Twiztid Elf wrote:Wow, you picked a great NFL game to go to Agony.
Tell us all about it then.
Fucking amazeballs! What a great bloody game
If you watched the game, you'll know how good the GAME was. But the atmosphere and crowd was phenomenal. I honestly had my doubts going to Candlestick Park (built as a baseball stadium afterall), we were seated in the lower box section 2, on an angle but still a great view of the field. The crowd was excellent, full of people happy to be there, making lots of noise getting behind the 49ers. It was electric and i kept getting goose bumps throughout the game. Management of the event was smooth as butter and everything was simply 'easy'.
I've been to a rugby league grand final where my team won, but it has nothing on the game today. The vibe around San Fran regarding the team is excellent, so much for those laughing when I mentioned 49ers & playoffs
I did get some photos and a couple of short vids, will share when I get back. Its a shame our sporting events weren't put together this well.
I'd actually bought a more expensive flight a couple of days beforehand, but because I was using a voucher towards it, it hadn't gone through yet. Rang up and asked if they could adjust the credit card charge before it went through - and they did! Kudos to you Qantas.
So going to be in the states in August after going through Peru and Central America on some tours.
Headng to Orlando from Cancun so I can check out Disney World and Universal for a few days, then to Washington DC, Toronto (for Niagra Falls) and will then fly to Vegas.
I'm thinking about renting a car and driving through death valley and Yosemite to San Francisco.
Is there anything I should know about renting a car over there. Should I make sure my travel insurance has the right inclusions? Any recommendations on who I should rent with? I'm an RACV member not sure if they provide any discounts or not.
Will do the trip over 4 or 5 days and will have a couple days in San Francisco before flying home.
Looking forward to it. Only 5 more months till I fly out!
Mavy wrote:I'm thinking about renting a car and driving through death valley and Yosemite to San Francisco.
Las Vegas to SF is a 9 and a half hour drive. Taking a detour to Death Valley will be 11 and a half hours. Yosemite will take it up to 13. It'll cost you more in fuel (about $75-80) than it will to fly (~$59) and if there's a clusterfuck on I-5 you'll be there even longer. BART runs all the way from SFO to the city or you can take a cab or rent a car from SFO.
Is there anything I should know about renting a car over there. Should I make sure my travel insurance has the right inclusions? Any recommendations on who I should rent with? I'm an RACV member not sure if they provide any discounts or not.
Hotwire is a good place to find absolute lowest price. Parking in SF is an absolute pain in the ass and often costs money. You probably need CDW and TPP for insurance at the very least. Using your travel insurance sometimes is possible (and will include excess coverage) but you will need to pay the money on the spot and claim it back later (minus the excess). Think about using Zipcar if you want to get around SF cheaper than renting a car and easier than taking BART/MUNI. They come with insurance and don't require you to have CDW/TPP.
That being said, book your hotels for the CA state parks now. August is peak camping/vacation season and the parks get extraordinarily busy along with nearby hotels and lodges.
But doing it over 4-5 days is a good idea. You might want to also pencil in Big Sur as well which would be a smallish detour from 101 which you'll probably be going along heading to SF when you swap over from I-5.
Just wondering if anyone can give me a tip on which part of town on New York to actually stay at ?
The City is massive I know, but anyone had any good experinces in any specific part of town ?
The wife and I are planning a 4 week trip at the end of October.
I have a work conference in Orlando for a week and then we will continue on for 4 more after that starting in New York for 7 nights.
Just wondering if anyone can give me a tip on which part of town on New York to actually stay at ?
The City is massive I know, but anyone had any good experinces in any specific part of town ?
The wife and I are planning a 4 week trip at the end of October.
I have a work conference in Orlando for a week and then we will continue on for 4 more after that starting in New York for 7 nights.
Thanks
I've stayed in both Times Square (in a hotel for a week) and Chelsea (in a studio apartment for 2 weeks). If you're going for awhile, checkout http://www.airbnb.com/. You can find apartments in great locations all around Manhattan and better value than a hotel.
We stayed on 20th Street in Chelsea, between 7th & 8th Ave. Personally, I preferred it over the hotel. Felt much more ingrained with the NYC community and almost like a resident . Also placed close to 2 major subway lines (make use of the subway if you really want to see the city) and Chelsea & West Village hav heaps of eateries, cafes and bars.
I booked some ratfest a couple blocks from Penn Station and the Empire State Building. Looking at that airbnb site I wonder if I should cancel it and book a room with someone?
Would probably save about $100 but I wonder how much extra hassle it would be for just two nights.
I've rented a car to drive between Las Vegas and San Francisco via death valley and Yosemite. Still not sure about the whole left hand drive thing though.
Mavy wrote:Still not sure about the whole left hand drive thing though.
It's a bit disconcerting at first but all of the Interstates and major state routes (At least LV to SF, I-10, SR-58 and I-5, I-580, I-80) are dual carriageways. Unless you go driving across medians you're not going to end up on the wrong side of the road on a long trip.
It's not that big a deal since everyone is doing it, with traffic around you'll be fine.. It only becomes a problem when you're on empty roads. Twice when I was in Hawaii I turned out of a park onto the wrong side of the road. Luckily there was no one else around and I noticed it after a second or so.
Driven 2 times in the US. Feel iffy for the first few hours (but that's probably because I was driving in LA), but fine with no problem afterwards. Also, get a GPS!
Got tix to 49ers v Chargers, final pre season game which should be pretty Rad (49ers away at Greenbay for 1st round thus have to settle for pre season).