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Post by Kye on Oct 23, 2017 10:42:35 GMT
The beach is beautiful there. I'm sure you'll have fun.
I've stayed in that part of Mexico twice, but a bit farther down the coast from Playa del Carmen.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 23, 2017 11:51:43 GMT
Yes I have! It's a... lively little town (kinda touristy). Are you staying at a resort there? Are you suggesting ... it might too lively for Steve and Pat?
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Post by Kye on Oct 23, 2017 11:56:58 GMT
Never! It's just a bit on the tacky side --and some of the bars can get a bit rowdy.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 23, 2017 13:48:14 GMT
Farther Kye has been malingering in the rowdy bars?
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Post by Kye on Oct 23, 2017 14:35:31 GMT
Not me. One of my daughter's friends worked in a bar in Playa del Carmen and from what he said, things would get a bit dicey from time to time.
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Post by Sarah W. on Oct 23, 2017 16:18:57 GMT
Hmmm...You're right. Particularly if that is three meals. Transport, ship and shore. Guides. Entrance fees. Docking fees. Bed and breakfast. Are you kidding me? That's insanely expensive! I went to Japan for 1300 euros for 3 weeks. My trip to the US was also around that mark. I wouldn't do a long trip at £200 a day, but it's lower than I was expecting. It would be a splurge, for sure—I usually stay in hostels (or with friends)—but with transport and food and any special activities or attractions (for instance, going on a sailing ship around Scottish islands) I'm sure I've hit that total on occasion. Also, £200 was an average. Some of their singles are £150 a night. If I can I'd really like to do one of their tours; it looks like a delightful way to spend 5-7 days and I think good things are worth paying for.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 23, 2017 16:33:29 GMT
Not me. One of my daughter's friends worked in a bar in Playa del Carmen and from what he said, things would get a bit dicey from time to time. Oh. And here I thought you might be evangelizing amongst the marginals.
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Post by Mari on Oct 23, 2017 16:33:38 GMT
1300 euros = $1500. Three weeks is 21 days. $1500/21 = $72/day So...You saw Japan, and the US, on $72/ day? First, I'm going to assume that you excluded the cost of the airfare to get there. Then....Y'know what? I checked on the Motel 6 over on Highway 26, a half mile away. The Motel 6 chain of motels is known as one of the most inexpensive accommodations in the US. They are the firm for which Tom Bodette promises, "they'll leave the light on." It's cheap crud; the origin of the phrase, "No Tell Motel". Guess their current posted nightly charge for a single room....It's $72. Really. It changes from day to day, of course, but it is always posted in flashing lights at the highway. Then, three blocks the other way, a guesthouse charges $70 to $80 per night for their rooms and the closer one is even more expensive. The hostel (a mile away) is still $25 a night, but it is dormitory style and won't accommodate my CPAP machine (and you are limited to ten nights). If you saw the US on $72 a day, I'd like to know how. Was it a superior exchange rate? Were you staying free with friends? Hostels? Flopping on sofas? Cardboard mattresses? Eating from dumpsters? Crashing the Hare Krishna temples to feast? Because in today's market, I'm not sure how you could do that on $72 a day without somebody subsidizing you in some way. I'm open to cost-saving hacks. No, I included the airfare, but to be fair: I did mostly stay at EF houses during my US trip and spent one week in Japan at a friend's house. In Japan it's quite doable to get a cheap but good hotel or hostel for 1500 to 2300 yen per night. I do seem to be quite good at finding very good deals though. Our honeymoon to Verona came down to 95 euros per day per person, but I guess it also helps that I/we are generally not into expensive day trips. Cooking yourself helps, or if you can't cook: go all out for lunch and have a sandwich for dinner. Making contact with the locals can help in getting good deals on car rental etc.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 23, 2017 16:36:08 GMT
So, are you back home, or are you posting here from Afar? And where is Afar in Morocco? I am indeed back home. Now I can write my posts using a human-sized keyboard! Yeah! Ain't it geat? And it improved the quality of my verbal outbursts, too.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 23, 2017 16:50:28 GMT
