Travels of Jon and Beth

Some fond memories of Autstralia and New Zealand

2011-11-30T18:21:00.000-08:00

goodbye to New Zealand and the South Pacific

2011-11-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

We are currently waiting for our friends to come by our room for a final drink and then dinner in the beautiful Bay of Islands. What a spectacular place! Fairly tropical, gorgeous scenery, mellow little town. Yesterday we took the bay cruise to the "hole in the rock" - the boat could fit through and the views were amazing! On the way back, we saw bottlenose dolphins splashing and playing around the boat. Of course, the captain stopped so we could watch them for a while - breathtaking!

We will be sad to leave these two countries, both with cultures so different and yet so familiar to ours. We are coming back tomorrow with suitcases ladened with mementos and about 1500 photos and many more wonderful memories! We have met great, friendly people, both fellow tourists and native Aussies and Kiwis. We have eaten good food, drank fantastic wine, seen things we never imagined that we would see - and have loved it all. We can't wait to see our families and friends and to begin the Christmas preparations. Hopefully we will see many of you soon! For now, kiora (Maori word with similar meanings to "aloha").

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2011-11-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hello from New Zealand! Here it is November 24 and so it is Thanksgiving already. We will be going out to dinner with our OAT family tonight to celebrate, albeit early. We are thinking about all of our friends and family gathering to celebrate and missing all of you! Sooo - here's wishing you a blessed day with those you love and a day of giving thanks for all the gifts that we have been given! We hope it is your best Thanksgiving ever!

more photos

2011-11-20T00:46:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pics from recent days in New Zealand. From top: mountains surrounding Milford Sound, students at a middle school in Rotorua that is 65% Maori, a Maori community house in Rotorua, the python waiting for dinner to come by in the Daintree rainforest in Australia (I can't get over this!), a saltwater crocodile in the same rainforest, Mordor? in the background on the way to the Dart River jet boat trip, and on the Dart River.

New Zealand continued

2011-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

We have a good internet connection tonight so I thought I would write a brief entry and post some pictures!

Today we traveled into the mountains to the only land locked district in New Zealand, which is it's wine growing area. Needless to say, a winery stop was necessary and Jon and I found a bottle that we couldn't do without. Currently we have a bottle of red open and a bottle of pinot gris in the waiting! We are near Fox glacier tonight; the south island is known as the "southern Alps". We hope to walk on the glacier tomorrow. We continue into the mountains tomorrow and then on to a sheep station (ranch) and a mining area.

I'm going to try to post some photos from the last few days; meanwhile Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at home!!!

south south island

2011-11-18T23:33:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Millwood resort, located near Queenstown, New Zealand! In the last few days we have seen amazing scenery in this region known as the southern Alps! Yesterday we cruised on Milford Sound which is very much like a pristine fjord! Very steep sides on the surrounding mountains, too many waterfalls to count, penguins, fur seals...it goes on and on. We have had beautiful weather - a lot of rain just before we arrived and a storm coming in this evening - but no rain on our cruise or today on our jet boat river excursion.

The jet boat trip was into Hobbit country. Peter Jackson filmed most of the Lord of the Rings trilogy here, as most of you know. We have driven through Hobbiton on the north island but most of the filming was done in the area of the Dart river, where we went today. In fact, today was the first day of actual shooting on "The Hobbit" and we saw the set from both the boat and the bus ride back. Very exciting! We also saw the forest with the trees that were the inspiration for the walking/talking variety in the film! And the mountains of Mordor were pointed out to us in the distance!

New Zealand is so beautiful - so many spaces that have not been despoiled by humans, although they do have some important environment issues to deal with. This place looks a lot more like home than any other we have been to on this trip. So green, so much water, so hilly.

We can hardly believe that we have only a little more than a week to go on this adventure! We have seen so much - deserts, rainforests, ocean reefs, snow capped mountains, small towns and huge cities, and spaces where no one lives at all. Maoris and Aboriginees, Europeans and Asians, and Americans.

I will try to do at least one more blog entry, so keep checking this site! I am unable to upload pictures at this time, but I will try later!

Sydney

2011-11-11T21:35:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! We are currently in Sydney and loving it! We can see why over 4 million people call it home! There are so many green spots and lots of coast line, many beaches, lots of culture - opera, theatre, ballet etc. It is very ethnic with lots of Asian cultures and lots of good restaurants!

Our tour group had a bus tour of the city, including Bondi beach, yesterday. We also had a harbor tour, a presentation at an opal dealers, a tour of the Opera house and we enjoyed a special sculpture exhibition along the water. Needless to say, we were exhausted but happy tourists!

Today Jon and I went to the amazing aquarium and saw our first live platypus. They also have a shark tank that is a tunnel that you walk through! Wow! Then we went to the Australia Museum where we visited the Aboriginal section and took one last look at all the creatures that can kill you here - there are MANY!

Before Sydney, we were on the northeast coast, at the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest. We got to snorkel on one of the inner reefs which was great - lots of kinds of coral and many beautiful fish. In the rainforest, we went on two walks, one during the day and one at night. We saw lizards ("dragons"), spiders and ants, many rare plants and two ancient species of geckos - and at night we saw a python posed on a tree to catch his dinner. We also got some bites (bugs) and a couple of leeches became attached to us, so I've had my fill of rainforests!

Tomorrow we are off to New Zealand - Auckland to be exact. We are half way through our trip which seems unbelievable! More later....

G'day, mates!

2011-11-03T04:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we're actually here! We finally left LA on Sunday night, Oct. 30, and flew to Sydney overnight minus a day (date line). Then we went on to Melbourne where we changed planes yet again and flew to Adelaide. There we finally met our tour guide and began our tour.

Adelaide is a lovely city, beautifully laid out and at this time of year, warm and sunny. We toured the town, visited the Cleland Animal Reserve where we hand fed kangaroos and scratched the back of a koala! (His name was "Vincent"!)

We also visited the wine institute (no surprise there) and then had time to visit the South Australian museum's aboriginal exhibit. We've also enjoyed wonderful food and superb wine in this prolific red wine growing region. We had the opportunity to experience a home hosted dinner and to get to know an Australian couple in their residence. It is one of the wonderful "perks" of an Overseas Adventure Travel tour and we had a wonderful evening with Sue and Leith.

Today we flew to Alice Springs in the center of the country. Hot and arid, this year the area has seen more rain than in the past few decades and so is greener than normal. It is a hub of Aboriginal culture. Tomorrow we will take an optional tour to a village to experience that culture up close. The following day we go to Uluru and see that magnificent giant monolith.

From the time we arrived in country, we have had days filled with amazing experiences. For example, today we met an amazing Aboriginal man of about 80 years who told us about his early life in what amounts to the Australian equivalent of a Native American boarding school. He also showed us how to throw a boomerang, which Jon mastered after 2 tries!!!! Alec also demonstrated the use of a bull whip - very loud and intimidating!

I will post again soon but perhaps not until we reach the coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Internet can be sporadic here!

Qantas

2011-10-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all! We left Seattle on time yesterday afternoon, flying to LAX to make an 11:30 flight to Melbourne on Qantas. All went well at first. While waiting at the gate for the Qantas flight, we linked up with 3 other couples on our tour! They are all very nice and we enjoyed visiting with them while we waited. We also met two women returning to Australia after visiting the US. At the appointed time, we began boarding an Airbus 380 - the giant airplane that holds about 800 people. It took a while but by 11:30 all were on board. At that point the captain used the sound system to announce that he had just been informed that there was an "industrial action" and all Qantas flights were cancelled! We had to disembark, wait in very long lines to get hotel assignments, then wait again for luggage that had been checked, then find the shuttle bus to take us to the hotel and wait for everyone to be on board. By the time the bus pulled away, it was 2:15 am. The hotel is in San Pedro which is a distance away across LA. Then only one desk person was on duty so checking in also took forever. We finally got to bed at about 3:30.

At this point (4:30 pm Saturday) we have reservations to fly out tomorrow at 10:15 on a United flight that will take us to Sydney where we will transfer to Melbourne where we will finally be met by an OAT rep who will put us on a plane to Adelaide. We will miss our first two days of the tour, for which we've been told that we will be compensated.

I know that all of this will seem like just a bad dream later, but right now it's a bit fresh and disconcerting. We had all assumed that once we got to LAX and to the correct gate our worries were over and we could just relax. Not so. It has been nice to have the other 6 folks around to look out for us, and we them, as things arose. We're already quite bonded!

I'll write more when we actually get to Australia and have begun the "on ground" tour. We'll have pictures then too, hopefully!

Another adventure begins,,,,

2011-10-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

We are preparing to have an adventure, this time in the southern hemisphere! Next week, beginning on October 28, we begin an Overseas Adventure Travel tour in Melbourne, Australia! Actually, as you probably know, we only fly out of LAX on the 28th; we land in Melbourne two days later where we meet our guide, David, and our 14 fellow travelers. We spend about two weeks in Australia (in this order: Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, Sydney) and then spend another two weeks in New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, Miford Sound, Fox glacier, Bay of Islands) and then fly home from Auckland via LAX again, arriving in Seattle on Nov. 29.

I will post to this blog when I can, sharing photos as often as possible, so stay tuned in!

And, since her majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will be in Australia when we are, we will be sure to give her greetings from all of you!

Adieu pour maintenant! (I have to keep my French somehow!)

Home

2010-08-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

We are back in our home in Suquamish, having arrived safely on Saturday. Jessica and Albert and our grandson Antonio met us at the airport - we were so happy to see them! Our plane was late - about 45 minutes - but they had been checking our progress online and knew we had been late taking off, so they planned accordingly. Our little Antonio has grown so much! Although we had been skyping regularly, he looks even more grown up in person! He is a real little boy now, not an infant!

Our last few days in Sablet were a mixture of savoring France and anticipating going home. The weather continued to be quite warm and the blue skies, green vineyards and noisy cicadas made an impression that will last for a long time. We ate dinner at our favorite restaurants, drank as much wine as we could (we had more than we could bring home under customs regulations) and generally soaked up life in rural Provence. We also did laundry, packed and weighed bags, ate leftovers and finished books in an effort to prepare as much ahead of time as we could for our car-train-plane-plane journey.

On Friday morning, August 6, we checked out of the apartment with Ros, our Australian landlords' on site person. We drove the rental car back to Avignon and checked it in - thankfully no problems with either. Then we waited for the high speed train to take us from Avignon to Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. One of the wonderful things about flying business class is the airline lounge that is available to you. We waited for our flight to London in British Airlines' lounge very comfortably! Our flight left on time. We went through the usual checks at Heathrow and then walked to the convenient Sofitel hotel that connects with the main terminal. The room was great!

On Saturday we simply walked back over to Terminal 5, checked our bags and went to the BA lounge there. When we could, we boarded the flight and then sat as we waited for a storm system and the resultant backup to ease. Finally we took off.

And now we are in the midst of trying to unpack and move back into our home. It is a slow task but things are getting done. All in good time.

Some final thoughts about our year. We are so glad that we took this trip! It was the adventure of a lifetime for us and we learned so much! When we think about all the places we've been, people we've met and experiences we've had, we can hardly believe it. We envy the Europeans their close proximity to many different languages and cultures and their consequent appreciation of and comfort level in many different countries. We are thankful that the EU makes travel so easy, with the euro and simple travel procedures such as wonderful highways with common signage and no border checks. Europeans seem calmer and less anxious about their daily lives, which is something that Americans should adopt, in our opinion. We saw almost no traffic jams, let alone accidents. No road rage. People were always friendly and willing to help us with whatever we needed.

We do have a list of places that we'd like to see that we missed this time, and places to which we'd like to return. However we have no plans to go anywhere for the next little while and our next trip will be to another area of the world; there is so much to see and experience on the earth! Please send us an email etc with your thoughts on our blog and journey, if you'd like to. For now, "happy trails to you until we meet again"!

Photos, from top left: Jon outside our apartment door; some of our new friends in Sablet - Mimi, Alain and Bruno; Jon and Bruno (owner of the Sports Bar restaurant); Alain and Mimi (owners of the small grocery store); Dominic (owner of our favorite restaurant - Les Remparts) and his sister; the boulangerie lady; our big helper at the Tourist Information; a bottle of the local wine; Ros, the on site manager of our apartment; our last dinner in Sablet; and we're home!

Normandy

2010-08-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post while in Europe, at least on this trip! We have just returned from Normandy and really enjoyed our time there. It is a solemn place and we felt the presence of all those soldiers who were there 66 years ago.

We were gone for 5 nights. The drive from Sablet to Arromanches, the beach town where we stayed, is quite long and we didn't try to do it all in one day. The first night, we stayed in the Loire valley, just outside the little town of Vouvray. We stayed in a large country house and enjoyed a delicious dinner in town with a local white wine, of course! The next day we drove to Caen, the regional capital of Normandy. It has a wonderful museum that shouldn't be missed! One could spend a day there easily. There are many movies and audio visual effects, plus pictures, objects and written commentary. Our GPS got us off the freeway and into the parking lot just fine. We spent half a day there, becoming informed and being appropriately prepared for what we would see on the coast.

When we got to our hotel in Arromanches, we were impressed with the community. The town is at the site where the British established an artificial, floating harbor so that men, vehicles and supplies could be unloaded quickly after D Day. Some of the harbor is still there; some far out in the water and some on the beach where it can be closely examined. The town still has posters up thanking their liberators and there is a well done museum, mostly about the Mulberry project (artificial harbor). This engineering feat had never been done before - it is quite amazing!

On our first full day there, we went to the museum and also to a 360 degree presentation in a special facility nearby. It concerned D Day (Jour J, as they call it) also. Then we drove down the coast toward the American beaches. Our first stop was at the best remaining German gun battery. It was unsettling to see the gun bunkers and to imagine their power. As we walked around, we observed the pattern that we would see repeatedly. The adult visitors were quiet as they carefully looked at each bunker, weapon etc. They were respectful and thoughtful. The young children saw cannons as things to climb on and the hills above to jump on. Even they however did not scream and shout at each other. They knew that something important had happened there.

After the German guns, we drove further and arrived at the American cemetery. Again, a very subdued place. A wonderful movie, featuring three soldiers who gave their lives on June 6, 1944, is shown and there are visual displays worth seeing inside the building there as well. Then we went outside. We walked to the overlook to Omaha beach, where 1200 Americans died. Their marbles crosses and stars of David were behind us and we walked through them to the small chapel in the middle of the cemetery. Then we went back to the major memorial and arrived in time to see the American flags retired for the day and to hear taps played. Visitors from all over the world stood at attention and Jon and other veterans saluted. A very moving moment. We were ready to drive back to the hotel.

The following day we drove directly to Omaha beach. We walked from a parking lot until we were underneath the cemetery and could see the flags. We found small pieces of metal; even though hundreds of tons were removed right after the war, many more small pieces still remain. It felt like hallowed ground, where so much blood was shed. We didn't talk much. I could sense what it must have been like for my father who arrived in Normandy a couple of days after D Day. What he must have seen there, and in the rest of Europe. He would never talk to us about it much. I felt him with me there that day.

From there we went to Point du Hoc, the steep cliffside that the Army Rangers scaled in order to wipe out the devastating German guns there. The ground has been left as it was then, with deep craters from the intense aerial and naval bombardment there in the soil. Three fourths of the Rangers were either killed or seriously wounded in that struggle.

We went on then to Ste. Mere Eglise, the little town made famous by "The Longest Day" as the place where the 101st. Airborne division paratroopers landed in support of the beach invasion. On that day, one soldier got caught on the top of the church and was shot since he was in plain view of the Germans. A parachute and mannikin hang from the church today to remind visitors of those brave airmen. There are also banners over the streets and shops full of military objects and clothes as well as another museum.

As we drove back to the hotel, we noticed how few buildings survived the heavy fighting of the Allied invasion. Some churches, walls etc are there, but most have had to be rebuilt. Only seven buildings were left standing in Arromanches, for example. The French people suffered terribly and rightfully claim to have contributed in a major way to the Allied victory in Europe.

On Monday we drove from Arromanches to Le Mont St. Michel, the famous abbey on the little island just off the coast. We did not go completely across the 2 mile causeway to get to it, but did stop and take photos. It is very picturesque and causes one to stare as though it is not real! We had a delicious Bretagne crepe lunch and then continued on to the city of Poitiers for the night.

The next day we drove south via Toulouse, and west via Carcassonne, Montpelier and Nimes and finally back to our own village of Sablet. I wish we could have explored the Dordogne, known for its Cro Magnon cave paintings, and Carcassonne, the incredible walled city from the 11-13th. centuries. The latter caused us both to gasp as we saw it from the highway - it looks too perfect! We were glad to arrive "home" though and enjoyed ribs for dinner in our favorite restaurant in the center of town.

Today we have been packing, doing some laundry and turning our attention to the homeward journey. My final post will let you know that we made it!

Photos, from top left: the view from our hotel window in Arromanches; "Arromanches the key to the victory in Normandy"; low tide reveals the remains of the floating dock; the German gun placements; craters in the earth at Point du Hoc; Omaha beach today; the American cemetery; signpost; small pieces of metal on Omaha beach; Point du Hoc; Ste. Mere Eglise church and the paratrooper; the abbey at Le Mont St. Michel.

Switzerland

2010-07-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from spending 6 days in Switzerland and we are so glad that we took the opportunity to go there. It is what the stereotypes say it is and so much more!

We divided our time between 3 places. Lausanne is a large city of 150,000, Murren is a tiny mountain village of 400 plus tourists, and Murten is a lakeside community of several thousands not far from the capital of Bern. Three very different experiences but all very Swiss!

We drove first to Lausanne which is not far from Geneva. We made out way to our hotel, following the driving directions from the hotel. It was centrally located in the old town and very near a metro stop to the waterfront. When we arrived, it was late afternoon and very warm. We had a wonderful dinner later that evening and then walked around the old town a bit. We saw people of many races walking together and heard various languages being spoken; we had the strong impression of a multicultural, international city. The predominant language here is French, but German is heard everywhere and is the first language in much of the rest of the country.

The next day, we took the metro to the waterfront and went to the TI immediately to see what options we had for a boat trip on Lake Geneva. The lake is long and roughly crescent shaped. Lausanne is along the long north edge about 2/3 of the way toward the east tip. Boats leave there to go to various points on the lake, including Evian, famous for it's water and spas. We wanted to spend several hours on the water and to see Chateau Chillon (made famous by Lord Byron) and Montreux, the upscale town with a famous jazz festival. We ended up taking the train to Chillon to have lunch and tour the castle and then taking a 2 hour boat trip back to Lausanne. It was the perfect way to spend a hot day. The castle was cool and it took us 2 1/2 hours to see it all. Then we walked a short distance and waited for the boat. We sat upstairs by an open window, sipped wine and watched the beautiful scenery go by.

When we got back to Lausanne, we walked on the promenade along the lake to the Olympic museum and sculpture park. We knew the museum would be closed since it was late in the day, but the sculptures were beautiful and fascinating. All were donated by various national Olympic committees, including a Haida pole from the Vancouver group. Some celebrated specific athletes but most interpreted the spirit and goal of the Olympic games. After enjoying the park, we walked back toward the metro and found a restaurant for a delicious dinner of fresh fish.

The next day, our plans took us first to the town of Gruyeres where the delicious cheese is made. We took a tour of the plant, which was entertaining and then enjoyed cheese fondue in their restaurant. From there we drove to Interlaken and then into the hills to Lauterbrunnen. There we left the car in a parking garage, gathered our luggage and took a cable car up a couple of thousand feet! We then took the Panorama train to the little Alpen village of Murren. Here we found the Switzerland of Heidi! Towering mountain peaks surrounded us, including the famous Jungfrau and Eiger. Valleys had tiny hamlets of farm houses. Bells could be heard tinkling from the necks of cows and sheep in fields high above us. Wildflowers and waterfalls were everywhere. We had a reservation in the Hotel Bellevue - perfect name! - in the middle of the town. Our room was in a corner on the third floor and our views from two balconies were awesome. The weather was perfect when we arrived and we were fortunate because that did not continue. There was a short storm with rain, thunder and lightening, but that passed. Jon had a nice swim in the sports center with the free pass given us by the hotel. The next morning was also nice although our hotel host told us bad weather was expected. We decided to go right over to the funicular after breakfast and go up another two thousand feet. There were trailheads and a restaurant there, and of course more spectacular views. We wandered around just taking it all in for a while and then hiked a bit. When we were ready for lunch we went back to the restaurant. I had a remarkable carrot and coconut soup with bread and a sausages - yum! At that point, the clouds were coming in and we decided to go back to Murren. We ventured an extended walk through town, looking at the various shops and overviews. By dinner time, it was pouring with more lightening and thunder and we were happy to enjoy dinner in our hotel's restaurant. We happened to be seated next to a family of four who spoke English. When we enquired about where they were from, they responded "Seattle"! We found out that the adults, Barbara and David, were both doctors at Group Health, one an internist and the other a family practitioner. Of course, they knew our personal docs and Chris and Pat Killien from our river cruise. Their daughter, Abby, is a 7th. grader at Bush and the son, Jacob, an 8th. grader at University Prep. We really enjoyed getting to know all four of them and hope to see them at some point when we are home. There is a picture of them on this blog.

