On Friday, March 23 we flew from Buenos Aires to Panama City. We flew from Buenos Aires to Lima, Peru and then to San Jose, Costa Rica, and then finally to Panama City. It took us 18 hours to get to our destination, but we made it! I sure hope the company starts booking us on more direct flights!!
We arrived at the hotel around 10:30pm. Fortunately our hotel was right next to a mall that had a Tony Roma's restaurant that was still open, so we grabbed a quick bite before crashing!
We woke up on Saturday morning and went over to the mall to do some shopping. Our main purpose was to get some Panamanian hot sauce called D'Elidas, which was successful! We also stopped in a Payless Shoe store and I got some new shoes to go with my new tops from Buenos Aires! I was so excited! We had lunch at Tony Roma's again and then met our friend Rachel at one of the colleges in town. She was competing in a chocolate competition and we were able to see her final product! We went back to her house so she could drop off all her supplies and freshen up and then we went out to Casco Viejo - Panama's Old Town. Rachel explained some of the history to us and we got some beautiful views of the city! We went back to the hotel to relax a little and then went out from dinner with Rachel and her husband Roberto. We went to a swanky hotel and ate some great food - the tuna tar-tar was out of this world! After dinner, we went up to roof for drinks and got to see a Calvin Klein fashion show. I learned a new Spanish word too - BUENAS!! We got back to the hotel around midnight and crashed! It was a great day!
One of two new outfits! Top/Dress from Buenos Aires and shoes from Panama City!
I loved the first one so much, I got two! And the best thing is the top can be worn more than ten different ways!
Rachel with her chocolate masterpiece! She won the competition and gets to compete in Mexico City later this year for a chance to compete in the World Competition!!
Looking at the Panama City Skyline.
And again!
This area was called lovers lane and was covered in beautiful trees and flowers!
I sure do love him!
One more of the skyline.
Rachel and I out on the roof before the fashion show.
On Sunday, we went to work in Colon, which is just over an hour away from Panama City. We got back to the city around 2:00 and relaxed at the hotel for a while before Rachel picked us up for dinner. We went to a great Italian restaurant for dinner and called it an early night before our early morning flight back home!
We upgraded to first class all the way home and thoroughly enjoyed being pampered!
On Monday March 19, we flew from Melbourne, Florida to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We had a layover in Atlanta AND Miami and arrived in Argentina around 9:30am on Tuesday morning. We checked-in to the hotel around 11am and napped until about 4pm. Then we ventured out to find some food. We found a Parrilla (Argentinean steak house) that we ate at the first time we visited Buenos Aires, and the food was even better than we remembered! We ordered a bottle of wine, some proveletta, and 2 chunks of meat! My steak was covered in a blue cheese and mushroom cream sauce and it was incredible! I don't like mushrooms, but the flavor of the sauce was unreal!! We walked around Florida Street and shopped for a little while before going back to the hotel. Our first day was a hit!!
Argentinean wine is so good! Especially the Malbec!
I can't get enough of the proveletta! What could be better than a block of cheese doused in oil and oregeno and baked until soft and creamy? So good!
The outside of the Parrilla. YUM!
On Wednesday we went to the ship, however the ship didn't dock until about 1pm, so we slept in and then went out for lunch. We stopped at a little bakery and had some jamon y queso (ham and cheese) empanadas and boy were they delicious! After lunch we walked over to Avenida 9 de Julio and took some pictures by the famous obelisk, before walking back to the hotel to go to the ship. We got to the ship around 3pm and worked until about 5:30. We went back to the hotel and drank a bottle of wine while we waited to meet up with the sports supervisor, Sergio. The ship had an overnight in Buenos Aires so Sergio met us at the hotel and then we went to a local hangout and had some dinner. Kevin and I took a break from the steak and had a pizza instead. We went back to the hotel around 11pm and crashed!
The Obelisk in the middle of Avenida 9 de Julio.
The flowers surrounding the Obelisk were beautiful!
Such a great travel buddy! I cherish the time and experiences we have together!
Eva Peron lives on.
