Travelling to America

I love America and try to holiday there a minimum of once per year. To do it you need authorisation called an ESTA. Thats assuming your holiday is 30 days or less, any longer you need a Visa.

There are many companies out there that will get one for you and I've heard some charge up to £100 for this service. An internet search will bring up many sites that look official but are not, you will be charged over the odds.

My advice is do it yourself the cost through the official site is $14 (around £9) and it only takes a few minutes, you get immediate acceptance.

This is the Official Site - https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

The ESTA lasts two years so no need to renew for multiple trips.

City Break - Seattle with a Kiss

Seattle is maybe a place that many people wouldn't consider visiting as a tourist but in May 2007 I decided to have a look and spent a week there. Well its a trip i really enjoyed and managed to fill my time in with no problem at all.

It as the nickname "The Rainy City" but despite forcasts predicting rain and a few cloudy days I never saw a drop. 

I like walking to explore places and must warn people its very hilly, nothing is on the flat so your legs and lungs get a good workout. On the plus side the public transport (buses) are free around the City Centre so its just a matter of jumping on and off. If you want to go further afield its only around 2 dollars so very reasonable. Always a good idea to learn the local transport system when travelling alone as taxis are expensive with only one to pay. Even used the bus to get me to the airport at the end of my trip.

So what is there to do in Seattle -

Head towards the harbour area you can't miss Pike Place Market (indoor), its really old but interesting to find your way around. Its mainly fresh produce Fish plus fruit & veg but a few touristy type stalls aswell.

And if you fancy a coffee and you don't know Seattle is home to the origional Starbucks, just across the road from the market.



There is also a touristy area that can be walked or you can catch the monorail, its called Seattle Centre with a few things to see and do including a few rides and other attractions. The Space Needle is located here and no visit to the City would be right if you didn't take a ride to the top to look at the views out over Elliot Bay.






Also in this area is the Experience Music Project where you can have a go at playing instruments either jamming with others or on your own, not sure anyone will be signing me up for lead guitar though. Was great fun enjoyed it.

 Was also a lovely big food court, had lunch here on more than one occasion.

On another day got the bus to Woodfield park where there is a walking track around a lake. Its also home to a big Zoo so decided to visit.

Seattle like many other big cities has its fair share of beggars and one made me laugh. While others had boards in fron of them saying the usual stuff such as "4 kids to feed", "vietnam vet", etc this one read "Father Killed by Ninja, need money for Karate lesson", 10 out of 10 for effort, lol.

Of course Seattle is home to Boeings "Museum of Flight" which is a fantastic, never seen so many aircraft of all shapes and sizes, spent a good few hours there.
Its just outside the City so I took the bus as usual, it was quite an interesting journey through some rundown areas. Felt everyone except myself were crack heads, although nothing happend it was a bit intimidating i felt for someone travelling alone. Still well worth it I think.

Of course they had a concord aswell as one of the old Air Force One planes that you could go on.






Another day took a harbour cruise which gives you great views of the city. If my memory serves me right you could get all day cruises up to Vancouver Island and Whale Watching but didn't really have the time.


However I did go to a district to the north of the City called Magnolia and to a place called Discovery Park. Its virtually a large area of woods with a lot of walking trails and I spent the a enjoyable day exploring it. Some of the trails lead to Cliffs overlooking the Bay it was there that had a fantastic exerience, I was just having a sit down and rest when a massive Eagle flew really close to me before swooping down the cliffs, was a awesome sight but just couldn't get my camera out quick enough. Reckon it had a 5 to 6 foot wing span.




Another day i took the ferry across the bay to West Seattle where there is a good beach a few walking trail and some nice coffees, wasn't really beach weather though.

 Did go to a football match but have done a seperate post about that.


 As for other entertainment wasn't impressed with the local music scene, not near my hotel anyway. Was a few nice pubs to eat and one day spotted an English Pub advertising "Yorkshire Puddings" on their menu. The Pub was called "Elephant and Castle" was a nice place but what they served up as Yorksire Puddings would be grounds for divorce in these parts.

You are probably now wondering what the Kiss part of the title of this post is about. Well I was in the Pub sat at the bar minding my own buisness when a group of young ladies came in. After they had got their drinks i was aware they were looking at me, eventually a couple of them came over and asked if I would mind if their friend kissed me.
Was a gobsmacked but as a gentleman was happy to oblige.

