Looked at quite a few of your pics and I must say I am jealous I am sure you are having a great time by the looks of your pics. Are you traveling alone and if so are you a bit nervous. I saw the pics and your comments regarding the protest in front of your hotel and I was a bit nervous just sitting here in beautiful downtown Omaha, Ne Keep the pics coming, there great!
SJC, thanks a lot for the Barcelona tips...just got back last nite....also, the food at Agua was really good
Hey, no problem...I'm sorry, your post reminded me that I never really answered your second e-mail... did you go to Danzatoria as well? How long did you stay? By the way, my photo galleries were down because the "hourly bandwidth limit" was exceeded...now they are up again.
Yeah, went to Danzatoria (at the Port).....but I actually ended up liking La Terrrazza a lot more...maybe b/c it was a nice change from NY clubs with the whole outdoor thing.....was in Barcelona for 7 days - not nearly enough Actually, I am going to go back and look for an apartment there in a few months - no joke!!
Just updated the page with pictures from Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City. pippendagimp, Danzatoria at the port sucks. The Danzatoria at the Tibidabo is the real deal...so you are moving to Barcelona? Lucky guy!
I think something is wrong. My next stops on my route (after brief stops in Denver, Las Vegas, San Francisco (just a day each)) are Hawaii, Tokyo, Singapore, Colombo, and the Maldives. Hawaii: Volcanoes (not a big deal) Tokyo: Tokyo hit by earthquake, typhoon http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/09/20/japan.quakestorm/index.html Singapore: SARS http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30700-1103128,00.html Colombo: Bombings Tigers planning to bomb city: Chandrika's party http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/03191703.htm Finally, I thought I would find some peace on the Maldives. Then I read this: Maldives curfew after day of riots From CNN's Kasra Naji (CNN) -- After a day of violence, an overnight curfew has been imposed in Male, the capital of the Indian Ocean nation of Maldives. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/21/maldives.riots/index.html What the ?!$!$ is wrong...oh well. I already made it out of Caracas alive, so....
Yeah it looks like you are in for some interesting days ahead of you. I noticed on your rough itinerary that you were going to South Africa but nowhere in east Africa. I think that is a big mistake. I was very fortunate to have travelled quite a bit in my young life as a result of having parents who work in the oil business and my favorite trip of all was to Kenya and Tanzania. South Africa is also very nice but there is something about east Africa that is unimitable. I suggest a trip to Mount Kenya Safari Club and an accompanying safari, The Treetops resort where they have a salt lick behind the hotel which is lifted up into the trees so that you can sit on your balcony and watch the various animals come in to lick the salt, or a safari in the Massai Mora game reserve, or a trip to Mount Kilamanjaro (sp?). Anyway it is an amazing trip if you like wildlife. And when in Nairobi you have to hit a restaurant called the Carnivore. You pay a flat fee at the door and waiters walk around with skewers of various wild game that has been barbequed over an open fire such as gazelle, crocodile, warthog, python and the like and you just ask them to slice you off some. And by the way, is that Dubai that you are hitting in the middle east. It is very nice. I also suggest Baharain. And I like all the dots in Europe, definitely the best place to travel for social reasons. For truly amazing sight seeing though you must be sure to hit Franco's Tomb, El Escorial. It is up in the mountains and you can see the giant cross in the distance marking the tomb. Inside is the most amazing tribute that one man can give to himself. Truly decadent. There are unbelievable statues lining the inner tomb that is about 100 yards long and his coffin is made out of gold and onyx and looks like something from space. Here is a bad picture of the outside that I found. Have fun and let us know if you make it out of the Maldives alive.
LeGrouper, thanks for your post. Yeah, it's Dubai I'll go to. That's if I make it out of the Maldives alive. Will be the first time I'll fly Emirates. I'll have to do East Africa on another trip, but it's in my plans. I really dislike Franco, but the picture you posted looks quite amazing. Click this link if you want to know why I'm willing to take the risk of going to the Maldives... http://www.hiltonworldresorts.com/360/Maldives/Maldives12.html Anyway, this girl wants to meet me there, but I'm not sure if I want her to go there. On the other hand, I really don't want to be alone in a honeymoon type of place where I only have couples around me. What to do?
