tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21109096874461530922024-03-13T07:13:56.822+08:00Travelin BunnyTravelin BunnyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-40880044243385027992015-08-22T14:18:00.001+08:002015-08-22T15:38:11.776+08:00Taiwan Observations, One Year Later<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new view</td></tr>
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We've now lived in Taiwan for just over a year and things are looking better than ever. We recently moved into our dream apartment, with cable and air-conditioning, in a building with a karaoke room and fitness center, and our Chinese is coming along steadily, slowly but surely.<br />
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Though we've always been happy in Taiwan, it's taken us a year to feel comfortable here (though, especially with the language barrier, we're aware that comfort possesses many variants). And, to celebrate both our newly achieved comfort as well as this 1-year anniversary, I wanted to highlight some of my thoughts and observations from this past year.<br />
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Number one on this list is how amazingly friendly Taiwan's people are and how this observation cannot be overstated. Although, when one first says a place is friendly, one may picture something akin to <a href="https://youtu.be/Lli9ABUFZCU" target="_blank">Mayberry</a>, with smiling strangers and neighborly hellos, but this is not the type of friendliness that I've found in Taiwan. Taiwan's friendliness is of a different breed.<br />
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An example might be the apologies that are constantly being made by locals for not speaking English, as though they're supposed to know it. Or, if you're identified as someone who speaks English, having locals approach you with requests for tutoring or being engaged by strangers in bizarre small talk just so they can practice their English.<br />
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Husband was recently riding his bike home from work when some stranger driving passed him forced him to stop so she could practice her English, along with requesting Husband's tutoring services. (Because all English speakers are tutors here.) I remember once, in Seattle, someone driving passed me while I was on my bicycle trying to stop me, but that was because he wanted to beat me up for riding my bike and not because he wanted to engage in friendly chitchat or to request any services I may have been able to provide him. In the States, <a href="https://youtu.be/lwUC4XgfJfA" target="_blank">and in the UK</a>, there are people who consider it a personal insult if you commute via bicycle.<br />
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Which brings me to my second example of Taiwan friendliness, the drivers. Drivers here are patient and considerate. When the concept of road rage is introduced in conversations it is met with confusion and disbelief (as it should be). Drivers will usually provide pedestrians and bicyclists ample room and are usually on the lookout for them (except, inexplicably, when opening their car doors). Driving is typically slow here, to allow for the odd pulling out or random stopping and, though I'm often irritated by the drivers because of their slowness / randomness, I definitely respect their patience and appreciate their consideration.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YCedEVhu-go/VYQfpCVGCUI/AAAAAAAAxZg/w2lnvOgN6NI/s1600/P6193558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YCedEVhu-go/VYQfpCVGCUI/AAAAAAAAxZg/w2lnvOgN6NI/s320/P6193558.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">temple in Tainan</td></tr>
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Another example of the friendliness of the locals takes place when friendliness matters the most, after an accident. A friend of ours was involved in a minor scooter accident when a random witness ran over to help her. Once it was determined that she was okay, the person just kept apologizing on behalf of Taiwan. "Taiwan is sorry," was the repeated refrain. Similarly, there was a <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1828172/200-people-injured-new-taipei-city-water-park-fire?page=all" target="_blank">horrible and tragic accident</a> involving a color party and explosion in Taipei earlier this year where someone in Husband's training cohort was badly injured. Pages dedicated to his recovery on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfAlexHaas" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/y2qpd5s" target="_blank">GoFundMe</a> are littered with locals apologizing on behalf of Taiwan. "Taiwan is sorry." It's a lovely sentiment and one that I've never heard anywhere else. It's a distinct breed of friendliness when random, uninvolved people apologize on behalf of their country.<br />
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Other observations I've made relate to an <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/08/09/430341089/south-koreas-quirky-notions-about-electric-fans" target="_blank">article</a> I recently saw discussing the South Korean belief that electric fans will cause their death if employed while sleeping and comparing this notion to the American belief that you have to wait an hour after eating before swimming or risk crippling stomach cramps which will result in your drowning. Both of these are apparently cultural quirks, unsupported by science yet perpetuated by society. Over this past year I've made some similar observations, identifying at least one additional American case and a few of Taiwanese origin.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PiPVQ1Pw9Ig/VYQfpG5APVI/AAAAAAAAxZg/qM3uPjNd0iw/s1600/P6193564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PiPVQ1Pw9Ig/VYQfpG5APVI/AAAAAAAAxZg/qM3uPjNd0iw/s320/P6193564.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tainan</td></tr>
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The American case involves my recent discovery that <a href="https://youtu.be/Z62esVdmxCQ" target="_blank">locking my knees</a>, a fear I've possessed since childhood, will most likely not cause my death. Though this fear has never really caused me any problems, besides the occasional semi-embarrassing conniption, it has caused a lifelong obsession with and hyperawareness of the status of my knees.<br />
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It was actually one of these semi-embarrassing conniptions, occurring at my first yoga class here, which resulted in this discovery. The instructor came over to adjust my stance by physically pushing my knee into a locked position. Because of my fear, it was not an easy correction for her to make. We silently fought a battle of strength and will and, eventually, she gave up (most likely due to time constraints as well as the trapped animal sounds I may have been making). But, she has been vigilant with these corrections and it has caused me quite a lot of mental and physical discomfort.<br />
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Talking with one of my local friends about these repeated corrections and my fear of passing out / death as a consequence of the instructor locking my knees, I was met with confusion. My friend had never heard of this "locking knees" malarkey. After some research, I am now aware that this fear is bologna and I have been working very hard at overcoming it. If I don't, I'm now terrified that my instructor will continue with her corrections and the strength she customarily employs to correct my soft knees will be met with my newly weakened will and an over correction may occur. Hyperextension is real, folks. (Right?!)<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e_Wb3ox9u-Y/VYQfpDfQi2I/AAAAAAAAxZg/Ww763XBvo9Y/s1600/P6193531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e_Wb3ox9u-Y/VYQfpDfQi2I/AAAAAAAAxZg/Ww763XBvo9Y/s320/P6193531.JPG" width="320" /></a>Another example of cultural misinformation occurred when I went out drinking with a Taiwanese friend. Surprisingly, on this particular occasion, she happened to be abstaining from alcohol. Confused, I asked her why and she said it was because she was on her period. I asked, "What does that have to do with drinking alcohol?" She replied, "You're not supposed to drink alcohol when you're on your period." I have never before, nor since, heard about this belief. I'm not sure if it qualifies as cultural misinformation if only one person believes it but, for these purposes, we'll go ahead and give her the benefit of the doubt and blame society.<br />
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Finally, it has been said on more than one occasion here in Taiwan that eating beef makes you angry. One of the few cultural misinformations with an origin story, some people say that this idea was developed as a way to protect the farmers' hardworking animals from becoming dinner. With no similar theory to protect the other farm animals, at least we can all agree that pigs and chickens are nothing but moochers and deserve to be dinner.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-42255607992521639782015-06-11T21:31:00.000+08:002015-06-11T21:31:21.603+08:00Four Days in Tokyo<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aLIebl87x5s/VXbSnSzdCRI/AAAAAAAAwmU/W1QD4G-wLR0/s1600/P6012875%2Bcopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aLIebl87x5s/VXbSnSzdCRI/AAAAAAAAwmU/W1QD4G-wLR0/s320/P6012875%2Bcopy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park</td></tr>
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We traveled to Tokyo earlier this month for a quick 4-day trip to meet up with a friend. He's the same friend we went to <a href="http://www.travelinbunny.blogspot.tw/2013/06/cape-cod.html" target="_blank">Cape Cod</a> with back in 2013. This time we would be joining him and his significant other on the beginning of their Asian holiday, which would go on to include other cities in Japan as well as Hong Kong.<br />
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Our flight from Kaohsiung was our most expensive to date because we had specific dates and a specific location, which is rare for us as we usually chase only cheap fares. Still, tickets were less than NT$15000 (US $485) for both of us on Vanilla Air.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shibuya Crossing</td></tr>
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We arrived into Narita Airport around 7pm on a Sunday. Our goal was to meet our friends for a late night dinner traveling, as per usual, in the cheapest way possible. After exhaustive research we found the cheapest and most time efficient method would be via the Keisei Main Line.<br />
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We referenced <a href="http://tokyocheapo.com/travel/cheapest-transport-to-and-from-narita-airport/" target="_blank">TokyoCheapo</a> quite a bit in our pre-travel research but nowhere did it help more than on this initial trip from the airport into Tokyo. Of course, it didn't bother to explain the <a href="http://www.tabitabihakuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/screen-capture-7.png" target="_blank">complicated subway map</a> displayed at the Terminal 2 Station. We spent a good 5 minutes staring at that map, utterly confused, before a kind stranger, speaking perfect English and very knowledgable about his city, told us (without even looking at the map) exactly what we needed to do. Thanks to his guidance, we didn't miss a transfer. We jumped on the next train, seamlessly transferred at Aoto Station, and again at Daimon Station, before arriving into Roppongi Station about 2.5 hours later. (Narita is quite a distance from Tokyo.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CAP0qkm5udg/VXbSnpLTUPI/AAAAAAAAwmU/-xncCEFDuNQ/s1600/P6023008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CAP0qkm5udg/VXbSnpLTUPI/AAAAAAAAwmU/-xncCEFDuNQ/s320/P6023008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tokyo skyline from Imperial Palace</td></tr>
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Our first night in Tokyo included a lovely ramen meal at Gogyo and a drink at the famous <a href="https://youtu.be/-ygDjgeuHGw" target="_blank">Gonpachi</a>. Afterwards, we decided to walk home, taking the scenic route along Omotesando, Tokyo's Champs-Elysees, and the eastern edge of Yoyogi Park.<br />
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One of the things I've discovered while living (and traveling) in the world's safest places is that a late-night stroll is a lovely way to end an evening. It's also a great way to catch-up with old friends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COpfIOEEqdY/VXbSntX-PdI/AAAAAAAAwmU/Ii-6iZvaH7c/s1600/P6023033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COpfIOEEqdY/VXbSntX-PdI/AAAAAAAAwmU/Ii-6iZvaH7c/s320/P6023033.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Imperial Palace grounds</td></tr>
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Prior to leaving on our trip, I had made us all reservations to tour the <a href="http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/" target="_blank">Imperial Palace</a>, as advanced reservations are required. Unfortunately, the palace tour is more of the surrounding grounds than of the actual palace, as we never actually ventured within. And, though the surrounding grounds are nice, the palace exterior is fairly unimpressive and not entirely worth the effort. The East Gardens, however, which are open to the public without prior reservations, are lovely and totally worth visiting.<br />
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Husband and I are craft beer tourists and Tokyo is our first Asian destination with a thriving craft beer scene and one of the highlights of this trip was a night spent excessively drinking various local brews. The night was not a highlight simply due to the excellent beers, though that was indeed lovely. It was also due to the quality of our company. During our first round at <a href="http://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/drinking/shinshu-osake-mura-serious-beer-and-sake-seriously-cheap/" target="_blank">Shinshu Osake Mura</a> we were engaged by a British expat and subsequent rounds brought some locals into our drinking circle. By the end of the night we had made several new friends and had a better experience than drinking on our own would have provided.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lTvura5flqE/VXbSnl01lhI/AAAAAAAAwmU/gp8VOuHWf9I/s1600/P6023124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lTvura5flqE/VXbSnl01lhI/AAAAAAAAwmU/gp8VOuHWf9I/s320/P6023124.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Gardens, Imperial Palace</td></tr>
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This experience, along with a few others, including our earlier experience at Narita Airport, really showcased the friendliness and kindness that we experienced from the locals. Not just Japanese locals either, but expats too. Perhaps this is what living in the <a href="http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/these-are-the-10-safest-cities-in-the-world--lJR0wZ8sse" target="_blank">safest city in the world</a> does to people? If so, I wouldn't mind a bit more of that.<br />
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Our last full day in the city was met with rain, which kinda interrupted our plans of wandering through Inokashira Park and <a href="http://aroundtokyo.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/IMGP3702.jpg" target="_blank">paddling in swan boats</a>. So, instead, we stayed in Harajuku. We did venture out to Kichijoji Station for our final evening, which included <a href="http://www.shootingbar-ea.jp/" target="_blank">shooting BB guns in a bar</a> and eating amazing yakitori at a super local joint, before venturing back to Shibuya for some purikura, karaoke, and arcade games. We then savored our last night in Tokyo with one last late-night stroll home.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nhrbn_s4y3k/VXbSnkQLhdI/AAAAAAAAwmQ/mDfhQQSRFmk/s1600/P6033405%2Bcopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nhrbn_s4y3k/VXbSnkQLhdI/AAAAAAAAwmQ/mDfhQQSRFmk/s320/P6033405%2Bcopy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shibuya area street entertainment</td></tr>
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Although we had heard many warnings about Tokyo being an expensive destination, our experience taught us that Tokyo allows for travelers across the economic spectrum to enjoy themselves, much like New York City, London, and Paris. We successfully stayed within our fairly constrained budget while enjoying activities with friends, eating delicious food, and drinking copious amounts. We even did a bit of shopping. So, yes, Tokyo can definitely be an expensive destination, but it can also be very budget-friendly.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.835178416573825.1073741830.113598595398481&type=3" target="_blank">Facebook album</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-86113238517452640182015-03-30T15:18:00.001+08:002015-05-17T14:40:50.772+08:00Wandering the Streets of Macau<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hei_VJMn2Mk/VRjbyo4mPRI/AAAAAAAAriM/LPykhJsDYdo/s1600/P3211956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hei_VJMn2Mk/VRjbyo4mPRI/AAAAAAAAriM/LPykhJsDYdo/s1600/P3211956.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rua da Felicidade, Macau</td></tr>
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Husband & I recently spent a long weekend in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (like Hong Kong). Located just across the bay from Hong Kong, Macau is only a 1.5 hour direct flight from Kaohsiung.<br />
