vacation
Seville, Spain – Day 6
Oh what a magnificent city! It’s sophisticated, romantic, passionate, modern, and ancient at the same time, and all these things seem to fit together perfectly. Though I’ve visited this city (does one day count as “visiting”?), it’s still on my list to visit again, and definitely spend more time here. This is the city where Flamenco reigns supreme, history goes back more than two thousand years, and architecture never fails to take your breath away. And since this is a food blog, I have to mention the oranges. You’ve heard of Seville oranges, right? No? Then let me tell you about them. They’re bitter. That’s it. ...
Stay tuned for the rest from Seville!
Codroba, Seville, Spain – Day 5
Well, it’s been a while since my last post about Spain, so I thought it’s time to get back to that. (Otherwise, at this rate, I’ll finish up Spain after my next vacation, which isn’t even anywhere on the horizon.) Puerto Lapice Today, we had an early wake-up call. We typically have an early wake-up call, so it wasn’t anything new. Our first stop was in a tiny little village called Puerto Lapice. If you’ve read Cervantes, you’d recognize this location as he tended to use real places. This is where the fictional Don Quixote was knighted by the innkeeper. Today, this is a good roadway stop where we used the lavatories and...
Read MoreToledo, Madrid, Spain – Day 4
Toledo Today is the first day of the actual tour (the group and tour director got together for introductions, explanations, and drinks the evening before). After a decent breakfast at the hotel, we were on our way to Toledo. The city sits on a hill, and is generally hilly, and affords amazing views all around. Here, we had different tour guide. She knew quite a lot about Toledo and delivered the information in a conversational, easy manner so it didn’t feel like a class. She also told us of real estate problems; it’s hard to sell/buy apartments in the center of the city because of so many hills and young families don’t want to schlep strollers,...
Read MoreMadrid, Spain – Day 3
This morning was a little slower than I had hoped. I did get up on time but packing the suitcase took longer than I had anticipated. Somehow, the same amount of stuff didn’t want to be confined in the same amount of space as previously. I don’t really understand it, but it all worked out. So once I checked out of my non-tour hotel, I went to my tour hotel (the hotel where the tour participants assemble and where the tour begins). When I got to the hotel, my room wasn’t ready which I expected, since I arrived around 9:30, so I left my luggage in the luggage room and left on my city exploration. I decided to go to the Prado museum, as was per my original...
Read MoreSegovia, Spain – Day 2
I got up bright and early today, hoping to get an early start and see as much as I can. One of the things that was recommended to me was to try “churros con chocolate” at Chocolateria San Gines. This being a very famous chocolateria, I was able to find it online and checked the hours (open all day). So when I got there at around 7:15 am and they had their metal gate almost all the way down, I got a little suspicious. I asked a person who was walking out if they’re closed and he said that they close between 7 am and 9 am to clean. Oh well, it will have to wait. On to the train station I proceeded. (The Spanish public transportation within the...
Read MoreMadrid – Finally! – Day 1
I finally made it! It took a few miracles, for which I’m quite grateful, but I’m finally in Spain! In Madrid, to be precise. I got in somewhat early in the morning, around 9 AM and by the time I double-checked all the directions on how to get to the hotel and made my way there, it was past 10. My hotel (Hostal Las Fuentes) was near Puerta del Sol, so that’s the metro stop I used as my orientation point. Once there, I saw a phone store and went to see if I can purchase more minutes for my phone. Turned out that this particular store wasn’t going to work and they directed me to another, where I was able to purchase a new sim card with 20 minutes on...
Read MoreEdinburgh and Rosslyn Chapel – Day 8
This is Allan, our tour guide for a few hours in Edinburgh. Oh how I wished he were our tour guide the entire tour as opposed to the few hours in the morning in Edinburgh. Several people shared my sentiments. We were so sad to see him go. This guy was informative, interesting, coherent, engaging, enthusiastic to share the beauty of his city, helpful, genuinely interested to be here and share his knowledge and just delightful; in essence, everything our guide wasn’t. [Oh don't get me started; I wrote a 3-page, single-spaced, letter to the tour company describing all the shortcomings of the tour guide.] Our tour started with a drive which saw us disembark at...
