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Post by ten15 on Jan 26, 2023 13:45:50 GMT -6
mrs ten15's boss stays at the JW Marriott Camelback. He's kinda high maintenance, but he loves that place.
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Post by ultravisitor on Jan 30, 2023 14:33:10 GMT -6
Okay, so I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to Barcelona, but ticket prices are better for the combo of Barcelona and Madrid than Madrid and any other two cities.
So I'm off to Barcelona and Madrid (in July). Any recs? I want to go to the beach and eat paella and see all sorts of other cool stuff. Maybe I'll go see The Weeknd since he's in Barcelona while I'm planning on being there.
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Post by venom on Jan 30, 2023 14:54:38 GMT -6
Okay, so I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to Barcelona, but ticket prices are better for the combo of Barcelona and Madrid than Madrid and any other two cities. So I'm off to Barcelona and Madrid (in July). Any recs? I want to go to the beach and eat paella and see all sorts of other cool stuff. Maybe I'll go see The Weeknd since he's in Barcelona while I'm planning on being there. i don't think the beaches in barcelona are terribly special. the main beach in barceloneta was created for the olympics and the sand is from egypt. it's likely to be super crowded in july. i'd recommend taking the train to ocata or sant pol de mar for better beaches nearby. both stops are right next to the beach. there are plenty of sites for restaurant recommendations, but the restaurant i visited every year i went to primavera was cerviceria catalana in l'eixample. excellent tapas and flautas. sagrada familia and park guell should also be on your list. |
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Post by llamaoftime on Feb 2, 2023 11:51:10 GMT -6
This is tomorrow! I'm pumped! Itinerary in short. We are keeping the Big Island part of the trip, should be plenty safe to go 1/20- arrive around 230 PM, relax for a bit and walk around Waikiki, meeting some of my GF's family friends for dinner 1/21- Hanauma Bay early (good call mookie on going here our first morning), lunch at Fete, day in Waikiki, drive out to Haleiwa Joes for dinner, possibly go out for drinks after or sleep 1/22- Explore the North Shore during morning and afternoon, Pearl Harbor tour booked at 315, dinner at Hy's Steakhouse 1/23- Diamond Head in the morning, casual lunch, either drive around the part of the island we hadn't been to or go to the beach some more, dinner at Wasabi Bistro 1/24- fly to Hilo, check out Akaka Falls, get groceries, get to Airbnb (which is a sweet looking cabin right outside Volcano National Park) 1/25- Volcano National Park exploration 1/26- Drive to Kona, possibly stop at Punaluu Beach and/or Pu'uhonua o Honanuanau on the way, flight at 230 to Maui, dinner at Huihui by our hotel in Maui, relax in the evening 1/27- Road to Hana day. If we're not too tired then sunset viewing at Haleakala National Park 1/28- Explore West Shore (Kihei area), Feast at Lele for dinner which is a luau type of thing with a meal and an open bar for 3 hours 1/29- Relax day, black rock beach (right across from our hotel), enjoy hotel which has some activities, nurse possible hangover from previous nights open bar 1/30- travel home This trip was awesome, really liked Hawaii would do again though it'll probably be a minute before I go back We couldn't get a reservation for Hanauma Bay but tried to walk in and were able to get in, and got in decently quick. That place was super cool and beautiful and a great first beach experience there. Fete was really awesome and one of my favorite meals of the trip. Couldn't get into Haleiwa Joe's, too long a wait, but that was ok. The lookouts around Oahu were really cool, and we found some really beautiful beaches. Waikiki was kind of disappointing, it's obviously a bit touristy but I guess Covid might have decimated a lot of the local spots because there were like hardly any local bars that weren't just overpriced hotel bars, only found one which was a good hang. But I really loved Oahu once we got out of Waikiki. We didn't get to have much North Shore time because we came to find out when we got there they had called The Eddie to go, that's a huge surfing competition they hold very infrequently, the last one was in 2016, and they call it with 48 hours warning because the waves have to be perfect. As cool as that would have been to watch, apparently people were camping overnight and we were told it'd be like a 4+ hour drive to the North Shore (normally 40 mins) and then finding parking would be near