Random Photo: Killarney Ireland

Overlooking the lake at The Lake Hotel, Killarney, Ireland. This was one of the most amazing places I have ever stayed. We were there in October and it was so peaceful and quiet. The grounds, the rooms, the staff - all were amazing.

TSA in the International Terminal at SFO

The security line tonight was very short in the international terminal at SFO. However, they were directing everyone to the body scanner vs. the metal detector. I refused the scan and went through the metal detector and then waited. 

The TSA agent who did the pat-down recorded it and asked why I did not want to go through the body-scanner. I actually found this the most invasive part of the whole process - none of their business why I don't want to go through!

The secured my belongings and then took me over to the chairs - it was a public pat-down but I was informed if I wanted it to be private it could be. The TSA agent was polite and it was over fairly quick and wasn't as invasive as I expected. What was interesting is she then put her gloves through the machine that tests for bomb and explosive residue. I had to wait for that to be completed and then could gather my stuff and leave. 

-- Happy Travels!

Heading to London

It has been ages since I was in London and I would be looking forward to the trip except for:

1. TSA groping (I will be opting out of the body scan if requested to go through it)
2. There is snow in the UK currently. Lots of it. 

Good news - it is a direct flight so no delayed or cancelled connections!

-- Happy Travels (?)

Full body scans at the airport

I can't say I have all the facts in this one, but I do find it interesting the New Jersey government is standing up to the feds on this topic.

Does anyone out there actually enjoy flying anymore? I love to travel, but flying has just become more and more depressing and demoralizing. Rude staff, problems with online technology, higher fares, fees on top of fees on top of more fees. Now add the new security screenings to the list.

Is it necessary? Last I heard, x-rays are bad for you. Even pilots are balking at the invasive technique. This all feels like something where one guy knows another guy and the are BFFs. Guy #1 owns a company that makes full-body X-ray machines while Guy #2 is in power at the TSA. Suddenly, viola! Everyone needs a full-body scan to make us all "safe".

Here is an idea: use dogs. Dogs can smell drugs, explosives, money and even bed bugs. And don't give me the excuse it takes too long to train dogs - it has taken how many years for these x-ray machines to be rolled out?

On final word: I'm buying one of these t-shirts. I love the sarcasm!

 

http://www.despair.com/tsa.html

-- Happy Travels?

Wine and Spirits: Alameda, CA

Sometimes there is just nothing like being a tourist in your own local area. Here in San Francisco, we tend to stay in the city on the weekends and avoid the traffic and toll booths. During Fleet Week in October, we decided to get out of the city and see what kind of trouble we could find.

We journeyed across the Bay Bridge to Alameda. Technically Alameda is an island, but it is pretty well connected to the mainland. Formerly a naval post, it is also blessed with some great views of the city.

View from St. George Spirits

Our first stop was St. George Spirits. These guys were the first to start distilling absinthe when it was re-legalized in the United States. Housed in an old hanger, their vodka reflects their home: Hanger One Vodka. This is consistently one of the best vodkas I have ever had. The "Straight" vodka is so smooth you won't know it is vodka. The infused vodkas are amazing - many infusions have a "fake" taste to them, as if the artificial flavor was added after distillation. Hanger One actually distills the fruit for the vodka and you can taste the difference. The Buddha's Hand vodka is superb. Frankly, I can't name one that isn't. They do limited releases and I'm still pining over the Chipolte Vodka - I so want another bottle but it is all gone and they don't know if / when they will distill it again.

Buddha Hand Vodka

Another big hit from the distillery is the new Firelit liquor. Brandy based, this is infused with cold-brewed Blue Bottle coffee - a Bay Area favorite. I'm not usually a fan of coffee liquors, but this one is extremely good. You can sip it alone and skip the espresso on summer nights!

We took the pup with us, and unfortunately St. George will not allow dogs into the tasting room. We didn't get an reason behind this, but I suspect it is because the tasting room and the distillery are all in one building.

Less than a mile away from St. George is the tasting room for Rosenblum Cellars. Very friendly crew here and they are dog-friendly, allowing dogs into the tasting room! Their strength is their zinfandels, but be sure to try the dessert wines also. Everything is reasonably priced and the staff are very helpful.

At this point you should be pretty hungry and need food to keep going. Downtown Alameda has a plethora of restaurants, but for some reason we always end up at La Pinata 3. A local chain, but I can't say the food is the greatest. However, it is cheap and the margaritas are huge and pretty potent.


-- Happy Travels!

Surviving Paris: Trains and Automobiles

In September, we spent a week in the Loire Valley of France. When it came time for us to head out to Paris, we went into Angers and booked tickets to Paris on the TGV. These high-speed trains have limited stops and reach up to 200mph. Woo-hoo!

I loved the TGV - the drive from Paris to Le Moulin took over 3 hours, much of it on country roads. The train trip took about 1 hour 15 minutes. Smooth as silk, easy as can be. Except luggage storage. We had two fair-sized hard-sided bags stuffed with wine and each was maxed out at 50 pounds. They weren't big, just heavy. Still, the luggage storage space was full with all 5 people in our compartment hogging it all. I can't imagine what it would be like when the train is full!

Helpful signs for the TGV.

One final note on the TGV - first class doesn't seem worth it. Second class can be fairly pricey as it is, so on the shorter trips, I would recommend skipping the deluxe accommodations. 

We arrived at the Montparnasse station on a Saturday afternoon looking forward to a couple days in Paris. It was our first trip to Paris and we were very excited. The confusion that day nearly killed that excitement (and my husband).

Leaving our TGV train, it was easy to find the taxi stands. All seemed to be going well. Our hotel wasn't far, but with two heavy bags we were advised by friends to take a taxi and skip trying to get through the Metro. Unfortunately, the fates were against us. After standing in line about 20 minutes with no taxis, a driver showed up and began to speak very excitedly in French. The man in the couple in front of us spoke some French and I overheard him saying the streets were closed, no one could get anywhere. Oh. Oh no!

In my other post, the The Kindness of Strangers, I wrote about this couple and how helpful they were that day. What I didn't mention was the joy of dragging heavy suitcases through the Paris Metro. I managed to get stuck in a turnstile once (the bag couldn't pull through correctly, had to be turned sideways) and I know we must have walked two miles in tunnels. The worst part was for my husband - there were stairs all over. Up, down. Up, down. He was carrying both suitcases up and down each set of stairs the whole way. Up, down, up, down. At one point I began to think we were trapped in a hellish maze of stairs and would never see daylight again.

We finally reached our platform (up some stairs, down some more) and took the Metro two stops to our hotel location. Yeah! We did it........except there were two final flights of stairs up to street level. My hubby is a pretty strong guy, works out all the time, and he finally broke just before we reached daylight. He had to stop after the first flight and rest. But - we could smell fresh air and we were determined to escape up into the daylight.

Deceptive picture: looks clean and nice smelling.

Thankfully our hotel was only half a block from there. But there were stairs into the lobby and down to the elevator. SERIOUSLY??

So - word to the wise - know what is going on in Paris on the day you arrive and do not attempt the Metro with heavy bags.

We recovered pretty quick from hating the Metro and Paris (hubby's first words about Paris "I hate Paris") and reached the point where we pretty much want to move there and live forever. But I will say the Metros have a bad habit of smelling strongly of piss. Nasty. Watch where you step. Overall though, they are easy to figure out and reliable and far better than a taxi.

Which brings me to taxis...goodness. We took a cab to the airport on the morning we left and it was crazy expensive. We left from near Notre Dame and it took about 50 minutes in traffic. The meter was off the charts. We expected this, but were not about to try the Metro and trains again and had requested a cab that would accept credit cards. When we arrived at the airport, the cab driver ran my card and said it was declined. Ok, credit card security probably kicked in - try another one. Declined. My husband tried two cards - also declined. I'm about to get violent with the taxi driver, clearly his credit card machine has an issue and he won't let us out of the cab. I finally get him to understand I needed to go inside the airport and find an ATM and he lets me out. Luckily, the debit card that had just come up "declined" really did work and I was able to withdraw some euro to pay the bill. I have no idea what would have happened had that not worked.

Next time I'll look for a pre-pay shuttle or something. Or maybe pack lighter and take the trains. But, you know, we really needed to bring all that wine back home. :-)

-- Happy Travels!

Random Photo: Beijing

Beijing is a striking contrast of the old and new - and personally I prefer the old. I'm a history buff, so I enjoy seeing the cultural history of a place when I travel. One of my best experiences when visiting Beijing in 2008 was wandering the hutongs near the Forbidden Palace. 

Hutong area, outside the Forbidden Palace

-- Happy Travels!