Canada – Où il est toujours hiver: Delta T4 Expansion Opening

By Robert | Published June 23, 2013

Index:
Introduction
Delta T4 Expansion Opening
The Wet, The Windy, The W
Départ

Delta T4 Expansion Opening
When I was first looking at my flight options to get me to Montreal I had several different options: a one-stop itinerary via Atlanta which would have gotten me there in the early evening, or a two-stop itinerary via either New York-JFK or Detroit.  All but the Atlanta option, would put me on either a Delta Connection CRJ-200 or ERJ-145, both of which are rather small, cramped regional jets (the Atlanta option was on the much more spacious Delta Connection CRJ-900), but by going via JFK I would be able to book the ATL-JFK leg on a newly-refurbished international configuration 767-300ER with the lie-flat seats and have a three hour layover to explore Delta’s newest offerings at JFK that were slated to open that morning.  Considering that I’m a travel nerd (really?), I figured I might as well add a terminal opening to my experiences.

In order to catch that 767-300ER on the ATL-JFK route, I wound up leaving a little bit later in the morning that I would have otherwise, leaving Panama City around 11AM.  I had figured that I would sleep in that morning and go grab breakfast before heading to the airport, but work got in the way of that and I wound up having to go in for a few hours to support a last minute meeting.  While it started my long weekend off on “bad” foot, I knew that for the rest of the weekend I wasn’t going to think about work at all. Not one bit.

Flights (ECP-ATL-JFK)
My ECP-ATL flight was the standard flight in First Class for that short leg.  Just had my Coke Zero and listened to music for the 45 minutes in the air.  I only had an hour in between flights, so there wasn’t much time to spend killing time in a Sky Club or the Concourse before boarding commenced.

How Many Times Have I Taken This Picture? (Delta Air Lines DC-9-50 at ECP)

As a Platinum Medallion, even on an award ticket, I have found it rather easy to get upgraded domestically on the international-configured aircraft flying shorter routes (I hear flights to the west coast are difficult even for Diamond Medallions, as people are actually willing to pay), in fact this would be my second time in a month, as my trip to New York in April I also was upgraded on an old configuration 767-300ER (although it was supposed to be the new configuration).  This time I lucked out; not only was I upgraded in advance, but because this flight was a ferry flight (8000-series flight number) it meant that this particular plane had to be somewhere, so the odds of an equipment swap were pretty low.  Even better was that this was the first flight for this aircraft after receiving the interior modifications, so everything was incredibly clean and shiny.

So New! Pro Tip: Pick an odd-numbered window seat on this aircraft; you’ll get the large console between you and the aisle which makes it feel more private

Pre-departure Drinks

You would also think that would mean that everything was in working order, but shortly after take-off my in-flight entertainment screen stopped working.  There was audio, but no video.  Supposedly the flight attendants tried to restart it when I told them about it, but I don’t think they did.  Actually the flight attendants I believe had never flown on this aircraft before, because anytime anyone had a question about the seats or if they could put a bag in the foot well, or anything else, they just didn’t know the answer.  The other part is that they left the cabin lights on for the entire flight!  I haven’t had that happen on a flight before, and it just seems to reiterate that this crew did not know what was going on.  I found myself trying to sleep for the duration of the flight since this was a flight outside of the meal times for this route and was semi-successful at napping with my seat in the full 180-deg recline position, but those lights just kept bugging me!

Delta Terminal 4 Expansion “Tour”
With my flight having been an internationally-configured aircraft, I was hoping that we would pull directly into Terminal 4 for my layover.  However, with my luck, we pulled into a gate in Terminal 2, which by far is one of the worst Terminals that I think is in existence within the US.  It would have been a lot better if Delta had decided to keep the more historically-significant Terminal 3 in service, but as of that day it was closed for good with plans for demolition.

To get between the Terminals, one must take a shuttle bus as there is no walkway connector.  Unfortunately the bus gates are still down near the beginning of Terminal 4’s B Concourse, so the walk to the new Delta gates are a pretty good walk from where you get off.  It would have been nice if they could have built it in to the expansion, as I’m sure that would help when people are trying to make tight connections due to delays, etc.

As I got to the end of the former end of the Concourse, the new Delta gates came into view.  It seemed much brighter and more open than the existing section.  There were balloons everywhere and I bet that not even the majority of people realized that this was the first day of operation for this new section.

Terminal 4 Expansion

After a quick tour of the gates, I made my way directly to the brand new flagship Delta Sky Club.  This new Sky Club is rather large and features many new amenities.  Probably the most exciting feature to me as a bit of a travel geek is the new Sky Deck area attached to the club.  It’s a rooftop area over part of the concourse with seating for one to catch a breath of fresh air, and of course watch as aircraft move about!  Unfortunately, on the day of it’s grand opening it was raining.

T4 Sky Club – Entrance

T4 Sky Club – Sky Deck Area

Delta was trying to make this a true grand opening and had glasses of bubbly for everyone who walked in.  I don’t turn down a free drink and it was a good way to start off the tour inside.  Another addition was the ability to purchase food within the lounge.  There were two options: a self-service option where you get a pager (like at say, Panera) or a full-service option with a dedicated seating area.  Either way you are paying for the food, so I decided to try the full-service area.  There wasn’t an expansive menu, mostly salads and a few sandwiches and other things, but I figured I would give it a whirl.  On that note, I went for a Panini, which was delivered fairly quickly.  It wasn’t overly small, but I won’t lie that I probably could have grabbed something better from the terminal (there is a Shake Shack after all within the expansion area).  Perhaps the salads or other foods are better, but I guess it is an improvement over just snacks.

T4 Sky Club – Sandwich

T4 Sky Club – Self Service Dining Kiosk

Seating areas within the lounge are quite varied.  They made a good call in trying to split up the space with rooms or partial walls, which at least doesn’t make it feel like a massive cavern (like the KLM Crown Lounge in Amsterdam).  Plus it allows for some areas to be darker or more well lit or provide view outside, etc.  Overall, I have to say it was a good addition to the list of Sky Clubs, but I just wish that Delta hadn’t decided to cut back to only certain beers being free system-wide.  That part is a bit of a devaluation for me; all I know is that if I have to pay for the Stone IPA at the San Diego Sky Club, there’s going to be an irate member…

T4 Sky Club – Between tTe Sky Deck and Dining/Bar Area

I couldn’t stay for an extended period of time, as I needed to get back to Terminal 2 to catch my flight to Montreal.  After grabbing a commemorative luggage tag from an empty gate, I made my back to the bus to catch my flight.

Getting out of New York
Like I mentioned earlier, Terminal 2 is pretty much a horrible experience.  Since my flight wasn’t exactly ready to board, I made my way to the Terminal 2 Sky Club to kill the time.  One thing I noticed was just how dark it was in this one (I have never actually been in this Sky Club before), and probably for good reason too.  It was definitely on the worn side and is need of a face lift, or more like a complete gutting.  They definitely updated the bar area to give it that look of many of the Sky Clubs out there, but it only does so much.  And, when you enter, you catch the smell of fast food cooking.  Why you might ask? It’s right on top of a Wendy’s in the terminal.

Not only was the Sky Club a bit of a miss, but getting out and on the way to Montreal was a bit of a miss.  Turned out that several flights in the past 24 or so hours had been cancelled due to weather and it was still poor weather outside.  While we were initially delayed boarding, by the time I made my way through the strange maze of regional jet gates and got on the plane I was just as soon told to get off and go back to the gate.  That just meant more standing around in the gate area until eventually boarding recommenced.

Super Blurry Shot Of The Never Ending Corridor

Boarding…

One of the things about this flight is that Delta lists it as almost 2 hours in length, despite the fact that it covers only around 330 miles and is only about 45 minutes wheels-up to wheels-down.  Yep, you spend as long or longer taxiing around waiting to take off than you do in the air.  Reminds me why I try to never connect through JFK.  The flight itself was basic, but I will say it was a very bumpy ride for almost the entire way.  I’m sure it unnerved some people, but I just sat there with my drink and reading my book. No big deal.

Montreal Arrival
Thanks to the delays I was late arriving by almost an hour and a half.  Since I had no plans for that night, it wasn’t such a big deal.  All I had to do was make it through Canadian Immigration and Customs (they always seem suspicious about a single guy traveling to Canada and get the full run of questions), recharge my Opus card (public transit card) and catch the 747 Express Bus into town.  Luckily there wasn’t any delay and a bus was waiting right outside the terminal.

Late Night Arrival In Montreal

They Let Me In! The New Entry Stamp Looks Similar To US Ones Now…

For the first night in Montreal I booked an award stay at the Embassy Suites Montreal, where I had stayed at during my trip the previous year for New Years Eve.  I had a stay at the W Montreal for the second and third nights of my stay, but considering the rate at the W, and with my late arrival I didn’t feel quite like dropping a month’s rent like that.  Besides, the Embassy Suites in Montreal is actually pretty nice; every suite is pretty much a small apartment with a kitchen with full fridge, kitchen island, lot’s of storage, a very large bathroom with separate shower and bath, living room area and a bedroom.  As a Hilton Gold it appeared that they gave me an upgrade to a corner room, which seemed a bit larger than the standard room I had during my previous stay.

Embassy Suites Montreal – Corner Suite

Embassy Suites Montreal – Bedroom

Part 3 of my Montreal trip report coming soon!

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Canada – Où il est toujours hiver: Introduction

By Robert | Published June 16, 2013

Index:
Introduction
Delta T4 Expansion Opening
The Wet, The Windy, The W
Départ

Introduction
Ah, Montreal…all of the benefits of France with the pleasure of getting there in a Delta Connection regional jet.  Or something like that.

Last year when I went to Montreal on a whim for New Year’s Eve 2012, I made the decision after exploring the city bundled up in a parka that I would come back in the Spring or Summer and get to enjoy the city in more comfortable weather and enjoy another side of it.  This time I planned a few weeks out before Memorial Day, booking an award ticket on Delta that would also allow me to connect through Delta’s JFK hub on the day of the opening of the new Terminal 4 Expansion project (which also signaled the end of operations out of the historic Terminal 3 Worldport, formerly occupied by Pan American and known for it’s flying saucer design) and the new flagship Delta Sky Club.  It also allowed for another attempt at a 767-300ER with the lie-flat Business Elite seats on a domestic leg, so with those considerations, I secured my ticket and started planning out the details.

I had these grand plans of walking around Vieux-Montréal, sitting at a sidewalk café, exploring several of the markets, enjoying a bit of nature in the Parc du Mont-Royal and exploring some of the other neighborhoods and surrounding areas.  Unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate one bit; for starters it was cold.  I mean like 45F (or 7C for those in Canada or pretty much everywhere else in the world) cold; all the Montrealers were dressed in parkas and scarves and were bundeled up as if it was still Winter.  Oh, and I only brought my zip-up hoodie as a last-minute addition to my bag, so I probably lucked out by doing that (now if I had only taken a rain jacket…).

It wasn’t just the cold that got to me, but the rain.  If it was just cold, that would have been fine.  If the sun is out, you can still enjoy everything, but with rain it kills any desire to be outside and quite honestly, with me, I just get really lazy.  Obviously, not what you want when you’re wanting to run around a city; I can be lazy in my own apartment back home.

That being said, I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way of enjoying the weekend; you just have to make the best of the situation.  And it’s not like this hasn’t happened to me before on a trip.  Sometimes it just opens up new opportunities that you wouldn’t have considered before hand.  Actually, as a side note, that is why I tend to not to plan my trips out very much other than to get there and a hotel.  There’s a lot less disappointment if you don’t have crazy expectations of something.  Of course for this trip I did…

Just as with my last trip report, this one is a little bit of a different format than what I’ve historically done in the past.  It’s not the day-by-day, minute-by-minute log of my events (I’m trying to get better at this whole writing thing, you know), but should be a bit easier to read…or so I think.

