Sharks, Stingrays and Snorkels- OH MY!

 July 4, 2022

We were up at 9 and ready for shark snorkeling. However, when we walked down to Tropical Paradise the deck hand told us he couldn't get ahold of his captains--- he said they must have been partying too hard at lobster fest the night before-- so asked if we could switch to the 230 tour instead. We didn't have anything else going on and it seemed we didn't have much of a choice so we said sure and agreed to meet back later. We headed to the dock outside Colinda Cabanas and settled down near the water in some beach chairs. 

We encountered a rainstorm that quickly passed and after lounging for awhile we decided to grab lunch. The place we tried to go wasn't open so we opted for a spot near the water that was. We had the local dish of Belize- coconut rice with beans, stewed chicken, plantains and coleslaw. Unfortunately they were out of plantains 😧 neither Kristin or I liked the slaw very much but the chicken had really good flavor. I want to try it again somewhere to get the full experience. We also met a Belizean friend, Brian, who chatted with us while we waited for our food. He used to live on San Pedro, a larger more commercialized island, but said that when it started to get too built up he moved to Caye Caulker because he enjoys the simpler life. I feel you bro. 

After lunch we grabbed some beers for the boat and then walked back to Tropical Paradise for shark snorkeling. 

OH. MY. GOD. This was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. There were TONS of sharks and stingrays and we swam right next to them in a part of the ocean that the Belizeans have aptly named Shark Ray Alley. It was AMAZING. 

Click here to watch a compilation video of us snorkeling!

I have never been that close to so many sea creatures for such a long period of time. While we hit up 3 different snorkeling spots throughout the day, this was definitely my favorite 😍 It was here that I also got to feed one of the birds that was circling overhead. Captain Philip gave me a sardine and instructed me to hold it up by the head and sure as shit almost immediately a bird swooped down to grab it out of my hand. 

After Shark Ray Alley we snorkeled in two areas with beautiful corals and fishes but nothing compared to the sharks. After two snorkeling stops we headed to a beach to see seahorses, but I was way, way more enamored by the pelicans. Squat, port belly birds that hop around and dip their big beaks up and down, almost like nods of hello. They come right up to people and one even sullied up and sat down next to one of the tourists near the water. I loved watching them. Back on the boat we went, this time to feed the tarpon fish. Eating them in Belize is now illegal because previously the fish was almost hunted to extinction. Now catch and release fishing for tarpon is sport only. We coasted into a small lagoon and there were TONS of tarpon, much like the sharks earlier in the day. We held sardines by their tails over the side of the boat which allowed the tarpon to jump up and grab them. Kristin was super afraid but she overcame her fears and did it. 

And after spending three hours at sea, our shark snorkeling adventure had come to a close. We docked back at Tropical Paradise and thanked Captain Philip and the deckhand, Murray, before heading back to Colinda Cabanas. Our plan was to head to The Pelican to watch the sunset and have dinner, however, the sun sets earlier in Belize than in Chicago during the summer, so between our two showers we looked outside and it was dark. We rode our bikes to The Pelican anyway and enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner on the water. Kristin had a veggie quesadilla with plantains and I had a giant shrimp kabob with grilled veggies and parmesan potatoes. 

It was 930 by the time we finished dinner and while Captain Philip had suggested 'The Bar' for darts and pool we were just too tired from our day of sun, snorkeling and sand to make it. We pedaled back home and on the way passed by the Belize Power Plant, a school and a church. We headed to bed with stuffed stomachs, marvelous memories and happy hearts 💗 

This was one Fourth of July we would not forget.

Belize Belize

 July 2nd and 3rd 2022

My trip to Central America is beginning. I was lucky enough to get a ride to O'Hare- thanks Keith- complete with Taco Bell on the way. Although it's a holiday weekend I moved through check in (unfortunately it wouldn't let me check in online) and security fairly quickly and had plenty of time to kill at my gate so I got a fruit cup and got ready for Dallas.

