The Travel Thread

[Deprived_in_AZ]

I like the idea of a fake wallet! Does your mother know you're a thief.... ha. Good one. Nasty little bastards.

Also I would say never put all your stuff in one wallet or purse, and if it's two of you traveling together divide the cash up between you. Just in case. Use crossbody bags, and buy the kind with the metal in the strap so they can't just cut it off of you. Never just carry your wallet in your back pocket, that's an open invitation.

 

[Deprived_in_AZ]

In other news, I've had to take one of my trips to Germany again last month and was shocked to see that the flights in both directions were PACKED! I thought it was off season and there's be a few empty seats for sure..... nope! Why? Who travels to Germany in the middle of January? The weather is nasty, there are no big events, nothing.... Ok I think the Frankfurt book fair was around that time but those were not all business people on that plane. WTF?!

 

[IrisAlthea]

I love this town, even when it’s just a quickie.


I could totally see myself living here though.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Not much of a trip, but a great start after COVID;
A friend and I took a train from Washington DC to New Orleans for a wedding and a week of sightseeing & eating. The train ride was close to 30 hours, so we flew back.
I have been to NOLA many times and given my druthers would go about every other year just for the eating tour. This was my friend's second trip, but she had only a short trip her time.

Had I gone alone, I would have gone with the smallest compartment. For my friend, I went with a bigger one with a private toilet. I found it very relaxing and I enjoyed watching the world go by. The included meals were good, and included one alcoholic beverage with the lunch and dinners. The bed was a little on the small side for two, but generous for one, and a little hard. It might not be for everyone, but I would do it again. (Full disclosure: riding in vehicles can be a complete lullaby for me. When I was in the military, I got yelled at for falling asleep as a helicopter crewman more than once and I was the worst TC, guy in the right seat, for 5 ton trucks ever.)

The wedding was great, if a little unconventional. The venue was the Bayou Barn, about 15 miles south of New Orleans. Great food in a rustic setting.

Then it was several days of my traveling companion picking activities and me picking restaurants. We didn't quite complete Homer Simpson's "1000 little things to love", but we put a dent in it. The walking through the French Quarter and the Garden District was pleasant but also a necessity after all we ate.

We spent an entire day just in the art galleries along Royal Street (a block over from Bourbon Street and far more pleasant), did a swamp tour and a mule carriage ride, as well as a lot of self guided sightseeing.

If you are a maritime industry fan (as I am, and my traveling companion has become - she is a finance & business type, but after the Evergiven in the Suez has become interested in shipping), New Orleans is pretty good for ship watching, as ocean going traffic and river traffic are busy there.

Like I say, not an epic, once in a lifetime trip, but a great "let's get back to travel after a three year break" trip.

 

[Deprived_in_AZ]

I love this town, even when it’s just a quickie.
View attachment 2218040View attachment 2218041

I could totally see myself living here though.
View attachment 2218042View attachment 2218043

Where is this?

 

[Deprived_in_AZ]

Not much of a trip, but a great start after COVID;
A friend and I took a train from Washington DC to New Orleans for a wedding and a week of sightseeing & eating. The train ride was close to 30 hours, so we flew back.
I have been to NOLA many times and given my druthers would go about every other year just for the eating tour. This was my friend's second trip, but she had only a short trip her time.

Had I gone alone, I would have gone with the smallest compartment. For my friend, I went with a bigger one with a private toilet. I found it very relaxing and I enjoyed watching the world go by. The included meals were good, and included one alcoholic beverage with the lunch and dinners. The bed was a little on the small side for two, but generous for one, and a little hard. It might not be for everyone, but I would do it again. (Full disclosure: riding in vehicles can be a complete lullaby for me. When I was in the military, I got yelled at for falling asleep as a helicopter crewman more than once and I was the worst TC, guy in the right seat, for 5 ton trucks ever.)

The wedding was great, if a little unconventional. The venue was the Bayou Barn, about 15 miles south of New Orleans. Great food in a rustic setting.

