Tagged With "Sheraton Grand"
Comment
Re: The Maltese Islands – Underrated gems or best kept secret ?
Hello DrF, there are direct flights from Sicily to Malta and also a daily ferry. Yes, many visitors take in Sicily when coming to Malta, or they combine it with other European destinations. There also regular cruises around the Mediterranean which stop in the Grand Harbour for a day.
Reply
Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Anywhere around the Phoenix area would be good. Northern Arizona (Grand Canyon) gets winter. Scottsdale is a popular destination with great resorts and there are many budget hotels in the area. I would use Fashion Square Mall as your search area.
Comment
Re: Kedgwick Forestry Village and Museum, New Brunswick
I love museums that show how people lived their lives and why I love visiting historic houses, grand & modest. This is another good one. Thanks, Rob.
Comment
Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#269)
If you'll turn around from our previous clue, you'll see this grand house! Fridays clue is a famous tree in the same city.
Comment
Re: The Getty Villa, Part 2: The Art
Thanks for the comments, PM. It is a fascinating collection, very extensive and thorough. What I was striving for in this piece is to give the reader a sample for what's there and why the museum is worth visiting. My favorite piece of the ones in this gallery is the toy, the very last one. I can imagine some father lovingly crafting it for his child. The glass products amazed me. Several of the sculptures were grand, especially the one of Hercules (which Getty was very proud of), but the...
Comment
Re: Memphis, Tennessee: 1) Graceland
Thanks for the grand tour, Dr F. One place I remember very well. Must return one day...Graceland, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, I'm going to Graceland,.....
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Mar. 1, 2014: Details, Charleston P.O.
The details in that post office are grand! Like stepping back to a time when fine detailed craftsmanship still mattered. The post office has a small but interesting museum worth a quick visit as well.
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, February 22, 2015: Machu Picchu
Beautiful photos, Grand Escapes! I'm especially fond of the one of the llama roaming the streets of Machu Picchu. They are the official "lawn mowers" of the park. Machu Picchu after the tourist train leaves and before it arrives is a totally different experience than during the peak of the day. If there's one travel spot you'll want to spend a night or two so that you can enjoy some tranquility before it gets overwhelmed with people, then I'd say this is the one.
Comment
Re: Yellowstone National Park in Winter
Thanks so very much for making us a part of your fascinating road-trip by sharing your visit to this unique place at such a special time. It's so rare to actually talk to someone who visited Yellowstone in the winter, much less to read such a wonderfully written report and to share in your experience through your beautiful photos. I'm sorry you didn't get to see wolves in the wild, but in this you are not alone. As many times as I've been in the wilderness, I've yet to see them (though I was...
Comment
Re: Northern Arizona: Sedona & Surrounds, Part 2
Arizona has many small historic and natural sites of interest like these, one of the reasons it's one of my favorite states to visit. Seems too many people are in a hurry to head to the Grand Canyon or to drive through the state to properly explore it. Thanks for bring back some great memories.
Comment
Re: February 11, 2019: Souk Madinat Jumeirah
Nice enough - but, in my opinion, a bazaar or souk needs the ramshackle element to be exciting. These places are far too tidy for my liking. They simply cannot match the atmosphere of the old markets in, say, Istanbul, Marrakesh, or Fez. Below is a shot of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, a huge labyrinth of narrow lanes and passages.
Comment
Re: February 11, 2019: Souk Madinat Jumeirah
Generally agreed, especially if you're really wanting to buy something. But when the temperatures is over 40C outside, and you're looking for a cool place to escape to, then this is a reasonable option. The canal system did make it more interesting than most malls.
Comment
Re: January 15, 2020: Shopping in Jojawar
A great post about the ordinary in small town India. I've never been a great one for grand buildings of any sort. Ordinary people built them all ! Hardware stores are MOST illuminating 😃 The green fruit is a bit hard to be sure but it looks like 'amroodh', grown I believe in hilly northern areas - they're almost sweet, not that interesting and lots of ball-bearing seeds. There is an English name that escapes me ! Well it did so I looked up on Ecosia - it's guava !