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We traveled on <a href="http://www.tigerair.com/mo/en/" target="_blank">Tigerair</a>, a discount airline which recently started flying direct from Kaohsiung to Macau. During a December promotion for the new route, we scored two roundtrip tickets for only US $112. Once we commenced our search for accommodations, however, it became very obvious that Macau is not really a destination conducive to budget fares.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lwnaWpsvF4g/VRjcZi9oDVI/AAAAAAAAriU/fKVWAqraIs8/s1600/P3191601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lwnaWpsvF4g/VRjcZi9oDVI/AAAAAAAAriU/fKVWAqraIs8/s1600/P3191601.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Augustine Church Square, Macau</td></tr>
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Macau has a dearth of budget accommodations. Usually we can rely on hostels or homestays, cheap hotels at the very least. Not in Macau. Apparently, due to government regulations, Macau has <a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/Macau" target="_blank">no hostels in operation and the one YHA requires special permission for lodging</a>. At first we found this disheartening. We're a single income family and budget travel is our only real option. Perhaps we couldn't afford to go to Macau?<br />
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Accommodations are key to a budget holiday. Food and entertainment can usually be adjusted to meet your budget but accommodations and flight are static. If they're not within budget the trip is going to be irreparable. Happily, we persevered and eventually discovered the amazing (yet slightly terrifying) <a href="http://www.sanvahotel.com/" target="_blank">SanVa Hotel</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T9plHV-v8ic/VRjaRL79K1I/AAAAAAAAriA/4DXeytiQSlQ/s1600/P3191587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T9plHV-v8ic/VRjaRL79K1I/AAAAAAAAriA/4DXeytiQSlQ/s1600/P3191587.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our room at the SanVa Hotel #nofilter</td></tr>
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For only US $150 we spent four surprisingly restful nights in something akin to a third-world prison, albeit in one of the best neighborhoods and on one of the best streets in all of Macau. The SanVa was awesome and added an extra memorable layer to an already memorable experience.<br />
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Part of the reason staying at the SanVa was such a pleasant experience (rather than a traumatizing one) was because we sprung for a room with a window (thank god!). There were interior rooms without windows available, and some right next to the bathrooms, which made me very sad for their unfortunate occupants. But, we were quite happy and comfortable in our little room with a fan and window. I wouldn't go so far as to say we'd happily stay there again but we are happy we stayed there.<br />
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Some other highlights from our trip include:<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vD0VlyC1tKk/VRjfqt-4TbI/AAAAAAAArig/8Q3O-2Urd74/s1600/P3201700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vD0VlyC1tKk/VRjfqt-4TbI/AAAAAAAArig/8Q3O-2Urd74/s1600/P3201700.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coloane Village</td></tr>
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<li><b>The colonial villages</b> Macau is a former Portuguese colony and maintains much of that colonial history in its three district villages; the peninsula of Macau, Taipa, and Coloane. Cotai, the fourth district of Macau, misses out because it is recently reclaimed land connecting the formerly separate islands of Taipa and Coloane. </li>
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<dd>We stayed in the village area of Macau (on the street where <i>Temple of Doom</i> was filmed). Coloane's village houses <a href="http://www.lordstow.com/" target="_blank">Lord Stow's Bakery</a>, the creator of the now ubiquitous egg tart, and a very scenic waterfront area where we caught our first glimpse of China and stumbled upon a filmset. Taipa's village was the most European. All made up our favorite parts of Macau.</dd></dl>
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<li><b>Egg tarts</b> How have I never experienced these before? Delicious!</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XC0iauGxZZc/VRjiTKoMk-I/AAAAAAAAris/9hwzzb8O_y4/s1600/P3212111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XC0iauGxZZc/VRjiTKoMk-I/AAAAAAAAris/9hwzzb8O_y4/s320/P3212111.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Macau's casinos</td></tr>
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<li><b>Macau's casinos</b> The new casino area on Cotai, and the main impetus behind its creation, currently consists of three large casino complexes: The Venetian (the world's largest), City of Dreams, and Galaxy. There is also the Sands and some giant luxury shopping complexes. They've dubbed this area the Cotai Strip, trying to emulate the Las Vegas Strip in both name and feel and, like Vegas, this area has plenty of wow but zero charm. The older casino area on the peninsula of Macau is where all the charm is and we spent many hours enjoying it.</li>
</ul>
The food, scenery, culture, and vibe of Macau are very enjoyable and we had a great long weekend experiencing it all. Despite our earlier concerns, Macau turned out to be a very inexpensive destination (if you stay away from the gambling tables and score a room at the SanVa) as we did everything we wanted to and still came in under budget. Any holiday where that's the case is a successful one.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.798449316913402.1073741829.113598595398481&type=1" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-13409880695871876812015-03-13T10:37:00.001+08:002015-03-13T10:37:24.841+08:00Celebrating Tết in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoJQoUEF1v8/VOwSf9tfbKI/AAAAAAAAoIM/RecAZK9jZaw/s1600/P2170155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoJQoUEF1v8/VOwSf9tfbKI/AAAAAAAAoIM/RecAZK9jZaw/s1600/P2170155.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Husband & I travelled to Saigon airport from Taipei on the evening of February 17, the day before Tết. Tết is the solar new year, also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Holiday. This year it was officially six days, from February 18-23, and our first chance at an international trip since Husband's English school, along with most everything else in Taiwan, was closed for the duration.<br />
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We chose to visit Vietnam due completely to airplane ticket prices. It was simply cheaper to travel to HCMC than anywhere else and, since this was our first international trip since relocating to Taiwan, we really had no constraints except that it be somewhere we've never been before. And that list is short; Hong Kong and Manila.<br />
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We flew on <a href="http://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-US/Home" target="_blank">VietJet Air</a>, one of a number of discount airlines found in this region. Nothing like RyanAir or EasyJet in Europe though. Much closer to JetBlue or Southwest Airlines in the States. Meaning, prices aren't ridiculously cheap. Prices can be inexpensive, however, but nothing only a weekend could justify. One needs, at a minimum, four days to justify the cost of air travel over here. In this case, because we had specific dates we wanted to travel, our tickets were reasonable. We paid US$725.88 for two, including seat reservation costs (US$3.96) and mandatory booking fee (US$20.00) but excluding any baggage costs since we travel light (read: carry-on luggage only).<br />
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After booking our tickets we read up on what we should expect in Vietnam over Tết. Basically, the country shuts down. Most everything is closed because most everyone celebrates the holiday with family. Similar to Thanksgiving in the US and Christmas / Boxing Day in the UK, everyone goes home and the country supports this (or enforces it) by shutting down to accommodate the migration from the cities to the villages.<br />
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Though we found the preponderance of closed shops frustrating at times, we were thrilled with our overall experience. Additionally, we had memorable experiences we wouldn't have had otherwise had we visited at any other time of year. And, because we visited at such a special time of year, visiting again at any other time of year should elicit a very different experience, which is just another reason to return.<br />
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HCMC or Saigon (both are used, though I'm not sure when to use one and not the other) is a lovely city. I read Graham Greene's <i>The Quiet American</i> before traveling, providing me with a little background to the city which I found extremely helpful and fun. Walking the former Rue Catinat was one of the highlights of my visit and one I'm not sure I would've experienced had I not read the book prior to visiting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ztHLDi2dNI/VQEHUVxePWI/AAAAAAAArNk/1pCIfiywRVs/s1600/P2180170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ztHLDi2dNI/VQEHUVxePWI/AAAAAAAArNk/1pCIfiywRVs/s1600/P2180170.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bến Thành market</td></tr>
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Bến Thành market closed at noon the day after our arrival, the first day of Tết (new year's eve, Feb 18), and remained closed throughout our stay. Unfortunately, only a few shops within the market chose to open that morning, so we didn't get to see it in all its glory, but at least we did get to go inside. We even had our first Vietnamese meal at one of the stalls; <i>bún thịt nướng</i> (grilled pork & rice noodles), summer rolls, seafood fried rice, and Vietnamese coffees. This meal would be the first of many delicious items we tasted during our stay.<br />
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It's true what they say about Vietnamese food; it's amazing. We ate a lot, and at a lot of super dodgy places, but didn't have one bad meal. At one spot there were so many chicken bones on the floor, Husband ate the entirety of his delicious meal with a drumstick perched on his toe (he was wearing flipflops) and didn't even care. Because the food was that good.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nbb592_FD7U/VQEHVFJgceI/AAAAAAAArNo/lp90bJ3zKuE/s1600/P2180174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nbb592_FD7U/VQEHVFJgceI/AAAAAAAArNo/lp90bJ3zKuE/s1600/P2180174.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first meal</td></tr>
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We stayed at <a href="http://www.madamcuchotels.com/" target="_blank">Madam Cuc 127</a> in the backpacker's district which is an area we would normally have stayed far away from but served us well on this visit because it was the only area of the city that stayed completely open during Tết. Our hotel was fantastic too. There were a lot of stairs but the staff were super friendly and breakfast was free (baguette with butter and jam and coffee). Staying here also provided us with an indisputable reason for visiting during Tết, unbelievable hospitality.<br />
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Upon returning to our hotel after midnight on new year's morning (Feb 19) the owner and staff were celebrating with ceremonial offerings plus a delicious and generous meal for their guests. Not expecting to be invited to a celebratory late night dinner, we had already eaten and weren't terribly hungry. But we ate anyway. Because the food was, per usual, delicious.<br />
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On new year's day we found ourselves at the Saigon Zoo. We had ventured out expecting complete solitude, which proved nearly accurate, so we had just intended on wandering the city aimlessly. The map had a large park area near the river marked as a botanical garden, which sounded lovely, so we headed in that general direction. Upon reaching what we thought were the botanical gardens we were greeted by a zoo instead. And it was having a party. So we ventured forth and spent the better part of the day visiting with the animals.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3T3gPC0NpSc/VOwhk0H4-0I/AAAAAAAAooU/hUxY2OlwbK8/s1600/P2190410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3T3gPC0NpSc/VOwhk0H4-0I/AAAAAAAAooU/hUxY2OlwbK8/s1600/P2190410.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">gibbon at the Saigon Zoo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now, it's true that some of the exhibits made me sad for the animals (which is often the case) but there were also a few exhibits that were awesome, like the gibbon exhibit which had a large section of the zoo fenced off so the gibbon could swing from trees over a river, seemingly uninhibited by boundaries. The gibbon looked so happy. The enclosure appeared makeshift, like the gibbon had escaped its cage and found this refuge instead and the zookeepers had decided it was just easier to fence off this area than to recapture it. It was very cool to see an animal so seemingly thrilled to be in a zoo. Also, the elephants were really close to the crowd. And when was the last time you saw kids feeding them? New year's day in Saigon for me. (I'm not advocating for this, I'm just saying this happened.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aDd8QNAxDXM/VOwh1jaxSJI/AAAAAAAAoo0/KBGJf3RNi4o/s1600/P2190414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aDd8QNAxDXM/VOwh1jaxSJI/AAAAAAAAoo0/KBGJf3RNi4o/s1600/P2190414.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">elephants at the Saigon Zoo</td></tr>
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When traveling abroad we usually spend a good deal of time pre-trip learning important phrases in the local language. But, because we've been spending all our time trying to learn Mandarin in our new home country, we didn't even attempt to learn any Vietnamese prior to this trip. I'm not proud of this, it's just a fact. We did pick up a few things once we arrived but not enough to do anything complicated on our own. Luckily, staying in the backpacker district helped bridge the language gap a bit, since they cater to tourists there and know English very well, but for more complicated transactions we had to rely completely on our hotels.<br />
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I'm usually quite wary of hotel tour booking services. The only other time I tried it was in Costa Rica in 2006 and the whole thing just felt like a dirty tourist trap. I resolved to never do that again. But, because we were traveling lazy this time, and I knew exactly what I wanted and had researched prices, we asked our hotel for help. The whole process turned out to be so simple and convenient and stress-free that I may begin utilizing these types of services more often.<br />
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Our hotel in HCMC helped us arrange bus travel to Cần Thơ in the Mekong Delta. We just wanted the normal public bus, which should have only cost us US$6 but, due to the holiday, wound up costing twice that. Whatever. The bus was air conditioned with reserved seats and even came with a pickup from our hotel and a free bottle of water and moist towelette. We felt like kings.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gp9BDkmChpA/VOws_dAPvmI/AAAAAAAApAM/aVdwiDYePy0/s1600/P2200600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gp9BDkmChpA/VOws_dAPvmI/AAAAAAAApAM/aVdwiDYePy0/s1600/P2200600.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saigon bus station</td></tr>
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The bus station itself was a bit intimidating but we successfully navigated it and made it to Cần Thơ without incident. Upon arriving we found our bus ticket even came with free transportation to our new hotel. Score! What a system!<br />
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In Cần Thơ we stayed at the <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303942-d3750930-Reviews-Kim_Long_Hotel-Can_Tho_Mekong_Delta.html" target="_blank">Kim Long Hotel</a>. This was also a great experience. The location was perfect; right on the waterfront and only a few blocks away from all the action. Additionally, on our last night in Cần Thơ we were treated to hospitality similar to that of our HCMC hotel, a staff / family dinner. Such a great experience!<br />
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As soon as we arrived in Cần Thơ, knowing our return trip to HCMC on a Sunday night would be popular for those returning home after the holiday, we asked the hotel to book our return travel. Additionally, we knew we wanted to visit the nearby floating market and asked about that too. Unfortunately, due to the holiday, the floating market was closed. But, we really wanted to get out on the river anyway, so we booked a 3.5 hour tour for Sunday morning, hoping the market might be open that day. The tour was only US$9 per person.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iahBFb-WF5Y/VOww9pIUOsI/AAAAAAAApIk/mcPxNH8Stlc/s1600/P2200668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iahBFb-WF5Y/VOww9pIUOsI/AAAAAAAApIk/mcPxNH8Stlc/s1600/P2200668.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cần Thơ</td></tr>
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With our tickets booked, we ventured out to explore our new surroundings. We had read that Cần Thơ was the largest city of the Mekong Delta. In addition, with most people returning to their village roots for the holiday, we had expected it to be much livelier than usual. If that was indeed the case, my expectations for the population density of the Mekong Delta are vastly inaccurate. Cần Thơ is a sleepy village. It's lovely. But sleepy.<br />