The next morning was very foggy and drippy and we felt blessed to have had the spectacular views that had been there for us. We checked out of the hotel reluctantly and took the train and then the cable car back to Lauterbrunnen. It was still raining as we got into the car and started driving to Murten.

The rain continued for almost all of the drive. It made us remember how lucky we had been with the weather for most of this year! We followed street signs when we arrived in Murten and found our hotel without delay. Again, we had lovely views of lake Murten from our room. By the time we had checked in and unpacked, the sun was out and we decided to explore the one main street of the old town. We asked for advice about buying chocolate and were told also about Nidelkuchen, the cake for which this town is known. We were told that we HAD to taste it! So of course we bought a piece at the recommended patisserie and shared it. We also bought some chocolates and enjoyed the architecture and trimmings of the city. That evening we had an unexpectedly delicious Chinese dinner and took a lovely stroll along the lake front as the dark clouds gathered yet again. We decided to drive back to Sablet a day early since our plans to take another boat trip and go into the mountains on a cable car didn't seem good with the storms.

It was good to return to our little apartment where the temperature has moderated to the mid 80s and the wind keeps things even cooler. We will spend a few days here this week and then on Thursday begin our final side trip - to Normandy by way of the castles of the Loire valley. More on that when we return.

Photos, from top left: a very Swiss building in Lausanne; Lake Geneva surrounded by mountains; another lake photo; Castle Chillon at the edge of the lake; fountain at the entry to the Olympic park; a 35 kilogram (77 lb) Gruyere cheese; one of the views from our room in Murren; Mont Eiger at sunset; Jungfrau close up; Jon and I on the trail!; Mont Blanc variety of eidelweiss; wildflowers; a view of a nearby valley from a trail; sheep grazing on the hillside; soup and sausages for lunch; our new friends from Seattle; Nidelkuchen - somewhat like maple bars except it has a dense cake below the maple frosting; one of the streets in Murten; pastry display in the chocolate shop; and finally, the view through the screen in our window of Lake Murten at sunset.

Sablet

2010-07-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

We have been here in Sablet for two weeks now. It is a small wine village in the Cote du Rhone area of Provence, near Avignon. It has been a wonderful time! We have seen a lot of the countryside, eaten delicious food and drunk bottles of amazing wine! We have also seen family for the first time since last September; Peter and his wife Tammy and their kids Claire and Jonathan were with us for 9 days! So this time has been a treat!

Our hosts Mary and Tony Byrne met us in the large upper apartment when we arrived. They also own a smaller, two person apartment which is underneath and where we are now. The house sits at the top of the hill upon which the ancient town of Sablet was built. It is directly across from the ancient church and we enjoy the bell which chimes on each hour and half hour, except blessedly during the night. The upper part is a good size house all on its own. It has 3 bedrooms (master and 2 others, 2 with king beds), 3 baths, a large living and dining room combination, and a kitchen and laundry area plus a small deck on the roof from which we enjoyed a 360 degree view! The entry is into the living room and stairs lead to the bedroom areas with another flight of steps to the roof. We had originally only rented the smaller apartment but when we learned that Peter etc. would be able to join us, we were able to switch places which worked out well. Claire got her own bedroom! We moved to the smaller unit after taking the kids to the train station yesterday morning and we will have this place until the sixth of August when we begin our trip home.

Before Peter and family arrived, we had four full days to explore. Of course the first two days were spent in settling in, doing laundry, exploring the village of Sablet and buying groceries at le petit marche, meat at the boucherie, and wonderful bread and croissants at the boulangerie! Doing laundry was fun! The smallish washer had an efficient 30 minute cycle and on the roof was a clothes line and drying rack. No dryer needed! Everything dried beautifully in the fresh air and 95 degree heat (more on that later). We spent Tuesday at the weekly market in the nearby town of Vaison la Romaine. Rick Steves claims it is one of the best markets in France and we agree! It was HUGE and packed with folks. Clothing - new and used - as well as food, household goods, souvenirs, and restaurants lined the streets for blocks and some of the side streets as well. We found a few things that we couldn't live without and enjoyed a great lunch. All the stalls shut down at about 1:30 which is when we had lunch and afterward we wandered our way back to the car. On Wednesday, we did a driving tour of some of the wine villages around Sablet (Sah blay), picking up a bottle or two at each, of course. That was a great opportunity to see the fields and landscape up close. Wine grapes are the majority crop but we also saw lots of wheat, lavender and some sunflower fields. This is certainly a region for artists; Van Gogh spent years in the nearby towns of Arles and St. Remy. It is beautiful here.

As I mentioned, the weather has been hot. During the first couple of days we were here, the Mistral wind blew fiercely - probably a good 30 mph constantly. That helped the temperature issue. It has been over 90 in the shade every day, with most days being around 33-35 (quick conversion = double the number and add 30, so 96 to 100). Two days ago, it was 37.5 on a time-temperature sign I saw in Arles (105). Since Peter and Tammy arrived, the wind has been minimal, leaving just the heat. We tried to drink lots of liquids and to stay out of the direct sun. We refused to just sit around in the house though; for one thing, since we had no air conditioning only ceiling fans, being in the cool car was more comfortable.

On the day after they arrived, we just relaxed, doing lots of catching up and playing with the kids. We met our newest grandson, Jonathan, for the first time! They needed time to do laundry too, since they spent several days in Germany prior to arriving for our visit. We also planned our days together. Jon and I had done a little research as had Tammy and Peter and we pooled our ideas and made a calendar. Months ago, I had made a reservation for all of us in the city of Vence, which is near Nice but inland a bit. I wanted us to have time playing in the Mediterranean and happily the hotel had a pool too. That turned out to be very important! On the day that we drove back, we drove through the tiny country of Monaco, right past the huge, famous casino! Antibes provided us with a great lunch on the beach with swimming in the Mediterranean afterward. We spent one night and two days on that trip; the other traveling we planned were day trips. The first was a trip to 6,000 foot Mont Ventoux where the temperature was a lovely 75 degrees. We traveled beyond the summit to Sault for lunch and where Tammy and I did some shopping and then onto to Gordes and the nearby abbey where we sat in on a service. Over the next days we went to the beautiful city of Arles which we loved and saw ancient Roman ruins and then on to Pont du Gard, the largest Roman ruin of them all! It is a huge 2000+ ft. aqueduct bridge over the Gardon river. It is the second highest Roman structure that survives, being only a few feet lower than the Colosseum in Rome. It has beautiful arches and a lovely river where we did some refreshing swimming and wading! We also visited the city of Avignon with plans to see the Palace of the Popes and the famous bridge of children's nursery rhymes. The Palace was home for hundred of years to the head of the Roman Catholic church when Rome was considered to be too dangerous. We saw the Pont d'Avignon while driving; the huge structure goes about 2/3 of the way across the Rhone and then stops, which is why the nursery rhyme says "they dance" on the bridge. Unfortunately, there was a festival going on in the city and parking was impossible for our 9 passenger van. It was way too hot to have to walk a long distance with the kids, so we drove toward Sablet and then on to Vaison and the Roman ruins there. It turned out to be a good choice, since the trip was shorter and the walking much easier. Tammy and I also got a bit more shopping in. Saturday morning we were up very early (5:00 am) in order to leave the village at 6:30 to take Peter, Tammy, Claire and Jonathan to the TGV (high speed train) station in Avignon. It was hard to say goodbye to them, so we didn't. We used the French "au revoir" which means "until we see you again".

After exchanging rental cars - gigantic for small - we drove back to Sablet to begin our move from upstairs to downstairs. We like our cozy, cooler place and slept well last night. Tomorrow we are off for 6 days in Switzerland. We will spend 2 nights each in Lausanne, Murren and Murten. We'll report on all those adventures next time!

Pictures, from top left: the little village of Sablet; Jon outside our first home in Sablet; Mary and Tony Byrne, our landlords - go to www.houseinprovence.net for more house info; locally grown, delicious tomatoes on display at the market in Vaison; wine at the market; Elizabeth, quilter and wine expert at Domaine des Girasols winery; wine grapes on the vine; a window in Sablet; the Sablet church steeple at sunset; looking at the sunset from our roof top deck; Grandpa with his newest grandson; Jonathan feeding himself; lavender fields near Sault; the valley farmland near Sault; the beach at Antibes; Jon and I - and Claire - at the Pont du Gard; Peter, Claire and Jonathan in the Gardon river; and Claire and Tammy in their matching Provencal outfits!

Great Rivers of Europe, part 2

2010-07-04T04:48:00.000-07:00

We are now off the ship, having finished our wonderful cruise two days ago. We are in our final "home away from home", an apartment in the little wine village of Sablet, in Provence, France. I am finally able to do a post about the second half of our river trip which was from Vienna to Bucharest.

As I ended the last post, we had arrived in Budapest. What a wonderful city! It is beautiful with many bridges, interesting architecture and many sights to take in. Jon and our friends Chris and Dennis spent a morning at the Terror Museum - their wives Pat and Eileen and I decided that we'd had enough of the Nazis and communists for the moment. The guys said that it was very good, with lots of handouts in English and interesting displays. I enjoyed a peaceful morning which included a chat with my friend Madeline, a fellow educator. Of course during our time in Budapest we also had a half day bus tour and we also took some optional tours including one to several sights in the Jewish neighborhood. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved 35,000 of the city's Jews during WWII by issuing them Swedish passports, is one of my personal heroes and there were several memorials to him in the former ghetto. On another tour we went to Esztergom, a town which stands on the site of a Roman fortress and has a beautiful basilica. From the hilltop, we looked down on the Danube Bend where the river is the boundary between Hungary and Slovakia. After seeing Esztergom, we continued to Visegrad where we also had beautiful views and watched a recreation of a knight tournament which demonstrated the weaponry and combat of the 1500s and enjoyed a delicious medieval feast. On yet another optional tour, we went to the nearby town of Szentendre which had wonderful shopping! We found several items that we couldn't do without. The timing was perfect since most of our treasures went into the last box that we mailed home later that afternoon. We also went to the baths in Budapest with Eileen and Dennis, which was an interesting experience and one that we very much enjoyed. We wore our swimsuits and didn't see any nudity, although there were areas where it was allowed. That evening our ship left Budapest at night so that the captain could show us the lights of the city. It was lovely! We went past the huge Parliament building and under several bridges - breathtaking!

On Saturday, June 26, we stopped at Kalocsa, a rural town on the Great Hungarian Plain, where we saw a horse show, went to a paprika factory and saw lots of beautiful, ornate embroidery items and listened to an amazing organ concert performed on the third largest organ in Hungary where Franz Liszt also played.

The next day we crossed into Croatia. Unlike our earlier visit to vibrant Zagreb, the city the ship stopped at, Vukovar, is in the extreme eastern part of the country, in a rural area where the Danube is the border with Serbia. This location was the sight of a prolonged Serbian attack during their war in the 80's. The Serbs won the battle and there were many atrocities committed. It still looks like a war zone and was quite depressing. On the other hand, we experienced a wonderful home-hosted lunch with a Croatian family. The food was plentiful and delicious. We had soup, pork meatballs, cole slaw, rice, green beans and two kinds of dessert. We were also served homemade plum brandy, elderberry juice, white wine and water. We rolled onto the bus later!

The next stop was in Belgrade, Serbia. We had the usual city bus tour and then free time. We ventured out to do some shopping and had an adventure involving the city buses, but managed to get back to the ship just fine. Late in the afternoon, two young college students came on board for an interactive discussion. They were articulate, bright and just about ready to go out on their own. The discussion was lively and thought-provoking.

From the beginning, we had found it interesting, in view of this area's recent history, that we had a Croatian captain and several Serbian crew members. When I asked one of the tour directors about it, the answer was that the captain set the tone and that everyone got along just fine. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

For the second half of our cruise, we had two new tour directors. Helmut stayed on board with us, but Cristian and Reka joined us and were the leaders of the other two small groups. Reka is from Hungary and Cristian is from Romania. On the 29th., they presented a fascinating discussion regarding life under communism. Cristian lived under communist control until he was in college. Reka was younger but still remembers it well. Helmut, being Austrian, did not have many memories since the Russians left Austria voluntarily about 10 years after WWII but he did have some insights to contribute. The onboard movies also offered documentaries on Tito, Stalin and Ceausescu, which were extremely enligtening. In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell and there were revolutions in all the former communist satellite countries. That's only 21 years ago. Each country has tried to find it's way forward and some have made more progress than others. There is a huge difference between these nations and western European countries, but they all want to catch up. Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania are part of the EU and so have some financial advantages that the others don't. We wish them all well and hope that the lives of all the people will improve quickly.

On Thursday, July 1, we docked in Varna, Bulgaria. From there we took a bus tour to see fortresses and the general countryside. It was very interesting to realize how much influence the early Greeks and Romans had on this area. The museum had many beautiful items created in ancient times, especially gorgeous gold jewelry.

On the last day of our journey, we docked at Ruse, Bulgaria. At 8:15 we got on a bus to journey to the Black Sea. It was a warm day and when we got to a resort there, we had a fantastic lunch and then could swim or wade in the sea. We waded and the water was surprisingly cool, not cold, and pleasant! There was a beautiful golden sandy beach. We spent several hours and then left at about 3:15 for the return trip to the ship. Jon and I were scheduled for an early morning flight the next day (my fault) so we took a taxi after dinner to Bucharest and stayed in the hotel there that the others would use the next night. The next morning, the same driver picked us up and took us to the airport for our 8:30 flight to Heathrow in London. Helmut arranged for the taxi driver and let the hotel know that we would come a night early, for which we thank him.

Once at Heathrow, we had to transfer to Gatwick for our flight to Marseille. That went well and then we found that our flight was delayed for 2 hours due to a problem in Rome and other issues. We finally arrived in Marseille at about 6:45 instead of 4:45. After more delays, we picked up our rental car and headed for our hotel in St. Remy where we were to overnight on our way to Sablet. We ended up having dinner in St. Remy at 11:00 pm, but we had made it and we happily dropped into bed at about midnight. The next morning we drove the final leg of the journey and reached the apartment here.

Here are some last photos from our cruise. From top left: bust of Raoul Wallenberg in the Jewish museum in Budapest; one of the bridges of Budapest lit at night; Hungarian embroidery, our lunch and our hosts in Vukovar; the gates of the Danube; a small Bulgarian village near one of the fortresses; finally, the Black Sea!; our farewell dinner with our friends - around the table clockwise - me, Chris, Eileen, Dennis, Pat and Jon; Helmut, Jon and I in front of River Concerto as we wait for our taxi to Bucharest.

Great Rivers of Europe, part 1

2010-06-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to do a new posting; we have had intermittent internet service available to us since we boarded our ship, "River Concerto", in Amsterdam. We have just completed the first half of our latest adventure with Grand Circle Travel and it was great! We have travelled from Amsterdam to Vienna, through many (at least 30) locks, in all kinds of weather and have seen fascinating sights.

We started in Amsterdam and went to Cologne, Koblenz, Mainz, Frankfurt, Wertheim, Wurzburg, Schweinfurt, Bamberg, Nurenberg, Regensburg, and Passau. We saw sights such as Marksburg Castle, the Lorelei, the quaint city of Ruedesheim, the castle in Heidelberg, the Residenz in Wurzburg, the Nazi grounds and courtrooms of Nurenberg, the baroque church in Kelheim, and of course we've enjoyed the beauty of traveling on a river with gorgeous scenery surrounding it. We had a walking and/or bus tour of each city. We've had guests speaking on German history and Germany today as well as a glassblowing demonstration on board the ship. We've had the opportunity to taste a LOT of beer and wine as well as German foods such as various sausages, desserts, pretzels and potatoes. We had a home hosted dessert experience where we got to visit a friendly German couple in their home near Frankfurt. Each day has been full and we've gone to bed tired each night but excited about the next day.

The ship is so comfortable and pleasant! There is a dining room that seats all the passengers (about 130) at once; the tables have linen table cloths and napkins. Breakfast is buffet with an omelet/egg station and loads of cereals, fruits, cheeses, yogurts etc. Lunch and dinner have multiple courses and are served by waiters with choices of entree. There are usually choices for desserts also and there is always a sugar free cake and ice cream for those who want it. Two glasses of house wine are included with dinner. There is also a bar/lounge where couches and arm chairs are grouped to make conversation easy; many face the floor to ceiling windows toward the bow and sides so that we can see the passing scenery. This is also where our port talks (a review of the day and preview/schedule for the next day) occur every night just before dinner. After dinner, the musician on board provides music, both instrumental and vocal, and there is a dance floor for those who choose to use it.

Happily this boat has a fitness room where I have used the treadmill every day but one! Jon has been suffering from a pinched nerve in his leg but is doing much better and is looking forward to getting back on the treadmill himself. There are several other machines as well as a sauna and all are used regularly. The top of the ship has a sun deck, with part in front of the wheel house and a larger part toward the stern. When we have gone through locks, especially scenic areas or under very low bridges, many of us head upstairs to see everything first hand. Other times, it is pleasant to sit outside and watch the water and land go by.

Yesterday we left Germany and sailed into Austria. We stopped first at Melk where we took an

optional trip to visit the abbey there and enjoy a wine tasting. Late in the afternoon we arrived in Vienna. After dinner we went to the city center to enjoy a performance of classical music which was outstanding! Thirteen professional musicians played pieces by Mozart and Strauss, among others, and a soprano and tenor sang separate arias and then two duets. Two ballet dancers performed as well. It was a memorable evening! This morning we had a lengthy city tour of Vienna, including St. Stephen's church and a coffee and cake stop, and then we began sailing to Budapest. We would have loved more time in Vienna but since I also fell in love with Salzburg last fall, I would very much like to come back to Austria for several weeks in the future.

We will have several days in Budapest and then go on through Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and into Romania. We end our trip in Bucharest. More about those experiences later.

Photos, from top left: the Rhine was quite high and we saw lots of flooding; our cabin made up for the day; our guide Helmut and one of the other two guides, Dina; the two youngest of our fellow travelers - Breno from Brazil on the left and Ted on the right; typical German scenery and sausage sandwiches; one of 66 locks we passed through; we saw many small villages along the river; and chocolates with real gold decoration on top!

Belgium and The Netherlands

2010-06-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

When I last wrote from Copenhagen, we were about to fly to Brussels. Our flight went well and we were glad that we had flown rather than taking the 12 hour train. Brussels is a big city, very focused on history and now also on the European Union as it is the seat of the EU Parliament. It is a very old city and it's main square reflects that in it's buildings and statues. We spent our time visiting the square, wandering a few side streets, having a delicious dinner at a Michelin restaurant, and eating some delicious Belgian chocolates (mine were sugar free!). The next morning we got on to a train and traveled to Bruges.

We had heard so much about this medieval town and during our days there we were not disappointed! We much prefer small towns to big cities and Bruges is much smaller than Brussels. We stayed in a great little hotel a short distance from the main square. We stayed for three nights and truly enjoyed ourselves! We took a canal cruise the first afternoon since the weather was perfect! We also both got hair cuts and I got mine colored - it was well past due. One of the main things we wanted to see was the only sculpture done by Michaelangelo to leave Italy in his lifetime. It is in the Church of Our Lady (Notre Dame) and is a lovely Madonna and child. We also took a city bus tour and then, since the weather had cleared from cloudy and rainy to sunny, we took a tour to the nearby city of Damme. We rode one way on the bus and went back on a boat on the canal. It was a very relaxing way to sightsee and to appreciate the countryside. The city of Bruges dates continually from the middle ages and was a major port at that time. Since then, silt has filled in about 10 kilometers but the city has continued to exist. It's main commerce now is tourism. It is a beautiful city and I would recommend a visit to anyone who plans to visit the region.

Last Monday we took the train to Amsterdam. Again we are staying some distance from the central area but we like being in more residential areas. Public transportation is great here, with a wonderful tram system as well as buses. There is a subway that functions mainly to connect the suburbs to the downtown area. We immediately bought 6 day transit cards which are good on all of the above. Two tram lines run about a block away and both go to the downtown hub. They go by about every five minutes so getting around is so easy! Amsterdam is shaped like a fan, with the central train station in the north and a series of canals and the Amstel river in concentric circles around it.

We decided to divide our 7 days here between the city and the surrounding area. We spent the first day using a 24 hour pass for canal and city bus tours. There are four different canal tours which cover different areas of the city. We had time for three of the tours that day and the next morning took a bus tour to pick up whatever the canals missed. The bus tour included a stop at Gassen's diamond center; interesting but no purchases were made. In the afternoon we visited the Ryksmuseum. It is currently under huge renovation but happily the best of their collection is presented in a more compact area which makes the visit still extremely worthwhile but much easier on the feet! Rembrandt is probably the most famous Dutch painter and the collection in the museum is fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Another day was divided between Anne Frank's house, the Red Light district and the Van Gogh museum (I know - quite a contrast). We started our morning at Anne Frank's hiding place in order to beat the crowds. It is incredibly moving to walk through the rooms and see the few articles there and remember her story; hallowed ground, to be sure. After having lunch, we took a short stroll along Rick Steves' tour path in the Red Light district. We saw condoms shops, drug shops and prostitutes advertising in their windows. All of this is quite legal although tightly regulated. We didn't need to see any more. That evening we visited the Van Gogh museum which is only about 2 blocks away from our hotel. His sad personal story stands in contrast to his amazing paintings and the museum does a wonderful job of presenting both.

