Travel plan idea blog

From someone who felt safe in Israel

If all goes according to plan, I will be on a plane when this gets published. We'll see if my schedule blog entry thing works I guess. This one is from Jake, who recently visited Israel.

Back from Israel - What's Wrong with Increased Security???

Having spent some time over there and been "inconvenienced" by repeated security checks prior to entering crowded, public areas (shopping malls, bus stations, train stations, etc.), I find myself wondering - what's the big deal with increased security?

Is it so horrible to have police officers or security guards at every subway station and train station to search through some bags, profile some travelers, ask questions, etc.? Are we really that crazy about being inconvenienced that we're willing to risk being blown up?

I'll tell you this, after being frisked for the 20th time on Friday before I left, and after being questioned at length, almost on a daily basis, who I was, where I was going, where I'm from, even what congregation I belong to back home, I NEVER FELT SAFER.

Personally, and this is me again - not Jake, I don't know if I'd travel somewhere that had to do all that searching and questioning. I get annoyed with authority pretty easily so daily questioning would be pretty taxing on me.

Peru community-based tourism

This article reads a little bit like an advertisement, but supposedly it's for a non-profit travel agency so I guess that's OK. They offer trips to Peru, and they call it community-based tourism. It's not cheap and it doesn't sound easy:

Kiss the fluffy white towels goodbye and stay with a family in the village of Vicos to best understand a new culture by exchanging customs, cultures, food and even daily chores.

I bet that after a homestay in a small Peruvian farming village, you'll have had a pretty unique travel experience with some good stories to tell your friends.

As for me, I fly from New York to Seoul tonight on Asiana. I'll be blogging again when I recover from the trip - give me a day or two!

LARP = unique weekend travel experience

So I'm back from my live action roleplaying weekend and I want to tell you something about it in case anyone here is looking for a weekend trip. There are a number of games - I went to one of the Alliance LARP in Pennsylvania but they have them all over.

So getting to the campsite was fun. I borrowed my parents' van and 5 guys got in, piled it full of crap, and drove 4 hours. It's been a long time since I got to go on a road trip with a bunch of guys and just talk.

Then we got to the game. Basically people wore medieval / fantasy costumes and then played their character. My character was an elf so I had prosthetic ears. One of my friends was a dwarf with a big fake beard. Another guy was an orc with green makeup all over.

There was a tournament and the ball. Someone put some pictures of the ball here so you can get an idea of the costuming. No pictures of me in there though.

The ball was basically a party with people mingling, dancing, singing, reciting poetry, etc. Of course it was all medieval themed. I actually wrote a poem for maybe the first time in 15 years (since high school) about a battle between some dwarves and some trolls and read it at the ball. Afterwards everyone cheered and one of the dwarf characters came over and hugged me. It was very cool to feel so appreciated and to have everyone clapping and cheering for me.

Then there was the tournament. 6 teams competed in events such as 3 person combat, single person combat, race, hunt, archery etc.

Combat is done with foam weapons and shields, so you are really trying to hit someone with your sword or avoid the other person's weapon. When you do get hit the foam doesn't hurt though. I'm not very good at this part of the game but I really enjoy it. You get to fight for fun and you don't get hurt. I tried to find a good video on youtube for you, but most LARP combat videos seem far more violent than the Alliance game. You're never allowed to touch another player during combat (except with the foam weapon of course).

The hunt is a real interesting one where you have to solve puzzles in order to earn points. So one morning my friend and I sat down over breakfast with "Have Ivan Drake gather her toys" which we eventually figured out was an anagram for "Give Trevor a hearty handshake." When we walked up to the character named Trevor and shook his hand we got the points. Trevor said "Very impressive. That's been on the hunt list for 2 years and no one has been able to figure it out." So again, I felt cool because my friend and I figured something out and no one else was able to. That was one out of maybe 20 hunt items so we kept busy and still didn't finish them all.

All this was fun for me, especially when my friends and I took first place in the tournament because we won the hunt, the race, the 3 person combat, and finished 2nd or 3rd in many of the other events. In the end we had 28 points while the second place team had 23 (you got 5 points for a 1st place, 4 for a second place, etc.).

As far as costs go, the game itself was $60, gas was $75 or so (New York to Pennsylvania and back) but we divided that by 5 so it was $15 each, breakfast Saturday and Sunday morning was $5/day, dinner Saturday was $5, and the snacks and water and stuff I brought was probably another $15-$20. So it's not as cheap as staying home and watching TV, but it's not unreasonable for an entire weekend.

Some people prefer to stay in a hotel instead of on the campsite so that would raise the price and extra $60/night or more (but if you share a room with someone you can split that cost of course). Some people go out to dinner Saturday night and most people do on Sunday after the event so that can add to the cost as well.

The campsite has a shower room with private stalls, and places to sleep indoors or set up a tent. Most people stay at the campsite but some people prefer the hotel. The campsite has portapotties - with 3 of them for 75 people Friday night to Sunday afternoon they never got too bad. One thing that was irritating was that during the day flies liked to buzz around our cabin so I couldn't sleep as late as I wanted to.

So if dressing up in costume sounds cool or if foam weapon fights sound cool, you might consider trying out live action roleplaying.

Ibiza's quiet side where Zidane and Jagger have vacation homes

This article talks about Ibiza, which has a reputation for being a party spot. If you travel where the celebrities vacation, I guess you can get a totally different experience:

Both European designer Jade Jagger and reclusive French football player Zinedine Zidane have long been seduced by the island's quieter alter ego and own vacation homes in the less-touristed north, where a more tranquil scene rules.

And speaking of different experiences, I'll be going to the LARP (live action roleplaying) site I wrote about last month. This weekend I won't be posting new blog entries or approving comments.

Harlem Week coming to NYC

Harlem Week kicks in high gear next week! Beginning August 1st, New York City will be buzzing with fun, family-friendly events and activities that would make a great posting on your site.

Harlem Week began in 1974 as Harlem Day, a one-day tribute to the storied area's history as the home of some of America's greatest scientists, civic leaders, entertainers, and founding fathers. Most notably, John James Audubon, Nina Simone, F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, Oscar Hammerstein, Harry Houdini, Alicia Keys, Norman Rockwell, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Alexander Hamilton, Paul Robeson, Jonathan Franzen, etc., etc., etc.

Each year has seen an expansion of activities highlighting the African-American, Latino, Caribbean-American, and European-American cultures of Harlem, leading to Harlem Week. Over the course of 34 years, the week's festivities have steady increased, currently attracting millions of area residents and visitors. This year’s calendar of events now spans the entire month of August 2008! Below, are some great ways to explore Harlem and join in on the fun of HARLEM WEEK. See you there!

