The Travel Show: Live from the Land Down Under!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Today and welcome to Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get away guru, and I've gotten
away down Under or down under here and it's Sydney,
Australia today. I'm joined back in the crossroads of the
West Salt Lake City. John Potter is Baden Studio. Through
the miracle of technology, I am in Australia today.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
John is in Salt Lake City.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
As a result, we can't take in any of your calls.
We're still working on our World War II equipment here
to do that. Non hiyy, that's right. Well, it's summertime
down under, you know, south through the equator. The seasons
are reversed. You know, it's really nice. The temperature the

(00:50):
high has been about eighty degrees. I'm here with a
wonderful group Travel Show listeners. We arrived here on the twelfth,
so three days ago, and we've we're doing everything. Sydney
is one of my favorite places on Earth, you know.
And I've got to say I love their accent. They

(01:10):
tell me I have an accent. They have no accent.
But uh, you know, we've seen some of the highlights
of Sydney. It's a very clean city, wonderful China Town.
Not as big as the Chinatown in my hometown San Francisco,
but it's a it's a wonderful place. Some of the highlights,
of course, is the iconic Sydney Opera House. Yes, it's built.

(01:35):
Its right there on the harbor. That's circular cake and
it was built to resemble.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Sales. Do you think about that, you.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Know it does actually, yeahs I've been in it, I've
attended concerts in there, and it's just one of those
iconic areas now maybe my favorite area.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Maybe there's two of them.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
What is called the Rocks and it dates back to
eighteen eighty four when the first settlers. That was the
first European settlement in Australia. And well you know how
it was originally settled. No, have you ever heard an
Englishman use the term pommy? King Charles when he was

(02:22):
Prince Charles once referred to himself as I'm a pom pom.
The first European settlers in Australia were prisoners p me,
prisoners of Mother England or a palm or a palmy
and it's not an offensive term or anything like that.

(02:43):
But they settled in the Rocks area and you have
these labyrinth of alleyways and streets. It's now boutiques and shops.
No high rise buildings in the Rocks and the cruise
ships you bored right there. Oh okay, we just did
a bit it go and so it's really nice. But

(03:04):
there's outdoor festivals, open markets in the Rocks area. It's
what it's called circular k and that's where the ships
come in and out. They have ferries all over the
surrounding area. Another favorite area is called Darling Harbor. I've
heard of Darling Harbor, yes, and I said, Kathy Darling,
let's go to the harbor, and they named it after us.

(03:28):
It's a massive area right on the water in a harbor.
Small boats come in and out of fact. What I
like to do is take a water taxi from the
Rocks over to Darling Harbor. The Sydney Aquarium, which is fantastic,
is there. But there's boutiques and shops and restaurants, restaurants and.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Activities and fun things to do.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now, have you ever had something named after you, John,
like Potterville that was in the movie. You remember Potter
in the movie. Yeah, Jimmy Stewart, Yeah, okay, And I
actually had the Australians named a beach after me. It's true,

(04:13):
which it's the most manly beach.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
No, I'm not buying that one.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Well, I took off my shirt and they asked me
to put it back on. No, what's fun to do
is right there, just down from our hotel is the ferries.
You can go to all of the different islands and
points events over to Bondai Beach. I've gone surfing at
Bondai Beach, not on this trip, but on previous trips.

(04:40):
I've been known to tease the waves. But Manly Beach
is it's kind of like Santa Monica, Santa Cruz. It's
a beach community with cotton candy and fine restaurants and
fish and chips and you know, everything that you can imagine.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Well, we've had a wonderful time.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Now it is actually Sunday over here, about five am.
We're eighteen hours ahead.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
And have you been to bed or are you just
getting ready to go to bed after the show?

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, of course I've been out clubbing all night.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Huh.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
And the ship is here. We've actually boarded yesterday. We're
gonna be sailing very shortly. We'll have a day at sea,
and then on because it's Sunday here. On Monday, we
arrive in Melbourne. Now it's not Melbourne, No Melbourne.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Whenever I hear somebody pronounce Melbourne, I just cringe, rookie.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
And then on to Tasmania and then on to New Zealand.
Al Tayro a land of the long white cloud, both
the north and the South island. Now a week from today,
are you Are you a Lord of the Rings fan?

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Did you like those movies?

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Really?

Speaker 3 (05:49):
Okay? Do you like anything other than the t Bone
Steak in life?

Speaker 1 (05:53):
No?

Speaker 3 (05:54):
No?

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Is there anything else? No Disney, dis Disney okay.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
But we'll be in fjord Land National Park next week,
Milford sound this is Lord of the Rings country. Just fantastic.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
You know.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
We've got about eighty something travel show listeners, and I
will be doing this same cruise itinerary next year February
of twenty twenty six. We actually board the ship on
the fifteenth of February and disembark in Auckland next year
on March the first. If you'd like to join me
next year, simply go to morriscolumbus dot com. Morriscolumbus dot

(06:37):
com and on the homepage, scrolled on. I think it's
the third item. Morris Murdoch Escorted tours. Click on cruises
and look at twenty twenty six. Speaking of cruises, this one, John,
I'm so excited about. I know you are, and you
know exactly what I'm talking about, because you could do Disneyland.

(06:57):
It either ends both, thank you very much. I call
it the Spring Break Escape Cruise. April sixth to the
tenth next year, twenty twenty six. Now I've checked and
most of the Utah school districts, not all, but most
of them that is their spring break. It's a Monday
through Friday spring break. This cruise is Monday through Friday

(07:22):
over spring break. You talk about a wonderful family opportunity.
Kathy and I gave this to our children for Christmas,
our five married children and our grandchildren were taking them all.
We said, listen, we're going to book a balcony cabin.
Will We will pay for an inside cabin, and if

(07:44):
you want to upgrade us on you will pay the
cruise fare, the taxes, you pay your gratuities, and you
get yourself there and the kids are coming. We're so
excited that grandkids are jumping out of their skin to
head out on a cruise.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
But here's the itinerary.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
On Monday, April six we board the ship at the
Port of Los Angeles, which is really San Pedro. It
is and it's actually it's closer to the Long Beach
Airport than lax but it's very convenient. It's a short
drive from lax Is, right down the freeway. And so
April sixth and well afternoon sail, so we have that

(08:19):
afternoon and.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Evening at sea.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
On Tuesday, April seventh, we're in Catalina Island. I love
Catalina Island. It is the It is the ultimate beach
community and has a beautiful powdery white sand beach there.
And what's it the Hurst Castle, Wrigley Castle, you know, Chicago,

(08:44):
I know, I know. So we'll spend the day there
and sail late afternoon. On Wednesday, April eighth, we're cruising.
I love the days at sea. Three hundred and sixty
degrees of open ocean and we're on the Navigator of
the Seas with Royal Caribbean. I've sailed on that I
think four times. It is a fantastic ship. It's one
of my favorites. And if you have children, the kids programs,

(09:06):
the teenage programs are off the chart. They have water slides,
they have water slides, climbing walls. I think they have
the air flow, don't they. I don't think they got
out they got the floor writer.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Oh the flow riding, which is like boogie boards or surfing.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeahsurfing.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
On Thursday, we make a stop in Mexico and then
on Friday back to Los Angeles. So it's a five day,
four night cruise. Rates vary by departure date and are
subject to change in availability at the time of booking.
Let me tell you what they are currently, again subject
to change. I'm going to look at two adults, two kids,

(09:43):
and Royal Caribbean defines kids as twelve and under. Yes,
for two adults, two kids, an inside cabin three hundred
and fifty six bucks including all taxes. That's a great
ocean view. For twenty a balcony four seventy seven. This
is per person and a suite kind of John Potter suite. Yeah,

(10:05):
is six ninety nine. Now where can you take for
five days with all meals entertainment included?

