wow I want to fly first class

The last time that I flew first class we arrived to the gate and were ushered on first and got champagne and orange juice cocktails even before the flight took off, the meals were great the seats were great much larger and roomier than economy class (a friend's father worked for the airlines so we got bumped and came home economy-epic fail there)  and the meals were actual meals not just pretzels and free soda.  I know today they offer free wifi or wifi that you pay 12.00 for in economy class.  These are all great amenities but holy crow do you pay for it.   I still think that first class its great to color outside the lines. 
Read the next article for a sample then lets think of some of our own!

http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/in-flight-amenities-that-make-us-hope-for-tarmac-delays.html

So lets think of some really great ideas for first class.  
Milk shakes-I think all first class should serve milkshakes.
Bathrooms with room to turn around in.  I honestly have no idea how larger people use the toilet -its ridiculous!
Free wifi should be a standard on any airlines and you should also get free wifi ,meals and footrubs for any of the stuff you buy in that ever enticing skymall magazine!
Welcome chocolates from the airlines perhaps in the shape of a plane.  Help every customer feel important just like the chocolate chip cookies on midwest express.
Free bag of makeup so when you get off the plane you don't look ghastly from sleeping on a long flight.

I know we can think of more!

Its big its windy its oh so cold in the winter

So lets talk about Chicago.  It is the biggest city in the Midwest and the second biggest city in the US.  Of course there is shopping, lots and lots of shopping everything from Michigan ave which has all the stores like 5th ave in New York, Macy's, Saks, Chanel, Burberry the whole works.  If you have money to spend they will easily take it in big bags!  Did I mention purses on Michigan ave?  well YES there is.  There is what is called the magnificent mile  which is part of Michigan avenue (the expensive part) but there is so much in walking distance dining, bars and dance clubs, hotels and pretty much any pampering stuff you need is there.  When we stayed there we stayed at the Tremont Hotel which is a lovely  hotel in the heart of Michigan ave where we could walk or cab everywhere.  The best way to get around Chicago is cab, you don't want to rent a car there because it is so expensive to park downtown.  I believe I paid 11.00 for 1/2 hour when I went downtown to the consulate.  So take a cab and trust they know where they are going and loads cheaper then driving all over hells half acre and parking.  We took the train into Chicago which was a really nice ride dropped us downtown at Union station where we cabbed to the hotel.

 The Tremont Hotel is a gorgeous hotel in the heart of Chicago.  Its very elegant and old fashioned with lots of marble and dark wood.  I found the rooms pretty small for the amount of money that the rooms cost but it was very Laura Ashley looking and well appointed with the requisite telephone in the bathroom in case you wanted to do two things at once (yuk!)  but the shower was all marble and glass and very beautiful.  The bed was large and pretty much took up the whole room.  The restaurant was a Mike Ditka restaurant which had Ditka's face out of butter molds kinda creepy if  you aren't from Chicago and don't know who he was!

  Lets see fun things to do in Chicago include, but are not limited to, Sears Tower now called   Willis tower at 108 stories they have built a glass room hanging off the edge of the tower to stand in and look down at the traffic-tres scary!  Tourist items are expensive there, better to walk a block and a half to TJ Max  upper or Filenes basement lower.  Both are fun and Filenes always has good bargins!  Its walking distance from Michigan ave. 
Another fun thing we did was the Blue Man Show at their own theater which is decked out just for them and it is so cool its patented and you are not allowed to take pictures in there.  They provide raincoats for the first few rows.  Its always an adventure at the Briar street theater!  You might need earplugs but the show is well worth  the cost!

Seattle

I haven't been travelling much this fall, next weekend I will be in Lake Geneva which is a gorgeous area and the Grand Geneva hotel is wonderful but I will write on that next week.  Right now I wanted to talk about Seattle.  I have been travelling to Seattle all of my life.  My parents best friends lived there and we were either there or they were by us at least 6 times a  year growing up.  The Smithpoza's live in a pretty economical area of the city.  When they bought it in the 60's it was pretty new and interesting but right off the freeway (the I-5) and across from the Boeing field.  Which means they got a free sound proof fence!  Anyways So that's what I knew of Seattle most of my life.  We never were tourists because we were visiting family.  Once I got older I discovered shopping and tended to shop at Southcenter for school clothes because they were so opposite to what we could get back home in Vancouver.  Then I discovered Broadway which is a trendy little kitchy area with all sorts of cool little consignment resale shops and some newer shops as well.  I found I could get so many interesting things on that street, the area is a little dodgy and I wouldn't drive my Lexus there and of course I don't have one but you get the point!  I did finally see the space needle which was OK, we had Sears tower Harbour center in Vancouver so it was OK, but it was far eclipsed by Fred Meyer, the Bon Marche (french for I got something you gotta buy) Nordstroms!  they have lots of squares Rainier, Union and a couple of circles but the BEST experience for shopping is Pike Place cause its so unique!  Just to start with Flying fish-you gotta see it to believe it its just that cool.

bliggity bloggity boo!

So Disney makes an inordinate amount of money but then you can't get the disney experience just anywhere.  As I was walking around I looked at people and all I could see were walking hundred dollar bills and these people seemed happy to pay for it!  That's magical in itself!

When you go to Disney there are some things you should check out.  there is an app for android called Disney world by undercover tourist.  (of course its free or I wouldn't recommend it!)  and when you download this app it tells you about the four disney parks and when you tap on a particular park it will tell you the ride line up times for each ride you go on so you don't waste your fast pass time getting a ride where the wait is 20 minutes when you  could use that fast pass (which enables you to have a much shorter wait time but you have to come back an hour or so later) on a ride like splash mountain which has a 75 minute wait.  How cool would it be to know that -guess what??  its so cool!  It shows each area within the park and the rides in it and it also shows parade times and it is updated daily.  Gotta get it!

