Running on Wine; from Marathons to Rafting to "Fueling" on the Patio, We are Fueled by Vivác.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
The Crossing
The final leg of our sailing would be 35-40 hours of sailing, what is called 'blue water', as in no land in sight, just the big deep ocean.
This was the part of the trip that had given me thrills of excitement and chills of fear. I knew the waves would be huge and the ride rough. I also now knew that my son was probably going to be super sick since he had been on the initial overnight sail. My husband on the other hand was like a little boy on Christmas Day, his excitement worn large on his face with a giant grin and a sparkle in his eye.
Almost immediately we had big waves. The boat rolled off most of them, tilting at the top of the wave then sliding to the valley giving us a sensation of being walled in by water. As we got further from land or what had become a thin band of the coast slipping into the blur that was the sky and ocean meeting, gave us waves that caused us to crash violently into the water. Huge sprays of water splashed on deck and since my husband, son and I sat at the front of the boat, giddy with excitement, we got soaked. The roller coaster ride of the boat flying up one side and down the other of these mountains of force made my tummy flip and my spine seize up. The ocean spread out before us, rolling over itself, a deep indigo blue, and reminded us of how small we really are. To see the ocean in that way, immense and powerful, was stunning. We sat, wet, in pure awe of the beauty we were lucky enough to witness and reveled in the experience.
As if the Gods were trying to seal the deal for us to become sailors, a family of dolphins joined our boat not once, but twice. Jumping seamlessly out of the water they criss-crossed each other and danced in the water. Each time they surfaced or leaped into the air, they were almost close enough to touch and the thrill was enough to make me want to cry. It was one of those experiences that make you buy ugly dolphin art and stupid dolphin jewelry so that you can remember it over and over and over.
The sun started to set and we climbed back into the safety of the cockpit.
The magic was over and now we would be at the mercy of the ocean. The waves were relentless and moving about the boat in the dark was far more difficult than ever before. Simply trying to sit was a workout of epic proportions.I thought a lot of my pilates classes. If you wanted to go to the bathroom downstairs, you had to clasp onto the center table, hoist yourself to standing and then, like a rock climber, edge your way around the table to the hatch. During this time, you would smash your hips into the table, followed by being flung onto the lap of someone sitting nearby. Once down the ladder steps, you had to reach, perilously across to another center table and edge around that through the kitchen. Wet feet had tracked water downstairs so there was a layered element of keeping your slipping, sliding feet from completely abandoning you . Our room was off to the right and forward of the boat. There was no door to our cabin, probably because someone had ripped it off on a previous crossing while trying to enter. Once in the cabin, the bunk rails served as hand holds as the boat crashed side to side and lurched forward and down off towering waves. I slammed into the wall then smashed my face into the side railing of the top bunk. I did this about 5 or so times as I eased my way to the toilet. Each step figuring out how to better shield my face, widen my stance, sacrifice my knees and hips and hurry! Once in the bathroom, you had to try to brace yourself while pulling down your pants, turning around and sitting on the toilet. I have never realized how much I take for granted being on land. For men, standing had its own fun challenges which I found out included using your head as a brace against the cabinet above the toilet. Then, you had to pump the toilet so it could empty...while it splashed its contents all over the floor and your feet. When all that fun was over, you had to get your ass back up top...and quickly because being down below added exponentially to being seasick.
We set timers for every 4 hours to take another Dramamine. The pills helped some, but more than anything put you into a hazy sleepy state. I had put a sheet over the vomit soaked bed in an attempt to escape the smell, but as I squeezed under a cubbie on the bottom bunk, my back pressed hard against the side of the boat to try to stay in place, the stuffy, hot, humid air, stank of the remains of days old sickness. My sweet, horrifically sick boy snuggled suffocatingly close, needing the comfort of his mom in a way I haven't seen in years. The timer on my husband's phone rang only as I was about to drift off and we all took more pills. The muscles in my legs and feet cramping in an effort to stay in place made falling asleep beyond difficult, but finally out of pure exhaustion and a heavy drugged state I must have fallen asleep because I found myself waking up. Waking up with the boat still creaking as it strained against the power of the sea. Waking up sweating, unable to open windows while under sail. Waking up wet??? Yes, I woke up wet. The bed was wet. My son was wet. And it smelled like pee. In the heavy drugged state, my poor child had wet the bed. I tried to rouse him, thinking I should change him into dry clothes. But as the boat jerked back and forth, the idea of doing something like that with someone close to unconscious, in the dark, sounded like more than I could handle. I knew this information could possibly send this poor kid off the deep end too; his ability to cope was already at a dangerous low. I took another pill and passed out.
