CHILE*** Well, punkin' and I have returned safe and sound from another adventure. This time, our travels have taken us to Chile and Argentina. We flew Air Canada , on a Star Alliance award ticket from US Airways. Air Canada was spotty. Our trip to SA was great. The return was quite mixed-up, forgetting both red & white wine, forgetting the duty free items, and running out of almost everything. Add that to a tricky landing in Santiago, and I'll give them a solid 5.
Santiago is a very cool place. I'm real glad we decided on a 2 night stopover there, on our way to Buenos Aires. I might not spend a whole week there, but I'd definitely reccomend a stopove, when travelling to South America.
A word of CAUTION! Do not go to Chile on election day(as we did). Picture your first day of vacation, a warm,sunny day. Bars and Schopp houses on almost every corner. ALL CLOSED! We were beerless. After relieving the minibar of all 6 of her canned beers, we knew we were in crisis. Not even room service at the Hotel Fundador could help. "Sorry senor, it is election day. You cannot order alcohol." Luckily, Bill Martellaro had organized the trip, and actually had wine and sandwiches in his carry on luggage! We sipped wine on our balcony, and listened to the President-elect give her acceptance speech, 1/2 a block away. Seafood was wonderful in Chile. We ate an aquarium, of crab, shrimp, barnacles(yep), sea bass and skipjack. We drank excellent wines, especially at the Bristol Restaurant, where the sommelier treated us awfully good. (He treated us to about 6 glasses of wine, besides the bottle we paid for.) The beer, Cristal, was flowing quite freely in post election Santiago. The tear in the universe had miraculously mended itself! Hooray for Beer!
We toured the sites of Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal, with its sturdy funiculare, the Alameda (Bernardo O'Higgins Blvd), the Mercato Centrale, Parque Santa Maria and the highlight La Moneda, and the changing of the guard. We felt very safe in Santaigo, and rode the subway which was very modern and clean. For airport transfers we used TransVIP which was perfect. On time, friendly and efficient. The exchange rate is good. About $500.00 pesos=$1.00US The smallest paper money is the $1000.00 peso bill, which is also called one million pesos.(?) This can be confusing, as evident by a bewildered tourist, at the bar in Santiago Airport. I saw him pay his tab with a credit card, and him being flabbergasted by his bill, which was $10,000. I told him it was around $20.00 US He thanked me for the info.(probably not a local fella. Brazil I think) All in all, Chile gets a big thumbs up from us! Note; For US Citizens, you must pay $100.00 US upon arrival in Chile. This buys you a type of Visa that lasts until your passport expires.

No trip would be complete without a memorable quote or two.

"...Tiny? Who is tiny?"

"...Bill, how do you know the van is REALLY coming for us?"

"...Billy Joel! You must kiss my girlfriend!"

"...sideways David! Sideways!"

"...I don't like Russians."

"...now which River is this?"

"...Pigalle is two more stops, who's in?"

"...this doesn't taste like Pork soup?"

"...in fact my voice coach lives near here"

Feel free to add as many quotes as you can remember!

The food in Paris is incredible. Topping the list has to be the bread. A still warm baguette is the worlds best value at 0.85 Euro. Eric Kayser's olive bread is a wonderful treat you will never find outside of Paris. Some memorable food experiences are;
Roast Lamb w/flageolet beans in Bistro in Marais.
Blanquette de Veau at Polidor.
Terrine of Pork eaten like meatloaf at La Cave de l'os a Moelle.
Steak Frites at cafe in Epernay.
Confit of Duck at cafe in Versaille.
Picnic on Pont des Arts.
Pain au Chocolats.
I believe that we all had great experiences with the food of Paris.
The Wines of France were reason enough alone, to warrant a trip to Paris. Even table wine, ordered at a cafe or bistro were of superb quality. Never would you be served a glass of wine that was oxidized or stale, as unfortunately is not the case at home. Some highlights included;
Alfred Gratien Champagne in Epernay.
Sparkling Vouvray on the Pont des Arts.
Gamay at the Cave de l'os a Moelle.
Julienas Beaujolais in bistro in Marais.
Loire Valley Whites such as Sancerre,Vouvray and Muscadet everywhere.
Loire Valley reds such as Touraine.
Wine, so good and so inexpensive, in Paris.

