Author Archives: windcityf

Australia-take-2-November-2015-part-4

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Country 49 for me……

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FIJI…..

It was just what I needed after all that sightseeing and traveling around Australia. A few lazy days at the beach in Fiji.

This is about the extent of my pictures…

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I was too busy relaxing and soaking up the island life to take pictures. Sorry.

If Fiji is on your list, you should visit. It’s really a beautiful place. The local people are so welcoming and friendly.  The weather is just perfect, they have the most amazing sea breezes that you don’t even notice that it’s 31 c/ 88 f.

Thankfully, my travel home was uneventful. On a cool note, Vince Vaughn was on my flight home. And yes had that awkward moment, where I was like Oh Hi, and he just laughed because I then realized who I was saying Hi too…..

That concludes Australia Take 2. Until next time safe travels!

Australia Take-2, November 2015 Part 3

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After a quick visit in Melbourne, it was time for me to move on to the next destination on my trip, Brisbane. Brisbane is 3rd largest city in Australia. It’s located north of Sydney, in the state of Queensland.  It’s also the only state in Australia where you can legally hold a Koala.

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I did the typical tourist activities in Brisbane, including a visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Where you too can hold a Koala. Or just check out the ones just hanging out.

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Or feed some seriously lazy kangaroo’s…..

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Brisbane city itself does not have many tourist attractions, but there a lot to see close by. Including the amazing beaches on the Gold Coast, wineries and rain forests.

I enjoyed my time in Brisbane, it was interesting. The weather was much nicer then Melbourne. It’s funny though, the locals were like it’s so humid. Being a Chicago gal, I kept making faces. Saying really? This is bad? It was delightful to me.

Alas, it was time for the final leg of my trip. And no, for those of you wondering, I was not headed to Perth to see Sam Smith. I thought about it but opted for the a more relaxed destination.  And well my 49th country…..

Stay tuned to find out where…….

Australia Take-2, November 2015-Part 2

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I am always amazed at my ability to sleep after having crossed multiple time zones. I rarely get jet lag but boy do I get food lag. I quickly got over that on my first morning.

I had the most amazing croissant, outside of Europe, for breakfast. And well it’s no surprise the coffee was unbelievable, given that I was in the coffee capital of the world. And don’t get me started on the bread. I forgive Australia for not having proper bacon, only because their bread is insane.

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Properly sated, I headed out for a day trip down to the Mornington Peninsula with Melbourne Coastal Tours. I choose this tour company because they are geared to small group, maximum 11 people. We visited a a goat farm, several wineries and a strawberry farm. It was an amazing day.  I was lucky enough to meet Jackie and Sue, who were in Melbourne celebrating Jackie’s birthday.  New friends, blue skies and wine, who could ask for more?

 

When I returned to my hotel, my bag was still not there…….. Apparently it had arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning, but had to clear customs and it was too late for it get a flight to Melbourne. UGH!

The next day I headed out on the Great Ocean Road Tour.   It made a long day, but it was so worth it. We made several stops along the way. A lot of scenic look outs, koalas in the tree’s, kangaroo’s in the wild and cheeky birds that would just land on your head

 

  

And when I arrived back at the hotel, my bag finally decided to grace me with it’s presence. Just in time for me to head up to Brisbane. Stay tuned for Part 3

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Australia-Take 2, November 2015

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After my previous trip in April, you have to wonder why would I go back to Australia again so soon. 2 words, Fare Sale….

It’s not a huge secret, that I like to travel over Thanksgiving weekend. Normally I head over to Europe, to enjoy the Christmas Markets. This year for various reasons, I decided to switch it up. But don’t worry, I will still be getting in my Christmas Market fix.

It’s also not a huge secret that I am sucker for a coupon.  Yes I realize you do not really save money by spending money on something you did not need in the first place. So long story short, I had a coupon for Qantas and they just happen to have a fare sale.  And look at that I am booked to go back to Australia.

I was actually on the fence if I was actually going to go thru with the actual trip.  Just as I was considering cancelling, American Airlines, announced a promotion in which I could fast track to Gold, Platinum or Executive Platinum for about 1/4 of the normal requirements.  You all know how much I love my Star Alliance,  but I was already cheating on them by flying Qantas. So I figured I would make it a full on affair, and go for the status on American.