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We spent our days wandering the streets, grabbing the occasional beer and Vietnamese coffee, and stopping for the plethora of cultural diversions. In both cities, perhaps due to the holiday, we were surrounded by events. There were stages with performances (dance, singing, music, comedy), there were fairs and festivals, there were fireworks. It really was a wonderful time to visit such a lovely country.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BtZki4KdyJ8/VOxAHZUfF8I/AAAAAAAAptY/N96XsXFH8rI/s1600/P2220963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BtZki4KdyJ8/VOxAHZUfF8I/AAAAAAAAptY/N96XsXFH8rI/s1600/P2220963.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floating Market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of the highlights from our trip was definitely our river tour. Though the market had decided to open that day, it was still very quiet. Despite that fact, seeing the area from the water was a great experience on its own and one I would repeat.<br />
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We were picked up for our tour at the ungodly hour of 5:30am but it was nice to see the area come to life. It's something I've noticed in Taiwan too; there is an entire early morning economy that I am absolutely oblivious to. Perhaps it's due to the heat but I have observed that most activity happens when the sun is down, both in the morning as well as in the evening. For instance, when the market is up and running, it is usually over by 9am. I don't typically wake up before 10am. That means an entire business day has passed before I even open my eyes. Astounding.<br />
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I really enjoyed our trip to Vietnam. I loved everything about it; the people, the food, and the culture. I look forward to returning often.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.789121497846184.1073741828.113598595398481&type=1" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-85667261501216598802014-12-31T08:00:00.000+08:002015-01-08T16:45:06.077+08:002014 Travels<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kDOoQHxK2vs/UtYEi5uoEtI/AAAAAAAAZi0/1o7DK8WH8lo/s1600/P1112248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kDOoQHxK2vs/UtYEi5uoEtI/AAAAAAAAZi0/1o7DK8WH8lo/s1600/P1112248.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boardwalk, Atlantic City</td></tr>
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In January we traveled to Atlantic City to participate in <a href="http://www.yelp.com/events/newark-yelps-winter-break-ii-caesars-atlantic-city" target="_blank">Yelp's Winter Break</a>, a weekend of entertainment co-organized by Yelp New Jersey and Yelp Philadelphia. It was a fun weekend of scavenger hunting and drinking but, mostly, it was a great way to experience Atlantic City for the first time.<br />
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Our weather wasn't the best, but we still got to see some of the famous landmarks from <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_us/" target="_blank">Monopoly</a> and the gorgeous beach.<br />
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Someday, hopefully, we'll get to see it in all its summertime glory. But, its wintertime glory wasn't too bad at all.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iyxXiwygrk8/Ux4V1TNEcXI/AAAAAAAAbH8/YLYpV-1KD2Q/s1600/P2172749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iyxXiwygrk8/Ux4V1TNEcXI/AAAAAAAAbH8/YLYpV-1KD2Q/s1600/P2172749.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
In February we spent a long weekend in Boston. We did the <a href="http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/" target="_blank">Freedom Trail</a>. We ate Boston creme pie. We drank Sam Adams beer. We pub crawled.<br />
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Boston was cold in February but we still had a great time wandering the city and exploring historically significant locations (including Cheers, pictured).<br />
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The Freedom Trail is excellent for the really old, historically significant stuff (not just '80's TV shows, though Cheers is near the start of the trail). Plus, the Trail leaves you in a lovely part of Boston called Charlestown. You should go to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/sullivans-pub-charlestown" target="_blank">Sullivan's Pub</a> for some local color. And watch <i>The Town</i> with Ben Affleck before you get there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MDNdeknnDY4/UypWP99vyDI/AAAAAAAAb_0/GYUS3nHY7q0/s1600/P3132966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MDNdeknnDY4/UypWP99vyDI/AAAAAAAAb_0/GYUS3nHY7q0/s1600/P3132966.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puerto Rico</td></tr>
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In March we went to Puerto Rico for a proper holiday. We scored on a Delta glitch and got roundtrip first class / priority tickets for only US$87 from NYC via ATL.<br />
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This trip was amazing for many reasons but mostly because we got to reconnect with old friends who now live there. Also, we want to live in Viejo San Juan. Its colonial charm and friendly locals really made it hard to say goodbye. We'll be back, Viejo San Juan. Promesa.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KFEvoKWAUjg/VK4kkAG8vSI/AAAAAAAAmu4/JpnDGIco57c/s1600/P6035895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KFEvoKWAUjg/VK4kkAG8vSI/AAAAAAAAmu4/JpnDGIco57c/s1600/P6035895.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playa El Cuco, El Salvador</td></tr>
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In May we traveled to El Salvador for a long holiday. We stayed over three weeks at <a href="http://latortugaverde.com/" target="_blank">La Tortuga Verde</a> in Playa El Cuco. The picture on the right was our view for the entirety of our stay.<br />
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Although El Salvador was slightly dodgy at times, we made some great friends on this trip, had some great experiences, and ate some great food. I can totally see us going back someday.<br />
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If you go and stay at La Tortuga Verde, don't miss the <a href="http://latortugaverde.com/elsalvador/all-day-open-water-adventure-isla-meanguera/" target="_blank">All Day Open Water Adventure</a>. Magical. ¡Hay pescado!<br />
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The end of June and beginning of July were reserved for visiting family and friends in Utah. We spent the bulk of two weeks in the Salt Lake valley visiting family before venturing on a quintessential road trip to Las Vegas for a long weekend with old friends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3v02fOJp110/VK4nxx0MQ8I/AAAAAAAAmvE/dWQ0w6azII4/s1600/P7037689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3v02fOJp110/VK4nxx0MQ8I/AAAAAAAAmvE/dWQ0w6azII4/s1600/P7037689.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Las Vegas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.tw/2014/09/two-months-in-kaohsiung.html" target="_blank">July also saw us officially becoming expats again</a>. After a night in Long Beach, California, we caught a flight to Manila, Philippines where we survived two nights before landing in Taipei, Taiwan.<br />
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We spent over two weeks in Taipei before moving south to Kaohsiung, our new home. Besides a few day trips to Maokong, Danshui, and Yangminshan, we didn't really do much sightseeing again until November.<br />
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We had a houseguest from Seattle join us for a week in early November. Besides showing her around Kaohsiung, we took her up to Taipei where, in addition to Maokong, we also traveled to Beitou for the hot springs.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11eoRbK_qbU/VK4qdMm3N5I/AAAAAAAAmvQ/VUX7PS-DsCU/s1600/6276_10204842508119803_2401505961393144822_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11eoRbK_qbU/VK4qdMm3N5I/AAAAAAAAmvQ/VUX7PS-DsCU/s1600/6276_10204842508119803_2401505961393144822_n.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beitou Hot Springs</td></tr>
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We finished the year with an ambitious day trip to <a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.tw/2014/12/sun-moon-lake.html" target="_blank">Sun Moon Lake</a>.<br />
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2014 was an amazing travel year for us. We got to see new places, visit old favorites, and share many of them with friends and family. We hope this foretells a new trend in travel for us. Sharing experiences with those you love is truly one of life's joys.<br />
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To all the Travel Bunnies out there, may 2015 bring you good health, happiness and many safe travels.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-69329580364565213652014-12-29T08:00:00.000+08:002015-04-23T15:46:50.876+08:00Sun Moon Lake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuzCSOwbcV0/VKnmn33VFkI/AAAAAAAAmac/kpk1ANhe244/s1600/PC289547.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy Holidays Bunnies!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Husband and I had some British bunnies visiting this month. After they traveled from Taipei to spend a day with us in Kaohsiung, we had hoped to see them again before the end of their vacation. Luckily, between work and holiday commitments, we were able to manage a day trip to <a href="http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/" target="_blank">Sun Moon Lake</a>. This was our first day trip in Taiwan since our relocation to Kaohsiung back in August. We've been a bit lethargic from the heat so we needed an excuse, like visiting friends, to get us out of our rut.</span><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uIztfV9OGX0/VKnmaG2pdxI/AAAAAAAAmXc/qvR6Tznmwl8/s1600/PC289521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uIztfV9OGX0/VKnmaG2pdxI/AAAAAAAAmXc/qvR6Tznmwl8/s1600/PC289521.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sun Moon Lake is an ambitious day trip from Kaohsiung when using public transportation, especially when taking the slow train for part of the journey. The slow train takes nearly 3 hours from Kaohsiung to Taichung but is only NT$482pp. High speed rail takes just less than an hour but costs a premium at NT$860pp. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To save money, we opted for the 6:00am slow train from Fengshan station in Kaohsiung to Taichung Main station. We arrived in Taichung at 8:51am where we promptly got lost searching for the bus that would take us to our final destination. After a lot of aimless wandering, we finally returned to the train station to receive guidance from the Visitor's Centre. Now armed with precise directions, we walked the 15 minutes to Ganchen Station where we caught the 9:50am bus to Sun Moon Lake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some notes for this section:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is no food trolley nor car nor vending machines on the slow train. Bring your own food.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If in doubt, always stop at the Visitor's Centre <i>before</i> venturing further.</span></li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ita Thao</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Nantou Bus to Sun Moon Lake is NT$340pp (return) and the schedule says it's a nearly 2 hour ride. For us, it took a bit longer than that. Had we arrived on time, we could've caught the 12:00pm round-the-lake bus (NT$80pp, one-day ticket). Instead, we had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the 12:40pm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our friends were staying across the lake, in Ita Thao. A cab from the bus station costs a flat fee of NT$500. Again, to save money, we opted to wait for the bus. It's a nice system but, like most buses outside Taipei, there aren't nearly enough of them. One bus every 40 minutes seems a bit inadequate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Upon meeting up with our friends, we promptly headed to the <a href="http://www.ropeway.com.tw/en/en_menu.php" target="_blank">Sun Moon Lake Ropeway</a> (NT$300pp). This cable car was a great experience. The price is a bit high, especially when Taipei's gondola to <a href="http://english.taipei.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=42054077&CtNode=57337&mp=122034" target="_blank">Maokong</a> is only NT$100, but it provides a lovely view of the area and is a quick and easy way to get to the <a href="http://www.nine.com.tw/webe/html/information/index.aspx" target="_blank">Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village</a> theme park. The theme park's admission is NT$780pp. We didn't go.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YXaLDtv2ye0/VKnm3mJvubI/AAAAAAAAmd0/Vp5HN8L76Ak/s1600/PC289577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YXaLDtv2ye0/VKnm3mJvubI/AAAAAAAAmd0/Vp5HN8L76Ak/s1600/PC289577.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After the gondola ride, we ventured back to Ita Thao for a late lunch / early dinner. After searching for a bit, and salivating at all the street food options, we ended up dining at a Mann Gay Dann indigenous village where we enjoyed a meal of wild boar hotpot and a short performance of </span>indigenous<span style="font-family: inherit;"> music and dance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our plan for the day was derailed at the end when the fog rolled in. We had hoped to catch the <a href="http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/English/TravelInfoEng/LakeTour/Boat.htm" target="_blank">ferry</a> back to the bus station but, due to low visibility, the ferries were all cancelled. We then tried to catch one of the last round-the-lake buses. Unfortunately, when we got to the stop, there was a very long line for a very full bus. With limited time to catch the last bus back to Taichung, we grabbed a cab. Fortunately, we found the coolest cab driver in all of Taiwan. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wIUOGyO8W4g/VKnm8lIYoDI/AAAAAAAAmfI/RcSLk4kn_k4/s1600/PC289588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wIUOGyO8W4g/VKnm8lIYoDI/AAAAAAAAmfI/RcSLk4kn_k4/s1600/PC289588.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Neil Zeng is the owner of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowtunaCab" target="_blank">Yellow Tuna Cab</a>, a private touring company providing taxi tours for all of Taiwan. Neil is incredibly knowledgeable about all things Taiwan and it was an absolute joy to have met him. </span>Even after the disappointment of missing out on a boat ride across the lake, Neil made our taxi ride from Ita Thao to the bus station <span style="font-family: inherit;">one of the highlights of our day trip to Sun Moon Lake. </span>太棒了!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>HOT TIP: </b>Don't pay NT$300 for the all-day boat ticket at the ticket booth. Hotels will sell them to you for only NT$100. Boom! You're welcome.</span><br />
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For our return trip, we opted for the higher price but faster speeds of the high speed rail. All told, we traveled for approximately 7 hours for only about 5 quality hours at Sun Moon Lake but, overall, the day was fairly relaxing. The food, amusements, and scenery at Sun Moon Lake made the experience very enjoyable. Even the bad weather was picturesque. And, because we had friends visiting, it was most definitely worth the effort.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit my Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.752156111542723.1073741827.113598595398481&type=1" target="_blank">album</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-21018054987193865512014-09-29T16:28:00.001+08:002014-12-22T17:42:59.926+08:00Two Months in Kaohsiung<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tdz_PtU8M_Y/U95H4G4GuBI/AAAAAAAAkWo/RU-ddupwNhE/s1600/P7168520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tdz_PtU8M_Y/U95H4G4GuBI/AAAAAAAAkWo/RU-ddupwNhE/s1600/P7168520.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei</td></tr>
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Travelin' Bunny is back in business, folks!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C8eKZaVMb7w/U95MQRSXIZI/AAAAAAAAkWo/4JFP7o1zRYo/s1600/P7198708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C8eKZaVMb7w/U95MQRSXIZI/AAAAAAAAkWo/4JFP7o1zRYo/s1600/P7198708.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maokong Gondola, Taipei</td></tr>
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On May 31, Husband and I began the long trek to our new home in Taiwan. We arrived in Taipei on July 12 and moved to our new city, Kaohsiung, on July 31. We moved into our flat on August 6 and our boxes arrived from New York City on September 22. And with that, we're officially expats again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ytHtxM3SeU/U8Ifes8aY-I/AAAAAAAAkWo/sdmoPeM-GWI/s1600/P7118210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ytHtxM3SeU/U8Ifes8aY-I/AAAAAAAAkWo/sdmoPeM-GWI/s1600/P7118210.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Siping Street Market, Taipei</td></tr>
