Tubin' on the 'Lupe

Donkey Diner

We ate at Donkey Diner three times while we were in St. John. We ate there on the first Sunday we were there. I really could have just laid at home and had a sandwich, but I'm so glad I got up and we went out to eat. I wanted pizza, and Donkey Diner was close by, so we headed over there. Well, it turns out that on Sunday nights Donkey Diner only serves barbecue. Ross and I ended up sharing the beef ribs. It's rare to find a place that serves beef ribs, so we had to try them. Let me tell you--Brian makes the best BBQ I've ever had--outside of Texas. His coconut curry rice was also divine. Ross tasted Val's and had to order his own. We ended up going back and buying 3 extra sides of rice and taking them home with us for later. At 2 bucks a side, it was a tasty deal we just couldn't pass up.

On Wednesday and Friday nights Donkey Diner serves up pizza. I wasn't as impressed with the pizza as I was with the BBQ. Maybe it was because Brian didn't make it.

Donkey Diner is reputed to have the best breakfast on the island. We tried it out one morning and it was excellent. Ross had BBQ hash. It was eggs, home fries, and Brian's BBQ brisket. Yummy. Val had the blueberry pancakes and Troy and I had (cream cheese) stuffed French toast with mango-pineapple chutney. I wasn't so hot on the (cooked until mushy) chutney, but the French toast was good.

Speaking of donkeys...there are a lot of donkeys on the Coral Bay side of St. John. Every time we would see one on the road we would shout "DON-KAY!" It never got old.

Vacation Videos

I wanted to share some videos that I took before the camera died. Now you can feel like you were on vacation with me!

Watch the sea anemone dissapear.

I followed a sea turtle and it surfaced a couple of times.

Enjoy the sounds of the beach.

Score!

Today we hiked half a mile to Solomon beach. The beach was beautiful, and there weren't many people there (at first.) I snorkeled along one side of the bay, then after lunch I decided to go check out the other side. Ross came with me and I'm so glad that he did. While I was busy trying to take a photo of something or other, Ross was just hovering over a rock, looking down. When I swam up to him I noticed something move on the rock. It was an octopus! We both saw it right about at the same time. When we first saw it it was totally smooth, unfurled and a light sandy color. When it saw that we were checking it out it curled up against the rock, changed to darker color, and made its skin kind of spiky like the surrounding rock. Lord, I hope the camera works and the photos turn out nicely. I'll post them as soon as I can.

Just Chillin'

Snorkeling and the sun have wiped me out. Today we decided to relax a little. After breakfast we headed over to Cruz Bay to do some shopping. Ross bought a beautiful skate wallet (I have a purse from our last visit) and I bought a ring. I had seen some glass rings at the little outdoor market and thought I'd buy one because I broke mine last week (I have no idea how many I've broken over the years.) Instead of a glass ring I bought one carved out of coconut. Well, that's what the guy told me it was. Anyway, the ring turned my finger bright orange-red. I guess the ring was stained with something. No worries. I really like it. Hopefully it will last longer than my glass rings do. I think it is a great souvenir. I also saw some beautiful glass bracelets in a jewelry shop, but I've decided I'm going to pass. I'll stick to jade.

We came back to our place for lunch and then took a long nap. I really needed it. I feel much better now. I'm ready to hit the beaches again tomorrow. We actually have water access from our villa, but we haven't gone snorkeling out there. After my nap the sun was already going down and the water was too choppy for my tastes. Maybe tomorrow?

Gimme a Break!

So, here's the start of the story. On Saturday our flight was supposed to leave Dulles at 9:45 am. We took off at 4:30 pm. We sat in the airport all day! I don't know how we didn't go crazy. If Val and Troy had not been there I know I would have turned into Miss Grumpy Pouty Pants. Seriously, our delay was longer than our actual flight!

We arrived in St. Thomas around 8 pm. After a crazy cab ride to the ferry dock (that almost made Val sick), we caught the 9 pm ferry to St. John. The owner of the house we are staying in was nice enough to arrange for us to pick up the car late (they left the keys in the car.) When we arrived the boys went to get the rental car. Wouldn't ya know, the rental car had a dead battery. It was past 10 pm I think. No one was at the car rental place. We called the owner of the house and she was nice enough to pick us up and take us to the house.

It seemed like the longest day ever. I remember after the last time we came to St. John telling Ross that I liked it, but I didn't think that I'd come back. I thought it was too much trouble getting to the island. We came back and it was even more trouble! We spent the first day of our vacation in the airport!

