Tagged With "European Herring Gulls"
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Re: Dec 15, 2016: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Her husband is Canadian and went with his job. And she loves the fresh air and wide open spaces. She reckons its a good place to raise her 2 sons,
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Re: Antarctica, part 3. Antarctica Rocks!
Hi Kirsten, Behind in my emails, but did want you to know that the last of your series on Celebrating Nature went live today. I want to personally thank you so very much for sharing your tremendous talents with our audience. I enjoyed reading -- and learned a lot -- from your posts and greatly enjoyed your wonderful photography! I'm sure many others did, too. If you have more material you'd like to post on TravelGumbo in the coming months, it would be our pleasure to host it. Hope you had a...
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Re: 'Le Doggy Bag' catching on in France
Why would anybody say that the habit was "despised"? Disdained, perhaps, but most of the French are quite frugal. If anything, they have always been embarrassed by leaving leftovers, if they had to do so. I had a great aunt in Moselle who always kept plastic bags in her purse for stowing away extra food at restaurants.
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Re: Arriving in Venice, 1960
Almost a Big Mistake in Venice. I remember taking my daughter to Venice for her birthday then buying a $750 ring for her in one of the jewelry stores. The owner told me I could get the tax refunded from the government and he said it would be about $700. I said that is almost the entire price of the ring, then he told me the ring was $7,500 because I converted the Lira wrongly on my calculator due to many Lira zeroes with that currency. She did get a ring but not that one.
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Re: EU Parliament Ends Cell Phone Roaming Charges in 2017
I'm guessing this is going to affect pre paid plans and sim cards for travelers. Anybody else know more, please comment.
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Re: EU Parliament Ends Cell Phone Roaming Charges in 2017
Yes, it will apply to prepaid plans, which many Europeans as well as visitors use, but it's not as happily absolute as some of the celebrators make it sound. The final June 2017 step depends on a reform of the European wholesale roaming market in which carriers pay each other for roaming use, and is also subject to limits for those who roam "too much." Here's a quote from one of the Parliament members who was a leading proponent of the law (which also originally included provisions for net...
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Re: "Mind Your Manners!" VisitBritain Warns Hoteliers
The Author of these "Do's and Don'ts" is a Trainee Journalist and has gathered this list without leaving the comfort of her armchair. Lazy journalism based on stereotypes you find in cheap travel guides. Maybe we could start a list of "Do's and Dont's" for US Hotels and employees ? #1 : DONT say "You guys from Europe all sound the same !"
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Re: "Mind Your Manners!" VisitBritain Warns Hoteliers
Perhaps not a trainee journalist. Since the list came from the government's tourism promotion agency, we might presume the author to be a Trainee Bureaucrat, who someday will be, sadly, writing the rules! Originally Posted by GarryRF: The Author of these "Do's and Don'ts" is a Trainee Journalist and has gathered this list without leaving the comfort of her armchair. Lazy journalism based on stereotypes you find in cheap travel guides. Maybe we could start a list of "Do's and Dont's" for US...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 11, 2014: Please Close the Gate.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is the richest woman in the World. She has a fortune of 33 Trillion Dollars (including assets) When she is resident in Windsor Castle she has 24 hour security as you'd expect. She doesn't annoy the Staff who work through the night by going around the Castle turning off the lights !! I've heard a few Drongo's down under calling her Maj but don't use that name in the UK as you'll offend people.
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo #10
Originally Posted by TatToo: Did Mrs. Gumbo not get to the tapas bar ? No, because we had already eaten. But, against the wall of the Cathedral she found a truly gaudy fruit cart that made her a wonderful fruit salad to order, which we ate in the Jardin Borda...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
Yes, she almost looks ready to sail (were it not for the concrete footings holiding her in place)! But what place?
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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: Newgrange; Ireland’s ancient Passage Tomb
Walking the "Walls" that enclose the City - maybe 3 miles around - is a local ritual ! At frequent intervals there are Pubs to stop at. The idea being that you stop at each one , have a drink and proceed to the next. Its only the hardened drinkers who complete the circuit. A friend from Anna Maria Island, Florida sent his daughter to stay with us for a while. Same age as my daughter and they got along like a house on fire ! So when we arrived in Chester I told her our day was walking around...