Morning brought zero relief. I heard my son crying in the bathroom as he attempted to change his soaked clothes while being tossed into the counter and walls. I stood up, attempted to change my own clothes, at this point not caring at all that there was no door and got yet another round of smash-the-face-into-the-bunk to which I yelled cuss words into the noise packed air. That is when we discovered that the side window leaked and our bags, filled with our books and other valuables were not just drenched, but sitting in water. However that was better than what happened to my husband's phone. Evidently the "party" night had somehow lead my husband to the cabin with a glass half full of gin...which he tucked into a shelf...which in the night, he put his eyeglasses and cell phone into. Good times!
Night 2, now laying in a vomit and pee soaked bed, I let silent tears stream down my face. I couldn't believe how hard this experience was. Every second was so much work, such absolute hell. My child was so sick and unable to eat or drink that my concern was starting to get very serious. I put aside my own horrific discomfort and tried to distract my kiddo from his torture. I picked up my Dorothy Parker short stories book, soggy and melting under my fingers, and started reading aloud to him. My headlamp danced over the page as my head bounced with the movement of the boat while the book bounced the opposite direction, a result of trying to hold the book over my face since the bunk lacked the space to allow me to sit up. This made reading challenging and added to my own seasickness, but I am a mom and moms make their babies feel better no matter what. The eventual soft rippling laughter of my baby, mixed with the deep soothing laughs of my husband on the top bunk, as they listened to me read the sarcastic, tragic stories would be one of my favorite moments not just on the boat, but ever.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Saturday, December 30, 2017
A Little Piece of Heaven
Perhaps giving way to an angry boat of people paying for him to sail them around, the Captain finally sailed us to a new Island. This 3rd and last Island before we would set off on our 2 day crossing was perfect! The water was beautiful, the beaches were beautiful, the palm tree jungle was beautiful, the snorkeling was beautiful! It was exactly what we all had envisioned. We were there for an afternoon. One, single, tiny, afternoon. Now why you may ask would this jerk of a Captain have us waste all the days we had allotted to exploring Islands with crap ones when this Isle of Perfection was waiting for us just around the corner? We all wondered the same thing. Of course because the Captain never told us any information whatsoever, our wonderment stayed unanswered.
In any case, we loved our time on that Island and as the sun set and we boarded the boat again, we nervously readied ourselves for the start of our crossing that night. Mega doses of Dramamine were taken. Booze was consumed extra by some and not at all by others in preparation. Bags were packed up and everything that could come loose and hit you in the head as we inevitably would be tossed around on the big seas, was stowed. Anxiety was high when the Captain gathered us for an announcement. This had to be important since the stoic one was about to finally speak. "There has been a issue. A passport was left at the immigration office in Panama". Dead silence greeted him as we processed this information. All of our passports had been collected by the Captain when we boarded the boat and all paper work had been handled by the Captain, so the error of not taking a count to ensure that he had ALL the passports, was also the Captain's. "We can not sail tonight, we must sail back to an Island to meet up with the missing passport and retrieve it" he told us in utter annoyance. There was a pause, a long silence as we added this screw up to the tally of things he'd already done to blow our minds, then a roar of excitement as our new friends from Holland exclaimed "PARTY NIGHT!".
The fear of our crossing clearly had us all in a choke hold so hearing that we'd anchor at this perfect Island for the night and get to enjoy ourselves, set the stage for high spirits. Literally every single bottle of booze on the boat was brought on deck, the speaker was plugged into playlists and the dance party commenced. It was an absolute blast. The hours washed over us and lapped at our feet. The cook and the 1st Mate joined us for the fun and even the Captain lingered in the dark corner, almost participating.
The next morning, we sailed back 2 hours to retrieve the missing passport. There was zero alcohol left on board and our heads rocked heavier than the boat.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
In any case, we loved our time on that Island and as the sun set and we boarded the boat again, we nervously readied ourselves for the start of our crossing that night. Mega doses of Dramamine were taken. Booze was consumed extra by some and not at all by others in preparation. Bags were packed up and everything that could come loose and hit you in the head as we inevitably would be tossed around on the big seas, was stowed. Anxiety was high when the Captain gathered us for an announcement. This had to be important since the stoic one was about to finally speak. "There has been a issue. A passport was left at the immigration office in Panama". Dead silence greeted him as we processed this information. All of our passports had been collected by the Captain when we boarded the boat and all paper work had been handled by the Captain, so the error of not taking a count to ensure that he had ALL the passports, was also the Captain's. "We can not sail tonight, we must sail back to an Island to meet up with the missing passport and retrieve it" he told us in utter annoyance. There was a pause, a long silence as we added this screw up to the tally of things he'd already done to blow our minds, then a roar of excitement as our new friends from Holland exclaimed "PARTY NIGHT!".
