The Holiday thread

[pjm2019]

Very sorry to hear what you both are going through, I hope the positive thoughts and messages on here will help you stay strong.
I’m on holiday in Krakow with my wife, we will light a candle for you both in one of the beautiful churches.

Thank you, went to Krakow years ago beautiful city. We visited the salt mines not too far away. Underground church etc

[Victor_OTT_17]

No holiday for me and the wife this year! With my out-of-nowhere heart surgery (triple bypass), I have had no wage since February (so far). We have been getting by on just my wifes wage (she's a teacher). Wages here are quite a bit behind what we were both earning in England.

That said, we live with my wifes parents and that has helped tremendously. They don't charge us rent wihich, without that, we wouild not have been able to keep our heads above water (we pay half the food/bills only). I am on 10 meds and I have to pay for them. I haven't worked enough hours since emigrating here to qualify for any benefits.

Don't get me wrong, we haven't struggled but we have been close: I think we got down to our last $20 one week. We have been blessed/fortunate in recent years and have had breaks in London (4 times), Scotland, Italy (twice), Paris (my wife with her work), Hungary (many times) and the coast (UK) many times.

I am pencilled in to go back to work on 17th August which will help tremendously! I also opened the guitar workshop a month ago and that brings in a couple $100 a week. We are not planning to go anywhere this year but we will get away at some point

[GreennWhite]

Thank you, went to Krakow years ago beautiful city. We visited the salt mines not too far away. Underground church etc

Krakow is a lovely city. Did the Salt Mines as well, very impressive structure

[Baldbloke]

York for us this weekend, my partner being a southerner loves it ( as do I ), this will be our 3rd trip this year. Bit of a drive from wiltshire but worth it.
Berlin in September, Krakow in October then Reykjavik in December.
Will do the obvious visits in Krakow, salt mines, Auschwitz etc and anywhere else that people recommend as worth visiting while we are there.
Did Amsterdam in January, absolute sh*t hole in my opinion, dirty, expensive and reeks of weed.
Split in Croatia in June was fantastic, really beautiful city ( well the old part is ).

[Orange Box]

York for us this weekend, my partner being a southerner loves it ( as do I ), this will be our 3rd trip this year. Bit of a drive from wiltshire but worth it.
Berlin in September, Krakow in October then Reykjavik in December.
Will do the obvious visits in Krakow, salt mines, Auschwitz etc and anywhere else that people recommend as worth visiting while we are there.
Did Amsterdam in January, absolute sh*t hole in my opinion, dirty, expensive and reeks of weed.
Split in Croatia in June was fantastic, really beautiful city ( well the old part is ).

In krakow go to the Schindler Factory museum. We stupidly booked transport from the city there and back giving us a limited window. Need at least 3 hours to do it justice.

[Baldbloke]

Thanks, I'll look in to that.
Only having 3 days there including flights etc so want to make the most of it

[Barlow Boy]

Don’t usually use this thread, mainly because I don’t go abroad, but looking for a bit of advice please.

My wife and I are going to Australia in October, for a month, and obviously want to be able to use our phones whilst there.

Having just visited the Three Store, with whom we have our monthly plans, unsurprisingly, we have no EU roaming or Worldwide roaming included in our original plan (that makes complete sense when we set our plans up, as we never go abroad).

The daily roaming charges for Australia are £8.75 per day per phone, obviously, we want to avoid this as much as possible. The lady in the shop was saying, when you get to Manchester Airport to depart, put your phones on Airplane Mode. When we get to my daughter‘s house, hook up onto their Wi-Fi, take the phones off Airplane Mode and we should be able to use our phones as normal, making calls/sending messages via WhatsApp. Also, we should be able to do a similar process in restaurants etc when we hook up to their Wi-Fi. When leaving my daughter’s house, or the restaurant etc, put the phones back on Airplane mode to avoid the roaming charges.

Alternatively, we get Australian SIMS, put them in our phones on Pay As You Go. The only downside being we will have different numbers.

I think we’ve got that right, any help appreciated

[PhoenixUnited]

Don’t usually use this thread, mainly because I don’t go abroad, but looking for a bit of advice please.

My wife and I are going to Australia in October, for a month, and obviously want to be able to use our phones whilst there.

Having just visited the Three Store, with whom we have our monthly plans, unsurprisingly, we have no EU roaming or Worldwide roaming included in our original plan (that makes complete sense when we set our plans up, as we never go abroad).

The daily roaming charges for Australia are £8.75 per day per phone, obviously, we want to avoid this as much as possible. The lady in the shop was saying, when you get to Manchester Airport to depart, put your phones on Airplane Mode. When we get to my daughter‘s house, hook up onto their Wi-Fi, take the phones off Airplane Mode and we should be able to use our phones as normal, making calls/sending messages via WhatsApp. Also, we should be able to do a similar process in restaurants etc when we hook up to their Wi-Fi. When leaving my daughter’s house, or the restaurant etc, put the phones back on Airplane mode to avoid the roaming charges.

Alternatively, we get Australian SIMS, put them in our phones on Pay As You Go. The only downside being we will have different numbers.

