For my return trip to Denmark I am not really planning the itinerary like I would if I were both on my own and working mainly from train schedules. We are however aiming for a few highlights that I figured I would point out for the sake of mention, not listed in any order.
First off I really want to make sure we can visit Egeskov Slot. This is one of the trips that will definitely require the rental car to get to as it is off the island a bit. It is privately owned but still open to the public. It looks really nice and even has the functional moat.
Second would be Frederiksborg Slot which is within range of where George lives as well. I know he has visited the location but has not done the full inside tour. We should hopefully be able to do that.
Third is Rosenborg Slot. Rosenborg is right in downtown Copenhagen and I have pictures of the outside. We intend to visit it in full this time.
Last time I went we visited Roskilde but it was a holiday so the place was moderately closed down. Fortunately the Viking Ship Museum was open as was the ability to row a replica viking ship. Assuming the weather holds up I would like to do this again because I had a real lot of fun the first time but we might actually have enough people to fill the boat up as it will be true summer.
Beyond that we are going to wing the whole trip, these locations included. If we miss some of them I will not be too brokenhearted but those are the main highlights I'd appreciate.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Denmark Next in Late August
My second trip to Denmark is coming up in less than a month already. I again will be staying with George at his apartment but this time am flying KLM Royal Dutch as they had the best price for the trip. I had wished to be there for the timing of George's birthday but will end up being a week later due to pricing differences.
I am again going to Denmark with a less than fully set itinerary for a couple reasons. One, George technically knows the lay of the land and should have some good ideas of where to go on what days. I would like to try the viking boat ride again if the weather is reasonable and we have a couple castles we are planning to visit amongst other things. And two, we are renting a car so we can get around a lot easier and not be tied to specific schedules. We will of course take the trains into Copenhagen for those visits and so we can have a couple drinks here and there (looking forward to some more Tuborg Classic) and so we don't have to worry about obscene parking prices downtown.
The flight out is going to afford me a touchdown in another country I have not visited in the Netherlands. I have to admit I am not really nuts about visiting that country on its own but it will be nice to add another piece of earth to my visit list even if it is airport only.
I will be staying much longer than my last visit so hopefully I will have a better taste of the country overall. With the long weekend run from last time it was really over before it began in many respects though we did pack a lot into that short time. I still hope to pack a lot in but we should have less time constraints on what we do in general, especially with the addition of the car to get us to and from our destinations. That will afford us an entry and exit time we wish rather than being tied to the train schedules. I do like train rides around a country a lot and it is something I've experienced everywhere I have been so far (including the first run to Denmark) but the car is probably going to cost in a similar vein to any train passes and afford us more freedom. Additionally, since I don't drive stick, George will have to do all the driving... On that, I am going to force myself to learn manual by my 40th birthday so I can rent a car for my projected trip to Sicily. Still, I won't be learning in just 1 month without destroying someone's car so for this trip I am off the hook. Renting an automatic in Europe increases the price at least threefold so we would not consider that.
Anyway, that's my thoughts for now.
I am again going to Denmark with a less than fully set itinerary for a couple reasons. One, George technically knows the lay of the land and should have some good ideas of where to go on what days. I would like to try the viking boat ride again if the weather is reasonable and we have a couple castles we are planning to visit amongst other things. And two, we are renting a car so we can get around a lot easier and not be tied to specific schedules. We will of course take the trains into Copenhagen for those visits and so we can have a couple drinks here and there (looking forward to some more Tuborg Classic) and so we don't have to worry about obscene parking prices downtown.
The flight out is going to afford me a touchdown in another country I have not visited in the Netherlands. I have to admit I am not really nuts about visiting that country on its own but it will be nice to add another piece of earth to my visit list even if it is airport only.
I will be staying much longer than my last visit so hopefully I will have a better taste of the country overall. With the long weekend run from last time it was really over before it began in many respects though we did pack a lot into that short time. I still hope to pack a lot in but we should have less time constraints on what we do in general, especially with the addition of the car to get us to and from our destinations. That will afford us an entry and exit time we wish rather than being tied to the train schedules. I do like train rides around a country a lot and it is something I've experienced everywhere I have been so far (including the first run to Denmark) but the car is probably going to cost in a similar vein to any train passes and afford us more freedom. Additionally, since I don't drive stick, George will have to do all the driving... On that, I am going to force myself to learn manual by my 40th birthday so I can rent a car for my projected trip to Sicily. Still, I won't be learning in just 1 month without destroying someone's car so for this trip I am off the hook. Renting an automatic in Europe increases the price at least threefold so we would not consider that.
Anyway, that's my thoughts for now.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Jeep Jamboree Day 4 - Epilogue
Today started with a very late morning by Jeep Jamboree standards. We had to meet everyone at 9am to start on the road back. In the course of heading back we were going to stop at Blanche and Bill's Pancake House, a place where we ate last year on our way home. We had to organize something like 10 Jeeps and the people within to get going.
After cleaning up and packing up we headed down to the lobby of the hotel to check out and then ran into some of the troop at the parking lot there. We ended up having 1 Jeep with a leaky tire, another that had to reconnect the sway bar and another that ended up dropping the front drive shaft as we were heading to the breakfast place so we really didn't get there before 10, maybe 10:30. I never really checked the time. When we got there with something like 13 people they weren't ready for such a large crowd and we had to wait a bit to get in and then wait a bit to get the food. All in all the breakfast was very good though. I think I had 3 cups of their coffee to accompany french toast with blueberry sauce, sausage and bacon.
After we ate we lined everyone up and took a few pictures. I ran into the restaurant and grabbed a patron to take a couple snapshots for us. From there we started the long convoy to our respective homes dropping people off along the way.
This Jeep Jamboree was a lot more fun for me than last year. I suppose the extra 2 runs under my belt and a very accurate set of choices in trails really made it an enjoyable experience. Before the runs I was teetering on whether I would do it again next year, but now I am pretty sure I want to again.
After cleaning up and packing up we headed down to the lobby of the hotel to check out and then ran into some of the troop at the parking lot there. We ended up having 1 Jeep with a leaky tire, another that had to reconnect the sway bar and another that ended up dropping the front drive shaft as we were heading to the breakfast place so we really didn't get there before 10, maybe 10:30. I never really checked the time. When we got there with something like 13 people they weren't ready for such a large crowd and we had to wait a bit to get in and then wait a bit to get the food. All in all the breakfast was very good though. I think I had 3 cups of their coffee to accompany french toast with blueberry sauce, sausage and bacon.
After we ate we lined everyone up and took a few pictures. I ran into the restaurant and grabbed a patron to take a couple snapshots for us. From there we started the long convoy to our respective homes dropping people off along the way.
This Jeep Jamboree was a lot more fun for me than last year. I suppose the extra 2 runs under my belt and a very accurate set of choices in trails really made it an enjoyable experience. Before the runs I was teetering on whether I would do it again next year, but now I am pretty sure I want to again.
Jeep Jamboree Day 3
As with last year my second trail day was spent on the 5 Corners. Wendell again led the pack and is an excellent guide. Most of the Exploring NH troop was with me today as well so we jammed ourselves up towards the front of the pack, only stuck behind Rocodile and Wendell and had breakfast at the lodge which at least today did have bacon.
Due to his ride being better off trailered with rear differential fluid leaking due to a problem with his locker, I had Walter as a passenger on the run. He and his wife met up with us in line and he rode with me and she rode with Dave and Michal. Walter has been wheeling since 91 or so and has a much better rig than I have. He had a lot of experience and gave me a bit of advice here and there and spotted a couple times for people. He was fun to have along and he told a lot of stories. I am sure he absolutely would have rather been driving his own rig on the tougher trails he signed up for but I think he was glad to just get out and wheel rather than sit in the hotel room. His wife Linda was much happier to have a no stress day where his Jeep wasn't being dragged through body damage central so it all worked out well.
5 Corners is a lot less squishy than Vertigo though it was highly different from last year. The first obstacle was not just the short rock climb we had but rather a long technical hill climb cut out of the side of a hill. There was a rise on the right and a drop on the left and the higher we went the steeper the drop got. It was not a matter of being wedged in between trees and rocks but more just a creepier feeling about the drop which wasn't really as significant a threat as it looked I am sure. Anyway, there were a lot of rocks and roots and a bit of mud up that hill which was pretty much the hairiest experience of the day. From there it was a reshuffle of the trail from last year. We moved on to the trails through the stream beds that we finished with last year. I heard a lot of dinging on the trail as I rubbed my skid plates and Dave was sure I banged my front pumpkin on something that he hit the back one on but I didn't pull up any damage for real. We had lunch in a clearing that was obviously someone's front yard and was very near a cemetery with mainly occupants from the 1800s. We visited a couple water crossing and climb obstacles during the rest of the day that were quite enjoyable and finished all the trails with relatively little problems. In fact I am sure we spent more time in the Jeeps running rather than outside and waiting. The weather surprisingly held up very well and towards the end of the day it was fairly hot.
We got our rigs washed and aired up by the fire department for a donation. I returned and David was not back from his run at Vertigo but I got cleaned up and he eventually called me at 6, more than an hour after I was back in the room. They used a part of trail we didn't touch yesterday and barely made it through that but he said he had fun. He met us all at the lodge for dinner. I won a prize choice from ARB of either a recovery kit or some lighting for the Jeep. Concensus is to take the recovery kit which rings in at $210. After that part was over everyone came down to Chez Savard as we called it and we hung out and traded stories about the trails, had a few beers and just generally had a good time.
Due to his ride being better off trailered with rear differential fluid leaking due to a problem with his locker, I had Walter as a passenger on the run. He and his wife met up with us in line and he rode with me and she rode with Dave and Michal. Walter has been wheeling since 91 or so and has a much better rig than I have. He had a lot of experience and gave me a bit of advice here and there and spotted a couple times for people. He was fun to have along and he told a lot of stories. I am sure he absolutely would have rather been driving his own rig on the tougher trails he signed up for but I think he was glad to just get out and wheel rather than sit in the hotel room. His wife Linda was much happier to have a no stress day where his Jeep wasn't being dragged through body damage central so it all worked out well.
5 Corners is a lot less squishy than Vertigo though it was highly different from last year. The first obstacle was not just the short rock climb we had but rather a long technical hill climb cut out of the side of a hill. There was a rise on the right and a drop on the left and the higher we went the steeper the drop got. It was not a matter of being wedged in between trees and rocks but more just a creepier feeling about the drop which wasn't really as significant a threat as it looked I am sure. Anyway, there were a lot of rocks and roots and a bit of mud up that hill which was pretty much the hairiest experience of the day. From there it was a reshuffle of the trail from last year. We moved on to the trails through the stream beds that we finished with last year. I heard a lot of dinging on the trail as I rubbed my skid plates and Dave was sure I banged my front pumpkin on something that he hit the back one on but I didn't pull up any damage for real. We had lunch in a clearing that was obviously someone's front yard and was very near a cemetery with mainly occupants from the 1800s. We visited a couple water crossing and climb obstacles during the rest of the day that were quite enjoyable and finished all the trails with relatively little problems. In fact I am sure we spent more time in the Jeeps running rather than outside and waiting. The weather surprisingly held up very well and towards the end of the day it was fairly hot.
We got our rigs washed and aired up by the fire department for a donation. I returned and David was not back from his run at Vertigo but I got cleaned up and he eventually called me at 6, more than an hour after I was back in the room. They used a part of trail we didn't touch yesterday and barely made it through that but he said he had fun. He met us all at the lodge for dinner. I won a prize choice from ARB of either a recovery kit or some lighting for the Jeep. Concensus is to take the recovery kit which rings in at $210. After that part was over everyone came down to Chez Savard as we called it and we hung out and traded stories about the trails, had a few beers and just generally had a good time.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Jeep Jamboree Day 2
Day 2 would be Vertigo. I did Vertigo the first trail day last year also and remembered it being difficult and very tight in a lot of spots. I was a bit nervous about it because in talking with the guildes they all say the trails only get worse each year. They did raise the difficultly of Vertigo from 3-4 to 4-5 this year. The better point was that the weather was going to be nicer on Friday and the trails would be less torn up on the first day so it was very tactical that I chose Vertigo for Friday. I am very happy I chose it that way. The trails were fairly difficult as I remembered but I had a bit more confidence going into it this year and conditions were still fairly good. Also thanks to the rest of the Exploring NH people getting to the front of the line we were at the head of the pack. I don't envy the folks that were in the back of the line for some of the obstacles that got really mushy the more Jeeps that passed over it. I did ding the skid plates quite a bit and I rubbed a tree once trying to help pull out Rob (but failing at it, they used a log to get him out). Rob did pull me out the one time I got stuck really badly. I was able to get through most everything else. As the day progressed, Steve, the trail leader had to break out the chainsaw for a few things.
I was nervous in some spots but overall I really had a lot of fun. The people on the trail were all very nice and cool people to hang out with. We did spend some fair amounts of time waiting for people to clear obstacles so there was plenty of time to get to know people. It did start to rain towards the end of the day but we were basically done. We got in about 5.
We went to dinner at the lodge, in which I had a very average pulled pork sandwich and then everyone came down to our condo again to hang out and look at pictures. Since I'm on a sketchy wireless I will post the pictures from home.
I was nervous in some spots but overall I really had a lot of fun. The people on the trail were all very nice and cool people to hang out with. We did spend some fair amounts of time waiting for people to clear obstacles so there was plenty of time to get to know people. It did start to rain towards the end of the day but we were basically done. We got in about 5.
We went to dinner at the lodge, in which I had a very average pulled pork sandwich and then everyone came down to our condo again to hang out and look at pictures. Since I'm on a sketchy wireless I will post the pictures from home.
Jeep Jamboree Day 1
Dave, William and I started our way up towards Killington, VT around 11am. We stopped first in at the Burger King in Derry to meet up with Tri, Sean, Carol and Rob. From there we drove a bit further up the highway (though I don't remember which town) and added Dave and his family to the mix. The drive was fairly easy though we sort of had a slolem course through the highways in NH as the left then right lanes would be closed down for road work. We got up to Killington at about 3:00 or so and figured we had plenty of time to get checked into the room before tech inspection. The room is a condo in the Trail Creek compound. It is spacious, having 2 bedrooms and 2 baths plus a large living room, a dining room and a kitchenette. We did have a slight problem with getting into the room as the girl gave us the wrong kind of key card but eventually we got in.
After getting settled we headed down for tech inspection and it went a heck of a lot better than last year. We lined up early to not be stuck at the back of the line. The guides that were not leading trails all powered through the tech inspections in short order though so it was almost a non-factor. However, getting through the inspection quickly did get us to the registration line earlier which allowed us to get the trails we wanted. I picked the same two trails that I chose last year in the same order: Vertigo then 5 Corners. David chose to take a higher difficulty trail on Friday in Bullwinkle's Revenge and then Vertigo on Saturday. It turns out a fair portion of the Exploring NH Jeepers we hooked up with were doing the same trails I was so I had an instant group of people to hang out with for the actual trails.