The fear of our crossing clearly had us all in a choke hold so hearing that we'd anchor at this perfect Island for the night and get to enjoy ourselves, set the stage for high spirits. Literally every single bottle of booze on the boat was brought on deck, the speaker was plugged into playlists and the dance party commenced. It was an absolute blast. The hours washed over us and lapped at our feet. The cook and the 1st Mate joined us for the fun and even the Captain lingered in the dark corner, almost participating.
The next morning, we sailed back 2 hours to retrieve the missing passport. There was zero alcohol left on board and our heads rocked heavier than the boat.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Paradise?
Waking up to find yourself at an island straight out of a magazine is absolutely the coolest. The fabulous chef, a woman named Yellen, somehow managed to make 3 outstanding meals a day in the tiny, rocking, boat kitchen and waking up to coffee brewing as you gaze at crystal clear water and white sand beaches tugs at the heart strings of even the most avid sailing haters.
That said, no one had slept well the night before. The rocking of a boat under sail is NOT like the romantic "rocking" of a boat at anchor. It is more like active sleeping where you close your eyes and brace yourself against the walls of your bunk so you aren't dumped on the floor ...and call it sleeping. And that was if you could stomach laying down! Most of the guests, including my son, became horribly ill, even with Dramamine. Here is where everyone said a special thank you for those private toilets. Anyway, it made for a disorienting, off morning. And I now stank of my son's vomit.
Excited to explore this Palm tree laden Island spotted with other sailors (and literally wash the stink off of myself), we jumped into the cool water, snorkel gear in place. The short swim to shore offered a chance to see that the water was filled with unpleasant sea snakes and pokey star fish. I learned about how pokey the star fish were by jamming my foot into one as I spastically splashed about choking on sea water through what I had now determined was a broken snorkel. At that point I decided I'd let my husband and son fight the currents and keep swimming while I found a seat in the warm sand. I blamed the mishap on needing to acclimate.
This palm tree forest of an Island was intriguing, but really worth only a few hours. We were there for close to 2 days. The currents were too strong to make swimming fun, there was nothing of interest to see on the small Island so one stroll around it was all you needed which meant all of us crammed into the cockpit of the boat and wondered loudly how long we'd be there. Our Captain said nothing. It seemed our Captain lived on his private boat anchored there most of the time. He even took this opportunity to do work on his boat and hang out with his friends while the tourists in his charge languished. A strange introduction to our trip for sure.
We finally moved on to Island #2, a short sail away. This Island was worse than the 1st with even less to see...other than the falling down hut and pet pigs the single Island family had. But it did have a hut that our Captain liked to stay in time to time to practice his guitar. Ahhhh...now you are starting to see right?
Our incredibly cool group of co-guests made time on the boat a fun filled, entertaining one, but as time slipped away and our wordless Captain again left us alone wondering what the hell was going on, we all started to grumble. How long would we be there? When and where would we sail to next? What the hell was the plan? And most importantly, where was the bonfire and lobster dinner we were promised from the website description of this trip? We were getting dangerously close to our blue water crossing where land wouldn't be available for such a party.
As the wine poured a little higher in the glasses and the grumbles got a little louder, our Captain climbed into the one and only dingy, started the motor, and said "this is a good island to have a bonfire if you all want to collect wood and do that". Then he sailed to the Island...in the one and only dingy. I'm not sure how we should have accomplished the goal of a bonfire on that Island. Were we to swim to the Island in the dark, find wood...in the dark and chop it to size with our hands? Use sticks to make the fire? Was this a reenactment of the movie "Castaway"? Clearly we decided that we would not take up his offer and said goodbye to the bond fire and lobster idea. But not happily.
This Captain would not be getting a tip.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
That said, no one had slept well the night before. The rocking of a boat under sail is NOT like the romantic "rocking" of a boat at anchor. It is more like active sleeping where you close your eyes and brace yourself against the walls of your bunk so you aren't dumped on the floor ...and call it sleeping. And that was if you could stomach laying down! Most of the guests, including my son, became horribly ill, even with Dramamine. Here is where everyone said a special thank you for those private toilets. Anyway, it made for a disorienting, off morning. And I now stank of my son's vomit.
Excited to explore this Palm tree laden Island spotted with other sailors (and literally wash the stink off of myself), we jumped into the cool water, snorkel gear in place. The short swim to shore offered a chance to see that the water was filled with unpleasant sea snakes and pokey star fish. I learned about how pokey the star fish were by jamming my foot into one as I spastically splashed about choking on sea water through what I had now determined was a broken snorkel. At that point I decided I'd let my husband and son fight the currents and keep swimming while I found a seat in the warm sand. I blamed the mishap on needing to acclimate.
This palm tree forest of an Island was intriguing, but really worth only a few hours. We were there for close to 2 days. The currents were too strong to make swimming fun, there was nothing of interest to see on the small Island so one stroll around it was all you needed which meant all of us crammed into the cockpit of the boat and wondered loudly how long we'd be there. Our Captain said nothing. It seemed our Captain lived on his private boat anchored there most of the time. He even took this opportunity to do work on his boat and hang out with his friends while the tourists in his charge languished. A strange introduction to our trip for sure.
We finally moved on to Island #2, a short sail away. This Island was worse than the 1st with even less to see...other than the falling down hut and pet pigs the single Island family had. But it did have a hut that our Captain liked to stay in time to time to practice his guitar. Ahhhh...now you are starting to see right?
Our incredibly cool group of co-guests made time on the boat a fun filled, entertaining one, but as time slipped away and our wordless Captain again left us alone wondering what the hell was going on, we all started to grumble. How long would we be there? When and where would we sail to next? What the hell was the plan? And most importantly, where was the bonfire and lobster dinner we were promised from the website description of this trip? We were getting dangerously close to our blue water crossing where land wouldn't be available for such a party.
As the wine poured a little higher in the glasses and the grumbles got a little louder, our Captain climbed into the one and only dingy, started the motor, and said "this is a good island to have a bonfire if you all want to collect wood and do that". Then he sailed to the Island...in the one and only dingy. I'm not sure how we should have accomplished the goal of a bonfire on that Island. Were we to swim to the Island in the dark, find wood...in the dark and chop it to size with our hands? Use sticks to make the fire? Was this a reenactment of the movie "Castaway"? Clearly we decided that we would not take up his offer and said goodbye to the bond fire and lobster idea. But not happily.
This Captain would not be getting a tip.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Are You Ready for This?
Nothing shows you the truth of a city like leaving the tourist areas. As we took a shuttle through the "other side" of Panama City to meet our boat and sail off, we saw just how much poverty and squalor there was to the dressed up city we'd been enjoying. I couldn't help but be reminded of Belize with the heaps of garbage and dismissive attitude of the locals. It always strikes me that I consider us to be "struggling", only a few years out from when we (gratefully) relied on food stamps, to see true hardship and that with our modest means, we can live the high life in these countries. Clearly there is much out of balance.
There really is no good way to segway from the 'Debbie Downer' moment I just gave you, to talk about the next leg of our adventure, sailing off on a sailboat to the private islands of San Blas. So I'm going to just let it hang there and talk about some serious white people's problems.
The shuttle picked up the other people we would sail with, a mix of Europeans, and we spent the next couple of hours getting to know each other. As we all introduced ourselves, we were relieved to find they were all incredibly bright, well traveled, very interesting people! This was going to be a blast. And they had the chance to get to know our son who is anything but an average 11 year old, clearly a relief to these couples who for a moment couldn't believe they had to spend their vacation with a "kid".
Driving the tangled, broken roads through rural Panama was a neon rainbow. Houses painted in mustard yellow, turquoise, hot pink and lime green pierced the juggle and dotted the shores of picturesque lakes. The van bounced and lurched at breakneck speeds jostling us about, foreshadowing the adventure ahead of us.
Once transferred to our 52ft sailboat, we were given our cabin assignments. This had been a point of high stress since boats are tight on space and our kid has sensory issues. Amazingly, this boat was equipped with 5 cabins with private toilets! Now you probably just jumped in your imagination to picturing some lavish boat with grand rooms and dancing space. WRONG! This was still a tiny boat for 15 people, but we had a bunk setup with a double on bottom and single (with very little head space) on top. The private toilet was just that, a toilet. There was space enough to stand and the toilet was crammed in next to a dollhouse sized sink. I was grateful I had dieted prior to this trip because my ass seriously would not have fit otherwise. But hey, it was all ours.
