Day 1: We started the day by taking the Blue line from O’ Hare Airport to Clark/Lake station and then transferred to State/Lake station. We had purchased the $10 day pass for the CTA and it served us well throughout our trip. From the station its a close walk to the Riverwalk. There are a lot of picturesque spots along the Chicago Riverwalk. We saw quite a few interesting and notable buildings including the Trump Tower. A few minutes into the walk we came across the Vietnam Veternans Memorial. We walked the Riverwalk to Lower Michigan Avenue and then walked …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoJune 2019 – Chicago Trip Report
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2019 – Moscow Trip Report
Day 1: We started our sightseeing in Moscow with its most famous sight, the Red Square. Although there is a metro stop close by we took a cab from our hotel straight to the square. The square is surrounded by St. Basil’s Cathedral, Kremlin Walls, and Lenin Mausoleum on one end and the State Historical Museum and GUM Department store on the other. We did not go inside St. Basil’s cathedral as I read that the exterior architecture is more impressive anyways. Lenin Mausoleum was closed that day. After spending some time at the Red Square we walked behind St. …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2019 – St. Petersburg (Russia) Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at St. Petersburg around noon on our flight from Brussels. After an uneventful immigration check, we took airport taxi to our hotel (Staybridge Suites St. Petersburg). After freshening up, we took the metro from Moskovskie Vorota Metro stop (Line M2) near our hotel to Nevsky Prospekt (Line M2). Nevsky Prospekt is the main street of St. Petersburg. Its crowded and quite touristy. We passed by the Kazan Cathedral and then walked along the channel embankment to Church of the Savior on Blood. The Church of Savior on Blood is quintessential Russian architecture with onion domes. After …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2019 – Brussels Trip Report
We spent 2 nights (1 full day) in Brussels while going from Barcelona to St. Petersburg, Russia. We arrived in Brussels late at night (around midnight), spent the full day exploring Brussels and then flew out to St. Petersburg early next morning. Although we missed some popular hot spots due to short schedule, it still was a lot of fun and we gained a lot of appreciation for this city. Karen had signed up for a Belgian Chocolate Workshop and I dropped her off in the morning for the 3 hour class. While Karen was in class, me and my …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2019 – Barcelona Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived on AVE train from Madrid in the evening. Although there is a direct metro line from Barcelona Sants station to our hotel (Hilton Barcelona, Maria Christina metro stop) we opted for a cab to avoid lugging all our belongings in the metro. After checking in and freshening up me and Karen decided to walk to a highly reviewed restaurant on Tripadvisor (Cerveceria Catalana) about 2 km from the hotel. Day 2: The day started out really bad weather wise and I decided to make slight changes to the itinerary for the morning. We took the metro …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2019 – Madrid Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Madrid Barajas International Airport in the morning. We were staying in Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel & Conference Center for the first night. After checking-in and freshening up we took the metro to the city (from the airport which was the closest Metro stop from the hotel). All metro trains outbound and inbound for the airport carry a 3 Euro surcharge. We did not buy any metro pass during our stay in Madrid and instead used the 10 journey ticket (that can be shared between travelers). It was close to lunch time and our first stop …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2019: Europe Trip – Introduction
During June we visited Europe for 2 weeks at the end of my parents’ visit in US. This time we went over to Spain and Russian Federation with a short 1 day stay in Brussels. We stayed 2 nights each in Madrid, Barcelona, Brussels and St. Petersburg followed by 4 nights in Moscow. In the following months, I will be posting reviews on the following: Airline Review: Iberia Business Class – Chicago to Madrid Trip Report: Madrid Hotel Review: Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel & Conference Center Hotel Review: Artiem Madrid Trip Report: Barcelona Hotel Review: Hilton Barcelona Hotel Review: AC …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2019 – Abu Dhabi Trip Report
We spent only about half a day in Abu Dhabi (compared to 3 days in Dubai). We took a cab to Dubai Ibn Batuta Mall Bus Station where we then took the E101 bus to Abu Dhabi. The trip takes 1.5 hours and costs 25 AED per person. This bus is the cheapest option to travel between Dubai & Abu Dhabi. After reaching Abu Dhabi bus station we took a cab to our hotel (Holiday Inn Abu Dhabi). After checking-in and freshening up we took a cab to #1 sightseeing spot in Abu Dhabi and that is the Sheikh Zayad …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2019 – Dubai Trip Report
Day 1: We walked from our hotel (Doubletree Hilton Dubai Al Barsha) to Mall of Emirates and then took the Dubai Metro Red line to Al Ghubaiba station (with changing to Green line at Bur Juman station). The Dubai Ferry leaves just 2 minutes walk from Al Ghubaiba station. After reaching Dubai Marina we took a cab back to Mall of Emirates. Cabs are plentiful in Dubai and have pretty reasonable fares. One of the popular attractions in Mall of Emirates is Ski Dubai (yes skiing in the desert!!). We had lunch at one of the food courts in the …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2019 – Jordan Trip Report (Dead Sea & Petra)
Day 1: We arrived in late afternoon at the Holiday Inn Resort Dead Sea after driving about 80 km from Jerash. It was pretty cold being January but I was not going to let that get in the way of my bucket list item – taking a dip in the dead sea. After checking-in in at the hotel and freshening up we made our way to the private hotel beach. The hotel kept 2 big tubs of Dead Sea mud by the beach. I had read about the beneficial qualities of Dead Sea mud and coming all this way I …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2019 – Jordan Trip Report (Amman & Jerash)
