Hola Mexico

We had decided to have a delayed honeymoon given we had been in New Zealand for two months and it seemed a bit cheeky flitting off to another tropical island when reality was waiting – not to mention the fact that I have no idea how people manage to plan a wedding and a trip on top of it! Over two months since we had returned back to England, we still hadn’t booked a honeymoon – instead putting it in the too hard basket. Where would we go? How could we possible decide? Even if we did eventually decide on a destination, how could we ever narrow this down to a specific time and hotel? We ummed and we ahhhed, we perused and discussed, before wisely deciding to postpone the decision until a time when we felt less sleepy/ stressed/ antsy/ excited/ irritable… You get my drift. But one Saturday morning in May we awoke and something felt different. Instead of the usual Caribbean islands, I googled package deals to Mexico and just as if fate had thrown us a juicy bone, the most amazing package came up ever for El Dorado Seaside Suites by Karisma on the Riviera Maya in Mexico. Hola El Dorado! A quick Google search revealed it was the number one rated hotel on Trip Advisor for the region and was adults-only, so there’d be no children screeching and splashing by the poolside – what more is there to know? Dubious it couldn’t be as perfect as what it seemed, I left Brad to research while I went out (to a running race – I’m not that mean!) and by the time I got back, it was signed, sealed and delivered. We were off…. The following month!

 

After an exhaustive start to the year, including my busiest time for work at an event, the impending Honeymoon came around at a very welcome time and after a cheeky upgrade, we found ourselves in premium, glass of champagne in hand, marvelling at the free moisturiser and socks in our welcome packs! A 12 hour flight later and we were landing, flying in over Florida Keys and Cuba, before an expanse of ocean and forest. The transit was effortless, flying through customs, bag collection and on to our bus, aptly named the Cactus Coach, where we had a 90 minute ride to the Riviera Maya – halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

 

We were greeted with a cocktail and a refresher towel, our bags were whisked away and so to the scene was set for the next 15 days – utterly luxury. We were shown to our suite, which overlooked the white sanded beach, palm trees and, most conveniently, one of the bars which had live music for the duration of our stay during the evenings. A few squeals at the Jacuzzi in our suite, as well as the mini bar, all of which was free, we decided to set off for a quick explore along the beach. We walked around, more than a little stunned and absolutely overwhelmed at the relaxation opportunities and possibilities ahead of us, before making our way to the bar for the first of many, many cocktails. With a cocktail glow upon us, we made chit chat with another couple on honeymoon from Wales, before heading off to dinner at one of the seven restaurants on offer… That first dinner was a stressful occurrence – the idea that we could have anything and everything on the menu, free of charge, was just too much. It genuinely did take us a good five or so days to get into it, because at first we were just well and truly overwhelmed.

 

 

All the days have blurred into one glorious day of food, drink and sun, so in order to try and give an insight into how truly amazing this holiday was, I’ll take you through a typical day. This doesn’t include the endless activities on offer, such as daily yoga classes, Spanish and cooking lessons, towel folding classes where you can make pretty wee swan settings and flowers, kayaking and snorkelling, beach volleyball, dance classes etc – not to mention the evening entertainment, from Cirque de Soleil inspired performances, fire shows, reggae bands and movie nights… The mind boggles! We took advantage of these where we could, especially as far as kayaking and snorkelling are concerned, which happened all the time, but I also dabbed in yoga and we soaked up the live music and beach parties whenever they were held. As the World Cup was on, we also watched the key games whilst munching on nachos and slurping cocktails. Divine!

 

Each morning one of us would get up and head down to the beach, taking our towels in order to bag a beachside four-poster bed, which was shaded, as well as two sun loungers for those that liked to soak up the rays (me). There was surplus available, but as Brad isn’t a friend to the sun, we liked to ensure we got one in a particular spot. The beach was just one of many sunbathing options, with countless pools, of which three had swim up bars attached! We would then head off to breakfast, again the choice was endless, but my favourite place was a restaurant which would serve fruit salad, lined in the colours of the rainbow, drizzled with honey and granola. This was the first course – usually an omelette followed, with Brad opting for a Mexican breakfast of huevos rancheros or something to that effect. This was washed down with coffee and champagne, or if we were feeling pious – green juice, made with oranges, celery and spinach. Far better than it sounds.

