342 replies to this topic

[Markus]

Tuesday Markus. We'll be in RF.And we'll likely be hitting up a nearby brewery pre-game.

We're in RF (2nd row in 138 I think) too. We'll definitely have to meet up.

And we're planning on spending a large part of the afternoon in Anaheim so if you'd want to meet up before the game, we'd be down. There are a few good bars and a brewery right by the stadium. We're also probably gonna tailgate out in that parking lot before the game and you all are more then welcome to join us.

[mweb08]

There is no 138 in RF, do you mean 238? If so, that's where my friend and I will be.

Yeah, meeting up would be cool.

I was thinking either The Bruery or Noble Ale Works. And yeah, tailgating is always good times.

[glenn__davis]

Have we talked about all about this poor woman who died in the sand at Ocean City?

 

It seems like she was walking on the beach at night, fell into a hole and then got buried alive?  I'm just trying to figure out how it's possible.

 

I've seen a lot of people dig holes at the beach, but I don't see how you could dig one that would be big enough for a human to fall into and not be able to get out of.  The only thing I can figure is she most have fallen and knocked herself out, and then maybe it was filled in by someone who didn't see her in there.  Just seems so bizarre.  I can't believe that even at 2AM no one would have seen it.

[NewMarketSean]

It is bizarre. Sad, but totally bizarre. I think one theory is that she was in the hole, and may have passed out, and then a beach sweeper ran her over and collapsed the hole, causing her to drown. I can't imagine drowning in water, let alone sand.

 

Just a sad story all the way around.

 

Then someone drowned in the ocean the next day.

[NewMarketSean]

Mackus....let us know you're OK man. I know you were traveling to Barcelona and southern France soon, if you're not there already.

 

13 killed in a van attack there today.

 

I'll be there myself in a little over a month.

[Mackus]

I'm safe. Appreciate the concern. Flew into Barcelona Monday morning but bussed up the coast first thing. Fuck these losers who think they can scare people into...I don't even know the goal. Planning on two nights in Barcelona next weekend on the tail end of our trip. Go O's.

[mweb08]

We just got back from SoCal and it was a great trip!

 

We actually met Markus and his wife for some pre-gaming at The Bruery before the O's-Angels game on Tuesday (and coincidentally sat almost right behind them). 

 

We also went to several other SoCal breweries including these highlights: Noble Ale Works, Smog City, Monkish, The Lost Abbey, Stone, Modern Times, and The Belching Beaver. 

 

We got to spend a lot of time with my SoCal friends which was great.

 

A few other highlights of the trip included the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, kayaking and snorkeling with sea lions at La Jolla, a game at Petco, and a visit to Universal Studios. 

 

Oh, and In-N-Out twice! Screw the haters, it's my favorite fast food burger joint! Get the fries well done and they're really good, pretty similar to McDonald's actually. 

[NewMarketSean]

I'm safe. Appreciate the concern. Flew into Barcelona Monday morning but bussed up the coast first thing. Fuck these losers who think they can scare people into...I don't even know the goal. Planning on two nights in Barcelona next weekend on the tail end of our trip. Go O's.

Glad your safe, enjoy your trip and give me a report when you get back.

 

I don't even think the attackers know the goal, except to kill innocent people. They're misguided teenagers, warped with a violent ideology that must be eradicated. It's really no different than school shooters at this point except that ISIS gets to take credit for it.

[McNulty]

Going to Austin today. Any recs are appreciated.

[NewMarketSean]

Stand in line at Franklin BBQ as soon as you get off the plane.

 

Sike. I've never been to Austin. Enjoy.

[McNulty]

Stand in line at Franklin BBQ as soon as you get off the plane.   Sike. I've never been to Austin. Enjoy.

I would but high temps are 103 both days Im there.

[mweb08]

We're seeing Hamilton tonight.

Also, NYC is tremendous.

[mweb08]

Hamilton was amazing!

[mweb08]

We also went to the Comedy Cellar twice, which I can't recommend enough. Unfortunately we missed Chapelle whom stopped by the night in between our visits.

[Mackus]

Back to reality today after a two week European vacation.

 

We flew out of Philly, took just over 1 1/2 each way from Baltimore, way easier than dealing with Dulles.  And flights were less than half of the cost of what it would have been from Dulles or for non-direct flights from BWI.

 

Flew into Barcelona and then took a bus up to Tossa de Mar.  Stayed two nights.  Loved it so much we decided to go back there for our final three nights.  It's a beautiful town, great food, main beaches are crowded but you can venture out a bit further to some lesser-explored ones.  Sean I know you were considering going here in September, end any debate you have and do it.  It's a tiny little town, so you could rush through it in just a couple nights, but if you have some more time I really enjoyed the last few nights there with no plans and just able to get comfortable with where everything was.  I ate tons of seafood, had a couple paella's, a lot of iberian ham, drank plenty of sangria.  We found an amazing restaurant right along the water and ate their 3 of the 5 nights we stayed in town.  Every dish we had was fantastic.