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FYI: When moving to a tropical climate from a non-tropical climate, one should plan to arrive in the winter months to more easily acclimate to one's new climate. One should not (repeat not) arrive in the hottest months of summer, where the difference in climate is so vast that, rather than acclimating, your body just gives up and sweats uncontrollably because it doesn't know what else to do. Because it's too hot. And your body thinks you're going to die.<br />
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It's been almost two months since arriving in Kaohsiung and we're still getting settled. Neither of us speak the language, Mandarin and Taiwanese, but we're having a much easier time here, even while being illiterate and unable to communicate easily, than we ever did in New York City. Things are easy here and, especially upon first arriving, we found ourselves often repeating, "Well, that's different. And better." Because that wasn't the case in New York City. Because they make everything so hard there.<br />
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But, now we live in Kaohsiung and we're really happy with this move. Unlike our move to Dundee, there is no doubt that we did the right thing; there is no regret. We're thrilled to be living in Kaohsiung and we can't wait to begin exploring the island and Asia as we did Scotland and Europe.<br />
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Though flights aren't as cheap here as they were in Europe, we hope that doesn't deter our ability to explore to Asia. If nothing else, we should still have plenty of opportunities to at least explore Taiwan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nWlYsW3CJyg/U-roIahGAGI/AAAAAAAAkWo/jBVQfA3evUY/s1600/P8068874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nWlYsW3CJyg/U-roIahGAGI/AAAAAAAAkWo/jBVQfA3evUY/s1600/P8068874.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaohsiung</td></tr>
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We haven't done any exploring yet, however, due to the heat. But, the evenings are becoming bearable, so we have hope that the weather will turn shortly and allow us to more comfortably explore the rest of the island. When that happens, watch out. This island is gorgeous and I'm anxious to begin sharing our adventures again.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-68369118397195638592014-01-01T01:00:00.000+08:002014-01-01T01:15:55.707+08:002013 Travels<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-saYDn5uKFYI/UsLskVJ3_oI/AAAAAAAAYfs/JrE0qvcyXhc/s1600/IMAG0554+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-saYDn5uKFYI/UsLskVJ3_oI/AAAAAAAAYfs/JrE0qvcyXhc/s320/IMAG0554+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brussels</td></tr>
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Although Husband and I returned to the USA this year, bringing an end to our European travels, we still found ways to satiate our wanderlust. Our move to New York City provided us with a great base for exploring New York state and the northeastern United States, both regions we'd almost fully neglected prior to our move. We did sneak a little bit of Europe in at the beginning though, just for fun.<br />
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We started 2013 travelling. After celebrating the new year in London, we boarded the Eurostar to Brussels. After a day there we went to Duesseldorf for our flight to New York City, where we permanently relocated on January 3rd.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gU40WxAk9AQ/UhTDADEu74I/AAAAAAAAYgI/vfhlGbZDVXw/s1600/CAM00311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gU40WxAk9AQ/UhTDADEu74I/AAAAAAAAYgI/vfhlGbZDVXw/s320/CAM00311.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cape Cod</td></tr>
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We stayed within the<a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.com/2013/03/pedestrian-access-on-bridges-of-lower.html" target="_blank"> city limits</a> until June when we traveled to <a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.com/2013/06/cape-cod.html" target="_blank">Cape Cod</a> in Massachusetts for our first mini-break of the year. <br />
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The rest of the summer was mostly spent in the parks of New York City, especially once we discovered the <a href="http://www.nycgovparks.org/programs/rangers" target="_blank">Urban Park Rangers</a> Family Camping program. We also spent a good deal of time at <a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.com/2013/07/coney-island.html" target="_blank">Coney Island</a>, our favorite place in NYC and where we'll be watching the final sunset of 2013.<br />
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In late summer and early autumn we ventured into upstate New York, visiting <a href="http://iloveny.com/summer/the-adirondacks" target="_blank">The Adirondacks</a>, Syracuse and the <a href="http://iloveny.com/summer/finger-lakes" target="_blank">Finger Lakes</a> region, including <a href="http://nysparks.com/parks/142/" target="_blank">Watkins Glen State Park</a> and Ithaca.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9w9W-UZrpYE/Ul1Ufvg4iuI/AAAAAAAAYgU/E7Px-0w1-SE/s1600/PA120181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9w9W-UZrpYE/Ul1Ufvg4iuI/AAAAAAAAYgU/E7Px-0w1-SE/s320/PA120181.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watkins Glen State Park</td></tr>
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From October we began venturing out of town for day trips and rambles. We hiked <a href="http://nysparks.com/parks/13/details.aspx" target="_blank">Bear Mountain</a> and stayed to celebrate their <a href="http://www.visitbearmountain.com/calendar.htm" target="_blank">Oktoberfest</a>, we journeyed out to Long Island for their <a href="http://www.theoysterfestival.org/" target="_blank">Oyster Festival</a> and we devoted two trips to Tarrytown, rambling along different sections of the <a href="http://www.aqueduct.org/" target="_blank">Old Croton Aqueduct</a>.<br />
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We already have a few trips planned for 2014, including another big move, so our travel in this area of the USA will greatly decrease after 2013. And, while our travels in 2013 weren't exactly what we had expected, we do realize how incredibly fortunate we are to have had them.<br />
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In 2014, we'd like to find ourselves abroad again, with plenty more to write about. We'd also like to find ourselves healthy and happy, wherever we may be.<br />
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To all the Travel Bunnies out there, may 2014 bring you good health, happiness and many safe travels.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-54507217215836335002013-11-08T04:15:00.000+08:002014-02-11T10:22:04.013+08:00Ten Things I Enjoy About Living in New York City<i>I was going to title this post "10 Months, 10 Disappointments" but eventually opted against it (clearly). Upon reflection, I feel like I've been pretty hard on New York and, with at least another 8 months in this city, that's no way to live. So, in an attempt to love this city I'm now calling home (at least for the time being), I'm lowering my expectations and starting anew. Now, instead of 10 months and 10 disappointments, I've rewritten this post to be more positive (though I reserve the right to write about my disappointments in the future).</i><br />
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I have now lived in New York City for 10 months. That's the longest I've stayed put since we left Seattle after 11 years of residency back in 2010. And, if our experience in Seattle taught us anything it's that it can take a good two years in a city before feeling at home. However, if our experience in London taught us anything it's that it can take as little as one month, too. After 10 months in New York City I can tell you that NYC will definitely be more reminiscent of Seattle than London for us. Still, although we don't feel at home quite yet, we are really enjoying certain aspects of our new city. Here, in no particular order, are some of the things I'm enjoying the most.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMg2fRBQs5U/UhTDt7QQWtI/AAAAAAAAOUg/foTIYX7p-l0/s1600/CAM00410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMg2fRBQs5U/UhTDt7QQWtI/AAAAAAAAOUg/foTIYX7p-l0/s320/CAM00410.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The UN from a Tudor City rooftop</td></tr>
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<b>1. Hidden New York</b><br />
Everyone knows about Grand Central, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building but not very many tourists know about Coney Island or the northern side of Central Park or Governors Island. It's fun having the time to really explore this city. <br />
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<b>2. Transportation Options</b><br />
I am no fan of the <a href="http://new.mta.info/" target="_blank">MTA</a> and it's very possible this same heading will appear on my "10 Disappointments" list some time in the future but, at the same time, I do admit that having multiple transportation options is a good thing and something that should be celebrated. However, the inane bureaucracy and outrageous costs associated with said options due to the MTA's incompetency is another matter entirely. But, lest I get too negative in a supposedly positive post, <a href="http://www.njtransit.com/hp/hp_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=HomePageTo" target="_blank">NJ Transit</a> is pretty awesome.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_0eOUrjcTI/Unv0e5orMHI/AAAAAAAAVRw/-p9W8ST9dYw/s1600/P8270243+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_0eOUrjcTI/Unv0e5orMHI/AAAAAAAAVRw/-p9W8ST9dYw/s320/P8270243+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Travel to neighboring areas by train</td></tr>
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<b>3. New Jersey</b><br />
Speaking of New Jersey, what a freaking surprise! I haven't had too much exposure to NJ but from what I have seen I'm rather impressed. Hoboken is adorable and Newark didn't kill me (remember, expectations are low). Plus, I got to both for only $2.50 each way. Jersey gets a bad rap but it's looking better and better as time goes on, at least from this side of the Hudson.<br />
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<b>4. European Feeling</b><br />
Upon moving here, it was very evident to us that NYC is much more European than we had ever noticed prior to living abroad. Perhaps it's the history of the city or maybe because it's so international but, regardless, there are many aspects of living in NYC that have reminded us of our time in the UK. From garbage collection to pronouncing French words correctly to not respecting personal space to crossing the street whenever convenient and not just at crosswalks. New York City is exactly what someone missing London, but banned from residing there, needs. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tE190ER1iM4/UnccRhA2kwI/AAAAAAAAVLA/ZoquK32qaFk/s1600/PB031114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tE190ER1iM4/UnccRhA2kwI/AAAAAAAAVLA/ZoquK32qaFk/s320/PB031114.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autumn in Central Park</td></tr>
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<b>5. Seasons</b><br />
There are four seasons here. Really. Four very distinct seasons. The summers are hot, the winters are cold, the springs are filled with new growth and the falls are filled with changing colors. And, the sun shines all year round. This is perhaps my most favorite thing about living here.<br />
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<b>6. Rainstorms</b><br />
Speaking of weather, it rains in New York City. No, like really rains. Like, thunder, lightning, flash flooding type of rain and it happens often. Anecdotally, I'd always known it rains more in NYC than Seattle but I'd never really understood how that was possible. Well, rather than having months of dreariness and days filled with mists of rain or small droplets, in NYC it's a gorgeous day and then, out of nowhere, you're drowning. And then it's gone. It's awesome and diverting and exciting and fun. And, since you won't be able to catch a cab, you might as well enjoy the experience. Seriously, you can try but don't expect to successfully hail a cab in a rainstorm. They're all taken. Every single one of them. Also, you should probably always carry an umbrella.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x54OCaIdkLU/UidHgTuRcJI/AAAAAAAAPEQ/aPqRm_YyueY/s1600/CAM00496.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x54OCaIdkLU/UidHgTuRcJI/AAAAAAAAPEQ/aPqRm_YyueY/s320/CAM00496.mp4" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sudden Rainstorm</td></tr>
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<b>7. Fireflies</b><br />
Everyone loves fireflies. From the kids growing up in the city to the elderly who've lived here all their lives; everyone is enamored by these little sparkly guys. They're fascinating.<br />
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<b>8. Street Festivals</b><br />
These are random which sucks because I'd love to plan my calendar around them but the randomness may also make them more fun because when you stumble upon one it's like you've wandered into a surprise party. For you. I've lived in two neighborhoods now and have awoken to surprise street festivals at least once in each of them. It's so fun to wake up to a fried Oreo booth on your front lawn. Seriously. This is not sarcasm. I love it!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2jWIX_JJrUI/UhTDt1vAX2I/AAAAAAAAOUg/UtsawXeNiPQ/s1600/CAM00540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2jWIX_JJrUI/UhTDt1vAX2I/AAAAAAAAOUg/UtsawXeNiPQ/s320/CAM00540.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marine Park, Brooklyn</td></tr>
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<b>9. Neighborhoods</b><br />
The real charm of New York City is in the neighborhoods. I guess that might be true of any city but it's one aspect of big city living that I truly enjoy. <br />
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<b>10. Pop Culture References</b><br />
One of the things I always enjoy is watching a movie or TV show that takes place in a city I'm about to visit or am currently living in or miss terribly. The Bourne trilogy is good for eastern European cities, the new BBC Sherlock is good for London and Frasier, to a certain extent, is good for Seattle. But, the depth of material for New York City is bottomless. The reservoir spilleth over and it's fun to have so many options, especially when I move away and, inevitably, begin to miss this city I called home but didn't appreciate enough while I was here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-64718654405346420592013-07-09T04:57:00.000+08:002013-07-09T04:57:08.435+08:00Coney Island<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66RRqA_dX7k/Udsgn-TzxVI/AAAAAAAAMeE/V2bSETt3sB8/s1600/CAM00457+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66RRqA_dX7k/Udsgn-TzxVI/AAAAAAAAMeE/V2bSETt3sB8/s320/CAM00457+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coney Island boardwalk</td></tr>
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Believe it or not, <a href="http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/coneyisland" target="_blank">Coney Island</a> is <i>not</i> an amusement park on an island (seriously, I can't be the only person who thought that). Rather, it's a normal neighborhood in Brooklyn (like Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, etc.). Situated on the south side of Brooklyn, Coney Island exceeded all my expectations whilst not actually meeting any of them. Seriously, I had expected an island with rides. Instead, I got a beach resort (See, expectation not met yet exceeded). Best July 4th surprise ever.<br />
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For $2.50 you can take the subway to Coney Island from anywhere in New York City. The D, F, N and Q lines all terminate at Coney Island. The B line will get you pretty close, terminating at Brighton Beach. The journey takes about an hour from Midtown.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIkgb0up1z4/UdhnIJp0zJI/AAAAAAAAMX4/FPemkVEBMFU/s1600/CAM00437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIkgb0up1z4/UdhnIJp0zJI/AAAAAAAAMX4/FPemkVEBMFU/s320/CAM00437.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coney Island Beach on July 4th</td></tr>
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First of all, who knew New York City had a huge, lovely beach? I've lived here now for over 6 months and not one person or article about things to do in the summer has mentioned this beach. Come on!<br />
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So, once you finally discover this beach, if you're anything like me, you run out to the water to soak your feet and then plop down in the sand to just absorb the moment. Not wanting to leave, can you imagine my joy when a plethora of vendors begin to parade in front of me? Peddling Italian ices ($2), ice creams ($2), churros ($1), mangoes and cotton candies, these vendors allow one to snack on summer foods without expending too much energy or losing your choice beach spot. Without being obtrusive at all, just pushing their little carts along the sand, ringing a little bell to alert you to their presence, these vendors were very popular and their presence, especially in that suffocating heat, was very welcome.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OeXYpmRUr44/UdhnRylMyZI/AAAAAAAAMZo/vIqgToIwa-o/s1600/CAM00458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OeXYpmRUr44/UdhnRylMyZI/AAAAAAAAMZo/vIqgToIwa-o/s320/CAM00458.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luna Park at Coney Island</td></tr>
