Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,923
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Post by Crimebuster on Jan 10, 2019 10:16:20 GMT -5
It's been almost 20 years since my visit to Wales, but I enjoyed my short time there a lot. We were trying to get tickets to the 1999 Rugby World Cup match between Wales and Japan, which was never going to happen, but in the center of Cardiff they had a huge TV screen set up by Cardiff Castle for people to watch the match, so we milled about with the crowd there and watched it.
ONe place I would recommend if yo have the time is the border town of Hay-on-Wye. It's called the Town of Books because the whole place is dedicated to book stores and book festivals. When I was there 20 years ago, there was one used bookshop that was so big, different genres were in different buildings. So if you wanted history and biography, for instance, they were in the castle, but if you wanted sci-fi or horror, there was a dedicated building across the street, and more buildings for different sections of the store. There were like 20 different used book stores in town at that time, so it was pretty great.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2019 10:38:50 GMT -5
I'm going to Fort Lauderdale on the 1st of February and be back home two weeks later on the 15th. I will be visiting old College Friends that I haven't seen since 1999. First, fly to Fort Lauderdale stay overnight and ride with a bunch of friends to Atlanta and stay there until the 14th (Valentine's Day) and fly home from Atlanta to Seattle.
Looking forward to this trip ...
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,923
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Post by Crimebuster on Jan 10, 2019 11:10:05 GMT -5
As I have mentioned a couple times, I just returned from a two week trip to Europe. My girlfriend always dreamt of going to a Viennese ball, with the outfits and the waltzing and everything, so for her birthday/Christmas, I got us tickets to the New Year's Eve ball at the imperial Hofburg palace in Vienna. While planning the trip, I noticed how close many of the central European capitals are, so we decided to hit several of them, traveling by train. I thought this would also be a nice counterpoint to our last vacation, which was driving around Iceland - instead of driving and all outdoorsy, wilderness nature stuff, this trip would be all cities, all public transportation. We started with 4 days in Berlin. I have to say, Berlin was our favorite city. There was a creative vibrant energy in the city that we did not really experience anywhere else on our trip. We visited a number of historical sites and museums, but also some fantastic galleries. if you're ever in Berlin, I strongly recommend a trip to the gallery NeuroTitan, which has a strong comic book art sub-theme. We got a cool Manga-inspired Berlin city print there among many other things. The whole neighborhood it was located in was great, and the city really seemed to embrace street art. It just felt really alive. Here are a couple photos from the entrance to NeuroTitan in Berlin: After Berlin, we spent 3 days in Prague. All of our time was spent in the Old City. It was beautiful, with great architecture and amazing and moving historical sites. Plus, there's a funicular, which is always great. We also got to visit their wonderful Christmas market in the center of the old city - we were able to hit Christmas markets in all 4 cities we went to, which was great. Possibly because we didn't really venture outside the old city, we didn't get a good feel for what Prague is actually like. They have carefully preserved that part of the town, but it means that the business of actually living is done in other parts of the city, and we didn't really get a feel for it — almost everyone we saw were either tourists, or people catering to tourists. As a result, our trip was beautiful, but felt curated. One favorite place we visited was the Strahov library, which along with the nearby Klementoff library are considered the most beautiful libraries in the world. After Prague, we spent four days in Vienna. This was a mixed bag. We were very tired by this point, and the people were pretty rude, so the experience wasn't very pleasant at times. The city itself kind of felt uptight. Honestly, it felt like it was kind of holding on to its glory days, like they were trying to keep things frozen at a point in 1913 before everything went to hell. There was just a feeling of faded glory, and resentment that it was faded - a pride in what was and a unwillingness to move forward beyond it. There was a big contrast in feel between vibrant Berlin, reinventing itself while still honoring the past, and uptight, dusty Vienna. It wasn't all bad though, far from it. First, I found a cool comic book store where I got vintage 70's German editions of Avengers and Warlord issues. And then there was the ball itself, which was pretty amazing. Very crowded, but still elegant and magical. Especially because, at the stroke of midnight, my girlfriend proposed to me! So we're engaged! Hurray! Here we are a few minutes later in the main hall of the ball: Finally, we ended the trip with 3 days in Budapest. The old city is laid out in strikingly similar fashion to Prague. it's eerie how closely the two cities mirror each other; if you can get around one, you can get around the other, in terms of the old part anyway. Unlike Prague, though, Budapest mixes their old sites with new, giving it a vibrancy closer to Berlin. It's interesting how zoning laws and architectural decisions can have such a strong influence on the life of a place. Budpest defintely felt more alive and vital than PVienna or the parts of Prague we went to, but it also had a shade of seediness. Aspects were a bit sketchy - sex shops and gun shops right next to the McDonald's and the bank on the main street. It felt very 1980's New York - like the city was alive and happening, but someone could possibly shank you at any second. And then we came home in a crazy 3-flight fiasco that took almost 24 hours to accomplish. Overall, though, a great trip that neither of us will ever forget!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 10, 2019 12:52:25 GMT -5
As I have mentioned a couple times, I just returned from a two week trip to Europe. My girlfriend always dreamt of going to a Viennese ball, with the outfits and the waltzing and everything, so for her birthday/Christmas, I got us tickets to the New Year's Eve ball at the imperial Hofburg palace in Vienna. I will definitely not let my wife read this post. (Congratulations, by the way!!!)
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 10, 2019 13:36:17 GMT -5
As I have mentioned a couple times, I just returned from a two week trip to Europe. My girlfriend always dreamt of going to a Viennese ball, with the outfits and the waltzing and everything, so for her birthday/Christmas, I got us tickets to the New Year's Eve ball at the imperial Hofburg palace in Vienna. While planning the trip, I noticed how close many of the central European capitals are, so we decided to hit several of them, traveling by train. I thought this would also be a nice counterpoint to our last vacation, which was driving around Iceland - instead of driving and all outdoorsy, wilderness nature stuff, this trip would be all cities, all public transportation. We started with 4 days in Berlin. I have to say, Berlin was our favorite city. There was a creative vibrant energy in the city that we did not really experience anywhere else on our trip. We visited a number of historical sites and museums, but also some fantastic galleries. if you're ever in Berlin, I strongly recommend a trip to the gallery NeuroTitan, which has a strong comic book art sub-theme. We got a cool Manga-inspired Berlin city print there among many other things. The whole neighborhood it was located in was great, and the city really seemed to embrace street art. It just felt really alive. Here are a couple photos from the entrance to NeuroTitan in Berlin: After Berlin, we spent 3 days in Prague. All of our time was spent in the Old City. It was beautiful, with great architecture and amazing and moving historical sites. Plus, there's a funicular, which is always great. We also got to visit their wonderful Christmas market in the center of the old city - we were able to hit Christmas markets in all 4 cities we went to, which was great. Possibly because we didn't really venture outside the old city, we didn't get a good feel for what Prague is actually like. They have carefully preserved that part of the town, but it means that the business of actually living is done in other parts of the city, and we didn't really get a feel for it — almost everyone we saw were either tourists, or people catering to tourists. As a result, our trip was beautiful, but felt curated. One favorite place we visited was the Strahov library, which along with the nearby Klementoff library are considered the most beautiful libraries in the world. After Prague, we spent four days in Vienna. This was a mixed bag. We were very tired by this point, and the people were pretty rude, so the experience wasn't very pleasant at times. The city itself kind of felt uptight. Honestly, it felt like it was kind of holding on to its glory days, like they were trying to keep things frozen at a point in 1913 before everything went to hell. There was just a feeling of faded glory, and resentment that it was faded - a pride in what was and a unwillingness to move forward beyond it. There was a big contrast in feel between vibrant Berlin, reinventing itself while still honoring the past, and uptight, dusty Vienna. It wasn't all bad though, far from it. First, I found a cool comic book store where I got vintage 70's German editions of Avengers and Warlord issues. And then there was the ball itself, which was pretty