Since we've been here things have been much better. I did get some sunburn, but it is healing up nicely. Yesterday I bought a rash guard to keep my back and arms safe from the sun. The one thing that really has me bummed is that our camera died. Water seeped in through the battery hatch and fried it. I was able to recover the pictures that were on the memory stick, but we can't take any more photos with that camera. Today we bought a reusable underwater camera and I hope it is taking nice photos. I'll have to post some of them after I have them developed.

So now you know where we are and how we got here. This post doesn't even begin to convey how truly harrowing the day was.

Strapless Snorkling

Yesterday I discovered that snorkling in a strapless bathing suit isn't the best idea. When I tried to go fast the top of my swimsuit wanted to slip down. Luckily I had straps and that fixed everything. We've had a great time on our vacation so far (once our vacation finally started, but more on that later.) Despite double applications of sunscreen I got some burn on my back. So--my sister Nicole--pack and wear lots of sunscreen at Bonaroo. Don't forget to reapply.

San Francisco Summary

We had a really great time on our "vacation." It wasn't like our normal vacations ... just laying around and planning everything around food. We did so many touristy things. On Tuesday we went to the Aquarium. We like to go to aquariums. It was okay. We got to pet sting rays, sharks, star fish, and sea urchins. The petting pools are always my favorite part of the aquarium. Overall it was over priced, but the ticket was included in our city pass, so it was no big deal. They had skate egg casings with windows cut into them and you could see the different levels of maturation. OMG! They were like strange alien creatures wiggling around. In the video the white lumps at the bottom are the yolks.

After the aquarium we went on a bay cruise. It was a bit cold and windy, but I survived the trip out to the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. Our next tourist stop was the Exploratorium. That place is heaven for kids and engineers. We spent all afternoon there. We even spent the extra money and did the tactile dome. Ross could have stayed even longer (I was getting worn out), but the place was closing, so we had to leave. At the end of the day we were again totally exhausted, even though we didn't walk that much.

Wednesday we biked across the bridge. We had some good Thai food and ice cream in Sausalito before taking the ferry back. Another exhausting day. And my sit bones still hurt! On Thursday we rented car and went to Muir woods. It was very peaceful. I wish we had something like that close to us here. I really like the mountains. After that we headed up to Sonoma Valley and did a few wine tastings. We never really had lunch, and it was getting late, so we only managed wine tasting at three places. The first place was this huge (16,000 sq ft) house (mansion I guess, but I hesitate to call it a castle). We tasted a few things and Ross and I agreed that the red Zinfandel was awesome! We got two bottles at 40 bucks apiece. No hesitation. It was amazing that we found something that we both like. Ross is really excited about the wine, and it survived the return flight--yeah!

After wine tasting we had to wait a while for restaurants to open. Grrrr! I hadn't had lunch and I was hungry! We ate at a nice place that filled up right after it opened. My only complaint was that the mashed potatoes were bland and watery. I can say the same for the chili Ross had on Tuesday. He was a little disappointed. I've spoiled him. I'm such a food snob I wouldn't eat the cookies that the hotel laid out at tea time. Ross tried one and said it wasn't as good as mine. Haha. When we got back to San Francisco we drove down the crookedy Lombard Street. It was a much more relaxed day.

On Friday we did some last minute shopping. After our breakfast of tea and croissants at the hotel (I wish they also had cheese. Cheese makes the world go 'round! Also, I'm sure Ross would have enjoyed some hot chocolate rather than tea.) we walked through Chinatown one last time. It was so nice to see everybody line up in such an orderly fashion to get the morning paper. I'm used to people pushing and shoving. Cherries were 79 cents a pound! I love to see the Chinese markets. We walked all the way to the Ferry Building and I bought a bunch of teas. I had a big cheese craving, so we bought a hunk of cheese at a cheese shop and some rolls at the bakery. I later bought a couple of apples and that became our in-flight meal. After that shopping I spent a bunch of money at Lush. I always do. It's so funny that they have a store in Dallas, but I'm always buying stuff in New York. I go half way across the country when I could go across town...hahah. Then we went into the mall. Corny, I know, but it was because of my jeans obsession. I went into Lucky Brand Jeans (yes, there's one in Dallas) and asked them some questions and tried on a few pairs of jeans. I had told Ross that since I got bicycle grease on my almost brand new pants (his fault...duh) I was going to make him buy me some jeans, but I was only kidding. Ross tried on some shoes at Clark's. He really likes the Clark's he bought in January. I wore my Clark's on most of the trip (I wore a pair of my NY shoes to the wine tasting and dinner on Thursday). He found a pair he really likes. They are pricey, so he says they will be his back to school shoes....ha! After the shopping we picked up our luggage and headed down to the train to ride the BART back to the airport. We got home late, but with no problems. I did manage to cast on all the stitches for the other side of the shorts that I'm knitting. I meant to do that before we left. Yesterday was a lazy day recovering. I made some guac and we took that to a party.

