Garden update

It is nice to have an unknown garden, although we have now lived here for 11 months so have discovered most things by now.

 My sunflowers, having grown very well in this hot and humid climate, have just started to flower. They are much taller than me and I so far have a yellow and a red one!

 It is a bit sad we are going away today. There are a lot more flowers on the way, but I hope they will still be here when we come back.

We also have some lovely pink flowers on the tree outside the middle bedroom and some new yellow flowers behind the watering hose.

Fort Lauderdale weekend - Day 3

Day 3 was spend kayaking around the canals. We did just over 5k (3.5 miles) along this strech in the middle. It was quite hard work, but very interesting to look at the houses on the water, and we saw a large bright green Iguana.

Kayaking followed by an American size ice cream, which was enough - no more meals needed!

We drove down the cost to Miami beach, but as I clearly remembered from my last visit, some 10 years ago, parking was an absolute nightmare, so we did not stop, just dropped off the car and enjoyed a few hours in the lounge, before heading off in separate directions (me home - Alastair Peru)

Fort Lauderdale weekend - day 2

View from breakfast place

Day 2 we found a nice place for breakfast, serving crepes with strawberries, cream and mimosas. Not a bad way to start the morning.

After breakfast we went for a little exploration trip in the rented electric blue car, and managed to find a new Hard Rock glass for me, as Hard Rock Cafe, Hotel & Casino at Hollywood, FL.

 Afternoon = reading and lazing by the pool.

Fort Lauderdale weekend - Day 1

With Alastair off to Peru again, through Miami, we thought we could have another Florida weekend and found me a cheap flight to Fort Lauderdale. Or so we thought. We did not read the rules and the airline charged me $50 for my carry-on bag. I flew with an airline called Spirit and based on this first experience I don't think I will fly them again. The check-in staff was very rude, the flight was 3 hours delayed, but nobody mentioned it, the gate stated Chicago and when I asked if it was the right gate anyway, they just told me Chicago was gate 9 but would not confirm regarding FLL.
Finally arrived around midnight and fortunately Alastair came and met me to take me to the hotel
We stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66 as most of the big chains on the seafront we full and we did not want to risk not finding a room. If I have to stick to the positive, the pool was nice:

The rest of the hotel was quite tired and it was about 20 minutes to walk to the beach.

Breakfast on the beach at St. Barts Cafe was OK, but not great. I did like the view though. 

Unfortunately they have built a 3-lane highway between all the restaurants and the beach. Although it looks quiet there were times with very heavy traffic.
In my next life I will become a traffic planner!

Fort Lauderdale has lots of canals with expensive yachts. Overall everything seems pretty upmarket and property prices were not that Interesting.

The beach was very nice though with soft white sand and the water was very warm.

North Beach, MD

A beautiful sunny day, time for lunch by Chesapeake Bay. After going over menus at a large selection of places we finally settles for Mango's Bar & Grill on North Beach, VA.
They were very busy and had no staff (guess they had called in sick to be able to go out in the sunshine or something). We had to wait a long time for a table, although there were tables available. The explanation was that even though the table itself was free, they had no server available. After close to 1 hour (originally was said to be 10 minutes) we asked for the check at the bar so that we could leave and drive off somewhere else. Just at that point we were offered a table, finally.
Then the next disappointment, the full menu was only available from 2 PM, which included some of the items I had in mind. But at that point we were too hungry to argue and just settled for something.

I had large shrimps marinated in pineapple-juice and coated in coconut flakes, served with Raspberry coulis. That was slightly odd, but actually quite nice.

We finished off with a walk along the pier and a view over the beach, which unfortunately was private and belonged to a resort.

North beach was not as nice as deal, the service was worse but the food itself was slightly nicer. Will try to make that myself sometime.

Pimms @British Embassy

Alastair got invited to the British Embassy, at a mingle-event for UK graduates living in DC, and I got to go too. I Ubered there as 35C / 90F and needed to look presentable. Lots of well dressed people getting out of taxis and queuing up to drive in to the embassy, causing a traffic jam on Massachusetts Avenue. The checks were less thorough than I expected with only an invitation and ID needed to be let in.
We were wondering what time to get there (invite was for 6pm) and decided to meet at the gate close to that time, which appeared to be about right. After signing in and receiving our name badges we proceeded upstairs and were welcomed by waiters with mixed drink trays. We both had champagne and then got to work on the mingling.
The bar was fully stocked with a variety of very British drinks, there were Fullers ESB, Strongbow, Gin&Tonic and of course Pimms No1. No more champagne for me, I stuck to Pimms the rest of the evening.

