my TravelPro’s top handle broke after like six months of use so I guess I get to see how good this warranty really is
Quick 2 days. Spent Monday and Tuesday in Edinburgh. Hope you aren't flying out Delta on the morning flight, or if you are I hope you miss you flight and they rebook you on the afternoon one. Trying to nonrev outta here. Got our sites set on some open Delta One seats :fingerscrossed:
If you're into trying an Eritrean dining experience in Amsterdam, check out Restaurant Asmara near the Waterlooplein.
I thought it would be lame so I avoided it for the first few days and just saw it from afar around Paris. I kept sending snaps of it like, "Nice try, Paris. I already saw this in Las Vegas." Then we finally went over there one night for the light show and I was absolutely blown away. So I'm an idiot but I learn from my idiots ways.
A while back I was taking an evening flight out of CDG to VIE and we had spectacular clear skies for our climb out. Gained new appreciation for the strength of the light beams, which we could watch for the first 10 mins or so.
We took a Seine cruise from Pont Neuf and passed the tower just as the light show started so we got to see it all from the water which was cool
nah fly from FLL PBI closer for us palm beach county folks but FLL is only a 30-40 min drive and is almost always cheaper note: never flown out of MIA
are those Frontier and Spirit prices with baggage and seat assignment? they post the cheapest flight prices of course but I've found sticking with the cheapest option then adding on your seat and bag if needed is still the cheapest way to go, compared to going to their upgraded options. example - later this month taking Spirit for 4 w/ bags. Got that sucker for $1250. Went through their shopping cart multiple times to figure out sticking with the cheapest flight option, then adding on exactly what you need/want, works out to the best deal. TMB poors like me gotta contribute something to the thread. Cheapo flights research. Keep going with Delta if you're rich though.
Last time we went to Paris me and the wife had a picnic in the Eiffel Tower park during the afternoon. We just bought some meats, cheeses, bread, snacks and a bottle of wine nearby. It was awesome. Highly recommend.
So many of the big tourist spots are underwhelming. You go see it, shrug your shoulders, and continue on.
Back when we were in college and dating my wife and I did a summer semester abroad in Paris and did this several times a week. One of the best cheap dates on earth.
Usually that’s if you are getting an old school style cask ale where the carbonation comes from then fermentation in the cask. Not my jam either. Order a normal beer.
It was back in steerage. Still a total cost of about $700 to fly to Edinburgh (with two of us in D1 and the othera in Premium Select just behind) an Air France flight to Paris and then a flight home? I'll sit wherever they can fit me at those rates.
Submitted my TravelPro warranty claim this morning and they just emailed saying they’re shipping a replacement handle kit. Not bad
its really just dependent on tolerating the crowds; I finally did it at the end of paralympics and it was awesome to walk down stairs and think of the surrounding history, being built in phases, think about it being painted different colors, etc.
Just reserved and uber for my mom to go to the airport tomorrow. The last time she used uber she got into a random strangers care and paid him $50 for him to driver from the Atlanta airport to my house. She doesn't realize how close she was to being abducted. She's been banned from uber unless supervised.
Coming back to this and posting a little bit of a write-up on it. Overall - 7.5/10 While it was a good time with amazing food, stunning scenery, and friendly people, I wouldn’t necessarily put it at the top of my travel list. Right now is apparently shoulder season, which meant some stuff was closed or had limited hours. Also, this time of year seems to bring a lot of seaweed to the eastern beaches (where many of the island’s beaches are), which made them a bit less enjoyable than hoped. Hotels - Marriott St. Kitts -- Solid hotel with good on-site food (we really enjoyed the Italian restaurant). Has a golf course next to it (and I believe associated with it) and relatively centralized if you want to explore. Has the standard amenities of a Marriott brand hotel, though a bit more rough around the edges in parts (what you get in the Caribbean). Lots of pool space and lots of beach space, plus a swim-up bar in the pool. Small casino but it covers the bases for people who like to gamble. People working at the hotel were great - incredibly friendly and helpful. - Park Hyatt -- Beautiful hotel, but out on its own. Not much around it aside from one other beach with a few beach bars and restaurants. Beyond that, you are closer to a 20 minute drive to anything else. Great food on-site and great rooms. Phenomenal views of Nevis across the water. People at the hotel were equally phenomenal in helping and being friendly, though this didn't surprise me as much as the hotel is meant to be very fancy. Enjoyed the adult-only pool most of the time which was right outside of our room but did make our way down to the larger pool and enjoyed it as well. St. Kitts Things We Did - Hiked Mr. Liamuiga -- Definitely suggest this but I will say that it is toughest hike I have ever done in my life (granted, I'm no Nug