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Water parks?

Speaker 2 (10:13):
See Mexico Keatleen Island for three hundred and fifty six dollars.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
For five days.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
There is not much you can do.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
These prices are going to be going up.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
You want to get a hold of your favorite travel
advisor and book this as soon as possible.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
And remember this is April sixth to the tent next year.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Hey, listen, when we come back, I want to tell
you that some of the Utah Travel Expo discounts are
still available, and I'm going to tell you how to
always fly for less. You're listing to the Travel Show

(10:55):
every weekend at this time on this station, and I'm
Larry Gelwiz, the Getaway Guru, joined in studio back in
Salt Lake City by John Potter, one of our crack agents.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
They're at Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Morris Columbus Travel is the sponsor of this show, and
do check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus
dot com. John what end of February?

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Excuse me? End of January.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Last month, the Utah Travel Exco one hundred and seven
vendors meaning airlines, cruise lines, safari companies, hotels and resorts
all gathered for the expo with exclusive discounts, and there's
still a few discounts that are available. Yes, I'll mention
a couple of them. I think you had a really

(11:45):
good one. Delta Vacations, the vacation arm of Delta Airlines
has a triple discount discount. Number one guaranteed airfare below
anything you can get on your own, true or not true,
that's very true. Guaranteed hotel discount. And if you put
those two together they package them, it's lower than if

(12:05):
you bought them separately. And then Delta Vacations and Morris
Columbus Travel will take that already discounted package and drop
it up to an additional two hundred dollars per booking,
provided that it's booked no later than the end of
this month February twenty eighth. Now, Alma Waterways, you know
I love Ama Waterways.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yes, Every cruise line offers a pre and post land package.
It's usually two days, sometimes three days, with hotel transfers, sightseeing,
breakfast daily, and they stay in five star hotels, I
mean just great hotels. And later in the show you're
going to talk about that Paris Normandy group You're tay

(12:49):
with a free pre cruise Paris.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
Stay Well.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Alma Waterways is offering complementary land packages on select cruises.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
If you book, you don't have to sale.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
If you book on or before the end of March
March thirty first, now you have a tour program.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Also with Globis, Yes, the Globist family of brands will
reduce your package of six nights or longer by one
hundred dollars per person. So if you're a family of five,
that's a five hundred dollars discount.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Or if you're from Colorado City and a family of
fifty two uh huh and fifty two hundred bucks, I
guess you're all in the same room.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Yeah, And that applies to the Globist Tours, the Cosmos Tours,
or the Avalon Waterways Cruises.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Your Avalon's a good cruise line. They are, they really are.
And you have Globis and Cosmos. Cosmos Is and Globis
are tour companies. Yes, tours Cosmos tends to be more
on the econogic friendly, budget friendly and Globe's Gateway more

(14:02):
a little more upscale, better hotels, but you get what
you pay for. Yes, and they're both good, very good,
very good products. Yes, well, let me ask you this.
You are a travel advisor, John Potter for Morris Columbus Travel. Yes,
you have a lot of guests and clients asking for airfare,

(14:24):
and they're always that Nobody says, sell me the most
expensive ticket. I would like to hear that just once,
just once in my life.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
How do you go about finding the best fare?

Speaker 1 (14:36):
I do several things. I look at my tour operator
fairs see if that's going to help. I look at
what I can do on my own, and sometimes I
look at consolidators or quite often you can do different
routings to get lower price.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
You mentioned tour operator fair.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
You know I have nicknamed that the secret airfare secret
because if you call the airline, they don't know anything
about it. A tour excuse me, A tour operator fare
or secret airfare is a heaven like delta vacation is
a heavily discounted airfare, but you can't sell it air only.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
It has to be.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
Packaged with something, maybe a hotel, maybe a car rental,
and it saves a ton of money and you can't
buy it from everybody. There's a handful of authorized and
lic travel companies, including Morris Columbus travel that have access
to these well, I, of course, being the getaway guru,

(15:38):
I have found a way to get absolutely the lowest
air transportation cost. Okay, let me tell you that just
the other week, a stowaway paided on Delta Airlines flight
two sixty four from New York JFK to Paris. The
woman managed to get how does this happen? She gets

(16:01):
through tsa secure without a boarding pass and she boards
the aircraft without showing a boarding pass or identification or
a passport now here.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
She ran into a problem once she's on the aircraft.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
The flight was completely sold out, so no seats were
available to her. She hides in the lavatory for takeoff,
but as they're halfway or more across the Atlantic, they
only discovered her a couple hours before landing in Paris.
They can't turn around to JFK because they noticed this

(16:41):
woman would.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Go into the lab for a long time.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Maybe it was the burrito she ate, and then she'd
come out and go to another lavoratory and gin for
a long time. Maybe it was the chili, and she
did for nine hours and no drinks or food, no,
So they arrested her in Paris.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
I don't know how it turned out, but interesting.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Back in March of last year, Stowaway was caught flying
Delta Airlines from Salt Lake to Austin, and they found him.
He snapped a photo of a child's boarding pass and
talked his way onto the plane.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
But here again the.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Flight was full, so he's sitting in the can for
the whole flight. But they hadn't take took off yet
and the plane had to come back from the taxi
way back to the gate and haul this dufus off.
The Salt Lake's not going to be outdone because there
was another incident in Salt Lake. I don't know what's

(17:44):
going on with them. So if you really want to
go cheap, I guess you have to stow away. I
don't recommend it.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
I wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
The fine is going to be much more than your
airline table.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
That's right, That's right.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Hey, listen, we have the new trend that is absolutely
obscene in hotels. When you check in, there's a new
something happening to you that I'm going to blow the
lid on that you want.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
To watch out the view.

Speaker 4 (18:17):
What is happening at Hotel Chipio that is so bad
that morning we come back getaway, Guru, and I've gotten
away with a wonderful group of Travel show listeners down
under Australia and New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
We boarded a beautiful Princess cruise ship.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yesterday and later today we will be sailing to Melbourne.
Not Melbourne, Melbourne MEBN in Australia, Tasmania, North and South
Islands of New Zealand. Now, in that last segment I
talked about a disturbing trend.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
We're seeing it more and more hotels. Now I mentioned
John Potter is with us today back in studio, and
the wind just blew in. Mark Falmo also in studio
in Salt Lake City, Mark, welcome to the Travel Show
one more time.

Speaker 5 (19:22):
Glad to be here and certainly hope you're having a.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
Great Thank you very good.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
We just had to get his mic turned on who's
running the show back there?

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Apart?

Speaker 2 (19:32):
The whole world falls apart. I'd like to your take
John and Mark on this. There's a new trend where
hotels are requesting that guests at their hotel tip the
front desk.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
Agent when the agent checks them in. What do you think,
Mark Man, I'm.

