In case it's not obvious how much I love this time of day...this pic is unfiltered and was taken recently at the rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Can't wait to chase sunsets in Greece!

Greece is the Word

September 5, 2016

Trip planning is not fun. Well, it is if you have all the time in the world, but as a busy working professional, the last thing I want to do when I get out of the office is sit down at home and do research. When I was younger (and had more time because I lived at home so food/laundry/etc. was not something I had to worry too much about due to an amazing and loving mom), I didn't understand the point of tour operators, the ones who plan out full itineraries and accommodations and charging such a mark-up. And now I get it--I would sooo pay someone to plan my trips for me! I plan so much and do so much other type of research for work that the last thing I want to do is take on more of that responsibility after hours. However, when it comes to what I like to do on vacation, I'm very particular and a maximizer, so in essence, I'm my own worst enemy. I will always think I can plan a better trip (for me) than anyone else, especially since the trade off of value and time and quality are basically the tenets of how I live my life. So I suck it up and sacrifice some weeknight evenings/weekends to sit down and plan.

I'm always so happy during and after my trip that I've made such efforts though. It's just hard to remember that when I don't want to spend anytime on Trip Advisor because I rather be out enjoying the sun. But the reason why I'm writing this blog is to make the trip planning process less painful for like-minded professionals who also love culture, music, food, activities, art, and true, "do nothing" relaxing time but have limited time off.

So my "big" trip for this year is coming up and I am heading to GREECE. On a scale of easiness to plan (10 being super easy, 1 being hell no), I'd say it was a 6. Once I figured out where in Greece I wanted to go to, it got easier to figure things out, but the difficulty of planning lies in which places you want to go and for how long and what you want to do.

Usually I post my trip itinerary after I come back, but since this is going to a longer trip than my previous trips, I figured I would share some trip logistics now because I know I might not have the energy to recap later. While there are a ton of other resources to use online, I sometimes feel that I don't understand the choices people make so that's what I try to share and add.

The best resource for trip planning for Greece for me (other than Trip Advisor forums) was Santorini Dave. He breaks down various places and where to stay and how to plan it. He seems to update info every year, which is helpful too. Otherwise, I relied on friends who have been or other random travel forums. I used to buy travel guides all the time but now I prefer to just research online and copy and paste information into a Word or Excel document and create my own guides. I end up bringing pages and pages of info with me on my trips, but as I go along, I just discard the paper if it's already "done." So I never really have to do any additional research when I arrive anywhere because I have it with me already. Like I mentioned earlier, I like to maximize my time when I travel and hate wasting it figuring out what to do. I do build in flex time to my trips though, I will do things spontaneously! But for "must-see" activities or places to eat, I'll put in extra effort to research the crap out of that stuff beforehand. And then have a list of "options" for the flex time.

So for my trip, I decided on going to Athens, Rhodes, Crete and Santorini. I chose these places primarily based on ease of air travel. There are tons of Greek islands to visit but I did not want to spend hours on ferries getting across the Mediterranean. So a friend shared with me that the only islands with direct flights to one another are the bigger islands like Rhodes and Crete, while smaller islands are usually accessible by ferry or a flight to Athens only (their airports are smaller as opposed to big islands with bigger airport space). However, I've heard great things about Rhodes and Crete anyway so glad I can fly to them. So the plan is to fly from Athens to Rhodes, from Rhodes to Crete, take a ferry from Crete to Santorini, and then fly from Santorini to Athens. The ferry from Crete to Santorini was unavoidable but it's a short ride, two hours. The reason why I chose this route is because:

it's cheaper than flying
The only way to fly direct from Crete to Santorini is if you fly out from Heraklion. The ferry is also in the same city, so why pay more?
There is a flight from Chania, but it flies to Athens first, then Santorini. Most island flights are like this--you have to fly back to Athens first to fly to another island. So Athens-Rhodes-Crete-Santorini-Athens seemed the most efficient.

The other flights were reasonably priced but the flight from Crete to Santorini didn't seem worth it and two hours on a ferry I can deal with (but not an overnight ferry from Santorini to Rhodes, if I started in Santorini!).

I also chose these islands because there is a lot to do in Rhodes and Crete (or so I'm told) and while I wanted to go to Mykonos, I heard it's a huge party island, similar to how Santorini looks. I'm not really into partying (though I always appreciate a great cocktail bar) so I was ok to skip Mykonos. Corfu seems like an interesting option to visit as well but was not convenient since it's to the west of Athens and everything else is south/east.

Will try to share more as the trip nears! Going towards the end of September, when prices drop considerably but the weather is (again, from what I've been told) is still nice.

July 2016: Nova Scotia 7-Day Itinerary (Part II)

July 7, 2016

Day Three

Day 3: Sunshine! Woke up to blue skies, which was a nice change from the past two days. Went to breakfast at Evangeline, which as I mentioned in an earlier post is one of like three places open early for breakfast. Again, expect the basics at a better price point than the Happy Clam.

After filling up on food, headed straight to the Skyline Trail. It's best to get there early in the morning. I got there close to 9 am which was fine but by the time I left btwn noon and 1 pm, the parking lot was overflowing!

If you do the straight trail (not the whole loop) it should take you between 2-3 hours. It's about 4.5 miles roundtrip. I choose not to do the whole loop as I have zero desire to run into a moose out in the open with no barrier between me and the animal.

The trail is more of a moderate walk. It's a wide path that takes you from the parking lot into the park and onto the platform where you will have an amazing view. The views from the platform were stellar. It's one of the top views I've seen in all my trips. I loved it so much because you have a huge horizon to look into and you can kind of see the curvature. Pictures don't do it justice.

For some reason there is an enclosure halfway through the trail. This enclosure keeps out moose. I guess they want to limit them from getting near the actual Skyline platform.

The platform at the end of the trail has NO guard rails. It's a descent down to another overlook and it is super windy. So be careful especially with kids or people who might be afraid of heights. It's totally safe but you might get the illusion it's not if you have a great fear of heights.

Cliffhanger. I love how deep blue the water is. I felt like I could reach out and touch it.

The picture below is a bit crooked (it's hard to use the panorama view on the iPhone especially when it's a looooong shot) but that's how wide and vast it was. I really felt like I was on top of the world here.

Down on the platforms there are several benches on each level down to sit and rest and enjoy the view. I could've stayed here all day. It's so gorgeous and this is what Cape Breton is worth coming to for, especially on a clear day.

After the Skyline trail, I headed down to Iona Heights Inn down in Iona, which was almost a 2 hour drive away. My initial itinerary was to start the day and go to a fort in Louisburg but due to the rain, I changed up my plans. Had I been able to do Skyline the previous day, my third day would've been spent near Baddeck/Sydney/Louisburg on the other side. I'm glad that I did Skyline the next day instead though because Sydney was boring!! Don't bother going. Due to lack of time, I also didn't drive down the east side near Ingonish so I missed Smoky Mountain too. Would've like to have seen it but was tired of all the driving and wanted to relax a bit.

Iona Heights Inn is a cute place on Bras d'or Lake. It was also even cheaper than the Cornerstone motel but really well done. It's owned by a couple who also run a chocolate business. Basically, the inn also has a pub, a chocolate shop and a convenience store all on the property. I highly recommend staying here but only if you want to be on this side of the island. The food at the pub is good too. I had to eat there because everything else was closed for Canada Day.

