A travelling/holiday thread

[sonyc 5,493]

17 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Vilnius is new territory for me, the other two are not.

If you can get to the national museum (right in the centre - see photo) it's worth the visit alone. The whole history of Lithuania laid out in maps, costume, artefacts. Great coffee shops too. When I went it was 1 degree at the warmest (November) and the streets were full of ice. The city reeks of its history (and there are reminders round lots of streets) - a bit of a feel like Warsaw.

 

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

27 minutes ago, sonyc said:

If you can get to the national museum (right in the centre - see photo) it's worth the visit alone. The whole history of Lithuania laid out in maps, costume, artefacts. Great coffee shops too. When I went it was 1 degree at the warmest (November) and the streets were full of ice. The city reeks of its history (and there are reminders round lots of streets) - a bit of a feel like Warsaw.

 

Speaking of coffee shops, there's an outstanding one in Tallinn called Kehrwieder that also does its own chocolates. Thanks for the tip, my hotel is only about 400 yards away (staying at the Mabre Residence).

[sonyc 5,493]

7 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Speaking of coffee shops, there's an outstanding one in Tallinn called Kehrwieder that also does its own chocolates. Thanks for the tip, my hotel is only about 400 yards away (staying at the Mabre Residence).

If you like your coffee shops there seemed to be perhaps more than a 100! Some independents too.... cheap, often with youngish clientele, relaxed, laid back, bookish even. Great walk up the hillside overlooking the city too.

I found it incredible that even in 1991 (think I've remembered rightly) tanks from Russia were repelled and parliament was nearly taken over. The history is fascinating. The museum is unusual because it's rather an eccentric collection of everything - stretched out over a long walk between rooms. Easy to spend two to three hours without even knowing😄

 

Enjoy...and post some photos!

 

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

Short holiday coming up this week 

Three days in Luxembourg, then another three in Norwich 

Flying into Brussels on Wednesday, seems to be a long transit on to Luxembourg City. No direct train link for some reason, need to get a bus for part of the journey 

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

Just booked another half-marathon abroad, the first one for 2023 after Prague and Riga were already booked for April and May, respectively. And it ticks off another European country I've not ran in... this is the Giulietta e Romeo half-marathon in Verona, Italy.

Next year's running adventures should hopefully be two favourites and therefore repeat visits, and five that are on new territory. So far, Verona, Prague and Riga are booked. Torshavn will be when the entries open (third time there), same for Praski (will be fifth if I get to the starting line in two weeks this time, ha!).

Hankering for some odd ones. Prishtina was one I'd booked but it fell through due to the pandemic. If they're organising it in late September from now on, that's very possible. Chisinau is usually the last weekend in September, Ljubljana's usually late October too and I think Sarajevo's a fairly late one. Failing that, there's always a Nordic double of Copenhagen and Reykjavik. Would tick off every Nordic / Scandinavian country by then too.

Edited August 21, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[Herman 9,731]

Ljubljana sounds good.👍

[kick it off 1,948]

Got back from Istanbul last week - only got to see my friend for an evening as he had some familt commitments.

Istanbul is beautiful as ever, although a lot more tourists this time than I remember in the past.

Did all the major sights plus a couple id never done before. A lot of the sights are under restoration at the moment, presumably in response to higher tourist numbers so was slightly disappointed on a few fronts. Blue mosque (inside) and maidens tower were both covered with scaffold, and although the Basilica Cistern restoration is complete, I preferred it before it was done up.

Hagia Sophia, Topkapi palace, gulhane park, blue mosque, ortakoy mosque, grand bazaar and basilica cistern are all ones ive done previously that we did again. Bought 3 beautiful traditional Turkish lamps in the grand bazaar too.

New ones for me were going up the Galata Tower which provides an incredible 360 viewpoint over Istanbul, Çamlica mosque (biggest in Turkey) which is unbelievable in scale, its huge. Not tourist filled either as its not straightforward to get to and on the Asian side of Bosphorous (anyone interested in going its ferry to Uskudar and 15C bus opposite the ferry station takes you right there). Went out to Princes Islands for a few hours which is really fun - lots of old Ottoman mansions and totally different to the rest of Istanbul, explored Kadikoy market, had a meal on a beautiful balcony of an Ottoman hunting lodge, overlooking the bosphorus with an incredible view in Emirgan Park which is a beautiful park I hadn't visited before.

Overall, we had a really good trip, and my Turkish held up perfectly for basic stuff like ordering and directions.