We set sail that night headed for the San Blas Islands. Our Captain was a man of few words so we knew no details, but the wine was cold and the warm breeze sweeping off the sails as the setting sun's rays twinkled on the aqua water made for a relaxed, excited start to what would be one of the most intense experiences of my life.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
There really is no good way to segway from the 'Debbie Downer' moment I just gave you, to talk about the next leg of our adventure, sailing off on a sailboat to the private islands of San Blas. So I'm going to just let it hang there and talk about some serious white people's problems.
The shuttle picked up the other people we would sail with, a mix of Europeans, and we spent the next couple of hours getting to know each other. As we all introduced ourselves, we were relieved to find they were all incredibly bright, well traveled, very interesting people! This was going to be a blast. And they had the chance to get to know our son who is anything but an average 11 year old, clearly a relief to these couples who for a moment couldn't believe they had to spend their vacation with a "kid".
Driving the tangled, broken roads through rural Panama was a neon rainbow. Houses painted in mustard yellow, turquoise, hot pink and lime green pierced the juggle and dotted the shores of picturesque lakes. The van bounced and lurched at breakneck speeds jostling us about, foreshadowing the adventure ahead of us.
Once transferred to our 52ft sailboat, we were given our cabin assignments. This had been a point of high stress since boats are tight on space and our kid has sensory issues. Amazingly, this boat was equipped with 5 cabins with private toilets! Now you probably just jumped in your imagination to picturing some lavish boat with grand rooms and dancing space. WRONG! This was still a tiny boat for 15 people, but we had a bunk setup with a double on bottom and single (with very little head space) on top. The private toilet was just that, a toilet. There was space enough to stand and the toilet was crammed in next to a dollhouse sized sink. I was grateful I had dieted prior to this trip because my ass seriously would not have fit otherwise. But hey, it was all ours.
We set sail that night headed for the San Blas Islands. Our Captain was a man of few words so we knew no details, but the wine was cold and the warm breeze sweeping off the sails as the setting sun's rays twinkled on the aqua water made for a relaxed, excited start to what would be one of the most intense experiences of my life.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Walk a Mile in My Shoes
So much has happened since my last post that I will really try not to make this " A Hundred Years of Solitude" style recap. But I can't make any promises.
Picking up from our time in Panama City; we strolled along the beautiful Cinta Costera boardwalk that offers views of the blue hued city skyline and manicured parks. The old town area that is being rebuilt makes for a charming, idyllic place to ooh and ahhh over the beautiful Christmas decorations. Lights dripped from every tree in the quaint parks, sparkled on every colonial building and dazzled in giant holiday themed sculptures. The area is in fact so adorable and the warm air, cooled by the ocean breeze is so enchanting that we decided to walk all the way back to our hotel. It is funny how I didn't realize that Panama City was built on a series of hills until I walked mile after mile in my sweet little Italian leather shoes. My feet were bleeding by the time we got home, and we didn't have any wine to kill the pain. Not the best planning.
As if we hadn't had enough walking, the next day we decided to take the much talked about jungle hike to the city's second highest hilltop for breath taking views. Being that I couldn't stick my bloody sausage feet into any shoes, I went on this hike in flip flops. I know, it is a ridiculous show of shoe choice in repeat. The hike was lush and humid with a well kept trail and jungle beauty like that of Tikal, Guatemala. Adorable little monkeys chattered to each other overhead while birds of all kinds wowed us with their stunning colors. Strange trees and vibrant flowers hugged the path and the 360 degree view of the city and valley from the top did not disappoint. On the way back down we finally spotted the proverbial "cherry on top" with a sloth hanging causally from a branch watching us. It was AWESOME. I also looked like I had showered somewhere along the way, emerging from the jungle literally soaking wet. Sweat dripped down my hair and stung my eyes and my shirt clung to me in a sticky mess.On the up side, I managed to escape without further damage to my feet...even with the long lines of marching ants that accompanied us.
Of course there are the things that made Panama City a challenge, like food my kid won't eat, trash strewn about and people living on the street. Things are a little confusing, it definitely isn't an intuitive city in layout and not speaking much Spanish is a definite drawback there. I found myself comfortable, yet uncomfortable. Needless to say I enjoyed the few days there and also was ready to move on. Move on to a far more uncomfortable leg of our journey; the boat.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Picking up from our time in Panama City; we strolled along the beautiful Cinta Costera boardwalk that offers views of the blue hued city skyline and manicured parks. The old town area that is being rebuilt makes for a charming, idyllic place to ooh and ahhh over the beautiful Christmas decorations. Lights dripped from every tree in the quaint parks, sparkled on every colonial building and dazzled in giant holiday themed sculptures. The area is in fact so adorable and the warm air, cooled by the ocean breeze is so enchanting that we decided to walk all the way back to our hotel. It is funny how I didn't realize that Panama City was built on a series of hills until I walked mile after mile in my sweet little Italian leather shoes. My feet were bleeding by the time we got home, and we didn't have any wine to kill the pain. Not the best planning.
