I decided to go back to Italy for my vacation this year. Cities where Rome, Pompeii, Venice and Florence. I decided to book flight through Orbitz again. I used Hotels.com to find a hotel near the Spanish Steps. That’s where I prefer to stay in Rome. This time I did make sure to find a hotel on the bottom of the steps. Last time I had an uphill climb wherever I went to my hotel. That was not fun to do with luggage.

Before the trip I booked the Pompeii Day Trip from Rome on Viator which usually gives very fair pricing on tours. I also booked a tour directly with the Vatican for the Museum and Sistine Chapel tour. The last thing I pre-booked was a train ticket to Venice. That was also booked direct with the train line Fsitaliane.it

Day 1 was one of the worst travel days I had. My flight was with Al Italia and this was the first time I had a bad experience with them, and it was a very bad experience. While waiting to be on a 9 hour flight they kept delaying our flight longer and longer, citing engine problems. There was zero communication over the speakers, they would only make announcements without the microphone, so only like 20 people would hear. After hours of delaying the flight they cancelled it. They had everyone exit and go the ticketing counter and stand in line for another hour while they tried to get hotels for everyone. After that long amount of time waiting, they had everyone wait another hour for a shuttle. People got to the hotels around 2AM. The next day the picked us back up around 1pm to be on a 6pm flight. So we lost a vacation day and had like 30 hours of travel time.

After that the flight when smooth. When we landed in Italy, a driver from the Hotel was a supposed to pick us up from the airport but be wasn’t there, later we learned he was late. So, we got a taxi. Taxi rates from the airport to a hotel in Rome is a flat rate of 48 Euros. One thing at the airport that had me going crazy was when I tried to get money from the ATM the only option was cash advance. Which in America you don’t want to do or you pay crazy fees, but there it was just the ATM’s poor wording and it was just a normal debit.

We got to our hotel, Relais Pierret. It is a very nice and clean hotel. Right next to the metro, and I do mean right next to the metro. So, you do get some loudness from people exiting the metro, but it is worth the location, and I would stay there again.

Since we lost a day, we ran to the supermarket, got water and headed for a tour prebooked at the Vatican Museum. If you don’t like art history, don’t book this tour. The first part is looking at a touch screen while the guide discusses art history, then you go to the museum with your headphone. Prebooking tours is worth skipping the lines, but we were to tired after all the travel time to enjoy this tour.
After that we just wanted to get a good dinner and go to sleep. A lot of restaurants are closed Monday, so we ended up eating at a place we wondered upon and then went to the hotel and got some sleep.

The next day we got up, went the the local bar for an expresso and a croissant and walked to the Piazza del Popolo to meet our guide for the Pompeii tour. The name of the tour company was CityWonders. The guide was very good and interesting on the bus ride over. She stayed with us, but there was a second guide that actually took us throughout Pompeii. Pompeii is definitely a good 1 day trip, I wouldn’t do more than 1 day there. When we got back to Rome we ate at Sofia Restaurant, which had very good reviews on Yelp. I had the risotto. All the food was above average, but I wouldn’t go back, there are better places in Rome.

Day 3 we did the normal Rome stuff. The Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain & Castel San’t Angelo . Rome is definitely different than when I lived there. Seems like nothing but tourists now. Very crowded for my taste and it wasn’t even peak season yet. Anyway it was just our Rome hang out day. We had lunch at Grano Frutta e Farina which has great pizza but bad staff. The blonde cashier would not let me pay. She was talking non-stop to another staff member and just ignored me. When she finally took my money, she asked me for more forgetting half of it was already in her hand. Then she would not give me change. For dinner we ate at Al Gran Sasso, this was the best meal of our vacation. Every appetizer we had and every entrée we had was excellent.

Day 4 we took a train to Venice. The train ride is 3.5 hours. Booking premier elite on the train is worth it. Either way it’s not a bad ride. When we got there we booked a Gondola Ride and a Walking Tour. You have to go on a Gondola if you are in Venice. If I had to do it again I would have got a singing ride. The guy we had was silent the whole time. Before the walking tour we had time to eat, so we ate at Osteria Barababao, which was pretty good. The walking tour was okay. Learned that Venice is sinking and is 80% tourists there. There is just a whole lot of stores and not much else. I’m glad it was just a day trip.

