Well, it looks like I'm headed back to Europe! I went to Switzerland a few years back, this time it looks like the UK and Germany... and I am psyched!
Not sure if it will happen or not, probably about 60 to 70% chance at this point... my fingers are crossed.
Stay tuned!
I just got back from California - well, I got back Thursday... what a great trip. I went for work, as usual, but ended up having some free time, which I used for a change (I normally sit in the hotel and work or read).
The first day, Sunday, was a bit of a waste. I wrote a 4 page summary of a book, watched some football at the hotel bar and had a glass of wine.
Monday was spent working, but I finished the day off by going out to dinner at a cool restaurant in Burlingame, CA - Kincaids. The food was good, but the scenery was spectacular... overlooking the bay and watching planes land at SFO.
Tuesday started bright and early with a trip up to Santa Rosa... it was a beautiful drive, which included my first time going over the Golden Gate Bridge...
On the way back from Santa Rosa, we drove into the city to have lunch, but not before a quick trip down Lombard St.
I flew down to San Diego on Tuesday night, what a great city that is. I stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 6th and Broadway - right next to the House of Blues... can you see where this is going? Black Label Society was playing, a tad heavier than my tastes in music run, but how often is there something going on like that so close to a hotel you're staying at (at least that was my justification for going).
More work on Wednesday, but the day ended by spending a few hours with an old friend from high school, Scott, having drinks at the airport bar before I caught the red-eye home.
Real estate is obviously expensive in California, however, I understand why people pay what they do - what a beautiful state.
Anyone out there live in or familiar with New York? We're thinking of going up to catch some of the US Open and looking for suggestions on where to stay. We are thinking of doing one day at the US Open and another day shopping in the city (Greenwich Village area, I think).
I was thinking of staying at the LaGuardia Airport Marriott, which is close to the tennis center - I think - but wondering if we wouldn't be better off staying in Manhattan and taking the subway out to Flushing Meadows.
Thoughts? Ideas?
Do you travel? Do you travel frequently? Do you belong to any of the "frequency-based" programs at airlines/hotels/car rental places?
I'm getting ready to do a fair amount of travel - so I finally signed up for the Marriott Rewards program (I've already got the airline programs in place)
After signing up, one of the options on the account page allowed you to add existing reservations. Which would have been nice, since I just stayed 3 nights at Marriott hotels in California and Texas. All they required was a confirmation number... so I entered the ones from two weeks ago, but nothing. I guess they must be "new" reservations - that have not occured yet. What a pain.
First, I understand that they don't people going back a year or two, pulling in all their old reservations, but this was less than a month ago. Actually, I don't understand - I've been a loyal Marriott customer for years, not that I've travelled a ton, but when I do, my first choice has always been a Marriott.
Second, this shows that I'm not a person, I'm just a number.
I'm not doing this because I expect to be doing a lot of personal travel, I'm doing this because I expect to be travelling a lot and I want seat upgrades, nicer rooms, nicer ammenities, etc., while I'm on the road - cause I really don't like to be away from home, so I want to be as comfortable as possible during the trip.
The bottom line is this: I can show that I was a guest, who cares whether or not I had a "number" when I stayed? And why do you need to sign up for these things at all? I'm a person - and they should have their back-end systems be able to determine who I am and the frequency of patronage. I shouldn't have to tell them that I want a king-size bed, smoking room. They should know that by now, right?
Is there a song or something about Portland? Regardless...
Looks like two nights in Portland Oregon are up next.
Anyone live in Portland? Anything fun to do in Portland?
Possible trips in the near future: California, New York, and Massachusetts... oh, and Toronto as well... almost all one day/night trips. Can you say LOADS of Frequent Flyer miles? ;-)
After lunch in Palo Alto yesterday, we drove through the campus of Stanford. There is a garden of original Rodin sculptures, including one of the three "Gates of Hell":
There are some really good pictures of it at this blog.
I've tacked on a stop in Dallas, Mesquite actually, on the way back from my San Jose trip... if anyone is in Dallas and want's to meet up.
It also looks like this is the first of many trips in the near future...
For anyone interested, I just posted some photos from my trip to Switzerland... I'm not the greatest photographer... consider yourself warned.
Enjoy!
I head home tomorrow, which I'm pretty exicted about... I miss my wife.
