Vacation Destinations!

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I am a traveling man! In my short amount of time living I have traveled extensively. My best holidays were hiring a car and traveling the Tuscan region of Northern Central Italy. From Como to Florence in Winter. Hitting Milan and Genoa on the way down to Sienna and Pisa and then across to Florence. The food was spectacular and I took in a few soccer games as well. 

What was your excellent vacation? 

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Hawaii. Specifically Kauai. I went by myself- basically I said I needed a vacation, looked for a time someone could go with me, and everyone said no. So I went anyway. And it was one of the most liberating experiences in my traveling life. No schedule, no squabbling over what to do or where to eat. The only thing that I didn’t like was having no one to share driving with, but it’s not like it’s a huge island. 

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

South India.  I have a base in Banglore where I guest lecture, and travel from there.  

My mom took me a cruise through the Mediterranean Sea, so only a day in each port/country; but I was fascinated by Lisbon.  Also a city on 7 hills.   Would love to go back and really explore it, but.... I spend all my time going to back to India LOL.

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2 hours ago, JBudd said:

South India.  I have a base in Banglore where I guest lecture, and travel from there.  

My mom took me a cruise through the Mediterranean Sea, so only a day in each port/country; but I was fascinated by Lisbon.  Also a city on 7 hills.   Would love to go back and really explore it, but.... I spend all my time going to back to India LOL.

Never been to India but I have hit the Seychelles, Mauritius, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Took 3 months off. Essentially back packed it rough. Loved the food scene, especially Thailand and Vietnam. Seychelles curries are amazing. 

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Specializes in kids.
On 2/26/2021 at 9:13 AM, Rose_Queen said:

Hawaii. Specifically Kauai. I went by myself- basically I said I needed a vacation, looked for a time someone could go with me, and everyone said no. So I went anyway. And it was one of the most liberating experiences in my traveling life. No schedule, no squabbling over what to do or where to eat. The only thing that I didn’t like was having no one to share driving with, but it’s not like it’s a huge island. 

Liberating is the word! I visited 2 different friends a few years ago (Liechtenstein and Switzerland) and added 3 days by myself to go to Italy. Trained to Zurich>Milan (got off at the wrong stop and had to make an adjustment -speaking NO Italian!!)) to Firenze! Glorious city! The Uffizi, David...  I could go on for days. Three nites and trained it back to Milan, switched to Zurich, to the  local train to the airport, food shopped and navigated the shuttle to the Hotel! All by myself and it was amazing!

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.

Best driving vacation was going up 395 from So Cal to Tahoe.  It is so amazing, with the Sierras to the west, and the Owens Valley to the east, as you head north.  Stop by Bodie (some miles of dirt road to a preserved mining town), stop by Mammoth Lakes, stop by Bishop (Schatt's Bakery!), Mono Lake, June Lake Loop, dip into Yosemite "the back way" (an awesome place) --- we will do it again and again and never tire of it!

Have been to France three times.  First two times (20 yr ago), was just Paris (well, we took in Versailles too ;) ), as sil had a part-time job teaching there and visited family between teaching.  She rented an apartment and invited me to come along.  It was (as mentioned in a previous post) liberating, to take the Metro by myself, to see the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral, and the beautiful sights of Paris.   Two years ago we went again (sil had retired from teaching), landed in Paris, rented a car, and drove all over France, visiting her relatives and seeing the country.  It was a wonderful trip!  Went to the Lascaux caves, and saw other sights as we drove (even stayed in a condo overlooking Mont Blanc, and attended the La Roche Bluegrass Festival).  Such a memorable trip!

Another wonderful trip: cruise to Alaska!   Left from Seattle, and gone for a week, in September two years ago.  Beautiful, beautiful, amazing vistas and sights!  (and we brought instruments and met up with other musicians on the cruise, and played music when we weren't out sightseeing)!  One I would do again!

