Readers Report : Tips from Real Travelers
This week Cherrye and I decided to focus our attention on tips from our readers!
After last weeks tips on airfare, I got some great feedback from my readers on some other great sites to consult when purchasing airfare.
Terry reminded me of seatguru.com. An excellent resource for trying to get the *best* seat on your flight.
Kathy suggests using transavia.com and flybmi.com to search for great airfare deals.
Vicki used edreams.com. She found the best price through them for her recent ticket purchase.
Which brings me to the readers tips for this Travel Tip Tuesday.
This weeks tips were submitted by Vicki of Jacksonville, Florida. She suggested a few things to do before leaving on your trip out of the country.
Vicki said:
- Call your credit card companies and let them know you will be traveling out of the country. That way, when they see international charges come up, they won’t freeze your account.
- Make copies of your passport and write your itinerary (hotels, etc) on the bottom of the copy. Put one in each bag. If your bag is lost, the finder, should they be so inclined, will know where to find you to return your bag.
Great idea’s Vicki! Thanks so much for your tips!
And though it is not necessarily a tip, Susan from Israel sent me a delicious slide-show of Carnivale in Venice that I just had to share with you. I guess the tip here would be visit Venice during Carnivale. I can’t imagine a better advertisement.
You can watch it here: Download venice_carnival_3.pps
Don’t forget to head on over to My Bella Vita to see Cherrye’s readers travel tips today!!
Now readers, I ask you…what are your travel tips?
C’mon. You know you all have them. And I want ‘em. No, I need ‘em!!
Here is your chance to help your fellow travelers save time, money, space or headaches from the overwhelming hassle of travel.
Email your travel tips over to me at mymelange (at) yahoo (dot) net.
Until next Tuesday…..Happy Travels!
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Taverne Henri IV
I was lucky enough to find this little wine bar, a stones throw from my hotel on my solo trip to Paris. The Taverne Henri IV is nestled at the far end of the tranquil Place Dauphine, steps from the Pont Neuf.
It was a perfect spot for me to grab just a little bite to eat and a glass of wine at odd hours. I would bring my journal and write about my experiences while noshing on the homemade fare.
Sandwiches, quiche, cheese and charcuterie plates are all on offer, as is almost any kind of wine by the bottle or the glass imaginable. Bistro fare,all at deliciously low prices.
My first visit, Phillipe the owner and manager served me a fruity Beaujolais and a quiche that looked more like a souffle. Yeah, it was that big.
A few nights later, I happened to overhear a few Americans. Somehow, we all introduced ourselves and before long, we were like fast friends that had known each other for years. We drank and talked (and drank) until the wee hours of the morning. Phillipe was gracious enough to keep the place open much longer than normal closing time. He often joined in on our fun, though he did not know much English. He would gently quiet us when we were being too loud. There were people that lived upstairs.
It was a night I will always remember.
On the morning I left Paris, I was faced with an unexpected 15 minutes before my taxi was to pick me up. I immediately hopped over to Taverne Henri IV, for a last little nosh standing at the bar and to thank Phillipe for his wonderful food, delicious wine and for making a lone American girl with a journal feel welcome in a strange communal French wine bar.
Upon returning to Paris last year, even thought I was staying the Marais, I knew I had to return.
The food was better than I remembered and the place was very busy. We stayed until it cleared out a bit. As luck would have it Phillipe was conversing with a couple from Brazil that spoke French and very good English.
Again, somehow we got brought into the conversation. We drank and talked about everything from their travels to their lovely Brazil (and the men talked soccer). Before we left, we had exchanged email addresses with the lovely couple.
The whole time Phillipe and his wife had been waiting on us. I was dying to find out if he remembered me. Even though it had been 2 years, I was willing to try and find out.
I know enough French to get me by, but not enough to explain who I was to Phillipe. But his lovely wife seemed to know English pretty well.
I called her over. I explained.
"Two years ago, I came all week with a journal, one night, stayed late, bunch of noisy Americans, he kept the place open….Did he remember?"
