What can be the absolute worst thing that can happen to a vacation? How about a natural disaster possibly throwing it into uncertainty! This week a volcano in Iceland erupted causing Volcanic Ash to spread over the atmosphere of most of Northern Europe. Needless to say, this has us quite worried about the possible effect it can have on our upcoming Spain trip. Many stories have been posted at various news outlets, such as this one on CNN detailing all the flight cancellations. This is the biggest disruption to flight service in the history of our planet...not good news at all!
Thus far, it hasn't affected U.S. to Spain flights, but if the Ash continues to spread south as some meteorlogists fear it may, this may cause some issues. We'll continue monitoring this closely hoping that this won't effect our trip at all. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Planning for Gibraltar
In exactly 22 days we depart for Spain. In 29 days though, we'll be in Gibraltar for a day. We've finalized our plans for this one-day excursion. The majority of it we booked through Gibraltar Info. We've decided to do their "Ultimate Experience" package, which will include:
And dolphins? How can anyone not like dolphins? We'll be getting up close and personal with them, so lots of pictures to come from that small cruise.
- A Cable Car trip to the top of the rock
- Apes' Den (Watch out...they bite!)
- Some presentations about the Great Siege
- The Upper Rock Nature Reserve
- Dolphin World Cruise
- An all day bus pass
And dolphins? How can anyone not like dolphins? We'll be getting up close and personal with them, so lots of pictures to come from that small cruise.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Ride The Ducks Philly Video
Check out a small video we made from our Ride The Ducks tour in Philly on Sunday, including the dancing tour guide and our trip from land to water!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Independence National Park
Sunday was our first Philly excursion together (not counting that Tesla concert last year!). We had absolutely perfect weather for it and spent the majority of the day in Independence National Park.
The ride in went quite smooth and we were quickly able to find a parking lot for $10 for all day parking on 8th and Market...not too bad (although we later walked by one further down 8th Street that said $8...oh well).
First stop on the list was the Independence Visitor's Center, where we needed to go pick our Independence Hall tickets for later in the day. By the time we got there (around 10 a.m.), they already were out of tickets, so it's a good thing we put in for advance reservations earlier in the week.
They even had a Philly Phanatic statue there for us to get a picture with...a nice little bonus.
From here, right across the street is the Liberty Bell Center. Some interesting things were learned about the bell here. For instance, when the British were coming to Philly, the bell was taken out of the city and hidden in Allentown for a while (and for all the years I lived up in that area during college, I never knew that!).
Apparently after bell has also toured America a few times, but it's been over 100 years since that's happened. Who knows, maybe they'll do it again some time. The during the Woman's Suffrage movement, they even made their own copy of the Liberty Bell as a symbol for what they stood for. After looking through all this history, we finally got to the bell and got a great snapshot of us in front.
The next stop on our journey was to the American Philosophical Society, where they had a special Darwin exhibit. I'm definitely a big fan of his and I hope to one day get to the Galapagos Islands where he started with his evolution theories.
Following this, our stomachs demanded lunch, so we walked over to the Bourse Building, which apparently was the first stock exchange in America.
Today though, it's mostly a touristy stop for cheaply priced food (damn good cheesesteak there!).
With our hunger satisfied, off we went to the Christ Church Burial Ground. Now, while most cemeteries with their headstones un-readable after centuries of wear and tear would be pretty boring, this one was actually pretty interesting. It is the final resting place of Ben Franklin, where many stop to throw pennies on his tombstone ("A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned").
Other interesting tidbits were how they had this system of burying that they buried several people on top of one another. Apparently there is also only one grave spot left open and a woman already has it reserved with her tombstone waiting for her. Creepy!
This was followed up with a quick visit to the Free Quakers Meeting House. There was a Quaker there who spoke to us about some of the history in the area...somewhat interesting, but nothing too terribly exciting.
We then explored some of the local parks in the area before finally heading to Independence Hall. Here, we got a tour of the building and learned some of its history. Since this is basically the building where our country was founded (It's where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed), it should be a trip for all Americans, especially those visiting historic Philadelphia.
