La Poza del Obispo in Arecibo is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Coast of Puerto Rico. We wanted to know why so many people recommend it!
Here’s why: Lots of parking right by the beach. Deep, soft golden sand. A few shady palm trees perfect for hanging hammocks. Incredible views of cliffs and turquoise sea in every shade imaginable. Food trucks nearby along the road to the beach. A “poza” (pool) of calm water protected by rocks from the jaw-dropping waves, which creates a perfect pool for kiddies to safely swim.
What’s not to love?
La Poza is also located right in the shadow of the beautiful Arecibo Lighthouse, so we hiked up a small mountain into a brisk wind to get a better view. Definitely worth it!
Traveling can be so much fun … until disaster strikes. You get sick. You break your leg skiing. Your pocket gets picked. Then what do you do?
This video will help you manage your money when traveling overseas in the safest, easiest way. We’ll cover how to handle cash, the credit cards with the best benefits for travel, the cheapest way to rent a car while being fully protected, and more.
It will also help answer the question: do you need travel insurance?
We just got back from a whirlwind 4-day trip to Colombia. Wow!
We chose to visit Colombia because Avianca Airlines was having an introductory sale for routes from San Juan, and our current base is Puerto Rico. Why not? We had never been to South America and knew zero about Colombia, except for reading about the Medellin Cartel’s narco wars in the news in the 1980s. Flights were only a couple of hundred dollars, some non-stop, to Bogota, Medellín, and Cartagena. We chose Bogota, the capital, because we hadn’t visited a city in a while. We decided to spend four days there in early December – our first perfect choice, made totally by accident. Then we bought a guidebook, read a little, and booked a couple of organized tours.
Where to Stay?
Our first revelation about Bogota was that lodging was incredibly inexpensive. We chose the historic, walkable Candelaria district as our base. We prefer vacation rentals over hotels, allowing us to spread out and feel truly at home, while living in real neighborhoods instead of tourism centers. We found a delightful apartment at the edge of Candelaria on Airbnb: a chicly furnished corner studio with two walls of windows overlooking the sprawling city and the Andes Mountains beyond. The cost was an unbelievable $33 a night, plus taxes and fees. Booking Fiori dela Candelaria was our second accidental perfect choice.
Selfie in Candelaria
The property manager, Angela, offered an airport pick-up for a reasonable price, and we took her up on it. She was on time, her partner driving a tiny car (the first of many we rode in), and she filled us with helpful information on the drive from Bogota International Airport. She settled us into the hillside apartment, then took us up to the roof garden, where we were greeted by a stunning 270-degree view of sprawling Bogota. We were in awe even as we shivered in the biting wind.
What We Discovered
Bogota is Chilly
This modern city of 8 million people is nestled amid the Andes at 8,000 feet above sea level. Lisa had a headache the first day. Fortunately, we had lived in the Denver foothills for a few years, so our bodies easily adapted to the altitude. But that altitude also brought cooler temperatures – highs reaching the mid- to upper 60s during the day, and mid-40s at night. Coming from hot Puerto Rico, this was a bit of a shock. Pack sweaters!
Bogota is Cheap
We paid U.S. prices for the tours we pre-booked, but everything else was incredibly inexpensive. Doing the conversion from 4,000 Colombia pesos to 1 U.S. Dollar was challenging, but the fact is, once you land in Colombia, you’ll find your travels extremely economical. And Bogota is the most expensive city in Colombia!
Bogota Loves Christmas
We were in the city on Dec. 7, the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which it turns out is the official start of the Christmas season in mostly Catholic Colombia. We woke up at 5 AM to a huge fireworks display coming from Plaza de Bolivar, the main city plaza. That night was the Night of Little Candles (Noche de las Velitas), when families across the country (and Colombian ex-pat families around the world) light clusters of little candles on their balconies or doorsteps (and on church steps and parks and plazas) to honor the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, and make wishes. Colorful Christmas lights came on in full force all over the country, on highrises and apartment windows, parks and boulevards, sparkling reds and pinks and blues. Families walked about on the pedestrian-only Seventh Avenue (Carrera Septima) eating snacks, buying toys, singing carols, and enjoying street performers. Fireworks continued all over the city until well after 3 AM.
Candle lighting around a chalk drawing of JesusFireworks over Plaza Bolivar
The next day, on the actual feast day, the party continued throughout the city with artisan and food vendors, jugglers and clowns, choirs in the churches, and singers on street corners. Cyclists pedaled on the Ciclovia when a main artery was closed for miles to accommodate recreationalists. Crowds swelled as the day wore on. The next morning, the fireworks started again at 4:45 AM, and our host Angela told us the festivities would continue in full force until Christmas.
Bogota Has Incredible Museums and Culture
We visited the Botero Museum, gifted to the city by the artist Ferdinand Botero to bring art to the masses for free. This world-class museum contains many of his works, plus his personal collection of art by notables such as Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Nearby, the Gold Museum taught us about the rich history of gold in Colombia, how it was used by indigenous people to honor their chieftains and shamans, and how European explorers sought to exploit it for their own enrichment, setting off Colombia’s violent history.
The Gold Museum displayed many artifacts that told the story of Colombia’s history.
We visited the Military Museum of Colombia, which has many U.S. connections. We tried to get into the Museum of Coins (the Mint) but it had just closed for the feast day. There are art museums, a Mexican Cultural Center, theaters, and we were blown away when we heard an orchestra and choir rehearsing behind closed doors as we stood outside the awe-inspiring Bogota Metropolitan Basilica.
Colombia Is Foodie Heaven
The coffee, of course, is world-renowned, and deservedly so; we brought two pounds home. But we also tried shots the classic Colombian alcoholic drink Aguardientes, which has a fruity sweetness tempered by a tongue-biting touch of anise. There are excellent craft beers, though we didn’t partake. We tried arepas, pan-fried corn cakes. What else? Ajiaca, a soup with several types of potatoes, chicken, and corn, with avocado and capers thrown in. Pinchos, a mixed kebab with a potato at the end. Lemonade with coconut, a creamy paradise for the tongue reminiscent of a Mexican horchata with bits of toasted coconut on top. Coca tea, with and without fruit, which has healing properties. Aromática, a tasty fruit tea that can be drunk with or without alcohol, supplemented by panela, the country’s signature cane sugar. Learn more here.
Bogota’s Markets Rival Mexico’s
We spent many happy hours walking around marketplaces, first the touristic type that can be found in La Candelaria’s parks and pedestrian avenues, which boasted a wide variety of stunning indigenous art and the usual ticky-tacky tourist stuff. Then we crossed to the other side of Plaza de Bolivar and found a local marketplace, the kind where tourists like us can scoop up bargains in housewares, clothing, toys, holiday items, shoes, bags, you name it – as long as they hold on tight to their wallets and phones and aren’t afraid to barter.
Watch For the Videos!
Messy Suitcase will be bringing a series of videos to YouTube to share our Colombian journey. Subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to be notified!
Just out of 10 days of COVID isolation in a Helsinki hotel room, we missed our first scheduled night in Paris. But we rallied and made it for the last couple of days. We were never so happy to get on a plane! (Masked.)
Not yet restored to normal energy, we couldn’t go inside anywhere in Paris, so we spent a day or two slow-bopping around the glorious city, taking lots of breaks to rest and people-watch. We spent the first morning walking around with our former exchange student (and Spanish daughter) Laia and her cousin Anna. After they left, we had no agenda, which gave us the opportunity to discover new parks and search for the Love Lock that Lisa had attached on a stairway near Pont Neuf in 2018. (Don’t worry, haters, it was NOT on the bridge but on a sanctioned chain, and she did not throw the key in the Seine!) It was long gone, as the Parisians cut them off regularly, but we found a new place to lock our love.
