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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2016 4:45:14 GMT
So, moving away from dogs, I am now in Israel. Flew in on Tuesday and am having a week with my 16 year old son who has been on the traditional right of passage that almost all Jewish children do at age 16 - spend a month in the country with their youth group touring around, learning the history of the land, its peoples and the connection of the Jewish people to the land. I did it 35 years ago......
For the first time in many years and many many more visits to Israel, I have not needed to rent a car as I am using my father's Sirion, whilst he is in England. Saves a few £00s. Also meant I did not collect the car from the airport, but had to get to our town first. Taxis are now at least £60. Train and local taxi cost £13 and probably did it quicker, especially given the traffic that clogs up the central part of the country every day. For someone who enjoys driving, and whose commute is no more than 7.5 miles each way against the traffic, I find public transport very effective. At home I can take a tram and a train to Manchester Airport for about £10 return and it saves on parking charges as well. Don't do it with the family - it makes no sense - but on my own its very good.
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Post by Hofmeister on Jul 28, 2016 15:39:43 GMT
oh and I used Google Maps exclusively through France, Belgium and Holland. On a decent smart phone with a good screen, I now consider stand alone Sat Navs as redundant.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2016 7:18:51 GMT
oh and I used Google Maps exclusively through France, Belgium and Holland. On a decent smart phone with a good screen, I now consider stand alone Sat Navs as redundant. Indeed, from 2005 I insisted on built in Sat Nav. Now, I use Waze. All I need is a nice slot on the dash for my phone. It's amazing how quickly cars get out of date in terms of the user interface, compared to other appliances. |
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Post by Hofmeister on Aug 3, 2016 12:04:58 GMT
humph is stuck in the jams at Dover....... Had an email from him. He was stuck at Dover for 13.5 hours overnight. Jezuz. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2016 12:50:16 GMT
I would use Waze but it is rubbish at street numbers, here at least. Streets ate very long here and numbers around 6 or 7 thousand are common. Waze fails.
Google maps is pretty good with numbers.
On the other hand a fairly standard approach in Chile is that whilst most streets are one way, the dirwction of traffic flow changes according to the time of day. Google Maps fails.
Waze is pretty good at dealing with it.
You see the decisions I face!! Endless problems in my life.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2016 4:06:58 GMT
First world problems.......go by foot/bike and these problems disappear. Mind you, how long is a street with 7000 houses on it?
I feel for Humph - 13.5 hours!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2016 12:58:19 GMT
I cycle a lot, but if one has to carry stuff, if one is accompanied by children, if its late at night, if its in a dodgy area of town, or if its a bloody long way, then the car is needed.
The problem is that if one turns onto the required road 1000 numbers too late, given that everything is one way and that left turns (think right turns) are rarely permitted and the traffic is usually bloody awful (think London rush hour all day), it can take a very long time to get back to where you need to be.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2016 16:18:20 GMT
My parents went to Santiago twice. Really liked it but did comment on the traffic and that was at least ten years ago. Mind you, they didn't drive in the city. Took taxis.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 8, 2016 6:02:47 GMT
I feel for Humph - 13.5 hours! So do I. (Back yesterday evening from Auvergne via the Tunnel. Very easy journey home; even the M25 was benign.) We were late to Folkestone on the way out (22/7), but only by an hour because of an accident on the M20 (single-occupant Polo up the embankment near Ashford) that required an air ambulance. We ended up two hours late arriving in France, and at our stopover hotel too late for dinner - but they'd set our keys aside, so no problem with the rooms. It was only then I read about what had been happening at Dover. How's anybody supposed to cope with a delay like that? |
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Post by Humph on Aug 10, 2016 13:21:02 GMT
It was miserable, especially as we had more than 400 miles to do in France once we got there. 28 hours in the car in total. Not fun.
However, great hols, good weather etc. Back now.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 13:40:06 GMT
28 hours in the car when you are in control is bad enough in itself. But sitting there waiting for someone else to sort stuff out would cause my head to explode.
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Post by Humph on Aug 10, 2016 13:49:32 GMT
There was one moment of hilarity. Obviously my son and I could just pee at the side of the road fairly discreetly but that was something my wife naturally found more challenging. In the dead of night she simply had to and got into the shadow of the car to deal with the matter. About half way through the proceedings several large motorbikes came filtering up alongside illuminating her in their headlights much to her chagrin, our amusement and cheers from the other vehicles around us.
"She" wasn't amused...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 13:51:59 GMT
How long does it take to recover from 28 hours in the car? I can imagine you need a good couple of days and a good walk/swim to get back into some form of sanity. I now when I do some overnight flights of only five hours, it takes me two days to be fully up to speed and that involves lots of sleeping.
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Post by Humph on Aug 10, 2016 14:01:32 GMT
It was ok really. We decided to ignore it and get on with being on holiday. Did hundreds ( well, a couple of hundred ) of miles on the bikes, out every day on the forest and beachside trails. My bike got hammered by it and and is currently at the repairers having a new rear cassette and chain fitted ( broke teeth off the cassette ) and the front wheel trueing.
Must learn to slow down on holiday !
Body boarding and surfing in the afternoons.
Evenings were barbecues with medicinal ( huge doses ) quantities of beer, wine and gin.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 14:14:20 GMT
After so many years travelling I can not only sleep just about anywhere at a moments notice, I rarely need recovery time. An overnight flight of 5 hours would have no impact. Day flights are tedious and boring, but night flights just involve sleeping somewhere inconvenient. I've done worse!
If I have one tip is that you should put your watch on the new time the moment you are on the plane, and then simply behave as if that is your normal time. If its not sleep / eat / whatever time, then don't do it. If it is, then do.
Humph, you do pretty well for someone who doesn't really like alcohol!
So you took your own bikes in the end?
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