Ain't no mountain high enough!

Our next two days in the new CT were spent destroying our bodies in the name of good experiences.

We started out with a thigh-killing hike up the ominous mountain behind our cottage, Table Top Mountain. After gaining about a half mile of altitude, our thighs were spent, but the view was worth it. 3 hours on the stair master would not earn the same view, but probably would take the same effort. We looked around for a while and then Jessica insisted on taking the spinning, mostly glass, people mover called the cable car down. Jason has a fear of heights. Now he knows this. Think of a chair lift with way more people, no support poles and that forces you to spin the whole way down. That was our ride. It took 3 hours to go up, and 1 minute to go down.

As we limped back to our apartment, we stopped for lunch in our new favorite hood. It may have been the vibe of our fellow patrons, it could have been the enormous and delicious sandwiches, or the spectacular view of the mountain we just climbed, but we think it became our favorite because of the hipster, conspiracist waiter that served our table and had a whole political view to share with us. Even while freezing in a T-shirt, and underneath his Beiber-like side-swept hair, this guy continued to let us in on his political theories about literally every continent in the world. We love him. Side point: Russia Today is what our waiter considered to be the most unbiased news source.

Our next day was focused on replenishing our tired bodies at the expense of our livers and waistlines. We started our morning with some good old wine tours. Yes, morning. South African wine tasting wouldn't be complete without a troop of aggressively sized baboons resting on top of the walls and buildings, or charging through the vineyards chased by bb gun shooting wine makers. Side note: baboons love grapes and cakes. Yes, cakes.

After tasting wines at the oldest and steepest vineyards in the country, we needed to soak it up along the shoreline. We ate at a restaurant that delicately combined upscale ambiance with grease. The delicious food stopped Jason's heart... Twice. Fact: A lamb burger with mixed in chutney and a fried egg might do that.

Until next time, a very fat, drunk, happy and tired Jason and Jessica.

Great views and bad jumps

2 days in and we love our new CT, Cape Town South Africa. We have had some interesting experiences, true to African style, but have really enjoyed ourselves throughout. 

We arrived in T-shirts and shorts after enjoying a great New England summer. The weather was cold and wet. At least we looks good while we shivered. Our apartment and landlord were great, and cold. This will be a nice, not quite cozy, place to stay. Then we went for our walk to downtown.

We walked through some gorgeous gardens, where we saw a rubber tree, baby ducks and aggressive, obese grey squirrels. On our trip through downtown, there were equally aggressive pan handling poor. One threatened Jason with the following dialogue:

"I have a great 64MB flash drive for sale"

"no thank you"

"come on man, I have a family to feed"

"I wish you luck"

"do you want me to take out my knife and take your money from you?"

"what?"

he repeats himself with more enthusiasm

"are you kidding me?"

"come on man! Just buy my flash drive"

"I don't have any cash, go away"

Grumbles

However, the trip to the town was great. The architecture was an interesting combination of Dutch, French and African. We loved the brick walks and cool sites. 

The next day, we went on a "hop on hop off" bus tour to see a bird and monkey estate, a beautiful Hout Bay with independently minded people, and a wonderful waterfront with our first fermented craft-juice experience (a brewery). 

The birds and monkey estate is clearly owned by the animals despite the efforts put in my the 19th century guy who overcame dog and baboon attacks, and government intervention to build his refuge. Now, the place largely takes in injured animals, nurses them back to health and releases them if they are a species that can be released. Despite her persistent fear, Jessica really enjoyed the contact area with the monkeys. She claims this fear is more of a respect to the animal kingdom, but Jason's arm begs to differ. Her fear also may have been caused by a bird that landed on her head. Jason's favorite part was the exercising honey badger. No one was going stop him from getting in his workout, not even the miniature cage they put him in. Go honey badgers!

Hout bay is famous for its independent people. During Apartheid, they manufactured their own passports to separate themselves from the rest of the country. We enjoyed their soul food / American food combination. At least we know the cooks are still independent! Garlic sides on a chicken and cranberry pizza were quite memorable. However, it was the cream spinach and squash that we really enjoyed (this is our weight loss phase). The image below is us attempting a jumping picture in Hout Bay. 

We finished up at a waterfront brewery. It left much to be desired, but the waterfront was beautiful!

