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Legoland Tips

LEGOLAND…

What promised to be a fun day exploring with grandkids…turned out to be just that. I mean, how can you not have a good time surrounded by giant Lego critters, Lego hands-on adventures, and a giant Lego Deathstar?

Although Legoland is primarily geared for families with kids ages 2 to 12, kids of most ages will enjoy something here. With over 60 rides, shows, and attractions, those alone can fill your day.

That doesn’t even cover the aquarium, the water park, wave park, and river.

Things I learned:

Go early. Even during off season, the popular rides and attractions fill up. If you have little ones, they may get tired after a couple of hours.

Head to the back of the park first. Rides at the front attract everyone’s attention as soon as they walk in. By going to the rides at the back, you’ll find less lines. Kids love almost all the rides. They’re happy to be riding or experiencing…not standing in line when they first get there.

Decide if there are rides you absolutely don’t want to miss. Scope them out and figure out the best time to go on them. You may have to wait, but there are things to watch while you’re standing in line.

Take breaks. There are plenty of opportunities to stop and have an ice cream cone or a snack. Chances are there’ll be a giant Lego figure close by the kids can sit on.

Let the kids wander. Keep an eye on them, but let them experience the park. There are so many Lego figures of all sizes to see. There are villages, lakes, Star Wars…absolutely everything Lego.

Let them build a Lego boat and float it down the ramp into the ‘pond’ below. Kids and adults…it’s for everyone.

Wear sunscreen. Even though there a plenty of trees, you are still outside for an entire day.

Check out the Lego hotels if you’re staying in the area.

Tired kids fell asleep on the way home. I’d say that was a good day at Legoland.

LEGOLAND is a registered trademark.

If You Go: Legoland is located at 1 Legoland Drive, Carlsbad, CA. For more information https://www.legoland.com/california/legoland-hotel/legoland-resort-hotel/resort-overview.

 

 

 

 

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Your Luggage Isn’t There

According to the Department of Transportation, the vast majority of bags are reunited with their owners within hours. If your luggage isn’t on the carousel when you arrive, here are some steps to get you started.

Before you leave the airport, report your missing luggage to your airline’s customer service. If you took a connecting flight with multiple carriers, file a report with the airline that brought you to your final destination.

According to the Department of Transportation, you should insist on creating a report no matter what, even if the airline says your bag will be on the next flight. Before you leave the airport, ask for a copy of the report with a file reference number, and a follow-up phone number. Ask about delivery options.

Some carriers allow their employees to give you a cash advance at the airport for purchasing necessities, such as toiletries and a change of clothes. Others will reimburse you for these purchases later. When you report your lost luggage at the airport, ask the agent how your airline handles reimbursement for necessities. You are entitled to this compensation even if your bags are later returned.

International note: For bags that don’t show up after international flights, make a report with your airline as described above. After you receive a delayed bag, international regulations give you 21 days in which to submit a claim for reimbursement for necessities purchased in the interim.

After you’ve made a report, the airline will start tracing your bag. Most airlines will be able to deliver your bag within a day or two. If you receive no notice within a reasonable time after making your initial report at the airport, follow up with the airline by calling the phone number you received. Most carriers will also allow you to track the progress of your report online.

At a certain point, if an airline can’t locate your bag, its status will change from delayed to lost. For domestic flights, the amount of time varies by airline, though it shouldn’t be more than a few weeks. For international flights, luggage must be declared missing if it doesn’t show up within 21 days.

Once the bag is officially declared lost, you may begin the claims process for a lost bag. The exact claims process varies by airline. Regulations cap reimbursement at $3,500 per traveler for domestic flights and around $1,600 for most international flights.

Southwest Airlines and American Airlines, for example, allow customers to initiate a claim if their luggage isn’t located within five days. United Airlines allows customers to do so after three days.

As part of the claims process, you’ll fill out paperwork detailing the contents of the lost bags and their value. The airline will likely ask for sales receipts or other documentation to back up your estimates. The Department of Transportation cautions that if you don’t have these records, you can expect to negotiate with your airline.

Once your claim has been submitted, it can take an airline anywhere from four weeks to three months to reimburse you.

If you’re traveling with valuables, declare them before you fly. There are caps on reimbursement, and travelers with high-value luggage may want to declare and purchase excess valuation when checking their bags.

I know people who have never recovered their lost luggage…but it is rare. Bottom line…if you know what to do ahead of time, it may make your life easier when the baggage carousel stops, and you have no luggage. Maybe…

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Have You Been to a Parfumerie?

