Dinners You Can Do Better Than a Restaurant

For those of you who are still religiously locked down

 

 

 

10 Amazing Hindu Temples

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incredible video shows great white shark near boat off Florida coast

 

 

 

I thought today I’d start  working on your planning your own trip for when we’re allowed out in the world again.  So I thought I’d use my trip (part of my drive about to England and for this Blog the Irish part) to bring up some details that are important (some more than others) for having an enjoyable and successful trip:

 

First pick where you want to go—-this can be decided by many things:

 

what/where do you really enjoy—–if its American history then the east cost is great for colonial addicts—Look into older history in Florida—as in St. Augustine and a few other areas that while not as famous offer the off the beaten path mode and bragging rights to say ah did you see and they’re all gaping at you saying huh where—and remember to do your research well and even then you may prove wrong in the long run.

 

For instance:  When I went to York I studied the odds and ends of the place and found that Dick Turpin—a famous (think Jessie James in US) was executed and buried in York’s .  I went to his grave at St. George’s  BUT:

 

 

1.  In the History of York most of the legend is striped away and we find that he was taken from his gave by grave robbers.
2. History Today agrees he wasn’t the bandit legends say he was—but I have a problem with their account too—they say that he was originally found out because someone handing the mail had taught him in school and recognized his hand writing and identified him—-Oh please that does sound a bit unlikely don’t you think?
3. and The Press, a year (and a bit more) after I found the site and visited it was questioned as to if he was buried here—but what ever the facts at least I knew he was executed in York—something that a couple of guides that I was talking to didn’t know anything about—which proved my research quite useful.in that I was finding things off the usual tourist paths….I like to think of myself as an explorer—a traveler and not that other “T” word.

Exercises for Bone Strength

Don’t let your health lapse while you’re hiding from the VIRUS

 

 

Pope Alexander VI: Unscrupulous Borgia Patriarch With a Lust for Power

I’ve found if you want a good scandal Rome has several points of interest.

 

Other reasons to go some where are your ancestry—your family’s German so you would like to go to German to learn more about where your ancestors came from.

 

 

You love movies, book etc about Paris so you’d like to see the famous city in person — you know up front and personal   Well you get the idea…..

 

 

I decided to return to Ireland in this case to experience it on my own—following a tour a few years before—the trip was wonderful, but I wanted more freedom to look at stuff along the road that the tour bus just didn’t have time to stop and see.

 

 

 

 

 

EVENT: Akwaeke Emezi on The Death of Vivek Oji Thursday 20 August at 7 p.m. BST online event with Akwaeke Emezi to mark the publication of their second novel for adults The Death of Vivek Oji, a heart-wrenching tale of one family’s discords and misunderstandings. Details and cost

Why You Should Go To… Hastings

This is the kind of article that can get your travel spirit interest and lead to bigger and better vacations

 

 

 

Now you have to decide how to go:

 

By Tour——Say you just want to do something in the country you live in

Will use USA since that is where I live

THE 10 BEST United States Tours – Tripadvisor

there are all manner of lists of local tours of the area from the Keys to the isle of Hawaii—you’d set up your own flights and hotels etc and just show up for these local tours—

 

 

or a bit more done for you these de

10 Top All-Inclusive Resorts in the USA

These offer resort centered vacations—which I hadn’t mentioned before—most have health spas and activities–most have kid friendly sites too—some expend into water activities, horse back riding and visiting local areas….and I’m sure there lots more than this 10.

These offer various levels (and costs) of the sites —but pretty much it’s getting you from one airport to another and then they pick you up and whisk you to the lap of luxury.

 

United States Tours & Trips 2020

Travel Stride’s site:  1,681 trips in United States. Compare itineraries from 201 local experts and travel companies.

 

 

 

And if you want to go farther afield—how about

6 Best European Tours 2021 | Rick Steves’ Europe

 

 

Well you get the idea—-

 

and the benefits of the tour is that they can and usually will assist you in finding out exactly what documents you will need to enter that country.

 

They can advise you on your transportation needs to and from including air lines.  Most provide air port pick up (the first option where you just do a daily activity doesn’t, but…)  and the full tours often include—or at least have an option that includes the price of the plane ticket in the full cost package.

 

 

 

 

TOP 10 BRITAIN: TOP TEN THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

More suggestions—you can find this info on a lot of places that will help you make that first step to your vacation choice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books–another good place to learn more about places of interest

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL review: “In Vicksburg: The Bloody Siege That Turned the Tide of the Civil War,” Samuel W. Mitcham Jr, a retired professor and prolific chronicler of World War II, re-examines the struggle, making clear at the outset his mission. ‘Here,’ he says, ‘the Rebel side will be told’… Mr. Mitcham’s prose is straightfoward, and he turns a nice phrase—he describes one faltering infantry charge that ‘choked on its own blood.'”

