Message for MartinBWFC

[Sluffy]

Continuing the travel theme, what's the best place everyone has visited?

Probably not the best place I've visited but one I found had quite an emotional effect on me was visiting the first World War battlefields in France - around the Somme.

Probably not the best place to take the wife and kids though!

Funny how everything seemed so quite and tranquil now knowing how much carnage and suffering that must have gone on in those same fields not that long ago.

My grandfather fought in the war - he lost two of his brothers there.

Remembrance day tomorrow funnily enough.

Least we forget.

Oh, and Las Vegas wasn't bad either.

[ReebokTrotter]

I went on holiday to Tunisia in 1983 and stayed in Hammamet. I took a taxi to Enfidaville which is the biggest war cemetery in Tunisia. Almost 15,000 war graves of commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives in North Africa. All the graves are whitewashed and kept in pristine condition. The place is kept in an absolute  immaculate condition. It's quite spooky because everything seems very quiet and no birds seem to fly over the place. Most British tourists don't have a clue that it is there.

I was only in my mid twenties at the time but the place always stuck in my mind. There but for the grace of god. People often talk of emotional places that stick with them and remind them of the past. Enfidaville was my place. They whitewash the gravestones every year. Cutbacks and economic downturns don't come into it.

[spudulika]

Continuing the travel theme, what's the best place everyone has visited?

For me it has to be Banff in Canada. We went on a family holiday one new years eve about 5yrs ago. Myself, my wee lad and my parents (I know its sad going on hoildays with your parents in your 20's but they paid and I wasnt going to say no!!). Anyhow my wee lad took ill for the first few days so we slept through the new year and didnt leave the hotel room for 3 days. The staff were brilliant as every few hours they were coming to the room to bring clean sheets and they really were concerned about him and were constantly asking if they wanted them to call him a doctor.

It was skiing holiday and the scenery was out of this world. I can ski, Im not great but I can just about get from the top of the mountain to the bottom without breaking a limb or killing myself. I was gutted that by the end of the holiday my wee lad could ski better than me!!

We stayed in the Chateau Lake Louise in Lake Louise and the hotel was out of this world. For me it was probably my holiday of a lifetime. The only down side was that the hotel was so big that you never got the chance to meet up with anyone  more than once as you never seen the same people twice, and also JFK's Grandson holds a charity event every year too, normally in Banff itsself. This time it was in our hotel so we had security, press and general mayhem  for the last 3 days which kind of took away the tranquillity of it all. I did manage to see Buzz Aldrin, the girl from Will and Grace, John Schneider from the original Dukes of Hazzard and had my photo taken with one of the Baldwin brothers (I think it was Billy). The highlight for me however was getting my picture taken with two mounties in full uniform as it is apparently rare for them to be dressed in full ceremonial uniform

There is a large frozen lake which you can walk on, take a sledge tour with a horse pulling the sledge or you can walk the path around it. I seen the most amazing frozen waterfall and stunning hand carved ice sculptures. The whole lake is surrounded by snow covered mountains. The sights, scenery and just general tranquillity of the place is something I will never forget and words could never do it justice.