Cit(ies) by the Bay

Season 2, Episode 1

It's been quite a busy travel schedule since my last posting, with lots of interesting and fun destinations.  Time to get back to the blogging and start off a new season! (I certainly didn't want to take a page from HBO or AMC's series planning and wait 12+ months between seasons!)

Just returned from the Bay area, spending a little bit of time in that excellent "city by the bay", aka San Francisco, as well as some time in the heart of Silicon Valley.  Unfortunately the San Francisco city proper visit was quite short, but I did have time to grab lunch at Darwin Cafe.

 http://darwincafesf.com

Darwin Cafe, San Francisco

This was a very cool little establishment with a lengthy, locals lunch crowd line.... always an excellent sign!! It was worth the wait for a delish ham and cheese baguette.  The salads and full-fledged sandwiches also looked amazing, and I'll definitely go back to give them a try!

ham + gruyére + dijon baguette

 After my quick visit in SF, I headed down 101 to Santa Clara for a few days of meetings and conferences.   I'm a fan of the Marriott Santa Clara when in town, it is a nice hotel which is conveniently located and always has great service from the staff.   A mystery remains though on their beer pricing scheme:

A 16oz beer is $8.00
A 25oz beer is $14.50

The beer in question at Marriott Santa Clara

In my many, many years of adult beverage consumption in travels around the world, I don't believe I've ever encountered a situation where volume-based pricing was worse for the larger drink.  For the same "value", the 25oz beer should be priced at $12.50..... But to drive sales, a slight volume discount might be offered to encourage a patron to buy up to the larger size (so perhaps $11.50).   For those who need more motivation on why math is important, this is surely it!  At least the smaller beers are colder since they are poured more frequently.  Not that the 25oz'ers remain in the glass long enough to warm up.....

Wrapped up the week with a red-eye back to the East coast.  Thursday is the new Friday for sure when traveling on business.   No time to grab a meal before getting to SFO, so went to my old standby "Buena Vista Cafe" near gate 82 in terminal 3 (United terminal).  I've had the wings there before;  you only get 7 and they are small.  Avoid.   However, the pulled pork quesadilla is not only sizable but they are delicious... especially for airport food!! 
 

Pulled pork quesadilla at SFO T3 - Buena Vista Cafe

After the quesadilla and a few Stellas, the flight home seemed like a great night sleep in a king size bed.   Ahhhhhhh........

Vegas (not a) Vacation

Season 1, Episode 6

Burger Bar @ Mandalay Place

There could easily be dedicated blogs to eating and drinking in Las Vegas.....actually, I'm certain there already are those blogs!

Wrapped up a recent business conference in Vegas, and wanted to share some highlights of this visit.  I've got so much more to share for Vegas tips, but will save them for future posts!

One of my must-do's when in Vegas is the Burger Bar, located in Mandalay Place which is the shopping mall connecting Mandalay Bay and Luxor.  If you're coming from somewhere else via taxi, definitely ask the driver to drop you at Mandalay Place.  Just walk inside, up the escalator, and you're in the middle of the mall.  It's a lengthier walk from Mandalay Bay or Luxor front entrances.

Highly recommend the "ultimate build your own burger experience".  This time I did buffalo, pretzel roll, smoked gouda cheese, spinach, and "hangover sauce" (aka thousand island dressing, giving it a Big Mac taste).  

They don't take reservations, but it's unusual to wait more than 20 minutes maximum.  Nice sized bar to slide up to while waiting (or dine at).  

Burger Bar burger (and Stella to wash it down)

Stayed at the Rio (off strip) due to location of the event I was at.   It's definitely a tired property, especially when comparing to the newer, flashier places on the strip.  Still, it's a room, there is a casino, decent pool, and a great rooftop nightclub called VooDoo.  Fantastic views of Vegas.  Visited around midnight on a Wednesday and it was hopping.

View of the LV strip from VooDoo Rooftop Nightclub

The Rio pool has three areas to it, one for families, a general area, and an adults only area (nothing crazy like "topless", just an area without kids).  What better place to pass four or five hours, with a bucket of Coronas, while waiting to head to the airport for a red-eye home!  

Over 21 pool area at Rio

Bucket o' Coronas for happy hour, poolside!

Finally, while I just missed the Royal Flush two different times on video poker, I did win by getting the famous juggling taxi driver.  Check him out on my video!

Pretty cool view of the Grand Canyon on approach to LAS

Soooooo close.  Sigh.

Mama Mia, it's Stockholm!

Season 1, Episode 5

Wrapping up our Italy excursion, we had somewhat strange routing to get back home due to seat availability.  The good news is, that included an overnight in a great city:  Stockholm.

We've enjoyed a proper holiday before in Stockholm, and also periodically get there for business.  Summer by far is the best time to visit!  The extended daylight and refreshing temperatures make it absolutely enjoyable to enjoy beverages outside.

View of Gamla Stan from atop Gondolen restaurant

We made the trek into Stockholm from Arlanda airport to meet some friends for happy hour.    The Arlanda Express is the most convenient way to get to central Stockholm, with the express train ride taking just 20 minutes.  Quite a bit cheaper than a taxi as well.

The weather was spectacular, so one of our stops was up to the Gondolen restaurant in Slussen, just across from Gamla Stan.  During the summer the outside rooftop bar is open, though the restaurant itself also has a bar.   Drinks are not cheap (but hey, they aren't cheap in general in Stockholm), but the view is incredible.  It's worth visiting at least once to enjoy the great view.

