Planning for Port...

Soon and very soon, I leave for Portugal. 

I still have to post more photos from my cruise and embarrassingly still have to finish unpacking from it(whoops!), but I'm already thinking ahead to my next vacation.  I cannot wait.

My friend Laura, who will be going on vacation to Portugal with me, and I met last Saturday at the Bohemian beer garden in Astoria, Queens, to plan for our trip.  What better way to plan for vacation than to look at guide books while drinking cold beer and listening to live music.  We figured out a great plan, too.  We're going to fly into Lisbon, rent a car, and drive up the coast to Northern Spain and back again.  We're not quite sure of our itinerary in-between, but are ready for the adventure.

Of course, me being me, I had to take photos of our planning session.

Laura, who is a talented photographer herself, took some of me, too.  And some old guy we befriended at the beer garden also took our first "portugal travel" photo, seen below in black and white.  Here's a teaser - expect some great photos from Portugal in the next month!

(nyc bohemian beer garden, photographed June 2010)

On A Boat...

I recently went on my first ever cruise and was accompanied by my friend Meghan (hi Meghan!)  Some people are cruise people.  Some people are not.  Meghan and I are decidedly cruise people.  We loved the shows, the chaise lounges, the bars, the endless buffets...

And we loved the "shore excursions."  We went parasailing in Key West and visited some Mayan ruins in Mexico.  What was funny was that, once we disembarked at port in Mexico, we immediately got on another boat to ferry us to the ruins.  But it was a beautiful day to be on a boat, especially one that served ice cold cerveza (Mind you, we stayed away from the margaritas and pina coladas for fear of Montezuma's revenge. Where'd they get the ice from?).  There was even a cute boy playing a guitar for us.  Who could complain?

This bottom photo is with lensbaby for those who are keeping track.

(Mexico, photographed June 2010)