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bike42 · 3 years

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April 13-15, 2021 IAT Heading South

The funny thing about Spring in Wisconsin is it can be variable. After two weeks of amazing warm weather, we’re back up North in the cold. It’s actually “normal,” weather for April, but after what we’ve had recently, it’s kind of hard to go back. Actually, it was perfect weather for hiking, we just had to keep moving.

This time, we’re staying in the Holiday Inn Express in Antigo, WI (population 7780). I had a Waunakee Chamber Board meeting via Zoom early Tuesday morning, so Jeff and I drove up late Monday night so I’d be able to take that call before joining the gang. The hotel experience is different than when we’re together in a cabin, but we can’t always have everything perfectly aligned.

Kent had shoulder replacement surgery about two weeks ago, so this hotel option worked out well for Kent and Lynn too. He can’t hike “off road” for a bit (risk of falling), so he’ll hang out while Lynn hikes with us. I will say it felt odd not having him along on the hike. They arrived at the hotel early Tuesday morning, and Lynn rode with us to rendezvous at the start with Dan, Tam and Gary who had already left a car where we’d finish our Tuesday hike.

There were a few snow flurries in the air as we set off hiking just after 10am. We all dressed in layers, but the 34 degrees with a high of 40 caught me a bit off guard and I had to get creative and layer in some clothes that I’d brought for hanging out in the evening!

Everyone started out in gaiters, which was good as it wasn’t long until we were detouring around or splashing through puddles. In fact, as we were traversing around 4H Camp Susan, the road was completely submerged so we hacked our way into the woods, up a hill, and bushwhacked back down to the trail.

A little more than three miles, and we were crossing Hwy 45 – which marked the end of the Highland Lakes Segment and the start of the Summit Moraine Segment.

We came upon the Jack Lake ski trails area, and a nice little warming shelter with a porta-potty. It had a stove and wood – we could have had a fire if we’d needed to warm up. We were glad to have a picnic table and took an extended break there. The terrain was like other cross-country ski areas we’d hiked before – nice wide-open trails, but hilly!

After a few easy miles, we came to a fancier warming shelter called the Spychalla Lodge. We didn’t need another break, but we took one anyway.

From there, we continued on to Veteran’s Memorial Park. My folks had checked this out already, so I knew to expect cute little cabins and a nice campsite – I thought we were just a few weeks too early for camping, however – plus we needed Wi-Fi for a few conference calls. Just outside the campground, we entered the Langlade County Arboretum, where all the trees were labeled – we found it to be quite educational. The trail wound around several beautiful lakes: Game, High, Low and Jack Lakes – said to be named by card-playing loggers that had previously inhabited this area.

Our guide book warned us of possible issues with floating bogs and beaver dams, but we had no issues. We arrived at our end point for the day about 3PM – could have gone further, but Jeff and I had a Zoom call to be on at 6:30PM that evening so we’d planned for just over 11 miles today.

It was a windy day, but we were mostly protected in the trees – the sound of the wind in the high pines was awesome. While it never got warm (although Gary was hiking in a t-shirt), it was a pleasant day. The woodland flowers were just beginning to bloom, but they were advanced enough to use my “Picture This” app to help identify them. The forest and lakes were alive with the sounds of birds including sandhill cranes, geese, several kinds of ducks and I really loved the sounds of the Ruffed Grouse as they were “drumming,” to attract females or ward off challenging males.

Back to the hotel, and we walked over to the Bowling Alley across the parking lot – always a fun experience and the place was hopping, and the food was ok.

Wednesday morning, we awoke to snow on the cars, and the temperature was 33 degrees as we set out. I was the navigator, but wasn’t paying attention as Gary, Lynn and I were in a deep conversation about Waunakee’s Community Study on race ... so we missed a turn and saw a bit more of Langlade County!

We did the car drop, and at the start, there was a moss-covered stump that I’d photographed Tuesday afternoon – what a contrast to now find it snow covered!!

We set out at a brisk pace, and quickly finished the last 3.5 miles of the Summit Moraine segment. The terrain was mostly wide, grassy rolling roads, but then it turned and climbed along a ridge. Someone had built steps out of large rocks – the first time I can recall seeing that. I imagine it was a lot of work to build that, but made the climb easier. We skirted several beautiful lakes, and saw a beautiful DCA site.

The trail paralleled Highway A for a stretch, where we got a few honks from cars going past. We crossed the highway and began the Lumbercamp Segment. The trail went through the Peters March State Wildlife Area, and I expected it to be wet, but aside from an occasional large puddle in the low spot on the trail, it wasn’t bad. No one got wet feet today!

We walked along lumber roads, mostly grass covered thankfully. We only came upon a short stretch where there was active logging with equipment present but no one working today. The roads there were muddier, but nothing like the mud soup that we’d experienced several weeks ago on the Highland Lakes Segment!

I slowed my pace a bit and immersed in the peace of the surrounds – enjoying seeing the new growth of the trees and flowers, and listening to the cacophony of the birds.

After six miles, we searched out a place to stop for lunch. We’d been spoiled yesterday coming upon several shelters and areas with picnic tables! We finally spotted a downed tree, and Jeff got out his saw and lopped off a few branches to make room for the seven of us. It made us all think about the lunch we had sitting on a log atop a mountain in Slovenia a few years ago!

We continued trekking, on the lookout for the “Hillbilly Hilton” that we’d read about in our guidebook. Its all that remains from the Norem Lumber Camp which operated from 1920 to 1938. The camp originally had several log structures, but the only remnant is the root cellar, which has been renovated (?) into a respite for hikers. There were several sleeping platforms, a table and shelves with various things that had left behind. Unfortunately, there was a lot of trash both inside and outside. In the event of severe weather, it’d be a good place to take shelter, but I’d have been more comfortable in a tent versus sleeping inside there!!

We had another snack, and the guys kicked into turbo mode, with Gary issuing a self-challenge to finish the hike by 3pm. Tam, Lynn and I hiked a more moderate pace, stopping to check out the ramps (wild onion, or wild leek) – the forest was full of them, and I’d never seen them growing in Wisconsin before. Made us wish we were cooking dinner tonight!

The trail left the primitive road and headed up of high-relief hummocky topography. Once again, we found ourselves stumbling over roots and rocks, which actually was a welcomed change from the monotony of the forest roads. We came upon the beautiful Baker Lake, with a steep boat launch and a wooden slide to launch a canoe or kayak – would be a great secluded place to paddle!

From there, we climbed up a steep hill to Hwy-52 and the endpoint of our segment (and the guys patiently waiting).

We hiked over 16 miles today, in just under 7 hours. Great pace, but not too challenging. Feels great to be able to put in these longer distances. Gary commented that we had “rain, snow, sun, and wind; everything but locusts!” All in all, a great day.

We picked up the car at the start and got back to the hotel about 4:30pm, where Kent was waiting for us. He walked around Antigo, but reported it was much colder and windier than what we’d experienced in the protection of the forest. Since we had a Zoom call scheduled with Donovan of Embark Explorations (our Kilimanjaro guide company) at 7pm, we decided to head out to dinner right away. Tam found the Fifth Avenue Restaurant in downtown Antigo that had a good-looking menu and great reviews, so we headed there. Like most placed up north, they’re a bit casual with COVID restrictions and masks seemed to be optional and they had no problem with our group of 7 people sitting at one table.

We had a great dinner, lots of food, my favorite Leinenkugel Creamy Dark beer, and Jeff and I got pie to go from the Dixie Diner next door (same ownership – same family operating both places for 75 years).

After dinner, we went back to our “suite” at the Holiday Inn Express and huddled around Jeff’s laptop for our call with Donovan (and George Sanchez, our BrightStar colleague from Austin TX who will be joining us in Africa). Donovan and his wife have a pact to live somewhere else in the world every five years. They’d lived in Tanzania at the base of Kilimanjaro, and are now living in Guatemala so he was logged in from there. The call went well, but a storm was approaching there – we could see the lighting in his background window, and as he predicted, he lost power towards the end of the call. We learned enough to get super excited for our September trek! I’m so thankful that Gary suggested this IAT adventure to help get us so comfortable with multi-day trekking and test out our cold weather gear in preparation for all the weather we’ll encounter on our 9 days on the mountain in Tanzania.

Thursday, we woke to clearer skies, but still cool – the sunshine makes all the difference, mentally as much as physically. An easy car drop, we found ourselves at the start of Kettlebowl and hiking down into the bowl by 7:50AM.

