Tagged With "Great Blasket Island"
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#115)
This was a tough one. The first couple of photos made me think this might be Death Valley or possibly Saddle Road on the Big Island of Hawaii, but the last couple of photos clinched it for me. If you look closely at the rocks the vendor is selling, you can make out images of what appear to be animals, possibly birds. The last photo looks like it shows some carving in the sand. Such a desolate place...my guess would be the Nazca Lines, Peru.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? (#113)
I suspect the background is real. I have never been to Hawaii, and remembering from a long time ago the opening credits of the TV series Hawaii 50, I wonder if this could be a carved bow of a canoe from there or some other Pacific Island..
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Re: Books That Sent You Packing (your bag, that is)
I get booksellers' e-newsletters and paper catalogs and run across interesting travel-related items from time to time. Many are on remainder sites so "quantities are limited" but when a post is fresh here, you'll likely get it if you want it. Spotted today in the Daedalus Books catalog is one by Ian Buruma, Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing , " a dissident's eye-view of the world's most secretive superpower, observing, "Strange things happen when Chinese dynasties near...
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Re: Our 3 Favorite Beaches on Philipsburg, St. Martin
Beautiful photos of Philipsburg, St. Martin beachs and great information!!! Thank you for sharing...I'd love to visit there.
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Re: Our 3 Favorite Beaches on Philipsburg, St. Martin
Thanks Marilyn, they are absolutely beautiful. Hope you can make it someday. Little Divi Beach is nice too. Happy Travels.
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Re: Our 3 Favorite Beaches on Philipsburg, St. Martin
There are few things more beautiful than watching the sunset on a tropical beach. Today I've found a few more worth exploring. Thanks, Samantha!
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Re: Our 3 Favorite Beaches on Philipsburg, St. Martin
Thank you DrFumbleFinger I agree, there is nothing better than relaxing on the beach and watching the sunset. Amazing. Thanks for the comment.
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Re: Our 3 Favorite Beaches on Philipsburg, St. Martin
We fell in love with St. Martin! The beaches and food on the beach were amazing. Great post. Love the pics!
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Re: U.S. cuts most Cuba air routes
Whilst it certainly is true that many Cubans and some airlines overestimated demand, there can be little doubt that without the actions of the Trump administration there would by now be significant tourism flows from the US into the island. In that sense you probably were the leading edge of a wave, albeit not the giant one which some people expected.
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Re: Norway: No-Boat Whale Watching
Sounds good - but I suppose you still have to brave the choppy waters to get to the island in the first place.
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Re: Rambling South of Broad, Charleston
The "Holy City" is one of my favorite historical places. Gibbes Museum of Art and Bowens Island Restaurant are not to be missed.
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Re: Why Spending a Business Conference in Cyprus Is a Great Idea
Cyprus sounds great, never actually considered the possibility of picking an excellent business conference venue, I'd often just look out for something functional.
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Re: Mosaic Floors, Paphos, Cyprus
I love this blog. I had the pleasure of spending 7 months in Cyprus in the early 80s and made several trips to Paphos (my favorite spot on the island). This was before the tourist resort invasion and there was only a couple of smaller hotels in Paphos. The town still had all the old charm, the harbor had some great family owned restaurants and the Tombs of the Kings was a pleasant 30 minute walk in the countryside. Sadly, like so many charming little places it has been caught up by the...
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Re: Town Hall, Manchester, England (Where Gumbo Was)
Manchester City Hall featured in the news last night, as it was there that the Brexit Referendum result was officially announced.
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Re: Town Hall, Manchester, England (Where Gumbo Was)
Great piece! I loved Manchester. You showed some great details of Town Hall that I missed.
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Re: Rhode Iceland? State tourist video shows Iceland in error
Not a great day for Rhode Island tourism folks, I think. Besides the video, they are catching heat from people who dislike the state's new ad slogan: "Rhode Island, Cooler and Warmer." And they don't like the logo, either! Click HERE to read...
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Re: Visiting Erupting Mount Etna
We were there in 2014 and it was one of the most interesting days to walk around this area. We had no idea the volcano had so many side vents. We did not purchase the guided tour on the big tire vehicle, but were very impressed, nonetheless. We stayed in Taormina for a week and took day trips to various locations in the eastern part of the island. One place we spent an afternoon was a mountain to town with my last name. It was very cool. This place does not see many travelers and everywhere...
