Italy- June 2015

I remember back in 2008 when my Mom said to me ” You know you can take trains?” Up until that point, I was planning trips to major cities, mostly served by United Airlines. Learning I could take trains to different places, opened up a new travel door for me. Last year, I discovered how easy driving around is, yet another travel door opened.

A few friends were planning trips to Europe this summer and had asked for some advice. In talking with them about their itineraries, I discovered all sorts of places, I had not previously thought to visit. Like Cinque Terre, or Siena.

Since I had just visited Paris in March, I figured I would hope over to Italy and check out some of these gems. So I decided to fly to Florence, use it as my base and rent a car to drive around.

**TRAVEL TIP** If you are renting a car, make sure you are rested. It’s not a good idea to pick up the rental when you are coming off an long international flight or even after a long HOT day of sightseeing.

I had booked a hotel about 5 minutes from the airport. It only took me only 30 minutes to find it. One has to be careful driving around Florence as they have these areas that are traffic restricted and if you enter one, you will pay a fine. (And yes for the record, I am expecting a violation notice in the mail).

The next day, I was off to visit the Republic of San Marino.

And officially at 46 countries! I thought about cheating and just keeping driving, but then technically it would not count. So I parked the car and checked out the town.

San Marino reminded me a bit of Liechtenstein. Some interesting historical sites, but nothing that would require days of sightseeing.

After about an hour, I had my fill and decided to head to Arezzo. At this point, I must admit I am very thankful I did not do my normal obsessive research planning this trip. If I had, there is no way I would have been driving around. On last year’s trip, I vetoed Italy completing based on the fact that I refused to drive on the skinny roads on the side of mountain. Well, I drove on some skinny mountain roads, with some crazy hairpin turns, and I survived. So I guess there is something to be said about conquering ones fears. That and maybe invest in some adult diapers.

After a long hot day of driving, I headed back to Florence. I attempted to walk around the City center, seriously Google, 27 minutes to walk 2 blocks? ( Yes I know, Really? I was still using Google?). It was too hot, 95f or 36c. I admitted defeated and called it a night.

Up early again the next day, this time heading to Cinque Terre. I drove to Le Spezia with the plan to take the train up to Monteresso. Again due to relaxed planning, I did not think to check to make sure the trains were running. Yep, train strike. No trains, but if I wanted, I could try to take a boat, along with the thousands of cruise passengers. So I ended up driving to Riomaggiore. Of course there was no parking. So I did not make it down into town. From what I did see, I was will definitely go back.

Next stop, Pisa. Because at this point I had become a pro at navigating the mountain roads. I was able to find parking quite easily, which was surprising. Of course, I got my requisite selfie

After Pisa, I headed to Lucca another walled city, before heading back to Florence and calling it a day.

On my last day, I headed over to Siena, with a pit shop to do some shopping at the infamous Mall. It’s like any other outlet mall you’ve been too, including Prada and Gucci. Years ago, you could actually get some deals. Now stuff is made specifically for the outlet and it’s full of tourists from all over the world. I will say the prices were about 1/2 of prices here in States, with the strong dollar. So if you are in the area and really want a Prada or Gucci, it may not be a bad idea to check it out.

A friend had talked so vividly of Siena, she made me want to visit it. And yes Kristy,I could see why you loved it so much. I will agree I prefer Siena over Florence.

I will definitely go back, when it’s not so warm, to proper tour around. It really does deserve more then a few hours.

I still had a few hours before I needed to head back, so I decided to check out San Gimignano. Well between getting lost and not finding parking, this is the closest I got.

Funny enough, it actually worked out. I needed to head back to Florence to return my rental car and catch my flight. Which was turn out quite the adventure. Silly me, I thought there would be signs for Rental Car Return, there was but along with 20 others. So after about 30 minutes, I finally figured out where to return the car. I made it inside the terminal exactly 2 hours before departure. And that’s when I noticed my flight was CANCELLED. Great. Let the fun times begin.

The European Union has great protection rights for consumers in regards to air travel. Even though the flight was cancelled due to weather, Lufthansa was required to provide accommodations, food and transportation. More detail on EU 261 can be found here.

