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ademink_gw

Vacation thoughts...my perennial posting...

ademink
17 years ago

...Ok, DH and I are thinking about vacationing yet again later in the year. We never made it anywhere last year (although DH still wants to come stay w/ you, MaryO! :).

One definite stop on our short list is a blast into Ohio to party with Zinniachick!!! Then I think we'll also do one more weekend trip somewhere. I'm not going to torture you w/ coming up w/ weekened vacation ideas......let's go for the biggie that we want to take early next year - GERMANY.

Ok, we know nothing about it, never been there...DH is hairy and German and wants to find his roots or something (I say I can see your roots and your follicles!!!! LOL). Has anyone been to Germany and/or the surrounding countries?

Should we go "free willy" or should we go guided? Thoughts? Ideas? Etc?

Thanks!!!

A-

Comments (7)

  • maryo_nh
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fly into Frankfurt.
    Eat kaesekuchen.
    Get a railpass.
    Eat kaesekuchen.
    See the castles on the Rhine.
    Eat kaesekuchen.
    Check out Bavaria and the Alps.
    Eat kaesekuchen.

    O man, I'm so jealous!

    :) Mary

    (PS, you're still welcome! We're home all but the week of August 12-19.)

  • chickadeedeedee
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Some where along life's journey, you **MUST** visit Dominica, an island about 3 islands north of Grenada! I guarantee you will never regret it!

    We made our home on Dominica for about a year but even if we had been there a lifetime, I do not think we would have seen all the wondrous and beautiful sites that are the island!

    Morning starts when the sun pops up over the ocean at 6:00 AM and as the morning goes on you watch over the mountains (volcanos) as the mist accumulates and clouds form and it dumps rain on you from about 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Everyday.

    There are no words to describe the beauty of the rain forests. It is hot and very humid but surprisingly not oppressive to climb through the undergrowth. Perhaps the excitement and the adrenaline kicking in?

    Hummingbirds abound. Everywhere. The Sisserou parrot, the nation's pride, is a majestic bird indeed. They are THE MOST protected of Dominica's natural wonders. If one of a bonded pair of the parrots dies, the mate will cease to eat and soon will also die. The zoo there finds on occasion a lone bird mourning over a lost mate and capture it and try to feed them and get them to recover and find new mates. I saw one such male at the zoo but none in the wild.

    Go to the open air market (don't stand under a coconut palm) on Saturday and take your pick of ferns (I have no clue what they were), orchids, flowering this and flowering that. Most times the seller is not aware of the identity of what was being sold. There was a Rasta we befriended and he would save \"plants of curiosity\" for me. (Legal. All legal!) Plants generally will cost you up to $5.00 EC. You want to but a pig's tail for soup or a cow T-bone steak all the same price per pound...$2.50 EC. That is roughly $1.00 US. Go early for your shopping (6:30 - 7:00 AM) before the flies set in and on your soon to be groceries.

    Visit the old Brit. fort there and you can readily find cannon balls from early battles. Beaches near Portsmouth are black from the volcano. Storms bring up squid, sponges, sometimes fish on the beach. Go for a walk early (5:30-ish AM) and rescue these guys and toss them back into the sea. (Do not pick up red or orange sponges with bare hands.) Look out over the ocean and you may well catch a glimpse of whales, dolphins, or sea turtles doing their thing. You may even be asked for a dance by a Coconut Crab as he waves his claw at you and does the side step left and side step right. Mountain chicken (little frog legs) is an island delicacy. So is Ting, a carbonated grapefruit juice drink. They have Coke..make from cane sugar rather than corn syrup.

    Delonix regia everywhere. Weedy little things. Wee seedlings sprouting like spring maple seedlings in Ohio. There is no rabies on the island. There are no poisonous snakes...but the snakes they do have are huge! So are their centipedes. I brought one back to the Ohio State University entomology dept. that was 11 inches long. (Yuck!)

    The people are delightful and will go out of their way like no one else to help you or do anything for you. You step out on the balcony in the morning to be greeted by the absolutely perfect rendition of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik whistled by the neighbor as he has tea on his porch and watches the hummers at his Bird of Paradise patch. You just haven't lived until you have ridden into town in the back of a pickup truck with three pigs! :-)

    Night comes at 6:00 PM. Fade to black. Mosquitoes come out then so be sure you have your mosquito netting ready. Cholera and Dengue Fever are common. When dining at a restaurant, a word to the wise, look at the bread or rolls before eating them. There are very tiny ants that quickly move into baked goods such as bread, though the pastries they make seem safer.

