Cinque Terre

May 16^th

My, my, my, Monterosso… you have out done yourself. Cinque Terre, especially the lovely town of Monterosso, has been an exceptional hostess. She greeted us with her twinkling teal coast, kept us warm with a blanket of sunny skies, and filled out bellies with her finest local feasts. Man I hope she invites us back again soon.

We both woke up at a time most people would probably consider sinfully early for vacation. We weighed our options knowing that this sleepy coastal village doesn’t wake up until 9am and we couldn’t get breakfast for a few more hours.  So we set out with our camera and walking shoes to greet the sun as it crept over the hillside. There is something so alluring about sunrise and sunset. We gravitate to those times of the day no matter where we are in the world.  This sunrise was special in that despite being in town, we got to experience it all to ourselves. In the entire 1 ½ - 2 hours we scoured around we saw only one other person- a silver haired woman sweeping the entry way of her seaside gelateria.

We wandered up the hill that stands between the old and new side of the village, enjoying sweeping views of both the city and the ocean as we made our way to the top.  Along the way we found a tiny church tucked neatly behind tall flora engulfed walls. Not too far above the church we discovered a disheveled brick staircase that led to a sprawling ocean-view cemetery. Immensely intrigued we eagerly   made our way up the steps to explore this sacred area. I surprised to see that the headstones weren’t all that old. Most dated back to the mid-late 19^th century and we found a few marble etchings from as recently as last November. A pile of crumbled headstones ripped from there perch along a wall was another solemn reminder of last October’s torrential storm.

Content with our early morning excursion we headed back down the hill for our next adventure: breakfast! Typically even if our hotel offers breakfast we choose to find a local café or restaurant in search of a more authentic dining experience. However thanks to online reviews we were very aware of the wonderful spread including homemade jam, local focaccia, and made to order cappuccino awaiting us back at the hotel. To kick it up a notch we took our treats, errr breakfast, to the rooftop terrace to be enjoyed. Ahhh, perfecto.

All hopped up on espresso we boarded the morning train to Riomaggore, the southern most of the 5 villages that make up Cinque Terre.  Our goal was to visit all 5 towns and enjoy a modest cup or cone of gelato in each. Oh ya, and to see the cool villages ‘n stuff too. I’m happy to report that we successfully met our lofty goal with a little room to spare for dinner. Not just any gelato would do either; we were quite discretionary when selecting the frozen delight that would take up valuable tummy space. In Riomaggorie we experienced the one and only subpar gelato that was clearly not homemade. It was somewhat clumpy and the texture was similar to an icee or sorbet, nothing like the creamy concoctions we were used to. Without hesitation we ditched our barely touched cones when we happened upon the gelateria endorsed by good ‘ol Rick Steves himself. After that mishap we were conscious to ensure that only gelaterie proclaiming they served Gelato Artigianale, meaning artisanal or homemade, made the cut. Lesson learned.

From Riomaggore we took the footpath to the next town, Manorola. The “hike” between to two towns is truly more of a laid back stroll along the coast. About halfway through the trail there was a little bar/café nestled into the cliff that was slanging ocean view espresso and cocktails for the weary traveler. Well of course we obliged. Suspended high over the Italian Riviera we sipped our drinks and tried our hardest to freeze time.

We spent a lot of time in Riomaggore wandering around and taking photos at the water’s edge. In order to visit all 5 towns we kicked up the pace slightly once we reached the neighboring town of Manorola. Manorola felt much quieter than Montorosso but had a plethora of little produce shops displaying their goodies along the cobbled streets. The main market area was smaller than the other towns but very, very cute. We only stopped to grab our gelato sample (for research purposes) and a slice of pizza for Marcus before heading to the next town, Corniglia. We started on the hike to Corniglia only to find that it was closed about ¼ of the way through. Come to find out only two of the trails between all 5 towns were open due to the storm damage. We were a little disappointed but the thought of kicking back on the train between each town wasn’t so bad either.

We quickly arrived by train to Corneglia, a town nestled high upon the coastal cliffs and known for its plentiful vineyards. There are two ways to get to the top: climb the 382 steps or ride a bus. We did neither of the two. We started up the road thinking it would be quicker than the steps and didn’t realize there was a bus until it zipped passed us on our walk. Oh well, a little exercise never hurts and we did get some great views looking over the vineyards into the sea below. Corniglia used to bottle its unique wine in very distinct bottles that signified that it was true Corniglia wine. This tradition is so long standing that these treasured bottles have even been found by archeologists in Pompeii. Unfortunately we didn’t find this nifty pieces of history ourselves but did buy some other uniquely shaped wine bottles while we were there.

