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Post by Wolfgang on May 13, 2018 13:09:28 GMT -5
I have never been on a cruise -- those cruises (probably over-reported by the press) where hundreds get sick scare me. I have traveled extensively in the western parts of the US and of course I go on the road with Stanford during volleyball season. There are different kind of cruises for different kind of people. They aren't all one and the same. If you pick one that suits your taste, you can avoid those that...rub you the wrong way. Some cruises for example are on mega ships with over 3000 passengers while others are on smaller and more exclusive vessels. Likewise, some cruises skew toward the younger demographics and a more causal atmosphere while others prefer a focus on more mature passengers with emphasis on the luxurious experience. I've been on cruises with my family almost 10X and we definitely like the mature crowd because: 1. more quiet and peaceful; less jerks running around 2. more friendly and casual 3. the exercise room and other special rooms are less populated We also preferred the large ships because there were more things to do. Also, in smaller ships, you feel the undulations of the waves more than in a larger ship.
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Post by mikegarrison on May 13, 2018 13:14:57 GMT -5
There are different kind of cruises for different kind of people. They aren't all one and the same. If you pick one that suits your taste, you can avoid those that...rub you the wrong way. Some cruises for example are on mega ships with over 3000 passengers while others are on smaller and more exclusive vessels. Likewise, some cruises skew toward the younger demographics and a more causal atmosphere while others prefer a focus on more mature passengers with emphasis on the luxurious experience. I've been on cruises with my family almost 10X and we definitely like the mature crowd because: 1. more quiet and peaceful; less jerks running around 2. more friendly and casual 3. the exercise room and other special rooms are less populated We also preferred the large ships because there were more things to do. Also, in smaller ships, you feel the undulations of the waves more than in a larger ship. I have never understood why people would pay to go out on a boat and then not want it to feel like they are on a boat.
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Post by Wolfgang on May 13, 2018 13:19:58 GMT -5
I've been on cruises with my family almost 10X and we definitely like the mature crowd because: 1. more quiet and peaceful; less jerks running around 2. more friendly and casual 3. the exercise room and other special rooms are less populated We also preferred the large ships because there were more things to do. Also, in smaller ships, you feel the undulations of the waves more than in a larger ship. I have never understood why people would pay to go out on a boat and then not want it to feel like they are on a boat. Have you been on a cruise? If so, you'll understand that your question doesn't make sense. You go on a large cruise ship to enjoy all the amenities (the food, the great restaurants, activities, musical variety shows, all the stuff that White people love), the great ocean scenery, the sunsets and sunrises, the rush of the sea air go through your hair, entering a port (or leaving a port). The last thing you want to feel is -- wait for it -- sea sickness. All that great lobster and sushi you had at the dinner buffet -- emptied into a porcelain toilet or overboard off the side of the ship? No way, man. They're not looking for "boat" experience. They're looking for a cruise experience. Big difference. Launch me in a rocket ship and don't bother with the space suit. I want to feel the vacuum of space!
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Post by mikegarrison on May 13, 2018 13:21:42 GMT -5
I have never understood why people would pay to go out on a boat and then not want it to feel like they are on a boat. Have you been on a cruise? No. But I've been on many boats. Never gotten sick.
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Post by Wolfgang on May 13, 2018 13:22:40 GMT -5
Have you been on a cruise? No. But I've been on many boats. Never gotten sick. Well, that would be you. Not most people. Gramps and nana don't want to feel the waves. Their knees are bad enough on dry solid land.
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Post by mikegarrison on May 13, 2018 13:26:22 GMT -5
Send gramps and nana on a Viking cruise. That will toughen them up.
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Post by c4ndlelight on May 13, 2018 14:38:35 GMT -5
1. Venice doesn't smell. If you're there on the right sunny day, it's amazing and beautiful. I went back when it was gloomy and didn't enjoy it as much. Also, so many pigeons. 2. IDK 3. No 4. I refuse to cruise. Norovirus is real! 5. Only travel-related food poisoning was in Egypt. Stopped at a roadside restaurant on the way back from Saqqara to Cairo (and I distinctly remember it being REALLY GOOD) and spent the night praying to the porcelain gods. 6. Ugh. You are the worst. 7. That pisses me off. Also, like everything worth seeing in a museum has a (better) photo of it that you can pull up on the internet in like 2 seconds. You really think your iPhone is that good? 8. Anything but the Mona Lisa. So overrated. 9. I didn't even know that was a thing. 10. That's actually just the bell for the Pizza Hut. 11. I bet the one-eyed ones do. 12. Midwesterners. 13. I plead the 5th. 14. Only if it ate your baby. 15. Not Flint's. Oh, I lol'd at #12. Wasn't even a joke.
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Post by Wolfgang on May 13, 2018 14:49:34 GMT -5
Send gramps and nana on a Viking cruise. That will toughen them up. I wish I had models like that when I was growing up. The only model ships and planes I put together were about the size of two toasters and for display only.
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Post by vup on May 13, 2018 18:39:35 GMT -5
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Post by ironhammer on May 13, 2018 20:20:14 GMT -5
"The temple architecture of China, Japan, and Korea -- can you even tell the difference?"As someone who has lived in Asia (Japan and China included), I can answer this. Japanese temples sometimes don't have tiles on their roofs: The Japanese castle is also unique only to Japan, this structure is built mostly of stone (in contrast to wood, which was the predominant material for temple and palaces): By contrast, Chinese temple and palace always have tiles on the roofs, if it is a royal or official government residence, the roof is also painted in a golden yellow, the exclusive imperial color of the emperor: Chinese pagodas also usually have more sides: Whereas Japanese pagodas are usually rectangular: Korean gates, temple and palaces usually have a large square bar-like structure on the top of their roofs (don't know what the official name is for that roof element): Of course, all these buildings do look similar at first glance because Japanese and Korean architecture obviously borrowed from Chinese architectural principles. This was part of a broader historical spread of Chinese philosophy (i.e. Confucianism), culture and religion (i.e. Daoism) and arts (i.e. Chinese landscape painting) in East Asia. The ancient Japanese capital of Nara was, for example, modeled after the then Chinese capital of Chang'an (modern day Xian). But over time, both the Japanese and Koreans indigenized their architecture and moved away from the Chinese model. Gradually, local elements became apparent and so a unique Japanese and Korean "style" appear. I can also add that another way to tell is the shape and style of the wooden bracket sets below the roofs (called "dougong" in Chinese), as Chinese, Japanese and Korean buildings all have their own unique wooden bracket style and system. But that would be getting a little...technical. Nevertheless, East Asian architecture do have one thing in common, their resilience to earthquakes. The strength of the building does not come from the wall (which does not support the structural weight), but comes from the interlocking beams that hold up the heavy timber roofs. Built in such a way, the building becomes remarkably resilient to earthquakes, even strong ones: www.shine.cn/archive/sunday/now-and-then/Ancient-Chinese-wooden-architecture/shdaily.shtml
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Post by Phaedrus on May 13, 2018 20:25:57 GMT -5
We Chinese also love red, so the columns and other details have lots of red in them, for good luck.
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Post by hammer on May 13, 2018 22:24:11 GMT -5
I'm learning so much in this thread.
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Post by azvb on May 14, 2018 23:46:45 GMT -5
Headed to Paris in the morning. My husband has been packing for hours. He tries on a shirt, asks my opinion, repeats the process. He’s driving me crazy. Just pick out a couple pair of jeans, for crying out loud. Took me an hour to pack and I didn’t ask his opinion on anything. Hope we’re still speaking in 10 days.
Other than his packing neurosis, I have no complaints about the man. He’s good guy.
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Post by XAsstCoach on May 15, 2018 0:23:18 GMT -5
When in Paris, make sure you take a side-trip to Giverny and visit Monet's garden. The country side was a wonderful contrast to that of Paris. Definitely worth the trip.
Loved Barcelona! Only walked The Rambla once, because we enjoyed walking through the alleys off to the side. Great architecture! Oh, yeah, we got our fill of Paella and smoked ham.
If you ever have the chance, visit the island Majorca. Beautiful place! Stay 3 nights and you can probably see everything there is. Oh, a little warning...we could not find a do it yourself laundromat on Majorca. Had to wait until we got back to Barcelona, and even then it wasn't an easy find.
Another island we loved was Sicily...stayed in Palermo, Taormina and Catania. Palermo was great with its churches and architecture. From Palermo we did a roadtrip out to Agrigento to look at the old ruins. Then drove along the coast to have dinner at a seaside hotel before driving back to Palermo that night. Taormina was just beautiful...waking up and glimpsing the sun rise over the water. Town itself is embedded on the side of the mountain, first time we saw a town like this and was just awestruck. Did our roadtrip to Mt Etna from Taormina. Catania...meh. Maybe because when we went there it was raining and cloudy...not motivated to see much.
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Post by Wolfgang on May 30, 2018 18:01:57 GMT -5
The Italian food in Italy tastes a LOT different from the Italian food in America. They're saltier, tomatoier, meatier -- and the ingredients for the same dishes are different. The pizza with prosciutto was quite good. The tomato sauces also taste different -- just a different flavor of tomato. Also, breakfast is far superior. The bacon slices are thicker and they don't cook them to a crisp like in America. They're thick and juicy and the best frikkin' thing on earth! I think I could've just eaten bacon slices all morning.
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