Life With Frenchie

Since we’re planning our wedding, we’re also planning a honeymoon. It seems everybody and their brother wants to honeymoon in the Caribbean, but EP and I have our hearts set on Europe. We both are excited about touring all the historical sites that are found everywhere. The hardest part is deciding where in Europe we want to go.

I think both of us agree that we’d enjoy visiting Rome. EP has a degree in history, and this would be the ideal place to take advantage of that and have my own private tourguide! There’s also the issue of trying to figure out where to stay once we there. But, you all know how much I adore the Internet for things like that. Still, we have to narrow it down to figure out if we want to find a hotel in Rome or maybe stay outside of Rome and travel into the city if that will help save money.

EP is also pushing to go to Amsterdam. We watched a Travel Channel special a while back about the city and he’s hooked. It turns out there is more to the place than what it’s (in)famous for! Whoda thunk it? Personally, I would like to go to Barcelona, Spain. We could even save money by staying in an apartment which has a kitchen. I know most people “pooh-pooh” the idea of cooking on vacation, particularly a honeymoon, but if you’d ever tasted EP’s cooking, you’d think twice! We’d still have the luxury of being able to dine out for dinners, but we could just whip up breakfasts or have snacks for those days when we chose to enjoy time indoors (it is our honeymoon after all!!).

Of course, lurking in the back of my mind is London…I know, I’ve been there plenty enough, but EP has never been. I can never get enough of the place! I have always stayed in pretty centrally located hotels in the past but, the pro of including London on the honeymoon itinerary is that we could be a bit more adventurous and maybe find a hotel somewhere else in London. It’s such a huge city, there’s so much to choose from.

Oy, it’s a good thing I have 11 months to decide!!!

Actually, it’s more like Planes, Planes, and Planes! 

A few weeks ago, EP & I booked a spur-of-the-moment trip to Las Vegas for the end of April. Since then, we have found a crapload of deals for all the destinations that we have to go to this year — trip to visit family in DC in June, EP has another trip to Las Vegas in June for cousin’s 50th b-day, trip to NY in July for friend’s wedding, trip to Boston area sometime this fall for MOH wedding, trip(s) to GA this May for niece and cousin’s high school graduations - will drive unless get a Spirit $8 deal on this.

So here’s what we just got:

1) 3 one-way tix to DC for June trip @ $54 each
2) 1 one-way tix to Las Vegas from DC for EP @ $99
3) 1 one-way tix back to Tampa from DC for me @ $54
4) 1 one-way tix back to Tampa from DC for MM (she’s staying for all of June until July 4) @ $61
5) 1 round-trip tix from Tampa to NYC in July @ $0 for me using my SkyMiles

We just found out one of his probable groomsmen is getting married this August, in DC, so that just added another trip for at least 2 of us. This means, we have left to purchase:

6) 1 one-way tix to Tampa from Las Vegas for FH
7) 1 round-trip tix from Tampa to NYC for FH
2-3 round-trip tix from Tampa to DC in August
9) 2 round-trip tix from Tampa to Boston this fall
OY!! This is not a good year for us to decide to fly our arses off! Needless to say, I will have lots of trips to blog about!

Oh goodness! I almost forgot! I have my AVON Walk for Breast Cancer the first weekend in October. I’m going to go cry now…

One place I’ve been to several times and still can’t get enough of is London. There is just so much to do there! I love the variety of the city and its cultural richness. I have been there both with family and alone and I never have to worry about things to do either way. My mother loves to shop! I really enjoy the theatre. And, amazingly, MM just adores visiting the museums and castles and other historical sites.

One thing my mother likes to do when we’ve visited London is to go to Harrod’s and have tea before browsing around. Usually we’ve stayed right near Trafalgar Square when visiting, but it would be much more convenient to actually stay closer to Knightsbridge so we can be right at Harrod’s front door. I don’t think my mother would ever leave London if we did that! Of course, that would mean she’d have to find a reasonably priced hotel so she’d have more money to spend in the stores. My mother’s not one to skimp on comfort though, so it would have to be nice. I found this one, Rembrandt Hotel London,  in Knightsbridge for about 99GBP a night. It would also be ideal for MM because it’s directly across the street from the Victoria & Albert Museum. It’s also close to the Natural History & Science Museums and West End Theatres.

