Tagged With "Star Wars Day at Sea"
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Re: Nov. 12, 2016: Memorial to Women of WW II, London
The Cenotaph in London is a remembrance of all the war dead from all the British Empire. Canada, India, Australia, South Africa and many more. They all send servicemen to represent their own countries in a march past. Did you know that Belgium has a parade of armed soldiers at the London Cenotaph too ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT6ChvVoPNQ
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Re: December 12, 2016: Percheron Horses, Alberta
Wonderful work horses with a positive future. Known for their cool temperament and strength these animals are used by police in cities where heavy traffic doesn't distress them.. For over 200 years breeders have a kept stud records and kept the breed pure. As you say they were a war horse too. A million were left in France by allied troops after WW1. And unfortunately France has a "taste" for horse meat
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Re: 'Flying Dutchman' ends 15-week cruise
UPDATE: Home at last... Costa Deliziosa finally docked in Genoa, Italy around noon today, New York time after being at sea since January 5th. It was the last major cruise line ship still at sea, and has no known Covid-19 cases on board. Debarcation of the remaining 1519 passengers and 898 crew will take several days as Costa and Italian authorities work on how to get them home without exposure to infection.
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Re: Trabzon, Turkey: Ancient History, Modern Life
Excellent coverage of a Black Sea treasure. Enjoyed the photos and your superb recommendations on this visit.
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Re: Norwegian bank is out of cash, on purpose
I think what we're seeing here is a blindness in planning, which goes beyond questions of technology. You've identified some scenarios where cashless becomes hopeless/helpless. I see the same kind of lack of forethought when I see several huge residential towers being built in downtown Brooklyn...on top of already overcrowded subway stations, and with no forethought to larger sewer or water connections... In the bleakest possible view, we may self-destruct not through a world war, but...
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Re: St Stephen's Green, Dublin. (Where Gumbo was #137)
I have to admit that the first clue reminded me, in succession, of a spot in Parc des Buttes-Chaumont in Paris, of Prospect Park in Brooklyn and of Frogness Park in Oslo...it was only when the clues got more specific that I could rule them out, and only when the Fusiliers Arch appeared and I could search its text that I could find the answer. That arch, by the way, provoked a lot of controversy when erected in 1907; it memorializes a regiment in England's colonial war against the Dutch Boers...
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Re: Swimming with Galápagos Sea Lions (S. America, pt 2)
What a fun adventure! I had no idea sea lions had such a sexist culture. Thanks, Kirsten.
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Re: Hurricane cancels hundreds of flights, cruises
The causeway from Miami down to Key West is just above sea level. Even a few feet would damage the roadway. I'm sure Rob will be OK. Someone will take him in and feed him ! (only joking Rob)
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Re: EU moves to ban single-use plastics
Just another example of the European Parliament wasting my taxes on a Worldwide problem. The 25% of plastic waste is a good clue to the origin of the problem. Shipping. Cruise ships, cargo ships and container carriers have a choice to make. Pay to have the trash removed in port. Or dump it at sea while they are still off the Radar.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, July 13, 2015: Gettysburg at dusk
If you are going to Gettysberg, I highly recommend also seeing the Anteitam battlefield. It is about an hour's drive away, and well worth the trip. I would probably do Anteitam first as it the battle there was about a year earlier in the war.
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Re: Macaroons in a Paris bakery
I'm not a big fan of macarons (sorry, world!) but among them my favorites are coffee and Fruits Rouges. I noticed recently that there is a caramel with sea salt one now available...will report on that in July.
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Re: Where In The World # 8.8. Some more clues
Wells House appears to be at least 5 miles from the sea. Given the age of the house and plants, I'm still leaning toward Australia. We'll soon find out.
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Re: A visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
PHeymont, I never try to judge historic figures through the prism of modern values. Remember in the 18th century slavery was a global institution -- absolutely every country in the world had slaves. And being from Virginia, he knew the southern states wouldn't join northern colonies in forming a new country without slavery being allowed, so I don't think he thought it was time to fight that fight. I think he valued the formation of the new country above all else -- risking his life to do so...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
A nautical theme -with the Life Preservers in the windows ! Tropical trees and a hot climate. And the sea in the background!
