Roma over Christmas

What started out as a mileage run for Z, quickly turned into a quick vacation to Roma between Christmas and New Years 2020 and a fantastic way to end this last decade. Why Rome? Well it was far enough to achieve the miles Z needed for his next AC status and Rome is very festive over Christmas. So after celebrating Christmas with both our families, we got up super early Christmas Day to catch our flight to Rome through Toronto. We got a good savings on business class tickets and travelled in comfortable lay flat seats all the way through. To Toronto we were on a Dreamliner which has all the modern touches of an airplane; touch screen entertainment centre, windows that darken with the touch of a button, washrooms outfitted with touch less features, and it provides a quieter environment. Having never flown on Christmas Day I thought it would be nice to bring some chocolate treats for the flight attendants which they seemed to appreciate. Our layover in Toronto was a few hours which gave us enough time to check out the new Signature Suite lounge; accessible only with a paid business class ticket. This lounge included a bar and buffet area and a fine dining room. AC has partnered with David Hawksworth from Vancouver which has helped elevate the menu on flights. In this lounge the food was exquisite and definitely something you’d find in a fine dining restaurant. Our waiter brought us two glasses of rose Moet when we mentioned that we were celebrating my almost completion of school. It was a nice touch. All drinks and food are complementary in this lounge. 

The flight attendants on our flight from Toronto to Rome were all dressed in Christmas gear; ties, head bands or hair clips. It was neat to see. This plane was an older style but still with lay flat seats which were important on this leg as it was an overnight flight and getting some good sleep would be necessary so we could hit the ground running when we arrived. Sleep wasn’t as good or as long as I would have liked but we arrived feeling good to spend the day seeing some of the sites. The cab ride from the airport to our hotel was about 30 minutes and was a fixed price which was great. We arrived at our hotel, the St. Regis Rome, at 11:30am and thankfully our room was ready. We splurged a little by staying at this hotel, but got a really good rate that included breakfast.


The St. Regis is an iconic hotel dating back to 1894.  It recently underwent a restoration and renovation which is in part the reason we decided to stay there and it is well located for walking to many of the local attractions on our list of must sees. It is the classiest and most luxurious hotel I’ve ever stayed at. The lobby screams elegance and grandeur with a mix of old-world artifacts and modern decor. The entrance foyer has a 5 metre hand blown glass chandelier hanging in the middle with the Lumen restaurant/lounge on either side. For the Christmas season a large Christmas tree stood eloquently at the end of the foyer. The historic lift still operates in the hotel and was quite fun to use. The staff are formally dressed, extremely attentive, and cater to your every need. The hotel had several bespoke experiences for its guests including a customized 1962 replica Fiat 600 Multipla (now as an EV) that was custom designed for the hotel and is available for guests to take them on short trips around town. One other experience is the evening champagne sabring which signifies the beginning of the evening.  Once the bottle is opened the champagne flows for all guests there to witness the event. It is quite the spectacle. In the mornings the hotel had a violinist and flutist serenade the guests and folks walking passed the hotel outside; just another sign of the elegance of the hotel. 


Our room was beautifully decorated with intricate details like ornate mouldings along the high ceiling. A glass chandelier was the centre piece in the sleeping and seating area. An old fireplace remained as part of the decor. The bed was one of the most comfortable hotel beds I’ve ever slept in.  The bathroom had a double sink, a large soaker tub, and spacious shower with high quality toiletries. There was plenty of closet space to fully unpack and not feel like you’re living out of a suitcase. Two large windows in small alcoves overlooked the main street below and surprisingly the road noise was not that bad. The room was a sanctuary away from home. 

Hola México!

Our trip to México was timed perfectly after I completed my last set of classes; my first vacation in a long time without school books!! YIPPIE!!

The planning of this trip ended up not being very straightforward because we were originally booked to fly on the Boeing Max 8 airplane which was grounded from global service after 2 horrific and fatal crashes. Z ended up rebooking our flight 6 times due to scheduling changes before we landed on our final itinerary. Gotta love his perseverance and dedication to making this trip happen, particularly too because I wasn't entirely enthusiastic about the destination to begin with. 