Golden Hoops
East Coast Basketball Classic
Sunday, August 10, 2008
1:00 PM–8:00 PM
Featuring the best All-Star basketball Teams in the region.
Riverbank State Park, 145th St. & Riverside Dr.
Free to the general public
For info, call (212) 862-8477, http://nysparks.state.ny.us/events/info.asp?eventID=1673

Harlem Spirituals Gospel/Soul Food & Jazz Tours
Gospel Tour: Sunday, August 10, 2008, 9:30am-1:30pm
Soul Food & Jazz Tour: Monday, August 11, 2008, 7:00pm-Midnight
Explore hidden Harlem, soul-stirring and powerful gospel music as well as a down-home,
southern brunch menu on the Harlem Spirituals Gospel Tour. Soul Food and Jazz Tour
offers tour of 1920’s Renaissance-period Harlem, soul-food dinner, and two hours of
swing dancing to twelve-piece band (free dance lessons included)
For info, call (212) 391-0900 or www.harlemspirituals.com

The N.Y. City Children’s Festival
Saturday, August 18, 2008
10:00am-3:00pm
Come see Our Children’s Fashion Show
W. 135th St. (Btwn. Malcolm X & A. C. Powell Jr. Blvds.)
A Free event (Tickets required—available 8/9/08 @ 9:30am)
Ticket Location: Harlem Week offices, 200A W. 136th Street

Studio Museum in Harlem
Hours: Wed-Fri 12:00pm-6:00pm; Sat 10:00am-6:00pm; Sun 12:00pm-6:00pm
144 W. 125th St. (Lenox Ave.-Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.)
212-864-4500
www.studiomuseuminharlem.org - This contemporary-art museum focuses on the work by artists of African descent, with a collection of over 1,600 paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, watercolors, drawings, pastels and more. The museum gives a voice to the culture of the neighborhood. Current exhibitions: The World of Charles Ethan Porter: Nineteenth-Century African-American Artist (through 6/29); The World Stage: Africa, Lagos ~ Dakar (7/16-10/26); Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History and Community (7/16-10/26).

Closed Mon. & Tues. Entrance fee $7, Target Free Sundays

The 14th Annual Upper Manhattan Auto Show
Sunday, August 17, 2008
9:00 AM–5:00 PM
An East Coast Auto Showcase featuring over a hundred new, unique, antique, vintage, exotic and collectable vehicles as well as other historic buses and motorcycles with awards for best in class categories.

Howard Bennett Park, W. 135th St. (Btwn. 5th Ave. & Malcolm X Blvd.)

Harlem Day
Saturday, August 17, 2008
12 Noon–7:00 PM
Multiple Stages with live performance and entertainment. 3 Main Stages:

1. St. Nicholas Stage – R & B/Hip Hop/Reggae
W. 135th St. (Btwn. Frederick Douglass Blvd. &
St. Nicholas Ave.)

2. YMCA Stage – Various Community Based performances of dance/fashion/poetry/music
W. 135th St. (Btwn Malcolm X & A. C. Powell Jr. Blvds.)

3. 5th Ave. Stage – Gospel & Jazz
W. 135th St. (Btwn. 5th Ave. & Malcolm X Blvd.)
Events take place all day. Free to the general public.
Rain Date: Sunday, August 24th

Article on saving money

A while back we talked about how the economy might effect the travel industry and that topic has been revisited once or twice. Here we go again.

This article talks about what people are doing to save money and 21% surveyed said they would not travel. They talk about one couple that hasn't traveled since their honeymoon 3 years ago.

I know the higher airline fares are making it much harder for me to make up my mind about visiting family for Christmas.

Weird million dollar vacation package

We've talked about Dubai, but now Abu Dhabi in the UAE is making headlines, trying to attract some wealthy tourists.

This article details a pretty weird vacation. I mean it costs $146,000 / day so that's weird. But then it includes golfing for men, perfume creation for women, and then guns. Guns in a vacation package?

As you might imagine, some parts of this $1,000,000.00 vacation package sound pretty cool:

A personal butler will tend to you 24 hours a day between private jet excursions, where guests can claim a handmade Persian rug in Iran, receive a spa treatment at the Dead Sea and hit Bahrain to dive for pearls – which will be fashioned into gifts by on-site jewellers.

The deal includes all food and drink at the hotel's 13 bars and restaurants, while a chauffeur-driven $410,000 Maybach supercar will be available on demand.

Anyone interested in the academic side of travel?

Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

An International Conference: Tourist Experiences: Meanings, Motivations, Behaviours, April 1st - 4th 2009

Keynote Speaker: Professor Chris Ryan, University of Waikato, New Zealand

As participation in tourism has continued to expand in scale and scope, the nature of tourist experiences has become increasingly diverse. New destinations, new attractions, new markets and new forms of tourism have emerged, enabling tourists to experience new places, peoples and activities. At the same time, tourism has become more deeply embedded as a socio-cultural phenomenon, more intimately related to wider social and cultural transformations and development in both generating and destination regions. As a consequence, the understanding of tourist experiences has become increasingly complex, challenging and, arguably, elusive.

The purpose of this international conference, therefore, is to provide a forum for exploring the diversity of behaviours, motivations and meanings embraced by contemporary tourist experiences.

Call for Papers

It is envisaged that the conference will focus on three broad themes within the context of tourist experiences, namely: the social / anthropological meaning or significance of tourism (individual to societal); tourist demand and motivation; and, the analysis of tourist behaviours. We would welcome papers that, from an empirical or conceptual basis, address these themes in general, whilst more specific topics might include:

* (Post)modernity and tourist experiences
* Specific niche markets / behaviours (e.g. youth tourism, backpacking, ecotourism, etc)
* The significance of tourist places
* Tourist typologies
* Spiritual dimensions of tourism
* Tourist motivation
* Tourism demand (models / perspectives)
* Emergent behaviours / forms of tourism
* Dark tourism
* Researching tourist experiences: methodological perspectives
* Tourism industry / destination perspectives
* New tourist spaces
* Heritage / authenticity

Expressions of interest and abstracts of up to 500 words should, in the first instance, be sent to Richard Sharpley. All submissions will be subject to a double-blind review. Abstracts should include author(s) names, affiliations and contact details, and should be submitted no later than 15 August 2008. Conference proceedings will be provided on a CD-Rom whilst it is planned to publish selected papers in an edited volume.

The venue

The conference is hosted by the Department of Tourism & Leisure Management, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. It will be held in the University’s Conference Centre.

Conference fee / booking forms

The full conference fee (£450) is inclusive of three nights’ accommodation and meals; day attendance and student rates are also available.

