LL-L "Travels" 2007.05.20 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  19 May 2007 - Volume 03

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From: "Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc." <roger.thijs at euro-support.be>
Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.12 (03) [E]

> From: Pat Reynolds  <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
> Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.11 (01) [E]
> .... On the idea of doing 'something more' than conversing on an email
list, or contributing to a website: I wonder how you / you all would feel
about irregularly and occassionally meeting?  Perhaps at occassions where it
is probable that several members will be present anyway?
&
> From: R. F. Hahn < sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Anniversary
> .... Hah!  And just now -- after I sent off Marcel's message, and probably
because of what he wrote -- it came back to me what Pat had mentioned to me
as a possible feature: a travel section!
> Indeed! Indeed! I think that's a really terrific idea. Should this ever be
realized, I have you all remember it was Pat's idea.
>Here are my immediate thoughts about it.
>People will contribute what are essentially travel tips...


Some reflections



1 - Conferences

I happen to participate at conferences from time to time, which clearly
focus on networking.

Basically and formally they contain a bunch of (often interesting) lectures,
combined by networking receptions, starting the evening before and
continuing all along the event.

Including breakfast and lunch in the program reinforces the group meeting
additionally together. The formula allows getting better rates, though this
happens generally in business hotels, and after all still is relatively
expensive.

I generally count on 1000 to 2000 USD per conference day (depending on
sponsoring) plus up to 250 USD + taxes for lodging.

Basic advantages of the formula:

The events (mostly) are suitable for being counted for business expenses,
or, for people linked to educational institutions, can eventually be
subsidized.

Second advantage of the formula:

If the networking doesn't bring very much, one has at least had quite some
interesting lectures; if the lectures are not very good, one eventually
still has had some interesting contacts.

I encounter this formula quite often in aviation and logistics, usually
combined with a (small) exhibition (by the sponsors eventually).



2 – Place & Travel.

I can imagine this may be an issue for people who do not travel very much.
Just to share some experience from a recent trip from Belgium to the US (May
5 till May 10)

It was there for a seminar at MIT (http://www.mit.edu/, an engineering
school in the Boston area, with a business section, called "Sloan"
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/)



A – Why selecting events at the MIT?

I studied electronics engineering at Leuven University in the
sixties-seventies. Our manuals on high frequency techniques were written by
MIT researchers. Further study material included the MIT RadLab series, then
already outdated but still used as reference works, which contained the
basis of post-war radar technology.

When in Springfield, MA, in the eighties, while working for Monsanto, I
learned that engineers over there were intensively striving for getting
their kids admitted at the MIT (That house had something magic for them).

For myself, since 2005, I participated at business programs a couple of
times a year at their "Sloan" business school, and I like their scientific
(mathematical) approach of management issues (clearly distinguishing them
from the Harvard Business School, situated just one underground stations to
the West)

For the recent event, I count (from the list of participants):

100 participants from the US

1 from Japan (but a chief of staff of the US DOD)

8 from Canada

3 from Mexico

1 from Guatemala

1 from Brazil

1 from Norway

1 from Denmark

1 from Finland

1 from the UK

1 from Belgium

2 from Switzerland

1 from Spain

1 from Hungary

1 from Nigeria

2 from South-Korea

1 from Australia

 (I estimate 40% were ladies; all ages above 35 were represented. They
generally don't "fill-up" with students; students have been "used" though as
part of the infrastructure for supporting some management games)

Distance clearly plays for the attendance. Though I think this is more a
psychological barrier. A trans-atlantic economy flight ticket costs just
about one night at the hotel. However, due to travel, one looses several
business days



B – Passing the border went relatively smoothly this time.

(I the autumn last year I missed a flight connection, since border control
queuing toke more than an hour, this is exceptional though).

Since one is interrogated about one's business in the USA, one feels a bit
unhappy. Since nobody knows what they have about you in their computer, one
feels one has to be prudent at all time. People got in jail for jokes; Ted
Kennedy was on the no-fly list for a couple of days when that thing was
launched. I have a reflex of carefulness just similar to what I had when
traveling to the Soviet Union in the seventies.



C – The travel

I continue using Delta (for the frequent flyer points) which gives me a
status for free upgrades. Within the US the latter doesn't mean very much
though, just a seat in the front rows.

