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The BF and I recently went to Seattle, WA to attend a wedding. Since I’ve never been there before, I made sure that we saw as much as I could in the one free day we had. It turns out that the very chill Seattle is a great city! We hit a lot of must see tourist sites and ate at a lot of local places.
Tips for Seattle in One Day:
1. Breakfast at Macrina Bakery & Cafe: We had to wait 40 minutes to eat at this little breakfast/brunch spot, but we figured that it must be worth it if the locals are waiting for it. The savory egg sandwich served with roasted potatoes is surprisingly tasty! We also had the French toast which is served with a side of chicken sausage. Definitely a popular item on the menu.
2. Pike Place Market: Of course, no first-time visit to Seattle can go without a trip to Pike Public Market. A lively market place with fresh seafood (to be eaten or tossed in the air), it’s a great place to do some light grazing. Hit Piroshky’s Piroshky for a potato and mushroom stuffed bun and then meander your way to the first original Starbucks for a latte (it’s the one that’s crowded with tourist!). Afterwards, with a cup o’ joe in hand, strike up a conversation with the local artist selling their craft or smell bouquet after bouquet of freshly cut pink peonies. It’s a great place to spend a few hours by the water.
3. Underground Tour: Full? Walk off it off in a 90 minute underground tour of Seattle’s past. The tour guide spiels out a very informative history of Seattle’s past when the city burnt down and the city decided to just built a new city right on top. Was it the most amazing tour ever? Probably not. There’s only a few ghost stories and a few deteriorating store signs, but we all agreed it was interesting to learn a little bit of history and see a unique piece of Seattle’s past., especially for $15.
4. The Harvest Vine: After a long day of walking around, we ended the day with a lovely dinner at The Harvest Vine. This Spanish/Basque restuarant dishes organic/ free-range/no-antibiotic/no-hormones tapas. Just take a look at the picture. Pork belly doesn’t get any sexier than that.
Additional Reading and Resources:
Travel and Outdoors- Seattle Times
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At the last minute, we decided to skip Monument Valley and drive out to Arches National Park. Afterall, how can we leave Utah without seeing the Arch??
Hiking Trails at Arches National Park:
1. Delicate Arch (Long): This really isn’t a tough hike at all. However, I venture to guess that on a hot day, this could be very difficult since there’s no shade anywhere on the way up! Personally, I would’ve considered this an easy-moderate hike since a good deal of it was flat. Other recommended long hikes: Fiery Furnace, Double Os, Devil’s Garden
2. Moderate Hikes: We actually drove through Park Avenue. I’m not sure what this hike is like on foot, but I’m sure it would be gorgeous in the morning and at sunset.
3. Balanced Rock: See below… you’ve got to see this in person.
:: :: :: :: :: :: Zion National Park is relatively close to Bryce Canyon National Park, but it couldn’t be any more different. While Bryce had its beautiful hoodoos, Zion had magnificent mountains. I would randomly snap pictures on the camera while the car was moving and this is what I’d get:
FREAKEN AMAZING!!!!
Anyhow, we only spent half a day at Zion, so we did one hike and moved on. It was a gorgeous day for hiking! We huffed and puffed up Angel’s Landing, a 5-mile strenuous hike takes about 4 hours to complete.
Tips for Hiking Angel’s Landing
1. Strenuous- Angel’s Landing is mostly paved but can be difficult for people who are new to hiking. It can be very difficult on a hot day since it’s all uphill (duh). A lot of people stop at the landing right before the last half mile. It looks like a very daunting and slightly frightening vertical hike, but it really isn’t that bad. The most difficult part of it is navigating your way up in a single person pathway. Don’t be scared! The view is well worth it!
2. Water- Bring water. Bring lots of water. You’ll need it!
3. Bring a light lunch- The weather was so gorgeous and the view so breathtaking! I packed a very light lunch and we had a picnic on top of the mountain. Highly recommended.
One last picture: 
SO AMAZING!!!!!!
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After a 4 day road trip through the beautiful and colorful state of Utah, I’m back! Our trip went something like this: drive 6 hours, attempt sleeping in a teepee only to realize it’s warmer to sleep in a car, hike through muddy hoodoos, hike a mountain, drive through natural “monuments” at sunset, star-gazing in pitch black darkness, trek through red rock canyons and pass out from exhaustion. For four days, we did a TON and it was incredibly cheap! We went into this trip knowing that we were going to be as cheap as humanly possible, but we still had a really great time! This is a highly recommended trip for families, active groups, and couples who are looking for a budget trip.
