Chocolat chaud at Un Dimanche a Paris is the best ever, ooo, la, la. If time permits, a 3 minute walk east through the Latin Quarter will bring you to La Chambre aux Confitures, a shop featuring homemade French preserves. Try the pear and vanilla jam where the zest will curl your socks.
Netherlands cheese shops, as well as any chocolate establishment in Italy, must be avoided at all cost. It makes you wonder what they were thinking.
Capri cannot be overrated. The grotto tour, Ristorante Il Geranio evening meal and view, and Gardens of Augustus are a must.
Those attractive, old world black London taxis are most misleading. Sitting on a backseat hard board complimented with poor shocks and traveling over cobbles yielded an aching fanny.
A Moroccan sunset camel ride through the Sahara Desert is memorable - just make sure you have not experienced a London cabby recently.
Even if you do not like beer, Scotland's Caledonian brew is smooth and tasty.
Avoid transferring flights at the Reykjavik airport: no organization, long lines to cross through everywhere, long waits, and no seating.
A fun watering-hole to meet the Belfast locals is Fibber Magee's Pub. It's down an alley and a bit hard to find, but no worry here, the bouncer does a fine job. England and the royalty should be avoided in all conversations. The Irish coffee is superb.
The gold ring scam in Paris is real. Watch out for a curse from an elderly Roma woman if you do not oblige.
For obvious reasons, avoid the Budweiser beer garden in Vienna and McDonalds on the Champs-Elysees.
When in London and tired of bland food, just looking for a good burger, try the Juicy Bastard at the Steam Engine Pub - as good as the Jucy Lucy at Matt's Bar in Minneapolis.
Moroccan carpets can be obtained in Marrakesh for a steal. Initial prices are intimidating, but negotiations may yield impressive results, i.e., a $2500 rug was reduced to $125 until the wife interceded ending the deal. Patience is key since the process flows through 3 steps, similar to an Atlantic City time-share experience. Phase 1 - those who express just mild interest are offered some excellent mint tea and escorted into the more elegant closing room. Phase 2 - young men, probably sons of the carpet merchant, offer up the sales pitch while daughters keep pouring the tea as you are seated and surrounded by most comfortable Arabian cushions. You will likely get to inspect 20-30 carpets of various sizes, patterns and prices. This is where you can switch product interests for purposes of confusion, as long as you eyeball the rug you really want (similar to negotiating for an armadillo purse in Tijuana). Once satisfied the price is coming down, ask about shipping costs and phase 3 begins where sons and daughters leave and the father and owner arrives in a most friendly manner. He will close the deal and lead you to billing unless the wife (yours, not his) shows up and drags you out of there. If you ever meet up with Abdul the Moroccan carpet merchant, tell him Frank Dan sent you.
Why would anyone want to visit the tomb of Francisco Franco? I could just scream.
The UK money system is nuts. A £5 note with the lettering "Bank of Scotland" is not always accepted in England. It is like driving in Philly and getting cut off by those annoying Jersey motorists.
Paris' coffee reminds me of the old nursery rhyme "some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot nine days old." Go to Italy for coffee.
Posted by
TX, USA
4894 posts
Thanks for making me laugh. :)
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7207 posts
Nice list.
Haggis at our hotel in Edinburgh was surprisingly good, and, we didn't asked what it was made from.
We planned ahead and printed out a map of Pere Lachaise cemetery prior to going over. Glad we did.
We had no problems finding our way around Vienna. I actually found it easy to walk around. I was disappointed in the sacher torte at Demels. Thought it was very dry.
Skipped Blarney castle for the very reason you mentioned.
We did go to Pierre Hermé at 72 Rue Bonaparte along with nine other supposed best chocolate shops in Paris we researched before going over. Pretty much went to one near every sight we visited.
We actually saw Franco's tomb before it was moved from the Valle de la Caídas. The monument there is somber thinking of the slave labor used to construct it. The view from it is amazing.
Fortunately, nobody questioned our Bank of Scotland £20 note. I was a little concerned but it spent as well as a Bank of England note.
Posted by
Western Canada
3515 posts
:))
Thanks Frank.
