Tag: Guadalajara

Back in the USA

On By StevenIn airbnb, Florida, Guadalajara, living abroad, Relationships, Travel, Uncategorized2 Comments

Friday morning at 11:30 we left our AirBnB in Guadalajara for the 30-minute ride to the airport.  It is the end of another leg of our foolishness. We are usually pretty careful about the weight of our luggage, but the prices got the better of us and bought a couple of bottles of tequila and one very heavy present. Both our bags came in at just a shade over the 23-kilo maximum, but we figured we would risk it. At the airport the scales started at 23.5kg and slowly balanced themselves to exactly 23kg. Whew.

Somewhere over Mexico

Our destination today is Fort Lauderdale, with a. stopover in Houston. The flight to Houston (IAH) was smooth and easy. The flight left and landed on time. The arrival in Houston started smoothly. We used our global entry for the first time. The scanner took really bad photos of us and printed them on what looked like old style fax paper. We grabbed our entry slips and walked right through immigration. It took a while for our bags to appear, which I guess is the drawback to not standing in line at immigration, but one we will gladly take. Once the bags arrived, we walked them over to the transfer station, dropped them off and headed to the new gate.

We didn’t realize that we had to go through security again, and that was a bit of a nightmare. No TSA precheck so a long line, we had to take everything out of our backpacks (phones, Kindles, laptops), and basically strip down to our skivvy’s (take off shoes and belts) to get through the system. I first couldn’t find my Kindle in the bag, then thought I had left my cellphone in the bin. After a few minutes of panic, I found the phone and we headed into the terminal. Did I mention that Houston was 39° F and our flight was delayed by an hour? Houston has not endeared itself to us; both flights out of there were delayed.

Me, The Very Reverend Esther & Sue

Sue and I retired to the first bar we found and ordered a couple of cocktails…and had sticker shock. $20 per drink. We spent as much on two drinks as we did on drinks AND DINNER in Guadalajara.

The flight eventually left and we arrived at Fort Lauderdale at about 11:30pm. We hopped an Uber and arrived at my mother’s place at 12:30 almost exactly 12 hours after we left.

Saturday we spent the day visiting with friends and family and having a nice Thai meal with my mother. Sunday we returned to the airport and flew up to Baltimore to spend the week visiting with our most favorite (and only) granddaughter – and her parents.

Next stop – Rome!

We Have a Plan (or So We Think)

On By SusanIn airbnb, Florida, italy, Mexico, Uncategorized1 Comment

First things first or a moment of gratefulness: Thank you, Sandy, for generously allowing us to stay in your home in Florida when we were at loose ends. We had a few days of discombobulation, but sunshine and a comfortable working environment made a huge difference.

Florida wildlife and the view from Sandy’s patio. After a stressful day of not knowing where we were headed, this was a much appreciated respite.

Well, loyal readers, you already know that we are headed to Guadalajara right after New Year’s. (Thanks, Kenta, for all your help and be aware that we aren’t joking when we say we’re going to stalk you!) This was kind of a slow burn because first we had to get over the disappointment of not getting to go back to Fez, but we have shifted gears and are revving up for Mexico. As if my poor brain wasn’t confused enough when I was learning French, I am now going to go back to learning Spanish. More intense language classes for me. (Espero que la maestra no dé demasiada tarea. How’s that for a start?)

Apparently there’s lots of delicious food and maybe a little bit of tequila there. Luckily, we are staying in a fancy building with a gym, so we can burn it all off. We are looking forward to immersing ourselves in another culture — one we hadn’t really thought about. Semi-planned (I don’t even have a Guadulajara spreadsheet yet!) adventures have their own joys. We’re just figuring out what we want to do and need to see while we’re there, so if you want to help us out, we’d love it.

The next big piece of news is that we booked an AirBnB in Rome for March and April. We did our usual hunting: I am cheap and pick a bunch of places whose prices don’t give me heart palpitations and then one or two that I think are a tad on the high side. Steven rejects all but the ones on the high side and then I let him decide whether it’s worth it. Guess what he thinks? I’ll give you a hint: “The guy does our laundry? That would be nice!” Steven said (am I wrong???).

We have also come to the conclusion that we’re better off on the fringes of touristaville for long stays because we need daily living conveniences like a supermarket we can walk to. We’re fine with a bit longer of a walk or nearby subway station to get to sites. Our 18-day stay in Istanbul was about as long as we care to stay in the midst of the fray.

So, we will be in Rome for Easter week barring another Covid disaster (or something else we definitely don’t want to guess at) (Next year in Mecca for the Eid?). Good thing we don’t mind a crowd.

Always Remember to Stay Flexible

On By StevenIn airbnb, Florida, italy, living abroad, Mexico, Relationships, UncategorizedLeave a comment
Me, thinking about our plans for the next few months.

I would like to report that we are spending our time in Florida visiting all the cultural and historic sites, but well, it is Florida, so not so much. Instead, we are working, visiting with my mother and obsessing over our next move.

Today we made quite a bit of progress. We abandoned our goal of spending a few months in Fez.  The Moroccan government has closed the country’s borders until the new year, and we decided that it was not worth waiting and hoping that they would re-open. Instead, we have decided to go to Guadalajara, Mexico, from Jan 3rd through February 25th.

Somewhat surprisingly, there is a cathedral in Guadalajara.

Why Guadalajara? Excellent question. First, it is warm and that is a pretty big draw for me. Second, it is a city and so we will be able to explore the culture and history of Mexico. We considered Mexico City, but decided that Guadalajara is a bit more manageable. Third, it seems like there are lots of things nearby for us to see and do. Finally, Sue has a friend who lives there and he gave the city high marks.

Rome
Sorrento
Florence

We are still planning on going to Italy for March and April. Sue’s brother and sister-in-law are celebrating an anniversary by going to Italy at in the beginning of March and we are going to meet them in Rome. We will all spend a few days in Rome and then we are planning to head south the Sorrento for the rest of the month. Once again, it is warm; we can spend our time exploring Pompeii, Herculaneum and Capri. April, we plan to head north, probably to Tuscany. That should allow us to spend the weekends traveling throughout northern Italy. However, since we have not booked places to stay in either of these places, both are subject to change.

We are still planning on returning to the US in early May, so while we had hoped to get to both London and Amsterdam, those places may be on hold for now.