amazing. Very crowded, but still elegant and magical. Especially because, at the stroke of midnight, my girlfriend proposed to me! So we're engaged! Hurray! Here we are a few minutes later in the main hall of the ball: Finally, we ended the trip with 3 days in Budapest. The old city is laid out in strikingly similar fashion to Prague. it's eerie how closely the two cities mirror each other; if you can get around one, you can get around the other, in terms of the old part anyway. Unlike Prague, though, Budapest mixes their old sites with new, giving it a vibrancy closer to Berlin. It's interesting how zoning laws and architectural decisions can have such a strong influence on the life of a place. Budpest defintely felt more alive and vital than PVienna or the parts of Prague we went to, but it also had a shade of seediness. Aspects were a bit sketchy - sex shops and gun shops right next to the McDonald's and the bank on the main street. It felt very 1980's New York - like the city was alive and happening, but someone could possibly shank you at any second. And then we came home in a crazy 3-flight fiasco that took almost 24 hours to accomplish. Overall, though, a great trip that neither of us will ever forget! This is a great post.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 10, 2019 17:22:51 GMT -5
Confessor, I'm surprised that your musical itinerary doesn't include New Orleans. That's the place I think of as the "source" for a lot of my favorite music. Also. being a coastal liberal, I tend to think of most of Mississippi and Alabama as uninhabitable. The Captain, if you go a few kilometers east of Snowdonia National Park, there's a little town called Llandrillo. That's where my paternal grandmother was born and raised. That's why I post a St. David's Day greeting most years (I think I missed last year). There's a bed & breakfast there that I found when contemplating a visit which never happened. I can send you the info if interested. Crimebuster, my wife traveled in Europe in the 1960s, and she also found Austrians rude. She and her then-husband were on a train from Italy to Germany, and the Austrian border officials were so unpleasant that she simply didn't get off the train until they reached Germany.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 10, 2019 18:12:29 GMT -5
Confessor, I'm surprised that your musical itinerary doesn't include New Orleans. That's the place I think of as the "source" for a lot of my favorite music. Also. being a coastal liberal, I tend to think of most of Mississippi and Alabama as uninhabitable. The Captain, if you go a few kilometers east of Snowdonia National Park, there's a little town called Llandrillo. That's where my paternal grandmother was born and raised. That's why I post a St. David's Day greeting most years (I think I missed last year). There's a bed & breakfast there that I found when contemplating a visit which never happened. I can send you the info if interested. Crimebuster, my wife traveled in Europe in the 1960s, and she also found Austrians rude. She and her then-husband were on a train from Italy to Germany, and the Austrian border officials were so unpleasant that she simply didn't get off the train until they reached Germany. That would be great if you could send it, as we're still looking for a place up there to stay. The one problem we've found with B&B is that only a handful have family accommodations, which we need because we'll be traveling with our daughters, so we're focusing more on farmhouses and cottages, but I'm willing to check anything out.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 10, 2019 19:15:43 GMT -5
That would be great if you could send it, as we're still looking for a place up there to stay. The one problem we've found with B&B is that only a handful have family accommodations, which we need because we'll be traveling with our daughters, so we're focusing more on farmhouses and cottages, but I'm willing to check anything out. Bad news - they seem to have ended the bed & breakfast operation since I last looked. It's still a sheep farm, but that's all it is now. While looking for it, I found www.holidaycottages.co.uk and www.northwalesholidaycottages.co.uk - they look potentially useful.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,627
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Post by Confessor on Jan 10, 2019 20:11:01 GMT -5
