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Planning an Australia Adventure

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 | Travel | 5 Comments

Great whites, aloof surfers, phenomenal seafood, cheap lobster tail, world class wines, cosmopolitan cities, a true cafe culture, and (to Justin’s delight) little penguins!

We’re leaving for Sydney, Australia on Friday or Saturday night which probably has us landing on Monday the 24th and returning on Saturday the 6th, though, I am hoping to shift our schedule so we get an extra day or two.  Jet lag, I imagine, will be a bitch.

Thanks to helpful people on Yelp!, I got a big head start planning things to do/places to see/foods to try!  If I had a car reserved, domestic tickets purchased, and places to stay, we’d be all set.  At any rate, I’ve concocted the list below as a result of the lovely suggestions Yelpers have given me.  Justin and I also acquired a Fodor’s Australia guidebook today, so things may be added, if at all possible. :)

My rough trip outline, working with the number of days I have, is below:

• 2 days in Sydney
  Beaches: Bondi (most famous), Coogee and Manly  (start at Coogee then take the trail to Bondi, about 3.5 miles.  Enjoy the walk and stop for food & drinks along the way.  Get a drink at Icebergs, a surf & lifesaving clubhouse near Bondi.)
  Breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel
  Harbor tour: lunch at Doyle’s at Watsons Bay/Taronga Zoo/Aquarium/drink at the Opera
  Surry Hills (up and coming foody neighborhood to check out - maybe stay in this area)


Melbourne by Andrew Hux

• 1 day hiking + climbing in the Blue Mountains (climbing if I can find a guide) - overnight at B&B or camp
• 1 day driving/sightseeing southward - overnight camping or in car
• 1 day @ Phillip’s Island - overnight Melbourne
• 2 days in Melbourne
  Great Ocean Road
  great cafes with Italian coffee
• 1 or 2 days Yarra Valley wine tour - overnight in Yarra Valley?
• 2 days Alice Springs - an Oasis in the Outback (flight required)
• 1 day back to Sydney???
  (Paddington outdoor market if here on a Saturday)
• Depart for home

On the way from Sydney to Melbourbe, I’d like to possibly take the Snowy Mountain highway :) …unless it adds a ridiculous amount of time to the trip, and visit Canberra (the capital) if at all possible.

Also, I’d like to visit the Barossa Valley (if any way at all).  So yeah, not too much to ask for 2 weeks. haha

Foods to try in Australia (aside from the seafood and Asian food which I hear is great):
Pides - turkish pizzas - try one at the nearest kebab place
Laksa - thai coconut noodle soup
Aussie hamburger - same has here but we like ours with beetroot
Meat pies - savory pies

Tags: Adventure, Australia, Exploring, travel

4th Anniversary - Roundtrip to Polanda via Vienna

Saturday, October 11th, 2008 | Adventure, Family, Photography, Travel | 3 Comments

As some of you already know, Justin surprised me with a trip to Poland for our fourth anniversary.  While we did things tourists are typically expected to do, such as visiting Castle Wawel and snapping photos in Rynek Glowny (the grand square) in Krakow, and strolling through Stephansplatz and along the Danube Canal in Vienna, the primariy purpose of our visit was so that I could experience, first hand, the land of my ancestors.

For a time I’ve been working on a family website based on research my great aunt,

Sister Mary Elizabeth Jupe, did that traced the roots of my father’s family all the way back to the 1600’s in Silesia, Prussia in Germany (when our last name still had both its p’s: Juppe).  That region has since become part of Poland. For our trip, Justin and I had one night in Nysa, one night in Krakow, and one night in Vienna.  Nysa is, consequently, the region where my ancestors are from.  The towns that are significant follow: Deutsch Wette, Neissa/Nysa and Lindewiese/Lipowa - German and Polish names respectively for the areas that are still in existence.

It was definitely an interesting experience, though I wish we’d had longer than 3 days!  I also wish the weather had been more agreeable and that I spoke a little Polish.  :)  It was surreal to step foot into a church that some of my relatives were married in and another was christened in more than 2 centuries ago.  It was also sad, because there is practically no German influence left in the area.  I say practically, because there were still one or two German inscriptions adorning plaques within the beautiful church.  Check out our seemingly endless supply of photos from Poland and Vienna.

