monicss Blog on RealTravel

Spain journal: Spain

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:25:42 GMT

We went to Pomploma Spain to visit my brother-in-law. Details soon to follow.

Mexico journal: El viaje a la Ciudad de México

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:49:21 GMT

In August we spent our vacation in México City to visit Moises' family. We were able to go with everyone including April and Aaron. Moises' brother Lalo from England and his family were there also. In all there were 19 of us when we all got together. Only Moises' brother Rodo and his wife were unable to be there. The 10 grandchildren ranging in age from 10 to 29 were together for the first time in 10 years, with some not even remembering the last time. Moises has the oldest (April) and the youngest (Ethan) grandchildren. We stayed at a hotel down the street so each day we walked over ...

Mexico City journal: Las Fiestas

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:10:07 GMT

Some of the most enjoyable times were when we were just altogether with the family at the house or out to eat and at Almá and Benjamin's house.

We had a BBQ on the roof one day, and to get up there, we had to climb up a ladder. Nineteen of us were there and we carried everything up, the table, chairs, food, drinks etc. and we managed to finish up just before it started to rain, and we carried everything back down. We ate steak, napolitos, guacamole, grilled peppers. Ethan was exited and just couldn't relax after hearing the story about the UFOs seen hovering above the house back in ...

Rochester journal: Rochester, New York

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:44:34 GMT

Aaron plays on the San Jose State hockey team and last season they won all their games and won the Western Divison. So in March the team went to the finals in Rochester NY. Moises went also to see the games. While they were there they visited Niagra Falls and walked over the the Canada side. One little problem...they didn't have their passports or birth certificates. So, they had a little trouble getting back in the US. Aaron was allowed back in easily; however, Moises had a little more trouble even though he had a driver's license. They interviewed him and check up on his passport on ...

New York journal: New York City

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:37:07 GMT

In March '06 Amber was one of 12 students from Yearbook and Literary Society at her high school selected to go to a conference at Columbia University. They were there for a week and in addition to the conference they did a lot of sightseeing. She visited Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Central Park, Wall Street, Harlem, Trump Tower, went to a poetry slam, saw the Broadway Play "The Producers". So far she's the only one from our family to go the NYC.

United States journal: New York

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:37:07 GMT

In March '06 Amber went to New York City with a group of students from her school.

The same week she was in NYC, Aaron went to Rochester NY with his San Jose State hockey team for finals. Moises also went to watch the games.

Indiana journal: Hermano

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:33:11 GMT

Moises took a quick trip to visit his brother Rodo. The main purpose of the trip, was to bring him his boots that he had left in Mexico (Moises visited Mexico in November) and to bring him some Mexican candy which he missed.

Mexico City journal: Historias Legendarias

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 11:00:32 GMT

One of the things we enjoyed were the times we just sat around and told stories. We were told a few stories that could be described as urban legends, but these stories were true! Most were told by Moises' mom and he translated, however, it is impossible to really do justice to the spirit of these legends as something gets lost in the translation and my rewriting of them as I remember them.

UFOs

I already mentioned the UFOs in the "Fiestas" entry. A UFO was seen hovering right above the house by everyone in the family and it was seen by several people in the city. This sighting ...

Mexico City journal: Xochimilco

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:47:01 GMT

Xochimilco is referred to as the "Mexican Venice". It is a peaceful, shallow river with beautiful scenery in the outskirts of Mexico City. We went on a cruise on a wooden boat powered only by a man pushing it along with a big stick. We brought a lunch and beverages and had a fun time just relaxing, eating and talking.

Being the rainy season, the weather went from sunshine, to rain, to powerful winds, to hail, thunder, lightening and back to sunshine. Luckily we had a big boat which had flaps on the sides that we would pull down so we didn't get soaked. Some other smaller boats on ...

Mexico City journal: Downtown

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 20:57:57 GMT

We went downtown Mexico City a few times for different events. We walked around Zócalo, a huge square in the center of the city with the Cathedral. It is built on old ruins and stone from the ruins were reused in building the Cathedral. The square was overtaken by protestors with tents set up, and many streets downtown were closed due to protest camps. They were protesting the outcome of the presidential election on behalf of the losing candidate (a close election with recounts). We toured the cathedral and walked around the square and downtown, bought a few things and ate food from street ...

Mexico City journal: La Comida (Food)

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 20:30:12 GMT

We ate some great food in Mexico. The first night there we had tamales--chicken, beef, pork, sweet (my favorite); there were at least 100 which were finished off in 2 days. We had "atole", which is a drink made from corn. It was delicioso. Other food we ate at the house was pozole (chicken and hominy-very yummy), los tacos, las empanadas, (cheese and ham on fried tortillas), los moyetes (bread with beans and cheese), hot dogs :) for the Americans, and everybody's favorite---cajeta on toast.

One day we went to the "world's greatest tacos", which was an open-air restaurant where they ...

United States journal: Indiana

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 10:20:26 GMT

In December 2005 Moises went to Indiana to visit his brother Rodo. I'm adding this trip to get in all the trips we have had just in the past year.

Mexico City journal: Las Prismas

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:33:11 GMT

On our first full day, we all went to a park outside of México City called Las Prismas. This park is a valley which had very unusual rock formations which looked similar to crystals. We toured that area, and then later had a picnic and played touch football. The old people played against the young people. The old people won!! The teenagers blamed their loss on communication problems since all the adults could speak Spanish but not all the teenagers could speak Spanish.

From here we went to a nearby lake and rented rowboats, wore too-small life jackets, and just paddled around and ...

Taiwan journal: Business trip to Taiwan

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:26:38 GMT

Moises went to Taiwan for business and so in a one-month period from July-Aug, different members of our family had visited three different countries, so the main reason for this entry is to get a pin on the map. So in a one month period, we had been to the San Francisco airport 5 times!! Drop off and pick up Amber for Africa, drop off and pickup Moises, and drive there (and leave car) for our trip to Mexico.

Mbabane journal: Halfway around the world

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:13:39 GMT

The following are exerpts from Amber's missions letter:

We had a 34 hour travel time to Swaziland via London and Johannesburg. The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the beautiful red African dirt and a few African birds crossing the street. On the way to Emafini, the resort we stayed at throughout the majority of the trip, I looked out the window of our van and tried to soak in the beauty of the culture, from little babies waving at us as we drove by, to the African women carrying huge baskets on their heads. A lot of things amazed me about the country, and it was hard ...

United Kingdom journal: England

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:56:34 GMT

We went to England for a week to visit Moises' brother who lives in Stoke on Trent.