After an early morning flight out of San Francisco, we landed in Puerto Vallarta on a hot and

sunny Saturday afternoon. Upon arriving at our first hotel, the Puerto Vallarta Marriott, we were greeted by with front desk agent with a warm "welcome home"! What a fantastic friendly greeting to make someone feel truly welcome. After that initial greeting, I knew we would have an amazing time there. We had a fantastic room with both a pool and ocean view. The room was fairly modern and spacious with a full couch seating area and a descent sized balcony. The hotel grounds were well kept, with a very large swimming pool that had a swim-up bar, loungers and several hammocks situated in shallow water so you could relax in the sun yet be kept cool with the water. While we tested out the pool to say that we did, our preference still is the ocean. Surprisingly the ocean was very warm...warmer than I thought it would be for being on the Pacific side. Being in PV, the water was not crystal clear, but it still made for good fun swimming and cooling off from the sun. The beach itself wasn't used much, which we thought strange, but then we realized that the loungers around the pool were more comfortable than the beach and it all made sense.  

We ate at three of the restaurants. We had breakfast each morning at La Estancia which served a buffet breakfast of traditional and modern flair Mexican cuisine and American style breakfast items. The service here was fantastic and one morning they even recognized Z’s loyalty status by putting a little star trophy on our table. Las Castias is the open air restaurant by the pool and beach.  The food here was very flavourful and I really enjoyed the chicken fajitas dish here. The last was  Champions Sports Bar which had big screen TVs on ever wall playing every sports event of the day. It definitely catered to the American clientele.  The food here was really good as well with big portions. 

The hotel also had a spa with a well equipped gym facility and many different spa treatments. We treated ourselves each to an 80 minute massage. Beforehand we got to use the spa facilities which included a sauna, hot/cold baths, hot tub, and foot bath. It was a nice treat to work out some of the stress I’d been carrying for some time.  

One evening we ordered an Uber and went into downtown Puerto Vallarta. It was just before sunset as we strolled along the main boulevard admiring the statues left from their Day of the Dead celebration. I thought I felt a drop or two from the sky but didn’t think much of it because the forecast didn’t mention rain.  We stepped into one store to look at some

souvenirs and by the time we were finished, the sky had opened up and it was raining.  Raining might actually be an understatement, it turned into a torrential downpour and we had no rain coats or umbrella and needed to walk to the restaurant, Casa Tradicional, which was a few blocks away from where we were. While we were able to stay somewhat dry by walking under overhangs, when we arrived we needed to cross the street which was a downward sloping hill and as you can imagine with a torrential downpour the amount of water is too much for most infrastructure to handle. So the road had turned into a shallow river and crossing it resulted in wet feet regardless of how hard I tried to avoid it. This restaurant was worth it though. Of course not long after we sat down for dinner did the downpour stop. 

Located off the beaten track and more of a locals place we dined on some very tasty traditional dishes which included one that had cactus as part of the dish. This restaurant is known for making their salsa and guacamole at the table and it was some of the best we’ve ever had.  A mariachi band entertained everyone and at one point they even serenaded us (for a fee of course) and we ended up dancing to the song; a suggestion by me that surprised Z because I usually don’t dance. 

After our first three nights in Puerto Vallarta we rented a car from Gecko car rentals; a no fuss car rental company with really good rates, so we could make our way 45 minutes north to Punta Mita where we spent the next five nights. Driving around wasn’t too bad, the biggest things to watch for are pot holes and speed bumps that sometimes felt like they appeared out of nowhere. 

Punta Mita is more remote and is a 1500 acre peninsula surrounded by the warm

aquamarine Pacific Ocean. We stayed at the modern and funky W Punta de Mita hotel. The hotel is perched on a gorgeous white sand beach with the property sloping up the hillside and nestled amongst lush trees. Our room was upgraded to the ocean view haven room with a with private deck and plunge pool. Our room was huge with a very large entrance area, king sized bed with a handmade tin headboard. There was a sunken living room area with very large L-shaped sofa and two wicker saucer chairs. The wall art represented the local bohemian beach culture The bathroom had two sinks which were open to the rest of the room, while the shower area also had a soaked tub and faced a large open window from which you could see the ocean. The hotel decor and decor in the rooms was rather unique and eye catching. There were swinging chairs in the lobby and large round couch areas set up with board games; great for groups. 

We spent most our time here just relaxing beachside and swimming in the ocean.  Our stay included a buffet breakfast with a wide selection of traditional Mexican foods and the typical American style items. 