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It turned out, my flights to and from Sydney would give me Executive Platinum status. So in the end the decision was made for me,  I was going on this trip.

On day of departure, I was so proud of myself, for being so organized. I got everything into 1 suitcase and 1 carry on bag. Since my tickets were not linked, I booked a early then needed flight to LA on American. I had a 4 hour layover, so I made plans to meet up with a friend for dinner. Of course as luck would have it on day of departure, Chicago had some impressive thunderstorms.

Surprisingly there was no line for TSA Pre-Check, they must all be flying United. I made my way to the lounge to see my flight was now delayed til 5.30. About 30 minutes later another alert, now 6.40. Uh oh, I was now in danger zone with my connection in LA.

My flight finally boarded around 6. I am not sure what time we took off. What I do know is that since I was scheduled for 3:30pm departure I had not eaten lunch. And well you know that the food options in the US lounges is not an option. With all the running around I sort of forgot to eat.  #TRAVELFAIL-1. When we were finally departing, I realized I was a bit hungry, oops. My only food option was Kale and Spinach Pasta, which if you recall my Boston trip, I am not a fan of spinach. So I barely ate. I feel asleep and woke up to my blood sugar taking a dive. And no I am not diabetic, just stupid.  This has happened to me a few times before. First time on a flight to LA, where I actually fainted in the aisle. It also happened on my last American Airlines flight in 2011, in which the cranky flight attendant refused to give me water. Clearly, the fault is mine, I need to eat more when I am traveling.

I did make my flight to LA, with about 5 minutes to spare. There were about 10 people connecting on to Australia on my flight, so when our Qantas was delayed a few minutes I thought it was for our bags to be loaded. Until we arrived in Sydney, and the dreaded passenger blah, blah and Flo, please see an agent….

My bag did not make my flight to Sydney, nor did it make the flight that left and hour later. It was still in LA. I was told it was on the next flight to Sydney and it would arrive the next day. Except I was fly down to Melbourne. No worries, they would put it on the next flight and deliver it my hotel.

No problem, except I was traveling light. No back up clothes in my carry on. #TRAVELFAIL-2

Travel Tip-if you are going to be foolish enough to check a bag with out any back up clothes in your carry on, be smart enough to know your sizes in whatever country you are visiting. Also if you are going to Asia, just don’t check a bag. NOTHING will fit you. And I say that with love. You maybe an Extra Small in the US, you probably will not fit Extra Large in Asia. You’ve been warned.

Qantas did give me an emergency cash card to go shopping.  Apparently Australian sizes are “real” sizes.  They are 2 size bigger then US. So a US women’s size 6 is a 10 in Australia. Shopping for me was traumatic. First off, it’s summer in Australia so the stores were full of summer dresses and t-shirts. Which would have been ok if I had stayed in Sydney, where it was 40c/104F weather. But I was in Melbourne and it was 19c/66F.

I tried Target first. Yes, Mandy, Target is in Australia. I got some basics, but no clothes. Next I hit Myer, which is like a Macy’s in the States. After 20 minutes of wondering around, a nice Sales Associate took pity on me. She found me a simple white t-shirt and some black leggings. 2 sizes 2 small!  And that simple white t-shirt, $89 Australian dollars or about $65 US. It’s a wonder that Australian’s bring empty suitcases with them to the States when they travel.

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I admit I probably should have taken a nap before I went shopping. I might have actually thought about what I needed. Like socks, pajamas, toiletries. It was only after I got back to the hotel did I realize I needed more then I purchased. Luckily the hotel could provide the basic toiletries, including a hairbrush. Well I broke the brush in my hair. I have since decided that my toiletry bag will always fly with my in my carry one.

Stay tuned for Part 2, Melbourne.

 

Raleigh, North Carolina- October 2015

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You ever have one of those days were you just wake up on the wrong side of bed and yet your day turns out to be so crazy you can’t even remember why you were cranky in the first place?

I never thought that I would met a really nice guy (he had me a Tumi), pick out a ring, go to a chapel and find a reverend. All on the same day that did not start out so well.

