Mini Life :)

Day 6.  We finally woke up earlier than usual in order to go on our first and the last tour – snorkeling.  $50 each and we were on the “Jolly Pirate” boat! Snorkeling was so much fun, I had no idea there is so much fish in the Ocean! Unbelievable, fish was so bright and colorful. Fish was so close that it seemed you can touch it and just in the last moment it changed the direction and was far from you again.

We also had a chance to see the old German boat which sank a long time ago! It looked much better than in Titanic movie…

The rest of the day was spent lazy lying on the beach and trying to finish at least one sudoku crossword .

Day 5. What can be better than lying on a beach next to a person you love? Not much really. This is what I and Mark have been doing all days long. Today he surprisingly decided to visit a gym and I said I am on a holiday”. Mark is getting obsessed with iguanas; at least two of them are living right by the pool. The decision to take one of them home was tempting but thankfully they need a lot of sunshine and hot weather which is problematically in Albany. Poor iguanas will not be happy there…

Day 3 and 4. We were still enjoying laziness of lying on the beach and swimming in the Caribbean Sea. I was asking myself how long I would be able to enjoy it and when would the thought appear stating it is time to go home and do some work finally… Thought surprisingly was not coming at all…

The first night Mark was trying to please me with sushi, aware that I will never say no to them but we failed to find a good and inexpensive sushi restaurant. It seemed so strange to me that the fish and rice are really expensive on the island where you can get the freshest fish and the best sushi of course…

We went to “Salt and Pepper” café which was in 10 minute nice walk on the beach and ordered 6 small plates of tapas (small Spanish snacks) and a free glass of Sangria, which was something like summer version of mulled wine. The dinner was so tasty that we decided to come back there one more time. The bill of $36 was also a good surprise as the table was full of plates.

The second night we finally decided to visit the capital of Aruba, the town named Orangestand. We caught a bus, thankfully the bus stop was right outside of the hotel,15 minute drive and we were already in town.  The short walk along the town and I realized that whatever people say about Aruba, it is quite a poor country; I would not dare to walk there during the night. One step out of a tourist way and instead of shiny lights with endless jewelry shops and Gucci, Lous Vitton and endless row of expensive brands you appear on a dark street with bad pavement and homeless people.

After a dinner and a drink in a Dutch bar we were getting back to the bus.  I was actually having fun, dancing on the street (I could hear nice music from somewehre), alcohol just helped to be even happier on this island when some young guy asked us if we would like “drugs”. It was very nice of him to think that I am a bit out of my mind. Being offended, I managed to scream back to him “I don’t need it” meaning that I can have fun just like that what is very true.

We also tried our new equipment for snorkeling. I have never snorkeled before so Mark had to teach me what to do. We were training in the pool and it was so much fun, I was able to see legs of people, and even a huge belly of some man .  Unfortunately, we could not see anything in the sea as it was too sandy.

Day 2 began quite early as we were still adjusting to Aruba lazy hours. My first attempt to make a morning coffee to still sleepy boyfriend was a disaster, water was everywhere and the liquid which finally appeared in the cup tasted disgusting. Despite this fact the breakfast on the balcony was more than pleasant, birds were more than welcome to be our guests and in the end one of them even ate the rest of food from my plate!!!

This day was something I dreamed about for a long time: lying and get tan, lazy reading a book, swimming in the Caribbean Sea, walking along the beach and your feet get wet by waves… and spending wonderful time with Mark… What else should I want from life?

Yes, I should admit that prices on Aruba are quite steep, main course in the restaurant will cost about $25-30, so including drinks and service charge will be  around $100.

We went to Rembrandt restaurant which was in about 15 minute walk from our hotel. We wanted to look around, so decided to try this place as prices seemed to be lower here. We have got tuna tempura and filet minion. The restaurant left a good impression and there was even a possibility that we would be back .

Day 1.  When the weather is about -15C you feel extremely lucky being able to get out somewhere warm and sunny, somewhere like… Aruba. It was exactly my situation and nothing could stop me, neither icy wind, nor 5:00 am flight, I was desperate to relax and enjoy quality time with my boyfriend.

The Philadelphia airport was quite nice, as nice as airport can possible be. I was very surprised to see free tampons in the lady’s room as well as automatic soap squeezer.

Upon boarding I decided to ask if I should give my I-94 form as last year it was taken by airline. The worker was very confused, said something completely out of line and then continued by “But we can pull it out, just in case”. I was so impressed. Possibly his mistake can cause big problems for me upon return to the United States as it is an immigration document. I have to add that most of people flying to Aruba are Americans so these workers usually are not involved with foreign citizens. I was right and this document should have been taken upon departure from USA .

The best part of our flight came later though. Everyone just took a sit (prior it was necessary to resolve a problem as two people had the same seat on their boarding passes, I honestly thought this is impossible but obviously I was wrong). So while everyone was waiting to take off the first announcement came saying that the third pilot is missing due to bad weather conditions and the cancellation of flights. So the reserved pilot was asked to be as soon as possible at the airport and he should be within next half an hour. Great job, noone was allowed to get out of the plane of course! In half an hour the second announcement came – “Pilot is here”!!! Claps from happy people who got tired of waiting…

Five minutes later came the third and the most enjoyable announcement – “Pilot “misplaced” his passport, so he cannot fly outside of the America ”. Great, this was something new, pilot who are searching for his passport ;  ten minutes later finally came the fourth and last announcement – this poor pilot managed to find his passport .

In general, I should say that I was disappointed with US Airlines, no free food on four hour flight seemed wrong. There was nothing to choose from the paid food either, and the situation with boarding passes and lost pilot didn’t help.

Though here I am, on Aruba, in Marriott Resort Stellaris Casino, the weather is warm, the beach is sandy and the water is clean and warm… OMG! This is just a beginning.