Day Four: Bird Conservatory

On day three we headed up the mountains on quite a perilous little road trip with all these crazy twists and turns, and almost car accidents, to reach a wildlife center called the Asa Wright Nature Centre. We saw tons of wildlife: hummingbirds (close up feeding!), agoutis (I love these things), lizards, and tons of other native birds, plants, and trees. Apparently, bird watching is the number one tourist attraction in Trinidad---who knew?! After quietly watching a handful of exotic birds (and those cuddly agoutis) feed as we watched from a veranda, we went on a guided tour on one of the trails. It was great fun, except for the annoying New York couple who kept asking the guide annoying, repetitive questions that had nothing to do with anything...and no I wasn't talking about me and Marcus!

Day Three: Boat Trip

Agnetha booked us a private boat trip around Trinidad. It was beautiful. We toured the periphery of the island, saw Venezuela in the distance, and got dropped off at a small lagoon type beach. Having said that, if you really want a nice beach, we've been told you need to go to Tobago, which we couldn't fit into our trip. I wouldn't return to that little lagoon type beach again, because there was some litter. But anyway, in the midst of our little boat chugging through the water, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a bunch of dolphins! It was amazing...I've never seen wild dolphins before. They were very curious and swimming right under and next to the boat. I love dolphins!

Day Two: The City of Port of Spain

On our second day of our trip to Trinidad, we went into the city. We found very narrow city streets, tons of people, and tons of cars. My mother in law, Agnetha, had told me about a wonderful fabric store in town, so we headed there. I found beautiful African inspired cotton fabrics...I think I'll sew some pillow covers or duvet covers with them. It was so busy in that store, it wasn't funny! What else wasn't funny? How good some of the local food was...let's say by the end of the trip I developed some personal favorites...cassava pone, coconut bake, and bake n shark. Hubba hubba. Oh and can't forget to mention the ubiquitous roti!

Back to the Beginning: Family Visit, then Trinidad

So prior to our trip to Trinidad to visit Marcus' side of the family, his sister Mimmi, and her girlfriend Sara came to New York for a brief, but fun visit. Lots of good food, lots of shopping. Then at the end of their visit, Marcus and I headed to Trinidad to stay with his mom and step father. They have been living there for the past year (his step dad lives abroad in a bunch of countries for his job). We finally arrived in sunny, warm Trinidad after some drama on the plane (passengers complaining, which lead to the entire plane having to exit the plane for another...) Day one we hung out around the apartment complex's gorgeous pool and took a drive up the mountains to get some great views of the city, Port of Spain. We were also there when the in-laws had other visitors from Sweden there, so we were hanging out with them, too. The pool's nice, right?

Major Back Tracking!

AAHH!!! Finally we've uploaded some images that I've been wanting to use for my blog...so we're going to be doing a little back in time action for a short while... First: Happy Holidays! Marcus and I went to my parents' house for Christmas...good food, good people, good times. My old friend Jindallrae made it to the party, too! It was good to see her...I hadn't seen her in at least a year. Yesterday I met up with Stephen for brunch at 7A, then to watch "Broken Embraces", an Almodovar flick, at Sunshine Theatre. I had a great time because we got to catch up. It's a bummer that we both live in NYC, but we don't see each other as often as I'd like. I want to change that...Anyway, I recently bought this hat which I lovingly refer to as the "baboushka"...and here it is in all its faux fur glory! Check out the photo above! And what did Santas Marcus and Gustaf get me for Christmas??? An iPhone 3GS, baby...ya! And what am I going to give myself? Probably a personal trainer...I need it!

Gotta Check In

It's been a while since I last blogged...Marcus and I went to Trinidad to visit his parents, who live there in Port of Spain. We're in the midst of downloading the photos from the trip. It was a lot of fun. Then as soon as we got home, the big snow storm hit New York! And now Christmas is upon us! So I plan to get all my retrospective blogs in order regarding the trip as soon as possible!

Sunday Night...Monday Morning

Yesterday I met up with a friend to eat at a brunch spot in Nolita. Then that night, Marcus and I checked out the Rangers vs. Redwings game at MSG. It was fun watching with him. The home team didn't win, though. But I love hockey--whether it's field, ice, or floor hockey. Yesterday we signed up for Zipcar. And I was prompted to enter in my driver's license. I reached for it, and found that my license was expired! Augh! What did that mean??? I would have to possibly go to the dreaded DMV. We if you ever have to go to the DMV in Manhattan, I'd strongly recommend the Downtown office on Greenwich Street. I got there when they opened...and I was in and out of there in less that 30 minutes! The rest of the day I spend packing for our upcoming trip to Trinidad and Tobago, and I went to get my eyebrows threaded at a place near J&R. It was a really good place---Saifra had recommended it.