Keith's Amusing Musings » Travel

Trip to Cancun

Keith — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:41:12 +0000

Team Smith returned from six nights in Cancun late Monday. We were there for my brother-in-law’s wedding and stayed at Moon Palace. It was our first vacation of 2010.

Owen and his two-year-old cousin, Abria, played on the beach for the first time and enjoyed swimming in the pool and chasing each other around.

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How many countries have I seen? (2010)

Keith — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:35:31 +0000

It has been three years since my original “How many countries have I seen?” post. I thought it would be fun to update the list to get a sense of how much of the world I have yet to see. This is also a good way to get TB thinking about places we might visit in 2010.

As of April 2010, the tally comes in at 29, nine more since March 2007. This puts me at a mere 15% of the 193 countries in the world or +5% in 3 years. At this rate, it will take me about 50 more years to cover the globe.

Below is the updated list including links to the relevant blog entries.

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Barbados
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China
Czech Republic
Dominica
England
France
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Japan
Malaysia
Mexico (Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas)
Monaco
Mozambique
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Scotland
Singapore
South Africa (Kruger National Park, Cape Town, Plettenberg Bay)
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
USA

As before, these are all places I have actually visited so airport layovers do not count.

In the previous post I expressed a desire to visit South America and mainland Asia. I covered both with trips to Argentina & Brazil in October 2007 then China & South Korea in April 2008. Cape Town still reigns supreme as my favorite city but Rio de Janeiro is a close second. Kuala Lumpur maintains its rank on the bottom rung.

What’s next on the to-do list? Central America, India or the Middle East would be nice but we may have to wait until Owen is a little older before taking on those last two.

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Photo Gallery: Eastern Europe

Keith — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:43:06 +0000

Here are some of the photos we took while visiting Prague, Eger and Budapest over Thanksgiving. Microsoft Silverlight is required to view this gallery. Navigation is as simple as flipping through the pages of a magazine (i.e., drag the bottom-right corner).

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Back from the Czech Republic and Hungary

Keith — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:56:26 +0000

For Thanksgiving this year, TB and I decided to take Owen on his first international trip and make our first visit to Eastern Europe. We departed Seattle Saturday, November 21, flying Lufthansa to Prague via Frankfurt.

Sidebar:
Hungarians and Czechs would take offense to their countries being classified as “Eastern Europe” however, for my purposes, I consider everything east of Berlin and formerly under Communist rule Eastern Europe.

After the 10-hour flight from Seattle to Frankfurt, 3-hour layover and 1-hour flight to Prague we were all exhausted. Owen is still a great travel baby and several flight attendants and nearby passengers commented on how happy he was throughout both flights. He had smiles and lots of chattering for anyone who looked his way and slept about 5½ hours during the 10-hour leg. TB grabbed 2 hours of sleep but I stayed awake the entire time reading or pacing with Owen.

We spent most of Sunday in our hotel, Intercontinental Praha, recovering from some serious jetlag.

Monday through Wednesday we spent exploring Prague, the largest city and capital of the Czech Republic. It is also the best-preserved, large, European city after the destruction during World War II.

Panorama from Prague Castle, November 23, 2009, Prague, Czech Republic

Monday we walked along the River Vltava to the Charles Bridge. We spent the afternoon exploring the area around St. Nicholas Church and Prague Castle.

Tuesday we slept in and had a late breakfast at Bohemia Bagel café, a short walk from the hotel in Old Town. Wednesday we walked through and around Old Town exploring a ton of the city’s architecture and rubbing elbows with hundreds of locals and tourists.

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we flew from Prague to Budapest via Munich. It was dark by the time we arrived at the Budapest airport and Owen was cranky from the day of travel and commotion. Unfortunately, we still had a 90-minute drive from Budapest to Eger, Hungary where we would be celebrating Thanksgiving with Owen’s Aunt Sally & Uncle Ben. It took about 20 minutes to pick up the rental car from Budget. I had to show my international driver’s license ($15 at AAA), buy a highway driving permit—€4 (or $6) from Budget—and rent a GPS—€14/day (!) from Budget. After 10 pages of paperwork and about 20 signatures, we had they keys to a manual Ford Focus and were on our way.

