Vacation Thread

Devil Doc said:
I thought about doing this before my wife and I went to Scotland a month ago but never got around to it. Just checking to see if members here are interested in sharing vacation/holiday experiences, ask questions about upcoming destinations, and give answers about places you've been. Providing unsolicited advice and tips would also be beneficial to those/me who are thinking of where to go next.

I have a ton of info on Scotland and will do a separate entry but will say this: Scotland is all you might have heard and much more. Words and even pictures could never do it justice. The people, the land, the million sheep, and the roads are all magnificent. Just joking about the roads. They are a challenge to say the least.

P.S. - I looked and didn't see nor do I remember a similar thread. If there's one then I blame it on other people's teenagers.
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My Uncle Samuel sent me to Scotland a couple of times. Both were short notice overnights where I got to see a little.
One was in Ayr which is near Prestwick (the airhead for NATO operations) and the other was Glasgow on my way home from
fun in the North Sea that included becoming a Bluenose.

One good piece of lore was learned when dropped in the Scottish countryside (Ayr) on a Sunday evening with no food since noon.
At Nine PM, the culinary choices were Fish& Chips or Chinese Food and as we had no Euros, just dollars and plastic, the decision
was made for us (Chinese)
 
Not an exotic vacation but husband, 15 y/o DD and myself are heading to Banff/Jasper area shortly after we boot the DS out the door at USAFA i-Day. Any out the way awesome places. I know it's so touristy but there has to be hidden gems, right?
 
Swiss_Miss said:
Not an exotic vacation but husband, 15 y/o DD and myself are heading to Banff/Jasper area shortly after we boot the DD out the door at USAFA i-Day. Any out the way awesome places. I know it's so touristy but there has to be hidden gems, right?
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“After we boot the DD out the door.” Hard core. I love it.
 
Corrected to DS. Long day. Same still applies, I hope he can bounce. I will teach him a proper PLF before I shove him out. 😁
 
Swiss_Miss said:
Corrected to DS. Long day. Same still applies, I hope he can bounce. I will teach him a proper PLF before I shove him out. 😁
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Ha, he’ll be fine I’m sure. I tried a PLF a few years ago when I fell off the roof. I landed on my feet and rolled into shrubs. Chip fracture left ankle and scratches and cuts on my back. Daughter was home from college on a break and didn’t know I was on the roof. I told her not to but she called 911. Splint, crutches, and the worst part was the ER tech cleaning the cuts. That’s the last time I try a maneuver I saw in a movie.
 
justdoit19 said:
We are working on planning a trip to Japan in about a year. Open to suggestions!
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Was in Japan a over a year ago with family visiting Yokosuka. Took the local trains to Kamakura and Tokyo. Kamakura was delightful. l always liked going to the Akihabara District in Tokyo. It's like going to a couple of blocks worth of Best Buy stores but better. DW liked seeing all the kitchen and home gadgets. Chinatown in Yokohama is also nearby. The Ramen Museum in Yoko might be worth a peek. We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto and saw the Torii Gates and more there. It's a good hike seeing all the Gates and temples. All Japanese trains are on time and clean. It is quiet within the train because the Japanese are reserved. Any loud talk and it's likely to be a foreigner. Son and I took in an onsen bath every day in Kyoto. Very soothing after a long day of walking. Way, way back when we visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima too. Food wise, one can have some great sushi from the local stores in a mall. I'm reluctant to buy cellophane wrapped sushi stateside. I ate Kolbe beef, Yakitori, shrimp and vegetable tempura. I got my fill of mochi ice cream. Asahi or Kirin were my go-to beers. There are also international fares, Italian, Indian, French where you can eat. The Japanese culture is fascinating, and I think you will really enjoy it. There is a ton of stuff to see and do. Here are the hotel instructions we read multiple times before going to the onsen. Didn't want to be the ugly American.

onsen3.jpg
 
Capt MJ said:
DH and I did a Baltic cruise a few years ago, Stockholm to Copenhagen, 13 days. The most humorless customs and immigration people - St. Petersburg. Right out of a movie set.
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We're doing the overland Vilnius to Tallinn via Riga by car.

Those folks are tough cookies and great allies. They remind us of NATO's purpose.

Can't wait.
 
Off to France soon for my annual trip with college students -- a week in Paris exploring the startup business culture. Not a vacation! But afterward I need a vacation. 😉 So once again DW will join me for five days in Paris -- never gets old -- followed by five days in Madrid.

Madrid is the perfect detox. We stay in the center, in a simple apartment. We walk and eat and walk and eat and walk and eat.... The tapas culture is sublime. Friends ask us where we walk to, and we say, "To the next tapas place." It's a relaxed rhythm, moving to the pace of the Spaniards: late lunch, late dinner, long meals, icy vermut, churros and chocolat for breakfast. Last year, we made time for a Real Madrid game, a full day at the Prado, a breathtaking viewing of Picasso's "Guernica." What a wondrous time.

But the place I long to return to for an extended vacation: Turkey. DW and I have been there twice -- once before kids, once with the kids. We're overdue!
 
