Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

hjd

zagubov wrote: »

oldandhappy wrote: »

When I was a post-grad student in my 20s and too old for inter-rail I made up for it by getting a cheap flight to Athens and the slow train back arranged by the DB travel office in London. Don't know if that;'s even possible now.

http://www.seat61.com/Greece.htm is your friend. Scroll down for the return journey options.

I spend many a happy hour on here, planning rail journeys I'm never going to take!

Pyxis

vivatifosi wrote: »

I haven't been to Montenegro, but have heard lots, mostly good. It looks beautiful. A colleague of mine makes regular trips both there and to Slovenia. Both sounds wonderful. The only downside I've heard is that being outside of the EU, Montenegro has greater levels of poverty and while it is beautiful needs to get in he EU to get funding to upgrade its infrastructure and restore some of its crumbling heritage. Would be interested to hear your take on that.

I have been trying for years to get DH on an Adriatic cruise so we can get a peep at that part of Italy, Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, maybe Albania. Then we could pick the places we liked most to go back and explore in more detail. No luck so far but definitely on my to do list.

Well, apparently a lot of the old walled city of Kotor, where I am, was restored after the last earthquake of 1979. So no apparent poverty here. It is traffic-free, apart from the little refuse noddy-train that goes around the narrow cobbled streets at set times to collect the rubbish. It is very touristy, but because of the ancient buidings, it is charming. The touristy stuff isn't overdone, and there are some lovely old churches of various denominations, and I mean old. The town is walled, and the walls snake up the mountain like the Great Wall of China.

Kotor is on the sea, but the sea creeps inland into what appears to be a huge lake, but is actually the sea, and is tidal. Despite that, it is incredibly calm and smooth, very clear, and when some of our group went in for a dip today, safe and a pleasant temperature.. The mountains rear up around the narrow coastal strips where most of the towns are. Some of them appear near-vertical! At night, the snaking walls and the mountain and the chapels dotted at intervals up the walls are floodlit.

We went for a walk up one of these mountains this afternoon. :eek: I am very unfit at the moment, for various reasons, but I decided to brave the stepped,zigzag path. It took me an hour and ten mins to do a forty-minute climb, due to my very frequent stops, but I managed it! The view was lovely! Then coming down, my legs gradually turned to jelly, and I thought, where is Alastair Brownlee when you need him!

At the bottom again, the sun was starting to set, and cast a red glow over the towns on the opposite bank, onto great swathes of the mountainside, and onto parts of the water, turning it to blood.

The food so far has been excellent. Lots of fish, obviously, but other meat and vegetable specialities.

Talking of cruise ships, because the water around Kotor looks like a lake, it is always a shock to see a massive cruise ship parked right there! Goes to show how deep the water must be! There was a monster one there at lunchtime, and it started to leave as we were having lunch, so we got a nice view back when it went!

You do see groups from the ship being taken round the city by guides, but the groups are small and not intrusive.

Am going to sleepy-byes now, as very tired! Will try and post pics another time!

silvercar

In the late 80s we went on holiday to Pula, now part of Croatia, then Yugoslavia.

The countryside was beautiful, but the country was quite primitive. It was Summer, so due to a water shortage, the water was switched off for hours each day. Food choices were very restrictive. I remember one meal was a plate of sliced beetroot on lettuce. The local shop had a choice of 2 post cards, one featured a scenic view and the other some nudists! There were two beaches, one for nudists and one for clothed people.

I remember the flight had smokers on one side and non-smokers on the other. How times have changed!

michaels

Started xmas present shopping

zagubov

michaels wrote: »

Started xmas present shopping

Well it is only three months away to the day. :j

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

I love Christmas more than PN loves Rewired.

And this year we get Bad Santa 2 - joy of joys.

:santa2::xmassmile:xmassign::snow_grin:snow_laug: :xmastree:

LydiaJ

My favourite aunt has died. It's not wholly surprising - she was 94 and quite frail - but there was nothing obvious to suggest that it was in any way imminent. I am sad, and DD has been very upset - she's had too many losses to be able to deal with new ones very well. However, she perked up a bit after lots of TLC, plenty of comfort food, and watching a favourite DVD while wrapped in a fleece blanket and snuggled up to me. (Am I a *Bad Parent* to let her reinforce the impulse to seek comfort from food? I hadn't the heart to say no. I did at least tell her that it's OK to eat comfort food for one evening when something really sad has happened, but after that it's important to go back to eating more wisely.)

Having begun life with 5 aunts and 3 uncles, I am now down to one aunt - my paternal uncle's much younger second wife, who is an excellent person but lives in Australia so not much good for frequent visiting. The one that's just died lived a mere half an hour or so from here. I am at least glad she lived long enough to get to my dad's 90th birthday in July this year, which she found great fun - especially his comments about her in his speech!

Pyxis

It is sad, notwithstanding her great age.

While reason tells you they won't be there for ever, when they do live a long life, it does seem as if they will be there for ever, so makes the loss greater in some ways.

Also, it is one of the very last links with your childhood and formative years so makes it poignant as well, as you tend to grieve for your lost 'security' as well.
:A

vivatifosi

I don't think comfort eating per se is a problem, providing that the event is a big one and it doesn't become habitual and a response to every day ups and downs. Death of a loved one does feel like a fair reason.

I snacked like a Hoover yesterday. I had a steroid jab late Friday and it has turned me into a shark. I'll be glad when that side effect passes.

vivatifosi

Zag, I interrailed in my younger day. Didn't go to uni, but used it as a cheap way to travel. Only got to Spain and France though. Going behind the iron curtain was far too exotic. Also, high speed wasn't as developed then. They have fab high speed trains to Spain now. Back then they stopped for sheep.

I didn't have the time to go further. The reputation if Italian trains at the time was no better. As fir Greece, you'd have spent your whole holiday getting there. Though I did fly to Athens and island hop by ferry.

Passing through the Basque region at the height of the ETA troubles was interesting too. You were taken off the train, checked, run through scanners at gunpoint. In the other direction, entering France, they didn't even check your passport.