Miami Beach and Colombia

Some people have asked me why we decided to go to Colombia.  One of my current travel goals is to visit all seven continents.  So when I was reviewing South America, I realized I wanted to go somewhere with a beach.  I narrowed down my search to Peru and Colombia.  Colombia's beaches were considered to be better so that decided it!  I started looking around for tour groups going to Colombia and I found Gate 1.  So we booked it for the weekend of my birthday.  While I was looking at tickets to Miami, I noticed that we would have to get into Miami the day before as none of the arriving flights came in before our flight to Colombia left.  With that in mind, we decided to spend a couple days in Miami as well.  Here's what we did!

Day 1: Our flight left for Miami at 1:14 am and got in around 10 am (we had a layover).  So we were exhausted.  We got into Miami, bought some bus passes, and made our way to Miami Beach, which is where we had booked an airbnb stay.  We were a bit early so we stopped for lunch.  We then walked to our airbnb place and we both got a little sunburnt from the little bit of walking we did.  We checked in and then decided to take a leisurely bus ride to South Beach.  We had a food tour set up at 5 so we were going to take our time getting down there and then walking around.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize the bus was planning on going the opposite direction of where we needed to go.  So we got off the bus and used uber to get back to where we needed to be.  

Our food tour went to six different restaurants!  We had a caramel filled churro, ceviche, empanadas, cream soda and beer, picadillo, mojito, plantanes, vegetarian pita, and gelato.  We were stuffed by the end!  

Empanada and ceviche. 

Mojitos and plantanes.

Vegetarian pita.

Our gelato.  I got oreo and Lars got pistachio.

The food tour was awesome!  We really enjoyed it!  Our guide was really great and as part of the tour, we walked along Ocean Drive and she told us about some of the history of different buildings.  It was so pretty!

Ocean Drive

After our food tour, we went to a bar recommended by our tour guide and ordered mojitos.  It was good but not as good as the mojito we had on our tour.  Afterwards, we headed back to our airbnb.  

Day 2: We were so tired from not getting a lot of sleep the night before so we slept in and then decided to go to the beach.  It was very nice and relaxing!

Loving being at the beach!

After spending about an hour and a half at the beach, we went out to lunch at this place called Burgers and Shakes.  And oh man, was it good!  We thought it was super delicious!  Lars said it was the best BBQ burger he's had.  

Lunch at Burger and Shakes

Then we decided to wander around South Beach some more.  So we took the bus down, and started walking.  We stopped for some happy hour drink specials along the way.  We then went to this Cuban restaurant that our food tour guide recommended.  I ordered a beef dish and Lars ordered a chicken dish.  Mine was delicious!  Lars' dish was good, but we both agreed that mine was definitely better.  

After dinner, we headed back and decided to walk along the beach at sunset.  :)

Day 3: Today was the day our Gate 1 Tour left for Colombia!  We were nervous about the security lines so we arrived at the airport early.  We quickly went through security and had lunch in the airport while we waited for our flight to leave.  We got to Colombia in the evening.  We met our tour guide, Leon, and a couple of other people in the tour group.  I found out that someone in our tour group did the exact same China trip we did, exactly a year after us!  So it was fun to talk to him about China and reminisce.  We got to our hotel and had a welcome dinner that included an orange cinnamon shot, wine, soup, and chicken.  We needed to get cash out for our tours the next day so we walked with some people from our group to the nearby ATM and then went to bed.

Day 4: Best day ever because this day was my birthday!!  We started out the day with breakfast and a tour orientation.  Our tour group then went to the Gold Museum.  At the gold museum we also had some of the best Colombian coffee.      

This was made from one piece of gold.

Delicious Colombian coffee.

We then walked down La Candelaria, which is a famous street in Bogota where we also visited the Botero Museum.  Fernando Botero is the most famous Colombian artist.  While continuing to walk down the street, Leon bought some ants for us to eat. 

The ants

My reaction to trying one.

After the ants we continued on La Candelaria to the square at the end of the street.  

The square at the end of La Candelaria

At this point we had some free time for lunch.  Lars and I went to a restaurant on La Candelaria and we got empanadas, drinks, a dessert, and two huge tamales, all for $10.  It was so delicious!

After lunch we played tejo.  It's a traditional sport in Colombia.  It's like horseshoes except you're aiming for the white squares that have black powder in them with a special rock.  If you hit them, it makes a sound like a hand gun.  

Lars and I playing tejo.

