anyone going on holiday this year?

[MackemX]

sadlynot at the moment I have no plans but a couple of my mates just booked up a holiday in Tenerife yesterday. Though I go out drinking with them sometimes and last year it was 4 girls/2 boys when we went to Spain, I doubt I would have gone away with just the 2 girls

[BJ_M]

i think i might go into my backyard this year

[MackemX]

thinking about it, I'll be going to my local beach but that's about as far as I will go

[Faustus]

Holiday as in travel? No sadly all those plans have been axed. Holiday as in time off... I'm already setup for my 3rd week of that this year.

[MackemX]

Holiday as in travel? No sadly all those plans have been axed. Holiday as in time off... I'm already setup for my 3rd week of that this year.

yeah travel but I was thinking more of going abroad or long distance. Have your holidays been fun so far and have you been anywhere even local?

[Craig Tucker]

I am going to Crete in July (work jolly), and then to Estonia in September for a stag weekend.

[SquirrelDip]

Just got back - 10 day eastern Caribbean cruise... St. Thomas, Grenada, Martinique, St. Vincent and St Lucia...

Summer will probably spend a couple of weeks at a familly cottage in Pt. Roberts, WA

[Doramius]

You friggin Brits & Aussies calling it a Holiday. It's a Vacation. You vacate your home to go do something relaxing. Holiday is where you get a day off for believing (or around a majority of people who believe) in something to be sacred. If you go out to a park and roast weenies on a fire for Easter, then you're on Vacation.


Actually, I don't give a crap about that. I just felt like going politically correct for a moment. I get like everything as a Holiday. Working for a financial institution you get like Arbor day off. Like I'm gonna go plant a tree. I'm most likely gonna burn 3 trees down just to get hot coals for my 3/4" thick 26oz. marinated T-Bone slabbed across a grill. Hell yeah, I'm gonna eat the fat too. Probably a couple of beer bratts & some macaroni salad too. That's some good eating

[SquirrelDip]

... hot coals for my 3/4" thick 26oz. marinated T-Bone slabbed across a grill. Hell yeah, I'm gonna eat the fat too. Probably a couple of beer bratts & some macaroni salad too...

Shouldn't this be in the "Ways to Die" thread??? :P

[Doramius]

... hot coals for my 3/4" thick 26oz. marinated T-Bone slabbed across a grill. Hell yeah, I'm gonna eat the fat too. Probably a couple of beer bratts & some macaroni salad too...

Shouldn't this be in the "Ways to Die" thread??? :P

I thought that thread was for painful ways. With a little BBQ sauce, I'd be happy to go right after the last bite.

[Guest]

NYC next week.

I get a week off a month so I'm bound to be heading somewhere

In the summer, wee just spend those weeks at the lake.

Probably Fall before we get on a plane. Maybe Alaska this fall,hmmm.

[ZAPPER]

3/4" steak? Everyone knows that 1 and a quarter is the perfect steak!

And none of that "so tender" that it falls off of the bone stuff either. Give me the tuff and tastie, hurt your jaws from chewing and stick between your teeth "Steak"! And a bone to knaw on with lots of marrow! And for the fat, Hell yea! You gotta have the fat to cause a grease fire to cook it properly!

Time to go put on my Nomex and fire up the grill, now where did leave my welding gloves?

[rallynavvie]

3/4" steak? Everyone knows that 1 and a quarter is the perfect steak!

Why stop there?

I was to go on "holiday" this summer but I have to relocate to Dallas next week so I'm going to be very strapped for cash for a while until I can sell the place here. I had really been looking forward to it, been planning it for the last few years. I was going to sail in the tall ship races in the Europa. But when work offers you a new job at more than twice your current pay you have to make sacrifices in the short-term. But maybe next year I'll take a 2 month LOA and do the sailing trip from Cape Horn to Capetown.

And I've always got the cabin on the shores of Lake Superior to go to anytime I want. Too bad the drive is twice as long from Texas though

[jimmalenko]

On holidays as I type this

Only until end of easter though

No more hols until May next year, when we're visiting the mighty fine U.S. of A for a month.

[Doramius]

On holidays as I type this

Only until end of easter though

No more hols until May next year, when we're visiting the mighty fine U.S. of A for a month.

