Tagged With "Grande Hotel San Calogero"
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Re: Iceland: 'No we're not Disneyland'
Iceland is a great destination, but it has limited tourist facilities. The population of the entire island is about 300,000 and there aren't all that many hotel or B&B choices in smaller places. I think the lack of infrastructure is the main problem. They certainly have the space and ability to handle more tourists, but need to develop services for them outside Reykjavik.
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Re: Tips to help with packing no matter where you are going
I have packing cubes too. Makes things so much easier to find when you are shifting from hotel to hotel or apartment to apartment. I still over pack. I just need to remember how much I love my jeans and t-shirts when I'm on the go. I never bring jewelry except cheap earrings. Simple style feels best on a trip.
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Re: Boston in the fall - suggestions please!
Take a look here for some ideas. Most have All-Inclusive packages. But that doesn't stop me going off exploring on the bus and getting a B+B overnight ! You're not glued to the hotel. Plus you don't want to be on the go EVERY day. Relax and take in the countryside. https://www.thomascook.com/holidays/caribbean/cuba/
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov 17, 2015: Mdina Gates, Malta
Mdina is one of the few places I've been that's, in my experience, unlike any other. I thought it so beautiful on my first visit that I booked a room in the closest hotel just outside this gate and spent several days exploring it and the adjacent town of Rabat. Lunch at the restaurant of, I believe, the only hotel in Mdina, the Xara Palace , was memorable, wonderful service and food and a small compensation for not staying in the 5 star hotel. Thanks for the memory, IslandMan.
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Re: Marriott buys Starwood for $12.2 billion...what's in it for loyalists?
Received this e-mail this morning. Today we're excited to share the news that Starwood Hotels & Resorts will join together with Marriott International to create the world's largest hotel company. For our Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG® members, this will mean even more choices in even more places, giving you access to 1.1 million rooms across 5,500 hotels and resorts in more than 100 countries. We will work to bring you the very best of SPG and Marriott Rewards®, two of the most...
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Re: Airbnb's rural listings gain popularity
"...the short-term rental site is clearly not just for urban hipsters anymore." From my own experience I'd put a somewhat different spin on it. Something like "urban hipsters seek rural experience". A good percentage of my guests come from one of the hipster capitols of the universe, San Francisco.
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Re: Edinburgh, Scotland for 2.5 days....help!
Hi Chickpea, Your hotel is very central as you say. There is a regular bus service to certain attractions. We visited in January and had no problem with entry to attractions, the Castle, National Gallery etc. I would only suggest that you check out the individual attractions websites to obtain tickets in advance if you wish. Hope this helps, Paul.
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Re: Oct. 31, 2018: Dia de los Muertos, Cozumel, Mexico
Currently in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. Today was full of action all around town but especially in the zocalo with students dressing up the square and themselves. Tomorrow I’m off to a couple of villages and we’ll see what a Zapatista Dia de los Muertos looks like.
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Re: Istanbul: From Ottoman palace to grand hotel
In August 1995, after my brother, a friend and I sailed the Aegean for 2 weeks, traveled to Istanbul and stayed at the Ciragan Palace for a week. In addition to seeing the city, we spent time at the pool and watched ships sail pass. We ate 3 dinners in the hotel. I had never seen so much caviar loaded on my plate at one sitting. Here are some photos from the stay. View from the room, poolside, and a lobby photo. Forgot to mention, there were fireworks every night.
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Re: Bangkok still #1, but most-visited list shifts
It’s all in the methodology: these figures are based, as stated, on overnight hotel stays. A quick look tells me that a very different measure is used for the figures that place Orlando at 72 million last year, with 62.8 million in NYC and 42.2 in Las Vegas. Once again, the question is ‘what’s being measured,’ and I’d love to see an expert explain the choices made in the two calculations!
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Re: Belfast: An Uneasy City
Very true George ! Like taking your Honeymoon on the San Andreas fault. Then asking your Bride if she felt the Earth move.
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Re: Loiza - Afro-Puertorican Culture
When I lived in PR, in Santurce between Old San Juan and Isla Verde, the commercial street that served the area half a block from my apartment on Calle Taft was Loiza Street (Appears, from a google map to now be numbered, road 37). I wonder if it was the original road from San Juan to the town of Loiza in the early days. Do you know Jonathon? It certainly goes in the right direction.
