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Post by shrjeff on Oct 11, 2022 19:22:14 GMT 2
Jeff, I hope you have time to see the Azores. I have often wondered about about visiting. Our itinerary: Explore stunning natural wonders and a rich cultural and historical heritage at Sete Cidades, and experience a wine tasting in Ponta Delgada. Gaze at two lakes-one blue and one green-nestled in the vast crater of an extinct volcano, before descending to the shores of the Blue Lake to visit the traditional Azorean village of Sete Cidades. Back in Ponta Delgada's Hotel Azores, sample local wine and cheeses overlooking the harbor.
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 11, 2022 19:44:17 GMT 2
Jeff, I hope you have time to see the Azores. I have often wondered about about visiting. Our itinerary: Explore stunning natural wonders and a rich cultural and historical heritage at Sete Cidades, and experience a wine tasting in Ponta Delgada. Gaze at two lakes-one blue and one green-nestled in the vast crater of an extinct volcano, before descending to the shores of the Blue Lake to visit the traditional Azorean village of Sete Cidades. Back in Ponta Delgada's Hotel Azores, sample local wine and cheeses overlooking the harbor. Enjoy. I've never had wine from the Azores.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 29, 2022 18:57:02 GMT 2
Anyway, you know where to go slumming (or lurking) to see the full photo report of the trip. I slapped some of my photos together on YouTube.
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Post by Voy on Oct 29, 2022 19:53:34 GMT 2
Thank you !
2 questions -- did you ever see a living soul in Hanko? why was it so deserted? and - is it easy to find/book freighter tours?..My parents did them often around the Caribbean and S America...and it sounds like something I would really like
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 29, 2022 22:09:41 GMT 2
I saw two women sitting on a bench in the park and an old man walking along a street fully masked. And I also went into the supermarket which had at least 5 customers, 3 of them masked.
Booking a cargo trip has become extremely complicated with covid. About 90% of the trips on the agency I used were not operating. The one that interested me the most (since I couldn't go through the Suez Canal or any of the good stuff) was fully booked according to the agency, and when I asked for a later date I was informed that it would not be operating in the winter months. So I took what they proposed, and it was fine in the end. We were 2 passengers (max 8). The next trip was going to have 7 passengers but only because of the strike at Felixstowe and some passengers who had been merged from another trip.
Additional complication: I had to get a medical certificate which was required for anybody over the age of 65. One requirement was being able to climb stairs, since there is no elevator, and the cabins were 10 decks up from the bottom with the bridge another 3 decks higher. It was no problem for me since my buildng doesn't have a lift and anyway you don't often go up or down all ten decks.
I will look for another trip next spring, because 8 days was not longer enough for me.
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Post by auntieannie on Oct 30, 2022 9:36:52 GMT 2
ah, better luck next spring, K2.
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 30, 2022 11:36:37 GMT 2
My first wife has been on a banana boat going to and from Jamaica (my ex's family came from Jamaica). It was a Norwegian boat and my ex thought the sailors were very handsome.
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Post by Voy on Oct 30, 2022 15:56:04 GMT 2
I just checked the agency K2 used... aside from the nightmare thought of 10 floors of stairs, it said, in the fine print... "before your 78th birthday"... well that gives me 8 days .phooey, don't think I'll make the deadline !
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 6, 2022 0:14:28 GMT 2
Tomorrow we are driving down to Brighton for a couple of nights with my daughter.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 6, 2022 0:18:22 GMT 2
Singapore is calling out to me again. I know there's nothing exotic about it, but I find it very pleasant.
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 24, 2022 11:56:39 GMT 2
I have booked flights to Greece for May next year. We have tried to go the last couple of years and have had to cancel: first time because of Covid, this past June because of my foot operation.
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Post by sophie on Nov 24, 2022 18:55:59 GMT 2
Envious of your trip to Greece. Maybe next year…
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 25, 2022 1:05:32 GMT 2
Envious of your trip to Greece. Maybe next year… One piece of advice: don't go to an island with an airport. So go to Tinos rather that its neighbour Mykonos (the Tinos authorities looked at the flood of foreign tourists in Mykonos and rejected an airport). Don't stay in Skiathos but fly there and then take a ferry to Skopelos (I spent 5 months there). Go to Serifos and Kea - no airports. Kalo taxidi.
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Post by sophie on Nov 25, 2022 4:43:02 GMT 2
Thanks! I spent some time on Hydra decades ago on two different visits. I also really like Crete and spent about 3 weeks there years ago with our son. I have great memories of him rock climbing at Knossos.
