Darloup has left 4419 comments

Darloup comments on Iberia Strikes

Great news! I hate Iberia (charging me 2.50 euros for a coffee between Madrid and Paris), but I have to acknowledge they have (had?) some cheap fares between Spain and Colombia.

Darloup comments on Trip report (with pixes) on Parque Tayrona

El Expatriado, can you upload them either on Photobucket.com or Tinypic.com? Then PM me and I'll give you instructions. BTW, PBH needs a serious overhaul on HOW to post pixes. It would help to have some kind of common code.

Darloup comments on bickerss

Wow, from your map, you covered more or less all of South America! Which two countries are you missing? And why didn't you visit them?

Darloup comments on Exit Colombia with a minor - important questions

Porec04: Gator, although he can be an obnoxious fellow at times, gave you some superb advice here - heed it.

Darloup comments on Trip report (with pixes) on Parque Tayrona

bickerss: That is indeed awesome!

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

Shortiao: Fear not, the French will never become like the Brits - we have long memories and we never forgot Joan of Ark or the 100-year war ;-) ). But Ireland is a fine nation and certainly doesn't deserve this kind of crap.

Darloup comments on Trip report (with pixes) on Parque Tayrona

bickerss: Right - thanks for the tip! I'm in SM at least once a month and I'll sure follow your advice. I guess we had to start somewhere, but we apparently missed the best part of the park. I'll post photos!

Darloup comments on Tipping in Colombia

Kramer: "But the worst thing in the world is a "holier than thou" tipper telling others how much they should tip." Right! But, often, it is not easy to reconcile what we have been led to believe (our own culture and experience) with what we're "supposed " to do, or even what we are "expected" to do - especially in a foregign country. Hence my OP...

Darloup comments on Fort Lauderdale, FL to Santa Marta or Cartagena $199 one way. No limit on luggage - 1 day sale.

Awesome Brian858 - thanks for sharing! Please tell us when it will happen again!

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

MIR: 1) "And his 'admission' doesn't make his cheating any less acceptable". Absolutely 2) "blatant corruption and favouritsim rampant in FIFA". Agreed. and Platini doesn't help. 3) "football must adapt and implement video technology and a 4th official." So right... They're talking about even two more refs (this will take place during the next Euro Cup in 2012). This a joke. Just use video footage the ref can watch in case of doubts.

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

Mitch! Two wrongs don't make a right. So the ref was wrong - so what? Any player with "cojones" or even a sense of fair play would have reacted and cancelled the goal with the ref. Thierry Henry lacks both (cojones and a sense of fair play).

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

Romy: You don't have to be an athlete to have "sources of morality". I mean, morality doesn't depend on your job or whatever - it depends on whhat YOU personally believe in, international athlete or not.. Those internatinal stars take a cr*p every day same as you or I do.

Darloup comments on Trip report (with pixes) on Parque Tayrona

10 minutes on the launch, and we finally arrive to our promised third beach: Playa Cristal (also known as “playa del muerto” – God knows why). Sure, it’s a nice beach. You know, what you’re supposed to expect from a Caribbean beach: Crystal waters, white sand and palm trees in the background: Needless to say, Nelly and I are famished. There is only one restaurant on the beach and, amazingly, it’s not that overpriced in spite of the the captive market that we all are. Here is our lunch: There happens to be a coral reef on the western edge of the beach and I decide to give it a go. I rent a mask and snorkel and, once again, I let myself be overwhelmed by the wonderful flora and fauna of the reef. Trust me, you don’t have to dive to discover the richness of a coral reef: Just use a mask and snorkel - you'll be amazed. At 5 pm, we have to board the launch for our journey back. We get back to Santa Marta at 7 pm… Still wondering... Sure, this was a nice day trip and something different to do. It wasn’t that expensive, but that is beside the point. Was it worth it to travel during four hours just to discover a new beach? You tell me… At the end of the day, we'll have our memories and I guess that this is what matters.

