Reviews by mrkstvns

mrkstvns says "The Most Beautiful Cavern in Texas!" about Cave Without a Name

mrkstvns — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:38:05 GMT

I'm always looking for fun things to do with my kids on the weekends, and one thing we all love to do is to explore a "land down under". Underground that is. As in cave tours.

We do quite a few cave tours because it's fun, it's educational, it's interesting, it's beautiful, it's totally natural, and because it's a very cool thing to do (literally! It's like 68 degrees underground even when it's a skull-scorching 104 in the shade up top.).

One of the most naturally beautiful caves we've visited in Texas is the Cave Without a Name, located outside Boerne Texas. Boerne is in the heart of the infamous Texas Hill Country, maybe a half hour or so northwest of San Antonio. Though it can be something of a challenge to actually FIND, the Cave Without a Names is fairly close to San Antonio, making it an excellent family day trip for visitors to the Alamo Ciy.

Not only is the Cave Without a Name beautiful and natural, it's also affordable fun: $14 for adults and $7 for kids. A tour takes a bit over...

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mrkstvns says "A World of Childhood Wonder -- Mexico City's Papalote Museum" about Papalote Museo del Nino

mrkstvns — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:49:57 GMT

I'm a dad, and that means I spend a fair chunk of time on any trip doing things that shorter people like doing. Zoos and parks figure prominently in our family time, but so too do the many children's museums that are becoming highlights of many major cities. My small crew have been to quite a few children's museums, but their favorite (and mine too) is the delightful Papalote Museo del Nino in Mexico City.

I love the Papalote Museum because it's so big with such an enormous variety of fun activities and because it's got such GOOD exhibits for the little hands and developing minds. Many of the exhibits are hands-on explorations of the world we live in, with a hefty dose of technology to go with it. Papalote has these, just like most childrens' museums do. But what Papalote has that sets it apart are several exhibits that strike me as particularly Mexican.

Most childrens museums I've been to don't have hands-on archaeoligical digs, but then, most childrens museums aren't located in the heart...

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mrkstvns says "It's ALWAYS a Gruesome Halloween Night at the Mummy Museum!" about Museo de las Momias

mrkstvns — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:14:38 GMT

One of the COOLEST, most utterly gruesome and terrifyingly WEIRD museums in all of Mexico is the infamous Museo de las Momias --- The Mummy Museum!!

Most travelers come to Guanajuato for the beautiful colonial atmosphere and the city's many cultural celebrations and festivals. But the macabre Museo de las Momias is just icing on the cake!

The museum has an ENORMOUS collection of mummies --- must be hundreds of them. There's galleries where you walk in, and just look down long glass showcases with mummy after mummy, most with grotesque expressions of death on their face, scraps of rotted clothing, bits of wood and dust, or other typical mummy attire.

Some though are just plain unsettling. They have a collection of "child mummies" --- babies or toddlers who died and became mummified, some still wearing very identifiable Sunday best, or clutching rotted bits of beloved toys.

You do know what Beethoven is doing these days, right? He's decomposing!

Well, that's a sure sign that he wasn't buried...

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mrkstvns says "The Convenient Weekend Beach Getaway for Arizona Partiers..." about Puerto Penasco

mrkstvns — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:40:03 GMT

A look at a map shows you that Arizona is a land-locked state. It also shows you that it has a long border with Mexico and that there are miles of beaches along the Sea of Cortez just beckoning to Arizona locals. The most popular and fully developed of these beaches is Puerto Peñasco, which many Arizona folks prefer to call "Rocky Point" because otherwise they have to learn how to pronounce the sound of the ñ (en-yay) character, which as all gringos know, is a terrifying prospect indeed.

In any case, Puerto Peñasco has some things going for it that make it popular with the Arizona local yokels. First, it's got beaches (which sure beats the miles of brown sand that Arizona has). Second, it's pretty darn affordable with lots of dirty cheap hotel rooms and plenty of small seafood restaurants where you can sit out on the beach and dig your toes into the brown sand as waiters bring out plate after plato of yummy-licious camarones al diablo or filetes al mojo de ajo, along with chilly cervezas...

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mrkstvns says "Museo de Jose Luis Cuevas --- Where Modern Meets Ancient" about Museo Jose Luis Cuevas

mrkstvns — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:09:13 GMT

There are more than 100 major museums in Mexico City, making it one of the most complex yet most rewarding big city destinations in the world. There's at least dozen big museums that can take you hours, if not full days, to tour --- but there are also countless smaller museums with tightly focused themes that can be fully experienced within only a couple hours. The Museo de Jose Luis Cuevas is one of these smaller museums.

