A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
With Covid-19 mostly gone, we are happy to move into 2023! Let's hope for better tidings. . . . 2022 in Review. Highlights . Jobs (Inna accepted an excellent position at Drata). A month-long workation in Boston . . Day trips to Portland, Maine, New Hampshire, Newport, and Cape Cod. Mini-trip to the Berkshires. A month-long workation in San Francisco. Learning to wing foil in…
Read More: Welcoming 2023!
For Valentine's Day, I made a reservation (via OpenTable) for 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, February 14th, at our favorite Palo Alto restaurant, Evvia. . Evvia serves authentic Greek entrees, and we really like the high-quality dishes. . When we arrived at 17:20, I was surprised by how easy it was to find parking. Usually, Palo Alto downtown is quite busy (especially on Valentine's Day). After…
Read More: Valentine’s Day at Evvia
Ah, 2020 be gone! . With COVID-19 changing our lives (mainly for the worse), we are happy to move into 2021! I look forward to a time when wearing masks is no longer required, when lines to Whole Foods are a distant memory, and when I can sip my Philharmonic coffee at Philz and enjoy my freshly baked croissants at Fleur de Cocoa. . Despite…
Read More: Welcoming 2021!
The day after Thanksgiving, Inna and I decided to explore Half Moon Bay. She visited Half Moon Bay a few weeks ago and liked the immense beach and the surrounding restaurants. . . The drive from San Jose was relatively short, taking about an hour. When we arrived, we parked on Ave Portola. Near Surfer's Beach. Since Inna was a bit hungry (she hadn't eaten…
Read More: Exploring Half Moon Bay
For this peculiar COVID-19 Thanksgiving, we decided to skip the standard Turkey preparation. We decided to grill fresh Ribeye steaks (along with asparagus and mushrooms), serve freshly prepared cranberry sauce, and have salad. . . . Alex, Inna, and I enjoyed the delicious Ribeye steaks, cooked to Medium-rare on the Weber grill, while Vladik ate his grilled chicken. . . . . . It was…
Read More: Celebrating Thanksgiving
Having never been to Sedona or the Grand Canyon, my wife decided it would be fun to travel to Arizona during the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. She found inexpensive airline tickets on Southwest Airlines from San Jose to Phoenix, Flight #1984, departing at 7:35 p.m. from San Jose and arriving in Phoenix at 10:25 p.m.. . . . She looked into several hotels and resorts and…
Read More: Exploring Sedona
I have always dreamed of snowboarding or skiing in Switzerland, so when an opportunity presented itself, I decided to seize it.. . . . . . From the many possible Swiss resorts, I selected Verbier based on feedback from a Swiss citizen who has lived there. My alternatives included Zermatt, Chamonix in France, and St. Anton am Arlberg in Austria.. . . . Since I…
Read More: Snowboarding Verbier
When Inna discovered inexpensive round-trip airline tickets to Paris, we planned to visit for one week during Christmas, followed by a week of snowboarding in either France (Chamonix) or nearby Switzerland (Verbier or Zermatt). With these plans in mind, we made a reservation at a lovely Airbnb apartment in the center of Paris. However, due to the recent violence, we decided to bypass Paris and…
Read More: Exploring Turin
For a nice, relaxing, and relatively inexpensive trip during the Christmas holidays, we decided to revisit the city of San Diego. We last visited San Diego in June 2008, so we were eager to review our main attractions. Inna found inexpensive, direct flights on Southwest Airlines from San Jose to San Diego, so we booked the trip.. . Our initial plan was to fly out…
Read More: Visiting San Diego
While in New York City, on the spur of the moment, we decided to purchase tickets to see The Illusionists -Turn of the Century. We were not planning to see it, but Inna read some fantastic reviews and was curious about this Broadway-quality magic show. Using the TodayTix app on my iPhone (extremely useful for last-minute tickets), I purchased three discounted tickets for the Christmas…
Read More: Review: “The Illusionists Turn of the Century” on Broadway (Palace Theater)
Back to Maui!. . Having scheduled a very early 7:20 a.m. departure from San Jose (SJC) airport (bound for Kahului, Maui, we woke up groggy at 4:30 a.m. We decided to try using Uber to avoid parking at the airport, and I had a driver at my house in 10 minutes! We arrived at the terminal by 5:30 a.m. and had plenty of time to…
Read More: Relaxing in Grand Wailea, Maui
We have always enjoyed dining at the fabulous Solbar Restaurant in Calistoga, especially when we spent time at the Indian Springs Resort. We have never stayed at the Solage Spa, but Inna wanted to try it, so we booked the "Just the Two of Us" promotion for the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.. . We arrived on Friday afternoon and checked in. The drive from San Jose…
Read More: Relaxing at Solage Spa in Calistoga
Maui time!. . We took the 8:00 a.m. flight from San Jose (Hawaiian Airlines HA45) to Kahului, Maui (OGG), arriving at 11:30 a.m. Hawaiian time. The flight lasted four and a half hours and went smoothly, without much turbulence. I was surprised that Hawaiian Airlines actually provided lunch on the plane. Most airlines charge for food and only offer peanuts or crackers.. . Once we…
Read More: Relaxing at Wailea Marriott, Maui
We decided to relax on the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii, for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We had stayed at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort and Spa many times and really liked the location.. . . After we landed at Kahului Airport on Wednesday, November 14, we stopped by Da Kitchen for lunch. Da Kitchen features interesting Hawaiian dishes like Loco Moco. I liked my…
Read More: Relaxing at Wailea Marriott, Maui