BK's Home Away From Home

So as you all know, BK and I love to travel.  What you may not know is that BK actually has a home away from home that I typically don't get to visit: Basel, Switzerland.  This month things changed...I got to visit Basel with BK for about a week.  It was a bit of a whirlwind considering that we were home for approximately 36 hours between two trips, but I really can't complain.  There are many worse things in life than being in Napa for five days then turning around and going to Switzerland for a week.

The Old Bridge over Rhine River

BK lives in Basel for about 10 days a month when his company closes their books.  Sometimes it's a little longer if it's a quarter-end month, or could be shorter if he just has meetings.  Basel was really fun. Of course as BK was here for work, so for a couple of days that I was here I spent a lot of time exploring around town by myself.  Basel (and Switzerland in general) is incredibly safe, so there were no worries about me wandering around.  

The Rhine River runs through Basel, but everyone says that instead of dividing the city, it actually unites two halves.  I like that thinking.  The Old Bridge is a landmark in the city and is a major thoroughfare, but not too busy.  People walk everywhere and Basel has a great tram system that you can jump on at any point, and if you're staying in a hotel they give you a free mobility pass so it's free to ride for the duration of your stay.

Thursday I spent about four hours walking around the city I did this great walking tour they have around the city.  People who live here don't seem to know about it, but I stopped in the tourism office and they told me about it.  It is also not a serious tour, so you're not bogged down by tons of history, you just get to enjoy the sites.  It gives you a route to follow; for me, it gave me a plan...and we all know how I love to have a plan.  

To do the tour you just follow these guys around the city.

Basel has lots of great little squares, which I think in German are called "platz."  Yes, German, and specifically Swiss-German, is the language spoken here.  A good majority of people speak English, but I feel bad expecting them to speak my language and not having a clue about theirs.  If you haven't ever looked into German, it seems completely foreign to me, and I can't really decipher anything without some serious context clues.  

Markeplatz is where city hall is and is at the city center.  During the summer they have open air markets and lots of people gather here.  It is where I started for my tour.  The city is great and incredibly pleasant to walk around in.  Switzerland has done a wonderful job of preserving old architecture and mixing it with new, modern buildings.  BK joined me on Friday for the afternoon and we did some exploring together, including me showing him what I had learned the day before.  

City Hall in Marktplatz

We explored many parts of the city, including the side that is not considered "Old Town."  There are so many nice neighborhoods that are a little off the beaten path, but are well worth the walk.  There is lots of green space tucked away throughout the city and you can pretty much walk along the river as long as it stretches.  After BK and I walked around for quite a while, we ended up in Munsterplatz which contains Basel's main landmark, the Cathedral.  It is a beautiful church with great views of the river behind it and another square in front of it.  There are many restaurants tucked in corners throughout the city, including in old, repurposed buildings.  We ended Friday with dinner and drinks at a little restaurant in the Cathedral square, and then watched the Ryder Cup late into the night.  

Cathedral in Munsterplatz

Saturday took us to Zurich, about an hour's train ride away. More about that later. Now it's back to American life to watch the Frogs take on SMU.  Game time this week: 1am.

Napa 2012: Dining

This area is serious about good food and you can have some great dining experiences here.  Nothing about it will be cheap, but you'll definitely have some great grub.

Goose and Gander- We hit Goose & Gander after we went to Sullivan Vineyards for a quick and casual dinner.  They have a number of different areas that you can dine at the restaurant: outside patio area, inside cozy feel and downstairs grotto bar.  The food was such a pleasant surprise.  We started with the Cheviche of Halibut with Avocado and Taro Chips; extremely fresh and taro chips were a different twist.  I had the Seared Day Boat Sea Scallops which were excellent and BK had The G&G Burger which has gruyere cheese, house smoked bacon and is served with duck fat fries (YUM!).  It was exactly what we needed after a day of traveling and wine.

Inside Ad Hoc

Ad Hoc Restaurant- Ad Hoc is one of Thomas Keller's restaurants; he also does The French Laundry, per se and Bouchon.  We haven't been to any of the other restaurants, but we had mixed reviews on Ad Hoc.  We were really looking forward to this, and I had to make reservations about six months ago.  It's a unique place because there is a set menu every night, as in, there's only one choice- what the chef chooses to craft that night.  

