Older Travellers
Messages: 3,945 - Threads: 317
I am being cruel....
Yesterday, I was asked by work colleagues why I was frowning. My reply was that I couldn't make up my mind whether to visit Croatia, Greece or Turkey. Would love to do all three but as usual it is a matter of time. lol
So, I was asked if I wanted "a smack in the chops by one colleague and another saying "what a tough life" and that they hate me and to go away. Well, not in such polite words. lol
I really didn't mean to rub it in (says she gleefully) for I was getting stressed thinking about where I should go but I guess some would say that I was being. But, perhaps I was.
Couldn't wait till the day of the morning send off tea break. I am going to thank the CFO profusely for knocking my request for leave without pay so I can travel. Well, it is all thanks to him that I will now be travelling for almost 5 months. :)
My Blog
You can see these same postings, but with pictures, on my blog. It is:
#6 Morocco, May 7, 2013
Well, that didn’t take long. I walked all around the ‘downtown’ of Er-Rachidia and was back at my hotel in 45 minutes! The town seemed to be quite spread out, but the centro was just a few blocks each way. I stopped in at the covered market at 9:20 AM, but nothing was doing yet---everything was still covered with tarpaulins. Morocco does not get going very early! Still it was worthwhile to stay here two nights as it gave me a chance to catch up on my laundry. In the mountains where I had been it took three days for a tee shirt to dry---cool and damp weather. In the desert in Er-Rachidia it was hot and dry, so I had a chance to wash all my clothes!
At the bus depot, I waited quite some time before I got the bus for Tinerhir, the jumping off point to the Todra Gorge, which promised beautiful scenery. I struck up a friendship with some fellow waiters---one had lovely henna desi...
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Older travellers
Hi all,
I'm 56 years old and my friend is 62yo. We will be in Italy from 9th to 23rd May and in Paris from 23rd to 28th May, We would like to know how senior citizens discounts work at this places. Where we have to apply for it and what we have to do to get them?
Thank you in advance.
Greetings from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ho...ho... ho... ho... home!
You know that old adage about it being better to travel hopefully than to arrive.
Well, I never expected to have problems getting home from a trip . But if you have an idle moment, read on ...
I expected to get home and roll into bed at around 2.30 am. Finally made it by 5.00 am.
First our plane was held up by an approximately half hour delay at Gatwick. We set off late but made good time and would have been only about 10 minutes late to land - except there wasn't a landing slot available just then so we had to circle around waiting for one.
The pilot was excellent, keeping us totally informed every step of the way - except he forgot to tell us we'd landed at the South Terminal, not the North one, from which my easybus journey was going. So I missed my bus. And because I'd allowed an hour's wait at the airport I didn't know how long I'd have to wait for another. Sod the e...
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more on Alaska...
well now there will be four OTers from the LP meeting on a trip to Alaska! Lor, ozziegiraffe, watsoff and me will be going to Alaska in late august or early september in 2014. Any others interested? we could make it a real LP meetup, We are all eligible for the over 60 discount. :-)
My Blog
If you would like to see these postings with pictures, you can link on my blog:
carolkiecker.wordpress.com
#5 Morocco, May 2, 2013
I left Moulay Idriss by a Meknes city bus, which was designed for mostly strap-hanging, and so I had to stand all the way into Meknes, which took about a half hour. I found a young man and a woman who could speak a little English and asked them where I should get off to get a petit taxi to my hotel. They both got off with me, and helped me flag a taxi, and explain about my hotel---not a well-known place, I inferred. The Maroc Hotel, which I had read about in the LP and called to reserve, was just fine, in a very good location, only about four blocks from the Bab el-Mansour, the gate at the Place el-Hedim, the huge plaza that represents the heart of the old city. Even this little cheap place ($12/night-private single) has sinks in the rooms (showers and toilets in the hall) and wifi! Still I have to provide my own towel, TP and soap---not a problem as backpackers all travel with t... more »
Songs for swingin' travellers?
Gawkabout and I were talking about the first song a couple of weeks back. I thought to post this as an answer to Lee52, then decided it needed its own posting.
I wish I knew how to do pretty blue names that made links, but I don't. :>(
So - take a look at these - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n65pv4PpU0&list=PLyTEAKaOKF538XGLWfIu1U54ucAFI8Nab&index=1
Enjoy!
