We didn't have a summer vacation vacation. We went to Vegas twice in two months, but we decided to do a different kind of trip this year and that isn't happening until December. Which felt like a really long time with the summer stretched ahead of us, but you know how that saying goes? Time flies! Summer time flew by so quickly. We did a lot of fun things. That vacation will be here before we know it.
We had friends and family in town so we did vacation things at home. What better city to vacation at home than San Diego? May Gray and June gloom is a thing here and it was really really bad this year. After a very rainy spring it dragged on longer and heavier than I've ever seen, but once it cleared up it was spectacular.
I will complain about the prices in Las Vegas every time and then go right back. Las Vegas has always been expensive, but the level of expensive has definitely gone up and like most people who love and enjoy Vegas, I really don't like it, but apparently it's not enough to stop me from going. We keep going back and when we do we pack in a lot. I wonder if some day we'll have a leisurely trip to Vegas where we laze
about and don't stay up until the brink of exhaustion every night.
Maybe, but this trip was not it. We were on the go the ENTIRE time.
The day before our trip, I was in a really good mood. I’d worked through
most of my feelings of fear, about going to Mexico. And after months of rain, the weather was
predicting none. I was starting to get excited. I was cleaning
house, when suddenly I decided, hmmm. Let me check my passport. So, I go
and check my passport and what do you know. The darn thing is expired.
So here we are the day before our tour. It’s too late to cancel for a
refund and my passport expired last year. I was put in touch with the tour company by the
booking agency and the person I spoke with said not having a valid
passport should not be an issue. People go back and forth all the time
with other documentation. Did I really want to take that chance of not
getting into Mexico or most importantly not being able to get out? We
know someone who knows someone who works for the border patrol and they
agreed that it should not be an issue. So…we decided the trip was on.
I’d travel to Mexico with my expired passport and hope for the best.
Miami was our last trip of the year. In December. Right before the holidays. Five trips in five months is a lot. I was a little travel weary by this point but excited to see what South Beach has to offer. We had a 6:00 am flight. I hate early flights. It was brutal. The crazy thing is that even after a 6am flight and a full day of travel we didn't make it to our hotel until about 7:00 pm Florida time. I was not trying to sit in one of the many hotel restaurants located along Collins Ave and pay over $50 for a meal when I was exhausted, not about to change out of my travel clothes, or put in my contacts, and just needed some food. I found us a cheap take out place to eat and we called it a night.
We went to Buffalo in September 2014. September 2015, and September 2021. Do you see a pattern here? Cause I do. I said I’d never go to a Buffalo Bills game past September and yet there we were on our way to a Buffalo Bills game past September. I didn't even have an appropriate jacket. I bought one at Costco the day before we left! November in Buffalo sounded…scary but this man loves the Bills so much that he went to a total of FIVE last year (including one in January!!) and this was the only time we could make it work this year, so off to Buffalo we went.
We’ve been to Hawaii five times before. I don’t remember the exact flight details, but I guarantee it did not take as long as it took us to get there this time around. Our original flight to LA got cancelled so, Delta sent us on a super early flight from San Diego to Seattle which was basically a waste of about 6 hours because we had a two- hour flight to Seattle that didn’t take any time off our air- time to Hawaii, then a four-hour layover in Seattle. After all of that we still had a five- hour flight to Kona. All together it took us about 11 hours to get to Kona, but it was all worth it when I stepped off the plane and felt the warm balmy air of The Big Island.
When we booked our trip to New Orleans in August I was worried about the weather. If I had my pick I definitely wouldn't travel there during this time, but by the time we got around to planning our trips for the year our options were limited. June to September is considered the off season for New Orleans due to the heat and because that’s when you can expect the most rain. Hurricane season is June 1 to November 30. August is considered one of the worst months to travel there, but that's when we could go so we went for it. Our flight would leave for New Orleans on the day Hurricane Katrina hit 16 years ago, and we had a swamp tour scheduled for the day Hurricane Ida hit last year. Who plans a trip to New Orleans during hurricane season? We did! And while I was hopeful that we wouldn't have to cancel our trip or be stuck in a storm I knew without a doubt that the humidity would be bad.