They did explain it was her Hen Party and she had a number of challenges to do, one was to kiss a stranger, was nice to be the chosen one.

Football American Style

No this isn't a post about what they call American Football its about the game that we know that they refer to as Soccer. Well as a fan of the beautiful game (ok I support Leeds so some may argue)I thought on one of my trips over the pond I should take a match in, they are supposed to be an emerging nation.

This happend in Seattle in 2007 when I attended a Sounders Football match to see the local team play Portland Timbers and I can tell you it certainly wasn't like visiting a match in England. The stadium called Quest Field was awesome and although it holds 67,000  I would estimate only around 12,000 there, they only actually opened on side stand. To be fair it was their 2nd division the level just below the MLS.

As I got to the ground 3 coaches arrived carrying the Portland supporters and they were all singing and waving their flags I thought there could be a good atmosphere at the match. Some of them were wearing kilts, not quite sure why, can anyone enlighten me.

I got in the stadium and the first thing you notice is that you can get served at the various bars by staff that can actually speak English and add up, don't get that at Elland road. Then you go to the toilet and it is actually clean and you don't have to stand in line for your turn to go. The facilities are as good as I've seen anywhere.

Now thats the good things about football in America, I took my seat (you even get a drink holder) awaiting the 7pm kick off as advertised. 7pm came and went and they started playing opera over the PA system leaving me confused. 7.10pm came and loads of kids lined the tunnel awaiting the players, they eventually brought the players on o the pitch, not altogether but one at a time introducing them to the crowd telling you their weight, height, inside leg measurement, etc. Each player ran out with an escort of half a dozen of the kids and they all lined up in front of the fans in the stand.
It was about 7.30pm by the time everyone was out, ok we can start now I thought, but alas no along come four members of the local armed forces and took their place in front of the players and kids. The announcer then asked everbody to stand and take their hats off, they then played the American National Anthem.

The Match eventually got underway and was just getting going but after 2 minutes the announcer then started piping up doing adverts over the PA while the game went on. This was of course until after 6 minutes Seattle got their first corner when he started playing Queens "We will Rock You" while the move was completed. It was even better when they got a Free Kick when they played a bugle playing the Cavalry charge. These things happend all the match with the announcer mixing adverts with spells of commentary of what was actually happening on the pitch.
It really was annoying.

Part way through the first half Seattle scored when Portlands goalkeeper displayed his Dracula tendancies (doesn't like crosses) and I thought this would lead to display of passion from the home support, I looked around and all we got was a polite hand clap apart from a couple of hundred with flags towards the left corner trying to match the boisterious Portland fans in the other corner.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse as the game was going on the announcer decided it was quiz time and asked they fans a question saying the first two people to give the correct answer at the stall behind the stand would get a prize. About 2,000 people then went running out of the ground, what idiots.

This was bettered ten minutes later when the cheer leaders (did i mention them) started throwing minature footballs into the crowd and everyone started jumping trying to catch one, you could see naff all of the match which was still going on. They repeated this stunt in the 2nd half this time with tee shirts.

One of the highlights for me was when the young girl with her father who had been trying to explain the game to her, and pretending to be an expert asked him one hour into the match "Which team are we supporting".

Most of the supporters seemed to be up and down all match going backwards and forwards for more food varying from burgers, chips, popcorn, hot dogs, pizza, etc it was just one big food party, not sure how many were actually there for the match

The game itself wasn't bad and Seattle deserved their one nil win, they actually played some tidy football, but the American fans have a long way to go.

Heathrow Public Transport

When flying from Heathrow I often stay overnight and I've learned its always a good idea to get a hotel within the freeflow area (usually on Bath Road).

A lot of people don't realise this area exists and pay £4-50 or more each way for transfers on the hoppa buses when just a short walk outside your hotel gates will get you a free bus ride to your terminal.
In fact the service buses are often more regular than the hoppas and quicker as they do't have to drive into each hotel onroute.
You can check timetables on the bus companies own websites.

Some useful maps here showing the "freeflow" area and also which hotels are on the route and within the area.

http://www.cuinheathrow.com/Maps

Also other links for trains etc.

Keep saving the pennies it goes towards the next holiday.

Heathrow - Hotels & Parking

If you plan to drive to many airports its often as cheap to get a hotel/parking deal as it is to get parking only (sometimes even cheaper believe it our not).

A good site to do this is via the Holiday Extras website.

