Alaska

For someone who hates the cold, I sure had a great 10 days in Alaska! Nick and I flew to Anchorage to visit his mom, Liz, and had a wonderful time with her. The first thing we did? After sleeping and getting up the energy, we walked just across the street to Baxter Bog. We were very eager to see some Alaskan wildlife, even though that didn't happen the first day, we got some great views of the mountains and nature.

After some more relaxation, and a few episodes of Dexter, we took our first day trip to Talkeetna.

 Talkeetna is a small town with great views of Mt. Mckinley, and happens to be Nick's favorite place to visit while he's in Alaska. We walked around the town and popped into some of the open gift shops. We also walked by the airport...

We then enjoyed some beers from Denali Brewing Company, where we were able to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather before driving back to Anchorage.

Our next day trip was to Seward, which turned out to be my favorite. It was a beautiful, but long, drive with fantastic scenery - though where in Alaska is there not fantastic scenery? Seward won my heart with it's SeaLife Center. It was great to see the seals and sea lions swimming around, but anybody who knows me knows how much I love ducks and other diving birds. The bird room was by far the coolest thing ever. The area was open so the birds, and puffins!, were able to fly around you. Also, when you went downstairs you could see the bottom of the tank where the puffins would often dive for food and you could see them swimming under water.

We enjoyed views of downtown Anchorage from Earthquake park..

...then drove up to Flattop mountain. There was too much snow to actually hike to the top, but we got even more great views of the city.

Our luckiest day for seeing wildlife was when we went to Whittier to take a 26 Glacier Cruise. On this 4-hour cruise we got a hot lunch and saw 2 porpoises, hundreds of sea otters, a few seals, a bear, and an eagle. The best glacier was Surprise glacier. They took the boat right up next to the glacier so everybody was able to get amazing pictures. The crew also took some of the ice out of the water and made glacier margaritas.

We had some amazing day trips, enjoyed great scenery, looked through Nick and Maggie's baby pics,  and watched 3 seasons of Dexter. It was a great vacation, though one last thing is worth mentioning. Liz's cat "Kitty" hated us! She was so mad that we invaded her home for 10 days. She constantly watched us, hissed and tried to attack us, but she was adorable.

Baltimore, MD

So, Nick and I have been living near Baltimore for almost a year, and have just now gotten out for a touristy day! We decided to do a day trip to get the basic tourist sites done. We found parking near Federal Hill Park and walked up the hill. It was a must-see view of the city! This alone made the day worth it.

We took a nice stroll along the water to the other side of the Harbor and bought tickets to get onto the USS Constellation. It was neat to walk all over the ship with an audio tour that tells the ship's history as well as details about almost every aspect of the ship, and a ghost story at the end!

We then walked over the Top of the World! The top of the Baltimore World Trade Center provides a fantastic view of the city, though I did prefer the view from the park. The Baltimore World Trade Center also has a September 11 memorial in front of the building as well as an exhibit on the observation deck.

We ended our day trip with an early dinner at the James Joyce Irish Pub. Pubs always have good drinks, good food, and good service. This was no different. =)

New York City

After spending a wonderful year back in the USA, Nick and I decided to celebrate our first anniversary by spending a weekend in NYC! We booked an early morning bus and a room at The Manhattan at Times Square on gotobus.com for $385. Not too shabby.

We left early on Friday morning and arrived at the hotel at 5:30am. Luckily, they had a room available and we were able to nap for a few hours. The room was fine, definitely not as nice as the website would suggest, but not too bad. They claim to have an "oversize" bathroom in all the rooms, this was not the case. It was a standard bathroom and a room comparable to a Best Western. What is it about cheap hotels that all have the same ugly beige color covering the walls, doors, and curtains?

Though the room was average, we soon found that it was well worth the price because of its location. Located on 7th Avenue and West 51st street, it was right in the middle of all the excitement. Turn right and you're in Times Square, or turn left and hit Carnegie Deli just a few blocks away from Central Park.

After waking up refreshed on Friday morning, we grabbed breakfast at Carnegie Deli. The breakfast was pretty good, but definitely a bit expensive. We did end up leaving with a cheesecake, which I would highly recommend!

Nick and I then headed to the 9/11 memorial. We had to reserve free passes before entering. After picking up the passes we had about an hour before our reserved time. We walked towards Wall Street stopping first at Saint Paul's Chapel. Built in 1764, George Washington worshiped here after his Inauguration. Today, you can go inside the church and see Washington's Presidential pew as well as memorials to 9/11 victims.

