#245939 - 10/01/2005 15:14
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
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Dead easy, mate. No competition! 
_________________________
One of the few remaining Mk1 owners...  #00015
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#245940 - 10/01/2005 16:01
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
Her main things to see would be castles. She is fascinated by them!
Loire valley?
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#245942 - 11/01/2005 15:19
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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addict
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 498
Loc: Virginia, USA
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I'm making my third trip to Europe in March (I live in the US). I always say I'm going to go somewhere else but I never seem to make it out of Amsterdam.  I really want to see more of the continent but Amsterdam just suits my lifestyle so well. I can't bring myself to leave. My wife and I are sick of Jesusland and are giving serious thought to moving there.
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#245943 - 11/01/2005 15:24
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: Dylan]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
giving serious thought to moving there.
In that case I have to warn you that The Netherlands have changed quite a bit in the last couple of years (well, post-dot-com-crash and 9/11), and the change can be felt here in Amsterdam as well. Much less liberal, much less foreigner-friendly. 
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#245944 - 11/01/2005 15:57
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: julf]
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addict
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 498
Loc: Virginia, USA
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Quote:
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giving serious thought to moving there.
In that case I have to warn you that The Netherlands have changed quite a bit in the last couple of years (well, post-dot-com-crash and 9/11), and the change can be felt here in Amsterdam as well. Much less liberal, much less foreigner-friendly.
That's interesting to hear. My only experience is post 9/11. I've been there in the summer of 2003 and 2004. I wasn't attuned enough with the culture to notice a difference other then how much less my dollars were worth.
This is more than a whimsical thought for us. My wife is in school until next autumn and at that point I could probably cash out stock options and my house to have a nice chunk to start somewhere new.
Would you mind if I pestered you in email or PM with some questions? I'll be in Amsterdam from March 5-12. Perhaps we could hook up and I could chat you up? My time there has almost exclusively been in the old Centre. One of my goals this trip is get out of the toursity part and try to get a feel for the more typical Dutch life.
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#245945 - 11/01/2005 17:27
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: Dylan]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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[This is more than a whimsical thought for us. My wife is in school until next autumn and at that point I could probably cash out stock options and my house to have a nice chunk to start somewhere new.
Unfortunately the crash of the dollar has made the timing for that rather bad. And I don't see the dollar recovering in the short term
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Would you mind if I pestered you in email or PM with some questions?
Of course not - please do!
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I'll be in Amsterdam from March 5-12. Perhaps we could hook up and I could chat you up?
Let's definitely try to do that. Where are you based now?
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One of my goals this trip is get out of the toursity part and try to get a feel for the more typical Dutch life.
Hmm... As in Oliebollen and soggy cheese sandwiches?
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#245946 - 11/01/2005 17:38
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: Dylan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
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Well, if you're sharp, you might be just in time for the User Meet in July!
Start crankin' the motor!
Edited by schofiel (11/01/2005 17:39)
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#245947 - 11/01/2005 17:51
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: schofiel]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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Finally found the wedding invite. It looks like it's the weekend before. So hopefully all systems go and with only 179 days to wait!
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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#245948 - 11/01/2005 17:54
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
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_________________________
One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015
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#245949 - 12/01/2005 04:59
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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Quote:
We'll likely have 14-16 days in total so I guess we'll be pushing it with our itenerary.
Mister opinionated here: If you are "peak bagging" then maybe not, but if you want to soak some of the trip in, then, yes, I'd say you are pushng it. But that's coming from the Jim that wants to vicariously wander the countryside in a hire cae (actually, I get to do this in May. Woohoo!)
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We both speak fluent English... but nothing else other then a few french words learned in junior High in the early 90s.
It is the effort that counts, IMO. A Berlitz book, some earnest, stupid looks, a willingness to hold out a handful of money and let someone else pick out what is appropriate.... all is good.
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My main thoughts were the Berlin wall, we have seen pieces of it during previous trips to PEI and Ottawa and have both been very intrigued by it.
I got to see the wall when it was. Yes, intriguing in a Darth Vader sort of way. Stranger, rolling through bricked-up East Berlin stations on the U-Bahn, walking through Checkpoint Charlie. I haven't been back...adn wonder if I would find it as interesting now that it is no longer an island.
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Amsterdam is something I have always wanted to check out for the Red Light district (window shopping only and niether of us are into smoking anything
No need to smoke.
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but I still think it would be a neat place to check out the shops and stuff).