Day 5 we jumped back on the train for 1.5 hour ride to Florence. I haven’t been in Florence for 16 years, it’s a lot different than I remember. Back then I though 1 day was enough. This time I thought I should have stayed more days there. We did a bike tour from Ciao Florence, it was the best tour of the trip. Fantastic guide, also they have tandem bikes if you want one.

After the trip we ate at a place the guide recommended il Mercato Centrale Firenze. We ate at the steak booth. I usually get mine Medium-Well, the waitess looked at me like I had 3 heads when I said that. They ended up cooking it less than medium. I liked it, but the people I was with had an issue eating it.
Day 6 we booked a tour with Walks of Italy. The crypts, bones & catacombs: underground tour of Rome. It’s something I never seen in Rome before, so I thought the tour was decent. The Bone Chapel is very interesting. After the tour we had our final Roman meal at Tucci Piazza Navona. It’s typical quality roman food, with a great outdoor location in Piazza Navona, to just sit and enjoy being in the city. After the meal had to go get the best gelato in the world at Gelateria Della Palma Rome. I got seconds there. Was the last day after all.

In November I decide to book a quick 4 day last minute trip to London. I decided to go less than 1 week in advance, so I booked everything the same day. The cheapest flight I could find was on America Airlines so I booked through them. Then I went on Hotels.com and chose Melia White House Hotel. I chose this hotel because it was 4 stars , had good reviews, and was extremely close to a subway terminal. I decided to use tour guides for most of this trip. So, I went on Viator and booked 3 day trips on it.

So, Day 1 we arrive in London about 9AM in the morning. Flight was good, no troubles. From the airport we took the Heathrow Express, because it is by far the fastest way. A taxi would have took us about a hour and 20 minutes to get to the Hotel. Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes to get to London Paddington station which was just a couple subway stops from out Hotel.

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Note that train tickets in London are very expensive compared to any USA train. Even subway tickets in London are expensive.

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So, we get to the Melia White House Hotel, but we came to early and they said Check-in time was at 2pm. Usually I get lucky and the hotel has a room ready early, but not that day. We even came back a few hours later and the room still wasn’t ready. We really did have to wait until 2pm that day. That was the only bad experience we had at that hotel. Everything else about it was great. Very clean and nice all around.

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Anyway so the first day there, we just left the bags in the Hotel and walked to the main sites like the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace (inside is closed to the public most months). Then we went shopping at Camden Town. When we first got to Camden Town it looked like it was just a Heavy Metal and Punk shopping place, but this place ended up being my favorite shopping place anywhere in the world. This town had a ton of little side streets all with different merchandise. Unlike outdoor markets in the US that will have a hundred cell phone accessory stores and T-Shirt stores with exactly the same merchandise. Camden Town has thousands of tiny shops all with different merchandise. I recommend this place highly.

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That night we ate at Demartino Italian restaurant in London. I had a Scallop Risotto. It was very good, but not sure if it was worth the price. I don’t think any food in London is worth the price.

The next day we had to get our own ride to the train station for the first trip we booked on Viator. We booked the “Luxury Paris Day Trip with Champagne Lunch on the Eiffel Tower“. I haven’t been to Paris in over 10 years. Didn’t like it back then, so I had low expectations. I’m glad I had low expectations, because I still don’t like this city. The tour started out with some famous landmark that they just told you about them as they drove by. I didn’t mind that they didn’t let us off the bus for photos, but other people did. Then we did a cruise along the River Seine. It was very cold out, but I wouldn’t have liked it in good weather either. You are supposed to listen to recorded tour guide on a phone attached to every seat. It was a sad boat and a sad tour.

After that they took us to lunch in the Eiffel Tower. The food was just okay, but talking to other tourist in your group is fun.