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Re: Finishing college. Need help planning trip to U.K,
Again thanks, this is incredibly helpful!! So I think I'll look at trains for trips from bigger cities to other cities, and fill in the gaps with bus if the pricing works out. A little more planning is needed. Even though it's expensive, I do want to spend around a week in London. Being an architect, there's just so much to see and do there, like seeing the Houses of Parliament and Westminister Abbey. I plan on being on the go almost all day each day there -- can rest later, maybe in the...
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Re: Traveling for Local Food
I took a look and it looks like just what I need. I can even use the info to plan our route. I had my mom look at it, too, and she said it reminds her of when she was a kid and my granddad had a book called Duncan Hines that had local places all over. I wonder if that's the same Duncan Hines as the cake mix?
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Re: Bye Bye Sky-High Rental Car Fees
This is very much great and hope fully nice blog. Every body can easily found her need able information. I am visit first time but I fond many use full article. I will back again when get time.
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Re: Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart
This display of beautiful cars is a modern day "Work of Art" They require no adornment by mannequins from the Kmart. I'd compare it to the Ad's we see at Bus Stops where some gorgeous model has had a Moustache added by some "Wag" with a Sharpie pen ! Or maybe adding some "Christmas Tinsel" to the Mona Lisa to improve her good looks ! "A place for everything - and everything in it's place!" (A Bimbo - over here - is a Lady with stunning looks - but lower than average IQ)
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Re: Whom did you say was flying this plane?
Anyone remember the movie Westworld? Where nothing can go wrong...go wrong....go wrong... I'm okay with the pilot using automation, but the idea of automation REPLACING the pilot....nah... I want someone who can grab the controls and fly by the seat of his or her pants, not have the plane crash because some tiny part shorted out. Same goes for robot cars on the highway. I don't wanna get killed head-on by a car reacting to a sunspot in GPS. OTOH if you could get government on autopilot...oh,...
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Re: Do you Like these Hotel Tipping Tips ?
Remember these recommendations were in essence from the hotel owners. They are trying to have the consumer subsidize the poor salaries many of them pay. I'm a reasonably generous person, and I realize that most hotel employees are not wealthy, but I don't tip at those levels. I usually leave a few bucks for the maid if a good job is done, and for an excellent bit of advice or help will as well. But if I ask the concierge where the nearest bus stop is, that's his job and not worth the five...
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Re: Paris-Barcelona Now Linked by High-Speed Train
Great thing about Europe, especially for travelers, are the many options they have for getting around. Train is often the best option for those going from the heart of one city to the heart of another. I'm glad to her this route is now open to people.
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Re: Do you Like these Hotel Tipping Tips ?
Before I retired, I traveled quite a bit on business, both inside the U.S. and abroad. I still travel frequently to racing and club events, but almost all are in the U.S. or Canada. That said, here’s my take on tipping: Restaurants – According to the sources I checked, in the U.S. the Federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13. Most states have set higher amounts, but food service workers are still generally paid much lower wages that other ‘minimum wage’ employees. Unless the...
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Re: Doctor List for Traveling
As with many things travel, insurance is a matter of choice. Travel Health Insurance seems to be a lot more expensive in the US than elsewhere. Policies in the US usually include trip cancellation and medical coverage and often run 5-6% the cost of a trip. Given the amount you travel, Mac, the investment of a few hundred dollars a year seems prudent to me. But when I was 30 the thought of insurance never crossed my mind. Not once. A few years ago I did start buying trip cancellation (and...
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Re: Hi Everybody! I'm new here.
By the way, Mrs. Briggs, the question about a road trip in California is a good one. Why don't you start a separate forum page (thread) on that? One way to make it easier for people in the future to benefit from our discussions. Ted, if you have suggestions for Mrs. Briggs, keep an eye out for that and help her out.
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Re: The "Noah's Ark" airport
Thanks for the note, Voyager. I did find the piece about animals in transit interesting. I know a little about animals. It's my wife who is the Dr. Doolittle. She loves them in all sizes and shapes and they seem to like and understand her.
