Travel Planning – Page 6

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Forty Pounds?

August 22, 2018August 22, 2018 Jane Sadek

brown leather duffel bag — Photo by nappy on Pexels.com

TRAVEL THERE: A $120 LESSON FROM SPIRIT AIRLINES

So, on a Monday morning in May, I woke up with the knowledge that I was going to Club Med Punta Cana at the end of the week – the trip we had won from CTC Travel. I had no idea whatsoever of what I was taking with me.

The Resort Life

I am the Museum Girl, not the Resort Girl. I know what to take on cruises. I’m great at packing for a road trip. However, I didn’t know what to take to a resort, because that hadn’t been my life up to that point.

So I imagined a really casual five-day cruise without any ports of call and no dressing for dinner. My wardrobe began to form in my head. Swimsuits, sundresses and shorts. I scratched my head a little more and tried to dream up every eventuality. Maybe I’d need jeans? What about some slacks? I stood around in my closet gathering up things I might need. Something to sleep in, lingerie, sandals, sneakers. The items began to pile up. In the end I took a lot more than I needed, because I just didn’t know.

The Baggage Thing

So, if you travel at all, you know what Spirit is famous for – no frills, but a fee for everything. I looked online for all of Spirit’s baggage fees and thought I was pretty clever. I was sure we’d be able to get by without the additional cost of carry-ons, because I’d managed to fit us into one suitcase for five days for our cruise. Of course, since we drove to Galveston, the weight didn’t matter, but I was certain I could fit everything into two suitcases – and I did.

We weighed the suitcases with our handy dandy suitcase scale and put the them next to the door. The alarm would be going off at 3:30 AM the next morning, because our flight was at the ungodly hour of 6 AM.

The Other Baggage Thing

We parked our car at Park & Fly, like we always do, and were delivered to our terminal. As we stood near the Spirit Airlines acclimating ourselves to their procedures, a very nice lady came up to us and offered to help. She was happy to see the confirmations proving we had checked in online. Then she grabbed a bag and set it on their scale. I didn’t have a worry in the world. Both bags were under 50 pounds – the magic airline weight limit. Or at least that had been the magic airline weight limit the last time I had flown on a real airline.

I should have worried. The weight of our bags brought a frown to our friendly helper’s face, but it was nothing compared to the one on my husband’s face. We were going to have to pay an additional $30 per bag each way. $120!! The weight limit for Spirit Airlines is 40 pounds!

My stomach dropped to somewhere near my shoes. We’ve had vacations ruined for less than $120 in unexpected fees. Bill is no fan of traveling and he hates fees – they’re like paying interest, only much more careless. I waited for my dressing down, but it never came. We’d both been looking at the Spirit website for days. I’d emailed him a reminder of the permitted size of his personal item. We’d both weighed the suitcases. He wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t in trouble.

We finished getting our boarding passes and got in line to begrudgingly pay our first round of $60 baggage fees. (BTW, CTC was in no way responsible for our frustration at the gate. They didn’t book our air and I didn’t ask them about luggage fees!) There was a wait by the gate and then we climbed on board Spirit Airlines. Come fly with us next week.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Museums, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

The Big Travel Questions

August 15, 2018June 1, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL TALK: HOW LONG CAN WE STAY AND HOW MUCH CAN WE SPEND?

My poor husband! The minute we get home from a trip, I’m already thinking ahead to the next one. I’m trying to figure out just how quickly I can get him out of town again, how long he will let us stay and how much money I can get away with spending. So, learning that I’d just won a five day trip to a Club Med resort from CTC, my favorite travel agency, I really only had one question. When can we go?

Which Club Med?

