CANCUN & RIVIERA MAYA

Don & I just returned from a short trip to Mexico to get an update on all the new and newly renovated hotels since the hurricanes 2 years ago.
We had detailed tours of 6 hotels in the Riviera Maya area.
They were:
Sunscape Puerto Aventuras
Riu Palaca Riviera Maya
Riu Playacar
Riu Tequila
Secrets Riviera Maya
Iberostar Paraiso Grand

We stayed in Cancun proper at the new Great Parnassus and used the facilities there as well as at the sister hotel, the Golden Parnassus. I will be writing some detailed informaion about these properties but, in the meantime, if you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Updated photo from beautiful Oregon

OREGON!

Just a few weeks ago we visited a part of the world that neither of us had ever seen before -- Oregon!
We went expecting to visit some wineries and taste some great Pinot Noirs and dodge raindrops and gray skies during most ofour stay.
We were right on the first two expectations but came away with so much more!
Skies were blue, temps were great and the beauty of God's earth that we experienced was just astounding.
I have updated my profle picture with one that Don took of me amid the yellow broom in Astoria.
Here are a few others as well.

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Didn't Sandee turn 60 graciously???

Do you think it was these????

Or these??
Or BOTH???
We DID have fun!

Back to reality

Last Monday was the culmination of a wonderful event -- a cruise on the Celebrity ship, Century, to celebrate my very best girlfriend's 60th birthday! Sixteen of us mustered for the event and had an absolutley fantastic time drinking martinis from the iced Martini bar, sucking down jello shots that I made in our in-cabin fridge, dancing the shag after dinner so the calories we had consumed wouldn't count and just plain having fun!
Sadly, as we left the ship to head our homeward ways - some to South Carolina and some to Ohio - we were greeted with the gruesome news of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Talk about jerking you back into reality -- that did it.
In a separate post I will share photos and memories from our wonderful trip. Right now, I will just say how very saddened I am by the tragedy and how I pray for the lives of all of those affected by it. May God have mercy on all of you.

Having a dog

It's amazing how time flies when you have a puppy. Our little Poppy just turned 1 on March 10th and the next day she graduated from her first training class.
The first year with a dog requires lots of adjustments to a busy life style, especially when you have only had cats as pets for the past 20+ years! Dogs actually PLAY with you and want you to play back. They take walks, sit on laps, do really cute things (not that cats don't do this part) and show a great deal of affection.
In her first year, Poppy has travelled to Chicago and to South Carolina by car so she has been through West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and Illinois. We haven't tried taking her anywhere by air yet. At 12 pounds, I'm not sure if she would be allowed in a carrying case in the cabin with us or if she would have to be "shipped". If it's the latter, there are too many horror stories published about how many pets die in transit on airlines.
We are so lucky to have Merry Anne, our wonderful dog sitter, as well as Tina, our faithful cat sitter. Poppy is lucky, too - Merry Anne lets Poppy sleep with her and she doesn't get that perk at home! It's just so good to know that when you travel as much as we do, your pets are being well tended.

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A surprise!

This weekend we are in Chicago visiting our friends Barabara & Dan. We had several nice treats while here:
1 - a stay at the beautiful Fours Seasons Hotel
2 - dinner at NoMi
3 - tickets to the Bears football game
4 - an introduction to a new restaurant (to us) called Bin 36
5 - the wonderful Hart Davis Hart wine auction!

After all of that (in just 2 days!) we were headed to Dan and Barbara's new home in Orland Park and decided to stop off at Binny's, a liquor "super store" we like to frequent because of both the great prices AND the great selections.
While we were browsing through the single malts for some Auchentoshin, which I hadn't been able to find since our trip to Scotland, we came across the Bruichladdich special gift packaging which we had done with our very hands while at the Academy there in September! Nice to see the results of our hard work on the shelves in Chicagoland!

