Break Out Area Showing 151-200 of 2,602

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

My pleasure Robert, I haven't used Facebook much before but it's useful to show family & friends back home what we have been up to.

[Robert]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "My pleasure Robert, I haven't used Facebook much before but it's useful to show family & friends back home what we have been up to."

Agreed, AR. I only began using Facebook so that we could get pictures of our grandson more easily.

[Lilo]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "My pleasure Robert, I haven't used Facebook much before but it's useful to show family & friends back home what we have been up to."

I am just starting using Facebook. Had a 24-year old come over today to give me some coaching. We'll continue tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures, Rick.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

My pleasure Lilo, glad you are enjoying the photos :)

[happy]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "We are off to Mont St. Michel tomorrow and I am sure we will enjoy a very nice romantic dinner and if not there we have five days in Paris after that :)

http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/ind......"

That is definately one place I want to see!!!

We just didn't have enough time the last time I was in France :(

Only had a weekend and was busy doing D-Day stuff and the Bayeux Tapestry

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

So much to see and do in the Normandy region Happy, need to plan for few weeks to cover half of what you could do!

[happy]

No kidding!

That is why when I retire, I want to take a summer and spend it in Europe!

[Lilo]

happy wrote: "No kidding!

That is why when I retire, I want to take a summer and spend it in Europe!"

You are smart, Happy. We are always shocked when we hear that people want "to do" all of Europe (or the U.S.) in two weeks time. There once was a comedy movie (which, unfortunately, I never got to see), which made fun of this type of traveling. It was titled: "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium".

I hope you know that the cheapest and safest way to travel Europe is by train. They sell monthly tickets, which allow you to hop onto trains whenever you want, anywhere in Europe.

Traveling on the Danube/Main/Rhine, as Aussie Rick did, would be more comfortable, I suppose, but also much more expensive.

Should you consider buying an RV, make sure you get some info from me first.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Just don't try trains during the start and end of their summer holidays - crowded as hell, a bit like slightly organised bedlam and bloody difficult if your lugging about heavy suitcases. Seen lots of camper homes driving about and heaps of camping sites, maybe a good way to get about.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Been away for a week or so on my hols and so pleased you enjoyed your trip to Normandy Rick - I think I remember you were also stopping by the WWI Aussie areas like Pozières, Villers-Bretonneux and Messines...did you/are you going?

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I Geevee, I hope you had a good break as well. I'm currently spending a few days in Paris. I managed to drag my poor suffering wife around some of the Australian battlefields and Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the Ypres area.

We visited Hill 60, Polygon Wood, Tyne Cot, and Menin Gate. We also visited Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery there, Pointe Du Hoc and the German Battery at Longues-sur-Mer. I started using Face book so my family & friends back in Australia could keep track and view the photographs, here is a link if you are interested:

https://www.facebook.com/rick.mcqualt...

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Thanks Rick and great you're having a good time. I bet the days are flying by though. The pics of the new book on Napoleon look like you picked up a real nice copy.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I'm pretty happy with it and my wife didn't complain :)

[Lilo]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Just don't try trains during the start and end of their summer holidays - crowded as hell, a bit like slightly organised bedlam and bloody difficult if your lugging about heavy suitcases. Seen lots..."

I am a big RV-traveling fan -- American RV-traveling, that is. Be aware that there are no dumping stations in Europe. One has to carry waste-containers the size of gas cans to the nearest campground toilet, and you will have to pay campground fees, even if you only dump your container. When we traveled in Germany, in the 1980s, we traveled in a van, had an ordinary camping toilet for emergencies, and tried to use restaurant toilets wherever possible. This was 30 years ago, when we were young. We would not want to travel like this at our age. -- Maybe using a primitive camping van combined with regular stays in hotels would be the answer. This would, at least, provide sleeping and toilet facilities for emergencies when no hotel vacancy can be found. A regular RV combined with hotel stays would be a very expensive solution.

[Lilo]

P.S. I forgot that I advised -- with very good reason -- not to drive in Europe.

