Ray and Traci's Great Adventure Blog

Traveling to the Panama Canal

2011-10-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

After their unsuccessful attempt at visiting perhaps ancient civilization's greatest creation, the Pyramids of Egypt, Ray and Traci decided to make a voyage to another one of mankind's greatest creations – the Panama Canal. After reviewing the schedules and itineraries of cruise lines, Ray and Traci decided to take the 10 day partial transit of the canal by Princess Cruise Lines. After reviewing their travel plans, both Ray and Traci's parents decided to join the Caribbean voyage.

Travel started late Sunday night with the group boarding a non-stop "red eye" flight on Alaska Air from Seattle to Miami. While none of the travelers slept well, the uneventful flight brought the group and luggage to Miami where a van took them to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The Island Princess ship was ready for boarding shortly before noon. Ray and Traci liked their new home and began to explore the spacious ship.

The first few days (Monday night thru Thursday morning) were spent at sea. The weather was a bit muggy (temperature in the mid 80s with high humidity) but the seas were very calm. Ray and Traci fell into their cruise ship routine – morning workouts at the gym or running along the 7^th floor promenade track, lunches in the buffet, lectures on the canal & ports in the afternoon, dinner in the main dining room and nightly entertainment. The Island Princess has a fairly well equipped gym with the typical shortage of cardio equipment between 8 and 10 am. The promenade deck actually was a fairly good place to run early in the morning, although Ray did not like running in the tropical heat. The Island Princess buffet seemed a bit small – both the seating areas as well as the food stations were crowded during peak times. Princess does a good job with a wide variety of food aiming to please a wide audience. The fruits & vegetables were fresh, and pizza from the no-cost pizza shop was excellent. A separate no fee shop provided burgers and hot dogs to the passengers. The six travelers had dinner in the Bordeaux dining room nightly, having selected "anytime" dining to accommodate a flexible schedule. The dining experience was quite good, with excellent waiters and an attempt by Princess to give the group the same table and staff despite an inconsistent dining schedule. Having studied Princess postings on cruisecritic.com, Ray and Traci mostly agreed with previous travelers' positive reviews regarding the dining experience. Princess' chefs prepared a themed menu nightly with 6 or so special entrees along with appetizers and desserts in addition to a regular menu of standards. As with most cruise ships, travelers can order multiple entrees, appetizers, salads, soups, and desserts as well as make many substitutions. Ray found many dishes quite tasty including fettuccine alfredo, prime rib, fried chicken, and lobster. His favorite dinner was the "Landfall" finale which included a delicious New York peppercorn steak followed by baked Alaska. Traci's favorite dishes included Cornish Game Hen, Crawfish Pot Pie, and roast turkey. On several occasions, Ray ordered the volcano dessert off the children's menu – basically a big banana split.

Ray purchased the Ultimate Kids Drink Package so strawberry smoothies became a nightly beverage. Traci bought a regular drink sticker for her card, so she stuck to Diet Cokes and Club Soda. Princess also had a separate ice cream stand which served complementary vanilla and chocolate soft ice cream. Ray and Traci did not avail themselves of the premium 'pay' dinner restaurants – Sabatini's (Italian) and Bayou Café (Cajun Steakhouse) but did enjoy breakfasts at Sabatini's as suite guests.

Entertainment on the Island Princess was variable – One singer, Jacqui Michaels gave an amazing show focusing on songs of legendary female performers including Carole King, Tina Turner, and Ella Fitzgerald. Ray thought she was the best singer he ever heard on a cruise ship and later learned that Barbara Streisand agreed since Jacqui was a backup singer on Streisand's farewell tour. Other shows weren't as remarkable, and in general, the Island Princess entertainment did not meet the very high expectations set by Ray and Traci's Norwegian Cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean. Some evening productions were performed twice on one night and repeated the next day which was a good idea since seats were completely full for some shows. Headline shows included an introductory show with comedian Billy Vader, Island Princess musical productions of Motown, "Piano Men" (Billy Joel/Elton John, Neil Sedaka, etc), Music of the 30s/40s/50s, a ventriloquist, and magician Lorenzo Clark. The Island Princess had an excellent band backing up musical productions but some of the singing was not quite up to par. Princess does a good job showing current movies to entertain travelers during quiet times. One cool feature that all cruise boats will probably copy is placing a large video screen above the pool deck so cruisers could watch movies and sporting events – this made the pool area very popular at night. The Island Princess was very fortunate to have Ken Williams, a very well traveled lecturer, give the introductions to the various ports as well as a great presentation on the Panama Canal. Both Ray and Traci had been reading David McCullough's great book "The Path Between the Seas" and found Ken's talk quite helpful by putting pictures to the history.

The Island Princess crew does an excellent job at maintaining a clean and comfortable ship. It has the usual amenities found on a 2,000 passenger ship – Basketball court, theater for production shows, separate auditorium for concerts, several bars with different themes, spa, and casino. The two main swimming pools are on deck 14, and have multiple hot tubs attached. For whatever reason, both pools are quite deep with the shallow end being 5'3" making them not very kid friendly. The middle pool area is climate controlled with a glass cover making it quite comfortable during the steamy Caribbean days.

Although Ray feared hot and humid conditions along with periods of heavy rain (October is part of the Caribbean's rainy season), the weather turned out to be near ideal during the voyage. Most importantly, no tropical storms/hurricanes entered the Caribbean. Other than some periods of quite heavy rain in their first stop, Aruba, conditions were dry and temperatures were in the high 80s. Cloud cover made the Caribbean stops more comfortable – until Jamaica where it was 94 and sunny. The seas were very calm, similar to the travelers' experiences in the Eastern Mediterranean.

At the first stop, a five hour stay in Aruba, Ray and Traci wandered around the capital city Oranjestad.

While they did not avail themselves of the incredible snorkeling which Aruba was famous for, the short stay and intermittent heavy rain made many of the tours miserable. Ray and Traci did visit a small beach a short distance away from the cruise dock, and watched an Aruban bird snatch lunch from the sea. Later, they intermittently hid from heavy rains by ducking into the many tourist shops located by the port.

The next day (cruise day 5), Island Princess passengers visited Cartagena, Columbia. This was Ray and Traci's first visit to South America, and proved to be a quite illuminating experience. They boarded a Princess tour bus, and visited the largest fort built during Spain's colonial days in the new world – Fort of San Felipe de Barajas.

Following the fort visit, the tour continued in Cartagena's old city including the former prison dungeons (now made into 23 tourist shops), the Inquisition Palace, and the San Pedro Claver Church. In the Inquisition Days, people could write anonymous notes and slip them to the "Inquisitor" with allegations such as the next door neighbor (or one's wife) being a witch. The Inquisitor would grab the party in question and use the palace's torture instruments to determine the truth. Naturally, the inquisitors were not the most popular people in town and had to grow their own food in their gardens and have a special route to get to church to avoid an unnatural death. Perhaps the most educational part of the tour, was the impression left by their excellent guide Wil that the Hollywood inspired vision of Columbia (refer to Johnny Depp's movie, Blow) was far from reality. Cartagena is a beautiful city with great architecture and culture in a country which is making progress against its outlaw reputation.

Day 6 (Saturday) was Panama Canal Day. The Island Princess started its transit early in the morning. In beautiful weather, the ship approached the Caribbean side locks at Gatun. The Panama Canal is actually a North – South passageway in Central America that allows ship transit from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans, cutting a New York to San Francisco ocean voyage from 12,000 to 7,000 miles. The challenges and rich history of the canal is well documented in David McCullough great work, the Path between the Seas : The Creation of the Panama Canal. After a late 1800s attempt by the French to build a canal failed, the Americans successfully completed the canal in 1914. The Americans decided to build a dam on the Chagres River, creating the huge Gatun Lake, 84 feet above sea level. Then they built waterways from the Pacific and Atlantic sides including dual lane 3 step locks to raise boats up to the lake.

Currently, the Panama Canal can only handle ships 1000 feet by 110 feet (which is about the size of the Island Princess). A new waterway is currently under construction which will increase this to 1200 feet by 160 feet. Panama charges ships the size of the Island Princess about $400,000 to make this journey. On Ray and Traci's cruise, the Island Princess entered the Gatun Locks, was elevated in 3 steps to 84 feet and then anchored in Lake Gatun for a few hours. Multiple electric locomotives "mules" pull the ship from lock to lock as it progresses. Afterwards, the ship returned to the same water elevator and re-entered the Caribbean – the so-called partial transit itinerary. It is very hard to appreciate the incredible feat of engineering in a most hostile environment 100 years ago before the advent of equipment and technology we now take for granted. After leaving the Gatun locks, the Island Princess docked in Panama at Colon where passengers visited the many small shops selling Panamanian trinkets mostly manufactured in China.

On Sunday (day 7), the cruise ship arrived at lovely Limon, Costa Rica. Ray and Traci boarded a tour bus for Veragua Rainforest, an hour long drive including some bumpy unpaved roads ending in a nature preserve popular with tourists. At Veragua, Ray and Traci wandered around the park which included captive snakes, frogs and butterflies with the assistance of their excellent group leader, Kitty.

After the zoo exhibits, they rode an aerial tram (i.e. a modified ski lift) down into a valley with a waterfall. Some wildlife could be seen in their natural habitat such as sloths and frogs. Remarkably, no rain fell during Ray and Traci's visit during Costa Rica's rainy season. While tourists expecting a safari experience would be disappointed, Veragua provides a comfortable and educational sampling of rain forest ecology. After the return trip to the ship, Ray and Traci visited the ubiquitous tourist shopping village set up near the port.

Following a sea day, the Island Princess made its last port call at Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Unlike the previous ports, clouds did not filter the sunshine and travelers faced mid-nineties tropical heat.

Ray and Traci did not schedule any excursions although Ray was somewhat interested in the Jamaican Bobsled ride which receives excellent internet reviews. The stifling heat pretty much dissuaded him on pursing a Jamaican Bobsled experience. Ray and Traci did walk around the shops around the port and found quite inexpensive prices for T shirts. They passed a beach that charged $3 for admission as well as many taxi drivers offering their services (at least one way) for remarkably low prices-$2 for a trip "downtown" where their cousin or friend had a much better shop than the ones around the port.

Ray and Traci's voyage ended back in Fort Lauderdale, with a refreshing temperature of 66 degrees upon arrival. Their 3400 mile journey was completed in amazingly smooth waters, and the weather actually cooperated with only significant rain during part of the Aruba visit. Cloud cover actually made visits to Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica much more comfortable. Their excellent adventure on the Island Princess brought them to an incredible engineering feat at the Panama Canal along with intriguing cultures in Central and South America.

Spring Training 2011

2011-04-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Despite attending 50 plus home and road Mariners games yearly, Ray and Traci had never been to Spring Training. They decided to travel to the Valley of the Sun in late March to visit the Cactus League for the first time.

Leaving cold and rainy weather, Ray and Traci eagerly boarded an Alaska Air flight from Seattle to Phoenix where they picked up their rental car and checked into their hotel. Ray decided to stay at the Hilton Resort at Squaw Peak in Phoenix – the hotel ran a “Triple Play” promotion giving discounted rooms, complementary breakfast at the Rico Restaurant, and free internet. The rooms at the Hilton were actually pretty spacious – a bedroom and living room separated by the bathroom in the middle, 42” flat screen TVs, and an empty fridge. While not up to the modern styling of say the Times Square or Paris Hilton, the low rise condo-like resort was a nice place to stay. It also was centrally located with most (if not all) the cactus league ballparks 30 minutes or less away. The resort had a spa and a decent gym. Dinner was the first item on the agenda, and Traci selected a nearby Japanese Restaurant called Hana located in a strip mall. One thing you learn quickly about Phoenix is that it is either strip mall heaven or hell depending on how much you enjoy shopping. Hana was a quite busy place, the travelers started with an order of California Rolls. Ray enjoyed a tasty Teriyaki Salmon while Traci liked her bowl of ramen noodles. From Hana, the travelers decided to catch a movie (The Lincoln Lawyer), then stopped at Target for provisions to fill their fridge and finished the evening with a stop at McDonald’s – Traci for her trademark vacation vanilla cone and Ray had an M&Ms McFlurry.

The next morning, Ray and Traci started with their free breakfast at Rico’s – the restaurant served a limited but enjoyable buffet with the usual meats, eggs, pancakes and fruits along with an omelet chef. Ray enjoyed many bacon and egg sandwiches prepared by the chef during the week. After the morning buffet, the travelers went to the Hilton waterpark in the resort – with two large pools, a gentle waterslide, and a long floating river ride (which takes 15 minutes to get around) the park was quite busy. Resort guests tended to race to the park when it opened and place “dibs” on deck chairs without any discouragement by the staff. Although Ray and Traci didn’t have chairs located together or in sunny places the first day, Ray starting playing the game earlier and earlier each day and by the end of the week they had prime loungers. From the waterpark, the baseball fans traveled to the Arizona Casino at Salt River for dinner. Ray wanted to have dinner at the Willows Restaurant at this Casino near the ballpark, but the line was a bit long so they enjoyed the best $14.50 buffet dinner either had ever seen. Traci especially enjoyed the carved Turkey, and Ray was pleasantly surprised with his sirloin steak. From the casino, they traveled a short distance to the crown jewel of the Cactus league – the brand new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

The $100 million complex was built for the Rockies and Diamondbacks to share and it sets a new standard for spring training parks. The architecture, scoreboard, seating areas and concessions were all amazing. The Mariners played the Rockies although Ichiro, Figgins, Smoak, Guti and most of their pitchers were given the night off. The park is absolutely gorgeous and a must see Cactus League destination.

On Thursday, Ray started the day by running in the desert area near the hotel. Although the temperatures were cool (low 60s in the morning), the dry air and sunshine made the run more challenging even though he stuck to the paved path. Afterwards, Ray and Traci had their breakfast and spent much of the day at the waterpark. Traci, who was nursing a bad cold, mostly lounged poolside while Ray kept floating around the lazy river. For reasons unclear to Ray, the resort let floaters use green inner tubes for free but charged $20 per day to use the slightly larger blue tubes. Naturally, Ray didn’t see a single person use a blue tube all week. Floating around the long river was quite relaxing. Thursday’s baseball outing was another night game, this time at Scottsdale Stadium, the home of the World Series Champions Giants. Ray and Traci, aided by their trusty iPhone Tom Tom GPS application, travelled the 30 minutes to old town Scottsdale. The stadium is actually right next to old Scottsdale, so Ray and Traci found street parking and had dinner at a bar and grill called the Daily Dose. The Daily Dose had a “Happy Hour” lasting from 4-8 pm, Traci had a discounted Hummus platter and Pork Sliders while Ray had a non-discounted French Dip. Both thought the food and service was good although there weren’t many patrons even on a game night. After dinner, Ray and Traci walked to Scottsdale Stadium. When you first walk into the park, you feel like you are entering ATT Park in San Francisco with the brick construction. But when you are sitting in even “good seats” which are simple benches, or waiting in a 10 minute restroom line in the outfield, you think you are at some high school football game. Clearly, budgetary compromises were made although the park remains a very popular destination in the Cactus League. The Giants lost a one sided game to the Indians, and Ray and Traci left after the seventh inning stretch. After the game, they stopped at a quaint ice cream parlor called the Sugar Bowl. Traci had a chocolate mocha sundae while Ray had a delicious banana split.

On Friday, Ray decided to take a departure from running and hiked some of the trails in the Dreamy Draw Nature Preserve – the trails were easily identified but not explicitly marked, so the map given by the Hilton concierge was not really helpful. However, knowing you have cell phone service and can always see the interstate from the mountains made you feel that you would never be lost. No warnings about rattlesnakes were posted, although you would think they would make a home in the large desert area. Ray ended up just following trails that headed upward until he reached the top of one of the “mountain” peaks where he declared victory and took a picture.

Many different trails were listed in the park map and Ray’s hike took about 90 minutes or so. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the water park, this time in choice loungers secured by Ray at 8:05 in the morning. Friday night was the third night game for Ray and Traci, this time in the Seattle Mariners’ Spring home (shared with San Diego) in Peoria. Peoria is a nice ballpark (built for $36 million) with nice seating areas and a rich selection of concessions. Ray and Traci only had a pretzel – they planned on buying peanuts from Safeco’s famous Rick “the peanut man” but he didn’t visit their home plate seats until the 7th inning. Eric Bedard pitched a fantastic game, and a lineup with most of the Mariner regulars playing beat up on the Dodgers in a one sided affair.

Across the street from Peoria Stadium, Ray and Traci had a late dinner at the ubiquitous Cheesecake Factory – Ray enjoyed their Shrimp Scampi while Traci had a Turkey Burger. Both were very satisfied with their meal.

Ray made one more visit to the desert preserve on Saturday, with a morning run. He encountered many more people on the weekend including many mountain bikers who challenged the off road trails. After a final breakfast at Rico’s, Ray and Traci checked their flight and found out Alaska Airlines had a system wide computer crash making all of the flights hours late. With a new departure time of 5:30, Ray and Traci took advantage of this delay and made an unplanned visit to a 4th ballpark – Maryvale Stadium, the home of the Brewers which was 20 minutes away from the airport. Coincidently, the Mariners played an afternoon game against the Brewers. This game turned out to be quite a treat as young Mariner phenom Michael Pineda threw a gem against the Brewers.

A Mariner team devoid of many of its regular starters couldn’t support him with much offense, but Pineda’s wonderful game focused much optimism about his potential. Maryvale is located in a “rougher” neighborhood than the other stadiums, is much smaller (7,000 seats vs 11,000 at Salt River) but has its own charm. Ray and Traci bought $8 lawn tickets, and just wandered around the stadium often standing in choice locations behind home plate. Maryvale also has many shaded areas which are not found in the other ballparks. After the 7th inning stretch, Ray and Traci headed to the airport for their return flight, happy to visit the Cactus League and encouraged for the future of their beloved team.

Cruising to Ancient Lands part I

2011-02-10T23:43:00.001-08:00

Ray and Traci began their 15,000 mile journey (12,000 by air / 3,000 by sea) on a rainy Friday in January. Although a few minor flight delays popped up during their journey from Seattle to Barcelona, the layovers were long enough that the delays did not matter. Unlike their counterparts in the US, Barcelona immigration agents took Ray and Traci’s passports and without saying a word stamped them and handed them back. Ray joked they should just leave the stamp at a counter so visitors could stamp their own passports. At customs, Ray and Traci walked thru a door for those with “Nothing to Declare” and emerged at the taxi entrance after getting Euro from a bank ATM. One wonders what the purpose of these agencies is if everybody is on the “honor” system. Leaving Seattle at 4:30 pm on Friday, Ray and Traci arrived at their hotel shortly before 9:00pm on Saturday (local time).

Ray and Traci spent their pre-cruise night wandering down La Ramblas, Barcelona’s “Broadway.” Saturday night attracted a wide variety of street performers, merchants, and customers along this promenade lined with restaurants and shops of all shapes and sizes. The crowded street is best explored on foot, as traffic is limited to two narrow lanes each way with a mile long pedestrian promenade in the middle. At one end stands a large Christopher Columbus statue and the other, two huge water fountains anchor Placa Catalunya, Barcelona’s version of Times Square. Exhausted, Ray and Traci retired to their very nice room at the Le Meridien hotel located on La Ramblas two blocks from the fountains.

Ray started Sunday morning with a run along the waterfront – he did not realize it was 34 degrees until passing a temperature sign well into the run. After returning, Ray and Traci boarded a double decker tour bus traveling around the city. Despite warm clothing, both travelers were freezing after the 2 hour tour. Rather than viewing more of the city, Ray and Traci headed to the hotel, warmed up, checked out and headed to their ship, the Norwegian Jade.

Check-in was quite busy, but the friendly NCL staff brought Ray and Traci to their new home and delivered their luggage. The first day was spent sampling the dining room food: Ray had a steak, Traci had the mahi-mahi special. Unfortunately Traci did not like her fish so they went to the buffet for Spanish rice and chicken curry. A good thing about cruise ships is you can keep going to different places to eat until you find something you like. The Jade offers over a dozen places to eat, however many carry a supplemental charge of $10 to $25. The night ended with a quite impressive show featuring 2 former Cirque du Solei performers doing many of the stunts you see in the troop’s Las Vegas shows: Contortions, spinning chrome cube, 2 person power lifting, and suspension from twin hanging curtains.

Monday was spent at sea. Ray started the day by running around the good sized dedicated running track (5 ½ laps = 1 mile) while Traci went to a well equipped but surprisingly empty gym. Unlike their previous experience on Holland America’s Rotterdam where outdoor running on the main deck wasn’t allowed, the Jade had a walking track on one deck and a 24 hour lighted jogging track on another. They next tried their luck at playing Bingo but were quite disappointed – and not simply because they didn’t win. After paying $39-$59 for cards in 4 different games, winners split only about $125 per game. NCL Bingo is for people who are bad at math! Lunch followed, and then Traci spent the sunny afternoon (temperature reached 60 degrees!) on the balcony while Ray watched videos of lectures by the crew about the ports to be visited and played his Nintendo Wii (Super Mario Galaxy 2). On their last Alaskan cruise, Ray spent much of the “free” time finishing the first incarnation of this amazing video game. Ray and Traci decided to have dinner at the main buffet – the selection of food is generally good although the overall quality seems a bit less than their only other cruise with Holland America. The evening ended with a nice production of a musical from England called “Shout.”

On Tuesday, much of the ship woke up early for tours into Rome. The Jade docked at Civitavecchia, a 60 minute drive from Rome. Ray previously organized a small group excursion using the company limoinrome.com, and found 5 other people to join the tour from the internet community site cruisecritics.com. A 7 person group afforded much more flexibility, and the opportunity to see many more attractions than a cruise ship program – not to mention saving over 50% in cost. Ray’s group guide picked them up at the dock and drove them to the Roman Colosseum.

The 2,000 year old immense structure once hosted 50,000 fans watching bloody combat as entertainment. While time, earthquakes, and scavenging for building materials has worn down much of the Colosseum, the surviving structure highlights the incredible building talents of the Romans. The tour continued to the Circus Maximus (where chariot races were once held), the Pantheon (A Roman house of worship with an amazing skylight), and Trevi Fountain.

Ray and Traci pitched the obligatory coins into Trevi Fountain, and the tour group stopped at an Italian restaurant near the Vatican. The owner was proud to show his American customers a pizza paddle signed by Tom Cruise. Ray had a pizza with ham and Traci ate spicy pasta. After lunch, the group went to the Vatican, starting with the museum. After admiring some of the art amassed over centuries of Vatican “antiquing foreign lands,” Ray and Traci headed to the Sistine Chappell where Michelangelo’s paintings of biblical scenes populate the ceiling. Next, the travelers entered St. Peters Square (actually shaped like an ellipse) where 300,000 of the faithful can take in a Papal Mass. The final Vatican stop was at St. Peters’ Basilica, the world’s largest church, which is covered by Michelangelo’s giant dome. Ray and Traci climbed to the top of the dome and enjoyed the amazing view of Rome.

Before the group departed for the ship, Ray and Traci purchased some genuine Italian gelato to end a long day of exploration. While some may prefer a tour with a guide accompanying guests at each stop, Ray liked the limoinrome.com service with a knowledgeable driver providing transportation and allowing the guests to make their own decisions on how to spend their time at each stop.

To end the first day in port, Ray and Traci watched the musical act, Journey South, made famous by Simon Cowell’s X-Factor talent show in the UK. They played many “sing a long” covers of very popular hits from the typical suspects – The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Michael Buble. Since Simon Cowell has always made fun of cruise ship musicians on his former show, American Idol, it was somewhat ironic that a band signed by his company is playing on a cruise ship. Afterwards, Ray and Traci enjoyed a dining room meal (Ray had prime rib, Traci had Coq au Vin) before retiring for the evening.

Wednesday started with a beautiful morning at sea – cool, crisp and clear. Traci woke up early to see the boat pass the active volcano on Stromboli Island.

During his morning run, Ray had a beautiful close up view of Sicily as the ship traversed the Messina Strait in the southern portion of Italy. Dinner on this sea day was “lobster night” and “Dress Up (or not)” night – On NCL, there are no obligate formal nights but some diners wore black tie apparel anyway while others wore jeans. Ray enjoyed his dining room steak and lobster, while Traci had a goat cheese and pear salad, an asparagus and scallops dish, and ox tail soup. Dessert was apple pie (Traci found a stem and a seed in hers). The show for the evening featured a winner from UKs version of Star Search back in the 70s – a surprisingly entertaining and very talented violinist Gary Lovini. The organizers were quite crafty and didn’t mention Gary was a violinist in the promotions; an unsuspecting crowd may have been disappointed when Gary and violin took the stage but by the end of the show he had clearly won over the audience with a wide variety of music skillfully adapted to the violin.

Thursday started with an amazing sunrise over Greece. The weather was fantastic and Ray was in awe watching the Greek Islands pass from the ship’s 13th floor running track. Ray and Traci had a delicious breakfast at Cagney’s restaurant – Belgian Waffles with bacon for Ray, French toast for Traci and then boarded the NCL bus excursion to Athens. Traffic from the port city of Piraeus to Athens was especially heavy with a labor demonstration and a funeral of one of Greece’s wealthiest people taking place, giving the guide ample time to launch a diatribe over the International Monetary Fund’s austerity being forced on Greece as well as the country’s past mistake to join the European Union. While her solution (price controls) may be off the mark, her honesty about the causes (Greece’s lack of any industry other than tourism) was refreshing. As one travels into Athens it is obvious that parking is at a severe premium – probably because street parking is free and no one has garages. Gasoline is also very expensive with unleaded going for $8.50 per gallon (Italians pay about $7.80) although many cars run on diesel which is marginally cheaper. Athens buildings almost all have merchants selling everything imaginable in street level stores instead of providing interior parking. A 45 minute drive brought the bus to the Acropolis, perched on a hill in the center of town. The Acropolis is now a small collection of buildings which first represented the whole town of Athens 2,500 years ago. The most famous building, the Parthenon, was originally built as a house of worship and suffered extensive damage when gunpowder stored inside blew up while under attack in 1687.

Scaffolding around the Parthenon reflects recent efforts for reconstruction which have been halted due to controversies about contaminating ancient ruins with modern construction. Some of the original statues in the Acropolis represent copies with the originals placed in museums (including the British Museum in London) for “safekeeping.” While the extensive damage to such a treasure was disappointing, the mere thought that Plato and Socrates once roamed these hallowed grounds was inspiring. Local dogs seemed to agree as quite a few gathered around the Acropolis and greeted tourists. After visiting the Acropolis and picking up a few souvenirs in the shops in the adjacent neighborhood, the bus made one more stop at the stadium which hosted the inaugural modern Olympics in 1896 (and represented the finish line of the 2004 Olympic marathon.)

Back on the Jade, Ray and Traci had dinner in the buffet (it had special Greek dishes in honor of the host country) before viewing a magic show by Sander & Alison. While Traci was not a big fan of the magic show, Ray watched the illusions which included small animals, snakes, and disappearing people with amazement. Those interested in watching a good illusionist were treated with a great production.
On Friday, the ship docked at Izmir, Turkey. Ray and Traci’s luck with wonderful weather ran out. After breakfast, both boarded a bus to Ephesus, one of the best preserved Roman cities anywhere. Unfortunately cool temperatures and rain affected the enjoyment of this ancient landmark but with the assistance of a very good tour guide, most of the travelers had a great visit. Ephesus is remarkable for many things including being the home the Virgin Mary, at one time hosting one of the world’s great libraries with 12,000 scrolls,

having a communal latrine with slaves used as ‘benchwarmers’ keeping the marble warm for their masters, and having a 25,000 person ancient theatre that hosted present day concerts by Elton John and Sting.

Unfortunately, the city died off when silt deposits turned the once seaport into a city 6 miles from the Aegean Sea. After the Ephesus visit, the bus made the customary tourist trap stop at a rug maker who demonstrated how silk is spun and how rugs are made by hand. Ray and Traci (along with most of the 43 on the tour) went back to the ship rugless. Back at the ship, the BBC news showed the civil unrest going on in Egypt. After the Egyptian army was mobilized to restore order in Cairo, it was no surprise that the Captain announced the ship would not be going to Egypt as planned, and instead was going to Istanbul. The hardest job on the ship fell to a guest entertainer, comedian Mike Goddard. Amusing a crowd of disappointed pyramid travelers would be difficult but Mike had a very good act, mostly clean, and appealed to a wide range of ages and cultures. Both Ray and Traci thought he was very funny, something that is hard to accomplish due to their differing tastes in comedy. After the show, Ray and Traci had dinner at the buffet and then watched some more news from Egypt including the US Government’s official warning against travel to Egypt.The new schedule put the ship in Istanbul Saturday afternoon. Ray’s biggest complaint was that the ship picked a destination farther north (colder) rather than south – even if the ship just sat in the Mediterranean, people could enjoy warm and sunny weather. In hindsight, this would have been a mistake as Istanbul is an amazing place.

Cruising to Ancient Lands part II

2011-02-10T23:25:00.001-08:00

Sailing into Istanbul is quite an experience as the ship passes within a few hundred yards of the amazing Blue Mosque and St. Sophia, two absolutely spectacular landmarks. Ray and Traci decided to exit the ship (docked in Europe) and wander down the street toward the old section of town (in Asia) which contains most of the tourist areas. While the walk was longer than it appears on tourist maps (and more difficult with the cold, strong wind, and light rain), crossing the bridge which connects Asia and Europe was quite remarkable. Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, is the only city in the world to span two continents. Ray and Traci took an excessively long path along the waterfront eventually ending up at the famous Topkapi Palace.

The call to prayer which sounds five times daily could be heard in the background. Since it was getting late in the day, they decided to not go inside the palace and instead walk up the road to Istanbul’s amazing Grand Bazaar which is really one of the world’s largest shopping malls – 4,000 stores all in tiny cubicles. Ray decided to try his skill at negotiating and successfully purchased a shirt for $15 with a $25 price tag, before realizing that similar shirts wouldn’t cost $15 on sale in America. Exhausted from the long journey, Ray and Traci took a taxi back to the ship. Both had a seafood linguini for dinner and watched a musical production featuring Motown hits of years past put on by the ship’s cast.

Sunday was supposed to be a day in Cairo and 72 degree weather. Instead it was in Istanbul with temps in the 30s and cloudy. Ray and Traci joined the NCL tour of Istanbul and took a short bus ride to the Blue Mosque.

This 400 year old house of worship remains a beautiful symbol of the Muslim religion. The ceramic tiles which line the 2nd floor are hand produced works of art which reportedly have been auctioned for as much as $500,000 each. From the Blue Mosque, the group moved to the Hagia Sophia, one of the world’s most beautiful buildings.

The original church was built in 360 AD, burned down, rebuilt, burned down again, and the current one constructed in 537 AD. Used for Christian worship for hundreds of years, Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque with the Christian mosaics covered up until the past half century or so when the structure was turned into a museum celebrating both faiths. Near the top of the dome, large black medallions with golden inscriptions representing Mohammad and Allah rest on each side of a mosaic showing the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

Next on the tour was the cistern which is a subterranean reservoir once used to hold the water supply of Istanbul. Now it represents a spooky but not very interesting place that the government uses to generate $14 from each tourist. While the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays, Istanbul has a smaller sibling, The Spice Market, which is next to the New Mosque and operates on Sundays. Determined not to leave Istanbul without getting a great bargain, Ray negotiated the $10 purchase of a Barcelona FC soccer jersey for Traci. While $10 seemed awfully cheap for a soccer jersey, Ray wondered why the merchant was eager to accept the lowball offer. You can buy almost anything at the Spice Market including Levis, Minnesota Timberwolf jerseys, all sorts of questionable pharmaceuticals as well as spices. Bring lots of low denominated US currency with you to Istanbul and an extra suitcase if you enjoy shopping. The group’s final stop was at a jewelry store which worked a deal with the tour company to bring all the tourists for “refreshments” before returning to the ship. Ray has no idea how good the deal was on jewelry, some produced in Turkey but also name brand Swiss watches such as Rolex. The salespeople seemed friendly and didn’t really push merchandise on anyone who wasn’t interested. The tour bus took the group back to the Jade to complete their visit to one of the world’s most interesting cities, Istanbul. Given the unplanned diversion, the Jade staff needed to scramble for entertainment – they hired a local Turkish music/dance group which and treated the audience to a sampling of Turkish culture complete with a belly dancer. For dinner, Ray had a cheese pasta dish and Traci had turkey. Sander and Alison, the magic group, gave another standing room only performance in the main bar. Ray remained very impressed by this great magic act.

The Jade remained in Istanbul for second night due to the hastily organized itinerary. Cruisers awoke Monday to 34 degree temperatures and areas of ice on the deck. Despite the cold, Ray ran laps around the track with beautiful Istanbul in the background. Traci decided to spend the morning in the well equipped and climate controlled gym. The ship left on schedule at 9AM and proceeded back to the Agean Sea, passing thru the Dardenelles in the afternoon. During passage thru this narrow channel, the famous battlefield city of Gallipoli could be seen. Ray and Traci had dinner at the buffet – Traci enjoying spicy Indian food and Ray having salad and pasta. After dinner, both enjoyed watching a performance at one of the bars by the Jade cast. They sang Broadway show tunes with only piano accompaniment. After the packed show, Ray and Traci watched a show in the main theater put on by the Duo Platchkov, two former members of the Moscow Circus. The juggling acts were entertaining with the big finale consisted of balancing on and climbing to the top rung of a two legged 8 foot ladder while juggling 5 clubs. While the feat was impressive, Ray didn’t think it was a prudent thing to do on a moving cruise ship.

Tuesday was another day at sea filled with NCL events. Despite 30 knot gusts, Ray enjoyed the warmer 50 degree temperatures on the running track. The Jade had several interesting presentations – interviews with the Captain and the Hotel Manager, and a lecture about Malta. Gary, the entertainment director gave a fascinating account of his career from a classical pianist/vocalist, to Las Vegas performer, to London’s Broadway and finally cruise ship management. Gary’s experience and talent clearly influenced the high quality of entertainment on the Jade. Day 9 of the voyage was the first time passengers felt rolling waves and noticed they were actually on the high seas. Edmondo Rahme, an energetic singer gave a performance of a variety of classic, pop, and opera selections and Ray and Traci finished the evening with dinner – Traci had a rack of lamb and Ray had grilled chicken.

On Thursday, the Jade stopped in Malta, a small island nation less than 10 miles square with 400,000 residents located just south of Sicily. Malta has been a British colony, a key naval base, and a place with a rich history for at least 6,000 years. Travelers have raved about the port’s scenic beauty and the Jade did not disappoint by navigating a narrow harbor and docking below a medieval city on a hill.

Ray and Traci left the ship, climbed the steps leading to the city and found themselves in Valletta, a walled city about 12 (small) square blocks. Valletta was quite remarkable for the eclectic mix of quaint small shops, high end boutiques, eateries including traditional pubs as well as a Burger King, and key historic attractions. Ray and Traci visited the St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the Malta Palace, and the National Museum of Archeology. St. John’s is a beautiful church built in 1577 by the Catholic Knights who protected Malta from the Ottoman Turks.

The Palace is the Malta White House and contains a museum with armor and weapons used at one time by the knights. Malta’s archeological museum is small but has some remarkable items including the sleeping lady figurine dated 3900 BC. Malta has been a frequent production site for movies including Gladiator, Troy, and Jaws. After enjoying their time in Valletta, Ray and Traci returned to the Jade for lunch. They spent the afternoon taking advantage of free wifi from shops in the port next to the ship. The show for the evening was the highlight of Jade entertainment – a production called Elements. It played to a standing room only crowd who were treated to a very well done cirque du solei style production with some spectacular magic by Sander and Alison blended in. Gary’s entertainment staff really set a high standard for cruise ship shows with the incredible stunts, choreography, and music. Buffet dinner was followed by NCL’s chocolate extravaganza – the chefs filled the Jade’s buffet with various chocolate dishes including some amazing sculptures. While Ray and Traci weren’t overly impressed with the buffet dinners, the chocolate event was great!

The final day at sea was remarkable for some rough seas and gale force winds. After spending time in the gym, Ray and Traci had one final lunch at Cagney’s – Ray, of course, had his favorite steak and Traci had the salmon pita and chicken noodle soup. The ship hit “very rough” seas with 10-18 foot swells and the remainder of the night made many people (including Ray) sick. Ray and Traci decided to experience the Pacific Dining Room (the main dining room) for their last supper – Ray poked and nibbled at a beef teriyaki creation, while Traci had a spinach salad and chicken curry. Both followed it with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce (Traci first ordered an apple puff pastry, but after a few bites opted for the ice cream). In general the quality of food and service in the main dining room was not as good as the travelers experience on Holland America’s Alaskan cruise. Also, the buffet strangely missed having typical fare such as prime rib, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes. The buffet did have a variety of ethnic foods such as a whole Indian cuisine section(which Traci frequented) and a custom stir fry station. It is hard to tell if the buffet reflected a more international audience than the Alaskan cruises. Guests in suites have the option to eat breakfast and lunch at Cagney’s and that food is quite good. The final show was a typical variety show put on by members of the crew who weren’t the professional entertainers. By this time Ray was pretty seasick and he decided to skip watching the finals of the NCL Jade’s “Idol” contest held in the top deck lounge, and just went to bed in the turbulent seas. The night was a reminder that the Jade was indeed a ship at sea despite 11 nights where you couldn’t tell.

Friday was a cool (but much warmer than two weeks prior) day in Barcelona with brilliant sunshine. Ray and Traci left their nice home of 12 days, and waited in a 30 minute taxi line for a ride to their hotel, Le Meridien Barcelona. Fortunately, their room was ready at 10AM and they put their large collection of luggage in their room, ready for a day of adventure in Barcelona.

Ray and Traci took the subway from their hotel near Placa de Catalunya to Tibidabo, which is the mountain behind Barcelona. Barcelona’s subway system is very modern, easy to navigate, and very clean – much of it was probably a byproduct of the Olympics. At Tibidabo, a streetcar is supposed to carry people to the base of Tibidabo but it was not operating. Ray and Traci started the lengthy uphill walk but caught a bus half way up the hill which is taking the streetcar’s route temporarily. At the base of Tibidabo, visitors catch a funicular which was basically an electric bus on rail tracks which brought vistors to the summit. An amusement park is found on the top of Tibidabo but it is closed during the winter. The highlight is the Temple of Sagrat Cor, a beautiful church high above Barcelona.

After leaving Tibidabo, Ray and Traci caught a taxi to Park Guell, a colorful city park created by Gaudi. Gaudi was a prolific architect who designed many of Barcelona’s leading attractions. Many people enjoyed the park’s whimsical décor on this beautiful Friday afternoon. Park Guell is not an easy walk up hill from the Lesseps metro station and both were glad they took a taxi. Walking downhill away from Park Guell is much easier, and Ray and Traci rode the metro to Sagrada Familia. This amazing unfinished church originally started by Gaudi, is unlike any other. This monumental project has been a work in progress for decades and much more planned. Blending features of traditional gothic art with Gaudi’s colorful fantasy genre, Sagrada Familia is part temple and part amusement park. Where else can you find a crucifixion scene underneath a colorful umbrella?

Before leaving Ray filled his stomach with KFC chicken, strategically located across the street. Back on the metro, Ray and Traci traveled back to La Ramblas and entered the Boqueria, a giant food market similar to Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Both Ray and Traci enjoyed fruit juices, probably made from aging unsold fruit but still delicious. Traci picked up a spinach empanada to go along with a sandwich picked up at a Starbucks. The visitors also walked to the Gothic quarter, just off La Ramblas to admire the great architecture and impressive Barcelona Cathedral. The final stop of the night was at the famous Fountains of Montjuic, a short metro ride away from Placa de Catalunya. Ray and Traci have seen the fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas many times, but they were quite impressed with the Barcelona version which blended different shapes and textures of water sprays with many different colors for a wonderful night time show. A clip from the show can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gsVM0hIpRQ

Exhausted, Ray and Traci returned to their hotel after enjoying gelato from Amorino on La Ramblas.

Their return to Seattle was complicated by a weather related delay at their Heathrow Airport connection. Originally connecting thru San Francisco, they now had to fly home via Chicago, a minor delay which was much better than most of the travelers missing their connections. Despite not reaching Cairo, Ray and Traci thoroughly enjoyed their journey to far away lands and hopefully will reach the Egyptian Pyramids another day.