As if we hadn't had enough walking, the next day we decided to take the much talked about jungle hike to the city's second highest hilltop for breath taking views. Being that I couldn't stick my bloody sausage feet into any shoes, I went on this hike in flip flops. I know, it is a ridiculous show of shoe choice in repeat. The hike was lush and humid with a well kept trail and jungle beauty like that of Tikal, Guatemala. Adorable little monkeys chattered to each other overhead while birds of all kinds wowed us with their stunning colors. Strange trees and vibrant flowers hugged the path and the 360 degree view of the city and valley from the top did not disappoint. On the way back down we finally spotted the proverbial "cherry on top" with a sloth hanging causally from a branch watching us. It was AWESOME. I also looked like I had showered somewhere along the way, emerging from the jungle literally soaking wet. Sweat dripped down my hair and stung my eyes and my shirt clung to me in a sticky mess.On the up side, I managed to escape without further damage to my feet...even with the long lines of marching ants that accompanied us.
Of course there are the things that made Panama City a challenge, like food my kid won't eat, trash strewn about and people living on the street. Things are a little confusing, it definitely isn't an intuitive city in layout and not speaking much Spanish is a definite drawback there. I found myself comfortable, yet uncomfortable. Needless to say I enjoyed the few days there and also was ready to move on. Move on to a far more uncomfortable leg of our journey; the boat.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Monday, December 18, 2017
Starting the Adventure
To start a big adventure like living in Colombia for 2 months, you start with a laborious travel day.
Living in Northern New Mexico has many advantages, until you want to go somewhere else. We live 2 hours from the International airport in Albuquerque and our flight was leaving at 5:10am so we had to leave the day before and spend the night in a hotel. Then we had to get up at 3:00am in order to park the car and check in. THEN we flew to Dallas...and Miami...and finally Panama City at 8:30pm. It was ridiculous.
That being said, we all managed to stay in good spirits and even lucked into an "International Flyers Welcome" at Miami airport with Perrier Jouet Champagne and French macaroons. You had me at hello Miami, you had me at hello. When we finally arrived at the hotel in Panama City, we were on sensory overload and the party atmosphere of Friday night surrounding us was a bit overwhelming. We hunkered down in our spacious, modern hotel room and gazed out the floor to ceiling windows at the magnificent architecture of down town. Just as we said goodbye to the heightened travelers energy and started to climb into bed, we heard a series of loud bangs. Of course having been indoctrinated as Americans to fear all other countries, we looked at each other in shock and all wondered if it was gun shots. Cautiously peaking out the curtains revealed an amazing fireworks display! We glued ourselves to the air conditioned glass of the windows and enjoyed front row seats to a fantastic show. It was a perfect welcome to the city.
Waking up in Panama City, our 1st day on our adventure, was leisurely and pleasant, like the warm air that bathed us as we meandered the twisting streets. Striking, beautiful sculpture like buildings rose up around us, while the street level entertained us with high-end dress shops, cafes and restaurants. The tropical trees gave spotted shade and the sidewalks offered a gauntlet of ways to trip and kill yourself. This city has an International feel, filled with beauty and yet also tinged with the signs of despair. Some buildings are dirty and in need of repair, while small casinos shine bright on every corner. It is the strangest mismash of cities I've seen. It is like Rome, Vegas and Bangkok had a baby.
Needless to say, the adventure has definitely begun!
OH and I almost forgot the most important part, there is wine here! I worried that it would be like when we went to Belize and I couldn't "Belize" it (I can't help that dorky joke), but they had no wine. Wait, no they had some wine...horrible crap I would never pay the $3 they ask for at home that in Belize was $28. But I digress, they have wine in all the little corner markets and not outrageously priced for decent stuff! It is a very fun discovery indeed.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Living in Northern New Mexico has many advantages, until you want to go somewhere else. We live 2 hours from the International airport in Albuquerque and our flight was leaving at 5:10am so we had to leave the day before and spend the night in a hotel. Then we had to get up at 3:00am in order to park the car and check in. THEN we flew to Dallas...and Miami...and finally Panama City at 8:30pm. It was ridiculous.
