Wife and I are doing a quick trip to Raleigh this weekend for a wedding. I’m looking for a nice dinner for her one night and some great bbq for me. Suggestions?
The west coast of north Scotland (Plockton to John o'Groats) is some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen. Giant mountains that fall into the sea to pink sand beaches with turquoise water. It has a little bit of everything. It's not nearly as traveled as the southern part of Scotland which is very nice. There is a route called the North Coast 500 which is a road trip along the northern part of Scotland which we picked through and did the best parts of. Orkney and Shetland are both more Nordic than Scottish. Most of the residents don't really consider themselves Scottish and it's a very different lifestyle. In fact both were part of Norway before being transferred to Scotland around the 14th century. Shetland especially has incredible scenery and wildlife, there are a few orca pods that live around the island and we saw several puffin colonies and of course the famous Shetland ponies. To get to Orkney we took a ferry from the north coast (Scrabster) and then after touring Orkney did an overnight ferry to Shetland which passes by Fair Isle. After Shetland we took the overnight ferry back down to Aberdeen. Getting a cabin in the overnight ferry isn't too much more expensive than a hotel and it allowed us to take the rental car with us which is a must to get around on those northern islands.
Accidently booked the wrong flight on Aerolineas Argentinas, then requested the 24 hour cancellation, then rebooked correct flight. Preparing for battle w/ their support team via WhatsApp to get refunded for first ticket and not have them mistakenly cancel the right ticket.
I book a lot of my domestic Mexican flights through Kiwi, a subpar third-party website. Never had an issue until they canceled my recent flight from CDMX to Puerto Escondido. Completely canceled, not re-booked. Requested a refund, and got an automated message that "we cannot guarantee a refund, it's up to the carrier. We are working on it!" Lot of online reviews say it's about 50/50 whether I'll get my card refunded. It was only a $65 flight, so not worth the effort, but lolwut.
Work with a guy who has a shitload of points so he used his points to put me on the list to be upgraded. It's always a crapshoot, but it worked in my favor. Gonna be on another 8 hour flight after the 13.5 hr fight to Tokyo so I'm real happy one of the flights isn't gonna suck balls* * I'm 90% sure your post was sarcasm but very happy and wanted to share anyway
Wasn't at all. Always interested in hearing about longhaul upgrade scenarios Who are you flying with?
Real glad the volcano near Mexico City that’s been wanting to pop off all week held off so I could make my flight. Not every day I fly near a smoky volcano
Anyone done an all inclusive with kids 12,9,7? Specific country doesn’t matter as much as kids having fun but still want Mrs Kilmer and myself to be able to relax
I’m planning to spend a week in Europe in September with my wife for our 5 year anniversary. We’re thinking of Mallorca, Greece (Milo’s, Paros?), Sardinia, or Croatia. Looking for a great beach scene but would also like to be able to have breakfasts and dinners in town in the evenings. Has anyone been to a few of these places and have a favorite?
I am so impressed with Buenos Aires, did a city tour yesterday with a guide and saw most of the different neighborhoods. Stunningly beautiful, really reminiscent of Paris in some places. Today is walk around and sample food and drink day - I am so stoked. About 55 degrees and crisp
Anyone been to Lyon? Going next year for work and wanting to extend my stay and go to Paris for my wife’s 40th. We’ve never traveled internationally, unless you count the DR. Any tips and recommendations are appreciated.
Room 15 was spot on with Guimpi V. We went there almost every day thanks to this post. Highly suggest it. And the ice cream in BA is phenomenal as well.
been. Do the occupation museum. Avoid the like Irish beer bars? There are a legit shocking number of them on the rivers. There was an incredible restaurant near the deux train station. Will try to find the name. Guy shared white burgundy from a magnum because he thought it would be good with our lunch.
Sitting in a hotel in Naples about to fly back from our honeymoon tomorrow AM and had a crazy travel story I wanted to share. One night we were in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat we made a last minute audible and decided to get dinner in Monaco. We took a car there and get to our table. One table over from us in the corner was a huge booth set up with a caviar platter (we looked and saw the price was 620 euros) and a bottle of wine with nobody there. Finally, about a 60 year old guy in a nice suit sets up in the booth and starts eating by himself. He overhears we are on our honeymoon and asks the waiter to each give us a glass of wine from his bottle. We end up talking for about 10-15 minutes - he was insanely intuitive and intelligent and pretty cool. He had opened a second bottle at this point but didn’t want anymore than a half glass. He decides to leave and asks us if we wanted to join him at a club later and says we can have the rest of his bottle. The sommelier rushes over about 20 seconds after he leaves and we have the bottle on our table thinking someone made a mistake - we ask what’s wrong, and he asks if we ordered the bottle. We said no, it was a gift from the guy next to us, and he let out a sigh of relief - it was a 3,000 euro bottle lol We find out from the waiters the guy is like the fifth wealthiest guy in Monaco and eats a 4,000 euro meal by himself about 4 nights a week at that place. We decide at that point we need to join him at this club. I text his driver who picks us up and drops us off at a club in Monaco to his private table - I was expecting he was with some friends but it’s just us. I felt like I was in some A24 film being set up for some weird movie about a wealthy person killing tourists but the dude was just super nice. Among the crazier things we experienced smoking Cubans and drinking more 3,000 euro wine with him until 2 AM: -He had just bought a 170,000 euro Phillipe Patek watch at auction 3 days earlier, I asked him if he was scared of dinging it and he took it off and started banging it against the table saying “who cares, it’s just a thing” -He mentioned he had put 17 million euros into redesigning his new girlfriend’s house despite her not being technically divorced yet. When we asked why he doesn’t just think she’ll end up with the husband again he said “well, my helicopter is bigger, she won’t go back to his” -He kept telling me I needed to buy nicer things to act like I’m more advanced in work than I am. He said “here’s a start” and gave me the Hermes tie he was wearing (“I have 500 others, what is 501”) Just a casual 20k Wednesday night for this guy with 2 people he had never met before and glad we survived with no weird stuff
I just got back from a 5-hour ecstatic dance party in a 100 degree Mexican jungle with the sweatiest hippies you can imagine, but my story pales in comparison.
