Posted by Seth on August 31, 2008 under Uncategorized | 
Among the many “must-do” recommendations we received for our trip to Turkey, one was a restaurant in Istanbul, right on the Bosphorus serving phenomenal seafood. The restaurant is Korfez and my friend isn’t the only person who thinks highly of it; there has been coverage in the NY Times and other travel publications as well.
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| View from the private boat as we crossed the Bosphorus |
I was able to make the reservation easily enough and we left the hotel an hour before our scheduled trip on their private ferry across the straits, thinking that we had plenty of time. How wrong we were. The traffic in Istanbul is miserable. Still, following a rather stressful taksi ride to the ferry slip we made it onto the boat and out into the Bosphorus. I knew that the restaurant was supposed to have pretty good views, but I wasn’t really quite ready for just how amazing it was. It is situated right on the water. The boat actually lets you of directly into the outdoor dining room area on the water. Sitting in the shadow of a bridge across the strait and watching the boat traffic flow by we settled in for what would be a delicious meal.
The food was absolutely amazing. Nothing all that crazy on the ingredients list or the preparation methods. Actually, everything was rather simple. But it was done absolutely to perfection. The Dolmas with a mixture of fish were divine, both for the fish and the perfectly prepared grape leaves. The house special for fish is a sea bass backed in sea salt, but my favorite restaurant in NYC does the same thing so we went for something different (though 4 of the other 6 tables did have the specialty). Ours was a bass baked with spinach, tomatoes and caramelized onions. Very simple but unbelievably delicious. The fish was perfectly prepared (and swimming in butter, which certainly doesn’t hurt), the spinach appeared to have been prepared with a bit of cream, but not so much as to be steakhouse-style creamed spinach and everything just fit together perfectly.
But the only part of the menu with numbers on it was the drinks list. Everything else was just the food descriptions without prices. There was a note indicating that the fish was priced by weight so it would necessarily vary, but no indication of what the per 100 gram price was for the various options. It led to a very entertaining game of “guess the bill amount” at the end of the night, and we were both pretty close to getting it right. I think that we got off quite nicely on the total bill considering how nice the place was and how good the food was. If you ever happen to be in Istanbul and are looking for dinner plans, set aside the time to make it happen. It was absolutely worth the schlep and the price.
And a special thanks to Mike for the recommendation. I hope I can repay the favor in the future.
Posted by Seth on August 29, 2008 under Uncategorized |
After a much needed night’s sleep to reset our bodies to local time, today was spent meandering among the various sights in the Old City area of Istanbul. We met some friends and then began the tour, covering the Blue Mosque, the Haggia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, the New Mosque and the Galatta Bridge. All of them are worth seeing as long as you’re here. I was much more impressed by the New Mosque than the Blue Mosque. Other than being somewhat smaller, the latter mosque was much more impressive, with much more of the interior still in good condition. Of course it is also a couple hundred years newer, so it hasn’t had as much time to deteriorate as the Blue Mosque has.
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| Inside the Spice Market |
The Grand Bazaar was impressive for the architecture more than the shopping opportunities. The Grand Bazaar is just huge. The wares in the Spice Bazaar were more fun to look at, mostly because they had piles of spices and other dry goods out on display which are very photogenic. Other than that, there isn’t really a ton to recommend these markets over those in the rest of the world (the cinnamon sticks were bigger in Vietnam, for instance). That being said, they are markets, and if that’s your thing they are worth a stop.
I am starting to get a bit tired of the constant shilling of the shop owners to come inside or to sit at their restaurants. I had one come up and shake my hand today to try to slow me down and that wasn’t cool at all when he didn’t want to let go. Fortunately I managed to avoid an international incident. I’m also trying to come up with enough words in a language they don’t know so that I can just pretend I don’t understand them. I might just make one up and start muttering random grunts to see what I can do, but I doubt that will really work either.
Also, I got the first batch of photos posted finally. The connection here is a bit slow (and we have to leave for dinner) so not all of them are up yet, but you can start here if you want to see a few.
Posted by Seth on August 28, 2008 under Uncategorized |
We’ve been in Turkey for about 8 hours now and thus far it has been quite impressive. We have learned a few things in these early stages of our visit that I thought were worth sharing:
- The local beer is pretty good. It is relatively light, but that’s not a bad thing when you’re looking for ways to cool off on a hot summer day.
- The Ukranians arriving ın Istanbul today are a bunch of schmucks. We spent about 45 minutes ın line at immigration and these guys were just awful. Some of their observations had some merit, particularly the comments about Bush once they saw our US passports, but they were still a bunch of schmucks.
- Typing on a Turkish keyboard is a major change from a US keyboard. This post is taking a LOT longer to type, mostly because the i is in a different place on the keyboard, among other things.