I woke up insanely early for a Saturday morning. I was excited to see my friend, Michelle, but I was uber cranky about having to actually go to the airport.  I usually take the back roads to the airport, but for some odd reason I took the expressway. It’s not a secret I have a lead foot. BUT the lovely truck drivers on 290 thought better of allowing me to use it. Turns out they were ALL doing me a favor. There were like 20 police officers pulling people over right and left. I have to admit my mood increased a bit, and I thanked God for for those truckers.

Of course the line for TSA Pre Check is about 100 deep.

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I finally cleared security in Terminal One and go to look at what gate I am leaving out of. Terminal 2, F19. Seriously?

About an hour later, I get to my gate and plop down and decide to catch up with what was going on in the world via Twitter. One of the travel bloggers I followed,OneMileataTime posted about being a flight with a celebrity.  Well boy was I surprised when I say that same celebrity walking down the terminal to my gate. I did a double take at first, because I was reading a blog about said celebrity and here he was right in front of me. I turned to the lady sitting next to me and just said “how strange is this”.  There was a little boarding area bonding with other passengers as we waited to board. It should be noted, said celebrity was using a “flip” phone. But I must say what baffled many of us was that this was a United Airlines EXPRESS flight. There was no first class, just crammed together coach seats.  I am pretty sure I had one of the better seats on the plane, 1A, so we were all curious to know where he was sitting. 5A for those of you interested.

It was during these conversations when my eyes discovered some “candy”, by candy I mean nice Tumi suitcase,being used the Nice Guy.  As easily distracted as I was by the bag, I was soon pulled back to reality when they announced boarding. I was going to run on the plane, even though I had no carry on bags  so I could get some spy photos of the celebrity. Well turns out while I was oggling the Tumi, I missed the celebrity boarding the plane.

Since I was in the bulkhead, I had asked the flight attendant if she had room in the closet for my purse. And then I said, Where is he? (Yes, it’s a creepy as it reads) She said 5A but he’s going to move. So I sat down to plot my next move. Well divine intervention worked in my favor. 5A had his bag in the closet and needed something so up the aisle he came. I said “Sir, would you like my seat?” **It should be noted, I used my full “Flo” smile. He turned smiled at me, put out his hand and said “It’s nice to see you”.  Well, forgot the spy photo. I asked if I could take a picture, he said sure but only with you. And this is how I found the Reverend.

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After we landed I headed downstairs to wait for Michelle. She was about 10 minutes out so I just took a seat. Well the nice lady I had been chatting with in Chicago came up to me and said did you notice the other celebrity on the flight? I said no, wait who? She showed me a picture, it was Tumi Man……. I am not proud of what I did next. I proceed to walk over to the baggage claim carousel. Yes, I was on a day trip, so no I did not check any bags. I asked my new friend to confirm that Tumi Man was one and the same and she said yes.  I then proceed to march right up to him and admit that A. I had not checked bags, and B. Is he a celebrity, when’s he not being good looking Tumi man? and C. Could I take a picture?  I must say he’s a good sport, that or he saw the crazy in my eyes and decided it was safer to just play along.

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Of course now that I found the Reverend and a M an with great taste in luggage, it was on to the next stop. The Chapel of course, Duke Chapel.

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All that was left at this point was to pick out some some rings! Thank you, Sara at Hamilton Hill.

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Who knew I could accomplish so much in 1 day? I had a wonderful time visiting with Michelle. It was great afternoon, the kind with beautiful weather, good food and of course great company. We ended the afternoon visiting Duke Gardens, where ironically we found a wedding.

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And then back to reality, no celebrities and cranky flight attendants.

In case you do not recognize the celebrities, that would be Reverend Jesse Jackson and Tumi Man, Jay Williams.

And here are some  photo’s of my attempts of being paparazzi….

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Clearly I need to work my spy photo’s. Maybe a new camera? Any suggestions?

Until next time, Safe Travels.

Budapest, Hungary September 2015

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I sometimes think I need to record the conversations I have with my friends. My friend Katy and I were talking about meeting up to hangout for a weekend. Katy originally offered to fly to the States and then I offered to fly to Scotland. We talked about meeting in the middle and yet somehow, we ended up in Budapest…….

