Being born on New Year's Eve has its perks and it's drawbacks. Obvious perk is that everyone is celebrating on that special day. Downside is that it is also in the dead of winter and snow is a common denominator in most cases. That is unless you get a chance to get away to a tropical island in the Caribbean...
I am lucky enough to be dating a wonderful person who surprised me with a trip to Aruba for NYE and my birthday. Barely getting out of the sea of snow that had buried New York, we were overjoyed to step outside the airport on the other side a short 4 hours later to sunny skies where only a summer dress and flip-flops are required.
Once we got settled, we were off to sample the local fare of course. Our first meal (and nearly every subsequent dinner after that) started with escargot. It was cooked in a light, buttery sauce, sauteed with mushrooms and topped with a croissant like bread. It was pretty tasty, but Paul's buttery fish for dinner topped the cake. It was thick and juicy and grilled to perfection with a tiny amount of spices and a hefty amount of lemon.
Bellies full and wine starting to kick in, we decided to hit up a local salsa dance club. It was quite intimidating at first, but after some coaxing by Paul, we dove right in and tried to keep up. It was tons of fun, but needless to say, we are going to take official salsa lessons when we get home!
Morning came before we knew it and we were off to the beach. Since our hotel was located downtown, they owned a private island of beach front just a quick boat ride away. We were met with crystal blue waters, coronas, hammocks and even iguanas and flamingos! It was so beautiful, it was hard to think of anything besides relaxing...
We did all sorts of things from riding a submarine under water to watching fireworks on the beach and dancing the night away on my birthday (NYE). The daily activities mostly consisted of lounging, swimming, reading and tanning...needless to say it was REALLY rough.
Beach time aside, the highlight was the 100+ year-old, family owned restaurant called Papiamento. Seated next to a lovely lit pool with trees and white lights glittering the landscape, it was hopelessly romantic. We had escargot yet again and it was cooked with onions and plenty of garlic butter...it was heavenly and definitely some of the best snails I have ever had. We also had duck pate served with fruity jam, figs, lettuce and cranberries...small dollop of each item made for a quite tasty bite! Our main course was lobster and steak. It was good, but sort of a let down as it didn't have a ton of flavor. The espresso and home-made mint ice cream brought it home though...nice and sweet with a yummy orange fruit that is my new favorite as soon as I figure out what it was!
Our last day, we wandered once more to the beach to soak up as much sun as we could before packing it in and heading to the airport. Minus the 6-hour delay we had getting back to NYC, the trip turned out to be a great success.
Arriving in Aruba a year younger and much paler...I was very happy to leave a more mature (or at least according to my official age) and bronzed (or slightly lobster-esque)person. A new year for me and a new year for everyone to start fresh. 2010 was actually pretty amazing and I can only hope 2011 will be half as great. Happy New Year to all!
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