I’m not a philatelist, but I’d rather adorn my letters to people with cool looking stamps if I’m going to get them for the same price as ordinary flag stamps.
I should start writing letters again in the near future. I came back from Taiwan with some super cutesy (yeap, pastel colors with adorable animal cartoons on them) stationery, loads of it, and have yet to write enough letters to make my purchases worthwhile. Mind you, that this includes cute envelopes as well.
If you’re not a person that wants to write by hand, check out one of my favorite sites, futureme.org ,and send someone an email that will arrive in the future! By the time they get it, you will probably have forgotten what you wrote, which makes it even more wonderful 
It will sure brighten up someone’s day…(hint hint–me). I like to send people emails, copying and pasting a random/funny gchat conversation so that they can relive the moment a year later.
After the business trip to Mexico City, I had a day off and then took a flight out Saturday at dawn to Milan for another work trip. Our flight stopped in Minneapolis first, then off to Amsterdam, and then finally into Malpensa airport in Italy.
I found it pretty coincidental that during this trip, I made stops in the two other states that I have lived in (Georgia & Minnesota).
Twins gear at the airport (TC --> CT!)
I love the feel of Milan’s streets
On the way to dinner by the canal
Of course, in Milan, there is fashion. Thus, there must be fashion shoots.
How can you not love the architecture in this city? We ate at the restaurant with the blue tables shown in the picture below. Apparently Italians eat pretty late, so we were definitely the first people for their dinner service.
Seafood pasta was by far one of my favorite foods in Italy. Of course, you can’t get tired of it since there are so many variations. I didn’t realize how much seafood was in this until my coworker and I ate all the shellfish and their shells filled up a bowl the exact same size as the one in the picture. That doesn’t even include all the shrimp!
The Italians that we were working with were right. Italian food can best be described as fresh.
How about some lobster penne? There’s something about the way that they cook the pasta (al dente) and the fragrance in the simple sauce that is so delicious.
With some wine perhaps? You know that bottle of expensive wine imported from Italy? Yes, much cheaper in Italy where it doesn’t need to be imported.
Of course there were many sights to see as well. I don’t remember what this church was called, but it sure was gorgeous.
They take their football very seriously in Italy. Our cabbie was watching the Italy vs. Paraguay match in the car. I must say, the quality of the feed could have matched the tv in my hotel room.
We were lucky that our hotel was so close to the enormous Central Station in Milan (called Milano in Italy–yes like the cookies). Inside, it felt like a transportation hub and shopping mall, rolled into one. This picture is taken from the side, where all the taxi’s line up. There were many Prius taxis, and I really wanted to try to sit in one of the new Priuses (or as my coworkers dubbed Prii –pree-eye) or a Honda hybrid but only got to sit in an older one.
And of course there was some shopping involved– I honestly think that I’ve been to an H&M in every country that we have visited.
Thought this street looked pretty cool. Then I realized, all the streets kind of look like this.
Now brace yourself for the beauty called The Duomo.
Spectacular!
From the front.
Of course, you can’t be in Italy and not have GELATO! I wish I had taken a picture of the fancy gelato that we had gotten a few days before because it looked so nice! Here is some regular gelato haha.
It’s traveling season! Here are some things that I have picked up from traveling so much out of SFO and OAK that may be of use to you. Some are general tips, not specific to SFO and OAK as well. Safe travels!
Before your trip:
- Have a plain black luggage? Tie something on your suitecase or put a piece of colored tape so you know which one is yours, and from making sure someone else doesn’t grab it on accident.
- As an owner of an iPhone, I like to put my flight information (confirmation number, flight #, frequent flyer mileage info) & hotel addresses on my phone on the “Notepad” so that I have it all in one place and don’t have to dig around my backpack for a piece of paper since I always have my phone within reach.
- Slip-ons/flats are good choices for aiport/airplane shoes since it helps you speed through security. Also, I like to take my belt off while in line, so I don’t have to do it and hold the line up.
- Bring an empty water bottle if you don’t want to buy water at the airport and fill it up at a water fountain. The plane often dries me out so I like to have a bottle of water that I can close up instead of constantly asking the flight attendent for some.
- Pack some snacks. If you’re flying transcontinental, believe me, at some point you’re stomach will be dying and you’ll want something to eat. Some gummies do the trick for me and/or some Chex mix. It’s way cheaper to bring your own than to buy it at the airport.
- Want reading material, grab some magazines from some friends before you leave. Good way to kill time.
