Things to do

For the third edition I’m happy to be able to present to you another real Globetrotter: Barbara Weibel (@holeinthedonut)

Barbaral Weibel, Sarasota News, 2008

1) Who Are you?
Who am I? Well, that’s the question we’re all trying to answer, isn’t it. I can best answer the question by telling you who I am not. I am not defined by my job, by the friends I choose, the clothes I wear, or the things I own. I like to think I am a woman who tries to be the best person she can be, who helps others whenever possible, accepts people unconditionally, and lives in loving kindness. At least that is my goal. In order to get to this point, I had to abandon a successful real estate career and backpack around the world for six months, searching for what brings me joy. I discovered that travel, photography, and writing are my true loves. Upon returning, I moved to Florida (U.S.), where I am working on recreating myself as a freelance writer.

2) What do you like about what you do?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to write.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?
I have been discouraged to discover the extent to which the editorial content of local and regional magazines is driven by advertising. I dislike writing articles that are thinly disguised advertisements.

Barbara Weibel at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe

4) Please tell us all about your blog Hole in the Donut and your aims with it.
Initially, I started Hole in the Donut so that my friends and family could keep track of me as I traveled around the world. I discovered that I loved blogging, so I kept it going when I returned from my around-the-world trip. Since then, it has morphed from a site solely about travel to one about life in general, with emphasis on my search for a meaningful life. In addition to posting about my ongoing travels in the U.S., I also write philosophical issues, post inspirational videos, criticize our government; basically anything that comes into my mind or interests me ends up on the blog. I often write with a sometimes sarcastic tone that most people find humorous. Although I hope to make the blog commercially viable as my traffic increases, I also consider it a venue for potential publishers to sample my work.

5) Your top 3 destination experiences you’ve ever stayed to date and why?
#1) Thailand. Aside from the fact that it is a feast for the eyes, I find the Thai people to be gentle, warm, and welcoming. It has something or everyone: including five star hotels, nightlife, and world-class shopping in Bangkok, gorgeous white sand beaches and stunning scenery along both coasts on the southern peninsula, and even trekking to visit the remote tribal ares in the northern mountains. Plus, Thailand is still a very affordable destination.

#2) Zimbabwe, specifically the Victoria Falls area in the south. Unlike other areas of Africa, where the people get in-your-face angry if you try to take a photo of them, the people of Zimbabwe are gracious and truly know how to make tourists feel welcome and appreciated. And while the falls are spectacular, his part of Zimbabwe also offers sunset cruises on the Zambezi River and day safaris in neighboring Botswana, where the animals are said to be the most abundant in Africa. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe is experiencing tremendous political unrest right now, making it increasingly difficult to visit this country.

#3) New Zealand. This small island nation is blessed with some of the world’s most amazing scenery, from the lush green hills on the North Island to the snow-capped Southern Alps on the South Island. I could spend a lifetime hiking New Zealand and never grow tired of it. And I believe that Kiwis must be he friendliest people on the face of the earth.

Barbara Weibel: food at the ‘resort’ at the Khlong Saeng Sanctuary in Thailand

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?
#1) The Windsor Hotel B&B in Christchurch, New Zealand. These folks really know how to make a guest feel welcome and comfortable. The common room was always filled with people willing to share their vacation adventures, breakfast each morning was delicious, and they even packed me a brown bag linch for the plane on the day of my departure.

#2) The Cape Pines Motel in the village of Buxton, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This small, older motel is run by a couple who has spent their lives in the hospitality industry, Bill and Angie Rapant. They go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that their guests are made to feel like one of the family. The rooms are nicely decorated, well-maintained, very clean, and reasonably priced.

#3) My Hotels La Spezia, on the Italian Riveria, just outside Cinque Terre. Rather than stay in one of the Cinque Terre villages, where the hotels are pricey, I opted to stay in La Spezia, an easy 10 minute train ride from Cinque Terre. This hotel was friendly, reasonably priced, and well-located to see everything, plus it was in the middle of the designer shopping district. The room was spacious, had a fabulous bed, and a wireless connection for no extra charge. Plus the breakfast each morning was excellent. One of the best values I found in Europe,

7) Your top 3 most memorable food experiences to date and why?
#1) Almost anywhere in Thailand would qualify, but perhaps the best Thai food I have every had was at a remote lake in the Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary. Getting there required an 7 our train ride, an hour van ride, an hour in a long-tail boat, and a 45 minute hike up and over a mountain to reach a second lake. There ?is only one family living within the boundaries of the Sanctuary,and they operate a ‘resort’ that offers primitive bamboo huts that float along the shore of the lake. Although the accommodations were spartan, the food was gourmet.

