Tagged With "international visitors"
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Re: Liverpool: Three Thoughtful Museums
Excellent history lesson Paul. Interesting and good photos too.
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Re: Where We Went: London, Paris, Toronto
What's also interesting about the information is that it's from hotels.com which says in the first line it's helping us find "the best cities around the world". I'm not sure I buy the premise that popular is best. Another index I also find VERY interesting, in the quest to locate interesting places for longer stays on a budget, is the cost of living index for places around the world. While visitor costs and resident costs are not the same, still, it's an interesting tool and also gives us...
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
I am amazed at how internet access to tourists vary by city.Not only WiFi but libraries.Some cities libraries either sell a one hour guest pass or won't even let a visitor on the computer.While other cities are generous
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Re: Staying In Touch on the Road: Part 4
Great Info! Skype is great but I found Magic Jack versatile when the other person is not sitting on a computer. I am also a fan of Google Voice ,but I don't think I'm using all their features.
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Re: Montreal: Je Me Souviens
Re the name "Montreal": there is a town in France with the same name so it is not certain that the City of Montreal is called that because of Mont Royal. Apart from that small quibble, I heartily agree with all you have written about my home city. Oh, wait ... it really isn't so that "almost everyone speaks English quite well". Venture east of Blvd St Laurent and you'll soon find that isn't the case. But then the average visitor, unless by accident, will not find him/herself in the part of...
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Re: Denver airport leads the charge for your phones
Having traveled to Denver in the past month, I'll vouch for that fact there a lot of places to charge your devices. And there are still lots of gates that completely lack chargers, so they still have a long way to go. The free wifi at Denver is quite fast and widely available. Much appreciate! I think this should be a top priority for all airlines -- places to charge that phone and iPad before you fly. It would be good if the consumer organizations provided comparative scores.
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Re: Wandering In and Around Split
Absolutely a beautiful city! I wonder how many days you'd recommend the first time visitor spend in Split?
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Re: Yellowstone HQ, Mammoth Hot Springs
I agree with you about this being the most interesting visitor site in the park, although my heart does belong to Old Faithful region. I never came across Touchdown -- probably to my advantage -- but I do admire an animal with spunk!
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Re: The Difference between Tourists and Travelers
I think it may not be all that easy to divide the world into 'tourists' and 'travelers;' the world is not really that binary, and there are many shades between them. And many of those we meet are on the path to deeper experiences as they experience more and travel more. I think of the many new travelers who used to post on the Frommer forums about their desire to 'see as much as possible' and 'do as many countries as possible' in impossibly short time allowances. Some of us who were regulars...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, September 25, 2014: Statue of Elvis Presley, Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
I'm old enough to remember the Vegas Years, although was too young at the time to go see Elvis in Vegas. Fans always commented that Elvis was at his best in Vegas -- relaxed, chatty (talking to the crowd a lot), and despite it's large size, it was a fairly intimate performance venue with lots of direct audience contact. (Watch the video all the way to the end to see the audience) The statue was unveiled by Barron Hilton just outside the showroom where Elvis performed, and it stood there for...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, September 25, 2014: Statue of Elvis Presley, Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
DrFumblefinger: I really appreciate your feedback and extra information you provided in the above comment. As Elvis would say "Thank you. Thank you very much. Your a beautiful audience. Thank you."
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 13, 2014: Statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, Kuhio Beach in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii
So there really was a "Big Kahuna". I thought it was just a slang expression.
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Re: Where do the "permanent travelers" go?
I have one friend who's a permanent traveler. While he spends time in a variety of places, his preference is Asia, with Thailand at the top of his list. Chiang Mai is where we met and in nearby villages is where he spends the majority of his time. He has a private income so work has nothing to do with his choice. I'd be interested to see how the results of the survey would change if that element was removed from the equation. And how it would change if broken down by age group. Also, how...
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Re: Cruising down the Nile (part 4)
What a fabulous conclusion to a delightful series, Mac. Thanks so much for sharing this journey with all of us. I've wanted to visit Egypt for some time, but have always been a little reluctant to go somewhere I might get targeted for extermination simply because I'm a visitor from the west. But your series has made me want to see this sooner, rather than later.
