UMTravels

Yesterday’s recap. Way too much food. I’m quite sure that the party for our sub-group burned through 2-3 times our $75 credit. Swanda picked up the rest bless his heart.Folkloric show good as there were actually some male dancers in it — one was even cute! And then there was the trio of musicians at happy hour complete with Zorro.

Yesterday’s train ride was stunning, even with the rain. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich with lukewarm fries and dinner was a slightly dried out chicken cordon bleu — both served in the dining car.It was well past dark by the time we arrived at the hotel. I love the fact that we are told our room assignments before hand and keys are waiting in the doors for us followed shortly by porters with our bags followed by drinks in the bar.

Yesterday’s train ride was stunning, even with the rain. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich with luke warm fries and dinner was a slightly dried out chicken cordon bleu — both served in the dining car.

It was well past dark by the time we arrived at the hotel. I love the fact that we are told our room assignments before hand and keys are waiting in the doors for us followed shortly by porters with our bags followed by drinks in the bar.

And as for today? Breakfast buffet the best so far. I bailed from the float trip as did most of our crew. I wanted some downtime for reading and a little siesta.

The book I’m hoping to finish before the end of the trip is Michel, Michel. I want to finish it so I can pass it along to Joyce. It came from the Lopez Take It or Leave It at the dump.

Lunch was the best meal so far with garlic shrimp and a grande margarita followed by a runway show of young woman in costumes somewhere between traditional and Hollywood. It made all the old men in the crowd very happy.

Our small group is having appetizers and cocktails at 4pm — this must be the eating day with dinner and a “folkloric” show after that.

Tomorrow is another early day.

Yesterday’s recap. Way too much food. I’m quite sure that the party for our sub-group burned through 2-3 times our $75 credit. Swanda picked up the rest bless his heart.

Folkloric show good as there were actually some male dancers in it — one was even cute! And then there was the trio of musicians at happy hour complete with zorro.

AND ONTO TODAY…

Early morning and the train was a little late, but the weather is just high overcast so the scenery will be much more in evidence.

Arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon to a stunning view of the canyon. And I really mean stunning. Why bother with the rest of the trip. I’m starting to formulate the perfect trip and it might not include El Fuente even though that hotel was really nice as well — itLs just the amount of time to get there for the value of the view.

The hotel is at 8000 ft. above sea level and built into the side of the canyon… And stunning, but I think I mentioned that.

More folklorico at 6pm followed by dinner at 7 — and since it is the same hotel chain I’m assuming that it will be as good as last night’s black bass that Iwas too full from the appetizers to more than half.

Pictures on my return.

After a day of getting settled back into the Seattle routine…. Doing laundry, running errands, all the stuff that sucks up the day after a return, it’s time for Uncle Markie’s Book Corner.

99 Drams of Whiskey: The Accidental Hedonist’s Quest for the Perfect Shot and the History of the Drink  (Hardcover)

Kate Hopkins

It didn’t get the best of reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, but it’s a lovely stroll through three whiskey regions. I’m about half way through and finding it quite enjoyable. But, then again, I like my whiskey. I also like knowing about the history of taxation and it’s role in how whiskey is made.

Turns out she is also a local Seattle author. I picked it up on the remainders rack at Compass Books in the San Francisco airport.

Click on the book and it will take you right to Amazon, and I get a few shekels for mentioning it.

Other than that, a quiet evening at home having a steak and some coleslaw. Nice not to have to rush off for some folkloric performance.

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How nice to get off at a real train station… multiple platforms… multiple trains.

I feel/felt like I’m back in Europe. One lone fly on the platform hitting up the Berliners for a hotel room, to which they replied, “we have a place and it’s already paid for” in English. Nobody hitting me up. No gypsy throngs at the cash machine. Life is good.

A 10 LEI (Romanian currency which would be about $3 USD) ride from the train station to what turns out to be the quiet suburbs of Bucharest near their big Village Museum which is a recreation of a typical Romanian Village if you took buildings from all generations and regions and plopped them down “Dorothy Kansas Style” in a FolkLoric ThemeTown. 300+ buildings – it wore me out just driving past them in the cab. Maybe next time. But for reference, here is a picture off their website: http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/sightseeing/essentialbucharest/Village-Museum_14745v

Think 250+ buildings like this over 15 hectares (about 40+ acres):

But I digress – you don’t even know yet that I didn’t make it to the Village Museum (though it’s on my list for the next visit).

First I have to get checked in, get ice, shower (because I didn’t shower on the train, though I did shave and brush my teeth), then return to the desk for “a clue” as to what to do. Of course he wanted me to eat in “the very good” onsite restaurant, but when pushed he circled a couple of others walking distance from the hotel – which is amazing since I’m in the suburbs.

And then there is the sunset over the new spa building….

Where I went for dinner – wandering down a road with little traffic and no people, I found the restaurant with NO parking anywhere which meant cars on sidewalks, etc. Turns out they should have had a parking garage according to the brochure I picked up – 500 people inside 400 people on the decks. The food? Serbian. And good.