Speaker 5 (19:55):
Just shaking my head I can't believe it it's true.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
I mean, there's some recent story is the Merritt's LaSalle
hotel in Texas, and uh, there's another hotel in Boston.
I mean, it's starting to sweep the country. It seems
like everybody. You go to Costavida or Cafe Rio or
restaurants like that, and you pay with a credit card

(20:18):
and they turn the device around, the pavement device and
want twenty three percent.

Speaker 5 (20:24):
For what, yeah, saying at a restaurant, I mean something reasonable.
What realy gets me is you go to a Hamburger
place and they want to tip.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, you know, the big question is who do you tip?
How much do you tip? You know, like your hairdresser.
And I've always wondered, how about some of these taxi
drivers who don't even get out of the car. They
pop the trunk, you load your bag, you get in,
and they're expecting a tip.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
You know, I've never understood that.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
Speaking of hair dressers, is that why your hair always.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
Looks the way it n my own? Perfect?

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Koful he's too cheap to tip the hair tip?

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Wonders for you?

Speaker 2 (21:02):
It could help me out anyway. I find this absolutely offensive.

Speaker 3 (21:06):
Yes, you know we're gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
A few years ago, I did a lead story on
this show. Is tipping out of control?

Speaker 3 (21:16):
I think? I think it is. It is.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
You know, Frontier Airlines has requested that you tip the
flight attendance when they bring a snack or drinking, or.

Speaker 3 (21:25):
You can do it on the way out.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
They'll even give you a QR code if you want
to tip it down Frontier Airlines. I mean, come on.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
The seat belts don't release until you pay the tip.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
I think with Frontier they should tip me for flying
their airlines. Okay, let's play stump the dummy. I'm down
under and it's summertime down here, beautiful. I hope it
just pounds you with snow while I'm gone. All Right,
I'm gonna give you the Australian word or phrase, just

(22:00):
maybe three or four of them, five of them. I
want you to tell me what that means in American English.
I will start with an easy one. Put another shrimp
on the barbie. What's a barbie? A barbecue?

Speaker 3 (22:15):
Ding ding? One for one, Mark, you're a good bloke,
a good guy, A good guy. Two for two.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
I'm gonna put it in my boot trunk.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Of the car, trunk of the car.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
You guys are three for three. You know, I will
see you in a fortnite two weeks.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
This is too easy. Okay, football soccer correct er now
in England or France, football is soccer In America at soccer,
but football, as you know, the game that's played in
heaven rugby, uh is rugby is what they call football.

(23:01):
And they call our American football gridiron? And what do
they call our soccer? What we call stupid?

Speaker 1 (23:09):
You just made a lot of enemies.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
No, I can't, I think see.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
I'm a football and rugby guy, and soccer is a
fine sport. Kind of a waste of good grass, but
a fine sport. I coached my son's soccer team, no kidding,
to a perfect record. That's a true statement, you know. No,
I do like soccer. I like to make jokes about it,
all right. One more, he's an ankle biter a little dog, No,

(23:36):
a little child is an ankle biter. Well, you know,
I love the Australian people. I know, Mark, you've spent
some time down Under, and I don't know, there's just
something that is happy and joyful, yeah about the Australians,
And as I was telling John, they tell me I
have an accent.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
I don't have an accent. They have an accent.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yes, I've got, as I said, just we're just starting
wonderful cruise. We've been three days in Sydney, and you know,
a NonStop flight, I call it three meals, three movies,
three naps, and you're in Australia. It is a longer
flight and there's no way to sugarcoat that. However, it's
all night time flying. I have a routine that I'm

(24:22):
going to pass on because I'm a good guy. I'm
going to pass on my how to overcome jet lag,
how to pass the time on long transoceanic flights.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
Now, it's very scientific. It's been proven.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
I have a sleeping pill, a prescription pill that would
knock an elephant out, all right, So I take that
and I just am conked all right crossing the ocean.
And when I get to the other side, like you
arrive in Australia in the morning, you know, you arrive
in Europe in the morning. You arrive in Bangkok in

(24:59):
the morning. When we take those groups over there, and
I then overdose on diet coke. I do because the
worst thing you can do is sleep all day because
then you'll be up all night. Yeah, and so I
you'll take a one hour power nap and I overdose
and diet coke so I can then stay up all
night and go clubbing. Well, listen, I'll be giving the

(25:23):
reports for the next couple of weeks on our adventures.
I'll be in Fjordland National Park, Milford Sound next week
the following Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand. But next year
you can join me on this same excursion Australian, New
Zealand February fifteen to March first. Next year, twenty twenty six,

(25:46):
we're the same thing Sydney. It's with Holland America. By
the way, John, Holland's a great cruise line.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
They really are.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
What do you like about them?

Speaker 1 (25:54):
Their food, Their food is amazing. It's a step above Princess,
not the Princess is bad, but it's a step of Bove.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
No, it's a premium line.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Yeah, and their ships aren't that large, your medium size.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
Twenty five hundred.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
So we'll have Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, across the Tasman Sea
and then North and South Island including Lord of the
Rings Country February fifteen to March fifth, twenty twenty six.
And you know, Mark, cruise prices, air prices, hotel prices
don't stay the same, Yes, right as they fill up,

(26:29):
it goes up. And we've seen that all the time
with prices on cruises and airfare. And so you want
to book this early, go call your favorite Morris Columbus
travel advisor.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
You can call.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
John at eight oh one four eight three fifty two
fourteen correct, and that'll give you John to be happy
to help you.

Speaker 3 (26:50):
Ror any of our good travel advisors.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Or go to Morriscolumbus dot com and on the homepage
click on Morris Murdoch Escorts, click on cruises and there
we are now, mister Faldmo, you're back in studio in
Salt Lake City, and I actually John sent me a
picture of you. You actually have a green shirt on

(27:16):
in honor of Ireland because you feel about Ireland the
Emerald Isle the way I feel about Thailand. And Mark
is a Leprechahn of Leprechahn ancestry. And you put together
a Castles of Ireland tour this year.

Speaker 5 (27:35):
Yeah, you know, and Larry, you mentioned something about the
Australian people, how friendly and happy and fun they are.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
That's the same with Irish.

Speaker 5 (27:43):
They are some of the happiest, most friendly, most entertaining
people that you'll ever find in the world.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
You know one thing that it's called the Emerald Isle,
and it's absolutely true, John, that it is green year round.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
And until you've been that, you think, oh no, it
can't be. You know, the.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Grass will turn back, no mark. It is literally green
year round.

Speaker 5 (28:07):
It is. You know, they've mowed their lawns eleven months
of the year now.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
And the coats the rest the other month.

Speaker 5 (28:16):
And you know it's it's interesting weather phenomenon that they have.
But Ireland has some great weather. One thing I love
about it and this is called the Castles of Ireland.
There are over twenty thousand castles that have been built
in Ireland since the seven hundreds, and of course most
of them are piles of rubble now not operation, but

(28:37):
some of them are still standing and absolutely beautiful. We
stay at one of the most deluxe castles.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
Oh my gosh, I love it.

Speaker 5 (28:45):
You know, I love taking people in because their jaws
drop and they say, this is a real castle.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
It's a real sixteenth century Castle and the grounds at
Dromolan Castle. They've turned it into a five star deluxe hotel.
I've stayed there several times. But John, you have a
championship golf course, you have equestrian horseback riding, you have falconry, archery,
skeet shooting, walks.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
I mean, it's a massive estate.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
Bicycling it is, you know, And of course we see
a lot of other places. We stop at Blarney. Larney
Castle is one of the places we stop where the
Blarney Stone is and of course it's reputed that if
you kiss it it will.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
Give you the gift of gas.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Here it comes and you know it's on TV.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Where comes to you?

