[Anonymous]

[CXDiamond]

I intend to take an extended break over the summer, something I’ve meant to do for years. I can’t face the idea of my almost weekly commute through LHR which is chaotic enough at the best of times.

I’m going to travel in Chile which is a country that has long interested me but I’ve never been so any tips or suggestions are most welcome.

[LPPSKrisflyer]

I think in the wake of the prediciotns about chaos, I’m planning to avoid travel during the olympics too. Working between London and Sydney, I will make sure I’m in one place or the other for the duration.

I love the idea of the extended holiday though, that has got me thinking!

[RichHI1]

I shall avoid the UK during this period.

Chile is great country. It is unique in Latin America in having a culture that is a blend of Latin flair and Germanic efficiency. THis means most fo the time everything is much better organized (travel, driving standards, hotels etc but when things go wrong no one has a clue what to do. They just get confused and keep repeating there is a problem.

Stayed in Santiago at a couple of Hotels. My favourite was W which has a great restaurant with some Fusion sushi and nice rooms with balconies etc.

Mainly working but I had a trip out to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar which I enjoyed tremendously. Included Museum showing items from Easter Island and tour of Pablo Naruda’s house.

If you are a wine fan then visits ot some of the vinyards is worth doing and many of my colleagues went crazy in Wal Mart buying fabulous wines at apparentyl 1/3rd of price back in USA.

I am told if you have time spending a short while in one of the retreats down south or up in the Atacama desert is a great experience.

If you are there in July there should be snow and I spent a great day at a Ski Resort about 35 mins out of Santiago.

I had a couple of good flights on LAN and then they completely lost the plot. If you are flying into Chile LAN is a good bet if you are flying long distance, like LHR-MAD-SCL (using LAN for MAD-SCL). I would not use LAN for shorter runs, so from GRU say I would take TAM (same company but Brazilian airline where the CHairman is a Pilot not a Business man.) You should have fantastic time. PS The Pisco is better in Peru and the CHileans do like salt in their food so you might try it with less salt until you decide if it meets your pallet.

[Henkel.Trocken]

I think I might just plan a holiday having looked at the possibilities and read a bit about the possible chaos.

[Binman62]

Will watch the opening ceremony on the TV before flying off to Asia and an escape from the blanket 24/7 coverage. Not back till it is all over.

Watched the Beijing Opening in Malaysia with Malaysian TV joining the ceremony late and ending coverage early. Was lucky enough to be at Athens Opening but in my own country, thanks to a crack handed approach to ticketing, have got nothing…..oh I can still go ….but Thomas Cook want £24,000 for a family of 4 in a room in Paddington.

Funny how no one has got angry here at rip off Britain but Mr Platini has called hoteliers in the Ukraine crooks and Bandits…..I know which approach I prefer.

[LuganoPirate]

Reading the FT this morning, it seems the visitors are staying away, put off by high hotel prices and the threat of congested travel, strikes etc.

From a usually expected 300,000 visitors the numbers coming have been greatly reduced and hotels are now slashing prices. Also affected are the usual attractions and theatres, where it’s now possible to get seats for the most popular shows.

So many people I know have fled London for the duration of the games, and my broker, who works near St. Paul’s told me it was the easiest journey into work ever. Apart from some congestion leaving Cannon Street station that is.

Will the tube/bus drivers et al now lose their Olympic bonus?

[BeckyBoop]

LP the whole Olympics has ended up being a complete farce…

Yes getting in to work in the morning has been a breeze but part of this is due to the schools also being on holiday.

London Transport will insist they keep the bonus as they have been busy..bla bla bla…

However what I can’t believe is queues at UK immigration halls leading up to the Olympics have been so long, then where the hell has everyone gone??

[carlton]

@ BeckyBoop – I think saying it’s been a complete farce it’s a bit harsh. It’s been fairly quiet yes which is a dream however many people have chosen to work from home to avoid congested stations and over crowded trains. I have been to a couple of events at the olympic park and it is really well organised, the stewards are great and the games so far has been nothing but a joy. LT will always try and suck whatever they can out of whatever event and the olympics is no exception.

