If You Are Going To Europe....

[mike412]

You won’t be able to read Rivals, or any other Yahoo owned site, while you are there.
You will receive an error message when you try to access the page.

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them. Apparently, the European Union has enacted requirements for sites to disclose more about their use of “cookies” to users. While other sites have agreed to such disclosures, Yahoo has not. This, the error message.

I was able to cancel my premium account, with a little difficulty, after I discovered this. Rivals then emailed me, offering a free month if I didn’t cancel. My reply pointed out that since I would be gone for 35 days, a free month would be 30 days of not being able to access the site. They then offered 2 free months in the next email.
When I rejected that, they offered 3 months. After I rejected that, they cancelled my premium account.

Based on my experience, I would think that pretty much anyone could request a cancellation of a premium account and get 3 free months for not cancelling it. Something to consider.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

VPN.

 

[mike412]

You can avoid the “blackout” by buying VPN or staying at a hotel which has it. In China, where the government blocks many social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, along with most email services, we stayed at one hotel in Chengdu (where the Giant Pandas are) which had VPN. It was something to look at my phone a few hours after we arrived and discover more than 1,000 email messages. (Of course, the vast majority of them were spam.)

But, none of the hotels we stayed in on this trip had VPN and no other sites I visit except Yahoo were unavailable. And, I wasn’t going to pay to get VPN just to access Rivals.

 

[pittdoc57]

This summer in Europe I was able to access Rivals using Wifi, but if Wifi was turned off or unavailable I was unable to get onto the site using the cellular connection. I guess it's possible that every Wifi connection I had was through a VPN, but that does seem unlikely. Nevertheless, this was my experience.

 

[mike412]

When were you in Europe? I was told that the blockage took effect on either August 1 or 15. If you were there before then, the site would have been available on wifi. I only tried to access it on wifi and was 0 for 35 days in getting it in 4 different hotels in 3 countries and in our rental unit in Barcelona.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

You won’t be able to read Rivals, or any other Yahoo owned site, while you are there.
You will receive an error message when you try to access the page.

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them. Apparently, the European Union has enacted requirements for sites to disclose more about their use of “cookies” to users. While other sites have agreed to such disclosures, Yahoo has not. This, the error message.

I was able to cancel my premium account, with a little difficulty, after I discovered this. Rivals then emailed me, offering a free month if I didn’t cancel. My reply pointed out that since I would be gone for 35 days, a free month would be 30 days of not being able to access the site. They then offered 2 free months in the next email.
When I rejected that, they offered 3 months. After I rejected that, they cancelled my premium account.

Based on my experience, I would think that pretty much anyone could request a cancellation of a premium account and get 3 free months for not cancelling it. Something to consider.

Aha, that explains why you didn't answer my post on the premium board from the past week. You didn't see it.

 

[pittdoc57]

When were you in Europe? I was told that the blockage took effect on either August 1 or 15. If you were there before then, the site would have been available on wifi. I only tried to access it on wifi and was 0 for 35 days in getting it in 4 different hotels in 3 countries and in our rental unit in Barcelona.

Late August. I didn't expect to be able to get into Rivals at all, but on Wifi didn't have too much trouble. Could not get in at all on cellular connection, as I said. It's possible that the hotel Wifi's all went thru a VPN, don't know.

 

[WiseAndGlorious]

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them.

Dude, that sounds tremendous. If I spent a month in Italy, Spain and Portugal I wouldn't be able to access Rivals either, but probably because I wouldn't be trying to do so at all.

But that is good to know. Thanks!

 

[PittAU]

You won’t be able to read Rivals, or any other Yahoo owned site, while you are there.
You will receive an error message when you try to access the page.

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them. Apparently, the European Union has enacted requirements for sites to disclose more about their use of “cookies” to users. While other sites have agreed to such disclosures, Yahoo has not. This, the error message.

I was able to cancel my premium account, with a little difficulty, after I discovered this. Rivals then emailed me, offering a free month if I didn’t cancel. My reply pointed out that since I would be gone for 35 days, a free month would be 30 days of not being able to access the site. They then offered 2 free months in the next email.
When I rejected that, they offered 3 months. After I rejected that, they cancelled my premium account.

