Baja Mexico June 25- July 2

Cabo Pulmo - wonderful town that is completely solar powered (with some help from small generators).
The diving was not great as the hurricane stirred up the waters and the visibility was only 15 feet.   Its a very quiet area and would be a nice escape for someone looking for a quiet retreat with not much around (which is much different from the resort areas nearby)

Baja is known for their fish tacos.  A good place will make fried fish tacos. And bring the fixings for the tacos out on a platter.  

Fried fish on a tortilla

add toppings. Yum!

Canon La Zorra - stopped here to take the short hike out to the waterfalls and swim in the lagoon. Its called Sol De Mayo Biosphere at Sierra La Laguna.  The water levels were low because there had not been much rain so diving was not allowed and there is an entrance fee of $6. 

La Paz - diving here was also disappointing and also had only 15ft visibility.  But the city and waterfront malecon was nice to walk around.  This is not a resort town so while there are many tourists here there are local who work in areas other than tourism here.  We stayed at this wonderful hotel.  While more expensive than a hostel, if you are looking for a nice bed and breakfast place with friendly staff and a free bottle of water everyday and airconditionig I highly recommend this place for travelers with a little higher budget. Hotel Mediterrane (http://www.hotelmed.com/) Rancho Viejo had decent food and right on the malecon for a nice location.  bismarkcito also on the waterfront was highly recommended but the food was not very good.  We did get to try the famous chocolate clams there.

Lunch at the loncheria outside of the mercardo was very good and a reasonable price.  I got fried fish that was very tasty. 

Todos los Santos - nice town to walk around.  Went to the turtle nesting beach and walked around town. Lunch at El Zaguan, cute restaurant and supposedly all organic but the food was only OK at best.  They do have a nice sidewalk seating area.

Visited the earthship outside of Todos Los Santos. If you are interested in environmental building they gave a wonderful tour and are very inspiring young people hard at work and I highly recommend visiting them or attending a future workshop they are holding.  Their website www.sentidocontrario.org has more information.  They have solar power and put together this place using mostly trash (tires, cans, and bottles) as well as bamboo. No AC is needed in this desert home as a type of convection cooling system is used by orienting the house properly to keep it cool.

The roof.  You can walk on the roof for a wonderful view of the water and the solar panels.

 The bathroom which recycles the grey water through the toilets.

 The hallway which uses glass bottles to make designs and lots of natural light.

Cabo San Lucas -  This is a large resort area with not much authentic Mexican Culture or cuisine. The diving here was also disappointing having only 15ft visibility again.
We splurged and stayed at Bahia Beach Club Cabo  (http://www.cabovillas.com/properties.asp?PID=62) which was decent though I think one of the smaller hostel type places would have been better value.  The rooms were nice and did have a kitchenette which was nice and had a pool but not fitness center.

Note - that I think renting a car might be the best way to get around as buses here are not as good as they are in mainland Mexico.

Disney World June 12-19

Disney World.  What an enormous place.  It was so hot in June that I would go on rides just to get out of the heat. I got a two day park hopper but only used the hopper part one day. 

I walked around Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Magical Kingdom.  I think my two favorite rides were the Startours at Hollywood studios which was a 3D ride featuring Starwars and the Living with the land ride in the Land Pavillion in Epcot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_with_the_Land) which was a boat tour through the greenhouse and aquaculture area which was very informative and actually provides some of the food for the restaurants. 


There was lots of food to eat. 
We had a disappointing dinner at Mccormick and Schmicks.  I have had much better meals at this restaurant at other locations the upside was that we were the only people in the restaurant. 
We had a wonderful dinner at Olivia's Cafe (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/olivias-cafe/) We had desert at the Coral Reef Restaurant and went to the fireworks in the rain. We went to eat at Wolfgang Pucks (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/wolfgang-puck-cafe/) in Downtown Disney which was decent.

We had brunch at Kouzzina (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/kouzzina/) which was probably fantastic but the waitress decided to change my order without telling me until after she brought it so I didnt get at all what I wanted and she only gave me a side for my meal so I was starving after.

We had a good meat at Black Angus Steak house. (http://blackangusorlando.com/)

The wedding I attended was amazing and started at the Wedding Pavillion and the reception was at the Grand Floridian. The food was great and was from the Victoria and Alberts menu.  The bride did a wonderful job with the wedding. 


