Tag Archives: travel

Visiting Notre Dame Cathedral

1 Dec

Watching Notre Dame burn in 2019 was heartbreaking. The entire world was horrified. When Lisa and I saw the news this week of the completed renovation and pending reopening, it sparked memories of our trip to Paris in March 2024.

April 2019 Stock photo

I know that the French get a bad rep, especially from entitled American tourists. Maybe the unfriendliness is true away from the city, but Paris was a delight for us. We stayed in a quaint boutique hotel behind the Louvre. The ancient “lift” took us to within two floors of our attic hideaway. The view was of the surrounding buildings, nothing to write home about but we enjoyed it immensely. The best part of the hotel stay, for me, was the daily warm baguettes for breakfast! I was in heaven.

View from the attic.

We are not foodies but enjoyed the waitstaff at every restaurant. They were multilingual, friendly and happy. One time we shared a table with a young couple from Mexico. They were living abroad for work and happy to speak Spanish.

St. Eustache

One of our stops was of course Notre Dame. We sat on the bleachers behind a plywood barrier, gazing upward at the scaffolding and the very busy workers. It was a gray day but we sat for a long time taking in both the sadness and the hope. It’s hard to believe it’s finished.

Artists across the Seine from the cathedral. Stock photo.

I guess we’ll have to go back. Of the five cities we visited on our whirlwind tour, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich and Salzburg, Paris was my favorite. And there’s so much we missed.

DOS TORTAS

PS Forgive my stock photos. All my pictures were stolen in my phone.

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Vancouver

11 Aug
Great Architecture
A Vibrant Noisy City
Gay Town
Lunch
Chinatown
Steam Clock
High Fashion
Curious Sam Kee Building
Christ Church Cathedral
Old Lamps and Stained Glass
View From Here

We have been blessed with perfect weather. Wednesday we leave for Alaska.

DOS TORTAS

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Travel’s Trials And Tribulations

16 Mar

As I sit on the Eurostar train between London and Amsterdam I contemplate this astounding trip so far. It’s been almost 15 years since Lisa and my last overseas adventure. A lot has changed. I am 72, she is 60. After Lisa’s multiple back surgeries, neither one of us can walk for hours nor stand gazing at antiquities. We return to the hotel in the late afternoon and collapse for the evening.

Stock image.

When I was pick pocketed in Athens in 2005 and had my passport stolen, we got to experience the darker and inconvenient side of travel. Any trip might include loss, loss of cell phone, hat, or scarf. I once left expensive headphones on the plane home to Mexico.

Amsterdam Canals

In an attempt at prevention I try to turn around from any stop and make sure nothing is left behind. To prevent pick pocketing, I carry a  shoulder bag designed for travel with zippered pockets to protect phone, money and identification. And still it happened.

I lost my credit card.

In London everything is paid by tapping your bank card on a terminal. Some restaurants don’t accept cash at all. In order to hop the underground (subway) I had placed my card in a side pocket with my phone. Apparently I pulled out my phone and dropped the card. After searching everywhere I contacted my US bank.

Saturday Market

Fortunately we have other plastic but it could be so easy to get stranded with no money. The worst part was the sleepless night and self flagellation.

Thank God I’m over it. There’s nothing more I can do until I return home.

Dutch apple pie.

The trip continues and we’re having a great time. Weather has been unprecedented with sunshine in both London and Amsterdam.  Crowds are small compared to high season. For an unscripted holiday, we’re doing very well.

DOS TORTAS

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Sometimes The Stars Align

10 Mar

Last week our wonderful house sitters arrived to care for the house for our trip to my niece’s funeral. The day before we left they offered to stay “a few more weeks”. Since Lisa and I are caregivers for her 80 year old mother and two dogs,we have not had a vacation, just the two of us, for sometime. This unexpected offer sent our imaginations spinning.

Alice’s big 8-oh.

