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Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

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Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

Billy Goat Tavern - you might be too young to appreciate the place. Ditkas - one of the best steaks I've ever had.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

So last night in Seattle was a quiet, normal, with no excitement? :eek:
 
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Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

Flights home from Berlin booked, to the tune of 86,000 miles + $350 in fees and taxes (for biz class). I'm actually lucky to get a biz class miles redemption under 100k, even just one-way. Some of us used to call Delta miles "SkyPesos", but I think that's actually an insult to the peso now, so I'm going with "SkyRubles" going forward. 300,000+ miles for RT biz class to Europe from the East Coast? In March? Get dafuq outta here, DL. A round-trip booking would've made my itinerary a bit tougher anyway.

As for getting to Deutschland, I've poked around for a couple of months, but the best option I've found and keep coming back to is a so-called "Fifth Freedom" flight on Singapore Air from JFK to Frankfurt at a range of prices depending on class. Currently debating whether a 6.5-7 hour flight is worth the ~$675 difference between premium econ and biz. Singapore A380 biz class is legendary, and I can swing the extra cost, but I'd be lucky to get 2-3 hours of sleep on that short of a flight, even in the lie-flat seat. Not to mention that $675 savings would just end up getting added to the food/transit/museum entries/cover charge budget. Either way, I am already setup to go from DTW to JFK for 'only' 13,500 SkyRubles and $6 in taxes and fees, so that is a plus.

This is the tentative itinerary I've laid out:

Day 0: Red eye flight to FRA, arriving around 10a CET on Day 1
Day 1: Train to Stuttgart, overnight there
Day 2: Morning in Stuttgart, afternoon train to Munich
Day 3: Munich
Day 4: Munich
Day 5: Morning in Munich, afternoon train to Bamberg
Day 6: Bamberg
Day 7: Train to Berlin
Day 6: Berlin
Day 7: Berlin
Day 8: Berlin
Day 9: Partial morning in Berlin, but must be at TXL by 10am for 11:55 flight to AMS and connection to DTW.

And yes, I'm going in March. The weather may or may not be a bit dicey, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Honestly, I think I'm more worried about the departure and arrival weather in the US. It sounded like March is a reasonably dry month in Munich, and is among Berlin's 3-4 driest months. I certainly have no problem with temps in the 30-60 degree (F) range.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

If you can spare a dinner, get down to the end of the S-bahn to Hersching am Amersee and have the schnitzel at Gasthof zur Post. If it’s not busy ask for the kaiserschmarn. One of the best meals I’ve had in all my European travels over the last 20 years.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

Jealous. I was supposed to be back in Berlin this month but had to cancel.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Flights home from Berlin booked, to the tune of 86,000 miles + $350 in fees and taxes (for biz class). I'm actually lucky to get a biz class miles redemption under 100k, even just one-way. Some of us used to call Delta miles "SkyPesos", but I think that's actually an insult to the peso now, so I'm going with "SkyRubles" going forward. 300,000+ miles for RT biz class to Europe from the East Coast? In March? Get dafuq outta here, DL. A round-trip booking would've made my itinerary a bit tougher anyway.

As for getting to Deutschland, I've poked around for a couple of months, but the best option I've found and keep coming back to is a so-called "Fifth Freedom" flight on Singapore Air from JFK to Frankfurt at a range of prices depending on class. Currently debating whether a 6.5-7 hour flight is worth the ~$675 difference between premium econ and biz. Singapore A380 biz class is legendary, and I can swing the extra cost, but I'd be lucky to get 2-3 hours of sleep on that short of a flight, even in the lie-flat seat. Not to mention that $675 savings would just end up getting added to the food/transit/museum entries/cover charge budget. Either way, I am already setup to go from DTW to JFK for 'only' 13,500 SkyRubles and $6 in taxes and fees, so that is a plus.

This is the tentative itinerary I've laid out:

Day 0: Red eye flight to FRA, arriving around 10a CET on Day 1
Day 1: Train to Stuttgart, overnight there
Day 2: Morning in Stuttgart, afternoon train to Munich
Day 3: Munich
Day 4: Munich
Day 5: Morning in Munich, afternoon train to Bamberg
Day 6: Bamberg
Day 7: Train to Berlin
Day 6: Berlin
Day 7: Berlin
Day 8: Berlin
Day 9: Partial morning in Berlin, but must be at TXL by 10am for 11:55 flight to AMS and connection to DTW.

And yes, I'm going in March. The weather may or may not be a bit dicey, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Honestly, I think I'm more worried about the departure and arrival weather in the US. It sounded like March is a reasonably dry month in Munich, and is among Berlin's 3-4 driest months. I certainly have no problem with temps in the 30-60 degree (F) range.
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You can easily do Bamberg in an afternoon/evening, but I would go to Würzburg instead. I don't get why Americans think Bamberg is so amazing. It's fine, but seems just all the other towns in Franconia, just with more tourists. Würzburg actually has things to do instead of just looking at old buildings, especially if you enjoy wine (or even if you don't). It will add an hour or so to your train to Berlin but won't add any additional cost if you're doing the 4 day German rail pass.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

cF[Authentic] said:
You can easily do Bamberg in an afternoon/evening, but I would go to Würzburg instead. I don't get why Americans think Bamberg is so amazing. It's fine, but seems just all the other towns in Franconia, just with more tourists. Würzburg actually has things to do instead of just looking at old buildings, especially if you enjoy wine (or even if you don't). It will add an hour or so to your train to Berlin but won't add any additional cost if you're doing the 4 day German rail pass.
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Thanks, I'll look into it. I haven't committed to any of the "Dörfer" in that region yet. Not a wine guy though, so that's out.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

cF[Authentic] said:
You can easily do Bamberg in an afternoon/evening, but I would go to Würzburg instead. I don't get why Americans think Bamberg is so amazing. It's fine, but seems just all the other towns in Franconia, just with more tourists. Würzburg actually has things to do instead of just looking at old buildings, especially if you enjoy wine (or even if you don't). It will add an hour or so to your train to Berlin but won't add any additional cost if you're doing the 4 day German rail pass.
Click to expand...