I've been to Las Vegas a lot. Too many times to count at this point. Due to close proximity to San Diego it was always a popular getaway spot. And then my parents moved there. Last year I went three times!! Over the years I've stayed at Flamingo, Tropicana, The Orleans, Monte Carlo (which is now Park MGM), Polo
Towers, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio, Excalibur, Hilton Grand Vacation Resort, The Venetian, Treasure Island, Palazzo, Caesar's Palace, and this time we added Mandalay Bay to the list.
I don't usually plan anything for my birthday except maybe a dinner date with my husband, but this year I decided that since we really haven't gone anywhere in awhile, Catalina Island sounded like a good idea.
You can get to Catalina Island by ferry from four different locations. The Catalina Express will take you there out of Dana Point, Long Beach, or San Pedro. You can get there on the Catalina Flyer out of Newport Beach. We chose Catalina
Express because they offer more departure times. Dana Point was closest
to our house, but had the least options available so we ended up going out of Long
Beach. The ferry ride over was lovely. I upgraded us to Commodore section so that we could avoid the
wait and I'm glad that I did. The line was much shorter, and we got let
onto the boat first so we didn't have to wait long and it comes
with a drink and snack. First class all the way!! It was more expensive
but it was worth it. You could be even more first class and take a
Helicopter, but that will cost you a lot more. The weather is usually a bit iffy this time of year so I was preparing
myself for gloom, and that's exactly what I got the day we left.
Now as part of my summer things catch up series I'm jumping back in time to July and September when we traveled to the other side of the United States twice for sporting events.
Las Vegas is truly an adult playground if there ever was one, and they don't call it sin city for nothing. It's a spectacle that screams party, opulence, excess, and sex. Each building tries to outdo the next, and and there is always something new to see and do. People get wild, but I love the energy, and I love that anything goes vibe. The sun and heat is very intense during the day, but warm summer nights are the best. Vegas is close enough that even before my parents lived there, it was one of our favorite getaway spots. Most of the time we go to the strip, but there have been times that we skipped it in favor of Fremont Street or nothing at all. Especially if it's cold. This time, spent one night on the strip and the rest with family.
About a month ago we pulled the plug on our European Vacation. International borders were closed, but even if they opened up before the end of August I'm still not comfortable taking an international flight, and what would it even be like at our destinations? Things change so quickly because of covid-19. Planning felt not only stressful, but impossible. I didn't want to spend that much on an airline ticket only to end up with a disappointing experience. One of our flights got cancelled, and there was no other flight to book that would get us to our connection in time, so we were able to get a full refund and not just a credit from Delta. This is officially the first time that I have ever gotten any money back from an Airline company. For once a cancelled flight was a good thing. England, Ireland, and Portugal will have to wait until next year...hopefully. Since Europe wasn't going to happen we turned our attention to what could happen this summer. Where can we drive to? What can we do? The great outdoors seems to be all we got right now, so we focused on national parks, which had just recently opened up again. We decided on Zion National Park for the fourth of July because, it's only 2.5 hours from Las Vegas where my parents live. A road trip felt like a lower risk trip to try to plan during this time, but even this had it's challenges. I booked this a week out, and once I did, kept checking the Zion National Park website for updates and alerts that may affect our trip. I carefully read the covid-19 policy for our hotel and checked into what was open and what was closed, but we still ran into trouble.
I had two options. I could either meal prep my food for the following week or I could book a flight to Hawaii and run away.
In January MJ mentioned that he'd be going to Oahu for work. I was open to the possibility of going along with him, but it would be very short notice. I tried to mentally process it, but couldn't do a thing until I knew it was really happening. One week he told me it would happen the following week. Then it got pushed back. I told him to let me know when he booked his flight, and not to pressure me. Many people would jump at the chance for a mostly all expenses paid trip to Hawaii under any circumstances, but maybe I'm not most people. Last minute ANYTHING makes me anxious. Packing makes me anxious. Missing work without advance notice makes me anxious. Spending hundreds of dollars spontaneously makes me anxious. I would come along, but only if the ticket prices were reasonable and I felt comfortable with my ability to pull it off.