We arrived on a late night flight to Amman via Muscat on Oman Air. Immigration was fairly easy as we had already purchased the Jordan pass. If you are going to be visiting Petra during your Jordan visit (and staying at least 3 nights in Jordan total), Jordan Pass is basically a no-brainer. Since we were staying more than 3 nights in Jordan and also visiting Petra, we had already purchased the Jordan Pass online (must be purchased online before arriving in the country). Jordan Pass waives the visa-on-arrival fees to Jordan ($40 JOD). After picking up our rental car from …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsDec’18 – Jan’19: India, Jordan and UAE Trip – Introduction
December is here and so is the time for my family trip again. I will be visiting India and my wife will be following me in a couple of weeks. After our trip in India, we along with my parents will go on a 10 day trip to Jordan and UAE. We will be visiting Amman, Petra and Dead Sea in Jordan and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in UAE. I have been wanting to check off Dead Sea, Petra, Burj Khalifa from my bucket list and covering the 2 countries will cross all these off 🙂 There will be a …
Africa Destination Trip ReportsSeptember 2018 – Cape Town and Hermanus Trip Report
We arrived in Cape Town from Johannesburg quite late at night and the difference in temperature was quite palpable. It was quite chilly and drizzling rain. We took our rental car and drove to our hotel in the V&A Waterfront neighborhood. By the time we reached our hotel it was about 1 AM. Day 1: We had planned to go to Table Mountain in the morning but it was rainy and overcast and we could see from our hotel that the visibility from Table Mountain was going to be very poor and so we altered our plans. After breakfast we …
Africa Destination Trip ReportsSeptember 2018 – 7 Day Safari Trip Report in Kruger National Park, South Africa
We have been wanting to visit South Africa for a while, especially after we got hooked on safari following our wonderful trip in Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya in 2016. After a year-long planning we were on our way to South Africa. This time instead of a guided private tour we were going to self-drive in Kruger National Park (mentioned as KNP from now on) as well as stay at much more modest park accommodations. The booking window for KNP opens about 11 months out and I was able to call in and secure 2 rooms at each of our rest …
Africa Destination Trip ReportsSeptember 2018: South Africa Trip Introduction
I have been wanting to visit South Africa (especially for safari at Kruger National Park) for a while after my first safari visit at Kenya Masai Mara National Park. I decided to combine my parents yearly USA visit with it so we fly out from US to South Africa and then do some safari and also visit Cape Town. After the trip, my parents flew back to India and we came back to USA. I will be posting the following trip reports and reviews in the coming days. Airline Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class – Los Angeles to Hong Kong …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoMay 2018: Oahu Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Honolulu International Airport around 10 AM on our flight from LAX. After collecting our rental car we drove to Nico’s Pier 38. My wife had watched a Guy Fieri’s DDD special (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) featuring this restaurant so we wanted to give it a try. I ordered the Pier 38 fish burger while she ordered the fish with caper sauce. Both were just meh and bit of a letdown. After lunch we drove to the Hilton Waikiki Village where we were staying for the first 2 nights. After check-in and some freshening up we …
May 2018: Hawaii Trip – Introduction
For the Memorial Day 2018 long weekend we took some additional days off of work for a quick getaway to Hawaii (Oahu). We had originally booked 2 nights in Oahu and 2 nights on the Big Island. However, about 2 weeks before our trip the volcanic activity on Big Island was escalating and we were worried that we might not be able to go on our helicopter tour of the volcano (our primary reason to visit Big Island). Since Hawaiian Airlines was allowing fee-free changes to itineraries for the period, we changed our booking to stay in Oahu for the …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2017 – Singapore Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Changi International Airport around noon. After clearing Immigration and Customs we headed for the MRT station which is located at the lower level. I bought a Singapore 3-Day Tourist Pass which gave us unlimited rides at the MRT and Bus Transit system. After getting the pass we headed to Little India MRT station where our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn Singapore Serangoon) was located. After checking-in and freshening up, we headed out for lunch at the Mavalli Tiffin Room, Singapore located about 10 minutes away on Serangoon Road. After lunch, we headed back towards our hotel …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2017 – Hanoi Trip Report
Day 1: We took the complimentary hotel shuttle to Ho Chin Minh Complex where the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, The Presidential Palace, The One pillar pagoda are all located. There were some shops by the One Pillar Pagoda and we did some souvenir shopping there. We walked along the Ho Chin Minh mausoleum along the length of the street. After reaching the President Palace we turned back. It was time for lunch and we hailed a cab back to the hotel. Cabs are very cheap in Hanoi and a very good means of transportation in the city. Late afternoon we took …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2017 – Siem Reap Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Siem Reap International Airport at around noon. We took an Airport taxi (although you can opt for a tuk-tuk but there were 3 of us with cabin baggage so we went with a taxi) to the hotel (Le Meridien Angkor). After freshening up, I got notified by the front desk that our tuk-tuk driver for the day was in the lobby. I had contacted Angkor Wat Driver Private Tours (after reading Tripadvisor Reviews) and had booked the following itinerary. Day 1: Tuk-Tuk transportation for the day (Lunch, Made in Cambodia Market and Night Market) – …