Then it was several days of my traveling companion picking activities and me picking restaurants. We didn't quite complete Homer Simpson's "1000 little things to love", but we put a dent in it. The walking through the French Quarter and the Garden District was pleasant but also a necessity after all we ate.

We spent an entire day just in the art galleries along Royal Street (a block over from Bourbon Street and far more pleasant), did a swamp tour and a mule carriage ride, as well as a lot of self guided sightseeing.

If you are a maritime industry fan (as I am, and my traveling companion has become - she is a finance & business type, but after the Evergiven in the Suez has become interested in shipping), New Orleans is pretty good for ship watching, as ocean going traffic and river traffic are busy there.

Like I say, not an epic, once in a lifetime trip, but a great "let's get back to travel after a three year break" trip.

It’s just good to get out, isn’t it. I like the old ships, Hearts of Oak, and all that. Creaky and with big sails.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

It’s just good to get out, isn’t it. I like the old ships, Hearts of Oak, and all that. Creaky and with big sails.

I appreciate sailing ships.

I had the good fortune to see the US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle (Originally the Deutsche Kriegsmarine training ship Horst Wessel) under full sail on the Atlantic. (And if you want to understand sailors, watch Master and Commander.)

Contemporary ship watching is different in a lot of ways. In some ways more impressive, but in other ways, far uglier.

(Maritime trivia that explains a lot; with a full load of containers, the Ever Given has more "sail" area than the largest sail cargo ships ever built.)

Okay, one last nugget, then I will cease nerding out; the only ship in the US Navy today to have sunk am enemy warship in combat is the USS Constitution, the sailing ship that ties up in Boston.

The Crescent City is always a good time, and this trip was amazing.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Where is this?

Oh sorry, that’s Copenhagen away from the tourist path.
If you look closely at the second picture, you can see a bit of a ride at Tivoli and the SAS Hotel designed inside and out by Arne Jacobsen (one of my favourite haunts).
They are building like crazy in the old docks and industrial zones and while I love the old industrial buildings and scruffy cityscapes I also love what they are developing there.

A friend and I took a train from Washington DC to New Orleans for a wedding and a week of sightseeing & eating.

New Orleans is one of those places I’d love to visit but that I’m also a bit afraid would be disappointing because how can it live up to everything I’ve seen in movies and read about it.

Contemporary ship watching is different in a lot of ways. In some ways more impressive, but in other ways, far uglier.

(Maritime trivia that explains a lot; with a full load of containers, the Ever Given has more "sail" area than the largest sail cargo ships ever built.)

I didn’t even know that ship watching was a thing until I visited a café by the Kiel Canal where they called out the passing ships you could see passing by.
It’s hard to really see/understand how big those ships are.
We were all fascinated and hung out there way longer than planned.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

New Orleans is one of those places I’d love to visit but that I’m also a bit afraid would be disappointing because how can it live up to everything I’ve seen in movies and read about it.

Regarding New Orleans; Bourbon Street is (for me) only worth about half an hour. See the outside of The Old Absinthe House, stop for a beer at Lafitte's Blacksmith, and I am over it.
If you are into noise, unfettered hedonism and crowds of falling down drunk people, you will get more out of it than I do.

The rest of the French Quarter, between Bourbon Street and the Mississippi River is much more to my liking; restaurants, art, great food, history, amazing places to eat, supernatural/ghost/spooky stuff, and the aroma of great cooking.

The Garden District is much more upscale, has been the setting of a lot of books and movies, and is really beautiful.
There are elements of the history that aren't things to brag about. Commander's Palace is brilliant, but very expensive, right in the middle of the Garden District, and across the street from Lafayette Cemetery #1, which is in a lot of movies, but the way the staff works, there are still hold-overs from the days of slavery.

Interesting twist on this last trip; my friend is of Huguenot heritage; her family fled persecution by the French Catholic government in the 18th Century. New Orleans was settled by Creole (upper class French Catholic folks, usually merchants and displaced nobility) and Cajuns (rustic descendants of French Catholics who were forced out of Canada). It reframed the history of New Orleans in interesting ways for me.