Back in the day, this building was considered to be enormous, but by today's standards, not really.
Following this, we decided to finish up our trip with a Ride The Ducks tour. If you're ever in Philly and hear loud quacking noises, it's probably from this tour.
We boarded a bus, which doubles as a boat, and took a drive around Philly from Independence National Park to Society Hill to South Street to Penn's Landing. From there, our bus dove into the Delaware River and gave us a tour of the harbor area. It was pretty enjoyable and the two tour guides were quite entertaining. Definitely worth the price of admission!
To finish off our day, we had an outdoor dinner at Gigi's Restaurant and Lounge, which was quite tasteful.
Definitely check it out if you're in the area on Market between 3rd and 4th streets.
Our plans for Philly for next Sunday, if the weather stays nice, is the Philadelphia Zoo!
The ride in went quite smooth and we were quickly able to find a parking lot for $10 for all day parking on 8th and Market...not too bad (although we later walked by one further down 8th Street that said $8...oh well).
First stop on the list was the Independence Visitor's Center, where we needed to go pick our Independence Hall tickets for later in the day. By the time we got there (around 10 a.m.), they already were out of tickets, so it's a good thing we put in for advance reservations earlier in the week.
They even had a Philly Phanatic statue there for us to get a picture with...a nice little bonus.
From here, right across the street is the Liberty Bell Center. Some interesting things were learned about the bell here. For instance, when the British were coming to Philly, the bell was taken out of the city and hidden in Allentown for a while (and for all the years I lived up in that area during college, I never knew that!).
Apparently after bell has also toured America a few times, but it's been over 100 years since that's happened. Who knows, maybe they'll do it again some time. The during the Woman's Suffrage movement, they even made their own copy of the Liberty Bell as a symbol for what they stood for. After looking through all this history, we finally got to the bell and got a great snapshot of us in front.
The next stop on our journey was to the American Philosophical Society, where they had a special Darwin exhibit. I'm definitely a big fan of his and I hope to one day get to the Galapagos Islands where he started with his evolution theories.
Following this, our stomachs demanded lunch, so we walked over to the Bourse Building, which apparently was the first stock exchange in America.
Today though, it's mostly a touristy stop for cheaply priced food (damn good cheesesteak there!).
With our hunger satisfied, off we went to the Christ Church Burial Ground. Now, while most cemeteries with their headstones un-readable after centuries of wear and tear would be pretty boring, this one was actually pretty interesting. It is the final resting place of Ben Franklin, where many stop to throw pennies on his tombstone ("A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned").
Other interesting tidbits were how they had this system of burying that they buried several people on top of one another. Apparently there is also only one grave spot left open and a woman already has it reserved with her tombstone waiting for her. Creepy!
This was followed up with a quick visit to the Free Quakers Meeting House. There was a Quaker there who spoke to us about some of the history in the area...somewhat interesting, but nothing too terribly exciting.
We then explored some of the local parks in the area before finally heading to Independence Hall. Here, we got a tour of the building and learned some of its history. Since this is basically the building where our country was founded (It's where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed), it should be a trip for all Americans, especially those visiting historic Philadelphia.
Back in the day, this building was considered to be enormous, but by today's standards, not really.
Following this, we decided to finish up our trip with a Ride The Ducks tour. If you're ever in Philly and hear loud quacking noises, it's probably from this tour.
We boarded a bus, which doubles as a boat, and took a drive around Philly from Independence National Park to Society Hill to South Street to Penn's Landing. From there, our bus dove into the Delaware River and gave us a tour of the harbor area. It was pretty enjoyable and the two tour guides were quite entertaining. Definitely worth the price of admission!
To finish off our day, we had an outdoor dinner at Gigi's Restaurant and Lounge, which was quite tasteful.
Definitely check it out if you're in the area on Market between 3rd and 4th streets.
Our plans for Philly for next Sunday, if the weather stays nice, is the Philadelphia Zoo!
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