Roam

Chit-chat, current events
benwhowell
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Roam

Post by benwhowell »

I thought I would create a post for us to talk about travel. Where have you been? Where are you going? Dream destination?
As my "family" has grown (and still no prospects of a trustworthy "baby" sitter) my travels have been limited to daytripping...
I do enjoy travel magazines and The Travel Channel. My favorite host on The Travel Channel is Samantha Brown-who is currently doing Latin America. Last night she was in Santiago, Chile.
Fernando, you've been holding out on us. :)
Santiago seems quite modern and ultra hip and affordable. (I'm a bargain hunter.) With a beautiful and inexpensive subway system, getting around-in a city of five million people-seems like a breeze.
Sam took us to a coffee bar where the servers wear mini skirts, Pueblito Los Dominicos (an area with over 150 arts and crafts shops) and Cascada de las Animas (a breathtakingly beautiful resort area in the Andes mountains.)
Wouldn't it be fun to have a Silver Screen Oasis convention in Santiago?
Our host hotel could be The Ritz-Carlton-which happens to be the cheapest R-C in the world with rooms starting at $185 a night. (There are cheaper hotels, but this is the Ritz-Carlton!)
And maybe Fernando could get us in to the (impossible to find) Clandestino Bar-filled with the beautiful people of Santiago.
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Moraldo Rubini
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Cartography

Post by Moraldo Rubini »

There's a site where you can create maps to show where you've been, but I can't get the image to show here. Anyway, the red shows where I've been in the States.

And here's where I've been world-wide.

It's a big world. Still so much to see...
Last edited by Moraldo Rubini on June 14th, 2007, 1:47 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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mrsl
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Post by mrsl »

Benwhowell:

Good idea for a post but having to scroll back and forth line by line makes me literally
dizzy - Not being facetious, it really does. If you can get it into perspective,
I would love to see responses.

Anne
Anne


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Moraldo Rubini
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Mapster

Post by Moraldo Rubini »

Anne, that was my fault. I was doing some technical stuff (adding the links to the post) that caused the margins to go wide. You just happened to come in while I was working on it. Sorry.
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movieman1957
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Re: Cartography

Post by movieman1957 »

Moraldo Rubini wrote:There's a site where you can create maps to show where you've been, but I can't get the image to show here. Anyway, the red shows where I've been in the States.

And here's where I've been world-wide.

It's a big world. Still so much to see...
Very impressive! I find it hard to believe I've been somewhere you haven't, even if it is only Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama. (Only a few other states have I been to at all.) Very boring travel life for me.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Dewey1960
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Post by Dewey1960 »

The lovely Lady Dewey and I will be taking a road trip down to Ojai in Southern California this weekend. It's truly beautiful down there with gorgeous vistas and sprawling citrus fields. Very meditative. Then around the first of July we're heading up north to Washington state and Oregon for a while. Likewise beautiful country up there!
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

I live in New York City. I don't really have to go anywhere any more --
everyone comes here.

:lol:
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Moraldo Rubini
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Wilkes

Post by Moraldo Rubini »

Chris! The majority of the south is an enigma to me. I have long wanted to take a barbeque tour though; encompassing the best barbeque joints in Texas, Kansas City, Memphis and North Carolina. Judith is right: we all go to New York. And I sampled more barbeque when I was there these past months, but something tells me that the Memphis pulled pork, the Texan beef, the North Carolina vinegars and the smokes of Kansas City would surpass any of the barbeque establishments that I explored in Manhattan.
klondike

Post by klondike »

JohnM wrote:I've been to most of the states in the US. I've not been to Alaska, North or South Dakota, and I may be forgetting one other. I've also been to most of Europe, and even lived for a year in Salzburg, Austria. I've also been to Brazil.
Hey, JM, get the memory-transfer jacks warmed up: I'll trade you an entire Alaskan month (complete with awe inspiring aurora borealis & an average 5 hours of daily sunlight) for one measly evening in Brazil - during Carnivale!
:wink:
Whaddaya say?
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mrsl
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Post by mrsl »

Well, I never made it to Oregon, or Wash. state, nor to the North East like Maine or the rest of the eastern seaboard, or Florida.

I have however, been to Indiana, OH, Iowa, New Mex. KS, TX, UT, N & S Dak., WY, NV, CA, AZ, Alabama, Arkansas, GA, Missouri, LA, VA & WVA, Tenn, and IL, KY, Michigan, and Wisc. - That's only 25, so I'm missing 14.