The week was really cool. I now have a better understanding of why people suggest visiting Europe, it really is beautiful - at least the parts I saw. I won't say that I'm "changed" as a result of it, but have affirmed some of my thoughts about the world... like people are really more alike than they are different. People may have different motivations, expectations, experiences, but overall, people want to feel love, enjoy life, etc, etc...
Overall, I had a really good time.
Thursday night I visited a wonderful city named Luzern... 6 hours was not enough...
It started with spectacular views up and down the Reuss river while crossing several of the wonderful walking bridges. Walking down shop-lined cobblestone streets and enjoying a 2 1/2 hour Fondue dinner. Good food, good Swiss wine and plenty of lively conversation with my Swiss co-workers. A walk through the heart of the city to one of the more popular nightclubs and then a leisurely stroll back to the parking garage.... after getting my first cup of coffee "to go". Its odd, when you have coffee in parts of Switzerland, you sit and drink it, you don't take it with you.
That is probably the biggest thing that I noticed during my trip - a break is a break. You stop and relax and talk. That was enjoyable - we worked hard, but really took time to sit and talk, which was great. It is nice to really connect with people. I never felt rushed.
The weather was nice on Friday, so I got out and explored a little around the hotel. Other than the scenery, it was pretty boring - the area I'm in is in the middle of nowhere...
I took the train to Zurich today, which was great... and the trains really do run right on schedule. Being in Zurich was a little more comfortable than most of the rest of the week as almost everyone spoke English... I should have spent more time studying my German.. ;-)
Actually, like my trip to Luzern on Thursday night with some co-workers, I had two wonderful tour guides today: My cousin Tara, an American Ex-Pat working in Zurich for KPMG and her Swiss husband Mark, a Police Detective. They met me at the train station this morning and gave me a fantastic tour of the city - starting at Starbucks (where we sat and had coffee...). Actually, the tour both started and ended at Starbucks (the second cup I did get "to go").
Zurich was wonderful. I probably took about 100 pictures - some of which I will post when I get home (I didn't take my camera to Luzern... URGH!). We started on one side of the city and went up to an overlook by Zurich University and then back down, across the river to the Bahnhoffstrasse (the main shopping street). On both sides of the river they took me off the beaten path and showed me some wonderful parts of the city, including one of the oldest cathedrals in the world. We had lunch at Oktoberfest - which was great.
Something I really like about Switzerland is the fact that you can take your dog with you when you eat. I should have brought one of my dogs! ;-)
It looks like I might have to come back in a couple of months, which would be cool... but next time I'll have to make sure my German language skills are better!!
On one of my flights to Switzerland, a commuter flight, the stewardess asked someone from the left hand side of the plane between rows 1 & 7 to move to the other side of the plane... to balance it out...
Being a nice guy, I volunteered. Now, keep in mind, I weigh about 135 pounds. I didn't feel very comfortable with the fact that a 130+ pounds was enough to hold up the plane from taking off... scary.
Scarier still was the turbulence we hit on the longer flight going to Zurich. I've only been more scared once in my life (when I was held-up at gun point). I don't like to fly as it is, but this was nuts. People we're screaming and the stewardess was nicely telling people to calm down. Yikes. I was terrified... so much for sleeping on the flight!
The cool part of the long flight was a video screen embedded in the top of the chair in front of me. How very cool! One of the options was a Map that let you track the plane. It actually displayed a little plane on the map as well as the route we were taking... It gave statistics covering time elapsed, miles traveled, current time and estimated time of arrival. As someone who doesn't wear a watch, it was cool to know how far along we were. I was able to sleep for a couple of hours which is good because I lost 6 hours flying over. Got in around 8AM local time then went to work. Got done around 4:30.
As you can tell, I'm in Zurich. I'm in a small town about 25 miles from Zurich. My first impression is that it is VERY, VERY expensive. 4 swiss francs for a cup of coffee. It's good coffee, but with tip (2 swiss francs), that is quite pricey. Steak for dinner, 46 swiss francs. Yikes!
I'm in my very cool, very modern hotel room and the only english channel on TV is CNN. I'm glad I brought 3 books!
My German class has not paid any dividends yet, but I have made a foul of myself once - I said Bitte (please) when I meant to say Danke (Thank you). DOH!
I've not quite adjusted to the time difference yet. Probably towards the end of the week... just when I'm ready to come home. LOL!!!
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