Since we were starting from and returning to Puerto Natales all in one day, our first day in Torres del Paine involved the most driving. In the morning we entered via the Amarga gate on the northeast side of the park, and in the late afternoon exited via the southwest Serrano gate. See below for an interactive map of our travels in the park. The road to the Amarga gate was paved until the town of Torres del Paine, where it switched to gravel. Crews were working on a new road during ... continue reading...
Patagonia: Puerto Natales food + drink
Puerto Natales is a small town that definitely caters to people visiting Torres del Paine. Unimarc is the main grocery store in town. The parking lot was a mess with cars parked along the perimeter of the small lot and a line of cars in the middle (some with people waiting in them, sometimes not...). On our first visit, we found a spot to back into and the second time we just parked up the street and walked. The store was busy, with lots of people gearing up for camping and hikes. We found some ... continue reading...
Patagonia: a day in Santiago
After checking into the hotel, our first goal was to get some cash as we knew we were going to need it for one of the hotels in Puerto Natales and to pay for the Torres del Paine park entry. Every bank we saw in Santiago was boarded up (to protect against protesters), including the outdoor ATMs, and most had only a single door open, usually with visibly armed security person. For some reason my main ATM card refused to work at several of the banks but thankfully my back-up card worked fine and ... continue reading...
Patagonia: a day in Atlanta
Originally we had tickets to fly into Atlanta a few hours before our late Sunday evening flight to Santiago, but about three months out Southwest cancelled that flight and moved us to a 6:50am flight instead... No thanks! Instead, we moved to a direct flight on Saturday night, giving us a full Sunday to explore Atlanta. This also meant we were able to hang out with our friend Chenoo who we had missed during our weekend trip over Easter earlier this year. A Lyft ride got us to Ponce City ... continue reading...
Patagonia: ground transportation
Santiago We booked an airport transfer through Vem Me Buscar the day before we left. The airport pickup was fine - driver was a bit late but timely response through WhatsApp. We did receive a handy re-usable bag and water, and were told that we would pay for both trips on the return. The next morning we were picked up on time and had an easy trip to the airport. Puerto Natales The airport doesn't seem to have a reliable way to get to rental cars, so we asked our accommodation host for a ride. ... continue reading...
Patagonia: where we stayed
Hotel Indigo Atlanta Airport A reasonable hotel for an overnight layover with pickup from the airport approximately every 30 mins. That same shuttle can also take you within a 2-mile trip in the area around the hotel, and they are within walking distance to a MARTA station. Staff were very pleasant and personable, from the shuttle drivers to the front desk staffers. Our room was huge, with lots of space, but it felt under decorated. The worst part was noise -- the windows are thin, and ... continue reading...
Patagonia: overview and flights
On our 2012 trip to Chile we were told multiple times that we had to see Patagonia, and that November was a good time that balanced decent weather and crowds. In the intervening years we'd almost booked Thanksgiving trips twice, but for one reason or another, ended up elsewhere. Then in July we had read about a good deal using Virgin Atlantic points to get business class seats on the direct Delta flight from Atlanta to Santiago. Intrigued, we started investigating some options in southern Chile, ... continue reading...
2019 Travel Overview
Previous years-in-review – 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 Some of our travel stats for the year: 7 countries visited (on 5 continents!): new countries this year included Portugal, Qatar, Namibia, Japan, and Korea, plus we had return trips to South Africa and Chile. 6 US states visited: return trips to New York, Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta, and Oregon wine country, plus our first ever visit to Dallas (outside the airport). 75,000 total air miles. We flew ... continue reading...
Oregon Wine Tasting, Dec 2019
Since we are members of two wine clubs in the Willamette Valley, we wanted to get out to there to do some tasting of the wines that had been released and get a feel for what would be released soon. Plus, we love visiting the area :) With our 2019 schedule dominated by longer trips it wasn't easy to slot a visit to Oregon, so we decided on a quick trip just before Christmas. It was a great way to relax for the weekend away from mall traffic and the like. Wineries Arborbrook - we'd been members ... continue reading...
Memory Monday: TWA Hotel @ JFK’s Terminal 5
When we landed in the US after a 14 hour flight from Seoul, we had been awake for 18+ hours, and had another 8 hours to endure at JFK before our final flight home. Since we were flying from Terminal 5 (JetBlue) we had no Priority Lounge. Instead, we were able to visit the iconic TWA Hotel for a few hours. taking an elevator back in time... There is also a small park in front of the hotel with benches and chairs. enjoying some sunshine after being on a plane for hours! The ... continue reading...