The road opened up at the base of the Kettlebowl Ski Area, a nice little hill with some short, steep sections, served by several rope-tows, so that made me think of the nearby Paul Bunyan Ski Hill where I learned to ski!

Kettlebowl is a segment I’d read about as one where people had trouble getting lost so I was a bit nervous. It was rated a 4 / 4 so that got our attention as well. In reality, it was mostly wide forest roads, with numerous intersections. Perhaps in full leaf out, some of the signage is obscured, but we had no issues. We did have over 1000 feet in elevation gain, but easier to do with wide grassy paths versus narrow rocky trails.

Our group set off fast, which helped warm us up on the cold morning. After a mile, the layers started coming off. After about 3 miles though, I backed off a bit to enjoy the hike a bit more. Most of this area had been logged long ago, and has a successional forest of aspen and birch. Without leaves, we could really see through the trees – lots of hills, kettles, large rocks. We didn’t see wildlife, but I’m sure they saw us!

After about 5 miles we had a break – I went into the trees to find a large rock to sit on while I enjoyed the coffee I’d brought along with a fig bar. I really enjoyed the tranquility of being “alone” in the forest, knowing Jeff and my friends were just over the ridge – not exactly out of ear shot, so I had my “adventure with security” moment. I honestly cannot imagine doing these treks alone, but many people do. Our group is so compatible too, its ok for some to head out fast and work on cardio, and for others to linger back and talk or just enjoy the solace of the hike.

We completed the nearly 10-mile trek well before noon. We’d left two cars there, so Gary and Lynn headed back to Antigo to pick up Kent at the hotel, while Jeff and I drove Dan and Tam back to their car. We all met up at the Dixie Diner in Antigo for a hearty lunch. I was thinking cheeseburger of course, but their special today was a Pastie – either beef or chicken variety. My love of dough led me to choose that option – it was good, but very different than what I was used to. It had large chunks of beef and potatoes, while I’m used to more of finely diced version, more like a hash stuffed in a pastry.

After lunch, we drove back to the cemetery where the Kettlebowl segment ended to begin what’ll be a 30-mile connecting route (CR) – through the end of the Guthook West portion and onto the Central portion of the app! Since we had a great day and we were all feeling good, we decided to knock off 5 miles of the CR, and Kent walked with us – we felt complete as a group again!

I’d developed a small blister on my right heel yesterday, that was unusual. This morning’s hike, even though I’d had a Band-Aid on it, expanded it to quarter size. It didn’t prevent me from hiking; I hardly thought about it. But I’ll need to work on route cause (probably will have to give up pedicures and my foot softening lotion and build up my calluses before September)!

We had a fast 5 miles back to the tiny village of Polar, then a shuttle back to the cars and we were all on our way home. We’re still a 2.5-hour drive to our home – getting closer as the “crow flies,” but its still a remote location with small county roads to drive to get to our locations. After our 4 days next month, we’ll be within two hours – still too far for day trips, but that will come this summer.

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beautyslave17 · 3 years

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Deluxe Office Refurbishment Providers.

Uk'S Greatest Housebuilders Of 2019 Exposed.

Content

Exactly How The Residential Or Commercial Property Renovation And Also Repair Providers In London Job.

Rj Refurbishment Solutions.

Begin Your Job.

Small Orangery Conservatories And Also Glass Conservatories.

If the land that you wish to build your sunroom on will not have the ability to be graded and leveled for construction, you will certainly have to build a mounted structure making use of concrete or concrete obstruct walls. This sort of foundation will certainly additionally set you back added money in labor and supplies in contrast to a slab structure. Take into consideration whether you would such as a yard space, which has semi-glazed walls, and a roofing system entirely covered in floor tiles.

Still others are simply light-filled areas facing the back yard. Either way, adding a sunroom to your residence is a remarkable means to update its appearance as well as optimize your living area. https://www.bromleygaines.co.uk/thame/ , however, today's sun parlors are created from erected sets that include framework pieces of steel, light weight aluminum, or fiberglass, in addition to the glass panels for the wall surfaces. Prefab sunroom additions are constructed in puzzle-like fashion, generally by certified professionals.

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Exactly How The Residential Or Commercial Property Improvement And Also Refurbishment Services In London Work.

Outside walls, home windows, doors, as well as roofing all require high insulation qualities to retain warmth and also awesome air during cool and warm periods. For the high cost, you obtain a real expansion of your space, regardless of weather condition. Stick-built is the shorthand term for any kind of framework that is built from the ground up.

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Assembly can be done by a homeowner, or more frequently by a specialist associated with the package maker. Another consider preparing your sun parlor's foundation is to degree or quality the area. If you are constructing a sun parlor from scratch, you will want to start with a slab structure.

Rj Repair Solutions.

Linking your home as well as yard is an extremely preferable principle, and a yard room or orangery provides you the best chance to do this. If you are planning to have a new kitchen and also dining room expansion, think of positioning the kitchen even more back right into the house with the dining room in the polished section. Cooking area storage as well as closets will function much better against strong walls, as well as you can delight in the views right into your yard while you eat at the table. Where their frameworks contain such high proportions of glazing, they quickly enhance the connection between the indoors as well as outdoors. An expansion supplies you with a possibility to reevaluate your interiors as well as make adjustments to the format of your home, ensuring the most effective use the brand-new space.

Who is the best builder in Houston?

The top rated Home Builders in Houston are:Legion Custom Home Builders – customized home design options. Aspire Fine Homes – one of Houston's trusted home builders. Jamestown Estate Homes – leans on Old World designs for their houses. Liberty Home Builders – Mittlesteadt Estates – with a 10-year structural warranty. More items

Sun parlors can be custom-built by a regional general professional that will certainly make as well as build the sunroom to your specs. Such sunrooms have traditional stud-and-truss framing and also tile roofings, yet the walls are mainly glass, formed by patio doors or unabridged home windows. Expect a complete budget plan of $25,000 to $80,000 for a four-season area.

Begin Your Task.

Glass staircases have additionally end up being more prominent over the last few years with some stunning styles available check out Jarrods for some great suggestions on what can be achieved for your house. Samson Awnings usually just supply as well as install glass room systems to prepared bases by others and we can put together the devices usually in between 2-5 days from begin depending upon the dimension and also complexity of the device. For the purposes of pricing we will offer a couple of instances based on the Weinor Glasoase system which is just one of the finest German manufactured glass space systems available in the UK. Each system is defined, drawn and validated and after that manufactured in Germany, put together and after that unassembled and also jam-packed for despatch to the UK and then re set up onto your ready area.

We will certainly do updates when needed with high quality products of our picking.

We knew when buying a Ryan Residence we would certainly be getting a residence loaded with basic and also poor quality product.

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Well we didn't understand that the real building and construction work would be of such incredibly low quality.

The possibility to customize your residence during the structure procedure (transforming the floor plan, adding in wardrobe space, or updating to state-of-the art home appliances) additionally removes the demand for any kind of major restorations.

If you're planning your dream sunroom as a room that increases the all-natural light in your home or as an area that takes advantage of lovely views, a glass roofing system is plainly a superb selection. Glass brings an aesthetically pleasing, contemporary aesthetic to modern buildings while likewise blending happily with even more standard building designs. A glass roofing system can change a hated conservatory into an area you can make use of at any time the year, allowing you to delight in the clearest sights of bright blue summer skies or star-studded evenings. Usually, a new kitchen design may include details of the kitchen cabinetry, device arrays, lighting schemes, worktop product options as well as electrical outlets.

In this situation, it refers to house enhancements, area additions, and also other bump-outs that are built from timber, concrete, glass, house sheathing, as well as shingles-- nearly every element that is utilized when building a home. These enhancements may have full basements underneath them in regions where that is the standard. A real room enhancement need to have full electric solution and also COOLING AND HEATING service. This kind of space addition adds to the main square footage of your home.

Usually, we serve as spacial designers and assist clients to both include as well as repurpose their existing surrounding areas into the brand-new extension. While you can make use of orangeries and also yard spaces to produce private, self-contained areas, most people like to knock through walls, expand openings and produce a beautiful, open-plan kitchen as well as dining-room. At first, focus on exactly how the surrounding spaces are prepared throughout your primary residence and also think of exactly how you use the different rooms. A glass area is an expansion of the garden instead of an extension of your residence, implying it's designed to enable you to use your garden as well as outside space for a a lot longer duration of the year.

What are the 3 types of construction?

In general, there are three sectors of construction: buildings, infrastructure and industrial. Building construction is usually further divided into residential and non-residential.

