Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 9 aka The Top 10 Cities (continued)

As I get ready for my next trip for JCI to Paraguay for 2 1/2 days, I have to stop and wonder, what would happen if I had actually time to hang out and explore the city? I would probably get bored if I did not have to cram 10 things into 12 hours.

5) Monte Carlo - home of Princess Grace and Prince Albert and the mystic that is royalty. As I went to the casino, I felt like I was in a James Bond movie. I was waiting for James to come and pick me up in his Porsche and drive me through the mountain side. What I got instead was a Rose Garden that closed 5 minutes before we got there, a bus ride to nowhere and a lot of walking.

Word to describe Monte Carlo: Mystical

4)Maui – Kannapali Beach - the place where Tom and I spent 10 magical days on our honeymoon. Adventures abounded - biking down a volcano, riding in a submarine, exploring a Buddhist temple and even watching a movie about Hawaii!

Word to describe Maui: Breathtakingly Beautiful

3) London - the best place to visit when you are a new traveler. They speak English, it is easy to get around but it is freaking expensive. What did I learn? Never take a bus tour ever again! They suck - they are long, crowded and people are always late. However, there are some super cool places to visit including Harrod's, the Sherlock Holmes House and Madame Toussard's.

Word to describe London: Familiar

2) Las Vegas - besides the multiple girl's trips to Vegas, the site of our wedding, the most memorable day of my life so far. From the bachelor and bachelorette parties at the top of Hotel Mandalay to the great reception at Stallion Mountain and dinner at Mesa to the brunch at the Bellagio, the weekend was awesome! Despite the trip to the ER with my Dad during the rehearsal dinner (what is a vacation without someone being sick?), it was a blast. Don't forget the trip to Starbuck's in our wedding attire with the limo!

Word to describe Vegas: can't, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas......

1) NYC - the city that never sleeps - to me the best place in the whole world. From the Village to Yankee Stadium, every step is an adventure. Nothing can compare. As Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
Big lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York

I so wish I lived the Sex in the City dream!

Word to describe NYC: Unparalleled

Let's see what my 2010 travels bring!

Honeymooning in Hawaii

Tom and I decided to go to Maui for our honeymoon. We wanted to go someplace exotic but we really did not have much vacation time as I had already allocated all mine to JCI trips to Panama, Korea and India. After a long flight we arrived to the airport where we had arranged for a greeter to meet us with leis and help us with our luggage and get us to the rental car place. Off like bats out of hell, guess where we went first? Borders! Can you believe we fly 3,500 miles and we go check the candy displays at Borders? We spoke with the manager and the candy person and checked on inventory and such, how romantic. Did I mention that Borders has Starbuck's in their Hawaii stores??? Hence the true motivation to run right to Borders.

A couple of days later, Tom and I decided to bike down the Haleakala volcano. At the top at 4:30 in the morning, it was about 35 degrees so we were dressed for winter - in sweatshirts, coats, track pants, gloves, etc. We looked like Snowmen! As we cruised the 26 miles down the volcano back into town, it became progressively hotter, much hotter, like 50 degrees hotter. As we continued to ride, we were shedding clothes like strippers at a night club, off went the gloves, the sweatshirts flew off, the pants were relinquished to the back packs. By the time we reached the bottom, we were wearing just shorts and t-shirts and we were sweating our as*es off!

Next adventure, a submarine ride to the bottom of the ocean floor - 132 feet below sea level. We started off the day looking like nerds - before we knew it, we were out the door with khaki shorts and orange shirts, looking like Twinkies, and not trying to. Before the submarine, we decided to have a snow cone to cool down. This snow cone must have been an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records - it was nearly as big as Tom's head! After dominating the snow cone and throwing about 3/4 of it away, it was off to sing corny songs on the submarine "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a moray" every time we saw a moray eel.

Maui was a blast and we can not wait to go back. Watch out for the Road to Hana and the Road around the northwestern part of the island, we risked life and limb to do those, but that is a tale for another day!