Cactus Juice

Two Travels from the Past

I've been a little sad that I missed so much of the Great Two Vacations because of my illness (unknown at the time).  I was so tired, sleeping a lot and even when I was awake I wasn't 100% there.  Two experiences from the last few days have reminded me that the value of a trip lasts long past how comfortable or uncomfortable, or how awake, you happened to be at the time.

Travel from the Past the First: a year and a half ago, I visited the Library of St. Gall (photo, from Wikipedia) four days after having emergency gall bladder removal (no relation in the name from what I can find).  The library was in continuous use in such a way that it has books from the 800s into the 1900s all shelves together on those great wooden shelves with locking gates which were built in the mid-1700s.

A different topic is selected for the displace cases each year, and a series of events are held at the abby related to the topic. Last year, the topic was medicinal herbs.  In my graduate program this semester, I just finished reading an essay on the computerization and standardization of the information contained in these kinds of books.

Travel from the Past the Second: When I was 17 I traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railway from Yekaterinburg (where we partied with the Russian mafia... a story for another day) to Moscow.  CNN featured it this month in their travel section.  I mainly remember a series of snapshot images of the small railside towns where mules were used for plowing and an occasional goat was tethered out with no owner in sight.  The bathrooms were dirty, the food was slim, and I was fairly relieved when it was over.

What I did not know at the time was that my great-grandfather had also traveled on the railway. He was an engineer working on the Subic Bay project in the Philippines and for some time halved his years between the Philippines and California.  At least once used the Trans-Siberian Railway for his trip home.  To read that and to have already experienced a tiny bit of his journey home was a moment that added to the value of my journey years later.

Manhattan!

Nothing, but nothing matches the energizing effect of a visit to Manhattan.  It is one of my favorite places to go, sit in a cafe, and suddenly have a million things to write.  Manhattan is generally thought of as expensive, but given that many of the inhabitants buy their meals good food is actually very available and not terrible expensive.  Housing is the problem.

If you are looking for cheap, ThirtyThirty is my choice of places to go.  It is a "tourist class" hotel.  The room with have a very basic bed with very basic covers, not much else, and internet that only sometimes works.  But the bathrooms are relatively new and very nice, there is an in-room safe, and I have always felt safe there.  This is a midtown location: fairly sedate.  Times Square is an easy walk away, but here are plenty of quiet independent cafes and a Starbucks on every block.

Directly across the street is my favorite higher end hotel, The Carlton (no relation to Ritz-Carlton).  It is what I think of as classic Manhattan luxury.  If one can afford a midweek trip it can even be affordable luxury: mid-week rates can be less than half weekend rates.  I love the small strangely shaped rooms with luxurious bathrooms and the hallways that travel unusual curves.  The restaurant was one of my favorites when it first opened, but the last time I was there it was doing more business at the bar and the service and food weren't what they had been.  If one wants to throw some money at food, the special oatmeal breakfast is where to go.

Those are by far my favorite hotels, but I will grant the Hilton Times Square a grudging third place.  The hotel is at the top of a building directly on Times Square.  It is strangely calm after stepping off that street.  The rooms are huge and the views fabulous, but it isn't very New York and it isn't very personable.  I spent an evening there with severe food poisoning (acquired elsewhere and brought to Manhattan, unfortunately) and couldn't find a bellhop willing to cross the street to the pharmacy at any price.  The best I was able to do was get a Rice Crispy breakfast customized with strawberries.  So the luxury is only skin deep and the price is frequently horrendous.

One doesn't need to do the tourist things, New York is enough as it is.  Take a long walk and see all the things that you've seen on TV a million times: Macy's, Saks, Central Park.  Sit in a cafe and read a book.  But if one wants to pay, the grandest museums, the greatest shows... it's all right here.

A Tale of Two Vacations

Vacation #1: Las Vegas, NV

Why Las Vegas?  Earlier this year I was in California to visit my niece in the ICU, except I couldn't go in because I had the flu.  And I couldn't stay were I was because it was like $425984349 a night (my niece's best hope was in San Francisco, because an ICU isn't expensive enough on it's own).  So I was driving across the state, with the flu, to a free bed, when the cell phone range.  Hilton, free weekend at a timeshare if I would listen to their sales pitch (fodder for another post), choices are Orlando or Las Vegas.  I hate Orlando, and ever since I met the beloved he's been telling me about his dreams for Vegas.

So Vegas it was, the weekend of 16 July.  Of the three Hilton timeshares in Vegas, I randomly picked the Hilton Grand Vacation Club (HGVC) on the Strip.  Like many timeshares, this one also rents as a hotel, so even if you aren't a timeshare owner this tale still might be relevant to you.  The one-bedroom apartment was perfect, it is a Hilton after all.  However, this location has a Goldilocks issue.  On the one hand, it is close to the insanity without being to close.  It is restful.  The pool, though crowded, was far more sedate than the pool at the MGM Grand which we also visited.  It is across the street and down a very long block from the Sahara, which used to have a monorail stop.  But the Sahara has closed and the HGVC is stranded.  You have to take a taxi to get into the strip- a $12.00 taxi sure, but at least twice a day every day... yah.

The other two locations are attached to the Hilton hotel (soon to not be a Hilton, according to rumor), which has a monorail stop of it's own, or in the back of the Flamingo, right in the middle of the "real" strip.  The Flamingo location also has it's own pool and this is probably the HGVC I would pick if I went back.

We had never stayed in a timeshare before and we had my Dad and his wife in a hotel at the opposite end of the strip, so we weren't prepared to take advantage of the kitchen.  Given that the room was free, about 75% of the cost of the trip was food: eating three meals a day on the strip is more expensive than Manhattan.  I can't imagine going back to Vegas and not staying in a timeshare.

This is supposedly the low season for Vegas, and if that's true I wouldn't want to go back during high season.  The crowds were oppressive, though more stupid than drunk.  Beloved asked how I could be so fond of Manhattan if I couldn't take this, but in Manhattan people know what they are doing.  On the open street the throngs of Nebraska can't be truly dangerous as you have the slow-moving street for a final retreat, but to keep the traffic moving they have over-street walkways with escalators and those spaces are dangerous.  I've only been close to being in an escalator pile-up twice in my life, and this was one of those times.  A family with a baby stroller got to the top of the escalator and stopped.  "But we have a baaaaby!"  "But you're about to KILL 50 people!".  OMG.

How to avoid the crowd: Enjoy the breakfast buffets and stare at the sights on the strip until about 1PM.  Then hide.  The pool at the HGVC Flamingo would be perfect.

My Dad's room at MGMwas nice, though the building shape casts a very dark shadow and I would definitely ask for a room with whatever part of the day you would must like sunshine.  We enjoyed the restaurants there and the Starbucks with a bar overlooking the gambling floor, but it was the most unpleasantly crowded of the hotels including, as mentioned, the pool.  We didn't even try to go in the lazy river.  We saw Ka, which was of course fabulous.

We enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Wynntwice.  Our last night wasn't free at HGVC so we moved to the Venetian.  Given that I was only paying for one night, rooms are cheap, and I had no idea that food was going to cost its weight in gold, I had upgraded to a room that had a recessed and oversized living room.  It also had a printer-scanner-fax.  If one were in Vegas for business, it would be great for an office and if one were in Vegas with an entourage it would make a great party center.  Plus the drapes had a remote control.  Breakfast ($$$$ of course) on the patio at Bouchon (winner of "Best Breakfast in Vegas" though we didn't know it at the time) overlooking a little courtyard and pool and then we were on a plane back home.

Vacation #2: Fontainebleu, Miami

Las Vegas was for the beloved.  Meanwhile, I got a new job (my third this year... hopefully my Goldilocks problem has been solved) and thought I deserved a vacation for me.  In a way this ended up being the CSI vacation, because what we knew we wanted to see in Las Vegas (sharks!) was from CSI, and my image of lounging in a Cabana at the Fontainebleu was also from CSI.

This was a strange vacation.  Fontainebleu messed up absolutely everything about our reservation, and yet everything we got instead was better than what we had thought we wanted.  So it was maddening, and yet it was ridiculous to be mad.

First my room reservation wasn't exactly right and they spelled my name wrong.  But we got upgraded to the corner Jr. Suite in Tower 3, which was really more of a studio apartment with an enormous porch and great views of the grounds, the ocean, and the canal.

Then they lost my cabana reservation.  The entire reason we had flown there, and I had guests expected.  A few phone calls weren't really resolving the situation, so at 8AM I went down there to have a chat with the recreation manager.  We ended up with two daybeds (theoretically each one holds two people, but they are much larger than that suggests) with covers, directly across the walkway from the pool steps (opposite end of the pool from the bar) and next to the daybed occupied by one Manny Ramirez.  We had entertainment (the circles of activity expanding outwards from Manny, along with everyone else walking by) and we had immediate access to the water.