Speaker 5 (29:29):
And said that and the commentator said, well did Larry kiss?
I say he made out with you.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
My kids say drop the corner of the slot, and
Dad just keeps talking.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 5 (29:39):
And so so we stopped there and lots of other sites.
The Cliffs of More were the Cliffs of Insanity from
The Princess Bride.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
That's a great movie, spectacular cliffs.

Speaker 5 (29:50):
We go to Dingle Peninsulus juts right down to the
Atlantic and it's so beautiful that you drive around if
you can imagine the wild Atlantic ocean wave is crashing
on the beautiful.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
It is beautiful.

Speaker 3 (30:03):
Give me the dates of this tour.

Speaker 5 (30:06):
It's September twenty six, twenty sixth through October third.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
September twenty sixth to October third. Now you can go
early or stay late and make the Now you are
going to be their personal host in tour.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
In addition to a local guy.

Speaker 5 (30:22):
I've got the best local guide in Ireland. He is
so much fun and real expert.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
You know this.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
There really is a magic in Ireland. And you can
look at this itinerary at Morriscolumbus dot com. On the homepage,
click on Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours, click on Europe and
the dates again September twenty sixth October third of this year.

(30:48):
Mark all of your Ireland programs do so well. I
would book this real fast. The price is just twenty
five seventy nine per person double ocracy.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
That is a deal.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
I'm back on the show and again and talk about Ireland.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Actually look forward to it.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
Hey when we come back, Passport validity and how to
redo online.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
Welcome back to the travel show. I'm Larry Gelwicks.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
That getaway guru joined today in studio back in Salt
Lake City because I'm in Sydney, Australia, John Potter.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
If you'd like to talk to John.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
About travel or any of the programs, give him a
call on his direct line eight oh one four eight
three fifty two fourteen. That's fifty two fourteen, and John
to be happy to chat with you or talk to
any of our outstanding Morris Columbus Travel advisors. That was

(31:49):
a nice visit you had back home with Mark Valdmo.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
It was I want to go with him on that trip.
It just sounds amazing.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
He is one of the nicest men.

Speaker 5 (31:59):
You know.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
I have serious he said publicly. He reminds me biblically
of Nathaniel of Old, a man in whom there is
no guile. There is no guile in that mad That's true.
I'm guiled up myself, Thank you very much. Now, a
passport is your key to international travel. You can't even

(32:20):
drive to Mexico or Canada without a valid passport.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
True.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
You know one thing that a lot of people don't understand, John,
is that countries, and it varies by country, have different
validity requirements. What I mean by that, for example, going
to Kenya on my annual Great Migration Safari, going to Thailand,

(32:48):
they require that you and most countries in the world
have the same requirement that your passport be valid for
at least six months beyond your return date. And I
know of people who it's like five and a half months.
It's a couple of days short, and they think, well

(33:09):
it's close enough, they are denied boarding the plane. Now,
some countries it's three months, some countries it's one month.
The most interesting is Mexico. Yes, it has Your passport
has to be valid on the day you enter. So
what if you it expires, Let's say today February fifteenth,

(33:32):
and you go. You can get into Mexico, whether you
drive or fly. You have to have a passport, but
your passport now is not valid to come back.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Yep, you have to stay there.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
You really have to.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
One of the good things is you can renew your
passport online. Simply go to that wonderful travel site maintained
by the US government travel dot state dot gov.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
We actually talked about this a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, travel dot state dot gov, and then click on
get a US passport, and then you want to click
on on this follow up page. I'm an adult renewing
online now. To renew you have to be at least
twenty five years old. Your passport has cannot be expired

(34:26):
more than five years. For adults, they're good for ten years,
so it'd be fifteen years after the date of issue.
You cannot have a change of name, gender identity, date
of birth. I don't know how your date of birth change,
but a gender identity.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Name yeah, name janse so like a what married woman
now wants a dinner married name?

Speaker 3 (34:50):
Can't do it. I can't do it, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
And right now renewals are taking six to eight weeks.
I would say give yourself at least.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
Four months yes to play now.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
I always tell people John to make three copies of
the passport information page. That's one with your photo and
your personal date of birth, data, issue data.

Speaker 3 (35:17):
Of expectation and picture.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
And one of the critical things that your name on
your airline ticket international must match exactly. Yes, it can't
be Bill when your name is William, and if it's
w I L L I A M, it's got to
have two l's.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
And and if you've got a middle name or middle initial,
it needs to be on your airline.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
Ticket on international domestic. You don't have to put the
middle name in it. But that's something people don't understand.
I've actually had some tours where people have bought their
own tickets and they got denied boarding because the name
did not match. Out Here in the United States, they
often will work with you. You get overseas flat out,

(36:06):
you have to buy a new ticket.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
YEP.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
They play the rules.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
So this is why I suggest three copies. The first
copy is a photo copy, like a zero you know
photo copy machine. Make at least a couple of copies.
Actually make three copies. Keep one at home, one in
your carry on, one in your suitcase. The second copy
is a photo on your cell phone that you store

(36:31):
in your gallery YEP of that, and the third is
download that photo to your server and keep it at home.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
Why three copies? John?

Speaker 2 (36:39):
In the unlikely event that your passport is lost or stolen,
you will not leave that country.

Speaker 3 (36:46):
You will not come home.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
Unless you have a replacement passport, which you can get
from an US embassy or some consulate general offices of
the United States. You have to prove who you are.
You can't just say well, I'm John Potter and I'm
an American. Well, so what so you're calling Anton Myrtle
back in Utah saying I need a picture of my passport.

(37:13):
I need a copy of my birth certificate. I think
it's in the third drawer in the kitchen. Well it's
not if you have So you have the photo copy.
But what if all your photocopies are stolen? You have
your cell phone? Well what if your cell phone is lost?
Now you with the when you've downloaded it to your
own server, you can go to any PC anywhere in

(37:35):
the world and print a copy.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Hey, when we come back for our number two, John's
going to introduce this.

Speaker 6 (37:41):
To Paris and Normandy with I'm a Waters Welcome back
to our number two of the Travel Show. So I'm
Larry Gelwick's get.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Away Guru and today I'm in Sydney, Australia. Now it's
February fifteenth for you back home, but it's February sixteen
for me here.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
It's about six am in the morning.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
We're eighteen hours ahead of you, and we've got a
group of wonderful group.

Speaker 3 (38:18):
These are such nice people.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
Travel show listeners and guests of Morris Columbus Travel here
with me. We've spent three days in Sydney. We boarded
a cruise ship yesterday. We'll be sailing today which is Sunday,
to Melbourne, Australia, and then down to Tasmania onto New Zealand,
North and South Island. Spend a few days in Auckland

(38:44):
and one of the highlights is Hobiton. Now I'm joined
in studio back in salt Lake, John Potter, Well are
you still with me?

Speaker 3 (38:52):
John?

Speaker 1 (38:53):
I'm still here.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
Hobbiton that's famous for what movie Lord of the Rings.
Lord of the Rings and the Hobbits all right there?
You remember in that movie, All in the shire and
those homes for the Hobbits that are built right into
the hill. They're all there. Oh really, and the movie
set is still there. It's absolutely fascinating.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
Have you found the precious precious?