I have never used these railway tickets but have heard people praising them. It would be difficult to avoid school vacation beginnings and endings because school vacations are staggered all over Germany (I don't know about the rest of Europe) in order to avoid horrible traffic jams. Thus, there should be some vacations starting or ending every weekend, all through summer.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Funny but coming from the UK I enjoy driving in Europe: far less congestion overall making it far more pleasant in my opinion even though I'm using my UK right drive car. I also enjoy driving in the States as there are miles and miles of empty roads (by UK standards) and even the cities (Washington/New York/SF/LA/Chicago/Boston etc) are really no worse/better than London and other UK/European cities. I also like the right turn on red law and the undertaking on Freeways too.

[Lilo]

Geevee wrote: "Funny but coming from the UK I enjoy driving in Europe: far less congestion overall making it far more pleasant in my opinion even though I'm using my UK right drive car. I also enjoy driving in t..."

Tell me when you are on the road in continental Europe or the U.S., so that I can make sure that I am not at the same time. :-) Seriously: I cannot understand how someone used to left-side traffic can get used to drive in right-side traffic, and vice versa. My mother and I almost got ourselves killed as pedestrians, several times a day, when we were visiting London (and then I was ony in my late 30s and not too senile).

[Chin Joo]

Geevee wrote: "Funny but coming from the UK I enjoy driving in Europe: far less congestion overall making it far more pleasant in my opinion even though I'm using my UK right drive car."

I like driving in the UK because:
1. We drive on the same side of the road, and I don't have to constantly worry about turning into the wrong lane.
2. UK drivers are very polite. As a case in point, in the UK, when someone flashes his headlights, he is telling you to go first. In Singapore, it's the opposite. If a driver flashes his headlights, he is saying "I'm going first, stay away."
3. The scenery is beautiful.
4. The road signs are clear, I could get from one town/city to another that I've not been and won't lose my way. And on the occasions when I do get into the wrong direction....
5. There are plenty of roundabouts to let me correct my mistakes.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Lilo wrote: "Geevee wrote: "Funny but coming from the UK I enjoy driving in Europe: far less congestion overall making it far more pleasant in my opinion even though I'm using my UK right drive car. I also enj..."

US is no worries Lilo as we rent cars there and in Europe I lived in Germany for a few years and so drove both left-handed civilian and right-handed civilian and military vehicles and so got used to both.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Chin Joo wrote: "Geevee wrote: "Funny but coming from the UK I enjoy driving in Europe: far less congestion overall making it far more pleasant in my opinion even though I'm using my UK right drive car." I like dr..."

Very kind of you Chin Joo, although there are times in rush hour I think politeness removes itself from the driving experience!

[Lilo]

@ Geevee: Oh, dear! Switching back from left-side driving to right-side driving! You must have a better developed brain than my husband and I have. For us, this would have been "mission impossible" at any age.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Lilo it's not that hard and I'm certainly not that superior as many thousands of Brits do it each year, and in the opposite direction many thousands of Europeans drive on UK roads each year too :)

[Lilo]

Geevee wrote: "Lilo it's not that hard and I'm certainly not that superior as many thousands of Brits do it each year, and in the opposite direction many thousands of Europeans drive on UK roads each year too :)"

I believe you, Gevee. But you have just convinced me that my husband and I have some parts of brain missing. :)

[Lilo]

Gotta tell you a joke:

This German guy meets his friend and tells him that he will be vacationing in the UK, renting a car. The friend warns him about driving himself because of the left-side traffic. The first guy dismisses the warning.

A few weeks later, the two guys meet again. The first guy is bandaged all over, has an arm and a leg in casts, and is limping with crutches.

The friend says: "Oh, my! Look at you. Didn't I tell you not to drive in the UK."

The first guy answers: "I didn't. I never got to the UK. It's all your fault. You had scared me with your warning, so I had practiced left-side driving between Munich and Augsburg."

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Nice one Lilo :) Funny I thought of you today as driving to a meeting today two USAAF pick-ups passed me (both on official US Govt plates and Left-hand drive).

