December 2016

Sam had the great idea to rent a car for the day.

“Can you drive on the left hand side of the road?” She asked.

“Of course!” I replied. The last time I did so, was in New Zealand back in 2009. However, this time I’ll be driving on the left hand side of the road with a left hand drive car.

Getting a temporary drivers license was easy, as it was provided by the car rental company at the same time. No test, no photos, just pay $15USD for a 72 hour licence.

The car gave us the flexibility to tour around the island at our leisure. Our first stop: Lunch on Sandy Island.

You pick up the ferry from the docks near Dad’s Bar and Grill. Look for the Sandy Island kiosk and let them know that you want to head over for lunch.

While waiting for the boat to arrive, Sam and I had a drink at Dad’s to pass the time.

As our boat to the island approached, we were met with another couple from Texas. They were here on their honeymoon. Not missing an opportunity to meet new people, I invited them to join Sam and I for lunch.

Scouring the menu for something delicious, my mouth watered at the thought of devouring some lobster. Previously, my only encounter with lobsters had been with the True Lobster. This was my first time eating a Rock Lobster (aka: Spiny Lobster). The main difference between being lack of two large pincers.

Eating a Rock Lobster involves scooping out the meat from the entire body of the animal, instead of just eating the tail and claws with a True Lobster.

Washing the entire meal down with a few bottles of Carib beer was the perfect accompaniment.

We brought our drinks to the beach & surf and spent the rest of the afternoon shooting the shit with our Texan friends. After a lengthy discussion about politics and gun laws, and sensing that the restaurant staff wanted to head home for the day, we decided to pay-up and hit the road at around 4pm.

The four of us, plus the remaining staff, trash, and uneaten food piled into the boat for the choppy ride back to the mainland.

We wanted to catch the sunset back at the hotel, so we hopped into the car and headed westbound.

Mother nature didn’t play nice, and decided to toss in a few clouds for our picturesque view.

After checking out of our Sint Maarten hotel, Sam and I headed to one of the most famous beaches in the world. Not for its pristine sands, or crystal clear waters, but for its amazing view of landing airplanes!

We weren’t the only tourist that descended on Maho beach that day. It was funny watching the spectacle of gawkers, eyes in the sky, trying to spot out airplanes in between waves from the ocean. Every now and then you’d hear yelps as a wave would wash away someones belongings.

I was happy that I was able to snap this great video of a JetBlue flight from New York landing at SXM.

Grabbing our (dry) stuff from the beach and hopping into a cab, we made our way to the ferry terminal to head north to Anguilla.

The island of Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory. One of fourteen such territories, It has approximately 15,000 inhabitants and has one of the coolest flags:

The 20 minute shuttle from the Dutch Side of Sint Maarten to Anguilla was rough and choppy, not uncharacteristic for this time of year. Leaving The Netherlands and arriving in the UK meant that I had to go through immigration and passport control.

Arriving at the Four Seasons, I was blown away at the property. This place was amazing. I would never be able to afford to stay at a resort like this, so I felt extremely lucky to be able to experience how the wealthy relax.

Sam and I walked down the beach to Blanchards Beach Shack. Our dinner plans on the beach plans were foiled, because we didn’t realize that the shack was closed on Sundays! That didn’t stop us from enjoying the ocean, however.

In the end we had dinner at The Sunset Lounge, which was designed to offer spectacular views of the sunset while enjoying Asian inspired small plates.

I ordered the Bicol Express bowl which consisted of: Pot Roast Pork, Ginger Infused Coconut Milk Local Seasoned Pepper, Spinach, Leeks, and Cherry Tomatoes.

Dinner did not disappoint and neither will day two on this amazing island.

When Sam and I first met last fall, neither of us knew that we would be hanging out together in the small Caribbean island of Anguilla.

She had an opportunity to work at the Four Seasons during the busy holiday season and was kind enough to invite me down to stay with her at the hotel for a few days.

Our adventure actually started in Sint Maarten, the Dutch island neither of us have been before. I took the one hour flight from San Juan on an island hopper that ended up being an hour delayed. The Reason? It was because the crew didn’t arrive on time! My first introduction to “island time”.

