Summer Holidays

[thebish]

Tango's budgie-smuggler shorts!!

You were looking at his shorts? Hmmmm...........

you're saying Hmmmmmmmmm...... at the thought of Tango's shorts???

[Annoyed Grunt]

Tango's budgie-smuggler shorts!!

You were looking at his shorts? Hmmmm...........

you're saying Hmmmmmmmmm...... at the thought of Tango's shorts???

[Jokers in White]

Where is everyone off to this year then?

Off to Egypt, end of July/begining of August. Bit of a later one this year, we normally go end May/begining June.

Have you been Egypt before mate, or is it your first time?

[Bruce Rioja]

Wish I could tan like Tango!

[Annoyed Grunt]

Where is everyone off to this year then?

Off to Egypt, end of July/begining of August. Bit of a later one this year, we normally go end May/begining June.

Have you been Egypt before mate, or is it your first time?

Going to be our first time.

[TANGODANCER]

We were all younger once. The modern day Tango's shorts are big enough to smuggle an ostrich in and rarely worn except on a beach, were walking in the sea and reading under an umbrella are far more relevant and nearer the truth than posturing in the limelight, and tanning attacks shins, abdomen and ankles ferociously these days.

Nerja however, ages much better.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Last bit of freedom between finishing Uni and entering the real world full time in September. Flying to Boston the day after my last exam few days there, then off to New York, Philly, Baltimore (just to see if it's really like The Wire and they've got a bust of Frank Zappa there), DC, then a bit of a road trip around West Virginia (mostly inspired by the John Denver song) then to Knoxville, then finally Orlando to use up a couple of 5 day passes with a day left on each at Disneyland originally from '99 (my dad insists they're still valid but we'll see about that) before flying back home. Then one last week of getting merry at University, the Stone Roses gig, then in August a couple of weeks in Italy with some time in the village with family and some time on the beach.

Interesting trip. Boston is a great city apart from the constant reminders that they won the American Revolution. Philly is interesting though some of the denizens should be avoided. In DC the Smithsonian can take a few days (there are actually many different museums). It was a catchy song but I'm not sure you'll enjoy West Virginia - a lot of poor miners and rural inbreds - Delivernace could have been set there (but wasn't). You might enjoy driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia more (you can still go to Tennessee that way). If your Disney World (not land which is far away) vouchers are no good when you are in Kissimmee you might visit Universal Studios rather than give all your trade to Walt. Universal was much more interesting than MGM at Disney, although the Epcot Centre (now Epcot Theme Park I think) is worth a trip.

Thanks for the advice. It is Disney World yes, did Universal studios last time I went (aged 9) and it is definitely better than Disney. As to West Virginia, I was under the impression it was nice to look at! Rivers, mountains...well all the stuff John Denver sings about! If you've any tips on where to go in the cities that would be much appreciated, we've opted to get a New York Pass which gets us entry to a bunch of places there, but haven't much clue with the rest of the cities.

The trouble with making recommendations on where to go is that it is so much a matter of personal taste. Boston (Bean Town) has a good science museum and some interesting old colonial building, but it also has Fenway Park - and a little outside the city is Cambridge, home to Harvard, MIT and Boston U. It can be confusing to drive in with the massive expressway they are still building under the city. New York you can do anything you like and they have something for every taste - though the Metropolitan Museum of Art is well worth a visit. Philadelphia has a lot of historic interest - it is known satirically as the City of Brotherly Love, partly because the sports fans are so tough they even boo the peanut vendors if they miss a throw. West Virgina certainly has mountains (not that big compared to the western states) and endless forests, as well as caverns and coal mines. I just find the Blue Ridge Parkway better. It runs along the top off a mountain range to the east of the Shenandoah River, while West Virginia is on the west bank. It's a good road and you can see better (in parts of West Virginia you can't see the forest for the trees). West Virginia does have some impressive gorges but you'd have to plan your route in advance to see the things you'd want to see. I'm not sure why you want to go to Knoxville (Nashville being a more popular tourist destination).

