Friday, June 29, 2007

Don't stay here unless you have to


0603070002.jpg, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

I stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel recently for a conference and hope I never have to stay there again. Full review here. Picture above is of the wonderful 19" old school TV they kindly provided me with.



Originally posted 6/10/07

Random scenes from Los Angeles


0609070007.jpg, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Spending a short weekend in Los Angeles visiting family, and taking the opportunity to snap random shots with my Helio [which I highly recommend, by the way]. I wouldn't say these shots are particularly interesting, but we did find a couple of cool things:

- A nice little Italian restaurant called Piccolo Paradiso

- A solid Mexican place in Racho Park called La Serenata de Garibaldi



Originally posted 6/10/07

JDB - A Recommended Resource
for Finding Hotels in Europe


Image Source: JDB

I learned of this outfit from the travel agent who helped Judy and me plan parts of our honeymoon. [Photos here]

It is a general resource for some nice, out of the ordinary hotels [like this one, for example].

We stayed at two, and would absolutely recommend either of them.

La Tana Dell'Istrice is only about 90 minutes from Rome by car and if your visit happens to coincide with the Grechetto grape festival, you will have some cool bonus festivities in the plaza on which this hotel sits. You can also visit their site directly. Sergio and Alessandra are excellent hosts. You should definitely do the dinner with them, which is made up largely [if not entirely] of food from their own land and is paired with wines from their own vineyards. We particularly enjoyed the Nenfro with dinner, and the Muffo is a very nice dessert wine.

Palazzo Leopaldo is in Chianti, has rooms with stunning views, is situated right in the heart of a small, stylish handful of streets with shops and restaurants, including Chiasso dei Portici, for which I cannot find a site, but is noted on some trip advisor boards, in an Australian travel article and by Mario Batali. We snuck a a picture during an amazing dinner there one night. If you're in Radda, you should definitely check it out.

Originally posted 6/3/07

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Random Recollection: Miraflores Park Hotel, Lima


P1000367.JPG, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

A colleague at work recently asked for any tips and info we could share from our trip to Peru last summer. Maybe I'll clean up the email I sent her to make it a bit more 'post-worthy', but for the time being just wanted to note that the Miraflores Park Hotel in Lima is something I would certainly recommend. This shot above is from their rooftop level, which has a pool to the left and some pretty cool views of the park and coastline below. We had a buffet breakfast here that very relaxing - which was exactly what we needed.

It is near a very nice shopping center, where we actually had a great dinner at an Argentinian restaurant, the name of which I unfortunately have forgotten.



Originally posted 5/28/07

In Search of Good Travel Resources
for Colombia


Image Source: Amazon.com

I stopped in Borders a few days ago hoping to pick up a travel guide on Colombia. No dice. This had never happened before. Their travel section is pretty comprehensive, with multiple options on almost any place you can think of. But not a single book on Colombia. So I checked Amazon when I got home to find these results:

- a 2006 Lonely Planet version with a 1.5 star rating

- a 5-star rated guide from Footprint ... from 1998

- a 4-star rated guide from Ulysses, based on one customer review by someone who hadn't been to the country

Slim pickings.

I have found a few online resources, including this NYTimes.com article which really planted the seed in my mind in the first place. I'll keep looking and checking out more of the online communities, and will probably buy the Footprint guide, but in the extremely unlikely event that anyone (1) happens by this post and (2) has great recommendations for Colombian travel guides, please leave a comment. Thanks.

Originally posted 5/28/07

Yelp reviews from trip to NYC


Spent just a day in New York, but it involved three new places for me: the Time hotel, Landmarc restaurant in Tribeca and the rooftop bar at Hotel Gansevoort. Quick reviews of them all on Yelp.

Originally posted 5/17/07

From Beverly Hills to Milwaukee


img src:Beverly Wilshire

Was traveling for work Sunday through yesterday, including stays at hotels I hadn't been in previously: the Beverly Wilshire and the Ambassador. Have added my reviews of both on Yelp.

Originally posted 4/26/07

Duck magnets for 10 pesos


duck magnet on table, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

If you are going to be sitting down to dinner at one of the many outside tables in Condesa you are virtually guaranteed to be approached a couple of times during your meal by folks walking by with miscellaneous goods to sell. These vendors run the gamut. Men selling cell phone holsters. Men selling phone cards. An old guy selling toy violins. Etc.

Then there are the little kids - maybe 5 years old, but maybe not quite. You see them one moment sitting on a corner with a woman who appears to be in her twenties [his mother?] and a younger child [his brother?]. The woman looks like she could be pregnant again. They are eating now, but their wares are at their side, and they'll find you soon. When they do, you see the boy has a platter of magnetic ducks. 10 pesos each. About $0.91. We ended up with 2. One white, one blue.



