Space Goddess

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had planned to blog from China; however, because of some mysterious reason, I was unable to connect to this website. So, because I am a travel advisor, selling journeys on Earth and into Space, I now will offer a few comments I made in emails to friends about our recent journey to this amazing country: 

What a whirlwind few days! Went to the Forbidden City (where Emperor, concubines, and eunuchs lived but was “forbidden” to commoners), Tiananmen Square, a traditional hutong (house built around a courtyard and passed down through the generations, did site inspections at the St. Regis and Ritz Carlton, climbed the Great Wall (originally Chinese called it the Long Wall—actually several walls blended together when China unified in 221 BC), ate at a country-style Chinese restaurant (so delicious!!!), visited the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic venue, the Temple of Heaven, and a shopping area. We’ve been served wonderful meals—most of them have been “non” Chinese until today. The first day we had one mediocre Chinese meal and then all sorts of gourmet cuisine, French, Italian. Finally today we had both a Chinese lunch and dinner. Both were outstanding! Beijing is very modern, very clean, and, unfortunately very polluted. People have traded bicycles for cars. Also, lots of factories and coal-generated heat. Tomorrow we fly to Xi’an to see the Terra Cotta warriors, the largest mosque in China, a new excavation area, a new museum, and end up at the Shangri-La Hotel. Then off to Chongqing to board the riverboat for our brief few day Yangzi River cruise.Written on November 11, 2008

I feel somewhat that I am in a spelling bee and may be eliminated from the tournament at any moment. I will try to sum up the past few days since we left Udaipur and I’ve learned several new Indian names that I pray I won’t misspell any of them!

Our last night in Udaipur was a sensory delight! Mr. PRS Oberoi, Chairman & Chief Executive Office of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, hosted a wonderful dinner on a patio overlooking the lake. Dancers and musicians reminded us of the unique and historic that one thinks of when we conjure up India in our minds. Once again, although I swore I couldn’t eat another bite, I enjoyed a culinary feast! We then walked down to a terrace that overlooked the lake and were asked to turn around to face the hotel to experience an incredible fireworks display!

The next morning we flew to Jodhpur, capital of Rajisthan and were guests of the Maharaja of Jodhpur at Umaid Bhawan Palace, his private residence, part of which is now a 5 star hotel! Umaid Bhawan is the largest active residential palace in the world. And, yes, for you enquiring minds, Jodhpur is the home of the original jodhpur pants!

Later in the afternoon we flew from Jodhpur to Mumbai (Bombay). What an amazing sea of humanity and great mix of cosmopolitan meets Victorian, Jain, Sikkh, Hindu, Moslem, etc! We stayed at the Taj Palace and Tower across the street from the famed Gateway of India. Our room was in the original “Palace” section which is more historic than the tower building. I fell in love with Bombay (It’s only been called Mumbai for 7 years and many residents still call the city Bombay). It is vibrant, a heady mix of old and new, a huge economic and banking center in one part and, not too far away, the famous “Public Laundry.” We were guests of Nathanial Waring, President of Cox & Kings USA, at a wonderful restaurant, Indigo, a chic wine bar/urban cuisine establishment owned by a former New Yorker!

Our final evening in Mumbai was quite an event! We were treated to a form of Indian dance, song, and storytelling that was like an operatic ballet done in traditional Indian costume using traditional Indian instruments. Afterwards, all of us (in traditional Indian garb) had a gala dinner accompanied by live “contemporary” music. I put the word “contemporary” in quotes because the music was what Dan Acroyd used to sing and play on SNL when he was doing a spoof of a Holiday Inn-type lounge act. And, you know what? The music worked! It absolutely fit in and became one more endearing memory of Incredible India.

 More to come…

On an extremely hot, humid, muggy July evening in 2006, I attended The Roasterie’s 2nd Annual Sweet Bean Cook-off, a competition of regional chefs to create the tastiest dessert using Roasterie Coffee (no, coffee drinks don’t count!). I was a woman on a mission—to recruit attendees to join owner Danny O’Neill on a custom designed Kenyan safari including visits to Kenyan coffee plantations. It was showtime, folks! I dressed professionally, carted in tons of collateral material (by myself–whine, whine!) into the Roasterie’s soon to be new digs and proceeded to set up a display table about Africa and the Roasterie Kenyan Safari.

There was one teensy, eensy, little problem—the new facility had no air conditioning! Chefs were watching their frozen coffee desserts melt into high caloric, delicious puddles; guests, already attired in shorts and tees, fanned themselves with their hands, paper, and many of my fliers (at least they were good for something since I had no takers for the safari!). I stood next to the display table doing my imitation of the melting frozen desserts; I was not glistening; I was not perspiring; I was sweating like a hog (do hogs sweat?) and I was sure there was about to be a puddle of sweat gathering at my feet!

At the conclusion of the event, I threw the remaining brochures into a box and darted for the exit and into my car. I cranked up the A/C in the car, turned on NPR, and headed home. I don’t know my way around the part of KC where the Roasterie is and after a couple of wrong turns ended up on a street called Southwest Boulevard. I knew that street would lead to an entrance to the highway. I took a deep breath, wiped the remaining sweat off my face, and moved into the lane that would take me to the highway.