A Rendezvous with Paris

2010-10-08T08:21:00.001-07:00

Ray and Traci, after their initial one day trip to Paris during their 2009 London trip, decided to take another voyage across the Atlantic and spend a week in the city of lights. Because Ray used frequent flyer miles to get free tickets, the Air France's non-stop flight from Seattle to Paris was unavailable, so the voyage began with an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Chicago followed by an 8 hour flight from Chicago to Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport. After the long trans Atlantic flight, Ray and Traci had to wait in a fairly long (40 minute) line at passport control – French workers staged a 1 day strike to protest a rise in the retirement age from 60 to 62 (imagine that!), so perhaps that had something to do with the fact that only 3 windows were open for hundreds of travelers. Much to their relief, Ray and Traci's bags were waiting for them outside of passport control. Ray got some Euros (current rate 1.36 dollars = 1 euro) using an ATM card, and bought two museum passes and two tickets for the Roissy Bus. A museum pass is a must – they are sold in 2, 4, 6 day increments. Usually you can save money (depends on how many museums you see), but its best benefit is cutting in all the ticket lines at most of the major Paris Museums. Unfortunately, the 45-60 minute bus ride which brings travelers from the airport to L'Opera (not far from the Westin) turned into a 2 hour ordeal due to extremely heavy traffic at 11am. One would think with the prevailing price of gasoline at the equivalent of $7.60 per gallon, less cars would be on the road! After finally reaching Paris, Ray had some American Comfort food (chicken nuggets) while their room was being prepared and then checked in at the Westin. Their room was quite spacious and elegant, complete with Westin's signature "Heavenly Bed." Both the desk and the bathroom had American 120 volt plugs. The exhausted travelers (Paris time is 9 hours ahead of Seattle) wandered around their new home which borders the famous park, "Jardin des Tuileries" and the world's great museum "Le Louvre." Paris streets are a confusing mess of streets emerging from circular "places" going in every direction. A compass would come in very handy – despite good maps on paper and smartphones, it just is not easy going in a straight line in Paris. After many changes in plans due to the intermittent cloudbursts, Ray and Traci ended up just having dinner at a Japanese Restaurant mentioned in Fodor's Paris 2010 guide called Higuma. Neither traveler would recommend their meals (Ray had a Beef Rice Bowl, Traci had Chicken Curry). As night fell, the exhausted travelers retired to the Westin.

To both of their surprises, they woke up much later than planned (7:30AM) after going to sleep shortly after 8PM the night before. The agenda was a trip to Versailles, the opulent royal palace outside of Paris. Ray and Traci headed to the Musee d'Orsay metro stop (crossing the pedestrian bridge across the Seine at the Jardin des Tuileries) and bought round trip RER train tickets to Versailles. Surprisingly, the Saturday crowd to Versailles was quite light and the travelers smoothly walked into the Chateaux Versailles using their Museum Passes. The Chateaux, or main royal palace, is a testament to royal excess. After viewing the amazing artwork including ceilings covered with paintings, gold trim everywhere and fine furnishings, one understands why the starving French public resorted to the guillotine during their revolution. As an extra treat, the Japanese artist Murakami had a show of his colorful and eccentric pieces placed at various locations around the estate. After leaving the Chateaux, Ray and Traci wandered around the spacious gardens – classical music accompanied beautiful water fountains (note that the fountains are active only for an hour or so twice a day on weekends!) You have to pay a special entrance fee of 8 euros when the fountains are active. While all of the water fountains look much better operating, one in particular must be seen. The "Mirror Fountain" is a miniature replica of the fountains found in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel (mobile water jets make water "dance" accompanied by music). Next, Ray and Traci walked to Queen Marie-Antoinette's favorite palace, the Petite Trianon. Surprisingly small but nonetheless luxuriously decorated, the Queen's ground has a 12 euro entry fee (free for museum pass holders) despite its smallness. In contrast, the next stop at the Grand Trianon was another palace worthy of a despised despot. Hosting many of the same features as the Chateaux, the Grand Trianon served as a "Camp David" for France's Royal family who wanted to get away from the burdens of ruling by traveling a mile from the main Chateaux. While leaving Versailles, Ray and Traci noted the huge lines to get into both the gardens as well as the main Chateaux. Two observations about Versailles – get there early especially on weekends (the books will tell you to be there at the 9 AM opening, but Ray and Traci arrived closer to 10 and still missed out on some really big crowds), and if at all possible go when the fountains are active (fountains need to be active to be appreciated). Ray and Traci's ride back to Paris took 30 minutes, and then the travelers looked for lunch. Ray and Traci ended up having a salad and ham & cheese baguette consumed while sitting around a large pool in the Jardin de Tuileries in typical French picnic style.

After lunch, Ray and Traci returned back to the Westin and ventured to l'Orangerie, a museum located in the Jardin des Tuileries. L'Orangerie has several giant wall sized Monets located in upper floor oval rooms as well as a bottom floor with other famous works by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso et al. The final tourist activity of the evening was a ride along the Seine River with Bauteaux Mouches - a guided tour in 8 languages. Because everything was repeated 8 times, there weren't a lot of details given during the cruise. Still, the views along the Seine were great. Ray and Traci finished the evening with dinner at Le Castiglione, a bistro 1 block from the Westin. Traci enjoyed Roasted Chicken and Ray had a rib eye steak. Especially when considering the 26 euro price, Ray thought his steak was good. A couple of notes about French restaurants – tips are included in the final bill and credit card transactions don't even give you an option to add on to the bill (but you can always leave a few extra coins if you like the service). Drinks (especially soft drinks) tend to be overpriced – 5 or 6 euros for a glass of coca cola is pretty common. Entrees like steak often have a salad served on the plate – many times you won't even find a house salad option on menus. Finally, menus in Paris have all sorts of French dishes but many also have a "cheese burger" – the default selection for picky American eaters such as Ray. So it was actually easier for Ray to find an acceptable restaurant than Traci.

Sunday started out with clear but chilly weather. Ray went for a short run around the Jardin de Tuileries before both travelers headed to the Louvre to get on the L'Open double decker tourist bus which travels along the city. Moving around the city, one notes how many clocks are on buildings in Paris and how many are broken! You have to be careful trusting Paris clocks even on prominent buildings such as the Musee D'Orsay which used to be a train station! Conditions got windy and really cold so Ray and Traci got off at the Rodin Museum where they admired the many sculptures in the combined indoor/outdoor venue. While in the area, Ray and Traci also saw the Hotel National Des Invalides – the Tomb of Napoleon. Even outdoing the Egyptian Pharaohs, Napoleon's tomb includes a golden dome, a very ornate chapel and a very prominent casket. While the monument was free for museum pass owners, Ray and Traci both thought it was rather unseemly to charge 9 euros to see the tomb of one of the nation's great leaders. Would America charge nearly $12 to see the Lincoln Memorial or JFK's Eternal Flame at Arlington? Lunch was eaten at Le Solferino, a café near the D'Orsay museum. Ray enjoyed a very good lasagna dish while Traci found a hot goat cheese on bread with salad dish much to her liking. Thanks to the museum pass, the travelers got to cut in a very long line at the D'Orsay museum which contains a very prestigious collection of impressionist paintings. Rain returned in the late afternoon so a tired Ray and Traci headed back to the Westin. They decided to give Japanese food another chance in Paris, and went to a ramen house called Sapporo – Ray had ramen with beef, Traci had a combination platter including ramen, gyoza and fried rice. Both diners enjoyed their dinner and retired for the long journey to Normandy in the morning.

Ray and Traci decided to take a day trip to walk on the hallowed ground where 30,000 American soldiers died in the liberation of France during World War II. "D-Day" occurred on June 6, 1944 when Allied Forces invaded the Northern Coast of France at Normandy. The day trip started with an early morning ride on the high speed SNCF to Caen. Ray bought advance purchase train reservations from the Eurorail site on the internet before traveling to Paris – at the station, the ticket window issued paper tickets for round trip travel. France's trains were comfortable and smooth, but the Caen train departed 20 minutes late. Once in Caen, the guides from the Caen Museum picked up a large group (about 20) and brought them to the museum. The Caen Memorial museum was built in the late 1980s and is a very large and well done multimedia presentation about the era before, during and after World War II. The exhibits are mostly bilingual (French & English) and highly informative. Ray felt the museum was extremely well done and rivaled Washington D.C's Newseum (although limited to portions of the 20^th century). After a guided tour, Ray and Traci enjoyed a hosted lunch (Ray had a steak, Traci had cod) complete with red and white wines, an apple tart, and coffee. Guests then had a chance to wander around the museum before departing in 8 person vans to the battlefields. Multiple stops including the American Cemetery at Normandy,

the artificial harbor at Arromanches, German defenses at Point du Loc, and of course, Omaha Beach captivated the visitors. The weather included off and on rain, further adding to the authenticity of the tour. The tour was moving, educational, and made the travelers want to learn more about the war. The day ended with the group being dropped off at the Caen train station – and as a bonus, everyone was able to get on an earlier train. The longer length trains (Grande Lignes) have reserved seats which are marked by small cardboard inserts above them, but walk on passengers are allowed to sit in empty seats. The conductor told Ray and Traci that people with advance tickets needed to get them stamped before boarding the train but they never did figure out where that is done. The nearly 2 hour trip arrived back at the St. Lazare Station in Paris. Although many tour companies offer day trips to Normandy, most are bus tours from Paris – Ray and Traci highly recommend the Caen Museum sponsored program utilizing the SNCF high speed train booked thru linkparis.com (a California based company). The tired travelers stopped at a pizza place near the St. Lazare Station called Café Marco Polo for a ham & mushroom pizza which was quite good before they retired to the Westin.

Tuesday started with Ray running along the Seine and visiting the grounds of Notre Dame. Since both visited the 900 year old cathedral during their last visit they did not tour it again. Next, Ray and Traci walked to the nearby shopping district. They toured the huge Printemps department store. Down the street (Haussmann), they entered the giant Galleries Lafayatte department store and looked at the large selection of goodies at their gourmet department. Traci bought some Paris chocolate. On their way back to the Westin, Traci bought some very popular Parisian macaroons from Pierre Herme – macaroons are small round meringue based airy filled cookies and come in different colors and flavors. The chocolate ones are sort of like a very light brownie. They are very delicious treats! After the shopping, Ray and Traci checked out of the Westin (Ray was only able to book a 4 night stay due to a convention which filled the hotel) and they took a taxi to the Arc de Triomphe Hilton. As expected, the Hilton served as a nice new home with more modern styling than the Westin. In fact the décor and elevator background music was similar to the Times Square Hilton in New York. The Hilton is probably the only hotel in Paris where the staff speaks to you first in English (Good morning, not Bonjour). Ray and Traci grabbed a traditional Parisian picnic lunch (ham baguettes) and joined much of the lunchtime crowd in a nearby park. They next took the metro to the Notre Dame area, stopping for some great gelato at Amorino followed by a visit to the beautiful St. Chappell – huge panels of stained glass tell in pictures the bible's stories from Genesis to the Resurrection. Unfortunately some of the panels are being restored and were blocked from view. The day ended with dinner at a restaurant near the Hilton called Le Monceau where Traci had an overdone lamb dinner while Ray enjoyed a tasty smoked salmon and pasta dish. Ray and Traci made a night time visit to the Arc de Triomphe and viewed the shimmering Eiffel tower (it glitters for 5 minutes at night on the hour).

Wednesday was the highlight of the Parisian attractions – Sacre Coeur. Ray and Traci waited until they finally had some sunshine and took the metro to the amazing church. While the Paris Metro is not especially difficult to use, it has some quirks – some of the train doors have to manually opened at stops, some of the passageways between lines are poorly marked, and several transfers require leaving one station and walking to the next (you need to hold on to your metro ticket to make this type of transfer). Metro tickets are available in stacks of 10 ("carnets") at a discount. As in many cities, metros have performers seeking money – In Paris, one station had a complete string section performing orchestral selections. As long as you know which stations you are starting at and leaving, the smartphone applications available are really helpful at figuring which trains you need to catch. Some other notable metro observations include the number of people using i-Phones, the lack of access for the disabled – a mother struggled to wheel her infant in a stroller down the steps with a box of groceries precariously balanced on the top as no elevators or escalators are available, a response by three armed police officers to someone screaming mindlessly on the subway, and finally a young child wielding a toy (?) handgun that would have triggered a lockdown in the US. Sacre Coeur is the ultimate in contrasts between secular capitalism and religious spiritualism. You leave the Anvers metro stop and walk into an alley of shops selling souvenirs of every type imaginable. In the middle, many entrepreneurs have set up 3 card monte stands using cardboard boxes. At one operation, the same woman keeps winning hundreds of Euros over a period of hours, imagine that! We had to assume she was the wife of the dealer. As you approach the majestic basilica (tribunal chamber of a king, built in 1876), young men approach trying to tie strings around your wrist and then bill you for their trouble! Farther up, kids approach wanting pledges. You hear harpists and violinists playing Celine Dion tunes looking for tributes. Merchants set up on the ground sell more souvenirs such as acrylic Eiffel Towers and postcards. After finally reaching the top, the most beautiful church awaits. While pictures are not allowed inside, suffice to say it is as impressive inside as outside. Ray bought a candle asking for a blessing to help bring the 2011 World Series to Seattle. His last request at the Shinto Shrine in Tokyo went unfilled; if the Sacre Coeur blessing fails perhaps a pilgrimage to the Vatican or Jerusalem will be needed.

After Sacre Coeur, the travelers took the Metro to the Etienne Marcel stop and wandered down the rue Montorgueil, a collection of shops and eateries not unlike Seattle's Pike Place Market. Traci bought a tasty pastry from La Patisserie Stohrer – a bakery established in 1725 and a favorite of King Louis XV. On the metro again, the travelers went to the Musee National D'art Moderne (modern art museum) where, like with New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), you learn that art is in the eye of the beholder (or the one paying for it). The building is quite a contrast to Parisian architecture, and as with Seattle's Experience Music Project (EMP), has many critics. Next, Ray and Traci enjoyed treats from Berthillon, the other famous Parisian ice cream place. Ray actually preferred the nearby Amorino (from the previous day) so he bought a second ice cream from them. Traci wanted to try a falafel at L'as du Falafel, so she ordered one at the takeout window and enjoyed the delicious and spicy meal on a parkbench in nearby Places de Vosges. Stomachs full, Ray and Traci rested up for their final full day in Paris.

A steady drizzle returned on Thursday. Despite the rain, Ray ran around the large running track at the park a block from the Hilton. The first stop on the dreary morning was the Louvre. Ray and Traci visited the Louvre last year during their one day Paris adventure, so this time they tried to visit exhibits they had not seen before such as Asian and Roman artifacts, and the grandiose Napoleon III apartments.

The Louvre is so massive, people talk about how many months it would require to view each item. Certain exhibits (most notably, the Mona Lisa) get huge crowds but many less well publicized objects are also quite captivating. After a few hours at the Louvre, Ray and Traci ventured back into the shopping district to pick up goodies to bring home. They started at a store selling music boxes named Anna Joliet near the Louvre, then took the metro to The Bon Marche (a blast from the past for long time Seattle residents who shopped at the big department store before Macy's took over) and then went back to Printemps and Galleries Lafayette where they purchased some specialty chocolate from Sadaharu Aoki. Fortunately, the rain stopped and the skies were partly cloudy during their shopping excursion. Exhausted and hungry, the travelers returned to the Hilton for a brief break before dinner. For their last dinner, Traci and Ray took a suggestion from their friends Mike and Nancy and went to Auberge de la Reine Blanche. The place looks like a very traditional French restaurant on Ile Saint Louis near Notre Dame. With its English menus and jam packed tables full of Americans, it was clearly catering to tourists. For 20 Euros, patrons got a 2 course meal – Traci had a French Onion soup followed by Coq au vin. Ray had a delicious ravoli with cheese, mushrooms and potatoes (tasted like au gratin potatoes) and a great steak with aioli sauce. Ray felt the meal was the best of the trip. For dessert, Traci went to nearby Amorino for one last ice cream cone.

Ray and Traci departed early the next morning using the parishuttle.com (one 's') service arranged a couple days before departure. As with their trip into the city, traffic was bad due to an accident at the airport. An unattended baggage scare also delayed the check in process so the 6:15 hotel departure for a 10:30 flight was just right for a comfortable arrival. The flights went smoothly and the traveler's baggage made it thru the Chicago connection without incident. Ray and Traci's great adventure to Paris was an amazing experience but quite exhausting. As in London, travelers get an appreciation what old and classical really mean. Seeing places such as Versailles and Normandy gives great insight into the French culture. Experiencing the beauty of Sacre Coeur is an absolute must for any Parisian adventure.

A Voyage to Alaska

2010-08-24T07:56:00.001-07:00

Despite living on Seattle's waterfront and seeing the near daily arrival and departure of cruise ships bound to Alaska, Ray and Traci have never taken the trip. In fact, neither had ever been on a cruise ship before. Ray's relatives from California decided to travel to the 49^th state on Holland America's ship, The ms Rotterdam and Ray, Traci and Ray's parents decided to join them. 5 major cruise lines make the journey from Seattle: Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. Norwegian and Princess have the largest boats with what look like fun amenities especially for kids such as big pools, rock climbing walls and water slides. Holland and Celebrity are supposed to have the best food. The ms Rotterdam has 1300+ passengers and 600 crew members – an unusually high crew member to passenger ratio, helping Holland maintain high service standards. The decision to go was a late decision – booking 3 weeks ahead of time, limiting choice of rooms. Holland, like many lines, has several types of rooms including deluxe penthouses with butler service, superior verandah (balcony) suites, regular verandah rooms, ocean view rooms and no-view rooms (obstructed & interior). A new category of rooms called lanai rooms, were formerly ocean view rooms with the window replaced with a sliding glass door allowing access to the main "promenade" circling the ship with reserved deck chairs right outside. Since Ray and Traci had never been on a cruise ship, they wanted to avoid sea sickness – their research revealed many different opinions including picking rooms in the center and low in the ship to reduce rocking. Others told them to not get view rooms which encourage sea sickness, but since they were going to Alaska to see the glaciers it didn't make much sense to not get a view. In the end, Ray booked lanai rooms near the middle of the ship and the whole party was quite happy with them. While you have to share your "balcony" with the whole ship, you have your own chairs with a great view and it makes your living quarters feel much bigger.

Living on the Seattle Waterfront made getting to the cruise terminal very easy. Without airline baggage/weight restrictions to worry about, Ray and Traci packed a lot of stuff. After being dropped off at the Pier 91 terminal, they brought their 2 big suitcases and a large duffel bag to the baggage desk for x-ray & loading. Then passengers head upstairs with passports and tickets for a medical questionnaire (don't check the boxes about being sick if you want to go). You get your picture taken and get on the ship. Ray and Traci found their 197 square foot lanai room quite well designed – 3 closets easily stored their large collection of clothes for a 7 day journey with much room to spare. The suitcases fit underneath the bed – people bringing more than 2 suitcases should make the additional bags "soft" so they can fit inside the suitcases. Together, Ray and Traci brought 2 iphones, 2 Kindles, 1 ipad, a laptop and a Nintendo Wii. Their luggage arrived about 45 minutes after boarding. Upon arriving, Ray hooked up his Wii to the flat screen TV in the room which only showed a few channels including CNN. Rooms have DVD players, so the travelers brought some DVDs – Holland has their own library of DVDs that you can borrow as well. The first meal was a welcoming buffet at the Lido Restaurant – Ray's family met their four California relatives for a nice variety of food including sandwiches, sushi, Thai selections, fried chicken, salads, fruits, and lots of other goodies. After the mandatory safety drill which was really easy to get to since it is right outside their Lanai rooms, Ray and Traci wandered around the ship – there are 4 major restaurants for meals, a hamburger grill stand, a pizza stand, 5 bars, a large library/internet room, a medium sized gym, a spa, a basketball and miniature tennis court, a casino, a theatre, a "showroom" and 2 "pools." The main pool has a retractable roof like Safeco field but is really small. The rear pool is a wading pool with lounge chairs placed in the pool. Next to the main pool is the obligatory Jacuzzi. In general, if you want a fancy pool, you will be disappointed with the Rotterdam. While wandering around the Lido (Pool) deck, Ray and Traci ran into some rather fancy fruit scuptures.

Dinner was at the main dining room and consisted of a delicious menu and great service – Ray's Dad had the crab legs, Traci had the so-so pasta primavera, Ray and his mother had prime rib. Ray especially loved his baked Alaska dessert. After dinner, the travelers went to the showroom for an "introductory" entertainment show previewing many of the musical acts for the week. Ray spent a few hours playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 on his Wii before Traci and Ray went to the late night Lido buffet – Filipino cuisine. There is a different late night buffet theme each night. Traci sampled a few of the desserts but Ray was still full from dinner. Ray and Traci retired to their room which was pretty well soundproofed at least to voices, the ocean, and the engines. Fortunately, their first night was calm and sea sickness free.

Some notes about shipboard life – the ship is quite organized with your room card key being used for all charges including casino play. The Lanai doors have electric locks but unfortunately you have to use a separate card key to open it. Most food is included in your ticket. The Rotterdam has a "premium" restaurant – a steak house called the Pinnacle Grill which charges $20 per person. You have to pay for most beverages – Ray bought a $20 soda card so he could get 20 glasses of soda during meals while Ray's Mom bought a bottle of fine $19 wine which she can drink during her meals (and take home if any is left). Travelers are given an option when they book for early, late or open seating at dinner for meals in the main dining room. Ray picked open seating which seems to be a great choice – you show up for dinner whenever you want. Supposedly, if you reserve a consistent dinner time when you book your cruise, you get the same table and the same wait staff for dinner every night. Of course some nights you may want to eat at the Pinnacle Grill or the Lido buffet and your table will be empty. The problem with set dinner time comes up if you are not hungry at 5:30 or too hungry to wait to 8pm – the main dining room may send you away until your reserved time. In addition, the ship has 24 hour room service (all free) so those so inclined can eat round the clock. Sometimes Ray and Traci would get an early dinner snack at the Lido Grill followed by a proper dinner in the main dining room. Nobody except your scale keeps track of how many dinners you eat. The main dining room will keep giving you food if you are hungry.

Day 2 started with Ray visiting the gym. The Holland gym is fairly small but well equipped. It drove Ray crazy to wait for the many walkers to get off the treadmills since they could walk around the main promenade deck which is 1/3 mile around. Running is forbidden from the main promenade deck for noise and probably safety. Fortunately, Ray found a very small track on the top deck of the boat where you can run – because it is so windy and cold, the few early morning visitors didn't stay very long. Ray found the view gorgeous and sea air refreshing. Traci followed Ray to the gym and then both enjoyed a buffet lunch at the Lido which is the big buffet on the Rotterdam. Ray actually got 3 slices of very good pizza from "Slice" the pizza joint outside the Lido, while Ray's cousin got a hot dog and fries from the grill next to the swimming pool – both brought their food into the Lido buffet with rest of the party who enjoyed the wide variety of foods available. The afternoon at sea was occupied with a slot machine tournament in the casino, and bingo in the penthouse bar called The Crow's Nest. Bingo is played almost everyday. Bingo cards cost $25 for 4 separate games. The 4^th game is blackout bingo and the payout is between $25,000 to $100,000 if someone gets blackout within 45 numbers called. For dinner, Ray's family went to the Pinnacle Grill. Traci had rack of lamb, Ray and his parents all had rib eye steaks after tableside Caesar salads and crab cake/seafood platter appetizers. While the food was really good, you can get much of the same food in the main dining room and save yourself the $20 surcharge – Ray's cousins who ate in the main dining room also enjoyed rack of lamb, steaks, and the chocolate soufflé dessert that Ray had at the Pinnacle Grill. The dining room would give you more than one entree while the Pinnacle Grill would charge you extra. The Pinnacle Grill has 4 standard steaks (rib eye, filet, porterhouse, and New York) while the specials rotate and are often the same as the main dining room. The portions are bigger in the Pinnacle but big deal, nobody in Ray's family finished their entree. After dinner, the group listened to an excellent piano player perform a mix of classical and popular music in the main showroom, demonstrating how difficult it is for talented musicians to get gigs on Broadway. Ray spent a little time after the show winning money at the $5 blackjack table, and then he and Traci met his cousins for late night dining with French themed food in the Lido. While closing down the Lido at midnight, the cruisers noted that the sea was noticeably rougher and the weather foggy but all slept well thru the night despite the muffled sounds of a fog horn which blared all night. Alaska does not have daylight savings time so everybody on board the ship gained an extra hour of sleep by turning their clocks back.

Monday brought clear weather and beautiful scenery. Ray and Traci skipped the gym and enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Lido – the variety of food was great and the quality was good, but not spectacular. Around noon, the ship docked in Juneau – sunny skies and amazing geography met the vessel (along with many other cruise ships!) Ray's family got off the ship and rode the 5 minute Mount Roberts Tram to the visitors center complete with two gift shops, a cinema and a wounded bald eagle being rehabilitated back to health. Ray and Traci decided to hike to the Mt. Roberts Cross which was half way to the summit. Snow was seen in patches on the mountain and the views from platforms along the trails were incredible.

After riding the tram down back to Juneau, Ray and Traci wandered around downtown Juneau which was filled with various tourist traps selling the expected variety of souvenirs. Ray spent much time before the cruise contemplating taking a helicopter to the Mendenhall glacier but eventually decided against it mainly due to the questionable safety record of Alaskan aviation. In fact, a recent newspaper article reported 17 recent deaths from aviation accidents in three months -http://www.adn.com/2010/08/14/1410392/crashes-give-alaska-aviators-pause.html. Ray's cousins took a bus tour of Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens, something they recommend to future travelers. If you book tours thru the cruise line, they are often more expensive but also can be of higher quality – in Juneau, you find a bunch of tourist booths selling everything from bus tours to helicopter/dog sledding adventures at discount prices. Holland charged $56 for the Mendenhall tour while you could find discounted $7 tours, but there appeared to be quite a difference in quality of the bus (e.g. old converted school bus vs air conditioned tour bus) and places toured. After their day in Juneau, Ray had an excellent meal in the main dining room. His "Ketchikan" chowder, Caesar salad, Manila clams & scallops with noodles and baked Alaska dessert was outstanding. Traci's fruit & berry appetizer followed by hen with almond and brown rice stuffing and apple walnut tart dessert was also quite good. After dinner, they attended an excellent show featuring 6 of the Holland performers singing and dancing to Broadway show tunes. The late night dinner featured a "California" theme but both Ray and Traci were only able to nibble on some fruits and desserts.

Tuesday was glacier day. The seas were rougher than in the past. Ray actually got a bit seasick for the first time while running on the treadmill. He felt better after walking around the ship so he was able to finish his run on the treadmill. Ray's Dad fell off an elliptical trainer due to the rough seas. Traci joined Ray during the walk and they saw a whale flapping around 50 yards from the ship. Spotting active whales were a definite treat for the morning exercise crowd.

Both Ray and Traci enjoyed breakfast and lunch buffets at the Lido restaurant. The captain warned that the ship may not get to see the Hubbard glacier which borders Disenchantment Bay due to poor weather and visibility. Fortunately, the skies cleared enough to get the boat to within a half mile from the glacier although rain, fog and cold temperatures made the best viewing areas on the ship's bow less than pleasant. A glacier is a collection of compressed snow which becomes dense ice, and gravity forces the ice down to the sea often taking parts of the land with the ice flows. At the sea, chunks of ice form avalanches which make thunderous roars during the journey into the sea.

Since Tuesday was spent entirely on the boat, Holland had many other activities going on including a trivia contest, a name that tune contest, and a Bingo game – sadly, Ray and Traci did not win anything. After leaving the glacier, the seas became rougher and Traci's appetite for her Italian wedding soup and bream fish sauté dinner waned. However, after taking 25mg of meclizine, she quickly felt better and was able to enjoy her meal. Ray enjoyed his tasty turkey dinner and another baked Alaska dessert. The evening finished with a show by a world champion juggler who did an amazing feat – juggled 3 sharp machetes while riding a tall unicycle. Afterwards, they took a trip to the late night dinner buffet with a taste of Asia theme.

The trip south continued on Wednesday with a stop at Sitka. The weather was cold and rainy, so Ray and Traci never left the boat. To get to Sitka, you need to "tender" – get on one of the Rotterdam's life boats to shuttle you to shore as cruise ships do not have a place to dock. While the tender process went smoothly, there wasn't much desire on Ray or Traci's part to ride a small boat 15 minutes just to get to another tourist trap on a cold and rainy day. Both travelers used the largely vacated ship to exercise – Traci in the gym, Ray on the top deck running track where he figured out that 11 laps around was approximately 1 mile. Ray and Traci spent the rest of the day eating at a mostly empty Lido buffet, reading, playing Nintendo and napping. Before dinner, the family got together and won their first Holland America Trivia contest – chocolate trivia, scoring neat traveling coffee mugs. The seas became noticeably more violent as they left Sitka with 15-20 foot swells, and Ray began getting sick during dinner. While he was green during the soup course, he took some over the counter meclizine and enjoyed the rest of his dinner – salmon and strawberry ice cream. Traci did not get sick and enjoyed her third lamb dinner of the trip. After dinner in the showroom, two singers Melody & Irwin, headlined a musical treat – duets thru the ages. Both were quite talented and after Melody successfully completed the challenge of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," many wondered why she wasn't on American Idol. Late dinner in the Lido had a Dutch theme.

Ray and Traci awoke Thursday to the PA announcement of the cruise director that the ship arrived at Ketchikan and the tourist shops beckoned. Ray and Traci again enjoyed the Lido breakfast; Ray tried the omelet bar for the first time. Next, they wandered around Ketchikan, the rainiest place in the United States. Most of the shops were geared toward the tourists. A few shore excursions were available but given the limited time (7am-Noon) and the drizzly weather, Ray and Traci explored on foot. After an hour or two of experiencing Ketchikan and finding again that their iphone 3g connections didn't work, they returned to the boat and Ray enjoyed salad from the Lido buffet and pizza from "Slice" while Traci had oxtail soup and rice. During the afternoon, more unrewarding trivia and bingo contests took place. Ray did discover that the Crow's nest bar on the top of the ship made some really good strawberry smoothies. Thursday's dinner was a formal occasion – On Monday and Thursday patrons were asked to dress nicely (jackets & ties) for the main dining room and the Pinnacle grill – although the Lido buffet always is casual. At the Lido people wear everything from t-shirts and shorts to swimsuits and even the Holland bathrobes. The Lido usually has many of the same entrees as the formal dining room, in addition to a regular salad bar, dessert bar, pasta bar and a few other items. Note that the dining room's dress code even on "Formal" night is not rigidly enforced – some male diners had neither coats nor ties. For Thursday's formal dining, Ray had the classic surf and turf (lobster/filet mignot) which was quite good – even in the dining room, patrons can order additional entrees at no additional charge but one was enough tonite. Traci enjoyed the chef's special salmon dish. After dinner, a comedian Jeff Burghart took the stage in the showroom. Comedy is really difficult with an audience of mixed ages and ethnic backgrounds. Traci enjoyed his impersonations and humor – Ray, not so much. To top it off, the late dining theme was "Dessert Extravaganza" and the crew lined the pool deck with many types of treats including ice cream, fondue, cakes, pies and cookies.

Friday was the final full day of the cruise with a planned nighttime stop in Victoria, B.C. The weather was nice and the seas calm. Both cruisers skipped breakfast but after morning workouts, Ray enjoyed a grilled BLT and Traci had Thai chicken curry and Singapore vermicelli noodles. The afternoon was packed with several activities including a class on how to make the cute towel animals found on passengers' bed each night (Ray bought a copy of Holland's how to guide),

the finals of Holland America's "Idol" competition, and a final game of Bingo. Predictably, a few of the "Idol" performers demonstrated real talent, but surprisingly, 3 showed no musical talent (Must have been a very slow week at the Karaoke events.) Ray and Traci's final dinner was in the main dining room – Ray had a New York steak while Traci had ling cod. The food continued to be excellent to the very end, although the "free" and unlimited dishes were depressing the enthusiasm for this food free for all. The ship docked at Victoria where Ray and Traci took the shuttle bus to downtown, and explored Chinatown as well as the waterfront. The after dinner arrival and limited time on shore discouraged Ray and Traci from touring the famous Butchart Gardens. The final event of the cruise was a great musical show showcasing the talents of three female performers singing the songs of 1950s groups such as the Supremes. The final late night dinner at the Lido had a variety of foods.

The ship returned to Seattle during the early morning hours. Ray and Traci awoke, had a quick breakfast at the Lido Grill and they disembarked the ship at 7:45 AM for the very short taxi ride home. Ray enjoyed the cruise very much, really liked the ability to turn off your brain for a week, but was concerned that the constant supply of really good food could become a health hazard. Alaska was beautiful and the glaciers quite amazing.

There is so much more to write about but this is a blog not a novel. If you have any comments or questions, please let Ray and Traci know!

Ray and Traci's Tips for Holland America Cruisers

1. The lanai rooms are great. You don't have a private balcony, but your balcony is the whole teak deck that surrounds the ship – very handy for viewing things like whales and glaciers. If people outside your window spot whales, you can rush out thru the sliding door directly to the main deck. Note: If you plan to take this cruise next year, the Holland America ship will be the Westerdam or Oosterdam which do not have lanai staterooms.

2. The Pinnacle Grill had nice dishes, but unless you are dying for a specific steak preparation, you are better off eating in the main dining room where they will feed you multiple entrees and not charge you $20 for each one.

3. While listening to the Park Ranger talk about the Hubbard Glacier while you watch the ship's approach on the crowded bow, it is not necessary to stand and suffer bad weather. Once arriving, the captain parks the boat for a good photo break, rotating half way thru so both sides of the ship can take pictures.

4. Go to the Crow's Nest for Happy Hour from 4-5pm when drinks are 50% off

5. Don't worry about packing too much as there is plenty of closet space and large suitcases can be stored underneath the bed

6. At the first sign of seasickness, take 25mg of meclizine. It's effective and works fast! You can get some at the front desk if you don't buy it beforehand (over the counter motion sickness pills available at places like Rite-Aid)

7. If you like a particular type of wine, buy a bottle. They will tag the bottle with your name and pour from it every time you dine until you drink it all. Alcohol is not particularily expensive, at least compared to similar resorts. Ray's $20 Soda Card was good for 20 glasses of soda at any restaurant or bar (tip included!) but he didn't use all of his glasses, especially after he discovered strawberry smoothies in the Crow's Nest bar.

A Weekend in Portland (Oregon)

2010-08-24T07:44:00.001-07:00

Ray's cousin planned a wedding in Hood River, Oregon along the Columbia River. Ray and Traci, after realizing neither could remember the last time they visited downtown Portland, decided to stay overnight in Seattle's sister city rather than in scenic Hood River.

The Friday afternoon trip did not begin well. What should have been a 2 ½ hour car ride turned into a 4 hour ordeal with stop and go traffic starting in Seattle and lasting all the way to Olympia. Just as the travelers reached Oregon, they encountered the rush hour traffic in Portland. Fortunately the drive to Portland was the worst part of their weekend.

Upon arriving at their hotel, "The Nines", Ray and Traci were quite impressed with their room. Their hotel occupies the top 7 floors of the downtown Macy's building. When making an advance reservation, the Nines ran a weekend promotion cutting the internet rate 25% so Ray and Traci decided to take advantage of the good deal. They were given a large corner room with modern décor and a spacious bath. Furnishings included a 42" LCD TV, a table with chairs, a desk, and a chaise lounge. The only bad part of the hotel is the $32 per night valet parking fee.

After checking in, Ray wanted to have dinner at a noted Portland steakhouse, The Ringside. The meal consisted of Caesar salad, rib eye steak for Ray and rack of lamb for Traci. Because it was Ray's birthday, the restaurant also gave Ray one of his favorite desserts – a hot fudge sundae. In a word, the food was fabulous. And for $80+tip including drinks, by Seattle standards it was a great deal! Portland does not have a restaurant tax (and Oregon has no sales tax) making many things a 10% off bargain!

The stuffed travelers decided to walk around the Pearl District next. The Pearl District looked like Seattle's Belltown with more families and less nightclubs. Many nice residential buildings surrounded parks with bistro type restaurants at the street level. On their journey, Ray and Traci encountered several parking lots with lunch trucks and food booths set up – kind of like a miniature "Bite of Portland" with a wide variety of ethnic foods at cheap prices. Mobile trucks were set up next to very temporary tents and more permanent appearing shacks. Also in the Pearl District was the famous Powell Bookstore, the largest bookstore Ray had ever seen. Multiple floors contained new and used books of every genre imaginable. In this era of e-books, it was refreshing to see a vibrant bookstore. On the way back, Ray and Traci passed the Pioneer Courthouse Square where a summer festival was taking place. Along with food vendors and a local band, teams of sand designers built amazing structures out of exclusively beach sand and water.

Before retiring for the night, Ray and Traci visited Voodoo Donuts, a food channel favorite donut house. While the shop had a large variety of donuts, they purchased some of their more famous styles – the Voodoo Donut with a pretzel stabbing the human shaped donut leaving raspberry drippings, a Bacon Maple Bar, and the Portland Cream Donut.

Saturday began with Ray running along the Willamette River. Like many cities, Portland has a riverfront park between downtown and the river. Several different bridges cross the river, and one can run a loop using bridges to get from one side to the other. Portland is a very bicycle friendly city with defined bicycle lanes. Most of the downtown streets are one way making the streets safer for both pedestrians and bicyclists. It is a bit confusing to walk around downtown due to the lack of crosswalks and pedestrian signals – people simply wander across streets when they clear. After the run, Ray and Traci headed out to look at shopping areas (free of Washington's 9%+ sales tax). Nordstrom's anniversary sale was going on its second day although the store looked pretty empty. Niketown appeared to have relatively more customers. Ray and Traci stopped for a light lunch at the Pioneer Square Mall which contained a food court with a wide variety of meals – Ray had soup and salad, Traci had a bagel and a fruit cup. After lunch, the travelers headed out to Hood River for the wedding. The trip to Hood River was quite scenic and the actual event took place with a beautiful backdrop of the Cascade mountains. After the joyous celebration, Ray and Traci returned to the Nines hotel and the brief weekend in Portland ended the next morning with a much quicker drive back to Seattle.

A Trip to the New Bronx Zoo

2010-07-03T22:16:00.001-07:00

Ray and Traci decided, despite a disappointing Mariners season so far, that they would visit the new Yankee Stadium during the Yankee/Mariner series this year. Surprisingly, tickets were not hard to come by, with Stubhub.com scalping outfield tickets for about $25 each. Like many Seattleites, Ray and Traci have complained about the cool and damp Seattle weather this summer. They got on the Alaska Air flight to New Jersey, and then promptly wished for Seattle weather. After landing in New Jersey, they took the Air Train at Newark's airport and got onto the New Jersey Coast Line train which dropped them off at Penn Station in New York. The temperature was more than 90 degrees with 80% humidity. Fortunately the late arrival spared the travelers the direct sunlight, but it was quite uncomfortable especially dragging their bags to their hotel.

The hotel for their latest New York Adventure would be the Hilton Times Square. Their room was surprisingly large, easily the largest room they ever had in New York. It was clean, modern and tastefully decorated with some very practical amenities like a good sized closet and many drawers to put clothes in. Adventurers to New York who want to stay in the middle of the action would find the Hilton ideal.

With darkness falling, Ray and Traci ventured into the crowds to find dinner. Traci picked a restaurant in midtown called Sapporo (like the Japanese Beer). Traci had shoyu ramen while Ray picked the Sukiyaki. The food was good especially considering the total bill was $22. Before retiring for the evening, they stopped at the fancy Times Square McDonalds for soft ice cream – the restaurant has a Broadway theater styled store front and the spacious interior is decorated in the same fashion.

When Ray and Traci woke up on day 2, the temperature was already 88 degrees! After enjoying a Hilton complementary buffet breakfast, Ray and Traci decided to go to the King Tut exhibit three blocks from the hotel – King Tut's return rekindles the interest developed in the 1970s US tour, updated with new scientific evidence (i.e. DNA analysis of King Tut's family tree) and new multimedia exhibits. Unfortunately, some of the key artifacts such as the famous golden burial mask didn't make the trip to NYC. Afterwards, Ray and Traci headed from King Tut's Times Square home up Broadway to the shopping district. After a brief repeat visit to the celebrated St. Patrick's Cathedral, they window shopped the Apple Store, Niketown NYC, the Sony Store and Trump Tower. Despite running out of iphones days ago, the Apple store was flooded with people wishing the store had iPhones or iPads in stock! In general, Times Square seems to be bucking the overall negative economy as people seemed to swarm the area even with the new expanded pedestrian walkways. Another recent change was the impressive amounts of police in both the Central Park and Times Square areas which must have caused crime to go elsewhere. Later, Ray and Traci went to Joe's Shanghai in the midtown area for some Chinese food including chicken dumplings, won ton soup and not so crispy spicy shrimp. Joe's is a highly recommended Chinese restaurant although Traci was somewhat disappointed compared to her meal during a previous NYC trip at Joe's other location in Chinatown. After leaving Joe's, Ray and Traci attended the musical "Rock of Ages." Traci was somewhat skeptical of a musical based on many of Ray's favorite musical acts from the 1980s – but the performances, the humor, and the cast's ability not to take themselves too seriously won her over. Ray felt the musical was the most fun Broadway show he attended – a "Mamma Mia" with self deprecating humor and 1980s music with a bite. If you only like musicals with opera quality vocals, orchestral music, and intellectually stimulating plots, don't bother seeing "Rock of Ages" when it plays in Seattle next year.

