Travel

Island in the Sun

Anyone remember the song ‘Island in the Sun’ by Harry Belafonte? I had this playing on my desktop computer as I wrote this post on Jamaica. We had just returned from a beautiful 10 days on this fourth-largest Caribbean island surrounded by mountains, rain-forests and reef lined beaches. I had always wanted to visit Jamaica ever since I lived in London which is home to probably the largest Jamaican population outside of Jamaica. The reggae music, the food, the warmth of the people attracted me to this island in the sun. I was familiar with names such as Montego Bay and Kingston, but had never heard of Portland, the area we explored.

A local friend who lived in Portland Parish many years ago encouraged us to seek it out. So in my usual fashion, I went about researching the area, I asked around and jumped on the Trip Advisor forum, my faithful source for seeking information from travelers who have actually been there. Portland Parish is on the northeast coast of the island. When researching Portland, I found that it was a mixture of lush green countryside and beautiful beaches, rivers, caves, coves and waterfalls. I’m so glad we checked it out, it was all that I had read and researched about and so much more. We felt we had experienced the real Jamaica. Below are just a few highlights of our trip to paradise.

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Lucerne, Switzerland

The third and final installment of our Switzerland trip in June was traveling from Montreux to Lucerne on the train. The Golden Pass train is a rail line in the Swiss Alps which connects Montreux to Lucerne. We had about 2 changes before we got to Lucerne. The Swiss railroad engineers have engineered all the connections to run like a Swiss watch 🙂 The scenery with the mountains and lake being viewed through the panoramic windows, was a sight to behold. The train lazily climbed the mountains, affording us many photo opportunities. Little alpine villages dotted the vast green landscape. Cowbells and wild flowers were evident throughout the journey.

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Wine from Switzerland?

Wine from Switzerland I hear you ask? Well, I thought the same when I was planning the trip, but the more I read about the region, the more it piqued my curiosity. The warm sunny region of the Lavaux region is situated along the picturesque postcard shores of Lake Geneva. The region produces wonderful white wines, but only in small batches. Enjoying wine is part of the local culture, so there’s literally none to export. Now that explains why I do not see Swiss wines back home 🙂

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Our time in Montreux, Switzerland

When asked “why Switzerland” on our recent trip to that picturesque country, in a nutshell for me it would have to be nature. Switzerland is a mountainous country, home to numerous lakes, alpine villages, and the high peaks of the Alps. In addition, it is the land of watches, chocolates, Guyere cheese, scenic views and so much more. Reading and prepping for the journey was the hardest part. I am the planner, the booker and the executor of our travel. I wanted to see it all, being such a small country, but we settled on Montreux, Lucerne and Bern. I did enjoy researching it all though as it gave me an opportunity to learn a bit more about the country and its people.

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Shifting Rocks and the Sea

If you were to look at the main picture above, could you hazard a guess as to where my travels took me to this past month? Would you believe it if I told you this was in the county of Dorset in England? I had to pinch myself to believe it as I first caught a glimpse of the stunningly blue waters and the formation of the natural limestone arch. This could easily have been somewhere in the Caribbean.

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Into Africa

My latest posts have included a bit of history and background on a few countries my family called “home” for a period of time. Kenya is one such place. When my family left India in 1954, we moved to Kenya. The 1950’s – 1970’s were arguably some of the best times of my formative years evoking fond memories. Kenya straddles the Equator and as a result enjoys some of the finest weather year round. It’s amazing how much we took for granted back then when the weather was never a topic of conversation.

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Celebrating Black History Month and my 100th post

I’ve been working on this post for quite sometime now, and seeing as we are almost nearing the end of February, when America celebrates “Black History Month” I thought of speeding it up before the month came to an end.

When we lived in Texas, we visited Louisiana often. I had always wanted to visit a plantation home and experience a swamp tour on some of our visits there, but we never quite made it. However, this past Fall, some of our British friends were visiting parts of the USA and invited us to join them on the southern tour. We were able to visit 2 plantation homes and of course a swamp tour was on the itinerary. There was a lot to take in on the plantation homes, it truly gives you an idea of what life was like and takes you back in time.

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