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Re: Crashing the geocache
Hello TatToo, I live in Europe especially Germany. I do know Geocaching and of course the game is known here. If you don't have a GPS device with a European card in it you can use your mobile phone as long you have the geocaching app. Before your son goes to Europe just with that mobile phone, make sure he looks for geocaches in areas he will be first and download the map and the cache itself. Even if you don't have an Internet connection they can use it via GPS. I did it in USA and it has...
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Re: What do you miss on vacation ?
Neat device...but just be careful about taking it along to the Hotel California...
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Re: See Them While You Can: 10 Wins for Historic Preservation
Note that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private organization. I think that's key in this era of government cutbacks and a congress unable to accomplish anything to speak of. If the National Park Service is unable to maintain it's infrastructure then one can only imagine how little care might go into preserving bits of our cultural heritage lacking big names, such as those on the list above. Commercial interests also have a place in accomplishing what government and...
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Re: Made in Puerto Rico - Jibaromania!
It sounds like Isla Verde has come a long way since the days when Cecelia's Place and one other, on the water at the end of Calle Amapola, were the only places to eat outside the 2 big hotels (Americana & El San Juan). It was my home then and it may be time for a return visit.
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Re: "Mind Your Manners!" VisitBritain Warns Hoteliers
No, no one is hacking them...and the "advice" was picked up by all the major British papers...usually with an air of slight derision. You won't find it on the public website, which is devoted to getting us to visit; it was distributed as guidance to hotel operators, and as a press release. Originally Posted by TatToo: It is not the author's list. The cited articles and various others on the Internet state that the list was originally published on VisitBritain's website. However, I am not...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo #6
Are we correct that it's in Southeast Asia? Not something that's been moved or reconstructed somewhere else, like in the Japanese Garden in San Antonio?
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Technically, it would be possible to create very large WiFi zones, whether free or paid. But since someone gets paid (either on the meter, or a fee for the project) and there is a cost to constructing/installing the equipment to broadcast that signal...it won't happen unless someone is paying. In the case of the hotel, picking up on rbciao's point about breakfast--have you noticed that the free WiFi and the free breakfast tend to come with the budget chains, while the high-end places charge...
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Good discussion! WiFi has for me become an indispensable part of traveling. It allows me to stay in touch with family easily and cheaply (remember how hard it was even 25 years ago -- a phone call could run you $5 a minute? And there was no email). It lets me spend evening hours clearing out a hefty email que, and doing research on what I am going to see tomorrow and the next day. And with "Gumbo on the Go", it lets me share my travels as they happen with fellow Gumboites! I echo PHeymont's...
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Actually, privatized toll roads are the coming thing these days! Some states have sold off roads; others have allowed private companies to build from scratch. The road to Dulles Airport near Washington is a prime example. But the comparisons to WiFi here don't really work. No one charged extra for electric light in hotels when it was new; it simply replaced the gas lighting. It took 70 years of broadcasting to create a pay system. As for WiFi, or internet access in hotels generally, it's not...
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Maybe it's the old capitalist coming out in me, but I think "should" is a strong word. Free access to wi-fi certainly helps me determine where I'll stay, just like free breakfast is...but if a hotel has enough other amenities so that people are willing to pay for it's wi-fi then so be it...although it is easy enough to get free somewhere, I don't value it enough to pay for it.
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Originally Posted by JohnT: Maybe it's the old capitalist coming out in me, but I think "should" is a strong word. Free access to wi-fi certainly helps me determine where I'll stay, just like free breakfast is...but if a hotel has enough other amenities so that people are willing to pay for it's wi-fi then so be it...although it is easy enough to get free somewhere, I don't value it enough to pay for it. I agree with you John, that market forces will drive this. But the demand for "free"...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? #8.5
What a beautiful church Gumbo has found! WITW? The clues: 18th century Spanish colonial architecture, typical of Franciscan missions; Banner in English; Materials are not typical of Florida or Texas missions; Various effigies of animals and unreal creatures, often incorporated by the Franciscans into their liturgy in order to convert American Indians. Typical of US southwestern states; Not one of the remaining California missions; Not in Santa Fe; Checked missions in Arizona. Found (as did...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
So far we've only had one stab at the solution, by member Andredeya ( Florida- Miami Design Preservation League- Beach Patrol Headquarters Building). Appreciate the effort, Andredeya, but that is not the correct solution. So I'm offering up two additional clues today: This is a view of the interior of the hotel, again with strong nautical influence And this is the view south from the hotel's pool. The next piece of real estate to the south is Antarctica. So, where in the world is Gumbo?
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
I suspected it might be a hotel, 2nd floor rooms, center left. And the crockery at the entrance. Now...where.
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
So it's a hotel but i don't know which one in Miami....
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
The mystery and waiting are over. The puzzle has been solved by PortMoresby. Here is her answer: " Tangalla Bay Hotel, Tangalle, Sri Lanka." I'll post the discussion for this on Tuesday. Another travel puzzle will be up very soon.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 2, 2014
And I forgot to mention - the complete "All Inclusive" deal costs around $1000 US. Flights from the UK - hotel - boats - entertainment - mini bar stocked daily - 24hr food and drink. For 2 weeks. How do the US companies come up with $3900 for 1 week. I smell a rip off. It does look good for December DrF. Its still too hot in the afternoon though ! To have that same view you would have to "Take my blanket from my cold dead hands" I wont even share with Mrs F !! Next door is nearly as good...
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Re: La Dolce Vita (Part 5) Venezia (Venice)
Great pictures...makes me want to go back! Interesting to note: the Mayor of Venice has been very active lately in trying to get the large cruise ships re-routed to keep them out of the fragile space between San Marco and Guidecca...and last month hundreds of people swam out to try to block the ships!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct. 13: Brussels' Saucy Statue
He's much smaller than I thought -- and I'm talking about the height of the little guy. Besides chocolate their tinkling mascot, the Belgiums also love beer and comics. I was quite surprised at what a comic book culture they have.
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Re: Finishing college. Need help planning trip to U.K,
Hi Hank, I've actually found the UK a pretty reasonable destination in recent years, especially outside of London.(My budget was way under yours for a month long trip to Europe last June.)A lot of museums are free. Transportation costs within the country can be reasonable too.Not only do they have advance cheap train tickets but they have bus and budget air choices.And of course there are some good budget hotel chains as well, such as Travelodge and the Tune Hotel Have fun and keep watching...
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Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Arizona is a huge state, EyeWonder. Where exactly were you going to be home-based during your Christmas vacation? It would help to know so that we could better advise you.
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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.
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Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Thanks everyone. I have to ask you more questions! My friends have come up with two more suggestions. One is Sedona, and the other is the Navajo reservation that Tony Hillerman wrote all his books about and that has some big canyons. Is that area too far north for warm weather?
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Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Originally Posted by EyeWonder: Thanks everyone. I have to ask you more questions! My friends have come up with two more suggestions. One is Sedona, and the other is the Navajo reservation that Tony Hillerman wrote all his books about and that has some big canyons. Is that area too far north for warm weather? Navajo country is too far north and too high up for a warm winter break. But if you bring a warm jacket, it will be magical that time of year. Sedona will be nice, but with cooler days...
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Re: The Valley Island of Maui: 2) Haleakala National Park
I'm leaving next week for San Diego and then a 17 day cruise to and around the Hawaiian Islands. I have never been all that interested in Hawaii (so why am I going you ask?) but your blog and photos have begun to pique my curiosity. Thank you. (I am not looking forward to going through U.S. Immigration, I can tell you that. It is quite unpleasant for non-Americans.)
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Re: Renting an apartment in Europe
Hi Dreamer I can only tell you about my experiences... 1) How long? It depends. Apartment rental have been around in Europe for a long time. It used to be mostly for a week from Saturday to Saturday, but mostly anything goes now. 2) Buyer beware - It will be up to you to research the neighbourhood. You can do that many ways. Perhaps the easiest is using google streetmaps 3) There is no one way to check in. Sometimes you meet the owner or manager and they will give you the key. Sometimes...