After lunch we went to the Louvre. Where you can pay extra to go in. I’ve been to the Louvre long ago , it probably the best museum I’ve been in, but they only gave us and hour and I wanted to go to a French Bakery. So that is where we went. There were no ATMs anywhere though, and I only had British Pounds and needed Euros. So, I have to go to a money exchange place, which is always a rip-off. Anyway we got some really good bakery snacks and had to hurry back to the rest of the group to catch a ride the train station. Two time in Paris is enough for me. I don’t need to go back.

The next day we book the “Lunch in the Cotswolds” tour on Viator. This ended up being the best tour. The picked us up in a bus at our hotel. Then took us to a bus terminal to catch a big tour bus. The first stop was at Burford. Which is a very nice little town. I got some great snacks at a bakery and also a chocolate store there.

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The next stop was Stow-on-the-Wold which is a more touristy town, and also very pretty. After that we went to Bibury. Bibury was the nicest looking town to me. There are no stores or anything. It’s just a residential town where you each lunch at the The Swan Hotel. The Lunch was pretty good, I had the trout.

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Last you go to Stratford-upon-Avon which is Shakespeare’s Birthplace. The tour at this point turn all about Shakespeare. I’m not into Shakespeare, so I wasn’t really interested, but this town is the biggest we visited that day and I would have liked to stay a full day in this town. Lots to see and eat.

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When the tour headed back they don’t drop you off at your Hotel. I thought that was weird, but it seems like all London tour companies do that. They drop you off at a Subway station and you get home from taking the subway or taxi.

That night we wanted to go to a more inexpensive place to eat. So we found a chicken place called Nando’s. We both just got a small butterflied chicken breast, but the bill was still about $45 with drinks and just 1 order of fries. So, still not worth the price.

The next day we booked the “Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Oxford Custom Day Trip” on Viator. Same deal where a van took us to a bus station. Then we had to find our own way home. The other thing is we found out the tour that we paid for shouldn’t be called a tour. It should be called a bus ticket. Because we had to pay extra to enter the castle and also extra to get into Stonehenge park.   The tour started with Windsor Castle. They give you head phones for an audio tour. It was worth the visit, but not a whole lot to say. You go in and look at the furniture and get to see a nice changing of the guard show.

Next we went to Stonehenge. Stonehenge would have been nice if they let you get closer to the rocks. They keep you pretty far away. You stay there just 45 minutes , which was the perfect amount of time.

Last we went to Oxford. When I booked the trip I admit I had no idea Oxford was just a college. It is the coolest looking college I ever seen, but that part of the tour was the least interesting out of any art of the trip.
Well that sums up my London trip. We left very early in the morning to head back home.

So, this year I decided to make a trip to Peru. I wanted to go to Machu Picchu , Cusco & Lima. I decided to book my trip again through Orbitz. I priced it both ways and found it cheaper to fly into Cusco first them Lima next. So, I did it that way. There were no direct flights to Cusco, so I had a 2 hour layover in Lima on the flight there.

I also booked my Hotels on Hotels.com again. I like that they give me a free night for every 10 I book. I then booked the Machu Picchu stuff ahead of time, because I heard sometimes it sells out. I tried for a week to book on the official Machu Picchu site, but the site never took my order. So I purchased tough the travel agent ticket-machupicchu.com, which just charged a small booking fee. I also heard the train to Machu Picchu sometimes gets sold out, so I booked that in advance too. During the trip I found out that I missed buying something else I needed to get to Machu Picchu, I’ll discuss that later.

So, day 1 we fly into Lima on American Airlines for our connection. Customs line was small and smooth. No problems at all. We boarded the connecting flight on LAN Airlines to Cusco with no problems. During this flight we had a TV with a flight tracker. The ride should only be like 50 minutes, but I kept seeing the flight get longer and longer on the tracker. Turns out we were going in circles for a while, then we got sent back to Lima They said there was too much fog to land. So, we get back to Lima and got on another flight to Cusco. That one was allowed to land. We were supposed to arrive at 7AM, we got there about Noon.