Read MoreScottish Highlands – Day 7
Today started out with a promise. We were on out way to visit a shepherd! If you’ve been reading my blog with any regularity, you’ll have noticed my fascination with farms and people who run them and keep some kind of animals for food and profit. Though this particular stop was an optional excursion, in retrospect, this was absolutely, hands-down, the best part of the guided tour (yes, even better than seeing the Magna Carta). This man has 33 dogs, all of which he trains himself. He has special whistles and verbal command and each dog has some commands that are unique to that dog. Oh those dogs! They’re so well-trained, and so...
Read MoreGlasgow, Scottish Highlands – Day 6
Ugh. Today it rained all day, which means the two optional excursions that I purchased (one a boat ride on Lach Lomond and cable car ride to the top of Ben Nevis mountain) were canceled. One would think that there would be a back-up plan of some sort, since this is the first tour of this kind in Scotland, and it’s fall, and it rains in Scotland, especially in the fall. Needless to say, I was very angry about the poor planning. (Still am.) So we drove around and the bus would drop us off in shopping areas. I didn’t come here to shop! I really didn’t like that at all. Trying to make something positive come out of this miserable day, I thought...
Read MoreLake District, Glasgow – Day 5
I was a little disappointed today with the trip. The Lake District is supposedly some of the most gorgeous land in England and it looked like Door County in Wisconsin. Maybe it was just me, but I saw nothing special in the little train ride on a coal engine, nor did I see anything special in a boat ride from the train to where the bus picked us up (which was about halfway up the lake). The train was dirty with worn out seats and the coal produced an unpleasant scent. Had I known, I wouldn’t have purchased this optional excursion. We were on Lake Windemere (or Lach Windemere) and it has some beautiful houses along the shore, just like we do back home. Granted, we...
Read MoreBristol, Chester, Llangollen – Day 4
This morning it rained and was pretty chilly. Despite the weather, hearty Bristol residents ran in some kind of a race. I think it was for charity, but don’t remember. But the main attraction we saw in Bristol was the suspension bridge. And it was a nice bridge. But this is all we saw in Bristol. Don’t get me wrong, I love bridges, it’s when my “inner-geek” feasts. I so wish we could have seen more of the city though. And wish it hadn’t rained quite so much so I could have gotten out of the bus for more than two minutes to snap a picture. But oh well. After seeing the bridge we were off to see a ruin of an abbey. This...
Read MoreStonehenge, Salisbury, Bath – Day 3
This is the first day where I met the rest of the group and the tour guide.Her name is Pamela and she is very nice. The bus driver is Collin and he has a bit of a thicker accent, but still very understandable. Our first stop this morning was Stonehenge. When we drove up, we saw a wire fence around it and it turns you have to pay about 10 pounds to not have the fence in your field of vision. But even if you pay, you still can’t go up to the stones really close, you’re still about ¼ mile off. So, our tour guide told us that we’d get essentially the same view if we just walk up to it and just stand by the fence. So I did that. And found a hole in the fence and...
Read MoreCotswalds – Day 2
The started off too early since I only got about 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep since Wednesday. But it was wonderful to see the English countryside all enveloped in fog with fields and livestock coming into view as if a curtain had be drawn to reveal the hidden gems. After that short drive in the countryside, it was time to catch my train (from Bristol Temple Meads to Cheltenham) where Bob, my private tour guide for the day was waiting. (Before I left home, I did some research and contacted several private and semi-private tour operators and selected Diamond Tours.) Once I arrived at the station, off we went on the tour. The itinerary included the following...
