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Author Topic: Vacation  (Read 145280 times)

1SO

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1480 on: September 10, 2017, 07:00:56 AM »

In the bullet train headed to Venice. 2 more days until I fly home.
This vacation has been amazing, but it's also been exhausting.

Also, as much as I like to eat, Italy feeds you like your a lion at the zoo and they want to make sure you don't eat the other animals.

oldkid

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1481 on: September 10, 2017, 08:40:35 AM »
Wow, what a trip!  What are you eating?
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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1482 on: September 10, 2017, 09:35:27 AM »
You breeze into Venice on the day the festival wraps up. ;D
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Bondo

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1483 on: September 10, 2017, 06:01:18 PM »
So I got back from my trip to Iceland and Belgium (and a disappointing few hours in The Netherlands) on Monday. Sorry to make y'all work for it but my photos from the trip are here. I came back to identity theft and job strife so I haven't been in the mood to put a lot of effort into a trip post with embedded pictures and all.

So my first stop was in Iceland where, working on about three hours of sleep on the redeye flight over I spend the first morning at the Blue Lagoon. It was 50 and raining, so perfect for a hot springs. The Blue Lagoon is pleasant to be sure but ultimately it's just a big shallow pool and you can't really stretch it that far. After that I hit up the bar and brewery scene pretty heavy for the next day and a half. The themes of Iceland were insanely expensive prices for everything and insanely good looking men. On the latter account, I spent some 90 minutes at one bar chatting with the bartender about beer and soccer and it was good. I also stopped by for dinner of whale steak. This old Icelandic traditional fare falls in a bit of a moral gray area, but at a minimum, the whale species is not endangered. I did have my favorite beer of the trip in Iceland (though a Swedish beer), which shocked me as the whole purpose of the trip was to go to Belgium, the greatest beer country in theory.

I had my first Before Sunrise moment on day two when I happened upon one bar looking for another bar that wasn't open yet. I sat down for a flight and started talking with a gal from New York who was having the same flight. We had a good conversation about beer and roller derby before parting ways. However, we would run into each other again at the bar I had originally been looking for and I got her added as a Facebook friend. I drank too much that day and paid for it sitting in the airport the next morning at the crack of Icelandic dawn (which is very early in Summer).

If Iceland strained my budget, Belgium proved a salve as it was eminently affordable. There I met up with my friend and wet blanket who started off by insisting Brussels didn't merit more than a day and he had turned up a day earlier than me so he was done with the city I was just getting to. So the next day I stayed in Brussels while he ventured to Luxembourg. Good to be rid of him because I had Before Sunrise moment number two the next morning as I sat at the plaza in front of the Palace of Justice where there is a nice view down the hill to the city. As I sat, this young woman sat right next to me which seemed a bit odd with other seating available. I got to chatting with her for about 30 minutes while waiting for my tour bus and she was Polish but had spent most of her life in Belgium. Alas, I did not get any contact information for her, much less opt to spend the day wandering around Brussels with her, which I should have done.

The wet blanket I should mention was averse to spending money on things or doing anything that seemed touristy. I on the other hand like a nice bus or boat tour in that it gives me a nice opportunity to get all around a city and get a feel for the geography of it. Some of the more "Disney" things also have a way of providing nice context for a place so that you can appreciate the remaining wanderings more. I particularly like touristy things that involve getting high-up scenic views of a place because again, you get a sense of the geography. So I went up in the Brussels Atomium and in the Bruges Belfry (and climbed the Liege citadel). Of course, being Europe, even the Disneyfied aspects have a touch more full-frontal nudity, such as the Historium in Bruges, whose interactive film (featuring Ian McKellan) takes a venture into a public bath.

