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Post by poodlegirl on Jun 27, 2015 0:17:34 GMT
Website says sorry no available rooms as we have been on fire.
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Post by chech on Jun 27, 2015 0:52:54 GMT
Yeah, it had a fairly major fire the day after we left. Started on the second floor linen room and took out part of the third story. It's too bad...it was a hotel full of character. The single room was tiny but some of the regular rooms were fabulous. And the hotel was full of antiques.
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Post by chech on Jun 27, 2015 12:05:21 GMT
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Post by poodlegirl on Jun 27, 2015 12:28:01 GMT
All I can say is WOW! and you got the front seat YaY Off to work until 6
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Post by purvis on Jun 27, 2015 14:08:50 GMT
Thanks for the info on returning to this site. Purvis
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Post by californian on Jun 27, 2015 14:58:58 GMT
What a wonderful tour, wow! wanting more and more to do it, I don't think is in the cards, but on a scale of 0-10 how exhausting is this one? I mean walking, climbing, elevation, (not the traditional "leisure" because of the two night stays of course), I though I had seen enough fiords and glaciers but these views and the history are very tempting! I guess I will continue reading your tale and sighing for now. Thank you Chech.
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Post by marielouise on Jun 27, 2015 15:55:37 GMT
Great tale Chech. I found my photos from 11 years ago, before I had a digital camera. We went in early June and had very little snow, also we did not have many optionals, Dalsnibba wasn't even offered. Geiranger fjord was included but Trollstigen was an optional. In Bergen as far as I can remember only the Grieg house was offered, the rest of the time we were left on our own, which was great since we were tired at that point since we were nearing the end of the tour, the Insight tour runs in the opposite direction.
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Post by Boop on Jun 27, 2015 18:59:08 GMT
Incredible video! You won't see snow like this in Switzerland...............but, you will see a lot of chocolate
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Post by chech on Jun 27, 2015 20:55:31 GMT
What a wonderful tour, wow! wanting more and more to do it, I don't think is in the cards, but on a scale of 0-10 how exhausting is this one? I mean walking, climbing, elevation, (not the traditional "leisure" because of the two night stays of course), I though I had seen enough fiords and glaciers but these views and the history are very tempting! I guess I will continue reading your tale and sighing for now. Thank you Chech. There was very little climbing or walking on this tour. No elevation to speak of (The pass was almost 5000 feet, but that's nothing and we were only there for fifteen minutes). The people who were getting tired were older. We had an 89 year old woman on the tour (who just had a heart attack earlier this year!). She was amazing. Great attitude and willing to try anything...but she found the stretch up the coast tiring and Amanda let her opt out of some optionals so that she could rest more (refunded her). On a scale of 0-10, it was about a 7. My last tour in Scandinavia (the train tour) was like a 9.5.
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Post by chech on Jun 27, 2015 20:56:52 GMT
Great tale Chech. I found my photos from 11 years ago, before I had a digital camera. We went in early June and had very little snow, also we did not have many optionals, Dalsnibba wasn't even offered. Geiranger fjord was included but Trollstigen was an optional. In Bergen as far as I can remember only the Grieg house was offered, the rest of the time we were left on our own, which was great since we were tired at that point since we were nearing the end of the tour, the Insight tour runs in the opposite direction. Yeah, I noticed the Insight one still doesn't offer Televag in Bergen. Interesting. Too bad Dalsnibba wasn't offered - did you get a cruise on Geiranger Fjord?
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Post by chech on Jun 27, 2015 20:57:37 GMT
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Post by Boop on Jun 27, 2015 21:23:59 GMT
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Post by marielouise on Jun 27, 2015 22:20:12 GMT
Great tale Chech. I found my photos from 11 years ago, before I had a digital camera. We went in early June and had very little snow, also we did not have many optionals, Dalsnibba wasn't even offered. Geiranger fjord was included but Trollstigen was an optional. In Bergen as far as I can remember only the Grieg house was offered, the rest of the time we were left on our own, which was great since we were tired at that point since we were nearing the end of the tour, the Insight tour runs in the opposite direction. Yeah, I noticed the Insight one still doesn't offer Televag in Bergen. Interesting. Too bad Dalsnibba wasn't offered - did you get a cruise on Geiranger Fjord? Yes it was included but the Trollstigen was an optional which we took. I drove that road from the north through Geiranger in 1974 with a standard shift, it was gravel then . I was impressed with the switch backs. In Lillehammer the old time village museum was included then too. I think our TD who was Dutch, wasn't interested in doing many optionals. There was an optional dinner in Stockholm which we could not take since we were invited to relatives. In Copenhagen we were downgraded to a hotel further from the centre so we got a wonderful dinner at the hotel in compensation, it was a gourmet dinner. How did you find the food? Did you try the (horrible) brown cheese?
