Croatia Vacation - Dubrovnik

 9/3/22

After a week at sea, we finally left our boat to head into King's Landing.  We had a driver pick us up and we were delivered to Hotel Excelsior where we were able to score an early check in.  Using a full sized shower for the first time in a week was a delight.  Hotel Excelsior was a great stay, but I have a complaint.  A five star hotel should not lock the room thermostats to a temperature that causes you to sweat in your own bedroom.  A quick (and slightly buzzed) call to the front desk fixed that problem quickly.  

Our hotel was around a 10 minute walk from the walled city, so Allison and I made the trek down to meet up with friends to explore a bit and complete our main mission for the day: find a bar that would show the Razorback game after dinner.

Croatia Vacation - Peljesac Peninsula

 9/1/22

We woke up early to snag a ferry over to Orebic on the mainland to meet our tour guide provided by D'Vino Wine Bar out of Dubrovnik.  We had originally planned to visit 3 wineries/vineyards and make a stop in Ston to go out in a little boat and harvest our own oysters, but severe thunderstorms forced us to drop the oyster excursion.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  

Our first stop was to Korta Katarina, a newer winery overlooking the sea right on the outskirts of Orebic.  

Croatia Vacation - Korcula

 8/31/22

After staying the previous night in a natural harbor on Otok Scedro, we pulled into Korcula slightly after lunch.  We were able to snag a nice spot to park the boat, so we were able to get directly on/off board without needing to bother Ante for dinghy pickups.  I mainly wanted to see the walled Old Town area and grab drinks on top of the tower.  We also stopped to purchase some fancy crayons for Emerson as a way to beg forgiveness for abandoning her for weeks.  Spoiler alert: it worked.

Croatia Vacation - Hvar

 8/28-8/29/22

I have a ton of pictures from the boat and of the amazing scenery, but I'm going to dump those all in a separate post.  

The island of Hvar was our first main stop.  We pulled in to the Palenki Islands early in the afternoon to prepare for our dinner at Zori, which is just a short boat ride away from Hvar.  Our captain, Ante, fired up the dinghy and motored us to the restaurant, which is located in a beautiful cove.  I scored our group an amazing waterfront table that I got to enjoy for all of 5 minutes before my seasickness hit.  Long story short, I was able to escape the restaurant but I was unable to avoid blasting the nearby vegetation (and myself) with vomit.  It was an awkward ride back to the boat on the dinghy for me.  Everyone else had a wonderful time.

Totally not seasick...yet.

Croatia Vacation - Krka National Park

 8/27/22

We woke up early to meet our tour guides, Bartul and Hrvoje, for our trip to Krka National Park and subsequent transfer to our gulet outside of Trogir.  Our first taste of Krka was the amazing dictator tour bus that was in front of us waiting to enter the park.  Congrats to Tito for making the bus.  No one outside the region recognizes you, though.  Like the 5th member of the 1993 Atlanta Braves pitching staff.  The Xs were way too small, in my totally correct opinion.  

The bus says Never Again, but the size of the
X implies "Maybe we should get the band back together?"

Croatia Vacation - Split and Bosnia

8/24/22 

2.5 years ago, the cruel bitch that is COVID caused the cancellation of our Spanish vacation mere days before departure.  During that time, I got fat, I got skinny, I got fat again, I got skinny again, I procreated, and I got fat again.  After some heavy drinking, Allison and I assembled a group of 10 of our friends and rented a gulet to cruise the Adriatic for a week.  What's a gulet, you may ask?  A gulet is like a yacht, but it's wooden, looks like a pirate ship mated with a fishing boat, and is significantly cheaper than the aforementioned yacht.  

Since we had been stuck stateside for the better part of three years, Allison and I decided to splurge on our first business class flights.  Since European airports had been in turmoil all summer, we decided to go the "all carryon" route, which made Allison a bit grumpy.  Her mood soon changed once we finally broke the threshold of the airport Chili's.  

When asked to describe America, I reply with "Airport Chili's."

Quebec Vacation - Quebec City

8/2/19

Allison and I took a spur of the moment anniversary trip to Quebec City for a long weekend.  The location was going to be a surprise, but she ended up guessing correctly on her second try so I had to tell her.  Flights went smoothly and we ended up arriving at our hotel, Hotel 71, at a little after 5PM on Friday night.

Hotel 71 is located in the Lower Town area of Old Quebec and is about a block from the pedestrian area.  The location is ideal and the staff at the hotel are extremely helpful and very friendly.  Would definitely stay here again.

Since we were late getting in, we didn't do anything beyond briefly exploring the Lower Town and grabbing some drinks and a quick dinner.  The following day was to be dedicated to Montmorency Falls and Isle d'Orleans, with focus on the city resuming on Sunday.

