TravelStream™ news feed for member court0 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/court0 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:12:09 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218779940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218779940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218779940/tpod.html Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:12:09 -0400 Central America

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New York, United States

Well, the day began somewhat auspiciously - as the taxi was leaving the hotel and almost through town, we slowed down as another car was making a turn...unfortunately, the car behind us apparently did not slow down and plowed into us going full speed. Fortunately, I was wearing my seatbelt, so only my breakfast (fresh fruit to go) flew into the front window (the other car was totaled, with the radiator and the engine nearly in the front seat, but no injuries that I could tell - amazingly our car was in decent shape, but we still took another car to the airport to be safe) The police allowed us to leave quickly since I had a plane to catch, but my back was thrown a bit. The airport was pretty easy to navigate; since I was cutting it close, that was a relief. The ride started nicely, but tri-state storms forced us to divert our landing so that we could re-fuel and wait for the airport to re-open. Fortunately, we were able to get in just a few hours later than planned. A good trip!
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Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

The trip here was fine, and the weather is balmy. The local people with whom I've spoken have been very nice and helpful. Fortunately, my (pretty much non-existent) Spanish skills have not hurt my ability to communicate since most people I've run into speak English. I was able to head to Almolonga, a local market, and procure some of the best fruit I have ever eaten - it all came from local family farms, so I'm told, which was nice since I may have been supporting the "little" guys. Then again, the massive international conglomerates probably control everything anyway - enough bitterness. The buidlings are cool - old Mayan ruins, etc., and I went to the Museo de Historia Natural (told you I was picking up Spanish), where I was able to learn more about the history of the Mayans, some local history and politics, etc. It was a good way to get a picture of the area's past. And did I mention how good the fruit was??
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218400800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218400800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218400800/tpod.html Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:58:21 -0400 Central America

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Playa Hermosa, Province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Well, someone needs to remind me that the tropics and my skin tone do not mix well. I decided to go for a run the other day, with my shirt off, and I am paying for that. The surf has been pretty good - wiped out for the first time today, and was stuck under the water for about 7-10 seconds, but that was after I really caught one (and someone caught it on film!) and I fought back through the surf to catch a few more, but then was exhausted. I can swim a mile every day and still be so unprepared for the power of the ocean, it's unbelievable.

The hotel is very nice, I have a fill ocean view, my own little pool, and the food has been amazing - fruits, fruits, fruits, and either chicken or seafood at night. There are chickens everywhere, walking through the streets, peoples' yards, etc. The cook at the hotel is awesome - even got me to try rice and beans, with eggs! I think that I am going to traverse the jungle, which is just across the "road" from the hotel, tomorrow. The people have been very nice, I'm working on my Spanish, and the evening rains are delightful. It gets dark at around 6, and with no TV, I have been able to go to bed normal time, and wake up at 5:30ish to go seek waves. Sort of like keeping my normal schedule - the tides change, so my schedule may as well.

OK, well, I am off to run the beach and then jump in the pool before presumably eating, doing some reading, and falling asleep by 8:30. See you soon.
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Jaco, Costa Rica

Wow - another zip through the forest was cool, but the surf was calling first. I caught a bunch of really good waves today, and have gotten far more comfortable fighting through the breaks. The surf was really nice today, with a couple of nice sets featuring both right and left breaks, and plenty of "glass." After that fun, it was off to the jungle for another afternoon of swinging through the trees. On a beautiful afternoon, I was shocked that there was no one else playing in the trees (except those crazy monkeys) so I took full advantage to go at my own pace. Some of the zip lines were pretty long, provided more great views, and were really fun. It was particularly enjoyable because I could really fly without worrying about anything else - I highly recommend trying this activity when available.

After that, I ventured into Jaco for some souvenir shopping and to look at surf boards - just kidding! The town is difficult to describe, but it is definitely a trap for tourists, with all of the stores seemingly selling the exact same things. I picked up some good trinkets and some surfing paraphernalia, but didn't spend a ton of time in town because I wanted to get out before sunset so that I could get back to the beach for some pictures, and maybe to catch a couple of waves (which I didn't do). See you soon.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218578520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218578520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218578520/tpod.html Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:53:51 -0400 Central America

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Jaco, Costa Rica

There was a swell the past few days, and that meant some nasty rides...particularly when you don't really know what you're doing! Fortunately, yesterday was a good day for the old man on the sea - no wipeouts, much easier time getting past the break, and fewer close outs (when the waves crash all at once). Today was even better, except for the 2nd ride, when I nearly killed myself and two others, though I am told it was not my fault? I started to catch a big one, and as soon as I was in full paddle and about to stand, I saw some guy like 3 yards from me, not a safe distance from me, so I jumped off the board, which went straight up in the air, came down on his board, and he got hit by some other guy who bailed as well...other than that, I didn´t miss a single ride, and even caught a "tube"

Went for the zipline through the jungle and some waterfalls, making me feel very much like Tarzan. The views were really good, saw some monkeys up close and personal, and felt like a jungle animal. It was fun. The food and the weather have been sensational, the sun provides great warmth, and the people are still nice to me? Well, the sunbrun has been taken care of as best I can, wearing a shirt at all times, especially in the water, slobbering on cream to keep the burned areas as moist as possible, and of course wearing my stylish hat all around! Ok, well I am going to watch some surfers try their luck on some evening swells in a few minutes, while I sit in my hammock drinking some te frio (iced tea) and trying not to take a late siesta. See you soon.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218086760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218086760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/3/1218086760/tpod.html Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:34:45 -0400 Central America

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Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Relatively easy trip into Costa Rica...sort of overcast, but not too bad...shortly after I arrived at the hotel, a storm hit and dumped quite a bit of rain on us, but neither that nor the thunderstorm deterred the surfing crowd from finishing some sets. I, obviously, sat on the balcony and got my bearings before I begin "dropping in" tomorrow.
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New York City, New York, United States

We arrived safely back in the US after a pleasant flight. The boys were super travelers, saw some unbelievable cities and experienced different cultures (if only for a few days at a time), while also making some friends from Minnesota. The accommodations and airline seats may not have been that to which the boys have become accustomed, not everyone spoke our language, our money wasn't worth all that much in certain places, and we couldn't always get the food we wanted, but there were two weeks without cell phones, video games (except for FIFA in the airport, for free), little time on a computer (since they had to pay for time), and with plenty of walking around, laughing with their friends, seeing buildings and parts of the world that were completely unknown to them, and trying new things. There was too much to see in each city, but we made the best of our time. While the castles may blend together and the different currencies may be forgotten, there were hopefully memories that will stay with them - I am so glad that we took the trip, saw as much as we did, and got to develop new friendships. Pictures will be uploaded/emailed shortly.
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Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Another stunning city. A quick cruise along the Danube and we were in the capital of Austria. The Hapsburgs knew how to live, that's for sure. The palaces, the cathedrals, the summer residences, the gardens, the planning of the city (and this with a substantial amount of destruction during WWII) are mind-blowing. When we arrived, the weather was beautiful so we checked out St. Stephan's Cathedral/Plaza, drove around the ring, and then decided that it was time for some activity - off to the Prater we went! The huge amusement park has roller coasters, ferris wheel, etc. as well as the typical carnival-type games littered throughout the park. The Minnesota boys were with us, so Zack took charge and organized some friendly competitions, put Jack on his roller coasters (if successful, then I had to eat a chocolate dessert of Jack's choosing), got Andy near some archery, Quinn in his race car, and Grey near some ice cream! Minnesota was up for the challenge, and after three hours, there was a deadlock, and that was how it ended. We rode the underground back toward the center of the city, and walked through some of the parks. Money didn't go as far in Vienna as it had in the other cities, but no one cared since the chance to play in the amusement park beat seeing another castle (at least for the day). After the park, we continued some sightseeing as we strolled through pedestrian areas.
We returned to our hotel and went out for dinner, in a quaint little town along the Danube, just outside of Vienna. Our second day, we visited the summer palaces, saw a few different plazas, and went back to Stephansdom for lunch and walking around. While we were strolling around, the boys were approached by a group of teenagers who challenged them to a dance off, a laughing contest, and a "wave" demonstration - big mistake for the Euros who failed to realize that the Jersey boys never miss a chance to grab the spotlight and refuse to decline a challenge. I'm not really sure what was going on, but Grey dominated the dancing competition (on the Stephansdom plaza with hundreds of onlookers), the NJ/MN contingent easily won the laughing contest, and the Euros won the wave thing - I still don't know what was going on, but it was funny. It actually got a few of the street performers to stop and watch!
Since Jack went on his roller coasters, I had to eat a brownie (actually a rather large slice of very rich chocolate cake), but was able to pull through without any problem (I'm sure Andy will provide footage, though everyone witnessed it). After watching some street performers (they are everywhere that tourists congregate), we grabbed some more food and went for a walk around districts 1-3. An evening concert at the Opera House featured the music of Strauss and Mozart and provided cultural entertainment, but also meant no food for two hours! Immediately after the concert, we returned to the hotel, before heading out to a delightful seafood restaurant situated along the Danube. Andy's catfish was sick (good) and the boys enjoyed their last night in Europe with their new friends from Minnesota. In the morning, Grey, Quinn and I went to the town center to visit some bakeries and brought some fresh basked goods back to the sleepy-heads (truth be told, Zack and Andy got up very early to bid adieu to the MN boys who had a very early morning flight - Jack just decided to sleep). Throughout our time in Vienna (and the suburbs), wonderful meals and snack foods provided the nourishment everyone missed from home cooking. Even though food has been mentioned already, the food was really good here!!!! Sadly, the trip will be over soon - the boys have been awesome and have kept me laughing for the better part of two weeks. There will be many pictures.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/2/1216234980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/2/1216234980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/court0/2/1216234980/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:47:59 -0400 Eastern/Central Europe