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 1) An overview of the Country and its People
When I go to my local Pub in Liverpool I'll have a choice of Beers. Heineken Dutch Lager - San Miguel Spanish - Carlsberg Danish - Stella Belgian - Fosters Australian - Sagres Portuguese. Plus many local brews. Old Speckled Hen, Bishops Finger and my favourite Newcastle Brown Ale. Served in a Pint - 20 ounce - Bottle. With a half pint glass. It keeps cooler in the bottle ! Liquid Toffee ! Not a light Beer. Lots of Flavour and quite potent. I've found bars around Ocean City Maryland who serve...
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Re: Renting an apartment in Europe
CICAK, may I suggest you encourage your wife to see the big picture. When you're in a hotel room you are not required to savage the minibar. When you're in an apartment you aren't required to cook. The kitchen just exists quietly should you desire it. What you're there for is to spread out, have privacy with all the comforts of home, possibly be in a more interesting neighborhood & surrounded by people who interest you and who may even be interested in you and any number of other...
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Re: Renting an apartment in Europe
AirBnb, and the other major rental agencies, have cancellation policies upfront that give you some choice. AirBnb has several levels ...one allows you to cancel almost up to the last minute, others have shorter deadlines. An advantage of using an agency that works this way...pretty much like a hotel booking site...is that the intermediary is holding your deposit and that can save hassles. Obviously, rules about dissatisfaction vary also, but usually if it can't be ironed out, you'll get at...
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Re: Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other (Part 1a) Colombo
Ah Galle Face Green! Many a delightful stroll taken with my folks on a Sunday afternoon in the 1960s, then home for tea at 42 Galle Face Court, the flats opposite the hotel. Ah sweet memories Ouch that seems a long time ago.....
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Re: Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other (Part 1a) Colombo
Originally Posted by Mac: Ah Galle Face Green! Many a delightful stroll taken with my folks on a Sunday afternoon in the 1960s, then home for tea at 42 Galle Face Court, the flats opposite the hotel. Ah sweet memories Ouch that seems a long time ago..... I was told the Galle Face Green was actually green until the pope showed up and a massive crowd destroyed the grass. After that it became the Galle Face Brown. The green is slowly trying to make a comeback, though. I actually visited someone...
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Re: Finishing college. Need help planning trip to U.K,
Hi guys, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was good to be with my family again. Visiting and catching up with everyone took longer than I'd thought, but did do a little research into the trip and came out with this plan. Basically, with GarryRF's advice, I think I'll focus my time in the north to save money cause my budget is limited. After that I'll finish my vacation in London and Paris. I need to find places to stay but more important now just to frame the trip. The details I...
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Re: Finishing college. Need help planning trip to U.K,
You're doing fine Hank ! I presume you're travelling solo ! Lots of Hotel Chains you can stop with. Days Inn. Hilton. Travelodge. Dolby. Just Google any "City " + "Hotels" and you get hundreds to choose from. Your plan looks fine !
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Re: Happy Thanksgiving, from all of us at TravelGumbo!
Yes DrF.... Those Ozzies have some strange habits ! First time in Coogee Bay Hotel Sydney I ordered Steak and Chips (Fries) Guy showed me a Tupperware Picnic Box full of raw steak. You choose, then he puts it on a plate for you. You take it outside to the "Barbee" (BBQ). You cook it how you like it. Then come back in for your Chips and salad ! I stopped at a Restaurant in Bondi Beach and the waiter asked me if I would like a bottle of wine with the meal. "Yes please" I said. "Well git ya...
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Re: Capital of Culture Series: Liverpool
Thanks Red Rover. My last trip I was supposed to go to Edinburgh ,but went to Liverpool instead . I guess I remembered The Tune Hotel from the untaken trip .
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Re: The Tulou of Fujian Province
HistoryDigger, I'll explain. At the end of the first day of tulou visits, the large tour bus rendezvoused with a small van and it was indicated that I should bring my things and come with a young man. Since no one could explain, I had to simply trust and go along, an interesting sensation. I later realized that I was the only one who had opted for the second day. The young man drove me to a very basic village of mostly new buildings built, I suspect but of course don't know, for...
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Re: Capital of Culture Series: Liverpool
Hank ,I'd check the Tune Hotel for rates. Maybe Garryrf can weigh in on cheap accomodations too.I didn't stay in any hostels while there.