Topic Wiki

Points Used:

UR: 133K
MR: 40K
SPG: 90K
AA: 148K
UA: 95K
Hyatt: 4 free nights
Marriott: 146K and 2 free nights (still waiting for some points to post and then change cash res. to points)
IHG: ~130K (still haven't decided which hotel in Belgium to stay at)
Melia: 22K
BA: 4.5K
And 1 BRG :)

Desired Locations: (Strikethrough means booked)

Israel
London
Paris
Zurich

Rome (Car rental booked FCO-FLR-PSA-VCE)
Florence
Pisa
Venice
Madrid (RT train booked to Toledo)
Barcelona
Seville
(Car rental booked SVQ-GIB-SVQ)
Gibraltar
Bruges/Ghent (Belgium) (Have to book trains within Belgium and RT to AMS.)
Amsterdam

Days Scheduled in Each Location
In no order in particular...

Rome 3.5
Florence .5
Pisa .5
Venice 4.5 including Shabbos (although others said it can be done in less time)
Israel 12
Amsterdam 2
Paris 4 including Shabbos
Dublin 1.5
London 4 including Shabbos (although others said it can be done in less time)
Zurich 1 (b/c it's the United <24 hour stopover, but I'm sure there's more than 1 day's worth of activities there)
Belgium 1
(Amount of days in the different Spain cities are short and were very calculated based on suggestions, as I wanted to save any "extra" days I had for other countries.)
Madrid 1
Seville .5
Gibraltar 1.5 including Shabbos
Barcelona 1.5
« Last edited by @Yehuda on June 08, 2014, 06:26:36 PM »

Author Topic: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon  (Read 107998 times)

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #560 on: May 21, 2014, 10:51:48 PM »
From my research now, it seems like Italy and Spain are the only 2 countries on my itinerary that require it. Of course, those are the 2 where I plan to rent a car. Seems like it's not a guarantee that an officer will ask for it, as the main purpose of it is just to translate your license into other languages, and if they can speak English perhaps they won't ask for it. Seems like the worst they will do is fine you.
But for $23 it might be worth it, especially if you print your own passport photos at home. There are websites that will help you get the size right.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #561 on: May 21, 2014, 11:03:40 PM »
But for $23 it might be worth it, especially if you print your own passport photos at home. There are websites that will help you get the size right.
Yea, I hear you. It's been written on the "to-do" list. Really need to get on planning this itinerary. Taking much longer than expected. (Kinda like each stage of this journey.)

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #562 on: May 21, 2014, 11:11:24 PM »
Yea, I hear you. It's been written on the "to-do" list. Really need to get on planning this itinerary. Taking much longer than expected. (Kinda like each stage of this journey.)
What percentage done are you?

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #563 on: May 21, 2014, 11:32:15 PM »
What percentage done are you?
I really only have Spain (1 week) planned in detail. The rest I have random tidbits planned, but still need to do more. Just having a busy week otherwise so I haven't had much time to plan.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #564 on: May 21, 2014, 11:48:14 PM »
I really only have Spain (1 week) planned in detail. The rest I have random tidbits planned, but still need to do more. Just having a busy week otherwise so I haven't had much time to plan.
How in detail do you get?

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #565 on: May 22, 2014, 12:17:44 PM »
How in detail do you get?
Probably too in detail. For some days I have like 8am wake up 9am shacharis at so-so shul 10am taxi to ____. Etc.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #566 on: May 22, 2014, 12:32:56 PM »
Probably too in detail. For some days I have like 8am wake up 9am shacharis at so-so shul 10am taxi to ____. Etc.
That's exactly how I'd like to plan a trip. IMO, the problem is that on vacation it's important to have some leeway time to account for unexpected finds. I have learned to scale back the exact detail planning and go with something a bit more relaxed, yet still structured. For example:

Day 1
Wakeup/Daven/Breakfast, finish by 9:00am
9:15a- take cab to JR tour
10:00a- JR tour
1:30p- Lunch in the Ghetto (Baghetto Milkey)
3:00p- Walk to Vatican/San Peter's square/explore Rome
7:00p- Dinner in Ghetto (Yatvata)
Be in bed by 11:00p

Day 2
Wakeup/Daven/Breakfast, finish by 7:30am
7:45a- take cab to Walks of Italy tour at Colosseum
8:30a- WoI tour
12:00p- Walk around some more
1:30p- Lunch
3:00p- Pack up and get ready to go

By having some "unscheduled time" in the itinerary it will be a lot less stressful.

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #567 on: May 22, 2014, 01:08:45 PM »
Driven in 4 countries in Europe and never got an international license
Life isn't about checking the boxes. Nobody cares.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #568 on: May 22, 2014, 01:11:59 PM »
Driven in 4 countries in Europe and never got an international license
Did you ever get pulled over?

Offline Emkay

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #569 on: May 22, 2014, 01:13:15 PM »
Driven in 4 countries in Europe and never got an international license
pulled over in how many?

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #570 on: May 22, 2014, 01:14:42 PM »
0
Life isn't about checking the boxes. Nobody cares.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #571 on: May 22, 2014, 01:15:33 PM »
0
So I guess you don't know what would happen if you do.

Offline SOS

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #572 on: May 22, 2014, 01:19:49 PM »
You can always just be the American tourist who didn't know he was supposed to have a intl drivers license, and just apologize etc

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #573 on: May 22, 2014, 01:46:41 PM »
You can always just be the American tourist who didn't know he was supposed to have a intl drivers license, and just apologize etc
...and hope the cop buys it.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #574 on: May 23, 2014, 11:05:03 AM »
Just opened TD Premier Checking acct. No ATM fees from TD, no Forex fees, and they refund fees from the ATM without any limit to withdrawals or fee dollars per month. Must keep min. $2500 daily in the account to avoid the monthly maintenance fee.
Banker did not know what would happen if the ATM includes their fee in the withdrawal amount, but I'll always ask for a receipt and hopefully it'll be somewhat broken down on there, and I can discuss it with TD when I get back or perhaps can explain that it doesn't make sense how I took out 103 euro and that the last 3 were really a fee.

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #575 on: May 23, 2014, 11:23:50 AM »
Just opened TD Premier Checking acct. No ATM fees from TD, no Forex fees, and they refund fees from the ATM without any limit to withdrawals or fee dollars per month. Must keep min. $2500 daily in the account to avoid the monthly maintenance fee.
Banker did not know what would happen if the ATM includes their fee in the withdrawal amount, but I'll always ask for a receipt and hopefully it'll be somewhat broken down on there, and I can discuss it with TD when I get back or perhaps can explain that it doesn't make sense how I took out 103 euro and that the last 3 were really a fee.
Why are you guys so fahitzed about this. They know what the fee is. They will refund you the fee.
Life isn't about checking the boxes. Nobody cares.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #576 on: May 23, 2014, 11:46:07 AM »
Why are you guys so fahitzed about this. They know what the fee is. They will refund you the fee.
Well, I decided already. :)

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #577 on: May 23, 2014, 02:18:08 PM »
Just got my int'l driver's permit. Was near an AAA and figured might as well be safe. $27 including pics and was really efficient. Maybe 15 minutes in total.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #578 on: May 23, 2014, 02:24:37 PM »
Just got my int'l driver's permit. Was near an AAA and figured might as well be safe. $27 including pics and was really efficient. Maybe 15 minutes in total.
Nice, but $12 for pictures is a lot.

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #579 on: May 23, 2014, 02:38:59 PM »
And running to Walgreens to save $4 to go back to AAA is silly
Life isn't about checking the boxes. Nobody cares.