Think I'm going the week of May 12-19th. Staying at Puro, pretty boogie and not cheap but you can't take it with you right?
Sick, in Zonte? It's right next to where I am now. It was sold out for 1 day I was trying to stay. It's really beautiful here. Good vibes up and down the beach. Hippie surfers good foods.
did you think it was just it’s own area with a special chilis too to buy stuff at cuz now that I say that it sounds nice
Going to have to go to a united club in a few days because I'm not flying Delta Hope I don't get lice
Yes , Paradis Latin. Worth it. Supposed to be one of the more authentic and less touristy ones, preferred by locals. Still a very international crowd. I think if you order dinner with the show you get priority seatjng. We just had drinks and were seated up in the upper level.
Owe this thread a few follow ups. It's been a while. Did London and Scotland earlier last year. Most of all that has been covered in here. Few quick things of note: Edinburgh Stayed at the Nira Caledonia in the Stockbridge neighborhood. Little more of a walk to the center of things, but loved the hood. Felt like a local walking around to the coffee shops and cafes. Great breakfast spots. Walk down Circus Lane and get a picture for insta. Panda and Sons for a cocktail bar The Kitchin for dinner. What you expect from a Michelin starred restaurant. Every single thing being sourced from Scotland was awesome to see London Went to Printworks. Legendary nightclub. Impressed with Big Ben, Parliament, and Tower Bridge. Buckingham Palace was a let down. Afternoon tea at Sketch so all the girls could get their instragrams off was painful after being out til 5AM the night before Stayed at the Hyatt Place London City East. Did the job. Walkable to the 'chube. Friendly pricing for those with hyatt points
Went to Fiji in August. Was my 50th country. Not humble, just bragging. From what I recall during my research, there wasn't really anything on Fiji in here so I'll try to add some stuff. Stayed the first three nights at Marriott Momi Bay. Got upgraded to an overwater bungalow, which was nice, but the bungalows are over a man made bay. I would only stay here if all my nights were free or if I had kids and didn't mind not leaving the resort. If you plan on doing more than one excursion, stay near Port Denaru or an island. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hote...w.ds&cid=PAI_GLB0004YXD_GLE000BIM5_GLF000OETA Stayed the final three nights at Tokoriki Island Resort. https://tokoriki.com/ Wow. Incredible place. It shares an island with one other hotel. There's only 36 villas with 72 guests. All employees know you and are there with everything you need. Great food. Phenomenal service. PADI certified dive instructor at the resort. The place is highly ranked in travel magazines for a reason. A lot of people arrive to the resort by helicopter, which my girlfriend made sure I knew when we took our big water taxi in and out. Did a floating island/party barge thing. It was fine. Probably depends a lot on the group that's also on the party barge https://seventhheavenfiji.com/ Malal Mala Beach Club - this was awesome. Close to port. Rented a cabana for the day. Snorkeled. Food was good. Partied at the pool. Would recommend. https://www.malamalabeachclub.com/ Did a three island day tour with snorkeling. Visited the original Castaway Island, which is privately owned and still has nothing on it. The tour operators are related to the woman who owns the island. First spot had some great snorkeling, apparently at a location where they film a lot of Survivor seasons. Overall, I enjoyed it. Would go back, but probably stay on an outlying island. Felt more like Fiji. Girlfriend was more of a fan Tahiti.
Thanks. I was gonna ask but seems like you answered it in your final sentence..You prefer Fiji over Tahiti...Did you do Moorea or Bora Bora.?