Conference convenors:

Richard Sharpley rajsharpley@uclan.ac.uk ( (+44) 01772 894622
Philip Stone pstone@uclan.ac.uk ( (+44) 01772 894769

NCL cruise to Alaska comprehensive review: Norwegian Pearl July 6-13

I recommend a cruise to Alaska for people who want to get an introduction to Alaska. It's probably best for people who are willing to experience whatever they get because what you're able to do on a cruise has a lot to do with luck. It's probably easier to have fun if you don't spend your entire vacation budget on the cruise tickets. I also recommend this vacation to people who are willing to wait fi they want to do something the same time everyone else wants (the buffet area, the gym, and the theater can get very crowded).

Now my style is to tell you all the things I think might stop you from having a great vacation. They may seem like small, nitpicky things to you. If these things wouldn't bother you than this might be the vacation for you. If as you read this you're thinking ' that would drive me nuts' maybe you need to consider a different vacation.

Luck with the weather is a big factor. For example I spoke to one couple after returning from my cruise who had shore excursions at 2 of their 4 ports of call cancelled because of weather ( on a totally different cruise a couple years ago). When I had dinner with the captain of the Norwegian Pearl, he told me that once he had to cancel the Glacier Bay portion of the cruise (probably the best part for many). Now these may be highly unusual cases, but if something like that happening is going to make you miserable, consider another type of vacation.

This means that if you take a cruise you need to be willing to have fun on the ship and not get too upset if things change. To have fun on the ship it helps if you're willing to spend money. My wife and I spent $1300 on shore excursions and random stuff on the ship. We don't drink but there is a mandatory gratuity of $10/person/day, $15 cover charge (each) for some restaurants, $25 cover for the Teppenyaki restaurant, photos that cost anywhere from $15 to $30, $10 for a game of bowling, etc.

That doesn't include duty free shops and art auctions which could help you spend a lot more money.

So when you budget your vacation, cruise tickets are not your only expense. My wife and I probably spent the same amount on other stuff (art, jewelry, restaurant covers, binoculars, bowling, photos, shore excursions, etc.) as we did on the cruise tickets. If you add in flying from New York to Seattle and the hotel in Seattle that adds another $1500.

I stress the budget stuff because I definitely saw people not having fun because they wouldn't spend money. The place where you buy photos seemed especially angry. You don't get free photos on an NCL cruise and if that's going to make you angry, don't go. My wife and I ended up buying some photos because they were good, better than the ones we took ourselves or better than ones other passengers took with our camera. We would have liked to buy more photos, like one of us with the captain, but that photo only came in the 8x10 size and cost $25. We asked them to make us a smaller one but they said no. We didn't want some huge picture with the captain because it wasn't going on our wall - it was just going in a photo album. Plus $25 is a lot for a picture.

When you buy a picture, you can spend another $20 to get the digital image (jpeg file on cd). So things like the ship's photography costs money. If you want that stuff but don't want to pay for it you're going to get angry on the cruise. I saw it happen to several people. It happened to me a few times because internet access is expensive and slow.

Now the ship itself is great. I thought the food was excellent although the Filet Mignon at Teppenyaki was not very good (I hear they have better quality meat at Cagney's steakhouse - they should bring that better meat over to Teppenyaki). That was really the only meal that wasn't very good or great. There was one breakfast where we tried to eat at the same time eeveryone else did (9:00 AM) and it took us a very long time to find a seat - so long my eggs had become disgustingly cold and I threw them out and went to get more (and I hate wasting food). I think I talk about most of that stuff and more here.

There was one lady who claimed to have found a maggot in her salad, but I don't trust crazy people and have my doubts. She was too nutso for me to get her side of the story, but she said this was the worst cruise she has been on and had 'myriad complaints'. I dunno. Everyone I actually talked to really enjoyed the food.

If I had to find something to complain about, it would be that the breakfast was pretty much the same every morning. Now it was huge. Eggs, omlettes made to order, yogurt, muffins, pastry, pancakees, cereal, sausage, bacon, potatoes (several types), French toast (not so good actually), etc. After 7 days of that I was getting tired of western breakfasts and wanted an Asian style breakfast - a little more international variety would have helped.

Anyway, the food was great. Entertainment was good. We saw these guys:

There were only 4 when we say them - they were good entertainers and very nice when we spoke to the in person. We also saw:

Other shows were not as good. Something about Sea Legs Cabaret, some acrobatics stuff that was decent but not world class, and a staff talent show that was pretty painful. They're free so we left when we didn't like the show. It was sometimes tough getting a seat in the theater but we always managed to get one.

Some people said they chose NCL because it was more family oriented. The nightlife that we checked out was pretty lame so I guess that's true. One night there was a 'sexy shadow dance' show in Bliss Ultra Lounge. We stayed about 5 minutes and there were about 3 couples and 3 staff members in the entire place. Totally dead. My wife went to a male strip show but she said it was boring. I can't confirm or deny that...

What about Freestyle Cruising?

Now the way NCL tries to differentiate itself is through 'freestyle cruising'. My hands are tired from typing so I'll write more on that later but for purposes of this review let me recommend freestyle cruising. Unless you want to be forced to eat at a certain time at a certain table with a few strangers, why not go freestyle cruising? I mean you could eat at the same time every night - you just don't have to. What I'm not clear on is how much more freedom you have on NCL than on say Royal Caribbean. Maybe someone can help make that comparison for us.

When you travel, learn something or bring something back that makes you more interesting

Today I visited a couple of friends in New York City, good friends that I don't see very often. While it was fun visiting with old friends, the highlight of the visit was trying some tea that another fellow (just met him today) had brought back from Argentina.

Here's the Wikipedia entry in case my description doesn't make sense.

And before I forget, my whole point is that because he brought back this tea from Argentina (and you can buy it in the US) and was able to tell people about this part of Argentinean culture everyone thought he was more interesting and he was the center of attention.

The first time I came back from Korea I brought some ginseng liquor (which isn't even popular in Korea) that looked pretty interesting because of all the ginseng roots in the bottle of alcohol. Anyway, if you learn to cook a foreign dish, make a foreign drink, or something other people will enjoy learning about the culture you visited, you can make yourself the center of attention if you want.

So the Argentinean tea was interesting. Apparently in Argentina everyone shares one cup with a metal straw in it. The person who makes the tea passes the cup to the left. That person drinks the tea and hands it back to whoever is in charge. They pour more water and pass it to the second person to the left. And on it goes.

Now the cup doesn't hold much water so it only takes a few seconds to drink the tea when it's their turn. And there's no waiting for the tea to cool down since everyone else is also waiting.

The metal straw burned my lips a little bit and the tea was quite bitter. Wikipedia says the tea is bitter when made with boiling water, but it's also bitter when made correctly with hot but not quite boiling water.