Ways to Stay Within Your Budgets:
1. Car Rentals: Everyday, I put a bid on a car on Priceline.com. Since you can only submit one bid per day (w/o changing anything), I started at $8 and worked my way up. Truthfully, I couldn’t get a super ridiculously cheap deal, so I ended up with Hotwire.com. My rental car was still only $15 per day! After taxes, it came up to be around $22. Not bad!
2. Food- Meals at the grocery store: Honestly, we didn’t have very high expectations for great food on this trip. Perhaps if we were in Salt Lake City it would’ve been different, but since we knew we would be on the road most of the time we went to the grocery store a lot. We ate a lot of beef jerkey, deli sliced turkey, baguettes, tomates, bananas, and water. Our best meal was at a Denny’s at the Arizona/Nevada border! Consider your destination and you can probably save some money going to the grocery store.
3. National Parks and Federal Recreation Land Pass- otherwise known as an annual pass for all the national parks in the US. It’s only $80 and it covers the cost of one car entry fee. I almost broke even and I’m pretty sure I”ll be hitting a few more national parks in the next few months! It was a no-brainer for me. $10 for Seniors.
4. Request an economy car: Enterprise tried to hand me off an SUV despite the fact that I requested an economy car when I made the reservation. I insisted that they honor the reservation and waited for a economy car. After 2 hours, I decided to ask them to throw in some sort of freebie for the inconvenience. Initially, the rep refused and I had made up my mind to call corporate to file a complaint. However, he came around and threw in half a tank of gas for free. Lesson of the story? Don’t be scared to ask. We saved $20 for the half tank of gas and $100+ for the extra gas we would have paid if we accepted the SUV.
Locations: Bryce National Park, Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges
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I’m heading off to the great polygonal state of UTAH! this weekend. Recently, Allegiant Airlines had an amazing one day sale to a bunch of cities in the US. The catch? They were all really booney cities. Anyhow, The BF jumped on it while I was out on a quick errand and I came home to find a ticket confirmation to Grand Junction, CO sitting in my Inbox. Grand Junction, it turns out, it relatively close to a few national parks that The BF’s always wanted to visit. SO, this great Memorial Day weekend, we’ll be visiting Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Natural Bridges National Monument. With so much freaken nature, I set out to buy some bug repellent before I turned into a walking bug buffet.
The guy at REI was really helpful and recommended a few brands.
Bug spray options to keep those suckers off of you (not paid advertising, just wanted to share):
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1. Ultrathon Insect Repellent: Originally, we were going to buy this product. The guy said it worked great and if we were going to the Amazon, we should definitely use this product. It also lasted 12 hours! He warned us that as soon as we applied it to make sure we washed our hands very carefully and be sure we didn’t get it in our eyes because DEET (an active ingredient) was a neurotoxin.
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2. Repel Plant Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent: Considering the fact that I valued the last few brain cells I had left over (damn you early twenties me! why did you drink so much!), I opted for this plant based repellent. The sales rep assured me that it worked great (perhaps not as good as DEET is, though) but it’d serve our purpose. The down side is that only lasts for 6 hours and it smells very strongly of eucalyptus. So, I’m now upgraded from bug buffet to koala food.
3. Other methods: I’ve also heard of other methods of keeping the buggers away like avoiding using cosmetics with scents and perfumes. Listerine. Garlic. Sewing dryer sheets to the hemline of your pants. etc etc.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Additional Reading and Resources:
Protection against Mosquitoes, Ticks, Fleas and other insects and anthropods- CDC
10 Tips for Insect Repellent and Children- Kids Travel Doc
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Look what I just got in my email!!! It’s so beautiful… *snif sniff* it’s finally getting more popular… Virgin America now offer’s WiFi on planes now!!!!
” How much does it cost to beam the Internet from space onto your 400 mph laptop?