While everyone waits on part two; here’s a few samplers of the weekend:

The Long Awaited Sky Deck at JFK T4

A Wet and Windy Vieux-Montréal

Bonjour

Cyclin’

 

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Yet Another New York Weekend Trip

By Robert | Published April 28, 2013

By now, I think most people know that I like to go to New York City; averaging around 2 trips per year, I think over the course of the past two years I’ve been around 7 times.  I’ve developed a bit of a habit in what I do there, but I still find new things to see or experience.  However, since I’ve done plenty of the same things over and over again, I don’t see much of a point about writing in my usual detailed manner, so I’m going to try to do this in a shorter format.  It’s a bit of an experiment for me.

The Hotel: W New York
There are actually four W Hotels now in New York City.  My intent was to try the W New York Downtown, however, that plan fell through when they wanted nearly $300/night.  While not unexpected for a hotel in NYC, there was a very decent rate of $186/night at the original W New York on Lexington Ave.  I stayed here last year on a mistake rate (and I mean my mistake, not theirs; I somehow booked a $300/night room without actually remembering doing it) and wasn’t the most thrilled.  However, with the W being one of the cheaper Starwood options that weekend I decided that I would give them another chance.  Besides it meant not having to stay in New Jersey.

I reserved a Cozy Room online, which is what I had selected last May as well.  Upon receiving my confirmation email that was an offer to upgrade to a Spectacular Room for only $10/night extra (You could also upgrade to a Fantastic Suite for only $95/more as well).  Considering that last time was a fail in terms of upgrades or even just in terms of having a view out of the window, I jumped on the offer.  Since SPG Gold upgrades are inconsistent I figured it was a small price to pay to ensure I got a good room; plus they were wanting almost $250/night for a Spectacular Room anyways, so that in itself made it a steal.

Upon arriving, I was immediately checked in by one of the agents and given the key to my room.  I was given a room on the 12th floor that faced out to Lexington Ave.  The room although being two sizes larger than the Cozy Room, only felt marginally larger, however it is noticeable due to the fact that there is room at the end of the bed for you to put a suitcase out and walk past.  I had the Queen bed version of this room, which probably helped; the King Bed version I assume would fee just as cramped as a Cozy Room.

W New York – Spectacular Queen

W New York – Work Area

W New York – Bathroom

W New York – View (Waldorf Astoria Across The Street)

Food/Drink
I fell back on some tried and true places on this trip.  On Saturday I found myself at Madison Restaurant, which is a diner at the corner of 53rd and 1st.  It’s standard diner fare, but sometimes that is what you need after a night of drinking; plus it’s a short walk from the W.

On Friday night a tried a gastropub near the corner of 53rd and 2nd called Session House.  I got here while the after work crowds were still strong which meant not a spot at the bar nor any tables.  I ultimately headed to the upstairs bar to get a drink and found myself a stool to sit on in the corner for a bit.  It seemed very anti-social of me, but by the time I was done with that beer (which wasn’t long), I headed back downstairs and found myself an empty table.  Sure it was for four people, but there still wasn’t any bar spots open yet, so I decided to just roll with it.  I ordered a few more Smutty Nose IPAs and the Irish Steak & Guinness Pie.  The meal was pretty decent, but if I find myself here next time I’m going to try something else.  I stayed for a good while, kicking back and eventually moving over the bar so I wouldn’t be a table hog for a group that actually needed it.  Overall, I found the atmosphere to be great and the bartenders and waitstaff were on top of it making sure I was taken care of.  There’s several other bars in the neighborhood, but as I walked back to the hotel I noticed how many had decent sized lines.  Why wait in a line when you can have a good beer in a more relaxed environment.  The only warning I offer? It can get rather loud from all the patrons in here, but that’s to be expected I feel.

Cornerstone Café in the East Village is a favorite breakfast place of mine in NYC.  I first wound up here several trips ago due to an hour and 45 minute wait at the Clinton Street Bakery, which is insanely popular.  Located just a few blocks away, this place has some very delicious breakfast options and I have never experienced a wait.  I’ve had the pancakes a few times and some of the other options, but this time went for an Eggs Benedict with a side cup of fruit.  The Eggs Benedict were almost perfect and were served with some awesome breakfast potatoes.  Not overly greasy, I’m not even sure if they fried them up or did something else.  They are also very good about refilling your cup of coffee and I swear I had probably 10 cups of coffee as I sat there that morning.  Price is also always very decent, but the one thing that irks me is the cash only policy.  I have to make sure that I hit up an ATM on my way down there to grab some cash.

Brickyard Gastropub on 9th between 52nd and 53rd was my second attempt at gastropub discovery on that weekend.  It had generally good reviews and it looked like it had a good assortment of craft beers on tap.  As expected it was busy when I walked in, but there were a few empty spots at the bar.  The one bartender though ignored me for the first 5 minutes and then when he finally asked for my order and I told it to him, he must not have heard me because a few minutes later he comes back asking me what I wanted again.  I will say, they do have a very good selection and the food menu looked good, but that bartender soured me a bit.  After two beers I walked outside and hailed a cab so I could get down to a theater for the Tribeca Film Festival.  I’d try it again, but if I saw that same bartender, I’d probably just turn around.

Halal Guys food cart on 53rd and 6th.  Need I say anymore?  Deliciously awesome food from a cart that often forms a long line and is perfect after you’ve been out drinking (or not)  And it’s only $6 for an epic quantity of food.  You can’t go wrong.

Bareburger on LaGuardia Place near Washington Square Park and NYU.  This place is one of my favorite burger places on the planet.  Even though it was a little chilly outside on Saturday (~55F), I sat out on the patio since it was a beautiful day and enjoyed a Country Bacon Burger with bison meat, fries and a pint of Wolavers Organic IPA.  The only way it would have been more perfect would have been just the temperature outside.

Bareburger Patio – Not A Bad Place To Sit

Tribeca Film Festival
Since my trip coincided with the opening weekend of the Tribeca Film Festival I figured that I would at least see one film while I was there.  I should have bought a ticket weeks prior after I secured my hotel and plane since I would have had early access due to my American Express card.  Unfortunately, I didn’t do that and wound up not being able to get a ticket for some of the films that I was interested in.  I could have done a Rush Ticket (wait in line and hope you get in), but in most cases I just couldn’t get to the required theaters in time.  On that note, I found myself standing in line for a late night showing of a horror film called Frankenstein’s Army.  A film done in the found footage style (think Cloverfield), it essentially results in a Soviet reconnaissance team at the end of World War II fighting off an army of undead steampunk Nazis in a seemingly abandoned village.  It was very strange and I noticed several people leave halfway during the movie.  I won’t go into the details about the film, but if you are curious enough, you can Google it.

Outside The Theater

The Flights 
Since I had booked a few weeks out, getting a 25,000 mile award ticket wasn’t much of a hassle.  In order to change things up a bit, I decided to fly into JFK Airport for a change, especially with Terminal 3 about to disappear when Delta’s Terminal 4 expansion opens at the end of May.  Plus, it gave me an option to have a domestic segment on an internationally configured 767.  It was supposed to be one of the reconfigured 767-300s with the new lie-flat seats (I got to experience that on my CDG-CVG flight in December), but as I boarded the aircraft I found that the boarding pass scanner spit out a new seat assignment and that given my new seat of 2F which meant that we had been swapped out for a 767 that had not yet got the refurbishment and would mean the old recliner style BusinessElite seat.  Should I complain? Not really.  After all I had been flying on a coach award ticket and had received an upgrade so it’s not like I paid for my seat.  Some people however were very unhappy with the downgrade of equipment and were very vocal.  For some it was that they really wanted that lie-flat seat and others, well their traveling partners got bumped to coach.  That would suck, especially if they had paid for a First or Business fare.  I’m not going to complain however, I was able to kick my feet up, enjoy my first class meal and relax for the short two hour flight.

Delta Air Lines 767-300 – Almost Ready To Board For NYC

BusinessElite Leg Room

JFK Terminal 3 – The Old Pan Am Worldport Will Soon Be No More

On the way back, I took the usual tactic of flying our of LaGuardia.  Using the Sky Priority line at security and having been selected for TSA Pre-Check I found myself airside no more than 3 minutes after stepping out of my cab.  I’ve got through quickly before at LaGuardia, but damn, I think I broke a record or something.  I can’t even get through my local airport in Panama City that quickly when there is no one in line!

Since I left a bit earlier than usual for my 6PM flight (I was anticipating potential delays due to potential sequestration actions that were scheduled to start that weekend), I waited out my time in the Terminal D Sky Club.  I thought about venturing over the Terminal C to see the Delta expansion over there, but having a drink and surfing the web felt like a better idea.  Sometimes laziness is a good thing.

The meal on the flight was something that I had not encountered before on Delta: Chicken Satay.  Essentially three chicken skewers over a bed of cold noodles and a peanut-ginger sauce on the side.  It won points for being different, but some of the other cold offerings are a little bit better.  Still beat out the club sandwich that was the other choice for this flight.  On another note, I wound up sitting next to actor Paul Rudd in First Class.  That pretty much beat sitting behind some random basic cable show actor last year on a flight into Philadelphia.

Delta Air Lines First Class Dinner – Chicken Satay

Other Highlights

Walking The High Line

Walking Down 4th Street In The West Village

One World Trade Center – Almost To The Top

All Lit Up – The Hemsley Building

Riding A Bike Around Central Park

Relaxing After My Bike Ride Through Central Park

Posted in Delta, NYC, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

19 Hours In Las Vegas

By Robert | Published April 7, 2013

Last weekend I found myself with a free weekend on another long work trip to San Diego.  In the past during these situations I had taken to exploring the area in and around San Diego, having really getting to know the city pretty well.  I had even ventured up into the mountains and to Los Angeles a few times, but never really strayed any farther than that.  With another free weekend at hand, I decided I needed to get out of town and go somewhere completely new to me and let me forget about work.  And there is only one place within driving distance (in the US) that allows for that: Las Vegas.

I actually had not made up my mind until I was eating breakfast at a place near my hotel in Mission Valley, but perhaps having already packed my camera bag with a change of clothes means I had made up my mind.  It’s a pretty easy drive to Las Vegas, taking about 5 hours on I-15 between the two cities.  As with pretty much any drive in this area, once you start getting inland, the climate really changes.  In this case, once getting up in the mountains outside of the Los Angeles metro area, the terrain pretty much became desert.  Then once past Barstow, there just isn’t much at all aside from a few roadside towns until you hit Vegas.

…and this road out in the middle of nowhere: Zzyzx Road (Try to pronounce that one)

Crossing the Nevada State Line – New State!

I guess with most cities, I kinda expected to hit suburbs before finding myself in the middle of Las Vegas, but it’s pretty much the opposite.  You come around turn and BAM! it’s Las Vegas with all of it’s ridiculously large hotels and casinos.  And while the Interstate wasn’t too horribly packed, once I exited the highway and hit the surface streets, I was greeted with some pretty horribly traffic.  Of course we can blame Las Vegas Blvd and I’m sure everyone else who had the same idea as me to get away for a weekend…

Looks Like A Lot Of Other People Had The Same Idea As Me

While on the drive up from San Diego, I made my reservation for the night over the phone at the Westin Las Vegas.  While I’m sure I could have stayed on the strip for the same price, I figured I would go ahead and start working towards re-qualifying for my SPG Gold status since so far I have only stayed at Hilton properties out here in California (which is probably going to get me Hilton Diamond status this year).  I checked in at the dedicated SPG Gold/Platinum counter and was offered a welcome amenity of bonus points, a free drink at the lobby bar, as well as a $5 certificate for refusing housekeeping service (which I forgot to use and I’m sure they weren’t supposed to give me for a one night stay).  Complimentary Internet, which is a usual Gold welcome amenity choice, is not an option at this hotel as there is a $19.95/room “amenity charge” (essentially a resort charge, minus the resort) that includes Internet, phone calls, the workout facility (something that is typically free, so meh), Valet/Self Parking, sauna/steam room access at the spa, bottles of water (again something that is typically free), fax service, daily newspaper delivery (I didn’t get one, but then perhaps there isn’t a Sunday paper), notary services, pool access, currency exchange and a Westin Happy Hour (they never told me about that one; I assume it’s free alcoholic beverages during a set period).