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Re: London- multiple questions
I can only help with one of the questions...but GarryRF, one of the TG Gurus, lives in Liverpool and can certainly help with that part. For Stonehenge without a car, there are really two main options. There are a number of tour operators who run coach tours from London to the site; or you can take a train from London to Salisbury and take a bus from the station to the Stonehenge visitor center. The visitor center is new since I was there; it's about 10 minutes by shuttle from the stones...
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Re: Whoa! Not so fast on that shrinking baggage size!
That's good news! But rather than saying airline consumers were a lion, I think I'd have used "the sheep have bleated -- loudly"
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Re: U.S. plans big increase in "pre-clearance" sites
If you've ever used one of the foreign country based US customs clearances, you know that this is easy to do. So this is a wonderful idea and will help improve tourism to the USA>
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Re: U.S. plans big increase in "pre-clearance" sites
That’s especially true for high-volume areas like Heathrow…I’d far rather use my waiting time there to be cleared than have to spend extra time waiting AFTER my flight at JFK!
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Re: Hotel desks disappearing in mobile age
I like having a desk in my hotel room. A sofa or easy chair would work, but I dislike working in bed. I hope we're given some options.
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Re: Visiting great places -- before they're gone
TB, I have been up the Amazon River as far as Manaus. There were bugs but they were extra rad Brazilian bugs so I did not care. Should we strive to get to places before they are gone ? It is an oxymoron. In the getting there, we make the place disappear. The very fact that a new element - the visitor - is there changes the place. Margaret Mead And David Livingstone each noted that phenomenon. Anthropology is the science which tells us that people are the same the whole world over - except...
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Re: Welcome to England! Brits expedite your entry
As it's described in the article, it appears the government wants fees for things like this to pay the costs of other immigration programs...I wonder if that explains the sizable fees for the U.S. Precheck and Global Entry programs, which Gumbo reader Sisyphus asked about on the forums the other day. (Here is a link to that discussion Is Pre-check or Global Entry worth it? ) The article also says it may be available to some regular-visitor travelers from US, Canada, etc. Wonder if they'll...
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Re: A Visit to Ireland (Part 5): the town of Dingle
Certainly looks bright and colourful. Guess you were there in the Summer time. Always good to see a recommend for accommodation from a genuine visitor ! Thanks for the great views too. Maybe we should name the Camera we travel with ?
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Re: Walking the Buffalo
Pheymont, it was the iconic landscape that attracted me to the area. The tulou in Fujian were the impetus for the trip and when I realized that the area I'd admired for so long, originally in scroll paintings, was relatively close to Xiamen and between there and another intended destination, the cross-border overnight train from Nanning to Hanoi, it was on. As you've likely surmised, my trips tend to be longer than the average tour-traveling visitor and my curiosity such that packages are...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
Won't the beaches just move inland too?
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
What! and spoil my headline? Seriously, though, not necessarily. The deposit of sand and similar materials is a longer process than is being discussed here, and the new shorelines would be quite different, at least for a long time.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
I am not smart enough to know what the correct temperature or ocean level of the earth should be.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
So many resorts truck in their "beaches", it may turn out to be more an excuse to build new fancier versions of themselves than the prospect of their disappearance. Where there's a will...and you know there is!
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
When the Vikings first discovered Greenland a thousand years ago they wrote of a "Green and pleasant land with pastures, cows and animals". Now its a frozen wasteland ! In 1817 the wine producers of North Yorkshire (England) abolished their trade association as summers were becoming too cold to grow grapes. They've never grown grapes since ! This time last year we were digging the snow out. Today is 68f and sunny. Climate change doesn't go away. Ever.
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
No, climate change doesn't go away...but until the last century, we lacked the ability to really push it in one direction or another. The issue these years is not the natural progression but the degree to which our emissions and more have upset the balance. On the one hand, I won't be around to see how it all comes out...but I'm concerned because my grandchildren will be!
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
I do not believe that the burning of fossils fuels has any effect on the direction of the Jet Stream. Which in turn controls the weather around the world. I do believe that the Petro-Chemical Refineries from the New Jersey coast and further south releasing tons of nasty unwanted chemicals into the atmosphere does have a big effect on the de-forestation of Europe with acid rain. They release this gas when the wind is blowing east across the Atlantic. And when the wind suddenly changes the...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
While I certainly agree with you about the refineries (remember how close to some of them I live) the jetstream is hardly the only factor involved in weather and climate. I'm not best equipped to explain more...that's the domain of my wife the science teacher...but it's clear there's a scary future ahead...
