Good News from American Airlines - "PriorityAAccess Privileges"

This is welcome news to me. One little thing to make the airport experience a bit easier. Nice work, American.


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Review: Flatotel (NYC)

Note: this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.

Some rooms here might merit a 4-star rating, but room 910 gets 3.

I wanted to like this place more, but it fell short on a couple of fundamental things.

On the positive side:

- the room was huge





- the bed was huge and comfortable



- you can open the window a little bit (I love fresh air, so this is great for me)

- the bathroom is big and modern




- they have a nice little flat screen tv in the lobby near the elevators, which does help distract you during what can be kind of a long wait for the car to arrive



- there is an mini fridge and microwave in the room (and the brilliant, well stocked Cafe Duke is a 1 minute walk away, so giddy-up)



On the negative side:

- there is no mini bar in the room (I prefer the fridge anyway, but it's worth mentioning since some people need the mini bar)

- the TV is dated and the reception is rough on a few channels

- the temperature control in the shower stinks out loud

- there is no wireless internet and room 910 did not have an ethernet jack, even though the front desk and the guy who trucked up a cable to my room tried telling me it did. There were a couple of dial up jacks, but really? 2008? $535 room? Dial up? No.

Add an internet connection and this is easily 4-star for me. A colleague I was traveling with had a better experience, getting an enormous room with a full kitchen and living room (and a working internet connection). So, check out your room carefully before unpacking and maybe request an upgrade or something.

Micro Review: Cafe Duke (51st St., NYC)

Note: This also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.

Brilliant. I was staying at Flatotel, which provides a mini fridge and mini microwave in the room, but no mini bar. I checked in at 11:15 pm and I wanted to get some water, maybe a juice, something small to eat in the morning. Nothing big. I ask the front desk guy where I might find a little store. He directs me to Cafe Duke. I was hoping for at least a hole in the wall to buy a bottle of water, but I found an oasis of variety in a clean, well lit place. Belgian beers. Fine cheeses. At least 5 different kinds of refrigerated Starbucks drinks. Genius. I might even elect to stay at Flatotel again (really just a 3 star experience) just so I could make another run to Cafe Duke.

The Afternoon We Spent in Otavalo (Ecuador) - Part II of II

(See also Part I)

After schlepping our souvenirs back to the Pinsaqui and resting for a bit, we had a taxi take us over to Estadio Municipal, which is an unassuming little place from the outside.



We paid our $2 each for tickets and walked into the stadium via this inclined ramp, which does a nice job of keeping you in suspense.



The big reveal, though, is kind of underwhelming. Altogether the crowd couldn't have been more than 100 people.



And I think it's safe to say that they don't regularly have American couples strolling in to catch the action.



And though it wasn't necessarily the kind of pulsing hotbed of futbol enthusiasm I had envisioned, it was still a pretty cool setting to catch a game. Sun starting to set. Hills all around. Locals getting pretty animated.






We watched a little more than half of the game then headed back into town on foot.



Being a bit off the main track, we got to experience some behind-the-scenes Otavalo. You can see that the food/produce market serving the locals is a bit more straightforward and less of a spectacle than el mercado artesanal.









And we ultimately found our way back to the main market, which was in pack up mode. Folks who were already deep into a long day clearly still had a couple hours of clean up ahead of them.









All in all, we were glad to see more of Otavalo than just the famous market.

The Afternoon We Spent in Otavalo (Ecuador) - Part I of II

If you start to research things to do in Ecuador other than visiting the Galapagos Islands, you'll find that Otavalo is on most people's short list of places worth checking out. And what you hear most about Otavalo is they have one serious mercado. I enjoy a good mercado as much as the next guy, and the descriptions I read about the Otavalo market, combined with the promise of rustic relaxation I got from the Hacienda Pinsaqui website, were enough to sway my decision to finish this Ecuador trip in Otavalo rather than Cuenca (maybe next time, Cuenca).

(Side note: see also my write up about our stay at Hacienda Pinsaqui)




The market didn't disappoint. A whole roast pig here. Thousands of blankets there. Interesting blend of traditional and modern dress everywhere. It was a nice cultural buffet for the senses.

If you are thinking of checking Otavalo out, here are a few quick tips:

1. It won't take up the whole day. Unless you are really, really into checking out every single stall, you might spend a good 2 - 4 hours walking around the market.

