Well. I am finally back home in Canada. I will promptly get back to posting here and updating this blog.

Trip was excellent and I have a ton of photos that I will post.

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Well, my blog has still very few updates. I will be gone until the end of July. Right now I am sitting in an internet cafe at my hotel in Petra, Jordan.

If you want to read more, go check out neilgalloway.com where I am updating more often with postings for friends and family.

I will, of course, write some more extensive articles on my travel experiences over here when I get back.

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If you are wondering why I haven't posted much recently, I am in Cairo, Egypt right now on a month long tour from cairo and eventually ending up in Istanbul, Turkey.

I wrote about the trip a few months ago in a blog entry (just search for Egypt). It has been pretty good so far, but I just arrived. It is rather hot and the sun is pretty intense, but still enjoyable.

Be prepared to deal with lots of touts (people trying to get your business for their hotel/tour) and baksheesh (tipping for basically everything).

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In March of 2008, I spent 5 nights in New York City. It was a fantastic trip and I would recommend it to anyone that is any age. One of the downsides with New York City are that the hotels can be a bit pricey compared to what you may be used to. However, my in-laws recommended a fantastic little place called Hotel 31 with more reasonable prices that I would also recommend.

The Price

We found $110/night on Expedia, but since Expedia requires you to pay up front we thought we would phone and make a reservation (just in case something changed before we went). They were willing to go down to $120 from the higher price quoted on their website.

At this price, we had a room without a bathroom, but it did have a sink in the room. There is air conditioning as well.

Where Is Hotel 31 Located?

Hotel 31 is on 31st Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue. It is on the south side of the street.

Overall Quality

For the price, I would say it is pretty good. We had a nice clean room that was kept clean everyday. The staff seemed very helpful when we had any contact with them.

There is an older style elevator in the place if you are concerned about doing stairs as well.

One annoyance is that there was a small fee for local or 1-800 calls. It was a flat rate, but you still expect those to be free.

What Is Nearby?

There are a few things. The 33rd Street metro station is right there. The 6 train comes through there and you can switch up trains at Grand Central Station to the north or at Union Square to the south. It doesn't take long and you can go quite aways. There are entrances on 32 street, so it is only one small city block that you have to walk as well.

Grand Central Station is 11 blocks directly north on Park Avenue. This is a typical tourist destination and a good place to catch other subway trains.

The United Nations is a few blocks east and 12 blocks north. It was a $6 cab ride from the hotel.

Just a few blocks to the west is the Empire State Building. A must see for you first time in New York.

Around 8 blocks to the southwest is Madison Square Park and the Flatiron building. Just cool to check out as you might remember it from a few movies.

On the corner of 31st and Park Avenue are two different cafes where you can get breakfast in the mornings for a reasonable price. I had eggs benedict and bagels at the cafe on the south side of the street and they were fantastic.

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My wife and I were in Manhattan for 5 days in March of 2008. It was a fantastic trip and I would recommend it to anyone of any age to go see.

Where Did We Stay?

We stayed at Hotel 31. It is a budget hotel on Park Avenue just a few blocks to the east of the Empire State Building. I wrote a review of Hotel 31 already.

What Restaurants Did We Eat At?

The Coffee Shop

This is located across the street from the northwest corner of Union Square. A neat restaurant where the lighting is so dark I couldn't really read the menu. I had the Brazilian Seafood Chowder, oysters, and their sesame chicken salad was superb.

It has some really terrible reviews on a lot of sites, but overall I thought it was fine. Some sites mentioned the snootiness factor which I did notice when we walked in, but it was fine after that.

Elmo

This is a tapa style restaurant. Probably the best calamari I have had and they serve a number of appetizer items that are pretty tasty. Check out the Elmo website.

Elephant and Castle

Located in Greenwich Village, this is a great place to have brunch before exploring the neighbourhood. I had the special for brunch which was a trout dish covered in a hollandaise sauce that was fantastic. There lattes are literally served in a small bowl.

Check out the Elephant and Castle website.

Heartland Brewery

The Heartland Brewery is the restaurant in the bottom of the Empire State Building. It is huge. The food was good and there is lots of selection and is really a convenient place to grab a bit while you are touring around.

What Did We See

Empire State Building

A must see if you are in New York. The view is really neat and you can get a good idea how the city is laid out.

A downside are the lineups. They can get really long apparently. We fluked out and happened to have dinner at the restaurant downstairs and tried to go up around 10:30PM. There was basically no lineup and we just went straight up there.

The nighttime view was great and I have included a picture here. The daytime view really lets you see the layout of the city and apparently dusk is the best as you get the best of both views. This is supposedly the busiest time however.

It cost us $18/each to go up. You can stay as long as you want. Word of warning, however, is that it was extremely cold and windy while we were up there. A hood and mittens is a must for March weather if you want to stay on the outside and get a few photos.

Grand Central Station

There isn't a lot to see here other than the building itself. The architecture is old and very neat. You can wander around and take some photos before catching a train or continue walking down the street.