 

We would then head off to the beach where we would lie for, oh… just a casual nine hours. This would be broken up by visits from staff bringing drinks, mini burgers or tacos, drinks and did I say drinks? Lunch would be a beach BBQ grill, or our favourite gourmet burger spot, which pulled together burger and fries combos that would blow your mind.

 

 

The days would simply fly by, broken up by cocktails and kayaking, or snorkelling and feeding the most beautiful tropical fish that nibbles around our toes – no word of a lie. I was blown away by how much I loved snorkelling – hearing your own breath as we looked at the prettiest reefs, fish, with stingrays schlepping around was just lovely and proved to be quite meditative. We also read, getting through about 10 books each – no exaggeration – and the one day it did rain, it only did so late afternoon and instead of annoying us, gave us much excitement as we set off back to the room, loving the tropical storm, to jump in the Jacuzzi and drink the free Prosecco that had been provided to us. What’s to complain about?

 

 

Evenings were spent with a few drinks at the bar, or perhaps we’d retire to the swim up bar and have a few drinks there… Decisions, decisions. We would then head back to the hotel room to get ready and head out for dinner, after we’d gone through the agonising decision of deciding where to eat.

 

One afternoon, rather reluctantly, we left the resort, jumping on the local bus to head to Playa del Carmen, the closest city. We spent the afternoon shopping and exploring, loving the feel of this buzzy Mexican town and marvelling at just how foreign it felt, before missing our beautiful resort and heading back. We did see a few funny sites while we were there, such as a baby lion cub tourists could get their photos with, alongside the usual monkeys and giant iguanas, but after hanging with the iguanas all day at ours, these were dime a dozen to the experienced senor and senoritas like ourselves!

We had the holiday of an absolute lifetime and as far as I’m concerned, I don’t care if I ever see anything again, I just want to go back there. There’s so much you can do – so many amazing day trips and adventures to be had, but on top of it, you’re staying at the most amazing resort ever so if you don’t leave this place, you’re doing alright. Every day you were overwhelmed with opportunities for delicious food, fun entrainment, sight-seeing or entertainment – so either way, you were always missing out on something. That’s the beauty of this place – there’s something for everyone. We could have had a great holiday together and got exactly what we needed out of it, even if one of you was allergic to everything and wanted to have a healthy detox and the other wanted to have a gluttonous trip, drinking and eating fried food. Saunas, gym, yoga, or cocktails, burgers and endless resort-made coconut ice-cream (which I would murder for) – whatever floats your boat, El Dorado Seaside Suites is the place for you!

 

On our last morning we woke up with heavy hearts, so sad to leave, but at the same time thankful and aware that we had experienced the very best holiday that it’s possible to have… Ever! We went for a long walk on the beach that morning to say goodbye to Mexico, past turtle nests and all the way up to a neighbouring resort, which didn’t look a patch on ours, before making our way back to the resort for one last swim in the Caribbean.

It wasn’t long before the Cactus Coach was there, ready to take us back to reality; however the premium flight back certainly softened the blow. It’s been over a month and a half since we’ve been back, but I can honestly say there are moments I still feel as if I’m floating on air – that’s the beauty of such an amazing holiday.

 

 

Xxx

Roaming Romania

While Brad booked us a trip to Malta, I looked East and booked a visit to Romania - what I didn’t imagine was  that a work trip to New York would be thrown in-between both weekend getaways, making for a mad May. Nevertheless – one must jump at these opportunities when they rear their heads, which is how I found myself getting back to London from 10 days in NYC, dazed and confused, then finding myself at the airport just 18 hours later, even more dazed and sleep-deprived than the day before. With all this time zone crossing and a 3am start to make it to the airport in time, I wasn’t sure which way was up or down, but what better way to get your bearings than in the depths of Eastern Europe, or the world’s human trafficking capital as I was kindly informed?

