“If you wouldn’t mind, we would like to put you in a room on the canal side. There is a problem with your room.” An Upgrade! Sure!

We were to dial 9 for assistance to move our things. We packed fast. Two assistants came and one said, “Ah. Veery nice room on canal.” It is pretty, blue damask on the walls. All rooms have a chandelier. A tub! The view is down on the sidewalk and across the canal. A nice perk.

Later noticed our former wing was closed off with a drape.  I never heard what the problem was but we were upgraded, “for our trouble to have to move.”

As we packed I saw a card that had been covered by our things. It had internet information for a cable hookup. The concierge had told me we had to go to the internet café. I guess I didn’t specifically say I had a computer. So I took my computer down and asked about the cord. It’s RIGHT UNDER THE TV ALL THIS TIME. Now, my sons would have known that but I have never used a computer in any hotel room at home. How would I know? DUH!

This is one of the dumb things I did on this trip. But there was one dumber. More about that later.

I thought a nice hotel like this should have access. We learn something new every hour. So Aub is on line now. She is happy, happy.

We bought internet access by the hour, but in retrospect an hour goes by quickly. In the end it would have been cheaper for us to purchase by the 24 hour period.

Wednesday, April 21

People are still walking around with wheeled carry-ons. Some have quite a bit of luggage dragging behind. So many displaced persons. Almost everyone has a pragmatic, “Well, what can we do? Just make the best of it,” attitude.

I keep asking people what they are doing. Keep calling the airport. Delta was so very patient and professional in all my calls. They tell me I’ve done the right thing by keeping our Thursday VCE to Amsterdam flight.

News tonight: Ash clouds lighter-more lava. London, Amsterdam and some others may fly tomorrow. Airlines are testing flights. Take your time-we don’t want to be a test flight.

Heard Milan airport is still closed. Rome is open.

I asked the concierge about checking out tonight and going over to the airport to be there for our early flight. He said, “Where will you sleep, outside? They close the airport at night and you can’t stay there.”

Under the circumstances of volcanic ash crises I suspect that might not be the case but better not take the chance. And always the safety of my granddaughter is a deciding factor.

Concierge: “First bus 5:00. We will fix special breakfast for you. Bus arrive Marco Polo airport 5:30. You will have time for 7:00 flight.” OK

I went for coffee and talked quite awhile with Jeanette and her husband. Just found out he is not in the best of health and she would have done more exploring but he tires easily. Had I known that, we would have invited her to Verona and the symphony. They are off to Berkley via Rome, Tel Aviv, and LA this a.m.

Jeanette and I seem to be the only “group”. When I went down for coffee she said, “Here, sit here,” and motioned me to her table. She left me a note and a coupon at the desk before they left.

Aub and I ate a late breakfast and left to walk to Piazza San Marco where we had taken the water bus to hear Vivaldi. Tonight is La Traviata. We would like to go but we need to get up so early in the morning – still deciding. The walk over to the Square is about an hour but if you stop to take pictures, look through stores, have cappuccino and tiramisu at a side walk café, it could be 2 hours.

There are shops all around the perimeter of the Square.We walked through some artsy stores with beautiful glass sculpture and Murano glass. Some stores are like walking through an art museum. What a feast for the eyes.

There are mask stores all over the place. From street vendors to upscale shops. Masks are made of paper mache, glass, ceramic, feathers or beads.

On the way back we bought a mask. You just can’t leave Venice without one when you see so many. Got red raspberries from a street fruit stand. We found a grocery! There was one on Lido Island and in our wanderings we found another, a BILLA store. We bought bananas and water. If we don’t get out of here tomorrow we can buy sandwich meat, bread and fruit here.

The afternoon was getting pretty warm. I had to walk on the shade side of the street. I think I’m getting a blister on my little toe. It was good to get back to the room and cool off. We had seen someone with a Hard Rock Café- Venetia shirt. So I told Aub to search to see where it is. Yep. You guessed it. Back at the Square.

After Aub was done with the computer I tried to check in with Delta. I couldn’t check in with Delta because they had gotten our 1st leg with KLM. KLM hadn’t sent me a confirmation number. I called and they said to check in at the airport. I’m not liking this. I’m thinking things are not running smoothly with airports being closed since last Thursday.

