Favs:

NZ & Tasmania (close & affordable)

Vermont in fall

Isles of Skye

Coming soon:

Canada, Japan

Hi all,

Top 3 BEEN TO-

No.1- SAN FRANCISCO (and the bay area). Been 4 times. We both love it. So much to do in the city. Great food, wine, views, baseball, trams etc. and more beautiful scenery if you venture out.

No.2- CAPE TOWN (garden route and wine region). Went for a friend's daughter's christening. Did 1 week on our own along the 'garden route', bit touristy but lovely, then 1 week with the locals which was the best way to see the country. At the time, incredibly cheap and on the last night they took us to a casino and I won £300 which always gives you great memories!

No.3- NOT SURE as toss up between SKIATHOS (a Greek island where a mate of mine lived) lovely, or BRITTANY. Will go with Brittany, lovely beaches, food, scenery, train spotting, cider and they hate 'the french' as well! Joke, THEY do, I don't  Except Parisians obviously 

WANT TO GO-

No.1- RAIL TRIP either across Canada and/or down the American Pacific coastline.

No.2- CROATIA/ other countries of the former Yugoslavia. Heard it's lovely and would like to explore by train.

No.3- NORTH/ NORTH WEST SPAIN/ NORTHERN PORTUGAL Put it third as hopefully doing it next year. Have been to the Basque country but always wanted to go to Galicia. Have two motorcycling mates who want to do another Europe trip so the plan is they ride down through France, we get the ferry from Pompey to Santander (Either in a motor home or hire one there) and then do northern Spain to Galicia, pop down to Porto etc. They can kip in the home when we eventually catch them up. Needs more planning but looking forward.

Thanks for thread.

Need more lottery tickets though!

Cheers weave 

Seems like a number of us have been to some amazing places and have tales to tell.

Perhaps we should each write a short article about them (with pictures) and send them in and they could be combined to produce some sort of travelogue book or series of articles to be published in print or online.

The Stag Owners Club of which I am a member produces a monthly glossy magazine where members are encouraged to write in with interesting stories (mainly about experiences with the cars they have owned or driven [not just Stags]), and this is very popular.

I think that is a good idea (as many members know, I have done this with a recent Frodoadventure of mine).

Actually part of me doesn't like it... like those AWFUL Christmas cards you get from people who you knew 30 years ago but insist on still sending you a card, and including a typed letter which is sent out with ALL their cards, informing you month by month of what has happened in the last year.... 

However, I have been quite encouraged by members' responses to my rabbitings.

I try to keep mine railway oriented (though I do stray), and anyone thinking of posting any travelogues should keep this in mind. We are, after all, a model railway forum.

I also try to inject a liberal amount of humour into it so it does not sound like those AWFUL Christmas letters!

George

The areas of the world where I feel really at home are all Scandinavian countries, I lived over there for nearly 8 years back in the late 60's through 70's.

If I had the cash I would go back there for a extended holiday possibly 6 months so that I had the chance to really get to know my grandsons.

Travel elsewhere in the world, well it would have to be a world cruise with the Rockies railway, coast to coast, as the only real MUST HAVE!

Other than that I have never visited MUCH of this country!

Peter.

Well, that's not hard to comprehend.... after emigrating here to Australia, I was going to go back to England to visit my parents a couple of years later, but it was shut!

Bit like Tasmania in the off season.

Sorry.

George

Quote from: Bealman on March 01, 2014, 09:06:06 AM
I think that is a good idea (as many members know, I have done this with a recent Frodoadventure of mine).

Actually part of me doesn't like it... like those AWFUL Christmas cards you get from people who you knew 30 years ago but insist on still sending you a card, and including a typed letter which is sent out with ALL their cards, informing you month by month of what has happened in the last year.... 

However, I have been quite encouraged by members' responses to my rabbitings.

I try to keep mine railway oriented (though I do stray), and anyone thinking of posting any travelogues should keep this in mind. We are, after all, a model railway forum.

I also try to inject a liberal amount of humour into it so it does not sound like those AWFUL Christmas letters!

George

You would have thought people would have the decency to forget you in a lot less than 30 years. Probably just some idiot working off a Christmas list - not fond memories at all.

I KNOW these sad folk will be working off a Christmas list.... probably spat out by their computer's little database which prints your address on a sticky label, so it's bang, fold up the summary of the year, stick it in the card, into envelope, down to the post office with a bag of 1000 year's worth of Christmas Cards, and yeah, that's it for another year.

But hey, that's cynical and not like me at all. 

Let's get back on topic. 

Great responses by all!

Was reminded of another place I want to go that's popped up a couple times - Iceland.

And, it seems a lot of people have been to Malta and loved it. That's just the thing I was hoping this thread would do - share experiences and open up new possibilities.

Being lucky enough to have served in the Royal Navy in the late 60's and 70's, when we actually had a few ships and travelled the world.  :'( I have visited every continent, crossed all the oceans. Been as far North as Canada and Iceland, as far south as New Zealand and Tristan Da Cunha. East and West, well did a circumnavigation of the globe, left the UK heading South past South Africa and continued travelling East, calling in at various countries along the way. Putting our clocks forward until eventually passing back through the Panama Canal returned to the UK. My watch had done two full circuits bringing it back to the UK time zone.