So basically I rested the rest of this day but otherwise not much to do here. I booked it just in case I decided to do the other side of the island and wanted to be closer to the drive back to Halifax instead of driving back to Cheticamp.

Day Four

Day 4: Drove out to Halifax which was about three hours away. Stayed at the Cambridge Suites Hotel Halifax. In Halifax, you can park for free on the weekends and after 6 pm on the weekdays. I'm glad it worked out that I came on a Saturday! There is plenty of street parking near the hotel which is very close to downtown. Don't bother paying $20 to park in the hotel garage.

Overall Halifax is a very small city. You can see it all in a day. The highlights are the seaport, the Citadel, and the public gardens. At sunset, I liked walking all around the Citadel which overlooks the city. They close off traffic since the Citadel itself (a historic military fort) is closed but as a pedestrian you can make a loop all around outside at the top of the hill around the Citadel.

For food, skip the highly rated Press Gang and Oysters. The food was good but not great, especially for the price. It's $$$$. I think you can find better food for quality and price elsewhere.

Day 5

Day 5: Cambridge provides a breakfast buffet so that's what I had in the morning before driving out to nearby Lunenburg. It's about 1.5 hours to get there. Upon arrival it doesn't look like much but by the afternoon it's more alive and kicking. It's a sleepy fishing town known for their colorful houses and lots of history. Many of the homes date back from hundreds of years ago.

A walk around town is interesting. Some of the homes state the year it was built. Usually pre-1900s!

In addition, the BEST meal of my trip was at the South Shore Fish Shack. So simple and soooo good. It's a casual place that takes cash or Canadian debit card only. But the food is delicious. I had the best fish and chips in my life thus far. The fish was lightly breaded and the meat (haddock) was juicy and tender and NOT oily or dry. The lobster was perfectly cooked and very meaty in a dense way (not all lobsters are). I would even say it's worth driving out here from Halifax just for this. And the prices were reasonable given the quality ($25 Canadian for the lobster and $17 for three piece fish and chip).

After this, I headed over to Peggy's Cove which is a must do if you're near Halifax. I didn't know what to expect except the lighthouse, which is the most photographed one in Canada. But I loved Peggy's Cove as it is ladened with huge rocks and it's fun to climb all over them. It's a nice way to spend a few hours by the water.

Contemplating how I can learn to make delicious seafood chowder

For dinner, stopped by Rhubarb, which is a ten minute drive away. It's a cute restaurant with outdoor seating. Had seafood chowder here and basically I've learned throughout my pigging out is that seafood chowder is different everywhere. And it doesn't mean it just has clams. It usually has lobster, oysters, fish, whatever mix of seafood the restaurant wants to serve. Also most chowders were not too creamy or thick. Of all the chowders I had, the one at Meat Cove was the best. But Rhubard's was not bad either. Full of seafood.

Day 6

Day 6: Today I wanted to check out the Bay of Fundy, which is a large area on the northern side of Nova Scotia. However I only had one day left to do a day trip and I didn't want to spend too much time in the car. So I checked out the Bay of Fundy from the southern side near Hall's Harbor, less than 2 hours from Halifax.

The Bay of Fundy is known for their rapid moving tides. Tide times are posted online. Around early July, high tide is around noon and midnight and low tide around 6 am/pm. The tide rises as high as 30-40 feet.

Anyway so I went to Hall's Harbor to have a look for high tide. It looked nice but I didn't think it was that special. Maybe it would be more interesting at low tide?

I also picked Hall's Harbor since there is a lobster pound there too. Tried their lobster which was also good. They pick out the lobster in front of you to cook!! But I liked it that they also cracked the cooked lobster in all the right places so you just need to pull it apart.

Wasn't kidding that I ate chowder somewhere somehow every day. This was decent.

In the afternoon drove to Blomidon Provincial Park to have a look at Minas Basin. The tide had lowered a bit by 3 pm.

View of the area by Minas Basin from the Lookoff near Blomidon

Also checked out a winery in Wolfville which had a cool working telephone booth in the middle of the vineyard! This was at Luckett Vineyard. And yes you can make free calls anywhere in North America from here! The owner installed it as a marketing gimmick. Hey, it's what brought me here.

Dinner was at Darrell's Restaurant in Halifax. It's one of the top rated burger places in Canada. It did not disappoint. Had the mushroom burger which was juicy and flavorful and the vanilla milkshake. So yum. It's near the college area, so very casual and full of local students. Good prices for food.

Day 7

Day 7: So technically I was in Nova Scotia for 7 days but this was a travel day. I really wanted to only do 6 days but with Delta, the only flights I could get for July 4 wknd were to leave on a Wedneday and come back on a Tuesday. So day 7 just had one last good meal--the Coastal Cafe is excellent. Really interesting brunch menu. Had the Croque Monsieur, which is poached eggs with grilled cheese and lobster and a roasted corn salad. This is one of those places that would fit right into NYC. Loved it.

Headed to the airport at 12:30 for my 3 pm flight home to NYC. It was nice to go thru customs at the Halifax airport, and not back in JFK! So yes, after you check in, you go thru customs at the terminal. There is an international terminal that only serves NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and Newark flights I think. So they do it all right at security.

Other Thoughts/Tips

Nova Scotia is beautiful. It's what I picture New England to be, but better. Love the lush green color and blue skies and water.
7 days was more than enough, but depends what you want to do. I think I could've done without the Bay of Fundy. Perhaps the northern side of the bay is more interesting. I like Cape Breton but only because of Skyline Trail, Middle Head Trail, and Meat Cove Chowder Hut. Wish I had more time to spend near Ingonish and Smoky Mountain which I didn't go, but think I'll live.
Definitely can skip Sydney/Bras d'or Lake area if you're done with hiking. Probably great if you love camping but I'm not the type to reaaaaally do too much of that.
Halifax is good to see for a day, but Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove was more interesting.
I can't stress how much I really enjoyed Meat Cove Chowder Hut, The South Shore Fish Shack, and the Coastal Cafe.
In general this was a nice quiet and relaxing trip--not too exciting or too cultural (unless you really love learning about fishing communities and really old history on how the region was discovered, etc.). I'm glad to have finally visited but not on my list of places I definitely want to go back to. Skyline Trail was the definite highlight. If anything, I would go to see that again but there's other places to explore too! :)
Great for family vacation w kids or people who really love the outdoors and hiking. Expect to spend a lot of time driving btwn places though.

July 2016: Nova Scotia 7-Day Itinerary (Part I)

July 2, 2016

Day One

Day 1: Travel day! When traveling from JFK, there's not too many flights to choose from NYC to Halifax. I flew with Delta on their 11:40 am, and got into Nova Scotia by 2:40 pm (there is a one hour time jump ahead). After grabbing a rental car from Avis, I headed towards Cape Breton Island, which is about a 4+ hour drive from the airport. Along the way, stopped by the Walmart in Antigonish (about 1.5 hours into the drive) to stock up on water and snacks. Whenever I go out somewhere remote/country, I always stock up on essentials because usually these places lack variety or they mark them up. By the time I got into Cheticamp, it was almost 9 pm (due to the mini Walmart stop and McDonalds for dinner since there was nothing else around that was quick and easy).