The food was very well done...it was the atmosphere that was surprisingly lacking.  Our menu that night was spinach salad with apples and blue cheese, NY strip (ordered rare), au gratin potatoes with mushroom cream, and fresh onions and tomatoes from The French Laundry garden.  The steak was cooked exactly the way we wanted and was full of flavor.  I also appreciate that they don't put salt and pepper on the table, as to say, "don't mess with the flavors, we have them the way we want them."  For desert we had peanut butter and chocolate panna cotta, which was decadent and delicious.  Back to the atmosphere, the problem was we were seated at a table for two and were practically on top of the tables next to us.  We could hear their conversations and I'm sure they could hear ours.  I'm sure no one was talking about anything groundbreaking, but they couldn't even if they tried.  It just wasn't the intimate atmosphere that you usually get in high end restaurants.  I honestly can't decide if I would recommend it or not...BK wouldn't, I might. 

Famous Pork Chop

Mustards Grill-  Best. Pork Chop. Ever.  That's pretty much all I need to say about Mustards.  We went last year and were wowed by the pork chop.  We learned that we had been overcooking pork chops and they should actually be a little pink when cooked.  This year was just as good, if not better.  The atmosphere is cozy and even if you're sitting at a table for two you still have privacy and can enjoy dinner together.  We started with Ahi Tuna Crackers with wasabi creme fraiche and soy vinaigrette, then I had the Mongolian Pork Chop and BK had the Grilled Rabbit with vegetable succotash. We also added the 3-cheese macaroni and cheese, which was also great.  For dessert we topped it off with creme brulee for me and a scoop of ice cream for BK.  It was all delicious and I'm sure we'll go back as soon as possible.  

Gott's Roadside- We started Saturday out by watching the Frogs take on UVA. After driving around Napa trying to find something, I cam upon Oxbow Public Market on First Street in Napa.  We had passed it the day before wandering around Napa, and I was pleased to see they were open for breakfast.  I don't know about anything else on the menu, but the breakfast was awesome!  We had a potato and egg taco, which is much more than it sounds and includes jalapeño scrambled eggs, crispy potatoes, sour cream, cheese, pico de gallo and avocado.  The other one was a smoked chicken taco with scrambled eggs, smoked chicken, cheese, crispy potatoes and pico de gallo.  They went great with the watching the frogs and held us over almost all day.  The rest of their menu looks great as well. 

Silverado Brewing Company- This was also a repeat from last year, but is a good casual place to grab a bite at the end of the day.  It's a little out of the element in Napa, with lots of beers on tap and sports on every TV in the place (last year it was the World Series).  If you want something a little different from the usual upscale restaurant or wine bar and are up past St. Helena this is a good place to make a stop.

Brix Restaurant and Gardens- This was our very last place to eat in Napa and we headed there for Sunday brunch before going back to San Francisco.  They have a buffet for brunch, which I am typically leery of.  This is not because of anything having to do with sanitation, but mostly because BK and I NEVER get the value from them.  We typically split dishes when we eat out, so when you consider that you're paying to have multiple dishes, we just don't get there.  We came pretty close to getting the $40/per person out of it, mostly because of the gourmet food offered.  The spread included a seafood bar with raw oysters, grilled shrimp, smoked salmon and fire-roasted mussels; a bread, fruit and cheese bar; main dishes such as flatbread pizza, beef tenderloin and lots of fresh salads; breakfast dishes such as eggs benedict, the best breakfast potatoes I've ever had, pancakes and french toast; and best of all a dessert bar with lots of miniature sweets.  The restaurant had a great view of gardens and vineyards  and was a great way to end our culinary journey in Napa.

Napa 2012: The Wineries

The wineries...the reason we all come to Napa.  After learning from our previous trips here we did research and found some new wineries we were interested in visiting.  When I say we, I actually mean BK did research with some input from me.  If you're wondering where to go for this information, or how to get started: ask people who have been before, and don't hesitate to ask the wine guy at your favorite upscale restaurant.  If they're good, they will ask what type of wine you like and what experience you're looking for and should be able to give you some good recommendations. As an added bonus, they often have great information on wines that are just taking off and can get you into places that you wouldn't otherwise know about. 