On to Vernazza, a common favorite amongst previous travelers. It was also the town hit the hardest by the floods last fall, with Monterosso in close 2^nd. Stepping off the train it was impossible to ignore that the town was still badly beaten and bruised. Walking down the steps from the station into town we were met with a wall sized poster exhibiting photos of the town’s people cleaning up the mess the storm had left behind. Solemn faces stared back at us, dirt on their cheeks and shovels in their hands. The love that the people have for their town was overwhelming and poured out from every photo on that wall. It was incredibly touching to see the hard work and sacrifice the people who live there have made and continue to make in order to restore their once immaculate town. Like a diamond buried in a mine, I have no doubt they will continue to work until they unearth the sparkling beauty that lies beneath the rubble.

After a sobering walk through what remains of the humble town we spotted the first and only gelateria we saw in Vernazza.  It was here that we met the Gelato Nazi, much like the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. The impatient the man behind the counter was clearly irritated every single person who ordered before us.  From what we gathered he really wanted everyone to order a certain way or you got swift and rather rude “service.”  As counter got closer we became a little nervous. Finally up, we tried our best to order in his preferred method, whatever it was, and hurried away with our gelato before he changed his mind. Well I can see why he was so rude. With gelato like that people will keep coming back for more no matter how poorly you treat them. Venice still holds the number one spot for gelato so far but this little nugget in Vernazza is a VERY close runner up.

The rugged trail between Vernazza and Monterosso was the only other coastal trail open at this time. We started up the path but didn’t make it far. After talking to a few travelers on the trail that had just completed the trek we decided it could be cut from the itinerary for the day. It was nearing 7pm by the time we made it to the trail and other hikers were reporting it took them 2-3 hours to get between the towns. Add to that the bottles of wine we acquired in Corniglia that would have to accompany us on our trudge to town and it was a fairly easy decision to take the train instead. Now we have just one more reason to return, as if we needed any more.

Back in town and cleaned up we had dinner at Belvedere at the recommendation of the hotel receptionist. The restaurant has one of the best locations of them all, situated just a few yards from the beach. We sat at a scenic patio table and settled in to have a slow Italian style meal. If the rest of Italy treats our taste buds this well it’s going to be nearly impossible to ever leave. We both agree that our meal at Belvedere was one the absolute best meals we’ve ever had. The ringer? Believe it or not, the pesto pasta. Simple linguini pasta perfectly cooked and smothered in freshly married basil, olive oil, parmesan, and pine nuts. Marcus said he doesn’t even want to have pesto again because nothing will ever compare. I won’t commit to never eat pesto again but rather try to recreate it at home… and buy some to bring home of course; I’ll need a prototype to emulate. In addition to the unrivaled pesto pasta I had an unbelievable fish soup that in itself would be well worth another trip to Monterosso.

Aside from the top notch feast, we had a fun time at dinner guessing where the people around us were from. It involves a little eavesdropping and refined observational skill. I suck at it, especially after sharing a liter of wine (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it). We took bets and tried to either overhear where our neighboring diners were from or somehow work it into conversation so a winner could be crowned. For the young couple dressed in khakis with a polo and sun dress I bet Midwest and Marcus wagered East coast. He won, an embarrassing quote was born, and I’ll leave it at that. We laughed all the way back to our hotel at the fool I made of myself. Fat and happy, we will sleep well tonight as dreams of pesto dance through heads.

