Cuba

After all of our remote adventures, epic cross country travels, and culture exploration, Katie and I decided to hang up our backpacks and try out a 5 star all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean.

As to not venture to far on the luxury scale and also try to see some local culture, we decided to visit Cuba. We flew into Varadero and stayed for a week at the Sandals Resort.

The resort was very nice, it had a lagoon running all around the resort and you walked above it on boardwalks. The food was good, as most know who have gone to Cuba the food is basic but good. One night Katie and I had a restaurant reservation for 8pm, but got a little hungry around 6pm. We decided to venture over to the buffet for a quick snack. To our surprise there was some amazing treats at the buffet. I ended up having a snack of 3 lobster tails...mmmm. Katie had fruit dipped in the chocolate fountain. We still ended up heading out for our dinner reservation at 8pm.

The all-inclusive alcohol was kinda interesting. I normally only drink beer, wine, or rye whiskey, as rum and vodka make me ill. Yet, when you're in Cuba you have to have a mojito, cuba libra, etc. I discovered that I actually love rum, I just don't like barcardi. The Havana club is very good, especially the old it is. I was also drinking for 2 as we found out that Katie was pregnant 3 days prior to leaving for Cuba.

We did a day trip into Havana, which was amazing. We toured the old port area, revolution square, the parliament, and a cigar factory. The factory was really cool, they have 900 employees that make over 40,000 cigars a day. Havana was definately a place we would love to go back to and spend more time at, 3 days min.

The resort had scuba diving included, so I went out a couple of times. The reefs were very bare and uninteresting for the most part, but any scuba diving is usually still good scuba diving. Katie and I spent most of our time swimming, reading, lounging in the sun, playing beach volleyball, and more swimming.

Here are some pics:

Cuba

Las Vegas - Thanksgiving 2008

Katie and I decided to bypass the turkey and gravy this year and head to Vegas for a 3 day weekend. As we haven't traveled through the US in awhile, our trip started off with a couple of speed bumps (ie. rub downs, searches, and charges).

Vegas was quite interesting, like Disneyland for rednecks, where everybody is sitting around slots machines smoking and hating every minute of it. After our explorations of the area, I would recommend Vegas to people, but talk with somebody that has traveled there and is of similar likeness to get recommendations.

We loved the Grand Canyon day trip. We bused out over the hoover dam and to the west rim of the canyon. After which we took a 15min heli flight down to the Colorado river for a quick boat trip. The only downfall to this tour was the bus ride back, as our french-Canadian tour guide decided to lock the bus doors and torture us the entire 2 hour ride back. His method of torture.....the entire final Las Vega concert by Celine Dion.

We also love the shows, of which the best was La Reve.


Here are some pics:

Las Vegas

Business trip to Bangalore, India

In September, my company sent me to India for a week and a half to train staff at one of our subcontractors located in Bangalore, India.

The trip was very interesting, I was lucky that I had visited Kathmandu the previous year or else I may have experienced more culture shock.

I found it quite difficult after the first couple of days at work training the staff as I was quite jetlagged and was having a difficult time adjusting. I think this is due to the fact that the time change is approx 12 hours, other business travel I have done normally only has 3-8 hour time change. And unlike vacations I couldn't just sleep when I wanted too.

One the weekend I was there the subcontractors arranged days trips for me in and around the area of Bangalore. On Saturday, we drove leisurely towards our destination of Mysore. On the way we stopped at various places including: Bird Sanctuary with boat cruise, Old British summer palace, and waterfalls. In Mysore, we ate a local restaurant that the driver liked. It was a great experience and great food. You receive a banana leaf as your plate and must use you hands to eat the meal. I enjoyed a biryani and a grilled fish.

The next day we did a 1/2 day tour of Bangalore, visiting the provincial parliament, parks, temples, and the main market. The Market was the highlight of the day. I bought some local spices to bring home for an attempt at Indian cooking... I still need some practice.

Here are some Pics:

India

Calgary for May 24 weekend

Katie and I flew to Calgary on the May long weekend for Ryan Seibert's Baptism.

The trip was awesome. We had one day and night in Banff/Lake Louise to enjoy the scenery of different mountains. For the rest of the weekend we hung out around southern Calgary at the Seibert Residence.

Much fun was had playing with the kids, catching up on stories (in both German and English), and playing cards late into the night (sorry again Mo!!)

Here are some Pics:

Calgary - May 2008