SAECULUM VILITER

A DECADE OF TRAVELING

A saeculum is an ancient Roman measurement of time meant to chronicle major events like a war or the foundation of a city and spanning anywhere from 90 to 110 years, effectively a lifetime. Everything that happened after an event would be considered a part of that saecula.

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Vacations From Home is entering just its second decade of bringing you rewarding and entertaining tales of traveling on the cheap and extravagantly, both near and far, but according to a recent report from Team VFH central command we have already experienced an entire saecula of global jet-setting and mooching. In effect your dedicated chroniclers of escapades have exceeded its allotment of fun and travel that most people would never approach in their lives.

You don’t think we’re going to stop do you? Remember it’s a big world out there and someone has to see it.

CHASING THE SUN

This year has been especially adventurous for this vivacious and charismatic traveling tag team (and might I modestly add devilishly handsome scribe). We have been blessed with the opportunity to travel quite a bit and hopefully dear and noble reader you have followed our attempts to chase the sun in 2019.

If not, here’s a quick recap:

January

Janet was off to England to visit her daughter and the grandchildren. I still work occasionally; I am freelance and decided to stay home.  

SUNSET MALLORY SQUARE KW

February

Escaping a snow storm in the northeast, we spent nearly 3 weeks in the Florida Keys. We flew into Miami and worked our way down the string of islands. We stayed on Big Pine Key on the way down at the Looe Key Dive Resort, had a week in Key West and stayed a few days at Amoray Dive Resort on Key Largo. We never got to dive though although we did hit a number of dive bars in Key West.

March

While I worked the NCAA tournament for CBS Janet flitted off to visit her other daughter in Austin Texas with a couple of her friends from college. I may be somewhat retired, but the money is too good to pass up. I got to stay in New York City for two weeks.

April

We did not travel, but I did get to Newark NJ (where I was born) to enjoy the Cherry Blossoms in Branch Brook Park.  In full bloom in April there are more Japanese Cherry Blossoms planted in Newark than in Washington, D.C.

LAKE WINDERMERE, ENGLAND

May

We spent 2 weeks in England. We had gotten very inexpensive airfare.

This was Janet’s second of three visits to her daughter and grandsons this year. We spent most of the time in Nantwich but also took a three- day side trip via train to Lancaster to stay at the Sun Hotel and to walk along the picturesque canal. We spent a day in the Lake District a 45-minute train north from Lancaster and took a boat ride on Lake Windermere, the longest lake in the District. It was quite beautiful in the Lake Districts. The more we travel to England the more I think of returning.

June

Janet was in Austin, Texas yet again for a week and when she returned, we began to prepare for our major trip the next month.

ZELJKO AND HIS TOYS

July

We traveled three weeks in Croatia. We traveled like tourists AND as Croatians.

After a couple of days in the walled city of Dubrovnik we cruised through the Dalmatian Islands aboard a luxury yacht. Then we rented a car to hike in the beautiful Plitvice Lakes National Park. Then, we stayed with old friends at their summer home in Trpanj on the Peljesac Peninsula. It had been 35 years since I had last visited with my friends. It was a very special trip. (Not saying staying with the in-laws is any less special)…….

August

We rested, gardened and grew our peppers. We invited ourselves to friend’s pools and bbq’s and these friends were so happy to be regaled with tales of our travels.

I made hot sauces and pineapple/habanero jelly.

September

As a working stiff in the television industry for decades there was never a chance to visit the Jersey Shore after Labor Day. Kids were in school and tennis tournaments and football was gearing up. Janet as a teacher also had to work. Even though it was still summer life got in the way.

 

WILDWOOD NJ

Free now from such burdens we decided to go to Wildwood NJ the week after Labor Day and it was glorious. Though many of the attractions of the seaside resort (where Janet spent much of her youth) were closed, we still got to eat pizza at her favorite place and walk the length of the boardwalk and trudge out onto the quarter mile wide beach to frolic in the still warm water. It was a beautiful relaxing time.

October

AGAIN, Janet travels to England for a third time this year. The kids grow quickly after all. She took them out trick or treating on Halloween.

 

GETTYSBURG

I took a day trip to Gettysburg. We had been there several times before. It was a warm early autumn day and a pleasant day for me. On the way out I treated myself to a breakfast at the all you can stuff down your throat Shady Maple Smorgasbord. On the way back home I had to buy new shocks for the car because of weight gain.

SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD

November

Thankfully a quiet month of just hanging around the home. We did not cook a Thanksgiving meal but instead ate at the Black Lab Bistro in Phoenixville and then saw The Irishman at the Colonial Theater. Both places were busy.

THE BLACK LAB BISTRO, PHOENIXVILLE

December

We wrapped up this exceptional year with another trip to a Sandals resort. This time we stayed at the Royal Bahamian. I truthfully would never have considered an all-inclusive, adults only, couples only resort, because of cost, but in the long run, especially when the scuba diving is free it makes for a great trip. I passed my PADI Open Water certification.