Cinque Terre – Monterosso

May 15

We are starting to adjust to the time change and were actually able to get up before lunch time today. In fact we were up early enough for a quick workout before catching the train to Cinque Terre. It was my turn to program a workout and I fear what Marcus will come up with tomorrow… I think he’s seeking revenge for the 200 squats from today.  It was approximately a 4 hour train ride to Monterosso, with stops in Florence and Pisa. Unfortunately they were “running stops” meaning there was no time in between to explore either city. However Marcus said he did get to see the leaning tower of Pisa through the window of the train as we were pulling away; I suppose that will do until our next trip J

We arrived in Monterosso around 2pm and were greeted by a sunny blue sky and stunning sparkling water. The feeling was immediately different from that of Venice. As soon as we stepped away from the train station the pace immediately decelerated. We strolled through the tunnel from the “New Village” to the “Old Village,” stopping every few yards to take in our surroundings and snap a few keepsakes. The tunnel itself is pretty interesting with mosaic tiles forming large waves along its entire length. The town of Monterosso and its siblings are UNESCO world heritage sites, preserved to maintain their original charm and charisma. Despite floods that nearly wrecked Monterosso and left it buried under 5 feet of water and mud last October the town is every bit as charming as I had hoped for. The town is completely cleaned up and every shop, restaurant, and Gelatteria is up and running again. However the scar left by the flood is evident and impossible to ignore. While not obvious when you first approach the town, as soon as you duck into her side streets or walk into a church you’re reminded of the havoc that ensued just a few short months ago. There are signs on the side of buildings showing before and after photos, asking visitors to please be patient while they rebuild. We stepped into one church whose walls were still stained a murky yellow from the flood; Marcus stood next to the wall and the line reached all the way to his chest.  It’s pretty remarkable how well this little town has rebuilt itself in such a short period of time. Despite those tell-tell signs of recent history the streets and buildings are clean and inviting, just begging you to get lost in their charm.

We perused the town for a bit and eventually settled into a beach front bar.  We spent the rest of the afternoon there soaking up sunrays and sipping on local concoctions. Like a couple of noobs the first drink we ordered was a Limoncino, which we now know is the how the Northern regions refer to Limoncello. It is a thick, sweet, lemon infused after dinner drink. After dinner? We haven’t even had lunch yet! Well we didn’t want to mess up the order of the universe so we just had to order another drink and put that one aside for now. We had a couple glasses of a local white wine and were served complimentary hors d'oeuvres to munch on.  This little town and its 4 close siblings are the renowned birth place of Focaccia and Pesto. The lovely beach bar graciously served up bite sized variations of these delicious local celebrities and we delightfully relaxed the afternoon away. We met an entertaining couple from Arizona and had a wonderful time chatting with them and sharing notes on our recent Italian excursions.

As the sun set we said Ciao to our new friends and headed over to the new side of the village for dinner and La Cantina Miky. We grabbed a gelato on our way over to the restaurant and as I type this I’m not sure how we haven’t gained 10 lbs yet. Truly our entire day was spent in complete relaxation, with short walks between meals. It’s been wonderful. Tomorrow we will do the infamous hike between the 5 villages and I suppose that’s where we will make up for today’s indulges… or just make room for some new ones!

Venice

May 14

12 hours of sleep was an unintentional but probably much needed start to our 2^nd day in Venice. With only 4 hours of sleep scattered along the last 72 hours (give or take fifteen minutes if you count the times I nodded off mid-Tiramisu last night) we were in desperate need of some shut eye. Needless to say we got a much later start to our day than our usual 5am that we’re accustomed to at home. Wide eyed and refreshed we took a vaparetto to the island of Murano, best known for Venetian glass. We did the obligatory “furnace” tour right away and watched as glass was hand blown before our eyes. We didn’t watch long though as we both enjoyed gawking over the finished products even more. If we had all the Euro in the world we would have gone nuts buying ornate sconces and extravagant chandeliers for our home. Marcus even found a couple pieces he was imagining for our hallway. For now a lovely Brittany Blue (a name dubbed by Marcus referring to just about shade of teal) oblong Venetian glass plate will be highly coveted in my kitchen from here on out.

Feeling slightly more adventurous today our afternoon Prosecco along the canal was accompanied with a petite plate of sardines. It took eating 3 soft sardine spines before we realized how easy it was to navigate the tiny morsels and avoid their vertebrae. What doesn’t kill you only gets sardine bones stuck in your teeth!