I had to talk to a Lufthansa representative to have alternative arrangements made, as I was missing my flight back to Chicago in the morning. They were busing everyone up to Palermo to overnight and fly out of Bologna the next morning. I smiled politely and said NO. Just NO. Not happening. I was hot and tired and frankly, just not interested. The lady just smiled and said, no problem. So I was able to spend the night in Florence and fly to Frankfurt the next morning at 6.30 am. I was scheduled to connect on the United flight at 12:45 pm. As I arrived at the airport in Florence, I got an email from United informing me that my flight was delayed 3 hours……..

I will say is there are worse places to be stuck then the Senator Lounge in Frankfurt Airport.

Finally 36 hours later, I made it home. Only 8 hours later then scheduled. I love love love that I am able to meet up with my various friends, those moments alone made up for all my misadventures.

Future adventures await…… Stay tuned.

Jun 09

Paris-June 2015

Comment 1

Does anyone recall the freakish blizzard that hit Europe in December, 2010? When the arctic winds come to visit? I recall it vividly. It was unnaturally cold.

I can now add remember when that freakish heatwave that hit Paris in early June 2015, to my travel stories. When it was was 90f + degrees (32-36c)?.

It’s not a secret that I do not like extreme heat. Especially for sightseeing. I figured I would be safe visiting Europe in early June, because it’s technically late spring. WRONG.

This trip I had booked a room at the Hilton Paris Opera. It’s more centrally located and I was able to take the RER to Gare Nord and change to the Magenta line to Haussamn St. Lazare which is right next to the hotel.

**TRAVEL TIP***-do NOT use Google Maps in Paris. It’s a little wonky when it comes to public transportation. A good alternative is RometoRio

After refreshing, I hit the streets to do a little shopping. Again, don’t trust Google Maps. What should have been a 10 minute walk took me 30 minutes. Did I mention it was starting to get a little warm?

First stop Chanel, for Pursegate 2.0. (Whitney and Katy- that same bag is still sold out!). I am happy to report, no major damage done on my credit cards.

Bruce and Will were able to change plans and come to Paris a day early. We made plans to meet for lunch. Somewhere, again in case you miss it the first 2 times, don’t use Google Maps. At this point, it was no longer just warm, it was hot. There was an insane line for taxis, so I did what anyone with a smartphone would do, requested an Uber. It was only 3 km away, how long could it take? 1 hour and 24 euro……

We had a nice lunch and took a stroll along the Seine. The guys were fading and I had plans to meet up with my friend, John for drinks, so we parted with plans to catch up again later.

It was now hotter then before. And you would think by now I had learned my lesson with Google. Nope. I started to walk over to the Park Hyatt. Bad idea. I lasted about 3 blocks before I hopped in a taxi. I met up with John and few of his friends for some champagne. And I got a present!! Thanks John!

I headed back to my hotel for a mandatory refresh because it was just HOT. Then off for more champagne, dinner and walking around Paris.

I finally made it back to my hotel ready to crash around 1.30 am. Only to be woken up by the hotel alarm clock at 6.30 am. It actually worked out well, as I had planned to visit Versailles.

**TRAVEL TIP*** If your hotel room has an alarm clock, make sure the alarm is off before going to bed.

I hopped on the Rer C to Versailles. I had pre-booked my ticket online, so upon arrival I was able to just show the ticket and walk in. I suggest going as early as possible, if you want to avoid crazy crowds. Versailles was great, but between the selfies sticks and tourist playing professional photographers, it was hard to get pictures. And it was HOT, worse then the day before. And there were loads of people and well, I probably saw like 10%. I actually started to feel ill, pretty sure dehydrated, so I took a break got some juice and went back out to explore the garden. I want to say I lasted about 10 minutes, before I admitted defeat.

I headed back to Paris, where I met up with Bruce and Will before heading over to Orly to catch my flight to Florence. I tried to Uber but they were having a crazy surge, so fares were 2.4 times higher then normal. I ended up taking Le Cab, which is like Uber but with fixed prices, nice cars, tablets with wifi. And much better prices.