We took a taxi from the airport, it cost 20 Sol. All taxis from the airport cost more than anywhere else in Cusco. For the same ride in the opposite direction it costs 8 Sol. Anyway, we got to the hotel Casa Andina Classic – Cusco San Blas. They gave up a free upgrade, so I ended up liking the hotel a whole lot. Big windows with nice views. It was also in a nice location with a quick walk to the Gatos Supermarket to get some water and also a quick walk to Plaza de Armas. Plaza de Armas is the center of the Historic section in Cusco.

We were supposed to see some sites, but since we were flying for 12 hours because of the delays we decided to just go to Plaza de Armas and take some photos. Then get something to eat and call it a day. While walking to the restaurant for the first time in my life I felt the altitude. I wasn’t feeling sick, I just could feel a difference in my body. We were getting warned by everyone not to overdue it, or you’ll get altitude sickness, so we just took it easy and found a restaurant called “Tinta Restaurante Cultural y Galeria de Arte” to eat in. I choose it cause it had a sign that said food art. It was food art. The food was extremely delicious I ordered some Yuca as an appetizer It was fried balls with an olive inside and peanut butter sauce. I would have never imagined that combination tasted good, but it was delicious. The causa was also great. As an entree we just had some chicken skewers to play it safe because people kept hearing stories of other tourist getting sick and not making it to Machu Picchu. So after a great meal we headed back and went to bed early to catch a 5:30am train.

Day 2 we woke up and went to the train station. The train to Machu Picchu is no longer running all the way to Cusco, so they put you on a bus for the first 2 and half hours. Then switch you to a train for the next 2 and half hours. I bought the upgrade to the VistaDome train. I was reading on another site that it wasn’t worth it, but I did it anyway. I am glad I did, because it was well worth it. They fed us both going there and coming back. We didn’t even know that was included and neither did the other people around us. Also, on the way back our regular attendants put on a fashion show for us. The point of the show was for us to buy stuff, but it didn’t matter, they made it real funny and lots of dancing.

The train stops and we got off. I already bought my Machu Picchu ticket , and just did a very long bus ride and train ride. So, I thought I was done and ready to walk to Machu Picchu. I was wrong. There is another bus ticket you have to buy to get to Machu Picchu. So after some confusion we bought that ticket and did another bus ride.

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We were now in Machu Picchu. The best advice I can give you about Machu Picchu is not to buy a regular tour. If you book direct you get the option to buy a limited entry ticket to go to Wayna Picchu and Wayna Picchu is awesome. There are multiple spellings of it. It is also spelled Huayna Picchu. It’s about a hour and a half hike from the beginning of Machu Picchu. It’s steep and fun. They when you get to the top, the view to Machu Picchu is flat out amazing. The peak of Huayna Picchu is about 8,920 ft above sea level, or about 1,180 ft higher than Machu Picchu. During this hard hike we did not feel the altitude at all. Cusco was actually a lot higher at 11,200 ft above sea level.

So, we did this great hike. Enjoyed the top a bit and came back down. We explored the rest of Machu Picchu then had to catch the train back. We had another 5-6 hour ride back. The ride back was a lot longer than they told us. We got back about 8pm and went out to eat. The food in that restaurant isn’t even worth mentioning. I order my favorite soup which is Chupe de Camorines and it was pretty bad.
We then went back to the hotel we had a 6am flight to Lima

So day 3 we get up to go to Lima. When we arrive we already booked a taxi for the whole time we are there. We went to our hotel in Miraflores. It was the Casa Bella Miraflores. It is next to the Love Park in Miraflores. The park is very nice, but I didn’t like this hotel. The bathroom had ants. The towels had dead ones stuck to it. I told the front desk, they came up with RAID. This was a 3.5 star hotel. If I go to Peru again I’ll go with a 4 star.

Since we had the taxi for the whole day we just went to the popular sites and took some pictures and ate at a Chifa Restaurant. Chifa is a term used in Peru to refer to Chinese cooking in which many of the ingredients originally used in China were substituted by those available in Peru due to a lack of ingredients.

Day 4 we booked a tour through the hotel to the Temple of Pachacamac. The tour was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. We started my doing to some sites in Lima I missed the day before. and then the Guide just made the trip very interesting with discussion of life in Lima, jails, poverty,incan sex, sacrifices and lots more.