- The people here are wonderfully nice and rather photogenic. Photos will come soon, once I can get them uploaded.
- The food is pretty darn good. Maybe it is just because we’ve been eating airplane food for the past 18 hours prıor to dinner tonight, but the meal was quite nice. And they have some street food that I cannot wait to try now that I’ve fortified my stomach a bit, particularly the mussels stuffed with spicy rice and drizzled with lemon juice. Something to look forward to for tomorrow.
- Beıng on vacation is way better than working, even if I am doing a bit of work on the road.
Posted by Seth on August 27, 2008 under TSA |
I’m now somewhere over the Atlantic ocean at about 4:45 in the morning Amsterdam time. We left Newark a short 5 hours ago and are making great time on the flight, with a quick takeoff from Newark and a bit of a tailwind expected to have us in almost an hour early which will be great. Sadly, however, my plan to take just half an Ambien in hopes that I wouldn’t be too groggy upon arrival in Amsterdam seems to have worked a bit too well. The net result is that I’m awake rather than asleep when I really, really wish it was the other way around. The good news is that our connecting flight on to Amsterdam should give me an opportunity for another nap and help right my body clock just enough, assuming I can actually make that work out. Interestingly, there are a number of folks who seem to not be sleeping on the flight, more than I normally see on a redeye to Europe. Then again, I’m usually asleep and we normally don’t depart the USA at 5:30pm for a flight to Europe, so what do I know.
There was a bit of chaos on the plane at boarding as one passenger couldn’t locate her passport nor her boarding pass. That was only mildly alarming considering that the gate agents and the various DHS officials (not quite sure if they were Customs or TSA or something else) in the jet way as we boarded. Eventually the missing documents were located – apparently in her pants somewhere – and disaster was averted, but the crew was about 2 minutes away from deplaning her.
And we just finished up our breakfast service. The “croissant” was fine, particularly with a bit of jam on it, but the fruit salad was looking so sad that the diagnosis of "clinically depressed” seemed appropriate for it, both in the quantity and the look of the vegetables. I’ve seen mangoes make an appearance on some of the domestic fruit plates (albeit in First Class) and even pineapple or something else that would travel a bit better than the melons on this plate seem to have managed. So it goes.
Here’s hoping that the lounge in Amsterdam has a decent WiFi setup (I actually still have some work to finish up from earlier that I couldn’t get done before we had to board the plane thanks to the miserable performance of the free WiFi in the Newark Presidents Club) as well as some snacks. Heck, I might get lucky and have time for a shower, too, though I’m not holding my breath on that one.
Posted by Seth on August 23, 2008 under Uncategorized |
The ad bar atop my Gmail account this morning had a link to an article about the busses in Ecuador. It got me thinking about our trip there two years ago and just how interesting the bus ride we took was, so I thought I’d share both that story and ours.
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| Bus stop in Ecuador |
We took a bus from Otavalo to Quito. It was about a 2.5 hour ride and I believe it cost us $4 for both of us. There is a bus station – really just a parking lot, but what else is a bus station – in Otavalo, and there might actually be a schedule in operation but we never saw it. On arrival at the bus station we started wandering around until we heard someone yelling “Quito! Quito! Quito!” over and over again. We waved at him and he came running towards us to grab our bags and toss them on the bus. Lacking the language skills to effectively communicate we just went along with the situation and climbed on board. The bus was surprisingly comfortable and reasonably clean, pretty similar to a charter tour bus that you’d find in the USA, though it seemed older and just well kept, not new. We settled in for the ride and the bus pulled out of town and headed towards Quito. We stopped a few times on the roadside leading out of town to pick up more passengers, with the same “Quito! Quito! Quito!” shout repeated over and over. There were also stops at various places along the highway where passengers got on and off, and merchants plied their wares. Most were selling food of one sort or another. In retrospect, I should’ve had some of the food, even though I don’t remember any of it looking particularly great. Still, street food is fun and often delicious, and I missed that on this trip.
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| Self-portrait on the bus ride |
The bus ride also included a movie shown on screens mounted to the ceilings. I can’t remember if there was audio or not, but I absolutely remember the movie. It was Jeepers Creepers II, and it was horrible. But there was free entertainment. And, much like every other form of travel, there was always the option of looking out the window, which I did. A lot. The views were pretty amazing, and I even managed to grab a self-portrait shot.
For the price, convenience and entertainment the busses in Ecuador present a great option and are certainly not to be missed. Just make sure you find a seat near someone you know or who looks reasonable to sit next to. Otherwise you might end up in a slightly strange situation.
