Rome via NYC

On this trip, I went with family on a mission to see the Vatican. Not being particularly religious, I was interested in seeing the other sights in Italy but can appreciate the care and affluence the Roman Catholic Church possessed. I flew on United Airlines with a pit stop in Newark. For this particular trip, weather being a notorious and fickle factor I opted to do red eye flights. I had a 10 hour layover and planned to visit NYC showing my parents the 10 minute tour. J
On the flight to Newark, I was able to get upgraded for everyone in my flight for free. Well, not actually free. United has a policy now that if you want to upgrade using miles or certificates and the itinerary includes an international leg, the miles/certificates are considered unused if you don’t make the international segment. At the time of boarding, I wasn’t able to confirm the international portion but the domestic leg was available.
I took the NJ transit to Penn Station and grabbed a quick breakfast at Café CD on 148 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016. I had wanted to get to my typical bagel shop but time and distance dictated staying close to the area.  A quick service restaurant, I was able to get my NY bagel fix on.  We wandered over to the Empire State Building after breakfast to check out the city views.

Unfortunately, the East Coast was bombarded with rain and the view from the top of the Empire State Building was very cloudy. Visibility was poor but it was still impressive to see the NYC skyline.
I realized as I left the Empire State Building I had left an essential item for the Italy trip – my GPS! I had purchased the Italy map from Garmin and I was bummed to have left this item behind. I couldn’t magically get my GPS to me so I visited the Staples store next door and picked one up. I would have to later buy another copy of the Italy map from Garmin once in Italy.
With time running short, we went to Vezzo restaurant around the corner to have NY pizza. I know NYC is known for thin crust but this particular restaurant was really thin…almost cracker like. Unfortunately, this will be the best pizza eaten on this trip. The service was good even though the food order was messed up as well as the billing. I would still come back if I could.
 
No first time visit (for the guests) would be complete without seeing Times Square. We grabbed a taxi and made a slight detour through Times Square on the way back to Newark Airport. I wouldn’t recommend taking a taxi to Newark as the tunnel was partially blocked due to a car accident and it took about 90 minutes to get to the airport.

Went through security and I was pleasantly surprised that the TSA Precheck processes now include letting passengers with international itineraries through the lanes. This is a new process and I was happy to use the lane bypassing most of the security lines. While on the plane, I was upgraded at the last minute to Business class. My entire party eventually was as well right before we took off for Rome. All in all, not a bad start to the trip to Rome.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Orleans

Image
I'm back again for a conference. Flew out on United Airlines and was able to snag a first class seat on the way out. Luckily, the Hilton New Orleans St. Charles Avenue was able to accommodate an early check-in. The room was just the same as last time. They are renovating the executive lounge which made the perk inaccessible. I was given breakfast coupons for Luke in exchange. I tried the Southern Breakfast sans meat. I found the biscuit slightly salty but I'm prone to being salt sensitive. Not a good thing when it comes to Southern cooking. For lunch, went out to Ruby Slipper Café and ordered the Catfish St. Peter and a double Bellini. The meal was tasty and the service was quick and friendly. Did some antique and second hand clothing shopping before getting dessert at Sucre . The dessert shop sells gelato, baked goods, and chocolate. The gelato was ok but the smore's skillet was super tasty. Ruby Slipper Café Catfish St. Peter Sucre S'mores skillet and a ban
Read more

Salt Lake and Park City

Image
Flew to Salt Lake City Airport for the holiday weekend on United . No new snow systems so I was not in a rush to get on the mountain and opted to bounce around the city before heading up to Park City. Although I could have opted for a cheaper rental, I stuck with the Toyota Tacoma from Avis . Lodging After landing, I checked into the Fairfield Inn & Suites Salt Lake City South . Normally, not a leisure destination but I thought it would be a good location to meet with friends who live south of the city. They ended up being unavailable that day and my companion's former colleagues weren't available (headquarters was just another 10 minutes south).  The next day, I checked into the Doubletree Park City - The Yarrow . Originally, the weekend was really expensive due to the holidays but the prices did drop to under $200 when I was checking in. I was behind a gentleman who inquired about booking two rooms last minute and he was quoted about $200 for two nights. With the continu
Read more

Park City

I joined family to a snowboard trip to Park City and hopped onto a Delta flight to get into Salt Lake City International Airport . As mentioned in prior posts, the Delta gates are in the best locations in the airport. Despite that, I still had to lug my snowboard bag across a really long way (in my opinion).  I had a rental with Hertz last minute. There are close check in gates from the car rental parking garage and the airport front counters; however, the timing of my flights were outside their hours and so I was stuck lugging 70 lbs to the regular counter. I was really sad about it as I walked past the empty counters. Delta fail. My family has a timeshare with Club Wyndham Park Ciry  and they booked a three bedroom apartment. Even though we weren’t an 8 person group, it was nice to have the space because of all the snowboard gear. Note that the hotel does not shovel snow off balconies so you will need to do so if you want to hang outside. The hotel is conveniently located at the Can
Read more