Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Mexico!!!


Seeing as how the weather is turning cold Chastity and I decided to complete the hat trick of our travels abroad and take a trip down the Mexico coast line.  We called Chastity’s old high school friend Pablo that lives in Cabo and asked him for advice.  He and his wife Rosia offered to come give us a personal guided tour down Interstate 1(they thought it would be safer than having a couple American yahoos driving through Mexico alone!). We rented a SUV and headed out.  They flew into General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport and  we picked them up and began our trip to get them home!! 


Of course as usual before we jumped on the interstate I had to grab a bite to eat  and I saw a familiar site….THE TACO WAGON!!! Yes please….

I let Pablo drive so I could take pictures, he made such a great tour guide I suggested he get a job doing it full time.  He disagreed!  We drove past the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, UABCS and I snapped a couple photos of their wonderful campus.
   I love the architecture!!
                                                                            
                                            We went past a few of the cool statues in town.  I can’t believe how many statues Mexico has and we have like zero back home!
          .....................Cruzin Down  Interstate  1………….
I see Ocean..............
.Yep that’s definitely Ocean!!!!

Stopped for a driving break, and get our feet wet.
I had to stop and check out the pyramid

Rosia headed us on a detour to check out an old church she had gone to a few times    
.


    















This was a cool little house sitting all alone on the beach.
This was our last shot of the coast just before heading inland a way to get a room for the night (and some enchiladas and Tecate…) this was also shortly before we entered San Quinton at sunset and I broke out into my best Johnny Cash voice. Pablo joined in but the girls were not amused.




  One of the bonus’ of have couple of good friends that are from Mexico take you on a guided trip is they know stuff….and people…. Rosia cousin is the owner and operator of the Hotel Jardines Baja in San Quintin and we got awesome rooms with ocean views, at low, low rates. Plus dinner was free, and sooooo good!!

Street Tacos what……


Day two and we should be heading into Cabo today
I had to get a picture of some of the cool plants in Mexico, they don’t grow anywhere else. Chas and Rosia think I’m a dork.



I told them I’m not a dork I’m a scientist….
        They said that what a dork was…..


I wanted to follow the coast the whole way to Cabo but Pablo said it was way faster to stick to the interstate and head inland for a time, 
but it would meet back up with the coast in a bit.

Such stark contrast in landscape from the coast.
 That’s a big freagin Cactus.
Mirage?? There must be water close buy!!!!
Almost there, snapped a couple photos of some nice old churches.
This one’s my fav…

Finally!!! Its back!!! I love the ocean…..and all the yummy food in it!!!
Another cool Statue



Finally We Arrive… CABO!!
I’ll let the girls get their shopping outta the way, while me and Pablo go Fishing!
and of course lunch…….




My first catch of the trip, thanks for the hand Pablo!!!


Mexico Viajes Virtuales trip disclaimer: This Trip is purely fictitious, my wife's name(Chastity) and my friend (Pablo) are the only truthful parts of this blog. Do Not Travel to this part of Mexico unless Heavily Armed.
 From the U. S. State Department:
Millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, including more than 150,000 who cross the border every day for study, tourism or business and at least one million U.S. citizens who live in Mexico. The Mexican government makes a considerable effort to protect U.S. citizens and other visitors to major tourist destinations. Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico generally do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major trafficking routes. Nevertheless, crime and violence are serious problems and can occur anywhere. While most victims of violence are Mexican citizens associated with criminal activity, the security situation poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well.
Due to ongoing violence and persistent security concerns, you are urged to defer non-essential travel to the states of Tamaulipas and Michoacán, and to parts of the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Jalisco. Details on these locations, and other areas in which travelers should exercise caution, are below.
You should be especially aware of safety and security concerns when visiting the northern border states of Northern Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. Much of the country's narcotics-related violence has occurred in the border region.






http://www.allaboutcabo.com/assets/images/activities/cabo-marlin-fishing.jpg




Sunday, October 23, 2011

Madrid

ME Madrid Reina Victoria | Ubicación y descripción  | The adventures continue, this time we are off to Spain.  We are staying  2 nights in Madrid, then we will make our way to Valencia and the coast. I wanted to do another tour of the coast here in Spain as we did in Peru but just cant give up the opportunity to visit Madrid. 


We are staying at one of the more pricey hotels ,but I am thinking of it more as a main attraction, since we will spend our first two nights here we decided to splurge and I think it was well worth the money.  We spent the first part of our day exploring the hotel! We got to go up to the roof and take pictures, the architecture is awesome.




ME Madrid Reina Victoria | Ubicación y descripción  |


Eating lunch in the restaurant was a real treat, service was wonderful, and the food was great.The coffee was excellent but be sure to order a "doble" if you want an American sized portion.

  



   We walked down one of the most famous avenues in Madrid the La Gran, again I was amazed at the wonderful architecture and the street was full all kinds of shops .



Then we got to tour the San Jeronimo el Real Church, I think this was my favorite. I love the cross' everywhere              
    This is another one I really liked,  the Church of Saint Francis the Great.  It was styled after the domes of the Roman Pantheon. 

We also visited The Royal palace , which has its own royal Chapel. 
















The sculptures and paintings inside were breath taking.











Even the grounds around the palace had cool attractions, this is the  Fuente de las Conchas, the Fountain of the shells

we were so distracted by everything all of a sudden it was dark !



We didn’t get to the museum so We will have to spend an extra day here to check it out tomorrow. But I'm exhausted so its bed time. But not without a local bottle of the good stuff!



I went to la Fisna which is renowned for its wines. But which one??? oh well maybe a few!

So after a groggy start to the day we made it to the
Prado Museum

  

This was one of the best parts of the trip so far.... the art is so old and so nice.











Well we eventually made our way out of town ( after lunch of course….)
 


Good Bye Madrid!!


Hello Valencia…..
The Plaza de Ayuntamiento by our Hotel. There is so much to do we are going to have another long night...
This is the Falla Plaza del Ayuntamiento … for a minute I thought I was in Disney World!!!



See you all in the morning……...Late morning!!!