Went to Moulin Rouge. It was 12 years ago but I remember thinking it was enjoyable and entertaining but they really pack you in tight
This is what I have sent a few people going in the past. This is from my 2022 trip. Madrid - If you are by yourself don’t hesitate to slide up to the bar at places and eat there. A lot of places that’s where the locals eat and the tourist are put at tables. The city itself is really hilly and while a good bit of it is walkable, don't hesitate to jump in a cab. They are really cheap (many times 10 euro and under) and everywhere. If you are planning on going to the Bernabeu just note that a large part of it is closed with the renovation. You still get to visit the seating area and the museum if you do a tour. We were there three days and mostly just jumped in and out of spots for tapas and drinks. Botin and Casa Alberto were great spots for a dinner without anything super fancy. If you are planning to do a museum like Prado plan your visit and what pieces you want to see ahead of time, they are notoriously poorly marked inside and you could easily spend two days wandering the Prado looking at everything. We also did the Palacio and it was pretty cool and didn't take but 2-3 hours. We didn't get a chance to do so, but have heard a day trip to Toledo right outside of Madrid is really good as well. Botin - Probably the most famous restaurant in Madrid. It’s a little touristy, but it’s absolutely worth the visit. Opened in 1725 it’s the oldest restaurant in the world (at least that’s what they claim). The specialty is roast suckling pig which is quite good. Hemingway spent a lot of time here while in Madrid and the place is mentioned in “The Sun Also Rises” Spoiler: Botin View attachment 161592 View attachment 161593 Casa Alberto (1827) Definitely a place to get bar service. The patatas bravas were very good, but the ox tail is what stole the show. Vermouth was a house blend that was tremendous. Spoiler: Casa Alberto View attachment 161596 View attachment 161598 View attachment 161599 View attachment 161600 La Venecia (for a drink, not dinner) No frills bar from the 30s that has not changed at all, they only serve different types Sherry which is quite interesting. They notoriously have a no photos policy that has been in place since the Spanish Civil War as the bar was a meeting place for anti-fascists who didn't want to be photographed. Another Hemingway haunt Choclateria de San Gines Famous churros/chocolate spot, it's quite decadent, but worth the trip. Spoiler: Churros View attachment 161601 Casa de Las Torrijas Specialty is like a Spanish french toast, thought it was quite good. Spoiler View attachment 161602 Retiro. This is like the "Central Park" of Madrid. You could literally spend an entire day walking around the place. Has a bunch of crazy cool architecture and artwork including the Crystal Palace and the only known statue depicting Lucifer as an Angel. There was a Lake around the Momnument to Alonso XII. There is a ton of bike and running paths so if you want to go for a jog or bike ride while there, this is the place to do it. The Mercado de San Miguel is kind of cool in that you get a ton of culinary variety, but it is insanely crowded. Its like they put 50 food stalls into a space about as big as a CVS. It's also a lot "modern takes on classic food" where you don't necessarily get the traditional cuisine experience. Let me know if you have any other question on where to stay or what not.
Did Moulin Rouge on Honeymoon. It was a cool experience but one of the performers almost drowned due to a large snake wrapping her up underwater. Overall enjoyable experience but ymmv re: near deaths
Can also recommend Botin and the suckling pig. Not sure your thoughts on it, but we went to a bull fight at Plaza De Toros de Las Ventas and Juan Carlos was there. Was a pretty cool experience, but understand if people are turned off by it. If you have time, I highly recommend day trips to Toledo and/or a couple night trip to Cordoba/Granada and back.
Can confirm Botin and Casa Alberto v good. My opinion Toledo >Madrid, but there is a lot of very cool things to see if you're sticking around Madrid. If you do have time though I HIGHLY recommend getting out to Toledo
We had lunch here in Toledo right when we arrived and it was phenomenal. Restaurante Museo de Productos de Castilla-La Mancha
Some other Madrid points: - The two main art museums (Del Prado and Reina Sofia) are both really cool and have free entry nights, which is a nice way to save ~€25. The lines on the free night are crazy long but move fast once it begins. - Go watch soccer if the schedule lines up. I went a bit crazy and went to Real, Atletico, and Rayo Vallecano on the same weekend. I especially recommend the latter two since while the Bernabéu is historic and massive, it’s more of a tourist atmosphere in the stadium. - +1 to Toledo. They have a reasonably priced tourist pass that makes visiting the main sights in the old town easy. Also leave time for walking up to the Mirador del Valle viewpoint. - I’m terrible at saving/remembering restaurant names but it’s super easy to find good food everywhere you go.
^^^^^^ El Retiro is pretty spectacular. There's a particular part that is just overrun with peacocks. The city is super walkable imo between there and Palacio Real and Plaza de España imo (which Plaza Mayor kind of sits between.) Also enjoyed wandering the Salamanca area for shops and restaurants.
opinions vary. thread seems a little down on Madrid but talked to someone recently who said it was his favorite City in Western Europe and he’s been everywhere. impression I get from the posts here and asking around is that it doesn’t have the must see historical cathedrals like Barcelona(Sagrada Familia) but it is more cosmopolitan w great food.
