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Orale

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by Orale

  1. That's all very fair. Thanks for the detailed response. I've only given it superficial thought and was likely naive in what could be accomplished in a fairly short time. To clarify, my intent was/is to travel by flight between countries, not overland, to the extent that is practical. As far as what I'd hope to see. It's a combination of cities (when warranted), natural wonders, and culturally significant sights. In any event, a lot more research is clearly in order. 

  2. I'd like to spend around 6 to 8 weeks in the spring visiting 7 to 10 or so countries in Africa. The intent is to experience a diverse set of countries to get a fairly broad sense of the continent rather than repeating similar experiences in relatively similar countries (i.e., a bunch of safaris in multiple countries). Particularly appealing is geographic, scenic, and cultural diversity. 

    I'm also not looking to get robbed or worse, so I'm avoiding the obviously dangerous countries. Here's a list of the countries I've seen suggested on myriad blogger sites. I really wanted to visit Egypt and Lebanon (the latter Middle East I know) on this trip, but I'm putting them off until things calm down in that particular region. Anyhow, I'd appreciate any thoughts on must-visit and/or should-avoid countries. The list is not in a particular order. 

    1. Tanzania/Zanzibar
    2. South Africa
    3. Morocco
    4. Zambia
    5. Namibia
    6. Botswana
    7. Malawi
    8. Rwanda
    9. Kenya
    10. Ghana
    11. Gambia
    12. Senegal
    13. Tunisia
    14. Sierra Leon
    15. Madagascar 
  3. 31 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

     


    Is there a tour guide service you are planning to use, or just doing it on your own? Do you know which chateaux you will visit?

    I have been to Chateau de Chambord, Chateau de Chenonceau, and Chateaux d’Amboise. They were all great, but they aren’t extremely close to Tours, so just wondering your transportation plan.

     

    Good question. I hadn't gotten that far. I'll have to look into that more. 

    29 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

    you booked a train ticket from paris to tours and then the company is going to shuttle you around the different chateaus?  that could be hit (if they pace the program to your liking and choose the chateaus you'd want to see) or miss (crowded, try to cram too many chateaus into one day, take you to expensive tourist traps).  what i'd recommend is renting your own car in tours and driving.  they're short trips from chateau to chateau in that area and it allows for you to stop whenever you want.  some chateaus i found weren't worth stopping for more than an hour, others i could spend half the day in them.  if you have questions about specific chateaus post em here, i've been to lots of them and it seems there are a few others who have also.  

    Good idea. I'll look into rentals. 

  4. I bought some little plastic push up handles that are small and weigh nothing. They're ergonomically designed to avoid strain on the hands and wrists while doing push ups. I hated doing pushups before using them but now do them every other day. Push ups of course provide an amazing workout and they take up no space in my luggage when traveling. Probably the best $15 I've ever spent.

  5. Bump. Headed to Paris for 10 days solo on the 23rd. I booked train tickets for a day in Tours visiting the Loire Valley castles. I was thinking a day trip to Normandy to see some of the WW2 stuff. I've been to Reims and seen the cathedral and visited Tattinger years ago and enjoyed it. Perhaps a return day trip there. Any other cool day trips people you've enjoyed?

  6. 1 hour ago, midtown said:

    Leaving on a big jet plane today at 4pm.  I splurged and paid the $600 extra for the lie flat Polaris.  I felt lke that was a great deal considering they wanted $2400 extra for that seat two days ago.  12 days.  Santiago then rent a car and drive over to Valapariaso and then two back in Santiago.  No hotels set on the way back so maybe a night out of Santiago  We did not think we had time to make it down to Patagonia. Lots of day trips out of Santiago into wine regions etc. 

    Staying here for the first 6 days

    https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/sclpvup-ola-santiago-providencia/

    Then here in Vin del Mar

    https://all.accor.com/hotel/B463/index.en.shtml?utm_campaign=seo+maps&utm_medium=seo+maps&utm_source=google+Maps

    Nice! If you want a quick two-day getaway (or even in one early/late day vist) from Santiago, you can fly to Pucon in the lake region in 1h 20m. It's gorgeous with cool German culture and close to Parque Nacional Villarrica which dominates the backdrop. 

  7. I've been running for 20 years now and a month or so ago I started getting consistent knee soreness for the first time in my life. I run 4 or 5 days a week, 5 to 6.5 miles depending on the route. Two months ago I upped my running from 3 days a week to my current 4 to 5. So no doubt the extra running has contributed. I moved to Salt Lake City two months ago and took on some aggressive hikes and did my first half marathon in the first month I was here. The soreness was especially pronounced after those hikes and half marathon and was likely the initial source of the soreness.

    How do y'all handle knee soreness? I've started to ice my knees a couple times a day. I changed out my low-cushion shoes for some very high-cushion shoes a couple of weeks ago. That seems to have helped. I'm going to avoid hiking as well for a while and I'm debating getting knee sleeves to see if they help.

  8. A few???
     
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    Most homoerotic things I’ve seen come out of Lubbock are the bell ringer guy and their dick riding of Pat Mahomes. Scoreboard: Aggy
    As a homo, I take offense to any association with the aggies. They would not be allowed to our parties.
    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Haha 1
  9. 15 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

    Slapped those pics on my Instagram and immediately drew the attention of an NFT connoisseur and Crypto wizard. I used to avoid these accounts because they're scambots, but I just have a good feeling so I replied:

     

    Screen Shot 2023-08-25 at 9.45.25 PM.png

    Screen Shot 2023-08-25 at 9.49.55 PM.png

    Pics of live farm animals?

    • Drool 1
  10. Thanks for the feedback. I went to a walk-in facility and the processor said my passport is fine. It looks 95% normal and I read online that it's still a legally valid passport even if the chip in it was damaged. I hope he's right and I'm not going to stress it. I have an unrelated domestic flight on Thursday and might try to see if I can get a customs person at the airport to swipe it to see if there's any issue with it. 

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