Taverna Sarbului is the place – I had the onion salad (marinated Bermuda onions, much like Julian made in Portland a couple of months ago) and the lamb, and a glass of Rose – no credit cards so I had to moderate my spending (which is good for me). Here is what the place looks like (but add LOTS of people):

HUGE, noisy, children, but good food.

Home and off to bed – no getting up at 3AM to deal with the border for me tonight.

What the morning held was the oddest of scenes – a HUGE crush of people at the morning breakfast. Heavy on the Germans:

Hopefully it’s just because everyone is checking out after a conference. Good food, probably better than the Ramada in Istanbul, but no whole fruit to snag for the return train, though I did spy some hard boiled eggs.

Next stop is BACK to the train station – had I my wits about me when I arrived, I would have picked up the return ticket then. Oh well, gives me a chance to scope out grocery options for the return train. Busy place the train station:

Got my ticket in what seemed like record time – the International Desk in Bucharest quick and efficient – not even having trouble with running my credit card (unlike the Istanbul folks who I believe tried to run it as debit rather than credit).

The plan was to go see the Palace of the Parliament — CeauÈ™escu‘s massive civil administration building that was to also have contained his personal residence. The residence was never completed because he was thrown from power. According to the World Records Academy, the Palace is the world’s largest civilian building with an administrative function, most expensive administrative building and heaviest building.

I decided to walk from the train station getting some food along the way – and that was the end of getting to the palace by closing time at 4 – it was after 2 by the time I finished lunch at the Derby Pub and Restaurant. A lovely afternoon meal on the terrace of Greek chicken soup, octopus salad and, shockingly, a Manhattan – I had to see if they could actually pull one off, and they did quite well substituting a wedge of orange for the cherry (which is healthier anyway).

Luckily I had enough cash on me since they only took the chip style card with I foolishly left at home, not following my own advice to travel with one, especially in Europe.

Since it was too close to when the palace was to close I viewed it from a distance, turned around and headed back to the train station to scope out supplies for the train ride back to Istanbul. Found a small supermarket in the arrivals/departures hall that even sells hard liquor – which is good because the Jameson died by the end of my evening.

With that all sorted it was back to the hotel since it was also too late to take in the huge Village Museum which is a collection of 272 of historical Romanian houses and buildings relocated from around the country and set up as a village.

At 100,000 square meters – that’s a lot of walking after all the walking I’d already done.

But getting back to the hotel was an adventure in itself as the cab driver was young, new to the city, and instantly got turned around, even with his GPS. On the bright side he instantly kicked off the meter and told me he take me to the hotel at no charge since he screwed up. And he let me take a picture of him:

When we got back to the hotel – after a really nice conversation as well – I paid him the 10 Lei that the fare would have been even though he turned off the meter. This experience just amplifies my feeling that the Romanian people are friendly and helpful – not unlike the desk clerk on the first night with all his suggestions.

After what I’d spent on lunch I decided to finish the rest of the supplies from the train trip from two days ago, thought about supplementing with a salad from downstairs, and in the end just went to bed early.

Next up, the return train to Istanbul.

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In the morning we were in Ensenada. Last year I was in Ensenada, but I didn’t do any of the tours…I just wandering around town to a church I saw in the distance. Those Posts Here.

This year I signed up for the Two Winery Tour with Free Bottle of Wine. First stop with L.A. Cetto winery…

The joys of having T-Mobile service is that I have data and text coverage in 200 countries, not high-speed, but3G – enough to book a ticket to Kansas City in mid-January for $156.20 on Alaska Airlines Wednesday Flash Sale that runs from 11am-1pm…announcements on Twitter to remind you. And in Mexico’s wine country they have 4G…and in Amador County outside Sacramento where I was last month, there was just no cell coverage at all during Wednesday’s Flash Sale. But I digress….

So, apparently the region outside Ensenada produces 90% of the wine produced in Mexico, and Cetto’s wasn’t too bad, unlike the next winery (La Casa de Dona Lupe), an organic producer…

The wines were watery…and the food…well, I’ve never liked whole wheat as a pizza crust. But they did have a like folkloric show:

Back to the boat for me, though others got off for the “shopping opportunity”. Funny thing is that they didn’t even question my free bottle of wine I brought on – was sure that they were going to hold it until the end of the cruise.

Because today is all about wine, I had to get back to the ship for their “Grapevine Wine Tasting” which is $9.50 per person or it’s a freebie for Elite Card Holders (but not their guests). They were serving the following:

• Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut Rosé – $48 in their dining rooms
• Chardonnay Fetzer – $28 in their dining rooms
• Garanacha Artadi Artazuri – $34 in their dining rooms
• Cabernet Sauvignon Simi Reserve – $29.40 in their dining rooms (this would seem to be the deal on the menu)
• Prosecco Villa Sandi – $34 in their dining rooms

One might suspect that they were charging people $9.50 to get them to order more wine with dinner. Looks like the mark-up is double retail, and they would be getting it at duty-free prices, so that would be buy for $10, sell for $30 – that’s a nice mark-up. Wish we could do that at the shop.