 

The appeal of perfume is that it is at once ephemeral and empowering…~ Mary Gaitskill

 

Traveling is experiencing. At least, it is for me.

So, when in Saint Remy de Provence I decided to make an appointment at a parfumerie. A new experience for me.

I thought maybe I would get an understanding of the process by watching a professional make perfume. But, it was much more than just sitting down while someone mixed up different scents. This was going to be a hands-on, nose-involved, one-on-one lesson in making my own perfume.

Jars, bottles, photos, coffee beans, and assorted mixing sticks were arranged on the bar in front of me. My own personal mini-lab.

Catherine, at Parfumerie Galimard, is schooled in the science of perfumery and has her credentials. She was my teacher for the afternoon.

Before we started, she explained what a base note is and how it differs from a heart note and from a head or top note. I also learned there’s a fragrant farm just 4 km from Grasse, in the south of France. Yes, a fragrant farm. For five consecutive generations one family has grown the May rose exclusively for the Channel No 5 scent. Yep. All 35 to 40 tons of May rose petals are processed for Channel.

Did you know that four tons of roses equals about 1,600,000 rose blossoms? And, that equals one kg of rose oil? No wonder some perfumes are expensive.

And, the town of Grasse. Jean de Galimard lived in Grasse in 1747, where he created Parfumerie Galimard. During this time, he supplied the court of Louis, King of France, with olive oil, and pomades and perfumes developed from his own formulas. These scents were used to enhance gloves of the fashionable crowd.

Today, those same processes and the natural resources of Grasse are still being used. Jasmine, rose, lavender, orange flower, and tuberose are some of the most widely used to obtain the rich scents necessary for quality perfumes.

“Okay, enough history.” Catherine told me. “You’re going to make your own scent. It will be based on your preferences. Are you ready to work?”

Are you kidding? Of course.

So, where did we start? Catherine told me to make a fine perfume, you need to start with the best raw materials. Just like they did in King Louis’ time. “You must know where these materials came from and how they are grown.”

Then, she said they need to be mixed correctly to achieve the scent you’re looking for.

To do this, parfumeurs use the olfactory pyramid. Ingredients in any perfume are organized on three levels, based on their evaporation rates.

First, are the top or head notes. These are light, fresh, and very volatile scents. They are the ones you first smell. But, they’re also the ones to evaporate first. They can be energetic and exciting, catching your attention and involving your senses. According to Catherine, you might even think this is the essences of this perfume. You probably get smells of lemon, orange, tangerine, bergamot. Others like ginger, eucalyptus, lavender, thyme, sage and rosemary come through as well.

The next level is the middle or heart notes. These should be perceived immediately right after the head notes. They’re stronger and more sensual, awakening deep sensations. At times, they can even mask strong base notes. Smells like peach, rose, thrush, freesia, tuberose, chamomile, jasmine, green land, or oceans come through.

Last are the base notes. They’re the last ones to be perceived. They appear slower but evaporate gradually, lasting longer. These are the ones which give your perfume its personality. You might find scents like incense, patchouli, cedarwood, sandalwood, iris, heliotrope, vanilla, caramel, cocoa, coffee, mush, leather, and birch. They stabilize other scents and are often used for the relaxing and calming effect.

“Getting the right mix of top, heart, and base notes is what makes a great parfume. Each person smells those notes differently. Getting it the way you like makes your great parfume.

“When we’re finished, I will show you how to wear your new scent.” And, she did.

Now, time to start. Catherine took me through the process of smelling and mixing. She handed me the jar of coffee beans. “Smelling coffee beans in between scents cleanses those scents from your nose. Much like the process when you sniff different wines.” More smelling and mixing followed. It was a fun-filled, educational hour and a half.

I lost track of the number of combinations of top, heart, and base notes I smelled. She took me through a series of scents, telling me not to comment whether I liked it or not. More coffee beans to sniff. Then, I went back and smelled them again. By then, I did have preferences.

When we were finished, I had my own unique formula. My recipe. I walked away with my own bottle and an appreciation of what goes into making perfume. It’s a lot more complicated than I imagined.

By the way, they keep that formula on hand in case I want to re-order. Smart.

 

If You Go:

http://www.galimard.com/index.php/en/la-source-parfumee.html

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Butcher Boy…Fast and Pretty

The sailing yacht, Butcher Boy of 1902, is more than San Diego’s oldest yacht. It’s also the oldest working watercraft, a veteran of the first Lipton Cup Race, and a storied flagship of San Diego Yacht Club.

Having said all that, when you look at it as it sits now…you’d wonder. It’s in pieces. Literally.

