Sandy Sheets in Peru

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Travel Spirit

In 2009 I decided to do some travel. If you’ve been reading along, you knew I went to Egypt and Jordan in early April. Peru was next…so after being home for 10 days, I flew into Lima, Peru by myself and arrived at my hotel about 11:00pm. For the next three weeks I would be exploring with 10 other travelers through GAP Adventures.

To avoid paying the single supplement, GAP will pair you up with a roommate. My roommate was still awake when I arrived. She was a college student from the Northeast area of the U.S. The next morning I met the rest of my fellow travelers…a diverse group from New Zealand, Australia, Morocco, Gibraltar, Germany and two women from California.

We only had a few hours to explore in Lima, so my roommate and I walked around, and got some street food. After the culture shock from Egypt…I was prepared, so Peru seemed tame. Like Egypt, many of the restrooms were simply a hole in the ground, with no toilet paper available, and you had the privilege of paying to use them! Please don’t think I’m complaining. I’m not your “prissy…pampered” type of woman. I love to camp and rough it! I’m just stating the facts.

I loved this bicycle/wagon filled with fruit!

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Do we really want to see the sunset?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Travel Spirit

The 18 days I traveled through Egypt and Jordan with GAP Adventures in 2009, were filled with adventure, excitement and wonder.

Our group of 14 people from across the globe, typically traveled by private van, but we did take a night train from Cairo to Aswan. Here is a map of our route…

This photo is of the back of the Citadel, which was originally built during the 12th Century to be a fortification…a wall surrounding Cairo, but was never completed. It is now a preserved historic site, with mosques and museums.

We wandered through the Khan Al Khalili bazaar. It was an endless maze of sidewalks filled with little shops, selling clothing, jewelry, anything you could think of. It was so colorful and intriguing!

There had been a bombing one month prior to my arrival…a French girl died and others were wounded. Of course my family thought it would be too dangerous to visit…

Our hotel at Mt. Sinai was very nice and the pool looked inviting…but it was too cold to swim. I think the scenery was so simply stark and beautiful!

I was so happy to be able to climb to the top of Mt. Sinai. For those of you who don’t remember the significance of this area. According to the Bible, it is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

It took about 3 hours to reach the top and it was timed so that we could see the sunset. The temperature change was amazing. By the time we reached the summit, it was freezing. We waited about 15-20 minutes to witness the sunset…with my teeth chattering uncontrollably…I’m asking…do we really want to see the sunset?? It was pretty…but we then ran down the mountain, partially in the dark, in about 30 minutes.

I loved this Greek Orthodox Chapel at the top.

The following photo is St. Catherine’s Monastery, which was built in the 6th century and is the oldest continuously functioning Christian monastery in existence. It is built on the site of the original burning bush.

Cats were everywhere!

Our last stop was Nuweiba, Egypt before boarding the ferry to cross the Gulf of Aquaba to Jordan…this was the beach area where our hotel was located…it was eerily deserted!

This little girl was selling jewelry on the beach…but only five people were on the entire beach! We couldn’t speak to each other, but you don’t always need words to communicate. I took her hands and swung her around and around…and we laughed!

Next we’ll explore Indiana Jones’ territory…

A trek through egypt (photos.mercurynews.com)

Wine and Women

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Travel Spirit

Our second stop of the day on our annual “girls’ weekend”, was to Talon Winery in Lexington, Kentucky!

Here is the tasting room. As you can see, the grounds and scenery were lovely!

For $5.00, you receive six tastings and they were yummy! I had two Chardonnays, a Traminette, a Syrah, and their Chambourcin Reserve.

According to Wikipedia…the oldest known winery is located in the “Areni-1” cave in the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia. Archaeologists announced the discovery of this winery in January 2011, seven months after the world’s oldest leather shoe, the Areni-1 shoe, was discovered in the same cave. The winery, which is over six thousand years old, contains a wine press, fermentation vats, jars, and cups. “The fact that winemaking was already so well developed in 4000 BC suggests that the technology probably goes back much earlier.”

It’s a good thing this glass wasn’t used!!

Solo Cruise with Carnival

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Travel Spirit

In 2007, when I still had brown hair, I went on my 3rd cruise, but my first solo cruise for a week and visited Belize, Roatan Island, Honduras, Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel, Mexico. I booked it last minute (about two weeks in advance), so instead of paying double…it only cost a third more for the single supplement. I met a group of guys/girls from New Mexico, a lady from somewhere…can’t remember where now…and a college student and her parents. I ended up hanging with the college student a lot of the time.

This is a photo of them…

I’ve always fit in with younger people…they have lots of energy like me. It was fun fixing her up with guys…there was a cute Brazilian guy that I introduced her to. I was married at the time, so only “looking” allowed for me. One night after a few drinks I got the idea for us to push each other on a luggage rack through the hallways at 2am…followed by turning the signs around on people’s doors…if they had it positioned to say, “Do Not Disturb”, we switched it to “Please Clean My Room” and vice versa…I know…pretty immature…but it was fun! Continue reading →