1300 euros = $1500. Three weeks is 21 days. $1500/21 = $72/day So...You saw Japan, and the US, on $72/ day? First, I'm going to assume that you excluded the cost of the airfare to get there. Then....Y'know what? I checked on the Motel 6 over on Highway 26, a half mile away. The Motel 6 chain of motels is known as one of the most inexpensive accommodations in the US. They are the firm for which Tom Bodette promises, "they'll leave the light on." It's cheap crud; the origin of the phrase, "No Tell Motel". Guess their current posted nightly charge for a single room....It's $72. Really. It changes from day to day, of course, but it is always posted in flashing lights at the highway. Then, three blocks the other way, a guesthouse charges $70 to $80 per night for their rooms and the closer one is even more expensive. The hostel (a mile away) is still $25 a night, but it is dormitory style and won't accommodate my CPAP machine (and you are limited to ten nights). If you saw the US on $72 a day, I'd like to know how. Was it a superior exchange rate? Were you staying free with friends? Hostels? Flopping on sofas? Cardboard mattresses? Eating from dumpsters? Crashing the Hare Krishna temples to feast? Because in today's market, I'm not sure how you could do that on $72 a day without somebody subsidizing you in some way. I'm open to cost-saving hacks. No, I included the airfare, but to be fair: I did mostly stay at EF houses during my US trip and spent one week in Japan at a friend's house. In Japan it's quite doable to get a cheap but good hotel or hostel for 1500 to 2300 yen per night. I do seem to be quite good at finding very good deals though. Our honeymoon to Verona came down to 95 euros per day per person, but I guess it also helps that I/we are generally not into expensive day trips. Cooking yourself helps, or if you can't cook: go all out for lunch and have a sandwich for dinner. Making contact with the locals can help in getting good deals on car rental etc. Yes. I have done all of those and endorse them all. My wife introduced me to hosteling in Cornwall and we used it extensively. We stayed with friends in Jerusalem and Bruxelles. I stayed in a hostel my entire stay in Kyoto. But...not everywhere I wish to go has these alternatives available for me to utilize and aging has introduced a number of additional limitations which obviate the use of some of the inexpensive alternatives. And then, I heartily agree with Sarah that sometimes it is worth pulling out the stops to garner an experience that is a bit above and beyond the usual cramped style of 'budget travel'. When I was hosteling, I'd occasionally book in to a decent hotel to luxuriate in my own shower and recline without others snoring in the same room.
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Post by Moose on Oct 23, 2017 19:23:53 GMT
WG - Genie doesn't tend to post here anymore, you need to get her on facebook Seems to me there would be a lot of opportunities for people with a small fleet of boats to go from Whitehaven to .. other places. IoM is another that is not being exploited.
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Post by tangent on Oct 23, 2017 19:33:23 GMT
IoM is another that is not being exploited. Not in late October, no.
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Post by Moose on Oct 23, 2017 19:48:15 GMT
Well not ever.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 23, 2017 20:04:32 GMT
WG - Genie doesn't tend to post here anymore, you need to get her on facebook Seems to me there would be a lot of opportunities for people with a small fleet of boats to go from Whitehaven to .. other places. IoM is another that is not being exploited. Thank you. I was hoping you'd 'catch my drift', as it were. What I saw at Whitehaven was a decent sized community, with a decent harbor for small ships, on the Irish Sea. The city had had a relatively recent upgrade of the port facade, but it was beginning to fade. It could benefit with some 'economic activity', like tourism. Yes, it is within sight of IoM. And Ulster, too. And Mann was the southern tip, and capitol, to the Norse Lords of the Islands. The transition through Somerled to the MacDonalds and the various running feuds with the crown and neighboring clans, is the stuff which fills the heads of innumberable Viking/Scots Americans with fluff and misbegotten romantic notions for which they would probably part with goodly portions of their disposable income to 'experience'. Just build on the whole DNA rush and organize enough carriers (boat owners) and hosts (guest houses) and provisioners (foodstuffs and catering) along some regular routes with known 'destination spots' and sell it to credulous American and dominion rubes as 'a package tour'. It's obviously a way to augment income in the summer....but I don't have any inkling of operating costs. And, of course, the whole shipping theme is overlain with railheads and whatnot. It seems to me that there are untapped potentials for those willing to organize and build on existing themes with new opportunities. I would think that seeing much of the north Irish Sea from the deck of a boat would be an attraction. I tie this in with the chats I had with the owners of the Tivoli, in Whitehaven. They'd done the Keswick scene and moved to try their hand in Whitehaven. They were some 500 feet from the waterfront, and the sailor hire market and head of Market Street were even closer. The owner told me that his place had been built by three sailing captain brothers, for their families while they were at sea. It seems to me that guesthouses like his could feed right in to the package. But he was being pretty cagey about the whole Brexit thing and wondering whether he should sell up and go to someplace like Cork, in Ireland. Also...Whitehaven has a 'tall ships' event, does it not? A 'maritime festival' thing?