A great day an we certainly gained our bearings for a fun trip ahead. 

Jason & Jessica

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So uptown, it's upstate!

We came for a wedding, and we got way more! Driving around Buffalo with Paul (the other best man) taught us a lot about upstate New York since 1800. One surprising set of facts: in 1800, the population of Buffalo was 12, 30 years later, 8,300, 30 years later 83,000, and 40 years after that (1900), 330,000!!! That is some serious growth!!! Through all that growth, buffalo became the place to be (kind of like Chicago now :).

We saw some of the ruins from the original canal, some old parks and waterfalls and some wildlife. In the one creek, baby duckies being taught how to fly through the school of hard knocks and a heron fishing with his coiled neck ready to strike.

Then, we witnessed the athletic prowess of the Hammel family. The bride had 30 immediate family members at the wedding, 7 of them were siblings, and 7 more were siblings in law. All of them seemed to have kids that could beat Jason in football.

After the rehearsal picnic, Jessica relaxed over a white chocolate martini. Buffalo is a good city!

The next day was he wedding day. Jason starte it off with a straight razor shave with Paul and the groom. Jessica had a bridal brunch in pajamas. Then, the wedding was in a simple, pretty chapel. The ceremony had a Croatian priest and a Buffalonian priest. The Croatian had all the personality. He even proceeded to give a standup routine with classic Croatian sexist jokes. Couldn't have been better!

After the ceremony, we head to the reception in a georgeous mansion. A guy named Butler built the mansion using money that he embezzled from a government program during the high times of Buffalo. He got caught and had to skip town immediately and the mansion wouldn't travel. The tax payers were paid back with the house and now the business school at the University of Buffalo controls the mansion (appropriately).

Jessica and I parties and danced all night, then woke up early (for us) to go to the Niagra Falls and then drive to JFK. Upstate New York is so pretty and we soaked it up (aside from a short nap that one of us took :).

Next stop, South Africa!!!

Jessica and Jason

Wings and things

After Tahoe, we each had some family time and a welcomed taste of home. 

Then, Jason cruised to LA to spend time with the Phillips family. We played a mean game of mini golf and learned the art of front yard chipping from Craig. We also saw a celebrity (Jason disputes the claim of such status for Ashley Simpson) an had some delicious food and beer. Then, it was time to move. 

We head to the airport with our friends, Allie, Rachel, Megan and Brian and stopped for dinner on the way. A little beach side dinner and some delicious wine had us prepared for the red eye. 

The adventure (it's in the journey):

Last to board: we were looking at the wrong gate when it came time to board, and it wasn't until we checked to see if the plane was delayed (getting too far past the boarding time) that we realized the plane had already boarded. Luckily, the jetway was still half full!

The delay: 

We fell asleep as soon as we sat down (great wine, Brian!). Jessica woke up about an hour later and saw that we were still on the ground. We found out later that some of the luggage was not loaded. The plane had to turn around while taxi-ing to pick up the rest of the luggage. All this made us 90 min. late. 

Missed Connection: by 4 min!!! The plane was still on the ground with the doors open, but the gate agent would not let us through! 

Cancelled Flight: we were put on a different flight 4 hours later. Then, 30 minutes before departure, as we got up to board, the flight is cancelled. There were blue skies. They put us on a flight the next morning. 

Sweet Talking:

We got United to put us on a US Airways flight to Charlotte and then to Buffalo (from DC - yes, south, then North). Unfortunately, we still had to wait another 6 hours!! So, we continued the sweet talking into the United Lounge. We said, "I have Silver status, so I know I don't get access, but our 6 hour trip has just become a 23 hour trip, longer than our upcoming flight to South Africa, also on United. Will you please let us in?". And that was how it was done. We enjoyed the lounge!!

Wings: 

23 hours later, we had buffalo wings in their place of origin, Buffalo, NY. 

Ahh! Finally!

Jason and Jessica

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The Sun Also Rises

Like negative space in a painting or a picture, Ernest Hemingway wrote the title, "The Sun Also Rises" with the intention that the sun was setting. In some ways, the hot sun of Mexico was setting. With it, it feels like our Summer is slipping away. However, we have some serious adventures ahead!

Jessica and I started our trek back to the states with some apprehension. We were nervous that we might starve if we left the all inclusive. We were also excited about what lay ahead. 