Sandra Rubio, my travel agent, had another question for me. Which Club Med do you want to go to? While there are Club Meds all over the world, our prize was limited to Club Meds in the North American hemisphere, so that made it a little easier. Sandra talked through the choices with me and I narrowed it down to two – Sandpiper Bay in Florida and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Well, really I wanted Punta Cana, because I’d never been to the DR, but my husband was hoping our nieces and nephews might want to come along and for them Florida was more realistic. That would have been really fun, but when, after a flurry of phone calls and emails we realized it would be just my hubby and me, that not only decided the where, but the when. If it was going to be a romantic getaway, then it made sense to go for our anniversary. We had to wait several days for our preferred dates to be approved, but once they were, we were set to go in May.

Let the Research Begin

Once I’ve pegged down a date, a destination and have an idea of the budget, travel planning really begins for me in earnest, but this trip was very, very different. I am the Museum Girl. Punta Cana is not exactly a hot bed of museums. Punta Cana doesn’t even have one museum. I couldn’t figure out what I was going to do with myself.

I went to the Club Med website. It had lists and lists of activities, but they were very active activities, like water sports, golfing, archery and tennis. That’s not exactly my cup of tea – and yes, I know I’m weird. There were also amazing pictures of beaches and swimming pools. That’s not exactly my cup of tea, either. Yes, I know that makes me even weirder, but it began to dawn on me that I’d just signed up for five days of relaxation and I really don’t know how to do that.

And Then There was Airfare

While everything about our five days in Punta Cana were covered, the airfare was up to us. We really didn’t think that was such a big deal until we tried to book our flight. The first big surprise was the number of dollar signs. I mean the Dominican Republic is just right there on the other side of Cuba. Why did it cost such a fortune to get there?

The next big surprise was the big, huge price gap between Spirit Air and every other airlines in the world. It was such a substantial amount that we never actually considered one of the other airlines, but we were a little stuck, because we didn’t think we were Spirit Airlines’ target customers.

It took us a little while to wrap our minds around it, but we booked our airfare to Punta Cana on Spirit. And then the great wait began without a single museum to research. Friends who were aware of our upcoming trip would ask if we were ready to travel . I would smile, shrug and say something pleasant like, “Of course,” “Can’t wait,” or “Sure,” but I wasn’t so sure I was ready for five days of uninterrupted relaxation.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Off to Dahab

March 7, 2018February 12, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: A RELUCTANT TRAVELER

One day as we were planning the trip to Egypt, Bill tried to sell me on Dahab. There’s a certain tone Bill gets when he’s trying to convince me of something he knows I won’t like. That’s the tone he used when he showed me gorgeous pictures of a resort in the town of Dahab. I could tell right away that something was fishy.

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. There was a time when Dahab would have been a mystery. The proffered photo of an elegant resort would have been all I had to go on, but now we have the internet. I could find the same lovely picture of the Dahab Paradise Resort as Bill was showing me, but I could also find a map, which proved that Dahab was way out in the desert. The only thing Dahab was famous for was a Bedouin Festival that died after two years of trying. There was nothing else to recommend going there.

To make matters worse, the US State Department was aggressive in their insistence that Americans had no business whatsoever in Egypt, especially in a beach resort like Sharm el Sheihk and most especially anywhere in the desert beyond Sharm. Fly to and from Sharm and do not go into the desert, their website warned in several different ways. In other words, Dahab was not some place they would recommend for my touring pleasure.

From the get-go, I suggested that if everyone else wanted to go to Dahab, then they certainly should, but I could stay safely tucked away in the Sharm Marriott, with or without Bill. That just wasn’t going to fly. Even though I kept singing the same song up until the very moment we turned in the key to our room in Sharm, Bill wasn’t budging. By then, the awful Good Friday bombing had happened and the US State department was even more serious about their warnings, but my pleas were falling on deaf ears.

Climb Aboard & Leave the Driving to Us

Things didn’t get better. I was told to ride in the last few seats of the bus, just in case we were stopped. Not only was the US State Department worried about my well-being, so was Egypt. If Americans were headed into the desert, a police presence was required, but it had been decided, that since everyone else was an Egyptian, either past or present, (or in the case of my grand niece and nephew looked like they were Egyptian), we could get by without the escort. So I sat in the back of the bus and was told to keep my hat and my shades on. I complied, but I was furious with Bill.

