Cruise 2013 in a nutshell

Wow its been quite a whirlwind since I got back from my cruise so I havent had a chance to write about it.

My cruise was awesome!!!  It was well needed vacation and so much fun!  Not only did I make new friends, I made a new family! We hung out a lot with a group of basketball players and two girls from our dinner table.  My dinner table and I became super close - there were 10 people at my table (Table 504), 5 pairs of 2 all from different parts of NY & NJ, mostly around our age - all girls minus 1 pair of guys in their 50's.  We thought they were a couple, but we were so wrong!  We all became good friends and actually went to events together, the guys even joined us in the club on the boat!

Amanda and I were on the 2nd place team at the Carnival Quest - which was a quasi scavenger hunt.

Somehow the theme of Amanda, my friend and cabin-mate for the trip, and I's trip became "Don't Die." Here's why:
Day 1 - I was told "you should be dead" because my heart was beating so fast
Day 2 - Amanda was since all day, so I told her "don't die" as she slept all day and even missed dinner!
Day 3 - "Don't get shot" as we were going to play lazer tag
Day 4 - I got bruised from climbing a wall in Puerto Rico & Senor Frogs
Day 5 - We were just so tired we crashed pretty early (we woke up early because we were docking in St Thomas at 7 AM)
Day 6 - Margaritaville @ Grand Turk
Day 7 - Amanda had a bit too much & almost broke my nose
Day 8 - My dinner table (504) went hard at the Red Carpet

Even though I just got back, I miss the people, beaches and cruise already!

Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

Turks & Caicos!!!  After 4 years since I first heard about Turks and Caicos at my Bahamian internship, I finally made it to Grand Turk!

Amanda and I decided to take a tour of the city - had to be the biggest waste of money and time...  Our first stop on the tour was the airport... where the bus BROKE DOWN... after a auto truck came and jump started the tour bus, we headed tot he town to see local houses that used to have some historical meaning, when the bus stopped again...  we then made it to our first stop on the bus... a salt house.  Grand Turk used to be a large salt exporter, however not anymore - "no slaves, no salt" the tour guide told us.  There were a few posters to read and a pile of salt.. but we stayed there for 30 minutes... it was actually longer as we waited for another bus to arrive.  

Next stop... Light House where we had a gorgeous view of the city and were only given 10 minutes to stay there. We got to pet and play with a wild donkey and overlook the island, which was gorgeous. THen we proceeded to head back.

We then went to check out the beach, which had a lot of seaweed and was overcrowded with boat people, so we headed to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.  Margaritaville was so awesome - it was a pool-bar, 3 feet deep! It was so much fun and so peaceful - probably my favorite place in Grand Turk! ;)

Good times! :)

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

 

 

Today we docked in St. Thomas.  We had no idea what to do, just that we should check out Meghan's Bay. So after running around and trying to figure out how to get there, we finally made it!  The beach was absolutely GORGEOUS!!!  Amanda and I pretty much spent the day there.

Funny story - I got carded at the beachside bar... keep in mind the drinking age there is 18...

The water at the beach so clear and amazing - I wish we could have spent more time at the beach!

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Today we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico (from 3 PM - 11 PM).  My friend Amanda and I took a tour of Old and New San Juan.  On our tour saw the cities, government buildings, President Row and even got to check out one of the beaches!

After the tour we got to check out a mini street festival (purely for tourists), where I had a chicken empanada.  After that we had dinner - I got steak & onions w/ plantains, yum!

While we were there 2 people independently told me to go to a restaurant called Raices, too late for dinner, we decided to go for dessert!  At Raices we had "Flan de Pina Colada," which was DELICIOUS!!! :)

After that we went to my favorite, Senor Frogs - reminds me of the Bahamas and it was Amanda's first time there!

Fun times in Puerto Rico!

Spring Break in Boston

I went to Boston for a few days, including St. Patrick's Day, during spring break this past week.  I arrived on Wednesday and left on Saturday.  I got to see a lot of good friends who I havent seen in a while, so that was nice!