Originally posted 4/11/07

Eating tips for your next trip thru DFW airport on American

Had a not so great experience in the DFW airport on our way to Mexico City. Found a great looking food court, but not until after we had battled with the foul-mooded admirals club bartender/wench. Fuller recounting here

Originally posted 4/9/07

Some old, some new and all colorful

Two things hit me immediately as our taxi took us from the airport to the hotel. One was the use of color everywhere, the other was the tension between things in decay and things being renovated. This theme was consistent through most of the places we visited, resulting in a series of visually interesting contrasts.

Everything had a sense of energy or progress. It was as if the ongoing, relentless ebb and flow of the city's daily activities were made visible and represented in the external appearances of the buildings, the cars, the signs.

This isn't unlike other cities we have been to [e.g., Lima or Buenos Aires], but we didn't spend enough time in Lima to see if it was something that is widespread, and our sense of Buenos Aires was that it was maybe more common in a couple of neighborhoods [Palermo Viejo, La Boca]. In Mexico City, it seemed to be pervasive - at least through every part we saw.

Originally posted 4/8/07

Mexico City Vacation


taxis verdes, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Now that I'm back in Chicago and semi dug out from / caught up with the work issues I missed while away, I will start capturing some of the things Judy and I did during spring break.

Some top line thoughts:

* Had a great time. Never felt threatened, despite how many people asked us if we were crazy for choosing to vacation in such a notoriously dangerous city.

* Met an unofficial guide who wound up taking us around parts of the city on 3 different days.

* Enjoyed some good food.

* Found the Condesa df to be really inconsistent and somewhat disappointing nevermind what the NYTimes says [more on that later], though the neighborhood was great.

* Will definitely consider going back b/c there are a lot of things we didn't have a chance to do in 5 days.



And, most of our pictures are up.

Originally posted 4/8/07

SB XLI Photos Are Up

Just posted our SBXLI pictures on Flickr. This one, for example, is from the NFL Tailgate prior to the game. I was just trying to get a picture of the "Fish Cake Sandwich" sign, [provided by the Hot Dog Cart, of course], when this cat jumped into the frame. Kind of like how it turned out anyway.

Trip was great overall. Rain was a bit of a buzzkill, since we had tremendous seats [14 rows back on the 35 yd line, behind the Bears bench]. But stil, the folks at SI.com put on a first class weekend.



Originally posted 2/10/07

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Visit Azerbaijan?

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Saw this commercial while on vacation, along with some others for Armenia and some OOH ads for Romania. Way better tourism advertising in France, clearly. Consider these are what I usually see on CTA buses or other miscellaneous billboards around Chicago:
* Wisconsin
* Illinois
* Western Iowa
The crazy thing is, I'm now thinking about visiting Azerbaijan, or Armenia, maybe even Romania. At least I'll look into it. Sounds more compelling than a trip to the Dells.
The other encouraging thing is to see that some people are out there hustling on YouTube trying to get semi-legitimate messages out. It isn't all extremely unfunny crap and shameless exhibitionism.

Originally posted1/9/07

Barcelona tapas & dessert joint in NYTimes


P1000186.JPG, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Just randomly saw that Bubo was quickly covered in the NYTimes. Judy and I stopped there while wandering around the city on spring break last year ['06]. Couple of pictures from that pitstop are here, including shots of what we could see from our table outside.
Note: the crusty looking guy in the shot above appeared to be a regular, as he was greeted in a "Norm!"-esque manner. He was also one of the handful of misguided dickheads we've encountered on our vacations who think it's a good ice breaker to shout "konichiwa" at Asians passing by, because clearly all Asians speak Japanese, right? Sure.



Originally posted1/6/07

New Year's Eve in Montmartre


P1010453, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

After dinner that delayed us more than we expected [quoting the waitress: "there was a problem in the kitchen - don't accuse me" ... actually, this was much more pleasant than it sounds, just comes across funny in translation], our options on what to do at midnight were somewhat limited. But we had 30 minutes to walk up to the top of the hill near Sacre Coeur and get a view of the Eiffel Tower. This shot here shows you we weren't the only people who had that idea. If you're interested in the rest of the shots, start here and work your way through.
Some blurry shots, some repetitive shots, but also a couple of good ones, such as:

* French family lighting sparklers


French family lighting sparklers

French family lighting sparklers

* Our view of the Eiffel Tower with the spotlight pointed straight at us


View of Eiffel Tower at Night

* Some of the amateur pyrotechnics that were going off all over the place


Fireworks in Montmartre

Fireworks in Montmartre

* A sense of the communal revelry


Paris - Place du Tertre, New Year's Eve

* A minor drunken misunderstanding


Paris - Place du Tertre, Drunken Misunderstanding

* And among it all, a respect for keeping things neat


Paris - Place du Tertre, neat trash receptacle on New Year's Eve

Would have been smart of me to bring the video camera along to truly capture the sounds and sights of people setting off the bottle rockets, shouting "bonne annee!" etc., but I left it in the apartment. Sweet.



