Paradise Island

Just north of Nassau is Paradise Island. You know, the one with the Atlantis...the hotel that has the bridge room that has a staggering nightly rate of $20,000!


From Nassau, you can take a little 'ferry' (term used loosely) ride for 20 minutes to Paradise Island. Note: The 'ferry' is supposed to leave on the half hour; however if the boat is not full...and I mean full, they will not leave. Once the 'ferry' is full, then they leave...and you get the pleasure of hearing a little schpiel about this celebrity lives here and this one there, blah, blah, blah. The expectation is a tip when they are done...and they push hard for a tip. The 'ferry' ride is $3 each way per person.


Paradise Island has a few nice sights, aside from Atlantis, which seems to be the main attraction. Near the One and Only resort are the Cloisters and Versailles garden. It's worth the 20 minute walk and chances are you'll have the whole place to yourself...even with no admission fees!

A few pictures of my favorite flowers at Versailles.

Day trip to Harbour Island, Bahamas

This was definitely the highlight of our trip to the Bahamas. While in the Executive Lounge at the Hilton, one of the fellow guests mentioned their day trip to Harbour Island, which included a 'fast ferry' to the Island, golf cart rental and meal/drink vouchers. Hmmm, that could be fun.

So, we signed up for the day trip...despite the $200 per person price tag. Although, that did entitle us to passage on the fast ferry in the First Class upper cabin, which we had all to ourselves on the return trip.

After the 2 hour ferry ride, which included some amazing views along the way, we made a quick stop at the Spanish Wells, then continued on another 30 minutes to Harbour Island. Once on the island, we had a quick 'tour' of some local restaurants in our golf carts and then were on our own for the next 4 hours.

Harbour Island is filled with golf carts and only a few vehicles. The beaches are filled with lovely pink sands and flecks of pink coral are suspended in the surf as it crashes against the beaches.

I'd return to Harbour Island in a heartbeat. Here are a few pictures.

Cruise ship central - Nassau, Bahamas

Several months ago I found amazing airfare prices to Nassau, Bahamas (under $200 a person round trip). I quickly booked the flights and Hilton hotel for a week in November.


Generally, any beach location receives top marks from me. I'll pack my pre-loaded nook, a few magazines, the camera and sunscreen and I'm happy as a clam. I must be getting picky and now require a certain level of privacy. The Hilton British Colonial in Nassau is located near the cruise ship dock. While it is nice to watch the large floating cities pull in, it gets old. And, after the third, fourth, and fifth ship in port....you almost begin to send vibes that the darn things will go back to sea.


Given the proximity to the dock, quite a few cruisers try to infiltrate the Hilton's beach and it quickly goes from peaceful reading time under a palapa to screaming kids and 20 somethings smoking who knows what upwind from my lovely location. Um, yes, I despise everything smoke-related!


Aside from the hotel's location, the staff were quite friendly, especially the 6th floor housekeeping staff. On the day that the hotel water main broke, then was restored (but not our room), Donna quickly found another room for us to duck in and take a shower until maintenance was able to fix our water pressure.


Would I go back to Nassau? No, but I might head to one of the other Bahamian islands like Harbour Island or Eleuthra.


A few pictures from Nassau.

Atlantis on Paradise Island

The view from our room...yes 5, count them, 5 ships!

Solo trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Chuck is officially one continent ahead of me. In October, he made not one, but two very long trips to Buenos Aires, Argentina for work. A little extra lead time could have yielded me a trip, too. But, 36 hours notice nets outrageously expensive airfare, so I passed.


Although, I did put on my biggest sales pitch that he would need a translator and therefore I should be on the next flight out. In the end, not so much...I stayed home.


Chuck's review of Buenos Aires...

It's a big city with all the typical 'woes' of a big city. Three days is plenty of time to explore. (Holly's editorial comment....why fly 14 hours each way for a mere 3 days?!?!?!) The Argentinian beef is spectacular and dinner at La Brigada lived up to the hype. And yes, he had the "beef so tender you can cut it with a spoon."


I won't bore you with pictures from the jobsite....so here are a few from around Buenos Aires.

Return trip to Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany is a tourist mecca. There is so much to see and do that you can return again and again and still discover new things about the city.

My favorite way to get re-acquainted with Berlin is to start with the City Circle Hop on Hop off sightseeing bus. Since 2008, they've expanded the route to include the East Side Gallery. While there are other Hop on Hop off (HOPO)options in Berlin, I think City Circle is the only one to head over to the East Side Gallery. The HOPO tours range in price from 15-20 Euro for a 1.5 - 2 hour route. City Circle is 20 Euro for 2 hours and is good for 24 hours. You can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time by using the HOPO, just hop off at your favorite site, explore, then hop back on. Another bus is just around the corner, as they are scheduled every 15 minutes!