Darloup comments on Trip report (with pixes) on Parque Tayrona

2 hours later, we arrive at the entrance of Tayrona Park. Pipi and popo time. Also, time to purchase overpriced bottles of water in case we were stupid enough to forget them. A few vendors were also offering their wares, mainly fresh fruit. A tough-looking, submachine-gun-wielding policeman decides to show his authority and foolishly pretends to check our identities. He gives up on row 4 – it’s far too hot. He waives us through. 20 minutes later, we arrive at our first beach (remember, this is a 3-beach day trip). Now, I must admit I had visions of a crystal-clear sea and of a pristine beach. Even the name conjured dreams of a paradisiacal beach : “The beach of the 7 waves” (playa de la siete olas). Tough luck and reality check: The bus stops along the road and about 300 feet ABOVE the beach (which, in any event, has deadly currents and where it is officially prohibited to swim (if the currents won’t get you, the sharks will)). So, we take turn to take a REALLY nice pix of the first beach… Back onto the bus and 20 minutes later, we come onto our second beach (I forgot its name - sorry) . It looks swell and I am dying for a dip. Tough luck again, we’re only allowed to LOOK at the beach. There are launches waiting to take us to our third beach “playa crystal”. We don’t have the time to enjoy this second beach on the official program. But I must confess it looks nice although it is quite windy (being opened to the North-East). (final part coming soon).

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

billyb: France is talking non-stop about this "incident". Raymond Domenech, the national French coach and another huge plonker, is gleefully openly supporting Thierry Henry: "That's soccer". His current team mates have refused to support him. Some have even gone off the record stating that "he was wrong" ("off the record" meaning they refused to be officially quoted, but are still allowed to comment). ALL his former team mates ( the players selected in previous games) openly and officially disagree with him (if you understand French, just Google "Thierry Henry main" - "main" = "hand").

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

Haddeman: "The sad thing is that Thierry is or at least was regarded as an erudite,intelligent and sporting person.I had the pleasure of meeting him once and he was not at all pompous,an absolute gent" Ok, fair enough, Thierry Henry may have some nice innate qualities. Sadly, during that match, he also proved to be an opportunistic bast*rd. Even his team mates disagree with what he did.

Darloup comments on Colombia Nature Images

As usual, many thanks for your superlative pixes, Atrevido.

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

I also remember Maradona "Hand of God". I was living in the UK at the time and was rooting for the English. Funny, 20 years on, we still remember this incident and Maradonna's reputation is still hopessly that of a cheat. Sadly, so will Thierry Henry always be remembered as a cheat (he used his hand not once, but twice). I may be a Latin but, having spent 20 years in the UK, I have learnt the values of being "fair play". Thierry Henry is a national shame. BTW, Michel Platini is a plonker too.

Darloup comments on 2010 soccer World Cup - France qualifying over Ireland

billyb: I genuinely fell sorry for the Irish. They played brilliantly and didn't deserve lo lose on an obvious cheat. Thierry Henry is an arrogant, pompous and opportunistic plonker. I only hope that the French team gets what they deserve: being eliminated in the first round.

Darloup comments on

Bufalo: "imho BAQ wouldn't be such a great place to learn Spanish - too costeño" Too righ bufalo: Costeño isn't certainly representative of "proper" Spanish in Colombia. They never pronounce the final "s" of any word... And, in the past participle, or even common words, the final "d" simply disappears... Pescado thus becomes "Pesca'o" Witness how the number one song on the Coast: "Estoy tragado" from Peter Manjares becomes "Estoy traga'o" (just listen to the lyrics). The costeños even have they own vocabulary available here: http://www.barranquilla-online.com/BOL/diccio.html Pah!!! ;-)

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

Lisa: "There is no reason to insult or get nasty. WE JUST NEED A BETTER PLAN." Christ- so right, this is a charitable entity! How can we expect to be charitable in Colombia if we're unable to be charitable on PBH about the project (yeah, I know this sounds corny).

Darloup comments on PBH member names

Nah babygirl, Robert Jorge is the one who got it right... Medo registered 80 handles on PBH (probably more) and, registrations being closed, he is offering a "cheap" wayto use existing handles before the meltdown... Plus he is also offering Meddelin IP addresses (100 USD a shot) to confuse PBH mods when you register and to make them believe you live on Medellin As I wrote, I've never really undestood why Peter did not delete those registered handles that had not been used for a number of weeks... -not to mention months. Neither do I understand why NJC never applied an anti-proxy filter on PBH... As someone wrote, it must be question of time and availabilty...