Last Thursday we went on a day trip to The Hague and Delft. We visited the first in the morning and spent the afternoon in the beautiful smaller town. The Hague is home to the World Court and we had hoped to go inside the Peace Palace to see it in action. Unfortunately, the building was closed to visitors which is not unusual. So we quickly moved on to Delft. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking through the open air market and visiting the old and new churches. I was very interested in visiting the Delft ceramics plant and we enjoyed a 30 minute tour and made a couple of small purchases before heading back to Amsterdam on the train. Yesterday we took Rick Steves' Historical Triangle trip and rode north to the town of Hoorn where we took a coal fired steam train to another small town. There we caught an old style passenger boat that took us to an open air folk museum. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time during each segment of the trip. At the end, we took the train back to Amsterdam. Today has been a time of arranging details, doing some laundry, beginning to pack etc. Tomorrow we take a taxi to join our last tour, the month long river cruise, which begins in Amsterdam's harbor.

Photos, from the top left: bicycles are everywhere here - these are parked at the train station in Delft, on the canal tour in Bruges, swans on the canal with us, Belgian waffles - yum!, Anne Frank's house highlighted on a map of Amsterdam, on a canal tour in Amsterdam, a life-size cow and me at the Delft ceramics plant, modern windmills creating energy, a traditional windmill at the open air museum, and Gouda cheese at the museum.

Sweden and Denmark

2010-05-25T08:35:00.001-07:00

We are having a wonderful time in beautiful Scandinavia!

We spent 5 days in Stockholm, seeing such sights as the royal palace, the Vasa museum and Skansen park. The latter is a wonderful place for people of all ages. There is a zoo, beautiful gardens and fountains, a historical village with houses and shops from 100 years ago and people demonstrating glassblowing, pottery etc. We also took the hop on - hop off bus on two of it's routes in order to see as much as possible of the city. Our final activity was a 2 hour cruise through the canals and waterways of Stockholm. The city is partly on the Baltic Sea and partly on a lake, so the cruise goes through locks to move from one to the other. Everywhere there is water! Hiking trails and parks line the waterways and people kayak, sail and motor all over. Spring had arrived and the trees were all newly decorated with leaves which made a lovely scene. We found some great places for dinner with traditional Swedish food as well as some modern options. The Swedish meatballs and salmon were delicious, as was the herring (at least Jon thought so!).

We took the train from Stockholm to Copenhagen on a bright sunny day which really enhanced the journey. The Swedish countryside was green with cultivated fields and dense forests. The farms had neat houses and well kept outbuildings, and many had horses grazing in the fields. A very idyllic picture. The train was extremely comfortable and the personnel helpful in getting all our bags on and off the train. We even took brief naps!

Copenhagen is another city surrounded by water and filled with canals. On our first full day in the city we took a canal tour. It lasted about an hour and at times we had to lean over in the boat because the bridges we passed under were so low! There are some fantastic new buildings built along the water, including the Maersk shipping line's gift to the city, a $300 + million opera house. Also on our first day we went to the famous Tivoli park and had a delightful time. I even talked Jon into going on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale ride, which is similar to the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland. After it was over, he said it wasn't that bad! The gardens were beautiful, with tulips blooming and swans (Denmark's national bird) swimming and nesting. That day we also visited the Danish National Museum. We were especially interested in the prehistory and Viking parts and spent most of our time in those areas. Danes are very proud of their Viking heritage and we enjoyed the tie-ins with what we had learned in Ireland.

The next day we walked to Rosenborg castle, about 8 blocks away. It is part of a lovely park and was home to some of Denmark's most important kings. Christian IV, perhaps the most remarkable, chose to die there because it was his favorite. The treasury and crown jewels were spectacular! From there we walked to the Danish Resistance Museum. It tells the story of Denmark's occupation during World War II and the resistance movement that grew as the war went on. There were many Danish heroes who relayed messages, blew up railroads or hid or transported Jews to Sweden. It was very inspiring and very well done!

On Friday we picked up a rental car (with GPS!) and drove to two nearby places of interest. The first was the Viking museum at Roskilde. I wish that we could have spent the day there! We saw scale models of ships, remnants of recovered ships, demonstrations of naval skills such knot tying and rope making that were done as they were around 1000 AD. and films describing Viking life. We know them as terrorizing robbers and destroyers but northern Europe sees them as spreaders of the culture of the day and traders as well. They also settled in some areas, mingled with the local population and founded cities.

From there we drove to Karen Blixen's home in Rungsted, north of Copenhagen. She wrote under the pseudonym Isek Dineson and two of her best known works are "Out of Africa" which is really a memoir and "Babette's Feast" which is one of our favorite movies. We had been to her home in Nairobi, which is also a museum, and we looked forward to seeing her home in Denmark. Her life story is quite sad; much of it is told through photographs, letters and video of interviews that she gave late in life. She was a remarkable woman.

We kept the rental car (a great VW Golf, Albert!) and on Saturday drove to the home of new friends of ours, Karin and Stig Friis. It took 2 1/2 hours to get there and we were able to see a lot of beautiful scenery on the way. We had met Karin and Stig in a restaurant in Florence at lunch. The tables were close together and we began talking. They are both involved in education in a broad sense and we found many things to talk about. We emailed afterward and they invited us to stay with them when we came to Denmark. We accepted their invitation on Saturday! They were terrific hosts and we hope they will visit us in Seattle so we can repay them properly. They served us a lovely lunch of traditional Danish foods, took us on an interesting drive around their area through farmland, small villages and to the beach, and made a delicious dinner that evening. We talked the whole time and until 10:30 that night! In the morning we had breakfast and then went our separate ways since they had plans with other friends and we had other places to see. We drove to Legoland, which was a LOT more fun than I thought it would be! What a creative, entertaining spot for the whole family! We wandered around through the various areas, had lunch and then headed off to the city of Odense to see Hans Christian Andersen's home and museum.

He was another Dane with a sad childhood but whose creativity refused to be contained. In case you don't remember, he wrote "The Little Mermaid", "The Tinder Box" and "Thumbelina", among others. "The Ugly Duckling" most clearly presents his philosophy of life: being born in the barnyard doesn't mean you can't grow up to be a swan. His life in a nutshell. When we got back to Copenhagen, we turned in the car and prepared to leave the next day for the island of Aero.

Aero is where we are now. It is a lovely little island just 9 miles by water from Germany. It is the sunniest and warmest place in Denmark and a very popular vacation spot. Many Germans as well as Danes come here. Bicycles are the most common means of transportation since the island is very flat and, except for the wind, easy to travel around. There are many bike routes. This morning Jon and I rented bikes from our hotel. Neither of us had ridden a bike in at least 50 years so it took some courage for me, at least, to get on and try to go. After some practice, we started out and were gone for about an hour. That was enough. Boy, those seats were hard! And my thighs are not in as good a condition as I thought they were! The wind kept blowing me sideways and sometimes we were on roads with cars. But we made it with no accidents. In the afternoon we took the bus to a town at the other end of the island and enjoyed the scenic tour. As luck would have it, a group of 10 year olds got on the bus too and a "there's one in every class" Johanes sat right in front of us. I took his picture - an experienced teacher will only need a glance to know what I mean! This is a maritime community and we visited a very good maritime museum before coming back on the bus.

Tomorrow we travel back to Copenhagen via ferry then bus then train. We are meeting Jessica's sister-in-law Nelly who is there on business - a wonderful coincidence! Then on Thursday we fly to Brussels and stay overnight before heading to Bruges the next day. From there we go to Amsterdam where we join our last organized tour, a four week river cruise. I'll write more from Amsterdam.

Here are some photos: from the top left: (sorry about the repetition of the first two) me on the bike, scenery from our bus trip on Aero island, fries at Legoland, Jon on his bike, Stockholm as seen from our water tour, the "little mermaid's little sister" from Tivoli in Copenhagen, a salvaged Viking ship from the museum at Roskilde, our friends Karin and Stig and the lego fries again (some day I'll figure out how to delete duplicate photos!)

Turkey

2010-05-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I am writing this from Stockholm, having arrived here two nights ago from Ankara. We had a fascinating time in Turkey! From head spinning Istanbul, to the curious rock formations in Cappadocia and the modern capital city of Ankara, we were surprised and delighted by the land, people and culture of this crossroads of the world.

We had a fantastic guide named Ayberk. He met our cruise ship when it first docked in Turkey and was our leader at Ephesus and Istanbul. Maria was still our tour director but he was our guide. We got to Istanbul in the late afternoon and the next day we had a very full day of seeing the Spice Market, Blue Mosque, hippodrome, Sultan's Palace, Haga Sophia, the Grand Bazaar and the streets of the city. Because traffic was terrible, we ended up taking the tram once, which was also an experience! Each place was amazing; the colors, scents, art work (from the Egyptian obelisk at the hippodrome to the colorful, awesome interior of the Blue Mosque to the glorious mosaics of Haga Sophia and lovely gardens and displays at the Sultan's Palace) combined with the panoramic views of the city and waterways made the day a whirlwind of impressions and memories. That night we had a delicious "farewell dinner" at a wonderful restaurant that overlooked the water. The food was a treat, even though every meal we had had been excellent, and the wine just kept coming. Our entire group got along so well that we truly didn't want to say goodbye to anyone. We didn't stay late however since most of the group had very early flights to catch.

The next day, Ayberk and the 8 of us who were taking the post trip flew to Cappadocia (spelled Kapadokya in Turkey). Since it was morning when we flew, we could see the beautiful landscape. We saw mountains and then large agricultural tracts. After landing, we drove straight to the area's main attraction, it's geologic uniqueness. The strange rock formations made from volcanic material are very strong but people have carved cave homes in them for hundreds of years. Some of them reminded us of Bryce Canyon's hoo-doos. After settling in our hotel ( a lovely modern complex with swimming pool that caters to tour groups) we went for a late afternoon hike. By then the heat had moderated and we were quite comfortable. Over the next 2 days, we hiked above and through the formations and visited a ceramics studio, went into the famous underground city, and spent time at a local school that is supported by Grand Circle. The school was so much fun - children are the same all over the world - and afterwards, the principal invited us to walk down the block to see the local oven where all the families in the town bake their bread. The women of one family were taking their turn and they graciously shared some fresh out of the oven with us! Yum! Of course mixed in with all the hikes and sightseeing were plenty of shopping opportunities. On Tuesday we packed up and drove to Ankara, stopping on the way to visit several Hittite sites. The Hittites were people who lived in central Turkey around 1500 BC. For those of you who have been to Egypt, they were the people who Ramses II claimed to have defeated in the most important battle of his reign. The ruins we saw were very impressive, with carvings, wall frescoes and bas reliefs. We arrived in Ankara that night and the next morning went to Turkey's historical museum that contains most of the relics found at the sites. It was amazing. We also visited Ataturk's mausoleum. He is their George Washington, having led the independence movement in the 1920s. He accomplished some huge changes and reforms in a very short time; we both want to read more about him. While in Ankara, we stayed at the 5 star Hilton hotel and our room looked down on the Iranian embassy which was quite interesting!

Thursday morning Jon and I slept in while the others took early flights. We had a leisurely breakfast and then I took the opportunity to use the treadmill before packing and heading to our own flight to Stockholm. As we reflect on our time in Turkey, we realize how much we had learned about a beautiful land about which we only had had fuzzy image just a week ago. In some ways it is very modern and in others traditional ways are still in place. It is rich in agricultural resources and in minerals. It is in a very strategic geographical location. It is a nation with a secular government and a huge Islamic population. There is great national pride in their history and their hero, Ataturk. We saw only a small part of the country but we know that there are areas of extreme natural beauty including unspoiled bays and valleys. Turkey has a great future ahead of it!

Here are some photos. From the top, left: one of Istanbul's mosques, Cappadocia, some kids at the school, a stone lion at the Hittite ruins, and our group at our last dinner together. Our guide Ayberk is next to me.

Added photos: top left: land at Cappadocia (looks like our Painted Desert, doesn't it?), one of the homes in rock (or one of the seven dwarfs?), one of the village women baking bread, in another village we found ladies selling handmade dolls, and two girls in the street in Ankara on their way to school; our friend Bob is in the background.

Greece

2010-05-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hello from Istanbul, Turkey! A lot has happened since I last posted a message, and all of it has been good! We had a wonderful trip across the Greek mainland and through the Aegean Sea and yesterday we began the Turkish phase of our adventure.

The Greek culture is ancient and we saw many temples, sculptures and artifacts. But we were not prepared for how beautiful the land is! Green hills, incredible rock structures, isolated monasteries set into the rocks, snowy mountain tops. Fertile land with crops, picturesque villages and blue water. We had a wonderful guide, Maria, who gently kept us on schedule, arranged everything for us and who taught us so much about Greek Orthodoxy as well as the political and cultural history of her people.

The cruise portion of the trip was 7 days long and we wished it could have gone on forever. OAT has it's own fleet of ships and outfits them to meet American needs and tastes. Our group of 22 shared the ship with another OAT group of 15; the ship has capacity for 50 passengers so we had plenty of room. The other group was led by Maria's daughter, 27 year old Katia (cot - ee - ah) which made it fun for all of us! We had a lovely cabin with a balcony and enjoyed having washcloths and bread/butter plates for our meals - both are rare in Europe.

The cruise started out interestingly. Our ship was supposed to pick us up near Athens but because of heavy winds it had to stay docked at the island of Naxos and we took a ferry to that island. The ferries are huge, made to travel in rough seas, so even though it made for a late (midnight) arrival, we were glad that we had taken it. Happily the winds died down and we were able to complete our cruise with only one variation. We visited the islands of Naxos, Paros (instead of Siros), Mykonos, Santorini, Delos (an archeological sight), Amorgos, and Patmos. You are probably familiar with the names Mykonos and Santorini - and they are every bit as wonderful as their reputation. Patmos is the island where St. John wrote the "Revelation" book of the Bible. We were able to see the monastery named for him as well as the cave where he is supposed to have written it. We loved Patmos; it had cute villages and a nice harbor area with a beach where we waded in the Aegean.

We've had wonderful food, the weather has been perfect (warm and sunny - I'm as tan now as I usually am in September!), and the co-travelers have been marvelous - not a complainer or habitually late person in the group!

It has been a wonderful experience and we would recommend the trip to anyone! We continue on the post trip beginning tomorrow and I will write more about that (and Istanbul) later. Here are some photos. From the top: the verdant land of Greece, rock formations near Meteora, icon painting, a beautiful Greek Orthodox church, the ancient temple of Athena, Jon and our wonderful guide Maria, our hosts for a dinner in their home that they prepared on the island of Naxos, a lovely staircase on Mykonos, ruins on Delos, Jon with our wonderful ship the "Arethusa" in the background, churches on Santorini, our path to the monastary on Amorgos, enjoying the water on Patmos.

Cruising in Greece

2010-04-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! We are temporarily unavailable because our ship does not have internet connections. However, we want you to know that we continue to have a wonderful time! We have spent the last 6 days on the main land of Greece and are now on an island. We will set sail tomorrow and Mykonos, Santorini and other incredible places! We will be back in touch soon with photos and news! Bye for now!

ciao Italia

2010-04-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Our time in Italy has come to an end. Tomorrow we say goodbye to this beautiful country at the airport and take off for our Overseas Adventure Travel tour of Greece and Turkey. We will be sorry to leave this beautiful and much more varied than we had realized country. We talked at dinner tonight about where we would choose to visit again and couldn't eliminate any of the places we saw. It has been a joy.

We did make it to Croatia, to Zagreb to visit former Rotary exchange student Ida ("ee - dah" and her family. They were fantastic hosts and showed us their beautiful city. Fortunately, the weather was clear on our flight over and we saw that the country itself is lovely too. I've included a picture or two of Ida in the photos below.

Unfortunately, our friends Judy and Fred did not make it out of England in time for the reunion we had hoped to have with them here in Rome. Today they were supposed to fly from London to Naples, as their original plan was. We are so sorry to have missed them, but hope they have as great a time as we have had here.

Since yesterday when we came back to Rome, we've done a bit of sightseeing. We went to the Pantheon and Trevi fountain, Piazza Navona and Campo di Fiori, and today we went to St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. I have finished "The Agony and the Ecstasy" and HAD to see the Pieta and Sistine Chapel. I was not disappointed; both are magnificent! It's almost too much to take in and I left as awed as I had expected to be.

Photos: from top left, slightly out of chronological order: the main square in Zagreb from our hotel window, each of us tossing a coin into the Trevi fountain to be sure we'll come back to Rome; the market in Zagreb; Ida (left) and her sister Sanya; Ida and her parents Branka and Egidio Cepulic - both doctors; wonderful pasta - how we'll miss it!; and Michaelangelo's Pieta.

Lucca and Cinque Terre

2010-04-18T03:39:00.000-07:00

Two and a half weeks have passed since I last made an entry because we have been so busy! We had a wonderful 2 weeks in our apartment in Lucca and now we are enjoying our last full day in Monterosso al Mare, the biggest town of the five in Cinque Terre.

Lucca was relaxing, interesting, charming and healthy for us! Our apartment was within the walls of the old city. The town was founded in about 1000 BC and the Romans constructed an amphitheater, defensive embankments and arched entries ("portas"), among other things. We were just inside the San Pietro gate; our windows from the living/dining room looked down on the comings and goings of the cars and people there. Our building was in need of some work on the outside and we had 4 flights of stairs to climb to get to our gated hallway, but it was worth it. Our large living space was newly redone and very comfortable. Our landlord, Stefano, did all he could to help us feel at home and to answer questions. A short list of our activities while staying there include two performances of arias (Easter evening featured favorites sung by three different tenors and was in honor of Luciano Pavorotti - so included "O Sole Mio" and "Nessun Dorma" and the second evening a bass and soprano sang Pucci and Mozart pieces), visiting Puccini's home, a beautiful villa's garden, a huge Saturday market, the old amphitheater where we saw the Los Gatos CA band perform!, shopping (I finally bought a pair of jeans and some sandals), getting my hair cut and colored and a pedicure, strolling the streets and just looking in shops and watching people, "walking the wall" almost every morning, side trips to Viareggio (a nearby beach town), Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano, and hiring a taxi for an afternoon of exploring the hills and towns around Lucca. We visited three wineries, one while on our tour of San Gimignano from Siena and two while exploring the Lucca area. We also just relaxed, read, took care of internet business and went at a slower pace, especially in the mornings. By the way, "walking the wall" is an important part of life in Lucca. Everyone, including babies, grandparents, physically and mentally challenged people on crutches or needing assistance in other ways, students, tourists, groups of men, boys, girls, couples - everyone walks the wall! It is a social event, as well as good exercise. Napoleon gave the city to his sister Eliza when he conquered Italy and she improved the ancient wall and its top to make it a circular park, lined with trees and now paved. There are benches placed along the sides and where it is wide there are picnic tables and play equipment for children. It is 4 kilometers - about 2.5 miles - around. We set ourselves a good pace and took about 45 minutes to cover the distance. Of course we also ate wonderful Italian food - the pasta was the best thing, although many pizzas and excellent seafood were consumed too!

Our journeys to the other towns were great. They allowed us to see more of Tuscany and it's lovely landscape as well as more incredible human creations. I am reading "The Agony and the Ecstasy" and so every chance I get to see a Michaelangelo work, I take it with a passion. What a genius! We saw his work in the Duomo in Siena, but there were so many amazing pieces done by many different masters there and in Pisa that we continue to take the time to see as many as we can.

Last Thursday we sadly left our apartment and got onto the train to come to Cinque Terre. Our hotel here offers us a great view of the beach and old town area of Monterosso. We have visited all the towns, as of yesterday afternoon. On Friday we took the boat from our town which is at one end of the string of towns along the water to the town at the other end. We explored that area and then took an easy walk to the next village. From there we caught the boat back. Yesterday we took the train to the middle town (the boat doesn't stop there - no beach), wandered through the market and had lunch and then hiked 4 kilometers to Vernazza, the next town and last one for us to see. The hike was not easy; lots of ups and downs on rocky footing. There were beautiful views and we just took our time and stopped to rest and talk to others whenever we wanted to. Today we are staying in our own village and are finally going to sit on the beach and read, as well as put our feet in the water!

Tomorrow we take the train to Rome. We have plane tickets to visit former Rotary exchange student Ida in her home town of Zagrb, Croatia for two nights, beginning on Tuesday. Then we are supposed to meet our Moses Lake friends Judy and Fred in Rome for two nights. They however are still stuck in London due to the volcanic eruption so who knows? Our tour of Greece and Turkey with OAT is supposed to begin on Saturday in Athens...we'll see what happens there too.