I love the traditional Spanish architecture of the colonial home in which the museum is housed. It's just a few blocks walk from the Zocalo, making it an very easy side trip for anyone already sightseeing in the downtown area. It also means that, like just about everything in Mexico City's Centro area, everything you see and touch is about 400 - 500 years old. You'll walk up the cobblestone streets to the museum, which is easily identified by the enormous warped looking human heads outside.

Those sculptures give you a delicious first taste of what Jose Luis Cuevas is...

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mrkstvns says "Museo de Vidrio --- A Unique Glass Museum in Monterrey" about Museo de Vidrio

mrkstvns — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:25:57 GMT

Monterrey is one of Mexico's most interesting large cities because it's so dynamic and there's so much to see and do for the visitor who scratches just slightly below the surface.

The city has quite a lot to offer the visitor with an interest in the fine arts, and one of its real artistic gems is the Museo del Vidrio --- the Glass Museum. The museum itself is located inside a mammoth industrial glass works, and it does have some exhibits that are educational and that inform you about glass as a commercial product. That's not its strongest point though.

The Museo del Vidrio has an extensive collection of stunning artworks, all crafted from glass. There are many, many examples of hand-blown and spun glass objects of stunning artistry and complexity, but what blows my mind are the really large, complex artworks. They have things like an enormous horse that sparkles under its spotlights as if it were crafted from a million diamonds --- but it's glass.

There's also an enjoyable gift shop on site,...

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mrkstvns says "Tonight I'm Gonna Party Like It Was 1999..." about Barrio Antiguo, Monterrey

mrkstvns — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:45:52 GMT

If you love nightlife, live music, and partying with beautiful people over cocktails in high energy dance clubs, then head to the Barrio Antiquo on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. The whole neighborhood gets packed with a younger, affluent crowd, looking to dance and party from about 11pm until the sun comes up. There's lots of clubs (and lots of people).

The Barrio Antiguo is Monterrey's "old quarter", and its a very sedate place during the day, when most of the clubs are closed up tight and the streets are largely deserted, leaving them to prowling tourists coming to gawk at the scenic old homes, shops, restaurants, and architecture. There are a few other points of interest in Barrio Antiguo --- like a small popular arts museum that sometimes hosts developing young artists or indigenous people practicing long-forgotten art forms. The Barrio Antiguo can make for an interesting day time walking tour for casual American tourists. Monterrey is an extremely safe city and there are few...

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mrkstvns says "Small City with Some Big Views..." about Masaya Nicaragua

mrkstvns — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:56:34 GMT

Masaya is a cool town, located just a few miles up the road from the national park and its massive volcano of the same name. Masaya itself though could well end up buried under tons of lava and ash one day, but until then, it's a town that shouldn't be missed by any visitor to the area.

Masaya has the most beautiful market in all of Nicaragua, good places to eat and drink, and a scenic location on the shores of a volcanic lagoon, with towering mountain peaks in the background.

The lagoon sits between the city and the national park, and the best place to see it is from the Malecon --- a hilltop promenade that's got a festive, party-like atmosphere just about anytime you go and that's got spectacular vistas for miles around.

The Mercado is the reason most people stop in Masaya: it's an incredible place! Built in 1891, it's surrounded by massively thick grey-stoned walls with foot-thick wood doors, hefty iron work, and even a few bullet holes here and there (little souvenirs of the 1970s,...

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mrkstvns says "Shade Grown Coffee in the Morning Mist..." about Esteli, Nicaragua

mrkstvns — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:39:24 GMT

People have this image of Central America as a hot, sticky, swelteringly humid jungle. Much of it really is exactly like that, but not all of it. Esteli Nicaragua certainly isn't. It's more of a cool, misty kind of humid jungle.

Esteli is one of the coolest parts of Nicaragua and its so cool because of its elevation and its valley setting, sheltered from the ravaging rays of direct sunlight. Esteli is rural and the best things to see and do in the area are to explore the coffee growing plantations of the mountain highlands, where you can see traditional growing practices and where you can find the freshest, deep-roasted, crudely ground coffee you ever tasted...it's just so richly flavorful that it's guaranteed to spoil you for life.

The area is also famous for its cigars. Back in the late '50s and early '60s, when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, many of the famous tobacco growers and cigar rollers were forced to flee the country. Some ended up in Honduras, some in the Dominican Republic,...

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mrkstvns says "These caves are a real "Treasure of the Sierra Madres"" about Grutas de Garcia

mrkstvns — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:07:12 GMT

Grutas de Garcia is a beautiful cavern system located less than a half hour from downtown Monterrey in the rural town of Garcia, Nuevo Leon.

