As I recently posted, my husband went to India on a 10-day business trip. I wasn’t able to go (and someday I will get over this, really). To placate me, he did bring me a couple of gifts. He also received gifts from the colleagues he visited. There was lots to see once he unpacked.

He received an interesting hat from the driver he spent some of his time with. The hat is made in the driver’s village in the Himalayas and the pattern is unique to that village.

He brought us all shirts. The girls got

patterned tops. The boys got shirts with Nehru collars. I received a beautiful blue scarf (the tag says it is a stole). My daughter got a crocheted purse. All of these items were bought when the mother of one of his associates took him shopping. He bought the clothes at a shop called FabIndia, which he said felt the Gap for India.

My favorite thing is a brass bowl in the shape of a lotus, painted pink and purple.

He brought home a drink mix of some kind, a syrup you mix with water.

His colleagues gave him a statue of Ganesh and two framed tiles. They are marble with glass jewels and paint on them to make a pattern. They are quite beautiful. One of them says it is supposed to be a replica of a piece of jewelry. The other has no label, so we are unsure what it is.

The treasures he brought home are fascinating!

As I recently posted, my husband went to India on a 10-day business trip. I wasn’t able to go (and someday I will get over this, really). To placate me, he did bring me a couple of gifts. He also received gifts from the colleagues he visited. There was lots to see once he unpacked. … Read more →

Check out my second guest post on My Itchy Travel Feet about buying unique and special mementos on your travels.

Check out my second guest post on My Itchy Travel Feet about buying unique and special mementos on your travels.

I bought these polka dot mugs in Italy and they make my mornings so happy! I have a thing for polka dots; I have a whole board on Pinterest with polka dot items.  Polka dots make me so happy. They are round and bubbly and cheerful. I once had a white t-shirt that had tiny little polka dots around the bottom hem. I slaved over that t-shirt, to keep it clean and white looking so I could wear it over and over again!

I usually like to buy things while traveling that are unique to that region or that depict or bring to mind the area. This time though, I bought these mugs just because I HAD to have them. I passed them in a shop window near our hotel every day in Sorrento. On our last day, I decided I needed them. The shop was closed! I almost cried. Fortunately it was just closed for the afternoon and was open again that evening when we walked by.

I bought these polka dot mugs in Italy and they make my mornings so happy! I have a thing for polka dots; I have a whole board on Pinterest with polka dot items.  Polka dots make me so happy. They are round and bubbly and cheerful. I once had a white t-shirt that had tiny … Read more →

I’ve got a guest post up on Donna Hull’s amazing travel site, My Itchy Travel Feet with advice and tips about how to find unique souvenirs on your travels that will make excellent mementos. I hope you will check it out!

I’ve got a guest post up on Donna Hull’s amazing travel site, My Itchy Travel Feet with advice and tips about how to find unique souvenirs on your travels that will make excellent mementos. I hope you will check it out!

The final stop on our Italy trip was the Amalfi Coast. A driver picked us up in Pompeii and drove us to Sorrento. The drive to get there is stunning, along high cliffs, with sheer drops to the gorgeous Bay of Naples on the Mediterranean Sea. The road twists and turns a bit.

Sorrento

Sorrento is a very compact little town, also situated on the cliffs. The main section of town is the Piazza Tasso, around which shops and restaurants are clustered. You cannot see the water from the main part of town (except from one tiny viewing area). You can however walk to a park with a beautiful view.

Sorrento was a shopper’s heaven. Lots of interesting shops clustered in a small area. The

shopping area is pedestrian only on narrow cobblestone streets. They sell lemon products (including limoncello), custom-made sandals, lots of leather bags, and souvenirs. The town feels very quaint and comfortable. I felt very comfortable here. It’s nice to have everything within walking distance.

Teatro Tasso

One evening we went to see Teatro Tasso, a musical revue that highlights the songs and dances of the region. It ended up being rather bad community theater, but we thoroughly enjoyed watching one of the guitar players on stage who rolled his eyes, talked to his fellow musicians, laughed at

the dancers, and made faces at the tech crew. He was the highlight of the night.

