What an Opportunity!

Posted on March 28, 2013March 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Can you write a lively blog? Do you like to travel. Are you free for 35 days? This job quickly caught my eye. I wonder if I can bring my cats? But then I saw it. The one thing that would break the deal…Fluent Finnish and English, Russian a plus. Guess I’ll have to pass. Maybe I should look into that Rosetta Stone program?

HELSINKI (AP) — Fed up with the neighbors? Pipes burst in the kitchen? Or, you just want to get away from it all for a while?

Hotel Finn in the heart of Helsinki might just be the ticket — they’re seeking a “professional sleeper” for 35 days to test their rooms and write all about it.

Hotel manager Tio Tikka says he thought up the stunt to help promote the hotel after lengthy renovations.

Tikka said Wednesday that they were looking for a “dynamic person to write a quality blog” about their daily experiences at the basic hotel, which has no bar or restaurant.

Requirements: Fluent Finnish and English, Russian a plus. The job opens May 17 with applications closing end of April.

So far more that 600 would-be hotel sleepers have applied.

Associated Press

Eiffel Tower

Posted on March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, is an iron lattice tower located on the in Champ de Mars, Paris, France. The structure carries the name of the engineer who designed and built the tower in 1889.

The Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most visited paid monument in the world.

The Eiffel tower was built for the 1889 World Fair. It was said to be the ‘symbol of our achievements in the field of science and engineering’.

Construction of the Eiffel Tower began on January 28, 1887, and was eventually completed on March 31, 1889. It took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days , for the 300 workers involved to complete the project.

The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1710 steps ( Just imagine climbing them all) to the third level small platform at the top, 674 steps to the second level, and 347 steps to the first level, all counted from the ground.

There’s much more I could list here but I have to save some for when I really go there. But I think you get the idea. So tomorrow I’ll post the first landmark/monument for real.

Coming Attractions

Posted on March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

With the nasty weather the northeast has been experiencing since I came back from Florida and the time it’s taken to assimilate Buddy into our little family, I haven’t been doing too much exploring.

For once Sunday at work was not too crazy so I sat and pondered what I could write about until I get out and about again. I thought of a few places that would be awesome for pictures and of course that would mean some good stories but none are open yet. Some won’t open their doors until May!

May is the Alaska cruise so I’m sure I’ll have a lot to tell you then but there’s the rest of March and all of April so what can I share that would be of interest?

I think I have an idea. I have thousands of pictures from my trips, both away and locally. But just dumping a bunch of pictures isn’t that interesting so I thought a challenge might be fun.

Lets say I went to Paris. (I haven’t but we’re just pretending right now). While in Paris I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower. I would post the picture and you’d have to figure out that it was the Eiffel Tower in Paris France.

The next post will give you the answer so you’ll know if you are right and tell a little bit about the picture or landmark.

So even though I haven’t been to Paris and I have to “steal” a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Here it is.

Final Hours in Fort Lauderdale

Posted on March 10, 2013March 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

My Mexico cruise/ Fort Lauderdale adventure is winding down. I have one last thing to squeeze in and that is a visit to family.

I met my cousin at Lester’s Diner in Fort Lauderdale where we enjoyed a real good old-fashioned breakfast of pancakes and bacon. The diner is like a blast from the past, an authentic 50′s style restaurant and home to the infamous 14oz coffee cup. This signature landmark has been a family owned and operated business in South Florida for over 43 years.

My cousin told me she used to work there and met her husband there. Another old-fashioned touch. She was a waitress, he was a trucker. Sounds like the basis for a romantic movie. 🙂

My cousin is the outgoing one and she seemed to know everyone as we made out way to our booth.

After breakfast we headed to my aunt’s home which turned out to be literally around the corner from the Diner and after a short visit there we went on to the airport also just “around the corner.”

That should have been the end of the story. Drop off rental car, get on plane , arrive home but it turned out it wasn’t quite that easy. I dropped off the rental and grabbed the shuttle to the terminal. I checked my bags curbside and headed into the security line. It was huge. As I stood there looking around I realized I didn’t have my coat! It was still in the rental car. I tried calling the lost and found but kept getting lost in the IVR prompts so back to the shuttle to reverse my previous trip.

At the Hertz counter they directed me to lost & found and there was my coat. Yay! Now back on the shuttle again to the terminal and back on the line. It hadn’t moved much. I was in the same place as when I left. Slowly , very slowly the line began to creep forward.

In the Fort Lauderdale airport the security is on a slightly lower level from the check in counters. As the line crept forward I eventually reach a point where there was a ramp that led down to the TSA agent and security scanners. I wish the TSA had allowed pictures because at that point I could look out over all the travelers and it was a wall to wall sea of people all jostling and pushing for position! It was an amazing sight and I had lots of time to watch as I waited for my line to move forward again.

Once at the scanners the routine was the same…shoes off, lap top out of the luggage, walk through scanner, retrieve, put shoes back on and find the gate. Whew! from the time I got back on line the 2nd time until I made it to my gate it was over 1 hour! So glad I went early. My cousin had suggested I chat a little longer saying I’d be through security in 10 minutes. Maybe if I was on an early flight but apparently not if you are flying mid-day!

The rest of my flights were uneventful. I offered to be “bumped” in exchange for a $400 voucher but I would have to fly out the next day, not just a later flight on the same day so I passed it up.

My flight finally landed around 8:30 pm amid snow and sleet. The parking valet had my car warmed up and cleaned off when I got off the shuttle. The drive home was not too bad in spite of the weather and there they were. 2 little furry faces meeting me at the door.

I love travel but I love coming home too.

The Walled City of Tulum

Posted on February 9, 2013February 9, 2013 by Dusty Roads

True to the guidebooks’ promise the little shuttle dropped us at the entry to the ruins of Tulum but we hadn’t caught up to Paula and the rest of our group yet.

We had a new guide who was very considerate and kind. We had some stone stairs to climb before we actually reached the main ruins and he graciously helped some of the older guests as I helped a lady who had somehow attached herself to me. He never rushed anyone and always asked if we were ok.

Finally we saw the site spread out before us. Paula and our group were off the path ahead of us so our guide sent us to rejoin them and he went back for the next tram.

The site spreading out before us was impressive.

Paula was pointing out the various structures and points of interest before turning us lose to explore on our own.

While she was giving us a history an animal ran out from a clump of trees.

Of course I had to interrupt by loudly asking “What’s That?” and pointing. Paula looked and quickly dismissed it as being “our raccoon”.

It didn’t look like any raccoon I’d ever seen but before I could get a picture one of the other guests stepped between me and the animal. According to the internet it’s a coatimundi and it is called the Mexican Raccon.

Finally Paula pointed us in the direction of the beach and told us when we were done to come back to the bus. She gave us a time because we had to get back to the ship or end up staying in Mexico.