With the scorching heat outside and with a family member (A) not feeling well, we decided to sleep in today and await the arrival of someone special, Big J and the doctor for A. While we awaited our special guest, we decided it would be a good time to review some prices of goods and services in Rome, Italy. So let’s take a look at some receipts for things we bought down at the grocery store, Crai, a few blocks from our apartment.

The most prominent item on both receipts here is Acqua Levissima Naturale (bottled water) and a liter of water will cost €0.65 ($0.72 USD). On the right, there is a micro-fiber towel (€1.49) I bought to scrub with in the shower because of the excessive sweat we’ve been enduring with the heat. On the same receipt is a charge of €1.25 for some honey. Overall, the costs of items isn’t high unless it is an imported item.

While the doctor came for a house visit to treat A, Big J arrived and we decided to head out to lunch. We initially wanted to try Japanese restaurant named Taki Giapponese Roma, we discovered the restaurant was closed on Sundays until August. We opted then to try a Chinese restaurant but it was full and had a 20+ minute wait so we finally decided to head to a pizza restaurant named Salvatore Di Matteo Le Gourmet. The restaurant features wood burning pizza ovens and the food that came out was spectacular!

Feeling hungry? Check out the menu.

After lunch we headed back to the apartment and the doctor had finished up with A and gave us a list of prescriptions to retrieve from the local pharmacy.

Most of the medications listed above are actually over-the-counter meds in the U.S. but here require a doctor’s prescription. Fortunately, A, had Italian health insurance so the doctor’s in-house visit was covered however the meds were out-of-pocket, about €60 ($67 USD).

After the walk back from the pharmacy, it was straight to the shower to wash off all the sweat. Did we tell you already that this will be our last summer holiday?

Right now, Big J and A are sleeping, one the jet lag the other the meds so we’ll gonna be chill tonight and maybe sneak out for dinner later.

Categories: Rome, Italy
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Today was a good day. We took a train out of Rome and out of the heat and headed to Frascati via Tor Vergata train stop to visit a winery named Antiche Terre Tuscolane. Our host gave us a grand tour of the vineyard, the winery has been in the family for 9 generations. The area is rich with volcanic rock from a nearby extinct volcano giving the soil an acidic tinge which makes amazing white wines. We walked through the vineyard and learned about the grapes and the delicate balance of humidity, sun, soil and temperature to produce the optimum grapes. This particular vineyard uses a canvas method to help balance the sun and rain for producing the best grapes.

We had the opportunity to visit the caves where the wine is produced and stored before it gets sent out. We sampled a wine in the cave and then sampled a few more outside.

We also sampled some cheese, biscuits (cookies) and pizza bread during our visit.

After our visit to the winery, we headed out to Frascali proper and took a walking tour with our host Daniella. She walked us through the city plaza and showed us the Italian prince’s home pictured below.

She then took us to this church and gave a bit of history. During World War II, the Nazi’s took over Frascali and used it as a base of operations. The United States bombarded the area with 2500 bombs destroying most of the city except for the church pictured below and the water fountain.

We continued our tour with a stop at a cookie shop where the cookies have tits. Not just two tits like a normal cookie but three tits and they represent the three good things in Pascali: wine, milk, honey.

We then made a pit stop at the bakery below, constructed in 1300’s and had a small pizza made from a shop across the street from the bakery. The place was called Ceralli (1920).

We ended up at Hostaria Santa Maria restaurant and sampled some bread and pasta. We had a great conversation with a couple from Ohio but stationed in Germany on the tour. We completed our visit and really liked Frascali. It is located on a high hill area and there was a cool Mediterranean breeze blowing through the city.

I asked our host how much a two bedroom apartment would rent for in the city and she said about 1000 euros per month. I took a photo of some real estate options as well.

Sadly, we had to head back to Rome and the infernal heat…

Categories: Rome, Italy
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We got to Rome yesterday and boy is it a scorcher! The sun, heat and humidity has made us realize that this may be our last summer vacation.

In the future, we will shift from summer vacations to spring or fall vacations. Summers are getting too hot and too many people all want to see the same venues. We read an article on CNN that reported Amsterdam is banning cruise ships in the city due to over tourism. We don’t think it will be long before other cities start limiting tourists in some way in the near future.

Our day today was supposed to start with a cooking class where we were going to make a pizza but the class got cancelled. We left disappointed but saw this church on the way so we went inside to rest. This is now known as the “Pizza Church”

After Pizza Church, we found another church nearby and went in to have a look. They have quite a few churches here by the way ;).

We finished the day with a river cruise down the Tiber River. We didn’t see anything amazing but the cool breeze on the open air vessel was very relaxing.

We did find a spot for EZ. Can picture the photo shoot already with beer in hand and a smile. This one for you EZ.

