Cultural Cuisinart

Today’s assignment was to talk about the BufBloPoFo participant below you on the list over there on the sidebar. Today, if the blogger above you on that list was kind enough to ask you a question, answer it! If not, either find a question that was asked of someone else and answer that or, you know, write a post about, um... soup. Look, these topics can’t all be winners, people.

Question from over at Blog, Pink and be Mary: Tell us about the best vacation you've ever had. Where would you like to visit next? Also, just because I'm nosey, how do you know Mike?

Best vacation I've ever had - boy that's a tough one to answer. Note that I used to live in Hawaii, so while I love that place, it doesn't really qualify as a vacation spot for me.

I'd probably have to say my trip to Portugal and Spain, senior year of college. I went with my girlfriend, and we pretty much bought a few guidebooks, bought a ticket to Lisbon and got on the plane. We had our first night reserved, but other than that, we had no concrete plans. It was exhilarating and terrifying to just let go like that, to have no idea where you might go next. We decided to change hotels after the first night, in order to be closer to the center of town. We found a place that seemed fine, based on the guidebook description. However, when we got closer, it was a little alarming that the entrance was in some back alley, and there were literally hordes of random guys just hanging around. Fortunately, some kind stranger grabbed my arm as we were approaching, said, "Oh, you two girls don't want to stay there. It's... not very safe for you." He then proceeded to march us down a few blocks to a lovely little hotel (very reasonably priced too!) and then disappeared back into the night. We never got a chance to thank him properly. The new hotel was a dream - clean, well located, SAFE, and our room had a fabulous view of the castle on the hill above us.

After we left Lisbon, it got a lot harder to find people who spoke English, so I got to break out my Tarzan Portuguese as I attempted to get us on the right bus from Evora to Seville, Spain. Luckily, we got there, and I must say that Seville was the highlight of the trip. We ran into two other friends who happened to be passing through the area, and we had a fun couple of nights going from tapas bar to tapas bar, drinking a lot of sangria, and being tourists. Also, my Tarzan Spanish is pretty decent, so I had a lot easier time getting around the city.

My big trip that I've got planned next is a 2 week excursion to Peru, to hike the Inca Trail, see Machu Picchu, etc etc. However, the most exciting trip that I'm planning one day is a month long boat cruise to Antarctica. I just need time and money (neither of which I currently possess).

To answer your final question, I don't know Mike at all. I got pulled into this little blogging fest via Mark B.