Honeymoon: Gramado - Varandas das Bromelias

Caiqian and I went to Gramado for our first honeymoon city.

When people ask what we did there, the answer is, not much really.

Mostly my fondest memories of Gramado was the hotel and small town charm.

If you want to experience the best hotel service of your life, for an affordable price, look no further than Varandas Das Bromelias.

Varanda Das Bromelias Boutique Hotel

The whole hotel felt like the owner was given an opportunity to create his/her dream hotel. It featured random delicious food everywhere, and the hotel also sold boutique glassware that the owner created. Caiqian is now inspired to take up creative glassfusing, and we will both forever be spoiled by the free cakes and champagne the hotel supplied.

Free food, everywhere!

At the recommendation of the hotel desk clerk, we went to a fondue place, Petit Clos, our first night. It wasn't as good as our Swiss fondue experience, but there was quite the selection of sauces to dip from (14 by my count).

Petit Clos

When we came back, we were in for a surprise. Another hidden benefit of our hotel was the special setting that they setup on the first night!

First night at the hotel surprise.

The following morning we got to see the mess in the light of day. Fortunately, we didn't have to clean it, we simply went downstairs to enjoy the best breakfast brunch this world has ever seen! Keep in mind when you see the pictures below, there are only 17 rooms in the hotel, and maybe half of those were being used. More food for us!

Best Morning Ever

Another lesson Gramado taught me was the deliciousness of "creamy cheese" like Requeijão, which somehow takes the best qualities of cheese and butter.

Requeijão (n thblue bowl to the right) is amazing

We couldn't spend our whole stay in the hotel however. Caiqian and I did plenty of exploring around the rest of the town. 

Walking Around Gramado (look at the wool seat coverings!)

One finding that we didn't expect is that everyone in Gramado has fur covering any and every seat around town, which was super comfortable. Caiqian and I decided to benchmark this genius idea, and brought some back for our new house!

Caiqian and I got seat cushions from Artesano Sul Brasil

One question we had about Brazil is if there were many restaurants like Fogo de Chao in the United States. In retrospect, the answer seems to be that most restaurants in South America are like those in the United Sates. That said, we did go to a churrascaria like Fogo de Chao named El Corbero. One thing to note is that you shouldn't leave food on your plate. Caiqian and I were shocked more than once when we had our plates taken from us despite there being plenty of food scraps left on the plates. Eat quick, or don't eat at all!

El Corbero

If there was one "attraction" we did in Gramado, it would have to be seeing Mini Mundo, essentially a large mini scale model collection of cities in Germany.

Mini Mundo

One neat thing was that the descriptions on the signs gave us an opportunity to test out google translate phone app which translates the photo. Hooray for modern technology!

Google Translate in action

Overall the mini sculptures were very detailed, but would we come again? No.

Mini Mundo Sculptures

But you know what? This was our honeymoon, and we enjoyed relaxing, we had time for adventures in Buenos Aires (our next city).

My Favorite Exhibit

On our last night we got to experience the joy of complimentary transportation to our last restaurant, La Table D'Or Mediterranee. This restaurant was "fancy", but I think the real takeaway that blew me and Caiqian's minds was when they served soup in a cup. It made so much sense, why didn't we think of that?

La Table D'Or Mediterranee

Well that's enough of Gramado. It was overall very relaxing, and the hotel will remain our best hotel experience for decades to come, I'm sure. Next up, the adventurous bustle of Buenos Aires!

Busy Times in Houston

Short Post.

Just wanted to say things have been pretty hectic for Caiqian and I the last few months. Here's a timeline:

-Caiqian accepting her job offer (March 1st)
-Buying our first house(April 9th)

-Painting our first house (April 11th - May 2nd)
-Caiqian changing citizenship(April 25th)
-Moving into our first house (May 9th - 16th)
-Caiqian's Graduation (May 22nd)

-Wedding (May 24th)

-Honeymoon (May 29st - June 14th)

Now that we're back from the honeymoon hopefully I can get those posts up.

