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.

Curacao: Day 4

Today we found the perfect mixture of diving and beach bumming. We started the day a little earlier so we had plenty of time to fit in everything we wanted to do… which ironically was mostly to sit on the beach and do nothing. We had our little Euro breakfast on our balcony again before venturing over to Playa Cas Abou. On our way we stopped by the “Flamingo Sanctuary” in which there was not one single flamingo, go figure. Oh well, we snapped a few sad photos in front of the empty sanctuary and continued on to Cas Abou. Cas Abou is known for its post card quality white sandy beach, bright turquoise & royal blue marbled water, and (of course) diving. The white sandy shore is lined with palapas and lounge chairs and there is an open air bar that sits tucked farther back on the beach. There is a little friendly dive shop that sits conveniently over toward the right, patiently waiting for you to pick up tanks and dive in. We wasted no time getting in the water. As we snorkeled out to the underwater marker we saw a White Spotted Eagle Ray chowing down on breakfast. I stayed my distance (big sissy) but caught some cool photos from the surface. Once we descended at the marker we headed right per recommendation of the shop’s dive master. It was another easy going, gorgeous dive. I’m convinced there is not a single “bad dive” on the entire island. The reef is so healthy and just FULL of life. Every once in a while I would take my nose out of the reef and look up to see Marcus just SURROUNDED by vast schools of fish, all varying species. It was something I tried to catch with the camera several times but I don’t think any of the photos come close to capturing that moment. It’s a photo that I will hold in my mind forever.

Some of the highlights, other than the Eagle Ray: a few different trumpetfish, an arrow crab tucked away trying his hardest to not be seen, and some very large yellow tail snapper which had me craving fish and chips at the end of the dive. Right before we turned around to head back to the marker we reached Cas Abou’s own “mini mushroom forest,” another highlight of the dive. Our dive lasted 39 minutes and we stayed around 40 feet most of the time, once again our dive computer gave us a 16 hour desat time. We have talked to several people, including another person with a similar uwatec, and no one can explain it. I have since downloaded the manual but still don’t fully understand. Fortunately, we are more than content being 1 dive a day divers and spending the rest of the day on the beach.

 After our dive we sat under a palapa looking out on the calm water and enjoyed lunch. In addition to drinks the beach bar sold some Dutch snacks, which we didn’t dare deny. We ordered some fries with peanut sauce and enjoyed them with a couple Amstels. That moment pretty much sums up the whole reason we fell in love with Curacao when we first read about in a dive magazine a few years ago: Dutch food and culture in the middle of the Caribbean… a match made in paradise. After lunch we snorkeled around and saw a small yellow eel not too far from shore. Snorkeling was a lot of fun, and I was amazed at how much sea life there is just off the shore, but it really does not compare to diving!

We soaked up some rays as Cas Abou a while longer and then drove to near-by Porto Marie. Porto Marie is another great diving site known to house nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays, and sometimes even turtles in the valley between its two reefs. It is also just a stunning beach, so we stayed and enjoyed it for a while. We sat out on two beach front Adirondack chairs and ordered a drink. Marcus had their beer of the month, Maredsous, a blond Belgian beer. Again, two of our favorite things all found in one place: Belgian beer and a gorgeous Caribbean beach… we LOVE this place! I ordered a Pina Colada with Blue Curacao, which was good but his Belgian Beer was so much better. We snorkeled here as well and saw a very well-disguised scorpion fish that another beach goer had found by almost stepping on.

As the sun began to sink lower we drove back in the direction of our hotel, stopping at the Marriot to watch the sunset from the beach there. After sunset we cleaned up and took a taxi to the Punda side of Willemstaad for dinner at Scampi’s. We have been here 4 days and this was our first time to center of town. We’ve been enjoying the underside and beaches of the island so much we had not even ventured to the historic city center yet. Dinner was good; I had a seafood sampler of smoked salmon, coconut prawns, and calamari while Marcus had a steak. It was nice but I still prefer off the map places like that tiny beach front restaurant Surf & Turf we went to on Monday. After dinner we briefly walked around admiring the brightly colored illuminated buildings that line the harbor. It reminded me of that “Disneyland” feeling we had in a lot Europe where the buildings look too cute to be real. I’m anxious to go back during the day and enjoy more of the sites and shops of the adorable downtown Willemstaad.