Wife and I ate a super dank meal in CDMX last night, but my guess is that it was either the tomatoes or grilled oyster in chili butter (best thing I’ve had in Mexico this trip) that made for last night to be a long one. Was hoping she’d not experience this
At the restaurant was Massetino Toscana 2020, at the club was Chateau Montrose 2010 which I guess is a 99 on Wine Spectator and becoming very rare. Marked up to Monaco prices. We left a third of a bottle on the table at the club because I just couldn't drink anymore It actually crossed my mind! He showed me another auction he won for 3 million euros for another Patek, so this one was small potatoes for him that he just kind of did on a whim. I told him that watches are something I've just never been able to justify large spending on and he told me I absolutely needed one. Said Rolex's are too commoditized so I should get a 60k-70k "starter Patek" to grow into. He was talking about it like you'd tell a buddy to pick up some new $30 house tool at Home Depot but kept saying "like the great Wayne Gretzky said, you need to skate to wear the puck is going and not where the puck is today" (e.g. you need to look today like you're richer than you are if you want to be rich). He said first by a watch, than some art, than he told me I needed to go to some boutique in Beverly Hills "with an unlimited budget" and buy totally new work clothes (he didn't like the shirt I was wearing with my jacket) Totally agree. He is probably benefiting to the tune of hundreds of millions by living in Monaco and has more money than he can spend in a lifetime, but "eat the rich" aside it was cool to see that lifestyle for one night lol. He was supposedly a big hedge fund manager in the '90s and I think his dad was uber wealthy too. His emotional intelligence was insane though. Within 30 minutes at the club, he asked to guess where we were from - he said I was from "the midwest or Texas but not a big city like Chicago or Dallas" (I'm from Cleveland) and my wife "is from a big city like LA or NYC, but like an hour outside of those cities, so you like to act like you're from a big area but grew up more sheltered" (she's from Orange County). I also told him I can't buy a $60k Patek because we just bought a house and he guessed our house price within like 3% and said its too little to stop us from spending more lol
This guy's good The Polaris lounge was nice. Prob the best chicken and waffles I've had Walked in on an Asian lady taking a shit because she didn't lock the door and the green light outside the door indicated it was vacant I heard a British guy do the same thing immediately after me and say I'm sorry miss but the green light was on One of us
going to Dublin and Galway in early October. I'll take any of your recs, including what "tourist" stuff I should commit to and avoid
Was very underwhelmed with Dublin. Temple Bar area is touristy AF. There are a couple very, very cool old-school Irish Pubs though: Stag's Head, The Brazen Head (pub that's like 1,000 years old). The DART metro is very convenient -- can head to County Wicklow for some cool hiking if the weather cooperates. I'd prioritize Galway over Dublin.
we should all pay for one TMBer to go to that Monaco restaurant and befriend that old man until he pays for our island
I liked the Guinness and Jameson tours. Touristy AF but enjoyable. Temple Bar is tourist hell. Much like Bourbon Street I would go briefly to see it but not plan to spend a lot of time there. Second the Brazen Head. Galway is a great time. It's a bit of trip (maybe an hour and half) but I'd go see Cliffs of Moher if you have a few days there.
Galway is awesome. Just walk around and go into any bar with live music. They’ve got a walkable whisky tour as well that’s a good way to experience the area.
I've more or less committed to doing one of those things. I've heard Guinness tour is meh but the view up top is great. Jameson I've heard good things about. You'd think there are all sort of Whiskey distillery options in Dublin, however. Not sure it always makes the most sense to go to the biggest company's tour. If it was just my wife and I, we'd prolly do Cork and Galway. So hope to make the best out of Dublin
Yes, the view is incredible. Worth that alone. I'm sure there are plenty of other distilleries and breweries but I've done both of them twice. First time I went was when I was 20 and none of us cared to look for anything else. Second time they were both part of our tour group package through PSU when we played UCF over there. I don't really plan on going back to Dublin any time soon but if I did I'd try to find some others. Dublin isn't a bad city by any means. You should easily be able to enjoy a few days there. It's just not very memorable as far as European cities go.