slidergirl

1st time I renewed, no interview needed. 2nd time I renewed last year, I had to do the 5 minute interview in person. They wanted a new photo and fingerprints. Since I was pro-active and renewed way in advance, I could wait the 2 months for an appointment at SLC. SLC has a "no walk ins" policy.

My Provence canal cruise was a group cruise with the trip offered by a company which does ADVENTURE trips for WOMEN. Not a TA. I use them when they offer a trip to somewhere I want to go, but don't want to do solo (Kenya safari, Egypt/Jordan, hiking in Italy, beach camping in Baja). I did the other 3 weeks of my vacation myself. My AW trips have been the only time I didn't do it all myself. I know, I know I'm a difficult woman 😉

Well, kinda hard to find some random TA when they can't be advertised here, is't it...

thx. I'll check it out,

No such thing within 50 miles... Never had to use one before, either.

Note on figuring out where your car is going to stop: There is frequently a light board that shows a line with car#s on it and alphabet letter above it. The letters correspond to the letters hanging overhead on the platform. I never knew about this until this year. I've gotten pretty good at the train thing - you have to be a little assertive to make your way down the platform as others are getting off the train. On one of my trips this summer, I was definitely the last person on the train!!

I have my Capresso machine that grinds the beans right into the basket. I've had for ages. If it dies, I'll probably do a Nepresso. I've been looking at places for something that calls to me for a cruise. I wish I could call up, like NCL or whoever is offering the "2nd goes free" and say can I have that for just me?? They aren't losing anything on that. Virgin had an interesting cruise where they overnight in each port. But, I'd surely feel like a fish outta water on that ship!! I do those mock bookings all the time and just get depressed.

well I was hoping to do a cruise in May or September, Preferably May. Don't care where, but finishing in Rome or Naples would be preferable. The kicker is under $2500.

Having carryon-size is pretty mandatory for train travel. Unless you are going first class, you may end up having to sit with your bag in your leg/foot space. I had to do this once this summer - Paris to Marseille. fortunately, I can still "pretzel up" and just used my bag as part of the seat. At the stations, besides a potential long trek to your platform, you may have to walk up/down a flight of stairs so you need to be able to drag your bag. Example of luggage storage on a train below. My travel companion, Moose, is keeping watch. None of those bags were mine - mine was in the seat next to me.

Anyone find a good deal for a solo cruiser??? I'm getting a tad aggravated that there are all these "2nd cruises free/75% off" deals yet I'd still have to pay full single supplement. Looking for something in the Med to tie with a land trip.

the Rosemary nuts are pretty darn good. I'm snacking on some right now! I used to buy the blueberry scones but I'm trying my best to keep the carbs down, Anyone find any decent Black Friday deals for solo cruisers?? grrrrr - I haven't seen anything. when those "2nd goes free" come on, I think "why can't I do that myself"??? It's not fair. I still have Europe on my brain and maybe do a cruise with a land trip.

Sometimes I get tired of "authentic" when I travel. And I do like modern, just not cookie cutter. I could never afford either one (OR the Danieli) unless I used points. Those are what we called "aspirational" properties - people use points and not pay for the most part. And, the property loses money in the process. Marriott pays very meager for a points stay vs money stay. At my St, Regis, we would be full of points people over the holidays in the Winter and it kill our profit.

The TJ's Thanksgiving was a success. That half Turkey breast was tasty, the cornbread stuffing was yummy, the mash potatoes were good (I thought I had bought the sweet potato one, but noooo), and the cranberry sauce good as always. the Chalk Hill Pinot Noir was just right - not to light and not to heavy. Next comes White Turkey Chili, I think. But, I have stuffing and scalloped potatoes for dinner tonight - I'll probably add some Turkey to it for protein. Stuffing - I grew up with the white bread, egg, onion & celery stuffing in the turkey. But, I've learned to love the cornbread stuffing. I am proud of the fact that I've never done a turkey from scratch! I'd offer to make a boatload of sides, but never the turkey. TJ's turkey breast is about as close as I get, and it's already cooked. Just too much pressure and expectations when you cook the turkey, *IMHO* Watched some World Cup football yesterday. Wow - the one goal by Brazil was amazing!! Over his shoulder, then the in air kick!!! This stuff brings me back to watching football when I was in Germany and Austria for bobsled/skeleton work. CNN had a Stanley fest last night, with Season 1 shows. Made me want to go back again!!! Anyone hitting any Black Friday sales??? All I did was pick up some more panties from Pact - I did a trial pair last month and I liked them. I needed to replace some of my old, worn-out, things. I had my $50 "Happy Holidays" discount from Sundance, so I used it to buy a sweater that'll work well for work. And with the 30% off at Athleta, I got the Delancy Moto leggings for work. I tweeked my Achilles tendon on my surgically enhanced left leg yesterday. I do it once in awhile. So I'm limping around with support sleeve on. I'm a mess!!!

My blood glucose just went up to 300 merely by looking at that photo!!!

