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"Footscray people are incredible people; so humble. I'm just so happy - ecstatic" -
Re: Best holiday destinations
Istanbul. Will be there again later this year.FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.Comment
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Re: Best holiday destinations
Haha, why thank you thread ruler.
I'm really bad at picking favourites. I like to visit different places and experience different things rather than going repeatedly to the same place (guessing that's going to change once we have kids
).
The pinch me am I really here places I've been to are pretty amazing; Paris, Rome, Venice, Vegas, etc. However plenty of other less famous destinations are equally as enjoyable. Who you're with and the activities you get up to also can make or break a holiday, regardless of the destination.
In summary I'll let you know when I've been everywhere.
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Re: Best holiday destinations
I've travelled most of the world at one point or another, favourites would be;
Prettiest- Edinburgh
Exciting/fast paced- New York
Boys Weekend- Dublin (way better than Vegas)
Chillout- Santa Monica
Chasing filly's- Copenhagen
Food- Paris
Laugh at the unbundance of knobheads- Rome[COLOR="#FF0000"][B]Western Bulldogs:[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR="#0000CD"][B]We exist to win premierships[/B][/COLOR]Comment
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Re: Best holiday destinations
Went to Auschwitz Birkenau & Oscar Schindler factory while i was there. I realise how very little i knew about WWII before hand & found the experience surreal. I went to Auschwitz on a beautiful summers day & it was hard to believe that so much evil took place there. Visiting these places & hearing the stories are something i will never forget.
Overall I loved every bit of Krakow & since being back have ran into a few people who loved Krakow as well.Comment
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Re: Best holiday destinations
I was there on a nice summers day as well. Their weather is so nice, their summer is like a still Spring day for us.
I saw a lot of jewish tourists there, and of course, that's to be expected. What I had a lot of trouble with was they were taking photos of the "Killing Wall" and other artifacts when it was clearly defined by the operators of the park that no photos should be taken.
Now I can understand gaining perspective of the complex, and taking the odd "happy snap", but considering the enormity of the German operation and what happened there I just couldn't understand why anyone would want to record the level of detail I was witnessing being recorded. You know, why would you want to take photos of incinerators and killing walls?
It was just a very strange, emotional and moving experience for me.TF is this?.........Obviously you're not a golfer.Comment
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Re: Best holiday destinations
My wife and I went to Europe in Feb last year and had an amazing trip. London, France, Rome and Venice.
In terms of pure enjoyment, Paris was the highlight. Just a pleasure on all of the senses. Food was fantastic, people were friendly, visually the place was stunning, and you just has the feeling that there was something to enjoy around every corner. Felt totally safe walking around at all hours of the day and in any location (althought that wouldn't be the case once you head outside of the boundary of the Boulevard Periphique).
We also ended up hiring a personal tour guide (and ex amry Brit living near Pozierres) who tailored a tour based on my requests to a series of WW1 related locations around some of the the old Somme battlefields and up into and around the old Ypres salient in Belgium. My tour guide did a bit of research ahead of our trip on my Great Grandfather who was killed/missing in action during the 3rd Ypres battle. He managed to put together from old regimental diaries my Great Grandfather's likely locations up to the morning he was reported missing back in October 1917.
As a massive WW1 nerd, this two day personal tour was just awesome, and to have it pesonalised and tailored to try and give me a perspective around my Great Grandfather's experience was just the icing on the cake.
Just so many evocative memories from those two days.
The fact that we were walking around the fields and at every turn coming across massive amounts of ordinance and other relics like bits of sniper shields old German concrete Dugouts, fields pock marked with shellholes, blew me away (pardon the pun).
Our first morning we visted the Australian Memorial on a hill at Villers-Bretoneux amidst pea soup fog. We walked along the rows of graves and gradually the fog lifted as we got closer to the Memorial, it was a very solemn moment.
Walking first along the track into Polygon Wood, and then veering off into the old German positions and old Pillboxes was a very eerie experience. As was attending the nightly playing of the Last Post at the Menin Gate in Ypre.
Walking the cemetary at Tyne Cot and seeing my Great Grandfather's name on the wall of the missing and then looking at the rows of almost unending graves, brought forth some very strange feelings that I didn't expect.
Then walking amongst the rows and rows of dead and coming across the grave of a 14 yr old really stuck with me, Private Condon was his name.
I had to sit down for a spell in front of the Tyne Cot before we'd left. It really made such an impression on me. I guees I'd spent a long many years reading about the war, and for all those years, I guess it was always just words pages, or old black and white photo's. But when you see a tangible 3 dimensional representation of the human cost in front of you, it's a completely different experience.
Our Western Front tour also coincided with our guides participation in the interrment of some recently found NZ soldier remains. We were privileged to attend the ceremony and burial of these unknown soldiers remains at the cemetary at Longueval.
Knowing my wife was Taiwanese, our guide took us to a little known WW1 cemetary that held the remains of Chinese workers that died during the conflict. They were sent by the Chinese as attachments to the British army to be used as laborers not soldiers, but invariably many of them became unintential casualties. My wife was able to translate the messages on their Tombstones for our guide and give a bit of background as to how these people ended up there and where they were from, which he was grateful for.
The Lochnagar mine crater was something that pictures do not do justice. The size of it is incredible.
Travelling in and around Pozierres it was interesting to see how the locals, despite almost 100 years having passed, still hold a fondness and abiding respect of Australians for their sacrifices in and around the area.
I would have no hesitation in recommending to anyone with an interest in WW1 in travelling to the Western Front in Picardie and into Belgium. Even after 100 years it is still an evocative experience, and the fact that the countryside is so beautiful only serves to create an interesting perspective when you happen to know that these same fields were once the scene for almost unimaginable horrors.Comment
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Re: Best holiday destinations
Didn't know you have been there.
I am off to Belgium for 6 days and then fly to see my mother in Cyprus for a few weeks and finish off in Istanbul. Been there many times and love it. I haven't seen much of the rest of Turkey but would love to one day.FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.Comment
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Re: Best holiday destinations
I went to Instanbull a couple of years ago, thought it was pretty but found the constant hasseling of merchants tiring and had the constant feel that everyone you dealt with was trying to rip you off. I've been to a lot of different cities but felt it more in Instanbull than any other place.
Do you have a strategy for dealing with the locals?[COLOR="#FF0000"][B]Western Bulldogs:[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR="#0000CD"][B]We exist to win premierships[/B][/COLOR]Comment
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FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.Comment
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