We stayed at the Hilton Budapest in the Royal Castle District on the Buda side. It’s an amazing hotel, a great location on the Buda side.I had arrived early morning after having taken the early United flight to Frankfurt. I took the Hop On Hop Off Bus to get a feel of Budapest. I should mention, it was really hot that day, 33 c or 90 f, so the bus was really my only option. I was quite surprised about how spread out Budapest is.

Buda and Pest make up Budapest. They are divided by the Danube river. During World World II, a lot of the bridges that connect the 2 sides were destroyed.  Budapest has an amazing history.

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I headed back to hotel to do a little work and wait for Katy. Lucky for me, the hotel received the memo of my arrival and had my favorite snacks waiting with an nice view as well……

IMG_5262I personally think every opportunity to celebrate life with friends, should be marked with champagne. Well champagne and Garrett’s Popcorn…..

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We had quite an enjoyable evening in the lounge at the Hilton. I would like to say we behaved and went to better early, but that’s not how the adventures of Flo and Katy go….

We met a lovely couple, Erin and Jake, from Portland, Oregon, who were on their honeymoon thru Eastern Europe. It was great fun talking with them. As it turns out Erin is a photographer,check out her work here.  We tried to convince her that she should be the photographer at my birthday party next year. Poor Jake and Erin mentioned the hotel had sent some champagne to their room. Of course, they had Katy and I at champagne, so we crashed the honeymoon suite. Another epic night in adventures of Flo and Katy.

I would lying if I said it was not a bit rough getting up the next day. Thankfully it was not as hot as the previous day. Katy has this silly idea that we are going gorilla trekking, so we need to train. And by training she meant, we had to walk down the lovely mountain our hotel was on top of. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. We walked and walked until we reached the Central Market. Where we enjoyed the one thing I specifically said I was forbidden to eat, Langos…..

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It was well enjoyed. I think the trick is not eat a whole one yourself or at least not after gallons of gluhwein.

Our next stop the Icebar. Which was great because it was starting to warm up a bit. Basically you pay to go into a freezer with ice furniture to drink out of glasses made of ice.

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By the time we came out of the deep freeze, we noticed how warm it was outside. So we decided to check out the famous thermal baths at Széchenyi Thermal Baths. It has 3 outdoor baths and 15 indoor ones. It was an experience. I am glad we tried it, but I can say I don’t think I need to try it again. I am every so thankful that we went during the day. I know that I would not have been able to handle the evening event, Sparty Hedonism. We entered the first pool, which was full of a somewhat older crowd. We soon found out why. It was one with jets.  I never seen older people move so fast or be so agressive over jets. We learned our lesson and moved to the side, or so we tried until an older lady decided she wanted to stand where poor Katy was standing and just pushed her out of the way. The whole situation was just so bizarre. The highlight was probably the little old man that was eyeing me. I just laughed it off at first, until he was standing a little to close to me. That was my cue, pool time over.

That evening we headed out on the Buda side for a traditional Hungarian meal. Ghoulash and Stuffed Cabbage and of course more Hungarian wine and beer.

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We then ran off to catch a boat cruise along the Danube. We timed to perfectly to catch the sun set.

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And then it was time for me to head home….  I had a fantastic time, as always, with Katy. I am sure there will be many of adventures ahead. I am happy to report my wallet survived with very little damage, my liver on the other hand, well…..

Until next time… Safe Travels

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Travel Tips September 2015 Verison

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You would think given the amount that I travel that I would have my travel strategies locked down, some sort of organized way to travel. The answer is NOPE……

(This blog is for my family and friends to share my experiences. I am not advertising for any of the products I link to and no I am not making money off of the clicks. I just find them useful and thought I would share.)

I personally believe every repetitive activity should re-evaluated every now and then, because technology and products change. There maybe something to improve you process. So this is my updated list of 2015 travel tips.

Good Suitcase- it was clear when I flew to Australia earlier this year that I was not going to be able to pack just carry on. So I did what I had to do

IMG_4336Yes I realize, now, that it would have been easier if I had just bought 1 bigger bag. The current carry on limits are 9 inches x 14 inches x 22 inches (22 cm x 35 cm x 56 cm), including handles and wheels. (Check with your airline, before travel). The international airlines, especially the ones I encounter in Europe, are really strict with this limits. Since I’ve started talking longer trips, I decided it might make sense to invest in bigger piece that I could actually check it.  So I began my research into the land of luggage.  I learned that “20” and “22” equals a “26“. Thank you to Sharon, the manager at Tumi Oakbrook store, for giving me that piece of luggage wisdom. It’s based on the capacity of what each bag can hold.