Before the trip, I debated where to start/stay on Cape Breton. A lot of things I read online suggested driving around it clockwise to avoid traffic. Others suggested counter-clockwise to take advantage of pulling out to the overlooks on the right hand side. After doing both, it really doesn't matter! Or at least if you go before July 1. Didn't find it crowded at all and the driving was easy!!! Not scary at all, but I guess it depends what you're used to. My perspective is from a New Yorker's so if you can handle the streets of Manhattan you can handle this. Also it's easier to drive here than the really curvy roads of Hawaii.

Sucker for novelty items. The McLobster at McDonalds was the dinkiest lobster roll I've ever had! Food fail.

So I decided to stay in Cheticamp, at the Cornerstone motel for a few reasons:

It is literally outside the entrance of the park. Like a two minute drive to the visitors center
I wanted to be super close to the Skyline trail, which is the highlight of the park. If you stay at the other end in Ingonish, it takes about two hours to get here and with the weather being unpredictable, I rather be close
According to reviews online, this motel is pretty newly renovated and it was affordable (under $100 USD/night)

I agree with the reviews. It's a very basic motel but it's clean and super close to the park. If you come here from the airport, make sure to get here before the office closes at 10 pm. If you're coming in late like I did, let them know just in case.

Day Two

Day 2: Woke up to cloudy skies and drizzling rain. Skyline trail was definitely not happening this morning, as the whole point is to climb up to the top for amazing views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Went for breakfast in Cheticamp. There are not many places open at 7 am. Ended up at Happy Clam Cafe. So a quick word about these little towns on Cape Breton--they are really tiny! There's not a lot going on so keep your expectations low. It's just a very quiet, laid back life. For breakfast, these places mostly offer eggs, with toast and your choice of ham, bacon or sausage and a side of potatoes. Very basic but probably a bit overpriced. Suggest Evangeline's instead, which is 5 minutes further down in Cheticamp for similar food and better prices.

Basic breakfast sandwich at Happy Clam. Evangeline is a bit tastier and cheaper. Also I was hungry so I ate half of it already before I snapped this pic.

After eating, drove over to La Bolaungerie Bakery to pick up pastries as a snack for the day. SKIP IT! I admit it, I'm a spoiled New Yorker with access to great food. But the whole point of this travel blog is not to say everything was amazing. How can everything be so good??? It's possible, but I don't buy it. Anyway I went here because of the rave reviews. I can see why people might like it if they don't have access to local bakeries or exposure to French pastries back in their hometown. So if that's the case for you then give it a try. But if you do have access to great baked goods at home, this place was just ok.

From here, headed into the park to the visitor's center to pick up a park pass. If you buy a one day pass it's actually good until 4 pm the next day, which worked for me. You can also pick up a park map which outlines where all the trails are and codes them by level of difficulty. Due to the light rain, I decided to just drive all along the Cabot Trail and made The Bog the first stop. This is a short walk around the marsh and it's supposed to be a good spot to see a moose. I didn't see any here, but it was a nice walk around.

The walk around the Bog takes 15 minutes.

From here, drove over to Pleasant Bay. The rain was still off and on. Everything looked so glum.

Since the weather didn't seem like it would get better, decided to drive all the way to Meat Cove. According to the front desk at the motel, the most scenic drive is from Cheticamp to Pleasant Bay, and Meat Cove has nice views too. I will say that I agree with him!

The restaurant opens at noon. Otherwise there is not much here. Mussels with a view below.

Meat Cove, the most northern tip of the island and where the gulf meets the Atlantic Ocean

I love how everything is so luscious green here! It's not the same color of green as in NY. It's a deeper, healthier, fuller green.

With the rain not letting up, decided to drive down to Keltic Lodge, which is one of the most luxurious placesto stay on Cape Breton, have a cup of tea, and prayed for the (at this point in the day) pouring rain to stop. Got there at about 2:30 and had some tea and guess what? At 3 pm it stopped!! Was glad I did some research beforehand because ended up going on the Middle Head Trail hike, which starts right behind the lodge. This, along with the Skyline Trail, is a must do in my opinion. However, be warned there's a lot of bugs on this one so bring bug spray.

This trail takes you out into the other end of the peninsula so you're surrounded by water on both sides of the trail.

The weather really is quick to change. After raining all day, the sky finally opened up.

Once I finally got to the end, the reward was a sweeping view. There are two lookout points, one to the right and one to the left with a cliff in between.

From here, it was getting late. After climbing up and out of the trail (which is pretty straightforward and has some steep climbs but nothing crazy) went to dinner. A lot of places close by 8 or 9 on the island so I went to eat around 6:30 pm at nearby Coastal Pub. Apparently it was featured on the Food Network. The crab dip appetizer was good, the rest seemed mediocre (had the chowder to compare to the other one and this one was meh).

This looks like it has so much potential but was just ok.

From here back to Cheticamp was a two hour drive and a race to the sunset on the western side of the island. Given the rain and clouds earlier, I knew it would be a spectacular sunset and it did not disappoint! the sun sets around 9 pm here in early July.

Racing along the Cabot trail to catch the sunset

On the drive back out to Cheticamp, I stopped at various overlooks on the western side along the way. Had a moose spotting right off the road! But didn't get a chance to snap a picture in my excitement of seeing one.

But my favorite moment of the day was stumbling across this fog at this bay on the way back to Cheticamp. It's one of the lookouts on the road, close to Coastal Pub, and epitomized the day of sun and clouds.

July 2016 Trip Report: Nova Scotia

July 1, 2016

One of the many views from Middle Head Trail

I've always heard amazing things about Nova Scotia. It's so close to New York, yet seemed inaccessible for a quick getaway. Flights are pretty expensive (considering it's just a two hour flight) but driving also seems too long--more than 12 hours one way. After years of curiousity (and running out of places to go for a quick trip from NYC) I decided this was the year I was gonna go. So I bit the bullet and bought roundtrip airfare from Delta ($450--ugh! Could fly for less to other places farther away!) to visit June 29-July 5.

So yes, that means I'm live blogging! For my other trips I've been writing about them when I get home. Since I have some downtime right now though figured I'd give it a try and write as I go.

So far, so good. Nova Scotia is really beautiful, and certainly a lot bigger than I expected! Flew into Halifax and got in at 3 pm. Immediately picked up the car rental and headed straight for Cape Breton Island, which is known for the Cabot Trail and coastal drive. The drive is really easy (though long--about 4.5 hours from the airport) and not as harrowing as people make it out to be. Well, if you've driven in NYC or the curvy roads of Hawaii, you can survive this.

One of the lookouts from the Cabot Trail

Another thing about planning this trip: if you're an avid hiker and want to see a lot, definitely plan to be here more than two full days. There are a ton of hikes to do! If you're like me and like to hike but don't want anything too crazy, then two full days is enough. I also think it's better to plan two days in case it rains one of these days (which is what happened to me). Though the weather reports for Cape Breton Island are incredibly unreliable (it rained off and on and the sun came blazing out at 3 pm yesterday although the weather apps did not predict that), the drives from place to place can be long. In the two days I was here, I only had time for two hikes and I would highly recommend them: the Middle Head Trail hike and the Skyline trail hike. Both were long (about two miles one way, so four miles roundtrip) and very scenic but not too arduous. Anyway it rained the first day I was here and it was bright and sunny the second--the perfect day to do the Skyline trail.

