Travel

Horseback Riding and R and R

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For our last full day in Albuquerque we got up early again (not as early as yesterday) and went horse back riding at the hotel.  We didn’t know this but the hotel is on an Indian Reservation.  We got to rid the horses on a trail on the reservation.  It was pretty cool.  We saw petroglyphs.  Well M did.  I saw them later on photos since I couldn’t see the rocks well enough to see them.

My horse was pretty good.  She actually listened when i wanted her to gallop, go left or right and sometimes stop.  The only thing was she wanted to stop and eat every five minutes.  I was pretty pleased with the horse choice.  The only thing bad was she attacked M’s horse and someone elses.  I am not kidding.  M and I got lined up next to each other for a photo and my horse tried to slam her head into M’s horse.  It was pretty bad ass.  While we were riding back another horse got close to her and she tried to do the same thing to that one.  I thought it was a bit funny.

I was glad to be finished with the ride since it was getting very hot and my legs were starting to kill me.

For lunch we went back into Albuquerque for lunch at the place that was closed on Sunday.  The Grove Cafe.  It was another really good lunch.  After that we we drove around downtown a bit and then went to a nice espresso place before heading back to the hotel to get in some pool time, and reading.

For dinner we went to the Corn Maiden Restaurant at the hotel.  It was very highly rated and it was fantastic.

Hot Air Balloons and More

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Our first full day in New Mexico was pretty fantastic.  M and I debated on doing a hot air Balloon ride.  We both wanted to but it was pretty expensive.  In the end we said it is a once in a life time experience and we were in one of the best places in the world to do it.

We got up at like 6:30AM to get picked up for the ride.  We learned the only real time you do a Balloon ride is right at dawn.  We got some fantastic photos of the ballon being inflated.  It was a pretty big ballon.  It fit 12 people and for our ride there were 10 of us.

There is so much i could write about this experience.  It was simply fantastic.  We got so many awsome photos.  There were 3 other ballons launching when we did so we got to get a lot of them and the scenery.  We got well over an hour of airtime before we set down right off a soccer field.

I learned that once we land you never just jump out or else the ballon will get lighter and fly away.  Don’t worry I didn’t try it but the pilot was very informative.  Once it was safe several of us got out and moved the ballon away from a building so we could deflate it.  It was interesting work helping to deflate and put away a 260,000 cubic foot ballon into a big bag.

We were done and back at the hotel well before lunch time.  We decided to drive to the Range Cafe for some lunch.  It was nearby the hotel and got good reviews in the travel books and everyone at the hotel suggested it.  We were glad that we did.  The lunch was good, but for desert M and I had a piece of chocolate layer cake that we both agreed was THE BEST WE EVER HAD.  From two people who love chocolate that is a stellar endorsement.  M has photos of me before and after.  They are pretty funny.

For the afternoon we lounged by the pool.  We were going to go horse back ridding at 6pm but it was very stormy so they canceled it for the night.  We rescheduled for tomorrow.

For dinner we were lazy and stayed at the bar restaurant at the hotel since the nice restaurant was closed.  We had low key food.  M had a cheese plate and wine and I had a delicious hot dog.  Go figure that New Mexico could make good hot dogs.

New Mexico Day 1

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I am finally writing about our New Mexico vacation.  As I usually do if I write about stuff in the past I post date the blog entry so i know when everything actually happened.

Today was our first day of M and I’s New Mexico vacation.  In August we planned going away and after throwing around over a dozen North American cities we both thought lets go to Santa Fe.  Leaving on September 11 was not our original plan but I was actually glad to get out of New York City on this day.

We had a really early flight out of LGA.  M cashed in some American Airlines points she has been wanting to use on a vacation and got us free tickets for this trip.  The kicker was we even got a first class upgrade going to New Mexico.  We had to transfer in Chicago but it wasn’t too bad.

We got to Albuquerque a little before noon.  After we picked up the rental car (we opted for a small SUV) we headed out to our hotel outside of Albuquerque.  We were hungry so we stopped off in down town Albuquerque to try a cafe that M’s guide book suggested.  We didn’t notice until we were out of the car that it was closed on Sunday:(  We were then off to the hotel.

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa outside of Albuquerque for the first 3 nights.  Our room wasn’t ready when we got there so we hit up the hotel bar for some lunch.  I had some fantastic flat bread with blue cheese and other stuff.  It was good.

Once we dropped our stuff off at the room and hit up the pool.  It was really cool.  We got back to the room to find a complimentary bottle of wine and cheese plate.  I was very impressed with American Express travel’s Fine Hotel & Resorts for this.  I never booked anything through them before but Joe recommended using them since I had a card already.

After snacking we had dinner at the hotel’s regular restaurant.  It was good.