I had Rick Steve’s book, which promised a discount if you showed the book when you bought tickets. The woman at the desk informed us they limited that discount to two people (the book did not say this). My husband was able to convince her to give us the discount for all four! They serve complimentary drinks on the terrace beforehand (and you can see the water from here, which is beautiful at night). It was something to do in the evening, but honestly it was a bit cheesy.

Swimming in the Mediterranean

The highlight of our stay in Sorrento was our morning at the beach. We took a taxi down the cliffs to Marina Grande (it wasn’t too far distance-wise, but the cliffs are very steep and it would have been many, many stairs), a tiny little harbor area with a miniscule sand beach. We rented chairs and umbrellas and swam in the Mediterranean, with Mount Vesuvius behind us. The water was warm, the sun was hot, and it was a wonderful interlude.

The Blue Grotto

We took a guided tour to the island of Capri. We were picked up by bus at our hotel and driven to the ferry station (which is again, down the cliffs at the edge of the water). We took the ferry to the island of Capri. Upon arriving on Capri, we spent a few brief moments in the harbor area (where there are a handful of fairly junky souvenir shops) before getting on a small boat with our group to go to the Blue Grotto.

The Blue Grotto was on my list of top sights in Italy, so we were thrilled to go. Our boat drove us around the coast of the beautiful island with its soaring cliffs. Even more stunning though was the water. It was an incredible deep, sapphire blue and very, very clear. I later read that there are no phytoplantkton in the Mediterranean, giving it this color and clarity.

Our boat took us to a grouping of boats just waiting offshore. Through the crowd of boats, you could see a tiny little opening in the rock. This was the entrance to the Blue Grotto. You wait your turn (we waited about half an hour) and a rowboat comes next to your boat. 4 people climb in and you sit on the bottom of the boat. You are rowed over to the opening and then you all lie down or at least bend forward with your head down. The driver waits in front of the opening until there is a break between waves and he grabs hold of some chains that are strung along the top of the opening and pulls the boat through the incredibly tiny hole.

It is absolutely terrifying for a couple of seconds. As you are waiting to go in,you think the

boat can never fit through the hole, you will surely be decapitated, and I was also getting a bit claustrophobic, thinking about going through that tiny hole into a cave.

Let me assure you, it is absolutely worth it and if you are there, you must go. The opening is not deep (width-wise) at all and you are through it in a second. The boat is pulled through and you enter this magical circular cave with a high roof and magical, glowing blue water. I have never seen water this color in my entire life. The boat captain told us it is because of the minerals in the rocks under the water.

You are rowed around the cave twice, and the rowers are singing the entire time (we were treated to “Volare”). There is a little staircase carved into the rocks on one side, made by the Romans apparently, which is no longer used. The moments you are inside are like something on another planet. The cave glows, the water is alive, and you are a part of it.

Exiting is not nearly as scary as entering since you know you will fit and before you know it,you are back on your boat. But first, your row boat captain will hit you up for a huge tip. Our tour had already paid our boat fare and our guide warned us they would ask for a tip. My husband gave him 5 Euros and he complained it was not enough for a bottle of wine. We heard other people having the same problem. They are pushy and rude, so be prepared to deal with this if you go.

Anacapri

Our tour then took us back to the harbor then by van up to the town of Anacapri at the top of the island. You go up terrifyingly winding roads on the very edge of the cliff, certain that you are inches away from falling all the way down (our guide told us this is called the Mama Mia Parkway).There are buses coming up and going down and they pass within millimeters of each other on this incredibly narrow road. At some points, they cannot pass, so one bus must back up.

Anacapri has a small shopping area and a beautiful sccenic viewing area (unfortunately it was a bit misty when we were there). There was not a lot to do and I’m told the town of Capri (farther down the island) is much better for shopping. There is a chair lift from Anacapri that will take you up to the

very top of the island, but we didn’t do that. Other members of our group did and reported that it was very, very hot on the unshaded chair lift, but once you got to the top, the view was spectacular. There is also an old church in town which can be toured.

I would have loved to have seen more of the Amalfi Coast, but enjoyed the parts we did see very much.

