Doing a tour or Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan so I can get out of having to organise a birthday party.
Interesting I worked in Almaty for 3 months and had to go over the border to Bishkek when there was an 'issue' with Bakiyev - very interesting. Had a business trip to Astana, as it was called then.
Doing a tour or Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan so I can get out of having to organise a birthday party.
Two wonderful countries to explore. Kyrgyzstan is one of the most beautiful countries for nature I've been too. The lake and mountain regions are spectacular, as are the starry nights if staying in one of the yurt camps for a night or two.
Potentially going to Florence for a couple of days next year and wondered if anyone had recommendations on areas to stay on and must see places. Any help greatly appreciated!
Has anyone actually had any experience of claiming on ERI? I have taken it a number of times and never had to claim. It worries me a little that it would be difficult if it ever came to it.
I went to Asturias, Spain last month, and the day before leaving the UK I took Vehicle Hire Excess Insurance with Leisure Guard (underwritten by Axa) for 7 days at £11.20 altogether. While trying to park in the underground carpark of the hotel in Gijón, on a really tight curve, I did this to our hire car: Europcar charged me over 700 EUR (!) for that. I paid it and then put a claim with Leisure Guard. Amazingly (at least to me) Axa sent me an email on Friday saying they will pay in full sometime over the next 10 days, which was very pleasing considering that Europcar wanted to charge me I think 25 EUR per day to remove the excess.
It was obviously a bit more paperwork than taking Europcar's extra insurance, but it turned out to be a good deal. The paperwork, apart from a copy of my driver's license, etc, was: - copy of the signed rental agreement - proof of having paid the excess - the Europcar basic insurance schedule - incident report (basically the mechanics report from Europcar, explaining the damage) - final invoice - photos of the damage i.e. above picture
It is the first time I have claimed on this type of insurance, although not the first time I have taken it.
All in all, it was worth it, certainly for £11.20.
My fiancee drove a rental Dodge Challenger into a guardrail on the I-5 which caused a fair bit of damage. I had paid for the optional insurance and as a result, we were billed $0.
My fiancee drove a rental Dodge Challenger into a guardrail on the I-5 which caused a fair bit of damage. I had paid for the optional insurance and as a result, we were billed $0.
I will never ever not tick that box!
Result! But was that the policy in advance, which is even better?
Potentially going to Florence for a couple of days next year and wondered if anyone had recommendations on areas to stay on and must see places. Any help greatly appreciated!
While there's a huge amount to see and enjoy in Florence, I'd think about a day trip to Lucca (about 90 minutes by local train with great countryside views), it's a beautiful small walled city/town, very quiet and picturesque.
Booked a little add on after Lisbon in March to go to Marrakech - having not been there before I did a fair bit of Googling and am struggling to settle on a Riad to stay in for 3 nights (probably mid-range pricewise) in case anyone has any recommendations! Two currently near the top of the list are Riad Brummel & Riad Mehoun but not based on a lot!
Off to NYC on Thursday with my 12 year old daughter for 4 nights. If anyone has any recommendations for cool places to eat that aren't necessarily tourist traps that be great.
Off to NYC on Thursday with my 12 year old daughter for 4 nights. If anyone has any recommendations for cool places to eat that aren't necessarily tourist traps that be great.
Off to NYC on Thursday with my 12 year old daughter for 4 nights. If anyone has any recommendations for cool places to eat that aren't necessarily tourist traps that be great.
Have you considered Bubba Gumps in Times Square?
Or Katz's Deli, where they filmed the famous scene in "When Harry me.....
Sorry.
There are literally thousands of places which aren't tourist traps. A lot depends on where you are staying, how far you are prepared to travel for food, what type of food you want and what your budget is.
I'm sure as a 12 year old your daughter will have been influenced by Tik Tok and will want to eat in Raisin Canes. It's average but half decent value for New York (and you may need to tick that tourist box).
Other than that, I'd say trip advisor is your friend.
Started walking the Camino Frances across Northern Spain on Friday. Currently in Pamplona. Approximately 730 kms to go until we arrive in Santiago de Compostela on 14th October.
Going to Sharm el Sheikh next week, going to be hot but cannot wait. Belated birthday celebrations but really looking forward to getting away for the week and relaxing.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
Due home from LA this Thursday. My take on it so far; Venice (next to Santa Monica), proper crack city. Death Valley. Bloody hot 120 degrees. Vegas. Not as busy as I would have expected. Pharmacy offering to sell trips to fire a AK47. Only in Vegas I guess. San Clemente. Lovely and old style beach resort. But I guess it should be when you can’t buy a property for less than one million. Went Del Mar race track. 17 dollars a beer. Soberest I have ever been at a horse racing event. Oh, lost as well. Found this side of America expensive, but car hire cheap. Lots of driverless taxis. Bloke who drove us home in Uber last night told us he paid 33k new, for his Tesla (dollars). Sure they must go for double that back home. Apparently they were 40k but gave you a 7k discount of sorts. That was prior to Trumps fall out with Elon. Thought I would have an hour on the beach just in my shorts as I resembled a swan vesta. Now feel burnt all over. Fat, balding and burnt. Not a great look. Hey ho. Off for a pint, or 16oz glass, which is annoying as it’s less than a pint. Taken a liking to buffalo wings over a beer though. Especially with that blue cheese dipping sauce. over and out.
Going to Sharm el Sheikh next week, going to be hot but cannot wait. Belated birthday celebrations but really looking forward to getting away for the week and relaxing.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
Going to Sharm el Sheikh next week, going to be hot but cannot wait. Belated birthday celebrations but really looking forward to getting away for the week and relaxing.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
Going to Sharm el Sheikh next week, going to be hot but cannot wait. Belated birthday celebrations but really looking forward to getting away for the week and relaxing.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
Been quite a few years since we went but the snorkelling boat trips we went on were fantastic. We also did the day trip to Cairo for the pyramids etc, which was a bloody long day but very memorable. Not sure if they still do it though.
