Diamond Head Beach: Rustic, Clean, and Peaceful

One of my favorite beaches here in Honolulu is Diamond Head Beach. Waikiki is too filled with people and buildings for my taste. I also like Hanauma Bay, but it is small and a bit crowded. Diamond Head Beach, however, is long, empty, rustic, and full of amazing views.

A few days before Christmas 2011, we walked from where we are staying in Kahala to a staircase that leads down to Diamond Head Beach. It is a two and a half mile walk from Kahala Mall.

Of course the kids complained on the way, but, by telling them stories and encouraging them to look at the birds, flowers, and trees along the way, we made it. I am always trying to get my children to walk places, so it was quite a victory for me that they walked all the way there without too much complaining. Once we got there, we were hot and ready to jump in.

Diamond Head Beach, seen from above

We set ourselves up just to the right of the staircase that leads from the street down to the beach. There was quite a breeze, which blew sand at us from time to time. You could avoid that, however, by walking in the wet sand. I walked with the kids over to the right-hand end of Diamond Head Beach, where there are a few tide pools suitable for swimming. The kids put on snorkels, and swam out. We hung out there for a while, and I decided to walk back down the beach, back towards Kahala.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Diamond Head Beach is actually quite long – perhaps a mile from end to end. And, towards the eastern end, the beaches are even nicer. There are very few people on the beach. You can’t swim everywhere, because there is a lot of coral. However, there are quite a few nice spots for swimming.

I walked back to where we had left our backpacks and towels, and told everyone that we could walk along the beach to the other end, where there was an exit back out to the street, as well as nice places to swim. The kids ran ahead, eager to see the rest of the beach.

Once we came to the swimming holes, the kids and I jumped in to cool off again. We left through the eastern exit that leads right back to Kahala Road. This exit, which we didn’t know about, is only about 2 miles from Kahala Mall. It turns out that, even though the map doesn't show it, you can almost walk from Wai'Alae Beach Park to Diamond Head. There are secluded beaches all along the way. The end that juts out, however, is rocky, so you have to go out to the street to pick up where you left off.

One of these days I will walk from Kahala Mall to Wai'Alae Beach, all along the beach, and then over to Diamond Head.

The end of Wai'Alae Beach, with Diamond Head beach just around the corner

Soraya is the only one who wrote a blog about this little adventure. Here is her take on it.

Yesterday we went Diamond Head Beach. Monk seals lived there. I didn’t see any though. We walked 2 and half miles to get there. We parked ourselves somewhere on the beach. Then we went to the tide pool. On our way to the tide pool, the wind got very strong, so the sand hit us on the body. It hurt a lot. First my mom screamed, then Tatiana screamed, and then I screamed. Then every kid got in front of mom. When it was over, I had the shivers. Then we moved along. While we were going, mom told us that we were walking on dry lava. I thought that was cool. When we got there, Tatiana got the snorkel first. Dante got the other one. I didn’t care though. Because the one Dante was wearing didn’t even fit me. After five minutes was over, I told Tatiana it was my turn. Tatiana said that she just wanted to show Dante something. It took one minute for Tatiana to show Dante the big worm or seal poop. Then I got my turn. I tried to find the big worm or poop. Then I found it. It looked a lot like poop.

Crater Climbing, a Seven Mile Walk, and a Sunset: Diamond Head with Five Kids

On Thursday, we ventured out after lunch to climb Diamond Head Crater. Several websites and guidebooks warned that the climb would be strenuous, so we wore our tennis shoes, comfortable gear, and packed water and snacks. It is great we went prepared, as we walked a lot throughout the day.

We hopped on the Number 23 Bus, which let us off right at the foot of the Crater. We had to walk about 15 minutes to get to the entrance. I asked my brother, Ian, to turn on his Runkeeper App to see how many miles we would clock during the day.

We paid the admission fee of $1 each and began our trek up the crater. The trail is 0.8 miles up and another 0.8 down. The kids (aged 8 to 10) had no trouble going up, although we did stop at least once to catch our breath. The 99 stairs at the top was the most strenuous part, but overall, I’d say the warnings about this being a very difficult trail were overblown.

The view to Waikiki from Diamond Head Crater

The views from the top were amazing. You can see all of Waikiki Beach, most of the city of Honolulu, and way out to the Koko Crater that borders Hanauma Bay. The top also had a lovely, refreshing breeze.

A bit breezy at the top!

The trek up and down, with plenty of rest, took us about two hours. I really wanted to go to the beach afterwards, but the kids wanted to go home. I decided to play a little trick on them and tell them that we had to walk to the bus stop. My nephew, Dante, who is quite clever, pointed to the bus stop, and said “The 23 stops here,” as he knew the 23 goes to Kahala. I told him we were going to take a different bus. The kids complained, but kept walking.

One of my tricks for when the kids begin to complain about walking is to tell them stories. I told Dante and Raymi funny stories about stuff I had seen riding buses, and Dante had a few stories of his own. The walk to Kapiolani Beach Park was a bit farther than I had anticipated. It turned out to be two miles from Diamond Head. However, the kids made it. We just kept telling them at each turn that it was “just down the road.”

