Photo of the Week: Barcelona

From Barcelona, Spain

The Indie Travel Podcast

In the Indie Travel Podcast episode # 237 - How Couples Can Stay Sane on The Road Craig and Linda discuss tips for couples.  As I normally travel solo, I didn't expect to get too much out of this episode, but I was wrong.  This podcast was chock full of information for couples and for any type of pair traveling together, ways to set expectations and divide the work and not blame each other and be mad about stuff.  It's a great episode, I recommend it to anyone who likes to travel.

Dining in Chicago

While I was in Chicago I had the opportunity to eat at two notable locations - Weber Grill and Lou Malnati's.

Weber Grill comes from the maker of Weber Grills, shocking I know. It is located at Grand and State Street and is Delicious! I had Prime Rib, sweet potato and pretzel bread. The prime rib was well cooked and tasty. The mashed sweet potatos were also tasty and I just love pretzel bread. The wait staff friendly, and offered quick service.

I thought this was a good place for solo travelers, I saw several people dining on their own.

At the end of my dinner I asked the waiter where he recommended for Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, Lou Malnati's.

Lou Malnati's
There are several locations but I went to the River North location at 439 North Wells Street.

When I arrived I was told the wait would be 45 minutes, but I only waited a half hour for a table. They do have the option of pre-ordering your pizza to reduce the wait at the table.

My salad was excellent, lots of veggies in it and a sweet vinagret dressing. Pizza crust was a bit thinner then I expected, and had cheese then sauce. A lot of sauce. Overall, it was very tasty pizza, but I'll stick with my NY style pizza anyday.

Photo of the Week: Spain

Shopping in Palma de Mallorca, Spain

EPCOT Holiday Storytellers

During the holiday season one of the special events is that each country pavillion has a storyteller who tells the story of their holiday.  Most are Christmas centered stories, but a few are not related to Christmas.  Terye and I went to the shows in Mexico, United Kingdom, China, Morocco, and Italy.

In China we saw the story of the Monkey King, as I write this months later, I don't remember much aside from it was the story of new years.  But, I do remember it was hot sitting in the sun and the actor was sweating a lot.  But you wouldn't have known it from his performance, it was excellent.  Very lively and passionate.

Next up was the Three Kings in Mexico, this performance had 3 performers - the 3 kings and the story of Epiphany.  This was another great performance. 

In the United Kingdom there was Father Christmas.  He was very sweet and even brought a child up to help him ring his bells. 

In Italy we learned the story of La Befana, a witch and about Epiphany.  This was probably my favorite of the performances, La Befana was very animated and her story was fun. 

The show I enjoyed the least was in Morocco.  I'm not sure if the actor was maybe a little less intense then the others, if i was just tired and seated too far away or if it's because I already knew about Ramadan.  It wasn't a bad show, but so many of the other story tellers were so good thatt this paled in comparison. 

To find out about show times check the times guide for Epcot.  If would not be possible to see all the shows in one day, but they are often spaced that you could see 2 or 3 in a row.  There was not much seating at the spots where the shows are done, so be prepared to stand or sit on the ground for the show. 

I do think these are a nice way to learn about holiday traditions, the shows are typically only about 10 minutes, well performed and even the ones revolving around Christmas talk about traditions that may not be celebrated by all Christians. My suggestion would be to see at least one or two that are non-Christmas related, so as to branch out and learn about a whole different culture.

This year I hope to see a few more of these shows.

Photo of the Week: Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Happy 4th Of July

I'm taking the holiday off, but wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th Of July!

Photo of the Week: Hawaii

The NCL Pride of America in Kona, Hawaii

The Ghost of Christmas Present

One of the many things I enjoy at Disney World are the Streetmospheres, the "actors" who go around parks and do impromptu (though I'm sure they're planned, they are impromptu for most guests) shows.

Guest Scrooge

Last December while shopping in the United Kingdom the Streetmospheres started a show called, A Christmas Carol.  It was hysterical.

Instead of featuring Bob Cratchit, they featured Bob Skratchit, I think he was allergic to something too.  And typical of streetmospheres, they did not have enough people in their crew and borrowed some from the crowd.

The Skratchit Family

The story was pretty much the same, though the ghosts may have been switched out to help with the pop culture aspect of the show.

Ghost of Christmas Past 

Ghost of Christmas Future

 I can't give away the humor, in part because that's mean and in part because I know it can change a bit from show to show.  But I do highly recommend watching this one if you see it.

Photo of the Week: Palma

Palma, Spain