impossible. So we put that off until the last day which was the day after the competition. Most TV's were playing the competition at places we went which was neat. We fit our North Shore day into the day we did Diamond Head and also had spent lunch time at a beach so only got a couple hours there but it seemed really cool. That's a priority on a repeat visit. The Volcano National Park was awesome, Kilauea is actively erupting and we went at night and hiked to a spot where you could see the lava from a half mile away, absolutely wild to see actively erupting lava in person. When we first drove up to the park the whole sky was glowing red which was crazy. Explored pretty much the whole park pretty extensively for a day and really enjoyed that. Would like to spend more time on the big island, we didn't get to do much in Kona or Hilo. Did catch some cool stuff on the drive to the airport like a big black sand beach. Maui was unfortunately very rainy the whole time we were there. We ended up booking a whale watching tour after arriving and seeing tons of whales just from lookout points, but both that and our luau thing we booked (Feast at Lele) got cancelled due to weather. We drove the Road to Hana in the rain which probably wasn't super smart but that was cool, but we didn't get to stop at too many places because it was raining too hard. Got to see a few spots and the drive was beautiful but would have been better without the rain (and borderline almost flooding at parts, although nothing had got to dangerous level). Then our second day I had picked out a lunch poke spot, and casually said "lets just drive the north part of west Maui to get there" because google showed it was only like 40 minutes. That might have been the most stressful drive of my life, I don't know why I figured it was solid roads along the coastline up there, there was tons of blind turns, one lane roads with two lanes of traffic, cliffside roads with no guard rails, and one long one lane drive where if you come up on someone one of you two have to back all the way up to find a place for one to pass along a road with no guarding going up and down a cliff. I learned my lesson to research a little better before choosing a random drive casually! Though, we were using this app tour guide called Shaka Guide that had been recommend to us and I'd recommend it to anyone going to Hawaii, it was a really neat app that worked offline that explained what you were doing, gave directions, even gave you pros and cons of if you want to stop at an attraction. But it didn't warn me for this drive well at all until we were deep in it (I sent them that feedback). To top it off my lunch spot was closed due to the rain and this was the day that our other stuff got cancelled, bummer day but one bummer day on a vacation isn't too bad. In general I was really surprised by how remote Maui seemed, like it's probably the island I hear about the second most and it's clearly a big vacation spot but lots of wild drives there, lots of places without phone signal (had it pretty much everywhere on the Big Island and Oahu), and small highways that got backed up real easily. Last day the rain finally let up in the morning and finally got a beach day and did some snorkeling which was really cool, at one point a huge sea turtle swam right up to me to the point that I had to swim out of the way to avoid touching it (didn't want to bother him, just see him from a distance), that was wild. And had probably the best meal of the trip at a place called Merriman's that was really impressive, a few people had really hyped it up to us and they weren't kidding. The outdoor patio of that place looked incredible though was unfortunately closed with the rain, if I go back sitting on that patio for the sunset is a priority. Anyways great time overall would definitely recommend |
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Post by venom on Feb 2, 2023 11:57:55 GMT -6
that reads like quite a good adventure there was tons of blind turns, one lane roads with two lanes of traffic, cliffside roads with no guard rails, and one long one lane drive where if you come up on someone one of you two have to back all the way up to find a place for one to pass along a road with no guarding going up and down a cliff. this happened to us in norway. my partner was losing their mind the whole way up the mountain, especially the many times i had to reverse into a switchback. on the return trip, she just closed her eyes the whole time. |
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Post by Tweet on Feb 2, 2023 11:58:34 GMT -6