Tuesday brought more clouds and slightly cooler weather. Ray started his day by running around the reservoir in Central Park which turned out to be quite a challenge given the heat and humidity. After breakfast, Ray and Traci headed on the subway to the Southport TKTS booth to try their luck at getting discount matinee show tickets for the next day. After a 40 minute wait, they bought La Cage Aux Folles tickets at 30% off. The Times Square TKTS booth only sells tickets for day of shows, while the Seaport outlet will sell the matinee tickets the day before. From the Southport area, they walked across one of New York's famous landmarks – the Brooklyn Bridge.

As expected, many tourists crossed the Pedestrian walkways – some in better shape than others, with many stops for photo ops. Leaving the bridge behind, Ray and Traci had lunch in a famous Brooklyn eatery – Grimaldi's Pizza. Despite a 2 pm arrival, Grimaldi's had a line of people on the sidewalk waiting to get in. Fortunately, the line was a relatively short 15 minutes. Ray and Traci enjoyed a very good ham pizza cooked in Grimaldi's famous coal fired brick oven. After their late lunch, Ray and Traci rode the subway back to the hotel before heading to Yankee stadium. The latest incarnation of Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 to much fanfare. The easiest way to get to Yankee stadium from Times Square is the express "D" train from Bryant Park. A 30 minute ride drops you off right at the ballpark. At first glance the outside architecture looks quite plain with little detail except for the golden "Yankee Stadium " inscription. Once inside the main gate, visitors find the "Great Hall" with long banners celebrating Yankee heroes past and present. Ray and Traci took an extended tour around the main floor and the upper deck seating areas before settling in. Overall, the interior of the stadium lacks the polish one would expect in a billion dollar structure. Modern ball parks often have floor to ceiling views of the field for patrons walking the main concourses whereas Yankee stadium has narrower "mail slot" view. Monument park has been transplanted into the outfield of the new stadium but it closes 45 minutes before first pitch. A gorgeous gigantic Mitsubishi video screen occupies the biggest area in the center field scoreboard.

One area where the Yankees did not spare any expense was the high concrete partitions staffed by security separating the choice infield seats in the first few rows with the less pricey ones behind. A premium infield seat can run $1600 while the ones a few rows behind go for $300! Another big deficiency was the relatively limited concessions (with the expected very high prices) – Yankee Stadium's "food court" had only a very few vendors, and the variety of foods was really limited especially given the multicultural background of New York. The stadium does have several exclusive sit down food areas including a steak restaurant which may compensate for the limited concessions. In any case, Ray and Traci spent the first game up in the 400 level by the left field foul pole. Sitting so far away from home plate was a new experience for the Seattle fans however the Mariners surprising offensive outburst and Cliff Lee's typical professional pitching job kept them quite entertained. The M's won 7-4 making Ray and Traci's short subway ride home much happier than it was for the Yankee fans.

Wednesday was the last full day in NYC for Ray and Traci. Ray was quite thankful for 70 degree temperatures and again ran around Central Park's reservoir. After enjoying the Hilton's buffet, they headed out to wander around the area. At Rockefeller Center, the Lego company was having an event – children would build structures out of green Legos and the organizers would arrange them together forming big cities. In addition, master Lego builders put together a massive red Lego apple.

Ray and Traci's next event was the matinee showing of La Cage Aux Folles. Traci was pleasantly surprised when the well known actor Kelsey Grammer took the stage rather than an understudy. Ray was intrigued by Kelsey's talents which were much more impressive than just his famous roles as Dr. Frasier Crane and Sideshow Bob on the Simpsons. Ray did think the story could use a little modernization in its latest incarnation. From La Cage Aux Folles, the Mariners fans headed back to Yankee Stadium on the D train to enjoy another game. For the second game, Ray purchased premium seats directly from the Yankees – 3^rd deck behind home plate in the "Jim Beam" section – basically similar to a more expensive but less extensive "Terrace club" experience found at Safeco. The private lounge had a bar (with Jim Beam, of course), a pizza concession, a burger/fries concession and bathrooms without any waits. After you leave the lounge, the cushy seats in the front portion of the 3^rd deck behind home plate afforded excellent views of the action. For dinner, Traci had an adventurous Spanish Rice with Chicken dish while Ray stuck with the more traditional Yankee Hot Dog. Again, Mariner fans were treated with a dominating pitching performance, this time by Felix Hernandez while the offense again exploded for 7 runs including 2 homers by rookie Michael Saunders. Ray and Traci returned to the Hilton quite happy after a 7-0 thrashing of the World Champions.

Thursday was another cool day. Ray and Traci decided to end their NYC adventure by visiting the Frick Museum – the former residence of a steel tycoon and art patron who assembled a very impressive variety of art. As afternoon approached, they checked out of the Hilton and boarded the Newark airport bound train at Penn Station for an uneventful trip back to Seattle where they found cool and wet weather.

A Short Track to the 2010 Olympics

2010-02-27T19:53:00.001-08:00

Because of the wide variety of interesting sports, Ray and Traci found themselves watching a good portion of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. Whether because of the close proximity to Seattle, the personalities involved, or the success of the US, the travelers decided to travel to Vancouver and experience the Olympics firsthand.

The finals of the Short Track competition seemed to be an ideal event – a great competition, a local personality (Apolo Ohno), 3 medal events (Women's 1000m, Men's 500m, Men's 5000m Relay). Unfortunately, many others did too – Ticket brokers, Ebay and the "Official" Olympics Ticket Auctions had the cheapest pairs of tickets running for $900 (9 x original price!). Even after waiting until 7 hours prior to the event, the best deal found was $770 for a pair of tickets in the back of the nosebleed section and likely partially obstructed by a camera man. Deciding to forgo buying tickets online, Ray and Traci headed north to check out the Olympics.

Travel on I-5 was uneventful, and there was no wait at the border. Ray planned on parking near the short track venue (Pacific Coliseum), and found a free street parking spot near a school. After getting Canadian dollars at a HSBC bank, Ray and Traci caught the 135 bus to Robson Square, the center of the Olympics.

Driving in, one wouldn't know anything special was going on. Even during the short 3 mile bus ride to Robson Square, little traffic was encountered – appeared to be a slow workday. Once in the center of the Olympics, crowds were noted in the drizzly Friday, but they weren't overwhelming. Ray and Traci headed to the Olympic Caldron for the obligatory picture of the torch.

From the torch, the hungry travelers found a Japanese restaurant on Robson. Traci had an udon dish with some California rolls and Ray had a beef teriyaki / tempura dinner. Fortunately, this restaurant didn't have "Olympic Pricing" and the $35 (including tip) dinner was quite satisfying. Hunger resolved, Ray and Traci wandered around Olympics Central. Fans everywhere were wearing Canadian Hockey jerseys as their team was about to win their semifinal game, setting up the epic rematch with the US for the gold medal. Police patrols also looked rather inconspicuous – small patrols were noted - but the heavy anti-terrorist forces must have stayed well hidden. Ray and Traci wandered over to the ice skating rink were many kids enjoyed the festivities on the ice while older ones waited 7 hours for a free zip lining experience overhead.

The Official Olympic Store had a long line (they only let a few people in at a time) – interestingly enough, there was a longer line outside the Canadian Mint where they let people actually touch (while wearing gloves) Olympic medals. Ray and Traci went to the Hudson's Bay department store above the Olympic store where on the 5^th floor, they had a selection of Olympics souvenirs, none of which the travelers bought. Ray and Traci are both returning to Vancouver for a meeting in May, and they figured everything would be at least half priced by then.

Their final stop during their brief Olympics experience was back at the short track venue. After getting off the bus (public transportation was very efficient for these games!), Ray immediately was approached by scalpers offering tickets. Refusing initial offers, Ray and Traci found an area that served as an enclave of pure capitalism (maybe the last?) – buyers and sellers finding a market price for tickets. Still unhappy at the prevailing prices – which were much better at this late hour than anything on the internet, Ray and Traci wandered toward the main entrance where a friendly scalper obviously tired from a day's work ended up selling two fairly decent seats for 2 ½ times face value. Armed with tickets, Ray and Traci passed a rather strict security screening (just like at the airport) and found their upper deck seats 13 rows back positioned right above the finish line of the oval. While they missed the Men's 500m quarter finals and 1 of the Woman's 1000m quarter finals, they immediately became captivated by the spectacle that is short track racing. Apolo got disqualified in the 500m finals after an amazing performance in the semifinals (he really did take out a competitor). A highlight of the evening was Katherine Reutter's silver medal in a very close Women's 1000m final, further adding to America's haul.The most interesting and confusing event was the crazy Men's 5000m relay – 5 teams of 4 zooming around at high speeds and changing places on the fly every 1 ½ laps. The US won a hard fought bronze, giving Apolo his 8^th overall medal in Olympic games.

After the wonderful short track competition, Ray and Traci decided to get out of town as the Canadian Hockey team was close to winning its game, and the crazy Canadians would be celebrating en mass until the late hours of the night. Their border crossing was again quick, and the exhausted travelers completed their 12 hour 32 minute journey as veterans of their first Olympics and fans of the short track for life.

Highlights of Washington DC

2009-12-12T08:37:00.001-08:00

Each year, an international meeting of Neonatologists takes place in Washington DC, and Ray decided to attend this year. Ray has attended this meeting many times, the previous two times with Traci. Having already done the usual historical tours including the special evening holiday monument tours, all of the Smithsonian museums, Arlington Cemetery, Georgetown, and the Holocaust museum, they looked for new places to explore during an extended stay in the capitol city.

The conference takes place yearly at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, near the National Zoo and across the street from the Woodley Park Metro Station. Fortunately, Washington DC has one of the best subway transportation systems and its grid layout of streets makes getting around quite easy. The highlight of the trip for both travelers was visiting the US Supreme Court and getting to witness the 1 hour argument on the case Black v US. When the court is in session, a very limited number of seats are available to view the action. The courtroom itself is quite large but most of the benches are filled by attorneys in the Supreme Court Bar, law students and the press among other VIPs leaving very few for the public. People assemble at least 30 minutes before the case starts (first case is usually 10AM) and get in first come first serve. The case was about an executive who the government claims deceived his company into wrongfully giving him a $5 million bonus under a Federal Mail Fraud statute. Even for non-lawyers, it was quite impressive to see the 9 Supremes in person (visitors to DC rarely get to see top leaders of the government up front and personal). First, the executive's attorney argued the law was vague and unjust – the justices asked questions and carried on a spirited conversation with the fast talking lawyer. The real entertainment started when the solicitor general (attorney who represents the government's side) started speaking. First, the justices started questioning what constitutes deceit to your company – if someone knew their company was going to build a bigger factory, is it wrong to buy land in the area ahead of time? What about telling your brother in law or best friend to buy land? The company still pays the market value for the land, so the entity harmed is not the company. Then Justice Breyer, got a lot of laughs asking how do you figure out how much harm constitutes fraud? He suggested there were 100 million Americans who would tell their boss they were going to work really hard just to get him out of their office, and then spend the day reading a racing form. Justice Kennedy followed by suggesting American workers might disingenuously tell their boss how great his new hat looks just to get the boss off his back so he could slip out the door to an afternoon baseball game. Should all of these people go to jail? The solicitor general argued prosecutors could make a judgment on what is significant enough prosecute. Justice Roberts then said we cannot just pass a law saying people must not do bad things and leave it up to prosecutors to decide who to put in jail. Anyway, the banter was very entertaining – watching the justices in action was amazing, and showed many of them really lived in the real world and not just some academic fantasy one. Ray thinks attending the Supreme Court was one of the most interesting tourist activities he has ever done (up with visiting the Tower of London!).

Ray and Traci also visited the brand new "Newseum" where ABC host George Stephanopoulos broadcasts his Sunday show every week. While a $20 museum entry fee is quite foreign in a city where all of the Smithsonians are free, both travelers think it was well worth it. The Newseum covers history of media from the Gutenberg press to Twitter – and with it, American history. The memorial to 9/11 was quite breathtaking. The museum is filled with multimedia films, interactive computer displays as well as glass cases containing significant news events during this country's history. The Newseum also has a balcony giving visitors one of the best views of the US Capitol.

Before visiting the Newseum, Ray and Traci went to the Smithsonian American Portrait Museum which represented a more traditional way of appreciating American history – in the form of great art. While museums will continue to show great art, it is difficult to not to choose the high tech Newseum to highlight and learn about American history. Comparing experiences such as the Holocaust museum, the Louvre, or the Newseum is difficult, but Ray definitely enjoyed his visit and plans to return in the future.

Besides the Newseum and the Smithsonian American Portrait Gallery, Ray and Traci visited the "Washington DC National Museum of Crime & Punishment"– Notable criminals including Jesse James, Al Capone, Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber have their stories memorialized in a glitzy museum with lots of hands on artifacts and displays. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Crime Museum is how it highlights how so many notorious criminals have been had their stories told in Hollywood movies! Before leaving for the hotel, Ray and Traci stopped by the National Christmas Tree (with the many smaller trees for each state and territory).

Despite several previous trips, Ray and Traci had never visited the US Capitol – Ray obtained advance tickets over the internet from the Congressional web site although during this slow day, walkup tickets were available. Besides visitor passes, one can request "gallery" passes for the House and the Senate from your elected representative / senator – these passes allow you to go into the bleachers above the House and the Senate and watch the action. Ray didn't get gallery passes but fortunately House passes were available from the House appointment desk in the visitor center. The Senate was voting on an amendment to the Health Care Bill so all the passes were gone (probably to lobbyists). The US Capitol Visitors Center was recently built and spectacular – no expense was spared (your tax dollars, of course) in building a spacious and elegant tribute to Congress. Even the cafeteria was good with a rich selection of foods, complete with both Pepsi and Coke dispensers to avoid alienating any particular state. The Capitol tour was short – they let visitors see the large round and largely empty space under the big Rotunda, the Hall of Statues with many famous people (each State gets 2 statues in the Capitol) and the old rooms formerly used for the House and Senate Chambers (which each body outgrew). The most interesting part of the Capitol visit was sitting in the House Bleachers and watching representatives say their piece for 5 minutes each with most of the chamber being empty. On C-span, only the representative talking is shown – what you don't see is a mostly vacant chamber. The place is rarely full except for votes or the State of the Union Speech. The whole process seems a bit silly when so much time is spent talking to an empty room.

Visiting the White House was another fun part of the tour – unfortunately, post 9/11 it is difficult – large groups like classrooms can get passes, you can beg your local representative or senator for passes or you need to know somebody to get you in. Traci's cousin Wendy arranged for such a personalized guided tour – Seeing the East Wing decorated for the holidays was great – you actually see more of the White House on the tour than you do of the Capitol.

Ray and Traci also made a trip to the National Cathedral, a short taxi/bus ride from the Omni hotel. The 6^th largest cathedral in the world, like many structures in DC is spectacular except for the fact it looks like a copy of Paris' Notre Dame and construction was finally completed during the George H. W. Bush administration – not hundreds of years ago. They attended a wonderful demonstration by the organist and enjoyed the great view of DC from the balcony.

Unlike previous blog entries, not much has been mentioned about food – mainly because the travelers didn't eat at many memorable places. Other than lunch at the Capitol, most meals were on the run at chain cafes like Cosi and Corner Bakery. Near the Omni Hotel, Ray and Traci ate at Open City, Trattoria Italiana, and Tono Sushi which all provided tasty and reasonably priced food for hungry travelers. Ray and Traci also enjoyed lunch with Traci's cousin Wendy at a "healthy" asian restaurant called Teaism in Dupont Circle.

Before returning home, Ray and Traci visited one more attraction just down the street from their hotel – The National Zoo. Washington DC is only one of 4 zoos in America with Giant Pandas. The travelers snapped some pictures of them and said farewell to the National's Capitol.

Traveling to Toronto

2009-10-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ray and Traci decided to follow their favorite baseball team into a foreign country and make a visit to one of North America’s greatest natural wonders – Niagara Falls. Their journey started on Tuesday with a non-stop flight from Seattle to Toronto on Air Canada. Ray found the modern Embraer 190 to be a very comfortable plane. Even in coach, the jet has individual TV screens which had about 25 movies plus a variety of TV programs, music, and games which entertained passengers from departure to arrival without waiting for the plane to reach a certain altitude. Ray watched “Angels & Demons” which he found to be a good movie, in contrast to the general bad reviews given by the critics. Upon arrival, it took about 20 minutes to clear immigration, get Canadian dollars at an ATM and get in a taxi. The weather was pleasant, overcast and 80 degrees. The taxi ride from Pearson Airport to downtown took 45 minutes. The travelers’ new home for the week was the Royal York, which is a historic – meaning old – hotel 2 blocks from the baseball stadium. Ray booked the hotel due to the great discounted rate at hotels.com which he subsequently cancelled when the hotel itself offered an even better rate - $129!. The Royal York was built in 1927 – Ray and Traci’s room was spacious by New York standards and had a nice view of Lake Ontario. Ray and Traci spent the first evening exploring Toronto’s PATH, a maze under Toronto’s downtown – most of the skyscrapers populating downtown are connected with corridors providing refuge from the elements. Naturally, the passageways are lined with shops and eateries, often with the same stores repeating every few blocks. Ray and Traci negotiated the confusing passages, finally arriving at a large shopping mall – the Eaton Centre. This massive multistory structure was different in one significant way from an American mall– it was very busy on a nondescript weeknight! People in Canada are shopping and actually buying stuff. While few, if any, stores were furnished with unique goods, Traci checked out the Roots store. Roots is a Canadian apparel maker that clothed past US Olympic teams. Now hungry from their day of travel, Ray and Traci ate at the shopping mall’s food court – Ray ate a very unimaginative chicken dinner from KFC while Traci had a much more healthy chicken wrap from a Toronto chain restaurant Freshii. After leaving the mall, Ray and Traci wandered above ground in the “theatre” district of Toronto. While Toronto has a few theatres, a few regular shows were playing – “The Sound of Music,” “Jersey Boys” and a new show “The Boys in the Photograph.”. Ray and Traci stopped at Toronto’s version of “The Second City,” undoubtedly a Canadian version of Chicago’s well known comedy troupe but they decided to pass on the show. After grabbing a few snacks, Ray and Traci retired for the night.

Wednesday morning brought another warm but cloudy and humid day. Ray started the day in the Royal York’s gym which was equipped with many cardio machines but little weight equipment – it did, however, have a nice indoor lap pool. Ray and Traci next wandered to the waterfront area where they found some nice condo buildings and not much else. One thing that Toronto has (that Seattle needs) is bicycle stations in the subways where people can secure their bikes and then hop on to the trains. Disappointed, Ray and Traci wandered back to the Toronto underground PATH and had lunch at Bento Nouveau where Ray enjoyed tempura shrimp udon and Traci had chicken udon. After their early lunch, Ray and Traci met their Grey Line Bus at the Royal York to start the evening tour of Niagara Falls. After a 90 minute journey, the first stop was at the Pillitteri Estates Winery where the 9 person group (a really slow day for the Grey Line!) sampled red, white and an “ice” wine. Traci especially enjoyed the ice wine which can be produced only in certain cold climates as the grapes are picked by hand frozen, the water crystals discarded and the little remaining juice used for production. Most of the world’s ice wine comes from Toronto and the difficult production process results in fairly high prices. From the winery, the group travelled to the floral clock which is a beautiful arrangement of flowers built on a platform with a working clock. The floral pattern is changed yearly and planned by the top students of the Niagara horticultural institute.

The next stop was at the aerocar which basically is a glorified tram across the Niagara river. Ray assumed you would get a view of the falls from the skyride which turned out to be wrong – the $12 tram simply gives you an overhead view of a (boring) river. After the disappointing aerocar, the tour got more interesting with the “Maid of the Mist” boat ride. A tour boat takes a whole bunch of people on a 20 minute ride fairly close to the bottom of the 3 waterfalls which make up Niagara Falls – the American falls, the tiny Bridal Veil falls and the much larger Canadian falls. The Niagara river starts at Lake Erie and flows into Lake Ontario (350 feet lower) – this drop in elevation is what creates Niagara falls. During the night most of the water flows thru American and Canadian hydroelectric plants while during the day/evening most of the water flows down the waterfalls. The American/Bridal waterfalls are separated from the Canadian waterfalls from Goat Island located on the US side of the border. The Bridal Veil waterfall is a sliver off of the American waterfall separated from the main falls by tiny Luna Island. The boat ride gets you up close and personal with all of the waterfalls. Riders can get soaked if you don’t take cover in the downstairs of the boat even while wearing the provided rain poncho.

Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel’s Fallsview Buffet was included in the Grey Line package. While the view was spectacular, the food wasn’t bad either – Ray and Traci enjoyed salads, fruits, pasta, prime rib, baby-back ribs, tomato with beans and rice soup, while passing up many other equally tasty dishes. For dessert, Ray enjoyed cupcakes while Traci had a bit of a chocolate cake and a disappointing bread pudding. The Sheraton has a small balcony just outside the Fallsview buffet, giving a few more opportunities for pictures. After the hearty meal, the group scattered until departure time. A large entertainment district surrounds the falls with everything from amusement rides to a casino. Ray and Traci rode the Skyview Ferris wheel before getting a few pictures with the illuminated waterfalls and had an uneventful ride back to their hotel.

Thursday brought cooler temperatures and clearer skies so the day’s adventures started with a trip of the famed CN tower. The structure started simply as a broadcasting antennae but a decision to build an observation platform made the world’s tallest (1815 feet) freestanding tower an attraction for 2 million people a year. The skypod observatory is at 1465 feet, the world’s current highest (note that Taiwan’s Taipei 101, the world’s tallest occupied building has an observation platform at a mere 1285 feet). Unfortunately, when Burj Dubai opens up at the end of 2009, it will set all records at a rumored 2650 feet. The view from the CN skypod was quite impressive. On the lower observation platform, a section of the floor is replaced with glass giving a quite interesting perspective of downtown Toronto. From the CN Tower, Ray and Traci got on the “Hippo” tour which is similar to the ubiquitous “Duck” tours in the US. The Hippo leader gave a quite interesting history of Toronto and some of its landmarks as the tour made its way thru the city eventually ending up at the waterfront where the amphibious vehicle entered the water for a boat tour of Toronto. From the Hippo tour, Ray and Traci headed to a well known foodie hangout – St. Lawrence Market. Ray had a chicken caesar salad at Pasta Mia while Traci enjoyed the Food Channel featured peameal sandwich made with Canadian bacon at Carousel Bakery. Ray also picked up a chocolate cupcake at Future Bakery with a Batman picture on the top. After satisfying their palates, the travelers went to the Distillery District which is an artsy combination restaurant & gallery area. On the way home, Traci got a disappointing vanilla yogurt with raspberries at Yogurt Fruz. The Mariners fans then rested for a bit and then headed to the Rogers Center (formerly known as the Skydome) for a highlight of the trip – watching pitcher Felix Hernandez lead the Mariners against the Jays. Ray got premium seats for both the Thursday and Friday games on stubhub.com. Fortunately, the lukewarm interest (a term used generously) by Toronto fans allowed “scalped” ticket prices to be below regular priced seats at Safeco. Skydome is a round concrete domed stadium with the world’s first retractable roof. It was quite an attraction when it first opened, but now is somewhat dated. The old Astroturf carpet is a hazard to the athletes! The stadium has a huge video screen and many colorful video displays. It has a rich selection of ballpark foods – what it is missing is fans, only 15,000 at the Thursday game. The game was well played, ultimately with the Mariners winning 4-3 and Felix picking up his 17th win. Ray and Traci had a sign “Mariners Fans (heart) Toronto and Rally Fries” – Although the Toronto fans seemed to like it, and put it on the stadium screen at least twice, Ray and Traci did not win any fries from sportscaster Mike Blowers of FSN. With few fans in attendance, and only a handful of signs, it was unclear if anyone won any fries. Hungry, but happy with a win, Ray and Traci picked up dinner at Harvey’s – Canada’s answer to Wendy’s. Famed for customized burgers, Ray had a bacon cheese burger while Traci had a chicken burger. While neither dish would win on Top Chef, the food was good given the late hour.

Friday started with promise – another cool morning with sunshine. Ray woke up early and had a run in the gym followed by a few laps in the very nice indoor swimming area at the Royal York. The first activity of the day was visiting the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). The museum is easy to find, it is right off of the “Museum” subway stop. At the time of the visit, the ROM had a special exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls – a collection of ancient documents including the world’s first lease agreement, and several versions of early religious scripture. The works, hidden in special clay pots were believed to have been written around the time of Christ, and discovered in the 1950s. Other highlights of the museum included a collection of semi-precious stones. In general, the ROM had a nice collection covering the spectrum from the Dinosaurs to ancient Egypt/ancient Greek to modern times along with natural history and art. It is no Louvre, but is worth visiting. After the ROM, Ray and Traci walked past the University of Toronto toward Chinatown. Supposedly, Toronto has the 3rd largest Chinatown in North America – Toronto is, perhaps, the world’s most diverse city with a large variety of neighborhoods and different languages. By law, French and English are official languages. Ray was puzzled by several stores that sold nothing but flags of assorted foreign countries. The weather was becoming quite cold, so Ray purchased 2 pairs of gloves ($4 total) for the upcoming baseball game in Chinatown. The tourists then browsed Kensington Market, a neighborhood with funky shops and eateries located right next to Chinatown. On the way back to the hotel, the tourists passed by the Frank Gehry designed Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) but didn’t go in. They stopped at the Eaton Mall for Traci’s fruit salad and Ray’s Dairy Queen Sundae. After a rest stop at the hotel, Ray and Traci met up with Traci’s cousin Denise and her friend, Rob for the baseball game. Upon arriving at the Rogers Center (Skydome), the roof was closed – but opened prior to the start of the game. The roof is very interesting, unlike Safeco’s 3 section rectangular carport, the Skydome room has two circular sections on the ends and two middle rectangular sections – the rectangular sections slide to the outfield, then the circular section slides & rotates underneath the fixed circular section – quite ingenious! Roy Halladay, one of baseball’s finest pitchers owned the Mariners and the Blue Jays won 5-0. Again, Ray and Traci got no rally fries with a different sign “Rally Fries, Eh? Go Mariners” despite being seated along the left field line immediately behind the ball boy. Perhaps the poor economy is cutting into the FSN fries budget. After the game, the group headed to Chinatown where they enjoyed a fine Seafood Chinese meal including Shrimp & Cashew nuts, fried chicken wings, tofu with mixed vegetables and seafood sizzling hot plate. Long time resident Rob, picked a restaurant called “Excellent Chinese Restaurant” which almost made up for the Mariners terrible loss.
On the final day, Ray and Traci got onto the subway and went to Yorktown, a high end shopping neighborhood. From there, they got back onto the subway and at Union Station transferred to the “Red Rocket” Toronto’s street cars for a very short ride to the waterfront. Ray and Traci decided to take the 7 minute ferry ride to Centre Island, a Toronto version of Coney Island and Central Park mixed into one. While in the summer months a full amusement park operates daily, fall season brought closures to many things – Ray and Traci didn’t get off the ferry and just returned back to downtown. For a final lunch, Ray had a sukiyaki dish at Edo and Traci had chicken noodle soup at Pumpernickel’s, both located in the Harbourfront Centre. Ray and Traci returned to their hotel, and met up with Rob and Denise who kindly transported the travelers to the airport for an uneventful flight back to Seattle.

First visit to London (Part 2)

2009-04-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Still tired from their brief Paris adventure, Ray and Traci got a late start – Ray started the day by running around Hyde Park after stopping at Buckingham palace to find a sign stating “No Guard Changing Today.” He was amused at finding a traffic signal just for horses between Green Park and Hyde Park. The first trip of the day was to the Victoria and Albert Museum - this free museum contains a vast collection of art from around the world. Specialized collections from Asia are found as well as European art, Ancient art and even a Chihuly Chandelier. Highlights include a “cast collection” – back in the days before photography and world travel, museums would make plaster casts of great works of art such as Michelangelo’s David statue – these casts then were shipped to other museums during the 19th century for foreigners to enjoy. The V&A museum has a most impressive collection.

After leaving the V&A museum, Ray and Traci walked to one of England’s most famous landmarks, Harrods. This enormous 1 million square foot store really has “More of Everything.” While bargains were sparse (here is a $25,732 toy car at the prevailing exchange rate), the store exists as a sharp contrast to the US where large department stores are dying, replaced by big box discounters. Harrod’s boasts several eateries, both eat in and take out – Ray purchased some delicious sushi while Traci went to the Indian food counter and got a yummy chicken & rice dish, total cost for both about 10 pounds.

Next stop was the British Museum (also free) – a huge collection of amazing artifacts from all over the world. On the steps of the museum, you feel like you are entering the Roman Civilization – once inside, visitors find a huge atrium covered by a glass room. Within the expansive structure are long corridors with interesting items, “acquired” from civilizations throughout time.

Stop one was at the Rosetta Stone, a stunning stone tablet which 19th century scholars realized was the key to translating Egyptian hieroglyphs. Next, Ray and Traci were intrigued at seeing a room filled with Roman art pilfered from the Parthenon, under the guise of “preservation.” Well, considering the Romans once conquered the land known now as England, perhaps payback is a bitch. Less easily dismissed is the huge collection of Egyptian art, caskets, tools, and jewelry found in the British Museum – clearly the Egyptians must not be pleased with all of the body snatching.

Ray and Traci had time to visit other fascinating exhibits about money thru the ages (when physical money ruled over digitally created “quantative easing”) as well as an amazing collection of time pieces. Seeing working 15th century clocks is quite humbling to inhabitants of the 21th century who are happy just to see machinery work beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. Nearing closing time, Ray and Traci had to pass on other exhibits and instead, headed to nearby Oxford Street. This area hosted many shops, eateries and boasted a ton of people in the late afternoon on a weekday. Ray and Traci hunted for souvenirs in the many shops. Growing both hungry and tried (especially after the long Paris adventure the day before), Ray and Traci walked down Piccacdilly toward their hotel and stopped at the same Japanese restaurant Toku they visited early in the trip – for about 30 pounds they enjoyed a great ramen dinner including shrimp tempura for Ray and yellowtail sushi for Traci. For dessert, Ray had some strawberry ice cream at a nearby shop.

On their last night in London, the travelers decided to take in some British theatre. Ray got two half priced tickets to a comedy paying at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. London is well known for its theatre. In the summer, Shakespeare plays are often performed, sometimes with only natural daylight and no microphones as in the author’s day. Many shows such as Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia and Wicked are found in London as in the US. Ray and Traci saw 39 steps, which was unique in that only 4 actors played hundreds of characters in the show which was about a bored WW2 era Londoner who became involved in a secret plot against England. Ray didn’t follow much of the humor, but appreciated the cultural experience. Shows in general are much cheaper than in New York, and a TKTS half price office works the same way in Piccadilly Circus as it does in Times Square.

Wednesday marked the end of Ray and Traci’s European Adventure. Rain came and went overnight but left brilliant sunshine in the morning – the entire week in Europe had picture perfect tourist weather. Ray started the day by running a few laps around Green Park (next to Hyde Park) and making sure the “No Changing of the Guard Sign” was not shown at Buckingham Palace. Ray and Traci then packed up and before checking out ventured out to Old Bond Street which is a Rodeo Drive of sort for London with very exclusive brands found in boutiques. As expected in a depression, the street was nearly empty. Traci purchased some chocolate boxes at Charbonnel et Walker which was a bit more expensive than Hershey’s finest in the US.

The last stop was at Buckingham Palace where Ray and Traci tried again to see the changing of the guard. This time the event took place, but an incredible mob of people prevented viewing. Travel guides suggest going early and standing on the Victoria Memorial Fountain.

Ray and Traci arrived just about starting time (11:30) and basically heard the band march down with the troops into the place and the mounted soldiers pass the palace but not much else. Fortunately, videos are found on You Tube, and that will have to fill in the details.

Their European adventure ended uneventfully after checking out of the May Fair, hopping a cab to Paddington Station and taking the 20 minute Heathrow Express Train to their British Airway Flight. Ray and Traci left Europe with a much better appreciation of the art and history and a desire to continue their explorations. Ray also wondered what became of his camera, and particularly the flash memory card inside it.

Ray’s Favorites from the European Adventure
1. London Tower (especially the Beefeater guided tour)
2. Musee du Louvre
3. Notre Dame
4. Eiffel Tower

Traci’s Favorites
1. View of Eiffel Tower from Place du Trocadero
2. Parthenon frieze and sculptures at the British Museum
3. River boat tour along the Thames
4. Eating lunch on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral
5. Westminster Abbey

The City of Light at the Speed of Light

2009-04-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ray and Traci decided to go against recommendations for a longer stay and made a 1 day whirlwind tour of Paris during their London holiday. They had to get up very early to catch the tube to the King’s Cross – St. Pancras station which is the London terminal for the Eurostar, the high speed train that carries passengers from London to Paris via the Chunnel. Ray and Traci had reservations for the early morning 6:55 train. Accommodations on the Eurostar were quite comfortable, similar to the Japanese Shinkansen (Bullet Trains) – with tourist select advance purchase tickets, a pretty decent breakfast with croissants, fruit, orange juice, cheese omelet and chicken sausage was included. The Eurostar arrived on time at Paris at 10:15 (2 hours, 20 minutes later – Paris clocks are 1 hour ahead of London). Travelers need to know that checking into the Eurostar is more involved than a typical train – baggage is screened, riders need to go to metal detectors, and passport control needs to be navigated. As at airports, last minute arrivers may miss their transportation. At minimum, passenger should arrive 30 minutes ahead of the train departure.

The Eurostar drops passengers off at Paris’ Gare du Nord. The first thing one notices is the dudes in berets walking around in fatigues brandishing assault weapons – France is really serious about security, even the “TSA checkers” who guide passengers thru metal detectors are packing Glock pistols. The next thing visitors discover is the plethora of pay bathrooms in Paris, even at train stations. Usually 1 euro is required to get past the gate of a bathroom to use the facilities. Travelers are advised to not leave home without euros!

Fortunately, the weather was wonderful for a brief Paris Adventure – cool and partly sunny. From the Gare du Nord, Ray and Traci hopped in a taxi for a 10 euro ride to Notre Dame, the famous cathedral in Paris. Words cannot do justice to the magnificent Notre Dame. Even on a Monday morning, large crowds milled around. While viewing the inside of the cathedral is free, visitors do have to pay to climb the steps to the higher levels offering views of Paris. During Ray and Traci’s visit, the lines were too long so they walked to their next stop, Sainte-Chapelle – another great church located in Paris. Unfortunately visitors do have to pay to get into this cathedral, and the lines were even longer than at Notre Dame so when you have only 10 hours to spend in Paris, you are going to skip a lot! From Sainte-Chapelle, Ray and Traci walked to their next destination, the Louvre.

The Louvre is the most incredible museum both Ray and Traci have ever seen, and they probably only walked around 25% of it. For a mere 9 Euros each, visitors are treated with the most comprehensive collection of art anywhere! While well known attractions like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo highlight the collection, the wide range of art from all civilizations and all of recorded time is overwhelming.

Ray and Traci basically spent 2 hours in one of the Louvre buildings looking mainly at Egyptian and Roman artifacts. Visitors spending a week just at the Louvre probably leave feeling that they missed out on some great works.

The crowds at the Louvre are large, but the cavernous exhibit halls accommodate them even at high profile exhibits such as the Mona Lisa.

All of the museums Ray and Traci visited (England and Paris) had the majority of their sculptures and paintings unprotected from the crowds – while the fragile ones were encased, most were not which makes for some very fun picture opportunities.

After leaving the Louvre, Ray and Traci walked past the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which is a smaller version of the larger and famous Arc de Triomphe. Along the way, they noted the Paris traffic circles which surround many monuments – the traffic flows were insane with drivers trying to navigate the circles without a clear pattern.

Now walking down the Champs-Elysees, Ray remarked how amazing it was on a Monday afternoon to see so many people doing nothing – sitting around in parks, sipping coffee at many sidewalk cafes and crowding the sidewalks. Ray and Traci actually got separated during their trip down the Champs-Elysees, causing 15 minutes of near panic.

They ended up sharing a baguette sandwich and buying drinks at a sidewalk café before reaching the Arc de Triomphe.

Both Ray and Traci noted the decreased appetite both had during their European adventure – all of the walking should be stimulating an appetite. Traci thought the 8 hour time shift forward suppressed appetites since sleeping occurred in London during typical Seattle meal times. With long lines becoming a recurring theme, Ray and Traci decided to not purchase tickets to the top of the Arc and instead continue their walk to one of the world’s most celebrated landmarks, the Eiffel Tower.

Lines (or queues if you are British) were long. Tour groups get to buy tickets in advance and bypass the long lines. The word is internet ticket purchases to individuals will be possible in the near future – do it if you can. With 4 hours left in Paris, Ray and Traci decided to wait what turned out to be 90 minutes to get to the top of the tower (tickets were about 14 euros each). The views are great and getting pictures on top of one of the world’s landmarks is fun also. The tower is open at night, and Ray looks forward to some future nighttime visit to see the city of lights. From the Eiffel Tower, the travelers wandered around the immediate area and found a taxi stand. A Mercedes Benz taxi (A first for these travelers!) took them thru pretty busy Paris streets and dropped them off at Gare du Nord for the 9:10 pm return trip back to London. The Eurostar, again, served a good meal consisting of a chicken dinner (Ray and Traci didn't take the advice of the steward who recommended the fish pie). Unlike Japan where the Shinkansens are never late, the Eurostar ended up arriving in London 20 minutes late.

As in London, money is readily available from overpriced currency exchange shops as well as ATMs although tourist locales such as the Louvre and Eiffel Tower accept credit cards (the best option). The entire Paris visit (Louvre & Eiffel tickets, 2 taxi rides, and snacks and drinks along the way) cost 100 euros (1 euro = $1.32 at the time of the visit). This brief trip to Paris was quite exhausting and isn’t recommended but both Ray and Traci are happy they had a chance to visit Paris for a day and plan to return sometime in the future.

First visit to London (Part 1)

2009-04-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

Ray and Traci decided to travel to Europe for their very first time. Because of the historical ties with the US and predominance of the English language in the UK, they chose London as the primary destination for this initial European adventure.

British Air flies two non-stops daily to London from Seattle making choice of airline easy. With the current economic crisis, economy class tickets were available as low as $178+taxes each way! Ray and Traci took the 747 flight (the second daily flight is a 777) and had a pleasant 8 hour 40 minute journey, leaving Seattle at dinnertime and arriving in London at lunchtime (London is 8 hours ahead of Seattle). The airline served a fair chicken teriyaki & rice dinner for Traci and a Beef & Potato dinner for Ray. The highlight of the journey was the “On Demand” AV system with a rich selection of both new and old movies / TV shows available for free!

After arriving at Heathrow, clearing passport control and customs was quite fast as overall traffic at the airport during mid-day seemed light. Ray and Traci used an American credit card to get Heathrow Express tickets (16 pounds each, 1 pound = 1.43 American dollars at the time of this trip) and hopped on a very fast train which travelled nonstop from the airport to central London’s Paddington train station in 20 minutes. After arriving at the station, Ray and Traci got into the taxi “queue” – in London, places where people line up and wait are called queues. Fortunately, there was little wait and their taxi driver took them to the May Fair Hotel near Buckingham Palace. Their taxi driver was a wealth of information: unlike most American cities, taxi drivers in London are extensively tested before getting a taxi permit. Also taxis are relatively cheap when you consider the $8/gallon “petro” prices and high London car taxes. Our driver disappointed Ray and Traci by telling them they missed Michelle Obama’s motorcade by 10 minutes (The Obamas, like most of the G20 World Leaders were meeting in London during this time). After a 15 minute, 8.8 pound taxi ride, Ray and Traci found their new home at the May Fair Hotel. Their hotel room was quite modern – the size was quite good, larger than you would expect in New York. The May Fair obviously expects many foreign travelers as dual 110V and 220V American/European outlets were available at the computer desk and the bathroom. London is notorious for high priced hotels, but with the bad world wide economy and the weak pound, internet 50% off (or more) deals were widely available! The marble bathroom was the nicest seen since their stay at the Tokyo Westin years ago. Two interesting British factoids about many London Hotels – 1) “Lifts” (elevators) number floors 0 for lobby, -1 for basement, -2 for subbasement, etc. and 2) Signs state “Way Out” not Exit.

