San Francisco East Bay Travel Group Meeting - Jan 14 and 26, 2022

Looking forward to these, at least the Saturday zoom :-)

I already have other stuff on my calendar for the Thursday, but if they stay on zoom there's some chance I could come to the Veranda...

Looking forward to it, as always! Thanks for organizing!

I'd love to come in person but will have to settle (settle?? ha!!) for the most glorious zoom meeting. Please.

We plan to be there.

I plan to be at both. At the zoom meeting, I can share a slide or two on how I got the travel bug (postponed from last time because I was sick).

Excellent, I've added you to the schedule Barbara N.

Avirosemail, I hope your schedule works out!
Nigel, can't you just click your heels or wiggle your nose or something to show up in person?

Please add me! And in February I can show a short slide show of one of my favorite trips. It is of the Galapagos if that is ok?

Count me in for Jan 14. I love Christmas markets!

Hi CWsocial, could you please add me to the zoom recipient list for Saturdays? Looking forward to hearing about travel adventures and recommendations from this group!

I will be a temporary resident in the Bay Area for the last 2 weeks in January, so I may be able to attend the Jan. 26 meeting, depending on where it is. In the meantime, may I join the Zoom meeting on the 14th? We don’t head south until the next day. Thanks.

Looking forward to it!
Cynthia

Include me please!

Welcome, Lola and Andrea, we'd love to have you join online and in-person, Andrea if you can make it.

For newcomers to the online meetings, there may be some setup involved, so I will send both of you messages with those instructions and the link.

For everyone else, I'll send the meeting links closer to the meeting date.

Diane, yes please! The Galapagos Islands sounds love-ly!! I'm adding you to the February schedule.

Please count me in for the Jan 14 zoom. Thanks!

Hi. Please include me. Thanks.

I've sent the meeting link to everyone who has replied, above.

There is plenty of room for anyone who would like to join!

Can’t make the meeting on the 14th but very interested in the 26th and future meetings.

Patty, we'd love to have you at all the meetings! I'll send you a private message with more details for the in-person meeting on January 26th. I post an announcement for each online meeting and send messages with the link to those who would like to join. You are always welcome!

There is still room for anyone to join, both the online and in-person meetings. Please RSVP on this thread and I will send you the meeting link (online) or specific meeting location (in-person.)

Note that the current version of Zoom (so far this week) is

5.13.4

and update your app if needed. thanks, avi

Note that the current version of Zoom (so far this week) is

5.13.4

and they have royally screwed it up. It still works but I hate it. Do I really need a column of app ads? really? And they have messed with the bottom of the screen too..... this too will pass??

.... stepping off soapbox....

Wow, I slept through the whole thing!

I'm planning to attend the zoom this Saturday.
Thanks, Catherine.

SharYn, I've just sent the meeting link message. Glad you can make it!

Space still available....

I will check this thread again 30 minutes prior to the meeting start time to see if anyone else would like to join.

See you online tomorrow!

I've updated the meeting content for February. Looking forward to seeing you all online in about 90 minutes!

There is some non-rainy weather as we get to the middle of January. Fingers crossed for the 26th!

My apologies to the CW Social and all attendees for my abrupt departure. My husband suddenly needed my help with a project he is trying to finish before we start our road trip to California tomorrow—-my job was holding some cabinet doors in alignment and steady while he attached the hinges. It’s all done and I can get back to packing for the trip. No need to”pack light” as we are driving!

It was nice to see some faces and chat a bit. I like the format, with scheduled presenters and slides, more focused than open discussion of a suggested topic.

This was indeed a great format today, and thoroughly enjoyable -- and I mean this as a compliment but I feel like we're setting the bar too high for a casual zoom get together, ha! The presentations were presentation-quality!

Lola, I have participated in other zoom travel meetings and I like how Catherine moderates hers, she is a great hostess.

Ok questions for our ex-pat;
Do you speak Italian?
Why did you decide on Rome?
Are there other ex-pats you have met?
What was involved in getting visa/residency?
What has been your favorite part of living there?
I know you are moving back to USA, but how long were you originally thinking you would stay?
Ok, I might come back and add more.

Ok, after today’s meeting I have to ask, is it Christmas yet? The pictures were so great they made me wish we could start the season again! Thanks to all the presenters for another great meeting and to our hosts, Avi and Catherine.

Thank you to Lola, diveloonie and avirosemail for your nice comments. Thank you to all for making the meetings so fun and engaging!

Carol, I'm already trying to work out which Christmas Market I can visit next year. There's one in Denver that I've never been to!

Avirosemail, thank you for letting us get carried away sometimes :-)

I've updated the March meeting for ponygirl813 to share stories of life as an expat in Rome!

Next month, did you meet anyone special on one of your trips? That might be a romance, or maybe someone who made you smile while you were traveling? Bring a photo and share a story!

So sorry I had to leave early today. I agree that Catherine is a great leader for our group! I appreciated your patience as I sorted out my zoom settings.

another really good and helpful meeting - we had fun too

Thanks to all the presenters, Catherine and Avi, for this meeting. Lola, I hope that you can join us for some of our future virtual meetings.

My initial question for ponygirl813’s talk is I’m wondering what surprised you most about living in Rome. I’m sure that I’ll think of more questions and will post those later. This is such an interesting topic.

Thank you, Barbara N, I'm glad you and Avi were able to get it sorted out so that we could hear about your National Parks travels.

I can hardly believe there is sun coming in the forecast, including for the 26th when we meet in-person!

i am local and would love to come to the January 26th meeting at the Veranda.

I have flights booked for the summer (into Frankfurt and out of Amsterdam) but no itinerary so would love to get ideas.

-Anne F.

annemargaret, welcome and I'm so happy you'll be joining us! I've just sent you a private message with a bit more detail of how to find us at the Veranda.

We'd love to hear what you have in mind for your upcoming trip and share ideas. I hope we can also hear stories about your solo trip to Rome last spring!

The forecast for Thursday is Sunny and 61 degrees, with 0% chance of precipitation!

If you haven't already, please let me know if you'll be there so that I know how many places to get!

I will be there. Will you be at the crepe place we went to before?

Yes, as near the crepe place as I can find a table.

We hope to be there, too.

The forecast tomorrow is 63F and sunny!

I'll get there a bit early to get a table and will have at least one Rick Steves book to help newcomers find us. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

I'll be there in spirit; too much on my calendar to get away.

Please consider having a malted milkshake from Super Duper for dessert on my behalf. Ha.

Drat, we will miss you! I need to try Super Duper Burger, but I'm afraid I'm not going to let you off that easy. Hopefully next time!

See you soon! I will have to leave a little early--around 2:30.

See you later today!

Barbara N, so glad you can make it!
annemargaret, please call or text me if you have any difficulty finding us. Worst case, I'll also check this thread until you've arrived.

It was fun to get together in-person yesterday! And lovely to meet Patty and annemargaret. Let's do it again. I'll publish the online meeting announcement next week.

Until then, please mark your calendars for an in-person on Feb 21. Carol will be traveling, so we will be a smaller group and could meet at Geppetto's at 11:30. Does that work for people?

Alternatively, I can meet at The Veranda (where we met yesterday) on Feb 22.

For those who drove home yesterday, was traffic bad? is it preferable to start the meetings earlier?

Thanks so much for keeping us organized! I enjoyed our meeting. I can do either Feb 21 or Feb 22, with a slight preference for Feb 21. Traffic was not a problem for me, although I left a bit early. That said, I would prefer an earlier start time if possible.