Looks like I won’t be getting into Derry until 11:00 a.m. instead of 9:00, but I don’t think that’ll be much of a deal-breaker if anything. I wasn’t disappointed to be on a sparsely occupied plane with a row of seats for me to take a nap on while I waited after getting up at 5:30. I will have until 7pm to explore then it’s on a bus to Belfast…
Cambridge didn’t excite me, the chapel and nearby punting stream were nice, but it seemed like a college town to me. Belfast and Newcastle didn’t excite me as tourist destinations but they were good cities. I walked most or all of the walls in Derry and York. York was good as were Dublin and Edinburgh.
My top 2 highlights were both in Dublin, the Howth Cliff Walk (suggested to me by my bridge partner the night before) and the Dublin Botanical Gardens. The Edinburgh Castle, Dublin Book of Kells/Trinity College tour, and York Minster were also excellent.
Here’s one picture for each day:
Cambridge Chapel
View of York Minster and an estate from the wall
Newcastle’s Angel of the North
Edinburgh Castle
Dunsaple Loch (not far from Arthur’s Seat)
Derry wall view
Belfast city hall
Book of Kells / Trinity Library
Howth Cliff walk
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I love your Trinity barrel vault photo
Yay A-list companion pass on SWA for next year too! 
Where else should we go??
Going on a Viking cruise in March. 900p ship. Barcelona up around coast of France, Florence, Pisa, ending in Rome.
I’ve been to about half of the stops but he hasn’t and you don’t have to twist my arm to go back 
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Sounds excellent. I thought Florence might be too far from the coast but it looks like it’s only 78 minutes by road from the port of Livorno.
I was in Florence in 2011 with a tour group. I had the option of a day trip to Pisa with the group or skipping out and going with my friend to the little museum where Michelangelo‘s David lives. I chose the latter.
If I was 10 years younger I would do this hike. If anybody here has done it, or does it at a future date, please share your experience with me!
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That looks fun, but only if there is an AirBNB nearby.
I have seen moose in the wild in Ontario and Newfoundland but never here in BC. Thus I was a bit jealous of my London daughter’s in-laws when they saw this fine fellow yesterday near Jasper on their bus trip. A few minutes later they saw another moose with her calf. Their mountain photos have been incredible as the weather is sunny and crisp.
Makes me want to do a trip to Jasper next year. It has been over 20 years since my last visit there.
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Did you also see squirrel?
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saw one on a golf course in Anchorage
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Alaska certainly has more than its fair share of large animals.
There are apparently a lot of moose in Washington state as well as in Alaska and BC.
On our drive to New Brunswick last month, they actually have moose fences from Quebec all the way into Saint John, NB!! Didn’t see a single moose… nor a squirrel.
The fence is working!!
Now for something you’ll really like…
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Thinking of a 4 day 5 night Iceland trip in Febr 2027 with the Flash Pack travel group. I estimate it’ll cost $6K (Trip plus flight), YIKES. Arghh, stop being cheap old actuary T-roy
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Mrs. PZ and I did a February trip (Gate 1), really enjoyed it. Being in the hot springs while it was snowing was amazing. Unfortunately never got to see the Northern Lights. Downfalls were not being able to access some of the waterfalls due to snow.
We have boxes in the attic just for our winter travel cloths - snow pants, cramp-ons…
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The fence is working!!
Now for something you’ll really like…
Crap, my trip just got more expensive
Next September I’m thinking
Florence (2) => Bologna => Verona => Milan (2) => Zurich
That will get stretched to 9-10 days if I stick with this plan. Any additions along the way?
I was just perusing how to make the most of my miles. I have 187K on American and 139K on United. I just searched ZRH => DSM for the trip back and I can fly in the cheap seats on United for 36K or holy smokes fly in business class for only 72K (partly because for another five months I will have their credit card). I’ve been on business class once to and from Chicago to Paris and the cost was 5x and dad paid for it. Not worth 5x $$ to me personally but for only 2x the miles?!?!
30K on American gets me a nice trip to Milan: leave at 1:07, sit at Philly for 3 hrs, done, arrive 10am.
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My son and I are probably driving to GA around Thanksgiving. He’s got developmental delays, autism, etc, etc. I was hoping to make a couple stops for him on the way, but the timing won’t work on the one for sure thing I had hoped to hit - the ceiling fan museum near Indianapolis. Other things that might be a big hit are shopping cart escalators, trains, zoos, stuff like that. Any idea if there are any like that on the path from Chicago to Atlanta, or near Atlanta (we’re staying in Canton, but we’re reasonably mobile if it’s worth it for him)?
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