Notes on our past and future travel - I hope you will enjoy my day-to-day commentary on our travel, with accompanying images. When at home, I may occasionally post philosophical musings or thoughts on travel in general. Stay tuned! Four years ago, late October 2019, we were planning for our next long trip, a transatlantic cruise to Europe which would have happened in mid-April, 2020. Of course, that didn't happen. And of course, since then all of our planned 2020 and 2021 travel has been deferred or cancelled. We did add in a trip to Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. In 2022 we got back into our travel mode, starting with a Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Equinox. We planned a 12-day cruise, but after a few days we added a follow-on 9-day cruise, same cabin... We planned a cruise from NYC to Bermuda in April 2022 but that was canceled by C-19. [We had been infected, we were fully recovered, but the tests still showed positive.] So we switched that reservation to an Alaska 10-day roundtrip from Vancouver on Celebrity Eclipse. In early August 2022 we flew to Iceland for our next adventure! Seven days driving Southern/Western portions of the island, seven days onboard Windstar Star Pride around the island, then 12 days on Celebrity Summit Reykjavik to Boston via Greenland, Nova Scotia... And we had a few days in Reykjavik interspersed into the other legs of the trip. In October, again on Star Pride, we did a 10-day cruise from Montreal to Boston. The weather was not terribly cooperative, but the Fall Colors we did see were quite spectacular! Early December 2022 we cruised the Mexican Riviera for 10 days from Long Beach aboard Celebrity Solstice. And then in January 2023 we were back aboard the Star Pride for 14 days out of San Juan to various islands and smaller Caribbean ports. March 2023 was the fulfillment of a longstanding desire to cruise along the Norwegian coast. We sailed from Hamburg on Hurtigruten MS Otto Sverdrup for what was to be a 14-day cruise. The cruise was shortened due to ship's mechanical issues and we were flown back to Hamburg on day 11, but what we saw was worth the trip! We are recently back from another trip, this time to Italy and the Greek Isles aboard Celebrity Infinity. Next up, in August 2023 we will be back along the SW Alaskan coast, starting this time with a 4-day train ride from Toronto to Vancouver where we will board Celebrity Millennium for 2 weeks. I have a (dormant) WordPress blog site. Uploading photos became quite problematic with that platform. For the last 2 years I have been relying on Facebook as a site to post travel updates and photo links. I am going to try to revisit this site here within my Photos website as a better alternative...
Day 30: At Sea
December 01, 2018
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Crossed the Equator today! Beautiful Frigate birds, crowds of people at the Crossing ceremony, a good view of the line as we went over, and a shot of one of the bar staff… Day26 – La Palma, Gran Cararia
December 01, 2018
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Adding this a few days later after many many sea days. It is all a blur… in Las Palmas we did a bit of walk around the shopping area, found a nice pair of shoes not in stock in my size. Oh well. On to Old Town, a nice lunch, a little time in the house where Columbus stayed when passing through. Las Palmas seems a nice place, but quite large. There are quite a few ex pats from UK and Europe who spend winters here. [Update - In September 2021 a major volcanic eruption occurred causing much destruction of property and the eventual evacuation of 7,000 residents and tourists. As I post this up date two months later, the lava flows continue... Photo below copied from an AP source] Day 25 – Lanzarote, Canary Islands
November 26, 2018
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After an uneventful sea day, we arrived midday in Lanzarote. I am still not sure of the local region, this grouping of islands. We have stopped in The Canaries before, but it seems that where we were before is not where we were today, nor is it where we will be tomorrow. A small flock of Canaries… So we joined a few others for an excursion to the north side of the island. Basically a drive-by of a lot of interesting volcanic and sea-side-village scenes, with stops at a couple of points in a large lava tube, and then a cactus-garden stop. This could be an interesting vacation destination. Selected images attached… Day 23 – Cartagena Spain
November 25, 2018
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We had a leisurely start in this lovely historic port. Walked by a Marina, past old city walls, and up to an old castle/fortress. Now it is a great museum with information on the many many times the city has been destroyed and rebuilt. Views from atop of a Roman theatre, etc. Then we walked down to the main shopping street to snack and watch the locals enjoy their Saturday outings. The highlight might have been the wedding, which we photobombed? Day 22 – Barcelona
November 23, 2018
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Today was the end of the first leg of our back-to-back cruises. Many of our newfound friends departed for home, though there are 180 passengers continuing on. We left the ship about 10:00am, took a cab to the Sagrada Famila. Cloudy, some drizzle, some light rain. We walked around the exterior trying to make sense of this mad structure. No luck! I think I need to buy a book. We took another cab to the Picasso museum, went only as far as the gift shop. Too long a line at the ticket booth. On down the street to a very nice little restaurant for tapas and wine, a bit of a wander, and back to the ship. A good day, but less rain, more sun, would have been nice! Day 20 – Malta: Mdina & Valletta
November 22, 2018
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After a relaxing sea day, we had an intense long interesting day on Malta. We joined six others and guide Mario for a very thorough visit to many areas of the island. Narrow streets, open countryside, fishing villages, cathedrals, The Blue Grotto, a Maltese Falcon… A good day! And we were back aboard with ten minutes to spare. Day 18 – Dubrovnik
November 21, 2018
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(For those just coming aboard this blog, Day xx in the title refers to the number of days since we began our current epic trip, first to Spain, then around the Med and Adriatic seas, and soon onward across the Atlantic to Buenos Aires.) Following our long long day trip to Mostar yesterday, today was a day to leisurely explore the walled city of Dubrovnik. The day was cool but warm enough, some clouds and light rain late afternoon, but a nice day all in all. We took about two hours to walk around the wall, had a nice lunch in an alleyway off the Main Street, wandered some, looked at shops, bought a fish (a small sculpture, not an actual fish!), and took the shuttle back to our ship…
Day 17 – Ston Croatia & Mostar Bosnia-Herzegovina
November 19, 2018
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We were pleased to join an all-day excursion arranged by a fellow cruiser: from Dubrovnik Croatia to Mostar in the neighboring country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with a stop along the way in the ancient walled city of Ston, once the world’s premier producer of salt. In Mostar we had a guided walk which included the lively street market and, of course, the Old Bridge.
Day 16 – Zadar, Croatia
November 19, 2018
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A pleasant small town, quite lively on a Saturday morning, many families out walking with young children, teenage girls roaming the shops along the main drag. The old area we were in was almost entirely a pedestrian zone, traffic free was nice. We did a wander around the town and adjacent park, then had a late lunch at a very nice restaurant near the Sea Organ. [Must be heard to be believed. A series of underwater pipes fill and empty with normal wave action. As the sea water comes and goes, air in the pipes is pushed in or pulled out through various air vents. Interesting sounds are created. Like magic!] ... a few images from around the town…
Kotor, Montenegro (Day 15 – part 2)
November 19, 2018
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The old city of Kotor has many stone block buildings, narrow alleyways, the requisite places of worship. Nice enough, but not a place I am enthusiastically planning to revisit. There were several trips on offer involving a drive to the interior for waterfalls and other natural scenery, but we didn’t have enough time. My previous post included some of my cat images from the day; below are a few more images of the town itself. |