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Travelers: Kauai Condos offers vacation rentals at Kuhio Shores.
Vacation with views: try Hanalei Bay Resort on your Hawaiian vacation.
January 31, 2008
American Express "Going Once" sale
If you want some extra excitement and complication (as if booking your own travel wasn't complicated enough), American Express has a vacation package promotion for card holders on their Going Once website.
The promotion lasts from February 4 to 14 and works like this. Each day a different package goes on sale at noon. Every twenty minutes until 8:00 pm (or until the package sells out) the price drops.
So the longer you wait, the cheaper you get the vacation. However, the package could sell out before 8:00 if enough people want the package. There are also fixed-price packages.
So start thinking (assuming you have an American Express card) about how much you're willing to pay for each package. I'm also assuming that you have more money than I do.
Croatia (starts at $13,570 which is the retail price)
Tuscany ($9,000)
Alaska ($12,480)
Cabo San Lucas ($15,000)
Tanzania safari ($18,590)
Polynesia ($18,790)
Greece & Turkey
Buenos Aires
Hawaii
According to American Express, last year Going Once package purchasers saved an average of 32 percent off of retail prices. It's a significant discount, but personally I'd wait a bit longer and risk having the package sell out. They do show you the number of packages available (it says 10 for each right now).
January 30, 2008
Tours of Harlem, New York City
Here's a press release that I thought was worth sharing. I don't know anything about this company, Harlem Spirituals, but I do know that too few people understand Harlem. People all over the world are scared of Harlem - I know a restaurant in Jinju (a small city in South Korea) where on the wall in completely broken English they have a few lines of text about a woman who had never cried but broke down in tears the first time she saw Harlem.
I guess that's the problem. People don't understand or know Harlem. And yes, terrible city planning has left some areas dangerous but that doesn't mean tourists need to ignore the entire area.
Anyway, here is the press release:
How would you like to travel back in time and see New York City through the eyes of an African-American? What was it like during Dutch colonialism in the 17th Century? How did New Yorkers aid slaves seeking freedom through the Underground Railroad? Did jazz legends Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie live in Harlem? If not, where did they live?
All of these points of interest and many more are being offered as part of an African-American Heritage tour by Harlem Spirituals, a leader in NYC’s specialty tour and travel industry for 25 years. This tour is only being offered during the month of February in honor of Black History Month. And if anyone knows how to give a tour of Harlem, it’s Harlem Spirituals. After all, their 2008 African-American Heritage tours are built upon tours for which this company won a White House award in 2000.
Prices and dates for these special tours are as follows:
African-American Heritage NYC all-day (9:30am to 4:30pm) with lunch: $99 per adult, $89 per child. Tour available on Saturday, February 9th and Saturday, February 23rd.
African-American Heritage NYC Harlem tour plus soul food brunch (9:30am to 2:30pm): $79 per adult, $69 per child. Tour available on Saturday, February 16th.
In addition to offering educational tours of cultural value that allow thousands of visitors to experience the rich culture of Harlem, the company also provides tours to many of the historical multiethnic neighborhoods in and around New York City. Recently the company was featured in an Associated Press article as part of travel story featuring Harlem tourism.
January 29, 2008
The Bucket List
One of our readers, Jill, found this article on The Bucket List, a movie in which Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play cancer patients who end up traveling together.
According tot he article, if you and a partner were to imitate the trip it would cost the two of you $105,730. That includes $54,320 for 14 days on a private jet, $249 each for skydiving, $1,448 to $1,616 each for a night in Chateau de la Chevre d'Or, Eze, France, $10,465 per person for a safari, $1,299 each for China, $4,795 per person (first class) or $6,795 per person (deluxe) for India, $2,695 per person for Nepal, and $4,335 per person each for Egypt.
Now these are very expensive options. You could go to any of these places for a lot less (though the China price doesn't seem too bad because it includes airfare).
January 28, 2008
Super Bowl travel articles
3 years ago I wrote about traveling to the Super Bowl, concluding that the money would be better spent on a European vacation. Well maybe because I just got back from Europe (though it wasn't easy) or maybe because the New York Giants (my team) are in the Super Bowl, I'm not going to insist on saving your money for other travels this year.
I'm not spending my money on Super Bowl travel, but now I understand (well almost understand) people who do.
If you want to go, here is a bit of quick advice. It's pretty standard stuff (make sure your hotel exists, make sure you get to see the game from the inside the stadium and not just some Phoenix sports bar, etc.). Obviously you need to be careful - lots of scammers want to make money selling counterfeit tickets to the big game.
According to this article, 125,000 people will visit Phoenix for the Super Bowl and many of them will want to play golf. People have been requesting tee times since a year ago so maybe people are crazy about football and golf...
Here is an interesting article on the business side of things from the hotel / resort perspective. According to this article the Super Bowl won't make the hotels a whole lot of money, but it does give them a chance to impress new guests and hopefully win repeat business.
January 27, 2008
Packing, romance, hotels, cruises
I've taken several articles I thought were interesting and tried to tie them together into a coherent blog entry because I didn't feel like making 4 smaller ones.