I guess the best advice is check out everything on the internet first and plan ahead. Don't be intimidated by distances when driving because you can go far fast if you have. When I drive out west I do some 900 miles a day in the first two days before I slow down to check things out. So for example Nashville is further from Knoxville than Bolton to London but is about a 2.5 hour drive. Wikipedia and google maps is what you want.
Good luck.

[Jokers in White]

Where is everyone off to this year then?

Off to Egypt, end of July/begining of August. Bit of a later one this year, we normally go end May/begining June.

Have you been Egypt before mate, or is it your first time?

Going to be our first time.

I went to sharm el skeikh with the missus in 2009, its red hot mate in july. Knew when them plane doors opened how bad it was going to be it was like opening a oven door the heat was unbelieveable it was 33c and we landed at 10.15pm, they try and sell you a visa when you get into the airport we got fooled into buying one but didn't need one because we wasn't going to travel across egypt if you are doing trips like seeing pyramids etc then you need one there about 25quid well they were then in 2009, we did a few trips we went to naama bay which was only 20mins away very busy but worth a visit and did quad biking in the desert and met the locals who live in the desert at a bedouin camp that was a great day got the dvd of it too, we stayed in the inter plaza beach hotel an absolute palace it was, food was good thomson put on some barbecue nights just for the english too which went down well i'll give you some advice sunbathe next to a pool so that you can jump in every 15mins its that hot and drink plenty of water during the day

[Annoyed Grunt]

Where is everyone off to this year then?

Off to Egypt, end of July/begining of August. Bit of a later one this year, we normally go end May/begining June.

Have you been Egypt before mate, or is it your first time?

Going to be our first time.

I went to sharm el skeikh with the missus in 2009, its red hot mate in july. Knew when them plane doors opened how bad it was going to be it was like opening a oven door the heat was unbelieveable it was 33c and we landed at 10.15pm, they try and sell you a visa when you get into the airport we got fooled into buying one but didn't need one because we wasn't going to travel across egypt if you are doing trips like seeing pyramids etc then you need one there about 25quid well they were then in 2009, we did a few trips we went to naama bay which was only 20mins away very busy but worth a visit and did quad biking in the desert and met the locals who live in the desert at a bedouin camp that was a great day got the dvd of it too, we stayed in the inter plaza beach hotel an absolute palace it was, food was good thomson put on some barbecue nights just for the english too which went down well i'll give you some advice sunbathe next to a pool so that you can jump in every 15mins its that hot and drink plenty of water during the day

Cheers.

Know all about the heat....have done loads of research (well, the Mrs has).

Place we are going to has a waterpark next door to it......so that will be getting used, loads.

[Jokers in White]

Where is everyone off to this year then?

Off to Egypt, end of July/begining of August. Bit of a later one this year, we normally go end May/begining June.

Have you been Egypt before mate, or is it your first time?

Going to be our first time.

I went to sharm el skeikh with the missus in 2009, its red hot mate in july. Knew when them plane doors opened how bad it was going to be it was like opening a oven door the heat was unbelieveable it was 33c and we landed at 10.15pm, they try and sell you a visa when you get into the airport we got fooled into buying one but didn't need one because we wasn't going to travel across egypt if you are doing trips like seeing pyramids etc then you need one there about 25quid well they were then in 2009, we did a few trips we went to naama bay which was only 20mins away very busy but worth a visit and did quad biking in the desert and met the locals who live in the desert at a bedouin camp that was a great day got the dvd of it too, we stayed in the inter plaza beach hotel an absolute palace it was, food was good thomson put on some barbecue nights just for the english too which went down well i'll give you some advice sunbathe next to a pool so that you can jump in every 15mins its that hot and drink plenty of water during the day

Cheers.

Know all about the heat....have done loads of research (well, the Mrs has).

Place we are going to has a waterpark next door to it......so that will be getting used, loads.

Well i hope you and your mrs have a great holiday, the money is easy to understand just had another 0, 100 egyptian pounds is 10 quid and so on.