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 25, 2022 11:48:42 GMT 2
Crete has 2 airports but it is an exception. It is big so foreign tourists don't overrun it. About 10 years ago we spent a month in winter in Paleochora. Our apartment looked right out to sea and on sunny mornings we had breakfast on our terrace.There were amazing walks we could do in the hills. Winter? By the end of February we had to buy sun hats. Just over the horizon was the island of Gavdos whhich has the southernmost radio station in Europe. We still nostalgically play Radio Gavdos.
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Post by sophie on Nov 25, 2022 16:18:38 GMT 2
I spent about a week in Paleochora when our son was not quite 5. It was November and the weather was lovely. And our place was looking out in the water as well. Great memories.
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 2, 2022 12:59:32 GMT 2
Tomorrow we are off for a pre-Christmas family visit to Fen Ditton. It is a village near Cambridge.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 3, 2022 18:24:27 GMT 2
I'm off to Singapore for a few days starting on Monday. I might end up in a Singaporean prison due to the annoying online documents that needed to be filled out. When I entered my correct arrival date of 6 December, the website refused me because it has to be done within 3 days of arrival. But the same website also said that it would not process any documents on Sunday. So I told them I was arriving on 5 December (my departure date, with the flight arriving the following morning). Voluntary fraud? I certainly did not want to wait until Monday which is my departure date, since I had to receive a receipt from Singapore and then upload it to the airline, and I need to leave for the airport in the morning. I also had to lie on the Singapore questionnaire which wanted to know if I had coughed recently (horrors!). Cough? Me? Never!
Travel has become really annoying.
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Post by auntieannie on Dec 3, 2022 20:46:05 GMT 2
safe and enjoyble travels, k2!
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Post by Netsuke on Dec 8, 2022 11:16:10 GMT 2
I'm off to Singapore for a few days starting on Monday. I might end up in a Singaporean prison due to the annoying online documents that needed to be filled out. When I entered my correct arrival date of 6 December, the website refused me because it has to be done within 3 days of arrival. But the same website also said that it would not process any documents on Sunday. So I told them I was arriving on 5 December (my departure date, with the flight arriving the following morning). Voluntary fraud? I certainly did not want to wait until Monday which is my departure date, since I had to receive a receipt from Singapore and then upload it to the airline, and I need to leave for the airport in the morning. I also had to lie on the Singapore questionnaire which wanted to know if I had coughed recently (horrors!). Cough? Me? Never! Travel has become really annoying. Kerouac2, is all this shilly-shallying around because of covid? When I went to Singapore in late January 2020, there was none of that, everything was straight forward. By the time I left to return home, the word “covid” was being spoken about.
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 13, 2022 11:29:17 GMT 2
Mrs Faz's youngest lives in the Cotswolds. We are having a pre-Christmas visit. The approach to her house is called Snow Hill. I hope not. But it will be cold.
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 13, 2022 15:57:08 GMT 2
The Cotswolds look like a Disney wonderland in the snow.
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 14, 2022 14:25:11 GMT 2
We are almost ready to return home.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 16, 2022 19:27:25 GMT 2
Singapore is still very much in full covid mode -- masks are required on all public transportation, and 90% of the people wear them in shopping malls.
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Post by Netsuke on Dec 19, 2022 8:35:49 GMT 2
Singapore is still very much in full covid mode -- masks are required on all public transportation, and 90% of the people wear them in shopping malls. AFAIK masks are required on public transport here too. Also in doctor’s waiting rooms. Although there are still some MOTGP masked, the great majority do not.
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Post by Netsuke on Dec 19, 2022 8:46:28 GMT 2
I have booked flights to Greece for May next year. We have tried to go the last couple of years and have had to cancel: first time because of Covid, this past June because of my foot operation. Baz I hope you and the missus make it to Greece next May. When hearing people speak of going to Greece, Shirley Valentine always comes to mind. There are so many wonderful quotes from that film. The most memorable is Costas saying to Shirley, “Boat is boat f*** is f****”
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 19, 2022 11:32:38 GMT 2
I hope we make it to Greece in May. Our immediate target is Thailand next month. Five months after my radiotherapy my foot is not right.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 9, 2023 21:57:17 GMT 2
I spent a couple of days in Le Mans last week. Many people, even the French, do not seem to know that there is an amazing medieval section. They only think of car races.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 10, 2023 0:11:12 GMT 2
I spent a couple of days in Le Mans last week. Many people, even the French, do not seem to know that there is an amazing medieval section. They only think of car races. I've never been there but the photos you put up make it look interesting.
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 10, 2023 8:06:53 GMT 2
yes... it's not that far from friends of mine. should make the effort one day.
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