Owen had a meltdown en route to Eger, about 30 minutes into the trip, so we pulled off the expressway into a rest area to give him some time out of his car seat and to feed him. After about 20 minutes we were back on the expressway. A few minutes later, we hit the thickest fog either of us had ever experienced with only 20-30 feet of visibility. Driving in the dark, in a foreign country, with hard to read signs & street names, in soupy fog is not for the faint of heart. The GPS proved to be worth its weight in gold since we could not see any of the road signs until we were passing them.

We made it to Eger in 2 hours but spent a good hour or so searching for the Senator-Ház hotel. The GPS was useless because the local roads weren’t mapped. Asking for directions was fruitless because we speak no Hungarian and no one we encountered in that remote part of Hungary spoke English. We knew we were close but the darkness, fog, fatigue, lack of signage and twisty, narrow roads made it impossible to find. We parked and TB got out on foot. Meanwhile, I fired up my iPhone to see if I could locate a Wi-Fi hotspot. I found an open wireless connection, got on the Internet and called Sally & Ben (for free) using Skype—yes, there’s an app for that. They had been waiting for us for a couple hours and were worried something bad happened during our travels. We all were pleased and relieved to hear each other’s voices.

Their apartment is 5 minutes from where we parked so they were coming to get us and take us to the hotel. A short time later, TB arrived with one of the clerks from the hotel to guide us. Sally & Ben arrived a few moments later and, seeing we were in good hands, walked a block to meet us back at the hotel while we drove with the clerk. The hotel is literally right around the corner from where we were, buried within a square inaccessible to cars. We never would have found it had we stayed in the car. Score one for TB, the iPhone and Skype.

We got checked-in then made our way to Sally & Ben’s for Thanksgiving dinner. The food was delicious, one of the best Thanksgiving meals we have had. Considering it was prepared with two burners and no oven made it even more amazing. We had rotisserie chicken, pogácsa, mashed potatoes, green beans, pear salad and marbled cake with ice cream and chocolate syrup for dessert. We also got a chance to see their flat and get a feel for the way Hungarians live.

During the day on Friday we explored the quaint town of Eger. Sally and Ben were great hosts and showed us all the key landmarks in the city, including Dobó tér (where our hotel is located), the minaret, the Basilica (second largest church in Hungary), and Eger Castle to name a few. We enjoyed cappuccino and tea at a local café and discovered our new favorite sweet snack, kürt?skalács [kur-TOOSH-ka-lots].

Friday evening, we were Ben’s guests at an American Corners Eger event at Eszterházy Károly College [ES-te-rozy kuh-ROLL-ee]—where Ben is a Fulbright Scholar—to expose native Hungarians to how Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Everyone was welcoming, cordial and excited to see a Black American family. Owen stole the spotlight and we received several tips on places to visit from three women pursuing Masters of English degrees. Apparently Romania in the spring and Greece in the summer are must-do vacations.

Friday night we had dinner at a local restaurant and experienced our first authentic Hungarian meal, Csirkepaprikás [CHEER-keh PAP-ree-kash], or Paprika Chicken.

On Saturday we checked out of our hotel and packed the small rental car with all our belongings along with Sally and Ben’s bags to make our way to Budapest, the largest city and capital of Hungary. Owen decided to have another episode in the car about 20 minutes into the hour-and-forty-minute drive. We eventually got the rental returned at the airport, hopped in taxis, and made our way to our respective hotels for short naps before meeting back up to explore Budapest.

Budapest was formed in 1873 when two cities, Buda and Pest, were combined. Our hotel, Le Méridien Budapest, is located on the Pest side, east of the Danube river. We walked west across the Chain Bridge over to the Buda side to see the large castle on the hill up close.