  Our spot along the canal was straight out of a painting. We enjoyed the view and soaked up the sun until our glasses were empty and exploration was once again calling. We were off to Burano, “the lace island,” and the one I looked forward to the most. Just as promised we arrived to find brightly colored homes, resembling that of Willemstaad Curacao, dotted along the water’s edge. As we walked deeper into the island we were impressed with how beautifully and almost boutique-like each home was kept. Bright hues separted one house from another, with no two shades the ever repeating. Fresh flowers filled every windowsill as open shutters tightly hugged the cheerful walls. What impressed me the most was the detail and love put into every single home, not just in the main canal or city center. Dancing in and out of the alleys our eyes were constantly entertained by the architecture and overall story book beauty of this tiny island.  We arrived as most visitors were leaving and felt like we had the island to ourselves. Most shops and restaurants were closing up for siesta but we were able to find a table along the city center for a late afternoon Spritz: White wine, sparkling mineral water, bitter Campari, and an orange slice. We saw everyone drinking them here, especially at this time of day. Women were served a wine glass and men were served a short bucket glass, but the light tangerine colored concoction was unmistakably the same. We delightfully sipped our libations and people watched until 7:30pm rolled around. There was a beloved restaurant visited by Anthony Bourdain recently where he raved that the risotto alone was worth the boat ride from Venice, if not a plane ride halfway around the world. We eagerly arrived at Gato Nero right when they opened at 7:30pm only to find that they were closed on Mondays. We decided it wasn’t a total waste as we did get to briefly meet the owner and very much enjoyed the sights and sounds of Burano as it lived and breathed sans tourists.

 We had yet to explore the main hub of Venice so we decided that was a good alternative to eating the world’s best risotto. We took the next vaparetto back to Venice but not without enjoying gelato along the canal first. We grabbed a seat outside at the back of the Vaparetto where we watched the cherry red sun slowly fade away.

Back on land dusk had arrived and white lights illuminated the Queen of the Adriatic like a Christmas tree on the canal. We wandered aimlessly from bridge to bridge, peering into the canal every once in a while to spot a gondola paddling a loot of visitors. The streets were sparse and we were grateful to have avoided the masses. We crossed the Rialto Bridge where we stopped to take in the breathtaking view of Venice by night- probably my favorite lingering image of the City of Lights. Once on the other side of the Rialto we found a promising little spot along the Grand Canal where dined on pizza. After all, we can only have so many sardine adventures in one day. Given the more touristy location along the Grand Canal we had just decided pizza was a safe bet, it can’t really be messed up right? It was actually incredible, some of the best we’ve had. On the table was a bottle of balsamic demi glaze that we very much enjoyed utilizing. Maybe I’m naive and that’s a common thing but I’ve never seen bottled balsamic reduction at home. It’s simple enough to make but you’re telling me I can just open up a bottle and it’s already there ready to go? Sign me up!

Content with our days discoveries and full of amore we strolled back to our hotel. We head to Cinque Terre tomorrow and our train tickets don’t allow for us to sleep in until noon again tomorrow.  Buona Notte!

Travel + Venice

May 12-13

What seemed to be a rocky start to our Italian holiday turned out to be quite the traveling treat. After a night of “packing our bags” with some of our favorite people in the world we took a quick power nap and ACTUALLY packed our bags at 4am. What can we say, we work best under pressure. We arrived at SFO to find that the flight we were supposed to be on at 10:35 a.m. didn’t actually exist. Yup, that’s right, we were booked onto an imaginary flight. I held back tears and managed to maintain composure as the kind woman behind the counter worked hard to get us on another flight. A little sweat, a few choked backed tears, and 45 minutes later we traded in our Chicago lay over for one in Germany and all was well in the world again. Goodbye Chicago pizza, hello bratwurst and beer! Yes, we actually look forward to eating at the various airports while traveling. Don’t judge.

Determined to make the best of our freshly acquired free time we set off to find a morning mimosa to start the trip off right.  Per my aunt’s suggestion we located the elusive Business Lounge entrance and acquired within. Marcus flashed his pearly whites (and we explained the airlines error) and they agreed to let us into their exclusive club… for the day at least. In anticipation of our upcoming Italian indulgences we helped ourselves to the complimentary cappuccino and pastries. With a view of the bay, a glass of champagne, and the CrossFit Regionals streaming live on our laps, life was good.

We finally boarded our plane and got cozy in the two middle seats of a 4 person row. Nice. Despite staying up all night were unable to get comfortable enough (go figure) to actually fall asleep so we watched another Katherine Heigl inflight movie; She must have a deal worked out with airlines because every time we fly we see one of her movies. I actually enjoy the inflight movies though, it’s a time for me to catch up on the chick flicks and tear jerkers I don’t normally watch at home.

