Backpack Luggage (was: Planning Italy Trip, need advice)

On Jul 29, 7:33 pm, VainGlorious
wrote:
[snip]
But Rick Steves gives a great
bit of practical advice for travelers: Pack the bag(s) you hope to
take with the things you hope to take. Now, walk them around your
local neighborhood, maybe up a few small hills, for a mile or so.

How are you loving your luggage and your packing ideas now? Not so
fun, eh? Can you imagine walking this stuff from a train station to
your hotel on a cobblestone street in an unfamiliar city?

[snip]

Dunno much about Mr. Steves, and I probably should see this
bit of advice in its orginal context, but on the surface this looks
like some of the dumbest advice I can imagine. If you
have to walk a mile to your destination, take transportation.
I've rolled a bag a long way, but I'm not sure I've ever lugged
one a mile. I do alot of walking on vacation, but when transporting
luggage I'm more than willing to take a cab, bus, or shuttle to
get to the hotel.

My usual advice for long trips is don't take a bag heavier than
you can lift over your head. And take 2, one roll around
and one that can go on your back/shoulder. That leaves a
hand free to handle doors and such. Taking your roll around
(wheelie as I heard them called recently) outside on a variety
of surfaces isn't a bad idea when you are trying to decide on
which one to purchase. There's a big difference between the
marble floor in the show room and many of the surfaces over
which one will want to use them. And I can even see doing this
test to learn what kinds of surfaces you want to even
attempt using such a bag. I've dragged my bags over some
strange routes, and what I learned was when to call a cab,
not to avoid using a bag with wheels.

Following up to Alan S :

We found laundromats as scarce as hen's teeth while
wandering Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern
Europe.

That's my experience too.
I don't think there's a single one in Linz (pop ~200 000).
There used to be one really grotty place but it closed down a few years ago
when the manageress died.
--
Tim C.

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:01:47 +0200, Tim C. wrote:

Following up to Alan S :

We found laundromats as scarce as hen's teeth while
wandering Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern
Europe.

That's my experience too.
I don't think there's a single one in Linz (pop ~200 000).
There used to be one really grotty place but it closed down a few years ago
when the manageress died.

The nearest one I can think of is in Whitby.

There are closer ones to you in the UK!

The laundromat is increasingly rare in the UK. Dry cleaning places are
common, of course, and they will often have a laundry service, but it
might be pricey. I'm a bit surprised that the laundry in Eastenders
still thrives.

My experience is that they are much more common in the US than here. In
US apartment buildings, it's very common for there to be a laundry room,
usually coin-operated. This was the case in most buildings I lived in in
the US, apart from one in Philadelphia, where I had a washer and a dryer
in the downstairs bathroom (bi-level apartment) but that was considered
'luxury.')

Rented accomodation op any level (house or flat) in the UK generally
includes at least a washer. We have a washer/dryer, neatly hidden in the
kitchen furniture, but the dryer isn't as good as a standalone in our
experience. We usually just dry stuff on our terrace. Oscar is appalled
that the washing machine is in the kitchen! More cultural stuff going on
there...

The only time I've ever laundered my own clothes while travelling was at
a laundromat in Florence in the mid-90s, on one of the streets going
east from the Duomo. I wonder if it's still there...

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:14:38 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:
[]
The only time I've ever laundered my own clothes while travelling was at
a laundromat in Florence in the mid-90s, on one of the streets going
east from the Duomo. I wonder if it's still there...

30 years ago, when I had to stay for weeks in a small town on the
Bodensee, when I had only planned a day trip, I found it was cheaper to
buy shirts than have them laundered.

That's true for Primark, and they do last for the day!

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:45:03 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:14:38 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:
[]
The only time I've ever laundered my own clothes while travelling was at
a laundromat in Florence in the mid-90s, on one of the streets going
east from the Duomo. I wonder if it's still there...

30 years ago, when I had to stay for weeks in a small town on the
Bodensee, when I had only planned a day trip, I found it was cheaper to
buy shirts than have them laundered.

That's true for Primark, and they do last for the day!

David, where did you find the text about expats being able to receive Internet
TV thanks to BBC World?

It was on the main page on the BBC news website. It's not there now, but
it's still on the URL I posted- i.e.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/6277422.stm

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:02:54 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:
[]
David, where did you find the text about expats being able to receive
Internet TV thanks to BBC World?

It was on the main page on the BBC news website. It's not there now, but
it's still on the URL I posted- i.e.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/6277422.stm

Duh I missed that it was only "watch the BBC's news reports in broadband
quality" I already could.

On your computer? Does your ISP have a deal with them?

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:53:00 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:02:54 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:
[]
David, where did you find the text about expats being able to receive
Internet TV thanks to BBC World?

It was on the main page on the BBC news website. It's not there now, but
it's still on the URL I posted- i.e.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/6277422.stm

Duh I missed that it was only "watch the BBC's news reports in broadband
quality" I already could.

On your computer? Does your ISP have a deal with them?

I doubt it. Exactly what is broadband quality?

I don't think there's a broad definition. When I watch BBC stuff in the
UK, it's on about 256k, from outside, it's 56k. What do you get when you
watch BBC video online?

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:23:47 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:53:00 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:
[]
Duh I missed that it was only "watch the BBC's news reports in broadband
quality" I already could.

On your computer? Does your ISP have a deal with them?

I doubt it. Exactly what is broadband quality?

I don't think there's a broad definition. When I watch BBC stuff in the
UK, it's on about 256k, from outside, it's 56k. What do you get when you
watch BBC video online?

It looks normal to me. Not sure how to measure the baud rate of a video. (yes,
Mr Black I know)

If it looks normal to you, it could well be broadband then- as so much
video content nowadays is. (When I watch BBC stuff using real player, it
gives you the baud rate.) Does it have a reasonable amount of
definition? Then, it probably is.

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:01:18 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:23:47 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:
[]
On your computer? Does your ISP have a deal with them?

I doubt it. Exactly what is broadband quality?

I don't think there's a broad definition. When I watch BBC stuff in the
UK, it's on about 256k, from outside, it's 56k. What do you get when you
watch BBC video online?

with Real Player 224Kbps

That's BB then.

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:17:52 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:01:18 +0100, (David Horne) wrote:

Martin wrote:
[]
Exactly what is broadband quality?

I don't think there's a broad definition. When I watch BBC stuff in
the UK, it's on about 256k, from outside, it's 56k. What do you get
when you watch BBC video online?

with Real Player 224Kbps

That's BB then.

It's better on TV. I can change channels when it gets boring.

I don't use the online for watching live TV though. I use it to catch up
on various news programmes, and a few separate news items,

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website
"Abominable, loyal, blind, apparently subservient."
Pres. Carter on Ex-Pres. Blair- May, 2007