Traveling solo for the first time...

I've just decided to go on a trip to Italy over Spring Break. Probably not the greatest idea on a student budget, but a close friend is studying abroad in Florence (where I could stay for free) and the flights are really cheap right now, so I've decided to go for it. It would mean traveling solo and spending a few days by myself, which I admit scares me to death, but it also means 4 days in Rome and 3 days in Florence.

Have you been to either of these cities? Recommendations of restaurants / shops / hostles?

Pittsburgh - I still like it, but it is so backwards...

Now that I've lived here a few months I feel the desire to share my new opinion of Pittsburgh. While I am still a fan of the city for the most part, there are just so many odd things about this place that I felt the need to elaborate them for all of you:



1. Pothole central:

Traveling across the country to move out here I saw every variation of roads, but I think Pittsburgh sets a whole new record. I am truthfully shocked that I haven't yet shredded a tire from a pothole, but I imagine it is only a matter of time. To emphasize how bad this problem is, the last mayor actually made it part of his election campaign that he would get X amount of potholes fixed. I know they blame it on the fact that the snow cracks the asphalt, and I do get that and give some leeway, but really? This is ridiculous. BTW - the sidewalks are just as bad - walking in heels is just plain dangerous, it's highly possible I will break my ankles walking on of these days.

* I actually have a whole series of rants dealing with driving in Pittsburgh (parking is practically illegal - don't ask how many tickets I've gotten since moving here; the PA version of the DMV far outweighs any inefficiency I have ever seen before, you may get lost even using a GPS, etc.), but I will save you from all of those for now.


2. Alcohol:

PA is one of the few states that still doesn't allow you to buy any sort of liquor in the supermarket. You have to buy wine / liquor from a Wine and Spirits store (think a mini BevMo) and beer from a Beer distributor (and in no quantity smaller than a case). If you want a six-pack you can buy it from a bar or a restaurant for a significant mark-up, but only 2 packs at a time. Want more than that? You can get through a loop-hole in the law by exiting the bar and coming right back in. There is a really tight restriction on the numbers of liquor licenses, so many restaurants cannot serve liquor. However, they call themselves "BYOB" restaurants and let you bring your own liquor. Of course, then they tend to charge you a corkage fee. Gotta love that.



3. Public Transportation:

So the bus system is actually not scary like in California, but they are completely sporadic. There is no way to know when they will show up, and when it snows there is a good chance they will just pass you without even slowing down because they are full. (The other day I got passed by 4 buses and was thus very late to school - not cool.) There are also only 4 taxis in the city. Ok so I don't actually know how many there are, but there aren't nearly enough. Suffice to say if you call for a taxi on a Friday or Saturday night expect them to tell you it will take at least 2 hours to get you, or more often than not that they are "full" for the evening. What?


4. Apartments:

I will start by saying that rent is REALLY cheap - I didn't have to pay any sort of deposit (including for Mooshu), my place is 2x the size of what I had in CA, and my heat is included in my rent (a big deal here). That being said, the buildings are old, could use some serious repairs, and in my case, was disgusting when I moved in (think mold all over the bathroom, trash still in some of the cupboards, no flooring in my bathroom). To answer your question, yes, I cried when I moved in. Don't get me wrong, I moved into one of the nicest places I looked into, it isn't like I picked a slum to live in. My neighborhood and the location are prime and after some serious cleaning the place works, but let's just say this would never fly in CA.


5. Culture / Food

The local Pittsburgh people are referred to as Yinzers. Due to the fact that their phrase is yinz, instead of "you guys" or "y'all". As in "Yinz gonna come out tonight?" - wow. This is supposedly just a Pittsburgh insult though (to be called a Yinzer). Also, back from the days of the Steel workers having only one clean hand to eat lunch with, they started stuffing everything (coleslaw, french fries, etc.) into their sandwiches. Thus, it is still that way today. French Fries are in EVERYTHING - though I hate to admit I actually liked them in a salad I had the other day. Though that totally defeated the purpose of eating a "healthy" salad.

Flying with Mooshu

After I decided to fly home for Christmas, I realized that this would be my first time flying with Mooshu and I wasn't really sure what to do. I read all the rules and was shocked at what a pain it was:

1. You have to get a paper signed by the vet within 30 days of flying certifying your pet is healthy
2. Pay a $150 fee to take her on board (this is just for in cabin, underneath the seat - not even to put them in the cargo area) - I find this ludacris, people don't pay to take their babies on board and they are normally WAY more of a pain.
3. Fill out paperwork certifying the last time you fed them / let them go to the bathroom

Ok, so I did all this and then just assumed Mooshu would be fine. She's spent hours in the car, and is one of the most mellow dogs I've ever met. That being said, the vet had given me Xanax for her to help her sleep. I didn't really want to drug her, but I thought it could be a good idea to help relieve any anxiety from flying / vibration from the plane. Moral of the story = bad idea. Her poor little heart was beating 3x its normal speed the entire trip, she cried from descent all the way into the terminal, and she never once slept in the whole 5 hour flight. Oi, what a disaster.