The final stop on our Italy trip was the Amalfi Coast. A driver picked us up in Pompeii and drove us to Sorrento. The drive to get there is stunning, along high cliffs, with sheer drops to the gorgeous Bay of Naples on the Mediterranean Sea. The road twists and turns a bit. Sorrento Sorrento … Read more →

During our trip to Italy, we spent a few hours in Pompeii. If you’re in Italy, this is a must-see. I took Latin in high school, so I knew a lot about Pompeii, but this is definitely one of those places that must be seen to be understood and appreciated. Pompeii was a Roman city that was buried when Mount Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD. The city was completely taken by surprise and the citizens died from the poison gas. The city was literally buried in ash, which completely preserved it in an intact state in the middle of daily life. Excavations are still taking place and there is still much of the city that has not been uncovered.

You will not believe the size of the city. This was a large, independent,

metropolis. It is a huge area. We were there for two hours and saw only a fraction of it.

The Highlights

I was blown away by how real this made the Romans feel to me. You walk their streets, peer into their shops and walk through their homes. We had a private guide for our visit, who was able to point things out and show us details we would have missed. You are walking through a city that is just missing most of its roofs. For me, there were three highlights:

• The Baths. We visited a carefully preserved spa that had men’s and women’s locker
  

  Inside the baths

  rooms, baths, and steam rooms. The women’s side is preserved intact, so you can see the mosaics and finish work. The men’s side is taken apart so that you can see the clever duct work that moved the hot water and created steam. The baths were an important part of Roman life and until you walk through them and feel how carefully designed they were, you don’t really understand the lifestyle.

• The whorehouse. This was completely legal and considered necessary.
  

  The menu

  Pompeii was a seaport so many sailors came into town seeking company. The whorehouse has stone beds and the walls have frescoes that are a menu of sorts, depicting the different acts available so that sailors could select their services even if there was a language barrier. Along the streets, there are carvings of male genitalia pointing the way so sailors could easily find their way to the house. This was one of the busiest spots on the tour and our private guide was able to get us in past the crowds. Before we went, she took me aside and asked if I was ok with going there, since our 14 year old son was along. I appreciated her asking, but had no problem with it.

• The villa. In recent years a beautiful villa has been excavated and left open to the public so you can walk through the home and see the frescoes and mosaics and really feel what it is like to be inside a Roman home, which is very different from our homes. This made the Romans come to life and was an experience of a lifetime.

Other Sights

We also enjoyed seeing the gladiator training school. The gladiators lived in dorms and practiced on a practice field and in a small arena here before being sent to the Colosseum in Rome. It was fascinating to see the Colosseum in Rome then come here and see where they learned their skills.

I also loved the streets themselves. There is something amazing about walking down a street where Roman carts went before you. They also have stepping stones across the street to allow pedestrians to cross without getting wet or muddy. It was all very thought out and the streets were laid out like a grid.

We were also struck by the suburban strip mall feel to the main streets, where shop after

shop is lined up. Our guide told us they had pocket doors on the shops, since the city was so tight. Those clever Romans.

I wish we had had time to go to the museum in Naples where most of the artifacts have been taken. Unfortunately, Pompeii is mostly just empty shells of buildings. We did see a few casts of people (my son was fascinated, I found them slightly horrifying). The actual body was essentially vaporized, leaving a cast behind.

Preparing for Your Visit

If you go:

• Wear sneakers. The streets are cobblestone and there are hills.
• Bring water. There are fountains throughout the city, but when we were there, they were not functioning.
• Wear a hat. There is NO shade anywhere inside Pompeii.
• Plan out your walk. If you are on your own, get a map and choose the highlights you want to see. You cannot see it all without dropping dead from exhaustion, so choose the highlights.
• Allow lots of time. We were there for 2 hours and I wish we had had more time.

A Shopping Tip

I have one last tip for you about the area. Outside the gates of Pompeii there are tons of

tacky souvenir stalls (and they are really bad), but our guide steered us into a cameo shop. I would never have seen it.  If you are facing the entrance gate, it is on your right hand side in the building behind the outdoor restaurants. They claim to be a place where cameos are handmade and you are walked past an old man who is working, but it’s hard to believe he alone produces all the product they have there (I’m not questioning the handmade nature of the cameos, just that it is unlikely that one older man is making them all when they are selling many every day). There is a short video you can watch about how cameos are made (they are carved from shell commonly today, but used to be from stone and glass) if you’d like some history. Downstairs is the actual shop, with cases and cases of cameos. If you select a cameo they will not only size rings on the spot, but the artisan will sign the back of it and inscribe your initials onto the back. I thought the prices were reasonable and the quality was excellent.

