JackKozik.com » Jack’s Travel

Walk Balboa Pier at Newport Beach 020117

Jack Kozik — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 19:41:31 +0000

I was in Newport Beach on meetings. I only had one free night, so I decided to export the Balboa Pier. It was a rather long walk from my hotel, so I took a taxi both ways. The Balboa Peninsula Park and Pavilion area are really nice to visit, but surprisingly, they all closed at sunset… except Ruby’s all the way at the end of the Balboa Pier.

I stopped there, had a cheeseburger and shake, then headed back.

It was a really beautiful sunset and a really very peaceful and quiet time of day.

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Anchorage May 2016

Jack Kozik — Mon, 09 May 2016 02:49:07 +0000

I was in Anchorage for business meetings. While there I took some time to walk through the downtown area.

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Our hosts rented out the Anchorage Museum one evening. It’s a great place to go to learn the history of Alaska and the peoples who live here. Really cool!

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Austin 03/01/16

Jack Kozik — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:00:02 +0000

I was in Austin on business and stayed in the downtown area. One evening I went out for a walk. I started at the Omni Hotel, Brazos St at 7th Street. I walked North along Brazos to the Texas State Capitol. From there I walked along the Capitol grounds then headed South back along Congress Ave.

I walked for awhile and turned left onto 6th Street. I walked among the many live music night spots. I didn’t go into any of them but from the street, I could hear all the music. It was a fun atmosphere!

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Las Vegas 1/27/16

Jack Kozik — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 03:57:06 +0000

I was in Las Vegas for business meetings. One late evening, I went for a walk along the Las Vegas Strip. I started at the MGM Grand and walked North up to the Paris Hotel. From there, I took the monorail back.

It was a nice comfortable evening; the city was beautifully lit-up.

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San Diego 01/25/16

Jack Kozik — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 05:08:08 +0000

I was in downtown San Diego on business. A couple of nights I went for walks. One night I walked through the Gaslamp Quarter. The next night I walked to the waterfront.

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Walking Las Vegas Strip

Jack Kozik — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 20:04:04 +0000

I was in Las Vegas for the week. My meetings started at 8am and most nights ended at 10pm, so I didn’t get alot of time to really do anything.

My last night, after 10pm, I went for a walk on the Las Vegas Strip. I exited through the taxi stand area, turned right / West and walked along Tropicana Ave.

At the light with Las Vegas Blvd, I crossed the street and turned right. From there I walked North passing Excalibur, New York-New York, Monte Carlo, Mandarin Oriental, City Center Place, Planet Hollywood, Harley Davidson Cafe, Cosmopolitan, Aria, Bellagio (saw the nice fountain show!), Paris, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, and Bally’s.

From Bally’s I took the Monorail ($5) back to the MGM. This was a fun way to see the city lights!

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Walk Baltimore Inner Harbor and Downtown Area

Jack Kozik — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 15:25:57 +0000

My First Day

After my first full day of meetings in Baltimore Inner Harbor, I went for a pre-dinner walk. My hotel is on the Baltimore Inner Harbor front. I started there, walked North along Gay Street upto City Hall. Then I turned left and looped back South along Commerce Street back to the Inner Harbor / Pratt Street.

Along the way, I saw: the Holocaust Memorial, United State Appraisers’ Stores, United States Custom House, Charles L. Benton Jr. Building, the Baltimore Street Red Light district, War Memorial Building and Plaza, Zion Lutheran Church, Memorial to The Negro Heroes of the United States, Stratford University, World Trade Center, Harbor Maritime Museum, and Pratt Street Power Plant.

The weather was overcast, with a steady drizzle.

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Link to Everytrail Trip

My Last Evening

After dinner on my last day of meeting in Baltimore, I went for an evening walk through the downtown area.

I started at my hotel on the Inner Harbor (Pratt Street) and walked North and West on Lombard St. I walked up to the iconic Bromo-Seltzer Tower, then I headed North and walked East on Baltimore Street, turned left on to Calvert Street to the nicely lit-up Battle Monument. From there, I zig-zagged over to South Street and walked over to the Inner Harbor water front where I walked over to Pier 5, then headed back to my hotel.

Along the way, I saw: William Donald Schaefer Federal Building and it’s colorful lawn sculpture, The Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower, Bank of America Building, Battle Monument, City Hall, Furness House, National Aquarium, Pratt Street Power Plant, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET), and the USCGC Taney Coast Guard Cutter.

This was my first visit to Baltimore Inner Harbor, and it rained the whole time, all three days. I wasn’t going to let some rain stop me from exploring the historic downtown area, but maybe next time I will come when it isn’t monsoon season and explore a little further. And, maybe even see an Orioles baseball game at the nearby Camden Yard ballpark.

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TIPS

Overall, the Baltimore Inner Harbor area is very nice and very new. When you walk further into the historic downtown area, you see buildings that are considerably older and of more historic significance. I nice place to wander through.

The Baltimore Inner Harbor area is a good area for business meetings. Lots of shopping and dinner spots nearby. I was able to go back and forth to the airport over a very convenient Light Rail line (cheap, too!)