After that we went to the artisan markets along Av. La Marina to get some Incan gifts. They have lots of booths and a great selection there. And that’s it. That was my short 4 day Peru trip. We left for the airport that night.

So, I really wanted to do a major trip, and man did I do one. I did 3 continents in 9 days; Europe, Asia & Africa. I started by flying into Rome Italy, then I went to Beijing China, but in between a had layover in Cairo, Egypt with enough time to go around. Then after China I flew back to Europe and went to Vienna, Austria, but again had a long enough layover to go around Cairo, Egypt .

I started by booking my flights. I booked though CheapOAir.com. The flights where a little expensive, the only money I save was $15 off with a coupon from Juicy Coupons. I didn’t plan on getting a long layover in Cairo, Egypt, but when that opportunity came up I took it. I really wanted to see the pyramids. I was a little concerned with safety, but had no problems when I was there. Anyway after I book all the flights I booked my hotels with Hotel.com

So I departed from the US to Rome, Italy. I was on Air Berlin. Air Berlin was a very nice airline with decent food and good service. I had a layover in Germany, wasn’t happy about it, but I couldn’t find any direct flights to Rome at all. The German airports are different than the US. When your flight is ready everyone boards at the same time. There are no zone numbers. Also, they boarded the doors in both the front and back of the plane at the same time. I liked that.

When we got to Europe we went straight to the hotel. I chose a hotel in the Spangna section right next to the metro. The name of the hotel was Hotel Internazionale. It was a nice hotel, but it’s at the top part of the Spanish steps. So every time we went to the hotel we had a little workout by with going up the steps or steep sidewalks. Also the bathroom was very narrow. I had to squeeze by the sink to get to the shower.

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The first night we went and ate at LIFE restaurant. It’s a pretty fancy looking place with awesome food. I had the ravioli. After that we walked over Giolitti’s for some gelato. It’s my second favorite gelato place.

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When I go to Rome I mostly like to eat. Best food on earth. Along with that on the second day there we did the normal sight seeing like the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Vatican. You can see all the major sites in a day like we did. Just make sure you keep stopping for some awesome pizza and gelato. That day we stopped at my favorite gelato place which is Gelateria Della Palma, it’s close to the Pantheon.

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On the third day we flew to Cairo Egypt for our layover. We flew on Egypt Air. A week before the trip I booked the Sound & Light tour at the Pyramids light show with Karnak Travel Agency. They are owned by Egypt Air and specialize in layover trips. When we got there however there was no agent at the desk. People kept calling for her but she never answered the phone. There was another man there from Jordan who also wanted the tour. We were lucky he was there because he spoke Arabic and kept asking where she was and would not stop. Finally someone got a hold of her and she said she was at another location and was on her way. After a hour of waiting she showed and we book the trip, it was a shame for the man from Jordan though. She said said his flight was earlier than ours it was to risky to leave and be back in time.

The nighttime light show was starting in 25 minutes so our driver Mohammad had to drive fast. And man did he drive fast. This was the most exciting part of our whole trip. He drove fast as hell in very crowded rush hour traffic. He drove on the line between lanes weaving in and out and actually got us there right when the show started. He got a good tip for that. The show wasn’t what I expected. You see the pyramids from a distance so they don’t look that big. The light show lights up the pyramids in different colors and not much more. They explain the history, but I heard the history told better on the history channel. After the show we went back to the airport for our china flight.

We had the emergency exit row, so lots of leg space on out way to China. Once we boarded 5 Chinese guys in the aisle next to use took off their shoes and man did that stink. Luckily the smell eventually went away once the plane starting moving.

Once we got to China we took the train and then the metro to our hotel. The hotel we booked was Jianguo Hotspring Hotel. Google maps was totally off with the location of the Hotel. Google Maps I really hate you for that. It took us 5 hours of walking around with our backpacks to find the Hotel. The metro and streets in Beijing have English, but no taxi drives can read English. So, when I tried to ask for directions or get a Taxi, no one could tell us. Walking around in Beijing is not like walking around in any other city I’ve been to. Every block is EXTREMELY long. So, you’re walking forever and getting no where. Finally we when to a Hotel where the clerk was able to write the directions of our hotel in Chinese so that a taxi driver could read it.