The hour long trip into the desert was without incident, but as we pulled into town I felt like I was in a movie. You know the kind I mean. Someone has disappeared and some idiot goes to the last place they were seen, a godforsaken wide place in the road that you shouldn’t approach without a full squadron of Navy Seals. No one can be seen anywhere in the streets, but you know your hero or heroine is about three frames from a gun fight or a kidnapping. Yep, that’s Dahab.

Thankfully we rolled through the center of town without stopping, passed through a residential area and finally arrived at the resort. For the most part, the pictures on the website had been very accurate. It seemed like a really nice spot – it just wasn’t a spot I wanted to be anywhere near.

Things didn’t magically get better. For the next hour or so I was beyond miserable. I couldn’t even put a finger on all the reasons I was unhappy, but I was most definitely not thrilled to be there. Come back next week and I will make a full confession.

Accommodations, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

A Word About Planning

July 19, 2017May 13, 2017 Jane Sadek

The whole gang, bride and groom front and center

TRAVEL THERE: IT’S TOUGH TO PLAN FOR EGYPT ON YOUR OWN

The big wedding day we’d come to Egypt for had arrived, but I had no role in it until about four Egyptian time, which turned into more like 5:30 real time. It’s taken me a while, but I am finally learning to pause when I travel. Cruises force you to do that and I have noticed that I enjoy them immensely. I had resisted Bill’s suggestion that we go on a tour on the day of the wedding, for which both of us ended up being very grateful. While Bill and I slept late on the wedding day, let me tell you a little bit about the planning for this trip.

A Different Travel Planner

This trip was very different than most of our travels, because I didn’t plan it. At first, I assumed planning would fall in my jurisdiction, but since I wanted to rely on a travel agent for a trip of this magnitude and my travel agent wanted to rely on third party packages, Bill ended up working it out himself. He looked to me to assist by researching attractions, landmarks and museums I wanted to see, but he took over the rest. In part, that’s because he wanted to be sure we got the Egyptian rate.

Egyptians don’t pay the same amount as tourists in Egypt for most things. While Americans will be glad to know most Egyptian hotels are bargains compared to the same quality hotel elsewhere, Egyptians pay even less. This is not true at the Fairmont, however. Rates in Dallas are pretty much the same as in Cairo and while other hotels gladly gave Bill the Egyptian rate when he showed them his old Egyptian passport, the Fairmont was a little more persnickety, demanding he have a current passport and proof of residency.

While I’m talking about planning, let me say this. Trying to use the internet to research travel in Egypt is an exercise in frustration. Since this was my second trip to Egypt, I’d already seen the obvious, well-known attractions which have an inkling of how to communicate with potential visitors. I had a vague idea of the other things I wanted to see, but with the exception of a few reviews on Trip Advisor, I was pretty much on my own. Please ignore most of the Trip Advisor reviews on Egypt. I’m not sure what these folks were expecting in Egypt, but it sounds as if they thought they were going to Disney, “Nothing here except some ruins.” OH PLEASE!

The Family Travel Agent

Bill’s niece, Mirette, is married to Ayman, which sort of makes him my nephew, but it’s by marriage on both sides and I have a hard time figuring all that out. Paternal this, twice removed that and great or grand? These things always confuse me!

Way back when Mirette married Ayman, I was told he was the manager of the Thomas Cook offices in Sharm El Shiek, but that didn’t register with me as “travel agent”. To me that sounded like a financial position, because all I knew about Thomas Cook was that they had traveler’s checks. (Remember Traveler’s Checks?) Well, duh!

This trip was so easy for Bill. I did the research and Ayman did the booking. I think Bill wanted to show off his expertise and plan even more – hence my need to say no and no and no and no. I found out we just might be kin to the very best agent in Egypt. If Sharm El Shiek is on you list – then fuggetaboutit! Just call Ayman. He’s the unofficial mayor of Sharm El Shiek and he knows everybody in town, but he can book anything in Egypt.

