Tagged With "Grand Escapades"
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct. 13: Brussels' Saucy Statue
He's much smaller than I thought -- and I'm talking about the height of the little guy. Besides chocolate their tinkling mascot, the Belgiums also love beer and comics. I was quite surprised at what a comic book culture they have.
Reply
Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Arizona is a huge state, EyeWonder. Where exactly were you going to be home-based during your Christmas vacation? It would help to know so that we could better advise you.
Reply
Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Anywhere around the Phoenix area would be good. Northern Arizona (Grand Canyon) gets winter. Scottsdale is a popular destination with great resorts and there are many budget hotels in the area. I would use Fashion Square Mall as your search area.
Reply
Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Thanks everyone. I have to ask you more questions! My friends have come up with two more suggestions. One is Sedona, and the other is the Navajo reservation that Tony Hillerman wrote all his books about and that has some big canyons. Is that area too far north for warm weather?
Reply
Re: Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Originally Posted by EyeWonder: Thanks everyone. I have to ask you more questions! My friends have come up with two more suggestions. One is Sedona, and the other is the Navajo reservation that Tony Hillerman wrote all his books about and that has some big canyons. Is that area too far north for warm weather? Navajo country is too far north and too high up for a warm winter break. But if you bring a warm jacket, it will be magical that time of year. Sedona will be nice, but with cooler days...
Comment
Re: Grand Central Terminal, New York (Where Gumbo Was #164)
Looks like you have a great liking for the good old days of the railroad. Loved the reference to the new complex - It was picking up steam in the 80s and 90s. Fascinating slice of architecture hidden away. But better a market hall than a memory.
Comment
Re: Grand Central Terminal, New York (Where Gumbo Was #164)
Love the history and old photos! Nice post!
Comment
Re: Grand Central Terminal, New York (Where Gumbo Was #164)
And thanks to you, DrF, for suggesting it to me as a topic!
Comment
Re: More WiFi in NYC Subway...soon...maybe.
This is supposed to be the current list of stations with wireless and Wi-Fi service. http://www.nycsubwaywireless.com/ What I don't understand is if this a free service ,how exactly does Transit Wireless, make money ? Are the phone carriers paying for them? http://www.transitwireless.com...or-transit-agencies/
Comment
Re: More WiFi in NYC Subway...soon...maybe.
Transit Wireless is a company formed for this project; it's owned by the phone and data carriers, which have paid part of the costs. The other revenue stream is the potential for advertising, and also sponsorships ("WiFi at this station is sponsored by...") Everything here seems to be a big to-do; we've been on lots of European systems that have had full service, including tunnels, for quite a while. We're also way behind on "train will arrive" signs, because the NYCTA way is to design from...
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 9, 2014: Enjoying the Sunset
If this were a painting, it would be by Edward Hopper. Wonderful image...
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 9, 2014: Enjoying the Sunset
What a fantastic photo and description; a moment in time captured forever.
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Sep 15, 2015: Pit Lane, Mdina Grand Prix
I was having lunch in Mdina. Our waiter was a boy about 8 years old. He asked if I'd ever seen a train. "Of course I have. Maybe 4 a day" "When I save enough to leave Malta I want to see a train" he said. Then he asked my Mother in Law if she was my sister. She slipped him a few dollars. He'll soon have enough - I thought - to see a train - even at 8.
Comment
Re: Colorado National Monument
Thanks for the beautiful pics. One of these summers I'm going to start touring the U. S. of A.
Comment
Re: Colorado National Monument
Excellent idea, rbciao! Although I'd recommend visiting the desert regions of the southwest in the shoulder seasons, rather than during the heat of summer. No question in my mind that some of the best scenery in the world is in North America. Ciao!
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
I've also heard that there are concerns not enough hotel rooms exist in Cuba for the expected flood of American tourists. Besides flights, it's important to have a room reservation at hand. I truly hope the flood of tourist money will be of benefit to the Cuban people whose plight I have great empathy for.
