After a bit of bad navigation on my part and Bikemap I’m in for the day after ~135km, it was supposed to be 118
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After a bit of bad navigation on my part and Bikemap I’m in for the day after ~135km, it was supposed to be 118
The Las Vegas Strip. I don’t gamble; I just like to go for the food.😅
Only as expensive as you want to make it. On my latest trip I spent almost $150 at Hell's Kitchen, but a whole buffet at Wicked Spoon was only $45.
Vegas is okay, but I'm biased. I live there. 😁
What's best here is local's discounts at the buffets and major restaurants. Other than that, we tend to avoid the tourist trap.
What people don't tend to realize about Vegas is that once you get underneath the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas Blvd...
It's a college town: The Univ. of Nevada - Las Vegas is across the street from the airport. Once you get underneath the glamor of it being a college town...
It's a retirement community. there are 30 different golf courses in the area, plus at least 10 different retirement communities around those golf courses.
So adult playground to college/university playground to arguably the world's biggest retirement community. Plus the fact that you can't enter or leave the state without passing through or by a casino. It is exciting here, but I do miss the quiet and serenity of the midwest.
BL.
It's great value for money. Here are just a few of the items I got on my last trip there. Definitely would recommend for their breakfast. All very fresh food.
Just spent a couple days at beautiful cabin in the woods in Northwest Illinois. The changing of the leaves, the babbling of the creek, and the amazing sunrises off the deck. Man, I needed that! It was perfect - until we had to drive home through Chicago...
This... This is why I miss the midwest. California and Vegas are great for what the have, but it is that type of scenery and part of the country I really miss. I can't wait to move back home to Nebraska and have this for myself again!
Flyover country, my backside!
BL.
Athens appears to be a city with a nice downtown. New Years in an Athens Syntagma Square was crowded and fun.
As part of our Athens-Istanbul Cruise, we are doing a pre-excursion for several days before the boat departs. About 45km West of Athens, we visited the ruin of Mycenae, a Bronze age (est 1700BC) settlement fortress. Most interesting is how much is accurately known about the rulers and history of this area.
Some (much?) of its history is based on Greek Mythology, not that a name like the fabled city of Homer’s King Agamemnon and near the ruin, an impressive tomb that was rediscovered by a German archeologist in the late 19th Century, who coined this The Tomb of Agamemnon could be accurate. My impression is that the issue if it is to be described as such is confirmation or lack there of.
March of the Ancient Ones
As acknowledged by the tour guide and by reading some articles online, the name itself could be a case of idealized naming history. They know when the area was settled, but much of its history exists as Mythology, folk tales passed forward.
www.history.com
mythopedia.com
www.hup.harvard.edu
A pretty area…
As part of our Athens-Istanbul Cruise, we are doing a pre-excursion for several days before the boat departs. About 45km West of Athens, we visited the ruin of Mycenae, a Bronze age (est 1700BC) settlement fortress. Most interesting is how much is accurately known about the rulers and history of this area.
Some (much?) of its history is based on Greek Mythology, not that a name like the fabled city of Homer’s King Agamemnon and near the ruin, an impressive tomb that was rediscovered by a German archeologist in the late 19th Century, who coined this The Tomb of Agamemnon could be accurate. My impression is that the issue if it is to be described as such is confirmation or lack there of.
March of the Ancient Ones
As acknowledged by the tour guide and by reading some articles online, the name itself could be a case of idealized naming history. They know when the area was settled, but much of its history exists as Mythology, folk tales passed forward.
Mycenae ‑ Civilization, Greece & Lion Gate | HISTORY
Mycenae is the site of an ancient city in Peloponnese, Greece. The center of a Bronze Age civilization, Mycenae also featured prominently in Greek mythology.
www.history.com
Agamemnon – Mythopedia
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, was a general and hero who led the Greek army to victory in the Trojan War. He was later murdered by his wife Clytemnestra.
The Tomb of Agamemnon — Harvard University Press
Mycenae, the fabled city of Homer’s King Agamemnon, still stands in a remote corner of mainland Greece. Revered in antiquity as the pagan world’s most tangible connection to the heroes of the Trojan War, Mycenae leapt into the headlines in the late nineteenth century when Heinrich Schliemann...
A pretty area…
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On 2Jan, we drove 2.5 hours to Temple of Apollo (Delphi) in central Greece on the Southern slopes of Mt. Parnassus, high near the Gods. An intriguing location if you like Oracles. There were many locations devoted to Apollo, god of music, harmony, light, healing. Oracles occupied the most important and prominent position in the Delphic Panhellenic Sanctuary.