After unpacking, Ray and Traci started their London adventure by buying an “Oyster Card” 28 pounds each (which permit riders to travel unlimited thru two zones of London by subway or bus, basically downtown, for one week). Next, the subway at Green Park Station (2 blocks from the hotel) took them one stop to Piccadilly Circus. They walked to the National Portrait Gallery to look at many pictures of famous Brits, although neither traveler could identify most of the people. They did recognize Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek Next Generation fame) and Judi Dench (M from James Bond movies). From the Portrait Gallery, Ray and Traci went to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery (of Art).

Trafalgar square is a most interesting place – full of people, some street performers entertaining audiences. Artists doing amazing works in chalk decorated the pavement. Ray and Traci entered the National Gallery to admire many works of art from the usual suspects (Picasso, Monet, Da Vinci, etc). The Portrait Museum and National Gallery are similar to America’s Smithsonians in that they are free to get in. After this cultural experience, Ray and Traci had dinner at the nearby Bella Italia – a very busy café with very rapid service. Ray had a spaghetti meal while Traci enjoyed linguini, total price about 20 pounds.

From Piccadilly Circus Subway Station, Ray and Traci took the “Tube” (locals call their subway the “Tube”) to the Waterloo station and the rapidly tiring travelers rode the London Eye – a giant Ferris wheel on the Thames River near Parliament and Big Ben. London doesn’t have a very distinctive skyline by New York, Chicago, or even Seattle standards, but you get a nice view of the river and a perspective of this city is at the top of the London Eye. You also get a great picture with Big Ben – by the way, Big Ben is not the name of the clock or the tower next to the parliament building, it is the name of the bell underneath the clock. Thoroughly exhausted, Ray and Traci retired to the May Fair for the evening.

On the second day, Ray and Traci started by taking a Tourist Bus Ride around downtown London. Their tour guide was quite entertaining and the bus driver was quite skilled but the close maneuvering around obstacles and traffic was unsettling. Ray and Traci got off the tour bus 3/4s way thru the entire 2 hour course at the London Tower. From the London Tower, the sightseeing continued on a ferry boat ride up the river to Westminster Abbey. With the assistance of a knowledgeable and witty tour guide, passengers were entertained and educated about London’s waterfront areas. Ray and Traci exited the Ferry and entered Westminster Abbey, the site of Princess Diana’s Funeral. Visitors to this church are immediately overwhelmed by the 600 year old building – Seattle couldn’t even build a domed sports stadium lasting more than 30 years! While Westminster Abbey lacks some of the glitz of New York’s St. Patrick Cathedral, the overwhelming size and age of the church is awe inspiring. For an offering of 12 pounds, visitors can tour one of the world’s oldest churches and learn about British History during the self guided audio tour. Located in crypts and coffins inside the church are famous bodies from British history – giving the two travelers the creeps. From Westminster Abbey, Ray and Traci walked back to their hotel picking up sandwiches for a very late lunch (Ray had a BLT (price about 3 pounds) from the ubiquitous Pret sandwich store and Traci had a less expensive Tuna sandwich from Sainsbury, a Rite-aid sized combination grocery/drug store located right across the street from their hotel. After a brief rest, Ray and Traci headed to Chinatown to meet Traci’s cousin, aunt & uncle for dinner. Loon Tao was the chosen restaurant at the heart of Chinatown – a meal of Sweet and Sour Pork, Fried Prawns and Cashew Nuts, Fried Squid, Fried Rice, Tofu and Broccoli pleased all, but Traci felt it was a bit bland. The entire meal cost about 57 pounds – in London many restaurants add an automatic 10% tip, others hope to get a tip but not as large as American restaurants expect. Tragedy struck the group as they tried to take a photo only to discover Ray’s camera was stolen by the diners next to them who mysteriously disappeared before ordering anything. While the Sony camera was 3 years old, lacked necessary hardware to even charge it, and had little value even on Ebay, the day’s photos were lost to these criminals. Pickpocketing is common in Europe and often they steal things with modest monetary value but cause high frustration to the victims. Crime victims Ray and Traci returned to their hotel without the day’s photos.

The third day, started out with typical London drizzle although like the previous two days, sunshine dominated most of the day. Ray started out with a run around London’s Hyde Park, similar (but 3x larger and much better according to their London cab driver) to New York’s Central park. Ray and Traci then took the tube to London’s Electric City (Tottenham Station) to buy a new Sony T series camera. Although even the Sony Store had very little inventory of the latest version ultrathin camera, Ray did find a local camera chain had the model he wanted. Happy to be photographers again, Ray and Traci travelled to St. Paul’s Cathedral – one of the most amazing buildings on earth. The current St. Paul’s Cathedral was built in the early 1700s, being the 4th or 5th church on the site – the first one was built around 606 AD. After making a customary 11 pound each offering, visitors are immediately overwhelmed by the size of the Cathedral, the site of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding. While not as prominent as in Westminster Abbey, coffins and memorials to former heroes are found at the church margins and in the basement. One of the treats to the St. Paul’s experience is the ability to climb hundreds of steps to the top of the dome – the highest level was closed for maintenance but the second highest level offered a great view of London. Ray and Traci then had a take out lunch (10 pounds) consisting of salads and drinks from a store called Marks & Spencer, across from St. Paul. Like many other visitors, Ray and Traci enjoyed lunch on the steps of the cathedral. From St. Paul’s, Ray and Traci walked across the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern Museum (free admission). Like the MOMA (Museum Of Modern Art) in New York, the Tate caters to those who believe that art is to be experienced, not judged. The exhibits included a clone of the MOMA’s plexiglass encased vacuum cleaner, a hanging wire with used soap bars impaled in it, and a windmill that appeared stolen from a local miniature golf course with the inscription “Moulin Rouge” on it. After this “experience”, Ray and Traci headed to Covent Garden Market – combination street fair and permanent outdoor market with all types of foods and goods available. Ray and Traci shared a waffle, which was somewhat disappointing compared to the ones they had in Japan.

Covent Garden was full of music performers, notably a Chinese man playing the world’s first wind instrument the Sheng (from 1000 BC). After a break back at the hotel, Ray and Traci traveled to Traci’s cousin’s “flat” where they met up with more family and had a nice dinner for 6 at Marechiaro, a pizza/Italian food restaurant. A feast (70 pounds) consisting of pizzas, pasta dishes, and salads was satisfying.

A few notes about London – you have to be very careful when crossing traffic where Walk/Don’t Walk signals are not visible. Cars do not stop for pedestrians except at very rare crosswalks marked with large yellow light domes on top of poles. You also must remember that busses and trucks often squeeze thru narrow streets by encroaching on sidewalks. In an international city like London, money exchange places are everywhere – and you shouldn’t use any of them – they charge huge 10-20% fees! The best exchange is using your credit cards for significant purchases and obtaining cash from ATMs (It seems most American ATM cards from major banks will work in Europe). London appears to be a very international city – crowded, with people of all races speaking all sorts of languages. Being a center for commerce, you see people much more dressed up than in cities such as Seattle. At busy subway stations such as Piccadilly Circus, many artists perform for the bustling crowds as in New York. While in NYC, subway riders often see fancy dancing routines with gymnastic tricks, most of the London performers stick to music. Talented violinists performing classical music are found along with guitar hero “musicians” that should stick to the video game in the privacy of their own home.

On day 4, the weather continued to cooperate with clouds in the morning which parted somewhat in the afternoon. Ray and Traci started at Buckingham Palace, the home of Queen Elizabeth II. After passing an ornate gate, visitors are overwhelmed by the size of the Queens Home. Ray and Traci patiently waited on the recommended location atop the Victoria Memorial for an event that never happened. Sunday morning tourists were quite unhappy when the horses, guards and band that normally put on a majestic ceremony didn’t show up as scheduled. Fortunately their hotel was only a 10 minute walk from QEII’s home. Disappointed, Ray and Traci boarded a subway which due to construction didn’t complete its normal route. After a ferry ride (and a 30 minute wait), they finally arrived at their destination – The London Tower.

Perhaps the most famous London tourist site, the tower actually lives up to its reputation. Once a monarch’s castle built 1078 AD, it served as a home, a prison for special inmates (kind of like a medieval Guantanamo Bay), and now a tourist delight. Visitors are guided by Beefeaters (even they are not sure where their name came from), and see areas of the castle where prisoners were housed, tortured and guillotined. The Brits seem to enjoy celebrating monarch Henry VIII for his “colorful” life, but after learning about his habit of beheading wives at the Tower, one has to wonder where the attraction for the 15th century “OJ” comes from.

The Beefeaters, including their own cleric and doctor, live in houses around the wall. Tourists also get to see the Queen’s crown jewels in a vault in one of the buildings at the site. Getting to tour a castle built nearly a millennium ago is quite remarkable and well worth the 17 pound entry fee. After a 3 hour visit to the tower, Ray and Traci walked across the Tower Bridge and took an operating subway back to their hotel near Buckingham Palace. Ray and Traci decided to try some Japanese food in London, chose a place called Restaurant Toku near Piccadilly Circus. The restaurant boasts healthy & organic Japanese food – Ray had a beef teriyaki set and Traci had a pork katsu curry. Ray found the 25 pound meal quite bland but he was hungry and left satisfied. Both travelers turned in early with their whirlwind Paris adventure on deck.

Ray's Top 10 at Disneyworld

2009-04-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ray and Traci returned to Disney World as Ray attended a meeting held at the conference center at Disney’s Yacht Club. The Yacht Club (and its sister hotel, the Beach Club) are near the Dolphin/Swan Hotels closer to the Epcot end of the lagoon which is found between Epcot and the Disney Hollywood Studios Park. The parks were much busier than their previous early January visit as many schools were on Spring Break (it seemed that much of Lousiana’s population including their governor spent the week at Disneyworld!) – investing in a subscription to touringplans.com which is an “unofficial guide to Disney” is well worth the $8.95 especially if you have limited park time as it helps you formulate the most efficient way to navigate the long lines.
The Yacht club is a nice facility which commonly hosts large conferences as it is adjacent to Disney’s giant convention center. The traveler’s biggest complaint was the long corridors residents need to navigate to get from their room to the sparse elevators – and fire alarmed stairways don’t allow walking. Rooms were fairly spacious and well equipped – a nice water park with several pools and a water slide offered fun when guests didn’t venture into the parks.

Ray offers his top 10 list of Disney Attractions to not miss (from an adult’s perspective) – note that 2 popular attractions at Epcot (Cranium Command and Body Wars were closed during their visit)

1. Wishes Firework Show (nightly at the Magic Kingdom) – if you enjoy firework shows, see Wishes – the choreography is spectacular and you will see an amazing variety of pyrotechnics set to Disney tunes.

2. Kilimanjaro Safaris (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) – Ray’s favorite “ride.” Guest’s board jeep like vehicles and take a safari with “wild” animals in their “natural” habitat. Not exactly like visiting an animal preserve in Kenya, but a lot better than visiting any zoo.

3. Festival of the Lion King (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) – Ray’s favorite “show,” held daily at multiple times. Why travel to New York and spend lots of money on Broadway tickets? See the amazing costumes, hear living musical performance and see some neat “Cirque du Solei” type stunts in a 30 minute rendition of the Lion King. Don’t miss it!

4. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – a wonderful coaster, the best at Disney World – an indoor version of Disneyland’s California Adventure coaster Screaming, Ray’s all time favorite coater. The coaster shoots you forward from a complete stop, puts you thru complete loops yet has an amazingly smooth ride.

5. Soarin (Epcot) – Disney copied the popular California Adventure attraction and built it at Epcot. An incredible ride – people sit in a hang glider like contraption simulating a flight over scenic California – complete with sounds and smells of the Golden State.

6. American Idol (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – Fans of Idol, don’t miss this attraction. The producers have daily auditions at the park and 3 selected participants per show perform live on a set mirroring the TV show with the audience selecting their favorite performer. Each show winner participates in the final show of the day where the daily winner gets a priority invitation to audition for the real American Idol show. Obviously the quality of the performances differs from show to show but Idol’s popularity keeps the pool of contestants quite deep.

7. Fantasmic (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – a nighttime show which is not always open daily during off peak season. A sometimes scary combination of fireworks, stunt actors, parade of floats with Disney characters and video clips projected on a screen made of water fountains, this show is full of imagination and entertainment. Young children may be frightened!

8. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – supposedly a “different” ride each time, this simulated drop ride in a broken elevator is only one part of the whole experience. From the creepy entrance, to the videos of Twilight zone clips, this ride exemplifies why Disney is different than any other theme park with their attention to every detail.

9. Beauty and the Beast (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – Ray enjoys the 30 minute “abridged” version of the Broadway shows – you get live musical performances with great costumes and choreography, and the 30 minute limit excludes lots of filler materal. This is a well done show which parallels the classic story.

10. Space Mountain (Magic Kingdome) – After many decades, still a favorite of Disney visitors. A great roller coaster.

Tokyo 2008, part 3

2008-08-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Friday was the final full day in Tokyo – Ray and Traci started by having breakfast at yet a different breakfast coupon restaurant. Songoku is another buffet featuring combinations of Western, Chinese and Japanese food – kind of like mini Hapuna with a few dim sum items. Ray took interest in the tiny dwarf bananas and found his soft boiled egg really soft – in general, all of the restaurants make their eggs runny! Traci liked her humbows in addition to the really sweet grapefruit. After breakfast, Ray and Traci headed to the Tokyo Dome (JR train to Akihabara, then Subway Chuo line to Suibashi) where they purchased many souvenirs at the Japanese baseball store. While at the dome, Ray noticed that an Ichiro Mariners Jersey goes for over $200 (unsigned) – perhaps there is an underground Ebay business to be started. From Suibashi, they continued on the subway to Shinjuku and caught the JR train to Harajuku to visit the Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine. This shrine was built in 1920 to honor the Emperor and continues to be a spiritual center today. While visiting, Ray purchased a 500 yen ($5) wooden votive tablet. This time, Ray made an earnest request regarding the location of a certain American cultural event led off by a guy named Ichiro which occurs in October and has never been in Seattle.

After leaving the shrine, Ray and Traci finished their souvenir shopping in Harajuku – first stopping at Kiddyland, a store with 6 floors of toys, and then the Oriental Bazaar – two places close to the JR train station with many great souvenir ideas at fair prices. Ray and Traci returned to the Prince Hotel with Traci enjoying a rice curry take out dish and Ray munching on McDonald’s French Fries awaiting a return journey to Harajuku for dinner. Traci and family met one of her Seattle friends who works in the financial industry in Japan at a restaurant called Fujimama’s. Everyone enjoyed a “party platter” of great food including spicy chicken wings, a salad dish, calamari, swordfish, chicken with pineapple, and fried rice. Fujimama’s is located two blocks from the Harajuku JR station and is very foreign tourist friendly – many employees speak English, for instance Ray’s cousin who coincidently works as a chef at Fujimama’s but had the night off. Ray and Traci stopped at McDonald’s on the way home for another Kit Kat McFlurry and a hot fudge sundae.

On Saturday, Ray again ventured out to run – it was again partly cloudy but more humid. He encountered a work crew repaving a sidewalk. Even though they had electric arrow signs and a coned off path in the street, no less than 4 guys in blue uniforms directed pedestrians like him into the coned off path at 6AM on a weekend! – and each worker bowed as he passed. This brings up the issue of personal service – Japan prides itself on the great service: People are paid to stand next to the elevators and bow to hotel guests as they walk by. Both of these examples could represent excess and inefficiency especially in an economy with a net loss of workers due to declining birth rates. Perhaps economic reality and worker shortages as the population ages will force more “efficiencies” into the economy (much like America....). After the run, Ray and Traci joined her parents for a final breakfast at the tasty Hapuna buffet. Upon completion of their last Japanese meal, Ray and Traci made a quick visit to the main Tokyo JR station. Housed in 1918 building, the station’s façade is undergoing renovation. Construction has not seemed to decrease traffic as even on a late Saturday morning the station was packed. On the way home, Ray and Traci did encounter some excitement as a plain clothed police man stopped them in the Shinagawa station. While it still remains mysterious why he stopped Ray and Traci, he seemed satisfied after Ray showed him his hotel room key. Both initially thought it was some sort of scam on tourists but that may be a typical American reaction. In any case, Ray and Traci made it back to the hotel for checkout and rode the Narita express train to the airport without incident before an eight and a half hour journey back to Seattle.

Tips for visiting Japan:
1. Stay in a hotel near a train station with a large department store – Big food courts are found in the basements, and especially for non-Japanese speakers, the easiest place to get a great (and cheap) meal to go is in these places. Unfortunately Shinagawa does not have any big department stores although “Wing Takanawa”, a shopping center located at Shinagawa station, does have a grocery/food court.
2. Japan has always been a cash economy but this is changing with the “Suica” Cards which are basically preloaded gift cards. The difference is these cards are used in many if not most vending machines, almost all of the Tokyo subway stations, and many vendors. Trains and subways in Tokyo are often operated by different companies even if they share a station (For Seattle visitors think Metro Transit and Amtrak) – the easiest way to navigate the different lines is to use a Suica pass.
3. You can get a Suica card by taking advantage of the Narita Express package – 3500 yen gets you a ride from Narita into a Tokyo station, and a Suica card with 1500 yen pre-loaded on the card. This is quite a savings as the ride to Narita costs 3000 yen alone. Only people with foreign passports can take advantage of this offer at the JR ticket station in Narita.
4. You don’t need power converters, but you do need an adapter if you use appliances (i.e. laptops) with 3 prong AC adapters as Japanese outlets have only two prongs (no ground). Bring one as hotel gift shops will sell you one at many times the price found at Target or Walmart.
5. If you want to stay at the Shinagawa Prince (or other Prince Hotel) sign up for the Prince Club International (free) and make a club reservation to get free internet and free daily breakfast coupons. The breakfast buffets are 2000 Yen per person, and Internet access is 1050 yen if you don’t have a club room.
6. At the time of our visit 1 US dollar = 106 yen, so prices are often quoted in straight dollars – after paying the currency exchange fee, it is close to 1 = 100.
7. Since train stations are so massive in Japan, it pays to know which exit (N/S/W/E) to take when trying to reach an attraction. It is also helpful to have a compass when interpreting maps since Japanese streets can be confusing.

Tokyo 2008, part 2.

2008-08-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

The next day, Ray and Traci woke up early (not difficult since both weren’t adjusted to Tokyo time) and joined Traci's father on an early morning journey (JR train + subway transfer) to Tsukiji Fish Market. One of the world’s largest seafood markets, Tokyo’s seafood is brought by fisherman to be sold for Tokyo consumption. Like their previous visit 5 years ago, the travelers were astounded by the variety and sheer volume of fish moved thru this enormous place. While tourists are now not allowed to watch the actual tuna auctions held early in the morning (4am), the incredible variety of seafood and the hustle and bustle that bring seafood to Tokyo is a sight not to be missed.

Think of a Pike Place Market (Seattle) that only sold seafood in a place the size of an aircraft hanger! The downside is you get to see where your sushi comes from – you know the old adage about sausage lovers should stay away from the sausage factory!

In addition, small shops selling everything from T-shirts to lunch are found just across from the actual seafood market. After returning from Tsukiji, Ray and Traci enjoyed the Hapuna hotel breakfast buffet and then met Traci’s family for a journey to Asakusa, the home of Sensoji temple. From Shinagawa station, the Toei Asakusa subway stops at Asakusa where Tokyo’s oldest temple (circa 628) rests.

Impressive gates guard the famous temple where visitors can both be blessed by a smoke pit and a water fountain, fed and shopped by 100 yards of covered but open air small shops, and granted wishes in the temple for a mere 100 yen ($1). Ray could not pass up this opportunity. While wishes must remain confidential for them to be realized, Ray simply states that participants in Overlake’s 2009 Golf Invitational better watch out. Also at the site is 150 year old amusement park. From Asakusa, Ray and Traci went to Ginza, Japan’s famed shopping district. Traci was ecstatic about finding Manneken, also known as waffle heaven, and shared a maple syrup waffle with Ray. They were quite satisfied with the heavenly treat. Both wandered around Ginza, tried to find the Nissan Motors Auto Salon (never did find it), but did see the famed Sony Showroom in Ginza (8 floors of lots of cool stuff but nothing earthshaking) and returned on the JR train to the Prince Hotel. The group had dinner at an “authentic” Japanese restaurant Sangendou chosen by Traci’s father – no English menus. Ray, Traci and Traci’s mother ended up having less adventurous meals - $8 Shrimp Tempura with Soba Noodles. To complete the authentic Japanese experience, Traci had a $1 vanilla cone from McDonald’s while Ray had the more exotic $3 McFlurry with Kit Kat Bar mix-in.

Thursday morning brought cooler temperatures and less humidity. Ray started the morning with a 5AM run north along street next to the JR rail tracks (so no cross traffic would interrupt the run). On his way north, he passed a BMW Tokyo dealership and a few blocks further encountered a homeless man sleeping in a storefront (no society is perfect…). He decided to go west and got pictures of the Tokyo tower (which is probably not a Frenchman’s favorite tourist attraction in Japan).

After the run, Ray and Traci tried out the Café Restaurant 24 in the hotel which also accepted the breakfast coupons – not a buffet, but a simple and complete breakfast including ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, muffin, salad, juice, fruit and tea or coffee. After this nourishment, Ray and Traci went with Traci’s dad to Edo Museum – a huge and quite educational museum about Tokyo.

The name Edo was changed to Tokyo in the late 1800s when Tokyo became the capital of Japan – the city has a rich history from ancient times to repeated destruction to earthquakes in 1891 and 1923 followed by near total incineration during the 1945 air bombing. It is amazing that total reconstruction with hosting of the Olympics in 1964 took place. The museum contains models and antiques of various Tokyo eras and is extremely well done – a definite highlight of the trip. Ray and Traci next went to Akihabara (“Electric Town”) where the second Manneken location was the reason both travelers got to enjoy waffles again. Ray also tried to win a stuffed animal prize at one of the many arcades but Traci cut off the funds for this unsuccessful endeavor at $6.00. Akihabara is full over electronic shops selling all sorts of gizmos but prices do not appear to be much better than what you can get on the internet. One vendor had live Penguins swimming in a storefront aquarium – it half worked, Traci and Ray stopped to look at the Penguins but didn’t buy anything.

From Akihabara, the travelers went to the shopping area in Shinjuku. Traci bought some souvenirs at the “creative life store” Tokyu Hands – basically the world’s most complete store for home products. Ray visited the 8 floor Victoria Golf where he found his current favorite club – the Taylor Tour Burner driver for $200 more than the US price. To complete the day, Ray and Traci headed to Roppongi Hills and paid $15 each to view Tokyo from its highest point – the 54th floor (248 meter) skydeck. As noted from the previous trip, one can go to the Tokyo Metro Government building observation deck for free (48 floors) but the Mori tower in Roppongi Hills has no wait and allows an outdoor viewing platform in exchange for a fee.

After taking pictures of Tokyo, Traci joined a few members of her family for authentic yakitori in Ginza (at a “shop” underneath subway tracks complete with drunk natives) while Ray decided to venture to the Gotanda train station and have a solo dinner at that great Japanese food establishment, KFC. Ray found the chicken quite good and greasy, just like the Colonel would make. American fast food franchises are found everywhere in Tokyo. What are in short supply is garbage cans. It is against local etiquette to walk down the street while eating, yet many shops sell food which can only be eaten on the street. Despite the plethora of vending machines and fast food with a shortage of garbage cans, the city remains remarkably clean by American standards. Litter is not found on the streets, no graffiti is visible on trains, ubiquitous billboards and signs are not defaced.

Tokyo 2008, part 1.

2008-08-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Traci’s extended family has an intergenerational reunion every few years, and the 2008 one was scheduled for Japan. Unfortunately, due to Ray’s professional golf commitments, they were unable to attend the reunion but did join Traci’s family afterwards to enjoy a July week in Tokyo.

Traveling from Seattle to Tokyo on a United 777 was quite pleasant even with a 1 hour flight delay as the plane from Tokyo to Sea-Tac arrived late. It takes about 10 hours to fly non-stop from Seattle. Surprisingly it took less than 25 minutes to get off the plane, walk thru immigration, get the luggage, and exit customs although traveling on a Sunday in July probably helped. Ray and Traci then bought a ticket for the Narita Express Train which takes them to Shinagawa Station, their home for the week.

Waiting for the train was interesting – when the train arrived in Terminal 1 (the turnaround point), cleaning people got onboard and emptied/vacuumed the train. The seats also magically (automatically) turned around so passengers would be facing forward. When those tasks were completed the train left precisely on schedule (something that always happens in Japan), and went on a 1 hour journey eventually reaching Shinagawa Station. Once outside the train, the sauna that is Tokyo hit – high 80s and very humid, fortunately it was cloudy and late in the day so no direct sunshine was present. Ray and Traci found the correct exit in the rush hour crowd and crossed the street to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel.

On their first visit to Japan, Ray and Traci stayed at one of the nicest hotels either had ever seen – the Tokyo Westin. That hotel is located at Ebisu which is a few subway stops away from Shinagawa and isn’t quite the transit “hub” that Shinagawa is. At the Prince, Ray booked a deluxe double “club” room for 21000 Yen (about $200/night) that included daily breakfasts and free internet. You can join the Prince International “club” for free on the internet and then take advantage of rates which include breakfast, free internet, nicer rooms, and late checkout. While the hotel is quite a destination on its own complete with a small version of Seaworld (aquarium) and bowling alley, it lacks a gym and the small indoor/outdoor pools are usable only for a $11 fee.

Unfortunately, Ray and Traci’s top floor remodeled room was much smaller than their previous room at the Tokyo Westin. The 37th floor room was quite elegant and modern with a flat screen TV and small fridge but the floor space, dresser space, and closet space all had much to be desired. The bath was well furnished. Other than the small size, Ray’s other complaint was the a/c system while adequate would not make the room really cool especially with the window shades open. Perhaps being on a very high floor with the very large ceiling to floor window with a nice view of the Tokyo skyline had something do with the heat.

While exhausted, Ray and Traci wandered around looking for food before finding a small Ramen shop near the train station. As noted on previous visits, Tokyo is famous for having either pictures of food or models of food in their windows/on their menus and taking orders based on numbers (or letters, in this case). It is relatively easy to order food in the city just by pointing at it. Most of the small shops had basic entrees for the equivalent of $7-$10, even the fancy places had $20-40 entrees US, which certainly wouldn’t be out of line for Seattle much less New York. Calculating the time difference in Tokyo it is easy if you think of Wall Street – When the stock market opens in New York (9:30 AM EDT, 6:30 AM PDT) it is 10:30 at night in Tokyo). When the NYSE closes (4:00pm EDT, 1:00pm PDT) it is 5AM in Tokyo.

On Tuesday morning, Ray and Traci started the day by using their breakfast coupons at the Hapuna Buffet in the lobby of their hotel. Both were overwhelmed by the wide variety of western as well as Japanese breakfast/brunch foods – breads, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, French toast, fruit were supplemented with rice, udon, fish, miso soup, salads. Even spaghetti with marinara sauce was served. The restaurant offers buffets 3 times a day and provides a spread that Las Vegas casinos would be envious of. After engorging themselves for the day, Ray and Traci joined their family for a trip to “Sunshine City.”

After getting on the JR Yamanote Line (which is the circular above ground train that is the main way of getting around Tokyo), they got off at Ikebukuro station and walked a few blocks to Sunshine City, a shopping/entertainment destination. At Sunshine City, a character named "Ultraman" (the Japanese are so practical with their superhero names).

Inside the Sunshine City mall is Namjatown, the Japanese company Namco’s theme park containing attractions catering to young children as well as a huge variety of foods. Not to be missed in Namjatown, is the Ice Cream City with multiple shops offering a wide variety of frozen delicacies including one shop with rows and rows of coolers containing an amazing amount of different flavored packaged ice cream cups. Also check out Gyoza Stadium which houses several gyoza shops serving a variety of gyoza including grilled, boiled, bite-size, and fried. After leaving Namjatown, Ray and Traci went to another amazing place – a Toyota Salon.

While Lexus, Mercedes and BMW may have impressive dealerships in the US, nobody can compare with Toyota – 5 stories of Toyota cars and themed education/games. Toyota had a version of the Playstation’s Grand Turismo played by multiple drivers in fancy cockpits. In addition, Ray got into one of the safety simulators and raced in very slippery conditions while crashing several times despite Toyota’s enhanced safety technologies. Besides the games, Toyota had displays about their successes in Formula 1 racing, their great technologies and interesting new concept cars. On other floors, actual marketed cars were seen complete with pricing and personnel to take orders. The salon was staffed with uniformed people who immediately wiped down each car after people touched it. The whole environment was topped off by an automatic grand piano playing music just like Nordstrom. After looking at all of the small cars Toyota currently markets in Japan, one can only see bad things ahead for their US competitors in an environment with skyrocketing gasoline prices. Gasoline is about $6.50 a gallon in Japan when regular unleaded is selling for $4.25 in Seattle.

Across the street from Sunshine City is a 6 story Sega gaming metroplex. What is especially interesting besides the state of the art videogames, were the adults only floor containing actual Las Vegas slot machines, video poker machines, Mah Jong machines, simulated horse race games and Pachinko machines. Pachinko is like vertical pinball with balls being shot upward in a glass case and falling into various targets. For years, Pachinko palaces would operate with players winning trays and trays of the balls and trading them in for cash (with a wink from government which officially outlaws gambling). They get around this by giving you a “ticket” for the balls you win, then you take the ticket across the street to get money for the ticket. Now it appears, you can win tokens from slot machines and video poker with the same mechanism to get actual cash. Ray also found machines where you lower a toy crane’s grappling hook to snag prizes – America has similar games, but what was unique about Japan was the type of prizes you win. Sega had games where you win Haagan-Daaz ice cream bars and boxes of Ritz crackers.

Why anyone would pay $1 for a chance to win an ice cream or Ritz Crackers tests the imagination. Other similar machines had players try to grab difficult objects to win a Nintendo DS. From Sega World, Ray and Traci met up with their relatives and everyone went to Café du Monde. The first interesting story was how they found the Café – supposedly near the Ikebukuro Station west exit. The group went to the exit and saw no Café du Monde. After asking an employee at a coffee shop next to the station exit for directions, she took it upon herself to walk us over to the competing establishment which was 2 blocks from the station. Service is really amazing in Japan! Café du Monde is a world famous restaurant from New Orleans that features beignettes, a tasty pastry. The group enjoyed the afternoon treat before venturing back to the hotel.

For dinner, Traci’s entire family got together (12 people) but needed to split up to get into a restaurant. Ray and Traci ate at a place called Transfer which has a New York Subway décor (signage and a copy of a passenger car). Ray had a steak/pasta/salad combination and Traci had a seafood stew. Ray thought all things considered ($17 price) that the meal was quite satisfactory while Traci thought the best part of her meal was the rice. The group finished the night off by having gelato sold near the entrance to the Shinagawa Prince.

2008-07-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

A Farewell to Yankee Stadium

Baseball fans Ray and Traci decided to visit some of the most hallowed grounds in the sport before Yankee Stadium is replaced in 2009. In their ongoing tour of Major League Ballparks, neither had visited Yankee Stadium although they had a great time at Shea Stadium watching the Mets play the Mariners in 2003. Unfortunately scheduling conflicts prevented a simultaneous visit with their beloved but troubled home team so an interleague matinee with the Padres was chosen.

In contrast to their previous 3 visits to the Big Apple, Ray and Traci used Alaska Airlines miles to get free tickets on American Airlines non-stop flight from Seattle to JFK. Despite the horror stories of flying into JFK, their flight arrived 25 minutes early on a Tuesday late afternoon. Not wanting to fight rush hour traffic in a taxi or car service, they rode the Airtrain from the American Terminal 8 to the Jamaica stop, paid $5 to exit the Airtrain terminal and jumped on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) for a 20 minute $10 ride into Manhattan’s Penn Station. After a nice walk, they arrived at the Times Square Marriott Marquis in just over an hour despite rush hour traffic. Travelers familiar with rush hour traffic in NYC know about the long delays and frequent horn honking associated with trips in and out of Manhattan.

The Marriott Marquis is a much nicer hotel than the Sheraton NYC hotels where Ray and Traci had not so good experiences. It has an impressive lobby, and fast glass elevators which can easily scare those fearful of heights. One interesting feature is that the elevators do not have floor controls on them – riders have to key in a floor number outside the elevator lobby and the computer selects an elevator for them to ride. While more efficient, you don’t have a chance to change your mind. After checking in on the 8th floor sky lobby, Ray and Traci went to their 25th floor room and were very surprised at their spacious accommodations – unlike the Sheraton closet that passed for a room on their Christmas visit to NYC. The Marriott had a large room complete with full sized desk, love seat, and easy chair/foot stool. The room also had a nice bath and a 42 inch LCD HD TV. The dresser was also large with many drawers – only deficiency was no refrigerator. Interestingly enough, the Marriott didn’t try to make money off an overpriced mini bar. Further surprises awaited as the hotel had an amazing gym – with a great selection of cardio equipment and at least for this visit, no shortages for exercising guests.

After perusing their new home, Ray and Traci went to the Rockerfeller Center for a light dinner. Traci decided to get a roast pork loin sandwich at Tom Colicchio’s ‘Wichcraft. Tom is the head judge of Top Chef, a reality show watched by both travelers. Traci liked the sandwich although noted that it was very thin on pork loin – perhaps Tom put his cooks on a very meager budget like he does during some of the reality show challenges. Ray decided to get a tossed Caesar salad at “Hale & Hearty” – a chain of soup and sandwich shops. Although they ran out of chicken, Ray thought his custom bacon and roasted turkey Caesar salad was quite good. Before returning home, Ray and Traci walked toward Central Park, first stopping at the amazing St. Patrick’s Cathedral to admire the ornate statues and stain glass windows.

Once in Central Park, Ray and Traci encountered many runners enjoying an evening run thru the park – so many that one would think a marathon race was taking place! Before retiring to the hotel, Ray and Traci encountered a martial arts class, a beach volleyball game, and a small “Fun Forest” like area complete with carnival rides.

Ray began Day 2 with a run thru central Park – he tried to run around the Jackie Onassis Kennedy Reservoir but somehow ended up going in circles due to the roads that cut thru the park. Ray and Traci then left the Marriott to go to the Whitney Museum of Modern American Art – a museum not visited on previous trips. After seeing the Whitney, Ray wondered if 50 years from now an artwork consisting of vacuum cleaners sitting on fluorescent light bulbs really will be considered art like Picasso or Rembrandt. Some of the work at that museum really strains the definition of art. Perhaps one can say the same thing about today’s rap music – will it stand the time like Mozart or the Beatles? News magazines have done stories showing creations by young children and placing them side by side with modern art works to embarrass modern art “experts” when they can’t tell the difference. Perhaps some of the Whitney’s artists just have good agents to get their name out there – once someone has a name, anything they make becomes a collectable. In any case, the Whitney isn’t something recommended to those with classic art tastes. From the Whitney, Ray and Traci travelled back to Times Square and had lunch at Duke’s Café – It is a multiethnic food court all in one establishment – you can have ramen, custom salads, deli meats, soups, hot food buffet foods, and sushi all in one place. It is an extremely well run place with most people taking their food out.

After lunch, Ray and Traci attended a Wednesday afternoon matinee of “Young Frankenstein,” Mel Brook’s updated musical rendition of the classic story. The musical performances were well done and the production enjoyable, although Traci thought they could have had better humor. For dinner, Ray and Traci took the subway to Lombardi’s, one of New York’s most famous pizza establishments. In 1905 Lombardi’s started making pizza in coal fired ovens – which continues today. Lombardi’s is technically the first pizza parlor in America although it went out of business in a while back and was reincarnated with the same oven at the current location. Although Ray is a deep dish Chicago style pizza fan, he enjoyed Lombardi’s thin crispy crust as did Traci. After dinner, the travelers wandered around Central Park where they ran into a Mister Softie Ice Cream Truck virtually on every block – Ray took it as some sort of sign from a higher power and decided to have a chocolate covered soft vanilla cone which was covered with multicolored sprinkles. Unfortunately the chocolate did not make a hard shell like Dairy Queen’s dipped cones.

Thursday was baseball day – Ray started the day by successfully finding the reservoir by following the streets that parallel the park and then running around it.

Getting to Central Park can be a challenge on a workday – traffic around Times Square really follows the laws of the jungle. Pedestrians don’t follow traffic lights, and drivers have to be really aggressive to move anyway. It is impossible to walk a block without hearing someone honking their horn. Traffic lights are almost optional in downtown NYC. After successfully surviving the NYC jungle, Ray and Traci headed to Yankee stadium on the subway – one great thing about NY baseball parks is their easy access via subway. Upon emerging from the 161st Street station in the Bronx, historic Yankee stadium is seen side by side with its newly constructed replacement. Yankee stadium is long on legend but quite short on character or amenities – in fact, it is difficult to figure out what stadium you are in from the seating area – only the “26 World Championships” banner below the press box gives you an obvious clue. If any city had a dire need for a new stadium, it would be New York.

After watching New York win a close pitcher’s duel over the visiting San Diego Padres, Ray and Traci returned to Manhattan on the subway and had dinner at McCormick’s and Schmick. The large chain of seafood and steak restaurants can be found in many cities. Ray enjoyed a Rib Eye steak while Traci was quite happy to discover a good tasting Chilean Sea Bass. From dinner, Ray and Traci headed back to the theatre district to see another musical, Xanadu. Taking a horrible 80’s movie and turning it into a musical was certainly an unorthodox approach to Broadway production, but Xanadu is an entertaining and fun show along the lines of Mamma Mia. When it comes to Broadway shows, Ray likes ones with simple plots and familiar music, so his favorites include Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys and Xanadu.

On Friday, Ray and Traci started out by heading to the Chelsea Market – the home of the food network. Ray had a chicken noodle soup from Friedman’s Delicatessen while Traci enjoyed their fruit salad. Ray also had a strawberry gelato from L’Arte del Gelato. After leaving Chelsea, Ray and Traci wandered around the East Village pausing to sample some French fries from Frites Pommes – while you expect the fries to be good since that is all they sell, Ray wasn’t that impressed. After a long morning of walking around and a free evening awaiting, Ray decided to try the well known TKTS service to get tickets to another show. Fortunately, the TKTS booth is located at the Marriott so Ray went to the long line 30 minutes before the window opened and emerged 40 minutes later scoring 2 decent tickets to Hairspray. TKTS is a great place to get tickets if you want to save 50% and are flexible about the show – but if you are traveling from far away like we were, I’d recommend just buying good seats well in advance. Traci found a Japanese restaurant called Menchoanko-Tei to eat at which was full of local appearing Asians – a good sign. Hairspray turned out to be a good show, although the main character’s voice (Tracy Turnblad) was kind of annoying and she wasn’t a very good dancer considering the whole show is about winning an American Bandstand like dancing contest for social change.

Saturday was getaway day – Ray and Traci spent the morning in the Marriott’s excellent gym, and then met up with Ray’s cousin David to enjoy a brunch at the Eatery. Traci enjoyed a tasty French Toast dish while Ray and David had omelets that were well prepared. After brunch, Ray and Traci decided to reverse their original commute rather than trust the Saturday afternoon traffic patterns in a cab. By taking a short cab ride to Penn Station, the Long Island Railroad to the Jamaica station and then the Airtrain to the terminal, Ray and Traci had a 1:45 hotel room to gate travel time. On a Saturday, a cab ride would probably save some time and due to flat rate pricing wouldn’t cost significantly more but during rush hour, the train would be an option worth considering.

