Random Photo: Bologna, Italy

Through the window at via Piella, Bologna

As I count down the days to France, I was thinking about other visits to Europe. This photo was taken in 2004 in Bologna, Italy. We have a copy of this hanging in our entryway and most people guess it to be Venice. However, Bologna was also a canal city - though now most of the canals are covered up. There is a walking tour that takes you to the "windows" looking out on the remaining areas where the canals are above ground - we captured this photo from one of the viewpoints.

Biz Travel: Boston Waterfront Convention Center

Back in June I had the opportunity to attend a trade-show in Boston at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center. I'm really not all that familiar with Boston, but word has it this area, South Boston Waterfront, has been recently developed and it all certainly looks new and shiny! A co-worker who grew up in Boston said this area use to be just the fishing area - it still is, but now there is a plethora of restaurants and hotels!

If you walk down to the waterfront, you see plenty of evidence that this is still a working fishing pier and area:

About the Westin: overall, this was a good location for a smaller convention or trade-show. The main areas are in the "basement" so cellular coverage is question. However, the Wi-Fi was strong (and fast) in every part of the hotel and center. The rooms were clean and comfy. All goodness there.

My challenge was the food (always important to me): The only place open for dinner was the Irish Pub, MJ O'Connor's. Even Starbucks closed in the late afternoon! Sauciety was the breakfast / lunch place as was average overall. The service was slow and indifferent. The lunch food was pretty good but pricey. The Birch Bar was open into the evening with some very limited snacks but after eating the same thing two nights in a row, I needed a change.

So - we journeyed out on night on foot to Legal's Test Kitchen and had superb drinks and food. Great service and the wait for a table wasn't too harsh.

There is a train stop close to the hotel and for those who enjoy lots of walking, the main sites aren't that far away. Overall - not a bad location. The big problem: cabs are extremely expensive and while this location seems close to the airport it still generated a "cha-ching" cab fare: about $25 each direction!

Park for the Prez only!

Evidence this isn't just a tourist trap but a working dock

-- Happy Travels!

Random Rant: Outlets in Hotels

Hanging out in the JW Marriott in Beijing - lovely hotel and more on the details in another post. But this morning I needed coffee in order to even begin to function enough to go downstairs for breakfast. I found this cutie in the mini-bar area:

Minor detail: that is the full length of the cord. And the hotel room has three plugs I can find:

1. By the bed where the alarm clock is plugged. I had already swiped that plug for my cell phone to charge. 
2. At the desk. Uh, charging my laptop there. And the little short cord wouldn't reach it even if I wanted to plug it there. 
3. In the entryway, on the wall, about a foot up from the floor. Again - not gonna reach. 

Finally I unplugged my phone and plugged in the teakettle there. Barely - the cord JUST reached the outlet. I had to move the lamp to make it happen.

Now - this is a very specific example but I am consistently surprised by how even newly remodeled hotels forget to add outlets. I use my cell phone as an alarm clock and have it by my bed and rarely can find an outlet near the bed. The desk / workspace areas often don't even have an outlet!

Weird.

-- Happy Non-Electronic Device-Using Travels!

Ft. Funston - San Francisco Dog Friendly spot!

If you are a dog owner in the Bay Area, you are about 98.9% likely to have heard of Ft. Funston. Just south of Ocean Beach on the Pacific, this is a huge multi-purpose area.  Hang-gliders take off from here, there is a golf course up on the hills and there are ... the dogs!

This is the most note-worthy dog beach in San Francisco - and while it's ongoing "off-leash" status continues to go through legal battles, for now it is an amazing place for dog owners.

Warning though: it isn't easy to get to the beach. This is the view from the top of the sand stairs:

It's a long way down!

But the beach goes on forever once you get there:

View south down the coast - only one small part of the beach!

You'll see fisherman down on the beach and plenty of dog owners - but the extent of this beach makes it such that it never really feels crowded, especially here on the south end.

There is another route to the beach, if you head north out of the parking lot through the dunes. Keep to the left, you'll see the "beach access" signs. This isn't as steep of a walk for most of the way, but the access to the beach is a more or less a ditch in the cliff that you climb down (and back up). It is usually wet and a slippery, so be ready for it. Of course, those sand stairs will test your endurance too!

-- Happy (woof!) travels!

Buena Vista Park - San Francisco

Very beautiful park but word has it is a bit dicey at night. You could truly get lost in here  - but the intricate stairways and multiple paths all lead you to stunning views at the top of the hill.

Stairway through the trees

This is a man-made hill and the drains along some of the walls are paved with marble - marble reclaimed from the headstones of a cemetery that was moved out of San Francisco.

Faint inscription from a headstone

 Bonus: There is an off-leash dog run in the park and dogs are welcome on leash in the entire park!

Touring Mazatlan, Mexico

This is city where cruise ships dock (typically on Wednesday and Thursday) and they know their audience.

A trip into Old Mazatlan on a Monday was incredibly quiet. The Mercado was fascinating and lively, but it was almost too hot to be inside. I did capture a bit of video that gives you a feel for what you can find:



As we walked down toward the waterfront, it was clear that Monday definitely was a slow business day and many things were closed up. We didn’t make it back to Old Mazatlan on either of the days when cruise ships were docked, but I suspect it was a very different atmosphere on those days. On a Monday in “low-season”, it was pretty sleepy and empty. There were a few restaurants open along the waterfront, along with a very over-priced silver store.

From there, we visited the Cathedral – a beautiful and very welcoming structure. Take notice of the lamp posts outside. Inside, the alcove to the right is dedicated to Maria (Mary) and the alcove to the left is dedicated to Jose (Joseph).



Afterwards, we wandered into Zona Dorado (Gold Zone) is also often called "Tourist Zone" on some maps. We visited the Zona twice - once on a day when there was no cruise ship, and once when there was a ship in port. VERY different atmospheres. The day without the cruise ship was nice, most things were open and bargaining went well with the vendors.



When the cruise ship came in, there were more vendors out and about, but we also were pressed more to buy. The pace picked up in shops and restaurants, but things still weren't packed. A number of places had specials running for the cruise ships and the silly tourists walking around with name badges on diverted the timeshare sellers from us. Yeah!

Happy Travels! 

Mobile Boarding Pass: United

I have something nice to say about United Airlines. I know, I know, a certain very hot location may have just frozen over.

On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I gave the mobile boarding pass a try. I have a Blackberry Storm with a cracked screen - probably NOT the ideal candidate for such a thing. However, it all went well. At the SFO airport security line, I was mostly worried about losing my signal and not being able to pull up the barcode again. At the kiosk, I was asked to hold the phone to a scanner. First take - nothing happened. I tried again and I received a green light. Yeah!

At the gate I had a moment of panic when I lost cellular connectivity and couldn't re-open the saved web page. There may be a way to save the barcode page as a file on the phone - if not, maybe I should read the FAQ on United and learn what happens if I can't! Again at the gate the first scan didn't work so I zoomed in on the barcode and tried again - GREEN LIGHT! YEAH!

Overall, it was fairly easy to use. I'm trying it again on the way home.