While the start was rough, after an hour snooze on the plane, landing in the humid hotness of Bucharest was more than bearable and I was very pleased we hadn’t cancelled the trip in favour of catching up on jet lag. We jumped in our tiny hire car and hit the road, all whilst avoiding being trafficked, and set off with Transylvania as our destination. We were delayed by an accident on the road, but this gave us a few moments to just soak in our surroundings – because while Romania is classified as Europe, it felt very, very different to anywhere where we had been before. Making the mistake of just assuming it would be like the rest of Eastern-Europe, we hadn’t given much thought to the trip, other than deciding we were going to spend most of the time in Transylvania, the home of Dracula, as opposed to Bucharest, the capital city.

Romania is far from what we expected – it was a quirky mix between traditional and new, undeveloped yet lovely and the people seemed so kind. I didn’t once run into a ‘Taken’ situation, which I had been lead to believe was the norm from everyone’s squeals of astonishment when they realised we were going there. Utter codswallop people – Romania is lovely! The girls are gorgeous, the people friendly, donkeys pull carts past billboards with people selling cherries on the side of the road. Its dusty yet green, the air smells fresh and warm. It has the most interesting history and I know as early as 10 years ago it was a very different place. My colleague went there on a school trip 20 years ago and he remembers seeing a man get run over, the car keep on driving and people scramble over to steal the clothes off the corpse! These are the stories we heard before going, but our experience was anything but scary - aside from this creepy statue we saw of two human babies suckling a wolf-hyene-esque creature...

We got to Brasov, our base for two nights, after a three hour car trip, for which I slept the last 30 mins, delirious from keeping my eyes open, where we had a quick bit of shut eye, waking three hours later! We walked the short few minutes to the centre of the old town, where we did a wee tiki tour and stopped at a recommended traditional Romanian restaurant where we sat outside watching the locals. It’s definitely a place where you don’t see many tourists! We quickly learned that the main staple of any Romanian dish – be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert is cheese. That’s deep fried cheese, boiled cheese, cheese sauce – any kind of cheese whatsoever. It sounds delicious – and the odd dish was – but most of the time it was rather flavorless and oh so fatty. We did strike it lucky with dessert though and managed to order the traditional pudding, deep fried cheese dumplings covered in jam. The great thing about Romania is that it is all so cheap too, so trying all the local delicacies is a cinch. With the jet lag creeping up on us, we returned back to the hotel where we slept for a record 14 hours!

Waking late, we only just managed to make it to breakfast with a few minutes to spare – thank goodness, as we would have missed out on cheese otherwise. After waiting a few miserable pieces of cheese and nothing much else, we set off to site-see, with the first stop being a funicular up the mountain. Brasov is home to a loveably gaudy  Brasov sign a la the Hollywood Hills, and the funicular takes you right up to the top where you can see the sign (giant white letters which almost block the view), as well as take a few nature walks and soak up the sight of the town. The view was lovely, as was the opportunity to just sit down and breathe in some fresh air. As for the actual Brasov sign – the jury is out. It’s funny and quintessentially Eastern-Europe, but I can see how locals were up in arms when it was created, as it doesn’t serve a purpose, other than comedic value, although I’m not sure that was the desired effect!  

We stopped for a wee snack, which of course, was cheese-based, before setting off back down the mountain-side in pursuit of lunch. Our lunch choice came highly recommended and was amazing – a wee basement cave, which felt as if we were in a cellar and was just lush. Unfortunately they still smoke inside almost everywhere in Europe and Romania is no exception so I was coughing away, especially with the old asthma, but a few puffs on the inhaler saw me right. I’d love to say lunch was delicious – it was an eclectic mix of traditional Romanian with a Mexican twist (go figure) – and once again we were brave with our choice, but what arrived was a dish of boiled polenta covered in thick cheese. It’s hard to remain positive, but again, given everything’s so cheap, it’s not like wasted money (which is exactly what it is given we couldn't stomach for than a bite). After a few mouthfuls of boiled tasteless matter and fatty cheese, we decided enough was enough, and set off to a little chocolaterie down the road for an éclair and ice-cream! We also managed to stumble across a cute wee antiques shop, where we bought a miniature tin soldier for our souvenir collection.

