I have a hotel in Rome good through the end of December-Grand Hotel de la Minerve And Florence -Hotel Santa Maria Novella. I had it booked before covid and they gave me vouchers until the end of this year. I haven't and won't be able to use them. If anyone is interested in me assigning the voucher to them for some sort of value, let me know.
Haven’t really looked into it yet because everything can change pretty quickly and we’re going in mid January. Surely they’ll be more open in 3 months?
Started planning a 3-week trip to Thailand and Cambodia about 2 years ago. Was like 90% done and then...you know. Have no idea when we're going to be able to do that now and it constantly guts me.
I just did this trip at the end of august. Flew in to Rome. Couple nights there then train to naples. Ferry from there to sorrento for two nights. Day trip to Capri. Ferry from sorrento to positano for three nights. Day trip on the ferry to amalfi/Ravello. Ferry from positano back to naples. Train to Rome. Boom. Done. Don’t rent a car. You wouldn’t be able to drive in those towns. Do a day at Arienzos beach club in positano. Get the platinum package or whatever. Not the honeymoon package. Ferry to and from the beach. Six drinks. Lunch. Appetizer. Wine. Dessert. Front row beach chairs and umbrella.
So after canceling Greece, we were set to go to Tahoe, and the world burned down. We decided to do a short trip to Chicago and then about two weeks before we left we felt like we needed to do something more, so I did what any rational person would do during Covid and booked an Alaskan cruise. My first ever cruise, and honestly, probably my last. It was enjoyable though, I won’t lie. It was also like 30% capacity with proof of vaccination and a negative test within 48 hours of leaving needed to get on the boat. I gained like five lbs easy though. Anyway, I refused to post about it out of shame. Once I made it home safely, I felt compelled to post. We are both working from home this week and then we will get covid tests on Monday or Tuesday to make sure all is well. Anyway, I had to bare my soul.
But seriously for two people with unlimited alcohol and a few excursions, I think we spent like 4K at most.
And of the 750 people on the boat, my wife and I were probably the 9th and 10th youngest. If covid hit that ship, it would have been a floating graveyard.
its a weird time to plan travel. There should be no shame in seeing fucking Alaska in the summer. Travel shaming is for losers anyways.
Disclaimer: I know it is somewhere in this thread, but I could not find it. Can someone please give me the lowdown on a car rental in Cancun/Tulum? Going down in a month and am seeing varying opinions on insurance. My plan is to purchase the premium car insurance through my Amex and decline the LDW through the agency, but I want to make sure I am not missing anything.
I could be wrong, but I think their insurance is mandatory. I think I tried the "I have insurance through my CC" Car rental was like $100 insurance was like $400
If you're talking about the premium insurance through the platinum card you may be able to get away with that. That's beyond your typical CDW on a standard credit card.
Yeah…..not looking forward to having this conversation at the counter, but I have to imagine it is one they have quite often.
It was mandatory when we went back in 2018. Other than that though the rental process was easy enough and drive down was easy too. Straight shot down on the highway, just watch out for random speed bumps and you'll be good.
Anyone done a trip to Norway in winter? Bucket list trip for me and the GF to go to Lofoten, Tromsø, etc to see the northern lights, dogsledding, and all the other winter stuff. Also would love to fish the fjords if the opportunity presented itself.
Not in the winter, but hiking during the midnight sun in Lofoten is one of my top bucket list items. That and going up to Svalbard.
Anuenue Cafe has great Kalua pork fried rice for breakfast. The poke at Koloa fish market was great. It was rainy in December.
Have you seen The Last Cruise documentary? It was the first covid outbreak outside of China. It’s pretty eerie watching the footage of them making announcements on board and keeping people locked in rooms while they carried off dying/dead passengers. The staff on the ship were treated like shit. Sad. https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-last-cruise
I’ve been there in the summer. Maybe stating the obvious but I’d try to make it a long enough trip where you can work in flexibility with the weather (applies for summer too).
Just got to Rome today and it’s packed everywhere. Also went to Spain a little over a month ago for work and it’s back to normal there as well just with more mask wearing. Asia is obviously still closed off but Europe is back open for business boys.
I was in Rome towards the end of August. It was empty, but I think that's a popular holiday time and most of the locals were out of the city. It was actually pretty nice except for a few of the restaurants we wanted to go to were closed as well. The coast and beaches were packed.
Help me pick a warm month-long travel location this winter. Early candidates: - Sri Lanka - Mexico - Bali (pending changes to Covid travel restrictions) - Thailand (pending changes to Covid travel restrictions) - Open to other suggestions as long as I can get in the country + don’t have to quarantine Re: Mexico, how easy is it to get around without driving? For example traveling from Mexico City to Tulum + some of the other coastal regions and vice versa?
Sri Lanka is super high on my list, maybe my number 1 destination. Going to try and make it there in 2022. For mexico, super easy. You can either take a cab, bus, or domestic flight for <$100. I'm heading back to Mazunte/Zipolite for the 2nd time for most of December, it's my favorite place I've been. Puerto Escondido is in the same area and is supposed to be a little more developed.
British Airways canceling and rescheduling my Christmastime flights Heathrow-Schwechat, kinda pissing me off
Good shouts. They (along with Brazil) have been on my list for a while but I kind of forgot about them due to covid. Seems like Argentina is opening up to foreigners again soon so maybe Uruguay will follow suit too.
Icelandic Air cancelled my return flight for November back to Orlando. Had to book to Boston and get my own flight from Boston back to Florida. Pain in the ass.
Fran Tarkenton thank you very much for the trainline rec. It has been a lifesaver moving between multiple countries and made things a lot easier. Did Plitvice yesterday and it was absolutely stunning. Got lucky with the weather up there this time of year. A little chilly but a very nice day overall. May post a few photos later.
Lodging booked for Tayrona -- been wanting to check this off for a long time https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/48834552
Spending Christmas in Vienna and my family wants to spend two nights in Salzburg. Anyone have thoughts, specifically on places to eat and drink? Whole trip will be London, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, and Rome so should come back with some helpful recap thoughts.
Going to Munich-Salzburg-Innsbruck in early December so I’m also looking for recs. I’ll pass mine along to you if I remember when we get back.
We had a nice dinner at Wirtshaus Elefant in Salzburg in April 2017. Our other dinner there was at Barenwirt, on the north end of the Monchsberg. Elefant was fancier, Barenwirt was more down to earth, both good Rathauskeller in Wien just emailed us to let us know they are closed for Christmas, which is a bummer, so we'll have to find somewhere else
Just did a week in Italy which was great but sadly not nearly enough. Rome I for sure need to get back to as 2 days there barely scratched the surface. Then spent 2 days in Venice which was a very cool city but felt like I saw all I needed to there. Ended with 3 days in Como and I could not recommend it anymore. Just ridiculously beautiful and relaxing. So glad we can get back out and travel (most of) the world again. Was a long 16+ months.
We had a Lisbon-Porto trip that got canceled by United, and switched to Germany instead. Excited to see how you like it!