France Vacation - Avignon and Nimes

5/12/19

Our final day in France was set to be a day trip to Avignon and Nimes.  We got up super early and hopped on the train for the one hour ride to Avignon, arriving before the Palais des Papes even opened.  We stopped to grab a quick breakfast to pass the time.

This Palace was constructed in the mid-late 13th century and is one of the largest medieval Gothic buildings in Europe.  It became the papal residence in 1309 when Pope Clement V uprooted and left Rome after his election in 1305, which I guess is what happens when you name a French guy as Pope.  Though they returned to Rome in 1377, Clement VII and Benedict XIII claimed the papacy and remained in Avignon until 1403 in an era that was known as the Double Pope Times (Western Schism).  The Palace was taken over by Napoleon's troops and turned into a barracks and prison during his reign, which greatly damaged the interior of the building.  It's still pretty empty today, but there is a ton of cool architecture.  Since we were one of the first in, we had a lot of the huge, empty rooms to ourselves.  Made me feel tiny.

France Vacation - Geneva and Lyon

5/9/19

After a nighttime flight from Bordeaux to Geneva, we were picked up by Allison's host sister, Elisa, and her husband Christian to head to their house in Bonneville, France.  We had planned to visit Yvoire and Montreux on the 9th, but awful weather (theme of the trip) caused us to audible to a relaxation day. 

Allison hung out with Elisa and her kiddos, while I slept for 15 hours and found some donkeys to hang out with during the breaks in the storm.  I will say that I was quite sad today when I learned that one of my genius drunken inventions from earlier in the trip, my deli meat guillotine, was already a thing when I noticed one at the cheese store.  One of these days I'll have my trillion dollar idea.

France Vacation - Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion, and Wine Tasting

5/7/19

Our train arrived late on the night of the 6th, so we ran to our respective hotels to check in, drop off our bags, and grab a quick dinner in anticipation of our wine tours the following day.  We stayed at YNDOHOTEL, a boutique hotel located in a quiet neighborhood about 5-10 minutes walk from all the action.  Our room was pretty small, but everything seemed to be very new.  The staff were all quite personable as well.  Like most places on our trip, we didn't spend a lot of time in the room, so details are pretty scarce from me.

The following morning, we met up with our guide, Stephan, to check out some vineyards and the nearby town of Saint-Emilion.  If you're in Bordeaux, I'd recommend having Stephan take you around.  Really personable guy and very knowledgeable.

France Vacation - Chateaus

5/6/19

Our day started bright and early with a 7:00AM hotel pickup by our driver, Gigi.  Our plan was to visit chateaus in Chambord, Chenonceau, and Amboise before being dropped off at the train station in Tours to catch our ride to Bordeaux.

Our first stop, Chambord, is about a 2 hour drive from Paris, so we were able to get a quick nap in before the day officially began.  Construction on Chateau Chambord, commissioned by King Francis I, began in 1519 and once finished, it was the largest chateau in the entire Loire Valley.  I knew that it was big, but seeing it in person is just breathtaking.  It was originally built as a hunting lodge and is situated on a 13,000+ acres game reserve with almost 20 miles of exterior walls surrounding the property.  I also learned that it is strongly rumored that the chateau was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, with some evidence being the double spiraled staircase in the center of the chateau.  I am choosing to 100% believe this because it makes my trip sound fancier.  We also found a wine tasting, but that's not surprising in the slightest.

France Vacation - Paris and Versailles

5/3/19

After a flight delay in Dallas, we landed in Paris in the early afternoon and began to explore after hammering some espresso and dropping off our luggage at our hotel, the Maison Albar Celine.  The Maison Albar is located a quick walk from the Les Halles metro station and is very close to the Louvre and the Ile de la Cite.  All the toilets have heated seats and really cool bidets.  My butt really enjoyed Paris.  Excellent service in the hotel as well.

After regrouping with Adam and Jennifer, we were ready to explore Paris.  We had originally planned to be dropped off via Uber at the Arc de Triomphe, but traffic led us to bail at Place de la Concorde.  They guillotined quite a few people in this square, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.  There is also a really cool golden tipped obelisk there now.  Big fan of obelisks.  They look like wieners and that's funny to me.  

We continued toward the Arc by walking up Champs-Elysees, which is considered the most recognizable avenue in the world and is lined with fancy shops and cafes.  It is also super crowded and the site of many of the Yellow Vest protests, so there were quite a few cracked windows to be seen while we explored our way up the avenue towards the Arc de Triomphe.  They usually riot on Saturdays, so we were unfortunate to have visited on Friday because I really wanted to tip over some cars and get shot by rubber bullets. 