Islay, Scotland

Once we had completed our work at the Academy at Bruichladdich (and had smapled LOTS of their wonderful Scotch whisky!) we were ready to see more of Scotland.
One day while staying at Bruichladdich, we went to the Port Charlotte Hotel for their oysters. Our classmates had told us how amazing they were and we couldn't wait to try them.
The Port Charlotte hotel is a lovely little treasure just a few miles down the road from Bruichladdich. We arrived there around 4 in the afternoon, ordered our Scotch and asked for 6 oysters each. The barman told us that the kitchen normally only prepares the oysters at lunchtime as they get too busy in the kitchen after that. We grovelled and begged and said how we had made the trip from America ONLY to have their wonderful oysters. He soon took pity on us and convinced the chef to prepare some for us.
These are no normal oysters, mind you. Each one was the size of a large pierogi. And they were so sweet and delicious! When we finished, we went outside and took some lovely photos of the area around Port Charlotte. Ree, our cook from Bruichladdich, then came to pick us up.

Poppy is growing up!

I thought it was time for an updated photo of Poppy, our little Papillon. She is now 8 months old and is almost a "dog" instead of a puppy!

More photos of the Scotch making process

Mixing the mash


Adding the Yeast to the fermentation tank









Filling the barrels




Checking the alcohol level at the Spirit Safe

Making Scotch Whisky

PEAT THAT HAS BEEN CUT & PILED TO DRY DIGGING THE PEAT

It's hard to believe, but in a matter of days, we learned how to make Scotch whisky. We did this while attending The Academy at Bruichladdich distillery on the island of Islay of the western coast of Scotland. Islay lies just north of Ireland so with the combination of the Scots and the Irish, whom I both think of as people who know their whisky, it's easy to see why Bruichladdich does all right in that location!
There are six students in the academy at a time. Don & I were the only Americans. At the beginning of the week everyone is divided up into pairs to learn the various processes involved in making the Scotch. Don was paired with Patrik from Sweden and I was paired with Johann,also from Sweden.
We did everything from going to the peat bog to cut the peat for the toasting of the malt to a visit to the water source, milling of the malt, making the "mash" from malt & water, fermentation with yeast of the "wort" or sweet water that is the runnoff of the mash, distilling the whisky and filling barrels, storing barrels, bottling the whisky and shipping it off to its destination. Whew! If you think that was a long sentence, you should be there actually DOING all those things!
The pictures attached represent each step of the process.

Beverly Hills - a break from Scotland

Since we are taking a little break in Beverly Hills, I thought I'd use the opportunity to write about something different today.
Having never been to Beverly Hills before, I decided to join Don on his trip here for a meeting. It has been most interesting.
By far the most unique shop on Rodeo Drive is Prada. Nowhere is there a sign to tell passersby what store it is. All you see from the sidewalk are the glass covered caverns with displays of luggage, handbags and clothing. If you "know" your Prada, I guess you would be able to identify the store from that. I'm not so astute -- I had to go in and look at a label!
One surprise about Rodeo Drive is the Village Gallery. We found some Michael Godard items there for less than we have seen them elsewhere. Apparently, that is because of the large volume of sales the gallery has.
My favorite restaurants are the Grill on the Alley and McCormick & Schmick's. Dining outside at M & S is great. Not only do you sit at the top of Two Rodeo to see al the shoppers there but you also look down on the Beverly Wilshire and their outdoor tables.
Monday we were treated to a great Studio tour at Sony Pictures, courtesy of Stephanie, the daughter of one of my golfing buddies. After the tour she also took us to the private dining room on the lot at Sony. What a treat!