Originally posted 1/5/07

Rue des Martyrs at night


rue des martyrs night 2, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Also from the 29th, as we made our way to dinner at an Indian restaurant in the Saint Georges area of the 9th arrondissement. This view is uphill, toward Montmartre. The white dome on the horizon is Sacre Coeur.


Originally posted 12/31/06

View of the Eiffel Tower from
Avenue de New York

This is from the 29th, when we walked from the Eiffel Tower over to the Palais de Tokyo, which is across the river and a bit east of the tower. Hadn't seen it from this angle before, and we caught it during one of its illuminated times (every hour, I think; maybe every 1/2 hour). Red lights behind Judy are cars passing by during the shot.


Originally posted 12/31/06

Just another Thursday dinner at a Senegalese joint in the 11tharrondissement


ile de goree 2, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Deciding to try something new, we headed out to the 11th arrondissement to see what we'd find and try something different. Good news - we did indeed try something different.
Other news - it wasn't terrific.

We must have passed 10 - 15 restaurants as we walked around Rue Oberkampf and Rue Jean Pierre Timbaud. Many of them looked nice [even nicer on the walk back to the Menilmontant metro stop after our dinner at Ile de Goree]. But we didn't stop at any of them. While I couldn't translate the entirety of menus posted in the windows, I could pick up that they had duck [canard], foie gras, rabbit [lapin], etc., and pretty much assumed it wasn't going to be right for us.
When we stopped to check the menu of Ile de Goree, the manager/owner appeared on the other side of the window, wiping away the condensation that somewhat obstructed our view. And he did this with a big welcoming smile, and we were suckered in.
They had little english, I had little french, but we managed to order. Judy liked her shrimp [surprise], my beef and potatoes dish was alright, and the wine was fine. Not terrible, but definitely not the best way we could have spent the money.


'Learn something new' sidenote: The Ile de Goree is just off the coast of Senegal, quite near Dakar.
Originally posted 12/29/06

What we snagged at the side alley shop


morroccan candle altar 3, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Most of what was in the store was either too big and crazy to even try to bring back [see around Judy here], or just random and useless. But this thing struck us as cool and worth trying to lug home. According to the shopkeeper, it's a "pre 1960" Islamic home altar to which Muslims can pray. Well, we certainly would have different intent for it in our house, and we were assurred that all of these pieces are cleansed before they are sold/transferred [seemed like this guy buys estate lots or something]. Rationale for the cleansing, which is done by leaving it out in the sun [again, according to the shopkeeper] is because people don't want any vibes - good or bad - to move from house to house. So even if the new owner was going to use the piece for the same purpose, it would be cleansed before being transferred. I want to believe him, so I do believe him. Hopefully it won't turn out to be any kind of bad mojo, a la the Brady Bunch / Tabu deal.


Originally posted 12/29/06

Spotted a shop down side alley


shop down side alley, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Another relatively low key day here. After breakfast at the apartment and a semi disappointing visit to Maison Europeene de la Photographie where the most interesting stuff to me was a series by Eva Frapiccini, we walked toward Les Halles. On our way we spotted this sign, which was tucked within a side alley within an alley [see the view from inside this alley]. Although you can't really tell by looking at this shot, it was strangely similar to the entry of the place where we picked some cool things up in San Telmo, so we were sucked in.


Originally posted 12/29/06

Best Thai food we've ever had

The restaurant across the street, Sourire de Saigon, was truly the best Thai food we've ever had. Spicy. But not aggressively out-to-kick-your-ass spicy. Fresh. Innovative presentation without just trying to be crazy avante garde for the hell of it. And a 1999 bordeaux for like $35, which was really good.

For dessert the hostess/manager recommended their ice cream, which as Berthillon - she claimed it was the best in France, and based upon what we had, we wouldn't argue. Good stuff.