People visit the U.S. from Europe and head for Boston, New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Having been to all of those, I think New York, DC, New Orleans, and Seattle would do a better job of giving a visitor a sense of America.

New Orleans, for me, has always lived up to the hype. It is rich in sensations, people who express themselves unself-consciously (a huge difference from NYC or LA where they are always watching for reactions), history, and culture.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Re: ship watching; Savanah, Georgia (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) was a great place for that. It was very cool watching a huge (300m long) cargo ship "sink" (take on ballast to settle lower in the water) to go under a bridge.

Marinetraffic.com is a great tool for understanding what you are looking at, like around Savanah or the Baltic Sea.

 

[Deprived_in_AZ]

I appreciate sailing ships.

I had the good fortune to see the US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle (Originally the Deutsche Kriegsmarine training ship Horst Wessel) under full sail on the Atlantic. (And if you want to understand sailors, watch Master and Commander.)

Contemporary ship watching is different in a lot of ways. In some ways more impressive, but in other ways, far uglier.

(Maritime trivia that explains a lot; with a full load of containers, the Ever Given has more "sail" area than the largest sail cargo ships ever built.)

Okay, one last nugget, then I will cease nerding out; the only ship in the US Navy today to have sunk am enemy warship in combat is the USS Constitution, the sailing ship that ties up in Boston.

The Crescent City is always a good time, and this trip was amazing.

Master and Commander is one of my favorite movies! I also really like the Horatio Hornblower series.

I agree with you on the contemporary ship watching. I’ve seen some old ships in England: the Victory, the Mary Rose (what’s left of her), the Cutty Sark, to name a few… now that’s a whole different feeling, though I’m sure romanticized in my head because life onboard those ships was pretty damned hard. But they sure look good.

 

[Deprived_in_AZ]

Oh sorry, that’s Copenhagen away from the tourist path.
If you look closely at the second picture, you can see a bit of a ride at Tivoli and the SAS Hotel designed inside and out by Arne Jacobsen (one of my favourite haunts).
They are building like crazy in the old docks and industrial zones and while I love the old industrial buildings and scruffy cityscapes I also love what they are developing there.

Oh sorry, that’s Copenhagen away from the tourist path.
If you look closely at the second picture, you can see a bit of a ride at Tivoli and the SAS Hotel designed inside and out by Arne Jacobsen (one of my favourite haunts).
They are building like crazy in the old docks and industrial zones and while I love the old industrial buildings and scruffy cityscapes I also love what they are developing there.



Ah, ok. Yeah, that’s a side of Copenhagen we didn’t visit… typical tourists, we headed straight for the little mermaid! Then onto the train and across to Malmö, which we very much enjoyed and where we ate a delicious roasted aubergine soup, a life saver on a cold and rainy day.

Ah, ok. Yeah, that’s a side of Copenhagen we didn’t visit… typical tourists, we headed straight for the little mermaid! Then onto the train and across to Malmö, which we very much enjoyed and where we ate a delicious roasted aubergine soup, a life saver on a cold and rainy day.
Those ships really are impressive, wow.

 

[Deprived_in_AZ]

Re: ship watching; Savanah, Georgia (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) was a great place for that. It was very cool watching a huge (300m long) cargo ship "sink" (take on ballast to settle lower in the water) to go under a bridge.

Marinetraffic.com is a great tool for understanding what you are looking at, like around Savanah or the Baltic Sea.

Highly recommend not visiting in the warmer months though unless someone has a high tolerance for swampy climate. We lived in Savannah for a couple of years, it is sticky af. November through February is nicest. Same goes for New Orleans, presumably.

 

[BiBunny]

Highly recommend not visiting in the warmer months though unless someone has a high tolerance for swampy climate. We lived in Savannah for a couple of years, it is sticky af. November through February is nicest. Same goes for New Orleans, presumably.

I have never been to either Savannah or New Orleans (they're both on my list, though), but I've traveled extensively showing horses in the US South, and I can confirm that it's that way all over, lol.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

So, New York City.