Speaker 3 (39:19):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Absolutely. We're going to visit Hamilton and Temple View and
of course Auckland, seeing all of the sites. Now, let
me ask you a question. What is it about a
river cruise that is so appealing and so wonderful.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
I think it's the size of the vessel. You're not
on there with three thousand other people. It's usually anywhere
between one hundred to one hundred and fifty people on
board a cruise ship. They're very small to very intimate.
But I think the best part is all your shore
excursions are included in the cruise. You aren't paying extra
for them.

Speaker 2 (39:54):
And you know they'll dock the ship right in the
middle of town. You may visit some big cities, small cities,
a village, a hamlet, and you get right in there
and you don't overwhelm.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
A small village.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, with five thousand people getting off an ocean liner
or something like that. Well, you are going to be
personally hosting a Paris and Normandy river cruise next year
August twenty sixth to September fifth, with Almah Waterways, a
deluxe over the top river cruise company.

Speaker 1 (40:31):
Yes, I am so excited for this. I don't want
to have to wait a year and a half for it.
But yes, we're going to fly into Paris. We're going
to leave on August twenty sixth of next year, fly
into Paris, hopefully on the Delta NonStop flight, and then
we're gonna spend two nights in Paris City of Light. Oh,

(40:52):
just amazing deluxe hotel, Deluxe hotel tours around the city included,
and breakfast daily, breakfast daily, your transfers included. Our guide
from on the waterways that's going to be sailing with
us on the cruise ship will be with us as well.

Speaker 3 (41:10):
Director.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
Yeah, and so you get to know him before you
know everybody else on the cruise ship. And then we're
going to board the cruise ship. Right they're in Paris
and sail down and visit Normandy. Now, if you've never
been to Normandy, this is going to change. This is
D Day, Yes, D Day the American Cemetery. Here's this

(41:31):
beautiful cemetery. It just tumbles you with all those gravestone
markers all in a row, a US flag sailing, but
you're still in France. It is just overwhelming.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
Its most cemetery.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
And you know, you sit there and look from the
cliffs down on the beaches where uh, mostly teenage boys landed,
and they, you know, so so many of them were
just gunned down as they got climbing up.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
Those cliffs those things.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
And you know what's so interesting, John, is you can
go on YouTube and put D Day landing and watch
actual film, not recreation, not a movie, actual film of
the d Day landing and just the heroism of those
young men.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah, it's just amazing and it's just humbling and beautiful.
It reminds me a lot of Pearl Harbor and Hawaii.
I have been there many times and it's still emotional
for me and Normandy. I've only been there once, but
I know it's going to be the same, just in
a beautiful area, just absolutely breathtaking.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
Now you're going to be making some other stops and
one of my favorite cities along the Sinne River is Rowan.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
It's a medieval city and you still by the way
Joan of Arc was tried there. That was the sight
of her trial and burning.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
I think, yes, she got burned and got burned.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Where else are you stopping?

Speaker 1 (42:57):
We are going to stop in vern and that's the
Celeltic heritage there. We're going to visit Les Andeles, which
is Monaise area Ony the Artist and so a lot
of history on this one.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
Now for you, I think this probably not for anybody else,
but just for you. There's one thing after the cruise
that may eclipse anything you see.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
It probably will, and this will be an optional tour
we're going to offer at the end of the cruise
Disneyland Paris.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
Have you ever been to Disneyland Paris. I have, I really,
of course you have.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
I loved it when I was there, but I got
to be honest. I enjoyed Normandy.

Speaker 3 (43:45):
Moore of course. Of course.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
Oh Disneyland Paris is amazing. They've got two theme parks there,
and we're going to go visit that as well for
two days and then we'll fly back home.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Let me tell you something about this to night. It's
three calendar days, two hotel nights, pre cruise Paris option
with transfers, breakfast, five star hotels and the tours, all
of this some that's you're getting that free if you

(44:16):
book no later than the end of March. And again
all rates cruise rates are subject to change and availability
at the time of booking. But if someone after March
thirty first were to buy this, it's priced at one thousand,
two hundred and fifty per person, are twenty five hundred
dollars per couple, and you get this free on John's

(44:40):
tour if you book it before the end of March.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
That's right. And I don't know why anybody would not
want to go in and spend two extra nights in Paris.
You can never have enough time in Paris. Just think
of all the crapes you can eat. That's a say,
it really is and so and of course going to
the Louver, And I learned at the Louver. If you
go in the afternoon, it's uh, you get a better

(45:05):
viewing of the Mona Lisa, right.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
And if you got them crowded, yes, the crowds come
in the morning. Now on this one, this tour is
not listed on the Morris Murdoch Group website, right, I
think the best thing to do is call John direct
at eight oh one four eight three fifty two fourteen.
Eight oh one four eight three fifty two fourteen. You

(45:30):
can find it on Themorriscolumbus dot com website.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
Yes, you go to where it says fine travel upper
left hand corner, left hand corner, and then you go
down to where it says Morris Columbus departures. And it's
the very first one listed.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Very good Paris in Normandy with Pluto himself August twenty
sixth to September fifth, twenty twenty six. What is it
about the UK, the United Kingdom, the British Isles, that
is so captive, it's like going home.

Speaker 1 (46:03):
I think it's the Royals, the whole royal influence, as
well as the accents. I mean, who does not love
listening to an English accent?

Speaker 3 (46:11):
Abby Banel beautiful. I love Abby. She for those around
the country.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
She's a famous and well known radio personality here in
the state of Utah on station k NRS, which is
also our anchor station where the travel show originates. We
go up on the satellite and you bring it down
in your area. Well, you know, I'm going to be
leading a tour this August August eleventh to the twenty first,

(46:44):
and we are going to see England, Scotland and Wales.
We'll start in Edinburgh and one of the highlights is
the world's largest Bagpipe and Military Drum Corps Festival. It's
held at the Edinburgh Castle and it's viewed by over
one hundred million people worldwide. It's only in the month

(47:07):
of August, and tickets are almost impossible to get.

Speaker 3 (47:11):
John, we got tickets.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
We got tickets, and you need to google it. If
you do not know what this is, google it. You
will want to go once you hear that music. The
bagpipe's starting in on the drums.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Oh my, Well, after Edinburgh, say goodbye to the rolling
hills of Scotland and we're going to travel south through
the Borders regions to York. York is a throwback in history,
then on to Chester. You know what I love about
Chester is quaint narrow streets known as snikelways. That's what

(47:43):
they call their little alleyways. It's a snikelway. Maybe you
have to snicker and laugh when you do it. From
there on to Chester in Wales, we visit England, Wales
and Scotland, and then to Shakespeare's home Stratford upon Avon,
on to Oxford and then on to London. Several days there.
In London there is an option to visit Paris at

(48:05):
the end of our tour. You know that the military
bagpipe festival is called the tattoo Festival.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
It has nothing to do.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
With body art, no, no, but it goes back. It
goes back to the sixteenth century where the military would
say tattoo tatto, meaning the soldiers got to leave the
pub now and come back to the barracks.

Speaker 3 (48:29):
Tattoo.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Tattoo in four hundred years became tattoo. Nobody art involved
more when we come back. We're heird to Alaska here
on the Travel Show.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
Welcome back to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
I'm Larry Gelwick the Getaway at Gururu and as I've
told you, I've gotten.