    Electricity can be iffy at times...where ever you are. The favorite saying seems to be: The lights will go on when the generator is working. But who needs lights when you have a sky full of stars and a meteor shower every night. Oh how you wish you had the nerve to lie on the ground and just be drawn into the starscape but there are things creeping about at night: lizards, crabs, snakes, something like fire ants (or maybe they are a type of fire ant) those darn centipedes and don't even mention the spiders.

    They export bananas and fresh water. Much of the water goes to Antigua. If I could I would go back to Dominican a heartbeat. Oh..If traveling there try to get your prop plane to land at the Canefield Airport. The other airport is a blind approach over the volcano and more than a little scary.

    That's about it from the Dominica Tourist Bureau (Ohio office, dontchaknow?)

  • ademink
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Chickadee3 - how can ANY of us resist THAT? I feel more relaxed just reading it! I can picture myself there - examining the bread and sliding a kaesekuchen out of my purse. LOL That is on my "lifer" vacations for sure!!! The only gotta go before I die I've had thus far is Madagascar and so this will be number 2!

    Mary, I thought you had family move back in w/ you so we figured the party place was closed for a while. Or maybe it's GOOD to have company, eh? LOL We would be looking at a Fall trip, I think! It seems NH would be beautiful in the Fall!

  • maryo_nh
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You're right. I forgot. (? How could I forget?) It's just one child*, no big deal. She knows we always get people over. And it doesn't mean we don't have bedrooms left - they're just a little cramped with stuff, but we made sure there was one with a double bed for unexpected visitors! Company makes life exciting. There is always the camper too... nice site besides the driveway, with electricity and water! And view of the pond! (You have to squint a little from there)
    And in the fall, view of the wall of orange red yellow colored maples at the back of the back yard! That would be the 14th and 15th of October. Give or take two days.

    :) Mary

    *One, adult, female, talkative, hyperactive, impulsive, opinionated child*
    *it's wonderful to have her home*
    *for a while*

    Chicka, we didn't have Dominica on our life list of "must go" places, but now I'm very sorely tempted to put it on...

  • ademink
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok, the camper sounds like a BLAST (especially w/ electricity for the DHs sleep apnea machine. LOL). Give me enough coffee and I can out-talk your daughter!

  • youreit
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "DH is hairy and German and wants to find his roots or something..."

    And I thought the cat poop in the pond was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. Lordy, I need oxygen!!!!!

    Wow! DH has always wanted to go to Germany (more of a WWII thing, not a nationality thing, since he's Irish, and they're usually too drunk to care about hairs & roots)! And since Austria's right there (ohhhh, Mozart moment...Volfie!), well, I guess I wouldn't mind tagging along. :D

    Oh, Mary, aren't they fun for a little while? The precious 19-yr-old step-son is home before his jaunt into the California Conservation Corps, and I've cut off his coffee supply. He (we?) already struggle with ADHD....and I can't find good earplugs ANYwhere. LOL

    C3D, I agree with what Andrea said about your description of Dominica! By the time I read her comment, I found myself slouched over the desk, head propped in left hand, and my eyes half closed. Dreamy!

    DFIL decided to buy everyone tickets for a 10-day Princess cruise on the Eastern Caribbean Voyager. Ten days?! With crazy Irish?! What about my kitty?? Sea sickness, fear of floating out there in deep water....oy vey. I KNOW, it's the trip of a lifetime. But I just checked the itinerary again and....NO DOMINICA!!!!! *sob* :D

    Brenda

  • chickadeedeedee
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    :-) ! I am delighted to tiny pieces that you enjoyed my re-living of our time on Dominica! A nicer and friendlier population of people would be difficult to find. It is also extremely difficult to walk any where on the island! People are ALWAYS wanting to give you a ride somewhere! :-)

    We wanted to walk into town or just go into the jungle and, without exaggeration, every other vehicle would stop and the people would ask if we'd like a ride somewhere! How nice is that?!?!?

    Here is one of the few pictures / post cards we have left from our Dominica experience.

    The Emerald Pool........

    {{gwi:171401}}