Maybe you should have put that in the "Most painful Torture" thread. J/k

Hope your stay is a good one. Where are you visiting?

[jimmalenko]

Fly into NYC and stay there for two weeks. Then fly to LA and take in San Fran, Vegas etc for a week and a half then stop off at Hawaii for a couple of days on the way home.

[Doramius]

If you're looking for things to do in Vegas or NYC, I can help you out if you haven't decided on what you're planning to do. I hope you're visiting Disneyland and/or Knottsberry Farm while you're in LA. I got to ride on the Roller Coaster Montezuma's Revenge 8 times straight (At Knott's). I had a slight headache beforehand that intensified or I would have ridden longer.

[jimmalenko]

Disneyland yes.

We're planning on taking in Niagara Falls, NYC and DC whilst we're on or near the East Coast.

Once we get to LA we're on a 7 day bus trip that takes in the grand canyon, LV, san fran and all the touristy things in the area.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

nope, I'm closing on my first house this Friday.
it'll be a while before we have the funds to do anything overly 'fun'.

[Sifaga]

going to new zealand in july for a few weeks

[Doramius]

Disneyland yes.

We're planning on taking in Niagara Falls, NYC and DC whilst we're on or near the East Coast.

Once we get to LA we're on a 7 day bus trip that takes in the grand canyon, LV, san fran and all the touristy things in the area.

Niagara Falls, NYC, and Washington DC are all quite a distance apart. Are you planning a tour in those areas as well? If you go to Niagara Falls, make sure you have your Passport if you wish to go to the Canadian side. Believe me YOU WILL WANT TO. Casino Niagara looks nice, but if you want to do any gambling, wait until Vegas. The Rainforest Cafe is a nice Restaurant, though they have one in Vegas too. Definitely take the tours behind the falls on the Canadian side and also the 'Maid of the Mist'. I think you can get a package deal, but not for certain off the top of my head. The US side is more like a National Park and very green. The Candian side is very touristy. I recommend at least 1 day for each side, though the US side you may finish early on. I don't know if you have other places of desire to visit, but anywhere along Lake Ontario in Upstate NY is great. I tell people, if they can, to head towards Rochester and visit areas along the Erie Canal. (IE: Pittsford, Macedon, Palmyra) At the time of year you're planning to go, it will be an extreme lush green and blooming all over.

Washington DC is fine, but don't Taxi or drive if you can avoid them. Taxi's are over priced and driving can get really confusing, run you into wrong areas, and get about 30 people knocking on your window for change every hour. Most of the sites worth visiting are near each other and there is subway and busses that'll take you around. There are tons of thing to see there, so take your pick. 2 weeks there alone couldn't get you to see everything. I would recommend the Air & Space and the Holocaust Museums if you're from out of country. The Washington and Lincoln monuments & memorials are pretty open and near the Vietnam wall and other itmes that you can rush by in about 3-4 hours without missing too much unless you take photos like the Japanese tourists there. (You'll see what I mean)

NYC, well......Don't take a taxi unless you're going more than 10 miles, or going less than 1 mile with a s**tload of boxes & bags. Subway is nice, but stay as a group, remember and pay attention to your stops. Plan what you want to visit ahead of time. And don't freak out if you see a minor fender bender and people don't care about it, but they get all pissed off if thestop suddenly and miss the guy by 4".

[jimmalenko]

Thanks for the "local" knowledge

We're still debating exactly what to do on the East Coast. We're looking at another bus trip type of thing which takes in NYC, Niagara and DC over 4 or 5 days but we're conscious of the boredom factor of being on a bus most of the time we're away so we're trying to limit it a bit.

[AlecWest]

I could be going on a "permanent" holiday this year. I finally got the "nudge nudge" letter from management, letting me know I'd passed the minimum retirement age and can now retire any time I choose. When will I retire? Sometime between today and mid-2008. But, whenever I retire, it will be immediately with no notice ... a quid pro quo for the time last October when I was told the day before a planned vacation (hotel already reserved, airline tickets already bought) that "mandatory overtime" was being called and I couldn't go.

The funny thing is, where I work, it takes personnel about 2 days to send out a retirement memo to supervisors. So, the day I choose to retire, I'll call up my boss just before shift starts to tell him I've decided not to come into work because (ahem) "I'm just not in the mood." Knowing that jerk, he'll immediately start disciplinary paperwork that will (snicker) end up being round-filed. You can't fire a former employee, hehe.

