Agree here. If you had time and there weren't issues with their reopening, sure, give Osaka a day trip. But with everything going on, stay in Kyoto, which is a better city.
Spain bros, looking for recommendations. Have 2 and a half weeks starting the 24th of this month, Fly in and out of Barcelona. Thinking about 3-4 days in each of Barca and Madrid. A day or 2 in Seville and Malaga. Maybe Granada Maybe Gibraltar. Maybe Andorra just to get up in the Pyrenees for a day. Toying with the idea of taking a train to Paris for a day or 2 or a couple days in Lisbon. Obviously I’m sticking to southern Spain mainly but don’t know much about the northern part. I’m also assuming trains are relatively quick going from city to city. Any tips recommendations are appreciated
I did southern Spain in 2019. Seville is great it's worth a couple of days. Don't stay in the main square that has all the restaurants. We did that and I didn't realize the Spanish stay out until 5am drunk as hell and yelling for no reason. Barely got any sleep. Gibraltar is a must see IMO. We rented a car and drove there from Seville. Hired a local tour guide in advance that lived there his whole life. It was a fantastic experience and was the highlight of the entire vacation. I highly recommend going. Malaga is big and a cool city. We were there for 4 days but that was too much so we did day trips. We drove to Ronda, which was beautiful and we did a winery tour. Recommend all of it but don't rent a van if you're traveling with a few people. We almost got stuck in the parking garage for the condo we rented they told us it would fit no problem. Definitely did not and completely destroyed the van trying to get it out. Luckily we paid for the extra insurance.
Nashville for a bachelor party. I have a few hours to myself before madness begins. Where do I lunch? Was thinking Martins but open to non-hot chicken recs bc we’ll get that as a group
I’m staying off Broadway. North Gulch? I’ll travel for amazing food but I like to walk. If I can snag a Bearded Iris (or similar great beer) while I eat or quickly after, that’s a win.
San Sebastian is by far my favorite place in Spain if you're looking for other places to try. I'd go there before Lisbon or Paris.
If hotel parking only option is valet for $60/day (no self parking), is it expected to tip the valet guy a couple bucks each time they bring your car?
Yes. It’s family style so you’ll be sitting with others, but the food is great. You may not want supper though if you eat that for lunch.
Probably have better luck asking in here tbh https://www.the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/nashville-thread-now-with-info-in-the-op.120296/
PNW summer is over. Head to New Orleans on Saturday to stay there for a week, then fly to Nepal the following Saturday for about 5-6 weeks. Going from below sea level to 18K above sea level.
Apparently I can also afford a $108 parking ticket. SF parking is fun. 3-4 signs per parking spot with confusing to read rules. Still have no idea why I got a ticket. Chinatown was cool though.
Euskal Exteca which is literally right next door to this place also has amazing tapas and is right around the corner from an amazing bar, Dr. Stravinsky
Wrapped up my CDMX trip last month. Arrived first thing Thursday AM and grabbed coffee and breakfast in Polanco. Then went to the hotel and crashed as I had a red eye into CDMX. Lunch at Pujol which was extremely lucky as I found a reservation open up just a couple days before. That evening had some drinks at Baltra Bar then dinner at MeroToro. Thursday night/Friday was the celebration of Mexican Independence. That threw a wrench into plans as far as some museums/attractions being closed. However, it was well worth it as everyone was celebrating. We attended the parade. Saw a few flyovers. Breakfast was at Cafe Nin. Pastries/coffee/entrees in a super cool building. Lunch was Contramar. Drinks and partying across the street with locals at Fisher's. Had drinks that night Limantour where we met some locals. They took us to their favorite street taco spot. Saturday was supposed to be San Angel Inn brunch then Xochimilco. GF was up all night throwing up. Felt sick all day. That sucked. She finally felt good enough and we went to the Club America-Guadalajara match. Tailgated in the parking lot with our group. Made friends with locals who were grilling chicken wings. Crushed ten Modelos. Atmosphere was incredible. Fireworks and flares going off in the parking lot. Welcoming team buses. Inside the stadium was electric. Great time. Explored Polanco a bit more on Sunday before leaving. GF being sick and Independence Day hindered my plans a bit. Otherwise I loved the city. Will definitely return.
