We just received the news that medical boy has the end of Feb and beginning of March as his two weeks off next year. Now we have to decide if we want to switch our “usual” dates (all of Feb) or break things into two trips. We had wanted to switch it to beginning or mid Jan to mid Feb (avoiding President’s Day weekend and more of Spring Break), but that’s not possible if we want to include him.
If we do two trips, one will be to Puerto Rico to see our other son’s place. The other will be checking out another Caribbean Island (I think). It’s fun getting travel thoughts rolling again. May Covid continue to phase out and may the world put an end to Putin’s war.
I’m a the airport right now. Frankly, I’m a bit appalled by the number of people who can’t read or comprehend the “Masks Required” signs everywhere. The guy across from me is on his phone…no mask. There were tons of people in the TSA line sans masks. Very weird.
I don’t love the idea of wearing a mask for the next six hours…but that is required…so I will.
My husband, son and SIL loved the Heineken tour. A good restaurant for Dutch traditional food is Restaurant Moeders. My daughter is the foodie of the family and she made reservations at various restaurants before leaving home.
We are booked on a 15day River cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam in September… Will tour Budapest and Amsterdam before and after cruise even though we’ve been both cities a few times as we don’t mind revisit places and see something new at the same time.
I also like to mention that I have a soft spot for soft serve cones at McDonalds. I try to get one when I see a McDonalds in my oversea travels and it’s interesting to see how the price differs in each location. I think the price of a soft serve cone at the Budapest McDonalds is the lowest I’ve found at the equivalent of around US 60 cents. That was about 5 years ago.
Did you notice the difference in taste? The Starbucks coffee we had in Paris back in the good old days was soooo much better than that sold in the US.
My kid laughed telling a story about their experience with Domino (or was it Pizza Hut?) pizza in China. The two of them ordered a medium pizza thinking it would leave plenty of leftovers. Lol! They laughed when they saw the actual pizza…
My H will be the one to know the answer to Starbucks coffee. Wherever we go he scouts out Starbucks locations first. He grabs a Starbucks everyday since he retired several years ago.
I know what you mean about food sizes, it’s hard to beat US’s mega portions
At European and Asian locations, the soft serve cones are usually creamy but I’ve suspected a few US locations were using ice milk.
In late 1980s when we bought “pizza” in Taiwan, it didn’t resemble and pizza I’ve ever had in the us. Only tiny tiny bits of tomato anywhere and not much cheese either. After 1 experience with it, I was happy to abstain from it the rest of the 6 weeks we were in Taiwan. Too many other tasty local foods to eat instead.
Both last winter and this winter, we drove back and forth to Florida from the Boston area. Drove today from Florida to North Carolina. One thing I noticed that seemed different from the Northeast was the following. In the NE, when someone is in the left lane and the driver behind them is driving faster and wants them to move over, the driver in front notices that the other driver has driven up right behind them and typically (sometimes with a bit of flashing of the lights) moves over. In my drive today, I noticed that people a) did not move over if I pulled in behind them; b) people who pulled right up to me did not speed up after I pulled over. So, they just drove close together in the left lane and four times in one day the left lane came to an actual standstill (twice) and pretty close (twice). Terrible driving and dangerous. When someone really wanted to go fast, they went into the right lane. There seemed to be almost no notion of letting the faster cars go by in the left lane.
I don’t recall this from last year, but don’t remember really. Was this idiosyncratic or is there a different driving etiquette from the NE?
Anyone care to share thoughts about Dominica - like which area of the island is better to stay on for whatever particular reason? It looks ideal for us to explore next January.
I’m very hesitant to book any travel outside of the continental US right now. September 11 is not too distant memory for me, unfortunately. I keep checking airfares to France and Hawaii and sigh.
We are in Hawaii now, and the closest I’ve been to people since the start of COVID is two of the flights we’ve had. One I was seated next to a woman with a baby (I felt like I deserved the 3 seats to myself on the second leg) and the other (just from Maui to Kauai) I was next to one person. Mask wearing hasn’t been great in the airports/rental car place, but on the plane was fine.
We will stick to the US this year, but I have felt OK out and about while on this trip.
I live in NC and will confirm what you experienced is a daily event…not sure why but it is terribly frustrating. The large trucks seem to be the worst. My wife did not begin driving til in her 30s and I constantly remind her to stay out of the left lane so others can pass.
I will admit I was amazed when we were in NH once at how everyone used their turn signals. Turn signals are used sparingly in NC…
An etiquette will remain as such only if nearly everyone follows it. Once a few start to ignore it in a region, it goes away quickly and is nearly impossible to restore in that region.
I’m not seeing the connection here. What does the possibility of thermonuclear war have to do with hijacking planes? If anything it makes me want to get on and do things before the world ends
I’m not talking about doomsday scenarios. We all will be screwed if that happens. The possibility of post 9-11-like grounding of air travel for this or that reason has gone up, IMO. That said, we have a few trips planned, and I’m not canceling them yet, but I’m not making new plans.
I’m still not getting it. What reasons (other than emergence of a new much deadlier Covid variant, which realistically will be a risk for years to come) would those be? I don’t see how the Ukraine invasion, if that’s what you are referring to, spills over into a wider grounding of air travel.
Japan airlines and ANA cancelled all their flights from Japan to Europe. Won’t risk going over Russian airspace. As hostilities increase, borders close, flights cancel, and travel is disrupted. One should expect that there will be disruption as a consequence of the largest land war in Europe in 80 years
Well, I’m back from 2 weeks of quiet adventures in Maui and then Hilo and Kona, (Big Island) Hawaii…not a “usual” hustle and bustle trip, but a much more leisurely and mellow trip (my second to the islands since Covid days)…lots of snorkeling, watercolor painting and so many whales! - highlights of this trip were the rigid raft day trip circumnavigating and snorkeling the island of Lanai (from Lahaina, Maui), hiking down into and across the Kilauea Iki crater and then adventuring to see the lava flow at Volcano National Park (Hilo side of Big Island). The last time I hiked the crater I was 34 years younger, and pregnant. A hiking stick made the climb out so much easier. Hint and clue: Apply for the America the Beautiful National Park Pass ($20 annual for senior, $80 lifetime for senior) it pays for itself the first time you use it (average $30 per entry).
For the most part we saw mask wearing indoors, without exception. If/when we ate out it was food trucks or take away. A few at the airports thought the rules didn’t apply to them. Any moment now Hawaii is removing the need to test or upload vax card to avoid quarantine, which I’m not thrilled with. That’s holding me back from beginning the planning for my next trip there (which I would like to see happen mid-Sept if possible).
Here’s a pic I took of the current lava in the park…