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Perhaps TG Guru GarryRF can add something on this...he's been there often. My impression is that the lack of facilities may be overstated, because Canadians, Brits and others have been going there in large numbers. Of course, if you double that without building, there will be a problem, but I don't think the numbers will go up that fast until the hotels and airlines start offering the kind of attractive packages they do for other areas of the Caribbean. It may be a self-solving problem.
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Many Americans travel to the Capital - Havana. Its a big - overgrown and mostly poor city. Not really a flavour of the real Cuba and its people. Wherever you go on the Island they do 2-3 day trips to Havana. The stores are mostly empty and food is strictly rationed to the locals. So you'll be better going to one of the hundreds of All Inclusive Hotels that line the coast. Inclusive vacations fly from Toronto to Resorts all around the Island. Very much like Dominican Republic - without the...
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Most interesting Garry. I still have Cuba on my list as 'yet to be visited'. I'm not a great beach lover - a few days are fine - is there really a lot to be seen in the country as a whole if you take away the Ché-related hyped locations? Is it really worth making the effort right now before things change as they surely will? Unfortunately I still have a load of other places that are tugging at my sleeve for early visits...
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Most city centres have been laid out in the Spanish style with an open park. This is lunchtime when all the school children and workers eat their packed lunches. No radio - music - skateboards - headphones - just peace and tranquillity !
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Mac. Cuba has already changed since my first visit 15 years ago. Buses and cars are everywhere now thanks to those intrepid Chinese salesmen. Living standards are rising rapidly thanks to the tourist dollar. Fields of Sugar Cane are now rare. Castro has decided that Cuba's future lies in tourism. Bicycles prevail in most Towns and a horse and buggy are common. When I first went to Cuba it was painfully poor. It's like going back in time to a 3rd world country. But with safety and very civil,...
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Thank you Garry - a really useful piece of feed-back.
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Maybe the answer to the number of Hotels needed to accommodate the new visitors from the US is all in the timing. Brits - Canadians - Germans love Cuba in the winter. It's the dry season with no hurricane threat. Warm in the daytime, 75-85f or 24 -29c. Cool enough for a sweater at night. Americans can have the summer !!!
Comment
Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Well, that's it then, Cuba is right back on the list!! Thanks Garry.
Comment
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 !
Comment
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.
Comment
Re: Nashville, Tennessee.....the Elvis tour continues!
So....Are you going to be my travel apprentice, Ottoman?
Comment
Re: Gasoline Alley: The signs
That's a great collection! I remember many of them from childhood trips in the 1950s, and in others I see signs with familiar shapes and designs, but Canadian names...also quite a few that remind us of commercial history...Richfield Oil before Atlantic Richfield before ARCO, for instance. I'm beginning to think my day in Calgary at a teacher conference a few years ago was spent in the wrong part of town!
Comment
Re: Gasoline Alley: The signs
What an awesome museum and collection of auto-related signs!! Very interesting article about Gasoline Alley!
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 13, 2015: Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Did you have to climb one of these to take a photo ? That's what I call dedication. Take a day off and take it easy.
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 13, 2015: Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
What a beautiful and interesting blog entry!! Well done!
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 13, 2015: Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Hi Marilyn and Garry Marilyn, I'm so glad you enjoyed this POD. Thank you for the kind words. They are much appreciated. If you have not yet had the chance, I do hope that one day you will be able to visit this magnificent canyon. Garry...if a lovely attractive lady asked me if I hiked to the top of a mountain to take these photos, the answer of course would be "Why yes...yes I did (cough cough)." Between you and me, I took the easy way by climbing the short staircase from the parking lot to...