Posted by Seth on August 22, 2008 under Uncategorized |
In an event that was hardly a surprise considering that we’re flying into Tropical Storm Fay, our flight to Jacksonville tonight was canceled. It was one of about ten flights that I know of that were canceled, and I’m guessing that it is mostly because people don’t generally try to fly in when the storm is still blowing. But we are still headed to Florida, and so we were faced with the prospect of dealing with the rebooking.
I noticed that the flight was canceled around 1pm today, giving me plenty of time to call Delta and figure out alternatives. Fortunately there were seats available on the 3:50pm flight and it was running on time (and I’m typing this on the plane expecting an early arrival into JAX) so we were able to get that booked no problem. Or so I thought. On the way out the door I tried to do on-line check-in so that we wouldn’t have to deal with potential issues at the airport if our taxi was running late. For some reason our reservation had a number of flights in it as different contingency plans, rendering the OLCI useless. I called and spoke to a second representative to confirm that we really did have a reservation on the flight and then it was off to the airport. Of course the kiosk didn’t work so we approached the Medallion desk. I don’t know if I didn’t genuflect appropriately to the woman working the counter or if she was just having a bad day, but I was immediately brushed off with a ‘what are you doing here?’ sort of look. I explained that the kiosk choked and she pointed me at the regular line. Only after I assured her that I was, in fact, an elite member and was supposed to be in that line did she relent and start working on our tickets.
Things didn’t get much better as she suggested we were booked on a flight for tomorrow, not today. This is one of the “extra” flights I saw in the reservation but I pressed on with my request for her to double-check since I knew we had the flight booked. Eventually she found the reservation and then had the temerity to suggest that we needed to pay the $50 change fee to take the earlier flight. I had planned on paying that fee if we voluntarily made the change, but I knew that wasn’t the case. At this point I might have started to lose my temper with her, but we eventually agreed that no additional fees would be paid. So it was off to security and the Crown Room Club.
Security was a breeze thanks to elite status, and the line looked like it was only about 10 minutes long otherwise. And he Crown Room was quiet and the bar not so crowded. All good things. I tried to get us seats together at this point and was saddened to learn that I’d have to go to the gate to do so. Leaving my drink and the quiet of the lounge it was off to the gate where another agent having a bad day greeted me. I asked for seats together in the bulkhead and was greeted with a gruff “there is a reason they are blocked – for handicapped people” response. It was 20 minutes prior to departure and no one had yet requested them. It seemed a pretty safe bet that no one would. And certainly there are more polite ways it could’ve been handled. I also needed to change our frequent flier numbers on the tickets to get the correct credit. Another back and forth for no particular reason but we got that squared away, too.
Then it was a bus to the plane, and settling in to our seats. Apparently the new fees for checked baggage are working because “not enough people checked bags on this flight so we need to move some of you around for weight and balance reasons.” This is certainly not the first time I’ve had to deal with that so I had no problems moving to the back of the plane for takeoff. The two women in front of me were a bit disconcerted, but they got over it eventually.
The flight has been fine so far, with the exception of the sticky floor, and I’m sure we’ll make it in to JAX OK, though probably a little wet as well. And that is certainly some of the “good” of this unexpected change. But the Delta & Comair staff in La Guardia are definitely the “bad.”
Posted by Seth on August 22, 2008 under Internet |
Now that American is live on the gogo service and Southwest has firmed up their testing plans for Row 44 service a bit it seems that pretty much all the US-based carriers have something in the works for connectivity. I put together a compilation of the carriers, service and timelines and posted it over on TravelTechTalk but wanted to plug it here, too, as I think it is pretty useful information.
Enjoy!
Posted by Seth on August 21, 2008 under Uncategorized |
This weekend kicks of a four week run of over 30,000 miles of flying for me, and I’ve apparently managed to schedule a great start to the adventure – flying into the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay in NE Florida. The good news is that the storm should be far enough west by tomorrow that it won’t affect my beach time for the weekend nor the flights, but it is rather entertaining to be flying into the aftermath of a storm, again. Last time was in October ‘03 following four hurricanes in NE Florida.
Sadly, this is just a quick trip to the beach, but we need to get back up north quickly to start our 12 day trip to Turkey and England, which should be a ton of fun. More on that to follow…
Posted by Seth on August 18, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Yup. That’s the line I just heard from one of the attendants in the cabin on the Amtrak Acela train from Washington, DC to New York City.
I’m a huge fan of the train on this route, particularly in the afternoons which is generally when I’m heading north. As La Guardia starts to back up with weather, ATC or other delays the afternoon flights start to get delayed, even for the Shuttle service from Delta and US Air, which are arguable the most profitable flights in the USA. My experience has been almost universally positive on the Amtrak ride. Sure, there was one trip where our train broke down and we had to transfer to another train across a bridge plate, but that is a fun story and I still made it where I was going at a reasonable time.