I'm not giving reviews of the wine; that all depends on what type of wine you like.  For example, many people include a chardonnay in their tasting.  But as chardonnay is not the type of wine I drink, I'm not going to give it a bad review just because I didn't specifically like it.  Here's the 2012 lineup!

Sullivan Vineyards courtyard

Sullivan Vineyards: Sullivan is a winery we visited last year at the recommendation of another couple we met when on another tour. Sullivan is a great family run winery, in which two brothers and a sister run various parts of the operation.  This was our first winery of the trip; we visited on Wednesday after checking into our hotel.  It was a great, relaxing experience, much needed after the flight and drive to Napa.  They have a great courtyard and anyone at the vineyard is happy to show you around.  

We ran into Kelly Sullivan (the daughter) in the courtyard, who happens to also be an artist.  Her art has sold around the world, but she has quite a bit of it displayed around the winery.  We started our tasting and got to talking to Kelly's husband and some friends of theirs who had just arrived for wine and dinner.  We all got to talking with one another and somehow BK and I were invited into the family home to enjoy more conversation, delicious appetizers and more of Kelly's art.  We bought a piece that is now on its way to our house.  These chance things are what make this trip great.

Stomping grapes at Schweiger

Schweiger Vineyards- We heard about Schweiger through BK's parents who are members of the wine club and had come the year before.  "Harvest Stomp" typically only happens around this time of year.  The Schweiger family was there to conduct all of our activities, which I cannot say enough about.  Meeting the family makes such a difference; you truly get a feeling for why they do what they do and who is behind the operation.  

This was quite the experience!  We went into the vineyard, picked grapes (about 20), measured sugar content, picked more grapes to stomp (half a box-full) and stomped our grapes to make more juice.  We then had a delicious lunch and toured the cave to learn about their wine making.  We enjoyed lots of wine as well!  One word of warning: if you get carsick take motion sickness medicine before heading to Schweiger.  The winery is located way up on the mountain and there are quite a few twisty and winding roads.  Unfortunately BK was not taking these slow, so I was not feeling great upon arrival!

The Del Dotto cave (Napa)

Del Dotto Vineyards- Del Dotto's tours are known throughout the Valley, but not necessarily in a good way.  Other wineries feel that they over serve and don't like when drunk people come from Del Dotto.  All that said, BK and I have enjoyed this tasting and tour.  You have a cave tour and barrel tasting either at the Napa or St. Helena location.  Both times we've had an extremely personable tour guide who made our time fun.  In a group of around 10, you taste around 14 wines directly from the barrel and learn about various nuances in their wine making.  We would highly suggest this tour...just make sure it's your last one of the day and you don't have very far to drive!

Tasting patio surrounded by farm

Grgich Hills Estate- Grgich Hills was another very unique experience. We went on their Rustic Adventure Tour, which is at one of their vineyards in American Canyon.  Their approach is extremely interesting and they take a lot pride in the fact that they are completely organic.  The vineyard we went to was on rolling hills and included what essentially amounted to a small farm.  There was a garden with all sorts of different fruits, veggies, flowers and shrubs growing, each with its own purpose of what is was adding to the environment as a whole.  In addition to the garden they also had sheep, chickens, game birds and supported other local small birds and owls with birdhouses.

We walked around the vineyard and garden, tasting both grapes from the vineyard and veggies from the garden, then enjoyed a tasting outside on a patio overlooking the vineyard and garden.  It was such a nice setting, and to add to it, our tour was with one of the owners' son and another winery employee.  Again, the family interaction just makes such a difference!  In addition to the great wine we tasted, we also had some amazing cheeses to pair with these wines.  It was great way to start the day.

