Driving Out of Panama City Don’t be discouraged when you drive out of Panama city on the four-lane highway and see beach after beach packed with people, music blaring, garbage everywhere and noise booming out in every direction. Keep on driving and you will be rewarded with pristine… Continue reading
Our hostess for the house sit was a charming single woman with 3 dogs and 4 chickens. The Property The property was a two-story house on a large, 4-5 acre, treed lot with flowers and shrubs, a pool, and it backed onto the famous River Lot. In short,… Continue reading
Get a load of this! Cars parked inches apart! This is the way parking is all over Europe’s cities. Space is at a premium so no parking spot is too small… In Budapest the view from my friend, E’s, balcony up and down the street in provided… Continue reading
Did you know that Sloppy Joe’s were invented in Havana? Yes, those good ol’ Sloppy Joe sandwiches were invented in Havana. Remember that ground beef/tomato sauce mixture you slopped on buns? Then you devoured it in minutes thinking it was the best thing you ever had? Sloppy… Continue reading
While we were still enjoying the lovely town and relaxing atmosphere of Granada, Nicaragua, we wanted to see the Volcano Mombacho, still active we had been told, as well as the cloud forest in the mountains and to experience the jungle zip line. We were both a little worried… Continue reading
We’ve been researching all kinds of travel accessories to see if there are any that are truly worthwhile, and which ones are just another tech toy to take up more precious room in your carry-on. But I wish they would invent one friggin’ cord that works in ALL… Continue reading
In a few days we will be landing in Marseilles, France. It’s a little surreal that you can be on the French Riviera in Europe on the other side of the world in just one day, your whole environment completely changed in a few hours. We are house sitting… Continue reading
Cabra Castle was elegant. A 19th Century castle, set deep in the hills of Cavan County, it was stately and refined. While Ballynahinch Castle had felt more authentic with the hunters going out for the early morning hunt all decked out in somewhat traditional hunting attire: short pants, knee-high socks… Continue reading
“Stay where yer to till I come where yer at.” The Newfoundland language is sometimes happily easy to understand, but at other times we were totally lost. At those times, we responded to Newfinese with blank stares, raised eyebrows and an awkward smile, thinking “Huh?” or “How can… Continue reading
Thursday, February 26: A few days ago, February 22, in Mexico, the cat sitter emailed us that the pipes are frozen in the house, and that there is no water, so no bathrooms either. Car is also unlikely to start and is buried in a mountain of snow…. Continue reading
Halloween Apples, Peanuts and Cake, If You Don’t Give Us Any, Your Toilet Will Shake! Remember that? Ok, that was even before my time, before indoor toilets even! – but it has a lovely rhythm, n’est ce pas? Moving to Ontario has been almost like exploring another… Continue reading
The approach to Venice by train is seductive in itself… Just seeing a city floating on water is astonishing. How did they do that? Why did they do that? Apparently it wasn’t intentional. It happened sometime around the fall of the Roman Empire when the mainland was invaded… Continue reading
The hard drive crashed on Saturday. Totally out of the blue. No warnings. No odd behaviours. Just fried itself. No computer. NO COMPUTER. Desperately tried to fix it and got it up just long enough to make a backup on the Clickfree external drive before it was in total… Continue reading
Did you ever experience a Chinese Foot Massage? Wow, amazing. Absolutely nothing like our North American massages, at least the ones we’ve had. It was a special and unique opportunity to experience a traditional Chinese foot massage at the famous Liang Zi Foot Massage in Beijing, China. … Continue reading
We all wish we were multi-millionaires at Christmas and that money was no object when buying gifts. Millionaire Unfortunately, most of us do not have unlimited funds (however much we fantasize about winning a lottery), and we could all use a few tips, and a few hundred extra dollars, on how to spend… Continue reading
Don’t you just love the rhythm of that name – Inga pirca? I’m not much of a history buff (T is), but the idea that a society existed in the 1600’s and that the buildings are still somewhat in tact amazes both of us. Ingapirca Ruins, Ecuador… … Continue reading
To get to our house sitting assignment, near Toulouse, first we had to catch the hotel shuttle bus from the hotel to the Marseille Airport, next catch the big bus to Marseille, St. Charles Train Station, a 25 minute ride for 8E (12C) each, with a bus driver that liked… Continue reading
In Budapest, we took a Danube Riverboat Cruise down the river to a little town called Szentendre. Danube River Cruise We enjoyed great views of the bridges and Parliament Buildings as we cruised slowly down the Danube… Jaws dropped though when we saw a bus floating in… Continue reading
We were lucky to have a friend who had a friend in Montevideo, Uruguay, and he was enthusiastic about meeting us. Montevideo, Uruguay, is just across the water from Buenos Aires, Argentina, so with a 3 hour Buquebus ferry ride across the very wide Rio de la Plata,… Continue reading
While touring Ireland in our rental car, we, of course, had to try Guinness, the beer that is the pride and joy of Ireland. T is a beer connoisseur, but I was surprised that I liked it too. One day, we stopped at a local pub for… Continue reading