That being said, we all managed to stay in good spirits and even lucked into an "International Flyers Welcome" at Miami airport with Perrier Jouet Champagne and French macaroons. You had me at hello Miami, you had me at hello. When we finally arrived at the hotel in Panama City, we were on sensory overload and the party atmosphere of Friday night surrounding us was a bit overwhelming. We hunkered down in our spacious, modern hotel room and gazed out the floor to ceiling windows at the magnificent architecture of down town. Just as we said goodbye to the heightened travelers energy and started to climb into bed, we heard a series of loud bangs. Of course having been indoctrinated as Americans to fear all other countries, we looked at each other in shock and all wondered if it was gun shots. Cautiously peaking out the curtains revealed an amazing fireworks display! We glued ourselves to the air conditioned glass of the windows and enjoyed front row seats to a fantastic show. It was a perfect welcome to the city.
Waking up in Panama City, our 1st day on our adventure, was leisurely and pleasant, like the warm air that bathed us as we meandered the twisting streets. Striking, beautiful sculpture like buildings rose up around us, while the street level entertained us with high-end dress shops, cafes and restaurants. The tropical trees gave spotted shade and the sidewalks offered a gauntlet of ways to trip and kill yourself. This city has an International feel, filled with beauty and yet also tinged with the signs of despair. Some buildings are dirty and in need of repair, while small casinos shine bright on every corner. It is the strangest mismash of cities I've seen. It is like Rome, Vegas and Bangkok had a baby.
Needless to say, the adventure has definitely begun!
OH and I almost forgot the most important part, there is wine here! I worried that it would be like when we went to Belize and I couldn't "Belize" it (I can't help that dorky joke), but they had no wine. Wait, no they had some wine...horrible crap I would never pay the $3 they ask for at home that in Belize was $28. But I digress, they have wine in all the little corner markets and not outrageously priced for decent stuff! It is a very fun discovery indeed.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Holy Cow, Here We Go!
Nothing like a brain tumor to give you a swift kick in the butt right? So what do you do when with that experience? As many of my faithful readers know, I thought that should be taking sailing lessons and buying a sailboat. When the boat deal fell through, and finding the right boat seemed to be stretching into the distance, my husband and I had to have a serious talk about what to do. I could feel myself sliding back into habits of over working and high stress as my health improved and I went back to full time work. It was clear to me that I needed to do something big and now.
Welcome to our 2 month adventure living in Colombia! Why Colombia? Well, my hubby did a study abroad in Chile while in College (which is how he fell in love with wine, if you are not familiar with the Vivac Winery start up story) and spent time traveling to the nearby countries...except for Colombia. As an avid traveler, and fluent Spanish speaker, the enticing country he had yet to explore called to him. The hugely varying climates was intriguing to all of us; high altitude (10,000ft) cities, the charming colonial towns, the gorgeous beaches and the lush juggles. My son, a 45yr old man trapped in an 11yr old's body was drawn to the land of Gabriel Garcia Marques (one of his favorite authors). And me? I wanted something that would take me out of my comfort zone and be an adventure.
We decided to fly to Panama City, Panama where we would stay a couple days, then board a 52ft sailboat (with crew) to sail to Colombia. The 6 days of sailing includes visiting some remote islands and a 2 day blue water crossing (that means no land in sight for 2 full days). We land in Cartagena, Colombia the day before Christmas Eve. We plan to spend a week in the old city of Cartagena, enjoying the Christmas activities and then go out from there exploring the various areas of the country. We hope to find a cool little town to settle into and become a part of for at least a month. Since my son graduated from 7th grade in one semester, by working his butt off at his extraordinary school, his only job is to learn about the cultures we are enveloped in and enjoy himself. My job, is to take all of you on the ride with us!
So buckle your seat belt and away we go!
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Welcome to our 2 month adventure living in Colombia! Why Colombia? Well, my hubby did a study abroad in Chile while in College (which is how he fell in love with wine, if you are not familiar with the Vivac Winery start up story) and spent time traveling to the nearby countries...except for Colombia. As an avid traveler, and fluent Spanish speaker, the enticing country he had yet to explore called to him. The hugely varying climates was intriguing to all of us; high altitude (10,000ft) cities, the charming colonial towns, the gorgeous beaches and the lush juggles. My son, a 45yr old man trapped in an 11yr old's body was drawn to the land of Gabriel Garcia Marques (one of his favorite authors). And me? I wanted something that would take me out of my comfort zone and be an adventure.