Internet- I normally like be unconnected when I travel. I received a Skyroam as a gift and it’s been a nice edition to my travel bag. It’s great for short trips or trips that span multiple countries. It’s $10 day or $8 if you buy a pack of 5. It gives you unlimited data for 24 hours to up to 5 devices. It only has a 8 hour battery, but if you are a travel pro you’ll have a back up battery and if not, keep reading.

Back-Up Power- I originally purchased a brick of a power pack. Then I realized I still needed the power cord until I found this one. It’s perfect, the cords are built in and it’s light weight. This should be a staple in everyone’s travel bag.

Travel Bags-  I love me some Longchamp totes (maybe a little too much). They are ideal for travel, because they can fold up. I also swear by PacSafe bags. They are great for places known for pickpockets, like Rome or Barcelona. You should find a bag that is functional for you that meets your travel needs. I have several bags, I know big surprise, in various sizes to suit my various travels.

Entertainment- If you have Amazon Prime, you can now download movies and tv shows to watch later. It appears it for mobile devices only as of now. I just finished watching the first season of The Royals.  It was actually more interesting then I thought it would be. I now working my way thru season 1 of Unreal, I am only on episode 3, so I will report back.

Socks– it’s getting to be sock season here in Chicago. The last think you want when you have to take off your shoes for security is to have holes in your socks. So do yourself a favor, clean out your sock drawer. Apparently I am a recovering sock hoarder. I just cleaned out my sock drawer. There will be no holey socks in my near future.

Dual Voltage- must current electronics are dual voltage. I did not realize you are not supposed to use your heating electronics ( hair dryer, flat iron, etc.) with a converter. To avoid blowing up your blow dryer ( which I did in Australia) make sure your items are dual voltage.

Shoes- invest in a good pair of travel shoes. There is nothing worse your feet hurting from trying to be cute when you travel. Study and safe are your friend. I wore new sandals in Paris this summer, they were thrown away when I got to Italy. There was just no coming back from that pain.

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I may not be winning any fashion awards with this get up, but my feet were quite thankful.

Online Back Up- in this digital age that we live in, we really should have a good online back up. I apparently have several. I realized that is a good and bad thing. You may want to organize your back up system and set it up to auto back up. This way those great photos you take on your phone will auto sync to the “cloud” somewhere and if something happens to your phone, you still have your pictures. I will be taking my own advice this week, I realize my “cloud” is scattered over several continents.

Bag for the Plane- In the last year, I’ve 2 ipods and a Kindle on my flights. I got the Kindle back, but the ipod’s were eaten by the lovely seats on United Airlines. So bought I a SeatPak ( in my defense I had a coupon). I had previously tried using one of the bags from an amenity kit, but it was like a black hole. I am hoping my new SeatPak will keep me organized on my next flight, no more lost Kindles.

Toiletry Bag- I am pretty sure I have 5 mini tubes of toothpaste in my toiletry bag. I really need to clean out my bag. And replace the stuff that need to be replaced. Like hair ties, I buy them in packs of 20, you know the ones for $.99? I can never find one when I need one? How is that possible? So after you finish with the sock drawer, maybe do an inventory of your toiletry bag.

Well I am off to clean out my toiletry bag and pack for my next adventure….. heading to see my friend Katy…. which is just dangerous for my liver and my wallet. Stay tuned ………. Until next time safe travels!

Vancouver, Canada September 2015

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A few months ago, I was having an argument with a friend on pronunciation, you know the tomato-potato one. Of course it was an argument with no end, until I said how do you pronounce that country that is north of the United States? KAN NU DUH ( Canada) ? I said no I say CA-NA-DA….  Good luck getting that out of your head.

Vancouver has been on my list for years and with the long holiday weekend, it was a great excuse to finally visit.