This site dates to the 20th century BC. Pythia, a positional title, the high priestess of the Sanctuary, “emerged pre-eminent by the end of the 7th century BC and continued to be consulted until the late 4th century AD. During this period, the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was among the most powerful women of the classical world”, who breathed vapors from a rock chasm and while possessed by Apollo, possibly experiencing epileptic seizures, possibly speaking gibberish that had to be interpreted by other priestesses, spoke enigmatic (enigma- puzzle, riddle, mysterious) prophecies, glimpses of the future, some of them true, such as the reported prediction of the Trojan War.
My favorite Oracle was in the Matrix who told a false prophecy while baking cookies.
Before
After, mostly foundations
My image
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
3Jan, visited the Acropolis and Parthenon, both good sight seeing and we had a friendly and knowledgeable guide.
Of interest, I always wondered why many old statutes of people were missing their noses. Turns out there are several reasons and in this case a reason was when Christians showed up, thought these “Pagan” statues were blasphemous so disfigured them including crosses carved in their foreheads. Also when fig leaves started appearing, covering private parts.
Interesting camera glitch, an Oracle Photo?
Temple of Athena, Acropolis
There were many locations devoted to Apollo, god of music, harmony, light, healing. Oracles occupied the most important and prominent position in the Delphic Panhellenic Sanctuary.This site dates to the 20th century BC. Pythia, a positional title, the high priestess of the Sanctuary, “emerged pre-eminent by the end of the 7th century BC and continued to be consulted until the late 4th century AD. During this period, the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was among the most powerful women of the classical world”, who breathed vapors from a rock chasm and while possessed by Apollo, possibly experiencing epileptic seizures, possibly speaking gibberish that had to be interpreted by other priestesses, spoke enigmatic (enigma- puzzle, riddle, mysterious) prophecies, glimpses of the future, some of them true, such as the reported prediction of the Trojan War.
My favorite Oracle was in the Matrix who told a false prophecy while baking cookies.
Before
After, mostly foundations
Temple of Apollo (Delphi) - Wikipedia
Pythia - Wikipedia
Pythia Prophecies
The soul purpose of the Oracle of Delphi was to share a glimpse of the future. In her time, the Pythia offered several prophecies- all of them vague, misleading, and in some cases: true. It...
pythiaofdelphi.weebly.com
3Jan, visited the Acropolis and Parthenon, both good sight seeing and we had a friendly and knowledgeable guide.
Of interest, I always wondered why many old statutes of people were missing their noses. Turns out there are several reasons and in this case a reason was when Christians showed up, thought these “Pagan” statues were blasphemous so disfigured them including crosses carved in their foreheads. Also when fig leaves started appearing, covering private parts.
Interesting camera glitch, an Oracle Photo?
Temple of Athena, Acropolis
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Thank you, @Huntn, for sharing these shots with us.
It seems a wonderful vacation, - my mother visited all of the places you have mentioned - and I hope that you continue to enjoy it.
It seems a wonderful vacation, - my mother visited all of the places you have mentioned - and I hope that you continue to enjoy it.
Some impressive panels from the Parthenon now kept in the museum.
Yesterday we visited Heraklion, Crete, home of an ancient BC religion (Minoan) that worshiped Mother Earth Gaia. Because of Paganism, women held power in their civilization. I’ve noticed that when I visit a lot of museums with a guide, I get fatigued at the river of information that flows over me, so we usually buy a book/booklet for later review.
Snakes are good, they keep the mice and rats out of your house,
and warn of impending earthquakes when they flee.
Snake Priestess, breasts bared, a sign of fertility.
Wall panel depicting bull games.
Yesterday we visited Heraklion, Crete, home of an ancient BC religion (Minoan) that worshiped Mother Earth Gaia. Because of Paganism, women held power in their civilization. I’ve noticed that when I visit a lot of museums with a guide, I get fatigued at the river of information that flows over me, so we usually buy a book/booklet for later review.
Snakes are good, they keep the mice and rats out of your house,
and warn of impending earthquakes when they flee.
Snake Priestess, breasts bared, a sign of fertility.
Wall panel depicting bull games.
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Port of Kusadasi, Turkey, nearby ancient city of Ephesus, a very large and impressive ruin in the process of being restored. In earthquake prone areas theynhave a tendency to fall down.
View attachment 634
View attachment 634
Original Trojan Horse. 🙃
Canakkale, Turkey (Troy Archeological Bronze Age Site)- This was an interesting historical site, but mostly walls and foundations. The same German archeologist (Schliemann) who is credited with digging out Mycena and the associated Agememnon Tomb. This site is not nearly as grand as Ephesus, but knowing Brad Pitt did some pretend fighting here made all the difference.
Artist Rendition
Areal view UNESCO Site
Ramp up to city-my image
Viking Agean Cruise, Post Vacation Part 1
Reserved this 8 months prior, what can go wrong? *
Ten changes to flight itinerary over this period, with seemingly weekly alerts requiring several periods of over an hour on the phone to reconcile. Good luck to you, if your are not a Medallion Member (frequent flyer status) and trying to communicate over the phone. I mostly fly on the Sky Team Alliance- Delta Airlines, Air France, and KLM. Of the 3 airlines, virtually every change that had to be mitigated came from Air France or KLM. If I have the choice, I will choose Delta over the other partners every time.