#2) Mofongo in Puerto Rico.Mofongo is the signature dish of Puerto Rico, a mashed mound of plantains into which a combination of seafood, meat, or vegetables is added. The best I’ve ever had was at Parador Hacienda Juanita, located high up in the hills of coffee plantation country in the central western portion of the island. Not only was the food excellent, the view over the mountains from the restaurant was spectacular.

#3) Gado Gado at the Puri Lumbug Cottages in the tiny village of Monduk in the central mountains of Bali Gado Gado is a traditional Balinese dish consisting of a heap of vegetables sauteed in peanut sauce, topped with homemade tofu and accompanied by steamed rice. If it was up to me, I would rename this dish Oh God! Oh God! It’s that good. And the view over the misty mountains and terraced rice fields from the?open air restaurant can’t be outdone.

8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?
#1) Aside from Chicago, the Midwest part of the U.S. is not exactly known for its food. It’s mostly meat and potatoes country, and not lot of fancy meat and potatoes, either.

#2) South Africa. This country has fallen on hard times. The unemployment rate hovers near 40%, crime is rampant, and there is tremendous political unrest. Although my accommodations in Cape Town were located in the busiest tourist section, it was not?safe to go out alone at night, and it is never pleasant to be traveling in a place where you feel unsafe. Plus, I never really found any good food in South Africa. I will say, however, that it is a beautiful country and well worth the visit when they finally solve their problems.

#3) My Safari in Tanzania was the trip of a lifetime, as I had dreamed of going on safari since I was a child. The experience did not disappoint, but the food did. The fact that I am a vegetarian confused our cook, and every meal for the entire week was loaded with simple carbs. My box lunch each day consisted of a cheese sandwich, a hard roll with butter, a packet of crackers, a packet of cookies, and a chocolate bar. Dinner wasn’t much better. Ugh!

Barbara Weibel, the restaurant and view at the Puri Lumbug Resort in central Bali

9) Can you offer the readers 3 travel/ food / accomodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?
I live in Sarasota, Florida, a fairly small city with a population of about 50,000. However, for a small city, it offers amazing art and cultural opportunities, so I will suggest three artsy destinations that should not be missed when visiting Sarasota:

#1) The Sarasota Opera, which now has spring and fall performance schedules
#2) The John and Mabel Ringling Museum, offers 21 galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities, Asian Art, American paintings, and contemporary art, in addition to one entire facility filled with memorabilia from the days when the family operated the Ringling Circus.
#3) The Bishop Planetarium in nearby Bradenton, an all digital full dome planetarium/theater that features astronomy presentations, sound and light shows and wide-screen large format programming

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?
Nothing comes to mind. And I think I am finally out of words!

Thanks a lot Barbara. Wonderful stories. Thailand is on my shortlist, as friends of us have moved there and keep saying that we have to visit them. I’m a bit concerned now that you mention South Africa. Just this week daughter number 2 (DanceGirl) is traveling there on her own to visit the dance school I wrote about in 2008 Cine Dance Amsterdam.

BTW, whenever your travels bring you in the neighborhood, do come by. Just around the corner of where I live we have a small Indonesian Mom and Dad Restaurant with some lovely Oh God Oh God:-).

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Wow! I’ve sent out three requests and got three almost immediate answers. Here is part 2: Meet Lara, a really professional traveler and travel writer:

Non smoking Lara with a favorite pastime “Sheesha in Dubai”

1) Who Are you?
I quite literally live out of a suitcase – I’m a professional travel writer (Australian – born) and I write guidebooks and travel features with my husband. We had a year’s worth of commissions lined up so as an experiment we put our things in storage in Dubai and took to the road for a year. We’ve been traveling continuously for two and a half years now, so we’re going to stop at three. Naturally, we’re writing a book about it.

