Aruba Videos

Back in Town

Both of our flights were on time, kind of, and here we are back in New Orleans. Nothing too interesting to report besides that. Good night and thank you for your loyal visits and interest into what is going on in my life.

Have you noticed- I take a lot of vacations?

Next vacation looks to be Las Vegas in June but I'll probably eek in another post or two between now and then. Schweepy toime! (btw Sara just said not all trips are vacations)

Aruba Day 5

Tomorrow we leave. It was a great trip, the first where we've really been free to do what we want when we want. This was mostly because of the rental car. Anytime we wanted to go somewhere, we could just walk outside and go. Yes, I speak the obvious, but it's nice to be able to go to some of the less traveled places like Hooiberg and the natural bridge without literally keeping a taxi driver with us the entire time.

We woke up today, did the breakfast buffet and hung out on the beach for about 2 hours. Although Sara and I diligently (or at least it seemed) helped to sunblock each other, we both burnt to a crisp, Sara on her back and where her watch was before she took it off, and me on the tops of my feet, front of my legs, and my shoulders. I would post a pic, but you might be horrified.

After the beach, we went back to the room and changed for a hike. We had a quick lunch at Blossoms of miso soup, edamame, spicy tuna roll and spicy salmon roll. We also made a reservation at Aqua Grill. Sara copiloted us to Hooiberg, meaning haystack in Dutch, a majestic 500 foot tall "mound" in the middle of the island. We parked the car at the base of the hill and had a quick convo...hmm is it really worth it? Of course it was worth it and 542 steps later we were on top of the hill, with a 360° view of the island. The view was breathtaking even though we couldn't quite see Venezuela as promised.

We then headed towards downtown for a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, a few postcards, and a picture in front of another ginormous cruise ship. We returned to the room, hung out for a while until dinner. Dinner rolled around and we drove down the row of high rise hotels passing the Riu, Hyatt, Radisson, and Hooters, Ruth & Chris steakhouse, and Benihanas.

We sat outside and had a nice dinner. Sara had a nice gazpacho followed by a boring tuna. I had a half dozen oysters of course with lemon, cocktail sauce, and horseradish. It's hard to know what I like more, horseradish or wasabi, but I am definitely going to try a wasabi glazed oyster in the near future. For main course I had a steak and some scallops. Sara forgot to remind me that you need to get SEAFOOD at a SEAFOOD restaurant. Note to self: if a restaurant only has one steak on the menu, probably best to order pasta or fish. The steak was a bit tough but the scallops were nice.

We declined dessert cuz we had our little hearts set on Ben and Jerry's. I had the strawberry cheesecake in a sugar cone and Sara had coffee in a sugar cone. We chatted with a really nice woman who worked at B&J. She said she's never left the island which was interesting but also that she speaks four languages (dutch english spanish papamiento) just like nearly everyone else on the island. She said it only took her about 8 months to become conversational in english. Some countries teach math and science, but in Aruba where 50% of the GNP comes from tourism, people learn different languages.

All in all, a memorable trip. I checked, and though we have a confirmation number for our United flight tomorrow, we dont have confirmed seats, so I'd peg a 5% change that we spend another day in Aruba or at least invoke rule 240. If all goes to plan, we'll get into New Orleans a little after midnight tomorrow, and I probably will cease posting with daily regularity as life gets boring again. :(

Aruba Day 4

Lazy day 4 in Aruba. We woke up at 11 and went to the buffet. We finally made a profit on the well...expensive breakfast. We each had two glasses of OJ, an omelette, fruit, pastries, pancakes, oatmeal...etc. We had so much food that we went back upstairs, and napped and hung around the room for about 3 hours.

We decided it was time to go do stuff so we searched the internet and decided to check out a helicopter tour of Aruba. We went down to the concierge and had them call but the phone wasnt working...no matter we got the directions and set off. We also made a reservation at the Trattoria right next to the lighthouse. On the way to downtown we noticed Subway was closed, Quiznos was closed...not good signs. Oh yeah...Good Friday. Absolutely everything was closed even some of the downtown casinos, most restaurants, and the helicopter tour place...too bad. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.