When we finally made it to Kapiolani Beach Park, and the bus stop I had been talking about all along, the kids spotted a few ducks waddling around a small lake, and asked if they could play with the ducks. We let them, and then coaxed the kids across the street to a huge banyan tree. Once they saw the beach, they asked if they could go for a swim. Of course, I knew that once they saw the ocean they would want to get in. Mission accomplished: I got the kids to walk to the beach, and could watch the amazing Pacific sunset.

Waikiki Sunset

Watching the sun drop like a flaming ball into the Pacific Ocean is one of my favorite sights.

Sunset swimming

Once the sun set, I looked up a restaurant on Yelp! and found this place: Gyoza No Ohsho, which was just five blocks away. The food there was awesome! The kids loved the gyozas and the ramen, and it was a great deal. The ramen soups are about $9.00 and the gyozas are $4.50 for six.

Once we finished eating, we walked another five blocks back to the Number 14 bus stop, and took it all the way to Kahala Mall. Before getting on the bus, I asked my brother how long we had walked. He told me 7 miles. The kids were excited to hear they had broken their previous record of 5 miles. I was happy to have convinced them to walk that much.

On Friday morning, I asked Tatiana, Soraya, and Raymi to each write 100 words about their day. Here are their reports:

Raymi

I walked 70 blocks yesterday up on the mountains. I whined some of the time. It was so not worth it when I got to the top. We ate crackers and cuties (mandarin oranges) at the top. Going down was way shorter. At the bottom, we ate shaved ice. It was good. My cousin Assata and I got lemon-lime and strawberry. Soraya and Tatiana shared watermelon and strawberry. Ian and Dante shared lemon-lime and watermelon. After eating, we walked to the bus stop. Man, that bus stop took long. We got on bus number 14. We got off the bus and saw a dog and I did cartwheels.



Soraya

Yesterday we went to the mountains. Before we went up, I drank some water, used the bathroom, and drank some more water to get ready. Then we started walking up the mountain. On the way up, Raymi started to hang onto my dad’s arm. So Raymi and dad got way far behind. The rest of us kept on going. We saw some stairs. Then we found benches and rested for a while. Next to the benches were other stairs. We thought that those stairs went the wrong way. So when we were done resting, we went up the long stairs. After those stairs, there were some other stairs that went around in circles that led to the top. At the top, we were able to see the big crater – Diamond Head Crater. When I saw the crater, I saw a big circle that kind of looked like a sting ray with a tail. It was cool.



Tatiana

Yesterday we went to the mountain. We walked. I don’t like walking sometimes. We walked to the top of the mountain. And ran down. Dante got ahead of us but we caught up with him. After that we walked to the bus stop. It was like 70 blocks overall. We stopped for a while because we saw some ducks. There was a baby duckling. It was so cute! After that we went to the beach that was across the street. We stayed there until the sun went down. Then we went to a Japanese restaurant. I ate soup. It was delicious. Then we went home on the bus.

An Amazing View and a Hawaiian Monk Seal: Diamond Head Beach Park

My brother, his son, Dante, and I walked a 4-mile city hike from Kahala to Waikiki. The highlight was Diamond Head Beach Park, where we saw a Hawaiian Monk Seal and lots of surfers.

We first walked through Kahala, passing all of the mansions, guarded behind high walls and fences. Most of them have trees and flowers, providing shade and a bit of greenery. As we approached the Diamond Head crater, we walked along a path that overlooks the sea. Looking down, we saw surfers, and wondered how they got down onto what seemed to be an amazing beach, with abundant greenery and golden sand. There were a couple of paths that led down, but we weren’t sure if they were passable.

Diamond Head Beach Park, seen from above

We sat and watched the surfers catch waves for a while. Then, we kept walking. A couple hundred feet later, we came upon the entrance to the park. There, we saw that you can walk down along a path to the Diamond Head Park Beach. After descending the path, we came to the beach.

One of the first things we saw on the beach was a huge monk seal. The seal was surrounded by signs that let you know that it was sleeping, and we shouldn’t disturb it. The seal moved ever so slightly, confirming it was indeed taking a nap.

Hawaiian Monk Seal Taking a Nap

Diamond Head Beach itself is quite scenic. The beach is flanked by high cliffs and the sand is golden and soft. It is not a great beach for swimming, though, as the shore is rocky and the surf is rough. It is primarily a surfing beach. However, after walking about three miles to get there, we were hot and in need of refreshment. We found a spot with clear, shallow water, and dove in. It felt awesome.

From Diamond Head, we kept on walking and made it to Waikiki. This was my first time in Waikiki, as I have avoided it. Waikiki is a stretch of beach with huge hotels, restaurants, and throngs of tourists. We stopped for ice cream at Coldstone Creamery, and hopped on a bus back to Kahala.

Amazing Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

On Monday, the family went to Hanauma Bay, which is just a twenty-minute bus ride from where we are staying in Kahala. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is a protected beach, with amazing views of turquoise water and green hills. It provides some of the best snorkeling with turtles and tropical fish in Hawai'i. In short, it is an awesome experience.

We took the Beach Bus, number 22, to Hanauma Bay, which lets you off right at the entrance. You have to watch a short video about protecting the bay and marine life before going in. To get to the beach, you walk down a large hill. The views along this hillside are breathtaking.