On our layover in Frankfurt Marcus had the hyped up Bratwurst with spicy German mustard and a hefeweizen. He said it was incredible, remarking that the only time he had a better hot dog was when it was wrapped in bacon. So take note Germany, start wrapping those puppies in bacon! The hef was fabulous, but after a 10 hour flight I’m sure a luke warm Pabst Blue Ribbon would have been the bee’s knees.

We arrived to our hotel in Venice around 3pm and quickly refreshed before heading out again.  Our host, Maurizio, was fantastic and took ample time circling our map and giving us tips to avoid the dreaded tourist traps. His route led us on a vaparetto ride along the Grand Canal to the impressive Santa Maria Cathedral. From there we followed the tip of every book, blog, and fellow traveler:  we got lost is Venice. We walked along the canals, turned down side streets, and explored the paths less traveled without once pulling out our map. We sat on a canal and had the most amazing gelato of my life at Gelateria Squero: one scoop Nutella and one scoop Amaretto. The Nutella gelato really set the bar high with crunchy bits of cookie swirled with smooth hazelnut Nutella.  I’m betting it is the best we will have, but the only way to know for sure is to keep tasting. For the sake of data collection we’ve decided we must have gelato once to twice a day in order to execute a proper survey. It’s a tall order but I’m willing to commit and give it my best effort. Who knows, we may even decide to do a little extra research and throw in a third or fourth gelato sample. We’ll see.

We both agree that one of the highlights of day 1 came shortly after our gatrorgasmic gelato when we happened upon a group of people enjoying wine along a small canal. This was an unordinary sight as we hadn’t seen more than a few people at a time on the narrow back streets. We curiously approached to find a tiny bar, Alsquero, serving drinks and tiny bites to eat.  Everyone outside was speaking Italian and the menu didn’t have a lick of English on it. PERFECT! We happily ducked in and took one of the few seats at the bar. The gentleman behind the counter didn’t speak English but with some polite smiles and gestures we were able to order Prosecco and a variety of crostinis. We enjoyed our dainty delights as the sun slowly sunk into the Venetian water. It was hard to leave but we eventually pulled ourselves out and continued on to see what else the lovely city of Venice had to offer. We wandered just long enough to find a place to enjoy dinner (a pattern is quickly taking form).

At Maurizio’s recommendation we ate in the “University District” at Misergardeno’s. We were greeted with a sparkling glass of Prosecco and a cheerful “Buona Sera.” The restaurant was warm and inviting; eclectic copper kitchen utensils decorated the ceiling and boisterous laughter from the large group of Italians beside us filled the air. Not quite daring enough to try the octopus ink laced pasta, we shared a plate of crispy calamari and homemade spinach with cheese ravioli. The ravioli was cooked to what I imagine was perfectly al dente. I can’t say for sure as I’m not an al dente connoisseur (yet!) but it was not at all like the soft ravioli we are used to at home- and we loved it! Not quite satiated by the amount of sugar consumed we “shared” (ahem, sorry babe) a tiramisu. It was delicious, but much like the gelato I’m out to find the best so future tastings will be required before a final grade can be given. For now I’ll give it a tentative B…plus.

Curacao: Day 7

Well the inevitable last day in this Dutch Caribbean paradise finally arrived. We had an action packed morning followed by a relaxing afternoon and romantic evening to tie the bow on our week long holiday. We made it up toward Westpunt bright and early in the morning to get in our last dive, for real this time. We arrived to the dive shop a little before they opened so we took our time getting ready and admired Playa Kalki’s slice of paradise. Jared, whom we met the night before, kindly pointed us in the direction of the seahorse and quickly briefed us on Alice in Wonderland. As we descended we immediately spotted the small black seahorse, YAY! We had to have been there for at least 10 minutes just taking photos of him before moving on to the reef. Noobies.

 It’s very difficult to say what our favorite dive or site was. There were different things about each one that made it rock in a different way. That said Alice in Wonderland was definitely one of our top picks, and not because of the obvious excitement of seeing our first seahorse. The dive itself was so peaceful, a truly serene experience. We took our time and did a real “Kyle Style” lazy dive. The structure of the reef and vast amount of life that inhabited in and all around it was incredibly enthralling. I was lost in wonderment the entire dive. We weren’t looking into crevices or trying to find anything in particular. Instead we gently coasted along, captivated by the living breathing panorama that wrapped around us. We had intended to record a video of the dive but were so lost in a Zen moment that we both completely forgot. Pretty sure I even got a little Namaste nod from a Spotted Trunkfish at one point.