Curacao: Day 3

We started our day off with a homemade Euro style breakfast on the beach. We had pineapple jam and oude kaas on dried fruit wheat rolls that we bought on our shopping excursion. The jam and cheese on bread/toast for breakfast is something that was new to me when I went to Europe for the first time and I make it at home all the time now (Marcus loves it). I also cooked Marcus an egg and we took our little breakfast down to the beach. It was a very sunny, beautiful morning. After breakfast we packed a lunch for the day and headed towards Playa Lagun in hopes of diving the Mushroom Forrest. The dive shop at Playa Lagun usually has a dive boat that will take you out to the famous Mushroom Forrest, but not this week. The gentleman at the dive shop recommended we see “Captain Goodlife” (Juney) at Playa Santa Cruz just up the road instead and then maybe come back and dive Playa Lagun afterward. Not only had I read about Capt. Goodlife, but the Dive Master at Marie Pampoen had also recommended him (his exact words were actually more like “He’s a crazy M*F*”). He has a water taxi that just drops you off at one end of the reef, and picks you up 45 minutes later at the other end near the “Blue Room.” Captain Goodlife was busy I suppose- we briefly met him but he didn’t actually take us out, he had one of the boys that works with him do the deed.  It was a short 2 minute boat ride when we arrived at the reef, fell back off the boat into the bright blue water, and started our dive. “OH MY GOSH” is all I kept mumbling out of my reg as we got into the thick of the reef. I knew no one could hear me, but it was a natural response. The dive was absolutely incredible. I thought it was a much better dive than the day before, but Marcus like them both equally. It was just a nice, lazy dive FULL of vibrant colored sea life and coral. In any direction you looked there was a school of fish in your face or a vibrant piece of coral with its own little eco system growing in and around it just begging to be examined more closely. It was a battle going back and forth from enjoying the amazing panoramic view of the mushroom shaped coral to getting in a little closer and enjoying the dive from a macro view. Surprise, surprise… we got so caught up in taking photos we never quite made it to the blue room. Not even close actually. When we were done with the dive we popped up and saw the boat waiting at least 100 yards away where were supposed to have made it by that point. They spotted us and picked us up, laughing the whole way over to us I’m sure. Oh well, we didn’t get to see the Blue Room but had an AMAZING dive none the less.

After our dive we went back over to Playa Lagun where we enjoyed our lunch on the beach and logged our dive. Both of our computers said we had a desat time of 16hours which was impossible (our max depth was 44 ft. and our dive lasted 45 minutes), but still being fairly new divers it worried us. We talked to the gentleman at the dive shop and all of us chalked it up to the fact that I had shared my air with Marcus towards the end of the dive (I still had over half a tank left). By the time we finished our lunch and hung out at the beach for a bit the dive shop at Playa Lagun was shutting down and we were feeling pretty lazy. We decided to make it another “one dive day” and headed over to Jaanchies for dinner. Jaanchies was recommended by Sunshine (restaurant & apartment owner on Westpunt) for local cuisine. It was as visually entertaining as it was delicious. The man who owns it is obviously a bird lover and the entire restaurant is surrounded by bird feeders tucked into local flora. The birds flutter from limb to limb as they sing and gobble up the food from their various feeders. When we arrived the owner was walking around with a bag a sugar, putting a little into each bird feeder to keep them coming back for more. The way it’s set up is tasteful, and the birds don’t actually come into the restaurant and disturb your meal. They are just there to serenade you and were even kind enough to pose for a couple of photos. We each had the seafood combo and Marcus tried the Iguana stew. The combo was shrimp, grouper, and Caribbean rice… put a little of the garlic tartar on the grouper and it was to die for. Marcus said the Iguana stew was good, but didn’t finish it. He said it was kind of like buffalo wings, “definitely not as good though.” I give him kudos for trying it. I was tempted but decided Iguana didn’t quite fit my pescatarian diet, however I have seen alligator on a couple menus and that may qualify for a tasting. Still haven’t found a place serving barracuda, I’m dying to try it.