On Thursday, we slept in again and then took a walk over to Casa Rosada - the equivalent of the White House in the states, although the Argentinean President does not often live there. When we got there we saw some armed police officers running in front of the building because a group of protestors was approaching. I am not sure how we always seem to find the protestors! We shopped a little more on Florida Street and Kevin bought me 2 new blouses! These blouses are incredible because you can wear them at least 10 different ways! The opportunity was too good to pass up! I can't wait to show off my new fashion! We went back to the hotel to relax for a little while and then went across the street to a Parrilla we spotted the first day we arrived in BA. Once again the food was amazing! It was even better than the first Parrilla we went to. The proveletta was grilled instead of baked, which I didn't prefer, however the steak may have been the best steak I have ever eaten. It was lightly seasoned, but perfectly juicy!! I couldn't believe I finished the whole thing! My mouth is watering now, just thinking about it! We went back to the hotel to pack and prepare for our 6:50am flight the following morning to Panama City, Panama. It was another great visit to Argentina!!
Casa Rosada - the pink house.
Here come the police as the protesters enter the plaza. I think they were protesting some kind of war. It was a very civil protest and fortunately nothing like the protests we saw in Athens last year!
Kevin left Colorado Springs on Friday, March 9, but I had some work already lined up so I did not plan to leave until Thursday, March 15. It turned out the job I had lined up cancelled, and I found myself wanting to meet up with Kevin a day earlier than planned. I did some research and made some calls to the airline and was able to switch my ticket for free! Too good to be true? Apparently so! I got to the airport on Wednesday and my flight from Colorado Springs to Denver took off as scheduled. My layover in Denver was only about 45 minutes before boarding the plane to Orlando. We boarded on time and taxied out to the runway but then sat there for an unusual amount of time. The captain came on the intercom and informed us we were just waiting on some final paper work and we would be on our way shortly. We taxied out a little further and then the captain informed us of a maintenance issue that would cause us to go back to the gate. The hope was that the problem would be fixed within an hour, but that was not the case. We sat on the plane for an hour at the gate and then we were allowed to get off the plane to get some food (this is never a good sign). After waiting for 2 hours at the gate we were informed that we would be switching aircrafts. By the time all this transpired, our cockpit crew had surpassed their legal working limit and we then had to wait for a new crew!! When all was said and done, we had waited for 5 hours and a 6:30pm arrival in Orlando, became 11:30!! It was quite an adventure, especially on my own! Kevin picked me up from the airport and we drove to the hotel in Orlando and fell asleep shortly after getting settled.
On Thursday morning we woke up around 8am and had breakfast before we headed towards Universal Studios! We have been talking about going to the new Harry Potter Island at Islands of Adventure since it opened, and this seemed like a perfect time to go. We got to the park around 10am and by the time we bought our tickets it was almost 11am. When we got to the ticket counter, Kevin showed his Florida Driver's License and we each got a discounted restricted 2-park season pass. This allows us into either park for the next year on Mondays-Fridays with a few blockout days. The tickets actually paid for themselves that day alone because we visited both parks - something we would not have done if we paid for the full price non-resident ticket. It was a great start to the day!!
The famous sign!
Entering Islands of Adventure.
Our first stop was Harry Potter Island! That was the primary reason for visiting the park so we decided to brave the lines early on. When we got to Hogsmead there were people everywhere! It was so crowded we almost left, but we made it to Hogwarts and started our 2 hour wait for the Forbidden Journey ride. This is a ride that takes place inside the castle and simulates flying on a broom. Fortunately, the wait didn't feel like 2 hours, but I wouldn't wait in that line that long again. The experience was great once, but next time I will ride as a single rider! After the ride, we ate lunch. We spotted a restaurant right at the entrance of the park the Kevin had his heart set on so we ate there. We had wings and pizza and boy was it good!! After lunch, we rode the Hulk Roller Coaster and the Spiderman ride, both as single riders so our wait was much shorter. Both rides were awesome! We had been on both of them before, but they changed Spiderman ride to be 3-D and in HD! It was great!! We could see a new roller coaster at the other Universal park, so we decided to make the best of our tickets and go check it out! It was called the Rockin' Roller Coaster and it started at a complete 90 degree angle-straight up! It was awesome!! And the best thing is that each person got to choose which song they listened to during the ride. It was so fun! We rode the Mummy Returns (an indoor roller coaster) and bought a Starbucks pick me up before going back to Harry Potter Island. I wanted to do some shopping before we left, but it was still so crowded! I ended up buying some Butterbeer before we started our journey out of the park, which consisted of a security escort!
