Travel Guide - ThePointsOfLife

Guns & Butter: Conwy, Wales Travel Guide

thepointsoflife

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April 6, 2022

Conwy Wales Travel Guide is part of Punxsutawney TPOL Trip Report.

TPOL’s Guns & Butter Travel Guide is the best way to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Here’s how it works – A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy. The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa. The guide includes inefficient activities i.e., tourist traps that should be avoided and aspirational activities that are worth doing but may be impossible to see given the constraints of time and resources.

I am convinced more than ever that the TCC list for what constitutes a country should be the standard for the ever popular question- How many countries have you visited (see Is Hawaii a Country?)? Wales is a perfect example of a place that is not a country by the standard definition, but should be for a plethora of reasons.

Here are a few:

They have their own language, Welsh. They have their own national football team. They have dragons.

But for the TCC list and the World Cup years ago where the Welsh team made a strong showing, I would have overlooked this country. I would have been satisfied that visiting England ticked off the box for the entire United Kingdom. That line of thinking would have been unfortunate since I would have also missed out on Scotland (see Guns & Butter: Edinburgh Travel Guide) and Northern Ireland (see Guns & Butter: Belfast Travel Guide).

Now that I have you convinced that Wales is a country, here is everything you need to know about Conwy, the city I went to from Manchester (see Guns & Butter: Manchester Travel Guide).

Train

The train from Oxford Road in Manchester had one stop in Chester, passed through my hometown of Flint, and took two hours.

I’m always concerned if I purchased the right tickets (see “Tickets, Please, Tickets”).

a group of people wearing face masks — My fear captured in his face.

TPOL’s Tip: Treat yourself to some wine as you wait for the connecting train in Chester.

a parking lot with cars parked in front of it — Where the duck are you from ffffff Flint town

The Town

The town looks like something from a storybook.

Dragons

The stories are true. There are dragons everywhere.

Coffee

The first stop was a coffee house that looked more like my grandma’s house than a Starbucks.

Souvenirs

TPOL’s Travel Lesson for souvenirs is simple: if you see it and like it, buy it. Something always comes up if I leave such purchases to the end.

TPOL’s Tip: This does not apply for souvenirs that require bargaining.

In Conwy, I bought the staple shot glass, coasters, and a football jersey but neglected to buy a dragon futbol scarf.

Castle

A local told me he never went to the castle and he would never go. “The castle was built by the English to keep us out.” I dare someone to tell him that Wales is not a country.

I went to the castle, my third on this trip (see Guns & Butter: Ribera Del Duero, Madrid Travel Guide (Vino Edition) and Guns & Butter: Edinburgh Travel Guide) because it’s something to do in this small town. It’s not a must-do but a might as well.

Mussels

The reason I went to Wales was to check off another country on my Country Count. The reason I went to Conwy is because strangers at a random bar in Edinburgh told me that Conwy has the best mussels and lamb in the world.

a black sign on a sidewalk — Probably the finest fish & chips but definitely the best mussels.

Bar

I was told to go to the Marina for mussels. That required taking a taxi. Before figuring out the logistics of how to do that, I thought it wise to stop at a bar and have a drink.

Like the coffee house, this pub was more like a friend’s house and less like a bar. Cozy in the corner, I pulled up the menu for Marina but did not see mussels. In a friendly mood, I asked the man seated on the couch next to me if he was from Conwy and if he knew where I could find mussels. Stewart, as I learned his name to be, took it upon himself to call multiple restaurants to inquire. Alas, no one had mussels. Recognizing one of the local chefs sitting at the bar, he asked if his restaurant had any mussels. The chef replied that the order had not come in but the prognosis was not promising. I messaged my Welsh friend who was dumbfounded when I said the town was dry. I then went across the street to Shakespeare’s, the chef’s restaurant, at the Castle Hotel to ask if any mussels would be coming today. I returned with disheartening news. Due to the dredging of the coastline, there were no mussels to be had. The next time mussels would be available would be the day after and even then, they would be in limited supply.

By this time, half the town had learned about my search for mussels. Try as they might, no one could find a single mussel. Many beers in, the despair from not finding mussels gave way to jokes about mussels and their cousin the cockle. Stewart said if I was really desperate I could try pickled mussels and pickled cockles. This led to more jokes and to Ms. TPOL going across the street for a few jars.

Hours later, it was time to say goodbye to my new friends and go to dinner for Wales’s other famous dish, the lamb. Before we did, Stewart had left and came back with more pickled mussels and cockles for our train ride home.

a group of people sitting around a table — Guy on the left is called Sausage.

TPOL’s Tip: The Ye Olde Mail Coach needs no address. The town is tiny. You will find it.

Conwy by Night

The town is as charming at night as it is by day.