She translated for Phillipe. As the French words danced out of her mouth and into his ear, he looked at me and I could see the look of recognition come over his face along with a warm smile.
He remembered. How nice.
I left that night with a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
So, next time you are in Paris, stop by for a bite, a glass of wine or just to make some new friends.
What about you? How does a place become one of your favorite haunts? Have you ever made friends in a similar way, when you least expected it?
Taverne Henri IV
13 place du Pont-Neuf
Paris, France
01 13 31 43 54 27 90
Travel Photo Friday
Well, what can I say? Whoohooo!!
Welcome, to our first edition of Travel Photo Friday. I hope you are just as excited as I am about this kick-off! Once a month, I will feature a travel photo, submitted by none other than you, my dear readers!
Our first photo was sent in by Angie. Angie shares my love for France and Italy, so I was over the moon when I saw her name pop up in my email. I was anticipating a fabulous photo. And she didn’t disappoint!
Not only do I love the picture, but the story behind it is as well. You can tell she has a passion for research, for seeking things out and she definitely has a good sense of humor, which is certainly important when you travel, right?
So without further ado…here is Angie’s contribution to Travel Photo Friday. Her description is below.
"This picture was taken in Rome in September 2006. In one of my guidebooks, a mention was made of this foot with very specific directions on how to find it. Apparently, it’s the only part of an ancient statue that’s left and no one really knows what the original statue looked like. I just loved the fact that it’s still there…that no one decided at some point just to destroy it because it’s just a foot. It’s in a back alley of Rome and I probably couldn’t find it again without my guidebook but while there, we were on a mission to find it!
The Michelin man (whose name is Bibendum, by the way) is a windup toy that we travel with…we place him in strategic spots and photograph him. In an ode to the movie Amelie, we send random pictures to friends who saw the movie with us. We don’t label them or give any clue as to who sent them so periodically they get photos from Bibendum’s adventure."
Angie, I can totally relate. Haven’t any of you ever been on one of those missions? Where you can’t rest until you find that one thing you are searching for? I, for one, am so glad you found it!
And what did I tell you about her sense of humor! I love the whole *Bibendum* idea. Wouldn’t you just love to get an email of a photo with this little white wind-up toy and have to figure out where in the world Angie was?
Yeah, I would too!
Great photo, thanks Angie! Go over and check out Angie’s blog, Aradgirl, for a more in depth look into her life, her travels and her adorable new (huge) puppy, a Burmese Mountain Dog.
Do you have a fab photo and description to be featured here for Travel Photo Friday? Yeah, you know you do. Don’t be shy! You can remain anonymous if you like or I will shout and tout ya from the rooftops (of Paris perhaps?)! Just email your photo and description to mymelange (at) yahoo (dot) com. Put Travel Photo Friday in the subject line.
Hey, and if your featured, or if you just want to spread the good word about this event, feel free to grab my badge and put it on your blog.
I can’t wait to see what you guys send me for our June event, which will take place on June 6th!!
Until then….Keep snappin’ those photos!
Sweet Springtime
Sweet, fragrant clusters of blossoms
Delicate, graceful lilliputian stars
Shades of violet, lavender and periwinkle blue
Lovely, just lovely
Can you smell them for there?
The first round of Lilacs made their way into my kitchen this week thanks to my other half.
Their delicious aroma fills my home with the sweet smell of Springtime and of childhood memories.
Memories of that same sweet aroma wafting through the kitchen windows of my childhood home when the breeze gently danced through the lilac branches in the back yard.
Lilacs are short lived, so you should definitely take the time to appreciate them.
One of natures finest gifts. Lilacs. Enjoy.
Travel Tip Tuesday : Saving on Airfare
Today’s Travel Tip Tuesday theme is Saving on Airfare. Here are some of the best ways I have found to date to fly on a budget.