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 13, 2015: Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
My family all climbed to the peak of Malham Tarn in Yorkshire. England. Quite an achievement - 4 hours - but you had that feeling of self satisfaction completing it. When I offered all the kids a drink from my rucksack they all refused. "Dad - could we have something from that Ice Cream van ?" A major road passed within 20 feet. The moral of the story being - Had we driven there for an Ice Cream - then 20 years later - No one would remember our day out ! Malham Tarn Yorkshire England
Comment
Re: Spotted on the Road: Paris
Old French "Citroen" cars are becoming a collectors item. Not sure if they are ugly pretty or pretty ugly !! This in the UK:
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct 7th, 2014: Grand Central Oyster Bar, New York
You won't find me eating oysters there (or anywhere!) but I've always loved the Guastavini tile ceilings. Not only gorgeous, but a lot like stepping back into another time in the station (Jack Finney fans will know what I mean...)
Comment
Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct 7th, 2014: Grand Central Oyster Bar, New York
There's more than oysters at this restaurant, one of my favorites in New York as well. Excellent seafood selection as well.
Blog Post
Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 9, 2014: Enjoying the Sunset
One evening as we were returning to our hotel near St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, slowly cruising down the Grand Canal on a vaporetto (water bus) , the sun began to set. In the last moments of daylight, that magical time of day...
Topic
Christmas in Arizona--what to do?
Two friends at work and I are trying to plan a Christmas trip to somewhere warmer than New Haven...and one of them says Arizona is where we should go. All I know about Arizona is from old westerns and a Barbara Kingsolver book. I know it's got...
Blog Post
Colorado National Monument
While many of the units of the US National Park system are frequently visited and very busy, there are also a few less crowded places. Colorado National Monument (known to locals as " The Monument" ) falls into the latter category....
Blog Post
Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Many Americans (myself included) are thinking much more seriously now about visiting Cuba with the relaxed process. But don't expect it to be smooth yet—veteran traveler Brian Kelly, who runs ThePointsGuy (an extremely useful site...
Blog Post
Kayak adds Cuba to searchable destinations
Kayak.com has become the first of the major U.S.-based search engines to make it possible to search for flights to Cuba from U.S. cities, in the wake of the loosening of travel restrictions. Not that U.S. airlines have jumped in with non-stops, yet,...
Blog Post
Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 13, 2015: Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Located on the west side of Kauai, Waimea Canyon stretches 14 miles long, is one mile wide, and is more than 3,600 feet deep. These photos were taken from the Waimea Canyon Lookout (elevation 3,400 feet) which provides these...
Blog Post
Nashville, Tennessee.....the Elvis tour continues!
Until I attended my first medical meeting in Nashville, I'd never thought much about visiting this mid-sized city, an oversight on my part. Nashville's a fun destination in many ways, especially if you're a fan of Country music. I...
Blog Post
Brooklyn's Prospect Park Greenmarket
By a quick count, I’ve photographed markets in nearly three dozen cities in the U.S. and Europe; they’ve often appeared here on TravelGumbo. And yet the market I visit most often, and where my wife shops almost weekly, hasn’t found...
Blog Post
Oct. 13, 2017: Grand Cascade, Alnwick Garden, Northumberland
Ian Cook takes us on a behind the scenes look at what makes this beautiful fountain work.
Blog Post
A Yellowstone Gallery: Mammoth Terraces
In this installment, PortMoresby takes us to the colorful water-formed Mammoth Terraces, with some of the most spectacular views.
Blog Post
Yellowstone, Finale
PortMoresby's tale of a visit to Yellowstone comes to an end with an appreciation of six days she'll never forget.
Blog Post
Grand Marais, Minnesota (Where Gumbo was #222)
Gumbo was visiting the popular town of Grand Marais, Minnesota. Situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Superior, it's a great place for people who like to boat, kayak, sail, fish or explore nature.
Blog Post
A Yellowstone Gallery: Midway Geyser Basin
PortMoresby discovers Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Pool, a contender for the world’s most beautiful place.
Blog Post
The Road to Yellowstone
PortMoresby sets out on a closer-to-home-than-usual trip of a lifetime, a first visit to Yellowstone National Park, with her Montana-born pal, Deb, as guide.