I reserved a King Room and was placed on the 7th Floor.  Out of my window I had a fantastic view of the hotel’s sign and a parking lot behind Bally’s.  I guess you can’t expect much off the strip.  The room itself wasn’t anything special (I’ve stayed at several nicer Westin Hotels), but I wasn’t there to spend time in the room.  It served its purpose by having a comfortable bed.  Honestly, it really feels like an “airport hotel” and it doesn’t help that it appears to the crew hotel for several domestic and international airlines.  Location isn’t bad at being a block off the strip, meaning that it is a short walk to all the action, although I could see how some people might feel uneasy walking down Flamingo Road at night though (not that I found it to be worse than walking down any other side road in a large city at night).

Westin Las Vegas – King Room

Westin Las Vegas – Bathroom

Westin Las Vegas – 7th Floor View

After dropping my bag, I headed down to the strip and soon enough found myself in the Bellagio. I won some money then lost some money and then decided that I would find myself dinner.  After browsing through several options online, I figured I would just head to Todd English’s Olives at the Bellagio.  Feeling in the mood for steak I went with the Porterhouse which included broccoli and fried mac and cheese; for the starter I went with a caesar salad.  I thought it was pretty good and was obviously was a bit pricey, but considering how much I’ve been working so far this year and still have not had a day off, I pretty much didn’t care – I was going to have a great meal!  The best part of the restaurant is the fact that it is right next to the fountains at the Bellagio and from my seat inside next to a window I got a pretty decent view of the show.

Todd English’s Olives

Todd English’s Olives – Drink Menu On An iPad

Todd English’s Olives – Porterhouse Steak

Once done with dinner, it was back into the casino for a bit before I started bouncing around to several other casinos on the strip.  Caesars Palace was next since it was right next door, was where my luck started to turn south.  It wasn’t long before I moved on to the Venetian which I didn’t find too interesting, and the cycle kept on going.  I thought about a show that night, but earlier in the day I couldn’t find any tickets online for anything and having been super last minute I wasn’t super sure which of the shows would be worth my money or not.  I ultimately decided to not risk it and just continued to casino hop through the night.

Paris Las Vegas

Eventually, late into the night I would finish up at the Planet Hollywood Casino for a drink at the Heart Bar where I could enjoy pricey bottles of beer.  Considering that I had to drive back to San Diego in the morning, I didn’t drink overly too much and by 2AM was back to the hotel.  I wanted to get up at a decent time in the morning so I could go get breakfast and hit the road around 10AM.

Planet Hollywood Casino

Surprisingly the next morning I got up shortly after 7AM without any alarm; I wanted to sleep in a bit later, but decided to just roll with it and get moving.  After stumbling around in the hotel room, I headed back out to the Bellagio for the Easter brunch buffet; at $40 it wasn’t cheap, but I have to admit it was a pretty good buffet and pretty much had everything I could think of on it.  The quality of the food was generally pretty decent, the only disappointment for me was the steamed pork bun that was cold, but that was probably more of a factor of me not pretty much eating that right away after getting back to the table.  In the end, you won’t walk out of there hungry; if you do, you’re not doing it right.

I didn’t mess around with any casino games that morning; the Bellagio at least was pretty much empty anyways at that hour, and just went back to the hotel to check out.  In fact I’m pretty sure a large portion of people were hungover in hotel rooms still at this hour, so I just decided to get the heck out of town.  A leisurely drive down the strip, I made my back to the Interstate and before I knew it Las Vegas was behind me and the open desert in front of me.

Las Vegas Strip In The Morning

One Last Look Back At Las Vegas

On the way down I decided to detour through Los Angeles so I could stop at the small park under the approach for Runway 24R at LAX.  It looked like it was might rain, but I wound up lucking out and was able to hang out for about an hour with my camera snapping some shots of various aircraft taking off and landing before I decided to continue on with my journey back to San Diego.

Although my trip to Vegas was extremely short, it did prove to a good escape from all the work I’ve been doing so far this year and got me out of San Diego for a little bit.  It’s a shame I walked away having not gained a single cent, but as long as I had fun, who cares?  I think I will have to make my way back out here in the future for a more proper trip and find a place right on the strip, see a show, check out Fremont Street and so on.  There’s a lot to do out there, and I’ve only barely scraped the tip of the iceberg.

Posted in Road Trip, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

An Almost Christmas Vacation: Köln (Cologne)

By Robert | Published March 16, 2013

Index:
Part 1: Intro + Travel to Amsterdam
Part 2: Amsterdam
Part 3: Cologne
Part 4: The Rhine + Trier
Part 5: Luxembourg/Belgium
Part 6: Paris
Part 7: Return Home

Sunday, December 9
It was this morning that I had a first – missing a train due to oversleeping.  I had booked the 10:35 Amsterdam to Cologne InterCityExpress on Deutsche Bahn, which I had done in advance to get a 29€ fare online.  I’ve aways made my prearranged trains in the past and despite being up until midnight, I didn’t think that a late-morning train would be a problem…

I woke up to the sound of housekeeping knocking on my door.  I looked at my cell phone and it said 11:00.  Panic shot through my mind despite knowing that there was nothing that I could do at this point.  The ticket I had purchased was non-refundable and had to be used on that specific train.  You miss it or choose not to take it? That’s your problem…and that became the problem of the day.

Since I figured I could get up early enough, I had made plans to wander the city streets and canals as it woke up and find a place for breakfast before going to the station.  Now all I was interested in was getting all my gear packed up, checked out of my hotel, and getting to the station.  I knew that was another train at 12:35, and I wanted to make sure I got a ticket as soon as possible.  Making my way through the rain, I arrived, probably looking a bit distressed (I hadn’t even taken a shower) and found my way to the ticket office.  A new ticket was purchased which then cost me 69€; now we were up to about 100€ just for me to go from Amsterdam to Cologne – not exactly a great way to spend my money.

Actually in that situation in retrospect, I should have looked to see if there was a slower train available (IC/EC/RE) that would have been cheaper (Typically slower trains like IC/EC or Regional trains are cheaper, but they can take much longer).  It sucks that I  didn’t think of that at the time, but perhaps in the future if I make the same mistake again, I’ll remember. Of course on the other hand I didn’t want to spend too much longer getting to my destination either, so there’s that whole bit.

Amsterdam Centraal Station

After getting a cup of coffee and a snack for the ride to Cologne, I made my to the track where the ICE train was waiting.  I found my assigned seat without delay and got settled in for the ride.  I had remembered back in 2009 being on a couple of ICE trains that had T-Mobile Hotspots, but apparently this one did not – that or it was turned off; not that it makes a difference.  The ride was quick, getting me to Cologne in just 2.5 hours.

InterCityExpress Train Interior – It Wasn’t Very Full

Killing Time On The Train

Köln Hauptbahnhof

Walking out of the main station or Hauptbahnhof I quickly made my to my hotel for the next three nights, the Dom Hotel, located on just the other side of the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) from the train station.  The hotel was branded as a Le Meridien property at the time of my stay, which is part of Starwood, but apparently as of March 1st, 2013 has left Starwood for renovations and ultimately becoming part of Althoff Hotels (a brand I’m not familiar with) in 2014.  With that being said, the hotel is very old – supposedly opening in 1857 and is billed as one of the old grand hotels in Europe.  It certainly has a bit of that feel with the grand staircase that runs between all of the floors, but at the same time the rooms didn’t feel old fashioned or super modern.  Cozy, might actually be the word to use here.

Dom Hotel – Executive Room

 

Dom Hotel – Exterior

Anyways, luckily I had managed to grab an Executive Room with Cathedral View for only €138/night (thanks to the Starwood Best Rate Guarantee), since I wanted to guarantee that I would have something to look out my window at.  Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed.  From my small little balcony on the fourth floor (top floor) I was able to look out to down below to Roncalliplatz which had the Cologne Christmas Market and the Cologne Cathedral right next to me.  At night time when I would head back to the hotel to drop stuff off or change for dinner, the market and it’s Christmas tree would be brightly lit up and for some reason put a smile on my face.  I guess if you’re going to be in Germany in the Christmas season, you might as well be right in the middle of it, right?

Christmas Market – Weihnachtsmarkt am Kölner Dom

Since my arrival was a little later in the day then what I had planned for I decided to just wander around to a few of the Christmas Markets that were within walking distance of the hotel.  After first checking out the Weihnachtsmarkt am Kölner Dom, I wondered down the pedestrian friendly shopping district as it got dark and was quickly reminded how shops are closed on Sundays in Germany for the most part.  Not much of anything was open, but after a while I eventually found myself at Neumarkt and it’s Christmas market: Markt der Engel.

There was a lot of the same type of stuff as the one next to my hotel, but that didn’t stop me from wandering around the stalls and taking it all in…and of course eating some of the delicious food.  What did stop me however, was the rain and soon enough I was taking refuge in a subway station.  Since I left the waterproof shell of my jacket back at the hotel I figured that I would ride the U-Bahn back to the Hauptbahnhof and my hotel.  Since it apparently stopped raining during that short ride underground, I diverted back to the Christmas market outside my hotel to drink some Hot Chocolate (Heiße Schokolade) while listening to the band on the main stage play Christmas classics such as The Final Countdown and Eye of the Tiger.  At a certain point I decided that I had enough of the cold and retreated to my hotel room and watched the crowd dwindle and the stalls close up for the night.  Since it was apparent that I lacked sleep the other night I figured that I would just take it easy on this night and head to bed early.  I wouldn’t want to throw another day away essentially…

Monday, December 10
Waking up this morning wasn’t a challenge at all.  I got up with my alarm and actually felt refreshed – no doubt a product of deciding to turn in early the night before.  I stumbled into the shower and was slowly waking up thanks to the hot water, when out of nowhere the fire alarm started going off.  At first I was confused, probably still awake, and then someone came running down the hall knocking on all the doors with quick instructions to get out.

Seeing as I was in the shower, I quickly had to get dried off and throw some clothes on.  Since I didn’t know what was going on, I grabbed my backpack which had all my valuables in it and my parka and proceeded to make my way to the lobby.  Who cares if clothes burn in a fire, It’s a lot more difficult for me to replace my camera or laptop and the photos and other data that’s on them.  Plus it would just be rather inconvenient.

There was already a good deal of people in the lobby, but the good news was that they weren’t forcing us to go outside.  It also wasn’t but a few moments later that the fire department showed up and started running up the stairs to wherever the problem was at.  Luckily about 15 minutes later the fire department gave the all clear and we were all able to go back up to our rooms.  It turned out that a faulty sensor had gone off; I guess that just comes with the territory when you are dealing with a older building.

Today’s Wake Up Call Was Brought To You By The Köln Feuerwehr (Fire Department)

Since I was practically ready to go out the door I pretty much decided to just head over the train station to grab a quick breakfast.  I usually do this most mornings when I stay near a large train station, since I can usually get a fairly cheap breakfast that consists of a pastry and coffee.  Sometimes I’ll do other things, but usually I get away with only spending a few Euros this way, which helps out when I splurge on a nice dinner.

After breakfast at the train station, I didn’t have to venture far as I made it to my first stop of the day at Kölner Dom; when I first got off the train the day before I just couldn’t wrap my head around how massive the Cathedral is.  It’s pretty much impossible to stand anywhere on the public plazas surrounding it and not have to look upward to see all of it; after all it was the tallest building in the world from 1880 to 1884.  Of course once inside, it’s equally as massive, and there’s a good deal of stained glass windows and relics to check out.

Moving on, I headed into the Altstadt (Old City), as the Romano-Germanic Museum was closed, not knowing what I would find.  As almost expected, I first encountered another Christmas Market.  Very similar in terms of goods and foods as the other two I had found in Cologne, but I still took my time passing through.  This one also had an ice skating rink and I thought about trying that out, but told myself that I would come back later to do that.  I didn’t.

Altstadt Christmas Market

Eventually I made my way to the Rhein with still not much of an aim as to where to go.  I pulled out my trusty Lonely Planet Germany guidebook and noticed that they had a Chocolate Museum or Schokoladenmuseum, located on the river front and not too terribly far from where I was.  I decided to take my chances and see if I might luck out with it being open.  Turns out it was, so after paying for admission and getting a square of chocolate I headed inside to see what it was all about.  There were exhibits about the history, use and manufacture of chocolate, and even had a small tropical room (which I assume had Cacao plants in it).  As you get to the far end of the museum you can go through a door and next thing you know you are in a miniature Lindt Chocolate factory.  It’s actually interesting how it is all laid out in that instead of it all being behind glass you could actually wander around the equipment which had any openings sealed so you couldn’t exactly sneeze into the vat of chocolate.  The only thing I couldn’t exactly figure out from my visit was how Chocolate was important to Cologne and why the small factory was a Swiss brand.  Other than that, it still was a pretty decent museum and a good way to get out of the cold.