The British Ambassador and his wife showed up around 7 PM apologizing that the guest speaker was unable to  make it, but he wished us a lovely evening and made himself available for anyone who wanted to speak with him.
They opened the doors to the patio and as the evening cooled down slightly groups of people gathered outside, remembering their time at University back home and comparing experiences of DC.

I know I have said it before - but why can't they make ladies formal clothes with pockets? I refuse to carry a handbag around, but need to put my key, credit cards, ID and phone somewhere. It is not always you can bring your husband around. Today business cards would have been useful as well.
Leaving around 8pm many people was walking around watching their Uber-car arrivals on their smartphones.

Deale, MD

With hot weather expected for the next 4 months or so I though it was time we explore more of the shore around Chesapeake Bay. It is nice to be on the water when it is hot and there will be less mosquitoes. We have previously been to Annapolis and a few towns on the Eastern shore (Oxford, Cambridge & St Michael's), although nice - it is a long drive. This time I proposed Deale, MD, the closest place to DC just under an hour away. I did not know anything about it, just picked a spot on the map.
It was an easy drive and Deale turned out to be a very nice little small-town on the Bay, just as expected. We found a small seafood restaurant called: Skipper's Pier Restaurant.

 We had crab cakes which were great and are looking forward to returning. On the platform in the picture above, they were setting up for a live band playing and it was lovely to sit there and eat, overlooking the marina.

 After lunch we drove around the rest of Deale before heading through small very small coastal town down to Chesapeake Beach. Chesapeake Beach was much more commercial and a much larger town. There were hotels along the seafront and a distinct lack of parking, so very difficult go go out for a walk and a look around. Sometimes I wonder if these beach town actually want visitors? We will continue exploring the nearby Western Shore and are thinking of renting a sailing boat together with friends in the near future. To be continued.

Not a very nice view

Today I went to Chicago, or at least, I flew into Chicago O'Hare Airport and then set off in the opposite direction to the suburb of Schaumburg. Schaumburg is not a very nice place, it is full of outdoor shopping malls and business hotels and motorway intersections. However, my customer, US Cellular has an office here and I had a meeting with them.
To get to DCA (Reagan National Airport in DC) I booked the Super Shuttle, not that I can't claim a proper taxi, but because they are reliable and actually turn up on time. You can track your shuttle on-line until it reaches your door, on a map and know that you will get to the airport on time. Booking a taxi does not mean it shows up, and it is always a gamble to trek up to Wisconsin Avenue to just catch one.  This morning I checked as usual when I got up where my shuttle was and it turned out it was just around the corner (literally), which was a bit stressful as it was not supposed to pick me up for another 30 minutes. I quickly gathered my stuff and got ready, but it continued to hide around the corner. When it finally showed up (on time) I asked the driver about hiding around the corner and he was surprised i knew. He said he was early and did not want to stress me, which I guess was nice.
Meeting went well and we checked in to a different Hyatt (Regency) than normally, as the usual one was full. I must say I am NOT impressed by the view from my hotel window.

Spring arrived & today's Police action

Back from South America, Spring properly arrived in DC. We had several warm days before I left, but the trees and plants had not properly woken up.
Today I noticed:

Pink flowers on neighbors tree

Little blue flowers in our lawn - hmm... how do I cut the grass without damaging them?

The Tulips turned out to be yellow, but are almost done!

The green leaves on our hedge are turning red and the little tree above the tulips have pink leaves.

Little red flowers on the bush below the porch

Sun-flower seeds I sawed before I left for Peru & Bolivia are sprouting up

More blue flowers on the lawn in the back garden. They look nice - but are they weeds?

Tulips in the back garden are also yellow!

and some dandelions. I have to go and by a tool to dig them up before they spread.

Today's police action happened around lunch-time. A lorry was pulled over at our junction by a police car with the sirens on! Stayed for around 20-30 minutes.