We continued walking to Wall Street, passing by the Stock Exchange and Federal Hall. You can go inside federal hall and see exhibits that include the bible which was used to swear George Washington into office. Just down the road is Trinity Church which was constructed by the Church of England in 1696. It was later destroyed in a fire, and after being rebuilt the second structure was torn down and rebuilt into a third building in 1846. It is a beautiful church, but there was a service going on so we were not able to walk around or get pictures of the inside.

We headed over the 9/11 memorial site, and after going through airport-like security were able to walk around the beautiful park that now takes the place of the twin towers. At the site of each tower there are now reflecting pools with the names of all the victims carved into bronze around the outside. There is also a park around the pools.

After reflecting and sharing a moment at the memorial, we walked south to Battery Park. We briefly walked around Castle Clinton and along the waterfront. It was a pretty cloudy day, but we were still able to see the Statue of Liberty.

We left the park and took the subway uptown to the New York Public Library Main Building. In the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building they have many exhibits. The "Celebrating 100 Years" exhibit includes the first Gutenberg Bible acquired in the Americas. My favorite part of the exhibit was the display with the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals!

For those of you who don't know, Christopher Robin was a real boy! He was A.A. Milne's son. He had gotten the Winnie the Pooh bear (which was originally Edward Bear) on his first birthday. He later got the other animals (excluding Rabbit and Owl, who were made up for the books) and his father teamed up with an artist named Earnest H. Shepard to create the books.

This was just the beginning of the nerdiness =). After leaving the library, and me being excited at having seen the real Winnie the Pooh (which I loved as a child...and might still now), where else would have been the perfect place for both Nick and I? Nowhere better than the Hershey's store! We were both immediately drawn to the Resses Cup corner! We were very tempted to buy one (or two) of everything in that section, but eventually settled on a coffee mug and pint glass, each with a bag of reeses inside! I did get a free resses cup for taking an in-store survey too!

Our child-like excitment continued when we walked across the street to M&M world! The first display we saw fit Nick perfectly, Star Wars M&M candy toys!

We headed back to the hotel just a few blocks away and took a nap before heading out again and going to Discovery Times Square. We went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. We were not allowed to take any photos, and there were a lot of clay pots and information I already knew, but it was really cool to see the actual scrolls at the end of the exhibit. They explained and translated each section that was on display. My favorite to see was the Minor Prophets which were written in Greek.

After the exhibit we took a taxi over to the Primehouse for dinner. It was a really nice place with a great menu. We each got a steak and shared some Truffle Asiago fries. The steaks were pretty good, but I would not recommend those fries! It was a nice atmosphere with good drinks and steak.

Day 2

Saturday morning we woke up, grabbed a quick breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and enjoyed a stroll around Central Park. It was such a peaceful park and was really nice to see the city in the background.

After Central Park we took the subway down to the Empire State building. We got approached by a ticket vendor outside who was selling tickets at about the same prices I remember seeing on the website. Unfortunately, in this impulse buying I forgot to ask about getting to the 102nd floor observation desk and instead we got tickets to the Skyride and 82nd floor observation deck. The vendors are legit, just be sure to know ahead of time what kind of ticket you want.

The Skyride was the worst tourist trap ever!! First there was a presentation of the top 10 things to do in New York...10 things that everybody goes to New York for anyway. Then a presentation about the building, but we were hoping for a bit more history. Then a simulated airplane ride above the city, which jerked way to much and made me sick. I DO NOT recommend the Skyride to anybody who visits New York, it is a waste of money! The only upside to this was that we got to go straight to the elevators and skipped the lines (though If I had been thinking when I bought the tickets, we would have gotten the express tickets anyway). We spent very little time waiting in lines and it was not very crowded on the observation deck.

Just around the corner from the ESB is Korea Town. I was so excited to have a real Korean lunch. We had lunch at Miss Korea. We ordered some marinated short ribs, and Dak Galbi, a dish that I have been craving for the past year. The Dak Galbi was not how I remember it being in Korea, but it was definitely all delicious!! It was a fantastic, authentic Korean lunch. =) I was so happy.

Full of Korean food, we decided to walk it all off to pass by the U.N.

Then over to the Rockefeller center. We went inside the NBC shop and picked up a few souvenirs, and walked around the plaza.

We took a nap and got ready for what would be the best dinner we had ever had! We had reservations at August. It was a small place, but it was so pretty inside. The food was fantastic. We had amazing drinks. Nick ordered a steak with bone marrow, and I had the pork chop. For dessert we had the best Warm Chocolate Cake. The food, the service, and the atmosphere at August were fantastic. I would highly recommend this place for a nice dinner in NYC.

After dinner we grabbed a few drinks at Tonic bar and walked around Times Square before returning to the hotel for our last time. We left Sunday morning feeling very sad to leave, but satisfied that we both had a great time!