During our trip to Italy, we spent a few hours in Pompeii. If you’re in Italy, this is a must-see. I took Latin in high school, so I knew a lot about Pompeii, but this is definitely one of those places that must be seen to be understood and appreciated. Pompeii was a Roman city … Read more →

I’m halfway through my posts about all of our stops in Italy, so let’s take a rest stop and talk about shopping (don’t worry, there will be lengthy foodie posts to come as well!)

Pre-Shopping

Before I leave on a trip, I try to find out what the specialty items of the area are. For Italy, I determined that I should look for handmade glass and lace (and locally made lace is hard to find and expensive since most of it is just made in factories in Asia now) in Venice, handcrafted paper and leather in Florence, and lemon products and custom-made sandals in Sorrento. Cameos are another specialty in Italy. I also read about glass or stone mosaics throughout the country.

I have several specific collections I am always looking to add to: bookmarks and magnets are the cheapest, although bookmarks can be hard to find. I always am looking for Christmas ornaments, Easter eggs and cups, handmade baskets, locally made soap, fun food items to bring home, and watercolor paintings depicting the area. It helps to have specific things to look for.

Venice

The shopping in Venice was fantastic. There were so many stores, it was hard to focus. This was also our first city, so we were jet lagged and trying to adjust to the terrible heat! We took a vaporetto to the island of Murano which was

an amazing place to visit, but they had so much glass that is made there on the island that it was hard to choose! Some of the glass is very expensive. One shop had a few glass mosaic pieces, but none were right.

I found two great bookmarks in Venice, one with a tassel (which they sell many of in Venice) and one with Murano glass.

We bought our Venice painting from an artist in the campo right in front of our hotel, next to a canal. It was one of those perfect settings.

Florence

There was a lovely shopping section in Florence on the far side of the Arno, just past the Ponte

Vecchio, but I wish it had been bigger. This area had some terrific artisan shops where we bought leather items and a beautiful painted tray. My husband bought a wallet and we got the leather trays I photographed. I found bookmarks here and little books of paintings from each city which will hang on my book tree in my office.

I bought my painting in Florence (the long narrow on in the front of the photo below) in a small courtyard outside the Uffizi where artists were selling their work. Artists were also selling things in the Plaza Repubblica at night. I find that areas where

tourists gather in the evenings are good places to find local paintings that are inexpensive. I rarely pay more than $20 for paintings like these.

I looked at gorgeous stone mosaics in Florence, but could not bring myself to spend a minimum of 250 Euros for one. So those have now taken up residence in the museum in my mind (all the things I wished I had bought and didn’t on all of my trips!).

Rome

Rome was a challenge for shopping, but we did find a nice little grouping of shops near the Pantheon. Everything else was junky souvenir shops or expensive designer shopping. There were several shops with nice pottery in Rome.

I bought a painting in Rome, but it’s a print that I saw lots of street vendors selling. I could not find any artists selling original paintings.

I saw a gorgeous handpainted leather purse I came very close to buying, but the back of it had some scratches. They didn’t have any others. Another item added to the museum of my mind.

Pompeii

We took a tour of Pompeii and I did not expect to buy anything there other than my fun little cheap magnet (I buy one every place we go and they decorate the file cabinet in my office). However, our guide took us into a cameo store, where an elderly man sits hand-making cameos.  They were beautiful and my daughter and I each bought one (ok, I bought two). The artist signed them on the back and also wrote our

initials on the back. I really wanted a blue cameo, but they told us those are always made in factories. The ones we bought are handmade from shells.

Sorrento

Sorrento had a wonderful shopping section, very quaint with narrow

alleys and cobblestone streets, just off the Tasso piazza. It was a shopper’s paradise. There were so many shops selling leather purses that I was dizzy!