The truth that these are "sets" does not mean that assembly is an easy DIY job, although lots of property owners have successfully assembled them. A prefab sun parlor is created and also produced off-site then is shipped in items to your house packed in flat cartons.

Small Orangery Conservatories As Well As Glass Conservatories.

Who is the best quality home builder?

Taylor Morrison reigns again on the annual list. Taylor Morrison ranks highest in trust among national home builders, according to Lifestory Research's recently released Most Trusted 2017 Home Builder Study.

Nowadays, houses are constructed to much more effective criteria and anything built after 2004 will certainly be more difficult to update. But remember that you can specify any kind of door to be integrated into the structural glass setup. Glass Box Extensions can incorporate any kind of variety of accessibility openings from our slim framed moving door system, bi-fold door collections, to bespoke flush polished hinged doors and also even more. Within the sunroom category, though there are two subcategories.

According to the International Energy Conservation Code, any conditioned living space can not have more than 40 percent of the wall room offered over to glass home windows. This project can include any kind of indoor area where the light comes in through many windows. Solariums are more like greenhouses, featuring complete wall surfaces of windows.

Allow The Sunshine In! Whatever You Wanted To Know Regarding Sunrooms

A yard area is optimal if you desire your expansion to appear like it is part of your major residential property, by making certain the ceramic tiles, brickwork as well as other details match. An orangery consists of a greater proportion of glazing, with a roof covering light built on a flat roof and also semi-glazed wall surfaces. Rather than feeling cold in the winter season or stuffy in the summer season, they are comfortable as well as inviting living areas throughout the periods.

Is Kolter Homes a good builder?

try here has been a member of the BBB since 2005 and has an A- rating, which is pretty much the equivalent of “batting a thousand” in baseball terms – or in non-sports terms, that's a pretty great rating for a builder.

As a sunroom is completely protected with a solid flooring they are heatable therefore can be utilized throughout the year. At a cost between $30,000 as well as $75,000, a solarium is a glass room that holds true expansion of your outdoors area. Even the roofing is glass, making it ideal if you intend to appreciate nature from the comfort of your home. The steel framework must be solid sufficient to sustain the glass throughout the wall surfaces as well as ceilings. You might be extra knowledgeable about the idea of a home sun parlor than a house solarium.

How important is the UK construction industry?

The construction sector contributes £117 billion to the UK economy, 6% of total economic output. There are 2.4 million jobs in the sector, 7% of UK total.

Contractors and engineers have a tendency to utilize the term "sunroom" to refer to any room with huge windows. Sunrooms have standard roofings like the homes they're connected to, as well as the windows extend side-by-side across the wall surfaces but do not extend floor to ceiling. Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire; Bergson & Eaton have over 40 years' experience in making, making and also installing substitute roof coverings, windows and doors as well as bespoke conservatories and also orangeries. Come and also see our Aylesbury display room where you can see the quality of our products up close.

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terkaznebes · 4 years

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These days

Goddamnit I didn’t imagine that I would spend the last year of my twenties in quarantine. I wanted to drink coffee, read books, cancel plans and do nothing out of my own will!

Did the last few years go too fast or what? I know that thirty is the new twenty (surely some people somewhere have said it, at least some insta influencers, I would bet my morning filter on this), but it’s still kind of scary, no not scary… what’s the right word? Annoying, yes it’s just plain annoying. It has nothing to do with where I wanted to be/what I wanted to have at this age, it’s more like where the hell is my great butt and why god oh why am I getting sun spots and that in between the eyebrows wrinkle? I was aware of this wrinkle at an early age. I still remember this conversation with my best friend:

Me: “I am worried about my in between the eyebrows wrinkle.”

Her: “Like she won’t go to college or what?”

Despite all the necessary precautions like staying away from the sun, moisturising, adopting the resting bitch face, always wearing sunglasses, that sneaky frown line still made an appearance.

Jokes aside, things are getting serious when you are nearing thirty. (I can already see my fifty year old self laughing at this, nearly spilling my afternoon whisky somewhere in the future.)

In this past year I have had so many real adult experiences, (yet somehow the teenager within still laughed at the phrase “adult experience”), like picking up my child from kinder-garden, leaving the office on time so I could pick up my child from kinder-garden…I know it sounds like the same thing, but honestly those were two very different feelings and emotions. We also started a long distance house renovation. I can now say grown up things like: We are just putting up the roof. Or: The architects have completed the study, do you want to see it?

My absolute favourite thing that came with adulting is the good quality of sustenance. I am so happy that we drink the good wine, the good coffee, the good whiskey and eat all the good food. Mind you, I don’t think I could handle a shitty wine hangover anymore. I need to function at 5AM most days, some days at 4.40AM and some blissful, scarce and wonderful mornings, I don’t have to open my eyes until 5.30AM. Aaah motherhood. So when choosing to go for a run or do nothing during the first nap time, it takes ALL the will and effort to put the sneakers on. I did it today though. My knee hurt a little. I am now that person who runs on that grassy patch to alleviate the impact on the concrete. I know, I know to be concerned with vanity and ageing in the time of corona. However if I can’t make fun of things anymore, that’s when there’s no point in living. I wake up every day knowing very well that I have no real problems in life, I appreciate it by being a compassionate and hopefully a kind person to those around me.

I was supposed to be at a yoga retreat right now with Dominika. For the first time since Josefina was born, I was supposed to have four days just to myself. I remember that even when I was at uni writing my dissertation and studying for my finals, training for a half marathon, working night shifts and fundraising for Childreach, I still had a day every now and then that was just for me and for my books. I really miss those recharge days.

Gold Coast is the perfect place to raise a child in, the weather is awesome all the time, you barely have to dress them, the veggies and fruit is always fresh and in abundance and there’s a ridiculous amount of young mums that you can hang out with. However being so far away from family sucks in this instance. I would love to just drop Josie off at grandma’s for the weekend. Don’t ever underestimate the value of having people you can trust around you. I think that’s the one downside of living in Australia. It’s all fun and games when you are just a rebel twenty-five year old, but at twenty-nine, it’s serious business. I am kidding of course, but having a kid sure does change things from that perspective.

Despite the situation in the world (and the politics in homeland), I am actually going through a really blissful time in my life. Josie is so much more fun now that she’s progressed to toddler level. Lukas is working from home and we are like the best family unit I know. I know it is taking a worldwide toll, but when are you going to get this time to truly bond with the ones closest to you? We are taking it as a fantastic opportunity to talk, take walks, spend time on the beach, drink more than we should, plan the future and more adult experiences hahahaha. Lukas also completed a great deal of DYI and just proved to me even more that I chose the right mate for life. We will probably have to postpone our wedding, which sucks, but thanks to quarantine drinking and no yoga routine, I probably won’t fit my wedding dress anymore so just as well. I am hope everyone is staying safe.

#lifeinthetimeofcorona

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its-abroad-world · 4 years

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Adventure #4: June 6, St. Petersburg Day 2: all the art you could ever desire

Our morning began with a quick breakfast on the ship and then Olga and Sergei picked us up at 8:30 am to take us on a driving tour of the Neva river before we followed it with a river cruise. Our first stop of the day was along the banks of the Neva where there were two large sphinxes. It didn’t seem like much until Olga told us that the sphinxes were original sphinxes from ancient Egypt that were about 3,500 years old. Of all the places I thought that I would see a relic from ancient Egypt, outside in Russia was the last place I would think of. They were bought by Nicholas I in the 1830s and they have sat there since. There is a discussion about bringing them to be displayed in the Hermitage to protect them from the harsh weather of Russia but as of now they still reside outside.

After the sphinxes, we headed to where we were going to board a river cruise on the Neva River. The boat was tiny and most of the seating were metal chairs sitting under the sun and I was the only one in my family that opted to see the cruise outside. Taking the river cruise was an awesome way to see St. Petersburg because the river runs through a lot of the main parts of the city and has hundreds of bridges connecting various parts of the city. St. Petersburg is considered the Venice of the North. There are many small canals and one of the bridges that we went under, we actually had to duck lest we hit our heads. Most of these bridges were built during the time of Imperial Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. On the cruise, our guide pointed out various landmarks that you could see along the banks of the river; she even pointed out people that were sunbathing along the banks, which was uncommon since it was rare that the weather was in the 90s in Russia.