Anyone have any takes, good or bad, on Air Canada? They have an absolutely batshit deal for round trip to Tokyo thru Toronto each way (like $900 cheaper for the cheapest direct option) and trying to figure out if that $900 is worth saving
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Post by llamaoftime on Feb 2, 2023 12:00:26 GMT -6
on an entirely different topic, I was looking at a little mini extended weekend summer solo trip and something that I thought might be fun to do is take an AMTRAK. I got a rough plan based around some shows that would have me taking the 51 Cardinal train from Philadelphia to Chicago. That'd be a roughly 25 hour train ride. I was thinking I might do a roomette (their sleeper car option, small room with two beds but I'd be in it by myself) for that, which gives me a bed and meals. It's a little more expensive than I'd like to pay, but I thought it might just be a neat experience to do because I've never taken an amtrak and that apparently has some pretty views of the mountains in Virginia, and a coach ticket for a 25 hour ride sounds brutal even if it's way cheaper. I think the bed would be huge. It's like $500 which is a lot, but I suppose it is like my hotel room for the night + alternative for a flight + covers 4 meals and drinks, and then I can also figure some of the pay is for the experience
Am I over romanticizing how fun it would be to ride on a train like that? Or is it genuinely kind of cool? The idea of laying in my bunk watching the scenery sounds really cool in my head
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Post by mookie on Feb 2, 2023 12:04:34 GMT -6
Anyone have any takes, good or bad, on Air Canada? They have an absolutely batshit deal for round trip to Tokyo thru Toronto each way (like $900 cheaper for the cheapest direct option) and trying to figure out if that $900 is worth saving Not thrilled with them. My wife and kids flew them on our Euro trip. They barely made the connection from Chicago, then on the return flight, they got stuck in Montreal because their flight got with no warning. One thing I will say, my wife booked a more expensive hotel that ight than we typically would spend, since that was all that was close to the airport, and AC actually fully reimbursed her for it |
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Post by venom on Feb 2, 2023 12:09:06 GMT -6
Anyone have any takes, good or bad, on Air Canada? They have an absolutely batshit deal for round trip to Tokyo thru Toronto each way (like $900 cheaper for the cheapest direct option) and trying to figure out if that $900 is worth saving i've flown AC a lot and have only had a couple bad experiences. but my biggest issue with toronto-tokyo would be that the economy seats on that route aren't very comfortable. |
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Post by thebosma on Feb 2, 2023 12:12:07 GMT -6
on an entirely different topic, I was looking at a little mini extended weekend summer solo trip and something that I thought might be fun to do is take an AMTRAK. I got a rough plan based around some shows that would have me taking the 51 Cardinal train from Philadelphia to Chicago. That'd be a roughly 25 hour train ride. I was thinking I might do a roomette (their sleeper car option, small room with two beds but I'd be in it by myself) for that, which gives me a bed and meals. It's a little more expensive than I'd like to pay, but I thought it might just be a neat experience to do because I've never taken an amtrak and that apparently has some pretty views of the mountains in Virginia, and a coach ticket for a 25 hour ride sounds brutal even if it's way cheaper. I think the bed would be huge. It's like $500 which is a lot, but I suppose it is like my hotel room for the night + alternative for a flight + covers 4 meals and drinks, and then I can also figure some of the pay is for the experience Am I over romanticizing how fun it would be to ride on a train like that? Or is it genuinely kind of cool? The idea of laying in my bunk watching the scenery sounds really cool in my head The Amtrak rocks. We used to take it to visit my grandparents in Colorado. Have done a 25 hour trip in the coach seats and you are correct it is uncomfortable so definitely do the roomette if you can. The views are indeed great and it’s fun to sit in the excursion car and read while everything passes by. Notable that delays are common on the long trips because there are big stretches of rail that the freight companies get priority access too so occasionally you’re waiting. It doesn’t always happen but it does happen often enough to mention. Regardless it’s something you should do at least once I think |
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Post by venom on Feb 2, 2023 12:15:40 GMT -6