We also walked around on the Isle de la City, saw the roofless Notre Dame Cathedral (covered with scaffolding and dwarfed by a gargantuan crane), strolled along and even dipped our toes in the Seine, sauntered through the courtyard of the Louvre, ate lunch in a sidewalk café, and visited the booksellers’ kiosks along the Left Bank. When our feet got tired, we caught another Seine River cruise and saw the city’s main attraction, the Eiffel Tower! The 1-hour sightseeing tour on Vedettes du Pont Neuf cost 15 euros each, about $17.
We ended the day with a scrumptious dinner in the Latin Quarter.
Enjoy a fairly incomprehensible, but still beautiful, tour of the canals of Copenhagen with us! We saw a lot of fascinating sites from the water, including the Little Mermaid (inspired by the Hans Christan Andersen story), the Royal Library of Copenhagen, the Royal Playhouse, the Copenhagen Opera House, the Naval Base, a castle, the Nicholas Tower, and more. Watch out for the low bridges so you don’t get decapitated!
It was a pleasant way to spend a sunny fall afternoon.
The cost was about $16 apiece for a 1-hour guided tour.
A glorious full moon competed with the sparkling Eiffel Tower and the sounds of Offenbach’s “Can Can” as we enjoyed a romantic dinner cruise up and down the River Seine on a Bateau Mouche. What a breathtaking experience! Do yourself a favor and splurge on this when you visit Paris.
Bateau Mouche literally translates as “fly boat” (so named because the boats were originally manufactured in boatyards situated in the Mouche area of Lyon), and these boats have been plying the river showing visitors the best views of Paris since 1949, carrying 2.5 million passengers a year on a tour of Paris from what the company calls “Paris’s best avenue of them all: the Seine.”
We reserved in advance, a wise decision, chose an evening dinner tour, and selected the Prestige Dinner menu, which cost us 105 euros each and now costs 115 euros, or about $123. This included a four-course meal, a bottle of wine, and a glass of champagne, as well as live entertainment. If we’d chosen the Excellence Menu for 40 euros more apiece, we would have had window seats and fancier food; instead we were in the middle of the interior dining room, with a great view of the piano and violin duet playing standards. The boat was surrounded by windows, though, and a short trip to the outdoor upper level afforded excellent views. Next time, I believe I will splurge on the window seats.
Thinking of popping the question? You can choose the “Get a Yes in Paris – Marriage Proposal” package starting at 340 euros per person, which includes a chauffeur to the boat, a special table for 2 in the bow, offers a variety of quality champagnes to choose from. Who wouldn’t say yes to a proposal with Moet and Chandon on a bateau mouche in Paris?
Several competing companies provide essentially the same tour, including brunch, lunch, and simple sightseeing tours.
Bob spent a day exploring Helsinki, first from aboard a Hop On Hop Off bus, then on foot. He encountered the Helsinki Train Station, Senate Square, HOHO, a traditional spa, the Champs Elysee of Helsinki, the waterfront, a cathedral built by Russia, and more.
He found lunch in a fascinating waterfront market with an amazing array of uniquely Scandinavian offerings (reindeer meat, anyone?), wandered around a port taking in the glorious wooden sailing ships, sauna/swim pools where people dip into the ice-cold water, the Sky Wheel, the Love Locks bridges, and more!
Fresh off COVID quarantine, Lisa tucked Bob (who just tested positive himself) into a hotel bed in Helsinki and went out and about exploring the city on foot. Still congested but no longer contagious, she stayed mostly outdoors and away from people as she walked through the streets, discovering a famous library, striking sculptures, a distinctive church, and the Helsinki Opera House.
Helsinki is made up of lakes, islands and the Baltic Sea. Its outdoor-oriented culture meant she had to watch out for many runners, bike riders, and people on scooters.