We set ourselves up at the far end of the beach, where there was plenty of shade from a large tree. We also soon learned that the far end of the beach is where the sea turtles like to hang out. It was amazing to watch these awesome creatures swimming around in the clear waters.



We rented snorkel equipment and ventured out into the reef. The reef is just feet away from the shore meaning anyone old enough to put on a mask can snorkel here. There are plenty of fish to see as you swim throughout the reef. Many of the fish are quite large – I saw several over a couple of feet long. Most of the fish are colorful, with intricate patterns.



Each of the kids had their turn at snorkeling. Soraya went out with Ian for the longest time. She came back and reported she had seen a fish that was about two feet long.

It was very breezy on Monday, and the water was a bit choppy. We still were able to snorkel, but it did get a bit chilly once we were out of the water. Once we had finished all of our snacks and everyone had snorkeled, we decided to get back on the bus and come back to the apartment to relax.

I was able to get both Soraya and Tatiana to write stories about Hanauma Bay.

Here is Soraya's overview of the day:

We went to Hanauma bay. I saw a sea turtle. It was so cute! It kept on sticking its head out. And sometimes he stuck out his butt. It was funny. Then I went snorkeling with my Uncle Ian. We saw lots of fish. We even saw a fish that was 2 feet long! When it was time to go home, Dante needed to use the bathroom. They took a long time, so he and Uncle Ian missed the bus. They had to take the next bus. But we made it. Then we stayed home for a while. Then my mom wanted to go to the mall. So I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and my mom brushed my hair. I got ice cream at the mall.


Tatiana's was more fiction than fact:

Today we went to Hanauma Bay, a natural reserve in Honolulu, Hawaii.

But that’s all the boring stuff, now let’s get to the good stuff!

We were at the beach snorkeling, looking for the magic starfish. Me, Soraya, Assata, Raymi, and Dante. No one ever found it because it was so rare. If anyone in the world found it they would become rich and famous. As we were searching we saw a puffer fish. Since Dante was so stupid, he stupidly touched it and it puffed up and poked Dante. Silly Dante (again). We continued and saw a goldfish. What was a goldfish doing in the middle of the ocean? I thought. When Dante saw the goldfish he yelled Kaka! “Kaka?” I said. “Who’s Kaka?”  I asked. “That goldfish right there,” he said. “Who names their goldfish Kaka?” I asked. “I do!” he said. He caught the goldfish and put it in his peeing cup. I thought it was gross.

Raymi sat in front of the computer for nearly an hour and all she had to say was: 

Hi Grandma: are you coming to Hawaii? I like Hawaii. I am happy here, but I still miss Kansas and all my friends, and my teacher, Mrs. Tuell. I don't know what else to say so "bye, bye."  

We will have to work with Raymi a bit more....

Manoa Falls Hike: Muddy and Wet, but Worth It

Manoa Falls is a 150-foot waterfall within easy reach of Honolulu via public transportation. To get to the actual waterfall, you must walk along a 1 ½ mile trail through a gorgeous bamboo forest, along the base of the Ko’oaus Mountains. It is somewhat strenuous of a hike, but we saw people of all ages along the trail. The most important thing is to go prepared with waterproof, non-slip shoes and long pants for mosquitoes.

We went to Manoa Falls with five children, as my niece and nephew are also in Hawaii. My kids are very happy to be spending their vacation with their cousins, as they are all very close in age: all of the kids are between the ages of 8 and 10! The kids had no trouble making it up the trail.

The bus ride there was an adventure in itself. Riding around Honolulu on buses with five children has been quite an undertaking. Perhaps because of the heavy Asian influence in Honolulu, talking loudly on the bus is frowned upon. This means that when the kids are up to their usual antics of laughing and talking, they get dirty looks from strangers. One elderly lady even told them to be quiet. We will have to work on trying to fit in and being a bit more quiet on the buses.

Anyway, back to the trip to Manoa Falls. To get to Manoa Falls, we took the Number Five bus to and got off at the last stop. The bus let us off about two blocks from the base of the trail. We walked straight in and found ourselves in an amazingly verdant forest, with hundreds of green bamboo stalks. There were also plenty of cool exotic tree like the banyan, which has vines that grow from the branches to form new roots. These vines are great for swinging on, although we didn’t swing on the vines on this trail, in part because you are not supposed to leave the trail.

Ian, Dante, Soraya, Tatiana, Raymi, Assata, and Nando (in back) with banyan tree

The trail is an uphill climb. It is not too strenuous, but it was muddy, and hence slippery, when we went. I was glad we thought ahead and wore sneakers. I saw a woman struggling with flip flops on and it did not look pleasant at all.

It took about 45 minutes to walk up to the falls. The kids ran ahead of me for most of the time. As usual, they were fearless. When we made it to the top, we were rewarded with a view of the 150-foot waterfall. It is not the most spectacular waterfall I have ever seen, but was pretty cool. We stayed there admiring it for a while until the mosquitoes began to bite us. They didn’t bother us too much as we walked up, but decided to feast upon us once we stopped at the top. I had on jeans, so was okay, but the kids were wearing shorts, and began to complain about the bites. Thus, we turned back and the kids ran back down the trail while I carefully made my way back down to the base of the trail.

Manoa Falls

I have been trying to get the kids to write about our vacation in Hawaii. They are missing a couple of weeks of school and I want them to do something academic. It has been a struggle to get them to write, but we continue to set time aside each day.

Tatiana, one of my ten-year old twins, has decided that she would rather write fiction. Here is her story about Manoa Falls:

We were in the forest searching for the magic waterfall. Me, Soraya, Raymi, Assata and Dante. The waterfall gives three wishes per person. There were a lot of traps. Dante got in most of them. Silly Dante (again). As we were searching we saw a baby monkey. It was so cute! Dante pet it. And when he did the mommy monkey came and started attacking Dante! We didn’t do anything though. Instead, Assata pulled out popcorn from her bag and shared it with everyone. We watched the monkey attack Dante. Then he pushed the monkey off and it ran away with its baby monkey. We continued searching. 2 hours later we found the water fall. Everyone got 3 wishes. Dante wished for peeing longer. I thought it was disgusting. Who wishes for peeing longer? I thought. After that we went home. And when we got home, Dante rushed to the bathroom and when he started peeing he yelled Woohoo!

A Royal Palace, a Tower, and Chinatown: Downtown Honolulu with Kids

We spent Saturday walking around downtown Honolulu. One of the best things about being in Hawaii for five weeks is that we can take it easy, and see the sights slowly.

The kids went to the pool in the morning, and I took a sunrise walk along the beach. We didn’t feel the urge to spend the whole day at the beach, and decided to check out the downtown area in the afternoon.

We took the Number 1 Bus that takes us straight downtown. We got off the bus just a couple of blocks from Iolani Palace, the last official residence of Hawaii’s monarchy. The opulent palace was built in 1882 by King Kalākaua. His sister and successor, Queen Lili‘uokalani, lived there while she reigned.

My children, however, were not particularly interested in seeing the palace, or learning much about the history. Thus, we decided to not pay the admission fee, and simply to enjoy the palace grounds. The kids were delighted to find that there were scores of pigeons as well as other birds and began to feed the birds. One of the great things about traveling is that you often can find the same things to do around the world. For my children, feeding pigeons is one of their favorite universal pastimes. They also like catching pigeons. I know this is not the most sanitary of habits, but we figure so long as they wash their hands thoroughly afterwards they should be okay.

After pigeon-catching at the palace, we made our way to Aloha Tower, which has the oldest elevator in Hawai’i. The views from the Tower were fairly interesting, but not incredibly breathtaking. We did spot a gigantic rainbow, which was pretty awesome.

After Aloha Tower, we decided to go to Chinatown for lunch. By that point, the kids were very hungry. I looked up a restaurant on Yelp and was pleased to find a restaurant with five stars and 80 reviews. However, when we got there, it was out of business. We found another restaurant nearby and looked all over for it. There was no sign of it either. Lesson learned: Yelp is not a reliable method for finding restaurants in Chinatown in Honolulu. By that point, the kids were whining loudly, so we went into the first restaurant we could find.


The food was decent, but nothing spectacular. The Kung Pao Chicken was actually pretty good. The lo mein was a bit weird. The garlic pepper chicken and beef broccoli were nothing special. If we didn’t have the kids with us, we might have gotten the seafood special – a four-person meal for $52, but decided against it. That might have been better than what we got.

After all of that walking around and eating, we were pretty tired. We walked back over to the Number 1 bus stop and rode back to Kahala.

I took one last walk down to the beach to watch the sunset. Then, I came home and slept deeply. It felt great to be physically, but not mentally exhausted. Another fantastic day in Honolulu.

Wai’Alae Beach Park: Picturesque from Sunrise to Sunset

In Honolulu, we are staying in Kahala, and in walking distance of Wai’Alae Beach Park. The beach park does not look particularly exceptional as you approach it, yet has some of the best scenery on the island if you look closely. To give you an idea, Wai’Alae Park is a favored destination for wedding photos because of the amazing backdrop. The two times we have been there at mid-day, there have been newlyweds doing photo shoots.

Yesterday morning, I woke up early and walked to the left along the shore. I went back today to watch the sun rise again off of the pier. That is an invigorating way to start the day.

Sunrise at Wai'Alae

Yesterday afternoon, I walked off to the right from the canal that leads into Wai’Alae Beach Park. There I found my favorite kind of beach: an empty, rustic beach with an amazing view of Diamondhead as a backdrop to the sea. In addition, there are plenty of trees and greenery lining the shore. This beach is primarily residential, meaning that some lucky people live in the houses overlooking the beach. This view is much preferable to that of huge hotels, which you will find in Waikiki.

Just me and the beach!

I walked along this scenic shore for about twenty minutes, where the shore comes to an end. You might be able to continue if you were to walk into the water. The sand, however, ends at the foot of Diamond Head. There were a few other beach walkers along the way, but the beach was pretty much deserted.

In the daytime, there is no shade along this part of the beach. However, as the sun sets, the shrubs along the shore provide a bit of shade. I think it is pretty amazing to find an isolated beach in Honolulu!