After a few hours rest at the hotel, we set off again, with the aim of visiting the Black Church who had an organ recital on. The Black Church takes its name from a fire which took place hundreds of years ago and tarnished the colour. Unfortunately when we went to the church the recital wasn’t on, and they were trying to charge us to visit. Against paying for churches, but happy to donate money, we stuck to our guns and turned away – after seeing the most beautiful churches in the world, we’re happy to miss out on this one and instead take the moral high road, which for us, means stick your tickets to see the stained glass up your ar*e. We’re going for dinner instead – boiled cheese awaits!

We then had our nicest dinner yet – not food wise, given we’re still talking cheese and polenta – but it was a lovely evening and we returned to our restaurant from the night before and watched the locals for hours, sipping Romanian red wine, which after a few glasses, became much more bearable! They had these little electric cars kids could hire, as well as paper lanterns you could release, and the town square was packed with blessed wee things smashing and crashing into pedestrians and each other, that it made for hours of entertainment. Parents seemed very relaxed as well – sitting back at neighbouring restaurants and tables, drinking with friends, while their kids in cars knocked over little old women. Human trafficking capital? I think not! 

With a wine glow, we then passed a shoe shop where I picked up a delightful pair of bright pink heels, and moved on to a pharmacy-themed cocktail bar, where we ordered cocktails, before heading back to the hotel in the early hours. A rather rocky night ensued – after 14 hours the night before – lo and behold, we could barely sleep a wink, but nevertheless the hours passed and morning was upon us.

Awoken by a wee girl banging on our door for ‘Papa’, we gave up the fight for sleep and made our way to the restaurant for breakfast – more cheese, lucky for some! We checked out and hit the room, bidding goodbye to beautiful Brasov, in favour of Bran to visit the infamous castle – aka the home of Dracula! On the way we passed through a tiny town called Rasov which lo and behold, also had a Hollywood Hills-style sign, lest you forget where you were. There must have been a bulk buy done there at sometime  - absurd! After just an hour, all of a sudden we were there, and like Stonehenge and the Eiffel Tower, the castle just smacks you in the face – it’s impossible to miss as you drive along!

Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, was a rather disturbed fellow, famed for his sick and torturous nature – at one point he impaled his victims on a stick through their bum, swerving to miss the vital organs, so that the stick emerged through their mouths and they died a painful death which took days! The castle was said to have inspired Brahm Stoker's Dracula and it was filled with information on the legend, the book and Romanian history. 

 After we had our fill of history, we got a huge amount of food from a Romanian bakery and sat in the sun eating.

We hit the road, heading for Bucharest where we were spending the night before flying back into London the following day. We got to piping hot Bucharest late afternoon and unfortunately our start wasn't ideal. We managed to find the hotel with no trouble, but assistance in finding the car park was shoddy at best. The language barrier certainly made things difficult, but the poor service was worse. The teenage girl helping us couldn't really be arsed and after giving us the wrong directions twice, she asked her drunk friend who was sitting behind the desk to help show us the way. He didn't speak a word of English, other than  a phrase he repeated at least 50 times in the 30 minutes we spend circling the city trying to find the car park: 'Romania... Problems!' After going in to the hotel to complain yet again, another less drunk friend came out and helped us. The girl was giggling her head off as we checked in and by this stage, we were feeling far from relaxed. Our room was nice enough, although incredibly loud as we were right above the main road on the second floor. A bit crabby, we decided to make the most of the rest of the evening and see the capital city, which we found lovely and very pretty, but nothing particularly special. We did stop off at a restaurant which came highly recommended by Lonely Planet and had another old meal of fried cheese and chicken covered in cornflakes!? We've realised that nothing was going to impress us food wise in Romania, it was just a matter of eating out of routine - is anyone ever hungry for boiled cheese and polenta? 

Several hours later we made it back to the hotel, where we had to move rooms at midnight as I couldn't sleep a wink with all the noise. Exhausted after a few hours sleep, we rose and made it safely to the airport in one piece, leaving with lovely memories of unique Romania, but very thankful we had spent just a few hours in Bucharest and took the road less travelled! 

Up next... Hola Mexico! 

Fairytale in New York

 

So in what is always an action packed month with two bank holidays in May, Kylie had to go to New York for a week with work. This was going to be Kylie’s second trip to the ‘Big Apple’ so due to jealousy and a weak link to my 30^th in April, we decided it would be rude for me not to fly in for an fun-filled long weekend.