This article made me smile. The author talks about how when she travel with her husband there's not much coordination when it comes to packing. But traveling with another woman is different because women know how to pack:
We understand the complexities of packing. One doesn't throw in a swimsuit just in case. It's a decision that involves suntan lotion, sandals, a cover-up, sunglasses and a month of dieting.
Speaking of traveling with your spouse, check out these tips on bringing some romance on your vacation. Hide a romantic card in your partner's luggage, have the hotel prepare roses and champagne in your room, visit the spa for a massage, bring body shimmer, temporary tattoos or body paint.
I guess you don't want to make a mess with paint in your own house but I'm not sure the hotel will be too happy if you get paint all over their room. Of course playing with paint is better than stealing - many old hotels are trying to get some of their old stuff back. Apparently you go on Ebay and find things like 5 gallon punch bowls that were stolen from a hotel 50 or more years ago.
And back to the topic of romantic travel, how about mentioning one of the more popular types of honeymoon - the cruise. According to this article, the cruise industry in the US might be facing a big change if a new rule is adopted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that would "require passenger cruise ships to spend at least half of each voyage in ports outside the United States." Somehow U.S. Customs and Border Protection thinks this will help cruise ships in Hawaii. I don't get it. Does anyone know why the cruise ships in Hawaii need help and how this new rule helps?
January 26, 2008
Scotland’s famous Loch Ness may see more visitors
The new movie The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep that opened in the US on Christmas Day 2007 (and opens in the UK in early February) is sure to inspire more tourists to visit Scotland’s famous Loch Ness. The story is about a boy who finds a mysterious egg from which a lizard-like creature hatches and eventually is let loose in a lake to become the Loch Ness Monster.
If you are planning a trip to Loch Ness, there is no guarantee that you will see “Nessie” as the locals have christened him, but there are plenty of other monster-themed attractions in the area.
Perhaps one reason why the monster has never been caught or proved beyond doubt to exist is that the lake is so huge – it’s by far the largest lake in Great Britain, measuring over 20 miles long and over 700 feet deep. Some people have spent many years and a lot of money watching the Loch – but without success.
Loch Ness is also launching a bid to become a world heritage sight, along with other such famous places as the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal and the Great Barrier Reef.
The Travel Channel (about which there has been a lot of discussion on these pages recently!) airs quite a lot of shows in which somebody goes in search of mysterious creatures such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, etc. And there are several tours that take in Loch Ness, although I’m not sure if you can ask for a refund if you don’t see the monster.
A lot of places have benefited from “movie tourism’ – the UK for example saw a big increase in visitors to London, Oxford and other places featured in the movies, following the success of the “Harry Potter” films.
If you need some more inspiration for visiting movie locations, Budget Travel magazine has a list of the movies of 2007 that will most inspire you to travel!
January 25, 2008
Where would you buy a vacation home?
This article on Canadians buying vacation homes in the US got me looking for more articles on vacation homes.
According to this article, it's no surprise that foreigners are buying US property considering the weak dollar. Actually the other article also mentioned the relative strength of Canadian currency to the US dollar.
Apparently people from Winnipeg, Canada are especially fond of Arizona. Sunshine, golf, and a battered real estate market are making Arizona look good.
While Canadians want to go south, Americans are worried about the chimneys in their vacation homes which probably means they often buy in colder areas.
I would personally love to have a vacation home and was thinking somewhere cheap would be nice. For example, buying property in Brazil could be less of a financial stress than buying in the US. However, buying in a foreign country involves some red tape (see the first article I linked to). Also, when we were in Punta Cana, my wife and I say that you get condos by the beach for $60,000 or so.
January 24, 2008
Meaningful travel on your honeymoon?
It must be a very rare and special couple who take time during their honeymoons to do some "volontourism". In this article, the author talks about visiting a school in Cambodia. It probably took half a day and cost a few hundred dollars ($40 for school lunches and then however much extra it costs to hire the kind of tour guide who sets this up).
The rest of their time was spent seeing Angkor Watt and their hotel package sounded pretty good: "At $95, our poolside room at Bopha Angkor was spacious yet not ostentatious, and the package included daily breakfast, a traditional Khmer dinner, and a massage."
New rules for visiting Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean go into effect soon
Starting Jan. 31st, you need at least "a government-issued photo ID (such as a driver's license) along with proof of citizenship (such as a birth certificate or naturalization certificate)" to leave the US and enter Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean (also to return to the US).
Passports are required for flying between these countries but not yet for driving.
January 23, 2008
Nostalgia tourism: where would you go?
This article mentions nostalgia tourism:
...nine out of ten Brits were found to be using their holiday to return to a place that has a sentimental association for them.This got me thinking about where I would go if I were to do some nostalgia tourism.The top five reasons were: 'Memories of a youth holiday' (27 per cent), 'lived in a destination when younger or as a student' (21.5 per cent), 'went there on honeymoon' (5.8 per cent), 'had a memorable romance there' (4.4 per cent) and 'got engaged or married there' (4.4 per cent).
I considered going to Italy (instead of Munich, Zurich, and Madrid) this winter because my wife and I honeymooned there in 2001. We spent time in Rome, Assisi, Perugia, Florence, Venice, Naples, and Capri. We wouldn't have revisited all those places but might have done Rome, Perugia, Florence, Milan, and Verona or something like that. So Italy is definitely near the top of my nostalgia tourism list.