Seriously, if you’re going to Egypt, call Ayman. He manages the Sharm El Sheik branch of Travel Choice (a Thomas Cook company). His email is tcsharm@travelchoiceeg.com and his telephone number is +2(069)3601-808-9. His English is impeccable. He’s a nice guy and he has years of experience. Tell him Bill and Jane Sadek sent you and you’ll be treated royally! BTW, the website is www.travelchoiceegypt.com.

As incredible as his work for us was in Sharm, he’s also good outside of Sharm. He knows all of Egypt very well. He’s the one who hired our driver and guide for Cairo and Alexandria. Both were perfect – competent, courteous and conscientious. The driver especially. On the way to Alexandria, there was a horrid traffic jam. He took the next exit and drove around like a chase scene from The French Connection. At first it looked as if he’d made one of those turns you never come home from, but before I even had time to worry, he squirmed through several tights situations and had us on the Corniche.

Bill’s family is Christian and while I am no Islamophobe, it was also nice to know I was being escorted around Egypt by people Christians trust. Our driver was a Christian who had a cross hanging from his rear-view mirror and informative stories about Believers throughout the Middle East who visited Egypt. Our guide was a Muslim with whom we enjoyed several intelligent conversations about the effects of religion on Egypt over the centuries. Riding through backstreets of Alexandria in a cab, which had a radio spouting religious antipathy and a driver whose grimace suggested he was resentful our our presence, made me appreciate Ehab and Zahran even more. (BTW, it wasn’t Ayman’s fault I was in that cab, Bill decided we’d do Alex on our own. More to come!)

Next week I’ll tell you about the ways I enjoyed my quiet morning at the Fairmont, but I had to give a shout out to Ayman. It’s not just family loyalty that caused me to recommend him. If he hadn’t done a bang-up job for us, I might have just allowed you to think I’d done my own bookings, but because I care about you getting the best when you travel, I’m urging you to call Ayman.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Welcome to the Fairmont Heliopolis

June 21, 2017May 16, 2017 Jane Sadek

Crystal Chandeliers in the Fairmont Lobby

TRAVEL THERE: MY LUXURY VACATION BEGINS

If you read this blog with any regularity then you’re well aware that I don’t spend a lot of time in swanky hotels. I’m more the quaint bed & breakfast type, when I can find it, or I’m bragging about the huge discount I found on Expedia. However, on this trip we were in top hotels all the way. In Cairo, we checked into the Fairmont Heliopolis.

Leaving the Airport

One of the things I remembered from my previous trip to Egypt was the wide open spaces between the airport and Heliopolis. Once we had dealt with the absence of our luggage on that trip, I’d sat the backseat of a car wondering just how far we were going to drive before we got to anything.

It’s not that way anymore. It’s like the stretch of LBJ between I-35 and DFW Airport. While it used to be out in the middle of nowhere, it’s now chock-a-block with restaurants, hotels and other buildings. Outside the Cairo Airport was the same thing. What’s more, I barely blinked before we were entering the main thoroughfare of Heliopolis and almost immediately we arrived at the Fairmont. So the first thing you might want to know about the Fairmont is that it’s close to the airport.

The Security Routine

Here’s the drill for most hotel properties in Egypt. (The Cecil in Alexandria and the Dahab Paradise were exceptions to the rule, but pretty much anyplace else put you through this.) The properties are all fenced and gated. You pull up to a guard house with a barrier across the driveway. Your car is thoroughly checked.

First they get the ID of the driver and question him. Then he has to fill in a log. Then they do a physical check of the exterior of the car which includes looking under it with a mirror. Some places also had sniffer dogs. The driver opens the trunk and the dogs and/or metal detectors are used to check out the contents. There are usually a group of guards and after they’ve conferred with one another, the barrier is lifted and you drive through. Someone is usually standing nearby with a machine gun. Some kind of welcome, huh?