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Re: The "Noah's Ark" airport
they seem to like and understand her. Animals - including birds - know who the "friendlies" are. Must be an innate trait for survival.
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Re: Is trip cancellation insurance really worth it?
My elderly mother bought it when she went on a cruise. For her, it made sense because her health is not so good. She might have had to cancel and did not want to lose her deposit. The policy that she bought was specifically for trip cancellation but did not cover health issues or other unexpected issues during the trip. That policy would have covered a deposit refund but not all of them do. There are lots of different types of trip insurance so one has to ask lots of questions. As it turns...
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Re: In Egypt: The Egyptian Museum
An item from the UK's Guardian comments on the timelessness & "place-less-ness" of Nefertiti's image. If she'd stayed in Egypt after her discovery at Amarna, she'd likely have a place near her image above with her family, in the photo titled " Scene of worship of the Aten ..." as that's a far more interesting historical context, rather than the following reign of Tutankhamun, in which to put her. I hope the book does her real life justice.
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Re: Banksy Opens up a Bemusement Park in England
You guys are certainly mirroring all the thoughts that we had yesterday! I hope that my photos (taken in the drizzle) will come out to show you. The views that struck us immediately were the Dismaland logo above the entry (and on the souvenir T shirts), the Mickey Mouse ears worn by all the staff, the dilapidated, iconically-shaped, crumbling fairy tale castle with it's polluted moat - but perhaps the most dramatic is the centrepiece in the castle with the life-sized princess's pumpkin...
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Re: In Egypt: Up the Nile
Egypt is always going to be a conveyor belt for most visitors, outside of the resorts, and it's hard to get around this, given the country's geography. But PM is right to take the costs on the chin; how many times are you going to be there in this life ? Obviously didn't miss much, from her photos !
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#67)
In some previous puzzles, Gumbo has flown far, but has not been as far as might appear... Could that be a hint that will be useful here? But remember the Sibyl: Her words were always true...but did not always mean what she appeared to say! (That's how I feel about GPS, too....)
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#67)
Sunday evening, and time to post the e-mail responses. This week, there has been one, from PortMoresby, and her guess was correct. Gumbo was in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont in Paris, looking at the Ile du Belvedere. For more about the park, see tomorrow's "reveal" blog. A new puzzle will appear on Tuesday. And again, congrats to PortMoresby!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 25, 2014: Fall colors at Upper Kananaskis Lake, Alberta
Hi GarryRF, Yes, this part of the world includes vaste stretches of wilderness. Lots and lots of unspoiled mountains, valleys, forests, rivers and lakes. It is only an hour's drive from west Calgary, so lots of those of us who live here spend our weekends in the Rockies. Much like those in Denver. Camping is wonderful in the summertime, as the weather is mild and the days very long. It's also great to hike here at that time. Camping in the winter is only for the brave of heart. You need to...
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Re: Montmartre Cemetery, Paris
I noticed that...but for me, the hardest moment of the afternoon was the sense of relentless mortality I felt at the grave of Louise Weber, "La Goulue." To look at the severe and confining stone box, and think at the same time of the image we carry of her...
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Re: Montmartre Cemetery, Paris
She died nearby, as well. She returned to Montmartre in 1928, a year before her death, and eked out a living selling matches and peanuts on a corner near the Moulin Rouge.
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Re: A visit to Waterton National Park
I love the pictures, Roderick. Part of what makes Waterton so special are its many wild animals. Almost like going on safari in America! I'm especially fond of the little bear. He looks so very lost without his mother. Hope you didn't get between her and the little one! And thanks for your first contribution to Travelgumbo!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Feb 3, 2015: Chanteuse of Montmarte
Originally Posted by PortMoresby: IslandMan, would you consider adding the un-vignetted version? It may not be as artistic but it would be interesting to see, to compare and to see details currently obscured. Hello PortMoresby, I chose the vignette effect to focus on the chanteuse and to mask the other distractions around her. I think it adds a sense of surrealism and mystique that I believe is in keeping with the essence of Montmarte. I don't like "messy" pictures and I thought the original...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Feb 3, 2015: Chanteuse of Montmarte
I'd dearly love to see her "messy" cart. But, yes IM, your vision takes precedence, certainly.