Going to Sharm el Sheikh next week, going to be hot but cannot wait. Belated birthday celebrations but really looking forward to getting away for the week and relaxing.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
Going to Sharm el Sheikh next week, going to be hot but cannot wait. Belated birthday celebrations but really looking forward to getting away for the week and relaxing.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
Been quite a few years since we went but the snorkelling boat trips we went on were fantastic. We also did the day trip to Cairo for the pyramids etc, which was a bloody long day but very memorable. Not sure if they still do it though.
I scuba dived in Sharm quite some years ago and I rated it as one of the best scuba dives that I experienced. Disliked Sharm itself when I stayed for one night but otherwise I stayed in Dahab which wasn’t blingy.
Going NYC with the family tomorrow. Looks like it’s gonna be a scorcher which is a little annoying. Will be my first time back since just before Covid. Have heard mixed reports so will be interesting to see how it’s changed.
The last time I went was in 1997, of course a long time ago. For me this is up there with Rio and Sydney as the best cities in the world.
I would always go in November where you could do the sightseeing during the day, you had options of going to Ice Hockey or Basketball in the evening, at the weekend there was NFL.
A great Barcelona + cruise holiday just had. Highlights were Pompeii (had no idea how much of the big city had been preserved and how advanced the engineering etc. was pre-the city being overrun by the eruption), Barcelona (Sagrada La Familia and Nou Camp tours - both mind blowing) and a French town in Provence called L’Isle Sur La Sorgue - a small inland version of Venice basically with low level waterways all around the city (whose speciality is fine chocolates).
The Royal Caribbean ship we were on Allure of the Seas was the best yet. Standard of facilities and shows was crazy good. Comedy on these cruises can be more miss than hit, but the two Canadian comedians we saw were hilarious and took the whole UK/US/Eur/Asian audience that were there with them for the fun ride.
Thanks all, I have been told about the water and ice, we will only be drinking bottled water throughout, brush our teeth with that etc. but Imodium will be taken
We have a private scuba diving as part of the hotel on its own little beach so will be looking to do that at some point.
Just generally looking forward to going and it'll be the first time I venture out of Europe.
Comments
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/features-benefits/policies/car-rental-loss-and-damage-insurance-terms.html
towel courtesy of @northstandsteve
Have also seen a teenager wearing this seasons kit with Kanu on the back this evening.
While trying to park in the underground carpark of the hotel in Gijón, on a really tight curve, I did this to our hire car:
Europcar charged me over 700 EUR (!) for that.
I paid it and then put a claim with Leisure Guard.
Amazingly (at least to me) Axa sent me an email on Friday saying they will pay in full sometime over the next 10 days, which was very pleasing considering that Europcar wanted to charge me I think 25 EUR per day to remove the excess.
It was obviously a bit more paperwork than taking Europcar's extra insurance, but it turned out to be a good deal.
The paperwork, apart from a copy of my driver's license, etc, was:
- copy of the signed rental agreement
- proof of having paid the excess
- the Europcar basic insurance schedule
- incident report (basically the mechanics report from Europcar, explaining the damage)
- final invoice
- photos of the damage i.e. above picture
It is the first time I have claimed on this type of insurance, although not the first time I have taken it.
All in all, it was worth it, certainly for £11.20.
I will never ever not tick that box!
Two currently near the top of the list are Riad Brummel & Riad Mehoun but not based on a lot!
Sorry.
There are literally thousands of places which aren't tourist traps. A lot depends on where you are staying, how far you are prepared to travel for food, what type of food you want and what your budget is.
I'm sure as a 12 year old your daughter will have been influenced by Tik Tok and will want to eat in Raisin Canes. It's average but half decent value for New York (and you may need to tick that tourist box).
Other than that, I'd say trip advisor is your friend.
Anyone been in recent times and got any recommendations or suggestions? We’re staying in Nabq Bay area.
My take on it so far;
Venice (next to Santa Monica), proper crack city.
Death Valley. Bloody hot 120 degrees.
Vegas. Not as busy as I would have expected. Pharmacy offering to sell trips to fire a AK47. Only in Vegas I guess.
San Clemente. Lovely and old style beach resort. But I guess it should be when you can’t buy a property for less than one million. Went Del Mar race track. 17 dollars a beer. Soberest I have ever been at a horse racing event. Oh, lost as well.
Found this side of America expensive, but car hire cheap. Lots of driverless taxis.
Bloke who drove us home in Uber last night told us he paid 33k new, for his Tesla (dollars).
Sure they must go for double that back home.
Apparently they were 40k but gave you a 7k discount of sorts.
That was prior to Trumps fall out with Elon.
Thought I would have an hour on the beach just in my shorts as I resembled a swan vesta.
Now feel burnt all over.
Fat, balding and burnt. Not a great look.
Hey ho. Off for a pint, or 16oz glass, which is annoying as it’s less than a pint.
Taken a liking to buffalo wings over a beer though. Especially with that blue cheese dipping sauce.
over and out.
Fully agree...
The Royal Caribbean ship we were on Allure of the Seas was the best yet. Standard of facilities and shows was crazy good. Comedy on these cruises can be more miss than hit, but the two Canadian comedians we saw were hilarious and took the whole UK/US/Eur/Asian audience that were there with them for the fun ride.
We have a private scuba diving as part of the hotel on its own little beach so will be looking to do that at some point.
Just generally looking forward to going and it'll be the first time I venture out of Europe.