slidergirl

Cynthia - give me a hint about where you stayed in Barcelona. And is there a way to give a clue about where you look for cruises without angering the CC police??? I have to go to the State Liquor Store before Sunday and pick up a bottle of Cava!!! I don't know how to cook any Spanish food so I guess I'll just drink that lovely Spanish sparkling beverage 😸

I'm talking with supplement. Unfortunately the 21st I will still be at the resort, buttoning it up for the off season. I saw Voyager. I'm just looking at TAs because it could be as inexpensive as doing it and paying for airfare back after the vacation. My poor hamster wheel...

I forgot to mention this: on a FB group for woolx & wool& clothes, someone mentioned that a "spritzer" made of unflavored vodka and a little water sprayed on your wool things will refresh them after a hot day or you actually stunk up your pits. Then, a bunch of people said they knew this and did it. Well, I never knew it! Sound like a good travel tip!! Hey, there's a cheap TA on Royal Caribbean on the Explorer (not the newest boat) that would fit in my post-Winter schedule. Finishes in Barcelona. Has me twitching. If anyone sees a TA that embarks AFTER 4/21 (that's my last day of work) and is under $1000 for 1 person, let me know!!! Finishing in Barelona preferable, but I'd do anywhere and then fly/train to Spain.

I'm thinking "bigly" about it! Last time I was there, I was the 3rd wheel to my one BFF and her DH. So, I went where they wanted to go and they definitely eat not very adventurously. I don't call my self a foodie, but I do like to sample all the variety a place has and try to include one place that has good reviews. We stayed at the Continental, which is right on Las Ramblas. I wouldn't stay there again unless I couldn't find another place. Not my kind of place... I have some owners at my condos that do the KISS thing now that we got rid of condo-wide service and each has to do their own. Man, I get soooo many complaints when a guest can't watch a channel! We had a couple who are both sportscasters on national networks and the hubby went ballistic when he couldn't watch ESPN. If you have a smart TV, you might be able to use/subscribe to CNN like you do Netfix, etc. Not sure, but you can try. In the meantime, I could add more photos of my Jose Andres dinner so you could see the food you missed 😉

Yes, I watched it. He just gushes happiness. His daughters are very good, too. Man, the food at El Builli and Dis Fru Tar looked soooooo good. It reminded me of the 15 course (+3 dessert courses) dinner that I did at his Bazaar restaurant in 2018. I now see that he uses all his training at El Builli as inspiration for that tasting menu and the tapas he serves there. I had that croquetta there - OMG, it really is as good as they were making it look as they ate. My mouth was watering the entire hour of the show! One thing at the very end that I picked up on because I'm reading his book now: at the last meal at the vineyard, they were all standing at the table and starting to eat those luscious onions. He quietly said to his daughters "longer tables." That is one of his mantras. To feed more people we need "longer tables." The mantra has expanded to be "build longer tables, not higher walls." And, one of the times they were on the vespas to go to breakfast, he said "Bon dia". Now, I know "Bom Dia" is portugese and "Buenos Dias" is spanish. I discovered that "Bon dia" is Catlan!! Definitely made me want to go back to Barcelona to eat (and go see the interior of Sagrada Familia) 😸 This series going to be dangerous to my pocketbook. On my CNN feed, right after this show they had Stanley in Naples again. A nice dessert! I broke out an aperol spritz to drink while I watched. Then, there was this deal on a bunch of nutjobs who are into this conspiracy that JFK and JFK Jr are alive and in hiding, or the former pres is Jr, - all sorts of bizarre stuff. But it was very interesting, if not disturbing. Two of the items from the tasting: 2 Olives, one regular, one done Ferran Adria style and Jose's Taco, jamon iberico and American Caviar.

Purple - good to hear that DH is progressing well. Does he have "medical-looking" cane? If he's going to using one for awhile, I'd surprise him with a spiffy-looking cane. Back when I had my shattered leg and into rehab, I bought a cool carbon fiber folding cane. Had an ice tip on it for winter. I still have it - when I have a boo-boo and do an ankle sprain, I'l bring it out. Ladies - backcountry.com is having a flash sale with some really good pricing on goodies. If you are looking for vests, jackets, pants, dresses - have a look. Looking forward to watching Jose Andres & Family tonight. I believe it is Barcelona. Another cold night and morning. 52 in the house. Overnight, I just unzipped my lightweight Cotopaxi sleeping bag and laid it on the bed. Slept straight through the night once I did fell asleep. OOTD: hoodie sweatshirt and joggers. If I go and sit out in the sun, I'll switch to a long sleeve T.