Exceeding Expectation

Before I go into all the details of what we learned about making Scotch whisky, I want to interject a comment about our experience in Scotland overall.
When I put this trip together, it was for my husband Don. I wanted to surprise him with something great for his birthday as a way of saying "thanks" to him for all the great things he does for my life.
I was "going along" to someplace I had never really been deeply drawn towards because I wanted to see his delight in the experience. I expected to see gray, rainy skies and temperatures that would require a great deal of layering to be comfortable -- especially coming on the tail end of a nice warm summer in Ohio.
As you can see by the pictures here of Islay, I neither needed my raincoat nor my heavy sweaters. The only two days it rained were the day we arrived and the day we left. The rest of the time the sky was vibrantly clear and the temperatures were in the low 70's. The water looks like something from the Caribbean or Hawaii.
As if the weather wasn't enough to win me over, the PEOPLE of Scotland were such a delight! From the first stop at our B & B with Val and Keith, through the Bruichladdich experience with Ella, Andy, Adam, Alan, James, Peter I and Peter II, David, Budgie and so many more, though our new friends in Glasgow at Whisky Live and right up until our final dinner where our waiter offered to take our picture and did a fantastic job of it, everyone was delightful!
I only hope that in my travel planning profession, I am as successful at exceeding expectaions as of of these folks were for me.

Arrival at Islay International airport!



The drive from the Islay airport to our "home" for the next 5 days at Bruichladdich's Academy took about 30 minutes. We passed through Bowmore and saw the three peaks of Jura in the distance.

Our Academy mates were already settled in when we arrived so we met them right away. There was Jim from Scotland and Patrik, Johan and Bertyl from Sweden. The two ladies that would be feeding us and taking care of our rooms were Ree and Mary.
Our first meal consisted of Asparagus soup, ham steak, potatoes, cauliflower, cooked cabbage and salad. We had a wonderfully decadent brownie pie for dessert then an assortment of cheeses and coffee and tea. There was always plenty of beer, wine and, naturally, Bruichladdich Scotch for everyone.

This evening we learned who our work partner for the week would be and were given our schedules. The schedule was broken down into Mashing, Milling, Fermentation, Distilling, Peat cutting, Water supply,Warehousing, Filling, and Bottling hall. We would report to work at 8:30AM and work until around 4:30 with a break for lunch. It was only when we saw the schedule that we also learned we would have an EXAM at the end of the week! Yikes!

Our "welcome gift" at Bruichladdich

More on Scotland

PHOTOS OF THE DRIVE FROM GRANTON-ON-SPEY BACK TO GLASGOW



The next morning we rose early (and also caused Val to do so to prepare our breakfast!) so that we could have plenty of time to make it back to Glasgow for our 2:25PM flight to Islay. Armed with new directions from Keith, which would help us avoid the traffic between Stirling and Glasgow, we headed out following our final wonderful breakfast in Granton-On-Spey at An Cala Guest House.
It was a beautiful morning and we were treated not only to lovely scenery but even a few rainbows enroute! Our route took us past Loch Lomond but we didn't take time to look around as we feared missing our flight. Had we called ahead, we would have learned that we had plenty of time since our flight had been cancelled and we were now booked on the 5:00 flight! Bummer! Even worse, we had to wait in a long line to get the ticket reissued. British Airways did, however, give us a meal voucher so we had lunch and a beer (or two) at Garfinkels in the airport.
We still had about 2 hours to kill so we wandered the airport a bit. Found that the duty free shops in Scotland give samples! :>)
We did finally get on our way to Islay by about 5:15 and arrived there about 6:00. Two of our three bags did the same. The third naughty little red bag had separated itself from us and we would not see it again until the next day.
Tomorrow -- all about Islay!

Scotland continued

After leaving Ballandollach, we headed for Cardhu distillery. While Cardhu itself seems quite tiny, it is a part of the enormous Deagio (sp?) chain which is the parent for a great number of both single malts and blends, such as Johnny Walker. The tour at Cardhu was the equivalent of $8 US but it was applied towards the purchase of their whisky. Our tour guide, Debbie, signed a bottle of Craggenmore for us since her dad works there!
From little Cardhu, we headed (amongst even more pheasants) to Glenfiddich. Glenfiddich is an enormous operation -- perhaps the very largest distillery in Scotland. The comparison of them to Cardhu reminded us of one to T Vines vs Mondavi wineries in Napa! There is no charge for the tour at Glenfiddich and they still give you a "wee dram" taste after the tour.
That evening we had dinner at the Garth Hotel in Grantown-On-Spey. A few unique things about the restaurant service in Scotland: First, they don't fill the restaurant and try to "turn tables" as in the US. Instead, they have maybe a third of the tables filled at one time so the staff can more effectively serve those tables. Second, when you arrive, you are seated in a comfortable lounge area while your table is prepared. It is there you are offerd drinks instead of at your table. I personally liked these concepts a lot. It seemd to make for a lot more relaxing dining experience.
This evening Don had a smoked salmon appetizer followed by Garth's famous chicken which was stuffed with brie then wrapped in puff pastry. I had a vegetable crepe to start then their "Mussel Extravaganza". Delicious! Some restaurants offer an "early bird" discount. At the Garth we received 25% off our bill by eating at 6:00PM.
THe day had been very sunny and pleasant but the clear sky made it a bit chilly that evening. Still, we had a nice walk back to our lovely An Cala.

