Where have you been recently?

[retroenzo]

As I'm always looking for places to go or things to do, I thought it would be fun to start a thread on places or events you've been to, what you did, and whether or not you'd recommend it to others. I realise that this could turn a bit into a cut-price version of Tripadvisor but it could be fun.

I'll start the ball rolling with the aMazing Hedge Puzzle in Symonds Yat, Gloucestershire (UK). I've never done an actual hedge maze before but I took my girlfriend and her two sons here last week. Before you go in, they challenge you to solve a puzzle. Then one of the smartly dressed staff members gives you a quick history of mazes before you get allowed into the maze itself. When you get to the other end, there's a museum of mazes showing how mazes applied to religion, mythology and now just to fun puzzles.

While we were there, we visited the Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo. Didn't enjoy that one as much. Free flying butterflies everywhere. Yes they were beautiful but it was bloody warm in there. I was also convinced I was going to swat and kill something if it got too close.

 

[locutus101]

....

While we were there, we visited the Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo. Didn't enjoy that one as much. Free flying butterflies everywhere. Yes they were beautiful but it was bloody warm in there. I was also convinced I was going to swat and kill something if it got too close.

You're sure those were butterflies and not roaches?


Try Belgium, there are a few interesting parks there. It's a rather small country, so you're never far from anything there.

 

[retroenzo]

You're sure those were butterfly and not roaches, right?

LOL! Out of the corner of my eye I kept thinking I was seeing moths, and big moths at that.

I hate moths. That's why I was convinced I was going to swat those beautiful butterflies.

 

[Pingfah]

I recently went to Holifair music festival in Gweek, Cornwall. It was very pleasant, and there was lots of good music and food. Especially good was a pizza van my friend owns, he built the clay oven himself, probaboly the best pizza I have ever eaten. Also there was a place which only served food caught or foraged from the wild, they had venison steaks, pulled venison, wood pigeon, nettle burgers. All good stuff.

Aphex Twin was there, he did play but I missed it as it was unannounced and at 5 in the afternoon, I saw him dancing at Luke Vibert though.

Friday night was a good drinking and dancing night, but Saturday night everybody was out of their head on various Class-As, which I found a bit boring as high people are much less interesting than they think they are.

Still, good times. I recommend, but you'll have to wait a year before it's on again.

 

[Scotchy]

Had a vacation house for a week on St. Maarten. Great beaches, nice place to visit. Stayed on the Dutch Side (there's also a French side.)

 

[Finn]

I haven't left Texas in over two months.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I'll start the ball rolling with the aMazing Hedge Puzzle in Symonds Yat, Gloucestershire (UK).

that'll definitely go on my to do list next time I'm on a vacation in GB =)

Scotchy, does the border go directly through Saint Maarten? That sounds interesting. Do the people on the NL side speak Vlaams/French or Dutch?

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Unfortunately, the farthest I'm getting this year is a few trips to New York -- both upstate and the city.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Apologies if this is long, but a bit of explanation is needed for this one.

So, my Dad has always had a strong interest in astronomy and telescopes. Even in his teens, he'd read Sky & Telescope and he'd always read about a particular place he'd wanted to go to. This was a telescope-making convention started in the 1920's, by a man who in his early days, was a polar explorer, got stuck in the arctic twice and later, founded a club and gave the convention its start in '26, then later went on to be on the team designing Palomar in California. So, my Dad's dream was to go to this place.

In the 80's, My Dad built a 22" trailer-mounted Dobsonian and in 81, pulled it across the border to the hills in Vermont where the convention is located. This pilgrimage (1800 miles) is now a tradition for us and we attend every year and have made some great friends there and it's a place we hold deeply in our hearts. It's where I was two weeks ago. It's a great place for dark skies. People come from all over, even from different continents to attend the convention and enjoy the skies. There's a lot of history attached to this place, and it's even been designated a historic site.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have become very fond of Canada these last few years. I love the people, the beer, the poutine and even the TV (my favorite show of all time is Corner Gas). Toronto, in particular, is one of my favorite cities I have ever been to, I vacation there all the time. I've also been to Parliament Hill (Ottawa) which I enjoyed very much as well although unfortunately they don't offer tours of all the Parliament buildings at the same time - depends on when you go, which buildings they'll let you tour. But it's still a lot of fun. I learned a lot about the Canadian government in just two days there.

Next on my to-do list in that country is Montreal (even though I speak absolutely no French, which I've been assured is NOT a problem for tourists there) and the Calgary Stampede.

Apart from my newfound love of Canada, I like to go to New York City (which actually IS my favorite city of all time ) every year as well. I'm also very fond of Boston and Washington DC.

 

[Finn]

I'm eager to go further out. San Antonio one day. The hill country the next.

 

[auntiehill]

I haven't left Texas in over two months.

I haven't left Texas in seven years.

 

[Owain Taggart]

A little more about the telescope making convention:

Every year at this telescope making convention, there are always amazing things to see. These are among some of the geekiest people I've seen. You'll never know what you'll see as people are always pushing the envelope with what's possible in making telescopes.

This year, the stars of the convention were two refractor replicas that each took 8 years to build, down to each of the rivets manufactured by hand. Beautiful pieces of engineering work.

Last year, my favourite was this thing:

All of this can be found at the Stellafane convention in Vermont.

 

[DimesDan]

The wife and I have recently (well last week) moved from a small market town on the outer edge of the Cotswolds and near the city of Bath in the United Kingdom to the southern tip of Dubin in the Republic of Ireland not far from the Dublin/Wicklow mountains and both started new jobs here.

 

[locutus101]

You mean like in the wife of Bath? Fascinating!

 

[DimesDan]

You mean like in the wife of Bath? Fascinating!

What?

 

[locutus101]

What?

The Canterbury Tales.

 

[DimesDan]

The Canterbury Tales.

And? What about it? Canterbury is miles from where I moved from.

 

[locutus101]

And? What about it? Canterbury is miles from where I moved from.

The Wife Of Bath is one of the Canterbury Tales.

 

[DimesDan]

The Wife Of Bath is one of the Canterbury Tales.

I know. because I said I have a wife and we lived near Bath you decided to mention a really old story for no reason it seems.