Today, however, it seems that the 4pm Acela Express train out of Washington broke down in Trenton. I don’t know the details, but we pulled in to Trenton on the 5pm train out of DC and picked up the passengers off the 4pm train. And wow were they a grumpy bunch. I don’t blame them, as the hour delay is certainly annoying. Plus they apparently weren’t really given any information about what happened or when our train was going to be passing through to pick them up.
So when the passengers all came across the platform and onto our train the attendant made the appropriate announcement that they were all in the first class compartment and that they needed a first class ticket. That evoked a less than pleasant response from one of the passengers about being an hour delayed. And that brought about the line that is the title of this post. I certainly chuckled a bit when he said it, and he has a point. Doesn’t mean that it was the best customer service moment in history, but it was definitely entertaining and true.
As for why I prefer the train over the planes on the afternoon north-bound flights, I managed to catch the 5pm train having left the office at 4:10 and stopping at another office on the way to say hi to another acquaintance. I had about 15 minutes to spare on making the train and I took the Metro in DC from the office in DuPont circle to Union Station. Given a similar departure time I would’ve taken the 5:30pm Delta Shuttle from Washington National airport. My train arrives at 7:45pm at Penn Station in NYC, while the Shuttle is scheduled to land at La Guardia at 6:44pm. But on a day that had clear skies and no weather issues at all throughout the NE Corridor the Shuttle flight was delayed, landing at 7:13pm, arriving 1:43 after departure on a flight that takes, at most, about 45 minutes. My train might be a couple minutes late thanks to the extra stop at Trenton, but I’ll still make it home within ~15 minutes of when I would have had I flown. And the train is way more consistent in its ability to arrive around when it is supposed to. Sure, the one train today was late, but there aren’t systemic delays that are affecting all trains, unlike the air traffic system in the NYC area.
Lower stress, bigger seats, a more reliable schedule, a much tamer ridiculous security theater and lower fares. All in exchange for about 15 extra minutes on the total travel time. And I still get my Continental OnePass miles for the trip or Amtrak Guest Rewards Points. What’s not to like about the train?
Posted by Seth on August 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Actually, it has probably been past that time for a long time for most folks.
Airlines have been quick to brag about how profitable their frequent flier programs are as a part of their overall operations. And most of that profit seems to come from the airlines selling their points to the credit card companies. These transactions are worth millions of dollars to the airlines, but that gravy train may be drying up as the value of the points to the consumers drops. With all the new fees associated with redeeming points for tickets and reduced inventory thanks to flights being cut, the points are worth less and less. And now the New York Times has finally figured it out and published an article about it.
The gist of the article is that most folks are not going to benefit from a “normal” miles earning card. Unless you fly a lot in addition to your charges or you charge so much that you don’t mind cashing in double points for the grand vacations in long-haul premium cabins you just aren’t going to get value for your spend. And if you carry a balance you should get a card with the lowest interest rate possible no matter what. Ignore the temptation of earning points. You’ll actually be paying too much for them since the interest rates on those cards are higher.
So what to do now? If you’re still addicted to the points game like I am, get the Starwood AmEx card. Hotel points are worth more than airline points in many cases, and the Starwood card is the cream of the crop in that regard. The annual fee is pretty low and points are definitely worth more than airline points in almost every scenario (except transfers to Continental and United).
My big concern at this point is what this shift will do to the mileage programs. United and Continental each just raised hundreds of millions of dollars by selling huge blocks of points to Chase, and Delta has remained solvent in large part by selling points to AmEx. If folks stop paying the annual fees for the cards then those major buys are going to dry up, and that could mean even more trouble for some of the airlines in the near future.
Posted by Seth on August 16, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Of the three major international airline alliances, only two have significant joint-venture marketing agreements for trans-Atlantic service. StarAlliance has a deal with nine of their airlines with Continental trying to add themselves into the program, and SkyTeam has six in their deal. But OneWorld has no similar arrangement. It is actually even worse than that. Its two main carriers, British Airways and American Airlines are actually prohibited from having some benefits for their customers flying on the other carrier on trans-Atlantic routes in an effort to prevent them from operating in a monopolistic fashion since they dominate the market, particularly into London Heathrow.
OneWorld has finally decided to fight back, filing paperwork to establish a joint venture agreement between AA, BA and Iberia. It won’t be quite as pervasive as the other carriers’ but it should be beneficial to them to have operating. Plus, with the Open Skies treaty now in place Heathrow is wide open for competition, though BA will still have the majority of the slots there. I can’t imagine that the application will be denied, so expect to see the new marketing start to take shape in the near future.
I think that this is good for folks who fly OneWorld, and has no material effect on others. Overall a good thing for the industry.