After our meditative dive we packed up our gear for the last time and went into town to do a little shopping. We almost made it through the entire week without stepping foot into a souvenir shop. However there was a small list of goodies I wanted to bring home to Cali so we finally gave in. We briefly toured the floating market (a collection of boats from Venezuela that line the harbor selling produce) and old market (similar to the Oahu stadium flee market). Neither of them were particularly impressive but we had to see them at least once. We then dipped into a few side streets on a scavenger hunt for keepsakes. It was starting to heat up and we were both longing to lie out at the beach so we quickly grabbed what we were looking for and booked it out of there. We didn’t make it over to the Otrobanada side, but will no doubt be returning to Curacao soon and will have to do it next time.  

Since it was our last day we decided to have a final “fat kid” lunch. We wanted to get Dutch pancakes but the bakery was all out. So we settled for a cherry and cream filled dessert pastry dusted with powdered sugar instead. Dessert for lunch: because we’re adults on vacation and no one can tell us not to.

We returned our rental car and spent the rest of the afternoon laying ocean side at the hotel. We packed a little cooler with soda, rum, gouda, and crackers and had a nice self-made cocktail hour (or a few hours) on the beach. When the sun began to hang a little lower we walked up to our look out spot perched above the resort. We sat there gazing west and continued our happy hour until the Curacao sun gradually set on our last day. We capped off the night with dinner on the terrace of Gouverneur de Rouville Restaurant & Café. It’s a gorgeous building that is rich in history and sits facing the story book buildings on the other side of the harbor. Dinner was phenomenal, partially due to the remarkable view and overall atmosphere. After dinner we went for a leisurely stroll along the floating Queen Emma Bridge. We could not have asked for a sweeter ending to our peaceful island getaway.  

We look back now and find it amusing that we embarked on this journey only wanting to dive 2-3 days with above land adventures in mind for the remaining time. Once we descended into the aquamarine waters and feasted our eyes on Curacao’s captivating underwater world for the first time that all changed. We wound up diving every day and still wish we had done more. A running list of future must-do dives has already begun to form and will continue to grow until our next voyage. We know without a doubt this will not be our last visit to Curacao and are anxiously awaiting the time when we can return to this richly blessed island.

This experience has definitely changed us in more ways than one.  We did some world class diving that sparked an insatiable scuba appetite, met several remarkable people that enhanced our perspective on life, and became even closer as we experienced it all together. We detached from the world of continuous internet access and television and connected to the Earth and each other. We relished in the conversations that sometimes lasted for hours, uninterrupted by a text message or phone call. When we return home we will strive to carry some of these elements over into our daily lives in an effort to live a simpler, more organic life.


Dock leading to Alice in Wonderland



                                            


 @ "The Goveneur"



Curacao: Day 6

What a day!! We both agree that today was the best diving, simply because of all the creatures we saw in one single spot. Today was our last day of diving since we fly out Sunday and want to give ourselves 24hours of surface time before boarding. To send our trip off with a bang, we had hoped to dive Watamula or the East Point but were unsuccessful in finding a boat going to either today. Instead, plan B was put into motion and we dove at Playa Lagun with the intention of diving “Alice in Wonderland” at Playa Kalki afterward. When we first starting planning our trip to Curacao we looked into staying at the condos that rest on the cliff above Playa Lagun, and given that we have driven toward the west end every day this week it will likely be where we stay next time. It’s a sweet little beach, fantastic dive site that hosts one of the friendliest dive shops we have encountered (especially Jalla), and is conveniently located about 15 minutes to both the far end of Westpunt and the city center of Willemstad.