We realized that on Good Friday, everything is closed but the Jewish stuff. So we looked at the map for the synagogue and realized it was about 30 seconds away from the helipad. We drove by it and it seemed closed too so we took a few pics and were about to leave when a very nice woman opened the door and invited us in. The synagogue was very beautiful though stifling inside. The decor was simple, but nicely appointed. There are about 35 Jewish families on the island, but the woman said whenever a cruise comes in the congregation swells a bit. They currently lack a rabbi, but are looking for one. If you know anyone who is willing to relocate to Aruba to lead a Jewish congregation, please let me know.

After walking around downtown and taking a few pictures of iguanas sunning themselves we returned to the hotel and had a eensie weensie lunch of just grouper fingers (delicious) with fries. I also had a piña colada which was yumster. We went back upstairs for a little while and watched TV and napped...again until dinner time.

Finding the restaurant was much easier this time and we had another fantastic meal. I had the baby octopus in tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil (decent...a bit too swimming in the tomato sauce) and then my absolutely alltime favorite Italian disk...Linguini alla Vongole (linguini with clam sauce) which was quite good. Sara had the eggplant parm appetizer (kinda strange for an antipasti) and then the lasagna. The complementary bruschetta appetizer was probably the highlight of the night. And also the Coke was much much bubblier than the previous night. That made me happy.

On the way back we stopped at Ben and Jerry's. I had caramel ice cream in a sugar cone and Sara had cherry garcia / choc fudge brownie in a sugar cone...pretty standard but also splendicious. Totally and udderly (get it?) full, we returned to the hotel.

We looked at our watches and it was casino time so we opened up our room safe, took out our $100 chip plus the $35 profit from the other night, went back downstairs, and sat at the roulette table. Gambling didnt go so well tonight, as 17 stubbornly will not hit for us...We lost the $135 and another $100 before calling it quits for the night. We met a few nice people from Long Island, Queens, and Boston.

Can't win em all, but to be honest, I feel like a winner. :) Tomorrow's our last full day so we're gonna try to make it a busy one.

Aruba Day 3

Today we woke up and had breakfast buffet again. I saw a girl at the buffet who went to HM and was in my sister's grade who we drove to school in 2002, and havent seen since. She is still with the same guy as back then.

We went back to the room and sunblocked, forgetting to block my feet and sternum area...oops. We went down to the ocean and laid by the beach for a few hours before getting rather warm and getting our feet wet in the ocean and then dipping in the pool. We then had a very quick lunch by the beach- grouper fingers, conch chowder, and caesar salad. I rushed the second half of our lunch because the wind was kicking up really strong and I (and the waitress) thought it was going to pour soon, and really didnt want to get to get stuck in a check requesting frenzy of rained on Westin guests.

We went upstairs, showered, and decided to set off to the Arikok National Park. With Sara as the co-pilot we headed towards the national park, up and down windy narrow roads. The park covers 20% of the island, and well we didnt enter the right part. We entered the park and road turned to rocks and dirt and we drove by a gate that was down...Soon there no cars or anyone anywhere and our 2 wheel Hyundai was getting a little upset at the terrain we were forcing it to pass. We saw a family of wild goats, and then decided that without a spare tire or working cell phone, it would be best to turn around and head back.

We went towards downtown and had a nice iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Then we went into the shopping mall and looked in Polo, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste, etc. We didn't buy anything, but it was a very nice experience. We saw two absolutely enormous cruise ships docked but about to leave.

We returned to the hotel and rested until dinner. Dinner was at Marandi, one of the nicest but also hardest to find restaurants on the island. It's right by the airport, and yes there are many signs, but they are all tiny and impossible to see at night. We drove in about six circles before finding the restaurant, and having a fantastic dinner of tuna tataki, goat cheese salad, vegetable lasagna, and ribeye steak.

We're back in the room now watching Nancy Grace shake her head in disgust about a psychopath who microwaved his daughter (by accident)...

Tomorrow, Ben and Jerry's, ATVs, minigolf...sun, fun, beach, hoooah!

Aruba Day 2

Today was wonderful. We woke up at around 11 and had a nice breakfast buffet. The orange juice and fresh fruit were spectacular. From there we went to the beach and relaxed on some chairs and walked around the beach for a little. Then we relocated poolside and watched some guy in hot pants lead a water aerobics class.

We went back to the room, showered, napped, and planned on exploring the island on our lovely Hyundai XG300 rental. We set off towards the northwest tip of the island and California Lighthouse. The lighthouse was pretty nice and the scenery was beautiful but the lighthouse was locked tight so no fantastic vista from the top.