hiking massive mountains every weekend). Absolutely get a guide if you decide to do this as the then-current path isn't always well marked and there are some spots where you are actually climbing, not just hiking. Beautiful views from the top of the volcanic cone and we could see Sint Eustatius and Saba from the top. - St Kitts and Nevis vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines soccer match -- This was a blast! For some reason the national sports complex wasn't available so the match was had "out in the country" (maybe 20 min drive from Basseterre, the capital, and 30 mins from the Marriott). Two tickets were a grand combined total of $11 USD. We apparently sat with all the players families and people were nice enough not to shoo us away and instead started chatting with us when they could see I was into the match. SKN ended up losing 3-1, which sucked but the experience was neat. They are called the Sugar Boys. I was able to get 3 kits from the SKN FA before we left, which was nice. - Catamaran Snorkeling and Tour -- Enjoyed this with the local people. Snorkeling was fine as we saw rock lobster and plenty of fish, but nothing otherworldly. After two stops for snorkeling we made our way to Nevis (Pinneys Beach) and had some lunch and drinks at the beach bars. Our guides knew some local guys that were harvesting conch so they traded them a few beers for a bunch of conch and we had some on the boat (they took the rest home), which was delicious. - Marriott golf course -- St. Kitts got absolutely dumped on the day we arrived and I was playing the next morning so the course was a bit water-logged (#16 was closed due to so much water). Lots of water hazards on the course that weren't actually water hazards before the massive rain they got the day before. Overall, about what you expect from Caribbean golf that isn't truly dedicated to it. Nice course, enjoyed playing, would play again and maintain my reasonable expectation. - Carambola Beach Club -- as a pull up you wonder if this is a bit sketchy, but once you get inside it is pretty nice. We had dinner here one night then came back the next day to enjoy the beach. Food was solid and we really enjoyed the beach lounging. Again, they could make it a bit more "refined" but it was still great and something I would suggest enjoying, especially if you go while the seaweed is on the eastern side of the island (this is on the western side). - Timothy Hill Overlook -- Simple stop for good views of the island. Overcast but if you are on the island, I suggest a quick stop here (won't need more than 10 mins to get the standard pictures and just enjoy the views). - Brimstone Hill Fortress Natl Park -- Neat to see and a good stop for those that enjoy history. Did get a chuckle at one of the write-ups that discussed how the French were down by the coast and the British built this fort above them and the French tried to attach it. High ground tends to win. Worth a visit and a couple hours. - Romney Manor (Wingfield Estate) -- maybe not worth the visit. Gorgeous old estate home (though think much smaller than the plantation homes you have seen/heard about in the South) that you can walk through and they are selling Carib Batik stuff. This is a special way they make certain patterns and whatnot, interesting the see and understand. - Wingfield Estate Rum Tour and Tasting (right near Romney Manor) -- This was neat from a historical perspective (its the oldest surviving rum distillery in the Caribbean, starting in the late 1600s), but a bit disappointing from a tasting perspective. Long and informative tour, one small taste of the rum at the end (though they did have a welcome cocktail and another towards the end). - Basseterre Cruise Port -- standard cruise port with the same shops all around. Always neat to see, but not much to it. - National Museum/Independence Square -- The museum was closed for renovations and Independence Square is neat to see, but it's a pretty standard square in a city. Restaurants - Orchid Bay Beach House -- Amazing dinner with amazing views of the water and sunset. I would definitely suggest this place. Italian family style dining that you have to give them your order at least a day in advance. They give you a welcome mojito and invite you to enjoy the sunshine on the big viewing patio. Once everyone in your party sits down at your table, they start to cook for your meal. - Reggae Beach Bar & Grill -- Go on a Friday and get a reservation. Big cook out with all the food and a live band. It was a blast of a vibe. We got a little unlucky with the food as our waitress seemed to have an area on the other side of the restaurant and kept seemingly forgetting about us, but even with that enjoyed the food when it did come and had a great time. - Marriott Resort -- enjoyed the beach grill food (loved the jerk chicken) and the Italian restaurant. No reason to eat at either place if you aren't staying here, but if you are here and you eat here, you won't be disappointed. - Rituals Coffee House -- the coffee on the island was fine, overall. Not great, but also not the worst. The breakfast sandwich here was good though. - Rock Lobster -- food was delicious though don't get the specialty cocktail. I was thinking standard cocktail made by the bartender. Nope, it was an over-the-top slushy type cocktail with two mini bottles and a lit sparkler poking out of it. Felt ridiculous but went with it and enjoyed it