Changing your travel style or a day on a double-decker tourist bus

When I was growing up “the family vacation” meant taking the family tent – a monstrous canvas structure-- to a campground and ‘roughing it’ for a week.   As kids we loved it!  Hiking, swimming, and making s'mores over the campfire at night.  I think my young, adventurous parents enjoyed it most of the time also (though not the take down of that canvas tent after it survived the previous night’s rainstorm).

At least the tents got easier to handle!

Over the years I experienced different types of vacations, most of it fairly frugal budget travel: camping, motorcycle camping, hostels, and the pre-Airbnb rented room. 

I am finding that my travel budget hasn’t really changed – it is still well into the frugal budget category –but maturity is demanding some changes and concessions must be made.

Somehow we managed to get all our
gear into that tiny car.

The lodging more often has an ensuite though the occasional shared bath still happens.  I still ride the big city metro or take cross country train, but an occasional taxi ride is allowed.

You definitely want to sit
on the top deck.

But the biggest concession, in my mind, is the double decker bus tour.  I NEVER thought I ‘d be one of the multitude of tourists riding one of those buses through the streets.  I needed to explore the area on foot; feel every cobblestone, look in all the shops.  Really experience the area.   Plus, those buses don’t really fit into the frugal travel budget. 

Never is a long time.  Too long for me apparently.

I have now done the double deck bus tour in two separate cities with my husband.   

We wouldn't have gotten this view of
Quite had we not taken a bus tour.

The next day we went back
to explore the Basilica.  If you
are brave you can cross a
catwalk and climb the tower. 
 (We were brave!)

The first was in Quito, Ecuador.  We had been in the country and on the road for a month and it was the last two days before we flew home.  

 After a walk to the historic area of the city we realized we were just tired and not really enjoying our day.   The bus tour office was just a street away and the tour really wasn’t too expensive.  Low and behold that double decker bus gave us a nice overview of the city.  And while it didn’t make many stops to explore, we were able to visit some of the best sites the next day.

I was just happy not to be driving in Paris.

Our second double deck bus tour was in Paris. 

  

Once again, we hadn’t planned on doing a bus tour; walking and the metro had been getting us everywhere we needed to go.  

 Food poisoning changed our plans.  We huddled in our hotel room for a full day – one of us sick, the other one worried.  By the next day, our last in Paris, we were ready to do something, just not a very strenuous something. 

 The original plan involved a walk, a metro ride, a train ride, and a bus ride to Monet’s garden.  The back-up plan led to a hop-on, hop-off bus tour on the Montmartre route.  Bus tour it was.  We mostly rode and enjoyed the cityscape, though we did hop off for lunch.  If might not have been the most exciting day but allow us to see a bit more of the city without stressing a still delicate constitution.  

It's always an adventure!

Travel.

It’s about compromise.  As the years go by and our health changes we are going to have to acknowledge that the trip won’t be the same trip we might have taken in our twenties. 

It will still be fun, it will still be adventurous, it will still be travel.  It will just be a little different.

Saturday Craft Market in Otavalo, Ecuador

Otavalo's main market square

Finally!  

After spending a month exploring Ecuador, traveling mostly by bus, and living out of a carry-on pack I’m at the Saturday Craft Market in Otavalo!

This Saturday market is the biggest gathering of craft vendors in Ecuador.  The market does open in the main square through out the week but on Saturday the side streets also fill up with booths, tables and even vendors on foot.

When I planned our travels through Ecuador, I deliberately set Otavalo for the end of the trip.  My husband was especially happy about that as he then did not have to haul my Ecuadorian treasures around for a month.  And I was pretty good about not buying much in other towns with the exception of a pretty pair of silver earrings and a Panama hat.

The craft market lasts all day so there is no hurry to buy from the first vendor in line.  The Saturday animal market only runs until noon and while I’m not planning on shipping home any farm animals, I did want to look around just for fun.

It isn’t a long walk to the outskirts where the animal market is held in a big field and the stroll through the main square and up the side streets is a good opportunity for a first glance at the craft booths.  Popular with weekend tourists as well as locals the animal market is filled with an array of chickens, pigs, and horses.  The scene is chaotic in my eyes, but the farmers seem to have a system down so my husband and I just stand back out of the way and observe the action. 