Another possibility is a road trip. When I was younger I went on two big road trips - one was a two week drive from New York to Orlando with obviously a number of stops on the way. A friend and I basically drove from youth hostel to youth hostel so ended up in some places I can't even remember - the woods of West Virginia somewhere, Kitty Hawk and Pembroke in North Carolina, some other places, and eventually Orlando. A road trip now wouldn't have to end up in Orlando and couldn't possibly follow the same route (well I guess I could look at a youth hostel map and mostly figure it out). One strong possibility would be something inspired by the movie Elizabethtown.
The other road trip I went on was when I drove alone to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I would love to take my wife to Mardi Gras though I'm not sure I'm still young enough to party much. And I know I'm too old to drive there basically non-stop like I did back in the day. However, We were discouraged by a friend who lives in New Orleans. She told us that there are many more dangerous areas then there used to be, even where she lives in the French Quarter it is not uncommon to hear gun shots (not that it happens all the time or anything) and she is afraid to go outside for a smoke at night.
The last one I thought of was Disney World. I've been there three times but my wife has never been. I don't actually think I enjoyed it last time I was there (at the end of my road trip I mentioned above) although I do have a few good memories even from that visit. I still hate waiting in line, but I'm much less of an intellectual snob than I was back in college... I think my wife and I could have fun there - maybe make it a romantic holiday similar to a honeymooon.
And finally, I did recently do some nostalgia tourism when I took my parents and wife to Burlington Vermont this summer. I had a great summer there in 2000 when I was a camp counselor and was happy to share the city with my family and remind myself of some of the shops and scenes in Burlington.
Well I thought it was pretty fun thinking of nostalgia tourism. Would anyone else like to share their personal ideas on visiting places with some meaningful connection to your past?
Numerous possible destinations in Spain
This British article talks about Spain and includes a bit on Valencia, Malaga, Mallorca, Lanzarote, and Tenerife. Plus several I've never heard of: Vejer de la Frontera, Pitres, Murcia, Aigues Tortes National Park in the Catalan Pyrenees, Zaragoza, and more.
January 22, 2008
Boca Raton, other warm vacation spots, a ski guides, genealogical research
At least once before we talked about how vacations could be nearby and might involve only one day off from work. Now this one (Boca Raton) is a bit more extravagant than the local mall for holiday gift shopping, it's interesting to read about people looking for vacation ideas close to home.
Of course for those of us who don't live in Florida, Boca Raton still involves a flight and all the potential delays as do many of our favorite vacations. For example, in Vermont, some popular destinations this time of year are Cancun and Mexico's Mayan Riviera, cruises, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Costa Rica.
I suppose it's no surprise that Vermonters want to go someplace warm right around now. For those of you who like it cold, this Newsday guide on skiing in the Northeast might help you.
And for those who aren't on vacation yet but have the desire to do some genealogical research, possibly giving you future travel ideas, this article on checking railroad history for clues will be interesting.
January 21, 2008
Vermont hiking and snowshoeing, travel agents, dangerous destinations
Here's an article on hiking and snowshoeing between inns in Vermont. They speak specifically about winter, but personally I would opt for the hiking option and go during one of the other seasons...
I also have an article on the travel agent vs. booking yourself online discussion. It seems always to come back to the same thing - travel agents offer better advice and are better problem solvers when things go wrong.
That reminds me of the card mill debate - what happens when a ton of random people become "travel agents" by paying $500 plus $50/month? Inevitably you end up with travel agents who don't give good advice and who don't fix problems that well. I don't mean all network marketing travel agents are incapable but I'm sure many are. Of course I'm also sure that some regular travel agents also offer bad advice and aren't very good at solving problems...
Of course no matter how inexperienced a travel agent is, they probably know enough not to send you to one of these dangerous places. According to the Forbes list you probably don't want to go to Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, Sudan, Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, or Palestine.
January 20, 2008
Shopping on vacation: waste of time or good way to experience a country?
This entry started off as comment on my entry about how hard it is to get a tax refund after shopping in the EU.
I think it brings up a question entirely unrelated to that post though, so I decided to make it a standalone blog entry and see if you also feel it is worth discussing.
The question: Is shopping a good vacation activity?
Now the obvious answer is that it will be good for some and not so good for others depending on individual interests. But some readers seem to think that when I go on vacation there are better ways to spend my time and money than looking to buy nice clothes.
The comments that got me started were:
You must be nuts and VERY materialistic. Give me a break, Next time enjoy the country not the stores. Have a hard time feeling sorry for you.
Did you go shopping or did you go to meet the people and get to know them. Instead of staying in hotels stay at "zimmer frei" and you will get the most for your money and make friends for life. We tried getting our tax money back at Frankfurt one time and no one informed us we had to have the purchases with us. The agent stamped our receipts anyway and we made our way to the place to get our money. That said, it wasn't hardly worth it. All I read from your postings was how expensive everything was and your food was too expensive and the hotels were too expensive and the shopping was too expensive. Two hints: Don't go shopping and don't eat at expensive restaurants. Look for out of the way places and go to the small towns. If you don't have enough money to do it right, STAY HOME!!! An 18 trip to Europe Traveler!!!
