Oyster.com

I'm a visual person.  In my opinion, when it comes to hotels a picture is worth a thousand words.  Often times the official hotel website only includes low resolution or "pre staged" photos which don't really give you an accurate depiction of the hotel.  A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a website called oyster.  They are basically a hotel review website that focuses on pictures.  Some hotels have upwards of 400 photos

Check out oyster.com for more info

Update

Whew!, this weekend I just wrapped up the final phase of my medical licensing exams.  The USMLE step 3 is a 2 day, 16 hour long series of multiple choice questions and medical case scenarios.  It is the 3rd part in a series of 3 exams that span from the 2nd year of medical school through residency. As you can imagine, writing my blog has had to take a back seat to studying over the past couple weeks.  Well, that's all behind me now and hopefully I can get back to posting regularly.

SPG Credit Card: 30,000 bonus points

For a limited time the signup bonus on the amex SPG card has been increased to 30,000 points.  The American Express Starwood prefered guest credit card is one of the best all around credit cards.  Not only does SPG offer a very generous award chart with free nights starting at just 2,000 points, but your SPG points can transfer to several different airline reward programs at favorable rates.  Direct link: https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/starwood-preferred-guest

Google Map View of Emirates Airbus A380

Google Maps has teamed up with Emirates Airlines to showcase their new Airbus A380-800.  This is an awesome and interactive way to check out the inside of this ultra luxury jumbo jet. 

You can check it out here: https://www.google.com/maps?cbp=13,31.03,,0,20.8&layer=c&panoid=XxG0IKbwvOAAAAQIt3wkPw&cbll=25.242656,55.371904&dg=opt&ie=UTF8&t=m&source=embed&ll=25.242656,55.371904&spn=0.154648,0.303497&z=12

Photo of the Week: Vilnius, Lithuania

The photo of the week this week is from Vilnius, Lithuania.  Lithuania is the southern most of the Baltic states and its location and history certainly give it more of an eastern European vibe than Latvia and Estonia.