$7.95 for handheld devices (regardless of flight time)*
$9.95 for flights less than 3 hours*
$12.95 for flights of 3 hours or more*
*Surf as long as you like. Battery life? A trifle. We have power outlets at every seat. “
Other airlines that offer it are AirTran Airways, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines,Air Canada
This service is typically offered for longer flights. I can picture my Twitter messages now:
“10 minutes down. Guy next to me took the arm rest. Maybe if I cough he’ll think I have the swine flu. muahaha “
“12 minutes down. Decided that I need the upside down hanging tomato planter in the AirMall catalog.”
“37 minutes down. Baby two rows up won’t shut up. I need a $5 dollar shot of vodka. Exact change appreciated.”
“43 minutes down. Woke up and had to slurp up my drool. Good thing my mouth was open.”
“56 minutes down. 10 minutes of turbulence just made me shat my pants.”
Additional Reading and Resources:
Wi-Fi returning to the airlines- Los Angeles Times
Cover your eyes: Not all airlines will filter Wifi- MSNBC.com
:: :: :: :: :: :: Just read this article on CNN.com via Travel Companion about 5 tips for avoiding the latest hotel scam. When hotels are overbooked, sometimes they’ll “walk” some customers to lesser hotels rooms. So that gorgeous ocean view suite with the beautiful french windows? SHAFTED! Go stay in the basement. Okay, maybe not that bad, but still the same idea. Anyhow, they offer a few suggestions on how to get around this if you get stuck in this. Read the article here…
:: :: :: :: :: :: Of course, the main reason we went to Peru was to visit Machu Picchu. The Incan Ruins is amazing and we had a great experience!
Tips for Visiting/ Hiking Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu:
1. Agus Calientes: Don’t bother spending any real time in Agus Calientes, which is the closest city to Machu Picchu. It’s not interesting and a complete tourist layover. We got in the night before and got up at 4am to head out to the bus stop.
2. Wayna Picchu: We got a tip from someone heading back from Machu Picchu to attempt Wayna Picchu. A mountain located across from Machu Picchu, Wayna Picchu is a 3 hour r/t hike that allows hikers to catch a scenic bird’s eye view of Machu Picchu. However, they only allow 400 people in per day. As soon as we got in to Machu Picchu, we raced cross the ruins towards the line for the Wayna Picchu. There, we waited over an hour to get a ticket for either a 7am (200 pp) entry or an 11am (200pp) entry (the 11 o’clock people just return half an hour before).
3. Shape Up and Dress Properly: If you’re planning on hiking Wayna Picchu, it’d be a good idea to do a little bit of cardio and the stairclimber before your trip. Even the super buff people will be exhusted and gasping for air, but it’s much tougher for people who consider their exercise to be the number of steps it takes to the vending machine. Also, dress the part. You don’t need to go out and buy new hiking boots, but flip flops or shiny black soled leather shoes (both things I saw) is not going to cut it. It’s dangerous and slippery, especially if it is raining. Additionally, use a light day pack. or something that you can strap to your back. Larger baggage can be and must be left at their bag check for free, however, hold on to your valuables and use at your own risk. We left our stuff at our hotel.
4. Bring water and a snack: Trust me, after a steep 1 hour climb where it’s really questionably safe, you’re going to get to the top and wish you had a fat juicy burger. Okay, maybe not burger, but at least a clif bar and a bottle of water. The rules say that you can’t bring food in, but it’s not a rule that anyone follows. Just as long as you don’t liter everywhere, it’ll be fine. Trust me, you’ll need it.
5. Sunblock: Use it. Or suffer from weeks of heckling by your gf b/c of your farmer’s tan! Not that that happens in real life….
Information: Bus ticket from Agus Calientes (the base) to MP is r/t $14usd and entry is 124 (approx) soles. For Peru, that’s not cheap!
Additional Resources and Reading:
Hisotric Sanctuary of Machu Picchu: UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Machu Picchu In Danger of Collapse- BBC
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I got a lot of really helpful suggestions on where to eat and what to do from local Peruvians. Since it was my birthday, we decided to fancy it up and go to Astrid y Gaston, which is ranked as one of the top 100 best restaurants in the world. With the US dollar so strong, the overall bill was VERY reasonable. I’d highly recommend that you make a reservation for it. Each entree was only about $15- $20 dollars. Definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had and I’m a total foodie. We started off with Ceviche, Lechon (Suckling Pig), Organic Cuy (Guinea Pig), and Tiramisu. The food was absolutely amazing. The Ceviche came with fresh creamy uni which really brought out the flavors of the dish. The winner of the night was the Lechon which has spoiled me to no end that I now cannot eat suckling pig without cringing. The crispy skin and tender meat would turn any vegetarian into a ravenous carnivore. Must. Go. Please!