From our resort, we took a day trip to Islas was Marietta National Park, a 15 minute boat ride from Punta Mita. Marietta is a small group of uninhabited islands that are a popular tourist attraction.  There is an abundant population of marine life which is able to flourish due to government fishing restrictions in the islands. The gem is the Hidden Beach. Access is only by swimming in through a cave opening during low tide and you enter a open crater that has a gorgeous white sand beach. Due to its popularity the government restricts how many tourists can visit the hidden beach and you are limited to a 30 minute visit. The government has boats anchored just off this crater checking that tourists have the appropriate write band to enter.  The marine life was incredible in the in islands and the snorkelling was such a treat. We stopped at a couple of the other islands and accessed them by jumping off the boat and swimming to them. The islands are inhabited by the blue footed booby. These are incredibly beautiful birds with brilliant blue feet and beaks. This day trip was certainly the highlight of the trip.  

While originally I wasn’t entirely excited about going to Mexico, I had a great time and really enjoyed this vacation. Not sure it’s a regular spot for me despite the relatively short flights but it was a good experience and made even better with my great travel partner!! 

Until next time... to travel is to live! Life is good!

Aloha Kaua'i

They say better late than never, so this trip actually happened in April, but hey what can I say....I've been preoccupied since. 

Back in beautiful Kaua'i, here on a study-cation, but before getting into the happenings of this vacation, I need to rewind the clock 6 months and recall a forgotten trip to Maui. We booked our stay at the newly renovated Wailea Marriott. Here we were treated to a wonderful room upgrade that put us in an Oceanview, ground floor room with walk-out access to the serenity pool (adult's only pool). What was very special about this room was the size of the private deck which not only had the standard table and chairs, it also had a sectional couch along with a reclining, cushioned sun-bed for two. These little amenities made it very hard to want to leave the room. Shortly after we settled in, a special delivery arrived to our room - a chilled bottle of chardonnay and a pre-sliced pineapple. It was a pleasant surprise and wonderful treat to kick off our vacation and celebrate our Mauiversary. This trip was pretty chill, I had to study, and Z got to spend his time at the beach. Z experienced a bit of a misfortune this time around. On day 2, he got stung by something and didn't think much of it. Except that the following day while we were enjoying a lovely evening out at the Hyatt's Lu'au with friends, we noticed that his foot was starting to swell. Again, not thinking too much of it, but now realizing that maybe something wasn't quite right, yet still willing to "see what happens", we continued on with our evening and enjoyed the cultural show and a great dinner. By the next morning his foot had swollen so much that it no longer looked like he had an ankle. Reluctantly, Z went to a medical clinic and found out that the sting was infected and that he needed antibiotics to treat this. This put a little damper on his fun because he was also instructed to stay out of the water for 2 days which also meant he had to skip out on a night dive he was looking forward to. Thankfully towards the end of the trip he got the all-clear and was back in the water.  On our last day as we were checking out, the hotel offered us a return package for a pretty good deal, which is what brought us back to Hawaii so quickly. 

Fast forward......to Kaua’i. We fell in love with the raw, natural beauty of Kaua'i on our first trip here 2 years ago and we had wanted to return at some point. The return package we bought was just the opportunity. We spent a fabulous 10 days on the island and split our time between Lihu'e and Poipu. Not sure which area is my favourite yet, both have great things about them. The Marriott resort in Lihu'e is situated on a cove which generally has calmer waters. Though this time, there was a high surf advisory our first few days which meant the swells were surprisingly larger despite being in a cove. We got to see plenty of surfers because of it. The Marriott had recently undergone some renovations and we were fortunate to stay in a newly renovated one bedroom suite with a view of the ocean and pool. Needless to say we had a lot more room that we needed but it was nice because it gave me separate space I needed to study. Outside of chilling, we didn't go on any adventures this time around; we managed to tackle all the major things last time, so this was truly a beach vacation. Good thing we did the Nāpali Coast hike on our last visit because a bad storm last year wiped out access and it is still inaccessible. Terrible shame to hear that happened. We enjoyed many great meals and experienced a few new restaurants along the way. We met up with a former colleague of Z's and her partner for breakfast one morning at a quaint restaurant called Art Cafe Hemingways. Situated in a cute blue house, in Kapa'a the restaurant is a named tribute to the author and world traveller. A farm to table restaurant that sources its fresh locally grown ingredients from its own farm, this is a great place to eat. We enjoyed not only great food, but great company too. A short walk front our hotel is Lilikoi Bar and Grill. We went there another day for breakfast. One of their specialities is the macadamia nut liliko'i pancake and is really tasty; liliko'i is Hawaiian for passion fruit. This restaurant has nice peek-a-boo views of the cove and the atmosphere is pretty cool. Unfortunately I was not feeling well that day and so I didn't get to really enjoy the food, but Z really enjoyed his breakfast. I ended up in bed the rest of that day and didn't want to eat or really drink anything. Not sure what hit me, but by the next day I was feeling better and all was well again. 