There is a trip worth doing every few years, and it has been since before the Plague Times for me (COVID).

I would like to point out that Strand Bookstore ("18 miles of books!"), Forbidden Planet (nerd-vana; sci-fi & fantasy books & kitsch), and Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar (a hedonistic pleasure without compare) are in the same block of Broadway.

While I have spent a lot of time in NYC, I haven't been to the Intrepid yet (an aircraft carrier turned into a museum). The first helicopter (not type, the tail number) I ever went up in is there.

 

[seela]

I’m going to Copenhagen in less than two weeks and I’m so excited! It’s been a while since been there and it’s also been a while since I’ve traveled sans J. I’m hoping the weather won’t be too gross. Which coat to bring? It’s always such a difficult decision this time of year.

And in June I’m heading to London for a couple of days, which should also be fun. I’ve never been to London before, but now there’s a good reason to go so I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve also booked flights for a summer vacation trip for me and J. We’ll fly into Venice and fly back home from Zagreb. We’ll spend most of the about two weeks between the flights in Slovenia. I’m hoping it’ll be a good and relaxing trip. I’m really looking forward to starting to plan the trip in a little more detail.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I’m hoping the weather won’t be too gross. Which coat to bring? It’s always such a difficult decision this time of year.

Based on recent weather, I’d say bikini and moonboots.
Last week I decided to bring out my spring raincoat with fleece inside and I’m normally adamant to not go back to winter coat, come hell or high water. Then there was that snow storm and I’ve been wearing the winter coat untill today.
I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve also booked flights for a summer vacation trip for me and J. We’ll fly into Venice and fly back home from Zagreb. We’ll spend most of the about two weeks between the flights in Slovenia.

That sounds wonderful!
I have a ton of ideas in those parts…

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

I’m going to Copenhagen in less than two weeks and I’m so excited! It’s been a while since been there and it’s also been a while since I’ve traveled sans J. I’m hoping the weather won’t be too gross. Which coat to bring? It’s always such a difficult decision this time of year.

And in June I’m heading to London for a couple of days, which should also be fun. I’ve never been to London before, but now there’s a good reason to go so I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve also booked flights for a summer vacation trip for me and J. We’ll fly into Venice and fly back home from Zagreb. We’ll spend most of the about two weeks between the flights in Slovenia. I’m hoping it’ll be a good and relaxing trip. I’m really looking forward to starting to plan the trip in a little more detail.

Those sound like awesome trips! I was in Slovenia in 2000 and loved it. Same with Croatia in 1999. Granted, I was in the US Army as a guest of the Slovenes and in Croatia as part of a support element for the Bosnia mission but still, both were glorious.

The military base I went to in Slovenia has been turned into a museum (https://www.parkvojaskezgodovine.si/en/), and I really want to go there. I would love to see Predjama castle ( https://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/predjama-castle/) again, too.


I have a trip sketched out; US to southern Italy, the ferry from Bari to Durres Albania, then busses along the coast and stop in Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Opatija, and then on to Slovenia, but COVID has thrown my plans off.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I have a trip sketched out; US to southern Italy, the ferry from Bari to Durres Albania, then busses along the coast and stop in Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Opatija, and then on to Slovenia, but COVID has thrown my plans off.

Opatija is a favourite for me.
If you are in those parts, I highly recommend the Kvarner Islands to. Cres is my favourite but most people seem to go for Lošinj.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Another "dream vacat

Opatija is a favourite for me.
If you are in those parts, I highly recommend the Kvarner Islands to. Cres is my favourite but most people seem to go for Lošinj.

I will stir this into the mix.

 

[seela]

It’s been very, very many years since I last visited Nyhavn when I’ve been in Copenhagen. It was more or less how I remembered it being, except with fewer tourists and more gray skies.

I think today is the only day of my trip when it won’t rain. Sigh.

 

[seela]

Clearly my tributes to the weather god paid off! It rained a lot all night long and early morning, but now the skies are blue despite the weather forecast being quite sad for today.