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Post by marielouise on Jun 27, 2015 22:23:05 GMT
Incredible video! You won't see snow like this in Switzerland...............but, you will see a lot of chocolate Fine with me! LOL I would love to go on the Country Roads of Switzerland so I am really looking forward to your tale. I spent several months travelling around with my parents there when I was 11.
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Post by chech on Jun 27, 2015 23:14:33 GMT
I liked the food overall. We went to a different restaurant for the Swedish meatballs and it was much better this time. Absolutely delicious. I tried the brown cheese. Couldn't eat it straight but she gave us the brown cheese chocolates and it tasted like caramel.
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Post by chech on Jun 28, 2015 12:32:26 GMT
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Post by purvis on Jun 28, 2015 13:44:54 GMT
Chech: Just finished reading day 8. Your photos are great. I really didn't know much about Norway so your tour tale is very educational. Thanks again. Purvis
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Post by poodlegirl on Jun 28, 2015 15:37:33 GMT
Hi Cheech If day 7 was WOW then, Double WOW.
Wonderful pics and commentary.
I guess I may need to forget my Canadian politeness too. I would have found that spot my favourite as well. The nerve to try and trip you.
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Post by purvis on Jun 28, 2015 16:53:30 GMT
Our "Canadian politeness" is what sets us apart from the rest of the English Speaking World. As for myself I prefer to remain polite unless provoked. Purvis
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Post by Boop on Jun 28, 2015 20:40:34 GMT
Day 8 photos = spectacular!! But, then again, if I had to choose...........??
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 11:49:43 GMT
Yeah....I stayed polite and used the passive aggressive approach a couple times...which went into high gear on my flight home...LOL Day Nine - From Scenery to Cities - is up: wp.me/P4wi9z-1Ep
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Post by tiffany on Jun 29, 2015 12:07:06 GMT
I was hoping to get caught up on your tour tale over the weekend, but was too busy to even log onto this website. I’ll have to finish reading it when I get back from Nashville next week. I’ve gotten up to day 5, and have enjoyed reading what you’ve written so far.
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Post by purvis on Jun 29, 2015 14:10:51 GMT
Chech: What happened on the flt. home?. I worked many years ago in a bank where one had to be pleasant with the customer no matter how annoying he or she became. I found that if I really wanted to get even with them I would pour on the compliments which usually caught them off guard and they became more manageable. Worked every time. As the saying goes " You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar". Purvis
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 15:49:28 GMT
Chech: What happened on the flt. home?. I worked many years ago in a bank where one had to be pleasant with the customer no matter how annoying he or she became. I found that if I really wanted to get even with them I would pour on the compliments which usually caught them off guard and they became more manageable. Worked every time. As the saying goes " You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar". Purvis The flight home is day 13. That's coming. I used to be the same way when I was working. There was nothing more fun than giving an irate person a big smile and acting as if nothing they could say would bother me. As a tourist, I can put up with a lot and I have put up with a lot...but on this tour, I was floored at the rudeness of the Germans. Even the Chinese were more courteous and that's saying something. The samples I write about are only scratching the surface. It got so bad, I reconsidered the Swiss tour simply because I didn't want to deal with the same level of rudeness. It was a small factor into my choice of Insight's Country Roads tour over other tours as it tends to avoid tourist traps where ever possible. (Though the bigger factor was the airfare....I wasn't going to dish out $2000 for a 9 day tour...so I dished it out for the 15 day tour).
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 15:50:25 GMT
I was hoping to get caught up on your tour tale over the weekend, but was too busy to even log onto this website. I’ll have to finish reading it when I get back from Nashville next week. I’ve gotten up to day 5, and have enjoyed reading what you’ve written so far. Nashville! Cool. The tale will be all up by time you get back.
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Post by purvis on Jun 29, 2015 17:14:26 GMT
Chech: I have found the German tourists to be the most rude next to the Chinese. Have flown Lufthansa from Toronto International several times and the Germans just push you aside in order to get on the plane first. I don't know why as the plane doesn't leave until all passengers are onboard. Perhaps their aggressiveness explains two world wars.
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 19:14:27 GMT
LOL...what's interesting is that the Japanese are the complete opposite. They'll happily stand single file in a line without a word of complaint - they won't even get up to board a flight until their rows are called.
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Post by Boop on Jun 29, 2015 19:22:07 GMT
Chech, are you flying into Zurich? If so, listen for cow/bells at the airport
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 19:25:47 GMT
Really? I've been through Zurich (transit) a couple times. Don't recall bells. I'll listen for them this time.
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Post by Boop on Jun 29, 2015 19:29:03 GMT
Really? I've been through Zurich (transit) a couple times. Don't recall bells. I'll listen for them this time. When were you last there? Listen carefully when "training" between terminals.......
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