Speaker 3 (48:51):
Away, I'm down under.

Speaker 2 (48:52):
It is Sunday morning here in Sydney, Australia. I've got
a wonderful group of Travel Show listeners and we'll be
seeing today to Melbourne, Australia, Tasmania. We'll look for some
devils down there and then on to New Zealand, alte
Land of the Long White Cloud, the North and South Islands.

(49:13):
Next week at this time will be in fjord Land.
That's Lord of the Rings country. Milford sounds some of
the most beautiful country. I'm joined back in Salt Lake
City in studio. He knows his role in life, John Potter,
And what is that role in life?

Speaker 3 (49:29):
John?

Speaker 1 (49:30):
I work so you can travel.

Speaker 3 (49:31):
Thank you very much. As long see we have this relationship.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
Yeah, it's such a good one for me. But Larry,
I've been wondering how many vegemite sandwiches have you had?

Speaker 2 (49:41):
This all in there? You are evil, you know vegamite
they like inhale it down here.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
It's a yeast spread. It smells awful.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
Yeah, it is disgusting, but they put it on bread
and toast and.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
Exactly. H no, wonder their world is upside down on
the globe. Uh huh you know.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
But now, may I just express my appreciation to all
of you that listen and join us. Uh.

Speaker 3 (50:09):
You know.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
I was gratified at the Utah Travel Expo, John. I
had so many people come up and say, we love
the travel show. We listen to it every week, and
without you, we have no travel show.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
And John, without our listening audience, you and I have
no job.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
No, we'd be starving out on the sea.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
We should all right, let's play stump the dummy, okay,
and you can figure out what your role is. The
name of this state comes from the indigenous people of
the Aleutian Islands.

Speaker 3 (50:42):
That's surely give it away.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
But the the indigenous name is al Eska.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
Yeah, that's a tough one. There's something difficult Alaska.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Do you know that there's an official state sport in Alaska?
It is you are You are on a role lorth Alaska.
In Alaska, there are two hundred and twenty four federally
recognized indigenous tribes, including twenty indigenous language officially recognized in

(51:14):
the state. And you remember Sarah Palin.

Speaker 1 (51:17):
Yes, you can see Russia from her home.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
It's fifty miles yeah, from the furthest tip of Alaska.
You know, almost one third of Alaska is in the
Arctic Circle and the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
Have you ever seen the Northern Lights?

Speaker 1 (51:35):
I have?

Speaker 3 (51:35):
I have too, can.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Be seen on average somewhere in the state two hundred
and forty three days a year. Of the twenty highest
peaks in the US, seventeen or in Alaska, including the
highest peak in North America when measured from the ground
from sea level. And I don't know if well, I

(52:00):
guess it's Mount McKinley.

Speaker 1 (52:02):
Now it was, but President Trump's kind of trying to
change that.

Speaker 3 (52:08):
That's right, he calls it to You know.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
What's interesting is that Mount McKinley, formerly Mount Denali, is
twenty rounded to the nearest hundred twenty thousand, three hundred
feet above sea level. And that's the tallest peak if
you measure from the sea level. However, if you go
to the base of the mountain, the tallest mountain in

(52:31):
the United States is in Hawaii. Manikeaa from the ocean
floor where the base of the mountain is. And if
there's no water, that's where you'd measure from thirty three thousand,
five hundred feet. Wow, it's thirteen thousand feet higher than
Mount McKinley. Mount Everest is twenty nine thousand feet.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
Wow. So crazy stuff. Now.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
You know, typically on an Alaska cruise, now you have
round trips Seattle where you sail to and from and
you come back to Seattle or North South which is
Vancouver to Anchorage or vice versa, and you're gonna have
some combination of cities, usually three or four. And what

(53:17):
I'd like to do is mention each city and you
tell me, and then I'll add my own comments of.

Speaker 3 (53:25):
One favorite activity.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
You may have five favorite, but just give us one
that is a personal favorite. Now, let's start out. Let's
start with Juno.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
Okay, I love the whale watching in Juno.

Speaker 3 (53:39):
Bengo, me too.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
You know, you have to go to the Red Dog
Saloon and it's a family restaurant. It's an old saloon,
sawdust on the floor. It is a throwback in time.
It's a restaurant. Yeah, they serve alcohol, but most restaurants
in the US serve alcohol. It's not a sleazy saloon
or bar. It's a young yet my diet coke there, Okay.

(54:01):
I like the whale watching there, and I'm talking about
in the water, not the buffet.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
And as well it is Ketchikan.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
I love the Lumberjacks show and just walking around the city.
It's such a fun city, especially the district.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Yeah, yeah, I love is the Totem parks you you have.
I love the Potlatch, Todem Park, Saxon Village, They're both wonderful.
Quickly Skagway. That's this train horse White Pass train that
actually goes up into the Yukon territory. Yeah, you know,

(54:38):
and another stop. There's really not a lot. There's Icy Straits.
It's beautiful. It's a throwback to a fishing village, but
it's excursions. There's really not much in the town itself.

Speaker 3 (54:52):
Sitka.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
What I like in Sitka is the Russian Orthodox Church,
the Onion domes.

Speaker 1 (54:58):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:59):
How about Victoria A. B. C.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Boshart Gardens, absolute must and Vancouver, British Columbia. Oh, Stanley Park,
Stanley Park. You know, there's I got a list to here.
One is sailing under Lionsgate Bridge, which is right next
to Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a big city park.
But what I love is driving up to Whistler. That's

(55:22):
where the Olympics were. Yeah, and it's about an hour
and a half drive. And what you drive up there
and there's a small town and there's a They have
a billboard in the town that has this giant menacing
grizzly bear and it says, do not stop and get
out of your car Grizzly Bear country.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
You know what I did. I stopped, I opened the car.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
I went far enough where I thought I could outrun
a bear, and I was looking for them. I didn't
see a bear, but I was ready to be eaten
for that experience.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
Well, I love alas.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
I'll be taking a group this year August twenty third
to the thirtieth. It's at North South Vancouver to Anchorage.
I'd love to have you join me. Go to morriscolumbus
dot com click on Morris Murdoch hastorted Jurist Cook Cruising
August twenty third to the thirtieth more when we come back.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
You're listening to the travel show on.

Speaker 2 (56:29):
Larry Gelwick's to Get Away Do joined back in studio
in Salt Lake City with the one and only Lugo himself,
John Potter. And you know, John, I haven't forgiven you
for your misstep at the Utah Travel Expo.

Speaker 3 (56:47):
You had your Pluto hat there and you didn't wear it.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
I know it. I had.

Speaker 6 (56:51):
What was it?

Speaker 3 (56:52):
What's going on?

Speaker 1 (56:53):
I just had so many people wanting to visit with
me that I just got busy and didn't bother to
put it on.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
What inexcusable? Inexcusable? Hey listen, Okay, it's a deal.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
You know.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
I grew up in San Francisco and the city has
changed so much. There's still some wonderful things and places
to visit, but it has a changed city. I remember,
I mean, I remember the nineteen fifties with San Francisco,
and I am molled. I'm seventy four, a young man

(57:27):
trapped in an old man's body.

Speaker 3 (57:29):
I used to go down.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
To the marina and watch those ships, both passenger and freighters,
push out sail past Alcatraz, where of course Carlos spent
many years and under the Golden gate Bridge and just
dreamed someday maybe I could go somewhere.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
You know, little did I did you do it? I?
Did you know?