Starting with the Jane Doe comment, I'm not crazy enough to argue that I'm not nuts and I don't ask anyone to feel sorry for me so no discussion there.
The bit about being materialistic though seemed important to me. I am materialistic and I don't see anything wrong with my vacation reflecting that. Let's say I need to wear a suit to work. I can choose to wear a cheap suit or a designer suit. I don't think too many people will say that choosing the designer suit is wrong. And since so many designers are European it makes sense to me that you might want to check out the choices if you happen to be in Europe.
This brings me to Jane Doe's bit about enjoying the country and not just the stores. Why can't you do both? I'd like to refer you to travelfan's comments about Zurich and how the stores on pedestrian streets are a great attraction (many long time readers will find it ironic that I use travelfan's comment to support my argument when we have had so many disagreements in the past).
What I'm trying to say is that the stores are part of the country. When you enjoy the pedestrian shopping streets in Zurich you are experiencing Switzerland. Sure there's more (I don’t ski and I missed the coffee museum in Zurich for example) but the stores are an important part of a visit to Zurich. The same is probably true for visits to most cities.
Then we have Lou's comment. He asked "Did you go shopping or did you go to meet the people and get to know them?" He also advises "Don't go shopping..."
Actually, I think that walking the streets and visiting the shops helps me meet people. After a few hours of shopping we've talked to lots of people but after a few hours in a museum we probably haven't talked to anyone. We also see miles of streets and thousands of people as we walk around.
So I disagree with people who say it is better not to shop while on vacation, especially when we're talking about my vacation. For people who enjoy shopping it's a great way to see the city (we spent hours wandering the streets every day despite occasionally sore feet), meet people (we didn't make any lifelong friends but we weren't really looking to either), pick up a few words of the local language, and see some of the local culture (assuming you visit shops that locals - and not just tourists - visit).
It can certainly be overdone and there is certainly a huge amount of personal preference here. I know I spent more time in shoe stores than I would have liked but if I'm with my wife - and she's happy trying on shoes - I can be happy too (for a while anyway).
January 19, 2008
Airlines offering "hotel rooms" in the sky
Whereas most of us are looking for the cheapest airfare when we fly, some travelers can afford to pay the first class fares and travel in comfort. Flying first class isn't cheap, (although there are some bargains to be had) A quick check on various web sites found a first class ticket from JFK to Tokyo for about $11,000 and a ticket from London to Sydney for around $7,000.
Airlines make most of their money from the people who are prepared to pay for first and business class and are going out of their way to make the experience even more comfortable for those who can afford it.
The latest trend seems to be towards offering actual cabins in first class, instead of just a seat.
Singapore Airlines is now offering suites with double beds on their new Airbus A380 - the suites boast such extras as wardrobes, sliding doors, window blinds and turn-down service. And Singapore Air is well known for the quality of their service as well as the food and drink, even in coach.
And Virgin Atlantic also offers a first class seat that's almost a suite - including a guest seat and an extra large table for eating or working. The seat is the longest flat-bed seat - almost 7 feet long and almost 3 feet wide, offering plenty of room for a good night's sleep.
Virgin Atlantic also puts an emphasis on service and amenities on the ground, as well as in the air. The airline's Upper class (or business class) passengers receive such extras as free ground transportation and an airport clubhouse with dining, showers and internet access.
And for the rest of us stuck back in coach, our biggest concerns are probably not getting stuck in the middle seat and not having the person in front lean their seat too far back into our lap. But there may be hope for economy passengers - Lufthansa is said to be considering offering an all sleeper-seat coach cabin with triple bunk beds.
Guest entry by Mancunian
January 17, 2008
Tax free shopping in Europe and getting out with the refund
Remember how we didn't have tome to get our tax refund in Zurich? We figured we'd get to Barajas Airport Madrid early since we had over 200 euros coming to us with all our tax refunds from shopping in Spain. Pluse we were going to try to get the Zurich receipts stmaped and submitted as well though we figured that would be more complicated.
By the way, if you don't like long stories the short version is that we didn't get the refund on our first two tries, missed our flight from paris to Seoul, and then had plenty of time waiting for our next flight to try again...
I'll start the story in Barajas. We arrive nice and early, check in at terminal 2, walk to terminal 1, get our recepts stamped, smile at how easy everything is, and then try to figure out where to get the actual refund.
Information tells us we have a problem. Our flight from madrid to paris leaves from terminal 2 but the refunds are issued in terminal 1. We're told there is no way to get from terminal 1 to terminal 2. Once you enter terminal 1 there is no way out except on a plane. We can not possibly pass through security into terminal 1, get the refund, and then catch our flight from madrid to Paris. The only way is to do the refunds in Paris.
My wife explained that we had a short connection in Paris. Too bad. Not quite believing what she was hearing from the information guy, my wife asked several passport control officers if we could go in and then come back out. They all said we'd never be allowed to leave. Reminds me of the song Hotel California actually.
Now hopefully passport control would check your ticket before letting you in terminal 1. If we hadn't talked to information and had just gone into the terminal to get the refund, it sounds like we would have been stuck in terminal 1 forever, kind of like Tom Hanks in that movie.
