Flight Hacking Las Vegas

After trying and failing to organize a trip here for my 25th birthday, I was convinced it was a sign that I wasn't meant to visit Sin City. But I knew it was one of the few places you can travel from Toronto for a) a short period of time, and b) for a reasonable price. (North America is huge, y'all.) Running short on vacation days through work, I have to be very selective with where I choose to go in a calendar year.

With the August long weekend coming up, I figured I'd check out last-minute deals and see if something popped. I checked Expedia, Travelocity, and Air Canada for last-minute packages, but everything seemed a bit too pricey for a 3 day long weekend trip ($700 approx.)

Out of curiosity I looked at flights alone and while it was more reasonable at about $400-450 round trip, then I'd have to add hotel on top of that, and I'd end up around the same price as the packages. No bueno. About to give up on my long weekend vacation dreams, I had an idea: I have credit card points! Would they work? Here's how it broke down:

I checked my RBC Avion Travel Visa Rewards and I had 55,706 points (I'll do a credit card reward comparison post at a later date--but I've been pretty happy with this one so far). The redemption schedule is normally as follows:

However. Since I wanted to book less than 14 days in advance, the rate was 100 points/$1.00.  (Note to self: definitely book ahead if I want to use points in the future--points will go much further that way!) I found an excellent flight (albeit not direct) on Cheapoair.ca for $436 return, stopping in Philly on the way there and Newark on the way home. I made note of the flight numbers and searched for them in RBC's travel reward booking system (you have to use their site to book air travel with points). I found the flights, although they were slightly more expensive through this booking system, and I'm still not sure why. The itinerary looked like this:

After selecting this itinerary, I used all my points to decrease the price as much as possible. My points paid for an entire ticket, leaving a balance of less than half the full price. Breakdown is here:

We (you didn't think I went to Vegas alone, did ya?!) ended up splitting the cost of the remaining balance, meaning I flew to Las Vegas from Toronto for a total of $248.11 -- NOW we're talking a reasonable amount for a long weekend trip!

Stay tuned for more Vegas adventures detailing more travel hacking, including how I stayed on the strip for $37/night, and what I saw and did while there (spoiler alert: there are Lamborghinis involved.)

-Kat

Not a Morning Person

This morning, we tried to get up early to go to the Vatican museums before our 1:45 train to Naples. However, neither Nez nor I are morning people, as we discovered. After our lovely (and now regular) wakeup from the cleaning lady, we had breakky then went to the station to leave our bags at the luggage place. After a half-hour trek through the depths of the station, we find the longest line ever--apparently it's no longer DIY luggage lockers. Since we were short on time, we were NOT about to wait in that line. We schlepped back to the hostel, and instead, left our bags there. At this point, we only had about an hour and a half, and the museums were not going to be visited. We decided to cut our losses and just relax before our train, so we shopped for a bit, and I fell in love with two Italian men: their names were Dolce and Gabbana.

We picked up our bags, and were a bit late leaving for the station. We literally had to sprint to our train, but we made it. Barely. The conductor blew the whistle as we stepped onto the train--now that's backpacking talent. Just in time!

After we got to Naples, we had to take an hour-long "Circumvesuviana" to get to Sorrento. I figured it was a regional train--slower, but no problem. We got to the station and discovered the 1 hr "regional train" from there to Sorrento is actually an above-ground subway. That my Eurail pass is not valid for. So I had to buy a 4 Euro ticket. (I really think my pass was less and less of a good deal, the more I use it and get told it's either not valid or I have to pay extra for the reservation).

We get on the train (if you can call it that) and are crammed like sardines, with no ventilation. We discover after boarding that we've boarded the wrong train. Of course.

After correcting our mistake and enduring a miserable hour and a half journey down the coast, Nez and I arrived in San Agnello, a small town just outside of Sorrento. The hostel directions sucked so we walked around a bit. We got a great photo of this tiny truck before getting busted by the owner, who turned out to be very proud instead, and offered to take a photo of us on the back--as long as we took one of him after. Got some great gelato then made it to the hostel, which is amazing. Makes the one in Rome look like a halfway house. Met some great people in our room (Aussies, of course) and all had dinner together--did I mention the hostel makes incredible food? A bunch of us are gonna see Pompeii tomorrow. I can't wait!