The caves are one of the most popular tourist attractions in th greater Monterrey metropolitan area and on the weekends, you may need to wait a little while to get in on a tour because the cable cars going 700 feet up to the top of the mountain can only handle a limited capacity. (You can walk back down if you like --- it's not a tough hike and it's very scenic with excellent canyon vistas.) Up until a few years ago, the trip up the mountain was done with a funicular incline tram, but the modern new cable cars are faster, quieter and more comfortable even if they lack the fun funky charm of the old funicular system.

The caves were discovered more than 150 years ago. The tour goes through a series of rooms with fanciful names like the Nativity Room, the Frozen Fountain, the China Tower and so on. It's hard to believe that a cave system that's 700 feet...

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mrkstvns says "Bogota is Cool" about Bogota

mrkstvns — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:06:04 GMT

My first impression on landing in Bogota was one of surprise: I simply had no idea Bogota was as BIG as it is. It feels larger (and more cosmopolitan) than some of the other South American capital cities I've visited (except Sao Paulo, of course....NOTHING about that place feels small!)

Bogota boasts great scenery, easy and affordable mass transit, lots of colonial style and history in the Candelaria section, and enough museums, monuments, and tourist attractions to easily keep a curious visitor busy for several days (if not weeks). There's fun day-trip opportunities like the Salt Mine Cathedral at Zipiquiri, and there's parks and outdoor activities within close proximity to town.

Being a large capital city, of course the nightlife is outstanding. There's fun cultural activities, like Teatro Candelaria, for the early evening, and tons of nightclubs filled with stunningly beautiful women and where the pulse-pounding music gets the locals dancing every night of the week---but especially...

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mrkstvns says "It's Good to be the Conquistador" about Palacio de Cortes

mrkstvns — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:29:54 GMT

Life in Mexico back in 1521 was tough if you were an Aztec, but evidently pretty sweet if you were a brutal, backstabbing, murderous low-life scumbag Spanish conquistador like Hernan Cortes. At least that's my take on it, and I think the history of Cuernevaca Mexico backs up that opinion.

It was in 1521 that Cortes came to town, bringing death and destruction to the local populace. What he couldn't burn down, he knocked down or buried (which was pretty much the Spanish modus operandi in Mexico City as well). Once he'd killed off half the locals and enslaved the rest, he put them to work building a grand palace for himself on top of the ruins of once were temples to the Aztec Gods.

Cortez's palace is one of the most impressive and imposing historical sites in today's downtown Cuernavaca, and today, the sprawling palace is used to house the Museo Cuahnahuac --- one of several very good regional history museums run by the Mexican government. The museum collection includes several rooms on...

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mrkstvns says "A Tranquil Retreat..." about Rincon de Guayabitos

mrkstvns — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:18:27 GMT

If you wanted to escape from reality for a couple months, there's few better places to do just that than the small, mellow, low-key Pacific coast beach town of Rincon de Guayabitos.

Located about an hour by car north of Puerto Vallarta, it's not hard to get to, yet it might as well be a million miles away. There's only a few smaller and mid-size hotels and they're generally older, family run places with clean rooms, friendly hospitality, and LOW prices.

Some Americans and Canadians know about Rincon de Guayabitos...but not many. Those who do tend to stay for months at a time. It's just that kind of place. Most of the visitors though are middle class Mexican working families. The place is especially popular any week that's a school vacation in Mexico.

Aside from a beautiful beach and verdant hills lying just beyond the town's edge, there's not a lot to see and do at Rincon de Guayabitos. People go for the beach loafing and for...well...maybe we'll just leave it at beach loafing since...

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mrkstvns says "Okay, but I wouldn't pay more than $50/night" about Hotel Ibis Monterrey Valle - Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

mrkstvns — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:32:47 GMT

If you're planning a trip to Monterrey and you're watching the budget, check out the rates at the Ibis Valle on the accorhotels.com website. For a long time they were doing $44/night at either the Valle or the Aeropuerto locations. I'm only talking about the Valle location in this review (I generally don't stay near the airport in Monterrey because it's VERY inconvenient to anything of touristic value).

The Ibis Monterrey Valle is located in an upscale section of Monterrey called "Valle Oriente", which includes the colonias of Garza Garcia and San Pedro. These are safe, comfortable neighborhoods, though they are not within walking distance of anything of touristic value, but it's only 10 minutes by taxi (and about a $5 fare) to get downtown, so the Valle location isn't a bad place to hang your hat.

The Ibis itself is physically connected to another Accor property --- the Novotel --- and if you stay at the Ibis you can use the pool at the Novotel.

The Ibis is a budget hotel with barebones...