- Flying Southwest? Set an alarm to help you to remember to check-in 24 hours before your flight. I checked in at 12:31pm once, for my 12:30 flight, and I was already number 35. Southwest boards in order of when you check-in, so if you need overhead luggage space or want to sit somewhere in particular, it pays to check-in early.
- For long flights, invest in an inflatable neck pillow. They store easily and can save your neck from pain. I got mine at target for maybe $6.99. I like these better than the uninflatable kind because I don’t like having to lug a pillow around outside of the plane, but of course, that’s just me.
- Download Skype before you leave. At 2 cents per minute of talk time to most landlines all over the world, a calling card can’t beat that. You can call mobile phones for 15 cents a minute. Plus you can save all your phone numbers on there so that you can call with the click of your mouse and not have to worry about figureing our country codes and area code shennanigans.
- Check whether or not they tip in the country that your will be going to. No use in tipping when it’s not expected, though I usually tip if I feel they were very helpful.
- Look up the exchange rate before you go. Nothing feels better than losing your money at the airport doing an exchange before you actually spend any. You can also exchange at a bank in the US before leaving. They give the best rates.
Airport (SFO & OAK):
- If you have Bank of America, SFO has ATMs for you to get some extra cash before hopping onto your flight, so you don’t have to worry about making a special trip to the bank. You can’t deposit anything though.
- Oakland has free wi-fi so take advantage and check email before getting onto your flight
- Flying Southwest and forgot to print your boarding pass? Use your drivers license or a credit card to reprint your boarding pass at a Southwest kiosk.
- OAK has A.G. Ferrari sandwiches that hold up very well on flights (don’t get soggy) so if you’re going to be on many connections, grab one at the airport to stick in your bag.
- Never get in the family & crew memember security line. Yes, we have done it before, and no matter how short that line looks, it takes twice as long. Crew members get to instantly cut, pushing you further back.
- OAK has some cushy seats that have outlets on them so charge up your electronics before you get on the plane.
- If you need a cart at SFO for your luggage, before you pay for one, see if there is one lying around the vicinity that an attendant hasn’t picked up yet. It’ll save you a good $4. Yes, they charge $4 for a cart that you will use for at most 30 minutes to go maybe 100 ft. Same thing when you are picking up your luggage. See if someone has left a cart by the “passenger loading” area which is usually right outside of the baggage claim area.
- Write down your e-ticket # on your boarding pass (or I just take a picture of it using my phone). You may need it later to claim frequent flyer miles if it doesn’t show up on your mileage account.
When you get there:
- Depending on where you are, if you have to get to your hotel via taxi, make sure that the taxi is authorized. If you want to pay by credit card, make sure they accept it. It helps also to ask what the approximate fare would be before getting in, and also make sure there is a meter. If traveling to Mexico City, there are taxi stands where you can purchase your ride ahead of time to a particular zone, which is a flat fee.
- Some Asian countries, Japan & Korea, have stands where you can rent a cell phone for about $5 a day. It actually may be less than that or a little more, I forget exactly. Also receiving local calls is free, so if you want to talk to someone from the area, it’s cheaper to call them and then have them call you back right after.
- Exchange money in the country you arrive in. From experience, the US exchange places in the airports rip you off. Many hotels also do currency exchange, so you may not need to exchange a ton of money at once if the rates are comparable. You can do it incrementally throughout your trip.
Ok, I know there are more, but these are what I’ve come up with! I hope some/any of these help!
My apologies for the lack of blogging. I have spent the past week south of the border on a business trip to Mexico City. I must say that Embassy Suites Reforma is one of my absolute favorite hotels to stay at. Not only are the rooms GIGANTIC but they offer free drinks from 6-9pm featuring a very friendly bartender and bell hops that are courteous and always lend a hand. The lady that checked me in even remembered my name for the duration of our stay which was impressive. I wish we could have stayed long enough to have watched the Mexico vs South Africa match IN Mexico! It probably would have been nuts! Last time we climbed the pyramids, this time we headed to Zocalo, the main plaza that has a Cathedral and National Palace. Here is a picture of it from the sky taken from Google:
Protest outside my hotel window
Big screen for the Mexico vs South Africa game at Zocalo
I did quite the bad job taking pictures this trip. Italy will be better, I promise.
On a better note, I was able to use a little bit more Spanish this time. I’ve added to my vocabulary of running Spanish studies, the phrase “No te preocupes” meaning “don’t worry” . I couple it with “El estudio es muy facil, no te preocupes” which translates to “The study is very easy, don’t worry” . Can I get a high five? Thanks!
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