After dinner the owner invited us to sit in some nearby rocking chairs and told us he had a surprise coming. We obliged and took a seat in the big comfy rockers. He then brought out a two neopalatin ice cream sandwich desserts which we enjoyed as we rocked back and forth and watched the birds. After our delightful dinner we raced the sun over to Playa Kaliki to watch it set. It was a rocky, more secluded beach over to the right and had a dive shop over to the left. We only stayed long enough to watch the sunset and then drove along the north side of the island back to the hotel. Back at the hotel we made a couple rum libations that we took down to the beach. The beach was technically closed but we went for a swim anyway, no one bothered us or seemed to care. We stayed out there just swimming and chatting the rest of the evening. The area of the beach we were on was near the Blues Bar, which we plan on checking out either Thursday or Saturday when they have a live band. On our way back to the room we stopped by just to look at their menu and it just so happens Tuesday is burger night. We were a couple drinks in at this point and getting a little hungry so Marcus got his burger fix and ordered a Texas Burger to go.  I made my own late night snack back at the room (nutella on parisettes) and we sat out on the balcony to enjoy them both. We definitely let our inner fat kids out, hopefully this won’t be a nightly tradition!

Curacao: Day 2

We started off our first full day in Curacao with a hot cup of coffee on our balcony, just relaxing and taking it all in. After our little morning java we drove to Centrum market to do a little grocery shopping for the week. This is something I look forward to everywhere we go and was one of the highlights of my day. I LOVE going to grocery stores in other countries, and this little place didn’t disappoint. As to be expected it mimicked Alberthein grocery store in Holland. We loaded up on Oude Kaas (“Old Cheese:” crumbly, stinky gouda- a favorite to both of us) several other types of Gouda, and some produce. The “sweet” aisle was probably where we spent most of our time- I love all the Belgian and Dutch treats! We finally narrowed it down to some speculaas (spiced cookies, great with coffee) and parisettes (mini cookie-like Belgian waffles). We then made our way to the grown up aisle where there was array of different flavored Curacao liquors to choose from. Blue Curacao is what we were most familiar with, but here they had rows and rows of different flavored “Curacao liquors.” There was so much to choose from; we eventually picked up some Curacao Rum & Curacao Coconut Liquor. I think we just might have to go back and pick up a few more of the flavors before we leave though!

For breakfast we went over to the bakery where we bought Arepa Pompoena (Dutch pancake), a couple croissants, and a Kroket. The Arepa Pompoena was amazing, similar to a crepe but a little thicker with raisins scattered throughout.  Marcus was not a fan of the meat and potato deep fried Kroket (I didn’t try it). After our shopping excursion we stocked up our fridge and mini kitchen and then sat out on the balcony with a map and made a dive plan for the day. We chose “Tugboat” based on recommendations from family as well as dive magazines, plus it’s not too far from where we are staying and it was already nearing noon.  Well that plan was a bust… apparently Tugboat is and will be closed for quite some time. There was a language barrier between the security guard at the gate and myself so I’m not exactly sure why it’s closed, something a about a large boat I think (Cruise Ship?). We later talked to a few other people including a dive master working at a local dive shop who didn’t even realize it was closed. We drove around to Kabaye, a nearby dive site but decided to go back to Marie Pampoen which had been recommended to us by the dive master at Atlantis Dive Shop.

There are two dives at Marie Pampoen: a deep dive (around 90 feet) of sunken cars in which sea life have made a home, and an easy going 45ish foot plateau reef dive. This was our first dive in Curacao, first shore dive by ourselves (no boat to come pick us up where ever we pop up like we had in Cozumel) and no dive master to navigate us back. Needless to say we chose the easier of the two dives and may have to come back to see the underwater car yard another time.

