Vacations Thread III: Return of the Vacations

We've still got the mega-trip for this September. Mediterranean cruise, 12-night, with visits to the following:

Barcelona, Spain
Marseille, France
Nice, France
Florence, Italy
Rome, Italy
Valletta, Malta
Mykonos, Greece
Athens, Greece
Ephesus, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey

Nothing else on the books. We were hoping to take a trip to Chicago sometime this summer as well, but with Mrs. Snape starting her new job, that will probably have to wait. But that's okay, because now she'll make more money and we can plan an ever better trip.

Damn I want to go to Barcelona. That sounds like a hell of a tour.

I'd personally be a little antsy about Turkey, but I've heard the people there are super hospitable.

After a brief respite, weddings are again clogging my summer. So, CO Springs for one wedding over the 4th weekend is pretty much it for now. I want to try to make a baseball excursion with some friends, but grown up schedules are hard to coordinate these days. May have to do a couple solo bolos this year.

Ft Lauderdale for 4 days/3 nights in late April (total just drink/eat/sit on the beach vacation, which I rarely do, though I might see if I can rent a car for a few hours to see the Everglades)

In Late May through very Early June I'll be head out to the Rockies.
- A few days in Denver
- Great Sand Dunes NP
- A couple of days in Ouray
- Mesa Verde NP
- Drive through the 4 Corners and some of Monument Valley in NE Arizona to SE Utah
- Goosenecks SP and Muley Point
- Moab/Arches NP for a couple days

It's a trip I was toying with last year, but didn't have the money saved for (and probably would have had to cancel for family reasons).

Excited b/c I haven't gotten to travel in the Spring in over a decade.

Speaking as an ethnically Turkish person:

Turkey is not nearly as dangerous as it was around 2004-2007. I was able to visit very safely and happily in 2011. And Turkish people are the effin' BOMB. I frequently call Turkey the Most Unintentionally Hilarious Country in the World, because they have this super-earnest desire to make sure your every waking/sleeping second is perfect, and it gets really funny after a while. You can't help but have a great time.

Istanbul is crazytown. I have never been in a city like Istanbul, where there's this thrilling roller-coaster frisson of danger and uncertainty and off-the-wall other-worldly excitement around every corner.

My top two food recommendations for Istanbul, because Snape loves him good food:
- Asitane, the restaurant right by Kariye Church which specializes in recreating historical recipes from the Sublime Porte and the harem. You can actually keep track of what year all your food came from. How did it take until 1830 for the world to invent lamb and apricot stew with a pastry crust? Who knows, but better late than never.
- stop by one of the fishermen stands on the Bosphorus by the ferries to get fresh-caught fish grilled in front of you and shoved into a baguette. Especially because I did not get to do this. I saw the signs - fish sandwich for like $1?? yes!!! - but my prudish step-aunt said "Street food is dirty!" and took me to a pizza place instead. *super-emo sighs*

Well, there's another food recommendation, which is find my grandmother and have her make hunkar begendi, but that's not very likely. (Hunkar begendi: smokey eggplant puree topped with very-slow-cooked lamb tenderloin and a gently spicy cumin sauce from the pot. Personal top 5 meals of all time.)

Barcelona is the bomb. Las Ramblas is a tourist trap, though, so unless you want to get T-shirts, caricature paintings, and hookers*, I suggest diving into the side streets. SEE LA SAGRADA FAMILIA I'M DEAD SERIOUS. Especially post 3pm-ish.

*Las Ramblas is the only place I've been where an angry hooker shouted swear words at me after I declined her offer of "sucking".

I really want to go to Malta. And apparently now I want to go sloth-hunting, but, like, with paintballs instead of bullets.

Sad sloth is sad.


Seriously, why is that even a thing? Are sloths an invasive species? Is their meat delectable? This is bumming me out big time.

Hugs and I are taking our act international this year, with a trip in May to Florence.  With our other sister.  I'm excited about the Florence part and less excited about the other sister part.  Anyway, we've already booked a food tour around the area, where we'll visit a winery, a chocolate maker, a saffron farm (!), do an olive oil tasting, and shit like that.  And we've also booked a bicycling tour that hits up three wineries and does some sightseeing.  Plus we'll do the standard museums and wandering-around-in-Florence stuff.  It should be fun.

July's got a weekend in Maine on the docket, and in October we're doing a week-long trip where we'll hit up San Francisco and then Dallas (State Fair, baby!  WOOOOOO!).

It's shaping up to be an awesome year for travel!

Turkish pizza! Lahmacun is lahmawesome. Roll it up and eat it like a taco.

That's right, Turkey skeptics: Turkish pizza combines pizza AND tacos. KNEEL BEFORE US

In two weeks I'm heading to Bali for two weeks.

This'll be the first time I've ventured beyond North/Central America. I'm a little anxious about the flight across the ocean, solely from a comfort perspective. I've been on flights to and from Mexico where I could not physically fit my legs between my seat and the seat in front of me. I can't imagine trying to sit like that for 13+ hours.

LazBro, that's going to be an amazing trip! Enjoy!

@fooltheworld, I absolutely love New Orleans. You're going to have SO much fun. Have you ever been? Feel free to PM me if you want recommendations for places to check out and things to do!

Albert Fish Taco, your Rockies trip is also making me jealous. I really do need to take advantage of being on the west coast and see more of this half of the country.

I don't have anything too crazy lined up. I'll be going back to Chicago during my spring break, which I'm excited about. I also found a loophole airfare between San Francisco and Las Vegas ($67 round trip, including all taxes and fees), so my friends and I all bought tickets. We're going in June, it should be super fun.

I went for the first time about a year ago (or was it two?) anyway you'll love it! I loved it. Eat everything in sight. If I send you a backpack will you return with it stuffed with beignets and po'boys?

I've been going to NOLA for years! My dad and step mom moved there in '07.

I can throw some shrimp and grits in there, too! Unless you have a shellfish allergy.