I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, which is located in the Downtown area.  Vancouver is quite tourist friendly. They have great street maps every few blocks that highlight the different areas and gives you a general idea of how long it would take to walk somewhere. I took adventure of the dry weather and walked. I checked out Chinatown and Gastown, including the famous steam clock. It really was a beautiful day.

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It had a crazy few days for me before leaving on this trip. So crazy I forgot my camera, (I took pics with my phone), I almost forgot my passport and I did not pack properly for the weather.  In my defense, it was quite hot in Chicago and I could not imagine that I would need hat and gloves.  So to alleviate some of the craziness, I booked a spa treatment at Life Luxe Spa. I had an amazing experience. I highly recommend it.

The next day I went in search of Willy. While I did not find Willy, I found some of his cousins.

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Whale watching is interesting. I would akin it to safari. You spend a lot of time traveling for a few moments of reward. It was worth it to me, but I see why it would not be for everyone. There was a group of about 25 and we had an open air boat. So we had to wear anti-exposure suits, which you need because it can get quite chilly.  I was worried about getting seasick, but I was did ok. I would not recommend drinking a lot of fluids prior or while on board. Remember, you have to wear the anti-exposure suit, and while there was facilities on the boat, yeah well, you were warned. I choose to go with  Wild Whales Vancouver, because they leave from Granville Island.  After sitting on a boat for 7 hours, I was happy to be on land. So I toured around the island. They have a fun public market and lots of cute little boutiques and food stands. And loads and loads of tourist.

The next day, I headed to Stanley Park. It was an easy walk from my hotel. I walked around the seawall a bit, but it’s like 9km’s, so I opted to take a tour around instead. I lucked out again in the weather department.

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I really enjoy visiting Vancouver. I would definitely recommend it. I don’t think a few days really does it justice as there is so much more to do and see.  I am sure I will be back again, if only to get a better shot of Willy or his cousins.

On a not so funny note, I managed to leave my Kindle on the plane. I am actually surprised, given the amount of travel that I do that I don’t lose stuff more often. I did file a claim, so hopefully it will resurface.
If only I had brought my new SeatPak with me………

Until my next adventures- Safe Travels…..

 

 

 

Where will I go next? July, 2015

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As most of you already know, I am on the quest for 50 before 40. I have not doubt in my ability to hit 50, but I am wondering where to next?

According my calculations, I am on 47. So where will 48, 49 and 50 be?

I just booked a ticket to return to Australia. I realized that I am not helping my quest with returning the same places. But stay tuned, fun news about Australia to follow soon.

So after locking down a few appointments, I realized I have some extra days available on this trip to just relax for a few days. I know Flo, Vacation, Relax, don’t normally fit into the same sentence.

My flight from the States (long haul) lands me in Sydney. I will be heading to Brisbane for a few days, but I don’t need to head there immediately. So I figured it would be best to catch a flight from Sydney to somewhere. Off to Google Flights I go. If you are not familiar with Google flights, I apologize now. If you are like me, you will spend hours just playing on it looking at flights, you will probably never take.

*** Side note: Google Flights is great for looking at flight possibilities. If you know your Departure City, you can leave the Arrival City blank.  You can also choose from the various drop downs. I always choose first class, even though I am flying economy, because you just never know,and that economy ticket looks like a bargain compared to first class.

So I entered my departure city as Sydney and only parameter, non-stop. And GO.

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Loads of options!

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Since I am trying to add to my country count, I decided to check out the islands. Well did you know, most of them over “owned” by someone? How much fun it must have been back in the day, sailing the world, finding an island, and saying oh I think I’ll claim this for France or Spain or Portugal.

I am going off the United Nations list of countries for my count. So I am using their map to track. I’ve highlighted the countries I’ve been to in yellow.

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Looks like I need to study up on some South Pacific Islands. Any suggestions on where I should go?

Stay tuned for how this adventure unfolds……

South of France-July 2015

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Record Heat Wave hits Europe….. Of course the year that I decide to break my own travel rule.

A few years ago, I decided that I would travel on my birthday. Not that I need an excuse to travel, but why not do something that makes you happy on your birthday.

This year I headed to the South of France. I found an amazing fare to Paris on United Airlines, so I added on a flights to Nice on Air France. Fortunate for me, United provides an arrivals lounge for inbound passengers at the Sheraton CDG. So I was able to refresh before flying to Nice which was great since I have no status on Air France.

