My Travels

Although I enjoy getting breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn, I eventually get tired of the same breakfast buffet items even if it is convenient. It was already included in the room rate so I couldn't really turn it down.  The plan for the day was to check out Villa Borghese Gardens and the Colosseum . In the morning, the walk around the Villa Borghese Garden was cut short due to the extensive walking required. The Garden does not have the best signage so having a map is important to figure out where you are within the Garden.I did like the fact that the garden was heart shaped! Given the number and size of the group, tickets for the Colosseum were booked earlier in the week. It ended up saving us a lot of time as the lines around the Colosseum were long and we didn’t wait long at all. It also helped that we booked the guided tour which always helps you fast track your way through the queues. Before heading to our assigned tour time, we had lunch based on a friend’s re...

On this day, I opted for a walking tour of the city center and see all the public monuments in Rome. The goals for the day were to see the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. After grabbing morning breakfast, one person of the group decided to opt out and stay in. The rest of the group headed out via bus to the city center. The first stop was the Pantheon. Of course, with these locations located in the CBD, we stopped along the way and perused the many shops and coffee houses while walking to the Pantheon. Once we arrived in Piazza della Rotonda, the Pantheon was an impressive building structure. I have found that the Italians like really large building structures even though the streets are narrow. Walking inside, you will find a constant recorded message of being quiet inside as a sign of respect as it is used as a church.  The architecture and age of the building is quite impressive. Pantheon Pantheon interior  Afterwards, we wandered in the city cen...

Vatican City is not an easy venue to get in and requires some planning to make it as painless as possible. Remembering my experience trying to get into the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, I made reservations online to get into the Vatican Museums. One of the benefits is that you can a separate entrance for reservations compared to the line I saw in the morning going around the block. It was easily a few hours of waiting from what I can tell. In my case, it was a 20 minute wait with security screening. Due to the nature of the route given within the Vatican, it is easy to lose part of your group if you don’t pay attention and stick with another.  The Church and its city state grounds were very impressive. The craftsmanship and care given to the interior relays the wealth of the Roman Church. I was not able to see everything at the Vatican area, it is easily a two day expedition between St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and underground catacombs. Hallway inside Vatican ...

Landing into Fiumicino Airport is an experience into itself. After landing, the passport control lines were out of control. So what was the Italian’s solution to process all the people? Letting everyone through without checking passports and I was amazed that no one seemed bothered that no passports were checked. I was totally bummed about not getting a visa stamp from Italy. This will also be an issue at the end of the trip. In addition, there were carousel issues and I had to wait almost an hour before seeing luggage. I knew the Italians had a reputation for inefficiency but wow. Once outside, I was approached by shuttle drivers. I opted to go with the shuttle driver once someone with a badge arrived saying that they were authorized to take people from the airport. I also saw that all the taxis in the queue were very small cars and unable to accommodate four people plus luggage. Upon reflection, I’m not convinced that they were really authorized to be at the airport but...

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 Caf...

This past week was good for snowboarders. Mammoth Mountain received about two feet of snow which compelled me out of my home for a quick one day of boarding. Since the trip was going to be short, headed up in the afternoon towards Bishop. On the way up, passed a billboard touting Nadia's Cakes which was a winner on Cupcake Wars. Intrigued and conveniently located off the freeway, I exited in Palmdale to try these cupcakes. I will say this is the first time I've been able to visit a contestant of the show. I have enjoyed watching the series and was curious of the quality level. For the most part, I'm an avid fan of Sprinkles and have found few comparable competitors. I bought the strawberry champagne, peanut butter, salted caramel and red velvet. My favorite was the strawberry champaign and I will make it a point to stop by if I'm in the area. I checked into the Best Western Plus Holiday Spa Lodge . It has been over a year since I was last in Bishop. For a sm...

I'm making a trip to Seoul. I was hoping to catch a flight to Korea on the Boeing Dreamliner but it was grounded after battery issues. United Airlines subbed out the Dreamliner with a 777. I did try to get United to switch my itinerary because of the plane change. I could have gotten into Seoul earlier than 9 pm if I chose to go through SFO rather than Narita. The customer representative couldn't do anything over the phone but suggested I send an email to corporate. I did but the response was no dice. :( Although no Dreamliner option, I did get an offer to upgrade to First for $399. I'm curious as to how the offer is made when you checkin online. If I was staying longer in Narita, it would have been easier to convince me to upgrade. The United Club lounge is split between regular and 1st class by an elevator. The regular United lounge is usually packed so the 'extra' perk would have been nice. For my meal options, I went with a Japaense set menu since I was on...

So my last hotel stay of the year is at the Doubletree Downtown Los Angeles for a wedding. Ironically, my first stay of the year was for an indian wedding and I'm ending the year with another. :P The hotel was an independent hotel and was recently converted. I remembered it as the Kyoto Grand Hotel where a friend was married at the hotel. In this particular trip, the wedding was at a local church and the reception was held at Union Station in downtown LA. The hotel was busy with several weddings when I checked in but the front desk was still nice enough to put me in a corner suite. From TripAdvisor, the reviews were hit and miss but I found the hotel well furnished and stylishly decorated. If you do stay here, the breakfast buffet has one of the best croissants I have ever had in a hotel setting. I snaked one out on the way out; it was that tasty. :D

Headed out to Shanghai via United Airlines . On this particular trip, I was looking forward to pleasant temperatures similar to home. This time of year, Shanghai's hot and humid summer temps have passed. The fall is actually quite pleasant being in the 60s and 50s with no humidity. I was cracking up that all the Chinese people on the plane were already suiting up in parkas. For some reason, I assumed that the Shanghainese can weather colder weather given that the winter months rival NYC weather. You don't hear New Yorkers exclaiming how cold things are yet....except this year with superstorm Sandy. I used the last of my global certificates for this trip and was able to confirm upgraded seats a few weeks before. I was actually surprised that the flight was not 100% occupied. I didn't anticipate that there would be empty seats in each class. Mental note: choose the rear facing seats as that is less likely to get chosen in business. It would have been nice not to have a nei...