 The other super useful website I found was  http://www.orlandofuntickets.com/Park-Hopper/

regular park hopper tickets are around 299.00 for three days they sold them for 282.00 which is a nice savings but consider Seaworld was 82.00 on the seaworld.com website and 67.00 dollars on this website and that equals huge savings! 

Actually one of the expenses that I thought was over rated was universal studios.     The one day ticket was 127.00 at the front gate (we had only gotten two previously and needed one more)  you can get them for 118.00 at orlandofuntickets but the only ride we liked was the  harry potter flying hippogrif ride.  Huge long line, no luxury of fast pass tickets (line moves fairly quickly)  we waited probably 40 minutes but the last third of the line weaves through the castle which has amazing harry potter artifacts like the sorting hat and its very cool and the various artifacts were great for any Harry Potter fan.  The ride was amazing!  Truly it was the high light of our day.  It was the one thing we liked for 300.00 worth of park tickets.  I wouldn't do Universal again.  

More soon!    

Disney

So here is what I learned about Disney.  If you are staying on the resort land you should probably book the whole trip excluding air fare through Disney.  They are overly helpful!  Travelocity screwed up my reservations, made it so I couldn't be added to the family reservation, which created all sorts of trouble getting the park hopper tickets which lead to them printing seperate tickets for hotel, parks, and special halloween party tickets instead of being able to put it all on one card we were carrying three seperate cards for all that.  The dining plans which are complicated are apparently well worth it because you get 3 meals a day and two snacks which you are able to eat pretty much anywhere in Disney from crab houses to ice cream stands.  Sometimes you can get the dining plan thrown in with your resort reservation.  You just have to ask Disney when that is and its much easier to do all this by phone.  I have so much to tell you about the trip and the pitfalls but I will have to get to that soon as I can.
Liana

packing a solution!

Sometimes don't you wish you had enough money so that you could leave a suitcase packed with all of your stuff for whichever vacation summer, winter, Vegas.. permanently packed and ready to go in the closet, clothes all ironed and freshly laundered, matching jewelery, scarves, shoes all neatly packed ready to go? (with room for everything of course)  medicines ordered, mail paused,  3oz tubes of sunscreen in little ziploc bags along with anything else that's 3.4oz of fluids?  All nicely packed in a lightweight less than 50 pound 20 inch suitcase?  It would be handy as well to have your onboard bag packed and ready with all your documents, tickets, itineraries passports and maps needed.  Perhaps I need a secretary, a house keeper, a maid, a lady in waiting and a valium...perhaps not...perhaps what I need is a housewife!!!  That's the perfect thing!  OK maybe today they call it an "executive assistant"  but whatever its still doing all the many things a stay at home mom juggles not even including the kids ...just me...after all what a pay at home mom gets paid I could probably afford!  They really need to form a union but not till after I finish travelling...

Louisiana is fun despite the hairy ants

Driving through the states is one of my favorite past times.  Especially when its not me doing the driving.  When I last drove with friends from the midwest to Louisiana for St Patrick day, I found that as I got more into the south the more I got to see Waffle houses! They have broad distinctive signs and usually serve pretty good food for the weary car drivers and passengers. I was terrified that the car was going to break down on the long bridge over Lake Pontchartrain   into southern Louisiana. It is the longest bridge over water in the guinness book of world records but once again I digress into trivia.  The car stayed in one peice but the traffic was pretty horrid.     When we got to New Orleans we stayed a couple of blocks off Bourbon street (stumbling distance some might say).  When you are researching which hotel to stay in make sure you find out if parking is included in the price or how much it is. We stayed in the quarter but not on Bourbon street and saved a bunch.  We got a one bedroom with pull out couch with a kitchenette so we wouldn't have to eat EVERY meal out to save money and store our soda and munchies.  New Orleans is a fun city.  Not only for the partying and the breast baring, bull rides but for other things too. Things just run a bit slower in the big easy so its something to get used to.    I love love love the architecture in New Orleans, you have so many different styles on the same block its amazing.  I love the graveyard tour I learned alot about the ghouls of New Orleans past, learned some history and got some exercise in.  OK and who doesn't love the food in New Orleans???   The seafood, the cajun food the french food the mmm...its all so good you can't really go wrong in the french quarter and there you can get  some shrimp etouffee, listen to the sounds of smokey jazz as the sun is setting, find the 3 for one bars...  I thought it meant three drinks for one price but it was a triple shot of whatever you wanted.  These kinds of deals you can find in the afternoons at some of the bars in the French Quarter.  There is such a mix of music you can start out a little bit country and progress to rock and roll.  We even found a bar that plays metal music and got to head bang abit.  Of course we went to a strip bar where my girlfriend was seduced by one of the dancers there.  You should have seen her with that dollar.... 

The St Patrick day parade was very fun,  if you need beads that's the place to get them.  They are throwing them left and right or exchanging them for kisses....you might also watch out for the flying cabbages and other things to put in a stew... and you may just get a paper flower from a handsome man in a tuxedo. You can get a green beer just about every where, the bars, the restaurants the corner grocer... and of course there are the green beer specials.  You can .find the best parade in the Irish channel but go early to get a good spot up front..  The last MUST do thing is to go to the free  French Market   5 full blocks or shopping paradise.  The artwork the culture, the availability of ethnic foods, I can't say enough about the market,  you can also find some cheap souvenirs there as well.  Its so much fun to just wander lazily around.  We would typically get up early spending the morning site seeing, take an afternoon nap and then go out for dinner and fun.  I wouldn't go during mardi gras unless you plan to stay on one part of Bourbon street and get pushed alot like cattle.  Lesson learned....  So there is something for everyone, in every price range in New Orleans..Have fun!