I was in the mood for some BBQ, so we hit up a place right across the street from the Hotel called Lee’s Roadside Bar and Grill. Nothing special to write home about, but it filled the craving.

This island was described to me as “the Vegas of the Caribbean”. I can see why. The main strip is littered with clubs and casinos.

After dinner we were on the hunt for some cheap booze to pre-drink before heading out to the bar.

Coming across Booze It Up was difficult as there are no sidewalks. Dodging puddles and traffic at the same time was proving to be challenging considering we were already tipsy from the drinks at dinner.

Grabbing our $10USD bottle of Smirnoff, we were handed a “free shot” voucher for the bar next door! Score!

After pounding back vodka sodas at the hotel, we headed to The Soggy Dollar at around 12:30am or so to do some dancing. Cover at the door was $10USD.

Drinking and dancing ensued with us stumbling home around 3:00am.

Overall a great start to our adventures! Tomorrow we’re taking the ferry to Anguilla to spend the rest of the weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing what this tiny island has to offer.

My friend Liz suggested that I hit up Cafe Puerto Rico for some delicious mofongo. She had been there previously and said it was the best place to try some.

Frederick and I rushed to get to the restaurant after the Bacardi Rum tour as they closed at 3:30pm. Arriving just in the nick of time, the waiter reluctantly accommodated us on the patio.

I decided on the yucca mofongo with chicken. It was served with rice and a side salad.

The closest thing I can compare it to is a pot pie, without the top crust. The yucca was flaky and dry, which complimented the chicken gravy perfectly.

If you’re even in Old San Juan, I highly suggest you hit this place up for lunch or dinner.

After freshening up at the Hostel, the gang headed out to La Placita. It’s essentially a large square surrounded by bars and clubs. You grab a drink (served in plastic cups, of course) and walk around socializing. There are people showing off their cars, motorcycles, and generally just strutting their stuff.

Right after we get our drinks in hand: BOOM! It starts raining and everyone leaves the plaza like rats from a sinking ship.

This was a blessing in disguise as it forced us to head inside to dance the night away. When the rain stopped, everyone poured out into the square again. A local told me that this was the first night since school was out for the Christmas holidays. This was the main reason why the place was so packed tonight, everyone was out celebrating.

This was my last night in Puerto Rico so I wanted to go out with a bang and La Placita did not disappoint.

My next stop would take me to a place most of you have probably never heard of before. A tiny little island in the Caribbean.

Being the science nerd that I am, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to visit the Arecibo Radio Telescope.

I decided to rent a car and post the details on the hostel’s ride sharing whiteboard. I was sure someone else from the hostel wanted to come check it out with me!

Turns out I was right and two guys came along and split the cost of the car rental. Sweet! We hit the road for the hour and twenty minute drive west.

The $12USD entrance fee included access to the exhibits and a guided tour. This gave me an opportunity to get up-close and personal with a Nobel Prize.

Leaving Aricebo to the east, we decided to stop off at La Cuevea del Indio to checkout why it was the #1 attraction according to Trip Advisor.  We spent over an hour exploring all the caves and cliffs in the blistering heat.

The next day Frederik and I decided to go on a Rum tasting tour with Bacardi. I’m not a huge fan of the brand, but figured it would still be a good opportunity to visit a functional distillery. The tasting included five different ages and styles of rum.

Taking the 12pm tour meant that we were only joined by two other people. So we essentially had the guide all to our selves! I highly recommend that you do this tour in the morning to avoid the crowds.

Learning about the distillation process was nothing new, but understanding what changes you make to this process for rum was.

The tasting it self was better than I expected. Bacardi does indeed produce sipping rums that are aged between 8 and 12 years old. All of their rums are blended, however.

The tour ended with me bottling my own exclusive batch of special reserve that is only available at the distillery. The Bacardi marketing team would be proud.

 

I forgot how much I missed that sweet, sweet kiss of tropical air.

Uber is not allowed to pick up passengers from the Airport, so taking a taxi (or bus) was my only option. A taxi to the Mango Mansion, the hostel I’m staying at, cost me $19USD: reasonable!