GYPSY - Broadway Show

I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It stars Patti LuPone, who is a Broadway legend. The story is about a mother who is pushing her two daughters into show business to satisfy her need for success. It is really comical throughout.

We purchased half price tickets for $60 a person from the TKTS booth in Times Square.

Phantom Of The Opera - Broadway Show

It is a classic and it worked out to see it. We ended up getting standing room tickets for $25/person. It is a long time to stand, but it wasn't really that bad. You have a railing to lean up on and designated spot at the back of the orchestra seating (main floor). You can sit in the lobby during the intermission for a break before you go back in too.

Central Park

This is very cool to walk around. Keep in mind that it is very big and takes a while to actually walk. We ended up taking on of the bicycle carriages for $50. They start at $60, but went down $10 for us. It turned out to be a good idea as they know lots of little trivia about buildings around the park and different locations that have movie or television references.

Buildings

There are tons of buildings to see in New York and you can look them all up yourself. Some of the ones I remembered are:

• Rockefeller Center - NBC studios are located in here.
• Carnegie Hall
• Radio City Music Hall
• Old Plaza Hotel
• John Lennon's Old Apartment
• Woolworth Building
• Chrysler Building
• New York Public Library on 5th Avenue
• Trump Tower
• Time Warner

Areas

Some areas of New York City definitely have there own look and feel that is worth checking out if you can. In particular, I liked Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Soho.

Financial District

This is all around the downtown and is just cool to walk around. There will be people out in suits, busy about their day. You can see a lot of office buildings, the New York Stock Exchange, the World Trade Center site, the bull on Broadway, city hall, and random other buildings.

Brooklyn Bridge

This is worth the walk. We took the subway (A or C line) one stop into Brooklyn which is the High Street station. You get off and walk onto the bridge. It is about half and hour to walk back into Manhattan, but you get good views all the way back of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, downtown, the Statue of Liberty, and just all the other people using the bridge.

Staten Island Ferry

This is the best freebie and probably the only one in New York. The ferry is completely free and goes from Battery Park to Staten Island and back. You get views of Manhattan from the south, a closeup of the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island.

They will probably make you get off at Staten Island, but you just walk through the terminal and get back on the same ferry for the ride back.

Statue of Libery

We did not go ourselves, but we got a closeup view from the Staten Island Ferry. There are plenty of tour companies offering a ferry over there and Ellis Island if you want it.

5th Avenue Shopping

This is just neat to see. Lots of high end stores with ridiculously priced items. Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Tiffany and Comnpany, Coach, Prada, and you name it.

You will also find some high end hotels along here and the 5th Avenue Mac store is there. The store is open 24 hours a day and all year. It never closes. It is under the ground and the entrance is a glass cube like thing. You have to see it to understand, but it is kind of neat.

Yes, that is a man holding a tray of champagne in the Dior store.

Times Square

This place is just ridiculous. Tons of people and lots of lights. It doesn't even slow down until late at night. You can catch Broadway shows, eat at a nice restaurant, go catch the Late Show with David Letterman, or just wander around and watch the commotion.

It is located where Broadway and 7th Avenue cross and extends in either direction.

Guggenheim

This was just a cool museum. Event if you are not into the art scene, the Guggenhim Museum building is a cool enough shape inside to at least venture in a take a look. You don't even need to pay to at least go in and look up at the snail like interior.

If you don't feel like tackling the MET because of its size, this is a bit more manageable. It costs $18 to go through and you can do it in a couple hours if you want.

The exhibit while we were there as Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want To Believe.

It was quite neat. There were tigers, wolves, clay sculputres, canvas artwork made from explosions and fuses, and even some live animals.

Fuerzabruta

Fuerzabruta is an extremely different show. You need to see it to believe it. Check out some of the Fuerzabruta YouTube videos on it and see if you would be interested. It is $72 and located at a theatre on the south east corner of Union Square.

United Nations

This is a great historical place to see. The tour is around 45 minutes and costs around $18/each. They do have a student rate as well. You will see some of the meeting rooms and get some background information on the U.N.

Bodies...The Exhibition

This isn't for the squeemish. The Bodies Exhibit is an exhibition of real humans that have been plasticized and certain parts put on display. You will see complete bodies with muscle and internal organs showing or you might only see there blood vessels preserved totally intact and in a human shape after the rest of the body was chemically removed.

There is a bit of controversy around it, but go check it out if you want. I found it very educational. It is $26 a person and is located at the South Street Seaport.

Sports

The Knicks, Rangers, or Yankees all play within a close distance from the downtown. Plus there are some other teams when you get into New Jersey.

My Map Of New York

Here is my Google Map of New York. I zoomed in on downtown, midtown, and uptown before printing off a copy. It worked well for getting around the city. Click on a flag to see what the site was.

View Larger Map

Summary

Overall, it is an awesome place to go. You can find a lot of things to do and even check out other sites that have tour options if you don't feel like doing it yourself.

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I am back from the Big Apple now. Sorry for the gap in articles recently. It was interesting that while I was gone I had some of my highest earnings since I started this blog and tons of comments on some articles. Not encouraging me to write more.