Now Brian might or might not care that I think he's cool for teaching me about and sharing Argentinean tea, but everyone else was also interested so the ladies present gave him more attention since they were learning something interesting.

And he is a more interesting person that he was before he learned about Argentinean tea. That reminded me that when I travel I should also try to improve myself in some way - hopefully by learning something about the other culture that I can share with others.

So what have you learned in your travels?

Wifi in Seattle's airport

Don't get confused by verb tense; I wrote this over a week ago but forgot to post it. I'll try to find something more interesting for tonight and tomorrow I hope to publish my comprehensive NCL cruise review.

So the cruise is over. We got off the boat around 10:00 and headed to Seattle Art Museum where we spent the day. Now it's around 6:00 and we're in the airport (our flight leaves at 9:45). I figured I'd pass the time blogging and while I'm able to write, I have no internet access. I thought most airports had free wifi, but in Seattle you have to pay AT&T:

High-speed wireless Internet access, provided by AT&T, is available to laptop users everywhere at Sea-Tac except the subway and upper floors of the garage. There is a $7.95 fee for 24 hours of access for non-AT&T subscribers.

$8 may not seem too bad since I have 3 hours or so, but I'm feeling pretty cheap so I will write offline now and post this stuff later. Too bad I wasn't feeling a bit more thrifty on the cruise...

Park West Gallery art auctions on cruise ships

When I talked to the 2 Park West people on the Norwegian Pearl, they told me that Park West Gallery is the biggest art dealer in the world and they got that huge by bringing art to the people. Park West Gallery does art auctions on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, Carnival, Disney, Holland America, Regent and Oceania.

This article talks about some problems people have had with Park West. The complaints seem to focus on some Dali prints and pricing.

First, some experts claim that Park West is selling forged Dali prints. When I was looking at the work on the NCL Pearl, the Park West guy told me that the biggest issue with Dali was authenticity because some paper that Dali had signed but not yet used was stolen or something.

I'll save that discussion for people who know art. I can't determine if a work is authentic or not but I did trust that Park West was selling me authentic works. Hopefully my trust was not misplaced but then again I'm not an art newb spending $78,000 without getting the piece independently authenticated. And if Park West really is selling forged works, I guess the courts will make them pay.

The other complaint was about the price. Here's one example:

It was only after Maldonado landed back in California that he did some research on his purchases. Including the buyer's premium, he had paid $24,265 for a 1964 "Clown" print by Picasso. He found that Sotheby's had sold the exact same print (also numbered 132 of 200) in London for about $6,150 in 2004.

I don't have much to say about the price except that it is the buyer's responsibility to shop around if they want to get the best possible deal. It took me about 2 minutes to find the print in question selling for $17,500. Now I know not to spend $26,000 on it.

I would say the more confusing part is the "also numbered 132/200" - there shouldn't be 2 prints with the same number so assuming there is no forgery, we're talking about the same exact print. The guys on our Park West ship actually talked about how Park West had started "protecting the market" by buying Picasso prints when Sotheby's auctions didn't reach what Park West thought the piece was worth.

Now what they described sounded more like cornering the market than protecting it but whatever. It seems that Park West bought the piece for $6,000 and sold it for $26,000. Now if Park West had an opening bid of $26,000 shame on them (since the piece seems to be available for $17,500 although it may not have been back when all this happened). But if this buyer got into a bidding war or whatever and overpaid because he didn't know what he was doing it's another story.

I think I'm a decent example. Before bidding in the auction I went online (surely you remember me complaining about the internet access) and looked up Marcel Mouly. I got an average price range for his prints $600 - $5,000. I'm no art expert and I can't tell which pieces are worth more so I figured I'd try to stick on the low end presuming I found one I liked.

Well I am about to go eat dinner so I'll talk more about my experience with Park West later. I will ask Park West and NCL for comments. I may also wait for the pieces I bought to arrive as they are being shipped to Seoul (6-8 weeks I'm told).

And of course I'd like to hear your experiences with Park West and with buying art on cruise ships in general.

Man goes crazy on US domestic flight

Many of you will have heard this story but just in case someone missed it, staff (not players) of the New England Revolution were forced to restrain a man who tried to open an emergency exit door during a flight.

I stress that although the headlines say soccer players from what I've read it was actually Craig Tornberg, the soccer team's general manager; assistant coach Gwynne Williams; and Michael Burns, the team's vice president for player personnel.

Well timed email and review of Samantha Brown's Passport To Great Weekends

Around 10:20 tonight I was reading this email:

I'm working with Travel Channel's online community team and wanted to let you know that Samantha Brown visits Cabo San Lucas on her upcoming episode of Passport To Great Weekends.

The Cabo show airs at 10:30pm EST tonight, July 17th. I thought you and your readers might be interested in the show, and that you might want to post something on your blog about it.

I figured I'd check the show out since it was starting in 10 minutes. Now I almost never watch TV, but Mancunian has written about the Travel Channel several times and you guys have commented on it (plus I mentioned Cabo this morning) so I figured I'd review a show.

Here we go, a review of Samantha Brown's visit to Cabo:

What I consider the best travel tip could have been easy to miss. Samantha Brown mentioned the ‘real’ San Jose del Cabo next to the touristy Cabo San Lucas.Why is the 'authentic' Mexican town mentioned for a second at 10:55? Why didn’t we see any of that?

From 10:30 to 10:55 we say a restaurant where locals eat (The Hangman). We saw Samantha Brown do a zip line and do some sea kayaking. OK.

We also see here in a private villa that most of us can’t afford. We see here private chef cooking – again, not the the typicl travel experience.

Then we see her take a catamaran. No idea how much that costs but probably more afforadable than the private villa with the personal chef. And the views from the boat were nice so I won’t complain about that.

I will complain that we don’t hear about any costs other than a $10,000 piece in an art gallery. How much are the tacos in The Hangman? How much for the 3 mile zipline thing? How much for the catamaran cruise?

So we have a travel show. That’s a plus since we don’t always get travel shows from the Travel Channel. We see a destination. That’s a plus. We get some good information like The Hangman and San Jose del Cabo. But it could certainly be better. We need more than a brief mention of San Jose del Cabo. We could do without the private villa and personal chef crap unless Samantha wants to tell us the price and I’m wrong about it being unaffordable.

Not a bad show, but not great either. Anyone else see it?

Cabo San Lucas turtle season

I've written about Cabo San Lucas before, I've written about nature watching and meaningful travel before, so I thought this press release was worth sharing. These are turtle tours where you could get involved in helping the turtles:

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO, July 16, 2008 – Each year in July marks the beginning of sea turtle season along the beaches of Cabo San Lucas when female endangered sea turtles start returning to shore to nest and lay their eggs. The first group of endangered female sea turtles of the year were reported on the beaches just two weeks ago, reported René Pinal, the long-time owner and operator of a non-profit organization called Association for the Protection of the Environment and the Marine Turtle in Southern Baja (ASUPMATOMA).