Before you do it makes sense to check on Voucher Codes as there are often extra discounts available. Just go on the site and search holiday extras and they will give you a code to get your discount with.

Alternately if you are like me and a member of the AA (Automoblie Association not Alcoholics Anonymous) and you go into the travel section of their website you will get discount with your AA number. They use Holiday Extras but give extra discounts through their site.

A good example of what I'm saying is that when I go to Slovenia in May it would cost over £70 for the cheapest paking. Going through the AA I've got an overnight 4 star hotel (Park Inn) with a weeks parking for £62, riddiculous i know.

I got this deal by choosing the "Undercover Hotel" option where you don't know which hotel you are going to get until you pay.
However you can often work it out with a bit of investigation. What I knew for sure is that it was a 4 star hotel I would get and looking at the info section it told me the times of the first and last Hoppa Bus would call at the Hotel. A quick check of the Hoppa Bus website told me it had to be either the Park Inn or the Renaisance would have been happy with either as near each other and in the freeflow area.

In the past I've worked out the hotel by information such as restaurant name, hotel facilities (swimming pool), which hoppa stops there, etc. Amazing tool that google.

Airport Food

Once through security at UK airports and you need something to eat it can be expensive because everyone seems to hike up their prices because they have you trapped.

If you are happy with a snack the best place to go believe it or not is "Boots", the Chemist chain do a meal deal (drink, sandwich & snack) for the same price as on the high street (just over £3).

Alternately if you have time to kill its not a bad policy to book a airport lounge if the price is right, can do it through Holiday Extras .
Recently when flying from Manchester got a 3 hour lounge pass for a bargain £13, which included comfy seats, newspapers, sandwich, plus as many other snacks and drinks including alcohol as you wanted.  A couple of nice Brandy coffees help you sleep on a long flight.

Americas Golden West - First & Best

First time I decided to go on a group holiday was in 2010 (had travelled totally solo previously), anyway a internet search led me to Just You and spotted a holiday I fancied "Music Capitals of the Deep South" so I booked online. However the company contacted me and was told it was cancelled so another look and I decided on "Americas Golden West" a decision that I didn't regret, ended up having one of my best holidays ever.


Another first for me was that it was a touring holiday, I'd only done resort or City breaks previously. Certainly proved an eye opener as you see so much more although anyone considering doing one needs to accept that it'll be hectic with a lot of early starts, well worth living out of a suitcase for a couple of weeks though.

On to the holiday and first thing I remember is that we were given passes to the exceutive lounge which is a cracking idea, gives people chance to chat to others on the trip. There was only 18 of us (7 men and 11 ladies) on the holiday, still the smallest group i've been with. Even with so few myself and Dave both turned up wearing virtually the same shirt, good job it wasn't two Ladies.

First port of call was San Francisco but as we flew via Denver it was quite late when we got to our hotel on Fishermans Wharf, although tired we went out for a couple of drinks, ended up eating in MacDonalds.

Our tour manager Dave was a good bloke and remember he gave me some excellent advice for singles holidays, he suggested every morning sit with a different person at breakfast, I still try do that best I can on every trip I do.

2nd Day it was a city tour of San Fran which was interesting even though I'd been to SF once before, we also did a night tour which was a bit much, think one tour was enough. In between most of us did a bay cruise then went on the tram to the main square before getting the cable car back. Others visited Alcatraz but I didn't bother as had done it on my previous trip and the cruise gives you an excellent view. In all honesty this holiday could do with an extra day in SF.

The evening we all went out for an included meal at a local fish restaurant on one of the piers, ok it was a fish restaurant but I had steak, thats me. Was still nice and think everyone enjoyed. Afterwards some of us went to a music club then a pub was already obvious we had a good crowd and all gelled together.

Following morning we hit the road and our first stop was at Carmel on Sea (thats where Clint Eastwood was Mayor. Its really unspoilt they dont even have street lights and don't allow any chain buisnesses everything is little independant shops, cafes, bars, etc. Remember having a lovely coffee and cake.





Next it was off to drive along the picturesque 17 mile drive, some awesome houses and views, even takes you through Pebble Beach golf course.





Then we moved on to Monterey where we stopped for lunch and a look around the shops, again was very nice place.

Finally on to San Lois Obispo for and overnight stop, remember a lovely restaurant opposite the hotel, sort of family run place.