Do you know what hidden Mickeys are? This was on the back of the bridesmaids flowers. : )

Chihuly Jun 8, 2008 Boston MFA

Chihuly is an amazing glass sculptor.  I first saw his work on the ceiling of the Bellagio in Las Vegas with the glass flowers. The MFA in Boston has a special exhibit showing some of his pieces.  I highly recommend seeing this exhibit.

 The glass boat.  My favorite piece in the exhibit.

 

Glass ceiling

Chandelier

 

Washington, DC

Saturday June 4
Walked around the Holocaust Museum.  For dinner tried Sala Thai on U Street (http://www.salathaidc.com/) The atmosphere was trend but the food was only OK.  Then had ice cream at U-Scream Ice Cream & Treatery


Sunday June 5
Went on a couple tours at the National gallery of Art West Building.  (http://www.nga.gov/)
Dinner at Sorrio Restaurant (http://www.sorrisoristorante.net/).  They had VERY thin crust pizza. Food was average but they had outdoor seating and even a little balcony with two tables upstairs and it was a beautiful night out.   Then for desert walked to Frozenyo (http://frozenyo.com/) for some self serve yogurt from a franchized chain that I had never been tried. I was surprised the recently opened National Aquarium charged an admission fee as most of the National Museums are free and decided to pass as it was close to closing time. 

I was in DC in May
We walked around the National gallery of Art Sculpture park which I had walked around the last time in was in DC for work.  My favorite museum on these two short excursions to DC this past month was the National Museum of American History (http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/) which had Julia Childs Kitchen and the first ladies dress collection. We also stopped by a few exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History (http://www.mnh.si.edu/) and the National Archives (http://www.archives.gov/).  As well I walked by the war memorial again. I also went on a tour of the mint (http://www.moneyfactory.gov/), the last time I went on a tour was when I was in 8th grade.

Food NYC and Boston Restaurants

May 24th, 2011

Taos Restaurant, NYC (http://www.taorestaurant.com/)
Its claims to be the largest and most popular Asian restaurant in NY.  They also claim their most popular dish is Chilean Sea Bass which is an endangered species.   According to the seafood watch list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafood_Watch) Chilean Sea bass is threatened by ovefishing and contains high levels of mercury.  Taos was crowded and noisy on a Tuesday night.  The Thai Temple Salad was unimpressive and unmemorable as was the vegetable egg roll.  However the spicy Hoi Yin Eggplant was quite tasty.

Benash Deli - for a cheesecake dessert. Good light creamy cheesecake with a hint of sourcream, but be forewarned its almost $10 for a slice.  

May 28, 2011
Ma Soba, Boston, MA (http://www.waldorfnewyork.com/dine-in-style/restaurants.cfm)
I have been here before the and sushi is good.  So on top of sushi I ordered the tofu and Chinese eggplant stew.  The stew was wonderful though much too hot.  I still have blisters on the top of my mouth. Its served in a hotpot which keeps its steaming hot for a long time after everyone was finished eating. 


May 29, 2011

Waldor Astoria, NYC (http://www.waldorfnewyork.com/dine-in-style/restaurants.cfm)
The Waldorf claims to be have created the Waldorf salad as well as Eggs Benedict.  So I tried the Waldorf salad, as well as the red velvet cake and some pasta.  While the food was quite delicious it was a little underwhelming given the celebrity status as well as price of these items.

  The Waldorf's Waldorf Salad

The Waldorf's famous cake

May 30, 2011

Bar Americain, NYC - Owned by Bobby Flay  (http://www.baramericain.com/new-york-city-restaurant/)

The cornbread served before the meal is worth trying.  The creamed kale side was delicious.  The entrees and appetizers were solid, but the prolifertoles were a bit disappointing with a bit too much ice cream making the pastry soggy. 

May 31, 2011

Vice Versa, NYC (http://www.viceversarestaurant.com/index2.htm)

Nice lunch menu with choice of two items for $22 and has outdoor seating.  The eggplant cannoli as well as the vegetable risotto were lacking flavor but the strozzapreti with duck ragou was quite good.  They serve a nice sampling of small biscuits after the meal.  

Avra, NYC (http://www.avrany.com/)

The homemade tahini served with the bread before dinner was very good. 

