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Spankytoes

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Everything posted by Spankytoes

  1. Last did this in 2017 with my oldest as part of his graduation tour. We flew from MAD-PNA on Iberia and PNA-BCN on Vueling. The latter flight was a great option and only cost us $30.00 per person with the caveat that the flight only happens a few times a week and just so coincided with our stay. Pamplona is pretty much in the middle of nowhere in the north of Spain. I don't have experience with the trains, or driving there, but the flights were cheap enough not to worry about it. I'd try to frame a trip around this for dates. We had round trip bus service to/from the airport through a charter company. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which is outside of town. Mainly because I could use points, it's small-town Spain and the redemption rate was cheap. Cabs were plentiful. It was fine for our purposes, but just know that English isn't widely spoken outside of Barcelona/Madrid/Tourist cities. You'll remember high school Spanish in no time flat to communicate enough. We had 2 days there: One to observe and one to run. I booked a balcony in someone's apartment through a service for the first day. Easy meetup with the host and they had the commentary on the TV. Prices vary but honestly I can't see much of a difference on what level you are on. All views are unobstructed albeit some may have another few seconds of action. If you want to see the "crashes" ala Nascar, book something closer to Deadman's curve or the stadium where people pileup. There is a secondary running of a few bulls to clear the street. On the second day I ran and my son filmed. The tourists are at the front, and may never see a bull until the stadium, the middle are more adventurous tourists that want a story and the locals/crazies are at the back. I was mid-pack. (Chubby guy) Before the festivities, everyone sings a song of prayer to San Fermin. Then they shoot the rocket and then the gates open. You have about 3 minutes to get to the stadium if you're on pace with very few places to exit beforehand. You can either stay in the dirt or go into the stands depending on how close you want to get to the bulls. You either stay for the fights or exit the stadium. We did the latter. There are small festivals going on, but the tourist thing to do is to go to Cafe Iruna and get churros and hot chocolate that's thick enough to soak up the churro. You'll want a second order of these. Sangria is plentiful but none of the food really stood out. If you don't like ham, you're SOL. IIRC, they have the normal chains like BK and McDonalds. We had fun but it's not something that I would go out of my way to do. It's kind of like spending a lot of money and standing in line at a theme park just to ride 1 roller coaster.
  2. Was in Austin this weekend for the first time in about 6-7 years. Visited a buddy of mine that lives at The Whitley. I found a parking spot a block away. Didn't even make it to the meter before a homeless dude starts operating the parking kiosk for my windshield ticket. Told me to put in payment, got my ticket and then did the "I'm trying to get your spare change" spiel. I gave him $5.00. I went to the crosswalk and another homeless dude gave me a recommendation about not traveling on poorly lit streets. He wanted change for the advice, I declined. Pre-gamed with buddy and friends and hit 6th St. We were hit up leaving every bar from Pete's to some jazz club. Got a late night slice at Ropollo's and ending up buying a homeless lady a slice. While in line, a German dude made his bff dress up in a dress and claim it was their wedding night. Said he actually was joking, had a hot girlfriend and makes $145K a year. Asked for a dollar and he got it for the entertainment value alone. (Though, he couldn't understand my drunk German) Friends from Austin were pissed that I did that. I work in Manhattan, get hit up constantly on the trains/streets and rarely give anything. This was worse.
  3. Challenge accepted. The humidor is almost completed.
  4. I’m not sure that I agree with you. I have had several confrontations in my life. Some deserved, some blown out of proportion and some completely out of left field. Never once have I contemplated whipping out my phone to document the incident. That includes incidents that have occurred simply because a POC thought that I had “privilege” and has openly admitted that to being the root of the issue. I deal with it, shrug it off, perhaps stew on it and eventually move on. I think most people, regardless of color, take the same tact rather than claim to expose behaviors with the added benefit of internet fame. People suck. We can ALL agree that POC have experienced prejudice and racism in 2019. What we are doing as a response is creating yet another category of hate and spite towards white people. If you disagree with a POC, you risk having your life ruined. If you suspect a POC of engaging in a potentially illegal or illicit act, falsely or accurately, you risk having your life ruined. The unanswerable question of whether or not a white person would have received the same treatment in the video is a hypothetical. We will never know if race was a factor. What we do know is the video taker actively seeks out “social injustice” to fan his own flames. Maybe he got lucky, maybe we are experiencing part of the problem or maybe we are seeing what he wants us to see. In either case, the narrative has been shifted: We are now judging white people by the color of their skin. I’m not sure that’s the best path to trying to level the playing field.
  5. https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2019/07/04/tiny-jag-pulls-out-of-afrofuture-fest-after-learning-white-people-would-be-charged-a-different-price-to-attend Something, something, Civil Rights Act
  6. The Melt Shop in the FiDi is on my lunch rotation https://meltshop.olo.express/menu/1004-fulton-ny
  7. Pretty solid itinerary. If you are leisurely making your way to Frankfurt, look up the Romantic Road. Visit Dirk’s hometown of Wurzburg too. Regarding Dachau, Skip the tour. There is very little for the guide to speak about. You will go through the entrance gates to the main tourist center. For a couple € they have audio tours with headphones. All the barracks have been torn down so all you can see are rows of gravel where they used to be. There’s a lot of pictures in the trailers, a small church, a small synagogue and the crematorium. There’s nothing there your kid can’t handle beyond their imagination. It’s free, so your 11 year old won’t get the boot. Highly recommend doing it if you don’t visit the area a lot but temper your expectations on how moving the experience is. It’s not Auschwitz by any stretch.
  8. My family trips were to Galveston, Oklahoma for family reunions and Wichita Falls. We'd throw in the occasional Hot Springs or Austin trip in there. My first time on a plane was a one-way trip to Austin when I was 16. My parents drove to pick me up for the way home. Both of my kids spent the summer in Russia and have been to Montreal. My oldest went to Munich, Rome, Salzburg, Hallstatt, London, Pamplona to Run with the Bulls and Barcelona. My youngest did Paris/Disneyland Paris, Berlin, London and Iceland. Different time. Cool trip Brisket.
  9. Havana Club 15 years. Nuff said
  10. Dominos is on our rotation when we don't want to pay $25.00 for a decent cheese pie.
  11. Chlorophyll pills work wonders for this. So does glaucoma medicine
  12. Texas.deduct a few IQ points off the bat
  13. My account must be screwed up. Not one pic of your donor, currywurst or food/beverage at Pratergarten is showing up.
  14. I did Ocho Rios a few months back. Highlight was the luminous cruise and the Blue Hole. Dunn's River was OK. They don't give you enough time to really enjoy it.
  15. My go to is the Doubletree Boston Bayside. Right by a subway stop. Stay there because it’s walking distance to a client. Fuck Boston
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