Neva River - 10 am

Once our river cruise was over, we headed to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which used to be the main church and largest cathedral in Russia. It was built in 1818 and took 40 years to complete. It is most impressive because of its large golden dome. The dome, 21.8 meters high, took more than 100 kilos of gold leaf to cover. The large pillars, weighing about 80 tons each, on the outside of the cathedral were erected using a special pulley system. Everything about this church was massive: the dome, pillars, doorways, windows, and even the artwork. Many of the carvings on the columns inside were gilded and the walls and ceilings were decorated with large mosaics and paintings depicting different saints and scenes in the Bible. While it is still a church, it mostly serves as a museum and has services only on significant religious holidays.

Under the main dome - 11:30 am

As we were leaving the Hermitage our group joked with Olga that she was a magical tour guide with perfect time because while we walked to meet our tour bus, 3 large tour buses were arriving to join the already massive line to enter the museum. While all those people waited to go inside the museum, we went to go have a typical Russian lunch. We were served a cabbage salad paired with borscht, a soup usually made from beets and cabbage, for our appetizer. Our main course was chicken kiev, a flattened piece of chicken breast that is breaded and fried, with mashed potatoes. My favorite was the borscht, which was surprising to me because I detest beets, but you could hardly taste them in this soup. We finished our meal up with some Russian coffee which was super strong.

Borscht soup with brown bread - 12:30 pm

The State Hermitage Museum along the Palace Embankment was right after lunch. This museum is the second largest one after the Lourve and is a highly respected art museum, housing roughly 3 million items of priceless art from all over the world over many different centuries. The collection of the Hermitage began in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased 255 paintings from Berlin and continued to grow her collection. The main facade of the Hermitage is the Winter Palace, which used to be the home of the royal families of Russia for almost 200 years. However, the whole museum is made up of six buildings, 5 of which are open to the public: the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, and Hermitage Theatre. It was opened to the public in 1852 and became public property after the October Revolution of 1917, after which its collections were expanded in the 1920s and again after WWII. Because this museum was created using the old homes of royals, of course, many parts of the museum were ornately decorated and still maintained to look like how it did before, like the throne room and ballrooms.

This museum is one of the busiest with thousands of people visiting every day; of the five open buildings, we went to the Small Hermitage and the New Hermitage. The New Hermitage houses paintings, sculptures, and other art from 15th and 16th century Italy, including the Raphael Hall where they have many of Raphael’s works ranging from the beginning of his career to the end of it.

I would say that going to the Hermitage was the highlight of my day. I’ve always loved art and going to museums to see them, and to think that so many centuries and cultures were compiled and put on display is simply amazing. What shocked me the most was that none of the priceless paintings were properly protected. There was light streaming in from the open windows directly on the paintings and the air was not controlled so the paintings were exposed to the humidity outside. People could step as close to painting as they wanted; the palaces were better protected and maintained than the artwork here! For a place that houses thousands of paintings by renowned artists, I just couldn’t believe that the artwork wasn’t very cared for. Although the collection of paintings was stunning, my favorite exhibit was the Peacock Clock, built in 1777 and still working today. The golden clock is housed in a gold and glass cage with a peacock perched on a tree with a rooster and an owl on either side of it as well as various small animals scattered around. When the clock chimes on the hour, it begins with the owl turns its head and the peacock turns and opens its tail feathers to display a fan of gold and ends with the rooster crowing; this display is supposed to represent the end of the night and the rise of the sun to show the continuity of life. The clock is only winded once a week and unfortunately, we missed the show by just one day so we only saw the display in a short video the museum provides.

Peacock Clock - 1 pm

As we were leaving the museum, we joked with Olga that she was magical and timed everything perfectly because there was a ginormous crowd waiting to enter the museum as more tour buses arrived to join the line. While those people waited in that monstrous line, we stopped by a souvenir store before heading to The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, also known as The Church of Resurrection or “Savior on Spilled Blood”.

The church was built in memory of Tsar Alexander II and was named so because the church stands where he was murdered in 1881 when a bomb was thrown into his carriage. It took 24 years to complete the church and is best known for having jeweled-looking domes that are colorful; this decorative style is much like the Kremlin in Moscow. Unfortunately, the main dome was under renovation while we were there, so we couldn’t see the building in its full beauty.

Just like all of the other places we’d seen in St. Petersburg, the inside of the church was opulent. There were saints and religious reliefs, mosaics, and paintings everywhere: the columns, the arches, the ceilings, the walls, and of course, everything was accented with gold.

Interior of The Savior on Spilled Blood - 4 pm

After leaving the church, we headed back to the port to say our goodbyes to Olga (in the stripes) and Sergei (not pictured).

After a long day in the hot sun, we unwinded in the room and then prepared for our nightly dinner at the fine dining with our waiter Alberto. Almost every single night of the cruise we sat in his section, getting to know him well, as well as a couple, Nina and Wade, and their church friend Fred. Wade has Alzheimers and Fred is an old widower and both were hard of hearing, so during dinner, Nina kept leaning over to tell us stories of her having to wrangle two old men both during the tours and around the ship. It was such a fun dinner. Afterward, my sister and I enjoyed the rest of the night in the karaoke room, bumping into Isabella and Lousie, before heading to bed.

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sarahinzhuhai-blog · 7 years

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Arriving in 珠海： Culture Shock, Awesome Host Family and 生病