Based on my experience, I would think that pretty much anyone could request a cancellation of a premium account and get 3 free months for not cancelling it. Something to consider.

Humble Brag.

 

[Chris Peak]

You won’t be able to read Rivals, or any other Yahoo owned site, while you are there.
You will receive an error message when you try to access the page.

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them. Apparently, the European Union has enacted requirements for sites to disclose more about their use of “cookies” to users. While other sites have agreed to such disclosures, Yahoo has not. This, the error message.

I was able to cancel my premium account, with a little difficulty, after I discovered this. Rivals then emailed me, offering a free month if I didn’t cancel. My reply pointed out that since I would be gone for 35 days, a free month would be 30 days of not being able to access the site. They then offered 2 free months in the next email.
When I rejected that, they offered 3 months. After I rejected that, they cancelled my premium account.

Based on my experience, I would think that pretty much anyone could request a cancellation of a premium account and get 3 free months for not cancelling it. Something to consider.

Yes, the new EU requirements have affected how the network works overseas. It's not a matter of Yahoo not agreeing; it's about putting through the back-end changes to make it work, which is more complicated than you might expect. VPN's are the way to avoid this issue.

And yes, like any other subscription company, there is an offer of complimentary service when a subscriber wants to cancel.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

So says the suit.

 

[Jpripper88]

You won’t be able to read Rivals, or any other Yahoo owned site, while you are there.
You will receive an error message when you try to access the page.

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them. Apparently, the European Union has enacted requirements for sites to disclose more about their use of “cookies” to users. While other sites have agreed to such disclosures, Yahoo has not. This, the error message.

I was able to cancel my premium account, with a little difficulty, after I discovered this. Rivals then emailed me, offering a free month if I didn’t cancel. My reply pointed out that since I would be gone for 35 days, a free month would be 30 days of not being able to access the site. They then offered 2 free months in the next email.
When I rejected that, they offered 3 months. After I rejected that, they cancelled my premium account.

Based on my experience, I would think that pretty much anyone could request a cancellation of a premium account and get 3 free months for not cancelling it. Something to consider.

Sounds like a great trip. The wife and I are doing 2 weeks in Spain next year, but no chance I am going to let Pitt put me in a bad mood over there.

 

[President Stache]

You won’t be able to read Rivals, or any other Yahoo owned site, while you are there.
You will receive an error message when you try to access the page.

I spent 35 days in Italy, Spain and Portugal, and couldn’t access Rivals in any of them. Apparently, the European Union has enacted requirements for sites to disclose more about their use of “cookies” to users. While other sites have agreed to such disclosures, Yahoo has not. This, the error message.

I was able to cancel my premium account, with a little difficulty, after I discovered this. Rivals then emailed me, offering a free month if I didn’t cancel. My reply pointed out that since I would be gone for 35 days, a free month would be 30 days of not being able to access the site. They then offered 2 free months in the next email.
When I rejected that, they offered 3 months. After I rejected that, they cancelled my premium account.

Based on my experience, I would think that pretty much anyone could request a cancellation of a premium account and get 3 free months for not cancelling it. Something to consider.

Yeah, I couldnt either, or in Israel. I was able to through my work though, although I didnt often.

 

[Saboteur]

When were you in Europe? I was told that the blockage took effect on either August 1 or 15. If you were there before then, the site would have been available on wifi. I only tried to access it on wifi and was 0 for 35 days in getting it in 4 different hotels in 3 countries and in our rental unit in Barcelona.

GDPR.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

Humble Brag.

Ha. But I hardly think that not having rivals on a trip to Europe would be so devastating.

 

[DaveTrout]

When were you in Europe? I was told that the blockage took effect on either August 1 or 15. If you were there before then, the site would have been available on wifi. I only tried to access it on wifi and was 0 for 35 days in getting it in 4 different hotels in 3 countries and in our rental unit in Barcelona.

