TravelStream™ news feed for member sestrin on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sestrin en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:31:02 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sestrin/4/1257167565/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sestrin/4/1257167565/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sestrin/4/1257167565/tpod.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:31:02 -0500 Beach 2010

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Panama City, Panama

Sharon and I left Edmonton a week apart, and we finally made it to Tocuman airport about an hour apart on the 27 of October. The first difficulty this year, was that our personal concierge had flown to Mexico for 2 weeks, and his driver was ill. Thus our car was at the beach far, far, away. Of course, why don't we fly to David, and get pickup up?
Great question. The new trick is that you fly in with 2 50 lb suitcases, and 2 pieces of hand luggage stuffed with extra weight, and then when you taxi over to the other airport, for the local flight, you find that the weight allowance is 1 piece of 25 lbs and strictly 10 lbs of carry on. Well, I do not particularly care for small planes, nor did I want to spend a fortune in excess baggage. Perhapps the bus is the best alternative with luxury seats, movies, and air conditioning. this was a strong possibility. I would recommend this for most travelers as this is an inexpensive, but comfortable 6 hour trip. For us though, we had reached the tipping point, as we needed to bring not only our luggage but we needed to shop for our kosher supplies, adding another 100 lbs to our luggage and more pieces to handle. So despite the outrageous drop off charges, we drove ourselves. But I am getting ahead of the story, as I wanted to tell you about the Shabbat in Panama. This time we stayed in Paitilla so we could visit with the smaller Syrian Shul. We had a terrific time, were we invited for meals, and planning to go back often to spend Shabbat in Paitilla. The Paitilla Inn has large rooms, with fridges, and have been renovated. The only trick is to arrange for a low floor, or to get help from the front desk for the elevators and the electronic lock. They are most accomodating. We just can't figure out why they would not have a shabbat elevator. Who knows. The kosher deli market, the new superstore of kosher is alive and well. This is a great place to shop. They have everything, plus roasted chickens, a deli, a bakery, a meat restaurant, a dairy restaurant, and the owners will go out of their way to help you.

Now we are back on the beach, and our home is in terrific shape. The maid we had over the summer took good care, not like the previous one. So all is well in paradise. Our friends are back, and we are settling back into the beach life, as we prepare for some friends and relatives to visit us in the near future.

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Los Olas, Panama

We flew to Florida to board our cruise. This cruise went from Florida through the Panama Canal, stopped in Ecuador, Peru, and 2 stops in Chile where it ended near Santiago. It was interesting to go through the canal as we saw it from the water side rather than the land side. It is much prettier than the land side. The nicest place we stopped on this cruise was Arrica Chile. It is a delightful spot with very interesting terrain, great caves etc. We made a group with some people we had met, hired a guide and really had a great tour. Chile is a beautiful country, and this was our 2nd time there. We would still like to take the time someday to do a trip from the north to the south of this fascinating country. On the ship itself we kept busy. Sid found card buddies and played some bridge and rummy, and I managed to walk most days plus do a yoga class. It was a nice cruise but we were glad to get back to Panama.

The rainy season was pretty much over when we returned to our home here. Many of you have asked what we do here so I will try to give an explanation. Where we live Las Olas is a beautiful place. Our home has needed a few things done and in Panama getting things done is like climbing Mount Everest. The electricity goes off here sometimes so many of us have a back-up generator. Our generator was not working properly. It didnot come on automatically when the electricity went off. We had a workman come out and with Sid's limited Spanish and some sign language we found out the mother board needed replacing. This meant that we had to wait several weeks for them to locate a motherboard and then to come again and replace it. Most things are like this ie taking ridiculous amounts of time to achieve anything. The connecting of the internet was an ominous task and they had to come out and redo this about 4 times! Panama is a labour intensive place with limited technology.

We have replaced the screens on our linai etc. etc., and now theoutside of the house is being painted, so in general we are in fairly good shape. Our lawn was in a very bad state when we came but Sid has taken on the task of fixing the irrigation system, and caring for the lawn and it is now looking quite good. We are planning to put in a new well, and are hoping to put in a swimming pool, but this is Panama and these things happen very slowly.

