Italy, Part 1 - planning

We finally decided to go to Italy!!! Step 1, check! BTW, this decision has been reached in April of this year.

First question: which cities?  This decision ended up being one of the easiest. Other then the usual goals (vacation away from home, Europe, culture, things we read and heard about, paintings, sculptures, food, wine, etc), we also wanted to visit the cities and places that we (actually I) and our parents visited when we were in Italy on the way to US in Jan of 1980. That means we would stay in Venice, Florence and Rome. The rest of the places, like Pizza, are short drive from these cities.

Next issue: local transportation, how do we get between cities? Again, got an easy solution. In one of my conversations with my cousin, Natan, who lives in Germany, I've mentioned our plans and he told me that he has never been in Italy and would love to join us there. It works out great, since 1) I have not seen him in a while.  2) we would have a company, somebody to spend time with. And 3) we have a way to get between cities because he would drive to Italy and we can all drive together when we are there. Second issue is resolved!

The decision about the dates came easy since we did not want to go before High Holidays. So, I started looking for the best airfare.  There are quite a few travel agencies and agents. The problem is that one never knows when is the good time to buy tickets (nobody wants to overpay). Since I started looking for the tickets early enough I figured I have enough time.  There is a lot of advice on this topic on the internet.  All the articles seem to agree that for the international travel, the best time to buy ticket would be around 3 months prior the trip. Also, there are couple of interesting sites that given the flight information can keep track of the prices and email if the price changes as well as historical data on the price. The site I was using was "yapta.com". Then I found out that Google can search for airfare as well. Google is actually better because I don't have to specify exact flight information, just departure airport, where I am going and what day. Google will generate list of available flights around that time.  You can save the search and check it out any time (On yapta, I had to be very specific about which flight I want to monitor). Google rules!!!! At around 3 months before our trip, I booked the flight tickets. Chicago->Philadelphia->Venice and back is Rome->Philadelphia->Chicago. We arrive in Venice at around 9:00 am and back in Chicago at around 7:30 pm. I think it's perfect timing. Since the tickets are not refundable, the trip is on!!!

Just to keep track of things and make sure I don't forget anything, I've created a spreadsheet on Google docs (did I mention that Google rules?) and shared it with Lana and Natan.  Strongly recommend doing when planning trips. The issue at hand is that Natan does not speak English. He speaks Russian and German. Google spreadsheet has a translate function. So, I made a translation of all the important information. Now we can truly share the info!!! I don't want to keep saying "Google rules", but, Google rules! If anybody want to know more about Google docs (or other Google services) let me know. I used to work for Motorola, which is a Google company, at least for the next few months.

Stand by for more planning of our Italian trip!

Wedding in Seattle

This seems to be the year of the weddings, at least for Lana's side of the family. This time the wedding was in Seattle.

First, travel arrangements.... This time I tried to use Priceline.com. Unfortunately, I picked a wrong trip for it. There were 2 issues with this trip: one, is that since I started new job this year and we have another long trip planned (see future blogs :) I did not want to use my vacation days. Lana, on the other hand, never been in Seattle and wanted to spend few days there after the wedding. That meant that I was coming home couple days earlier. Also, Lana's parents were coming home early as well. So, as far as travel arrangements go, I needed 2 sets of air, hotels and car rentals (we had 6 people so figured van was not going to be enough).

I don't understand why would anybody with luggage fly on any airline other than Southwest. They had cheapest flights, and no luggage fees. Boeing 737 (the only airplane used by Southwest) is just as good as any other plane.  So, I booked 6 roundtrip tickets on SW: 2 for my parents in law, one for myself and 3 for Lana and kids. At the time, I did not notice that I have different confirmation number for Lana and kids. It got very frustrating at the time of check-in. At least I realized that I only checked in myself. I had to scramble to find out Lana's reservation and wrote a letter to Southwest before I realized why we had different numbers. :) They probably had a good laugh at my expense. I learned my lesson!

I found a relatively cheap parking at Midway. It's by the CTA, and it's only $11 per day. I found internet special for $9! It's walking distance from the airport terminal, so no need for the shuttle.

Priceline gave me the best deal on the first car rental: full size car was about $20 per day. But when I tried to book another one, the price went up to $30! I have a feeling that they track the computer that was used to make reservations and if it's used again, they jack up the price. Not nice, but even $30 per day was still a good price.  I am sure all of the online companies do that, so keep that in mind when making your travel arrangements.