Sparkling wine at Mumm

Mumm Napa- Mumm Napa specializes in sparkling wine.  We had some time to kill before our next tasting so we decided to stop in here.  I had mentioned that I wanted to try one of these, and we took a suggestion from another winery, along with it being on our way.  Bad idea.  It was terrible experience and exactly what I tell people not to do.  We sat on a patio, a teenie-bopper type impatiently waited on us and literally knew NOTHING about their wine.  I like the wine, but it was totally not worth the stop.  We should have used that time more wisely and had a nice lunch or something! 

Myriad Cellars

Myriad Cellars- Myriad was a completely different experience than we had with any other winery.  We met at Envy Cellars and toured with Mike Smith, who is a boutique wine maker.  So unlike the other places we went, he doesn't have just one label.  He actually makes wine for a number of different labels, which also include his own (Myriad and others).  It wasn't really a tour, but more of a lesson and tasting on how he makes his wines.  The other couple there was extremely well informed about his wines; I'm not sure we were quite "wine geek" enough for this one. 

Checkerboard vineyards and winery

Checkerboard Vineyards- Checkerboard was the best experience we had in Napa, hands down, no questions asked.  We heard about it from the distributor when he was down at Escondido Golf Club.  This winery is situated high up in the hills, so if you visit allow yourself plenty of time to get there.  We drove up expecting to see the usual winery/tasting room set up, which was definitely not the case.  We were greeted by the two owners and found that we were the only people there.  It was immediately apparent that these two people cared a great deal about what they were doing and had sunk a great deal of time, money and heart into their product.

BK and I at the top of Checkerboard

We started out by looking at their "tanks" which were actually large French oak barrels for fermenting wine (most people use stainless steel). We then journeyed into their cave, saw their bottling and packaging area and had some wine.  After that we took a mule (four-wheel drive vehicle, not animal) up to the top of their property to really get a lay of land and an idea of what their property was like. We then went into their tasting room and had two of their premier wines.  The wine was great, but the experience made it so much more.  We ended up spending about three hours at Checkerboard and skipping the other winery we had scheduled.  We loved it because we got to essentially sit down and chat with the owners, asking any question about their wine making, travels and Napa in general.  The wine is pricey, but they don't push anything on you and appreciate you taking the time to come see them.  Their label is just taking off, so it was really fun to hear about their relatively new experiences.  We would highly recommend this "tasting and tour", if that can even do it justice, to anyone who is interested.

Of course, we started this blog for family and friends so that we could tell about our travels, but hopefully our experiences and recommendations will help anyone who is planning a trip like this...we think everyone should!

Napa, how we love you so!

So you'll see very few places make a reappearance on the blog, i.e. BK and I's travel itenerary.  Napa is the exception to that rule.  We decided last year, after a great trip, we would be coming back here on an annual basis.  So here we find ourselves, having a great time once again.

Over the next few days I'll be posting about the wineries, restaurants and other activities that we had fun with in Napa.  You should come if you get the chance!  BK says its the one place that he feels that he can really relax and disconnect.  We love it and think that everyone else will too!

A couple of tips for your trip to Napa:

1. Don't come to Napa if all you want to do is get drunk by drinking a lot of wine.  That one may sound a little strange considering that I'm writing about Napa, but honestly, if that's what you want to do, you can do it at home for a lot less time and money.  Come to Napa to learn about wine you love, eat great food and spend time with people you enjoy.
2. Only schedule two, max three, wineries per day.  If you're making a day trip, this one can be hard.  If you're here for multiple days, try it.  We typically do one around 10:30 and one around 2:00.  If you do this, you don't have to rush through tastings and tours, it leaves you time for a nice relaxing lunch and you can enjoy your last winery of the day.
3. Research where you want to go and make reservations.  You can go to the big ones with large tasting rooms, however if you do, we suggest you get a private tour with cheese pairing or something along those lines.  If you just go tasting rooms, often the people pouring the wine know nothing about it and you're just kind of hearded in and out- not a special experience.  We tend to like the family owned, small wineries.  Often you'll find yourself sitting down with the owner, a family member and/or winemaker...a pretty awesome experience (details later).
4. Give yourself a wine budget in addition to what you want to spend on other details of the trip.  You are going to get here and want to buy wine and/or join wine clubs.  Give yourself a budget so that you're not stressed about the thousands of dollars (it can get to this amount quickly when you're talking cases) you weren't planning to spend.  Being annoyed that this trip is costing a lot more than planned can really ruin your time here.

The only downside this year?  We missed another TCU home game.  On the bright side, at least the game was on at 9:00 am Napa time, giving us the entire rest of the day to enjoy afterward.

Lots more to come!  Cheers!

Shot! Shot! Shot! Shot!

Oh wait...then I remembered that we're in our 30s!  No offense to anyone in their 30s (or beyond) who still likes to take shots and party, but we've kind of left those times behind.  We're still up for a good time, but it usually involves a few glasses of wine, vodka or Jack.  But have no fear!  BK and I are fully prepared to provide 50ish people with shots at any given time, thanks to his collection of shot glasses.

So, I haven't written in a while, but this is about the things we collect on our travels.  People collect different things when traveling...t-shirts, Christmas ornaments, magnets, whatever floats your boat; BK happens to collect shot glasses.  And let me just mention, not only does BK collect them, but others (usually our parents and siblings) generously help add to his collection as well.

Where can one have a drink from, you ask?  Just to name a few...Costa Rica, the Kentucky Derby, Paris, the Broadmoor, London, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Mexico.  You can even pretend that you were at a frat party at TCU back in the early 2000s!

My most vivid memory about the shot glass display is not from when someone was actually having a drink, or doing something as a result of a lot of drinks, but from when we moved into our house and I was reluctantly unpacking all those shot glasses to be displayed.  Seeing as I was a "grown up" now,  I felt that this was BK's way of holding on to a little bit of the frat boy in himself, wanting to display all of these shot glasses in our new house.

I initially put them on two of the three middle shelves, only to find a pouty BK sulking about my arrangement.  He actually said to me, "You should just pack those up if you're going to try and cram them in like that!  You can't event see where they're from!"  Ummm...I personally felt that they deserved as little space as possible.  He was lucky that he got the two shelves that I gave him!  I felt that pictures and important things should occupy that space- not shot glasses.  Reluctantly I spread the shot glasses out across the middle of the shelves to be displayed, so that everyone could see them in all their glory.

Much to my surprise those shot glasses have actually grown on me over the past seven years, and visitors seem to like them too.  I'm not sure how they'll fare when we move abroad and have to downsize, but I feel certain that at least a few of the favorites will come with us and be proudly displayed for all to see.

One Dozen Black & Gold Frogs

Instead of two horned frogs abroad this time, it was actually more like 12 Theta frogs, and just a couple of states west.  We just spent four-ish days in sunny Tucson, Arizona at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa for the 70th annual Grand Convention of Kappa Alpha Theta.

I always admire others who work in the social service arena (like me) and who still have the desire to volunteer and give back to other causes around people in need.  Unlike them, I just don't have that desire...I try to save that giving of time and effort for my marriage, family, friends, running and travel, just to name a few.

Theta is the one volunteer thing that I have and I love giving back to.  Grand Convention was a really fun and interesting experience.  It's pretty rare that anyone spends 4 days with 700 women.  Outside of the actual business that we needed to do, we had lots of fun together.  I enjoyed getting to know my fellow advisors better, as well as the current members of the chapter.  I think BK was surprised at how much of a vacation this turned out to be, but there's a lot of value in laying poolside or floating in the lazy river getting to know one another better!  Don't underestimate it!

Since I don't want to bore you with the business side of things, here are some other highlights.  KC, my roommate, felt that she was quite the practical joker.  Her best one was when she put a maxi pad on the wall next to the toilet to get a reaction out of me.  I think she wanted a scream or something from me, but that's not really me.  You should read her blog to really get a sense.  I feel kind of bad because I didn't realize what a light sleeper she was until about the last morning we were together.

Another advisor, KM, became famous for her version of the Soulja Boy done on the dance floor at western night.  Unfortunately I missed it, but there's a video floating around out there somewhere.  KC and I got lost on our morning hike the first morning we were there, but were thankful that KM kept track of us the whole time, so we knew she would send out a search party if we weren't at the first business session with her (mostly because she would be pissed that she was missing something).