These two trails really made the trip out here worth it. Otherwise, I can see why people may be unimpressed if they just drive from one end of the Cabot Trail to the other. The drive is nice, but I've been on better ones. You really need to get out of the car to see more of the island! Nova Scotia is gorgeous though. I've only seen Cape Breton so far and it's so luscious green, with trees lining the rolling mountains and cliffs and lakes and bays and rivers everywhere. I think it's prettier than Vermont, Maine, and other New England type places. If you're the type of traveler who hasn't traveled much around the world, Cape Breton will be impressive. If you're the type who has been around, this place is still beautiful but may not be as 'exciting.'

Will continue my trip recap in the next few days!

May 2016: 5 Day Itinerary for Copenhagen (Part II)

June 27, 2016

Day Three

Day 3: On my 3rd day in Copenhagen, I decided to relax a bit and not rush around to see everything. I saw most of the major highlights the past two days so today I wanted to slow down a bit. I started off my day by heading to Fiskebar, yet another restaurant owned by ex-Noma people. See the trend here? I couldn't get a reservation to Noma (the #1 rated restaurant in the world) so I opted for anything else (which was not hard, there are a bunch of other restaurants owned by ex-Noma people I didn't get to go to!).

Well, this restaurant is located in the Inner Vesterboro of the city, near the Meatpacking District. On the weekends, there is an outdoor food market right in front of Fiskebar where you can get fresh seafood, burgers, etc. Wish I had known about it earlier, I would've gone to Fiskebar on a different day and sample the different foods at the fair instead! Fiskebar was good, especially if you love oysters. However, this was a really expensive lunch. Probably because of the really expensive humongous oysters that are native to Denmark. Those are the ones to the left below. I had that, other oysters, and the cod. The oysters grown in Denmark were delicious though, so if you're an oyster lover you should try one since you're there anyway!

After lunch, I really wanted to go shopping. I took the bus back towards the downtown area of Strøget and came across a photography exhibit on Mario Testino. I didn't plan on going to any more museums, but I am actually fascinated by his work, after years of reading celebrity and fashion magazines. He's a well-known photographer amongst the stars and I've always been drawn to his images so I decided why not check it out? It was at the GL Strand and his work is on display until Sept. 18, 2016.

After browsing the exhibit for less than an hour, I finally went shopping. I didn't buy too much, but I like to look to get inspired. Strøget is a very long shopping street with tons of stores. There are three local places I really liked:

Illums, a major dept. store. What I liked most is that they have this huge rooftop/food hall where you can hang out on the balcony and view the city from above.
Illums Bolighus, an interior design/decor store. Initially I got this store confused with the dept. store, I thought they were one and the same but they are not! A lot of different home decor stuff resides in here. I bought a candle from here that I love the smell of.
Hay Market, another interior design/decor store. Had a lot of cute things, there's also a mini Hay market inside Illums Bolighus. And apparently, there is one here in NYC as well at the MoMa Design store in Soho! Which I found out about after I came back.

The only other things I really bought in Copenhagen were tea and cookies. For tea, I went to Tante Tea. One type of tea that I love that i can't really find in America is Milky Oolong tea. I first found it a few years ago in Vienna but haven't come across it since. So I was super happy to see that Tante Tea had some! If you like black tea with a hint of milky flavor, definitely check it out. There are two locations for it, one of them being in the Torvehallerne market I mentioned in an earlier post.

In the evening, I went to eat at the Copenhagen Street Food at Paper Island. So it was Saturday night and it was paaaaacked! But I realized that no matter where you go in Copenhagen, even though there's so many people around, it never feels crowded or overwhelming. There is always room or a seat to find. With so many food choices though, it was hard deciding what to try. I finally settled on a surf and turf burger and it did not disappoint!

Afterwards, I walked over to the Opera house and watched the sun set over Amalienborg Palace.

Day Four

Day 4: Sunday was day trip day! Most stores are closed on Sunday so it's a good day to go on a day trip where shopping is not the goal. I woke up early and caught the train from Norreboro to Kronborg Castle, which serves as the inspiration for Shakespeare's Hamlet. For this trip, I knew I wanted to get to the castle by 10 am so I could have breakfast near there and then pop in when it opens at 11. I bought a 24 hour metro pass (choose the one for all zones). I forget which train I took but Google Maps had accurate directions and train times! And the castle was the last stop. It took about an hour to get there, and then it's about a 15 minute walk to the castle. The day I went was very warm and sunny. Be sure to bring a hat and sunglasses!

Anyway, so when I got there Sunday morning there were not that many restaurants open. I ended up grabbing coffee and a pastry from Spisehuset, which is inside a cultural building right next to the castle. The nicest surprise of the day though was when I walked into the building and heard classical music playing and thinking it was a CD. It was not! There was string quarter! Next to a very casual food stand! It was such a nice way to start the day.

Visiting Kronborg on the outside was beautiful. It's right by the sea, across from Sweden. The doors open at 11 am to sell tickets to visit inside. In the courtyard above is where they will have live productions of Hamlet. Inside the castle, it's a quick but interesting walk through. The Royal Family used to live here but there is not much furnishings inside.

I stayed here until about 12:15 and then headed back to the train station to catch the bus to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The museum closes at 5 pm, so I went to catch the bus (not the train) since I knew it would drop me off directly in front of the museum. If you take the train back, you have to walk another 15 min. from that train station to the museum so why waste time? Also, the bus and train take the same amount of travel time (about half an hour). I think the bus I took was bus 388. When I got to the museum, I had lunch at the cafe. Overall, I thought the museum was FANTASTIC! I am not one to love all museums, but I really enjoyed this one. It's in a beautiful spot right by the sea as well, and they had a lot of interesting exhibits. The outdoor area was really nice to sit out in and relax for an hour. I had taken a sarong with me to serve as a blanket so I laid out on the grass and took a nap.

I really enjoyed my time at the museum and highly recommend a trip out here. If you only had time for one, I say make time for Louisiana over Kronborg. And bring a blanket or something easy to lie out on!

In the evening, I had dinner at a place in Norreboro. Norreboro is a nice neighborhood--I didn't spend too much time in it but a lot of places to eat and hang out in. I had dinner at Oysters & Grill. Definitely get the langoustines here! Very fresh and juicy. Also, it was one of the more affordable meals I had in Copenhagen.

Day 5

Day 5: No more picture posts! I was soooo exhausted on my last day in the city. All I did was some last minute shopping, took a nap, and went to the airport. But I did have two good eats before I left: Grod, which is in Norroboro and had a really creamy and yummy parmesan risotto, and I got a juice from Joe and the Juice, which is everywhere in the city and wish I had time to drink more of their really fresh juices! However, it turns out there is one here in NYC too (which I discovered when I came back) so will definitely check it out here as well. My flight home was at 6:30 pm, I got to the airport at 4 pm and was certainly enough time to get thru security, etc.

SAS Airlines was great too, the plane was comfortable and in good condition and the flight attendants were friendly!

And I've successfully re-capped my last trip before starting my next one in a few days... ;)

May 2016: 5 Day Itinerary for Copenhagen (Part 1)

June 26, 2016

Day One

Day 1: I arrived at Copenhagen's airport at 7 am. I slept for about half the flight so I was a bit groggy. Getting through customs was super easy and quick. There is an ATM machine right near the luggage carousel, so I withdrew money from there. I took out $100 USD which was about 660,000 Danish Krones. I didn't think I would need a lot of cash for the weekend, but it turns out it's best to get some. Although every place takes a credit card, local restaurants may charge you extra if you pay by a foreign (I guess non-European) credit card. And it varies! Some restaurants added 15%, others did not add anything. By law they can charge whatever extra they want. So you should be mindful and check what the policy is. The fancier restaurants did not seem to charge extra.