Home Sweet Home

So, after 4 months at a job that was significantly less enjoyable than my experience at Wonderland, and a falling out with some of my friends in Korea, I decided to leave Korea. In December I put in my 2 months notice and told my boss I would be going back to Ohio in February.

Now, I'm home! I couldn't be happier. It was definitely the best decision for me. Korea was a fantastic experience for me, and there are definitely things and people I miss, but it was time for me to leave.

So, February 25th, with the help of my good friend, Nina, I packed up my things and got on a bus to Incheon Airport with my Korean cat, Charlie. I got to the airport early, my flight was around 10:30am and the animal control office was not open until 9. I had not gotten my quarantine and immigration papers for Charlie beforehand because I was told to do it at the airport. For anybody taking a pet out of Korea, make sure you have more time to get this done, or get it done before you get to the airport! At 9 I waited outside the office anxiously. Luckily, I had my paperwork and the fee ready and they did not actually inspect Charlie. So, they just handed me a piece of paper and I was able to check in for my flight.

I got lucky again when I got to the counter to check in my bags. I acquired A LOT of stuff in Korea. I had 4 suitcases and Charlie's cage. My allowance was 2, and the lady at the counter told me to get the other 2 suitcases wrapped together (there was a packing center in the airport) and she only charged me for 1 extra bag.

It all worked out. I was able to get Charlie's paperwork done, spent less money than I expected on baggage, and got through security with a little time to spare before my flight.

My flight was direct from Seoul to Washington DC. When I got on the bus in Korea my heart was saddened to be leaving such a great friend (Nina). But when I got off the plane, got my baggage, and saw Nick waiting for me at the gate, I was so happy. Nick was a friend at OSU and we kept in touch while I was in Korea. He took a week off work, picked me up, and drove me back home to Ohio. The day I saw Nick, he asked me to be his girlfriend. =) We got back to Ohio and I got to see all my friends and family. Nothing had changed, it was as if I had never left.

Though I am not traveling overseas as often anymore, I hope you all stay tuned! I will continue to write about my travels and experiences in America!

Pandas and a Great Wall!

February 2-6, 2011 marked vacation time for the Chinese New Year. To celebrate this holiday, what would be better than going to Beijing, China? I couldn't think of anything either...

So, my friend, Travis, and I decided to make our way to China for a few days. We booked a room at hostelworld.com for the Beijing Wada International Hostel. I would not recommend this hostel during the winter or when the owner is not around. When we showed up they had lost our booking in their computer system and would only give us a room with one bed, as opposed to the double room we had already booked. The room was fine, but freezing cold! There was one heat radiator, but it was mildly warm despite being the middle of winter in northern China. I had to ask for a second blanket, one I used to wrap around me like a sleeping bag, and the second was over both Travis and I...and I was still cold at night. We also had problems with hot water. There was not much available. On the second morning i let the water heat up for about 15 minutes and finally got a hot shower, and there was even enough for Travis to have a hot shower after me. We were not so lucky the rest of the week. We were able to get warm water one more time during our stay.

Also, the service kinda sucked, except for the owner. We encountered 3 people who "worked" there, but when we asked any questions (about popular sites, transportation, food...) the answer was usually "I'm not really sure". One girl tried to give us directions to a marketplace, either she didn't know what a market is or she made the whole thing up. When the owner was there however, which wasn't often, she was very friendly and helpful. With these two complaints out of the way, the rest of the hostel stay was decent. The room was clean, the bed was comfortable, and there was wifi in the lobby.

Our first night there we decided to walk around the neighborhood. You might notice we found a stairway that just ends. It would suck if you walked up it and weren't paying attention. On our walk we were able to find a bakery, a small grocery store, and a place for dinner. Everything was all in Chinese, so I have no idea what the name of the place is or what we ordered. We pointed to two dishes, one we could easily identify as shrimp and peanuts, the second one is up for debate. It may look similar to beef, but it certainly was nothing like anything I've had before.

On the second day of our trip we woke up early and made our way to the Great Wall. We decided to do this on our own, but maybe we should have been a little more prepared. Supposedly, there are two buses that leave from Dongzhimen outer bus station to the Great Wall, we were going to the Mutianyu section of the Wall. We were running a little late so we missed the bus, but there was another bus that went to a town near the wall and you could grab a taxi from there. Luckily, we came across someone who spoke a bit of English and was able to tell the bus driver where we were going, since we had no luck at all getting the bus driver to understand us. They called ahead for a taxi driver for us and made sure we got off at the right stop. That was nice of them. They told us the price of the taxi would be equivalent to $50 round trip, but the taxi driver had different ideas. We could have easily grabbed the bus back to Dongzhimen station from the Great Wall, but the taxi driver waited for us so we just went with him back to the other bus station....don't do this. He charged us again. Another note, which I was not able to tell Travis before he did it, was do not pay before the trip is finished. Travis paid the taxi driver when we got to the wall, so I can easily see how we got ripped off and the driver thought he could charge us again. We got there and back alright, just spent $100 more than we needed to. So a note future explorers: don't miss the bus times!

