Colombia Trip!

Story of Phil and Jen's trip to Colombia to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary below! Photo album at the end!

Saturday July 16: Fly from LAX to Bogotá on Avianca

“Don’t swallow the hook” warned the signs at Bogotá El Dorado international airport with regard to unauthorized taxis. So we got an authorized taxi to our AirBNB in the El Chapinero neighborhood. Juan greeted us warmly at the stunning 9^th floor apartment and even gave us a lift to a nearby hip wood-fired pizza restaurant “Indio.” After a nice dinner we walked back a few blocks, got in pajamas, and tucked in for the night.

Sunday July 17: Ciclovía and Market Shopping

We woke up to a beautiful view of the city and mountains from the floor-to-ceiling windows of our flat! First, a breakfast of delicious stuffed arepas downstairs then off to rent bikes and take part in ciclovía. Every Sunday Bogota closes major roads to cars and opens them only to cyclists and pedestrians. People were out in droves! On our ride we spotted impressive street art and a public zumba class in a central park with hundreds of people dancing. After returning our bikes we headed north to Usaquén to shop in the upscale Sunday open-air markets weaving throughout the neighborhood. Jen got some neat concrete earrings! For dinner we went to the crazy and famous Andres DC steakhouse and were adorned with Visitantes Ilustres (VIP) sashes after dancing with the band.

Monday July 18: Graffiti Tour and Botero Museum

We woke up and had a home-cooked breakfast before heading off to a graffiti tour in La Candelaria. A Colombian-born, Wisconsin-raised guide showed us the beautiful murals of the old neighborhood and explained their often-powerful political meaning. Afterwards we checked out the Botero Museum for more traditional Colombian art and headed home for a nap after getting caught in a cold and nasty rainstorm. For dinner we went to a beautiful spot in the neighborhood called “Salvo Patria.” Our poor waitress spilled our beer on her first day but we didn’t care! Quinoa and veggie salad and arequipe dessert were amazing.

Tuesday July 19: Monserrate and Moonlit Paddleboarding in Cartagena

First stop was taking the tram up to the top of Monserrate for a view of sprawling Bogota. The city fills up a gigantic valley with its 8M+ inhabitants. We checked out of our AirBNB at 12:30 and somehow thought we had time for a sit-down lunch before our flight at 2:50. We did indeed have a nice sit down lunch at “Mini-Mal” which we wolfed down while simultaneously paying the check and calling the uber. We arrived at the airport 40 minutes before our VivaColombia (read Spirit Airlines) flight and had no idea where to go. After a panicked and fruitless conversation with the lady at the check-in desk, we sprinted off to security in hopes that we could make our flight. Miraculously we did make the flight and were off to Cartagena without paying the appropriate oversized luggage fees. In Cartagena we got a taxi to our good friend Caitlin Flannery’s house. She has been living in Cartagena for 2.5 years. She took us on a paddleboarding excursion with her roommate Kristy (the Australian queen-pin of Cartagena tourism) and a tour group. We paddleboarded in the Caribbean Sea at sunset and then under the full moon. The scene was beautiful with many tall buildings along the coast and warm salty water to catch us when we fell off the boards.

Wednesday July 20: Brunch, Beach, Urine

Big brunch with Caitlin and her other roommate Amber to start the day. Ditched the nearby packed main beach for a quieter beach called La Boquilla located in a small fishing community. We rented a small tent-like structure, drank beer and fresh juice, and swam for the whole day. Jen got stung by a jellyfish and was a bit distressed until Phil peed directly onto the sting and cleared it all up. At night Caitlin walked us through the walled city of Cartagena and the Getsemani neighborhood to get a sense of the people and vibe of the city.

Thursday July 21: Playa Blanca

We headed out via taxi for Playa Blanca on Isla Barú, a nearby island featuring turquoise water and primitive huts. We relaxed on the beach all day after poor Jen was again attacked by mother nature with a bee sting! Caitlin demonstrated her mastery of the art of haggling with and quickly dismissing the many vendors who trawled the beach area peddling massages, oysters, and other wares and services. At night we walked along the tranquil beach, stopping to chat with other visitors and to eat seafood. At night we slept in the simple hut upstairs while Caitlin braved the elements in a hammock beneath our shelter.

Friday July 22: Return from Playa Blanca and a Fateful Veggie Burrito

We got in another morning and afternoon of sun and fun on Playa Blanca before taking a boat back to Cartagena. The choppy 45 minute boat ride left us much dryer than the passengers of most rides. We continued to explore Cartagena, went home and napped, and then went out to dance at night. Before dancing we got burritos near the main plaza of Getsemani, the same burritos we had eaten the night before. But this time the burritos were bad! Jen and Caitlin got sick from them. But not until the next day. We had fun dancing to salsa champeta on Friday night!

Saturday July 23: Illness

Jen got really sick and spent Saturday puking! Phil and Caitlin spent most of the day caring for Jen but did get out for a final tour of the city with great coffee, food, and people watching. At night we watched a really dumb show called Scam City on Netflix which shows all the ways you can get scammed while traveling. Not us though. We been around the block!

Sunday July 24: Long Travel Day Gone Wrong!

Out Sunday return travels totaled about 17 hours including the following segments:

1. Nice Uber ride from Caitlin’s house to the Cartagena AirporT
2. Another VivaColombia flight where we flaunted the rules and paid no fees.
3. Quick lunch at Bogotá airport before an Avianca return flight to LAX.
4. Landing at LAX and waiting 2 hours on the plane due to a malfunctioning gate. The LAX CEO has yet to return my voicemail.
5. Shuffling through a long corridor and boarding a strange bus until we were all packed in like sardines. Then they cut the lights and took us on a 5mph tour of outer LAX until we reached the Tom Bradley International terminal.
6. Lucky strike of expedited Global Entry customs screening gave a minor boost until we realized we didn’t know where our car was parked and didn’t have the keys. FML! We were able to locate the car and get triple A to come out and pop it open after an hour wait in the middle of the night.
7. Quick drive home where Phil drove over a parking lot median and scraped the bottom of the Mazda just to make sure all our nerves were frayed. Then home to a place we had never slept!

Photo Album

https://www.flickr.com/gp/12743377@N03/uC95ut

Recently Engaged

Jen didn´t see it coming when Phil popped the question! What seemed like a benign picnic at Joe Creason park on Friday, October 29th was really the culmination of a long-planned surprise. This photo album below was taken the day of the proposal. Phil´s parents took out an announcement in the local paper. We are very happy! More information to follow...

Louisville outing

This weekend, Jen and I went out for our first ¨real¨ date in a while. We went to an upscale restaurant called Proof located in downtown Louisville. Proof is the restaurant of a modern art themed boutique hotel 21c, which opened in 2006. We had an excellent dining experience, and enjoyed the contemporary ambiance of the restaurant. One funny thing we noticed is that many people around us spent their entire meal staring at their iPhones. The couple next to us hardly spoke to each other or ate, but rather stared at their glowing phones and navigated the internet. Can´t you do that at home? Anyway, Jen enjoyed a plate of lamb leg with pasta, while I had a Kentucky bison burger. After eating, we browsed the adjacent art gallery. Though I generally do not like modern art, I found this gallery interesting, especially the interactive pieces. After we left the downtown area, we met up with friends to hang out and sing Karaoke, which was hilarious.

Please enjoy these photos.

California trip number four

So this post is a little late, but on March 31st Jen and I hopped on a sixty dollar flight from New York to Orange County. I spent two weeks out in California seeing all of Jen's family and friends It was a blast. We spent plenty of time in Orange County, but also made side trips to LA, Beaumont, and San Diego. We went to LA to see Stephanie, Jen's good friend, and we hit up a really cool whiskey bar. Soon after that, Jen and I were out golfing with her dad, Larry, when the Mexicali earthquake hit. The Earth gyrated and rolled as we stood laughing on the putting green. The very next day, we headed to Beaumont in the Inland Empire to see Jen's good friend Lindsay and her husband, Nate. Lindsay just had a baby, Madison, who was exceptionally cute and well behaved. For the rest of the week, Jen and I spent time in the OC hitting up many of the myriad malls (all of which are nicer than any mall in Kentucky). We also spent lots of time laughing and doing crosswords with Jen's mom, Wendy. There was a surprise birthday party for Jen's sister Ali, which was held in Downtown Disney, Disney World at the ESPN Zone Sports bar and restaurant. I had never seen so many TVs in one place. Finally, we took a trip down to San Diego to see Jen's friend Kristen and her husband, Jimmy. We also celebrated Lindsay's younger sister's 21st birthday in downtown San Diego. Jimmy took me out surfing, and I actually got up on several small waves. It was so fun. Also, Jen and I took the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train from the OC to San Diego and back, which was a treat. This roughly sums up my trip to California, even though I did so much more. Please enjoy the photos:

Trip to NYC

On Wednesday, March 24th, Jen and I took a night train from Cincinnati to New York City. The trip took more than 24 hours in total, including 18 hours on the Amtrak train, but it was cheap as our tickets cost merely 75 dollars apiece. Jen's grandmother, Arline, hosted us in her lovely home in Woodmere, Long Island for one week, and her amazing hospitality made the long trip worth it. Of the seven days we spent with her, we took three day trips into the city and spent the rest visiting with Jen's family and friends in Woodmere. In our city ventures, we saw sights like the Museum of Modern Art, Broadway Theatre, and High Line park and discovered neighborhoods such as Soho, the East Village, and Williamsburg. What we found most impressive about New York was the energy and pace of the city and the quantity and availability of top notch stores and restaurants. Our time on Long Island was relaxing, and I learned a bit about Jewish food and culture by eating at Woodro's Jewish deli and celebrating Passover at the Woodmere Country club with Jen, her aunt Joanne, and Arline. It was a pleasure to get to know Arline and meet more of Jen's family. Experiencing New York thrilled us, and we hope to return soon.

NYC photos: