Sunday, December 20, 2015

Peru Christmas 2015 Day 2

When we woke up, it was late for the breakfast we were supposed to have at Donna and Edwin's house. However we got cleaned up and headed over and were able to have a quick snack there before we went to San Borja to attend a VIP showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Edwin had gotten the tickets which included the show and 4 popcorn and soda combos.  The theater was Cineplanet.  We arrived with a couple minutes to spare and Daniela and Donna got the food and were a couple minutes late. Edwin and I took pictures with the costumed characters that were posing with people for the show. The costumes weren't bad. The stormtroopers and Darth Vader were both very good. Maybe Boba Fett wasn't so great but not bad anyway.  The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles so I was safe. The few spots of alien language that had subs had both too.

Not getting into heavy details. I will say I liked the movie. It had some issues but nothing too glaring and was overall fun. Unlike in episodes 1, 2 and 3 I actually wanted the characters to succeed in this movie.  It did maybe feel a little bit long at some points but not in the same way that I felt that both of the Avengers were too long.  I would say if you are a Star Wars fan that didn't like episodes 1, 2 and 3 like I am then you may still actually like this one.

After the movie we had to go to a shopping area because Donna was having the dress done for her wedding and they needed to be with the seamstress for the fitting and adjustments and such.  So Edwin and I walked around and he shopped for ties and shoes but only succeeded on shoes by the end. In the middle we ate lunch at a place called Maria Pastor which has pretty much all the Peruvian standards. We had a sampler plate with ceviche and fried calamari and causa on it. I had the lomo saltado which was quite good. Daniela had chaufa con mariscos which is chinese style rice with shellfish.  Edwin and I had beer and Daniela and Donna had chicha morada.  After lunch was done it was back to the seamstress for them and Edwin and I were able to find some shoes for him.  We still couldn't find a tie so we went to a mall near their house and went to Ripley and Saga Falabella and found something that worked in Saga so bought that.

After the mall it was on to their house where we had a dessert and coffee. I had an piece of apple pie and Daniela had a passion fruit cream pie.  Edwin bought the desserts from a shop down the street.  So we stayed and talked for a while before we headed back to Daniela's house for the night and I think I passed out instantly.

Peru Christmas 2015 Day 1

Flightline picked us up at around 6:45am. The traffic was actually fairly light so the ride in was not too bad.  They didn't give any passes to Daniela at United in regards to security or boarding group specifically but I was able to get her through the Premier lines for both boardings during the day.  Check-in was quick as was security due to the Premier line. We couldn't do TSA Pre because they didn't give that to Daniela.

We got breakfast at one of the places in the terminal. I had an English muffin, bacon and coffee and Daniela had a bowl of fruit and a cappuccino.  That was fine and by the time we were done we were on to theoretical boarding time.  However the plane was not in the gate. It had arrived the night before at 8pm so it really made no sense that it wasn't ready. The wait for that and the delays to get the luggage on board made us probably an hour or so late.  Fortunately we had a long layover in Newark.  The flight was something I slept through. I didn't even take note of the types of planes on these flights.  The trip to Newark was pretty much over before it started.

At Newark we both found lunch at a cafeteria/self serve type place but I desperately tried to find something else. There was nothing that was get food quick in the terminal I could find so I ended up back there as well.  She had a salad type thing from the bar they had and I had a steak and cheese with peppers. It was very greasy and I should have gone for the pizza. We boarded on time and the plane left without an issue.  Though I slept through the majority of the flight I will say it was a mostly bumpy flight that didn't smooth out until it was about 3/4 of the way through or maybe further.  I wanted to watch some Japanese movies on the entertainment system but the foreign films didn't work even after they rebooted the system.  My unit didn't work until I asked them to reboot it about 5 and a half hours into the nearly 8 hour flight.  I ended up watching Minions because by the time I was going to watch something I needed something short. I had seen it before of course so it was not important if it ran longer than the rest of the flight.

We got through the security line before a large plane or two followed us so that wasn't too bad. We got our suitcases and cleared the customs in short order.  After about a 10 minute wait Daniela's family arrived in Lucho's car and we were able to get all the suitcases in and at least her mother, brother, Daniela and myself in the car. Donna and Edwin took a taxi to the house. We got our stuff inside and they made some popcorn and we had some wine and talked for a while before I being totally exhausted went to bed not long after her mother.  Daniela stayed up a while longer I am sure.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Picture Posting

The links for recent picture albums in Shutterfly.







Miami Day 6

I do have to get some pictures off the cell phone to complement the actual camera pictures.  I will try to get those soon.



Miami 2015 Day 8

We woke up and started getting packed for the trip home. We had to check out by 11am.  Before we could really check out I needed to get a new debit card to replace the missing one. So we walked over to the Bank of America near the police station in Sandy Isles Beach and I got in the queue to get something. Daniela took a short walk to a gas station and bought some snacks with the last of our cash but amazing the wait was really short. The lady that helped us was very nice and quick and it was only a few minutes before I had a temporary debit card and some cash in hand.

We started the walk back and decided to stop for breakfast at El Mega Chuzo.  They do have a breakfast menu but most of that is scrambled eggs. I am not nuts about the concept and had instead salchipapas which is basically hot dogs and french fries.  It was actually a very large serving and very good.  Daniela had a tamale.  We had coffee and juice to go along.  When we finished eating we got back to the hotel and tried to get checked out.  Unfortunately we were 10 past 11 and the door was already locked so I went down and got in the giant check-out line and Daniela got the key turned back on and got the bags. Since the line was massive it took a while to get out.  Eventually I did get through. We got the car from valet and drove out to a couple of different malls to kill time since we were well ahead of the time for the plane which was departing at 7:50pm.  We killed time till eventually we got to the airport, filled the rental with gas and turned it in.

We checked into the airport with little problem then made our way to a gate area where we could charge phones. Daniela walked around a little bit and I and just waited. After a bit we had lunch at Shula's where I had a burger and beer and Daniela had tea because she was only hungry for a snack. So she found a bakery and bought a couple things. Not much longer and we were on the plane which took off on time and landed on time after an uneventful flight that both of us mostly slept through.  The Flightline van was there and waiting and we were home before long. Still it was near midnight when we got home and I needed to get sleep to get to work the next morning.

Miami 2015 Day 7

This was supposed to be an easy day to relax but instead we started off by me canceling the corporate card I forgot to cancel then night before then walking over to the police station to try to file a report. We were given the number to the Port Everglades police dispatch who took information and gave us the number to the ferry terminal which we had already called with little luck.  So we got the rental car and then drove to the port to speak to people directly.  Of course just as you might expect the people at the ferry terminal were not really much help. We found out they don't have any security cameras in the terminal especially where the security line goes. They called up other people who said they didn't have any turned in wallets.  It was a few minutes of basically finding out as much as we could have already figured out. That the wallet was gone and there would be no finding it at all.  So from there we took a turn at the port police. We were able to find an officer directing traffic at an exit to one terminal and he explained how to get to the local area police station and that he would call another officer to meet us there.

We drove to the police station and officer S. Jackson did meet us there and he wrote out a report of our incident to be submitted to the police report.  He was definitely a bit older and you could see he was fighting with using the computer a bit but still he managed to get it done. I realized still that this process would just put it in the books but no police work would go beyond that report. I am not surprised by it but mostly disappointed with the lack of security cameras in the terminal.  

After this couple of hours had passed we drove back to the hotel and after getting the car parked walked over and had lunch at El Tropico which was a Cuban restaurant. I had the churasco and Daniela had a liver dish which I cannot remember the name of at the moment. She had some fresh juice and I had a Presidente or two.  The food was very good and I was unable to have dessert at the amount I ate.

After we got back to the hotel I asked permission to turn on the AC and crash for a bit, which is what I did. I was exhausted and rather annoyed still and the cooler air with the AC gave me the first respite I had from the temperatures of Miami for sleeping and I slept well.  Daniela took a long walk along the beach and was on her way back when I finally woke up a few hours later. 

When she got back we sat out on the balcony and watched the end of a wedding reception from a wedding that was held on the beach at the hotel.  Then we started to watch the movie Good Will Hunting. The surf was sort of loud for the speakers of the laptop and we ended up moving inside to hear better. After the movie it was bed.

Miami 2015 Day 6

We had to get up really early because we were going to take a day trip to the Bahamas and the pick up was at 5:45am. This trip is done through a ferry ride to Grand Bahamas. The ferry ride takes about 3 hours. The ride to the ferry terminal in Fort Lauderdale area took maybe half an hour and then we went through check-in at the ferry port. That was quick but very low tech. I have to say this now though we didn’t discover it until much later. I think either the security people or the couple in front of us stole my wallet and credit cards during the security line while the man in front of us took forever to go through the metal detector. It was something I didn’t discover then but after we got to the restaurant on the other side of the ferry ride. It is also possible they were stolen from our bag while we were sleeping on the ferry but that would be unusual based on where we placed the bags.  I am quite pissed about it but there isn’t much we can do but cancel the cards and such. My license was already expired and I was working with a temporary until I got home. Will hit the remainder of the saga for day 7.

