Vacations

[Sunshine1]

What great and not so great places have people been on vacations?

Aimee

[MelissP]

What great and not so great places have people been on vacations?

Aimee

You could come visit the White Mountains in NH :-)
It's very nice in late summer and early fall

Or you could visit the New England seacoast, lots of
quaint beaches between Cape Cod and Maine. and then
you can hit Freeport for shopping. The whole town is
like one big mall ... :-)

- Mel

[Sofie]

Great places:
Luxembourg, Venice, The Scottish Highlands, Oslo, Vienna
Not so great places:
Many

[Jolinn]

My best vacation was at Genoa Italy, was a terrific 16 days.

[Dana Gold]

Best:
I went back to Germany after high school (July '68) with the intent to stay and live there and my grandfather (prior to my starting work there) took me to Varazze, Italy, a seaside resort area....I'm guessing 20-30 kilometres north from Genoa. In Decemeber I went to Milano (as part of my own vacation).....was fascinated by the cosmopolitan environment.

Worst:
Not having any real vacation since the above. :frown:

[Morgan]

Most places I've been were worth seeing at least once.

The best:
Barcelona - it's cosmopolitan, stunningly beautiful, with friendly people who don't care so much about how you look in your swimmers. And there's both city and sand.

Dublin and Sydney are both great, too. Dublin for the people and the craic (and not for the rain or traffic). Sydney for the beauty of the city, and for the beaches, cafes and national parks.

In the US, I loved Yosemite.

Would *love* to see Venice.

Not so good:
Nuremburg. Actually I was just stuck there for a weekend after working for a day or two beforehand. Not a good start, I guess. Or maybe I just prefer Berlin to Bavaria.

Aimee - are you planning one, or have you been? Where's yours?

[Fee]

Great vacations:
The best is Antigua, which without doubt has to be the most chilled out destination in the world, man... Also Venice, Prague and Paris have to be a few of the most romantic, and Perth in Western Australia has to be the most friendly place on earth, second to Scotland, of course..lol. Sadly, I hate to say that last year my only holiday of a week on my own to Kos in Greece has to be the worst ever.

[Dana Gold]

I just prefer Berlin to Bavaria.

Actually, I enjoyed Heilbronn and Stuttgart, my off-days from the hospital were spent in the downtown train station (Hauptbahnhof) of each of those cities (and others).....which were like large shopping mall/galleries/plaza-like areas.....miniature cities within a city.....and I didn't care for the Bavaria area, either.
Spent a day in Vienna (passing thru)...very nice.

Ohhhhh..... I 'm getting "nostalgic"....good memories, though....thank you , Sunshine, for bringing up the TV and vacation thread.....refreshing. :thumbs_up

[Peter]

My idea of a vacation is to see the great outdoors. I love the western United States. Favorite national parks include Yosemite, Great Basin, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Mesa Verde is also great. Mexico is a great destination if you get off the tourist path. The villages around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala are also very interesting. For me, nothing beats seeing hundreds of colorful parrots in the trees surrounding a highland river.

Peter

[Dana Gold]

My idea of a vacation is to see the great outdoors

How about taking a trip in the Space Shuttle, or even a spaceship flight to the Moon?.......oh, wow!, the ultimate vacation to "get away from it all".....? how's that for the "great outdoors", Peter? :wink_smil

:bounce:

[Sunshine1]

Dana, I'm very glad you liked it.

Morgan, I'm planning a trip to NYC but I would like to go to all the wonderful places that everyone spoke of in their posts. Best trip: Mackinaw Island, Michigan. Worst trip: Daytonia, Florida 1984 Interesting trip: St.Louis, MO




Aimee

[Betsy]

Gosh...anyplace that isn't home will do quite often.

When I lived in Virginia, I used to go the the Blue Ridge mountains or the Shenandoah's quite often. Oregon was fun and beautiful---seeing Mt. St. Helens was a site I'll never forget.

Mexico on the caribbean coast south of Cancun is quite nice.

Betsy

[Morgan]

Dana - I kind of like Vienna, too, but I haven't had chance to see much of it. I don't know Stuttgart or Heilbronn at all.

I might take back some of what I said about Bavaria. The beer is excellent. I always find it difficult to find food I like, though. I eat fish + vegetarian food, so I tend to gravitate more to the Mediterranean.

Peter - Atitlan is just extraordinary. Didn't Huxley call it something like "the most beautiful lake in the world"?

I think I preferred Santiago out of all the towns we visited there - including visiting the church that was supposed to be the world's navel on Christmas Eve.

For parrots, anywhere in Australia is perfect if you ever get the chance.

[Fee]

Hey, Sunshine, curious about why Daytona, Florida was your worst trip...I was, in fact, planning to take my kids to Disney etc this summer.

Dana - I also loved Vienna which I visited when backpacking around Europe in '92.

Peter - would love to spend more time in the States visiting those national parks you mention...but must do the touristy, Disney thing first while the kids are still able to appreciate that kind of magic.

As for Australia, I remember seeing wild parrots on a YHA trip in the Blue Mountains. Would also rate the beaches around Albany and Esperance in Western Aus as the best for skinny-dipping..lol :-)

[Peter]

Dana, I guess that I am really transparent, :-). Yes, it is true that I cannot get far enough away from the world around me. It's not that I am anti-social. I am generally well liked at work. However, only the beauty of nature touches my soul. They will probably be selling tickets for space exploration soon. I will continue to rely on my imagination as a low cost alternative. I was constantly called "Moon goon" and "my favorite Martian" as a child. We know who we are.