Random question - I fly from Seattle to Singapore this Saturday at 10:00 AM. Bama plays Tennessee 2.5 hours later. What are the odds I can watch that game? It's Singapore airlines, which I understand is pretty good. Plane is an Airbus 359.
The only time I’ve gotten live tv on an international flight was SkySports on Emirates A380. Can you stream something like YouTube tv on the plane wifi? Not sure if it would consider you as out of the country. Or a cbs sports app or something?
Not promising: Spoiler Do you think internet will be strong enough to stream? That's my main concern. I'll have my ipad so could easily download the CBS sports app.
Sorry I was going to give you some hope as I watched Aston Villa - Nottingham Forest live on Lufthansa today but this is where we get hit with the reality that outside of the US college football isn’t even a blip on the radar
Relevant to your interests BamaNug (doesn't look super imo) https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/us/flying-withus/entertainment/inflight-connectivity/
Yea saw that May just have to follow ESPN gamecast or something. Maybe shitpost thru the Champs thread. Someone could live-tweet it for me.
Speaking of streaming, while it doesn’t help on flights here’s a tip for when you’re out of the country: I was able to find every college football game I wanted to watch being streamed on YouTube. I guess the NCAA isn’t fanatic about removing streams like the pro leagues are. I would just type in, for example, ‘TCU Texas Tech stream’ and find 3-4 options
I've actually seen a lot of NFL streams and College streams on tiktock. I've never had issues streaming netflix on delta flights. Not sure I've tried watching youtubetv or something similar
Stay in airplane mode and def don't connect to wifi though or your download might fail due to DRM/geo issues.
You know what's a good airport where I almost never have issues? New Orleans. Not too big, good destinations, easy security, never crazy packed. Decent food and beverage options. That Alaska Air non-stop NOLA --> Seattle
Heading to NO today for a bachelor party. Only thing I don’t like about the city is it’s lack of direct flights.
Get to SeaTac's fuckstick of an airport 2.5 hours before flight Check bags, have boarding pass in hand more than 2 hours before flight See TSA lines throughout the airport are a nightmare Choose shortest line, says 35 minutes Get in line -- jumps to 73 minute wait 10 minutes after we start boarding, still very far from security. Singapore Airlines calls and asks where we are Chaos ensues, try to skip line, try to exit, eventually get through security 5 minutes before boarding closes Have to take train to different terminal Get to gate, sweat, GF and I angry at each other, halfway done with boarding. Plenty of time Great start!
Likely asked before but I'm planning a family trip to Italy. First time going. We're going to have a big group. 6 adults and 6 kids. Kids will be 10, 8, 6, 5, 5 and 4. Initial discussion was to go to Rome for a few days then head down to the Amalfi Coast. Is AC still doable with that many small kids? Some people have told me it's just a ton of stairs so the kids might be miserable. Wondering if we should head up towards Florence area instead.
Mentioned it in my write up of my Italy trip but if you’re looking at going North instead of South, I’d do Bologna over Florence. Bologna is very walkable and has porticos covering much of the city center so even if it’s very hot or rainy you’re rarely in the sun or the wet, which is great for kids. Lots of outdoor eateries as well. Florence by comparison is much more crowded and narrow. There’s more Instagram clout photo opportunities but we didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. There is a kick ass model train museum though. Both are on the main high speed rail lines so easy to get to from Rome. Managing a trip of 6 adults and 6 kids seems like hell though.
I'm childless and have probably zero understanding of what kids that age would want to do. Would they enjoy museums and shit like that? Yeah its a ton of hills and steps in the Amalfi area but you could do a boat tour and some beach stuff that might be more fun to the kids? No idea but might be a little easier than all the cultural stuff in northern Italy.
Stairs in Positano are not prohibitive in my opinion. We stayed up the hill from the beach and it wasn’t bad. Just take breaks as you need them on the walk
It was absolute hell getting off the ferry and Google Maps told me it was easy to get to the train station in Sorrento. Nope a cliff wall right there so that sucked. But otherwise I actually liked Sorrento more than Positano.