Of course the next day in Paris, the weather was normal like low 70’s…………

Stayed tuned for my Italian Adventure.

May 19

45 down 5 more to go……….

Comments 2

Last year I mentioned that I would like to visit 50 countries before I turn 40. Which given my love of travel should be easy…..

WELL….. I keep going to the same places! So it’s proving to be much harder then I thought.

Upcoming travels include a quick stop in Paris to visit with friends. Drinks, dinner, lunch, sure why not stop in Paris? Meeting up with my friend John, who will be there for work. And Bruce and Will who are heading over for the French Open. Funny enough dates/times got lost in translation so instead of 2 days, it’s just going to be an afternoon. But for those of you who know Bruce, you know it was not me that messed up the dates……. (Still looking forward to seeing you Pal………)

So after my quick jaunt to Paris, I am heading over to Italy. To help with my country quest, I am planning on visiting San Marino. Officially the Republic of San Marino. It’s completely enclosed by Italy. It’s one of the smallest countries in the world. Should be interesting to visit.

Next trip is to Nice, France for my birthday, including a side trip to Monaco. Oh…. I just smell the lavender now…..

So that just leaves me with 3 countries to go………

Seychelles? Hungary? Poland? Maldives? Malaysia? Vietnam? Cambodia? Luxembourg? Columbia? Burma? Costa Rica?

Well at least I am inching closer. My travel plans are all over the map, literally, so who knows where 48, 49, and 50 might just be. While I hope to make 50 before 40, if it does not happen that would be okay. Because I am sure I’ll have great memories of revisiting the same places for whatever reason that drew me back there. Like a possible visit to the European Christmas Markets in December (Yes, Sheila, that would be with you).

But I know this, I am sure I’ll have a blast researching and trying to figure it out……..

Where would you go?

May 05

Australia- April 2015

Comments 2

I should start this post with saying that I realize I am truly blessed to be able to travel the world the way that I do. I thank God for every opportunity and for keeping me safe while I am on my adventures. BUT sometimes my trips do not go as planned, this trip being one of them. It was just a series of unfortunate events. The worse part, Sam Smith having to cancel his concert in Melbourne due to illness.

There were good parts, like beautiful sunrise/sunset in Cairns. An amazing view from my hotel room in Sydney. Hearing the Sydney Symphony Orchestra play in the Sydney Opera House. And watching an Aussie Rules Football game.

But ultimately, what I remember from this trip is that fact that Sam was sick. I know know get over it, I was in Australia.

Here are some pictures….. of course none of Sam.

Sunrise and Sunset in Cairns

The amazing view from my hotel room…… Park Hyatt Sydney and requisite selfie in front of the Opera House

Inside the Sydney Opera House.. where I heard Josh Pkye, perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Not quite Sam, but quite enjoyable.

Carlton vs. Collingwood Football in Melbourne

With Hulk Hogan……. but no Sam…..

I heard that Sam maybe be rescheduling his tour dates for Australia in December. I just might have to redo this trip……

Apr 14

London-April 2015

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One the travel bloggers I follow, Nomadic Matt, was recently in London. Reading about his trip, inspired me to book a trip. Which seem like a good idea at the time I booked it, but in theory the timing was off. The trip fell in the middle of a seriously crazy stretch of travel. Like I’ve been at the airport every single week in February, March and April…..

After returning from Paris, I picked up a nasty sinus infection. I am pretty sure falling asleep on the plane, with my mouth open and the vent blowing recycled air might have had something to do with it. I felt well enough to pop into Boston and down to Dallas, though. But then somehow I picked a nasty influenza B virus. So nasty, it was questionable if I should have gone to London. As the departure date arrived, I feel better, not 100%, but well enough to fly, or so I thought. I survived, but my ears were killing me. Lesson learned, just stay home next time. Flying with clogged ears is not joke.

My friend, Laura, was flying over from Cologne, to hang out. We arrived within 30 minutes of each other, and lucky for me, United, has a arrival lounge in Heathrow, including showers. So I was able to refresh before hitting the town.