Here are some photos: from top left: walking the wall in Lucca; one of Lucca's many towers through the blossoms; Michaelangelo's St. Paul in the duomo in Siena; Jon and our landlord Stefano; the town of Corniglia from the hiking trail in Cinque Terre; and the town of Vernazza as we approached it from the trail.

Varenna and Florence

2010-03-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

Since leaving Venice, we have been in two extraordinary places. Varenna, on Lake Como in the Italian Alps, was incredibly beautiful. On the day we arrived, the next day and the day we left, the weather was gorgeous and we could see the snow capped mountains towering back behind the lake. The border with Switzerland was in those mountains and we could imagine the smugglers, war refugees and others stealing through the mountain passes to go from one country to the other. Our hotel was perfectly placed to give us wonderful views of the lake; we even had a small balcony! We could watch the ferries go back and forth across the lake to the cities of Menaggio and Bellagio.
On our first full day there, we took the ferry. It was a great chance to get out onto the lake and get the perspective from there. The boat went first to Menaggio and we just stayed on. Then it went to Bellagio where we got off and had lunch at a dockside restaurant. How lucky we were with the weather! The next day it was cloudy and there were rain showers and the day after that, it poured all day. We found walks to take and things to do though!
Last Saturday we moved on to Florence. Once again we used the Italian train ("tren") system and did fine! Using Rick Steves' book for reference, we had booked a 2 star hotel for its location. It does leave some things to be desired, but the location is unbeatable! If we walk 2 blocks to the left, we are in from of the Duomo (cathedral). If we walk 3 blocks to the right, we are at the Piazza Signoria, a major plaza with amazing sculptures and the Ufizzi gallery. Of course there are restaurants and shops everywhere. We are amazed by the numbers of people who are here! Of course, it is spring break and there are high school/college tour groups everywhere. Also many families seem to have chosen Florence as a vacation spot. Today we met a family from the Ballard area of Seattle!
There are many fantastic sights here; lots of museums, churches, sculptures. Michaelangelo's "David" has to be one of our favorites. So imposing and breathtaking in person! This city was the birthplace of the Renaissance and it throbs with evidence of that everywhere you look. There are two main collections that most tourists want to see. Rick Steves suggests booking tickets ahead of time and seeing if your hotel will do it for you. We did request that and they came through for us. So instead of waiting in several long lines (buying tickets, waiting for admission etc), we just showed up 15 minutes before our entry time and got in pretty fast. A great way to do it! The food here has been delicious. I've only allowed myself one gelato treat, but pasta, wine and bread are part of every dinner.
Tomorrow we leave for Lucca and our apartment that we have rented for two weeks. We will be glad to stop for a while, although we want to visit Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano and hopefully Assisi. Again we will use the train system tomorrow and probably for several of the other trips. I will write again from there.
Here are some photos. From the top: Jon and I with Florence as the background; the bridges of Florence, including the Ponte Vecchio; a nice Danish couple we met today over lunch; a heartrending wooden sculpture of Mary Magadelene at the Academia; a piece of St. Francis' robe; the front of the Duomo; gelato - yum!; looking across Lake Como from our balcony; the mountains behind Lake Como in one direction; and lastly, the lake and mountains facing in another direction.

Bella Italia!

2010-03-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

We have been in Italy for about 10 days and each day has been wonderful! We flew from Dublin to Rome and stayed in a small hotel near the train station. We spent the next day making train reservations for our trip to Naples and then figuring out the details of getting to Sorrento from Naples. Saturday morning, the 13th., we tried out the Italian train system and liked it! We traveled on a medium speed train and reached Naples in 2 hours and then took a hydrofoil to Sorrento! It was a great way to see the surrounding area.

Rick Steves' talks about Sorrento as being a great base from which to explore that coastal region and we agree! We stayed in a superb hotel on the hillside and looked out on the Bay of Naples. The weather cooperated and we finally found sun and warm temperatures. We went to Pompeii by commuter train, the Amalfi coast as far as the town of Amalfi by bus (crazy, wild ride on curvy, narrow roads that are on the edge of cliffs with long drops to the sea!), the Isle of Capri by hydrofoil, and the other town that Vesuvius buried - Ercolano - and the National Museum in Naples also by commuter train. All these took a day each. We also just browsed around Sorrento which is a lovely town of 20,000. I bought some new shoes for walking; I had worn out the ones I took with me!

Then last Friday we took the train from Sorrento to Venice. This was a long day, changing trains in Naples (where Jon and I got separated when he couldn't get off the first train fast enough!) and then again in Rome. These were the fast trains, which helped, but we still were the move from 9:30 in the morning when we left the hotel until 6:30 in the evening when we reached our hotel in Venice. The last step was taking the Venetian style of public transportation, the vaporetto (boat) and then walking with our bags, following the great directions provided by the hotel.

Venice is delightful! We have 3 full days here and have used the first two well. Of course, our first stop Saturday morning had to be Piazza San Marco - St. Mark's plaza. Then we toured the bascilica, which is amazing. The entire ceiling has gold background and mosaics. Then we walked over the Rialto Bridge and past the market there to the Frari church with it's collection of Bellinis and Titians - WOW! Next door to it is the Scuola Grande with it's collection of Tintorettos. These are probably the three most gifted artists that Venice ever produced and their work is awesome. By the time we found our way back to the hotel, we were pretty tired but what a way to start!

Today we woke up to light gray skies with the possibility of rain to come so we wasted no time in having our gondola ride! Luca was our gondolier and he explained what we were seeing well in English. It was a lot of fun and not nearly so cheesy as we thought it might be. Then we headed back to San Marco's (which is just a few minutes away from our hotel happily) to visit the Doge's Palace. The Doge was the most powerful political person in Venice during it's heyday, which last for hundreds of years. The palace is very interesting and we took our time. Afterwards, we went to the San Marco vaporetto stop to take an enjoyable ride down the Grand Canal (this time without luggage) and to truly enjoy the sights. We walked back quite a distance and at this moment, we are getting ready to have some tasty Italian food for dinner. For the record, I am TRYING to be good and have only had gelato once so far - on Capri where it was in the 70s and sunny - a perfect day!

Here are some photos. From the top: the view from our balcony at the Hotel Bristol in Sorrento, the Amalfi coastline at Positano, me on Capri, us on the balcony of the bascilica overlooking piazza San Marco, and us at the end of our gondola ride this morning.

Pictures of Ireland

2010-03-14T11:16:00.001-07:00

Here are some images of our time in Ireland. From the top: an old graveyard with Celtic crosses, the statue of Molly Malone in Dublin; one of the Cliffs of Moher; a fishing boat waiting for better times near Renvyle; one of MANY sheep we met on the road; a peat fire with more peat fuel in the container next to the fireplace in our hotel in Renvyle; the cliffs on the south side of the Dingle peninsula; the two of us on the path to the beach at Giant's Causeway; the "stepping stones" at Giant's Causeway; our friend Geraldine in Dublin.

Ireland

2010-03-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

It's been two weeks since I posted an entry; we have been so busy that there was no time! I wrote last from Keswick, England the night before we were to go to Birkenhead to take the ferry to Dublin. Birkenhead is across the Mersey River from Liverpool and it was at the John Lennon airport that we had to return our rental car. (Next to the name on the signs for the airport it says "above us only sky" - from the song "Imagine".) Happily, we were able to return the car without having damaged it or anyone/thing else. It was fun to drive through that city that I had spent several teenage years imagining and to hear our cab driver talk about going to the Cavern and meeting "the boys".

The ferry to Dublin was comfortable and we had our books and sudokus to keep us busy. There was a movie theatre and we watched a Bruce Willis movie to help pass the time. It was a 7 hour trip. The Irish Sea can be turbulent, but happily was quite calm for our trip.

Dublin is a big city that has grown up on both sides of the Liffey river. We stayed in the Temple Bar area and had a comfortable room that overlooked the river. We stayed there for four nights. We toured the Guinness plant, took a day long tour into the Wicklow Mountains, went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells and went through the National Museum which covers the archeology and history of Ireland, and did the "hop on, hop off" bus tour. Then we picked up our next rental car and began driving west.

The Dingle peninsula in the southwest, was our first stop. We stayed in the town of Tralee which was a perfect place from which to explore the area. We spent a day driving to the little town of Dingle where we had lunch and did some shopping and then going on the loop road along the edge of the peninsula. Sometimes the roads were VERY narrow and it could be quite exciting. Irish drivers are careful and polite and so things always worked out! What a beautiful spot! Pastural, dramatic scenery! It was a cool sunny day and we drove past miles of ocean waves, high cliffs, and craggy rocks! We saw lots of sheep in pastures, some with new baby lambs - too cute! This same scenery was to be repeated with variations for the rest of our time in Ireland.

After Dingle, we went north along the Atlantic coast to the small town of Renvyle. This area has snow covered mountains, lakes and rivers, and was breathtaking. We spent two nights here. One day we drove a loop out to the coast and then east to a loop around a lake. We had a great lunch at a pub in the small town of Leename where we met a few "colorful" characters! Nice, all!

We had been told that the Donegal region was not to be missed, so we drove from Renvyle to Letterkenny and used it as our base to explore. Wow. We could see why people would be so proud of this area. It was the Dingle area, taken to the extreme! We saw the highest sea cliffs in Europe, the center of the wool and weaving culture, and a glorious national park. Again, we were blessed with beautiful weather, cool but sunny.

The drive to Bushmills in Northern Ireland completed our trip across the north coast. We stayed two nights there and spent the day in between at the Giant's Causeway and the Rope Bridge. The Giant's Causeway is a volcanic rock area that is unique and majestic. The giant Finn McCool, according to legend, made the causeway to take him and his giant rival from Scotland back and forth between the two countries. The formations resemble a cobbled street that starts out into the water. We hiked a couple of miles to get an up close look at all the fascinating geology. The Rope Bridge is located a few miles further east on the coast and really is a rope suspension bridge between the main land and an island. It is about 70 feet long and the plunge is 100 feet straight down into the water. Jon walked across; I did not. I took pictures of him - that was my role!

After leaving Bushmills we drove south through Belfast and on to Dublin where we turned in our car yesterday. Again, no serious injury done to man or beast or vehicle. Thankfully we don't have a rental car again now for months, and when we do, we will be driving on the right (correct) side of the road!

Pictures: from the top: I actually drank some Guinness - not bad!, momma sheep and two little babies, Jon and his newfound friend Tom in the pub, Jon on the Rope Bridge ("I can't look down, I can't look down..."), and snow on the mountain above the valley.

2010-02-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

Since the last post, we have been mostly in the English countryside. The Cotswolds, the Lake District and Yorkshire have all been beautiful and full of connections with literature and history. The Cotswolds were lovely - very pastorial with sheep, hedgerows and rolling hills. They were also full of Shakespeare (Stratford-Upon-Avon), history (Coventry and Warwick Castle) and long drives and walks. York and Yorkshire were full of history, from the English Civil War and royal succession, Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest, the Castle Museum in York which was so interesting and old city walls and bridges to Secret Garden vistas (Sowerbys and moors). Lastly, the Lake District has been an amazing reminder of home. The water - rivers, lakes and waterfalls - and the hills/mountains all seem like the Pacific Northwest. We've hiked, traveled high roads over passes, walked on trails by the lake here in Keswick, and seen lots of people with backpacks, hiking boots and fleece.

We will leave here for Ireland, by way of Liverpool, in two days so my next posting will be from there. Here are a few photos of our latest adventures. From the top: the countryside in the Cotswolds, an inn in Stow-on-the-Wold, one of several castles, sheep in the fields, and a frozen lake and day in Keswick.

England

2010-02-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Hello from England! We flew from Bordeaux, France, and after landing at Gatwick, arrived at our hotel in London on February 3rd. We stayed in the Baywaters area, near Notting Hill. It was well located, near two tube lines. We had many restaurants nearby to choose from also! We spent time at Waterstones buying books (in English - finally a wonderful selection to choose from!), at Harrods looking at everything including the tribute to Diana and Dodi and the Egyptian escalator, walking through the Notting Hill street market and visiting other sites from the movie of the same name, seeing Trafalgar square, visiting Windsor Castle, visiting Greenwich and its Maritime Museum and Prime Meridian, and seeing the Lion King live! We also had a great dinner with our friends Jim and Amelia whom we met in Salema, Portugal. It was a busy, busy time!

After four days, we picked up our rental car at Heathrow airport and headed out on the M5 and A303 to Yeovil and the nearby village of West Cocker where we spent the night. The next day we drove scenic routes and made our way to Cornwall and the town of Truro. Being fans of the Rosamunde Pilcher novels and the "Poldark" TV series, we were very excited to finally see the settings of these stories. We stayed 3 nights and spent the two days between them driving in the countryside to places such as King Harry ferry and St. Mawes, Sennon Cove, and Land's End.

Yesterday we drove to Wells, a small town near Bath. On the way, we stopped in Exeter and met a couple with whom Kris stayed 20 years ago when she spent time in England finishing her teaching degree. They were very kind and planned an easy spot to find for lunch and then drove us around for a city tour. Today we visited Stonehenge and the similar, even older stone formations found in Avebury. They even predate the pyramids we saw in Egypt! It was bitterly cold, 4 or 5 degrees C, with a brisk wind but we did the audio tour at Stonehenge and persevered at Avebury. It was good to get back to our cozy room in Wells!

Speaking of driving, Jon is doing a great job! So far we haven't damaged the car or killed anyone or anything that we know of! It IS very nerve wracking however and the navigator (me) will be very glad to park the car and not drive anywhere for a while. There are so many roundabouts here and going on them and doing turns are the worst part. The more we drive, the more experience we get, which in turns makes us safer.

Tomorrow we drive into southern Wales on the way to the Cotswolds, where we will be for three nights. It is supposed to be beautiful there, with quaint thatched roofs and sheep in the fields - what a great setting for Valentine's Day!

Photos: Street sign in London for Notting Hill, in front of Windsor Castle, Jon at the clock in Greenwich, my tea in St. Mawes - a scone and clotted cream, and Stonehenge.

Scenes of Spain

2010-02-12T09:40:00.001-08:00

Here are some of our favorite memories of Spain, via photos. From the top: merry-go-round dated 1900, quixtos in San Sebastian, the bay in San Sebastian, the "puppy" outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa, chapel in Santiago de Compostela, flamenco dancer in Sevilla, the bull ring in Ronda, us at the New Bridge in Ronda, Gibraltar, our hotel in Tarifa, the hills surrounding Granada, olives, ham and bread in Granada, Rafa and our apartment in Granada, our Christmas friends, the mesquita in Cordoba, a crucifix in the cathedral within the mesquita, the Alhambra in Granada, Christmas in Madrid, and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Leaving Iberia

2010-02-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

Today is our last day in Spain and on the Iberian peninsula. We have loved it! Although the weather has been more wintery than we expected, it has still been glorious. What a beautiful region of the world! What lovely people - we've yet to see anyone have "road rage" or otherwise get angry. And what food we've eaten! We would love to come back to see Spain and Portugal at their best with the sun out, temperatures warm and breezes gentle.

For the last week, since leaving Portugal, we have been in three cities, Santiago de Compostela, Santillana del Mar, and now San Sebastian ("Donostia" in the Basque language). All three are in northern Spain and we traveled from west to east for our visit.

Santiago is known as the city of pilgrims. St. James the apostle (Santiago) is buried there. Pilgrims from all over the world come to the church to pray in front of the small casket that holds his bones. We saw one man, young-ish in age, with a backpack and walking stick on a street near the cathedral looking so tired and limping. The pilgrims walk at least the last 50 miles; some walk from France and other parts of Europe. We saw police on the plaza in front of the cathedral and were advised that they were there to guard against terrorism since this is the third holiest place for Christians, after Rome and Jerusalem.

Besides the religious aspects of the city, there is a wonderful city market with fresh foods of all kinds, animal and vegetable. It was a lot like Pike Place in Seattle except that there was only food, no crafts etc for sale. It was so fun to walk down the aisles - so many colors, smells, sounds!

We took an afternoon and drove to the Atlantic coast from there - only about 45 minutes. We found a lovely beach in a small town and walked up and down it in the sun. Galicia, the name of this region of Spain, is a lot like the Pacific NW in the way it looks and in the amount of rainfall it gets.

After leaving Santiago, we had a long drive to Santillana del Mar. It is a small town with a walled old town where we stayed in a hotel whose building was constructed in the 1500s. This little town has the famous Altamira Caves right next to it and the Picos de Europa not far away. The cave has wall paintings done 18,000 years ago! After it was discovered about 100 years ago, so many visitors came that the environment was being altered and the images were degrading. The authorities had an exact replica made, down to the painting techniques used, and that is what we can visit now. There is a wonderful museum on the site; one could easily spend an entire day visiting. The Picos de Europa is a national park with high (8,000 ft.) mountains and lots of evergreens. We drove through on a road that stayed at a low elevation since there was snow higher up. We were very much reminded of home!

We are now in Basque country, in San Sebastian. It is very near the French border. This is a city of 180,000 people, most of whom can speak both Spanish and the Basque language, Euskara. San Sebastian is known as the city with the best food in Spain and we have been sampling! We had a delicious modern Basque dinner one night and this afternoon we had the Basque equivalent of tapas - pintxos - which is pronounced "peen - chos". Very good! Yesterday we drove to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. It is an amazing structure, much known for its architecture. There happened to be an exhibit on Frank Lloyd Wright, which was interesting especially since I had read the book "Loving Frank".

Tomorrow we leave for Bordeaux, France, where we will stay overnight and then fly to London on Wednesday. We'll spend four nights there before we pick up another rental car and begin to see the English small towns and countryside that we have heard and read so much about! First though, some photos of Spain to close this chapter.

Photos from the top: Pintxos ready for choosing, the view across the bay in San Sebastian, Picos de Europa view, the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, one of the stalls and its vendor in Santiago.

Pictures of Portugal

2010-01-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

Photos: from top: our friend Cesar and his delicious port, roast suckling pig, woman selling roast chestnuts in Coimbra, octopus drying on the beach in Nazare, tiles on a house in Sitio, two elderly women in traditional dress in Nazare, our friends Diogo and Teresa in Nazare, little Gabriela and older Elise - more friends from Nazare, Portuguese plates, Manueline architecture in Batalha, Nazare from our hotel balcony, fountain in front of Monastary Jeronimous in Belem, more Manueline architecture from the monastary, Chapel of Bones in Coimbra, the pregnant Virgin a church in Coimbra, Roman temple ruins in Coimbra, a fisherman on the cliffs at Sagres, and the beach at Salema.

Portugal part two

2010-01-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

When last I wrote, we were driving to Nazare the next day. As it turns out, that is my most favorite place in Portugal! Nazare is a small (10,000 people) beach town that traditionally made it's living by fishing and now has added tourism to the mix. It is picture postcard pretty, with it's white buildings, red tile roofs, golden sand, looong beach, big surf and Oregon coast-like rocks. It is nestled in between two green hills. On top of the hill to the north sits the town of Sitio with it's town praca (plaza) and church, shops surrounding the praca and a hike to the lighthouse perched above the rocks. There is a funicular that connects the two towns most of the year, but during our stay it was undergoing maintenance so a shuttle bus drove the circular route up and back. We stopped to have coffee after our hike to the lighthouse and talked with an elderly woman who was doing needlepoint. With the help of my trusty dictionary, we shared handwork stories. She also knits and quilts! The restaurants serve mostly seafood but I had a delicious steak there. Also present in town are Portugal's elderly ladies in black; they have puffy skirts that in the past had a dozen petticoats that could be pulled around their arms, legs and torso to keep them warm as they waited on the beach for their husbands to come home from the sea.

We stayed 3 nights. On the firstday, Jon walked out to the beach and met Manual who was surfcasting. They discussed fishing experiences. The next day when we were in Sitio they met again where Manual was casting off the top of the 300 foot cliff next to the lighthouse. They had a great time talking and Manual even showed Jon pictures of his wife and children. On one of the days we drove to three nearby towns to see churches of historic importance. Batalha is the spot where the Portuguese army defeated the Spanish and drove them out of the land. A cathedral marks that event. A second cathedral in Alcobaca commemorates two lovers (one of whom was a prince who later became king) who were denied marriage. There is a rather grisly story that I won't go into here, but we HAD to see their tombs! Lastly, we visited Fatima where a famous miracle involving Mary appearing to three children occurred. She made three predictions (warnings) to the children in her first appearance in the early 1900s. Two came true quickly but the third only when an attempt was made to assassinate Pope John Paul. When he heard of the prediction, he visited Fatima and there is a statue memorializing his time there. There is also a shrine where the vision occurred, a basilica, and a newer, huge church. Pilgrims come from all over the world to visit this place, and we did too.

When we left Nazare, we went to Coimbra, home of the second oldest university in Europe. It was founded in the 1200s and still conducts classes and graduates students. There is a wonderful old library there with thousands of volumes of very old books. They are available to scholars by reservation. There is a great pastelaria on the pedestrian street in the Old Town area and you will see a picture of the pastries we just had to taste - Rick Steves made us do it! We also had a delicious dinner of roast suckling pig in the nearby town of Mealhada, renowned worldwide for this dish. Happily, our friend Tom Armitage emailed us in the nick of time to suggest we do this!

