WTF-Beta

@Mary-Anna I can let you know when pharmacies here have them in stock. Shoppers Drug Mart is the general go to for both flu and COVID vaccinations - in Quebec it is called Pharmaprix.

In university one of my friends had the nickname “Shag”. This was before the Austin Powers movies brought the term to North America. He was one of those guys who was so rarely called his given name that a lot of people didn’t know what it was. His father even used his nickname on the regular. Our very Scottish (and very proper) costuming teacher, on the other hand, would not allow such a word to be said in her presence. I put a lot of quarters in the swear jar over my four years there because of Shag.

I have one of the subscription based printers and because I print a lot at home (we don’t have access to a colour printer at school and so I do a lot of work printing at home) it’s really economical for me to do a subscription. I know the subscription model has taken over all things and it’s generally terrible, but for me this has been a fantastic move!

@Bernard My mom make Cowboy Candy! It’s great!

When I was younger I would have done this! Now I just want to relax when I travel. But in retirement I would love to live in this type of community. I’m assuming my sewing skills would serve me well!

When I open photos it defaults to my Library with Years, Months, and All at the bottom. If you scroll down past that (or hit the X in the bottom right) I see Recent Days, then Albums, then People and Pets, then Memories, then Pinned Collections. Yours may be in a different order. If you don’t see that, then scroll almost to the very bottom where you will see Utilities. Tap on that and then you should see a folder called Recently Saved.

I noticed things are in a different order on my iPad but Utilities is still near the bottom so hopefully you can find it there!

Thanks @Bernard I love that colour as well and we use it throughout our home in small doses! I didn’t realize Kolodko had sculptures in NYC! NYC is still on my bucket list, but it’ll have to wait until the situation changes before I can cross it off!

I went in last week for something unrelated and my doctor let me know I was due for my tetanus so I got that. I was up to date on everything else. Then he went through all the things they will do next year (I’ll turn 50), including the Shingles and pneumonia vaccinations. Recently just got my first mammogram (apparently they lowered the age in Ontario to 40 but I didn’t realize it so I was long overdue) and then had to do a follow up ultrasound (nothing to worry about, thankfully, but now I’m on a once a year schedule for both). Isn’t aging fun?

@Daniel. I don’t believe there is a Hep C vaccination, unfortunately.

In Photos in my Pinned Collections there is one called Recently Saved. I can see mine in there but not in my main library.

I love fermented pickles and sauerkraut. Kimchi in small doses only. Yogurt is great. But kefir and kombucha both make my stomach turn. I need to find a savoury yogurt dish for breakfast (is there such a thing?) as I don’t love sweet in the morning.

Awww, thanks, @wtg ! I’m surprised you remember that! I let my Flickr account crumble into disrepair - for awhile it was also posting everything I put on Instagram, which is just a bunch of nonsense! However, before that happened I organized photos into albums on Flickr so those albums are more intentional. They have some of my travel photography from when I actually took the “big girl camera” with me.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/albums/

@AndyD Thanks! All iPhone here! I used to dabble in photography and used a DSLR, but the best camera is the one you have with you, and I got sick of lugging around all the gear!

@pique We have loved cruising with Viking! This was our second Viking cruise, and I loved both for different reasons. Previous to this we had never cruised or gone on a “tour”. We had just planned travel ourselves. I worried that I would miss the spontaneity of self-guided travel. But on a river cruise, you get to go to smaller towns that you would never see if you were planning it yourself. I also like the forced downtime of “scenic sailing”, as when I’m in charge of the itinerary we pack so much in that we need a vacation from our vacation! We never would have seen some of the things we did without the Viking tours. For example, getting to sit down in a local’s kitchen and talk to her about the Croatian War for Independence! The included tours are usually very good. The extra tours that you can pay for have been, in my experience, EXCELLENT. They are usually a smaller group (8-10 or less) and usually include some private access or high quality food experience. If you don’t want to go on a tour, you just don’t! You can either stay on the boat or, in some ports, just walk off the boat to do your own thing. Once we got to Amsterdam, we ditched the provided tour and went out on our own. When we were in Cologne in 2023 with Viking, the ship was docked about a 20 minutes walk from the city centre so after the included tour we just stayed in the city and joined the ship later. We wandered several smaller towns as well when the ship was docked there. There are some people who never leave the included tours, there are some who never leave the boat! There are also some who rarely do the included tours but head off to do their own thing. They have you scan your key card in and out of the ship when you leave so they know you are off the ship, but other than that you are free to do as much or as little of the itinerary as you like.