We had a long day but it was a really good start to the vacation.

The Next Vacation

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M and I have been putting off dealing with planning our next vacation since we have a lot going on planning a wedding, so we were glad to take some time today and figure out when and were we want to goto next.

After discussing Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Arizona, Grand Canyon, and a few other places we opted to go with Santa Fe. We wanted somewhere a bit warm, with some history and also were we could do outdoor stuff. M thought New Mexico and off we went to research. This winter Joe was giving me a hard time for never using American Express Travel even though I have had a card with them for years and my fee pays for some nice perks. We decided to give them another try since they really helped with our cruise planning we booked for January 2012.

We ended up booking 2 resorts. One is a Hyatt that was one of the best rated resorts. It has horse back riding and other cool outdoor activities we wanted. We are going to spend 3 nights there unwinding and then going to a Hilton resort nearer to downtown so we can sight see, but also relax since it is a resort.

We are both pretty excited for the vacation and with all the deadlines for me at work this trip can’t come fast enough.

DC Trip

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Even though it was only a few days after we got back from our European vacation Friday we were off to DC for the weekend. M had a baby shower for her cousin and I thought it would be a good weekend getaway even if I was just going to hang out somewhere during the shower.

Friday night we took the train down and went to a nice Italian restaurant near the hotel we were staying at.

Saturday we meet up with M’s friends Katie and Kevin for brunch. It was only the second time I had met them we had a great time. After brunch walking back to the hotel we ran into M’s friend Mary Beth. What was so funny was we were having dinner with her that night but stumbling upon her was unexpected. We talked a bit and then hung out at the hotel. it was a fantastic day and we found some couches out in the shade on the Hotel property. We just read, and did some research on my iPad. I am thinking M may need her own iPad after seeing how much she wanted to use mine for browsing. We then meet up with Mary Beth again for dinner. We had a fun time at dinner.

This morning M went to the shower after we had breakfast at the hotel. I hung out at the hotel a bit before heading to Union Station to kill time till our train home. I sat at Starbucks using the free wifi a bit then walked around, then had lunch at Uno’s in Union Station.

The return trip since the price wasn’t much more we opted for the Acela Express vs the regular Amtrak. It saved some time and I always like the Acela. I am a fan of cool trains.

It was a short trip but we had a good time. We both really enjoy DC and it is also really nice that M has tons of friends who live there.

M’s Birthday in Amsterdam

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Today was our first day in Amsterdam. We got off the redeye in the morning and we both were sort of tired but not to worse for wear.

The cab ride to the hotel was rather painless, unlike the very long ride from the airport to Reykjavík.

We got to the hotel very early and were unable to check in. We checked our luggage with the front desk and decided to head off to do some sightseeing before we could get into the room.

We decided to walk to the Anne Frank Museum. My mom’s friend and ex-high school history teacher of mine Martha had suggested we go to the Anne Frank Museum early since there could be lines. The guidebooks said the same thing. As we’re walking it started to drizzle. Neither of us really had an umbrella. It was a long walk and it was not pleasant.

It’s hard to say that the Anne Frank Museum was good. I mean it’s a museum about the Holocaust. I think they restored the building nicely, and they told the story well, but it was an extremely depressing museum. I have always been interested in World War II history, and I have taken classes on the Holocaust. I think M also appreciated the museum. We’re both glad we went but we need something more uplifting for the afternoon.

As we were walking out of the museum we noticed that the line had grown substantially since we arrived. We were glad we did go early. After the museum we went across the street and had a snack at a café.

After lunch we went on a boat tour around the city. It was really awesome. The weather had cleared up by then and it was gorgeous out. We got to take tons of photos around the city. We also got a little bit of a history lesson by the tour guide. The boat was empty besides us, so was almost like we had a personal tour guide.

After the boat tour we walked back to the hotel and were able to shower and change and relax a little bit. It was a long day and we had a long flight so we were glad for the rest.

It was M’s birthday so we wanted to go out for dinner. The hotel recommended taking a small walk, not anywhere near as crazy as the one we did in the morning to an area where there was a bunch of restaurants. We found one that looked nice and had dinner.

After dinner we decided to walk some more and headed over to the red light district. We had both wanted to check it out. It was still daylight when we walked through it so it wasn’t as crazy as it probably gets late at night. We did however kind of see what everyone talks about on how odd that place is compared to most other areas of the world.

From the red light district we had it all back towards the hotel. We walked through a square and a market district that looked interesting. We also bought some dessert to bring back to the hotel.

Overall it was a good first day of our vacation.