I had to look at the St. Regis location as it has changed. One of my Butlers at the St. Regis I worked at came to us to train to be a Butler for the newly-opening SR that was on one of the islands. I knew that one closed due to lack of business, but I didn't realize they moved. Where is it now is what was the old Westin Regina & Europa. I stayed there years ago on points when it was the Westin. It is actually a good location. Away from noise, but easy walking to St. Marks. I'd love to go back there just to see the changes they made. I had a room up on the top, just a normal room. BUT, it had a door that opened up to the rooftop. Got some nice photos from there!

Good morning ladies! I am thoroughly thankful to have all of you in my life, even if it is just through a thread on CC. We've been there for each other in good times, bad times and silly times. And, you help me plan my out-of-control vacations! And, thankful to CC for allowing a little latitude inside this thread! It is a TJ's Thanksgiving all the way. Brined 1/2 turkey breast, stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce. Kind of the traditions today. Adding in the scalloped potatoes for tomorrow. I did buy myself a nice little bottle of Pinot Noir to go with the goodies. And, the freakin' vacation hamster wheel in my brain won't take the day off!

I did go into Urgent Care. All the tests were negative and the chest Xray was clear and my lungs sounded clear. The NP said it was most likely one of the various viruses floating around town. Nothing for my cough because what she offered does not work on me (Tesslon Perles) AND the office indeed does not prescribe opioids or narcotics because of all the drug seekers, I guess. There is even a sign on the wall at reception that states that. The NP said to take Zyrtec in the AM, Benedryl in the PM and to do some puffs on my inhaler. And just tough it out. OOTD: camo cargo pants and a black henley Tshirt. Red Patagonia because it was very lightly snowing.

I thought that last year I heard a big NO to egg nog yogurt. It's at TJ's, and I think 99 cents. I will mix some granola in with my yogurts sometimes. I have a bag of TJ's Pecan Praline that I'll mix. It could be a good breakfast or snack thing for you! The egg nog bread sounds absolutely yummy!!

I just want some Hydrocodone to kill the cough, But the urgent Care docs/NPs usually think I'm a drug seeker because I know what I want because it works for me. My old NP would write me up for a big bottle, but the urgent care folks will only do the smallest bottle, only after me saying Tessalon Pearles do not work on me. I forgot - I bought one of the panettone at World Market - the one with the cherries. While good, the cherries were a little too sweet for me. I'd rather have the classic.

Even back in the 70s, my university, UCLA, used the quarter system.

Not sure what I have. No stuffy or runny nose, so not a cold, Had a low-grade fever for a few days. But, I'm still coughing like mad - a little wet and wheezy. My ribs hurt from the coughing. When I cough, it isn't a short one, either, I swear - last night in bed, I was coughing for a solid 5 minutes! Maybe I'll run to Urgent Care tomorrow if it doesn't slow down. Ugh. Hmm. What I've eaten from TJs so far: nothing new, the Harvest Apple bagged salad, some pecans, the butternut squash soup in the refrigerated section, some Multi-Grain Pita crackers and some of the instant oatmeal. I did sautee up the small package of Argentinian Red Shrimp With Togarashi Butter to put in some salad greens (I always like those shrimp). Not much of an appetite right now. I am going to have some of the Pita crackers for lunch with the Cramberry Goat Cheese. Oh - I did finish off the Olive Fougasse - so yummy. I like a good dense bread. I know most of you don't like the egg nog yogurt so I won't mention that it goes really well with the TJ's Pecan Granola 😉 Had a weird idea for a trip (what else is new???) Take Icelandair to Milan, play for 2 weeks around Italy, fly home but use the free stopover with Icelandair to take a week playing around Iceland. I'm going crazy...

I totally forgot about this.

There are a couple Mariott properties with maybe 5 walking minutes of each other up in the Via Veneto/Barberini area: The W, the Westin Excelsior, Mariott Grand Flora and the St. Regis. I stayed at the Westin on employee benefit. Across the street from the US Embassy, so it gets a lot of business from there and a few cruise lines use it as their pre-cruise hotel. It's a classic old hotel. I haven't stayed at the others, just stopped in at the St. Regis to add another Bloody Mary to my list (each St Regis around the world does it own special take on the Bloody Mary). Like cruisemom said, it's maybe a 30 minute walk downhill to the Pantheon area. There is Metro stop at Piazza Barberini and one the top of the hill. I always walked - Via Ludovisi to the Spanish Steps and down.

Up here where I live, a major ski resort town, we now consider Spring Break to be from Presidents Week (used to be "weekend", but it's more week now) to Easter Monday. It just seems to be one big, messy busy time. The old "public schools do week before Easter and Catholic schools do week after Easter" has morphed into "depending on the school schedule, it can be anytime". I've had families with school-age kids show up for a week anytime during that "Spring Break".

It is just so heartbreaking that this still happens and things that could possibly help curb these events go unused. Between the 3 UVA students murdered and now the murders in Colorado Springs, I just am so sick. I feel like some of the stuff the dogs leave on my front lawn. Ugh. And, some elephant came here and is now sitting on my chest. Coughing like crazy. My voice has lowered from it's usual alto to a baritone, when I can even talk. Definitely going to be drinking tea and broth and couchsurfing again. Fortunately no snow in the forecast so I don't have to worry about shoveling. I went to bed at 8 last night and slept straight through to 8 this morning. Feel like napping is going be the big activity today. Stay safe and healthy everyone!