Some of Viking’s itineraries are completely on the ship - our first cruise was. But when they are visiting cities that aren’t on the river (like Bucharest) or when the ship is continuing on because the section you booked is part of a larger tour (in Budapest that is sometimes the case, as it was with us), then they put you in a hotel for those portions. I don’t love the Viking hotel portions of the tour, but the itinerary we booked this time had no other options. When you are on the boat, they take care of everything and your meals and beverages are included. When you are in the hotel, breakfast is included but you are on your own for meals, unless you happen to do a tour where one is included, and usually those cost extra. Part of the allure of Viking is that though the upfront cost looks high, we don’t spend a dime when we are on the boat. It ends up being very similar in cost to when we travel independently, assuming we are also booking tours to sites during our independent travel, which we do. When you have a hotel stay with Viking, we found the value wasn’t the same. But for the itinerary we did there weren’t really any other options.

We always stay in the departure city an extra couple days independently because you generally don’t have time to see it as part of the Viking cruise. As an example, when we did Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, we boarded the boat at lunch time and sailed after dinner in Amsterdam. The morning we arrived in Basel was the day we headed to the airport. So if you want to see those cities you either need to book a Viking extension or book it independently.

I hope that helps! If you have any other questions let me know!

Only tangentially related, but years ago a squirrel hid a walnut from our backyard tree in my mom’s Jeep. When she pulled out of the driveway, it rolled into the perfect spot to cause the brakes to fail. She squealed through a stop light and around a corner, coasting to a stop in a parking lot. No one was hurt, so the mechanic was quite amused!

Thanks, everyone!

@wtg Food tours are our go-to in every city we are in for more than 24 hours! Next summer in Italy we will be doing food tours in Rome, Florence, and Bologna. The best ones offer both information about the food and the culture so they are the perfect way to get acquainted with a city! We were exhausted when we got home! But we flew in late Friday night so Rob had Saturday and Sunday to be lazy at home before heading back to work. I’m on summer holidays so I spent lots of time doing a lot of nothing the week after we got home!

Day 13: Hungary, Budapest

Our last day in Budapest and my favourite tour! Attila from Budapest Flow Walking Tours was engaging, knowledgeable about both history and art, and provided context for each of the Mihály Kolodko mini statues we visited. My only regret is that we didn't have time to take his Street Art tour as well. Next time!

These mini statues are not commissioned works, but are put up without permission all around Budapest (there are also some in other Hungarian cities). While there are 35 or so mini statues, Attila chose a handful to visit based on location and how relevant they would be to travellers.

The dead squirrel is behind the Columbo statue!

The newest statue (the drone) appeared about a month ago! Each statue has meaning, often relevant to its placement in the city.

My favourite was the axe.

A right-wing politician was angry about the original sculpture (a Russian hat, which the artist placed to criticize Russian influence in Hungary), so he destroyed the statue with an axe and threw it into the Danube. Kolodko replaced the missing sculpture with a new one: an axe.

Later, a new Russian hat statue with frog legs appeared on the bank of the Danube. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see that one though Attila shared a photo of it as he told the story.

We also went on a food tour of District VII in the evening. The food was delicious and our guide was lovely. We had AMAZING Celery cream soup from Bors GasztroBar, popped into one of the original ruins bars for some photos and had langos (fried bread covered in sour cream and cheese) at Gozsdu Langos Bistro along with Dreher Beer. We went to Szek for a traditional pork stew with dumplings (Porkolt with Nokedli - delicious!) and, of course, more palinka. Then we had a delicious chocolate layer cake for dessert called Somloi and sweet white wine at a place called Color Bar.

