A great little country is Holland, spent many long weekends there over the years. Lovely people too. Sickening to see the misrepresentation of a hotbed of anti-semitism after the Maccabi Tel Aviv ultras rightly got their arses kicked after their vile behaviour before, during and after the European game in Amsterdam last week.
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As the weather has been so shit the Ayatollah have been on the holiday sites
We have just booked to see our mates in Australia for NYE with a stop off in Doha on the way back
And she has now decided we are spending Easter weekend in Palma to see the not-the-KKK pointy hat dudes
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Well done Mrs CBS.
Spent NYE 22/23 in Melbourne and there is a lot to be said for heading out at 10pm when itâs 27 degrees and then the whole street heads outside to watch the fireworks from the city at midnight, in shorts and flip flops.
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Weâre flying in a week or so earlier - Mrs C_S has apparently arranged for us to stay with âfriendsâ Iâve not seen in ages in Puerto Pollencça - 2nd week April. 
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Not my holiday but this from an old friend from work, relating happenings yesterday that presented themselves as a memorable dayâŠ
A MORNING AT THE KUMBH MELA
The Planets were aligned in such a way that I was able to be present at the largest gathering of people in human history.
I was anticipating 40 million over 45 days. That would have been enough. However Indian government estimated 400 million to be here during that time. At this time It was estimated that 60 million were here in one day. That is the entire population of the United Kingdom in one place.
The experience has surpassed anything either Myself Mike and Mohit my Hindu friend could have imagined. We were witnessing the most incredible human spectacle on this planet, in a festival Galactic in scale.
To be among the vast crowds and the intoxicating atmosphere was beyond amazing. I was in a living dream which cannot be expressed in mere words.
It was not a comfortable experience. Yesterday I was caught up in a dangerous situation with the mass of humanity heading down to the Ganges and to cross the river to see the Sadhus, holy men and women and Baba Nagas and the ritual bathing. It was too dangerous to continue and getting out to safety was extremely challenging.
I was certain that there would be many injuries and deaths here. Sadly I was right. The government cancelled most of the bathing rituals after many fatalities. The crushing experience was scary to say the least.
We did find some free space where the atmosphere and visual experience was beyond anything that any of us could comprehend. We did see some of the Baba Naga ascetics later but photographing them in the way I usually work, was impossible due to the crowdsâŠ
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Next week - avian flu rips through India
This is their Cheltenham Gold Cup
Someoneâs been DoomscrollingâŠ
It will be Denge Fever obviously
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Been to Puerto Pollenca loads of times, although mostly with kids and thus only twice in the last 10 years.
Have to say that I thought the place had gone downhill a bit last time, but it was peak season. April will be a much better bet (apart from the temperature obvs 
)
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Similar thoughts myself.
Where weâre going is almost on the edge of town (facing the sea and walk right along the seafront until the houses run out - not the popular endâŠ). It was pretty much all locals last time we went.
Still. A cheeky brace or two in Spoons at Gatters, more on the flight and 4 days of keeping regularly topped up might get me through it - problem is I canât be arsed so need to think of another diversion rather than having to socialise - though I have to say @CB-Saint âs beloved Ayatollah will have nothing on Mrs C_S if I misbehave
P.S. weather is usually better than the UK in April which is a very minor bonus
Sounds good mate. Nice end of town 
B777-300 ER
Damn I flew thousands of miles in those.
BA (out of Heathrow always had 3-3-3 out of Gatwick 3-4-3 as did Emirates.
Still compared with RyanAir comfortable
Now there is a Charter operator running a 524 seat version out of a cramped Katowice - 2 hours for bags 4 hours for check in - damn I am glad I am broke and cannot go on holiday
Emirates 777-3 had about 315 in economy 42 in Biz and 12 in First - they stuck 200 passengers in the premium space for 54.
Closest horror to that was 1st vacation with Ex Mrs P_F & kids - took the then new Qatar Airways - Sheikh Thani flew a 747-3 (Or maybe 2) about 96 Dubai - Qatar - Cairo- Beirut - Gatwick - had 620 seats the upstairs was all economy no premium at all. each leg they served a Lamb Fish or Veggie Curry and booze
At the time single ticket was about 500 quid fight cost 200 each
But Dubai & Qatar Airports could cope wuth those numbers Katowice? Christ Krakow total capacity is 500
And joking apart.
Krakow now runs Air Arabia, FlyDubai & Wizz Air to Dubai & Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
In the unlikely event of heading that way they are way cheaper
Air Arabia also offer Bangkok flights from here for 1499 AED just under 300 quid so RyanAir in and pay peanuts
You could put a 2 bed end of terrace in the space an Emirates first class suite takes up
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Ten days in Jordan booked to try to cheer up a miserable start to the year. Need a break.
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Jerash.
One night Marriott Dead Sea
Petra.
Now to do it properly, you need a Leather Jacket, a Trilby style Auustralian Bushmanâs hat, Beige /light canvas shirt with chest pickets and a Bull Whip. Then ride the horse into the Wadi.
Try and avoid the Lamb cooked for a day or two in milk for dinner though
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had an amazing week there - did it self drive. that was Ok up until the point i decided to follow the sat nav and not the road signs when driving between the dead sea and Petra. Lets just say the road sort of petered out into a track and then so did the phone signal rapidly followed by the Ayatollahâs sense of humour. We made it, although it took several G&Ts before she spoke to me again - which was a shame because her first words were âYouâre a fucking twatâ
We also had 5 days in Aqaba - there is a great diving centre there opposite a knocking shop frequented by Rolls Royce driving Saudis. Most amusing.
It remains the only holiday where someone wished me good luck before I went!!
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No problem. My normal style.
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Thanks for suggestions. Six of the days weâre in a small group with a company called G Adventures who weâve used many times.
They are great for securing safe transport and decent accommocation at a sensible price, showing you the real country, making sure you hit all the essentials and booking activities with reliable opetators, but otherwise giving you lots of freedom.
The pace is challenging but what the point of wasting time? We have one day on the beach plus our own extra days to chill.
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I went many times one trip squished spare time. Iâve done Petra 3 times (pack Isotonic/energy gels)
Aqaba was a disappointment diving was waste of time and never had the time to do Wadi Rum but that should be worth taking a good camera for.
Oh. And at Petra, get all the way to the back to The Treasury, climb to the view, sit down andâŠ
Sing Swing Low.
It truly is the greatest saddest bucket list you could achieve
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No no noâŠ