MADRID!!

Home Sweet Home!!
April led me to Madrid during Semana Santa!

I was invited to speak at an international training about student travel. Of course I jumped at the chance - going to Madrid is like going home for me. I'm a Madrid girl :)

Had decent flights over - straight shot out of Chicago. Made my way to the hotel - great locale - and then headed into center city.
It was SUCH a gorgeous day in Madrid that I wandered thru Retiro Park, saw the Crystal Palace - something new for me.

Hit up Reina Sofia and just spend hours wandering. Rarely do the kids & I get down there to see it, let alone have time to just wandered. Guernica always fascinates me...

Took a stroll thru Puerta del Sol after tapas & sangria in Plaza Mayor.


Real Madrid played Barcelona while we were in Madrid - what a great match! Didn't dare head down to Cibeles for the celebration, but watched much of it on TV. Had to head up to the stadium the next morning.


Here I am with my trusted side-kick, Bob. Red Bus Rules!

Caught a break on the rainy Madrid weather and had a pit stop thru my house...or the Royal Palace. Home sweet Home!

After the grand tour of Madrid, we headed south, in the drizzling rain, to the gorgeous town of Toledo, a walled city surrounded by a moat...gorgeous! Had another fantastic guide, Carlos, and even saw Fernando (he's amazing!). Here's the amazing Red Bus after the skies had cleared up.

A trip to Toledo would not be complete without a stop at the Damascene Factory for some Toledo gold... or to find my knight in shining armor... he's a hard man to track down!!

After our presentation afternoon, we had some free time to wander around... so we headed down to the heart of the city - in the background is the post office/communications building.

Luckily the rains had stopped and we grabbed some yummy Magnum ice cream bars and chilled in Retiro park, people watching... felt sad for the Balloon lady who got run off by the cops since she didn't have a permit.
Fran, Nichole, Courtney & I waiting for Sam near the Fallen Angel statue - one of 3 Satan statues in the world...yet no one knew where the other 2 were located...

We did Flamenco that night - was at a different locale than where we saw it in June. Was amazing! Afterwards, I needed to hit the Hard Rock to pick up a couple gifts...course I couldn't go by myself, so Sam & Bob became my bodyguards and off we went! They're such troopers!!

And, just like that, it was time to go home...or back to the States... Fran was our amazing TD and took such good care of us!
All in all, it was an amazing week in Madrid! Weather was spotty, but tolerable. Met some amazing people on our Rockin' Red Bus and got to talk travel - a girl can't ask for much more!

The amazing Red Bus Staff:

Fran, Bob, Chris, Sam, Courtney, Nichole, & I
Thanks for a great weekend, amigos!

CHINA!!

So, this is a tad late, but I guess better late than never!

This was my first Spring Break trip ever- I know, hard to believe, huh!?!? Well, what a great reason to take a trip but to see the nephews!

My brother was transferred to China in August - my sis-in-law & 2 nephews went over in January to stay for 6 months. Going from seeing them once a week to not seeing them for 6 months was unacceptable, so my cousin Amy & I booked tickets to see them during my Spring Break in March. Above is a picture from the airport - Jack was sooooo excited to see me - Will just kept looking at me, waving & saying "Hi Tep-Tep!" Too cute....


After dropping bags off at our awesome hotel, we hit Hard Rock for dinner and then saw a Chinese acrobatic show - amazing!


Next day we hired a local guide to take us around. We couldn't go into Tienanmen Square because a bunch of big-whigs were in town. We went thru the Forbidden City, which was so informative having a guide take us thru...and no one got lost this time! :)

Weather was a complete 180 from July. July was miserably hot & humid - lots of sweat. March - quite chilly - even saw a frozen waterfall. Froze going up the Great Wall, so sadly didn't ride the luge down...next time!

