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Life After Brown
Around the world with Traveler
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<blockquote data-quote="UPS Lifer" data-source="post: 244119" data-attributes="member: 9789"><p><strong>Re: Around the world with Traveller</strong></p><p></p><p>My travels pale in comparison to 113 countries! I have been to around 20 countries and a few more when you look at individual islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean. We have been traveling a lot of this year since I retired in March. We have one more big trip this year....Maui around Halloween. Next year we will cool our jets and get our California house sold so we can spend more time in Sedona...but we will go to Maui for the month of February!</p><p></p><p>I have been off traveling the Med for the past three weeks and really missed the Brown Cafe. I thought I would share some experiences that I had. </p><p></p><p>We were traveling all day Monday from around 2am MST to 1700 MST....It actually wasn't a bad flight other than you are in the daylight the whole way home...so you only catch catnaps. My wife woke up at 3 am today. I woke up around 4 and stayed in bed until 5:30 am. So it looks like we will still be going through some adjustment. it took 2 weeks for me to adjust back when I was working. I think I will be back to normal by Wednesday or Thursday.</p><p></p><p>I bought some jet lag pills that you take every 2 hours while flying, and I actually feel pretty good today!</p><p></p><p>I took around 1000 pics between 3 cameras so I will be spending time going through all the shots. I will let everyone know when I get something up on the web. I will put up some pics initially and then add to it.</p><p></p><p>We had a wonderful time. This was a Princess Cruise and it was well worth every penny and all the energy we spent going on tour after tour after tour. Here are the areas we visited. this will give you an idea of how busy this trip was. There was no relaxing! It was go - go - go !! - the only rain we encountered was in Florence. It poured. We (and 14 others) stayed on the bus and did not tour. The folks that toured were sopping wet at lunch and seemed miserable.</p><p></p><p>Areas visited include:</p><p>Rome-Vatican-Monte Carlo-Nice-Cannes-Liverno-Florence-Pisa-Naples-Sorento-Positano-Amalfi</p><p>In Greece - Santorini-Mykonos-Athens-Katakalon-Corfu</p><p>Turkey - Kusadasi - The Vigin Mary's final home, Ephesus ruins - This is a city of 50K plus and they are still discovering and renovating. The streets are marble and are original. This was most impressive to me.</p><p>Venice - the island of Murano (glass art), Burano (lace products).</p><p></p><p>It really is hard to pick favorite areas we visited. They were all very special. However....</p><p>Places that deserve an encore visit. Monte Carlo - Nice - Sorrento - Positano - Santorini - Corfu - Venice - and of course Kusadasi Turkey.</p><p></p><p>This is a trip that my wife and I will remember for all time. The food was fabulous, the tours were enlightening, the accommodations on and off the ship were relaxing and first rate. One of our private tour guides just recently was the tour guide for Bill and Linda Gates and last year....Oprah! The weather was about as close to perfect as you could get. We did a lot of shopping and have many remembrances that will be with us to re-kindle the spirit and memories of this very special region!</p><p></p><p>Here are some additional observations...</p><p></p><p>Tours - quick note...Pre-plan your tours and book early - this is how you are going to spend the bulk of your time and money....really think it out. You should think about placing relaxing or less activity type tours or days in between high activity tours. Also look at when the sea days are. Count a sea day as a low activity day. Some tours actually include time spent at resorts or beaches. This can be a welcome break. </p><p></p><p>We were very happy with the Emerald Princess and the itinerary. However, it was jammed pack and there were only 1.5 sea days. The rest of the time you were in a port. The biggest decision you have to make after booking the cruise is....how are you going to spend the time in the ports. Are you going to go on organized tours or roam around on your own? Believe me ....you do not want to fight the tourists on your own going to see the Vatican. You will waste time spending it in lines that are 4 times that of the organized tour lines, obviously this depends on the time of year you go. Problem is you won't know until you get there. </p><p></p><p>Not counting buying stuff...the tours are going to probably be your biggest expense other than the air and cruise (lodging). Remember that the dollar is weak (right now) in comparison to the Euro. So every thing is expensive relative to the dollar. Don't expect any deals! </p><p></p><p>Conversion rate was $1.43 to 1 Euro when we started. We bought 1000 Euros 2 weeks before we left. At the end of the trip the rate was $1.28 to 1 Euro. This is what you do not want to experience! You want it the opposite! Dollar strong when you buy Euros and weak when you sell Euros....no brainer! </p><p></p><p>If you plan on using a credit card, check with the credit card company to see what type of charge is imposed for conversion to $$ from the local currency you charged on. </p><p></p><p>Eating - WOW WOW WOW - the food was great everywhere we went. I suggest that you eat out for lunch when you can to experience the flavor of the local area. We took some tours that included lunch at high end resorts and this was a wonderful way to spend time with the friends you are traveling with.</p><p></p><p>Scams and Customs</p><p>Turkey - they expect you to bargain. If you don't they are offended. They have the "real" fakes there. The Rolex watches with good guts that will last and the fake exteriors that are very close to the original. They do follow you around and it is hard to get rid of them.</p><p>Also - if you accept food or drink they expect you to buy something. It is like entering a contract!</p><p></p><p>Greece - if you look in the store windows you will have a salesperson come out of the store to help you!</p><p>They will ask you where you are from and tell you that one of their brothers lives in that city etc.!!