The terminal wait was like 1 and half hours which begs the question why we had such and early arrival but it was uneventful. We bought some bad instant coffee stuff from a machine while we waited. We boarded and found a spot on the boat that allowed for us to stretch out and as I said mainly slept the whole ride. I bought a ham and cheese sandwich and a muffin and some coffee and orange juice which we ate quickly before we departed though. The ferry was enclosed and there wasn’t really much to see so we slept the whole trip through really.

When we arrived we disembarked and were checked for our passports again and then it was pretty much through to the parking lot where our shuttle to the beach area had not yet arrived. We waited for them for about 10 to 15 minutes which I think is kind of sad.  They know what time the boat is going to arrive so they have little excuse for being late. Still the driver was funny and explained a small amount about the Bahamas and the island.  The ride was maybe 15 minutes or so.  He dropped us off and said he would take folks to a great restaurant he suggests called the Afterdeck. We needed rest rooms to change and such so we followed him to the restaurant. We got changed in their bathrooms and then decided to eat there anyway.


I had to two of their Kalik beers which is local Bahamas and the fish and chips. Daniela had grilled grouper which she really liked. The fish and chips were nice too. This was where I figured out my stuff was missing.  Still we were in the Bahamas and there was not much we could do about it there. We had not time for it to happen in the Bahamas so it had to happen at the terminal. I have no doubt it happened in the security line.  In any event after lunch we walked around and did quick souvenir shopping then headed to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon basically in the water in front of a hotel that let us use their beach chairs.  It was a nice afternoon. The water was just cool enough to counteract the heat out. We saw a ray and some other fish in the water. It was amazing how crystal clear the water was. Honestly I couldn’t believe how easy it was to see to the bottom even at a depth where I was standing in shoulder deep water.  We finished up and got back to the restaurant where we changed in their bathrooms again. The power was out so it was interesting. Apparently the power was down in the whole town of Lucaya which is where we were.  We met the really drunk Brazilian at this point. From San Pablo he was very loud. He had limited English but it was funny. He was rather loud the whole shuttle ride back to the ferry. I do not think it was obvious to everyone he was gay though because he appeared to be hitting on the German girls that were on the trip.  Still it was funny all the same though maybe it got a little bit old by the end.  Boarding the ferry back was a lot quicker. They had no power so the security lines were quicker and they just had us go right out and get on the boat from the car entrance (I suspect because they couldn’t work the gate stuff.  We waited only a little while before we got going and then bought some snacks from the duty free shop (nuts, chips, cookies, candy) then fell asleep for a large part of the return trip.  When we returned we had a quick shuttle ride and were the first stop back.  We stopped at the quick mart in the gas station across the street to get some water and food then we headed to the room.  That was where I started canceling all my credit cards before we went to bed.  It was a long day when all was said and done.

Miami 2015 Day 5

We woke up and got prepared to drive to around the Fort Lauderdale area. Today was the day for the Bruins hockey game at the BB&T Arena in Sunrise, FL but also Daniela had a friend from her high school now living around the Sunrise area so we were going to meet her for a little while at the Sawgrass Mills Mall near where she lived. She had to pick up her husband airport so it would be maybe an hour or so. Not long enough to have lunch but at least a snack.  Her name is Pamela. I met her and they started to talk about old times in Spanish so I wandered the mall for a little while, mostly looking in the bookstore near the food court.  After maybe an hour or so I came back and Pamela was ready to leave so we said goodbye and Daniela and I went in search of lunch.  I didn’t want to eat food court food so we found the Cheesecake Factory and ate there. I had chicken and biscuits and Daniela had a fish dish.  The food was decent but not spectacular and I felt like I had a huge bubble in my stomach for the rest of the afternoon. I did have 2 Sam Adams Octoberfest beers but I don’t think that is enough to cause that. 

When we were done eating we did some actual shopping through the mall which is quite large. We did buy a couple things at the outlet stores they have. At the Nautica store we found out the Arena was literally across the street from the mall. Pamela said it was close but not that close.  It turns out when I checked that the distance was about 10 minutes by walking. The guy said a lot of people park at the mall to go there and security doesn’t do anything about it. We did a bit more shopping until it was getting close to the time to go to the game. When we were done we went to the car and I put on my Bruins jersey and Daniela changed to warmer clothes. 

The walk really was only about 10 minutes, but the first road leading out of the mall had a lot of trees that had spiders that were black and yellow striped and no word of a lie at least 4 inches and probably more like 6 inches on the leg spread.  I was horrified and so was Daniela. Not willing to get too close and the light starting to fail we took some pictures from a distance away that I am not sure will do them justice.   Still we had to press forward and get through to the arena. It was not a pleasant part of the day but we did make it uninjured somehow. I suppose the spiders took pity on us.

We got to the arena and they had a bunch of kids’ activities out front that you would rarely see at an everyday game in Boston. I suspect that they are trying to drum up more interest in the sport with the youngsters because they don’t have the already decades long history that the Boston area has. We got inside and found the seats really quickly. Daniela went for food while I watched the warm up skate.  We got popcorn and a hot dog and a couple of cokes for the game.

The bruins scored first on the power play and again on the power play both were goals by Brad Marchand.  They got one more goal by Zdeno Chara and then the Panthers scored one goal and that was it. The Bruins had a couple of 5 on 3 penalty kills and failed on the first one but that was it for the rest of their PK time. They ejected Marchand from the game for a boarding penalty with 2 minutes to go. 5 minute major and game misconduct.  I didn’t really get to see the play.  The Bruins killed those penalties too but even with the free icings did not manage to score an empty netter. But they did win 3 to 1.  The fans overall were quiet in comparison to Boston fans. We had some folks near us in section 324 that had cowbells and did small chants but there appeared to be more Bs fans than there were Panthers fans.  There was one obnoxious guy in the back but as it became apparent the Panthers were going to lose he sort of quieted down.


We walked back through a similar area that had the spiders we walked out of but this one appeared to not have any or at least as many.  We got back to the car and drove back with a limited amount of traffic trying to get on to 95 south that probably took us an extra 10 minutes beyond what it should have.  We got in an pretty much crashed soon after.

Miami 2015 Day 4

We woke up a bit earlier than other days because we needed to get cleaned up and ready for a city tour. A small tour van came to pick us up at 8:30am and we were taken to the main office of the tour company. There we had a few minutes then were picked up by a double decker open topped bus for the first part of the tours we were taking which was a city tour.

On the city tour they explained a little about the city. That the name Miami was from an Indian word meaning sweet water. The guide was funny and told a lot of jokes.  The tour showed us South Beach for the Art Deco architecture.  The day included a lot of celebrity chasing by mentioning the houses that belonged to so and so and where certain TV show and movie scenes were shot as much as anything else. After South Beach it was on to the Coral Gables where we saw houses adorned with coral or even made with coral because the area was filled with it from prehistoric times as the location was once completely under water a few million years ago. It was neat to see it all.  After the Coral Gables it was on to Little Havana which had the primary aim of getting us into a Cuban cigar shop. Don’t smoke so didn’t buy any cigars (blech) but did get to taste and chose to buy some Cuban coffee.  After the cigar shop a bit more about Little Havana which was the primary stopping point for Cuban immigrants but is now the major location for a lot of Central and South Americans who come to the US because they don’t have to learn English to be there.

The city tour brought us to Biscayne Bay where we were told to get lunch at the Tradewinds restaurant which we did. They said the restaurant could get us food in time and reasonably priced. I had a Cuban sandwich which was nice and Daniela had a salad with shrimp on it. I had a couple Sam Adams and Daniela had a couple of lemonade type drinks. Nothing was spectacular or terrible in the restaurant but it was pricey due to the lemonade drinks which were $10 each which is kind of scary considering they were non-alcoholic.

From there the tour put us on a cruise ship that sailed around Biscayne Bay.  The tour was about an hour or so. There was a guide who first explained a little bit about the history of the islands in the bay which are almost all man made except for one.  That was the early part of the tour. The remainder and main focus of the ride was to show off mansions from rich people which was probably about 40 minutes of the ride. I am not a celebrity chaser so much. Also many were formerly owned by and not right now.  So while I guess it could be neat it was mainly lost on me.

After the boat tour we had to wait probably another 15 minutes at the port when we were picked up by a different bus who drove us out to the Everglades National Park at a place called Coopertown. At Coopertown we took an air boat ride into the Everglades where we did indeed see several alligators during the tour. The guide was very funny and we had a good time. It was neat the way the boat turns like a drift. I think we saw about 6 alligators out in the wild.  When we got back we were given the chance to hold a gator that was about 3 feet long or so. Then we got to do a small wildlife show which included a baby alligator and boa snake mainly. In all it was a good part of the tour and what I enjoyed the most.  The alligators’ skin is much softer than you think it would be.  They drove us back to the tour office and were then given a ride back to the hotel so it was fairly late by the time we got back. 

We got cleaned up and headed across the street to Pacha Mamma again. This time Daniela had anticuchos and I had aji de gallina.  Hers was better as the chicken was not really shredded for my dish. I liked the flavor of the sauce but the chicken was just cooked and chopped for mine.  We had a couple of Cuscenas as well.  The waiter there suggested we go to “Dassy’s” for the Patriots game and we were able to look it up and find it was only about 15 minutes walking so we decided to visit Duffy’s Sports Grill.  Walking there was a bit treacherous as google maps had us hit the wrong side of the road and we had to cross a highway, but we did make it.

At the bar we had to wait a while to be seated but they had tons of TVs so we could see the game fairly easily.  The game was already started by the time we got there. Apparently Gronk already scored a touchdown just before we arrived.  Obviously there were tons of Dolphins fans there but there were no small number of Patriots fans as well. We ended up getting seated in an area with a lot of Pats fans so it was safer. Still I think the Miami fans are very fair weather and the support for their team seemed limited at best, especially as the game went on and it was obvious the Pats were going to win.  Daniela got the place to sing me happy birthday while we had dessert after the game was over. Since we had eaten at Pacha Mamma it was basically just beers while we were watching the game.


We safely walked back to the hotel on the correct sides of the road.

Miami 2015 Day 3

We woke up later and the weather still wasn’t fully cooperative. It was very windy and cloudy apparently due to a tropical depression hanging around the area. Still we had to basically get ready because we were going to drive to the Sandals home office where we would meet with Silvio and Arlenes who were reps from Sandals we met on the trip to Jamaica.  They offered to take us out to lunch for Cuban food one of our days in Miami. We got ready and then Daniela had to do some work so we basically had breakfast of sorts and then I killed time until it was time to go.

We got the car from the valet and the drive was probably about 50 minutes to just beyond the airport a bit to the south. There was of course traffic but we made it unscathed.  The office was a little difficult to find but we were able to get there. They do not have enough parking spaces for the companies that work in that location it is quite obvious.  We got inside and Silvio took us to a conference room and we chatted about different things until Arlenes was done with her phone meeting. She joined us and Silvio drove us to La Carreta which is a famous Cuban restaurant a few minutes away from their office.

La Carreta has about 5 locations Silvio said. The staff all spoke Spanish as a first language. I had the ropa vieja and Daniela had something called vaca frita de pollo which if translated literally means fried cow of chicken.  It means that it was a shredded chicken dish done in the way of a shredded beef dish that is popular for Cubans.  I had mine with black beans and rice. The food was excellent.  Silvio and Alrenes both immigrated from Cuba to the US some years back. They explained a little bit of their thoughts on the island and the potential for it to open back up. It sounds like it is opening but still there is a long way to go. They believe it will happen though because it will benefit everyone.  They explained a bit about working as a travel agent in the US to Daniela and gave her some ideas and some contacts. They were very nice and very helpful too. We tried to pay but they wouldn’t let us.

After we finished lunch we got back in the car and drove to the malls near the airport.  There was the Dolphin Mall and the International Mall. The Dolphin Mall was definitely the better of the two and much larger. Daniela sends a lot of passengers there so she wished to make sure she knew more about them.  After that we headed back to the hotel.

We again had a bit of traffic but not as bad as say the day we got into Miami.  We got in and got cleaned up and changed and then went down to the hotel restaurant, which is Kitchen 305 (the area code of the region).  It was all you can eat lobster night which meant it was very crowded and busy but neither of us wanted lobster. The initial step of getting seated was quick but it took a long time for a server to visit us. They also took a while to get us drinks and food. I had a beer and Daniela had white sangria. I had a grilled swordfish dish with polenta and Daniela had a whole fish fried snapper.  Both fish were fresh but overcooked and hers was on the dryish side. I didn’t care for the fact the fish was dropped right on the polenta for me because it didn’t allow for the separation of flavors.  It took a long time get served through every step and it was very noisy in there.  The good news was that we had the $100 credit from our time served with the sales pitch so it didn’t really cost us any money. I would advise don’t go to this place on one of their all you can eat nights unless you are going for that promotion.

Daniela wanted to go dancing so we took the bus to South Beach which was $2 per person and maybe about half an hour for as long as we went. We then walked around the South Beach area along Ocean Boulevard and Collins Avenue.  We looked at all the restaurants and found that there were a couple of clubs and mostly restaurants. I got the impression from other people it was mostly clubs and only couple restaurants but it didn’t seem that way to us. The most famous club is Mango’s but when we got to it Daniela didn’t seem to like it so we ended up walking down to mostly the end then turning back and getting a drink at one of the restaurants to take a rest because it was a lot of walking and basically very close to midnight at that point. 


When we finished we decided to take a taxi back to the room and call it a night because it was very close to too late for the bus and we didn’t know where to get a stop.

Miami 2015 Day 2

We woke up early enough to get ready for a sales pitch we had signed up for at the time we arrived to the hotel.  The reason we signed up for it was to get a $100 credit at the hotel restaurant and two free breakfast vouchers.  The lady at the concierge said that it would take 90 minutes or so and we were not obligated to buy anything.  I assumed it was the standard time share type sales pitch and I know I have no need for a time share, so it would be 90 minutes for basically $130 or so.

Before the pitch we went to the breakfast restaurant and ate. They have a buffet for $17 a person not including tax and tip. Like most people I cannot eat $17 worth of breakfast food nor can Daniela so we ordered off the menu more reasonably.  I assume the vouchers will be for the buffet.  I had a bagel and bacon and Daniela had the all American. She had orange juice and I had coffee (hers came with coffee too).  We took maybe about 20 minutes and that got us just in time for the appointment.

We had to fill out some paperwork then we were brought upstairs to the penthouse where we received a different sales pitch than I was expecting. Instead of trying to sell a time share they were selling something called Eccentry Holidays. The idea is that you pay a membership cost and then $200 a year and get vastly discounted prices on 4 and 5 star accommodations around the world.  When I say vastly discounted they were showing things like $300 a week or so for many of the places. It would be required to rent for 7 nights/8 days. They have their own deals with lots of properties and it all in all sounds like a great deal. The sales guy was very personable. Former golf pro on Carnival cruise ships.  The pitch also brought a short tour of the property but not much really. A quick look at a renovated condo style room at the Newport Beachside which is an older hotel.  In the end it actually took about 3 hours to get through everything and we did not buy in.  The suggested startup price for 3 weeks as he presented it to us was a bit over $10000 because of Daniela’s student idea (said it was supposed to be for 2 weeks but he could toss another one in). By the way it was the manager that did the offering and not the sales person.  I think 3 weeks typical would be $20000 when I looked at the charts he was pushing around.  We didn’t do it because first it is insane to commit to something like that. Second we will be doing more Peru travel than anything else. Third there is a limitation to the dates of availability of a property it appeared. In any event we earned our dinner and breakfast credits through it all.

After the pitch we walked out to find lunch and went to a Colombian restaurant named Meg Chuzo which is apparently a slang term for Colombian shish kebab. I had something called a maicito which was a mixed bowl of grilled chicken with yellow corn, cheese and a few other things and was quite tasty. I had one Presidente and one Aguila beer each because the Presidente on draft ran out.  Daniela got a soup and an arepa which is meat on a corn tortilla.  However the soup was so filling we took the arepa home.  She had a passion fruit juice too.

After lunch we walked to the supermarket and bought some water, fruit and cheese then headed back to the hotel.  We got changed and headed down to the ocean.

It was still very very windy out so we tested the water which was warm but ended up in the outdoors Jacuzzi for a little while then in the regular pool for a while as well.  They both were heated as far as I could tell.  After a long while in the pool we got back to the room and showered and dressed and got a quick dinner at the restaurant bar at the pier because we were trying to be quick so Daniela could Skype with her sister. Unfortunately her sister got detained and we rushed for little reason. We sat out on the pier area at first but it was too windy and moved to a place protected by the building. There I had a bacon cheeseburger and Daniela had a grilled chicken panini.  I had an iced tea and Daniela had a hot tea.  They had a guy playing guitar and girl signing which was nice.  The food was ok but nothing spectacular. They did serve me rare like I asked though. One thing to notice in Miami is that every restaurant includes tip in their totals so far. So if you come down here make sure you read the receipts and don’t double tip the staff. 


After dinner we went back to the hotel. Daniela had to do some work on the laptop and I decided to head to bed.

Miami 2015 Day 1

We woke up and packed in the morning because we were being picked up by Flightline at 8:45am. I was able to get my keys to David to keep an eye on the apartment during the week. It is nice to live so close to work.  The car came to pick us up just a couple minutes ahead of schedule. The driver wasn’t really a talker at all but that was fine.  It would be directly part of the commute hours to get there but at least I was not driving.  The ride to the airport had traffic mainly getting on 95 from 3 then from about 28 down to the HOV lane on 93. The driver used the HOV lane which I am sure saved us about 15 minutes or maybe more on this drive rather than taking the regular lanes.  The airport was not crazy busy and we used the automatic check-in kiosk with no issues and dropped off our bag quickly. Because I bought both tickets this time we got TSA Pre and the security line was quick and easy with no shoe or laptop removals.  Inside we found the Cisco Brewery restaurant was serving breakfast and decided to eat there. They were not fast but the food was ok. I had a bacon melt and Daniela had a full breakfast. Coffee for both and a banana and orange smoothie for Daniela.  By the time we finished and settled it was already boarding time and in moments we were on the plane.

The plane departed on time. It was a 737 that was of course full. There were a few bumps but both of us basically slept through almost all of the flight. It was uneventful is the easiest way to put it.