Tomorrow we are heading out to a small town via train, lets hope there isn’t a rail strike….

Categories: Rome, Italy
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We’ve been offline for some time now but we’re back online with new travel adventures. Expect new and exciting posts starting on Friday or maybe sooner as we head out to explore the Mediterranean this summer. Here’s a hint of where we’re going!

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I recently came back from a trip to The Netherlands and while I love the country, the food (especially breakfast) doesn’t always suit me.   After spending a few days in The Hague, I was really craving bacon, eggs and toast.  I had been out for a walk when I ran across a place called Palmette.   The dish I ordered came with eggs and bacon stacked on a large slab of sourdough bread garnished with arugula.   The blend of bitter, sour, salty complemented with a sweetened coffee really lifted my spirits for the day.  It had been the best breakfast I had while in The Netherlands.

Later in the day, I stopped by at a restaurant named Zebedeus which is attached to an old church.   The menu features a wide range of dishes but curiosity got the better of me and I ordered a burger.  I did not intend on ordering a burger but was intrigued by palmesteyn beef which I had not tried before.  The hamburger (beef) was amazing and I will definitely return to this restaurant next time I am in The Hague – it is officially my favorite restaurant in The Hague.   Don’t forget to add the award winning “39 Bloedbroeder” beer to your meal!

Categories: The Netherlands
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It’s 3:55 p.m on Friday, I eagerly board UA flight 20 from Houston to Amsterdam for a non-stop flight to reach my family that’s currently waiting for me in Amsterdam.   They’ve made reservations for us at La Perla Pizza (the best pizza in the world) on 7:30 p.m. Saturday and I tell them that I’ll be there Saturday morning.

It’s now 4:15 p.m. and the flight finally starts boarding and as I walk past the flight attendant, I whisper to him, “red wine please” and quietly walk to my seat in 4L.   After settling into my seat, he joyfully brings me my red wine and jokingly says, “I understand there was a red wine emergency over here” and hands me my glass.   I think to myself, “it’s going to be a great flight.”

As the rest of the passengers board I decided to watch a movie and select John Wick 2.   The flight attendant comes back and asks what I want for dinner and breakfast.  I tell him I want to go to sleep right away so I can land refreshed and ready to go as I’m visiting my family in Amsterdam so I advise that I’ll need a couple of more glasses of wine and will pop some Aleve to help me drift away.

It’s 4:45 p.m. and I get an alert on my phone that my flight will now leave at 5:30 p.m. – mechanical issues with auxiliary power unit.

It’s 5:32 p.m. and I get an alert on my phone that my flight will now leave at 6:30 p.m. – still same mechanical issue.

It’s 7:21 p.m. and I get an alert on my phone that my flight will now leave at 7:21 p.m. – still same mechanical issue.

It’s 7:49 p.m. and I get an alert on my phone that my flight will now leave at 8:10 p.m. – still same mechanical issue.  I now have finished watching the whole John Wick 2 movie.

It’s 7:55 p.m. and I get an alert on my phone that my flight will now leave at 9:00 p.m. – still same mechanical issue.

It’s 8:24 p.m. and flight attendant tells everyone to get off the plane, new gate is now E20.

It’s 8:25 p.m. and I get an alert that my flight will now leave at 9:30 p.m.

It’s 8:26 p.m. and the flight now leaves at 10:00 p.m.

It’s 9:00 p.m., after sitting 4 hours in a hot plane, I decide to go to United Club and take a shower to rinse off the sweat and be clean for a good nights sleep after this fiasco.

It’s 9:40 p.m., United sends me an alert that my flight has been cancelled.   Technically, I think they’ve fixed the plane but now the flight crew will exceed the number of hours they can work.

I walk over to the customer service desk to find out what can be done however there are hundreds of people there and only TWO agents and the business class / premier desk is NOT manned.    I am next in line in the premier queue but it never moves because the reps are on the phone for 20+ minutes and nothing is getting done.  I realize based on the conversations I am overhearing that getting to the Netherlands anytime on Saturday is going to be impossible.

I decide to cancel the flight since the weekend is gone at this point.  I head down to baggage and am told that no baggage is getting pulled from planes for at least 3 or 4 hours so I should just go home and come back to the airport tomorrow as  a 40 minute drive for me to and from the airport isn’t an inconvenience.

It’s 11:45 p.m. and I finally get home.  I get an email from United apologizing for the cancellation of the flight and they offer me 15000 miles or $300 voucher.   Knowing that miles get diluted almost every year with United I opt for the travel voucher but it doesn’t ease the pain of missing time with my family at all.

This morning I get online and come across this article that states under EU rules, flight cancellation from EU based airlines that delay you longer than 3 hours entitles the passenger to 600 euros in compensation.  So now I’m left wondering why I should ever fly a U.S. based airline over an EU one if one offers double the compensation of the other in the event of delays or cancellations?

As for my family, they’re still in Amsterdam going to have La Perla Pizza tonight while I’m sitting at home 🙁

Thanks United for ruining peak holiday time for 300+ people this weekend.

Categories: Flights
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This past weekend we visited the Golden Nugget hotel in Lake Charles Louisiana.   It has been almost a decade since we visited Louisiana.   Our last visit was ironically when the L’Auberge du Lac resort opened in 2005.   I recall that when we arrived, we were disappointed that the pool has yet to be finished and was not open at L’Auberge du Lac.

And that seemed to be the parallel case with the Golden Nugget 10 years later although this hotel had opened in November, there was a few issues with some of the hotel amenities.   For starters, the jacuzzi in the men’s spa was not functioning and under repair.   The spa attendants however advised we could use the “couples” spa so we (my wife and I) went over to the couples spa and the jets were not working in the pool.   It was interesting to see repair men hauling tubes and pipes through the side door of the pool while we were there.    The men’s spa had a Keurig coffee maker that lacked water and the nearby milk for coffee smelled rancid.   Both problems remedied by talking to the attendants but I went there to relax not point out problems to be fixed.

Overall we had a good time however we had a bit different expectations than what we received.   For one, the restaurants around the hotel are all chains including Vic & Anthony’s, Grottos, Cadillac Bar, Landry’s,  Saltgrass and the Buffet.    We had hoped for authentic cajun creole food and none was to be found in the entire place!   Not even French flavored cuisine was offered!

We ate dinner one night at Saltgrass and I asked for medium rare Prime Rib and 45 minutes later I got a cold slab of meat.  When I complained, they took the steak back and did heat it up but unfortunately it became a well done dry steak and I couldn’t finish it.   To give credit to Saltgrass management, the did comp me the steak and apologized for the mess up but they clearly have some things to sort to run the place more efficiently.    We did eat at a Sushi place called Lillies (ironic since Japanese don’t have an “L” in their language) and the food there was decent and problem free.

There were several bars and lounges in the complex yet those too didn’t offer any zydeco or cajun music.   The live bands played top 40 from the 80’s and 90’s so while entertaining it was a bit disappointing that all local culture was ignored.    The hotel didn’t leverage any of the local culture for food, music, entertainment or even shopping as most of the shops featured “mall” chain items.   I would have been happy to buy a CD of local music from local bands since that is one of the few items that doesn’t come with a  “made in China” stamp underneath it.

The hotel was nice with fairly large room and very nice bathrooms with separate tub and shower and the pools and spa was very nice but that’s what you’d expect to find at almost any hotel resort these days so nothing unique and as stated before, no local ambiance was leveraged into the theme of the hotel (i.e. jazz, zydeco, cajun, etc).

I did win about $300 at the poker table playing texas holdem against other gamblers and lost $100 at blackjack.   Overall a good weekend but would have preferred more local culture otherwise I may as well just go visit any major city which has basically the same “chain” entertainment.

Will we go back?  Probably not unless local culture is added to the complex.  Our next trip to Louisiana will likely be New Orleans for more authentic food, music, and culture but Golden Nugget is worth a one-time visit if you’re in the area.

Categories: Lake Charles
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We just got back from Iceland!   Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting about some of our adventures there but for now I wanted to do a summary about Iceland in 2015.

Categories: Iceland
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Well we finally caught a break to upload thousands of photographs.  They can be found here.

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We’ve just concluded our Spring Break 2012 trip which took us to various parts of New Mexico.  We had a great time and the summary is listed below.

DAY 1

We landed in Albuquerque mid-day on Monday and headed straight to Sadie’s Restaurant which was featured in the Man vs. Food television show.   We didn’t know what the big deal was until we ordered some “lunch” sized plates and had a mountain of food delivered at our table.

No one that ordered any food could actually finish a plate and when we got the tab it wasn’t too bad but unfortunately we couldn’t take the food with us since we had no storage so about half of it went to waste….

After lunch we headed to a nearby winery called Casa Rodena which was established way back in 1995.  We tried a few wines here and ended up buying one for the trip back home – a very smooth port wine which we’ll enjoy with the family later.

From the winery we headed over to Skip Maisel’s place in downtown Albuquerque.    This is an absolute must go place if you want to do shopping.  We visited many, many sites and by far the best deals on jewelry, nick-knacks, clothing, blankets and such can be found here.  These guys are WHOLESALERS so you won’t be paying retail.  If you go up to Santa Fe (which we did), you’ll find prices 30% to 50% higher for the EXACT same items!    We purchased a whole lot of stuff here and don’t regret it one bit!

From Skip Maisel’s it was a short drive to our next stop over to old towne Albuquerque where we found some more shopping items and some very historic buildings in the area.

