Jamaica - Day Three
Another Day in Paradise

I think we are getting the hang of this resort vacation thing. A few times I have had fleeting thoughts of "what are we going to do today" but they have only been fleeting. Mostly we're into sleeping, eating, looking at the sea, chatting with fellow travelers, eating some more, etc.

A Dirty Banana Daiquiri

Brown, stewed chicken with rice and greens

I'll get the food out of the way first. Breakfast - fruit and made-to-order banana pancakes, Lunch - a delicious salad, brown stewed chicken (photo) and Rick had a fish wrap, Dinner - I had jerk chicken and Rick had tuna both accompanied by amazing sweet potatoes and green beans. Rick has stuck to fruit punch. I had quite a few banana daiquiris (dirty - with Bailey's and Kahlua) and regular. I switched to a Cosmo for dinner. I might try to mix it up with drinks tomorrow.

We finished breakfast around 11 and decided to walk to the lighthouse at the end of the property. We actually had to leave The Caves and walk down the street to reach it. We were too lazy to climb it but we walked around the grounds seeing some interesting old ruins of buildings and some fantastic huge trees. The sign was at the gate of the lighthouse. It looked like a herd of goats lived across the street hence the need to shut the gate.

After we returned, we decided to explore some of the caves. The surf was getting a little rougher and I took tons of pictures before I could catch it breaking at the mouth of a cave. We rested and read in our favorite gazebo before lunch. After lunch we showered prior to our first "experience."

Rick too tired to make it up the steps to our room!

We had massages overlooking the sea. Those of you who know that Aveda fragrance can imagine what it was like. It really was one of the best massages I've ever had and I even stayed awake for the whole thing! It made me chuckle when I heard Rick snoring. He had said he would take the table overlooking the water since I would probably sleep through mine. I didn't get any photos of the little spa but I will tomorrow.

The massages really tired us out so we went back to our room to rest. I rested long enough to get the energy to head out to the pool for my water aerobics while watching the sunset. Rick joined me and it was perfectly delightful.

After all that exercise (and vodka), it was time for a nap before dinner. We made it to our candlelit, enchanted, rooftop dining room around 8:30. Dinner was delicious as mentioned above. We ate under a sky strewn with stars while watching lightening in the distance. After a walk the length of the property (about 5 minutes), we are now back in our room totally exhausted from such a busy day.

Jamaica - Day Two
March 9, 2012

After a lovely, albeit sweaty night sleep in our "tent," we opened our front window to this amazing view!

They serve breakfast from 7:30-10:30. We arrived around 10. There is no menu, they will make whatever you would like to order. The coffee is delicious and the fruit they served to start with was amazing. I had the best French Toast I've ever eaten and Rick had a Jamaican specialty, Ackee and cod.

After breakfast, we had our official tour of the resort and signed up for our special experiences. I'll tell you about them as we experience them. On the tour, I saw a gazebo with a couple of hammocks that looked inviting so I grabbed my iPad from the room and decided to make the "transition" to being on vacation.

It's really hard for me to clean my mind of everyday "home" stuff or to stop thinking in "schedule mode" planning every minute of the day. I thought it would take me a while to make the transition. Actually all it took was the swaying hammock, the aqua sea, Bob Marley singing on the iPad, and an incredible banana daiquiri! What a way to spend the time between breakfast and lunch.

Lunch was delightful. We sat with the couple we had met the night before and chatted. So far everyone we have met here has come from the US. After lunch we thought we should take a nap. Afterall we had exerted ourselves so much.

I couldn't stay in, however, so I put on my swimsuit and took the minute walk to the little infinity saltwater infinity pool. I was feeling a little sluggish so I decided to do what I thought was water aerobics. I was all by myself so I danced and ran in place buoyed up with a swim noodle, singing reggae songs, and waving my arms around underneath the water, I did this for more than 30 minutes. Then I texted my trainer, Stacy, to see if this counted as exercise (she said it was). It actually was fun and tired me out so after a little more hammock time, I joined Rick in the room for a pre-dinner nap.

Dinner was served on the flat roof of my hammock gazebo. We dined by candle and starlight along with the light of the waning full moon. I had mentioned to Karen, who gave us our tour, that I didn't eat fish or meat except chicken. She showed us the menu for the days we would be here and it looked like I could make due. Making due doesn't quite cut it here though. When we arrived at dinner, our server asked me how I would like my chicken breast prepared. They were serving steak and lobster so I told them just to grill it like the steak.