Today was the 1st day for any flights. Tomorrow is supposed to be back to 80% flights leaving. If you booked last Thursday or Friday to leave Monday or Tuesday you are now cancelled again and go to the back of the line. Because we booked later we are now at the front! Last Sunday, Thursday seemed so far away. No one could know that Thursday would be the 1st big fly day and we were in the best position we could be.

I was recuperating from our 1st time over when Aub said, “Well, ready to walk back?” We could have taken the Water Bus but all we had was time at this point and we were anxious about tomorrow. Walking was good. Stopped for some souvenirs and snacks. Got dinner. Had to use up our Euros, right? We explored side streets. I don’t think we came or went exactly the same way any time even when we tried.

We had taken the Gondola ride the 1st day we were there with the rest of our family. It was great. They take you through the Grand Canal and then through side canals and waterways. It is so picturesque.

I think we may be the only tourists who walked from Ferrovia Station to PSM twice in the same day. I have a good blister now. We stopped for pizza and ice cream on the way back.

Time to pack. Aub is Facebooking her mom and is allowed to get ice cream one more time. I’m in the shower and she wants to go by herself. I’m pretty sure now she would be all right, but I can’t let her out of my sight. “Wait! I’ll throw on a towel and go with you!”

I get dressed and we go out the hotel entrance, walk right about a block along the canal and cross the bridge to the left. Over the bridge we snake along the Tourist Street to the right till we get to our favorite deli. It is dark now and the ever moving boat traffic on the canal is slowing down. But still there are Water Busses and taxis. Still people out on this warm evening.

We are on a diet now. We nixed the cone calories for ice cream in a cup! Actually the ice cream flavor is better when not competing with the cone.

We stroll back slowly knowing this is our last look at this exotic city that we have called home for 5 days.

I heard that the people in Deadwood, SD like the bike rally people better than the Corvette people. The bikers are more polite, cleaner and better behaved.

If you are in to traveling on a motorcycle, and would like to go to Sturgis, just don’t miss all the great things that South Dakota has, such as Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Badlands, etc. They got all kinds of stuff.

1. The Baths – Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Snorkeling, caves, grotto’s and beautiful sandy beaches are what you can expect at The Baths in BVI. The giant boulders have created a type of maze to walk through.

2. Flamenco Beach – Culebra Island, Puerto Rico

Tropical forests, beaches, nature, turtles. What more could you want from an exotic island. Much of Culebra Island is protected, for wildlife, plants, and historic monuments.

3. Flic en Flac – Mauritius

Flic en Flac is a small village on the West Coast of Mauritius. Of course, it has the required white sand beaches, and it also has a blue lagoon.

4. Copacabana – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Before you start trying to sing some Barry Manilow, this isn’t the nightclub, but the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is the opposite of a quiet village, and is one of the party capitals of the world.

5. Playa Tamarindo – Costa Rica

If you want to get away, go to Playa Tamarindo Costa Rica. The jungle looks like it comes right up to the beach. The sea turtles love it so much, they come back every year to make more sea turtles.

Come back for the next five exotic beaches on the list.

Swimming Holes lists over 1,000 places to go jump in a lake. It isn’t complete by any means, but they are always adding more, and you can send your favorite place to be listed if it isn’t already.

The friend who sent this also has just started his own blog, (again, not about the beach), but it is about travel. More specifically, traveling on a motorcycle. If you are a fan of Alton Brown’s Feasting on Asphalt, you’ll want to check his blog out.

ALSO, I just saw that Alton Brown is going to do another show based on Feasting on Asphalt, but it will be called Feasting on Waves. Here is the description from Food Network;

Alton Brown goes in search of America’s culinary roots and Caribbean flavors in Feasting on Waves. He starts his journey on St. Kitts (aka St. Christopher), named by and for Christopher Columbus on his second journey to the new world. Alton, like Christopher, is traveling North and West through the Leeward Islands and on to the British Virgin Islands. Alton maintains the spirit of Feasting on Asphalt and seeks out the most authentic and traditional foods of the regions and meets the people who created them. Restaurants are the most obvious targets but Feasting is about the unexpected, so Alton also ventures to find roadside stands, street vendors, farmer’s markets, farms, spice houses and homes of local cooks who make specialties of the region.