[SwindonCanary 455]

being in the RN for years I traveled to a load of countries. I would say the best one was New Zealand  

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

10 hours ago, kick it off said:

Got back from Istanbul last week - only got to see my friend for an evening as he had some familt commitments.

Istanbul is beautiful as ever, although a lot more tourists this time than I remember in the past.

Did all the major sights plus a couple id never done before. A lot of the sights are under restoration at the moment, presumably in response to higher tourist numbers so was slightly disappointed on a few fronts. Blue mosque (inside) and maidens tower were both covered with scaffold, and although the Basilica Cistern restoration is complete, I preferred it before it was done up.

Hagia Sophia, Topkapi palace, gulhane park, blue mosque, ortakoy mosque, grand bazaar and basilica cistern are all ones ive done previously that we did again. Bought 3 beautiful traditional Turkish lamps in the grand bazaar too.

New ones for me were going up the Galata Tower which provides an incredible 360 viewpoint over Istanbul, Çamlica mosque (biggest in Turkey) which is unbelievable in scale, its huge. Not tourist filled either as its not straightforward to get to and on the Asian side of Bosphorous (anyone interested in going its ferry to Uskudar and 15C bus opposite the ferry station takes you right there). Went out to Princes Islands for a few hours which is really fun - lots of old Ottoman mansions and totally different to the rest of Istanbul, explored Kadikoy market, had a meal on a beautiful balcony of an Ottoman hunting lodge, overlooking the bosphorus with an incredible view in Emirgan Park which is a beautiful park I hadn't visited before.

Overall, we had a really good trip, and my Turkish held up perfectly for basic stuff like ordering and directions.

Turkey's not high on my list personally, but full credit for the photos. Very good shots indeed.

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

Went back to my favourite city half-marathon last weekend, namely in Dresden, Germany. There were several cranes gunking up the Altstadt in 2018 (so the famous Canaletto view of the Altstadt from the northern bank of the Elbe to the west of it was spoiled) but they're no longer there now.

Had a bet with a friend who I was meeting for the second time and it's transpired she's hoping to become Miss TGS. The bet was that if I clocked up a personal best time in the Dresden half-marathon, she'd treat me to a fillet steak dinner and if I feel short, she'd tell me the meat she'd want me to eat. She told me at the time that it was kangaroo. So, I quipped it was #MooOrRoo. 

Long story short, Garmin didn't start when I pressed it so I had to run the half-marathon purely on gut instinct. Missed a PB by over three minutes. Anyway, Skippy was tasty. The night shot is from my friend, and is of the Yenidze building. The shot on the right is mine, and is of the Frauenkirche through one of the nearby alleys.

[Mr Apples 1,317]

Nevermind all this glamour, I'm off to Aviemore (the Vegas of the Highlands) next week 🤩...will probably be pishing it down. 😱🤣

Apples

[benchwarmer 624]

On 03/07/2022 at 07:59, KernowCanary said:

Slovenia is also on there for me

 

I was there in the early 2000s, stayed in a hotel on Lake Bled - or rather two hotels because it coincided with a meeting of the Central European heads of state, and our first hotel was inside a security zone so we were moved.  From my balcony I had a grandstand view of a PR event by the lakeside - lots of men in identical grey suits, you could only tell which ones were heads of state by their blowdried hair.  Security was very tight and there was a sniper on the roof of our hotel.

Slovenia is serious about winter sports and has hosted the Winter Olympics, so if you're into skiing I'd recommend it, far cheaper than the Alpine resorts - climate change permitting of course!

Edited November 3, 2022 by benchwarmer

[Tetteys Jig 830]

This thread is making me very envious! Had a baby in Sept so no travelling for a while for us! We did manage to travel around the world in 2017 to tick loads off the bucket list. Saved up the money and just went for 8 months. SE Asia, Australia, NZ, Fiji, LA, South America. Busy but not too rushed so was just right. Fave places probably NZ South Island, Rio, Chang Mai, Hoi An and Koh Tao.

Oh to travel like that again! We were supposed to do safari for our honeymoon in 2020 but after that wasn’t going to happen, we had to “downgrade” to a less ambitious trip to Madeira which was about the only green list place at the time and we wanted to get the non refundable deposit spent before we started family life.

Talk of a work trip to Bangalore in May since our team is currently being swallowed up by cheaper Indian labour… for now I find myself the right side of the redundancy line so guess I best embrace our new friends! Could end up working out well for me. Been to India once before when my auntie was working out there in Pune/Mumbai and had a blast though my stomach got a good work out while there 😄💩

Weighing up the idea of a winter sun trip this Jan as my wife is on maternity so no teacher hols to stick to for once. Just wondering whether it’s worth the hassle and by the time we’ve taken the pram over, got a child passport, the savings from going off peak are largely swallowed up anyway.

Hoping one day my daughter will be well up for travel and I’ll get to go on some trips with her!

[KernowCanary 214]

Copenhagen and Kraków booked up for August and December 2023!.

[dylanisabaddog 4,890]

On 22/08/2022 at 06:22, Herman said:

Ljubljana sounds good.👍

I liked Ljubljana but no more than 2 days. 

My father's home city was Kracow so I'm a bit biased but it is extraordinary. If you go, visit the salt mines which are a UNESCO site. 

Outside of Poland, try Tallinn. Probably the most beautiful City in Europe and the Devil got married there 😂

And Seville but don't do the bull ring tour which beggars belief. 

[Herman 9,731]

2 hours ago, dylanisabaddog said:

I liked Ljubljana but no more than 2 days. 

My father's home city was Kracow so I'm a bit biased but it is extraordinary. If you go, visit the salt mines which are a UNESCO site. 

Outside of Poland, try Tallinn. Probably the most beautiful City in Europe and the Devil got married there 😂

And Seville but don't do the bull ring tour which beggars belief. 

I'll agree with that. A couple of days there, then head up to the lakes like @benchwarmer mentioned. Then we headed over to Italy. But you could go any direction to find another beautiful place in less than a few hours drive.

[KernowCanary 214]

3 hours ago, dylanisabaddog said:

I liked Ljubljana but no more than 2 days. 

My father's home city was Kracow so I'm a bit biased but it is extraordinary. If you go, visit the salt mines which are a UNESCO site. 

Outside of Poland, try Tallinn. Probably the most beautiful City in Europe and the Devil got married there 😂

And Seville but don't do the bull ring tour which beggars belief. 

Tallinn is FANTASTIC!!. Anyone who hasn’t been yet, go to the Old Town and the cellar restaurant, the blood sausages are just amazing.

Edited November 3, 2022 by KernowCanary

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

3 hours ago, dylanisabaddog said:

I liked Ljubljana but no more than 2 days. 

My father's home city was Kracow so I'm a bit biased but it is extraordinary. If you go, visit the salt mines which are a UNESCO site. 

Outside of Poland, try Tallinn. Probably the most beautiful City in Europe and the Devil got married there 😂

And Seville but don't do the bull ring tour which beggars belief. 

I like Tallinn but would say Tallinn and Dresden are quite similar in one major fault - both have Old Towns that have been restored so well, and so recently, that at the moment they both look almost too picture-perfect, but that's very much a matter of personal taste.

A very minor minus against Tallinn, although it could have been remedied since I was there in 2018, was that the coastline is very "meh". There was a LOT of work going on along what appeared to be a coastal path, so that could easily have changed by now.

Two more photos of a city I'll argue until I'm blue in the face that is underrated - namely Cottbus in eastern Germany. Biased, as I lived near it 20 years ago, but there's been a lot of money spent on it in renovation work and it's becoming a very attractive gate to the Spreewald forest.

Biggest attraction that's not the Spreewald is just outside, called Schloss Branitz (Branitz Castle). The castle is mainly famous for being the residence of one of 19th century Germany's great eccentrics in Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, a soldier, writer, landscape gardener and traveller of some repute. The star of that show is Branitzer Park (Branitz Park), which Hermann laid out and has two of the most unusual features I can think of in a park. A park which was laid out on bare heathland in the 1840s - even the trees were brought in, and all the hills, lakes, and islands in the lakes were actually man-made.

Namely these - the upper shot is the Landpyramide, the lower one is the Seepyramide. The Seepyramide houses his remains, as well as those of one of his mistresses.

(Shots taken on October 31, 2022).

Edited November 3, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[KernowCanary 214]

A. Le Coq, an Estonian beer well worth having!. Also, stay at the Raddison Blu hotel, the rooftop bar there is fantastic. Make sure it’s the one with the flags outside of it, as the other one isn’t as good. At the restaurant part, your table has a buzzer and the waitress comes to you, no waiting around for them to arrive and take your order!.

The Viru hotel which is part of the shopping complex, is also another good one. Before independence it was part of the KGB and rooms would be bugged.

Sportland is also a great shop and even bought an Estonia shirt there. It was from the Euro 2012 qualifying cycle, when they finished second in their group and lost to Ireland in the play-off. The head of our FA is Prince William, their’s looks like someone you would find in a rock band.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aivar_Pohlak

This thread is great and positive. Staying in this one and keeping out of the depressing cost of living, Brexit “positivity” and Covid ones.

Edited November 3, 2022 by KernowCanary

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

1 hour ago, KernowCanary said:

A. Le Coq, an Estonian beer well worth having!. Also, stay at the Raddison Blu hotel, the rooftop bar there is fantastic. Make sure it’s the one with the flags outside of it, as the other one isn’t as good. At the restaurant part, your table has a buzzer and the waitress comes to you, no waiting around for them to arrive and take your order!.

The Viru hotel which is part of the shopping complex, is also another good one. Before independence it was part of the KGB and rooms would be bugged.

Sportland is also a great shop and even bought an Estonia shirt there. It was from the Euro 2012 qualifying cycle, when they finished second in their group and lost to Ireland in the play-off. The head of our FA is Prince William, their’s looks like someone you would find in a rock band.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aivar_Pohlak

This thread is great and positive. Staying in this one and keeping out of the depressing cost of living, Brexit “positivity” and Covid ones.

Ha, I have an Estonia shirt too. Was there for the Tallinn half-marathon in 2018 and as it transpired, Estonia were playing Greece in the Nations League that same weekend, so went and watched. Bought the shirt at the ground itself. (Kicking myself that I missed it in the Faroe Islands this year as their FA's shop at their national stadium only opened until 4pm).

It was amusing that there was a little folded cardboard notes sheet - with some chants and even the words to the Estonian national anthem so anyone watching could try to sing along if they could. Thought that was quite an endearing touch. According to the Estonians behind me, I didn't mess up the pronunciation too badly either when I gave it a swing.

Greece won by a single goal, incidentally.

EDIT: Is it just me, or does Pohlak look like a cross between Daniel Farke and Gareth Ainsworth?

Edited November 3, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[benchwarmer 624]

On 02/07/2022 at 07:30, Herman said:

Nafplion in Greece. Lovely little town in the Peloponnese

 

In the summer of 1978 I went by bus from London to Athens where I slept out on the roof of a backpackers hostel, then by ferry from Piraeus to Crete which was fairly unspoiled in those days. Slept out again on deck and woke up with a parched mouth from the salty air.  In Crete I took a local bus up to the Plain of Windmills, where I consumed far too much alcohol and watched for at least an hour in hypnotic fascination at dozens of windmills turning at different speeds in the valley below.

I then got a ferry from Crete to the Peloponnese and ended up in a half-built hotel in Nafplion.  The next morning I had to get an early bus to Athens, but found that the hotel owner had locked us in overnight and gone home.  He turned up just in time, I gave him an earful, he raised his fist, I stared him out and then ran for it, catching the bus with seconds to spare.

Edited November 5, 2022 by benchwarmer

[Aggy 752]

On 07/08/2022 at 11:11, TheGunnShow said:

Speaking of coffee shops, there's an outstanding one in Tallinn called Kehrwieder that also does its own chocolates. Thanks for the tip, my hotel is only about 400 yards away (staying at the Mabre Residence).

 

On 07/08/2022 at 10:40, sonyc said:

If you can get to the national museum (right in the centre - see photo) it's worth the visit alone. The whole history of Lithuania laid out in maps, costume, artefacts. Great coffee shops too. When I went it was 1 degree at the warmest (November) and the streets were full of ice. The city reeks of its history (and there are reminders round lots of streets) - a bit of a feel like Warsaw.

 

 

Late to the thread. Have you been to Vilnius yet TGS? I wasn’t blown away by the city but the Curonian spit was very nice and worth a trip if you’ve got a couple of days spare. (Although near the Russian exclave so not sure if it might currently be slightly more militarised than normal!)

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

19 minutes ago, Aggy said:

 

 

Late to the thread. Have you been to Vilnius yet TGS? I wasn’t blown away by the city but the Curonian spit was very nice and worth a trip if you’ve got a couple of days spare. (Although near the Russian exclave so not sure if it might currently be slightly more militarised than normal!)

I enjoyed it but made the mistake of taking too much work with me, so I didn't do anywhere near as much sightseeing as I wanted to (didn't manage to take @sonyc's suggestion re. the national museum on board, unfortunately). I really enjoyed wandering around the city centre and in its own way I thought it was a really charming place - some of it because it wasn't quite as well-restored as Tallinn, or indeed Dresden, which I visited for the third time at the end of October.