Proposing to Caiqian in Austin, Texas

On May 10th, 2014 I proposed to Caiqian Wu. Doing so was not easy, because I had two somewhat conflicting goals:

1. Make sure Caiqian loves the ring by having her help me pick it.
2. Completely surprise Caiqian with the proposal.

Achieving the first goal was relatively simple (although it was not easy on my wallet). Caiqian wanted a large, clear diamond, with a twisted platinum setting. After much searching, we found our dream ring below.

Click here to ROTATE the ring+diamond! http://www.jamesallen.com/sre1616430bc

The second goal was tricky due to the first goal. First, I had to get Caiqian to think that the ring was still being shipped. To do this, I falsified a shipping confirmation e-mail from James Allen saying that the ring hadn't shipped yet. I also made expensive restaurant reservations at Houston, but proposed to Caiqian in Austin on Mother's day weekend.

I chose Austin because that's where me met, and Amy's Ice Creams because it was where we spent our first dating anniversary. The morning of the proposal, my dad bought an Amy's Ice Cream Cow and dressed it up for the big moment.

Will You Watermelon Marry Me Mocha Sweet Caiqian Strawberry?

Then, following our family musical  (War Horse) I made bathroom excuses to Caiqian to buy my family time to sneak their way to Amy's Ice Creams to take pictures. My dad took pictures from outside the windows.

Caiqian and I are on the left. Not pictured: My dad crouching in the bushes at night taking this photograph.

When I got to the cashier's, I asked him to give me "that cow." The cashier refused, and we got in an argument about buying the cow until his manager handed it off (I'm guessing he was under instructions not to sell it to anyone else, and he didn't know I was the one who really needed it). Caiqian later told me she was a little freaked out with how much I wanted that cow.

But it all was worth it because she said yes.

The only picture of me on my knees.

Dad was great and captured the immediate aftermath on video. My favorite part is Caiqian at 1:18, "GIMME MY COW!"

So now we're fiancees! Next up, the Cropper family is going to West Virginia.

Hot Air Ballooning in Midlothian, Texas

We finally got our hot air balloon ride! The silent video below highlights our flight in under a minute.

Midlothian is a city outside of Dallas. We started our adventure at 5:00pm on Saturday. It began with a funny looking van in a parking lot with a 600 lb basket on the back.

Hot Air Balloon Ride or Abduction?

From there, we went into the van and they drove us away out into an empty field (sounds bad typing that out).

Wayne's Hot Air Balloons

Then we lugged out a bag holding the 400 lb balloon envelope.

Hot Air Balloon: Some Assembly Required

The balloon envelope extended a surprising amount.

Balloons can cost over $20,000

That day I learned that first step to filling the hot air balloon with hot air is filling it with cold air. Caiqian helped hold the envelope open as the operator turned on a fan.

As seen in the video above.

At the end I took Caiqian's place as the operator turned on the burners and pointed them into the envelope until the air heated up.

Not seen: flames shooting into the envelope.

Then we were told to get into the basket ("Don't think about it. Just get in!") and we were off!

Beats driving

At first we thought it would be cold up in the air, but what we didn't account for was that we were feet away from propane burners that shot 20 foot flames. It was scorching hot.

Wearing jackets is a rookie mistake.

We had a great time, floating ~1000 feet in the air in our ~1000 lb hot air balloon.

One bucket list item down!

One surprising thing we noticed was how clearly we could hear the animals (like dogs barking) that high in the air.

Sunglasses were a good idea.

We also enjoyed waving to people and covering them with our balloon shadow.

I wonder what this guy thought...

There was another balloon and we enjoyed seeing them as well.

What a beautiful day.

Eventually we had to land and put away our equipment.

Got my arm workout for the day.

We then finished with celebratory champagne.

We made it!

We had such a great time that we even had a late dinner with everyone afterward at Campuzano's.

An extra late celebration.

The food was OK, but hearing their hot air ballooning stories was priceless. Because the operator can only control the height of the balloon, they occasionally float over inappropriate areas (prisons, people sunbathing in their back yards, etc.).

For once, I don't know when or where the next adventure will be. Who knows? We'll see!