Following morning we were heading for Los Angeles but not without a couple of interesting stops. First was at a place called Solvang and what a change of scenary may aswell been in Denmark, even had a mermaid same as Copenhagen harbour. The place had been built by Danish settlers and everything resembled their country. I'd never heard of it before but liked it a lot wish we had more time to explore, still had time for coffee and a nice Danish Pastry.

All the time we were travelling through awesome scenary along the California coast and next stop was Santa Barbara. Basically a seaside town with dare I say a bit on Bitish influence. Had a couple of hours to explore which was good because had chance to stretch our legs. This was our lunch stop and I'll let you guess what I had, lol.

After fighting the LA traffic to get to our hotel for a two night stop it was quick shower and change and out for a meal. Found a place down the road and they pushed tables together and got our full group on one big table. This was fine until the bill came as one and there was a big variation what people had orderdered. I hate it when people are counting out money on the table would rather just split it even to be honest (and I'd gone for a cheaper option than most). Lesson learned get bills split into at least smaller groups one bill for 19 people is hard work.

Following morning it was a City tour which took us to Hollywood Boulevard, Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Bowl, Beverley Hills, etc before going to the Farmers Market or Lunch.



After Lunch it was Universal Studios where we were dropped off for 6 hours or so, was great love the place, everthing about it, was just loads of fun. We ate there before we left as it was getting late. On return to hotel decided to get some beer and wine from the local supermarket and a few of us just chilled having drinks in the lounge (the hotel didn't have its own bar).




Following morning we hit the road again heading towards Palm Springs not before a couple of hours in Long Beach home of course to the Queen Mary.


 Before arriving in Palm Springs we stopped at San Jacinto State Park and went up the mountains in the rotating cable car, awesome views.




Will say the hotel in Palm Springs was not great but credit to Just You we all mentioned this in our feedback form and it was changed for future trips. It was a motel type place and a bit grotty by American standards, some of the other people staying there were a bit iffy.
A couple of the ladies weren't happy going to their rooms so we got some wine from the local supermarket and a group of us just sat by the swimming pool most of the night having a laugh, just spent as little time as possible in the room.
One good thing about the hotel it was close to the main street of Palm Springs, remember eating at two cracking restaurants on the nights we were there.

Our spare day in Palm Springs we had a tour of the homes of the rich and famous before going to the living desert where they have all sorts of creatures, was good place to visit.

 

Then it was on to Vegas but not before a stop off for lunch at Calico Ghost town which to me was real interesting, basically its a old mining town that they've turned into a museum. Lunch was in the saloon and the ladies serving were dressed as cowgirls with their 6 shooters.

 

Then it was Vegas for three nights my first visit, couldn't believe the size of our hotel but that was before I'd done the tour and seen the others. Was great fun and our group made the evenings a party, think we were all on cocktails, had a great laugh.

On our spare day most of the group went to the Grand Canyon although in hindsight for me it was a waste of money because I would visit again the following year on a different holiday, going from Vegas means a expensive flight.





One night we did the Rat Pack show, was great fun and I et the lady of my dreams, Marilyn think she was called, lol.


Joking aside its a fantastic holiday that I'd consider doing again sometime, would advise anyone to do it if they get chance.

Phiadelphia - Wont be going back

Another American City I visited was Philadelphia (in 2007), just fancied it given the history, well basically I knew the Liberty Bell was there (think its a former capitol), I love Philly Cheesesteak and of course the Rocky films were from there.







Think I did 5 days and if I'm been honest one day would have been enough found the place a big dissapointment. First of all my hotel (Comfort Inn) was close to Penns Landing and opposite the Benjamin Franklyn Bridge which i thought would be great, trouble is it was wedged between two main roads and to get anywhere I'd to make my way alongside one road then cross 6 lanes of traffic to the Landing, then it was over a footbridge to get into the downtown area.

Yes the historic district was nice and there was some decnt shopping areas but always felt the whole place was dodgy. One couple at my hotel got robbed, the lady had the straps of her handbag cut.
The main areas seemed safe enough but the whole area changed within just one or two blocks, so easy to wander into the wrong area.

Remember one day decidig to walk to the Italian Market and as I was half way there remember thinking I shouldn't be wandering around this neighbourhood. Not joking it was a throw back to how you see America in the 1950's flms with litter lining the streets.
Still the Market was good and you could get some nice tasting food (did I mention I like Philly Cheesesteak).

In the City Centre was a much larger indoor market, could get anything there nd I had lunch there a couple of times (Philly Cheesesteak of course, would be rude not to when in the City).


