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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Jun 2, 2017 19:38:10 GMT
I feel like I've been talking about my summer vacation forever. I've been paying for it for 2 years, but it is finally almost here! We have some great traveling knowledge on this board, so I thought I'd throw out a few questions:
1) Has anyone traveled with their Sprint phone to Europe? I have the Global Roaming package. My understanding is that calls are 20c per minute, texts are free, and 2G speed internet is free. I can upgrade to 3G for a set price. We'll have wifi in all of our hotels, so my only concern is whether the 2G or 3G will get good enough reception for my phone's GPS to work on the few days we will have a car. We will try to get a GPS from the car rental place, too. I'm wondering if we will get any reception at all on Isle of Skye.
2) Has anyone visited Dunvegan castle? I am curious about their gift shop - whether they sell items with the MacLeod tartan and how pricey they are. No info available in the internet, and I'm not curious enough to call. lol
3) What are the must-sees in Belfast? I don't have much on my list so far. I am traveling with Titanic fans, so that is on our list.
4) Crazy question - I am traveling with someone who is allergic to ants, to the point that she tries to avoid a lot of time outside when we are home. Are there as many ants around in Europe as there are in South Mississippi during the summer? I'm mostly worried about some of the more natural places in Scotland.
5) I hope someone is playing a joke on me, but a friend swears that there are dead rats hung in many store windows in Paris. Is this really a thing? I can't Google this. I just can't. Nope. Not gonna.
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Post by Marina on Jun 2, 2017 19:51:43 GMT
You might want to download a phone app that you could use when you have wifi. That way you can save money on phone calls. I used wephone when I was in Europe. It worked well and was quite cheap. You might want to also get some maps of the areas and do it the old fashioned way depending on connectivity.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 6:42:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2017 20:11:20 GMT
5) I hope someone is playing a joke on me, but a friend swears that there are dead rats hung in many store windows in Paris. Is this really a thing? I can't Google this. I just can't. Nope. Not gonna. As far as I can tell it's a gimmick of one pest control shop. Maybe someone knows better though? |
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Post by librarylady on Jun 2, 2017 20:17:14 GMT
I have been to Paris 3 times and have NEVER seen a rat in a store window.
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Jun 2, 2017 20:28:09 GMT
lainey and librarylady, I cannot tell you how much better this makes me feel! I was way too scared to actually Google this! I just can't do real rats in any form, even as computer images.
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Belle
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,309 
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Post by Belle on Jun 2, 2017 20:47:49 GMT
I have been to Paris and did not see any dead rats inside or outside of shops.
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Post by nellej on Jun 2, 2017 20:50:51 GMT
4) Crazy question - I am traveling with someone who is allergic to ants, to the point that she tries to avoid a lot of time outside when we are home. Are there as many ants around in Europe as there are in South Mississippi during the summer? I'm mostly worried about some of the more natural places in Scotland. I don't think there'll be a problem with ants in Scotland, but she needs to research it just in case. The ants we get here in the UK tend to be small ones, as far as I know. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 6:42:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2017 21:36:33 GMT
I would say that cell phone coverage is pretty sporadic in Skye. So don't rely on you phone to be that useful to you. Most rental cars in the UK have a built in SatNav system in them anyhow but it might be just as well to check and request a car that is fitted with one to be on the safe side. I'm pretty sure they would have some MacLeod tartan at one of the three gift shops they have at Dunvegan Castle. I have no idea on price. There could very well be ants in Scotland but they're very insignificant and very very tiny, so don't worry about them. I've been to Paris many many times and have never seen rats in any shops there. Don't know anything about Belfast as I've never been there but this website might help
Where else are you going in Europe? Europe varies quite significantly from country to country. |
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Jun 2, 2017 22:07:24 GMT
I would say that cell phone coverage is pretty sporadic in Skye. So don't rely on you phone to be that useful to you. Most rental cars in the UK have a built in SatNav system in them anyhow but it might be just as well to check and request a car that is fitted with one to be on the safe side. I'm pretty sure they would have some MacLeod tartan at one of the three gift shops they have at Dunvegan Castle. I have no idea on price. There could very well be ants in Scotland but they're very insignificant and very very tiny, so don't worry about them. I've been to Paris many many times and have never seen rats in any shops there. Don't know anything about Belfast as I've never been there but this website might help
Where else are you going in Europe? Europe varies quite significantly from country to country.We're going to be on a tour for Dublin, London, Paris, and Normandy. Then, we set off on our own back through London, then to Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, and Belfast. Its going to be a very busy trip. |
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Post by SockMonkey on Jun 2, 2017 22:20:56 GMT
Um, I've been to Paris multiple times and never saw a dead rat in a shop window or anywhere else.