On our way to Harry Potter Island we walked through Seuss Landing.
Entering Hogsmead! Can you tell how crowded it was!?!
Hogwarts Castle!!
About and hour and a half into our wait, we finally reached the castle.
My very own Spider-Man!
The Incredible Rockin' Roller Coaster. This is the very beginning when you are pulled up at a straight 90 degree angle from the ground!
The Delorean from Back to the Future, and Kevin with his Starbucks pick me up!
Back at Harry Potter Island, still crowded, but not as bad.
Another shot of the incredible castle!
MMMM, Butterbeer!
On our way out, we encountered a father strangling and screaming at his teenage son in front of anyone passing by. The father was yelling and telling the son that he needed to learn some respect. The boy was pinned between a wall and a column while the father had physically picked him up by the throat. It was a horrible thing to see at all, let alone in a family environment. We were pretty shaken up, but continued walking. I wanted to stop in a shop nearby the incident, and at that point Kevin asked the woman at the cash register to call security. 2 officers arrived and we explained what we saw. We continued saying, if something like that happens in public, who knows what happens at home?!? The officers eventually took the boy and father to question them and we were about to actually leave the park, when other family members cornered Kevin and questioned his actions. They told him it was none of his business to interfere with the family and he better hope the boy doesn't get hurt more when they get home. This shook Kevin up even more, and we asked for an escort out of the park to our car. Kevin was nervous that the family may wait for us outside the park, and we decided to just be safe, rather than sorry! After filling out a witness report, we were escorted to our car. It was about 8:30 before we left the park. It was a horrible experience, but we are so glad we said something. It was amazing how many other people saw what we saw and said nothing. Someone needed to speak up for that boy!!
We drove from Orlando back to Melbourne that evening and stayed with Derek and Nicole for the next few days. Friday and Saturday were spent preparing for the St. Patrick's Day party Derek and Nicole hosted on Saturday night. The party was a blast, but I have to say the highlights were the roasted pig and the bounce house obstacle course! We had so much fun!! Sunday was spent cleaning and recovering from the party and we left on Monday. It was a great mini-vacation for sure!!
Preparing the pig for the roast! Sorry if you are squeamish!
The bounce house! So much fun!
Derek and Nicole's new garden that Kevin helped build. He is very proud. Now if we can only get our own garden started.
Happy St. Patrick's day! It's a little out of focus, but I had to document part of the evening.
On Thursday, February 16 Kevin and I flew to Bayonne, New Jersey. We arrived around midnight on Thursday, worked Friday morning and flew to San Juan Friday afternoon. We arrived in San Juan late as well, but being that it was a Friday night, we were able to find some food and walk around the area a little. The hotel we stayed in was so nice, right on the beach. We woke up Saturday morning and went to the pool/beach around 1pm. The hotel had 4 pools, one with a swim up bar, a waterslide, and easy/complimentary beach access! It was such a nice day. An old sports supervisor that Kevin and I really enjoyed spending time with, now lives in San Juan, so he came to the pool for a little while and then we enjoyed a nice dinner! We crashed pretty early on Saturday night. On Sunday morning we worked, and then flew home Sunday afternoon. We thoroughly enjoyed our warm weekend getaway and look forward to more visits in the future.
The Manhattan Skyline. If you look closely, you can see the Statue of Liberty.
On Tuesday, January 31 we flew from Colorado Springs to London, and the company finally booked good tickets!! First of all, we were upgraded to first class on our flight from Colorado Springs to Houston! It was not a long flight, but first class is first class however you long or short you get to enjoy it! We landed in Houston and only had 45 minutes to get to our connection, which ended up being perfect...no waiting in airports, just flying!! Oh and the trip got even better when Kevin and I each had a row of 3 seats to ourselves from Houston to London! It was a perfect travel day!