Schokoladenmuseum

Schokoladenmuseum – Chocolate Factory

Fresh Out Of The Molds

Did I mention that there was a Christmas Market right outside the Schokoladenmuseum as well?  Yep, add another one to the list.

Since the weather hadn’t been cooperating much I figured that I would head to the nearby town of Brühl, where there is a castle/palace that looked like it might be interesting. I headed straight to the train station, purchased my ticket, found the platform and got on my train.  After sitting at the platform for a bit eventually an announcement was made over the intercom (unfortunately in German only since it was a regional train), which I couldn’t understand.  I pulled out my phone and just as the train started moving I noted that it said my train had been cancelled.  My first thought was “How could my train be cancelled if I am on it, with other people, and we are moving?”  I started to worry as the ride should have only taken about 12 minutes and 15 minutes in we had not yet made a stop, as I didn’t want to wind up having to pay a fine for having a ticket to somewhere other than wherever this train was heading to.  I mean serriously, I thought I was now on the wrong train, despite that the platform display boards and my phone had said that this was the right one.

Well after riding for about 30 minutes we finally approached a station.  I didn’t care where it was I just wanted to get off and figure out my way back to Cologne.  Turns out we pulled into a town called Beuel, a suburb of Bonn.  However, as I maneuvered to the doors we found out that they wouldn’t open.  I couldn’t understand what everyone was talking about, but I kept hearing Polizei.  After a few minutes folks started getting restless trying to get the doors to open; as a conductor came by it was evident that none of the doors on the train were opening.  One passenger tried pulling on the emergency release and not even that seemed to do the trick.  I was trapped.

After about 10-15 minutes, somehow the set of doors I was standing in front of finally managed to open, but it was only our set of doors.  As I walked the length of the train to the station building I noticed that people were still behind most of the other doors trying to get out.  My first thought is that there must have been electrical issues or something else of a technical nature that caused the issue.  As I went to go check out the posted Abfahrtsplan (Departure Schedule) at the station, I noticed on my twitter feed that news stories started popping up about Bonn Hauptbahnhof having been evacuate due to a bomb.

Polizei In Action At Bonn-Beuel Bahnhof

Since my train was originally scheduled to go to Bonn via Brühl, it appeared that Deutsche Bahn decided to just reroute any train for Bonn through the station Bonn-Beuel in order to get the majority of people to their destination.  People like me though pretty much got screwed.  Even better was that there was no automated ticket kiosk at this station, so in order to get a ticket back to Cologne from here I would have to deal with the ticket agent inside.  There was a train that was scheduled to pass through shortly, so I rushed inside only to find a line.  Mostly of older folks buying timetable books or passes, which meant that none of the transactions were speedy.  Eventually I got to the window and using my limited German skills managed to get the ticket that I needed to get out of here.

Unfortunately, right as I walked out of the station building, I saw the train I wanted as it pulled away from the platform.  There was another one 30 minutes later, so I just wound up waiting around.  A few other trains passed through, but since they part of the diversions away from Bonn, I had no idea if I could board any of them…I didn’t know what went where.  My train eventually did come and I rode it back to the city, with my entire afternoon having been wasted.

After cleaning up for dinner back at the hotel I decided that I would try a Brauhaus for dinner since the area is known for Kölsch beer.  I attempted the Früh Brauhaus across from my hotel first, but upon entering I had no idea what to do.  I didn’t know if I needed to wait to be seated or just find a seat and after standing there for a bit I gave up to try another.  I did a quick search and found the Peters Brauhaus which too wasn’t very away.  Here, they did seat me and I didn’t have to try to play the guessing game, but since I was just one they sat me an already occupied table.  I don’t complain about that, there was a table of three women that was obviously more for six people so I just sat at the opposite end.  We all chatted for a little bit, they offered to help translate the menu, which since I know enough German food words I didn’t really need.

I wasn’t super familiar with the style of beer known as Kölsch, so when I walked in here I was expecting being able to get a huge stein of beer and having that beer hall experience.  In the end it was as far from that as possible.  First of all, the environment was more restaurant versus giant Bavarian beer hall (of course I wasn’t in Bavaria, so yeah) and the serving size of Kölsch is a mere 0.2 liters.  It’s not exactly big and being a lighter beer, it doesn’t exactly take long for it to be gone.  Although I will say that they constantly roam the restaurant and when they see an empty glass they will put another down right in front of you without asking.  When it comes time for you to say no more, you simply put your coaster on the top of the glass and they will cash you out.  After I pretty much ate my food and had one more glass I was out of there.  Playing the game with the small beer glasses just wasn’t very fun, so I headed back to the Christmas Market outside my hotel.

Despite already having wandered around this market multiple times I figured I would finally try Glühwein which is essentially hot red wine with spices added to it.  I figured that I would go all the way and add a shot of Amaretto to it…which turned out to be a mistake.  Oh man, all that together was a flavor that I just wasn’t digging, but I wasn’t going to leave that cup full; I couldn’t let all the Germans see me wimping out.  Plus, I had made the decision that I wanted to keep the mug as a souvenir…

By the time I finished my cup and purchased a few snacks I noticed most of the stalls were closing down.  It was only 9pm, but I guess that was the magical shut down time.  On top of that the wind had really picked up and it was starting to snow like crazy.  With nothing else really planned, I just decided to retreat to the room, watch Ice Road Truckers dubbed into German and go to bed.

Tuesday, December 11
As with the previous morning, as soon as I got up and left the hotel, I headed to the train station to grab a simple breakfast.  A coffee and a croissant was all that I needed and then made my way to the Romano-Germanic Museum, which on this morning was actually open.  While not super-expansive, it did have a number of interesting artifacts from the Roman settlement that was in the center of modern day Cologne.  Actually the really interesting part is the large mosaics including the Dionysus Mosaic, which remains in the original place where a villa had once sat.  In the basement of the museum, it’s amazing how intact it is and how very little of it was missing.  There were plenty of other parts of the old Roman settlement including statues, personal affects, and remnants of buildings on display amongst the various levels.  Roman artifacts are always interesting, but after a while looking at what feels like the same statue twenty times over gets a bit tedious.  Either way it was informative and interesting.

Dionysus Mosaic

Dionysus Mosaic – Rather Remarkably Intact

With museums out of the way early on, I figured I would head out on my side trip for the day: Düsseldorf.  Since Düsseldorf is only a short 30 minute train ride from Cologne I figured I would at least ride the train up there and walk around a little bit and grab lunch.  Disembarking in Düsseldorf, I started off by foot trying to make my way to the old city.  Along the way I found myself in a farmers market, Markt am Carlsplatz, where I stopped for a quick lunch.  There were a variety of stalls serving up everything from traditional German fare, Italian food, and of course a Döner kebab shop.  I opted for the Döner Kebab shop and getting myself a kebab in a dürüm, which is pretty much a tortilla.  All in all, a pretty decent and cheap meal.

Kebab Lunch

The market was pretty much on the edge of the old city, so from there it was a short walk before I was at the Rhein.  I had no real objective, so just getting to the water front and taking in some of the sights along the way was really all that I did…eventually I would turn around to start taking my time to head back to the train station.  Along the way I meandered through another Christmas market and stopped at a restaurant/bar (Hausbar) for a warm apple strudel and a beer.  Just a way to kill a little bit of time outside of the cold.

Rhein Riverfront In Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf Christmas Market

Interesting Glühwein Stand In The Düsseldorf Christmas Market

Enjoying A Beer At Hausbar

I boarded another InterCity train heading back to Cologne, where I arrived 30 minutes later.  As I approached my hotel I noticed how busy the Christmas market was outside, so after dropping my stuff, I decided to make my way through the three markets that I knew and sample things for dinner.  I started out with a noodle dish called Schupfnudeln; basically big thick noodles, what I think was sauerkraut, and sour cream.  It’s pretty filling for the large portion that you wind up with and after I finished up my bowl I made the short walk to the Altstadt Market.  After walking around for a bit I didn’t feel like starting course number two, so I just grabbed a hot chocolate to enjoy as I walked around.  And since this was the night of Christmas Market-ing, I took the U-Bahn over to the one at Neumarkt, only to turn around shortly there after to head back to my point of origin.  The remainder of the evening was spent drinking cheap glasses of Früh Kölsch outside.  There is one plus side to drinking beer when its only 19F outside: the beer never gets warm!

Schupfnudeln

I realize that I am way behind on posting these entries about my trip in December.  It’s March now that I am posting these, but I have been very busy pretty much since the start of the year with work and am slowly working on churning these out.  Hopefully I’ll have the remainder of these posts put up online soon!

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Chicago

By Robert | Published February 23, 2013

Introduction
The end of the year – although I had just got back from a trip to Europe a short while ago, I had felt the urge to still go somewhere in 2012.  I had been thinking of going somewhere for New Years Eve, as I had the previous year (to Montreal), but was wildly indecisive.  There was so many options available to me within the US and I was even thinking of heading to Hawaii, but I kept watching as mileage requirements kept going up higher and higher as the departure date rolled in closer.  The other half of the puzzle was finding a good hotel deal; that alone was why I didn’t venture way out to Hawaii.

Then it became the day of departure – Saturday, and I still had not booked anything.  No hotel, no flights, nothing.  It looked like I wasn’t going to be going anywhere.  Then, at the last minute I found a good deal on a hotel and an award ticket, that while a bit on the high side I could stomach.  It was 2.5 hours before departure time by the time I made my decision, so I quickly packed my bags and headed out to the airport.

Saturday, December 29
I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  It didn’t take long to pack my bags or get through security; the 2:30pm flight on Delta was actually the last flight of the day due to the reduced schedules during the holiday period.  The flight itself wasn’t bad even if I had missed out on the upgrade due to my last minute booking.  I had the first row of coach, so the legroom was nearly the same, just didn’t get drinks or anything.  For the short ECP-ATL flight on a DC-9 I can deal with it; besides I had been upgraded on my flight to O’Hare already and that’s what I cared about (Side note: when ticketing on delta.com I had to call the Platinum Medallion line as the website apparently kept trying to upgrade me before ticketing was completed and got thrown into an endless loop that resulted in my ticket having to be issued by an agent).

Delta Air Lines DC-9-50 at ECP

A typical layover in Atlanta followed with a short stop in one of the many Delta Sky Clubs before settling into my seat on the Boeing 757 up to Chicago.  Unlike the Atlanta-New York/Newark flights, there’s no meal up front.  However, it did go by pretty quickly thanks to the in flight WiFi and it was otherwise a standard domestic flight.  Nothing eventful happened nor was there any turbulence.  Making my way through the terminal I found the pier that Delta is on to be very quiet, but as I passed through many United gates it was quite the opposite; they were still running at full steam.  Eventually, I found the CTA station and after getting my ticket made my way on to a waiting train into the city.

Never Seen A Sign Like This In An Airport…

Perfect Timing – A Train Waiting At The O’Hare CTA Station

The ride on the ‘L’ wasn’t too terrible; I made it into downtown in about 30 minutes.  It took me a little while though to find my hotel, the W Chicago – City Center, thanks to getting turned around and finding myself going in circles.  However, once I got my bearings, the walk was quick and soon found myself checking in.  The agent working the desk this evening said all the usual things about ‘Thanks for being a Gold Member’ and asking me for what Welcome Amenity I wanted (Give me free Internet!), but also asked me upfront if I wanted to participate in the Make a Green Choice program.  Essentially at several Starwood hotels (and I had not noticed that the W had been participating in my last few stays), if you decline housekeeping, you get bonus points.  Since this was a two night stay, this in my mind is a no-brainer.  However, what I found interesting was that the front desk agent noted that when people opt in that it gives them more of a reason to ‘Upgrade’ someone’s room.  The claim here is that it helps the hotel out, since it’s one less room that needs to be cleaned on a given day.  I’ll buy that somewhat, but I would think that my Gold status would be sufficient on its own.  Either way, once I got up to my room, I wasn’t entirely disappointed.

