Holiday ideas..

Capt Lightning

Capt Lightning

Well-known Member
Location
Historic Buchan, Scotland
I don't make holiday plans much in advance, but I quite like looking for possibilities. Ideally I'd fly from my local airport but it has few direct flights to Europe, so I travel via London or Amsterdam. Ideas so far include Oporto - Coimbra - Lisbon and Salzburg - Vienna. These are reasonably easy to get to by air and rail. Other places I'd like to see aren't so easy. Still, plenty of time yet. I rarely book more than a couple of weeks in advance.
 

My niece keeps trying to talk me into touring the Scandinavian countries over the holidays. She also wants to do Austria and Switzerland. It’s a 21 day chaperoned tour. I told her if she would choose 5 or 6 countries and keep it under 15 days, I would consider taking the trip. She told me she would think about it. I would like to visit Austria and go to the museums and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and of course, the Boys’ Choir. I could spend at least 2 days or more going through the museums, which I would never get through all of them.
 
I've been to Morocco.. it's literally just across the sea from Southern Spain... Spain has a lot of illegal migrants from Morocco ..and where they arrive.. sadly I have to say they bring a lot of crime.. Morroco is very poor, very hot, and altho' interesting, it's crime ridden...

I've been to Turkey 3 times... been all over Cyprus... been to the Greek Island lots of times..
 
My SAD (seasonal affective disorder, aka winter blahs) is quite bad. I'd like to spend 3 months away next winter (finances permitting). I've kind of narrowed it down to Guatemala and Bolivia.

Guatemala, because that's where my language partner lives. It would be nice to have him and his family as an anchor. He lives in a big city, which is not the greatest for me.

Bolivia, because seeing the night sky in the southern hemisphere is the only item on my bucket list.

Or ... I love the ocean, so maybe Peru or Ecuador. Most other countries are too expensive for me. Thailand is a possibility, but I'm really just looking at Latin America now.
 
NorthernLight said:
My SAD (seasonal affective disorder, aka winter blahs) is quite bad. I'd like to spend 3 months away next winter (finances permitting). I've kind of narrowed it down to Guatemala and Bolivia.

Guatemala, because that's where my language partner lives. It would be nice to have him and his family as an anchor. He lives in a big city, which is not the greatest for me.

Bolivia, because seeing the night sky in the southern hemisphere is the only item on my bucket list.

Or ... I love the ocean, so maybe Peru or Ecuador. Most other countries are too expensive for me. Thailand is a possibility, but I'm really just looking at Latin America now.
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I agree. I am not staying around here next winter. My son lives in Hawaii and wants me to move there in the worse way. He even offered to pay the moving expenses. I told him that if I would decide on such a move, I won't have much to move because my furniture, tools, lawnmowers, etc. won't be making the trip. I don't need the lawnmowers now. I have a guy that does all that now and uses his own equipment. I really don't want to move to Hawaii. I like it where I am. Starting over is not something I want to do.

I would like to winter somewhere and then come home. Winters are mild here, but it's also very packed in with all the people from the North down here. South America is out of the question. I have spent time there and never really felt comfortable down there.

After I left the auto refurbishing business and went to work for the government, I got to travel a bit and spent time in Colorado. I really liked it there, but I think the winters wouldn't cut it for me. So I have to give this some thought. Maybe southern California? Maybe South Carolina or Georgia? I don't know.
 
Been There said:
My niece keeps trying to talk me into touring the Scandinavian countries over the holidays. She also wants to do Austria and Switzerland. It’s a 21 day chaperoned tour. I told her if she would choose 5 or 6 countries and keep it under 15 days, I would consider taking the trip. She told me she would think about it. I would like to visit Austria and go to the museums and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and of course, the Boys’ Choir. I could spend at least 2 days or more going through the museums, which I would never get through all of them.
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Vienna is a lovely city, but you would need more than 2 days to see even a fraction of the museums.. As well as the main museums, there are lots of small specialised ones. You might even want to look in on the Spanish riding school.

The Scandinavian countries are very expensive. I recall there being dozens of stores and petrol stations just inside the German border where the prices were far lower. I enjoyed some time working in N. Finland which the locals were quick to point out is Nordic, not Scandinavian. It was much more reasonably priced and enjoyed a trip to Santa Claus village on the Arctic circle. I wouldn't mind going back there.

As for this year, I'm looking at several choices. Turkey (now called "Türkiye") or Morocco don't appeal and it's looking more like Germany, Austria or Portugal. I always try to find new places to see and I'm sure I'll find somewhere.
 
I had read in one of the travel booklets that Vienna has over a hundred museums, but it’s like most things, too much of a good thing is too much. I would have to chose 3 or 4 and that would do me. I also would like to see the Danube and if we could time it, I would like to go to a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic.

Not interested in Morocco. I have heard some of the best wines come from the Scandinavia Region. As for money, we already are planning on it being expensive, but then so are most cities, even here in the U.S.

There is a lot to see and things to do. I really have never done a 21-day vacation and to me, that just seemed like too long.
 
I don't think you'll find much wine from Scandinavia although there are a number produced in southern Sweden. The most northerly vineyard in the world is in southern Norway. Most of these vineyards are only between 1 and 10 hectares (2.5 to 25 acres) so not a large scale business.

Vienna is not particularly expensive and there are some very good reasonably priced restaurants. Unless you are taking a boat trip, the Danube is just another river. However, near the river in Vienna is the Prater and the Ferris wheel that features in the film, The third man (starring Orson Welles). The film was shot at various locations in Vienna and (of course) you can get a "Third man" tour.
 

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