So we go back to terminal 2, through passport control, and see signs for the terminal 1 gates A, B, C, and D. The refund place is near B, so we start following the signs. Eventually we get to another passport control area. They don't care about our problem and tell us that if we go in to get the refund we will not be allowed out.
We turn around and trek back to terminal 2, find our gate, wait, board the plane, and wait some more. We leave over 30 minutes late, obviously giving us very little time in paris to handle the refunds.
What happened next was pretty confusing and my wife and I were running around like crazy pretty much the entire time. At the security line for connecting passengers we ask the Air France or security person (not sure who she worked for) where the tax refund office is. She tells us it is outside security. That makes no sense since in madrid it is inside security so we think she means the place you get stamps. We explain we already have stamps. She doesn't speak much English. We show her our stamped receipts. She confers with her colleagues and tells us to go inside.
We knew it was inside but were looking for directions as to where it is inside. Our tax free information pamhlet says it's in the gates A,B,C area but that's pretty big so where is it? Obviously this lady can't give us decent directions so we go through security and start looking for information.
We are running because our flight should be boarding now. We don't find any information but ask every shopkeeper we see (plus a few other people) and the ones that speak English tell us we have to leave and go outside. We keep telling them we have stamps but they say we have to go outside to get the refund even if we already have stamps. We start to believe them.
I say it's time to give up and go to the gate, which we do. They haven't started boarding yet but the flight should leave in less than 30 minutes. My wife says I can wait at the gate but she is getting the refund.
I follow her. She might need my help and I don't want to leave her alone in case she gets stuck outside security or something. Unlike in Madrid, the passport control people here are happy to let us leave the secure area to go get the refund. We leave, go through and empty baggage claim area, through customs (there were no customes people there), and start asking for directions.
The directions we get are mixed, conflicting. Eventually my wife agrees to give up so all we have to do is get back to our gate. We get directions, but there's a soldier blocking the escalator up to where we need to be. We ask how to get to our flight? "You don't." Our flight is leaving in a few minutes - can't we pass? "No." How do we get up there to our flight? "You don't".
We run to information - we need help badly at this point. We hear a gun shot or explosion or something. Then the information lady tells us to go up that escalator. We explain about the man with the gun but she says we can go up now because the explosion is over, some kind of security check or construction thing we figure. We run back to the escalator but they guy with the gun still won't let us up.
Close to tears, my wife asks if anyone can help us get up to the departure area. A construction worker actually knows where the stairs are so we run up, go through security. When they see our ticket they rush us to the front of the passport control line where wwe get the slowest immigration lady ever. She is talking on the phone, talking to the person on her right, and talking to the person on her left. My wife tries to rush her but this seems to slow her down even more.
We get through and run to our gate, arriving 8 minutes late. It's totally empty. I run down a few more gates and find someone to ask - they tell us that boarding is closed. I explain that we need to get on that plane. "No, boarding is closed. All you can do is go to the transfer desk."
My wife starts running but I tell her not to bother. We missed the flight.
Now I know it's our fault for being 8 minutes late. We shouldn't have gone looking for the tax refund especially since it meant leaving the security area. I accept the blame for that.
But still, a few things really bother / amaze me.
1. Getting the tax refund is too damn hard. I have some brains and some travel experience. My wife is a tour guide in Seoul who has lived in Rome and London. If we can't get our refund something is wrong with the system. Even a novice traveler should be able to take advatage of tax free shopping if European countries and stores are going to advertise it / offer it.
2. How can an airport block the path to departures without telling people the detour. I mean this just blows my mind. What genius thought to put a guy with a gun in our way and no information about an alternate route up to departures?
3. I'm surprised the plane left without us. We were 8 minutes late but how many times have I sat on a plane for 20-30 minutes only to see someone get on so we can depart? And I don't think I've ever been to an airport without hearing announcements pagigf passenger so and so, final boarding call for flight x, passenger so and so please report to gate whatever. They often page the same person over and over again. Serioulsy, I'm 8 minutes late for the one flight they don't do that? They knew we were checked in, and knew our connecting flight had arrived (late I might add) 45 minutes ago or so. Maybe waiting for the late people isn't as common as it seems.
So a lot went wrong in Charles de Gaul. We got sent the wrong direction, we couldn't find directions, we couldn't get back to our gate because of some soldier, we got more bad information, and we even got the slowest immigration officer ever. Not to mention our flight from Madrid had been delayed.
Anyway, the transfer desk people were kind and didn't charge us. They said they should have made us pay because they knew we were here and had left to go get the tax refund (they were some of the many people my wife had asked for directions since there was no airport information booth around).
So we thanked them and sat down to wait 8 hours or so for the next flight to Seoul. After a few minutes my wife left to go get the elusive tax refund and I started writing this. I'm just copying it from my notebook now since I was traveling without my laptop. I've already taken that later flight and gotten back to my dogs.
It took about an hour for my wife to find the tax refund office and half an hour to get back to our gate. She got lots more bad directions on the way but eventually found a directory (seriously Charles de Gaul - if everyone who works in your airport is an idiot how about a few more directories?) that showed her where the office really was.
She showed the guy the receipts but he said he wouldn't give the refund because the shopping was done in Spain. Spain had to issue the refund. So my wife had to put the envelopes in the box there.
