Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: annew on October 31, 2009, 11:37:11 AM
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I'm So Excited!!! :) 8) We are off hunting wild daffodils with the AGS tour next February/March, to Spain, Portugal and Morocco - but it's over 30 years since I went abroad, and Barry (husband) has never even been on a plane ( I'm told they only have one wing each side now...) Neither of us has any idea what to take, what not to take, what's provided in hotels, what the weather is likely to be etc etc. So, all you seasoned travellers, please let us have your hints and tips, either on general travelling abroad, or specifically in those countries, or about that type of botanical trip.
Or maybe you know of a book or website for novice travellers. Thank you, folks.
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Barry wantsto know should he take his own teabags. ::)
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Such fun! I don't doubt you will have a wonderful time...... never been on an AGS trip.... but Ian takes his own teabags everywhere!
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Brian Duncan is the one to answer all your questions. I'll send you his email and phone number.
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Anne, Just bring your credit card. Everything else is available.
Paddy
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Definitely, bring your own teabags. the tea there is C**P. :) I always bring teabags when travelling. :) and don't drink the coffee in Morocco, it is terrible stuff.
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Anne have a good trip but beware once bitten you might even go every year 8)
I'm So Excited!!! :) 8) We are off hunting wild daffodils with the AGS tour next February/March, to Spain, Portugal and Morocco - but it's over 30 years since I went abroad, and Barry (husband) has never even been on a plane ( I'm told they only have one wing each side now...)
I have also heard that the toilets are now inside so much more "convenient" ::)
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Anne,
Congratulations - I'm sure you will enjoy all the contries mentioned - try a cup of mint tea while in Morocco and p l e a s e try to make some photographs of Narcissus albimarginatus!
Gerd
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I will try to make photos of EVERYTHING - well I'll have my photographer with me so we'll probably fight over the best camera.
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They better be good! You will have to compete with Rafa's skills as a photographer
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Don't hold your breath - it was those photos that made me decide I had to go!
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What a wonderful trip to look forward to Anne - I absolutely agree that the photos on this Forum are so enticing and tempt you to travel, if only your minds eye, to so many wonderful places growing fabulous plants. :D
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Definitely, bring your own teabags. the tea there is C**P. :) I always bring teabags when travelling. :) and don't drink the coffee in Morocco, it is terrible stuff.
Depends what you are after Michael - a change of culture or what you are used to? Tea bags abroad tend to be Liptons breakfast tea. The mint tea in North Africa is lovely and your coffee must be better than what pretends to be coffee here in the UK. I suspect the black coffee (I only drink espresso here if given a choice) over there would be unfiltered with coffee grounds in the base of the cup and quite a suitable substitute for bitumen or creosote? I quite like it.
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Some of the suggestions remind me of scenes at the airport, now many years ago, thankfully, when people heading off for their holiday in the sun would bring almost all their food with them, never mind just teabags.
I suggest that if you are going abroad that part of the experience is to eat and drink as the locals do. I would prefer north African coffee with grounds in the cup than tea from teabags any day. And, even if you don't enjoy it all, it will all add to the experience and be something you can look back on with a smile.
Paddy
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Well said Paddy - although I would always take advice on vaccinations/injections - some diseases are not worth experiencing :o
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Great stuff Anne, you will enjoy it. I hope that a day in Marrakesh is included in the itinerary.
Take your own tea bags and a small water heater. Most hotels in Europe don't have a kettle n the room. And, when you are in Morocco do try the mint tea. It is so different to what we have in UK.
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Robin,
I have always gone abroad to enjoy the foreign experience. While at home I can have my tea (never teabags, by the way) and, to be honest, more likely coffee (grounds and all) and tea, perhaps, once a year.
Anne, all hotels will have all the tea and coffee you will ever wish to drink. You simply ask. Lugging water heaters and tea with you is just a nuisance. Take an extra camera instead.
Paddy
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Whittards do a lovely Moroccan mint tea. It was Ian Young who put me on to real tea.
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Anne
This is the link http://www.ringtons.co.uk/
Grown and packed [and drunk] in the North East ;). We send it to my daughter, who is forced to work in Windsor.
