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It's my third day in Sri Lanka and I'm still waking up at 4 am. The only good thing about that is our 5:30 am meeting time (which I would normally hate) didn't seem so bad. The early morning was because we were hiking Horton Plains National Park and if you don't finish early enough, the cloud cover will ensure that you see nothing, and if you're hiking 6 miles, you definitely want to be able to enjoy the views.
I never thought that I was a group tour person. I imagined being crammed on a big bus with a bunch of people that I had nothing in common with, spending hours driving around and stopping at sites just long enough to snap a picture. Definitely not my idea of fun!
Last week, I was in St Lucia for what I thought was going to be three nights, staying at the beautiful Sandals Regency La Toc. This was part of a Sandals site inspection tour where I had the opportunity to see all three Sandals properties that are on St Lucia, as well as experience an excursion offered by Island Routes. It was a great trip and I had a lot of fun - St Lucia and it’s people are beautiful. I say that I thought I would be there for three nights because that was the original plan. However, Tropical Storm Matthew (in his baby days before he became big, ugly Hurricane Matthew) rolled in and had his own ideas about this.
March is the time of year that people’s thoughts turn to their summer vacation plans and this year, I’ve had several of my clients ask me about Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Fort St Lucie, Florida. I was lucky enough to have spent a few days there during the end of February so here follows my honest Club Med Sandpiper Bay review. However, please enjoy the very first Grand Explorations video which is an overview of the resort.
It’s the Monday morning after the first snowstorm of this year, and although it waited until the end of January, Winter Storm Jonas made up for the lateness of the snows arrival this season. There was a blizzard warning where I live in Norwalk, Connecticut for almost 24 hours and we ended up getting about a foot of snow. Now the sun is shining and the roads are mostly clear, but I am still dreading the moment that I have to leave the comfort of my home.
So then why, while I sip my coffee this morning, am I thinking about Alaska? Am I crazy? Perhaps, but that would be for several other reasons. No, I’m thinking about Alaska because anyone considering going to Alaska this summer, especially on a cruise, should be thinking about it now, actually should have already been thinking about it for months. We made it to Dublin but it was a little later than planned. Here’s what was on our initial itinerary for our two days in Dublin:
Day One: The Book of Kells and the Old Library Pat Liddy’s walking tour The HOHO (hop on, hop off) Bus Christ Church or St Patrick’s Cathedral The Guinness Storehouse Day Two: Newgrange Kilmainhaim Gaol A ghost walk What actually happened was a little different and reminded me how important it is to be flexible when you travel. Thanks to a malfunctioning cargo door, we landed back in New York 45 minutes after we took off. A couple of hours later, we had a new plane and were finally on our way. Instead of landing around 7 am, we landed around 10. The other wrench in our plan was that there was a protest march against a new tax on water that basically shut down all of the transportation options in the city center. Because of our delayed arrival, I knew we would have to make some changes. What follows is what we actually did while in Dublin. After a solid ten hours of sleep, we woke up feeling refreshed and ready for our first full day in Ireland. After a delicious breakfast at The Shelbourne, we decided to try our luck at the sightseeing bus again.
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