Look for some New York City travel articles upcoming.

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My wife and I are off to New York City for close to a week. Looking forward to seeing the Big Apple and trying to see as much as we can in the days we are there.

We are staying in a hotel a couple blocks from the Empire State Building and we plan on walking and taking public transit as much as we can the whole time we are there.

The only planned events so far are the New York Knicks and the Late Show with David Letterman. We are going to get last minute tickets for a Broadway show as well. The rest of the time will be looking at all the sites and just seeing New York.

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We just finished the main part of booking our trip the other day. We will be gone most of a month and taking a tour that starts in Cairo and ends in Istanbul.

There will be 4 of us going. We ended up doing a tour through Gecko Adventures called Cairo to Istanbul. You can check out the detailed itinerary on their site.

We are leaving a few days early and will will hang out for a couple days in Cairo or try to get up to Alexandria since it is not included in the tour portion of our trip.

Booking With Gecko from Canada

I learned something interesting when booking this tour. Gecko is based out of Australia and they do book anyone directly outside of Australia.

The Canadian prices are also quite a bit higher than the American quotes because they were printed back when the exchange rates were quite a bit lower. They can be paid in American money. This is what we did. It saves quite a bit.

I tried calling an American company that deals with Gecko in case this didn't pan out originally, and they told me I had to book with the Canadian Gecko affiliate. This is Trek Escapes. We phoned the one in Calgary and they were more than friendly and would take the American cash payment, so it all worked out in the end.

If you live in Canada and are interested in this same tour, check out Trek Escape's Cairo to Istanbul tour on their site. It is the same as Gecko's but you can book through them if you live here.

Deposit

You have to commit to a $300 deposit, but you can hold your spot on the tour for a week before you have to place your deposit. The remainder must be paid 70 days before the tour begins.

You can get your deposit back only if the tour does not run. This would be political issues in the region or if the tour does not meet its minimum number of people. For Cairo to Istanbul this is 5 people.

Flights

The cheapest flights we found came in around $1,900. On the way over we go from Calgary to Toronto to Rome to Cairo. The way back is Istanbul to Rome to Toronto to Calgary. It was going to take 1 layover for sure on the way over, so one more won't be too bad. There is a fair bit of time in each place so missing flights shouldn't be a big worry. They are all Air Canada and Alitalia (the Italian airline).

Visas

It looks like we will need them for all 4 countries, but from reading the site it appears you can get them at the borders. The only questionable one is Syria which can be expensive if you try to get it at the border. I think we will apply here for that one.

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This past long weekend, a group of us stayed at the Chateau Canmore in Canmore, Alberta. It is located just 10 minutes from the Banff park entrance.

Overall, the place was pretty good. The price was reasonable and the facilities nice and clean.

Check out Chateau Canmore's site.

What's Nice

Our room was nice. Two beds and a pull out bed in the sofa in the other room. It had two televisions, fridge, microwave, and a couple of tables to set stuff on as well.

There is a hot tub and pool. They are pretty small, but not a lot of people were using them anyways, so we were always able to get in. The pool is inside and the hot tub sits on a deck outside.

There is also an exercise room and restaurant. We didn't use either, but they looked nice.

The main lobby has free coffee in the mornings, which is nice if you are getting an early start to the hill.

What's Not Nice

I couldn't complain much, but there were a few annoyances.

It was hard to keep the room cool enough. It was quite warm so we always had the window cracked when we were home. Didn't run the fireplace once all weekend.

Only one of the televisions had RCA inputs on it, so you can only hook up a DVD player or other device to the one in the bedroom.

They have the slowest elevator I think I have ever been in. It is kind of funny actually.

The Train?

We had read a lot of reviews complaining about the train being too noisy. We saw the train, but I never heard it once while we were staying there. Mind you, we had a room on the front side of the building and not the back, so that might have helped.

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I spent the first week of 2008 in northern Idaho at the Stoneridge Resort at Blanchard. One of the closer ski hills is Schweitzer Ski Resort. It is a fantastic little ski hill that claims to be the 3rd best tree skiing in North America. I don't know if that is true or not, but I had a pretty good time.

Just a few minutes north of Sandpoint, Idaho, you turn west off the highway. There is a parking lot at the bottom where you can take a bus up to the top. I think they said it was around 9 miles from the bottom to the top so it is as bit of a drive. When you get up there, there are a few different parking lots that are basically all ski in and ski out of, but be careful. The top parking lot is a $10 fee to use.

There is a front side and a back side to the hill and there are quite a few treed areas that you can ride through. Quite a few of them I would say are blue tree runs so it is good for more beginner types.

Not Too Crowded

It might have been the day, but there were a ton of vehicles parked there, but the hill still does not seem very crowded. It is more of a family hill with a lot of chalets and condos on the hill so the chairs at the bottom of the green runs were the busiest. Once you were on the backside it was no more than a minute wait to get on a lift.

The same story for the lodge. It was easy to find a spot to eat and lots of places to throw a nap sack with food and what not.

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