The Travel Thread

[Letang Is The Truth]

Has Dickie Dunn posted since leaving for Mexico?

I returned, safe and sound. Spent most of the time in Mexico City, but also visited San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuanto. All were beautiful and awesome in their own ways. The food was soooooooooo damn good.

Going back to Mexico City for Christmas. Anyone ever travel internationally with a pet? Planning on taking the family mutt this time.

how was san miguel de allende?

San Miguel was beautiful. Very vibrant, very active little town with lots of Mexican culture and history, a great street scene, tons of art studios and shops, and very easy to walk. It's become a hotspot for US expatriates and tourists, so there was definitely more Americans, and more English being spoken, than other areas. While this inherently isn't a downside it has caused San Miguel to become overly crowded, overpriced, and the focus on catering to tourists seems to have left the citizens of San Miguel behind.

Overall I preferred Guanajuato. Same bright, vibrant, active feeling as San Miguel, but the city was a little larger with more to do. We went to Guanajuato in the middle of El Cervantino, so the city was packed 24/7 with people outside partying and playing music all night long. Food was cheap. Street vendors everywhere. The tunnel system in the city was both amazing and terrifying. Lots of interesting museums. Beautiful theater. Was an amazing city.

this may be a dumb question but did you drive between cities? did you ever feel unsafe?

[Dickie Dunn]

Has Dickie Dunn posted since leaving for Mexico?

I returned, safe and sound. Spent most of the time in Mexico City, but also visited San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuanto. All were beautiful and awesome in their own ways. The food was soooooooooo damn good.

Going back to Mexico City for Christmas. Anyone ever travel internationally with a pet? Planning on taking the family mutt this time.

how was san miguel de allende?

San Miguel was beautiful. Very vibrant, very active little town with lots of Mexican culture and history, a great street scene, tons of art studios and shops, and very easy to walk. It's become a hotspot for US expatriates and tourists, so there was definitely more Americans, and more English being spoken, than other areas. While this inherently isn't a downside it has caused San Miguel to become overly crowded, overpriced, and the focus on catering to tourists seems to have left the citizens of San Miguel behind.

Overall I preferred Guanajuato. Same bright, vibrant, active feeling as San Miguel, but the city was a little larger with more to do. We went to Guanajuato in the middle of El Cervantino, so the city was packed 24/7 with people outside partying and playing music all night long. Food was cheap. Street vendors everywhere. The tunnel system in the city was both amazing and terrifying. Lots of interesting museums. Beautiful theater. Was an amazing city.

this may be a dumb question but did you drive between cities? did you ever feel unsafe?

I didn't personally drive, but yes, we did drive between cities. My wife is from Mexico City and my mother in law, who still lives there, did the driving. When it came to dealing with people or knowing where we were going I definitely deferred to them, but all in all I wouldn't say that I ever felt unsafe. Mexico City to San Miguel was about a three hour drive. Once we got outside Mexico City the highway cut through farmland populated by people stuck living before modernization. Highways were normal. Decently maintained. Various tolls. Gas stations. Truck stops. Nothing really out of the ordinary. About halfway through the drive from Mexico City to San Miguel the highway became littered with restaurants touting their world famous barbacoa. Close to 10 restaurants in all, just one after the other, and the food was, of course, excellent.

Other than briefly passing the growing city of Queretaro, the drive from barbacoa central to San Miguel was more of the same. Driving through San Miguel was hell (the city really wasn't built for cars). From San Miguel to Guanajuato was about an hour. More farmland. Guanajuato's tunnel system made it hell to navigate using our GPS. Got lost several times. From Guanajuato back to Mexico City had another version of babacoa heaven, this time with strawberries. Miles and miles of stands on the side of the highway offering jams, jellies, and fresh strawberries with sweet cream. Never felt unsafe during the trip. Stopped for food twice and stopped for gas twice.

[mac5155]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersCho ... e.expanded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We went to #7 on our honeymoon... and ended up a night at #9, when our flight was delayed.

[Rylan]

Switzerland or Cyprus for a trip in mid-may?

[Letang Is The Truth]

Various tolls

i thought that said various trolls. had to re-read twice

[Gaucho]

Switzerland or Cyprus for a trip in mid-may?

What would you like to do?

[mac5155]

Switzerland or Cyprus for a trip in mid-may?

What would you like to do?

Go to Switzerland or go to Cyprus I'm guessing.

[Gaucho]

Switzerland or Cyprus for a trip in mid-may?

What would you like to do?

Go to Switzerland or go to Cyprus I'm guessing.

Ok. To do what?

[Gaucho]

Let's try this again: what do you like to do while on vacation, Rylan?

[Rylan]

Its for 2 separate classes. One is to go to Switzerland and study different businesses and their marketing practices, and the other is to go to Cyprus and study its culture.