For nearly two decades, Pinal, a long-time environmentalist and real estate investor, and his non-profit group ASUPMATOMA, have been dedicated to protecting the area’s endangered sea turtles and environment on his private 2000-acre nature preserve located just 15 minutes north of Cabo San Lucas along the Sea of Cortez. Pinal’s estate, the San Cristobal Nature Preserve, is in fact the last private protected nesting beach for endangered sea turtles in all of Los Cabos due to the continued development that has been taking place throughout the region in recent years.

Each year, Pinal and his non-profit organization save tens of thousand newborn baby sea turtles along the Los Cabos shorelines from coastal development, pollution, and illegal hunting and fishing practices, which have largely contributed to the demise of these endangered species. Last year, alone, ASUPMATOMA protected 562 nests with a total of 59,361 eggs, resulting in the birth of 41,684 newborn baby sea turtles that were then released to sea.

“This is a very exciting time of year for us because in just a few months, usually at the end of September, we will be able to watch the birth of thousands of endangered baby sea turtles as they hatch from their eggs and make their way to sea for the first time,” Pinal said. “Witnessing this annual event is a truly remarkable experience for local residents, children and tourists, alike, who participate. People travel from all over the world to our preserves every year to see the baby sea turtles hatch from their eggs and help release them to the ocean.”

The endangered sea turtles, which have lost most of their habitat in the Los Cabos area to hotels and resorts that now cover the shoreline, as well as become victims of illegal hunting and fishing, beachfront lighting and pollution, can still find shelter at Pinal’s estate, which is the last standing private preserve for endangered sea turtles.

The San Cristobal Nature Reserve is open to the public year round. However, the sea turtle season takes place from July 15 to December 15, and the best times to actually witness newborn baby sea turtles on the beaches is between September and November. Those who are interested in participating in ASUPMATOMA’s 2008 sea turtle rescue tours can contact Baja and Beyond Tours at 866-558-3180 or www.bajabeyond.com.

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Coffee Works, Maximillian

I think this might be a real nice day plan for Seattle. It worked real well for me because we liked Seattle Art Museum (SAM), could leave our bags in their coat check, and could walk to local places and then return to SAM.

I really enjoyed my day at Seattle art museum. It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday in July but the museum wasn't too crowded and it was quite interesting. Sections were fairly small and there was some diverse stuff. Some modern art that I liked (Susan Point, Leo Kenney, and Richard Pettibone). I might have to look around and hopefully find something I can afford to my art collection...

Anyway, you could leave the museum and come back later so checked our bags (we didn't have any huge bags but we had some stuff since we'd just gotten off the cruise), spent a couple of hours on the first floor, went to a coffee shop, Seattle Coffee Works on 111 Pike, where the chai was good and the cappuccino was the best my wife can remember having (I wonder if she remembers the 9 weeks in Italy back in 2001). Then we walked back to the museum and spent a couple of hours on the 2nd floor (they call it the 3rd and 4th floor but whatever).

Then we went to Maximillian for lunch. This is a French restaurant in the Pike Place market with table outside overlooking Seattle's harbor, including pier 66 where NCL ships dock. It was great eating outside with the nice view and somehow funny that we were looking at the ship we'd just spent 7 days on. The food was good and reasonable. My wife got the mussels in wine sauce for $15 and I can't remember the name of my thing but it was kind of like a thin crust with goat cheese, ham, and potato on there. That was $15 too - reasonable for a French restaurant with great views.

I couldn't help noticing that $15 each is the same cover charge you would pay on the Norwegian Pearl for most of the specialty restaurants. Now those would be 3 courses. I would say the French restaurant, Le Bistro, on the NCL Pearl serves food as good as Maximillian's (do keep in mind that these two places are the only French restaurants I've ever eaten in and that I only tried one dish from each so the comparison is probably not worth all that much) and while Le Bistro doesn't have views of Seattle harbor it does have what I'm told is a $15 Renoir. Plus you get the appetizer, main course, and desert for $15. I'm pretty sure if you were still hungry there would be no charge for more food on the ship.

Then we went back to SAM and spent about an hour looking at the exhibits we had liked most. Then we got our bags from coat check and headed to the airport. However at 5:00 in Seattle you could spend some time shopping (either Pike Street market or up on 5th avenues and around there or in between I guess) and then get an excellent dinner. I've had a couple of very good dinners at Wild Ginger and a good brunch at Etta's so those are possibilities for dinner. Union is another restaurant that was recommended - I never got around to trying it.

Ireland: A Visit to the Land of Poets, Music, Legends, and Cheer

Here is a travel plan for Ireland from Sharon Slayton. Enjoy!

Day 1: We arrive at Shannon Airport, one of the 3 largest in Ireland, and a good starting point for our summer vacation in County Clare. Fortunately, there are a number of car rental agencies here to choose from for our drive to the coast.

We won’t spend much time in Shannon, but our itinerary does include an overnight stay at the fabulous Dromoland Castle, about 6 miles from the airport. The Castle, built in the 16th century, sits on a 400+ acre estate of herb and rose gardens by noted Versailles designer Andre Le Notre. Overlooking the Dromoland Lough, this luxury hotel was refurbished in the early 1960’s. The decor is exquisite with antique furnishings, oil paintings, chandeliers, and hand carved paneling throughout. There is no lack of modern amenities, however. Guests can enjoy a variety of activities during their stay including golf, fishing, horseback riding, archery, boating, swimming, and spa treatments. We indulge in an excellent, yet expensive, dinner from a menu of gourmet cuisine and an extensive wine list. Rates are high, as might be expected from this type of accommodation, at over $500 per room and up. We certainly recommend the Dromoland, however, for honeymooners, romanticists, or for anyone else, budget permitting.

Day 2: We pick up our rental car and head for our main destination, Doolin on the western coast of the Emerald Isle. A short but scenic drive, about an hour and a half, takes us past the ruins of 18th century farmhouses and thatch roof cottages through the picturesque Irish countryside to the quaint, small village of Doolin. Often regarded as the capital for traditional Irish music, Doolin is popular with surfers, hikers, outdoor enthusiasts, or people like us looking for something unique in vacation planning.

Among the several charming B&Bs here, we have chosen the Seaview House for its location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the Allie River, and the Doolin countryside. Each of the four guest rooms is comfortably and nicely furnished, with multi-channel TV, and Wi-Fi available. The view from the sundeck is spectacular, and the rates are very reasonable at $40 to $70 per person, which includes breakfast. We highly recommend the Seaview.