2008-06-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

A Second Visit to Waikiki Beach

After a 3 night stay at Kauai, Ray and Traci travelled to Honolulu so Ray could attend the 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies national meeting held at the Honolulu convention center. With 10,000 pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists invading paradise, Waikiki became an especially busy location. The flight from Kauai was not even 30 minutes in length, and this time Hertz had a Subaru Impreza waiting – a car Ray was much happier with. Using the invaluable Garmin Nuvi, Ray and Traci found their way to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki – kind of far from the convention center, but since they already stayed 3 nights at the Kauai Hyatt, he got a special package price which included an upgrade to an ocean view “club room.”
A Second Visit to Waikiki Beach

After a 3 night stay at Kauai, Ray and Traci travelled to Honolulu so Ray could attend the 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies national meeting held at the Honolulu convention center. With 10,000 pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists invading paradise, Waikiki became an especially busy location. The flight from Kauai was not even 30 minutes in length, and this time Hertz had a Subaru Impreza waiting – a car Ray was much happier with. Using the invaluable Garmin Nuvi, Ray and Traci found their way to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki – kind of far from the convention center, but since they already stayed 3 nights at the Kauai Hyatt, he got a special package price which included an upgrade to an ocean view “club room.”
Hanuma Bay is a very famous snorkeling spot created in an old volcano crater with a largely protected reef. Despite being a very windy day, snorkeling inside the bay was fairly easy. The wind made the ambient temperatures seem quite low and both Ray and Traci became cold after looking at fish. Ray thought fish were less abundant than a previous visit, although this visit occurred at low tide. He did come face to face with a 6 foot eel. Hanauma Bay is no Molokini (the offshore reef on Maui where a 1 hour boat ride gets you up close and personal with schools of fish) but it is much more convenient – beware, the park is closed on Tuesdays and the parking lots fill up quite fast, so if you want to go – go early or late in the day. The whole process of viewing the safety film, renting snorkeling equipment and getting into the water is very efficient. Hanauma Bay is a great place to look at fish without much effort. After snorkeling, Ray and Traci stopped at a famous local plate lunch place called Rainbow Drive-In. Ray had a Shoyu chicken plate lunch which was excellent and Traci had a Pork Long Rice special lunch, equally as good. Rainbow Drive-In is another take out place where they give you lunch in a cardboard box and the entrée is served on a bed of noodles. Prices were very cheap $6-8, and many of the diners were buying more than one plate lunch. After a morning of snorkeling and eating, Ray had to leave for the convention center for a long afternoon at the meetings.

Tuesday was the last full day in paradise. Ray had a few hours of meetings, and then Ray and Traci went to the Ala Moana Mall so Traci could check out the new and very chic Nordstrom which recently opened. While at the very impressive store, Ray and Traci tried the Nordstrom Gelato bar and had what tasted more like strawberry ice cream than gelato (but was still delicious). They then went to the food court at the ala moana mall where Ray had a noodle dish with shrimp tempera, while Traci had a manapua (humbow) – both were good for fast food fare. After exploring more of the mall including the Shirokiya (large department store) they left for the hotel. Ray and Traci had dinner at Sansei Restaurant – one of their favorite eateries on Maui, where Traci enjoyed mango crab rolls and miso butterfish while Ray had a shrimp and steak combination. They finished the night by enjoying some free samples at the Honolulu Cookie Company. The cookie company makes shortbread cookies with various fillers and dipped in different coatings all in the shape of a pineapple. The store is located in the Hyatt. While Ray and Traci didn’t buy any cookies that night, they ended up purchasing 3 boxes before leaving town.

Ray and Traci left the Hyatt the next morning and travelled home on Alaska Airlines non-stop Honolulu to Seattle service. Alaska has announced non-stop service to Maui starting in the summer which will be a welcome option for Seattle to Hawaii travel.

2008-06-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

A Brief Visit to the Garden Isle

Ray was traveling to the national pediatric research meetings in Honolulu, so Ray and Traci decided to make a quick pre-meeting visit to Kauai, Hawaii’s famed garden isle. Fortunately, Alaska Airlines recently started flying non-stop from Seattle to Kauai, making the island even more convenient to Seattle natives.

A quick tip for travelers who like great adventures – purchase a hand held GPS device for navigating unfamiliar roads. We found our Garmin Nuvi invaluable at finding our way on Kauai with its unlit and largely unsigned roads. Especially with a night time arrival, finding our way to the Hyatt would have been a much more difficult chore.

We arrived at the Grand Hyatt Kauai after an uneventful trip. Ray was unhappy that Hertz “upgraded” his desired compact auto into a white Mercury Grand Marquis – clearly the car is rented because nobody wants to buy the large, bulky and gas guzzling boat car especially when gas on Kauai was $3.93 a gallon. The Grand Hyatt turned out to be an excellent place to stay while visiting Kauai. The rooms were spacious and well maintained, our “mountain” view room mostly looked over a grass field and road but it earned its 5 diamond AAA rating. Arriving with a 3 hour time change made the travelers quite tired and after picking up some provisions (drinks and comfort food) at a local grocer, sleep came quite fast.

During the first day to Kauai, Ray and Traci headed up to the Kilauea Lighthouse located on the north part of the island.
While the lighthouse has been retired, a nature park surrounds the authentic lighthouse. Visitors have amazing coastal views, birdwatchers have many species to marvel at, and enthusiasts get to see a picturesque lighthouse. Traci also wanted to visit a fruit stand called Banana Joes where legendary smoothies are found. Unfortunately, Joe was on vacation until late May so the travelers headed back to the Hyatt. On the way, a strip mall had a Jamba Juice which Traci had to settle for. Hungry for lunch, Ray and Traci used their Garmin GPS to find a plate lunch locale called Mark’s Place. The plate lunch restaurant is located in an industrial park which would be very hard to find without electronic assistance – it is an incredibly busy but efficient take out only lunch place where many of the local workers order their meals in bulk. Ray had a beef teriyaki plate lunch complete with a large amount of rice and delicious macaroni salad. Traci tried the Chicken Katsu, and both were quite impressed – it pays to find out where the locals eat (especially when looking for a Hawaiian plate lunch).

The afternoon was spent enjoying the spacious grounds of the Grand Hyatt – it has an extensive network of pools and a very large salt water lagoon where guests can kayak or as in Ray’s case, just float around undisturbed by ocean waves. The hotel has a single waterslide which is nothing to write home about – the whole feel of the pool area is like the Grand Wailea on Maui with a lot of the fun parts taken away. People who haven’t been to the Grand Wailea probably would be quite impressed with the Kauai Grand Hyatt’s great pools but because of Ray’s frequent visits to the Grand Wailea he was disappointed. The hotel is located on the ocean, and has a nice beachfront. Unfortunately, Kauai being the most exposed of the major Hawaiian islands has quite rough surf and is probably not the best place for play in the surf. Another main attraction is the wildlife inhabiting the grounds of the hotel – black and white swans, multicolored carp, parrots and other animals are found throughout the grounds. Near the front entrance to the hotel is a small pond guarded by black swans who almost act as sentries – expecting a bribe of food to let visitors pass unmolested. While the wildlife is quite extensive, it isn’t quite the Grand Hyatt on Maui. Either Maui hotels copied many of the Kauai Grand Hyatt’s best features and improved on them, or Kauai’s Grand Hyatt took many of the best ideas from Maui and tried to implement them in a limited fashion.

After a fun day at the pool, Ray and Traci tried another local spot for dinner – Brick House Pizza. Traci had tomatoes and Canadian bacon on her half of the medium pizza while Ray ordered Portuguese sausage on his – The wheat crusted pizza with garlic butter was well prepared, crisp and tasty. Going to another local hotspot also had the side benefit of very reasonable prices, which is a good thing since there aren’t many bargain room rates at the Kauai Grand Hyatt.

The next day started with Ray running the 1.1 miles from the hotel to Kauai’s famous Poipu beach – this beach was supposed to be a favorite for off the beach snorkeling, but the surf looked quite hazardous that morning and snorkeling plans were abandoned. Traci wanted to go to another Kauai park, called Spouting Horn where old lava tubes resulted in nature’s version of the “Fountains of Bellagio” (minus the Celine Dion soundtrack). Various sounds which might resemble something produced by the Blue Man Group accompany a geyser like plume of water when waves rush in.
In addition to the spouting horn, beautiful views and tourist stands (naturally) one finds a plethora of roosters cock a doodling around. Some old story about a farm burning down resulting in the scattering of chickens is used to explain the many animals scattered around Kauai – but roosters are seen in the wild on other islands. KFC must not have tapped these animals for the many restaurants in Hawaii.

For lunch, Ray and Traci went to another local plate lunch place – Kauai Fish Market. Unfortunately, Ray found the menu a little too authentic without his favorite Terriyaki or Kalbi Rib options, so Ray and Traci had lunch at the Grand Hyatt’s outdoor restaurant. Traci ordered the fruit plate and surprisingly found some of the fruits subpar – pineapple and yellow watermelon weren’t as tasty as the fruit plates purchased at Seattle’s Costco. Ray had his favorite lunch, Chicken Caesar, which was par (albeit overpriced). A single white swan floated from side to side in the pond which abutted the outdoor restaurant. Other than an attempt to find food in a neighboring patron’s purse while she wasn’t paying attention, the swan just floated side to side almost in a mechanical fashion.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool. For dinner, Ray and Traci tried the Hyatt’s Tide Pools restaurant which had a very striking resemblance to the Grand Wailea’s Humus restaurant. Humus is a floating restaurant in a lagoon with hungry carp masquerading as piranhas when eaters throw bread into their midst. Tide Pools isn’t floating but a lagoon surrounds many of the outdoor tables. Ray had a Prime Rib dinner which actually wasn’t bad – the quality of the meat was certainly not what you would find in a high end Seattle Restaurant like Daniels, but it was tasty. Traci had a dinner of a Garden Isle salad (Baby Lettuce, Hawaiian Hearts of Palm, Carrots and Cucumbers,
Dressed in Homemade Papaya Seed Dressing, and Toasted Macadamia Nuts) and steamed Hawaiian sea bass – she felt the flavor was good but the fish wasn’t prepared well – over cooked and firm instead of moist and flakey. Dessert was very good, a chocolate lava cake with ice cream and complementary due to the subpar sea bass.

With the conclusion of the 3rd night in Kauai, it was time to fly to Honolulu for Ray’s meeting. Kauai is a very beautiful island, and the coastal scenery is breathtaking. Many tourist activities abound including hiking to waterfalls, river kayaking, snorkeling adventures and something called ziplining – traveling downhill in harnesses fastened to wires strung thru Kauai’s forests. The area has a much more rural and untouched flavor than Maui, or especially Honolulu (Tiffany’s shoppers beware). Visitors also have to be aware of the frequent rain found on the island. While conditions may vary, the island beaches near Poipu seem to be a bit more turbulent than Wailea Beach in Maui or Waikiki in Honolulu – families with small children take note.

Great Maui Food!

2007-11-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

On their latest journey to Maui, Ray and Traci had no new adventures to report. The Grand Wailea had no new additions, and in fact, gave them the same (or a very similar room) to the 2004 Maui trip. For this blog entry, they report about the food they ate on Maui.

The night after arriving, Ray and Traci ate at a popular Hawaiian chain – Sansei Restaurant. This is a chain of sushi bar/asian food which is found both on Maui as well as Oahu. Traci had the Sansei special roll (sushi) and a bowl of udon while Ray satisfied his post flight appetite with a bowl of rice, and two appetizers (or Hawaiians call them Pupus) – beef teriyaki and shrimp tempura. Sansei is located in Kihei (Next to Foodland) and has special discounts (25% off most days if you order before 6pm, 50% off after 10pm) Check out the website for details: http://www.sanseihawaii.com/

On Sunday, the travelers ate at Matteo’s Pizza located one block up the hill from The Shops at Wailea. If you are looking for a pizzeria with a view to kill for – this is your place. You get in line, order your food and fill your drinks and they deliver pasta and pizza to your table which likely has an incredible sunset view. What is even more shocking is the prices are cheaper than what you would find at chains like Pizza Hut. Traci had a ½ order of the house special pasta and shared Ray’s Italian sausage/ham pizza. Traci actually felt the house pasta was the best meal of the trip! Especially considering the view and the price, Matteo’s is not to be missed! They offer carry out pizza as well for travelers who wish to skip the million dollar views.

On Monday, Ray and Traci ventured into the Grand Wailea’s new Japanese Buffet at Kincha restaurant. Kincha used to operate as a regular Japanese restaurant, but was converted into a daily buffet with two slightly different menus. You will find the typical buffet fare including miso soup, different kinds of tempura, salads, California rolls and other sushi, as well as either Kobe Beef or Rib Eye Steak. On the Monday menu, Kincha also had a stir fried lobster dish which was quite tasty. Overall, Traci thought the food quality was not as good as the other Japanese buffet found in the Maui Prince Hotel (Hakone) but Ray would not pass up all you can eat steak and lobster. The buffet was a little pricey at $54 per person, and Kincha has a sushi bar for those who wish to pass up the buffet (but $54 goes really fast at a Sushi bar in the Grand Wailea).

Tuesday started with a late breakfast at Stella Blues, which is a nice American/Hawaiian café located in Kihei at the intersection of Piikea and South Kihei road. Stella Blues is what Denny’s would be if it was based in Hawaii and had better food. Ray enjoyed a traditional 2 egg/toast/hash brown with a taste of Hawaii – Portuguese sausage, while Traci had passion fruit iced tea, papaya with cottage cheese and whole wheat toast. Stella charges a little more than Denny’s ($20 total) but you’ll enjoy it more! For dinner, Ray and Traci went to Joe’s Restaurant which is located on the top floor of the Wailea Tennis club (a few blocks from Matteo’s Pizza). If you order before 6:30pm, the entrees are 2 for 1, so eat early! Ray had the Prime Rib, which was surprisingly tasty – the dish was prepared well with a lean portion of meat, but the quality of the meat wasn’t up to Seattle’s best. Traci had a rack of Baby Back Ribs, which again were good but not quite the tender, “falling off the bone” meat that mark the best dishes. Considering the whole meal including tip (automatically added to the bill), a salad and a coke was $62 it is hard to complain! Make sure you make reservations, even during the off season, as the place fills up quick!

Wednesday dinner was spent at a South Maui institution, “Da Kitchen.” It is located on South Kihei road, close to Wailea (First Kihei exit off the Piilani highway) in a strip mall. Da Kitchen serves Hawaiian Plate Lunches (generous portioned entrée, rice and salad – macaroni, potato, or green). Traci had the special Pork and Tofu plate while Ray had the Maui favorite Kalbi Ribs. Despite the availability of Kalbi ribs in Seattle at multiple places (including two at Seattle’s Uwajimaya – Shillas and Aloha Plates), Kalbi ribs on Maui are just better. Da Kitchen serves Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and makes their plates for a large appetite – so bring one! $24 bought the two plates and a large drink. After Da Kitchen, Ray and Traci went to “WOW” – Wednesdays at Wailea – On Wednesday at the Shops at Wailea Mall, live music is performed and many of the art galleries open up and invite patrons to gaze upon their works. The invited band was quite good – played adult/contemporary music including hits from Stevie Wonder, Michael Buble and Kermit the Frog (Rainbow Connection). Among the many galleries showing Hawaiian themed art, included was one called “Celebrity Fine Art Gallery” which has several notable artists and their works along with lots of rock n’ roll memorabilia. To complete the night, enjoy ice cream at Lappert’s – Haagan Dazs meets Hawaii. Many tropical flavors can be found here in very heavy, rich and expensive ice cream - $4 per cone.

On Thursday, Traci started the day in the Grand Wailea Spa. One tip for spa goers – Costco periodically sells SpaFinder gift certificates ($79.99 for $100 certificates) which are accepted at the Grand Wailea giving you an effective 20% off! After a rigorous morning at the Spa, Traci rejoined Ray for a lunch at a restaurant at the Shops at Wailea called Cheeseburgers in Paradise. This burger palace is a tropical themed Red Robin in an open air setting. Ray had a so-so bacon cheeseburger while Traci had a Chinese Chicken Salad. A $24 tab for lunch was reasonable by Wailea standards but the food was unremarkable. Later on in the evening, dinner was found at a hangout for the locals – Hanafuda Saimin. This noodle and plate lunch place is found next to Stella Blues on Piikea road in Kihei. Ray and Traci had a light $15.65 saimin dinner (ramen type noodles) – Traci added a California Roll and Ray had two pieces of shrimp tempera.

Ray and Traci spent Friday sampling the cuisine at the Grand Wailea, starting with the morning “Grand Buffet.” Traci had the continental buffet (without meat) while Ray enjoyed the whole spread. The buffet has the usual mix expected food including fruit, cereal, various breads, waffles and orange/guava juice. Ray went to the omelet bar for a boring ham and cheese and also had the chef make some fried rice using bacon and mushrooms. The Grand Wailea buffet has good quality food but it is expensive ($28 per person) and had a pretty unremarkable selection. On Sunday, the hotel has a more substantial meal at a higher price ($48) which we did not sample. For dinner, Ray and Traci ate at the poolside restaurant, Bistro Molokini. Patrons get to enjoy a good meal while watching a tropical sunset. Traci enjoyed her penne pasta dish while Ray, still stuffed from the morning buffet, had a good (but unremarkable) chicken Caesar salad.

Before leaving Maui on Saturday, Ray and Traci enjoyed one last meal at Stella Blues (the only repeat visit during this trip). Stella’s had a wonderful country fried steak special which Ray highly recommends. Traci’s last meal was the egg and ham late breakfast special. After a week filled with great weather and excellent food, the trip concluded with a flight back to a much colder (and wetter) Seattle.

Ray and Traci’s Mostly Excellent California Adventure

2007-04-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

Before the long awaited summer season arrived, Ray and Traci decided to escape the gloomy drizzle of Seattle and travel to the area both previously called home – Los Angeles. Traci has a brother and sister in LA and hoped to combine a family visit with some sunshine. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.

The nonstop flight to John Wayne Airport from Seattle on Alaska Airlines was on time and pleasant despite being filled to capacity – the airline even substituted a good warm cookie for the usual bag of pretzels. John Wayne airport has a very slow baggage carousel – the bags come out one every 10 seconds or so one at a time. The rental cars are found within the garage of the airport directly across the street so picking up the car was fast and easy. Armed with Mapquest directions, the car ride to the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland took less than half an hour. Disneyland is well labeled on highway signs but finding the Grand Californian is more difficult since signage is poor.

Disney did an excellent job with the Grand Californian – the exterior suggests a mountain ski lodge but the interiors are quite luxurious complete with relatively spacious rooms with refrigerators, plasma TVs and DVD players. Although the ambient noise level is high for a luxury hotel, it is probably unavoidable in a resort that caters to families. The lobby level gives the “lodge” feel with many sofas and chairs, a bar area, a fireplace – many places to lounge around. Disney’s Brother Bear character roams around and scares young children. The hotel is quite long rather than high and finding your room can be a challenge. Located adjacent to the California Adventure Park, the hotel contains a special entrance gate. Other parts of the Disney complex – Disneyland and Downtown Disney are within easy walking distance of the Grand Californian.

On Friday morning, disappointing rain greeted Ray and Traci – they started by having breakfast at a nearby Coco’s restaurant since the character buffet at the hotel had a long line. They met Traci’s sister Kristi and daughter Maya and headed to a rain drenched Disneyland – not always the happiest place on earth. Thanks to Mickey Mouse rain ponchos Traci and Kristi stayed somewhat comfortable. Ray had a complete REI gortex rain suit on so he was fine. Maya refused to wear her poncho and became quite soaked. The journey began at “Small World” followed by “Dumbo”, “King Arthur’s Carrousel” and Peter Pan’s Flight. A much drier and more comfortable Ray left the group to see relatively new attractions – Space Mountain with music by the Hot Chili Peppers, Star Tours and Indiana Jones Adventure. Space Mountain which previously seemed like a rather pedestrian roller coaster indoors, was immensely better when set to better light effects and the Red Hot Chili Peppers Music. This quite dated attraction was so much more enjoyable with the upgrades although it really doesn’t qualify with today’s “thrill” rides. Indiana Jones is an attraction not to be missed – like most good Disney features, the experience begins in line with the décor and atmosphere. Artifacts and signs warning patrons of things not to do (or face a lifetime of blight and desperation) resulted in, of course, people doing the exact opposite. The ride can best be described as a 2007 version (with a much higher thrill factor) of the Haunted Mansion. Patrons ride around in jeep like vehicles thru various Indiana Jones type scenes including one where the huge boulder comes right toward your vehicle. The ride is somewhat rough and quite spooky in places but one not to be missed. The biggest surprise of the day was the (relatively) long lines – For a weekday immediately after Spring Break with the most rain, perhaps for the entire year, the 35-45 minutes at Disney’s most popular features was quite surprising. From their last experience at Orlando, where weekday visits at all of the parks immediately after winter break found virtually no line more than 5 minutes, Ray and Traci were surprised at the wait at Disneyland. Perhaps the 13 million citizens surrounding Disneyland, the fact that only 2 parks are operating and the relatively cheap annual passes available to Southern California residents all contribute to the lines-even on a post spring break rainy weekday. Perhaps the powers at Disney will start throwing in “Fastpasses” with hotel packages as one has to question how much of Disneyland can be enjoyed by a regular tourist visiting during peak traffic days.

Ray met up with Traci, Kristi and Maya at the California adventure park. Maya was now thoroughly soaked so Kristi headed home. The rains that made the morning so miserable largely subsided so Ray and Traci waited in a 35 minute line for the best Disney feature – California Screamin! Like Space Mountain, Screamin was set to music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The relatively new roller coaster features silky smooth steel construction, a complete 360 loop, and an exhilarating launch up the first hill from an impressive electrical propulsion system. Riders begin at a dead stop followed by an incredible multi-G climb directly up a huge hill. Of the coasters Ray and Traci have ridden, only the Rock n Roll Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith (at Disney-MGM Studios) can compare and that particular indoor experience is less thrilling. If you like coasters you will love Screamin!

Ray and Traci picked up some fastpasses for repeat visits and then went to ride the Sun Wheel – a huge Ferris wheel which is OK for photos of the coaster but otherwise a waste of time and then the Soarin’ Over California Adventure. Soarin’ is the second don’t miss attraction in California Adventure – it combines beautiful Imax photography of California with a Disney ride complete with special wind & scent special effects to give you the sensation of flying over the Golden State. After Soarin, Traci went back to the hotel and Ray decided to partake in a few more adventures. The Tower of Terror (previously ridden at Disney-MGM studios) is the third can’t miss attraction in California Adventure. Great features provide thrill by incredible anxiety provoking visuals like speed, huge drops, upside down loops or by making riders fear the unknown. Tower of Terror takes a relatively common drop ride to a whole new level with the Rod Serling Twilight Zone theme and doing much of it in the dark with unexpected and seemingly unending motion. Ray finished his California adventure by riding the unremarkable water raft ride (in his gortex suit) and then using both fast passes for the Screamin rollercoaster – riding twice in 15 minutes is a good way to lose one’s appetite. Ray returned to the room to get Traci and both headed back to Disneyland to see the amazing “Dreams” Fireworks show. Disney puts on a fireworks extravaganza like none other – great pyrotechnics, wonderful choreography, music, an aerial “Tinkerbell” and laser lights all add up to one amazing show – don’t miss it! Now, completely exhausted, Ray and Traci went to the ESPN zone to find out how much the Seattle Mariners lost by and enjoy two quite surprisingly good salads – a Shrimp Caesar and a Southwest Cajun Chicken Salad.

Saturday was the LA adventure day. It started by Ray and Traci both remembering why they no longer live in Los Angeles – weekend driving took over an hour and a half to go from Anaheim to Santa Monica. Fortunately, the weather was better with more sunshine. They parked (for free!) in the Santa Monica 3rd street garage and wandered down the famous promenade. National chain stores mixed with local restaurants, theatres and street artists (some were quite good). A Frank Sinatra sound a like showed talent but probably would be better advised to move to Las Vegas. Ray and Traci had lunch at the Santa Monica Mall Food Court – California Crisp enjoying salads and sandwiches. They then went down to the Santa Monica Pier to meet the Pacific Ocean, take some pictures and listen to more street artists. An Elvis singer who somehow got on the Jimmy Kimmel show made listeners long for William Hung’s American Idol performances. Two brothers provided much more entertainment with a smashing rendition of “Stand By Me” – perhaps Simon Cowell should visit the pier when looking for the next American Idol.

After leaving the pier, Ray and Traci went to the UCLA campus where Ray negotiated with an “unofficial” merchant to get a deal on a Bruin Sweatshirt. They then walked up campus, saw the new (but not opened) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and went into the UCLA bookstore for some “official” memorabilia. Traci got some cookies at “Diddy Riese” – unfortunately it was nearing the dinner hour or both would have gotten the $1.25 ice cream sandwiches. If you want a cheap lunch complete with dessert – go no farther than Diddy Riese. After leaving Westwood, Ray and Traci traveled to meet Kristi, her husband Dil and their kids Jay and Maya. The whole party went to the Topanga Mall for dinner at The Farm. Before dinner, Traci marveled at the amazing Nordstrom store. Jay and Maya got to ride the double high merry go round inside the mall before the whole group sat down for dinner. Ray and Traci both enjoyed their chicken dishes (Ray had the fried chicken, Traci had the baked). The night ended with a somewhat less frustrating drive back to Anaheim.

On Sunday, Ray and Traci picked up breakfast from La Brea Bakery Café supplemented with beignets from Jazz Kitchen – both in Downtown Disney adjacent to the Grand Californian. Ray previously purchased tickets for the Seattle Mariners game against the Angels and Traci’s brother Kevin brought Kristi’s son Jay to join Ray and Traci. Obviously pessimistic from a 5 game losing streak, Ray had little patience with the Mariners poor performance, eventually losing 6-1.

Anaheim has a well decorated although somewhat dated stadium complete with something Seattle doesn’t have in their $525 million playpen: a World Series Trophy.

After the 7th inning stretch, the four baseball fans left to go back to Disneyland for some games at the ESPN zone. With some mini-bowling and air hockey entertainment completed, Kevin took Jay back home while Ray and Traci satisfied a Pizza craving at Mama Cozza’s (an Italian restaurant located about 3 miles from Disneyland. The pizza (a “Hawaiian”) was quite good, the menu was complete with many Italian and sandwich dishes, and the prices couldn’t be beaten. Ray and Traci returned to the Grand Californian with appetites cured of pizza cravings.

Monday was getaway day, and we planned on going to the South Coast Mall in the OC (Orange County) before returning home. The weather dramatically improved and California’s famous sunshine appeared. After checking out from the Grand Californian, they headed toward the mall which has a wide range of stores – from Sears Auto Shop to Tiffany’s. Also, an unusually large number of security guards wandered the halls for an obviously sparse Monday morning crowd. Ray and Traci had lunch at Traci’s favorite out of town lunch chain – The Corner Bakery. (Should the Corner Bakery come to downtown Seattle they will have at least one regular client). Traci enjoyed some oatmeal and Ray had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. During the window shopping, Ray found a Haagan Daaz and enjoyed a vanilla chocolate chip ice cream treat. Traci was impressed with the very successful Nordstrom location. A short drive later, the travelers boarded an Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle and completed another adventure.

On Fire On the Big Island

2006-11-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ray and Traci decided to spend a weekend on the Big Island of Hawaii during their most recent voyage to the 50th state. After landing at the Kona airport we faced good and bad news - our checked luggage was not to be found, but we got a free upgrade to a Convertible Mustang since Hertz ran out of compact cars. Luggageless, we traveled to our hotel - the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Our visit happened to fall 2 weeks after the 6.7 magnitude earthquake hitting the Big Island. Damage to our hotel included the closing of the entire top floor although most of the facilities were operational - however, many cracks and damaged areas were seen. We chose to stay at the Mauna Kea because it has one of the highest rated beaches in Hawaii. The beach is beautiful with great sand. However, it is bordered by lava on both sides and does not get much of a surf so it is a lousy place to boogie board or body surf.

Fortunately, Hawaiian Airlines found our luggage (it didn't quite make the connection with us at Honolulu), and they delivered the bags to our hotel later in the evening. In general, the Big Island has a few outstanding resorts such as the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel but trails in comparison to the development of Maui. While no area with a Costco could be called primitive, if you are expecting deluxe shopping centers, exciting nightlife and tourist activities galore, Maui or Oahu are probably better options.

One world famous attraction on the big island is the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kilauea is an active Volcano and you can hike on the lava fields to see real lava flowing. Many of the best views are only accessible by air. Although the helicopter flights are quite expensive, the views are breathtaking. We decided to take the Big Island Spectacular tour operated by Blue Hawaiian Helicopter. By making reservations over the internet in advance you do get a significant discount. Our chopper left the heliport which is located around the Hilton Waikoloa Village, a 10 minute drive down the main highway from our hotel. The helicopter headed out toward Mauna Kea (dormant volcano seen below) and Mauna Loa (largest volcano in the world).

From Mauna Loa, we headed south toward Kilauea - the active volcano currently pouring out lava. Underneath the great fields of lava that make up the volcano park are tubes which carry molten lava away toward the ocean. You can see lava bubbling up from these tubes in places. From the air, our pilot showed us a great pit where a river of lava could be seen flowing from above.:Kilauea constantly spews out lava which constantly changes the geography. We passed over lava fields which obliterated roads and even surrounded houses. When buying real estate on the big island one needs to study geography (and homeowner's insurance) very carefully.

From the tubes, lava flows into the ocean. When the superhot lava strikes the Pacific Ocean, chunks can fly off 100s of feet. It is quite humbling to watch the earth's newest land be created.

From the lava show, our tour continued with the gorgeous scenery of the Kohala coast. We had a brief stop at the Hilo airport on the east side of the Big Island for fuel.

It would be hard to imagine a place with more breathtaking scenery than the Big Island of Hawaii.

We did not have much time to sample the restaurants or see many of the resorts near Kona. The Mauna Kea is a wonderful resort and has a very friendly staff. We enjoyed the Sunday buffet which had an incredible spread of food. While we weren't able to enjoy it, the nearby Hakone Steakhouse (Prince Hapuna Beach Hotel) has a Japanese Buffet on Friday and Saturday nights - something we look forward to every year at the Maui Hakone Restaurant.

Hawaii's Big Island has got to be one of nature's most spectacular attractions on this planet.

An October Visit to New York

2006-10-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Ray decided to attend a neonatal conference held at Columbia University each October and Traci tagged along to see what fall is like in New York. Weather conditions were remarkably similar to Seattle’s during the travel week – 50 degrees and cloudy. Baseball conditions were remarkably different though – the Mets were involved in an amazing series (ultimately losing to St. Louis in a 7 game NLCS) while the Mariners were, as in the past 5 seasons, watching baseball on TV.

We flew out from Seattle on Delta’s afternoon nonstop to JFK airport, arriving around 9pm. Delta is not our favorite airline but the price was quite a bit less than Alaska Air (which flies to Newark) and Ray wanted to be a good steward of his company’s money. The flight actually was fine, Delta arrived on time and even served a snack pack with crackers and cookies to go along with soda pop. One bonus: Delta had little TV sets in each seat and (for free) we could watch satellite TV CNN, ESPN, Food Channel, MSNBC, etc making the flight go fast. Because of the late hour and uncertainty about traffic, we decided to take a car service for airport transportation. Limos.com allows travelers to find both inexpensive and quality car services, but a Google search found an article in a New York newspaper which recommended First Corporate Sedans (fcsny.com) – they charged $88 from JFK to Times Square and $68 from Times Square to JFK (difference due to parking & waiting fee at JFK). Our ride from JFK to Times Square was fairly uneventful ~ 45 minutes and we arrived at the Sheraton Manhattan. Last December we paid an outrageous rate and stayed in a small closet at the Sheraton New York Towers which was across the street. This time by committing ahead and using 1000 Starwood points (which was less than half the points we earned from the December visit) we got a great room for 50% off. The room was certainly spacious by New York standards, and had a wonderful balcony over 7th Avenue looking at Times Square. I’m not sure why we lucked into such a choice room – only the 5th floor had balconies and ours was the corner room looking down toward Times Square. I guess the Sheraton figured they owed us one.

Excited about the room, we went out looking for dinner. We went 1 ½ blocks to the Park Café where Ray ordered a delicious Steak and Eggs meal with fries and Traci had a great Turkey Club sandwich. After dinner we went back to our spacious room and watched the Mets lose game 7 to St. Louis in the 9th inning.

On Friday, we awoke (late) to find rain in Manhattan. We decided to buy Grey Line bus tickets and ride the only loop (Downtown, Uptown, Brooklyn and Night) that we hadn’t previously ridden – the Brooklyn. The traffic was absolutely awful – despite being on an “express” bus it took 1 hour just to get to the starting point of the Brooklyn tour. We learned some interesting things about Brooklyn – it was until recently the 4th largest US city with 2.4 million people, it has the 1st pizza parlor in the US, it has a great Sushi restaurant that flies in sushi daily from Tokyo and it merged with New York City when they ran out of water. The tour was somewhat interesting but not something I’d suggest to most tourists. After the tour we hopped on the subway and traveled (much quicker) to the Guggenheim Museum near Central Park. The Guggenheim had 2 rooms with a permanent collection of art but most of the space was occupied by a rotating exhibition – currently the artistry and architecture of Zaha Hadid. She had quite a few futuristic designs and colorful works but we (like many observers) had questions about their practicality. After leaving the Guggenheim, we went back to the Sheraton to pick a place to eat. We decided to eat at a well known pizza place – Ray’s Pizza which was very close to the Sheraton. Various pizzas are available by the slice and were quite good – we highly recommend the restaurant.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to watch the show Avenue Q – by purchasing tickets months early, we got to sit in the center near the front. Ray wasn’t sure what the show was about – just that it had some muppets in it and won many awards. He was wondering why there weren’t any kids standing in line outside the theatre. Well, suffice to say, the show is an R rated show focusing on the transition from college age to young adulthood using both humans and muppets to bring humor and entertainment around a quite serious theme. We both enjoyed the show and highly recommend it. We’ve had the chance to see several “Broadway” shows now – Lion King, Movin Out, Mamma Mia, Producers, Wicked and Avenue Q – and would highly recommend them all.

On Saturday, the weather cleared up for a beautiful fall day. Ray (who was nursing a bad cold) went up to the Columbia University Medical Center for his conference while Traci met up with Ray’s cousin David to explore the neighborhoods of New York City.

Traci and David started the day in the Meatpacking District, an ultra-hip & lively area – at night. Since it was the afternoon, the area was quiet and calm, a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Times Square. They found a Belgian restaurant called “markt” which served breakfast all day so Traci ordered French Toast, which turned out to be the best she’s ever had – thick pieces of crispy grilled bread with fresh fruit and maple syrup. David had a cheeseburger that was also very good. After lunch, they took the subway to Brooklyn and walked back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is one of the best free things to do in New York. The views are spectacular and the walk only takes about a half hour.

After crossing the bridge, Traci and David walked around Greenwich Village, SoHo, NoHo, and Union Square. There are a lot of great shops and restaurants in these areas. SoHo has a Prada store that rivals many museums. A lot of celebrities are spotted eating at the restaurants in these areas. Unfortunately, no celebrities were seen but David did show Traci where Richard Gere lived. After miles of walking, Traci and David were ready for a snack so they went to Pommes Frites, a hole in the wall eatery that serves fries with about 30 different sauces to choose from. The fries are double cooked so they’re really crunchy on the outside. They tried the curry ketchup and parmesan peppercorn sauces which were good but even better mixed together. Pommes Frites is definitely a can’t miss place for fries.

For Dinner, Ray and Traci ate at a Japanese Restaurant called Haru in the heart of Times Square. We both shared some sushi and Ray had Beef Teriyaki and Traci had Chicken Teriyaki – the food was average but the restaurant was nice and very conveniently located. On the way back we stopped in the Times Square Toys R Us to see the famous indoor Ferris wheel. The store was much less crowded than our last December visit, but a line with many childless adults still filled the area in front of the Ferris wheel.

The weather cooperated again on Sunday, but Ray needed to attend his conference in the morning again. Traci walked to Amy’s Bread in the Hell’s Kitchen area. Drooling over all the breads, muffins, scones, cakes, and cookies, Traci decided on an oatmeal banana pecan scone that was delicious and crunchy. She then walked to 5th Avenue to do some shopping and found the sidewalks full of people watching a movie being filmed. Traci decided to watch as well and was thrilled to see Will Smith in the scene. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a camera so didn’t get any pictures of him.

After leaving the conference at lunch time, we got on the subway and headed toward the Manhattan terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. Of all the free tourist attractions, the Staten Island Ferry has to rank up at the top with the Las Vegas Fountains of Bellagio. You hop on a passenger ferry for a 20 minute ride that passes in front of the Statue of Liberty and then ride it back to Manhattan. It is a 20 minute ride (each way) that is worth infinitely more than its price.

After leaving the ferry terminal, we passed by Ground Zero where construction on the new Freedom Tower appears to be stalled. Before reaching New York’s most sacred grounds we paused to take pictures with the “Charging Bull,” a statue inspired by “Black Monday,” the 1987 stock market crash.We then walked to Chinatown where merchants sold everything from T shirts to replica purses. Next, we walked to Little Italy where we sampled some Strawberry Gelato. It appears that Chinatown is encroaching on Little Italy as Asian shopkeepers surround Italian eateries. If you are looking for cheap New York souvenirs, Chinatown/Little Italy is your place for bargains! Just don’t expect to be buying a real Gucci purse or a real Rolex for $25. After our walk thru southern Manhattan, we hopped on the subway and got off in Times Square where we met Ray’s cousin David at the ESPN Zone restaurant. We arrived in time to watch Seattle’s quarterback Matt Hasselbeck get injured and the Seahawks lose big while eating burgers, wings, salads and sandwiches. Ray tried to raise his spirits by eating a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream but got a stale waffle dish after waiting in a long line.

We had to awaken early for our car service to pick us up and bring us to JFK. Surprisingly there was no congestion either on the roads at 6:30 on Monday morning or even at JFK. Our flight to Seattle again went fast thanks to free TV and we actually arrived home early after another exciting adventure in New York.

Great Adventures in Beantown

2006-04-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Although Traci and I both have visited Boston before (Traci once, Ray twice) neither of us had the pleasure of experiencing Fenway Park, baseball’s oldest cathedral. With that in mind we decided to follow our team into the heart of Red Sox nation.

April isn’t usually a peak tourist season, but because the Boston Marathon took place during the Mariners visit, we expected some difficulty with planning. We were able to use Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles (we scheduled the trip 5 months or so in advance) – Alaska Airlines is a great option because they offer the only non-stop flight from Seattle to Boston. Many of the hotels in the heart of Boston were booked far in advance due to the marathon but we found a fairly good discounted rate at the Omni Parker House. We found out later that the Parker House hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the United States – many renovations have taken place since it opened and the accommodations were quite nice! Getting Red Sox tickets is difficult – they have sold out over 230 games in a row! Fenway is one of baseball’s smallest parks (36,000) and winning the World Series in 2005 only makes tickets scarcer. We decided on going to two games, the Friday night immediately after our plane arrived and then Sunday afternoon. Because of the uncertainty with cross country plane travel these days, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on Friday night tickets only to miss the game. Although I got on the Red Sox internet site the day single game tickets went on sale to the public, the best tickets I could “score” were Standing Room only…$25 each! I did find a pair of overpriced tickets behind 3rd base for the Sunday game from a ticket broker (stubhub.com) so we could enjoy at least one game from a good location.

Our Friday morning flight from Seattle to Boston’s Logan airport was uneventful and we landed on time (around 5pm). We concluded, while still in the airport, that Boston is spending all of their money on the “big dig” (20 billion dollar ten lane highway underneath the city that is the target for many jokes and criticisms) as their airport has much to be desired. To go from terminal to terminal you have to get your luggage and hop on busses (they really need an airport subway like Seattle!). The bus eventually takes you to the parking garage as well as the main downtown subway station. The airport subway stations lack escalators and aren’t friendly to the air traveler. Thankfully our subway trip to the Omni was quite short and we lugged our stuff up more stairs to the street.