I can’t wait.

Well, now I can bring a bit of the Caribbean to my backyard.  Here is one of those plants;

This is a Musa Basjoo. It is actually a Banana plant, although the fruit is not edible I guess. I read that these things can grow up to 2 – 3 feet per week. Plus, they can get to about 15 – 18 feet high. So that will look sweet in our backyard. It also can handle up to -20F.

I’m really going for the tropical, prehistoric look. Because I can’t always make it to Jamaica, I want to feel as if I’m there.

There are many other plants that you can get for this area that look tropical, and my wife and I plan on getting a lot of them. The backyard is a bit overgrown, the previous owners had spent over $17,000 in landscaping, but didn’t do a lot of upkeep.

I know, this isn’t a normal post about the beach, Jamaica or the Caribbean, but I am trying to  make my yard look as much like them as possible since I can’t always get there.

This Thing is ready for a Hawaiian Beach. The monkey inside is wearing a lei, and although you can’t see it, the Thing itself is wearing a grass skirt on the front bumper. I wish I had a picture of that.

This VW Bug is just beautiful. I love the color scheme, and of course, I love the surfboard on the top of the Beetle. It even matches the colors.

This Dune Buggy fit in perfectly with this years FunFest Theme, Fun in the Sun. It was honoring the Meyers Manx Dune Buggy, and the creator Bruce Meyers, who was in attendance. This Dune Buggy is ready to go out and work the beach.

I love this version of “No Woman No Cry.” It’s slowed down a bit, and it just has a groove that you can’t beat. Since they can’t use Bob Marley’s music in the movie No Woman No Cry about the book of the same title by Rita Marley, I guess we’ll have to put together our own soundtrack.

When I buy my ethnic ingredients, I try to stay away from grocery stores. They just don’t seem to always have authentic food. I like the Walkerswood brand of Jamaican spices and sauces. However, they have been very low on supplies lately, and I’m not sure why, maybe because of the hurricane last year. But I do still buy their brand, but from Red Pepper Mall. (Update – I haven’t had good luck with Red Pepper Mall, I never received the dried jerk I ordered, and was told it was back ordered. I still never got it and finally they said they would send something else, but it never came. So I would NOT recommend buying from Red Pepper Mall.)

Anyway, I ordered some Coconut Rundown Sauce, and went to find a recipe for it. I found one on the Walkerswood website (The site has since gone away). I wasn’t sure what to expect, it’s coconut milk with spices and other seasonings. When it came I tried a bit by itself, it tasted very spicy and oniony (is that a word?). But when I used it with the chicken, the spices were toned down, and it was great. Great isn’t even the word for it. I loved it. So here is the recipe that I used straight from the Walkerswood website. Oh, and it was very easy too.

Chicken Rundown with Wine

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1tbsp Oil
2tbsp White wine
180ml Walkerswood Coconut Rundown Sauce
2tbsp Fresh Cream
2Tbsp Fresh Cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

For Marinade
2 cloves Garlic, pressed
leaves from a big sprig of thyme
1 onion, finely chopped
1tsp Grated fresh ginger root (optional)

Directions

Wash and dry chicken and cut into cubes. Marinate the chicken for at least 1hour in the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper onion and ginger, if using.
Heat oil in a skillet. Remove the chicken and reserve the seasonings. Saute chicken pieces until brown. Add reserved seasonings and cook for 1 minute. De-glaze pan with wine, add coconut rundown sauce and cream, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Add the cilantro at the end.

Cooking Instructions

Cooking time 15minutes

Serving Suggestions

Very good with callaloo rice

I think you should definitely try it. It was really good.

If you have any Caribbean or Jamaican recipes, share them with us in the comments. I’m sure the readers of this blog would appreciate it a lot. I would too, I’m always looking for new and different foods to try.

The list below can be used by prospective online coffee buyers who are in the market for great Jamaican gourmet coffee. This is in no way a complete list. You are free to use this as a purchasing guide when choosing a vendor.