We happened across some outdoor, holiday festivities in a square near our hotel and purchased a couple kürt?skalácses as a late-night snack. Here are two photos of them being made.

Sunday we had a day full of exploring before Ben had to return to Eger to prepare to teach on Monday.

Sally and Team Smith spent the rest of Sunday through Tuesday traipsing around Budapest visiting Hero’s Square, Széchenyi Fürd? [say-CHIN-yee FUR-doh], the popular thermal bath in Budapest and largest medicinal bath in Europe, and the market. Think of it as a warm, super-elaborate, indoor Jacuzzi & sauna with an expansive outdoor swimming pool. I highly recommend the 38°C/100°F pool outdoors in chilly November. It’s very nice.

Prague and Budapest are as beautiful and vibrant as you may have heard and we had a great time exploring the cities, soaking in their deep histories and experiencing their distinct cultures.

Panorama from Le Méridien, December 1, 2009, Budapest, Hungary

We left Budapest Tuesday and spent the night in Frankfurt so we could start the long haul day of travel back to Seattle rested and stress-free. The trip back was better than we could have ever imagined. The plane was pretty empty so we helped ourselves to the open seats across the aisle. We were again in the bulkhead row of business class and TB had reserved a bassinette. Owen had a comfortable place to sleep and lots of space to play when he was awake. On top of that we arrived 15 minutes early.

This was our first “real” vacation since our babymoon in Cabo San Lucas a year ago and our first trip overseas since visiting Belgium in September 2008.

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New Parent Tip: Travel light with a netbook

Keith — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:45:35 +0000

If you are a gadget geek and Internet fiend like me, you never leave home without some type of Web device. While my iPhone is an excellent, on-the-go device that meets most of my communication, entertainment and surfing needs, it is still a challenge, and sometimes impossible, to complete certain tasks that require heavy computation, keyboarding or editing. For example, processing loads of work e-mail; authoring documents; downloading, editing and sharing content from still and video cameras; and, lastly, writing to my blog are all tasks I find unsuitable on any Smartphone.

Whereas the iPhone is underpowered for such activities, my work laptop—a Lenovo ThinkPad T500—is absolutely overkill for personal travel. Why? It weighs over 10 pounds fully-loaded with extended batteries and power adapter. Ten pounds weighing me down while whisking through airports and Jetways with Owen in tow is not a good look.

That’s why a few weeks before Owen was born, I purchased a used Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook off eBay. The image below shows how the 3 devices compare in overall size and display real estate.

Once the Mini 9 arrived, I upgraded it to 2GB of memory and replaced the Windows XP Home Premium installation with Windows 7 Ultimate. It runs great and while the 8.9”, 1024×600 display and Lilliputian keyboard both take some adjustment, it is a much sleeker travel companion than the 15.4”, 1680×1050 display and full keyboard on the ThinkPad.

The Mini’s major advantages are its svelte dimensions, back saving 2.28 pounds, and zero moving parts. The absence of fans and spinning drives allows it to run completely silently. The iPhone display is 3.5”, 480×320, and its main advantage over the other two—besides being a phone—are it fits in my pocket, has a longer battery life, turns on immediately and puts my information and media at my fingertips in seconds.

While the Mini 9 has been discontinued, I find the MyDellMini fan site to be the most informative for existing owners and potential buyers of any of Dell’s netbooks. I recommend picking up the Mini 9 used on Craigslist or eBay as the newer models cannot be upgraded beyond 1GB memory.

I leave you with a photo demonstrating the space saving advantage of the Mini 9 vs. the T500. Drop me a comment if you have any questions.

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Two feet high and rising

Keith — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:47:30 +0000

We took Owen to Kirkland City Hall today to apply for his passport. TB had me complete and print the online application beforehand and we both got a good chuckle while reviewing the section regarding his physical appearance.

His passport photo is even funnier.

We heard smiling in passport photos has been forbidden due to limitations in the facial recognition scanners used by security agencies worldwide. We knew not to worry since Owen is so serious in almost all his photos.