*Disclaimer: I am a Delta Airline retiree, who lived in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St.Paul) for 30 years.
With the help of a magnificent woman, person of color, wheelchair captain (for my wife who does not walk well or fast over long distances), we achieved what should have been impossible as she flew though the airport, with me in tow, though all the secret corridors and multiple lifts, to the front of the passport line. We were the last 2 people boarded with minutes to spare.
Of note, when on the aircraft after landing in Paris, the Air France flight attendant went though the airplane and told the people who were going to use wheelchairs to remain seated and deplane last! I looked at my wife and said NFW, we would not make the connection. Being among the the first off and using a wheelchair was what made it work for us.
Minneapolis-St Paul Airport remains our favorite. It’s not huge (a plus), but mostly it’s a joy to travel though.
Reserved this 8 months prior, what can go wrong? *
Ten changes to flight itinerary over this period, with seemingly weekly alerts requiring several periods of over an hour on the phone to reconcile. Good luck to you, if your are not a Medallion Member (frequent flyer status) and trying to communicate over the phone. I mostly fly on the Sky Team Alliance- Delta Airlines, Air France, and KLM. Of the 3 airlines, virtually every change that had to be mitigated came from Air France or KLM. If I have the choice, I will choose Delta over the other partners every time.
*Disclaimer: I am a Delta Airline retiree, who lived in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St.Paul) for 30 years.
- IMO, both Paris and Amsterdam airports are currently ungainly messes from an operations standpoint, especially Amsterdam. If they are your final stop this is better than trying make a tight connection. In Amsterdam, we had a 3 hour connection and spent most of that time navigating the long terminals, without cart assistance, not to be seen, and standing in the passport check line for over an hour, with 3 of 8 processing windows open for business.
- Never accept less than a 2 hour (3 is better) layover in these airports, if you expect to make your connection.
- If there is a choice, choose Delta over the partners. Most if not all the Delta airplanes are new/newish, and feature new generous electronic entertainment with personal screens. Both KLM and Air France run 737-800 cattle car configurations domestically in Europe. The Air France aircraft did not even have wifi onboard.
- If flying to Greece, any direct flight out of the US to Greece is better than going though Paris or Amsterdam. Delta flies direct to Athens out of JFK.
With the help of a magnificent woman, person of color, wheelchair captain (for my wife who does not walk well or fast over long distances), we achieved what should have been impossible as she flew though the airport, with me in tow, though all the secret corridors and multiple lifts, to the front of the passport line. We were the last 2 people boarded with minutes to spare.
Of note, when on the aircraft after landing in Paris, the Air France flight attendant went though the airplane and told the people who were going to use wheelchairs to remain seated and deplane last! I looked at my wife and said NFW, we would not make the connection. Being among the the first off and using a wheelchair was what made it work for us.
Minneapolis-St Paul Airport remains our favorite. It’s not huge (a plus), but mostly it’s a joy to travel though.
Viking Agean Cruise, Post Vacation Part 1
Reserved this 8 months prior, what can go wrong? *
Ten changes to flight itinerary over this period, with seemingly weekly alerts requiring several periods of over an hour on the phone to reconcile. Good luck to you, if your are not a Medallion Member (frequent flyer status) and trying to communicate over the phone. I mostly fly on the Sky Team Alliance- Delta Airlines, Air France, and KLM. Of the 3 airlines, virtually every change that had to be mitigated came from Air France or KLM. If I have the choice, I will choose Delta over the other partners every time.
*Disclaimer: I am a Delta Airline retiree, who lived in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St.Paul) for 30 years.
After being beat down with changes, we went originally from 2 legs over, 2 legs back, to 3 legs over, 3 legs back. The icing on the cake coming back was a 65min layover, arriving 10 min late, in Paris to navigate multiple terminals and the dreaded passport control.
- IMO, both Paris and Amsterdam airports are currently ungainly messes from an operations standpoint, especially Amsterdam. If they are your final stop this is better than trying make a tight connection. In Amsterdam, we had a 3 hour connection and spent most of that time navigating the long terminals, without cart assistance, not to be seen, and standing in the passport check line for over an hour, with 3 of 8 processing windows open for business.
- Never accept less than a 2 hour (3 is better) layover in these airports, if you expect to make your connection.
- If there is a choice, choose Delta over the partners. Most if not all the Delta airplanes are new/newish, and feature new generous electronic entertainment with personal screens. Both KLM and Air France run 737-800 cattle car configurations domestically in Europe. The Air France aircraft did not even have wifi onboard.
