Tag Archives: travel

Rockin’ it today

Posted on by

0

Feel like I accomplished a LOT today. Got both kids registered for school (the school I didn’t really want them to go to but I am over it and just am going to accept it), sorted out all of our Tricare stuff, no more Tricare Overseas, we are now TriWest (which sounds so stupid), booked appointments for school physicals/TB tests for Friday morning (kinda amazed they got me in that fast), picked up the dog’s kennel from the quarantine facility where we left it last week (no room in the car and that sucker was too big for the trunk!), picked Omar up early from school and zipped over to the DMV so he could get his Hawaii driver’s license (he’s official!) and now debating on where to go out for dinner.

(Also I probably hit my quota for parentheses for the day!)

I keep driving by our house willing the current residents to just move out already! The should be moving out in the next few days and then we have to wait for the house to get cleaned/repainted whatever it is they will be doing. The day we move in we are planning on having both our Aloha furniture (temp furniture to live on) and our express shipment (linens and kitchen stuff we packed) so we can be kinda in a real home. Just happy there is a pool within walking distance (with a teeny tiny gym!)

Tomorrow I have NO plans, which means that a ton of stuff will suddenly pop up that needs to be done! Still didn’t get to the beach over on Hickam so maybe we’ll try to find it, it looks like they have super cheap paddleboard rentals ($9/hour!) and I’ve been dying to try but it was super expensive in Waikiki!

It’s starting to feel real

Posted on by

2

We got our plane tickets! It’s crazy, it seems like we may actually be moving! I don’t even really want to talk about how long the flight from Spain to Hawaii. Amazingly we are going to land the same day we take off, but actual travel time is 26 hours. Yikes.

I’m still crossing my fingers that we are going to be able to get the dog on the flight. Iberia (who we are flying from Spain with) says they don’t have any restrictions when it comes to breed or heat. Flying with a boxer in July I am worried about both.  We are flying United out of LAX and they also say they don’t have any restrictions. THANKFULLY we are able to fly him as excess baggage with United, originally they told us he was going to have to go as cargo which meant in our 2.5 hour layover we were going to have to leave the airport and navigate our way to the cargo terminal. I can’t even imagine.

So my focus now is going to be to actually pull our suitcases out and start to slowly fill them up. I am trying to keep it as light as possible. I don’t think we’ll need anything but clothes for the first few weeks. I am reeeeeeeeeaaaaally not looking forward to being in a hotel long term with two kids so I am hoping and praying that we get a house sooner than later. The problem with that is that no property management companies or anyone else renting a home wants to talk to you if you are not on island. Also hoping that Navy Housing has us bumped on the list for some reason. I am starting to feel like I’ll take ANYTHING at this point which could backfire if we end up settling for something that we end up regretting.

So. Getting excited but there is also a never ending list of things to do, things to book, packing lists to create. Hawaii, you better be worth it!

(Also if anyone has any input on Kamehameha Loop or Manana housing, let me know! They both have a very short wait list. I really wanted Radford Terrace but don’t think I can wait 4 months!)

Faro, Portugal

Posted on by

1

We had the chance to take a quick day trip to Portugal last week, believe it or not after living in Spain for 4 years we STILL hadn’t made it the few hour drive to Portugal!  We finally made the trip and while we had a nice time, I highly recommend you drive a bit further than Faro and spend time in Albuferia, there is a lot more to do there.

We started off right by the marina and proceeded to walk just about the entire old town, eating as we went.

The churches were beautiful. I was very upset that we tried to go to the Bone Chapel too late in the day and they had already closed. Also LOTS of storks roosting on the buildings. Baby storks everywhere! (And I’ll be using LOTS of collages today, I tried weeding my pictures down and I still had a million)

And I just LOVE the pyramid shaped roofs that a lot of the buildings have. That is a distinctive Portuguese style.

 

Lunch and some pretty trees… Omar had this calamari/prawn skewer, looked amazing!  I on the other hand need to stop being so adventurous when I eat in a foreign country. My entree tasted good but had some unidentifiable chunks of meat that did not look delicious. I *think* it was veal but my Portuguese is non-existent!  Our lunch spot was beautiful, the restaurant had a garden/patio in the back covered with a pergola. Very relaxing.

 

Taking the opportunity to get LOTS of photos on the steps to this church…

Oh my. The tile and stonework here was a-mazing! I took many many more photos of the ground than these. In the pedestrian shopping area each street had its own design. Beautiful. And this archway is into the ‘old town’ and was insane. I can’t even imagine building that.

Oh and this graffiti?  Loved it! These shots also show off the nature reserve in the background. It is a beautiful area where a river meets the sea. The sandy beach is actually on the other side of the reserve.

If you get the chance take one of the boat tours… You can kinda barely see the beach on this picture…

 

I thought this was very funny… This sign says “The Sea” in Portuguese but if you look at it in English it says Omar! Love it!

Some gelato to tide us over on the ride home…. The looooooong ride home. While we did have a great family day and enjoyed our walking and eating and photo taking there really isn’t a lot to do in Faro.  Head another 45 min west and go to some of the bigger resort towns (or even further and hit up Lisbon!) I was just happy to spend the day with the family and check another country off of my map!

 

 

It’s The Little Things: {Faro & Farewells}

Posted on by

18

Yay, one of my favorite link ups is back, Lindsey from Hello Hue!

Here are my little things that made me smile this week:

Finally getting to Portugal! We took a day trip to Faro, which is right over the border from Spain. Had a wonderful family day together and enjoyed some beautiful weather!

{smooching my hubby in Faro…}

I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch out with my coworkers this week. Today was my last day of work and it was very sad. I HATE goodbyes, and thankfully could put some of them off because I’ll be stopping back in but it sucks! Some of the Spanish friends I have made are some of the funnest people I know and I will miss them dearly! So instead of adios, I am saying hasta luego. I hope I will see them again someday.