After I picked up my luggage, I went to buy a 24 hour metro pass. It's worth it if you need to take the train from the airport to the city anyway. It's super easy, the train leaves right from Terminal 3. Taking a taxi would be pretty expensive (I think maybe around $50 USD when I did my research). If you just get a regular ticket, you need to scan it before you board at one of the machines. If you get the 24 hour ticket (80DKK, about $12 USD), you just show it to whoever asks to see it (and yes, the time starts at moment of purchase). You can use the pass for the water taxis too which I liked. So if you take the train, bus or water taxi more than 3x in a day, it is worth getting.

After settling down at the Air Bnb I stayed at, I ventured out to Christiania, which is known as Copenhagen's Green Light District. It was an interesting place to see, depending on how much you're into hippie communes and fascination with weed. It's easy to find, but I didn't walk deep into it. I definitely saw the main area where you can see people dealing hash. A lot of locals looked high and the air was thick with the smell of marijuana. There's also a lot of graffiti art and pieces in the area but I did a quick walk through and left after about 15-20 minutes of people watching. They're also super strict about not allowing anyone (especially tourists) to take any photos. Anyway, there is a lot of information you can find online about the history of Christiania if you're interested in learning more. I wouldn't say it's a must see, but it doesn't take long to stop by and have a look.

Christiania is really close to Copenhagen Street Food on Paper Island, which is a really cool warehouse which is lined with different food vendors and bars. There is cafeteria-style seating inside and outdoors, right along the canal. I had eaten already so just had a cup of tea but came later on my trip. After a break, I walked over to the Opera house which is very close by.

The Opera house sits directly across from Amalienborg Palace.

From here, I took a water taxi across the canal to Nyhvan, which is a bustling area of shops and restaurants and boats. Hans Christian Andersen lived in this area as well and you can catch a boat tour from here to cruise all the major sights along the canal.

Colorful homes all along the canal in Nyhavn

By then I was getting a bit tired from jetlag, so I hopped on a boat canal tour. I just took the one that's right at main end of the canal. I do recommend you get the combo ticket, which includes the boat tour and admission to Tivoli Gardens. You'll save some money and you can use the Tivoli Garden ticket later during your trip (Tivoli also charges more on the weekend, so it's a better deal to get this and no waiting on line!). The boat tour was an hour long and a relaxing way to enjoy views of the city on the canal and get some history.

After the boat tour, I had some time to kill before dinner so I walked alongside the canal towards the Little Mermaid statue and I stumbled upon this gorgeous scenery:

Such an unexpected sight! I felt like I walked into a fairy tale and half expected birds to start singing to me and frogs leaping out of the water. This place is also near a military area, but I didn't get to explore it further because I needed to go back to the canal and catch a water taxi to my dinner reservation.

So dinner was at Amass, which is a highly rated restaurant owned and operated by ex-Noma people. I initially made a reservation for one, but found out from reading reviews that you can book a communal table seating and do the tasting menu. Since I was traveling alone, I thought it would be a great idea to sit at the communal table and changed my rsvp.

Anyway, I LOVED the concept of formal communal dining. I got to meet 5 other people, all who love to travel and appreciate food as well. Two were from London, two were from Canada, and the other person was from South Korea (who was studying abroad in London). This was really the best part of dinner. Because otherwise...dinner was really expensive and blah to me! Everything is fresh and grown on the restaurant farm, but I guess I'm not a fan of Scandinavian type food. A lot of it seemed sour/pickly to me. However, everyone else at the table raved about the food and loved it. So I don't know, it just wasn't for me. This place was also far to get to. The water taxis stop running after 8 pm and at night, the buses come out there like once an hour. So I took an Uber at 11 pm back to the Air Bnb in Norreboro, which cost about $18 USD.

Day Two

Day 2: Jumped out of bed and went down to Torvehallerne Market, which is a very close walk (about ten minutes) from where I stayed in Norreboro. This market is a very modern food market with two buildings and a farmer's market outside. You can find a lot here, from baked pastries, to sandwiches, seafood, fruit, etc. and tons of seating. I was in desperate need of coffee and I read great things about Coffee Collective, which has a stand there.

If you ever learn anything about me, it's that I really try to travel efficiently. Meaning, I plan out my days and routes that are the easiest and make the most sense to go during whatever time of day it is. I hate getting lost, and I hate backtracking steps, especially if I'm pressed for time. I know that vacations are meant to be relaxing but since I only have so much time off from my normal job, I try to maximize every second of it! I do schedule in 'downtime' as well, but overall, I do a lot of research before all my vacations to make the most of every minute of the day. Anyway, I say this because after I got some caffeine in me, I jetted across to Rosenborg Castle, which was about a ten minute walk away (as opposed to going off somewhere further away).

There are about three main attractions to see in Copenhagen if you want to learn about the Royal Family and the country's history: Rosenborg Castle, Amalienborg Palace, and Christianborg Palace. Rosenborg Castle can be seen pretty quickly within an hour, if you don't stop and take a million pictures. I bought the combination ticket to Rosenborg and the musuem at Amalienborg. I had a purse with me, which was NOT a large size--it was your basic handbag size and I couldn't bring it in! You really can only carry a very small bag with you. So I had to dump my valuables into a plastic bag and store the rest in a locker that they give you. So FYI when visiting these places bring a really small bag if you don't want to put your things in a locker (although I thought the locker was safe--you have to put a coin deposit for the locker as well, but you get it back when you leave). Rosenborg Castle was nice to see, I got there a little bit before 11 am and hordes of tourists bus came in after me. The coolest thing to see there were the crown jewels, which is located in the bottom of the castle. I rushed thru it in 45 minutes though because I wanted to hustle over to Amalienborg to catch the changing of the guards at noon. To get there, I exited towards the gardens (which is a public park and where a ton of locals go to hang out) and it's pretty much a straight walk towards Amalienborg.

Amalienborg Palace, where the Royal Family lives. The Crown Prince and his family live in the left building, the Royal Mother to the right. The changing of the guards takes place to the right side of this plaza.

I was really impressed with the architecture here. Straight across on the other side of the canal is the Opera house, and when you look at Amalienborg palace from this viewpoint, the plaza and the buildings where the Royal Family lives lines up with a church, which looks like it's part of the palace when in fact, it's hundreds of feet away.

The changing of the guards happened right at noon and everyone in the plaza lines up around to see it. It lasts for probably about 15-20 minutes...I didn't stay for all of it, it was interesting but I wouldn't say it's a must-see. Basically, groups of soldiers switch places to stand guard but for some reason for formality purposes, it's not a quick change. I was also really starving by this time (I only had coffee, no food earlier) so after about 15 minutes I left to go find lunch.

The new guards brought in to stand post.

