Sometimes home enjoying a beer with friends, sometimes on the road checking out the world.
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= Good travel doesn’t mean spending all your budget and then some. The U.S. dollar is so weak against the Euro and Pound right now that I paid $20 for a sandwich, water, and dessert at the airport. A taxi ride in Poland was $12 but in Portugal it was $28. At the Portugal hotel, room service continental breakfast is $25. Internet in Poland was $37 for a day so I’m afraid to look in Portugal. As a result, I save where I can so I can spend on sightseeing. I always bring a box of granola bars and Nescafe packets. It’s not gourmet but it’s cheap. When possible, I use free wireless. This means getting creative with the best connection and in this room it involved pushing a chair next to the window to steal a signal. I can’t do anything with credit cards or security with free wireless but I can access school and blog. Plus save money. The big bargain in Portugal is the cost of the Hop-On-Hop-Off Sightseeing bus. Only $14 and there are two routes plus all regular bus service is included for a 24 hour period. I made good use of that today to get around Porto. My hotel windows are too dirty to take a photo but if they were clean and the sky was clear, I’d have a great view of the Atlantic ocean. This isn't my room view but the coastline is beautiful. There are warnings not to go in the water though because it's so badly polluted. If no one swims in the Atlantic, then why are they all eating the fish? I don't want to eat something that swims in water that no one goes near. One of many cool buildings in Porto
In Lima they said not to eat the seafood because the water was so poluted but everyone eats seafood there. Of course I did too and got sick from something...
First the backstory. In about a week I'll be boarding a cruise ship (this year's Cruise Trek) in Romania. When I booked the flight many months ago, I had a brilliant idea to go in a week early to Vienna and use it as a base to spend a few nights each in Albania and Bosnia. Fast forward to 6 weeks ago and the Covid restrictions, flight schedules, and hotel prices made me give up. Changing the flight to Vienna would result in penalties and possibly fare increases so I made the best of it and thought, where can I go in Austria where I've never been? Innsbruck, hmm. Can I get a free flight from Vienna? Yes! Can I get a free hotel room? Yes. Check! The city is picture perfect though. Nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges, it's green, colorful, and everything you could want a place to be when the purpose is total work decompression. No major sightseeing, no expectations. You, a city and a view. It's walkable and small. You've got to look up, left and right, ...
Life on the river often means spots where I can't get a good wifi connection so I'm a bit behind on blogging. I'm going to do this one fast and then get more detailed on the last two stops. I'm sailing with AMA Waterways and the ship is the AmaVerde as seen from the dock in Vidin. Usually I share a bigger cabin with a friend but for this trip we decided to splurge and get our own cabin. Here's my little home for the week. Most of Thursday was on the ship as we sailed from Bulgaria to Serbia. This lock is the second gate of the Iron Gates. Looking over at the dam on the river. View from my cabin. The water is just below the window. There are only three decks on this ship and I'm on Level 3.
In Lima they said not to eat the seafood because the water was so poluted but everyone eats seafood there. Of course I did too and got sick from something...
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