Lamb

The same restaurant that did not have the mussels did have the lamb. It was so good that I almost forgot about the mussels. Almost.

a man taking a selfie in front of a painting — Family portrait.

a bowl of french fries with cheese and herbs — Truffle fries

Gin for the Road

On the way out of town, I stopped by the former bank for my new favorite drink, grapefruit infused gin and soda. Make it a double. Then it was back to the train station for the hammered ride home.

two glasses of liquid on a table — No to Aperol cocktail.

a bottle of wine on a table — Definite no to Wales whiskey.

a sign at night with yellow lights — My vision.

The Guns & Butter Takeaway

I take it personally when I travel and what I am supposed to do does not go according to plan. Rationalize as I try, I am not happy until I see, taste, experience, what I came to see, taste or experience. In Madrid, they said the bullfight was sold out. I persisted until I found tickets (see Attending A Bullfight In Madrid: A Range of Emotions). In Zimbabwe, they said that all spots for the Devil’s Pool were taken. I wandered the town until I finally found a company to make the booking (see The Devil’s Pool Zambia: Loungin Atop Victoria Falls). In Conwy, I fell short of experiencing the mussels, despite this great story. While I am disappointed, the experience is consistent with the Guns & Butter Travel Guide, whereby I will never be able to see, do, and experience everything a place has to offer in the limited time I am there.

Aeroplan Approved!

thepointsoflife

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April 5, 2022

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Is life finally going back to normal? I didn’t call recon when I applied for the Aeroplan 100k card (see Recon Calls, A Thing of the Past?). Days later, I was approved. Now I face, minimum spending hell (see Oops!… I Did It Again: Min Spending Hell) as I picked up two of these cards, another United Business, and another Amex Business Platinum. Life will really be back to normal when I actually use these damn points.

Monday Madness: Bracket Winner Decided Tonight

The Deal Ticker

thepointsoflife

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April 4, 2022

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Chris L picked Purdue to win. Old Man picked Kansas.

I think that Kansas will win, but judging by my 21st out of 25th place finish, what do I know?

Simply The Best: March 2022

thepointsoflife

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April 1, 2022

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TPOL turned 8 in 2022. That’s huge! Here’s what else I did in March.

Guns & Butter: Copenhagen Travel Guide
I have been all over northern Europe including Iceland, Sweden, and Finland. While I have not been to Norway, I can predict that it will not be as great as Denmark.
Free Flight To Puerto Rico Confirmed: Let The Games Begin!
Somehow we got to twenty entrants for the March Madness bracket.
Scam Covid Test #1: Entering the UK
Even if Covid tests are going away for travel, this was written before then and is published to document a time when the public was swindled.
Troubles Tour Belfast
I know much more about this conflict now than I did before the tour. Having said that, I still know nothing.
Guns & Butter: Belfast Travel Guide
I didn’t do much in terms of quantity, but what I saw and what I learned was unmatched.
Another Amex Business Platinum: Worth It?
With a $695 annual fee, I question whether having a 15k minimum spend to reach 150k points is worth it.
Guns & Butter: Manchester Travel Guide
This is a placeholder for the Guns & Butter: Manchester Travel Guide. Unlike Belfast, where I actually saw the city by day, I did next to nothing in Manchester.

Guns & Butter: Manchester Travel Guide

thepointsoflife

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March 31, 2022

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Manchester Travel Guide is part of Punxsutawney TPOL Trip Report.

TPOL’s Guns & Butter Travel Guide is the best way to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Here’s how it works – A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy. The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa. The guide includes inefficient activities i.e., tourist traps that should be avoided and aspirational activities that are worth doing but may be impossible to see given the constraints of time and resources.

This is a placeholder for the Guns & Butter: Manchester Travel Guide. Unlike Belfast, where I actually saw the city by day (see Guns & Butter: Belfast Travel Guide), I did next to nothing in Manchester. To be fair, the reason I came to Manchester was for logistics. It was a quick train ride to Wales (see Guns & Butter: Conwy Travel Guide) and a short flight to Milan, my next destination. With that disclaimer in mind, here is what I did:

Sleep

Hopefully, the Hyatt Regency Manchester will still be 8k points like it was this time.

China Town

Puerto Rico has terrible Chinese food. Like Belfast, where I had to get my fix of Indian food, I found great late-night Chinese food.

TPOL’s Tip: Chun Kwan is located at 177 Liverpool Road. Irlam Manchester M44 6DA

Here is what I want to do:

Attend/Teach at the University of Manchester

The area surrounding the Hyatt Regency is part of the University of Manchester’s campus. I loved walking around seeing students carrying coffee, lamenting their commute to class. It reminded me of my miserable time where I failed class after class at the University of Michigan (read Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong . . . Including Mine). If only I had come in the winter, then it would have been identical.