After all this we got to the hotel and wanted to eat. It was either 8 or 9pm and most of the restaurants around us were closed. So, we walked over to a McDonalds we saw earlier. It was a good choice, I had enough and just wanted a Big Mac at that point. No English speaking in McDonalds either by the way. Usually I like going to cities where they don’t speak English and enjoy a little struggle to communicate. But not in China, it was much harder in China.

So, on our 5th day we got up at 4am, just because we couldn’t sleep. The sun was up already too. We just chilled in the hotel until it was time for the tour we booked. We booked the tour with ChinaTour.Net. The Jianguo Hotspring Hotel is a nice hotel by the way, just hated trying to find it, that’s Google’s fault. We booked a Great Wall and Ming Temple Tour. The Great wall was very very crowded, but it’s still the Great Wall and worth going to. The Ming Temples were okay, not a lot to look at. After that the made us go to this place to get Chinese Medicine. First they gave us a free foot massage(my girlfriend give better ones). Then they had some Eastern Medicine Doctors look at our palms and tell us whats wrong with us. It’s just like the regular palm reading scam. If they see a fat person they say high cholesterol and diabetes. We had a doctor from India on our tour who had his cholesterol checked the week before he left and laughed when the Chinese doctor said high cholesterol.

After this they made us go to a Jade factory for shopping and lunch. I didn’t do any shopping in China because I hate the way they sell. If you ask how much a T-Shirt is they will say it cost 180 yaun, you know the real price is 18 yaun and they will waste an hour of your time haggling. This even happens everywhere, even in large expensive stores like this Jade factory. One of the doctors from India haggled his way down from 680 yaun to 240 yaun.

That night we went to the Night Market and I wanted to try some bugs like I seen on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman. First I tried a sea horse. It was okay, tasted like chicken. Then I tried a HUGE centipede. That was didn’t taste good at all and had a bad after taste that stayed with me. Last I tried a star fish. That just tasted like fish sticks, so not real bad or real good.

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On our 6th day we got up and went to the Forbidden City. It is huge and would take about 6 hours to walk though the hole thing. We went though it for about 45 minutes and left. While the architecture was cool, after 45 minutes it all looked exactly the same. Then every time we went into a temple or building there it was just empty. At this point we really just had enough of China. So, we just went to a fancy restaurant for some duck. We went to Da Dong which had the best reviews in out Frommers guide book. I’ve had much better duck. It was not crispy at all. I wouldn’t recommend Da Dong at all.

After this we went to a outdoor market, where I didn’t buy anything because I don’t like to haggle.

On out 7th day we went to airport to depart China. YAY!! The lady at the ticket counter gave me problems though. She kept asking for my credit card. When I gave her one she said no the other one. She wanted the credit card I used to book the flight. I said I don’t have it. She said she need it for identification. I said I have my passport. This went on for 10 minutes. Then finally she just handed me my boarding pass.

Here’s some scams in China that people I met fell for. The China Tea Scam. These girls walked up to you and say hey where you from. Strike up a conversation, then ask you to get some tea. Then you get one huge $250 tea bill. Another scam is they say the $20 foot massage, then they jack up the price afterwards. They’d have huge guards that make sure you pay your bills. Cops can get you your money back, but they don’t speak English.

So, the flight is good and we get to Cairo Egypt early for another layover. This one is longer like 10 hours. Again I book a trip with Karnak. He said the tour doesn’t start for a couple hours and gets us a free hotel and breakfast at Novetel. Egypt Air gives free Hotel when you have long layover. WOW!

Novetel had a good breakfast, but there was pee in my toilet when I got there.

The tour was to the Great Pyramids and Spinx. We were also supposed to go to the museum, but there were protest there so it was canceled. The pyramids are awesome of course they are the pyramids. There’s not much to say though. I’ll just warn you about some scams the tour guy told use about that we did see there. People will say hey take a photo on my camel. You’re going to pay a lot for that photo when you get off. Also guys will say free tshirt, not free of course. Also, kids will say some very cool poses to do. Don’t let them take your photo or you will get charged.