Playing with the idea of extending the trip to Riga next year and taking the train - either from Vilnius to Riga, or the other way around to spend a couple more days there and catch up. Funny that you mention the Curonian Spit though, as I was really playing with the idea of running in Klaipeda.

Ticked Lithuania off the list for running half-marathons now, so with the exception of Torshavn and Praski, which will be the two events I see every year, I'm more up for clocking up European countries I've not ran in yet, and I want to treat myself to a birthday trip up to Svalbard again for July next year (been up twice for the half-mara hoping to knock off the top thing on my bucket list, namely visiting the abandoned Soviet mining village of Pyramiden, and both times ice in the Billefjord has stopped me getting there, so I'm going for an early July trip instead of early June hoping that solves the issue!).

Verona, Prague, Riga and Torshavn are already booked as races for next year. Praski will be as soon as it opens. I will probably have scope for one or two more at the back end of the year. Sniffing at Chisinau for next September and at Prishtina whenever that actually does bloody take place, but that could be risky. Copenhagen would be a good one as it's traditionally a fast course and it's in September, and Reykjavik has a couple of seasonal small events, one at the end of October, one in spring.

EDIT: I suppose going Copenhagen / Reykjavik would mean I've ticked off all the Nordics and the Baltics. There's an argument I've not raced in mainland Finland though, as all my running in Finland has been in the Åland Islands and ultimately if I notched up Copenhagen I'd have Denmark itself along with the Faroes and Greenland.

Edited November 7, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

Next year's runs are almost done now.

Looking like Verona, Prague, Riga, Torshavn, Praski (Warsaw), Odense, Athens (10K, part of the Athens Authentic. Not skipping an opportunity to finish a race at the Panathenaiko Stadium and follow in the footsteps of the original Olympians, but don't fancy the marathon).

When Praski and Athens open entries, I'll be in.

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

Thread bump time. Here's my next set of shenanigans abroad. Unfortunately, having seen the T-shirt, they managed to come up with something a bit more "identikit" and leaden in design so I'll be hoping it's breathable and only wear it on training runs.

Here's the course for Verona. Stadium finish at the Stadio Bentegodi and a nice blast past the Roman arena both going out and coming back. A pretty flat event to get back in the half-marathon running groove.

[Canary Wundaboy 1,358]

For this year I'm off to Madeira for a long weekend later this month, on a golf trip at the Belfry in May with the guys, off to the Lake District in June with the family and probably take the wife away to Ireland (possibly Druids Glen) for more golf in August.

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

8 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

For this year I'm off to Madeira for a long weekend later this month, on a golf trip at the Belfry in May with the guys, off to the Lake District in June with the family and probably take the wife away to Ireland (possibly Druids Glen) for more golf in August.

Ever been on the boats up on Lake Windermere? The Freedom of the Lake ticket is excellent value.

Explore Windermere, England's largest lake by boat (windermere-lakecruises.co.uk)

Edited February 2, 2023 by TheGunnShow

[Canary Wundaboy 1,358]

41 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Ever been on the boats up on Lake Windermere? The Freedom of the Lake ticket is excellent value.

Explore Windermere, England's largest lake by boat (windermere-lakecruises.co.uk)

Yeah, the Lake District for us is an annual holiday. Usually myself, my wife, our little one, the dog and my wife's parents. We usually stay in or around Ambleside and do a couple of days walking, some shopping, a bit of chilling and "tech-free" days and just unwind. My wife's been going there since she was a little girl and I've fallen in love with the place. The in-laws bring a canoe up with them so we usually do a couple of paddles along Coniston or elsewhere during the stay, it's always really nice.

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

Just now, Canary Wundaboy said:

Yeah, the Lake District for us is an annual holiday. Usually myself, my wife, our little one, the dog and my wife's parents. We usually stay in or around Ambleside and do a couple of days walking, some shopping, a bit of chilling and "tech-free" days and just unwind. My wife's been going there since she was a little girl and I've fallen in love with the place. The in-laws bring a canoe up with them so we usually do a couple of paddles along Coniston or elsewhere during the stay, it's always really nice.

Bought some chocolate Kendal mint cake from the Old Bank House store in Ambleside. Decent, but think Romney's is the best of the lot. Quiggin's is a bit dry/crumbly for me.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

A couple of days in Haarlem a week or so back, to see Reykjavíkurdætur at a music festival 

A couple of visits to the UK this year 

The rest TBD, but I'm thinking Faroes and/or Norway and Sweden for a week or two 

And wherever else Reykjavíkurdætur might be playing