2. You don't need to stay right in Otavalo. We looked at a couple of places that are right in town, but I'm glad we stayed at Pinsaqui. Cabs are easy enough to get to/from the Pinsaqui, taking maybe 5 - 10 minutes and costing $5 or so.

3. Don't miss the little plaza on the edge of the market (some photos below). It's a good place to catch your breath, maybe grab a bite to eat (empanadas to go from Empanadas Argentinas, for example) and soak in the sights.


The food and produce section of the market. Visually pleasing, but I can't say we sampled any of this stuff.


One of the many rows of local vendors.




We actually snagged a few things from these folks. Something about the blue rugs sucked me in. It was different and not something you saw at every stall.


And we bought 3 of these bowls, too, though we saw nicer stuff later on. We were in early, high-adrenaline mode and couldn't control ourselves.


This woman was actually much more pleasant than you might think given her demeanor in this shot. I swear we didn't force her to take this picture.




I wouldn't say these were the best empanadas we've ever had, but they hit the spot. And the restroom was fairly nice, so that was a bonus.


This is one of my favorite shots from the trip. Don't try passing any bogus notes to these ladies.


We found this plaza pretty late during our first run through the market. Nice place to relax and rest the feet.







And luckily we saw this sign promoting that day's soccer match. I love checking out things that might be a bit off the main tourist track and Judy is a trooper when I get into this mode, so we checked it out. More on that in Otavalo, part II.

Travelogue: Quito - Climbing Basilica del Voto Nacional

View of La Basilica from the ground

One of the things that strongly influenced my choice of Quito for our Summer 2007 vacation was the writing of Megan Lyles. I found her blog during my research and enjoyed all of her posts about Central and South America. But something in her write up about the Basilica del Voto really inspired me. That, I said to myself, is cool.

And, after having the chance to visit the Basilica ourselves, I have to say that this was one experience that lives up to the hype. Lyles' post is descriptive, with a few good photos, too, that give you a sense of what to expect. But it still didn't fully prepare me for the reality.

It is a truly unique experience. An opportunity to challenge yourself a bit. Simultaneous physical exertion and phobia confrontation. Fear of heights? Fear of untimely accidental death? Concern about old, potentially compromised ironwork at altitude? Here's your chance to tackle them all.

I should have jotted some notes at the time to capture exactly how this all went down, but I'll do my best to piece it together a year later.

First, I think you take an elevator up a couple of 'floors' if you will. Then you start climbing a spiral metal staircase.



That brings you up into the area behind the clock faces.



You can pause a bit here on a cat walk, read some graffiti and check out pictures from the construction of the Basilica.



The spiral staircase then continues up another level.



At that point you're pretty high up and have some open room to move and take shots of the amazing city views in all directions. And you can grab an iron ladder that goes up some more.





This next level is a crazy web of thin beams and wire netting.



At this point it might be useful to take a step back and provide some perspective.





And here you can crawl literally up to the edges of the little room you're in and take some pictures of the city.





I gotta be honest - even if my conscience didn't prevent me from marking up a Basilica with random "I was here" notes, I don't think I'd want to contort myself the way you would need to in order to reach outside at this point and start writing. Pulling the trigger on my camera was about as much non-essential movement I could rally for at this stage.

Then it's time to try the other side of the Basilica.

Your first move here is to walk across a pretty narrow wooden bridge suspended over the spine of the building.



This angle gives you a better sense of what you're dealing with.



Once across the bridge you have a pretty steep staircase / ladder to contend with.



The view from above again provides a bit more perspective on how steep this really is.



Now you've got a two-stage climb on the exterior of the tower to get up into the 'observation deck' (probably a better term for it).


Stage one - view from below


Stage two - view from above

This is where you end up.



Again, to get your bearings:



What I find brilliant and refreshing about this whole experience is I simply can't imagine that it's possible in the U.S. First, we paid ~$2 for admission. Then we just walked in. Didn't sign any waivers, weren't required to wear safety goggles, body harnesses or any kind of protective head gear. Just paid $2, hopped in the elevator and climbed around. During times when most entertainment seems to be either overly choreographed, sanitized or outright neutered due to fear of litigation, the absolute freedom this offered was almost staggering. Now, true adventurers can scoff at this perspective. Admittedly, we weren't exactly rock climbing in Canmore, but for a couple of domesticated urbanites, this was cool. I'd highly recommend it.