I was given a corner room and I suppose that it was either a Spectacular Room or a Cool Corner King Room.  Not entirely sure, since there aren’t really any good pictures that I can find online of the two rooms to try to figure out which one I had.  Either way, I found the room to be very nicely sized, on the opposite side of the property from the train, large windows (which unfortunately looked out to a building right next to the hotel and the Marriott across the street), and a comfortable W bed.

W Chicago City Center – Bed

W Chicago City Center – Work Area

With this trip being super-last minute I didn’t have anything planned, nor had I done any research, so I walked down the street to the Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant.  I guess that place is a small chain, and it was ok, but entirely dead inside.  In fact the whole area seemed rather quiet that night.  As for the food, it was ok, and unfortunately I remembered how I’m not the biggest fan of Boddington’s Pub Ale.  Oh well.

After dinner I figured I would head back to the hotel and have a few drinks at the hotel bar.  It wasn’t very busy and I guess on the plus side, Starwood’s mixologist for Chicago was apparently working that night.  Sure, I wasn’t there for mixed drinks, but he knew the beer offerings from the local breweries very well and next thing I know I’m going through many different beers.  There were many that were pretty standard fare, but the Goose Island Sophie was different.  It just didn’t necessarily feel like I was drinking a beer; definitely light and rather noticeable carbonation.  Not necessarily bad, and probably a good break from the usual strong IPAs that I seem to chase after.  In other words, I probably wouldn’t have ordered that beer on my own, so there’s that.  I was down there for a good while, but eventually I made the decision to not make this a super late night and stumbled up to my room – there were a few things on my list that I wanted to cross off the next day.

Sunday, December 30
I slept in a bit, but not too late as I wanted to head to the Sears Tower Willis Tower to make a visit to the observation deck.  Once roused from bed, I enjoyed breakfast at the restaurant in the lobby of the hotel, IPO, where I had the eggs Benedict while watching the activity on the street outside (not that it was very busy on weekend morning in downtown Chicago).  The food was decent and it helped that like many restaurants in Starwood Hotels, there was a discount for SPG members; so that helped out.

The Willis Tower was a short walk from the hotel and since I got there relatively early I didn’t have to deal with a long line to buy a ticket or take the elevator to the very top.  Stepping out on the observation deck, I found myself with a pretty decent view of Chicago and the surrounding areas.  It wasn’t super clear so I couldn’t see across Lake Michigan or to other points way out there, but of Chicago itself it was a great view.  I stared out several of the windows trying to find several Chicago landmarks before heading to Western face of the building where they had installed the glass viewing platforms.  As I waited in line I watched as people were reluctant to step on glass that looked straight down 103 stories; many tried to grab on to the wall or just couldn’t get over standing on the glass that high up.  For me though there was only minimal hesitation.  Being an Engineer, I know the amount of work and calculations that would have gone into designing that feature, so I pretty much figured I could trust it to not collapse and falling 103 stories down.  It was an interesting view though.  It gave a floor to ceiling view out west in addition to the obvious view down below.

The Willis Tower

It’s Only 103 Stories Down…And That’s My Feet

Skydeck

Downtown Chicago And Lake Michigan

After staring down at the earth below, I made my way back down, passing large lines out the door of the building to get to the Sky Deck.  From here I figured I would go to the Navy Pier since I had never been there, even when I came to Chicago as a little kid.  I guess you could say that I didn’t find it very exciting, but I did walk my way all around the outside.  The only real highlight for me was a small pile of snow….well that and I guess the greenhouse where I felt like I was back in Florida.  Other than that, there wasn’t much open outside and the stores inside just didn’t interest me much.

Navy Pier

For lunch, I hailed a taxi and headed over to Mike Ditka’s at the Tremont Hotel.  It looked pretty good and was recommended to me so I figured why not.  It was busy with a football game on, but still didn’t have to really wait to get a table.  I wound up ordering the Spicy Chili Cheese Polish and a beer; while incredibly messy, the meal was pretty good.

Spicy Chili Cheese Polish

After lunch I made a quick run back to the hotel before heading a little north of downtown to an REI store.  The day before had been the member’s only sale of used gear and returned equipment, so I figured I would see if there was anything still left to rummage through.  Luckily, there was still a good amount of stuff they were trying to get rid of, and to help with that there was a 50% discount applied as well.  Most of what was left was odds and ends, gear that was definitely worn, and broken returns.  However, I found a rechargeable battery pack that had USB ports on it that had a broken tag on it and with the discount would be like $2.  I’m willing to risk $2 and of course if there is anyone that could fix it, an EE like me would probably have the best chance.  On top of that I picked up an Explorist GC GPS unit for ~$35, which although I don’t really Geocache anymore I figured might make a decent cheap replacement for my old Garmin eTrex that has been having issues for a while now.  The best part was the GPS was essentially new and that battery pack worked without any issue.  Can’t complain with that.

Again it was back to the hotel so I could drop my haul from REI and then I booked a quick ride from the hotel to the Adler Planetarium using the W’s Acura car service.  I’ve wanted to try this in the past at other W’s that I have stayed at since it’s a free car ride within a certain radius of the hotel (varies by city), but I have always run into a problem with there being an extended wait for a car that is available.  In NYC for example, why would I wait 45 minutes when I can walk to most nearby places in that time or by way of subway or taxi?

Anyways, they were able to get me squared away with a driver immediately to get me over the Planetarium, which didn’t take very long….thankfully, since the entire car ride is essentially an Acura sales pitch.  They play some videos on the SUV you’re riding in and obviously engage in conversation about the features of the car as they take you to your destination.  But for it being free, I don’t mind at all.

I can’t remember if I had ever made it to Adler Planetarium when I came to Chicago as a little kid, so I figured I would try to take in as much as possible.  I paid for a planetarium show and separate show as well as the general admission.  A foursquare check-in special even got me a free Apollo 17 mission patch.  I queued up for the planetarium show first; I wanted to try to get as centered as a seat as possible so I could see as much as possible without anything seeming too distorted or being forced to look all over the place.  I also didn’t know what to expect for the show.  I guess I figured that while it would be probably interesting, I didn’t have any expectation that it would be remarkable.

It’s probably for that exact reason, that I found myself incredibly in awe.  I mean just wow.  Starting with the stars and Earth, they map out fairly recent data that is received from NASA across our big blue marble in space as well as showing recent events such as a volcano that where one satellite passed was dormant and when another satellite passed a few hours later it was in mid-eruption.  Probably the best part was the zoom up on the planet as it rotated, you felt like it was right there, which is completely strange since you know you’re on Earth already…

There was the ‘adventure’ through the cosmos as well, taking us spectators through the galaxy and to places beyond.  The best part is probably the return trip where from the furthest reaches of the universe it zooms in on Earth.  No better way than to highlight how small of a speck we are in the grand scale of things.  After the show I just walked out in complete amazement.  The quality of the show was top notch and very informative.  Even two months later as I finish writing up my report on my trip, I think back to just how good that was.  Simply put, it alone made my trip.

Afterwards I toured through several of the exhibits which included a Gemini Capsule, artifacts from the early space programs (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo), several rather old telescopes, and many other exhibits. After another show, Undiscovered Worlds, which was about exactly what it sounds like, I decided it was time to find dinner, so I headed out into the cold.

Gemini Capsule

A Rather Large And Rather Old Telescope

It was at this point I realized that I had not planned on how to get back to the hotel once I was done here.  I didn’t see any taxi’s waiting about, but I did see a CTA bus, so I jumped on that.  Luck would have it that it got me fairly close to the hotel, so I could look for dinner.  After searching for a little bit and not able to make up my mind I figured I would just let someone else do it for me.  It’s a rare thing that I use the concierge at a hotel, but my indecisiveness was strong tonight, and that’s what they are there for.  The set me up at a steakhouse called Rosebud Prime that was within walking distance of the hotel.  I figured that I might as well go all out since the 2012 had been a pretty good year personally and professionally, and besides how can you say no to steak?

The Bar At Rosebud Prime

It wasn’t very busy, and I wasn’t exactly dressed as nicely as the rest of the patrons, keeping my zip-up hoodie on while I ate at the bar, but it wasn’t exactly busy either.  So who cares.  The streak was almost perfect; seasoning was good, and cooked pretty darn close to what I specified, and very juicy.  Perhaps I don’t eat at very many nicer steakhouses, but I was a bit surprised when my bake potato was dressed up with the toppings I wanted by the waiter on a cart.

My only other plan for the night was to head to the Signature Lounge at the 96th in the John Hancock Center.  Located on the 96th floor of that building, it’s a bar offering views of the city stretched out below and the rest of the skyline.  Of course, it’s going to be a popular place, and once I got to the 96th floor I found myself having to wait in a line.  Of course I haven’t really had to wait in a long line for a bar in a while so in my head I figured that I would be at the front of the line in maybe 20 minutes.  I was way off.  An hour into standing in line I had got to the front, but apparently getting a seat for one was next to impossible.  Not even a bar stool was open.  After waiting even longer the guy guarding the line had pity on me and told me that at the very least I could walk up to the bar to get a drink, but I would have to come back to keep on waiting for a spot.  Apparently you can’t stand and linger here if you haven’t been given a seat.

Eventually a seat did open up at the bar counter and I ordered another local beers while gazing out into the nighttime Chicago Skyline.  However, once I was done with that beer, I decided to just head out.  While it was a nice view and all, I just don’t know if it was overly worth it.  Really, it was probably the wait that did it for me.  Maybe on a future trip I’ll try again, but we shall see.

Nighttime Chicago From The Signature Lounge

Another cab ride and I was back at the hotel.  I decided to visit the hotel bar again and continue my sampling of the local beers that they had on tap and in bottles.  It was a little more busier than the night before, but still not nearly as busy as I would have expected.  Not like that’s a bad thing, but I wasn’t able to stay for long before last call.

Monday, December 31
My trip was already starting to come to an end; I had a flight from Midway shortly before 2PM that afternoon, so there wasn’t much time to do much.  I started out again at the restaurant in the hotel lobby before venturing out.  I figured I would stick to outdoor venues within the downtown area, so I boarded the L and rode over to Millenium Park (which honestly I could have walked, but oh well).  I saw the giant polished metal thing (not sure what it is called), had something fly into my eye which took probably 10 minutes for me to flush it out, and then saw the giant face screens.  Again, not sure what those are called either, but I decided to head over to the other side of Grant Park to Lake Michigan.  There wasn’t much to see other than the Chicago Fire Department Scuba Team in the water for some reason.

Faces – This Just Confuses Me

That Shiny Thing In Millienium Park

Chicago Fire Department Scuba Team

Even after those few things I was realizing that I needed to get back to the hotel, make sure I was packed up and head to the airport.  I walked back this time, gathered my gear, checked out and was back on a train headed towards the airport in no time.  I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get out to Midway, so I erred on the side of caution and wound up getting to the airport about 2 hours before my flight.  Security didn’t take very long and it seems that Delta and a few other airline priority passengers apparently get sent through the crew line, which was not congested at all.  I picked up some pizza for lunch (sadly, I couldn’t find a Chicago-style deep dish slice anywhere to go) and waited at the gate until boarding was called.  Fun fact: The last time I had been at Chicago Midway Airport was so that I could board my first commercial flight ever: MetroJet Operated by US Airways Flight 2781 to Washington-Dulles.

Looking Back At The W Chicago – City Center

L Train Approaching Quincy (To Midway Airport)

Southwest Had A Flight To ECP While I Was On The Delta Flight “To” The Other Panama City (Both Were Obviously Not Non-Stop)

I luckily had been upgraded already, so I was on board in Seat 1B pretty quickly.  There was my usual pre-departure beverage of Coke Zero, and once everyone was boarded we pushed back on time and took off for Atlanta.  Like the flight up there wasn’t a meal service other than the snack basket that gets passed around, and for the most part it was a good average Delta flight.  Our arrival was a little early giving me a little bit longer of a layover.  I made a short stop in the Sky Club before catching my short flight home to Panama City.  Unfortunately, that flight was on a CRJ200, which somehow I’ve managed to avoid in/out of ECP for many months now.  As a result, no upgrades, no service or anything.  Not that this is exactly a horrible thing since the flight is only about 40 minutes long.  Just sucks how cramped those seats can get.