OMG! I think this was the best meal of my life! Started with a red pea soup, then a Jamaican Cesar salad, our entrees' were the same except for the different kind of protein. My chicken breast was grilled to perfection with a delightful melange of onions, peppers, and mushrooms covering it. It was accompanied by some amazing mashed potatoes and delicious sauted carrots. This time I had a banana daiquiri made with vodka rather than rum. Perfecto!

Dessert was slivers of coconut cake and banana cream pie.

Now we are back in our bird's next playing on our computers. Oh how I loved this day! The best is that we get three more of them!

Jamaica - Day One
March 8, 2012

We arrived in Jamaica after spending a few days with my mom and step-dad, Bob, in Delray Beach, FL.

We're staying at The Caves thanks to Alissa and Micah who generously gave us the vacation they earned by saving up Aveda points! They scheduled the trip before Alissa found out she was pregnant. They didn't want to travel out of the country. But, we did!

The drive from Montego Bay was 90 minutes. We had arranged for transportation through the resort. We were the only ones on the bus. The driver was really nice about explaining what we saw, gave us some Jamaican history, and told us about food to try. Neither Rick nor I have been to the Caribbean. It was the first time I experienced driving on the other side of the road. I'm glad I wasn't driving!

What we saw was quite eye-opening. Most of the housing seemed no more than tiny shacks crowded tightly next to each other. The driver pointed out other housing that was government subsidized for people who qualified. Those abodes were quite small and looked like mini pre-fab trailers. He also explained that the concrete block structures with re-bar sticking out were actually buildings in progress. Apparently, people build until the money runs out and then go earn more money to continue. Some looked like they had been a work in progress for many years. All in all, I have never seen such poverty except in the news and I was getting increasingly uncomfortable about going to a resort.

The other interesting thing was that everyone we saw was dark-skinned. The only other time I felt like such an obvious minority was when I was in Atlanta. This was quite a bit different than that. Something to ponder.

When we arrived at The Caves we were greeted and given a short tour as the sun had set and it was hard to see much. We were shown to our room, The Bird's Nest and invited to attend a welcome reception at the Rum Bar in one of the caves before dinner. There are only 24 people staying at the resort at this time. We met a few before we were ushered out of the cave because the tide was so high the water was rushing in!

Dinner was overlooking the sea although we couldn't see it. There had been rain earlier in the day and there were still some clouds in the sky but we were able to locate some planets and constellations with my handy iPhone app. The full moon rose over a building just as we were finishing dinner. Did I mentioned that this was an all inclusive resort? Including drinks. They will probably make money on us but I started our stay with some delicious "Jamaican Delights" while Rick had some fruit punch.

Our room has air conditioning which is incredibly quiet. Still, we slept under the mosquito netting for the fun of it. It was like sleeping in a tent. Of course, the "the outdoor girl" that I am can only imagine sleeping in a tent but if they all were like this, I might consider doing it again!

September 26, 2011

Day 20 - Cinque Terre

(This post was written last night but the wifi was so slow that I didn't have the patience to add the photos. Those of you who thought yesterday's was the last post...well it isn't! This probably is, unless we see or do something interesting in Milano tonight. We actually are going to have dinner with an American couple who are staying at our hotel this evening. We are staying near Malpensa Airport and leave in the morning for home.)

Oh what a day! After breakfast in the hotel, we wandered around the town a little before boarding our boat which would take us from our town of Monterosso to the other four towns of the Cinque Terre and then onto Portovenere. From there we would board another boat for a swing around three islands before taking the boat back to our town. We left on the 2:00 boat and got back at 5:10.

Monterosso al Mare

It was a perfect trip! Each of the five towns are connected by a walking path, railway, and boat. Had this been the first part of our vacation and not the last, I think we may have tried to walk to another town but today we just felt like enjoying the view.

The Ligurian Sea is the northern part of the Mediterranean. The water is an incredible color of royal blue. The sky was bright blue with only an occasional puffy white cloud. Throughout the voyage by the four other towns, we had an hilarious guy narrating what we were seeing. He started out speaking each piece separately in Italian, German, French, and English but toward the end he was interchanging the languages and going between them sentence by sentence. He had a real dry sense of humor. It was interesting to hear the laughter roll through the boat depending on what language he was speaking. At the end we were all laughing at the same time! I don't know whether he was provided by the boat company or he just picked up the mic on the boat and went to it.

It gave me the idea for a stand-up routine by an almost burned out tour guide. It could be very funny.

Some of the sights were too gorgeous for words. This was the perfect way to wind down our trip. It was relaxing, beautiful, and fun. I adore boat rides and these boats did a lot of rocking which I enjoy. I've included a photo of each of the other four towns which make up the Cinque Terre. The boat took about another 30 minutes to get to Portovenere.