Jessica joined my Mom and I in Lake Tahoe where we pretty much watched sunsets. The we would argue about the colors in the mountains. Check out the video below and let me know (in the comment field) what you think the colors are. 

Other than watching sunsets, we also went to Cal Neva to check out the "tunnel tour", where we learned about the Frank Sinatra & Marilyn Monroe cabins, and the "dead lake" of Lake Tahoe. Apparently, Frank Sinatra bought the hotel resort for a paltry sum from a mobster that owed a lot in back taxes. Frank had a long lived desire of owning the Cal Neva and marrying Ava Gardner. He consecrated this dream with an inscription in the tunnels underneath the Cal Neva in 1946. The same tunnels that JFK walked while he was in the Cal Neva to stay away from the crowds. Cal Neva was spectacular. 

After some fried Zucchini at Sunny Side (a restaurant in the West Shore), Jessica flew off to spend some time in LA and Jason spent another 4 days in Tahoe watching sunsets. 

Cheers,

Jason & Jessica

New discovery made

Sent from a mobile deviceFound: The wonders, mindsets and general loveliness of an all inclusive resort.

First, to start this off, here is a public service announcement. To all of our friends that have scattered around the country, we all have to fly into your wedding anyway. Destination weddings are encouraged.

Back to previously planned programming:

All inclusive resorts put you in a new mindset. You put your wallet into the lock box with all your electronics and your biggest worry becomes the application of sunblock as waiters bring you an afternoon snack amidst the constant flow of fruit punches, drinks and dark beers.

Jessica and I made pacts to prevent the little fat people within us from escaping by forcing ourselves to work out each morning. Then we get our blended coffee drink.

After leaving the hell cone (cone shaped mosquito net blocking all wind and capturing all heat with the sole intention of both killing Jason with heat and saving him from malaria) in Tulum, our room here got our relaxation mindset started off with a swift kick in the sun burnt rear! It was a pure, marbled, air-conditioned, enormous, comfortable bed kind of luxury. We may have been extra appreciative after a fiasco involving a 45 minute search for a gas station while low on gas, or a bumpy, smelly (Jason almost puked) van ride from where we dropped the car off. The result was the same. We were cast off into heaven!

With food, drinks, and room service all free, our first move was to have tortilla soup and two mojitos delivered to the room. The remainder of the day was spent floating.

Jessica's only real world distraction is Jason's continual reflection on the all inclusive business model. How do they allocate their costs? How do they incentivize their employees? Jason continues to wonder .... and float.

The wedding and the culmination of our trip came all to quickly, but it did not disappoint. Set on the shady sea side with a barefoot wedding party, we enjoyed a mixture of Ukrainian, Jewish, and Christian wedding traditions. The celebration continued on a sea side deck where we had diner and danced late into the night. We learned an important lesson that we would like to impart on all our engaged friends: seaside weddings are awesome! We also learned a few cool Ukranian reception traditions. The best was the "10 paces" where the groom stands 10 paces away from the bride and recites one thing he loves about her with every step towards her. Then he gets to kiss her.

With one last pitch to our engaged friends, check out the beauty of our married friends below.

Next stop: Tahoe!!

Jason & Jessica

Does 9 days make us a local?

Sent from a mobile deviceAfter 4 days in the Yucatan, specifically in Tulum, we have continued to face a tension between seeing the great treasurers that would classify as being a tourist and indulging in the ways of the locals.

Although the Coba ruins had us nearly sick of looking at rocks, we had to at least stop by our local ruins on the beach! Coba is by far the best in terms of rocks and construction, however, the Tulum ruins was Disneyland with a view! You just can't beat ocean front property! Location location location!!

These ruins were far less covered up than Coba, so we got a much better idea of what a city might look like within the walls. in other words, Coba told us how a building is constructed, while Tulum educated us about how a city is planned. We loved it! So did the iguanas (hundreds of them)! They basically own the property and just let humans enjoy it as a privilege. A few tried revoking that privilege when Jason walked by. They would sit in front of him and stare him down. They must know something :)

Once we had our full of both rocks and tourists, we head into the main city of Tulum for some grub. Boy, did we find it. Jessica had her first spicy mole over some enchiladas and it was delicious! Jason had a grease pizza full of chorizo, beans, fried bananas (seriously), and topped with butter and sour cream (side note: Jason hasn't lost any weight on this trip yet). All for about the price of an appetizer at a resort near the beach (extra authentic points).