Wednesday
I left Wednesday after work with Bob (debate friend from West Point) and arrived in Boston around 6:30 PM and headed downtown to see John.  I hadn't seen John since we were in Nassau!  We went out for sushi at this cute little restaurant not too far from the Sheraton.

Thursday - St. Patrick's Day
I was waiting for a while for Bob and Marianna (co-intern at the UN) to arrive...  They both finally arrived around noon.  Marianna was super exhausted when she arrived and 180 from her normal cheery self, so she headed to Connor's place first, while Bob and I wandered around Boston.


We walked around Boston/Downtown and followed the Freedom Trail, which is a red brick road that goes throughout the city hitting the major landmarks.  We stopped at the North End and got cannolis from Mike's Pastry, which were amazing!  We then stopped by this cute little Irish pub/restaurant where I got a green beer and corned beef!  I also learned that GERMAN BEER IS TERRIBLE!!!

 

We then headed back to the hotel, I said my farewells to John and we headed to my friend Connor's apartment.  When Connor finally returned from class we headed out to Newbury Street, however there was nothing going on, so we headed to Faneuil Hall, which was a bit more lively, but nowhere as crazy as it is in NY.  We ended up going to a bar, where I got a green drink - I think it was an appletini?  It was yummy!

When we got back we chilled, and then tried to get a pizza.  Would you believe places close in Boston?  You would think they would have one 24 hour place near a college campus.  After much searching we found a pizza place that would deliver to us.  1.5 hrs later, we finally got our pizza... at 3 AM!

Friday
We hit up Harvard Square and got lunch at this awesome place "Charley's Kitchen" per Erica, Wes and Josh's suggestions.  Despite what Bob and Connor thought, I successfully ate an entire double cheeseburger, which was delicious!  While we were there, Connor and I tried calling a bunch of the mutual Fordham friends we had.  Of course we called none other than... JOHN MUNJOLI!!!  We were lucky enough to have Josh grace us with his presence, and of course he skateboarded over!

We then headed to Long Warf - Boston Harbor, which was very quaint, the headed to the "Top of the Hub" in the Prudential Center.  The place was located on the 52 floor and had a gorgeous view overlooking all of Boston.  After some drinks, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory and met up with none other than JAKE and RYAN!!!  I had not seen Jake since Nats last year, so that was a nice surprise!

We got a ton of awesome cheesecakes - Reeses, Strawberry and Banana Cream.  Jake was the only one to finish both his dinner and his cheesecake!  We then headed to Ryan's where we played some games and celebrated his new job!

Saturday
We went to Joe's Bar and Grille for Brunch where we got mimosas - Connor and Bob's first! :)  Then headed to South Station for the bus home.  We actually made good time and made it in a little under 4 hours!

I got Krispy Kreme donuts!

I had a great time in Boston!!!  Thank you Connor for being such a great host, taking us around and letting us crash at your place and giving up your bed; Jake, Josh and Ryan for coming out and seeing me; Bob and Marianna for making the trip out with me!!!

Tamiment

Here's a tour of the timeshare where we stayed:

Vacation - Day 8: Back Home!

Today we're going home. We had a 4 hr 20 min flight from Calgary to JFK. Our flight was a bit delayed, and not to add we almost missed or flight because Daddy wanted to get food - lol.


8:30 PM: We just got home from the airport.

Vacation - Day 7: Banff to Calgary

Today we drove from Banff to Calgary. The ride wasn't as long as I had anticipated.

On the way to Calgary we passed the Olympic Stadium that was used in the Winter Olympics in 1992. Unfortunately since it is a winter field, there wasn't much to see or do there in the summer. We finally made it to our hotel around 6ish? Then decided that since we wouldnt be able to do much tomorrow, since we had to be at the hotel somewaht early, we would try to do all the sightseeing tonight.

First we went downtown to see Calgary Tower, which was really cool. We got to stand on glass which was over 500 feet above the ground. Being scared of heights, standing on a piece of glass that high was quite intimidating. But you know me, I always like to push myself. My mom couldnt even tell i was scared, then again my sister and mom were too afraid to walk onto the glass, but eventually they sorta got over the fear.

