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CT 757: does anyone know a paralegal who enjoys insensitive jokes

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i don't even understand how that happens without someone going unconscious at the wheel
 
Man, I really gotta start taking notes on my trips, though I don't think I'd want to share. I went to like a million places in a month abroad and can't remember any of them.

Got my grant down to $0.00 though, so i think I win. Gone a month? That'll be five days of per diem, please. And like magic, the money is gone
 
tigerswood said:
Got back last night from Greece. Amazing, bucket-list trip, particularly for my wife whose grandfather was Greek. CTers care for some highlights or should I post to the travel thread (or just go fuck myself)?
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What birds did you see?!?!?
 
Just spent $600 on a Japanese maple AMA
 
Guy goes to Greece. Says the ruins in Turkey are better. Forgets to mention that the Turks were responsible for destroying many of the Greek temples. Doesn’t get invited back to Greece.
 
tigerswood said:
OK, I'll keep this relatively brief, as I could probably write an RJ-level novel on the trip.

Days 1-2 - Travel, Athens - Exhausted, stayed at the New Hotel right off the Plaka district. Cool lunch in Plaka, National Gardens were nice, some ruins, chill dinner on hotel rooftop overlooking Acropolis. Great view, would recommend hotel for sure.
Day 3 - Olympic Stadium, Temple of Zeus (not that cool), general exploring. Board Windstar ship for late lunch.

I'll stop here for the general review of the Windstar voyage. 148 person ship with only 89 guests on our voyage. Way more crew than guests. Good mix of a couple other youngish couples, older couples, families with older children, etc. One of the few small cruise "sailing yachts" - pretty cool experience when they raise the sails. The food FAR exceeded expectations, and I could not imagine getting better service. Menu changed every night (all ala carte other than some lunch buffet options which we ate once when not in port) and featured things like lobster with shrimp/scallop risotto, various fresh fish from the local markets (branzino/sea bream FTW), prime rib, lamb chops, unreal dessert soufflés, etc, etc. Booze options were top shelf - Hendricks, Goose/Belvedere, Makers, etc. Thankfully, our boat typically got in earlier/left later than the bigger ones (and 2 stops avoided other ships altogether). It really wasn't hard to avoid crowds if you woke up early and were smart about things.

Day 4 - Mykanos. Only excursion we did through the boat. Very glad we got up early and toured the old town, Little Venice, windmills, etc. Then went to a cool local bakery, organic winery up in the hills, monastery, and then tavern for ouzo tasting/delicious lunch. When we got back to the old town after lunch, it was swarming with tourists. Cool to go back to the boat and chill/drink/sun.

Day 5 - Kusadasi/Ephesus. First time in Asia - Kusadasi is a big Turkish port city. Hired a private guide and somehow ended up with a sprinter van, driver, and guide for like $170 for 6 hours. The ancient city of Ephesus is pretty incredible and way more impressive than any of the ruins we saw in Greece. Went up to a cool old Greek village in the mountains called Sirince. Got the hard sell on expensive Turkish rugs which was not so cool. The signature event of the voyage was dinner in Ephesus so we went back at night and had the entire old city just for the Windstar guests. Eating in front of the old library with the moon rising and Aegean Chamber Orchestra members playing was an unforgettable experience.

Day 6 - Patmos. Possibly our favorite stop. Only boat in the harbor - small hard to get to island. Rented e-bikes and drove them all day until they died. Saw St. John's cave of revelation and cool monastery up on the hill above the beautiful old town of Hora (right up there with Mykanos/Santorini with zero tourists). Relaxed/swam on a couple awesome beaches. Seaside tavern lunch with fresh whole fish & squid.

Day 7 - Santorini. Exceeded my expectations. Yes, the southern part of Oia was crowded AF, but we were first into port and hiked the 10 km from Thira to Oia, through a couple empty small towns, along the cliff edges, and over a couple mountains. Probably only passed 100-150 people in 10 km. Had a top 3 lunch of our lives at a small rooftop tavern called Melitini - I don't know how they award Michelin stars, but that place should get one. Every dish a home run, and unbelievably reasonably priced. Got lucky to get an easy taxi back to the port, and sunset/dinner sailing out of the Caldera was beautiful.

Days 8-9 - We were supposed to go to Monemvasia, but it was too rough/windy, so we went straight to Nafplio. Natives got a little restless with a sea day until 4-5 PM, but it was cool to relax. Nafplio was amazing, albeit a bit hot. Water color much more Caribbean here and much warmer - went to two great beaches. Climbed the 999 steps (I think it's really 800 something) up to Palamidi Castle/Fortress above the city for some amazing views and cool history. The old Venetian town is very charming, and we stumbled into a great family-run small tavern for lunch.

Days 10-11 - Back in Athens. Stayed at a great, 6-room boutique hotel called Monsieur Didot in Kolonaki. Crazy cheap, and great location in more of a local area. Had a nice SF neighborhood vibe. Amazing cocktail/sunset views from the top of Lycabettus Hill (skip the cable car). Private tour of the Acropolis & museum with a great guide who helped avoid the crowds, and taught us a lot. Very memorable last night dinner (hats of to Timmay for the rec) at Kuzina with the sun setting and then moon rising above the Agora/Acropolis.

That's about it. So many cool memories, pictures, and details excluded, but thx for listening to my shitty message board travel blog.
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sounds pretty awesome; did you do all inclusive, then or just the cruise?
 
ImTheCaptain said:
how big is it? that seems reasonable
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Yeah it’s already in a 35 gal container so it’s a pretty good size. Finally got the landscaping design finalized and the list of plants and trees I needed and was able to get to a local nursery and just pull the trigger on everything. They should be coming out in 5-6 weeks to do the planting. Excited to see how it turns out.
 
nothing cracks me up more than seeing some nice big new house plant tiny saplings that'll grow into a tree in 50 years
 
Heading up to Asheville this weekend for a couple days. Eating at Cucina 24 and Vivian, first time for both. Also hitting Burial obviously and the woman got tickets for Trevor Hall on Saturday night. Looks like we’ll get a little cooler weather too.
 
WRS said:
Heading up to Asheville this weekend for a couple days. Eating at Cucina 24 and Vivian, first time for both. Also hitting Burial obviously and the woman got tickets for Trevor Hall on Saturday night. Looks like we’ll get a little cooler weather too.
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you could also check out Forestry Camp, Burial's production site in Biltmore Village. good choices on dinners.
 
We just met with a landscape design company. You currently can’t see our front door from the street because of the massive bushes in the front.
 
BarcaDeac said:
you could also check out Forestry Camp, Burial's production site in Biltmore Village. good choices on dinners.
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I def want to check out Forestry Camp. Not sure how much time we will have this trip as we are just going Fri-Sun. Haven’t been up to Asheville in 3 years so really looking forward to being back.
 
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