Category: Travel Blog

While in Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama for our anniversary, my wife and I tried out two fantastic eateries.  Diablicos is a traditional Panamanian style restaurant where we enjoyed Ropa Vieja (shredded beef) together with rice/beans and fried yucca.  The restuarant is in the midst of the old quarter surrounded by beautifully restored colonial architecture as well as striking colonial ruins.  The next day we dined at Tantalo Kitchen enjoying Tantalo Ceviche and Jumbo Grilled Shrimp.  While both restaurants had very different menus, the experiences were equally incredible.  Add a bottle or two of Balboa (Panamanian beer) and all is well with the world.

In April 2018, I returned to London to study for another week at the London School of Economics and Political Science.  This was my second course in the Executive LLM program and examined International Investment Treaty Law.  While in London, my wife and I had the opportunity to travel to the Cotswolds, Blenheim Palace and Windsor Castle, in addition to various sights around London.  We dined at wonderful historic locations such as Rules Restaurant, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and The Grenadier. I definitely will dine at these three locations again when I return to London next April.  London is truly one of my favorite cities and a traveler could certainly never run out of things to do, to see or to eat.

In September 2017 I had the opportunity to visit El Salvador and Guatemala.  There are so many wonderful places to visit in both of those countries, however, I only had time to visit just a few of the highlights.  For my limited time, I chose to visit Anitgua, Guatemala, a former Colonial city now on the UNESCO world heritage list and several sights in El Salvador, including the Colonial city of Santa Ana, the Mayan ruins at Joya de Ceren, the breathtaking views of Lago de Coatepeque and the cloud covered volcanoes of Los Volcanes National Park.  While in Antigua, I stumbled upon a wedding taking place at The Cathedral.

Actually, I should say that I really stayed in Arlington on this trip.  While I went to the Washington, DC area on business, I really did not have time for any sightseeing on the week-long trip, other than far away views from my hotel. Of course, there certainly is a lot to see and do in the area and I will definitely make plans to see and do more when I return for business in a few months.  For this trip, I stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn in Pentagon City, which commands a great view of the Pentagon and the major monuments/memorials across the river.  The hotel is also a good location as being very close to The Fashion Centre Mall with one of my favorite fast casual restaurants, The Shake Shack. There are great number of high end eateries in the area but sometimes one just wants a great burger.

This is the view from my room on the 60th floor of the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai. What a fantastic view to wake up to each morning and go to sleep to each night. I can not express thoroughly enough how impressed I was with the hotel. The room was large, the amenities impeccable and the breakfast and happy hour provided each day in the Executive Lounge made eating in Dubai quite affordable. In addition, the fitness facilities rivaled any upscale gym membership. The only thing wrong with my stay is that it was only three nights. The JW Marriott provided a perfect base from which to explore the region.

Granada, Costa Rica, the oldest colonial city in the country, is a charming place to visit.  Although we were only there for essentially half of a day, we tried to experience as much as we could in such a short amount of time.  Following the morning drive to Granada from Costa Rica, The Garden Cafe was a welcome spot to have lunch. The food was fantastic and the setting authentically Central American, in an outdoor colonial courtyard. Following lunch, we took an obligatory ride around the city in a horse drawn and toured the San Francisco Convent and Museum. The San Francisco Convent boasting a long and rich heritage,was first erected in 1525 and has survived some very turbulent events during that nearly 500 years. The end of the afternoon was spent strolling around the central park square between the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Hotel Plaza Colon.

For our 2017 anniversary, my wife and I returned to Costa Rica. For the second visit to the country we opted for the northern tour. We flew into Liberia and established our base of operations at the El Mangroove Hotel (yes, Mangroove with two o’s as my wife kept reminding me) at Papagayo Bay. The hotel offered an authentic but luxury experience along a secluded beach. We had howler monkeys hanging out in the trees right outside our room and a short walk to a glass walled dining room for a fantastic four course meal.