Cruisin' and Boozin'

[RedVette]

The wife and I just got back from a 3 week tour of Europe. The last 12 days were on the cruise ship Century, on a nice Baltic itenerary. We went from Amsterdam to Oslo to Copenhagen to Stockholm to Helsinki to St. Petersburg to Tallinn Estonia and back to Amsterdam. It was great fun, but we are glad to be home.

On the ship they had three premium Bourbons to choose from, Knob Creek, Blantons and Bookers. All three were priced at a stunning $9.49 a shot. I ended up drinking Knob most of the time, it just seemed to be my favorite of the three most often, the Blantons and the fresh Heineken on tap tied for second. We had an insane bar tab at the end of the cruise.:grin:

As I said it is great to be home.

[ratcheer]

I have read many articles stating that vacations in Europe are wildly expensive for Americans, this summer. It sounds like you hit that on those drink prices.

Tim

[RedVette]

I have read many articles stating that vacations in Europe are wildly expensive for Americans, this summer. It sounds like you hit that on those drink prices.

Tim

In Stockholm, we had lunch at a TGI Fridays that overlooked a downtown park. 4 burgers, 3 beers and an ice tea, $125.

[thehighking]

I was just in Scotland/England (and Ireland) w/ the wife and the exchange rate is what kills everything. In Great Britain it is 2 to 1 (not in favor of the dollar!)

If it was 1:1, then I would say Great Britan is very affordable. Ditto for Europe. It's not so much that everything is expensive (although there is that, too), but that the dollar is just not worth as much as it used to be.

[gothbat]

the dollar is just not worth as much as it used to be.

Indeed, I'm told that when introduced the Euro was worth slightly less than the American Dollar but now it is vice-versa. I’ve only been to Europe once, to The Netherlands, and, with the exception of grass, everything did cost slightly more there. The worst was the price of a bottle of still water. It was odd, although not a surprise, paying more for the cans of Budweiser in my mini-bar once the Heinekens ran out. But in the end it was definitely worth it and I can’t wait to go back. (Next year hopefully )

[nor02lei]

I have read many articles stating that vacations in Europe are wildly expensive for Americans, this summer. It sounds like you hit that on those drink prices.

Tim

Tim,

This is due to the extreme low dollar rate on the finance markets. However for me that go the opposite way I have struck lucky twice. Visiting USA 1996the dollar-skr (Swedish krona) rate was 6.8 skr=1 USD today its 7.2 but in the time in-between it have been up as I recall at least to 13.This have worked about the same with most Europe currency.

Leif

[camduncan]

I was just in Scotland/England (and Ireland) w/ the wife and the exchange rate is what kills everything. In Great Britain it is 2 to 1 (not in favor of the dollar!)

For us Aussies, it's almost 3 to 1 (not in favour)

We had to save for nearly two years for our 3 week trip to the UK....and took another 6 months after we got back to pay of our Credit Cards..

It's still the best trip I've ever done overseas though

[doubleblank]

Rob.....That sounds like a great trip. My 17yo daughter spent a month in northern Europe this summer and her favorite cities were Copenhagen and Stockholm. What were your fave's?

She's a good daughter.....she brought me another Blanton's BP.

Randy

[thehighking]

For us Aussies, it's almost 3 to 1 (not in favour)

We had to save for nearly two years for our 3 week trip to the UK....and took another 6 months after we got back to pay of our Credit Cards..

It's still the best trip I've ever done overseas though

Ouch---that's rough!

Where were you in Scotland?

Scotland was one of the most interesting and coolest places I've ever been to (and I'd like to think I've travelled a decent amount).

[CrispyCritter]

Here's a very handy currency converter if you want to know today's exchange rates.

*checks GBP vs. USD* Ouch! The pound is up to $1.89 now. :bigeyes: It was about $1.60 or so when I was over there.

I then checked the current gasoline prices near where I stayed during my UK trip. After working out the currency and metric conversions, it comes out to $6.70 per gallon, compared to $4.69 in October 1999. :bigeyes:

And here I'm thinking $3.15 per gallon at the station down the street is bad...

[RedVette]

Rob.....That sounds like a great trip. My 17yo daughter spent a month in northern Europe this summer and her favorite cities were Copenhagen and Stockholm. What were your fave's?

She's a good daughter.....she brought me another Blanton's BP.

Randy

We really liked Oslo, but all the cities were cool. Amsterdam has a special appeal for those of us who grew up in the 60's if you know what I mean (wink wink, nudge nudge).

I also have a good daughter, she showed up with a bottle of Pappy 23 when we got back. A great welcome home gift that she scored on a recent trip to Chicago.

[doubleblank]

Val and I were in Amsterdam last year......I hear ya! We spent an evening in a bar in the red light district watching the activities. We met a young couple from W Va, took our beers outside and had a smoke. We then began timing the "time" it took some men to complete their business in the parlour acros sthe canal. Most were done.......in, showered and out, in ten minutes or less.

Oslo was a fine ciy, but probably not one of my faves in Europe. Of course, you need more than a day in a city to discover its soul. But I do like Norway a lot....particularly in the summer when its daylight about 22 hours a day. Stathelle and Bergen were my faves in Norway.

Hope to see you soon.....maybe Vegas.

Randy

[cowdery]

I find it interesting that Amsterdam's Red Light District, in addition to being fascinating for all the obvious reasons, is also one of the most lovely and charming parts of the city.