After Coimbra, we decided to forego Porto and to spend time in the Douro valley instead. This is where Portugal's famous, delicious port wine is produced. We stayed in a quinta, or vineyard, farmhouse near Peso de Regua where the owners rent 4 rooms as a B & B. We were the only ones there and so had a wonderful time being toured through the production system and getting to know them. Cesar and MariaElisa were extremely gracious hosts who became our friends. For our full day there, they mapped out a driving trip that took us up into the hills through the vineyards and to spectacular viewpoints. Of course we tried some of their port (several varieties!) and ended up going out to dinner together to celebrate the new friendship. Included is their picture and also one of the valley.

We have now left Portugal and have settled into a hotel room in Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. We are looking forward to seeing the great cathedral that we have heard so much about and to learning more about the thousands of pilgrims who come here every year. But we regret leaving Portugal. It is a nation of gentle people, great food and many beautiful places. We would love to come back.

Photos: from the top: Jon's friend Manual, our friends Cesar and MariaElisa, high above the Douro river, pastries in Coimbra, the church in Fatima, and Nazare from the overlook in Sitio.

Portugal

2010-01-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to post for a while, so now I have some catching up to do!

Sevilla was wonderful! We had some rain but mild temperatures so we were able to continue to do the things we wanted to do without a problem. We stayed in the Old Town and had a great hotel called the Amadeus - music and instruments throughout the hotel and lovely furnishings. We took a walking tour with a guide one morning which gave us a good understanding of the historical part of the city. We also went to a flamenco dinner show which was outstanding! We got seats right in front of the stage and in the middle! One false move on their part and one of the dancers might have been in our laps! We found a Starbucks (actually 3 of them) and met some nice Canadian tourists over coffee. The cathedral in Sevilla is beautiful and we spent some time touring it one afternoon. The stay in Sevilla lasted 3 nights and then we were off to Portugal.

We were very glad to get away from big cities for a while and the little seaside town of Salema was perfect. Unfortunately, the rain continued off and on. On the day we arrived it poured but the next day was beautiful - blue skies and all! We drove up into the hills to a little town called Monchique - gorgeous! Then we drove straight west and ended up at the Atlantic coast. It is rugged and beautiful. We drove south to the town of Sagres on the southwest tip of Portugal and then back to Salema - a day of fantastic sights. We moved to Sagres after 3 days in Salema. Henry the Navigator (remember your world history?) had his famous navigation school for Portuguese explorers here in the 14th. century. It was surprising to learn that he was not a seaman but instead a monk who was a scholar as well as a member of Portugal's royal family. We toured what is left of his facility and also the amazing bluffs nearby. The rain came back the next day and we curled up with our books and watched it come down.

Evora was our next stop and we stayed just outside the ancient walls of the old town - it was so close that we could walk into the main square in 15 minutes. We spent a full day there exploring the streets, plazas, churches and shops. It has an open and appealing feel to it, probably due to the fact that it is the largest city in the area and so has people from farms and tourists there regularly.

We are now in Sintra, just outside Lisbon. It has a great commuter train system into Lisbon and we chose to stay here rather than get lost in the big city. We have enjoyed the neighborhood of Belem - famous for it's pastries, monastery, and gigantic Monument to the Discoveries. Look for a photo of it when I post the next group of photos. We took trolley tours and today spent the afternoon at the Gulbenkian museum - one of the best I have ever been in! Tomorrow we are off to the north, to the seaside town of Nazare. So I'll continue this soon.

Photos: fishing boats pulled up for the moment in Salema, Jon talking to the fishermen, the lighthouse at St. Vincent cabo in Sagres, and a few of the flamenco dancers in Sevilla. And finally the picture of the Monument to the Discoveries - keep in mind that the figures you see are larger than life size and only a few are in this photo!

Southern Spain

2010-01-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

Before totally leaving Granada, I would like to make it clear that we were living in a unique section of Granada and there are parts of the city that are as modern as Madrid. There are the big department stores, splashy restaurants and fancy hotels. We chose to stay in an area that we couldn't find elsewhere and because we did, we met our friend and landlord Rafa and several wonderful fellow travelers, including the family from St. Croix with whom we shared Christmas day fellowship.

When we left Granada, we traveled to the southern coast and opted for one of the smaller tourist towns, Nerja. It was a welcome relief - sunny and warm. Unfortunately, the great hotel we had booked was on a plaza that was being torn up and having pipes replaced and the jack hammers started working at 8:00 am. We made the best of it by leaving the hotel and going to the beach! The body of water there is the Mediterranean Sea and I had to wade in it for the first time! I have to say that it was NOT warm, but it was fun. We walked a beach trail as far as we could go and then used the street to walk to the largest beach. In summer it is packed with people but not in December. We had lunch at an outdoor beachfront cafe and then went back to the hotel. I need to tell you that we have adjusted to Spanish eating habits and now generally have breakfast at 10, lunch at 3 and dinner at 8. By the time we got back from the beach, the work on the plaza was almost finished for the day and we could have the evening in peace. The other major event in Nerja was that my regular email stopped working! We were very distressed, to say the least. I will spare you the drama we lived through (emotionally we NEED that connection with home); I will just tell you that we have it restored now and the problem had to do with strength of the internet service there.

After Nerja we traveled west along the coast to Tarifa. We stayed at a hotel highly recommended by our friends the Lagerloefs. It's called the Hurricane Hotel and is a haven for windsurfers, kitesurfers etc. because of it's constant surf and high winds. Again, the temperature was mild but the storm systems came through, one after another. Fortunately the hotel and its out buildings and vegetation are used to bad weather and everything survived nicely. We didn't even consider using the pool however! While we were there, it was New Year's Eve and the hotel did a great job providing us with a fabulous dinner and a fun celebration. They went all out in decorations and gave us all hats, noisemakers etc for the big moment. We made it until midnight, sharing the table with our new friends from Berlin and Galway, but then we retired for the night.

The next day we were off to Ronda, one of the White Hills towns. First we stopped in Gibraltar. What a sight! That is one huge rock! It was pretty stormy and we were glad to be in the little tourist bus that took us from the border to the far end of the community. We wanted to take the cable car to the top but it was closed because of high winds. I was glad that they had already made the decision before we were underway!

We loved Ronda! It is the home of modern bullfighting and has an amazing bridge. We stayed in one of the best hotels so far - all the soda, fruit juice, beer and wine we could drink was included! The location was really good and we had a spacious room (the Hemingway room) with its own balcony! It is a beautiful town and we loved strolling through it. The day was sunny and warm and we spent a long afternoon in the old town area. We saw the cathedral, bridge, and the bull ring. Because there are no bull fights currently, we could go into the actual ring and see the pens etc. plus the chapel for the matadors and the museum.

This morning we left Ronda and drove to Arcos de la Frontera. On the way, we stopped at a little town called Gazalema, back in the hills 16 km. off the highway. It was so picturesque! Beautiful white buildings, narrow streets, flowers in bloom in pots on balconies and a square complete with benches and cafes. We had coffees at one of them, walked around a bit and then rejoined the roads. We made it to Acros at about 2 this afternoon and have settled into yet another comfortable room in yet another quaint small town. I do like the small communities; it is so much easier to find your way around and to feel comfortable!

We are here for 2 nights and then off to Sevilla for 3 nights - and then Portugal!

Photos: me wading in the Mediterranean, New Year's Eve at the Hurricane Hotel, the Puenta Nueva in Ronda, stormy weather in Arcos de la Frontera

Granada impressions

2009-12-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

As we begin our second week in Granada, there are some images that come to mind and that I hope will give you a sense of our experience here. We live in the Albaycin, the old, old Moorish area of Granada. It is on, and down, the hill facing the Alhambra. We live about half way down. The streets are like a maze, none going in a straight line, all widening and then narrowing. Sometimes I can almost touch both sides at once, so they are occasionally only 6 feet wide. There are steps, none very great but seemingly infinite in number, that take you up and down the streets. Sometimes the alleys open into small squares, like the one near us with a fountain and huge bougainvillea in partial bloom that maybe 2 dozen people a day see and enjoy. The streets curve and change names frequently. All are made of rocks; some are like river rocks that have been set 2/3 of the way in cement. Others are narrow rectangles that make a pattern or design. Sometimes the two are mixed in the same street.

If we go down toward Plaza Nueva, the Moroccan shops start about half way down, with their open displays of clothing, jewelry, odds and ends and the scent of incense. Mixed with them are the food places, serving tea, coffee, Moroccan meals or maybe crepes, or they are places to buy food, like pastry shops with baklava etc. This is beginning to feel like home now and we sometimes smile and greet the shop keepers. There is one place where twice now we have stopped and had lasagne for lunch, sitting at a table outside, enjoying the sun with the other, much younger folks who populate that area. Rick Steves claims that the area is populates with hippies who have come from well-to-do families in the north and are rebelling in groups here. They have what I think of as "rasta" hair, lots of piercing and tatoos, and lots of dogs. Dog poop is everywhere and we are used now to watching where we step. It's just part of this place.

Where we are is not particularly dangerous and it is well lit at night. We make it a point not to be out late (after midnight) because we do look very much like tourists. Violent crime is very rare here.

The house we live in is 400 years old and is itself a kind of twisted structure. When you come in the entry door, there is a rented apartment on each side. As you walk toward the back, you realize that the space above you is open to the sky. When you reach the opposite wall, you are facing a third apartment. To get to ours, you need to go left and up a spiral staircase that has big, solid steps and is painted a bright blue. About 3/4 of the way up is our door. If you continue up, you reach Rafa and Maya's apartment. They are the landlords. Their door is off a small patio. You can continue up wrought iron stairs to a deck with a table and chairs and a beautiful view of the Alhambra and a partial view of greater Granada. The houses are joined together at the outside walls on each side and it looks like a jumble when you look out over the rooftops from the deck. For living so close together, it is very quiet here. There is an occasional motorcycle that goes by or voices that seep in, but those are the exception.

Living here is being in a different world. It is old, exotic, curious and beautiful. I would like to return when it is summer; I think it would be even more wonderful when everything is in full bloom!

Photos: starting from the top: the view from our terrace of the Alhambra, the narrow streets and bougainvillea, walking down to the Moroccan shops on the rock streets, and our little fountain near the apartment.

Barcelona, Madrid and Granada - oh my!

2009-12-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hola from Granada! We have been here now for 5 days and have been in Spain for 2 weeks. My Spanish has improved a "poco" and today we finally bought a Spanish/English dictionary, pocket size. We first went from Cairo to Barcelona and were there for 4 nights. Then we took the high speed AVE train to Madrid (the train trip was wonderful - comfortable and very scenic) and were there for 6 nights. On Monday we picked up our leased car outside Madrid and started south to Granada. The car has a GPS system which, of course, we needed right away! It really does help in and around the cities! Even the GPS couldn't help with the SNOW we encountered! We watched flakes flutter down as we had breakfast in Madrid and began to worry a bit but we weren't really prepared for the 6 inches we found! Madrid is fairly high and so cold weather isn't unusual but, like Seattle, folks here don't do well in the snow. At one point, we were stopped on the freeway for 45 minutes. People got out of their cars and walked around a bit and smoked and tried to figure out what was going on. When I asked "que pasa?" the man from the car in front of ours just shrugged. When we finally moved, about a mile down the road we saw a snowman that someone had made as they waited! Currently, we have rain. On Tuesday it was sunny, Wednesday it rained, yesterday it was nice in the afternoon, and today it has rained off and on all day. BUT - we're from Seattle and the rain didn't stop us! Actually, we waited until it stopped and then went out with our Gore Tex on!

Barcelona (pronounced bar-the-low-na) was glorious! If it weren't for all the warnings about pickpockets and car jackings, we would be eager to go back. Gaudi is amazing and although I had seen pictures ( his stuff looked "weird") and thought "this guy can't be that impressive", I was wrong! His "Sagrada Familia" is pretty indescribable. I'll include one photo of one part of the exterior. He believed in using the shapes found in nature, particularly vegetation, in architecture and his cathedral has tree trunks, flowers etc all over. Besides seeing Gaudi, we ate great tapas, walked La Rambla, saw some great markets, did a bit of shopping and rested.

When we got to Madrid, we got a taxi and headed to our hotel which was right on the Puerto del Sol - a perfect spot! We had an excellent room. It was on the third floor and on the corner so we looked directly out onto the square and also onto Calle del Carmen which is filled with shops. We arrived on a national holiday and people were everywhere! There is a metro station on the square as well as buses and more and more people kept finding their way there. We spent our first full day there at the Prado and the Reina Sophia museum which has Picasso's "Guernica" (his forceful black and white anti war painting which was done after the civil war in Spain). The Prado was every bit as good as we were told it would be. Spanish artists such as Goya, El Greco and Velaquez are featured but many others are there as well. We spent hours and then hurried over to see "Guernica" before we were totally exhausted. The next two days we had a "hop on, hop off" bus ticket and we used it to see both the historical and the newer parts of Madrid. We also took it back to the Prado area to see the Naval Museum. That was very interesting because of Spain's great navy in the past - remember the Spanish Armada? Also, Christopher Columbus is part of that history and much was made of his "discovery" of the new world. Part of our time was spent with housekeeping chores; we did laundry, got a cable for the laptop etc. We ate great paella. Another night we met a cute young couple who were seated at the table next to us. She had spent time in England and so her English was very good. At the end of the meal, we found out that it was her birthday! Her boyfriend had taken her out for a special dinner and we had talked to them all the way through it! We took two tours out of town with an agency recommended by Rick Steves called Julia Tours. One was a full day tour to Toledo and the other was a half day to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen. Toledo was the capital of early Spain and has a wonderful cathedral. We could have spent more time than the tour allowed but we were pleased to have a well done tour at all. The day that we were there it was very foggy which spoiled the views, but we still enjoyed seeing the ancient city that at one time was the peaceful home of Muslims, Jews and Christians. The half day tour was the next day, which was bright and sunny. We were up early to go to El Escorial, a palace/cathedral/burial place built by Philip II to house the Spanish kings and queens. It has an ancient library which includes a book written by St. Augustine in the 6th. century, among others! The palace rooms were impressive as was the mausoleum. The Valley of the Fallen is a monument Frano built to honor those who died in the Civil War. There is a church, which is closed for renovations, and a very impressive exterior which includes a gigantic cross - 150 meters tall I believe. Happily the weather allowed us good views from both sites that day. That was last Sunday and Monday we drove down here.

Andalucia is the name of the southern region of Spain. It includes Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba as well as the Costa del Sol. Granada is probably best known for the Alhambra, the great Moorish castle that was the last stronghold of the Moors in Spain. We visited it on Wednesday, one of the sunny days. It is absolutely beautiful, even though the paint has faded, the walls need repair and there is constant work and scaffolding in the way. We were actually in the room where Queen Isabel gave Columbus her support to explore in 1492! I love the intricate designs, both in tile and plasterwork. Granada is all about the Reyes Catolica - Ferdinand and Isabel. The streets, fountains, shops are all named after them. Because they drove out the Moors, they united Spain for the first time and established the Catholic church as the national religion. They are also responsible for the Spanish Inquisition. (That is not mentioned much here.) Our apartment, which we have until the 28th., is in the old Moorish quarter with very narrow (about 6 feet wide!) and winding streets. It is very easy to get lost here! We try to be home by 9 or so but the streets mostly are well lit. Our building is about 500 years old and has 5 apartments. One is the landlord's and he rents the other 4. We have the largest, with a living room, bedroom, L shaped kitchen and dining area, and bathroom. There is a terrace on the roof which would be wonderful in the summer heat and which even now gives us beautiful night views of the Alhambra which is just across the gorge.

We are taking the train to Cordoba on Monday for two nights and then will be back here for Christmas Eve and Christmas. We'll leave on the 28th for the seaside town of Nerja for two nights and then on to Tarifa, again on the coast. Maybe we'll see some sun there! Thank you to all of you who have sent suggestions and recommendations on places to stay, sites etc. We are rereading them and they are guiding our path. Special thanks to all who recommended Ronda; we will spend two nights there. And Marcy, we are staying at the Hurricane Hotel in Tarifa! Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!

The photos are: Gaudi's cathedral, Madrid prepares for Christmas in the Puerto del Sol, Leticia and her young man - the couple we met at dinner in Madrid, the huge cross at the Valley of the Fallen, and the archways leading into a room at the Alhambra.

Christmas letter 2009

2009-12-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Or rather Feliz Navidad! We are in Spain for Christmas this year, living our dream trip. Since you are reading this blog, we know that you are aware of this trip of ours and have probably been following our progress through Finland, Norway, Paris, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Israel, Egypt, Jordan and now Spain. We have met so many wonderful people, had our prospectives broadened and our senses sharpened. The small bits that we are able to share with you via the blog can only begin to let you know what this experience has been like. We have learned a lot about ourselves and each other too which will help us to become better people.

Our family news is a blend of happy and sad times, as it is every year. In July, our new grandson Antonio came into the world. He is Jessica and Albert's first baby and was a whopping 9 pounds, 15 oz! He is now 5 months old and continues to be in the 90+ percentiles for both weight and height. He is a happy, curious little boy who delights all of us. In August we lost my mother to cancer. She was 90 years old and was "herself" to the end; bright, good humored and kind. We were able to say goodbye to her before we left on the trip and that was a blessing. A week after we left, she passed. We went home for 6 days in September for her memorial service and then returned to Paris. In October our newest grandson was born, Jonathan Hosea, to Peter and Tammy! He joins big sister Claire to make them a family of four. He is a doll; we have been able to skype with them a couple of times and will continue to do so. What a great invention skype is! We can see the babies and talk to the parents in real time as if we were in the same room, and all of it for free! Just today, Kris and Randy and their boys left for their first assignment in Tonga through YWAM! They will be ministering to the people there as much as possible and will be having some adventures themselves. Jo and Rich and their family have had a big change; their oldest, Caleb, is now a college student in California! Hannah, the second oldest, is taking Running Start classes as she finishes high school, so they feel as if they have two college students! Andrew and Michele and their two boys have added a beautiful little girl to their family. She is part of the fostering to adopt program and although the adoption process is not over, they are optimistic that she will legally be part of their family in the next few months.

We miss all of you. Being away is hardest during the holidays. We hope that you will have a wonderful Christmas season and a very happy New Year! May the God of all of us bless you in 2010.

Jon and Beth

PS We love getting emails!

Jordan

2009-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

Our post trip in Jordan was a tale of two cities - of Amman and Petra. Amman is a big city with a mix of people. There are Jordanians, Palestinians and Saudis, just to name a few. It seemed to be more conservative than Cairo, or maybe that was just our guide. Eyad is a Bedouin man who speaks English very well and knows a lot about his country and it's history. Almost all of the women we saw wore scarves and we saw a lot of burqas.

We went to several Roman ruins, a Crusades era castle, several museums, the Dead Sea, an olive press factory, several restaurants and to a Jordanian family's home for lunch. All this in 3 days! On our way to Petra we stopped at a town named Madaba where there is a Greek Orthodox church with wonderful mosiacs. We also went to Mount Nebo where Moses looked across to the Promised Land. We visited a Grand Circle Foundation site, a mosaic training facility that helps handicapped people learn skills to support themselves. We didn't buy anything but they had beautiful things for sale!

Petra was at the end of the day long journey and our room in the hotel was a welcome sight. We stayed right outside the gates into the ruins which was very convenient. We got up early the next day and began our tour. Eyad led us from the gate to the restaurant at the end of the ruins, about 4 hours, and then we had the rest of the day to explore on our own. For those who don't know, the ruins of Petra are number 2 on the list of the new seven wonders of the world. Ancient people from the time before Christ lived in this canyon/wadi. They carved out caves to live in and wonderful structures, such as the famous treasury that was featured in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". This is another place where you truly walk around with your mouth hanging open and wonder how this ever came to be! The day after we were there, the King of Jordan came with Turkey's head of state to visit the ruins!

On our last day in Jordan, most of us took an optional morning tour into the desert of south Jordan to a place called Wadi Rum. There were magnificent rock formations, sand in all colors, stops at Bedouin camps, Bedouin tea, and finally I rode a camel! We picked up the rest of the group back at the hotel and headed to a restaurant for a lunch stop. All was well until our plane was delayed in Amman. We finally took off at 11 pm and reached our hotel in Cairo at about 12:45 am. It was a very short night (some just stayed up) and then it was back to the airport in Cairo for morning flights. Ours to Barcelona left at 10:35, a bit late; most of the others had flights to JFK at 10:10. It was sad to say goodbye to friends with whom we had spent a month, but everyone was ready to rest and slow down a bit! We are so glad that we spent the time and took the risk that is inherent in travel in the Middle East. We have learned and experienced so much and are so much better for it! I'll include a few pictures. The first is Jon with a lovely Jordanian policewoman, next is the mosaic of Mary and Jesus from the Greek Orthodox church in Madaba, then the Treasury from Petra (note the tiny people), and last but not least, me on a camel!