This was my first attempt getting out of Miami airport in all the times I have been to it. We had to take a tram to baggage check then we had to figure out to go upstairs to the walk that was almost as long as the airport which brought us to another tram that took us to the rental car pickup.  Since I am an Avis Preferred we already had our Ford Fusion in space C8.  Getting out was quick. I was worried because my current license expires before we are done with this trip but I have a temporary with me (I also brought my passport).  The guy gave me no issues though. There was a crap ton of traffic getting from the airport to the hotel. I think we met into the start of commute time which kinda sucked.  I think it took about an hour to get what google maps GPS said would take about 30 minutes without traffic. Still we made it there and it was pretty direct. 

We chose to use the valet parking at the Newport Beachside Hotel which is $25 per day versus $20 for self parking.  I am not sure if renting was totally going to be a good idea for the whole trip. I did see that they have a rental booth for the hotel so might have been able to rent for the guaranteed drives we had to do anyway.  In any event, it took longer than it should have to check us in. They were apparently still cleaning rooms from previous checkout and the girl had a hard time finding us one with the ocean view like we reserved. Fortunately we got room 402.  By the time we got checked in Daniela had already gotten us into a tour of the facility for the next day (presumably to get us to come back again but including a $100 credit to the hotel restaurant and a free breakfast each if we did it by noon the next morning).

We got to the room which is nice but maybe a little run down (not bad just obviously not been redone in a few years).  It has a separate living room and large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub.  We got changed and decided to walk around to find dinner. We managed to go maybe 10 minutes away where we fond Pacha Mamma (spelled with 2 Ms) which is a Peruvian restaurant and I knew we were eating there today on our anniversary day.  We sat outside. The waiter and chef were both Peruvian which was nice. We got a bottle of red wine and started with a trio of ceviches, plain, with rocotto and with yellow aji.  They were the best ceviche we had in the US. The waiter had us get the corvina which is a traditional ceviche fish in Peru.  He kept us down to only one main dish because he said two would be too much for us so we got the seco de cordero (braised lamb shank).  It was excellent. It was served with beans and rice and yukka along with a small salad of red onions and tomato.  We were very close to full by the time we finished this.  To finish out we tried their picarones which were not on the menu but they turned out to be standard wheat based fried dough with a sugar based sauce on them. They were good but not proper picarones.  Oh well, no place can be perfect.  So we finished with a coffee each then walked up strip to a point where it turns to a bridge then back down by the beach when we found a way in. I think the walk was an hour and a half or so.


When we got back to the room the front desk had given us a bottle of champagne for our anniversary so we opened that then we tried out the Jacuzzi then called it a night.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Washington DC 2015 Day 3

Again it was breakfast at the hotel. This time waffles, sausages, eggs, fruit, sweet potato fries and of course more coffee.  The other guests were more talkative this morning and we talked about a lot of different things with each other and with Keith the owner of the hotel.  It was interesting conversation that covered politics and economics and education and so on.  I could tell the other guests were on the conservative side and that Keith was in between on it.  I am sure I have not yet mentioned he is black but he definitely understands both side of the argument better than I ever would be able to.  

We headed out this morning to go straight to the Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights as our primary focus. On the way we saw a bunch of children playing xylophones at a very tiny (smaller than the Billerica one) farmer's market.  We watched them play a couple of songs before continuing on to the Archives.  When we got there we had a long line of people trying to get in (you get screened for security purposes) and it probably took about half an hour or so before we were actually inside. We headed straight to the rotunda and had to wait maybe another 5 to 10 minutes to be let in to see the documents. It is tough to read the actual Declaration of Independence because it is so faded and the only signature you can really see at this point is the John Hancock.  The rest of it is just so faded it is tough to see much. They had a replica for easier reading as well as many panels of explanation.  The Constitution was more legible by far as is the Bill of Rights.  It was great to finally see them. We spent quite a while in the rotunda.  I was the guy that listened to the guards and just wandered around to see things rather than forming up in a line like a lot folks did. People didn't get bad about me pushing in around here and there though so it was cool. 

We also went to the exhibit on alcohol in the US including the Prohibition.  Downstairs we visited the exhibit which included the Magna Carta and also was a treatise on liberty and civil rights. It was very jam packed with information and took a while to go through.  We visited the Archives gift shop and then headed out for lunch.  The visit took a few hours all over again.

We had seen a restaurant called China Chilcano in our travels the previous day. It had a logo that included the Nazca lines.  Daniela wanted to go there so we headed to it. It was only a couple blocks from the Archives on 7th street.  We got in quick and were seated. I ordered a chilcano (it was a touch weak) and Daniela started with a chicha morada then on to a pisco sour. The waitress talked us into trying a tasting menu.  This would be $55. Entrees were about $15 or so so it sounded like a good deal. .She said it would be great for two people. I need to emphasize that for later.  I asked about the chef and it is Jose Andres.  He is a Spaniard and not Peruvian. I hit this as a warning sign but Daniela was still excited so we picked up the Chilcano tasting menu. I should point out the theme of the restaurant is the fusion of Peruvian, Chinese and Japanese cultures in Peru.  There is no doubt they have their own form of Chinese food called chifa.  The name suggested the restaurant would have chifa to Daniela and myself so that is partially why she wanted to try it. The idea of a bowl of chaufa which is what they call fried rice Peruvian style was very appealing to her.  The tasting menu started with a causa each.  This is a potato with meat over it dish down with yellow potatoes.  It was nice but they were very small. I bite or two at best. This was followed by a Chinese spoon of ceviche which was not really enough to get a good feeling about it. The ceviche had no spicy in it which is a must for the Peruvian. Also Daniela felt the fish was overdone in the acid though I am not sure there was enough for me to notice that. We received a pork shumai dish and a vegetable gyoza dish both off which had 4 pieces and I wasn't crazy about them too much but they weren't offense. There was a dish of aeropuerto (airport as you may have guessed) which is fried rice with noodles on top. Almost no rice in it. A cold rice noodles dish came but neither of us liked it and she said she had never seen it in Peru. Then a short fat rice noodle dish that had tomatoes and eggs. Very sweet sauce but not terrible.  There was sugar snap peas but prepared separately from either the rice or noodles. Those were decent.  The next dish was aji de gallina and it was reasonable but the texture was wrong. It did have the olive and some potato. I think it must be tough to get actual hen and prepare it correctly in the US so it was just chicken.  I liked it but I expected the aji sauce to be more creamy and accurate.  We were supposed to get lomo saltado and another saltado with shrimp but something happened and our ticket got lost we were told and over a half an hour later we still had nothing. It was getting late and we wanted to see the White House before it got dark so we had a brief conversation with the waitress and she agreed to cancel the rest of the meal and cut us down to the lower tasting menu as well as to remove a round of drinks for the extended delay that was not fixed after two attempts.  That was when the bill was handed to me and I found out the tasting menu was supposed to be per person. I can honestly say there is no way I would have ordered a tasting  menu for me at $55 in the first place but even more so when I saw the size of portions in the tasting menu. We complained to the waitress and the manager took the bill down to one order. I explained that they should word it better in the sales presentation as well as on the menu. The manager said they would work on that.  Longest paragraph in the trip and it is about a restaurant. I would say the idea was a good one. And I know Daniela was excited about having Peruvian food but we both left disappointed and upset in the long run.  Worse yet later in the day we both felt funny to the stomach. Basic statement is. Do not go to China Chilcano for 2 reasons.  One it is not really accurate to Peru. Two it was not really a good experience for us for more than just the inaccuracies (we saw the lomo saltado someone ordered had potato chips instead of French fries).

After this failure we marched on to the White house which was just down Pennsylvania Avenue of course. It took maybe 20 minutes from there and we walked around back and then to the front side of it. We found out you can petition your congressman for a chance to visit the White House but we didn't do that before we left so we will do that in a follow visit where we have more time. There are definitely too many museums to visit for a two day trip.  By the time we were done taking pictures we both spoke about our stomach discomfort and decided to head back to the hotel to have some tea bu ton the way found our first and only gift shop in the streets of DC called White House Gifts. So we went in and bought a couple things and had our pictures taken on their presidential sets.  It was cute. Then we headed back to the hotel. We had some tea then I started to write blog entries and decided I was too tired before I finished so went to bed. Daniela had a little bit of stuff to type up as well. I do not feel we did near as much as the day before but we literally lost over 2 and a half hours at the restaurant when all was said and done there and it ate up most of the prime time to do anything.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Washington DC 2015 Day 2

We started off the day with a breakfast in the Mount Vernon Square Bed and Breakfast. They served sausages, toasted croissants, grits with cheese, scrambled eggs, home fries and fresh fruits.  I had a couple of cups of coffee too.  The food was enjoyable. This morning the other guests all talked only with their own couples so it was a quiet breakfast that passed by.

We got out to the streets and immediately took Keith's directions towards the National Mall as heading to 7th street and working our way down from there. You pass by the Verizon Center but on the way we found the Smithsonian National Art Gallery and Portraits Museum. It was just about to open for the day so we decided to wait the few minutes then entered

Inside the portraits gallery we barely made it through half of the first floor. We went through the modern portraits of celebrities which was mostly photography but there was a painting of Katy Perry (odd choice I felt). After you pass through that it is historical figures working their way forward from the colonial times into the American Civil War and all areas in between. There were portraits of many individuals from Massachusetts and I made sure to read the information beside the pictures for all of those.  I did skip on some folks that made little impact to my memory from other places a bit.  Even then with a fair amount of skipping we took around 3 and a half hours to get the distance we made and decided to get out and have lunch. We went simple and both of us chose to eat from different food trucks right outside the museum.  I had a Philly cheese steak from Phamous Phillies. Daniela got a lamb gyro plate from a Greek food truck. My sandwich was really quite good. Daniela appeared to like her food a lot too. We got there just in time as the trucks were preparing to end their day.

