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away for a few days

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SKA | 13:43 Tue 02nd Oct 2007 | Travel
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I really want to go away somewhere in Europe for a few days. Where can I go? When should I go? I want to go sightseeing not clubbing or anything like that!!
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Barcelona - loads to see - lots of Gaudi buildings and places - La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Parc Guell plus a Picasso museum, the Cathedral, loads of shopping on and round La Ramblas, and it will be warmer than here!
tenerife .
hop a flight book a hotel and youre sorted
see the sights and the volcano
I am just back from Barcelona and totally agree with Spudqueen. Also depending on where your local airport is have you thought about Dubrovnik. It is a wonderful place and was only 2 hrs 45 min appx from Manchester. Also Prague - less than 2 hours from Glasgow. These are all places that I have flowen cheaply to. Lots of sightseeing things to do and plenty nice restaurants etc.
Venice Venice Venice.
Prague is great for sightseeing but watch out for pickpockets in our party of 10 six had there pockets picked but i would go again
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I want to go away beacsue I went prague in the Summer and I loved it!! Going to be going from Manchester would like somewhere thats cheap too!!
If you enjoy Autumn, I�d encourage you to go to Salzburg Austria. It�s a magnificent time to be there. The air is crisp and the scents of baking fill the air. Regardless of where you stay, your accommodations will be immaculate, the people friendly and the diversity of things to do is vast. I enjoy going into the mountains. Also, you can visit the old salt mines, where you straddle a miniature railway, riding deep into the bowels of the mountains. This time of year the Christmas shopping will be starting up. And if you can�t quite imagine what Salzburg looks like, just grab a copy of the Sound of Music!

My other choice�because I�m just an old romanticist at heart, is visiting Tivoli Gardens. In the Autumn their schedules change to being open only on weekends, so do check in advance. It�s a lovely place to visit and again, the people are lovely.

I work in the Republic of Moldova. For transiting I often go through Budapest. It�s a magnificently romantic city with amazing nightlife, spas, and shopping.

If any of these destinations appeal to you, respond back and I�ll add a bit more. Also, this time of year, weekend jaunts to New York and Boston can be extremely fun as well! And as the dollar is in the dumps, our currency makes everything there half-price!

Bon Voyage

Fr. Bill
Just got back from Budapest.Spent 4 nights there. Plenty to see and reasonable bars / restaurants. Cheap transport around the city
Similar to Prague but in my opinion a more beautiful city.
Budapest. Loads cheaper than prague and nicer in my opinion.

The hot baths especially lol
Question Author
wow just googled salzburg it's so pretty!! Is it cheap there? and easy to get to from Manchester?
SKA I promise not to take over your post but villagevicar could you recommend a hotel in Salzburg - I am going there next summer. Not looked into accommodation at all planning on doing that soon but thought I would ask while you mentioned it. thanks
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It's alright I'd like to hear more about Salzburg myself!
Have a look at this Salzburg site - everything you need to know here

http://www2.salzburg.info/

I used to spend 2 weeks a year there on business for many years. It's a pretty town with loads to see & also very good day trips to surrounding areas. It has a great & unusual cemetary in the town, built into the cliffs, a lovely toy museum, the Mirabelle gardens & Palace - go to Hellbrun & enjoy the crazy water games in the gardens. Lots of lovely buildings and, of course, the Mozart museum.
The Gorge De Verdon in South of France. Second largest gorge next to the Grand Canyon and absolutely stunning.
Also near Salzburg have you been to the ice caves?
I stay at two hotels typically: In the country I stay at the Greuner Baum, which is located in Bad Gastein. I particularly like the hotel because of its spa services, food and stunning views from my room�s balcony. Regardless of what season you�re there, you will feel as if you�re in your own private castle.