Some of my favorite spots are:

Schloss Charlottenburg or Charlottenburg Palace - It was built from 1695-99 as a summer residence for Sophie Charlotte. The park grounds, designed in 1697 to resemble the elaborate gardens of Versailles in Paris, France, are simply enchanting. There is a mausoleum on the property which contains the sarcophagi of Queen Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm III.

Tiergarten - The tiergarten (animal garden) was built in the 1830s and served as a royal hunting ground. The tiergarten contains Victory Column (which is currently being renovated) and Schloss Bellevue, the home of the German President

East Side Gallery - The East Side Gallery is about a 1 mile (1.3 km) section of the Berlin Wall that contains about 100 paintings by artists worldwide. The project started in 1990 and has undergone some restoration due to the deterioration of the paintings from natural elements. In 2008, a full restoration was initiated.

Gendarmenmarkt - I had a spectacular view from my 6th floor room at the Hilton. This central square is one of my favorites in Europe. There are 2 beautiful churches, trees, and lots of open space. It's a great place to escape the tourism hub bub, grab some lunch or a snack and hang out on one of the many park benches.

A few pictures from my 2 day whirlwind tour of Berlin, Germany.

Schloss Charlottenburg entrance

Portion of the Wall (near the Topography of Terror)

Bridge near the East Side Gallery

East Side Gallery

Gendarmenmarkt and the TV Tower

Jewish Memorial near the US Embassy and Brandenburg Gate

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

ICE, ICE, baby

I was all prepared to rent a car in Hamburg and drive to Berlin, until my friend Tara suggested the ICE train, which she dubbed as super-easy. The ICE is the intercity express train and takes just over 1.5 hours, but a car ride can easily run 2 to 2.5 hours in good driving conditions and with little traffic.

So, I gave it a whirl. If I could only let go of my desire to be in control, I might be able to get into the train travel thing. Actually, it was quite nice, and I managed to read a few ebooks along the way (House Rules by Jodi Picoult, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, and Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson...a free ebook and total chic romance).

I didn't have an opportunity to take a picture of the ICE, so here is a stock photo from online. The Hamburg train station (Hauptbahnhof) and Berlin train station (Hauptbahnhof) are below.



Tip: Book directly with www.bahn.de for the best rates and you can click on the USA flag to view it in English. If you book on other sites like www.raileurope.com expect to pay about 50% more for the ticket. It is a good idea to pay the extra 2.5Euro each way for an assigned seat especially if you are traveling during peak times or when the business men and women are commuting.

What do you call someone from Hamburg?

A Hamburger, of course. Over the past two weeks, Chuck and I spent time in Denmark, Germany and Norway. Part of the trip was spent working and the rest of it was pleasure...visiting friends, catching up, shopping, and visiting a new country!

While in Germany, we visited some fellow expat friends that were originally in Arhus, Denmark, but recently moved to Hamburg, Germany. We had a great afternoon/evening and then Chuck was off to work, so I got to hang out with the Happy family.

We went downtown to the city center and visited the Rathus (city hall)...


We had spaghetti ice cream...


We toured an amazing little German city. I'm not sure if I should even post the name of the city as it seems Americans haven't found it yet, so it is still a fan.tas.tic and quaint village. Even little A was in a good mood for our adventure as we strolled down cobblestone streets, walked along the river, visited several shops, and took many, many, many photos. Here's a picture or two...but no name :-)



I shared my special peanut butter cookie recipe with the girls and taught them how to modify the recipe depending upon humidity and altitude. S is going to be a wonderful cook in the future. I might have to borrow her to help out with my dinner parties.

The visit to Hamburg to see my friends the Happy Hamburgers was great. I cannot wait to head back to Europe and visit again. Well, unless hubs decides we should do another stint abroad.

If someone from Hamburg is a Hamburger, what is someone from Dusseldorf? A Dusseldorfian, Dusseldorfite, Dusseldorfer, Dusseldorfan....hmmm.

Up next, a quick visit to Berlin, Germany and then a long weekend in Bergen, Norway.

The 2nd Annual Girls Long Weekend - California pictures

Last year, my mom, sister and I started to take a long weekend vacation without the boys (hubbies and Lincoln). Last year's trip (northern Wisconsin) was a little closer to home because nephew Lincoln wasn't even a year old; however this year we hopped on a plane to spend some time in California.

A few pictures from our trip (in July).....

Where has the time gone?