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If simply basking on the gorgeous, 3-mile long beach and playing in the warm (when compared to the Pacific) waters of the Atlantic is not enough to divert you, Coney Island has many other activities to choose from. In addition to the restaurants and bars found along the boardwalk, there is also an aquarium, <a href="http://www.coneyisland.com/tourist-information" target="_blank">amusement areas and rides</a> (including the famous Cyclone) as well as MCU stadium, home of the <a href="http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/">Brooklyn Cyclones</a> (minor league Mets).<br />
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Having never lived in a city with this type of a beach, I'm really excited to start putting together my 'beach bag' for weekday afternoons and lazy weekends. For the first time ever, I have the opportunity to get off work and go directly to the beach or waste an entire weekend day sitting on the beach instead of on my couch (figuratively, since I don't have a couch). Who knew this could happen in NYC?<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-8051405523798254752013-06-22T02:20:00.000+08:002013-06-22T02:36:37.906+08:00Cape Cod<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T0h7W4aozjA/UcSCnS5dZqI/AAAAAAAAL0U/VNz0LYMMnyk/s1600/photo+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T0h7W4aozjA/UcSCnS5dZqI/AAAAAAAAL0U/VNz0LYMMnyk/s320/photo+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Highland Lighthouse, North Truro</td></tr>
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Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit Cape Cod with a dear friend and his family, including his youngest brother, future sister-in-law, mother, and grandmother. We stayed in a lovely cottage near the sea in Dennisport and proceeded to have an amazing time, dare I say "Best Weekend 2013". <br />
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Getting to The Cape from New York City without a car is pretty straightforward. One can either take a train or bus to Providence and then take a bus to Hyannis from there. We opted to take a bus to Providence, purchasing on <a href="http://www.greyhound.com/" target="_blank">Greyhound's website</a> because they had the cheapest fare. (Side note: apparently, Greyhound is no longer Greyhound because our bus was labelled <a href="http://peterpanbus.com/" target="_blank">Peter Pan</a> and, though the driver would mention Bonanza in conjunction with Peter Pan ("thanks for choosing Peter Pan / Bonanza"), we never heard anyone say anything about Greyhound.)<br />
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The <a href="http://www.panynj.gov/bus-terminals/port-authority-bus-terminal.html" target="_blank">Port Authority</a> (aka bus station) in New York City is very reminiscent of the bus stations we experienced in Europe (actually, there's a lot about New York that reminds us more of Europe than of the US, but I digress); buzzing with activity as though riding the bus is really a thriving transportation alternative (though most people in the US would not consider it an option at all because, if you're going to use the road, why don't you just drive yourself?). Though our experience was relatively painless, it could have easily gone the other way. <br />
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First of all, the Port Authority does not have a departure board telling you where to go for your bus, nor is the information printed on your ticket and, at 7am on a Saturday morning, all information booths are closed. Luckily, while retrieving our tickets the day before, we had been told what terminal our bus would be leaving from (though the Peter Pan insignia on our bus made us doubt the information for a bit). Secondly, apparently bus companies will intentionally and regularly oversell their buses. If you're one of these sad fools who don't get on the bus you bought a ticket for you may be lucky and another bus will be brought in to accommodate your reservation relatively quickly or, and just as probable, you may have to wait for the next scheduled bus. Without knowing about this custom of overselling, we barely made it onto our bus. The poor fools behind us were not as lucky. Whether another bus came for them or they had to wait until the next bus, a whole 2 hours later, we will never know.<br />
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The bus ride was 3 hours and 45 minutes from New York City to Providence and another 2 hours to Hyannis. Leaving New York at 7am, we were in the welcoming embrace of our friend by 1:30pm Saturday afternoon and enjoying our first Cape Cod feast by 2pm.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ou5itzcahc/UcSO_nRDrOI/AAAAAAAAL1M/xjfC40RrRwE/s1600/CAM00338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ou5itzcahc/UcSO_nRDrOI/AAAAAAAAL1M/xjfC40RrRwE/s320/CAM00338.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lobster roll and chowder</td></tr>
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One of the things that made me instantly fall in love with Massachusetts, or maybe just The Cape but, as I've never been to other parts of MA before, I'll assume it's the whole state until otherwise disproved, was that beer is served everywhere. You're in a family friendly diner? Want a beer? Yes, please! You're at a tent party in a random, isolated area? Want a beer? Yes, please! And, not just any beer. You get variations of Sam Adams. Know why? Because Sam Adams is The Boston Beer Company and (another thing that made me fall in love with Massachusetts) the people here have great pride in all things Massachusetts. (We saw "Go Bruins!" alternating with the destination on city bus display boards.)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uc7hrK9aWfQ/UcSLl61IljI/AAAAAAAAL04/J-Ncun3AWJ8/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uc7hrK9aWfQ/UcSLl61IljI/AAAAAAAAL04/J-Ncun3AWJ8/s320/photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our time on The Cape was relatively short - we were on our way back to New York City by 4:45pm the next day - but we packed a whole lot of good times and memories into what also felt like an incredibly relaxing weekend. In just over 24 hours, we were able to do all the things one does whilst enjoying The Cape during The Season. We lounged on the beach for hours, we sat drinking mimosas on the back porch for an entire morning, we played a leisurely game of mini-golf, we bought salt water taffy and attended drag karaoke in P-Town, and we went to a <a href="http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130613/ENTERTAIN/130619877" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">benefit concert</a> for the local radio station which included seafood gumbo, amazing zydeco and, of course, Sam Adams beer. Seriously, Best Weekend 2013!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After a lifetime of hearing references to The Cape, my first visit did not disappoint. This area has been in the common American lexicon since at least the Kennedy administration but it doesn't look like an aged seaside retreat at all. Instead, it is thriving and modern, achieving the latter without having changed much over the past few decades (at least according to our hosts). I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit such a great place with such a good friend and his fun family. Enjoying The Cape with the added benefit of generational knowledge turned a lovely weekend into a memorable one.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-12494188405870540512013-03-19T11:00:00.001+08:002013-03-19T11:01:49.551+08:00Pedestrian Access on the Bridges of Lower Manhattan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MDhXKCZI6fs/UUdSWvtevVI/AAAAAAAAKWM/BnoVoV0T73E/s1600/original_1363543887835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MDhXKCZI6fs/UUdSWvtevVI/AAAAAAAAKWM/BnoVoV0T73E/s320/original_1363543887835.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brooklyn Bridge, Tillary Street entrance</td></tr>
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There are three bridges in lower Manhattan which take you across the East River into Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge. Whilst each provides access for pedestrians and bicycles, the experience for walkers/cyclists is vastly different. Below are my observations for each.<br />
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<b>Brooklyn Bridge</b> - Of the three bridges, the Brooklyn Bridge is by far the most popular for tourists. The pedestrians and bikes share a path down the center of the bridge, separated only by a thick white line (which is often completely ignored by the camera wielding hoards). The multi-year renovation project is near completion (June 2013) which will allow for almost completely unobstructed views across the entire length.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uyP4tuIUxyE/UUdSXfAe7iI/AAAAAAAAKWY/fDtc-d00mmM/s1600/original_1363544394562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uyP4tuIUxyE/UUdSXfAe7iI/AAAAAAAAKWY/fDtc-d00mmM/s320/original_1363544394562.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nearly unobstructed view from the Brooklyn Bridge</td></tr>
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Access from Manhattan is near City Hall, just south of Chinatown on Centre Street. From Brooklyn there are two access points, one closer to the waterfront (Prospect Street) with stairs and another without stairs, where the cars enter at Tillary Street.<br />
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For a leisurely stroll, as stated above, the Brooklyn Bridge is not a pleasant experience. Similar to the Millennium Bridge in London, unless you hit it on the morning commute, before the tourists arrive, you'll wind up encountering a number of stationary, picture-takers and angry bicycle commuters yelling at said picture-takers to get out of their lane. Of course, for tourists, with its history, beauty, and nearly unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge is a must-see. But, please do be aware of path etiquette and stay on the appropriate side.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UONGDBs0UlU/UUfGMXyzSGI/AAAAAAAAKWk/mm83m1PRlDU/s1600/original_1363541125414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UONGDBs0UlU/UUfGMXyzSGI/AAAAAAAAKWk/mm83m1PRlDU/s320/original_1363541125414.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manhattan Bridge</td></tr>
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<b>Manhattan Bridge</b> - The Manhattan Bridge is the middle of the three bridges, accessed by a grand entrance, reminiscent of the Wellington Arch in London or Arc de Triomphe in Paris, on Canal Street in Manhattan. The pedestrian access is on the south side and a bit dodgy. The bicycle entrance is somewhere on the north, I assume, and kept wholly separate from the pedestrians'. On the Brooklyn side, pedestrian access is very near the Brooklyn Bridge.<br />
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The Manhattan Bridge provides for separate paths for pedestrians and bicycles with the pedestrians on the south and the bicycles on the north. The view, though iconic and, I believe, the one used for the New York, New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas, is marred by a chain link fence the entire length but, with some patience and ingenuity, good pictures can be had. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cdfYGTNGNEM/UUfJRwh9uEI/AAAAAAAAKWs/7IuYvYKOgG0/s1600/45521_10200684718458022_2061799276_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cdfYGTNGNEM/UUfJRwh9uEI/AAAAAAAAKWs/7IuYvYKOgG0/s320/45521_10200684718458022_2061799276_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view through the links of the Manhattan Bridge</td></tr>
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Trains, which also use this bridge, are at the same height as the pathways resulting in a loud and intrusive noise every few minutes as they pass.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UHGfwS_sRfg/UUfLBOUgOQI/AAAAAAAAKW0/iX87aBxxjXc/s1600/IMAG0672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UHGfwS_sRfg/UUfLBOUgOQI/AAAAAAAAKW0/iX87aBxxjXc/s320/IMAG0672.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Williamsburg Bridge, Houston Street</td></tr>
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<b>Williamsburg Bridge</b> - The farthest north of the three bridges, the Williamsburg Bridge will take you from Houston Street in Manhattan to the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. Similar to the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge also has a grand entrance but this one is reserved for the pedestrians/cyclists. <br />
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The Williamsburg Bridge shares many traits with the Manhattan Bridge but, in most cases, executed better. For example, trains also use the Williamsburg Bridge but instead of being at the same level as pedestrians/cyclists they are located lower, changing their presence from one of irritation and nuisance to novelty and joy. On the Manhattan side, the pedestrians and cyclists share a path upon entry for a bit before separating and continuing as on the Manhattan Bridge, with cyclists on the north and pedestrians on the south. However, rather than being relegated to that side for the duration, there is a connection in the middle allowing for intermingling of the paths and pausing to take pictures, etc. without becoming an obstacle to others. Similarly, there is a large viewing platform on the Brooklyn side, allowing for pictures of Manhattan without blocking the path.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JksVIwpXdTA/UUfOGwOcSdI/AAAAAAAAKW8/hJaaBtejdCw/s1600/IMAG0674+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JksVIwpXdTA/UUfOGwOcSdI/AAAAAAAAKW8/hJaaBtejdCw/s320/IMAG0674+1.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Williamsburg Bridge</td></tr>
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One area for improvement, however, is the type of fencing that is used. On the Manhattan Bridge it's just normal chain link but on the Williamsburg Bridge it is a heavy duty red fencing which is an eye sore in pictures.<br />
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Overall, I think it's lovely that there are three free and convenient methods for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the East River from Lower Manhattan. Whilst each has their faults, the benefits and value easily outweigh them. I'm looking forward to experiencing them by bicycle (though I'll probably do an early morning bike ride across the Brooklyn Bridge).<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-31699510663594205692013-02-09T01:51:00.000+08:002013-08-13T04:21:51.222+08:0031 Things I Learned Whilst Living AbroadIn December 2012, which was my last month living abroad (this time around, at least), I compiled the below list of some of the things I learned during my time as an immigrant in the United Kingdom. Though in all likelihood this post does not signify the end of Travelin' Bunny, I do expect long periods of silence between posts. Until we meet again, I wish you all happy travels and safe journeys.<br />
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31. Every country has hillbillies<br />
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30. When in doubt don't use sarcasm<br />
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29. There's more than one way to make a bed (see Evidence A)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1Iigix-2gg/UONOTFqfaRI/AAAAAAAAKPY/qVwkK1PUfDg/s1600/14577_4887519863503_2039526262_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1Iigix-2gg/UONOTFqfaRI/AAAAAAAAKPY/qVwkK1PUfDg/s320/14577_4887519863503_2039526262_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence A</td></tr>
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28. You don't know what you don't know<br />
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27. English, even when both parties are claiming to speak it, is not necessarily a common language.<br />
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26. I am not a small town girl.<br />
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25. European Christmas markets make everything better.<br />
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24. Mulled wine makes everything better.<br />
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23. Mixer taps (aka regular faucets) are 'new' technology". (see Evidence B)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7l_oNXyvvYI/UONOUolQUUI/AAAAAAAAKPk/WCPxdrOOU3w/s1600/481427_4914090127743_959814484_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7l_oNXyvvYI/UONOUolQUUI/AAAAAAAAKPk/WCPxdrOOU3w/s320/481427_4914090127743_959814484_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence B</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
22. Nothing beats a £3.50 chicken doner kebab. Nothing. (Except, of course, a cheaper one.)<br />
<br />
21. It is possible to see Europe for £25 return<br />
<br />
20. I am capable of sleeping anywhere (e.g. standing, sitting, on the floor, lumpy futon, hard mattress, surrounded by shouting/crying/thumping).<br />
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19. Some cities completely shut down their public transit systems on Christmas day (I'm looking at you London). You wanna go visit your family? Hope they live within walking distance. You have work? Better sleep there overnight. Wanna go see the lights on Kensington High Street? Eff you.<br />
<br />
18. Travelling by train, not that great. Don't get me wrong, plenty convenient (at times). Just not that great.<br />
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17. Not putting your rubbish in a bin is okay (and not considered littering) because people are employed to clean up after you. Seriously.<br />
