It was supposed to rain this day, so we planned indoor things. Well, the good news is that it never did rain! We arose early and went for the free breakfast at the hotel. It was the same stuff everyday, but did not get old. I had the meats, cheeses, croissant, and coffee daily while we were there. We went to see the Haus des Meeres, which is a WWII Flak Tower, turned aquarium. Now for me, this was a triple crown winner! 1. It has historical significance. 2. The views from the top terrace are wonderful! 3. It is a very well done aquarium that recycled existing facilities. We really liked this place all around. I will say that it can get crowded and stuffy in there, but it was easy to let the crowds ... read more

We arrived into Vienna at about 1:20pm and quickly went to get our taxi. I rarely use taxis, and prefer to use public transport. However, it would have been about 23 euro for us, and would have included a few transfers. We booked a taxi for just 30 euro, and were able to be taken to the hotel straight away. We quickly checked in to the Ibis Styles hotel, and then showered and changed. There was a U-Bahn stop just across from the hotel so we went out and took a ride to the city center. It was sunny and mid 60s for the temperature. Our first visit was to the Hard Rock Cafe. I only bought a pin there, and received credit for my visit. We then walked up to Stephansplatz and saw the St.Stephen's ... read more

I have been wanting to see Brasilia for a very long time. You see, I love the modern architecture of this planned city that was only finished in 1960. That Architect was Oscar Niemeyer. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our flights to Brasilia were always full, but then they upgraded the aircraft from a 757 to a 767. Yes!!! Now I would have a chance maybe? I had attempted to go on my own several times but it seemed to always be raining and the thought of walking around in the rain did not excite me. My wife and I had planned a little getaway for this week. Our daughter did not go, as she is in Florida with some friends. Of the places we had looked at going, this seemed to ... read more

It was time to go home. We did not get a good sleep because people were partying the 3 day weekend away for Semana Santa. We awoke at 3 am, got ready, and went down to the lobby for our ride. Our ride should have been there at 4 am. When 4:30 am came and he was still not there, we got ourselves a taxi. We negotiated the same price we would have paid for the other ride, so that was ok. With little traffic, we got to SCL airport quickly. We checked in for our GOL flight to Sao Paulo and went to the gate to wait. Delta has a nonstop from Santiagoto Atlanta, however, it was full in business class. Spoiled, I know. At just before 8 am, we were on GOL flight 7661, ... read more

Alexandra and her husband were busy on this day, so we decided we would visit the zoo and ride the funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. We awoke early, got ready and headed out to the metro. We rode it three stops to the Baquedano station. From there it was about a 15-20 minutes walk to the funicular. We had been in this same are the day before when we ate lunch with our friends at Shukran. We purchased our tickets for the funicular and got off on the first stop, which was for the zoo. The funicular does not stop at the zoo on the way down so that is why we chose this first. The zoo here is a real deal at around $3 per person. It is also very nice and ... read more