Euro Trip 2013!
My passport had expired Sept 11, 2012, and naturally, I waited until March to renew it when I had planned on going to Europe in May. Typically it takes 4-6 weeks for the new passport to arrive so I was really taking a gamble on not expediting it.
Well lo and behold, I received it 2 weeks after they got my application! Lucky!! I was getting a little nervous since I had signed up for status updates on my application and the one alert I got was that they started processing it March 24. Anyway, for any of you travelers out there; apply for a passport at least 3 months in advance (or suck it up and pay the extra fee ($60) to get it expedited)
Our itinerary is set:
2 May - We leave to Berlin. T and I have never been to Germany and all I've been hearing for the past few years is how Berlin is the hip new place. We arrive the next morning (3 May) and will hopefully be rested enough to spend the day sightseeing. We reserved a time slot for that afternoon to see the Reichstag building to check out the dope views in the dome.
On the 5th, we head to Amsterdam! Now, I've had an interesting solo experience in Amsterdam back in 2006. It will be nice to be back with someone this time.
After two days there, we take a train to Paris. We've both been to Paris, but I've requested a day trip to EuroDisney since I was cheated out of it back in 1992 when I got very sick the day before my mom was supposed to take me.
We are also planning on doing a day trip to Versailles. On Friday, we'll probably spend time in the Louvre; I would like to see the catacombs and of course the Eiffel Tower but we'll see!
After Paris, we take a train to Bruges where we will live out a fairytale for a night before visiting his friend in Gent. Our last stop is Brussels before heading back to the states... I am sad already!
Friday, April 05, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Chicago 2012
What's better than $100 RT airfare tickets? Try $43 RT airfare tickets. Spirit Airlines were having this crazy sale for tix from NYC to Chicago for only $5.05 EACH WAY!! With taxes, it was still less than $50/person which, in my opinion, is a steal and I had never been to Chicago so this was a great excuse to do a weekend getaway.
It was in February, which is a little risky, but we actually lucked out the first day. It was gorgeous out. A cool mid-60s, we took a long walk up to Lincoln Park and visited a very nice/large comic book store, the aquarium and the Threadless store. I fell in love with Chicago right away.
We met up with Mark S. and ate at the Publican. Easily 1 of the top 10 meals of my life. Coincidentally, our reservations overlapped with a friend who was visiting her parents so I got to see Kristen for a few minutes, which is funny because we live about a mile away from each other in Brooklyn and never saw each other.
We tried to go to Hot Doug, which Anthony Bourdain visited on an episode of No Reservations. We took a train to the bus an hr just to get to this place... only to find out they were closed the exact dates we were there. So we went back, very sad and defeated. I then felt super sick to my stomach. I unfortunately caught a stomach bug the last day and was sick for about 48hrs. Ugh We had to skip our reservation at Blackbird :( I did manage to try Giordano's Deep Dish pizza, but promptly threw all of that up that night. It was miserable.
Kind of a terrible ending to what would've been a great vacation. I'll be back.
The Loop
Train Station at night
We got treated to a 4.5 hr dinner at Moto. Once in a lifetime experience. These were "cigars' that you ate.
My #1 reason for wanting to visit Chicago was to take pictures at the Bean.
Tom and Me
Summary of Peru 2009
Well I forgot to write about my 2 week trip to Peru back in May 2009...
It was nothing short of amazing. Flew to Lima (smoggy), stayed a couple of days in a super cute hostel with lots of flowers. Then flew to Cuzco, got the giggles probably from a mix of the coca leaves and the lack of oxygen as we were so high up on a mountain.
We did a 3.5 day Lares trek which was so so cool; I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants to hike and camp out to Machu Picchu (and didn't get a booking on the Inca Trail). We had sherpas carry our sleeping bags and ovens... set up all of our tents (incl. the bathroom tent!) and made us 3 course meals every day!
Machu Picchu is definitely an experience you should have at least once in your life. The history behind it is so rich and interesting. The climb up Wayna pichu (which was the larger mountain next to machu pichu) was an experience in of itself. Tom and I went the "long way"... which meant we were lost and stuck on this damn mountain for nearly 3 hrs. Mind you, the pathways are not for the feint of heart. think super steep stairs/ladders, no barriers to catch your fall, and me being the idiot and carrying a totebag which made things so much harder. I think this was where Tom and I had our first fight, and we had only been dating 3 months at that point.
Anyway, the rest of the trip was great. We ate like royalty because the exchange rate was in our favor.