Time for lunch in the village at the Stonecutters Kitchen, a family style restaurant with an extensive menu of everything from sandwiches and chowders to full course meals. After lunch, we stroll through the village, which has one main street, and wind up back at the Seaview to relax before dinner.

A glorious sunset and we’re ready for some evening entertainment at one of the three highly publicized pubs in Doolin – O’Connor’s, McGann’s, and McDermott’s – all offering great food and nightly live music sessions. Irish music and cheer are traditions and definitely not to be missed. We spend a delightful few hours at O’Connor’s, just a few hundred feet from the Seaview House.

Day 3: After a hearty Irish breakfast, we plan on spending most of the day exploring some of the Burren “rocky place” region of archaeological and botanical interest. The Trail through the Burren takes us past limestone underground caverns, burial sites, and ruins of Celtic forts. Located about two miles from Doolin are Aillwee Mountain and the Aillwee Caves. Hiking up the mountain, we see wild goats, peregrine falcons, and rare species of orchids and other flora. Tours through Aillwee Cave and the Bird of Prey Center are priced at $25/adults, $12/children. We end our tour with lunch in the Cave tearoom.

We have reservations for dinner tonight at the Ballinalacken Castle nearby, where the food is somewhat expensive, but well worth the price. The Castle is also another accommodation option in the area, with rates from $100 - $200 (breakfast and dinner usually included).

Day 4: Today, we are going to visit the Cliffs of Moher, a designated conservation site and a must-see attraction in the Doolin area. Five miles long and 800 feet high, this is the home of Ireland’s largest gathering of an estimated 30,000 species of sea birds, including the legendary Atlantic Puffins or sea parrots. For the avid bird watcher, this is a real treat where gulls, kestrels, and thousands of lesser-known varieties come to nest in spring and summer. This too might well have been the inspiration for Shelley’s “Ode to a Skylark,” as their delightful songs can be heard all year round. Other interesting sights along the Cliffs are O’Brien’s Tower and Hags Head, an unusual rock formation named after the witch from Irish folklore.

We take the ferry from Doolin’s pier for a one-hour cruise. The ferry sails two to three times a day from April to October, and a shorter tour to the three remaining Aran Islands is available. These islands are gradually eroding into the sea, but for now, the islanders still speak the Irish language, and continue to plant crops and fish along the shores to supplement the tourism income. Ph: (065) 7075949 for rates, booking, and sailing times.

We decide on dinner in Doolin at the Roadford House, where the reasonably priced menu includes Thai seafood, lamb, duck, and chicken. Accommodations at the Roadford range from $50 - $70/person, as well as self-catering packages.

Day 5: Our last full day in Doolin, and time to take more photos and do some shopping. Doolin Crafts Gallery has a great selection of sweaters, jewelry, pottery, leather, and unique Irish gifts. You can also stay for lunch here at their restaurant. Next door to O’Connor’s pub is O’Brien’s Crafts with a large selection of crystal, silk, clocks, and knitwear.

Our vacation would not be complete without indulging in fresh seafood, Doolin’s specialty. We have an early supper at Cullinan’s Restaurant in the village, and return to the Seaview to enjoy our last evening in Ireland.

Day 6: Regrettably, our all too short vacation has ended, and the drive back to Shannon seems much longer than we remembered. As we wait at the airport for our flight back home, we’re already planning our next visit to this fascinating country.

(Note: Summer weather in Ireland is unpredictable, but for the most part, sunny and mild. There are, of course, the occasional rain showers rolling in from the Atlantic, but these fail to dampen your enthusiasm. You’re sure to find a cheerful pub with a genial host, where you’ll enjoy a mug of Irish coffee or a pint of Guinness Stout, some lively music, and friendly conversation.)

Southport, UK in the spotlight

We take a short break from talking about cruises to bring you this guest entry by Mancunian. He talks about Southport and has convinced me that this site needs a UK travel plan including Southport and the nearby Liverpool. Anyway, here is Mancunian's blog entry:

If you are a golf fan, you probably know that the world’s premier golf championship, the British Open starts this week at Royal Birkdale, Southport. That seemed like a good excuse to write something about Southport (especially as it’s my home town!).

And it's one of those places that somehow never gets more than a brief mention (if at all) in all those travel guide books that are out there, which is strange because Southport is a beautiful old fashioned seaside resort, with excellent shopping, parks and beaches as well as one of Britain’s longest piers. The main shopping street, Lord Street with its sidewalks covered by Victorian glass roofs, is considered to be one of Britain’s most attractive shopping streets. Southport has an old-fashioned feel to it, with plenty of tea rooms, gardens and distinctive shops.

And if you are looking for a golfing destination, Southport makes a great choice – the town is within easy reach of 20 golf courses, including three “royal” courses. The town is within an hour’s drive from both Liverpool (this year’s European city of culture) and Manchester airports.

There are several offbeat things to do in the area. Southport boasts the world’s only lawnmower museum (No, strangely enough I haven’t been there!) as well as what claims to be England’s smallest pub (or bar), the Lakeside Inn.

And if you have time, a day trip to mysterious Pendle Hill is an interesting experience. The area is infamous as the home of the so-called Pendle witches - one of the witches is buried in the nearby village of Newchurch (it’s the grave that has a carving of a skull and crossbones) and every Halloween, people brave the climb to the top of the hill. (The TV show “Most Haunted” which is a Travel Channel regular, stated that Pendle Hill was one of the scariest places they had filmed).

For some reason it always seems to be misty and raining when I am in the region of Pendle Hill – as the locals say: "If you can't see Pendle then it's raining, and if you can then it's going to rain."

Drama on the Norwegian Pearl (last night at sea)

Yesterday I talked a bit about getting removed from a cruise ship. An hour or so ago I got an idea of just how hard it is to get thrown in the brig or removed from the ship.

We were eating dinner (waiting for our food actually) in the only restaurant that was open. One of the 4 or 5 women at the table next to us starts screaming. "Maggot! Maggot! There's a maggot in my food! Do something! Maggot! There's a maggot in my food!" She walks around a little bit yelling about the maggot to everyone in the restaurant. She says that this was the worst cruise she's ever been on and that the food has been horrible all week. She wants a manager who can do something about the maggot in the food she feeds her baby, etc.

Now she really did have a baby but the baby was drinking from a bottle not eating mom's salad. So the whole thing seemed overly dramatic and kind of untrue. My first thought was that all they wanted was a free cruise and that maybe they made up the maggot.

My wife saw her ask the woman sitting at the next table if she saw the maggot and that woman nodded. Did she really see it or was the little old lady scared of the big violent crazed lady? Or did they plant the maggot to try to get a free cruise? Or was I being too harsh in my snap judgement and was there really a maggot? I still don't know. They also had the definition of maggot nice and ready: "A maggot! Do you know what that is? A bug lar

But I do know the drama that happened next. The women were all screaming and moving around and bothering everyone and demanding to see a manager. "Call a manager!" I said, "Call the captain to kick her off the ship."