After registration we all got together and went to Choices for Dinner. I had the Striped Bass special which was very good and followed that up with a peach and blueberry pie. The Long Trail Summer which is an unfiltered IPA was also very good.
After dinner we had everyone come over to the room to hang out before heading to bed for the night. All in all, a lot of driving but a good day.
After getting settled we headed down for tech inspection and it went a heck of a lot better than last year. We lined up early to not be stuck at the back of the line. The guides that were not leading trails all powered through the tech inspections in short order though so it was almost a non-factor. However, getting through the inspection quickly did get us to the registration line earlier which allowed us to get the trails we wanted. I picked the same two trails that I chose last year in the same order: Vertigo then 5 Corners. David chose to take a higher difficulty trail on Friday in Bullwinkle's Revenge and then Vertigo on Saturday. It turns out a fair portion of the Exploring NH Jeepers we hooked up with were doing the same trails I was so I had an instant group of people to hang out with for the actual trails.
After registration we all got together and went to Choices for Dinner. I had the Striped Bass special which was very good and followed that up with a peach and blueberry pie. The Long Trail Summer which is an unfiltered IPA was also very good.
After dinner we had everyone come over to the room to hang out before heading to bed for the night. All in all, a lot of driving but a good day.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Jeep Jamboree Upcoming
The next trip is a revisit to the Killington Jeep Jamboree in middle July. This will be a long weekend filled with 2 days of 4 wheeling exclusive to Jeep owners.
In preparation for this year's run I have replaced the stock bumper with a Rugged Ridge Modular bumper and added a skid plate to protect the electronics up front (swaybar disconnect and lockers). Well, actually it was mainly my brother who did the majority of the work, I was assistant to the installs. He wrote a post on exploringNH forums so I figured I'd link to it so you can see the work and how good the Jeep looks... It can be found here.
We'll see how tense I get with what little bit of experience I gained this time. I am aiming to stick with 2 of the easier trails again even if my brother opts for harder trails.
In preparation for this year's run I have replaced the stock bumper with a Rugged Ridge Modular bumper and added a skid plate to protect the electronics up front (swaybar disconnect and lockers). Well, actually it was mainly my brother who did the majority of the work, I was assistant to the installs. He wrote a post on exploringNH forums so I figured I'd link to it so you can see the work and how good the Jeep looks... It can be found here.
We'll see how tense I get with what little bit of experience I gained this time. I am aiming to stick with 2 of the easier trails again even if my brother opts for harder trails.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Machu Picchu Planning
Machu Picchu is a different planning and preparation experience than other trips I have taken. First of all I am not going to be leaving the basic vicinity of the city of Cusco aside from the actual hiking tour I am taking through the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu and then the return ride to Cusco, so I will not really need to do a lot of research on what is in the area. This means the days I am not on the tour will have a basic wing it approach but also will have a lesser degree of activity than I normally work with because Cusco is at approximately 11000 feet and I will need to adjust to the altitude.
I have booked my tour through http://www.sastravelperu.com/ on the recommendation of a friend of George's from Denmark who used this company last year. The process is a bit odd as they do not have direct online booking and for those who are squeemish about such things it may not be the answer for you. I was told the tour company was very good and attentive and checking their reviews online it seems to hold true overall. It seems like it would be a crap shoot to pick any tour company without recommendation so this seemed like my best option.
Of course booking was an odd proposition. The site has the instructions on how to book and most of it really wants you to download a Word document and fill in the information including your credit card number in order to get things processed. I am a bit squeemish about that and I dug around until I found a way to authorize the payment with a Visa card (and only a Visa card) though a site that several peruvian business seem to share for purposes like this. I was foiled later on in this process but we'll get to that in a bit.
I am taking the 4 day Inca Trail with special 5th day Option tour which includes three full days of hiking the Inca Trail followed by a short run to Machu Picchu before sunrise on the fourth day. The total hiking distance is about 27 miles. The tour of Machu Picchu is supposed to last about 2 and a half to 3 hours I think then from there you have the rest of the day to either hike further (there is another trail through Wayna Picchu or just hang about the area. After that the 5th day option has you staying later in the local area where they will get you to an overnight stay in Agua Calliente then get you to Cusco the next morning. It all looks very fun and of course strenuous but I am pretty sure I walked over 100 miles in France (and definitely certain I walked over 80) so I should be able to handle it.
To mention about researching Peru I should state the obvious. Don't drink their water. Bottled drinks only. They say not to drink alcohol at altitude unless you are used to it already. They say to drink lots of liquids like sports drinks the first day or two and to not do anything too strenuous or you could end up with altitude sickness which sounds unpleasant. They also say to be very cautious about what places you eat. I assume their health and safety board is a bit suspect if it exists at all. In any event I intend to ask the hotel which places are ok to eat in the area for the couple days I am there before the tour.
