The Caribbean at its Best

Ah, the layover. I have a love – hate affair with layovers. I absolutely detest with all of my being, the 3 hour layover. Short layovers (less than 3 hours, think 1 -2 hours) are fine because I then have time to find out where my gate is, to browse the duty free, and perhaps even have a cocktail or snack (or both) at one of the eating facilities. In short, it doesn’t provide me enough time to get bored. I can also get into the 4+ hour layovers. Depending on the city, 4+ hours is enough time to leave the airport and wander around a city. London Heathrow is great for this. The express train to London from Heathrow takes 20 minutes. I once got a train into London, saw St. Paul’s Cathedral before tubing it to Buckingham palace and then heading back to Heathrow, all within 4 hours. Now, the layover that falls between 2 and 4 hours is the worst. Not long enough to go outside and see the sights, but too long to sit in one place coming or going. Of course, my preference is the direct flight; however, I’m rarely fortunate enough to grab one of those.

I was recently burdened with a 6 hour layover in Barbados. Yes, life is tough… Before getting there, I did some research online to see if anyone else had ideas of what to do in the area. One person recommended the diners by the airport. Normally, I’d be completely into that, but, 6 hours seemed a long time to hang out at a diner, even for me. Let me insert here that going into the capital, Bridgetown, was a possibility (most articles I read said it was a 45 minute cab ride) however, my husband was set on being at/by the beach. So, with that in mind, my search was fairly limited. The biggest restraint was that we weren’t going to have shower facilities so, we’d be limited to looking at the water vice swimming in it. It was then that I found the St. Lawrence Gap. read more »

Ah, a wedding. One of life’s most joyous occasions… The type of occasion that, when two of your nearest and dearest decide that they want to tie the knot and want you at their destination wedding in St. Lucia, you do everything in your power to go. And so it began… Unfortunately, what it began was a month of waiting for an exact date to be set only to find out that that exact date was a month later. For all intents and purposes, this should have been enough time to plan a trip and buy tickets, except that we live in Germany. There are no direct flights to the Caribbean out of Germany. One option is to route through the US, regrettably, we were on a time crunch (vacation days) so needed fairly direct, same day routing. By flying through the US, we would need to stay the night somewhere as all of the flights to the Caribbean leave in the morning, well before any flight from Europe can arrive at a US airport. So, we were forced to do some creative routing which avoided the US but included London City Airport, London Gatwick Airport, Bridgetown (Barbados) Airport, until finally reaching our destination of St. Lucia. Fortunate for us that the European airlines have not succumbed to charging its customers for cocktails…

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While I’m thrilled to say that both my diet and my budget have been carefully managed and as successful as possible (I’ve dropped 7 pounds thus far!  And haven’t had an ill-advised buying binge in months!  Although, those may be related – I’ve cut my drinking way back, and my bad purchasing decisions have historically been fueled by vodka), two unfortunate facts remain:

1. I’m still on a strict diet
2. I’m still on a strict budget

As I’m no longer allowed to put decadently fantastic things in either my closet or mouth, I’ve taken to trolling the Internet for the sheer vicarious thrill of ogling that which I cannot have.  It’s official – the following items, locations and treats are my version of porn:

Dana Kellin Jewelry

Good God, is that not gorgeous?  At once earthy and delicate, simple and yet made with a complex wrapping technique.  Designer Dana Kellin’s jewelry runs hundreds of dollars, but I would happily pay that for such a great statement piece.  You know, if I could afford it.

Shoshanna Dress #1

Shoshanna Dress #2

Shoshanna is that rare label that designs for a body that is almost exactly like mine – a short figure that carries its weight in it’s upper body (boobs).  I have yet to find a dress in this line that looks bad on me, and I’m praying that they never change their fit model.

Also, I’m completely enamored with the belt on the second dress.  I could get a lot of use out of that.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake from Crumb Bake Shop, NYC

Don’t you just want to dive right in?

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My thought for the day?

Death.

The level of drunkenness I achieve while Emma is in town is really not to be compared to any ordinary night out. The thing is, I’m capable of resisting crappy drinks. If Emma is around? Emma is an oenophile. And a foodie. And a sake connoisseur. The alcohol flows when Emma is in town, but it is no ordinary alcohol. Invariably, it is some of the finest alcohol available. And in New York? That’s some damn good stuff.