We did get to peek inside of the lobby of the Opera House. We wanted to take a tour but ran out of time. Next time!

That’s it! We had an amazing trip! I would totally go back to Budapest any time, and I’ll be interested to visit Bucharest in maybe ten years and see how it has changed!

Day 12: Hungary, Budapest

We sailed into Budapest in the early morning. We got up early so we could see the city as we arrived. We left our ship and transferred to our hotel, Hilton Budapest, which is in the castle district. While the location seemed amazing (and the views were excellent!) we would never stay on the Buda side again. There isn’t a lot to do other than look at the beautiful buildings. I mean, it’s amazing, but the Pest side is where people actually live and it was so much more fun!

Just a few restaurants but not much else and everything is overpriced. We did have an excellent lunch at 21 Magyar Vendeglo. I had the chicken paprikash with dumplings and it was delightful.

We hung out at Fisherman’s Bastion until dusk so I could take photos of the Hungarian Parliament Buildings.

Day 11: Kalocsa, Hungary

We visited a show of horsemanship near Kalocsa, which was amazing! The horses were obviously well cared for and the show was so much fun. We had more Palinka, obviously.

We visited the Kalocsa Cathedral and listened to an excellent organ concert. The organ was played by Franz Liszt several times!

Kalocsa is one of the main paprika producers in Hungary, so look for the name when you buy paprika!

Day 10: Osijek, Croatia

We docked in Vukovar Croatia then took a drive to Aljmas, Croatia to visit the home of a local and hear about life in Croatia during the war of Independence (1991-1995). I wasn’t sure what to expect with this tour but it was fascinating! Like many of the other guides on our tours throughout Eastern Europe, the woman whose home we visited talked about the corruption in the current government.

We then went to the church in Osijek and heard a talented singer.

Finally, we walked around the old town of Osijek and our guide told us about the war for Independence. There are still many ruined buildings and bullet holes in the buildings - even those in current use - around the town.

Our guide shared that two years ago a stork nested on a statue in the main square. The mayor of Osijek ordered the next removed because it can damage the statue. This year, the stork returned but built its nest on the roof of the mayor’s office!

Day 9: Belgrade, Serbia

Have I mentioned it was hot the whole time? This was one of the cooler days, at 33°C/92°F. We visited the Belgrade fortress and it was my least favourite tour of the whole trip.

The Church of Saint Sava was lovely, but our tour guide was terrible so we just ignored her and wandered around on our own!

In the afternoon, we took a short walk around Belgrade. I took lots of photos of the mosaic mural on the wall of the zoo.

Day 8: Scenic Sailing through the Iron Gate, Golubac Serbia

We sailed down the Danube through the Iron Gate. Absolutely stunning scenery. The valley in this section was dammed to provide power in Eastern Europe. Many towns and villages in the valley were relocated - about 17,000 people - and the settlements were submerged under the Danube.

We saw the rock sculpture of Decebalus, the last king of Dacia. He fought against the Romans to preserve independence of the country that would now be in Romania. The sculpture was carved over ten years from 1994-2004.

After our scenic sailing, we hiked through Derdap National Park in Serbia to view the Danube at the Iron Gates from above. Stunning views, for sure, but a very hot hike in the 36°C (97°F) heat!

After the hike, we stopped at Kapitan Misin Breg. This village has a small restaurant, and an open air gallery with art by Zivorad Stefanovic (in the green shirt), who welcomed us to the compound. We had more palinka here!

We then visited the Golubac fortress. Built during the 14th century, it successfully repelled over 120 attacks, but changed hands repeatedly, passing between Turks, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Serbs, and Austrians. It is now in Serbia and is a popular tourist attraction. Our ship docked at the fortress.