I like Egypt, but I liked it just for the 10 hours. I wouldn’t want to stay more. After that we went back to the free hotel for some rest and then headed back to the airport.

On the 8th day we get to Vienna Austria. We go the the hotel Ibis Wien Messe which is close to the metro and easy to find. Ibis Wien Messe is a nice hotel. No problems there. We were tired and went to sleep

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The 9th day We headed out to go downtown. Vienna is a very nice city. There wasn’t much for me to see downtown though. So I went to the Schönbrunn Palace . The Schönbrunn Palace is awesome and huge. Unlike the Forbidden City there stuff to see here. It took us a few hours to walk around and honestly the trip took it’s toll on us and we were exhausted and tired of walking. So we headed back to the hotel and packed and got ready to head back home. This was not my favorite vacation. China was very disappointing. I think this was the only disappointing vacation I ever had.

This year I went back to Philadelphia for and went to another Haunted House I saw on the travel channel: The Bates Motel. I wanted to go a few years ago, but they weren’t open week nights. There are three section to this attraction. The Bates Motel, The Haunted Hayride, and The Corn Maze. We bought the combo ticket for all 3.

We got there around 7pm, thinking we were early, but it looked like there were thousands of people there. The ticket line was very long, but it move pretty quick. You can also buy your tickets online, but there is a service fee and you still have to get in a different line to pick up the tickets.

The first thing we did was The Bates Motel. The line wasn’t that long and it moved fast. They pushed everyone through fast, so I just walked slow to let the actors reset. It was a cool haunted house, different rooms had different horror movies themes. Like there was an Exorcist room and Silence of the Lambs.

The next attraction we did was The Corn Maze. The Corn Maze had a much longer line but again it moved pretty quick. The Corn Maze was NOT a maze at all. It was just a path through some corn. No one can get lost in it. Some people like it a lot, it was not high on my list though.

The Haunted Hayride is what we did last. Maybe it was a good thing that we did it last because after waiting 2 hours and 10 minutes in that line, I wouldn’t want to get in another line. Yes that was a long slow moving line. The Haunted Hayride at Arasapha Farm has been scaring people for over 20 years though. And it’s the part that was actually featured on the Travel Channel. This is most likely the best Haunted Hayride anywhere. It’s 25 minutes long and has Hollywood style sets and props. It was worth the 2 hours and 10 minutes wait time. I wouldn’t wait that long again for it, but for the first time it was worth it.

In conclusion, are the attraction at The Bates Motel cool? Yes they are. So far in the Philadelphia area I like Eastern State Penitentiary the most. The Bates Motel is second and Fright Factory is third.

Read the review for Eastern State Penitentiary & Fright Factory

In the begining fo August I went to Lobsterfest in Rockland, Maine. I booked my flight on Orbitz again. The only bad thing was I could not find any direct flights from South Florida to the airport in Portland Maine. So, I had no choice but to make 1 stop in Atlanta. The flight went smooth and I arrive in Portland.

I book the trip for Wednesday to Sunday and that was too long because there’s not much to do in Maine. Which is also why this will be one of my shortest reviews.

We drove Lobsterfest in Rockland. It would actually be a great place if I had kids. It’s like a fair, with lots of rides. I have no kids and went directly to the food tent. The food tent was awesome. I had a choice between a 1-lobster meal, 2-lobster meal, or a 3-lobster meal. They also had another side with all sorts of fried fish. I got the 1-lobster meal with clams and extra claws. It was delicious. We ate for a while, then walked around the fair. There wasn’t much for Adults, so we just stopped at a New England Clam Chowder stand, and got some and drove back to the hotel.

While the Lobsterfest was a great with the food, we had problems finding things to do the other days. We went on some tours in Portland like a food tour and a bus tour. They weren’t that great, but to be honest I never been on a bus tour that I liked. We also went to Freeport Maine which is like a small town that is a Mall. If you want to go shopping go to Freeport. There’s just now much else I can recommend to do in Miane, just go with an empty belly and eat some good food.