Tagged With "Country Inn of Berkeley Springs"
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Re: Madeira gets its ferry back
Apologies: an uncorrected version of the report appeared early this morning. Conflicting partial reports from earlier in the spring, along with difficulty in translation, led to the error. The corrected version appears above.
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Re: Canadian Museum of History (Civilization): Ottawa (Gatineau), Canada
Ottawa is a perfect spring and fall getaway destination, PortMoresby. Like many things Canadian it's pleasant and understated. You don't really get the impression when here that one of the world's most successful economies is governed in this peaceful small city. Summers can be hot and humid, but May and late Sept/Oct are special. I'd probably head there late Sept/early Oct to enjoy the colorful tree displays.
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Re: The Maltese Islands – Underrated gems or best kept secret ?
It does not seem fair that one place should have so much going on. Worse, it is less fair that I am not there ! Thanks for the great pics and a bit of history. What are the good months to visit for water sports like paragliding ? Is it winder or the surf stronger some months than others ?
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Re: The Maltese Islands – Underrated gems or best kept secret ?
Thanks for your comments TatToo. Summer is the best time for water sports,from May to October. Most operators usually shut down over winter. There isn't much surf to speak of unless there is an exceptionally stormy day, but the northern parts of the island are more suited for windsurfing and paragliding as the winds from the northern Mediterranean tend to have more strength in them
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Re: The Maltese Islands – Underrated gems or best kept secret ?
That's a great piece about a great destination most of us have not heard a lot about. Would you know if there are direct flights between Malta and Sicily, Islandman? How would you recommend connecting these two. I think a great way to spend two or three weeks would be to combine stops at Sicily and Malta.
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Re: The Maltese Islands – Underrated gems or best kept secret ?
Thanks IslandMan! Your history insights and photos do make it look like an ideal travel destination.
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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.
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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: Finally some good news! Whistler or Banff
I don't ski either (bad knees), but I've visited both of these destinations. There are pros and cons to each. Both is a little over an hour's drive from their closest major airport, Vancouver for Whistler and Calgary for Canmore. Whistler is close to the coast, but high up. So they usually have good snow, but depending on the year, it can get soggy by spring and sometimes ice crusted. Banff area is far more likely to have nice light powder during the spring break season. Some people swear by...
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Re: Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart
Nice piece, Rob! You would look good wrapped in the driver's seat of one of those Mercedes. Attached photo is of a showroom we went to this spring, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Future inductees into the Mercedes Museum?
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Re: A Springtime Walk in the Desert
Great color and variety! Thanks...I'm going to have to get to the desert in spring, sometime. I visited the Sonora desert in December, and recognize some of these from seeing them without their brilliant display (click HERE for that blog) This is certainly a reminder of how little we know a place when we only know it "in season."
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Mar. 20, 2014: Spring - at last!
Thanks, spring! We needed that!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Mar. 20, 2014: Spring - at last!
It's snowing this morning, so I can relate to PHeymont's comment. That is what spring should look like. That's for that bit of sunshine!
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Re: Asia cruise market grows 24% in 2015
There was a significant Chinese population on our cruise last spring. And Norwegian is stationing it's newest super size cruise ship in Chint next year.
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Re: Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Banff National Park (Where Gumbo Was #178)
I spent several nights at Banff Springs, but not the cave and Basin. It is quite an experience to sit in a hot spring outdoors while snow is falling! Thanks for bring back the memories.
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Re: Brits on Beach behaving badly? Call (British) cops!
Sounds like the British kids are copying the "Spring Breakers" in Florida. With a hint of "Bikers Week" for the older ones.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
Amazing the way these calculations work out. We're going to England next spring, using American Airlines points. The flight selection offered us flights on British Airways and American. The AA flights cost the points plus government fees. The BA flights cost the points plus the government fees, plus enough surcharges to make a $1000+ difference. If I only had the BA flights, I'd certainly rather find a low-cost carrier! It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming year as Aer...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
The AA-BA mashup is tricky, yes, but not as devious as it may seem. Between New York and Paris, for instance, AA has only two non-stops a day; BA has a half-dozen (or more, including Open Skies). And, BA has many seats LON-PAR, so availability is greater. A similar situation exists on this side of the ocean, where BA feeds many AA domestic flights. It's sometimes possible to get around better if you don't mind one stop...we've used AA to Madrid paired with Iberia to Paris (Iberia's charges...