In the past I had some connection issues with Comair, so I was happy the
JFK-BOS flight was serviced directly by Delta. However we had to sit in the
plane for two hours at the gate, first because of a passenger list
reconciliation issue, after that the ground crew had got their push bar
broken at an other gate, and finally they had to give priority to incoming
planes for other gates. So when I arrived, Boston was already in the dark.

After picking up my car I had problems with the DE-DOT (Delaware Department
of Transportation, my cy is based in DE). For being allowed to fix my
EZ-Pass (a RFID box for passing toll booths on the highways in the
North-East, cf. http://www.ezpassde.com/) to the windshield of the rental
car, I normally had to phone for them to register the car license number,
but new regulations require this to be communicated by fax. A the Hertz exit
gate one just has to show one's driver license (no faxing facility), so I
trespassed a bit for the Ted Williams tunnel (the EZ-Pass worked anyhow).

On the way back home I had to pay 25 USD at the Delta booth for excess
weight. They didn't want to say how much overweight it was. I controlled in
Brussels: it was just 2.5 kg excess. This is the new Delta versus the old
Delta: A year ago I had a similar problem in Las Vegas and they advised me
to repack a bit into my hand luggage. New regulations are clearly less
customer friendly.



D – The stay

I usually stay for some extra days, for recuperating from jet lag and for
getting week-end rates.

The MIT event was in the Marriott, at a special rate of 259 USD. For the
other nights they wanted to charge USD 440, so I took some other hotels the
night before, and 2 nights after.

People not used to US practices should know that US rates generally are not
all-in, but additional taxes are levied, plus tips are expected (in some
restaurants they announce on the menu they charge 18 percent on your credit
card if you forget to tip).

For giving an idea of the taxes: on the 259 USD for the Marriott, you pay
additionally 14.76 USD State Tax, 10.36 City Tax and 7.12 USD Cnctr tax
(whatever that is, convention center tax?) for each night.

For the night before the seminar I reserved at the Radisson in Plymouth (164
USD + 5.7 perc state tax + 4 perc local tax). Plymouth and Deerfield were my
traditional week-end places when I had to stay in Springfield MA in my
Monsanto time in an earlier life.

Since it was dark, I relied on my TomTom 910 for guiding me, but that thing
was not updated yet for the new "Route 44" in the Plymouth area, so I drove
into nothingness for the GPS system, but I could recover at an exit after a
dozen of miles.

The restaurant at the Radisson was already closed when I arrived, but I
found the "East Bay Grill" open, a combination of a dancing with a
restaurant. The food was OK, the noise was terrible.

Next morning I did a walk in Plymouth (The stone the Pilgrim Fathers have
apparently set foot on is conserved in a kind of temple. Every nation has
its symbols, foreigners do not easily understand). (
http://www.plymouth-ma.gov/Public_Documents/index  and
http://www.visit-plymouth.com/)

At noon I did some shopping in the Independence Mall (
http://www.independencemall.com/) – I always forget things when traveling,
and quite some shops and malls are fortunately open on Sundays in the US.

In the afternoon I went to the Mayfair at Harvard, a kind of fancy fair
organized by the students, with quite some attractions, bands and little
stands for selling all kind of junk. (
http://www.harvardsquare.com/mayfair/index.php). When in Boston I usually
pass at the COOP book shop at Harvard square (
http://store.thecoop.com/coopstore/estore_home.jsp), one of the best book
shops I know in the US.

My traditional place to eat at the site is a little Mexican snack: Felipe's
Taqueria, 83 Mt. Auburn Street: 4 USD + tax for a large Burrito.

A couple of years ago  I had problems of getting a COOP-card at Harvard
because they didn't consider me as student, I could get my card without
problems though at the smaller COOP-shop at Kendall, which is MIT-oriented

Curious is that the COOP just services both MIT and Harvard in Cambridge MA,
but there is no connection with the nearby Boston University, just south of
the Carles River.



After the seminar I had booked for 2 nights in Salem (
http://www.salem.org/index.asp) (159 USD at the Salem Inn + 7.95 USD state
tax + 7.47 USD City Tax, this time including a little continental breakfast)

I initially planned to visit some witch houses, but a lady at the MIT
conference recommended the "Peabody-Essex museum and a walk at the Marginal
Way in Ogunquit.



Salem ("place of peace", replacing since 1628 the original indian name:
Naumkeag "fishing place") is known for the witch trials (in 1692), however
most cases refer to the former Salem-village, which is now incorporated as
Danvers (http://www.danvers.govoffice.com/), but Salem-town remains the
tourist attraction point.