And another thing. If all you need to do is put the envelopes in a box, how about putting a few more boxes around? One inside the departure area would be nice!
So we think we're getting a refund but it could take a while.
By the way, as I was waiting for the later flight I saw 3 people get on a flight to London 5 minutes after boarding had closed. Why did Air France wait for them on that short flight but not for us on our 10 hour flight?
And one last complaint. As I listened to the announcements (not that they made one for us), I noticed that the Charles de Gual PA system is about as clear as the old New York City subways. I can only make out an occasional word even when listening closely.
Anyway, vacation is over after a very weird ending. Back to normal life. And I wonder - has anyone else here missed a flight? If so, what happened?
This will eb one of the last times I ask you to ignore my typos. Soon I'll be back to my computer that has spell check...
January 14, 2008
Wrapping up my vacation
After nearly a month of living in hotels and eating 2 meals a day in restaurants (the other in the hotel), my wife and I are ready to go back home. We miss our regular social lives (we´ve talked to a few people in Europe but it´s not the same as talking with friends), our pets, even our real-life have to make some money work. Tomorrow we will do some things like packing and laundry. The day after we leave for the airport at 7:00 AM.
Today we went to Museo del Prado, a huge art museum. It was Sunday and we showed up around 1:00 but we were still surprised to see a long line of people waiting to get in. The live moved pretty well and half an hour later we paid 8 euros each for our tickets.
I´m not an art affcicionado, so for me visiting an art museum means bypassing many works for the few that catch my eye. I found some, and it was certainly nice to take a break from walking around and shopping, but I actually preferred the one other museum I saw on this trip, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.
Looking back over the past 3 or more weeks, there are definitely a few things I would have changed. I suppose I should have visited more than 2 museums on the trip, but with basically no advance planning I arrived in each city with no idea of which museums would be more interesting for me and my wife. And since we came to Munich for the Christmas market, I don´t care about missing the museums there. Then by the time we got to Madrid my wife was obsessed with finding an affordable (meaning on sale) Burberry coat so we had to spend a good amount of time shopping. We bought heres yesterday by the way.
I would have changed the itinerary to include more than 3 cities. Certainly 12 days in Madrid seems like a bit much. There´s plenty to we haven´t done yet, but staying in the same hotel for 12 days and all that just isn´t ideal. A longer stay where we could kind of settle down and make friends would be one thing. Otherwise a shorter stay is best. I think in the future it will be fewer than 7 days or more than 30 days in each city.
I guess that´s all I have to say for now. I´ll probably be back in Korea next time I blog but I think there is a guest entry from Mancunian on the way.
January 12, 2008
Proposal for travel show - real budget travel expereinces
Here is my initial idea for a travel show to be aired on the Travel Channel or wherever. It is based on the comments on Mancunian´s last post. I´m just going to jot down my initial ideas. As you know, I am on vacation and can´t spend too much of my time in Madrid in the PC room. I hope that you will add your ideas ni the comments section so that together we can create a good proposal for a travel show we actually want to see...
The goal of my plan here is to get a travel show with real people trying to travel on a budget and enjoy their vacation at the same time.
First, each show follows a traveler for 2 episodes, say an hour each as they plan and go on vacation.
Second, some shows focus on single travelers, some on couples, some on families (singles or couples with kids).
Third, each traveler gets a budget for their vacation. Maybe $2,000 for singles, $2,500 for couples, $3,000 for families.
Fourth, the couple pays for the vacation themselves.
Fifth if the traveler does not go over budget, the show covers all vacation expenses. If the traveler goes over budget they get nothing from the show and they pay their own credit card bill or whatever.
January 11, 2008
Self made tour of Toledo
So yesterday was our first day trip from Madrid. I wanted to take a tour of Toledo which would have run about 50 euros each. My wife wanted to travel on our own and spend the money we saved on clothes. My wife won.
I didn´t mind losing this time because we got to choose our own train and leave at 10:30 in the morning instead of 8:30... We ended up spending about 30 euros each instead of 50 though we spent about three times our savings on clothes.
We didn´t go into any of the museums, but we did see the Cathedral. It was beautiful outside and caverous inside. At 7 euros to get in it is fairly expensive and inside was impressive but not breathtaking to my untrained eye. I don´t think the tour actually went in there but it´s hard to be sure from the brief description in the pamphlet.
The ticket said no flash, but inside a guard told us no pictures at all. He couldn´t guard the whole place and was alone so we ended up with lots of pictures. If the ticket says no flash I´m pretty sure I can take pictures (without a flash of course).
Anyway, I don´t mean to sound like I´m complaining about the price. I may never be in Toledo again and I´m glad I saw the inside of the Cathedral. I was looking for a better, more descriptive name but everything - even my map of Toledo - just says "Cathedral".
We also went in Iglesia de los Jesuitas where you can pay 1.90 euro to climb to the top of the tower and get some good views of Toledo.
We spent hours walking around the city, much of that time trying to figure out where we were. Obviously if we had a guide that wouldn´t have been a problem but exploring on our own was good too. We saw most or all of historic Toledo I´m sure.