(Later note/correction: The restaurant, and the food, were of course 'Vietnamienne', not Thai. So it would therefore be the best Vietnamese food we've ever had, and better than any Thai food we've ever had, but technically not the best Thai food we've ever had. My apologies for the confusion.)
Originally posted 12/28/06

Holiday street scene in Montmartre


street scene in montmartre, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

This kind of thing is what absorbed most of our waking time yesterday [12/27].


Originally posted 12/28/06

Late start and a mostly lazy day


side street in montmartre, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Pretty much an entirely nocturnal day, as we left the apartment around 5pm today. Catching up on some rest after all the walking around. Walked up the hill to Place du Terte [the main tourist square in Montmartre] then down the hill toward the neighborhood where we've stayed previously. Took a few pictures, stopped in a few shops, etc. Just relaxing for the most part.


Originally posted 12/28/06

Ice Skating at Hotel de Ville


hotel de ville 4, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Not especially clear, but all those people in front of the building are skating.



Originally posted 12/27/06

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Hotel de Ville


hotel de ville 12, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Hotel de Ville, aka Paris City Hall, at night. Next post will show [kind of] the ice skating rink that is set up in front of it.



Originally posted 12/27/06

The living room


P1010217, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

And this is the living room, from which we can see those two restaurants in the previous entries. Exciting.



Originally posted 12/26/06

View, other direction


P1010229, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

This is the view from the living room in the other direction. Restaurant in view is Sourire de Saigon, which I think might be something like Saigon's Smile. Looks good, we'll probably try it before we split.



Originally posted 12/26/06

View from our apartment


P1010226, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Just a shot off to the right out our living room window. Restaurant is Le Coin Des Amis [roughly, Friends' Corner', I believe]. Haven't tried it yet.



Originally posted 12/26/06

Christmas dinner in


P1010211, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

While there definitely were plenty of restaurants open - Japanese ones, in particular, were all open - we opted for dinner in. Grabbed some pasta, prosciutto and vegetables from a market down the street, along with a bottle of totally non-descript bordeaux. The one bonus was dessert - we picked up what I think officially qualifies as a yule log [clarifcation: this is someone else's yule log, standing in as a proxy for ours, which we dug into right away without bothering to photograph ... maybe next time].

The woman at the boulangerie/patisserie was friendly enough, which I appreciated - bearing with my minimal/non-existent french-speaking capabilities. I think I've landed on a decent new approach for getting by in shops without any real french. It goes like this:

's'il vous plait ... parlez vous anglais?' 4 out of 5 times this will prompt either a 'oui' or even an 'of course', in which case we're off and running. However, a few times I've gotten an unsure 'c'est depends' or 'un petit peu', in which case I follow with what I hope to be a disarming, empathy-eliciting 'je vais essayer en francais, mais je ne parle bien' ... then I just really start pointing ... je voudrais cette ... et aussi cette, etc. Anyway, the woman seemed to give me the credit for giving it a shot and adopted the demeanor of someone who is ready to deal with a 'slow' person - think the scene from Can't Buy Me Love where the girls at the dance see Patrick Dempsey doing the African Anteater dance, and declare "aww, he must be in special ed".
Also, I suppose the fact that we're getting ready to spend money doesn't hurt either.



Originally posted 12/26/07

Christmas stroll in Le Marais


P1010201, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

While there weren't as many stores open as I thought there would be, Le Marais did seem to have more activity going on than our neighborhood [Montmartre], and everyone apparently was looking to eat. Every time we stopped to check for a table in a cafe or restaurant, they were all jammed - so we carried on.
This shot here catches our call home. I was actually just aiming for the blue door in the background, but Judy kept wandering into my shot.



Originally posted 12/26/06

Another plaza shot


la place du terte [sp?], originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Two years ago we stepped into this restaurant for a moment. Actually sat down and had menus, I think, but bailed and went to La Mere Catherine instead. Great call. This place felt kind of like a hybrid rest stop/beer garden ... not that there's anything wrong with that.



Originally posted 12/25/06

Christmas Eve dinner at La Mere Catherine


la mere catherine, originally uploaded by sindlinger.


Judy and I had dinner here two years ago on Christmas Eve and decided we'd come back this time, too. Got here a little earlier this year [around 10pm vs after 11 last time]. Recognized at least one waitress from previous visit. Think the piano player and chanteuse were the same as well.
Sat in a back room and it was pretty full - with most tables full of French-speaking guests, which was kind of surprising as I had expected a greater tourist ratio. Feels a little bit similar to maybe Cheers [aka Bull & Finch] in Boston used to feel, or how Butch McGuire's in Chicago can feel - definitely draws some tourists, but also has a strong contingent of locals.
Could be the location, the time, or any other intangible variable, but the ravioli au fromage and la soupe a l'oignon are amazing. Also tried a dish called millefeuilles de chevre [sp?], or tomatoes with goat cheese mousse - really, really good.
Ordered a modest bottle of Bordeaux, then noticed virtually every other table had a Beaujolais - note to self: mimic the locals, as they surely know better than I do. But then, the Bordeaux was fine.