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Budapest, Hungary

The beauty of these cities and this region never stops. The architecture and the planning of this city is amazing - Buda (the hilly side of town) on one bank of the Danube houses the royal stuff, while Pest (the flat side of town) is directly across the Danube and houses the business stuff. The multiple bridges crossing are nice, but standing on either side of the river affords you stunning views of the capital city. We visited the Castle District and Royal Palace (where Grey once again danced), strolled across the Chain Bridge to a square near the pedestrian areas, then toward Parliament and some of the most stunning government buildings I've ever seen, took a cruise along the Danube, found some great cheap eats along the side alleys in Pest, and had a delightful lunch (Andy, Zack, and I had some cold fruit soup - kind of like a soup smoothie - before downing some traditional Hungarian fare, while you guessed it, Grey, Jack, and Quinn found another Subway) along one of the many pedestrian ways through the city center.
The plazas, wide avenues approaching downtown Pest, and the architecture near (surrounding) some of the mineral baths were amazing. The boys tried bargaining for trinkets in small shops, and got a few gifts for home. As we re-approached the center of Pest, Quinn leaped every post he could find, often to the amazement of tourists toting video cameras (whether they were filming Quinn's exploits, or trying to catch a glimpse of Jack may be a matter of contention), while Zack, Grey and Andy delighted onlookers with their slapping games (again, pictures will have to serve as explanations). We think that "our" way of traveling will spread to others - a sort of cultural diffusion, courtesy of the Jersey Boys. Along some of the streets we saw reminders of WWII fighting as there are still marking on the facades of many of the buildings and there are multiple monuments to the people who made the city what it is/was.
Budapest food was good (goulash was not a favorite with this crew), but the hotel food left something to be desired, thus McDrive was kept in business, and thankfully was open until very late! There was a mall nearby with an indoor skating rink, a food court with all sorts of goodies, and a supermarket that reminded me of SuperWal-Mart and Costco combined. At this point, the Minnesota boys are with the Jersey boys nearly every moment, and that has made for some great times - everyone gets along really well and stories that would have gotten old suddenly have new audiences. We walked around quite a bit and got some great exercise covering ground in this capital city. We have gotten lucky with the weather and with the fact that the Minnesota boys are so easy to hang around with.
There wasn't a lot of English spoken here, so we had to be a bit more careful in our travels around the city, and we decided to hang around the hotel a little bit more - fortunately for the boys, there was a McDonald's (with a late night drive-in that the boys walked through quite often) and a supermarket right behind the hotel, which had its own bowling room. We bowled each night (a little competitiveness emerged, as those crazy youngsters from Minnesota thought they could stay with the Jersey boys) and then vegged (probably the wrong word considering that Big Macs aren't heavy on veggies, and we can't really can't french fried potatoes of McFlurrys as healthy foods) out at the hotel until falling asleep. The Jersey boys rose to the occasion each night, and well, there will be no gloating because one of the MN kids was amazing, especially compared to the rest of us. There was plenty of bonding in Budapest, and that left Quinn's potential future wife outside the loop (the romance is over, before it even began).
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Krakow, Southern Poland, Poland

