bobmacliberty

Schengen is a border free area within the EU (and including some non-EU countries) that allows free movement (with some limitations) between the Schengen countries. US citizens will need to go through border control when first arriving in an EU country but won't then need to do so when moving between EU countries that are part of the Schengen area. For example, if you are flying from Atlanta to Geneva through Paris, you'll need to go through border control when you land in Paris but will not on your following flight from Paris to Geneva. EU airports typical have separate areas for flights going between Schengen countries and for flights going from a Schengen to a non-Schengen country. Schengen Area - European Commission (europa.eu)

Schiphol can require a lot of walking, but I do love the little KLM houses. 🙂

Agreed! I incorrectly jumped to busiest airport. Changi definitely gets my vote for best and Dubai is not far behind...especially when flying business class in their upstairs lounge. I'm looking forward to John being back on board and thank @LadyZolt for the great pics.

So happy Dani to hear that you have the family all together for Passover!

Something seems off with that list. I thought Atlanta was still the busiest in the world, and that Heathrow was not far behind. I'd also expect O'Hare, LAX, and Frankfurt.

Looks like an absolutely amazing trip!

I see what you did there. 😁 Great picture!

I don't know how this is even possible. 🤣 The activities that you plan for your grandkids are just amazing. Again, will you adopt me? While living in Ohio, we had a huge Halloween party and every year was a different theme. Of course, one year was Harry Potter. I'm still amazed at the Goblin that Micheline made from Gringott's bank.

We moved less than half of what we owned. Some things wouldn't look good in Florida and needed to be replaced (according to Micheline, happy wife... 😁). We, in order, gave some to our kids, sold some on FB Marketplace or a local consignment shop, donated some to Goodwill, left some for the new owners (who confirmed that they wanted it), and threw the rest in the 1-800-GOT-JUNK dumpster. I know that someone got a really nice, solid mahogany dining room set in nearly perfect condition for a LOT less than we paid for it many years ago.

Fun night last night with a bonfire on the beach.

Great show in person. I've recorded it but haven't watched it yet.

Inflation can definitely sneak up on you. It seems like just yesterday that I could buy a takeout lunch meal for a little more than $5. Now, it's more than $10. Out of curiosity, I looked up the average US inflation rate for the past 20 years, smoothing out the shorter-term impacts of world events, politics, etc. It's 2.43%. That means something that cost $10 in 2004 would cost more than $16 today. Inflation over the last few years has been higher than average, peaking at more than 9% in June 2022, so increased prices recently are real. Obviously, some items will see a higher inflation rate, and some will see a lower inflation rate.

When we moved 4 years ago, we incorrectly thought that our moving quote included packing. We called a couple of days before the move date asking when they'd be there to pack. Oops. We spent the next couple of days feverishly packing and making numerous trips to Lowes for more boxes and bubble wrap. The movers just loaded and unloaded everything. The quote that we received from Two Men and a Truck was a bit more because it was 2 dedicated drivers who would drive directly from our old house to our new house after loading the truck, with one stop overnight. The same guys that loaded would then unload, and our stuff wouldn't get mixed in with stuff from other people. We preferred this but we weren't going directly to our new house and the truck would have arrived before us. We instead went with Allied Moving. They put our stuff in a truck, put it in storage for a couple of days, and then later combined it with other stuff from someone else headed to the same area as us, so get more efficiency from a full truck. This meant extra moving of boxes and furniture between storage and trucks which caused a lot of damage for us. I can't imagine that everyone who moves would have the same amount of damage that we had, so we must have been an unusual situation. Still, I'd make sure that we use the Two Men and a Truck model of point to point moving the next time (although I hope there isn't a next time 😁) to avoid additional handling and damage.

Per the article, 17 lifeboats at 450 people per boat equals 7650 person lifeboat capacity. Also per the article, double occupancy is 5610 guests. The ship will often be more than double occupancy but still plenty of lifeboat capacity for guests. I agree that they'd probably use the MES system just for crew, especially if there's some training needed.

Haley is definitely my favorite singer in the PMJ videos. As one commenter put it, "Haley has a way of curling her voice around lyrics like smoke". Love that gravely tone that she can toss in. Her version of Seven Nation Army is incredible.