Our heads were exploding as we discussed where to go. The possibilities were endless, Shri Lanka, Africa, Croatia. I didn’t want to be on a 20 hour flight as we did when we visited Turkey and Greece (2010) and Thailand (2005). My first thought was, I’ve never been to Europe!

Greek Goddesses 2005
Hagia Sophia Mosque – Turkey 2010

I figured we’d get to see the most countries in the closest space. So here we are in London. I have to pinch myself!

Westminster was mind blowing.
Changing of the Guard, Kensington Palace
The best view from the giant London Eye Ferris Wheel.
The Tower of London

We’ve had four days of sunshine! For these tropical girls it’s been chilly but we don’t care. We’re having an unbelievable time. Stay tuned because this party is just getting started – Stonehenge, Bath and tickets to Wicked! None of this was on my 2024 bucket list. I guess I’ll make room at the bottom of the page.

DOS TORTAS

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Who Needs An Alarm When You’ve Got A Dog

13 Aug

This week Lisa and I are off on a long awaited and meticulously planned trip. She left on Thursday to travel with her mom to Cancun and on to Southern California. I am traveling through Mexico City to see my daughter in Northern California. We will meet up in a couple of weeks.

Stella supervising.

My last night in Bacalar, I tossed and turned, restlessly anticipating the morning’s departure, I finally fell into a deep sleep and had the most vivid dream. In the dream I had overslept and missed my flight entirely. In that way that dreams can be, I stumbled madly over and over with my iPad, attempting to somehow reschedule the missed flight which of course was impossible.

Ten minutes before my six a.m. alarm sounded, Luna began whining to be let out. Waking, to my relief and frustration, I had not missed the flight, but I wanted to strangle the dog. Argh.

Luna, Love her and hate her,

Wonderful house sitters are in place and I am traveling to cooler climate. And while I’ll miss them, (NOT! well maybe a little), there will be no dogs. Stay tuned.

DOS TORTAS

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Telling Travel Stories – Belize

30 Jul

In 2003, Lisa and I tootled on down to Belize. I had perused a book at Book People in Austin that touted Belize as the perfect retirement location. Why not? We planned our vacation to check it out.

It was quite an adventure getting to our selected hotel, the Black Rock Ecolodge. Belize City was a quick flight from Houston and surprisingly affordable. We hailed a “chicken bus” (third class, no AC) to San Ignacio on the Belize/Guatemala border. The lodge was another seven miles down a pitted, winding, dirt road. We found out later that the taxi driver had a rifle under his seat. The Belize border was not the safest place in those days.

The following morning at breakfast we met a couple of USers who were getting ready to venture back into San Ignacio to join a tour group across the Guatemala border to the pyramids of Tikal. We immediately dropped our non-existent plans, changed into our hiking boots and joined them. Best decision of the trip!

Tikal is an amazing Mayan site. The closing scene in the original Star Wars was filmed here.

The folks that we joined were from across the US and a very interesting bunch. Belize is a small country and we bumped into them more than once and enjoyed their company immensely.

A sunset/full moon sail around the island of Caye Caulker with our new friends.

One of the solo travelers in the group was Joe. He would soon be off to start his tour in the Peace Corps and Belize was his last hoorah. He was partaking of the Belizean rum as if they might run out. I found him to be entertaining and when he talked about his blog, I was eager to follow. I had always dreamed about joining the Peace Corps in my younger days. Following him was my first experience with a blog. After all, it was 2003. He was funny and I looked forward to each post.

Caye Caulker in 2003 and today.

Joe was assigned to Bangladesh and his blog was riveting. He described the poverty and something he abhorred, the violence against animals. However, it didn’t take him long to meet someone and was smitten. She was also assigned to Bangladesh. The blog took a lighter tone as they planned a wedding, in Thailand, in December 2004. If you don’t remember your history, look it up. Their wedding affected us in ways we couldn’t have predicted. Next week I will continue the story of how we followed in their footsteps and traveled to Thailand in 2005 and the surprises that unfolded.