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Nob Hill Walk Cable Car Loop — San Francisco

Jack Kozik — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 04:44:39 +0000

Background on my Nob Hill Walk: I was in San Francisco on business. My hotel and meetings were on Nob Hill. On my first day of meetings, I did an early morning walk and a late evening Cable Car excursion, looping the city. A beautiful day.

Nob Hill Walk – Down California, Cable Car Back

I was in San Francisco for business meetings. Early in the morning on the second day of my visit I decided to go for a walk from my hotel on Nob Hill heading East down California Street. My walk ended at Market Street; from there, I caught the California Line Cable Car to take me back.

For this nice little walk, I walked past buildings mostly in the Financial District: Transamerica Pyramid, 650 California Street / Hartford Building, Old St. Mary’s Church, Omni San Francisco Hotel, Alvinza Hayward Building, Union Bank / Bank of California, and the terraced gardens of the 101 California Building.

The cable car terminus at California and Market/Drumm Streets was all torn up. At first, I thought I couldn’t board here because of the construction, but after awhile several people started queuing up so I knew this was still a good pick up point. The workers there were making sure that people were queuing for the cable car in a safe spot.

Heading back, I saw the Sing Fat Building, Mark Hopkins Hotel, Ritz-Carlton, Fairmont Hotel, and the Pacific-Union Club — Nob Hill is a nice place to visit!

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Cable Car Ride: Union Square on Powell/Mason line to Embarcadero Streetcar South to California Line back to Nob Hill

After a full day of meetings and dinner, I took a for-fun ride on the cable cars.

I started at Union Square, hopping on the Powell/Mason Cable car on Market Street heading North all the way up to Fisherman’s Wharf. I briefly walked around and then caught the Embarcadero Streetcar and road South along the F-Market & Wharves line to the Ferry Building at Market Street.

I walked around the area, took some pictures of the Bay Bridge, had dinner nearby then walked over to the California line cable car terminus. I rode up Nob Hill, back to my hotel.

This is a fun loop; this is something I have always wanted to do. The only really new segment for me was the Streetcar. I rode in one of the decades old vintage street cars. It was perfectly restored and had a very comfortable ride. I shared it with about 15 other people. I have seen the street cars before; they look really cool, but they aren’t the same as the cable car… much more like a bus.

On the loop, I took pictures of some noteworthy sites: “Hearts in San Francisco” and Dewey Monument in Union Square Park, Westin St Francis, Sam’s Cable Car Lounge, Blue Mermaid bar in Fisherman’s Wharf, Ferry Building Clock Tower, San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, Gandhi Statue in the Golden Gate Ferry Terminal, Southern Pacific Building, Vaillancourt Fountain, and the The Pacific-Union Club, Grace Cathedral and the Mark Hopkins hotel on Nob Hill.

I bought a one day pass for the cable cars. It came in handy for this trip, which otherwise would have cost 3 separate fares. I did this at night, a little bit late. This was mostly ok, because during the day it is alot more crowded.
Cable Car Loop: Union Square taking Powell/Mason line to Embarcadero Streetcar to California Line to Nob Hill at EveryTrail

EveryTrail – Find the best Walking Tours in San Francisco, California

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Experiences entering Beijing on the 72-hour Visa-Free Transit

Jack Kozik — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 18:00:28 +0000

My trip to China was a challenge. I had to schedule my trip to follow the new 72-hour Visa-Free Transit process; I didn’t have time to go through the normal visa process. I am pleased to report that my visit to Beijing worked out well, but it was more complicated than I thought it would be. I share my notes here for my records and perhaps the benefit of others.

My host gave me 3 weeks to plan my travel, but I was already scheduled for two other overseas trips so I couldn’t put my passport through the normal (or even expedited) visa process. So my host suggested that I travel on the 72-hour Visa-Free Transit visit process. I had never heard of this and was skeptical (if not a little reluctant).

The 72-hour Visa-Free Transit rules say that you need a travel itinerary where your departure time is less than 72 hours after the time your inbound flight is scheduled to land. AND, you need to be heading to a different country from which you came. I booked a flight from Chicago to Beijing that landed Monday afternoon. Then I booked a return flight to Tokyo to leave Thursday morning. My Tokyo flight had a 3 hour layover for me to connect with a flight back to Chicago.

BTW, there’s lots more rules: you cannot leave Beijing, you have to be from one of the approved countries, and more. Please don’t go by what I say here, go research this yourself.

This worked. But I had to go through several document checks, with each step adding some doubt and uncertainty.

Ticket counter.

When I started the trip, my airline required me to show my China visa at the ticket counter before they would give me a boarding pass. Not surprisingly, everyone in line ahead of me had a visa. When I got to the head of the line, the poor agent had no idea what I was trying to do. He said “… you have to have a visa to get a boarding pass.” So I pulled out a print-out of an FAQ from the Chinese Embassy that explained the 72-hour Visa-Free Transit policy; I pulled out a TripAdvisor.com posting, and I pulled out a print-out of a travel blogger’s experiences (including photos). I showed all of this to the agent and only a brief 5 minutes later he gave me a boarding pass.

At the departure gate.

