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Post by roverpup on Feb 5, 2017 1:17:10 GMT
Because it seems like there are a lot of us from all four corners of the world, I wondered if we shouldn't have a travel section in the "Off Topics" section. Feel free to add plans or stories of past travel to this thread. I am a very avid traveler. This coming May we (my hubby and myself) are going to visit England for close to a month. We will be centred in London mostly but we also will be spending 5 days on the IOW in a little stone cottage. My sis and her husband will be coming over as well for a while as well. While in London we will have an apartment in Mayfair for the first couple of weeks and then we will be moving over to a 2 bedroom apartment when my sis comes along. It's in Belgravia, close to Victoria Station (I half expect to see Irene Adler - LOL!). Both of us love theatre, so this trip is filled with going to stage productions and concerts. I got tickets to see David Tennant in Don Juan in Soho, as well as Damien Lewis and Sophie Okonedo (I loved her in The Hollow Crown) in The Goat: Who is Sylvia?. We also are going to Shakespeare's Globe to see a very different production of Romeo and Juliet, as well as a British farce called A Comedy About a Bank Robbery. The last play we are going to is called The Wipers Times and I am very excited to see this because last year we watched a movie version of this on Netflix and loved it! The TV movie starred Ben Chaplin, Michael Palin, Ben Daniels (who was also in The Hollow Crown) among others. A couple of concerts as well are on the itinerary (we are big classical music buffs) - Mozart's Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall and Beethoven's 9th done by the LPO at the South Bank Centre. That's the thing I love about London - it is filled with such rich choices in cultural goodies.  We haven't been back to England in 32 years so I am very excited to see how London has changed. One day out of all the London things to see and do will be spent in Paris - can't be so close to Paris and not pop over! It is my very most favourite city in the world.  Anyone else going on a journey to interesting and lovely locales? I love hearing about other trips and living vicariously through the stories! :-)) |
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Zufa
New Member
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Post by Zufa on Feb 5, 2017 7:55:03 GMT
Hi there I went to a classical concert where they played Händel's Watermusic, The 4 Seasons and Mozart's Requiem (my all time favourite piece of classical music) in the Royal Albert Hall in summer 2014. Was also my first trip to London. It was spectacular, even tho I stayed only 3 nights ariund the concert. Then I had to come back in 2015 to see Hamlet. Even 10 days is not enough to see everything in London. I loved the city, sounds like you will have a really wonderful time |
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Post by leihalia on Feb 5, 2017 9:16:32 GMT
My first trip EVER to Europe (loooong way from Hawaii) was to London for Hamlet. This wonderfully coincided with Ai Wei Wei's largest exhibit outside of China (google him if you don't know him--very courageous Chinese dissident). Also took in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night--the staging and acting blew me away. And, of course, Harry Potter. Thoroughly enjoyed the little of London that we saw in 1-1/2 weeks. Too bad about Brexit . . . but then . . . I'm stuck with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, which surely must be worse.
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Post by ellie on Feb 5, 2017 15:54:40 GMT
I love to travel too. Ireland is lovely but small! So we Irish tend to like to visit places further afield. My most interesting recent trip was to Alaska. Always wanted to go there and loved it. We even got to fly to a location within the Arctic Circle in a tiny propellor plane. Felt a bit like Indiana Jones. Then we went to the Yukon and stayed in Dawson city which has been kept exactly as it was in the Gold Rush. Holiday of a lifetime.
Next up is a return trip to Quebec. Was there years ago but got interested in seeing it in more detail through reading Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels which go into French Canadian history is some detail so have got me wanting to find out more.
The top two places on my future wish list are Japan and as much of South America as possible.