[Annoyed Grunt]

Thanks.

Yeah, have also been told we need to tip so we get good service.

[Jokers in White]

Thanks.

Yeah, have also been told we need to tip so we get good service.

Yeah that's true ha! not to much though. The cleaners over there are all male which is weird too they like making swans with your towels

[Annoyed Grunt]

Thanks.

Yeah, have also been told we need to tip so we get good service.

Yeah that's true ha! not to much though. The cleaners over there are all male which is weird too they like making swans with your towels

My lad is looking forward to seeing the towel art.

Heard as well if you tip them, they'll put your towels on the sun loungers?

[Jokers in White]

Thanks.

Yeah, have also been told we need to tip so we get good service.

Yeah that's true ha! not to much though. The cleaners over there are all male which is weird too they like making swans with your towels

My lad is looking forward to seeing the towel art.

Heard as well if you tip them, they'll put your towels on the sun loungers?

Yeah they will do that, they are up early enough in the morning.

[Annoyed Grunt]

Thanks.

Yeah, have also been told we need to tip so we get good service.

Yeah that's true ha! not to much though. The cleaners over there are all male which is weird too they like making swans with your towels

My lad is looking forward to seeing the towel art.

Heard as well if you tip them, they'll put your towels on the sun loungers?

Yeah they will do that, they are up early enough in the morning.

Weird thing though, is I'm normally up at the crack of dawn on holiday so end up doing it myself.

[William the White]

I also am a Nerja fan... First went in 1982... Last went last year to avoid the Royal Wedding...

Enjoyed those times and the 3 or 4 in between...

[Montreal Wanderer]

Thanks.

Yeah, have also been told we need to tip so we get good service.

Yeah that's true ha! not to much though. The cleaners over there are all male which is weird too they like making swans with your towels

My lad is looking forward to seeing the towel art.

Heard as well if you tip them, they'll put your towels on the sun loungers?

The Cubans do it too except the cleaners are women.

[ohjimmyjimmy]

A place just east of Malaga called Nerja. It's not too touristy but because i speak-a da lingo anyway then we stick to the older parts of the town which are more inhabited by locals going about their business.

Nerja! Oh, thanks for mentioning that when I'm not going anywhere this year.

Wife and I were only talking about it this morning and all the great times we've had there. Went first in 86/87 ( pre Capistrano and time-share) full of bars where flamenco artists turned up and performed for a few beers. Stayed in Hotel Monica down near the Balcon quite a few times. Also, Nerja Club and Villa Flamenca. Apparently, one of my old favourite bars is still going strong: El Burro Blanco, much changed now. Frigilliana is lovely and Nerja's great for day trips to Malaga and Granada. Had so many good times there and I also speak enough of the language to get by. Food? walk up any sidestreet and you'll fall over somewhere decent to eat. Used to be a guy on Burriana Beach cooked sardines in a rowing boat full of sand.

Relax folks, the pic's not Burt Lancaster, just me in 1987 in front of my favourite mountain, "El Cielo" in Nerja.

________________________

El Burro Blanco is still going...only been in once, but it seemed a bit pricey! This was in 2007 so i dont know when you last were in there but it seems more like a tourist trap bar yet i can imagine it having a more traditional past given its interior. We're staying opposite the hotel Monica you mentioned.

I like the photo you posted, i think i took one from more or less the same spot, below, taken in 2007, 20 years after yours. That orange apartment building didnt go down too well at the time, standing out from the whitewashed buildings as it does, but its out of the way down by Burriana so it doesnt blight things too much overall !

[ohjimmyjimmy]

I also am a Nerja fan... First went in 1982... Last went last year to avoid the Royal Wedding...

Enjoyed those times and the 3 or 4 in between...

Whereabouts did you stay?

[thebish]

I also am a Nerja fan... First went in 1982... Last went last year to avoid the Royal Wedding...

Enjoyed those times and the 3 or 4 in between...

Whereabouts did you stay?

dunno about WtW - but we stayed at the very swish Parador...

http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/parador ... 56&lang=en