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Re: When there are no more beaches, will we all head for the hills?
The Jet Stream is responsible for the California drought. The Polar Vortex you've been suffering from - and for the UK not having frosty weather since last November. English strawberries in Winter and de-icing salt being 15cents for a 10 kilo sack ! Its not yet April and I've cut the grass twice ! Blame it all on the Jet Stream.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, July 24, 2014: Floral Clock, Niagara Parkway, Ontario
Outside Pietermaritzburg City Hall, South Africa is a Naval gun from the British Royal Navy Ship HMS Fawn. After the ship ran aground in 1850 the gun was relocated to its current location. It was fired to announce 1 O'clock to the surrounding town. A visiting dignitary asked how the time was kept to ensure its accuracy. "We have a telescope that looks into the local clockmakers shop. He has a 100 year old Belgian clock in the window that is famous for keeping perfect time" So the wealthy...
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Re: Historic Route 66 (pt 3) - Flagstaff to Gallup
I spent some months in Flagstaff not so long ago, between my old home and moving into a new one and came to appreciate the town and all it has to offer. There's a great deal more to the place than a casual visitor might appreciate, and while traffic can get bogged down in ski season, I never felt it was too touristy. "Too touristy", for me, is businesses that cater to tourists, while Flagstaff caters to locals and the visitor's seem to like them, too. It's really more of a university town...
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A tropical oasis: Wahiawa Botanical Garden, Oahu
I'm fond of exploring parks and libraries in the cities I visit, for different reasons. Libraries are fun because I love and collect books, and because the quality of a city's libraries tells me a lot about that city's priorities. ...
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All the Tea In...Charleston?
Tea gardens, as the farms are traditionally known, no matter the size, have been seducing me for over a decade. In Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces of China, Himachal Pradesh and Darjeeling in Himalayan India, in the Cameron Highlands of...
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Charleston's Grand Mansions: Drayton Hall
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
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Charleston's Grand Mansions: Joseph Manigault House
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
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Charleston's Grand Mansions: Middleton Place
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
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Where do the "permanent travelers" go?
Expat Insder, a curious publication of Internations.org, surveyed 14,000 expats in 160 countries for their views on where they have found happiness, a safe comfortable life, affordable living, etc. Surprise! Only three European countries...
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Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Bear Lodge Mountains (part of the Black Hills) in northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and...
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Tupelo, Mississippi. Birthplace of the King of Rock 'n Roll
This is the first post in a short series on visiting Elvis Presley related sites. I've been a huge Elvis fan all my life and my love for the man's wonderful music has not abated in the 35+ years since he died. My brother (Ottoman) and I...
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Charleston's Grand Mansions: Aiken-Rhett House
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I bought a 2-day pass, called the Charleston Heritage Passport , at the North Charleston Visitor Center near the airport, and planned to include as many of the sites it offered of...
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Las Vegas tops its own record numbers
With a week and change to go for 2014, Las Vegas has clocked in its 40 millionth visitor for the year, breaking its previous record...and they keep on coming. At a time when halfo of Atlantic City casinos have closed and casino operators in other...
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Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Adds Another International Route
Eva Air is the latest to announce new service to Houston's Airport. The new route will go to Evas's base go in Taipei. ANA,Korean Air,SAS, United, & Spirit all have added or announced new routes to Houston in 2014. Read More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/...ontinental/20514757/
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The Bear Blog
I had a hunch when Shelly and I were planning our 59 National Park in 59 weeks tour that wildlife would be center stage. I knew that the buffalo would roam in Yellowstone, that the tropical fish would dance...
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Newgrange; Ireland’s ancient Passage Tomb
Newgrange is the oldest structure I've ever visited. It was built over 5,000 years ago (about 3,200 B.C.) during the Neolithic era, before even Stonehenge or the Great Pyramid of Giza. It’s obvious that Newgrange was...
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Quebec — A Walled European Fortress In America
Quebec, like New York, is both a city and a state (or rather, a province). It’s an island of French heritage and culture within our Anglo-North American continent. We combined this visit with stops in Montreal and...