That’s because the Maritime Museum of San Diego is preparing for a complete restoration. They will return Butcher Boy to her sailing condition.

This restoration is undertaken as a public exhibition and educational project the Museum’s former San Salvador build site.

Butcher Boy was commissioned in 1902 to be the fastest thing on water. She needed to be. Before the bay had its deep-water channel, large ships coming into San Diego were often forced by their draft to anchor outside the bay in Coronado.

Servicing these ships required a fast, seaworthy boat to make daily runs from the downtown waterfront. Butcher Boy was designed based on the Columbia River fishing vessels and served as a sailing delivery platform. She took supplies to those ships anchored in the harbor. She was also attractive enough and fast enough for yachtsmen to charter her for weekend races.

One day…she’ll look as good as she did in 1902. With a few modifications, of course

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Cite du Vin and Porto

Press Release from Cite du Vin…

From 5 October 2018 to 6 January 2019, La Cité du Vin is hosting an exhibition paying homage to the exceptional viticultural landscape of the Porto region: Douro, an alchemy between air, land and river. Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2001, the Upper Douro valley is distinguished by its singular beauty, bearing witness to the evolution of wine and human activity over time. Offering a sensitive and multidisciplinary approach, the exhibition highlights the development of a landscape heritage melding air, land and river, but above all man and nature.

Douro, an alchemy between air, land and river

Porto is one of the oldest appellations in the world. An exceptional viticultural region, surrounded by mountains and shaped by the hands of man into terraces on the steep slopes of the river banks. The exhibition Douro, an alchemy between air, land and river is an invitation to travel through the landscapes of the Douro and across time. A sensitive journey, in both sound and images, and resolutely contemporary, will reflect this special alchemy between the air, the land and the river that gave birth to the famous Port wine, not forgetting the great vineyard of classic wines produced in the region.
Conferences, tastings, themed visits and shows will accompany this original exhibition.

The Guest Vineyard temporary exhibition

Each autumn, the Foundation for Wine Culture and Civilisations gives a partner wine region or country the chance to present a “Guest Wine Region”. The aim is to let the public discover a wine-producing region through its culture and civilisation, in an original and aesthetic exhibition, accompanied by numerous cultural events.
Georgia, as the oldest wine region in the world, was the first Guest Wine Region in autumn 2017. This archaeological exhibition jointly organised with the Georgian state and the national museum of Tbilisi was a great success: more than 50 000 visitors discovered the historical richness and quality of the heritage of this country.

Douro, an alchemy between air, land and river will be the second exhibition dedicated to a Guest Wine Region, from 5 October 2018 to 6 January 2019.

Support the cultural seasons at La Cité du Vin with La Fondation pour la culture et les civilisations du vin: https://fondation.laciteduvin.com/en

About La Cité du Vin:

La Cité du Vin is a new-generation cultural site, unique in the world, where the soul of wine is expressed through an immersive and sensory approach at the heart of an evocative architecture. La Cité du Vin shows wine in a different way, across the world, across the ages, in all cultures and in all civilisations. It offers a permanent tour, temporary exhibitions, wine-culture workshops and numerous events. Visitors can book their tickets on the website www.laciteduvin.com and on the door.
In September 2018, La Cité du Vin is open daily from 10am to 6pm (monday to friday), and from 10am to 7pm (from saturday to sunday).

Ongoing events at La Cité du Vin:

  • Visit of the Permanent Tour with the interactive travel companion and a world wine tasting in the Belvedere.
  • A rich and varied cultural programme, with a steady stream of high-quality performances, concerts, screenings and debates.

Check it out…sounds like a great trip.

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Champagnes, Cavas, Proseccos, and Sparkling Wines…Oh My

Italian Sparkling Wines

Moscato d’Asti

This is a sweet, sparkling wine from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. Made with Moscato grapes in the Asti region, this is a white wine.

Brachetto d’Acqui

This one is made from the Brachetto grape near Acqui Terme. It is a rose wine.

While both of these can be too sweet for most people, good ones make a great aperitif or with dessert.

Lambrusco

This one is making a comeback. This sparkling red wine can be off dry. Pair it with Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano. It comes from the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.

Prosecco

Made from the Glera grape in Italy in the Charmat method, Prosecco is a favorite bubbly of mine.

Because it is not aged “sur lie” as Champagne is, the flavors of Prosecco tend to be simpler and less complex. If you don’t want the sweeter version which comes to mind, look for the DOCG on the neck label.

This is not bottle fermented. Bubbles are light and frothy.