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

For the last few months or so, Caiqian and I have looked for a hot-air balloon ride vendor to redeem our ticket. To our surprise, we found one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana the weekend of Mardi Gras (March 1st and 2nd). Since New Orleans was so close by, we decided to try out Mardi Gras in the biggest Mardi Gras city in the world.

Mardi Gras 2014

Our journey began on Saturday morning. The first order of business was breakfast, and what better breakfast than a po-boy?

Ok, there may be more conventional breakfasts, but Caiqian and I had to try the acclaimed "world's best po-boy" from Mother's Restaurant. The Ferdi Special was unlike any po-boy I had ever had. The real secret of the po-boy is that it has "debris", a mixture of meat trimmings and gravy which soaks the bread. Typically I think po-boys are a bit dry, but this one was soaked with gravy, which was a pleasant surprise.

Ferdi Special Po-Boy from Mother's Restaurant

After a hearty breakfast it was time for Caiqian and I to experience our first Mardi Gras parade. I learned that in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) there are many parades at varying times. The parade Caiqian and I went to was the "Krewe of Iris."

One car from the Krewe of Iris

Needless to say, catching the free beads from the passing cars was a blast! It wasn't long before Caiqian and I built up a sizable collection.

BEADS

Caiqian and I stood around and saw the whole Krewe parade, including many local band performances.

There were a lot of high school bands.

One strange section of the parade was the gang of Traveling Elvises.

Gang of Traveling Elvises

After a hard morning of parading, it was time for Caiqian and I to re-energize at Acme Oyster House. At first we were intimidated by the long line, but soon after getting in line, we skipped the whole thing because we were were a party of two. Success!

What a line

Of all the food that Caiqian and I ate in New Orleans, Acme's chargrilled oysters were our favorite.

Acme's famous Char-grilled Oysters

To finish it off, we enjoyed a scoop of bread pudding and vanilla ice cream.

Our first Louisiana bread pudding

Walking back outside we caught some post-lunch parades.

More Parading

While walking around, we found a drink stand that was selling an alcoholic drink in a truly unique cup.

Sexy Leg from Coco Bongos

About an hour later the drink was finished. Surprisingly, I didn't feel a bit intoxicated, although I did feel regret consuming that much liquid.

Ugh..

Afterwards we made our way to Deanie's, known for their BBQ shrimp. Caiqian and I tried it out, but Deanie's wasn't our favorite. 

BBQ Shrimp at Deanie’s Seafood 

Following dinner, we did our last round of parading, which was like the previous parades except with glorious neon lighting.

Night-time parading

At the nighttime parade Caiqian and I got a lot of freebies, including bags, beads, tiny styrofoam light sticks, and other miscellaneous toys. We were also graced with the presence of one of the Mardi Gras Queens.

New Orleans Queen 

Afterwards it was late and time for Caiqian and I to make our way back to our hotel in Baton Rouge. I don't think we slept until 2:00am, but it was a great Saturday in New Orleans.

Sunday in Baton Rouge

We originally planned to have our hot air balloon ride in Baton Rouge, but as usual the flight was cancelled due to weather. However, not all was lost. Our vendor originally wanted to meet us in a place called Coffee Call that sold beignets. We may not have had a hot air balloon ride, but that didn't mean we couldn't eat beignets at Coffee Call!

Beignets at Coffee Call

After a nice brunch we wanted to finish with a substantial meal before driving back to Houston. We decided to try a restaurant called Parrain's Seafood House, which turned out to be one of our favorite discoveries, right up there with Acme Oyster House.

Lunch at Parrain's 

After out meal of chargrilled oysters, regular oysters, alligator pieces, crawfish & crab au gratin, and chowder, we had to finish with that Louisiana bread pudding.

White Chocolate Bread Puddin' with a Caiqian Twist ( Ice Cream)

Long story short, no hot air balloon ride, but it was a great excuse to experience Mardi Gras in the Mardi Gras capital. Next up, Caiqian and I will (hopefully) arrange a balloon ride that actually happens!

Bryan In Asia

Operations have moved to BryanInAsia. Come to hear about my three-week trip to China and Japan.

On the Road Again.