 

[Primalex]

My 1-day city trip to Hamburg yesterday, started 5 am, returned 7pm.

https://imgur.com/a/RzRLlzn

Locations in order of appearance:
Fischmarkt
https://goo.gl/maps/etGH9WwzdXqyX7Zf8

Schulauer Strand and Wedel
https://goo.gl/maps/yfcDt6mcXWuH7iwFA

Köhlbrandbrücke
https://goo.gl/maps/X5zVY7d5VcrJGgvZA

Elbdeich beim Elbfischer
https://goo.gl/maps/qwg2Ec1TNxJMTL9JA

Food:
Picnic breakfast on the Schulauer Strand, with sandwiches, grapes, nuts and a boiled egg.

Waffle with cherries, vanilla ice and cream at the Schulhauer Fährhaus
This place is pretty unique as a retired captain welcomes and sees the various ships going in and out of Hamburg off. They raise the flag of the nation and play a short bit of the anthem, greet the crew in German and the (theoretical) native language and announce details or interesting tidbits about the ship and its routes (where it came from and where it's going next). Here is an example:

A bread roll with smoked eel at the Elbfischer

 

[seela]

My 1-day city trip to Hamburg yesterday, started 5 am, returned 7pm.

https://imgur.com/a/RzRLlzn

Locations in order of appearance:
Fischmarkt
https://goo.gl/maps/etGH9WwzdXqyX7Zf8

Schulauer Strand and Wedel
https://goo.gl/maps/yfcDt6mcXWuH7iwFA

Köhlbrandbrücke
https://goo.gl/maps/X5zVY7d5VcrJGgvZA

Elbdeich beim Elbfischer
https://goo.gl/maps/qwg2Ec1TNxJMTL9JA

Food:
Picnic breakfast on the Schulauer Strand, with sandwiches, grapes, nuts and a boiled egg.

Waffle with cherries, vanilla ice and cream at the Schulhauer Fährhaus
This place is pretty unique as a retired captain welcomes and sees the various ships going in and out of Hamburg off. They raise the flag of the nation and play a short bit of the anthem, greet the crew in German and the (theoretical) native language and announce details or interesting tidbits about the ship and its routes (where it came from and where it's going next). Here is an example:

A bread roll with smoked eel at the Elbfischer

Thanks for taking us along on the trip! I want a waffle now.

Maybe this year I’ll finally go to Germany. I’ve planned for it for several years now, because it’s been way too long since I’ve been there and I miss speaking German, too. It makes my mouth way less tired than speaking English does. It makes my brain very tired, though.

 

[IrisAlthea]

My 1-day city trip to Hamburg yesterday, started 5 am, returned 7pm.

https://imgur.com/a/RzRLlzn

Locations in order of appearance:
Fischmarkt
https://goo.gl/maps/etGH9WwzdXqyX7Zf8

Schulauer Strand and Wedel
https://goo.gl/maps/yfcDt6mcXWuH7iwFA

Köhlbrandbrücke
https://goo.gl/maps/X5zVY7d5VcrJGgvZA

Elbdeich beim Elbfischer
https://goo.gl/maps/qwg2Ec1TNxJMTL9JA

Food:
Picnic breakfast on the Schulauer Strand, with sandwiches, grapes, nuts and a boiled egg.

Waffle with cherries, vanilla ice and cream at the Schulhauer Fährhaus
This place is pretty unique as a retired captain welcomes and sees the various ships going in and out of Hamburg off. They raise the flag of the nation and play a short bit of the anthem, greet the crew in German and the (theoretical) native language and announce details or interesting tidbits about the ship and its routes (where it came from and where it's going next). Here is an example:

A bread roll with smoked eel at the Elbfischer

Sounds and looks like a great day!
I’ve mostly just passed through or around Hamburg, so it’s nice to see a bit more of what’s there.

It’s been way too long since I had smoked eel!

It makes my mouth way less tired than speaking English does

It sounds and seems so effortless when you speak English though.