2) What do you like about what you do?
As cliched as it sounds, I love the people we meet. We are lucky to meet some of the most fascinating people on the planet – we might interview a Michelin starred chef such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten at his new restaurant in Istanbul one day and one of the world’s greatest violin-makers in Cremona, Italy, the next. And after the people that we meet, I love the places that we go. We’ve been to some 60 countries now and I’ve loved every one of them in some way.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?
I hate it that every time we finish a project and complete a research trip and we move on to a different destination that our time in the last place can often seem like a dream. You know that feeling? When you return to work after being on holidays? Well, our whole life is like that.

4) Please tell us all about your blog Cool Travel Guide and your aims with it.
Cool Travel Guide is a place for me to reflect on the things I find cool about travel, so I write about anything and everything, from hotels and restaurants we love to the people we meet to more esoteric and odd things, like the ritual of tying ribbons to trees and love locks to bridges – part of the beauty of traveling so intensively and often is being able to identify these little things that connect us all across the planet and connect the dots. But most of all I’m interested in exploring the things that inspire us to travel and what’s so inspiring about travel and I’m not so sure I’ve done enough of that in the first year of my blog (yes, it just turned 1!) but I intend to do more of that.

Lara Dunston in Morocco

5) Your top 3 destinations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?
Can I use the word ‘experience’? ‘Stay’ sounds a bit superficial. Forgive me for being so pedantic, I’m a writer! It would have to be:
1) Mexico City – the first big city we ever traveled to outside of Australia a long long time ago (well, we actually had a brief stopover in Tokyo, but it was too brief to count) and I was blown away by its sights, sounds, smells, colors – it was one of those real assault-upon-your-senses cities that are what traveling is all about.
2) Havana – again, I fell in love with it for the same reasons I did Mexico City but it was alluring in a more subtle way – its colors washed over us, its sounds sang to us, and its people danced to us. I remember the first time feeling nostalgic for the city even though I’d never been there, and on subsequent visits felt the same way.
3) Rio de Janeiro – another sexy, sensual Latin American city – to me Rio was all about the beach, the brightness and the light, and the beat of the streets. I was shown the city by a group of young locals who the first time I met them took me out dancing all night – what an introduction! – and then I got to know the grittier side of the city through a filmmaker who took a bunch of us young filmmakers into a shanty town to do a participatory film making workshop – that was an experience I’ll never forget.

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?
This is difficult – almost impossible to limit them to three!
* Four Seasons Tented Camp, Golden Triangle, Thailand – it’s that luxury tented-safari style you expect in Africa in one of the world’s most exotic locations, Thailand’s Golden Triangle; there are outdoor showers, so you can shower yourself looking over a tributary of the Mekong to Burma, there are elephants to ride bareback, a spa overlooking the jungle, and sunset cocktails in the Burma Bar.
* The Chedi, Muscat, Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, and Bab Al Shams in the Dubai desert – all three have to share second place, I’m afraid – I love each of these three resorts equally. I love the concept of Arabian hospitality that we have on the Arabian Peninsula, I love the desert and the beach there, and I love that contemporary Arabian style that draws inspiration from the traditional architecture from around the region (from Jeddah to Yemen), and these three properties do all of that so well. If I want to relax I can happily go to any of these three places and know I’m going to unwind exceptionally well.
* Villa Crespi, Lake D’Orta – this is one of those beautiful hotels that is so exotic and so enchanting that it’s dreamlike, and you have to pinch yourself that you’re there – the Moorish-Persian architecture is wildly exotic for Italy, influenced by the first owner’s travels to the Middle East, and that adds to the allure of the place. The rooms are beautiful, very regal, and super-comfortable and they have views over the beautiful gardens and of magical Lake Orta. It’s very romantic – a great place for a honeymoon.

7) Your top 3 most memorable food experiences to date and why?
* Villa Crespi, above – just when you think the hotel couldn’t get any better, the restaurant there has two Michelin stars, the chef is one of the most philosophical and passionate we’ve ever met, and the food is simply sublime. There you can have one of those meals where each mouthful is a revelation and flavours are combined in ways you’ve never imagined them to be.

* Alain Ducasse in Paris – we had a long degustation menu that lasted for many hours and ate some of the most divine dishes we’d ever had in our life, made from some of the most luxuriant ingredients. It was truly decadent.