Anyways, for a super last minute trip, Chicago was a good call, especially since I had not been there since I was little kid.  There’s a lot more to the city than I experienced in my short time there, so I think I’m going to have to have to go back.  It probably won’t be like what NYC is to me, but the next time I see a good deal there I think I’ll jump on it.

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My 2012 Travel Year In Review

By Robert | Published January 6, 2013

Since I got the good idea to do a recap of my year of travels last year, I figured I should probably go ahead and keep it up and recap 2012.  This year was a big one: two overseas trips, many domestic trips, Alaska (including the northernmost point in the US), and my first time to the Caribbean (Puerto Rico).  I re-qualified for Platinum Medallion on Delta again and even topped last year’s total Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM) total, which means that I will be in a good position for starting the year out.

Flights:
Number of Flight Segments: 82
Number of Airlines: 5 (Delta (74), Alaska (4), KLM (2), US Airways (1), Southwest(1))
Total Miles Flown: 67,399
Time Spent in the Air: 8 days, 1 hour, 6 minutes
Average Flight Distance/Length: 822 Miles / 2 hours 21 minutes
Longest Flight: AMS-ATL (Amsterdam to Atlanta, GA) – 4,390 miles, 10 hours 16 minutes
Shortest Flight: SCC-BRW (Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, AK to Barrow, AK) – 203 miles, 40 minutes
Aircraft Flown On: MD-88, CRJ-200, 757, 737, DC-9-50, CRJ-900, CRJ-700, MD-90, A330-200, A330-300, 767-300ER, A320

Everyone Loves Pie Charts!

Everyone Loves Pie Charts!

Airports:
Airports Flown Into/Out Of/Through: AMS, ANC, ATL, BAH, BNA, BRW, CDG, CVG, DEN, ECP, EWR, FAI, GNV, GRR, LGA, MCO, MLI, MDW, MSP, ORD, ORF, PHL, SAN, SCC, SJU, YUL
Top Five Airports: ATL, ECP, PHL, MSP, AMS
Number of Connections in ATL: 34

My 2012 Flights – North America and International

SkyMiles Earnings:
SkyMiles Status: Platinum Medallion (Re-qualified for 2013)
Total Medallion Qualification Miles Earned: 92,000+
Total SkyMiles Earned: 155,000+
Total SkyMiles Redeemed: 222,500 (5x Award Tickets; 1x Int’l Mileage Upgrade)

Travels:
Countries: Bahrain (New), Belgium (New), Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg (New), The Netherlands
Cities: Amsterdam, Anchorage, Barrow, Brussels, Chicago, Cologne, Denver, Gainesville, Grand Rapids, Luxembourg (City), Moline, Montreal (NYE 2012), New York City (2x), Norfolk (2x), Orlando (2x), Paris, Philadelphia, San Diego (2x), San Juan, Seward, Trier
Other Places: Rocky Mountain National Park
Number of Trips: 19
Days “On The Road”: 74
Average Trip Length: 3.89 Days
Trip Frequency: 1.58 Trips per Month

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An Almost Christmas Vacation: Amsterdam

By Robert | Published December 16, 2012

Index:
Part 1: Intro + Travel to Amsterdam
Part 2: Amsterdam
Part 3: Cologne
Part 4: The Rhine + Trier
Part 5: Luxembourg/Belgium
Part 6: Paris
Part 7: Return Home

Saturday, December 8
On arrival to Amsterdam, I made my way through the crowds of passengers in the halls and headed straight for the KLM Crown Lounge.  My plan was to grab a little bit more for breakfast and to take a shower before heading into town.  Upon entering the lounge at first, KLM tried to deny access to me, as apparently Delta was no longer paying KLM for arrival access if the passenger is traveling in Business Elite (which I was) or has SkyTeam Elite Plus status (which I have by way of my Platinum Medallion status on Delta).  The agent refused, until they asked if I had a Sky Club card, which of course I do have, just I leave it at home.  There isnt much use to carrying it since domestically I use Delta lounges and internationally I haven’t been denied access before based on traveling in a premium cabin or frequent flyer status.

Luckily I did get granted access, and quickly put my name on the list for a shower.  I went and grabbed a coffee and a few things to munch on and found a place near the windows to sit for a bit while also making sure my phone worked and check up on a few things.  After sitting there for a little over an hour, I decided to give up on getting that shower and decided to leave the lounge.  I wanted that shower badly, but now it was eating into my time for Amsterdam and that just wasn’t worth it.  As what seems to be the case with the Netherlands, Immigration and Customs was quick and painless and I was off to buy my train ticket into the city center.  While getting my ticket, I picked up an OV-chipkaart, which is an RFID-based electronic fare card for all public transit in the Netherlands, including services run by the national railway operator, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS – Dutch Railways).  This system was just beginning to be rolled out when I was last in the city of Amsterdam in 2008; at that time one could still use a strippenkaart, which was a paper ticket that was a long strip and portions of the ticket would be cancelled out depending on the respective fare.  Regardless, the strippenkaart I had at home with a ride or two left of it, was now no longer valid.  As almost always, there was a fee to get the card, but I’m sure I’ll be back in Amsterdam within 5 years to get some more use out of it.

Always A Good View From The KLM Crown Lounge

Getting back on track. with my ticket in hand I made my way down to the NS platforms that are underneath the main shopping plaza at Amsterdam Schipol.  While I missed one train right as I got to the bottom, another one was along shortly and I was on my way to Amsterdam Centraal Station.

Stepping off the train I made my way through the halls that seemed no different than back in 2008.  It seemed that everything was in the same place, or at least as much as I could remember.  First order of business was to secure my suitcase in a locker so I could go see some sights before checking into my hotel that afternoon.  From there I walked up Damrak to Dam Square, which aside from the large Christmas tree, it too was pretty much the same.  After looking around and just walking down a few of the side streets, I boarded a tram and headed a few stops down the line to the Heineken Experience – which I had thought was the actual brewery (and maybe it was), but when I was last here in 2008, it had been closed for renovations.  Probably to make it what it was today.  Really the place is a museum of Heineken; there’s exhibits on the history of the brand, the process of brewing, as well as a “ride” where you “experience” being brewed into a bottle of Heineken.  Overall, it was a bit interesting, given if anything the number of Heinekens I have drank over the years.  At the end of the visit, as with all beer-related tours, you get to drink some beer!  I had the option of using my two tokens to get two beers, or use my two tokens to learn how to pour the “perfect glass” of Heineken and get one beer + a certificate.  I decided that since I already had one beer earlier in the museum, I would go for the certificate.  It took a few times, but I finally got it…or at least close enough…I’m now a Certified Pourer!

Moving on, I headed back down to Dam Square, not really sure where I would go next.  Most important though, was that it was now late enough that I could check into my hotel for the night, the Hotel CC.  Located on the edge of the Red Light District, I had picked it for being centrally located and a 5 minute walk to the main train station.  You know, just in case I was running late or it was raining or something else.  Now that doesn’t mean that the building next door to me had, well, Red Lights or anything…being on the edge meant that there were a few ‘coffeeshops’ which sell nothing of the sort.  At check-in I was given Room 1 which is ground level room facing the street.  In fact I think it was the only ground level room that faced the street in the hotel.  That meant that I got all the sounds and smells of the outside world in my room.  Could be worse, but it sucked that it meant that I wouldn’t be able to even have the curtains open without being on display.

Hotel CC – Entry

Hotel CC – Bed

Hotel CC – Front (My Room Was The Two Large Windows On The Right)

Heading back out I found myself out in front of the train station again and I decided to get on one of the canal tour boats.  I know that it is rather touristy, but it’s something that I have not done and it does give a different perspective on the city, plus some of the history that I didn’t know.  I timed it just right too, because it would get dark-ish while I was out on the canals and I could watch the city light up.  The only thing I didn’t like about it was about the three times where the guide program was interrupted to tell us about other fantastic deals that Gray Line offered in Amsterdam.  I hate ads.

Canal Boats Lined Up Along Damrak

View From The Canal

After the tour I went in search of dinner, which I thought I would go for herring, since that seemed like the Dutch thing to do and I had seen a place from the tour boat that I figured I would walk to to try.  Unfortunately, they must close up at dark as all that was at the spot now was a hot dog cart, and I certainly didn’t fly all the way to Amsterdam to eat a hot dog.

More aimless wandering followed and not finding anywhere that looked promising I was back in Dam Square.  At this point I was getting pretty hungry and I did not feel like wasting much more time so I opted for a place right on the square.  Now, the place looked like it might be a little pricey, but at this point I didn’t care.  It had all those hip and modern design elements and a rather varied menu.  I was looking for something unique and different and went with something called the Dutch Trio.  It was essentially three different stacks consisting of meat, biscuit, different takes on mashed potatoes (I think).  There were some interesting flavors, but hopefully this wasn’t what Dutch cuisine was.  The price wasn’t horrible, but at the same time I could have just gone to McDonald’s and been just as satisfied.  I had a few beers while there, but neither of them really stood out much.  One was just called white beer and the other was something else which I cannot remember.  Oh well.

Aimless Wandering

Dinner – Dutch Trio (Horrible Cell Phone Camera and Lighting)

I decided from there that I would wander into the Red Light District; not to partake in any of the activities that are offered there, but just to walk around.  The tolerance the Dutch have for the activities that go on inside this area is interesting to me as a foreigner – I think that is what draws a majority of the visitors to this area.  Honestly, I saw very little in the way of “transactions” occurring, although they certainly do try to lure you in.  I think a large number of the visitors, judging by the composition of groups are more just doing the saem thing as I was…walking around in awe.  Of course there are plenty of those who are there also partaking in the activities otherwise, the area wouldn’t be there. The rest of the evening was spent really just walking around around and at one point grabbing a few beers at a bar (of the regular variety).  It was a little before midnight before I returned to the hotel and decided I would try to crash. I had not got much sleep in the past two nights, with probably 4 hours the day before I left and about 4 hours on the plane, so I was pretty wiped.  Of course I also had a 10:35am train the next morning that I definitely did not want to miss…

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An Almost Christmas Vacation: Intro + Travel to Amsterdam

By Robert | Published December 12, 2012

Index:
Part 1: Intro + Travel to Amsterdam
Part 2: Amsterdam
Part 3: Cologne
Part 4: The Rhine + Trier
Part 5: Luxembourg/Belgium
Part 6: Paris
Part 7: Return Home

Introduction

The return to Europe; with the work entering a relatively slow period (hint: its not really that slow), I figured that now would be the best time for me to take a week-long vacation to recharge and relax.  I had not taken a full week since March 2011 when I went to Japan.  Sure, I managed to go to plenty of places since that time, but all were either weekends (short or long) or for my job.  I needed to get away for an extended period of time and since I had not been to Europe since 2009 (not counting two layovers in Amsterdam earlier this year), I figured I would head across the pond.

I wasn’t set with where I wanted to go exactly, as I was going to see where I could find availability on Delta for a low Business Class award in December.  I left my dates fairly flexible too and ultimately found an offering to Amsterdam and leaving from Paris that spanned just over a week.  I would be leaving on a Friday morning, which is something that I had been trying to avoid (in order to minimize paid leave), but with that being the only option, I jumped on it and starting making my plans.  Since I had never spent much time in Western Germany, I figured I would visit Cologne and then swing up through Luxembourg and Belgium – two countries that had eluded me in my three previous trips to Europe.  From there I would take a train to Paris the day before my flight and spend the night before catching the flight home.

Friday, December 7

The night before I had been distracted by some coworkers who lured me to Hofbrau in Pier Park, meaning I was up a bit later than I intended trying to finish my packing.  I was a little worried that I wouldn’t get up at 5AM to get ready and catch my flight, since that is precisely what happened in 2011 when I went to Japan.  Luckily I did get up and out the door (although a bit later than I wanted), but when flying out of Panama City, that doesn’t not present much of an issue.