I always wanted to see the entire U.S. before any other country. I can't imagine the Alps being any more astounding than the Grand Tetons, nor any desert than any in our West, nor lakes as big and beautiful as Lake Michigan, summer or winter, nor the rolling grass of Kentucky, nor can I imagine any place that would amaze like the Grand Canyon. Trust me, there is nothing to compare with the beauty of a Nevada sunset over the mountains, except perhaps a sunrise standing on Lake Shore Drive and watching the sun come up over Lake Michigan, the sparkles will blind you. I've seen it all and might be wrong about the two coasts because I've only seen the ocean from CA, but I can tell you the drive from Orange County to San Diego is a sight to behold.

Maybe if more people saw the U.S. like I have - in a car - driving from state to state, they may become a little more interested in both its' history, and its' future. We have it all here, and it's a shame so many Americans haven't experienced the U.S. but instead contributed to the economy of other countries than their own.

No offense meant to those of you who have gone other places, but I wish you could have seen the sights I have right here in our own back yard.

Mr. Rubini: GEEZ!

jdb1: Born and raised in Chicago, NY is the last place I would visit, except maybe for Broadway, but I believe the two places are too similar.

Johnm: Good for you! It's a beautiful country isn't it?

Anne
Anne


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* * * * * * * * What is past is prologue. * * * * * * * *

]***********************************************************************
feaito

Re: Roam

Post by feaito »

benwhowell wrote:I do enjoy travel magazines and The Travel Channel. My favorite host on The Travel Channel is Samantha Brown-who is currently doing Latin America. Last night she was in Santiago, Chile.
Fernando, you've been holding out on us. :)
Santiago seems quite modern and ultra hip and affordable. (I'm a bargain hunter.) With a beautiful and inexpensive subway system, getting around-in a city of five million people-seems like a breeze.
Sam took us to a coffee bar where the servers wear mini skirts, Pueblito Los Dominicos (an area with over 150 arts and crafts shops) and Cascada de las Animas (a breathtakingly beautiful resort area in the Andes mountains.)
Wouldn't it be fun to have a Silver Screen Oasis convention in Santiago?
Our host hotel could be The Ritz-Carlton-which happens to be the cheapest R-C in the world with rooms starting at $185 a night. (There are cheaper hotels, but this is the Ritz-Carlton!)
And maybe Fernando could get us in to the (impossible to find) Clandestino Bar-filled with the beautiful people of Santiago.
Thanks for the kind words Ben. I'd be honored to be your host here in Santiago. But I'm not sure if I would take you guys to the Clandestino Bar! In fact, I've never been to that place. It seems that it's a sort of underground trendy place where some rock bands play. I don't like trendy places. I prefer quite, low profile discos, pubs and restaurants.

I did not know that Santiago's Ritz Carlton was the cheapest in the world! It's an excellent hotel, but I think you'd have a better view of the city from the Sheraton San Cristobal and Towers Hotel. And there are two excellent restaurants in that hotel.

We also have some very good restaurants here in Santiago: International Food, Chinese food, Japanese, Thai, Peruvian, all kinds of sea food, etc. My wife and I always go to Sushi Bars (our fave type of food nowadays). I'd take you to the famous "Liguria" Restaurant & Pub a very atmospheric locale. We have very good wines too (Carmeneres, Syrahs, Merlots, Chardonnays, Pinots, Cortons, etc.) and fabulous sea food (lobsters, king crab, shrimps, etc.)

The Pueblito Los Dominicos is very beautiful, full of all kinds of artisans and nice furniture, jewelry, pottery, etc. It's located near a church on a residential area.

And Chile is much more than Santiago; we have the wondrous Atacama desert in the north, one of the driest in the world; the beautiful beaches of La Serena in the nearest northern area of Chile; the beautiful city of Viña del Mar near Santiago and the port of Valparaiso. The south of Chile has towns like Frutillar and Pucón, with a landscape and climate similar to those you might find in Germany or Switzerland. And further in the South unique cities like Valdivia and Punta Arenas and landscapes like those of the Laguna San Rafael; Eastern Island; Juan Fernández Archipiélago.

As for myself nowadays I do not like that much to travel anymore, especially long trips. I have a profound dislike for airports and airplanes, especially all the security issues that came up after 9/11 that make trips less enjoyable.