[Boudewijn]

GoodReads: you can never start early enough

[carl]

I think I see 5 stars to "Cat in the Hat on Omaha Beach" ?

[Lilo]

Bou wrote: "GoodReads: you can never start early enough

"

Looks like the next Bill Gates.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Bou wrote: "GoodReads: you can never start early enough

"

And is early in this context time of day as well as age Bou? Great pic :)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Great pic :)

[Boudewijn]

Geevee wrote: "Bou wrote: "GoodReads: you can never start early enough

"

And is early in this context time of day as well as age Bou? Great pic :)"

Hehe, yes of course I should have written "you cant start young enough" although indeed, having a 7 month old boy also means that generally you'll need to start your weekend Saturdays very early too :-)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

For our American members in the group I am sorry to hear the news of another fatal shooting spree in the United States.

[Manray9]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "For our American members in the group I am sorry to hear the news of another fatal shooting spree in the United States."

Unfortunately we are a nation with a woeful lack of adequate mental health services combined with near-universal access to firearms. It is a recipe for tragedy.

[Lilo]

Thank you, Aussie Rick!

@ Manray9: I agree with you 100%.

[Robert]

Manray9 wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "For our American members in the group I am sorry to hear the news of another fatal shooting spree in the United States."

Unfortunately we are a nation with a woeful lack of a..."

This is exactly right. It will only get worse.

[[deleted user]]

Manray9 wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "For our American members in the group I am sorry to hear the news of another fatal shooting spree in the United States."

Unfortunately we are a nation with a woeful lack of a..."

I couldn't agree more Manray9. It's a sad deal.

[happy]

Geevee wrote: "Lilo it's not that hard and I'm certainly not that superior as many thousands of Brits do it each year, and in the opposite direction many thousands of Europeans drive on UK roads each year too :)"

For a contrary opinion - Just about killed myself and the passengers in the car the first time I entered a round-a-bout just outside Huntington, visiting my brother :)

[carl]

Roundabout - Roulette wheel of death

[Tionne]

carl wrote: "Roundabout - Roulette wheel of death"

I couldn't agree more. I went through one yesterday. Don't see these down South! Yet another thing I miss. No roundabouts.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

My city is full of roundabouts, we love them in Canberra :)

[Tionne]

Yes, but you don't have to deal with Philly driving. It is an art that I have not perfected. I have to play defense every time....even out of the roundabouts.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Prior to visiting the states I'd always been told they didn't have them - found some in Massachusetts a few years back and felt right at home :)

[carl]

There have been some outbreaks, no matter
how much we spray ...

[happy]

the round-a-bout wasn't the challenge - I was looking the wrong way :(

[Lilo]

We have one here in our little town of about 15,000 inhabitants. It has been here for several years, in a newly developed but empty area with nothing but connecting streets that nobody uses. I think it gets traffic of 5 to 20 cars per day. In the middle is a huge bronze of a bull or an ox -- whatever. Probably an image of the meathead who dreamed up building this round-a-bout.

[Chin Joo]

Like I said previously, roundabouts are great if you had gone in the wrong direction. There are rules on the use of roundabouts and IF everyone abides by them, it's quite easy to use a roundabout. Trouble is they are not easy to execute especially if the roundabout is small.

We used to have many in Singapore when I was young. They started removing them and replacing them with traffic lights. And the roundabouts used to be called 'circus', as in 'Queenstown Circus', 'Newton Circus'. I have not idea why circus. I can only put it down to Chinese doing a poor translation (or spelling) of the word 'circle'. And to provide support for what I've just said, Chinese in Singapore can have the same surname in Chinese but different ones when translated into English, depending on dialect group to which the translator belong.

[carl]

AR, in the southern hemisphere, do roundabouts go round
the other way?

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Carl, our roundabouts go clockwise while I think you guys may go anti-clockwise? (the ones in France did anyhow).

[carl]

I was going for a coriolis effect reference
AR. you gotta work with me a little bit ...

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

carl wrote: "AR, in the southern hemisphere, do roundabouts go round
the other way?"

ROFL Carl :)