The what I did on my holibobs thread

Red Sky said:
Not sure when you went but I think the fentanyl problem has hit Seattle hard. They have a large central homeless population living literally on the street, spanning a few blocks. Lots of open drug taking and dealing in broad daylight. We stayed in the centre and witnessed a stabbing on the way to the apartment and were kept awake by addicts literally screaming for help.

Would like to explore more of Washington state though.
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I have always wanted to visit Maine, was a big Steven King fan as a kid and would love to have a look around
 
redharry said:
Great photos. Spent a lot of time in those areas and further north into Yukon and Alaska. Wildlife is incredible, bears most days, wolves, bison, moose etc.
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I bet that was amazing, although the remoteness is intimidating. I managed to get some good photos flying in over the Northern territories. Proper vast wilderness. You can see some of the glaciers receding and the lack of sea ice was very apparent.
 

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Red Sky said:
I bet that was amazing, although the remoteness is intimidating. I managed to get some good photos flying in over the Northern territories. Proper vast wilderness. You can see some of the glaciers receding and the lack of sea ice was very apparent.
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Those pics are breathtaking,what a place
 
Jacks said:
I have always wanted to visit Maine, was a big Steven King fan as a kid and would love to have a look around
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Same here. Hobbit/lord of the rings followed by years of Stephen King novels rekindle my love of reading after secondary school seriously ruined it first me.

I have his more recent stuff on audiobook, but haven't gotten around to listening to it yet. Over tge past decade I've enjoyed his earlier short stories more on audiobook actually.

Apparently stuff from ladt decade is decent, after he went through a bland spell following going 'clean' from some destructive habits...

Apparently many of his earlier books contained characters with some kind of addiction, as a reflection from himself.
 
My most recent holiday was a drive to Italy in October half term…taking in The Alps and staying in the best country in Europe…next year I am planning The Caribbeanmaybe Florida too?
 
Garbo said:
My most recent holiday was a drive to Italy in October half term…taking in The Alps and staying in the best country in Europe…next year I am planning The Caribbeanmaybe Florida too?
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Alps region is phenomenal... unfathomably beautiful.

Friend wrote his vauxhall calibra off shortly afterwards in turin, towards the end of a road trip. That was a laugh, having to deal/explain it to police officers who couldn't speak English!
 
MB1980 said:
Yeah I lead distinctly seperate lives :D. But Cyprus coukd be an option with her, with a trip to tge pyramids. I don't touch alcohol around my daughter, never mind try and arrange some hybrid holiday with her and clubbing at night lol.

But yes you get decent dance events all over the world, but no where as concentrated as ibiza is during those 3 or 4 months over the summer.

Miami has that dance music conference in the spring with decent events/djs but a little like watching crowds at 'soccer' games, when I watch them on YouTube, crowd/vibe feels a little off/different to over here.
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MB1980 said:
Yeah I lead distinctly seperate lives :D. But Cyprus coukd be an option with her, with a trip to tge pyramids. I don't touch alcohol around my daughter, never mind try and arrange some hybrid holiday with her and clubbing at night lol.

But yes you get decent dance events all over the world, but no where as concentrated as ibiza is during those 3 or 4 months over the summer.

Miami has that dance music conference in the spring with decent events/djs but a little like watching crowds at 'soccer' games, when I watch them on YouTube, crowd/vibe feels a little off/different to over here.
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Tombs of the Kings in Paphos is fab Lots of interesting stuff The mosaics they have there are incredibly well preserved
 
Cheers for advice on cyprus/egypt, intersting angle I'll certainly explore.

For the new future though, we'll stick to the Tutankhamen Exhibition in Dorchester, tge mummy ride at unniversal studios and listening to the Bangles song over and over in the car. :D

Probably eclipses the real thing tbh :D

She's desperate to watch Taylor Cleopatra movie, but probably not appropriate for a 7 year old. My parents said something like oh gosh no shows how she died. I said we won't go into that. My daughter said 'I know, she killed herself with a snake' :D
 
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Took the family to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica last year, Guanacaste. Absolutely stunning and quite possibly the friendliest people on earth. Beautiful beaches and amazing jungle. The sloths are incredible. Never entertained cruising before but wanted to give it a go so did the eastbound transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 from NY, also last year. Wow! Absolutely loved it. What a ship. Amazing food. Lots to drink and the entertainment was off the scale. Lucky to have the National Symphonic Orchestra onboard who did a Last Night at the Proms as we sailed into Southampton. In fact so good, that booked back on straight away and did the Norwegian Fjords on the QM2 back in June. In July we did a canal.boat hire for a week on the Mon and Brec canal cruising from Abergavenny to Brecon and back. Very peaceful with amazing scenery and good fun with the locks. Looking forward to next year when back on board the QM2 to do both directions of the transatlantic over 14 days with a day in NY. Taking the kids on this one for their first cruise. I can't recommend that ship enough, it's stunning.
 