The dive was wonderful. We saw our old friend the Rainbow Parrotfish, various other species of Parrotfish, Yellow Tail Snapper, various Angelfish and Groupers, a couple of the slightly more elusive long Trumpetfish and the big exciting sighting of the day... a Spotted Moray Eel. I don’t think the moray eel is that rare, but they can be hard to spot simply because they hide out in little caves of the coral. Marcus spotted him (he always finds the good stuff, good dive buddy) and pointed him out to me just as I was about to swim right passed him. We had fun with our new camera and mom’s underwater housing, it’s a lot different than the little disposable underwater cameras we are used to using. We can’t wait to get home and go through all of our photos and hopefully even make some “wall art” out of them.

Neither of us bothered to look at the compass on our way out (oooooops) but managed to “navigate” back perfectly by pointing in the direction we thought we came from and just making sure our dive computer showed that we were slowly ascending. We were very lucky, and definitely won’t make that mistake again! As we came up the sun was beginning to set, which made for some cool photos from the water. The dive shop that sits there on the beach also has an outdoor restaurant called “Surf and Turf” attached to it. It was simply a small kitchen with a deck coming off of it, steps leading to sand and about 8 or so tables and chairs set up along the water. They were just starting to set up as we packed up our gear and chatted with the incredibly nice dive master at the shop. He gave us some detailed advice such as: at Playa Lagun, swim out to the right and about 15 minutes into the dive and around 45 feet there are usually 3 ________ (blanking on the name) fish. Hopefully I’ll remember before we go out there, I presume they were some of the more rare fish. Anyway, after talking with him and another guy from Holland for a while, we grabbed a table along the shore and enjoyed the sunset. We ordered the Surf and Turf, fried plantains, fries, and a couple cold ones. Despite having to wait quite some time for our meal (they had lost our ticket), the setting and food were amazing.  We couldn’t have asked for a better ending to our first Curacao dive.

After dinner we drove back to Avila and had dessert at the outdoor “Bella Terrace” restaurant. Marcus had a warm apple tartlet with ice cream and I had a passion fruit mousse. His was delicious, but neither of us were too impressed with mine. We ended up going back to the room and having a couple of our Belgian treats to satisfy the sweet tooth. After dessert we made a couple coconut rum cocktails and went for a walk along the beach and resort. We found a little spot that sits up overlooking the ocean where we sat the rest of the night just talking, laughing, and finishing our drinks. It was beautiful spot and fun ending to our day.

Marky

Britt finding Zen

Trumpetfish

Sunset view from our dinner table

Curacao: Day 1

As I sit to write this my feet are kicked up on our balcony overlooking the calm turquoise  water, a cup of coffee on one side, Marcus on the other, and the sweet chirps of local birds singing fills the warm air. Is this Heaven?? Despite the cliché I truly do feel that this is my idea of what Heaven should be. When I die, I want to go to the Curacao in the sky.

We arrived around 2pm into the adorable little Hato airport. Nothing like our big boisterous, granite slab countertop in the bathroom SFO. Petite and colorful, the airport sits surrounded by cactus and adjacent to the ocean (the landing strip was no more than 30 yards from the ocean). As we landed we gawked at the unreal bright blue water and reefs clearly visible from the plane. Already we could tell this was unlike any place we have been before.  

We made our way through customs and immigration still in that “Oh my gosh I can’t believe we are really here!!” mode. There was a snag when we picked up our rental car as they tried to give us one with a broken radio/CD player. Marcus spent a good portion of time before we left making us Island CDs to listen to while we were here so we were really bummed. We eventually got a different car (a BLUE one at that!!) and headed to our Hotel.

Somehow, despite all odds against me and my natural lack of direction, I was able to navigate as Marcus drove to hotel with ease. The drive to the hotel was very interesting itself. The architechture here is simply beautiful to me. The colorful, ornate, and somewhat European Victorian little rundown houses that were scattered along the drive had my camera fluttering. We arrived to the hotel around 4 pm. We could not be happier with our choice to stay here, this place is simply stunning. Covered in local flora and fauna and built in the traditional “Dutch” style architecture, the Avila sits perched right on the beach. As we checked in we were presented with a glass of sweet carribbean fruit juice. Why thank you. We quickly unloaded the car and headed up to see our room. We were given an Ocean View room with a little patio equipped with table and lounge chairs… definitely going to be our breakfast spot most mornings.  Our room is in the newer building of the hotel and is very modern inside, nothing like the tropical exterior. I’m super stoked about the little kitchenette and look forward to cooking up some fresh catch of the day to eat on our balcony at least one night.