Originally posted 12/25/06

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

A nice lodge for your consideration

As part of a work-related trip to Seattle, I was able to stay at Willows Lodge. Nice joint. Not 100% sure how far we are from downtown, but it's decently located if you're interested in visiting the Microsoft campuses.

Originally posted 12/05/06

Beware ParisAttitude.com

Anyone looking for a short-term apartment rental in Paris should beware of the 'customer service' provided by ParisAttitude.com. Below is the full email exchange I had with one of their representatives, so you can judge for yourself how useful they might be for you. But net for me was I took my business to another agency [Lodgis] where my questions and needs were handled much more professionally.

Email 1, received upon submitting an inquiry through the Paris Attitude website

From: Charles de La Ferrière

Dear art SINDLINGER
Thank you for your request and your interest in Paris Attitude. You have selected apartment reference numbers : 1288, 1681, 1448, 701. I am glad to inform you all of these apartments are available for your dates from 24-dec-2006 to 01-jan-2007.

Here is the information about apartment reference number : 1288
The total price for 8 nights is 891 Euros including the agency fee. There is also a refundable security deposit of 685 Euros that you get back at the end of your stay. You will find a detailed description with the pictures of the apartment, either in the attachment or on this link

Related to apartment ; 1681
The total price for 8 nights is 891 Euros including the agency fee. There is also a refundable security deposit of 685 Euros that you get back at the end of your stay. You will find a detailed description with the pictures of the apartment, either in the attachment or on this link

The information regarding apartment ; 1448
The total price for 8 nights is 891 Euros including the agency fee. There is also a refundable security deposit of 685 Euros that you get back at the end of your stay. You will find a detailed description with the pictures of the apartment, either in the attachment or on this link

And the apartment ; 701
The total price for 8 nights is 862 Euros including the agency fee. There is also a refundable security deposit of 663 Euros that you get back at the end of your stay. You will find a detailed description with the pictures of the apartment, either in the attachment or on this link

Please, let me know as soon as possible, if you want to reserve one of these apartments. I will then e-mail you the necessary documents to book it in your name.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,

Charles De la FERRIERE.
Paris Attitude
6 rue du Sentier
75002 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 96 80 45
Fax : +33 (0) 1 42 96 27 86

My same day reply:

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I am glad to hear that these are available. I will review the options with my wife and I intend to confirm one of them with you asap.
Best Regards,
Art

My same day follow up [to which I never received a response]:

Hello again -
I believe we are narrowing down our selection to either 1681 or 701. Can you please confirm if 701 has a TV? I do not see it on the description or in the photos, but would like to double check that before I make my final selection.
Thank you very much for your help.
Best,-
Art

My subsequent request to move ahead with a specific property:

Mr. de La Ferriere:
I have spoken with my wife and we would like to take the next steps toward reserving 1681. Please advise what else you need from us to place this reservation.
Thank you again,
-Art

Mr de La Ferriere's next day response:

Dear Mr Sindlinger,
I just had the owner on the phone and the apartement is available. However there is a majoration of 30% because of christmas period. Therefore the price including the agency fee for 8 days is 1183€. Are you still interested.?
Regards,
Charles de La Ferriere.

My response to the news of this 'majoration' [to which I never received a reply]:

Mr. de La Ferriere,

Thank you for the update. That is a pretty substantial increase. I think I would rather explore some other options. I will continue checking your site for alternatives, but please let me know if the owner of 1681 changes his or her mind regarding the majoration, because we would still be interested at the original rate that was quoted [891 Euros].

Best,-Art

My next day request for more information on other properties listed on their website [to which I did not receive a reply]:

Mr. de La Ferriere -

May I inquire about a few other apartment options? I have reviewed more of your listings and found some alternatives. Could you please advise if they are available and, if they are, what the rental price would be for our desired dates [arrive 24-Dec, depart 1-Jan].
The listing numbers are:
894
1586
1682
1514
1479
1683
We are still very interested in securing an apartment through your service and greatly appreciate your assistance in helping us find a place for our holiday. My wife and I were engaged in Paris and will be celebrating an anniversary with this trip.

Thank you again.
Best,
Art

Originally posted 11/26/06
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