That’s when I noticed a flashing light in my rear-view mirror—a police car!

“Yes sir,” I said, rolling down the window, “is there a problem?”

“Ma’am (I love this part of the Midwest where Ma’am sounds so Southern!), you were going 45 in a 25 zone.”

“Oh my gosh, I had no idea! I’m so sorry! Here’s my license. I know I deserve a ticket. I wasn’t paying attention. You see I just left the Roasterie where I was presenting a safari to Kenya to the guests at Sweet Bean 2. Have you ever been to Africa?”

“No ma’am, (there, he said it again!), I’ll just check your license, write the ticket and be right back.”

Quickly rolling up the window (did I mention it was ungodly hot?), I wasn’t even upset I got a ticket.  I was just grateful to be out of the tropics and in front of A/C!

“Ma’am (three’s a charm!),” the officer knocked on my window.” If you show up in court on September 18th, Kansas City, Kansas will allow you to plead to a non-moving violation.”

“Really? That’s great! So, where’s your favorite place to vacation? Can Great Getaways help you plan your next vacation?”

A girl’s gotta ask, you know!

On Sunday, September 16th we’ll celebrate Great Getaways’ 15th anniversary at an Out-of-This-World Bash at ARTichokes, 10557 Mission Road. In addition to delicious food, fine wine, award-winning musicians, you’ll meet Carolyn Wincer of London, England, Director of Astronaut Sales for Virgin Galactic; Dean Johnson, Executive Vice President of Creative Leisure International, purveyor of luxe vacations; and Cathy Larson, Director of Sales for Holland America Line. Also, be sure and say hello to Heidi Denecke, winging her way to join us from the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, Maui; Susan Huston, Director of Sales for Crystal Cruises, and Becky Powell, Business Development Manager for Virtuoso.

We invite you to preview our items that will be available at our Silent Auction to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. We hope you’ll bid on items to create wonderful memories for you and hope for those whose memories have been erased and lives forever altered! Click  below on “Let us tempt you”
    LET US TEMPT YOU!

Greetings from Las Vegas! No, this is not some cheap postcard sent to you by Aunt Tilly and Uncle Gus on their annual Senior Citizen trip to Vegas!

I am here attending Virtuoso’s Annual Travel Mart, a conference of travel consultants and vendors, where we share trends, ideas, new products, and ways to help your dreams become reality. This is an intense week—Great Getaways has 774 one-on-one appointments with execs from cruise lines, tour companies, hotels, resorts, and, of course, space travel (Go Virgin Galactic!!!) over a period of 4 days. Every 4 minutes from 8:00 AM through 4:00 PM we have a 4 minute meeting with a vendor. It’s like speed dating on steroids—resulting in the mating of wonderful vacation ideas with you, our client!

Yesterday we had 2 keynote speakers, Dewitt and Terry Jones, the former a photographer for National Geographic and the latter, his brother, the founder of Travelocity. What an amazing combination of talent!!! In fact, they spent a significant amount of time talking about turning imagination into “imaginaction”. Have they been reading Great Getaways tagline or what??? You don’t remember our tagline? Okay, one more time, then of to bed to dream of wonderful vacations— our tagline is “Imagine…Create…Experience!” Sweet Dreams from the Bellagio! Ciao!

What does one tenth of one percent look like? In my world when I envision .001 I see Judi Chaitman, Vice President and Manager of Great Getaways. Judi has been selected as one of the TOP TRAVEL SPECIALISTS in the world by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine (August, 2007 edition)! This marks the SEVENTH (7th) year Judi has received this amazing honor! Wendy Perrin, Consumer Affairs Editor of Conde Nast Traveler, annually selects the best of the best in the world of travel providers. This is a tall order by any stretch of the imagination because, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are over 88,950 travel “agents” in the US alone!

Sorry to sound bossy—just consider me your “Travel Mom”! Like a regular mom I have your best interests at heart. I’ve suggested for years that everyone should get a passport and the zoo that we fondly call the passport application process is proof positive you need to get a passport! Having a passport is like the way we used to think about the American Express card (not anymore, thank God!) with their slogan, “Don’t leave home without it!” It’s official, it’s uniform, and it is accepted all over this planet as proof of citizenship.

So, what are you waiting for? Download an application at www.travel.state.gov

Need a certified copy of your birth certificate for the passport application? While you’re ordering one, I suggest you order two and keep the extra one in a safe place. I promise the day will come that you will once again be asked for a birth certificate for some yet to be invented government form, and, voila, you’ll already have one!

Also, be sure to check the entry requirements of the country(ies) you’ll be visiting. Many require that your passport be valid for 6 months past the date of your visit. Others require multiple blank, facing Visa pages (which you might not have because you’ve used them on previous journeys we created for you!).

Create 2 photocopies of your passport and take one copy with you (not in the same place you store your real passport) and leave one copy with us (or should you, for some reason not understood in the world of logic, use another travel company, give them a copy–hopefully, they’ll know to keep it safe for you!). If that moment we all fear, the loss of our passport, does occur, then having copies will expedite the replacement process.