You also can snorkel at Wai’Alae Beach Park, although it is not as amazing as other places. It does have a reef with quite a few fish, especially if you swim out towards the small island just off the shore.

Overall, we are incredibly lucky to be staying near such a picturesque beach park, and I likely will take a sunrise walk there most mornings.

Waking up in Honolulu

It has been an amazing year, meritorious of a fantastic vacation. Our chosen destination this winter is Hawaii! We will stay here for just over a month and I will chronicle the travels of myself, my husband, Nando, and our three children on this blog over the next month.

We chose Hawaii for a couple of specific reasons. First of all, my kids have been wanting to go to Hawaii ever since they read Junie B. Jones Aloha-ha-ha book. Secondly, and more importantly, my dear friend invited us to stay at her place. With a place to stay, we could not turn down the opportunity to travel to Hawaii.

Our friend lives in Honolulu, so that was our destination. She lives in Kahala, a nice residential neighborhood near the beach. I was ecstatic to hear that one can walk from her house to the beach. I have to say, one of my dreams is to one day live within walking distance of a lovely beach. As that is not the case yet, I make do with spending as much time as possible in places near the beach.

Here in Honolulu, Wai’Alae Beach Park is a fifteen-minute walk from where we are staying. This morning, I woke up at 5:15 am (jet lag…), had a cup of coffee, wrote a blog entry, and then, around 6:40am, walked to Wai’Alae Beach Park. When I got to the park, I made a left turn and walked along the beach, past Wai’Alae Country Club to a small pier that jets out into the Ocean. Just as I got to the end of the pier, the sun fully emerged from the Pacific Ocean. It was amazing to witness that huge ball reach into the sky. I stayed there watching, taking it all in.

That was the perfect way to start my morning!

How To Pack Lightly for a Family Vacation

This family of five just completed a sixteen-hour trip from Kansas City to Honolulu. One of the best decisions we made was to go with only carry-on luggage. Not having to pay fees was a huge incentive, but traveling lightly has tons of other advantages.

Traveling lightly meant each person in the family could be in charge of their own luggage; thus, it was easy to keep track of our things. Each person had one backpack and one small wheeled suitcase. My daughters range in age from 8 to 10 years old, and are old enough to be responsible for this amount of luggage.

Four carry-on suitcases. Four backpacks.

Traveling lightly also meant it was easier to find a car that could transport all of us and our things. In previous years, we have had to make sure we had the largest taxi or the friend with the biggest car take us. This time, that was not an issue.

Now that we have arrived in Honolulu, traveling lightly means that we do not have too much clutter and can move around, pack and unpack fairly easily.

How did we do it?

How to pack lightly.

To get the children to fit their stuff into one backpack and one carry-on suitcase, I asked each of them to fill their backpacks with the toys and books they wanted to carry. I made sure to remind them that they would be carrying their backpacks around, and reminded them not to stuff them too tightly. Then, I selected eight summer outfits for each of them and put the summer outfits in an Easy-Pack Bag. That allowed the clothes to fit easily into half of a carry-on suitcase. I put underclothes for a week and two bathing suits into a ziplock bag, sandals in another, and then there was a bit of space left over for more toys.

Easy-Pack Bag. Shown with Kindle to see size.

For myself, I picked out eight summer outfits and put them in another Easy-Pack Bag. I put my underclothes and swimsuit into another small bag, and then arranged those items in my suitcase along with two pairs of sandals (one simple, one dressy) and my toiletries. These fit easily into my carry-on suitcase. I used my backpack to carry my laptop, kindle, and a writing tablet.

In a nutshell, that is how we were able to travel to Hawaii for five weeks with carry-on luggage only!

Welcoming New Bloggers

"Are We There Yet" has been a bit inactive lately, not because I haven't been traveling, but because I have been traveling alone, and mostly for work. Not quite as exciting.

But, the family is gearing up for a five-week trip to .... Hawaii!!

In addition, I will have my three daughters blogging about the trip. They will be missing a bit of school and may as well learn to blog and create photo essays. Taking a page from the global education book of Soul Travelers, we will incorporate a bit of learning into our fun times in Hawaii.

So, stay tuned for new blog entries from me, Tatiana (age 10), Soraya (age 10), and Raymi (age 8).

Coming soon .... Updates on our ability to go to Hawaii for five weeks with carry-on luggage only!

Best,
Tanya

I can't wait to go to Hawaii

I am very excited to go to Hawaii! I can’t wait to visit my cousins and my friend Diza. I hope I see lots of creatures like this sea turtle! (PS) the sea turtles are huge! I know that because I’ve seen one before when we went snorkeling in Mexico. That time we went snorkeling in Mexico, we found a baby squid with ink in it. It squirted ink! That was in Puerto Morelos. We were with other people on a boat that went out to sea so we could snorkel. I saw some really big fish. The biggest one was about five feet long!



I heard that sting rays have poison spikes on their backs. So I’ll try to be extra careful. They also hide under the sand, so they could be anywhere!



When we were in Jamaica, we saw sting rays at Dolphin Cove. They had removed their spikes so that we could hold them. We also got to pet dolphins there, and we went snorkeling. That was at Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Another time, when we were in Negril, Jamaica, we saw a baby octopus.