(note: this was supposed to be posted 6/24 Zhuhai time but I'm bad) Two days ago was really, really rough. We saw HK and it was absolutely gorgeous, but after we took the ferry and I felt seasick, the downhill tumble began. I'm not going to talk about it much, but for the entire second half of the day I seriously hated everything and wanted nothing more than to go home. It was a combination of having gotten very little sleep (in HK, I went to bed at 12am and then woke up at 1, 2, 3 and 4 and then couldn't sleep again), constantly traveling and differences in surroundings--there's a smell that is everywhere here and even though BNUZ is fairly new, the buildings are a lot more run down (and in big cities in general, which I am already not used to, are a lot dirtier and have a sad feeling to them)--that made me feel terrible. I'm not sure why these random things got to me so much, but they did. I'll leave it at that; it was bad. Now that we're all at host families, everyone else is having some emotional difficulties, but for me the worst part of this whole trip so far was the time before meeting families. I truly felt a sense of deep despair and it was very discouraging. // Yesterday was amazing--started out rough because again woke up at 4 and couldn't sleep, worried I would still feel as bad as yesterday. Ate a good breakfast (complete with piping hot water)--包子，馒头（sweet steamed bread, super good), watermelon, noodles, some sort of leafy green, etc. Some kids went running, I did NOT. // After that we took a campus tour via ecart. Campus is very green with a lot of water. Apparently BNUZ was created about 15 (or 50? I think 15) years ago...it doesn't look like that though. They do renovation differently than in America. Our "tour guide", Emily, is a student at BNUZ and is going to be one of the program language partners (students who are paired w us and eat with us, help us learn Chinese, hang out with us and guide us around campus, etc--most of them are majoring in teaching Chinese as a second language). Emily seemed super cool! //After the tour, I was still in a depressed/bad/I-don't-know-how-to-describe mood and that continued throughout the orientation. We were given bus cards, more info about surviving in Zhuhai, etc. Interesting thing: apparently, part of the reason for drying clothes in the sun instead of a dryer is because there is a cultural belief that the sunshine disinfects. After orientation, we are even more, I got nice and full, and then just an hour later it was time for lunch 😂 I am eating so much here, it's crazy. // Lunch was the turning point for me...my mood went from terrible to great. We went to the canteen and it was so big. There are dozens of windows, each selling different foods. I bought pork dumplings (our Chinese conversation was "8$ dumplings please *frantic pointing* pork? Meat...type? Pork? Ok") and XY didn't want her boba tea, so she gave it to me. I ate lunch with everyone but mainly talked to Grace (Sihong's daughter, who is our age and studies in the US and is AWESOME ), Queen Isabel, XY and...Reyna? I can't remember who XY was sharing with. Anyways, that was so much fun! Then we went to the supermarket on campus and me, Lexi and Maggie (the kpop crew) found a bunch of ads with Lu Han (see OPI post) and another kpop guy on them--I took pictures. My mood at this point had dramatically increased. We headed back to the dorms, packed and went back to the meeting room. // Then they told us we had to prepare a little performance for the opening ceremony. We decided to sing "对不起，我的中文不好” ("Sorry, my Chinese is bad"). Before, we had to give a little introduction so the group voted me to say (in Chinese): "Thank you for welcoming us to Zhuhai. Before we sing, we will quickly introduce ourselves. I'm ..." I was really excited to get to do that // Apparently, opening ceremonies are a big thing here that they like to do before every program that comes. I wasn't expecting much but it was the coolest thing ever. First, several PhDs gave speeches and then, after we introduced ourselves and sang our little song, the students performed. It was amazing. They did dance (traditional Chinese and a hip hop routine to "Worth It"), played different instruments, did calligraphy, diabolo, kung fu...like Zack said, that blew our dinky little song out of the water. It was amazing!!!! One guy spoke English in a British accent which was really interesting to me: I never really think about it but we learn from our teachers' accents, so of course people learning English might have a British or Southern accent, just like how I speak in the white-person-who l-learned-from-a-teacher-from-Beijing accent. // Afterwards, I thanked some of the performers and met a few of the language partners for other people. We all took a picture together, and then it was time for the placement tests. // I was super nervous as we waited (and hyped because the performance was so awesome), but I calmed down eventually because we were just chilling outside on a balcony area. Then Maya and I got to talking about dance and did some pirouettes...that's when I forgot my phone was in my pocket and then it took flight and cracked. That was a real mood killer. // Then it was time for the test. Before we went in, we waited with two of the TAs. They were so nice! We talked in Chinese and English and they told me they thought I was the best and would do fine and to not be nervous. They were so sweet!!! Then it was time for the test: first it was just some conversation with three of the teachers. I know I made some grammar mistakes but I think it went well--we talked about where my name came from, the weather, my city, etc. Then the writing section--I had just relearned the characters because someone else had to write them in their test and told us about it, so I guess that's not really fair but oh well. I basically knew them before (sans a few radicals) so it's fine. Then they said two sentences and asked me if I understood them. The first one , I did NOT-the first and last words yes, but the middle part no way. The second one, I understood everything but the last word (which was a key part of the phrase lol). Then I thanked them and left. I talked to the TAs some more (they said that if I make it to the highest level I'll be in their class...I hope that's the case but I'm not sure I did well enough) and then went back outside. Then Richa and I walked back to the hotel and talked about what was making each of us have a hard time. That was the first time I opened up about what specifically was giving me a hard time here, so that was nice. Then, we met our host families! My mom came to pick me up, we took a picture together, and off we went. // Our first stop was the police station to register me. On the way I told her about my school, my classes, activities, other languages, etc, and then at the police station she was bragging about me to the officers 😂 Not gonna lie, that was kinda nice (I was also pretty proud that I could understand some of what was going on). // After the police station, we went to pick up my little sister from school! She was really happy to see me! Then we dropped her off at a birthday party (where some kid yelled "GUYS, THERES A FOREIGNER" in Chinese to all the other kids--this is pretty typical and I have already gotten used to getting stared at) and my mom took me to fix my screen (! I was only expecting to buy a screen protector so I didn't cut myself on the glass but she insisted we switch out the screen). Then, while we waited, we went and got fresh squeezed orange-pear juice at this shop and ate some dinner-pork pieces with some sort of green vegetable and rice. I've been feeling kind of sick (to be expected), so I couldn't finish it. Then we went to the supermarket and got fruit, milk, a cup to brush my teeth, etc. Then I realized I had to go the bathroom- I wouldn't write about that but public bathrooms are an experience here. They are squatty potties, but there's usually no TP and no soap. But I had forgotten to bring tissues (rookie mistake) so my mom sent me back into the store to get some. When I went in, someone asked me "are you a foreigner?" (你是外国人吗？）, and I was like ...yeah I'm American. Later I told my mom about it and was like "of course I'm a foreigner" and she thought that was pretty funny. // On the walk back, we bought some croissant-y bread with red bean for breakfast and picked up the phone. Then we got 笑笑（that's my little sisters nickname) from the party and my mom bragged about me again to the moms at the party. They gave me a slice of cake (which was really good! It had mango and...tomato? I was a little confused) and then we headed home. // Home is so nice! I'm so lucky--almost everyone else seems to be having some problems with their family but mines great (except that I can't understand my dads accent yet). My room is basically bigger than my room at home, and it has a piano in it! 笑笑 played piano for me and then I played for them. My mom videoed the fat part of the Rachmaninoff and put it on her WeChat moments (kind of like Facebook). Then I showered and hung out, and went to bed. I felt so so so much better mentally, but now I'm dealing with some stomach problems--that's okay! // Today I woke up first at 6 and then at 9. My sister went to sports school for swim already, so I was just chillin with 妈妈and爸爸。I had some breakfast (since I'm feeling sick, I'm literally never hungry, but they keep giving me food)-杨梅（yángméi-bayberries). Then I watched TV for like 10 minutes, was really confused, and then my mom said we could go for a walk in the mountain that is literally right next to our apartment building. I was going to wear bug spray and sunscreen and bring water and everything else, and she was like no! You don't need to! Just bring an umbrella and if you keep walking the mosquitos won't get you. That was inaccurate. // The mountain was absolutely gorgeous!!! Lush, full of plants and butterflies. There was this really pretty walkway with little stones with all the zodiac animals on them. We went over a little river, up and down, etc. Then we walked through the apartment complex. We watched some ladies do dancing in a little plaza (and my mom taught my how to swing my umbrella around my legs to keep bugs away), and then we kept walking. She showed me the pool, the bus stops and how to get home from the stops. // At this point I was dripping in sweat. We're talking soaked through my shirt. We went to pick up 笑笑 from the sports school and she commented that my shirt was very wet. Lol// We went for lunch and again, I was still not hungry but still ate--milk tea and beef noodles. While we were eating, some guy came in and starting yelling and then one of the waitresses yelled "你有病吗？” (which is like "are you insane?" But it's very satisfying to say)...very interesting debacle. After lunch, we went home (my mom made me show her that I could find the house), my stomach problems continued, and we figured out how to use the bus system to get to school. // at my sisters piano lesson, I listened for a bit but I was having stomach problems so bad that I had to curl up in the fetal position. At the end, her teacher had me play for her. Then she said that I might be able to play in a recital that she's going to have in a few weeks. I'm not really sure what exactly happened there. We also talked about finding a balance between feeling and technique, she was very complimentary and I really appreciated her kind words. // after, on the way home, I tried to ask my host family if I could have some broth. That was our first major communication issue. I did not know the word, and all my attempts to explain failed. However, in the end, we managed to work it out (Queen Isabel helped). I had my broth and bananas for dinner, and took some medicine. Then it was time for calligraphy. // Calligraphy class was so fun but omg, it was so uncomfortable. All the little kids just STARED, and none of them could understand my American accent except for my sister and the teacher. 很糟糕！At first, the teacher had me try to write. That was absolutely disastrous: I haven't done calligraphy in a long time, the brush had too much ink, and my hands were shaking. This was very amusing for everyone else. So, over the course of the class, my sister help me since I couldn't understand any of the things anybody was saying because I don't know any calligraphy words, and I made some big improvements. I don't think I ever got used to all the kids staring at me and saying "wow, a foreigner". Also, since a lot of the kids are speaking very quietly, I couldn't really understand what they were saying either. All in all, I think they thought that my Chinese was a disaster. And it was very embarrassing. However, at the end, one of the little girls gave me a pack of seaweed, so I guess she didn't dislike me. Anyways, that experience made me so uncomfortable: I was expecting to get stared at but the cultural expectations are just so different from what I'm used to...I talked to 笑笑 after about how in America, it's considered rude to stare and especially not at foreigners and how different it is here. // At home, 笑笑 and I goofed around for like two hours and sort of neglected her English homework. I showed them some ballet and Basque dance, we talked a lot, etc. I'm so grateful for my family's patience with me as I have to look up every word and constantly ask them to explain things in different ways. //Observations for the day: 1) I'm very surprised at how open my host family is with me (in terms of clothes or lack thereof work around the house) considering we've only known each other for 24 hours. 2) Squatty potties are awesome and maybe I'll post later about why 3) in case anyone's wondering, this is my communication system w my host family: we speak in Chinese unless my mom or sister randomly uses English, and if I don't know a word either I look it up or I have them write in on the dictionary app and look it up. Or we try to piece it together in English. Sometimes I just smile and nod. 3) Being sick sucks but my family is very caring and I have AC in my room so I'm as happy a camper as possible right now.

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loribulmer · 4 years

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Recently returned from a vacation, I cannot help but notice how quickly reality reinstates itself. In fact, today the sight outside my window is decidedly whiter and frostier, my tropical view has disappeared…

tropical view

not so tropical view

There were lots of tropical sightings throughout our two weeks immersed in the warm weather of Casey Key and its surrounding area on the gulf coast of Florida. These included the vegetation, local beaches, wildlife, sunsets, Christmas decorations and of course the margaritas.

Vegetation

As I’ve said before, you can take this gardening girl out of her gardens, but you can never take the (love for) gardens and plants out of this girl! Wherever my travels lead me, I cannot help but notice the variety of plants and the design of gardens. Succulents are my favourite, here in Canada and anywhere else I find them, although most plants do seem so much more spectacular in tropical climates. For example, I have planted yuccas (Adam’s Needle variety) here in my local gardens and their 4 foot stalks of white, bell-shaped blooms are beautiful. I did not witness their tropical cousins in bloom, but am willing to bet they definitely outshine (and outgrow) the northern varieties…

Adam’s Needle (northern variety) Yucca

Tropical Yucca Flower Stalk

Wildlife

I love all wildlife, but I find the tropical species especially interesting. The variety of birds alone kept my camera clicking, from pelicans to gulls, terns, ibis, sandpipers, egrets, herons and osprey. Their antics and routines were fascinating. The saying “birds of a feather flock together” was evident, especially at sundown.

sandpipers

gulls

egrets

I realize that some of these birds are not exclusive to tropical locales, but I have never before seen an osprey patiently waiting for fishermen to donate their catches. Apparently osprey were just removed from Florida’s endangered species list in January 2019. This particular beauty would perch on a nearby pole, emitting a piercing chirp occasionally to let his donors know he was there, and wait for the fishermen to leave a fish on the jetty. Much to their chagrin the more common pelicans and egrets hovering nearby were shooed away so the osprey could literally swoop in to retrieve the offering, then soar away…

waiting perch

moving in

grabbing the fish

flying away, above a swimmer

Other tropical wildlife species included dolphins, sea turtles and even more birds, all beautiful in their own way…

dolphin swimming off jetty

sea turtle

snowy egret

blue heron

ibis

pelican

Sunsets

A great argument for preferring the west (Gulf) coast of Florida to the east (Atlantic) coast is the abundance of gorgeous sunsets. Every single night we watched the sun sink into the Gulf of Mexico, with the cloud formations making each sunset unique…

Beaches

The plentiful beaches along the Florida gulf coast are all spectacular, each featuring something different. Siesta Key, near Sarasota, offers an extra wide expanse of soft (my granddaughter called it “squishy”) white sand, with a firmly packed strip close to the water’s edge perfect for walking, biking, jogging, and even strollers or wheel chairs. This beach is lined with miles of hotels to choose from.

Nokomis Beach on Casey Key (20 minutes south of Sarasota) boasts miles of sandy shoreline, a rock jetty at one end, lots of seashells and spectacular waterfront homes to admire. We looked up one (smaller) home that is up for sale. A 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom fixer-upper located on the inland waterway side of the road with deeded access to the gulf is going for a cool $2.2 million USD. I can’t afford that, but if any of you can, I will promise to come visit! Many of these gorgeous homes were damaged in a 2018 storm, so many are still under renovation. One of the best features of Casey Key (we think) is that it is largely non-commercialized. Family owned homes and motels are restricted to two stories, supporting a more natural feel.

Venice Beach, 5 minutes further south, also sports miles of sandy shoreline as well as a massive wooden fishing jetty. It too is dotted with high rise apartments and hotels, but offers a quainter shopping district nearby.

Christmas Decorations

Even the Christmas decorations have a tropical feel, although I had a hard time conjuring up any Christmas spirit without snow and cold weather. A Santa Claus parade featured decorated boats, ranging from tiny sailboats to huge luxury yachts, floating down the intracoastal waterway one evening. Many businesses, including our favourite Mexican food restaurant, are lit up for the holiday season too.

Weather

We were fortunate on this vacation as the weather was awesome, with the daytime temperatures hovering between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius. Definitely more tropical than the weather here in Canada. As you can see from some of the pictures, we did see lots of storm clouds, but only experienced rain on the very last day and even then only for a few moments.

Tropical Sightings Recently returned from a vacation, I cannot help but notice how quickly reality reinstates itself. In fact, today the sight outside my window is decidedly whiter and frostier, my tropical view has disappeared...

#beaches #birds #Florida #gulf #tropical #wildlife

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napacalypse · 5 years

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They say when your eyes are opened to the truth, you can never not see it. That’s how I’ve felt about air travel ever since my family somehow ended up in the business class cabin on a flight to Barcelona while the aches and pains from being wedged into economy class from Paris were still aching and paining. My new mission on all trips is to get upgraded seats, whether by booking way in advance, trading in points on our credit card reward programs, or postulating about my grave concerns about the health of cattle car travel. I argued that if we flew first class, we could extend our spring break trip and spend Easter day in California, figuring that if we had more room and reclining seats, the kids could sleep on a red eye and not miss school on Easter Monday. So we splurged on United First Class. Of course, the evil eye of vague travel headaches followed me, and after extolling the virtues of how much more relaxed and refreshed we’d feel in the premier cabin—-no blankets, no pillows, and I’m guessing it was our flight attendant’s first time running first class. After lunch, she never came back down the aisle to see if anyone wanted drink refills or coffee. Passengers tracked her down in the galley to get more soda or water, and when she passed out the little sweet treat before landing, no coffee or tea was offered .I know I’ve seen flight attendants more on a two-hour flight in coach to Orlando than I saw ours during our cross-country flight.

The San Diego airport is stunning to fly into, as it sits on the bay with the city as its backdrop. The taxi stand is right out side the door from baggage claim and no wait at all to get two taxis (5 people and we brought a lot of luggage—note to self, just because you CAN bring two bags for free, doesn’t mean you need to…) and headed to our hotel.

The Hotel Del Coronado, built in 1888, is under renovation. Our suite had a beautiful view of the ocean and the new sea-to-table restaurant under construction.

The view below the balcony of our ocean-front suite

Rooms are also being refurbished and the construction starts EARLY. But then, so did the hallway noise. Every day we were there, people in the hall were raising a ruckus between 6 and 6:30 am. It was the noise level I usually hear at a Hampton Inn on a tournament weekend when I have the misfortune of being on the same floor as the travel team with the 8am game. We may have heard them so well because our bed was practically in the hall. The renovation is desperately needed. Our bed had lumps and valleys, and the bath with its pedestal sink and shower/tub combo was a shock from the typical walk-in shower of the spa-inspired bathrooms of newer luxury hotels,. They added a curved shower rod which did a great job of making the shower feel less claustrophobic, but the bathroom really needed some kind of vanity for getting ready.. My choices for my blowdryer were the bathroom, where the only place to put down the dryer was the sink, or in the sitting room in front of the distressed mirror, but I still didn’t have a place to rest the dryer. The magnifying vanity mirror was kept in the closet because I guess they couldn’t find anywhere to put anything in the bathroom either..

We made it down to the beach bar overlooking the ocean where we had the best guacamole and drinks(rocking Cosmopolitan). They came around a lit the fireplaces and it was a quintessential West Coast spring evening on the beach. We ordered pizzas to go from Eno and a bottle of wine. The Caesar salad with whole leafs of Romaine and very tasty dressing was a great starter.

Tuesday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel with our HiltonHonors vouchers and decided to add the hot breakfast option for an additional $20 each. The quinoa and mixed vegetables were quite good, and the rest of the hot items like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, were typical breakfast buffet fare. We also tried the custom orders of eggs benedict, and tasted the traditional and a southwest version. They were tasty, but it took quite a bit of time for them to come out to the table and we didn’t order them again.

Today was our San Diego coastal tour with Another Side of San Diego (https://anothersideofsandiegotours.com/private-san-diego-tours/. ) We were picked up by our driver/tour guide at the hotel by a Mercedes Sprinter van which had plenty of room, cold water, and snacks!

great view from the van, or is it just everywhere in San Diego has a great view

We had a drive around Coronado, past the Navy SEALs obstacle course, drove up to Mt Soledad National Veterans Memorial, and on to Torrey Pines and stopped on our way back–desperately searching for clean restrooms. My husband was also curious if there was any chance of getting on the South Course, so we stopped by the Torrey Pines lodge in search of the Pro shop (and found clean restrooms!) And my husband learned that since the South Course is under renovation with two holes closed, it would be easy for a single to jump on.

View from Mt. Soledad

My favorite stop of the day was at La Jolla beach. Dozens of sea lions swim in the water and sun themselves on the rocks. They are pretty smelly, but I could watch them play and swim all day.

I would move to La Jolla just to walk down to the beach and hang with the sea lions every day

Despite the smell, we were hungry and our tour guide helped us find some tacos and the biggest cheese quesadilla we’ve ever seen at a little chain taco shop called Rigoberto’s. I was a little taken aback that my fish tacos were breaded and fried with tartar sauce on the tortilla, but extra points that my daughter’s cheese quesadilla was just cheese and tortilla, which, believe it or not, is much harder to get than it sounds. We headed onward to Mission Beach and Pacific Beach and stopped by Crystal Pier and debated the merits of staying over the ocean.

Crystal Pier extends over the Pacific and adorable cabins are available to rent right on the pier!

We drove through the Gaslamp district and saw the Padres’ home field, but it didn’t make our “must return-to list” because it seemed like mostly chain restaurants and bars. The tour was a great way to get introduced to a city. We had only been to San Diego for a couple of nights before a field hockey tournament in Palm Springs several years ago, and hadn’t seen anything other than the Del and the San Diego Zoo. Our tour guide/driver was knowledgeable about the geography and history and amenable to impromptu stops (like Torrey Pines golf lodge and the taco shop!)

Back in Coronado, we decided to make the trek to Park Place Liquor and Deli. It carried beer, wine, liquor, and snacks. While prices were way better than the hotel, they wines were marked up about $5-$10 bottle more than typical metro DC retail prices. Based on a couple of recommendations, we ate dinner at Brigantine at the Orange Avenue location. By far the best thing about the restaurant was that another table on the patio had three dogs with them.

The dogs of San Diego are a real treat!

We ordered the haddock special and the T-bone special and neither were very special. I ordered my steak medium rare and it came out with barely any pink. My husband finally flagged down a waiter to ask for some hot sauce to try to punch up the flavor of his dish. We couldn’t find a bottle of wine that piqued our interest, but our waiter recommended their highlighted winery Michael David. I went with the 6th Sense Syrah and my husband had the Freakshow Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Michael David wine was the standout from our meal! I’ll def try to run some down on the east coast.

They were both great, but, alas, we never got a chance to order a second glass. My kids didn’t fare much better with $15 sandwiches from the little deli shop in the Del.

Wednesday my husband got to return to Torrey Pines for his round of golf and my girls and I hung around Coronado. We walked down Orange Avenue to the Juice Crafters and picked up a green juice, berry-based juices, and a Flu Off shot for my daughter who was feeling under the weather. The juices were great, but the Flu Off shot tasted so awful my daughter spit out the first sip and we never got to see if it worked. Orange Avenue in Coronado is filled with souvenir shops, women’s and children’s clothing stores, and lots of restaurants. Seaside Papery (http://www.seasidepapery.com) was our favorite little store—lots of paper products, obviously, but also books, trinkets, and some home decor. We ended up with pencils, sealing waxes and stamps. After a challenging 16 holes at Torrey Pines, my husband rejoined us and we headed to The Tavern for dinner.

View from street level, but the restaurant is down a short flight of stairs.

We started with the mac and cheese starter and it was awesome! My kids split the ribs and said they weren’t very flavorful, which was my husband’s assessment of his fish tacos. He also ordered the roasted brussel sprouts which had a flavor profile through the roof and just delicious . I had the burger and it was really tasty. The wine list was pretty limited, but we ordered the Justin Cab and were able to cork it and take it back to our hotel to finish on the balcony.

Thursday

Even though it didn’t have any sea lions, Thursday was my favorite day. We had rented a beach cabana and headed to beach right after breakfast. It was sunny, but cooler and the water was about 60 degrees, so it was more of beach-as-a-backdrop than a splash-in-the-surf day. With an attentive waiter and endless sunshine, we spent the day reading, playing paddle ball, and waiting for my oldest daughter to arrive from New York. One of the best dishes we had in San Diego was the surf and turf tacos from the Beach and Taco Shack on the property—carne asada and shrimp never tasted so good. My oldest arrived in time to enjoy a couple of hours of afternoon sun and a bottle of rosé. For dinner, we called ahead to get reservations at Chez Loma, a french restaurant just a few blocks from the hotel. Solid French food in an intimate setting, and we were the last in the restaurant and never felt pressured to turn over the table or felt hurried out the door.

This was a great place for a family dinner—you know the kind where everyone is so busy talking, laughing, and eating that you don’t take any pictures…Sort of like 1992.

Friday

Friday we headed over to Balboa Park to visit the museums. We walked through the botanical gardens which made me anxious to go home and buy every plant ever. Then we toured the Timken Museum of Art, and were wowed by its collection of old masters and Russian Icons–as an added plus, admission is free! The San Diego Museum of Art was our next stop. The admission is $15 and we like seeing Georgia O’Keefe and the exhibit “The Art of Devotion.” We hiked some trails and then Ubered back to Coronado for lunch. One of our cheapest meals in San Diego was a couple of pizzas the the Village Pizzeria on Orange Avenue. Five thumbs up for the crispy pepperoni that we got on our pizza.

Pizza and chianti—-was there ever a better pair?

Our adventure for the evening was a sailing tour of San Diego Bay (https://sandiegosailingtours.com), snacks, soft drinks, beer, and white wine (red wine stains the boat!) are provided and so is a turn to steer the boat! I love being on the water and we got to see some more sea lions on the buoys, docks, and swimming in the bay, but you don��t venture to anywhere more picturesque because the sunset sail is only about two hours. I really enjoyed it, but my husband would have preferred getting out of what felt like a commercial sea lane. Maybe next time we would book a half-day or full-day cruise to get along the coast.

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Saturday

Saturday was our chance to return to the places that piqued our interest on Tuesday’s coastal tour. We hiked for a couple of hours at Torrey Pines and were stunned by the breathtaking views and the crowds.

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After a 10-15 minute wait, we then caught an Uber to Del Mar to hit a restaurant recommended to us by a friend that used to live in San Diego. Pacifica Del Mar, despite being knocked by our Uber driver who arrogantly advised us to talk to people other than our hotel concierge for restaurant recommendations, was a great place for lunch. We started with the baked oysters—oysters topped with cheese–and I had a delicious, juicy grass-fed burger.

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We had wine by the glass because the three of us drinking couldn’t agree on one, and it was great. We caught another Uber to La Jolla to revisit my sea lions and explore the main drag a little bit. There was one gelato joint right by the beach which had a line down the block, but we crossed the street and had what I thought was pretty darn tasty gelato with only a wait of a few minutes.

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Salted caramel and a view

Another Uber back to the Del and we were ready for our movie night on the beach. I’ll admit I was reluctant to book the event, but my two younger kids(but still high=school-aged) were sold on “Scooby Doo” on the beach. I chose the Family Movie Package which comes with a daybed (like we had for our beach day), two sand chairs, a private fire pit, and s’mores for four and a $300 price tag.

The view from the sand chair by the fire pit toward the inflatable screen

We were allowed to bring drinks from the beach bar, which was doing last call, and paid highway robbery prices for the soft drinks ($6) and most outrageously, the little bags of chips you put in your kid’s lunch were $6 too! But, our attendant did a great job tending our fire pit and checking on us throughout the movie. Anyway, that evening ended up being tons of fun and sitting at a fire pit on the beach watching a movie will be one of our fondest memories.

Sunday

Easter Sunday. In the past, our kids have demanded that we come home from spring break early enough to spend Easter at home, but we decided to spend Easter at The Del and fly home on the red eye. Live and learn. At 7am we were awoken by protesters from the service sector of the hotel marching on the beach side of the hotel, demanding fair treatment from the Del. In truth it made me uncomfortable to realize I was staying at a hotel with unhappy employees.

I reserved a table at the famous Easter brunch at the Del, a little sticker shocked from the cost — for 5 people, including tax and gratuity, it was $890!!! For brunch! I kept thinking that would be a lot of waffles and mimosas, but the the buffet promised to be legendary. It was a little bit of a madhouse checking in, but 5 or 10 minutes after our scheduled seating the five of us were shown to our table—-a tabletop for four with another place setting crammed in. Our server had to take away our coffee cups and saucers so we could sort of fit our plates. Then we ordered a bottle of wine a la cart and we had nowhere to put the bottle and our glasses. My husband asked to move an empty table next to us so we could have enough table space for our plates and glasses.

Finally enough room!

The buffet had carving stations, seafood towers, a poké bowl and ramen noodle stations, hot and cold side dishes, a lot of dessert stations, including cotton candy. Like most buffets that try to make that much food for so many people, the scale was dramatic, but taste was average. The poké bowls were a standout, however, probably because the bowl doesn’t need to be prepared beforehand.

I had rented a pool cabana for somewhere to relax after brunch until it was time to head to the airport. It was quite chilly, so we elected not to swim and hung out in the cabana with the outdoor sofa. For $250 we had use of the cabana, a fridge stocked with soft drinks, some goldfish and pop chips for snacks, and a fruit plate.

Seats at the San Diego airport have drink holders and outlets! #goals

The cabin crew for our flight home was amazing—attentive, yet unobtrusive during the overnight hours, but the seats didn’t recline again and the kids bargained for a day off from school. My first class manifesto was dinged by the inattention on the Dulles-San Diego leg and the seats that didn’t fully recline on either leg, but it was nice to have leg room.

This is the first family trip where we didn’t rent a car. We took taxis from the airport, and used Uber throughout the trip and it worked out great! The longest wait for an Uber to show up was at Torrey Pines State Reserve and we waited about 15 minutes. The scenery driving around San Diego is spectacular and with Uber, my husband (the usual driver) was able to enjoy the sights, too. Not to mention, our drivers were almost always helpful with things to see and do.

San Diego They say when your eyes are opened to the truth, you can never not see it. That's how I've felt about air travel ever since my family somehow ended up in the business class cabin on a flight to Barcelona while the aches and pains from being wedged into economy class from Paris were still aching and paining.

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rhi-b87 · 6 years

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15-22/10- Got into the groove of op shopping on my day off this week (yes Mum charity shops basically- I’m different when I’m upside down and it’s definitely a plus that the places here don’t stink!) got myself a jumper for $3 and a leather handbag for $5 and it’s awesome more pockets than bob the builders belt! Had an epic storm this week...so bad it woke me up, I really thought it was the apocalypse! I’ve heard some bad storms but this was strange...you heard the rumble approaching and then crash right over head and then it was like there was someone in your room with a super old school camera with the brightest flash taking photos!!!! Ale was sleeping btw, what’s a storm to a guy that sleeps through an earthquake...literally!

Both of us have been working full time (finishing at like 9pm sometimes - this suits me about as much as the colour pink on a ginger!) and both enjoying it (between 9-5 😜) as far as work goes. My uber rise into work has been surging this week sometimes hitting $13...but I wait it out until it becomes $7! Probably because the royals came to Melbourne to see me but I’ve been busy you know.

Our friend Chris from Canada came over to ours one night for a few drinks and a long chat, which felt very normal and real lifey...(remember I haven’t worked in 10months so work doesn’t count as real lifey 🤣)

Sunday started off in a depressing way as our aldi (it is literally ours because we can see it from our house) is shutting until November the 3rd for renovations 😥😥😥...so we stocked up and found some reduced bargains including some of my grans homemade bread literally I swear 😜😋😋😋.

Ale and I finally had a day off together today (Sunday) so I obviously jumped on the groupon bandwagon and bagged us a breakfast and coffee for $10 and it was amazing...finally a full English breakfast! We walked it off with a 1.5mile walk along the Beach back towards home and then sat in a park in the shade listening to a group of 30 or so African drummers and reading, it was perfect. Got a little sunburnt though, it really catches you out here as suddenly the sun just appears through the clouds with a heat similar to that of mount Vesuvius and singes your skin in no more than 3.5seconds! The ozone layer here is thinner than a supermodels leg!!! I think suncream will be our biggest expense in Australia...only joking for me it will probably be dry shampoo!

Weather has been a complete mixture this week, rainy days and grey overcast skies followed by clear blue skies and full sun at 27 degrees..that’s Melbourne!

Anyway crashing into another week headfirst in the land of the foreigners, where the people are humble, relaxed and diversely normal. Missing everyone at home now, starting to sink in that you’re not round the corner, but time goes super quick so won’t be long until next summer arrives and i see u all again! Will also try and get more FaceTime in, early finishes next week at work so should be easier.

(Pictures of the beach stroll and Ale and I accidentally wearing his and hers outfit!)

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bohotraveller-blog · 6 years

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Unravelling a Tiny Himalayan Town you are Hearing for the FIRST TIME!

Some places are special because they hold fond memories of the past and some are simply enchanting to the core, this really tiny town in the Himalayas is both! I am a little biased because Sujanpur Tira in Himachal Pradesh happens to be my hometown as well. I can probably never get over the reminiscence of my childhood when summer holidays meant escaping the scorching heat of South India and diving right into the lap of this quaint but beautiful town that enjoyed cool weather all through the blistering heat of Indian summers. The lofty peaks of snow-covered Dhauladhars were like soul therapy and wood oven cooked mutton curry with rice, a meal where an entire family came together. Those days Sujanpur was every bit Himalayan with signature mud house and slate roofs. All cousins would get together, climb trees, bath in springs and rivers, eat the most awesome food. To sum it all, that was the life! Today as I fondly remember those days, it strikes me that this town has quite a bit to offer to visitors who are looking for something offbeat. From restored ruins of old palaces, heritage structures to lip-smacking street food, this tiny lil thing packs a punch!

Baradari....The enchanting Military Palace

Baradari is actually known as Katoch Garh, it is a military fort palace that was built in 1750 by Maharaja Abhay Chandra of Katoch dynasty. It suffered heavy damage in 1905’s earthquake but now full-scale renovation has restored much of the older glory of this beautiful edifice. There are green grounds here for picnics and a view of the Sujanpur Tira town from the cliff. The complex is quite extensive and you can roam and explore the palace for hours. There is no guide here, and the place usually has only occasional local visitors. If you ever wanted to lose yourself in the corridors of history this is the place to be.

Narwadeshwar Temple

Just off the busy bazaar and its congested street, turn to this temple takes you to a different world in a matter of seconds. This temple was also built by the erstwhile rajas and this is why the architecture resonates with the fort and palace perched high up from the main town. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, it is made of stone and has a huge verandah and a terrace which overlooks the mighty river Beas. None of our visits to this temples have ever been complete without spending time on the terrace witnessing the sunset and chattering away to glory.

Goofa

This is one more of my favorite spots where this natural spring water flows from the deepest caverns of the mountains. The water is super cold and sweetest you will ever have! Remember those packaged bottles that boast of Himalayan spring water and charge you a bomb for it? Well come here and drink right from the source....you will know the difference!

The Mighty Beas

Before I even begin to talk about Beas, here is a word of caution about the Himalayan rivers. They are dangerous, unpredictable and have strong undercurrents. So even the water that looks calm may simply drag you off easily. So it goes without saying that entering the river has always been a big NO. We would venture into the river only with elders or cousins who knew where one could get into the water. We also had a technique of keeping an eye on the level of the river. The second we saw a rise, we would just run out the water. But that bridge you see in the picture, well that is where we usually carry amazing street food and watch the sun go down. If you want to go down to the river, always take a local and if that is not possible always check with a local about the safe zones and things to keep in mind.

Picnics in the Woods

As you take a walk to the outskirts of Sujanpur, either towards the old fort or towards Hamirpur, the woods greet you on both sides of the road. The pine forests are lush and give out the most amazing scent you would have ever come across. On a beautiful sunny day, it is just the place to spread a picnic blanket, put on your favorite music and eat some knick-knacks. It was always the best way to catch up with everyone and indulge in some harmless gossip!

The Rope bridge

When we were small, coming here meant we had this huge swing all to ourselves! Yes, it swings with the wind and if you stand and hold the railings while moving side to side, it definitely swings along! But it is completely safe, in fact not too long ago, even cars would pass on this bridge. Now they have finally made a concrete bridge that you can see on the right side.

Street Food

Every evening Sujanpur comes alive with locals thronging the grounds. Families come out, kids play around and groups of youngsters can be seen having a good time over street-side food. Juicy fried chicken, fish, momos, spicy chats, lip-smacking paneer pakora with chutney stuffed inside and Chinese food! In fact, they have a really popular chat corner called "Sonu ki Chat", people from all around the place come here to get some packed!

Festivities..........

The image above shows a local folk dance called "Tammak". The famous Indian festival of color, known as Holi, of this small town is quite famous. Holi sees a big carnival being set up in the town grounds for almost a month! Yep, I was lucky to have been here when the festival was being celebrated and it was unlike I have seen anywhere. Since its really cold, no body plays with water, instead Holi happens to be celebrated with a lot of civility here. It is all about shopping, eating out an enjoying on the giant wheels! It also provides a great opportunity to witness local culture, folk dances, artistes, handicrafts etc.