Ayman, our niece’s husband, assumed we were in the newer part of the hotel and drove through the older portico to deliver us to the Towers. Only we weren’t in the Towers. The bags were pulled out by the bell staff and Ayman drove away, but once inside we were directed across the way to the original part of the lobby. It was late and I was ready for bed.

Now the reason we were staying at the Fairmont is that we were part of the wedding party and that’s where they were staying. We like to keep our accommodations in two digits if we can, but we were splurging. I have to confess that I was glad we stayed in the older part of the hotel. The new part had that edgy clean look, but I’m a sucker for crystal chandeliers and other gaudy looking hotel lobby decor, like the replica of a pharaonic boat in the Fairmont lobby.

The check-in hasn’t even begun, but I’ve already run out of words, so come back next week to see how we liked our room.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Grateful for the Yawn Factor

May 17, 2017May 16, 2017 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: BLISSFULLY BORING FLIGHTS

I’m of the opinion that travel is more interesting if there are problems. “Everything was perfect,” might make for a great vacation, but you could bore your friends to death with that kind of travelogue. Lost luggage, crazy GPS instructions and rude hotel clerks make better copy. Hopefully, I won’t put you to sleep today, but our travel to Egypt was without incident. That all changed once we got to Cairo, but that’s for later.

I Flew on American and I Liked It

This may not be a newsworthy item for you, but it was for me. I’ve sort of hated American for a long time. For years, every travel horror story I lived through began with, “I was on an American flight…” I carried that anti-American chip on my shoulder for a long time, but in recent years I noticed that other airlines were doing their part to be as awful as I thought American was.

Most recently that was Lufthansa. I’d always counted them on my favorites list, but then I flew them to Frankfurt. The plane rattled so much I thought it was made out of Tinker-Toys. Bill claims the flight wasn’t that bad, but if I hadn’t been sitting next to him, I would think he must have been on another plane. Bottom line, I could no longer say my worst flights were American.

My other problem with American had to do with Love Field and the Wright Amendment. As a Dallasite, I love Southwest Airlines and Love Field. The Wright Amendment tied the hands and feet of both, in favor of DFW, and I didn’t like it. I also loved Legend Air, which was a Love Field underdog that I maintain was run out of business by American. I’m always for the underdog. I go out of my way to avoid Walmart. I won’t buy anything on Amazon. I hate most chain restaurants, too.

This American flight snuck up on me. (Yes, I know snuck isn’t really a word, but I like it better than sneaked.) I wasn’t the one to make the reservations and I thought we were flying British Airways. It wasn’t until a few days before the flight, when I was researching baggage allowances, that I realized my British Airways flight was going to be on American. By then it was too late to do anything about it and I knew Bill was tired of hearing American Airlines Hysteria. I just lived with the revelation.

A Brand Spanking New 777

So we got to the airport, parked our car, rode the shuttle to the terminal and checked our luggage curbside. It was easy. It was a late-night flight, so the airport was pretty boring. We had a nice chat with a lady in the L’Occitane En Provence store. In fact, she sensed my concern and we actually prayed together. Finally it was time to board.

Let me tell you, our plane was so new I think it just rolled off the assembly line. Nothing rattled. Everything was pristine. There were bells and whistles I hadn’t even thought to wish for – and we were in economy. Even the food was decent. I watched a couple of movies. I was even able to sleep!

So, American Airlines, I know you weren’t losing any sleep over my grudge against you, but I want you to know it’s over now. I can easily say my best flight ever was on American. Singapore Air still holds my best-food-on-an-airline award, but the shepherd’s pie on American’s return flight was pretty decent. (BTW Sing Air, I liked your old paint job better. This new one is boring.)

DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

The Packing Predictament

May 10, 2017May 16, 2017 Jane Sadek

Evening clothes take up a lot of your suitcase

TRAVEL THERE: GETTING IT ALL IN THE LUGGAGE

One of the worst things about this trip was packing for it. Along with everything else you need for a 16-day trip in a third world country, we needed room for formal wear and lots of gifts. I needed conservative arm- & leg-covering outfits for the cities and resort wear for beaches. I got everything in the bags pretty early on the day before we left, but my husband didn’t join me for the weighing ritual until evening. The lights stayed on pretty late that night.

The Midnight Hysteria

If you have a luggage scale then you know the weighing ritual. You put everything you need in the bags, strap on the scale and then weigh. It takes awhile for the scale to register the weight, so I need my husband to hold up the bags while we wait for the scale to do its thing. Then you know how much you have to take out of the suitcase. We hate this, but as you know, it has to be done.

I started out with one bag weighing right at 50 pounds, but the other bag was more than 10 pounds over. The first step was to cram even more into the carry-on bags, which were already full of the gifts. On our last trip to Egypt, our luggage had gotten lost and we’d arrived without any gifts – bad form for Egyptians and I wasn’t going to repeat that mistake. If nothing else got there, I was going to have the appropriate gifts and because my husband believes presentation is everything, we had gift bags, tissue and ribbon for each one.

What Could We Live Without

To me the greatest weight offender was the three gift-bottles of scotch. I wasn’t only worried about the weight. I envisioned suitcases full of scotch-soaked clothing waiting for us on the conveyor belt in Cairo. I had suggested we pick these gifts up in the duty-free shops of the airport before we ever bought them, but Bill was having none of it.

The main problem with the scotch was that the bottles had to go in the checked luggage, which was already heavy with toiletry bags. I have to admit that my husband, who packs light anyway, was very generous about giving up items I thought were vital for him, like that second pair of jeans, but I resented those bottles of scotch every time I had to remove another item from the suitcase.

There were tears before we were through, but we got it done. Does anyone besides me remember when you got TWO checked bags per person – even in economy? The airlines may have downsized their allowances, but my needs have not been reduced.

The Final Verdict

The packing experts brag about cramming everything they need for a month-long trip into a carry-on, but while that method sounds like a good idea to some, I have to remember I’m married to a guy who thinks presentation is everything. You would not want to travel with me if I had to keep juggling the same two yoga pants and three t-shirts around day after day. I sort my pictures by what I’m wearing!

There’s one more thing I have to tell you. I was right about the scotch. Hubby had been convinced the duty-free shops wouldn’t have the right brand and if they did, the prices would be prohibitive. Wrong on both counts. They had exactly what he wanted and the price was good. So, if you need liquor gifts at your final international destination, go with the duty-free option. And come back next week for the next step in our jouney.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Chasing Castle Intell

November 2, 2016November 3, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: RESEARCHING CESKY KRUMLOV CASTLE

Our day in Cesky Krumlov was one I will long cherish, but Museum Girl was mad at me. My faithful followers know me and they know that as much as I love to eat, I’m willing to miss a meal in order to visit a good museum (or castle or palace or abbey etc.) I live for museums. I have this ever-growing collection of historical and artistic items in my head and one of my main goals in life is to expand it. On this particular day, I abandoned my prime directive and I’m glad I did, but Museum Girl is still a little miffed.

An Absence of Good Intell

Last week I complimented Viking on their ground game, but I was a little challenged by them on the planning end of things. Because they know what they’re doing, they don’t spell everything out. They know things happen when you’re traveling and they don’t want to spend their days making apologies to disgruntled passengers.

This lack of information is probably a blessing to most passengers. My husband was completely content with the absence of logistical information, but I was a crazy person. I’m driven by that museum in my head and I carefully curate what I’m going to see. On this trip, to a certain extent, I had to just let go and follow the guy with red Viking sign.

So in Budapest, I had no clue what spa I’d be visiting until I got on the bus with my fluffy towel. I’m convinced I was stuck on the castle AND walking tour in Bratislava because the walking-only tour was full. (Yes, I should have spoken up, but didn’t.) As I planned for my day in Vienna, discovering where we would dock was like searching for the Holy Grail and even when I got someone to tell me where they usually docked, they were careful to warn me things could change.