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40 minutes ago, dianah said:

Best driving vacation was going up 395 from So Cal to Tahoe.  It is so amazing, with the Sierras to the west, and the Owens Valley to the east, as you head north.  Stop by Bodie (some miles of dirt road to a preserved mining town), stop by Mammoth Lakes, stop by Bishop (Schatt's Bakery!), Mono Lake, June Lake Loop, dip into Yosemite "the back way" (an awesome place) --- we will do it again and again and never tire of it!

Have been to France three times.  First two times (20 yr ago), was just Paris (well, we took in Versailles too ? ), as sil had a part-time job teaching there and visited family between teaching.  She rented an apartment and invited me to come along.  It was (as mentioned in a previous post) liberating, to take the Metro by myself, to see the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral, and the beautiful sights of Paris.   Two years ago we went again (sil had retired from teaching), landed in Paris, rented a car, and drove all over France, visiting her relatives and seeing the country.  It was a wonderful trip!  Went to the Lascaux caves, and saw other sights as we drove (even stayed in a condo overlooking Mont Blanc, and attended the La Roche Bluegrass Festival).  Such a memorable trip!

You have to do the coast drive from Monaco to the Pyrenees, South of France. Stop off in Provence first though! 

Also the Amalfi coast drive. Very scary but incredible scenery! 

40 minutes ago, dianah said:

Another wonderful trip: cruise to Alaska!   Left from Seattle, and gone for a week, in September two years ago.  Beautiful, beautiful, amazing vistas and sights!  (and we brought instruments and met up with other musicians on the cruise, and played music when we weren't out sightseeing)!  One I would do again!

Did you do the inner passage from Victoria Island? If not, do it in Winter up to Anchorage. 

 

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.

Thanks for the tips, Curious!

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27 minutes ago, dianah said:

Thanks for the tips, Curious!

I'm not sure if it was somewhere outside of Nice but it was definitely on the way to the Pyrenees there's like a small peninsula, I remember now, there was an annual gypsy gathering and a bullfighting arena with some pretty awesome Roman ruins in great condition. Not Libyan good but really awesome. 

Also that area has incredible medieval Christian ruins and amazing towns. It's the real France down there. 

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.
2 hours ago, Curious1997 said:

I'm not sure if it was somewhere outside of Nice but it was definitely on the way to the Pyrenees there's like a small peninsula, I remember now, there was an annual gypsy gathering and a bullfighting arena with some pretty awesome Roman ruins in great condition. Not Libyan good but really awesome. 

Also that area has incredible medieval Christian ruins and amazing towns. It's the real France down there. 

We drove southeast of Paris (Rupt sur Moselle), then down to Mont Blanc, then across the country to the west (Verteuil sur Charente), then south to the caves of Lascaux, then back up through the Massif Central, to Paris.  Loved driving through the little towns and hamlets, past small copses of trees (owned by the nearby city, which was responsible for their upkeep).  Passing fields of sunflowers.  When we finally reached Paris again, being in the big city almost felt stifling.  Though I have enjoyed the many wonders of Paris in previous visits!!

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58 minutes ago, dianah said:

We drove southeast of Paris (Rupt sur Moselle), then down to Mont Blanc, then across the country to the west (Verteuil sur Charente), then south to the caves of Lascaux, then back up through the Massif Central, to Paris.  Loved driving through the little towns and hamlets, past small copses of trees (owned by the nearby city, which was responsible for their upkeep).  Passing fields of sunflowers.  When we finally reached Paris again, being in the big city almost felt stifling.  Though I have enjoyed the many wonders of Paris in previous visits!!

Yup. Lovely country. Is it Lyon at the base of the alps? Use to ski quite a bit in Chamonix and Valdisere and occasionally Gstaad when I had enough money. Bavaria in Germany is awesome! 

America is incredible geographically as well, except that we have the same people and same stores and cuisines everywhere except for New Orleans. I just loved for under $300 I could spend a weekend anywhere in Europe from London. 

Think about it. We go out for the weekend here and we easily spend $300 for two days and there with a flight, food and accommodation and a eurorail student pass, you literally could be anywhere within four hours. Those were the days! 

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.

European mass transit is AWESOME!!

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