A feeling of loss
Turning 58 today, I've been reminiscing about places I've visited that have since been physically devastated.
I started travelling in 1978 (excluding my migration from the UK to Australia at age 12)
Bam, Iran destroyed by an earthquake
Kabul & the Bamiyan Buddhas, Afghanistan
Krabi &Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
the World Trade Center NY
& now the ancient city of Aleppo & particularly the Ummayyad Mosque are being destroyed, simply because of a power struggle.
I'm sad that natural disasters take so many lives but angry that a total lack of the idea of heritage can lead protagonists to destroy their own history.
Is it ok to admit.....
Three weeks today before setting out on my trip and the path of retirement.
Is it ok to admit to the tiniest bit of sadness? Not retiring from work but perhaps it is more to do with leaving colleagues and friends behind. Saying good bye to the routine and to the familiar can be hard but I suppose that once I am on the road, the excitement will take over.
I questioned my sanity at times for taking such a twisted path to London ie London via Singapore, KL but I now know that perhaps it has to do with wanting to start my journey out with the familiar. With taking baby steps instead of the giant leap.
Is it ok to admit to feeling a bit scared now that I am about to take the next step to freedom from the routine, from what is familiar, to the regular pay check, tiny though it may be?
Is it ok to admit to feeling a bit cowardly, to fear the unknown but at the same time to knowin...
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Apr 30, 2013 11:04 AM
britboy
last reply
May 6, 2013 6:28 AM
jamesonaugust
10 replies
575 views
hostels in spain
I am sure there are zillions of threads on this topic but I am a learner.
I would love to spend a couple of months in Northern Spain. I'm 76 years with no problem walking etc. The last three years I've travelled for 3 moths at a time to S. America for their summer months. BUT always with a large suitcase & always in a pre booked hotel.
I know nothing about hostels. I did 50 years ago using YHA hostels in UK. !!!!!!!!!! What are the hostels in to days Spain like.
a) Can you have your own room?
b) If in a dorm are there safe deposit boxes in reception for passport & money safety??
c) Everything else!!!! Any advice, points in the right direction etc.
Thanks in advance.
Senior Discounts - part II
We lost our 'sticky' when TT went AWOL. so maybe it's time to start a new one? Does anyone know how to ask the Mods to do this?
Anyway - I want to kick off with an amazing discount I've just discovered in Spain. Too late for me to use, this time at least, but a great saving - and more.
You probably know about the train pass, on RENFE, where, except at weekends and on certain fast routes, you can save up to 40% on purchase of a card for 10 euros.
I've been taking buses because, even with the discount, they work out cheaper if you haven't pre-booked weeks ahead.
Well, today I discovered a FREE bus plus pass, offered by ALSA, which is Spain's main bus company. A quick check of the conditions seems to indicate that you have to get it sent to you - possibly in Spain? But as all the info is on the English language version of the site and there was nothing about being resident in ...
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#4 Morocco, April 25, 2013
More Medina, this time to walk a looong ways into its interior to see their superlative Kairaouine Madrassa and University. This was established in 859 and may be the oldest university in the world, although I think I’ve heard that said about others, too. Unfortunately non-Muslims may not enter so one can only photograph it, peeking in at the gate---even then, pretty impressive. I also saw Madrassa el-Attarine, the Zawiya Moulay Idriss mosque and the Place as-Seffarine where the metal workers make wonderful pieces. The Moulay Idriss had a pole at head-height to keep out donkeys, I was told. I visited the Najjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts. The beautifully restored 14th C. building (a Fundug---caravanserai) kind of overshadowed the crafts, but they were nice, too.
Then a trip to the leather tanneries was a bit underwhelming. I was shown postcard pictures with many b...
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Hello from Living
Hi to everyone - particularly those I really do "know".
We are on the road for past couple of months - Morocco for a month by car first. Then we picked up an RV in Madrid and have been traveling in Spain and Portugal. Sorry we missed the gang in Seville. We were also there for feiria. Enjoyed it enormously. Favourite place so far has been Lisbon.
Have been trying to travel lighter this time with just a smartphobe - thus all the keyboarding errors :)
Anyone on my subscription list from lifewellspent.com has been getting road reports via email but for a variety of reasons not posting to TT this time. Go2 I am sorry but your email address just keeps bouncing back on me.
When I return home in late May I will post all reports and photos to my site and let you know.
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