Gerry
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I hardly think that taking a familiar drink, say tea of whatever kind, with one on a trip really suggests that one is not open to the dietary experiences available around the world ::)
Especially for someone with a digestive problem or disease, it may indeed be important to have at least one thing that is familiar, perhaps to take medicine with...... 8)
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Cho.....you mean Maggi ::)
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Yeah, Maggi, You're just making a case for your own "absolute necessities" which you pack in your suitcase.
But, I will make an exception for you. Chocolate is considered medicine by some and right they are too.
Paddy
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Good mood food ;D
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It would appear that I am always the odd one out in these discussions and no one ever shares my opinion, but that is ok, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Bearing in mind that I do not drink alcohol and very seldom drink coffee, I like a decent cup of tea, and not the excuse for tea that they serve in countries where they do not drink tea as a rule. I have travelled extensively in Europe, Africa, and North and South America, and sampled the local cuisine in all these places, but I have never found anything to equal a decent cup of tea. I did not bring teabags on my first few trips but soon got they message.
If you like a decent cup of tea, bring your own teabags,you will regret it if you don't :) :) :)
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I do agree with you Michael.......... and I wasn't thinking of my chocolate addiction at all, but of Ian's need for a cup of tea ....he suffers from Crohn's disease and while he is unusually fortunate in that he is able to eat most things in spite of the illness, he must take regular medicines and eat often..... his tea is part of his regime. As Michael says, in some places it is not easy to get a simple cup of tea..... and it's not hard to bring your own so where's the harm ?
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Well, Maggi, if you come to Ireland we will certainly stretch to a good cup of tea for you, and Ian.
Although this now reminds me of a man who came to our house, was served a cup of tea and commented, "Ah, shamrock tea". He went on to explain, "Three leaves". I didn't hit him with the teapot but I didn't ask him to the house again either.
Paddy
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Perhaps good herbal teas are more easily found abroad? Here in Switzerland herbal teas are in abundance even Alpine plant teas are numerous used for all sorts remedies. I'm sure, too, the water used in tea making has a big influence on the flavour.....and now I have to admit to bringing Earl Grey tea from the UK. Twinings Earl Grey bought here just doesn't taste the same :P
However I was so excited to find 3 parsnips in the supermarket the other day - never seen them here before ;D
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Robin,
My son, aged 17, has a liking for Earl Grey tea something which is a mystery to me. As for parsnips - plenty growing in the garden and I dug up the first of them last weekend.
Funny thing about tea, coffee etc. When my son, John, was about 12 he was with us on a holiday in northern Italy. After dinner he asked the waiter for an espresso. Well, this brought the house about us. The waiter called the other waiters to show them the child who wanted to drink coffee and to show them the parents who would actually allow this. The owner was called and the chef and everyone else in the kitchen. All patrons in the restaurant were also duly informed. However, they eventually believed us that he was allowed to drink coffee.
Later, we were having some grappa and John asked to try some. The same waiter served him a glass of grappa without as much as a blink of an eye, as he had served him wine with dinner. Funny old world!
Paddy
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It would appear that I am always the odd one out in these discussions and no one ever shares my opinion, but that is ok, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Bearing in mind that I do not drink alcohol and very seldom drink coffee, I like a decent cup of tea, and not the excuse for tea that they serve in countries where they do not drink tea as a rule. I have travelled extensively in Europe, Africa, and North and South America, and sampled the local cuisine in all these places, but I have never found anything to equal a decent cup of tea. I did not bring teabags on my first few trips but soon got they message.
If you like a decent cup of tea, bring your own teabags,you will regret it if you don't :) :) :)
Michael you are not the (only) odd one out! I rarely drink alcohol and never drink coffee. I am not excited by herbal tea ... give me a good cup of 'normal' tea anytime.
On topic - I'm so jealous Anne. :)
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Anne
This is the link http://www.ringtons.co.uk/
Grown and packed [and drunk] in the North East ;). We send it to my daughter, who is forced to work in Windsor.
Gerry
By 'eck, that takes me back! I must admit Vivienne takes teabags, but only if we are self-catering. More trouble than they are worth in a hotel unless they provide a kettle.