The interesting thing happened when we were picking up the car: there was a line of people, only 2 clerks, but there were kiosks. We ended up using kiosks. It was like telecommuting: there was a live person on the screen. She could see us and we can see her. Scanner was used to get a copy of driver license and credit card. Everything worked and I think it was a little faster, at least we bypassed the line.

Lana was afraid that her phone's gps would not work, so we asked for gps for her car. One would expect a contemporary gps with touchscreen in the car, What Hertz put in, was a joke. No touchscreen and small screen. To input address, some 10 years old technology was used (selecting each letter on the keyboard, one at a time). We ended up using our phones for directions.

Not much to say about the hotel: University Inn. It was nice, clean, with free internet,  The only issue was to find it for the first time. Once it was found, there were no issues. Location was perfect: at the most 20-30 mins from everywhere: wedding, downtown, etc.

Wedding was fun. It was a little different from all the wedding that I ever have been at. It was very well organized. First, ceremony was short and sweet (conservative style). Then, when people got into reception area, there were little traditional dancing, with newlyweds first on people shoulders and then chairs. Then there was a "schtick", which is bunch of people doing little silly skits for about an hour for newlyweds pleasure. That was the first time I've seen it done at the wedding. Then there were speeches, prepared and improv, which  were excellent.  The venue was a conservative synagogue.  So, food had to be kosher and was Indian style.  There were plenty of food and drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol). After the food, there were dancing. And it was done: Sergey and Tamar are husband and wife! Congratulations to Sergey and Tamar!

I've taken some pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123780721@N05/sets/72157646036233509/
Let me know if you can't access them.

Next trip is Italy! Stand by for more posts

Wedding in New York

I finally got time to post about our trip to New York state. We had to go to Lana's relatives wedding.

Here is the setup: the ceremony is in Rochester, NY and the reception is in Buffalo, NY. They are about 1 hour apart.

Since the wedding was on Saturday, we had to travel on Friday to Buffalo and on Sunday back to Chicago. So, we figured we would go visit Niagara Falls, since it's next to Buffalo. That meant we had to fly in the morning, which was no problem.

The interesting conversation happened with the parking lot attendant by Midway airport. I reserved parking few weeks in advanced and paid for it. The attendant had my information but thought that we only paid deposit. It was interesting that my "deposit" was about the same amount as I would have to pay for 3 days of parking. But he said he would drive us to airport and will find out what's going on by the time we get back. When we got back he did say that we were good. :)

Back to Niagara Falls. We got to Buffalo without any problems. Got our rental and were on our way pretty quickly.

We decided to go to the Canadian side. We got really lucky with the weather: sunny and warm!  Took a ride on a boat to the falls. It was fun. The water was warm (we had ponchos, but still got water on face and hands). After that, we went for lunch. Brian got excited because he could legally drink a beer! We all ended up getting beer, except Lana (she had to be different), who had red wine. Here are the pictures: "https://secure.flickr.com/photos/123780721@N05/sets/72157645289808134/"

After a few hours in Canada, back to USA.

Hotel was nice (Double Tree). Double Tree is part Hilton. Being a member in HH reward program, we all got warm chocolate chip and macadamia nuts cookies!!! Plus for hotel.  Free WiFi, another plus. Nice beds, one more plus!!!

Wedding: some of the pics: "https://secure.flickr.com/photos/123780721@N05/sets/72157645025296479/"

It started in Rochester in a Catholic church. The church was very pretty inside. The ceremony was different. Jewish ceremony usually includes some singing. The ceremony lasted about an hour. Then there was a big time gap so we ended up going back to our hotel. The party was about 10 mins away from the hotel, which was good. Food was nice, music was loud. New Jersey Rangers were playing and lost to LA Kings. And we all know what happened to that series. But I digress. The wedding ended at midnight.

The next day featured another drive from Buffalo To Rochester and back for family BBQ. It was fun, very good food featured Italian sausages and Italian pasta.

On the drive back, Shana and Lana did not feel good, but we made it home! Next trip is Seattle.

Nationals at Reno

This year volleyball Junior National Championship was held in Reno, NV.  I've been in Reno once but it was long time ago.  It is a small town with bunch of casinos. Casinos are not as big as in Las Vegas, but not as small as in Chicago.  But let me start from the beginning.

The plan was to fly to Oakland, CA. Rent a minivan (we had 4 people with luggage) . There was some trouble with leaving Chicago. On the day we were supposed to leave, there was a big storm that caused a lot of delays.  Our flight was about 4 hours late. I did not plan for it, but we were not in hurry since the tournament did not start until in the afternoon of the following day.  All it meant was that we would arrive in Reno at around 9 or 10. No big deal.