Restaurants to Eat in Lima (recommended to me by a local):
- Astrid y Gaston
- La Red- Address: Av. La Mar 391, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
- CeLa Mar (Miraflores): recommended- ceviche, tiradito and causa sampler for apps, suspiro limeño (really sweet) and derrumbado de chirimoya (local fruit) for dessert. Address: Av. La Mar 770, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
- Los Pescados Capitales: Recommended- grilled baby octopus. Address: La Mar 1337, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
- Hierbabuena – organic cuisine
- La 73- Address: Av. El Sol Oeste 175, Barranco, Lima, Peru
- El Tarwi
- Embarcadero 41- Peruvian food. Address: Calle Fleming 181, Surco, Lima, Peru
- Señorío de Sulco- Address: Malecon Cisneros 1470, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
- Las Brujas de Cachiche- Jr. Bolognesi 460, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
- Food Park de E. Wong (second floor)- Peruvian food
- Pardo’s Chicken- Address: Av. Benavides 730 – Miraflores
Recommended Peruvian Flavors:
- Pollo a la Brasa: rotisserie chicken. Served with Yukon golden potatoes, it’s everywhere!
- Anticuchos: marinated, grilled cow heart on a stick- It’s a local dish, so just ask for an anticucheria and they’ll tell her where to find one. Picarones is the dessert that goes with anticuchos, similar to sweet potato donuts
- Comida Criolla- creole food comfort food.
- Lucuma ice cream
- Drinks: chicha morada, maracuya, cuzqueña (beer), pisco sour and leche de tigre (with ceviche usually).
- Queso and pan serrano (the local bread and cheese of Cuzco)- baked in humongous stone ovens
- Cuy- Guinea Pig. It’s really not that strange at all. The BF and I both thought it tasted like a cross between pork and chicken. Very tasty.
Additional Reading and Resources:
Who Needs a Club When Everyone is at a Cafe? – New York Times.com
La Buena Mesa – Escape.pe (spanish)
Peru – mmm-yoso!!! (food blog)
:: :: :: :: :: :: My friend recently asked me what to do on a 10 hour layover in Taipei. While 10 hours is hardly enough time to experience Taiwan, I did offer up a few suggestions.
Things to do on a 10 hour layover in Taipai, Taiwan:
1. Taipei 101: For the sheer fact that for the next few seconds it’s the world’s tallest building (that is until Dubai finishes their building in which even Yao Ming is going to say… whoa.), Taipei 101 is one of those buildings that’s cool for it’s novelty effect of seeing people the size of ants. They have a very extensive food court from Shabu Shabu to Indian to the beloved KFC (apparently fried chicken in a bucket is universal). After, head up to the observatory for approximately $12 USD and get a view of all of Taipei and the Damper baby..
2. Xin Beitou: Just off a the MTR subway stop, Xin Beitou is known for their Japanese-style hotsprings. After a long plane trip, it’s nice to be able to soak in hot springs and relax. Be prepared to see lots of old naked saggy skin.
3. Shilin Night Market: If you happen to have a night layover, you must stop by Taiwan’s biggest and most well known night market. There you can do a little bargain shopping from clothes to phone accessories and eat tons of foods unique to Taiwan. For $12 USD, my bf and I went from stall to stall eating as if we were cows with 4 stomachs. Food is VERY cheap in Taiwan. If you don’t speak Mandarin, don’t be scared to order if you see something you want to try. Be friendly and point. Taiwanese people are generally very friendly.
Unfortunately, Taipei/Taoyuan Airport is roughly a 40 minutes drive into downtown Taipei. So even with a 10 hour layover, it’s very unlikely you will be able to do a lot. To save time, take a cab (set a price first, approx $9 USD per person). To save a buck, take the shuttle that takes you directly from the airport to Taipei Main Station (approx. $3.50 USD per person).
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