London – Day 1
The flight into London was actually not that bad. It was a direct flight and I think that helped make it not so bad. The food, of course, was abysmal. For dinner, there was a chicken and rice dish of questionable ‘heritage’ (was it Indian? was it Asian? was it Italian? couldn’t really tell) and the breakfast was just gross. It really was. It was just a tub of yogurt (which was really sour to my taste) and a tiny mini-loaf of banana-scented “bread”. The reason bread is in quotes is because I’m not sure how else to refer to it but it wasn’t a pastry and it was the size of a deck of cards. I’m so glad I packed my own...
Read MoreFlorida Sunsets
As promised, this post will be about sunsets. They were the most amazing I’ve ever seen. I like the softness of this sunset. It was amazing. I use this word a lot. But it’s true. People pulled off to the side of the road, their mouths open, just to witness this magnificence. I was one of them. This one too had my mouth agape. Do you see the couple at the bottom of the picture on the right? That couple had the right idea. They had a couple of cold drinks, a blanket, and sandals. I had a lot of open-jawed moments around sunset time in Florida. This one is yet another. The clouds this day put on such a display. The picture doesn’t do it justice....
Read MoreFt. Myers – Day 5 – in Immokalee
So today I did get up a little earlier than usual and did get out the door earlier than the previous days. I wanted to make sure I made it to the Corkscrew Sanctuary and then had enough time to head back to Sanibel Island for a tram tour with Tarpon Bay Explorers. Since there is about an hour and a half or so ride between the sanctuary and Sanibel Island, I wanted to leave plenty of time for the 2.25 mile walk in the sanctuary and drive back. The sanctuary was so peaceful and gorgeous and perfect in the morning light. Not too hot even though it was a swamp, but in the shade it was perfect. Though, I must admit, there were mosquitoes. Not as many as I expected but...
Read MoreFt. Myers – Day 4 – Somewhat wasted
The day, not me. I got a really late start on the day, but I don’t really mind because the reason was a good book. And besides, this is a vacation; no schedules, no timelines, no due dates… But by the time I got out of the hotel, it was time for lunch. So being a little adventurous I decided to check out The Parrot Key restaurant. I was really hesitant for all the kitch and “tourist trap” written all over it. I mean, how good could the food be at a place that specializes in Pirate dinner cruises and deep sea fishing? But my fears were allayed when I saw several tables full of coast guard members. Coast guard = locals. If locals eat there, I...
Read MoreUpdates
Ok, so my vacation is coming to an end fairly soon and I haven’t really kept up with the blog. But I’m just too tired after all the sightseeing and eating and driving. I’ll have to update when I get a chance, maybe even this evening, but at some point in the near future. I’ve also been quite disappointed with my pictures. Half of them are either blurry or overexpose and the other half didn’t capture what I intended. I’ll keep trying though. Share this:
Read MoreFt. Myers – Day 3 – The beach on Sanibel Island
I seem to be getting rather late starts to the day on this vacation. It could be that I’m dreadfully tired all the time and need to catch up on my sleep. Today was no different. A late start again. Oh well.The weather was gorgeous and I decided to go to the beach. The thing is, I hate tanning. I know, I shouldn’t go to the beach then. But I love to be near water and hear the waves and be warm. Maybe I was a fish in a previous life. Unfortunately, the water was too cold for me to swim. But I slathered SPF 60 sunscreen on and sprawled on the beach towel and warmed my bones. It was also a great time to read the book I started on the plane. My friend...
Read MoreWhat should I do? Ft. Myers – Day 2 – Naples
It rained overnight and is overcast now. Bummer. I seem to bring precipitation where ever I go on my vacations (it rained in the desert in Israel, it’s raining here). So I’ll have to find something I can do that doesn’t require lots of sunshine. So after a lazy morning I decided to drive to Naples. I took a scenic drive, through Fort Myers Beach. Little touristy shops, restaurants, hotels, and motels dotted the way. In Naples, I stumbled upon a seafood shop which also happened to make something out of their fresh catch (Captain Kirk’s Stone Crabs Fresh Seafood Market). The very friendly lady at the counter was very helpful in explaining the...