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Re: Films that affected your Travel destinations
Casablanca...and it's funny, but it didn't make me want to go to Casablance, it made me want to go to "Paris before the war." And if Ingrid Bergman could be there with me...
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Re: Films that affected your Travel destinations
Oh, yes, indeed - The Road pictures had a quirky playfulness that made one curious to get out and see things. You thought "if those mixed-up people can do it, I can do it.". Casablanca had that "je ne sais quoi" that made you want to see "Paris...before the war". Thanks for the memories about the movies.
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 1) An overview of the Country and its People
To say that Ireland is typically wet and cold is true of Winter. The Summers are often pleasant and warm but when you get to the West Coast then the wind blows in of a cold Atlantic Ocean. But the weather can change 4 times a day - so there's something there to please everyone. Ireland has wonderful fresh food. Fresh from the sea and farm. Try a locally produced Vintage Cheddar Cheese or an 18 year old Jamesons Whiskey. Soda bread is a local speciality. But stay away from the home made...
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Re: Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other. (Part 5) The Elephants of Pinnawala
Thanks, PortMoresby! And we've not even been to the sacred tooth relic in Kandy, the medieval ruins of Polonnaruwa, the beautiful hill country filled with tea plantations and "The World's End", a wildlife safari at Yala National Park, nor any of the nice beaches (but keep reading -- reports on these are coming). Sri Lanka is a great destination, especially now that the civil war is over. I was doubly lucky to not only be able to visit a dear friend there but to have time to leisurely explore...
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Re: Minneapolis in the winter
Hi Theodore! I am a Mall of America fan. You can easily spend an entire weekend (or many evenings) at the Mall of America. First of all, the mall is very easy to get to by train from downtown (CICAK did a wonderful job explaining that), and fares are quite cheap (fares go for about $1.75 to $2.25 one way depending on what time of day you ride). As CICAK also mentioned, there is something for everybody at the mall. If you just want to find a warm dry place to walk and people watch, I believe...
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP
I've seen a lot of "award creep" in my days, and I think there's more to come. A "mile" is worth less and less all the time. It's clear that airline miles aren't worth banking for any period of time. Use them when it's logical to do so. They likely will be worth less in the near future. Thanks for the link, PHeymont.
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP
Not sure I agree with the "burn 'em" philosophy. At the premium class end, there's certainly been a lot of creep, but not so much in coach, which is more price-sensitive, even for awards. True, summer awards to Europe have generally gone from 50K to 60K, but on the other hand, off-season at American went DOWN to 40K--and with the flexibility of taking one-way awards and combining them in interesting ways...it's actually a better situation. Also, there are some card-linked sales on flight...
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP
I think you'll find reward trips from the Western USA are harder to get for European travel than from the East coast. But if your schedule is flexible, you could be lucky.
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP
I think for premium travel,it makes sense. It has always surprised me that premium travel is so much cheaper from a frequent flier perspective (2:1) vs economy than when you actually buy the ticket. Just as a side note, aeroplan has recently reduced miles required on some of their reward charts as well.
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP
John's point about the ratio between the two tiers is interesting (we looked at that a little in a forum post this week on value of miles). My guess--and it's just that--is that the same kind of yield-management used to set prices has taken a look at this and is carefully balancing loyalty vs. burn... I can't really compare East vs West availability personally; my school schedules have defined when I can travel well enough that I'm able to start hunting tickets 330 days out, when the...
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Re: Put Stuttgart on Your Travel List
Many European towns have a Central Square where concerts and displays by local groups entertain us. Is Stuttgart like this ? Does it have Art Galleries that survived the war years ? Stuttgart isn't one of the places you associate with tourists in Germany but you've given us a taster. Thanks Rob !
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Re: Cheapest airfare to Portugal and Spain
Can't speak too much about SEA-TAC strategies, but I'm sure you'll have to change planes at least once! Try to avoid any that change at London, because of the British Air Passenger Duty on the way home, and the huge hassle of Heathrow. I did a little random searching for next July, using an open-jaw plan: Fly to Lisbon, train to Porto, fly to Barcelona, fly home, and found fares around $1600 on offer. Lisbon is not that competitive a city, so one strategy would be to keep an eye out for...
