Traveling for work is vastly different than traveling "Holly style" in many, many ways. As I write this, I am perched in my Westin bed. This Westin Bed, is located in the Westin Camino Real in Guatemala City. I do not want to ever ever leave this Westin Bed. There are 5 pillows of varying degrees of firmness. The sheets feel so very silky to the touch. The entire set of bedding is solid white. So white I am afriad to lift my laptop and see what damage it might have done. Perusing the room literature, I discovered I can also own this complete bed ensemble with 100% Egyptian cotton 300 thread count sheets for $3195. This does include the box springs, matress, skirt, sheets, down blanket, duvet with cover, 5 pillows and 5 pillow cases. I could cheap out and get 230 thread count cotton-blend sheets for $2870, but I say when you go, you go big. I also have a 50" LG LED TV hanging on the wall.
Holly Travel usually involves utilzing Trip Advisor reviews to locate the most desierable location with the most economical spend. I buy my hotel rooms like I buy my wine - you find the cheapest bottle, then get the bottle one step up. My hotels are usually small (my preference), may or may not include an elevator, typically has a continental breakfast, and has a 19" TV that only receives 2 channels. It also typically involves an extensive search for any possible sign of bed bugs. (NEVER put your suitcase on the floor in a hotel room).
I am down in Central America to teach a training class. I flew in on Saturday evening because we need to set up the room for the class on Sunday. One of my wonderful co-workers that had been a participant in a previous session of the course offered to pick me up and take me to a handicraft market and then to a historic town about an hour away called Antigua. As we pulled away from the hotel, Jenifer's husband says to me, "the vehicle behind us is your bodyguard. I just wanted to let you know in case you notice a guy following us around". OK - Holly Travel DOES NOT involve the use of a bodygaurd. I have heard of people with Colgate having bodyguards when they travel but myself have never had one. I think my trip to Colombia must have been under-the-radar because I stayed with Tatiana's family for several days, went out to her Aunt and Uncles' farm, shopped, dined, everything - all with no bodyguard. And if you need a bodyguard anyplace, I would think it would be Colombia.
We picked up 3 other people from the airport and began our adventure to this beautiful colonial town. We dined at the restaurant La Fonda de la Calle Real. The food was typical of the area - they cook with a lot of pumpkin. Bill Clinton dined at La Fonda in 1999 (as you can see from my photo below). There is a beautiful town square and a picturesque volcano in the distance.
I arrived to perfect 75degree weather. The "city of eternal spring" one person called Guatemala City. One of the exercises in my class involves M&Ms. I was afriad if I purchased them in NY, they would melt before I could get to Guatemala, with our temperatures running over 100 degrees on Friday and Saturday of last week.
Holly Travel usually involves tagging on a few extra days to explore the area when a work trip is involved. That is how I have seen Warsaw & Krakow, Amsterdam, Brussels & Bruges. Unfortunately my life between now and November is dedicated to the NYC marathon, so I scheduled my trip to ensure I could get in the training runs with my group. I really wish I had more time to spend in this beautiful area. I will definetly be back to spend more time in Guatemala.
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