Speaker 2 (57:56):
When I was in high school, even junior high, I
had favorite reading at night, very different from my other friends.
But it was National Geographic and a World Atlas.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
I would pour over.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
It just had a love affair.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
And the restaurants.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
You know, Kathy and I will go down to San
Francisco for a four day weekend just to visit our
favorite restaurants, and we sometimes try new ones, but it's
like we can't take a chance on a bad meal.
There are four four hundred and fifteen restaurants in San Francisco.
Fifty four of them have a Michelin Star. If you

(58:36):
were to dine at one of these restaurants a day
and to go through all of them, we take.

Speaker 3 (58:45):
It twelve years.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (58:46):
I'd like to try that personally.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Did you know that Chinese fortune cookies were invented in
San Francisco by a Japanese immigrant, Makoto Hirigawa in the
late eighteen nineties, and that was see they were served
at the Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, oldest Chinatown
in North America eighteen forty eight. And by the way,

(59:13):
where Chinatown you've been in San Francisco, Chinatown where that is.
They're at Portsman Square. That was where the wharf was.
The water All of that land from Chinatown East is reclaimed.
Oh wow, it's just crazy. And it's home to the
largest japan town in the United States.

Speaker 1 (59:36):
And you forgot one very important thing, home of the
Walt Disney Family Museum.

Speaker 3 (59:41):
How could I forget? Yes, how could I forget?

Speaker 2 (59:44):
You know, a couple of things, just kind of a
little history of that was this month celebrated just what
oh gosh, about a week and a half ago, Samuel Brannan,
And this will be of interest to those who enjoy
Utah history. Samuel Brannan sailed on the ship Brooklyn. It's

(01:00:09):
a four hundred and fifty ton three masted, full rigged
Yankee trading ship with a group of LDS pioneers. Rather
than making the trek across America, they sailed down through
the Caribbean and then the current takes them over to

(01:00:31):
the coast of Africa before going around the Straits of Magellan,
sailing to Chile, out to the Pacific, and then into
San Francisco Harbor. They left February fourth, what's eighteen forty six?
What's interesting about February fourth, eighteen forty six, and it

(01:00:51):
was just coincident. That's the day they sailed on the Brooklyn.
The very same day the LDS people in nauvoo Illini
started their cross crossing the Mississippi River.

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
Same day.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Well, they sailed February fourth, twenty four thousand miles of
a sea voyage, the largest or the longest religious sea
journey in history. They sailed from New York February fourth,
landed in San Francisco July thirty first.

Speaker 1 (01:01:26):
Why didn't they take the Panama Canal.

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
Should Well that's because the Chinese were running.

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
Oh okay, all right, Well now they left February fourth,
arrived July thirty first. But in December of eighteen forty
sixth Mormon battalion joined them in California with three hundred
or excuse me, five hundred members.

Speaker 3 (01:01:54):
In the battalion.

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
In eighteen forty seven, San Francisco was largely a Mormon town.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
Well things have changed.

Speaker 1 (01:02:02):
They changed. You.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
Las Vegas, Santa Barbara were Mormon settlements.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
I did not know that.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
And things have changed. Well over time.

Speaker 2 (01:02:12):
A third of the Ocean going pioneers continued onto Utah.
Now Samuel Brannan and two others rode east and they
found Brigham Young and met with him in Green River, Wyoming,
that you know, before they came to the Utah Valley
and tried to convince Brigham Young to bring the pioneers

(01:02:36):
all the way to California. And I've had some people say,
you know, Brigham Young, was there a pioneer park, you know,
overlooking the valley. His famous words were, this is the place,
drive on right. But some people and imagine what he
was looking at, desert, one single tree in the valley.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
Yeah, sagebrush.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
And after all they'd been through the fertile farms of
Missouri and Illinois and Ohio, they're looking out over this
dust bowl of sagebrush. And some people have won because
you remember, Brigham Young was not well. They have wondered
if with those words, if maybe his inflection was slightly different,

(01:03:24):
did he actually say, looking out over this dust bowl.

Speaker 3 (01:03:29):
This is the place, Yeah, drive on, drive on.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
Anywhere west?

Speaker 3 (01:03:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:37):
On August the ninth, Samuel Brandon returned to California. He
became the richest man, the first millionaire in California, had
newspapers businesses. Brigham Young told him to bring everybody to Utah,
and in a sense gave a prediction or prophecy, whichever

(01:04:00):
you prefer, that he would die penniless if he stayed.
And so it happened. He died in a paupers town.
Oh wow, he lost everything. Just some interesting things about
my hometown, San Francisco.

Speaker 3 (01:04:19):
And sourdough bread.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
I mean, come on, you know it tastes different down there,
and they've often said it's the humidity, the air, the
water that contributes to Now you told me once that
you love.

Speaker 3 (01:04:34):
Costa Rica.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
I do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
What is it about Costa Rica besides the people and
the food, And I love the people and the food.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
Yes, the monkeys. I absolutely adore monkeys, and they're mischievous
little guys. I've watched them steal a lot of things
from people, and I love the monkeys. And of course
the beaches in the ocean as well.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
You know, Costa Rica is considered by many the second
most stable democracy in the Western him sphere. Canada surprisingly
is listed by some as third because the Frenchies you
know in Quebec are always trying to seed from the country.

Speaker 3 (01:05:09):
Yeah, anyway, United.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
States considered the most stable democracy Costa Rica. By many
is number two. You know, they don't have an army
and so you're not looking at a military coup. And
they have a police force of coach and a coast guard.
But the country is divided into three regions. You have

(01:05:34):
the North Guana Coste, the midlands, arn Al and Tabacan
and the famous hot springs and yeah, the r and
Ol volcano which all shooting out steam. Event I love
sitting in the hot springs at Tabacaun and watching the
volcano erupt.

Speaker 1 (01:05:51):
Yeah, they no danger. No, it doesn't spew lava. It's
rock and you see these flaming rocks coming out and
it's kind of it's really cool.

Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
It really I keep looking for Jurassic Park dinosaurs.

Speaker 3 (01:06:04):
Yeah, I haven't found them yet.

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
Well, in the South, the best beach is and I
think the best beach is on the Pacific, not the Caribbean.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
I agree, Beach and Jungle.

Speaker 2 (01:06:16):
There's two international airports up north of Liberia, Costa Rica
Airport and then down south San Jose. You know San Jose,
there's a little bit. They're not a lot. They have
a wonderful pre Columbian museum that's absolutely fabulous.

Speaker 3 (01:06:33):
But I'd like to get out to the beach, Haco Beach.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
It's about an hour and forty five minute drive spelled Jaco.
I'd love the Haco Beach Marriott.

Speaker 3 (01:06:44):
Now. The beach is a gray sand beach.

Speaker 2 (01:06:47):
It's not fabulous, but they have the finest, most spectacular
swimming pool anywhere in Costa Rica. And you know, most
people are not swimming in the ocean. No, they're at
the pool. There's golf, there's a marina, and about an
hour from Haco is key Posts. Now, key Posts is

(01:07:08):
the gateway to my favorite national park. One third of
the whole country are national parks. Manuel Antonio. What do
you like about Manuel Antonio? The monkeys, the we go
with the monkeys. Yeah, you get the monkey business when
you travel, of course.