It is unique. You could completely ignore the red-light and edible hashish aspects and still have an interesting visit. Lots of walking, lots of canals, lots of streetcars, museums. Very nice.
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The only real reason for Paris is to at least see the Eiffel Tower so that can be scratched off the list very easily.
I have been up the tower 5-6 times since 1974 and I give it very high marks, It is completely unique. That being said, and I think Matthew said this, the Eiffel Tower is far, far, far from the #1 reason to visit Paris. As cities that are walkable and subwayable (is that a word) and just absolutely chock full of sights, culture, streetlife, food, people, bread, beer, music, art, shopping, history, style....what am I missing? ... Paris sits in exclusive company (and ahead of, IMO) with New York and London. The Eiffel Tower just helps take it all in.
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The UK would be nice as we should be able to communicate fairly easily there as we have Newfie accents all around us which are (in a lot of cases) more like the English accent across the pond then North American English!
Yes, that's true. Those buggers drive on the left, though, d'you know??
Seriously, a few times I have wound up in the UK at the end of a trip wher you can go "Whew! Sompleace where I can make myself understood!" (sort of)
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We both love to eat new and differnt foods! And I love to drive and SWMBO is an excellent navigator (another bonus is that if we get lost we don't get mad, we make an adventure out of it!).
The bitchin good thing about secondary roads in (what I've seen of) Europe is that you can set a general goal for the day -- let's say we want to wind up somewhere near Rouen or Besancon -- and drive along without super-tense concentration on which turn to take. Just keep looking at those Besancon===> signs at the intersections and roundabouts and it all works out. If you are saying you like food and like to drive, Jim's boas would be to leave Berlin until next time and get a rent-a-car in Munich, Strasbourg or Lyon and dip south for a few days.
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Her main things to see would be castles. She is fascinated by them!
Now this gets tough. You've got your castles along the Rhine, picturesque as you float down the river, but generally inop. Then you have the showcase castles of the UK as mentioned here (only been to a few). Then there's the over-the-top Neushwanstein-type (sp?) castles (seen 'em, never visited) but which would take a serious side trip. Then there's palaces in like Versailles (an easy day trip from Paris, being my fave and I think the uber-uber-palace) or those palaces (not-quite-castles) along the Loire (some of them very nice, particularly for people into gardens...does Villadry come to mind?)
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[As I see it right now I think we might end up exploring the UK only. With our time limit and some of the stuff we want to see (and as newbies to any continent other then our own) and the fact that English is quite widespread this might be our best bet for our first trip. If we could time it right with the empeg meet and hook up with a ride to the UK that would be more then perfect!
Please keep the ideas coming, I greatly appreciate all of this so far.
With 16 possible days, you could spend a *lot* or time driving up and around the UK. My bias would be to fly open jaws into someplace like Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt and diddley-bop a little on the south side of the English Channel.
But don't listen too much to what *other* people want to do!!
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Rene (and Siobhan!)
Love that name.
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#245950 - 12/01/2005 07:00
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: jimhogan]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
You could completely ignore the red-light and edible hashish aspects and still have an interesting visit.
Yes indeed. And I once again repeat my invitation to take anyone who drops in for an evening kayak tour of the Red Light District - for a unique perspective
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#245951 - 18/01/2005 14:47
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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addict
Registered: 09/06/1999
Posts: 559
Loc: Newfoundland, Canada
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Would anyone have a decent paper map of the Netherlands and/or the UK that they could post to us? Or point us to a tourism site that would be willing to send out maps.
P.M. for my address if you can help!
Thanks!
Rene
_________________________
12 gig empeg Mark II, SN: 080000101 30 gig RioCar SN: 30103114 My blog
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#245952 - 18/01/2005 14:59
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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I think I still have the NL map I got from Avis.
Also, it may sound silly, but Best Western's hotel directory has pretty nice maps in it (at least the 2003 and 2004 editions do). Just walk in to your local hotel and take one. They're usually on a table in the lobby. You probably want something bigger, but those maps should be good enough to get you started until someone can provide something better.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#245954 - 19/01/2005 14:52
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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www.visitbritain.com seems to be the UK government's official tourism site. Maybe you could find somewhere to get print maps on there? There are some PDF maps, but probably not quite what you're looking for.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#245955 - 19/01/2005 14:55
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
Looks like I may have some NL maps on the way, but I am still looking for UK maps.
I have both a Benelux (Belgium + Netherlands + Luxembourg) 1:400 000 map and a Great Britain + Ireland 1: 800 000 for you...