Oh, I forgot...Pip. The hotel has a live in cat--which helped slightly with my Bailey-separation anxiety. On Thursday and Friday he came to visit us. He must have known I'm a total sucker. He stood at the door and meowed. I let him in and then he stood at the bathroom door. The bathroom was really nice with marble counter top and a footed tub. Anyways, I let him into the bathroom. I knew he was looking for water. He drank out of the faucet for a while and then curled up on a chair in the room and went to sleep. Before we left for the day I picked him up (heavy!) and put him in the hall. He came into the room on Friday and ran under the bed. We just left the door open since we were checking out. Bailey has been very vocal about her disapproval of our vacation. She's been very clingy and whiny. I missed her too. Well, now it's time for brunch I guess...

Working (Out) Vacation

We are having a great time here in Sanf Francisco. We are so worn out though! It's been more draining than relaxing with all the walking and stuff. I will eventually get around to the things we did yesterday. Today we biked across the Golden Gate bridge--on a tandem bike! Scary, and quite difficult. It was exhausting! It was fun, and I'm really glad we did it, but we are never, ever going to ride a tandem bike again. Our sit bones are SOOOOO sore! We rode the bike down to Sausalito and had a late, great Thai food lunch. We walked around a bit, had some ice cream (green tea and vanilla bean), and shopped a bit. I was originally thinking that we could ride the bike back, but we took the ferry and I'm glad we did. The last 5 minute ride from the ferry to the bike return was quite painful. There's so much more we want to do, but there just doesn't seem like there's time for it all. We had a really good dinner. Walked a bit afterward, then jumped on the cable car. Now it's time for bed. Tomorrow we'll rent a car and go do a little wine tasting. Maybe that will be a bit more relaxing....
An Indian couple took this photo for us after we let them pose with our bike and take photos.
Golden Gate Bridge (and a lamp post).
We saw this as we were walking from dinner. Durian snow anyone? No? Then try the avocado snow!

Italy 2007

Where do I start? Our flight over was totally full. I was uncomfortable, but managed to sleep while Ross watched the Mr. Bean movie. Ha! The Frankfurt airport is F-ed up. We had to go through passport control and then through security again even though we had a connecting flight.....confusing and strange. And along the way (the whole trip) we met some very unfriendly and rude Germans. We got to Florence just fine and wandered around a while looking for the hotel. Ross was so good about navigating last time. This time his instincts were all wrong, and I had to continually check the map. Our fancy hotel: Well, the first three nights we stayed in a 4 star hotel. Now, here is where I'm going to bitch. The room we were in goes for like 330 euro a night! We were there on a package deal that included a free night (which we didn't use), a welcome drink, and 2 free tickets to a museum in town (we had four choices). First of all, we didn't get our welcome drink. Second, while walking down the hall ross opened a window--it smelled like a sewer. Luckily when we opened the window in our room it didn't smell bad, but later on it smelled like sewer in the hallways without opening the window. Third complaint, the shower door seal was ripped and created a lake on the bathroom floor. Its not like they didn't know that there was a problem--they cleaned it up. Fourth complaint--although we chose a museum and told them when we wanted to go they did not get us tickets (as they said they would). They told us to just go and that they would reimburse us. The whole point of a concierge is so that you don't have to stand in line. When we walked to the museum there were two huge lines...one for the tickets and the other to get in. I said screw it. I wasn't going to stand in line for hours in the shade. Fifth complaint--the bathroom was very nice, but it took a whole hour to fill the tub. And we didn't really fill it up. A whole hour! Basically there was no water pressure. Lastly, the towel warmer didn't work! At least the breakfast there was really good. I got to have yoghurt every day--without the added sugar or HFCS. It was my kind of breakfast food...pastries and jam and cheese.