Comment
Re: Midland Provincial Park, Alberta
My Grand Father worked in UK Coalmines around the 1900s . Stories he could tell were both amazing and scarey. Miners were exempt from War Service during WW1 as they supplied an "Essential Service". Women were employed at the Mines but never went below ground. Mules were used below ground - pulling bogeys - and never came back to the surface during their lives.
Comment
Re: Journey through Karnataka: Bangalore to Mysore
The beginning of another grand adventure! I can't wait to see and read more. Thanks for this, Prof. Abe!
Comment
Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#132)
The French had a habit of building grand houses on bridges.
Member
VegasClub
Member
JTDudrow
Comment
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...
Comment
Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park
I do think people's perspectives and priorities change with time. For example, I care little about a bar or nightlife scene in most of my destinations nowadays; that mattered more to me when I was much younger. I have always loved walking in parks because of the beautiful gardens, etc. But I think i'm much more into people watching in these places than I used to be. One of my favorite places to visit is the provincial park a short block from my home. It's grand to go for a walk in it, see...
Comment
Re: Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other (Part 8) Hill Country
Thanks, PortMoresby! There's lots of interesting places to stay in the Hill Country, some in tea plantations themselves. My favorite place here was the Grand Hotel in Nuwara Eliya. A bit of historic elegance. Where else can you find a "cigar room" (where men gather to smoke) and a "billiards room" anymore?
Comment
Re: Gallarus Oratory, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
Three more comments concerning Dingle: 1. Leaving the wharf/tourist area in Dingle and walking uphill into the central part of the town was very interesting in that we could interact with the locals and leave the hustle & bustle of the lower part of town. We stopped at a neat cafe for coffee called the Frog St. Cafe and we were the only non-locals in the place. 2. Between Dingle town and Slea Head is the Stone House Restaurant, which overlooks the bay and an ancient fort. The restaurant...
Comment
Re: Crater Lake — The Most Beautiful Lake In The World(!?)
I would describe both Crater Lake and the Grand Canyon as Awe inspiring.. A fitting use of the word. You all have yourself an Awesome year too - eh ?
Comment
Re: Tampa Bay Automobile Museum: 3) cars from the USA and UK
Great pics of great cars. I will put the Tampa Bay Museum on my list of things to see. Additionally, The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky is awesome, as well. It includes a 50's diner cafe featuring period stuff for lunch. Less than a mile away is the Corvette assembly plant, which offers tours. This is the only place in the whole wide world where Corvettes are assembled. Both are definitely worth a visit. The National Packard Museum is located In Warren, Oh and is small, but...
Comment
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!
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov 2, 2013: BootHill Graveyard, Tombstone, Arizona
I never did shake hands with Doc Holiday or Wyatt Earp, Mac, and since Doc Holiday probably died of "consumption" (tuberculosis), hope you were wearing a mask and washed your hands after you did. Good point about Bisbee -- a great small historic town with a grand old hotel, the Copper Queen . The scale of the open pit mine is hard to fathom, but worth a look. If you're staying in Tucson, both Tombstone and Bisbee can be combined into a day trip from there.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #5: Behind the Veil of Time
I am just now catching up on reading, and I continue to be touched by not only your persistence and care in searching for Reiner, but also helping us search for meaning in so much that has been left behind in our understanding, because it doesn't fit under the grand tags that "simplify" history for posterity. This summer commemorates the start of World War I, important events of the end of World War II...and yet, so little of the individuals and their fates. Even the exhibits we saw this...
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
You would think the cost of all this fraud would be more than enough to validate new chip and PIN rollout in the USA. Can't quite understand why the US banks are so resistent to this PHeymont. Have you an understanding of what their reasons are?
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
It's been a long path. For a long time, observers thought it was because they were committed to contactless (RFID) technology as the next step...but that hasn't advances as fast as some predicted, and it has big security issues, too. Now that MC and Visa have set down a "you must comply or you will be responsible for fraudulent charges" rule for next year, we're seeing motion. BUT...so far most issuers have been sticking to chip-and-signature, not and-PIN, which guts the whole process.
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
I don't quite see why using a pin would prevent fraud of the type we're seeing on a large scale. Presumably, if the hackers continue to target terminals, the pin would be compromised too. Yes, we could change the pin but it would need to be done immediately, before the damage is done. What am I missing?
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
As I see it, PM, mostly they are just stealing the data off the magnetic strip. Or the PIN in the card has data that can also be copied, but that's a little hard than just scamming the read off the strip. With a PIN, that data, validated by your unique PIN (which you pick) are encrypted and sent off to the bank for approval. Not just the strip data, but the two together are the key. I have a credit card with a Canadian bank (chip and pin) which I prefer to use over the swipe and sign USA...
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
In the most secure system, the PIN is known to you, the user, but is not in your records at the issuer. That's why if you forget your PIN, a new one can be generated, but no one can send you your "lost" PIN the way that passwords can be. In the PIN system, the first communication takes place at the terminal. The terminal reads the PIN from the chip on your card, and asks you to enter it on the pad. If it matches, the terminal does NOT send the PIN to the clearing house or merchant...it only...
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
So, if I understand it then, even if the hackers can read the entered pin keystrokes from the terminal keypad which we enter, it cannot be used without the card with the unique chip, which cannot be duplicated as a magnetic strip can be duplicated?
Comment
Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
That's correct. It is, of course, not totally impossible to create a duplicate chip, but it takes major equipment, not $5 worth of RadioShack parts...and it would also require much more information than can be harvested easily. The relative security (and it is relative) has driven over 80% of the world's credit card fraud toward the U.S. as other areas become more difficult. And once everyone is on board, the Trojan Horse mag stripe can come off the card as well.
Comment
Re: Biltmore-House A Place of Fairy Tales & Magic – The Biltmore Estate
I visited the Biltmore more than 25 years ago and my most lasting impressions of it are the appearance of the estate as you approach it from the drive, the elegant banquet hall and its grand library (I'm a fan of great libraries).
Comment
Re: A Day at the Zoo: San Diego, California
Thanks IslandMan! Probably the rarest animal at the zoo is the California Condor. Only the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos exhibit these birds and were instrumental in saving them from extinction. With only a few dozen birds left in the wild, a controversial decision was made several decades ago to capture them all and place the remaining birds in these two zoos for a captive breeding program. They now number several hundred and are slowly being re-introduced into the wild, with limited...
Blog Post
Charleston's Grand Mansions: Drayton Hall
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
Blog Post
Charleston's Grand Mansions: Joseph Manigault House
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
Blog Post
Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 9, 2014: Enjoying the Sunset
One evening as we were returning to our hotel near St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, slowly cruising down the Grand Canal on a vaporetto (water bus) , the sun began to set. In the last moments of daylight, that magical time of day...
Blog Post
Charleston's Grand Mansions: Middleton Place
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
Blog Post
Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 11, 2014: Jeffery Pine, Sentinel Dome
Yosemite National Park is one of my favorite places. A remarkable and grand landscape of granite mountains, sheer valleys carved by glaciers, thunderous waterfalls plunging thousands of feet and several groves of majestic Sequoia...
Blog Post
Charleston's Grand Mansions: Aiken-Rhett House
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
Blog Post
PortMoresby's Visit to Charleston, SC
December 3, 2014: All the Tea in...Charleston? December 10, 2014: Charleston's Grand Mansions: Drayton Hall December 17, 2014: Charleston's Grand Mansions: Middleton Place December 24, 2014: Charleston's...
Blog Post
Visiting Versailles
Among the many wonderful palaces of Europe, Versailles is said to be the greatest and grandest of them all. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and is on almost every traveler’s list of “must see”...
Blog Post
Ottawa – NOT the coldest Capital in the world!
Ottawa is a vibrant and charming small city — so pleasant that it’s hard to believe it’s home to soooo many politicians. Of the national capitals I've visited, Ottawa seems the most livable to me (ie. if...