What the hell are you talking about? You don't want a girl to come with you to that awesome resort? Little too much time at high altitude there SJC Take my advice and meet her there and enjoy a nice caparinha on the balcony. I am very jealous. And I just want to be sure to point out that I wasn't endorsing Franco... just his tomb. That is part of the mystique of it is that it will show you exactly how deprived this man must have been to create such a tomb. I found it way more impressive than the pyramids personally. There is just such artistry inside. So your trip to Dubai will be the first time to endorse Chelsea?
Yeah, of course I want "A" girl to come with me there...the thing is just that I wish it was a girl special enough for the special place. Does it get harder to fall in love the older you get? Bayern will still kick Chelsea's, Real's, Juve's, ManU's and Milan's ass anytime - especially this year. Makaay has already started producing goals. The Champions League is ours .
Makaay does step it up in the Champs League. That dude loves the big stage doesn't he? You mean to tell me that you can't find a "special" girl to accompany you to the Maldives? Rubbish. Besides it's like that Steve Stills song "Love the One your with". I mean I would just think of it as a cool oportunity to get to know someone better and share some special moments with someone who is willing to give you a portion of their life. You will carry away memories and moments that otherwise you would never have been able to have with that person. And you can do like the Dave Matthews song "Say Goodbye" and go back to being friends if you decide you aren't long term compatible afterwards.
Just doing this for Manny. I bet Manny would not have a problem convincing a special enough girl to accompany him to THAT place in the Maldives. I might just be more female incompetent than Manny, ChucklesG and Drewdog combined!!!! Hey Manny, don't get mad, I'm only kidding .
I hate to ask this question also but what does it cost for something like this. I would love to do something along the lines of what you are doing but i wouldnt even know where to start. My email address is my screen name here @hotmail.com if you get bored you can give me some info. thanks
The pure cost for the ticket is surprisingly low (I would think), depending on where you start from. I bought my ticket in Egypt (used frequent flyer miles to get there and got to see the Pyramids), which more than halved the fare for me. You have to keep in mind, though, that the ticket itself is not the most expensive part of it (unless you just fly around and never get out of the plane or stay in YMCAs or sleep under bridges ). I think a RTW ticket on Star Alliance in economy class (which is not really all that pleasant, 10 hours with no legroom, etc.) can be had from about $ 1,500. I bought a business class RTW ticket which cost me about $ 3,500 plus a few hundred in taxes (fares have gone up slightly since then). The same ticket would have cost me $ 8,590 if I had bought it in the US or about $ 6,800 if I had bought it in Germany. I consider that to be a pretty good value considering that it includes 28 flights in business (domestic US United First) class and a total of approximately 39,000 miles flown. The frequent flyer miles I earn on this trip are actually sufficient to pay for one roundtrip flight in business class from Europe to North America - I think that most times, people would have to pay $ 3,500 or more for that alone! There is a guy who put together a webpage with a summary of information and price charts for RTW tickets on Star Alliance (e.g., Lufthansa, United Airlines, Singapore Airlines, etc.) and Oneworld (e.g., American Airlines, British Airways, LanChile etc.). I do not know if the fares are still exactly the same since they change frequently (airlines trying to adapt to fluctuation in currency values), but it is good to get a quick overview of the cost and some of the basic rules for the ticket alone. Here is the link: http://www.rtwinfo.co.uk/
Thank you sooo much for the information about this. I guess I will start saving now I think this is something I would rather do at a younger age. And me being almost 24 im not getting any younger. Thanks again Sir J. C.
garthomps will be more than happy to give SJC a tour of the Houston Metroplex. How worldly of him eh?