Day 1 Peru & Bolivia Trip - Lima & Cusco

1 new country (Peru), 2 new cities (Lima and Cuzco)

Challenges:
- Find and pay for taxi from airport
- Book Train and Entrance tickets to Machu Picchu

Arriving Lima just after midnight, quite tired after having had to chat to a 16-year old missionary, first time out of Canada from a tiny rural village, most of the 8-hour journey. Flight (American from Dallas, TX) ran out of drinks, there were no movies or power plugs.
Luggage took ages to get out and long queues through customs. Alastair had prebooked a taxi for me to meet before you got outside, as the ones you catch outside the airport can be pretty dodgy. I had a map of where the taxi-desks should be and did find a sign with my name on. However there was no person holding on to the sign. I did get a driver though who whisked me out the back door to avoid the crowd, which made me feel a bit like a celebrity not wanting to be noticed. The driver spoke no English, and on Day1 I really could not remember any Spanish at all to have any type of conversation. Half way to the hotel I realized that he may not take credit cards and I did not have any SOLs at all and not enough USDs. I showed him my Visa card to try to find out if he would accept it and he happily stopped at the next ATM, where I took out the maximum amount, hoping it would be enough. At the hotel, the doorman confirmed it had already been charged to the room so not to worry.
After a short rest, we looked at the view from the Hilton Miraflores roof terrace, whilst having breakfast. I am told it is always foggy like this. The sea is just behind the two tall buildings.

The hotel was nice and I had forgotten their great shower gel and other toiletries. They also did a decent breakfast in the executive lounge, along with snacks and drinks throughout the day.
We had time for a short walk around the Miraflores area of Lima and a short rest by the pool in the fog, before heading back to the airport and flight to Cuzco.

At the airport we found that Peru Rail had a stand. Clever! So we headed off to book train tickets Cuzco - Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) - Cuzco. That turned out quite impossible. There were no return tickets. This is because many people trek into Machu Picchu (on the Inca Trail) and take the train back. In the end the booking agent suggested we take the last train of the day to a town called Ollataytombo, 2 hours from Cuzco and try to find a taxi or bus back from there. Having no choice we booked this.
Back in lounge we then started booking tickets for the entrance to Machu Picchu itself. During the 1 hour we spent there we never managed to get them booked on the government website. Payment kept crashing.

Arrived in Cuzco safely after around an hours flight and quick discussion with taxi driver at airport. He seemed OK, but then immediately after picking us up he wanted to stop for fuel. In my logical mind, you fill up your taxi with fuel before picking up passengers, but Alastair's slightly more South-American thinking came up with the logic that he took the car over from someone else and then was late to catch the passengers at the airport coming in from Lima. I still don't approve. Also he had no change!
We checked in to our hotel, Palacio del Inka, a very nice hotel in the old part of town and  got upgraded to a Senior Suite... yes, more space, but there were no proper windows, just balcony doors in solid wood and not sure about the decor:

In the evening we had a short walk around the old town in Cuzco and found a place to have dinner. They had all three of the typical Peruvian dishes on the menu, Cervice (raw seafood), Guinea-pig and Alpaca. Cuzco is far from the sea, and Alastair has had bad experience of Cervice before so we ordered the other two. The Alpaca was excellent and the Guinea-pig tasted nice, but it was very hard to get any meat off it.

















Achievement Status:

- Got to Lima hotel OK from airport
- Train tickets bought, but not return to Cuzco from Machu Picchu
- No entrance tickets to Machu Picchu

A trip to Oxford and Cambridge (MD)

A beautiful day that just beg you to go on a trip somewhere.

Reading my new Virginia and Maryland book, I finally settled on St Michaels which reminded me of a book I read, actually 4 books of a trilogy (the Chesapeake Bay Saga) set on the Chesapeake Bay shores, written by Nora Roberts. Unfortunately St Michaels is very near Oxford, MD and Cambridge MD, and having lived in Cambridge we could not resist prioritising those places. In the summer there is a ferry from Oxford to St Michaels, the Oxford-Bellevue ferry,  but we were too early. That would have made it a nice loop around.

First we went to Oxford, MD which is a tiny little village on the shores. Some photos below:

The Clock

The Library

The Beach

Jetties to park your boats

and a Museum

There were also village stores, which we for some reason did not visit (so no postcard) a boat sales place and an Inn. We could not find anywhere to eat lunch, which was probably because the tourist season had not started and the ferry was not running across the bay. 

After Oxford we headed off to Cambridge, as you do. I drove the car for the first time, it took about 20 minutes and was not too bad, but I don't like driving new cars in unknown places. It seems a nice car though. 

I wanted to eat seafood, especially crab as the area is famous for their crabs, so we drove around a bit. Cambridge is much bigger than Oxford and eventually we found a nice seafood place overlooking the bay where we had crab-cakes and potato-skins filled with cheese and crab-meat. 

An after-lunch walk around town was interesting. The Highstreet was going through a re-generation project where it was very nice in some places and run down in other parts. Some buildings were being knocked down.

 I found some interesting looking rocking chairs outside a pub and after a quick Internet search also found out that they sell them in the local Lowes store in Easton, which we would pass through on the way home.
I now have two of these to put on my front porch.