on an entirely different topic, I was looking at a little mini extended weekend summer solo trip and something that I thought might be fun to do is take an AMTRAK. I got a rough plan based around some shows that would have me taking the 51 Cardinal train from Philadelphia to Chicago. That'd be a roughly 25 hour train ride. I was thinking I might do a roomette (their sleeper car option, small room with two beds but I'd be in it by myself) for that, which gives me a bed and meals. It's a little more expensive than I'd like to pay, but I thought it might just be a neat experience to do because I've never taken an amtrak and that apparently has some pretty views of the mountains in Virginia, and a coach ticket for a 25 hour ride sounds brutal even if it's way cheaper. I think the bed would be huge. It's like $500 which is a lot, but I suppose it is like my hotel room for the night + alternative for a flight + covers 4 meals and drinks, and then I can also figure some of the pay is for the experience Am I over romanticizing how fun it would be to ride on a train like that? Or is it genuinely kind of cool? The idea of laying in my bunk watching the scenery sounds really cool in my head you may be romanticizing how fun it would be to ride amtrak like that. short routes like seattle-vancouver, chicago-milwaukee, or basically anything in the northeast corridor are fine. but a day+ slog is not an amtrak strength. i don't think they own the rails for much of that philly-chicago route, so they run second to freight trains and there can be a lot of delays. i did pittsburgh-washington once and we spent almost as much time stopped for other trains as moving. |
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Post by scoots on Feb 2, 2023 12:21:35 GMT -6
Air Canada sucks. I guess it depends on the size of plane and how old the fleet is they use on those international flights, but generally the way they handle any U.S.-Canada routes has been awful from a customer service perspective.
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Post by dij22 on Feb 2, 2023 12:23:42 GMT -6
on an entirely different topic, I was looking at a little mini extended weekend summer solo trip and something that I thought might be fun to do is take an AMTRAK. I got a rough plan based around some shows that would have me taking the 51 Cardinal train from Philadelphia to Chicago. That'd be a roughly 25 hour train ride. I was thinking I might do a roomette (their sleeper car option, small room with two beds but I'd be in it by myself) for that, which gives me a bed and meals. It's a little more expensive than I'd like to pay, but I thought it might just be a neat experience to do because I've never taken an amtrak and that apparently has some pretty views of the mountains in Virginia, and a coach ticket for a 25 hour ride sounds brutal even if it's way cheaper. I think the bed would be huge. It's like $500 which is a lot, but I suppose it is like my hotel room for the night + alternative for a flight + covers 4 meals and drinks, and then I can also figure some of the pay is for the experience Am I over romanticizing how fun it would be to ride on a train like that? Or is it genuinely kind of cool? The idea of laying in my bunk watching the scenery sounds really cool in my head you may be romanticizing how fun it would be to ride amtrak like that. Agreed, especially Philly to Chicago. I've done that drive a dozen times in my life and most of it is basically just bland and shitty Ohio. Amtrak in the West by the Rockies seems genuinely cool though. |
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Post by scoots on Feb 2, 2023 12:25:17 GMT -6
Never done Amtrak but I'd love to eventually do the Denver to San Fran route. Or hell, maybe just the Denver to Glenwood Springs route more realistically.
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Post by ten15 on Feb 2, 2023 12:30:42 GMT -6
RE: Amtrak. I have no longhaul experience, but I have several friends who have. It seems pretty binary: either you love it or hate it. I want to do the Canadian Rockies tour at some point, but you stay in hotels along the way.
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Post by Tweet on Feb 2, 2023 12:42:15 GMT -6
Thanks for all the air Canada reviews turns out kayak fucked up and it doesn’t appear to be a real price
We’re probably gonna fly United who also suck but at least it’s direct
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Post by alady on Feb 2, 2023 12:47:02 GMT -6
Could not pay me to do a long Amtrak trip again. Did Chicago to DC once. It is not comfortable, the food isn't good, it's claustrophobic.