I read my personal hero Rick Steves snapshot on Madrid last week and I don’t think we have time to do Toledo and Madrid properly (2 full days). So will just do Madrid and get back for Toledo and the rest of Spain another time. Ty for all the Madrid stuff chat
There are at least 8 restaurants in the world older than Botin (including one in Newport, Rhode Island) but I bet the food is still good
Not sure if it is actually true, but they claim to be the oldest continually operating restaurant in the world (and Guinness book of world records recognizes it). I'm guessing the claim is that the ones that were started before Botin either moved, had to rebuild, or shut down for some amount of time.
well we went to St. Peter Stiftskulinarium and they said there’s been a restaurant there since 803 AD. cool spot tbh and the food was good
We did Moorea for five days. Explored the entire island. Did snorkeling and kayaking. Made some new friends. I will say this was in the depths of Covid around late 2021 when most countries couldn't travel. I'm sure that had some impact on our experience as the island was definitely at low capacity. I enjoyed Fiji more because it seemed like there were more activities/excursions and you could island hop extremely easy. Getting to other islands in Tahiti seemed a bit more difficult. However, that again could've been due to all the Covid restrictions. pic of Tokoriki island resort poolside
Anyone have luggage recommendations? Want to get my wife something new for her birthday, maybe something in the 300-600 dollar range? (I don't know how much luggage costs)
TBH you can get some pretty decent quality luggage at thrift stores; it's in good shape but people just don't want to store it anymore. That said Samsonite'e been the gold standard since forever unless you want to add a zero to the price tag to get Louis Viton or Gucci. Also heard good things about Nere and they have a huge color rage. Monos and Hershel as well.
I assume he’s referring to one of the priority pass or plaza premium lounges you get access to with the Venture X card.
Venture X, and certain Venture and Spark cards come with priority pass (lounge network) memberships and have Plaza Premium (big lounge operator) arrangements.
GGCD I've always really like Tumi luggage. Very durable, high quality. It's expensive full price, but they used to have sales all the time. Not sure if that is still the case as I bought my last piece maybe 10 years ago. The Patagonia duffle bags are durable as shit too if you're a duffle guy. If you're patient they also go on sale probably twice a year and can double as a backpack. https://www.patagonia.com/product/b...var_49339_color=NUVG&cgid=luggage-duffel-bags and also available with wheels.
If you want a duffle bag that doubles as a backpack, may I recommend the DoD-issued Pickle Bag: Even has a handy dandy passport pocket. Had mine for 12 years, three overseas moves and a deployment and it's still as functional and ugly as sin as the day they threw one at me in basic and said "put your shit in there"
Central American folklore.... LA SIGUANABA Spoiler La Siguanaba, Sihuanaba, Cigua, or Cegua, refers to a ‘horrible woman,’ previously known as Sihuethuet, and is a ghost to beware of late at night. She appears in the night as a beautiful woman, in a sheer, often white dress, with long, beautiful hair. She summons men wandering in the dark, often targeting those who are drunk, conceited, and looking for a conquest, as well as men who are unfaithful to their women. She then seduces the men who are looking to seduce her, but once they get close enough to touch – the men thinking they have just about scored – she reveals her true self, transforming into a thing of horror. Some versions say that she was so terrifyingly ugly that she was nearly deformed, while others say her face was a bare skull, and some variations even claim that she had the head of a horse! Regardless, she is such a terrible sight to see that the man who has the misfortune of laying his eyes on her will either die of fright or go completely mad! La Siguanaba came to be this way when, as Sihuethuet (beautiful woman), she was married to the son of Tlaloc, the god of the rains, and had affairs while he was away at war, and became pregnant with the son of her lover as a result of these affairs. As punishment for her seduction and infidelity, Tlaloc sought out the help of an almighty god named Teotl, and together they cursed and condemned not only Sihuethuet, but her son as well. Now, Siguanaba is stuck in a state of horror and deceit, and terrorizes those who are guilty of the same crime she once committed, and is stuck to forever look for her son
For now... You get 2 annual passes with those cards but I think they are taking it away in 2025 for both.
A previous GF bought me some Away luggage (bigger carry-on) and I have been very happy with it. Had it for about 5 years before a crack appeared in the hard case on my last trip. Reached out to Away, sent them a couple pictures, and they sent me a brand new one (same size) of my choosing. Was very impressed with the process. I say that to say, if you are willing to spend that much on some nice luggage, I would look into brands that have lifetime warranties (Away, Briggs and Reilly, etc...).
Upgraded our luggage last year to Away, flown probably 6 times with it now and been a big fan so far.
Would also echo others in saying that I've been a big fan of the Away luggage since my wife and I bought some last year.