If you want to stay in a little more style, you can always stay at a hotel on Oxford Street. And you can still get your shopping on because there are over 600 stores!!! The Radisson Edwardian Marlborough Hotel London has all the amenities one could possibly want and has rates just over 100GBP per night. This is a great location if you travel to London in January to catch some of their great sales.

Of course, if you’re like me, you may want to shop, but you don’t necessarily want all the crowds and you don’t want to spend a lot on your accomodations. There’s High Street Kensington, which has a more relaxed shopping atmosphere. There are also department stores, which can offer a variety of goods. The hotels in this area are also a lot more affordable. I was able to find one starting at 55GBP per night. I found that, the last time I went on my own, if I spent less on my hotel, then I was free to do a lot of other things. There’s so many different things to do around London, I found I didn’t spend much time in my room anyways.

I think the most important thing to think about when planning a trip to London, or anywhere for that matter, is to figure out what exactly you want out of your trip. Are you there to shop? Do you want to stay in luxury or just need 4 walls and a bed? There are a lot of things to consider before you decide which hotel and area are best for you.

Sponsored by Cheaper Than Hotels

Now that EP and I have gotten engaged, and set a date, dreams of vacations have turned into dreams of honeymoons! I had considered going to Nicaragua and renting a house before, but now that we’re talking honeymoon, there’s no way I’m keeping house! I want to be spoiled. I still think somewhere like Nicaragua would be a neat place to consider for a getaway, but it woud have to be in a hotel if we’re talking honeymoon. Now, instead of searching for houses and other rental properties, I looked for hotels in Nicaragua.

The last time I looked up information about Nicaragua, I found out about a small village - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. I’m the type that, once I get an idea in my head, it won’t get out. In this case, even though I’m changing gears and looking for hotels, the thought of staying in San Juan del Sur is still floating around in my head.

I came across this San Juan del Sur hotel. It looks like something in paradise! It’s not one of those mega-hotels that is the size of a small city. Looking through the pictures, I didn’t see the crowds of people you usually have at most resorts. The pictures of the hotel and ammenities just had a sense of peace and relaxation about them. I can’t wait until we pick an actual location!

Sponsored by www.laposadaazul.com

A friend from college visited the area over Thanksgiving. We had made plans to have dinner together, but she confused her schedule so we did not get a chance to meet up. She did, however, extend an invitation to visit her if ever we were in California. Seeing as I now have three friends that live out in California, it’s becoming closer to reality that we make a trip out there.

Ideally, I would love to rent a San Diego beach house so we can save on cost of food and not eat out every meal. It would also be a great idea if we decided to invite another couple or family to join us and would definitely help on the overall cost of the trip. You know I’m all about finding an alternative to spending tons of money!

While doing a seach on San Diego beach rentals  I found out about Mission Bay so I started also looking into Mission Beach rentals. I’m not too versed on California, but it appears to be a little north of San Diego and more a coastal area which would probably be more my pace than the “big city”. I think it’s time to really start serious planning for next summer’s vacation!

Sponsored by http://www.sdvr.com

Well, we made it home safely from our visit with the family. We got on the road around 5:00 PM Thursday and made it to my father’s house just after midnight. EP made it most of the way to Macon before I took over driving. I was worried at first because I was feeling pretty tired myself, but we stopped for gas and coffee and I was amazingly wide awake once I got behind the wheel.

Friday morning we took our time getting up, having breakfast and getting ready. We spent the early part of the afternoon visiting with my best friend from high school and her family. It was good to see them and just sit back and talk. Unfortunately, there’s so much to catch up on, even a few hours is nowhere near enough time. But still, it was great to sit with them for a while. It was even better to walk through the front door and have their two older girls run up and wrap around my legs yelling “Frenchie!!!” (and yes, they call me ‘Frenchie’)

After leaving their house, we made our way over to my brother’s place. My sister-in-law (SIL) was busy cleaning the house for the arrival of my mother (and for our arrival) and the kids, as usual, were everywhere! I LOVE their home!! We relaxed that evening and just ordered Pizza Hut (which reminds me, I need to submit my complaint to them because it was an AWFUL experience) and watched tv.

