Traveling brings insight into words and history. For example: What does “D-day” mean? Hints of the true meaning can be found long before WWII in a U.S. Army Field Order. The order stated that “The First Army will attack at H hour on D day with the object of . . . The use of D-day allows military personnel to easily plan for a … Continue reading Normandy France
On an island located less than a half a mile off the coast of Normandy, lies one of the most incredible castles the world has ever seen. Due to its uniquely strategic position, Mont Saint-Michel has survived countless monarchies and wars since its construction in the 13th century. The Romanesque abbey church was founded over a set of crypts where the rock comes to an … Continue reading Le-Mont-Saint-Michel
Paris by bike, by night, and by God, it was fantastic Our first lucky break was the location of the hotel! Staying at the Left Bank Hotel was perfect, it was 2 minutes from the metro station, and no more than 20 minutes walk to the Louvre, Notre Dame, l’Orsay and steps away from the Paris cafe scene. The hotel was one of the 5 … Continue reading Paris by Day and by night
Notre Dame, Roudin Museum, Lourve Museum: The Notre Dame is a french-gothic architectural masterpeice from the 12th century. This amazing cathedral is a visual masterpeice of stone and glass. The Notre Dame is a world renowned historical landmark in paris, literally in the heart of paris. Literally all distances from the city of paris are calculated from a bronze stone in front of the cathedral … Continue reading Three Paris Icons
The Baltic cruise included capitals surrounding the Baltic Sea including Saint Petersburg. Cruise included many ports but by far the highlight was Saint Petersburg .as evidenced by the last three blog posts. This post covers the cruise and ports other than St. Petersburg. We flew from Moscow to Copenhagen, where we embarked on the Regal Princess and 12 day journey. Our kids lived in … Continue reading Baltic Cruise
Good God, what is there to say. It far, far, far exceeded our expectations. I saw more than I thought I would, I liked more than I thought I would, I walked more than I thought was possible, and I was sure I had not scratched the surface of what the Hermitage has to offer. Wealth, lavish and magnificent are the words that come to … Continue reading St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum
If you are a Czar, you need a lot of space. Living in an RV sometimes we wish we had more space, but we consider Camp Casa our little palace on wheels that can be moved to new settings whenever we wish. A city palace with a private art gallery and throne rooms, ball rooms, guest rooms. Perhaps a 1,000 rooms in all, in 4 … Continue reading St. Petersburg Palaces
The Russian Orthodox Churches are just amazing. Much like Moscow, the churches that remain standing fall into two categories: those attached to Palaces (as family places of worship) and those that were purpose built as a memorial. St Issac’s was built in 1818 to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. It is lavishly decorated with marble and other stones (malachite columns). It was closed during the … Continue reading St. Petersburg Churches – Russia continues
Moscow is a very cosmopolitan city, the women are beautifully dressed and sneakers are not worn unless a is performing athletics, or a tourist is visiting. What I realized is that tourists are performing athletics. In the space of beautiful, interesting and diverse 3 days, David and Karen walked 25 miles! We decided to use guides in Moscow. Three delightful ladies shared their day with … Continue reading Три дня в Москье. (Three Full Days in Moscow)
The remainder of summer 2016 (3 months) was spent traveling the Southeast USA covering states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. A relatively small area, 375 miles if you drove straight through, but what would be the fun in that? We had 3 themes for this journey: Civil war history; water/beaches; and culture (concerts/theater). We found a list (of course there was a list … Continue reading End of a Chapter
We just spent 3 months (Feb, Mar and April) in Florida, more time than we spend to see an entire country! But, Florida is big, or it is certainly diverse, you drive a few hours and feel like you in a whole different place. Ft Myers, where we settled in for our first foray in a 55 and over community is spectacular. (Theatre, history, kayaking, wildlife): So … Continue reading Florida – Family, Friends and Fun
Iguazu Falls are truly a magnificent display of nature. Their size and scale are unlike any other waterfall on earth. The falls may be viewed from Argentina and Brazil, we visited them from Iguazu National Park in Argentina as Brazil required a visa. The park has many catwalks and trails taking you over rivers and to the upper and lower circuit and Devil’s Throat. In … Continue reading A natural wonder – Iguazu Falls