Egypt

2009-11-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

We have just left Egypt and arrived in Jordan after 2 wonderful weeks. We learned so much from our fantastic guide Fawsey (rhymes with lousy) and from observing this country. Some impressions: Cairo - huge, teeming with people and cars, dirty with garbage and smog, a mix of old and new, minarets everywhere, the call to prayer 5 times a day, BMWs and donkey carts on the same freeways, safe (except to drive in), friendly, international; the Nile - lifeblood of Egypt for thousands of years, farmers working their fields as they have for hundreds of years, fishermen, garbage floating by, at the water's edge can be deserts or fields or caves or cities, pump stations, cattle, water buffalo, peaceful.

We were struck by the security measures that the Egyptian government has taken to make tourists feel safe. Our hotel had a gate where every vehicle entering was stopped and inspected by a guard and a dog. Once we disembarked from the bus, to enter the hotel we had to go through a security station with an x ray machine for bags and a walk through for people. Our bus was accompanied everywhere by someone from the "tourist police", always armed. Our cruise ship was guarded by the tourist police also with armed guards stationed at the stairs to the gangplank. You may recall that some tourists were killed in 1997 at the pyramids and since then these measures have been in force. There was also a peacefulness to Egypt that we did not feel in Israel; a kind of harmony that was missing before.

Egypt is about 88% Muslim and 12% Christian. The Coptic Christian church is very interesting; they broke away from Roman and the Eastern Orthodox church early on. St. Mark is honored as their founder. Much is made of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus' flight to Egypt right after His birth and we visited the church where the Holy family is supposed to have been sheltered (St. Sergus' church in Cairo). As with the Russian Orthodox church and others, the Coptic church has its saints and relics, many of which we saw. We took an interesting tour one morning called Spiritual Cairo. It took us to 2 Coptic churches, a synagogue and a mosque. Fawsey did a great job of presenting each site. At the Mohammed Aly mosque, we went inside and he explained the basics of Islam to us. As a Moslem man, he was able to answer questions clearly and dispel our various misconceptions. The Moslems and Jews have so much in common in their faiths! Too bad that the political situation hasn't been resolved among these people who are so alike in so many ways.

We saw many temples, tombs and museums. Our favorites would have to include Giza (the pyramids and sphinx), the Valley of the Kings and Abu Simbel. Each site seemed to be more impressive than the last; the carving and painting were consistently precise and beautiful and thousands of years old! Thank goodness the sand often buried and thus preserved these amazing structures. Luxor was a great first stop on our cruise portion of the trip. The museum was relatively small but had some great treasures in it, one of which was the original plan for construction of a pyramid! The temple ruins were jaw dropping, especially at sunset when we were there. Karnack was another impressive sight. We went first on an optional tour which included a sound and light show and a walk through the softly lit columns at night as well as a half hour carriage ride back to the boat. We went in two person horse buggies and went through the back streets of Luxor where the townspeople live. It was a lively scene, with markets open and people out and about. A day later, we went through the ruins with our guide and he pointed out the things we could not see at night at this great temple built in honor of Amun Ra. At Sakara, we saw the oldest pyramid, built 4700 years ago by a brilliant man named Imhotep who was an architect, physician and scientist.

I loved Egypt! I still speak little Arabic and so I'm glad we were with a tour. We experienced a culture so different than our own but also very inviting. I would recommend visiting Egypt to anyone willing to step out of their comfort zone a bit. It is a rich and rewarding experience! And lying in the sun next to the pool on the upper deck in 80 + degree temperatures in November isn't bad either!

Photos: Mohammed Aly mosque, Cairo; school kids on a field trip, traditional Nile boat called a felucca, Jon and Fawsey, Ramses II statue outside temple at Abu Simbel.

Photos from Israel

2009-11-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken during our five days in Israel! The first is the view from our car as we drove north through the West Bank - the desert has been reclaimed in many areas but the hills remain; the second is Jerusalem from a distance and the golden Dome of the Rock which for Moslems is the third holiest shrine after Mecca and Medina; next is our pita bread and coke lunch in the Old Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem; and the last is of the two symbols of modern day Israel.

Israel

2009-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the land of the Pharaohs, Egypt! Since I last posted a message, we have spent five days in Israel on the "pre trip" to the Grand Circle Travel tour "Ancient Egypt and the Nile River". We have just started the basic tour, having arrived in Cairo last Monday. It has been interesting to be in the Middle East and to see for ourselves the history and current situations in which these nations find themselves.

Israel is a nation that bustles with energy. Jerusalem in particular is full of building projects, modern shops, and lots of traffic! It also has a mix of cultures with the city divided into four quarters - the Jewish, Armenian, Christian and Muslim. Because we had an Israeli guide, we did not go into the Muslim quarter. The national government has strict rules about where it's citizens can go and not go within it's borders. When we went to Bethlehem, which is in a Palestinian territory, we had to leave our guide on one side of the border, travel with our Muslim driver over the border and then pick up an Arab guide. We also could not visit Jericho which is in a Palestinian territory. Jerusalem has it's historical core also, with winding, narrow streets, closely packed shops and vendors anxious to get one's attention. We saw several museums (Dead Sea Scrolls, models of Jerusalem in Christ's time etc), Israel's holocaust museum, many Biblical sites (Garden of Gethsemane, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Palm Sunday route) as well as the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock (only from a distance) and the Tower of David.

Outside Jerusalem, we visited Nazareth, Capernaum, the Dead Sea and the Jordan River, and Bethlehem. We walked in the river and floated in the sea! We also went to Bet Shean, a famous Roman ruin and spent a good half day there. We ate lots of good food, including pitas with falafel and dates and lamb. Our hotel was kosher which was interesting and fun. No milk at dinner and no meat for breakfast, and of course no pork at all!

We discovered that (no surprise!) the whole Israeli/Palestinian situation is more complicated that our media would have us believe. We had a wonderful discussion with a young Israeli man who was our guide to Bet Shean. The six of us who had hired him for the day asked him question after question during the entire drive to and from Jerusalem. He was very articulate and his English was very good because he had come to Israel from England as a teenager. He made the case for his country very well with clear logic and also much passion. Most of the Israelis we met had many Arab/Muslim friends and so feel animosity only for the Arab leaders, fanatics, and political processes involved. All want peace but not at any price. Not if it means Israel doesn't exist.

We felt safe during our time in Israel. Maybe that was because the security at the borders was so tight. There were two check points from the West Bank into Jerusalem and the whole West Bank border is patrolled and has high tech devices monitoring every intrusion. But the fact remains that at any time, violence could break out.

I will post a new message in the next few days as we enjoy our time in Egypt!

Bavaria

2009-11-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

Southern Germany is Bavaria. It is a land of Alps, castles, rich history, and beer. We loved the small town of Fussen! Out our hotel window we could see high mountain peaks with snow - more each day! The town thrives on tourism. Most come to see the two castles just outside the town, the newer one being the one that Walt Disney used as a model for his Disneyland castle. Both were very interesting! The nearby town of Oberammergau is famous for it's paintings on the sides of buildings and for woodworking. It was a nice day trip for us. I also had my second hair cut and color in Europe, which turned out fine! Much easier to arrange in Fussen than in our last stop, Munich. I just had to walk across the square! Before we came to Munich, we stopped overnight in Dachau. First we visited the site of the concentration camp which has been preserved much differently that Auschwitz. It was interesting to see how the Germans portrayed it. Few of the actual facilities remain but their museum was filled with more photos, propaganda and news stories of the time. We found it to be honest and very interesting. Munich is a big city and we were glad (me especially!) that we turned in our car out near the airport and came to our hotel by taxi. At more than a million people, there's lots of traffic and one needs to know the way around! We've enjoyed the Marienplatz, or central square, and the outdoor market on Saturday. We also went to the Munich city museum but were disappointed in their treatment of events surrounding World War II. The Nazi party considered Munich it's birthplace and perhaps there is more to be dealt with here, even today. Tomorrow we leave for Israel and the pre trip portion of our Grand Circle Egypt trip! We are very excited to see the Holy Land and then to see the Nile and all the wonderful sites of Egypt. More from there as I find internet connections! Photos: the view from the window in the older castle near Fussen, building exterior in Oberammergau, the "new" castle which Ludwig dedicated to Richard Wagner.

Three Countries in One Day!

2009-11-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

I write this entry on our last night in Salzburg, Austria. We left Prague last Friday and drove across the western part of the Czech Republic, into Germany and then turned south, ending up in Salzburg by about 4:30 pm. Happily, leaving Prague was MUCH easier than entering it due in large part to excellent directions given by the hotel staff. Driving through central Europe is beautiful at this time of year and we had a delightful drive. Salzburg is a much smaller city and we had good directions to our hotel so we only had a tiny bit of trouble finding the correct street for this hotel. We've enjoyed our stay here. The first morning we decided to take the S.O.M. tour that Rick Steves' describes as "cheezy but fun". The mini van and it's driver/guide took 7 of us tourists to many of the locations used to film "The Sound of Music" in 1964. At one point, we had a lengthy drive between stops and she put on the sound track for us to sing along. We also saw the lakes district just outside the city and stopped for coffee and apple strudel, which was delicious! Jon and I went to a concert inside the Salzburg cathedral that afternoon. It featured the immense organ and a wonderful soprano. We've had three delicious dinners here, one Austrian, one Indian (east), and tonight Japanese. We just couldn't handle more schnitzel and sauerkraut! Today we went to the Mozart residence which was quite interesting. He is the city's favorite son and is featured in all the concerts, souvenirs and public areas, via names and statues. His story is tragic in some ways - he died young and poor and was buried in a mass grave. But what an incredible talent!

Tomorrow we leave for Fussen, a small town in Germany on the German/Swiss border. It is a good base for exploring the southern end of Bavaria. We plan to drive on scenic roads to get there and it should be lovely! I am including some photos that I hope you all will enjoy! They are: one of the many churches on the Old Town square in Krakow with the flower stalls in front, the train tracks that brought people to Birkenau death camp, the beautiful Czech countryside, and Jon and I at the lake at the Von Trapp family mansion in Salzburg.

Krakow and the Czech Republic

2009-10-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, Krakow was wonderful! A delightful city, full of life, good food, history and tradition. We stayed in the Old Town which was fine once we found our hotel amid one way and blocked streets; a kind policeman who spoke no English even lowered a blockade so that we could drive the rest of the way up the street to reach our hotel. I think he wanted to get us off the road! Thank goodness we had written down the name of the hotel so he could read that and figure out what we were trying to do. The next day we decided to drive a short distance out of Old Town to Oskar Schindler's factory. It is the same building that he actually worked in and where the movie ("Schindler's List") was partially filmed. It is being renovated a bit and made into a museum honoring him and others like him in one part and also a modern art museum in a second building. There is an interesting and informative display about the ceramics plant itself and how he came to be working there and then about how he saved the lives of so many Jews. It finishes by describing how he's been honored. The feeling that we had there was the same that we have been experiencing lately on our journey. To actually be standing where people lived and died, were murdered or managed to survive is humbling and awesome, in the true sense of the word. From the factory, we went to the Jewish Quarter of Krakow. We wandered the streets a bit and visited a synagogue that is being renovated. We had a delicious lunch too but all the time were surrounded by that sense of history. Most of the Jews in Poland were sent to Auschwitz and very few survived. The next day, Monday, we went to the death camp itself. We went with a tour, which in hindsight we regretted. We got transportation there and back and the service of a museum guide (Auschwitz and Birkenau are both called museums now) but we wished we could have stayed longer and seen the film. The museum guides are very knowledgeable and calmly tell the story of the camp as they take you in and out of buildings. There is no need to exaggerate what happened there. Again, we knew the history, had been to other Holocaust museums (like in D.C.) and we'd seen films about the Holocaust but to be there and walk into the buildings, hear the numbers, see the faces (the first to be sent there were Poles and many were photographed - later that stopped), and see the other artifacts

is very different and indescribable. Thankfully, the Polish government took over the area covered by the camps (there were 3 in the vicinity) in 1947 and preserved everything that the Nazis had left standing. Some paperwork survived the attempt to destroy the evidence and the brick buildings at Auschwitz I and some of the wooden ones at Birkenau also survived. As the groups of tourists moved about, there was very little talking and no one was smiling. It is a somber place. There is a 17 minute film made the Ukrainian forces that liberated the camp and it is shown in English several times a day. We did not get to see it with the tour so we decided that on our drive out of Krakow the next day we would stop to see it. We did and are thankful that it was made although it was not easy to watch. Much of the film shows those who were found alive and how the doctors who came with the liberators tried to save as many people as possible. In that way, it was a good final memory to take with us.

We would recommend Krakow as a place to visit on a vacation! We would definitely like to go back ourselves. It is the first place, other than Paris, about which we have that feeling. The Old Town is a great place to stay; fly in and take a taxi from the airport! They are very proud of the Polish Pope and have named the airport after him! We left feeling that there was a lot more to do and see in the city!

We are now in Prague, which is a BIG city with over 1 million people. We followed our usual pattern of getting lost trying to find our hotel and this time in the midst of rush hour traffic in the dark. Imagine yourself on I-5, missing your exit and getting off as soon as you can but having no idea where you are or where the place you are trying to reach is. Thank goodness for cell phones! We eventually made it and today we spent the day in the areas known as the Castle Quarter and the Little Quarter. We also walked over the Charles Bridge. After the Communists left in 1989, Prague was the first city in what was called Eastern Europe to really westernize and "get on the map". We enjoyed the gorgeous, amazing churches of all architectural styles, the picturesque buildings, the 800 hundred year old statues, and in the Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock which we watched strike 5 o'clock. Last night we went to a restaurant that was just 2 blocks away and prepares excellent food! There was an American expat who is co-owner and executive chef! Since it was kind of a slow night, he came out and talked with us for a bit. He's from Philadelphia and soon baseball and the World Series came up. We had no trouble being on the same side there! Tomorrow we'll see more of Old Town and the Jewish Quarter and then visit Wenceslas Square and some of New Town. The day after, we're off to Salzburg, Austria! I'm happy because it has only 150,000 people - no more driving in big cities!

Reflections

2009-10-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

There are some general conclusions that we have come to over the last two months while we have been in Europe. In that time we have been in 5 countries, Norway, Finland, France, Germany and Poland. We have met many people, stayed in many hotels and guesthouses, eaten in many restaurants, and driven on many roads. So far, we can say that the Europeans have better: toilets, showers, windows in their homes/hotels, and highways systems (signs, road surfaces). They LOVE 60s and 70s rock and roll. We have had dinner every night to The Beatles, The Stones, Neil Young, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, etc. etc.!!! (sometimes we quietly sing along or just laugh). They also are more relaxed and considerate in their actions. Many times total strangers have stopped what they were doing to help us, sometimes for extended periods of time. We have heard little horn honking, yelling and have not seen rude gestures or expressions of anger as they make way for each other on the streets and without fail they have treated lost Americans with patience. We have seen virtually no litter. We have seen graffiti but almost no vandalism. In France we saw a very multicultural population, although they are struggling with discrimination as we do in America, according to our friend, Laurence. Each country has had more people of color than we expected and many more ethnic restaurants from around the world (Japanese food is the latest thing in Paris, for example). We have been able to find English speakers of various ability everywhere, although we've noticed that the younger folks are more willing to attempt our language much like our younger folks are better with the language of the internet. Kids are kids too. Low slung pants, tatoos, piercings, wild dyed hair, Ipods and cell phones are all universal, as is an ice cream face on a 5 year old, an 8 year old with a soccer ball and the ability of a newborn to stop shoppers in the stores. It is, indeed, a small world after all.

We have met some new friends along the way. Among them, in no particular order, are Laurence and her girls Anouk and Clara (our Parisian apartment neighbors), Edo (our Introduction to Berlin tour guide from the Nederlands), Inga (a college student from Warsaw who has already spent time in NYC at Columbia and who told us how to cope with the central train station), Dieter and his family (our newly found relatives in Gernsheim, Germany), Jim (our expat Minnesotan who was our Third Reich tour guide in Berlin), Isabella (our fantastic, friendly waitress in Warsaw), the two Martas at the Victor hotel in Warsaw (who worked so hard to translate our driving directions for us), the young American female student who helped us with the train to Versailles, the French man/Korean woman couple we enjoyed talking to on our way to Chartres, and Roy (the young Israeli college student on the Berlin tour with us).

We have felt safe, welcome and appreciated by everyone we have met (except for one or two surly hotel front desk folks). We have learned SO much about history, art, culture and people, and about ourselves and each other. Although we have had tense moments (mostly while driving), we have had many more moments of awe and inspiration. It is what we expected of this trip and yet it is so much richer and deeper. We anticipate these emotions continuing as we visit other countries and meet other people. What a wonderful beginning we've had!

We hope you've enjoyed reading our blog so far and thanks for your patience when I get a bit long winded! Happy Halloween and All Saints Day to you all!

Germany continued...

2009-10-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we reported in and it's time to give you all an update. We were on our way to Bacharach when we finished the last entry and we had a lovely stay there. We visited Rheinfels castle, which Rick Steves calls Rhineland's greatest castle. It is high above the river and only a bit of renovation has been done, so the ground, stones and walkways that you tread have been there for hundreds of years (built in 1245). It was huge but the perimeter has been reduced over the years. The core is still there and that's what we climbed around on. In the town of Bacharach we stayed with Ursula Orth who has a 5 room gasthof (guest house). We got her biggest room with private bath, and breakfast, for 38 EU a night - about $57! It was up 3 flights of stairs without an elevator, but that was part of the adventure! We enjoyed the nearby town of Bingen and took a touristy little train ride, with English written explanations, all around it. Then on to Rothenburg, pronounced RO-ten-burg.

Rothenburg is an ancient city that is at the north end of the Bavarian part of Germany. It was a thriving city in the Middle Ages and had its most power and influence from 1150 to 1400. It is the quaint village that one thinks of when Bavaria comes to mind. Hopefully I'll upload one of the pictures I took there. We spent 2 nights in another 600 year old building and had plenty to do just wandering it's streets. The weather has been very cold. I bought a hat and gloves in Bingen and have really needed them ever since. Rothenburg was no exception! The first night after dinner we took the Nightwatchman's tour. It was about an hour of walking the streets with an appropriately costumed man who told us interesting information in a very entertaining way. There was a crowd of about 40 of us. One of the most fascinating stories was how an American general kept the city from being destroyed after Nazi soldiers had retreated to it at the end of WWII. He stepped in and changed bombing orders because his mother had visited the city as a young woman and loved it. She had pictures of the town on the wall as he was growing up. Thank goodness he did because it is a treasure!

After Rothenburg we went to Dresden. While we are sure that Dresden is a wonderful city, our feelings about it will be forever colored by the terrible time we had finding our hotel! We had directions written down but they were different than the actual roads. We tried to call the hotel but the person who answered had minimal English. It took 4 stops and several helpful Germans before a young man finally just led us to it on his motorcycle! The next day we did see beautiful Frauenkirche and the square in the old town. Then we left and headed north to Berlin.

Beginning in Dresden and continuing since, our activities as tourists have centered around World War II. Germany and Poland were enormously impacted by the war; huge areas of major cities were utterly destroyed, millions of people (most of 2 generations) were killed, and emotional scars have damaged national psyches. It is one thing to read about the war and even see movies about it, but it is quite another to visit the places themselves. We are now only two generations away from the war and only one since communism. Germans coming to terms with what their leaders (and soldiers) did during the war; Poles and East Germans trying to overcome their domination by the Soviet Union and communism after the war - these are the continuing themes and the reality of everyday life here today.

We took two walking tours, one each day, while we were in Berlin. The first one was "Infamous Third Reich Sites". It last 3 hours and took us to various Nazi buildings, Hitler's bunker, and a display called "Topography of Terror" which is an outside photographic exhibit about Nazi Germany, among other sites. The second day we visited a broader scope of Berlin's features, such as museums, churches, bridges etc, as well as some Nazi sites. In our group for this tour was a young college student from Israel. It was very interesting to hear his thoughts as we walked along.

Yesterday we drove out of Berlin and into Poland. We were surprised to see that Berlin is only 35 miles from the border. We knew that Poland would be poorer and less developed and so we were not surprised to see evidence of hard lives both in the countryside and here in Warsaw. Lots of new construction, especially in downtown Warsaw, but lots still to be done. Today we went to the old town area of Warsaw. It has been rebuilt to be like the way it was before the war but with many plaques and reminders of acts of bravery and self sacrifice by the people. We did not get to the site of the Jewish Ghetto; it was just too cold and damp to go there also. The Ghetto Uprising has been well documented by many books and films - to me, that is hallowed ground.

Tomorrow we drive to Krakow to stay for 3 nights. We'll have two whole days there and will visit Auschwitz/Birkenau one of the days. But I'll tell you about that next time.

Photos are: the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe in Berlin, Rheinfels castle, and Rothenburg.