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Babymoon in Cabo San Lucas

Keith — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:10:58 +0000

TB and I are just returned from a mini babymoon in Cabo San Lucas, soaking up sun and R&R before the winter and our little one arrive. The weather was fantastic, in the 80s and sunny, completely opposite the weather in Seattle this time of year. While it was great vacation weather it was not-so-great running weather particularly in the hilly, rocky terrain surrounding the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica resort where we stayed. I kept up my training by running shorter times/distances but more days.

There is a lot I liked about Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and a few things I disliked. Here are my quick lists:

Highlights

Beautiful location: Located on the tip of the Baja peninsula, one can watch the sunrise and sunset.
No smoking: With a pregnant wife this is a no-brainer.
Adults only: We have to enjoy the kid-free, 16 or older, environment while we can. It is quiet and uncrowded.
Courteous staff: Everyone is very pleasant and accommodating.
Comfortable quarters: The room is well-appointed very clean with nice furniture and a great bathroom. However, the hard bed and pillows are not the hotness.

Lowlights

Location, location, location: The resort is remote and isolated. Free shuttles are available into town which is about 30 minutes away.
Food: While the quality and quantity are passable, the prices are not. Clearly, food is how the operators choose to make their money. Cabo overall is more expensive than Cancun or Puerto Vallarta but $9.50 for a 32 oz. bottle of water? Extreme. Making matters worse, the resort forbids any food or beverage from outside its gates including that 128 oz. jug of the same water sold at the grocery store in town for $2.45.
The beach: The phrase "fun in the sun" typically conjures up images of the beach with walks in fine, hot sand and dips in calm, cool sea. Here, the sand is not fine and the sea is not calm. The beach seems more an afterthought at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and, unsurprisingly, most guests sit around the pool or in the Jacuzzi, instead. Doing so makes them prime targets for over-priced martinis and beers, of course.

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Back from Belgium

Keith — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:16:48 +0000

TB and I spent six days in Belgium. We flew from Seattle to D.C. (Dulles) to Brussels on United. We stayed at the Sofitel Europe located in the outskirts of Brussels and did a couple day trips to the center of the city and to the Flemish town of Bruges. French is the primary language followed by Flemish/Dutch and German. Most of the people we encountered spoke enough English to communicate with us and a couple times my semester’s worth of high school French paid off. For example, TB was all amazed when I was able to request two 3-day train passes from the agent who spoke no English. (Shout out to Madame Duffy who taught us to écouter et répétez. )

With the significant French and Italian influences, Belgian dining was sublime. Of course the chocolate and waffles were top notch but so too were the frites, pizza, sandwiches and smoked salmon. The most memorable heavenly dining experience was the scoop of Belgian chocolate ice cream from a shop that was literally a Häagen-Dazs combined with a Godiva.

I took a couple dozen pictures during our trip a few of which have been scattered throughout this post. The black-and-white image is of a Brandenberg-esque monument located in a colossal public park a few blocks from the Sofitel in Brussels. The park is over 1 1/2 miles around its perimeter which made it a perfect spot for doing a six mile run. There were a few moments of showers while we were in Belgium but it never rained long or a large amount. The temperature ranged between mid-60s to upper 70s and we were fine with light jackets.

Overall, Belgium is a fine place with fine dining, mild weather and friendly people. I would go back as part of an extended trip that includes a couple of its neighbors (France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands).

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Shamu! Shamu!

Keith — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:33:43 +0000

This one is for the kids (and young at heart). Here is a video I shot during our Memorial Day trip to San Diego. It’s 3 1/2 minutes and includes the finale of the Shamu show at SeaWorld.

Enjoy!

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Video: A Trip to Asia, Part 5 – Peking Duck

Keith — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:02:40 +0000

The following is the last in the series of videos from my trip to Asia. I thought you might enjoy seeing a professional Peking duck carver in action. It took him 2 1/2 minutes to completely dismantle a blazing hot duck, including its crispy skin. The video below is sped up 2.5x to get it under a minute.

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