Delta Air Lines Flight 2011
Panama City, FL- Atlanta, GA (ECP-ATL)
Aircraft: Dougas DC-9-50
Class: First | Seat: 2B

Delta Air Lines DC-9-50 In Panama City

The first flight of the day, was the standard ECP-ATL flight, this morning being on a Douglas DC-9-50, as what seems to be more and more common here (versus the MD-88, which used to be the primary mainline aircraft on this route).  I knew a few people from work on-board this morning, so once landing in Atlanta we all headed over to Concourse F to grab an early lunch; I however did not take advantage of the Sky Club, even though I could have got them in.  Not sure why I didn’t, but the Concourse was relatively quiet.

Delta Air Lines Flight 400
Atlanta, GA – Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN (ATL-MSP)
Aircraft: McDonnell-Douglas MD-88  
Class: First | Seat: 2B

Eventually we all headed back to Concourse A and we split off to catch our respective flights.  For me, I would be heading to Minneapolis-St. Paul, which thankfully is just beyond the 900 mile rule on Delta for a meal in First Class.  Today there was a choice between a Roast Beef Sandwich (one of my least favorite options on Delta) and a “Texas Salad with Chicken.”  I went with the salad; which consisted of lettuce, tomato, corn, a seasoned chicken breast, tortilla chips, and some sort of non-ranch salad dressing.  Overall, it wasn’t too bad, plus there was the usual desert.  The rest of the flight wasn’t anything special; I pretty much just kept myself entertained with the in flight wifi.

Delta Air Lines First Class Meal – Salad With Chicken Breast (ATL-MSP)

Arrival to MSP was on time and I headed straight for the F/G Sky Club to wait out for 45 minutes.  I made a few phone calls and did some last minute catch up on email before heading over to gate G8 where my flight had already begun to board.  Making my way to the front of the queue, I made my way down the jet bridge to the aircraft door and turned left into Business Class.

Delta Air Lines Flight 258
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN – Amsterdam Schipol (MSP-AMS)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Class: Business | Seat: 3C

I found my seat, 3C, and started getting out some of my gear and getting everything stowed away.  Once I got settled in, a flight attendant passed through the cabin offering Orange Juice, Beer and Champagne.  Although I rarely drink the stuff, it just felt more appropriate to go with Champagne for my pre-departure beverage.  It took a while for Coach to fill up, but we still managed to depart from the gate on time.  We had to go and get de-iced, and then sit in what felt like a long line for takeoff.  But we finally made it and the aircraft started to roll down the runway…or so I thought.  Less than 30 seconds after throttling up, the pilot slammed on the brakes and aborted our take off.

Delta Business Elite Seat 3C – Airbus A330-300

Pre-Departure Champagne

The announcements were vague, but once we returned to the gate we were all instructed to remain seated while the Police came on board.  We sat there for at least 20 minutes before an individual was removed from the aircraft.  Another 45 or more minutes passed until we could get back into the queue for de-icing.  That again added to the delay and by the time we took off we were over 2.5 hours behind schedule.  Instead of arriving in Amsterdam relatively early, I was going to be hitting the ground around the same time as many other flights.

Anyways, on with the flight, once in the air the flight attendants started working to get the service started.  This means going through the cabin and passing out the hot towels before serving the warm nuts and beverages.  You could tell that at first they were rushing a bit; the delay I’m sure had everyone a bit annoyed and if they were like me, a bit hungry (since I really only had that salad earlier in the day).  They had already taken our orders on the ground and I had selected the Seared Beef Tenderloin with bearnaise sauce, gremolata risotto and broccolini with garlic.  But before that could be served a first course of Curried Crab Salad and Cream of Vegetable Soup as well as a second course of a salad were presented.  The beef was ok; nothing to write home about, but it sure would beat the two options being served in Economy (based in my experience).

Dinner – First Course

Dinner – Second Course

Dinner – Main Course

Once I wrapped up with those items, the desert cart came down the aisle and I of course went with the Ice Cream Sundae….I mean how could you not?  I pretty much got everything on it minus the strawberry sauce, despite how much I like strawberries.

Ice Cream Sundae

Once dinner was finished, I changed into a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts in an experiment to see if that would help me sleep better on the plane.  The seats on Delta’s A330s are not truly lie-flat, so sometimes you feel like you are falling out of the seat when you try to sleep.  I find sleeping on my side helps, but at the same time, when you have your day clothes on I find that they just get all in the way.  The good news is that my experiment worked and I slept for about the next 4 hours, which took us to about 1.5 hours outside of Amsterdam.

It was also just in time for breakfast, which today there was an option for Muesli or a Quiche with Sausage.  I always prefer a warm breakfast, so I went with the quiche.  I thought the eggs benedict I had in January were better, but hey – variety.

Soon enough we were on approach to Amsterdam; a look outside the window showed that snow had covered the ground.  The sun was rising, so I wasn’t going to be able to watch the sun rise from the KLM Crown Lounge for a third time this year, but that’s ok anyways because I almost didn’t make it in.

I’ll pick up from here in Part 2 – Amsterdam.

Posted in Delta, Europe, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Caribbean Escape – Puerto Rico

By Robert | Published December 7, 2012

Introduction:

It had been a while since I had gone anywhere; the last time I had found myself in a airplane seat was mid-June for a work trip to a city that I’ve been to many times over.  As August continued on, I figured I should get out of town for Labor Day weekend.  With a $350 Delta Gift Certificate to use, I wanted to find somewhere new and potentially far off to get some rest and relaxation away from the office after a hectic few months.  I looked at many places domestically and internationally, but the best bang for my buck that I could find led me to my destination: Puerto Rico.

I had never been to the Caribbean before despite the fact that I live in Florida and it’s relatively close by.  It probably is partially a product of my desire to avoid cruises and other organized travel after some of my experiences with a tour group I took to Italy in High School (generally a lot of fun, but we wasted so much time at “hand-picked” shops and staying in less-than-ideal hotels nowhere near the city centers).  Anyways, I figured I needed to finally see the Caribbean and where better to start for a formal introduction than somewhere that is part of the United States.  I ventured out to the airport one afternoon after work and booked my ticket.

Friday, August 31

The 7:05AM flight to Atlanta came early.  Originally, I had planned to take a later flight in the day, but as I was booking the ticket I decided I needed to just take the whole day off from work.  Besides it would get me to Puerto Rico much earlier in the day.  The flight up to Atlanta was the usual short flight where my upgrade to First Class was confirmed in advance.  With an hour and a half on the ground in Atlanta I made my way to Delta Sky Club near Gate B10 – which is actually one of my least favorite in Atlanta mostly due to it’s small size which means it gets crowded easily and quickly.  However, for grabbing a cup of coffee and some fruit it does the trick.  My time in the lounge was limited before I made my way to the gate.  The ATL-SJU flight was operated with a Boeing 757, and I did not have an upgrade clear in advance.  Actually, as I boarded, I was #1 on the list for 0 seats.  When that happens, one always hopes that someone doesn’t make a connection so you can get moved up at the last minute.  Luckily, that exact scenario played out and I got the last seat.  Win!

Delta flights to the Caribbean are operated just like any other domestic flight.  There is no difference in service or anything else, despite the front cabin being called Business Class (but not BusinessElite) versus First Class.  As such the service was not any different than the dozens of other domestic long haul First Class flights that I’ve had this year.  Service was good, and there wasn’t anything that stuck out for better or for worse.  Being as that it was a morning flight, the meal would be Breakfast, of which there would be two options: Cereal or an Omelette, both of which are served with fruit and a choice of bread.  I’ve had both options before and despite what one might think of an airplane omelette I always side with that as opposed to the cereal (unless cereal is the only option like on some shorter flights).  It’s just nice to have a warm meal.  Overall it was ok, nothing to exactly write home about, but did the trick in holding me over until I got to San Juan.

It’s an Omelette

The flight arrived on time and in no time I was out of the terminal and on the bus to the Hertz facility to pick up my rental car.  They didn’t have a dedicate #1 Club Gold service here (or even a display board), so I had to wait in line to find out which car would be mine.  Turns out the Hyundai something-or-another SUV they assigned me lacked keys, so they switched me over to a Ford Focus hatchback, which I actually kinda preferred anyways.  Luckily they also switched me to a car that had a GPS unit installed; which is fantastic because I had assumed the Google Maps Navigation worked in Puerto Rico like the rest of the US (spoiler alert: it doesn’t).  With the address of my hotel punched in I took off on the Interstate (Seriously, they technically have Interstates in Puero Rico, they just are not signed and often more resemble surface streets) towards Old San Juan.

Booking my hotel at the last minute proved interesting; I wasn’t able to get a Starwood property for the entire duration of my stay, so I wound up using points on a stay at the Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel and Casino for my first night.  At only 7000 SPG points and it being right in the middle of the Old San Juan action, it was a steal.  Even better was in my confirmation email there was a link to where you could request an upgrade to a suite for $25.  While as an SPG Gold member I do get upgrades to an ‘enhanced’ room at check-in, it doesn’t include suites; from what I could tell however is that suites had balconies and faced the waterfront.  This seemed like a no brainer, and ultimately an awesome decision, because they never did get around to actually billing me for the upgrade.

That being said, after parking my car (choose wisely when it comes to parking garages, the one I left my car in overnight, cost me $36!) and getting checked in I made it to my room on the 6th floor.  The suite was relatively huge, however it was also relatively empty.  Lot’s of room in there that wasn’t being utilized at all.  That’s fine by me as I wasn’t going to be spending much time in the room anyways.

Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel – Suite (Living Room + Balcony)

Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel – Suite (King Bed)

After dropping my suitcase and lightening my bag a bit, I first had to find myself somwhere to get a memory card for my camera as I had somehow managed to forget that at home.  Luckily I ran across a Radio Shack in Old San Juan which saved the day.  Afterwards, I started my afternoon exploration stroll through the old city streets.  I wasn’t using a map nor did I look up anything in advance.  Ultimately,  I would find myself passing through public squares and back streets before winding up at the edge of the water, however unlike in front of my hotel here were the fortifications that once protected this city and provided entrance to it.  I followed the old city wall until ultimately I was led to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro.

Public Square in Old San Juan

A Garita On The Old City Wall Looks Out On The Bahia de San Juan

Castillo San Felipe del Morro Off In The Distance

One of the two forts that are a part of the San Juan National Historic Site, it was constructed in 1539 and retired from use as a US Army post in 1961.  It really is quite massive; it doesn’t necessarily look that way from the outside, but as you explore the different levels it becomes apparent.  That probably helped it adapt over the years to the changing aspects of warfare; although modifications were apparent as during World War Two the US Army added more modern observation posts

Looking Out To The Caribbean Sea From Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Flags Of The United States, Puerto Rico And Spain (Historical) And The Lighthouse That Was Built On Top Of The Fort.

Once the exploration of that fort was over it was time to hop on the tourist trolley ran by the National Park Service over to the other major for in in the San Juan National Historic Site, Castillo San Cristobal.  This one did not have nearly the same crowds, although according to what I read it had been the largest fort built by the Spanish in the New World.  For whatever reason, it felt smaller than Castillo San Felipe del Morro; perhaps I didn’t explore all of the fort?

Inside Castillo San Cristobal

View Of Castillo San Felipe del Morro From A WWII US Army Observation Post At Castillo San Cristobal

Once done with touring the forts, I made my way back through the streets of Old San Juan at a casual pace before returning to the hotel to figure out my game plan for the night.  Since I couldn’t decide (a common occurrence for me) I just walked around for a while until I eventually settled down at a restaurant that had outside seating.  It wasn’t until after I ordered a drink, I realized I was at an Italian restaurant.  Whoops.

Calle Marina And The Cruise Ship Piers From My Balcony At The Sheraton Old San Juan

It wasn’t bad or anything, just a total fail for eating Caribbean or Puerto Rico food.  I feel like I let myself down a bit, but on the bright side at least I didn’t get dinner from McDonald’s.

More time was spent outside including at the bar at the front of the Sheraton.  I was introduced here to a local microbrewery (Old Harbor Brewery, which is supposedly the only one on the island) and their Pale Ale which would lead me to eating at their brewery two nights later so I could try other varieties.  Being up since 5AM, I wasn’t looking to stay out really late especially since I had a big day planned for the next day.  So I wrapped up in the hotel casino playing a few games and ultimately walking out with $53 from a slot machine.  Not bad for only putting $5 in.