Posted by
Clrwtr, FL
169 posts
Thanks Frank - some we've experienced and now I have a much longer list to try!!
Posted by
Chicago
3186 posts
Any words of wisdom on Switzerland?
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, MN
47 posts
I was last in Switzerland 51 years ago and can’t remember much, other than messing up my knee trekking down a mountain and helping a guy push his car out of a snowbank.
Posted by
Pearland, Texas, USA
441 posts
My arthritis wakes me up early and I went looking for coffee in Venice. I found a shop close to St. Mark's square, full of locals going to work, and had one of the best cups of coffee ever. I agree, that if you want coffee, go to Italy.
Posted by
Portsmouth
5554 posts
Sitting on a backseat hard board complimented with poor shocks and traveling over cobbles yielded an aching fanny.
I hope you didn't tell that to the driver!
Posted by
Arcadia, CA
592 posts
These posts made me happy. Thanks Frank!
Posted by
Hampshire, UK
407 posts
any chocolate establishment in Italy, must be avoided at all cost.
Writes somebody from the land of Hershey?
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
Um - the McDonald's on Champs Elysees saved my pants/bladder when I had to use the bathroom and the public ones in the Tuilleries were closed... :)
Posted by
franktown, colorado
2252 posts
Thanks, Frank, and all who participated to make this such fun to read! I can’t wait to try out some of your recommendations.
Posted by
Kelowna, BC, Canada
452 posts
I loved the McDonald's on the Champs-Elysees. It was classy, and sitting in the windows watching people go by was awesome!!! One of my best travel stories :)
Posted by
St. Amant, LA, USA
54 posts
Go to Italy for coffee.
Maislinger Backerei in Fieberbrunn, Austria makes a damn good cup of coffee. One at a time.
Posted by
Clrwtr, FL
169 posts
Please ---- agree to disagree and let the rest of us enjoy this post for the tongue in cheek fun it was meant to be.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA, USA
1028 posts
What quilter17 said. I've made some edits and removed a number of posts. Let's keep this on topic, please.
I'm going to have to find this pear and vanilla jam now. :)
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6552 posts
Thank you, Webmaster. This fun thread was getting decidedly unpleasant.
Posted by
Stratford upon Avon
470 posts
Do you know Fanny is in English English?
Posted by
Paris
10290 posts
any chocolate establishment in Italy, must be avoided at all cost.
You have obviously never been to Piedmont ! Or had their chocolate anywhere else in Italy. It’s absolutely divine. Guido Gobino, Domori, and a host of others. And don’t miss the Bicerin at the old cafe of the same name.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, MN
47 posts
Correct - never been to Piedmont and will research it for future travel plans - thanks. My critique was from an apparently misinformed tour guide who offered a sampling of "the best chocolate in Italy." It tasted like Midwest American - yuck.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5513 posts
Not trying to be contrary, but I live in Vienna and have never heard of the Budweiser Beer Garden?
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, MN
47 posts
The actual name of the beer garden in Vienna was Biergart'l im Stadpark and they only served Budweiser in Sept 2014. Even the coasters and little flags around the place advertised Budweiser. The sausage was good, but the beer terrible. The only reason I remember the name is that I found an old picture of the entrance.
It must not have changed since current pictures of the entrance found on Google maps still advertise the beer. Yuck.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7995 posts
The chocolate in Modica, Sicily, Italy is fantastico.
Posted by
Vancouver, WA
523 posts
Also the chocolate im Perugia, Italy:).
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5513 posts
Interesting Frank, I've never even noticed that place. Next time you are in Vienna, you should head towards the iconic Schweizerhaus which serves the original Budweiser Budvar beer under chesnuts trees. It is the only place in Vienna that officially serves Budvar. Check it out! Other great beer gardens can be found at the Altes AKH, in particular the Stiegl Ambulanz.
Posted by
Portsmouth
5554 posts
Having looked at the website for Biergartl Im Stadtpark I see that they serve the proper Budweiser i.e. Budweiser Budvar, a beer that is far unlike its American namesake, it's a very nice beer. They also sell weissbier, dunkel and pils so not confined to just Budweiser and to top it off, every 11th beer is free, what's not to like!