Back

Our vacation has ended and we are back to our daily life without the beach, dolphins and Starbucks' Frappuccino. But we are looking to go back as soon as possible...

Nature Walk the Floridian Way

I love the Foridian Nature Walks. You walk on a seemingly endless boardwalk through an area you would normally never get to see and are on the lookout for alligators, racoons and other wild animals.

But while the kids and I get very excited about every little lizzard, (and extremely noisy, so even a deaf alligator would hear us coming)

husband is not very impressed.

And not only that, he makes lots of jokes about me and my liking for those man made nature walks.

But I guess, if you lived here during your teenage years and spend your off time exploring the area knee deep in the swamps, far away from any boardwalk, you would find it kind of lame, too.

Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa

Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa. A place husband has wanted to stay at forever, just because the KISS outfits are on display there.
He played the slot machines with a personal limit of $5. After putting $4.50 into a machine, said machine lightened up and he had won $250. That is when he stopped and went back to look some more at the KISS costumes.

Dolphins

Whenever we visit Florida we see dolphins, lots of them. However, we have never seen them as close as in Naples, Florida a few days ago. Husband and I were walking along the pier, all the way to the end where fishermen were waiting for bites. In the distance we could see a mother dolphin with her young one when suddenly a fisherman started reeling in a fish as fast as he could. Just when we could see the fish dangling on the hook, a huge dolphin jumped out of the water, high in the air, trying to snatch the fish. "Do the dophins always try to steal your catch?" I asked the fisherman, who was clearly out of breath. "Every single time," he answered. "And most of the time they succeed."

Florida

According to son and daughter there isn't a better place than their grandparents' swimming pool. Their daily activities? Back flips, diving for rings, floating around. Eating large amounts of ice cream and then jumping back into the water.

Budapest, Hungary

2 overnights in Budapest. I had only been there once, years ago, but one of the flight attendants who was working with me on this tour, is a big Budapest fan and tries to request it at least once a month. She invited me to tag along with her while she went to the huge market hall with vegetables and fruit, meat and cheese. She showed me the the little shops where the Hungarians and not the tourists go shopping. She took me to an original Hungarian restaurant and went with me on a walk along the Donau river.

Just before going back to our hotel she invited me for cocktails. "Cheers!" she said. "Let's toast to beautiful Budapest!"

Gelato

Since we are spending August at home we are trying to sweeten it up with ice - cream. And lots of it. Son's buddy and his mom showed us the newest and best ice - cream place in the city. Italian gelato...the best we have ever had outside of Italy.

And the Italian ladies always give the kids the biggest scoops.