I am so excited to go to Hawaii because I will see my friend Diza and my cousins, who are also coming to Hawaii. I haven't seen them for a very long time.

Diza lives in Hawaii, and my cousins will come to visit.

Searching for peace in a sea of traffic: Walking around Lima, Peru

Today, I walked the streets of Lima, Peru. I have been in Lima many times, and even lived here for a while. But, it had been four years since I had been back and I was curious to see how the city had changed since I had been here last.

I am staying at the Clifford Hotel in Santa Beatriz, Lima, in the 300 block of the Avenida Arequipa. The hotel is close to the city center, and about three miles from the residential districts of Miraflores and San Isidro. I thought it would be a good idea to walk those three miles down Avenida Arequipa towards Miraflores, with the goal of arriving at the coastline to catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, and to stroll along the Malecón which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

I walked down Avenida Arequipa for about two miles, listening to all of the cars, buses, vans, and taxis honk at each other and make their way down the busy street. Eventually, however, I decided to veer off to the right and find a more peaceful street to walk along. Luckily, I quickly found a large park, complete with fountains, a footpath, grass and trees. It was great to enjoy the quiet for a while as I walked through the park and watched the crows fly over my head. Once the park ended, I kept walking and ended up at the Ovalo, where I made a quick dash into Wong to buy an adapter for my laptop.

From there, I kept walking along slightly quieter streets until I made it to the Malecón. It was a great relief to see the Pacific Ocean and the green grass and cliffs that border the Malecón. The coastline in Lima is far from the most beautiful in the world, but I always find it magical to be near one of the great bodies of water in this world. I walked along the Malecón for about a mile, when it ended.

I hoped the Malecón would continue, but it stopped because of a big municipal stadium. So, I walked along the street, back in traffic, until I got to Avenida Salaverry, where I completed my Limeño experience by taking a combi back up to Avenida 28 de Julio and walked back to my hotel.

It was great to figure out that I still can walk around Lima, even though I have not been here in four years. I was concerned I might not feel safe because of the economic crisis and the concomitant rise in street crime. However, Lima felt fairly relaxed and very walkable.

Family Vacation in Saint Cyprien, France

We arrived on Saturday in Saint Cyprien, which is in the Roussillon region of southern France.

We are staying at the Hotel du Port, which has a great view of the … you guessed it: the port!

We love French food!!

First of all, it is great to be in southern France, where the food is fantastic. I haven’t been able to stop eating the delicious baguettes, pains de campagne, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, cheeses, and pains au chocolat. I also have had my fill of champagne and red and white wine in the few days since we have been here. So far, my favorite cheeses are Raclette and Pyrenees and I really enjoyed the bottle of Faugères red wine my husband picked up. I even tried some of the saucisson, and it was delicious!

The beach at Saint Cyprien Plage!

Saint Cyprien is a beach town, and in the summertime, fills up with beachgoers. It does have a lovely beach, with cool, clean, clear Mediterranean waters. The beach in Saint Cyprien is nice, but nothing super amazing. I personally prefer beaches with greenery, and the beach here is pure sand. I do like the view of the mountains in the background: you can see the Pyrenees in the distance. I also appreciate the fact that the beach is completely calm on some days and has waves on other, more windy days. I also like the length of the beach. It is about 1.5 miles long, and, late in the evening, it is possible to have a nice, relaxing walk along the beach.

Because of the lack of shade on the beach, I tend not to spend more than a couple of hours there each day. My kids often get bored going to the beach every day, so I decided to splurge a bit and buy them an inflatable boat, complete with rows! That was a wise choice, as it is much easier to extract them from the house with the promise of a boat ride! Otherwise, my ten-year old twins and seven-year old would be content staying at home all day playing on their iPods and laptops.

While we are here, we are trying to find a good balance between relaxing and getting around to see the rest of the region. There are more natural and beautiful beaches in neighboring towns that we plan to explore. And, the Pyrenees mountains are absolutely amazing. We are thinking of ways to spend more time there during our stay here.

From Barcelona to St. Cyprien, with a Pit Stop in Girona

On Saturday, we left Barcelona to go to St. Cyprien, France. We thought we would stop in Girona on the way, as I have heard it is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. I am very glad we decided to stop.

The train ride from Barcelona to Girona was packed, standing room only. We boarded at Clot, meaning we did not get seats. Next time we travel to Girona on a Saturday, we will make sure to leave from Sants and get there early!

With a little persistence, however, I managed to get a seat! I spotted a man on the train with his luggage in the seat next to him. Not wanting to stand for the 90 minute ride, I asked him if the seat was occupied. He said it was, with his luggage. I pointed out that he could put his luggage in the aisle where I was standing and I could sit down. He agreed, and I sat down, with Raymi on my lap. Two seats for people, and one less for luggage!

The train ride went well. It was short, and the scenery was quite nice along the way. My ten year old twins were thoroughly entertained with their iPod touches, and I read stories on my Kindle to my seven year old. Thank goodness for electronic devices!

Once we arrived in Girona, we ventured out towards the historic center in search of a “menu” – an inexpensive prix-fixe lunch menu. The train station is about five blocks from the historic center. We made it to the famous Pont Pedra, and turned right towards the Plaza Catalunya. Close to there, we found a restaurant with a decent menu at a reasonable price – 13 euros. As a bonus, they had pizza!

