Had to a share a few of the videos I googled that made me giggle. Yasiel, I see where the “follow me” started!!!

Yasiel Puig made the decision to defect from Cuba the country to better himself. (And what a blessing to SO many people far and wide he did!). Yasiel did not defect from the Cuban people. He is the light to many Cuban people and his heart and love for wanting to help them is abundantly obvious from the consistent consideration of how he could help and where he could help. The universe placed this talented 28 year old ball of energy in a country that does not allow him the opportunities of others and thank goodness he made that decision and had the courage to make that journey that only one can imagine anyone having to do.


Anyone who spends time with me becomes aware of some distinct quirks/annoyances of mine, including my own language which often I’m given crap about, or the things daily I personally shake my head and giggle about, and a have found you either LOVE me for and find endearing or can’t stand me. Yasiel immediately picked up on these and was able to cap on me quite quickly which warmed my heart and of course has made for such a fun trip and I “think” Yasiel fell into the found my silly ass and endearing category ?

I truly could go on and on about examples about the type of person behind the scenes this man is because I have been able to observe him in such a variety of ways. I’ve observed arguments (which stinks when not in my language to at least hear what they are fighting about ?), moments with his kids, bombarded by fans, you name the situation presented, and as a 28 year old man whom has accomplished what he has and fought to get where he is thru unimaginable circumstances Yasiel deserves every bit of success he continues to earn.

***Sure, there are many situations anyone on the outside could sit back and criticize or judge on how he may or may not handle himself and I would encourage those who may throw stones at this man to reflect on actions of other 28 year olds. Then I would like them to take a moment and see if they could fathom what it would be like to walk in his shoes along the path he has been forced to take in life over the past 8 years. Add in the obstacles that he has overcome, the amount of wealth he has earned (going from a country where toilet paper and running water isn’t common) THEN add in this is not his native language...come on, if you want to judge this man’s character at this point and talk trash it really shows more about your character than his.


He has made life long fans of Shannon and I, and I’m quite sure I’ll being heading to my first MLB game I have been to in a decade and I can’t wait!


Thank you Yasiel for sharing yourself and your world and so many intimate aspects of your life with us. This trip has forever changed me and I look forward to the next one!




?? Xoxo,



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P.S. I have been corrected about Yasiel’s last team. I may have thought he played for the Cleveland Browns...which is football, not baseball. I’m learning!

We ended up going into Cuba a total of three times throughout the day. We came back to the ship to take a nap to prepare for the evening when we heard about the Old Havana Perfume Museum from our friends.  Of course we then decided to skip the nap and head back into Havana off the cruise ship.  This perfume shop was adorable, interesting and so weird all rolled into one. Of course I got a little souvenir bottle of the oldest Perfume in Cuba called "Passion".  

I can not take photo credit for all of these pictures.  It's great to travel with 9 other sets of eyes, especially if I am filming!  Fusterlandia is an area in Cuba with spectacular mosaics and art shopping that someone knew to take us to.  Most all of my souvenirs were purchased in this area from local artists and would definitely make this a stop in Cuba. 

The video below is on real time and lets you ride along on our trip to the cabaret.  The driver "Shrek" was quite adorable and smitten with me so I thought fun to share his banter.  

We got tickets while strolling in Havana to one of the cabaret shows.  The hotel we stopped into that sold us tickets recommended this show.  It was located at Hotel Nacional.  The hotel itself was absolutely beautiful from the little we were able to see.  The show is in another building and I describe it in the first video.  :). 

I will admit, a little over half-way thru this show I was sitting there somewhat baffled that I was bored.  I was literally having a mental battle with myself of what the heck when I turned around and the entire table of 9 others waves they were ready to go.  So...I'm guess that isn't the best option for a show.  Besides the aesthetics of the theater and such, the only thing we could figure caused the boredom was simply none of it was in English.  So we truly didn't understand the show and part of what they were wanting to share about their culture.  
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Leaving Cuba caused me to do more research about their culture and the communist rule. I don't believe I truly understood what it meant and then once I observed it it led me to do more research to understand what these people have gone thru. These people are not their government. They were born into the law and they don't have any options because they can't get out. It makes me appreciate how blessed I truly am.

All in all, the trip was amazing. I was able to float in the ocean with rays of sun, explore the beauty of Cuban culture, hang with 9 amazing people and meet 8 new friends.