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16. The USA was referred to as 'the most liberal country in the world' in either an article I read or something I saw on the news. Either way, even if it was just one person's opinion, I didn't know anyone believed that.<br />
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15. Michael Bublé and Bruno Mars are very popular.<br />
<br />
14. Hotels in the US often have signs near the phone which read 'local calls are free'. I've always thought, 'well duh'. But, now I know that they say that because local calls are not free everywhere - like in Europe.<br />
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13. For the most part, things are exactly the same<br />
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12. Those of us who possess self-awareness are at a disadvantage and destined to be slightly frustrated with others at all times. (#12b, Europe is full of people lacking self-awareness.)<br />
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11. Shower head placement is arbitrary<br />
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10. Escalators are complicated and sometimes deadly (this may only apply in Scotland)<br />
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9. Generally, low standards/expectations equals more happiness<br />
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8. New friends are just as valuable as old ones.<br />
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7. Sometimes different isn't wrong, it's just different. But, sometimes different is just wrong. And, sometimes the wrong-different stuff is still different because people are too stupid/stubborn to change it.<br />
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6. I have a very unsophisticated palate<br />
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5. Street food is a cheap way to sample local cuisine (and delish!). (See Evidence C)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JshUf25nJcw/UONOTgDS-7I/AAAAAAAAKPc/9cwaPOA1lU0/s1600/398734_10200113102407978_1826285374_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JshUf25nJcw/UONOTgDS-7I/AAAAAAAAKPc/9cwaPOA1lU0/s320/398734_10200113102407978_1826285374_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence C</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
4. Comments are often made about the percentage of Americans who don't have passports (among other unflattering American statistics), both by Americans as well as others. But, I was shocked to find a number of people here who haven't been abroad (not even to Paris). More people in Scotland than London but there are still a good deal of people in London who've never left London. Shocking.<br />
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3. Not having to worry about health insurance, just knowing I'm covered, is a huge relief which I didn't expect. I thought because I always had amazing coverage in the States that I was never concerned about it. But I was. And I'm not here. And it's nice.<br />
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2. I don't hate all Americans I meet abroad. I may still hate all tourists, though.<br />
<br />
1. When I left in 2010 I'd had enough of the States. The politics, the entitlement, the patriotism, the guns, the religious zealots, the anti-choice ignorants, the second class citizen-making. I was ready to never return. But, after about a year, the honeymoon period was over and I started to miss the States, something I didn't think was possible. But, I do miss it. And, I'm looking forward to coming home.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-40664311458050854062012-08-27T04:00:00.000+08:002012-08-28T03:10:17.782+08:00Yelp LoveI love sharing my opinions. Unfortunately, not many people like hearing what I have to say, at least not constantly. Luckily, since about 2006, I've had other outlets for sharing my perspective besides just pestering those sitting next to me. In 2006 I wrote my <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g51992-d241244-r5591801-BEST_WESTERN_PLUS_Agate_Beach_Inn-Newport_Oregon.html" target="_blank">first review</a> and, as of today, exactly 3 people have found that review helpful. Clearly worth the effort.<br />
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In 2010, looking for an outlet for my opinion about my new home in Dundee, Scotland (and having no friends nearby nor very responsive in email) I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.yelp.co.uk/" target="_blank">Yelp</a>. The Yelp community in Dundee is small (I believe there was only one other Yelper in the area), but it was an outlet and I enjoyed it. However, my relationship with Yelp didn't really blossom until I relocated to London in 2011.<br />
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The London Yelp community is awesome! They throw amazing free events, have an active online community which also meets up in person for drinks and events, and the people all seem to be really friendly and happy. Last summer we only got to experience a small sampling of how great this community is so upon our return to London this past July of course we picked right back up with them. There has already been a <a href="http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/yelps-first-meet-the-owner-event-bubbleology-in-soho-london#hrid:B8bHxG5e8aOm1N34esJaYg/src:self" target="_blank">Meet the Owner</a> event and a couple of nights out with various members of the community. We're meeting new, awesome people and having a great time! <br />
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Yelp is exactly what I needed after 2 years of solitude in Dundee! I feel like I've got friends again, and a full social calendar, and people read what I write and send comments. I love that socialising in person with the people you meet online is actively encouraged with Yelp sponsored events. Yelp is perfect not only for an ex-pat (because most in the community are Americans) or recent transplant but for anyone wishing to shake up their usual routine. I wish I'd been more active in the Seattle Yelp community before we left. Happily, I won't make that mistake again and am already looking forward to joining the NYC Yelp community come January.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-51137924298759967602012-07-28T16:35:00.000+08:002012-07-28T16:35:51.991+08:00Amsterdam<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MIIJFtjNm3E/UAyIdRQ9FmI/AAAAAAAAJ-I/ClnT59xSPd4/s1600/P6140102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MIIJFtjNm3E/UAyIdRQ9FmI/AAAAAAAAJ-I/ClnT59xSPd4/s320/P6140102.JPG" width="320" /></a>I thought Amsterdam would've been one of my first European experiences. As it is, it wasn't. Of course, that's mostly relative because in 20 years I'll look back at my second year living abroad and remember I went to Amsterdam and think, "that was one of my first European cities." However, presently, closing in on the end of my two years living abroad and Amsterdam coming midway through the second year, let's just say I thought I would've seen it by now. Nevertheless, it is the first European city I've visited with friends, so that's something.<br />
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The Netherlands is a bicycle riding utopia. It is everything anyone who has ever commuted via bike could ever dream of: dedicated bicycle lanes (everywhere, including along highways), right of way (cars stop for bikes), respect (everyone moves when the bell is rung). Heaven. Thanks to my friend's itinerary recommendation, we decided to rent bicycles for a day for a self-guided windmill tour outside the city which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. If she hadn't made the suggestion, due to the budget nature of my travels, I would've opted out of this particular experience and just spent another day walking around Amsterdam, not even seeing a windmill. That would've been a travesty. If ever in doubt, €13 for a 24 hour rental is a killer deal and worth every cent (and the sore butt). Do it!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9VZfzVbmMZc/UAyIubVVTKI/AAAAAAAAJ-Y/--yaR2o7QNE/s1600/P6140112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9VZfzVbmMZc/UAyIubVVTKI/AAAAAAAAJ-Y/--yaR2o7QNE/s320/P6140112.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Although the Dutch are famously tolerant, I found that, in Amsterdam at least, this does not necessarily translate into good-natured, polite, nor particularly friendly. My experience left me with the impression that Dammers are honest, blunt, and perhaps not terribly inclined towards sarcasm. I imagine they are lovely people once you get used to their ways. Unfortunately, since I was in town for less than a week, I didn't have time to test this theory, though I still left believing I liked them more than I didn't.<br />
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Amsterdam is very picturesque. The canals are gorgeous. The cute, crooked houses are adorable. The small streets, especially The Nine Streets (<i>De Negen Straatjes</i>), are worth a day's meander. But, the Red Light District (<i>De Wallen</i>), especially at night, is not fun at all unless you like stag parties, ogling crowds, and a tense atmosphere.<br />
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Amsterdam is very disorienting. I doubted my compass on many occasions because I was certain north was not where it was saying it was. But, the compass was always right. Never doubt the compass.<br />
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Amsterdam is a lovely city and The Netherlands is a lovely country. I'm glad I finally had an opportunity to visit and look forward to exploring the country further. Shout out to my buddy T-Bird for joining me on this adventure. Especially when travelling on a tight budget, travel can become routine. It's fun to inject a new perspective and I hope to have her perspective on many trips to come.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-13649115933008318552012-06-28T02:02:00.000+08:002013-06-22T02:38:34.290+08:00Baltimore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rT3iDfSBd14/T-tJLImWD8I/AAAAAAAAJ8I/TVLFwKiu814/s1600/P6110023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rT3iDfSBd14/T-tJLImWD8I/AAAAAAAAJ8I/TVLFwKiu814/s320/P6110023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Baltimore has a terrible reputation. Lonely Planet’s <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/maryland/baltimore" target="_blank">website</a> - our default tourist information outlet - states “B’more, Bawlmer, and the less flattering ‘Body-more’ (if London had this town’s murder rate there’d be 3560 bodies floating in the Thames every year), Baltimore dares you to visit.” Additionally, <a href="http://www.hbo.com/the-wire/index.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wire</span></a>, a popular “cop show” (quotes are theirs) set in Baltimore, probably does not help with this perception. Though I haven’t seen it, I’m pretty sure my friends were warning me when I told them I was going to Baltimore and they responded, “have you seen The Wire?”. Thus, having had limited experience beyond the above, we landed in White Marsh, MD - a suburb of Baltimore and where the Megabus from New York City deposits you - on a lovely June afternoon mentally prepared for a pretty rough stay.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g60811-i165-Baltimore_Maryland.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tripadvisor Baltimore travel forum</span></a> had instructed us to take the #35 local MTA bus into Baltimore, picking up near the White Marsh Park & Ride where the Megabus stops. Our first observation upon unloading was that the Maryland Transit Administration doesn’t really want you to use their system. The park & ride, which you think would have plenty of maps and signs to show you where the various buses pickup as well as their destinations, was absolutely devoid of any type of signage. Not only are there no maps or signs but one must look very hard for the actual bus stops. Additionally, there are no sidewalks in the area, which makes walking along the busy street rather dangerous.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zIPsotacfck/T-tJRG6BcGI/AAAAAAAAJ8Y/ZhJt7t_Dh14/s1600/P6110052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zIPsotacfck/T-tJRG6BcGI/AAAAAAAAJ8Y/ZhJt7t_Dh14/s320/P6110052.JPG" width="320" /></a>Luckily, the travel forum had equipped us with pretty good directions and a foreknowledge of the lack of pedestrian protections, so we ventured away from the park & ride, across a busy street and through a business park, finally arriving at the Hampton Inn where the #35 stops. Upon arriving, due to the aforementioned poor signage, we were confused about which direction of travel we needed. Fortunately for us, there was one other person waiting at the stop and we asked her for help. <br />
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Our first interaction with a Baltimore local proved to be emblematic of our overall experience. She was exceedingly helpful, very friendly, and even asked for our email address in order to make sure we got to where we needed to be (which she has since done, also asking about our experience). We were gobsmacked by her level of assistance, interest in our plans, and attention. We immediately began to adjust our preconceptions.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UG9qiY6KjQ/T-tJTahFxnI/AAAAAAAAJ8g/DIPTDMwnXPI/s1600/P6110054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UG9qiY6KjQ/T-tJTahFxnI/AAAAAAAAJ8g/DIPTDMwnXPI/s320/P6110054.JPG" width="320" /></a>When we got on the bus - the correct one, thanks to our new friend - the bus driver was helpful and another passenger even struck up a conversation with us, asking if we’d just taken Megabus, which was apparently evident by our suitcases. Of course, the ‘If you mess with an MTA employee, it won’t end well for you’ sign placed near the driver (accompanied by an image of a fist and handcuffs) was noticeable but many cities have similar warnings. In actuality, this seemingly routine bus ride from White Marsh to Broadway & Madison would prove to be the extent of our experience of the rough side of Baltimore.<br />
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When we checked into our hotel in the Midtown area, near Mt Vernon, we were told of the free city bus which picked up right across the street and would take us into the Inner Harbor area within minutes. A visit to the Tourist Information Center would enlighten us to the whole system of free buses called the <a href="http://www.charmcitycirculator.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charm City Circulator</span></a> and, although struggling slightly with timing issues, this proved to be an amazing service utilized by both tourists and locals alike. If nothing else, the new, air conditioned buses were a welcome respite from the early June heat.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CujK-HPE5ME/T-tJVNdSjSI/AAAAAAAAJ8o/IrIiOKa3GJQ/s1600/P6110062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CujK-HPE5ME/T-tJVNdSjSI/AAAAAAAAJ8o/IrIiOKa3GJQ/s320/P6110062.JPG" width="320" /></a>We spoke and otherwise interacted with many locals and rarely in a service capacity. These were just people going about their day and after each exchange (seriously, EACH exchange) we were overwhelmed by the kindness and friendliness we received. We had considered the possibility that we’ve just become accustomed to the inconsiderate nature of the Brits and that we were experiencing the equivalent of people simply saying ‘excuse me’ and ‘please’; normal and expected behaviour. But, even our friend from Washington DC, who had come to visit us for a few hours, was equally charmed by the people and also commented on their amazing kindness. Now we understand why Baltimore is nicknamed Charm City (we had previously assumed the nickname to be sarcastic).<br />
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We utilised the Charm City Circulator often during our stay, sometimes just for sightseeing (return trip to Fort McHenry) but usually for transportation (Penn Station, Federal Hill). The view from Federal Hill was lovely and the Inner Harbor area was diverting. We were also fortunate to be in Baltimore immediately preceding the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://starspangledbaltimore.com/">War of 1812 bicentennial celebrations</a>;</span> it was nice to see the decorations and preparations without having to deal with the crowds.<br />
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Baltimore is a lovely city and the people of Baltimore are definitely charming. The Charm City Circulator makes getting around the city very easy and pleasant but, being a rather small city (comparable in size to, and reminiscent of, Seattle), walking is also a viable (and pleasant) option. We enjoyed our time in Baltimore and felt relatively safe throughout. Although the reality of Baltimore, as seen by The Wire and Lonely Planet, may be bleak and disturbing, we experienced nothing resembling those realities. We definitely wouldn’t mind returning to the area and are looking forward to the possibility.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-37490468686451314492012-06-23T08:01:00.000+08:002012-06-23T08:04:06.906+08:00The Journey: Edinburgh to Amsterdam to Brussels to New York City to Baltimore and ReverseOn a Saturday in early June, we experienced the best travel day ever. We took the train from Dundee to Edinburgh and, to save money, we walked about a mile (with our bags) to the stop for the local bus to the airport (£1.40) rather than the Airport Express bus (£3.50), which picks up right outside Haymarket rail station. We've done this once before and it was pretty straightforward but this time, due to construction for Edinburgh's tram, it wasn't as clear cut and we wound up getting lost. We arrived at the airport less than 30 minutes before boarding. Luckily, we were flying KLM (instead of one of the discount airlines) and we got the VIP treatment (escorted to the front of the line to check our bags) upon arrival. We cruised through security and made it to our gate with time to spare.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5c-sTeXJWQw/T-T3L6C5ZFI/AAAAAAAAJ7Y/27f5YAomPUI/s1600/P6020006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5c-sTeXJWQw/T-T3L6C5ZFI/AAAAAAAAJ7Y/27f5YAomPUI/s320/P6020006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schiphol Train Station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam took us only about an hour. We waited longer at the airport, for our bags and the train to Brussels, than it took to get there. We grabbed the train (€25, first class) from Schiphol to Brussels Central (an excruciating 2.5 hours) and arrived at our flat in Brussels about 30 minutes earlier than expected, around 11PM.<br />
