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Free Fitness Areas at Airports Help Keep You Fit, Refreshed

4/28/2015

By John Roberts
Many of the world's business airports offer on-site gym locations, whether a standalone fitness club like Fitness Beast Gym at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas or a hotel that offers a day pass to its gym.

But did you realize that airports are starting to offer easy-access, free fitness spaces in common areas?

Exercise Bikes
Philadelphia, for example, offers a variety of exercise bikes. It also has created a fitness zone, with other low-impact equipment that is moved around the concourse.

The Philadelphia airport set the pace with its cycling station.

Yoga
San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago and Burlington, Vermont, feature dedicated yoga rooms to help travelers limber up bodies that inevitably stiffen during flights. San Fran's airport offers its yoga and meditation room at the connector area between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, find the yoga studio near Gate D40 in the hallway connecting Terminals B and D.

Both Midway (along Concourse C) and O'Hare (Terminal 3) in Chicago contain yoga rooms.

You can reinvigorate yourself in the yoga studio at the San Francisco airport. Other airports have added similar amenities and meditation rooms, too.

Trail Walking
The Burlington airport also offers a "green roof" atop its parking garage. It's a peaceful place for a walk along its paths among alpine gardens. The Phoenix airport has an indoor fitness trail with a view of the skyline (you can download a map that describes what you are seeing along the two-mile route). The fitness trail, past security in Terminal 4, features seven chilled-water filling stations, too.

The Burlington, Vermont, airport's green roof.

These awesome free fitness amenities are few and far between given all the airports throughout the world. Let's hope more cities make the move to give passengers goodies like this to help foster healthy habits. A nice 30-minute stretch or workout helps keep you positive, fends off jet lag and reduces stress.

I've only been able to use the bike space in Philadelphia so far, but when I have more than an hour layover and want to get the blood pumping, I'll find a little space to myself at an unoccupied gate area and do a few pushups and stretching. Sure, I may get a few odd looks when going through my routine, but I also know I'll be thanking myself for it when I'm wedged into my seat on that four-hour flight.

I'm 6-foot-4, so I get quite uncomfortable (maybe that's also being 48 years old and arthritic?) unless I stick to my regimen.

What are some tips and tricks you have come up with to sneak in a workout to offset boredom and avoid having your body get all locked up during a layover?

Thanks for your input and thanks for reading. Travel fit!

JR

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What You Will Spy Atop the London Eye

4/27/2015

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A capsule full of passengers rises to the London sky on a cloudy day.

By John Roberts

We jumped in with both feet and played London tourists.

It took a few visits before finally getting to the London Eye, that iconic Ferris wheel-style attraction that looms over the Thames and promises great bird's-eye views of the city and beyond.

We always been put off by the idea of queuing up in those long lines and paying those steep prices for what is essentially a short outing. But, deciding you readers were well worth it, we put it on the agenda for review this time around.

The London Eye . . . (It's the Coca-Cola London Eye, officially, since January 2015. What the hell isn't sponsored these days?)

Anyways, the London Eye opened in March 2000 on the South Bank of the city's famed river. Back in those ancient times, the 394-foot diameter and 443-foot tall wheel was the highest public viewing point in London. It lost that superlative in February 2013 when the 804-foot-high 72nd floor observation deck of the Shard building opened.

The London Eye held the title of tallest Ferris wheel in the world until 2006 when it was surpassed by China's Star of Nanchang (525 feet), which lost its title in 2008 to the Singapore Flyer (541 feet), which was knocked from the throne in 2014 by Las Vegas' High Roller (551 feet).

Yeah, USA! USA! USA!

Despite its diminished status in the great global Ferris wheel space race -- hey, it's still the tallest wheel in Europe -- we gave it a go.

You bypass the queue and save some money when booking a ticket online.

Resident Londoner friends gave us a few tips to save time and money. Go online and book a reservation for your ride. Online tickets come with up to a 20 percent discount, and you often can find additional savings when coupon codes are available. Different classes of tickets allow you to bypass the queue for a fast-pass entry. You may get a ticket for a particular time. We reserved Sunday at 4:30, for example, for about $40 per person. You also can keep your day or week more flexible, booking for a certain day or anytime during a certain week.
These options end up being nominally more expensive (like a couple more bucks for each type of ticket as you have a less narrow time frame for when you will ride).

Try the 4D experience before your ride, if only to rock those specs.

At the site, a free 4D experience can be watched at the theater. The five-minute show is simply a high-tech visual feature that places you high above the Thames as if viewing the city below from a capsule in the London Eye. It's OK but nothing that special.

Speaking of those capsules. The London Eye has 32 of them that fit up to 25 people each. You can sit on benches in the middle, but most people stand at the windows to get a good view. It's polite to rotate around and not spend too much time in one spot so that everyone can enjoy all possible vantage points. So, views are obstructed by the structure of the giant wheel itself, of course.

Settling in for the ride to the top.

The entire ride circuit takes about 30 minutes and is a bit of a stop-and-go experience as the ride is loaded.

On our day, the sky was almost completely white with clouds. I am sure the views are much more inspiring with blue skies and sunshine, but we enjoyed seeing all the buildings lining the river and off in the distant reaches on London. You will be right across from Big Ben and Parliament Square, offering the most iconic sightings from way up top.

I'd say once is enough just to say you have been, especially at the prices. It was nice not to have to wait in a long queue, though. The attraction gets very busy in the summer and high tourism season, so definitely book online and get a fast pass if you decide to ride.

Thanks for ready.

Always travel happy,

JR

A selfie to capture my smirk and Big Ben and Parliament in the distance.

Onboard tablets provide details about what you are seeing.

Some views look through the London Eye apparatus, but still offer a cool effect.

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New York City's High Line Park, an Oasis in the Sky

4/17/2015

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By John Roberts

I had heard so much about this unique place, New York's "Park in the Sky."

I finally got a chance to experience High Line Park in New York City. A bright and sunny spring day gave me the perfect opportunity to check out what all the buzz what about. I took a run along the 1.5-mile-long trail, snapped a bunch of pictures and absorbed the scene up there. My assessment: It is freaking awesome.

The vibe up there is so different compared with the chaos just 30 feet below as people carry on with their daily lives on the busy streets of Manhattan. The park is an oasis in the city.

High Line Park was completed in three phases. The first section opened in 2009, the second in 2011 and the final part in 2012. The site was designed with multiple sections and attractive features.

The High Line is a piece of art itself. A play space with a green lawn space. A garden spot -- with plants, trees and grasslands. And an entertainment venue, with vendors, music shows, art displays and food.

A view toward the Hudson River.

Vendors sell art at stalls.

I took a jog along High Line Park's 1.5-mile-long path on my first visit.

Designers of the space envisioned visitors using the park mainly for strolling and seeing the city from a different perspective.

The project got a big boost from a $20 million donation from the Von Furstenberg-Diller Family Foundation. Railroad CSX Transportation donated the High Line to be transformed into the park. Before the plan for the park came together, much discussion had been given to ripping down the old elevated train route. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

The narrow park runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District north to 34th Street at the West Side Highway (12th Avenue) along the Hudson River Park. The design of the whole parks integrates the old disused New York Central Railroad spur, called the West Side Line. It's fascinating to see old railway along the path now filled in with flowers, wild grasses and trees.

You'll have to get to the park to see for yourself all the wonderful details and unique views of the city and river at every turn. Here are some photos to help give you an idea of what to expect.

High Line Park is filled with numerous places to plop down to relax. You'll find benches, chairs, a green lawn expanse and several loungers.

High Line Parkk in New York City over 10th Avenue.

Stadium-style seating gives visitors a view through large windows out onto the traffic flowing along 10th Avenue.

The park features elevator access from the ground level, which is about 30 feet below the park. Multiple elevators are found along the route.

The old railbed is used as garden space along the park's path.

Art installations pop up along the trail. This, from artist Kris Martin, is called The Altar, a steel replica of the Van Eyck brothers' Ghent Altarpiece.

This stretch overlooks a train yard.

The park trail wends toward the Hudson River waterfront.

The park is narrow and gets very busy on nice days and weekends. So, if you want to go for a jog there, be careful and get out early before it gets crowded.

Thanks for reading.

Travel fit. Travel happy.

JR

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Free Fitness Areas at Airports Help Keep You Fit, Refreshed

What You Will Spy Atop the London Eye

New York City's High Line Park, an Oasis in the Sky

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