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Re: Help with mobile phone for Morocco
I have a Mobell (same company as Mobal) UK sim that I got years ago, very convenient, phone bills charged to my credit card, rather than having to keep track of the balance and "top up". However, calls are relatively expensive although I don't mind for the convenience and limited use when I'm in the UK. Knowing full well it would cost me, about a £ a minute because I was in Italy, I allowed a British friend who was meeting me in Italy to call me when she arrived using her UK phone and my UK...
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Re: Visiting Versailles
DrF, the pictures are as awesome as the palace itself...and frankly, I, too, like them better. I long ago ceased to be a lover of the places where the rich and powerful flaunted it over those who were forced to pay for it and to obey. Versailles (where I have not been inside in 50 years) has the added "attraction" of Marie-Antoinette's "Hameau," or hamlet, off in the woods, where adults were forced to play at being children for her amusement...almost like a living dollhouse. True, it would...
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Re: AirBnB vs New York. Update
As a frequent Airbnb renter (about 16 times) I obviously think it's a valuable thing and want it to succeed. I also think that there's room for reasonable regulation that's sensitive to local needs, and that a reasonable compromise can be found. Let's take the case of New York City...there is a real shortage of affordable housing. While it's not caused by Airbnb, but rather by a series of market issues that I won't rehearse here, it's reasonable for the city/state to ban short-term rentals...
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Re: AirBnB vs New York. Update
I think my proposal as written could work; in my haste I left out one aspect and that is that Airbnb or similar would be expected to require that a host supply his or her city registration number, or look it up on city website. The company would be subject to penalty for unlicensed listings or for handling rentals beyond the limit. Of course if the host rented through other agencies beyond the limit, that would not be on Airbnb...some city enforcement mechanism would be ended but that's true...
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Re: GPS v. Sicily = WTF
Sounds like your GPS just wants you to have the most interesting trip! My wife and I refer to the GPS as Sybil, a nickname we gave after one we used in Chicago kept taking us into dead-ends and up wrong-way streets until we became skilled at interpreting her prophecies...as Heraclitus described an ancient Sybil: The Sibyl, with frenzied mouth uttering things not to be laughed at, unadorned and unperfumed, yet reaches to a thousand years with her voice by aid of the god. Enjoy the rest of...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 3, 2014: Metropole Hotel, Hanoi
22 April 2014. A British woman has been arrested and is facing deportation in Sri Lanka over a Buddha tattoo on her arm. Naomi Michelle Coleman, 37, was taken into custody at the airport in Colombo, after she arrived from India. Ms Coleman, who has a tattoo of a Buddha seated on a lotus flower on her right arm, was arrested for ‘hurting others' religious feelings,’ a police spokesman said. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...n.html#ixzz30hahG27Y Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter |...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 3, 2014: Metropole Hotel, Hanoi
My daughter was in Vietnam a year ago on her honeymoon DrF. She would visit the local Churches - as these were often pieces of exquisite architecture. On occasions outside Christian Churches she would recognise the tune of a Hymn - and while staying outside - she would sing along ! Yes - I know - a little crazy and religious too ! Communist countries don't outlaw religion, its just tolerated. The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo by my daughter) She has a list of good and...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 3, 2014: Metropole Hotel, Hanoi
Thanks for that note, GarryRF. Ask your daughter to share her information with all of us! A short post about her trip on TravelGumbo would help many out!
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Re: Happy Birthday, Eiffel Tower!
I like her tips, especially the advice not to rush past the second level, which too many people regard as just a place to change elevators. I also like that up-from-under shot of the tower...It reminded me to go and find my darker version of that view from 1960, on my first visit to Paris.
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Re: A Visit to Topkapi, Part 1
I remember that restaurant fondly. A woman on her own was seated with us and we became instant friends, still in touch after 12 years.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo, #104
I would love to pay the fair maiden a call Mac. But alas, I fear, you may have courted her emotions and beat me to the post !
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo, #104
Oh but no my friend GarryRF, a real maid is never truly undone until the true nature of her flight is revealed to all!
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? (#120)
Agreed. She was a much loved individual during her day. But it is a clue. You wouldn't find a statue like this in, say, Russia or Iran.