Thanks to the magic of Yelp, I found a nearby place to eat called Union Kitchen. I really try to write reviews on Yelp or Trip Advisor when I can, but I can barely find the time to write this blog! Not all recommendations I've seen on there have been helpful, but that's to be expected. Everyone has different tastes and preferences. Well, I really liked Union Kitchen! It was casual yet trendy, had free wi-fi, an interesting menu, good service, and good food. Chicken and waffles seems to be the thing to get here, but I was in the mood for breakfast so I got the croissant stuffed with eggs, bacon, tomatoes, and lettuce with a side salad and truffled fries. Was delish.

After I was fed, I went to check out the church by the palace (was nice) and then to the museum at Amalienborg. Spent about 30 minutes in here, it's not too big. You do learn much more about the Royal Family and their lineage and history here, so that was interesting. By the time I was done, I was feeling a bit tired when I remembered that there were free water boat rides! The weekend I was in Copenhagen coincided with the 3 Days of Design, a festival to promote interior design and art. I had no clue about it until I saw signs about it the day before. Anyway, to promote people going from place to place, the fair provided free transportation around the city. So for this particular day, I did not have a metro pass but I did get on a fun-size speedboat and got whisked down the canal for free over to the other side of the city near Christianborg Palace.

Whee! Fun-size speedboat during the 3 Days of Design Fair

I love being on the water. The canals of Copenhagen are so clean and swimmable, by the way. This was a great way to wind down a bit and enjoy more of the scenery. Once I got to Christiansborg Palace, I headed to the tower, which has free admission to the top for panoramic views of the city. I got here around 3 pm and there was a line to the elevators but it moved pretty quickly. Once you're up at the tower, you can really see all of Copenhagen. Click on the images below to scroll through the vistas.

From there, I went to check out the famous DOP Organic hot dog near here. There are many different styles to try, I got the French one. It was really juicy and not heavy. Definitely good for an afternoon snack. From here, I decided to trek over to Tivoli Gardens, which I do recommend people go visit. I thought it would be silly but it's really cute. It's one of the world's oldest amusements and it's so pretty! I can see why locals return. Not only do they have rides, but they have wide pathways for casual and relaxing strolls. The images below are a gallery, so click on each one to view more of Tivoli.

As you can see from this already incredibly long post, I did a lot on my second day and I'm not even done! After spending a couple of hours walking around Tivoli Gardens (and taking in a mime show to relax), I decided to go grab a drink at a bar before dinner. Again, through the magic of Yelp, I found a great cocktail place that hit the spot called Curfew. It's a bar that I could totally see fit in NYC or anywhere cosmopolitan. Great ambience and bartenders, this place has an award-winning cocktail menu but doesn't feel pretentious or stuffy. I only stayed here for one drink, and this was the only time during my trip I wish I had a friend to hang out with so I could try more drinks :)

Finally, my last stop of the day was at Radio, another restaurant owned by ex-Noma people. I was so disappointed with Amass and hoped for the best for Radio. I'll just say this: Food was a little bit better for me, and I loved that you can get a juice pairing instead of a wine pairing. However, given that it's been a month since my visit and I don't remember having overwhelming feelings about this place (whereas I remember the hot dog and Union Kitchen and Curfew), I'd say you can skip. Service was friendly though! And I remember I definitely paid cash here because I read somewhere they charge more if you use a credit card. Click through the image below for more food pics.

The rest of my trip report is to be continued...

May 2016 Trip Report: Copenhagen, Denmark

June 25, 2016

This past Memorial Day weekend (the last weekend in May in the U.S.) I decided to spend it solo in Copenhagen, Denmark. There was a fairly good deal from SAS Airlines. For a non-stop direct flight from Newark airport, roundtrip airfare was just under $700 USD. On top of that, the flight schedule was great--I flew out on a Wednesday at around 5:30 pm and arrived in Copenhagen at 7:15 am. My flight home was the following Monday at 6:35 pm, arriving back in Newark airport at 9 pm. This allowed me 5 full days to spend there. I usually never fly out of Newark but now that Uber offers ride sharing, it's actually affordable to get to. Through rideshare, my Uber fare was $38, and I did not have to pay extra for toll! JFK is so much more expensive.

Copenhagen is an excellent place to spend a few days on your own, or with someone else. There is SO MUCH TO DO THERE. I did not anticipate this. I was not bored for one second, and I was generally out and about the whole entire day, getting back at midnight almost every day. Sometimes when I travel alone, of course you wish you had someone to talk to or share the experience with, but I was really glad not to have anyone to cater to or organize my plans with. There were so many restaurants I wanted to try and places I wanted to tour, and I know I tend to be a bit overbearing in wanting to do everything and see everything so I was a bit relieved to go at whatever pace I wanted.

What I Love About Copenhagen

As I mentioned before, there is so much for everyone--whether you're a foodie, love art, history, nature, shopping, activities. I can't imagine anyone getting bored here unless you care nothing for beauty or culture.
It's very easy to navigate and super clean! In fact, Copenhagen reminded me of a European version of Japan. If you've ever been to Japan, you'll know what I mean. Public transit is very easy to follow and public restrooms were so well kept. I was surprised at how many public restrooms were easily accessible and some had attendants who made sure they were kept clean and safe. Being a New Yorker, this is pretty much a luxury I'm not used to.
There is a plethora of different neighborhoods and areas. I definitely did not see it all but many places had their own charm and character.
Highlights for me was visiting Kronborg castle (which inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet), the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, taking a boat tour on the canal, Paper Island, and exploring the parks.

But...

It's really expensive to eat out.
Food for me was a hit or miss. For the most part, you can tell their ingredients are local and fresh but I think Scandinavian food tends to have some pickly taste to it that I'm not a fan of. So certain meals/dishes I didn't enjoy much due to this flavor, but I did find some places that I thought were good.
Hotels are also really expensive. Definitely try to do Air Bnb! I stayed in the Norreboro area which was great, it was easy to get anywhere else in the city (especially to the airport). The lovely couple who rent out the guest room are friendly and the place is just as described online.

Overall Impressions & Tips

Five days is enough to see everything and squeeze in a day trip. See my itinerary below for suggestions.
Go in May or June, when the weather is warm, many sunshine hours, and before it's peak tourist season.
Get a 24 hour metro card for at least a couple of days--especially for the day you arrive, so you can use it on the train to the city from the airport. It's worth it if you just use it at least 3-4x to get around the city, and it works on the water taxis on the canal. All you need to do is show it to the bus/water taxi driver and whoever might be checking on the train (and they do check!). I definitely got tired from walking around so much and getting on the bus was a relief at times. I bought a 24 hour metro card pass for the day trip to Kronborg and Louisiana as well, this is a slightly different pass (I think you pick you want it for all zones, Copenhagen is just zones 1-3).
If you choose to do a day trip while you're here, do it on a Sunday, when most shops are closed anyway. I went to Kronborg and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art on a Sunday. They are both on the same train route and you can easily see both in a single day.
Sweden is super close! I didn't get to go, but the nearest city is about an hour away by train. Bring your passport if you decide to visit.