After tejo, we took a cable car to the top of the nearby Monserrate mountain.  On one side was jungle and on the other city, a beautiful view of the city!  At this point we were about 10,000 feet above sea level so I started feeling some altitude sickness.  Coco tea helps with altitude sickness so I tried some of that.  

The people from our group that went up the mountain.

We're ready to go!!

Us at the top of the mountain.

View from the top of the mountain.

View of Bogota from the top of Monserrate mountain.

Next on our agenda was a nightlife tour.  We went out with Leon to the Zona Rosa area.  At this point we went out with a few new friends to a restaurant where we learned about Colombian time.  We didn't get a menu for two hours and it took another hour for our food to arrive and another hour to get our bill figured out.  Despite all the trouble, we still had a lot of fun!  The people at the restaurant sang to me for my birthday and even gave me a sash and tiara!

Cheers!

With our cute drinks and friends!

Day 5: Today we flew to Cartagena, which is a city right by the ocean on the Caribbean side.  We got off the plane and were just hit with how much humidity there is there!  It was so hot and so humid that I felt like I was constantly sweating!  We went straight to our hotel, where a welcome drink was waiting for us.  Then we checked in and (after a quick bite at a local fast food restaurant) were ready to go on a walking tour of Cartagena!  I wore jeans on the way to the hotel from the airport but it was so hot I changed into a dress as soon as I could!  The first stop on our walking tour was the fortress.

The fortress protected the city.

Us at the top of the fortress.

Afterwards, we were able to walk around the Old City of Cartagena.  I loved this part!  The old city was so beautiful and vibrant!  I loved all the colors and how gorgeous it was!

Look at those colors!

I loved the blue balcony.

This walk was so beautiful!

Gorgeous!

I love the cathedral in the background.

 We were then able to stop and take a few pictures by the ocean right as the sun was setting.  Now keep in mind, it was super humid so if we look sweaty, it's because we are.

Cartagena was so beautiful!

Sunset by the ocean.

Once we got back we went out to eat with some friends from the tour group.  This was where Lars had the best steak ever.  He was loving it so much!  My meal was really good too, I had a steak and pasta dish.  Then we took a cab to the party district and went bar hopping as it was someone else's from the tour group's birthday.  

Cheers!

We had a lot of fun even though Lars and I were both offered coke, which of course we denied.  We went to a couple bars and walked around the party district a bit.  Around midnight, we decided to head back to our hotel.  

Day 6: Today was a free day from our tour group so I signed Lars and I up with another tour group to go to Totumo Mud Volcano.  The mud volcano was one of my favorite parts.  It was so interesting and definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Basically, you climb up some stairs to get to the mud volcano and then climb into the area where they have the mud.  There are some guys that work there that massage you and then you can stay in for a bit.  Once you're done, you climb out and then walk down to the river where these ladies rinse you.  And boy, do they rinse every part of you!  

At the top of this hill is the mud volcano.

I'm ready to get in!

Oh my, this feels weird!

Lars is ready!

They kept telling us to lean back!

I'm getting my massage.

Hi there!

Okay, I'm done.

We had mud everywhere!

Seriously though, this was awesome!

After the mud volcano we relaxed a bit and then we went to a beach and had lunch prepared by locals.  

Relaxing before heading to the beach.

Relaxing before heading to the beach.

View from where we ate lunch.

I asked for fish and this is what they gave me!

After lunch we played in the ocean, which we both had so so so much fun doing!

The ocean was so warm, it made it fun to play in.

After the ocean, we got back to our hotel and cleaned up.  We then went souvenir shopping.  Next, we decided it was time to eat dinner!  Lars wanted to go back to the restaurant with the delicious steak but I thought we should try something new.  So we went to a new restaurant.  I thought my meal was oh so delicious but Lars was not impressed with his meal.  At the end of our meal, our friends from the group walked in!  So we joined them while they ate dinner and we had some cocktails.

The guys.

The ladies.

Next we went back to our hotel and drank wine by the side of the pool. 

Day 7: We had to get up early for our flights back to the US.  On the way to the lobby after breakfast I saw a baby sloth in the middle of the pathway!  It was so cute!

Just cruisin' along to get to the other side of the path.

I photobombed Rey's selfie to get in on a selfie with the sloth.

Then we went to the airport and headed out.  It was so much fun meeting and getting to know new people and seeing new places.  We had a great time!!

Traveling friends are friends you'll have forever!  Miss these guys already!

Bye Colombia!

Honeymoon in China

Lars and I went to China on our honeymoon.  We went to Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou and it was an AMAZING trip!!!  We would definitely go again if we had the chance!!  Seriously, it was awesome.  Here's what we did!