 I was in the very last row of the plane and had a window seat. There was someone next to me in the middle but no one on the aisle. Surely the patron in the middle would move to the aisle so we both had more space. NOPE. This middle loving woman stayed next to me the entire flight and knocked into me multiple times while she was asleep. Woof. So much for social distancing.

I called Super 8 as soon as we touched down and they told me to be ready for their courtesy shuttle in 25-30 minutes. An hour and ten minutes and two phone calls later, I was picked up. The driver muttered, "Good thing you're alone. I only have one seat left." 😖
After a total of 4 minutes squished like a sardine between 13 other passengers I was dropped at Super 8. I had to sign up for a shuttle the next morning. They ran every 30 minutes but apparently had a 30 minute window from the time scheduled for pickup. Also I had to be ready 15 minutes before the pickup window started? I begrudgingly booked an earlier than necessary shuttle and headed to bed. 

In the morning the front desk was "on a break- thanks for your patience" so I stuck my key behind the desk and stood in the doorway to watch for the shuttle. Even though it was 8am it was already 95 degrees so I wanted to be in the AC for as long as possible. Eventually the front desk returned from their break and asked me if I had booked a shuttle.
Ummm yes you watched me fill this form out not even 8 hours ago. Are you telling me no one has called the shuttle? So on the phone the front desk man got. Luckily I only waited about 30 minutes this time before being picked up. I got to the airport with PLENTY of time to spare but won't be doing Super 8 shuttles again anytime soon (or ever!)
Kristin lands an hour before me in Belize so our plan is to meet at the baggage claim once I land (in case there's no wifi and we don't have a way to contact one another) Fingers crossed we connect!

After waiting over an hour in the line for customs I found Kristin 🙌
We hopped in a taxi to the water taxi station and once there had about an hour to kill before boarding the last ferry of the day to Caye Caulker. These men tried to take our bags and load them onto a cart.  Told us we'd get them back once we got off the boat but we were skeptical so we did not let rhe men take our bags and instead brought them with us to the end of the pier where we bought our ferry tickets. The ferry lady assured us that those men were legit and we could in fact leave our bags with them. Thank you, men of Belize. After walking back down the pier and dropping our bags off- the men laughed at us (obviously!)- we stopped at a bar/restaurant called 'The Last Drop' and hung out with a local named James who hooked us up with a DELICIOUS veggie quesadilla and Panty Ripper rum pouches. It was the perfect 'welcome to Belize'. Kristin had another pouch but we had an hour boat ride ahead of us so I opted for a beer instead and we hurried to the end of the dock to make our ferry.

It was a most gorgeous boat ride to the island. 

After disembarking we almost forgot we had to pick up our bags  🤦‍♀️😂 After laughing a whole bunch we headed to the baggage claim and then proceeded on our way. We had about a 15 minute walk down a sandy beach road to Colinda Cabanas. There are no cars on the island-- golf carts and bikes only-- which made the walk super enjoyable. We passed by tons of colorful guest houses, shops and cafes. After arriving at our brightly painted blue and yellow cabana we showered and rode our bikes to Lobster Fest. 🦞 It's the first weekend of lobster season so what better way to celebrate than at a street fest with music, food, beer and souvenirs? We parked our bikes and wandered the streets while sipping belikin, a local Belizean beer. We eventually ended up at a rooftop bar and restaurant where we ate a delicious meal of coconut rice and veggies while watching fireworks

. We finished the night with live music at one of the local bars. While biking back I stayed upright (even though my bike seat was way too tall.for me!) But Kristin was not so lucky. There was a wooden ramp we had to traverse and as I looked back I saw her slowly, slowly, slowly topple to one side off the ramp. She wasn't able to catch herself so into the concrete wall she went. Her elbow and knee had scars to show for it. After lots of giggles, we made it back home and climbed into our beds for our first night sleep in Belize. 

Bye Bye Berlin

 February 27, 2022

Today is our last day in Germany. We were up early because we had to get back to the airport in Berlin. I got to drive on the autobahn this time and while it was a thrilling experience (I maxed out the speed of the car), there was A LOT of fog. 