After settling in we walked down to the beach where we grabbed a spot under a nice big palapa. There is an adorable ship turned into a bar that is conveniently situated on the beach where we grabbed a couple drinks to take back to our beachside seats. We layed there most of the evening as the sun faded, getting up only a couple of times to take a dip. There were schools of fish in the water right in front of us, and boy were they friendly. Obviously used to visitors, the fish swam right up to us. One little guy seemed confused and kept circling Marcus and I like we were prey? I’m not sure, but he was cute and I even got to touch him.  

When the sun completely sank we rinsed off the sand, got a little fancier, and took a cab over to Mambo Beach for dinner. We had heard that this was the place to be on Sunday night for live music and dancing (the guy who helped us with our car rental called it “local night”). Well that was correct indeed. The place was swarmed with people and loud club music right on the beach. Everyone looked to be having fun but I am an old soul, and something just didn’t feel right. We decided to walk along the beach to Lions Dive Resort (two min walk), home of Hemmingways. Ahhh, much better. The dinner tables are set up on the sand under light strung palapas. We grabbed a seat and just relaxed for a bit as the live band set up. They were not offering their normal menu as it was their buffet night, so we delightfully indulged in some fresh local fanfare.  My favorite was the Bangamary, a white fish which I was told is similar to Grouper. Everything was good though, and given the setting and company I’m not sure I could complain even if the food had been terrible.  A few Mai-Tais, Margaritas, and some fruity little green things later we called it a night and took a cab back to our hotel.

Day 13: London

1/8/11

Needless to say we slept in today after last night's shenanigans. It was our last day in London so we decided to see Buckingham Palace since that was the only thing left on our "London Napkin List" that we hadn't done yet. The cloudy weather cleared as we arrived and we took some pretty photos of the palace with the parting clouds and blue skies. Marcus was disappointed by the sloppy guards. They looked around, had poor posture, and were not at all what I had remembered from my last trip to London. As we walked from the tube to the palace I had told him how these guards were the real deal, unlike the teenagers that work at the London Tower. Bummer! After admiring the palace a bit we stopped in the shop that's right next to it and saw the official wedding china of Prince William and Kate. I'm not much for following celebrities but the Royal family is my new found "celebrity" interest. Now that we have been to both the wedding and reception venues together and I'm looking forward to the "we've stood right there!" moments :)

We then headed over to Camden Town to do a little shopping. Simba had recommended it the night before and we didn't have any other plans, why not? Once we arrived I realized that I had been there before and just didn't recognize the name. We enjoyed a beer and snacks on the 2nd floor of a cool, funky pub that overlooked the plaza. The streets were packed with tourists and identical shops so we got the few souvenirs we were after and headed back to Gloucester Square for some fish and chips. There we had by far the biggest and best fish & chips of the entire trip. The "Cod-father" was ginormous, at least a foot long. Exactly what we were looking for.

We went back to the hotel and watched some British TV before finally calling it a night. It was a nice quiet end to our two week long vacation. We've both been going back and forth between feeling like it is ending too soon to feeling ready to get home to our baby boy. I think two weeks was the perfect amount of time for the number of countries we visited and we are both missing our KaiKai. I can't wait to see his excitement when we get home and cuddle my handsome Kai-Pie!

Day 12: Back to London

1/7/11

We took the train back to London today. We had such a blast the first few nights we were here that we decided to book a couple more before flying out on Sunday. After checking into the hotel we met up with Simba and Claudine, whom we met on NYE in Paris, for dinner and drinks. Simba lives right outside of London and Claudine is still in town visiting him until Sunday. We met up at the Waterloo station and walked to a nice French restaurant that Simba had picked out. The restaurant was in an area of London that we hadn't visited yet and it was nice walking around and seeing a different part of the city. Dinner was delicious, with the exception of the butter that I smothered on some bread and bit into before realizing it was ANCHOVY butter. Bleh. After dinner we walked in search of a pub. We saw some beautiful views of the city lights as we crossed several bridges over the Thames River. Simba was a great tour guide, pointing out monuments and even telling us why the Jubilee bridge that we were crossing was in fact called the Jubilee bridge (it commemorates the Jubilee, 50 year reign, of the Queen). Marcus and I are going to have to buff up on our Cali knowledge before they ever come to visit so we can return the favor :)

We ended up at several pubs through out the night. My favorite pub was one of the first few we went to. They were packed and played awesome music (you can never go wrong with Journey). Everyone sang along as they played the "Baywatch" theme song, which was totally a first for us. Silly Brits. I was shocked to find that most pubs close around 1 am. So as one closed we walked to another. By the end of the night, or morning rather, we ended up at a club that was open until 4. After the last club closed we went to Mickey D's to fill our belly's to (hopefully) help prevent a hangover. It felt so wrong, we don't even eat Mickey D's at home. Then again we don't party like this at home either. When in London...

Day 11: Bruges

1/6/11

The gorgeous weather that we had yesterday didn't last long. We were greeted with wet cobble stone and cloudy skies this morning. We almost made it through our entire trip without seeing a single rain drop. I guess we can't complain about one rainy day in a two week long holiday, and it definitely didn't stop us from enjoying our day. I found the weather to be quite romantic. Cuddling under an umbrella as we went from chocolate shop to chocolate shop tasting and comparing. Our agenda today was to not have one. We tasted chocolates, ate waffles, and even had real chocolate that was made with milk and melted Belgian chocolate...best hot cocoa ever. It was kept in a machine that constantly churned the sweet concoction so the chocolate wouldn't settle to the bottom or harden. Another tasty treat to add to my list of things I need to learn to make when I get home.

The most interesting chocolates we tried today came from The Chocolate Line in Simon Stevin Plein. Marcus had the "Havana" which was made with dark chocolate soaked in Cuban tobacco leaves and he loved it. Per recommendation of the gentleman helping us, I tried the sun-dried tomato, black olive, and basil chocolate (that's all one chocolate). Surprisingly it was pretty good, I couldn't eat a whole box of them but maybe that's the point. Marcus hated it all together and quickly washed it down with some of the hot cocoa. His face reminded me of Will Ferrell in "Elf" when he tried the "Passion Fruit Spray." Poor guy :)

We did a bit more shopping, visited a Belgian beer vault, and finally had a delicious dinner at l'Estaminet. I had angel hair pasta and Marcus had lasagna, both of which were topped with a thick slice of cheese, baked, and served in adorable clay pots. I doubt it constitutes traditional Flemish cuisine, but we made up for that fact by ordering a Duvel and Trappist Rochefort 10. The restaurant itself had a great vibe: quaint, dim candlelit room with windows dressed in Belgian lace and filled with locals. Definitely a place we will visit again when we return to Bruges.

We go back to London in the morning. It's always sad for me leaving one country to go to another. I'm confident we will return to Bruges sooner than later. We are already talking about our next trip. It truly is the most romantic city in the world in my eyes, and I don't think anything will ever change that. Favorite moment of the day: Slow dancing in rain to Van Morrison singing "Have I told you lately" in the middle of Simon Stevin Plein. I'm so happy we chose to come to Bruges, these memories will truly last a lifetime.

Day 10: Bruges

1/5/2010

Next to our wedding day, I think today was one of the best days of our lives! :) Delicious food, gorgeous city, great company... I could do this everyday.

We are both in Heaven here in Bruges. The city is just AMAZING. From the moment we stepped out the door we both went nuts taking photos, trying to capture the feeling you get as walk down the old narrow cobble stone streets. It truly is like walking through a story book. When I was in Europe a few years ago with my cousin I fell in LOVE with this city and it became my favorite place in Europe. Ever since that trip I have been saying how much I would love to go here with Marcus. I'm excited to say that he has totally fallen in love with  Bruges as well, I'm so stoked to share this with him.

