Anyone got any travel planned?

[happy2bretired]

Leaving Sunday for Miami for a short cruise to Roatan and Cozumel. I'm ready to leave the snow behind for awhile.

[Ronstar]

I'm leaving for Chicago in an hour and I'm not happy about it.

[Gotadimple]

Belgium and Holland on a river cruise in late April.

-- Rita

[DangerMouse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotadimple Belgium and Holland on a river cruise in late April. -- Rita

That sounds interesting. Any more details to share?

[Loop Lawyer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar I'm leaving for Chicago in an hour and I'm not happy about it.

Understandable, Ronstar! It is bleak and brrrrr-cold in Chicago right now. But look at it this way: The days are getting longer. No longer is it dark at 4:00 PM.... Spring is coming! Or, rather, if the days are longer, then perhaps spring is here!

I left Chicago on Sunday for a week of business travel in Michigan. From the frying pan into the fire. But I'm typing this note from my home office in my weekend house, so life is not too bad.

Next week, mostly, I'll be in Washington, DC. Am hoping not to be snowed in for several days, as happened the same week last year!

Then the following week I'll be encamped with DW in a chic apartment dans l'Isle St. Louis. Possibly THE most fashionable neighborhood in Paris. Two hundred yards from Notre Dame. A "gift" from a business associate. La di da, la di da. Because I'm still w*rking, there's a high likelihood of spending hours a day, or even entire days, indoors on the computer. I might even "need" to ride the Eurostar to the City of London for a day of business, with DW as company. That's an adventure if not pure vacation.

I figure that a vacation in Paris, interrupted, beats daily w*rk in the USA. But I will probably envy the students that I will encounter, who do not yet know what w*rk is; and the retirees, of course, who may have forgotten what it was.

[Fireup2020]

New Orleans May 5-9 for Jazzfest!

[Mulligan]

Been to St. John USVI twice in past year, and looking for another cheap airfare to get out there again. Find the airfare special, rent by VBRO, skip the resorts and you save a ton! Small crowds, and have already found the white sand,crystal clear blue waters, palm tree lined beaches nobody goes to within walking distance from the Cruz Bay "town". Its like owning your own private beach for a week!

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loop Lawyer Understandable, Ronstar! It is bleak and brrrrr-cold in Chicago right now. But look at it this way: The days are getting longer. No longer is it dark at 4:00 PM.... Spring is coming! Or, rather, if the days are longer, then perhaps spring is here!

I have a neat little trick to signal the lengthening of the days...I have a living room lamp coupled with a simple in-line timer control, available at any hardware store. On one of the shortest days when it is dark before my lamp turns on, I reset the timer to be ON right at dusk.
As the days lengthen, the lamp turns ON while it is still daylight. It is a small thing, but the sooner that lamp comes on during daylight, the closer I know Spring is.
I reset the timer when it turns on the lamp way too early during the afternoon. Save a watt!

[Alan]

We are planning to rent a house for 6 months in Guisborough England. Trying to get a furnished house for end of March. We lived there '79 to '85 and both children were born there, christened in the same church as many of my direct ancestors over the past 300 years.

[Rambler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan We are planning to rent a house for 6 months in Guisborough England. Trying to get a furnished house for end of March. We lived there '79 to '85 and both children were born there, christened in the same church as many of my direct ancestors over the past 300 years.

Alan, I don't know if you are a US citizen or a green card holder, but if you are going to be out of the US that long and are a green card holder (not a US citizen) please be sure to get a re-entry permit. Immigration/homeland security officers can get real cranky if you are out too long...believe me, I speak from experience. (DW is Japanese, a green card holder, and we live in Japan. It use to be that if you were simply back in the states once every few months they were OK...now they get cranky and send you to a holding room while they try to figure things out).

Have a good time.

R

[Gotadimple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerMouse That sounds interesting. Any more details to share?

Yes, a Grand Circle Tour which files you into Antwerp where you board the boat and then cruise to Amsterdam with daily stops along the way. Fly home from Amsterdam.

See Holland and Belgium in Springtime (2011) | GCT

So before HaHa asks me why I'm flying to Europe to see the Tulips when I could drive to the little town of La Conner, just north of Seattle: less traffic!

-- Rita

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambler Alan, I don't know if you are a US citizen or a green card holder, but if you are going to be out of the US that long and are a green card holder (not a US citizen) please be sure to get a re-entry permit. Immigration/homeland security officers can get real cranky if you are out too long...believe me, I speak from experience. (DW is Japanese, a green card holder, and we live in Japan. It use to be that if you were simply back in the states once every few months they were OK...now they get cranky and send you to a holding room while they try to figure things out). Have a good time. R

Thanks for the heads up Rambler, but we are US citizens. On our 2nd passports these days (got citizenship in 1998).

[Gumby]

Just booked our annual trip to Italy for April. We are spending a week in Florence this year.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotadimple Yes, a Grand Circle Tour which files you into Antwerp where you board the boat and then cruise to Amsterdam with daily stops along the way. Fly home from Amsterdam. See Holland and Belgium in Springtime (2011) | GCT So before HaHa asks me why I'm flying to Europe to see the Tulips when I could drive to the little town of La Conner, just north of Seattle: less traffic! -- Rita

Looks like a great trip ! Enjoy !

[Cruisinthru]

We are off to the southern caribbean for a three week period. We leave the first week of Feb. and will spend one week on Tortolla and then two weeks on a cruise ship touring the southern caribbean. We are both ready to get out of the cold weather and slip back into our shorts and sandals.

[BTravlin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cruisinthru We are off to the southern caribbean for a three week period. We leave the first week of Feb. and will spend one week on Tortolla and then two weeks on a cruise ship touring the southern caribbean. We are both ready to get out of the cold weather and slip back into our shorts and sandals.

I love Tortola, beautiful island. Where are you staying while there?

[DangerMouse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotadimple Yes, a Grand Circle Tour which files you into Antwerp where you board the boat and then cruise to Amsterdam with daily stops along the way. Fly home from Amsterdam. See Holland and Belgium in Springtime (2011) | GCT So before HaHa asks me why I'm flying to Europe to see the Tulips when I could drive to the little town of La Conner, just north of Seattle: less traffic! -- Rita

That's a reasonable price as well. I love seeing the tulips in bloom in Holland. For some reason it just feels so right there.

[DangerMouse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby Just booked our annual trip to Italy for April. We are spending a week in Florence this year.

Just wondering where you stay when you go to Florence? Do you have a decent hotel suggestion?

[Cruisinthru]

We are staying at the Agape Cottages at Cane Garden Bay. We have been to Tortola several times but never stayed on the island. Any recommendations for things to do on the island would be appreciated.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerMouse Just wondering where you stay when you go to Florence? Do you have a decent hotel suggestion?

We have been to Italy a number of times, but this will be our first time in Florence, oddly enough. Based on the reviews, we booked at the Hotel Orto de' Medici, which is near the Piazza San Marco.