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#245956 - 19/01/2005 17:49
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: julf]
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addict
Registered: 09/06/1999
Posts: 559
Loc: Newfoundland, Canada
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Thanks for the maps Julf. They will be greatly appreciated!
I'm checking out the visitbritain.com site now. I will be talking with a travel agent on the 2nd of February so hopefully they will be able to give us some maps and advice.
Thanks again all!
Rene
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#245957 - 20/01/2005 05:33
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Quote:
EDIT: Phoned Best Western and they will have one in the mail asap! Thanks for the tip!
Oh yeah, there's a seperate one for Europe. You can order it here incase they only send you the US one.
http://www.bestwestern.com/reservations/printeddirectory.asp
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Quote:
I think I still have the NL map I got from Avis.
Feel like mailing it to me??
I'm in California at the moment, but I'll look for it when I get back home.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#245958 - 24/01/2005 13:43
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: ShadowMan]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Just saw this event and thought it might be nice to visit if you are in the country at the time: England's Medieval Festival - 27, 28 & 29 August 2005 Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, England http://www.medieval.co.uk/"In this magical setting history will come to life. Over 1000 knights, bowmen and men-at-arms will lay siege to the castle. England's largest medieval battle with full cannon support. Daily at 11am & 3pm. [how convenient!]" Gareth
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#245959 - 24/01/2005 13:51
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: g_attrill]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
"In this magical setting history will come to life. Over 1000 knights, bowmen and men-at-arms will lay siege to the castle. England's largest medieval battle with full cannon support. Daily at 11am & 3pm. [how convenient!]"
And if you want slightly more modern "freedom technology", there's always The War and Peace Show, 20-24 July.
"The world's largest military vehicles and collectors fair
3500+ military vehicles on display, tanks, jeeps, ferrets, champs, weapons, explosions, living history reenactors, huge arena events, 1940s fashion, 1000+ stalls, world war two memorabilia, military models, 1940s history, fun fair and more!"
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#245960 - 24/01/2005 14:40
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: julf]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Quote:
The War and Peace Show, 20-24 July
Ah yes, I went to that last year. Lots of tanks, Hummers, Land Rovers, explosions, machine guns, suplus, and dust (lots of).
http://cm.thewarandpeaceshow.com/gallery/album08/W_P_Sun_79?full=1
Gareth
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#245961 - 24/01/2005 15:29
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: g_attrill]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
Ah yes, I went to that last year. Lots of tanks, Hummers, Land Rovers, explosions, machine guns, suplus, and dust (lots of).
We were there too, with the Carawagon and the Pinkie. The dust got blown away by the tank in your picture that was parked straight behind our tent (with exhausts towards the tent) starting up twice daily to go do it's thing. Besides the dust, it blew away everything else, too
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#245963 - 24/01/2005 15:52
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: julf]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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holy crow. could you perhaps put in a smaller version with a link to the large one? thats nearly a 2.5 meg download for anyone reading this thread. plus, it screws up the table formatting for the whole thread.
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#245964 - 21/03/2005 02:32
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: julf]
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member
Registered: 10/09/2004
Posts: 127
Loc: Bay Area, CA/Anchorage, AK
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I once again repeat my invitation to take anyone who drops in for an evening kayak tour of the Red Light District - for a unique perspective
If that offer holds before or after Amersfoort, tanstaasl. and I would love to take you up on that...not necessarily restricted to the red light district, though that'll be his preference... 
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#245965 - 21/03/2005 13:09
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: kayakjazz]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
If that offer holds before or after Amersfoort, tanstaasl. and I would love to take you up on that...not necessarily restricted to the red light district, though that'll be his preference...
Sure! After might be slightly better for me, as I am probably again returning from the US the week leading to Amersfort - just let me know your travel plans!
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#245966 - 22/03/2005 17:14
Re: Planning on heading to Europe this summer. Any tips & where's the
[Re: julf]
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member
Registered: 10/09/2004
Posts: 127
Loc: Bay Area, CA/Anchorage, AK
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We're arriving (via Dusseldorf) the morning of 1July, and so far are playing that week "by ear"....have to be back in Dusseldorf in time to leave 13:50 on12/7....let us know what works best for you. As my board name suggests, I'm an ocean kayaker; so we'll probably need to rent a double to keep Doug afloat... I'll be looking forward to that adventure! ..if you're in the States, it's a great way to see New York too!
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