Getting in at a decent time, I decided to hit up Old San Juan. This was the original city centre back when Spain ran the island. Today it’s a mix of tourist traps and old Spanish architecture. All of the cruise ships that dock in San Juan dump their hordes of passengers here. So every shop in town has signs declaring heavy discounts to those who are disembarking from a vessel.

That aside, Viejo San Juan still has a lot of interesting history behind it. I began my discovery by starting at Puerta De San Juan. This was the original door to the city built by the Spaniards in 1635. Walking through the door I was imagining all of the sailors, dignitaries, royalty, and even pirates that have crossed its threshold over the past 400 years.

The walk around the bay, along the walls, was serene and peaceful. The waves washing up against the shore and the cool sea breeze helped quench the 30°C heat. My destination was Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, the fort that defended the town up until World War II. Entrance was $5USD, which also gave you access to the other castles and strongholds in the city. To note: the entire network of castles has been declared a World Heritage Site.

The government continued to use this location to protect Puerto Rico during World War II by modifying the castle to handle the anti-aircraft guns that were used at the time. Even 400 years later, this was a prime place to keep the city safe!

On the other side of the Castle, is a sick ass cemetery called Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzi.

At this point it started to rain, so I decided to cut my trip to the Cemetery short and head back to the hostel.

On the way back I really noticed and paid attention to how serious the Puerto Ricans take Christmas. Wreaths, Christmas trees, lights, and garlands are everywhere in the city. It’s still a funny sight for me to see, considering this is a tropical island.

Navidad, as it’s called here, is an important part of Puerto Rican culture. School children have the ten days off before and after Christmas to spend time with their family and in church.

The traditional Christmas dinner is usually lechón asado, which consists of roast pork served with rice and peas, and plantains. The pork is spit roasted for hours until it’s ready.

For me, personally, the thought of Christmas is the last thing on my mind. I’m sure that will change in a week when I get to meet up with two good friends from home.

Today was all about the history  and travelling back in time. Tomorrow’s trip is going to take me someplace a little more futuristic.

 

New Orleans is one of those cities that surprises you at every corner. First impressions aside, this place has moved up in the ranks of my favourite US cities, stealing the fourth spot place from Portland.

I didn’t realize until my last day that I was staying in Americas #1 hostel for 2106, as awarded by Hostelworld. Staying at The Auberge Nouvelle Orleans made my visit to NOLA unforgettable.

Kiek and Bella from Holland were especially awesome to hang out with, always getting a laugh when I tried to speak Dutch to them (Picture at left: Kiek foreground on the left, Bella behind me on the right).

I decided to take a bike tour of the city with Free Wheelin’ Bike Tours. The $50 tour was three hours and covered the majority of the city with a focus on the “back streets” of New Orleans (officially called the Creole & Crescent Tour).

My biggest mistake was booking the tour on probably the coldest day of the year in New Orleans. By the time the tour started the mercury had hit a balmy 4°C!

 

I wanted to try a po’ boy before leaving, so my recommendation was to head out to Mother’s. The key to a good po’ boy is the bread, so I was told this place had the best bread in the city.

The po’ boy got its name from “poor boys”, which were two street car drivers who were selling them to other drivers while they were on strike.

The bottom half of the sandwich was soaked with jus, while the top half had a soft & chewy crumb with a crunchy crust.

Getting back to the hostel after lunch, I was met with a shower and a nap to recharge the batteries. The gang was going out for a night of drinking along Frenchman Street, so I wanted to make sure I was good to go.

We hit up 30/90 (again) where the group split into two. One group headed upstairs to listen to some hip-hop, while the other half (mainly me) stayed downstairs to enjoy New Orleans finest jazz.

The rest of the night was quite the blur. However, my uber receipt shows me getting home at 6:30am.

I’m proud to say that I didn’t party along Bourbon Street the entire time. Something I’ll save for when I go back for Mardi Gras.

Travel blogger and computer security engineer, Anil Polat, understands the struggle of sitting in an airport without free Wi-Fi, so he created a handy interactive map for airport-goers to easily find Wi-Fi passwords.

The majority of the SSIDs and Passwords are from airline lounges and other “exclusive use” areas. So you’ll need to be physically close to them to “borrow” the wifi signal.

He’s also created an app call WiFox for iOS and Android that allows you to easily search the database.