DOS TORTAS

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Embarrassed To Be Happy

17 Apr

With so much pain and suffering in the world, is it super privileged to be content? There are no broken bones, the car is running, we have food and shelter.

I am grateful, and I don’t want to jinx things. I’m not saying that life is perfect. I still struggle with not sleeping. It’s just the way it is. My body hurts from gym work outs, but it’s a good hurt and I’m thrilled with the muscles. Lisa and I have been having date-night once a week. Sometimes it’s the little things.

Moon over Laguna Bacalar.

I’m leaving for California a week from Tuesday and I’m actually excited. Not much really excites me these days. Soon I will be checking the weather, hauling out the suitcase and getting a Covid test. Hi ho hi ho.

Going for a swim.

Until then, I will try to keep the bubble from bursting, however I did buy travel insurance.

DOS TORTAS

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Let’s Book A Flight

10 Apr

When we retired to Bacalar, Mexico from the United States, we took so many things into consideration. I was working a job that gave me time to spend researching. Bacalar was thirty minutes from an international airport. We would be able to travel back to the US easily for holidays and visits with family. We had direct buses to Cancun where we could get flights to anywhere in the world. There was one caveat that we didn’t consider, couldn’t have possibly known.The world of 2022 is no longer the world of 2013.

Nine short years. How time flies. I’m not suggesting that we should not make plans because of an uncertain future. The future is always uncertain.

Sitting on my couch looking at travel search engines makes my head spin. Lisa said something his morning that is so true. “You should go. When you get home you’ll never want to do it again.” How right she is. I hate flying. Flights are long (there are fewer route options), expensive and involve crazy people. I also drop my cell phone and loose my headphones. The stress makes me crazy.

I will persist however. I miss my kids. Wish me luck.

DOS TORTAS

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It’s Good To Be Home

5 Dec

I left Austin via magic carpet this past Wednesday on the first flight out scheduled for 8:30 am departure. I had a rental car to gas up and return. International flights require arriving at the airport three hours ahead of time. My sleep was restless so I got up and was at the airport waaaaay too early. Oh well.

I arrived to a rainy Cancun which made locating the car a bit of a challenge. Our house sitter had left it for me ten days prior. I prayed it would start, and it did! Much gratitude.

There was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the airport and construction along the Playa del Carmen highway. My gas tank was getting low and I planned to stop on my way out of Tulum. Way too many travelers had the same idea. There were long lines at the gas pumps so I crossed my fingers and kept going. True to the season I hit a thunder storm which slowed my progress. By the time I made it to the next gas station, I was feeling nervous and coming up with contingency plans.

I made it home to Bacalar safely and spent the first few days putting out fires. One of them was no internet and thus the tardiness of the blog. I’m sitting here watching large, fat, black squirrels prance on our coconut palms. Their antics make me laugh, breathe, and relax. It’s good to laugh. Welcome home.

DOS TORTAS

https://youtu.be/zJ6VT7ciR1o

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Just Take The Next Step

5 Sep

We have been NOB (north of the Mexico/US border) for almost six weeks. It has been a full on vaca which includes dodging Covid, eating favorite foods and hanging with the grands.

Up very early for a flight out of Austin.

There’s nothing terribly profound to share. We’ve been enjoying the amazing produce that abounds in Northern California. Figs are in season and are able to be picked off a neighbor’s tree. Heavenly.

One of my favorite fruits.

Temps are a bit lower than Lisa likes, but I am quite content. I just didn’t bring enough warm clothes. Living in the tropics, our wardrobe is limited in that department.

The local farmers market is always a treat.
My art journaling continues. Produce inspires.
Stela has put yoga on hold. Rainy cool weather in Bacalar has her ready to snuggle.

It is such a strange time we’re living in. Lisa’s mom got very sick with the flu. Thank God she didn’t have Covid but there was certainly a lot of anxiety until test results came back. Hang in there. Somehow we’ll make it through.

DOS TORTAS

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