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Post by llamaoftime on Feb 2, 2023 12:50:17 GMT -6
on an entirely different topic, I was looking at a little mini extended weekend summer solo trip and something that I thought might be fun to do is take an AMTRAK. I got a rough plan based around some shows that would have me taking the 51 Cardinal train from Philadelphia to Chicago. That'd be a roughly 25 hour train ride. I was thinking I might do a roomette (their sleeper car option, small room with two beds but I'd be in it by myself) for that, which gives me a bed and meals. It's a little more expensive than I'd like to pay, but I thought it might just be a neat experience to do because I've never taken an amtrak and that apparently has some pretty views of the mountains in Virginia, and a coach ticket for a 25 hour ride sounds brutal even if it's way cheaper. I think the bed would be huge. It's like $500 which is a lot, but I suppose it is like my hotel room for the night + alternative for a flight + covers 4 meals and drinks, and then I can also figure some of the pay is for the experience Am I over romanticizing how fun it would be to ride on a train like that? Or is it genuinely kind of cool? The idea of laying in my bunk watching the scenery sounds really cool in my head you may be romanticizing how fun it would be to ride amtrak like that. short routes like seattle-vancouver, chicago-milwaukee, or basically anything in the northeast corridor are fine. but a day+ slog is not an amtrak strength. i don't think they own the rails for much of that philly-chicago route, so they run second to freight trains and there can be a lot of delays. i did pittsburgh-washington once and we spent almost as much time stopped for other trains as moving. is the scheduled time generally padded to account for those delays or are you often getting to the destination hours later than planned? |
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Post by ultravisitor on Feb 2, 2023 12:54:25 GMT -6
I used to take the train a lot when I lived on the east coast, and I think three hours is about tops for what I can do. Taking the train is not nearly as good of an experience here as it is abroad.
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Post by thebosma on Feb 2, 2023 12:58:34 GMT -6
you may be romanticizing how fun it would be to ride amtrak like that. short routes like seattle-vancouver, chicago-milwaukee, or basically anything in the northeast corridor are fine. but a day+ slog is not an amtrak strength. i don't think they own the rails for much of that philly-chicago route, so they run second to freight trains and there can be a lot of delays. i did pittsburgh-washington once and we spent almost as much time stopped for other trains as moving. is the scheduled time generally padded to account for those delays or are you often getting to the destination hours later than planned? Little of column A, little of column B. |
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Post by clouddead on Feb 2, 2023 13:10:00 GMT -6
Add me to the “no thanks” side of the Amtrak debate. Did Chicago to NYC once and it blew.
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Post by zircona1 on Feb 2, 2023 13:13:59 GMT -6
I've taken Amtrak from STL->Chicago a few times in the past.
Pros: no airport-style lines, don't have to check your bags, outlet for your laptop/phone, scenery
Cons: tardiness, snack food selection sucks
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Post by scoots on Feb 24, 2023 11:18:35 GMT -6
I have a solo work trip to Detroit/Lansing in early May. Have never been to either city. Please provide food/beer recommendations.
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Post by kb on Feb 24, 2023 11:22:51 GMT -6
if i ever get to detroit, temple bar is at the top of my list
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Post by alady on Feb 25, 2023 11:12:54 GMT -6
I asked my friend for his recs - he's a Detroit native (who recently moved to Denver, actually):
Bars/Places to have a drink:
The Detroiter (good, neighborhood dive feel)
Grand Trunk
The Skip (The Frozen Irish Coffee used to be my favorite cocktail in the city)*
Standby
Jacoby’s (German food)
Batch Brewing Co.
Checker Bar (I’m told they have good burgers as well, arcade games upstairs)
Greenwich Times (next door to Checker)
Nemo’s (good burgers too)
Second Best
Nancy Whiskey(one of the oldest bars in Det)
PJ’s Lager house: another dive, decent chance of there being good, local live music.