Portugal Vacation - Lisbon

7/10/17

Upon leaving Sintra, our guide began making his way toward Lisbon to see a couple sights and then drop us off at our hotel.

Our first stop in Lisbon was the Belem Tower, which was commissioned by King John II in the early 16th century to protect the mouth of the Tagus River.  The tower is built on a small island in the river, very near to the shore.  It was closed the day we visited, so we had to settle for a bunch of cool exterior pics.  Our guide assured us that we weren't missing much by not seeing the inside.

Belem Tower.

Portugal Vacation - Sintra

7/9/17

Our transfer from Tomar brought us into Sintra early Sunday afternoon, where we learned that Sintra has a bit of a traffic problem.  Their two lane roads are barely wide enough for one car, and our hotel was up a winding road that passed by one of the cities most popular tourist destinations and was around the halfway point of another of their popular destinations.  We were stuck one block from our hotel for over 30 minutes while we listened to angry Portuguese scream at each other outside of their cars until the Alpha prevailed and the Beta driver had to get off the road.

Our hotel, the Tivoli Palace, was a bit of a tourist destination itself.  It was built in 1783 by some fancy Dutch dude and has been operating as a luxury hotel since the 1950s.

Hotel exterior.

Allison attempting to copy the hotel statue.

Portugal Vacation - Tomar

7/8/17

Upon arriving in Tomar, we learned that there was a medieval festival right next to our hotel, Hotel dos Templarios.  It was a little outdated, but very clean and centrally located with an excellent A/C system.  At around $80 per night, it was the best deal of our entire trip.  This hotel was also very conveniently placed right next to the medieval festival.  Allison refuses to believe that I did not plan for this.  We had some $1 sangrias before heading to the city center for our reservation at Taverna Antiqua, a medieval themed restaurant.  This one I did plan for.  Before dinner, I met a chain mail clad Templar Knight.  Made my day.

"Amanha nos passeio em Jerusalem." 

We are ready to repel the Moorish invaders.

Portugal Vacation - Aveiro and Coimbra

7/8/17

We left Portugal early Saturday and made our winding trip down to Tomar via a hired car from Blacklane (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED).  Early in the planning stages of the trip, Allison had wanted to rent a car so we could make the drive from Porto to Lisbon.  THANK GOD WE DID NOT DO THAT.  Sintra would have ended our marriage/lives, but that's a story for another day.

We had originally planned to see Braga, but scrapped that idea after seeing a very similar church in the Azores.  We audibled the morning of and chose to make a quick stop in Aveiro instead.  Aveiro is called the "Venice of Portugal," so we were pretty excited to see it.  The excitement died quickly.  I mean, it was neat and all, but we were glad we only had an hour or so there.

A cool thing about Aveiro is that many of their houses are painted in a certain theme, which is candy caned stripes.  This reminded me of the colorful houses we saw on Burano while in Venice.

Candy cane homes.  Lookin' tasty!

Portugal Vacation - Porto

7/6/17 

We left Ponta Delgada bright and early Thurday morning and arrived in Porto around lunch time.  We hopped in an Uber to drop our bags at the hotel, Palacio das Cardosas, and hoofed it down to the riverfront to grab lunch.

Jamon Iberico?  Ya mon!

Wine flights at Bacchus Vini.

Portugal Vacation - Ponta Delgada and the Azores

7/4/17

After a solid 18 hours of travel, we landed in Ponta Delgada around 6:00 AM and were picked up by our guide, Jose, from Amazing Tours (very apt name) for our hotel transfer. After dropping off our bags at the Azor Hotel, we checked out the city gates and Igreja de Sao Sebastio in the city center before grabbing a quick breakfast and beginning our first tour.

Igreja Matriz de Sao Sebastiao.

Portas da Cidade.

Sea Island, GA

10/8-10/10/15

My parents took Allison and I to Sea Island for a quick getaway.  We were scheduled to go to Kiawah Island in South Carolina, but the state was hit with catastrophic flooding, so we moved down to Georgia for our vacation.

Right by the beach, mon.

Washington D.C.

7/30-8/1/15

I was scheduled to perform a safety audit for a project in Alexandria, VA, so Allison and I decided to make my work trip into a miniature vacation to Washington D.C.  After a few wonderful plane delays, we arrived in D.C. in the middle of a massive storm, which delayed my safety audit.  We rented a car and drove straight into the city, which has a lot of roundabouts and confusing intersections.  Only got lost twice on the way to our hotel, The Jefferson.  By the way, I highly recommend that hotel.

Not a lot going on Day One since we didn't get in town until mid afternoon.  Had dinner at a place I do not recall.  It was fine.

White House selfie.