Sunset at 10 pm at Amass, a farm-to-table restaurant

My 5 Day Itinerary

The Quick Version:

Day 1: Landed at around 7 am. Got into the Air Bnb by 9 am. Walked around Christiania, Paper Island, Opera House, Nyhavn market, took a canal tour, dinner at Amass.
Day 2: Breakfast at Torvehallerne Market (many food vendors here), visited Rosenborg Castle, saw the changing of the guard at noon at Amalienborg Palace (where the Danish royal family lives), went to the top of the tower at Christiansborg Palace (free, panoramic views of the city), went to Tivoli Gardens, had a drink at a great cocktail place called Curfew, and had dinner at Radio.
Day 3: Lunch at Fiskebar, shopping around Strøget street, dinner on Paper Island.
Day 4: Visited Kronborg Castle and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Dinner at Oysters & Grill.
Day 5: Last minute shopping and lunch at Grod, snack at Joe and the Juice. Left for the airport at 3:30 pm.

I will expand more in upcoming posts!

March 2016: 5 Day Itinerary for cartagena

May 22, 2016

My 5 Day Cartagena Itinerary

The Quick:

Day 1: Landed on a Wednesday around 1 pm. Explored the Walled City/Getsamani area.
Day 2: Visited Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. Walked around the Walled City/Getsamani area some more.
Day 3: Pool day at the hotel, salsa club at night
Day 4: Spa day at the hotel
Day 5: Catch flight at noon back to NY

And the Dirty Details (scroll all the way down to skip if you just want some other tidbits):

Day 1: I arrived in Cartagena's international airport at around 1 pm. Usually when I travel, the part that gives me the most anxiety (especially if I'm traveling alone) is how to get from the airport to wherever I'm staying, especially if I don't speak the language. Since I was nervous about my weak Spanish, I had asked my hotel, Bastion Luxury, to arrange for a private driver to come pick me up. This might sound snotty but the total cost was $11 USD!!! Why would I NOT do this for piece of mind and safety? The taxis are not metered so I was afraid of negotiating and getting a bad rate. I probably had nothing to worry about, but for me, I just rather not put myself in a situation I'll regret.

Anyway, getting through customs took forever and I was worried my driver would not wait. I was on line for almost an hour! When you arrive, there are two lines. One for locals and one for foreigners so just pay attention which one to take. After I finally made it through, the driver was right outside the luggage pick up with my name on a sign. He wanted to take me to the car right away but I stopped him and asked in my broken Spanish if we could go look for an ATM. He nodded and I re-entered the airport through the departure entrance and asked the security guard where the "banco machina" was. Obviously, "banco machina" is not how you say ATM but I didn't know the exact words at the time (it's "cajero automatico" and I was tired) but he laughed and knew what I was getting at! So FYI the ATM machines are all the way to the right side of the check in area, near the elevators. I also read that most Colombian banks have a daily limit as to how much you can withdraw. The one that I used certainly had that--I could only take out 300,000 pesos, or about $100 USD. However that turned out to be more than enough for the few days I was there. The screens give you the ability to withdraw in English too. In general I always withdraw money from the ATM rather than exchange cash since the rates at exchange offices/desks are generally not as favorable. Also, my Chase card doesn't charge me on any ATM fees for the first four times each month if I use a non-Chase ATM machine so this works for me.

After this was done, my driver took me into the Walled City, which is about 15-20 minutes away from the airport, hardly any traffic. Even though the hotel told me via e-mail that I could charge the ride onto my hotel bill, the driver was insistent I pay in cash (probably because he knew I had it). But this was fine, since I wanted to get smaller change anyway. Tipping drivers is not expected or necessary either.

So my hotel. I loved it. Cartagena is known for their boutique hotels and Bastion Luxury was great. The staff speaks English well and check in was easy.

So nice to come back to cold comfortable room after walking around the humid city!

My room was on the 2nd floor and had no windows. Which I was totally fine with. Ok, it had one window but the view was right into another room across the way. It was quite comfortable and rustic, with stone walls and a huge shower. It's so humid in Cartagena that coming back to a nice air conditioned hotel room was really lovely. The hotel (like other boutique ones in this city) offered daily breakfast which was delicious. There was always a huge platter of fresh exotic fruit (some I have never seen before) as well as eggs, bacon, and other things you could order a la carte.

After checking in, I decided to explore the city so walked a bit around the wall. Although I planned to travel to Cartagena alone, it turned out a friend of friend was there the same time as me so we met up later in the evening for dinner at Malanga Cafe, which is in the Getsamani area.

The smallest and cutest cafe on a rooftop in all the land!

The food here was decent. I had the fish tacos and they were good. It was a bit breezy on the roof, which was a welcome respite. I do recommend this place for a relaxing dinner outside of the touristy area of the Walled City. Afterwards, we walked back to the Walled City (it's about a 10-15 min. walk btwn the Walled City and Getsamani and you do need to be careful which route you take. Basically, just stick to the main roads where you see people walking on too!) and found our way to Gabriel Garcia Marquez' house in Cartagena.

Nowhere in life is sadder than an empty bed

His family still owns it. He is the author of 100 Years in Solitude, which I read so long ago but remember it was easy to get drawn into the story. Around his house is where a few other nice hotels and restaurants are and it's nice to walk around, especially at night, when all the locals are out. Apparently much of the city isn't even open during the afternoon because of the hot hot sun, and as soon as it goes down, everyone come out to play and shops are open late!

Day 2: Felt like I had already seen much of the city just by walking around after dinner on the first day. Decided to do something touristy so my friend and I went to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. We took a taxi there, it was cheap...a few US dollars (that we paid for in pesos but I can't remember how much exactly). You can walk there but I think it's faster and less hot to take a taxi. Most people advise that you go either early in the day or late afternoon to avoid the sun. We woke up late so we went at 11 am. It was fine though, just be sure to bring a cap/hat and shades! So was this place worth it to visit? Yes, I liked it. It's incredibly historic, dating back to the 1700s. And I love hiking and exercising so I didn't mind the steep walk up to the top.

The fortress at high noon, no shade to be found...

We spent maybe 2 hours here total. Afterwards we went to a nearby mall (that you can see from the fortress, it's like a 5-10 min. walk away) but there wasn't much to find there (that you cannot find in the US). Then we had lunch at La Cocina Pepina, which appears on many must-eat lists for Cartagena. In hindsight, this probably was the best meal we had there. Food was very authentic and fresh, but in general, I didn't find food in Colombia all that appealing. I thought food would have more flavor like Mexican food but it wasn't that way at all. For dinner we went to La Cevicheria, which was put on the map by Anthony Bourdain.

Ceviche and Lobster Paella at La Cevicheria

It was decent but not the best ceviche I ever had. We tried the trio of ceviches and had the lobster paella, which was a ton of food! The paella was good but for some reason I think I expected more. My friend ended up taking most of it back to her hostel and eating it for two days.

My favorite part of this day though, was walking along the Walled City at sunset and climbing through one of the holes. With our feet dangling over the ledge, we watched the sun go down as the cars zoomed by and the sea breeze cooled us.

Day 3: By Friday, we were tired from walking around 90 degree weather all day. So we decided to spend the day at the pool on my hotel rooftop!!! Apparently all the boutique hotels offer this in Cartagena and I could see why. It was a welcome relief to walking around sweating. I got up early enough to snag a cabana and thoroughly enjoyed the pool.

View of the pool at the hotel next door!

After lounging around most of the day, we had lunch at Vera, which is a swanky Italian place at the hotel on the other end of the street. It was a bit pricier than our other meals and it was fine, but not memorable. However, the ambience was very nice. Then we got dessert at Mila Patisserie, which was good if you like sweets. After dessert, we went back to the Getsamani area and spent the rest of the night salsa dancing to a live band at Cafe Havana. This was fun, and I would recommend this place for a night out. It's a good mix of locals and tourists. There is a cover charge on Friday night and it's better to go a little early (around 10 pm) to get seats at the bar or a table if you want to sit down. The club shuts down by 2am though.