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Re: California Gardens 2017: Gold Country, Part I
Luv your garden posts! They've taught me to look at the micro of a garden, not just the overview. Thanks for this!
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Re: California Gardens 2017: Gold Country, Part I
A nice observation, DrF, both aspects of the "art" I speak of.
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Re: Spotted on the Road: 1957 Austin-Healey, Fort Vancouver, WA
Beautiful machine JHeymont. In Spring, a young man's heart turns to thoughts of sports cars. Well spotted !
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Re: Do traveling Brits hate kids?
Getting a 25 hour flight can be a painless experience with the correct preparation. Music, books and magazines. But taking a young child who screams with inner ear pressure problems is a nightmare and no one gets to sleep. So you arrive with no sleep for maybe 36 hours. Of course we love kids as much as anyone. I've been on an American flight to Hawaii where all the other passengers were kids on spring break. That flight should have carried a health warning. They behaved like animals. Yes...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 19, 2014. Reykjavik, Iceland
Couldn't agree more that the late spring, early summer is the time to go!
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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: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov. 16, 2014: American Golden Plover
Yes, Arctic birds are common in southern USA, Central and South America and further north during migration. But to see them in their beautiful breeding colours, you need to go to the Arctic in spring or early summer. This plover had already changed to grey by mid-August.
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Re: Visiting historic Skagway, Alaska
I enjoyed this piece, Tom, and find the little town of Skagway charming if there's no cruise ships around. Make sure if you visit that you also go to the town's little cemetery and see if you can find the grave marker of the villainous Soapy Smith. There was a different way to reach the Klondike in addition to those Tom writes about, which while safer was not very successful. That involved sailing all the way up the coast of Alaska, entering the mouth of the Yukon river and navigating...
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Re: RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee
Thanks for the tour of this music Mecca, Ottoman. I'm a big music fan and always enjoy these sort of articles. It's interesting to know the history behind where the artists recorded their music and this looks like a must to visit.
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Re: Gallery: Signs of Toronto -- the City at Large
Thanks for your comments, Garry and Rbcia! Garry, you mentioned twins!? Are you a grandpa again? Rbciao, if you can postpone your trip to spring, when everything is blooming, I think you'll have an even better time in Toronto. But there's lots to see and do, even in the winter.
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Re: Gallery: Longwood Gardens, PA
Hi Rob. We last made a visit in late September. But I have heard that spring is best in April and May.
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Re: AirBerlin Black Friday: $499 to Europe R/T!
It's a fantastic deal! Milan is a budget airline hub too so you can go to a lot Europe for not much more. Time to buy those spring break tickets
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Re: Gallery: Lilac Garden, Spokane, Washington
Thanks for the kind comment! And welcome to TravelGumbo. Needlessly said, I also have lilacs in my yard and enjoy watching them come to life each spring. Their perfume is, perhaps second only to jasmine, my favorite floral scent.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Apr. 20, 2014: Spring Comes to the Botanic Garden
Another view of spring, in your almost-neighbor right across the pond, London's St. James Park. I couldn't resist it (from Londonist today).
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Re: Brooklyn Heights Promenade: A Disaster Turned to Treasure
I have every intension of coming to Brooklyn to see the Promenade for myself. Will you take a few more pictures, please, when the trees are all leafed out later in the spring? I'd like to see it in all it's glory.
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Re: Gallery: The View From Home
Thanks for the vivid colors, and the hope they give me that spring will soon reach us in the Frozen East as well (actually, I see the signs of revival already in the branches of my climbing rose). As well, the lone brown leaf in the last picture reminds us that this is only one phase in an endless cycle.
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
I'm not an ad executive, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently, so that qualifies me to tell them. This is a horrible campaign. Couldn't they of come up with a selfie free breakfast campaign instead?