Our hotel, the venerable Parker House, was 2 blocks from the Government Center subway stop. We checked in without incident and found a small but clean, relatively modern room (effective climate control, good plumbing and free high speed internet.) We dropped our bags off and walked north thru the Boston Commons park (a smaller version of New York’s Central Park) and then down Newbury street (a very fashionable collection of boutiques, restaurants and Starbucks shops) toward Fenway. Two observations about the walk – the crowds were huge and many (perhaps most) were wearing Red Sox jerseys. For all of the criticism of Boston fans for their loud/possibly obnoxious behavior especially when the Yankees are in town, they are definitely loyal and enthusiastic supporters – unlike some other “what have you won lately” cities which will go nameless. Second, Bostonians have no idea what “Don’t Walk” signals mean. It is amazing to see people intentionally walk into traffic and get angry when they almost get hit. Perhaps all Boston’s pedestrians harbor deep seated rebellious feelings toward traffic authorities. Fenway is quite close to the main downtown area and has a subway stop (Kenmore) for those who don’t want to walk. Large crowds milled around the ballpark area. Some parking lots charged $45 for a routine game against the Mariners – Don’t Drive. Many people have pre-game celebrations in the many establishments that ring the park. Since we didn’t have any seats to Friday’s game, we roamed around the various areas of the park. While the park itself was old and had the vintage feel of Wrigley, there were many modern amenities like ballpark restaurant areas, bar areas – concession areas actually had plasma televisions to watch the action. One of the most surprising (but possibly unsettling thing) is the fact that most if not all the concession drinks/food were cheaper than at Safeco. The Red Sox must sell hundreds of standing room only seats – there were fans standing behind the last row of seats virtually everywhere that had an unobstructed view of the field. After wandering around the stadium for 3 innings we found a spot behind the 3rd base line and watched a very good pitchers duel between Curt Schilling and Jamie Moyer. After 6 innings a Red Sox fan who was standing next to us with his friends kindly offered us his seats behind 3rd base – standing room only seating is so accepted in Boston that people actually prefer hanging out with their buddies in back rather then sitting in their seats. Traci and I jumped at the chance and watched the final 3 innings of a great game but disappointing outcome – Red Sox won 2-1. Walking back to downtown with the Red Sox fans was interesting – they were so excited about the win, it was easy to forget they only won a game in the 2nd week of a long season against a team who hasn’t even been .500 since 2003. Once we got back to the downtown convention area it was 10:30 pm and we were hungry. We decided to eat at the Copley Place Legal Seafoods – Copley place is their giant high end indoor mall and Legal Seafoods is a large chain much like Seattle’s Ivars or Anthony’s. Traci had a nice Ravioli dish and Ray enjoyed a shrimp platter (grilled, coconut and shrimp stuffed with crabmeat). With appetites satisfied we returned to the Omni for the night.

Saturday was devoted to tourist activities and we started out by heading toward the Quincy Market area and purchased tickets for the Old Town Trolley – Boston has many different trolley companies – all with different colored trolleys. We picked the Orange Old Town Trolleys because of good experiences with the company in Washington DC. Our driver was named Bud and he had a classic New England accent. He drove us around the city, pointing out the major landmarks and giving funny anecdotes. We passed by many interesting sites although if you really want to see Boston’s historical areas you need to get off the Trolley and walk. There is a “Freedom Trail” marked with red paint and red bricks that is a walking tour of the major historical sites. We just sat on the Trolley from the start at Quincy Market thru Boston and Cambridge before returning back to Quincy Market and had lunch. Inside Quincy Market (www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com), you find a large building filled with all sorts of fast food places serving everything from cream puffs to lobsters. Many restaurants and shops also inhabit the complex. Traci found a good Turkey Wrap and Ray had a Chicken Caesar salad (what did you expect?) in addition to a Beard Papa cream puff (www.muginohousa.com) and some disappointing strawberry gelato. After lunch we got in a taxi to go to the Boston Marathon Expo which was in the Seaport World Trade Center. The expo was huge, much larger than the Seattle Marathon Expo which was the only one either of us had ever seen. There were lots of free samples of power bars and energy drinks and lots of vendors selling everything from T shirts to sunglasses. From the Expo we took the shuttle bus to the subway and the subway to Copley center to wander around the mall.
We wanted to go to the observation deck on the Prudential Tower but it was closed for a private reception. We walked back to the Parker House – on the way Traci had a Starbucks frappuccino and was quite disappointed with the quality, so much so that she went to another Starbucks close to our hotel for a better one. In Boston there are Dunkin Donuts shops everywhere – just like in Seattle where there’s a Starbucks on every corner (sometimes 2!) We’re told many locals prefer coffee at Dunkin Donuts – Traci decided to get a donut to go with her 2nd frappuccino. After a break at the Parker House we crossed the street for a late dinner at the old Boston City Hall – now inhabited by Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Ray had a rib eye steak which was prepared quite masterfully and Traci had blackened salmon – both were quite enjoyable. Ray has noted at both the Boston Ruth’s Chris and the one in Bellevue that they use much less seasoning and probably less butter than the one in Palm Springs – the flavor isn’t as intense but it probably doesn’t reduce your life expectancy as much. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is probably not in the top tier (such as Daniel’s in Seattle, or the Chop House in Chicago) but it was very good and you can’t beat the location across the street from the Omni Parker House. After a great dinner we returned to the Omni for the night.

Sunday was our day to enjoy a serious baseball game – the Mariners, after losing a 2-1 pitching duel on Friday to Curt Schilling, won a brilliant 3-0 victory thanks to Joel Pineiro and JJ Putz on Saturday. What would Sunday bring? Ray started out with an early morning jog – Traci had previously walked the famous Freedom trail – a 3 mile jaunt which included many of Boston’s historic sites – so Ray decided he was going to run it. After leaving the hotel, Ray found himself in the middle of thousands of runners who were in the pre-Boston Marathon 2.8 mile fun run. Since this is about as close as he’s ever going to get to “the Boston” (you have to run a 3:15 – 26.2 mile marathon to even apply to get in the field, Ray’s best half marathon time is 1:45), he decided to join the crowd of runners for a while. After reaching the Boston Commons he found the Freedom trail and started following it. The trail is marked by 2 red bricks in the middle of concrete sidewalks and red painted lines at street crossings. You can download (for free) the audio tour at http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/freedomtrail/podcast . Ray just followed the trail as it wound around the gravesites next to the Parker House, then Quincy Market and to the North Church, taking a few photos along the way. After the North Church (where the famous signal of 2 lanterns to indicate British arriving by sea – according to our trolley driver it was actually 2 lanterns for arrival by the St. Charles River), he crossed the river to the Bunker Hill memorial which looks like a half sized Washington Monument (from Washington DC). The final stop on the Freedom trail is the USS Constitution which is the oldest currently commissioned warship in the US Navy. Ray was a bit disappointed in the freedom trail as the monuments were definitely minor league compared with running the “mall” in Washington DC. With the absolutely gorgeous weather to start the day, the morning run was still thoroughly enjoyable. Ray and Traci met up with Traci’s cousin Denise and her significant other Dow for food and then the game. Denise picked a place called Firefly which was a wonderful café serving scrumptious breakfast – Traci had a waffle/oatmeal combination, Ray had a Belgian waffle topped with whipped cream and fruit. Surprisingly, the restaurant was quite empty considering it was a holiday weekend with the marathon in town. Firefly isn’t located far from the main tourist area (Copley Center) and is a great place to enjoy breakfast or lunch. After the enjoyable meal we headed toward Fenway park for our second game which featured Jarrod Washburn (Mariners) and Josh Beckett (Red Sox). Arriving an hour before game time we took some pictures around the historic stadium before settling into our seats located about 25 rows or so behind the Mariners 3rd base dugout. Fenway divides the “first” level of seats behind the 1st and 3rd base lines with a premium “box” section, a small loge section, and then the “grandstand” section. At Safeco field in Seattle we would call it all the first level (and the Mariners basically charge the same for the 1st row as the 26th row). The Red Sox are much better at price discrimination! We were in the “cheaper” grandstand section which would be about the middle of the 100 level at Safeco behind the Mariner dugout. As on Friday it was a pitchers duel between a sharp Jarrod Washburn against the flame throwing 97 mph fastball of Josh Beckett. As on Friday the Mariners lost, this time the deciding run in the 3-2 game was scored on a contested call at first base that even most Red Sox fans believed was wrong. Our expectations of the Mariners were quite low so it was gratifying to see two excellent games in one of baseball’s most historic parks.

From Fenway we wandered back toward Copley Place and went to the Prudential Center Skywalk (50th floor observation deck). With clear skies we had a gorgeous view of Boston and listened to the audio program providing some of the same stories that our trolley driver Bud gave, along with some new ones. We finished the day by having dinner at a seafood place called Skipjack’s near the Copley Place Westin. Ray tried to sample New England’s famous lobster but the restaurant was out of small ones so he had to settle for some very average baby back ribs. Traci had a much more enjoyable seafood cioppino dish. Late in the day, we walked back in a chilly breeze to the Omni for the night.

Monday was Patriot’s day, a holiday in New England that celebrates “the shot heard round the world” (1775 Colonists against British Soldiers, not the 1951 Bobby Thomson home run). We headed toward Beacon Hill (Boston’s Beacon Hill is quite a bit more upscale then Seattle’s). Famous residents include John Kerry. Residences are all low rise brick structures placed back to back around very narrow streets. Cars are tightly parked on one side of the streets. Mixed in the housing is a conglomeration of little shops and restaurants. We found a cafe called Panificio where Traci found a nice bowl of chicken pasta soup and Ray had a classic BLT. Prices were surprisingly reasonable ($9) for both considering the neighborhood we were exploring – perhaps residents have no money left after paying their mortgages. On our way back from Beacon Hill we purchased obligatory tourist T-shirts at various shops and vendor carts. Next we hopped on the subway to Kenmore (the stop next to Fenway Park) and found a place along the temporary fences to watch the marathon runners go by. It was quite amazing watching the elite runners go by. Two Kenyans, Rita Jeptoo and Robert Cheruiyot eventually prevailed with Robert setting a new course record of 2:07:14! While we were watching the marathon, the Mariners lost another close game 7-6 on a 9th inning walk off home run. It was so sad that the team played so well in Boston yet returned to Seattle winning only 1 of 4. After leaving the marathon we wanted to get some ice cream at the famous Boston shop – Emack & Bolio’s on Newbury Street. Unfortunately the large crowds and street closures made downtown difficult to negotiate so we ended up hopping on the subway to Quincy market and had to settle for unremarkable soft ice cream. Given the inconveniences of accessing the subway from the airport we took a short but expensive ($22) taxi ride from the Omni to Alaska Airlines terminal and had an uneventful and on-time flight back home. As with previous trips, we both enjoyed visiting Boston – the baseball fans are loyal, knowledgeable and respectful and we felt people went out of their way to help clueless tourists. We highly recommend sampling New England hospitality if you have the opportunity.

Pictures from Boston

2006-04-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Eventual Boston Marathon winner Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya passes the 25 mile mark.

What could be more patriotic than an afternoon at Fenway?

One if by Land, Two if by sea (or more precisely, the St. Charles River) - Old North Church

Patriots on Patriot Day (or insurgents for those from England)...

USS Constitution - America's Oldest Commissioned Warship

Bunker Hill Monument

Ducklings in The Public Garden dressed in their Easter Best

Ray and Traci's Guide to Maui

2005-12-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

We would like to present our list of favorites from one of the world’s most beautiful places. Every visit brings new places to see and new adventures to enjoy.

When to visit: The best time to visit Hawaii is when the crowds are small, prices are (relatively) low and the weather is good. The period between early October and mid-November bring the best deals – obviously you will save money on airline tickets and hotel bills but other bonuses like free room upgrades, easy access to popular restaurants and especially deep discounts for tourist activities will be enjoyed. Weather isn’t a problem although it can be a bit toasty early in October.

How to make a reservation: Hawaii is one of the most popular destinations for the tourism packaging industry. Virtually every airline that flies to Hawaii sells packages including airfares, hotel and rentals. You can also book flights, hotels and cars separately on individual company websites. Some hotels have lodging packages that include car rentals. I’ve found the internet tourism companies (pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com, etc…) have the best rates – We have booked our recent trips to Maui with pleasantholidays.com. You don’t get frequent flyer miles or frequent hotel stay miles with many of the discount packages – it pays to check to see if there is a significant price difference between booking a flight on the airline website and booking the car/hotel package with pleasantholidays.com separately (we have done that before) so you can pick out your seats and get frequent flyer miles. Also be aware that many hotels don’t add taxes to their quoted prices but many travel packagers give you a total price including tax. Costco’s travel service also has some good deals, especially for certain condo rentals – but you may have to wait for a long time (30-60 minutes) on the phone to get to an agent. Basically, you could go crazy checking all the permutations of discount travel reservations but at least take a look at the pleasantholidays.com website as in our experience have been the cheapest with the widest range of hotel options (total dive to five star resorts) to fit all tastes and budgets.

Where to Stay: There are two major tourist areas on Maui – Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina/Kapalua (West side of Maui) and Wailea/Makena which are toward the southern tip of the island. In addition, the Travel Channel has named Kihei which is a town on the way from the airport to Wailea as the place to find the best condo rental deals in Hawaii. We always stay in the Wailea area because it tends to be less windy, has great beaches, and is less congested. Advantages of the Kaanapali/Kapalua area include more tourist activities, more shopping and more restaurants. Halloween is a big deal in Lahaina and be prepared for gridlock if you want to drive around on that day. If you want to play golf, the 3 courses at Wailea and 2 courses at Makena are hard to beat. If you want to do a lot of activities/shopping it makes a lot of sense to stay in the Lahaina area to reduce driving.

A word about accommodations – There are a huge number of places to stay on Maui and one can find great deals if you do a little research. For adults guests where price is no object, Kapalua has the Ritz-Carlton and Wailea has the Four Seasons Maui. Whether staying or just strolling through the grounds, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort on Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina is one of the most beautiful resorts anywhere and boasts a rich variety of animals in an artificial tropical zoo. We like staying at the Grand Wailea Resort with its water park including a collection of interconnected pools and water slides. Families may want to stay at the classic Wailea Ekahi Village, a collection of comfortable condos next to the beautiful Wailea Beach. It pays to figure out what activities you want to do before deciding on a hotel – it makes no sense to spend lots of money on the Grand Wailea if you want to spend most of your time windsurfing on the other side of the island. For the most part, all the beaches on Maui are great for most vacationers who want to lie on the sand and play in the surf. Specific activities like surfing and windsurfing require going to beaches away from the tourist areas for the best conditions and teaching. Also keep in mind people who stay in the hotels of a resort area tend to get better tee times and preferential greens fees. When looking for a place to stay on Maui its helpful to start at a travel website like pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com or hotels.com to get lists of hotels, price ranges and amenities available. From a list of potentials you can look at various internet sites like yahoo travel and the travel channel to look at specific comments by past patrons.

Ray and Traci’s Favorite Places to Eat

Azeka’s Ribs & Snack Shop – Many places sell marinated beef ribs – “Kal-bi Ribs”, “Korean Ribs,” but Azeka’s Ribs are world famous since 1976 and are found in Azeka’s snack shop in Kihei. You can buy complete prepared meals with ribs or better yet, buy 1 pound of marinated uncooked ribs per person and have your own barbecue! If you eat at one place during your visit to Maui, make it Azeka’s Ribs!

Sansei Restaurant & Sushi Bar – Two locations are found on Maui, one in Kihei and one in Kapalua and this restaurant was featured on Rachael Ray’s $40 show on Maui. Food is half price as a late night special!

Stella Blues – Looking for a “regular” restaurant to take a break from plate lunches and delicious ribs? Try Stella Blues in Kihei which has a nice selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Seafood, vegetarian dishes, pancakes and desserts – they are all available.

Hakone Restaurant at the Maui Prince Hotel (Makena) – On Saturday nights (we found that the date changed from Monday to Saturday nights on our last visit), Hakone has an all you can eat Japanese buffet including sushi and all sorts of Japanese foods. The buffet is pricy ~ $50, but the amazing spread of all you can eat delicious foods can’t be beat.

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a – Named after Hawaii’s state fish, Humu’s is a floating restaurant at the Grand Wailea Hotel. Below the restaurant swims a variety of hungry fish that love to munch on pieces of bread diners throw into the water. Besides the fish show, you can find a delicious $50 steak and lobster entrée found among choices of fish and meat entrees with Hawaiian influences. To keep the meal somewhat economical, stay away from the drinks!

Aloha Mixed Plate – The plate lunch is a Hawaiian institution: it includes a main fish or meat entrée, rice, and macaroni salad. Aloha Mixed Plate has been a favorite on the and is located in Lahaina behind the Cannery Mall.

Da Kitchen – Looking for a cheap and filling meal in Kihei? Look no farther than Da Kitchen! (A location in Kahului also exists). Salads, Burgers, Steaks, Ribs – its all here and cheap, cheap, cheap! Warning – do not have lunch here before a big dinner – the huge meals will ruin your appetite.

Longhi’s (Locations in the Shops at Wailea mall and the original location in Lahaina) – Looking for a place for a great breakfast? Longhi’s fits the bill – fresh fruit, French Toast, Pancakes, etc…Good food!

Fun on Maui

2005-12-30T19:49:00.000-08:00

Maui is full of tourist activities, many of which we recommend. Popular attractions are often offered by multiple businesses with wide ranges of prices. Taking the absolute cheapest tour on a mountain bike down Haleakula is probably not the way to go. On the other hand it is easy to overpay for many activities. There are many tourist activity shops that offer “discounted” rates for many businesses (and they also want to try and sell you time shares at the same time). Many businesses have websites that offer web discounts for reservations, something to think about especially for expensive tours like helicopter rides. Finally, travel packagers like Expedia and pleasantholidays.com have activities as options to their Hawaii packages at significant discounts. Buying in advance often saves money but limits your choices of which company to patronize.

Snorkeling at Molokini – Want to see schools and schools of colorful fish? Several different companies offer the Snorkeling at Molokini tour. We signed up for the Prince Kuhio boat – A tour typically includes an early morning boat ride to the Molokini Marine Reserve (about 1 hour off Maui), snorkel equipment, a barbecue lunch and a return trip which passes by some giant turtle areas. Once you reach the reef, an amazing number of colorful fish inhabit the area. Some tours offer a Snuba option which is basically scuba diving with the air supply based on the ship, but you are probably better off swimming around with snorkel equipment to see the various fish. Flotation devices provided by the tour company make the snorkeling relatively easy and you can spend as little or as much time in the water.

Mountain Biking down Haleakala – Like the Molokini snorkel tours, several companies offer a bike excursion down the Maui volcano. We took the Cruiser Bob tour which emphasizes the safety of the bikes. If you want to bike down Haleakala, be careful to pick a tour with safe bicycles and one where the tour van follows the biking party down. You do not want to take a tour that just dumps you off the top of the volcano and leaves you on your own to make your way down. This tour is more physically demanding than any other – people have died on the mountain, mostly by colliding into an oncoming bus. It is also easy to fall off the road and fall down the mountain. The scenery is spectacular and the downhill bike ride is quite fun but be aware of the dangers.

Jet Skiing at Lahaina – Unlike the mountain bike tours, the jet skiing offered in Lahaina is much safer than jet skiing almost anywhere else. You take the tour from Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina, in front of the Hyatt Regency Maui – a rubber raft takes you to a platform just offshore where you ride a jet ski in a specially marked area. The ocean surf provides waves for jumping on and you don’t need to worry about running into boats. If you enjoy jet skiing or want it try it for the first time, this is the place to go.

Helicopter tour of Maui – We took the Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour of Maui and enjoyed it. Much of the island is only accessible from the air and the beauty of Maui is magnified by a helicopter tour. You will see the road to Hana and see first hand why you don’t want to drive it – going to Hana in the air is so much more enjoyable. Gorgeous waterfalls inaccessible by ground are seen although we took the ride after an unusual dry period and many of the water features were dry. Since everything in Maui is expensive (especially gasoline) the Maui tours are not cheap but for those looking to see all of the beautiful island might consider splurging on a flight.

Scuba Diving – Several companies offer scuba diving tours and classes. One can take a 1-2 hour introduction class/tour or enroll in a several day long class leading to full certification. I took an introductory class at the Grand Wailea which takes place in a special 12 foot deep scuba pool. After completing the swimming pool class he took a 1 hour dive off the beach around a reef. The reef tour included an introduction to a small octopus as well as a drive by of a giant sea turtle. Scuba diving is interesting but getting used to the dry compressed air as well as the uneasy sensation of breathing under the surface is difficult. In general, scuba is somewhat more difficult than it appears leading to my conclusion that snorkeling off Molikini is the best way to see pretty fish.

Shopping - The main airport is in Kahului and a Costco can be found just outside the airport. Kahului also has the stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart. The main shopping center for Maui residents is Ka'ahumanu Center. Inside this large shopping center are most of the chain stores you’d find at home including a Sears store. Maui has four main shopping areas that cater to the tourists. The Shops at Wailea is a collection of upscale shops and boutiques. In Lahaina, two main areas of shopping attract tourists. The Cannery Mall which is on the main highway thru the town has a food court, a Safeway, a Starbucks and various T-shirt and souvenir shops in a fully enclosed shopping area. Lahaina’s Front Street is the main tourist trap with a strip mall, collection of shops selling souvenirs of every kind, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant, and the Wharf Cinema Center with more shops and restaurants. The fourth and largest tourist shopping area is Whaler’s Village in Kaanapali with restaurants, shops and boutiques.

Luaus – A visit to Maui isn’t complete without attending one of the luaus available both in the Wailea and Lahaina areas. Luaus are all you can eat extravaganzas including a whole pig which is cooked underground in a pit. Beef, Chicken and fish entrees are also available. Luaus also include beverages like Mai Tais and entertainment including hula dancing, music, drums and fire dancers twirling torches to the amazement of stuffed patrons.

Parasailing was available at the Lahaina harbor and we decided to try it out. While flying along the Maui Beach at 800 feet was quite exciting, the parasailing experience is probably not much different (and probably less interesting) than doing the same thing along the Seattle waterfront in the middle of summer.

Pictures from Maui

2005-12-30T19:38:00.000-08:00

A beautiful Maui sunset

Colorful fish of Molokini

Mountain bike down this volcano

Scuba diving in an Octopus' Garden

Here is the end of the road to Hana

Pictures from Holidays in New York

2005-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

View of Wall Street from the Empire State Building

Radio City Music Hall's Holiday Show

Stars and Music on Fifth Avenue by Saks

Holiday Skating at the Rock

Empire State Building's Christmas Lights

Holidays in the Big Apple

2005-12-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

Inspired by scenes in movies such as Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street, Ray and Traci decided to brave the cold temperatures and visit New York City during the December holiday season. Every December, an international medical conference is held in Washington DC and on this occasion a three day post conference was planned for our second visit to the Big Apple.

Before traveling to NYC in December, it is important to remember two things – it is cold and very expensive. Ray typically spends a lot of time studying travel sites looking for good deals at higher end hotels. On this occasion, the strategy backfired as prices did not appreciably fall despite planning 6 months prior to the trip so were forced to pay - uggh -the dreaded rack rate for the first time ever. Interesting enough, the USA Today ran an article about the high prices of hotels in NYC this December – even bare bones discount chains were getting $370 for Times Square area rooms.

In December, New York has beautiful holiday decorations but also cold weather. The 27 degree temperature made packing lots of winter clothing mandatory and discouraged some traditional tourist activities like the ferry to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty.

We decided to travel from Washington DC to NYC’s Penn Station on the heavily taxpayer subsidized Amtrak (and given the number of empty seats on our train we can see why it is not profitable). Train travel, while not nearly as exciting as riding the Japanese bullet trains, was a nice change – viewing rural areas along with big cities was both interesting and humbling. Our train ride took 3 hours and 20 minutes – note the Acela trains are 20 minutes faster and make the same stops (so the extra 50% fare isn’t worth it).

After arriving at Penn Station we tried to get a cab to take us to the Sheraton at Times Square. Lesson #1: It is hard to get a cab in NYC when you need one! Study the subway maps ahead of time and plan ahead. After waiting in 30 degree weather at the Penn Station cab stand we decided to lug our bags back down into the subway and rode past 4 stops to get to Times Square and the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. Fortunately our rack rate room was ready when we arrived shortly after 12pm. Lesson #2: New York has its own standards for hotel rooms. Stories about tiny rooms abound – beds placed at angles so the door can open, poor heating, inconsistent water temperature, complete ignorance of the word “complimentary” – Our room was small but navigable, cold but not frigid, and clean so I guess we should feel fortunate even though we had to pay the “rack rate.”

From the Sheraton which is located on the north part of Times Square we sauntered down to the famous “TKTS” office where ½ price show tickets are sold the day of performances. Given our on time arrival in NYC we tried to see a Wednesday matinee show of “Mamma Mia” but they only had obstructed seating so we chose to get tickets to see the Holiday Spectacular by the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Having a few hours before the show, we decided to eat at Maxie’s Delicatessen in Times Square. Traci had a bowl of soup but Ray was quite hungry and had a tasty $15.95 steak. We found that reasonably priced food is quite available even in the Times Square area and suggest looking at menus (most are available on the internet) for good food values. From Maxie’s we wandered up legendary 5th Avenue. Christmas decorations abound in New York’s shopping district as stores try to out decorate each other. Ray stopped in the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral – quite an amazing architectural sight (both inside and out). Next, we went inside New York’s monument to egomania – Trump Tower. Within the halls of fired apprentices reside establishments devoted to the Donald, all boasting the world’s best something or another. Interestingly enough no high end jeweler has opened shop in Trump Tower – instead is a rather conspicuous costume jewelry store. Ray did sample some strawberry ice cream at Trump’s shop and found it good but hardly the world’s best. Next we saw the Christmas Spectacular. As expected the show consisted of musical numbers, dancing, and several Santa Clauses. After 1 hour 10 minutes, the Rockettes and Santa left the stage and on came a rather mundane performance of the traditional nativity scenes. The holiday show is a New York institution but think about getting ½ price tickets and skipping the nativity scene.After leaving Radio City Musical Hall we wandered around the Rockefeller Center and found a nice Soup/Salad/Sandwich place called Bocca where Traci had more soup and Ray had a custom tossed Caesar Salad. Time seems to pass especially fast in New York and we returned to the Sheraton to rest up for a very busy day.

We started Thursday by purchasing tickets for the Grey Line Tour Bus (basically you buy a ticket that gives you 48 hours to travel any of their 4 major NYC tours and the ability to hop on and off at various stops). We started by taking the tour bus to Macy’s (claims to be the largest store in the world). It didn’t look much different than the Seattle Macy’s but it has several eateries and a really cool gingerbread replica of the store. A block from Macy’s is the famous Empire State Building and we ascended to the 86th floor observation deck to view New York on a cold but clear day. The view was quite amazing – Statue of Liberty, Central Park, New Jersey – all from a 360 degree outdoor viewing platform. From the Empire State Building we took the subway to Chelsea where Traci’s favorite TV channel (The Food Network) originates from. We found the Chelsea Market in a rather non-descript building – many different eateries and a high end grocery store occupy the first floor. Chelsea Market is certainly no Pike Place market but Ray found a good slice of NY pizza (in New York carnivore pizza is similar to meat lovers) as well as good gelato. Unfortunately the Food Channel studios were on upper floors and Traci wasn’t able to score tickets to an Emeril taping. We hopped back on the subway and decided to get on an uptown tour bus which headed to Harlem. Other than the Harlem Globetrotters neither of us have heard too many positive things about the neighborhood so it was quite illuminating to see how much change has occurred – lots of new development (even President Clinton has his office in Harlem), renovated brownstones and lots of stores mix in with historic landmarks such as the Apollo theatre. On the way to Harlem we passed by the Dakota apartments where John Lennon was being remembered on the 25th anniversary of his tragic death. On the return loop we passed by the Upper East side where we learned that 90201 is not the wealthiest zip code in the world – New York holds the title. Large apartment buildings line the eastern border of Central Park most of which have 7 or 8 figure values. After a brief stop at the Sheraton, we walked to the St. James theatre for one of the highlights of the trip – seeing The Producers. Thanks to purchasing tickets 6 months in advance we sat in the second row center stage and both found the show extremely enjoyable. Sitting so close to the actors really added an exclamation point to live theatre. From the Producers we went to a restaurant very near the Sheraton called the Eatery. Ray enjoyed a Macaroni and Cheese dish while Traci had a delicious udon noodle salad. The Eatery had a nice après broadway show atmosphere. After dinner (now close to 1AM) we returned to the Sheraton and collapsed.

A snowstorm hit NYC early Friday morning and we got a somewhat late start on our day. While 4 or so inches covered the city, NYC continued to move along – even the double decker tour buses kept operating although there weren’t many takers for the outdoor roof seats. We spent the snowy morning in the Museum of Natural History in Central Park. Our previous tour guide recommended the butterfly aviary and the dinosaur areas so we started there. The butterfly aviary is a greenhouse like area where butterflies fly around and on you. The dinosaur areas have both reconstructed skeletons and reproductions of prehistoric creatures in various activities of daily living. Besides those exhibits the massive museum has areas devoted to exhibits about the universe, minerals, and a huge collection of stuffed animals – from the mundane pigeons of Central Park to exotic and extinct animals. After the museum we went to the gorgeous brand new Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle. This new building contains an exclusive shopping area, a Whole Foods Market, an exhibition with Samsung’s latest and greatest electronics as well as the New York studios for CNN. In contrast to the NBC tour which we took on a previous trip to NYC, this experience brought to light the many people who report on the 24 hour news behind people like Anderson Cooper and Lou Dobbs. From CNN we met up with Ray’s cousin David at the Sheraton and took the subway to Chinatown where a scrumptious dinner at Joe’s Shanghai was enjoyed by all. Joe’s Shanghai has a location north of Times Square but we wanted to see Chinatown and made the journey on the subway. Little Italy is adjacent to Chinatown and was well decorated for the holiday season. We completed the evening by returning to Fifth Avenue and enjoying the holiday lights of this exclusive shopping district. Highlights included Rockefeller Center with its Christmas tree and skating rink and Saks Fifth Avenue with large lighted snowflakes which sparkled with choreographed holiday music. We also traveled to the “Top of the Rock” where a multilevel observation deck allowed stunning night views of New York including the holiday illumination of the Empire State Building. After another exhausting day we returned to the Sheraton.

Our final day in NYC started at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA is quite a place – the top floor has traveling exhibits; during our visit we saw lots of devices created to make people feel better. We saw tents designed to house homeless people over New York building vents, miniature helicopters for spying, even a riot suit to protect demonstrators confronting police. As you descend downward you go from exhibits of Van Gogh and Picasso to some really weird stuff – even exhibits where nothing is there (dark rooms, blank pieces of paper). MoMA definitely has art for every taste. From the museum we made a final trip thru Times Square and stopped at the most jammed packed Toys R Us you can imagine – complete with an indoor Ferris wheel that families stood in line to ride. After a few minutes in this toy store you become quite thankful for internet shopping. After our sojourn into Times Square we met our car service driver at the Sheraton (Lesson #3: arrange your airport transportation on the internet ahead of time – whole sites are set up just to compare car services and ratings). Our driver parked in front of the wrong Sheraton - The Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers is across the street from the Manhattan Sheraton so it probably happens a lot. As we departed NYC thru the Holland tunnel we got a quick view of the Garden State – New Jersey. After listening to our driver, I strongly urge everyone to never rent a car and drive in New Jersey. Poor roads, poor drivers, and widespread insurance fraud plague New Jersey drivers. Fortunately we only had one major near collision and reached Newark for an uneventful flight back to Seattle.

Ray and Traci's Favorite Places in Las Vegas

2005-11-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

Unlike previous blog entries, this one represents opinions collected over many years of visiting. Many web sites have a great deal of information on sin city, this blog focuses on the favorite places of the authors.

Where to Stay:

With each hotel holding thousands of rooms, each one is almost a city in itself. Factors such as price and location influence where one stays. Generally, the use of vacation packages often brings significant discounts – by purchasing Vegas packages from Expedia.com, Travelocity.com or airlines such as Alaska you can get reasonable deal at many high quality resorts. For those that partake in significant gaming, special rates (and even free room/food/beverage) are available – but generally big players already know where they are going to stay, where they get freebies. The major casinos have websites often advertising “the best rates” but prices may not include tax which is considerable in Vegas – so buyer beware. For tourists that pre-pay for a package you can’t take advantage of “comps” earned from playing – so if you plan to gamble a lot, it probably is a good idea of booking a reservation directly from the hotel. In general the good luxury hotels on the strip require you to play several (4) hours a day with a minimum $25 bet at each table game to qualify for gambler’s rate (~$60/night) and minimum $100 bet for free room/food/beverages.

Having stayed at most of the luxury hotels on the strip over the years (with the exception of the Wynn), the most luxurious “basic” rooms we’ve seen are at “The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.” Our most recent excursion to Vegas included a stay at this brand new all suite hotel built at the site of Mandalay Bay in the South Strip (booked in a discount package thru Expedia.com) – The suites included a nice sitting room with 42” plasma TV, wet bar, and an additional bathroom. Bedrooms were large, elegantly decorated and included a large flat screen TV. Master bath with its own LCD TV was also tastefully assembled. In general, once you leave the Mandalay Bay hotel and enter the connected lobby of the “The Hotel” it is like entering a different world – none of the noise and bustle of Vegas casinos. If you want a luxurious oasis to take a vacation from Vegas but remain on the strip, consider “The Hotel.”

The next best hotel on our list is the Venetian – Venice in Las Vegas complete with indoor canals and gondolas, and elegant artwork. The Venetian is another all suites hotel – although the suites are somewhat less elegant than “The Hotel” – they have a bedroom area, luxurious bathroom and a sitting area with its own TV. The Venetian also has a location on the North side of the strip which may be more convenient for many people rather than The Hotel’s extreme southern location.

Best of the rest – In general, the major hotels all provide a clean, smartly furnished room and comfortable bed. For many, it is a waste to have an overly luxurious hotel room when you’ll be spending as much time as possible away from it. If you are visiting Vegas during the warm season (Mid spring to October) you may want to stay at either Mandalay Bay or MGM due to the great water park/pool facilities. Mandalay Bay has an artificial beach complete with wave making machine allowing body surfing. Both the MGM and Mandalay have great pools and artificial rivers allowing lazy people the chance to “swim” – sitting on an inner tube enjoying a beverage. Beware that even during off peak times, people wake up to place “dibs” on the limited deck and beach chairs so if you snooze much past pool opening time you really lose. Note that Caesar’s Palace has great pools as a recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue showed.

A completely unscientific and arbitrary rating of the strip hotels we have stayed at (not including the Wynn) would put The Hotel on Top, followed by Venetian, Mandalay Bay (when the beach is open), Bellagio, MGM (with the water park open), Mirage, New York New York, Caesar’s Palace, Mandalay Bay (when the beach is closed), Treasure Island, MGM (when the water park is closed), Luxor and Excaliber. Remember that it is a long way from Mandalay Bay to Stratosphere and even with the new monorail for transportation it may be important to stay near the attractions you will want to see the most.

Which Shows to See:

Las Vegas is famous for shows you can’t see anywhere else in the world. The most widely recognized show (after the unfortunate demise of Siegfried & Roy’s show) is the Bellagio’s O – one of the many cirque du solei shows now found on the strip. A combination of incredible human stunts, music, artistry and a high tech pool/stage which showcases the performer talents made critics call a ticket to see O worth a trip to Vegas by itself. Ray’s personal favorite cirque du solei show is Mystere (at Treasure Island). It was the first Cirque du Solei show on the strip and remains a special treat – the incredible human stunts provide a glaring contrast to today’s special effects enhanced entertainment. The music and costumes also enhance the artistry of the show. Another highly rated cirque du solei show is Ka – now at the MGM. The LA times called Ka “the most lavish production in the history of western theatre.” It doesn’t showcase human stunts like the other two shows, but nearly overwhelms all of the audience’s senses.

Other great shows we recommend include Danny Gans (at the Mirage) – just outstanding musical and comedy entertainment. Danny combines surprisingly clean and non-offensive (unless you’re Michael Jackson, Dean Martin, or William Hung of American Idol) humor with fine imitation of famous musical artists from Tom Jones to Elvis to Five for Fighting. Celine Dion has a great show at Caesar’s Palace showcasing her unique musical abilities in a Vegas musical extravaganza.

Shows that didn’t make our recommended list include Blue Man Group (although they must be doing something right being “promoted” from Luxor to Venetian) and Zumanity (at New York New York) which seemed like a PG-13 cirque du solei show without the color, pageantry or special effects of the other shows. Note we haven’t seen “La Reve,” another cirque du solei show at the Wynn.

Where to eat:

Detailed reviews and menus of individual restaurants are available at multiple websites such as Zagat.com so this blog won’t focus on food. Even the buffets are hard to rate because the “best” ones may have a bunch of food you don’t want to eat. The Carnival World Buffet at the Rio is often mentioned as a top buffet because of the wide variety of food available. The separate Rio Seafood Buffet is also a local favorite. On our most recent trip we ate at Cravings (the Mirage Buffet) and found it to be extremely good with high quality and good variety (although the desserts were somewhat limited). Vegas had been a place famous for cheap surf and turf, but this has become increasingly rare. According to several travel sites, the Gambler’s Special (available, but not advertised on menu at the Hard Rock Café’s Mr. Lucky 24/7) for 7.77 is the best of the cheap eats (Steak, shrimp and fries or mashed potatoes).

What to Do:

A listing of activities we enjoyed during visits to Vegas –

1. Ride a helicopter to the Grand Canyon. In the space of one morning you can get picked up at your hotel, ride a helicopter to the Grand Canyon – land at the bottom of the canyon, enjoy a nice breakfast, and fly back from this national treasure. A most efficient way to see this national treasure! In addition to viewing the Grand Canyon, you get a nice view of Hoover Dam and Celine Dion’s Lakefront Estate.

2. See the Fountains of Bellagio – as seen in the movie Oceans 11, the water show powered by many powerful underwater jets is a can’t miss – and its free! Shown every 30 minutes during the afternoons and every 15 minutes after dusk to rotating choreographed music, it’s a real treat! Warning – the show is cancelled when it is windy.

3. Ride the New York New York Roller Coaster – Consistently rated in the top 10 of America’s top coasters, it’s a smooth and fast coaster with 360 degree loops, corkscrews and thrilling drops. For those with a car and extra time, you can ride one of the tallest roller coasters in the world which reaches 80 miles per hour at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm Valley 40 mile south of Vegas.

4. Enjoy the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and ride a gondola. It is amazing how many high end boutiques populate locations very close to each other on the strip (Venetian, Bellagio and Caesars Palace all have amazing high end shopping malls – just don’t look for any blue light specials). How many shopping malls can you tour from a gondola traveling along indoor canals and piloted by a singing gondolier?

5. Pretend you went to Paris instead of Vegas by buying a ticket to the top of a 50% scale model of the Eiffel Tower – You get a great view of the fountains of Bellagio and the strip, especially at night.

6. Visit the Stratosphere tower – The 1,149 foot tower has a 869 foot observation level with a spectacular view of the Vegas strip. The tallest freestanding observation tower in the US also has a collection of thrill rides exploiting the height of the tower – a ride on the big shot is an absolute blast, without equal anywhere!

7. Voyage to worlds far away at Star Trek – The Experience. Fans of the TV/movie series have a collection of exhibits, museum and virtual reality rides.

8. Watch the volcano erupt in front of the Mirage at night (8pm-midnight every 30 minutes) – a somewhat dated attraction but one worth seeing. While you are in the area, catch the Sirens of TI outdoor free show (5:30pm, 7, 8:30 and 10pm nightly), and have an ice cream sundae across the street at Ghirardelli’s (located at Harrah’s).

9. Enjoy the Carnivale in the Sky at the Rio – After enjoying a great buffet meal, plan to watch the airborne Mardi Gras parade happening at the Rio every afternoon/evening (3pm, 4, 5, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30). For a fee, you can get into costume and ride in an aerial parade float.

10. Ride the Monorail: The expanded monorail now travels the entire strip starting at a station adjacent to the MGM grand and ending at the Sahara hotel with the nearby Stratosphere tower. You can buy single ride tickets for $3, a book of 10 tickets for $20, or all day passes.

11. For art lovers, three collections are found on the strip – Bellagio’s Gallery of fine art, Venetian’s Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, and the Wynn Collection display many treasures.

12. Visit the Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix – a fun place for adults and kids including three styles of miniature race cars. It’s located off the strip but is a fun place – you can race head to head in sprint karts or for those 16 years of age, run a time trial in gran prix cars.

13. Experience Fremont Street – “Downtown Vegas” has a 1400 foot canopy 90 feet above Fremont streets on which every few minutes a light show celebrating the classic icons of Vegas is seen on a rotating basis nightly. You can also stop at one of the downtown casinos for low limit gaming while you are downtown. Unfortunately, the Vegas monorail does not travel to downtown yet.

14. Visit Hoover Dam – building began in 1930 on one of the 20th century’s great construction achievements and remains a great tourist attraction – 725 feet of concrete on the Colorado River.

15. Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas at Primm Valley (40 miles south of Vegas). While several shopping areas populate the city including an “outlet” mall called the Las Vegas Premium Outlets, you need to travel to Primm Valley to find typical “outlet” discounts.

