The Briar Patch

 There is an AMAZING website called with locals. My wife looked into a bike tour through them. To be honest, I was slightly worried it wasn't going to be good. Not the tour, I was sure that would be, but the day before we got a phone call, our guide asked if we could change our 11 – 2 tour to 2 – 5 or something. We couldn't do that as that time would be right when we were to meet up with our actual tour. We told him no, and that worried me. Did we screw up his day, and he wouldn't care about giving us a good tour? I should learn to be more optimistic, I guess. We met with Claudio at 11, and he was perfectly on time, got us hooked up with everything we needed, and started the tour. Claudio was amazing! I want to thank him again and feel bad that I ever doubted. Also, I highly recommend With Locals. If they are all as good as he was, you will get a fantastic tour with someone who knows the city. Once we got on our tour bus, everywhere we stopped, we had a guided tour, and I w...

 We landed at Fiumicino "DaVinci" airport. This one was slightly more stressful, trying to find the correct baggage terminals, and unlike landing in Paris, we were not VIPs, so our baggage did not come out first; it did come out, though, and it was fine. We also had no problem finding our driver, which was more convenient than in Paris, and the driver was much better than the French driver earlier in the day. He didn't speak much English, but he was a cheerful old guy. It is only 22 km to the Hotel Midas, where we stayed, so the commute wasn't long, but this gentleman got a tip. I did not know that it was owned by the Barcelo Group, but I was not surprised. I stayed at a Barcelo in Mexico, which was rather nice. So is the Midas. We were staying there, honestly, because it was easy. Our official tour group was starting here, so when we arrived a day early, staying in the same place was much easier than changing hotels. Midas is a hotel I would recommend. No, it isn...

 Again, going way away from what I was working on but had a minor holiday somewhere new. Or somewhere I haven't been in years, so I figured a travel lite blog might be in order. We went down to Kelowna for a few days; it was a good time in a beautiful area. For me, it wasn't my first time in Kelowna. Years ago, like 30-plus years ago, I remember going with my mom and her boyfriend. If I am honest, I don't remember much of that. Of course, I vaguely recall Flintstone Park. People trying to race snowmobiles across water and camping. I don't think we stayed right in town that time. Then, it was a long time until I was back. I was in my mid-twenties, so 15 - 20 years later. This time, I was with a group of friends my age. We camped, I think, in West Kelowna. Honestly, most of that trip consisted of a couple of days of drinking on the beach. We did see the town, but not overly. I woke up one morning with Hells Angels at my picnic table because one buddy invited them to share...

  The next morning started out very similar. My wife was up before me, or at least active before me. I watched music videos and news clips of the protests the day before. Again, the only news from the Americas was the Trump trial, and yes, everyone thought it made the USA look dumb. Our breakfast again was a Parisian breakfast, which I still love. Meat, cheese, fruits, and coffee. This morning was a lesson in being early. We had a tour of the Louvre that morning. Google Maps said it was a 20-minute car ride to the Louvre from the hotel. We had a cab called 45 minutes early, 5 for the cab to get there, 20 for the drive, and 20 for safety. Tours don't wait for you. To be fair, they MAY give a tiny grace period while they get organized, but they aren't about to wait too long. We got in the cab and watched the clock. A pro tip is to check drive times when you are actually going, not the night before. Rush hour is going to be a lot slower than nighttime. In the end, the 20-minute gr...

 So, the boat was chaotic to get on. Half a dozen boats load up, and you follow signs, hoping you are on the right one. It isn't complicated, but I will be honest: for some reason, it made me nervous that I wasn't getting on the right one. No idea why. I have done this in other places, and we do it at home all the time, so what's the big deal? We were on the right one. However, we were almost at the cut-off time, so what were probably the best seats were all gone. The best seats would be on the top, right on the edge. No one obstructs your view; you are high enough to see everything. There are also seats inside with a window or in the middle of the boat inside. Why would you ever want to sit there and see nothing? We were on the outside on the bottom. Some seats wrap around the boat. They are right on the water, so they are a bit chilly. They are definitely chilly on an overcast, drizzly day, but they don't have anyone in front of you. They are lower, of course, so it i...