Vernazza

Corniglia

Manarola

We spent about an our in Portovenere between the trips. It is quite a lovely town. I think it would have been a nice place to stay. A little less touristy. Their local specialty is basil pesto. Absolutely delicious. We bought a small jar. Hopefully it won't go bad before we get it home or maybe we will have to buy some bread and eat it on our drive to Milan.

Riomaggiore

Portovenere

Palmaria

 The boat ride around the three islands; Palmaria, Tino, and Tinetto was very interesting. The islands are made of Carerra marble. You can see stripes of black and white. They almost look like the striped  churches we've seen on this and other trips. I'm wondering if those church builders were trying to copy nature.

Rick with his fish and pasta!

We returned to our hotel in time for the late afternoon snack buffet. It was more than a snack with tons of different seafood and they made you pasta with your choice of several kinds of sauce. A little early for dinner but included with the room charge! Breakfast and dinner, not bad.


 Tomorrow we head to Milan for our flight back on Wednesday. We both consider ourselves truly fortunate to have had such amazing experiences and to have seen so many incredible sights. Very,  very fortunate! I think we were both taken by surprise that we could enjoy ourselves so much without Susan and Werner with us.Who knows, we may have overdosed on happiness had they been here! We talked about them every day and what they would have liked, or in Susan's case, loved! We are very thankful that Werner's health problem did not turn out to be serious and are hoping he'll take another gamble and plan another trip with us!

Thanks o those of you who have been reading this blog. I probably would have gotten lazy and not written as much if it weren't for you!

One more Cinque Terra picture for the road!

September 25, 2011

Day 19 - Verona to Cinque Terre

It was hard to leave our little agriturismo high above Verona. Our last breakfast was outside on the patio. We shared our meal with a couple from Boulder, CO who had arrived the night before from cycling in the Dolomites. They seemed just a little bit older than us and a lot fitter! She was a clinical social worker and he a fundraiser with The Nature Conservancy. It was a fun conversation. They have traveled in similar places to us and it was nice to share experiences.

After packing up we visited that giant, round church on our hill that I had photographed the first day. Didn't go in. Just enjoyed the view of Verona!

Marco suggested we stop in Mantova on the way to Monterossa al Mare, our destination. It was another medieval village. We never found the restaurant he suggested for lunch but we walked around and discovered this round church from the 15th century. Over the years it had been built over and was uncovered during some road construction in 1901. The town restored it to its original form only having to rebuild the dome.

Rooftop Gardens

We continued our drive arriving in Monterossa around 6pm. The instructions were to park in a parking lot 300 meters above the hotel. We could either pay someone to drive our bags to the hotel, not us, or shlep them ourselves. We shlepped! The hotel is a Rick Steves suggestion. I think we have the tiniest room so far but it is right in the middle of the old city. We are on the first floor which is really the second floor. Outside of the 4th floor is a 3 story garden area with lemon trees and grape arbors. The building is ancient and built into the mountain.

After our arrival we wondered around the town. It is very touristy but not too obtrusive. Lots of people on holiday and seemingly enjoying themselves. We're a short walk to the Liguirian Sea but by the time we wandered over it was dark. The whole area is known for its fish and sea food. Rick enjoyed his dinner of spaghetti with fresh anchovies. I like my spaghetti with meat sauce!

September 24, 2011

Day 17 - Lake Garda

I still didn't feel so great this morning so after breakfast, I went back to bed. We ended up leaving Verona around 1pm for a trip to Lake Garda. We stopped on the way at a supermarket for some cough medicine and some lunch. This store was like a Target Super Store. The first large market we've been to in Europe.

We ate our bread and sliced chicken on a bench on the southern end of Lake Garda. This is the life!

One of the first things we saw as we made our way up the coastline was a museum devoted to olive oil! How could we not stop? The museum took an hour to go through and was really well done with videos on the history of olive oil and how it has been made through the ages. They had exhibits of the ancient equipment and the new. The nice thing was that it was free. The only thing was that you exited through the gift shop, of course!

The giftshop was like going to a vineyard for a wine tasting, only this time there many many, many kinds of olive oil available to sample either with bits of bread or on a spoon. I really enjoyed experiencing the differences. Rick, who hates olives, abstained! If you want a virtual tour of the museum you can go to their website.

We continued to drive on the east shore of the lake heading north. There was a lot of haze over the lake and surrounding mountains so we decided not to take a boat ride. As the sun began to set we found a place to pull over and watch it. It was lovely.