FWIW, my parents were stationed in Bamberg in the 70s and my mother raves about it to this day. Also like a pope is buried there or something.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

Had a great time in Vegas again. Pretty hard to not have fun there.

Finally made the effort, and had a friend to help me, to learn craps, so played a decent amount of that. Was a very fun time. Sunday night we ended up playing craps until about 4AM, and I had a run of about 20 minutes rolling, with the table cheering like you see in movies. Helluva fun time. Didn't win much money playing it though, played 3 total times, won $150 the first time, lost $200 the second time, and won $250 the third. But, ended up ahead, and had a blast playing. Ended up about even at blackjack too, was up about $400 after Saturday, but gave it back over the course of Sunday and Monday.

Had quite a bit of fun being out there for the first weekend of college football. Games on all over the place, with money on all of the big games. I bet on Washington, Notre Dame, App. State, and LSU, Washington let me down but I hit on the rest. Also put $50 down on the Twins to lose, and they were down by 10 after 2 innings that game, so that was easy money.

One afternoon we decided to slum it a little, and see how ****ty Circus Circus and Stratosphere were. Holy ****, I hope I didn't catch any diseases in Circus Circus, that place is a complete disaster. I can't believe anyone would ever decide to actually stay at that **** box. Stratosphere was quite a bit nicer than I expected. The casino floor was really nice, and looked to be recently renovated, they were also in the process of renovating some other areas as well. So, that wasn't nearly as ****ty as I had previously heard it was, plus, the view form the top was pretty incredible.

Saw one show while there, Absinthe, at Caesar's. Very good show. Mostly acrobatics, and crazy stunts, but with a good amount of comedy mixed in too. I would recommend it.

For food, the three places we visited for "desination" restaurants (at least in my opinion) were Morimoto (MGM Grand), Michael Mina (Bellagio) and Yardbird (Venetian). Morimoto was the best of the 3, in my opinion, even though Michael Mina was the highest regarded by reviews and rankings, etc. Michael Mina was still very good, but the general consensus was that it wasn't as good as it should have been. I had to try some good sushi from Morimoto, and it did not disappoint, it was really quite amazing, but ended up overshadowed by my main dish, which was a seared red snapper, with a thai curry sauce, sushi rice, mussels, and fried plantains. It was incredible. Lastly, Yardbird was a bit different kind of place than the first two, but still awesome. Southern fried chicken, and soul food. The chicken, biscuits, macaroni and cheese, and deviled eggs were all very, very good.
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

Went to Paris last month...what a tourist trap that place has become. The Japanese Tourists outnumbered Parisians 2-1 and they ruined literally everything. Normandy thankfully was devoid of that so enjoyed that a ton!
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

Thinking of putting together a retreat for my family (wife and three grown daughters) in New Mexico. They have traveled a lot and I've been there before, but none of us have spent any time there. Thinking fall of '19. Suggestions welcome.
 
burd said:
Thinking of putting together a retreat for my family (wife and three grown daughters) in New Mexico. They have traveled a lot and I've been there before, but none of us have spent any time there. Thinking fall of '19. Suggestions welcome.
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I never think of New Mexico as a destination. Any particular reason you want to go there?
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

JF_Gophers said:
I never think of New Mexico as a destination. Any particular reason you want to go there?
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Good question, and I don't know have a clean answer. The kids may not buy in, which would be the end of it. My wife and I have some old historical reasons, going back to a time we were on the road on a motorcycle for months, with no particular destination in mind and no time constraints. But also because it is not a typical destination and unknown to us. Mountains, desert, native culture to explore. Also, depending where you are, artist communities.

So, I'm looking to the experts at USCHO just like everyone else does.
 
burd said:
Good question, and I don't know have a clean answer. The kids may not buy in, which would be the end of it. My wife and I have some old historical reasons, going back to a time we were on the road on a motorcycle for months, with no particular destination in mind and no time constraints. But also because it is not a typical destination and unknown to us. Mountains, desert, native culture to explore. Also, depending where you are, artist communities.

So, I'm looking to the experts at USCHO just like everyone else does.
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Doesn't Kep want to retire there??
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

burd said:
AZ, I think.
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IIRC, Kep wanted New Mexico, but settled for 'Zona once he realized the idyllic NM dream of hippie art communes is now populated by pretentious, rich, white people pretending to be old hippies. The only alternative for him was to live on the reservation, and I'm quite confident that he has even less of a claim to tribal bloodlines than Liz Warren. :p
 
Re: Travel Part 3: Destination Unknown

burd said:
Good question, and I don't know have a clean answer. The kids may not buy in, which would be the end of it. My wife and I have some old historical reasons, going back to a time we were on the road on a motorcycle for months, with no particular destination in mind and no time constraints. But also because it is not a typical destination and unknown to us. Mountains, desert, native culture to explore. Also, depending where you are, artist communities.

So, I'm looking to the experts at USCHO just like everyone else does.
Click to expand...
Carlsbad Caverns is cool and I personally like White Sands National Monument. Fall is a real good time to visit though, it's not quite so dangerously hot.
 
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