Of course, you can have a lot of fun in the sun and play pool volleyball all afternoon and enjoy your favorite frozen drink…
But you can also eat along the waterfront with some great local fare and wine…
and watch the sun go down next to the firepit…
and then take a great run around the marina.
so, you can then enjoy the local casino just down the street to play your lucky numbers on the roulette wheel to get enough money to pay for a taxi back to your resort.
St. Lucia has some amazing diving. Kind of hard to take your smartphone on a boat to capture the scenery without destroying the phone from the saltwater.
There are numerous sites and undersea wildlife to see here as a diver.
It is hard to choose which sites to visit as we are only here for a few days…
And after recovering from the dives, when enjoying some local BBQ, it is pretty impressive on what modern songs can be played on steel drums. I don’t think they have figured out Macklemore yet as a popular Caribbean sound…
Later in the evening, we were invited up to enjoy a cocktail in the Presidential Suite (but not a president of a country though)
It has some great ocean views…
and a very cool outside private shower on the roof of the complex. But is it worth $900 a night for the extra space and exclusivity? Nah, the pool side lagoon rooms use the same beds, linens, furniture and stocked in-room bar for 1/3 the price 🙂
First we arrived and explored a little in this blog posting…but most importantly St Lucia is a great place to go running, but be ready to run some hills.
Unlike many other Caribbean islands, St Lucia is not a flat long distance course.
There is tons of great scenery.
And tons of twisty, turny roads to wind your way through the hills.
You also run into some unexpected wildlife from time to time. A great excuse to step into the shade and take a drink so you are not dehydrated.
It is really hot after 7 AM, but definitely a great place to run and enjoy the seaside atmosphere. What else can you do here? Check out my posting from the next day.
Running around the world is always fun. Some of my other favorite spots:
The international airport is in the southern part of the island, and there is a single road that makes a circle of the entire island. We chose to stay at Sandals Grande St. Lucian at the northwest tip of the island since we are from the Pacific Northwest.
It is best to hire a private car to drive you around.
Much faster and convenient. I don’t think I need a 6 door Mercedes AMG for my next car though…
You also get to drive through the high tech center near the city of Castries.
Sandals always makes you feel welcome…
It was a tough choice whether to eat the light French macaroons or jump in the pool outside our room’s door 🙂
Have to love sitting by the fire pit at night with local drinks…it is like the pacific northwest with 85 degree nights in August, but you are right next to the Caribbean Ocean!
Everyone has been wondering about the new Centurion Studio lounge in the Seatac airport so I thought I would sneak in and check it out.
It is quaint (small), but a nice quiet escape from the terminal with a great interior design, light snacks and a light complimentary bar. It has free WiFi of course with numerous power stations.
Verdict: A great place to sneak into and relax before or between flights if you are stuck in the Seatac airport.
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15 years ago we left with this friend for a tour of Amsterdam, Paris and London.
Who knows what might be next?
Stay tuned to this channel!
🙂
Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone 8!
Today was our last day in Spain – tomorrow, we fly out. We drove north from Granada to get back to Madrid through the countryside full of olive trees and grape (wine) vines.
We stopped for lunch and some wine tasting in Puerto Lapice. The wine barrels/fermentation tanks are a little different in Spain.
It was our last chance to have some local garlic soup. I hope these tanks I found was not used to make wine we had with lunch…
There was also a small museum if some very old copies of the Don Quixote books which is a very popular history topic in this area for tourists (see below, hint: windmills).
We also took a break and drove up the mountain to see the old castle and historic Spanish windmills near Consuegra that are all slowly being restored.
It is a nice spot to visit and hike around a little to work off the wine tasting 🙂
Driving into Madrid, here is their fancy bull fighting stadium…and no, we did not go to a bull fighting exhibition. Long controversial discussion…
OK – end of this trip, we have travelled 5,000+ kilometers and learned a lot. Headed back to home after being kicked out of Spain!