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mrkstvns says "Not as Controversial as I'd Hoped...." about An Encyclopedia of Assholes

mrkstvns — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:41:45 GMT

Subtitled "Scumbags, Slimeballs, Sleazoids, Lowlifes, and Jerks Etc" I had very high hopes for entertaining reading when I picked up this book at a downtown Austin independent book shop. What I found was entertaining, and very well written, but without any nominations that would have intelligent, rational humans either jumping up in defense of the proposed sphincter or at least thinking "maybe not such a gaping one after all..."

For the most part, you read this book and you nod in approval.

The book is divided into sections with gaping sphincters from the realms of politics, media, the corporate world, film, music, and sports. Naturally, politics is the biggest section, though I think with a little bit of research and guts, the authors could have beefed up the corporate sphincter chapter to be at least as large and noteworthy. After all, if they name Wal-Mart as a sphincter (quite justifiably, I might add), then how can they not name McDonald's? McDonald's is at least as horrendous a...

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mrkstvns says "Serious Urban Adventures" about Sao Paulo

mrkstvns — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:02:22 GMT

If you love big cities, you're going to love Brazil's sophisticated, lively, humming gargantuan mega-city, Sao Paulo. It's one of the biggest cities on earth, and with that thriving hum of humanity, comes a richness of cultural attractions that only a big city can provide.

There's great museums and urban parks, a huge variety of restaurants boasting every kind of international cuisine you could imagine (not to mention some fantastic Brazilian kitchens). There's myriad hotels from big-name corporate towers to quirky boutique hotels like the fascinating Hotel Unique.

Some of the fun things you can do only in Sao Paulo include walking along Avenida Paulista, or hanging out in the pubs and nightclubs in Vila Magdalena.

Sao Paulo isn't an easy city to visit. There's crowds and dirty air, and though there's an undeniable wealth of cultural attractions, I find its historical aspects considerably less interesting than other major latin american cities.

Overall, Sao Paulo has a lot of potential...

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mrkstvns says "Much improved for 2009...but I don't want to buy one..." about Dodge Ram 1500 - 2009

mrkstvns — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:50:21 GMT

I've been driving a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 for most of the past week. I'm very impressed by the improvements Dodge has made to this truck for '09, but it's still a huge gas hog that's hard to park, handles miserably, isn't particularly safe, and has human factors engineering that's a few years behind state of the art.

Styling is the Ram's strong point this year. The new front end is very slick and very macho. The inset effect almost gives it the look of a shark getting ready to take a chomp out of the little SmartCar driving econo-misers. 17" alloy wheels look good and capable, and I think the 6 foot bed is usable for most work truck applications (though 8 foot is definitely preferred by any real working man).

Inside, the ride is stone silent quiet. You hardly hear the engine and the ride is practically Cadillac smooth. This bears testament to Dodge's catering to a family market that has no honest need for a truck but that doesn't mind irresponsible driving while it's still possible....

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mrkstvns says "Weak. Very, very weak." about Bolt

mrkstvns — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:35:50 GMT

Bolt is a disappointing movie with a weak story line and poor execution. A dog is led to believe that his "person's" life is always at stake and that he has superpowers. One day he escapes only to find that he's just a dog. He befriends some rodent looking thing who lives in a glass ball he can evidently easily escape, and imprisons a poor defenseless cat.

There's little comedy in this kids picture, which mostly bores the poor children in the audience (not to mention their dads too).

Can't think of anything particularly memorable about this snoozer and loser.

Skip it!

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mrkstvns says "Capital One MUCHO Hassles Card -- Get It Outta YOUR Wallet!" about Capital One - All Credit Cards

mrkstvns — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:22:47 GMT

Capital One recently sent announcements to even their best customers with perfect payment on-time payment records that rates were going up. For a long time, Capital One offered fair interest rates like 9.9%. They decided a few months ago to jump those to 26% or more.

Of course they're sending a message to their long-time customers that they don't really want to be in the credit card business, so of course I called immediately to reject the change in terms and permanently close my account.

Sky-high interest rates are a hassle that nobody deserves.

Got other accounts with Capital One?? Why not close those out too!?!?! A sleazy bank is a sleazy bank....

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mrkstvns says "May not be worthy of YOUR trust..." about Yelp.com

mrkstvns — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:13:50 GMT

I used to like yelp, but I'm not sure I really place trust in their reviews anymore. They play games with their content (and not fun, good kinds of games). They allow companies being reviewed to comment on their reviews, denigrating the opinions of their customers, and they let companies pay to determine what order the reviews get listed.

Can anybody say "sleazy"??

Sure thing! I knew you could!

A review site that puts controls into the hands of the merchants is not to be trusted for impartiality. A review site that makes merchant comments more prominent than fair criticisms from legitimate clients should NOT be trusted.

I don't trust yelp anymore.

You shouldn't either.

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