Got to visit the boys' school. They both attend an International School. Jack was having lunch when we went to get Will - he was one of the few without noodles for lunch - lol :)

Jack's birthday is May 16, but we celebrated on March 16. No birthday is complete without a cake & candles. :) I brough a whole suitcase full of goodies for the boys - it was like Christmas! :)

Just like at home, we kicked Eric & Lori out so we could have date night... and no date night is complete without Pizza!!! (although we had to pay for the taxi ride for the delivery girl - weird!)

One afternoon we went for leg massages...heavenly... they started with this warm tea bath, followed by a scalp massage and then the leg/foot massage...sigh...

We did a city tour of Beijing - hit Olympic Park, Birds Nest, Water Cube - places I missed in July.

A trip to China would not be complete without some shopping. Behind that door on the left was a shoppers paradise: purses, Ugs, CDs, etc... They only let in foreigners - not sure if they're knock-offs or if they 'fell' off the truck...who cares - I got a nice Coach for $15 - Lori stocked up.

Our last stop was Temple of Heave Park - it is so much bigger than when I was there in July. We had time to wander this time - was a gorgeous, peaceful place. We would have stayed longer, but we had to get out of the city. Beijing regulates who can drive in the city and on what days. Friday was the day we had to be out by 5 pm.

Was sad to say good bye to the boys, but they'll be back in June. Sadly they come home two days after I leave for Europe, so won't see them until the end of June. No worries - we'll make up for lost time. Aunt Steph dates nights to the rescue!!


Since I have Premier Executive status with United, we got free passes into the business class lounge - yeah, that's how I roll!! :)

What an awesome trip! Here's my great travel companion, Cousin Amy!

Portland, OR

Welcome to Portland!!

Used some frequent flyer miles to head out to Portland over the President's day weekend... gotta keep the streak alive! By no real planning of my own, I realized this past fall that I have flown somewhere every month of the school year... and actually since June, '10. I've been quite blessed & lucky that all these amazing adventures have come my way, so I figured I'd better keep the streak alive - February = Portland.

Had nice flights out early Saturday thru Chicago and then to Portland. My friend, Sarah and her mom Judy, picked me up at the airport. We headed to their place and then for a tour of the city & some lunch. As we made our way downtown, this is the first picture I took.... Keep Portland weird!

Next we headed to Voodoo Donuts - a Portland classic. We stood in line for 2.5 hrs for these donuts - YUMMY!! We got the No Name (chocolate frostening, Rice Krispies, drizzled w/PB), Bacon Maple (maple frostening w/bacon), and Old Dirty Bastard (chocolate frostening, Oreos, drizzled w/PB)....wow!!!

Did you know it was illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon?!!?

Sunday we took off for a scenic drive along the Gorge.

Along the way, we stopped at quite a few beautiful waterfalls. Our main destination was below, Multnomah Falls... gorgeous!! We walked up to the bridge for a close-up view of the falls...amazing!

Overall, it was a great weekend...too short as most good weekends go, but was nice to get away to a beautiful locale and spend time with good friends, good food, and many laughs!

This was my view of Mt Hood & Mount St Helen's as I flew out of PDX.... gorgeous snowcaps!

Last Day...full of goodbyes!

Sadly, the last day is finally here...not a big fan of good-byes, so it'll be 'see ya later's' from me!

We headed out to see 2 more Emirate cities today: Sharjah & Ajman. Hit the Blue Souk in Sharjah - what a beautiful city with a river & a coast!

We then headed back to Conrete Jungle and went to the Dubai mall. Yes, I was just here last night, but now we had some wander-around time...and photos. Course I had to take my pic wtih the Burj - it will definitely hold specialy memories after last night!

The mall is 4 floors, huge... even has an aquarium that costs about $17 to go thru the tunnel and you could even swim in there too...huge!

Caught a cab back to the hotel for our farewell dinner. Amazing how quickly the 104+ hours can fly by, but yet feel like we were here forever. It's been an amazing week full of new friends and definitely new places!

Helping make this a great time were the EF StafF: Ennie, Matt, Amy, Thea & Brandi!