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The trip from Brussels to New York City wasn't as pleasant as our first leg because a) the Brussels airport is shit and 2) our flight was connecting rather than direct, but the flights themselves were fine. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3WFzvIFVqec/T-T0BkMjI9I/AAAAAAAAJ7M/EIM_kmZTxmM/s1600/P6040002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3WFzvIFVqec/T-T0BkMjI9I/AAAAAAAAJ7M/EIM_kmZTxmM/s320/P6040002.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comte de Flandres metro station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Getting to the Brussels airport is pretty easy (subway and bus, €3.50) and Air Canada was a nice enough airline. We could've done without the 1.5 hours in Montreal but the flights only cost £230 so if the connection made the trip £500 cheaper then it was well worth it. We arrived into LaGuardia and took the bus to the subway to our hostel in the Bowery ($2.50).<br />
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For our trip to Reisterstown, MD we had to get creative. We took the Megabus from New York to White Marsh, MD ($9.00), a suburb northeast of Baltimore. From there we took a local MTA bus ($1.60) into Baltimore where we then grabbed the subway to Owings Mills ($1.60). Our only option at this point was a cab and, luckily, there's a taxi rank right outside the Owings Mills station. The taxi from the station to our resort cost $30.00.<br />
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Happily, we made a friend over our weekend at the resort willing to drive us into Baltimore. We forced $20 on her for the inconvenience though, since she would've been travelling in the completely opposite direction otherwise.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sQpa3e4TswQ/T-UCfsymK4I/AAAAAAAAJ7k/jqzFqgbsNkc/s1600/P6120001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sQpa3e4TswQ/T-UCfsymK4I/AAAAAAAAJ7k/jqzFqgbsNkc/s320/P6120001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megabus, Baltimore to New York City</td></tr>
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To get back up to New York we just reversed the above; local bus to White Marsh and Megabus into New York City. Once we got to New York we had to make our way to JFK which required the subway ($2.50) and the AirTrain ($5.00).<br />
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Our flight back to Brussels was uneventful. This leg was on Brussels Airlines and, besides the flight staff seeming rather surprised to be there, the flight seemed short and the seats were the most comfortable we've experienced in quite some time. We arrived in Brussels an hour later than expected, around 7AM.<br />
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This next portion was one of our worst travel experiences ever. We had hoped to simply reverse the above but the bus ticket (€3.50) is only good for a free transfer to the subway within an hour from purchase and we were stuck in a Brussels traffic jam for just over an hour, missing our free ride to Gare du Nord. Not wanting to pay again we decided to walk, venturing forth with a compass, no map, and luggage. We eventually got to Gare du Nord around 10AM and checked in for our 12PM Eurolines bus to Amsterdam (€9.00) only to be told that it was going to be late and not to expect it before 1PM. It eventually showed up at 1:45PM.<br />
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We arrived at Amstel station in Amsterdam almost two hours later than expected. Furthermore, for some reason our Google map had placed the distance from Amstel station and our flat at a mere 1.4km. The reality was that Amstel station is 5km away from our flat, which makes a huge difference. Had we known the actual distance we would've sprung for public transportation. As it was, we just walked.<br />
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The train from Amsterdam's Centraal station to Schiphol airport was €4.05 (including €0.50 credit card fee because only Dutch bank cards are accepted for no-fee processing). Schiphol is a wonderful airport but we didn't have much time to explore before boarding. Our KLM flight back to Edinburgh was uneventful and we were home shortly thereafter, 17 days after beginning this journey.<br />
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This trip had many legs and, though the return trip from Amsterdam to Brussels and the bus ride from Baltimore to New York City were very long, it didn't feel as though we spent a huge chunk of time travelling. Even at the end of the trip, the two solid days of travel (from Baltimore to Amsterdam) had almost been completely forgotten, though I fear the horrible Eurolines experience will stay with us for quite some time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-30854177991986043572012-05-15T05:43:00.000+08:002012-05-15T05:43:09.596+08:00Fife Coastal Path: Leven to Elie<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mKnBDTsGxkQ/T6_zWj5g6nI/AAAAAAAAJ5U/FwxY1dfLc5Q/s1600/P5060035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mKnBDTsGxkQ/T6_zWj5g6nI/AAAAAAAAJ5U/FwxY1dfLc5Q/s320/P5060035.JPG" width="320" /></a>For our last ramble in Scotland, we chose to explore a different section of the <a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/fife-coastal-path.html" target="_blank">Fife Coastal Path</a>. Our experience this past September was so idyllic, we really hoped to duplicate it whilst seeing something slightly different. <br />
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On a recent Sunday, we paid £9.50pp for Dayrider Plus bus tickets, transferred in St. Andrews, and were in Leven before we knew it. Due to our previous experience, we expected to encounter many cute pubs on our way to Elie so we packed a lunch sans drinks and resolved to turn this 12-mile ramble into a coastal village pub crawl.<br />
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Our first stop was right off the bus in Leven, on the high street at The Windsor Hotel. We weren't terribly impressed by Leven, or The Windsor Hotel, so we didn't linger. After a relatively fast round of drinks, we made our way to the water to begin our ramble. <br />
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The Fife Coastal Path is very well marked and, since this portion has many sections which skirt the water's edge, also has a High Tide Alternative which we wound up taking more often than not because we found we do not much care for long distance rambling with sand in our shoes.<br />
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Our next town was Lower Largo where we encountered our favourite pub of the day, the Railway Inn. We lingered over our drinks whilst watching the locals enjoying their sport on the telly (we couldn't see the TV but we could see and hear the crowd). When the sun started shining through the window we decided it was time to get back outside.<br />
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The weather was of the classic Scottish 'four seasons in one day' variety. The weather, sand, and rolling hills actually proved quite tiring and as we approached Earlsferry (no pubs), we began looking for a bus stop to take us back home. Unfortunately, the first bus stop wasn't until the neighbouring village of Elie and we arrived just in time to watch our once-per-hour bus depart. Luckily, Elie does have a pub and we were able to warm ourselves at the Station Buffet Bar (Scotland's Pub of the Year 2008) before catching our bus back to St. Andrews.<br />
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We had wanted to walk all the way to Pittenweem for the full 12-mile section but had to call the game at just under 9-miles. This section of the Fife Coastal Path was also slightly disappointing. There was a lot of garbage (see garbage sculpture, left) along the path and the villages weren't as cute as previously experienced (save Lower Largo). Overall, we still prefer our previous experience and, though Lower Largo was the highlight of this walk, would recommend Anstruther as the place to go along the Fife coast for a day out.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit my Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.290382137720125.62647.113598595398481&type=1&l=5c3c23d995" target="_blank">album</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-62284683819411247932012-04-29T02:35:00.000+08:002012-04-29T04:42:24.603+08:00Lake District<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ravenglass estuary</td></tr>
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In February we purchased a voucher for a 2-night stay in the <a href="http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Lake District National Park</a> from <a href="http://www.kgbdeals.co.uk/" target="_blank">KGB Deals</a> for £79 (including breakfast). With train tickets from Dundee to Ravenglass only £34pp return, this trip to England was an effing steal and a perfect birthday present for Husband. Last week we redeemed our voucher and had perhaps the most perfect holiday ever.<br />
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Our voucher was for <a href="http://www.penningtonhotels.com/pennington-hotel" target="_blank">The Pennington</a>, a gorgeous hotel in Ravenglass, a charming coastal village on the west coast of the Lake District in Cumbria, England. We arrived on Thursday morning too early to check-in (around 11am) so we dropped our suitcase off and started to explore the area. <br />
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The village is super small so we made our way along the main road to the neighbouring tourist attraction of <a href="http://www.muncaster.co.uk/" target="_blank">Muncaster Castle</a>. We had planned to spend Friday exploring this area but we had nothing better to do and it was still relatively early so we decided to enter (£11pp). This would prove to be the first of many correct decisions made on this trip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muncaster Castle</td></tr>
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We rambled a bit through the gardens, up to Bluebell Hill, and then back down to the castle. We started the castle tour just after 1pm and were done before 2:30pm. The castle is still occupied by The Penningtons and it's their voices (parents, daughter, and son-in-law) who narrate the audio tour. The tour is lovely and the castle is beautiful. They've made it charming and comfortable but it's still definitely a drafty, old castle. I do not envy their maintenance or energy costs but they've done a marvellous job of refurbishing and I wouldn't be averse to spending a summer in their shoes.<br />
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In addition to their lovely grounds there is an owl reserve on their land and at 2:30pm they put on a very entertaining bird show. We got to see a common buzzard, barn owl, and eagle owl in action and learn a bit about their plight here in the UK. Afterwards, we made our way to the actual sanctuary where they house many more varieties, all available for <a href="http://www.muncaster.co.uk/adopt-owl-0" target="_blank">adoption</a>. The owls are fed dead chicks, which we got to witness, and then at 4:30pm the leftovers are fed to a rather large but patient group of wild herons. The whole experience at Muncaster Castle was magical and easily supplanted <a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/glamis-castle.html" target="_blank">Glamis Castle</a> as our new favourite in the UK. <br />
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After the heron feeding we made our way back to Ravenglass via Public Footpath, passing fields of grazing sheep with their newborn lambs. The return trip didn't take very long and we were quickly back at our hotel.<br />
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Day Two saw us rambling 6 miles into the park to the town of Boot, along the River Esk. One of the great things about the UK is the fact that one can probably get anywhere via Public Footpath. We hadn't known that there was a trail from Ravenglass to Boot but we knew we wanted to go and assumed we'd eventually hit a trail so we just started rambling. Public Footpaths, Bridleways, and Right of Ways (all free to use) are definitely lovely perks of the British countryside.<br />
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Our 12 mile ramble took up the bulk of our second day but it was a lovely way to while away the hours and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. The highlight though was the surprise ending when we popped out of some trees to discover we were at the top of a hill, in a pasture of grazing sheep, with an amazing view of the estuary. <br />
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The rest of our time was spent sampling local real ales from the various establishments we stumbled upon, resting at our lovely hotel, and walking along the pebble beach at low tide. We left Saturday afternoon with giant smiles on our faces from a weekend well done.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.275246469233692.60015.113598595398481&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-3180919410286381052012-04-08T21:33:00.000+08:002012-04-08T21:33:07.106+08:00Perth & Kinnoull Hill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love Perth! It's a beautiful <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17364651" target="_blank">city</a> with lovely people surrounded by amazing countryside. I haven't spent nearly enough time there over these past 15+ months but yesterday I tried to remedy that.<br />
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Kinnoull Hill is an 11 km (6.9 miles) circle route, easy for those taking public transportation because the trailhead is just outside Perth's city centre. The peak at 729 feet is reached fairly early making the bulk of the ramble rather leisurely. <br />
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The path skirts the cliff edge to the summit and then winds its way down the backside through fields of grazing horses and sheep, eventually hitting Coronation Road, the historic path of kings and queens of Scotland travelling from Falkland Castle to Scone, the traditional location of coronation.<br />
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Leaving Coronation Road at Milkboys Path, outside Scone, we followed neighbourhood streets back into Perth. At the River Tay, the Sculpture Trail finishes the route by meandering through a few riverside parks back to the starting point.<br />
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We had envisaged spending the day in Perth but after our four hour ramble we were wiped out and increased our speed, leaving the Sculpture Trail a bit early, in order to make the return train home.<br />
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Although the day wasn't clear and we were hit by a few bursts of mist, we enjoyed this ramble immensely. The ease of access, friendly locals, and amazing views were well worth the effort and, once again, we were reminded of how every other place in Scotland is miles more enchanting than our ever more disappointing home town of Dundee. <br />
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For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.264580353633637.57748.113598595398481&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-20952190994881662312012-03-18T17:59:00.001+08:002012-03-19T05:05:13.654+08:00Scotland HighlightsWith just 3+ months left in bonnie Scotland, I thought it would be nice to relive some of the highlights of our nearly 2 years here.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Andrew's Cathedral</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/st-andrews.html" target="_blank">St. Andrews</a>: </b>Upon first arriving in Scotland, back in Aug 2010, we were instantly enamoured by our neighbour to the south. We've only been a few times since but each time we're amazed by its loveliness. The residents may be a bit posh (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did both attend university here) but the scenery is unbelievable.<br />
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<b>Coastal Paths: </b>We've only done two (<a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/arbroath-to-auchmithie.html" target="_blank">Seaton Cliffs</a> and <a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/fife-coastal-path.html" target="_blank">Fife Coastal Path</a>) but we can pretty much guarantee that all of Scotland's coastal paths would make for amazing day trips.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edinburgh Castle</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/edinburgh-take-two.html" target="_blank">Edinburgh</a>: </b>Of Scotland's two main cities, Edinburgh is by far the more impressive. With the castle, festivals, and Arthur's Seat, it just can't be beat. This is not to say that Glasgow isn't a nice city (because it is) but, as far as uniqueness on the world stage, Edinburgh is worth travelling for whilst Glasgow is worth seeing once you're here and if you have an extra day to kill.<br />