A few months ago I booked a flight on Frontier Airlines to Vegas. They are very much like Spirit in that they are less expensive, but nickel and dime you to death on...well pretty much everything. The only thing that comes free on Frontier is what they call a personal item. So, basically your purse or a backpack small enough to fit underneath the seat in front of you. This was a basic Friday to Monday trip to my parents house, and I did not want to pay any extra money so I convinced myself that for the first time ever I would travel with only a backpack. My little sister can do it. I won't need much. I'll make it work.
NOT.
No hair products, no workout wear, no dressy clothes, no extra shoes. limited toiletries. No extras. Just your standard undergarments and a different shirt for every day. It was warm in Vegas so I only wanted to bring one pair of jeans and the rest would be shorts and tanks but it absolutely would not fit. After that, I realized right then and there for sure that I would never be the kind of person who could travel with a backpack no matter how lightly I thought I was packing. I accepted that, but I still wanted to be better about over packing so I was determined not to do it when packing for our trip to Mexico.
I was a little bit worried about the weather before we left. June to mid October is rainy season in Nuevo Vallarta, and the weather app was showing thunder showers every single day. It was raining when we left the Puerto Vallarta airport, but by the time we arrived at the resort it was gone. The first thing I noticed was the humidity. So, hot and so humid. My skin felt damp and moist anytime I was outside.
A few months ago I realized that Southwestern Airlines credits for flights we didn't use last November was set to expire. I didn't want to spend too much more money trying to go somewhere, nor did we really have a lot of time considering we were in the middle of trying to sell our house, but I absolutely could not let that money go to waste.
Me: Okay, where can we go? Hmmm. How 'bout Lake Tahoe? Reno isn't that far.
Him: Why?
Me: I don't know. I think I've always wanted to go there. Seems like a cool place to visit.
Him: Okay.
He was like, cool whatever, let's go and left it up to me to plan the entire trip. I had to tinker with days and times a lot to get reasonably priced direct flights so it wouldn't take us four hours to get there. Before everything was finalized I'd made and cancelled two different hotel reservations, and still hadn't decided on what our outings would be, but I got it together the week we went. Even then, I had to re-book our shuttle, and our cruise for different times. Ugh. But it all worked out in the end, and we did it without a rental car.
When we went to Europe we had five hotels to book, which added up to 17 nights
of hotels in the space of about a month. Once I narrowed down my
search on Trip Advisor, I was definitely stressing about how much money
all of these hotels were costing us. I felt I owed it to myself to
check out AirBnB and Home Away, just to see what my options were so I created accounts and
started looking. However, I found that the search was even more
exhausting over there than on Trip Advisor and that it probably wasn't going to work out because A. I probably wouldn't be saving all that much money in the end
and B. I just wasn't comfortable taking a chance on some of the places.
I considered going the non hotel route but it didn't work out and this is why.
Some of the rentals have pretty rigid cancellation policies, and I only feel comfortable booking when I can cancel. I don't even mind paying up front as long as I can get my money back if I need to. Even the cheaper no cancellation allowed price doesn't lure me because I can't stop the what if anxiety. How many big vacations have I had to cancel? Zero! But still. You never know.
My husband had to work in between the traveling to other countries, and the exploring we did together in Germany. During the weekdays I was left to my own devices. Before I got there, he would ask, "Well, what are you going to do all day?" I assured him, that filling my days would not be a problem.
When we weren't gallivanting across the globe to other countries Stuttgart, Germany was our home base. The last few times I've been to Stuttgart it was
more of a stop over to somewhere else, so it was great to have more time to explore it.
The first thing I saw when we crossed the border into the Czech Republic was a sign for Burger King. Then I saw a sign for McDonald's. Then I saw a sign for Ikea and... another Burger King? Then I got skeptical. How could a gorgeous European city that everyone raves about have that many Burger Kings and McDonalds? It took us about 1 1/2 hours of driving, but as soon as we crossed the bridge and I saw that multi colored row of buildings neatly lined up across the water I knew we were there.