Tags: Adventure, austria, europe, Family, heritage, krakow, life, Lipowa, Nysa, Photography, poland, travel, vienna

Off on a ‘Top Secret’ Journey

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 | Travel | 3 Comments

In truth, it’s only top secret to me.  Justin has something secret and special planned for our 4th anniversary (Wow!!! 4 years!); his lips are sealed on the topic.  In a few hours, I’ll know where we’re attempting to go.  We are flying standby, afterall.

What I’ve managed to deduce so far: It’s probably an international flight given how long we’ll be waiting at the airport. It’s not a JetBlue flight, given the attire I am wearing to attempt to get on the plane.  I don’t know if we’re taking the puppies or if someone is watching them - though  am guessing the latter considering it’s possibly a non-JetBlue flight. I’ve also managed to deduce it is not a Caribbean destination after all (I’d originally thought otherwise) as I was told not to packed sandals, hiking, or beach clothes.  This goes entirely against typical Justin and Vanessa vacations - no hiking!? So, I am stumped.  I just hope we make it on the flight.  With only 5 seats open and an unknown number of standby passengers, it’s a gamble at best.

Luckily Justin has a couple of backup plans.  =)

I read this quote a moment ago and it had a strangely peace-inducing effect.  I thought I’d share it with you: “Give each day the chance to become the best one in your life“ - Mark Twain

Tags: Adventure, anniversary, travel, vacation

Babies from Justin

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 | Adventure | 2 Comments

Tags: Eve, Justin, Puppies, Ruby, video

Wild About Montana’s Beauty

Monday, September 15th, 2008 | Fun, Photography, Travel | 2 Comments

What a lucky gal am I?  Justin flew all the way from New York City to Billings, Montana just to spend Saturday with me!  He arrived at 10:30 pm on Friday night, and I dropped him at the airport at noon on Sunday.  I could not have asked for a better time together, though I may have asked for it to be longer!

At first, Saturday morning was dreary and rainy.  I was disappointed because I’d hoped Justin and I would make our way to Red Lodge and to the Beartooth Mountains.  I knew there was hiking around and supposedly Red Lodge was a cute little town.  Everyone told us to go there on our first trip to Montana in June, though the pass was still closed due to snow.

Despite the weather, we decided to head toward Red Lodge anyway.  We had a delicious lunch at a pizzeria in Red Lodge.  Slowly but surely, the day began to improve!  We browsed in the local shops and Justin tried on, decided to buy, and then deciding not to buy a coat from an antique store.  The store also had a really rad German hat from WWII but it was super tiny and wouldn’t fit my gigantic head, so I didn’t get it.  We noticed intermittent patches of sunlight and decided to continue on our way to Beartooth Highway and the Beartooth Pass. I’d heard it was beautiful, but words could not express the truth of the beauty of this place.  Check it out for yourself - captions and photo notes accompany the images: Photos of Snow, Hiking, Chipmunks and Kisses>>

After a lovely day of exploring a new town, a scenic drive and a bit of hiking, Justin and I relaxed in the hotel room, watched some TV, and noshed on hamburgers at Fuddruckers for dinner.  We also played a hunting video game where we shot moose - that was a blast!  Justin won (but I still killed more turkeys on the bonus round!).  I love you, sweetheart.  Thanks for coming out to Montana and showing me one heck of a good time. :)

Tags: Fun, Justin, Montana, Photography, travel, Vanessa

Blogging from Billings

Thursday, September 11th, 2008 | Thoughts, Travel | 1 Comment

Incredibly creative subject line, I know.

So far, works been much the same as it is back home, except I’ve been putting real office clothes on and makeup.  I’ve also been able to help with a couple of computer questions and walk into the other rooms to ask people things, so that’s been a nice change of pace.

Had I written yesterday, as I’d intended to, I’d have told you about the wonderful weather, the freshness, the smell of grass, the trees, and the whole town just having a clean, naturalness to it.  It is amazing.

Today it was cold and rained ceaselessly. As I am driving one of ALA’s12 passenger vans around while I’m here, this is not the most comforting of weather changes.  I went straight back to the hotel after work and ducked out only briefly for dinner at Carino’s (which happens to be in La Quinta’s parking lot).

I am engrossed in the book I am reading (Twilight series book 2).  I read it before, throughout, and after dinner, pausing only now to check my email and update this blog. I’ll probably have it finished by tomorrow.  Alas.

Well, I am going to read some more and hit the hay.  I have to actually get up early and ‘prepare’ to be around people.  Sheesh, crazy non-telecommuting types.  Hope everything is going well where you cats are at!  And I hope Val! is enjoying the wonderful city of Chicago. :)

Tags: billings, books, travel, work