We then had:

A car rental snafu
No online check in
To visit three different areas before finding the necessary attestation form
Trouble with Jaclyn's passport to the point that a manager had to be called to restart the entire computer system
The slowest security line ever with friendliest, chattiest man ever
To take out all my liquids
Gina's bag being flagged
To RUN to the gate...and our plane wasn't even on time

Once we finally got to Copenhagen we enjoyed some Joe and the Juice which was reminiscent of our first day of the trip. When we got to our gate we were asked a million questions about our luggage and needed a stamp on our boarding pass prior to boarding. Needless to say, we were sad to be bound for the states because one week in Deutschland just wasn't long enough. Until next time, Europe.

PS- my blog photos wouldn't be NEARLY as awesome this time 'round if not for the AMAZING photography work of Gina Workman. Huge shoutout to her for taking, editing and posing me for so many cool photos. AND for making this awesome video compilation of our travels. Click here to view.

Dresden Does Not Like Credit Cards

February 26th, 2022 

"It's after 730! We have to go" Gina whispered as she shot up in bed. I sleepily looked at my phone, only to see it was 4:55am. "Go back to sleep" I said. And just as quickly as she had bolted up she laid back down again. Our morning was an early one though. We had to be up and out before 6 so that we could catch the S-Bahn Train to the airport. We didn't have a clue which tickets to buy and in hindsight I think we ended up buying ones for the wrong train (we purchased them upstairs instead of downstairs) but we boarded the right train and made it to the airport all the same. At the airport we grabbed a quick breakfast and then boarded our tiny plane to Berlin. We got so lucky because the guy on the ground grabbed our bags and put them under the plane which meant we didn't have to do any heavy lifting when we boarded. I slept for the hour flight and after deplaning we headed to Alamo to pick up our rental car. After planing, training, busing, streetcar-ing, and walking for a week, there was something so liberating about having our own vehicle. Windows down, music on, we embarked on the 2 hour drive to our hostel in Dresden. 

We initially made these plans so that we could travel into the mountains, however, by the time we made it into town, got covid tests from the testing center, got our results, paid to use the toilet and checked into the hostel it was mid-afternoon. We hadn't eaten since 7am and had another hour drive ahead of us if we were going to make it into the mountains. We opted instead to get lunch at Rolle, a local kebab place. The lamb meat was fall off the bone tender while the bread was unbelievably fresh however, when we tried to pay for our delicious delicacies we ran into a little snafu. Rolle only accepted German credit cards. What? Why? Certainly there wasn't a setting on the card machine that said Deutsch Only. We had international credit cards. No fees. Paid in euros. Nope. Nada. Not happening. Cash only. Well shit. Our covid tests cost 15 euro apiece and were cash only so we both only had coins left. 😟

Now what?

Run to the central train station (even though we hadn't taken a train in this city) to find an exchange to convert USD to euros. Then run back to the kebab place and pay the nice man who let us leave even though he surely thought he would never see us again. We tipped him generously since he didn't make us wash dishes or surrender our passports to him. Maybe one of us will name our first born after him as a thank you? Hopefully karma takes care of him instead.
After all our running around in the cold we headed back toward our home for the night, a&o hostel, but not before stopping by Aldi on the way for some fruit for tomorrow's breakfast. I caught up on some blogging and reading, while Gina showered and repacked.
We went to the hostel rooftop bar where I enjoyed a radeler pilsner topped with sprite-- apparently a local Dresden favorite. I wasn't too sure how I'd feel about it but I actually found it quite refreshing. While there we met a lovely bartender named Piip. We chatted with them on and off throughout the night, sharing our best hostel stories. Piip shared that an elderly man who was checking in with two huge suitcases lost his pants and it took everything they had not to start laughing at the swearing, pantsless man. Gina and I shared about a girl in our dorm whose phone kept flashing under the covers at night and lighting up the entire room. When we jokingly asked her if she was taking and sending naughty photos she blushingly replied, "....I didn't know you could see the flash...." 🤣🙉
She's been traveling in hostels for OVER A MONTH and we were the FIRST to tell her. Chatting with Piip and reminiscing about our trip was the perfect end to our trip in Deutschland.

