St. Louis wrap-up

I'm back home from my St. Louis trip. The flight home was uneventful... I slept for most of it, hehe. I did end up dropping over $40 (including tip) on a cab from my hotel to the STL airport though. Good thing I stopped at the ATM last night, since the cab driver said he didn't take credit cards on Sundays.

On Flickr I've posted a bunch of skating championships photos and general sightseeing photos from my trip.

Overall I had a great time in St. Louis, watching the skating, doing some sightseeing, and visiting with friends. I wasn't sure if my decision not to get a rental car would hamper me, but most everything I wanted to see was within walking distance or a Metrolink ride away from my hotel, so it turned out fine. And now I can add Missouri to my "visited states" map! :-)



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St. Louis day 3

I made my way to the Gateway Arch this morning. My plan was to hop on the Metrolink to the Arch and take the tram up to the top by 11am, take photos, grab lunch somewhere, and get to Savvis Center by 1pm. I did arrive at the Arch by 11, but my grand plan was thwarted as the first available tram ride was scheduled for 12:15 (oops). Still, I decided to wait around, since I was there anyway, and I wouldn't be too disappointed to miss the first group of skaters at the men's long program event. So, I walked around the Museum of Westward Expansion exhibits before queueing up for the tram ride up. Once up top, I took some scenery photos while trying to not fall down on the curved floor. :-)


The Gateway Arch 


View from the top of the Arch 

I hustled back to the Metrolink after leaving the Arch and made it to Savvis Center shortly after 1pm. Turns out that the men's event started a few minutes late so I didn't miss anything after all, although I didn't have a chance to get lunch beforehand (I made do with a soft pretzel later). The skating was mostly just so-so until the final group. The top four all skated inspired programs that drew standing ovations. Two of my fellow native-Illinoisans, Evan Lysacek and Matt Savoie, finished second and third and will be on the Olympic team with the US champ, Johnny Weir. Michael Weiss ended up in fourth but also gave a strong performance.

The ladies' event wasn't quite as well-skated, but Sasha Cohen won with a nice program that only had a couple of minor stumbles out of jumps. Kimmie Meissner moved up from 4th place to take the silver by landing more triples than anyone, although I didn't much care for her program. Emily Hughes (sister of Sarah) had some mistakes and dropped to third. After the event, I found my SkateFan friends Erik and Catherine and we watched the medal ceremonies for both the ladies and the men. Several of the SkateFan folks headed off to dinner, but since they were going to eat near their hotel which was in the opposite direction of mine, I opted to say my farewells at this point and headed back to my hotel. It was great to see them this weekend though.


Sasha Cohen receives her awards 

Tomorrow my flight home is scheduled to depart around 2:30pm. I think I'll be taking a cab since there is a service disruption on the St. Louis Metrolink due to construction that would necessitate me transfering to a bus between two intermediate stations, and I don't want to have to schlep my bags off the train and onto a bus and back onto the train again. :-P Aside from that though, I have to say that the Metrolink was very comfortable and clean, as was most of the downtown St. Louis area that I saw.

St. Louis day 2

Today I had lunch with my UIUC engineering classmate Diane who lives in the St. Louis area. We met up at the Houlihan's in Union Station. It was nice to catch up. We hadn't seen each other since our friends Steve and Sarah's wedding back in 2003.


Diane and me at Houlihan's 

My left ankle was still in pain from the new boots this morning, unfortunately. Yesterday I had noticed that the Foot Locker store in Union Station was having a sale, so today after lunch I stopped in and ended up buying a pair of casual sneakers. :-) They felt very comfortable, and I didn't have a pair of casual (as opposed to athletic) sneakers yet anyway, so it was $40 well-spent, hehe.

After chilling at the hotel for a bit I ventured back out to Savvis Center for more skating action. It was snowing and windy so it was a brisk walk. :-P The first event was the senior pairs final. I sat with my fellow skatefans (including Erik, Liz, Sylvia, Catherine, and Jessica) for the last three groups. The winners, Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, landed a throw triple axel - the first one done in competition by any pair in the world. It was quite a feat, and they received a huge standing ovation from the crowd.

I grabbed a hot dog for dinner then went back to my assigned seat for the senior ice dance final. As expected, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto (who's from Chicago!) won easily, but a number of other top teams turned in strong and entertaining performances that got loud ovations. After the event I stuck around for the medal ceremonies for senior ice dance, junior ladies, and senior pairs.


Senior pairs medalists 

Tomorrow I plan to check out the Gateway Arch. The weather is supposed to be nicer so I hope to get some good photos!

Meet me in St. Louis

I arrived in St. Louis today for my first vacation trip of 2006!


View of downtown St. Louis from the entrance to my hotel 

My flight from Chicago arrived on time, and I took the Metrolink (light rail) from the airport to Union Station in downtown St. Louis. From there I walked a few blocks to my hotel. The weather was nice and spring-like today - sunny and warm (for January). My hotel room wasn't ready yet when I got there (which I kind of expected since it was not even 1pm) so I had them store my luggage while I walked back to Union Station to grab some lunch and buy a few souvenir trinkets for the family. :-)


St. Louis Union Station 

Around this time the back of my left ankle started hurting from the new boots I was wearing. I should have brought a second pair of shoes but I when I first put my boots on this morning they felt fine. Doh! Anyway, after I went back to the hotel and checked in I put a second sock on my left foot for extra padding which helped a little. Hopefully the boots will feel more "broken in" tomorrow.

After a short nap, I headed back to Union Station for dinner before making my way to Savvis Center to watch the ladies' short program event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. I called my friend Erik from Texas who was also in town attending the championships and found out where he was sitting. During the zamboni break, I moved from my original seat in the nosebleed section down to where he and his friends were seated (lower bowl, much closer to the ice). The action felt much more intense from there. I've always been in awe of what figure skaters can do on the ice on those skinny blades! This is the biggest skating competition I've ever been to and I enjoyed tonight's event even though a lot of the skaters had mistakes. I'm looking forward to watching all the senior-level long program events tomorrow and Saturday.


Kimmie Meissner skates her short program 

Tomorrow I plan to sleep in :-) then meet up with my enginerd friend Diane for lunch, before heading back over to Savvis Center. The weather is supposed to be cooler and rainy tomorrow. I'm glad I brought my umbrella!

Welcome! Bienvenue! Bienvenido! Mabuhay!

Welcome to my new "travelblog" which will chronicle my current and future travels for work and (hopefully more often!) pleasure. To get this blog started I have copied over some travel-related entries from my old Blogspot, the RONaround. As of today, I have no major upcoming travel plans other than a long weekend trip to St. Louis in mid-January. I will be meeting some friends from when I went to UIUC and attending some of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, where the 2006 Olympic figure skating team for the USA will be determined. Later this year I would like to visit my cousins in California and/or Maryland, and maybe make a return trip to NYC where I first traveled to in summer of 2004.

I hope to share lots of fun travel stories in the coming months and years!