The restaurant was Catalonian, the bartender Chinese, and the server Cuban – quite the multi-ethnic place. Nando ordered a plate of butifarra with kiwi as an appetizer, and I had a tortilla with salmon and garlic. Mine was quite a bit more interesting. We both had merluza or lluç – a white fish- for the main course. It was grilled to perfection and quite tasty. For dessert, we ordered chocolate cake and tira misu, which the girls devoured.

In Spain, a lunch menu comes with wine, so the waiter put two bottles of wine on the table. Nando and I made it through a bottle and a half of wine, meaning we were in quite a good mood after lunch. A nice long walk was just what we needed to walk off the wine. Girona is the perfect town to walk around in.

Girona was built hundreds of years ago, with narrow streets. One thing I have learned by spending the summer in Catalonia is that narrow streets are much cooler than wide ones. Tall buildings on narrow streets provide ample shade and a cool breeze. This made walking up the many stairs around the historic center much more pleasant.

I walked with my daughters through the old town and up to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is an impressive structure, with a few flights of white stone stairs leading up to it. Short on time, we didn’t go inside. A couple of hours in Girona was just enough time to walk around the narrow streets, up and down the old staircases, and through the narrow arches. As a treat, I took the girls to a “2 euro” store, which is kind of like a dollar store, but where everything costs 2 euros – about 3 dollars.

At the 2 euro store, Soraya got a straw hat, Tatiana a keychain flashlight, and Raymi a small toy keychain. I even got a new wallet, as I lost mine in Sitges a few weeks ago.

Soon, it was time to go back to the train station. Four hours in Girona was pretty short, especially because of our long lunch. But, it was definitely a great way to break up the trip from Barcelona to France.

The train took us to Cerbere, and from there we took another train to Elne. In Elne, my sister in law picked us up to take us to St. Cyprien, where she lives. The ride along the northernmost coast of Spain was very scenic. We made it to St. Cyprien, a lovely seaside town, by 7pm, where my sister-in-law had prepared a delicious seafood stew for us.

The quest for the perfect Catalan meal

You’d think it would be easy to find a good meal in Spain. For some reason, I have not had the best of luck with eating out during my time in Spain. The places I’ve been, the pintxos have been soggy, the patatas bravas greasy and the fideua salty. On Friday, however, I finally lucked out! I had a fantastic lunch at Hotel Amrey Sant Pau across from the beautiful Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau.

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Here’s how it went down. After a lovely visit to La Sagrada Familia temple, I decided to walk over to the Hospital to check it out, and look for a restaurant along the way. As I walked along Avinguda Gaudi, I passed by each of the restaurants there, thinking they were most likely tourist traps. For me, this was evidenced by two things: 1) the abundance of people sitting at tables looking at maps of Barcelona as they waited for their meals and 2) the colorful signs indicating they indeed had paella – one of the most well-known Spanish meals.

I walked along Avinguda Gaudi, admiring the lampposts and architecture until I reached the turnoff point. Still no restaurant. I then walked alongside the Hospital where I could see the colorful roof of the hospital. There, I only found places that looked a bit too greasy spoon to be good. The thing is, once I start investing in looking for a good place, I become obsessed with it being perfect. That makes the search even harder. Finally, I reached the end of the block of Carrer de Sant Antoni where the hospital ends, and turned left on Carrer de Sant Quinti. There, I saw the Hotel Amrey, which had a nice menu printed on see-through, waxy paper outside.

The menu looked promising, with carpaccio de bacalao and escalivada catalana with melted goat cheese for appetizers, and grilled salmon and fideau negra for the main courses. It was a hotel, however, so I paused, as hotels often do not have good restaurants. I peeked inside and it was tastefully decorated, with wallpaper made to look as if there were bookshelves along the wall. However, I overheard American college students inside, and decided it might just be a tourist trap as well. I kept walking, but then told myself that those students might just have been lucky enough to find a good place. Plus, I was tired and hungry, so I relented. I am glad I did.

Escalivada Catalana

The menu – the fixed price lunch – included an appetizer, a main course, a dessert, bread, and a beverage, all for 11 euros. I chose the escalivada catalana with melted goat cheese for an appetizer. Escalivada is fire-roasted red peppers and eggplants drenched in olive oil. It was delicious.

For the main course, I decided on the fideau negra – thin noodles cooked with a mixture of spices, drenched in squid ink, and served with shrimp and calamari. This plate is typically served with aioli – garlic mayonnaise – on the side. Scrumptious. I accompanied my meal with two glasses of the tasty house red wine.

Fideau Negra

For dessert, I almost went for the chocolate mousse, as I am a chocolate lover. But, I decided I should continue the theme of having a typical Catalan lunch, and went for the pastel de crema catlana. This is a pie with a cake-like crust, filled with Catalan vanilla custard, and topped with dark chocolate flakes and cinnamon. Divine. I had to finish the meal with a café cortadito – an espresso with a dash of foam.

cafe cortadito and pastel de crema catalana

After the meal, I relaxed on one of the comfortable armchairs at the front of the restaurant where I finished my coffee and made plans for the rest of my afternoon.

