From Kirkland to Crete

We were once again reminded that getting from our home in Kirkland in the Pacific Northwestern United States to the southern coast of Crete on the Lybian Sea is a trip of endurance. . .and one in which about half way through we start asking ourselves if there wasn't someplace a bit closer that we could have been as happy visiting.

We left Kirkland at 3:20, catching a Metro bus to downtown Seattle and there hopping aboard the Link train to Seatac. 

Our luggage for our month-long adventure consists of two roll-aboard size suitcases which we checked and two small carryons. Here Joel waits for our bus to Seattle.  Our total trip to Seatac cost $5.50 per person, took just over an hour and didn't require any friends to have to face rush hour traffic to drop us off.

Our British Air flight whisked us south of Iceland and nine hours later we were in London. We caught a bus at Heathrow and 40 minutes later we were at Gatwick where we overnighted and waited for our 3.5 hour flight to Crete.  For those who've followed the blog you know we flew thomascook.com, one of Europe's cheapie airlines.  Our plane was a Boeing 757, the food service (we had purchased in advance) was quite good, checkin a snap. . .the only thing we had against it was the cramped seating.  When I start having leg room issues you know the seats are cramped.

We rented a car in Heraklion over the internet and the rental went smoothly - we were on the road 10 minutes after getting to the car lot.  We pulled into our destination Chora Sfakia (Hora Sfakia) at 5:30 p.m. Friday and went in search of a hotel.

Greek Reservations

"So where will you be staying?" 

The question is asked often by friends as our scheduled departure date draws near.

"Did you make reservations over the internet?  Do they speak English?" 

Our answers usually prompt a polite pause and I suspect a general speculation that we are as crazy as we sometimes sound.

"No, no reservations."  "Yes, they speak English very well. . .much better than my six tourist-survival words of Greek."

The one reservation we have is for a rental car. We will pick it up at the Heraklion (Iraklion) Airport. We will return the car to the airport -- those pesky 'fees' raised their ugly head again -- and our plan to drop it at the port city of Sita were nixed with the hefty 120E drop 'fee'.

Our approach to this trip is to be flexible and without too many commitments that may need to be cancelled or changed. . .for all we know the Iceland volcano could blow again and we won't even get there. . .or we may get there and be staying for longer than we had planned.  Fellow blogger, Adrianna Schum, who writes the Symi island blog, (found on the Blog Roll link) told of tourists unable to leave the island and others unable to get there as result of the volcanic-ash airport closures.  

We are not heading to Greece though without having done hours of internet and guidebook research - which we think is half the fun anyway.  We've already 'looked at' a number of hotels in each city we think we might visit and have a good idea of what appeals and what doesn't.

Among our favorite sites are:    Greeka.com and Trip Advisor.  (Note:  we know that Trip Advisor has been criticised in some cases for having owners, managers or staff write favorable reviews. We've used it and and found it a good resource). Anyone out there in the cyberworld have another web site recommendation for us?

To Greece or not To Greece, that's the question

We plan to head to Greece next week for the sequel to our Cretan road trip and followed by explorations of a few new destinations.  We will continue to watch Iceland's volcano and hope that airlines get back to normal by the time we are ready to get on board. Although flights are resuming, we won't believe we are on our way until we are. 

Our plans are to fly into Heathrow, overnight at Gatwick and fly out the next morning (see earlier post on flythomascook.com ) with Crete as our destination.  The small port towns of Sfakia and Loutro on the island's south coast are calling us back. After we get our fill of  Cretan yogurt and honey we will hop aboard a ferryand head to the land of the Knights of St. John, Rhodes, and then Symi and perhaps others of the 12 major Dodecanese islands scattered about the tip end of Turkey.

We are scheduled to return to London on another of Europe's other low-cost airlines, EasyJet and after a two-night layover in London fly back to Seattle on Iceland Air. 

It all seemed real simple before the volcano blew its top.

The good news is that our plans for Greece are 'no plans' so nothing aside from a rental car has been booked there. We have only London hotel reservations so should we need to cancel, that part will be a snap.  But even for those of us who are passionate about travel, the unraveling of air travel could prove a bit more tedious. 

For the next few days we will assume the trip is still going as planned. House-sitters and yard care is in place. Trip necessities are being collected at the always ready suitcases. . .

Stay tuned.

Vegas 'N Demand'

Vegas tourism seems to be on an upswing.  A single convention of broadcasters brought 85,000 people to the city while were there (and there were three other significantly-sized conferences going on at the same time). We arrived albout the same time as contestants in -- and spectators of -- the weekend's International Bull Riding Competitions.

Hotel room rates aren't quite the deals they were last year but can still be found with a bit of research.  Another way to save money and have a great time in this 'adult Disneyland' is to seek out Happy Hours where beverages and/or nibbles are offered at cut-rate prices for an hour or two in the late afternoon or early evening, sometimes longer. Times and deals vary with the establishment. Our recommended spot:

The Paris Hotel and Casino's Napoleon Bar where Friday evening we sipped two tall chilled draught beers for $6; a steal by Vegas prices. And while enjoying our cool ones we were treated to one of the best shows we've seen in a Vegas lounge - and it was free.

Napoleon's is a sprawling French-themed and decorated bar, located between the casino and convention wing of the hotel; a place where we've seen on previous visits two pianists perform 'dueling piano' medleys.  The entertainment line-up on weekends has gone doo-wop and Motown with  'N Demand , a talented four-some who not only had those of us in the audience in the palms of their hands but had folks walking past the bar clustering at its windows to watch.