[Danwolf]

I agree with Carlton, the Olympics, in terms of crowd flow/control is very good. I visited the park on Sunday (thank you British Airways for my park tickets) and the tubes, security etc was very efficient.

I have cycled in to work both these past two days and it hasn’t been all too bad. I think there are more people (cycle wise) on the roads this morning, but as a reaction to hearing that there are few people on the road/ tube, etc.

I would turn BB’s statement around and say that because people are avoiding the tube working from home, etc, London are coping with the Games well and have avoided a farce.

[SimonS1]

Why has it been a farce? Over many months the transport companies have managed expectations, giving notice of the likely hotspots for public transport, completed as much engineering as possible in advance, lengthened trains where they can, all immigration desks at the airports fully manned (at last) etc.

We certainly had plenty of notice in the West End and like many companies we had a plan in place months ago for staff to work from home with only essential staff coming in.

There will sadly always be chancers amongst the train companies and hotels looking to squeeze the last £ out of the system, sometimes though they only end up shafting themselves.

Seems to me that people are a tad frustrated the predicted chaos did not materialise. Nothing to moan about, whatever next.

The funniest thing for me was the lame excuse that appeared in the FT today about empty seats at the Olympics. Seats apparently kept open for coaches and officials who may need to flit from place to place. “Imagine the embarassment if Michelle Obama turned up and there was no seat for her” it said. Here’s the answer – buy a bloody ticket like the rest of us.

[BeckyBoop]

Carlton, Dan , Si,

Yes workers in London have had the foresight to stay and work from home where applicable or like some of the members above go on holiday. I am working from home most afternoons this week. The LT are absolute skank in managing the transport Olympic or not. The special Olympic lanes have not allowed taxi’s to use it but they have let the busses.

The Olympics can be summarised as follows.

Build up – Strikes – LT & UKBA, long immigration queues, overpriced tickets, accommodation, flights etc…

During – The opening ceremony was mediocre at best. Empty/poor attendance at the events hence it gives the impression that they have been well organised and scandal over doping and judging.

After effect – complete waste of money and a national embarrassment by UK PLC!

The UK should never bid to hold these world events. It always ends in disaster.

[Papillion53]

BeckyBoop

That’s all a bit harsh! I am not particularly interested in sport and could happily have no Olympics going on, but and it’s a big BUT, I accept there are lots of people who are.

That being said, I am happily spending the morning watching the Eventing teams at Greenwich, with the GB team doing a fantastic job – I should of course be doing other things, but hey ho, they can wait! How could you fail to be impressed with the beautiful stadium at Greenwich, the unbelievably handsome horses and the skills of the riders. Would I want to be there in person, no I am quite happy watching it on TV.

We did think the opening ceremony had a few cringe factors but we loved HM with Mr Bond – after all what girl would refuse to go with Daniel Craig! 😉 :-), and Rowan Atkinson absolutely brilliant as usual! As for the other stuff, NHS,Industrial revolution, did anyone outside the UK get that?

Signing off now to watch Zara Phillips. Her Granny must be so proud! 🙂

Edited to add: just listened to Zara being interviewed, any Granny would be proud, what a lovely down to earth young lady.

[SimonS1]

The opening ceremony was mediocre at best? In your view. But clearly not shared by 20m plus people who were still tuned in after midnight.

The issues with immigration, strikes etc were not the fault of the Olympics people. Unfortunately you always get people willing to hold others to ransom and I don’t really see what the failure of the gov’t to man immigration desks properly has got to do with the Olympics.

Unfortunately you always get some people who are never happy.

[BeckyBoop]

Si, 20m worldwide or just the UK? Surely if it wasn’t for the Olympics we wouldn’t have had the immigrations queue problems that we have had this summer?

Papilllion, Mr Bean was actually my favourite bit 😉 xx

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