16. Visit King Tut’s Tomb – for those that missed the US tour of King Tut’s riches, you can see a replication of the burial chamber and artifacts at the Luxor.

17. Skydive Indoors – at Flyaway Indoor Skydiving (near the Hilton/Convention Center) you can fly on top of a wind tunnel simulating skydiving. I'm not convinced it is a good representation of sky diving but it is a unique experience.

18. Love fast flash cars? – visit the Las Vegas Ferrari-Maserati showroom at the Wynn.

A weekend in sunny San Diego

2005-06-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Traci and I headed to San Diego to catch the weekend interleague series between the Padres and the Mariners at brand new Petco Park. We took the early morning Alaska direct flight, unhappy to find out after we arrived that our pre-reserved seats in the middle of the plane had been mysteriously changed to the back of our 100% full plane. Fortunately, we enjoyed a tasty cinnamon scone on the plane and arrived on time in San Diego.

Upon arriving in San Diego – the airport is located 2 blocks from the ocean in the center of town – a short taxi ride took us to the brand new Omni hotel which is physically connected via skybridge with the baseball stadium. After checking in, we walked past the San Diego convention center toward the giant USS Midway aircraft carrier which serves as a quite interesting museum. Included in the $15 entrance fee is a small digital audio recorder which contains a plethora of tidbits on aircraft, ships and history. Wandering around the various decks of the carrier during the self guided tour was quite fascinating – while the carriers are quite large, it seems so cramped inside given the huge number of sailors and aircraft previously inhabiting the ship. Even the flight deck with its runways and catapult seemed so small given its role of landing and launching jet fighters. After leaving the Midway, we went to San Diego’s Seaport village for a nice lunch at a village café. Traci enjoyed a tasty wrap while Ray liked his Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwich. From the café, we took a ride on a San Diego “Seal.” Both Seattle and Boston have “Duck Tours” featuring old World War II amphibious landing vehicles that take tourists around downtown and into the water. San Diego has “Seals” which are more modern open air hybrid busses/boats which tour the city and head out onto the North Bay where we saw marine life as well as many ships and landmarks. Our tour director was quite good – she had all sorts of interesting facts about San Diego and its history. On the ocean we saw the USS Ronald Reagan (America’s newest aircraft carrier and found a whole bunch of Sea Lions sunning themselves on barges.

After a long first day in San Diego, we headed back to the Omni hotel and crossed the skybridge to Petco Park. We got prime seats using the ticket broker stubhub.com -- 2nd row behind first base for the Friday night game -- so we spent the whole game in our seats. Gil Meche didn’t have his best game and the Mariners fell behind early – but mounted a nice rally and ended up winning in a 14-5 blowout (the only victory of the weekend). The San Diego fans were quite dedicated – it was amazing how many stayed to the end despite the lopsided victory. After the great victory we headed toward the “Gaslamp Quarter” which is San Diego’s nightlife area for dinner. After checking out several restaurants, we ended up at an Italian place called La Bocca – both of us had seafood pasta dishes which were quite good. Because of the baseball game, dinner was quite late and we didn’t get back to the Omni until well after midnight.

On Saturday, we planned on taking a break from baseball and headed to San Diego’s famous Balboa Park – a collection of 13 museums plus the San Diego Zoo. Because of the limited time for this trip, we passed up seeing the zoo (as well as Seaworld) and saw several of San Diego’s museums in the park – Japanese Friendship Garden, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Hall of Champions Sports museum, the Railroad museum, the Museum of Man and the Natural History museum. Ray thought the Sports museum was the most impressive despite having an obvious focus on San Diego teams and athletes – Seattle needs one! Traci was impressed with the Graham Flint Gigapxl photography exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The huge, wall-sized photos were taken with a custom built camera at 1000 to 4000 megapixels producing incredible resolution. Most of the other museums had some interesting exhibits, but they clearly aren’t the Smithsonians. Having checked out all of the food places in the park we settled on eating at the Art Museum (Traci had a nice soup and salad combo, Ray had a chicken Caesar salad). From Balboa park we took a taxi back to the Omni and went to the hotel pool/gym – the pool area was way too small for the number of people hanging around the pool after the afternoon baseball game concluded (we missed the Mariners 8-5 loss). The gym was small but well equipped with brand new machines. From the Omni we headed to Horton Center Plaza which is San Diego’s downtown shopping center located next to the Gaslamp Quarter – the shopping mall was an unimpressive open air collection of the usual suspects including Nordstrom and Macy’s. After a disappointing shopping expedition we headed back to the Omni to enjoy a scrumptious dinner at McCormicks & Schmicks. The chain has a location in Seattle famous for its happy hour – Traci and Ray had a great dinner at the location located in the Omni. Traci had a nice Mahi-Mahi entrée and Ray had what he described as the best $19.95 Top Sirloin steak he ever had. You would normally expect to pay extraordinary high prices at a restaurant located in the lobby of a hotel across the street from a ballpark, but the prices were quite reasonable. We noticed that other steak places including Flemings (located 2 blocks from the Omni) seemed to have significantly lower prices than Seattle. We decided to have dessert at the San Diego Ghiradelli, also located at the Gaslamp Quarter. Ray loves the sundaes at Ghiradelli’s and stops there whenever visiting San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago and now San Diego. After another busy day it was back to the Omni.

On our last day in San Diego, we started the day at a nice breakfast spot called Cafe 222 located 3 blocks from the Omni. It was an extremely busy breakfast spot, Traci enjoyed a delicious waffle while Ray had a ham and cheese omelette with tasty crispy potatoes. From breakfast we went to Petco Park for the Sunday afternoon game. We purchased regular outfield tickets from the Padres and spent time wandering around the stadium during the game – Petco Park is a most impressive stadium for family enjoyment of baseball. Behind center field is a large Park area accessible during the game which contains a whiffle ball diamond hosting organized kids play during the Padres game. A large grass lined hill permits viewing of the Padres game from a picnic blanket. Even a large scoreboard screen faces outward from the Park so the picnic crowd won’t miss any of the action. Petco also has a rich assortment of electronic video game kiosks and both a batting cage and a fast pitch contest. A worker actually creates custom baseball bats for fans while you wait($70). The actual architecture of the stadium reminds me of Seahawks stadium – somewhat plain but with good sight lines in the seating areas. I think the biggest problem with the stadium is my perceived unfairness of the bullpens – The Padres get a nice fenced bullpen in left center field while the Mariners were placed along the 1st base line without protection from the field (and the fans). I don’t know if any other ballparks treat teams so differently but it does seem unfair. I think Petco Park is the most family friendly baseball stadium I’ve seen so far. I do believe SBC park in San Francisco is the best park for non-baseball fans and of course, Safeco field is the best park for baseball fans.

Our visit to San Diego concluded by traveling to the airport via taxi. The only major problem with the whole trip occurred when the friendly Alaska Airlines people told us that our flight had already left despite us being 90 minutes early for our ticketed flight. We learned that Alaska had cancelled our flight and rescheduled us for the earlier flight (but neither of us were notified). So we had to endure a 4 hour wait for the final flight of the night (which was delayed an additional hour) bringing us back to Seattle at 1 AM. I guess the moral of this story is in the age of ever changing airline schedules be sure and check your flights the day before you leave home on the internet!

Visit to Chicago

2005-05-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Ray and Traci’s Adventures in the Windy City

After realizing his work schedule prevented Ray from attending his 15th class reunion in April, Ray decided to plan a trip in May to introduce Traci to his former home during medical school – Chicago!

The voyage had a rocky start early Saturday morning – as soon as our fully loaded Alaska Airlines airplane reached its departure time, the pilot informed us that a key video monitor in the cockpit needed to be replaced. A 20 minute delay turned into 30, and then we were informed we would need to get on a different plane. After departing the first plane and loading the second, we were informed that the new plane needed an exterior part to be replaced. We had to wait on the plane and ended up leaving over 2 hours late. Fortunately our flight to Chicago was uneventful once we were airborne.

When traveling to places like New York or Chicago, arranging a “car service” transportation in advance is often the most economical way to transfer. I used an internet site called 1800limo.com and received a discounted flat rate in advance. Other than a mild delay from looking for the wrong make of car, our transfer to downtown Chicago went smoothly. It was notable that traffic even on a Saturday afternoon was moving slowly, especially leaving the city. Seattle is not the only city with major traffic problems! Our driver brought us to the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Chicago River, where we checked in having booked a special advance rate using hotels.com. A travel tip – while booking from the hotels site (hyatt.com) usually finds discount room rates, you usually have to pay taxes on top of them (but you do get airline frequent flyer points) – Using hotels.com, expedia.com, or pleasantholidays.com often finds cheap rates with taxes and fees included – but no frequent flyer miles.

After unpacking, we walked over to Navy Pier which is a typical “boardwalk” facility – Food, fun, rides (very limited), and shopping abound. Navy Pier is surprisingly long, has boarding areas for many daytime sight seeing cruises as well as nighttime dinner cruises and boasts one of the largest stained glass museums in the country. Most of the stained glass exhibits came off of churches from long ago, but a few modern exhibits were dispalyed including a Chicago Bulls collage. We also walked by Lake Point Tower which borders Navy Pier – Slamming Sammy Sosa has his huge condo which covers half of an entire floor of the luxury tower for sale (asking $7 million if your interested in making an offer….)

From Navy Pier we walked to the Chicago Nordstrom at Grand and Michigan avenues. Traci noted that the Chicago Nordstrom has the largest womens shoe department – an area that looked even larger when it was basically empty. The interior is very nice – I thought it was interesting that the signage reported the store closed at 8pm (we entered at 7:55pm) but no one announced the store was closing and we wandered around with many other shoppers for at least 30 minutes. After looking around Traci’s favorite store, we walked down Ontario Avenue to get pizza. Gino’s East is one of Chicago’s most celebrated deep dish pizza parlors, and one of the things Ray misses the most after leaving Chicago. On the way we walked past a huge two story McDonald that looked like some sort of space port. Upon arriving at Gino’s East we were pleasantly surprised by the relative short 15 minute wait to get seated. We enjoyed a salad followed by a wonderful Chicago style deep dish pizza with pepperoni, Canadian bacon and sausage. Chicago pizza is a treat not to be missed – other places such as Delfinos in Seattle’s University Village make reasonable facsimiles of Chicago pizza but certainly not as good as the original. We walked backed to the Hyatt stuffed with stuffed pizza and ready to turn in for the evening. One comment about the Hyatt – from our 21st story rooms you can hear the “L” trains rush by underground – light sleepers be warned about staying there!

On Sunday, we started our day by eating at a place called “Corner Bakery.” It turns out that there are several of these downtown – they serve (both dine-in and take out) all sorts of fruits, juices, muffins, sandwiches and salads. Since it was packed we took our food and walked down the street to Chicago’s famed Millenium park. The park was built over a rail yard and is a large expanse of grass, stainless steel fixtures/buildings and a garden. An ice rink which only operates in the winter is currently a fenced in concrete area serving as a dining area for private functions. Much of the grass areas are off limits – and a plethora of security guards riding Segway personal mobility devices patrol the park. A lengthy stainless steel pedestrian bridge designed by Frank Geary spans the East end of the park. Two large obelisks like objects out of the movie 2001 act as fountains (especially popular in the summer) – the two sides which face each other are video light displays and the face of Jerry Seinfeld (or someone who looks awfully like him) smiles, blinks and generally watches you. The park must be an ideal spot for outdoor concerts as a large amphitheatre adorns the middle grassy area. We were told the faces on the obelisk change regularly and water from the fountains is “spit” out thru the mouths.

The next stop after Millenium Park was the much revered Wrigley Park. We hopped on the “L’ and took the 10 minute ride to the home of the Cubs. Fortunately we picked a beautiful May Sunday to attend an afternoon game between the Phillies and Cubs. First, it was amazing to see two teams play so quickly – the whole 8 ½ inning game was done in 2 hours. Second, Wrigley may have history over Safeco field, but in terms of amenities it lags far behind. Even the field looked like a plain lawn compared to Safeco’s carefully engineered and maintained grass (most expensive lawn in the world!). It is funny to see all the “bleachers’ set up on rooftops around the stadium to watch the Cubs without paying the Tribune company (owners of the Cubs.) Some bleachers are quite large and must give enterprising landlords some extra income. For Sunday’s Phillies game most of the bleachers outside the stadium were fairly empty although the stadium itself was sold out. We stopped at a couple of Cubs merchandise stores before riding the “L” back into the city.

After a brief respite, we had reservations for the famous Chicago Chop House to enjoy Midwest steaks. Traci ordered a Filet, Ray had a T-bone. Both were excellent – the tender, high quality meat was very enjoyable although Ray felt his steak lacked the spicy “kick” that made Daniel’s broiler in Seattle his all time favorite steakhouse. We ended the evening with a trip to a combination 24 hour Dunkin Donuts/Baskin & Robbins. While the condition of the store and the poor staffing had much to be desired, ice cream tastes delicious no matter how it’s scooped out of the container.

On Monday, clouds covered the city and news reports cautioned against possible thundershowers. Our planned touring of the city on a double decker bus was put on hold and we decided to tour the shopping areas instead. We headed to Water Tower Place on Chicago’s miracle mile – on our way to the store we wandered around Northwestern’s Chicago campus (where Ray went to medical school) and Ray was astonished with all the changes (tearing down old buildings and replacing them with huge high skyscrapers). His old home at the Northwestern dorm is sadly being closed after this academic year. At Water Tower place, we mainly enjoyed looking at the wide variety of stores displaying overpriced designer goods. Most of the stores were the same names you would find in Bellevue Square. The mall itself is amazingly luxurious – you are greeted with entry escalators separated by running water fountains cascading downward, marble all around, a central open area going from lower floors to top floors with a glass elevator enclosed. We ate lunch at the Grand Lux Café on Michigan Avenue (a very large restaurant found in places like Las Vegas) and wandered around at several other Chicago shopping attractions – Niketown where Ray commented on the extremely inefficient use of floor space, the bloomingdale’s shopping mall across from Water tower with what appeared to be the leftover tenants that couldn’t get into the Water Tower.

After our shopping tour we went to a river cruise recommended by the hotel concierge – we got on this large boat with clouds threatening and wind howling but actually had a great architectural introduction to the city of skyscrapers. Many famous architects were based in Chicago and helped develop the city into the metropolis it is today. Chicago’s history is quite interesting including (like Seattle) a major fire in the 1870s that wiped everything else, severe pollution problems ultimately resulting in the great engineering feat of reversing the flow of the Chicago river and many architectural advancements such as the first steel framed construction allowing high rises. Something interesting that I didn’t quite understand was the huge numbers of buildings with “Condo for sale” signs out front – I don’t think Chicago is undergoing explosive growth like Las Vegas so I’m not sure where all the buyers are coming from. Is traffic so bad they have to sell their homes to move closer to work? We ate dinner at Cosi’s the soup/sandwich/pizza restaurant that recently opened in Seattle. Afterwards, we took a taxi to Second City which is Chicago’s famous comedy troup that’s been around for 45 years and boasts alumni such as John Belushi and Bill Murray. If you’re ever in Chicago, I highly recommend attending the show – the tickets are only $12 (so book on the internet VERY EARLY) and show up early – first to arrive get the best seats. It’s actually a small venue so there aren’t any bad seats. They put on a 2 act show much like Saturday night live with some hilarious well planned skits and others put together on the fly by audience suggestions. It’s a mostly clean show, PG at most and don’t worry, no one in the audience gets humiliated. I actually don’t know why tickets are relatively inexpensive (taxi ride from downtown costs almost as much as the ticket! Parking costs more than the tickets if you drive!) as the show is mostly sold out. They finished the night with a special 3rd act that most of the audience stayed for (it getting very late on a weeknight) that was all improvised. Ray liked the prepared skits the best – some were “roll on the ground and die of laughter funny,” but the improvised ones really showcase their comedy talents. After the 2 ½ hour show Traci stopped into the next door Starbucks (Open 24 hours a day! And was quite busy at 11:30pm on Monday night) before we caught a cab back to the Hyatt.

Tuesday – we awoke to a beautiful, sunny Chicago day which reached 80 degrees. After a breakfast at the corner bakery, we hopped on one of the tour busses. The company we used operated both trolleys and double decker busses. Our first ride was on a trolley with a driver trying to be a tour guide at the same time and basically called out the names of the stores as we passed Michigan avenue giving useless tidbits like “if you want an iPod you can buy them at that Apple store.” We got off at the Sears Tower and bought $12 dollar tickets (you can get 50% off a second admission with the Marshall Field’s coupons found in the tourist brochure racks), to see Chicago from the 103rd floor of the United States’ tallest building (World’s #3) as of 2005. The view was quite spectacular although it would have been nicer if you could actually go outside. We got to take a few pictures, go thru the obligatory gift shops and wait for a bus at the tour stop. Fortunately, the next vehicle to come along was a true double decker bus with a separate guide who was quite funny and informative. We got to see the new Soldiers Field (the Bear’s new stadium is quite an upgrade – you have the columns left over from the old stadium with brand new futuristic looking seating areas.) We passed the Buckingham Fountain which is seen on the opening of Fox’s old TV series “Married with Children.” Our new guide was much better at giving interesting facts like the Sheraton Hotel penthouse was designed by the Secret Service to be the President’s home while visiting Chicago. I was quite impressed with the large park areas complete with ball fields and amenities like amphitheatres in the city – the planning is well done and the areas are very well maintained (maybe we in Seattle could learn something).

We got off the double decker bus at the Water Tower and stopped at Ray’s favorite Ice Cream place – Gharidelli’s (it wasn’t there when he went to school!). Traci and Ray were going to share an ice cream sundae but Ray liked it so much he made Traci mad by eating it all. After not getting any ice cream, Traci got some popcorn at Garrett’s Popcorn (a famous Chicago fixture with lines outside the small shop at times). We continued walking up Michigan avenue to the Jamba Juice across from the Millenium Park. Still having extra time on our hands, we walked to the Hilton Palmer House and looked around the very ornate lobby areas. The Palmer is very elegant, more elegant (we thought) than New York’s famed Plaza Hotel but it’s kind of far away from most of the fun places. We finished out Chicago adventure at the State Street flagship Marshall Field’s store where Traci looked at many handbags, one which she will eventually purchase using her employee discount back at Seattle’s Nordstrom. We walked from Field’s back to the Hyatt to claim our checked baggage. It’s a 5 block walk from Hyatt to the Blue Line L train, one that made us wish we brought wheeled bags for. The L is a convenient way to get to O’Hare – you don’t have to worry about traffic, it’s generally on time, and you can’t beat the $1.75 per person price but you have to lug your bags around. Fortunately our trip back to Seattle was uneventful, thus concluding this latest adventure of Traci and Ray.

A Big Kid's Journey to Disneyworld (conclusion)

2005-01-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, we planned to split the day between Animal Kingdom and MGM-Disney Studios. First we went to the Animal Kingdom on a bus from our hotel. You should see the Animal Kingdom when it opens in the morning, and make the first ride be the Kilimanjaro Safari – you get on little safari busses and go out into Disney’s wildlife preserve. Animals such as giraffes, gazelles, elephants, hippos and lions roam around and they tend to be more active in the morning. The only other must see attraction at the Animal Kingdom is the Tarzan Rocks show – it's held periodically during the day and is unique as it has a live rock band providing Tarzan soundtrack music with entertainers putting on a cirque du solei type show. It's definitely worth seeing. We skipped the Kali River Rapids because you don’t just get wet, you get soaked! Primeval Whirl is a very rough roller coaster that seems to inflict more pain then provides thrills. Dinosaur is an entertaining ride which simulates time travel. It didn’t take very long to see most of the Animal Kingdom but even though we went first thing to the Safari, the longest wait we had during our whole trip was at the Safari (about 30 minutes). Disney is building a large roller coaster on a “Mount Everest” look alike and it should be impressive when it opens in 2006.

We took a bus from the Animal Kingdom to MGM-Disney Studios next. I thought the studios were the most enjoyable park for rides. In my opinion the best rides in all of Disneyworld are the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – The Tower is a vertical drop ride in a quintessential Disney package – The creepy looking and sounding staff load you into a library where Rod Sterling appears on the screen and puts you in the Twilight zone frame of mind. More creepy staff load you into the ride itself and you see all sorts of visual displays not knowing when what’s going to happen. It is a truly thrilling experience but I strongly recommend riding it once but only once – I believe that 75% of the thrill in this type of ride is the uncertainty, and once you ride it you know what to expect. The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is a nice coaster, smooth, loops upside down – again packaged as only Disney does with Aerosmith videos and music. It doesn’t have any significant drops and is way too short but certainly deserves to be called a thrill ride. I found the Disney-MGM Backlot tour to be very uninspiring as was the Great Movie Ride. I enjoyed and recommend seeing the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, another scheduled show put on at various times during the day – it’s not especially unique but it is entertaining. Finally we saw the Fantasmic night time show at park closing – A few comments: it’s the only night time finale show that requires you to sit in a special amphitheater. Our park was so empty that we had nearly a 0 wait to get on the Rock ‘n’ roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror but the amphitheater was nearly filled before the show started. If you want to see it go early (it opens 2 hours before show time). The show is a combination of fireworks, water displays, videos projected on a screen made of water spray (unique!) and lighted floats with Disney characters. It’s worth seeing but it seemed quite scary for young kids, and I got to think it’s very difficult to get seating when the park is busy. You can get reserved seating if you have dinner at the Brown Derby but even at that you have to show up 30 minutes ahead of time. It’s also a pain to get out of the amphitheater. We hopped on a ferry after park closing that took us back to the Swan (we didn’t figure out it was much faster to walk yet.) We ended up eating dinner at the Swan Hotel Garden Grove Café – They actually have reasonably priced standard café fare (Traci had a salad, I had a pizza) but also have the bonus of Disney characters roaming around (Pluto followed by Goofy). They come to each table and take pictures with you (and sign autograph books for the kids). Many hotels and restaurants in the park advertise characters in attendance during meals – the more popular ones requiring getting on a priority seating list (sort of like an unconfirmed reservation) in advance – sometimes far in advance (month+).

Wednesday – we took a day off from the parks, and rented a car (National Car Rental at the Dolphin Hotel) to venture to the Kennedy Space Center. Many “experts” recommend taking a break from the parks after 2 days, we ended up doing this because I wanted to go to Kennedy on this specific day as they were launching a rocket shortly before 2 pm. The drive from the Swan/Dolphin to Kennedy was fairly routine, its about 65 miles so plan on a 90 minute drive – It’s a toll road and we ended up paying $4 in tolls (total) each way. Kennedy was abnormally busy for the time of the year because of launch. I made reservations in advance to get their “Up close” tour which is the standard tour plus some extra stops. I’ve been to KSC before but it was a first time for Traci and she really enjoyed it. You get to walk around old rockets, get into a mockup full scale model of both the space shuttle and the international space station. On that particular day we also got to see the launch of a rocket that is going to deliver a probe into a comet in deep space. The center was interesting to visit, Traci enjoyed the learning experience quite a bit. I don’t know if the up close tour offered that much more than the regular tour, however. Check their website for the schedule – the tours shut down during Shuttle launches which are scheduled to resume in May.

We drove back to Disney, making a stop at downtown Disney to buy souvenirs. The best place to get souvenirs for Disney is probably at Downtown Disney – between two stores, World of Disney “largest character store on the planet” and Team Mickey (Logoed Sports equipment and apparel) you can find about everything imaginable in these two neighboring stores. After returning the car to the Dolphin we had a special dinner planned – at Shula’s (One of America’s 10 favorite steak houses according to the American airline magazine). Fortunately our concierge was able to get us in (we didn’t get a reservation until that night) and Traci and I split a 24 oz porterhouse steak which was excellent. Prices were a bit lower then what Daniels Broiler or the Met in Seattle would charge – It was definitely a great meal, although I’d say the flavor was a bit below what I expect at Daniels Broiler (still what I consider to be the best steak anywhere). I enjoyed the Steakhouse immensely, although Traci learned from other reviews that the Disney Yacht Club steakhouse was higher rated.

Thursday – I made a mistake by forgetting our park tickets as we decided to walk to MGM-Studios in the morning. This turned out to be a great mistake for three reasons: First, by having to walk back to our room and then walking back to MGM-Studios we happened to be under the big Mickey Hat just as the time Mickey Mouse showed up to do pictures. Usually there are long lines of people wanting to take pictures with Mickey and other characters (and at this time of the year, there were some lines with many adults but no kids in them!). Anyway, Traci and I got a picture with Mickey which is the holy grail of character stalking! Second, the only reason we went back to the studios (we already saw most of the park) was I wanted to get tickets to see the filming of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” Usually the studio park has an attraction where a large audience plays a simulated game for prizes, but this week Meredith Viera was in town playing the real game and taping for TV sweeps month (May). Because we were late, we didn’t get tickets for the first show and we ended up being waitlisted for the 3rd show of the day and because of that got to sit in the 2nd row right behind Meredith! Look for us on the show May 26th! I was surprised there is so much lead time between taping and showing on TV. Finally, since we didn’t get into the early show of Millionaire, we decided to go back to Epcot on the bus to get breakfast. We arrived at the Norway exhibit quite late and despite having no “preferred seating” reservations, we got into the Princesses Buffet Breakfast (which I understand is another coup, especially for those with young daughters). While I was most interested in just getting fed, Traci got pictures with all the Disney Princesses. I’m told if you want to attend this breakfast you have to get on the preferred seating list weeks if not months in advance. After getting fed, we went to see some of the Epcot exhibits. In general I was kind of disappointed Epcot is the park that is in need of renovation/additions. I guess the #1 attractions are Test Track (where you are in a car acting like a test dummy as it speeds thru obstacles) and Mission: Space which is a virtual reality ride that simulates a trip to Mars. Both are good and worth seeing (although at least for me, virtual reality rides always make me sick even though roller coasters and other thrill rides never do), but neither are superb. After cruising around Epcot we went back to MGM-Disney studios to watch the taping of Who Wants to be a Millionaire which was quite exciting (I’ve never been to a real game show taping before). Before leaving we went to the Magic of Disney Animation exhibit – it’s about animators and their craft and I thought it was quite funny although most of the young kids didn’t get the humor during the presentation. Before leaving we got pictures with characters from the movie “the Incredibles.” We walked back to the Swan Hotel, rested, and then walked back to Epcot to watch the fireworks show – IllumiNations. Disney again put on a great show – it's best seen from around the USA exhibit area at the top of the lake. You want to find a place with an unobstructed view of the lake – it’s a combination fireworks, a big floating globe, and water fountain sprays (like Las Vegas’s Belligio) set to music. It’s the best show at Epcot, but I’d give a clear advantage to the newer Wishes fireworks show.

If you go at a off season time and plan very carefully (along with having an great amount of energy) you could see the highlights of the 4 parks in 2 days assuming you see the 7pm Fantasmic show and walk immediately to Epcot to see the 9pm Illuminations show. Staying at a Disney resort and taking advantage of the early admission program along with the extra 3 hour after closing program would also help. I don’t recommend it though, its very tiring bouncing around park to park. In retrospect though, I would have planned to do a 7pm Fantasmic show and 9pm IllumiNations show on the same night and see the Spectromagic parade and Wishes firework shows twice.

Friday: Our beautiful 80 degree weather left us and we awoke to a thunderstorm and deluge of rainfall. Fortunately, we really didn’t have very much planned prior to our 3:30 departure by car service to the airport. After packing and checking our luggage with the bellman, we hopped on the Disney Bus to the Magic Kingdom. We rode the monorail again from the Magic Kingdom to the main café at the Grand Floridian, this time to enjoy Mickey Mouse waffles. Despite being a hotel café in Disney’s highest end resort, the pricing was quite reasonable and the food was quite good (as before). In general, Disney does a good job at keeping prices relatively reasonable whether at hotel restaurants or hot dog vendors in the park. You won’t find any bargains, but $2 for a bottle of coke which costs $3.50 at Safeco Field is quite good. Eating at Shula’s was more inexpensive than a similar meal at the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle. Even T-shirts and sweatshirts are cheaper in Disney than at Seahawks stadium. Fortunately the rain became quite light as we finished breakfast.

After enjoying Breakfast at the Grand Floridian, we returned to the Magic Kingdom and went on some more rides – Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and Snow White. While certain not thrill rides, it brings up an important thing about Disneyworld – the company is willing to invest quite a bit making a high quality ride with beautiful artwork based on characters well known to everyone – and yet make it gentle enough for even the youngest park visitor to ride. To finish up the day we took the Monorail to the Transit and Transfer station, and got on another monorail taking us to Epcot where we took the Mexico boat tour and saw the films from the China and France exhibits.

Finally, we made the walk from the International gate at Epcot to our hotel and found our car service driver waiting to take us away from the happiest place on earth. Alaska Air's non-stop flight from Orlando flew us in just over 6 hours back to the Pacific Northwest.

A Big Kid's Journey to Disneyworld - part 1

2005-01-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

Traci and I recently visited Disneyworld and I thought I’d pass along some observations to help those “older kids” particularily ones without younger kids, plan a trip to this destination. Since Disney guides are all over the web and in bookstores I won’t go into nearly as much detail as I did with my Tokyo travel blog but I’ll make my observations which may help you in the future…

I believe, the most important factor in enjoying Disneyworld is to pick a good time to go – meaning off season. While some of the rides were quite fun, I don’t think anything there is worth standing in line for much more than a half hour. We picked a time (1 ½ weeks after Christmas break ended), hoping the crowds would be smaller (and they were). Orlando attracts all sorts of people escaping the cold during January, but we figured the best way to minimize standing in line at Disneyworld was to focus on a time when kids were least likely to come – right after major holidays. While you're packing for your trip, either make sure you have a suitcase big enough so its half empty or (as I did) bring a light weight large duffel bag and throw it in your suitcase as you will likely find various souvenirs to bring home!

We flew into Orlando, and I booked a car service ahead of time on the Internet (American Luxury Transportation Services) – they charged $85 round trip (with a $5 off coupon on the internet) and had a driver waiting to pick us up at the baggage claim. It takes about 35 minutes or so to get to the Disneyworld complex from the airport. You can save both money and time by booking a ride in advance. I’d also strongly advise against renting a car unless you plan to leave the area a lot – For $50 a day you can rent a car just for the day from various rental agencies who have offices in the hotels (National Car Rental was in the Dolphin). With parking charges, valet tips and the general hassle – its not worth having a car especially when Disneyworld is covered with monorails, busses and ferries (all free!).

We decided to stay at the Swan Hotel in Orlando. We wanted to pick a nice hotel, decided to be closer to the Disney-MGM studios/Epcot complex rather than Magic Kingdom and liked to get Starwood points as the Swan/Dolphin hotel complex is actually operated by Westin hotels (but there is no Westin logo anywhere!) Their signature “Heavenly” beds are in the rooms and the hotel is very nice – they share a nice water complex. The whole area between Epcot and MGM contains the Disney Boardwalk (a collection of shops and restaurants), the Disney Resorts Yacht Club and Beach Club, and of course the Swan/Dolphin complex. It also offers a great place to jog during you vacation. Epcot is at one end of a giant man made lake/canal and the MGM-Disney Studio is at the other. The Dolphin/Swan complex is somewhere in the middle of the 1.4 mile body of water with the Boardwalk area closer to Epcot than the studios. Where ever you stay, make it a point to study the transportation routes to and from your hotel and figure out how far it is to walk – we figured out fairly late in our trip that the easiest and fastest way between our hotel and Epcot and MGM was to walk. We were out jogging one night and played “beat the boat” – the ferry moves very slow! The next day we walked and found out with the two intermediate stops made by the ferry, we could easily walk and beat the ferry.

Upon arriving at the Swan, we watched the disappointing last half of the Seahawks playoff loss to St. Louis, then ventured to Disney’s “Downtown” shopping/restaurant area – its easy from the Swan or Dolphin to hop on one of several Disney busses which depart every 15 minutes or so to different destinations such as the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney-MGM studios, the water parks and downtown Disney. We got onto the bus and went to Disney Downtown to eat. We ended up at one of Wolfgang Puck’s ubiquitous cafes and enjoyed a good dinner. After finishing dinner, I insisted on eating dessert at one of my all time favorite ice cream shops, Ghiradelli, where I enjoyed one of their classic hot fudge sundaes.

After satisfying our appetites, we walked to Disney’s Pleasure Island (also part of the downtown complex), bought $16 admission tickets and enjoyed the entertainment – first we stopped at the comedy club where several stand up comics work with the audience to put on a funny show. Next we checked out the nightclub 8 Trax and found the dance floor full of people, some dressed in 70s get ups enjoying music like Prince’s 1999. After leaving 8 Trax we went to the BET Soundstage club to see what was going on in hip-hop land. Nobody was on the large dance floor, and they had several TVs tuned to the second NFL playoff game with a handful of people in the club (Despite being Saturday night at 10 pm, it was off season…). We then stopped in on Disney’s Adventurer’s Club and found it quite busy although I’m not exactly sure what the attraction was all about. It was kind of a cigar bar with an 1900s British Explorer theme. Not finding it interesting, our last stop was at Mannequins Dance Palace where I was amazed at the unbelievable lighting/laser/sound system – it was truly impressive. Unfortunately only one person was dancing alone, and just a handful of people were admiring the visual display accompanying the techno-pop music. The Pleasure Island Jazz company was closed during this slow period so we just hopped on a Disney Bus and returned to the Swan.

On Sunday, Disney held their annual marathon and half marathons - I tried to enter but found it sold out almost 6 months in advance - if you want to run, enter early! Afterwards we saw people walking around with Mickey Mouse shaped finisher medals around their necks.

We decided to start the day by trying out one of Disney’s Waterparks, Blizzard Beach (again by taking the Disney bus from the Swan Hotel). Actually, the other Waterpark, Typhoon Lagoon was closed (they usually keep only 1 water park open during slow periods). It was a warm, sunny day and I wanted to avoid the 4 major themeparks during weekends to minimize lines. Blizzard beach was a fun park, I rode all of the rides except one – the 55 foot nearly straight down water slide from hell. Supposedly you get to 55 miles an hour all on the seat of your bathing trunks. I enjoyed several of the innertube rides the best – it is so smooth to glide along inside the tracks sitting on an inner tube. The white water rafting ride was also fun. I did ride the little brother to the 55 foot monster slide (nearly as tall but 2 landings interrupt the straight drop). All I can say is it’s quite thrilling but wear goggles if you wear contacts or you don’t want water splashing in your face as you rapidly slide to earth. For the water parks, rent a locker (you can also rent towels if you want) and leave everything in the locker – take only the key and “water shoes” or go barefoot. The whole park is basically a swimming pool, and you can walk barefoot everywhere – although the concrete gets really hot in the summer. The second piece of advice is if you want to use one of Disney’s deck loungers/chairs, get there first thing and call dibs on it because even though our park was probably only 25% of capacity – very few chairs/loungers were left and none were to be had on the artificial beach.

After leaving Blizzard beach, we returned to the Swan and walked to the Boardwalk complex which is right next to the Swan/Dolphin. We ate at a nice restaurant called Spoodles followed by desert at the Dolphin hotel ice cream shop before retiring for the evening.

Monday – our first adventure in a theme park. First, a few observations about Disneyworld parks: 1) Know what rides you want to go on before arriving at the park. I’m not going to list all the rides but I’ll suggest two web sites that rate the rides: http://www.mbsc.com/best-of-disney.htm and http://www.guide2wdw.com/. Even if the park was completely empty, there are rides/attractions that you would want to avoid (lousy ride, make you sick, gets you soaking wet). 2) If your staying at a Disney resort (or the Swan/Dolphin) you enter a park an hour early and stay 3 hours after closing by taking advantage of Disney’s policy – they rotate it so only one park is open early and one is open late and it changes daily. Also, only certain rides are available (usually the most crowded ones). 3) Especially if you are going at a busy time, you must understand the fast pass system – basically it lets you make an advance reservation on one ride during a set time. Ideally you use it to wait for one ride and get on two. This is especially handy on close together very popular rides such as Splash Mountain / Big Thunder Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, and Tower of Terror / Rock ‘n Roller coaster at MGM-Disney studios. 4) Its nice to get park hopper passes so you can go in and out of parks at will – on some days we went in and out of 5 parks in a single day. Certain big attractions like the parades and firework shows require you to leave and come back so that you can ride all the attractions you want to.

Anyway, we did ride some of the “oldies but goodies” Disney rides such as the Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Carribean. We also left the park mid-day to tour a very nice Disney resort, the Grand Floridian and enjoy lunch there. You can jump on the Disney monorail and get to several hotels in a few minutes. I thought the best attractions at the Magic Kingdom are: 1) The Wishes Firework show which occurs each night at closing – it was simply the best choreographed, best organized and most beautiful fireworks show I’ve ever seen. It’s is something you must not miss! You can see the fireworks from most of the park, you just need to make sure you are in front of the Disney Castle as that’s where they launch the fireworks. We watched it from the bridge to Tomorrowland and had a great view. 2) The Spectromagic parade – Even though we had very light crowds, the parade route was COMPLETELY filled up an hour before parade time. This parade, which replaced the old Electric Light Parade, was amazing -- filled with lighted multi-color floats staffed by Disney characters. 3) As far as the best rides at the Magic Kingdom, its all about the Mountains (Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain). I thought that Space Mountain is getting quite dated, its become almost a C grade roller coaster in the dark. Big Thunder Mountain is a mild to moderate roller coaster with beautiful views and Splash Mountain is a nice log ride with colorful characters along the way. You don’t go to the Magic Kingdom for the world’s best thrill rides, but it still has its charm. After viewing the amazing Wishes fireworks show we returned to our hotel and walked down the Boardwalk to the ESPN club to enjoy a nice dinner of regular bar and grill type food.

Continued

Adventures in Tokyo part 4 (conclusion)

2005-01-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

Day 6 – Friday – Date with Mickey.

The day starts off bad as its raining fairly hard. We enjoy a hearty breakfast and I study the internet weather forecasts – accuweather.com says it’s going to rain all day but the Japanese internet weather services tend to be a little more optimistic. Since we postponed our Disney adventure on Thursday due to rain (it ended up not raining after the early morning), we decide to take a chance and go. We ride the JR train to the main Tokyo station and follow all the kids who must be cutting school (or do Japanese kids get a Spring Break?) to the JR train which goes to Disney. It’s actually a rather short trip to Disneyland once you get to the Tokyo station ~ 10 minutes. We get off the train and walk to the ticket line – despite it being 10 o’clock (the park opens at 8AM) there are lines in front of each of the ticket windows (maybe 14 different lines). We stand in a barely moving line for about an hour! Finally we get our tickets and enter the park. We noted that Disneyland is sold out of the multiday passports for the coming weekend although Disneysea does have tickets available. We looked at the Disneysea map and decided most of those attractions were for younger kids so we went to Disneyland. We got in and rode on Pirates of the Carribean after a 20 minute wait – not so bad. But then we went over to the big Thunder mountain rollercoaster and saw a long line just to get an advance ticket (fastpass) to ride it! You would have to wait 20-30 minutes just to get a timed pass to get on the ride 4 hours later! Alternatively you could wait in the standby line for amere 120 minutes and get on. Needless to say we left to see what kind of line there was at Space Mountain. Imagine the Anaheim Disneyland in the middle of Christmas break and that is Tokyo Disneyland on a Friday. The lines were so long especially for the headline attractions. We ended up going to one 3-D show and seeing It’s a Small World, and the Pirates (about 25-30 minutewaits for each). So don’t go to Tokyo Disneyland if you want to go on the rides. We then had lunch at the Tomorrowland Pizza establishment – I had 2 slices of Sausage/Mushrooms and Traci had some sort of specialty pizza value meal – I actually was quite happy with our $20 (total) meal and because I needed a pizza fix I was happy we made it to Disney despite the long lines. Before leaving we went shopping – I was quite surprised that Tokyo Disneyland doesn’t sell more Tokyo branded merchandise – There seems to be a relatively large percentage of foreign visitors to the park. It, however, was unusual to find Disney souvenir shirts or jackets with Tokyo on them. I purchased some Tokyo Disney jackets for my nephews but couldn’t even find a T-shirt or Sweatshirt for myself. As we shopped more and more thru Tokyo is was also very difficult to find Tokyo souvenir items. There are so many American T-shirts – its easier to find an Allen Iverson jersey than it is to find any Tokyo souvenir T-shirts or even aT-shirt of a Japanese Team. Later and later in the trip I became more motivated to look for T-shirts with Japanese ties and never found any. At the shops you can find T-shirts with all sorts of offensive English slogans, even Swastikas! –Point of information, apparently, the Swastika symbol was co-opted by Hitler from Japan – You see all sorts of Swastikas on the samurai armor/uniforms inHiroshima and Osaka castles. One of the guides said they were an asian symbol of good luck. After arriving home from Disney we decided to get some ice cream at a Tokyo Haagen Dazs. Although there is a large Haagen Dazs café at Shibuya, wearen’t sure we would be able to find it so we decide to go for the sure thing – a small Haagen Dazs in the Ikebukuro station on the JR line. Once we get there we both order Strawberry sundaes for about $6 each – they give you very small scoops of ice cream but they are very good. Appetites satisfied, we return home.