From there we walked to the National Mall by starting out heading toward the Capitol building.  We took pictures from several angles and postulated what was on top of the dome.  It was a bit hard to see because of the work being done on the dome right now but apparently it is a bronze statue of "Freedom."  That I know from Google (how else).  I thought it looked like a skeksi from The Dark Crystal at the angle we could see it from.

We worked our way through the greens area and on to the Washington Monument. We found you can go up to the top but only a very limited number of tickets are issued in the morning and you have to get there very early to get any tickets later on in the day but at least it was nice to be up close to it. If I recall, on my last trip it was roped off because of damage from the recent earthquake.

On we headed to the World War II memorial which is newer in the grounds and in between the Washington and Lincoln monuments.  It is quite large and different from other war memorials in the sense that it is one we can list as a total victory for the USA.  WWI was too limited for us by the time we got into it.  The Civil War has defeat coupled with victory in many respects so it also has some limitations.  I think also there is some significance in the location.  We circled that around then continued our way to the Lincoln Memorial.  When we got there we found there was a tour starting at 6pm run by a US National Park Ranger so I ran up quick and took some pictures while Daniela waited at the sign.  When I got back the ranger was there and she started a tour with maybe 8 of us. This tour is provided free of charge.

The ranger was named Joann and she was originally from Texas where initially she became a ranger at Carlsbad Caverns.  She has been in DC as a guide for 4 years she said. She took us up and around the Lincoln monument and explained about its design and purpose and about the significance of the statue of Lincoln itself as well as the two quotes on the walls inside the monument.  I think Lincoln was a tougher subject for her because she struggled a little bit but she did a good job all the same.

From Lincoln we traveled to the Korean War Memorial. It was already dark by this time and the statues almost looked like ghosts in the darkness. There are 19 statues and 19 panels of etched images on stone in the monument to signify the 38th parallel that was being protected in the Korean "police action" which never officially had the US declare war.  She definitely picked up steam in explaining about the statues and the quotes in the monument.

Then it was on to t he Vietnam War Memorial which is of course the giant list of names of all the soldiers who died of wounds from the Vietnam War.  It is capped off on either end by statues of soldiers and of nurses and is meant to be set in a circle. The beginning and end of the war are both in the middle of the large wall that contains all the names.  It was a bit dark and there were few people around but it is still significant to see it right in front of your eyes.  There were gits left to names there that the guide said are being housed until a museum is complete to display the items. She said one person left a Harley Davidson motorcycle there in tribute to someone fallen in the Vietnam War.

We finished off her tour at the World War II memorial she explained the ordering of the state and territory names in the monument as the order the states and territories joined the US. Of course Massachusetts was one of the Original 13 states so very close to the center which is the seat of honor as it were.  The seat of honor being the stars that each represented 100 dead soldiers in WWII.  That means that there were over 4000 stars in the monument.  When she finished we had lost maybe one or two but still there were 6 of us. She radioed on to a guide at the Martin Luther King jr monument who was going to start an 8pm tour and he waited for us to get there.

This ranger's name was Lowell and he was an elderly man that was so very enthusiastic and entertaining that he captivated more than the official 4 of us that were on the tour at every stop we took. He told his stories in such an animated fashion that you couldn't help but listen to him.  He preached a little bit but in a good way about the responsibilities of the individual to keep moving forward those things that were started by people like Martin Luther King jr, FDR and Thomas Jefferson which were the three monuments on his tour.

He explained about the monument of MLK jr first. This is the newest monument in the Mall and was dedicated late due to earthquake and hurricane causing slight issues in its year of opening which was 2011 I am pretty sure. The moment consists of a mountain which had MLK as part of it but broken free.  Also there are two wings with many of his quotes running up and down each side. It is definitely more interested to enter through the mountain and come around to see the statue of the man than  if we had seen it from the other direction I think.

From MLK we moved on to FDR. He was quite funny through FDR which is a rather large monument that is spread out over a fair distance as it has "rooms" that express the different terms of Roosevelt as president.  From election through the Great Depression and the New Deal and on to WWII and to his death. Lowell most definitely liked FDR as a character in history and had many stories and quotes to share. He said something at each room and as I said he picked up large crowds that stayed until  he was done. He was like a born entertainer.

Between Roosevelt and Jefferson we found out he had  degree in history and said the was embarrassed they paid him to do his job he loved it so much. We chatted about a few different things as the walk between the two monuments takes a few minutes. He knew the proper greeting in Quechua which shocked Daniela (at the end of the our I recorded him saying it for her).  On to Thomas Jefferson which is a single round Roman Pantheon style building he brought us in and explained a bit about the man whom he said he didn't like because he had no sense of humor.  Again we picked up a large crowd of folks who listened to his speech.  He had a few people come over and thank him for what he did while there. It was very funny but I get the feeling the park rangers consider him like that strange uncle you have that needs a little but of caring but is really great to have around. They sent another ranger to help him get back to his car but  he said he was all set.  He helped us got on track to head back to the hotel as well. We really were fans of him as a guide and he is among one of the favorites I've ever had.

Daniela was freezing by this point because Lowell had loaned her his inner fleece jacket for the duration of his tour and she had to give it back. So we took a taxi back to the hotel and she got her own jacket then walked back down to Busboys and Poets (because it was already past 11pm to get something quick to eat.  Daniela had a chicken barley soup and hot chocolate and I had a bacon cheeseburger and a beer.  After we finished eating it was straight back to the hotel to crash for the night from exhaustion. It was a very long day with a very large amount of standing and walking.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Washington DC 2015 Day 1

This trip started with a business trip to Newark, Delaware which finished on Thursday at about noontime. We had already landed on Monday and rented the car and spent the past couple nights in Newark with me involved in a service focused conference which was a great experience and a lot of fun besides.

After getting dropped off at the hotel by my boss we basically got our stuff and packed into the car for a drive down to DC. Since we were leaving at about 1pm the traffic would not be so bad I hoped but there was going to be road construction I was sure.  I didn't bring an actual GPS so we used my phone as a GPS. It gave me a couple of detour around traffic suggestions (I don't have Waze and was just using Google Maps which I think worked fine).  It took us probably about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. The ride was basically uneventful. The last 4 miles through downtown DC were basically the lengthy feeling part as we hit a lot of traffic lights and the roads were narrow.

We got to the hotel and drove around the block twice before I settled on a place to park.  We had to walk a short distance from there and ring the doorbell but we didn't bring our bags because the sign for the Mount Vernon Square Bed and Breakfast was not very large and we wanted to be sure it was the correct place.  We were met at the door by Keith who owns the place. He had me pull the car up to an illegal parking space on the corner to get the bags out then checked us into the room. He gave us a tour of the facility. We are in the Terrace room which does actually have a terrace. He said he does not advertise it because it is not much. Really it is just a nice large place where you can hang out with a small plastic table and chairs. It is starting fall and there are a few leaves and things there.  Still it is nice to have access to outside. Technically terrace has access to the roof by a spiral staircase too but he told us not to go up there so we won't.  After he got us settled he helped me park the car in a private parking area attached to the building (no charge that I know of).  I had to back into a very tight spot but he said we would not need to move the car for the rest of our DC trip because the National Mall is only a 20 minute walk away which was what I was aiming for from the place.

The room is very large. The building is from a bygone era but it adds to the charm feeling like an old brownstone from a wealthier family. He helped me with a map of the area with markings to a few things. We found out he is a hypnotist and gives 2 free hypnosis sessions to guests too. Daniela said he bought the house on auction while it was in really bad shape and he and his wife fixed it up. When they divorced he decided to make it into the bed and breakfast. I think he has done a great job with the decor and feel of the place.  The one oddity is that our private bathroom is on the second floor even though the Terrace Room is on the third floor. It is lockable from the inside and I suspect all the other rooms have their bathrooms internally, it is a quirk that there is no room for the bathroom upstairs or something. The bathroom is very large and much nicer than the bathroom we just had at the Embassy Suites in Newark, DE. It has a shower with a lot of options for regular shower head or water pick and more. There is a lot of room in it too. I am willing to bet a lot of people would be bothered by the situation but as of this point it has not been an issue for us.

Daniela had to do some work for a few minutes then we headed to a local restaurant named Busboys and Poets where we had lunch/dinner. I had Ropa Vieja (shredded beef Cuban style) and Daniela had wild rice and beans with grilled chicken. I tried two local beers and Daniela had 2 fresh squeezed orange juices. The food was really good. The Belgian style beer was bland but the amber lager was quite nice.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel where Daniela unfortunately had a bit of work to do so really just called it a night by that point.

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Jamaica 2015 Day 5

We woke up at 3:45 and I took a shower and got the luggage finished packed and outside for them to pickup for the transfer to the airport. We found the breakfast station and had a couple things and some coffee (there was not much there at 4 in the morning). We found some of the partiers still going and talked to them for a couple minutes before we had to get to the transfer bus. At the bus we had the hour and a half or so ride to the airport which was uneventful.