My daughter had sandals handmade for her here (you go in and pick out the elements you want on them and they have it ready the next day: they do not actually hand-make the sole however – they just put together the pieces you select). Limoncello is a big product here, but I bought lemon soap and honey since we don’t care for alcohol.  My husband bought a beautiful leather bag and a belt here.

We had dinner one night down in Marina Grande, a tiny little beach area. There was an old woman selling lace just behind the beach. She was sitting and doing lacework, so there is a chance the lace I bought did not come from Asia, so I bought one lace doily.

We also stumbled upon a truly fantastic HUGE store called Gargiulio and Januzzi. They sold inlaid wood boxes and plaques, some glass jewelry and a big room of amazing Italian pottery and linens. Downstairs was a big room with marquetry inlay furniture which was gorgeous. I had to get out of that room or I would have had the entire thing shipped home. I bought some pottery and a table runner, as well as an inlay wood box (all still being shipped home, so no photos). Very high quality items and very good customer service. The shipping was free which was a nice bonus.

Capri

We visited the island of Capri on a tour, but only went to the town of Anacapri where the shopping was rather limited. I had high hopes for Capri, but didn’t buy much, other than the beautiful hydrangea glass plate I’ve photographed with my Murano glass. My daughter and I bought the lace bracelets I photographed with the lace doily here.

I could not find a painting on Capri (there was one shop in Anacapri with paintings and the owner was so aggressive, I could not even really look at his work. We ended up buying one in Sorrento of Capri the next day, so that worked out ok.

Not pictured are t-shirts and sweatshirts other members of the family brought home, as well as a couple pairs of earrings my daughter bought and promptly put into use!

We also had to make an emergency suitcase purchase at a train station! My daughter’s suitcase zipper broke. The train station in Rome had a big suitcase shop and we got a nice one for about 50 Euro, which was a nice bargain. We tried to throw out the broken suitcase, but everyone we asked told us to just set it outside the main doors of the station and someone would take it!

Overall, it was a successful trip in terms of shopping and now I am trying to figure out where to put it all! I have to get the paintings framed, which is always a challenge. I can often find frames and mattes at Michael’s but sometimes they are not standard sizes and I have to have them framed.

I always feel as though I am buying a ton, then I get it all home and it really isn’t a lot. It’s always so nice to have lovely little items to remind me of our trips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m halfway through my posts about all of our stops in Italy, so let’s take a rest stop and talk about shopping (don’t worry, there will be lengthy foodie posts to come as well!) Pre-Shopping Before I leave on a trip, I try to find out what the specialty items of the area are. For … Read more →

We used to rent a cottage on beautiful Cayuga Lake every summer when our daughter was little.  We had the greatest times there: fishing, swimming, feeding the ducks, and exploring the Finger Lakes of NY. One of our greatest finds was a little store run by Mennonites, called Sauder’s Store, in nearby Seneca Falls (and if you aren’t aware, Seneca Falls, NY is the town used in It’s A Wonderful Life called Bedford Falls in the movie and is also home to women’s voting rights: the women’s rights convention was held here and began the movement to give women the right to vote – they have a museum about it you should visit if you are in the area).

At the time we used to visit yearly while staying on Cayuga, it was a well-kept secret: hard to find if you didn’t know it was there. It was a small little place that sold Mennonite baked goods, bulk items, produce and specialty items from the area. We used to get up early to get there to have the greatest selection of baked goods! Since we stopped staying on Cayuga Lake, we try to drive out every couple of years to the shop. We hadn’t been in a while, and my parents’ house on Conesus Lake gets us about halfway there, so this past weekend we decided to make the trek (about an hour and a half from the lake house, about 2 hours from our house if we drove from here).