I do want to give a shout out to Jennifer Blomer. Jennifer was the travel consultant that planned and laid out this trip for us. I typically do all of my own travel but I was joining in a group of friends so I didn't have to handle anything. So if you are a frequent traveler and haven't been to Cuba, or have never taken a cruise, or are terrified of planning a Cuban trip, Jennifer would be perfect for you.

There were quite a few extra things that Jennifer handled for us that even I as an avid traveler thoroughly appreciated. So if you were one that were unsure what would be needed or expected for travel, Jennifer would hit it out of the park for you. She has the patience of a saint (hello, there were 9 of us, and we had zero cell service. ) and if you had questions or needed extra attention to detail, Jennifer would take care of it.

Thank you for following along on my crazy adventures. I love getting to hear who follows along....

xoxo

​Jenny

ig: jennytorrence
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I am trying to finally catch up on some fun things but I hate to slow down to take the time to write!  


Where I left off on my trip was after our crazy, yet extremely memorable Irish wedding, that happened to be located in the middle of a cemetery, up a long walk, in the rain.  If you haven’t had a chance to read that, it is a must!  I know that is something I will never forget.  


After the wedding and we took the ferry back to the mainland, they had scheduled into the day a nap in between festivities, and I needed it.  Granted, I am not an Irish drinker but my one cider that I used for the toast required a disco nap for me.  We knew going into the reception it was scheduled to go late because of the Irish customs which is what I was most excited about.  I believe all the Americans were excited about.  
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We went to the reception site which is where the family and members of the wedding party stayed.  It was the Castello Lodge which we learned, and heard from multiple different sources the story of how that location came about.  One of the original owners of the Titanic was the builder of this home.  In the movie, there is a man who carries off a child at the end and that is the owner of the blue necklace.  He survived the sinking by sink supposedly in reality by dressing as a woman in order to save his live.  There is much folklore about him and have done minimal research thus far.  Somehow people found out about his dishonesty of getting off the boat and exiled him after burning his house down in the UK, which is how he ended up in Ireland and building the property where the wedding was held.  Beautiful property and I can’t wait to find out more about the story.  
Anyway, Shannon headed over to the wedding before me since this was her shin dig.  I hadn’t been sleeping well and struggling with my jet lag so I finally made it over closer to 9.  There was supposed to be basically three receptions.  Typical American style, kind of mix of the two, and then the final one was to be how many Irish end their evenings in family song and music bringing up the sun.  That was our goal, thus why I had to take a nap!  Needless to say, all Americans were so flipping excited for the final reception part and to partake in the Irish music with his family.  It didn’t happen. We laughed as it is getting early into the morning that all the Americans were left standing as the Irish were passed out and had to retire.  Granted, most of the Americans didn’t drink much and had to take a nap to get ready for the late night but still!  The laugh was on us as all the Americans left the reception late, hoping for some fun to pop off and they were all passed out.  
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Either way you look at that day it was nuts, crazy, one for the history books and most definitely a once in a lifetime wedding.  The stories and laughter over the craziness of the day have made it so worth going, especially now that we have dried out and our clothes are finally dry to be able to take home!  


I’m not sure that this wedding will ever be able to be topped as most memorable, but if you know of one that is crazier than this, I need an invite!!  


More soon,
Jenny

The bride is marrying an Irish lad who is born and raised here in the area.  So when we say a traditional Irish wedding, it is traditional!   The groom is one of 13 and is a full of color, fun group that as the day progresses I can’t imagine the fun.  As the ferry was starting to depart the groom, his father, and I am assuming uncles, pose for a picture and as someone hollers to smile, as up come the middle fingers on cue. As you can see we happened to catch it just in time. The family love on the groom is fun to watch, especially since the mother was tragically killed a year or so ago.  ​

One of the best parts we are noticing so far is the attire.  Wow...I have obviously witnessed a lot of weddings in my day, especially in the last six years and I have never seen anything of the sort. It’s crazy and will totally make you smile.  The only uniform or semblance of uniformity is comfort and perhaps favorite pieces of clothing.  Tattoos, piercing and more are celebrated and welcomed. Love it!  I noticed the first beer being drank starting around 10:45 am and the reception is supposed to go until the sun comes up.  ​​

Ferry is pulling up to the island and we are on to the next adventure!!  11:45
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​2:03. Well...we are all officially sopping wet , the couple is married, and we are back on the ferry and beyond thrilled to get back to land and dry clothes after the most amazing, unique experience I may have ever been witness to.  ​