Lucky for me Laura, had lived in London, so she played tour guide for me. I’ve been before but it has been years!

We started are day with Brunch, followed by some street food.

And a little sightseeing

But the coolest thing we did? Dinner at Duck and Waffle, the highest restaurant in London. I would suggest some elastic waist pants, if you plan to eat here.

The view…..

bbq-spiced crispy pig ears

spicy ox cheek doughnut

roasted octopus

duck& waffle

I was pleasantly surprised to see the food options were so much better then the last time I visited London. Food trucks and stalls everywhere we turned. In fact, I would put London on the list of places to wear your elastic waist pants. I am pretty sure I gained 5 pounds on this trip.

As always it was quick trip, but it was nice to hang out with Laura. And lucky for me, my ears unclogged for my flight home. I am now getting ready for my next adventure, down under to Australia… Stay tuned.

Mar 10

Paris, France- March 2015

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Paris in the spring time has always been my dream. Well I was a few weeks early, but I still really enjoyed this trip to Paris.

I had been complaining (shocker) about how I always travel alone and maybe it would be nice to travel with friends. So an idea formed that a group trip would be fun and we started looking at cities that had direct flights and could be entertaining for a weekend. I have traveled extensively thru Europe so I was open to just about any location, my friend Whitney suggested Paris. To be honest, I had been to 3 times, previously and I was just not a fan, but I thought maybe it would be different with friends. What started out as a large group of people going, ended up as a group of 4. Whitney, flew up from Nashville and we traveled together to Paris. And then Katy and Russell flew down from Scotland to hang out with us.

When researching activities to do as a group, we can came across a parfum making class at L’Abc du Parfum and a cooking class at Le Foodist.

Given the original size of the group, we were able to secure a private lesson to make the parfum. It ended up just being Whitney and I, but we had a blast. Marina, the instructor was amazing. Her knowledge and explanation of the different scents was just fascinating. She prepared a sample and explained the process to us. And then we were given the opportunity to make 3 scents of our own.

The end product? Eau du Flo and Whitney No. 3. I highly recommend this if you find yourself in Paris. It was an amazing experience.

After parfum making, Whitney had her first taste of the Paris Metro system and we head over to the Champs Elysee. Where we did a typical Parisian tourist activity, had a meal on the Champs Elysee and people watched.

At this point we were tired. Our flight was delayed so we had to rush to our parfum class and we had plans to meet Katy and Russell that night at Moulin Rouge. So we decided to walk back to the hotel. Another rule of traveling with Flo, if I say it’s just up the street, I am probably lying. My feet still hurt. After a much-needed siesta, we headed out to meet Katy and Russell.

There were a lot of mixed reviews about Moulin Rouge. I am glad that we went. It was a lot of fun! Definitely an activity to do with friends. Our seats were practically on the stage. Poor Katy kept getting hit with skirts as the performer walked by. They had this amazing roller skating act, that was just wow. And one-act was a women swimming with snakes. Which was neat until one of the snakes tried to escape. And no it was not part of the show, the women’s face was priceless and well as the handlers that came rushing out to contain the snake. Yes it’s touristy but so worth it.

The next day, we headed out early to go to the top of the Eiffel Tour. There are 3 lines, 2 for the elevator and another for the stairs. Of course we followed the pack into the longest line, until we realized there was no line across the way. We opted to go all the way to the top and it was just amazing. And then it was time for Whitney’s first Parisian crepe.

Properly sated, we head off on the tourist bus to check out the major sites. It was a beautiful day in Paris, so we sat upstairs on the double-decker. So we lasted until we hit the shopping area. Looking back we probably should have stayed on the bus. I know my credit card would have appreciated that. Lucky for us the Euro was low against the Dollar. So when you took into consideration the Vat refund, it was almost a 1 for 1 situation. And buying French products in France just makes sense. I mean per Katy logic, you should always purchase items from country of origin. I completely agree.

That night we headed over to Cafe du Trocadero. It has amazing views of the Eiffel Tower, which does a light show on the hour in the evening for about 5 minutes. And then took a cruise along the Seine.