Bars

Throwback again. The streets are packed with bar after bar.

Food

British food may be bland but there were plenty of international restaurants that looked appetizing. I would guess that the pho is great in a cold, cloudy town.

Man City/Man U

For me, Manchester United is like Ohio State. I will not support them. I still would like to go to a game at Old Trafford. I attempted to adopt Man City but the fan base seemed to be more fair-weather than dedicated. Hence the name of the stadium, the Quiet House.

Overall

I did next to nothing in Manchester. It was a failure for content for a Guns & Butter Travel Guide, but like Calculus at UMich, I can always audit the post.

Recon Calls, A Thing of the Past?

thepointsoflife

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March 30, 2022

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Due to Covid, I stopped applying for credit cards. Thanks to Covid, I found myself under 5 new accounts in 24 months. To stay there, I only applied for business cards. I broke from that strategy to apply for the Aeroplan 100k card with Chase. Instead of an instant approval, I received this:

I will not hop on the phone and plead for approval (see Chase Recon: How to Get It Done). On the contrary, I’m going to do nothing and hope for the best.

And you, do you call recon? How about your partner? (See Leave Your Lover Behind? What If She’s Bad at Recon.)

March Madness: Here’s the Top 5

The Deal Ticker

thepointsoflife

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March 29, 2022

8

We’re closing in on the Final Four. I know 2 of the 5 who are in contention for a free trip to Puerto Rico. #4 is my editor who shamelessly picked Duke. #5 is my friend from Michigan who looks poised to win it all. Sadly, “IpreferOMAAT’ has little chance of winning [insert emoji] [insert ‘ugh’ pretext].

Hyatt Regency Manchester: Best of All Worlds

thepointsoflife

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March 28, 2022

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Hyatt Regency Manchester Hotel Review is part of Punxsutawney TPOL Trip Report.

I once wrote, Hostel v. Hotel v. Friend’s Home. In Manchester, the world’s greatest college campus (see Guns & Butter: Manchester Travel Guide), the answer could be all three. Given my exhaustion from the previous destinations (see Guns & Butter: Belfast, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Ribera Del Duero), the best option was the Hyatt Regency.

Getting There

The Hyatt Regency is easily accessible by train from MAN airport. Take the train to Oxford Road and walk ten minutes.

Points

One day Hyatt will seriously devalue and ruin our lives (see Hyatt Regency Toronto: Please Don’t Devalue!). When I look back at this post and see I only spent 8k points for this hotel, I will be sad.

Location

Like the Moxy in Edinburgh, the Hyatt Regency is located in the middle of a college campus. Here that was the University of Manchester.

Room

The room, like TPOL, was smart chic.

Bathroom

LED bulb mirrors are everywhere now. It is also nice to see more hotels adapting rain showers instead of the loathsome stand-up tubs with a shower wand.

Regency Lounge

The lounge was closed due to Covid, but the bar downstairs was used as a replacement. It rivaled the experience of my favorite Regency lounge in Mexico City (see The Hyatt Regency Mexico City Review).

Overall

This hotel is a steal. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Guns & Butter: Belfast Travel Guide

thepointsoflife

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March 25, 2022

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Belfast Travel Guide is part of the Punxsutawney TPOL Trip Report.

TPOL’s Guns & Butter Travel Guide is the best way to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Here’s how it works – A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy. The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa. The guide includes inefficient activities i.e., tourist traps that should be avoided and aspirational activities that are worth doing but may be impossible to see given the constraints of time and resources.

I used to only write a Guns & Butter Travel Guide if I did a minimum number of things. I have come to realize that I will not be able to hit the minimum for every place I go. And that is okay. Indeed, that is the whole point of Guns & Butter. There’s a tradeoff. In Belfast, that tradeoff meant prioritizing what I could do the one night and one day I was there.

Sleep

I arrived early in the morning, exhausted from the sprint from Spain (see Guns & Butter: Ribera Del Duero, Madrid Travel Guide (Vino Edition)) to Denmark (see Guns & Butter: Copenhagen Travel Guide) to Scotland (see Guns & Butter: Edinburgh Travel Guide). Typically, landing in a new city gives me a bolt of energy, allowing me to ignore the fact that I have not had adequate rest. I was out of gas by the time I arrived in Belfast and slept until the early afternoon at the underwhelming AC Marriott (see AC Marriott Belfast: It’s OK).

Indian Cuisine

There aren’t any Indian restaurants in Puerto Rico, so when I read on Wikitravel that the oldest Indian restaurant, Archana, was recommended, I tried to make a reservation. Due to Covid, only delivery was available. This was the perfect excuse to delay my exploration of the city until the next day.

Troubles Tour

Once upon a time, the New York Times had a contest to have a lucky/unlucky someone visit 52 cities in 52 weeks. The point of this adventure was to see if a traveler could connect with a place despite being there for a short time. Since this is TPOL’s Travel Philosophy, I was shocked when I was not selected (see The Failing NYT Didn’t Hire TPOL: Sad!).

With only one day in Northern Ireland, I booked a private black taxi so I could begin to understand the conflict (see Troubles Tour Belfast). While I am far from a scholar now, I do have some understanding of the situation. To that end, I can say that I did something meaningful, if not profound, while I was there.

a red wall with graffiti on it — Peace Wall

Pub

No trip to the island of Ireland would be complete without a Guinness. That, along with traditional Irish food like bangers & mash and fish & chips was a great way to end the day.

A Pringles dispensary outside the bathroom?

TPOL’s Tip: The Kitchen Bar is located at 1 Victoria Square, Belfast BT1 4QG, United Kingdom.

To Do

If I had more time, I would have gone to The Giant’s Causeway, a wondrous rock formation. If I had more time and it wasn’t closed due to Covid, I may have checked out the Titanic Tour, the place the ill-fated ship was built. It is not a tour of the Titanic itself. Rather, it is a history of the shipping industry and its decline. Since time was limited, I walked around the city center and tried to comprehend how life looked seemingly normal despite the fact that in the Western world, in the United Kingdom there are gates that close off neighborhoods at 7PM.

Overall

I didn’t do much in terms of quantity but what I saw and what I learned was unmatched.

Troubles Tour Belfast

thepointsoflife

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March 24, 2022

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Troubles Tour Belfast is part of the Punxsutawney TPOL Trip Report.

I usually skip tours that take me to people’s backyard, e.g., favela tour in Rio. There may be something to learn from going, but I am of the mindset that I wouldn’t want others coming to my neighborhood to observe my day-to-day. The one exception was in Amboseli (see Visiting the Massai Community in Amboseli ). The second was the Political and Mural tour in Belfast, hereafter known as the Troubles Tour.

As someone of Iraqi heritage and as a former professor of terrorism law, I have a thorough understanding of the complex conflict in the Middle East. I had next to no knowledge of the conflict in the United Kingdom between the Protestants and Catholics, an oversimplification of the parties and issues involved.

For 55 pounds, a black taxi drove us around Belfast and told us both the history of the conflict and his first-hand experience growing up during it.

The driver picked us up from our hotel (see AC Marriott Belfast: It’s OK) and began by recounting how Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland came to be. He then drove through a gate and stopped the car. He told us that we were now on the Catholic side of town and that the gate to enter it opened at 7AM and closed at 7PM. Ignorant to it all, I asked him to elaborate. What do you mean the gates are closed? How do people on this side get out after 7PM? Is it closed to both pedestrians and cars?

He replied that it was closed to both. Anyone wanting to go beyond the gate would have to make a one-mile detour to go around. He said that this prevented someone from either side who impulsively wanted to do something nefarious. I was in disbelief.

The tour went on and we stopped at memorials. Depending on where we were, the narration of the events was different as were the murals. The Catholic side had a mural of Nelson Mandela, Fredrick Douglas, MLK, Bob Marley, and Castro.

Conflicts and ideologies from across the globe reached Northern Ireland. For example, on the Catholic side, there was a mural showing solidarity with Palestine. The Protestant side had a mural of Kelly who was instrumental in assisting the Israeli army.

Tragically, both had memorials of men, women, and children who had died as a result of the conflict.

My head was spinning from all the information. It was challenging to keep up with all the names and parties involved. As I am far from an authority on the issue, I will not attempt to summarize the nuances of the conflict. What I can say is that The Troubles, as they are called, began in 1971 and the Good Friday Agreement that ended the Troubles was signed in 1998. This is not ancient history. It was only a few years ago.

The most striking part of the tour was seeing houses that were right against the wall. The back of them had cages built to protect them from Molotov cocktails that could be hurled over the wall. That they are still there today shows the precariousness of the situation.

The other side of the wall is called The Peace Wall, an odd name for something so divisive. The Peace Wall was built in three phases. First, it was concrete, then it was fencing, then it was higher fencing. The tour guide suggested that we sign the wall. I felt uncomfortable doing so as I was trying to internalize everything I was being told.

From there, we went to the city center. I saw McDonald’s, Zara, and the Opera house. The driver dropped us off at a pub and the tour was done. It was strange to pretend that everything was normal (see Guns & Butter: Belfast Travel Guide).

Overall

I know much more about this conflict now than I did before the tour. Having said that, I still know nothing.