Ixnay on the Gladiators

Day 3: Saturday Oct 1 This morning I booked a flight to London for Oct 5th, then walked to the Coliseum to use the 2nd day of the ticket the guys bought. Discovered the ticket is valid for 2 days,but not at the same sites more than once. Embarrassing moment! I did the walk of shame past alllll the people lining up who actually had tickets, back out the way I came. Guess I won't be seeing the Coliseum after all!

Back at the hostel I met Nez, another Aussie solo traveler staying in my room. We got along great and had a nice dinner together before an early night. FYI, Rome is HOT right now. All that walking is exhausting!

Oktoberfest 2011: Die Wiesn!

Day 2: Sat Sept 24 - Die Wiesn! Number one on your list of Oktoberfest Don'ts: Going out drinking the night before. I was hurting a bit this morning, since we woke up at 7:30 am in time to get ready for Oktoberfest--if you want a table you have to be there by 9 am! When we were walking we already saw lines of people outside the tents--they won't be getting in for hours! Silly tourists. Tanya and I got our picture taken by many of these tourists, so we must look legit. That made me feel better about my 65 Euro Dirndl purchase!

We got to the Wiesn, paid 3 euros (vs. the tents which are free but full of tourists and just sloppy--where we were was more traditional) and got some tables outside. Since we got there at about 9 am, we got coffee to start, and unpacked our picnic supplies--they actually let you bring your own food to this part, since they don't start serving food there until much later. It filled up quick, but we held our tables all day long. The weather was incredible--I actually got a sunburn, it was so hot out! Amazing! My shades came in handy and were passed around to just about everyone in attendance. So did my camera--we took more than 750 photos...

About 25 friends from my summers in Switzerland came from all over Germany to be here, which was great. I saw my girls that I lived with this summer in India (Franzi and Izy, my little sisters!), along with some other friends I haven't seen in YEARS. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better day!

In this area, beer is served in huge stone mugs, which is the traditional way. I had an epiphany after these arrived about bier steins (Stein means 'stone' in German, who'da thought?). Everyone starts off with a Radler, however, which is half beer, half lemonade (sounds gross, but is super refreshing). There were Lederhosen EVERYWHERE--so glad I bought a dirndl, i would've been the only girl without one. It was really funny, from the moment I arrived in Munich, these costumes were everywhere--I mean, it's expected to see them on the Wiesn, but it's somehow hilarious to see some guy just standing on the subway platform in his lederhosen, or in line at the grocery store.
Franzi and I at Die Wiesn (pronounced Dee Veezen for all you Anglophiles) We stayed on the Wiesn from 9 am til 12 midnight--15 hours of Oktoberfest. The toilets were surprisingly good for a public event--kept clean and were a lot nicer than the outhouses I was expecting. (Just thought it's worth mentioning since usually you feel like you've contracted several diseases after using the facilities.)

Oktoberfest is actually a huge carnival--amusement park rides and games everywhere, food stands, etc. It was great fun to walk through all the stalls, see all the traditional food being made (hint: there's a lot of things ending in 'wurst'), and check out the rides. Somehow having everyone dressed up makes everything more fun--it's like Halloween, except everyone is going as the same thing, and every age group is represented--there are six year olds in lederhosen and sixty year olds wearing dirndls.

Such a cool sense of community here--I was saying to my friends, in Canada, because we're so multicultural, we'll have a small Oktoberfest in Kitchener, and a small Chinese New Year, and Caribana, etc. etc. But we never really have huge festivals where EVERYONE in the country is participating. I found that really great to see. It's also the mentality behind the event--the fact that it's a drinking festival--not serving beer in accompaniment to something, but actually as the main activity--that makes it so great.
So part way through our epic outdoor Beer Olympics, our waiter decided to inform us we couldn't bring food in anymore. We suspect this is because he wanted to make more money--if we couldn't bring it in, we'd have to buy it--from him. Our friend Alex, who was the food President of the afternoon, went and talked to the chef, who said it was fine, and relayed this to our waiter. He then begrudgingly allowed our picnic to continue. Shenanigans.