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Mark, no dried mint tea from a packet can begin to compare with that made from the fresh mint in Morocco. And, Tony, it is not a herbal tea, it is a whole experience!
Anne, as a taster, this is Narcissus watieri near to Imlil in the Atlas Mountains, March 2008.
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Anne, as a taster, this is Narcissus watieri near to Imlil in the Atlas Mountains, March 2008.
- what an unusual large flower!
Gerd
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I definitely prefer coffee to tea and I never drink tea/coffee with sugar, but I love Moroccan mint tea!!
Anne, as your tour is "Spain, Portugal and Morocco", it sounds like you'll probably be in the southern part of Portugal, but if you are going to be in the north by any chance, do drop me a pm :)
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Anne
This is the link http://www.ringtons.co.uk/
Grown and packed [and drunk] in the North East ;). We send it to my daughter, who is forced to work in Windsor.
Gerry
By 'eck, that takes me back! I must admit Vivienne takes teabags, but only if we are self-catering. More trouble than they are worth in a hotel unless they provide a kettle.
Americans salute the flag. In County Durham we have a nice cup of tea, delivered to our door by a man in a liveried van 8)
Gerry
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Perhaps good herbal teas are more easily found abroad? Here in Switzerland herbal teas are in abundance even Alpine plant teas are numerous used for all sorts remedies. I'm sure, too, the water used in tea making has a big influence on the flavour.....and now I have to admit to bringing Earl Grey tea from the UK. Twinings Earl Grey bought here just doesn't taste the same :P
However I was so excited to find 3 parsnips in the supermarket the other day - never seen them here before ;D
Twinings are to shut their depot in Tyneside. I gather that 'environmental concerns' were high on their list of reasons for putting a lot of lads out of work ::)
Buy Ringtons instead. I'm not a sharholder, honest.
Gerry
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Gerd, there were lots of individual bulbs scattered over a large area of hillside. Never any big clumps but the flowers were all of a similar size. As you can see, I was still having problems photographing white flowers. Sorry.
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Gerd, there were lots of individual bulbs scattered over a large area of hillside. Never any big clumps but the flowers were all of a similar size. As you can see, I was still having problems photographing white flowers. Sorry.
- nevertheless they seems to be of a good size!
Sometimes I also have problems photographing flowers - not only white ones.
Please see my latest pics in 'Narcissus'!
Gerd
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Poor Anne. Her topic has very quickly be come tea v coffee.
No mention of Lady Grey. What Japanese tea with puffed rice
N Irish tea tends to be served black and extremely strong
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Twinings Assam for us - only in bags when travelling! The mint tea sounds nice, the strong coffee not good for folks with migraine.. :'(
We do go to Marrakech (their spelling). Chloe, the farthest north we get is the Serra da Estrela I think.
Many thanks for all your comments and suggestions everyone. If you think of anything else speak up! Someone told me to wear my hiking boots on the plane so I didn't have to pack them. Not sure they'll go with the Gucci ???
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::) I would take binoculars too, some really good light weight ones so you don't miss a flora or fauna moment
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Already on the list! By the way, I can recommend Pentax Papilio binoculars for anyone who likes looking at smaller things. They focus down to about 50cm and can be used almost like a field microscope - fantastic for butterflies, dragonflies etc. They can still be used for birds and other animals.
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Someone told me to wear my hiking boots on the plane so I didn't have to pack them.
...as long as you realise that UK airport security will ask you to remove them (or any other kind of boots) as you go through the security check - unless you are going through the new X-ray machines in Manchester which can see skin surfaces :o :o :o
The site which has current information about baggage restrictions etc. is
www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/TravellingAbroad/AirTravel/index.htm (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/TravellingAbroad/AirTravel/index.htm)
It is worth paying attention to the hand baggage rules in particular as any banned articles you are found to have at the security check have to be thrown away.
I haven't been to the areas you are going to (where's the 'jealous' smiley?) so can't be much help, but I do agree that tea/coffee addicts need to ensure supplies of a suitable fix - for us it is Thyphoo and Carte Noir decaf :) :)