- If flying to Greece, any direct flight out of the US to Greece is better than going though Paris or Amsterdam. Delta flies direct to Athens out of JFK.
With the help of a magnificent woman, person of color, wheelchair captain (for my wife who does not walk well or fast over long distances), we achieved what should have been impossible as she flew though the airport, with me in tow, though all the secret corridors and multiple lifts, to the front of the passport line. We were the last 2 people boarded with minutes to spare.
Of note, when on the aircraft after landing in Paris, the Air France flight attendant went though the airplane and told the people who were going to use wheelchairs to remain seated and deplane last! I looked at my wife and said NFW, we would not make the connection. Being among the the first off and using a wheelchair was what made it work for us.
Minneapolis-St Paul Airport remains our favorite. It’s not huge (a plus), but mostly it’s a joy to travel though.
Before I read this... I just mentioned Viking cruises in the other thread. How was the actual cruise!!??
Next spots for us, England and Germany, Munich (Oktoberfest) and then off to Berlin.
Headed to Portugal in late may, and then off to London to visit with some friends.
Told myself I wouldn't be heading back to Europe so soon, as we were just there a few months back. It takes at least 24 hours to travel from Hawaii to Europe, so I am steeling myself for it.
Told myself I wouldn't be heading back to Europe so soon, as we were just there a few months back. It takes at least 24 hours to travel from Hawaii to Europe, so I am steeling myself for it.
Sorry for the delay in response, just noticed this reply. The cruise was excellent as usual, world class sights. This was our third Viking Criuse, we loved it, river and ocean cruises are different beasts, but both excellent.
If you made me choose, the best of the three was the Amsterdam to Budapest 2 week cruise down some wonderful rivers with tons to see every day, amazing. The other two were Ocean cruises this Athens to Istanbul, I strongly recommend the Athens pre-excursion and if you have the stamina, the Istanbul post-excursion. The other was Barcelona to Barcelona with a loop around the Western Med. There maybe other cruise lines just as good, but my impression is that Viking is at the top of the pack.
However what I noticed this time is that at 69 (my wife is 64), flying was a hastle, very long days over and back and it took me an unusual number of days to recover from jet lag. In one case an incredibly tight connection in Paris that we only made because my wife was in a wheel chair being pushed at amazing speeds, to the front of each line, up secret elevators. That attendant got a 10 euro tip.
Un-comfortable in the Europe domestic flights, unless you spurge on business class (we did not), the flights in Europe on 737-800s and an A-320, both were cattle cars packed like sardines.The A-330 in Comfort Plus across the Atlantic to and from was worth the money and comfortable enough, but not the luxury of laying down at a hugely inflated price Imo.
Note, European airlines no longer seem to offer a Comfort Plus class, they have something (premium economy?) almost as expensive as business class. We mostly travel with Delta Sky Team Alliance, and neither Air France or KLM offer Comfort Plus. Amsterdam was an understaffed mess, we needed the 3 hr layover, just to get though passport control in time. At that point wife was not in a wheel chair with front of the line privileges. We know now,
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However what I noticed this time is that at 69 (my wife is 64), flying was a hastle, very long days over and back. In one case an incredibly tight connection in Paris that we only made because my wife was in a wheel chair being pushed at amazing speeds, to the front of each line, up secret elevators. That attendant got a 10 euro tip.
You're just too used to sitting in the very front of the plane.
Yes, it is a hassle. I hate flying because of it. But I do it because it is the most efficient way to get from A-B.
As for cruises, we are now booked on the new RCCL ship, Icon of the Seas for an April 27, 2024 departure. I have been wanting to go on one of these new jumbo ships for a while and we are finally going to get to do it. (Although I am sure my MIL will find a way to keep us from going).
The sailing will be over my daughter's birthday and will go to Roa'tan so she can meet some of her cousins. Looking forward to it. As someone who cruised almost yearly, and hasn't since 2019, hoping nothing gets in the way this time.
I hope you have a good time! I’ll say one thing, Imo, the smaller the ship the better, less people, less time to load and unload, less crowded, this Viking ship held about 950, and had a pool. Dining was always comfortable, so I’ll be interested in what you think of the jumbo ship.You're just too used to sitting in the very front of the plane.
Yes, it is a hassle. I hate flying because of it. But I do it because it is the most efficient way to get from A-B.
As for cruises, we are now booked on the new RCCL ship, Icon of the Seas for an April 27, 2024 departure. I have been wanting to go on one of these new jumbo ships for a while and we are finally going to get to do it. (Although I am sure my MIL will find a way to keep us from going).
The sailing will be over my daughter's birthday and will go to Roa'tan so she can meet some of her cousins. Looking forward to it. As someone who cruised almost yearly, and hasn't since 2019, hoping nothing gets in the way this time.