The group is performing Friday, Saturday and Sundays at 6 and again at 7:30 p.m. Their hour-long performance -- not to mention the Happy Hour drink deals -- is more than a reason to head to Napoleon's. And if you can't make it to a performance, click their name to see a sample of their show.

A Bloomin' Good Time at Bellagio

Last month while on our California/Nevada roadtrip we stopped by the Bellagio Hotel Conservatory and Botanical Gardens only to find it filled with workers, heavy equipment and piles of landscaping supplies.  Bordering its perimeter were artist's renditions of what it would soon look like.

According to its website, it takes 140 horticulturalists to create and maintain the grand displays that change with the seasons at this popular spot.  Admission is free. The current season will be on display until May 9th.

Thousands of blooming plants spill out of oversized flower pots and giant butterflies hover over enormous insects and bronze cast insects are joined by other creatures such as the rose-bud snail.

After strolling through the gardens stop by the Bellagio Art Gallery (there is an admission charge for it) where you will find among its permanent collection works by Renoir, Picasso and Degas.  A new show opens May 1st, entitled "Firguratively Speaking - A Survey of the Human Form" with works from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Design in San Diego.

"G'Day Las Vegas!"

And with that greeting we were off on a rollicking, rocking, hand-clapping, finger-snapping performance of Motown Music by an Australian group called Human Nature.   We couldn't use flash so bear with the blurred photos but for a real taste of  what we experienced, click on the name link and you can watch a clip from YouTube.  

We've seen other great shows and performances here but none have reached the bar set by these four performers, who have been at The Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas Strip since  June, 2009.  (You might recognize them from the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Australia).

Our tickets -- purchased through the discount Vegas Tix 4 Less put us at the edge of the stage for $41 a ticket - close enough to make eye contact with the performers.  I took this shot  just before he danced down our table. 

We stood and cheered when a lady from the audience was selected to go on stage and help sing "My Girl" and she said she was from Seattle.

If you've ever needed a reason to come to Las Vegas, attending a performance by Human Nature would be a good one.  We are certainly going to use it as a reason to come back!

CityCenter, Las Vegas: Another look

I am blogging  this week from Las Vegas, where we are staying with friends in their two-bedroom timeshare at the Marriott Grand Chateau, (above) next to Planet Hollywood and the Miracle Mile shopping center. We've left Kirkland's clouds and 50-degree temperatures for sun and 70-degree temperatures here, a restorative for body and soul of sun-seekers such as us.

We are told Marriott Vacation Club will begin construction on the final two wings of this project in 2012.  The finished building will be shaped like an X instead of the current boomerang configuration.  It currently has a rather plain, small pool area on the roof off the 38-floor with walls built up so that there is little view except from the pool bar area. We suspect the finished construction will provide a more lush setting in keeping with other establishments on The Strip.

We have a to the northwest, a straight shot of the mega-development CityCenter:

Earlier this year I described the interiors of the shopping area and Aria Hotel as 'stark and dark' and since then have heard visitors make similar comments.  We did spend a couple hours revisiting the place yesterday and it still seems like a cavernous, sterile place. There seemed to be a bit more activity and maybe a new storefront or two.

I couldn't resist including a photo of the seats in the Aria Hotel lobby, I suspect they are architecturally award-winning designs but they aren't what I would call inviting.

2010 Memory Lane, Yakima, Washington:

Yes! You can go home again.  Earlier this week I speculated about my trip to Yakima and the claim made by someone long before me, "you can't go home again".  Wrong. You can.  I did. I recommend it to anyone who has been putting off  making that personalized trip down memory lane. 

In my case it was as simple as sending a few emails and making a few phone calls to friends I'd stayed in touch with over the years, a couple of whom I hadn't seen in 20 years. We set a date, planned an itinerary and carried through -- despite Mother Nature giving us a few tense hours as a late season storm swept through the state closing Snoqualmie Pass twice on Thursday and leaving in its wake blowing snow and slush on the roadway Friday. This is how the pass looked at 9 a.m.


And this is how it looked at 5 p.m.:

The time spent between 9 and 5 was better than I could have imagined.  Mary, with whom I had shared my childhood, and I traveled down memory lane slowly driving up and down the roads that made up our old neighborhood.  We remarked on the changes, laughed at memories and challenged each other's brain cells with names from the past.

Our lunch gathering of college girlfriends was one we will remember for years to come.  The photo albums filled with somewhat fading photos prompted shrieks of laughter and puzzled looks as we tried to recall associations we had with faces of many in the photos.  Old photos mixed with new ones as we were introduced to adult children - grandchildren! - homes and recent travels. The conversation never stopped, food got cold, the years between college and the present seemed but a blip.  We've vowed to stay in touch: next gathering this fall in our college town, Ellensburg.

For those who read the earlier post, Mary and I did ride the elevator to the top of the Larson Building for old times' sake.  This time I'd read up on it and knew that it had been built during the Depression and the designer had designated that several floors be equipped for medical and dental offices (no wonder our dentist had been there).  The lobby of this Art Deco building is incredibly beautiful with its black marble and brass.  The building is on the National Register of Historic Places - definitely worth a visit if you are in Yakima. 

(Tip: Ride to the 11th floor, head to the left and from the window to the north side of the elevators you'll have a sweeping western view of the Yakima Valley.)