 

After Tossa, we went north a little bit to L'Estartit.  Wasn't expecting much from this town, we only stopped there because it was the best excursion point for diving in the Medes Isles just a few hundred meters off the coast, but it was great, far surpassing my low expectations.  Again, great seafood, plenty of cool beaches and streets with shops to explore.  The diving was good, though I'm spoiled by my only other diving experience in Thailand.  We did two dives, 40-50 min each, saw some cool things.  Large grouper fish were very prevalent around the islands, also saw a couple octopus, a bunch of eels, and even a cool lobster along with tons of schools of tiny fish.  Wish I had a second night to do more diving as well as to experience a bit more of the town.

 

Next night we went further north to L'Escala.  Accommodations in this town were jam packed, so we were kind of on the outskirts in a non-ideal location.  Had about a 20-30 min walk to the main parts of town.  The newer part of town has sort of an Ocean City feel to it, so not super nice, but the old town was fantastic.  Beautiful little coves and beaches, tons of great restaurants, neat statues.  Really enjoyed it, wish we had been able to get a room nearer to the old town and again, wish we had at least one more night.

 

The next night we took the train to Carcassonne in Spain.  We had a bed and breakfast inside the battlement walls of the castle, was amazingly cool.  The castle is incredible, really cool place to tour, and to get to be there at night after all the daily tourists leave was wild.  Ate cassoulet a couple times, which was one of the best things I ate the whole trip. 

 

After that, we took a train to a small French town called Marseillan Plage.  My sister-and-law and her family had driven there from England (11 hours drive plus 6 hour ferry ride, with 3 small kids....ouch) and had a pitch campsite at the place that was a couple minute walk to the beach.  This was some serious car camping, their tent was huge, they had so much stuff, I've got no idea how they got it all there.  The place that we rented the pitches (aka campsites) from was pretty neat, super family friendly.  Was like a tiny little town, not only did they have showers and bathrooms but they had a huge pool with multiple water slides, restaurants, bar, bakery (that made the best croissants I had the whole trip), grocery store and they had a large stage with events every night for both kids and adults including a wrestling event, a cabaret, and a magician/acrobat type thing.  It wasn't what we would've done without the kids around, but it was pretty neat.  Weather was great.  We also took day trips to nearby cities of Agde and Sete to check those out, so wasn't all just beach camping time.

 

Were there for a week, then left, had 3 more nights which we decided to go back to Tossa to use to unwind, and then it was the bus to the airport, flight to Philly, and then drive home.

[NewMarketSean]

Sweet. Yeah we're going to Tossa Del Mar for 2 nights, right after the London game. Wish we had more time but we're going to be moving around quite a bit.

[NewMarketSean]

Got back last night. Incredible trip, Ravens game included. So tired. I'll try to have a BSL article about the gameday experience sometime today or tomorrow.

[Mackus]

Sean any thoughts on the other parts of your trip, not related to the Ravens game?  I'm curious to see what you thought of Tossa, and if it was still in the main part of the season or if it slows down dramatically in September.

[NewMarketSean]

Sean any thoughts on the other parts of your trip, not related to the Ravens game?  I'm curious to see what you thought of Tossa, and if it was still in the main part of the season or if it slows down dramatically in September.

We loved Tossa...wish we had another day or two there...2 nights wasn't enough. We tried to get into Tapas Del Mar when we arrived around 1:30 p.m. but they were all booked up. Went to Da Giovanni next door which was great -- good pizza and tapas. Ate at Can Sophia and La Placeta. Can Sophia was the best meal we had in Tossa, and maybe in all of Spain. La Placeta was good...but I ordered cuddlefish which didn't come out like I expected. The bars were great too -- Don Juan and Sant Antoni were our favorites.

 

As for beaches we went to Cala Pola, which was nice. But there were some gnarly looking jellyfish in the water which freaked us out a bit. So we didn't make it to any of the other beaches which was a shame. But we hiked up to the fort, which was awesome.

 

Barcelona was great...but it smells terrible. Had a blast. The people were all very friendly too. Actually the people were great all throughout Spain. I actually spoke more Spanish than ever before while traveling and kinda impressed myself. People actually understood what I was saying.

 

So to recap, it was London/Tossa/Barcelona/Madrid/Toledo/Seville/Granada. It was exhausting...but amazing. If we did another trip like that I'd definitely plan beach time in the middle or at the end. By the end of the trip I was thankful it was over.

[Dupin]

Going to London at the end of the month for my first vacation in a looooooong time.  First time leaving the country, any advice for the solo traveler?