nonetheless. - Carambola Beach Club -- had lunch and dinner here. Both were good and a place I would suggest. I got the surf and turf for dinner and the steak was amazing. Lobster tail was good, as always, but the steak somehow stole the show. We were really hoping for some off-menu sushi roll for lunch but the sushi guy wasn't in when we were there. - Boozies on the Beach -- was recommended over and over by different locals. It was incredibly underwhelming. They were out of a bunch of stuff and then what we got was meh at best ("grilled" fish was actually seemingly "broiled" fish). Though there were a bunch of restaurants in this area (Frigate Bay Beach) that looked good, we just never got back to it to try them out. - Sprat Net -- we were supposed to go to Sprat Net on Wednesday night as it has live music and a big turn-out but we were both sore as hell from the hike the day before and we decided to eat at the Marriott. Nevis *Unfortunately our time on Nevis was shorter than we anticipated. The original time for the ferry (which takes cars) was 8:00 am and come back at 6:00 pm. The time during this time of year was depart St. Kitts at 9:00 am and return leaving Nevis at 4:00 pm. It also doesn't go to the closest points on the islands (maybe the boat taxi service for individuals does, but not the one with vehicles) so each way took around 45 mins to an hour. Things We Did - Museum of Nevis History -- was a neat stop to learn a bit about Nevis and its history. Until planning this trip I did not know Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis (though grew up on St. Croix), I just new "Caribbean" and never thought much more about it. So they have information on him as well. Definitely worth the stop as it only takes about an hour. - Bath Hot Springs -- most of the hot springs were closed for the season but enjoyed this fine. It's pretty dang hot which, when combined with it already being hot in the Caribbean, can make for a warm afternoon. Had a couple of weird interactions with other people there but a nice little stop anyways. Restaurants - Sip on the Square -- Nice breakfast overlooking a main little square with a gorgeous flowering tree in the middle of it. Food was good and a really enjoyable experience overall. - Drift -- Fantastic lunch overlooking back towards St. Kitts. Right next to the international airport but so few flights coming in and out, didn't make any sort of difference. - Barefoot Beach Bar -- Stopped by for a quick cocktail and it was a nice, simple beach bar looking out onto the water. Nice white sand beach. - Sunshines Beach Bar -- The most well-known bar on Pinneys beach. They are known for the Bee Sting, strong rum punch. It was pretty good but nothing too special. We also had some of their "hammond", which is their local type moonshine. Strong, but pretty good. - Turtle Time Beach Bar -- Great beach lunch with nicer than expected food. Also loved the Turtle Time shirts incorporating TMNT. - Nevis Peak brewery -- The only local brewery on either island (Carib is brewed on St. Kitts, as well as other places in the Caribbean, but it is a true manufacturing type plant so not open to tours or tastings or anything like that). We got lucky in that we showed up and they were expecting a tour later that day so they allowed us in for a few beers. Apparently Google hadn't updated their hours so it was causing some confusion. Owned by a couple from Canada who got tired of the rat race and moved to the Caribbean. I am sure I missed some things but that is all that was in my head now. If anyone is going, let me know and I will try and answer whatever questions I can.
I think we’re doing Portugal for just a week in October but trying to allocate our time Definitely going to Lisbon trying to decide how many nights, and if we should do Algarve region or Porto after. Don’t think we would have time for all 3. Anyone have a must see city in Portugal that isn’t Lisbon?
Porto is incredible Algarve seems to be more outdoors/surfing. Porto for wine, food, general vacation loungin'
Should definitely stay at the G Spot party hostel in Lisboa. Don’t fall for the fake cocaine after being provided with a sample of the real stuff.
Going to Salzburg, Austria in November for work. Definitely want to hit a Christmas market. Any other recs are appreciated.
Dunno how early they set up Christmas markets, but there'll probably be a huge one in the Residenzplatz next to the Dom. Others will be scattered around the city. Just walking the Old town is fun; the Getreidegasse gets the most foot traffic but the whole area is charming. You can walk up to the Hohenfestung but you might want to take the funicular instead. The Monchsweg trail takes you NW from the Festung above the city, and it gives intermittent really good views. Across the river, Schloss Mirabell has pretty gardens with mythical statues and the Festung in the background, but November probably isn't the most picturesque time to go there. Same with Maria Plain out of town; it's a Catholic pilgrimage point with spectacular views of the city and the mountains in the background, but the weather rarely cooperates. Ate at Barenwirt and Elefant. Both good. Depending on how much time you have, you might consider a day trip to Hallstatt. Take the train to Attnang-Puchheim, get on the puddlejumper to Stainach-Irdning. Get off at the Hallstatt station and take the boat across the water to the town. Nobody regrets doing this.