Skip to main content

Posts

Germany, Poland, and Prague

The great adventure of 2024 was a trip with our friends to Europe.  This post will not follow my regular pattern for travel posts, and we used a travel agent to arrange our trains and hotels Rail Bookers, but it should be helpful if you are planning a trip to these countries. Our travel agent was Pam from  Unwindwithbliss.com. Preparation German Language Learning Duo Lingo - I primarily used this app because it was convenient to do during my walks with the dog.  That said, if I’d been really serious about learning the language, I would use another option to supplement Duo. I spent about 7 months prepping with Duo Lingo, and while I am able to pick up on bits and pieces, I don’t feel that comfortable speaking it in general - only words and a couple short phrases. Rocket Languages - I accessed this through our public library and downloaded an app.  I didn’t use it much and regret not doing so as they use native speakers and not the weird AI generated voices of Duo Lingo. Apps to Download
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Celebrity Solstice - Dawes Glacier, Alaska

If you've ever booked a cruise during the pandemic, you know how frustrating it can be.  In 2019, we booked our Alaska cruise for May 2021. Well, May 2022 was our make-up cruise for the cancelled 2021 sailing.  Better late than never, right? Dawes Glacier - Endicott Arm Pre-cruise First, I’ll hit our pre-cruise stay in Seattle.  We hailed a Lyft from the airport ($50 + tip).  You need to cross the sky bridge and go down one level until you see the green barriers.  The signage was actually great, but several escalators to get there were on the fritz.  Our Lyft dropped us at the Fairfield Inn & Suites near the Space Needle.  The hotel seems newly updated and the front desk staff were very friendly and helpful. For dinner, we took the advice of the front desk staff and visited Thomas Street Warehouse .  The prices are actually really great for downtown, and they have a cool cocktail menu.  In the morning, we grabbed breakfast tacos at Jack’s BBQ on 9th. The brisket was the best,
Post a Comment
Read more

Napa and Sonoma 2022

This trip was much slower-paced than our usual sojourns to wine country because we took hubby’s parents and aunt with us.  It was also March, which is the earliest we’ve ever visited.  While green, the bud break hadn’t started and the evenings were quite chilly.     We flew into Sacramento and stayed at our favorite winery, The Terraces .     View from The Terraces in the morning.  Check out the hot air balloons! Two of the three days were repeats for us as they are all wine clubs we have so you can find detailed reviews in some of my previous Napa and Sonoma blog posts.  They included DeLoach, Campana Ranch, Buena Vista, Raymond, Pope Valley, and The Terraces.     The three new-to-us wineries were: Artesa is located in the Carneros region with fantastic views of the north side of the bay on a clear day and boasting of biodynamic processes.  They have some interesting varietals, and we really enjoyed our tasting.  I do want to note that since it was first thing in the morning, we chos
Post a Comment
Read more

Willamette Valley, OR

What is a year without a second trip out to wine country?  Honestly, this was an add-on trip for me as the hubs actually scheduled this for work.  We brought another couple with us so I could have some travel buddies - bonus that it was also an early birthday trip for one of them.  Too bad it rained the ENTIRE time so no great photo opportunities.  I love this area in the Fall, so at the very least, I was able to enjoy the brilliant leaf colors. I don't blog non-travel related things so I want to add a note here.  I started a very part-time gig (like no more than 10 hours per week) at my local wine and liquor store.  We are reviewing current inventory and looking to revamp our offerings, so I turned this into a quasi work trip for me.  I'll be sure to tag the ones that were more of an industry visit as they may not fully represent a normal experience. Also, the COVID visit to Willamette required two new things (to me): reservations and proof-of-vaccination at some places.  Stup
Post a Comment
Read more

Carnival Magic - Bahamas

After three cancelled cruises thanks to this thing called a pandemic, we booked a couple months out for a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Magic from Port Canaveral, Thursday - Monday.   Good price and easy for us to get to from central Florida.   We purchased the beverage package for this trip since we were planning to stay on the ship most of the time. Parking A very rare occasion, we parked at the port for easy in and out.   Usually we’d book off-site for about half the price, but I didn’t want to deal with a shuttle.   Turns out that the port wasn’t busy – at all! – and the parking was so easy!   Not a bit of traffic, plenty of parking, and a VERY short walk to the ship.   Definitely worth it this time.   We paid at the end of the trip at self-pay kiosk. Room We booked cabin 7347, because if we got quarantined for any reason, I wasn’t about to have an interior room.   Our cabin was a perfect location. Close to an elevator and stairwell, mid-ship.   Easy to get to Alchemy and th
Post a Comment
Read more

Lodi, Napa, and Sonoma

  Rutherford Hill Having a milestone birthday in 2020 is a bitch!  We had two cruises cancelled this year due to COVID-19, so when it came time to figure out how to replace my birthday cruise in October, we chose Napa.  Because... duh.  We visited many repeat wineries where we are wine club members so I will not re-iterate those again; rather, I will add the new-to-us ones in this blog post. For those who haven't travelled here since COVID-19 started, here's a couple things that were different on this trip: All tastings were by appointment only, no more than 6 to a group All tastings were conducted outside with no tours It was HOT but the smoke from the Glass Fire was gone Restaurants were still at 25% indoor capacity, with almost all offering takeout or outdoor seating Masks required all the time except when sitting for a tasting and eating In Lodi, all tastings were done in a flight format.  VERY different than what we have seen anywhere in wine country, thanks to COVID. Lodi
Post a Comment
Read more

Willamette Valley, OR

Because the hubs was working at a location just outside of Portland, OR, we decided to take full advantage and spend a beautiful weekend tasting our way around Willamette Valley.  If you have been to Sonoma, you will find that Willamette is similar although still more farm-like with a definite trend in moving toward the commercial for some wineries.  Sad but understandable.  My advice is this - if you have been wanting to go, go now while there are still many small wineries, where you stand a good chance of spending some time with the owners and wine makers. Here is a short rundown of the wineries only. Bryn Mawr Vineyards boasts a new tasting room with a great views.  The wine maker is a woman (yay girl power) who making some some very nice small-batch wines.  Included with our tasting, which we shared, was a small dish of cheese and animal crackers.  Cheese goes well with wine, animal crackers do not.  We were both a bit baffled by the choice.  We arrived right at 10 because tha
Post a Comment
Read more