Lastly, I feel quite certain that we convinced the college girls not to get married.  Nights on the patio bar usually turned into us telling stories about being married and about the weird, funny and irritating things that happen after you're married for a while- traveling, working together, raising kids, and many other adventures that everyone goes through.

For my first "girls trip" this was a pretty good one!  The only negative?  BK flew out to his second home in Switzerland about three hours after I got home from my trip....but don't worry we had time to squeeze in a trip to Joe T's before he left!

An unlikely occasion for a staycation

Married in Maui

So you may have picked up on this by now, but BK and I don't really do staycations; we tend to like to get out and go.  Strangely enough, for our anniversary each year we typically stay close to home.  Maybe it's that we're trying to avoid traveling when everyone with kids is going on summer vacation, or just the scheduling of other trips, but we are usually not far from home.  True to form, this year we headed to Dallas for dinner and hotel stay.

Another thing that people may or may not know is that BK and I typically don't do anniversary presents.  Now, if you're a guy reading, you may be thinking, "How crazy can BK be?  He should know that his wife wants an anniversary present."  Not the case.  We decided a long time ago that we did enough for ourselves and each other throughout the year that we didn't need to buy something random just because June 11 rolled around again (Valentine's Day is the same).

For anniversary number seven we decided to stay at the Stoneleigh Hotel and have dinner at The Capital Grille in Uptown.  If you've never been, or a few years have passed since you've been, the Stoneleigh went through a major renovation a few years ago and is really nice.  It only has 10 or so floors, so it's not huge, but the rooms are very well done and they have a cozy bar area right by the lobby.  The only downside is that it doesn't have a pool, so having a cocktail poolside is not an option.

Dinner was amazing!  BK and I really appreciate good food and the experience that you have at an upscale restaurant; I'm happy to report that The Capital Grille did not disappoint.  The best thing about dinner was that the steak was cooked perfectly (the way we ordered it- rare plus), which a lot of places don't seem to want to do.  The rest of the meal was great as well- fresh oysters, a great seasonal salad, lobster mac-n-cheese, sautéed spinach and their take on coconut cream pie to finish things off.

We ended the night by walking to the Ritz for a drink at their outdoor bar.  It has a good atmosphere, but better yet, has some great people watching.  Oh the things you see...

BK and I have a great time together no matter where we are.  Here's to many more years of having fun together, new adventures, and travel near and far!

What's a Paulista?

What's a Paulista you ask?  It's someone who was born in Sao Paulo.  So as I mentioned before, Rio was our vacation destination and Sao Paulo was for working (at least for BK- I was on vacation the whole time).  If I had to come up with one word to describe Sao Paulo it would be: TRAFFIC.  There is constant traffic, all the time, all over the city!

Sao Paulo literally goes on forever- skyscrapers and building as far as you can see.  It's a city of 18 million (estimates from Paulistas were all over the board) and is the financial capital of South America.

As I mentioned, BK was there for business, but before he started working we had the chance to have another English-speaking city tour and have a great dinner at Skye Bar with a colleague of BK's (named one of the best in the world by Yahoo Travel!).  Luckily, Sao Paulo is the gastronomic center of South America as well, so we had some great food too.

My days were pretty non-eventful when BK was working, but I did get out and wander around various parts of the city.  Of course, because of the traffic I couldn't really get anywhere until after 10.  I saw a great exhibit of Brazilian photographers at the MASP and had lots of sushi.  Another random fact: Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.  Who knew?

We had a great time over the last weekend.  The same colleague of BK's was kind enough to show us around on Saturday and let us spend time with his family.  We went to Ibirapuera Park, a huge green space in the middle of Sao Paulo (think Central Park) and had one of our favorite meals.  Bar do Juarez was great- we grilled meat and fish at the table and the waiters bring chopp to each table.

CHOPP- it deserves its own space.  Chopp (pronounces Shop, sort of) is draft beer in Brazil.  It is super cold and served in small glasses so it stays cold.  The grid below is how they keep track of how many chopps you've had.  Seriously, if you turn your head for a second, all the sudden you have a new chopp!