We got checked in to the flight bought a couple of souvenirs then checked through security and shopped a bit more but we really didn't buy anything. We found the gate and ate breakfast at the Margaritaville restaurant near our gate. I had pancakes and bacon and coffee. Daniela had an egg and cheese sandwich and juice.  We boarded and had a reasonably uneventful flight to Miami on American which was only about 1:15 in the air.

At Miami immigration and customs were some small lines but not too bad really. We got the bags rechecked for Boston then figured out that our flight was departing at 6:40pm (it was 12:30 or so) and not arriving in Boston then. So I got in touch with David and let him know. We tried to change to an earlier flight but it was not possible. We got a quick lunch at the bar and then Daniela took a nap then we wandered for a bit and Daniela had dinner because she really didn't eat the lunch at the Island Chicken restaurant. I got a frosty for dessert from the Wendy's then basically we boarded the plane.

This flight was also a little bumpy but basically uneventful and we slept through a lot of it.  By the time we deplaned and got our luggage it was maybe 10:15 and David was waiting for us and he drove us home forthwith and we really honestly just crashed as soon as we got in, not even bothering to unpack.

Jamaica 2015 Day 4

We had to wake up early yet again because it was the second day of the golf tournament. I went downstairs and had breakfast after showering and Daniela tried to catch up in time and at least got some fruit. We took the bus to the course where they started us off with a group picture at the back stairs of the clubhouse.  The camera would be too close so they tried to prop up a ladder for the photographer to climb to take pictures. There were small trees in the way so they tried to have a bunch of guys hold it up and of course they dropped the ladder and the photographer fell. Fortunately no one got hurt but all of us were wide eyed as they tried this stunt. Fortunately the found a step ladder for a second try and were able to get the picture.  We had a few moments for a bit more coffee of fruit and then off to meet up with Alfred and Shirley again.

They took us out to hole 7 and we started the same 18 holes for the second day of the tournament.  I started out poorly again. I was hoping I had learned enough to become somewhat better by  the start of day 2 but it seemed it was not to be. The drink cart girl showed up and I picked up a couple Red Stripes and started to drink them and surprisingly I started to play better once I took the first sip.  I am not saying I was a pro but I certain was back where I had finished up the day before and gaining a little bit more ability. Juan continued to play but his wife didn't. Juan unfortunately still hadn't learned much and no matter what anyone told him he kept on trying to do things his own way, the same way so really he made teeny improvement but not much. Daniela was getting consistent at hitting the ball and by far was our best putter. She made several of the longest putts we had to make during the day.  We played to probably about hole 2 (around from  7 through 18 and back to 1 again to finish) but Juan and Yanina didn't want to continue because they were afraid we were going to miss a bus back and  not be able to take the excursion they booked. When we got back and found out it was no big deal, Alfred took Daniela and I back out and we finished the last 5 holes really quickly. I was still having some issues and I have a massive left hand slice but still I was making bogies in general.  Alfred rocked and we greatly appreciated all his help. During the course of day two he teased Daniela about the way she laughed and it was very funny.  When we finished up we said goodbye and found that the bus which had the other couple was still waiting so we boarded and got back at the same time as they did.

When we returned one of the Sandals agents, told us they had free spaces on the Dolphin Cove excursion because of cancellations and we were able to sign on and get ready quickly and go to that. The ride was maybe 20 minutes, just a bit beyond Ochi.  We got there and were immediately taken to the prep area and were immediately asked to get our life vests on and get into the water. We had one dolphin in the area. The guide spoke Spanish so I didn't get the name of the dolphin. We weren't allowed cameras or videos during the time. They had their own team to do that. We got pet and kiss and ride the dolphin as at swam among the various things we did. It was maybe 25 minutes to half an hour in the water with the creature but what do you expect for free I guess. Then we had to wait for the bus. They sent us to the picture shack where we found they wanted to charge us $100US for pictures and videos of only 2 people from the tour. We tried to talk them into selling us all for same price so we could split it up but they wouldn't budge so we didn't buy anything. No digital pictures and video is worth $100 that I can think of in this circumstance. I would gladly have paid up to $25 but that was just far too expensive.  When we got to the bus we had to wait for another tour seeing the Jamaican Bobsled area which is Mystic Mountain.  They however started late and we were getting pressed for time and were able to convince the driver to get someone else to get them and drive us back.  So we got back at maybe 5:30 and had to get ready for a party at Ochi where the buses were supposed to depart at 6:15.

The theme of the party was the 20s. We had costumes that were reasonable for the concept as did most of the guests we found out.  We were probably 6:45 by the time we were ready but they still had the one bus to wait for us because a few people had the late excursion issues.  So we piled in and were driven to Ochi where they had a bar set up with the 20s theme. It was well done but it started to rain and they moved us indoors to another bar where the actual guests were a bit surprised to see us all in our costumes. After a few minutes we were brought in for the awards dinner. The hosts spoke about the tournament and Latin American travel agents and a lot of other things though they weren't too long. They gave out awards for the golf tournament. No we didn't win anything.  The dinner started with a trio of appetizers including some fish ceviche (though not Peruvian style).  The main course was a fish wrapped in banana leaves coupled with what they called beef anticuchos or basically skewered meat.  The dessert was a mousse with checkerboard cake. It was all very good and I ate all of it to the clean plate status (except for the banana leaves).  They had a jazz band playing during the dinner and awards time and I got them to play a Sinatra tune which  turned out to be My Way and Daniela and I danced. We said it was our anniversary.  One of the other travel agents got to the microphone and sang my way in Spanish when he realized what song it was. He had an excellent voice. Daniela almost cried through it.

After the meal was over we headed to the Rabbit Hole which is a "speakeasy" bar at Ochi with a big round looking door. We got in and found a place to sit along with a couple of Mexican couples and talked with them about various subjects and had a couple of drinks until they told us the last bus was leaving at about 11:50. When we got back to the room we got ourselves organized and packed and Daniela got her shower before we got maybe an hour and a half or so of sleep to wake up and get ready for the trip back home.

Saturday, October 03, 2015

Jamaica 2015 Day 3

We had to get up and be prepared for breakfast at 7am because today was the first day of the golf tournament.  We made it in time to get something to eat then we had to load onto buses and were driven the 15 minutes or so until we were at the Sandals course in Ocho Rios.  There we were given a chance to get more coffee of quick food (mostly fruit) while the sorted everything out. We were supposed to wear team colors (meaning country colors) for the first day of the tournament. Daniela and I had some Peru shirts that we basically made (not easy to get Peru shirts of the correct color i Boston), but I started out with a Captain America T-Shirt which most folks laughed at quite well. I did indeed switch to Peru colors before we took the group picture and started and all of that though.

We were split up into teams by nationality so we had a couple from Peru where he was a travel agent but she worked for Avianca Airlines.  They were Juan and Yanina. Our caddies were Alfred and Shirley. They were there to give us advise and help us through the game.  We started at hole 7 and had to play through all 18 holes in the course. There were 17 teams and it would have taken to long everyone from 1.  I started as poorly as you would expect with balls rolling on the ground. Eventually though I was doing a fair bit better by the end. I would not say I was good but I was definitely much improved. Alfred did a lot to help me through it all. I still have a fair slice to the left, but it is not as bad as when I started.  We also met a golf pro from the course who played a couple holes with us and  gave us tips and helped us score better for those holes towards the end.  He could easily hit the ball 250 yards plus. He was left handed also which was neat though the last shot he did was right handed using someone else's club and he still hit that as far as the left handed shots he was making. Quite impressive.

The tournament for the day took a few hours and we were among the last teams to finish (not the last but later).  We got the bus back to the hotel and I crashed for the rest of the afternoon while Daniela went down to the beach and the pool. At 8pm we went to the dinner which was buffet Mexican downstairs in the hotel.The chili and the fajitas were good. After that was a couple hours of Fiesta Latina with a DJ who didn't know enough about Latin music but they survived. The party was supposed to move on to Liquid night club in the hotel but it is such a small night club one of the Sandals people called it the closet. We decided to go to the piano bar and have a drink. The pianist played a couple of songs for us and then left. We stayed outside for a few more minutes then headed to the room to get some well deserved sleep after a long day.

Friday, October 02, 2015

Jamaica 2015 Day 2

We had to wake up and be in the hotel restaurant by 7:30 and we were mostly on time. They had a Sesame Street themed breakfast for all of the participants on this trip with all of the decorations set up and a small presentation with a bunch of the characters. They also had clowns making balloon animals and you could pose for pictures with the Sesame Street characters.  The breakfast was buffet but with a couple of egg stations.  It was reasonably good and definitely more American style than anything else with eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and the like.

After breakfast we began our tour of the Beaches Ochos Rios location with an employee of the resort who took us around and showed us the various features of the property. Beaches is definitely geared towards families with kids but it is possible for a couple or a group to have a good time without kids there.  I believe this is a down season for them and the place is mostly empty so they are doing some renovations. I assume Beaches is less expensive than other Sandals resorts.  The place has the theme stuff like the Sesame Street characters but also has all sorts of places for children of different ages as well as nannies and the like to let parents have some time without the children.

