Lifestyle - Travel

By: Richard Fleener

While we were at the Aero Car Reunion in Alexander City we saw a lot of old friends and met lots of new ones. One such meeting was way more entertaining than the others.

Katrina and I went to the Sonic next to Tim Wellborn's Muscle Car Museum for lunch one day. Because all of the car folks were hanging out there, no one was ordering from their car. Everyone was up on the patio and all orders were being placed by the big intercom speaker menus. We have a Sonic back home and are very familiar with the way they work; read the menu, push the button and wait for the person on the other end to ask you what you want, you tell them, they give you the total and you can either pay by credit card or cash to the carhop when she comes to deliver your food.

We did just that with the intent to pay the carhop with cash. There was a long line waiting to use the electronic menu but we did not think much about it.

The food came and I tried to pay the carhop but she kept saying you paid with a credit card; I said I don't want to use a credit card I just want to pay with cash. The banter went on for a while and she started to walk off when I heard someone at the table next to us say, "I think that's our food!"

I said, "No it is just what we ordered." They said, "But we paid for it!"

Last year during our December visit to Prague I think we once had a few snow flurries in the air but nothing on the ground. So this year we did not expect to see much snow but have been pleasantly surprised. I think there have been more days with snow on the ground as days without.

Yesterday it was snowing all day so we decided to see some sites without walking — by touring with the tram. So we got on #10 near our apartment and rode it in an opposite direction from our usual—clear to the end of the line. That was also the end of #17 so we got on it with the intent of riding to the other end.

Before we got off near the Charles Bridge for a coffee break we had seen an extensive cross section of Prague. We find this slice of life quite interesting; different neighbourhoods than what one sees in the tourist areas. Some we had only known by the Metro station name. We also saw residential areas with large gardens around each house, reminding us more of back home in Oregon than Europe. We also spotted several areas that we want to go back for a closer inspection, including the impressive Výstaviště expo centre and the large Stromovka park near it. However, there were no photo opportunities.

By the time we finished coffee and desert it was getting dark so we just rode along the river for awhile before returning home. It was still snowing but Prague life seemed to be continuing as normal.

This photo is of Friday night ice cycles on the street light.

The Three Camel Lodge

Located in the heart of the Gobi, this eco-lodge operates in an environmentally and culturally friendly manner and offers world-class luxury and comfort with traditional style. The first expedition camp of its kind in Mongolia, the Three Camel Lodge was named by National Geographic adventure magazine as one of the Top 50 Ecolodges in the world, and is an ideal base for a range of activities and for exploring world-renowned sites such as the Flaming Cliffs and Yol Valley National Park.

The centerpiece of the Three Camel Lodge is Dino House, built in the architectural style of a traditional Mongolian temple. Here guests will find games and a small library, and enjoy music and dance performances in the evenings. The Lodge's twenty Deluxe Gers include a private bathroom with a toilet and sink, a king size bed and amenities such as felt slippers, Mongolian-styled bathrobes and locally produced toiletries and camel milk moisturizing lotions.

Cross-country travel is not uncommon today. High technology shortens the distance among countries. However, language problem becomes a nuisance to enjoy our big time in the travel. How to solve such problem is a must for happy and smooth travel. Here lists 4 translation solutions for cross country road warriors.

First: Travel with Package Tour

Package tour always provides specific tourist guides to specific country. Those guides could fluently use the native language of the travelers' country to illustrate places of interest in the destination country. Moreover, they could help travelers book hotels, find famous restaurants, reserve tickets, get amazing discounts, etc. Package tour not only provides great convenience, but also helps save time, money and energy.

Downsides of package tour also exist. One of the biggest problems of the package tour is that travelers are very negative in their travel, as they should obey all the arrangements made by the travel provider. If one unfortunately comes across scam travel supplier, his/her happy travel might turn to a nightmare.

Second: Hire an interpreter to accompany you in the destination country