We continued going around the north side of the island towards the natural bridge. Along the way we noticed there are no street signs except for occasional sign saying Oranjestad (capital city) this way ----> We stopped for a few minutes at a local supermarket to get a snack or two (doritos, chips ahoy, pepsi, water). Then we continued around the narrow windy roads.

On the way to the natural bridge we found Aruba's ostrich farm. Unfortunately, their last tour was at 4 and it was about 4:30 so all we could do was buy a few t-shirts. We tried to get a closer look at the big birds but got yelled at. Then, about 200 yards down the road we found the Goldmine Ranch. At the ranch were dogs, cats, ducks, goats, chicks, and horses. We shook hands with the rancher and he said feel free to take as many pictures as we want.

Then we went towards the natural bridge and wow the scenery was unbelievable. There were all sorts of jagged rocks and the 30 mph winds were making huge waves and enormous splashes. I drove really carefully down the rocky dirt road because we had no spare tire (that i know of) and no working cell phone for outgoing calls.

We drove back towards Oranjestad to find a place to eat, but couldnt find anything that sounded great. The area around the parliament was packed and there were news trucks doing a live feed... no word on what was going on, but we had to turn around a few times to get around the roadblocks.

We decided to eat at Blossoms, the Japanese hibachi restaurant in the hotel. We sat next to a party of 13 from Caracas and a family from northern Virginia. The food was superbly delicious and we left feeling completely satisfied and full. After dinner, we decided to check out the casino, provided it wasnt too smoky which it wasnt. We started playing craps but well I dont know the game all that well and Sara had no idea how to play although she sort of knows the jist now. We ended up losing $17 in craps...crap. Then we tried our hand at roulette and made $52. Sara picked red/black correctly 9 times in a row! YEYAHHAYAYAH! We also played the inside (betting individual numbers) and hit the right number once.

Now we're in the room watching Fox 5 news and deciding what to do tomorrow. Probably more touring and laying on the beach. Pics below:

Aruba Day 1

This blog has turned into my diary of all days not normal. Somehow I think if i blogged every day saying today I went to class, went home, studied, ate some food, went to sleep, and expect to do the same tomorrow, this blog would be pretty durn boring. So, when I go somewhere or do something exciting, it finds its way here.

Speaking of which, here Sara and I are at the Westin Aruba. Our Jet Blue flight was on time and the descent into Aruba was super interesting. We were at about 7,500 feet directly above the airport on the island. Then we turned left away from the airport and continued to descend over the island, then over the water, and finally kept turning left until we were lined up with the runway.

We left the plane and went towards immigration. AA, Delta, United, and Continental flights all had recently arrived and the passport control room was packed to the brim. So much so that people were congregating directly in front of the escalator as more and more people were entering the room. I had to say KEEP MOVING FORWARD PLEASE beacuse you can imagine what it would be like if you were at the bottom of an escalator with nowhere to go and scores more people coming at you...

I had a confirmed rental with Budget rentacar, but after giving my license to the rental agent, he told me you had to be 24...not what I heard from Budget on the phone...but luckily there was someone from a different rental company who was waiting for someone just like me to come by. Ten minutes later we were leaving the airport with a newish Hyundai sedan.

We drove to the hotel past the Aruban Parliament building, past Subway, Quizno's, Wendy's, MCD, Pizza Hut, past Ferregamo, and the cruise dock. I was looking for the Outback Steakhouse but couldnt find it... We found the hotel, parked the car and checked in. It was linner/dunch time so Sara and I unpacked real quick and headed down to poolside for some fish sticks (yumster) and tandoori chicken wrap (delish) oh yeah and a margarita and strawberry daq.

Unfortuately, the spray sunblock that Sara got for us was not functioning at all, so we had to run down to the hotel gift shop to get some more sunblock. We looked at all the different kinds and finally bought the $10 kids tear free banana boat SPF 50...after saying uh uh to the $27 (no joke) block. We hung out on the beach for a little bit until the sun was almost gone. Now we're in the room trying to figure out what to do for the night. It's Flag Day here in Aruba so nothing's open. More excitement to come tomorrow...enjoy the pictures









Miscellanous Hilarious Video:

Oh Shit!

JP Morgan Chase buys Bear Sterns for 1% of its value on March 1st, 16 days ago.