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#125)
Must be Germany. Old Albert had much to say about war. This reminds me of another stained glass window in the Grace Cathedral. The world was much in need of peace that year.
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Re: Banksy Opens up a Bemusement Park in England
I think devoted Disney fans would welcome a lawsuit. Especially in the UK. Nothing like a good turf war. Think football. Think footpaths.
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Re: Passau: Small City, Big Past
Didn't know about the Three Rivers moniker. Coincidence that my father, born and raised in Pittsburgh, fought in many WWII campaigns, then when the war ended, he was stationed as a peacekeeper of the war aftermath in Passau.
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Re: Italy: Giant tour bus, tiny street
Yay ! One up for bus drivers ! I drove a 10m DAF bus 20 times from Oslo to North Cape and back. One place in the Lofotens required me to reverse down a winding dirt track with rock on one side and sea on the other with about 2ft of clearance on either side. Thank the lord for power steering and BIG mirrors. Bus drivers deserve all the tips they get !
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Re: Sleepless in Cologne... Sea lions and zoo neighbors
My wife and I visited this very attractive zoo with pleasing fountains and gardens. I don't recall hearing the roar of sea lions, but I did get a candid photo when a pelican snapped his bill at my wife Diane when she ventured to close to their property. While many attractions can be closed on Sundays, we always looked for a chance to visit a European zoo.
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Re: May 10, 2017: Frozen Lake - Clear Creek County, Colorado
Most of these high altitude lakes remain frozen most of the year. While it's further north, I am very familiar with Lake Louise in the Alberta Rockies. While at only 5200 ft above sea level, it receives a heavy snow fall and the ice remains on the lake until well into June, returning in the early fall. Hiking in the area is really limited to June, July and early September (unless you hike slogging through snow and slush)
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Re: A House in Essaouira
Well PortMoresby now you are disturbing old memories... With all it's fading here is a photographic snip of my memories of Essourira around 1980. Note your blue boat is already there but I wonder if more boats became blue with the advent of tourism. Property in the town was only just starting to be purchased by foreign folks at that time. It was always an place of charm and tranquility and great for a sea food Sunday lunch.
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Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
It would have been so very nice for you to have found Reiner as an elderly man slowly walking home with the aid of his cane from his daily dip in the mineral spring, and joined him for a revitalizing sip of schnaps and shared with him your journey. How cool would it have been for you to say, "Hi, Reiner. I'm your nephew's wife, Whitney". I think he'd be tickled to no end to know how much you've cared and how hard you've tried to find him.... Sadly, the absence of an ending like this should...
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Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
I've travelled to Brisbane Australia looking for clues to my fathers war record. It was a hot summers day when I found Roe Street Barracks - still in use ! I was convinced it would have gone years ago to a development. I stood in the entrance and I felt a shiver run down my back. A feeling I've heard described as "someone walking on your grave"
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Re: Travel Bucket List Goals Biggest Motivator for Baby Boomer Travel
Never had a "Bucket List" I'm always intrigued when some one makes a find - that's not on everyone's list. I've recently heard that cruising the Baltic Sea is amazing. There's places to avoid and then there's "Must see's" in China. My travel list is constantly changing.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#77)
Certainly hangers but with quite low doors... A large fuel(?) bowser? Looks like a jet blast shield at the end of the runway and sea all around(?). Must have public access or just 'not secret' due to the ferry and Dr. F taking photos, so not military. Why does Dr F ask what the hanger shapes remind me of? It looks as if cars are in front of the hanger doors.. Is that logical? Are we talking seaplanes I wonder... but no slipway and why a runway? Head aches...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 25, 2014: Fall colors at Upper Kananaskis Lake, Alberta
My Wife - she who must be obeyed - loves a single Kayak and the open sea. So I presume this would be on a lake. Much safer I think. Sounds like you have the perfect location for a wilderness family like ours ! When we camp in summer you'd mistake some of the tents for aircraft hangers. But the kids and babies come too. Canoes and Fishing rods. Wet suits and waders. We go to Shell Island in Wales - but only when the tides out. Need to plan your journey ahead. They only have Grizzly Sheep.
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Re: Weymouth's tribute to the brave.
Together with the Finding Reiner series, this post helps remind us of the individuals and the effects on their communities. We've been seeing large and small memorials in France this past week. We were stunned, viewing the memorial in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, to note that there are over 100 names on the WWI memorial, many with similar, even identical names, contrasted with only a half-dozen or so from WWII, and then other numbers from other wars. The large losses in France in the First World...
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Re: Weymouth's tribute to the brave.
During WW1, before conscription was announced, young men were encouraged to join by local dignitaries and celebrities. Hundreds of Regiments of Infantry were formed with names such as the Liverpool Pals and the Bolton Pals - all made up of men from the same town. Many regiments were completely lost to combat in France. Small towns had lost all their young men to war and were left with no one coming home. Regiments after 1916 were drawn from several towns and cities.
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Re: Gumbo’s Pic of the Day, August 1, 2014: Postcards from Greece - Santorini
That looks like a tough climb from sea level (where I presume you arrived). what's the altitude gain, about 100 m?
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Re: HOW YOU CAN SAVE THE ASIAN ELEPHANT
Thanks for sharing these thoughts. Elephants are highly intelligent animals, probably smarter than dogs for example. Wild elephants in Asia are having a hard time because of loss of habitat and conversion of their normal range to agricultural land. Most do not have ivory tusks so unlike their African cousins, they are not slaughtered for their teeth. In Sri Lanka I visited the elephant orphanage in Pinnawala a number of times, which I've previously written about on TravelGumbo at this link .
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Re: A stroll through the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, Vail
Thanks for the comments, Garry. Yes, winter arrives early because of the very high altitude. Over a mile and a half above sea level. Summers are very nice -- warm (75-80F) dry pleasant days (no humidity to speak off), and it always cools down nicely at night, so most places don't even have air conditioning. It really was that empty. No more than 6 folks in the garden including my wife and I, and of course not counting the hundreds of birds flying about.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, February 23, 2015: Skógafoss, Iceland
Thanks for the comment, Garry, and a good question. The waterfall is almost a sea level and only a few kilometers from the ocean. So it is very moderated by the Gulf stream. So far as I could tell, the cliff and ground around it are caked in ice in January and February and hard to navigate. Flow is down, but the water continues flowing even in the coldest months. This photo was taken mid-September. It was a cold and windy day, but most days in Iceland are.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 2, 2014: Boats at Cassis, France
Just like the Cornish Riviera - with French rural architecture. Once you have a taste for living by the sea - its hard to be drawn away.
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Re: Major New Entrant in Cruise Business
It really is a growing business...and another recent "big" entrant would be Viking, which is expanding from its River Cruise business into Sea Cruises. I'm sort of amazed that none of these companies has thought of licensing the 1959 hit in which Frankie Ford pleaded "Let me take you on a sea cruise" for an ad. For those of you too young to remember (is that possible?) here it is....with a funny intro.
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Re: Charleston's Grand Mansions: Middleton Place
I was interested to note (aside from the alligators!) the fact that the house at Middleton was never restored after the Civil War. I noted that at Magnolia plantation, not far away, a small cottage was moved in to replace the original house...and it left me wondering. While the planter class certainly reclaimed power after Reconstruction, they must have taken quite a while to overcome the economic damage they brought on themselves.
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Re: Photography at the Edges, New York & San Francisco
Among my greatest photography influences were Matthew Brady, whose grainy and gritty images of the Civil War made it so very "real" to future generations just learning about it in history books. And of course the great work of Ansel Adams. Far from gritty and grainy. Truly a visionary.
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Re: Where in the World Is Gumbo? #35
This is the Sea-Based X-Band Radar dome, there was a big to do when it was moved. I can't tell where the pic was taken though. The dome was in Seattle for a spell but then relocated.