The drive from Stuttgart to Prague was about five hours, and I really appreciate my husband for driving the whole way there and back. Did you know that some parts of the Autobahn have no speed limit? Well, he took full advantage of it. We checked into Hotel Cosmopolitan Prague which was perfection by the way. It reminded me of Venetian Las Vegas because it smelled good in the lobby. Like it had it's own special air pumped in. The room was really nice. We were 5 for 5 on awesome hotels that are nice, clean, and doesn't trigger my OCD type tendencies. We went out to explore right away, and I was instantly in awe. Really. My mouth was hanging open, and I was awe struck by the beauty of the architecture in Prague. Everywhere you look, there is another building that is a work of art on it's own, but when all the buildings are that ornate and elaborately adorned is when you realize that you are standing in the middle of a fairy tale. It didn't seem real.
We ate dinner that night in Prague square, and one of the first things I noticed is that people in Prague seemed to travel in gangs. Later on I realized that there are a lot of walking tours going on all day long every day and that's what that was all about. I also noticed that there are lots of bachelor parties going on there. Prague must be quite the party city, and if I'd had the energy I would have done one of those bar crawls they had people soliciting for in the square. I really wanted to, but the most I could muster was wine at every meal. We also bought a mini bottle of Absinthe home, because I've never tried it.
St. Vitus Cathedral
The next morning we went to the hotel breakfast and set off to explore Prague Castle. It was hot. I know I keep saying that in every post, but I have never been so sweaty on vacation in my life. I truly didn't realize what a sweaty person I am until I sweat my way through 6 European cities! We didn't do any research on what to do. And really, that's because we simply didn't have an agenda for this trip. We crammed a lot of travel into a month, so I think my idea was to take it easy and enjoy each city. Our first European vacation was so frenetic that I wanted to experience it a little differently this time around. If either one of us had been so inclined to want to do a specific thing we would have, but we were fine, just taking it as it comes and seeing where we ended up. For starters, we used the hotel map and circled all the places that Trip Advisor said was a must see. Agenda done.
We rushed to make it to the changing of the guard at 12pm. There were a lot of stairs to reach that castle, and as you already know, it was hot. We were late, and it was still going on, but I was not interested in fighting the crowds, and angling for a view among the bodies in that kind of heat, so I didn't really catch much of it, but that was okay. There is a lot to see in Prague Castle. We bought tickets right there, and it allowed us into enough places so that we were there for hours. We found a place for lunch right next to the river, with a really nice view and a nice breeze, because HOT.
View from lunch : Manes Bridge
Koruna
Spending money in Prague was kind of different, because in general I didn't know how much anything cost or how much I was spending. Everything on the menu was like hundreds of dollars, and you have to do a little bit of math in your head to convert it to Euro...so I usually didn't bother. The Czech Republic has it's own currency, the Koruna, and it's worth significantly less than the Euro. So, for example our lunch cost us 974 Koruna, but it was only €38. MJ took out about 4,000 Koruna when we got there, but every place was fine with taking Euro.
Trdelnik
The other order of business in Prague was to eat a TrdelnÃk. Nope.
Still don't know how to say it, but it was good. Trdlnik is a sweet pastry cooked around a stake
over an open fire. The newest thing that started in
Prague is to fill it with ice cream.
That night we made a big, big mistake. We fell asleep in our room and didn't wake up until around 8ish. I was so mad at us! It felt like such a waste of precious Prague time. We woke up and went to dinner at a place down the street from our hotel.
Tavern U Krale Brabantskeho
Prague is the the kind of city that you really just want to take your time enjoying, so without an agenda, there was lots of meandering. The next day we spent all day walking to Mala Strana and back. Mala Strana is the oldest part of Prague. It is not an all day walk, but we made it an all day walk. We walked through Jewish town. I took pictures. We ate lunch. We searched for a bathroom, and found one for €0.50. We wandered the streets. We admired the buildings. We had time to just be, and I loved it. The day before we'd seen a dark hole in the wall looking medieval tavern near the castle. I didn't want eat there, but I really wanted to sit in a real tavern and have a drink. We found a seat at a wooden table near this lovely older couple from Sicily. The guy just wanted to eat his dinner, but he smiled for the camera anyway, because his wife wanted pictures. I didn't even have to tell MJ that would be us in 15 years. Tavern U Krale Brabantskeho was awesome. It looked just like I imagined it must have looked 642 years ago. The place has been around since 1375!