I think we’ve got that right, any help appreciated

I don't know what sort of mobile phone you have but if it is suitable for an ESim then you should explore that option. You can buy one for the country you are travelling to and then look at what your data requirements are. We had an ESim for our Australia trip and from memory the cost was about £1.50 per day but it depends what you want to use it for. We used it opening hours, menus, attractions, maps, check accommodation. For phonecalls home we used Watsapp.

There are unlimited data plans but these will be at the top end for costs. Also to note that Australia is big and there are parts that will have no data coverage anyways so it's worth chacking that before you buy a ESim

[Barlow Boy]

I don't know what sort of mobile phone you have but if it is suitable for an ESim then you should explore that option. You can buy one for the country you are travelling to and then look at what your data requirements are. We had an ESim for our Australia trip and from memory the cost was about £1.50 per day but it depends what you want to use it for. We used it opening hours, menus, attractions, maps, check accommodation. For phonecalls home we used Watsapp.

There are unlimited data plans but these will be at the top end for costs. Also to note that Australia is big and there are parts that will have no data coverage anyways so it's worth chacking that before you buy a ESim

Thank you so much for your help mate, you might regret that though .

We are relatively modern on the phones, we have iPhone 15’s, so pretty much compatible with everything.

Are you able to buy the ESims before you go, and then just swap them over on the plane or something? so you can use the phones in the airport etc.

[PhoenixUnited]

Thank you so much for your help mate, you might regret that though .

We are relatively modern on the phones, we have iPhone 15’s, so pretty much compatible with everything.

Are you able to buy the ESims before you go, and then just swap them over on the plane or something? so you can use the phones in the airport etc.

Blimey! You have had a sheltered life!!

OK so you buy the ESims on line. They are virtual Sims i.e. there isn't a physical touch and feel Sim!!

Google it - ESim Australia. I used a company called Maya Mobile.

https://maya.net/?utm_source=google&utm ... THEALw_wcB

You purchase on line and the Sim becomes active on the date you set - i.e. date of arrival in the foreign land. Also, if you get into a muddle as I did their helpline is easy to contact on your phone and they quick and very helpful. I needed help with settings on my phone

Check it out on line. There are more well known suppliers like Holsfly and Sailly

[Chilli D]

I can recommend Sibiu in Romania. I was going back and forth to there when the company I worked for was moving the business out there.
The medieval old town is lovely, lots of old German inspired buildings and the restaurants were excellent.
The zoo was grim though, we dubbed it animal auschwitz.
I also spent some time in Lasi which wasn't as nice but the former presidential palace, which is now a number of museums was very impressive.

[CUSSIE01]

York for us this weekend, my partner being a southerner loves it ( as do I ), this will be our 3rd trip this year. Bit of a drive from wiltshire but worth it.
Berlin in September, Krakow in October then Reykjavik in December.
Will do the obvious visits in Krakow, salt mines, Auschwitz etc and anywhere else that people recommend as worth visiting while we are there.
Did Amsterdam in January, absolute sh*t hole in my opinion, dirty, expensive and reeks of weed.
Split in Croatia in June was fantastic, really beautiful city ( well the old part is ).

We were in York earlier this year for a few days before a game & loved it. Flew into Scumchester as it’s a lot cheaper than flying to Leeds with Aer Mingus even accounting for the train fare.

[Baldbloke]

Climbed the Minster steps last time we were there, never again. Absolute beasting going up and down, had wobbly legs for hours and DOMS the next day

[PhoenixUnited]

Blimey! You have had a sheltered life!!

OK so you buy the ESims on line. They are virtual Sims i.e. there isn't a physical touch and feel Sim!!

Google it - ESim Australia. I used a company called Maya Mobile.

https://maya.net/?utm_source=google&utm ... THEALw_wcB

You purchase on line and the Sim becomes active on the date you set - i.e. date of arrival in the foreign land. Also, if you get into a muddle as I did their helpline is easy to contact on your phone and they quick and very helpful. I needed help with settings on my phone

Check it out on line. There are more well known suppliers like Holsfly and Sailly

BTW - I should have mentioned that I had the Sim on my phone but my missus could link onto it for WiFi so that we could share the data; no need to buy 2 Sims. You need to make sure your mobile is off data roaming.

Also, it is as it says - data - and therefore not for phone calls obviously. Calls are via your usual phone number and use that in a foreign land abd it will cost you an arm and a leg!

[1964white]

[1964white]

Smoke on the mountains due to fires in the area

[Muppet the Cat]

Looks like you’re in , 64

I’d say Abergavenny….given the picture of the Borough Theatre and the proximity of the smoke

[1964white]

Looks like you’re in , 64

I’d say Abergavenny….given the picture of the Borough Theatre and the proximity of the smoke

We are on the outskirts of Abergavenny, facing the Blorenge, Sugar Loaf & other mountains, Cat.

Stunning views!

[1964white]

I'm glad the fires are not situated on this side, or else we'd be running for cover.

[hector]

My old stomping ground that '64