Tatiana, Soraya, and Raymi's photo journals: June 15, 2011, Barcelona

I thought a neat way of getting my daughters to record some of their experiences in Barcelona would be through photo journals. Thus, this first installment when I was able to squeeze a couple of sentences out of them about our trip to Barcelona.

Tatiana’s photo journal: June 15, 2011

This is a picture of me, Soraya and Raymi when we were at the pigeon place looking at big bubbles and popping them. I was happy because I was having fun.

Soraya’s photo journal: June 15, 2011

Barcelona has a pigeon place where I caught pigeons with my bare hands and seeds. I had fun. The seagulls killed and ate the pigeons. We tried to stop them because we did not want them to kill the pigeons.

Raymi’s photo journal: June 15, 2011

This is my cousin Alice. I like Alice because she is nice. Alice came to visit us in Barcelona with her mother, Linda, and her sister, Michelle. She went back before my other cousin Michelle went back because she had to go to school. I think she looks like Hannah Montana.

Making Lemonade out of Lemons: An unexpected trip to Vallvidrera, Spain

On Sunday, we ended up in a small town in the hills just outside Barcelona called Vallvidrera. We were on our way to Tibidabo, but got on the wrong train and decided to make the best of it. I am glad we did. Here’s what happened.

On Sunday morning, I left our apartment in Sitges with two of my three daughters – Tatiana, aged 10, and Raymi, aged 7. My other daughter, Soraya, stayed with my husband, Nando, in Barcelona at his brother’s house. The plan was that we would meet up on Sunday afternoon and spend the day together in Barcelona. Just as we were leaving Sitges, however, my husband called to let me know we should come to his brother’s house instead.

The idea of hanging out at in my brother-in-law’s living room on a beautiful Sunday did not sound appealing, so we decided I would spend the day in Barcelona with Tatiana and Raymi and meet up with Nando and Soraya at Barceloneta Beach in the afternoon. That meant Raymi, Tatiana and I had to decide where we would spend our day. On the 30-minute RENFE train ride from Sitges to Barcelona, I studied my guidebook and decided we would go somewhere in Gracia, starting with Tibidabo. I didn’t actually want to go to the amusement park itself, but thought it would be fun to ride the tram and the funicular with the girls.

So, we got off the RENFE train at Passeig de Gracia and tried to get on the FGC train to Tibidabo. That was not as easy as it looks on the map. You see, Barcelona has three separate rail lines: The Metro, the RENFE, and the FGC. The RENFE goes long distances, mostly south and north and the FGC is a regional train that mostly goes east, away from the sea and up into the mountains. And, the Metro is the underground that goes around Barcelona. We finally figured out that we had to go to a different train station to get the FGC.

Funicular that goes up to Vallvidrera

Thus, we took the Metro to the FGC Station. Right when we got to the FGC station, the train was there, waiting for us. We hopped on the train that said “Line 7” on the front and were pleased we didn’t have to wait long for a train. A few stops later, I noticed that we were not on Line 7, but on Line 6, and had made it all the way to Las Tres Torres. Oops! We jumped off the train and I thought of going back to get the train to Tibidabo. But, by that time we had been on different trains for well over an hour and wanted to get to our destination.

I looked at the FGC map and saw a station called “Peu de Funicular.” I thought to myself that that station might have a funicular as well and might even lead somewhere nice. On a whim, I decided we would go there. Luckily, the “Peu de Funicular” stop did have a funicular and, as I expected, my daughters thought the funicular was very cool! They even compared it to a roller coaster. We took the Funicular up to Vallvidrera Superior, and found a nice little town set in gorgeous mountain scenery.

The town of Vallvidrera is very hilly, and has lots of stairs. It also has amazing views of Barcelona below as well as the mountains above and below. We walked around a bit, but not much, as the girls were not too keen on the stairs. We found a nice homestyle restaurant and went inside for lunch.

Tatiana and Raymi in Vallvidrera

The lunch was decent. I ordered three plates: roasted chicken with fries, pasta, and a salad. The pasta was a big hit with the girls, and we ate most of the other two plates. I was particularly pleased to see that when I asked for a glass of house wine, I got a carafe and it was only 85 cents! After lunch, we looked around a bit more and made our way back to the funicular, and then back onto the FGC train. Later, I looked online and saw there is a small hostel in Vallvidrera. I will keep that in mind as a possible place to stay in Barcelona, as it looks clean and inexpensive, and I really did like the town.

On the way back, we had a lot more luck with transportation. The FGC train took us all the way to Plaza Catalunya. From there, we took the 59 bus straight to Barceloneta. I was impressed with my navigation skills on the way back from Vallvidrera. There was lots of room for improvement, anyway. At any rate, despite the long train rides, my daughters seemed to enjoy our outing today. They were even happier to get to the beach at Barceloneta!

Barceloneta was also nicer than I expected, full of vibrant Sunday afternoon activity and the beckoning Mediterranean Sea. It turned out to be a perfect day: a lovely lunch in a mountain village followed by a dip in the cool sea. The fact that it doesn’t get dark until 9pm in Barcelona in June certainly helped us to make the most of a long day.

Raymi in Barceloneta

Barceloneta