Favourite Place
1. Rarotonga (Cook Islands)
2. Japan
3. Brazil

Would love to visit but probably never will.
1. Great Wall of China
2. Easter Island
3. Grand Canyon

Lots and lots of memories, I was very, very fortunate to have done all that by the age of 25.
Regards
Ian

Hi Scott.

You mentioned Norway. I just got home today after a visit to Tromso (to see the Northern Lights) followed by a few days in Stockholm.

Be aware that these countries are very expensive, especially for alcohol. A glass of wine in a restaurant costs 10 euro, and a beer 8 euro.

Don't think you can get around it by buying booze in a supermarket. You can buy beer/cider there (up to 3.5% alcohol) but not wine/spirits. For that you have to go to the state-owned booze monopoly shops.

I eventually found one the day before coming home !

Cheers !


Joe Cassidy

Quote from: scottmitchell74 on March 01, 2014, 04:39:44 PM
Great responses by all!

Was reminded of another place I want to go that's popped up a couple times - Iceland.

And, it seems a lot of people have been to Malta and loved it. That's just the thing I was hoping this thread would do - share experiences and open up new possibilities.

I've been to Malta around 10 times and find it fascinating - Valetta on it's own is a jewell before you even try Mdina, Mosta, and the three old cities around Grand Harbour. But we were told a few months ago by an oldish lady on the checkouts in M&S that she was going to Malta - staying in Bugiba. She absolutely hated it for all the reasons I love it as a photographer. You can photograph doors with the brass dolphin doorknockers and see from the cracked and peeling paint layers where it was painted in 1740, then again in 1870, and most recently in 1953.  She thought the whole place needed knocking down and something brand new that looked just like the old buildings and was painted white every six months would have been much better. I think the Italian Lakes or Switzerland is more her cup of tea.  She's not going to Malta again.

Malta is fabulous and so is Gozo (a small island to the North west where we spent 3 nights including the most amazing thunderstorm!). Valetta itself, plus the harbour cities are so interesting. The whole history including the islanders amazing resilience during WW2 is awesome and inspiring.
I found Mdina fascinating and beautiful too.
If it's beach holidays you want then Malta may not be the place for you but if you want interest and history and culture (and good weather)then off you go.
Oh.....and the restaurants were great !
I fear the 1950s buses are now gone but they were a real treat 4 years ago.

Quote from: port perran on March 01, 2014, 08:49:40 PM
Malta is fabulous and so is Gozo (a small island to the North west where we spent 3 nights including the most amazing thunderstorm!). Valetta itself, plus the harbour cities are so interesting. The whole history including the islanders amazing resilience during WW2 is awesome and inspiring.
I found Mdina fascinating and beautiful too.
If it's beach holidays you want then Malta may not be the place for you but if you want interest and history and culture (and good weather)then off you go.
Oh.....and the restaurants were great !
I fear the 1950s buses are now gone but they were a real treat 4 years ago.

Got to disagree with you as regards beaches - there are loads but most are hidden away and not easy to find unless you have a car (and the locals don't let on about some of them).
Regarding another posters comment about an old lady hating Bugibba - so do I - it has no beach and is for the young brigade - just like "some" parts of Las Americas in Tenerife which is aimed at the Stag & Hen Party Groups.

Our family know people in Malta and we would ring up and book an apartment in Birzebuggia for our stays (which has a beautiful beach by the way) but it is not advertised as a Tourist Resort because of the FreePort next door.

I particularly liked "Cisk" beer and "Hopleaf" and the food was great including the fish specialities "Lampuka" and Swordfish and great steaks.

Was holidayng in malta during "Italia 90" and the Maltese people are as crazy about football as they are about old English cars, half of them supporting Italy (being such close neighbours) and the other half England.

When David Platt scored the last minute goal to beat Belgium and then Gary Lineker scored 2 penalties to beat Cameroon the locals in our "Birze" Bar went crazy, driving their cars through the streets without lights (it was pitch black) and continuously honking their horns.

Before joining the Euro Malta was cheap - but I believe that it is now quite expensive. Could post loads of pictures taken in Malta (including ones of all the beaches) but they are still in Albums and haven't made them universally available (yet).

However if anyone wants to see any pics of our recent Australia/New Zealand and Polynesians Islands Cruise then I uploaded some pics and video footage as 4 separate YouTube clips (due to the 10 minute length limitation) and added some music. The links are :-

Part 1 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN7j9AyfNHk
Part 2 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqaDlsKq5EA
Part 3 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVZEEaWJmeQ
Part 4 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C-Iv_PEhc0

I remember spending a few days with friends on Gozo - the last evening we were there we were sitting in a bar near the Citadel, having a few quiet drinks and a good chat. We decided that we wanted something to eat, so asked the owner if he did food. "I'm afraid not" he replied, "but there is a very good pizza place just down the road - I will get my barman to pop down there and get a few menu's. When you have chosen, he can go back there with your orders, and bring them back here for you!"  Is that the service of someone who wants to keep his trade - and can you imagine any bar in the UK doing that? (We stayed the rest of the evening in that bar!  )

Would love to go back to Malta - and especially Gozo!