Over the course of a day, she strolled across the soccer field at Helsinki Olympic Stadium, then visited the Sibelius Monument, a welded steel tribute to Finnish composer Jean Sibelius resembles organ pipes, which is one of Helsinki’s most well-known tourist attractions. She enjoyed a cinnamon roll at the famous Café Regatta, a traditional red cottage cafe that has brought a part of Finnish countryside to the middle of Helsinki. Its cafe is famous for fresh cinnamon buns, blueberry pie and other delicacies.
And she visited the unusual Rock Church, or Temppeliaukio Church, an Evangelical Lutheran Church built into a rock. An organist was preparing for a concert and the organ music was mesmerizing.
Bob managed to grab a spot on a Royal Line Sightseeing boat tour of Helsinki on the very last day of its tourist season. The sky was clear blue, and the crisp early-fall weather was perfect for spending an hour and a half on the Baltic Sea Harbor of this European capital.
With a sun deck above, a bar/restaurant below, and harbor maps laminated to the tables, the boat cruise was an excellent way to get a feel for the city of Helsinki from the viewpoint of its harbor. Highlights included the fortresses that once guarded Helsinki, a church with a lighthouse on top, the Helsinki Zoo, and the jetty where families come to wash their rugs. Seriously!
The tour cost 26 euros, 22 euros for 65 and up, with larger discounts for children and babies. Audio tours were available in a variety of languages.
Here is how Royal Line describes the tour:
During the 1.5-hour sightseeing cruise, the main historical sights of Helsinki are visited. The large sun decks of sightseeing ships offer the best views of the city from the sea. Behind the memorable cruise, you will hear interesting stories about the history of Finland, wonderful landscapes from the ship’s sun deck and the ships’ professional crew.
The cruises start from the famous Kauppatori, and along the way you will admire, among other things, the beautiful Merisatama, Eira, Kaivopuisto, Kruununhaa beach and the wonderful UNESCO World Heritage Site Suomenlinna in its entirety.
During the cruise, you can enjoy the most amazing island scenery on the outer deck of the ship and the atmosphere of the summer terrace with the best sea view. All ships have a café-bar that serves snacks and refreshing refreshments.
As our Tour of Scandinavia began winding to a close, we took an overnight ferry across the Baltic Sea from Stockholm, Sweden, to Helsinki, Finland.
We explored the mini cruise ship as we made our way through the Swedish Archipelago, which encompasses 30,000 islands, at sunset. We arrived in Helsinki on an overcast Friday morning. Enjoy the views in the video and more photos on our blog, messysuitcase.com.
ITINERARY
This is what the TourRadar itinerary listed for the day:
Miércoles, 28 De Septiembre De 2022 STOCKHOLM, FERRY
Stockholm (boarding) – Scenery: Very beautiful landscapes from the boat leaving Stockholm.
Notes:Tonight we embark on a night cruise; Carry your documentation (will be required when boarding) and prepare hand luggage (luggage will remain in the coach). Do not forget warm clothing to enjoy on the deck of the boat. In Finland, the currency used is the euro, if you do not have Swedish Crowns, there are convenient exchange offices on the ship. Free day in the most beautiful of the Scandinavian capitals. We recommend walking around the historic center and the island of museums.
17.00hrs.- Transfer to the port of Stockholm. We embark on the modern ferryof the Silja Lines company. Restaurants, bars, nightclub, casino, shops, ample rooms … cruise conditions. Our ship leaves at 19.30 hrs (estimated time at the time of writing this itinerary). The landscapes you can see at the exit of Stockholm are of great beauty (lots of islands). We recommend to enjoy on the deck. Do not forget your camera ! Night on board, double cabins.
Scenery: Very beautiful landscapes from the boat leaving Stockholm.
Notes: Tonight we embark on a night cruise; Carry your documentation (will be required when boarding) and prepare hand luggage (luggage will remain in the coach). Do not forget warm clothing to enjoy on the deck of the boat. In Finland, the currency used is the euro, if you do not have Swedish Crowns, there are convenient exchange offices on the ship.