Off to Amsterdam

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Today we are off on our European vacation to Amsterdam and Paris. Our first destination is Amsterdam. We left after work and headed over to JFK. On the flight out we are flying KLM. This will be my first time on a Boeing 747. Even after all my years of traveling for work I’ve never actually been on this plane. I was very excited for the experience. I wasn’t however excited for the red eye in coach. After my bad experience on the redeye to Iceland I did not want to get a middle seat. Thankfully I was able to get an aisle seat. The flight was generally uneventful. I was able to sleep a bit after taking something to help me fall asleep.

For reference I am writing this blog post after the fact since at the time that this is time stamped I would’ve been sleeping.

Iceland Weekend

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Back in December M and I started talking about vacation plans for the Spring. I mentioned how I read once that the hot springs in Iceland were supposed to be amazing. She found a travelzoo deal for a long weekend in Iceland in February and we did the numbers and it worked into our budget, so we booked it. We were both very excited.

We took a redeye from JFK to Iceland on Thursday the 4th. The flight was rough just because it was a redeye and I had to sit in the middle seat next to a rather large gentleman on the isle. I felt very claustrophobic but overall it could have been much worse than it turned out to be. M and I both were still a bit tired getting off the plane. The only thing odd about customs in Iceland was that we had to go through security and metal detectors again on arrival even though we did it in NYC. The only other time I had to do that was when i went from an airport that was so small they didn’t have security to go through so i was surprised by having to do it after going through security in NYC.

After getting our bags we grabbed a cab for the long ride to Reykjavik. It was about a 45 minute to an hour drive. It was snowing and it was still dark outside. We were staying at the Hilton and we were very thankful for the early arrival we had on our room. We got to the hotel and went to the room to take a nap. We slept like 3 hours and when we woke up the sun just rose, it was after 10AM.

We grabbed breakfast in the hotel and then hung out until our bus arrived to take us to the hot springs at Blue Lagoon.

The drive to the Blue Lagoon wasn’t too bad. It was around 30-40 minutes but we got to see the countryside in the daytime. It was very bleak and you couldn’t tell when the snow covered ground turned into the white sky. It was kind of awesome sight to see. We got a ton of photos on the bus trip.

The hot springs themselves was the highlight of the trip. M and I both were looking forward to it, and it didn’t dissapoint. Even the sign’s telling you were to wash was entertaining. We meet up after showering by the spring. It was freezing outside so we ran as fast as we could from the building to the spring. Getting into that water was one of the best feelings. What was funny is that after we took a break and came out of the water M confirmed her initial thoughts that we didn’t need to run out to the water at all. There was a part of the spring that was actually inside the building that there was a door at water level that you could go out so you are in the water and not outside and exposed when you go outside. When we were there it was snowing and freezing. My ears were freezing but overall i was super warm since we were in the water. It was an odd feeling. We lathered up with the silica mud like they say to do. it was fun. We lied around and swam around for a while and then lounged a bit before showering and heading off to the bus back to the hotel. Overall the hot spring was amazing once in a life time thing to do, and if we just did that it the vacation would have been worth it.

Back at the hotel we made reservations for dinner at a great sea food restaraunt in down town Reykjavik. The guide book suggested it and it was fantastic. Both of our meals were great. We tried to goto an Ice Bar, but the place was having issues with it so it was closed. Apparently the locals don’t think too highly of the bar since it is a touristy thing to do but we still thought it would have been fun to try.

On Saturday we took the shuttle bus to downtown Reykjavik and walked around. We went to several museums. Had coffee and lunch in some nice little shops. We walked around the downtown area and looked at a bunch of shops. It was a pretty packed day walking around Reykjavik. I will say that we probably went everywhere we wanted to in the city. We headed back to the hotel a bit early to rest up before our planned dinner reservations but M was not feeling very well so we ended up staying in Saturday night. I entertained myself with my iPad and the lobby wifi and grabbed dinner at the hotel bar.

Thankfully M was feeling better today but she was still under the weather, so I went to the hotel spa for some hot tub action before we left for the flight. Then it was the long cab ride back to the airport. We grabbed lunch at the airport, browsed the duty free and then just hung out till our flight home departed.

Reykjavik has a pretty nice modern airport. The flight home was thankfully uneventful. It was a short vacation but this Iceland trip was pretty spectacular even with M being sick Saturday night.

The Last Day of the Cruise

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We woke up on the last day of the cruise and we were nearing port.  We had breakfast and then grabbed our luggage and headed to the meeting area we were told to goto for our shuttle transfer to the airport.  We had to wait a bit since we were delayed getting into port.  Getting through customs was a bit of a production but it could have been much worse than it turned out to be.  We actually didn’t take the bus to the airport like we had originally setup.  We were concerned about making our flight so we grabbed a cab since the cab line wasn’t so bad.

The return flight home was uneventful and our fantastic cruise was over!