Places to eat:
Highlands, Andiamo, Joe Muer’s Seafood all within The Renaissance Center
Michigan & Trumbull (favorite pizza in the city)
Vicente’s (Cuban)
Leila (Lebanese)
Selden Standard (New American)
Cornerstone Barrelhouse (lots of good whiskey here too)
GreenDot Stables (sliders, lots of meat variety)
Baobab Fare (African)
ima (ramen)
Breakfast/Brunch:
Dime Store
Coffee
James Oliver (good coffee and bagels)
Dessert Oasis
Roasting Plant
Culture:
Detroit Institute of Arts (recently named best Art museum by USA today)
Motown Museum
Heidelberg Project (assuming the weather is decent)
Belle Isle/Detroit Riverwalk
Cadieux Cafe - live jazz
John King books - one of the largest used bookstores in the US
Third Man - pressing plant tour is fun
*disclaimer re: the skip- the crowd can kinda suck but the cocktail really is delicious. if they go i'd suggest just popping in earlier in the day to avoid that
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Post by neader on Feb 25, 2023 12:21:32 GMT -6
Yeah that's a good list. I'll add Selden Standard and Grey Ghost if you want to $$$. Batch is my favorite brewery in the city.
Edit: nvm I see Selden is on there. I'll add Sweetwater Tavern for my fav wings probably in the country.
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Post by scoots on Feb 25, 2023 12:26:04 GMT -6
I asked my friend for his recs - he's a Detroit native (who recently moved to Denver, actually): Bars/Places to have a drink: The Detroiter (good, neighborhood dive feel) Grand Trunk The Skip (The Frozen Irish Coffee used to be my favorite cocktail in the city)* Standby Jacoby’s (German food) Batch Brewing Co. Checker Bar (I’m told they have good burgers as well, arcade games upstairs) Greenwich Times (next door to Checker) Nemo’s (good burgers too) Second Best Nancy Whiskey(one of the oldest bars in Det) PJ’s Lager house: another dive, decent chance of there being good, local live music. Places to eat: Highlands, Andiamo, Joe Muer’s Seafood all within The Renaissance Center Michigan & Trumbull (favorite pizza in the city) Vicente’s (Cuban) Leila (Lebanese) Selden Standard (New American) Cornerstone Barrelhouse (lots of good whiskey here too) GreenDot Stables (sliders, lots of meat variety) Baobab Fare (African) ima (ramen) Breakfast/Brunch: Dime Store Coffee James Oliver (good coffee and bagels) Dessert Oasis Roasting Plant Culture: Detroit Institute of Arts (recently named best Art museum by USA today) Motown Museum Heidelberg Project (assuming the weather is decent) Belle Isle/Detroit Riverwalk Cadieux Cafe - live jazz John King books - one of the largest used bookstores in the US Third Man - pressing plant tour is fun *disclaimer re: the skip- the crowd can kinda suck but the cocktail really is delicious. if they go i'd suggest just popping in earlier in the day to avoid that This is incredible, thank you. Already seeing some spots I'd like to visit and only really had an opportunity to look at a few places. Batch looks terrific. I might just splurge for dinner on Sunday night and then get into Lansing late, too. |
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Post by ten15 on Mar 1, 2023 14:43:16 GMT -6
La Guardia has gone from my least favorite airport to my favorite. The terminal B redo is amazing - great food/retail options, and comfortable gate seating.
Probably helps that my meeting ended early and I had a few beers at the Centurion Lounge, but still.
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Post by alady on Mar 1, 2023 14:52:36 GMT -6
You know which one suuuuucks now is the Southwest terminal at O'Hare, or maybe it was just the gate we had for Nashville, but it was a ridiculously long walk - I thought I was being dramatic/lazy but a friend of mine who's a personal trainer just flew out of that terminal and they had to flag down a cart to get to their gate in time. The gate itself is fine I guess.
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Post by clouddead on Mar 1, 2023 15:01:15 GMT -6
I flew Southwest from/to O’Hare in December. That walk is brutal.
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