Saturday, September 1

Part of me had wanted to get up early and head out to a beach somewhere as the sun rose, but the part of me that had wanted to sleep in won out in the end.  By the time I got up and out the door it was mid morning and I was going walk around Old San Juan for a bit before finding breakfast.  My wanderings took me to a small public square on Calle San Francisco where I found the Cafeteria Mallorca.  I had seen something about this place the night before, so I figured why not give it a try.  I went in to the small, but crowded establishment and ordered a Mallorca which is a sandwich of sorts.  It has ham and cheese and is dusted with powdered sugar.  It’s almost like a funnel cake sandwich in a way.  A little messy, but definitely delicious.

The Powdered Sugar Made It A Bit Difficult To Eat…

Once breakfast was settled I walked around a bit more, before heading back to the hotel to check out.  The plan for the day was to make a loop around the eastern side of the island at a rather casual pace looking for places away from the tourist crowds in San Juan.  The first order of business however was getting my car out of the garage I had parked in overnight directly behind the hotel.  Upon presenting my ticket I found out that it had cost me nearly $40!  To me that is just beyond absurd, but then I probably only have myself to blame for not noticing a sign with rates or something else.

I made my way along PR3 quickly putting San Juan behind me, but never really feeling like I was leaving a built-up area.  That is until I turned off of the main highway on to PR191 and headed South towards the El Yunque National Forest.  This particular forest is the only tropical rain forest in the National Forest system and seeing as how I’ve never been to a rain forest, I figured it might be a good place to visit.  A stop at the visitors center was in order to get my bearings set straight.  I didn’t really know what I could see or do here, so after getting a map I decided on a few waterfalls and an observation tower.  I wasn’t prepared for a decent hike and as such decided against trying to peak of El Yunque.  I made my way up the mountain roads going deeper and deeper into the rain forest; the road has quite a bit of turns and twists with less traffic than I had expected.  Along the way there were waterfalls, an observation tower, and other places to pull over to stop for a moment.  I had planned on a short hike, however, when I got to the trail head it turned out that it was closed for maintenance and that if I wanted to go to La Mina Falls, I would have to take a longer route.  I wasn’t adequately prepared for a hike, and decided to abandon my pursuit.

An Observation Tower (“Yokahu Tower”) In El Yunque National Forest

View Of Mountains And Rain Forest From The Top Of The Tower

Waterfall In El Yunque National Forest

After taking in the rain forest, I continued east until I hit Fajardo.  This is where some of the bioluminescent waters are, although in the daylight I don’t think you are really able to tell.  This was supposed to just be my stopping point for lunch, so I didn’t plan to go out on the water.  The first place I tried I was completely ignored and despite it being at a place right across a quiet-ish street from a beach, I wound up backtracking to a stand I saw on the way into town to enjoy a quick, cheap snack.

Beach In Fajardo

Again, it was time to continue my leisurely drive, taking the Autopista east and eventually south along the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station.  Eventually I got off the main highway, and headed for the coast where I was hoping that I would find a secluded beach or something to hang out at for a bit.  The first one I stumbled upon was just along PR-3 between Naguabo and Humacao.  The beach itself wasn’t exactly the finest, with some trash and water that was churning up seaweed, but the palm trees and the cool blue waters a little further out made it a nice shaded relaxation spot for a bit.  A little further down the coast I would find a little nicer of a spot near the end of PR-53 an oil terminal.  Locals seemed to be wading out in the water, which was nicer here, but I still didn’t go in.  I was contempt to hang out by the palm trees to read a book.  Between these two stops however, it became apparent – I need to get a travel hammock for these situations.

Boats Just Off The Beach

Secluded(ish) Beach Near The Oil Terminal/Port

After watching the water, I got back on the road to follow PR-3 up over a mountain between Yabucoa and Maunabo – the drive here lended to some great views on the way up of the interior of the island and on the way back down as the coast came into view.  Unfortunately there wasn’t any good spots to pull over to take a picture.  As I got back down to sea level in Maunabo, I encountered closed off streets and no signs giving me a detour route.  Apparently there was some sort of street festival, for what I have no idea.  I thought about trying to wander about on foot, but I couldn’t find anywhere to park that didn’t seem like a bad idea so I continued along the highway to the coast.

I wasn’t sure of my destination; I had wanted to find somewhere on the beach that was a bit remote to enjoy a cerveza and some Puerto Rican food as I watched the sun go down.  I saw a several places along PR-3 that looked like they might have been good along with a place (that I could never find) that my guide book recommended, but kept on going until I decided to pull into a place who’s name I cannot even remotely remember.  And since Google Maps doesn’t have street view in Puerto Rico, I cant even cheat that way.  Oh well.  For what it’s worth, the location was the perfect place to watch the sunset over the Caribbean while enjoying a beer and chowing down on Mofongo.  Yes, I realize I live in a beach town in Florida, but I guess it somehow becomes better (at least in my head) when you are somewhere else that has the exact same thing.  I sat here for a while until it got to the point where I realized that as the sun was going down I wanted to get back to San Juan or at least to a well-lit expressway before night fall.

Dinner (Mofongo) From A Litlle Place Squeezed Between The Road And The Beach

Not A Bad Spot To Kick Back For Dinner After Busy Day Of Exploration

The GPS in my car had me routed through the mountains again, but not the same way I had come before.  These looked like they were secondary or worse types of roads as opposed to the two lane highway that brought me to the southern side of the Island.  I figured that I would go for it as the other option would have been me backtracking the same route I came in on and that just seemed boring.

The opposite of boring was what I got as I made my way up into the mountains and the interior of the island.  Going up PR-759 which eventually merged into PR-181, was for the most part fun in the Focus.  Twists and turns everywhere, small villages/towns, great views of the valleys below, and so on.  I will say at one point through, I thought I was going to become the next GPS case (you know where people find themselves driving into a lake or up a goat path on a mountain, etc), because at one point I found myself thinking that the road had abruptly ended ahead and slammed on the brakes!  Like that the pavement ended and I thought maybe the road had been washed out or just was no more.  I creeped the car a little bit forward and found that there yes the road a bit washed out, but there was a bridge and it was otherwise safe looking.  Felt like the underside of the car took a slight hit, but hey it was a rental.  I continued on and generally trying to get off of this mountain road as soon as possible.  I didn’t want to try to drive on this road in the dark, especially after that experience.  Luckily I made it through to the town San Lorenzo before it got dark and from there made my way to PR-52 which is a straight shot into San Juan.

Once in San Juan I headed to my next hotel, the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino, which would be home for the next two nights.  Located next to the Puerto Rico Convention Center, this hotel is much larger, more modern, and trendier than the Sheraton in Old San Juan.  I think it opened in 2009 and featured several restaurants, bars/lounges, the casino and an infinity pool on the fourth floor looking out towards Old San Juan.  The room itself was nice and what you would expect from a not-to-old Sheraton property.  From what I can tell, it didn’t look like that I got an upgrade, but that was find with me.  I’m sure given how busy that the lobby was, I was probably edged out by other folks.

Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino

The rest of the night I stayed on the property.  I tried my luck at the casino, but apparently my luck from the previous night had worn off.  Since I figured I might as well get something in return for my money I sat down at the lounge in the bar and had a few drinks before bed; of which I would have had only one of had I known that a beer cost $8/bottle!  You would think I would know better by now right?

Sunday, September 1

Getting up the next morning actually wasn’t that bad; I didn’t sleep in super late as I had a few hours drive ahead of me to far southwestern corner of the island to Cabo Rojo: home to apparently nice beaches, salt flats, and numerous small towns.  The route mostly involved highways, and I thought about stopping in Ponce, but decided to skip the tourist sights there so I could spend time at the beach.

The drive there wasn’t anything spectacular for the most part; it was mostly freeways until I got much closer to the far corner of the island.  From there, like the other areas I found myself going down less-than-busy roads through small towns.  I made a few wrong turns on my route, but eventually I found myself at whatever the Puerto Rican equivalent of a state park is at Boquerón Beach.  Being a holiday weekend, I expected the place to be rather busy, as would a similar beach/park back home would be.  The opposite was true however; the parking lot was nowhere near full and the beach not overcrowded.  That meant that there was plenty of space for me to set up shop on the sand before going for a swim in the Caribbean.

Boquerón Beach

I find it interesting that I live in Florida, not more than a mile from the beach, but I almost never go there.  Then on the other hand, I go to somewhere like Puerto Rico and I find myself at a beach; don’t get me wrong we have very nice beaches in Northwest Florida, but I think I’m just too used to it or something.  I just find that interesting.  Anyways…

I floated around on the water for a good while, enjoying the beautiful weather before heading back to shore to hunt for lunch.  I saw what looked like a town at the far end of the beach; so I figured I’d throw my gear in to my backpack and make way in search of food and drink.  At the far end of the beach was Boquerón, which is indeed a small town, but filled with restaurants and bars for the beach-going crowd.  I found a counter service place that looked like it had some decent eats so I grabbed lunch, a beer and sat down at the water next to one of several short piers.  It was exactly peaceful, but ti was relaxing; after exploring a few of the streets I made my way back across to the beach and the park where I packed everything back up into the car so I could continue my western circuit of the island.

Boquerón

There was only one other thing that I wanted to do on this side of the island and that was to visit the Salt Flats in the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge.  The plan had been to go to the lighthouse on the tip of the cape and the relative non-tourist beach for a bit, but that turned into something that was going to happen.  Once you get on the Refuge, the road becomes a dirt/sand one lane road that takes you out to the point.  The Focus took a few hits and bumps, but the disappointing part was that once I got to the end of the road at the lighthouse was that there was no parking whatsoever.  In fact it was so crowded I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to get turned around and back out…I think it took about 15 minutes for me to get out of there.  I did try parking at one point up the road a bit, but after hitting a post and realizing I was taking up a lot of the road, I just figured I would bail on this activity.  On the way out however, I did stop at the observation tower, so I could at least see the salt flats from above.

Cabo Rojo NWR – Salt Flats + Road To The Lighthouse

From this point forward it was just me taking my time getting back to San Juan.  I didn’t have any other stops in mind, and I didn’t really stop anywhere either.  The rest of the day was uneventful, and I made it back to San Juan just after sunset.

I decided that I would go back to Old San Juan for dinner, and while Puerto Rico is known for Rum, I decided to go to the only microbrewery on the island (what can I say, I like my beer), which also had a restaurant.  The Old Harbor Brewery was located near the docks and the hotel from my first night on the island.  After enjoying a decent burger and sampling a few of the local brews, I made my way back to the Sheraton Old San Juan for the casino.  I figured I would try once more to see if I had any luck, but alas I did not.  Oh well.  In the end I didn’t walk out any richer or poorer, so at least there’s that.  Since I had mid-morning flight out the next morning, I just returned back to my hotel by the convention center for the night and quickly passed out.

Monday, September 2

The day of my departure; I couldn’t get out on the 2pm flight so I found myself on a 10am flight out of San Juan back to Atlanta.  As a result I did not have an opportunity to do anything that morning before my flight, on account me wanting to sleep in a little bit.  After checking out I simlpy made my way to the airport to drop my rental and get checked in for my flight.  Unfortunately, on this flight I would not be getting the upgrade to First/Business and so I found myself in an Economy Comfort seat instead.  The flight wasn’t too bad and since it was an aircraft with seat-back entertainment it meant that I at least something to occupy myself with for the 4 or so hour ride to Atlanta. The rest of the day was pretty much non-descript as it was a very normal layover in Atlanta and flight home to Panama City.  If there was something to report, I would, but there was just nothing.

Anyways, I’m glad I took the trip to Puerto Rico and got my first sampling of the Caribbean.  It was a good introduction to the region and the culture, but most importantly it got me away from work for a short while – which is always good for recharging and refocusing so you can tackle new challenges and problems.  I certainly wouldn’t mind going back in the future and maybe staying away from San Juan, perhaps on the south side of the island.  However, the next time I go to the Caribbean I think I am going to try some of the Dutch islands…those have been on my list for a while now.

 

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