Wednesday, February 1 - We landed in London around 7:15am and proceeded to customs where we waited for 70 minutes to get "admitted" into the country! The line was absolutely ridiculous!! We made it to the hotel around 9am and were able to get a room right away. We decided to take a nap before venturing into the city, however, our nap lasted until 4:30pm! We must have been tired! We weighed our options of going into the city or just going down to the bar at the hotel and the hotel won (we stayed at a hotel by the airport and it would have taken 45 minutes to an hour both directions just to get to the city and back, so we decided to take it easy and just stay at the hotel). We ate dinner at the bar and of course enjoyed some local beverages (Boddington's and Magner's Cider) and went back up to the room around 8pm. We took some sleep aids and slept until we were suddenly woken up by the fire alarm!! Fortunately the alarm was turned off before we made it outside, but not before we were awake and dressed. We went back to sleep around 1am and struggled to stay asleep for the rest of the morning - I was basically awake from 3:30 am on.
I didn't think we would ever make it through the line!
Thursday, February 2 - We got rolling around 5:30am with showers and breakfast and were on our way to the ship at 7am. We took a city bus from the hotel to the airport and from there took an hour tube ride to Waterloo train station. From there we took an hour and a half national rail train ride to Southampton where the ship docks. We magically timed everything just right (very little waiting for trains or buses to arrive) and it still took us 3.5 hours to get to the ship!! From now on we will get the company to book us closer to the city! We got on the ship, one of the bigger ships in the fleet, and worked for about 2 hours – it was freezing! We were back at the train station at 12:57pm and magically caught the 1:00pm train back to Waterloo. Being in the city without actually being able to explore killed me, so I decided we WOULD explore the city that night!! We had to drop the tool bag off at the hotel so we traveled for another hour to the hotel, dropped off the bag and changed and were back on our way. It took us another hour or so to get to Piccadilly Circus, but it was worth it! Our first stop was a new bookshop (are you surprised?) right near the West End. Kevin purchased a few books before I was ready to leave so he went to a nearby pub while I completed my purchase. We enjoyed the pub for a while and then sought out some dinner. We went to a diner that we ate at last summer and it was so yummy! We did a little more shopping before trekking back to the hotel. Kevin and I both fell asleep on the train, but fortunately work up just before our stop. We crashed almost immediately after getting back to our room.
A nice treat on the train back to the city.
Waterloo Station
Out at a pub in Picadilly Circus. We always have a great time in the city! It was just too bad our hotel was SO far away this time!
Friday February 3 - Our flight home left London around 12:00pm. The plane was relatively empty again so we were able to spread out again. We flew from London to Chicago, Chicago to Denver, and Denver to Colorado Springs. There was some crazy weather happening in Denver, but we lucked out and didn't have any problems getting home. Thank goodness!
It was another quick trip, but we made the best of it. I have to say London is probably one of my favorite places to visit. I feel like it is a part of my genes, which isn't too far from the truth as my Dad and his mother's side of the family are from England and still live there! It will always hold a special place in my heart! Definitely looking forward to our next visit.
On Monday, January 23 we traveled from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand! And we got to fly in style on a full double decker plane, the A380! This was our first trip to New Zealand and we were so excited to explore a new destination! We arrived in Auckland around 3pm and got to the hotel around 5 - the immigration line took forever to get through. After we checked in to the hotel, we decided to explore the area around the hotel and the port (it was within walking distance from the hotel). Then we had dinner at a Thai restaurant one block from the hotel. We passed a restaraunt that was airing the playoff game so we went back to the hotel to watch the game, but didn't have the channel. We fell asleep around 8pm.
