La Gomera Spain - Tours

 At Port in La Gomera Canary Island Spain

Whale Watching! At the port in La Gomera - Canary Islands - Spain

Santa Cruz de Tenerif Spain - Heinz Mexican Ketchup

Heinz Mexican Ketchup

Another wonderfind from my trip to Santa Cruz de Tenerif Spain... Heinz Mexican Ketchup. Amazing to see something like this for the first time in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

As an FYI... this is a Spanish product with peppers! Ay Caramba!

Germany - Unicum

One of my big guilty pleasures when traveling is shopping at local supermarkets. This shot is from Metro in Germany. Unicum..... need I say more?

Metro - Unicum

Victoria BC - Smoken Bones

Recently I had the opportunity to go to Victoria BC. Living in Vancouver, Victoria is just a short ferry ride away.

During our stay we searched for a place for dinner one night. Not know the city, we drove around looking for a restaurant. We cam across Smoken Bones. The restaurant passed our test of a restaurant actually having customers! At 5:30 PM the restaurant was hopping. We knew it was good.

We had a great meal.

Then it came time to decide on dessert. We were full but noticed Bacon Ice Cream in the menu. We hummed and hawed and decided that we were not going to have any dessert. When our server returned she asked us for our order. We explained that dessert was not in the cards for us that night but asked about the bacon ice cream.

Our server explained it was really great! We declined. Then our server said she would bring us a taste! WOW.

 

Smoken Bones

Bacon Ice Cream!!!

The Ice Cream was really great. Vanilla Ice Cream coated with finely crumbled bacon. WOW! A great blend of sweet & salty. Next time I'll save some room to order it.

Country Specialties - Spain

Every country has their local specialties. Supermarkets in Switzerland have a chocolate aisle while supermarkets in Sweden have a crisp bread aisle.

In Spain it's the Jamon (ham) aisle. The difference here is the whole leg is sold with hoof on.

Lost in Translation - Spain

On a cruise in a Spanish port last fall we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a couple of forgotten items when we noticed Doo Wap. The brown bit and the name "Doo" led our minds to wander.

Cockroaches at The Nines Hotel in Portland

Cockroaches at a 4 star Hotel? Yes... The Nines Hotel in Portland provided such an experience this past Easter. There is never just 1 roach!

Tofino Red Neck

When we traveled to Tofino BC earlier this year we stopped in at a local drug store to pick up some cough tablets.

I love small town drugstores. They always have something great. Something like these Red Nek Wine glasses. In red & white wine sizes of course!

Naked in Spain

Shopping in Spain I was stopped in my tracks with these Potato Chips!

The Biggest Schnitzel in Berlin

Three years ago I was in Berlin for the start of the Christmas Market season. I met some friends and they took us for a special meal at Restaurant Louis.

We ordered our schnitzel and man did we get it. There was a thick layer of fried potatoes under it too.

Portugal.... Child's Champagne?

While traveling in Portugal last fall I came across something that shocked me a bit. A sparkling juice for children bottled like Champagne. Wow!

Lost in Translation... China What?

A few weeks ago I took a German friend of mine shopping to a factory outlet mall near Seattle. We needed a quick lunch break so we headed to local Panda Express.

We ordered and went to get our drinks. On the way to our table my friend was chuckling under her breath. When I asked what she was laughing at she explained.

The house brand iced tea is named "China Mist". In German, Mist is the word for shit. So the drink was called China Shit. We both had a good laugh.

Italy.... Cell Phones

On the train to Rome from a disgusting trip to Naples I had the pleasure of sitting across from a very loud Italian guidette constantly talking on her cellphones. Then all of a sudden it was two cell phones at once!

Naples ... Italy

Last summer we took a train from Rome to Naples to visit a museum and take a small tour of the city.

We same an awesome museum and then walked towards the harbour for some lunch. Lunch was a disaster and  rip off. I won't bore you with the details.

We did have to traipse by heaping piles of stinking garbage with rats running amok.

Avoid this city by every means possible.

Shit I've Heard on Vacation - Vatican Museum

Standing at the ticket booth to buy a ticket to get into the Vatican Museum, a men pushed in front of me to ask " Is this the way to the SIXTEENTH chapel?

The Sistine Chapel

Shit I've Heard on Vacation - Lucerne - Switzerland - 2009

On a trip to Switzerland we were in Lucerne.... while walking around the central business district we came across a group of American school kids on a trip. One particularly bright boy, 15-17 years old, asks his leader "Why do they have so many Red Flags with White Crosses on the buildings?"

Still laughing today....

The Swiss Flag

Shit I've Heard on Vacation - Honolulu Hawaii - 2012

Some friends of mine and I were on Queen's Surf Beach in Oahu a couple of weekends ago. This is a gentleman's beach.  A friend had just come out of the water and was standing while waiting to dry in the sun before sitting back down on the beach.

A fairly hunky guy was jogging down the path that ran along the beach. My friend was following him (with his eyes) as the jogger passed our location. All of a sudden we heard "Quit Looking at Me!" being yelled.

We ,and the group around us, all had a good laugh. We waited for the runner to return to cheer him on. The runner never returned. :(

Shit I've Heard on Vacation - New York City - 2009

Spring 2009 - Overheard cell phone conversation while walking on 7th Avenue near the Sheraton hotel 4 PM (ish)... "I've just finished with my trick. Do you have time for coffee?"

Shit I've Hear on Vacation - The Start

I have heard a lot of interesting snippets of conversations over the past several years while traveling. This is the space where you will find them. Enjoy...I did!