After our tour of the Beaches location we were taken on bus to Sandals Ochi property about 15 minutes away and did a tour of those grounds. Meant for people who don't have kids this is the standard all inclusive resort. It has a bunch of restaurants and a beach club as well as a ton of pools. This tour took us around for about 45 minutes or so. We got to see sample rooms as well as other parts of the resort.

From there we were brought to Sandals Plantation location where we first had a buffet lunch that included jerk chicken and jerk pork among other things.  I liked it quite a bit though I think the statement it was spicy did not make sense to most of the Latinos there. They have a different idea of spicy and I agree it was not really that spicy. Not sure how it would be away from a resort.  After the lunch we had a presentation on selling Sandals resorts to people getting married with destination weddings or for honeymooners.

After the presentation we were given a tour of the Plantation resort which was the high end place. They have the really expensive rooms including multiparty suites.  I believe everything there is butler level service and definitely they have access to places in the other resorts as well by shuttle buses.  When we were done the tour we were brought back to the room and we had our afternoon free.

We spent the afternoon at the pool. I sat at the pool bar and talked football for a while as Daniela just swam around and stayed in the water also.  We also bought a couple knickknack things from some sellers there near the pool.

We got cleaned up and ready for our nice night out dinner. We didn't get a chance to pick Kimonos, the teppanyaki restaurant when we selected our location but were able to switch into it when we got downstairs because of some cancellations. The food was really good but our chef was not really so much on the show just yet so I would have to say the two canceled each other out for how I would rate it.  It appeared other tables has much more active and fun chefs. I think the fact a bunch of folks that weren't supposed to go to Kimonos also jumped on and they served them put them short enough of the properly trained chefs that we sort of got stiffed.  But they served chicken, steak and mahi-mahi as the grilled stuff along with rice and vegetables. I had a couple beers.

After we ate we moved on to finding a place to hang out. The group went to a disco which was loud and Daniela and I found a piano bar. We did make it back to the bus in time and were taken back to the hotel where we again tried a disco and found he did not have enough alcohol for some reason and changed over to another piano bar where a lot of folks stayed until fairly early in the morning.  It was a fun time but we had to get up for the next day's events soon.

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Jamaica 2015 Day 1

We had a very early wake up time (3am) to get to the airport for our flight. The way out was Delta and the return would be American Airlines because that was the way to make it cheapest with reasonable arrival and departure times. Beth drove us to the airport and headed into the office early.  We had a moderately long check-in line because we needed to see the desk due to returning on a different airline but still we were through security reasonably easy. I got TSA Pre but they let me through as though I had it even though I couldn't go through that line with Daniela.  I did not have to remove my shoes and did the metal detector rather than backscatter xray.

The flight boarded on time and we ended up getting delayed 15 minutes due to a faulty temperature sensor on a brake. However we slept through the flight to JFK and it was easy.  At JFK we had a brief layover where we are able to got some food then we moved on to boarding where again we could be on time except that while everyone was boarded they weren't ready with the luggage and we had to wait 10 minutes which killed us another half an hour as we got pushed back in line to take off.  I watched Ted 2 and San Andreas during the flight which was supposed to be 3.5 hours but with the take off delays we were in the plane for about 4 or so from when they turned on the entertainment. There were a few bumps on this 737 flight but otherwise it was rather plane.  Ted 2 was good but I still liked the first better and San Andreas was exactly what I expected it to be.

When we arrived we took a bit to get through immigration then got our bag then customs was quick and then we met up with the Sandals people and had to wait maybe half an hour before we got on our bus to Ocho Rios. The ride was about an hour and a half or so? The driver or guide told us about the island some.  We arrived to Beaches Ocho Rios at about 5 I think. We had a short span to get checked in for the events and the hotel then we had an hour and half to rest.

At 6:30 we saw the Sesame Street parade then headed to the water park for buffet dinner and then a dance/pool party for the rest of the night. There was a lot of food including seafood and meats. The food was really good. The chicken, lamb and beef were being cooked at grills.  All the rest was already laid out. We had a red stripe beer as there was a cocktail moment at the end of the parade that was pretty much all the alcohol.

It was then dancing and hanging out for the rest of the night until we crashed hard from exhaustion when we got back to the room.

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Peru Spring 2015 Day 7

We started later again because it was Good Friday holiday here. I had the second piece of pizza and some coffee for breakfast and watched the video of our wedding we got a few weeks before. It had some errors we can hopefully get fixed (name misspellings) but it was overall done well and was fun to watch.  About the time I got to the reception Daniela joined me in watching it and ate the rest of the grapes we had. We got cleaned up and headed to her house to start visiting some of her family.

We ate at a small restaurant inside a market called Sergio's Cevicheria with her family before getting around to making the visits. I had a fried fish which was served whole on the bone (Daneila ordered it too but thought like I did that it would be a filet so she swapped with what her brother ordered). I did my best to eat the meat but the bones were not as clean as her brother's or mother's fish I will full admit. They served with rice and red onion salad. We had chicha morada as well.

After lunch we visited her Tia Lucha whom she said she had not seen in about 3 years. She looks to be in her 70s or so and was a very nice and direct lady who reminded me a lot of my grandmother. We also met Daniela's cousins Eddy an Liz.  They served some white wine and we talked for probably about 2 hours. Most all of it was in Spanish and I did what I could to follow along. Most of the conversation was about this and that relative and memories of such and what each one was doing more than anything.  They were very nice hosts.

When we finished there we took the same taxi who took us to their house by calling him. He was still in the area and picked us up and brought us to meet Daniela's Aunt Silvia who read at our wedding.  She and her son Andres were in a procession for the cross and we met them at a church where we saw a small presentation of the passion of the Christ in the common area in front of the church. I had never seen anything like it. Especially the girls yelling things as narrators I guess.  When that finished we walked to Silvia and Otto's house to visit. Otto and Diana also were there and we talked to them for a couple of hours. They served sandwiches and sliced peaches and some soda as well.  They showed us their dalmatian dogs as well. They liked me of course.  The younger one was named Ringo and was only a few months old at best but probably already as big as Murphy, my nephew's boxer.  I gave Ringo a couple of treats for sitting. He is already starting to be trained which is cool. I think we stayed there for a couple more hours and then because my mother-in-law was passing out asleep in her chair we decided to leave and get her mom and brother home on their way and we headed to Ed and Donna's house.

At Ed and Donna's house we listened to music and Ed and I went to buy cake and wine and we listened to music and drank wine until midnight. At midnight we had some champagne and a birthday cake for Daniela. It was a chocolate cake. We even bought candles. We drank the champagne and ate the cake and listened to music for a couple more hours or so before we took a taxi back to the apartment and basically immediately passed out.

Peru Spring 2015 Day 6

Thursday is the start of their Holy Week holidays here so they are off from Thursday through till Monday from work across the whole country so we didn't have to get moving too early because they were not officially working.  I had a piece of pizza and some coffee for breakfast.  When we got moving we took a taxi to Donna and Edwin's house and they drove us out to a beach a couple of hours away (with traffic I am sure it was worse in time than distance) and we spent the afternoon at the beach. The drive I think took over 2 hours or at least very close. We took the same route we used to get to Caral and Chancay and when we turned off to the beach I actually saw signs for Chancay. We had to use the Panamerican Highway for about an hour to get there but it took us an hour to get out of Lima.

At the beach we found a spot and set up and then we tested the water which is as cold as the beaches on the north shore of Massachusetts or New Hampshire.  The beach was clean and they had tables with overhead tents set up and small restaurants that served food. The sand was fine but had these really sticky black particles in it that would not go away. I felt at the end of the day I would be getting rid of sand for weeks.  We ordered a plate of ceviche and a plate of fried fish pieces (chicharon) and ate those when they were served. The food was reasonable though I thought the fish was a bit dry.  We also had some Pilsen Callao and some Inca Cola for good measure.  After we finished eating my mother-in-law, Ed and I took a walk to climb the hill overlooking the beach. There is a Krishna community called Eco-Friendly Park right near the beach and we climbed up to a small building they had up there. There were people fishing from the cliffs but didn't see anyone catch anything. I think the walk took about half an hour and there was some steep inclines on the way.  Still it was fun.  Donna and Daniela stayed behind and talked.

When we got back we hung around for a short time longer but the sun was close to setting so we packed up and they wanted to get chancho al palo which is a roasted pork dish that I had not tried before. Edwin drove us to Huaral and asked for a place mentioned on a travel show and we found out where it was and drove to it. It was called Wuarmy's.  They specialize in chanco al palo and carapulcra ironically so we also got a dish of that for free with the order of pork. Also they served a red onion salad and white rice. We ate a lot of food and had a local red wine which was strong and sweet and tasted of raisins to me. We had that primarily because they only had Cristal for beer which Daniela does not like.  The food was very tasty though I must admit I liked my mother-in-law's carapulcra better than this place. Admittedly it is served in a slightly different style but more it was about the flavor than the texture.

After we finished eating I became the copilot as we drove back to Lima. It was not traffic filled like the daytime so we moved much more easily and got back to Daniela's house to drop off her mom in about an hour and half.

After dropping off their mother it was decided we would do a Holy Thursday tradition and try to visit 7 churches before midnight. I do not know all of the churches but we started near her house and made our way to Miraflores where we finished at the church near Kennedy Park.  We made it there with just a few minutes to spare and they even turned off the lights on everyone to tell them to leave.  We walked from the park to the apartment with our stuff and called it a night.