Speaking of the hotel I am using the Los Marqueses Hotel which appears to be run by the same people as the tour company or at the very least they work very tightly together. In this instance I had to fill out the Word doc and send it back as a PDF in order to reserve the room for my stay there so I ended up doing something I didn't want to do anyway. They said I needed to get it done fast as they only had one single person room left. I should also mention the responses from both the travel company and hotel to emails was a bit slower than I enjoy but I am sure they are busy and perhaps a bit more relaxed than we northeasterners. Either way everything appears to be confirmed for both the tour and hotel at this point.
Lastly, I had to book the flight on my own. I booked through Orbitz as they listed the best prices through LAN Airlines which caters to Central and South America. The flights from and to Boston are operated by American Airlines to Miami. From Miami I fly to Lima and from Lima to Cusco. The whole operation is 14 to 15 hours in either direction. The flight to will operate overnight and the flight back will deposit me in Boston near midnight. Not ideal and there will only be the shift from DST to not DST and back because Peru lands on the same time zone as Boston but doesn't follow DST changes. Amusingly DST ends the night I get back. I booked through Orbitz through Bank of America's Add It Up program so I should get $5 back from them somewhere along the way. Also through Orbitz they have a price guarantee if someone books for lower prices. We'll see if it matters but it would be nice to get a couple bucks back.
So that is the basic planning in a nutshell to this point. The follow ups will be about what I will have to purchase or borrow to manage the hike appropriately. I will likely get those in after the Denmark trip.
I have booked my tour through http://www.sastravelperu.com/ on the recommendation of a friend of George's from Denmark who used this company last year. The process is a bit odd as they do not have direct online booking and for those who are squeemish about such things it may not be the answer for you. I was told the tour company was very good and attentive and checking their reviews online it seems to hold true overall. It seems like it would be a crap shoot to pick any tour company without recommendation so this seemed like my best option.
Of course booking was an odd proposition. The site has the instructions on how to book and most of it really wants you to download a Word document and fill in the information including your credit card number in order to get things processed. I am a bit squeemish about that and I dug around until I found a way to authorize the payment with a Visa card (and only a Visa card) though a site that several peruvian business seem to share for purposes like this. I was foiled later on in this process but we'll get to that in a bit.
I am taking the 4 day Inca Trail with special 5th day Option tour which includes three full days of hiking the Inca Trail followed by a short run to Machu Picchu before sunrise on the fourth day. The total hiking distance is about 27 miles. The tour of Machu Picchu is supposed to last about 2 and a half to 3 hours I think then from there you have the rest of the day to either hike further (there is another trail through Wayna Picchu or just hang about the area. After that the 5th day option has you staying later in the local area where they will get you to an overnight stay in Agua Calliente then get you to Cusco the next morning. It all looks very fun and of course strenuous but I am pretty sure I walked over 100 miles in France (and definitely certain I walked over 80) so I should be able to handle it.
To mention about researching Peru I should state the obvious. Don't drink their water. Bottled drinks only. They say not to drink alcohol at altitude unless you are used to it already. They say to drink lots of liquids like sports drinks the first day or two and to not do anything too strenuous or you could end up with altitude sickness which sounds unpleasant. They also say to be very cautious about what places you eat. I assume their health and safety board is a bit suspect if it exists at all. In any event I intend to ask the hotel which places are ok to eat in the area for the couple days I am there before the tour.
Speaking of the hotel I am using the Los Marqueses Hotel which appears to be run by the same people as the tour company or at the very least they work very tightly together. In this instance I had to fill out the Word doc and send it back as a PDF in order to reserve the room for my stay there so I ended up doing something I didn't want to do anyway. They said I needed to get it done fast as they only had one single person room left. I should also mention the responses from both the travel company and hotel to emails was a bit slower than I enjoy but I am sure they are busy and perhaps a bit more relaxed than we northeasterners. Either way everything appears to be confirmed for both the tour and hotel at this point.
Lastly, I had to book the flight on my own. I booked through Orbitz as they listed the best prices through LAN Airlines which caters to Central and South America. The flights from and to Boston are operated by American Airlines to Miami. From Miami I fly to Lima and from Lima to Cusco. The whole operation is 14 to 15 hours in either direction. The flight to will operate overnight and the flight back will deposit me in Boston near midnight. Not ideal and there will only be the shift from DST to not DST and back because Peru lands on the same time zone as Boston but doesn't follow DST changes. Amusingly DST ends the night I get back. I booked through Orbitz through Bank of America's Add It Up program so I should get $5 back from them somewhere along the way. Also through Orbitz they have a price guarantee if someone books for lower prices. We'll see if it matters but it would be nice to get a couple bucks back.
So that is the basic planning in a nutshell to this point. The follow ups will be about what I will have to purchase or borrow to manage the hike appropriately. I will likely get those in after the Denmark trip.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Jeep Jamboree Killington Part 2 and More Upcoming
With France safely behind me it is now time to prepare for what is upcoming. As with last year I am attending the Jeep Jamboree in Killington, VT for a weekend of 4 wheeling in the middle of July. I intend to update the Jeep's front bumper and install a skid plate to protect the front lockers and control arms before the trip.