We'll Never Be Royals

February 25, 2022

It was another early morning for us because today we were doing a Neuschwanstein Castle tour. We boarded the bus at 8:15 and first stopped at Linderhoff, King Ludwig's most lived at residence. Its extravagance is otherworldly but its size is quite modest compared to his other castles. 

After touring the different rooms we again boarded the bus and this time were headed to Oberammergau, the site of the Passion Play. We perused the tiny shops, took in the beautiful views and were back on the bus, this time headed for Neuschwanstein. 

We opted out of eating lunch with our tour group because our guide referred to the restaurant as "exclusive" and said if we didn't want the exclusive menu we could order a plate of sausages for lunch. Exclusivity nor multiple sausages sounded appealing so we went to a biergarten with one of the other travelers from our tour. I enjoyed spaetzle with cheese and onions (it reminded me a bit of Mac and Cheese) and potato pancakes with applesauce (one of my faves!)

After a hearty lunch we made the climb up, up, up toward Neuschwanstein. The snow capped trees were beautiful and by the end of the walk I even had my coat unzipped. Seeing the inside of the castle is like nothing I've experienced before. The exquisite grandeur, the opulence, the wealth, the narcissism that comes with claiming more and more and more for oneself. When Ludwig's castle was being built he remarked that as soon as he died he wanted it destroyed so that no one else could enjoy the home that had been built for him. Instead, it stands unfinished (due to his untimely death) and is now a museum for all to enjoy. A few things I took away were that: the castle had its own sewage and piping system so that Ludwig could get water in his bedroom through the mouth of a golden swan. WOW. The kitchen was also remarkable for the time. After finishing our tour (no photos allowed), we got hot chocolates before boarding the bus for home. 

Two hours later we were back in Munich and ready for our night to begin. We grabbed dinner at a pizza place and while it was delicious, we waited entirely too long for it. 

We had planned to get drinks with our bunkmates, Omisa, Josie, Ino and Giovanna. They had never even heard of Hofbrauhaus so of course we had to go. The live music, the lederhosen, the long communal tables and liter beers in steins painted the picture of the perfect German bar. We laughed, we chatted, we played games and then, just like that, they were telling us to finish our drinks because it was almost midnight. Our last night in Munich had ended and we were ready for a quick sleep before boarding a Berlin bound plane in the AM.

Munchen, Bavaria

 February 24, 2022

We started our time in Munich with a free walking tour. It began at the famous glockenspiel so we got to watch the marionettes dance around while the bells rang. 

We learned a lot of things on our tour including:

-It was tradition that after finishing their butcher apprenticeship young boys would have to jump into this fishhead fountain naked.

-This statue of Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet) is a gift from a Shakespearean town in Italy where the play originated. They have a co-op program with Germany and wanted German citizens to have a way to earn good luck. The legend says they simply need to rub Juliet's golden breast and luck will be theirs.

-This plaque marks the place where Hitler gave his kristallnacht speech. It is now a toy museum.

-Legend has it that King Ludwig's monkey went rogue in the palace one day and kidnapped Ludwig's heir to the throne. The monkey climbed all the way to the top of this spindle with the child before returning him safely back to his cradle.

-Hofbrauhaus: enough said.

-The bows on women's traditional German clothing is used to tell their relationship status. Bow on the right- taken. Bow on the left- looking. Bow on the back- widowed or waitressing.
Yeah, that last one didn't make sense to me either 🤷‍♀️

-This beautiful yellow church was built as a gift to honor ONE. SINGLE. CHILD. 🤯

-These gold bricks bear witness to the resistance movements happening in Germany during Hitler's reign. Citizens who did not want to heil Hitler in the main square took side roads like this one instead.

After our walking tour we got lunch at an Asian soul food pop up. It wasn't the best sushi I've ever eaten, but the bathroom was free. 😊 

After lunch we enjoyed the sunshine in the Munich Residenz Gardens before making our way into the Palace for a tour. The opulence and grandeur are mind blowing.  Velvet walls, gold plated windows, custom made mirrors.