</p><p></p><p>italy - Watch your valuables. We did not have any problems but they do work in pairs or triples. If you get bumped you probably had a hand in your pockets so keep valuables secure. This is more prevelent in tourist areas and transportation areas such as airport and train or bus stations.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="UPS Lifer, post: 244119, member: 9789"] [b]Re: Around the world with Traveller[/b] My travels pale in comparison to 113 countries! I have been to around 20 countries and a few more when you look at individual islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean. We have been traveling a lot of this year since I retired in March. We have one more big trip this year....Maui around Halloween. Next year we will cool our jets and get our California house sold so we can spend more time in Sedona...but we will go to Maui for the month of February! I have been off traveling the Med for the past three weeks and really missed the Brown Cafe. I thought I would share some experiences that I had. We were traveling all day Monday from around 2am MST to 1700 MST....It actually wasn't a bad flight other than you are in the daylight the whole way home...so you only catch catnaps. My wife woke up at 3 am today. I woke up around 4 and stayed in bed until 5:30 am. So it looks like we will still be going through some adjustment. it took 2 weeks for me to adjust back when I was working. I think I will be back to normal by Wednesday or Thursday. I bought some jet lag pills that you take every 2 hours while flying, and I actually feel pretty good today! I took around 1000 pics between 3 cameras so I will be spending time going through all the shots. I will let everyone know when I get something up on the web. I will put up some pics initially and then add to it. We had a wonderful time. This was a Princess Cruise and it was well worth every penny and all the energy we spent going on tour after tour after tour. Here are the areas we visited. this will give you an idea of how busy this trip was. There was no relaxing! It was go - go - go !! - the only rain we encountered was in Florence. It poured. We (and 14 others) stayed on the bus and did not tour. The folks that toured were sopping wet at lunch and seemed miserable. Areas visited include: Rome-Vatican-Monte Carlo-Nice-Cannes-Liverno-Florence-Pisa-Naples-Sorento-Positano-Amalfi In Greece - Santorini-Mykonos-Athens-Katakalon-Corfu Turkey - Kusadasi - The Vigin Mary's final home, Ephesus ruins - This is a city of 50K plus and they are still discovering and renovating. The streets are marble and are original. This was most impressive to me. Venice - the island of Murano (glass art), Burano (lace products). It really is hard to pick favorite areas we visited. They were all very special. However.... Places that deserve an encore visit. Monte Carlo - Nice - Sorrento - Positano - Santorini - Corfu - Venice - and of course Kusadasi Turkey. This is a trip that my wife and I will remember for all time. The food was fabulous, the tours were enlightening, the accommodations on and off the ship were relaxing and first rate. One of our private tour guides just recently was the tour guide for Bill and Linda Gates and last year....Oprah! The weather was about as close to perfect as you could get. We did a lot of shopping and have many remembrances that will be with us to re-kindle the spirit and memories of this very special region! Here are some additional observations... Tours - quick note...Pre-plan your tours and book early - this is how you are going to spend the bulk of your time and money....really think it out. You should think about placing relaxing or less activity type tours or days in between high activity tours. Also look at when the sea days are. Count a sea day as a low activity day. Some tours actually include time spent at resorts or beaches. This can be a welcome break. We were very happy with the Emerald Princess and the itinerary. However, it was jammed pack and there were only 1.5 sea days. The rest of the time you were in a port. The biggest decision you have to make after booking the cruise is....how are you going to spend the time in the ports. Are you going to go on organized tours or roam around on your own? Believe me ....you do not want to fight the tourists on your own going to see the Vatican. You will waste time spending it in lines that are 4 times that of the organized tour lines, obviously this depends on the time of year you go. Problem is you won't know until you get there. Not counting buying stuff...the tours are going to probably be your biggest expense other than the air and cruise (lodging). Remember that the dollar is weak (right now) in comparison to the Euro. So every thing is expensive relative to the dollar. Don't expect any deals! Conversion rate was $1.43 to 1 Euro when we started. We bought 1000 Euros 2 weeks before we left. At the end of the trip the rate was $1.28 to 1 Euro. This is what you do not want to experience! You want it the opposite! Dollar strong when you buy Euros and weak when you sell Euros....no brainer! If you plan on using a credit card, check with the credit card company to see what type of charge is imposed for conversion to $$ from the local currency you charged on. Eating - WOW WOW WOW - the food was great everywhere we went. I suggest that you eat out for lunch when you can to experience the flavor of the local area. We took some tours that included lunch at high end resorts and this was a wonderful way to spend time with the friends you are traveling with. Scams and Customs Turkey - they expect you to bargain. If you don't they are offended. They have the "real" fakes there. The Rolex watches with good guts that will last and the fake exteriors that are very close to the original. They do follow you around and it is hard to get rid of them. Also - if you accept food or drink they expect you to buy something. It is like entering a contract! Greece - if you look in the store windows you will have a salesperson come out of the store to help you! They will ask you where you are from and tell you that one of their brothers lives in that city etc.!! italy - Watch your valuables. We did not have any problems but they do work in pairs or triples. If you get bumped you probably had a hand in your pockets so keep valuables secure. This is more prevelent in tourist areas and transportation areas such as airport and train or bus stations. [/QUOTE]
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