The Italy posts reminded me that I had planned to post some random musings from my Italy trip with my brother in August. Napoli - Spent two days there, though one of the days was at Pompeii. - Expected it to be more dirty/sketchy based on its reputation but didn’t find it to be the case at all. - Pizza lived up to the hype. - Besides Pompeii, not as much to see from a tourist perspective, but a fun place to walk the dark, narrow streets and explore. - Pompeii is definitely worth a visit, but remember to pack a lunch. You can pay for a guided tour but there is so much information on the internet that we decided to do a self-guided tour and found that to work just fine. Sorrento - Spent three days here. From Napoli we took the Circumvesuviana train, which is far from luxurious but got the job done. The ferry is another option but it’s pricier and they charge extra for baggage. - It’s of course a huge tourist town with lots of crowds, but I never felt it was overwhelming, so I was pleasantly surprised. - The public beaches were nice enough but we also hiked to the Baths of Queen Giovanna, which is a natural pool in between some cliffs. I recommend that for the pools themselves and also some of the views you get over the bay on the walk there and back. - Restaurant wise we enjoyed TavernAllegra Florence - Took the Circumvesuviana back to Napoli and then the high speed train from Napoli to Florence. Skipped Rome since I had been there before. - Florence is definitely more crowded tourist wise, with a lot more Americans (including seemingly thousands of study abroad kids). - Duomo is super nice from the outside but a bit underwhelming from the inside, which is probably why it’s free. However, you pay for the baptistry and museum and I thought those were worth it. - The Boboli Gardens are nice to walk around and give great views of the city and the countryside. - Went to a Fiorentina match and somehow ended up in a quasi spillover Napoli supporters section. Didn’t get stabbed so 10/10 experience. - Food wise we liked Trattoria de' Guicciardini da i Bigi e i Birghe and Trattoria La Burrasca Siena - Did a day trip from Florence. Easy train ride, though it’s longer than expected (1.5 hours) due to it not being a high-speed train. - A really cool city to wander around. Each neighbourhood has its own flag, so it’s fun seeing them change as you walk. - The Duomo was beautiful and much better than Florence’s imo. You can also buy a combined ticket that includes a group tour up in the “secret” parts of the cathedral, both inside and up on the roof. Definitely worth it for like €3 extra. - Didn’t have a full meal in the city but had an amazing pizza slice at Chianti & Pizza di Mister Pizza - All in all I really enjoyed Siena, so definitely recommend to visit for a day or two from Florence or Rome Bologna - Agree with WhiskeyDelta in recommending it over Florence. Maybe a bit less to see but still more than enough to fill a couple of days and just a more enjoyable, less touristy vibe. - Tourist highlight was the Santo Stefano Basilica, which is a complex of seven (iirc) old churches. - There is also a “hidden” window overlooking a canal that is fun to walk by after it’s rained. “Ventana al canal” on googlemaps. - Highly recommend the walking tour. Very insightful and not as much walking as other tours in bigger cities. - The covered walkways are so clutch both for when it rains and the hot sun in the afternoon. - Liked both Al Sangiovese Restaurant and Trattoria Nonna Gigia - Seemed to be home to the best looking women in Italy Verona - After two days we left Bologna to finish off the trip in a different city each day before flying back from Venice. - A quick 40 minute train ride from Bologna, so very convenient. - Got a one day tourist pass for €20 and visited all of the main tourist sites (roman arena, castle, three churches, Juliet house). That probably sounds overwhelming but the city isn’t that big so it was very manageable and didn’t feel rushed at all. - Before leaving the next morning we hiked up to Castel San Pietro which has the best view of the city. - Overall Verona gets a thumbs up from me Vicenza - Another quick train ride. Strong wealthy vibes here, with tons of luxury cars. - Not near as much to see tourist wise so a day is more than enough unless you venture out into the countryside. - It’s in the mountains so you can hike up to the elevated part of the city for a great view of the city below with the mountains in the backdrop. - Not worth going out of your way for but worth a visit if you were doing a similar trip Treviso - Stopped in Treviso for a day, mainly because we had one side of our family emigrate from here. - Lots of canals so a poor man’s, less crowded Venice, but different in that they are river canals rather than sea canals like in Venice. Venice - I went in a bit close minded just expecting the most insane crowds. While it was very crowded in certain areas, it’s easy to also explore some of the less trafficked areas (still with nice canals) and be the only people around. - St Mark’s Basilica is worth visiting but get there early to beat some of the crowds. - We stayed in Mestra and took the train over to the island part (~10 minutes) which I’d recommend since you’ll pay ridiculous prices to stay in the islands. - All in all it wasn’t my favourite place, though still very beautiful and definitely worth seeing before it’s underwater.