It was nothing short of amazing. Flew to Lima (smoggy), stayed a couple of days in a super cute hostel with lots of flowers. Then flew to Cuzco, got the giggles probably from a mix of the coca leaves and the lack of oxygen as we were so high up on a mountain.
We did a 3.5 day Lares trek which was so so cool; I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants to hike and camp out to Machu Picchu (and didn't get a booking on the Inca Trail). We had sherpas carry our sleeping bags and ovens... set up all of our tents (incl. the bathroom tent!) and made us 3 course meals every day!
Machu Picchu is definitely an experience you should have at least once in your life. The history behind it is so rich and interesting. The climb up Wayna pichu (which was the larger mountain next to machu pichu) was an experience in of itself. Tom and I went the "long way"... which meant we were lost and stuck on this damn mountain for nearly 3 hrs. Mind you, the pathways are not for the feint of heart. think super steep stairs/ladders, no barriers to catch your fall, and me being the idiot and carrying a totebag which made things so much harder. I think this was where Tom and I had our first fight, and we had only been dating 3 months at that point.
Anyway, the rest of the trip was great. We ate like royalty because the exchange rate was in our favor.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
May Trips
Unforutnately, I never got to finish writing about my Montreal trip. We had done so much and it was daunting to remember everything we did, the people we met, and the amazing food we ate. To sum it up, we ate well, swam in the hotel, got lost in a neighborhood but found an adorable tea shop and went to a casino. Maybe I'll revisit it another time.
However, I do promise to keep track of my trips this month. I just got back from a short trip from Virginia. My mom drove us down to visit her friend, Ronna and her family. We were only there for a few days, but we ate well and I ended up running/walking in a 5k "race" for "Girls on the Run" with Izzy, Ronna's 8 year old daughter. We had to do 8 laps around the school/track. All of the girls finished and there was definitely a sense of accomplishment.
In a couple of weeks, I will be flying with 7 or 8 of my best friends to Martha's Vineyard. I'm hoping the weather is on our side. The morning after I get back, I will be flying to Peru with Tom! More on that in a few weeks!
However, I do promise to keep track of my trips this month. I just got back from a short trip from Virginia. My mom drove us down to visit her friend, Ronna and her family. We were only there for a few days, but we ate well and I ended up running/walking in a 5k "race" for "Girls on the Run" with Izzy, Ronna's 8 year old daughter. We had to do 8 laps around the school/track. All of the girls finished and there was definitely a sense of accomplishment.
In a couple of weeks, I will be flying with 7 or 8 of my best friends to Martha's Vineyard. I'm hoping the weather is on our side. The morning after I get back, I will be flying to Peru with Tom! More on that in a few weeks!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Montreal Part 1
Thursday, November 13, 2008: THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME!
After work, I headed up to Stephen's office. I was really early so I stopped by a Duane Reade to get snacks for the road trip. Steph hadn't been feeling well, and said to get anything but crunchy snacks. Naturally, I walked out with Pogos (baked potato sticks with white cheddar), soy crisps (ranch, cheddar), and chocolate chip cookies (he doesn't like cookies). Oops.
I got to his office and he showed me around and introduced me to his co-workers. I ket hearing positive things about Montreal, which got me even more excited to go. We had planned to take the 6:30pm Trailways bus to New Paltz to meet his friend, Bobby. Before we headed into Port Authority, we got dinner. I ordered a chicken schwarma, he a falafel. It felt like it took forever! The guy wasn't even middle eastern; I think he was Chinese, but he pronounced hummus as "hckhoomus", which I found mildly amusing. They sure packed a lot in there, and it was tasty. While waiting in line to board the bus, Stephen got us humongous Jamba Juices. We hadn't even left Manhattan yet, and already we were stuffing our faces with junk (including the donuts from this entry).
We rolled into New Paltz at around 8:30pm. Bobby was there with his friend Ryan. We stopped by one of their friend's houses to say hi, and hit the road in his Lincoln at around 9pm.
It was dark. We forgot to bring directions (Thanks again, Mom) and I was sleepy. What else is new?
The glorious Canadian Border came into sight a little after midnight. Border patrol was very easy. She asked a few questions and let us right on through.
45 minutes later...We found our way to the Holiday Inn Midtown:
our room
view from our room
After settling in (dropping off our bags, changing and brushing our teeth), we headed out to Saint Laurent to find a bar.
Note: Montreal's bar scene does not start on Thursdays, nor does it stay past midnight. Even though we were right next to McGill University, we couldn't find a place that wasn't a club. So we ended up going to the Hotel Bar. We toasted to our arrival and then went to sleep.
More next post!