After the tents were closing though, I smoothed things over with Halil (our waiter's name, as it turns out) and even convinced him to join in a few photos. He promised me 4 free beer MaBs if I come back on Monday, so I fully plan on collecting! That's 40 Euros!
Halil (Back row, 2nd from right) as you can tell, is thrilled to be a part of our group
We went on the ferris wheel at the end and what a great way to see the entire Oktoberfest site. Lights twinkling, everybody happy with what a great day we've just had, it was incredible. One of the highlights of my trip for sure.

Paris Day 2

Today I forced myself to go see some other sights, even though it was freezing outside and after yesterday's general sentiments, have no motivation to be reminded what I can't have in Paris. Maybe that's why the first stop I found myself at was the catacombs. I paid my 4 Euros and descended into the depths of Paris. For those of you that don't know, the catacombs are essentially a massive cemetery that extends for kilometres in every direction--right underneath the streets of Paris. You head down into a dimly lit tunnel with musty stone walls and walk about 500 m until you reach the first part. Doing that alone is a little more than unnerving, let me tell you. All the side passages are barred off and dark; it's deathly still (pun intended) for the most part, but every sound you do hear makes you jump a little. It felt like a really well put-on haunted house!
Then I got to the bones. Oh yeah, these aren't nicely laid out tombstones; they are stacks of human bones lining the passageways. To deal with overcrowding in cemeteries during the 18th century, people started getting buried in these passages, since you could shove more bodies together, thus saving space. Pretty morbid, but the organization is impressive--all similarly shaped bones are stacked together, separated by rows of skulls (for support? Who knows, I definitely did not come up with this idea).

After the catacombs, I meandered over to Notre Dame to take a look at some gargoyles. (The last time I was here, I had cut my foot really badly in India just prior, and couldn't walk. All I remember is my mom piggybacking me around Paris, and in particular, up the tower of Notre Dame so I could see the little creatures protruding from the stone facade. Thanks mom!)
It was nice, and in some ways reminded me of Gaudi's work, but traditional--his is warped, versus the classic medieval lines seen here. I could just imagine what it must've been like when this church was the centre of religious life in Paris--it's pretty impressive, the details that went into its construction.
Next stop was the Champs d'Elyses, the world's biggest...roundabout? I'm not sure of the significance, since I refused to pay to go to the top of a tall structure and look out over another city. But I got my photos! And saw some breakdancing in the meantime, so it wasn't a total waste of time.
Lastly, I made my way over to the Piece de Resistance, the Eiffel Tower. Also known as the giant asparagus by non-impressed Parisians, the tower was originally supposed to be covered, but someone quashed that idea and now we have what it looks like today. It's impressive and blah blah blah but I'm gonna go ahead and bet that lying on the grass solo is not as much fun as with your sweetheart. I was getting bored and frozen so I waited just until the tower sparkled at sunset (they do something cool with the lights) and got the heck outta there. One can only stare at a giant asparagus for so long!
Another thing that was disappointing was my quest to cook at Le Cordon Bleu was quashed...I emailed them last week enquiring about a tour or one of the many day classes they offer...but everything was full, for every single day I could possibly be in Paris. I guess it's not meant to be, but still! Frustrating.

So it turns out Paris is not like Carrie's version in Sex and the City. This city is dangling a carrot in front of my nose--I can see what my visit COULD entail, if I was on my honeymoon, or in 15 years when I have a ton of money, spending extravagantly on nice restaurants, shopping, and fancy hotels, but nearing the end of my four month travels, that is not in the cards for BackpackKat. I did not get a suite at the Four Seasons, nor did I gallivant around town wearing a $20,000 dress. No trans-atlantic professions of love. I wore jeans and sneakers. I ate at McDonald's. I saw the sights. And I can't wait to leave.

Tomorrow I am going to MUNICH for Oktoberfest! I'm so excited to see all my german friends, I think there's 25 of us from all over Germany meeting up this weekend? It's gonna be epic. Au revoir, soul-sucking Paris! Time to become German!