slidergirl

Cynthia - good on you for finding those EF pants!! The vax cards - the local Walmart just gave me a new one when I got my first booster as the way the card was filled out for my original 2 took up the whole card. i just carry both. Supposed to have our first day of Balloon Fest, but the weather did not cooperate. At least the balloons did inflate so people could see them. Hope for better weather tomorrow. For my love of things pumpkin, I am not a fan of pumpkin spice coffee. I think I prefer my coffee "naked" with just cream. otherwise, they are too sweet for me. I found some leggings!! pact, one of the websites i frequent, had gray organic cotton ones on sale for $20. Couldn't beat that. if they don't work for work, I can wear them for just getting around town. OOTD: leggings & a long sleeve T for now - it's in the 40s but will get up to upper 60s later.

I was talking about my experience this summer. There were also a lot of mini mini dresses and skirts. When i was around in the Fall, yes, no shorts. not like here at home where people will wear their shorts and sandals in the middle of Winter when it's 10 degrees 😲

Don't have a kohls brick & mortar store, but i'll check the website.

During my month in France and italy this past july/August, I really didn't see any 'dress up' as i would see on a cruise ship. During the day, everyone was dressing to endure the 99+degree temps. in the evening i think i saw 2 types - those who were out all day and stopping for dinner and those who got home or to the hotel to change to comfortable casual clothes, Still lots of shorts, but plain t-shirts/polos and sleeveless tshirt dresses. I wasn't dining in the evenings at dives, either; i'd put on a Tshirt dress or my linen shorts with a sleeveless shirt and I never felt out of place. this was what I encountered in both big cities and little villages.

The oddities of contactless vs insert and signing/not signing is a function of 90% of US-issued cards. They are set up as 'Chip and Signature' primary rather then the 'chip and discrete pin' primary of European cards. Happens all the time at hotels I worked at. Even this summer, in France and Italy I had cases where i had to insert or I had to sign. Even used my iphone wallet and my apple watch wallet at some pkaces. With my cafds, i had no issues at the toll booths or self-serve gas stations. I just went with the flow.

Good morning all. Beautiful morning - have those low-hanging clouds over the hills and mountains, kind of like fog. Crisp air with that smell of rain. For now, it has taken away the sight and smell of all the smoke we had blown our way from the Western wildfires. i ran out to get my coffee again this morning. But i stopped at the market and picked up cream so i'm good to go at home again. it was hard paying $10 for a 20 oz nonfat latte and a scone!!! once in awhile it's ok, but not everyday!!! Fashion question; Besides that cable knit vest i'm hunting for, i'm also looking for a pair of dark/medium gray leggings. i want to wear them for work as i'm getting a little tired of black. i'm not a high-waist fan and that seems to be all I find. not looking for Athleta/lululemon/Sweaty Betty ones, but ones to wear out. if anyone has any ideas, let me know. OOTD: jeans and a black longsleeve tshirt. i'll change when it warms up.

Lois - I was just going to add that i received packages all the time for arriving guests, just put your name and "arriving <date>" When the guest arrives, i'd give the package. Works for within the US, but not sure how it would work internationally. i actually checked my roller on the flight back from Paris because i bought some knives. Just because it was a carryon does not mean it cannot be checked!! That's how I go.

The op said 'village' of marseilles, just wanted to let them know that Marseille is actually a city, the third largest of France... if you don't want to take that tour, you can do your time in the Old Port, take a ride up to the cathedral, out to the fort, take a boat out to the island mentioned by hank. There is also a tourist train yu can do - look up 'marseille tourist train' on the 'net for details,

True that. one of the restaurants i like to visit in Florence, Trattoria Sostanza, is still cash-only. I keep cash on hand to visit the gelato stores or coffee shops. And, i keep enough cash on me to cover a nice meal if i encounter a "cash only" place.

Didn't go into town, so no vaxes yesterday. i went the other way, down the Valley to pick up a package that wasn't available for pickup last Thursday. it was upper 90s down there - i wouldn't have felt it except the back of my neck was sweating. Stopped at TJs to see if they got more pumpkin things in. Got the cream cheese, but they didn't have the bagels yet. The Customer Service guy said that both stores in SLC should get that delivery the end of the week. i did get some sparkling water and apple cider. and, i went to the italian/spanish food store to do a little browsing for olive oil and balsamic. didn't get any balsamic but I did get some EVOO. And, some interesting potato chips from Spain that were Iberico ham-flavored. they were really good!!! A very subtle taste to then and thin and crisp. Torres was the brand. looks like amazon has them, too. Turns out that my Gigi Pip hat store is a couple of doors down from the food place. yes, i knew that going to Caputo's. Ended up with a new hat for Fall and Winter, the Zephyr in Cream. It has a very similar profile to the summer Arlo that i wore all summer long. now i have 3 different profiles in 3 different colors so i should be good for the Fall and Winter. The Zephyr doesn't have a hatband, so I can play with different things to go with my outfits or match my mood. regarding shingles vax; I think many of us are old enough to remember being sent to play with the kid who had mumps, pox, measles, so we'd get it and be done with it. Well, that's how we did it in my little farm town. So, I know I had it all. When I got my first incident of shingles, there was no vax and no one covered the pills, so they were VERY expensive and not totally effective. I dealt with it. Right on the middle of my lower back, where your pant tops would go. Couldn't wear even sweats and every time I moved, it hurt worse. like i said, it's the one thing i wouldn't wish on my enemy. Get the vax!! Cool and rainy today and supposed to be that way the rest of the week - upper 60s during the day and mid/low 40s overnight. Ahhhhhh. OOTD; had to go out to get my coffee this morning (no cream at home), so I put on jeans and one of my plaid flannel shirts and my Olu Kai slip ons. Got home and changed into my joggers and a Tshirt.

That's why i keep waiting to get the shingles vax - i've heard lots of talk about after effects. i do have to get it before i go back to work because i would only have 1 day to recover and I want more. i wouldn't get it with any of my others - i just have to get them. Lois - it's a '2 shots and done' thing for shingles. Not an every year deal. Absolutely get it! I had shingles once on my lower back and it was awful - I wouldn't wish it on my enemy. And, my opthalmologist told me I had shingles in my right eye the other year, too. AND, having shingles once does not prevent you from having it again!!

I check both with the pre-mentioned brokers and the 'majors' own sites. Sometimes i can get a slightly better rate from the major. I got a rate in Bologna from hertz for my little econo box stick shift that was shown as 'not available' on autoeurope this past july. Rates are obscenely high this year, so I checked and checked and checked... Yep - get that IDP! Some will say it was never checked, but if you get stopped, you need it.

Woah. Down go 31 degrees overnight and forecast to go to 80 today. At least i remembered to close my bedroom window to a crack. left the living room window open - the thermostat at 8am read 58 degrees for the house. Ok. i'm migrating into 'getting ready to work for the winter' mode, fashion-wise. i want to be able to get a little use out of some of the things I bought for my vacation, like the shirts. i want to find an oversized cable knit vest (to wear with leggings) to wear over the button down shirts. looked on amazon and the one that I almost liked has slits at the side bottom - not sure I want that. Then, it seemed like every other one was the exact same one, just sold by resellers from China. Even went to walmart.com to look and they had that same one! If anyone sees one, let me know! i'm thinking traditional 'irish oatmeal' or maybe black. I think i'll get my booster tomorrow when I go in and pick up my med refills. I'm behind on vaxes - need booster, flu, and that pesky shingles duo.

Which one did you get? I'm more a fan of the lightweight shirts. But, to each her own.

Just been to France and Italy. Contactless use all over the place. Even the toll booths on the highway had contactless pay. Every restaurant I ate in had the terminals where the server did your CC at the table or you walked to the cashier and tapped. I think I had 300EU in cash for my whole month - used in markets and when I picked up a drink. I came home with 100EU (I always bring home for next time).

no alarm clock needed today - the road crew and their heavy machinery started work in the neighborhood at the stroke of 7am. Ugh. They are re-paving our neighborhood. AND, it was 33 degrees when I woke up! i wondered why i felt cold and added my fleece throw onto my bed in the middle of the night. i still had my windows open. I've had 2 kitchen renovations done over the years. I would love to do another one to my tiny kitchen, but there's not much to do, other then just changing out the cabinet doors (or painting the existing ones) and buying new appliances (all but the fridge are original and 20 years old). Unless something dies and needs replacement, it's not very high on my list of to-do things. Sharon - i mentioned the cow smell partly out of jest. There was always a scent of something, maybe fertilizer or cow, when i drove through the Valley. Plus, my SIL's house is across the road from a large dairy farm and has that special 'scent'. It took me 2 days to get used to it again when i was back for the wedding. But, it didn't stop me from going over and visiting the cows and calves. I grew up in town and we had a paper mill - talk about a smell!!! There were days when you couldn't put your laundry out to dry!! OOTD. Since it's only 60 inside the house right now, i've got on my new yellow Laguna Surf Co. hoodie and a pair of joggers. i'll switch over to shorts when it gets warmer. It's kind of nice being cool in the house!