Have a look here: http://www.slh.com/austria/bad_gastein/photogr aphs1_badhot.html

My second favourite is the Hotel Schloss Monchstein. It�s actually a private castle, with the most beautifully eclectic suites. I�m particularly fond of the restaurant and service.

http://www.monchstein.at/schloss_monchstein.ht m?/english/hotel-schloss-monchstein/schloss-mo nchstein.htm


If your desire is for something a bit more economical, smack in the old town, beneath the famous Salzburg Festival (think of the family Von Trapp singing �Tea with Jam and bread, with jam and bread, do ra me�on so on) I heartily recommend the Hotel Goldner Hirsch, which is on the Getreidegasse which is Salzburg�s main street.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/ overview/index.html?**********=98


And finally, I�ve hosted guests at the Altstadthotel Amadeus, which is immediately within the pedestrian area. The rooms are lovely, however, a bit small for my personal preferences. The staff are always lovely and what makes the hotel rather nice is its convenience to virtually everything!

23:02 Tue 02nd Oct 2007
Part 2

I�m going to probably reveal a bit too much of my eccentricities by saying that there are times when we just go to the airport and decide where we want to go as we sit at Garfunkles Restaurant in Terminal 1 at Heathrow. It�s a rather nice way to develop the children�s creative thinking process, as well as confidence building.

About 8 or 9 years ago, I remember when we were standing at Heathrow one Thursday morning, trying to decide what we might do �different.� I�ve gone to Salzburg every year ( January 27) for Mozart�s birthday, to attend the concert through the Mozarteum, so I�ve come to have a great love for the city, and the Austrian people. Indeed, many of them are quirky, but they�re absolutely delightful. Each year, I get to sit next to someone dressed out of a scene from the Von Trapp�s farewell and cry in international languages.

Sorry, I digress: The children were just beginning to study about the war and the atrocities committed by the Nazi�s. I had perused the course notes and honestly wasn�t very comfortable with how it was going to be glossed over. When I noticed there were flights to Munich within the next few hours, I suggested that we fly there, hire a car and drive into Salzburg, then we�d stay there a night, then take the train to Vienna, stay a night there, then fly home. My thought was that whilst enroute to Salzburg, I could stop at Dachau and take the children on a tour, providing them with a tactile view of the camp, but presenting it in a way that I knew would not distress them, but still allow them to understand the concept of separation, intimidation and racism. I�ve been to numerous camps in my life. I would never have considered taking them to a place like Auschwitz as the visuals are so raw and impactive. But with Dachau, the principles of the concept could be shared and the children could apply this experience to their education. Continued�

Part 3�

It was a positive experience and it�s an event we�ve talked about over the years. But we had something rather unusual occur when the Headteacher stopped me to �have a word.� She wanted to know what we had done over our extended weekend. She had a rather shocked look on her face, as if her botox injections had gone extremely wrong. I asked her whether she had heard something out of the usual.

We walked to my daughter�s classroom. The teacher came to the door and started giggling. It took her several seconds to compose herself. When she finally could speak she told me that she had asked the children to take turns in telling their classmates what they had done over the bank-holiday weekend. Little Laura had gone swimming, Peter said his parents took him to Eurodisney, Rebecca�s family went caravanning, and so on, until my daughter was next in line. Mary�s comment. �Daddy took us to a concentration camp.� She said with an air of accomplishment. The teacher said there was dead silence. The teacher told me she was certain she had misheard what Mary said and asked her to repeat it, believing that Mary may have mispronounced a word. So Mary repeated her statement. �Daddy took us to a concentration camp.� I suppose you had to be there to see the humour in it. But it left most of the teachers whispering about me for months to come. During that weekend we also rode cable cars, took a train into the salt mine, sang songs in the centre of Mozartplatz, rode a horse carriage while the children sang Do Ra Me, had swimming races in the pool, rode the big wheel that featured Orson Welles in �The Third Man.� It was probably one of the best �impulse� trips we�ve ever done.

Sorry to pradle on like that� hopefully, at least some of the details helped you in your planning.

Gute Risen!

Fr Bill


I've nothing to say, except that I think you got some great replies to your original question.
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Thank you all very much for all all replies!!

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