Two. More. Weeks! I can’t believe we are so close to leaving! I am trying not to have a panic attack because looking at my house, it is impossible to imagine that we are really packing out soon!

Hello Hue Little Things

Ending the day on a low note…

Posted on by

0

This morning I started out positively sad about our pending move. I am ready to dig my heels in and just stay here a little while longer. It didn’t help that it got up to a gorgeous 85 degrees today, nice and sunny with summer right around the corner.

Then…

I have to listen to yet ANOTHER person complaining about how much they hate this base. I am so over it. While we chose to move here there are those people who didn’t have a choice. Or maybe this base just wasn’t what they had in mind. But to LOUDLY complain about practically every aspect of the base, not a good enough selection at the commissary/exchange, not enough for kids to do, not enough child care options, it just annoyed the crap out of me!

We don’t live in America, we live in Spain. There might possibly come a point where you have to pull up your big girl panties and step off base! Amazingly there are stores in Spain that sell food and clothing! Cute clothing in fact! And the complaints you have about having to pay for it in euro? What the hell do you think that COLA is for??? It was just super annoying and I took it personally as I feel like I am a representative of the child care on base and that she was picking on me personally.  Even though she wasn’t, and at this point in time I really don’t care. I think it sad that instead of spending your time enjoying a place that some people save up and vacation to, all you can complain about is how horrible everything is.

And the other day someone told me they hated it here because there was no WalMart. I. Just. Don’t. Get. It. You would rather shop at a trashy big box store (that has a twin here in Spain called Carrefour!!!!) than live here? Is buying stuff, random stuff that you don’t need and are only buying because you are bored, really THAT important to you?

Ending rant now, just had to get that out there. If you are moving to Spain, please be aware that it is a totally different country because apparently there are some people who think it should be ‘little America’. I swear if I hear the phrase “…at our LAST base…” one more time…

El Bucarito! Our trip to the goat farm…

Posted on by

3

(Prepare for pictures from ANOTHER class field trip!)

Yesterday we took a field trip to a cute little goat farm that is literally minutes from base. I am kicking myself for never visiting before.  The farm grown their own feed (organically) and uses the goat manure to fertilize the fields. Love that.  They also have a variety of other animals including donkeys, pigs (black Iberian pigs – the ones that get turned into famous jamon!), and birds of prey.  The owners live on site and they were super friendly and the entire staff was absolutely wonderful to our visiting group.

On to the photos!

The farm! The pig area is on the left, the goat fields are on the right.  The store is the building half cut off on the right. (Taken on a moving bus so not the best shot.)

Happy Bus Rider.

As soon as we walked by the pasture the goats all ran over to us. (Because I am a nerd I immediately thought of the Jurassic Park line: “They’re flocking”. Yeah. Just me.)

Prepare yourself, this is a goat picture heavy post. But they are just so dang cute!

Ha. He kept trying to eat my camera. Goats are dumb. But very photogenic.

O admiring the goats from a distance. They were a little nibbley. (Also I think the kids necklaces should read: “If found please return to the CDC” but no one agrees with me.)

Budding grape vine. The farm had some vineyards as well as a small orchard.

Our guide and I couldn’t figure out what this was. I thought cherry (cerise is cherry right?) She thought not. Fruit tree blossoms look so similar. It was probably peach or plum. Or apple or pear. Who knows. My mom probably.

We pose in doors a lot.

I want this bbq area please.

This is the owners patio. What we would call a courtyard. I love Spanish patios. Especially plain rocks turned into something awesome with a little crapload of time.

Also red geraniums in old pots or barrels. Swoon.

All the ladies getting milked. Of the 2,000 goats they have on the farm, 1,200 give milk. Twice a day. It’s no wonder it’s all automated!

One of the babies in the kid room… They were SO cute!

Feeding pigs! We had to warn the kids to keep fingers off the fence. Those pigs will bite!  These pigs are the famous Iberian black pigs. The males who look promising are moved and fed acorns to give the Iberian jamon the distinctive flavor that it is famous for. (For which it is famous. Whatever.)

Also. These pigs are hard core. Nose rings for all! This actually keeps them from rooting and tearing up the pasture or fence line, but I prefer to think that they have punk rock pigs.

I love mules. That is all.

This farm also breeds birds of prey, including owls. So we got to pet this tiny, bitty, sweet, fluffy baby owl. “IT’S SO FLUFFY” (name that movie, if you can’t we can’t be friends)

O meet owl.

Tiny!

Not quite so cute and adorable but a beautiful bird.

Falconry demonstration. Please someone tell me, what the heck is keeping these birds from flying away? They aren’t domesticated dogs, they are wild birds with unclipped wings. Why do they come back? Are they just really well fed? I wish my Spanish didn’t suck ass so I could have talked to the trainer.

The kids all loved this cheese, it was sweet and creamy and mild. So good!

These were more for the adults, strong, firm and pungent.  The rosemary one was really good.

And the chorizo. Made from those adorable pigs we saw earlier.  Think of salami but better. This was excellent and the kids couldn’t get enough. I will be back for this as well as some fresh goat cheese!

Ana one of the teachers and a friend, got to get up close and personal with one of the adult owls.

So did Val. All the cuddling was freaking me out. I kept telling them the owl was going to eat their eyes. Get the damn bird out of your face!

Hello gorgeous!

Goodbye, el Bucarito! We’ll be back!

Directions:

Go out the Spanish gate (back gate on base) take a left. You should see the farm on the right in about 5 minutes. It is off one of the perimeter roads. Store is open seven days a week. Tours are available for groups but you have to call ahead. If you have a small group you can see the cheese making process.