Many thanks to out to them - great times!!

Also, many thanks to the new friends I made (pictured below).

I hope that our paths cross again soon!!

One group just set off to the airport at 11 pm for their 1:30 a.m. flight. Mine departs at 8:30 a.m. and I have a 5 am bus transfere. REALLY wish I was on United the whole way since this trip just bumped me up to Premier Executive!!! Yippee!!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this long weekend in a place I would have never envisioned being able to visit. It's been quite eye-opening, exciting, awe-inspiring, amazing, memorable time. I'm not looking forward to my 24 hr journey back home nor my lovely Monday inservice, but Work Hard, Play Hard!!

Will be in touch in March, if not before, as I will be spending my Spring Break in China with my nephews ... and Eric & Lori too! :)

Hugs to all - thanks for reading & responding - love it!

~steph :

Most Amazing New Years EVER!!!

Well, today goes on record as being one of the most memorable days ever!! What a way to spend a New Years!

So, today we headed out of town for a bit to the East Coast to Bitnah, Fujairah, and Khorfakkan. All the oil refineries and off shore tankers were unreal... the pipelines were everywhere. It was nice to get out of the Concrete Jungle and see what more this penninsula has to offer. The rugged mountains and gorgeous coastline were such a sharp contrast to Dubai.

A couple highlights included dipping my toes in the Arabian Sea...

...and also in the Indian Ocean.

We headed back to Dubai after our excursion. Since it's a big holiday, and Friday/Saturday is their weekend, there was a bit of traffic. We had time to change before heading out for New Years. Our evening festivities were happening at a restaurant, Zeta, located in a hotel balcony directly across from the Burj Khalifa - perfect locale for watching the evening events. After 4 courses of exquisite (but very little) food, the clock struck midnight. There was no countdown, but lots of activity. First off was a water/light show, pictured below. It's similar to the one in Vegas.

Then the fireworks started... as you can see they came from all over the place... from the marina off to the side, but more importantly up and down off the Burj Khalifa. The most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen. I'm sure it's on YouTube that you could find it. Unreal...and surreal all at once. Sadly no other New Years Eve will come close to this experience and I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to see this... definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I soon will not forget!!

Happy New Years to all! May it be a great 2011!!

Abu Dhabi, 4x4 and Camels

Another amazing day here in the United Arab Emirates!
We started off with a very productive morning of convention time - and then went crazy afterwards.
Another teacher took the initiative and for $20, we went (quickly) to Abu Dhabi to see the world's 3rd largest mosque, pictured below.

Was such an amazing place - I had NO idea what we were going to see -just had heard about it & about Abu Dhabi, that's it...blind faith I paid my $20 and got in the back of a small van with 13 others and south we went. Was about an 80 min van ride to get to this place... as you can see from the pics, it's HUGE... and it's not done! All the women had to dress in garb, no matter if you already had elbows, shoulders & knees covered (see pic above). Was weird 'posing' as a muslim, but went with it... what an amazing place, so new, so clean, so white, so massive!! Did a quick tour around the outside and back north we went...soooo glad I went - it was amazing!

Had enough time to come back before heading out in our 4x4 jeeps to the camel farm. So, our vehicle was a Toyota Land Cruiser - was in the back again. Our driver, Nourmand, took us for a ride - it was AMAZING! Thru the sand dunes we went, slip sliding along the way. Someone must have told him to go crazy on ours cuz he sure did. Was not something for the faint of hear... or stomach... a handful felt quite ill afterwards.

We got to stop again to see this sunset... gorgeous! Love seeing the rays coming directly out of the sun, just over hte desert horizon.

We ended at a Beoduim camp, ride camels, drank coffee/tea, had a great dinner, saw belly dancers, some people got Hennas, some smoked hookas... was a gorgeous night in the desert. A bit chilly, but toelrable... and by chilly I mean low 60s/upper 50s... perfect!