On planning what to do to fill our days, we realised we had a slight difference in our priorities. Kylie being busy actually working, had her mind set on relaxing on roof top bars and shopping, not that these weren’t on my list, it’s just a Yankees home game happened to be on… and it was my birthday after all… so naturally Yankees tickets were purchased. With Kylie now realising she had lost half her Saturday, and suggestions flying in from her NY colleagues about what we should do, the stress levels began to rise and Kylie was now realising I was stealing her weekend. But she did not panic for she was holding on for a hero… and one would emerge in the form of a mysterious dark haired creep… actually he isn’t that mysterious, it was none other than Matty who happened to be in Vegas on holiday. So with a wee shuffle to his plans and a casual four hour flight,  he would be in NY for a weekend and of course up for a Yankees game.

 

Kylie arrived in New York on Tuesday and I followed not long after on the Thursday night. After breezing through customs, I queued for an hour for a yellow taxi (novelty number one… check) and headed for TriBeCa. Quick fact here for you avid readers, TriBeCa stands for Triangle Below Canal Street, which is nearer the bottom of Manhattan. Other names such as SoHo and NoLiTa also stand for things, such as South of Houston and North of Little Italy respectively. This made getting your bearings very easy. Good one New York!

I arrived to find both Matty and Kylie waiting for me at a very nice hotel, so with some quick hugs all round I dropped off the bags and we were off on our first explore following Kylie’s lead as our resident NYC expert. We wandered the streets of TriBeCa to see Getty Images (Kylie’s work) and walked up to Battery Park for a few quick snaps and view over the East River. Our tour ended in the Financial District where we saw Wall Street, before we jumped in a cab back to the hotel. Kylie called it a night and Matty and I went to a local sports bar to have a few beers and watch some basketball playoffs (novelty number two… American sports in an American sports bar… check). Realising it was 7am London time we headed home, stopping to indulge in a delicious slice of pizza (check, yes novelty number three right there) and called it a night.

 

Friday started with room service breakfast with Kylie before she headed off to work. Matty was down shortly after and we grabbed a map and hit the street. We walked in the general direction of Times Square and made it as far as… where Kylie later told us was the fountain from the opening credit of Friends. Already tired we jumped in a cab and got dropped off at Times Square (check) where we ate bagels (check) and pastries whilst snapping photos like the tourists we were. From Times Square we walked via a few shops to Central Park (check), where we people and squirrel watched. We then wandered towards the Empire State building, but as it was so cloudy we opted against going up and instead walked towards the Chrysler building and had a look at Grand Central Station (check) along the way. We were now beginning to run on empty so we made our way to one of Kylie’s colleagues recommended lunch spots for some BBQ wings and ribs, as well as trying every beer they had on tap… eight if you’re asking. Obviously we were too full to walk so we jumped in another cab back to the hotel and got a map of local shops as Matty ‘needed’ a leather jacket. Whilst the concierge highlighted every shop in the vicinity we started to think about Saturday morning and how we should go out to see the Statue of Liberty…  We knew you could jump on a free ferry to Staten Island, which had a good view of it, but the thing is Matty lives on a small mining island north of Australia and doesn’t get out much, needless to say when he gets out he goes large and decided the only way we could see the Statue was via Helicopter…  And do not insult him with suggesting the basic package… We’ll take the executive option… and he will pay for Kylie and I as a belated wedding gift. Not one to argue too much, I let him as I had paid for the Yankees tickets… And I really wanted to go on a helicopter… And it felt like a fair reward for all of my efforts in helping him find the ultimate leather jacket (FYI he ended up buying the first one he tried on… but only after he tried on another 20 in probably 15 other shops).

So with our plans for Saturday locked in, we went to a local rooftop bar for views and beers and awaited Kylie to finish work. When she joined us the weather had packed in so we decided to stay local and headed to a sports bar for dinner and a quiet night.