It’s not often that we are able to locate great buys on high end gourmet coffee. Over the last few months, we have canvassed the internet looking for great deals on different items, my focus was gourmet coffee. A quick query online confirmed what I had already known – Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is one of,if not the most expensive coffee in the world and is revered as the holy grail of coffee.

Please take a moment to review the comments below. We hope you find this information helpful. Happy shopping

So without any further delays here goes!

1. BlumCafe Coffee Company. While BlumCafe currently only carry the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, their prices are among the best online, the site is very easy to navigate and all the general information is plainly listed. Product descriptions are detailed an we think if a company was only going to carry one brand of gourmet coffee, it should be Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. BlumCafe carries coffee in different packaging such as burlap bags, mini barrels and gift boxes. We love the fact that this site does not require you to setup an account in order to purchase your coffee. They have implemented Google Checkout and PayPal to handle payment processing. This is great since I for one, hate having to setup multiple accounts online in order to purchase products. We hope that they will carry some other great coffees in the future at equally great price as their Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.
2. Red Pepper Mall. [Update - I haven't had good luck with Red Pepper Mall. As I posted in my post about Jamaica Chicken Rundown, I never got the jerk that I ordered and paid for. So don't buy from Red Pepper Mall.] If you just love all things Jamaican, you can visit this site as, not only does it feature Jamaica blue mountain coffee, there are also non-coffee related items for sale as well. They also offer other coffee brands. On the flagship coffee however – Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, the price is good, BlumCafe would be a better bet for the price. The RedPepper Mall site is also nicely designed.
3. Bage Company. Like BlumCafe Coffee Company, Bage Company has Jamaica Blue Mountain for under $30/lb. However, the site is poorly put together and the checkout process is not as smooth as that of our number 1 choice. The packaging variation is limited as at the time of publication, they do not appear to offer the mini barrels or the gift boxes. Like RedPepper Mall, Bage Co, also offers other Caribbean products. [I'm not sure about this one, they sell Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, as well as trailer hitches?]
4. Cafe Blue. This site is easy to navigate, has reasonable pricing and features additional products other than the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. The checkout process however is one that requires the purchaser to setup an account. Something that can slow you down when you go to checkout.
5. Blue Mountain Coffee Company. This is one of the more established sites on the net for this great coffee. The pricing is also favorable and like others in this group, it offers other coffee products besides the Jamaica Blue mountain Coffee. The product packaging options again here is limited. Very easy to navigate, but gets slow at checkout due to account creation requirement.
6. Jamaica Blue Mountain Traders. This site has pretty much the same product mix in the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Brand as BlumCafe. The pricing however is a bit higher on some of the same items and significantly higher on other comparable items. They too offer other geographic coffee as well as various appliances for the preparation of your coffee. Again, at the checkout stage, you have to setup an account in order to checkout. The site is also easy to navigate.
7. Rona Coffees. Rona is one of the older sites out there for Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. Their product offering is wide, however the prices are significantly higher. The site is tastefully designed and projects a very professional image. Rona is probably the largest company of the ones listed here which could explain the great web presence. If you don’t mind spending 30% – 50% more on your coffee, you may want to checkout this site. They we well positioned across the internet. For my money though, I would go with one of the lower priced vendors listed here. Rona does give you the option to checkout as a guest bypassing the account creation step.
8. Coffee for Less. Unlike the name suggests, this site has a large variety of gourmet coffee products, however when compared to others on this list, the price on the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is significantly higher. One bright spot here is the fact that during checkout, you have the option of choosing Google Checkout. One other good thing here is that they offer free shipping on order over $25. However, if you consider that 1lb will cost you $48, free ground shipping is not really worth the extra cost. Compare $48 to sub $30 at sites such as BlumCafe and Bage Co. which when combined with shipping is still less than $35 total. Coffee For Less site is a bit busy.

Most of the web sites listed here offer great pricing. In our review however, comparing Blue Mountain Coffee Pricing, hands down, BlumCafe Coffee Company has the best pricing on Authentic Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee in this group.

I do love Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. I usually buy a couple pounds when I’m in Jamaica, or when I know someone who is going. I am getting low, so I might have to use one of these sites above.

Luckily, unlike the whole Verizon ringtone deal, this has support of the Marley family, and Ziggy Marley will be one of the producers of the film.