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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...
Cats of Kotor (Day 15 – part 1)
November 16, 2018
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Today we spent in the lovely old city of Kotor, Montenegro. Fascinating place with a complex history. And many cats. More on the city later. But first, some images of the cats… Oh. One dog also. Tired looking dog. You can imagine what his day is like, one of the few dogs in a city overrun by cats!
Day 13: Naples
November 15, 2018
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A beautiful day in Naples hosted by our friend Gianfranco. He met us near the port and led us on a grand walking tour of mostly the old city. A lunch stop at his favorite restaurant, a glass of wine at a small bar near the port in the late afternoon, many interesting sights along the way. This was Gianfranco’s birthday; next year we’ll be back for a day on my birthday.
Day 12: Civitavechia (Rome)
November 15, 2018
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In Livorno, we skipped the usual (long) trip into Florence as we had recently spent several days there. In lieu of Florence we had our delightful Hill Town excursion. In Civitavecchia we also skipped a long ride into Rome and instead had a quiet day in the port town. Our big adventure was a long interlude in the post office, just waiting in line to mail a package… It is an attractive town with a nice cathedral and other attractions.
Day 11: Livorno Italy
November 14, 2018
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A great trip with 4 others to the hill towns of Volterra and San Gigiimianano. Arranged through Tours by Locals. The views were great, the towns were interesting, the guide/driver was entertaining, and a good time was had by all. So glad Cheryl and Jeff and Sheri and Johnnie were able to join us!
Day 9: Embarkation
November 14, 2018
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Having serious problems uploading from the ship – this is a place holder for now… Day 8: To Montserrat and beyond
November 10, 2018
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I had set up a “shared tour” through Spain Day Tours, destination Monserrat and then on to a Cave (aka Spanish Champagne-like bubbly wine) producer. Meg and I, plus, via the Cruise Critic Roll Call, Stan and Jeanne, and Jeff and Cheryl signed up. The company added another 5-6; disembarking MSC cruisers. Canadians. But we did have a good group. Drove to Montserrat , Guide Joe gave us a quick recon, and we headed up the funicular for higher views. Back down in time to grab a prime spot for the Boy’s Choir short performance. Then a tumble back into the van and on to a small Cava winery. Housed in a very old house. Interesting venue, good wine, even for those like me that are not wild about bubbly wine. Back to Barcelona and we all went our separate ways. A good day, great scenery, interesting cultural tidbits scattered in our path along the way. A few of the images…
Day 7: Back to Barcelona
November 08, 2018
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Leisurely morning; finished packing, stroll around the Plaza Major neighborhood, check out, cab to the Madrid Antoche station. A wander through the indoor tropical garden, then onboard a RENCFE high speed train. (Most of the journey was at 297-298 km/hr). Taxi from Barcelona’s Sants station to our hotel in the district near the Cathedral and the Picasso museum. A few images from along the way and from our late-afternoon stroll in Barcelona…
Day 6: Prado Museum
November 07, 2018
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Our intent was to first visit the Royal Palace but when we walked over we found this:
A verrry long line to get in. Plan B. We walked on to the Prado and spent the day there. No photos allowed, but a few quickies along the way to and from.
Day 5: Toledo and back.
November 06, 2018
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I had arranged a guided visit to Toledo through Spain Day Tours, the same outfit who had arranged our flamenco show & dinner yesterday evening. Sharon and Van, who will be on our upcoming cruise, joined us for the day. An uneventful drive down from Madrid, plenty of historical commentary along the way. We met our guide Ignacio who led us through the old city, with great attention to the intermixture of Moorish, Jewish, and Christian influences on the buildings and their decorations. A fascinating city, I won’t attempt to capture its complexity here. It is worth a visit! A few select images from the cathedral and other parts of the town…
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A great trip with 4 others to the hill towns of Volterra and San Gigiimianano. Arranged through Tours by Locals. The views were great, the towns were interesting, the guide/driver was entertaining, and a good time was had by all. So glad Cheryl and Jeff and Sheri and Johnnie were able to join us!