Tuesday, January 24 - we woke up around 9am and walked over to the ship to work. Fortunately we didn't have any problems getting on the ship and we were able to finish working by noon. We ate lunch on the ship before we left and then dropped the tool bag off at the hotel, before going out to explore more of the city. Our first stop was a bookshop to add some new books to my library! They had some great books but they were ridiculously expensive, 2-3 times more expensive than U.S books!! After the bookstore we walked over to the Sky Tower, the tallest building in New Zealand. New Zealand is known for extreme sports and this building is no exception. Two options at the Sky Tower are Sky Walk (walking around a platform at the top on the 300 meter tall building) or Sky Jump (essentially bungy jumping off the building). It was crazy to see both of these options in action!! We considered going up to the top of the tower to see the sights, but we decided not to spend money on that. We went out for dinner at the Thai restaurant again and went back to the hotel around 7. It was another fun day!
If you look closely, you can see orange jumpsuits. Those are people walking around the outside of the building. This is the Sky Walk.
The Sky Tower.
There was a neat little museum inside the Sky tower with models and artifacts from movies filmed in New Zealand. This is an Orc.
And of course Gollum.
Sorry the video is sideways. This was someone we watched jump from the top. You fall over 600 feet at speeds up to 50 miles per hour.
Wednesday, January 25 - Our flight home on Wednesday didn't leave until 10:45pm so we planned a day trip to Waiheke Island to tour some wineries. We checked out of the hotel at 10am and ate breakfast at Burger King. We went to the ferry at 10:45am and arrived on the island around 11:45. We got on the tour bus and our first stop was Stony Ridge Winery. We had a short tour of the vineyards and then had a small lunch. We ended up buying a bottle of wine and then moved on to the olive oil tastings at Rangihoua Estates. Our third stop was Wild on Waiheke for some beer sampling and then our last stop was Mudbrick Winery. We were back at the ferry dock for the 4:00 ferry back to Auckland. We grabbed our bags from the hotel and then ventured to the airport on the airbus. We were at the airport for about 4 hours before our flight, but we were able to be in the lounge with free internet so the time went fast.
Waiting to board the ferry.
On the ferry. Ready to explore!
Just the two of us on the ferry.
The view of downtown Auckland from the ferry.
The scenery was absolutely breath taking!
I don't think the pictures do the beauty justice, but this one is pretty close! The water was so blue and the land was so green and lush. Absolutely spectacular!
Our tour bus.
It was so nice to step off the bus and be greeted immediately with a sample of wine. We were spoiled for the day!
The vineyard at Stony Ridge Winery.
Wine with lunch at Stony Ridge.
My husband sure is handsome! He was so excited all day!
Sampling Stony Ridge's finest wine, Larose. The tasting alone was $15.00. A glass sells for $46.00 and a bottle sells for $220.00, but good luck getting your hands on one! They sell out before the wine is even bottled. Such a treat for both of us, especially Kevin!
Our next stop was to sample local olive oils. This was also a great treat, but not nearly as great as the wines!
This is in front of some of the natural vegetation and rain forest that is protected on the island. Beautiful!
An adorable little pond at the olive oil estate.
Our third stop was to Wild on Waiheke where we sampled some locally brewed beers, including my first taste of Ginger Beer. Kevin enjoyed this stop more that I did, but it was still fun!
A great close-up of the grapes.
This is at Wild on Waiheke. This was a very family friendly vineyard with children's activities. This is also the reason for brewing Ginger Beer, so the kids have something they can sample as well!
Our last stop before heading back to the city was Mudbrick Vineyard where the views were spectacular! A great way to end the tour.
Overlooking Auckland from Waiheke. It is a little hard to see, but it is there in the background.
Gorgeous! Can you see my sunburn? It was a good one!
Our flight home was incredible!! Kevin and I each had a row of 4 seats to ourselves so we were able to lay down and sleep the whole way to Los Angeles! We got home around 9pm on Wednesday night. It was a long day, but absolutely worth it! This experience may very well be one of my favorite travel experiences we have had thus far! We had a blast!
This was the safety video they showed on our flight from Auckland to Los Angeles. By far, the most entertaining safety briefing ever! Too bad they can't all be like this! It certainly got my attention!
Crazy to think we were in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and back all in 8 days!!! New Zealand was absolutely amazing and we can't wait to go back!
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