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<b><a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/glamis-castle.html" target="_blank">Glamis Castle</a>:</b> Unlike Edinburgh Castle, Glamis Castle is still a functioning residence (with a recent link to The Royal Family). It's super cute and fun and, to this date, our only fully functioning, non-ruin castle experience.<br />
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<b>Rambles:</b> Our rambles have been the best part of our time here. They've forced us out and about and provided us with memorable experiences to cherish. Including the aforementioned coastal walks, our countryside rambles (<a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/pitlochry.html" target="_blank">Pitlochry</a>, <a href="http://travelinbunny.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/glen-tilt.html" target="_blank">Blair Atholl</a>, and <a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/braan-walk.html" target="_blank">The Hermitage</a>, to name just three) are definitely something we hope to replicate wherever we call home.<br />
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Since we're leaving a year earlier than planned, it's true there are things we wanted to do and see before leaving which we no longer have time to do, but we think we've seen a lot in these two years and we'd rather leave too early than too late. Although our stay in Scotland has not quite <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark" target="_blank">jumped the shark</a> it's perilously close and no one wants to read stories about our adventure once that precipice has been reached. Thus, we begin the next adventure not completely averse to the notion of returning to Scotland in the future but happy we're leaving to experience something different.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-19812622383794413632012-03-04T19:43:00.000+08:002012-03-04T19:43:19.199+08:00Inverness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I went to Inverness in February and, though it's a lovely town, have been thoroughly uninspired to write about it. If you're really interested, read my rant <a href="http://mikendesi.blogspot.com/2012/02/epic-fail.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.243718712386468.53133.113598595398481&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-49488550432243229412012-01-17T02:00:00.000+08:002012-01-21T06:33:34.268+08:00Rome For Less Than €42 Per Day (per person)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from the roof top terrace</td></tr>
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<b>RENT: €1297</b><br />
Our <a href="http://www.vrbo.com/235135" target="_blank">studio flat</a> in the Monti District was amazing! We had plenty of room, a secret passageway, a roof top terrace (with a view of the Colosseum), and a super cute piazza right across the street. We were close to everything and the neighbourhood was adorable. We couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the city.<br />
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<b>FOOD: €380, Dining Out + €208, Groceries</b><br />
Our most expensive meal throughout the trip was at the Amsterdam airport on our return (€52.34). Our most expensive meal in Rome (and also our favourite), however, was only €33 (including drinks and dessert). Most of our meals were only €12 (including wine or beer), though.<br />
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Groceries were expensive. We did find 1 litre boxes of wine for €1 (it met our standards) and the Limoncello was only €5 for a bottle but the food options were disappointing. There were no freshly baked breads, no pastries, no soup. The <i>prosciutto cotto</i> and salami were reasonable at the deli counter (and offered us an opportunity to engage like locals) and we did find some ready-made chicken cordon bleu which we paired with noodles but, otherwise, our meals didn't really vary much; pasta most every night.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vatican Museum</td></tr>
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<b>ENTERTAINMENT: €47</b><br />
We went to the Borghese Gallery (€29) and Vatican Museum, which only cost us €18 because the nice guy behind the counter applied Mike's student discount to both of us. Otherwise, we entertained ourselves by visiting all the free churches and piazzas and just wandering the picturesque city streets.<br />
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<b>TRAVEL: €50</b><br />
We visited the Lido di Ostia twice (€8), Tivoli (€8.60), and Castel Gandolfo which was only €3.80 but should have been double that. We bought two one way tickets, assuming we'd buy the return tickets at the Castel Gandolfo station if we couldn't grab a bus back (like we did in Tivoli) but the station didn't have ticket purchasing facilities and there were no buses. Thus, we jumped on the train and crossed our fingers. No one came to check our ticket, so our return trip was free. We also rode the Metro a few times (€1 buys you a ticket good for 75 minutes) and the airport transfers cost us €20. <br />
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<b>GIFTS: €40</b><br />
It cost us €1 for 20 postcards but €31.15 for postage (we'll be rethinking this practise in the future). I also bought a few gifts for colleagues back home.<br />
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<b>GRAND TOTAL</b><br />
The grand total for our trip was €29.35 per day for expenses and €54.04 per night for accommodations, totalling €41.69 per person per day. Another budget trip to be proud of.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com1Dundee, UK56.462018 -2.97072156.3918355 -3.1286495000000003 56.5322005 -2.8127925tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-91106192661404034982012-01-14T08:55:00.000+08:002012-01-15T18:30:51.039+08:00Roma: Highlights and Disappointments<b>HIGHLIGHTS:</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Giovanni in Laterano</td></tr>
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<b>Churches - </b>The churches in Rome are as varied and plentiful as in Paris and everyone has a favourite. My favourite is St John's in Lateran, with St. Peter's in second, and Santa Maria in Aracoeli rounding out the top three.<br />
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The churches are free to enter. If you like what you see, please leave an offering to help maintain the site for others.<br />
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<b>The Spanish Steps - </b>If you need to rest your feet and are anywhere near the Spanish Steps you should tough it out until you get there. The Spanish Steps provide you with an excellent perch for people watching, a sunny spot for rejuvenating, and relative peace for contemplation. I enjoyed it often and always with some wine and salami. <br />
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If you need something besides wine to drink, the water spewing from Bernini's boat at the base of the steps (not <i>that</i> Bernini but his father) is said to have the sweetest drinking water of Rome. I thought it was okay.<br />
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<b>Colosseum - </b>It is everything you think it'll be and more. I didn't go inside the Colosseum, so I can't speak to the virtue of that aspect, but the exterior is overwhelming.<br />
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If you can get to the hill at the back, by the Arch of Constantine, there's a couple of spots to perch and people watch (another spot I enjoyed often, usually with wine and salami). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piazza Monti</td></tr>
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<b>Piazzas and Fountains - </b>I had seen maps of Rome and, after observing the lack of green space, assumed the absence of parks would be a bad thing. On the contrary, though there are lovely parks, mostly outside the city walls, the plethora of piazzas more than make up for the lack of lawn within the city walls. <br />
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Additionally, the art of every single fountain, the larger ones being located in the piazzas, is breathtaking. What was originally just a way to get running water to the people became something else entirely when it was decided to create art for something so practical. <br />
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<b>Vatican City - </b>Not a place I expected to be impressed with so it makes it even more surprising that it's one of my favourite spots. St. Peter's is beyond impressive (don't miss the Papal Tombs, they're a bit tricky to find) and the Vatican Museum is akin to the Louvre. After you visit the Pope's Apartments and the Sistine Chapel (in that order), don't miss the contemporary arts section (seriously, it can be easily missed). This section was almost completely devoid of other admirers, leaving us alone with Salvador Dali, Vincent van Gogh, Francis Bacon, Otto Dix, Paul Gauguin, Paul Klee, and Max Ernst (among others). We kept pinching ourselves when we would turn a corner and come face to face with another masterpiece; completely unexpected and amazing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lido di Ostia, last sunset of 2011</td></tr>
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<b>Beach - </b>The easiest beach to get to from Rome, Lido di Ostia is beautiful. The beach is long and wide and the sand is lovely. We whiled away many hours on this beach, even forgoing the much-hyped Ostia Antica for some wine drinking whilst ensconced in sand and the sounds of crashing waves.<br />
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<b>Cheap Travel - </b>Everyone I talked to about Rome before I left had mentioned that train travel is cheap in Italy, but I didn't actually believe any of them since my idea of cheap is entirely different than most anyone's. However, in this instance, I should have trusted them. <br />
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It cost less than €6 for a return ticket to Tivoli, less than €4 for a return ticket to Castel Gandolfo, and €2 for a return ticket to the beach. Had I expected travel to be so cheap I would've researched other day trips, perhaps even forgoing 25 days in Rome, opting instead for a few days exploring other areas of Italy. Lesson learned.<br />
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<b>Pantheon - </b>Yes, the Pantheon is a church but it is also so much more than that and really is in a class of its own. It's amazing.<br />
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<b>DISAPPOINTMENTS:</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Borghese Gallery</td></tr>
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<b>Borghese Museum and Gallery - </b>This is one of those 'must-sees' but for €15 for two hours (each ticket comes with a two hour window with mandatory departure) and only one breathtaking piece, Bernini's <a href="http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/eproserp.htm" target="_blank">Pluto and Proserpina</a>, it's not worth it. Bernini's <a href="http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edafne.htm" target="_blank">Apollo and Daphne</a> and Canova's <a href="http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/epaolinab.htm" target="_blank">Pauline Bonaparte</a> do deserve honourable mentions, and I'm glad I saw them while I was there, but three pieces and a small palazzo do not justify more than I paid for the Louvre. I want my money back. <br />
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If you insist on going, buy your ticket at the museum. Contrary to all reports, you don't have to buy the ticket online and you'll save €3 if you buy it in person (you will most likely be buying for a future date, however).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crowd at Trevi Fountain</td></tr>
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<b>Crowds - </b>I was not prepared for the crowds. I expected Christmas and New Year's to be low season but, obviously, I didn't take into consideration the number of religious tourists. Apparently, Rome is big with the pilgrims during this time of year; something to do with the Pope and a Christmas message, I think. Regardless, from 26 Dec to 6 Jan I was surrounded by people, ass to cheek. I was not mentally prepared for that.<br />
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Additionally, one cannot go anywhere in Rome without being accosted by myriad aggressive street vendors. There are a few legitimate kiosks, and I strongly encourage you to patronise these, but the (mostly) men with the pashminas, scarves, glass cubes, tripods, and sunglasses were the bane of my days in Rome and may be the reason I was so disenchanted so quickly with the city. <br />
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If you're not sure if the vendor you're dealing with is legitimate, wait until a police car rolls around. If the guy doesn't run, he's good to deal with. If you can't find him, it's because he ran far and fast while you were pondering that purchase because the penalty seems to be pretty terrifying and definitely not worth the €2 you were going to pay for that scarf.<br />
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<b>Admission Fees - </b>The only thing free in Rome are the churches and that seems to be in some sort of limbo since the 'Offerta' signs are pretty egregious. Some churches are completely dark unless you put money into a machine which then produces light (I'm looking at you, Popolo). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vittorio Emanuele II Monument</td></tr>
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The aforementioned Borghese Gallery was €15, the Colosseum was €12 (I think, I didn't partake), Ostia Antica had an admission fee (I bypassed it in favour of a free day at the beach), everything recommended in Tivoli costs (which leaves nothing free to do in the entire town but sit in the piazza), and none of the museums are free. <br />
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The Vittorio Emanuele II monument is free and the Vatican Museums are worth every penny but everything else just makes you feel dirty. The only place in the entire city where I felt clean was in Vatican City. St. Peter's doesn't whore itself for your €0.50 and even has a free exhibition about Gaudi's Sagrada Família which was interesting.<br />
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<b>Food - </b>The only street food kiosks are located at the tourist sites, making them extremely expensive. There are no cheap rotisserie chickens (€3 in Paris, £4 in London), no cheap falafel stands. Besides the tourist sites, there is no street food. <br />
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Pizza is cheap, usually sold by the <i>etto</i> (I may have seen some tourist shops selling them by the slice, though). Panini can be cheap if purchased away from the kiosks and tourist sites. That's about it for variety. <br />
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<i>Vino della casa</i>, or table wine, was typically €4 for a half litre but rarely seen (I had expected every restaurant to have table wine). Chinese food is available and cheaper than Italian, Indian food is available but much more expensive.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0Dundee, UK56.462018 -2.97072156.3918355 -3.1286495000000003 56.5322005 -2.8127925tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110909687446153092.post-80944216074656440002012-01-02T17:29:00.000+08:002012-04-13T05:45:09.703+08:00Rome: Further Observations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Rome is small</b> - I had expected Rome to be comparable in size to London, Paris, and New York - probably because those cities are often mentioned together - but it's not. It's quite a bit smaller. Or, at least it feels quite a bit smaller. Without much effort at all I saw the Colosseum, The Forum, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps within just a few minutes of each other and just by wandering aimlessly.<br />
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<b>Tourists and Beggars are everywhere</b> - Everywhere.<br />
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<b>Trains are cheap</b> - Want to go to the beach? €1 on the metro, Lido line. Want to head to the hills? €2.30 on Tren Italia. If you're tired of the tourists and the beggars, you can escape the city for just pennies (though you'll still encounter both at the beach). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last sunset of 2011</td></tr>
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<b>The beach is close</b> - Did you know Rome is basically on the Mediterranean? In less than an hour you can be in Ostia, enjoying a beautiful beach.<br />
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<b>Lunch is €12</b> - I've enjoyed pizza with wine and panini with beer and it always equals €12 for the two of us. Dinner has varied from €20-35 but the a la carte lunch seems to always equal €12 for us.<br />
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<b>Loud</b> - Rome is a very noisy city. Horn honking occurs at all hours, street cleaning, window rattling, merriment; it took a good week before we were able to sleep through the night. Now, we could probably sleep through a train crashing through our bedroom door.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878990861077912813noreply@blogger.com0Rome, Italy41.8905198 12.494248641.5122753 11.8625346 42.2687643 13.125962600000001