Anyway, soon one of the women throws a plate into the waiter area. Then she throws another plate. My wife says it looked like she was aiming (poorly) at a waitress who was walking by. Luckily no one was hurt. "Mom, stop!" She stopped but my wife and I couldn't believe how crazy these people were.

I asked one waiter to call security. When security came they broke out the camcorder, but there was no fighting or anything so the camcorder went away. Eventually they talked to the food and beverage manager, probably for about 20 minutes. Then they left peacefully, taking pictures and getting names of the waitstaff.

I'm told that the public health officers checked all the lettuce after the complaint and it was fine. They say the lettuce is never kept more than 3 days and the temperature is regulated and everything. They don't understand how it could have happened and since the women chucked the plate with the maggot the staff couldn't check it out.

Next thing I know they're telling me that the waiter's job may be in danger so I'm handing out business cards and explaing that the waiter did the best possible thing - he called security.

Well it's late. I was going to try to stay up a couple of hours to use up the internet time I paid for but I'm tired and I have to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow to talk to the accountant about a $90 bottle of wine chraged to my room when my wife and I don't even drink, not even the free wine when we had dinner with the captain... I don't really need to wake up at 5:30 but I'm guess that the line for the accountant will be very long, slow moving, and unpleasant so I aim to get there early. Plus the breakfast buffet will also be crowded and uncomfortable if I'm not early enough.

I guess I just have to accept that I'll have wasted some money by purchasing too much internet time.

Too tired to spellcheck...

Cruise ship captain on removing passengers from a ship

Here we are on day 6 of the cruise. While my coming review will contain all the negative things I can think of I have already put a deposit down on my next NCL cruise so obviously I am having fun. I should add that this cruise going real well is not the only reason I decided to do another as I have at least $500 off on my next one thanks to my NCL credit card.

Anyway, people often get fooled by my reviews when I say I'm having fun and then list a bunch of negatives. I get comments like "Too bad you're not enjoying your vacation" when I'm actually having a great time. I guess it's just my style to warn people of all the things that they might not like (well as many as I can remember or think of). Too many reviews are just "Oh we enjoyed it and you will too" - I prefer to give as many details as possible because that's what I like to see when I read reviews.

Anyway, I owe you some from earlier days but left off at day 5, on my way to have dinner with the captain. I was very surprised to see that the dinner party was my wife and I, another couple (who celebrate their 30th anniversary on the exact same day we celebrate our 7th), the captain, and the chief engineer.

That dinner was easily one of the highlights of the trip and afterwards I told my wife it's a good thing I have this blog - this travel blog is what got me VIP treatment. Thanks for reading!

I learned a lot of things but let's do one for now. Remember a while back when I criticized a cruise line because their captain kicked a couple off the cruise? Well that's the only time I ever saw anything like that in the news so I asked our captain if he had ever removed a passenger from a cruise.

He answered that he had - it's rare but it does happen. Naturally they try to avoid this whenever possible but cruise captains can and will kick you off their ship if you deserve it. They'll try to have security or a senior officer besides the captain talk to you first. The captain said he did have one story he could share in part (no details) about a time when he had to remove someone from a ship.

I don't know what the incident was but afterwards the captain talked to the passenger and she apologized. She said she'd behave better. He asked her if she had planned to behave this way when she boarded. She said, "of course not." Then the captain asked, "What if the same situation occurs tomorrow? How can I know that you won't behave the same way again?"

He asked her to leave the ship. I can tell that this decision still bothers him today even though he knows it was the right one. Apparently he talked to someone from the woman's hotel and she had continued her pattern of misbehavior.

I have to add here that the captain is very charismatic. After talking to him I have no doubt that he is honest, compassionate, and that he is smart enough to figure out what's best for the ship. If someone gets kicked off a cruise ship I guess they deserve it. And if you ever get a warning while on a cruise, don't rebel.

NCL Alaska cruise experience continued

I think this is day 5 of the cruise. It's Thursday and I haven't blogged since Monday so let's see what I can remember and what I have time to tell you.

Last time I blogged I was under time pressure because I had a 'VIP' drinks with the captain party. That turned out to be a very interesting conversation with the chief engineer. It takes 4 years of study (marine engineering) and 15 years of experience to get your license, but it seems like a pretty good job - 10 weeks on and then 10 weeks off. That's some serious vacation time.

Anyway today there is some time pressure because we were invited to have dinner with the captain. My wife thinks I should shave first and since I'll probably be underdressed I guess I will.

I'm writing this in my room, but annoyingly I'll have to carry my laptop somewhere else to connect to the internet and publish this on my blog. No wifi in my room and the room certainly wasn't cheap...

So let's test my memory:

Monday night:

After drinks with he captain and staff, we went to Lotus Garden, an Asian restaurant. This was one of the cover charge ones so it cost us $15 each plus tip. No one seems to tip in the free restaurants but in the others they swipe your card and ask you to sign the bill where there's a place for you to write down the tip. Lotus Garden was good.

Tuesday:

We went to breakfast around 9:00 AM. It was crazy crowded and it took us a long time time to find a table. When we finally sat down my eggs were real cold and though I hate wasting food I didn't eat them. Of course I could just go get more but still.

Lunch was at Indigo. The food there was good but mostly I remember the chilled blueberry soup. I went back to Indigo today hoping to find more but it was closed.

Dinner was at Teppenyaki, another restaurant with a cover. Here you pay $25 each but I would say you're better off in the buffet for free. They cook the food in front of you and put on a little show. It was loud and fun but not as good as you would get in a fancy restaurant ashore. Plus my filet mignon was the worst I've ever had. I don't think the problem was preperation - just meat that wasn't real tender. I actually canceled my reservations at the steak restaurant because I have no desire to eat more steak here.

In between meals we did a shore excursion in Juneau - the Mendenhall river glacier float. It started off with nice views of the Mendenhall glacier but then it took us downriver, away from the glacier. So for the first 30 minutes it was nice. The other 90 minutes was uncomfortable and while the scenery was peaceful it wasn't what we came to Alaska for - houses on the river, rusted cars on the bank that the government decided would help stop land erosion a few decades ago, a beaver dam.
It was mostly calm but there was one spot where they had class 2 and 3 rapids. So we got wet.

We talked to some people over dinner who did a helicopter tour and hike. They were much happier with their choice than we were with our choice. My wife was actually pretty mad at me until Wednesday's shore excursion which was much better.