Day 1: Well this was the day we flew to Beijing.  It was a 12 hour flight and there was a time and day change to we didn't get there until day 2.  So Day 1 and 2 we spent flying to Beijing.

Day 2: We arrived in Beijing around 6 pm.  Lars and I didn't sleep on the flight there because we were trying to get used to China time, which is 15 hours ahead of Mountain Standard time.  We got in and met our tour guide, Tiger.  Then we went to our hotel and by the time we got there it was around 8 pm and we decided to just go to bed.

Day 3:  We went on our first tour with the group!  We got a great deal where we signed up with SmartTours to go on this trip so we had the option of going on tours with the group if we wanted or just doing our own thing.  We enjoyed the tours a lot because we got a lot of history with the tours and we met a lot of cool people on them as well.  So our first full day in Beijing, we went on a tour with the group.  The first place we stopped was Tian'anmen Square.

Tian'anmen Square

Next we went to the Forbidden City, which was right across the street.  It was so big too!  Plus we learned that the whole city was built with no nails, which I thought was impressive!  We ended up just seeing about 5% of the Forbidden City but it took us a good couple of hours just to see that little bit!

Part of the Forbidden City

After that we went to lunch.  This was our first included lunch in our tour and we learned at this lunch that we had four options for soft drinks, water, coke, sprite, and beer.  I'm not sure why but at a lot of places we went to, beer was considered a soft drink.  After lunch we stopped by the pearl factory and learned that China has 95% of the world's market in pearls!  Then we went to the Summer Palace.  This is a famous garden in China.  It is the best garden in all of China and it was beautiful!  Because our tour group went during APEC, a lot of factories were shut down so that the air could be good for the conference so we were able to see the mountains in the distance that our guide said normally they can't see due to the air quality.  

Summer Palace

Summer Palace

After that we headed back to our hotel and Lars and I decided to wander around.  Our hotel was in the same building as a mall so we went and checked out the mall while looking for somewhere to eat.  We found a restaurant called Bellagio that we decided to eat at.  It was super good!  I had minced beef with soup and some other random vegetables and Lars had sweet and sour pork.

Dinner after our first full day in Beijing

Day 4:  First thing we did today was our tour stopped by the Jade factory.  We were able to see some people carving the jade, it was really fascinating!  I also experienced just how attached the salespeople are there.  At one point I went to go to the bathroom and I came back looking for Lars and a saleslady saw that I was looking for him and asked if I was looking for my husband, I said yes and she pointed out where he was.  So yeah, she was definitely keeping track of us!

After the jade factory we went to the Great Wall of China.  Our tour guide said that it was 1,000 stairs to the very top of the mountain.  I did not make it up that far but Lars made it to the top.  Lars said that this was his favorite part of our trip.

Lars and I on the Great Wall of China

View from the second tower of the mountain on the Great Wall

 After the Great Wall, which was seriously exhausting, we went to lunch.  Our legs hurt for about 5 days after the Great Wall.  I think it probably had a lot to do with the stairs being different heights.  Some of them were 6 inches and others were about 2 feet tall.  It was because when it was built they just used whatever stone they could find and they didn't try to make them even.

After lunch we went to the Ming Tombs sacred walk.  This was the walk that people would take to get to the Emperor's tombs.  It was beautiful!

Ming Tombs sacred walk

That night we had Peking duck for dinner and went to a Kung Fu show.  Lars and I hadn't had Peking duck before and oh man, it was delicious!  The Kung Fu show was good, we were just so tired from our long day and we had just eaten so it was hard to pay attention.

Cutting the duck

Our dinner options- they were all delicious!

Day 5:  This was the day that we had to ourselves!  I wanted to go to the National Museum and so we walked there and found out it was closed!  I was so bummed!  So we ended up just walking around and wandering and we found Wangfujing street, which hosts a night market in the evening.  After that we were hungry so we got suckered into a cab ride to go to this famous duck restaurant and our cab dropped us off and we were so lost.  Apparently we were close but we had no idea.  So we found our way to Qianmen street and wandered down there until we found the restaurant and the line was out the door so we decided not to got there.  

Qianmen Street

While we were sitting and relaxing we ran into another couple from the tour group!  So we said hi to them and talked to them about what they were doing and got some recommendations for lunch.  Down the street there were a bunch of different alleyways with different restaurants, stores, bakeries, and more.  So we wandered down one and found a place to have lunch.  Then we went to a bakery and asked the lady what the most popular items were and bought one of each.  I didn't like them but Lars thought they were okay.  After that we headed back to our hotel because I needed to go to the bathroom and the one I found there only had squatting toilets and didn't have any doors.  The hinges were there but the door was not on and I was not going to use that bathroom, that's for sure.  