 

SANDALS ROYAL BAHAMIAN 

We have already booked our trip next year to Sandals South Coast in Jamaica.

Thanks for reading. It has been a great decade of seeing the world. Please come back to follow our antics as we move into 2020!

© 2019 by Greg Dunaj

NAZI SYMPATHIZERS ON THE ISLANDS OF ROMANCE

HERE COMES THE SUN

You know, it’s really easy to overlook history and just sip rum drinks and bask in the sun of The Bahamas, but here at the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort on Cable Bay one is reminded of the interesting history of The Bahamas and her former governor David Windsor, what with all the pictures and love letters adorning the walls of the Piano Bar, in the Balmoral Building at the resort. You would know David Windsor as King Edward VIII. His family and close friends called him David, but his full name was Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David…Windsor.

SHE LOVES YOU

He was King Edward VIII for just a few months in 1936. Soon after his coronation he proposed to an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, who at the time was seeking a divorce from her second husband. As the head of the Church of England, Edward’s proposal to a woman whose two exes were still alive was politically and socially unacceptable and he was forced to make a choice.

DIRTY BANANA

He listened to his heart and chose love. He stepped down, his younger brother became king and when he passed his daughter became Queen. She’s still there, Queen Elizabeth II.

TWIST AND SHOUT

Right about now you’re probably saying ‘who cares? And, where’s my Dirty Banana drink?’ Well, while alternating between that sweet concoction and the deadly Zombie, that is mixed with 4 types of rum, it’s still hard to ignore the history of the old Balmoral Manor and in its current iteration as Sandals Royal Bahamian one is reminded of the luminaries this place has hosted.

Our favorite bar in the joint is the Piano Bar, which we have affectionally dubbed the “Wrinkle Room” (because of the older crowd). Here pictures of Edward / David and Wallis are everywhere and at the Cricketeer a British-style pub (fake hand pumps) Beatles paraphernalia and photographs adorns their walls. The Beatles stayed here while filming scenes for their movie “Help” and celebrated George Harrison 22^nd birthday at the Balmoral "Amoral” Club.

 

THE WRINKLE ROOM

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

When Edward VIII abdicated the throne, he and his wife received the title of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and lived in relative exile in continental Europe. England had never had a former king live beyond his reign and the Duke was eager to remain relevant and to have his wife treated as a full member of the Royal family. When the German government extended an invitation for them to visit Germany and to meet with Hitler they readily accepted. In October 1937, the outcast couple visited the country and met with Hitler at Berchtesgaden and they were indeed treated with all the dignity and status afforded to royalty. Covered extensively by the German media this visit served as great propaganda for the Nazi regime and the Duke was even photographed giving full Nazi salutes.

NOWHERE MAN

Prior to 1917 the House of Windsor was actually called the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, with the direct Germanic connection through Albert, husband to Queen Victoria. During WWI anti-German sentiment was at a fever pitch especially when the Gotha G.IV heavy bomber capable of flying across the English Channel began bombing London in March 1917. The house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha wisely relabeled themselves as Windsor in order to distance themselves from this unenviable connection with their enemies.

When the Duke of Windsor decided to take the Nazis up on their invitation just 20 years later the English government was not happy, and when two years later with the war gearing up there were persistent but unsubstantiated rumors that the Duke pressed the Germans to relentlessly bomb England to force a peace and that Germany wanted to reinstate the Duke as King to form a puppet government..

WE CAN WORK IT OUT

You can’t kill him, but you can’t keep him around, so the English government forced the Duke to accept the position as governor of The Bahamas. The Duke groused that this was a 3^rd rate British colony, but the arrival of the Duke and Duchess in 1940 captured the hearts and imaginations of The Bahamians. Wealthy islanders were hopeful this former King who abdicated his throne for love would help label The Bahamas as the “Islands of Romance” and help the fledgling tourist industry. Poorer islanders hoped their presence would bring attention to inferior living conditions.

 

IN THE BAHAMAS

I’LL FOLLOW THE SUN

The Duke of Windsor actually enjoyed some success as Governor including funding development of the Out Islands and brokering closer ties between the United States and The Bahamas and he remained governor until 1945.

Another achievement were the extensive renovations the Duke and Duchess made to the Government House in Nassau. Infested with termites and shabby furnishings dating from the Victorian era, the Royal couple sought funding and also provided some of their personal monies to extensive renovations that including new electrical wiring and plumbing. This beautiful pink black and white building remains the official residence of the Governor of The Bahamas.

While the renovations of the Government House were completed, the Duke and Duchess stayed with a Canadian ex-patriot, Harry Oakes, at his mansion Westbourne, near to where the present Sandals Royal Bahamian sits. I’m not sure if they too lolled about poolside drinking Dirty Bananas while there, but if you’re gonna get exiled it’s Better In The Bahamas. 

 

THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, NASSAU

The Bahamas became a Commonwealth realm in 1973 and today she is actually the third richest country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada, due to their tourism industry and offshore financing.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your holiday season.

Too cheap to buy a stamp

© 2019 by Greg Dunaj

SANDALS ROYAL BAHAMIAN

ONE ISLAND AT A TIME

Team VFH is living it up again, this time in The Bahamas. We are staying at another Sandals, our second stop at this Caribbean chain of all-inclusive, adults only, couples only resort. First started in Jamaica, there are now several resorts throughout the islands. We had spent our honeymoon at a Sandals in Antiqua and were quite pleased with the level of luxury and opulence we enjoyed. Here at Sandals Royal Bahamian, an older, more compacted resort than Antiqua, we are still enjoying the same level of food and drink and service as our first stop with Sandals.

It’s not “traveling”, but vacationing and so far, we like it so much we’re planning a third Sandals to yet another one of their resorts. There is an incentive to planning the trip while here, for we joined their “loyalty” program and we get “points” and discounts when we act early like this.  

 

SANDALS ROYAL BAHAMIAN

THE LAND OF NO “NO’s”

No matter the request, no matter how odd the words may seem coming out of your mouth, here at Sandals we have never heard the word “no”. At your surf and turf dinner you want a second, or third, lobster tail, just ask. If you want Milk… does your body good milk… you can get it at the swim up bar instead of a Zombie or a Mai Tai. If you’re lolling by the water or the pool and you need a drink, someone from Sandals will soon saunter by to fill your request, or fetch a new towel if needed. Sandals is remarkably attentive and each request is filled with aplomb AND brilliant unforced smiles. 

SANDALS

                                                                                            

HERE AND THERE

Sandals Grande Antigua was spread over a larger area and perhaps because of this had a more sedate feel to it and seemingly an older crowd than in The Bahamas. Stretched along much of the picturesque Dickenson Bay, Antigua catered to a more international clientele with British and American electrical plugs in the rooms, and it is a newer facility. Restaurants were scattered throughout the grounds as well as requisite pools with swim up bars.

The Sandals Royal Bahamian does not lack in swim up bars or restaurants, but it is an older facility. Once called the Balmoral that had been acquired, repurposed and expanded by the Sandals Company, the place is a lot more cramped than Antigua. Yes, the Sandals in The Bahamas offers everything Antigua did, but here it’s all clustered in a much smaller area. Neither is it set off in a remote location, but there are businesses and homes right outside the gate and even a Starbucks just a short distance away.  Most of the Sandals restaurants are found in one building; Janet and I call it “the Mall”. We’ve also named the two pools….the “quiet” one and the “noisy” one. Most of the crowds gather at the noisy pool for the daily dance antics and foam wackiness. There are more younger Americans here.as  Nassau is just a half hour flight from Miami, and it’s much cheaper to come to Sandals Royal Bahamian than Antigua.

BALMORAL ISLAND

Although the beach here is much shorter than Dickenson’s Bay with jetties helping collect sand for the beach, there is also a private island off shore that has a restaurant, pool and isolated stretches of sand. A launch takes patrons on a five minute ride out to Balmoral Island and we have spent a couple of afternoons there. The sunlight here is perfect for stretching out to tan; while at the pools one has to dodge shadows as the day progresses. Although clothing optional beaches are illegal in The Bahamas, evidently this rule is overlooked on Sandals Island. Balmoral Island is a very nice feature of this resort.

BALMORAL ISLAND

GOING DOWN

Aside from all the decadent care afforded by Sandals are their watersports. Everything from paddle boarding to kayaks to snorkeling to diving is free. In fact, no other resort offers free diving like Sandals which was one of the tipping points for us in selecting Sandals as our destination resort. Here in The Bahamas the diving has been incredible. During this trip we have gone on several two-tank divers (two dives in a day), swam with sharks and schools of neon-blue fish coursing over the reefs like an underwater river, explored a shipwreck, watched a massive sting ray flit out from beneath the sand and at one point dove to a depth of nearly 80 feet.

 

BRIAN AND ME

Diving was an unnerving sport for a novice like myself, but the attentiveness and care the fellows at both dive shops in Antigua and The Bahamas has gotten me certified as an Open Water Diver. There is a cost for the PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) and if you want to rent a wetsuit from Sandals, but otherwise it is all free, even the little sandwiches and fruit the resort sends along. Instead of wetsuits we wore UPF protection long sleeve shirts and even though it’s December it is The Caribbean and warm.  

A few of our dives were from the other side of the island, so the resort would transport us to the boat. We got to see a bit of Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas in the process, an added bonus.

Given the care and attentiveness, food and drink AND the diving, Sandals may be expensive but it worth the visit.

 PADI 

Thanks for reading, now I gotta go get another Zombie.

Not our stingray, but just to give you the idea of the underwater beauty that awaits when you dive. 

© 2019 by Greg Dunaj