On my last boat I looked at the line of people wanting to get in and turned around… no line this time, but man these people were bored:

At least I got a souvenir glass out of it – and apparently they are prized as no one left me a second one…

Here is my sail away picture of Ensenada:

Full moon over pollution….and the Carnival Cruise Lines (parent of Princess) in town as well…

The LGBT gathering dwindled further… four tonight. But the Ohio Delta Flight Attendant was there (one of the one’s I’d met on another cruise) and we checked out the third bed in my cabin – one that comes down from the ceiling – I got my room steward (the first woman I’ve had on cruises) to drop the bed:

So, if you are ever tempted to put a third person in your cabin…this is what it will look like. And yes, there is a ladder.

For dinner I chose “potluck” seating on a whim and had nice company – nice enough to share the bottle of L.A. Cetto Red Blend (which isn’t on their website) that was my freebie from the winery (Cabernet/Merlot mix).

Tomorrow is a “sea-day”, an excuse for the ship to fleece people at the casino…

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Who would have thought I’d be up at 6am…guessing that it has to do with “early to bed”. Or maybe it was the fact we pulled anchor and are under way again.

Breakfast is at 7, we need to be off the boat at 8 for transfer to smaller boats to explore the Mekong Delta a little more. At least there is coffee ready for us:

And a beautiful sunrise:

Good Morning VIETNAM! R.I.P. Robin Williams. I loved that movie – and Apocalypse Now. Maybe I should re-watch those on my return to the states. We still have more time on the boat – but I’m already thinking I didn’t book enough boat time.

Pigletté is already at breakfast by the time we get there! No coffee for him, just juice.

They advertised a “continental breakfast”. I’m not sure what continent, but the options were English-style (beans, scrambled eggs, broiled tomato), American-style (omelet, bacon), European-style (breads, meats, cheeses), or Vietnamese-style (pho). When in Rome!

Yum!

When it’s time to off-load, it’s funny to watch the French people who each have one HUGE bag, and one roll-aboard – PER PERSON trying to get all that stuff into the boats. Here we are, headed away from our home of the last day…

One headed up one of the many tiny waterways of the Mekong Delta:

A word to the wise – a little mobility is required for this portion of the journey…think narrow ramps.

The poor lady from Singapore (on the English presented tour with us) was having some difficulties on this portion of the tour.

First stop was an open-air barn that they were roasting something…coal fires underneath, and pig pits above that guys with plastic shoveling moving product around – it didn’t look like a fun job:

Even the back channels of the Mekong Delta are crowded with boats as I discover on the way to our next stop:

Next up – Vietnam’s most pampered animals – Fighting Cocks!

They are kept in wire cages to keep them from fighting with each other before there is actually money on the ground.

Here is a chicken getting a bath and a massage…

As in the rest of Vietnam – scooters EVERYWHERE…

Even on the narrow village paths…

It surprised me that this one was concrete – the one yesterday was asphalt – but I guess in a country that has a monsoon season, paved is better than mud. My guess is that this village is doing OK judging by some of the houses:

Next up is a sugar cane processing “plant”:

Remember I mentioned that rice husks are used as fuel? Above, there is a sloping pile of husks that is used to feed the fire below. And the pile outside that feeds it.

Lots of sloshing around…

Before it gets poured in to plastic pots to cool and then be stacked and wrapped for shipment:

Apparently, it’s a family affair judging from the water bottle above, and this scene below:

Before you know it, we are headed to Cái Bè and their floating markets – you can tell what they are selling by what is on a bamboo pole sticking from their boat:

There is a lovely cathedral in Cái Bè – alas, it isn’t on our itinerary.

What is on our itinerary is a one-stop “folkloric” shopping opportunity – MUCH lower key than most. It features snakes soaked in rice liquor (I’m sure customs would LOVE that in Houston), and displays of candy making (using ingredients like we saw earlier), paper making, and rice popping (think rice krispies).

From there, we are off to meet up with our driver for the ride back to Saïgon – and here is a picture of our driver. Not much in the way of English skills, but Sean has some rudimentary Vietnamese.

Confession – the picture was taken in Cần ThÆ¡, but it just didn’t fit the narrative.

Got back to Sean’s apartment a little after noon – dropped bags and off to lunch – with this amusing photo-op on the way.

Everyone is gearing up for Tết (the New Year).

And lunch!

Did you need some hot peppers? Those were sitting on the table next to us.

I just let Sean order – it’s simpler, and I eat most anything. And I get to try all the local favorites.

One of my favorite things about third-world cities is the “amusing” wiring hanging off poles.

I’d hate to trace a wire in that jungle.

After lunch it’s nap time – something about travelling Vietnam highways/streets is exhausting, even if you aren’t the one driving. Then off to the store with a fistful of Dồng!

That 2000 note is worth 9 cents USD. The print bills up to a million Dồng– which is equal to $45 USD. The smallest note is 200 with a value of less than a penny USD. And look – you can buy casks of wine at the grocery store for about $30 USD.

Sean is cooking tonight, which turns out to be a rarity with the inexpensive nature of going out to eat.

And it’s tasty as well!

Time for a little work before bed…

Didn’t last that long before it was “hit the hay” time. Another big day planned for tomorrow.