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May 16th, 2013

European LGBT Rights Map

The IGLA has released its’ 2013 review of human rights across Europe, and the results are a little surprising, at least to me. I try and avoid countries where there is outright hostility and legalized discrimination against LGBT folks, but the report goes a bit deeper than just recognizing the laws that are in place.

“While some countries are scoring high on the Rainbow Map because they have good laws, the situation on the ground often is very different. Even in countries with the most advanced laws and policies, there is a surprisingly high percentage of LGBTI people who are adjusting their behaviours on a daily basis because they fear violence and harassment when in public.”

Take a look at the map:

2013 LGBT status in Europe

2013 LGBT status in Europe

Tom and I aren’t really big on public displays of affection anyway, but I’ve never had any issues or felt any discrimination when traveling in Europe. We do keep very aware of our surroundings and make sure we don’t go anywhere it doesn’t feel safe. Otherwise, we live our lives and see the world as we like. We’ve been to Italy many many times and have never had a single issue.

Still, it’s important to know what’s going on in the world, and this is a great resource of LGBT people to plan trips.

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May 15th, 2013

Record Baggage Fees Collected

Billions of dollars in recently imposed baggage fees along with charges for reservation changes have allowed airlines to break even.

“The nation’s 15 largest carriers collected a combined $3.5 billion in bag fees in 2012, up 3.8% from 2011, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Fees for changing a reservation totaled $2.6 billion, up 7.3%.

The airlines took in $159.5 billion in revenue last year and had expenses of $153.6 billion, according to the government. That 3.7% profit margin comes entirely from the baggage and change fees.

Delta Air Lines once again took in the most fees — $865.9 million from baggage alone — but it also carried more passengers than any other airline.”

Besides baggage and change fees, airlines are charging fees to skip security lines, for premium meals, and to select seats with extra legroom or just to select the seat you want. And you can expect those addidtional fees to keep coming. Sigh.

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May 14th, 2013

Return of the Prodigal…whatever

After spending 3 wonderful weeks in Spain and Portugal, I came back to the U.S. to start a training tour for Grand Circle, one of the companies I’ll be working for this season. I have to say, I’m very excited about working for them.

Grand Circle has a different business model than other tour companies.

All of their advertising is done through direct mail marketing, and 60-70% of their clients are repeat customers. They emphasize the learning and discovery aspects of their tours as a competitive advantage versus other companies, as aspect that I like in particular.

Most of their tours are overseas, and this is just one of three here in North America. It focuses on the National Parks, and covers Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde, among many other stops. It’s a great tour, and I’m excited about the chance to work for them.

The training tour helped me see how they run the tours, and it’s a great approach. They really encourage you to make the tours unique and different, so you can add your own stops and try new things each time. It’s a nicer way to make things work and I feel like I will do a great job for them.

It was a little rough going straight to work from the vacation, but I made it through just fine. I’ll enjoy a couple of weeks off to prep for my first trip, then get back to work. I’m happy about that!

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April 29th, 2013

Belém or Bust

Yesterday was our first full day in Lisbon, and we walked ourselves silly. We started the day by walking from our apartment in Barrio Alto out to Belem (about an hour walk). We toured the Navigator Monument, Belem Tower, and the Berardo Contemporary Art Museum. I was a little disappointed in the museum, mostly because I felt they wasted a lot of space in their exhibits. You’d walk into a room about 50 X 50 and there would be one thing projected against the wall or one item being displayed, and it just like too minimal.

We were going to go to the Jerónimos Monastery as well, but then we saw the line:

Line for Jerónimos Monastery

Line for Jerónimos Monastery

Needless to say, we decided not to wait.

So we continued on to Pasteis de Belem, where they serve the most famous custart tarts in Lisbon. And we saw the line:

Line for Pasteis de Belem

Line for Pasteis de Belem

 

 

Needless to say, we decided to wait. We enjoyed these tasty treats for our efforts:

Pasteis de Belem

Pasteis de Belem

 

They are creamy custard cups wrapped in a crackly pastry, and you add cinnamon or powdered sugar if you want, and they are so good. They sell them throughout Portugal, though they are called Pasteis de Nata everywhere else, so I can’t wait to compare to see which ones are the best.

After that, we took the tram back, explored our neighborhood a bit to get the lay of the land. It’s a funky bohemian neighborhood that’s still figuring out what it wants to be when it grows up.

Today we’ve got a walking tour lined up, along with a visit to Castelo Sao Jorge and the Se Cathedral, and dinner at a seafood place called ‘Eat Me’. That sounds about right!

 

 

 

 

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April 28th, 2013

Random Thoughts in Portugal

- It’s difficult to find time to write for this blog while traveling. I want to keep the thoughts fresh in my head, but by the time we get back to the room it’s near midnight. Since it takes a good 45 minutes to an hour to type up my thoughts, add photos or video, proof-read, and post, I just don’t have the energy most days. And I don’t necessarily envy travel bloggers that find ways to do it. I do it for fun, so I’ll do it when it’s fun!

- I am addicted to these European cookies that are like a reverse Oreo. We get them in every city and they are always good.

- I don’t drink as much as I used to. It’s easy to sit in a café or in a plaza and order a drink to watch the world go by, but I’m finding I’d rather save the money. We’ve picked up 3 of bottles of wine so far, one of which is still full. Part of it may be the pacing, as we’ve been pretty on the go the last few days. But we’re underspending on our food budget, which is good!

And finally, here’s an amazing photo of the wildflowers here in Portugal. We drove by lots of fields of yellow, white, purple and red, but I think this was the prettiest.

Wildflowers in Portugal, south of Evora

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