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Post by monklady123 on Jun 2, 2017 22:23:52 GMT
I can't answer any of the questions except for the one about rats in Paris. lol. Sounds like someone's idea of a bad joke. I've been to Paris many times and have never seen rats hung in shop windows.
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likescarrots
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,879
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Post by likescarrots on Jun 2, 2017 22:36:37 GMT
You might consider getting an offline navigation app. We used one in Ireland and it worked out well for us. Its not as good as Google maps but it gets the job done. If you're set on Google maps you could try using offline areas, download them while you're on wifi.
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Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Jun 2, 2017 23:22:13 GMT
Dead rats hung in store windows in Paris? Seriously? Your idiot friend has seen the movie Ratatouille one too many times.
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Post by Leone on Jun 2, 2017 23:23:53 GMT
In Edinburgh, go thru the Yacht Britannia tour...its really interesting. The queens bed is very small. Prince Charles brought in a bigger bed for his honeymoon with Princess Di...but he was too cheap to buy a king size even tho the cabin was big enough. The dining table seats 75.
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Post by AnastasiaBeaverhausn on Jun 3, 2017 0:18:54 GMT
We used the Waze app all around Ireland when we drove. We are T-Mobile customers so we are free internationally.
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lesley
Drama Llama
My best friend Turriff, desperately missed.
Posts: 7,172
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
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Post by lesley on Jun 3, 2017 0:36:18 GMT
Ants should not be an issue in Scotland. I saw a few in my garden last week, and realised I haven't seen ants here for years. Any you might come across will be tiny, will not bite, and will not congregate in large groups!  I haven't been to Skye for many many years. I used to have a job in Inverness that required me to travel throughout the Highlands, to Skye, the Western Isles, Orkney, and Shetland every few weeks. I loved that job so much. All of this was pre-internet and mobile phones, so checking coverage was not a thing! What are your plans for when you're in Edinburgh? |
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jun 3, 2017 0:37:36 GMT
5) I hope someone is playing a joke on me, but a friend swears that there are dead rats hung in many store windows in Paris. Is this really a thing? I can't Google this. I just can't. Nope. Not gonna. Are you kidding me? Don't listen to such nonsense stories. Paris is one of the most visited capitals in the world. I think we might have some trouble attracting tourists if that were the case. The rat catchers of the city of Paris went on a short strike earlier this year to demand better work conditions (reinforcement and bonus pay). They protested by laying one dead rat underneath their banner. Honestly, what some foreigners say when they get here and realise it's all very normal... "But I thought French women didn't shave their armpits or wear deodorant!"  Here's your one single dead rat that was shown during the one single protest earlier this year:  |
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lucki
Full Member
Posts: 100
Jun 26, 2014 1:07:03 GMT
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Post by lucki on Jun 3, 2017 4:00:54 GMT
I was in Paris last month. Yes, there was a store with rats hanging in the window. It was an exterminators shop on Rue des Halles, not too far from the Tour St. Jacques. It is not common by any means though!!
I hope you have a wonderful trip!
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Post by Basket1lady on Jun 4, 2017 3:50:05 GMT
1. Call Sprint and ask what exactly you get in each country you are visiting. You don't want any surprises. We have AT & T and 3 years ago when we were in Europe, we just paid for European service for a month. I know stuff has changed since then, though.
2. I can't answer about the castle and the tartan, but there is a "Scottish" shop outside of Windsor Castle that sells tartans. Even a scarf was about $100, but it was really soft and very obviously a nice quality. I would imagine that tartan items are widely available all over Scotland for a variety of price points.
3. I can't answer this specifically, but one of our favorite things to do when we travel abroad is to go into a grocery store and try different items. Some things are what we can get at home, just a little different, and some things are unique to the area.
4. No ideas about ants either, but it's nature. If you sit on the ground, there will probably be some sort of insects. Nature! Get it off of me! <-- name that movie!
5. I never once saw a rat in Paris. I would imagine that it's like any major city and you will see them in the dumpsters and the sewers. But not in shop windows!
We were gone for 2 weeks and DH's parents call pretty much daily. To remind them that we were overseas and to keep them from calling and using up our phone minutes, I sent a daily email that recapped the day's events, along with a few photos. I sent it to myself as well and it was a nice, quick, recounting of each day. You will see so much and do so much that it will start to blur together and you will forget some things from the beginning of the trip.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Jun 4, 2017 3:56:02 GMT
You might consider getting an offline navigation app. We used one in Ireland and it worked out well for us. Its not as good as Google maps but it gets the job done. If you're set on Google maps you could try using offline areas, download them while you're on wifi. which one did you use? I'm looking into them. |
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Post by smasonnc on Jun 4, 2017 13:02:19 GMT
When we travel, we get the AT&T international plan. It's $10/day and they only charge for the days you use it. I used Skype to call the States and I can call landlines. I put about $10 on it and didn't have to reload for 6 months.
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