Air France has bit more generous carry on policy then other carriers I’ve flown in Europe. They allow up to 12kg/26lbs for hand baggage. Most other carriers only allow 7kg/15lbs. I just checked my bag, because well I did not want to have deal with liquids etc. I am glad I did. There was agents walking around the gate around checking everyone’s bags. At this point, I only had a small tote bag and yet I still got hit with a sticker that said my bag must go under the seat in front of me. I saw many of passengers have to surrender their bags.

Since it was my birthday I decided to spoil myself and use my points, so I booked a room at the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée. Its quite the charming hotel located on the main street in Nice, Promenade de Anglais, right across the street from the beach.

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If you are looking for a little beach time but also a little sightseeing, Nice is great place to visit. It’s quite a walkable city. It has a lot of Italian influence, as it was under Italian rule, this is especially evident in the old town.

The South of France is the definitely the summer playground for the wealthy.  The private jets, yachts, cars, homes, it’s a wealth that quite interesting. It’s not to say the average tourist can’t afford to visit,  let’s just say you are most likely flying on Easy Jet not your private jet.

I opted for organized tours on this trip, so I signed for a day tour of Provence, that included stops in:

Cannes

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Grasse, where we visited the Fragonard Parfurm Factory, I learned some fascinating facts about parfum. I learned those who create parfum are called Perfumers or “Noses”. There are currently only 50 true perfumers in the world right now. They must attend 3 years of schooling, followed by 7 years of apprenticeship. They are able identify over 2500 scents, from memory. They can only spend about 2-3 hours a day smelling scents and to protect their noses, they do not smoke or drink.

IMG_4821Next stop was Gourdon, a little town with amazing panoramic views of the area. I had an amazing lunch with my  new Australian friends, LeAnn and Kim.

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Our final stop was a quaint little town of St. Paul De Vence, an old medieval town. Full of art galleries and fun little shops. Lucky for me and my curious fascination with cemeteries, there was not a lot of time for shopping. I did discover an cute shop that sold the most fantastic jam, La Chamre Confitures. ( If anyone traveling to Paris anytime soon, do yourself a favor, your welcome). On a serious sugar high, I tried to navigate my way back to my tour meeting point. Until I saw the most amazing painting in an art gallery window. I figured what’s the harm in checking it out? Bad idea, I wanted to purchase 1/2 the gallery. Turns out the actual artist was there, Michel Degav. We had a lovely chat, and while I was not able to purchase the piece I originally wanted, I was able to get a nice print.  If you are in the area, I highly recommend checking out his gallery, Atelier Galerie d’Art, oh and tell him Flo said Hi!

Oh I did finally find my lavender,but it was not very fragrant.

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When I began researching my trip, I found out that I would be in town for the Nice Jazz Festival. The line up included The Roots and Kool and the Gang, so purchased tickets. Now I am not much of concert goer so I really did not know what to expect. It’s a festival, i.e. no assigned seating. Well more specifically, no seating at all. I am glad I went but I will probably be less inclined to do that again.  Did I mention it was HOT?

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The next day I headed out to discover my 47th country,

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I checked out the casino in Monte Carlo and enjoyed the immense humidity.( No not really). I had signed up for the 1/2 day tour and somehow ended up on a full day tour. I think I would be have been good with the 1/2 day one. But honestly, I can think of worst ways to spend my birthday. I got to discover the 2nd smallest country in the world!

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Since I had booked my flights separately, choose to fly up to Paris the night before my return flight to Chicago. While at the airport in Nice, I decided to pick up a sandwich at my favorite place, Paul. While waiting a young lady walked up and asked the server if he had wine opener. He did not, and I said maybe try a knife? She explained, that she was flying to Amsterdam, and had 2 bottles of wine, but was unable to check her bag.  The server suggested trying a place down the terminal, and she asked me if I had time before flight, would I like to join her for some wine. I did actually have time before my flight, so why not?  So cheers to Vanya from Bulgaria for sharing her wine with me on my birthday in the Nice airport.

So officially now have less then 1 year to get planning the big party for next year. Any suggestions on where it should be?