The Great Wall was amazing though, great if you will. We took a lift up to an opening in the great wall and walked for about 2 hours. You can just walk along the wall through all the guard towers, but there are a lot of steps. The scenery was nice, mountains as far as you can see. I would have liked to have spent more time on the Wall, but we thought we had to walk all the way back to where we had started, so we turned around. If we had been more observant, we would have seen that there was another opening in the wall where you can take a toboggan back down to the parking lot and thus we could have walked a lot further before turning back. Luckily we noticed on the way back and we did take the toboggan down. It was fun, but there were three girls in front of us who were going too slowly. Once we got to the bottom it was time for lunch, at Travis' insistence, we ate at Subway. Yes, there is a subway at the base of the Great Wall.

I must be honest at this point and say, I am picking up this post at this point 3 months after it happened. The details and names here on out are fuzzy, so I will only state details if I'm sure about the names, locations, etc. I need to keep at this thing more regularly...

Anyway, After we finally got back into the city we were attempting to go to a temple, might have been Lama Temple, but we got distracted by a festival that was being held in a park. We walked around the park for a bit and it was similar to a county fair (minus the rides). There were booths set up around the entire park, some selling food, some souvenirs (all rabbits, of course!), and some were carnival games. You know, the ones where you throw darts at  balloons and get a crappy prize.

 When we were done taking in the sites of the crowded park we walked back to the metro. We did however get sidetracked by a frozen river. Travis would not have been satisfied until we walked across the ice, so we did.

We also stopped by the shop on the way back to the hostel to get some food and we were able to buy loads of food for a few dollars. I think it was under $5. We were really surprised when we got to the cashier and she told us how much it was.

 The next day, we visited Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. 

We attempted to track down some Peking Duck for lunch, but after a debacle with a bike taxi driver, we were dropped off at the wrong place. So, again, we ate at Subway.  They are everywhere!

We made our way to the Beijing Zoo via the metro.  It was a cool zoo, but I must say, obviously, the highlight was seeing the Giant Pandas!

I also wanted to see the cats. Unfortunately, the tiger cages looked like jail cells. They were so depressing. Those poor animals. 

After the zoo, we asked the information center where we could get Peking Duck. As per her directions, we went to the Donghuamen Night Market area. We found a nice restaurant advertising Peking Duck on the window, and it was delicious! What really made the meal worth it was the plum sauce that they served with it. 

Walking out of the restaurant, we saw the food stands were being set up. We walked along the road, and I let Travis do the adventurous eating. You can find just about anything you could want in these stands. Travis chose crickets and seahorse. He said the seahorse wasn't good, but he did like the crickets. At the end of the trip, he said his favorite was scorpion. For those less adventurous eaters, like me, there are plenty of normal dishes at the stands too. There are a variety of noodle dishes, fruit, fried breads, and meat. The only adnormal thing I tried was starfish, and I urge everybody who has the chance to avoid it. It tastes like a bad, salty breading that has been burnt.

The next day we made it out to Yonghe Temple, also known as Lama Temple. It is one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. It was also one of the most beautiful temple's I have seen. Unfortunately, since it was a major holiday, it was packed with people and difficult to be able to see inside all the buildings, but I still really enjoyed being there.

We also went to the Summer Palace, which was gorgeous despite it being winter.

Outside the palace we got food from the street vendors. I never did find out the name of this snack, but there was one made of bread, egg, and some sort of sauce. The bread batter was spread onto the grill then an egg was cracked on it. A sauce was spread (an onions if you so choose, but I HATE onions) and a crispy piece of bread was put on top. It was then folded into a burrito shape and served. It was really good. They also sold grilled sweet potatoes and corn on the cob, among other snacks. 

One last place we went in Beijing was Tea Street. Don't bother. It's a pain to get to and not worth it. There are a few tea shops that sell the same quality tea in more touristy areas, like in the Donghuamen market area. Also, be aware that tea from tea shops in Beijing is expensive. I bought some Green Tea from a shop though for about $40, and I am happy with the quality, plus I have tea from China! haha

Sorry for the lack of some details, both historical and subjective. But this is all I have at the moment. I might return periodically to add details though. 

I want to end this post with a saying from a sign I saw at Lama Temple. Before I show it to you, just remember when you are traveling and enjoying all the wonders that this world has to offer, don't be selfish or careless. Take care of yourself, be kind to others, and don't do anything to destroy nature or monuments that should be kept around for future generations to see. 

Pictures