There, now don’t you feel better? See how your mama loves you! Now, brush your teeth and go to bed. That’s what I’m going to do!

  Please, please, please click on the image to preview the ultra cool Save the Date card we’re sending for Great Getaways 15th Anniversary Bash!

Now, for those of you who aren’t susceptible to my pleading here’s the info in readable text:

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD 15TH ANNIVERSARY BASH!  SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH AT ARTichokes IN MISSION FARMS

 If you tell me you can read the image to the left without enlarging it, I want the name of your opthamologist! It reads:

The Leawood travel agency that gives you the luxury of experience is turning 15! Treat yourself to a night of experience at ARTichokes, Leawood’s premier art space in Mission Farms, Sunday, September 16, 2007, 7 - 10 PM, ARTichokes, 10557 Mission Road, Leawood; Light Hors d’ Oeuvres; Cruise & Vacation Silent Auction to Benefit Alzheimers Association; Sponsored by: Great Getaways, Virgin Galactic, Holland America Line, Creative Leisure, ARTichokes, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, SPACES magazine

No need to read on because I know you’re anxious to put the date in your calendar, pda, or perhaps create a tasteful tattoo reminder!

 

 

Ithaa, an Undersea Restaurant, is real, albeit unusual. It is one of the restuarants you can choose at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa Rangali Island. I start this entry by stating the restaurant is real because when I received an email with photos of the restaurant, I thought it was a hoax, a digitally created urban legend. However, after searching snopes.com (where I often check the “absolutely true—I swear it!” emails I often read which are, in fact, absolutely untrue!), I discovered, Ithaa (pronounced eet-ha) exists! As much as I am dying to sample the wonderful resorts of the Maldives, this “trendy” attraction doesn’t make it to my “must see and do” list—too much of man manipulating nature in an area where human intervention is generally minimal. So there!

My most unique dining experience was probably dinner at Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower; second would be the chicken soup I attempted to eat while the Silver Cloud navigated the Chilean fjords in 20++ feet swells Thanksgiving night, 1997. And the most unusual place you’ve eaten is?

I’m devastated! I’m crushed! I’m so disillusioned! Before I explain why, let me give you some background:

Today is April 13th, Friday, April 13th to be exact and it started out being a “Lucky” day! Michael and I winged our way from Kansas City to Rochester, New York to attend Krista and David’s renewal of their vows (aka an official wedding post Iraq!). I blogged about Krista and David on March 25th (once again, I present the Cliff’s Notes version of a past blog: Krista is our niece; she met David in the Reserves; they got engaged; Krista’s unit was called up to Iraq; they were married by a priest prior to deployment; Krista is back, toting Purple Heart and Bronze Star; now we’re having the “official” wedding; Krista is being redeployed to Iraq…). It is very cold in Rochester—still not an unlucky thing—we left brrrrr cold KC. We attended the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, and we planned to go to…………….drum roll, please…………WEGMANS!!!

You remember Wegmans, don’t you? (See Feb. 23 blog) I salivate just saying the word, Wegmans—-Wegmans, Wegmans, Wegmans—oooohhh! Six of us plan this exciting outing–Michael, me, Sandy and Chuck (Michael’s sister and brother-in-law), and John and Diane (cousins). Six normal looking adults, of apparent sound mind and body, headed out to Wegmans. You may know Rochester for Eastman Kodak, Rochester Institute of Technology, or proximity to Corning. I think Rochester’s biggest claim to fame is being the birthplace of Wegmans! Based on a recommendation from a local Rochesterian, we eagerly drove (thank you John for having a GPS) to the food mecca. We raced inside and there it was…

…a not particularly clean, boringly stocked (i.e. no pretty displays), large supermarket. Greeting us at the front door was the produce section with a display of broccoli remnants and a few tomatoes. Nobody was stocking the display. It just sat there–forlorn, neglected, alone. “Oh no!” cried the grocery goddess and food know-it-all that lives in my head, “Tell me this isn’t so!” “Not to worry!” the hopeful child inside admonished, “Let’s look at the yummy pasteries in the bakery!” Off we went to explore the bakery section. Adults, please, if you have a child reading this, you may want them to look away because the next words may be offensive and graphic—-the doughnut trays were half *#h)ptH  *#)$& empty!!! Okay, there I’ve said it. I’m not proud of my reaction and yet I have to be honest! Even the flower section was paltry by Wegmans standards.

The average person, not already used to the high quality of food and displays at the Wegmans in Hunt Valley, MD, may have been impressed (except for the barren broccoli display). After all, we were still in a very large, well stocked supermarket, but it just wasn’t that over the top, oh my God I want to shop there, aesthetically spectacular experience I remember. It was just another supermarket and who wants to roam around a grocery store after dinner on a Friday night? Wegmans, what happened to you? Are you experiencing PMS (plain, mediocre supermarket)? Is this a temporary situation or is Thomas Wolfe correct, “You can’t go home again?”