Such an adventurous day full of surprises and lots of laughter & fun... This place never ceases to amaze me!!

Tomorrow we're off to the East Coast, then back for New Years celebration - can hardly wait!!

Hoping to get some great fireworks shots, so stay tuned!!

Happy New Years to all!!

Hugs

City of Contrasts

What a day in Dubai! I think we saw it all in a span of the day!

We started our day at the Souks: Spice & Gold. Took a water taxi to the spice souk - similar to Venice, just motorized. Was a bit more civilized than the markets in Tunisia & Morocco, but they were pushy and peristent, but it was all clean and didn't smell bad. Did have a SATC2 situation going into a shop - felt like the forbidden experience, but we got ourselves out of there and tried to wind our way out of that market. Saw the oldest mosque... built in 1976, so not all that old.

We then headed into 'old' Dubai with the world's largest tower, pictured below. We first did a drive by and headed to 'new' Dubai. Saw the palm fronds, where the Atlantis hotel is located, saw the 'world' sand dunes. Headed back to 'old' Dubai to go to the Dubai mall. The tower is located there. You have to go into the mall, cut across to get to the base of the tower. Takes you up the 100+ floors in 60 seconds. No, your stomach doesn't go up into your throat, but your ears sure do pop.

From the tower you could see for miles and miles... seeing all the sand was fascinating because we're in this big city and don't even think about it being in a desert. You can see the palm fronds much better and Atlantis, the horsetrack, etc.... Absolutely amazing to see Dubai from up there. At night it's all lit up and someone said it sparkles on the hour... will have to see that to believe it myself.

Coolest part we found out is that this is where we're doing our New Year's Eve celebration, near the tower!!! They've already started putting up the mechanisms for all the fireworks... holy cow!!

After a super quick lunch of hamburger nuggets (long story), we headed out to see the 7 star hotel. (pictured below). You apparently cannot even go into the lobby to see it - it's gated off. I heard it's $110 for a 7-course lunch and you cannot take any pictures at lunch to 'protect the privacy of the patrons.' Guess Tiger would stay there...I'm sure not with his wife...

Our last stop today was the Emirates mall... unreal! We literally had 30 minutes here so off to check out Ski Dubai we went. Literally it's mini-Switzerland indoors. Everyone is bundled up and you can ski, snowboard, tube and even Zorb, in the snow. Unreal... Someone said it was 10 degrees (maybe less).

Our last activity of the day was a dinner cruise on the 'creek'. so peaceful and relaxing - wish we could have sat outside. Duabi is cracking down on the booze - no alcohol unless it's from a hotel. Only hotels are allowed liquor licenses, so nada on the boat :( But we'll def have it for New Years. Not that we're all into getting sloshed, but a glass at wine is usually nice.

If I had to describe Dubai, it's a city of contrasts. You can see the Muslim culture/language, etc... but then you see A LOT of english, even Christmas trees, Christmas music, Christmas displays... The other thing you notice is the extravagance & wealth - almost sickening - the construction out on the Palm - a Trump tower coming soon - a night at the Atlantis is $35k. Saw Ferraris, even a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Jaquars... craziness. So, it's been hard to get a feel for this city that seems to be fighting their muslim roots to maybe please the 80% ex-pats that live here. The money/wealth is a bit hard to swallow too... that if they want something, like skiing in snow, in a desert, they just build it... needless to say it's just been a fascinating day, that's for sure!

Tomorrow will be another amazing day - we have convention in the a.m. and someone got a wild hair to go to Abu Dhabi, so we found a company to takes us there & back for $20/each. Then, we're off in 4x4 jeeps to the camel farm and the dunes before a BBQ dinner in the desert... I know, craziness, right?!?! That's how I feel too - a bit overwhelmed and not sure what to feel, but excited for what the next day will bring, and the next... and the next...

Oh, and btw... weather today was sunny, one piddly little cloud in the sky - upper 70s... heavenly.

Stay warm my friends!

Hugs