We are staying at a B&B, the same one I stayed in last time actually. We had a nice breakfast that was served with fresh Dutch Gouda and hand squeezed OJ. After breakfast we walked to the city center, or "Markt," and climbed the famous belfry bell tower. It was an exhausting 366 narrow, steep steps made for someone with a size 2 foot, but the view was more than worth it. It was a gorgeous clear day with a beautiful blue sky, the nicest day we've seen so far.

After our trek back down the winding steps we rewarded ourselves with some frites and went to the Halve Maan Brewary for a tour. The tour was very interesting and included a beautiful city view from the top of the brewery. We ran into the couple from San Francisco that we met yesterday at the train station and made plans to meet up in the evening for a few beers.

The brewery was followed by a visit to Church of Our Lady... we probably should have planned that better. There we saw Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child." Even though I saw it last time I was here I still stood in awe at all of the detail and life in the sculpture. We both remarked about how it looked like it could just come to life at any moment...truly an amazing piece of work.

What do you do after seeing a  500 year old timeless piece of work sculpted by Michelangelo? Eat a Belgian waffle of course! After our waffle and coffee we met up with Sonia and David, the couple from SF. David had been telling us about this elusive beer "Trappist Westvleteren 12" that was nearly impossible to find but this particular pub we were at carried it. It wasn't on their menu, you had to know about it to order it. It felt like we were part of some secret club now so of course we had to try it. It was delicious and at 10.2% abv and 11 Euro/glass we nursed it for a bit, taking in all of it's bubbly, hoppy glory. We ordered a few more beers, eventually dinner, and spent the rest of the night drinking and chatting with our new friends. We had a frites night cap and crawled back to the B&B, all in hopes of doing it again tomorrow.

Day 9: Bruges

1/4/2010

We have arrived in Bruges safely! We took the train, which is always a fun experience watching the world zip by. There was a lot of places still covered in snow so I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bruges is snow free, yay! I love snow, I just don't want to see it on this trip.

Once we checked into the B&B we walked to the city center to explore and find dinner. The city is still lit for Christmas and so magical at night. We went to t'Brugs Beertje, a pub we had read about that carries over 300 of the 750+ beers made in Belgium. We tried about 4 of them. I dined on a cheese plate and Marcus had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. We were in cheese and beer Heaven! We tried the Bruges Zot which is a micro brew made in Bruges and we instantly fell in love. We are going to have to figure out a way to bring some of it home with us. The brewery that produces Bruges Zot is right here in town and offers tours, so that is definitely on our agenda for tomorrow. We stayed at the pub for a few hours, just talking and laughing and making our infamous paper napkin itinerary. Before heading back to the B&B we stopped off at a Frites stand (fries with a variety of different sauces to choose from). Marcus was so happy, "Frites stand open until 3am...what's not to love about this place?" This is definitely going to be the most relaxing leg of our trip, without a whole lot to do but wander around and eat Belgian chocolate, waffles, frites, and beer :)

Day 8: Paris

1/3/11

We skipped the non-anglais cafe today and headed to our new favorite, Cafe Cherie, where we both ordered chocolate (Nutella) crepes. The crepes here are much thinner than the ones I make at home and have tiny holes throughout them allowing the Nutella to seep through... it's pretty amazing. I'm going to be perfecting my Crepe talents once I get home, no doubt.
We set out to do the Musee D'Orsay only to find that it was closed on Mondays, as are many of the museums. So we just had to head back to the Louvre, poor us :) The Louvre is so big we could have gone there everyday and still leave wishing we had seen more. We saw the Mona Lisa again and then headed over to the other half of the Louvre that we hadn't seen yet. I never did find a pregnant sculpture or even a painting as I had wished to... I wonder if there is a reason for that and maybe they don't exist? Something I'd like to look into.

Since this was our last night in Paris we wanted to end it with a nice Au Revoir. We took a champagne cruise along the Seine River at night that started by the Eiffel Tower. The first half of the cruise was narrated and was pretty interesting. We saw the building that The White House was modeled after, the French Statue of Liberty, and even the memorial marking the place where Princess Diana's fatal crash took place. Once the narrated portion ended we just cruised along the river, cuddling, sipping champagne, and taking in the beautiful city of Paris. It was very romantic and such a wonderful way to end our Paris experience. I'm very sad to be leaving but am excited to go back to Bruges. I can't wait to show Marcus around fall in love with the city all over again.