We decided to fly to Panama City, Panama where we would stay a couple days, then board a 52ft sailboat (with crew) to sail to Colombia. The 6 days of sailing includes visiting some remote islands and a 2 day blue water crossing (that means no land in sight for 2 full days). We land in Cartagena, Colombia the day before Christmas Eve. We plan to spend a week in the old city of Cartagena, enjoying the Christmas activities and then go out from there exploring the various areas of the country. We hope to find a cool little town to settle into and become a part of for at least a month. Since my son graduated from 7th grade in one semester, by working his butt off at his extraordinary school, his only job is to learn about the cultures we are enveloped in and enjoy himself. My job, is to take all of you on the ride with us!
So buckle your seat belt and away we go!
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
The Good News
Those of you that have been following this blog know just how hard last year was, those of you that are new readers, you are welcome to go back and read earlier posts, but a quick overview is that I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, more specifically "an adenoma on the pituitary". Lucky me, mine was active and caused horrific side effects. My life seemed to spiral out of control as I prepared myself and my family for brain surgery. It was terrifying.
This year, everything changed. The tumor shrank, medication got me back on my feet and life resumed. We all held our breath as my health continued to be good, yet the threat that it could start growing again and the horror show could start all over loomed heavy over our heads.
In November I headed into the second 6 mo MRI and blood work nervously. I was armed with my cozy blanket and music cd, obvious that I was a pro at the 1hr 10min MRIs I need to monitor this thing in my head. This is the true test, what is this little fucker (excuse the language) up to? If it is good news, I will move to once a year MRIs. If it is bad...then, well, it is bad.
Days later we got the results that it is not growing, it is in fact significantly smaller than it 1st was and the blood work was excellent signalling that it is no longer active. This is terrific news! But I have to admit, I had a deep sense of disappointment that it isn't gone. My absolutely amazing Doctor says realistically I shouldn't expect it to ever fully disappear, but to focus on this incredibly positive news. I plan to take his advice. After I sulk for a little bit.
In fact, I plan to grab life by the you-know-what and have big bold adventures! Starting off with a 2 month trip to Colombia with the love of my life and my heart and soul, my hubby and son. Last year I swore I wouldn't let fear dictate my life, stress control me and instead do things that made my eyes pop wide open in awe.
Ok ok, I do have some fear about this trip, but the idea is to 'feel the fear and do it anyway' right? So when those fearful thoughts like ...
will they have wine?
will the wine be too expensive?
will the wine be horrible?
how easily will I be able to my hands on wine?
Seriously scary thoughts, I know. But I am going to embrace the fear and drink rum drinks and lots and lots of coffee.
Stay tuned for tales of our travels!
(this post is brought to you by Vivac Aglianico, Divino and Diavolo which I will be drinking by the gallon until I leave in an attempt to quench my wine thirst from the thought of going without.)
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
This year, everything changed. The tumor shrank, medication got me back on my feet and life resumed. We all held our breath as my health continued to be good, yet the threat that it could start growing again and the horror show could start all over loomed heavy over our heads.
In November I headed into the second 6 mo MRI and blood work nervously. I was armed with my cozy blanket and music cd, obvious that I was a pro at the 1hr 10min MRIs I need to monitor this thing in my head. This is the true test, what is this little fucker (excuse the language) up to? If it is good news, I will move to once a year MRIs. If it is bad...then, well, it is bad.
Days later we got the results that it is not growing, it is in fact significantly smaller than it 1st was and the blood work was excellent signalling that it is no longer active. This is terrific news! But I have to admit, I had a deep sense of disappointment that it isn't gone. My absolutely amazing Doctor says realistically I shouldn't expect it to ever fully disappear, but to focus on this incredibly positive news. I plan to take his advice. After I sulk for a little bit.
In fact, I plan to grab life by the you-know-what and have big bold adventures! Starting off with a 2 month trip to Colombia with the love of my life and my heart and soul, my hubby and son. Last year I swore I wouldn't let fear dictate my life, stress control me and instead do things that made my eyes pop wide open in awe.
Ok ok, I do have some fear about this trip, but the idea is to 'feel the fear and do it anyway' right? So when those fearful thoughts like ...
will they have wine?
will the wine be too expensive?
will the wine be horrible?
how easily will I be able to my hands on wine?
Seriously scary thoughts, I know. But I am going to embrace the fear and drink rum drinks and lots and lots of coffee.
Stay tuned for tales of our travels!
(this post is brought to you by Vivac Aglianico, Divino and Diavolo which I will be drinking by the gallon until I leave in an attempt to quench my wine thirst from the thought of going without.)
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
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