Darloup comments on

Pedro: "I've heard good things about the Barranquilla Interamericano Colegio, too. Though I don't know if they offer Spanish classes, and I hear their hiring standards have hit rock bottom recently." I was interviewed by them and nearly accepted a job offer with them. But then there are so many private establishments desperate to get genuine "foreign teachers" that I decided to chose to teach French rather than maths in another college. Not a great salary (under 2 millions a months - but not much under that) - and this level of salary is OK with me in Colombia.

Darloup comments on Dar(n) PBH is a Yawn the last few days

Maybe one day I'll post ALL the exchange of mails (and not simply some chosen excerpts) between Peter's imposter and myself... Such as my replies to such questions such as: "I'm glad you mentioned Maryut. Please keep this confidential between the two of us for now. One of the issues I face now, with regard to my PBH philosophy, is that she just can't seem to enforce some of the basic rules. I'm considering asking her to take a break from moderation for a period." or even: "I actually tried to call your landline in B/Q, to get a sense of when you will be returning, but it appears to have been an incorrect number. Check the number" Or even: i just wish you would commit to a Moderator post and reconsider" What is TRULY hilarous is that Peter (the genuine one) was always aware of this (from Day 3 - let's be honest) and that we decided to play the game. It was hard, but challenging, to provide a mix of genuine and info. You should read the thread about the Christmas card! " " "

Darloup comments on PBH member names

Kat1: "I wonder if Medo will do refunds, in case the Name gets deleted." Jajajaja! (sorry PCL)

Darloup comments on Dar(n) PBH is a Yawn the last few days

Marlydog: An exodus of 13 members at most can hardly be called a "mass exodus". PuraColombia (am I allowed the mention the name?) became a forum when most members talked to each other and mutually scratched their back criticizing PBH - hardly a "Colombian" forum. Pity, since John, the owner, is basically a genuine guy (although his brother tends to "rant" ;-). But, when you start a new forum, it's only normal to be demagogic to attract new members on the lowest common denominator. BTW; Mongo, my favorite mutt, also have a nice Colombian forum: .http://vivacolombia.proboards.com/ (and you don't need to show your IP to join). ANY forum genuinely promoting Colombia should be encouraged. Then I guess it's up to the owners of these forums to decide whether they're most interested in discussing Colombia or PBH...

Darloup comments on PBH member names

Kat1: exactly... Which brings me back to my question: Why didn't Peter didn't/doesn't delete inactive accounts (let's say, more than one year old?). Inactive accounts are either troll accounts (like Medo) or accounts that once-visitors will never use again.

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

BB: " Darloup what about Thierry Henry?" OK, he is cheat and a national disgrace. I mean it too.

Darloup comments on PBH member names

No, PCL, YOUR name is not for sale. Just any of the names Medo registered in the past on PBH. You can't sell names of existing PBH members already registered here.

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

BB: "I hope you will learn from your mistake. Do not offer something you cant do. thank you..." Nasty comment. At least GS tried. Don't hold him responsible for airlines shortcomings or not sharing info. At least he tried and shouldn't be blamed for what happened.

Darloup comments on PBH member names

Desi: Medo isn't selling names of existing PBH members. He is selling some of the 80 names he previously registered on PBH - you don't have a say as to what the name will be. The plus side is that these names are already registered on PBH and that, with new inscriptions being closed, you can still get a foothold in PBH. Which makes me wonder why Peter never bother to delete all those inactive accounts (showing zero posts) to fight the trolls.

Darloup comments on How do you call the letter V

Maybe different regions or different people have different ways to get around this one. Personally, I've always used "b de burro" and "v de vaca". Apparently, in Mexico and Peru, they use: "b grande' "v chica" And in Argentina and Chile, they use: "b larga" (or "b alta") "v corta" I can undertand how this can lead to confusion in Latin America!

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

Bushwick- Bill If the project is "is totally crab." (your words), I genuinely wonder why you would wish to be associated with it. Don't you have some alternative plans for your OWN project? Always better to offer something constuctive than asking Peter to wire you the projects' current money.

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

Bushwick: "But I think this project is a stupid idea." I, and others, thus wonder why you were so keen taking it over if you thought it were SUCH a bad idea...

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

Lisa: Who sadly really cares? As we know, it's more important to "score points" on PBH than getting things done...