Day 7: Paris

1/2/11

Finally refreshed and feeling back to normal we started our day out in Cafe L'Eden near our hotel. We have found that when ordering it's easier to just ask " Parlez vous anglais?" rather than butcher the French language by trying to order in it. This server was the first person we came across who just said "No." Marcus and I looked at each other trying to figure out what to do next. I tried to pull the cobwebs off the two years of French I had in high school and got as far as "cafe avec creme" when the server interrupted me and basically told us we were going to have croissants and coffee. We were able to order Marcus a chocolat chaude (hot chocolate) instead of coffee but it was obvious we weren't going to have any further options than that. We shrugged our shoulders and decided croissants were fine even though Marcus had really wanted a crepe.

After our petit-dejeuner we went to the Louvre. The line was enormous and when we finally found the end of it we learned that it was estimated to take 4-5 hours to get in from that point. It turns out that the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay are free on the first Sunday of the month... if you're willing to wait it line, which we were not. We went off in search of a place to buy a Musee Pass that would get us in to all of the museums and best of all, skip the line. So we ended up paying to get it on a day that was free but we entirely skipped the waiting process, went in through what seemed like a secret passage like a couple of VIPS, and spent our 5 hours admiring the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory rather than in line. I would say we came out ahead.

We stopped for a bite to eat at a cafe and had some delicious sandwiches, Croque Monsieur, and a beer. My sandwich was basically a grilled cheese (emmental) topped with more cheese, sliced tomato and a fried egg and Marcus' was a grilled cheese with ham topped with more cheese and then baked. We have since seen them at many boulangeries and they appear to be a local favorite. I don't know how the French stay so thin eating this stuff :)

We then walked to Notre Dame as the sun set. By the time we reached it night had fallen and the church was lit up. A Sunday service was taking place as we arrived, lucky us once again. We stood in the back of the church as the congregation sang hymns lead by a choir. After watching the service for a bit we walked around and admired the beauty of the cathedral. This was the first church that actually allowed photos (sans flash) so we both snapped away. It was incredible. I am so stoked we were able to take part in a service at Notre Dame. Tres bonne. After admiring the heart of the cathedral, we went outside and walked all around it admiring the gothic architecture before heading back to our home away from home for some well deserved rest.

Day 6: Paris New Year's Day

1/1/11

We spent most of the day suffering the revenge of the fun we had the night before. I think we finally woke up somewhere around 2 or 3pm only to shower, eat, and go back to sleep. My knight in shining armor did go out to try to find us some greasy food to ease our pain. Unfortunately the city of Paris was dead on New Year's Day and everything around us was closed except for good ol' Mickey D's. The line was out the door since that was the only thing open. Apparently we weren't the only people in Paris hung over and looking for food.  We ate our fries and went back to bed in an attempt to sleep off the hangover. We had made a reservation a couple nights before for the restaurant Roger la Grenouille, which was recommended to us by Mike's coworker . This was to be our celebratory New Year's Day dinner and we really didn't want to miss it. So we eventually pulled ourselves out of bed, hopped onto the metro, and went to dinner. The restaurant was AMAZING. It was tucked away somewhere off Rue Rivoli and was literally a hole in the wall place that we would have never found if we weren't specifically looking for it. There were statues of frogs out front and we quickly realized what their specialty was. Inside, the restaurant was decorated in a rustic/old world French vibe with wonderful ambiance. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling with eclectic objects hanging from them such as vintage coffee grinders, ceramic jugs, and kitchen funnels. The servers and bussers were all dressed in suits but didn't seem to mind that we were dressed in our jeans and sweaters (as were the rest of the guests). Despite the obvious frog theme throughout the restaurant we opted not to have the frog legs. Instead Marcus ordered a prime cut steak and I ordered seabass. It was one of the best meals I've ever had, hands down. Something to remember next time we come to Paris (or maybe anywhere in Europe, I'm not sure): If you like your steak rare, order it medium well; if you like you're steak medium well, order it in America.