The store has expanded over the years and carries more items than ever before, as well as handmade wood furniture, handmade wagons, Amish quilts (they only had one when I was there, but I looked!), and plants. We filled a cart and brought home many wonderful items:

• birch beer (I bought 2 cases since it can be hard to find!)
• sassafrass soda
• Utz potato chips
• bulk spices
• butterscotch peanut butter
• bulk cake decorations
• smoothie mix
• Lebanon bologna (looks like salami, tastes like bologna or thuringer)
• smoked cheddar cheese
• blueberry cheese
• rolled butter (made from whey cream instead of sweet cream; it’s supposed to have an amazing flavor: I’ve never tried it before and will report back when I have)
• smoked pork chops (now you can buy these in the grocery store, but back when we used to come here, you couldn’t, so they were a special treat and I still think theirs has much better flavor)
• German hot dogs with cheese in them
• beef sticks
• cinnamon rolls
• whoopie pies (chocolate and pumpkin)
• pickles
  

  Sweet Corn puff snacks

• jam
• alphabet noodles (I can’t find these anywhere, ever, so I was thrilled to stumble on them)
• shoofly pie
• Himalayan grain mix
• canned vanilla peaches

and much more. The aisles are jammed with bulk candy, spices, pastas, cooking mixes, flours, snacks, baking products, sodas, and it is all very different from what you can find at a regular grocery store.

We also bought an Amish-made basket as a gift for my mother-in-

law (signed on the back and dated, which is nice).

The shop is owned and run by Mennonites (basically Amish-light) and many, many Mennonites from the Finger Lakes area shop there. My great-grandmother was a Mennonite and I recognize the little caps they wear as one she wore in a photo I have of her. They have a huge selection of books about the Amish and Mennonites. They also sell wooden toys, and things like puzzles, sticker books, stationery, and other interesting little gift items. I am always on the lookout for narrow shopping list pads that are magnetic to keep on my fridge. I like to change them out for the seasons and holidays. They had an entire wall of these (I thought I had died and gone to heaven).

Shopping here always feels like stepping into a different world. There are now several

stores like this scattered throughout the Finger Lakes, but we’ll always go back to Sauder’s since we’ve been customers for almost 20 years and it reminds us of the wonderful times we had staying on Cayuga Lake. And I love that the foods we bring home are simple country-style items.  I love to make complicated meals, but I also love to eat things that are just simple and delicious, and that’s what we find here.

We used to rent a cottage on beautiful Cayuga Lake every summer when our daughter was little.  We had the greatest times there: fishing, swimming, feeding the ducks, and exploring the Finger Lakes of NY. One of our greatest finds was a little store run by Mennonites, called Sauder’s Store, in nearby Seneca Falls (and … Read more →

We just returned from a trip to Aruba. It was shorter than we planned because Continental/United completely screwed up. Forgive me for venting before I share the fun stuff. First our flight from Buffalo was delayed because the flight crew got in late. Then there was a problem they were fixing. We finally got on the plane 2 hours or so late. It took off, flew for 15 minutes and turned around and came back to Buffalo with another mechanical problem. They could not get us to Newark in time for our connection. So they flew us there later in the day and stuck us in a hotel overnight and we were to fly out the next morning (to console ourselves, we took the train into NYC and ate at Basta Pasta, where they make a pasta dish that they mix up inside a wheel of Parmesan cheese). Late at night, the toilet in our room broke and we had to change rooms. The next morning we went to the airport and somehow they had canceled our tickets! They were able to get us on the flight, but not sitting together. We finally arrived in Aruba about 26 hours later than planned, losing an entire day.

My vent is over. Aruba is beautiful. It’s a desert island with palm trees, cacti and the famous divi divi tree (which always bends west due to the wind). It’s windy there but the wind felt good in the heat and kept the bugs away. The island is very Americanized, disappointingly so we thought. There are American chain restaurants everywhere. All the signs are in English. You can pay in American dollars everywhere. The high rise hotel area was tacky and crowded (fortunately our hotel was just past this nonsense).

We stayed at the Marriott Stellaris in a gorgeous oceanfront room. It was huge with a huge bathroom. One of the most comfortable rooms we’ve ever been in. The resort was beautiful with a huge pool and wonderful beach. The sand is soft, there are no shells and only a few pieces of coral. The water is an amazing turquoise and was saltier than any ocean water I’d been in before. It was about 87 during the day and 77 at night.