Day 7 Saturday – We start the day in by going to Shinjuku, to see the best (and free!) view of Tokyo from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Towers. It’s a beautiful clear day and after the JR train drops us off at Shinjuku we head forthe tall twin towers that house Tokyo’s government. On the way I found a rarityin Japan – Regular pepsi in a vending machine. I try the Pepsi and see why it is rare – it tastes like some generic cola – dilute and not very sweet. Stick with Coke – it’s not as good as the US but its OK. Vending machines dominate Japan –they are found in the middle of alleys, on corners and in places we usuallyexpect to see them in the US (train stations). Cigarettes are sold thru vending machines (Marlboros – 300 yen per pack!) I guess kids are on the honor system –supposedly you have to be 20 to buy cigarettes (same for alcohol). We arrive atthe twin towers - there are several tour groups in line, but we don’t have to wait very long before getting on the elevator up. The view is spectacular – weare on 45th floor and can get a feel for how big Tokyo really is by the 360 viewing angle showing city as far as the eye can see. Mount Fuji is visible inthe background. Looking at the city, you see a lot of helicopter pads on the top of many buildings. Many rooftops also have patios some with Astroturf for recreation. Once in a while you see a couple of tennis courts – Tennis court time is very hard to come by, it’s like riding Space Mountain in Disneyland – an all day event. We take a lot of things for granted in the US. I can’t imagine what its like to get a tee time on a real golf course. After taking advantage ofthe photo op, we descend downward and head for Shinjuku National Garden. The park is gated like a subway station and you have to pay 200 yen for a ticket toget in. Like central park in New York it’s an oasis in a vast urban sea. Lots of space, something I am beginning to long for in this claustrophobic society. The Cherry Blossoms (Sakura) are coming in season and there are literally hundreds of people some with some very serious looking photographic equipment taking pictures. Some travel in packs, with a leader pointing to good picture opportunities. Many others bring sketch books and make Sakura portraits. Despite the expansive space there are just so many people roaming around, I doubt you could find enough space to say play Frisbee or just throw a baseball around. Some families are camped out on the grass and eat KFC chicken. We don’t see any dogs, I assume pets aren’t allowed thru the gates. The park is open every day ofthe week during Cherry Blossom season – like most tourist and fun things, the park is closed on Mondays. You have to be careful sightseeing on Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday) as many things are closed – even the Government observation floor (but I presume the government isn’t shut down for 3 day weekends every week!). After leaving the park we ride the JR train for a couple of stops to Harajuku, a neighborhood when a lot of the young people hang out (kind of like Seattle’s Capitol Hill). There are large department stores, some exclusive boutiques as well as whole pedestrian street malls lined withshops selling second hand clothing, all sorts of odds and ends and various foods. While there are many colorful hairstyles and even more varied clothing styles, it’s a pretty mellow place. We spot a Shakey’s Pizza (a chain that is now defunct in the Seattle area). I hear it’s quite the lunch spot – all you can eat pizza buffet for 750 yen! I continue my unsuccessful quest to look for Tokyo souvenir T-shirts, now I’m broadening my search to include T shirts of Japanese teams – At stores like Adidas though, you find NBA stars, British soccer stars jerseys, even European Rugby team jerseys but no Japanese ones. Disappointed, we take the short train ride to Shibuya where we marvel at the large number of Saturday shoppers. We cross the street to a huge two story Starbucks overlooking the train station where Traci buys a green tea (macha) frappuccino which cost about $3.75 and takes a picture to documenting her international patronage of Starbucks. After wandering around thru several stores and Traci posing for a picture in front of the world famous Shibuya Dog statue, we return back to Ebisu and have a late lunch in a sandwich shop in the shopping complex adjacent to our train station – Traci has a chicken sandwich while I have a smoked salmon sandwich, both cost about $10. Since they want 550 yen for a coke, I pass on that. Before returning to the Westin, we stop at the Sapporo beer museum – all the exhibits and videos are in Japanese so they are of no value. Traci tries some of the free beer and I finally get a T-shirt – a Sapporo beer shirt for$12. I decide to try some outdoor running so I get a jogging map from the Westin Concierge and run around the Ebisu neighborhood. I notice that there are an inordinate amount of very expensive cars on the streets and expressways – I’m told that cars cost so much to buy and operate in Japan, those who can afford one buy really expensive ones. I don’t see any Lexuses or Infinitis but I do see Ferraris, Porsches, Rolls Royces and a few of those Mercedes G500 tanks. The sidewalks are very narrow and it is late afternoon so I spend much of my time dodging people. The population density is really getting to me this late in the trip. The other thing you have to keep in mind is that Japanese drivers don’t stop at crosswalks so you have to make sure the street is clear before you cross! After my run we enjoy the lounge’s free drinks and get caught up on our e-mail. We stop at the Ebisu Mitsukoshi department store basement and picked up some take out rice balls for dinner for $1.50 each. – Traci found out earlier in the day that we didn’t have to go to the food areas in Shibuya or Shinjuku –most of the take out Japanese food we had been buying is available right in Yebisu garden place. Since all I have to show for our great adventure is one Sapporo beer T-shirt, I “sell-out” and we take the short subway ride to Roppongi where I buy a souvenir T-shirt and sweat shirt from that ultimate Japanese cultural icon – the Hard Rook Café Tokyo. On the way back we stop off at McDonald’s in Ebisu for the first time to buy vanilla ice cream cones. Soft ice cream is quite popular in Tokyo. We still haven’t tried hamburgers in Japan but I’m very curious as the prices are so low – The equivalent of 80 cents US for a regular hamburger to about $2.50 for a Big Mac (and this is at a very high rent shopping mall in the middle of a tourist destination!)

Day 8 – Sunday – Take me out to the ball game.
Unfortunately neither the Yankees nor the Devil Rays chose to “Buy American” and stay at the Westin. Thanks to my cousin Scott, we had tickets arranged to see the Devil Rays play the Hanshin Tigers (from Osaka) – Hanshin thinks of themselves vs the Yomuri Giants much like the Boston Red Sox think they are to the Yankees. We take our beloved JR Yamanote train to Yoyogi, and transfer to the Soba JR train which takes us tothe Suidobashi station, right next to the Tokyo Dome. Before meeting Scott in front of Japan’s “Mister Donuts” I do some souvenir shopping and get a souvenir program as well as a souvenir T-shirt of the MLB opening series. Unfortunately both of those were priced like you’d expect at Safeco field - $35 for both. We then meet Scott and his girlfriend Kaori (hope I’m spelling that right). We enter the Toyko dome which wasn’t at capacity. The place reminds me of the Kingdome except it has a white roof (not concrete) and the ceiling doesn’t look as high. The chairs also were narrower. It was refreshing in that all the PA announcements (which batter, change of pitchers etc…) were done in English. The crowd in the outfield would do group chants and sing to support their team. Some fans dressed up in tiger costumes – it was all very interesting. They were very polite to the Devil Rays, they would clap after Devil Ray home runs. We got to see our old friend Hideki Irabu (remember the Fat Toad of the Yankees?) pitch – the Tigers had a 7-2 lead but blew it in the late innings and the game actually ended up tied 7-7 (No extra innings as the dome had to be cleaned and readied for the Yankees – Giants exhibition that evening). We did a 7th inning stretch with the singing of "take me out to the ball game" but most of the natives didn’t know what we were doing. The other thing different about Japanese baseball is the beer girls – cute women wearing costumes like cheerleaders would race around with a tank of beer strapped to their bank and serve beer to the crowd – the beer prices were about the same as American ball parks. After seeing a good game, we got back on the JR Soba train and rode it farther east until Ueno. Scott wanted to show us Ueno park – a free park with cherry blossoms. We got to the park and saw absolutely mind boggling numbers of people – Imagine Safeco field after the game when everybody is trying to leave a sold out stadium – and trying to weave in the middle of the crowd. There were so many people!!! Somepeople were taking pictures of the cherry blossoms, others were standing in line to use the bathrooms. Large groups of people were sitting around drinking beer and telling tales. Scott told me that it’s common on weekdays for companies to have picnics at the park and they would send out "go-fors" first think in the morning to stand around and reserve space for the afternoon festivities. There aren’t open liquor laws and very little social taboo against public drunkenness. After trying to move in the overwhelming crowd, we went to a restaurant called Who’s Food in Ueno – a scrumptious dinner including smoked duck (supposedly cooked, but I think just enough so the duck would stop quacking), two pasta dishes, a Thai shrimp soup (Tom Yum Gai), fried rice and some other entrees and three beers was only 7800 yen. What a deal!!! After dinner, we went to the main shopping alley in Ueno where Scott knew of a store called the Japan store which actually did sell souvenirs. I managed to get two T-shirts for a rather expensive 1800 Yen ($18) each, even more expensive when we passed a vendor camped out in the street selling the exact same shirts for $8 each…..That is Japan for you, more shopping than you could ever believe there could be, but never selling the item you are really looking for. After saying goodbye to Scott and Kaori, we returned on the JR circle train to Ebisu and enjoyed some very good Gelato at the Mitsokishi department store.

Day 9 – Bon Voyage! We started the day by getting up at 4:45 AM to see theTsukiji Fish Market – we decided to do it the last day to begin getting used to Pacific Time again (and waited for the JR passes to expire since they aren’t any good on this subway.) We took the subway from Ebisu past Roppongi and Ginza to the Tsukiji subway stop. A short 5 minute walk and we are at the famous market. As we walked to the market we saw people enjoying a great breakfast – Beer and cigarettes, but people in this business probably started so early that 5AM was lunch time. Everywhere you looked you saw workers drive around forklift like devices, successfully avoiding hitting me. There were areas where huge 100 pound fish were lying on the floor and an auctioneer trying to sell the fish to the assembled crowd. There are other areas where the strangest sea animals were lying in trays to be sold to whoever came by. Some were gutting fish, otherswere boiling lobsters. In all, a fascinating look at where dinner comes from. After leaving Tsukiji we went back to Ebisu. I went for a final run around our hotel area and then we enjoyed a full breakfast. We took the 12:30 airport bus from the Westin to terminal 1 and had another quite nice flight home on the17:10 – it took 8 ½ hours. Traci was able to sleep some on the flight, I just watched videos. United again serviced some good food – Teriyaki chicken or baron of Beef. They also served Egg McMuffins look-alikes for breakfast the next morning before we arrived at 8:40 AM Seattle Time. First thing we did was make reservations for Daniel’s Broiler (Seattle’s beststeaks) for that evening…..I also went for a run on a beautiful Seattle day 78 degrees and sunny!– Having all the open space in Myrtle Edwards park looking at the Cascade Mountains and Puget sound and not constantly bumping into people. Tokyo is the most interesting place I’ve visited but no place can compare to the Seattle waterfront on a sunny day!

Ray’s Favorite things to see in Japan
1. The Shinkansen – anywhere!
2. Sony Building in Ginza
3. Shinjuki Goen Park
4. Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
5. Tsukiji Fish Market

Traci’s Favorite things to see in Japan
1. The Shinkansens
2. View from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building
3. Downtown Osaka (Umeda) including Hep Five Shopping Mall/Ferris Wheel
4. Ueno Park
5. Osaka Castle
6. Food bazaars in department store basements

Adventures in Tokyo part 3

2005-01-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

Day 5 – Thursday. After a restful night at the Westin, we awoke to find Tokyo under siege by rain. Its funny waking up in Tokyo as 7AM local time is 2PM the prior day in Seattle and we see the evening news shows on CNN and closing stock prices. Unfortunately the Westin’s biggest shortcoming is the lack of AmericanTV channels – we only get CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg. (Oh no, we won’t know who got fired on the Apprentice until we get home!) We originally planned on going toTokyo Disneyland but after studying the internet weather forecasts we decided to postpone seeing Mickey. This proved to be a mistake as the weather improved andwe had a dry afternoon. We started with a huge and filling breakfast at the freebuffet and decided to venture to Roppongi. By reviewing the subway map (which the concierge gave us in English) we found a direct subway line which could take us from our home at Ebisu to Roppongi, then Ginza and also the Tsukiji fish market on another day. Unfortunately the JR passes don’t work on the subway. We ventured out into the drizzle, to the subway station. In Japan, people generally are in a hurry – waiters, concierges, and people just trying to get to the subway – they scoot along in a race walk. Maybe that’s why there are no panhandlers – nobody would give panhandlers time to make their pitch. While most of the time people walk on the left there are many exceptions especially at thesubways in the crowd – sometimes the stairs are marked with arrows although people ignore them. When on escalators and moving walkways you are supposed to stand on the left and walk on the right. Anyway, no matter what rules you are playing by there are always near collisions. You also have to get used to getting pushed and bumped all the time in the crowds. Japan has a reputation of being orderly and polite (people wear surgical type face masks when they have colds!) but it can get a little rough on the subway. At least in New York people have to be careful who they bump! But in Japan people are more the same size (and don’t have guns). It must be frightening for the very old – you see them try to navigate the crowds which is difficult. In the US there are buses and handicapped zones but in Japan everybody is at the mercy of public transportation. While there are priority seating and special areas for the elderly to wait, its still great distances in the stations often without the benefit of elevators. A second observation I’d make is even though we stayed in an American branded hotel in an area known for foreign tourists, it is rare to see non-asians (It would really be tough for Al-Qaida to move to Japan!) We headed for the subway for a one stop trip to Roppongi, a neighborhood known forforeigners – most of the embassies are located in that area as well as many nightclubs. There is a massive new development called Roppongi Hills that was featured on the Discovery channel – it’s a huge office complex with an adjoiningshopping/restaurant area and twin housing skyscrapers along with a sports arena, movie complex and museums. It is also the headquarters of TV Asahi. Despite the clouds and mist we made it to Roppongi and went to the top of the main tower and paid the $20 each sky view and museum admission – The view from the roof was kind of disappointing due to the clouds, what was interesting was all thesecurity guys guarding the roof. After completing this tourist task we went to the Crossing Roppongi modern art exhibit at the main museum – it was basically collections of modern art from the interesting to the repugnant to the silly and stupid. War protest, Andy Warhol rip offs, some modern stuff that could only be described as silly and some pornography all stimulated the senses. There were some neat exhibits though – all the patrons got ballots and we voted on our favorite exhibits – I voted for the collection of war protest T-shirts that someone put together and Traci voted for a room exhibit that was a neo-classical collection representing everyman’s living room. Anyway, on the floor below the Crossing Roppongi exhibit, there was another show of an artist who liked using polka dots liberally. Having completed our art fix, we then wandered around the quite impressive complex which includes a nice little park complete with emerging Sakura (Cherry Blossoms). We then found the subway again and headed forthe holy grail of shopping – Ginza!

Ginza is one of the most famous shopping areas in the world – like 5th Avenue in New York or Rodeo drive in Beverly Hills. We bought another 160 yen subway ticket from the vending machines and took the same subway farther east fromRoppongi to Ginza station. When you actually pay to use the subway you buy a ticket based on the distance from your starting point, then put the ticket in a scanner before boarding the subway. Your ticket is scanned again as you leave and if you don’t have enough money the subway locks up and all the people behind you give you angry looks as you schlep over to the ticket machine to add value. We exited the station and found ourselves in front of the Sony Tower. Sony hasan amazing 7 floor showroom with many of their latest gadgets. They have a great 60” flat screen TV with a beautiful picture for a mere $15,000 US. (Imagine how much that would cost to ship on the airplane!). The next generation of digital video cameras that record on memory cards not tapes are very small, about thesize of a package of Top Ramen. I played ball with the digital robot dogs – it’s pretty sad that there are so few dogs in Tokyo. Once in a while you do see a big dog, but the majority of dogs, rare that they are, are small. It is good there is no dog poop to step in, however. Sony has a new professional line of digital camera – it’s about 1 inch wide, ½ inch thick and 4 inches long with interchangeable lenses and takes beautiful photos (they had several blown up and they do look professional). It costs a mere $4000 for a set including several lenses. There is a duty free section where presumably they have goods for sale with English directions and use 120 volt power – but good deals were hard to come by. BMW, for whatever reason, has a showroom on one of the floors at Sony and are showing a nice large convertible, the 635. The final floor of Sony has playstation games (in Japanese). We play some strange game where you are a boulder picking up trash from the city. More fun is a“cockpit” of a race car where you can play one of the new racing games. I’ve seen these cockpits at other stores – race cars or space ships for about $1000 and they are cool….After Sony, we enter a store called Wako and Traci finds a pink purse that matches her pink i-pod mini. She decides not to buy it even though it’s a mere $80 US. Of course at Wako there are $500 purses as well along with $300 T-shirts (but designer labels of course). We decide to leave Wako with wallets intact and head further down the Ginza. You see the things you’d expect to find – lots of designer boutiques, fancy jewelry stores, cafes with $10 coffee and $20 pastries. There are also 7-11s, vending machines with $1.50 cokes and Starbucks look-alikes with $2 lattes. I actually think shopping is better at other neighborhoods we visited with 4 + major department stores are lined up. Ginza is fun to look. Shopping is an interesting concept in Japan – there are sales, but infrequent. Regular items aren’t cheap but they aren’t really expensive either. My thoughts are that the Japanese seek value – their homes are very small, they have to use public transportation to get things home, and they don’t use credit cards – all of these things cut down on consumerism that is found throughout America. You don’t have to pay $285 for special Levis on the Ginza – there are plenty of moderately priced stuff available. There are a slew of 100 Yen stores (the equivalent of our dollar stores) in many areas including some department stores – so American marketing is having an impact. I knowCostco has at least a few Japan stores, I don’t know about Walmart – but I’d be surprised if either becomes widespread successes since the Japanese can’t/won’t buy lots and lots of stuff and are willing to pay extra for value rather than just finding cheap goods. Farther down the Ginza we find a new famous fixture, Apple Computer’s showroom. As you would expect there are all the latest laptops and desktops on display, plus a very large store where you can buy whatever you need – software, computer equipment, even i-pods. Although they have dozens and dozens of I-pods, they do not have any i-pod minis. Apple does have a free internet café and we do a little surfing before leaving the store. Having gotten our window shopping fix, we find the subway station we started at and buy another ticket. Now we spent 160 yen to get from Ebisu to Roppongi, 160 yen to get from Roppongi to Ginza but am uncertain how much it costs to get back to Ebisu. The list of stations and their fares is all in Japanese. I find some friendly looking woman and say Ebisu and point to the list. Fortunately she points to 190 yen and we are on our way. Traci noted that people tend to not stop and help obviously lost souls although this may reflect the fact that everyone is in a hurry all the time. When you ask people though they tend to be very interested in trying but sometimes give directions of dubious value. When we get back to the Westin we decide to get a workout at the “Club at Yebisu.” You don’t see very many health clubs in Japan, also you don’t see a lot of fat people either. Since I’m quite sure they aren’t all on the Atkins diet given the price of beef, I assume it must be a healthier diet including fish, and also avoidance of one of America’s scurges – soft drinks. Coke is readily available but it seems to be a minor purchase often relegated to the side of 7-11 fridges and occupying a minor place in most vending machines. I was interested to see what someone gets in a Japanese health club – I was kind of disappointed, even though we got in for free, thanks to the Westin. The most popular activity seemsto be hitting golf balls into a net. Their weight room was only marginally better than most business hotels. The cardio machines were fine and not in particular demand even during the busy after work time. Its funny to run on metric treadmills – although runners are familiar with metric distances – 5K,10K, etc…the speeds are quite different – 10 kilometers per hour is only 6.1 miles per hour. Most of the people at the health club aren’t in very good shape, such a contrast to our usual workout locale – the Seattle Club. I’m sure the busy Japanese life has something to do with that, plus the $2000 initiation fee/ $200 per month dues. You don’t get a whole lot for that money, although the pool is quite nice – long but somewhat narrow (6 lanes). Some people are doing some sort of Yoga or Tai-chi in the pool, others are walking down the lanes. Few, like Traci are actually swimming laps. The locker room is interesting as ladies clean the mens locker room as men dress and shower. After the workout, we go down to the Westin lounge for happy hour. Drinks in Japan tend to be very expensive, at “hostess bars” where businessmen drink and converse with a female attendant who serves drinks it is not unusually to rack up at $1600 bill in just a couple of hours. At the Westin two drinks will set you back $30. Even cokes cost $6.50. Fortunately the Westin gives us free drinks from 5-7 pm each night, a treat not to be missed. The lounge has a wireless network and we do all of our e-mailing from my laptop each evening. After the happy hour, we head to Shibuyato get food. It is about a 10 minute walk (all within the covered Yebisu complex) from our hotel to the JR station, so it’s a bit of a pain but we are hungry. In Shibuya we go to a department store and get some takeout food – I buy some salmon rice balls for about $1.80 each. We also want to go to a place called Beard Papas which is supposed to have the best cream puffs in the world. They recently opened one up in New York. Even though we know its location we spend several minutes racing around the south entrance of the station looking for the small food stand. We find the place and I get 4 of the $2 cream puffs to go. We go back to the Westin to enjoy our food (the problem with department store purchases is although they are cheap, there is no readily available place to eat them). Some restaurants actually give you a 30% discount for take out over their dining in menu. The food is good, and I like the cream puffs but wouldn’t say they are the best I’ve ever tasted. Once back in the Westin, we think about making a reservation and splurging on a weekend dinner at theTeppanyaki restaurant (where the chef cooks food at a community table on a grill and entertains patrons with fancy knife tricks) on the top of our hotel. However, checking out the menu – it would be about $220 per person for the multi-course dinner salad, fish, beef, etc and all you get is 5 oz of beef! Kobe beef may be very good, but only 5 oz??? I don’t know if the Japanese ban on US beef has affected the prices, but they seem rather excessive since we could eat 4 times at Seattle’s best steak place for that price – so we pass on that chance. As long as you don’t order anything with beef in it the prices a pretty comparable especially when you take into account that tax and tip are included in listed menu prices. But 22,000 yen for 1/3 the steak you get at a US steakhouse is crazy. No wonder all Japanese tourists want to do is eat at steak houses in the US.

Continued

Adventures in Tokyo part 2

2005-01-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

Wednesday Day 4 – We go back to downtown Osaka on a direct subway and roam around until we find Osaka Castle. It’s a little difficult to find historical landmarks because there are so many large buildings developed around them. The Osaka castle is breathtaking – imagine a square the size of two football fields with a 20 foot high stone wall built behind big and deep moats. It’s amazing that this 16th century castle could ever be constructed. We tour the inside of the castle (reconstructed of course to meet modern building standards) and see many of the same artifacts like suits of armor that we saw in Hiroshima’s castle. From Osaka we wanted to go to Kyoto to meet Miye for lunch. We could take the 1 hour subway trip, but instead decide to go on the Shinkansen (an awfully expensive luxury afforded by the fact we get unlimited use of the Shinkansen with JR rail passes). We take the bus to Osaka’s train station and a JR train to Shin-Osaka (New Osaka station where the Shinkansen stops) We then take the Shinkansen to the next stop, Kyoto a 15 minute journey. We didn’t save all that much time but it’s much cooler to ride the Shinkansen. While making connections on Japanese subways can be painful because of navigation thru stations, the trains run so frequently – every 2-10 minutes typically, you never have to wait long. Once we were at the Kyoto station we could lock our overnight bags up in a locker – banks of them are found in every train station. We were tired from carrying them around Osaka castle and were happy to dispose of them.

In Kyoto, we wanted to see the Sanjusangendo temple. We walked for a while and reached a religious appearing structure but found it to be a different temple (the opposite direction that we were supposed to go – there are a lot of temples in Kyoto, many with big corporate sponsors like Hitachi). Rather than make another long walk, we tried a taxi – many of which were lined up at the temple. In Kyoto, a taxi is about $7 minimum and after a mile or so the meter starts increasing. Taxis rides are expensive but then again, gas is about $4 a gallon. After the short $9 cab ride (but you don’t tip drivers!), we got off and visited the temple. This particular temple had rows and rows of golden statues along with larger statues from Buddhist history. You can buy candles for $10, write your requests on the candle and have them burned in the temple. Traci didn’t think a 2004 World Series for Seattle was an appropriate request so I passed on the opportunity to enhance our chances for a pennant. We again hopped on a cab and called Miye and met her downtown. We found a nice hole in the wall restaurant Miye knew about where I ordered a $14 Shrimp Yakisoba. I met a traveler from Idaho who was visiting his wife’s relatives and we shared our impressions of this country – 2 x the size of Idaho with 120 times the population! After lunch, we wandered around downtown and went to a shop that sold crepes. I had a crepe with a banana split in it – I basically at the inside and left the crepe outside until we finally found a garbage can (they are hard to find outside in Japan). I realize its considered impolite to walk outside eating something but I don’t quite get why there are so many shops that serve ready to eat food and have no seating area inside, and then to have no garbage cans to dispose of the containers.

After saying goodbye to our Kyoto host, Miye, we took a cab to the Shinkansen station. We had a minor problem in that the locker wouldn’t open when I put the key in. I figured out that you pay in advance 200 yen (about $2) but after two hours you have to pay an additional 100 yen per hour to get your stuff back. We had some time to wander around the shops before our Shinkansen left (They run every half hour, but some go straight to the Tokyo Station and some stop at Shinagawa which is much closer to our hotel, so given it will be rush hour in Tokyo when we arrive I wanted to wait for a Shinagawa Shinkansen). Another lesson to pass along – no matter how much planning you do, you always end up rushing around to catch the train as the stations are so massive that window shopping inevitably leads to you disorientation as to where you need to go to get on your train – Always give yourself time so you are waiting at the gate for the trains. The Shinkansen trains ALWAYS leave on time, so you better not be late! We got on the 3:40pm train and reached Tokyo at 6pm. Rush hour in the Shinagawa was interesting – lots of people milling around but fortunately we only had a couple of stops before reaching Ebisu and the Westin. After re-checking in and having our stored baggage brought up I went to the Club at Yebisu to see what their health clubs are like (more on this later) and we finished the long day by finding department store takeout food nearby.

Continued

Adventures in Tokyo part 1

2005-01-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

Traci and I (neither speak Japanese) are visiting Tokyo (my first, Traci’s second) and wanted to pass along our thoughts and experiences to anyone interested – so here’s our Great Tokyo Adventure Blog from our March 2005 Trip.

Sat/Sun – Day 1 Traci and I flew on United’s 777 non-stop service to Tokyo, leaving Seattle on Saturday at 12:40pm. Although leg room is somewhat cramped, we fortunately got to sit alone on the right side (United has 2-5-2 seating in coach). The flight took 9 ½ hours and was very smooth – the service was excellent, the crew spent the whole flight providing food and drinks even in economy. They served a roast beef meal followed by snacks (chips and cookies) followed by another meal including a hot ham and cheese sandwich. The 777 has individual TV screens and show 6 different movies/TV programs over and over. United didn’t even charge for the headsets! The roast beef was good, fortunately, because it’s the last beef to be had for a while….We landed 9 ½ hours later – 4pm Tokyo time the next day (Sunday) – we lost our Saturday! I give United a big thumbs up on the voyage.

Getting thru Japan Immigration was fairly smooth, just as we finished and walked to the baggage claim, our luggage appeared on the carousel. We got our luggage at 4:20pm but couldn’t get on the 4:30 airport bus so we ended up leaving on the 5:30 pm bus. While waiting, I made my first Japanese purchase – 300 yen for a bottle of coke. For some reason the coke in Japan doesn’t seem as sweet as in the US ?different corn syrup? At the airport I first realized how much of Japan uses both Japanese and English – on everything from LCD signs indicating which bus or train leaves for where, to directions around the airport and even on billboard ads. Sometimes ads are all Japanese text until the middle somewhere where you start seeing English – such as company names and web addresses. I’m thinking more than anything else, the world wide web which is based on the Roman Alphabet will make English the dominant language over the next generation. We got on the 5:30pm bus and traffic to Tokyo wasn’t too bad – it took about 2 ¼ hours to get to our hotel. We were the last stop of 5 hotels. The streets were narrow with many sharp curves. It was also weird trying to understand the traffic patterns with everybody driving on the left side of roads (although many of the streets were very narrow and we traveled in the center). We finally arrived at the Westin around 7:30 pm. Fortunately the Westin Tokyo is a wonderful hotel. It is located in Ebisu, the site of one of Japan’s new superdevelopments (housing, big shopping, train station) and is the home of Sapporo beer’s headquarters and beer museum. We plugged in our depleted electronics – Japan is on 100 volt power vs 120 in the US but as long as you can deal with 2 prong outlets electronics don’t seem to know the difference. I brought a power converter which we didn’t use the whole trip – you need it if you have motorized electronics like hair dryers or electric razors – but anything with rechargeable batteries doesn’t. The Westin had adapters in the room 3 prong --> 2 prong, but I brought one along with a 3 outlet mini-power strip so we could charge our iPods, Palms and laptop. Everything charged fine except the ipods which strangely charge for a while then think they’re full when they are not, so you had to start the charging process again – eventually they get full. I’m not sure why that is…The Westin room is large, certainly at least the size of any Westin around the country – the bathroom is gorgeous. I’ve been told Japanese hotels tend to have mini rooms and even smaller bathrooms – that doesn’t seem to apply to the Westin.

We met Traci’s friend Curtis and wandered around the top two floors of Ebisu place which has about a dozen restaurants. We first found a convenience store that sold “throw away” (prepaid) cell phones – for 78,000 yen – about $75 (48,000 for the phone / 30,000 for the prepaid service) we now had full cell service. Unfortunately the phone is all Japanese so we can’t figure out voice mail or e-mail service, but we can make and send calls. Even at a place with many foreign tourists (because of the Westin) most of the restaurants have no English menus. However almost all have plastic food models in the window so you can figure out what you want. Curtis speaks Japanese well (he used to work in Tokyo) so he could order off Japanese menus. We chose to eat a soba noodle dinner with Tempura. The views from the 32nd/33rd top floors of the city are spectacular and it was a clear night. Most of the restaurants at the top of Ebisu place charged a quite reasonable 800-2000 yen for entrees (about $7.50 - $18 US) but there weren’t many beef dishes available (more on this later). Considering this is a tall brand new skyscraper connected to a foreign hotel it was a pleasant surprise. After a tasty dinner we went back the the Westin and quickly fell asleep around 10pm Sunday night (5 AM Sunday in Seattle)

Monday – Day 2 After enjoying an all you can eat American buffet breakfast included in our Westin room rate, we ventured on the Tokyo Subway for the first time and went to popular neighborhoods at Akibahara, Shibuya, Shinjuku. The JR Yamanote line is a big circle with subway trains going each direction around the circle and brings you to most of the big neighborhoods. And of course we don’t have to pay thanks to JR Rail passes. The subways are clean, no graffiti or trash anywhere! There are little tunes which seem to be unique to each station signifying arrival of trains – kind of like the little electronic music made by video games each time you complete a task. The trains are surprisingly quiet and many of the people inside are dozing in and out of sleep – very little talking. Talking on cell phones is not allowed on the subways – I guess you don’t have to worry about it in New York since the subway makes too much noise to talk anyway. Every square inch of the subway car is covered with ads and you see many American celebrities endorsing products (Randy Johnson, Sandra Bullock) – I guess this is where the Simpson’s writers got the idea for the Mr. Sparkle episode. The stations are huge but the signs are in English as well as Japanese and are easy to navigate except for their large size (it would be just as hard to navigate the stations in a US city as a Japanese one). The ones with many connections especially with the bullet trains (Shinkansens) are especially confusing. Not only are there many shops like in US airports, but there are whole shopping malls built into the stations selling everything from furniture to clothing. My strategy to avoid having natives assume I spoke Japanese was to wear a Seattle Mariners jacket to indicate my origin – unfortunately, on our first subway journey there was one native wearing a New York Yankees jacket and another wearing a Seattle Mariners jersey. Oh well…

It was a cold rainy day in Tokyo so we try to stay indoors as much as possible – fortunately most of the big stores are connected directly with the main train stations. When we ventured outside we found neon signs and many people, kind of like a Times Square in every neighborhood. We start in Akibahara, Tokyo’s electric city. There are many electronic stores (kind of like Times square) but they are narrow and high – many different stores 6-8 floors high with a small showroom of different electronic goods on each floor. The tiny size of some of the new video cameras and laptops are impressive, but we don’t find many earthshaking new products, and most of the stores sell the same goods. I am especially outraged at one floor of one store that sells BB guns which are replicas of “famous” war weapons (AK-47s, Uzis, etc…) They sell police style riot gear and have posters of kids dressed up in war gear firing these guns – some are even automatic BB guns. Crazy! The same store had a floor devoted to X-rated cartoon DVDs which are popular in Japan. The multifloor shops highlight a big weakness in Japan – access for the handicapped. While the Americans with disability act remains a big challenge for American developers, you can really feel for the handicapped who have a big problem reaching many of the smaller train station platforms and many of the stores! Besides the stores, we found a Sega World video game parlor – uniquely Japanese games were mixed in with a multiplayer Bingo and multiplayer Horse Racing game were found. I played a game patterned on Dance Revolution where the player beats on a drum in synch with the music. After Akibahara, we went to Shibuya which is another neighborhood with a huge train station and many stores. There is an area called the “Food Show” which is a large bazaar of various take out foods from $1.00 rice balls and $50 cantaloupes (no kidding). This was also are first experience with butchers selling miniature cuts of steak by the gram! 150 grams which is 5 oz sells for $80-100….and we aren’t talking about filet mignon or choice New York steaks! It’s pretty incredible how much beef costs. We haven’t eaten at McDonald’s but I do wonder how they can charge reasonable prices $5-6 for our much loved value meals and still have beef? For the most part you can find any food you want but its all to go. The Japanese spend an extraordinary amount of time packaging your to go meals in nice little boxes, packed to avoid getting squashed and even with a cold chemical pack! Almost all the department stores have food courts in their basements where it is easy to find food (you just point or pick it out and pay for them) without speaking any Japanese. Its kind of funny walking down the very long corridors with small food stands on each side with merchants (usually young females) quietly but constantly speaking in Japanese I guess to stimulate business – their sales pitches are louder than a mumble but much quieter than the Pike Place Market fish sellers. Figuring out what is in some of the packages is a challenge when you don’t read Japanese. If you stay away from the $100 steak the food is quite reasonably priced. Some additional observations about the department stores: Like Nordstrom there are some good values and some ridiculous designer prices like $280 T-shirts. It is funny to hear music in English, everything from relatively new songs like Train, to old 80s classics from Lionel Ritchie to rap music artists also sorts of language which would get you thrown off the air in the US by the Federal Communications Commission. We ventured into a restaurant (one that had an English menu at the door) solo and I had a caesar’s salad with fried chicken for a reasonable $16. There’s no tipping in Japan so although the prices for most common foods (beef excluded, obviously) may run a little higher, without the need for a tip the prices aren’t much different than you’d expect in the US. Also, restaurants in obviously expensive buildings on high floors with great views don’t necessarily charge tons of money like in the US – I think its because there are so many restaurants in tall skyscrapers (and usually bunched together) so its not such a exclusive perk.

We finished the day in by spending the evening Shinjuku, a very busy area with many stores – think of 4 or 5 downtown Seattle Bon Marche’s lined up – all with food courts in their basements. You would think all the Japanese do is shop – I don’t think even New York has the retail space to compare with Tokyo. There are soooo many big stores in so many neighborhoods. It was raining pretty hard and was fairly chilly (in the low 40s) so we returned back to the Westin.

Tuesday – Day 3. The most adventurous part of our trip started very early – we caught the train at 5:30AM to go to the main Tokyo station – Japan’s Grand Central Station. From there we took the 6:36 AM Bullet train (Shinkansen) to Osaka, and then transferred to a different Shinkansen to Hiroshima. The 537 mile journey took 5 hours including stops and the transfer. Japan’s Shinkansens now go as fast as 180 miles per hour….its amazing! The seats are very comfortable and I think travel via Shinkansen is much better than by airplanes, at least if your not traveling thousands of miles. Both the conductor who checks tickets and the hostesses who go up and down aisles selling snacks and drinks stop to bow as they enter and exit each car even if they are just passing thru. Most of the riders on our trains were businessmen in their uniformly navy blue suits who mostly used the time to sleep. Its fairly easy to get around in stations, trains and the city as long as you know English – I’d go as far to say the vast majority of confusion (and there was lots) trying to find the right train and stops isn’t a language problem – we’d probably have much the same problem if the huge stations were in Atlanta – they are just so big and there are so many trains. Half of the Shinkansen audio stations that you can listen to on the train are either American popular music or lessons in conversational English. The biggest language barrier for us seems to be in the restaurants and we had to find places we could point to the food/pictures or places with English menus. Before traveling to Japan, we bought JR Rail passes for about $350 each – they were the Green Car (first class passes) although there really isn’t much different between Green Car and regular cars (Green car 2 – 2 seating vs regular car 2 – 3 seating). In fact there was no Green car between Osaka and Hiroshima so the only Green cars we rode in were between Tokyo to Osaka and then Kyoto to Tokyo).

After the 537 mile journey we took a street car to the Peace Park. We started out by finding a restaurant at the museum complex and I had a Chicken karaage meal while Traci had a chicken katsudon lunch which together cost around $25. After lunch we entered the Peace museum which went over the history of the city and its experience with the A-bomb. Some of the exhibits were fairly graphic, but milder than the Holocaust museum in Washington DC. There are authentic photographs along with multimedia presentations. In general it was well done and a fitting tribute to the victims. The Peace park is a rather large complex that includes the museum as well as a perpetual flame for victims. There are several areas where people bring origami Cranes in honor of a young leukemia victim who folded 1000 cranes in hopes of reversing the disease caused by radiation exposure. We then crossed the peace bridge to visit Hiroshima castle. While I was initially impressed by the structure, we quickly figured out the castle was destroyed by the A-bomb and the whole project was a replica. Disappointed that we don’t see Tom Cruise working on his samurai techniques we leave this “Hollywood” castle. We then hopped back on the Shinkansen and got off in Osaka which is basically the half way point between Hiroshima and Tokyo.

Osaka is a very large city with many large department stores of its own. We found a restaurant in the middle of one of the many department stores that had models of food in the window – I had a Udon / Shrimp tempura dinner for around $15. Afterwards we wandered around Osaka at night, and found a long covered street with shops lining each side. There are many video game parlors, Pachinko parlors, shops of every description, karaoke bars and hole in the wall restaurants. Toward the outer edge of the street from downtown there were more adult oriented entertainment venues so we headed back. We found a very impressive shopping mall in the heart of downtown with a gigantic Ferris Wheel on it. We paid $5 each and had a great view of the expansive city from the Ferris wheel and immediately after leaving found a Gelato place at the exit. Traci and I sampled the Gelato and I liked the strawberry one so much I had to order a second serving. The Gelato in Japan had been recommended to me, but I couldn’t understand why Japan would be a place with good Gelato. I know now it does. We then went to the train station and found the area with the subways. Its confusing in Japan because many of the largest stations have Shinkansen areas, regular trains (or as Seattle thinks of them – the dreaded light rail), and subways all with their own ticket counters, ticket machines, ticket gates and tracks. Further adding to the confusion is the fact that several different companies run the different modalities so you need different tickets, and our JR rail passes don’t work at other companies rail systems. Fortunately the JR rail passes do work on most of the Shinkansens (just not the real high speed Nozomi trains), and the Yamanote circle train line in Tokyo which is where we spend the bulk of our travel time Once we found the Osaka subway, we followed directions to Traci’s family home in Osaka – They maintain a house in Osaka which Traci’s cousin Miye currently lives in as she continues her education. While we don’t have any problems getting to the right culdesac, we can’t figure out what house it is especially since its 10pm at night. The addresses in Japan are difficult – there isn’t a consistent grid system like in the US – addresses are based on the neighborhood not street and house numbers are often in the order they were built. Fortunately we have the cell phone and figure out which house to enter. Japanese houses are smaller and don’t have central heating, something that can be a problem on 40 degree nights – but with enough blankets we have a pleasant sleep on the grass mat floor, still not quite the same as the Westin’s Heavenly beds…

Continued