The pictures from today are located here.

Peru Spring 2015 Day 5

After another later start we had a brief breakfast then we headed down to the office and I did a series of backups of computers and changed around some configurations on Office and such so that Daniela would be able to take all the information home and have emails going to the correct places and such. That took a couple of hours. Daniela's mother arrived and we went upstairs to prepare lunch for everyone. Dianita was not going to the office that day.  We made the carapulcra which had to be started the night before by toasting and soaking the papa seca.  We started by cooking some red onion in oil then adding minced garlic then red pepper and cumin.  We added some pieces of pork and chicken pieces and browned the meat. Then the papa seca was drained and rinsed and added to water where we began to simmer it. We added some cinnamon and cloves to water and boiled that to release flavors.  When the papa seca was to a certain doneness we added the meat back and the water flavored with the spices.  That again simmered until the meat was correctly cooked. We then added finely crushed peanuts, pecans and almonds to the mix to finish it out. We cooked rice as a side and she made a small salad of lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and lemon juice to accompany.  She also quickly lemonade. I had the beer I bought the day before which was another Barbarian IPA.  We called Daniela and Donna because the food was basically ready and they said they were coming right up so we plated and waited then ate when they arrived.

After dinner we cleaned up and I finished some emails before joining the girls downstairs. There the folks from the gallery her office is in were preparing a small going away party for Daniela so we hung out until they were ready then went down to the stained glass store Rosita runs and had a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine along with small picky snacks like cheese, olives and sausages.  Juan Carlos, his wife, Mr Coloma, Rosita, Donna and us were the attendees and it was a nice time with a few toasts and a lot of talking about memories over the past few years.  It was all very nice of them. Mr. Coloma offered to take us to a nice Italian restaurant after the party was over so a while later when all the snacks were gone and Rosita needed to leave we cleaned up and left the gallery.

Mr. Coloma took us to Pizzeria Mavery (hardly an Italian name). He was very fond of their food and talked a lot about their empanadas, pizza and lasagna.  So we each ordered a different empanada. Daniela had lomo saltado and I had aji de gallina. They were good and very different because they were deep fried instead of baked.  We shared a couple of pitchers of sangria with the meal. Donna ordered fettuccine with meat sauce which she really liked. The rest of us shared a jamon pizza which came with ham and olives and sun dried tomato pieces.  It was good though the crust was a bit bready in my opinion.  Meaning it was not the same dough consistency you would expect from pizza but more from a commercially made loaf of bread.  We left behind a piece and a half and we took that with us in a doggie bag.  We talked about all sorts of things. Mr. Coloma used to live in California and is a big American football fan. He attended USC and is a huge fan of the college team.  So we talked football for a while and a few other things. It was a nice night.  When we were done Donna and Mr. Coloma took their own taxis home and we walked. It was maybe a 20 minute walk back.  We settled in for bed after that.

The pictures from today are located here.

Friday, April 03, 2015

Peru Spring 2015 Day 4

We got going in the morning with a quick breakfast then Daniela went downstairs to work in the office and I waited a little while then I started a short walk around the neighborhood but Daniela called me back to the office. We had to do some basic office chores which were primarily banking then we had lunch with Dianita in a small place around the corner from the office. I had a fish with garlic sauce which came with rice and potatoes. For a starter I had potatoes with huancaina sauce so I didn't really eat the second potatoes.  The fish was good but maybe not the best I have had.  We were served a juice of some sort to go along with it. After lunch we had to do a bit more at the office then we tried to help Donna get a new phone which turned out to no be possible at that moment so we went back to the office. Daniela's mother came and she and I went to Vivanda to buy food for making carapulcra which is a Peruvian dish using papa seca (dried potatoes).

After that we sent my mother-in-law home and again went to a different Claro store and this time we were able to buy Donna a replacement phone that she was happy with.  This carried us late enough that we headed down to Larcomar after leaving Donna at her bus too.  There we got tickets for The Theory of Everything (which was in English but subtitled). We bought nachos which were kind of bad and popcorn and ended up eating all of the food before the movie started.

The movie was actually quite good and it was nice to see it without all the problems the plane had in showing it. I could see the sad points hit Daniela. We both really liked it. The main actor who played Steven Hawking did a great job.  After the movie it was back to the apartment and to bed.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Peru Spring 2015 Day 3

We woke up and I made coffee and Daniela had some juice.  We then got dressed and walked out to El Parque del Amor and then over to the lighthouse and then back to the apartment. I think the walk is about 2.5 miles with almost no elevation changes.  So not too bad but also not too tough.  It was very sunny out except for at the actual coastline where it was quite foggy. We walked into the fog at the park and then back out when we cut back inland.

After the walk I prepared some grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast for us and we had more juice and coffee. Daniela showered while I cooked then we ate then I showered while Daniela went down to the office (tough commute for her for work this week).  I finished cleaning up some things then eventually headed downstairs also. There we decided I would make lunch for everyone (Daniela, Donna and Dianita who is helping at the office for a bit).  They requested pasta (or at least Donna did) so we bought the ingredients at the Vivanda then I headed up to the apartment and Daniela went back to the office to work.

At the apartment I started by sauteing some yellow onion, adding garlic, then I added diced fresh tomatoes and let those simmer for a couple of hours to reduce. I didn't peel or seed at this point because I thought I had a good sieve but I had to use the regular pasta strainer when it was done.  While the sauce was simmering I made meatballs by pulsing some Italian bread in the blender to make crumbs. I added that to sauteed onions, fresh garlic, the ground beef, salt and some Parmesan cheese. I thought this apartment had more seasonings but later guests must have used up a bunch and not replaced them or something. I rolled out the meatballs and sauteed them over lower medium heat. Meanwhile I also cooked some sausages (which were not Italian style). When all of the meatballs were cooked (it took 2 batches for proper space in the pan) I added them to the sauce I had then strained for the skins and seeds by that point. I cut up the sausages then made garlic bread with more of the Italian bread we had in the oven.  By the time I was starting the garlic bread and the actual spaghetti I told them to come up and they brought up a bottle of wine.  Overall the food was reasonably good though I made too much pasta for the amount of sauce I got (I could have stretched it by not straining but I didn't want all the peels.  In a perfect world I would have had basil and oregano and black pepper at least (if not some crushed red pepper flakes too) but I did what I could.  All the time I was cooking I had 2 Barbarian Brewery 174 IPAs to keep the creative juices flowing.  We also finished up with dessert as vanilla ice cream and some coffee.  My mother-in-law showed up towards the end of dessert time and we gave her what we had left for food and she ate though there were more meatballs than anything and she left the last 2 behind.

They stayed for a while longer then Donna and Dianita headed to the office and Daniela and her mother stayed in the apartment to work on other things. I set up a tablet that should make it easy for her mother to use to communicate with Skype. We set up email addresses and everything else too. It is an old Surface RT tablet left in tablet mode (though it has the keyboard attachment too).  They continued to work for quite some time after I got all of this set up and Daniela started teaching her how to do things. I ended up doing some basic things. When my mother-in-law left Daniela still had a fair amount of work to do (we took too long eating) so I went to bed for the evening and she joined when she was done working.

I didn't take any pictures though I should have taken some of the food at least. My bad.

Peru Spring 2015 Day 2

We woke up and had a quick breakfast with the family. It amounted to bread and jam or cheese and some coffee.  After that Daniela and I started going through sorting the stuff she would be sending back with me so we dug through her closets and dressers and she decided what she could send to America, what she could leave behind and what she wanted to donate to the needy. Her mother also gave us some kitchenware from the old shop she used to have in a market and we had to sort through all that and decide what I could use right away and what would be better for later trips.

After sorting through most of it we had lunch which was lomo saltado made by her mother. She showed me a few tips about proper preparation along the way. I know I need cumin and salt for primary seasonings. Typically some red wine is splashed in (not a lot). I also will need to julienne red onions and thinly wedge red potatoes. The meat is cooked in a bit of oil then let to sit for a bit. It is removed from the juices in the pan and sauteed on higher heat for a bit then the seasonings are added and the red onions. After they have started to soften a little (but not too much) the tomato is added. Also technically spicy pepper (rocotto) should be added though I will have to find a substitute for that.  Previously she had prepared home fried potatoes (I will need to find a good yellow potato for that).  The juices are added back along with the splash of wine.  Finally when all is done the potatoes are added in and it is served with a side of white rice. My mother-in-law made whole grain brown rice which disappointed Daniela. Nonetheless, everything was quite good.

After lunch we started packing up some of the stuff and that took a while (lunch is late here remember) until we got packed for heading to the apartment and took a taxi there.  We quickly got cleaned up and then had to run out to see a show where her friend Dianita (the woman who escorted the male side of the family to the church on the day of the wedding) perform in a salsa exhibition with the dance school she is attending. She is taking 3 or 4 different types of dance classes right now. She was quite good as were most all of the performers that night. Some were downright incredible for non-professionals.  The show started probably at 8:30 and I think we left the club at about 11:30 or so after a small bit of dancing when the show was over.

At the apartment it was basically just finish unpacking a couple things then get to bed.

The pictures from day 2 (labeled as day 1 which is fine) are located here.