Until 2005 I usually traveled to the US once a year, since my wife has relatives there. We got to visit many times the San Francisco area (one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to) and Raleigh-Durham in NC; also been to NY city, Reno and some cities in Florida like Clearwater, St. Petersburg (awesome Dali museum), etc. In Europe I only have been to Franckfurt, Paris and Belgrade in Serbia. I also have visited Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Cancun. We have never wanted to visit more exotic countries and places, which I find very interesting from a cultural & historical viewpoint, like Egypt, Thailand, the Mesopotamian desert (where the Sumerian civilization began)-before there was a war there, obviously-, India & others, due to security and health issues and also because of the great length of the trip.
Last edited by feaito on June 15th, 2007, 6:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Lzcutter
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Post by Lzcutter »

I haven't seen a great deal of the country but of the parts I have seen I cherish.

San Francisco: the most magical city in America for me.

Mr Cutter and I traveled up the coast of California for our honeymoon. Made it to within about 50 miles of the Oregon border. Been to Sacramento, Napa Valley and Sonoma.

Have been to southern Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix) and northern Arizona Prescott, Flagstaff and across Rte 66 to the White Mountains.

Nevada: Las Vegas, Southern Nevada and Reno.

Utah: St. George, Cedar City and Provo.

Michigan: Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

New York City (loved it!) and Washington DC.

Austin

Been to Little Rock, Ark and have driven from there to Memphis (been to Graceland) to Chatanooga (hitting the Shiloh and other Civil War sites along the way) down to Atlanta (trip was before TCM was started) and then down to Gainsville, Fl. From there to Southern Florida: Miami and back to Gainsville.

From Gainsville across the panhandle of Florida to Mississippi to New Orleans and from New Orleans to Vicksburg and back to Little Rock.

Best trip of the deep south I've ever been on. Great food.
Lynn in Lake Balboa

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jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

mrsl wrote:Maybe if more people saw the U.S. like I have - in a car - driving from state to state, they may become a little more interested in both its' history, and its' future. We have it all here, and it's a shame so many Americans haven't experienced the U.S. but instead contributed to the economy of other countries than their own.

No offense meant to those of you who have gone other places, but I wish you could have seen the sights I have right here in our own back yard.

jdb1: Born and raised in Chicago, NY is the last place I would visit, except maybe for Broadway, but I believe the two places are too similar.


Anne
Anne, NYC is so much more than what you see in stock footage. Especially in the last 20 years, it has become a much more "user-friendly" place to visit and to live in. I wouldn't mind seeing Chicago; it sounds interesting to me -- a big city, and it isn't New York!

I do agree with your idea of a cross-country trip. I'd like to travel around the midwest and west (I've been up and down the east coast many times already, and I was in Dallas, TX once). I'd like to taste the cooking, and see the town squares, see fields of wheat, the fruit orchards, huge factories -- that sort of thing.

I belong to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, because I think it's important to preserve good things, and for my yearly contribution they send a wonderful magazine called "Preservation." It tells about all the little, interesting places in the US which it is trying to preserve. There is so much history and culture going on in the most unlikely places - it would take a lifetime to visit them all.

One place I'd really like to visit is the Judy Garland museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota; my stepmother came from that area in the Iron Range country of northern Minn. The museum (in Garland's childhood home) looks like fun. I read about another in "Preservation," which is the childhood home of Meredith Willson in Iowa (forget the name of the town). There are many others -- Cole Porter's boyhood home in Peru, Indiana has been turned into a B&B, etc. I have plans to do a bit of coast-to-coast travelling when I retire (not as far away a time as it used to be). My only problem is a I have inner ear condition that makes it difficult to fly for long periods, and I'm one of the world's least competent drivers. I guess I'll have to join an Old Folks travel club when the time comes.
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mrsl
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Post by mrsl »

Judith:

Old Folks trip!!! You don't see much from the highways, you can use the interstates to get from state to state, but then you hit the frontage roads. We kept an eye out for what looked like interesting billboards. That's how we found the original home of the Precious Moments creator and the little museum he has set up there. It was November when we were there so it was kind of cold, but I imagine in summer it would be nice. I think it's in KY, but don't quote me. You wouldn't believe the aroma in the various fruit groves, or if you drive up in the mountains around Las Vegas, the pine smells like our house used to on Christmas eve when we had a real tree.

What I meant about NY was that when I travel, I want to experience different customs, foods, and scenery than the concrete mountains I see every day, or for that matter, dirt roads rather than concrete highways. My sister-in-laws' idea of a great vacation is shopping on Rodeo Drive, or the Fashion Mall on the Vegas strip to me that's ploowey. I can shop any day on Michigan Avenue.

Anne
Anne


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