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Post by Moose on Oct 23, 2017 20:48:24 GMT
I think the Maritime is on hold at the moment
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 23, 2017 21:53:52 GMT
Aw, too bad. I think that is a good angle to go, especially the 'tall ships' angle. And that whole John Paul Jones incident? Sell that hard amongst American types. Build an 'eternal flame' ship's hulk at the harbor's edge that can do a flaming spectacle re-enactment on frequent basis....y'know, weekly during the tourist season, maybe more? The Rum Story could be buffed up, too...pull in the distillery. The boat basin was rebuilt, but nothing much seems to happen out there. Not even a floating pub. Frankly, I liked the illustrated pebble paving on your Market Street, but I know it is the devil to keep clean. At least you don't seem to have as many 'gum chewers' as we do in America. I don't know if what I'm suggesting would require watercraft with onboard sleeping accommodations, or whether tourists could be shuttled from land-based accommodation to land-based accommodation by launches like those that ply the high lakes (a packet service). The Irish Sea is something other than Windermere. And providing seating and toilets is one thing; sleeping accommodations is another.
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Post by Moose on Oct 24, 2017 18:15:53 GMT
I picked an old lady up off that paving last year and called an ambulance for her after she tripped over it You could get to Scotland very quickly by boat. I just don't understand why people don't.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 24, 2017 19:41:30 GMT
I picked an old lady up off that paving last year and called an ambulance for her after she tripped over it You could get to Scotland very quickly by boat. I just don't understand why people don't. The opportunities seem quite broad, from my view. 1. Wildlife viewing from the water (this St. Hilda has considered), 2. Viking history, 3. Clan history, 4. Castles at or near the waterline, 5. the Clyde is like a 'road of history' in terms of shipbuilding and the great sailing ventures, from the Age of Discovery through to the demise of the trans-Atlantic liner (the Titanic was built in or near Belfast, no?), 6. Coal and salt. 7. Dalraida, the Norse, and the Lord of the Isles, 8. Religious history and Iona, 9. Canals. It seems to me that Whitehaven sits on the edge of all these (as do places like Castletown, Ramsay, Douglas, Stranraer, Campbelltown, Ayr, and Larne). I would guess that there just have not been enough people willing to pay enough money to allow somebody making a living doing something like that. First, it's a seasonal thing. That means those providing the necessary services would need have some other means of supporting themselves absent adequate tourist income....so, it would be people doing this as some kind of additional seasonal work, which also means that resources dedicated to such could be diverted from whatever it was they were doing to earn their keep to be used seasonally for such a venture. Opportunity costs.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Oct 29, 2017 0:06:26 GMT
We're planning 5 weeks in Europe next September, but still have to get that Leave confirmed at work. Trying to figure out what to see. NL obviously is on the list since the primary reason for going is to see the Dutch fam and friends. But I"m hoping to spend 3 weeks somewhere. I wanted to do Croatia but everybody is doing Croatia right now so I'm not sure anymore. It feels like it will be super duper crowded. I blame Game of Thrones. I probably overestimate how many people will be there so it may still be on the cards.