MB1980 said:
I think central areas around French quarter are likely fine unless looking for trouble. My anxiousness was more around where tge hostel was stationed, around 20 mins or so walk from tge French quarter.

Did feel very much like Boyz n the hood late at night, with the groups hanging around, coukd sense an air of menace. Felt like you needed to have your wits about you more so than many other places iivve visited, including 2nd/3rd World countries.
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I admittedly hate New Orleans but still somehow manage to go there once or twice a year thanks to my relative proximity and having friends there. Cajun food is the best in the nation - crawfish boils, shrimp po' boys, oysters, gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffe - it's all incredible. The Quarter is *relatively* safe, if by safe you mean that you almost definitely won't get stabbed or shot but might get pickpocketed, especially if you've had a few too many hand grenades on Bourbon Street. If you wander into the wrong alley way-too-late, then those could all change for the worse, though.

Uptown and the Garden District are both far nicer and where I personally prefer to go. It still has a very old vibe but the people are much more local, instead of just visiting from somewhere in the midwest and trying to get blackout drunk. Honestly, I'd recommend going back for Mardi Gras and staying somewhere on/near St. Charles in uptown. Pack a cooler and carry it on down to the parade route - it's truly an incredible (and family friendly outside of the Quarter!) event that you really need to see and experience at least once.
 
I went to Cape Town in November. This time it was a golf holiday (and lots of drinking) but I went 9 years ago for your more traditional garden route holiday with shark cage diving and a few wild life reserves. It's absolutely fantastic there and dirt cheap for very good F&B. £10-15 for a steak and decent bottle of red. I got a round of 7 pints after a round of golf and it was almost exactly the same price as a single pint here in Dubai... We're all going again next year, but to the George/Plettenberg Bay area.
 
OMRebels13 said:
I admittedly hate New Orleans but still somehow manage to go there once or twice a year thanks to my relative proximity and having friends there. Cajun food is the best in the nation - crawfish boils, shrimp po' boys, oysters, gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffe - it's all incredible. The Quarter is *relatively* safe, if by safe you mean that you almost definitely won't get stabbed or shot but might get pickpocketed, especially if you've had a few too many hand grenades on Bourbon Street. If you wander into the wrong alley way-too-late, then those could all change for the worse, though.

Uptown and the Garden District are both far nicer and where I personally prefer to go. It still has a very old vibe but the people are much more local, instead of just visiting from somewhere in the midwest and trying to get blackout drunk. Honestly, I'd recommend going back for Mardi Gras and staying somewhere on/near St. Charles in uptown. Pack a cooler and carry it on down to the parade route - it's truly an incredible (and family friendly outside of the Quarter!) event that you really need to see and experience at least once.
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I do recall the beads on bourbon st.

Thing is I normally read something like lonely planet before each trip back then, but can't recall that tradition!

My mate I went with loves blues/jazz, but me being tge ignorant savage I am, was sat in these boring (but no doubt extremely talented) bars/pubs with what I find quite boring, sapping music... probably as I have no appreciation of music from a technical point of view... thinking I just want to hit the more lively venues, with a very 'up for it' young crowd's... albeit more sh1t music... commercial dance/rnb/pop but some decent rock throwm in from time to time...dancing around around getting sh1t faced :D. Man of culture indeed! :D
 
Alps in the summer are amazing - had a week over there, in Interlaken doing the Eiger train up to the Jungfraujoch and all that business, then back to Zurich for the Zveltklasse Diamond league meeting. Really fancy NE Italy next time, running/cycling etc..

Interesting social issues in Seattle - Perth was the Australian city that had the most apparent social issues, vast majority aboriginals who had fallen on hard times. Didn't see any in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney or Melbourne.

Loved the interactions with the stall holders in the souks in Tunisia back in 93 on an Uni field trip. As soon as they realised you were British it was all this...

'Cheaper than Asda!'
'You cheeky monkey!'
'Fish & Chips!'
'Football!'

And any blonde females in our party got particular interest...20 camels, etc! Really funny, all in jest etc..
 
Some fantastic experiences in this thread :tophat:

We have been retired living in mid-west France for coming up 15 years, so every day is like being on holiday. Even so, we bought a motorhome this year and intend to explore a lot more of Europe over the next couple of years.
 
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