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Post by roverpup on Feb 5, 2017 16:52:00 GMT
Being from Ontario I have been to the province of Quebec a number of times over my lifetime. Love it there. One of the most memorable trips was to Montreal just before Xmas by train. They had a HUGE snowstorm which dump many centimeters of snow on the city but because we were right downtown we just walked everywhere and shopped in the subterranean shopping centres so it didn't impact us too much. My husband and I love going to interesting restaurants and we found a couple of great ones in the heart of old Montreal. One was in an ancient stone building - we had a window seat that looked out onto a courtyard and with the snow falling during the meal it was like a fairytale land! The food was great too - it was the first time I ever had sherbet to cleanse my palate between courses. Hubby and I went to Japan a couple of years ago and found it pretty much perfect. We travelled by train for the most part and stayed a little over 2 weeks. Favourite place in Japan was the spa town of Yufuin. So relaxing there and the onsens are beautiful. Close second was Takayama. The history and culture there is well preserved and immensely impressive. We haven't been to Alaska but we certainly do want to go there. Sounds like a wonderful place to see. My sister's eldest daughter worked in the Yukon one summer and loved it there (she was doing clothes designing for a local business in Whitehorse. BTW: we also have been to your fair isle. Spent a rainy but fun 2 weeks in Ireland about 15 years ago. My husband's family roots are in Ireland but he doesn't have any direct family there now. We just booted around by bus and did all the touristy things. :-)) |
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Post by ellie on Feb 5, 2017 17:55:48 GMT
Lol Roverpup. It's hard to find a time in Ireland when it isn't raining! Well that's not strictly true but we do get a LOT of rain.
I would highly recommend Alaska as a place to visit. Don't think I'd like to live there but it's fascinating to explore. We were there during the time of year when it stays light until well after Midnight. Bit disorientating at first but we got used to it.
Yukon was fascinating too. I adore Canada in general. Have been to The Yukon, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City and Montreal. Quebec was a long time ago though so I'm looking forward to going back.
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Post by roverpup on Feb 5, 2017 20:51:37 GMT
My first trip EVER to Europe (loooong way from Hawaii) was to London for Hamlet. This wonderfully coincided with Ai Wei Wei's largest exhibit outside of China (google him if you don't know him--very courageous Chinese dissident). Also took in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night--the staging and acting blew me away. And, of course, Harry Potter. Thoroughly enjoyed the little of London that we saw in 1-1/2 weeks. Too bad about Brexit . . . but then . . . I'm stuck with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, which surely must be worse. Hawaii - have always wanted to visit there!!! Maybe some day - sigh. Was your trip to London to see Hamlet the Cumberbatch Hamlet? Our first trip to Europe was to see the UK too - over 39 years ago! We went up to Scotland too in that trip and even though it was summer it was really cold (and that is coming from a Canadian - so I know COLD!!!). It was August and I had to buy a winter woolen coat (I tell you I just HAD to buy it! LOL!). But still we had fun tromping around the hills and bumping into the sheep. I also remember going into Harrod's and buying a gorgeous top and skirt for a reasonable price and then in a week's time I went back thinking I would pick up something else and suddenly all the items were like triple the cost and I couldn't afford anything. Unbeknownst to me the first time when I went in, it was during one of their biggest sale periods - the second time the sale was over!! I had to settle for a very small bag of candy. But they were really good candies! Hah! :-)) |
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Post by leihalia on Feb 6, 2017 9:03:52 GMT
Yes, roverpup, for the Cumberbatch Hamlet. A wonderful friend knew I was determined to go and he bought me red level membership in the Barbicon. Oh my. Your Montreal trip was lovely. I love heavy falling snow when I'm warm and safe on the inside.
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Post by roverpup on Feb 6, 2017 22:58:20 GMT
Oh, you lucky, lucky person leihalia! If you haven't had a chance to share your experience and you would be willing I love for you to post in the theatre section of the board and tell us all about how it was to see him on stage!
I have had a few trip that involved snow - one other one was a trip to Chicago during March when they had one of the worst snowstorms for the city at that time. It was so bad that after we saw the Second City performance we got stuck in the snow in a cab and had to get out and pitch in to help the cabbie get loose!! But everyone was in such good spirits that it all seems so funny now!
That same trip we went to one of the smallest venues for a play while traveling that we have ever done - it was for a performance of Prelude to Love and was performed in a church basement. Funny thing is on that trip within days of the storm it was almost all melted away and the weather was sunny and bright. Ahhhh, March weather!
:-))
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Post by Hannah Lee on Feb 7, 2017 3:13:06 GMT
We even got to fly to a location within the Arctic Circle in a tiny propellor plane. Felt a bit like Indiana Jones. I hope your pilot wasn't named Douglas Richardson tealin.tumblr.com/image/105561522898 It sounds like you've had some wonderful travel experiences. I'd love to get to Alaska some day. I've got a friend who lived up there for awhile when he was younger, and he says it really is a beautiful and special place. |
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