Some photos to go with the last blog entry

2009-10-14T00:49:00.001-07:00

Photos are:

Clock tower in Worms, Dieter Schneidler and family, the village of Beilstein, a vineyard on a hill, and looking across the Mosel from our hotel in Beilstein.

Out of France and into Germany!

2009-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

We left Paris a week ago tomorrow, and I cannot believe we've only been in Germany that long! Every day has really been an adventure since we've been driving and have been lost at least once every day but today! The first day, picking up our car from the leasing office at Charles De Gaulle airport outside Paris and driving to Strasbourg (about a five hour drive) was the worst. We actually thought we would never leave the CDG airport area! It was like a Chevy Chase vacation movie! We could not find our way to the highway that we wanted and drove in large circles trying to go in the right direction! Not reading French road signs well was a major part of the problem. Finally we just pulled onto a side road that led to an area that we later discovered was for freight. There was a map of that area at an information stop (we're not the only ones who get lost there, it seems). The map did not help much, but another driver pulled over, noticed our wide-eyed, frantic look and asked if we needed help. He told us to follow the signs to Paris (!), which we'd been avoiding, knowing that that couldn't be the right way. He said that would lead us to the road we wanted. We offered to pay him to lead us there, but he said we couldn't afford him! We followed his directions and, low and behold, it worked. Well, sort of. He told us we couldn't miss the gas station on our way to the interchange which we needed to find because we had almost nothing in the tank. WRONG! We never saw it and once we got onto the highway, we began an immediate search for a gas pump. We have a diesel engine and had been assured that the yellow handled pumps, labelled "diesel oil", were what we wanted. We did find a gas station, right next to a Burger King (!), but then couldn't get the machine to take our credit card. Finally we talked to the lady in the little booth, who spoke almost no English but motioned us to another pump. At that one, we just pumped the gas and then she scanned our card. Ahhh - the correct highway and a full tank of gas, 2 hours after we'd picked up the car, and we were ready to start our drive to Strasbourg.

It was a gorgeous drive, rich in fall colors and beautiful farm land. Our thoughts turned to World War I and Verdun, the Argonne and Ardennes areas. The Alsace area has been drenched in so much blood, not only then but also in the late 1800s under Bismarck and of course in WWII. It is very tranquil now. We stopped for a bit in Reims. Another ancient cathedral; this is where the kings of France were crowned for hundreds of years. We also had lunch there in a little cafe and walked around the small town. Then we continued on. As we drove, the weather grew more stormy and for the last hour or so rain came and went. By the time we actually arrived in Strasbourg, we had just come out of a downpour. It was dark but we managed to find our hotel right in the middle of town by the incredible cathedral. We were drained. Many hotels, including this one, do not have elevators to all floors. Our room was on the third floor but we only had to haul our bags up one flight of stairs. Happily the room was nice and we found a good place for dinner. Our window looked directly at the cathedral which was just across a small brick square. And what a cathedral! My favorite so far, I think. If you are interested in it, just google and I'm sure there will be pictures. Unfortunately, there were lots of tourists besides us and many of them enjoyed staying up late at the cafes in the square, drinking, singing, and looking at the well-lit building. We finally got to sleep at about 2.

The next day, we got on the road into Germany, with lots of instructions which actually worked!

The Rhine river is the boundary between the two countries and it is not far beyond the Strasbourg city limits. We drove into the the northern area of the Black Forest and immediately relaxed. We had lunch in a small town called Oppenau and then took the scenic road to Baden Baden. The views were breathtaking. At one point we stopped and hiked to a waterfall. It was a lot like the Olympic forest at home. So much vegetation, a small stream gurgling by, a nice trail to walk on. We got into Baden Baden at about 3:30 and tried to find the hotel we wanted from the Rick Steves' book. No luck, much frustration. Finally we stopped at another hotel and asked how to find our choice. They told us that it was hard to find (!), in a pedestrian area, and that if it had no vacancies, they had room for us. That sounded good to me, but we persevered. After a few more wrong turns, including driving up a hiking trail (!), we asked a nice man and he told us that although he personally had only walked there, he felt sure that we could drive down to the street, go down a block or two, turn right and we'd get there. And so we did. And they did have a room for us, their last one. The hotel was in the old market area, which is now a pedestrian zone and very up scale. We walked around for a while and found some great shops to browse. We each made a couple of purchases (Jon now has a German sim card in his Iphone) and I picked up some birthday gifts for some loved ones back home. We had a very nice dinner at a restaurant around the corner, which included some good German dishes and wine. We did not go to the baths, nude or otherwise. We got a better night's sleep that night.

The next day it was off to Worms, home to the Schneidler clan before Jon's great grandfather left for the United States. Jon wanted to see if he could locate any family or family history there. We planned to stay 2 or 3 nights, depending on what we found. Since RS doesn't mention Worms in his book, we went to the TI in town upon our arrival and found a room in a small hotel/B&B. No internet but good restaurant, reasonable rates, large room, and in the center of the town, again right next to the cathedral. Worms is an interesting town. Until WWII, it had a 700 year old Jewish community; there is a current Jewish population which looks after the ancient cemetary. The cathedral dates back hundreds of years. Martin Luther addressed the famous council there in 1521. It is the largest city for miles around. It has a modern mall plus a good sized pedestrian area with individual shops. Since we arrived on a Saturday, we spent time exploring the town on foot and then looking in the phone book for Schneidlers. No luck. We had talked to the young woman, Jasmine, who checked us into the hotel about what we were trying to do. While we were walking around, she went online and found some Schneidlers in a nearby town. She printed out their names, addresses and phone numbers for us. So...we had a lead. The next day, Sunday, we decided to drive out there and pay them a surprise visit. We waited until afternoon and then headed north. We had directions and a map, but...after asking an older gentleman who spoke NO English but could read the name of where we were trying to go, we found the ferry (just like home!) to go across the Rhine to the town we wanted. The first address produced no results - no "Schneidler" on the mailbox and nobody home. The second address was located eventually. We opened the gate and a middle aged man greeted us. Seems they were expecting guests for his wife's birthday party, but not expecting us! This was Dieter Schneidler, whose great-great-great grandfather was Jon's great-great-great-grandfather's brother! (or so we've since found out) We met Karin, Dieter's wife, and their 3 sons. This was very fortunate timing because the oldest son, Tim, was home from college and the middle son, George, was leaving at 2 am to go to Spain with his high school class! Lars, the youngest, is 11 and was the perfect host, offering us something to drink etc. They were all so gracious! We stayed long enough to meet Dieter's mother and two sisters, as well as some other friends, and then we made plans to meet Monday evening for dinner. As you can imagine, we were very excited by all this! And we took an immediate liking to them; they felt right away like family. We drove back to Worms, only to get totally lost trying to find our hotel. There were several construction projects which closed roads where we expected to turn. Anyway, we eventually made it without any physical damage to the car or each other. Monday we spent doing some errands. My mission was to brave the German postal system and mail the purchases I had mail in Baden Baden. I made the happy discovery that if one uses a mailing envelope instead of a box, it counts as a letter, not a package and there is MUCH less red tape/forms. It took a mere 15 minutes to complete the task. It was also a contrast in cultural style from the French. In Paris there were 3 lines and you got in the one that did what you needed. There was a constant din of conversation and 3 people roamed the room as helpers (thank goodness!). In Worms, there was one long line and a long bureau with 5 postal employees behind it. No one talked while they waited in line. You got in line, hoped you had what you needed, and waited your turn. Happily, "my" postal clerk was a very pleasant young woman who spoke enough English to get us through the process. She told me what I needed to fill out and told me to come directly back to her when I had done it. I did, she slapped the addressed forms onto the envelopes, weighed them, attached postage, told me the charge, I paid and we were finished! Monday afternoon we walked into the cathedral, around a couple of parks and memorials and into the old Jewish cemetery. Then it was time to meet the others for dinner! We actually drove straight to the ferry this time and got to their house a few minutes early. We had a great time talking and sharing photos (I took my laptop) and then had a delicious meal at a nearby restaurant. All was well until we went to take the ferry back across the river and it had quit for the night! No problem, Dieter said. He would lead us through the back roads and get us back to our hotel that way! That was very nice of him, we thought, but we were concerned that it would be a late night for him on a weeknight. He said it was just 20 minutes each way. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more like 40 minutes one way, due to roadwork that he wasn't aware of blocking our way. We just laughed - it was all SO familiar!!! Happily we know that he did make it back to his home eventually!

This morning, Jon got up early to get to the Archives office when it opened. He was able to trace his family back to the early 1700s, with the help of the clerk there. He was so pleased! That's how he discovered the direct connection between Dieter and himself. By 11:30 we were on the road to Bielstein, a small town on the Mosel river. What a beautiful drive it was! We did the first part on the autoban but then continued on much smaller, slower roads. We wound through vineyard after vineyard, on steep slopes with the vines running vertically down them. Many fields were being harvested and I wondered why the pickers didn't fall down the hillsides because they were so steep. This beautiful little village is so picturesque! We are staying in a 600 year old building that is our hotel! It is right on the Mosel river and we could sit on the terrace and watch barges and other boats go by. Tomorrow we are driving back to the Rhine to the town of Bacharach and we'll see our first German castles. Rick Steves loves that area and we'll go see why. Then we are off to Rothenburg for the same reason. It is the north end of Bavaria which is the region that is the favorite of many tourists. Then on to Dresden and Berlin and into Poland. At least that's the plan! Auf Wiedersein, for now! (I doubt that I spelled that correctly - sorry!)

Goodbye Paris!

2009-10-07T12:37:00.001-07:00

Here we are on our last night in Paris, listening to the rain pour down outside and occasionally hearing thunder and seeing lightening! We have spent the last several days doing those things that were on our list, such as walks in various areas of the city, and just enjoying this city that is so easy to love! It has rained for at least a little while during each of the last 3 days, which reminds us how lucky we have been to have had such gorgeous weather. It was actually 25 degrees C today - very warm for October! Last Friday we went to Chartres. We waited until Friday because then the labyrinth in the cathedral is uncovered and can be walked. For those who have never done it, it is a meditative, spiritual, slow walk on a complex, circular pattern that leads one to the center and then out again. The one at Chartres is about 40 feet across. The cathedral itself dates to the 1100's and is amazing. Many pilgrims have come there in the last 900 years because there is a garment (relic) said to have been worn by Mary, mother of Jesus, when she gave birth to Him. One can see it in a side chapel. Getting to Chartres was an adventure. We had read and been told about the train station procedure but we still managed to not "compost" our tickets correctly. ("Composting" is having them stamped by a machine before you get on the train.) Happily the attendant in Chartres when we headed back helped us and we made it back all right. When we arrived at the train station in Paris, we decided to go up to the top of the Tour Montparnasse. That is a tall building near the train station and one can go up on the roof and look out 360 degrees over Paris. It was beautiful to see the city from there! On Saturday we went shopping! We went to a pedestrian-only area about 6 blocks from our apartment and had a great time! We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe and watched the people go by. We also bought a few things! Sunday we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery with our trusty Rick Steves' book in hand. That is where many famous people are buried and the guided walk in RS's book is well done. We saw the graves of Moliere, Oscar Wilde, Colette, Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, Chopin, Rossini and Jim Morrison. There were many others there with us, guidebooks in hand. The most moving part was the area of the cemetery that contains monuments/sculptures commemorating those killed at the Nazi concentration camps or while on route there. Huge, beautifully done memorials. The next day, we waited for the rain to stop and then did a walking tour, with paper guide, of the St. Germain area. We had dinner there at the same cafe where Jean-Paul Sartre used to eat! On Tuesday, we again waited for the rain to end and then walked our "home" arrondissement, le Marais. We began at the site of the Bastille and then walked toward the apartment. There is a great museum about French history called the Carnavalet Museum with the best part being about the French Revolution. Earlier that morning, Jon did something he had been wanting to do - go to a French Rotary club meeting!

(Jon) I attended a meeting of a relatively new club, the Champs Elysee club just 9 years old. In addition to myself there were 17 men and 9 women in attendance - ages 50-70, all in suits and extremely formal. They make Seattle 4 look like a slapstick session.... no laughter and few smiles. They were very nice to me and asked about our club and the banner I presented to them. The meeting was held in a lovely room looking out onto the famous boulevard. We all sat around a single long table and enjoyed juice, coffee and a pastry as we .... or, I should say, they.... listened to a single speaker to whom they gave rapt attention. He spoke quietly without notes, in French unfortunately for me who understands little, for about 40 minutes and then took questions which added about 30 more. While I had no idea what was being discussed, I couldn't help but notice that everyone looked extremely serious. Later I learned that he was discussing the current state of the middle east. The meeting started by going around the table with everyone introducing themselves and later placing their names on a paper being circulated. I was told that it would be a breakfast meeting (it started at 8), but the juice and coffee were all that were served....perhaps that was fortunate. The tab we each paid was 30 euros ($45.00). Don't anyone tell the Sons. Still it was an interesting experience, and I had a chance to meet some nice people. I'll be interested to see what the next club is like.

(Beth again) Tuesday evening we had a wonderful dinner at Le Trumilou restaurant across the street from the Seine. They are known for their canard aux pruneaux (duck in prune sauce), which I can testify is delicious! Everything was great however! After dinner we walked across the street and watched the boats go by, all beautifully lit. A group of college age folks were singing with a guitar below us and lights shown on Notre Dame. The air was warm and pleasant. How much more perfect does it get? Today was spent packing, doing laundry, doing light cleaning and, the big thing, getting some packages mailed home! This was the source of much agitation as we read RS on the subject, the US government website on mailing packages home, and tried to figure out the forms from the French post office! We spent an hour or two working on it in our apartment and at least an hour in the post office - thank goodness for the two English speaking postal helpers! Afterwards we collapsed into our neighborhood cafe and ate a bagette and cheese and drank wine to soothe our souls! Our dinner tonight started out to be at an excellent (by all accounts) restaurant, which it turns out has closed. So we had Japanese food instead - it is all the rage here!

And so our time comes to an end. It is hard to say goodbye to this city and we have already talked about leaving Provence early next August to spend a night or two here before we fly out of Charles de Gaulle! My next entry will be from Germany!

Photos: top left bread, cheese and wine today! top right: Auschwitz memorial bottom left: eating ice cream by the Seine and bottom right: the toys boats on the pond at the Luxembourg Gardens.

One week left in Paris

2009-10-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today is October 1 and we have realized that we only have one week left in this beautiful city. Everyday has been an adventure and I'm sure the remaining ones will be as well. Last Saturday, September 26, we spent the day at Versailles, Louis XIV's fantastic chateau and gardens. It was a bit unbelievable and one can see why the French Revolution happened. Everything is opulent. There are gold objects and mirrors everywhere. It is said that he could host 5000 nobles and their entourages at once. He is called the Sun King and the entire estate is created to reflect that. We were lucky to go on a weekend because the fountains "perform" from 4:15 until 5 on those days and the effect is quite beautiful. Also, period music is played over speakers in the huge gardens which adds to the sensory experience. As you can tell, this was a full day. One needs to take a RER train out of Paris and then back, which for us means that we take the Metro (1 transfer) to the RER and then back again. On Sunday we were lazy until the afternoon when we went to the islands in the Seine where Paris began (Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis). First we went to Sainte Chapelle, the otherworldly stained glass church that I fell in love with the last time we were here. I could not be in Paris and not visit. Then we strolled down Ile de la Cite, through the flower market, and over the bridge to Ile St.Louis. The first thing we saw was the ice cream shop that we hoped to find! I immediately got in line, determined to wait it out. It was a lovely, warm afternoon and there were at least 20 people ahead of me. Jon walked further and came back to report that the other shop that carried the same brand had MORE people in line! So we waited and after 30 minutes, we had our ice cream - Jon had praline and I had dark chocolate - yum! We walked down to the bank of the river and watched people and boats go by as we ate our cones. We asked a nice lady to take our picture, which she did and I will post later! Monday was an organizing day, with laundry, bill paying etc to do. Tuesday we met our friends the Cozines and went to the Jacquemart-Andre museum. This house belonged to one man and his wife who were art collectors. They were very wealthy and had no children so often had more money to spend on artwork than the French museum officials (including the Louvre!). Their home is now open to the public and still houses much of their collection. Amazing that they could amass such treasures. Do visit it if you are ever here in Paris! Wednesday we went to an area in southeast Paris called La Butte aux Cailles. It is a collection of shops and eateries along one street. To get there, we had to transfer on the metro twice and we saw areas that we had not been to before, which was great. We bought some honey and had a lovely lunch and Jon got his hair cut! Afterwards, we visited the Luxembourg Gardens. School was out by that time and kids and their parents were everywhere, having a blast! There are large play areas with climbing toys etc. set aside for kids, a boules area for adults, and a large pond with small sailboats for rent for the kids to use and the adults to enjoy watching. We sat for quite a while in the shade, just watching Parisians at play. We headed home after a bit because we had invited our neighbor Lawrence (male name, female person) and her two daughters to come over for wine and sodas before dinner. We had a wonderful time getting to know her better. She has helped us out with small bits of information and is a delight! Her girls, 12 and 16, came too and it was fun to have them practice their English on us! Lawrence speaks English quite well. Today is Thursday and our big adventure was Montmartre, home of Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge and all those bohemians of old (Picasso, Renoir, Edith Piaf etc) We went straight to the cathedral and then modified Rick Steves' walking tour to meet our bodies' needs (=took mostly downhill routes). We came home and rested and then walked a block or so to the Arts and Metiers museum that our friend Marcy Lagerloef had suggested. It was a bit too mechanical for me, although I enjoyed it, but it was right up Jon's alley. After two floors, we decided to come back and finish it later - easy to do since it's close by and free. Tomorrow we're off to Chartres! That truly is an all day adventure! more later...

We are becoming Parisians!

2009-09-25T12:00:00.001-07:00

Even though we have just been back for 4 days, we have done a lot of things. After arriving on Tuesday morning, we had a day of adjusting. We unpacked and napped and about 4 in the afternoon, I walked about a block to the salon Jon and I had spotted before we went to Seattle. I went in and had a pedicure! It was not much more than I paid in Poulsbo and had roughly the same things included ( feet soaked, nails manicured, scrub, moisturizer and polish) but it was done on the lower floor of the salon - not very glamorous! I did try to read the August edition of Elle in French! On Wednesday we slept late - jet lag caught up with us - and about 1 we headed out to Rue Cler, a wonderful village-like pedestrian only street with lots of shops. We are getting pretty good at taking the Metro to wherever we want to go and so we transferred a couple of times and got there. We enjoyed looking around and I took some photos of the flower stalls etc. Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. What an incredible structure! Currently it has been painted brown and looks wonderful! We just enjoyed the scene there for a while. The weather was gorgeous and we decided that it was the perfect time to take a Batobus (hop on, hop off boat) that goes from the Eiffel Tower down the Seine and back. So we did! We left the dock at about 6 and were back at about 7. A lovely day! On Thursday we got going a bit earlier and headed for the Louvre. We planned to visit 3 museums on each of two consecutive days with a museum pass. The Louvre is very imposing - one would need a week to see it all and that is if you had a guide to help you. So we settled for the Mona Lisa (doesn't everyone?) and then the Napoleon III rooms. We decided that since we would be in Italy, we could pass on the work of the Italians - same with the Greeks and Spaniards. Then we walked through the Tuilleries to Musee L'Orangerie, a smaller Impressionist museum. It's best known feature is Monet's original Water Lilies paintings. We saw those but also many other Impressionist works. Lastly we headed to Musee D'Orsay, the best known of the Impressionist museums. We went straight to the 5th floor where the bulk of our favorite painters' works are housed. We spent a couple of hours there, including some time in the gift shop. Then we straggled home - we were foot sore and ready to sit for a while! We ended up with a good dinner out at a close by restaurant and then headed for bed. Today was the second day of the museum pass - "use it or lose it" applies here. So we walked to the Picasso Museum which is about 1/4 miles from our apartment, only to find it closed until 2012 for renovation! After a few choice words, we found the nearby Metro and went to the Musee Armee, or Invalides Hotel. This is the national military training center for French cadets and houses the world's largest military museum. It is phenomenal! Most of you know that military stuff is not my favorite subject but we only saw half of the displays in 3 hours! Suits of armor dating back to the 1100s, weapons of all kinds, a fascinating exhibit on the two World Wars - extremely well done and beginning in 1871! - and finally Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb. Just a half block away is the Rodin Museum. We thoroughly, but relatively quickly, enjoyed that including the beautiful gardens. Then we walked back to Rue Cler, just a few blocks, to do some shopping this time. We were sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe Rick Steves recommends and Jon spotted Ted Cozine, a friend from Grace Church, walking by! We knew the Cozines were in Paris and had emailed with them about getting together so this was a great way to plan! They joined us and we're planning to get together next Tuesday. They showed us their darling apartment just above Rue Cler - a great location - and then we were off to the Metro again. Tomorrow we're planning to get an early start and finally get to Versailles! More later!