Finding out what we’d see of the castle in Krumlov was pretty much the same sort of thing. The UNESCO website was great, but how Viking plugged into that opportunity was like diving down a black hole.

Kudos to Norwegian

Since I pretty much hated everything about my cruise on Norwegian Epic (except going with my bestie and the day we spent with Sunny Liston, which is still one of my best days EVER) I’m loathe to admit it, but I loved their website. Well I didn’t love everything about it, because I had some navigation issues, but they did have a section of the site devoted to passengers sharing travel tips. (Yes, I read them all.)

Norwegian disclaims in large letters these are experiences of past cruisers and things change on every cruise, but I gained great comfort from knowing what usually happened. I’m well aware things can change (did I hear someone say Josay?), but I like to be ready for what is probably going to happen. The internet allowed me to research everything about a destination, but Viking kept the details, of exactly what they’re going to show you, pretty close to their vest.

Come back next week and we’ll stroll through the castle grounds.

Accommodations, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Cesky Krumlov and the Czech Republic

October 19, 2016October 20, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: SOME PLACES SEEM FURTHER AWAY THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE

“Go” is an important word in my vocabulary. Whatever the destination, I want to go. I want to go to Tucumcari and Timbuktu. I want to go on safari and I want to go shopping. I want to go on a boat and in a plane. However, I confess, given the option, I’ll go for the exotic every time. Maybe not the inconvenient and uncomfortable, but exotic? I’m all over it.

That’s how I ended up on a cruise visiting Budapest, Bratislava and Cesky Krumlov. These aren’t cities the majority of American travelers visit, so they were ever so much more interesting to me. I was particularly interested in Cesky Krumlov.

I Remember Czechoslovakia

Though there is nothing new under the sun, this old world has changed a lot since I was a kid. I grew up thinking of gray-suited Soviet bureaucrats, each with a finger on the nuclear red button, as the bad guys. Nowadays the bad guys wear turbans and are more likely to have dirty bombs than an ICBM. I also grew up with a country named Czechoslovakia being mentioned on the nightly news. That’s back when a guy in Poland, named Lech Wałęsa, was causing a lot of headaches for those guys with the red button.

In my twenties I was a regular visitor to West TX on Labor Day. This charming little town, which is actually in Central TX, has a festival that celebrates all things Czech – especially kolaches and polka music. I crushed on one of the local folk dancers, lived from year to year with dreams of potato pancakes with brats and thought Brave Combo was one of the coolest bands ever. (I’m over my crush, but I still love Brave Combo. I still love the kolaches, too, but rarely allow myself the indulgence.)

When I first read Viking’s Danube Waltz itinerary, the inclusion of the Czech Republic gave me pause. The last time I checked, the Danube didn’t visit ~~Czechoslovakia~~ the Czech Republic. Closer inspection revealed Cesky Krumlov would be reached by a bus trip from the dock in Linz. That made more sense.

Other Viking Options

Perhaps exotic is not your thing. If so, Viking has you covered. If bus trips don’t do it for you, then cruisers are welcome to enjoy a walking tour in Linz. I must warn you however, if you take the walking tour, someone could get a picture of you on this obnoxious yellow tram. I think it’s important for you to realize this. The memory stick of photos we purchased on the cruise included a series of these tram pictures, some of them with close-ups. Tourists beware!

If bus trips aren’t your problem, but you’ve never wandered around Austria, then there’s a shore excursion touring the countryside around Linz and I would heartily recommend it. Austria is gorgeous, especially when you get away from the big cities and wander the verdant farmlands dotted with small towns and onion-domed churches. Having had the opportunity to do that, I knew I had to hit Cesky Krumlov. On the other hand, having wandered the verdant farmlands dotted with small towns and onion-domed churches, it was very tempting to enjoy it again.