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Re: Most of China's Wall in danger: Can it be saved?
I'm not sure it's even a good idea to rebuild the entire thing, but certainly significant sections should be restored and preserved. I think most of us agree this great human site should survive.
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Re: Most of China's Wall in danger: Can it be saved?
This is old news. Very old. Villages in proximity to the wall have been built from it's bricks for eons and the parts that people love to visit and pretend are historical are nothing of the kind, but completely newly built and Disney-fied versions for the tourists, foreign & domestic. The Chinese government, in its (lack of) wisdom has no more interest in cultural preservation than it does in playing fair in any area of endeavor. History and its artifacts are tools having no value beyond...
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Re: Lanai: Sorry, Island Closed for Renovation
Any idea how long the island is going to be closed? I'd hope to visit Lanai in about 2 years. Must be nice to buy your own Hawaiian Island -- and interesting to see if this "green" scheme will work. Lanai has limited resources, except for lots of sunshine a great weather.
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Re: Walking the Burgundy Canal
I received Melinda's newsletter this afternoon (she of ILoveWalkinginFrance.com ), and she confirms what I mentioned above about the down side of trying to follow French paths. "... I backtracked and turned right, thinking that walking around an island would be fairly straightforward. That path ended soon after, at the end of the port, so I backtracked again and followed another path which would join the coastal path at the eastern side of the island. It did, but was so badly marked that I...
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Re: Mar. 17. 2016. Why did the Chicken cross the road ?
Quote from Key West Guide Book "Luckily, the southernmost city outlawed cockfighting in 1970's, putting the Cubalaya chickens out of business, and out on the streets of Key West. Domestic chickens on the island were losing their homes at the same time when their owners moved away. Now the roosters & chickens were left to roam free, and nature took its course. So, some forty years later, we now have what we call 'Gypsy Chickens'. Like in the 1970's, they are still protected, and make Key...
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Re: Mar. 21, 2016: St. Augustine Beach
The recession really hit Anastasia Island hard. There were lots of foreclosures and empty hotels, restaurants and stores. But the last couple of years has seen a total transformation and the island is crowded and businesses are packed like never before.
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Re: Is a stopover in Iceland worthwhile
PHeymont has given you some excellent advice, Travel Luver. By all means, spend some time in Iceland. If you can fit it into your trip, 4 days would be my minimum stay here. As Paul pointed out so well, Iceland is unique. It is also very sparsely populated, with only 300,000 people on the island and two thirds of those living in Reykjavik. And it is a newly form volcanic land with tons of glaciers, waterfalls, and geothermal events. So by all means, see it. When you land at Keflavik airport...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
Never been anywhere in Nevada except Vegas. Didn't know they had beautiful places like this. Can you get there from Vegas as a day trip? Was it hot?
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
Well, for a start, make sure you visit Reno, Travel Luver. It's a much small town than Vegas but still has all the casinos, restaurants, etc that you'd expect from a Nevada City. From here it's easy to do a day trip to Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or down to Carson City. Reno is actually the closest major city to Great Basin National Park, say about a 3-4 hour drive. Vegas is 6-7 hour drive away. Salt Lake City is closer to Great Basin than Vegas. But you really can't do it as...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
A friend who was a park planner for the National Park Service said his favorite park was Big Bend in Texas. He's a lover of desert landscapes, wide-open spaces and, in the case of this park too, almost no visitors. Another orphan, no doubt. http://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
Thanks for the note, PortMoresby. I've visited a lot of the US parks, but Big Bend is still on my "to do" list. They do white water rafting trips there, which appeals to me. One of the things that a lot of folks enjoy about these "orphans" is that they are so sparsely peopled, with few tourists. I think the US Parks system is the USA's biggest tourist asset. I'm certainly a huge fan. Seems whenever I'm in a US Park, more German is spoken than English. The German folks certainly are aware of...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
The comments on "orphan parks" made for some interesting thoughts. How do we (as a society) choose what to save for parks? When you consider urban parkland, the point is obvious: people who have no land of their own need areas for public recreation. In other cases, individuals with wealth and influence have created parks in areas important to them personally (think of Acadia and the Rockefellers, Palisades Interstate Park and Morgan partners). But setting aside and maintaining areas like...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
Pheymont, you speak as if budget cuts are in the future when in fact the Park Service has been functioning with less and less for years now. The Service has a mission to which they're dedicated but less funding has meant "deferred" maintenance on buildings, trails, you name it. And when features of a park are deemed unsafe or there isn't personnel to oversee visitors then parts are closed. I've experienced that myself recently when a trail I've visited in years past was closed. I have no...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
Costs for the existing parks is mostly maintenance and salary. In the face of a broke federal government, I would favor increased user fees. $10-20 for a family to visit a national park for a week is the greatest bargain out there. People who love the parks would happily pay twice as much and I don't think the extra cost would be a deterent. Also, it's reasonable for those with concessions to pay up more than they are. They are given a monopoly and some of those profits should go back to the...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
No, I'm painfully aware of the past and present cuts...but I see more ahead. My concern is that there are loud voices (my own included) to speak out against cuts to parks that have a big "fan base," including Gateway here in the NY area. Because so many speak out for those parks, I fear that NPS will increasingly "hide the damage" by even more drastic cuts to others--perhaps even outright abandonment. And that's not so far-fetched an idea. For some 20 or more years here in New York, Prospect...