The latest stop on the tour was Paris, France. What a city. There seems to be a certain feeling of unstressful existence here. Nobody gets too excited about things. The people were certainly friendly to us, (a group of Americans). In fact, in my opinion, the people here are friendliest here, of all the European cities we have visited. There was certainly a cast of characters,(isn't there always). Our cousin from Morrocco, who advised us on subway travel "...don't panic guys. All America is good, Democrat, Republican, all good." Claudia, the mystery artist, who drew a picture of SOMEONE for us. A man we'll refer to only as "the Russian". Laurent, the Apartment Manager.."see, easy, 2 buttons only!" Nicolai the cellarmaster of Epernay..."we do not find those grapes interesting." The French bartender at the Irish Pub who lives in Ibiza but is now a reformed military man. Malcolm the tour guide of the Marais, an accomplished clairinetist, actor and renaissance man. The barman at the cafe in Clignacourt, who was kind enough to show us how to lose money in the French Lottery. And many more characters, bit players and extras!

A meeting will be held to finalize the Paris Trip. The date is Saturday August 27th 2005 at 6:00pm, at Dave & Lory Chambers house in Binghamton.
Anyone needing a ride from Scranton, can call Christine M. or Dave K.

We're city people. It's not that we don't like the countryside. We do. It's just that a city, a good one especially, has so much variety to offer. Different foods, different perspectives, different sights. There's usually something for everyone.
So here's the list in no particular order:
NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA
BOSTON
BALTIMORE
MIAMI
NEW ORLEANS
LAS VEGAS
KANSAS CITY
KEY WEST
WASHINGTON DC
HONOLULU
SAN JUAN
ROME
PARIS
BARCELONA
PAMPLONA
FLORENCE
MONTE CARLO
LONDON
DUBLIN
GALWAY
NICE
AIX-EN-PROVENCE
BOLOGNA
SIENA
...SO FAR.

SCRANTON,PA- A new Pena was formed on Sunday July 24th,2005 at Jillys Restaurant, here in the city. The Pena, or San Fermin Festival Club will be named the "Greater Scranton Pena de San Fermin" Membership is open to anyone from the area who has participated in an "encierro", or those planning to do so in the future. " I'm surprised by the outpouring of support we've received so far" said William Martellaro, one of the clubs founders. "We've initiated new members from as far away as Harrisburg" said the slightly balding spokesman.
For details, please respond to this blog entry.

This coming October it's off to Paris. A real "foodies" dream trip. Am I going for art, history and culture? Yeah, a little bit. What I'm really going to Paris for, however is bread. Bagettes still warm from the oven. And croissants, and pan au chocolat. Slathered with rich French butter. And grand cremes. I haven't even gotten myself past breakfast yet. Paris is a food lovers paradise. The best cheese city in the world, in my top 3 list for wine, pastry, desserts and on and on. And on. I can't wait to eat-I mean to go.
The trip is the second, in a series of trips attended by the "gang of six." The cast of characters include:
Billy Boy-a.k.a.-Frenchy...trip planner. Anything goin' on in town this week?
Miss Chrissy-a.k.a.-Miss White Wine 2005...so what it's 10am-we're on vacation.
Jimmy-a.k.a.-One More Jim...you might as well take it, it's already open.
Mary Rose-a.k.a.-the Former Voice of Reason...I'm flithered!
David-a.k.a.-the Absinthe Assassin. ...She won't be mad!
Lory-a.k.a.-the map reader. ...that's the airport, see the train tracks.
This one could be a trip for the ages.

Travelled to Spain in July, 2004 for the running of the bulls. A group of seven of us, rented an apartment in Barcelona for a weeklong (Saturday to Saturday)stay. We then travelled by train to Pamplona for 2 nights. Even though it seems like we wasted money by having accommodations in both cities for the 2 nights, it was worth it to have an apartment in Barcelona. Some tips to consider in planning a Pamplona trip:
1) Plan way ahead-you need to reserve about a year in advance, to get good accommodations in Pamplona. We stayed at Apartmentos Mirrasierra-a real nice place.
2) Research the run. If you want to do it, you HAVE to be in the plaza in front of city hall(Plaza Consistoral) by 730am. They close the gates at that time, and clear the streets, so you'll be pushed out, and won't be able to run.
3) Know what you're getting into. During encierro, the streets of Pamplona are filled with pickpockets,drunks and some filthy people. Not to discourage you, just know what to expect.
4) If you go down during the run, STAY DOWN! You can be seriously hurt or killed.
5) Try to WATCH the run the 1st day you're there, so as to get an idea what you're in for. The run is as dangerous as you make it.
6) If you run into the bullring, look for a spot along the metal fence where you can hop out if you need to.

Toro!

I started travelling in 1997. My lovely wife Christine talked me into a trip to Italy to celebrate our 5th Anniversary. We've been on the go ever since. France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, England, Bali, Hawaii and the Caribbean, and in January we're off to Chile & Argentina. We've never looked back. Most exciting trip was Pamplona 2004 when I ran with the bulls. Toro!