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

Yes Rocco: It was not a multi-million dollar win and it happened a few years ago, and I immediately donated half of my winnings to different charities. BTW, what is the point you're trying to make?

Darloup comments on Colombia - recession finally biting?

Phillyguy: I agree with you... I can only judge the situation based on Barranquilla and, to a point, it's true that things here are not as bad in Western Europe (and, I also assume, as in the USA). But there are indeed some signs that the recession is starting to "bite". The rich may have less money, but that doesn't really affect them as they'all always have enought to spend. The poors will remain poor... It's the "middle class" I am worrying about: Those are the ones that really matter for Barranquilla's economy.

Darloup comments on Son Tapas Santa Marta

Once again larryn, thanks for your feed-back! How many more restaurants in SM do you have to visit? ;-)

Darloup comments on What happened to the wheelchair project?

Bushwick Bill, I'm almost sure you're a genuine person caring about this project. Let's just say that one of your recent messages to get the project back on its feet again was: " I would like to proceed the wheelchair project. I live in Bogota and I can organize everything. But for sure I need some dollars to start working. I have a account at Bancolombia. So Peter could transfer the money to my bank account and I can start working for the PBH social project..." This may have conveyed the wrong impression to many PBH members as this a project originally run by volunteers who have never mentioned "money"... Good luck to you if you're genuine.

Darloup comments on Why Plan Colombia has to go on

Byron: "It is very difficult to take anyone seriously when they say that the war on drugs has been successful, what a joke." I'm glad you're into some inner circle and can blatantly claim that Colombia wouln'd be better WITHOUT plan Colombia. You draw tarot cards or simply read tea leaves? At leat makopp argumentated his point of view whilst you're wildly speculating.

Darloup comments on

I certainly don't know what Peter has in mind, but I'm ready to wager something: Anyone thinking that PBH will become a free-for-all, unmoderated forum is in for a BIG surpise!

Darloup comments on

Peter: I now sincerely believe that some posters have a genuine problem understanding the definition of a "personal attack". Some of them learnt too late...

Darloup comments on Airline pricing - am I missing something?!

Johnny: I was talking about a single one-way DIRECT flight between Bogotá and Paris (no stop over). Still can't find cheaper than 3500 euros.

Darloup comments on What Does "Bill" Mean?

Atrevido: If, like me, you learnt pure castellano, you'll soon realize there is a huge difference between the "Real Academia de Madrid" and Colombia! ;-) (althought, to be fair, Colombia is the "less worse" of South American countries in that respect. Jajajaja! (Cor, I'm beginning to sound like PCL).

Darloup comments on Evolve or DIE.

barrumundi: Like your cronies, you'll have to understand the difference beween a general criticism on the whole and a personal attack aimed at a specific poster. THAT hard to understand?

Darloup comments on Evolve or DIE.

"Well, there aren't many rules now, but for whatever reason some people just can't follow them. " ANY rule is simply too much for some people.

Darloup comments on Finding Peace in Colombia

Barrumundi "I wonder what you would be saying at this moment Darloup if the unfortunate incident happened to you?" Unfortunate incident? I think not - I'm sure those posters can assume their inability to argue without reverting to personal attacks. And, in a few months, they'll be "history" as their names are forgotten by new members.... Who'll find that PBH is a friendlier place...

Darloup comments on Evolve or DIE.

"It blows my mind that you folks don't see." (Raaay) Poor mods who are sooooo stupid... Or is it some poor posters who are sooooo stupid that they can NOT accept that personal insults and attacks are simply "no go" here? THAT hard to understand?

Darloup comments on Finding Peace in Colombia

Raaay: "Elsapo is gone. Go figure." You said the same thing about Elmo. Again, I repeat myself: "Be nice" as the monkey says. What does it take for anyone to understand this?! As it showed - no exception allowed. Tough, but at least fair... At least for those prepared to accept the rules of this forum.

Darloup comments on Airline pricing - am I missing something?!

Nine inch nails and the flatline: I'm sure you're right on those many points. I just wish to purchase a one-way ticket between Colombia and France (or vice-versa). So if I purchase a return ticket and don't use it, I'll lend up on some kind of black list?! I'll gladly pay the "penalty" to change my ticket return dates. Normally, it is 100 euros (or even 200 euros) to change a return date. Still nothing in comparison to this silly one-way fare rate....