This was the first time that we actually got the car we reserved! There was even a choice of colors!

Every time I visit San Francisco area, I have to have a meal at Fisherman's Warf and desert at Ghirardelli.  Oakland is just across the bridge. So, lunch was nice. Desert was nice (my usual hot fudge sundae was excellent as usual :) After that about 3 hours later we were in Reno. On interesting thing we saw was Oracle boat that was supposed to compete in the American Cup! BTW, they beat Australian team to win the Cup!

Next 4 days were mostly volleyball. Brian's team did great. They ended up 5th in the Nation! Best result among non-California teams! It's hard to compete with California in volleyball. Looks like boys had a great time. That was the last Junior

After the tournament we have decided to visit Lake Tahoe. It's about an hour drive from Reno. The weather was great, the drive was easy. We had a lunch right by the lake. We even touch the water (it was kind of cold, as expected).

This trip ended up being a little vacation. I even had a chance to gamble, not that successfully I must say. Poker was ok, I won some and I lost some. Blackjack, on the other hand, I don't think I won a hand. Oh well, that is why they call it a "gambling". I don't expect to beat the casino.

On the way back home, we drove to Napa valley to meet some friends. The vineyards looked great and while we were driving the grapes were everywhere! Unfortunately we did not have a time to visit any winery. We will have to do it next time we visit northern California.

Flight back was not as exciting as flight to Oakland. So that is it for our visit to probably last Junior Volleyball competitions, at least for a long while :)






 

Los Angeles

My first time in Los Angeles.  We had a little issue with the van. The reservation was there, but the vans were not available. So, there was a long line of people waiting for it. So, we switched to an SUV. Ride is a little rough, but we had enough room for everybody and the luggage. Our first stop was Anaheim. Our hotel was few blocks (walking distance) from the Disney Land. But we never got there.  The volleyball tournament was taking all day and boys were too tired to do anything other then watch TV and play video games after

After Nationals we drove to LA. I was not too impressed with the city even  though I love California. LA is too spread out. If you need to get to anywhere, you have to take a highway. It's always packed. Sometimes everybody go 75, sometimes 10, if at all. The weather is nice, the ocean view is nice, but the commute is a killer.

We went to Hollywood.  I expected something much bigger. May be we did not do the complete Hollywood, but the street with the stars was just a few blocks. That place is basically a tourist attraction: wax museums, gift shops and restaurants that have pictures of the stars. I did not get it.

What I did like was the space shuttle exhibit in Science museum.  There is a short video about the move of the shuttle from the airport to the museum. That was impressive. There is very interesting (in my view) historical presentation about all the shuttle missions for all the shuttles. I liked it and recommend for people to visit. The museum is smaller the Science and Industry museum in Chicago, but Chicago does not have the shuttle.

Next trip is Reno: Juniors Volleyball Nationals

 

On my way home

I am finally going home. It's interesting how now days one can blog from anywhere, even from the airport (Las Vegas airport does have free wifi!!!)

Anyway, the trip was ok. I have seen the whole CES! Miles and miles of walking. My legs are still hurt. I did not rent a car on purpose, so I was walking everywhere. I will share the CES album, when I get around to it. :)

Here is one advice: unless you are fan of walking or waiting for shuttle bus, when in Las Vegas, stay on the Strip. It is more fun and a lot easier on your feet. I stayed about 1 mile off the Strip. There was a shuttle, but it was running once in an hour, so I ended up walking all the time. Good exercise though!

My gambling wasn't that exciting this time around. If I look at it as entertainment, which I do, I think I got good deal (I lost, but I spent decent amount of time doing it :). If I look purely from number of dollars spent  (which is important, but not critical) then not so good. I ended up loosing overall. On a good note: I did win a poker tournament!!! But I am not planning to participate in World Series Of Poker any time soon :) But I am still looking forward my next trip to Las Vegas.

 

Las Vegas

I am going to Las Vegas!!! It is work related, but still, it's Vegas...

I've reserved air and hotel.

The airfare was pretty strange: direct flight both ways was about over $1600, but if I have layover, the price dropped down to under $700!!! So, layover in Phoenix :( I will be home late.

With hotel, I have to follow the company policy even if it costs more. I had to make reservation in a hotel that does not have a casino and it's not on the Strip. But it's 5 star with the cost of $250 per night!!! I probably could have gotten suite in PH for half the price. Oh, well. I did not make the policy, I just have to follow it.

Stay tune for when I come back.