Lastly, we found the best bar game ever!  It's really simple, a dice game, but of course you can gamble on it too.  The goal is to get all of the numbers down through either one die or both dice.  You go out if you roll a combination you already have, but you automatically win if you get all nine numbers down (surprisingly hard).  We did a lot of first to five wins and things like that.  I have a strategy, but I'm not sharing!

My advice: head to Brazil if you ever get the chance.  It's a great place to experience!

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl...

So here I sit, ready to tell everyone all about Brazil and nothing is coming to me.  Why?  Maybe it's feeling that my first "real" post needs to be really good, or maybe trying to come up with a post title is throwing me off...who knows.  BK and I loved Brazil and thought it was a great trip, so here it goes!

We visited two places in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.  And, although the cities are just a short one-hour plane ride from one another, they are two very different places.  Rio is exactly what you're thinking: beach city, relaxed, great nightlife, days in the sun and lots of outdoorsy stuff to do.  Sao Paulo is all business: a concrete jungle spanning as far as the eye can see, traffic at all hours of the day and night,  numerous "financial centers" throughout the city.  Fittingly, Rio was our vacation spot and Sao Paulo was where we headed when BK had to work.  This is a long one; I'll work on that.

Rio!

What's the song that immediately comes to mind?  Copacabana of course! That's the first place we hit when we arrived early on Friday morning.  It's not quite the glamorous place that I was envisioning, but it is a nice beach.  As a warning, it won't be a peaceful walk; there are many, many vendors selling anything and everything, and we were immediately pegged as tourists.

The next two days in Rio were great!  We hired an English-speaking tour guide (highly recommend) and finally had a chance to ask all of those pressing questions about Brazil!  She took us to the Corcovado (the Christ statue above the City), which is even more amazing than the views you see on TV or in the movies.  The statue is situated in the perfect place, with 360 degree views of the city; on a clear day you can see for miles.  It is extremely crowded, but totally worth the climb up and battle for pictures.  If you ever go, don't be alarmed by the line to go up- it moves fast.

After Corcovado we headed to Sugar Loaf, another well known view point in the city.  It's named Sugar Loaf because the shape of the rock looks like the canister that they used to carry sugar in (way back when).  You go up in cable cars and when you get to the top you're rewarded with another great view of the city.

The next day held the real adventure- BK and I ventured out and went ocean kayaking.  Don't worry, we had a guide and a couple other kayakers with us.  He might have been being nice, but I was proud of us because our guide kept asking how much we had done this and that we were really good!

I kept saying that it was a marriage exercise, in that BK and I had to constantly work together to make things work, especially when we crossed the SHIPPING CHANNEL.  Yes, you read right...the normal route that they typically took was too wavy so the instructor decided that we were good enough and could cross the channel.  It had lots of big waves, but we made it!  3 hours of ocean kayaking later we had gotten a great workout.

The one thing that we didn't get to do in Rio that I thought would have been really interesting is tour a favella.  The social worker in me wanted to visit these places; favellas are unincorporated parts of the city that sit on nearly all of the hillsides.  The people who live there are poor and have no access city services such as sanitation, water, electricity or education- even the police stayed out.  They used to be run by gang and drug lords, but in recent years Rio has begun the "appeasement" process.  There are guided tours available (don't worry we wouldn't have gone by ourselves), but we just ran out of time.  I feel certain that we'll be putting something like this on future agendas when we visit new places in foreign countries.

Sao Paulo is yet to come, but we'll share soon enough!  Hope you'll keep reading!

Here we go!

Inspired by a few friends who have blogs that I love to keep up with, and the desire to tell the story of our adventures in travel and life...Two Horned Frogs Abroad has arrived.  It's true, we're not living abroad just yet, but we love to travel- near, far, almost anywhere.  Experiencing new cultures, languages, foods, arts and activities brings us closer together and reminds us how much we LOVE to travel to new places.  Oh yeah, you'll probably see lots of food and wine too...those two things are favorites as well.

Here are a few places we've had the privilege of experiencing:

The Hamptons

Japan

Switzerland

Costa Rica

Italy

Napa (you'll see this one annually)

And of course, following the Frogs

Lucky for us, these guys are always eagerly awaiting our arrival back home.