Some time at home

2009-09-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Today we are spending our last day in the Seattle area at Jessica's, helping her with Antonio and getting our Mariners/Seahawks fix. It has been a good 5 days at home with our time split between Jess' in Marysville and my sister Barbara's in Mountlake Terrace. The memorial service last Thursday went very well, with a larger turnout than we had expected. Thanks to those of you who were able to be there - I appreciate your support and love. And to those who sent their prayers and thoughts, thank you too! I am doing well and we've had a sense of peace because of those prayers. We were here at Jessica's also on Wednesday and for a while on Friday. Thursday was the service and Saturday we got together as a family again, with the girls in Mountlake Terrace and the guys at an air show and then happily watching the Huskies beat USC. On Friday we were also able to get to Redmond to visit with Andrew and his family, and to celebrate Ike's and Michele's birthdays. Then we went to Jolie's and had a good time seeing her family and eating a delicious dessert created by Lanze! So, we've done a lot but not had a frantic pace. Tomorrow we fly back to Paris via Air France, which we heartily recommend! The food is great!!! We're hoping to find our apartment just as we left it and no "adventures" during the journey. Thanks to those of you (Tom and Helga esp) for the recommendations of places to visit and eat in Paris - keep those coming, everyone! More in a few days....

54 rue de Turbigo

2009-09-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

Bon jour! The title of this entry is our address while in Paris. It is in the 3rd. arrondissement, if you know Parisian organization. The third is good because the lower the numbers, the closer that neighborhood is to the center of Paris, Ile de Cite, and the Seine. We are gradually getting to know our neighborhood, although we still take two maps with us whenever we go for walks (Rick Steves' Paris map and a neighborhood map from our landlords which could be more accurate!) We have a nice boulangerie (bakery) across the street from us that provides us with fresh croissants most mornings. There are several cafes close by as well. Yesterday we went to Giverny, Claude Monet's home where he painted his famous bridge and gardens. It was just like the paintings! We had a great day for the trip. We went with a tour company here in Paris. It was a half day trip by mini van. The driver was a young French man with very good English. It was so interesting - in the van were Jon and I, a black woman from Vancouver BC, a family of 3 (parents and daughter in her mid 20s) from Brazil and a couple from Israel! We have noticed over and over how international a city Paris is! The driver did a great job of telling us about Paris and what we were seeing as we drove through and out of the city. We saw the lovely countryside, including castles and quaint villages. One of the advantages of being with a tour is that one gets into the site through the group entry, which we did. Many folks were lined up at the regular admission spot. The day was mild, partly sunny and very conducive to photography. We went to the famous bridge first, then through the gardens into his house, and lastly sat on a bench in the garden for a while. We got caught in Sunday night, everyone- coming- home- from-Normandy, traffic, but still back into town in time for dinner at an Italian restaurant on the left bank recommended by our driver. On Saturday we took the Metro to the Champs Elysee to see the famous shopping area and then walk back via the Tuilleries garden. The Metro is still a bit confusing and we have to watch carefully to be sure we are taking the correct train in the correct direction. Happily we haven't made an error yet, although we've come close! We are also still figuring out how to work these European appliances. The laundry is done by a combination washer and dryer; our landlord helped us to get that going since the only manual was in French. It took us 3 attempts to run the dishwasher and today I got the vacuum cleaner working after about 20 minutes. Thankfully the coffee maker was a Krups product and worked the first time! We've worked out the telephone but could find manuals for that in 6 languages, none of them English! We're beginning to realize how tiring traveling on one's own in a foreign country can be!!! It does take a lot of flexibility and good humor to survive as a tourist and I say this in a country in which the language is at least a bit familiar; I hope we're alive after Poland! More later...a bientot!

La Belle Paris

2009-09-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

Bonjour from Paris! We made it to our apartment last night after our flight from Oslo. We made some friends that I hope we'll continue to correspond with on the tour, as I have mentioned, so it was a bit sad to say goodbye. Our flight was uneventful, thank goodness and we landed at Orly just fine. Paris was cloudy and a bit rainy then but by noon today the sun had come out and things were looking up! Our apartment has a living/dining area, a reasonable size kitchen, bathroom and bath. We have 3 sets of French doors with windows that open onto small balconies, one in the bedroom and two in the living area. We're on the fourth floor. We met a young woman who lives on the second floor. She and her mother helped us last night with a couple of lock issues. We took them flowers today to thank them. We also stocked up on some food and paper basics, tried to orient ourselves with some maps of the city, and then walked the several blocks to the Seine and Notre Dame. It was wonderful! Today one could go into the church for free, which we did, and it was just as beautiful as we remembered it to be. We had dinner at a small cafe (Cafe Panis) just across the Seine from Notre Dame. We plan to eat most breakfasts and lunches using food from the apartment and eat dinners out. We don't have a schedule yet of when we'll do what. We do want to get out of town to Chartes and to Versailles - we haven't seen either before. We'd also like to get to Normandy but we're not sure how to do that. Maybe join a tour somehow. Next Tuesday we'll fly to Seattle and then come back the following Monday, so we have 4 days before we leave and then about 2 weeks after we get back. I have posted a some of the photos that I downloaded from my camera from Norway and Finland. The moon photo was one I took on an evening walk in a small town from the ship Polarys. It's not all that unusual but it was just soooo beautiful! The picture of houses by the water was taken in Trondheim, I believe. I think that was my favorite city. It has a university and is hilly with lovely views; it just had a nice "feel" to it to me. The last picture was taken in the narrowest part of Trollfjord. It was misty and so the blues and greens are muted, but it was an amazing place! So narrow! We kept guessing about where the captain was going to go next because there didn't seem to be any way to turn! I hope is well with everyone at home. Au revoir pour maintenant!

Goodbye Norway

2009-09-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Oslo! This capital of Norway is a glorious city of many museums, water, and wonderful buildings. Like most European capitals, it is an old city. We have learned about many famous Norwegians and their skills, talents and often, courage. In our two full days here, we spent the first morning taking a city tour during which we stopped at the Vigeland Sculpture Park, which is interesting, in part, because the artist produced all his work under contract with the city. They believed in him enough to give him the land and pledge to take all his work ahead of time and he committed to give his work to only them. His theme is "the circle of life" and much of his work deals with human life from birth to death. He also created a maze that folks can walk. It is in the cement and goes all the way around a huge fountain that he created. I would have liked to do that; maybe next time. In the afternoon, after lunch, we went to the Resistance Museum at the fortress. We spent 1 1/2 hours there and could have spent more but the museum closed at 4. We made our way back to the hotel and spent time having wine and pretzels with our friends Ron and Jonel Glass, both of whom went to Carleton a few years after Jon did. Then the four of us joined our other friends, Leon and Anne Szczesny, and the 6 of us had dinner together. Norway is VERY expensive as a rule ($6 for a coke) and that was our special dinner of the trip so far! This morning, after breakfast at our hotel, we headed for the Bygdoy peninsula and its several museums. We took bus 30 and got off at the open air folk museum. Here are gathered many old buildings from all over Norway; it reminded me of our 4th. grade trips to Pioneer Farm! The best was a stave church from the 1200s. Then we went to the Viking museum where 3 preserved Viking ships are displayed. These date from AD 850! They have been wonderfully preserved and where necessary, restored. There are some stairs in various places that you can use to get up a bit higher than the sides of the ships. All three had been used as burial vessels and many objects survived because each ship had been buried in clay. Most interesting were the sleds (3 of them) and a bucket with a brass "Buddha looking" head at each end of the handle. After this museum, we had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe and then headed on to the Kon Tiki museum. There were Thor Heyerdahl's vessels, the Ra and the Kon Tiki! The display was excellent and included a short movie about the Kon Tiki's voyage. I remember being fascinated by the great adventures as a young teen and was thrilled to see the actual rafts. The Fram museum was next door. This huge ship holds the record for going furtherest north AND south. These feats were accomplished about 100 years ago. We decided to take the small commuter boat back across the bay to the downtown area, which was fun. Since we arrived back there about 4:15, we walked a short distance to the Nobel Peace Museum to see if it was open. It was, until 6, so we went in. The best part was the small theatre where short videos were shown, one after the other, about the winners, common themes, and how the prize is awarded every year. We were mesmerized! We stayed until 6 and then found a restaurant that had been recommended to us where we had dinner. Now we're back in our hotel room catching up with things! I must say that Grand Circle has chosen our hotels well. They have all been well located, especially the ones in Bergen, Helsinki and here. They've been on quiet side streets but within easy walking or bus distance of all the major sites. Tomorrow we pack up and head off to Paris!!! It was 79 degrees there yesterday which sounds wonderful after the 60-65 degrees and windy weather we've had here. (No rain though!!) More from la belle France later!

The Hurtigruten experience

2009-09-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

We disembarked in Bergen today. What a wonderful, beautiful trip we had going south from Kirkenes to Bergen! We saw glaciers, waterfalls, incredibly narrow fjords, quaint villages, and modern cities. We met new friends from Nuremburg, Grenoble, various cities in Norway and other European countries. I even tried out my fledgling French on a lovely woman named Claudette! (And she at least pretended to understand me!) The Polarys is a lovely vessel and very comfortable. Our room faced the bow and so we could watch our progress from our own room. Of course we could also go to the observation area on deck 7 with it's wall to wall windows and comfortable seating! This was our first cruise but we had heard about the food on cruise ships. This was not the normal type of ship, as it is a working postal and freight vessel, but we had wonderful breakfast and lunch buffets, and dinner was seated and served to us by a very efficient wait staff. It was 3 courses and was presented beautifully and tasted gourmet! We saw Laurie and Gary Axling in Trondheim! We had an excited reunion and they sat with us while we had breakfast aboard our ship. We talked and shared experiences for about half an hour and then we set sail and they headed off to explore the city. It was so much fun to meet good friends away from home like that. They are just beginning a month long adventure - if you see them after they are home, be sure to hear about it!

Bergen is a large and interesting city. It was Norway's first capital and has been in existence for about a thousand years! There are many lovely old buildings and on our city bus tour this afternoon we saw many of them. Our guide Craig also took us on a walking tour around our hotel which is perfectly situated next door to the Hanseatic League area (a commercial trading group that thrived hundreds of years ago) and the fish market, which is really an open air public market. We also went on the funicular to a high point and got a wonderful view of the city, the fjord and the islands. Tomorrow morning we go on a half day tour to the outer island area of Bergen and then have the afternoon to do more exploring on our own. There is so much to see and do!

Meanwhile back at home, we found out that Jessica had to have her gall bladder out very unexpectedly! She is okay now, less than 24 hours after the surgery. It is agonizing to be here when she really could use my help! All of you parents know what I mean. I am really glad that we will be home in a couple of weeks and I can see for myself that she is okay.

On Sunday we are off to Oslo via "Norway in a nutshell". We go cross country from Bergen to Oslo using various types of transportation and seeing many beautiful sights. I'll post again then and tell you all about it. Take care of yourselves and all you teachers out there have a fantastic start to your year!

We have crossed the Arctic Circle heading south

2009-09-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

Good morning! A little less than an hour ago, we crossed the Arctic Circle heading south. We had been north of it since leaving Helsinki. Amazing! We have learned that the north is warmer than Alaska and Siberia because of the Gulf Stream and the North Sea. That is not to say that these are warm areas - it feels like winter here now. It rained much of yesterday but happily that did not change the beauty of the scenery; in fact it made the fact of where we were more real. Yesterday we saw what is supposed to be the most beautiful of the passages we'll see on the ship - Trollfjord. The ship went into an unbelievably narrow canal and did a 180 turn in place. There were steep high sides of rock all around, with waterfalls tumbling down. We tried to take pictures but the overall effect was impossible to capture. If you have a chance, goggle it or look it up some other way and check out what we saw.

A couple of days ago, I found out that my mom has passed away. We expected that would happen while we were gone and made all the preparations that we could before we left. My sister has been there to begin taking care of details but we will be returning to Seattle on September 15 for the service etc. We will fly back to Paris on the 21st. Thank you for the kind thoughts and prayers that I know you will send our way.

I'll write more in a couple of days from Bergen. Between now and then we will see our friends Laurie and Gary Axling in Trondheim! What fun to have that to look forward to! Au revoir!

Norway

2009-09-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone! It is September 1 and we have been on the Hurtigurten ship Polarys for 2 days now on the Norwegian coast. We had a wonderful time in Finland, both in Helsinki and in the north country, Lappland, home of the Samis. Last Saturday we spent the whole day learning about the Sami culture. First a trip to the Siida museaum in Inari for a lunch and then guided tour of the very well done museum. Then to a great souvenir shop where I purchased my leather and silver Sami bracelet - thanks Marsha Rova for the idea! Finally we went to a reindeer farm owned by a Sami family. We saw the reindeer, tried to learn to lasso one, and then had a traditional meal.

Helsinki

2009-08-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying our time in Helsinki and as we prepare to leave tomorrow morning, I want to share some of our adventures so far. Jon and I have done a lot of exploring, both on our own and with our group. The fish market is wonderful, full of produce including beautiful berries, and also fish. It is right downtown by the harbor and is similar to Pike Place in Seattle. There are many craft booths as well as food (cooked, like crepes and salmon, and raw). We have been to the market twice and had lunch there both times. Yesterday we took the 3T trolley all around it's one hour circular route. It went past the opera house, soccer field, amusement park, many residential areas, and was quite interesting. We got off near the Church in the Rock, a beautiful Lutheran church made by blasting out granite. When I get my photos downloaded, I will try to post one or two of the church. Next door to our hotel is Kampii, a huge mall, multi floored, with a bus depot and metro station at the bottom. There is also a grocery store and I decided that I wanted to get a couple of pastries to have for dessert/snacks. I decided I could go over and get them myself. Our hotel enables us to use the elevator at one end of the building to enter a tunnel system that leads right into the mall. So I took that, wishing a bit that I had breadcrumbs to leave to find my way back to the elevator. I was able to get to the grocery store and after wandering around a bit, found the bakery area. I happily bagged two rolls and walked to the check out line. When it was my turn, the friendly clerk said that I had to go back to where I'd got them and weigh (?!) them. She tried to explain how to do that, but our communication broke down a bit. It might have been my terror at this new and unexpected development. I went back, found the scale but could not figure it out. I was confronted by many double digit numbers, one of which I was supposed to push - but which one? I asked two young women if they spoke English and if they could help me. Kindly, they said yes to both questions. They weighed my first roll and out popped a sticker that looked like the ones the butchers put on our meat packages back home. I watched and was able to do the second one myself. Happily I returned to the same cashier, who congratulated me on my success! I paid and left, clutching my purchases triumphantly. I retraced my steps, was able to find the elevator, inserted my key card and made it back to our room (#202). I was pleased that I was able to accomplish the communication, navigation and cultural interaction all by myself! Today we went on a 3 hour whole group bus tour of Helsinki. It was interesting and well done. We made another stop at the Church of the Rock and the market, but also at the Senate Square with its statue of Alexander II of Russia (Russia ruled Finland for hundreds of years) and its immense, beautiful Lutheran cathedral, the Sibelius memorial in honor of Jean Sibelius who is Finland's most recognized composer, and saw the Olympic stadium from the 1952 Olympics and the Upenski Orthodox Church from the outside. We ended at the Market and most of us opted to get out there and have lunch and wander back at our own pace. Jon and I walked the two blocks back to the Orthodox church and went in. It of course reminded us of the beautiful churches we'd seen a few years ago in Moscow and St. Petersburg (which is only about 125 miles away!). There is something intensely spiritual in these soaring spaces filled with icons and lit candles but no pews. As we began to walk back, we met up with our new friends Marilyn and Bob and all walked back together. Tonight the four of us plus June, Bud and their daughter Debbie are going to Zetor, the restaurant Jon and I enjoyed our first dinner here. It is made like a barn and has tractors and other implements typical of Finnish farms as it's decor. Many Finns eat there and it is good food, reasonably priced (for Finland). Tomorrow we have to have our bags to be checked outside our doors at 8 am and we leave for the airport at 8:45. We fly to Ivalo, pronounced EE-val-oh, in Lapland and begin our Sami culture experience. We are looking forward it!

2009-08-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we're here! In Helsinki! We had a smooth but long air experience and arrived at our hotel a bit after midnight. We finally got to bed after 1:00 am and then took a while to go to sleep, but got 7 hours before waking. We have already met several interesting folks, fellow tourists and native Finlanders. On our taxi ride from the airport, we shared a mini van with a Japanese couple who were also tourists. When Jon told them that we were from Seattle, the man immediately said "Ichiro!". There followed a broken conversation (almost no common language) where both sides really tried to communicate. Also in the taxi was a young woman who was Hungarian. She is beginning a Masters program in Helsinki and had one week to find lodging other than the hostel she was using at the moment. Her English was excellent because she had spent 2 years in Baltimore doing part of her BA work and then another year in Providence, RI working. There was also a young man from India who was part of a tourism promotion campaign who also spoke great English!

Today we have taken our time and tried to acclimate. The hotel is very nice and everyone is very helpful. We are trying to get our bodies on Helsinki time, which is 10 hours earlier than Seattle time, but after walking down to the market, window shopping, and having lunch, we are back in our room ready for a nap. Laurie, you were right about those berries! What wonderful stalls full of delicious-looking berries! Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries both farm produced AND the smaller wild ones, plus others. Pete and Tammy, they were just like the berries we picked on the tundra in Alaska! I found the handmade wool Finnish sweater I was looking for so I'll be plenty warm from now on! Susan, I didn't get as good a price as you did but close! There is plenty to keep us busy but we are leaving some things for the guided city tour that we will take with the Grand Circle group. They arrive tomorrow. The weather here is very Seattle-like. It's about 68 degrees and partly cloudy-more sun this morning than now-and very pleasant. All and all, a great beginning!

2009-08-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Two weeks from today we leave! Amazing, since it is a dream about to come true! We have our itinerary fairly set now, at least in large blocks. We purposely don't want to get too detailed since when we're traveling independently we want to have the freedom to "mosey" as Jon says. Here is the basic outline.

August 23 - fly from Seattle to Helsinki via London

August 26 - join the GCT (Grand Circle Travel) tour entitled "Norwegian Fjords and Lapland"

September 9 - fly to Paris to begin our month's stay in an apartment

October 8 - pick up our leased car and begin travel to Germany, Poland, Czech Rep. and Vienna

November 9 - fly to Jerusalem to join the GCT tour "Ancient Egypt and the Nile River", which includes time in Israel and Jordan

December 4 - fly to Barcelona and begin independent travel in Spain and Portugal, including 2 weeks in an apartment in Granada (Dec. 14-28). We pick up our leased car when we leave Madrid on Dec. 13

January 7 - begin time in Portugal

January 22 - return to Spain

February 3 - fly to London to begin independent travel in Great Britain

February 26 - take the ferry to Dublin and begin time in Ireland

March 10 - fly to Rome and begin independent travel in Italy, including 2 weeks in an apartment in Lucca in Tuscany (April 1-14) and a side trip to the Dalmatian Coast

April 23-fly to Athens to join OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) tour "Treasures of the Aegean: Greek Island Cruise, Athens and Istanbul" including a post tour in Turkey

May 13-fly to Stockholm and begin independent travel in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands

June 6-in Amsterdam, join GCT tour "Grand European River Cruise" which follows the Rhine and Danube rivers, ending up in Bucharest.

July 3-fly to Marseilles and pick up leased car then travel to Sablet, Provence to begin 5 weeks stay in an apartment. During this time, we will visit Switzerland for a week.

August 7-fly home from Marseilles.

As you can see, we'll be busy but we're hoping the pacing is reasonable. If we get tired, we'll just stop for a while! We are taking a carry on suitcase each and what Jon calls "the mother bag" which we will be checking and will contain the extra clothes etc. that are not vital to the next part of our trip.

I'll post another entry either just before we leave or from Helsinki! Bye for now.

First posting, July 4, 2009

2009-07-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We are busy planning our trip which begins on August 23. What with the illness of Beth's mother and the birth of Jessica's baby in July, it has been a busy summer! If you are reading this, it means you have received our card telling you of this site. We will update the news here as time goes by - hopefully at least once a week, once the adventure begins. I am taking my laptop, so we can receive emails at my address (also on the card).

Speaking of beginning, the first part of our trip is planned and reserved. We fly to Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 23. We join a Grand Circle Tour on the 26th. which explores Helsinki and then flies to a Sami (Lapp) area north of the Arctic Circle. We spend time there learning about the Sami culture and then board a Norwegian ship to travel south on the coast of Norway. We have heard marvelous descriptions of the scenery and are very excited to be there! We disembark the ship in Bergen and then travel overland to Oslo where we spend several days. On September 9, we fly to Paris to spend a month in an apartment there. Our address will be 54, rue de Turbigo. 75003 Paris. I don't know if you need more information in order to mail us something, but we'll find out. The apartment is in the 3rd. arrondissement in the Le Marais district. A very good location! We are very excited to become Parisians for a month. We plan to take several day or overnight trips to northern France places but mostly we just wander the streets and take it all in (and eat lots of croissants and cheese and drink lots of wine!)

As more details are arranged and confirmed, we will let you know. Meanwhile, keep us in your prayers as we try to juggle the issues of leaving our house with renters for a year, leaving a brand new grandson and my mom's health.