Sunday morning we head out for our cooking class. It was suggested that we do it on Sunday, as smaller shops tend to be closed on Sundays. Our research led up to Le Foodist. Fred, the chef, instructed us on how to make a starter, main dish and dessert. We made Salmon Tartare on Soja infused Turnip, Coq au Vin and Poached Pear with vanilla ice cream and Chocolate sauce.

I am the first one to admit that I can burn boiled water, so I was extremely surprised that the meal turned out with my involvement. We were a group of 8 working with Fred. And he was very detailed in his instruction. He shared interesting history about french cuisine. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and highly recommend it to anyone looking for something fun to do in Paris.

We rounded out our Sunday afternoon with a little sightseeing. Including a hair-raising taxi ride to Sacré-Cœur. Lucky for us the taxi dropped us off a the top. I am not sure I could have handle the steps to the top.

And then it was time to come home. We managed to pack a lot into 2 1/2 days in Paris. While it did not go down as it was originally planned, I believe it worked out exactly as it should have in the end. With travel comes the need for flexibility, especially when traveling with a group. And who knew, I might have actually finally warmed up to Paris.

À bientôt, j’espère Paris

Feb 26

Africa February 2015- Part 4

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I like to have a mix of culture and relaxation when I take longer trips. I normally go to Europe for 4 or 5 days and I end up running around the entire time. 10 days of running around is just too much for me. So I decided to head to Mauritius for some relaxation after the cultural portion of my trip.

Mauritius is a island in the Indian Ocean, located off the east coast of Madagascar.

Why would an American from Chicago go to Mauritius for holiday? Simple, there was a direct flight from Johannesburg and a Hilton. I could not have asked for a better location.

The Hilton Mauritius in Flic En Flac was amazing!! It was exactly what I needed. I was able to relax, in fact I did not touch my laptop for the 5 days I was there. My room was located right near the ocean. When I checked in I was told I was upgraded to an oceanfront room. Well I went to check out my view, it was ocean alright, with a side of nude sunbathers. Turns out, the beach is not nude, just these 2 older women decided it was for them. Lucky for me they moved the next day.

I had one activity free day, so I parked myself at the adult only infinity pool. It was amazing. The best part? The hotel staff made sure it stayed adult only.

I had signed up to walk with Lions over at Casela Park. It sounds scary then it was. The only problem? Apparently I am allergic to lions. I was also able to have an interaction with some cheetahs, more like I posed for pictures and they just laid there. But it was a great place to spend a day while on holiday.

I also did a city tour of Port Louis and learned a bit about the Mauritian history. The tour included some shopping near the waterfront. It was raining so hard, I am pretty sure it was upside down at one point, so I have minimal photos. Normally I try to find some fun local items to purchase, but the only purchase that day was a umbrella.

I had a memorable time in Mauritius. I made several new friends, in true Flo fashion. But then I had to begin my 36 hour trek home…… Mauritius to Johannesburg to Munich to Toronto to Chicago.

I would definitely go back, because I just realized I can do a different routing, like go through Paris or Frankfurt. As you can probably already tell, I had a great time just relaxing, hence the short blog posts.

But don’t worry more adventures await! Upcoming trips include, Paris, Dallas, London and Australia………….

Feb 25

Africa February 2015- Part 3

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Have you heard of the 4 corners? It’s a region in the southwest of the United States where Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico meet. The Africa continent has something similar. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. So someone trying to get passport stamps, could easily visit 4 countries in 1 day. I only managed to get stamps from Zimbabwe and Botswana. I guess I have a good excuse to go back.

Since it was Valentine’s Day, I thought what better way to spend the evening than a romantic river cruise along the Zambezi River with some hippos. The hippos seems somewhat happy to see me, or so it appeared.

The next day I headed to Chobe National Park in Botswana. This was my 3rd safari and hands down the best park, so far. Chobe has the highest concentration of elephants in the world. Unfortunate for me, there was quite a significant rain the night before, so the elephants were enjoying the puddles. I did manage to see a few and well some other animals as well.

If ever I had the opportunity to return, I will. The park was just amazing, I wish I had spent more time here. I hear the best time to visit is August/September, maybe I should add it to list for my birthday party in 2016.