* I’ve named restaurants so far, but I have a million other memories of specific experiences in particular places, from eating fresh French oysters at the seafood market in Lyon, to the first time we had mussels and frites in Brussels, to the first time we tried ceviche at Veracruz in Mexico, to every meal in Shanghai!

8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?
* A Michelin-star restaurant in Athens that I won’t name where everything went wrong that you could possibly imagine could in a restaurant, that even though we’d ordered a degustation menu and had hoped to settle in for a long night, we were begging them to let us go by the third course. The manager then insisted he was going to serve us from then on and everything would be fine and still it took another 40 minutes for our dish to come! It was excruciating.

* Three restaurants in the Michelin guide in Calabria, Italy, where we were researching a new book – the Michelin standards there are very different to the rest of the world!

* A dreadful mid-range motel in Port Hedland, Western Australia… we were writing a new guide to Perth and Western Australia for Lonely Planet and readers had complained about this hotel, that it had cockroaches. As there are only a few hotels in town we thought we’d better try it out. We checked in undercover and one hour later discovered that my husband Terry, who’d been resting from the long drive and watching TV on the bed, was covered in bed bugs bites. We tried to check out but he wasn’t going to give us our money back. We had to reluctantly pull out the business card and tell him who we were so that he would! Something we don’t like doing! By the time we got to the next hotel on the other side of town, word had already spread around town, and when I arrived at Reception the guy said “you must be the bed-bug poeple!”

9) Can you offer the readers 3 travel/ food / accomodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?
Well, seeing we live on the road, I’ll offer a few trips based on recent destinations we’ve researched for books:
* Travel – an Airline tip – try and find an airline you like that goes to most of the destinations you want to travel to, join their frequent flyers club and travel with them as often as possible – this is what we do with Emirates Airlines and while the benefits have always been superb – access to business class lounges, upgrades to Business, dirt-cheap flights when you trade in miles, and extra luggage allowance to name a few – they’re going to be even more invaluable now with the increase in fuel costs and air fares and the increasing luggage restrictions.

* Food – never ever eat on a main square anywhere! By all means have a coffee or an aperitivo and do some people-watching at that cafe/bar on that charming piazza or plaza of some lovely old European city or town, but never eat there – those places are always tourist traps, the food is generally dreadful or at best mediocre, and they’re always over-priced.

* Hotels – when traveling to cities, opt for business hotels on weekends, when they have special offers, or you can ask for a discount and you’ll most likely get it, and travel to beach/mountain resorts week days when they’re quiet, and you’ll also get a great deal.

* Don’t travel anywhere in Europe in August – that’s 4, sorry.

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?
I think you’ve covered everything. Surely you don’t want me to say even more?!

Thank You Lara. Villa Crespi sounds mouth watering to me. Congratulations with you first year of Blogging. Happy Hotelier enters its third year in a couple of days. You may always correct me as English is not my mother tongue (that being Dutch) :-). I have a question about the photo taken in Morocco. Where was that and do I see it right that the city (or town) in the background is an adobe built one?

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I would like to introduce a new 10 Questions for: category as a sort of variant of “My Interview with”, because:

Here is the first edition:A new Blogger on the block who concentrates on sharing hotel and dinner tips

10 Questions for: Jennifer Knoepfle of Better Living through Travel

1) Who Are you?
My name is Jennifer Knoepfle, I am 31 and I live in Los Angeles, CA. Although I was born In Houston, TX, I have lived in California since I was ten and very much consider myself a Californian, much to my Mother’s chagrin. By day (and most nights) I work in the music business as the Director of Membership for a non-profit organization called ASCAP. I’m no travel writer by profession but certainly a loyal enthusiast, considering travel to be my most dedicated hobby.

2) What do you like about what you do?
Not surprisingly, the number one thing I love about what I do is the traveling. My job requires me to travel on a monthly basis so I am able to incorporate my passion into my everyday life.

3) What don’t You like about what you do?
I am really lucky, there really isn’t anything I don’t like about my job.

4) You’re a Blogger at Better Living through Travel, please tell us all about the blog and your aims with it.
I decided to start Better Living through Travel as a way of sharing my experiences with my friends and family. As they knew I dedicated a large portion of my life to seeking out the best hotels in any given place, they would come to me for advice and suggestions. The blog was a way for me to organize all my experiences in a way that could be accessed by other people. Lo and behold, once I started the blog, I quickly discovered that there were many people out there (not just my friends) that found my suggestions useful. I hope to use the blog as a way to share experiences and hopefully help people discover a hotel that might be really special to them. In my humble opinion, the cornerstone of any great vacation is a suburb hotel.