 

Tour the battle and see if it’s what you want to see

 

 

 

Independence with structure

 

This is where you go to a country, you plan your own trips,, arrange your own reservations—that starts from the minute you decide to go:

 

First what are the requirements to go to that country—depending on where you are coming from and going to has a decidedly different requirement:  For instance to get into Ireland when we did our travel trip abut  about 12 or so years ago:

 

“U.S. and Canadian citizens require a valid passport to enter Ireland or Britain—

“Passports are not required by British citizens born in the United Kingdom and traveling from Britain, identification may be needed.

“Citizens of European Union states and Switzerland may use a passport or national identity card.

 

All other nationalities must have a passport

 

There is a list of multiple countries that DO NOT require visas to enter Ireland.

 

Transit visas are required by NATIONAL OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES:  Albania, Bulgaria, Cuba, Iran, Romania, Lebanon, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Somalia, Sir Lanka.

 

Note:  A person in possession of a Honk Kong certificate of identity requires an entry visa for the state.

 

This is just an example of what visiting a country not your own may involve and is why so many people decide going on an organized tours.

However you can find information on line—or contact the Embassy of the country you plan to visit or Consulate in the country  you reside for assistance as well—-if you don’t have a passport that’s probably the best place to start to get instructions of how about getting that as well as any other requirements for entry into the destination of your dreams….oh and hint, don’t wait till the last minute as you may not be able to get it done too quickly—depends on a lot of things

 

 

What vaccines do I need for travel?

 

 

Part of WWII you might not know about—is it still there?—can you still see it?….

High in the Tuscan hills above Florence, an elaborate medieval castle, converted to a POW camp on Mussolini’s personal orders, holds one of the most illustrious groups of prisoners in the history of warfare.

The dozen or so British and Commonwealth senior officers includes three knights of the realm and two VCs. The youngest of them is 48, the oldest 63. One is missing a hand and an eye. Another suffers with a gammy hip. Against insuperable odds, these extraordinary middle-aged POWs plan a series of daring escape attempts, culminating in a complex tunnel deep beneath the castle.                            read to discover

 

 

 

If you missed that article on what vaccines do I need go back past the book on       —-yes you needed those before the current pandemic and heaven help us what you need now…..let’s pick a country—say Spain—and see what the current requirements are

 

 

So what you can catch—-has been an issue for years in where you travel and with the long running pandemic we’ve add what you can expose others to is even more so.

Personal Safety is another —not all countries are safe for various reasons..

 

for instance this is on the British Government site about:

 

If you’re planning travel to Botswana , find out what you need to know about coronavirus there in the Coronavirus section.

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to get travel insurance and check it provides sufficient cover. See the FCO’s guidance on foreign travel insurance.

 

Around 42,000 British nationals visit Botswana every year. Most visits are trouble free.

 

Wildlife and livestock on roads are a hazard, particularly at night. See Road travel

 

Carry some form of identification with you at all times. A photocopy of your passport is sufficient.

 

Attacks on tourists are rare, but you should take sensible precautions to protect yourself from petty and violent crime. See Crime

 

Although there’s no recent history of terrorism in Botswana, attacks can’t be ruled out. See Terrorism

 

If you’re abroad and you need emergency help from the UK government, contact the nearest British embassy, consulate or high commission.

 

 

USA citizen’s advisories might well vary as how your country relates to another country (i.e. Britain) —so always heck this kind of information

 

 

So come back Monday for more of what you need to know before you go

 

Cathedrals and abbeys are the most beautiful and iconic buildings of the British Isles, and have formed the bedrock of our nation for centuries. This absorbing collection of amazing and extraordinary facts opens the doors of these fascinating structures to reveal their rich historical and architectural heritage. From stories of English Popes, martyred archbishops and renegade bishops to iconoclastic kings, power-hungry nobles and architectural dynasties, as well as the role of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, we explore how the people and religion in Britain have shaped these buildings over the last 2,000 years. Also read about the architectural heritage of British cathedrals, from troublesome spires, stained glass wonders and buy-a-brick campaigns to abbeys in the sea, fortified castle-cathedrals and mass graves. Along with tales of famous memorials and artefacts, fascinating folklore and architectural feats, these intriguing and diverse facts will provide something for every enthusiast to dip into and relish.

 

 

 

Five Ways to Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown