 is somewhere around a hundred miles, and the most famous section, for good reason. North of San Francisco, the road is the stuff of car chases and tragic accidents, overlooking the great blue Pacific, from high cliff to rocky shoreline. The road only suits compact cars with excellent turning radii and brand new brakes. It’s an adventure.

Highway 1 is arguably the most scenic drive (and also up for most fun drive) ever built. If you know of a better one, I would love to drive it, because so far, there’s nothing that beats this in my book.

2. Dogfish Head Brewery Tour

The microbreweries of the United States can boast impeccable quality, dedication to small business craftsmanship, and the production of truly distinguished brews. My favorite tour, hands down, was my first. Off a random cul-de-sac in suburban Delaware, I walked into my first brewery. Inside, a guy behind a makeshift bar was pouring Raison D’Etre into Dixie cups. Then he pulled out an ear of dried corn. “This,” he said “is corn. This should not be in beer. If you see your beer has a corn product in it, do not drink.” Meeting the employees (so excited for the new machinery we saw on the tour) and waving at the beer scientists testing the brews behind the glass endure as the best of the tour. There’s nothing grand or architecturally stunning about the building were hand crafted ales are born. It’s the culture, the excitement and hospitality of those invested in the products that make the experience a must when touring the country.

3. Mardi Gras

Somehow, without prompt or sign, Bourbon St drew me in. I turned and was not sure that the street in front of me was THE artery of debauchery, or whether they all look like that in the French Quarter. (They do.) That evening my quota of citing pissed parents pushing strollers with toddlers squealing to Bob Marley and Zydeco rhythms, tanked homeless folk, and red-faced grandfathers skyrocketed.

The air was full of the scents of liquor, roasting sweet sausage, and funnel cakes. There were politics, and rebirth, fueling this smorgasbord. I wished that I was walking with a native, someone proud to tell me about both the city itself and the progression, the development that these holidays have undergone since Katrina.

The streets were littered, but I was not looking down; I was gaping at the contrast of luxury, the Hilton’s new façade, across directly from a building missing a wall, one corner crumbling, steel skeleton exposed within the stripped brick. Most revelers were pie-eyed from drink or excitement or both. Then the parade began and for hours we cheered and shrieked for beads and prizes. I didn’t feel alone because the ceremony of the parade, the magic of the famous and celebrated spectacle, was unifying, even if the verve that carried the holiday remained something of a mystery to me.

4. Big Bend National Park

The park traces the Rio Grande along the Mexican border, covering a huge territory. Surrounded by nothing for hundreds of miles, this is an isolationist’s retreat. Hikes are gorgeous and calm with Western-style switchbacks up the Chisos Mountains, birds and mammals are abundant, the geography takes your breath away. There are craggy peaks, rolling hills, stubby limestone plateaus at the feet of the mountains, loose earthen mounds, and canyons. The geology of this verdant desert staggers the curious tourist- it is beautiful and diverse and powerful. Stay in the Chisos Mountain Basin campground nestled under rocky peaks that are thrusts of orange rock from subterranean plates. And it is quiet, birds in their perches, the drumming staccato of the roadrunner, murmurs of camping bikers and families. The Lost Mine Trail and the Santa Elena Canyon Trail may not wind you, but they offer spectacular views. The latter follows the silty river inside the walls of the canyon, cool and musky in a forest of ferns and cacti. The former takes you up the ridge, where not a single hint of civilization ruins the expansive view.

5. Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico

In college I read N. Scott Momaday’s The Names: a Memoir, and had since hoped to visit the inspiring lands of the author’s people. The first glimpses of the unique geology of the lands enforced what I had been told about the region: how spiritual it feels. On route 550 bearing north, a number of reservations and their respective pueblos are situated one after another. I saw stretches of land that, for lack of a better description, are undoubtedly worshipful. Had you been born beneath these painted rocks and raw cliffs, hot and red like the womb of the earth, you, too, would have felt closer to some spiritual center.

The attempts of the Jemez and Hemish peoples to protect their lands came at the price of a vast majority of the population, and there is an excellent museum with the local history on the outskirts of the pueblo. This too must be appreciated, and it only adds to the awe suffusing the land. The earth there feels raw, new, and very much alive. I can’t express why the expanse is so engrossing, so moving. Granting an afternoon to respect the many histories here will enrich your trip.

6. Bryce Canyon

Curiously, this National Park sits only sixty or seventy miles from Zion, yet enjoys only a fraction of the latter’s visitors. This is an incredible piece of land with well maintained trails. I heard from others we spoke to along the trail that for some who had seen much of the world, this spot still served as most captivating. It is in the land of hoodoos, first introduced in Dixie National Forest. A hoodoo appears like a totem, a rocky finger rising from the dry earth it has shed, sometimes solitary, sometimes in an army; they form what is left behind after erosion. I recommend hiking a figure eight from three popular trails (almost eight miles total)- beginning at the Navajo Loop, a steep downhill into the amphitheater, connect to the Peek-A-Boo loop, which meets up with Queen’s Landing trail for a pleasant and more gradual uphill out, to the Rim trail for a ridge walk back to the car. The entire amphitheater is full of the natural wonder that is bright orange hoodoos. The blue sky, green pines, and orange rock sucking the sunshine in were stunning together. There you can explore a grand garden of nature so singular it feels almost other-worldly.

7. Russian River Valley- Free Wine Tour

Sunday was bright and clear and warm, a perfect day to drive around and taste wines. The roads are curvy and old and often secluded for miles under the mammoth redwoods, and green giants. On the River Road, we began with Korbel. Champagne is just so bubbly and grand, it’s a celebration whether a bottle of Cook’s or Veuve Clicquot! The gardens are superb; they were erupting in color, the new blossoms. The antique roses there have won awards, so you can imagine the experience of tasting free champagne and emerging into spring sunlight bathed in warmth and the scents of new flowers.

Then, turn onto West Side Road and follow the narrow byway, just about every winery along here is free. Porter Creek, Davis Bynum, Hop Kiln, Arista. Porter Creek deserves a special mention because they are crafting organic, biodynamic wines that are as good or better as the wineries that still use Roundup. The employees’ excitement and pride in the wine and mission are palpable inside the intimate tasting room. Hop Kiln sat on a beautiful estate that would have been perfect for a picnic. This was far and away my favorite day in wine country.

8. New Mexico Museums

At the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, a short documentary expels a rumor, that her reputation as highly sexual was inspired by the public reaction to nude photographs of her in her husband’s exhibit, and explains her connection to the state. O’Keefe’s abstractions and landscapes captured the same powerful cliffs and color I wrote about Jemez, above. Her paintings of blooms still, to me, beg the suggestion of sexual analogy. The museum is a tribute. I was studying a painting entitled something cryptic when a caretaker walked over and told me that she painted it from memory- a storm from the panhandle of Texas. He pointed to her technique of light and layers and energy for how she painted the lightning. Then he walked away.

Also in town is the Museum of International Folk Art. The Girard Wing houses a collection of folk craftsmanship that I bet could rival any other, at least in diversity and creativity. The wing was set in a spiraling, free form fashion that allowed the visitor to peruse without loss. Due to the global scope, by culture the chronology was apparent, but the designers did not organize the room with that in mind. The obvious variations in figurines around the world within a particular time frame, was fascinating. The resources available to a culture determined the figurine, and so whether it was cloth and painted, or carved from dense wood, or clay, or rough wool, aided recognition of the geographical origin before any religious symbols or specific imagery hinted at a culture.

The reason I wanted to highlight museums here, rather than more famous and respected museums in big cities is the dedication of the museum keepers. These men (who were dressed as guards) worked at the museums because it allowed them to study art and help people with it. At every museum I went to I met and got to know at least one guy who worked there. This was not a trend that followed me to other cities, which was disappointing.

9. Along the Umpqua River

When 101 winds back toward the shore in Northern California, the territory is Oregonian. The cliffs have softened to rolling along a rocky beach. Rivers often lead inland from the Pacific, leaving dense trails of green along the beds. I turned east at the Umpqua River onto route 38. To call the sixty-odd mile drive to route 5 (in the throes of April’s wet warmth) picturesque, would be the understatement of this road trip. The perfection of the river valley- from homely cottages to blossoming apple trees offering shade and ornamental borders between lush horse pastures and wildflower beds lining the river was almost too much to keep my foot on the gas. Hills climbed opposite the river, which dug an older path than the farms. Covering everything was vegetation of the bright, healthy green that makes you breathe deeply to absorb the richness of the land that surrounds you and spoils your lungs, nose, and eyes. It made for an exquisite afternoon and a new love for Oregon.

10. New York City

I was seriously considering writing about the stunning Blue Ridge Parkway Drive, or raving about the vast wilderness of Yellowstone, until I looked at my other nine and realized that nature might be overrepresented.

New York City is my favorite city. It was not always so, it required the patience and excitement of locals I’ve visited for me to enjoy the hustle, the crowd, the traffic, and to find what makes all that worthwhile. Of course, after a period, those three elements only add to the splendid experience of the Big Apple. So here are some highlights: figuring out the subway and riding it with an ipod or a book and pretending you’re alone, just like all the rest of the riders; shopping in Soho and eating the best food in the world in a hole in the wall; the museums; Central Park picnics; getting to choose between off and on Broadway theater; the ultimate Karaoke experience; Sunday brunch. Once you can walk at a healthy clip and understand the subway, it feels smaller, and accessible. It’s a city where you can choose anywhere from budget (the seriously budget hostels are still around $50 a night) and live off bagels and free subway concerts, to extravagance ($500 per person sushi restaurant is on my “after lottery win” list) and always spend as much time as you want quite contentedly.

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