My granny is also still alive and well(ish) so we may be doing a trip to Bratislava, in which case I'm thinking of maybe some more Eastern Europe travelling. I loved Budapest when we visited. The Hungarians and Slovaks - especially in Bratislava - have virtually the same cuisine and it's so good.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 29, 2017 0:49:42 GMT
My granny is also still alive and well(ish) so we may be doing a trip to Bratislava, in which case I'm thinking of maybe some more Eastern Europe travelling. I loved Budapest when we visited. The Hungarians and Slovaks - especially in Bratislava - have virtually the same cuisine and it's so good. Ooooo....Do tell. We plan to be in Budapest in early May. Set me up for culinary delights I should not miss.
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Post by Mari on Oct 29, 2017 7:39:09 GMT
By September most people will have returned to work though, so going to Croatia shouldn't be busier than usual.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 29, 2017 18:13:54 GMT
Well, I consider September 'prime shoulder time'.
In the US, most pre-university students return to school, and thus their families are at home, immediately after our Labor Day national holiday on the first Monday of September. This assures that most traveling families are out of the way after that weekend. If you malinger, though, to later in the shoulder season, the number of school groups traveling goes up, precipitously in some locales. Mid- to late September is one of my favorite times to begin a journey.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 5, 2017 13:23:17 GMT
Well, it certainly looks like Ming is outdoing us all. She's off this week to Germany, after spending last week in Seattle. She's rockin' all over the world.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 9, 2017 16:43:30 GMT
The outfit we did Gascony, and Amsterdam to Vienna with, and will do the Black Sea to Budapest with, Grand Circle, has this tour of the western shores of the British Isles. The only destinations which might entice me are the Scilly Isles and the Hebrides. I think I'd stick with St. Hilda's and take the ferry out of Penzance. I note that although they seem to wedge in a bus trip to Caernarfon, they don't stop in Whitehaven, nor anywhere on the Isle of Man. Scandalous!
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 19, 2017 3:23:25 GMT
Sarah....Did you know about this? ScotRail Rail and Sail tickets.I now have a new pilgrimage destination....and it is in the Outer Hebrides. Callanish and its environs. I must get to Stornoway. Which means I must go to Ullapool. Callanish and Carnac.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 24, 2017 11:42:00 GMT
My granny is also still alive and well(ish) so we may be doing a trip to Bratislava, in which case I'm thinking of maybe some more Eastern Europe travelling. I loved Budapest when we visited. The Hungarians and Slovaks - especially in Bratislava - have virtually the same cuisine and it's so good. Ooooo....Do tell. We plan to be in Budapest in early May. Set me up for culinary delights I should not miss. Eat some paprikas (chicken with onion and paprika) and goulash (beef with tomatoes, capsicum and potatoes) of course. And langose (flat fried donut type dough but with a savoury toping, usually garlic and sour cream are the go). And definitely try some strudel though you may be hard pressed to find the good stuff these days so do a bit of research beforehand. Sweets and cakes in general are just devine in Eastern Europe and Hungary is pariticularly renownded for them - not so sugary as what I associate with British/American desserts. Oh and a schnitzel with cucumber salad - ask for it if they don't have cucumber salad on the menu, they almost always have it. Yuuuuum! PS. We are now likely going to Europe in May so maybe our paths will cross!
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 16, 2017 16:45:39 GMT
PS. We are now likely going to Europe in May so maybe our paths will cross! Whey kewl! We are booked in to a guesthouse in the Great Synagogue area for May 2-15. Farther Kye is talking like she's going to be travelling to Budapest, as well. I think we should plan to have dinner together. And Genie, too!
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Post by whollygoats on Feb 26, 2018 20:00:00 GMT
Well, that fell through. A near miss. A couple of days and it would have happened.
We're getting jazzed for eastern Europe.
I don't see it here in her thread, but I caught a rumor that she is headed to eastern Europe, herself. Earlier, and further north.
C'mon, Farther. Fess up.
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Post by Kye on Feb 26, 2018 23:24:07 GMT
I'll be going to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland from May 5 until May 19. I already downloaded a taxi app for Vilnius to get me from the airport to the hotel on the first day of my trip!
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Post by JoeP on Feb 27, 2018 10:04:03 GMT
Helsinki moot arranged.
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