It is amazing how the doldrums of life get in the way of the adventures of travel. Living in Europe afforded us the opportunity to hop in the car and explore a new city on any given weekend. After moving back to the Midwest, most, if not all traveling involves an airplane...and the lovely Ryanair is nowhere to be found! Needless to say, our travels have slowed a bit, but I'm sure they will pick up again!

We've been on the road, in the air, on the rails, and on the water for the past two weeks, so I have some catching up to do.

My first trip north....to Canada!

Last week, I made the quick 1 hour flight to Toronto to visit the Happy family during their stay with relatives for a few weeks. Well, "quick" really isn't appropriate as my 6pm departure turned out to be a 10pm departures; however I'm not complaining as I'd rather arrive alive, than not arrive at all. The airplane had a leaky fuel line, which resulted in a puddle of fuel below the wing. Even though it was in for repair 2 days earlier, it obviously wasn't fixed. Quite honestly, I never complain about a delay when it has to do with the mechanics.

I spent the first day in Toronto solo, exploring the area until the Happy family arrived. I walked around Chinatown, King and Queen Streets, the Harbour area and of course, did the full blown CN Tower tour, complete with interactive ride, movie, observation deck, and the ride in the sky pod.

On Tuesday, I joined the Happy family and headed out to Niagara falls, with a quick stop at a Tim Hortons for breakfast :-).

Traffic in and around Toronto is NUTS! It's a typical big city, but it appears to have boomed with out having the necessary infrastructure in place....or they need to raise the price of gasoline to limit the number of autos on the road.

Tara and I stopped at Webers, a roadside drive in, for burgers and fries. Yummy! I even picked up a few buckets of burgers for my hosts in Bracebridge. My allergies were in full swing, so I wasn't 100%, but still had a great time seeing some fellow expats from Denmark!

Tips for Canada:

1. Check your credit card and see what the conversion/exchange rate fees are before you leave. It is usually cheaper to use your ATM card than use a credit card.
2. Don't believe the website when they say taxis are metered from the airport. A 15 minute ride will set you back the 'set rate' of 54 Canadian dollars!
3. Check discount websites / coupon codes for discounts to Casa Loma and the CN Tower. You can save 20% or more just by doing a quick google search.
4. Traffic in and around Toronto is crazy. Be prepared to sit in traffic during commuting hours. Bring along your GPS/Garmin to navigate the roads; especially around the airport...it's like a bowl of spaghetti! The 407 is a toll road, so try to avoid it unless you want to pay a hefty convenience fee to the car rental company...in addition to the tolls.
5. Niagara Falls isn't as big as I thought it would be. View it from the Canada side. It's gorgeous and you can get some amazing photos if you go all the way to the end by the visitor/welcome center.

5-day long weekend in San Francisco Bay area

I am accustomed to packing in a lot of activities on holidays, so my trip to California shouldn't have been all that surprising, right? Phew, I'm exhausted.

A few months ago, my mom, sister and I decided to book the 2nd annual (third, if you count Orlando, Florida a few years ago) Mother-Daughters long weekend. We kicked around a few different locations and decided upon the San Francisco Bay area.

In four full days, we...

Day 1
Arrived late evening
Upgraded to a suite...Diamond status has its advantages!

Day 2
Stood in line for the cable cars
Mr. Toad's Tour - 3 hour tour of San Francisco in a 1912 Rambler
Fisherman's Wharf walking, shopping, lunch at Bubba Gumps
Shopped at Cannery Row
Sampled Chocolate at Ghiradelli Square

Day 3
Walked, shopped, toured Chinatown
Walked down Lombard Street and the 'crookedest street,' then walked to the Wharf!
Shopped in Union Square
Ate at Colibri Mexican Restaurant in Union Square
Bought some salt water taffy, candy, and mints (right Kasey??)

Day 4
Towncar ride to SFO to pick up the rental car
Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
Walked through Muir Woods
Wine tour (and tasting) in Napa
Lunched picnic style at Gott's Roadside (formerly Taylor's Refresher)
Olive Oil tasting
Shopping in downtown Napa and at Oxbow Market

Day 5
A long drive south to Monterey Bay
L.o.v.e.d. the 3 person carpool lane
Toured Monterey Aquarium
Shopped Cannery Row, outlet malls, stores in Monterey Bay
Drove 17 mile scenic drive through Pebble Beach
Shopped in Carmel by the Bay
Visited Carmel Mission
Ate at Hog's Breath, Clint Eastwood's restaurant
Drove Highway 1
Flew out on the 11:45pm redeye

I wonder where we'll go in 2011? Bar Harbor, ME; Dallas, TX; Outer Banks, NC; Washington D.C; New Orleans, LA; Boston, MA???