Confessor , I'm surprised that your musical itinerary doesn't include New Orleans. That's the place I think of as the "source" for a lot of my favorite music. Also. being a coastal liberal, I tend to think of most of Mississippi and Alabama as uninhabitable. Oh yeah, I'd love to visit New Orleans too one day. I've have a whole Gulf Coast road trip planned out, since I was about 14....taking in places like New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile, and Tallahassee. It's just a question of priorities. For me, as a blues, country, rock 'n' roll and soul devotee, places like Memphis, Nashville, Clarksdale, Macon, Atlanta, Yazoo City and Sheffield, Alabama (to name just a few), are of slightly more interest than New Orleans. Not that The Big Easy isn't of interest too...of course it is!...but, it's probably a little too much land to try and cover if we try and cram that in too. As for the right-wing nature of much of the deep south, that doesn't bother me at all. I'm left-wing myself, but I'm no liberal...I lean much more towards socialism. Anyway, the conservative, Christian leanings of the people in that part of the world is part of the history and flavour of the place. Besides, as Lynyrd Skynyrd rightly pointed out all those years ago in "Sweet Home Alabama", not everybody in the south is a racist On a related note, there are several sites linked to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s that I hope to visit, as well as checking out the Civil Rights Museum, which is in Memphis (I think???). In NYC, Massachusetts and Vermont, I enjoyed meeting Americans from all social strata, walks of life and political persuasions. That's how you get to experience the real culture; not by going to the tourist hot spots necessarily, but by sitting at a bar in a s***ty, run down bowling alley in Great Barrington, MA, chatting to a group of blue collar motel workers and gas station employees. That's the real America! Same goes for hanging out with liberal bohemians in Marblehead, MA, or buying beers with a recently retired cop from North Carolina in Hoboken, NJ. That's the real America! The same will undoubtedly go for the people I meet and places I visit in the southern states. As an aside, I learnt very quickly to stay out of discussions about American politics in general, and President Trump in particular, when I was in New England. Being British, everyone wanted to know what my wife and I thought about the state of the Union and dear old Donald. Obviously I have an opinion, but I lied and said that, as a foreigner, "I didn't have a dog in the fight" and it wasn't my place to comment anyway. My wife thought that was hysterical, because at home I'm massively outspoken about politics and the like. But I was on holiday and didn't want to argue with anyone. That's simply not what I was there for. I'm a firm believer that people are people the whole world over. I'm a likable and gregarious enough chap in person -- just ask Icctrombone or Crimebuster ! So, I can easily find common ground and shoot the breeze with people from all areas of society or political persuasions.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,627
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Post by Confessor on Jan 10, 2019 20:17:57 GMT -5
And then there was the ball itself, which was pretty amazing. Very crowded, but still elegant and magical. Especially because, at the stroke of midnight, my girlfriend proposed to me! So we're engaged! Hurray! Congratulations, my friend! That's fantastic news.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 10, 2019 20:18:45 GMT -5
Oh, the politics is just part of it. The deep south is unbearably hot and humid most of the year. They have three seasons - summer, January and February.
And I suspect that vegetarianism is rare in that region also.
But seriously, I know you'll have a good time wherever you go. My "uninhabitable" comment was tongue-in-cheek. (but the humidity really is incredible)
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,627
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Post by Confessor on Jan 10, 2019 20:24:17 GMT -5
Oh, the politics is just part of it. The deep south is unbearably hot and humid most of the year. They have three seasons - summer, January and February. And I suspect that vegetarianism is rare in that region also. Yeah, we're kinda planning to go in October because I think it's usually a little cooler by then. But obviously, I'm sure it'll still be very hot and humid. Yeah, you're sure to be right about Vegetarianism. But actually, it was pretty rare up in New England too! That was the only slight downer about our holiday last year: it was kinda hard for me to find a variety of food that I could eat. I ended up having a lot of the same stuff for two weeks. I'm sure it'll be even tougher still in the south.
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Post by hondobrode on Jan 10, 2019 20:35:05 GMT -5
Congratulations Crimebuster !
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Post by beccabear67 on Jan 10, 2019 20:59:59 GMT -5
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Post by beccabear67 on Jan 10, 2019 21:03:20 GMT -5
I'm no liberal...I lean much more towards socialism. Er, uh, thinking the S word might be even more alien down there than that L word. Sounds like a great trip though, so many places of huge musical import! I'm envious. I'm not sure if kudzu is edible though.
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