We only spent an hour or so shoppping. Basically after we had seen enough of the city we turned our attention to the shops. We didn´t buy any swords, chess sets, or black and gold jewelry despite one high pressure store where we were told to buy soon becase they were closing in 10 minutes at 5:00. They were still open at 5:30...
Interesting most salespeople in Spain are the opposite, very polite and they really don´t bother you until you ask for help. Today in the supermarket the lady at the olive bar didn´t even want to bother with us after we asked for help but that too was unusual...
I guess that´s about it for Toledo. I´ll be on again soon to tell you about the Royal Palace in Madrid.
As usual, please excuse any typos while I´m on vacation.
January 9, 2008
New Year – New Travel Channel?
I have posted a couple of times previously on this site about the disappointing quality of shows on the Travel Channel. They seem to have a lot of shows that are not actually about travel, but about poker, monster trucks, treasure hunting, etc.
Well, we are a little way into the new year, so I thought I would check out the Travel Channel and see what kind of shows are on…On one of my previous postings on this topic, I got a reply from someone at the channel, defending the network and promising no more “World Poker Tour”! That alone would make me happy – especially as the poker show seems to always be on at peak viewing time.
One of the better shows on the Travel Channel is “Samantha Brown – Passport to Europe”. All of these shows have been shown several times now over the last year or two. If someone from the Travel Channel is reading this, can I suggest a new series of shows with Ms. Brown, presenting destinations in Asia, Africa or the South Pacific?
Well, I am sorry to say I haven’t been too impressed with the programming on the Travel Channel for the first week or so of this year. The offerings on New Year’s Day were the Tournament of Roses shown several times, followed by back to back episodes of “Cash and Treasures” – which I don’t really consider to be a travel show.
Today (Saturday) is not much better – we have “Bizarre Foods” and “World Poker Tour” along with several other programs which have been shown several times before – “Tokyo Revealed” and “Earth’s Natural Wonders”. And tomorrow (Sunday) seems to be mostly “Bizarre Foods”, “Passport to Europe” and “Treasure Hunting”.
And if somebody from the Travel Channel is reading this, I do have another request. Is it possible to broadcast a Bill Bryson show, which was broadcast in the UK in 1999? Bryson is better known as a humorous travel writer and one of his books “Notes from a Small Island” in which he travels around the UK, was made into a TV series. I have never seen it, but would like to. And also, when is Michael Palin’s new TV series going to be shown, in which he travels around Eastern Europe?
I’m curious – what do other readers of this site enjoy watching on the Travel Channel? And are there any shows / destinations you would like to see…?
Guest entry by Mancunian
January 8, 2008
Craziest airline stories of 2007
2007 may well be remembered as one of the worst years for airline delays as well as the year of record high oil prices. But there were also some rather odd and humorous stories from the aviation world. At least, they seem humorous now – they may not have seemed so funny at the time.
Approximately twenty passengers argued and fought with each other aboard a flight from Nigeria to London in June. It all started when a passenger didn’t like the person in front reclining their seat and making it difficult for him to eat and sleep. The situation was so bad, the captain had to make an emergency landing.
A British Airways flight from Delhi to London was delayed for 13 hours after the pilot complained about not getting enough sleep in his noisy hotel room.
A 19 month old baby was kicked off a flight for being deemed a security threat after saying “Bye-bye airplane” The baby may have been the only person to actually pay attention to the safety demonstration.
A man in his 60s was admitted to hospital in Germany after drinking an entire liter of vodka, rather than having it confiscated at security. Perhaps nobody had told him about the carry on liquid rule.
Officials in Sioux City, Iowa gave up trying to change the airport’s rather unappealing three letter code of SUX http://www.travel-plan-idea.com/archives/004158.html and decided to make the best of it – the slogan “Fly Sux” was born.
Southwest Airlines had a couple of well-publicized incidents in which passengers were almost kicked off their flights for wearing clothes that were described as being too provocative. If you are wondering what that means, here’s a picture!
A squirrel that had somehow stowed away on an American Airlines flight from Tokyo to Dallas caused the plane to make an emergency landing in Hawaii. The critter was caught and killed - and didn’t even get any frequent flyer miles.
And perhaps the two most disturbing stories of 2007? The case of the coughing girl who was evicted from her flight and the case of the dead body that a passenger discovered occupying the adjoining seat. http://www.travel-plan-idea.com/archives/003966.html - Fortunately these incidents were not both on the same flight.
Most of my flights seem routine compared to these stories! Happy New Year!
Guest entry by Mancunian
January 5, 2008
Hello from Madrid
I´ve done so much and had so much happen to me in the last few days I´m not even sure where to begin.
I guess I´ll start with our last night in Zurich - we shopped until the stores closed and managed to spend all our Swiss francs. The next morning we woke up early, checked out of Goldenes Schwertz and waited for the airport shuttel to arrive (we had booked through the hotel and already paid so we didn´t need any cash).
The shuttle didn´t come. I suppose I´ll save the details for my review of the Goldenes Schwertz hotel, but for now let me just say that the front desk did nothing to help us solve the problem. We had only planned on arriving in the airport an hour in advance (this was actually based on advice from the hotel front desk as well though I did know better and should have insisted on an earlier shuttle). So after 20 minutes of waiting for the shuttle we were pretty stressed out about possibly missing the flight.