After work, I headed up to Stephen's office. I was really early so I stopped by a Duane Reade to get snacks for the road trip. Steph hadn't been feeling well, and said to get anything but crunchy snacks. Naturally, I walked out with Pogos (baked potato sticks with white cheddar), soy crisps (ranch, cheddar), and chocolate chip cookies (he doesn't like cookies). Oops.
I got to his office and he showed me around and introduced me to his co-workers. I ket hearing positive things about Montreal, which got me even more excited to go. We had planned to take the 6:30pm Trailways bus to New Paltz to meet his friend, Bobby. Before we headed into Port Authority, we got dinner. I ordered a chicken schwarma, he a falafel. It felt like it took forever! The guy wasn't even middle eastern; I think he was Chinese, but he pronounced hummus as "hckhoomus", which I found mildly amusing. They sure packed a lot in there, and it was tasty. While waiting in line to board the bus, Stephen got us humongous Jamba Juices. We hadn't even left Manhattan yet, and already we were stuffing our faces with junk (including the donuts from this entry).
We rolled into New Paltz at around 8:30pm. Bobby was there with his friend Ryan. We stopped by one of their friend's houses to say hi, and hit the road in his Lincoln at around 9pm.
It was dark. We forgot to bring directions (Thanks again, Mom) and I was sleepy. What else is new?
The glorious Canadian Border came into sight a little after midnight. Border patrol was very easy. She asked a few questions and let us right on through.
45 minutes later...We found our way to the Holiday Inn Midtown:
our room
view from our room
After settling in (dropping off our bags, changing and brushing our teeth), we headed out to Saint Laurent to find a bar.
Note: Montreal's bar scene does not start on Thursdays, nor does it stay past midnight. Even though we were right next to McGill University, we couldn't find a place that wasn't a club. So we ended up going to the Hotel Bar. We toasted to our arrival and then went to sleep.
More next post!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Canada, here we come!
Stephen, Bobby & I are going to: MONTRÉAL!!!!!
Where to go? Where to stay? What to eat?!? I'll be doing my research for the next three weeks. Feel free to chip in.
(image source)
Where to go? Where to stay? What to eat?!? I'll be doing my research for the next three weeks. Feel free to chip in.
(image source)
Friday, October 17, 2008
!!!
Guess what is happening on the evening of Thursday, November 13, 2008!!
We haven't even sketched out the plans yet, but 2 of the 3 people involved have taken off that following Friday. (I would take off of work too, but I don't have a job!)
I'll give you a hint.
Je pourrai pratiquer le français !
We haven't even sketched out the plans yet, but 2 of the 3 people involved have taken off that following Friday. (I would take off of work too, but I don't have a job!)
I'll give you a hint.
Je pourrai pratiquer le français !
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Boston, MA
Let me preface this with a story on how I even chose to go to Boston.
About 2.5 months ago, I heard about the cheap fare of megabus.com and how you can get a bus ticket for as cheap as free [with a $0.50 reservation fee). I needed to take advantage and bought tickets to Atlantic City. Now, making plans for any weekend for me as far as 2.5 months in advance is tricky. I'm a freelancer so who knows if I'll be working or not months from now. But since they were like $6 I figured if I couldn't use them, it wouldn't be a huge loss.
Another problem with this was:
1) finding someone to go to Atlantic City with me
2) what the hell was I going to do in Atlantic City when I don't gamble!
26 hours before I was scheduled to go, my [very dear!] mother changed my reservations upon my request. I exchanged those tickets for one to Boston since I knew a couple of people there I might like to visit.
Anyways, a few weeks later and I'm waking up at 7am on a Saturday to catch a 9:30am bus to Boston. Luckily, my good pal Ethan, let me stay with him in Cambridge. I got there without a problem and being the meticulous traveler I am, researched the subway system beforehand.
I got a Charlie Card (the equivalent to a metrocard) at South Station and was on my way to Porter Square. Easy as pie. Ethan was waiting for me at the station. After finishing our delicious pulled-pork sandwiches in his backyard, we headed into Boston to walk around. Passed by Berklee, Newbury Street, a park that I don't know the name of, and some other areas Ethan couldn't tell me diddlysquat about. I unfortunately lost a lot of photos from my camera unexpectedlyand am still trying to recover them off my SD card. I don't really want to talk about it; I'm still upset.
In the meantime, I leave you with the following:
Thanks to Data Recovery II and an external media reader, I managed to recover some photos!!
Ethan and I walked around Boston and stumbled across this park.
me on what is supposedly one of the longest escalators in the U.S. (I looked it up and the one at the Wheaton Station in DC is the longest... another reason for me to go back to DC!)