South Korea: Seoul, day 3 – Seouljo, Gangnam, street food, two hour hotel transfer
After a filling breakfast at the hotel, we started the day on the Seouljo – a 1km long repurposed road made into an unexpectedly pretty raised botanical garden. We also scoped out an alternative path to the main train station that we hoped would eliminate some of the stairs when we had to transfer to the airport later that night. Also nearby was Sungnyemun, one of the Eight Gates in the Fortress Wall of Seoul, which surrounded the city in the Joseon dynasty. I loved the ... continue reading...
South Korea: Seoul, day 2 – Changdeokgung, Ihwa Mural Village, korean bbq, Blacklist
Today was our full day for exploring and while I wanted to see 'all the things', I knew our energy levels would accommodate only one palace, so Changdeokgung was my choice. Entry to the grounds was a reasonable 3,000 won (~$2.50USD) but we skipped paying the additional 8,000 won to do a guided tour of the Secret Garden. I was on the fence about this but I think the extra price might be worth it during the Spring or later Fall. The entrance was quite epic: There were countless ... continue reading...
South Korea: Seoul, day 1 – Cheonggyecheon and breweries
Our first order of business after landing at Gimpo was finding the train into the city. We found an ATM and got out some cash so we could purchase the one-way ticket to Seoul Station and our TPass cards for the metro and bus. ATMs here are a bit different as you have to select how many 1,000 won notes you wanted – in my case eight – rather than the dollar amount - 8,000. Finding the airport train was a bit convoluted from the international arrivals terminal, but once we were headed in the ... continue reading...
Japan: Osaka, Day 2 – Minoh Falls and small whisky bars
At this point in the trip we were longing to experience some nature so when the sun came out on Wednesday we looked at public transit to Minoh (Minoo) Falls. Apparently, there was a delay on one of the main subway lines, so Google was giving us convoluted directions. However, once we opted to break the trip into two parts the planning got easier. To get to the falls you need to get to the local rail line at Umeda, then do one more quick (and well signed) transfer at Ishibashi station. The ... continue reading...
Japan: Osaka, Day 1 – Dotonbori
The 30 minute train trip from Kyoto to Osaka was easy and our hotel was just a short three-block walk from the Nippombashi station. We dropped off our bags with the friendly staff at the front desk, grabbed our umbrella, and ventured over to the canal area to explore. It was raining on and off but there were still a good amount of people in the streets. Dotonbori can be quite overwhelming, with large restaurant displays, massive signs, and endless vending machines filled with trinkets. Given the ... continue reading...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 3 – Fushimi Inari Taisha, Higashiyama, Yakitori, Hot Springs
Even though our feet were pretty worn out at this point of the trip we couldn't skip the 3.5 km hike through thousands of painted orange gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha. Many people suggest going first thing in the AM (it's open 24 hours) but we just didn’t get up that early so we arrived with lots of other folks at 9:45am. The whole trip to the top (including time stopping for a ton of photos) and back took us two hours. The streets leading up to the main shrine gate are lined with vendors ... continue reading...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 2 – Daigoji Temple, Konchi-in Temple, Tonkatsu, Bar Cordon Noir
A visitor is spoiled for choice in Kyoto when it comes to temples, so after eliminating a few options that seemed expensive or were partially under construction, we landed on Daigoji. It's located quite a bit further from the center of town, meaning less tourists, and we could get there with our metro pass. The peak autumn period was still a week and a half away so the entry fee was a reasonable 800¥ compared to spring and fall seasons where it climbs to 1500¥! The 10-minute walk from the ... continue reading...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 1 – Imperial Palace, Higashiyama Jisho-ji, SferaBar Satonaka
After our short trip from Hamamatsu we arrived at the Kyoto station, where we sought out the two-day travel passes. With those in hand we took the subway up two stops to shave off some walking time to our hotel. The most direct route would have been through the Nishiki Market but the amount of people made dragging a rollerboard difficult, so we detoured to the main streets instead. Per usual we couldn’t check in until after 3pm, so we left our bags and backpacks and headed back out to ... continue reading...
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