[ExPatriatePen]

I was just told that my planned trip to N.O. is a bad idea because it's the week of the Bayou Classic.

Where's BEPF?

[legame]

My band is in the process of finalizing dates for a two week July Italian festival tour. For anyone who has been there before: non-touristy stuff to do on days off?

[ExPatriatePen]

My band is in the process of finalizing dates for a two week July Italian festival tour. For anyone who has been there before: non-touristy stuff to do on days off?

You won't have a problem. Italy is absoultely awesome... even the touristy stuff is fun.

[Gaucho]

Is eating and drinking lots of stuff considered touristy?

[Pavel Bure]

My band is in the process of finalizing dates for a two week July Italian festival tour. For anyone who has been there before: non-touristy stuff to do on days off?

You won't have a problem. Italy is absoultely awesome... even the touristy stuff is fun.

This, drink tons of house wine, eat whatever food looks good, wander around into little shops. It's all awesome.

[nocera]

Boarding a train to Chicago in a few hours. Any suggestions for must-do weekend activities?

[blackjack68]

Boarding a train to Chicago in a few hours. Any suggestions for must-do weekend activities?

If you remember the SNL Cheeburger, Cheeburger skit, it originated at the original Billy Goat Tavern.

Timothy O'Tooles is a good sports bar with a ton of TVs.

If you go to the Hancock Tower, forget going to the observation deck. Go to the lounge and get a beer instead. Pretty much the same view, but for $10 you get a beer and a view vs. just a view.

The Rush and Division area has a lot going on. Downtown Dogs has great Chicago dogs and Italian Beef sammiches. Pippin's right next door is a good "divey" bar.

And of course, you have to see The Bean.

[Gaucho]

My band is in the process of finalizing dates for a two week July Italian festival tour. For anyone who has been there before: non-touristy stuff to do on days off?

Which band are we talking about, if I may ask?

[legame]

A North Mississippi-slide guitar/boogie band that literally plays to 50 people per show in the southeastern United States. I don't know how in the hell we ended up so big there, but the lead singer/guitar player just returned from a 13-day solo tour and managed to fool them into bringing the entire band back over in the summer.

[Letang Is The Truth]

how unsafe is turkey (country, not food) these days?

[Gaucho]

how unsafe is turkey (country, not food) these days?

As long as you don't plan on spending much time in the Southeast bordering Syria and Iraq you should be ok.

[Gaucho]

A North Mississippi-slide guitar/boogie band that literally plays to 50 people per show in the southeastern United States. I don't know how in the hell we ended up so big there, but the lead singer/guitar player just returned from a 13-day solo tour and managed to fool them into bringing the entire band back over in the summer.

[ExPatriatePen]

A North Mississippi-slide guitar/boogie band that literally plays to 50 people per show in the southeastern United States. I don't know how in the hell we ended up so big there, but the lead singer/guitar player just returned from a 13-day solo tour and managed to fool them into bringing the entire band back over in the summer.

Are you part of the Dickinson clan?

Sounds like a fantastic band... I'd love to hear you guys in person...

[legame]

A North Mississippi-slide guitar/boogie band that literally plays to 50 people per show in the southeastern United States. I don't know how in the hell we ended up so big there, but the lead singer/guitar player just returned from a 13-day solo tour and managed to fool them into bringing the entire band back over in the summer.

Are you part of the Dickinson clan?

Sounds like a fantastic band... I'd love to hear you guys in person...

Ha, no... but I think I've mentioned in other threads that Luther played on three tracks on our first record. Our aforementioned band leader runs a blues label that puts out the Hill Country Picnic live album every year and re-releases stuff by Little Joe Ayers, Fred McDowell, Kenny Brown, and other Holly Springs blues artists.

Sorry for getting off topic guys. Eating and drinking all day is definitely not touristy and exactly what I plan on doing.

[pcm]

Its for 2 separate classes. One is to go to Switzerland and study different businesses and their marketing practices, and the other is to go to Cyprus and study its culture.

I lived in Cyprus for a year and have been back many times for business. I think of their culture as the 70's with modern paraphanelia. If you gave a bunch of villagers Audi's and cell phones and redbull/vodka and hairstylists, you'd get Cyprus. They suffer from extreme xynophobia, as most islanders do, assuming that Cyprus is the navel of the universe and all neighbors are ignorant villagers. Of course, they haven't yet worked out issues with the Turks yet, who stole their land. And now they're more or less broke.

That said, the women are exotic and beautiful blends of bloodlines. Think african bodies, asian eyes, european coloring and middle eastern culture (though they're all a little "cooked in the head"). The ruins are mildly interesting, though nothing like Greece. The food is not very diverse, but if you're only visiting, you can thrive on seafood mezze for a while.

Happy to answer any questions you might have about the place. Where would you be staying Limassol?