As we all exited the ferry and started off we all were wondering where the next shuttle was.  Well, there wasn’t one! We watched as the bride and the priest pulled out their umbrellas and started the trek, uphill, in the rain. It literally may have been a mile walk up the road in the driving rain.  Watching the massive of line of us crazy nuts walking in this was fun and hearing the banter was the best, not to mentioned everyone taking pictures of the crazy wedding party.  Especially as we are walking up this hill towards what looks like a cemetery!  We knew the grooms mom had been killed recently while she was walking to prayer so we thought perhaps it was traditional to visit her grave and bring the wedding party along. Nope!  In the middle of the cemetery is an historic chapel set down in the middle where the wedding party and family climbed down to partake in the ceremony (I’ll find out more details for history buffs and share when can). The best was as we are walking up a gentlemen in front of us leans over to his wife and says, “we aren’t heading to the graveyard right?”   ​

After the ceremony we then walked half the way to a local pub at which we all had pints before the ferry back. Granted we didn’t know we were supposed to eat so our nap time will also include lunch time!  

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Although we are literally ringing out our clothes and have a full ferry full of soggy Irish and Americans, it was spectacular and will definitely go down as the most memorable wedding thus far. ​​

​CONCERTS! I obviously love to get out and support live music. Regardless of the size of the audience, supporting musicians and getting to enjoy their passion and talent has always been something important to me. I have attended all kinds of concerts starting as a child from Alabama and Kenny Rogers to Ozzy Osbourne and Guns and Roses and my list keeps growing. Sometimes performers on my list are bucket list performers and then there are some it’s an experience, I love their music or I had the opportunity to go.

Kesha & Macklemore was a fun one I was able to see in Cincinnati, Ohio with Shannon and a crew. I actually brought two of my employees to Ohio as a reward trip and had my step daughter Addison and her partner Liz join us for the event. They were able to drive over from Lansing, Michigan where Addison is attending graduate school. Plus, my neice Megan happened to be traveling cross country so I kidnapped her to join us for the fun. The energy of this concert was so much fun, especially the people watching!!

​I’m going to sign off for now. The flight attendants have out their duty free and are hitting the aisles and I hate to miss a good deal.

Lots of love,


Jenny

My UK observations for the day...
Shifting from second to third gear is not my strength. 
Their malls are ridiculous in so many ways. Not only the stores within them, they are impossible to get into! It’s like a scavenger hunt sometimes or a puzzle. Who has floors with escalators going down and none up?!
Many Londoners have been terrified by the sound of my lil Peugeot being thrown into first gear instead of the intended third gear. 
It is embarrassing each time I try to get into the wrong side of the car. 
My middle of bathroom shower confuses me where to put the bath mat...and the toilet paper. 
And my brain is still working on how to get my British door paint. Can I carry on?
Pizza express doughballs for 11 pm snack are a must. 
I don’t notice very many car accidents with all the traffic and craziness. Why?

I land tomorrow morning at Gatwick airport in London and not sure where I want to head! When Shannon flies in next week we have a great flat rented in Nottinghill off Portobello road. Portobello market has to be one of my favorite things so I am looking forward to enjoying that week but the days prior I haven’t decided where my adventure will take me.


One of my favorite things of traveling Is exploring new areas and honestly seeing what that area does “Right”. So many times there is not reason to reinvent the wheel, just explore other options. Look at other parts of the country or world and I guarantee someone has come up with what you are looking for. Seeing fun display, products, how it is set up and handled of similar businesses is always a highlight. Brighton, England is an area I haven’t spent any time in and have learned a friend will also be in area so perfect time to head up to explore that area. They are known for their pier and board walk, not to mentions all their markets and carboots. So travels my take me north for some new exploring.

I also wanted to try and do some tidbits along the way for those who are not travelers or whom haven’t ventured this far. I know I’m asked often about my travels. Many have crazy perceptions on pricing and such and as a bargain shopper I’ll try and share some tips and tricks. So...as heading out of the country as a shopper, those sometimes are challenges with bag and weight restrictions.

One of my travel tidbits is with southwest airline credit card. I love it. I rarely pay for any tickets airline tickets within the United States. I earn miles every month and try to use for domestic flights so when searching for this adventure I needed to find reasonable flights basically to London. I have free airfare using points so I’m flying to Boston and catching a flight direct from there. How some of my dates fell with meetings and such made my tickets a bit more expensive because lack of flexibility but my flight was around $450 round trip Boston to London. Of course tons of options more expensive but also a few more options cheaper. I have used many times wow air which goes thru Iceland and honestly is cheap and great and their flights would have been a less expensive option but the straight thru was calling my name. Will keep you posted as can!


Jenny