Marco had suggested another restaurant for us and with our late start, our timing was perfect to arrive after 7pm! It was at the very northern tip of the lake, and has been in the family for generations. No one spoke English but they did have an English menu. Marco had told us to try the "fried meat." I somehow made a mistake in ordering and after the appetizer of sausage, polenta, and sauerkraut, the server brought us a serving of carpacchio. The people at the next table laughed at me when they saw my face as I realized what I had ordered. I rarely eat red meat, let alone meat that has been smoked but not cooked! The pickled veggies were wonderful. The next meat course came fried and I actually enjoyed it. It was accompanied by two kinds of beans. The one I liked tasted just like baked beans. We had their special, grandma's secret recipe apple cake for dessert. It was the best!

It's now 1:30am, Rick is a sleep, and I'm feeling the best I've felt in days! We leave lovely Agriturismo Sommavalle tomorrow. I have really enjoyed our time here despite my cold and will miss it!

As our vacation is drawing to a close, Rick and I have been talking about how different it has been traveling without Susan and Werner. Besides being totally disappointed that they weren't joining us, I think we were both a little apprehensive about having three weeks with just the two of us. We always believed, despite the differences in our personalities, that we traveled well together. This time, we know that we are a great traveling team. We complement each other in many ways. I can't imagine having such great experiences with anyone else by my side!

September 23, 2011

Day 16 - The Lessinia plateau

We spent today and this evening in the Lessinia plateau. It's an area of the Veneto that begins about 30 minutes north of Verona. It is known for its panoramic views and ancient inhabitants. It was truly beautiful with lots of interesting things to see. It can be a tourist area in the summer and a ski destination in the winter. It was pretty deserted, except for locals, today. In fact, as we zig-zagged through the area, we found several of the things we wanted to see, closed.

Largest Natural Stone Bridge in Europe

Our first stop was the largest natural bridge in Europe. We spent around two hours exploring the area. All the signage was in Italian but the views we definitely could understand. It was home to an ancient population who inhabited its caves. At first, after hiking in the direction of the bridge, we didn't realize we were standing on it. When we hiked down further, we discovered that we had been. Here are some pics:

There were tons of caves to explore

Okay, after I wrote the above, I closed up shop for the night. I have had a cold for the past few days and it finally knocked me down. So, I'll continue relating yesterday and finish with what we did today.

After visiting the natural bridge we went in search of one of the two restaurants that Marco had recommended for local specialties. We've gotten in the habit of eating a good breakfast at 9ish and then being hungry for lunch around 3ish. This doesn't fit in Italy and so when we found the first restaurant it was closed and they told us to come back at 7pm. We drove to the second one and were told the same thing so we decided to keep exploring.

One of the many quarries we saw.

The area is known for its stone called "pietra di Prun" or Prun stone. It's pinkish in color and is used in building in this area including roofs. Most roofs on old and new buildings were Prun. In fact, it must be pretty cheap for them to use it here because most of the fences were just sheets of Prun laid end-to-end.

New house with stone roof

Old house made of Prun

We drove on to see a cave that had stalagmites and stalactites  but it was closed. Then we went to a fossil museum but it was closed too! It seems that things are only open weekends this time of year and this was a Friday. We didn't put this together until we drove to a different town to see an ancient ice storage building but by the time we got there it was around 5:30 and even if they were open on Fridays, they were closed!

A real Italian cow next to our car

Now with only an 90 minutes to kill until we had dinner, we drove the long way back to the restaurant passing ski areas and many cows grazing in beautiful scenery. It really was pleasant and not too  frustrating until we found ourselves back at the restaurant and it was only 6:15! We pulled into a parking lot near it and Rick took a little nap while I played solitaire on my iPad.

The view of the dining room from our table!

Polenta/Cheese/Mushrooms Appetizer

We got to the restaurant at 6:50 and they were all flustered because it wasn't 7pm. They sat us though in the deserted dining room at at 7:00pm gave us menus and took our order.By then we were pretty punchy and the son who knew a little English warmed up to us. We had a wonderful polenta appetizer that was wonderful.I had "gnochi sbatur" which was the specialty of the area and it was indeed delicious. Rick had sliced pork which he also enjoyed. We shared a lovely plate of veggies. For my foodie friends, here are some pics.

Sliced pork, gravy, walnuts

Gnochi Sbatui

Tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes

After dinner we made our way back to Verona. It was only 40 or so minutes away but the hairpin turns in the dark were a little hairy for me. Rick took them in stride and got us back safely!