Well,

We made it to Krakow without incident. Legend has it that Krak poisoned a dragon and was given the area now known as Krakow for saving the people - OK, this is just my attempt to explain the title of the entry. There was far less English spoken here, but the city was beautiful and the people quite nice (for instance, on one of our forays to the center of the city, we missed our bus stop, and a woman motioned for us to ring the bell and pointed in the correct direction for us to walk).
We visited Wawel Castle (nice, but we're already castled out), and delighted another group of tourists as Grey and Zack busted some moves while street performers played background music. We went to the Jewish section of town (Kazimierz, and then to Podgorze, the ghetto during the occupation in WWII) and saw the factory run by Oskar Schindler (of movie fame). The kids weren't fascinated by either of these locations, perhaps because they were already anticipating our visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, or perhaps because it was too early in the morning.
Until this point of the trip, the weather had been really nice, but the moment we got inside the camp gates, the sky grew dark, the winds picked up, and thundered clapped in the distance. While the tour guide was captivating, the visuals were a bit much for us - piles of hair, prosthetic body parts, eyeglasses, uniforms, the cells, the barbed wire and guard houses everywhere, the railroads going right through the camp and the town, and then going into barracks and watch towers at Birkenau (during a howling storm) were very disturbing, and left each of us wondering how this could have happened without anyone stopping it??? The stories relayed to us were frightening and even though I'd read about them beforehand, I was struck by the systematic destruction of other people - it was disgusting and rather depressing; the barracks for as far as you could see, the barrenness surrounding the camp, and the sight of gas chambers were just sad. The kids seemed depressed as we left, and the images that they'd seen in movies became very real. I don't see anyone making a return visit, but it was a necessary stop since we were here and because it's a reminder of a horrible time/event about which they have been told, or have read, for years.
A very quiet bus ride back to the hotel was followed by a night on the town - a very good move for everyone's spirits and stomachs! We rode the public bus, went to the main square (Rynek Glowny) and watched street performers blow up a fire truck (you had to be there, but Andy might have pictures), do an opera, perform "cirque du soleil-type" tricks, and hold a concert (with break dancers and GWBush sayings on a loud speaker?) on the far end of the square - opposite the outdoor restaurant that satisfied our empty stomachs. Our Jersey boys dinners are a lot of fun, as we just sit there talking and laughing for hours. We escaped the city center just before a huge thunderstorm approached, and dumped some rain and sharp claps of thunder on those left behind - we ran to the bus stop (about 1/2 mile distance to catch a certain ride, and thanks to the fleet feet of Quinn and Jack, we made it, and that saved us from the storm). Safely back in the hotel, we sat in the lobby for a little while before the boys headed off to watch Hot Rod, which they'd downloaded the night before.
There was so much going on, and the city was so nice that we hated to leave after such a short time. The food from the street vendors was awesome as well - you'll probably notice that we eat a lot! The boys have been fantastic and I think that they are having a good time with each other and the people they are meeting.
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