Also in our city excursion, we ran into some bikers with the bright idea of cycling from Cancun to Costa Rica. We found them less than 100km in, and they were still in high spirits despite the 90 degree weather with 80% humidity (seriously).

We finished up the day with more beers on our nice beach cove in chase lounges underneath a straw cabana (we are tourists, let's face it).

The next day had was one of similar tension: snorkeling and local Italian food. While snorkeling, we first met up with our tour guide, a small little fish that loved Jason's chest hair. This little fish showed us an eel, a sting ray (so graceful!) and 4 enormous parrot fish. The parrot fish would make extremely loud chomping noises as they slammed their beaks against the rock to scrape off whatever might be on it. Jessica and I were mesmerized! The hardest part was saying goodbye to that little fish that was our excellent tour guide and had stayed with us for 2 hours.

At the Italian restaurant in town, we had some delicious pizza and a baked pasta (think bacon and peas in Mac and cheese, but better). Jason proudly demonstrated some Italian language skills with the Italian proprietor (who graciously encouraged him - Jessica had to deal with the ego problem later). Finally, we sat next to an older couple who gave us three words of advice: travel, travel and travel. Then we told them of our summer plans, which led to some tips and good conversation.

Our next stop is up to an all inclusive resort in Playa Del Carmen for our friend's wedding. Jason has no hopes for his weight to drop there either (all inclusive = all you can eat and drink and Jason loves horchata and beer, let alone the food).

Below is a picture of the Tulum ruins. The cleared out grass area is the part that makes these ruins more like Disneyland. In Coba, that would be undisturbed jungle.

More to come!

Jason & Jessica

Ohla! It is time for the playa!

Sent from a mobile deviceAs we moved into our new digs, we were pleasantly surprised by the proximity to restaurants, the sound system in our room, the beach in front of our free breakfast, and the fascinating Mayan ruins.

When we arrived, we knew we would not go hungry. Sign after sign was offering us delicious food and sweet drinks. We delighted in such fare in our first hour by going to the best food place on the strip (or as far as Jason's Spanish lead us to understand). Then, we cruised to the best Mojito place. The mojitos were scrumptious, but the people watching took the experience to a new level. Each person represented an internal clash of cultures between US stoners, French kite surfers and Mexican culture. We expected them all to start talking to us about the commune they lived in together.

Then the bands showed up! We were delighted to find out that there would be several bands playing that night. The members of the bands were ... Interesting. They took the culture of the Mojito place patrons to a whole new level. Their descriptions transcend words.

Unfortunately, the rain delayed the concert start time and we are too old to stay up. Thankfully, the sound system in our room kept us involved in the action. You see, our room looks down on the Mojito place, so the sound system was actually the concert below us. We could close the windows, but then Jason would die of heat. So, we listened. They played Bohemian rap, some American punk, and some middle eastern meditation music (we think - who knows what that really would sound like).

Then, we woke up the next morning, went down to breakfast and watched lizards and iguanas battle over the turf in front of us. The iguana won (see picture below). That picture also shows our beach.

After breakfast, we cruised out to the Mayan ruins in Copa to look at some 1200 year old structures. We can't believe how good they look!

We finished up with a few beers and some great books on our hotel beach.

More later.

Jason & Jessica

Putting on the Ritz!

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Our next stop was for our friend's, Julie Stern, wedding at the Ritz in Orlando. There was a minor price increase to go from the Marriott to the Ritz, so we went for the Ritz!

The normal price range is usually much higher, and we could see why! Everything was nicer. However, there seemed to be only a marginal improvement in service... Until we got to the pools. While the Ritz provided someone to "make our chase lounges" complete with 2 towels and a pillow, and handed out 4 grapes in a small plastic cup. The Marriott had a lazy river. You could find us at the Marriott.