Joggers just don't look right with my legs. I tried different types and leg volume, but nope. I really wanted to like them. So, they are relegated to the "do not wear in public" pile...

I'd be living in the leggings on the cruise. Joggers look horrible on me. Since I wear them probably 80% of the time at work (a small, 34-unit, privately-owned luxury condo complex) I'd have no issue taking them. I took them on my April Alaska cruise and was nice and comfy. I can go super casual or even upscale with them. It's all about what I wear on top and the accessories!

It was down to 32 overnight. I love these days - cold enough to do all my blankets but then still Tshirts in the afternoon. FedEx me some of that bread!!!

Lois - wow!! You're a cruisin' machine! You should have a great time helping to break in the new ship! Cynthia - have you tried other browsers to get tickets? I've heard that sometimes Safari won't work right, Chrome won't work, Firefox, DuckDuckGo, etc. After Venice, where are you heading? First day of Fall! It was 52 in the house this morning. I refuse to put my heater on yet! I just wrap up in my fleece throw until it warms up. Supposed to get to the mid 70s outside so it'll be OK. Yes - I was going to mention the Jose Andres show starts Sunday on CNN. Looking forward to it. This week I picked up the World Central Kitchen Cookbook by him. It's much more than a cookbook. It is also about the WCK, it's origins, it's mission, places they've helped. A good read. And, his profits from the book go back into WCK. If you've never been to one of his restaurants, go to one if you are nearby. So far, my favorite was the tasting menu I did at The Bazaar in California. It was pricey, but so good and playful. If I go to Las Vegas, I'l go to one of his there. TJ's - I'm not a fan of all things pumpkin, but there are some favorites. I don't like pumpkin yogurt so I'm not sure I'd go for the ice cream cones. I think I like the spices more than the pumpkin. I do have to get down there though - haven't been for about a month. I'm out of those root beer bars! OOTD: back to my yellow Laguna Surf hoodie and a pair of Vuori joggers. I do have to go pick up a prescription sometime today so I will switch over to jeans and a Tshirt. So happy to find that my jeans that I acquired from my Italian Villa owner still fit after a summer of elastic waists and already-too-big denim shorts.

The only time I do a HoHo is when I'm not feeling well and just want to get out and around in the fresh air and I'm not worried about what I see/don't see. I don't think one is better than the other in Rome - they follow each one it seemed. The issue is finding an open bus when you go to get back on - sometimes you must wait for several to go past. I remember long lines of people waiting at the Vatican City stop - more than could even fit on one bus. And, as Bruce said, they don't actually get close to many of the sights that a tourist would consider a "must see".

Be sure to also carry about 260EU to pay the fine...

I'm an unscented soap/detergent household. I've had some really bad shampoos, too. Deodorants, too. I always take a little wedge of unscented soap with me on trips. Oh - gladiolas - I knew there was another flower my mom could tolerate. Our town florist had his greenhouses/store behind my grandma's house. He always knew to keep out lillies and add gladiolas to anything for my mom!]

I'll be waiting for the first person to complain that the crab and chili spaghetti didn't come with "chili" (aka that red beans and meat stuff). 😂

I know many of us put our passports in the hotel safe and maybe carry a photocopy. Just a head up that the police in Rome have stepped up their random passport checks, especially around the train and bus stations and on busses and trains. Some reported getting checked around tourist attractions. As per the law, they expect to have the actual passport handed to them and, from the episodes I've read on my one Italy travel site, they don't take the photocopy and you will get fined. Not to say that you will get stopped, just a heads up. I've seen many more people mentioning the stops over the past month than I have seen ever.

Maestro Bocelli sings this song in concerts, especially in the US, because it is one of the few "Italian" songs that Americans know, He does the song to the visual backdrop of Enzo Caruso, video/photos of the area around Napoli, When I saw him in concert last summer in Italy, he did not sing it. But, when I saw him in the US in the Fall, he did sing it. He probably doesn't sing Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" or the theme from "The Godfather" in Italy, At least he didn't at my concert, but did in the US.

It gets hard sometimes. Certain ones just set me off. And lilies - they are the worst! I had to tell my Front Desk Manager once to please tell the florist to not put lilies in out Desk arrangements - I had to keep leaving work because I would get the worst migraines. Two fragrances that I could tolerate IF applied lightly - the original Lauren by Ralph Lauren in the maroon bottle and Angel by Thierry Muglier. I did inherit this problem from my mom. No perfumes anywhere. The only flowers she could tolerate were daisies.