After that we went to the museum of torture. It was just another thing that we saw along the way and decided we wanted to check it out.
We walked over the Saint Charles Bridge every day
Saint Charles Bridge
Old Town Square
On our way back there was a jazz band playing in the square, so we joined the others sitting on the ground and listened for a bit before heading back to the hotel. We ate dinner at the hotel, and then way too soon for my liking even though I was exhausted, it was time for bed.
The next morning we went to breakfast, checked out and then hit the road for home, so even though we were there for four days we technically had about 2 1/2 days to explore. Travel time is a bitch. Praha, also known as Prague, is a really beautiful city. There is a cherub, angel, priest, gargoyle, or something hanging off of almost every building. Not only is it nice to look at, but it's a really fun place to be.
So that's it. Four countries, five cities, and 18ish nights in hotels in about a month. That's what I've been up to and I haven't even mentioned the fun stuff we did in Stuttgart. I've been living the dream for the past six weeks. Truly. You know, that thing where you get an extended amount of time off during the summer? It's called Summer vacation and I finally got one.
I've always wanted the chance to point my finger at a map and go. You'd think I'd have my answers lined up, but when MJ said we could go wherever I want.
I knew I wanted to go back to Paris, and I liked it that we could take the train from Stuttgart and bypass the airport ordeal. I knew that I had to go to Santorini. That was a no brainer. I also knew that Prague needed to be on that list, but where else? Since it would be Summer, and I've never been to a European beach, I thought it would be nice to throw a beach vacation in the mix of all that city stuff.
The Balearic Islands are so far South, who knows when we'd make it down there next, so it came down to Majorca or Ibiza. Ibiza is known for partying and when I started researching it I found that it was pretty expensive. We are not party people so as cool as it might sound to say I took a pill in Ibiza (even if it was just a vitamin), I did not want to pay the party people price. I zeroed in on Palma, but we decided to stay in Colonia Sant Jordi in the South because it is close to one of the most beautiful beaches in Majorca. After the locations were decided, MJ came up with a schedule of dates and that's how our European vacation itinerary came to be.
We had one day between Santorini and Majorca. One day. I did laundry, we repacked, and then we were off to the Stuttgart airport for a direct flight from to Palma. It felt like we were just at the airport...because we were. At this point I was delirious with happiness. I had just been to Santorini. My travel dream had come true, and I still had two trips ahead of me.
MJ insisted on a rental car. In retrospect, I know this was a good idea, but I am always going to be resistant to spending more money. Just on principle. Our flight was delayed. Ugh. We had a pretty late arrival, but as soon as we walked in the door to our hotel, I knew it was another slam dunk and I was so excited. Hotel El Coto is beautiful. The bed was so big. The biggest bed of our vacation so far. The bed and the king size pillows were foam, and so soft. Still no drawers, but we had multiple shelves for storing our clothing and a good sized closet. The bathroom was big and beautiful.
we had a huge balcony that unfortunately, we never took full advantage of. The balcony even had drying racks for wet bathing suits and towels. It was fabulous.
At Hotel El Coto breakfast is served outside on the patio overlooking the beautiful pool area. We had the option of including it in the price of our hotel stay. That seems to be the thing in Europe. Half board to include dinner was also an option, but I chose not to because part of the fun of traveling is picking different places to eat meals. I didn't want to have to eat at the hotel every night, even though, from what I read, Hotel El Coto is known for their gastronomy.
Colonia Sant Jordi
Right after breakfast on our first full day there, we went to the grocery store right down the street and then we hit the beach.
Just a three minute walk from our hotel is one of the most beautiful and most perfect beaches I have ever had the privilege of splashing around in. The sand is fine and white. The ocean floor is sandy and smooth. The water is clear and aqua. When you first get in it is slightly chilly, but after that it feels warm. The other thing I loved about this beach is that there were no waves, and I could go pretty far out before the water went over my head. I floated on my back staring at the sky totally at peace and relaxed. I looked hard for fish, but all I saw were these tiny little things that didn't scare me at all. In my opinion this is the most perfect best beach ever. Better than Hawaii. For €18 a day we rented a little hut with two padded loungers. Every time the sun moved, we just adjusted our chairs so we always had shade. It was perfect. We sat there for hours! MJ and I both finished our books. It was great.