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Re: A visit to Great Basin National Park
PHeymont, I don't believe we disagree. I think the problem is that the park system relies on "federal handouts" and when a government is broke, there's less to hand out. As I said, I sort of favor them being self-funded by their user and concession fees. That's a lot of money already (if it was all kept in the parks) and people would be willing to pay more IF they knew the money stayed in the parks and didn't get diverted back into the Washington's general budget. Orphan parks would be...
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
Beautiful landscapes DrF. I especially like the stone walls and dwellings. There are similar ones in Malta except they are made of limestone
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
The landscapes of the Dingle Peninsula are truly beautiful and memorable. What will especially stick with me are the many rocks and stones and how they were used -- fences, beehive huts, even a grand old church (Gallarus Oratory). I become more and more intrigued by Malta ever day, IslandMan. It is quickly moving up my travel list!
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
Slea Head on The Dingle Peninsula is one of my favorite places in the world, even though it is not in Italy. The Slea Head Cafe is also one of my favorite places for a latte, a brownie, and the VIEW. The coffee and dessert. Between Sea Head and Dingle Town is the Stonehouse Restaurant, which overlooks the Dingle Bay. The crabmeat sandwich on brown bread was really good along with the view.
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
Thanks for those very helpful comments, rbciao! I definitely need to try that crabmeat sandwich at the StoneHouse restaurant next time we're there. I was extremely pleased with how helpful and pleasant the StoneHouse staff were!
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
IslandMan. Those limestone megalithic stones in Malta got me. I heard a passing tour guide telling folks "Where that man is standing is a fertility temple" Whoooa ! Too late .. first kid 9 months later - to the day !
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
Originally Posted by GarryRF: IslandMan. Those limestone megalithic stones in Malta got me. I heard a passing tour guide telling folks "Where that man is standing is a fertility temple" Whoooa ! Too late .. first kid 9 months later - to the day ! GarryRF. Any megalithic stone that can make a man carry and deliver a child for 9 months has earned my respect -- and a place in medical history!
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 6) Slea Head. A Tour of the Dingle Peninsula
As any Woman will tell you DrF. It is the male of the species that does all the hard work. Like popping snow peas !
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day. January 14, 2014: Calgary Peace Bridge
The bridge on the bottom right of the picture 3 is called Bow River Pathway. It's a pedestrian/cycling bridge connecting the downtown ore - Prince's Island Park - The North bank of Bow river. The Peace bridge and C-train bridge are further west! Ha Ha Karl, you need get out more
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day. January 14, 2014: Calgary Peace Bridge
I do need to get out more! Of course, I live south of downtown while you look at this view every day. We'll need to go for a walk there this summer, DrY! Prince's Island is a great place for those visiting Calgary. A lovely island oasis right off downtown. Wonderful escape from bustle of a city and literally just a minute from it all.
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Re: Pesuta Shipwreck, Naikoon Provincial Park, Haida-Gwaii, British Columbia
Like the tree pics. I picked up all of my glass floats a bit farther south - on the seaward side of Vancouver Island and on the western shore of the Olympic Peninsula. I think it was always in the summer. Maybe the tides and winds bring different material at different times of the year.
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Re: Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other (Part 11). On safari in Yala Park, with a stop in Kirinda
Thanks, TravelandNature! And how about that Junglefowl. Looks like a fancy chicken but apparently a wild species.