I found some books at the Salem visitors' center:

- Salem, Cornerstones of a Historic City, commonwealth Editions, Berverly,
MA, 1999, ISBN 1-889833-09-6, 138 pp., a well documented historical
overview, with nice pictures, covering all historical aspects of the town.

- Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials, a day-by-day chronicle, 2002,
Taylor Trade Publishing, Lanham, ISBN 1-58979-132-0, xlvii + 689 pp.

- Paul Boyer & Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed, the social origins of
witchcraft, 1974, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-78526-6, xxi + 231
pp. (situating the witchcraft issue in the context of the political stride
between Salem-town and Salem-village at the time)

Interesting for this list may also be:

- John G. Rodgers, Origin of Sea Terms, 1985, The American Maritime Library,
vol. IX, Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT, ISBN 0-913372-31-5, xv + 215 pp.



The Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem (http://www.pem.org/homepage/) claims to
be the oldest museum in the US, with a heritage from the "East India Marine
Society". It has Marine sections, Native American Sections, Chinese,
Japanese and Korean art sections etc. Really worthwhile. (Entrance USD 13 +
USD 4 for the Chinese house)



In the afternoon I had a short drive to Ogunquit in Maine (
http://ogunquit.govoffice.com/). (My TomTom GPS steared me to Main Street in
Wells i.s.o. Main Street in Ogunquit, fortunately the distance between the
two is a bit less than 10 miles). The Marginal Way is a very nice walkway
along the shore, with sight at first at the Ogunquit sand beach, but ending
in the more rocky Perkins Cove. I had difficulty in finding the access to
this walkway (poorly indicated), but it is really worthwhile. I learned
Ogunquit is a preferred site for gay and lesbian events, but on the walkway
I encountered mostly families and elderly people, many of them speaking a
kind of Acadian French.



When traveling in the US one sees a lot of stars-and-stripes flags at
private homes. I think we hardly know this kind of expressive patriotism in
Europe. Maybe we lost it after the nationalistic excesses in WWII. I also
think TV-networks, like Fox, while appealing to conservative Americans,
would rather well do for pepping up European hooligans.

A lesson from Salem I think is that Americans are strongly driven by their
beliefs, ready for action, easy to motivate and to influence, but often
driven too far in their enthusiasm and difficult to stop (as in the witch
cases)



A few things about tipping,

Since in most countries of Europe rates are all in (except for a small free
rounding-off incidentally), tipping in the US is a difficult issue for
Europeans.

In restaurants I tip when I get "some" table service, be it just some ice
water, while the rest is on the self-service buffet table. In an earlier
life I learned in Springfield MA one does not tip when the owner of the
business is servicing himself (but that is difficult to find out).
Restaurant tipping is expected between 15 and 20 percent.

In the eighties just a dollar note was often left on breakfast tables, but,
since breakfast rates go up to 20 USD in major hotels, it is a bit under
expectance level.

I leave 1 USD to 1.5 USD / night for room cleaning in the hotel room at the
end of my stay.

When getting some help with luggage (e.g. from shuttle car drivers, I
usually give USD 1 / bag at the end of the trip.

I guess I'm not too far from expected.



So far my reflections after my trip to New-England.



Regards,

Roger

----------

From: R. F. Hahn < sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Travels

Thanks bunches, Roger!

Judging by your quotes at the beginning, it looks as though this is meant to
be a (the first) contribution to our travel section.  Is this correct?  In
any case thanks and kudos to you.

Folks, I really do think this travel section thing is a great idea,
especially if it contained rarely mentioned destinations, even little blurbs
about single places, or just a tip to stop at a certain spot in town to take
a look at a remarkable building from the outside, or what places to visit to
hear people talk in the old lingos.  What do you think?  Wouldn't you be
able to at least write single paragraphs (as brief as two or three lines
each) about places you find worthwhile or remarkable?  Anonymous
contributions would be fine.

I really favor the title "Lowlands Trekker" for the feature.  What does
everyone else think about that?  Any better idea?  "Lowlands Rover"?
"Lowlands Voyager"?  "Lowlands Paths"?  "Lowlands Pathfinder"?  "Lowlands
Scout"?  "Trek" is after all an old Lowlandic word, isn't it?

Hey!  Let's promote the Lowlands (in the widest) sense, especially put those
parts on the map that tourism has been neglecting so far!

Reinhard?Ron
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