5) What are the 3 best destinations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?
1. El Calafate, Argentina:
El Calafate is home to some of the most spectacular glaciers in the world. I am so thrilled that I was able to see them in person, as they are disappearing and someday may no longer exist.

2. Gordes in Provence, France:
I spent two weeks driving around Provence last year and it was a incredibly memorable experience. The south of France has such an amazing feel, so different than the rest of the country. The people are great, the landscape is beautiful and the food is delicious.

3.Chianti, Italy:
Any place that you can start drinking wine at mid-day is okay in my book. I loved Tuscany for several reasons, but the biggest attraction for me is the Italian obsession with the preparation of great food! I’ve never eaten as well as I did in those two weeks. In fact, there are even dishes from that trip that I still crave all the time.

6) What are the 3 best accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?
1. The Home Hotel – Buenos Aires, Argentina:
I just did a post about why I love this place so much. Instead of boring you with the answer twice, you can read about it here: Home is Where My Heart is

2. The Hotel Healdsburg- Healdsburg, CA:
This hotel just has a really great vibe. The rooms are ridiculously comfortable, the beds are like marshmallows and the soaking tubs are enormous. The set-up and the decor is really inviting and relaxing and all the rooms are suites, so you really get great value for the price.

3. Borgo Argenina -Chianti, Italy:
Staying at Borgo Argenina is about as close as you can get to experiencing Tuscany in the same way as the locals do. The Innkeeper is a former fashion designer from Milan who restored an old Tuscan farmhouse into a beautiful Inn. The decor is very much in tune with the region and it feels like as if you were staying in a home rather than a hotel. The owner was more than happy to give us great suggestions on places to see and restaurants to eat. She was a great guide and I am certain my trip was a success largely due to her suggestions.

7) What are your 3 most memorable food experiences to date and why?
1. The Pappa e Pomodoro at Malbhorgetta in Chianti:
Quite simply, the best tomato soup I have ever had. I must have eaten it five times on my trip. You see, when I like something, I can be rather habitual about eating it.

2. The Rib Eye Steak at La Cabrera Norte in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
Argentina is a place for steak and this is among some of the finest, maybe even the best, I’ve ever had.

3. The Lentils w/ Sausage at Pura Vida in El Calafate, Argentina:
It’s been two years and I still think about this dish all the time. I’ve tried to make it at home but have never been able to duplicate this special combination of flavors. Pura Vida is a wonderful little hole where they specialize in soups and stews. It is also one of the few places that offers a great variety of vegetarian options.

8) What are your 3 worst destination/accommodation/food experiences to date and why?
Worst Accommodation:
Ojai Retreat in Ojai, California. I had never been to Ojai before and the retreat was recommended to me. It would probably be great for some people (yoga enthusiasts or people who loved absolute seclusion) but for me, it was the seclusion that scared the crap out of me. The house is isolated at the top of a hill, very dark with hardly anyone around. Also, there were giant spiders crawling everywhere!

Worst Destination:
Cancun, Mexico is like vacationing in the worst parts of Middle America. The city has become a total tourist trap and the majority of the restaurants are chains like Tony Romas, Chilis and Pizza Hut. It was very disappointing.

Worst dining Experience:
The First Class cabin of Continental Airlines. I was on a ten hour flight to Europe and I somehow managed to get the upgrade. I know it is airline food, but I thought that the food in First Class might actually taste good. I was soooo wrong, I guess airline food is just disgusting no matter what class you are in.

9) Can you offer the readers 3 tips about the city you are currently living in?
1. Rent a hybrid from Fox rentals if you come here. You will drive A LOT.
2. Take an architectural tour when you are here. Los Angeles is home to many fantastic buildings that are worth seeing.
3. In the summer, see a concert at The Hollywood Bowl. In the winter, see a concert at The Disney Concert Hall.

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?
Nope..these were great!

Great answers Jennifer. Thanks a lot and good luck with your blog! I love what I have seen from it. Promise me not to abandon it!

Finally on a personal note: You would be a great Agent at Vibe Agent :-) (and no I don’t get paid whatever to plug them).

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