 

After a bit it is time to head back into the fray of craft vendors.  There are several things that I have seen though out Ecuador that I would really like to take home.

In several different cities street vendors have been selling soft, colorful blankets.  The usual claim is that they are made from baby alpaca wool.  I’m not sure if they are or they aren’t – but I love the colors and textures.  There are several vendors in the main square selling blankets, and I have to check them all to compare available colors.  Finally, I settle on one vendor and bargain a bit for the half dozen I want to take home.  I’m never quite sure how much bargaining to do and I might not have attempted had I not wanted so many. 

Then with arms loaded with all these blankets we make a quick trip to our room to drop them off. 

There are different types of items at the market but what I enjoy the most is the textiles.  Back in the square I shop for scarves.  There are many Ecuadorian ladies with tables draped in scarves of all colors and I spread my purchases around buying two here, three there, a few more down the street.  The scarves will fold up into a small area and make very nice gifts.  The blankets, those are different matter.  There are several vendors selling duffel shaped bags made in colorful Ecuadorian patters from very reasonable prices.  I purchase several as I suspect the airlines aren’t going to let me board with my arms loaded with blankets.  

A few more purchases round out the craft market shopping expedition.  On of my favorites is a woven tablecloth.  Several months later as I enjoy my table set with the cloth, I wish that I had purchased several.  But maybe that is a good reason to good back to the market!

Hanging Out In Haarlem -- Outside of Amsterdam

 

Why Haarlem?

Just sitting next to one of Haarlem's
many canals is a pleasant afternoon break

The first thought when you’re planning your trip to the Netherlands is staying in Amsterdam.   

While we wanted to see Amsterdam, on a day-to-day basis we are much more comfortable in a smaller town.  We didn’t plan to rent a car, but we did want to visit several towns outside of Amsterdam so finding a home base near a train station was important. 

After a bit of research Haarlem seemed to be the answer.  Twenty minutes by train from the station in the center of Amsterdam, Haarlem has a charming old town, lots of shopping, and plenty of restaurants but smaller crowds and a more compact center.

While there are hotels in the center, we ended up renting a small house right on a canal from an Airbnb host.  The little two-story townhouse was perfect for us as a couple.  Downstairs there was a small but fully equipped kitchen and living room with a large sliding door that looked out to the canal.  Upstairs was a nice size bedroom with a large comfortable bed and a sleek bathroom that included laundry facilities.

The location was perfect:  a ten-minute walk to the train station, a four-minute walk to a nice grocery store, and a six-minute walk to the historic town square with the cathedral surrounded by cafes and restaurants with both inside and outside service.

Haarlem's old town square on a quiet morning

 

On the side of the cathedral
shops have been added over the years

 

This canal house was just down the
street from our airbnb

It’s interesting that when you visit other countries what seems ordinary or common place to the resident is fascinating to the visitor.  For us, a simple walk along some of the side canals was a time to observe all the different canal side houses.  We were amazed at how irregular the older buildings were.  Upper stories leaned out at strange angles over the bottom stories.  Windows weren’t in a straight row but inches higher or lower that their mates.  In some cases, it seemed a wonder that the building was still standing!  Just down the street from our temporary Haarlem home was a house dated back to 1692.  Things must get out of true after 300 years or so.

The door proclaimed the house was built in 1692

 

Like Amsterdam Haarlem had its own red-light district.   We found it around the corner from our canal house.  We knew it was the red-light district because there was a building with a light that was, well, red.  Other than that light shining at night the area seemed very low key and quiet.

And, like Amsterdam and probably every town in the Netherlands, Haarlem had its coffee shops.  You have to learn the difference between a coffee shop and a koffiehuis.  The coffee shop is where you can buy a coffee AND a joint.  The koffiehuis just has the coffee.  We visited several coffee shops in Haarlem.  One that was close to the historic square had two outside tables and good internet service.  I know this because I am terribly sensitive to all kinds of smoke, so I was happy to sit at the outside table and download books to my kindle while my significant other sampled some of the wares.  

Haarlem's windmill