I thought that once I got a boarding pass, I was set. But no. At the boarding gate there’s a roped-off line with a sign saying secondary document checks. I was the first in line. I gave them my visa-less passport, my itinerary, and print-outs from several web pages. The first agent I saw, she didn’t know what to do; she took all my papers then said she was calling her supervisor. Well he came, and didn’t know what to do; they both consulted with someone else. They asked me to sit down; they’d get back to me. Well finally a ticket agenda who knew how to read Chinese came to the gate and she knew what to do right away. They stamped my boarding pass and let me on. This was more drama than I wanted, but understandable.

Chinese immigration hall.

After my long 13 hour flight, with some anxiety I got off my plane at Terminal 3 at the Beijing airport. After a short walk I get to the immigration area. Much to my delight there were two lines dedicated to 72-hour Visa-Free Transit visitors. I went to one of the lines and it was closed?! I politely asked and an immigration agent pointed and said “Foreigner.” This meant I should get into one of the 6 or so lines with a big title of foreigner over the agent’s station.

I got into one of the lines. It was long but it moved fast. Clearly everyone in front of me had a visa. Gulp, was my immigration agent going to know what to do? I gave him my passport, my itinerary, and I said “72-hour Visa-Free Transit .” He apparently knew what I was talking about. He called over one of his associates and they directed me to a separate desk where my travel itinerary was checked. The agent took out a special, big-ish stamp, stamped my passport, and let me pass. Overall, very smooth. Yeah!!

Once I got passed immigration, there was a big back-lit poster celebrating the 72 hour transit visa — implying a welcome for all of us visitors entering under the new process. Thanks, I am glad to be here, so it was OK.

Return Trip

I landed in Beijing on a Monday afternoon; I left on a Thursday AM flight. Exiting China at the Beijing airport was very smooth. My passport and boarding pass were briefly checked, stamped and then I went through security, very much, like normal.

I was surprised by the reaction of my host. I got some adventure-traveler bonus points from the him and other members of the local team because I was willing to try the new process, but in retrospect it wasn’t that hard and hopefully my story can help others.

Summary

In summary, make sure you have a printed copy of your travel itinerary, and make sure your departure is to a different country from where you came, and make sure your departure time is less than 72-hours from your landing time, and read the FAQs for all the details of the rules.

References

Beijing 72-hour Visa-Free Transit Policy link from Beijing Capital International Airport website
Things to do during your 72 hours visa-free transit in Beijing article on China.org.cn travel section
Beijing starts visa-free transit policy new feature on ebeijing.gov.cn
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Concerning 72-hour Transit Visa Exemption for Foreign Nationals FAQ posted on China-Embassy.org
China: Visa-free transits article on TripAdvisor.com

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Tiananmen Square Walk

Jack Kozik — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:28:22 +0000

Background on my evening Tiananmen Square Walk: My short visit to Beijing was almost over, my meetings were completed, and I had a short 60 minutes to do some sight seeing. My host had to leave for Shanghai, and I was left with our nice to driver, who agreed to drop me off at Tiananmen Square for one hour. I was looking forward to this!

The traffic along Chang’an Avenue was really heavy and he couldn’t park close, so he found a section of the street two blocks away where he waited for me. With a finger pointing to the square, he set me off on a solo walk.

I started east walking by the architecturally unique National Centre for the Performing Arts (really beautiful!), I then followed along Chang’an Ave passed the Great Hall of the People and reached the north west corner of the square. I saw the Tiananmen Gate, the iconic entry way to the Forbidden City, with the picture of Chairman Mao on it… this is one of the most common images you see in tourists pictures.

Tiananmen Square is physically across Chang’an Ave, south from the Gate. The plaza area is fenced on all sides, and if you look at the pin on Google Maps, it’s right at the entry I went through. The entry is a guard station that scans all packages and backpacks. I was waived-through no problem. Overseas tourist types like me, while not common, looked welcome. I would say most of the visitors to the square were citizens of China from other parts of the country (lots of tour buses).

While at the square I briefly walked by The National Museum of China, Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Monument to the People’s Heroes, and very popular flag pole. I got there right at sunset and 100s of people were gathered around the flag pole as the soldiers, in a very solemn ceremony, lowered the flag, right at sunset.

When the flag was lowered, the Tiananmen Gate lights were turned on. It looked really nice! A couple of people from a university came up to me, in excellent English welcomed me to China, asked me where I was from and with pride shared some of China’s history with me. Very memorable.

But it was time to go. I didn’t want to keep my driver waiting. I haven’t been to China in over 8 years and it was very nice to be back. I had a really nice Tiananmen Square Walk.

As business travelers who go to the Dongcheng or Xicheng Districts in the city center know, during rush hour, the Chang’an Ave is 10 lanes of very, very slow traffic. After my brief walk through Tiananmen square my driver had to drive 3 miles to my hotel. It took over 40 minutes. This is Beijing — get used to it. The last time I was in town, my host had me use the subway — probably a good idea for next time.

There’s so much more to see in this area. I didn’t have time to go into the Forbidden City. There’s some really nice outdoor shopping bizaars nearby, and the museums are beautiful, but not this trip. Maybe some other time.

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