We visited the donkey sanctuary, saw the natural bridge, and drove north to the lighthouse. We walked the beach, swam, slept on the beach, and had a good time. The shopping was horrendous. There are lots of cruises so there are lots of designer stores and jewelry stores. There were NO artisan shops or galleries. The only nice shop was the mopa mopa store. Mopa mopa is a special technique. Boxes or figures are carved out of wood. Resin from the mopa mopa tree is boiled and stretched by hand and then hand applied to the boxes. It is colorful and amazing. We did track down one art exhibit at an art school where nothing was for sale other than little painted plates, so I bought one of those. I also bought soap at the donkey santuary (made from donkey milk) and a nice

magnet.

The streets have no signs. NONE. There are no street numbers. And GPS is unreliable, going in and out all the time. Even though the island is only 20 miles long, we got lost several times. It was very frustrating. Even the concierge desk gave bad directions.

The people were friendly and the food was quite good. We enjoyed two dinnersat restaurants that have their tables right in the sand at the water’s edge. You kick off your shoes and eat with your toes in the sand. One illuminated the water (Flying Fishbone) which was pretty and the other(Passions) had tiki torches. We had lots of fish–Caribbean lobster, wahoo, grouper, shrimp, and crab. We also went to the The Old Cunucu Housefor lunch. A cunucu is a country house made of thick adobe type walls. This one was 150 years old. This restaurant serves tradtional Aruban food and we were anxious to try it. Bitterballen were deep fried meatballs. Pastechi were like empanadas filled with cheese. We also sampled deep fried chicken leg and the national dish keeshi yeni, described as stuffed cheese. It wasn’t really though – just shredded chicken in a sauce covered with cheese.  There are lots of types of cornmeal sides – deep fried, pan fried, etc. We enjoyed this

taste of real Aruba, except we think my son had some bad shrimp (he had a shrimp cocktail) which meant we weren’t able to go out to

dinner our last night because he was ill.

The last day we were there was Aruba’s national flag and anthem day (think 4th of July). To celebrate, the hotel had a special brunch with native dishes, so we went to that. They had a deep fried cornmeal and cheese side called funchi that was fantastic. They also served oxtail stew (Mr. MarthaAndMe grew up on oxtail soup) and several other traditional dishes. It was fun, but a bit heavy for 8 in the morning, we thought!

When we travel to other countries, we always go to a grocery store and this one was very interesting. There are different types of grocery stores – many with Asian names and others that have English names. We went to one called Super Food. It was filled with Dutch people (Aruba is part of the Dutch Commonwealth, although it is now an independent country – similar to the relationship between Canada and the UK). People were speaking Dutch and many, many food items had Dutch packaging. Gouda is practically the national

cheese of Aruba (any dish you order with cheese has Gouda in it) and I was surprised to see they sell it sliced and packaged like we sell American cheese. We bought some Dutch cookies and chocolates. My son was excited by the potato chip flavors – it was Lay’s but they had Cheese and Onion, Paprika, Ham and Cheese and others we have never seen.

Overall, we had a nice time, but it was too short due to the airline screw up. I

wish we had had more time to explore or get out on the water.

We just returned from a trip to Aruba. It was shorter than we planned because Continental/United completely screwed up. Forgive me for venting before I share the fun stuff. First our flight from Buffalo was delayed because the flight crew got in late. Then there was a problem they were fixing. We finally got on … Read more →

I have been coveting this $150 starfish necklace for more than a year. But I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that. We were in Florida recently and spent a day on Sanibel Island, where I did some shopping. Several of the stores were selling these little do it yourself lockets. They came in different shapes. I bought a round one for $18 (including chain – still can’t believe it). In the display, they sell little charms you can put in the locket for $3 each (really!). So I bought the necklace and two charms (starfish and sand dollar). Mr. MarthaAndMe put some sand in it that I collected on the beach. When I got home, I went to Michael’s and bought some crystals for $3. Mr. Martha and Me glued them back to back (they had metal backers and kept flipping over so you saw the back) and we put three in the locket. I love it so much and for about $27 I got the same effect as the $150 one I had been looking at!

I have been coveting this $150 starfish necklace for more than a year. But I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that. We were in Florida recently and spent a day on Sanibel Island, where I did some shopping. Several of the stores were selling these little do it yourself lockets. They came in different … Read more →