Today, we departed Torremolinos and headed north for a few exploratory stops in Mijas and later spend the night in Granada.
The weather was gorgeous for the upcoming holiday season in Spain.
Mijas was a very nice (white) village on the side of the mountain in the Costa Del Sol area. Great views looking down to the coast. You might be able to see the unusual rectangle bull fight stadium in the distance.
A great place to do a little hiking.
Or walking around the steep stairs and walkways around the village. Just make sure you pack water, as it is quite warm and dry.
If you are really adventurous, you can go to the top of the mountain and visit the hidden church at the top.
We then drove to Granada to visit the Alhambra Palace. It has some amazing views of the valley and city of Granada. I have to admit that Granada is a very nice city to relax and take in some different culture. It felt like San Francisco for some reason.
This was an area that I, honestly, have never heard about before. It is an amazing site and gardens with lots of history.
The one interesting historical tidbit, (outside of the Moorish, Sultans and Spanish Royalty history), is this is the place that Christopher Columbus met with the Queen to get his funding and approval to sail to west and discover North America. It might have been on this very spot on the floor in the palace…
The sculptures, architecture, gardens and style were quite amazing throughout the castle/palace. Everything follows the Islamic rules of seven, etc. in the layout and in places like the lions for the harem section of the palace.
One more tidbit, Granada and the palace is where Washington Irving (the author) lived for part of his life. He wrote a lot of historical stories and one classic which many may remember: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Today, we headed north out of Africa and hopped on a ferry across the Mediterranean to go over and visit the famous British territory of Gibraltar.
The motorcycle biker gangs in we saw when we spent the day in Tangier Morocco were getting rough, so it was time to leave! 😉
The Rock of Gibraltar is a hopping place…almost a frenzy of tourists, locals and visitors who love to go shopping.
It was great fun to hang out in the main square for some (local) fish and chips and a nice beer to enjoy lunch.
We also toured around some of the older military sites and former barracks along the coastline. It was windy, but some great views of both Spain and Africa (Morocco).
We then went up to Michael’s Cave to check out the popular cave where local concerts are sometimes held.
And then get questioned and held hostage by the local monkey (ape) populations for ice cream or other snacks when we exited the cave.
The mini tour buses won’t take you to the top, where the large (massive) naval gun was still in place…
So I had to run up 250 meters (and back down) in 15 minutes to avoid being left behind. The views from the top were worth it 🙂
Great way to spend a day in the south of Europe!
The last day in Morocco, we drove up through Rabat (the capital) and Tangiers the port city so we could head back to Spain.
We made a quick stop in Rabat driving around the capital area. We caught them during a changing of the guard. A very clean city…of course because it is the capital with all the government offices.
The main stop was the mausoleum of Mohammed V which was quite a site to see. A bit like Napoleon’s tomb in Paris, but different…
The giant square with the Roman pillars and unfinished minaret tower (Hassan’s Tower) was an interesting feeling for some reason. It almost felt like we were in Rome or Egypt. Unfortunately Hassan’s tower was under some renovation.
Here is Morocco, you are watched carefully! They have hidden cameras even in the Roman pillars.
We had a great lunch stop in Assilah for some great seafood lunch (paella). One of the best paella courses we have ever eaten.
Assilah is a gorgeous village along the waterfront with a historical Spanish style and architecture. Lots of local art as well on all the walls. An excellent place to stop for a break along the coast only a half hour south of Tangier.
One of the highlights of Tangier is the view you have of the meeting of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. You can see both blending at the northern tip of Africa next to the (active) lighthouse and the coast of Spain in the distance.
Headed back to Spain to visit the Rock of Gibraltar. Believe it or not, two kids climbed up into the wheel wells of our bus…so they could sneak across to get to Europe. They are desperate to leave Morocco and Africa and it is hard to believe and see firsthand how badly people want to leave the continent and get to a better place.
Here are some of my other posts about Morocco if you missed them:
David Cross Travel Blog 