We had dinner at Hakkasan in the hotel, and brunch downtown at Zuma.  Both were fabulous.  Food was expensive, but it seemed reasonable after Vegas.  The Fontainebleu wasn't much less crowded than Las Vegas but it was a happier, more chilled out, place.  Or maybe after four drinks by the pool it was just that I was happier.  Nonetheless, I can't really see going back: the actual beach of South Beach gets the job done for less than half the price.  For the beach, I will be back!

iPad: Travel

This week I'm kicking off a new Friday topic: Vacation!!!  So leading into that here is a review of the travel resources on my iPad.

The 3G iPad comes with real-time mapping, and that's actually the only thing I've used.  I downloaded a free speaking GPS program called NavFree, but haven't used it.  USA Today gave it a good review.  Apparently it warns you of turns ("turn right in 200 ft.") but does not announce street names.  Since my Blackberry only gets to stating the street name 100 ft. after the turn, I can probably live with that.

WorldMateis something every traveler should have.  It organizes your planes and hotels and rental cars and, if you want, meetings, into itineraries that you can send to people or just use to keep yourself straight.  Even better, it automatically parses the automatic travel emails you receive from vendors like Expedia and can even enter the information into your Outlook or smartphone calendar.  It will remind you if you know anyone on LinkedIn who lives in the area.  The app only comes in iPhone format* at this time (remember, you can use iPhone apps on your iPad, they are just iPhone size).

But the true value of WorldMate is in the $100/yr Gold subscription.  It sends an alert to your phone if your plane is delayed.  When I lived on the road, I frequently got delay notifications before the gate attendants did.  It also offers you a list of alternative flights, including some clever ones that are not where everyone else is trying to go.  Did I sneak into a corner and whisper with the booking agent so that 100 other (possibly higher ranked) people wouldn't follow me to my alternate plane?  You bet I did!

I've already written enough about how important Evernote is to my life in general, but it is invaluable for travel.  Reservation lost?  Nothing is quite as effective as being able to immediately provide their confirmation documentation.

American Airlines has what is generally considered to be the best airline app.  I haven't tried any others, but it is good.

I also have the Hilton and Hertz apps, but haven't really used them yet.  A lot of resorts have apps these days, so check out where you are going.  I was recently at the Fontainebleu in Miami (oh yes, you will be hearing about this on Friday!).  Their app (only comes in an iPhone version) gives you the poolside menu so you can get your story straight before flagging down a server.  It also lists the menus at all the restaurants and then links you directly to either web or telephone reservations.  Ditto for the spa.  If you want to come back, you can make your reservation directly from the app and if you have a mailer with a discount, no problem, it will use the camera to read the discount code.

Continuing on the food theme, check out Urbanspoon and Speak4It.  Urbanspoon has a fabulous interface for finding something new and interesting with selection lists for location price and variety, or you can "spin" for a random suggestion.  Speak4It gives you the more traditional map view of what you know you are looking for.  Of course, I also have the Starbucks finder.

For disasters in food: I seem to remember BlimpMe doing what I wanted in the past, but today it is a disaster.  The Yelp app works off of a different database from their website and is also a disaster.  In Manhattan, it listed less than 20% of the restaurants in the area where I was searching.

Back to vacation, the timeshare trading organization RCIhas two apps.  Many timeshares are rented on the usual suspects (Expedia, etc.), or directly from week owners on places like redweek.com or tug2.net. To be a member of RCI itself requires owning a timeshare, but some groups like government employees can get in without an ownership.  In any case, anyone can use these apps.  The first app "RCI" is a search database of all resorts in the RCI network.  It is slow and buggy, but with some patience it makes for a fun dreambook.    One note: the first set of resorts it shows you for a region (with the associated map) are not all the resorts in that region.  Scroll to the end and you'll have an option to "load more results."  The app provides the rating and awards for the resort, a brief overview and photos, and an option to save the resort to a favorites list.

The second free RCI app is an interactive magazine called Endless Vacations.  The magazine has a couple of random travel articles and then focuses on about three vacation destinations per issue.  It has beautiful pictures and provides links to restaurants, hotels and resorts other than RCI, and links to area RCI resorts inside the RCI app.  More fun dreaming!

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Picture: My tootsies enjoying the Fontainebleu in Miami.

*It's also available for Blackberry and several other smartphone varieties.