Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2017/April

Richmond VA parking
Does anyone here know about weekend parking in Richmond, Virginia? In particular, what are the garage rates, do they enforce parking meters, and the like? To my surprise, neither the city page nor Richmond/Downtown says much of anything about parking, other than general warnings not to park in dangerous areas, not to leave valuables visible in your car, etc. All I'm finding online is years-old comments on forums, and nothing looks particularly useful for a potential traveller in the spring of 2017; even the city's parking website has a prominent dead link. Nyttend (talk) 23:29, 3 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Nyttend, the Tourist office is a better place for questions like this, so I moved yours here from the pub. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:12, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Oops, sorry. I didn't remember about this page, and I thought the travellers' pub was where "help me travel to X" questions were supposed to go.  Nyttend (talk) 01:07, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Any of you ever flown Ryanair?
Has any of you ever flown Ryanair? I'll be on my first flight of said company shortly, and I want to avoid all potential pitfalls. Apparently what I intend to use as a carry on bag is slightly larger than the official dimensions. How likely is this to cause trouble?

Asked by: Hobbitschuster (talk) 21:04, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * It's been several years since I flew Ryanair, but I recall them actually enforcing the baggage size rule. Like any other low-cost airline, Ryanair's business model relies on figuring out every possible point where they can extract money from passengers after luring them in with a low fare. So unfortunately, this means your bag might present a problem... it really just depends on whether the person checking you in at the gate will be a stickler for the rules. PerryPlanet (talk) 21:28, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * I also seem to recall the overhead bins being slightly smaller on Ryanair's planes, but it's really hard to tell if that was real or just my own impression. They definitely place the seats closer to each other to cram one or two more rows in, so it could have just been the overall cramped feeling of the plane playing tricks on my mind. PerryPlanet (talk) 21:32, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Hobbitschuster, you're really rolling the dice, as I recall the penalties for overweight bags really eat into whatever you intended to save on your airfare. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:44, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Had I had free choice, I wouldn't have taken Ryanair. But as it stands, I can either book an additional bag in addition to the 15 kg already included in my airfare, or I can roll the dice with my hand luggage. Does showing up earlier help my chances? Hobbitschuster (talk) 22:02, 23 April 2017 (UTC)


 * I'd be inclined to pay extra, since the fee at the airport is likely to be excessive when compared to the online fee. Andrewssi2 (talk) 22:56, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * I used to use Ryanair a reasonable amount but conditions got worse over the years so changed to driving across Europe instead (takes a little longer but more comfortable). It is a reasonably cheap and fast service but live cattle transport in Europe have more rights and comfort. As mentioned above their business model is extracting extra charges whenever they can so little chance of bending the rules or being a little flexible as with the national carries. Getting there early will not help, but getting there late you may not get checked in. It used to be worth paying the extra fee for first boarding but so many people started using it that also became a scrum. If two doors on plane used for boarding take the rear, buy drinks and food in airport (after security) to take on plane, prices onboard are high. --Traveler100 (talk) 04:57, 24 April 2017 (UTC)
 * So I just measured. It's a soft shell with wheels and a handle. It's about a centimeter too long (if you are pedantic in the measurement) in the length department (56 cm instead of 55 cm) it's narrower than the maximum width and it's depth is not the full 20 cm (though obviously if I cram too much stuff in, it gets above that). It'll only be a two and a half hour flight, but I'll depart at 6:00 from SXF (the second time I fly to/from a Berlin airport after it's supposed to have closed long ago) so I hope to grab a bite on the way there. My brother might know some place that's open around 4:00 AM because I doubt anything in the airport will be. Otherwise I'll just go hungry. C'est la vie. At any rate, if I write less over the next weeks and months, it'll be to a) sketchy internet and/or b) work taking a bigger part of my time. Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:14, 24 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Unsociable hours seem to be a recurring theme with Ryanair. The one time I nearly flew with them, my family were booked on an afternoon flight to Cork. A couple of days before we were due to fly, the airline got in touch to say they had pushed the flight back to late evening, and we were now going to be landing at a deserted Cork airport just before midnight. Was the car hire place still going to be open for us to collect our vehicle? Like hell it was. So if Europcar weren't going to dance Ryanair's merry little game of musical landing slots, neither were we, and we luckily found a few last minute tickets with the impeccably efficient and reliable Aer Lingus. I hope they don't screw you around, Hobbitschuster. Wherever you're headed, bon voyage. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 09:58, 25 April 2017 (UTC)

At any rate, I am on the plane right now and so is my hand luggage. Hobbitschuster (talk) 03:50, 26 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Did you sneak it past them? Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:32, 26 April 2017 (UTC)
 * they didn't even give it a second glance Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:15, 26 April 2017 (UTC)
 * You're lucky. I hope you get it through your return flight (if any). Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:48, 26 April 2017 (UTC)
 * I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now I'm more concerned about work and getting decent wifi.Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:05, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

Where to have a crossdressing experience in London?
In London there used to be a on outlet (now closed) in the vicinity of Euston station that let men that wanted be women temporarily play dress up (albiet for a fee)? Are there any services in London that provide an equivalent services currently?

Please note that this is a request about "dress-up" services only (as BDSM stuff is out of nominally out of scope for Wiki Voyage.)

Asked by: ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 19:18, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * I'm no expert as I live in the colonies, but a quick web search finds adamandeveuk.co.uk and theboudoironline.com in London, femesque.com in Hampshire and crossdressing-service.com in Cheshire. On https://sarahstorm.wordpress.com/crossdressing-resources/ there are a few UK-based companies. These are crossdressing or "transformation services", odds are there are a few other organisations out there who operate social or support groups, bars and public venues or whatever else. Not the same animal as BDSM (huh? what?) and certainly not the same animal as the medicalised, convoluted path to actually living full-time in another gender, replacing hormones and identity cards or getting permanent surgery. K7L (talk) 03:39, 30 April 2017 (UTC)