Aimee, thanks for starting this treat and I hope that your next vacation is a great one for you.

Betsy, Mt. Saint Helens sounds really interesting. I just saw a PBS show about it last night.

Morgan, I believe that you are right about Huxley and Lake Atitlan. It really is beautiful. I would love to see Australia and climb Ayer's Rock.

Fee, Disney Land can be really magical. As I child, I lived near the original Disney Land in Los Angeles and one of the best things that we did every summer, was drive over to visit Knott's Berry Farm (another amusement park) and Disney Land. I hope that you have a great trip to Disney Land in Florida.

Peter

[Meresa]

My favorite is anywhere in the Carribean: Jamaica
Bahamas, Bonaire (going there in 3 weeks woo hoo!)

So many Islands, so little time. :sad_smile

On land, my favorite places I have visited are: Lassen Volcanic National Park, Eastern Sierra Nevada, Eastern TN/Western NC, San Francisco Bay, Western MA/Berkshires,

Least favorite places: Southern California, Troy NY, Great Lakes, Midland/Odessa TX, Ohio, Chicago

[Dana Gold]

I don't know Stuttgart or Heilbronn at all.

Check out the links below.....each link has numbers just below the photograph...click each on to "take a tour" of those cities:

http://www.meinestadt.de/stuttgart/tourismus/pix

http://www.meinestadt.de/heilbronn/tourismus/pix

Hauptbahnhof ( Main Train Station): once page opens up, click on the foto in left corner and that will expand, then click on the word “weiter” in lower right corner to see more fotos:

http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/detail.php/694471

:beer: :beer_yum:
:outtahere........... :airplane:.............. :wave1: Aufwiedersehen!

[Jolinn]

Peter...
You would enjoy visiting Mt. St Helens I fly by it about once a month and have also been there on foot. Another place is Mt Rainier, it has many good hiking trails and areas for camping.


Have a fine day......

[Morgan]

Thanks, Dana, for the web links. If I get to go anywhere for fun in the next while, it'll probably be Spain or somewhere in Australia.

A slightly different question: it looks like I"m going to events in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the next three months - I don't know either place, but I've heard of the Liberty Bell. Does anyone have any recommendations of places to see while I'm there?

Morgan

[Betsy]

A slightly different question: it looks like I"m going to events in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the next three months - I don't know either place, but I've heard of the Liberty Bell. Does anyone have any recommendations of places to see while I'm there?


Uhhh...there is a neat little town a few miles up the road from Philly called Glen Gardner.

Not much in Baltimore but it is near Washington, DC. I recommend doing the monuments in the middle of the night. While I haven't done it since 9/11, it's when I enjoyed them the most. The Smithsonian is also worth a visit and depending on your likes, the national galleries.

In Philly, the history fun will take an afternoon. Other than that, I've always found it quite boring. If you are seriously into American Revolutionary history, you could do a day trip to Gettysburg and Valley Forge from there. The famous Washington Crossing (where the original George W. crossed the Delaware River) is nearby.

If you are into nature and small town america, I suggest exploring the Delaware river area northward from philly. There are some good kayaking and canoeing places along there if the weather is agreeable and it's one of my favorite drives these days.

However, there is a little berg called New York City a bit up the road and it's a quick train or bus ride from Philly.

Did I tell you there is a fascinating little town called Glen Gardner up the road from Philly? Heck, it's pretty darn close to NYC too.

Betsy

[Morgan]

Hi Betsy

A fascinating place near Philly called Glen Gardner? Might be worth a trip.

I like the new signature, btw.

Morgan

[Meadow]

Hey!

Let's not overlook Kentucky, the Bluegrass State. We have the Red River Gorge in the east and Mammoth Cave in the central region. (Plus, if you fall and get hurt in either one, my rescue team can come get you out, and then you would get to meet me!)

[nimo6211]

Loved Cairo and Israel. The architecture is just wonderful in Cairo. The pyramids were too hot to enjoy and the stinking camels and pushy salesmen did not help. I guess people have to compete for business, but the heat did not help my patience and goodwill :tongue:

The Fjords in Stavanger, Norway is absolutely breathtaking and the people are wonderful. For some reason the air feels so clean and fresh in Stavanger. Loved the shopping in Bangkok....Seoul, Korea was more Industrial and freezing when I was there.....pretty in Spring though, beautiful blossom trees and their gardens are wonderfully landscaped. Singapore was the exact opposite of Bangkok and Manilla......I don't think there are any poor there and the streets are uncannily clean.......scary.

London was interesting, lots of smog and dirty streets. Great for shopping though. Manilla was the worst place to be (Mindanao). There are two kinds of people that live there...the extreme rich and the extreme poor. It looked extremely unhealthy and stank in daytime from poor rubbish disposal. The people were curious and unashamedly laughed at my height (they seemed like dwarves compared to my six feet frame and always got curious stares and giggles which kind of annoyed me). Been to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia several times and once to Auckland, New Zealand. Love Sydney and used to have lunches at the Harbor bridge and dinners at night which is absolutely glorious. Shopping is great too.

Would love to visit Ireland (hi Morgan, you would probably be in Oz by then), see some of USA especially the Grand Canyon (waiting for my family to visit so I can take them to Disneyland in LA), Would love to go to Greece or Venice even Turkey someday...sigh...... :osigh:

I love experiencing the different cultures and would prefer to do that than do the touristy thing. So, if I have the opportunity prefer to stay with families than a hotel. Thinking of doing cultural anthropology.......a bit late though for special interest:cry:

Ok....will stop. :cool: