Travel – Page 5

December 12, 2015May 13, 2023

Rome: Getting there

This trip to Rome was my first trip overseas, so it was an adventure. Connie was in Rome last year and she made for a great guide and interpreter for our trip.

Thanks to Connie chasing point and airline miles, our flight to Rome on American Airlines only cost us about $71 each in taxes and fees. The initial itinerary was a simple one: Charleston to Philadelphia to Rome. However, since it was booked so far in advanced, it ended up getting changed several times and we ended up flying to Miami, 8 hour layover there, then on to Berlin and finally to Rome (both on Air Berlin). The 8 hour stay in Miami was made more enjoyable thanks to a couple of passes for AA’s Admirals Club lounge from one of Connie’s Twitter acquaintances.

Experiencing our 1st airline lounge thanks to the generosity of @tmount. Thanks, Trevor! @imabug & I appreciate it. pic.twitter.com/Txmbjt6KCJ

— NR4CB (@NR4CB) November 26, 2015

This is the plane that took us to Europe!

The Air Berlin flights were quite nice. When we boarded in Miami, flight attendents offered passengers some candy. Seats were pretty comfortable with a decent amount of leg room. There was an in-flight meal (something you don’t see flying around North America anymore) which was pretty tasty (something pasta-y I think…don’t remember what it was now). Upon landing in Berlin (TXL), passengers were offered a piece of chocolate. The plane didn’t go to a terminal gate with a jetway, so passengers got off the plane using the front and back exits of the plane (very efficient) and then a bus to the terminal.

The Air Berlin flight from Berlin to Rome was also uneventful and very nice. We landed in Rome (FCO) and once again passengers left the plane using multiple exits.

For a first transatlantic trip, this was a pretty good journey. I’d totally fly Air Berlin again.

December 10, 2015May 13, 2023

Rome holiday highlights

Got back from our almost 2 week Rome vacation last night. Had an excellent time while we were there. Just a few highlights of the trip while I’m thinking about them.

My first trans-Atlantic flight
Hotel La Scaletta – great place to stay at the beach. Easy trip in to Rome on the Roma-Lido metro line.
Seeing St. Peter’s Square/Oval and the four Papal basilicas (St Paul Outside the Walls, St Mary Major, St John Lateran, St Peter)
Sunday Angelus where the Pope wishes you a good lunch at the end
The usual touristy sites
- The Pantheon
- Roman Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Trevi Fountain
- Campo de’ Fiori
- Piazza del Popolo
Scavi tour and climbing the dome at St Peter’s Basilica
Walking through Villa Borghese
Fountains
Gelato

Edmonton 2015

We got back from spending the past week in a slightly cool but still pleasant Edmonton last night after a long day of flying.

Had a great trip out there, and Connie got to meet mom and dad. It was a busy and full week of driving around to visit people and seeing places.

On this trip, we also discovered that since our phones are on Sprint’s CDMA network (via Ting), they no longer roam while in Canada like mine did on my last trip (even then it was spotty). Future trips means we’ll have to pick up pre-paid SIM cards from somewhere for our stay if we want to stay in touch.

Didn’t go for dim sum quite as much as on my last trip in August, but we did make it out for dim sum at least once. My sister Sandi was able to join us in Edmonton for the weekend and Connie got a nice picture of us after we all went out for dinner Saturday night.

We made a couple of visits out to West Edmonton Mall, which we both enjoyed. It’s big, and while there are a few things that I remember, a lot of the mall has changed since I was last there.

The Santa Maria

Santa Maria replica at West Edmonton Mall

World Waterpark

The Mindbender

Mindbender rollercoaster at West Edmonton Mall — Mindbender rollercoaster

I even went skating at the Ice Palace which was probably the first time I’d been on skates in over 20 years. Even though the skates I rented could have used a good sharpening, it was still a lot of fun being on the ice again. Wasn’t exactly the most graceful of skating, but I managed to stay on my feet. Connie got some pictures of me on the ice.

While we were walking through the mall, we spotted a penguin walking around checking things out.

The penguin is part of WEM’s Marine Life aquarium exhibit and is named Taz. Cool random encounter.

We made stops at Tim Horton’s (maybe a few), A&W (mmm, Mozzaburger), a donair place and had a couple of lunches at The Old Spaghetti Factory in WEM. Made it out for beer and wings with the guys, and showed Connie some of the city. We didn’t get to see or do everything I was thinking about doing, but we managed to cram in a fair bit during our week there.

Also, Alaska Airlines might be my new favourite airline. They’ll be starting non-stop flights between Charleston and Seattle soon, which means it will be easier for us to make it out to that corner of the country to visit my sister and brother and their families. It also gives another alternative route home (CHS-SEA-YEG). Plus they still offer snacks.

It’s a little sad that a 14g packet of dried fruit and pretzels is something to get excited about when flying.

July 1, 2015October 3, 2020

Orlando mini-vacation

This past weekend we made a road trip down to Orlando to catch up with my sister and her family on their vacation. It also happened to be Field Day, so I put the HF rig back into Connie’s car so we could play some radio over the weekend.

We drove down Friday and got to Orlando early enough to spend some time browsing around Skycraft Parts and Surplus, a big junk store filled with all manner of awesome stuff for DIY type people.

Part museum, part junk shop, lots of neat stuff. There were bins of electronic components, aisles of nuts, bolts, washers of all sizes, electronic equipment, some tools, wire, rope. Just like being in a candy store.

Don’t forget to look up. Lots of stuff hanging from the ceiling in this place, some for sale, some just on display.

That evening we had dinner at Thani Thai which turned out to be quite excellent. Very tasty food, nicely decorated inside.

Saturday morning, we stopped at the Mary Queen of the Universe basilica for a visit and to check out their gift shop. Big church, very nice inside.

As you’re walking toward the church from the parking lot, there’s a pretty neat statue of Saint Michael

Off to the side of the church is a peaceful little rosary garden.

After the church, we still had a little bit of time to kill before meeting my sister. We found this neat little used book shop called The Book Worm on the way and explored it a bit.

They have a “Things found in books” bulletin board with some interesting items.

If you’re looking for the politics section, it’s in the bathroom.

Then it was off to meet my sister and her family at the Orlando Science Center. This turned out to be a pretty awesome place, and we ended up spending pretty much the entire afternoon here. There are 4 levels to explore, tons of interactive exhibits to play with and lots of things for kids (big and small) to learn about. Mummies of the World is their current headline exhibit and is pretty cool. Very expansive exhibit with actual mummified bodies and parts. You’ll learn about how mummies are created both naturally and by people and get to see them up close and personal. No pictures allowed though.

The rest of OSC is a lot of fun to explore. Dinosaurs, weather, reptiles, several halls filled with hands on interactive exhibits to play with. It’s definitely a place worth visiting and spending the day at.

Had a great time in Orlando, and was glad we were able to meet up with my sister and family.

RAWR

September 25, 2014August 4, 2024

Wrapping up the Edmonton trip

Today is my last full day in Edmonton, and it’s been a great trip, but it seems like it just flew by. Took the Basic and Advanced Canadian Amateur Radio certification tests yesterday and passed both of them. Met up with a couple of friends from my grad school days and had a good lunch with them.

Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the U of A campus looking at all the changes. So many new buildings popping up among the old familiar ones that I know. It’s a very different place from when I was a student there.

A couple more errands today, and it will be time to wrap things up and get ready to head back to Charleston. Flight leaves at 8AM tomorrow, and I’ll be back in Charleston late afternoon.

Sad to be leaving, but it will be good to get back to Charleston.

Category: Travel

Rome: Getting there

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Rome holiday highlights

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Edmonton 2015

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Orlando mini-vacation

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Wrapping up the Edmonton trip

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