The green homemade dip served with the fried calamari was full of flavor and helped add zest to the plain tasting calamari rings.  We tried the Barbounia fish served by the pound.  The fish was a delicate white fish. The stewed spinach was also quite nice. 

June 1, 2011

Lemoncello, Boston, MA (http://www.ristorantelimoncello.com/)

NOT RECOMMENDED!

The food was mediocre at best.  The eggplant parmagiana was undercooked and lacking in flavor. The past was also lacking.  They also mixed up the order and the chicken was also lacking.  I ordered at 2:05PM and was charged the dinner price because apparently dinner starts there at 2PM but is almost double the price for portions that did not look any bigger than the lunch portion. This was a complete ripoff!

Food Market - Grand Central Market (http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/go/dirlisting.cfm?currcat=2138210767)

This is a fun market to walk around if you like food, they have fruits, vegetables, cheese and prepared foods.  I also sampled a cheesecake from one of the counters here, I think it was Corrado Bread & Pastry but the Cheesecake at Benash deli was better. Murrays counter was by far the busiest.  

 

Goodbye Ecuador

Well I left Galapagos after a wonderful week of diving fun and a great way to end my trip to the Galapagos.   Gordon Rocks was amazing.  I went twice and both times found the dives truly amazing.  Large schools of griant mantas and large schools of hammerheads and sharks.

I then made my way to Montanita a surfing and beach town to relax for a week before leaving.  Apparently I am not the only one who had this idea as I met many travelers ending their trips there.  Yesterday I was walking on the beach eating a wonderful homemade pizza when I heard someone call to me and realized it was a one of the guys that I started my trip in Ecuador with.  He was one of the first people I met as we both started our journey in Ecuador and then randomly we bump into each other as we are both preparing to leave this weekend.  

In Montanita this weekend is a festival with a big concert last night.  But the power went out for about 6 hours but that of course didnt stop the party. I heard the music going and what sounded like a parade at 6am.  And when I got up this morning and walked into town at 8am there were people still drinking from the night before and a couple people passed out on the street.
Today was a great day. The spanish school (http://ecuador-spanishschool.com/) arranged for us to take an excursion to Agua Blanca an isolated community that has been untouched by the spanish and have pure bloodlines going back from ancient times.  The guides took us through the archaeological site and to the hot springs where we took fresh mud and slathered it all over our bodies and then laid in the sun to dry followed by a swim in the hot springs.  Then to lunch in Puerto Lopez a fishing community.  Then I took the bus back to Guayaquil.  It was a beautiful ride watching all the fishermen pulling in the nets to the shore as we drove down the coast with the sun starting to set.   The excursion was fantastic.  I highly recommend the school too.

Then we arrived in Guayaquil and in typical Ecuadorian fashion an American of Ecuadorian descent helped navigate the large bus station and made sure I got in a taxi OK and that the taxi driver knew where to go and the price. 

I will miss Ecuador and hope to come back another time to explore more of this country as I only was able to scratch the surface of all that it has to offer.




 

Finally made it to Gordon Rocks

Well after my last trip to Gordon rocks Which was a disaster when the police stopped us and wouldnt let us dive and the owner wouldn't admit it was because he didn't have the permits to dive there. Well today I went and it was amazing it! Huge schools of large manta rays and large eagle rays that were so close I could almost touch them. Seals were playing with us at the end I had one inches from my face while he floated upside down and I think we literally had a staring match as his eyes were level with mine, I think he one I didn't see him blink. Lots of turtles to but sea lions are so much more fun and playful. Schools of hammerheads. Wow really amazing!!

Best quote of the week, when someone asked me if it's hard to see cause my eyes are so small! It's quite interesting on the island I live on it's been different than anywhere else I have been including the other islands people are much more blatant. I am on a bigger island now but as I walk by people shout chinita Whig is little chinese, they say cheeech hung kong or something that sounds Asian and all start laughing or pull the ends of their eyes back to make them look chinese and when I say I am from
The states they often say no you are not as a statement. they don't mean any harm buts it's interesting to see adults have this kind of behavior. This is not just kids doing this. But then agin I was told that all American girls are blond. I am not sure heo they got this impression or maybe it's just that most of theamericans that can afford and want to go to the islands are caucasion. Or media and tv cold play a role. I tried to explain the term melting pot to someone yesterday.