[ZippyP.]

Goin' to Vegas tomorrow night. Our 10th anniversary, just a little get away and leaving the rugrats behind.

[Doramius]

Thanks for the "local" knowledge

We're still debating exactly what to do on the East Coast. We're looking at another bus trip type of thing which takes in NYC, Niagara and DC over 4 or 5 days but we're conscious of the boredom factor of being on a bus most of the time we're away so we're trying to limit it a bit.

Bus trips can be pretty lame for extended periods of time. Many don't cross into Canada, though there are some tours that do. However, a lot of the tours can discounts to many attractions, or have the ability to take you to places that normally would have an extended wait for. I like bypassing lines. Anyway, NYC is great for about 2-3 days, DC is good for a couple of days too. 1 week at Niagara and upstate NY along the Erie Canal & Lake Ontario will not be enough, especially at that time of the year. So much happens there from April-October. Rochester Has some festival going on somewhere, EVERY weekend, during that time.

[jimmalenko]

So many things to see and do .... so little time


We have noticed the significant discounts available if booking as packages (when compared to individual bookings at the same venus) and we aren't really fussed about driving .... anywhere. TBH we're both shit-scared of driving on the wrong side of the road !

Usually when we go on hols we like to keep one day of free time spare for every two days of sightseeing, to allow for those days when the CBFs kicks in and you just want a "do nothing" day.

[smearbrick1]

The US side of Niagara Falls was a shithole the last time I visited - at least the town was. Like someone stated earlier, there is a somewhat small national park on the US side, but the real happenings are on the Canadian side. Just avoid the tourist traps and you'll be fine.

I'm taking a 7-day cruise to Alaska in July. Finally, a vacation that I can actually... VACATION!

My wife has a tendancy to only want to vacation in major cities. Last year, we "vacationed" in L.A. Aside from seeing "The Tonight Show" and a live taping of "The King Of Queens", there wasn't much to talk about. The whole area is just so fake.

[rallynavvie]

We have noticed the significant discounts available if booking as packages (when compared to individual bookings at the same venus) and we aren't really fussed about driving .... anywhere. TBH we're both shit-scared of driving on the wrong side of the road !

I made the transition to driving in the UK, Japan, and Oz well enough, and I was pretty worried about it too. I had to learn fast because the B roads in Scotland are not very wide at all. Fortunately the roads here in the States are huge compared to most of the rest of the world so at least you have some space. I would have had an easier time getting used to driving in the UK had the roads been a bit more open. Just as long as you remember that right turns are tight (keep tight to the side of the road on a right turn) and left turns are loose. I had to try to remember the opposite of that and it wasn't much easy. But actually being on the other side of the car was a big reminder, especially since I was driving an RB5 with a finicky manual transmission

[SquirrelDip]

The only time I ever had any issues was late night or early morning when no one else is on the road. Stay away from rush hour and just go with the flow...

[Doramius]

@ Jimmalenko - Don't worry about driving on the wrong side of the street. The steering wheel is also in the wrong place, so you'll figure it out pretty quick. The worst thing is you've gotten used to looking RIGHT first before pulling out to do a left or right turn. You'll have to remember to look left first. When I was in Europe, that was my biggest difficulty. Oh, and looking for the signs on the right side will be hard too. The driving part was not very difficult, especially for figuring out the proper side of the road to drive on. I was scared about the wrong side of the street thing myself and conquered that REAL FAST. My suggestions: Don't be in a rush, drive at least the speed limit or up to 5 over (people may and will pass you, but don't worry about it), Anywhere on the east coast - STAY RIGHT except to pass (out west people don't really seem to follow that rule, but they wonder why the traffic is so bad), and stash about 8x $5 bills in the glove compartment for tolls and emergency money.

@ Smearbirck - The US side has done some changing, but Buffalo is still in pretty bad shape along the waterfront. That's where ALL of the industry is and has been for the last 200+ years. I always tell people, Buffalo is great to visit if you're going to stay with someone you know there, or have an actual BUFFALO tourist package setup. Even then, the biggest attraction is the Buffalo Bills stadium.