kubitsky.net

I’ve finally offloaded all the pictures from my camera and managed to get them up on Flickr. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ckubitsky/sets/72157604106915728/

Our last full day on Kaua’i was spent lounging on the beach, reading and relaxing. Perfect weather again. We will miss this place. Tomorrow we will pack up, have our champagne breakfast and be on our way back to Philadelphia.

Kaua’i is a fantastic small island with everything you need no matter what your interests. I hope to come back here with my husband soon.

My crazy, Hawaiian running route…

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1683377

We drove down to the South Shore this time to hit up Waimea Canyon and attend our “free” Lu’au. The Canyon was breathtaking but we didn’t have the best conditions for picture taking. The higher you go up in elevation, the cloudier and mistier the environment becomes. Still, it was gorgious to see the deep reds and browns of the canyon mixed with the bright and deep green grasses and trees. I took as many pictures as I could.

It was a long time in the car, driving from sea level to 4400 feet, but well worth the winding, narrow and bumpy roads. There were so many trails along the way. I really wished that my husband was with me so we could hike them.

The most unusual thing we saw was a huge whole fish, teeth and all, on the side of the road at a lookout half way up. Our Dutch friends that were following us all the way up and down the Canyon claimed it was a “flying” fish :)

After the canyon we drove into Poipu to attend our “all you can eat and drink” Lu’au at the Sheraton Resort. It was a sunset dinner and show on the beach. Very entertaining with decent and abundant food. And there was some very tasty guava chiffon pie for dessert. Yum!

We took our ridiculously big, gas guzzling, bright red snob mobile cruising up Rte 56 to the North Shore and the start of the Na Pali Coast. The end of the road is at Bali Hai. It took us all about 45 minutes to drive up there. The island is so small, but the maps make it seem big.

The waves on the beach of the North Shore are really big and rough. We spent about 2 hours on this beach waiting for the sun to set so we could snap a bunch of pictures of the glorious sunset, Bali Hai and part of the Napali Coast. It was really beautiful.

We ventured to the center of the town of Lihu’e today. Not much to see, but tons of interesting places to eat. We went to try out the famous local noodle house - Hamura Saimin Stand. It’s a small house on a side street, painted blue, with a loud screen door. From outside you could hear all the chatter and slurping from the patrons. We walked in and saw several long counters. You just pull up a stool, ask for “medium” and out comes some of these best Japanese noodle soup I have ever had. And only cost me $4.50.

We spent the majority of our time at the pool overlooking the ocean today. Relaxing, reading, and listening to music. Highlights of the day were finding a map of jogging routes that are safe and off the road at the fitness center, learning that parking for timeshare owners is free, and finding a dinner option that didn’t have fish and was completely vegetarian.

It’s good for us to have this lazy day, for Thursday, Friday and Saturday may we will be driving around he island.

I managed to sleep a full, straight 9 hours overnight, waking at 6:00am. Not too bad for being up for 22 hours the day before. I woke refreshed and focused, ready to start my day on a healthy note with a 5K run in 29:05.

The run was followed by a nice relaxing 2 hours by the pool and a quick walk around the grounds and into some local shops. We were quickly suckered into signing up for a 90 minute timeshare presentation in order to attend the island’s best, most Hawaiian, Lu’au. The woman assured us that this Lu’au was not a Vegas-like show, like the rest of them. She was super sweet and threw in a bunch of other goodies including a huge discount on car rental.

Our timeshare/tourism expert also let us in on some of the local events and places of interest. We decided to go to this crazy farmers’ market with the freshest vegetables and tropical fruit around to stock our rooms with healthy snacks, breakfast and lunch options.

Without our rented car, we had to take public transportation into town. Everything we were told about getting around the island pointed to the need for renting a car. Locals and fellow travelers were shocked that we weren’t planning to rent a car the entire time we were here. But, public transportation really is OK and cheap, maybe not for sightseeing, but definitely for getting to towns. It only cost us $0.50 each way to go through town.

In town, we shopped a little at the local K-mart before wandering over to the outside market. We were informed that the market did not open until 3:00. We arrived a little early and saw people fondling and bagging the local faire like mad. We approached a stand and offered to buy some tomatoes only to be turned away. The rules are that you can find the fruit and vegetables that you want, but you must bag them and tag them with your name and price so the merchant can “reserve� the fruit for you. By law, they are not allowed to officially sell anything until the whistle is blown at 3:00. After the whistle, people start running up to the stands like crazy, waving fists of dollar bills and yelling for their bags. The whole ordeal is over in about 15 minutes as the stands are picked clean of all their goodness. We scored some tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, apple bananas and a papaya.

Mmmm. Off to figure out how to cut a papaya online :)

That’s right! I’m going to Hawai’i. Lihue, Kauai, Hawai’i to be exact. A good friend of mine managed to arrange an incredible stay there through her timeshare. It’s a last minute trip, but much needed to revitalize and refresh myself from the work I’ve been doing.

What’s a little sad is that I won’t be going with my husband. He’s been planning a 3-1/2 week trip to Nepal in April so he doesn’t have much vacation time left to go on this trip plus another one to Croatia later in the year. So, I have some “extra” vacation time to take.

I can’t wait. I just booked my flight and I leave in a week and a half. My husband is really excited for me and so happy that I get this time to relax. He’s buying me my own cute digital camera to take pictures while I’m away.

Ireland. The Emerald Isle. An island with 40 shades of green. An island with millions of sheep. An island whose service industry is predominantly employed by foreigners.

Ireland was fantastic and a perfect place for a honeymoon for the folks that like things a little different from the rest. Our trip began and ended in Dublin with a lot of amazing sites in between. We visited Blarney Castle, Cobh, Cork, Killarney, Bunratty Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, Connemara, Galway and Kylemore Abbey.

Well, we are back now and the pictures are all ready for viewing.