Since my Alaska cruise this past April/May was going to be easy, transportation-wise, I decided to do what I see many on here do and packed a big bag to be checked and my one backpack. Usually I travel multi-mode (trains, busses, airplanes) so I go with a carryon-size bag and a backpack for a month. This time it was just car - plane - hotel - ship - plane - car so no problems. I still kept the big bag to 35 lbs. I ended up wearing maybe half the clothes. I could have gone for 6 months!!

Same as the others. I bought a pair some years ago to wear for work. Just didn't work with the very minimal support they had.

I had no problems with her reindeer hotdog back in May. She was a very nice person. Food poisoning is a small, localized issue. Because one person may have had a gastro issue with something, no need to hyperbolize it and paint the business with a broad brush. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what causes gastro issues - breakfast, milk/cream in the coffee, bad water, etc.

Or give those of us with fragrance allergies (I get migraines) a break and go fragrance-free for the trip! 😉

Is this a trip on one of their barges or a larger ship? I did a week last year on CroisiEurope's barge on the Rhone Canal in Southern France. LOVED IT!!! It was 12 women (a company chartered for us). We were very casual in dress. Out walking and exploring every day, so it was Tshirts & shorts/capris or cool sleeveless dresses. For dinner, we were still shorts/capris/pants but a clean shirt or dress, in between casual and "country club" casual. We were out on the deck drinking, either in the hot tub or next to it in a chair. Usually we just threw a Tshirt over the bathing suit and wrapped the towel around. Yes, the luggage space was very limited. My roommate and I had a carry on-size each and it was hard going. I let her take the little space in the closet and I kept my things in my bag. Her bag was squashed under the desk. Now, if you are on one of the larger river ships, I'd say more country club on board and dress casual for walking around. hopefully the cabin is a tad larger...

Do you have phone hotspot? That has saved me with my in-house modem issues. When it acts up, I just switch my MacBook to use my phone and off I go. Saves me from having to read and type on the phone. If you are going to hunt for some leggings for the winter, Woolx just stocked some Stellas in 2 new colors, bark melange and moss melange. Look like nice neutral changes from the usual black, navy and charcoal. OOTD: another 30 degree temp change day. 58 in the house at 9am, cooler than that outside, then in the low 70s in the afternoon. So sweatshirt & joggers in the AM, changing to Tshirt & capri leggings in the PM. Supposed to be sunny for the next 5 days so I may get some lounging time outside.

Cynthia - I was going to ask what trip this one was going to be. I could only think about you going to Rome in November. The cruise sounds wonderful. Good time of year, too. My vacation "hamster wheel" is starting to spin up for next Spring/Summer. The end of my season will be April 21, so I'm thinking of doing another May trip. I'm torn right now between going back to Italy and visiting the far North (Piedmont, Aosta) or the far South (Puglia, Calabria) which I've not been to yet. The other option in my brain is going to Spain. I always wanted to go back to Barcelona for a few days. The interior of Sagrada Familia was not finished ( plaster and plastic all over) and I'd love to see that. My friends had already been to Park Guell so I didn't get a chance to go there. Spend a beach day on Barcelonetta or take the train to Sitges. I'd like to visit Madrid, Seville, Toledo. If nothing else, this keeps me occupied with research. Add in a cruise somehow, too. Just started hailing here. Small pea-size. Wasn't expecting that. OOTD: my yellow Laguna Surf Co. hoodie sweatshirt and my pink Vuori joggers. A little on the cool side this morning and not getting much warmer.

I think everyone needs to live in a small port/resort town for a season and an off-season to get the effects of having all those people show up. I live in a resort town. It used to be basically a winter resort town and we all learned to live with the crowd when we went from 5,000 people to 30,000 people. Restaurants did the "locals rate" or 2-for 1 meals to compensate us for enduring. We grew into a year-round resort town. What used to take me 10 minutes for my commute into town now takes 20 minutes regularly and 45 minutes in the winter. No more specials. I haven't been out to a sit-down dinner in the winter for years. I can't even afford to go shopping on Main Street anymore. But, there are still a couple of days here and there that are OK. And, I love the surrounding area, although even the mountain campgrounds require reservations months in advance now. I worked with a kid who came to my one resort hotel to be trained as a Butler at the new St. Regis in Venice (the first one, not the current one). He said Venice was now a difficult place to live. Expensive for the locals who provided all the services for the tourists but little for the locals.