I was in Italy in June and couldn't access Rivals at the time.

 

[mike412]

Ha. But I hardly think that not having rivals on a trip to Europe would be so devastating.

It was hardly devastating. With the state of the FB program it probably was a blessing. I just hated paying $9.95 a month for something I didn’t get. And I found it funny that they would try to incentivize me to not cancel by offering 30.free days of which I wouldn’t get the site for 23 of them.

“Devastating” was FC Barcelona not winning in 3 consecutive matches while we were there — and ending at 9 my streak of them always winning when I was in attendance at the.Camp Nou by drawing with Girona. Although today’s 4-2 win over Tottenham in the Champion’s League took some of that bad taste away.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

It was hardly devastating. With the state of the FB program it probably was a blessing. I just hated paying $9.95 a month for something I didn’t get. And I found it funny that they would try to incentivize me to not cancel by offering 30.free days of which I wouldn’t get the site for 23 of them.

“Devastating” was FC Barcelona not winning in 3 consecutive matches while we were there — and ending at 9 my streak of them always winning when I was in attendance at the.Camp Nou by drawing with Girona. Although today’s 4-2 win over Tottenham in the Champion’s League took some of that bad taste away.

No offense Mike, but devastating is been devastated over sports.

However, having the ability to spend more than a month hanging out in Europe is quite a life you made for yourself.

 

[USN_Panther]

A proxy server is another cheaper option to a VPN. I have both as I am overseas and need to have US internet access to get access to the good Netflix content and sports streams. Try this one: http://usproxy.tv/

 

[mike412]

No offense Mike, but devastating is been devastated over sports.

However, having the ability to spend more than a month hanging out in Europe is quite a life you made for yourself.

I retired in 2012. Before that, I only had been to Europe in 1979, 1984 and 2002. And, my only trips to Asia had been courtesy of the Army: Vietnam, Okinawa, and R&R in Thailand. Starting in 2013, I have been to Europe every year on an extended trip. I fell in love with Barcelona on my first visit, in 2013, and it generally has been my base there. I met my wife (seen in the photo with me) there in June 2014. The photo was taken on the rooftop terrace of the MNAC, a museum of Catalan art, on the 3rd day after we met. She is European, so she loves traveling there. Especially since It used to be very difficult for Ukrainians like her to visit other European countries. Now, they don’t even need a visa to visit any EU country except Britain. Each year except for 2017, we have rented an apartment in Barcelona for 1 to 3 months and used it as our base to travel around the continent. Barcelona is the low airfare capital of Europe, which makes it an even better base.

This year, we were going to go in June. However, an angiogram on May 9 revealed I had a 95% blockage in an artery in one of the two places in the heart where a blockage can’t be removed by an angioplasty. So, instead of one day in the hospital and a 7 day recovery period, on May 10, I had open heart surgery — a double bypass, with 6 days in the hospital (shorter than average) and an estimated one year recovery.

In July, I got clearance to fly and return to Europe anytime after August 10 (3 months after the operation), so we went on August 24 and returned last week. Our first stop was Lake Como, the last place in Europe on my original bucket list. So, Europe may not be on the agenda in 2019, but traveling will always be a priority as long as I am physically capable of doing it. After all, a photo safari to Africa, Australia, Bali and South America remain on my bucket list.

Right now, I am lobbying my doctors to approve me starting to snorkel again on our scheduled January trip to Curaçao. That will be my first Caribbean island, and another check on my bucket list. But, I really want to snorkel when we are there. I have been snorkeling since 1970, and love it. Unfortunately, for my ribs to heal from the operation, I have to avoid too much torque in my chest and snorkeling creates some major torque. My heart is fine now. But, totally healing my ribs is the big remaining step.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

I retired in 2012. Before that, I only had been to Europe in 1979, 1984 and 2002. And, my only trips to Asia had been courtesy of the Army: Vietnam, Okinawa, and R&R in Thailand. Starting in 2013, I have been to Europe every year on an extended trip. I fell in love with Barcelona on my first visit, in 2013, and it generally has been my base there. I met my wife (seen in the photo with me) there in June 2014. The photo was taken on the rooftop terrace of the MNAC, a museum of Catalan art, on the 3rd day after we met. She is European, so she loves traveling there. Especially since It used to be very difficult for Ukrainians like her to visit other European countries. Now, they don’t even need a visa to visit any EU country except Britain. Each year except for 2017, we have rented an apartment in Barcelona for 1 to 3 months and used it as our base to travel around the continent. Barcelona is the low airfare capital of Europe, which makes it an even better base.