 

Saturday morning bought with it superb blue skies, which got us all excited for our flight later that day. For breakfast I had found a restaurant from one of my favourite shows Man vs. Food called Katz’s Diner (Check). It wasn’t one of the eating challenges he does, it was just one he highlighted as having the best sandwiches in New York (it was also in When Harry Met Sally, if you’re not an MvF fan). We had heard about queues around the block, but it turns out people don’t tend to go here for breakfast so we walked straight in and got a table. We shared a few things that were recommended and demolished some Pastrami and Rueben sandwiches, an amazing start to the day. From here we jumped in a cab to the Highline, which is a walkway and garden on an old train line above the city. It was another cool thing to see and a great chance to walk off some of the sandwiches.

The time was now upon us to head to Brooklyn Bridge and go on our helicopter tour. THIS WAS AMAZING. It was the first time any of us had been on a helicopter, and really was so much fun looking down on this amazing city. We flew over the Statue of Liberty (Check), saw Coney Island, flew over Yankee Stadium, saw The Empire State Building, The Rockefeller Centre, The Chrysler Building, Madison Square Garden and the rest of Manhattan and Central park from above. It truly was surreal for all of us. When this was finished we bought the picture for Matty (I know, we are very generous) and then Matty and I had to make our way to The Bronx and go see a ball game.

 

 

After being stuck in NYC traffic (check… not really), we ended up getting a train from Central Park Station, which was actually pretty fun too. We arrived at the stadium with hoards of people in navy and white pinstripes and baseball caps as far as the eye could see, so naturally we went straight to the shop! I opted for a mini baseball as a souvenir and a Yankees cap, Matty of course went for the classic Yankees uniform shirt. We made it to our amazing seats by the foul pole, saw the national anthem and watched the players run out. The game was so much fun I highly recommend this to anyone, even if you are not a sports fan. We both thought the game might be long and slow, but it went so fast we were very surprised. The people watching alone was great - our favourites were easily the vendors walking up and down the aisles shouting ‘cold beer’, ‘hotdogs’, ‘nuts’, ‘snacks’, ‘candyfloss’ and ‘souvenir programs’. We went for a lot of option one and also an option two. With the game finished and our grand plans of catching a home run and making it onto Sports Centre with a superb barehanded catch without spilling any beer gone, we bought some baseballs and headed back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel we met with Kylie and a few of her colleagues at the bar. Most of them left for dinner and we got to have a nice relaxing beer/wine with the three of us and Kylie’s favourite Sarah who is an Australian, who has just moved to New York. We then migrated to a bar in NoLiTa (prizes for remembering what it stands for) and met with some of Sarah’s friends. Realising we needed to eat; we went to a popular local pizza place and enjoyed some amazing pizza slices. Headed back to the bar, Kylie spied a rice pudding restaurant of all things and so quickly called it a night and went home with a colleague via some rice pudding. Matty and I ended our night with a few more beers at our favourite little sports bar, with some more basketball and another slice of pizza. To recap on this day there were famous sandwiches, famous walks, a helicopter ride, the Yankees, some NYC bars and pizza. It was hands down my favourite day of travelling I have ever had. Shut the gate.

Our Sunday started with a slight hangover, partially down to beer and partially down to how much fun the day before was. Kylie had planned our Sunday to go to Brooklyn with another of her favourite colleagues, and genuine New Yorker, Lauren. On the walk to Brooklyn Bridge I came across a discount sports store, now for me this is a little bit exciting. Kylie likes to say I was flapping my hands in excitement saying oh my god, oh my god, which I will not confirm. Lauren ended up meeting us in the store, and I bought a few necessities (as did Matty) and we continued on our way. We ended up walking over Brooklyn Bridge which was very popular and we could see why.

 

When we finally made it over to the other side there was a food market which was amazing. We had lobster rolls, shrimp rolls, fish and chips, fried chicken and waffles (yes combined, yes amazing), ice-cream sandwiches and donuts. What can I say we were hungry! Lauren then took us to a nearby roof top bar for some sangria and sweet views overlooking Manhattan. The afternoon passed by and eventually we had to call it a day, so we took the subway (check) to the hotel and I got a cab back to the airport.

 

It was such an amazing long weekend with so many great experiences. We are both hoping that Kylie has to go there for work again sometime soon... maybe even when there is a Knicks game on.

Bye for now, next stop Romania.

xx