DS, as part of ROTC training, will be in Vicenza for four weeks this summer. Wish we could meet him there for a vacation afterward, but it’s not practical to do so, unfortunately.

When he’s there, it will mark the 20-year anniversary of his very first haircut. It happened in the small town of Lazise, on the shores of Lake Garda, just 50 miles from Vicenza. We’re the kind of family that, if we were there this summer, would find that old barbershop and bring DS in for a commemorative haircut. 🤣😉🤗
 
WT Door said:
Was in Japan a over a year ago with family visiting Yokosuka. Took the local trains to Kamakura and Tokyo. Kamakura was delightful. l always liked going to the Akihabara District in Tokyo. It's like going to a couple of blocks worth of Best Buy stores but better. DW liked seeing all the kitchen and home gadgets. Chinatown in Yokohama is also nearby. The Ramen Museum in Yoko might be worth a peek. We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto and saw the Torii Gates and more there. It's a good hike seeing all the Gates and temples. All Japanese trains are on time and clean. It is quiet within the train because the Japanese are reserved. Any loud talk and it's likely to be a foreigner. Son and I took in an onsen bath every day in Kyoto. Very soothing after a long day of walking. Way, way back when we visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima too. Food wise, one can have some great sushi from the local stores in a mall. I'm reluctant to buy cellophane wrapped sushi stateside. I ate Kolbe beef, Yakitori, shrimp and vegetable tempura. I got my fill of mochi ice cream. Asahi or Kirin were my go-to beers. There are also international fares, Italian, Indian, French where you can eat. The Japanese culture is fascinating, and I think you will really enjoy it. There is a ton of stuff to see and do. Here are the hotel instructions we read multiple times before going to the onsen. Didn't want to be the ugly American.

View attachment 15983
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I get the lower right instruction. I don’t understand the lower left requirement 🤔
 
In Japan, tatoos ("Irezumi") are something that gangsters and "bad" people get. Nobody wants to see them, apparently.
 
A week in Scotland. Day 1

One week is certainly not enough. My wife and I landed in Brussels after an eight hour flight. We had a three hour layover which was fine by me and then hopped to Edinburgh (Ed-in-bruh or Ed-in-boro or Ed-in-bura, I chose Ed-in-bruh) in an hour and a half. She planned the entire trip with a little help from our daughter and pre-paid a few things. The first thing that went right was the driver. Andrew was waiting for us as we walked out of baggage claim. She had been talking excitedly about getting a pic of the driver holding the sign with her name on it but she was walking behind me, dragging her stuff, and I walked up to him and said, “This is us.” Andrew was holding an IPad with my wife’s name in large letters. He put it away as soon as I said that and she never saw it. She got over it quickly and we drove a few miles to Old Town and checked into Apex City hotel in Grassmarket.

A lovely Tunisian woman checked us in but we were early. She kept our bags behind the desk and we went exploring. Victoria Street put us in a Harry Potter movie and fortunately we found Bertie’s Proper Fish and Chips and were waited on by an equally pleasant local girl. Had the fish and chips of course and they beat Captain D’s by a long shot. I got a text saying our room was ready so we looked around the shops for a few and then went to get our room key. This was a trip celebrating our anniversary and we did it in late March because I was off work for a week. Sarine, the Tunisian, had a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting for us along with a nice card. We settled in, unpacked, explored a little more, and then went to the room for the night. The weather on the first day was perfect. Clear skies and temps in the low sixties. That would soon change.
 
Devil Doc said:
A week in Scotland. Day 1

One week is certainly not enough. My wife and I landed in Brussels after an eight hour flight. We had a three hour layover which was fine by me and then hopped to Edinburgh (Ed-in-bruh or Ed-in-boro or Ed-in-bura, I chose Ed-in-bruh) in an hour and a half. She planned the entire trip with a little help from our daughter and pre-paid a few things. The first thing that went right was the driver. Andrew was waiting for us as we walked out of baggage claim. She had been talking excitedly about getting a pic of the driver holding the sign with her name on it but she was walking behind me, dragging her stuff, and I walked up to him and said, “This is us.” Andrew was holding an IPad with my wife’s name in large letters. He put it away as soon as I said that and she never saw it. She got over it quickly and we drove a few miles to Old Town and checked into Apex City hotel in Grassmarket.

A lovely Tunisian woman checked us in but we were early. She kept our bags behind the desk and we went exploring. Victoria Street put us in a Harry Potter movie and fortunately we found Bertie’s Proper Fish and Chips and were waited on by an equally pleasant local girl. Had the fish and chips of course and they beat Captain D’s by a long shot. I got a text saying our room was ready so we looked around the shops for a few and then went to get our room key. This was a trip celebrating our anniversary and we did it in late March because I was off work for a week. Sarine, the Tunisian, had a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting for us along with a nice card. We settled in, unpacked, explored a little more, and then went to the room for the night. The weather on the first day was perfect. Clear skies and temps in the low sixties. That would soon change.
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That sounds absolutely magical 🧙‍♀️

And happy anniversary to Mr and Mrs Devil Doc ♥️
 
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