The night of our big day there was the great wedding ceremony and reception. The ceremony was held at the Ritz around the corner from the reception. Besides the stringed quartet playing throughout, it had a bishop leading the ceremony joining hands with a Rabbi. There were prayers from the new testament and glass breaking within a chuppa. The son of a bishop was marrying a Jewish girl and we were witness to the meaningful symbolism that ensued. They took all the best parts from each. From the Christians, what is a ceremony without a passage from the Corinthians!? "Love is patient, love kind... Never boasts ... And endures...". From Judaism, they had the open, decorated household (Chuppa) that said friend and family are always welcomed into their home, a glass filled with two mixed wines symbolizing that they will take both the good with the bad (the sweet with the bitter) in their marriage. Finally, they broke the glass to represent the fact that this bond is irrevocable, like the broken glass. Incredible meanings!

Then, the reception... With food! The servers at our event flowed out like a steady river flowing out of a dam. Then, they circled our table like it was a rock in the midst of the stream, and placed each plate down at the exact same time with a loud "bang" adding to the weight of the meal... and the gold plated plates.

After food was a Jewish dancing ceremony with lots of circling, kicking and chair hoisting! I can't believe they let drunk people lift up the two to be honored! The hoisters almost dropped the bride! We wish there was a picture of the crowd when her chair first slipped!

Then, we danced. Enough said.

The next morning, we were on our way to Tulum, Mexico on the Yucatan Penninsula.

Stay tuned!

We moved in!.. to storage

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After the graduation festivities, we made sure to leave ourselves 4 luxurious days to pack. During those days, we made the luxurious decision to procrastinate. So, we packed up an cleaned our whole house in 1.5 days.

Then, we got in a U-Haul and made the 15 hour trip to the Blue Heron Motel in Indiana. What a beautiful place, the attendant said! 800 acre lake right behind it and it was the only motel on the whole lake! Imagine that! We liked it because it was cheap, off the freeway and came with breakfast.

On our way, we were shocked by 1 thing in particular. For the benefit of 1.5 hours of glorious Ohio scenery on a federally funded inter-state highway (80), Ohio charges $25 for U-Hauls our size. While we were not small (17 ft), I am not sure we had $25 worth of girth! That is OK, because Ohio charges $16 for cars! They must think quite highly of themselves. After conferring with my Ohio-an classmates, we have confirmed: they do in fact think highly of the pleasure of driving through their state.

After ditching the puddle, we jumped to our storage unit on the West side of Chicago. The picture below may give you some idea of what it looks like. Jason still feels we could have gone with the size smaller! Ha!

After moving in, we were apartment hunting by the next day. In only one day, we shot our limit. We made up for our New Haven inspired procrastination with some effective hunting. We nailed a spot that hit everything: large 1br, by the beach, sunk in, south facing balcony, stainless steel appliances, walk-in closet, gym inside the building, the best rooftop pool in Chicago, and the high point of our price range (but still within it). So, we will be happy, broke Chicagoans next year!

On to Orlando!

Graduation

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Yes, to all you doubters out there I graduated (and jumped for joy in the picture below - uncle Sam was more jumping out of shock of the occasion).

The family came to town (8 members of them, anyway). Jessica made an amazing brunch before an exhausting day of bar hopping and campus tours with the grandparents & parents and underage little brother. I will miss New Haven.

The next day was Graduation. Despite having a rain plan and seeing a strong indication of rain in the forecast, my dean made the go-ahead decision of the original graduation plan... Outside. It poured. We wore ponchos. Some used umbrellas. Good the speakers were great at speaking, because no one could see them to judge any other aspect. We may as well have been in the shower staring at an umbrella shower curtain listening to the ceremony on a radio broadcast. The only difference was less nudity and more community.

That is ok. We still got our expensive diplomas. Well, those of us that didn't get our diplomas destroyed by the rain were able to get their expensive diplomas. I say "expensive" due to my willingness to pay, not because they cost a lot to make. In fact, They were probably printed out on an black and white HP LaserJet. They had no colors, enhancements, crazy fonts, or even the Yale name (might have to pay royalties or something for the name). Instead, the whole diploma was written in Latin. All this time, I had no idea I was attending Universitatis Yalenesis!

I will still hang it. I had a great time at SOM!

The final day of "the graduation period," my mom, Jessica and I cruised to Newport, RI for some house tours and had an amazing time learning about the Gilded Age! We all formed a few new opinions about personal wealth. We unify in our disbelief that even such rich people suffered from the need to keep up with the Jones'!

'Til next time!