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 18th, 2014: Bears
I haven't really "lived" with bears, but I've experienced their resourcefulness, both in campgrounds where we had to store our food up high and away from trees, and at a summer rental. At that house, they kept opening the steel container for the garbage cans. I weighted the lids with stones, and they brushed them aside. I put even larger and heavier rocks on the next time (making it truly inconvenient for me), and they simply pushed over the whole container. My wife wisely advised me to...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 18th, 2014: Bears
Enjoyed your photos Still Country. Brought back many memories. Haven't been lucky enough to see one this year but it is really exciting for me when I see my first bear of the season.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 18th, 2014: Bears
Hi Mr. Heymont, thanks for your story. Yes, they are strong and it is nearly impossible to stop them from getting in to something that they really want in to. They used to dump our garbage all the time and Dad tried everything but to no avail. Finally, he chained them all together, three big barrels, and that finally stopped the bears from being able to overturn them. They still dug inside and sometimes spread the garbage around a little but it did help a bit. We would also try to burn it...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 18th, 2014: Bears
The black bears in Yosemite NP are among the most aggressive and clever in the world. They've been known to pull down a locked closed car door to get at a picnic hamper or cooler in the back seat. They are amazingly strong -- imagine the power needed to peel a locked steel car door off its hinges. And they share this knowledge from generation to generation! Once a bear has eaten human feed, they are "spoiled" forever and often become more aggressive in their hunt for food and may even need...
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Re: 7 of many reasons to choose Bulgaria for your next trip
I'm glad you liked the article. I would be more than happy if the post make you visit the country. @DrFublefinger I believe the best time to come to Bulgaria is september-october from the weather perspective, but if you want to see the charm the blooming trees give to the city, you should come in the spring. The summer is really, really (I mean really) hot and dry! The country lies between the strongly contrastic continental and Mediterranean climate zones, so it has an unusually variable...
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Re: Traveling to Europe soon? It may pay to prepay...
I do think it's a good year to add Europe. And with cheap airfares available now for spring and summer all the more reason Another currency that has has dropped compared to the US dollar recently is the Canadian Dollar. http://www.theglobeandmail.com...air/article22446079/
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Re: Portland Bill Revisited: Pictures from a small island
PortMoresby is very right DrF, Chesil Beach is a 'shingle' beach is 29 kilometres (18 mi) long, 200 metres (660 ft) wide and 15 metres (50 ft) high - and pretty steep too!! The 'shingle' (large round pebbles) varies from pea-sized at the north-west end (by West Bay) to orange-sized at the south-east end (by Portland). It is said that smugglers who landed on the beach in the middle of the night could judge "exactly where they were" by the size of the shingle. The beach has been the scene of...
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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...
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Re: Signs of Boston
Lovely walkable city. The trains were a great way to get around too. Just move along one station at a time and pop up out of the underground railway for another look around. Around Quincy Market was very strange. It was St Patricks day and the sun was shining. The sellers were wearing shorts and T-shirts. But around the corner the sun hadn't made any impression. It was still in the shade after a long winter. Snow was everywhere and the market traders wore hats and coats. Around the next...
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Re: Signs of Boston
There was plenty of snow this time of year and in a week, only a few days where it was nice enough to walk around and enjoy the city. But spring sun is like that. It really warms a sheltered spot, whereas in the north facing shade it's cool and icy.
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Re: Unusual Hotel Rooms
I once stayed at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California. It has all kinds of unusual room designs. Believe ours was jungle themed, but it was unusual and made for a fun stay. It's a nice midway point between San Francisco and Los Angeles if you're driving along the PCH. Here's the link: http://www.madonnainn.com/
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Re: Budget airlines pushing seat squeeze on new planes
I flew on Spanish budget carrier, Vueling, this past spring. It was a pleasant enough flight, but the aircraft had the tightest pitch of any airline I've ever been on. The pocket in the seat in front of you, where magazines and the air sickness bag are stored, was removed to allow for crowding of rows and even my knees were wedged in tightly to the seat back in front of me (seats couldn't be reclined, for obvious reason). I'm not sure how a seriously tall person could ever fit in.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo, #104
Huuum, I feel that we are getting warm palms here GarryF. Mind, spring is almost upon us finally and maybe time for you to visit Miss Angela perhaps?
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Re: Nashville, Tennessee.....the Elvis tour continues!
Thank you - again - for a wonderful tour of the origins of modern music. Looks like Ottoman saved the day. So much history to absorb in one visit. Those bygone days when music and its makers made headlines. Nice, well presented series DrF !
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Re: Nashville, Tennessee.....the Elvis tour continues!
Once again DrFumblefinger you have done a wonderful job putting this blog together. Thank you for you doing this. I enjoyed it very much. GarryRF, I was very happy that I could be of some assistance for this blog, but it's DrFumblefinger who seems to have the magic touch on putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. In this case, I'm the guy who only delivered the bricks, but DrFumblefinger built the house.