1. Sign up for all the free airfare alerts or newsletters you can find. This way the airfare deals come right to you! Each site works a little differently, but on some you can put in an alert for notification of a specific price you are looking to pay, others will let you flag when a specific airfare has dropped by a certain dollar amount. A few of these alerts are available thru FareCompare, SmarterTravel and Airfarewatchdog. Others are newsletters that come directly to your email with a list of the top deals of the week. Travelzoo and Sherman’s Travel offer this type of service. And as I said, these are FREE!
2. Don’t forget to sign up for alerts and airfare sales with the airlines directly.
3. Always travel midweek. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday seem to offer the best fares. And don’t be afraid of a red-eye, they can be less expensive.
4. Book on line. Generally, the airlines will charge you a fee for booking over the phone. Try to compare prices during the week. For some reason, Tuesday evenings seems to be a time where the airlines lower their prices, albeit temporarily. Often a flight I have been watching goes on sale on Tuesday, but goes back up on Wednesday. I don’t know why, but now you know!
5. I am not a huge fan of travel packages, but for the right price, I would go for it! Most packages often lump in your plane ticket, hotel, car and/or attractions for the same price that you would find for just airfare alone. You end up paying alot less for your airfare in the end. Try gotoday.com for package deals.
6. Check with consolidators. I used 1800flyeurope to go to Italy. They were able to get me the same direct flight that I wanted on Delta, at far less than the airline price. And I was still able to rack up the frequent flier miles on the flight, which doesn’t always happen on a sale ticket. Bonus!
7. Speaking of Frequent Flier miles – try signing up for Frequent Flier programs that have codeshares with other airlines. You may not reap the rewards with your first flight or two, but if you make a valiant effort to use only those airlines, you could see yourself with a free ticket, sooner than you think. Delta is one example, as their program codeshares with Alitalia and AirFrance.
8. If you will be traveling within Europe, check out Ryanair and Easyjet. These are smaller Europe-only airlines, but you can score tickets for a little as $20 each way. You will sacrifice many luxuries and have luggage limits, but at those rock-bottom prices I would think you would be ok with bringing your own water or buying a new wardrobe when you get to your destination.
9. And last, but not least, airfare auctions are becoming more popular. Try Skyauction.com. But like any other auction, make sure you price compare your tickets on other sites, just to make sure you a getting a deal.
Now head on over and see what travel tips Cherrye is offering up today!
Finito Italiano
Well, it’s over. Italian I class…is history! I never thought I’d get through it. But, I did!
As you know, we had 10 classes of Italian and though I can’t say that I am fluent in the lingua, by any means, I can say that I have certainly learned alot. I have come to appreciate this beautiful language even more than before.
If that was even possible?
You may remember that our professoressa was having a contest. She told us to keep adding Italian parole that we learned, to our vocab bank, and that the person with the most words at the end of class would win. Something. I was hoping the prize would be an all-expenses paid trip to the Bel Paese.
Being that I am a competitive person, I added new words like a mad-woman. My strength is usually in the vocabulary and the memorization of said words. My weakness…ahem, grammar. So, this contest played to my strengths.
I started my vocab bank with a mere 100 words. I am happy to announce that the night of our last class, I had 547 words! Yep,cinquecento quaranta sette parole!!! And I owned ‘em!!
When the insegnante heard how many words I had, she said "Whoa, va bene, va bene!"
She grabbed my quaderno and started quizzing me. As if she didn’t believe me.
After she declared me the winner, she presented me with two little doni.
First, she told me to open the piccolo one first. She said it was *the card*. And this was my card…
A little pin that says…..I Love Italian!! È vero!!!
The second gift was a copy of a popular American children’s book . Tre Orsi. The Three Bears. Awww, how cute!! A perfect gift!
Allora, we are left to our own devices for the summer. Italian II does not being until September. We will be challenged to keep up what we have learned and not lose it. I have found this free Italian pod-cast that can be used as basic review. I am considering investing in some Pimsleur Cd’s and of course we continue to rent Italian movies through Netflix.
I am sure you all have some even better recommendations for how to keep up on our new Italian language skills.
I would be grateful if you shared….