At one point I decided she would calm down if I just took her out of the carrier and held her. She calmed down and finally started to doze off in my arms. Then a nasty (and I think drunk) flight attendant came and yelled at me that she needed to be in the carrier under the seat (really, what harm was she to anyone?). Needless to say on the return flight I didn't drug her. She still cried a little but it was SO much better.

New York City - city of amazing, fattening food!

Since I got a Forte Fellowship to Grad. School, I got the opportunity to go to NYC for the annual conference. I gave myself an extra day and a half to check out the city before the conference - but what to do? So many choices, so little time! I was a little worried about traveling by myself, but figured between the awesome subway and the fact that I'd be doing totally touristy stuff I would be fine.

When I arrived in the city, I made my way to my hotel in Soho by way of an extra long taxi ride. It was really easy to do until my taxi couldn't figure out where we were going.

Continental Airlines - still keeping some nice amenities!

Due to a strange turn of events I ended up flying on Continental on my trip from San Diego to Pittsburgh. I would be flying in to Houston then on to Pit for less than $100, I was pleased with the killer price, so I didn't really have any expectations from the flight. When I got to the airport, which was a zoo, the Continental lines were way shorter than anyone else, and I dutifully paid the $15 to check my bag. I figured the airline was nickel and diming the customers like the rest of them (I normally fly Delta, United and American) so I figured it'd be just a normal flight. Well to my surprise, I was wrong. Both trips showed movies (with headsets only $1 if you didn't have any) and meals! Admittedly the meals were small, but nevertheless, it was a very pleasant surprise. It really is the little things that count in my book, so Continental gained some good brownie points. I will definitely consider flying with them again in the future.

Drive up the California coast...

Since Brad moved to California, he's wanted to drive up the coast in his hot rod. About a year ago, we decided to go together, but have never been able to schedule a good weekend to go. We finally realized we didn't have much time before we move away from the state so it was time to go.

We worked a half day on Friday and then hit the road. We hadn't been going very long when we got stuck in traffic and nasty clouds rolled in. Fortunately the traffic was just due to construction and we passed by the weather quickly.

Since I moved to Lancaster, everyone has been telling me about a place called Solvang, that's a bit north of Santa Barbara. We decided it would be a good place to stop for dinner and to walk around for a while. The little city is a total tourist trap, but it is quite cute. Designed to look like a typical Danish village, it has lots of cute shops and pastry places. Unfortunately by the time we got there (around 6pm), everything was closed and the place was like a ghost town. It looked fairly rundown and we were disappointed to find that there were only 2 authentic restaurants where we could have dinner. The place we decided to eat had the cutest old man sitting outside playing an accordian. Unfortunately, the grill was broken, so we went to another place on the other side of town. The food was ok, but it was incredibly over priced. However, they had fresh strawberries fresh picked from the local Santa Maria, which were some of the best (and biggest) strawberries I've ever had.

After dinner we drove a little bit further up to Lompoc where we stayed at the Embassy Suites for the night.

Saturday morning we got up and started the main drive up the coast. Brad was pretty disappointed in the central coast saying he was surprised at how brown it was. However, once we passed Hearst Castle (San Simeon), he seemed to enjoy the view a lot better. The coast line is spectacular, and we lucked out with gorgeous weather. We stopped at a bunch of pull-outs to take pictures and admire the beautiful view.

We decided to drive up to Big Sur for a late lunch and take a hike.

The plan was to end the day in Monterrey. We decided to stop at Laguna Seca (a famous race track) and check it out. Brad was in heaven. There was a 24 hour mountain bike race going on and a few cars driving on the main track. I think Brad was a little bummed he couldn't race on the track, but he still enjoyed it.

Unfortunately Brad noticed the car was rattling pretty badly so he had to go in search of some parts for the car. He dropped me off at the Naval Post Graduate School, where we were staying for the night. I was able to do some homework so it worked out nicely. That evening we went out to Cannery Row where we had an awesome seafood dinner and walked along the beach.

The next day we had to head back home, but it was a really nice weekend.

Embassy Suites - what a nice surprise...

I admit it, I am a girl who loves luxury, esp. when it's priced nicely. I will rarely (unless I'm uber desperate) stay at anything less than a 3 star hotel, however I am also a bargain hunter. Since I have Hilton honors points, and truthfully am a big fan of their hotels, I always look at their hotels first to see if they have a good deal in the area I want to stay. They usually do and I have stayed at many Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inns, and Doubletrees.

This time my search found me an Embassy Suites for only $115 (yay for AAA prices) in Lompoc, CA. Besides being thrilled with the price, I discovered they include a free happy hour (drinks and appetizers) every night and free cook to order (not just your standard complimentary order) breakfast. That means omelettes, quiches, pancakes, etc. Seriously, in this economic market? I am impressed. Embassy Suites, you just earned my business, and a good recommendation!

Add to that, there is a special Hilton promotion right now where you get 1,000 extra honors points for staying at certain Hilton hotels, and this just happens to be one! Right on! I only hope the stay is as nice as I expect!