After the beach we went in search of dinner. Just down the street is the main part of town where there are shops and plenty of restaurants to choose from. We ate we ice cream every single day we were there.
Once again, we really didn't make any plans. This vacation was really about the beach, but wanted to spend one day exploring Palma, so on day 2 we headed North. I loved the Old Town. I really don't ever get tired of exploring the narrow alley ways and cobble stoned streets of Europe. I finally got some Paella. Then we went and found our beloved ice cream. It was hot. Another hot sweaty day as a European tourist in the summer, but it was a good day and I was having the time of my life. There was still plenty of daylight for some pool lounging by the time we came back. Gotta love those long European days. The sun doesn't even start to set until about 8ish. We spent our evening at the pool, and then did our usual search down the street for dinner where we joined the rest of the happy, sun drenched, hair still wet from the beach vacationers.
Our last day in Coloni Sant Jordi was very similar to what we did in
Santorini, but instead of a pool + jacuzzi day we did a beach + pool
day. We started out at the beach. We already knew to find the lady so
that we could pay rent on our little sun hut, so I found a hut, and
MJ went off to pay. As we were setting up, this man comes along and we
showed him our ticket only to be told that we had to leave. It was
impossible for us to stay there. We must go to the other end of the
beach if that's where we bought our ticket. What? So MJ goes and tells
the lady, who speaks zero English. She got on her cell
phone, and told the man we were all good and paid up. They really need to work on streamlining their system. Anyway. Once that was settled we got on with spending the rest of the day between our
loungers and the beautiful aqua water of Es Trenc Beach, the so called Caribbean beach of Majorca.
Okay, so here's the deal about the beach. When I booked the hotel I did so for it's
proximity to Es Trenc Beach. When I asked the front desk what beach was
right out the door, she told me Es Trenc, however MJ looked it up on
map quest and found that Es Trenc is about about a 20 minute drive from
the hotel. I figured that the reason for the discrepancy is that Es
Trenc beach is very long. It probably runs quite aways up the coast. However, when you look at google maps on your phone it shows the sandy
area where we were as Platja D'es Moli De S'estany.
The next sandy area to the north was called Platja Es Peregons, and
then the very next sandy area north of that is Platja d'es Trenc. So,
even when I realized that perhaps we were not technically at Es Trenc, I
didn't care because our beach was so beautiful and so perfect. I'm
guessing it probably looks pretty similar to Es Trenc, and with a better
set up because I was reading that Es Trenc isn't what it used to be. The parking has become expensive and there are no chairs to rent.
The only thing Platja D'es Moli De S'estany was lacking was a bathroom. There was an outdoor restaurant that may have had one, but our hotel was so close I chose to use the pool bathroom there. About half way through the day we switched over to the pool for more relaxing. Hotel El Coto's pool is great. There is a deep end, a shallow end, and a separate little wading pool. The greenery is pretty. The outdoor bathrooms are elegant. The chairs are padded, and you can get drinks delivered while you lounge. It was perfect.
I admit, it was really nice to be in a Spanish speaking as opposed to German or any other language country, because I took Spanish in high school and it was so much fun to see how much I remember. Words I didn't even know I knew came to me, and it's a heck of a lot easier to read between the lines in Spanish. With German. Forget about it. You can't figure anything out.
Our beach vacation was a hit. My only wish is that we had a little bit more time there since we got in late, and had to leave right after breakfast the day we left. I always want more time though! Also, not one single picture was taken of MJ and I together the entire time. I was so over asking for pictures. I just gave up, and it's not the biggest deal, but as expected I kinda regret that. I also regret not taking my bikini top off at the beach. You know, live a little. Maybe next time.
I'm so glad we stayed in Colonia Sant Jordi. More good food. Cute little town. Another luxurious, clean, and comfortable hotel. Another perfect vacation.
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