Florence: We had a good time in Florence. We walked a round A LOT. It was crouded because apparently it was a holiday weekend. The street vendors were everywhere. It was kind of annoying. It was fun to watch them pack up and run when they saw the cops. We generally just wandered around. And of course we ate. We didn't have as much gelato as I thought we would. It was kinda cold. We had a really good meal at some small place the night before we left. The potatoes were divine. We considered ordering another plate. We ate a lot of pizza for lunch. We found a good bakery that had pizza too. It was worth fighting the crowds to get our pizza (12,46 euro/kilo). I got to have pizza with eggplant and mushrooms. We did make a couple of purchases before heading up to the lake. Ross bought an awesome leather sportscoat at the leather school behind Santa Croce. I bought a watercolor painting of poppies from an artist in front of Pitti Palace. It was 14 euro. I practically threw the money at her and ran. It was a good deal. We also went to the Medici chapel (again). It was under renovation, so not as nice as before, but I guess in the future it will be nicer. And as always--relics of Saints are creepy.

Bellagio on Lake Como: We had a little trouble getting train tickets to Como. Apparently it was because it was a holiday weekend. We hussled our asses from the fancy hotel to the train station just to wait and wait and wait. The train to Milan was delayed. I had a little meltdown because we were going to miss our connecting train. I eventually managed to trade in our ticket for another...and we got on our very late train. Because the train was late we missed the last afternoon ferry to Bellagio. I wanted to ride the hydrofoil. We had to wait 4 hours for the next one. It was a holiday, a weekend, and the off season....so we had to wait. So, anyways, we walked around Como for a while. It was dark when we finally got on the ferry. Bellagio was nice, but nearly everything was closed. The town is a lot of steps, but nothing we're not used to. It looked like the gardens at one of the villas were beautiful, but we just had to look from the locked gate. The gardens, along with just about everything else in town, were closed. Dinner the first night was pretty good. I think I had beef stew. Tasty. Lunch the second day was exceptional. The pasta I had was awesome. Fresh buckwheat pasta with local veggies and local cheese. Ross liked the lasagna and also enjoyed his anchovy pizza. That night I had a cheese course instead of dessert. I liked it. It came with honey and some sort of jam...I think it was fig. There was only one cheese I didn't like. Some sort of local soft cheese. It was too strong. I'm getting hungry thinking about all this food! We left Bellagio on the bus and the trip back to Florence was a lot better than the trip there. We had a direct train from Como back to Florence. I did some knitting and some napping.

Our hotel in Bellagio: A small family run hotel. Breakfast was good. No tub, but plenty of water pressure--and the towel warmer worked. Ross had fun playing with the french doors/windows (and me). We also had an electric shade over the window in the ceiling that he liked to play with. We watched some Italian TV. Strange.

Last day in Florence: Well, we got back to Florence at like 2:30 pm. That gave us the rest of the day for shopping and stuff. Well, first we had to check into our hotel. That was a bit of a fiasco. The owner (that we knew) sold the place about a month ago to a bunch of idiots. We finally checked in. We went to the duomo and for at least the 5th time tromped up the stairs to get to the top. It was the least crowded we'd ever seen it, and we were able to take our time going up. The switched the up and down routes and that was a little disorienting. I am used to holding the center pole with my right hand on the way up. This time the center pole was on the left. With very few people going up/down it was quite pleasant. We took a few pictures on the way up and in between the layers of the duomo. Even at the top there were'nt very many folks, and despite the clouds the view was great. We got all of our gift shopping done and walked around a lot more...I did the duomo steps and all that walking in boots! Our hotel room faced the street, so it was really noisy, but we went to bed early so we could get up for the 5:30 am bus.

Trip back: We managed to get to the airport on time. Ross got his tax refund stamped by customs and we checked in. Through security and onto the plane to Frankfurt. I was so tired I passed out while we were delayed on the runway and slept for almost the entire flight. This time in Frankfurt it was downstairs....down a hall...then back up the stairs. F-ed up. The plane started boarding an hour before departure. More rude Germans. Ross bought some gummies in the airport. (Then he ate too many on the plane and got the gollywobs.) The plane wasn't totally booked, and I was a bit more comfortable. I was able to sleep a bit. Man, it was more and more and more food. Snacks, drinks, and meals. We watched 3 episodes of Rome on Ross's archos while I knitted. We got home at a decent hour. Had a short nap, then had some dinner. We went to bed early, and I think we're back on track with the time already.