After the Jeep Jamboree I am heading back to Denmark for another visit with George on his current home turf. I am trying a different airline for this trip again with KLM Royal Dutch. It means that I will be landing on Dutch soil for the first time. The flight was cheaper than I expected. It should be fun to have a bit more time there than my first visit.
From there I will have to wait until the end of October for my now yearly birthday trip. This time I am going in a completely different direction to Peru where I will be taking a hiking tour of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu.
Where preparation for the Denmark trip will be a small bit of posting after the Jamboree I will be posting a lot more pre-trip information for Peru because it is partially an adventure just to get it to operational status.
After the Jeep Jamboree I am heading back to Denmark for another visit with George on his current home turf. I am trying a different airline for this trip again with KLM Royal Dutch. It means that I will be landing on Dutch soil for the first time. The flight was cheaper than I expected. It should be fun to have a bit more time there than my first visit.
From there I will have to wait until the end of October for my now yearly birthday trip. This time I am going in a completely different direction to Peru where I will be taking a hiking tour of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu.
Where preparation for the Denmark trip will be a small bit of posting after the Jamboree I will be posting a lot more pre-trip information for Peru because it is partially an adventure just to get it to operational status.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
France Day 13 and Epilogue
I got up just before 6 figuring I would leave the hotel at 7. I was ready by 6:30 so I watched a bit of BBC Global News then headed out. I got the train station in about 15 minutes and got to the train pretty much right as it was showing up. The train towards Charles De Gaulle was very packed in the early going as a lot of people may travel to the suburbs in the early morning. I got off the train and started to navigate the maze that is CDG Airport. I didn’t really like the setup as I didn’t realize all the shops were before security and I wasn’t going to try to go back through security to try to find anything. So basically I missed the chance to buy candy which I usually get at the airport and to see if there were any other things to be had there.
The plane turned out to be delayed more than an hour and so I ended up sitting at the gate for a very long time. The delay was due to fog over Paris and over Dublin apparently. When we landed in Dublin I had less than an hour till boarding rather than the 2+ that I should have had. This meant I again rushed to the gate even realizing that the places to buy stuff were before security again. I however didn’t believe I had any time. So, guess what? This plane turned out to be delayed for over an hour for “technical issues” so we didn’t board and I had no place to sit due to the late arrival for a very long time. I could have had a pint if they had posted the delay before I got in there but they didn’t.
After the long wait to board the plane we ended up not getting too far before we had another “technical issue” and had to pull back into another stand to get the worked out. I am not sure exactly how late we took off but I figure it was over an hour and possibly an hour and a half. The updated landing time was an hour and 15 minutes late if that means anything. The flight meal was ok, I asked for chicken and got the pasta with meat sauce (called Beef Bolognese with Pasta) but according the guy next to me the chicken wasn’t very good anyway. I had two cups of coffee with that expecting a longer day still ahead of me. The remainder of the flight was fairly uneventful. Since it was one of the older planes without the screen in the back of the seat and they were showing some newer Dustin Hoffman film I opted to watch Yojimbo on the laptop. I could tell the girl that was sitting across and behind me was watching my movie instead of the in flight movie. Good thing I do subtitles I guess. She was obviously very nervous about the landing because her boyfriend had to keep her leg from bouncing around the closer we got to the actual final approach. Though there was a bit of cloud cover it was nothing like in Dublin and the landing was very easy even for Boston. Oh yeah, they served a snack of Irish soda bread and jam with more coffee about 45 minutes before landing.
I was very near the front so getting off the plane was easy and for whatever unusual reason my bag was 6th off the gondola. I passed through customs without an issue and was home with relative ease after that. The late arrival (by about 1 and a half hours) made traffic that little bit lighter than it would have been if I got in on time so I guess that worked out.
If I didn’t mention this on the blog already, I have already decided I cannot visit France again unless I learn more of the language and/or go with other people. This doesn’t preclude a package tour but I am not sure what I’ll think of the package tour experience again. It would be better to rent a car if you are going anywhere outside of Paris to get to the locations near whatever city you are staying in. I would not advise a car in Paris. I got to witness Paris traffic first hand and it wasn’t pretty during the rush hours. They were brutal and blocked off whole intersections in both directions without a care. I personally should have skipped on Amiens or rented a car when I was there. It would have made that area more useful to me. I liked the Jules Verne museum but it wasn’t the Somme Battlefields. Live and learn for the future I guess. Additionally I will have to pay closer attention to holidays as they can really cause the country to shut down for tourists. I was surprised at the number of gift shops and cafes and restaurants that were closed on Victory Day in both Compiegne and in Pierrefonds. I am not sure how much of this is unique to France but it was less prevalent in the Scandinavian countries.
Anyway, France is a wrap and I’m still working on what’s next. There is a chance of a revisit to Denmark in the late summer to use up some vacation time I will have to burn before October 1st.