My day usually consists of a walk on the beach to the resort where I do water exercise with a friend in the resort pool. After that we walk back and have breakfast. Even though we have some help a lot of the housework still falls in my lap. To explain how slowly things get done around here I will tell you that it takes about 2 years to build a house here. It is all done by hand. We have a house being built next door to us and we spend a lot of time just watching how it is done and shaking our heads. It is fun though.

People here make a joke of asking what did you achieve today. The smallest achievements make us happy and would sound totally ridiculous at home. We all get a good laugh from this.

The nicest part of the day in my opinion is sunset. The sky seems to be a different shade of blue everyday and the sunset makes the sky a gorgeous yellow-orange. It is indescribable.

On Sundays we usually make an excursion to different areas around here. Sometimes we have a destination in mind, and sometimes we just take a road we haven't explored before. The mountains are beautiful, the beaches great. We don't see too much wildlife here although there are turtles on the beach here, and we have an armadillo who comes to drink from our sprinkler.

Generally our days are spent very lazily. We watch the ocean which is always beautiful, and we watch the construction, and we watch the grass grow! Other than that and our daily chores we have a very normal life. It is very hot about 33C generally so in the afternoons you sort of wear out. Either we rest or we go to the resort and have a swim. A lot of time here is spent in conversations with neighbors and people at the resort. This is really very pleasant and makes us realize how little time we technological countries now spend in this activity. We see the Panamanians all get together in the evenings and just sit around and talk. It is very nice.

Well that is generally our life around here. We have friends coming from New York next week, so we will spend more time on excursions.

Shabbat Shalom

Sharon
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Los Olas, Panama

Hi Everyone,

Another update.

We left Panama City and began the drive in our new car to our beach, Barqueta. It is a long drive about 6 hours. It really should only take about 3 hours, but the speed at which you can go is limited by the fact that there are small towns and villages all the way and you keep having to reduce your speed to 40 km. We arrived late at night, got into our house and went straight to sleep.

November is still in the rainy season here in Barqueta, and it rained every day . This year the Panamanians say was a particularly wet year, and most of them don't seem to recall a year so wet! The good news is that it is still very warm during the wet season.

The first thing we had to do is start to get the house in shape. It needed a good cleaning . Here that is more complicated than at home, because of the bugs, and particularly because of the salt off the ocean. Barqueta receives an exceptional amount of salt. We are really novices at taking care of this house but we are very fortunate that our next door neighbor, Captain Roy, has lived on the ocean most of his life and is wonderful about helping us. Roy and his wife moved to Panama from Costa Rica, where Roy had lived since he was 3 years old. He had a sports fishing business in Golfito Costa Rica, which he sold after 25 years, and moved here. His fishing lodge was rated as one of the top 5 fishing lodges in the world, so he really does know the ocean!

So now the work began. Our lawn was in bad shape and the house really needed thorough cleaning so we began but asked Roy to help us get hired help. He was able to get us a garden boy and a maid. Sounds good! But we found out quickly that Panamanians have a very different idea of clean than Canadians (at tleast than I)do.

Easton the boy began some of the jobs that Sid assigned him. The house needed painting so he began the trim. Our lawn had been dreadfully neglected by the service, but that is a whole other story. The maid, Vanessa seemed to think that cleaning meant swishing a dirty mop around and never changing the water! She spent a great deal of her time hiding in the storage room talking on her cell phone. We plugged along and with determination got the house in fairly good shape. I must admit that I did every bit as much work as Vanessa, and finally found that she was so needy that I let her go.

Easton worked for awhile but was going back to university so he also quit to begin his classes. We were doing better now in the house, but getting tired of all the rain. Solution- we decided to take a cruise!

That's it for now!

Sharon
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Los Olas, Panama

Hi,

As usual I see that Sid wrote a few lines, and then gave up! I will try to update you a little bit.