Let me tell you about the third option which was enjoyed by a number of my fellow cruisers. I think they are crazy, but perhaps you’ll like their option. We were on the boat with people who never never disembarked between the embarkation in Budapest and the final destination. One of them was a delightful lady in a wheelchair and I got her. She had no desire to maneuver her very cool motorized wheelchair through the streets of Europe, but she was so happy for her husband to have the opportunity. She was petted and cooed over by the staff, and it was apparent she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

But she wasn’t alone with the crew on the boat during the day and the rest of her tribe wasn’t wheelchair-bound. They just didn’t like all that shore excursion stuff. They were having the time of their lives. They’d gaily wave adios to their disembarking traveling companions in the morning and I have no idea how they occupied themselves while we were gone, but come lunch time they had the best seats in the dining room all filled up. If there were afternoon shore excursions, they’d repeat the fond farewell of the morning and when we came back in the evening, they staked out the Aquivit Terrace as their own. Fat chance having a drink on the bow if you didn’t have friends among the these shore excursion dropouts.

So, let me urge you, if your significant other is just dying to go on a cruise and the thought of enduring days and days of shore excursions makes you a little crazy, so ahead and go on a cruise. You can go on a cruise, never leave the boat, and still have a great time. Your cruise-loving companion will love you for it.

Well, we didn’t quite get to Cesky Krumlov, so I guess you’ll just have to come back next week. See you then!

DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

The Trip with No Name

October 28, 2015October 23, 2015 Jane Sadek

Hibiscus, Myriad Botanical Garden & Conservatory, Oklahoma City OK — And where did we find this in Oklahoma City?

TRAVEL THERE: THE TRIP WITH NO NAME, OKLAHOMA CITY AND WICHITA

It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. I was in a funk. The funk had been building for a long time and wouldn’t seem to go away. I kept trying to think up things that would make it disappear, with little success. My usual chipper mood would bob to the surface from time to time, but I couldn’t shake off the funk. I even thought about going to Mastermind, a motivational event I used to attend back in my real estate days. If anything from my real estate days seems desirable, that means I am in bad shape. That’s when I got the email from Lifeway. Beth Moore was having an event in Wichita, Kansas. Certainly that would beat a real estate seminar!

I Love Beth Moore

If you are a real estate agent I thoroughly recommend Brian Buffini’s coaching system to you and Mastermind is a wonderful event. But I hated real estate, in spite of the fact that I was making more money than I’d ever made in my life. So wanting to go to Mastermind was a weird thing.

On the other hand, I love Beth Moore. She’s a Bible teacher from down Houston way and she gets me. I can’t think of any other way to put it. She’s real, she’s honest and she’s transparent. Her Bible teaching is well researched and well prayed-over. Her teaching gets inside me and squishes around on my private places. Then she makes me do something about all those things I was trying to ignore in the first place. After all that uncomfortable stuff I feel much better. What I love most about her is that she keeps me laughing all the time she’s squishing around in my hidden sins.

I Love My Husband

Bless his heart, he was completely over my funk. He’d sent me off to San Antonio not so long ago and I came back worse than I’d been. He knew I needed something, and he didn’t think it was Mastermind, but he was willing to send me. When I found out about the Beth Moore Event he was like, “Go! Please go. Do something anything to help me get my wife back.” Oh and he wanted me to take my bestie with me.

I Love My Bestie

“Hey, Bestie! How would you like to drive six hours to Wichita, Kansas, spend all day closed up in an arena and then drive six hours back home?” How could anyone resist an invitation like that?

And here’s why I love my bestie. The answer was yes and she wanted to stop in Oklahoma City to visit the Chihulys at the art museum there. I’d told her about them years ago, before I even started blogging, and she’d been looking for an opportunity ever since.

The Trip with No Name was launched. We left on a Thursday after work, spent the night in Oklahoma City and then drove on to Wichita. We stuffed all the fun we could have into those three days and when it’s Deb and me, we can do a lot of stuffing. Come along over the next few weeks and I’ll share the good times with you.

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