Saturday, we were up early to go get my mother from the airport. MAN! Has the Atlanta airport changed, or what? Luckily, we were in and out fairly quickly. The only snag was when we got back to my dad’s side of town, there was a motorcycle parade or something going on, so we got stuck in traffic as cops stopped traffic for, literally,  hundreds of motorcycles! UGH! We visited with my dad for a while then headed back to my brother’s place. EP and I promptly planted ourselves on the couch to watch some college football! He was particularly interested in the SEC Championship game since Tennessee was playing. After the first quarter, we made our way to the Japanese steakhouse where me, EP, mom, brother, SIL, dad, my friend, and her fiance celebrated that most glorious of events (c’mon! If you’ve forgotten already, shame on you!!). I had a great time. After dinner, my dad and my friends went their separate ways and the rest of us stopped at one of my brother’s employee’s house where they were celebrating the christening of their daughter. We left with all these neat keepsakes the mom made which, according to them, is tradition to give to the families that attend.

We left Georgia around noon yesterday and were home by 7:00 PM. We were all pooped, but it was very nice to get up to Georgia to spend some time with my family and friends. Needless to say, my eating this weekend wasn’t stellar. I did do my best, but I came back home two pounds heavier than when I left. I don’t think this week will be any easier with going out to eat with EP’s dad and step-mom and the office holiday party Friday night.

Oh, and yeah, there’s a point to the title of my blog entry…I think I got sick on the trip. My throat has been feeling not-so-happy since yesterday! I don’t want to end up getting sick!!! I escaped it last year when MM & EP both came down with miserable colds when we visited at Christmas. This can’t be my turn!! On top of that, I’m pooped!!

So, we had decided that we would not go anywhere far for Thanksgiving this year because we were tired of constantly being on the go for holidays. Like I told you in my recap of Thanksgiving, we did go over to the other Florida coast to visit EP’s family, but that was only a 2 hour drive. So what do we decide to do the week after Thanksgiving? Drive to Georgia of course!

Turns out my mother will be in Georgia for the week on business, and it just happens to be the weekend prior to the anniversary of the most glorious of events (my birthday of course!!), so EP agreed to load ‘em up and head out!

We leave this evening and will spend the night with my father and probably get some visiting with friends in tomorrow while my Sister-in-Law and Brother are at work. Saturday we’re going out to eat and more friends are joining us to help celebrate the most glorious of events (refer back to the 2nd paragraph in case you’ve already forgotten). Since we’re not going anywhere for Christmas this year, except back over to the other coast, this will be my holiday visit with the family. MM will also get a chance to see her cousins and hang out with them for a day or two.

The point still remains though - I need a real vacation!!! Visiting family does not count!

It would be nice to one day own a vacation home somewhere. I like to keep my mind open and think exotic. There are lots of advertising these days for vacation homes in the U.S. and I hear a lot about people owning vacation homes in Europe or the Caribbean, but I’d prefer to go somewhere different. A friend of mine from years ago was from Central America and she used to tell us how beautiful it is there. How wonderful would it be to own a vacation home somewhere like Nicaragua?

 It’s not as hard as you think. You can find a lot of information on land in Nicaragua if you’re really interested. It’s a country that is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. It’s tropical, like many warm weather destinations that people seek out for vacation homes. And, best of all, it has a lot of history and a rich culture to explore, so you will never run out of things to do if you want to get out and explore.

You don’t necessarily have to buy a property either. You could always choose a vacation rental so that you can explore many parts of the country. For instance, you could choose to vacation in San Juan del Sur, a fishing village on the Pacific coast of Southern Nicaragua on one visit and then find somewhere with a different pace the next time. The options are limitless!

Sponsored by http://www.c21sanjuan.com

Okay, so I’m not talking about rain. But, I am talking about Spain.

It has been a while since I’ve been to Europe, and of the trips that I have taken there, I have never been to Spain. A while back, when my friend Jess and I discussed places we wanted to go together, Spain was tops on my list. Now that I am looking into vacations with El Presidente again, I am dreaming of Spain. I love touring old monuments, museums, ruins, and such when I go on vacation. It’s not all about laying around on the beach. I’ve found so many great places I’d like to visit. For instance, in Caceres, there’s Torre de Bujaco (Bujaco Tower), a 12th century Arab tower. Or there’s Muralla de Avila (Wall of Avila).  I want to be able to plan my trip out ahead of time and figure out which sites I want to visit and where I want to stay. I’m not interested in a group tour and it’s so easy to plan your own itinerary. All I had to do was search for hotels in Spain and I could easily find places to stay that are in or near the cities I want to visit.

On my last trip to Europe, we stayed in one central location and rented a car to tour other areas. Another thought is to stay at a hotel in Madrid and drive to Avila, Caceres, and other towns. I found this place that has nice looking rooms. That also puts us closer to all the wonderful attractions in Madrid. MM always loved to visit the castles on our other trips, so the Royal Palace in Madrid would be a great place for her. Just like other palaces in other major European countries, this one is actually still in use, though not as a residence. El Presidente is the one with a degree in history and a very deep mind, so I think he’d enjoy El Prado Museum with it’s extensive art collection; however it was originally built to be a science museum in the 17th century, so perhaps even my mathematical mind can find something there to keep me entertained. I’ve already scoped out the Botanical Gardens. The Gardens were originally the King’s botanical collection in the 18th century when botany was a royal hobby, but for the past 25 years, it has been a public garden.

If I can demonstrate self control and really save up, I’d love to make this a long trip and stay in Barcelona as well. It’s too far from Madrid to make it a day trip and there’s too much there to do for me to want to cheat myself out of a fair amount of time in that part of the country. One place that I’d love to see is the Temple de la Sagrada Familia. This great building began in 1882 when the first stone was laid. More than a century and a quarter later, the building is still a work in progress. Can you imagine?! Again, to please El Presidente, there’s the Gothic Quarter which has points of interest from the Roman Era all the way through the 20th Century. Oh, and we can’t forget shopping! The Boqueria Market has been around since 1200! Not only can I shop, but I can learn some history as well!

With all the sites we have to see, we may not spend much time at any hotel in Barcelona. Although, this one looks absolutely great!

sponsored by http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.uk/Spain/

I was about to say that it’s been ages since I’d been anywhere, but I forgot that I went to Trinidad this summer for my cousin’s wedding and then went to St. Augustine in August for my one year anniversary with El Presidente. These definitely count as trips, but on the scale of the vacations that I’ve been known to take, these are not in the same category. The trip to Trinidad was definitely a big trip because I had not been there in about 20 years and I got to spend 10 days, but it was family. For those of you who like to travel, you know that a trip to see family just isn’t the same as a vacation. As for St. Augustine, don’t get me wrong, it was definitely a great vacation! El Presidente and I got to spend a weekend together, sans MM! The problem with that trip was that it was way too short! Oh, I almost forgot - I went to Universal Studios Orlando in September with my Girl Scout troop. That definitely does not count as a vacation! I spent 2 hectic days with 7 pre-teen girls in Orlando. Puh-lease! That was as far from a vacation as possible.

What I would love to do is to get back to traveling. We were supposed to go to the DC/Virginia/Maryland area this past May. Even though it was going to include visiting family, there were visits with friends and sightseeing included — enough to constitute a vacation. That got cancelled when I found out that I had to have surgery at the beginning of May and would not be able to travel for at least a month. Hopefully next year we can make that trip. For now, I will have to make do with what we have.

This month, being Thanksgiving and all, we are going to visit family. This year, it is El Presidente’s family. His maternal grandparents live here in Florida, on the “other” coast. At this point, I believe a few of his Aunts and Uncles will be there, too. We’ll hit the road early on Turkey Day (yes, we are crazy!) and cook dinner for the family. I have been assigned to make my Red Velvet Cake, sweet potato souffle (the kind with the brown sugar and pecan topping, not the yucky one with marshmallows and coconut!), and yeast rolls. Those are the only dishes on which I have proven my worth! More than likely, I will make the cake and souffle the night before. I really do not want to drive across the state and start cooking! Although I am looking forward to the trip, I’m sure it will be a hard one. We’re staying the night in a hotel and turning around and coming home that Friday!

It’s this kind of hectic holiday travel that made me swear that we are not going anywhere this Christmas! If I even hint at changing that vow, promptly smack me upside the head!