I was a big user of Blinc for when I did use mascara. I just tried Thrive and it also tubes like Blinc. No issues with smearing or making my eyes water. I tried Better than Sex, but it made my eyes sting and it smeared.

Duffels with wheels - you have to be careful how you pack. They have a tendency to not stand upright when you let go. if you load it with your heavy things at the wheel-end, it has a better chance of standing. unwheeled duffels - i have 2 from Osprey that I've had since 2009 (a Porter 65 and a 42) that I have used when wheels won't work. i also have one from Cotopaxi that is a 32L and folds flat to use a my 'i bought extra stuff' bag when i travel. As long as you are comfortable carrying them, i'm ok with them. I can't answer the zipper question because I've only used this hardshell once. I had it pretty stuffed and zipped/unzipped it plenty of times over the 6 weeks I traveled in July/August. No issues for me.

i would also decide if this is just for "in the car/to the airport/to the ship" luggage or if this is going to be used for pre/post/non-cruise vacations. My anecdotal experiences: Working at various hotels and resorts, I've handled a lot of bags. Spinner bags were the worst - they were difficult to roll down all the carpeted hallways and I'd end up tilting them like 2-wheelers. 2-wheel duffels were easy to roll, but most of the time they would fall over if I tried to stand them up. Hard-shell 2 wheelers were the best for any terrain. I was looking for a new carry-on size roller for this summer's vacation. Listening to everyone sing the praises of spinners, I bought one. I HATED IT. First, I lost space in the bag because the wheels aren't built-into the bag like many 2-wheelers. There's about 1.5 inches of lost space. Second, it would "jump" and go sideways if it hit any cracks in sidewalks, raised metal in between spots in the floors/sidewalks and run over what had been my clean sneakers, bounced all over on the cobblestone and turning my arm. I ended up pulling it 2-wheel-style instead of being able to utilize the 4-wheel function. Not fun, especially in Aix-en-Provence where i had to park .6km away from my apartment and walk!! When I got back from that month in Europe, I turned around and did 2 more weeks in the US for a reunion and a wedding. There were the "car/airport/car" kind of trips and the spinner was tolerable, although it did jump a few times on the floor where the metal was dividing up floor slabs. I will be hunting for 2-wheelers from now on if I buy again.

I received my newsletter from Katie Parla this morning. She has a few articles published this month. She also has one on the eater.com website on her "38 essential restaurants in Rome". Some we know and recommend frequently, some may give others some ideas for someplace different to eat. Katie is the one who turned me onto Armandos and Roscioli and Cassaleto back in the day when chowhound was still around and she would personally answer questions there (before she became a big name in the foodie business). You can also browse her website and get ideas (her name.com). Thought i'd drop a note on this here. Anyway, eater is a good resource for ideas to eat just about anywhere in Europe.

What you need to do food-wise is just pick and don't look back!!! There's never enough time to do it all. Bologna Centrale is about a 15-20 walk to the Centro Storico. Pretty much an easy walk.

I always wanted to do a tour with her, too, but my timing was always bad. i forgot to post it on our food thread yesterday - will do today. Speaking of places to eat; what about the italian place run by the japanese chef that Stanley had on the Rome show? i remember you saying you'd like to try that place,

i don't live in a metropolitan area, so I am aware of dead spots on all the platforms.

i did use that with my travel group for the first week of my month-long trip this summer. it was nice in that we could text regardless of which provider we had. But, for data use, you need something else.

I would check out the train, also. less expensive to get transport to the Ravenna station than transport all the way to Bologna. Which hotel are you staying in by the Bologna Station? By nearby do you mean you can walk to it? just curious. Food note; if you want to taste Bologna's famous mortadella, look up Mo Mortadella Lab. A tiny spot with amazing sandwiches. no tables/seats, so everyone stands in the alleyway. It's open until late and there is always a line.