Burlington is beautiful, one of my favorite towns.
Iāve got a bunch of friends I get together with every year (āMancationā) in central VT, we play disc golf, drink beer and play cards. Been doing it for ~20 years and I typically fly in and out of Burlington. If we wrap up Sunday morning Iāll usually schedule a late afternoon flight so I can spend the day there.
Summer travel plans depend on how older daughterās summer job search turns out. Atm, best offer is in southern CA and if she does that she and I will probably drive cross country, which is what she did last year. Was a blast, but sheās not sure she wants to do the job again and may or may not be hunting around for something better (hard to tell with college students).
Also, going to Vegas for a few days, then rafting Grand Canyon with younger daughter in July. Did it with my dad when I was a kid and had so much fun I wanted to do it with my kids down the road. Older daughter and I went a few years ago. Really looking forward to that.
Itās awesome to visit the motherland after not having been a while.
Two summers ago went to Algeria for the first time since 20 years ago; itās interesting in modern times to see the pockets that contain that unique culture and tradition while also seeing how globalization is creating a larger monoculture (was wild driving up to the Berber region in the mountains while my cousin was playing Taylor Swift and playing UNO on the beaches)
In three weeks my wife and I are taking a 10 day bus tour around Italy. Got non stop flights between Dulles and Rome each way. No plane changes!! Cold Turkey on Locker Room Access. Hopefully everything will be settled.
Daughter was selected to speak at a conference in Glasgow in July so the proud parents are tagging along. Doing a day in Edinburgh, and quick weekend over in Dublin. If anyone has suggestions for any of the three it would be greatly appreciated,
Edinburgh is fantastic, you will really enjoy that. Leith (harbor area) neighborhood is really special but I love the whole city. Walking around the castle in the neighborhoods is pretty great.
Edinburgh - take a tour of Holyrood Palace walk up the Royal MIle and take in the castle. Check out whisky in various spots and have a pint in the Grassmarket. Do a ghost tour or Underground Edinburgh.
Dublin - The Long Room at Trinity College and the Book of Kells. Drink in the Temple Bar and find a place where the craic is 90. The oldest Bar is Brazen Head - there essentially since 1198. Take the Guinness Storehouse Tour. Catch the train to Howth and walk around. A very special meal at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud.
And if you like whiskey, I recommend the small shops on the royal mile that cask their own whiskey and sell you cask strength bottles to take home. The Whiskey Museum/Tour sound like it would suck but its informative (unless you can get out to a distillery, I took a bus to Glenkinchie and that was amazing) and the bar at the end is really the best part of it. Very good selections and views.
I mostly hung around the downtown-Main Street area, but there was a kebob place that was good. Turkish Kebobs or something? Iāll see if I can find it. And there was a taco truck that kicked ass. I canāt remember the name, but I always managed to find somehow.
Edit - Found it! I was close, Istanbul Kebob. And the taco truck apparently turned into a restaurant pre-Covid. Yikes. Time flies. Taco Gordo. A little off my stomping grounds now, but good.
I will now be very sad if there isnāt an actual interest rate lever. Preferably one that is very large and difficult to pull in a room with a lot of heavy loud machinery. Relatedly, it should be maintained and fixed by a guy who routinely says things like āwell thereās your problem right thereā.