In addition to Brussels (which was fine once I realized the subway is the way to go for getting around since the streets are chaotic), I got to Bruges (like a CINECAST!ing fairy tale), Ghent (a college town vibe with a fantastic place to get fancy baguette sandwiches for 3-5 Euro and a bar that has 500 types of beer, again usually for 3-5 Euro), Amsterdam (a dreadful crowded and touristy place). For my final day I planned to go to Chimay to visit the brewery but Sunday transit was a little less reliable so instead I went to Liege, home of The Dardennes. I ended up liking it most of all the places because it is not a big tourist town and they had big Sunday markets and events out where I could feast on local cuisine and beer. Also, rivers are better than canals and mountains are nice.

The trip back was mostly uneventful other than Iceland's airport being rather poorly designed. I am only finally getting over the jetlag (which I experienced none of while I was over there). I think my next vacation might be an all-inclusive beaches and rum drinks kind of thing because this one definitely took a lot out of me.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1484 on: September 10, 2017, 06:38:40 PM »
That sounds like a pretty great trip. I usually like doing touristy things to get my bearings and then just exploring. Sometimes wandering through a random town can be more memorable than walking through another castle.

oldkid

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1485 on: September 10, 2017, 09:34:26 PM »
I want to eat in Italy.

Your trip sounds amazing, Bondo.  And your pics are fantastic. 

My wife and I are planning our first (and probably only) international trip for about a year and a half from now.  We are trying to figure out where to go. 

If you could only visit one international destination in your lifetime (not India, we've already been there), where would you go?
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Sandy

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1486 on: September 10, 2017, 10:54:07 PM »
Southern Germany, and a little of Austria and Switzerland if there's time.

It's so picturesque and the history is steeped in everything, making for both a beautiful and brutal experience.

HM Great Britain (actually, I hate choosing between these destinations)

Great pics 1SO and Bondo!
« Last Edit: September 10, 2017, 11:05:22 PM by Sandy »

saltine

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1487 on: September 11, 2017, 02:59:17 AM »


My wife and I are planning our first (and probably only) international trip for about a year and a half from now.  We are trying to figure out where to go. 

If you could only visit one international destination in your lifetime (not India, we've already been there), where would you go?

What do you want from your trip, ie sightseeing or other?
How much time do you have?  What's your budget, on a scale of 5 as unlimited?

1SO, I wasn't head over heels for Venice, but I'm glad I've see it.  We ate pizza on a backstreet because everything was SO pricey. A pigeon shit on me, big time, in St Mark's Square so that may have colored my impression of Venice. Yep, Tuscany is the place for food and wine, oh my.  As a break from pasta, we have a chicken cooked in a clay pot, don't recall the name of the dish, but it was to die for.

Bondo, looking at your photos later, but sorry about the identity theft. Did it happen overseas while you were travelling?

Sandy, I really loved that area, except for the food. Potato, potato, cheese, cheese, a bit of veal and all of it bland, bland, bland. Of course the sweets were terrific.  Switzerland is out-of-sight expensive, in every way. We enjoyed our time there, but compared to the other countries we visited, it was not value-for-dollar travel.  Exception was Lake Geneva which was terrific and not break-the-bank expensive as we were there when nothing was going on in Montreux which is unusual. They were getting ready for the jazz festival, so we timed it just right. The food was again very bland though. We had fondue which was a potato dipped in cheese, of course.
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jdc

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1488 on: September 11, 2017, 03:17:10 AM »
Echo Saltine's opinion on Venice and Switzerland. Though I did like Skiiing there, we bought and cooked all our own meals the week we stayed there except once. We didn't want to mess with grocery shopping and cleaning up on the last night so we went out for dinner but ended up regretting it.

Bondo, any chance you found the Cafe Rose Red in Bruge?  It was out of the way from town, very chill and huge selection of beers.



For Oldkid, well, I am still partial to Asia. I love the food and you can find good value for money. If you like to explore, there is lots to see and if you want to be lazy, chill on a beach with cheap drinks, you can do that as well. Just not in Singapore, you will go broke on the first day and the beaches are not so nice.
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jdc

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Re: Vacation
« Reply #1489 on: September 11, 2017, 03:19:52 AM »
Also, how do you get all the deer to stare at you?
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