photo of An Cala Guest House

Scotland Journal cont.

Our first Scottish meal was a delight. We found that Craggen Mill, as well as most restaurants in the GOS area, use local produce in their cooking. This includes lake grown mussels, river Salmon, vegetables and fruits. For a starter, I had Cullen Skink which is a soup with fish and potatoes, much like a New England clam chowder. Next I had local salmon with a really nummy sauce and for dessert I had homemade blueberry, lime and coconut ice cream. We had walked to the restaurant and Val gave us a “torch” (flashlight) for the walk home in the dark. We were happy to have to walk back as it helped burn some of the extra calories we consumed!
The first morning after our arrival, we were treated to a wonderful home cooked breakfast by Val. I had expected Scottish food to be much like English – a little bland and not very appetizing – but Val quickly changed my opinion about that! Wonderful coffee accompanied porridge, eggs, bacon, juice, toast, tomatoes, mushrooms as well as a variety of cereals and fruits.
After a briefing by Keith on what was in the area to see and do, we headed out to Ballandallach Castle (see picture), a privately owned castle about ½ hour away by car. The family living in it has had it in their family since 1542! To get there, we took the VERY narrow river road. Along the way we must have seen 1000 pheasants – another local product, it seems!
We watched the introductory video then toured the interior of the castle then took a walk on the grounds along the River Spey and on to the point where the Avon and Spey Rivers merge (other picture is Don at that junction). This is the area where much of the Highland salmon comes from. The castle owners have a herd of Aberdeen Cows whose lineage goes back several hundred years.

My Scotland trip journal

We started our trip to Scotland by landing at Glasgow then picking up a car to drive to the Highlands. Glasgow airport is very easy to navigate and we had our bags in record time. Had to wait a few minutes at the car rental desk but we were on our way to Grantown-On-Spey well before noon. We only made one wrong turn during the entire 3½-hour trip and that was upon leaving the airport!
The rain was with us all the way north until we exited the highway at Aviemore to head east to Grantown-On-Spey (GOS, as the locals call it). Then the sun came out and stayed out for nearly our entire trip!
In GOS, we had arranged to have the room with the 4-post bed at An Cala Guest House. Our hosts, Val & Keith Dickinson, couldn’t have been nicer! They have a lovely sitting room with comfy chairs and sofas where you can relax and watch TV, read or look at the collection of menus they have provided for the local restaurants. Once we had done the latter, we asked Val to make a reservation for us at the Craggen Mill restaurant which was about a 20 minute walk from An Cala (through a cow pasture!)
Before dinner we had a walk to the center of GOS. Our first stop was at the Wee Spey Dram Whisky Shop – surprise, surprise! We sampled a few single malts and I had something called Heather Cream which was a bit like Bailey’s but with more oomph.
We walked down the main street then came back on Grant Street where there were a few restaurants and many homes with absolutely picture-perfect flower gardens such as the one pictured here.

Scotland - beginning of my journal at last

This is my favorite picture from Islay! Who would believe this is SCOTLAND? It is so beautiful. When your feet touch Islay, your heart rate immediately slows and you find yourself enjoying things in life that you have taken for granted or been moving so fast that you passed them by.