Penguins as far as you can see — 2 million adult penguins and 1 million chicks! We cruised further north along the Argentina coast to Puerto Madryn where the temperatures were more summer like. This port gave us the last opportunity to go on an excursion to view penguins. The excursion took us on a 2 hour bus ride to a rocky 3-km long and … Continue reading Penguins as far as you can see
Distinguished by their pink webbed feet, red-orange beak, blood red eyes, bright yellow crests, and the irreverent black and yellow “crown”. They were named for their distinctive hopping movements over the rocky hills and cliffs where they live and breed. Due to the harsh rocky environment, they cannot slide on their bellies like most penguins, so they hop to get from one place to another. … Continue reading Rockhopper Penguins on Falkland Island
I had expected my fair share of snow capped mountains and stark, white landscape but I was genuinely surprised by its icebergs. I had not imagined them to be so beautiful or abundant. They came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. When it was sunny, they glistened like beautiful gems, and when it was cloudy they took on the color of the sky. I was … Continue reading Antarctic icebergs and penguins
There is a phrase we all know: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. These last few weeks are filled with moments I will not forget, they took my breath away. You did not want to go to bed because you didn’t want to miss a moment — and it never really … Continue reading Antartica Amazing Landscapes
We cruised to the southernmost town on the South American continent and last outpost before Antarctica, Ushuaia has earned the name el Fin del Mundo. Ushuaia is, quite literally, the end of the road. Located off the tip of the South American continent in the archipelago called Tierra del Fuego, it’s considered the southernmost city in the world. its location — between snow topped mountains … Continue reading Ushuaia, Terra Del Fuego, Cape Horn, and Drake Passage
The Chilean fjords’ snow-capped volcanoes and spectacular frosty glaciers are certainly dramatic highlights — During this part is of the cruise, we were out on deck with binoculars and camera in hand to watch the Captain expertly maneuver through the slalom course of islands and channel markers, dodge brash sea ice and bits of ice bergs as we pass by the glaciers. We saw lots … Continue reading The Chilean Fjords, Glacier Alley
We embarked on our 22 day South America and Antartica cruise on December 20, two months after we began our South American land journey. Our departure port, Valipariso, was one of the most intriguing and distinctive cities in Chile. Its most striking feature is the array of houses – a mad, colorful tangle of them tumbling down the hills to a narrow shelf of land … Continue reading The Chilean Coastline
[Show slideshow] We made it to our 7th Continent. Antartica is amazing. This post is a preview of what to come. Continue reading Antartica WoW
Wine tasting is one of our favorite past times during this trip. Although difficult, we have come up with our favorite wines. Unfortunately, some are not exported to the US. An area to the northeast of Santiago is a region of many fruit and vegetable farms. Further to the east and closer to the Pacific Ocean is the town of Casablanca, mostly Chilean wine wines. … Continue reading Wine tasting in Casablanca, Chile
Fin Del Mundo – ‘End of the World’, that what the sign says, but it felt that way as we rented a car in Puerto Natales and drove the 2 hours, mostly on gravel roads, to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. Our hotel was, Hotel Torres del Paine. Patagonia is far south in South America, one would think being this far south in the Southern … Continue reading Patagonia: a magical-sounding name for a faraway land
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing. The reason remains debated by glaciologists. The Perito Moreno Glacier is 3 miles wide, 19 miles in length, and is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice and has an average height of 240 ft above the surface of the water. It has a total ice depth of … Continue reading Cat-walking Moreno Glacier
We are in Patagonia with glaciers and snow covered mountain peaks. The Argentinian Glacier National Park has lots and lots of glaciers! We needed to decide between the largest glacier, the tallest glacier, the closest glacier, whew, so many choices! Well we picked the one closest to Fitz Roy massif. Fitzroy massif is the heart of the trekking experience, and is located near Viedma Lake/ … Continue reading Glacier National Park (Argentina)