Best/Worst

One of the more frequent questions we get from others is, “where is your most favorite place in the world?” We don’t know quite how to respond to that. Let’s just say we can’t think of a  place that was all bad, and we are willing to go almost any where.

But it is true that we do find certain parts of a trip more memorable than others. We can name some names:

Best/Favorite List:

  • Airbnb stays: for artsy decoration – in Warsaw; for the killer view – in Guanajuato, Mexico, Stresa, Italy & Puerto Varas, Chile; for hospitality & comfort – in Lisbon
  • airline: Two Korea based airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, provide excellent service and great food; TAP Express surprised us by providing a decent hot sandwich and an egg tart for a short(1.5 hours) flight between Barcelona and Lisbon.
  • airport: Seoul Incheon Airport(ICN) – well maintained, efficient, lots of eating and shopping choices, easy connection to the city center, free wifi; Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) and Munich Strauss(MUC) – a breezy atmosphere where one can spend hours without getting bored
  • airport lounge: Turkish Air lounge at Istanbul Ataturk Airport – comfy sitting, freshly cooked food, free massage, tea bar, piano music etc. etc.
  • bike sharing program: Vienna’s City Bike Wien. One Euro to register, and each ride up to one hour is free. A new ride after a 15-minute break is free for another hour. This means you virtually use the bikes for free all day! Easy to register online. Well marked bike lanes throughout the city. Good availability of the bikes and the stations. Easy to check out & return the bikes.
  • bus trip: ETN Bus trips in Mexico – very comfortable seats, free drink+snack
  • church: San Pedro Apostol de Andahuaylillas in Sacred Valley, Peru – a totally unexpected masterpiece in the middle of nowhere where money was scarce; a simple white church on the ground of the Abbey of Sant’Antimo near Montalcino, Tuscany, ItalyAbbazia_di_sant'antimo,_interno_01
  • cruise port: Alicante(Spain) – easy walk to the center, friendly information center, beautiful environment right off the ship
  • ice cream and gelato: We love ice cream and gelato, and we try them everywhere we go. YK’s favorite ice cream shop is Mitchell’s in San Francisco. In terms of gelato, there are so many wonderful shops in almost every city in Europe and elsewhere, and we have not been able to nail down just one place. When we do, we’ll write about it.
  • food court: Mercado San Miguel in Madrid, Spain – beautifully presented food at reasonable prices; Seri Market in Nine Center Rama Nine, Bangkok – we went there almost every morning at 8 AM while we were in Bangkok. Great selection of local food freshly made there. We could have a feast spending less than $5. Loved fresh fruit juices and smoothies.
  • map for the tourists: City of Copenhagen’s free map – a comprehensive street map with well-marked points of interest; it shows all the public transportation stops/stations and even bike stations in the bike share program. Pick it up from the tourist information centers.
  • picnic lunch: Quinta da Roêda vineyard (if this link doesn’t lead you to the picnic page on your phone, then try this link) in Douro Valley, Pinhao, Portugal – for 25 Euros per person, you get plenty of cold cuts, cheese, fruit, a bottle of wine(per person), and desserts & you can enjoy the spread while the lush vineyard scenery is right in front of your eyes.
  • subway: Seoul for efficiency, cleanliness, and cheap price; St. Petersburg(Russia) and Moscow for exceptionally beautiful stations
  • temple: Ananda Temple in Bagan, Myanmar – beautiful & approachable
  • train station: Porto(Portugal) Sao Bento Station – beautiful tile works, Madrid(Spain) Atocha Railway Station – beautiful exterior/interior, easy access & efficient layout

Worst/Least-liked:

  • airport: Barcelona(BCN) – to visit this beautiful city, one has to go through this airport which has rather cumbersome public transportation link, is very hectic and not friendly, has confusing signs, and terminals 1 and 2 are far from each other. If you are using a cab, you may not notice any of this, though. Beijing Capital Airport(PEK) – huge(lots of walking required), dark & cold waiting areas at night, confusing signs, their free wifi is hard to connect. Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport(ZIA): not many services offered at the airport, connecting to the city center is complicated and long
  • cruise port: Laem Chabang for Bangkok – at least 2-hour drive to the city with frequent delays due to heavy traffic, rather an ugly container port with not many facilities, getting in and out of the port is cumbersome
  • train station: Guangzhou South – relatively far from the city center, huge and barren, no place to comfortably wait(which is true at most Chinese train stations)