We set out on our dive in hopes of swimming with a sea turtle, which other divers and snorkelers have reported seeing frequently at Playa Lagun. There was also a seahorse spotted chilling out near an anchor just outside the “Lagun” yesterday that we were determined to find. With our turtle and seahorse senses heightened, we headed straight out and followed the lively reef to the left. Within minutes we saw a clan of Lion Fish hiding in the crevices of large Mountainous Star Coral. Lion Fish are not indigenous to Curacao and there are signs up at every beach instructing divers to: A) stay away and don’t touch them B) report any sightings. They are a major threat to the local fish and multiply so abundantly that they negatively impact the local fishing industry. Oh and let’s not forget the poisonous spines that line their striped little bodies… definitely not a fish you want to meet in a dark alley late at night. Unfortunately sightings of Lion Fish are far more common than they used to be, but this was our first encounter and somewhat thrilling just to see the notorious beast first hand. Almost immediately after our brush with the underwater mob we were greeted by none other than our much sought after friend, a Green Sea Turtle! He was fairly small, I would guess 2-3 feet long. He was kind enough to stay around our planned dive depth (cute and thoughtful, what a guy) so we followed him around for a while like a couple of aquatic paparazzi.

We made our way back toward the beach a little earlier than we normally would have in order to leave enough time to find the anchor and seahorse that adorned it. Despite our best efforts we never did find him, we never even found the anchor that was supposed to house him. Turning right heading back into the beach was dense with hundreds of fish from the sand to the surface; this was one of my favorite photos spots on the dive. We took our time rounding the corner, stopping just to watch in wonder as we were surrounded by a plethora of brightly painted tropical fish. Many swam just an inch from our face, looking us square in eye as if we were really the ones on display.

My macro eyed dive buddy Marcus found the tiniest baby Trunkfish (as far as we have determined via photo review) hiding in some coral on our swim back in. It was just icing on the cake after a gorgeous, fulfilling dive. As we rinsed off up at the shop, all amped about what a great dive we just had, a family of four came in right after us celebrating the seahorse they just saw. Aww man, really?? I guess he had moved to a small piece of pipe inside the lagoon and was no longer at the anchor (glad we didn’t spend too much time looking for that thing after all!). They just got lucky and the wife happened to see to him as they were coming back in. They pointed out where he was on the map drawn at the shop, and we decided to go out again in search of him. This would be our last dive of the trip and we decided what better way to end a week of diving than with our first seahorse encounter.  After our lovely lunch by the beach we suited up and headed out again. This time our plan was to search for the seahorse first, and then move on to explore the caves just outside the lagoon to the left. We never did find him, but did see a large Baloonfish hanging out super stealth-like between the wall and the reef. We swam over to him but I kept my distance in naïve fear that he might puff up and charge me… ridiculous, I know. I kept thinking of Brother Bloat from Finding Nemo, we never did see this big guy puff up though. Marcus joked that maybe we should have started talking to him about what tool the dentist was using, “No, it’s a K-FLEX!! *PUFF*” Couple of Disney dorks…

Oh well, so we didn’t meet a seahorse but we still had two immensely fun dives that ended the diving portion of our trip on a high note. No complaints! We grabbed a couple cold Polars and sat down by the sea shore until it was time for dinner.  Tonight we ate at the highly acclaimed Sol Food in Westpunt. It was our one “Must Do” restaurant that I had read about while trip planning and I had been looking forward to it all week. Sunshine and David, a couple originally from Boston, open their gorgeous home every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for casual “mom’s kitchen” style dining. There are about 8-10 tables set up on their spacious back deck over-looking the Caribbean Sea where they invite the island to share in their piece of paradise. We didn’t have a reservation but no worries, Sunshine had a solution for that. She had a long family style table set up with 8 chairs that she aptly called the "No Reservation" table. It was specifically designed for hungry unreserved souls like ours, and turned out to be a really great experience. After emailing with Sunshine throughout the week and finally meeting her in person, I can see why her business is so successful. There is something so intoxicating about the warmth and good vibes dished out by Sunshine. What a neat person.

Not only did this place have an enchanting ambiance, but the food was equally soul-soothing. When we sat down Sunshine laid down a plate of home-made date and nut bread, talk about first impressions. We ordered the vegetable wood fired pizza and the whimsy of the day: spinach and cheese pancakes and potato, onion, cabbage pancakes that she called “Bubbles and Squeaks.” As we enjoyed our home cooked meal we were joined by another unreserved hungry diver, Jared, who we ended up staying and chatting with for the rest of the evening. He was a super nice guy from Oregon and had just moved to the island the day before. When we told him about our seahorse search he informed us that the Alice in Wonderland, where we had originally planned on doing our 2^nd dive that day, currently hosts a little black seahorse right in front of the dock.  He was starting his first day at Ocean Encounters West in the morning, the dive shop at Alice in Wonderland, and offered to take us out to see it. Seahorse aside, Alice in Wonderland was a dive that I had really looked forward to and was bummed we hadn’t fit it in. Needless to say it took no convincing on my part, and with a little time Marcus hopped on board too. With that we made a plan to meet him at the shop at 730 and bid adieu to Sunshine and her gem of a home.
 