I am sure that most Edmontonians probably already heard about Evelyn & Isaac's wedding, so I won't spend too long it. Needless to say it was spectacular, from a Hollywood setting! The hospitality was amazing and as always Michelle and Sam were the perfect hosts. What was delightful is that Evelyn's family are also more than gracious and a good time was certainly had by all.

We started off the Thursday evening before the wedding with a woman's party after Evelyn went to the michva. This was great as we had a chance to meet Evelyn's friends and family and vice versa. Michelle made sure that everyone introduced themselves and their relationship to her and Evelyn. It was a lovely evening and enjoyed by all the ladies. At the same time the men had a separate get together, and they also seemed to have a good time.

Friday night was beautiful. After services there was a wonderful meal hosted by the Marcushamers. The food was delicious and beautifully presented. Saturday morning and meal were again fabulous. Sid and I were able to stay in a apartment motel right next to the shule. It was a beautiful place and we were thrilled that the Marcushamer family stayed there also. Saturday night was a party hosted by Ev & Norm Schayer and again the hosting was fabulous, the music great, and a good time was had by all.

Sunday was the big day. It is hard to describe the beauty of this wedding., The flowers were amazing calil lillies, hydrogenas, roses, orchids, all in tones of off white to beige. The wedding party dresses were very becoming, and Evelyn's dress was the peak of good dressmaking. She looked just beautiful.

The food was spectacular with everything you could possibly hope for in h'ors d'ouevres and followed by a real gourmet meal. The bands yes bands in the plural were great and everyone was dancing and having a real great time. The Latinos really know how to party. Of course all the liquor and Sam's tequila made us all quite happy!
The following day Sam & Michelle hosted a deli meal for those of us who were still in town.

Sid and I then went on to St. Louis where we were attending the wedding of the daughter of the Chabad Rabbi. We knew this wedding would be a real contrast to the last, and it sure was. This was our first attendance at a true Chabad wedding and it was very interesting. Freida, the bride walked down the aisle with a veil over her face. The difference between this veil and any others I have seen is that there was no transparency in this veil. She could not see a thing. She was accompanied on both sides to support and bring her to the chupah. I know she couldn't see as one of the women let go of her for a second to hug someone and I could see Freida groping and waving her hand waiting for the other hand. It was all very interesting. This wedding was definitely toned down in comparison to the previous one, but it was cheerful and fun, and also a beautiful wedding!

While we were in St Louis we were able to visit with many old friends, including Rabbi & Naomi Munk and family, so that was great! After Shabbos we left for Panama! and our house.

We met our friends from Montreal in Miami and we all got on the plane for Panama. We had decided to stay a couple of days in Panama City to buy a car. We poked around the city, enjoyed some of the kosher restaurants, and finally found a car. It is a Mitsubishi Monterro, which is a suv. It is diesel and can hold about 7 people if any one is coming.

Next we went to the new kosher supermarket for supplies. This market is gorgeous! Everything in the 100,000 or so square feet is kosher. They have 2 restaurants within the market, 1 meat and 1 milk. There is a fresh meat cutting area, frozen meat, already roasted chickens, spiced kebabos etc. etc. etc. It is really a pleasure. Now armed with a car, and supplies we were ready for our journey to our home in Parque Barquetta.
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Aventura, Florida, United States

Of course, all journeys have their trade offs. We encountered our first one with our booking, which left us short by 2 days of our timeshare. Never the less, we were moving into Bal Harbor for the Shabbos pre wedding celebrations for Issac and Evelyn. Let the fun begin.
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Bangkok, Thailand

What a change. New experiences for both us. New culture, new country, WOW.