The next day I headed over to Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side. I messed up with my visa, so I did not go over to the Zambia side.

It was quite magical. I had gone early in the morning and practically had the place to myself. Of course that ONE tourist was there. You know the one that really thought he had the place to himself, and gave no regard to the others that were there trying to take pictures.

You really only need a few days in the Falls, unless you plan to partake in the various activities. Since I had seen the Falls, it was time to move on. I had an afternoon flight back to Johannesburg.

Due to flight schedules, I ended up spending the night. Lucky for me, there was a Hyatt. It was a quick train ride to the hotel. I figured I would pretend to get some work done in the lounge. Part of the reason I love staying at Hilton’s and Hyatt’s worldwide is the executive lounges. Sometimes you just don’t want to be sitting in your hotel room.

So I was quietly attempting to work while drinking some wine, when the lounge attendant asked me something, and it became quite clear that I am American. The man, sitting the table over, heard me speak and come over to me and said ” I just want to warn you, I am going to jump you”. WHAT? I said “Excuse me?” He said ” Well it’s just that I get excited when I see blacks that are not from South Africa and I just want to jump them”. I think he meant he wanted to talk? I should have run away at this point. I guess he was sort of serious about the whole “jumping” business, but thankfully the Hyatt staff working the lounge that night were amazing.

The next day I had my 6th flight, yes flight number 6 to Mauritius.

More details to follow…….

Feb 24

Africa February 2015- Part 2

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Once I was finally able to sort out all the travel details, like flights, hotels and tours, it was time for next stage of planning, packing.

A good lesson I learned on my 2nd trip to Africa, bring clothes that I may no longer need and just donate them. This will help lighten your load as your travel or make room for souvenirs. Due to the fact that I had 10 flights, my goal to stick with a carry-on bag. Once it was determined I would be going to Zimbabwe, I checked out the Pack for A Purpose page. Luckily the resort I was staying at was accepting donations for a local organization. The US Soccer Foundation has a Passback program, in which they will send you soccer balls to bring to various organizations around the world. I had requested the soccer balls and promptly forgot.

I managed to get my bags packed the weekend before I left. It was a tight squeeze, but I knew that I would be shedding as the days when on. Well 2 days before I left, I found the box of soccer balls on my front step.

Oops… Well I am creative packer, but no amount of creativity was going to make those balls fight in my carry-on. So plan B. Check a bag. 3 airlines, 4 flights? Normally that would be a no, but the alternative was to not take the donations. So I put my faith in the airlines gods. And boy was I surprised. I actually had quite the experience trying to check in for my first flight. I was actually quite disappointed how I was treated by the first United agent I encountered. It was really a case of ” I just can’t be bothered to help you”. I mistakenly thought by calling United to confirm that I could check my bag thru would be sufficient, silly me. Given my 4 flights on 3 airlines, was just too much for this agent. He insisted that I had to contact each “operating” carrier to get my reservation number. Never mind that United has issued the ticket and therefore my reservation number was in my reservation. He just did not have access to that information. Really I do it’s on app…..

So yes, the start of my trip was just going great. I was sent over to Terminal 2, which was just great, seeing as I was dressed for Africa and not the frozen tundra that was Chicago that day. 1 minute with Air Canada and I was good to go.

Thank you, Serafina who was working the United Check In counter in Terminal 2 that day. The bag arrived! Chicago-Toronto-Frankfurt-Johannesburg-Victoria Falls.