The next morning we departed Stockholm to head home to the US, the first time flying transatlantic on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines).  It was a nice Airbus A330-300, though the business class seats and entertainment system could use a refresh to keep up with the other airlines.

I've traveled way too many miles and airlines around the world, but having windows to the outside in the lavatory was a new one for me!   (I don't make a habit of photos of lavatories, but just couldn't resist).

Windows in the SAS A330-300 lavatory!

Nice business class snack station on the SAS A330-300

 Enjoyed an extended happy hour on the long flight!   Skål !!

Eh-eh-o eh-o.....Great clouds roll over the hills (of Pompeii)

Season 1, Episode 4

Great clouds roll over Mt. Vesuvius

Another musical reference in the title....but it is a great song by Bastille!

It was a little bit disturbing glancing out the window and seeing "great clouds roll over the hills" of Mt. Vesuvius!  Thankfully it was a thunderstorm and not the volcano making a reappearance!


Pompeii was a fascinating place to visit, and we absolutely loved our guide Lello from http://toursofpompeii.com/tourofpompeii.html.    He was entertaining and extremely knowledgeable; even other private tour guides clearly had respect for Lello!

It is very amazing to see this city from over 2000 years ago "come to life" again.  The engineering of the city from that era is incredible.

They still have more to excavate and discover in Pompeii, but there is no active work happening.

Plaster body casts of a Pompeii citizen who perished in 79 AD

Amphitheater in Pompeii with amazing acoustics!

Pompeii

All that history and walking makes one parched

Throw in a visit to the Amalfi coast as well while you're "in the neighborhood".  That just might be the next post!

Rome if you want to, Rome around the world!

Season 1, Episode 3

(Thanks B52's for the title inspiration!)

Two delicious Bellini drinks at Harry's Bar

Continuing on our Italian journey, next stop was Rome.  While we unfortunately ran out of time to visit the original Harry's Bar in Venice, we were delighted that Harry's Bar Rome was directly across the street from our hotel (Marriott Grand Flora).  The Bellini is believed to have been created by the founder of Harry's, so we had to stop in and give them a whirl for an early afternoon happy hour!  Delicious but definitely dented the wallet.  Still, somehow we managed to enjoy several (each).

View of the Vatican from rooftop of Marriott Grand Flora

We are always fans of smaller and private tours versus those which are large groups.  Though we've been to the Colosseum before, this time we embarked on a quest to go down into the Colosseum underground, where the prep (and cleanup) work was done for the gladiator battles above.

Underground Colosseum!

Highly recommend Real Rome Tours (http://www.realrometours.com) and the "Colosseum Underground Tour".  Our guide Ferdinando was excellent, a true expert with a Ph.D. in archeology.   Often tour guides just have a script memorized and view it simply as a job, but Ferdinando has true passion and respect for his work.  If you can get him as a guide, you will learn a lot.

And what better way to quench our thirst after a summer day touring Rome than with delicious draft Peroni!   Three different types.   I love Rome.

Fantastic!  Three different Peroni brews on draft!

It's not "Venetian plastered"?

Season 1, Episode 2

Just a few weeks ago, we enjoyed a trip to Italy with Venice as the first stop.  Italy is home to perhaps our favorite brewery, Peroni!  (Note the labeling differences, but Peroni's Nastro Azzuro sure tastes just as great in both versions!)

It is definitely worth the splurge for a private water taxi from VCE airport to Venice.  While it is a pricey 110~120 Euros, there is nothing like cruising along in a private speedboat, feeling and smelling the salt air, with fantastic views headed to a fascinating city.  It takes about 30 minutes.    The alternate transportation by shared ferry, while quite a bit cheaper, can be uncomfortably crowded and take up to 90 minutes to get you to Venice (and then maybe not that close to your hotel).  Do it once if you can.

It's about a 7-8 minute walk to the water taxi docks once outside the airport.  You'll want to have cash (Euros) for the ride.  Speaking of cash:   the best exchange rate is almost always from the ATM machine at an airport!  While some banks charge a fee for different bank ATM and even a foreign exchange fee, it is still much better.  I happened to check AAA and TD Bank in the US before my departure, and their exchange rates were 11 cents per dollar WORSE than the daily exchange rate.  PLUS additional "convenience fees".  I know the desire to land with Euros already in your wallet, but I think only once did I ever encounter an issue finding an ATM machine at the destination airport.

Interior of private water taxi

View from Hilton Molino Stucky rooftop pool

We happened to have Hilton points available, so we stayed at the Hilton Molino Stucky.  It's a neat property which once was a flourishing flourmill.  It's on an island just across from the main part of Venice, so it offers a unique perspective to view the city.  The staff was very friendly, and most importantly the executive lounge offered plenty of Nastro Azzuro and wine during Happy Hour (5-7 PM daily!)

Let's get this traveling happy hour started!!

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of what we hope to be a fun travel blog!  We've been traveling a lot globally (both business and pleasure) for more years than we care to count, and have enjoyed many experiences.

On our adventures we've gathered millions of airline miles and consumed quite a few calories from our favorite adult beverages.  We continue to travel and enjoy those beverages, so what better way to work off the calories than by typing away while sharing some of these travel stories, reviews, tips, hints and recommendations.    All with emphasis on our favorite time of day:  Happy Hour!!

It's always Happy Hour somewhere.


Cheers!   Skål!    干杯 !    Salud!    Salute!   Prost!