We booked our escape from SA the day after we arrived. We took a package with flight and 4 nights in Bangkok. We decided to do 2 nights at the beginning and 2 nights at the end. Good choice as it turns out. Elephants in the street at night. The markets. The shopping. Cannot begin to describe. Our hotel was great. We had a spectacular suite with small kitchen. The bedroom was superb. Couldn't be better, and staff were great. One of our suitcases went on to Madrid then Munich, and finally caught up to us in Phuket. Recovered from our overnight flight, and explored some of the sights of Bangkok. Totally different. Truly a vibrant city.
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Durban, South Africa

We left Harrismith after a wonderful stay at a B&B. We were the only guests, and sat with the owners in the evening for a good visit. In the morning following their directions we went on to view the Drakensburg mountains. This is not to be missed. There are terrific self catering chalets in beautiful garden settings at reasonable prices. This is where the next adventure began. The driver's window became stuck in the open position. We called the car rental, and they told us we had to go on to Pietermarietsburg to change cars. We couldn't stay in the mountains, as there were rain showers, and we felt that it was prudent to change the car. We drove down, and eventually changed vehicles. Onwards we went to Durban and took a left to Uhmlange Rocks ( not sure of all these spellings). This is the Miami Beach of South Africa. Not for us. The light was fading, and we turned south, heading back to Durban and beyond. This is when it happened. Suddenly, in front of us 2 cars were stopped in the middle of the N2, and traffic was fast and thick. We managed to stop, with our flashers on, but the driver behind us wasn't paying attention. I saw him the rear view with his brakes smoking, and I knew we were going to be hit. BAM!! His car was smashed in, and our trunk was demolished. The emergency tow truck showed up in minutes, and got us cleared off. In the meantime, the 2 cars in front of us disappeared down the road. Did we want to scream and curse? You betcha.

Once we got the details sorted, and felt that a trip to the hospital was not necessary...whiplash and bruises there were, but thank G-d no blood, we headed to Durban airport for another car change. They were the most non sympathetic people you would ever want to encounter. I would never rent again from a Sixt car rental. Eventually we had the car replaced and headed for the police station. You must have a report within 24 hours. Of course the car rental was only too happy to inform us that they did not care if we were hit from behind, as they had our credit card, and would charge us for the car, or the repair. The police did not care who was at fault either. They said that was between insurance companies. What fun.

Finally, we headed south in the dark looking for a refuge for the night. We have never been down to this area, and had no clue what we would find. It must have been close to 11PM when we drove into Scottberg, and found a B&B with a lit sign and phone number. We called, they answered and rest is history. Again terrific hosts, who took care of us, and fussed over us as they realized we were somewhat in shock from the accident. Fortune was with us. We had a 2 story self catered unit overlooking the pool and garden, full kitchen, 3 bedrooms for a great price. Immediately, we knew that this was for us until our return to Jo'burg to catch the plane.
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Johannesburg, South Africa

Johanneburg seemed the same. We did not go into the city, as we had no need. We booked online to stay at the safari club web site.

Emile Muller, the owner was very accomodating and able to help us with arrangements for a rent a car, and transport back and forth. We stayed for 2 nights to rest after 2 long nights of travel, and headed out for the Natal coast. We made it as far as Harrismith.
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Madrid, Spain

As you remember from last year our wonderful time in Madrid. We decided to stay at the airport to minimize the risk of being robbed again in Madrid. Our stay was for 16 hours, but we figured that being in the Business Lounge of Iberia would work out. Last year it was great. This year, someone decided to move the smoking section and put it into an open area in the middle of the lounge so that everyone could enjoy the second hand smoke.

We escaped Madrid with our wallets, and were on our way to Johannesburg.
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Panama City, Panama

We left Las Olas a little earlier than expected, as the MRI unit at the hospital was not working. We travelled back to Panama City, but my back was feeling better and we ignored it. We rented an apartment from a Canadian whose name is Sarah Booth of Vancouver. As a property manager she leaves a lot to be desired. Mostly the problem was with cleanliness, and also the run down state of the second apartment. We took it as it was located in Paitilla, and we wanted to be there for Shabbos. Unfortunately, the apartment was below our standards, and in addition, the noise of trucks and caterpillars below our windows was terrible. The city was building a land extension into the bay, unloading and crushing rock directly below us. We survived somehow.

We enjoyed 2 good kosher restaurants in the city, Darhna, and Pita Pan. Darhna in particular was exceptional and tasty with good salads and fish.

I met with the owner/manager of the new kosher supermarket, and hopefully, he will do some business with the New York office.

Well its off to Madrid. (no, we didn't look under the seat for the missing modem)

Take care all
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