I would like to say my travel woes ended with that nonsense in O’hare. Of course they did not. Upon arrival in Toronto, I manage to ripped my pants getting out of my seat. And no, it was not a case of pants too tight, more like dysfunctional pant eating airline seat took a bite out of my leg. Great, 3 more flights to go with ripped pants. I had a few hours on Toronto, so I headed to the Maple Leaf Lounge, where I managed to leave my ring in the ladies room. Of course I did not realize said ring is missing until the flight just about to depart. So just imagine, my arrival in Frankfurt with ripped pants, missing ring and super tired, with a 10 layover before my next flight. I walked all the way to the wrong terminal only to be told I had to go back to basically where I came from to get a boarding pass. I do not have proof of my next flight so I tried to get something from the Lufthansa desk.The security agent will not let me talk to the Lufthansa Staff because he’s insistent the I need to go to the South African Airways check in desk outside the secured area. I stood my ground and requested to speak to the agents. They pretty much said the same thing, that maybe I could could check in online. I said how? (remember I was really tired). Ma’am the internet? Finally, they gave me a piece of paper with my ticket number and itinerary printed out. So I quietly walk away and had a mini-meltdown. Mini because thankfully I had internet and friends awake somewhere in the world, who were laughing at all the nonsense I was enduring.

Finally I was able to clear security and I headed to the lounge, because of the whole ticket situation, I was not about to leave that airport. I was of course was asked for my ticket……. Thankfully I had the silly little piece of paper that I had just fought for.

My next flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg was not too bad. Except the flight attendant serving me was quite odd. I think he just felt that I did not need food, ironically I was actually hungry. He keep skipping options, like when it was time dessert it was cheese or tart. I was just given the cheese, no option for the tart. And for breakfast, no hot option for me, only yogurt. At this point in the trip, I just laughed. I was not about to fight for airplane food.

I arrived in Johannesburg on Valentine’s Day, which was like a free pass for the African men to flirt. After traveling for 36 hours, I dared anyone to look at me, let alone wish me a Happy Valentine’s Day.

And then off to my last flight

And finally 2 days later, I had arrived at my first destination, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Stay tuned for Part 3

Feb 23

Africa-February 2015

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I am having a love affair with Africa. The more I go the more I want to discover. Last June, there was a fare sale to Johannesburg via Toronto. So I booked a ticket for February, thinking it was perfect time to escape Chicago and that I would have plenty of time to figure out my plans. Well…. let’s just say life (other trips) got in the way and come December I realized I should probably at least get some hotels booked.

I had the original foresight to book my flights to and from Toronto. So I just had to figure what I planned to do once I arrived in Johannesburg. On my previous trip, I had booked a private tour with Ekala Tours, so I considered booking them again. But for me a day or two in Johannesburg is plenty, as it’s just another big city. I considered doing safari but after my Kenya fiasco of a solo safari, I was hesitant to book another one. I also knew that I would need some downtime preferably some place the sun would be shining. I am stilling hoping to hit my 50 before 40, but I decided I rather really enjoy my travels, rather than just go to get a stamp in my passport.

I had originally considered going to Victoria Falls ,Zimbabwe. But something deterred me. So then I looked into going to Durban, South Africa and taking a day trip into Lesotho. Since I was traveling solo, I experienced some difficulty arranging tours. I made a rookie travel mistake of booking my airfare and hotels before confirming my tours. I am thankful for refundable airfare options and understanding hotels, (Hyatt Johannesburg). Ironically I ended up doing my first choice, Victoria Falls. I had considered several beach options, Cape Town ( water is way too cold), Mozambique ( visa issue), Seychelles ( too far north). I finally ended going to Mauritius, an island off the east coast of Madagascar. If I am honest, it’s because there was a direct flight on South African Airways, part of Star Alliance so I get my miles, and well there was a Hilton. I am sure there is a world out there where there is no Star Alliance flights and no Hilton or Hyatt’s, but it’s a not a world I am willing to discover yet.

So in the end, my trip went a little something like this…..

Chicago-Toronto-Frankfurt-Johannesburg-Victoria Falls-Johannesburg-Mauritius-Johannesburg-Munich-Toronto-Chicago

10 flights, 3 airlines and one amazing story.

Stay tuned for more details…..

	Rohit Kumar on Air Adventures- March 201…
	Deborah Anne Peralta on Rovos Rail, South Africa, Febr…
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Where did Flo go?

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Author Archives: windcityf

Italy- June 2015

Paris-June 2015

45 down 5 more to go……….

Australia- April 2015

London-April 2015

Paris, France- March 2015

Africa February 2015- Part 4

Africa February 2015- Part 3

Africa February 2015- Part 2

Africa-February 2015