We went to the ICA which is right by the water.
Me: "Alright guys if we see a big anchor i want to take a picture with it"
Eric & Ethan take a step: "Um, there's one"
James met up for some delicious lobster bisque :)
Ethan and Hayley:
So that Saturday night, we met up with Shaun and company at Charlie's Kitchen. I was the only girl and the only one who ordered food but not a beer. Sigh. Double Cheeseburger with awesome waffle fries. Or were they curly? Whatever, it was the best $5.25 I've ever spent. Moving along...
We picked Eric up at South Station and went to Cambridge Commons, a restaurant/bar where they serve beer punch-- that consists of lemonade, vodka, ice and a bottle of beer (i believe it was Sam Adams, what else).
Good Time
Good Time... ah where to even start? Ever since Ethan and I had run into his friend Leigh Saturday evening, all I had been hearing about was "Good Time". It's basically the largest arcade I've ever seen. Think about the last time you went to an IKEA, and remove all of the furniture and whathave you, dump in loads of ticket games, huge claw games, a [small] go-kart track, bumper cars, laser tag, 20 dartboards and beer, and you've got Good Time. Sadly, the night I went was its last and it is now turning into the IKEA you were imagining at first. And in case you were wondering, I redeemed my tickets for whoopee cushions and cheap hand buzzers.
The next day, Eric and I rode the bus back to NYC. Totally a fun weekend.
About 2.5 months ago, I heard about the cheap fare of megabus.com and how you can get a bus ticket for as cheap as free [with a $0.50 reservation fee). I needed to take advantage and bought tickets to Atlantic City. Now, making plans for any weekend for me as far as 2.5 months in advance is tricky. I'm a freelancer so who knows if I'll be working or not months from now. But since they were like $6 I figured if I couldn't use them, it wouldn't be a huge loss.
Another problem with this was:
1) finding someone to go to Atlantic City with me
2) what the hell was I going to do in Atlantic City when I don't gamble!
26 hours before I was scheduled to go, my [very dear!] mother changed my reservations upon my request. I exchanged those tickets for one to Boston since I knew a couple of people there I might like to visit.
Anyways, a few weeks later and I'm waking up at 7am on a Saturday to catch a 9:30am bus to Boston. Luckily, my good pal Ethan, let me stay with him in Cambridge. I got there without a problem and being the meticulous traveler I am, researched the subway system beforehand.
I got a Charlie Card (the equivalent to a metrocard) at South Station and was on my way to Porter Square. Easy as pie. Ethan was waiting for me at the station. After finishing our delicious pulled-pork sandwiches in his backyard, we headed into Boston to walk around. Passed by Berklee, Newbury Street, a park that I don't know the name of, and some other areas Ethan couldn't tell me diddlysquat about. I unfortunately lost a lot of photos from my camera unexpectedly
In the meantime, I leave you with the following:
Thanks to Data Recovery II and an external media reader, I managed to recover some photos!!
Ethan and I walked around Boston and stumbled across this park.
me on what is supposedly one of the longest escalators in the U.S. (I looked it up and the one at the Wheaton Station in DC is the longest... another reason for me to go back to DC!)
We went to the ICA which is right by the water.
Me: "Alright guys if we see a big anchor i want to take a picture with it"
Eric & Ethan take a step: "Um, there's one"
James met up for some delicious lobster bisque :)
Ethan and Hayley:
So that Saturday night, we met up with Shaun and company at Charlie's Kitchen. I was the only girl and the only one who ordered food but not a beer. Sigh. Double Cheeseburger with awesome waffle fries. Or were they curly? Whatever, it was the best $5.25 I've ever spent. Moving along...
We picked Eric up at South Station and went to Cambridge Commons, a restaurant/bar where they serve beer punch-- that consists of lemonade, vodka, ice and a bottle of beer (i believe it was Sam Adams, what else).
Good Time
Good Time... ah where to even start? Ever since Ethan and I had run into his friend Leigh Saturday evening, all I had been hearing about was "Good Time". It's basically the largest arcade I've ever seen. Think about the last time you went to an IKEA, and remove all of the furniture and whathave you, dump in loads of ticket games, huge claw games, a [small] go-kart track, bumper cars, laser tag, 20 dartboards and beer, and you've got Good Time. Sadly, the night I went was its last and it is now turning into the IKEA you were imagining at first. And in case you were wondering, I redeemed my tickets for whoopee cushions and cheap hand buzzers.
The next day, Eric and I rode the bus back to NYC. Totally a fun weekend.
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