Playa Lagun

"Crush"

Sol Food @ Westpunt

Curacao: Day 5

I can’t believe day five is already in the books. Time is flying by WAY TOO FAST. Picking a dive site has become difficult because I know we only have a couple days left to dive and I want to fit all of them in. We just have to have the mind-set that we will be coming back soon, otherwise it’s too busy trying to do and dive everything on our list. Today we chose to go back to Porto Marie to dive. Yesterday we just snorkeled there, and it has been recommended to us by several different people on the island for its uber healthy double reefs.

On our way to Porto Marie we stopped off at Landhuis Daniel for some Dutch pancakes. These were much more like crepes than the ones we had from the supermarket, very delish. I went sweet and had the rum and pineapple (YUM) while Marcus went savory with the ham, pineapple, and Gouda. A little syrup and powdered sugar to top off my mid-morning snack (we already had breakfast on the beach) and I was all hopped up on sugar and ready to dive!  The flamingo sanctuary is on the way to Porto Marie and what would you know, there were actually flamingos there today! There were only 4 but we were still happy to them and snap some photos.

As anticipated the dive at Porto Marie was stunning. We explored the wall of the reef on the right and came back along the top of it. As soon as we descended we spotted a sea snake (he’s not on my Reef Creatures of Curacao card, not sure what his official name is) slithering away to some nearby coral for cover. There was also several trumpetfish just hanging out right where we descended. At other sites we have been lucky to see one or two, I guess we found where all the trumpetfish like to party. Later in the dive we also saw a couple gorgeous rainbow colored Queen Angelfish. We may have seen Queen Angelfish before, I can’t remember, but these two were quite large and a treat to admire so close up.

After our real life aquarium experience we went back to the dive shop to rinse off and we met some nice people originally from Colorado. The man had a fu manchu stash like Marcus, so we knew off the bat he had to be pretty cool. He was there was his two sons and as we got talking we learned that he had retired from the Colorado Springs Fire Department a couple years ago and just decided to move to Curacao to enjoy his retirement. He now does a little work for the Fire Dept. here at the airport and was just getting his sons certified (must have been a DM). I love meeting other divers and hearing their stories, such a nice (and usually very interesting) group of people.

We did our surface interval over to the far right of the beach away from the bar where it’s a little more secluded and relaxing. As we ate our lunch we dusted off our dive tables and calculated our next dive the old fashioned way (something we SHOULD do before every dive… lazy computer-reliant divers). After about 1 ½ hour surface interval we got all loaded up and back in the water only to realize Marcus’ tank was leaking at the regulator seal. We went back to shore, adjusted it a few times but it still leaked (we think it was the O-ring).  Rather than switch out the tank we decided to just cancel the second dive and have a beer at the beach bar.  The fact that this was the bar with that delicious Belgian Triple may have been a contributing factor. That means we had another “one dive day” but we enjoyed every minute of it.

We kicked up our feet and enjoyed our beer and pommes frites while watching a little wedding that was taking place on the beach in front of the restaurant. It was an absolutely gorgeous back drop for a wedding; I can’t imagine what those wedding photos look like.

After relaxing and reminiscing our dive for a bit we drove back into town, stopping on the Otrabanda side of the harbor to capture some sunset photos of the enchanting waterfront Dutch architecture. We climbed the steps of Rif Fort, which overlooks the vibrant Punda side of the harbor and just took in the view. The Rif Fort area of Otrobanda is very upscale and lot like Santana Row back home. I wasn’t impressed but it was worth walking around and seeing for a few minutes. Most of the shops were closed by the time we arrived but I didn’t feel like we missed anything.

We had dinner at the Blues Bar where a live jazz band was playing. The restaurant sits up over the beach and we were given a nice romantic “window seat” (there actually are no windows; every restaurant seems to be open air). We stayed there the rest of the evening just enjoying the sultry music, creole style food, and conversation.