The plane turned out to be delayed more than an hour and so I ended up sitting at the gate for a very long time. The delay was due to fog over Paris and over Dublin apparently. When we landed in Dublin I had less than an hour till boarding rather than the 2+ that I should have had. This meant I again rushed to the gate even realizing that the places to buy stuff were before security again. I however didn’t believe I had any time. So, guess what? This plane turned out to be delayed for over an hour for “technical issues” so we didn’t board and I had no place to sit due to the late arrival for a very long time. I could have had a pint if they had posted the delay before I got in there but they didn’t.
After the long wait to board the plane we ended up not getting too far before we had another “technical issue” and had to pull back into another stand to get the worked out. I am not sure exactly how late we took off but I figure it was over an hour and possibly an hour and a half. The updated landing time was an hour and 15 minutes late if that means anything. The flight meal was ok, I asked for chicken and got the pasta with meat sauce (called Beef Bolognese with Pasta) but according the guy next to me the chicken wasn’t very good anyway. I had two cups of coffee with that expecting a longer day still ahead of me. The remainder of the flight was fairly uneventful. Since it was one of the older planes without the screen in the back of the seat and they were showing some newer Dustin Hoffman film I opted to watch Yojimbo on the laptop. I could tell the girl that was sitting across and behind me was watching my movie instead of the in flight movie. Good thing I do subtitles I guess. She was obviously very nervous about the landing because her boyfriend had to keep her leg from bouncing around the closer we got to the actual final approach. Though there was a bit of cloud cover it was nothing like in Dublin and the landing was very easy even for Boston. Oh yeah, they served a snack of Irish soda bread and jam with more coffee about 45 minutes before landing.
I was very near the front so getting off the plane was easy and for whatever unusual reason my bag was 6th off the gondola. I passed through customs without an issue and was home with relative ease after that. The late arrival (by about 1 and a half hours) made traffic that little bit lighter than it would have been if I got in on time so I guess that worked out.
If I didn’t mention this on the blog already, I have already decided I cannot visit France again unless I learn more of the language and/or go with other people. This doesn’t preclude a package tour but I am not sure what I’ll think of the package tour experience again. It would be better to rent a car if you are going anywhere outside of Paris to get to the locations near whatever city you are staying in. I would not advise a car in Paris. I got to witness Paris traffic first hand and it wasn’t pretty during the rush hours. They were brutal and blocked off whole intersections in both directions without a care. I personally should have skipped on Amiens or rented a car when I was there. It would have made that area more useful to me. I liked the Jules Verne museum but it wasn’t the Somme Battlefields. Live and learn for the future I guess. Additionally I will have to pay closer attention to holidays as they can really cause the country to shut down for tourists. I was surprised at the number of gift shops and cafes and restaurants that were closed on Victory Day in both Compiegne and in Pierrefonds. I am not sure how much of this is unique to France but it was less prevalent in the Scandinavian countries.
Anyway, France is a wrap and I’m still working on what’s next. There is a chance of a revisit to Denmark in the late summer to use up some vacation time I will have to burn before October 1st.
France Day 12
Today started out on the moderately early side. I realized I had all day ahead of me and was staying Paris all day. I had visited at least externally most all of the major sites in Paris and wasn’t really planned on what to do. I started out by heading back down La Fayette to Opera then crossing past the Louvre and doubling back to Notre Dame. This early in the morning there weren’t a ton of visitors and I was able to get inside with relative ease. I was hoping to visit the towers but it appeared they weren’t going to open those parts of the cathedral until some time later in the day so I decided that two trips inside the place after an external walk around it with relatively little change to what was open was enough for me. From there I headed back to the Louvre where along the way I decided to have a cup of coffee and a croissant at a café.
After having the croissant I had killed enough time to run through the shopping of the gifty places along the Louvre and I managed to finish off the rest of the shopping I had to do (I hope). From there I chose to head back to the hotel because the bags of stuff were rather bulky but before I got the room I had a quick lunch at the Quick (no pics included) then dropped off the bulky items and got them mostly packed into the suitcase. I rested for less than half an hour before heading back out again.
Back down La Fayette and to Opera my goal this time was L’Hotel Invalides where the Armories are. It’s sort of Frances poor man’s version of the armories in the Tower of London but after all there was a reasonably large number of items to view. Practically every bit of weaponry from older times was behind glass so I took relatively few pictures there as I don’t like the look of pictures of things behind glass or Plexiglas. They also had an exhibit that ran through WWI and WWII which was actually what I visited first and spent the most time in. It was again interesting to get the French perspectives on what we consider two wars they were deeply in need of being bailed out of. Having done the museums in Britain I know their perspectives already and to see the opinions of the French fighting forces portrayed in a positive light is of course unique. Either way there were still admissions that the French handled WWII especially as a national government at the very least very poorly even if they tried to portray the everyday Frenchman as more active when it came to the resistance.
