kochleffel

There was no bloodshed in the meeting yesterday -- difficult to do that online -- but there was one naturally bossy person who got on my nerves. I wanted a drink afterward, but didn't get it until much later. I'm trying to remember to go to the farmers' market this afternoon and maybe there will be blueberries.

The easiest way is just to use a bank ATM, preferably with a card from a bank here that doesn't charge a foreign-transaction fee. For the Greek islands cruise in May, I got 300 Euros in the Vienna airport, which I transited on the way to Athens. I still have some; my next trip is to Denmark and Norway, which aren't Eurozone countries, but I may be able to spend the leftover Euros in the Amsterdam airport. If not I'll have them for the Spanish Farewell in 2023. Turkey is not a Eurozone country, and you can tip tour guides there with USD or Euros, whichever you have. The few purchases I made in Turkey were on cards.

I can only tell you that I check mine, for the end of August, almost every day. I wouldn't ordinarily be so anxious, but I'm traveling via Amsterdam, and Schiphol airport has been ordering airlines to reduce boardings. The concern is about long delays at security and doesn't really affect most transit passengers, but when airlines can't simply block the remaining unsold seats, or don't want to, they've been cancelling the flights instead.

Thanks to all of you for the suggestion. I have a booking on the Spanish Farewell for 2023. For the other ports, including Lisbon, I might use Spain Day Tours, as I've been satisfied with them in the past, but they don't offer anything on Madeira.

There are also MIA-EWR flights on American and JetBlue, and United also flies FLL-EWR.

In half an hour I chair a meeting of community organizations that have agreed to coordinate their calendars (not having public events at the same time, for example). It will be virtual, as it has been for the past two years, which is a good thing because it prevents physical attacks in the meeting. Both staff and volunteer leaders of some of the organizations attend, and in the olden days there were conflicts not only dates that two groups wanted to reserve, but also when someone from one organization tried to tell another organization what to do. Last year, however, the biggest problem was just confusion, because people would remember while we were discussing January that they omitted something in October, and want to go back. The result was often that their October event got entered for January, or any other month except October. I'll give instructions that, if a backtrack is necessary, to save it until the end and then we'll review each month again. This has never worked before.

I once asked a rabbi whether it was obligatory to forgive someone who didn't want to be forgiven. She said that it wasn't, but it might be good for my mental health.

That was my first thought, too.

Probably not. United's mainline flights at EWR use terminal C. United express flights may use terminal A. Some UA international arrivals can be at terminal B. Miami flights are mainline, so terminal C, and the Amsterdam flight will leave from C.

Just another example of RCI's outstanding IT.

I'm of two minds about this. My next cruise is from a country that doesn't require it, but it's with RCI, which still does. I think that testing makes the cruise slightly safer, but my concern is about the motivation of the people who are most eager for it to end. Do they want it to stop only because it's inconvenient -- which it is -- and not totally effective -- also true -- or because they want to be allowed to cruise while they're infected? There have been some posts, in threads about quarantine on various cruise lines, in which people wrote that if they were ill aboard a cruise and tested positive on an ordinary home test, they would keep it a secret in order not to be quarantined -- in other words, go merrily about spreading disease.

In Rome, I've stayed twice at the Hotel Gregoriana and recommend it, if you are looking for convenience, comfort, and friendly service. It's about a block down the hill from the (more expensive) hotel near the top of the Spanish Steps that people frequently recommend. From central Rome, by public transport, you'd take a train from Termini Station to Civitavecchia, then a local bus from the station there to the gate of the port, then a free shuttle that makes a circuit of the port. There are several different types of trains from Termini and I think it would be worth paying for one of the faster ones, because the regular train carries a large amount of local traffic and is crowded beyond belief for about half the outward journey. Or book a taxi, especially if you can't handle luggage on a train and bus. This sounds like quite a challenge, because Ephesus is inherently not accessible! I'd say the same about Santorini, although there are ways that it can be visited without a long walk uphill and then a cable car.

That's really unfortunate, because Curacao is considered especially good for snorkeling.