I succumbed. We started at Blue Ribbon Sushi with two spectacular bottles of sake (the Mu daiginjo, a solid choice, and then the Divine Droplets, which is pricey but one of the finest sakes I’ve ever tried) and a lunch/dinner meal. I was sober enough at the beginning of this meal to tell you that Blue Ribbon merits the reputation. It’s not cheap but it’s a great, great meal, with some of the best o-toro I’ve ever had. We also tried out the ankimo, salmon “collar” (who can resist the mystery cut? not us!), and a variety of lovely sushi and sashimi. Terrific meal, and a perfect place to hit during the off-period when we had the opportunity.

It being Emma, we then… went to Balthazar for fortifying gin fizzes (excellent, cucumber-laden, will be great for summer, taunted Monique that she was not present via text), then on to the Soho Bloomingdale’s to do a power-shop for jeans. I’ve recently mentioned my new devotion to Paige. Emma, who actually has some booty, looked spectacular in a pair of Joe’s jeans, and bought those and a pair of great dark J-Brand jeans that wouldn’t have worked nearly as well on me.

Again, it being Emma, we got a round of Bellinis on their way back to the airport. Yeah. I’m going to lie down and die now. Don’t expect anything much out of me tomorrow, folks. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be out of commission. And yet? I’m still incredibly sorry she’s gone.

Fly safe, Emma!

Pray for me, folks.  I am almost out of spending money for the month and Emma is returning to the city unexpectedly for a second whirlwind visit.  You may recall that I posted about the extensive (and expensive) plans for her 20-hour visit a few weeks ago, but didn’t follow up.  Here’s why.  Her husband, who is normally an eating, drinking, and traveling machine, was overcome by the jetlag of all the hours on the plane, some sake, and two massively powerful double green tea martinis at the Four Seasons while Emma was getting her hair cut, and virtually passed out at the table at Caviar Russe.  (No worries, Betsy, Emma, and I kindly finished off his chef’s sampling of caviar spoons.  As Betsy said, friends don’t let friends waste caviar.)  It did put a damper on the plans for kaiseki at Sugiyama, though — I ended up with a couple of drinks at the Flatiron Lounge and a plate of scrambled eggs instead.  After a terrific breakfast-into-lunch meal at Balthazar the next day (strategy: arrive at 11 when they’re serving breakfast and stay until 1, after they start serving lunch) featuring eggs in puff pastry, smoked salmon, and some terrific steak tartare, they were gone.  My bank account heaved a sigh of relief at having gotten off relatively easy.

I spoke too soon.  They’re back.  Having been to New Orleans, DC, Baltimore, and the Dominican Republic since their last visit (life is hard), I’d like to think they’re going to be too mellowed out to help me spend the entire remaining contents of my bank account this afternoon, but, well… we’ll see.

Cross your fingers.  Emma wants to shop.

Let me start off by saying that I am in no way, shape, manner, or form, a train enthusiast.  When traveling, I believe trains are an efficient way to get from Point A to Point B without having to worry about rental cars, airport security, or any of those other silly things which can take up so much time.  I leave the “enthusiast” part to my husband.  I believe the correct term is, “train spotter.”  Yes ladies and gentlemen, he is that guy.  The one who, on occasion, has been known to go out to train stations just to watch the trains go by.  He is also a big believer in the “Romance of Travel.”  He believes that the holiday is not just the time spent at a location, but also includes the travel involved to get there.  This encompasses the class of travel, the food served, as well as the scenery outside.  Trains are a particular favorite because of the dining car with their huge windows where one can have a leisurely lunch while watching the world roll by.

Knowing all of these things, it was by pure luck that I came across a news article that said the United Kingdom had just built their first steam locomotive in 60 years.  The new engine was currently doing some initial runs around the UK.  Well, it just so happened that we were going to be in York when the new “Tornado” locomotive was scheduled to make its debut run from York to Edinburgh.  And that is how I came to purchase two tickets in the First Class Dining Car for my husband’s Valentine’s Day present.

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