Continuing my journey eastbound along the Southern United States brings me to New Orleans.

After checking in to my AirBnB, I decided to head down to the all famous French Quarter to see what’s up.

After eleven years, New Orleans is still rotting from Hurricane Katrina. Run-down and boarded up buildings sprinkle even the most touristic and popular corners of the city. However, the spirit and character is still alive and well.

I hit up 30/90 to grab a pint and to sample some local cooking. Some of the classic New Orleans fare included: Alligator Po-Boys, Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, Crawfish Étouffée, and Oysters done a dozen of ways (including: baked, fried, BBQed, etc…).

Their take on a poutine was also interesting: Beer Battered fries topped with crawfish étouffée and sprinkled with Parmesan and Romano cheeses.

I settled on the Chicken & Alligator Sausage Jambalaya.

Moving north along Frenchmen Street, I walked into The Spotted Cat, which was another place that was recommended to me.

The standing room only club was pumping with a killer jazz quartet. The singer was able to wail out our lyrics without the help of a microphone.

 

The musicians are paid on tips only, so it’s important to drop a few dollars in the collection cup if you enjoyed the song. Lousiana is one of a handfull of states in America to not have a state minimum wage. This means that they fall under the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr. However, tipped employees (like those working in bars and restaurants) make a paltry $2.13/hr!

I’m moving from my AirBnB to the Auberge Nouvelle Orleans today. I’m going to fill that annoying time between check-out (11 am) and check-in (3pm) place by doing laundry. Oh, the glamorous life of a backpacker.

Rain, rain, rain. It’s been raining non-stop in Texas for the past three days.

Regardless of their questionable history (the Don’t Ride Megabus twitter account is scary) I decided to take a Megabus from Houston to Austin. Their reserved seating allows me to sit right up front on the second level of the bus to get a “front seat” view of the trip.

 

Thanks to the rain, the view was not worth the extra $7.

I’m staying in the Firehouse Hostel, an old Firehall that was built in 1885. I forgot how much fun hostel life can be. Meeting so many interesting people. I’m bunking with a French woman who will be in New Orleans the same week I’m going to be there! Contact details exchanged – we’ll see if we get together for some sightseeing.

After checking in, I headed to the kitchen to introduce my self to the other guests and see what’s going on tonight.

We ended up getting to know each other over beers before hitting up Violet Crown Social Club to imbibe some more. The place was packed so we were forced to sit on the patio, freezing our asses off.

Since the bar didn’t sell food, we were able to grab a few pizzas from Via 313 Pizza. Known for it’s authentic Detroit style square pies. The gang scarfed them down in no time.

I said goodbye to the crew and walked to Kingdom, a local club, that was playing Dirty South (City of Dreams). It’s been awhile since I’ve listened to decent house music, so this filled a craving I was having for awhile.

As my drunk ass poured out of the club at around 2:30 am, everyone was heading to a place to eat something to soak up all the alcohol.

I ended up at P. Terry’s Burger Stand, a local chain of late-night burger joints in Austin.

Don’t expect me to give you an honest and sober review of this place, because I was far from it when I inhaled the burger and fries.

The rain continued as I stumbled back to the hostel.

Waking up at 10am the next day, I got dressed and hit up the 24 Hour Fitness to do a BodyPump class. This was probably the best instructor I’ve had on this trip so far…

Hopped on the bus, in the rain, back to the hostel were I ended up chatting with a few people and enjoyed lunch in the kitchen. I was bored, Austin was supposed to be this “awesome town”. Yet everyone I’ve talked to so far can’t really pinpoint what makes this place so “awesome”.

Trying to cure the boredom, I went to a coffee shop to sip on a cortado and figure out what to do. Someone recommended that I check out do512.com, which didn’t disappoint. I figured out where I was going for dinner!

Taking the damp ride up to the north part of town, I ended up at Black Star Co-Op to try their smoked Helles beer. I didn’t end up trying it, instead having a red ale called “Double Dee”. It was brewed with locally grown barely.

Settling up my bill at the end of the meal, I didn’t notice a place to write in a tip on my credit card receipt. When I asked “what’s up?”, the server replied: “we don’t accept tips here!”.