Once we got back we decided to go get a foot massage.  We got a 90 minute foot massage for $34 dollars.  And it was sooo nice!  Plus, they massaged our arms, hands, legs, and backs as well.  It was so nice!  

We went back to our hotel and ran into some people from our tour group again and we decided we all wanted to go out to eat that night.  So we went out to Qianmen Street with a few other people and found a place to eat dinner.  I had a beef noodle soup, which I found is fairly common over there.  They love their noodle soups!

Beef noodle soup

Day 6:  We were with our tour group today and we first went to the Temple of Heaven.  This place was built with no nails or crossbeams.  Before we reached the entrance to the Temple of Heaven there were a bunch of people outside doing their morning exercises.  We even saw a group sword dancing!  It was really cool to see so many people playing games, singing, dancing, etc together.

Lars and I at the Temple of Heaven

Sword dancing outside the Temple of Heaven

After that we went to a black market for knockoffs.  We went to the basement of a building and then walked across a parking lot and went into a door by a parking space and they had a ton of knockoffs there.  I didn't get anything there, I mostly just wanted to see the place.  It was interesting!

We then went to a Chinese medical center.  We were all given 15 minute foot massages and we had the option of seeing a Chinese doctor, which Lars and I did not do.  Other people did though and they were told what was wrong with them and what herbal remedies would help fix their problems.  It was amazing how much they could tell from just taking your pulse!  They were able to tell one person was pregnant just from her pulse!

Lunch was next!  We went to a hutong, which is an old part of the city where people still live, and a lady had made us lunch.  It was delicious!  It was probably among my favorite lunches.  

After lunch we went on a short pedicab ride.  It was super touristy but it was fun!

Lars and I on our pedicab

At that point we then went to a tea ceremony.  A tea ceremony is where you try different types of teas.  We tried about four or five different teas.  I thought it was great and it was cool because depending on whether you are a boy or a girl you have to hold the cup differently.  

Lars and I demonstrating how to properly hold the tea cup

After that we went to the market.  I got a tea set, some coasters, a wall hanging, and some other things.  Of course I bargained for every single item too.  I'll admit, I wasn't that good at first but I quickly learned.  

That night we had dinner at our hotel (surprise, surprise, more noodle soup!) and then we went with a few other people to the night market on Wangfujing street.  We had a little bit of a hard time finding it so we didn't get to it until ten minutes before it closed.  But it was really interesting to see the few items we did see!  I was too scared to try any though.

Food at the street market

Nope, not trying that

Definitely not having that

Day 7:  Today we flew from Beijing to Shanghai.  We didn't get to our hotel until about four in the afternoon.  Once we got to our hotel though, we went out with a bunch of people from our tour group.  We went to the Pearl tower first.  It was gorgeous! 

Lars and I in front of the Pearl tower

We then went on a 'hi-tech' Bund experience.  It was an underground tunnel that went underneath the Bund and across the water with a bunch of random lights.  

After that we were starving so we went out to eat.  We ate at a one star Michelin restaurant (which means it is above 5 stars) and it was so so so good!  It was definitely my favorite meal that we had.  It was our most expensive meal as well, $27 for both of us.

The one star Michelin restaurant we went to

Day 8:  We went on a tour of Shanghai with our tour group.  We went to the Shanghai museum first and that was fascinating!  We could have spent the whole day there but we only had two hours.  Our favorite section was the calligraphy section.

Shanghai Museum- calligraphy example

Then we walked along the Bund, which is the waterfront.  It was so different from the night before!  

Lars and I on the Bund

After that we had lunch and then we went to 'Old Chinatown.'  Our guide explained why they have an old Chinatown in China but I can't remember.  We walked through it to get to a garden and after the garden we did some shopping there.

Old Chinatown

This garden is the only garden in Shanghai.  In China, the difference between a garden and a park is that a park is free and a garden you have to pay to get into.  

In the garden in Shanghai.

We went back to the hotel after that.  For dinner, we were really sick of Chinese food so we went to McDonald's.  But it wasn't that good.  They don't salt things there so the fries weren't that good.  But it was food that wasn't Chinese food so we were happy.  After that we went on a night river cruise along the Bund.  It was gorgeous!

Night cruise along the Bund

Night cruise along the Bund

Day 9:  We went to Suzhou.  This city was about an hour and a half away and it is called the, 'Venice of the East.'  When we got there we took a short cruise along the 'Grand Canal' and we were even able to make a quick stop at a local market on our cruise ride!  This was my favorite part of our trip because it was so peaceful, beautiful, and amazing.

Cruise along the 'Grand Canal'

Local market in Suzhou

Still cruisin'

One of my favorite pictures, you can tell just how beautiful the cruise was!

After the cruise we went to a silk factory and learned how silk was made.  It was really interesting, I had no idea how it was actually made.  Lars bought a silk tie from the factory.  We then went to lunch and after lunch we headed to a famous garden in Suzhou.  It is the fourth best garden in all of China.

Suzhou garden

Then we headed back to our hotel.  By the time we got back we were hungry again so we went out with our favorite two couples to eat.  We went to a local place nearby and had spicy Chinese food.  Seriously, it was spicy!  Even Lars thought so!  But I sucked it up and ate it anyways.  Afterwards we went back to our hotel and had drinks with other people from our group.  

Day 10:  We headed back to the U.S. this day.  This was the only part of the trip that really irritated me.  We flew back to Beijing and then to the U.S. from there.  At the Beijing airport they took away our portable chargers because they were a fire hazard.  Yep, this was our last flight and they were fine on every other flight but apparently, we couldn't have them this time.  Dumb.  Then they took away all of our drinks before we boarded the plane.  I had just bought a coke too!  I hadn't even opened it but I was told I had to chug it or toss it.  I chugged it.  But now I know I guess!

Overall, we had such a great time!!!  Lars and I have decided that we love tour groups because you get to meet so many new people, make new friends, and you get to learn more about the history than I would ever have been able to research.  It was an amazing trip and we are already looking forward to our next trip!!  :)

Changes are Exciting!

In case you haven't heard, I had some changes occur recently in my life.  First, is that Lars and I are married.  So far, it feels the exact same as being engaged and dating but I do love calling him husband.  It still feels weird but I'm sure I'll adjust.  I am excited about this change because I get new health insurance and after our honeymoon (to China!), I'm going to change my name.  Plus, we are going to be getting a joint account soon too!  I'm also excited to get our pictures back.  While we were taking them our photographers showed us a few and they looked freakin sweet so I can't even imagine how the rest will look.  So the wedding was great!  And Vegas was great!  Lars and I were so so busy but we were able to see and hang out with so many people.  We had 46 people come to our wedding and I'm so glad they did!  When it came to the ceremony, I wasn't nervous at all, I was just excited.  I swear I practically ran down the aisle I was so excited!  Overall, it was better than Lars and I could have ever imagined.  The whole weekend was fantastic and our wedding was perfect.  :)

Second change is that next month I will be aunt to two cute little boys!  My sister is due in two weeks and I'm excited to see their new addition.  Lars and I are stopping by to visit them for two days after we get back from China in November so I'm excited that I'll get to see them all soon.  Apparently my cute little nephew on the way back from our wedding in Vegas kept saying, 'Viva Las Vegas' and saying he wanted to go back because he had so much fun seeing everyone there.  How cute is that?!  I also worked really hard on getting him to say Aunty Melanie and he can do that now but you know how many times it took him to pick up saying Uncle Lars?  Once.  He loves his Uncle Lars and knows who he is and will even give him hugs without Lars asking him for one.  I might be a little bitter about that.  But I will make sure I get plenty of hugs when we visit soon so that makes me feel a little better. 

Third change is that I moved positions in my work.  I'm really glad I made this change and my favorite part about my new job is that I don't deal with angry students.  I have dealt with one angry person so far and I've been in this position for a month and a half.  Yeah, that's a definite improvement!  I do miss my old team a lot.  They were a lot of fun and so sweet.  (My old team even threw me a surprise wedding shower after I moved teams!  It was so nice of them!)  I'm sure my new team will be just as great, I just don't know them quite yet. 

Fourth change is in relation to our wedding and a gift we got that has impacted our relationship.  One of our gifts was a book with a bunch of questions about our relationship that we answer.  It is the cutest thing!  We try to do a question or two every night.  Last night the question was about when we first started dating and when did we know we wanted to see more of each other?  Lars was so cute in his response and talking about how enthusiastic I am about everything and how much he loves it.  My response was about how sweet, kind, and genuine Lars is and how at first I thought he couldn't be THAT awesome and that it had to be a ploy.  Once I realized he really was that sweet, kind, and genuine, I definitely wanted him around more.  I know that makes us a bit cheesy but this book is so cute and I love how it makes us think about things like that and write it down.