After the palace we went back to our hostel so Gina could shower and I could blog. We grabbed a happy hour beer at the hostel bar (with 1 euro off it was 3.90 for a half liter 🍻)

 

For dinner we went for traditional German food. Our waiter was obsessed with yelling "chi-ca-go" every time he came to our table. We tried a deer meat stew with spaetzle, beets and pear with chutney. I thought it was delicious! We also ordered some dark bread with spreads, however they were skimpy on the bread; we only got one piece to share. 😔

Friends I travel with always joke how friendly and approachable I am, sometimes to a fault. And it was no different on this trip. Gina went to the bathroom and immediately the men at the table behind asked if I could take their picture. They started chatting with me and invited me to have a beer with them (two of my favorite parts of travel- beer and making new friends!) But we had places to go and people to meet so we declined the offer from the Austrians and headed to Killian's, an Irish/Australian karaoke pub. It was packed so we ended up being sat at a table with three others we didn't know. After ordering our first round we got to chatting with the girl who looked about our age. She told us she met the two (much older) men that she was with while grabbing pizza and came here with them 😬 hhmm.. I had assumed she was out with her dad and uncle or something. After she finished her drink she left and then Gina and I were stuck with two old men we couldn't communicate with. They kept trying to talk to us and we kept trying to use gestures and words to hammer home the point that we did not speak German. They tried to order us shots but we declined and the waitress had to translate-- thank goodness for her! The atmosphere was buzzing and the karaoke lineup was really good. Gina got her name on the list and when she went up to sing the crowd went wild. Everyone was singing along and the old men at our table went up to the stage to get a video. They then proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes trying to show Gina the video (she was there so I'm pretty sure she remembers) and trying to convince her to give them her number so they could whatsapp it to her.🤦‍♀️ These are the type of friends I don't like making when traveling. We appealed to a table of younger Germans across the way who immediately adopted us into their karaoke family. Our friends were clearly jealous and came over to chat with the boys in German. Luckily for us the boys sent them on their merry way. Too bad it was almost bar close. We had a really fun night at Killian's and I would highly recommend it for those diehard karaoke-ers out there.

Small People In Small Places Do Small Things

February 23, 2022 

Today was our last day in Berlin. Gina went on a 3.5 hour walking tour that I opted out of because the bathroom situation here in Berlin is tricky. Many places don't have bathrooms, and those that do require payment. I didn't think I'd make it 3 and a half hours without the toilet and was afraid I'd lose my group if I wandered too far. (Y'all remember the Russian restaurant incident, right? And that was close to home!)

Anyway, I relaxed at the hostel and caught up on some blogging while G was away. Then Ben and I (one of the guys we had met the night before) met Gina at The Berlin Wall. There's lots of cool art work along it, but some of my favorites are below:

After we went to this super cool hippy commune with artwork made of garbage, a telephone booth sized solo disco and lots of small eclectic eateries and drinkeries.  

Our day wouldn't have been complete without a good dinner so we checked out a Japanese American fusion place called Shiso that made burgers in a whole new way. Since the three of us were now besties we ordered 3 burgers to share. The kitchen was outraged at our request to cut the burgers, or to get silverware at all, so we became fast friends and shared bites of burgers with one another. We're triple vaxxed for a reason, right?

After saying our goodbyes (to my favorite lobby giraffe) at the hostel, we took public transit to the train station where we'd be boarding our 4 hour train bound for Munich. 

I tried to sleep but couldn't get in a comfortable position so was in and out most of the way. Luckily for us, our hostel, Wombats, is a 3 minute walk from the station so we (I say we but y'all know I really mean Gina) had an incredibly easy time navigating us there. When we arrived we ended up in the elevator with another American who happened to be in our room. She was so excited that we were roomies and escorted us the rest of the way and excitedly introduced us to everyone upon entering. It was a mini midnight party 🥳  What a fun way to start our time in Munich!