So I didn't get back to the hotel until 3 am, and although I found the Walled City to be safe, all the hotels shut their doors at night!!! So when I came back, the entrance was locked. I knocked, but I knew no one would hear me since reception is a bit further away from the entrance. Luckily, I had international service on my phone so I called reception to let me in. I don't know what I would've done if I didn't have it. I probably would have gone to my friend's hostel, which was only 3 blocks away, and ask their reception desk to call mine. Hostels there seem much more lax about people coming and out of their places whereas hotels definitely were not.

Day 4: My friend left Cartagena so I spent this day alone. I was pretty much done seeing the city though so I spent the morning up in the pool again and in the afternoon, I went to the hotel spa because it was so cheap! Well, cheap compared to NYC. I did a two hour massage service which was only $110 USD and included tip! It was a great way to spend the afternoon. For dinner I went nearby to Restaurant 1621, which was highly reviewed and located inside another luxury hotel, the Santa Clara. It was so disappointing! The restaurant is in a beautiful space (you can sit outside in the garden) but the food was blah. I opted for the tasting menu since it was cheap (again, compared to NYC so why not try it!) but I wish I didn't and saved my money. None of the 8 dishes I had were memorable. I only remember my tuna being dry or overcooked and not really liking much of any of it.

Day 5: I was very much ready to go back to NYC. I was relaxed and did everything I wanted to do already. I knew the airport didn't have much but wow. It REALLY did not have much. Do NOT plan on eating at the airport at all. There's like two casual places where you can buy food but it all looks kind of blah. I had a sandwich since I was hungry. Also, it's not necessary to show up to the airport that early. Checking in was pretty fast and easy. It's a very small airport. If you can, eat before you go or bring food! Going back, I took a taxi from the hotel and it was about $3 USD.

What I Didn't Do

Visit the Rosario Islands. This needs to be planned a bit in advance though (especially if you want to avoid crowds) and I didn't have time.
Go to Bocagrande. Everything I read was that it's like the Miami of Cartagena and that it's really commercial and brand new and that's not what I was looking for. Why go somewhere that has all the same stores I can find in the U.S.? So I mostly stayed in the old part, the Walled City, which is rifled with charming colonial architecture and seemed more authentic.
Go on a horse-drawn carriage. These are everywhere in the Walled City! I rather walk around and get lost on all the little side streets. Might be something fun to do though, especially if you like horses.
Buy anything. Although there were a lot of shops and I love shopping, I didn't find anything that special or unique to bring back. Depends what you're looking for. I really enjoyed wandering around and exploring all the artsy stores in the Walled City, though most were geared towards tourists.
Eat street food. Maybe I would've had better luck?

Where to Stay

Best bets are staying inside the Walled City. You can easily cover the whole city in a day but it has a lot of character, despite all the tourists. The Getsamani area, a 10 minute walk from the Plaza de Paz (where the clocktower is) is "up and coming" and more artsy. See the blue dot route below, I thought this way was the 'safer' route to walk in between the two areas. It is relatively safe, but if you're a woman or traveling alone, I just recommend sticking with this route in the evening at least when going back and forth between the two areas (rather than the gray-line route). During the day I think either route is fine, but the blue route seems to be more heavily trafficked with tourists. Once you pass Parque de Centario, you're essentially in Getsamni, which also features a lot of interesting graffiti art throughout the neighborhood. Wander around for hidden restaurants.

What I Liked Most About Cartagena

It's saturated with its own culture. The people are nice, very friendly. I didn't think anyone tried to take advantage of me as a tourist (meaning, trying to overcharge me or harass me), nor did I feel discriminated against (which unfortunately happens sometimes, as an Asian). I loved walking all around the fortress that surrounds the city by the sea, especially during sunset. There's a couple of outdoor bars along the top of the wall where you can hang out and have a drink and listen to live music (Cafe del Mar being the most frequented one). It's very easy to get around and see everything, and staying at a comfortable hotel was a good idea when I ran out of things to do and I could just relax there. So for me, the trip met my needs but don't come expecting that you can fill a lot of time just staying in or near the Walled City for more than two days.

Other Resources for Cartagena

http://www.ticartagena.com/: This Is Cartagena. Good resource and overview.
NY Times: 36 Hours in Cartagena. A bit dated but still helpful!

March 2016 Trip Report: Cartagena, Colombia

April 23, 2016

South America is a place I've only skimmed the surface of. Whenever I travel, I usually prefer to go to Europe or Asia but lately I've asked myself while I haven't spent more time down there.

Graffiti art in the Getsemani neighborhood of Cartagena

Given that I have a full time job in finance, it's hard for me to take too much time off every year (I am allotted 15 days of vacation time a year) so I try to take trips around holiday weekends to maximize time off. I was a bit hesitant to go to Colombia alone, but I was craving to go somewhere culturally different and easy to get to from NYC and easy to get around once I was there. Cartagena definitely met my expectations!

Is it safe traveling there alone as a woman? It is. Of course you should keep your wits about you and do some research so you know what to expect. Be sensible of your surroundings and have a basic understanding of the culture and rules. For example, one thing I read about Colombia before I left is that everyone, including tourists, need to have some sort of identification with them at all times.

It's also very helpful if you know some Spanish. Mine is terrible and I tried to brush up on it by watching the Netflix series Narcos. Narcos is an amazing show about Colombia's most notorious drug lord, Pablo Escobar. Whether you know or don't know anything about him, the show (which has only 1 season out so far) is entertaining and you will definitely learn quite a bit about Colombia's history, politics, and drug trade. Knowing Spanish or not won't make or break your trip, though it would be helpful.

So!

Why I Went to Cartagena, Colombia

It's easy to get to. JetBlue flies there direct from JFK and you will get there in under 5 hours. While Cartagena is in the same time zone as NY, they don't observe daylight savings time so there might be a time difference based on when you go. I went over Easter weekend, which was after daylight savings time in NY, and gained an hour when I arrived (since they don't spring forward).
Met my criteria of being out of comfort zone (meaning, not being in the U.S or a developed country)
Met my criteria of being easy to get around. Cartagena is a really small city, but there is lots to do in the outer areas. I stuck mostly to staying in and around the Old City because I just didn't have the time to research and go further out.
It's super cheap there! When I went, the exchange rate was $100 USD = $300,000 pesos. A taxi ride from the airport to the city, which is about 15 minutes, cost around $8,000 pesos, which is like $3 USD.

Overall Impressions

Go if you're also looking for a quick/easy trip and you can fly there direct. However, be warned that you don't really need more than two days in Cartagena itself. You can see the whole city in a day and a half. If you want to do more and go for 5 days, then definitely do a day and/or overnight trip out to the Rosario Islands. I didn't do this but wish I had. I just didn't have time to plan it.
Don't expect a lot when it comes to food. Food wasn't terrible, but nothing was memorable either.
People are generally friendly, but again, you do have to be careful where you go. The Walled City and Getsemani were generally safe, but can't speak to any area outside of this.
Five days is more than enough if you're just doing Cartagena. I'll discuss my itinerary in upcoming posts!