The shuttle service itself was another experience as the driver backed the luggage trailer into a building, droppped us off at the wrong building, and sent us in the wrong direction.
When we did eventually find the SpanAir checkin (it was actually Swiss Air) we didn´t have much time. My wife got online while I tried my luck with the machines. I wasn´t making much progress when they all crashed. Every check in machine went down.
So we waited on line - they sent us to a special line which we later learned was the wrong one. Then we founf that Span Air hadn´t sent us an eticket number - I thought that my reservation number was all I needed since that was the only number in the only email I got from them.
So check in took a while and then the guy said he couldn´t give us the tickets and told us to run to a lufthansa counter at the other end of the building to get the actual borading pass. We get there and there is another line. At this point we have a little less than 30 minutes until the flight departs.
As we were waiting online they called out our names and gacve us the boarding passes. We ran to passport control, got through and then faced a problem. My wife really wanted her tax refund from all the shopping we did but we didn´t have much time. We still had to go through security. We found a refund counter but they said you have to go to customs first to get some stamp or something.
My wife was getting directions to wherever the office was upstairs while I tried to convince her it wasn´t worth the stress. We must have looked pretty funny with my wife running to the escalator and me chasing her begging her to come through security with me and forget about the tax refund.
Eventually I convinced my wife (or maybe she was just tired of running) and we went through security. We got to the gate just as they were boarding. Then we waited on the plane for half an hour thinking we should have just spent that time getting our tax refund...
But we did get to Madrid. Today was our second day here. I won´t go into details yet, but let me say that our hotel Francisco I, will probably get a pretty bad review and certainly no recommendation. It is by far the noisiest hotel I´ve ever experienced.
We also haven´t had great luck with Spanish food, although we did get some excellent Italian tonight.
We continue to shop and spend money at an alarming rate but we think we´re buying clothes that we want and that we would have to pay much more for in Korea or America.
Well let me save Madrid for another blog entry. I´m fairly tired and probably will be the rest of the trip considering how much noise we have to endure at the hotel...
January 2, 2008
Happy New Year & New Year's Eve in Zurich
Happy New Year
New Year's Eve in Zurich started the same as many other days in Zurich - shopping. After some MaxMara for my wife and Hugo Boss for me (I think we've spent our clothing budget for the next two years or so) the shops closed at 4:00, including the supermarkets. We did stock up on yogurt and pasta before they closed.
Interestingly, the crowded Zurich supermarket reminded me a lot of Korea, although it was one old lady in particular who really is responsible for this digression. She kept pushing her cart into my back in an effort to get me to move the crowds faster. After turning around and voicing my displeasure for the second time I managed to let her pass me and then followed her through the crowd as she cleared a path by banging her cart into everyone nearby including a very frail looking old lady with a cane.
Anyway, after dropping off our new clothes and food in the hotel we went out for dinner at around 4:30 since we had skipped lunch. The Swiss restaurant I've been meaning to try was reservation only so we went to an Italian place. I'll have a review of the 2 Italian places I've tried so far in Zurich one of these days but the food was quite good at this one.
Then we went back to the hotel and got in a quick nap so that we'd have enough energy to stay up for the fireworks. Now Zurich already has miles of pedestrian shopping streets, but they banned cars from some more streets so that New Year's Eve revelers could watch the fireworks safely.
We left the hotel around 10:00 and were very surprised that crowds were not bad. There were also lots of tents set up, mostly small ones selling food (we had some bratwurst and some beef on a stick - both quite good). A couple of larger tents served as night clubs.
At 11:00 we went to the bridge nearest Zurich's lake to find a spot where we could see some fireworks. It still wasn't all that crowded and we got a spot right on the railing with no one in front of us. By 11:30 it had gotten a bit crowded so if you really wanted a good spot it would have been best to find it by 11:00 or shortly after.
At midnight a few loud fireworks went off and everyone said "Happy New Year". Then we waited as it got colder and we wondered if the fireworks display was coming or if the few loud ones and the small ones coming from various spots on the river bank were all there was to New Year's Eve in Zurich.
At 12:25 or so we talked about going back to the hotel room to warm up our toes but then the fireworks started. It was a very nice fireworks display but I won't actually recommend it.
The reason I am not recommending fireworks in Zurich is because when I pictured fireworks in Europe I pictured old buildings and things beneath them. In Zurich you face the lake, which means you face away from the historic part of Zurich. So yous see the fireworks, but not the city. At least not the historic part of the city.
I saw pictures of fireworks in Berlin, London, and Moscow - in all 3 cities it seemd that fireworks happened right above major historical landmarks, which to me would be the point of seeing fireworks in Europe.
Now I'm not asking anyone to feel sorry for me. My wife and I both think this was our best New Year's.
Tomorrow will be our last day of shoppping in Zurich, which is good since we spend too much money here. Then we have nearly 2 weeks in Madrid - I'm trying not to worry about the money but as this vacation gets more and more expensive it does creep into my mind every time my wife picks up another pair of shoes or a bag or wahetever. At least half the time she's looking to get me something but I don't know if I can afford to upgrade my wardrobe right now...
As usual, when I'm traveling I need you to overlook any typos as I haven't figured out spell check or got time to do my usual proofreading.