We talked about getting some art from Hawaii for our place so we have a visual memory of the beauty we experience on each of our trips. Z had heard that a town called Hanapepe had an art night one evening so we drove there hoping to find a piece we really liked and could bring back. While we didn't find that special piece, we did find a great restaurant called Bobbi's and had dinner there. A very basic, nothing fancy restaurant that serves amazing tasting food with very large portions; in fact we took our leftovers back for a full dinner for two another night. Serving many local Hawaiian favourite dishes, we finally got to taste huli huli chicken. Now while this wasn't the street side version which we've always been on the look out for, it was super tasty. Amazingly moist and full of flavour, it was the best chicken ever!! Huli huli chicken is a must try for anyone visiting the islands, it's a grilled chicken that is barbecued over mesquite wood and basted with a sweet huli huli sauce. So good!! And in fact I didn't want to eat the pulled pork dish we also ordered because of how good the chicken was. 

For the second half of our trip we relocated ourselves to Poipu and stayed at the Sheraton Kauai Resort. We booked ourselves an oceanfront room and it did not disappoint in the least. Being able to relax on the lanai and just look out at the memorizing blues of the ocean was such a treat. As an added bonus, with the way our lanai was situated we also had the pleasure of watching the incredible Hawaiian sunsets. The room was very spacious and well appointed providing us with everything we needed during our stay. This resort actually has two distinct sides; an ocean side and a garden side with a road splitting the two. The check-in area is on the garden side. The resort is undergoing renovation as they work on converting this resort into a vacation club property but none of this really affected us because the work was all on the garden side. Staying on the ocean side gives you easy access to the beach. The resort has plenty of beach chairs and there are cabana style beach loungers for rent. The beach is a descent size with good swimming and waves for body surfing. The snorkelling here is alright, but the better snorkelling is actually at Poipu beach by the Marriott's Waiohi Beach Club, a short walk from the Sheraton. Z saw a monk seal sunbathing on the beach when he ventured out one day while I chose to stay behind and studying. Can't complain about the views I had while studying except to say that they were rather distracting and really tested my ability to focus.  

The resort has plenty of places to relax. On the ocean side besides the beach and pool areas you can find several fire pits between the buildings that you can sit around in the evening, there are rocking chairs that line the centre grassy space between the buildings along with plenty of chairs lining the edge of the ocean. The pool is rather small and we honestly did not spend any time there. The resort hosted a luau once a week on the grass area by the ocean. It would make for a very scenic luau and seemed quite popular as we snuck a peek as we were heading out for dinner. 

The restaurants on site are Lava's and RumFire. Lava's is an open-air casual restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is situated on the resort's ocean-side and right by the pool. We had breakfast included in our stay which was at Lava's. The food itself was pretty good, though I was highly disappointed to learn they served Starbucks coffee instead of local Kaua'i coffee. The service here was a little hit and miss though particularly during breakfast where one waiter that we kept getting was not only slow but kept carelessly pouring our coffee and spilling it everywhere without even seeming to realize what he was doing. 

RumFire is a more fine dining restaurant. We had dinner here one evening and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere where they have live music in the background. This restaurant has incredible ocean views and would make a great spot to enjoy a sunset dinner.   

We visited the Kilauea Point lighthouse and bird sanctuary during one of our excursions. The history on this site dates back to the 1913 when the 52 foot lighthouse structure was commissioned. The lighthouse sits 180 feet above the Pacific and was restored in 2013 and is now a popular tourist attraction. We took a tour of the lighthouse and got to learn more of the historic operations and the construction of the structure including the unique clam shaped lens. It originally operated using a kerosene lantern which ran the risk of blowing out if the air vents in the lighthouse were not properly managed. The views from the lighthouse are stunning and provide a great vantage point for birdwatching. During whale season it would probably provide great views of the humpback whale migration. This area is also bird sanctuary. We spotted the red-footed booby, the white-tailed Koa'e Kea, and the layman albatross to name a few. The $10 entry fee per person was well worth it. This is also where we found our Hawaiian art work by a local artist Patrick Ching. 

This was certainly a relaxing vacation, even with the studying part, and definitely helped reset the body and mind. We had awesome sunny weather. The few tropical rain showers were mostly over night but the one time during the day was no big deal as we just jumped into the ocean to wait it out. It's always so hard for me to leave what has become a favourite happy place of mine. But alas we had to come home...

To travel is to live...until next time...life is good!