Next we went to "Chinatown" It was so ghetto it was like 2x1 blocks of wannabe Chinatown. I was very unimpressed.

After that we went to dinner at "Tony Roma," which is known for their ribs. The food was pretty good :)

Vacation - Day 6: Jasper to Banff

Today we went on the tran and WHITE WATER RAFTING!!!

The Summit of the Mountain

The tram is this trolly that takes you up to the Alpine Mountains, and from there you can climb to the summit of the mountain. At first the hike looked easy, but some parts were really steep, making it a bit challenging. But even so, I always ended up ahead of the family. At one point they gave up, and I was left to climb up the mountain alone, which I don't mind as this is usually the case. They always try to deter me from hiking more... It was gorgeous being up that high. After that we rode the tram back down, and headed to Bear Paw Cafe to get lunch. After lunch we went to the meeting place to go for white water rafting.

White water rafting was pretty awesome! This was my first time, and I was super excited. They gave us all the cool gear - wetsuits, booties, jackets, life jackets, and helmets. We went rafting down the Sunkwanka (sp?) River, which is a Class 3 rapid. It was AMAZING!!!

After we got back, one of the guides, Tyler, recommended this sandwich place, so we went there. It turned out that some of the other people that went on teh trip were related to the people that owned the deli. I must say that the sandwich was pretty awesome! :)

After the sandwich break, we were back on the road yet again towards Banff. On the way there, we hit up the major site that we had missed, the Weeping Wall. And oh yeah, we saw a black bear and grizzly bear, they were super close too!

Vacation - Day 5: Hinton to Jasper

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!!

Today we drove from Hinton to Jasper. We had just missed the Rodeo :-\

When we got to Jasper, we checked in and walked around the quaint town. The first thing we did was around the town, and looked for one of the rafting places. The first place we went to was completely booked for tomorrow, and Tuesday was next day they had available times. After that we decided to walk towards Pizza Hut/KFC to get dinner. However as we were walking it started to heavily raining so we quickly walked towards Pizza Hut/KFC. At the restaurant, they only had the basic pizza, normal crust and your basic toppings. I was super upset, I wanted a stuffed crust chicken pizza. So we decided to get KFC instead of pizza. We got a bucket, and wanted them extra crispy, but they didn't have that either! Nor did they have the normal sides, it was quite upsetting. OMG and their cole slaw looked gross, it was green blob of who knows what! It looked soo gross!!! It took forever to get the food.

Before we went back to the hotel the 'rents wanted to find the rafting place so we can book it. All of a sudden it cleared up, and was nice and sunny outside, so we went walking around more. We went to the tourist/visitor center to find out some information. We finally found the other place "Raven" and they had an opening for tomorrow, YAY! Afterwards we walked around more, did some shopping, and J finally got her lemon poppy seed muffins - lol.

Approximately 1 1/2 hrs after we got thefood we went back to the hotel to eat dinner. I wasn't feeling to well, so J and I stayed in the rest of the night. Mommy and Daddy went out again to check out the town. They got us some "airborne" ice cream from "Scoops and Loops" (see video below).

Vacation - Day 4: Banff to Jasper

Today we're heading to jasper. On the way there we went to a bunch of the sites along the way, including crow feet glacier, bow glaciers and fall, peyto canyon, mystaya canyon and Columbia glacier.

We took an "ice explorer" to the actual glacier and got to go on it which was pretty cool. I also got to taste some glacier water which was quite cold but tasty if you ask me! :)

Right now we're on the road again on the way to jasper which I'd supposedly only another hour away, so we shall see... We left columbia glacier around 6PM.

We didn't get into Jasper until late. We were going to stay there however apparently the Rodeo had been there the past few days, and today was the lsat day of the rodeo, so all the hotels in Jasper were booked. We were forced to go to Hinton (a few towns over, maybe like 45 mins away) to find a hotel. We stayed at a Best Western. We literally got there, got some food, went to sleep, got breakfast and left for Jasper.