Wednesday:

We woke up at 5:00 AM or something today. Breakfast wasn't crowded but in the early morning all they have is fruit and bread and stuff. Officially the real breakfast begins at 7:30 but we got our eggs and stuff before 7:00.

Then we met outside at 7:40 for our Skagway excursion, White Pass Railroad and gold dredge. This was great, particularly the railroad.

More on that later...

Thursday:

You can see I'm rushing now - today was Glacier Bay and it was awesome. We got some great views of Marjorie Glacier and even saw and heard a big chunk of it crash into the water. We didn't see as much wildlife as we hoped but we did spot a few whales.

And now I need to work out, shave, drop off papers for this bag service (we pay $20 each and they take our bags and check them in at the airport for us - that's good since we arrive in Seattle in the morning but our flight leaves at 9:45 PM).

NCL Alaska cruise experience day 2

Well here I am on day 2 of the NCL cruise to Alaska. First let me explain what I said at the end of my blog entry yesterday about the internet being annoying. While we were waiting to get into our rooms after boarding the Norwegian Pearl yesterday we had very little to do after we ate lunch. So we found a couple of lounge chairs, and I tried to get online to blog a bit.

Fist they say $4 activation fee. OK. Then they say pick a plan. The cheapest one is 40 cents/minute with a $100 minimum (no refund for unused minutes). OK. I'm thinking that having a travel blog is a little expensive at this point (I also pay a bunch for hosting) but it did get me VIP treatment on this cruise. That basically meant a bottle of wine (we don't drink though), a special concierge number (at least I assume it's special), and an invitation to have drinks with the captain (which I'll be doing in an hour or so).

Anyway, I pay my $104, get online, and start blogging. I write a bunch, click save, and then find out I had been disconnected. Of course that means yesterday's blog entry should have been much longer but I lost almost everything. I log back on, write a few more words and then when it's time to go to the rooms I click publish. The poor internet connection times out. Anyway, on the third try I finally published my abridged blog entry.

So basically I'm saying the wifi here wasn't all that good on day 1 but I did learn a lesson. I am writing this blog entry offline. I'll log on when I'm ready to publish it.

So what have I experienced so far on the cruise? The food has been great. We tried one of the specialty restaurants, or at least my wife did. She liked the sushi and sashimi but she ate alone because there was a $15 cover charge. I don't eat sushi and the place was empty but they still wanted $15 to let me sit next to her. Not a huge deal. I found a seat not too far away and read my book while she ate.

I ate at Mambo's, a TexMex kind of place. I really liked it. A more complete review with pictures should follow one day. We also ate at the big buffet place a couple of times (lunch yesterday, snack yesterday, breakfast today) where almost everything has been good. The French toast was pretty sad this morning though as they barely used any egg. Today it was lunch in the Blue Lagoon comfort food restaurant. We plan to go back for the tomato soup. The chicken sandwich and the salad was also good but the french fries (which I didn't order but whatever) were pretty bad.

Not that we did nothing but eat. I've been to the gym 4 times so far. Yesterday at around 5:00 and 9:00 it was pretty empty. Today at 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM it was packed. I love having a gym open 24 hours and the new equipment, but as you know I do like to criticize whenever possible (even though I really am having a good time!) so let me just say that they need more in the gym. They have lots of dumbbells but no barbells. And too few strength training machines. And the area by the dumbbells is just too small with only three benches and not much space in between. I couldn't even put my dumbbells back where I got them if someone was using the bench on front of the rack there. It's also hard to get a key for the lockers (and impossible after 10:00) so I just head to the gym and back to the room in my workout clothes. Yesterday I ended up carrying my clothes around the weights...

And of course there was some expensive shopping. Columbian Emeralds had some stuff off 50% today only until 1:00 or something. Now my wife has a new necklace and ring and we have 90 days to pay.

Well anyway, everything has been fun so far. Naturally I'll have more to say soon!

Hello from the Norwegian Pearl

Well my vacation continues. It seems that 3 days in Seattle is about right. Someone said they were surprised that I was having fun in Seattle because it's not known as a tourist destination with a lot of stuff to do. And when I talked to some locals they basically said that we had done everything a tourist had to do (Pioneer Square, Space Needle, Pike Place market).

We didn't do any museums although I wanted to try the music experience and the scifi one. My wife wasn't too interested and it was $18 to get in. We probably didn't have enough time to get our money's worth.

More soon - this expensive wifi on the ship is a huge pain in the butt...

Hello from Seattle and happy July 4th!

Well I have been busy (as usual when I'm on vacation). We flew JetBlue from JFK to Seattle and were pretty impressed. For a discount carrier I think they have more free stuff than most traditional airlines flying domestically in the US. Dunkin Donuts coffee, animal crackers, blue terra chips, etc.

One strange thing was that because of a nut allergy on board they asked everyone not to eat nuts. A woman in our row said she couldn't eat her sandwich because the bread had nuts in it. I'm no doctor, but how can me eating a nut kill someone else? My only guess is that nut particles in the air could bother the other person or something.

Anyway, the flight was fine. Seattle has been pretty good and last night we saw fireworks from the space needle observation deck which was neat. We've also found a good restaurant (Wild Ginger) and done an underground tour (strongly recommended and fairly interesting but not that great).

Now I'm off to the Pike Street market. It's quite a trek from the Chambered Nautilus B&B to downtown Seattle - maybe 20 minutes walk to the bus and then 20 minutes ride to downtown. My wife got pretty mad that I didn't book something more central but the people are nice and the food is fine so she's feeling better now.

Tomorrow I'll try to blog from the cruise ship.

Boston Duck Tour experience

So today I did the Boston Duck Tour. We bought our tickets at around 3:00 Tuesday afternoon and they were selling for the 5:30 tour. I think this was one of the last ones.

The tickets were $29 a piece so this can be kind of an expensive family trip (we had 5). It was pretty good though. The 80 minute trip shows you some cool stuff in Boston and is fairly entertaining.

The cool sights included a piece of the Berlin wall, a Dunkin Donuts that also sells sushi, another Dunkin Donuts that had an empty spot on the second floor where there used to be a gym, the hotel where Boston cream pie was invented, and a hotel that has a black lab guests can walk - some things I never knew about Boston though I'd been there a few times before.

The entertainment was the guide / driver. Each one invents a different persona and our guide was a pirate captain (he was dressed the part), Jack Black or Jet Black or something. My father said the guide was funny without being corny. I thought some of it was corny but still OK.

5 or so kids had a chance to drive the vehicle while it was in the water but this apparently depends on the driver and should not be expected on a duck tour.

So while it's not the cheapest way to spend 80 minutes in Boston, if it works with your budget the tour is worthwhile, at least in my opinion.

By the way, I'm in Boston visiting my sister. In 2 days it's on to Seattle and then the cruise to Alaska.