The Language (and travel) Thread

[Carol the Dabbler]

I remember when, during my first stay in the US, I baffled my listeners with the statement that I would be there for a fortnight.

 

I take it you were not talking to tennis fans, then.  (Or was that a really long time ago?)  For as long as I can recall, American commentators covering Wimbledon tennis seem to feel obliged to refer to the length of the tournament as a "fortnight."  That's about the only time the word is routinely used here, though.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Yup. Fortnight confuses me for a long time too. I thought it was fourth night the first time I heard it, then subsequently ignore it until I really, really, had to find out. :p

 

We hardly talk about travel here.

If, money and time are no object, where do you guys want to go for holiday and why?

Just asking for fun.

 

I'd like to go Iceland and enjoy the serenity and Northern lights.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Yup. Fortnight confuses me for a long time too. I thought it was fourth night the first time I heard it, then subsequently ignore it until I really, really, had to find out. :p

 

We hardly talk about travel here.

If, money and time are no object, where do you guys want to go for holiday and why?

Just asking for fun.

 

I'd like to go Iceland and enjoy the serenity and Northern lights.

Globetrotting, starting in Europe.

[Arcadia]

Mountains. Any of them. Because I just love mountains.
 
I'd like to see more of the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest too, been through there but would like to have time to explore. Oh, and that river gorge in China, I can't remember the name but the one with all the jagged mountains, like this:

[Van Buren Supernova]

Globetrotting, starting in Europe.

Anywhere specific that is a must?

 

  

Mountains. Any of them. Because I just love mountains.

 

I'd like to see more of the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest too, been through there but would like to have time to explore. Oh, and that river gorge in China, I can't remember the name but the one with all the jagged mountains, like this:

I googled Petrified Forest (nice name) and it looks very different in what I imagine actually.

 

I can't see your image, so pardon me if I'm posting the same thing.

Do you know this?

 

I think it's in Zhangye Danxia something.

I remember seeing it in some article long time ago, just now I googled colorful hills in China and voila.

 

I prefer mountain that is green though, with combination of lakes, waterfall, rainforest and savannah. They have the best of those in Asia, although ice mountain is fascinating as well.

[Factorielle]

I'd totally love to go to Japan... I'm trying to learn japanese, for now as an autodidact, but next year the school I'll be in will dispense japanese courses, so serious things will start from there. :D

I think the culture is very interesting, the langage is beautiful and I really wish I could go and visit the country...

[SherlockedCAMPer]

 

Globetrotting, starting in Europe.

Anywhere specific that is a must?

 

I can't decide among the UK, Germany, or Norway first, but I'd like to visit just about every country in Europe and see many parts within each. Hence, Europe instead of any specific country.

[J.P.]

Just throw a dart onto a map of Europe and start there. :P

[T.o.b.y]

If I had the time and the money, I would like to travel to the British Isles. Visit Ireland, Scotland, central Britain, Wales, Cornwall... All in one long go.

[Arcadia]

 

Mountains. Any of them. Because I just love mountains.

 

I'd like to see more of the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest too, been through there but would like to have time to explore. Oh, and that river gorge in China, I can't remember the name but the one with all the jagged mountains, like this:

I googled Petrified Forest (nice name) and it looks very different in what I imagine actually.

 

I can't see your image, so pardon me if I'm posting the same thing.

Do you know this?

 

I think it's in Zhangye Danxia something.

I remember seeing it in some article long time ago, just now I googled colorful hills in China and voila.

 

I prefer mountain that is green though, with combination of lakes, waterfall, rainforest and savannah. They have the best of those in Asia, although ice mountain is fascinating as well.

 

Nah, I posted a Chines brush painting (and I remember now, it's the Yangtze River Gorge that I was thinking of) but this is amazing! I've seen a picture like that before but don't remember if it was in China. Either way, yeah, I'd enjoy seeing it. It's a bit like the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, isn't it? But far more colorful!

 

I have a piece of petrified wood my parents bought for me when we visited the Petrified Forest, it's one of my favorite things.

 

And I prefer greener, more gentle mountains too ... any place that's good for easy hiking. I love going up into the Blue Ridge, I'm so grateful to have them nearby. About 50 minutes from my house if the traffic's right, yay!

 

I'd totally love to go to Japan... I'm trying to learn japanese, for now as an autodidact, but next year the school I'll be in will dispense japanese courses, so serious things will start from there. :D

I think the culture is very interesting, the langage is beautiful and I really wish I could go and visit the country...

 

Oh, do, it's fabulous. My family went through there a couple of times when I was a little kid, and even I, who hated travel, enjoyed it. We stayed in a traditional inn; I couldn't eat the food but otherwise it was a great experience. We had tatami mats to sleep on and there was a koi pond right outside the door, and all the staff was in traditional clothing. I remember watching American TV dubbed into Japanese, that was weird. It was an episode of Bonanza. :D I was about seven, I think, but I still remember it pretty well. Japanese food though ... urgh. Not my thing. :(

 

If I had the time and the money, I would like to travel to the British Isles. Visit Ireland, Scotland, central Britain, Wales, Cornwall... All in one long go.

 

I've always wanted to see the Scottish Highlands. And yeah, Cornwall. And go on a painting trip to Ireland.

 

Gee, I never realized I had such a yen to travel. Actually, that's what's wrong with most of these places ... getting there! Ugh. Maybe I'll just stick to visiting the Blue Ridge and downtown Washington DC and the million or so Civil War battlefields in Virginia. Yeah, that works. I knew there was a reason I like where I'm living. :P

[J.P.]

If I had the time and the money, I would like to travel to the British Isles. Visit Ireland, Scotland, central Britain, Wales, Cornwall... All in one long go.

 

The worse problem of this dream is the driving. Still don't think I could drive safely over there.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The train service is great, though, and if you can't get somewhere by train, there's usually a bus.

[J.P.]

I've got enough of trains in the first 36 years of my existence. I just want to drive away and get lost, stop where I want, go when I want. You don't have this luxury with trains and buses.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Quite true.  But you don't have to drive on the wrong side of the road.  :D

 

I know Americans who do rent (excuse me, hire) a car when they travel to the UK, but I wouldn't feel right about doing that.  I'd be a danger to both myself and the other drivers, because in an emergency, my carefully-learned habits would be precisely backwards.  Alex and I manage to have plenty of fun via train and bus.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Sometimes the travelling (getting there) process can be nightmare, well, most times, especially when I'm quite susceptible to travel sickness and when people don't have manner in public transport and when.. ehm.. travellers are beaten up and dragged from the plane, but I am thinking if we invent teleport one day, all those nice remote natural places will be filled with noisy annoying human, and worse.. tourists!

 

Not exactly Petrified Mountain, but I think Utah Desert is gorgeous as well, although I still prefer greener mountain, or snowy, maybe that's why Switzerland would be my first choice should I travel around that region.

[Doe]

I saw a picture about the famous people in subway. Ben, Andrew Scott,..etc.

 

Very interesting.

 

Turkish famous people never get on the subway. 

[Van Buren Supernova]

While it's a nice idea, I would hate it if they cause people jam in my train carriage.

 

And imagine the choice you have to make: trampled to death trying to take an unoriginal posed and forced photo among crowd or coming to this forum and saying you meet Benedict Cumberbatch in subway without a picture to prove it because you chicken-out by the crowd. :p

 

It's nicer if they do it in disguise I think.

[Doe]

You would know better. We just see them on tv.

[Arcadia]

If I met Benedict Cumberbatch on a subway, I'm pretty sure I would stutter worse than Molly and flee the train.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

There is the slightest chance that he & I could have been riding the same train when I was in London 17 years ago while he was still working on his MFA at LAMDA. Of course I don't remember seeing anyone that remotely looked like him when I did ride the tube.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Irrelevant sidebar:  The time when I lived in Cedar Rapids overlapped by almost a year the time that Elijah Wood lived there, and CR is a pretty small place, so you'd think we might have bumped into one another at some point.  (Of course, he was just a baby then.)

 

[J.P.]

You could. But people without siginificance get deleted immediately. :P

[Arcadia]

Oooooh, burn!!!!! :d

[Doe]

If I met Benedict Cumberbatch on a subway, I'm pretty sure I would stutter worse than Molly and flee the train. Clo

 

Close the exit.  :D

[Doe]

There is the slightest chance that he & I could have been riding the same train when I was in London 17 years ago while he was still working on his MFA at LAMDA. Of course I don't remember seeing anyone that remotely looked like him when I did ride the tube.

 

 

17 years ago...

 

It's normal you don't remember. He was not famous...