After our tour of old towne we decided to drive up to our hotel for check in.  The hotel is located about 20 miles north of Albuquerque in a secluded area.    We opted to stay at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort which turned out to be a hidden gem in the southwest!    The hotel features three nice pools, heated spa, on-site stables, golf and fine dining so we had a great time relaxing after our day trips.

DAY 2

We started our second day in New Mexico early because we had a surprise for the kids which included a hot air balloon ride that started at 7:00 a.m.  We drove to the location where the balloon lifts off from and the kids got to help with the setup.   We chose to go with World Balloon for our ride as they were highly recommended on TripAdvisor.

It literally goes without saying but the balloon ride was pretty impressive.  We glided over the rio grande inches from the water, we then glided over cotton wood forest trees occasionally scraping the basket below.  We then climbed up to 1000 feet which seemed much higher as the moon became bigger and bigger (note: Albuquerque 5000 ft above sea level).

The hot air balloon ride really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience but I highly recommend it.  We’ve now scratched this off of our bucket list!

After our hot air balloon ride we ate a quick breakfast at a nearby diner where we didn’t get 10% off as the World Balloon flight operator suggested 😉

From breakfast we headed over to see the native American petroglyph parks.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have any water with us and since it’s the desert and safety comes first, we only took a brief tour of the main park before we headed off to the other (water available) parks. We did manage to catch a few photos.

Upon finishing our petroglyph excursion, we headed back to the hotel to do some horseback riding.   The clan saddled up and went for a 90 minute ride-about in the New Mexico desert along the Rio Grande!

Needless to say, it was beautiful country, the weather was sunny but cool and the views were majestic.   The kids handled the horses well and aside from a sore ass we fared very well on the horses.    The four horses we had were Dude (dad), Buckey (bart), Chief (mom), and Stuball (lisa)

After a long day of hot air balloon, petroglyphs and horses, we headed back to the hotel suite for pizza and pool.   The heated jacuzzi was exquisite.

DAY 3

We opted to eat at the hotel for breakfast (since it was included with the stay) because we slept in after having awoken early the previous few days for activities but we ate quite a mouthful after a heavy week of fun.

After breakfast, our mission was to take the kids snowboarding at Sandia Peak.   We managed to make it before the ski resort shutdown for the season.   Friday would have been the last day so we got lucky snow had fallen the weekend before we arrived.

After the ski affair, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit.    In the evening we headed out to KIMO Theatre to see a rendition of a play called “La Llorona” which means the “wailing woman” and had a good time in the strange type of performance which involved a great deal of audience interaction.

We ended the night with a drive back from downtown Albuquerque to our hotel a little disappointed yet intrigued by what we had just seen….

DAY 4

The fourth day of our trip started with a drive to the train station so we could take a train to Santa Fe.   The train ride was fun and the views were spectacular.  Unbeknownst to me, we weren’t supposed to be taking photos of the native American lands we were crossing but I didn’t see what the big deal was since it was mostly desert terrain and nothing you can’t get from google earth anyway.

Upon arriving at Santa Fe, our first stop was the state capital.   We seem to always land in the capital city so we opted to take a quick look at the site.   As usual, the building was nice and posh, my..my what we can buy with taxpayer money!

After seeing the newest and likely most expensive building in the city, we headed to the oldest (and likely poorest) building in the city (and oldest church in America) the San Miguel church.

As churches go, there wasn’t anything different other than the really old construction with large wooden beams across the top of the ceiling to hold up the old style adobe roof.  Next door was one of the oldest houses in North America, an adobe mud home built in the mid 1600’s.

From there we went over to see the Miracle Staircase built by a carpenter for the nuns of the church.   The staircase is called a “miracle” because no nails or glue was used in the construction of the spiral staircase.    The picture shown however has a banister which was added later for safety (and it does include nails).

From the miraculous staircase, we walked over to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis (hey, it’s an old Spanish town, whad’ya expect?).

After the church, we passed through the town square plaza which had many shops and street vendors selling a variety of items.  We confirmed that the prices here were 30% to 50% higher than Skip Maisels so if you want to do a lot of shopping and save money, go to Skip’s!  From the plaza we headed to the Georgia O’Keefe museum.  Did you know Georgia O’Keefe was from New Mexico?

After being erotically tantalized by O’keefe’s flowery imagery we headed back to the train station and took the train back to Bernalillo where we picked up our car and headed to Albuquerque for our last stay.

We had an uneventful dinner at Applebee’s then checked in to our hotel near the airport.   We were all very tired and had a very early flight the next day so we didn’t do much but repack our purchases and items for the journey home.

The lasting image I will have of our trip was seeing the sun set through the metallic statue at the car rental drop off location.    We had a great time.

Categories: New Mexico
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