There was a very high tech and new fangled exhibit on the history of Charles De Gaulle which on some levels was fairly successful and others was a bit awkward. The visitor was given a headset that would read frequencies from various points in the exhibit and follow along with movies being played. Since they had to follow along the movie was inevitably either halfway through or mostly finished by the time it was visited. It ended up making me less likely to wish to sit through half the movie then start it over again so that I hadn’t really the vim or vigor to see the exhibit as they had intended. After the Charles De Gaulle exhibit is where I visited the ancient weapons armory then I realized I was really done.
The day had me walk to the Louvre then Notre Dame then back to the Louvre then back to the hotel then back to the Louvre and beyond it to Invalides. I was very tired especially because the switch from destination walking to museum walking really took a lot out of my legs. As it was though when I had gotten back to the Seine on my way back towards the hotel I thunderstorm rolled in. I pulled out my jacket and put up my hood (I was again one of the few sans winter clothing in the heat) and made my way to the street where all the shops were across from the Louvre. Of course the rain picked up harder the further I went. When I found myself at Le Carousel (the place I had already eaten with the very helpful waiter) and I saw the same waiter was right there I realized it was time to wait out the storm. I had a couple Affligem and the special of the day which he suggested was the best choice. It was roast beef with mushrooms and au gratin potatoes. It again was very good as he suggested. A woman from Toronto ended up sitting next to me and we chatted for a while about various things. She’s obviously been traveling for a very long time and has been to France and to Rome for the past several years she said. She also turned out to be a former English teacher. This killed off the majority of the time that the storm ran across the city and then I made up my mind to have one more beer and see if I could make it to dark to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night. Unfortunately I realized after I was done with that beer that it was not going to happen and I headed back up La Fayette where I got into the hotel at about 9:15 or so. The sun really hadn’t set yet as it was. With that behind me I checked through packing and got myself ready for the return trip to Boston as best I could without accounting for the morning cleanup. Since I had scouted the train station I was pretty sure I knew what I had to do to get back to the airport and on my way eventually.
After having the croissant I had killed enough time to run through the shopping of the gifty places along the Louvre and I managed to finish off the rest of the shopping I had to do (I hope). From there I chose to head back to the hotel because the bags of stuff were rather bulky but before I got the room I had a quick lunch at the Quick (no pics included) then dropped off the bulky items and got them mostly packed into the suitcase. I rested for less than half an hour before heading back out again.
Back down La Fayette and to Opera my goal this time was L’Hotel Invalides where the Armories are. It’s sort of Frances poor man’s version of the armories in the Tower of London but after all there was a reasonably large number of items to view. Practically every bit of weaponry from older times was behind glass so I took relatively few pictures there as I don’t like the look of pictures of things behind glass or Plexiglas. They also had an exhibit that ran through WWI and WWII which was actually what I visited first and spent the most time in. It was again interesting to get the French perspectives on what we consider two wars they were deeply in need of being bailed out of. Having done the museums in Britain I know their perspectives already and to see the opinions of the French fighting forces portrayed in a positive light is of course unique. Either way there were still admissions that the French handled WWII especially as a national government at the very least very poorly even if they tried to portray the everyday Frenchman as more active when it came to the resistance.
There was a very high tech and new fangled exhibit on the history of Charles De Gaulle which on some levels was fairly successful and others was a bit awkward. The visitor was given a headset that would read frequencies from various points in the exhibit and follow along with movies being played. Since they had to follow along the movie was inevitably either halfway through or mostly finished by the time it was visited. It ended up making me less likely to wish to sit through half the movie then start it over again so that I hadn’t really the vim or vigor to see the exhibit as they had intended. After the Charles De Gaulle exhibit is where I visited the ancient weapons armory then I realized I was really done.
The day had me walk to the Louvre then Notre Dame then back to the Louvre then back to the hotel then back to the Louvre and beyond it to Invalides. I was very tired especially because the switch from destination walking to museum walking really took a lot out of my legs. As it was though when I had gotten back to the Seine on my way back towards the hotel I thunderstorm rolled in. I pulled out my jacket and put up my hood (I was again one of the few sans winter clothing in the heat) and made my way to the street where all the shops were across from the Louvre. Of course the rain picked up harder the further I went. When I found myself at Le Carousel (the place I had already eaten with the very helpful waiter) and I saw the same waiter was right there I realized it was time to wait out the storm. I had a couple Affligem and the special of the day which he suggested was the best choice. It was roast beef with mushrooms and au gratin potatoes. It again was very good as he suggested. A woman from Toronto ended up sitting next to me and we chatted for a while about various things. She’s obviously been traveling for a very long time and has been to France and to Rome for the past several years she said. She also turned out to be a former English teacher. This killed off the majority of the time that the storm ran across the city and then I made up my mind to have one more beer and see if I could make it to dark to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night. Unfortunately I realized after I was done with that beer that it was not going to happen and I headed back up La Fayette where I got into the hotel at about 9:15 or so. The sun really hadn’t set yet as it was. With that behind me I checked through packing and got myself ready for the return trip to Boston as best I could without accounting for the morning cleanup. Since I had scouted the train station I was pretty sure I knew what I had to do to get back to the airport and on my way eventually.
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