I’ve finally managed to post the pictures from our Alaskan cruise in August 2009.
The album is available under ‘Photos’ or by clicking here. Enjoy!
Alaska photos now online!
Jan 3rd, 2010 by Paul
The world’s worst travel blogger
Dec 31st, 2009 by Paul
I’ll admit it. I might be the world’s worst blogger.
According to this corner of cyberspace, we seem to still be en route to Minnesota…
That’s a very long trip (since early October)! Actually, I started writing this post in mid-December on another plane flying across the country from Minneapolis to California for a business meeting. And, no, this isn’t that long of a post either.
Anyway, back to the plot line.
We actually had a very nice time in Minnesota during our October visit. I promise that I’ll write about that in the future. For now, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to lately.
What I’ve been up to lately…
I’ve probably been back to the Twin Cities half a dozen times since for business. It’s a busy time in life for me right now. The career is great and exciting, but it’s also somewhat all consuming. That said, I’m not complaining. I’ve had jobs that enabled me to “phone it in” before… and candidly, my interest wanes quickly. No, I’d rather be in the game and running with the ball.
In addition to my work responsibilities, both Libby and I have been focusing a lot on the forthcoming kiddo. I’ve been spending my “free time” on the nursery: painting, adding additional trim, putting furniture together, etc. I have to say, it’s actually all very exciting. D-day (as in delivery day) is quickly approaching… we’re down to 40 days. In many ways, I think this will be “the trip” of a lifetime. We couldn’t be more thrilled, especially as getting here wasn’t exactly easy in our case.
Speaking of travel…
Anyway, back to the subject of the blog at hand: travel.
As readers might recall, we’d booked a cruise aboard the new Niuew Amsterdam while on Holland America in Alaska last summer. The cost was a little high, but the itinerary was pretty good for this inaugural cruise (including San Marino and Montenegro). However, with the high expense of this cruise, I was a little unhappy. So, Libby and I also reserved a space on a Princess cruise of northern Europe (same price, longer, seemingly more countries). Then, we both actually started getting cold feet about leaving the baby. So, we kept the trips booked, but we assumed that we’d probably end up canceling our plans.
This is part of my reason for writing less.
A travel blog is pretty lame when no travel is happening.
Lately, we’ve been reconsidering our position. As I’ve said before, we’re both committed to the idea of traveling together both with and without our child. And, since we have a solid support infrastructure of family at home, there is no practical reason that makes this plan unworkable. We also confirmed with the pediatrician at our pre-natal meeting that this was a sane decision that wouldn’t cause her any short- or long-term harm. So, if the baby is healthy, we’ll take the 7-day HAL cruise out of Venice, Italy.
Why the expensive HAL cruise? First, it’s no longer nearly as expensive (the price dropped 25%). Second, it’s short (we’d be gone for little more than a week – unlike longer trips). Third, I recently learned that there’s an optional excursion from Corfu, Greece to… wait for it… Albania! That’s a total of five new countries in 7 days… at least three of which are fairly exotic/unusual or not conveniently accessible (San Marino, Montenegro, and Albania).
Some resolutions…
Finally, I’m making some New Year’s resolutions (for travel blogging):
- Strive for at least weekly posts going forward.
- Post my reviews of both the Eastern Med (last April!) and Alaska (last August!) by the end of January.
- Post the pictures from the aforementioned cruises too!
- If I get this far, worry about step #5.
Off to Minneapolis…
Oct 7th, 2009 by Paul
We depart for Minneapolis today. I’m going to try to update the blog more as I would for a vacation both to give a sense of my life in Minneapolis when I’m on business and to record the visit with Libby. So, expect daily posts for the next couple of days.
Traveling to the Twin Cities
Sep 20th, 2009 by Paul
I recently confirmed plans for Libby’s first visit to the Twin Cities.
We’ll be departing Tampa on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 7, and returning on Sunday, October 11. Like I usually do, we’ll take direct flights between TPA and MSP. We’ll also be sitting up front, as I managed to book First Class upgrades for both of us using my Delta Platinum Medallion certificates. (Finally, put to use… as I never cash these certificates in when flying solo because I normally get upgraded anyway.)
We’ll stay at my home-away-from-home, the Radisson University Hotel (Minneapolis).
I’m really excited for Libby to (finally) see Minneapolis and meet my co-workers.
Malta in a glass…
Sep 6th, 2009 by Paul
Last weekend, I got to enjoy a little of Malta right here in Tampa.
As a bit of a lark during our visit last March, I picked up a bottle of Maltese wine (Marsovin’s Verdala Rose @ 6 Euro) at a touristy gift shop in the city of Mdina (photo below — the gift shop is located on the side of the building with black shutters).
The winemaker crafted the bottle from something of an unusual collection of locally grown grapes (Shiraz, Grenache, Gellewza, and Sangiovese). Most of these varietals grow throughout the winemaking world. Gellewza, however, is rather uncommon.
Gellewza seems to be an indigenous grape to Malta and described by some as being of the low quality/high quantity sort. Yet, it represents something that is truly Maltese. For that, I cherish it… almost as much I enjoyed being able to share the bottle with a couple of our close friends, Dick and Frank. After all, it’s one thing to drink a wine from some exotic place in the world; it’s entirely another to go there, pick it up, transport it home, and share it with friends.
Travel is all about having experiences. Thus, sharing this new experience with our friends provided an opportunity to travel back to Malta in a small way with them.
Good times.
For the record: the wine was a solidly decent, dry rose. I’m only sorry that I didn’t know about or find a bottle of Cheval Franc: a Maltese wine made from 100% of my most beloved varietal, Cabernet Franc. Good reason to return to Malta.