Nice people thread part 8 - worth the wait

Spirit_2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Where should I go?

Looking for rustic, rural charm, lots of cheap (although preferably drinkable) wine and good food, and sunshine.

Somewhere in Europe.

Hoping the Nice People can pool their ideas and suggest somewhere tempting?

Umbria - Orvieto. Lovely food, wine, rural charm & rustic.
Lucca in Tuscany - all of the above and close to Florence
Not sure about weather in France at present but environs of Beaune in Burgundy, St Emillion in Gironde, Sarlat in Dordogne would be good for wine and rustic.

Cyprus - good for sunshine, OK wine - (I can recommend good tennis training/golf and spa) although not tried rustic.

fc123

Inland behind St Tropez? Lovely villages and just a short drive to the chi chi coast?

michaels

fc123 wrote: »

Inland behind St Tropez? Lovely villages and just a short drive to the chi chi coast?

Posh Alert

My parent used to have a house in La Garde Freneit which is a great place to go but we are certainly not talking cheap undeveloped Europe...

neverdespairgirl

Spirit wrote: »

OH has Visa for Russia in his passport. He was recently travelling via Moscow and his name had been mis-spelt on his booking. He expected a long wait at the counter and a lot of problems with Aeroflot. They were extremely helpful and arranged changed booking details to smooth his journey throughout.

Another negative sterotype busted.

When I was in Russia (admittedly, some time ago - it was in the summer of 1999) "customer service" just didn't exist.

We had a visa problem - at the time, you needed to be invited to Russia by someone in order to get a visa. We organised our invitation from the outrageously expensive Moscow Youth Hostel, as all the places prepared to sponsor foreign visitors came into the "outrageous" price range. From memory, we paid £25 for each of us per night, for a bed in a large dormitory.

When we arrived in Moscow, coming overland by train from Kiev, we tried to register with the relevant local office, as one was obliged to do within 48 hours of arriving in Russia. My best mate, who spoke very good Czech and passable Russian, managed to grasp that the problem was that our visas were supposed to be reigstered in St. Petersburg, for no obvious reason, and we were in Moscow.

The summary the woman gave her was, "This is not my problem. This is your problem."

It was a problem that, eventually, we realised could be solved by the application of a few dollar bills.

There was also virtually no way of eating out in Russia, apart from expensively in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In most of the towns and cities we visited, there were a few workers' canteens, and that was about it. Apart from meals we had at places we found to stay, the food was pretty hard to find and not very nice when we did find it.

OTOH, home-made meals in people's houses, and meals in the couple of convents we stayed in, were fantastic.

neverdespairgirl

In terms of holidays, OH and I were musing this evening over the possibility of taking Isaac to Delhi in the autumn half-term. We are thinking of trying for another baby next year, and visiting India when pregnant, or with a baby or toddler, doesn't appeal to me at all.

He'll be 8 by then, and I think old enough to enjoy it. I have a couple of instructing solicitors who have been positively pressing me to stay in their accommodations in Delhi, so might as well make the most of it!

I think Delhi's wonderful - have other NP been there? LIR, perhaps?

zagubov

Well it's taken me a big chunk of the day but I can now read Overdrive books on my old mac. Not on my laptop. And on my android phone it'd be like trying to enjoy an art gallery by peeking through its letterbox so stuff that for a game of soldiers.

My library seems to have a limited range of books. There is work to be done.;)

I've downloaded a book I won't name but the dedication is "To my enemies. I will destroy you." The hard copy I already own but it's in Oz where I can't read it.:(

chewmylegoff

Just finished work, although that may be because I was working from home and spent a very large part of the day not working outside my home...

CKhalvashi

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Where should I go?

Looking for rustic, rural charm, lots of cheap (although preferably drinkable) wine and good food, and sunshine.

Sakartvelo, specifically Batumi and if you're looking for countryside, Rustavi or Telavi

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

When I was in Russia (admittedly, some time ago - it was in the summer of 1999) "customer service" just didn't exist.

Has customer service ever existed in Russia? I try to avoid the country like the plague, unless it's for work. It's not the people that are the problem (I have a Russian passport), it's more the fact that the shop assistant has in some cases paid a bribe for the job, the shop owner pays a bribe to the government not to be inspected/closed down etc.

The summary the woman gave her was, "This is not my problem. This is your problem."

It was a problem that, eventually, we realised could be solved by the application of a few dollar bills.

As in Russia, anything can be. I absolutely hate it, but it's unfortunately a way of life.

We took a heavy stand for the Junior when we bid on the latest contract (it was Katya's first, so Jan/Feb 2009). We put the offer on paper, refused to be bribed and took the 'you can either give us the contract or not' stance. We got the contract, and this is the end of our 5 year, and they want to automatically renew for 3 years.

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Just finished work, although that may be because I was working from home and spent a very large part of the day not working outside my home...

I know the feeling.

I'm off to Milan at 4.30am, as I want to get parked and into an evening meeting before Friday rush hour. Something that I did do, however, is buy the right car! We have some scientists here, and maybe one can tell me how a car, with a 3.0 twin turbo, that's 195 inches long, with the air conditioning on, be doing 56.2mpg at 80mph?

My average is 46.8mpg, over 46196 miles, and it's doing 1000 miles between fill-ups at the moment. As that average includes racing, I'm seriously gobsmacked!

CK

PasturesNew

zagubov wrote: »

My library seems to have a limited range of books. There is work to be done.;)

Viva told me once that you can join many libraries for e-books.... you don't have to live in the county. And it's true, I did apply to one and get a card. You'll have to find which ones allow it.

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

In terms of holidays, OH and I were musing this evening over the possibility of taking Isaac to Delhi in the autumn half-term. We are thinking of trying for another baby next year, and visiting India when pregnant, or with a baby or toddler, doesn't appeal to me at all.

He'll be 8 by then, and I think old enough to enjoy it. I have a couple of instructing solicitors who have been positively pressing me to stay in their accommodations in Delhi, so might as well make the most of it!

I think Delhi's wonderful - have other NP been there? LIR, perhaps?

No, never to Delhi, though I would love to go. Family background there of course and one of my godparents is Anglo Indian and raves about Delhi as it once was.....I'd love to go. Nearest I have got to India that I can recall atm is Pakistan.

I don't think eight is too young at all for 'that kind of place'. In fact, I think it can be formative to his advantage, But then I would!:)