Of course went to see the Rocky statue (yes it actually exists), its near the steps he runs up in the film. Amazes me they have the statue and not one for an actual real great boxer and heavyweight champion Joe Frazier who came from there.








As for nightlife was a couple of blocks not far from the hotel after negotiating the roads full of bars and restaurants a real mix of quite posh places and pit & sawdust bars, was ok but nothing great to be honest.

Talking of music we all know Chicago & New Orleans have Blues & Jazz, Nashvillie as Country, Detroit as Motown, Memphis has Blues, etc well Philladelphia as DooWop. Yes them kids who stand on a street corner belting out tunes still exist. In fact while I was there they had a Doowop festival at Penns Landing so I just had to go.

On a different day also went to a Mexican festival some of the outfits they were wearing where stunning, not much else to doin Philly though.







Did get the ferry across the Delaware river one day to Camden waterfront where there is an aquarium and a couple of ships you can visit.

Thats about it, seen it and wont be going back but at least the Police cars were in Leeds colours.

Poll Result - What is your favorite holiday type

Clear winner was touring holiday

1. Touring 72%
2. Beach/Sun 14%
3. City Break 14%
4 Activity 0%

New Poll on the forum, help me choose my next City break, have your vote on the side bar.

Crete - Two weeks in the Sun

Unusual for me but this year I decided to do a "Sun" type beach holiday and after talking with others decided to give Solos a go rather than Just You . After reading both companies brochures Solos had two advantages for this type of holiday.
First I had the option to fly from Manchester with very little mark up as they use budget airlines but for a European holiday I don't mind. The second reason is I had the option to go for a fortnight which I wanted, think its good you have the option on a lot of beach holidays with Solos and the price difference isn't too bad.

My biggest worry was finding enough to do because there wasn't any included excurrsions and I'm not one for spending my time on the beach or by the Pool. Don't get me wrong will do 2 or 3 hours chill in the afternoon but thats about it.
In fact we had good fun in the Pool you needed it to cool off when tempretures hit there peak n the afternoon. Actually some of us played games with a ball, Men v Women but they played a bit rough.

 

When we arrived we were met by our tour manager a nice lady who was English but lived over there, she directed us to a taxi that took us to the hotel. The hotel was at two sides of a main road, reception and dining room was on one side which also led to the beach. Our rooms were at the other side which was linked with a footbridge, no comlaints it was a nice hotel

The beach was good and some mornings I went walking along it which was nice.
Our manager offered us a range of excurrsions which I signed up for some including the Samaria Gorge which i dealt with in another post.


We were only a few miles outside Chania the capital and the service bus went past our hotel so we went in 3 or 4 times over the fortnight. Its a very old place with narrow streets with some interesting shops, well worth a visit. The harbour area is nice with loads of cafes and bars surrounding it.

Although only a couple of us did the Samaria Gorge on the 2nd week first week most of the group did a short gorge walk, to be honest was just a gentle stroll and not really preparation for what was to come. Was nice scenary though.

Did notice a rain thing go past the hotel at first thought it was a kids thing but upon investigation there was actually 13 different routes and some interesting tours, over the fortnight went on four I fancied filled in a good 3 hours or so for only 14 euro. Sort of went into the mountains to interesting places and Villages remember visiting a small museum, German war cemetery, Olive Oil farm plus some stunning scenary.



Another day 6 of us went on a boat trip to what was advertised as a Pirates castle then on to a Blue Lagoon for a swim. My intention was to climb up to the castle then on the boat trip between change into my swimming shorts. Of course we did them the other way around and I had to change on the beach, Marilyn offered to hold my towell which I'll say she didn't do a very good job and I was left somewhat exposed. After a nice swim it was to the castle and Robert and myself were pleased to make it up to the castle, was a tough climb though.



Must mention the hotel maids who every day left a nice animal or bird on my bed, very talented and thouight a nice touch.

Was a nice holiday and I'll definately do another as I did manage to fill my time in although still get some chill time. Was also a great group of people that got on great, had some good fun. Was 21 the first week but 8 went home, was sad to see them leave. Another 7 came for the 2nd week only but was difficult for them I thought because they wanted to do stuff we'd done the first week so didn't mix as much. Think if I was going for a week only I'd choose the first week.

Another thing I thought was good is that our evening meal was only included 5 nights per week so over the fortnight we had 4 free nights which allowed us to try local restaurants including one trip for a meal in Chania.