Speaker 3 (01:07:25):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:26):
Okay, Oh I love man.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
When you said sloth, why were you pointing? Why were
you thinking of me?

Speaker 1 (01:07:34):
Well, you're fat and slow and lank.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
You very much. You know what I love about Haco.

Speaker 2 (01:07:38):
It's white sand, it's uncrowded, there's coral reefs, there's jungle
hiking trails from the coast to the mountains, a rainforest,
tropical forest, diversity of wildlife, and one of my favorite experience.
You know my son Titan, Yes, okay, he's thirty five
now or will be later this year.

Speaker 1 (01:07:58):
Remember him as a little kid.

Speaker 2 (01:08:00):
He was about fourteen years old, a teenager, so he
thought he was really cool. He wasn't, but he thought
he was, as all fourteen year old boys are. I
took him to Costa Rica and it was just he
and I and we were down at Manuel Antonio. We
rented a ATV and two of us riding on it
and we rode on a jungle trail to a waterfall

(01:08:24):
with a pool, went swimming.

Speaker 3 (01:08:25):
We had a picnic lunch with us. It was over
the top.

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
Experience with my son in the jungles of Costa Rica.
And no we didn't get eaten by any Jurassic Park dinosaurs. Well, listen,
give John a call, Give any of our travel consultants
at Morris Columbus a call if you have an interest
in Costa Rica.

Speaker 3 (01:08:51):
There's wonderful resorts everywhere.

Speaker 2 (01:08:54):
I personally like down South Haco, Key Post, Manuel Antonio.

Speaker 3 (01:09:00):
Listen when we come back for our final segment.

Speaker 2 (01:09:04):
Southwest Airlines is cutting drakes on some of their flights.

Speaker 3 (01:09:09):
We'll tell you which once. Okay, I gotta go to bed. Yeah,
it's all mind.

Speaker 2 (01:09:25):
Going on to seven a m Sunday morning here in Sydney, Australia.
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru, and I got away
to down Under Australia, New Zealand. Wonderful group of travels
show listeners and we have a cruise of Australia, New Zealand.
Just a reminder, I'll be doing this same itinerary right now.

(01:09:48):
We're with Princess Cruises. Next year, starting April fifteenth to
March first, we'll be with Holland America, a premium cruise line.
Chips are only about twenty five hundred. The service, the entertainment,
everything about Holland America is wonderful, John.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
Yeah, but they're that damn cruise line they are.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
It's the they put that the amsterdamter.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
Damn Eurodamn rotterdam and you'll be damned. All the ships
end in a damn they do.

Speaker 3 (01:10:18):
That's very good.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
John Potter's back in studio in Salt Lake joining me.
Thank you very much. Hey, I'd like you to come
back next week. I'll be in Fjordland, New Zealand. You
know your role, your to work so that I can travel. Hey,
I got an interesting email that I haven't answered, but
I'm going to today from one of our listeners who

(01:10:42):
asked me, you know, some weeks ago I talked about
Sarado bread and how it's different in San Francisco, and
I mentioned my three favorite San Francisco Sarado and you know,
there's some good bread back home, but nothing comes close.
In fact, the close just sourdough bread that I can

(01:11:02):
get in Salt Lake is from my daughter in law,
Sam Well Samantha, we call her Sam Keaton's wife. She
does a sour dough that is just to die for.
It's the closest time.

Speaker 3 (01:11:16):
So for our.

Speaker 2 (01:11:17):
Listeners, let me, and we were just talking about San Francisco,
let me give you my three favorite sourdough breads in
San Francisco.

Speaker 3 (01:11:27):
Number one, absolutely number one. It's the Tartan Bakery out
at six hundred Guerrero Street. The New York Times said
this about the sourdough at the Tartan Bakery. People line
up out the street in the morning.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
The New York Times wrote, quote, as bread recipes go,
it's nearly perfect. Close quote of the Tartan Bakery. It's
down in the mission Dolores District. So just take Guerrero
off Market Street and anyway. The Tartan Bakery Tar Ti

(01:12:02):
n and the next two are tied for second. The
Acme bread the inside is dense and soft, but the
crust has a crunch to it and it's baked on
a hearth.

Speaker 3 (01:12:16):
Now, my other one that I.

Speaker 2 (01:12:18):
Like is Bodine. It has a very good sour dough flavor.
They do bake it on a rack. I prefer the hearth.
It gives the bottom of better crust on it. Bodine
was established in eighteen forty nine. It goes back their
yeast starter goes back to the gold Rush days. Wow,

(01:12:38):
it's just crazy, just crazy with that. So for our listeners,
that is what it is. Southwest Airlines is cutting their
drink service, but not on all flights. No, they have
officially announced that they would end on board service for
flights of forty drink soft drinks, stuff like that, for

(01:13:01):
flights of forty minutes or less. They did say they
will still serve water. I know, if you serve water,
maybe it's the opening of the can or something like that.
The other thing is they're going to require that passengers
prepare for landing. That means put your seat up, put
your laptop away at eighteen thousand feet, oh instead of

(01:13:25):
ten instead of ten thousand feet, so interesting. Yeah, you'd
mentioned that when you fly, say from Orlando to salt
Lake on Southwest, you change planes in Denver, and that's
more than forty minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:13:39):
But yeah, it's usually such rough air that the flight
attendants are sitting most of that time, so it's rare
to get flight service between salt Lake and Denver.

Speaker 2 (01:13:48):
Hey, if you use the Salt Lake Airport, we recommend
parking Jet. And if you go to the Morris Columbus
website Morriscolumbus dot com, click on resources and then click
on Salt Lake Parking Discount, you get a twenty percent
discount at Parkinship. Not only do they have friendly service

(01:14:08):
and a free car wash, you do have to ask
for a coupon for the free car wash. Yeah, but
they're locally owned, and I like locally owned business. I
like to support local local. Yeah, and that's true with
travel agencies too. Rather than you know, I have had
said that Morris Columbus can meet or beat just about

(01:14:29):
anything you find online, but you're dealing local and Morris
Columbus often can add something to it.

Speaker 3 (01:14:36):
Hey, finally, do you love Rome?

Speaker 2 (01:14:38):
Of course I love you Know there's a difference we
don't have to talk about this between Italian cuisine, Tuscan
cuisine and Roman cuisine, and sicily and cuisine.

Speaker 3 (01:14:50):
They're very, very different. Just a couple reminders.

Speaker 2 (01:14:53):
The Colisseum, the Forum and the Vatican museums are very strict.
Get an advanced reservation, and they're strict on your entry time.
And now they're checking IDs to make sure that your
ID name matches the name.

Speaker 3 (01:15:13):
On the ticket. So no scalping, the no scalping.

Speaker 2 (01:15:16):
And the Pantheon I was really po'd about this one
now requires a five euro ticket. The Pantheon started out
as a pagan you know, temple, then it was turned
to a Christian church and now they charge or five
euros to get in. Will that brings us the end

(01:15:37):
of the show. I'm gonna go have some fun on
board the cruise ship with Princess.

Speaker 1 (01:15:42):
Here comes the buffet, Here comes the buffet.

Speaker 3 (01:15:44):
Breakfast time.

Speaker 2 (01:15:46):
So audios, that's what they say in Australia.

Speaker 3 (01:15:49):
Talk to you next week from New Zealand. All the
best