This year, we were going to go in June. However, an angiogram on May 9 revealed I had a 95% blockage in an artery in one of the two places in the heart where a blockage can’t be removed by an angioplasty. So, instead of one day in the hospital and a 7 day recovery period, on May 10, I had open heart surgery — a double bypass, with 6 days in the hospital (shorter than average) and an estimated one year recovery.

In July, I got clearance to fly and return to Europe anytime after August 10 (3 months after the operation), so we went on August 24 and returned last week. Our first stop was Lake Como, the last place in Europe on my original bucket list. So, Europe may not be on the agenda in 2019, but traveling will always be a priority as long as I am physically capable of doing it. After all, a photo safari to Africa, Australia, Bali and South America remain on my bucket list.

Right now, I am lobbying my doctors to approve me starting to snorkel again on our scheduled January trip to Curaçao. That will be my first Caribbean island, and another check on my bucket list. But, I really want to snorkel when we are there. I have been snorkeling since 1970, and love it. Unfortunately, for my ribs to heal from the operation, I have to avoid too much torque in my chest and snorkeling creates some major torque. My heart is fine now. But, totally healing my ribs is the big remaining step.

If you can travel, do it. Pretty great to see new places. If you have earned the money to do it. You deserve to live these desires out.

Looking to do Spain at Christmas. We will see how cheap I get between here and then.

 

[mike412]

If you can travel, do it. Pretty great to see new places. If you have earned the money to do it. You deserve to live these desires out.

Looking to do Spain at Christmas. We will see how cheap I get between here and then.

Where in Spain? If you are thinking of the Costa del Sol, which usually has the best weather in Spain (if not the world), it is cold there in December. Not cold enough to snow, but it’s not uncommon to have highs around 12 Celsius.

The surprise (at least for me) is San Sebastián in the Basque Country. It’s right on the Atlantic Ocean, so it seldom gets real hot (I was there in August and the highest it ever got was 77 Fahrenheit). But, it also doesn’t get real cold in the Winter. Highs of 16 Celsius are not uncommon. Not beach weather, but the equivalent of a nice Fall day in Pittsburgh.

I haven’t been there at Christmas time, but have heard that it’s wonderful. It’s one of my two favorite small cities in the world, along with Brugge in Belgium. And, a lot warmer. Plus, you will get to try pintxos, which are the Basque version of tapas. I eat nothing else when I am there. My rules for pintxos: (1) if it looks good, eat it; and (2) don’t ask what’s in it. In a typical pintxos bar/restaurant, when you come in you tell them if you want red or white wine. They hand you a glass and an empty plate. The various pintxos are lined up on the bar or a long table or both. You take what you want. Each has a toothpick in it. You leave the toothpicks on your plate, and they count the toothpicks on your plate to figure out what to charge you when you are done. At many places, only the cold pintxos are on display. The hot ones are brought out from the kitchens by waitstaff and there can be a scramble to get them. Sharp elbows helps. I never paid more than 12 Euros for a meal, which included the wine.

San Sebastián also has the highest number of Michelin starred restaurants per capita of any city outside of Paris. I never ate in any of them, but that might be a nice Christmas Eve treat. You likely have to make a reservation 90 days in advance though.

It’s also a perfect base for exploring the Basque Country: close to the wine growing, cheese making and farming areas of the Basque Country, as well as the French Basque region. The airport is right by the French border and you can drive, bus or train to Biarretz, the French resort in the Basque region, in 45 minutes. More interesting IMO is Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which is closer and also on the sea.