Page 2 of Baldwin Travel Adventures Travel Blog Posts


Europe » Italy » Campania » Naples January 6th 2022

The day finally arrived! Maggie departed Naples on board the MV World Odyssey, her floating college campus for the next 4 months! She actually boarded yesterday, 1/5, after testing negative for COVID twice in 24 hours. As she said, it was a "roller coaster" day, as she literally lugged about 150 lbs of luggage through the port and up the gangways, through the testing site and finally to the check bag station. We'll see how much of that ends up getting shipped home after the voyage and before she begins her backpacking through Europe trip! She is delighted with her 3-person, outside cabin, and even more excited to have scored the top bunk (her first choice). She met her cabin-mates, Caroline and Madeline (see photo), but we have not learned much about them yet. Her cabin ... read more
Maggie, Caroline and Madeline.
On Deck.

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice January 4th 2022

Maggie has definitely made the most of her time in Italy with whirlwind trips to both Venice and the Amalfi Coast since seeing Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. Yesterday, Maggie and four other girls (Salma, Bella, Meadow and Kelsey - all fellow SAS passengers) flew for a one-day sightseeing trip to Venice. She adored Venice, and found it one of the most beautiful cities she's seen so far. They rode in a Gondola, visited St. Mark's square, and just strolled through the Venetian streets before flying back to Naples that night. Today, Maggie decided to take a solo trip to the Amalfi coast. She navigated the Naples metro, Italian train, and Salerno buses to spend just over an hour admiring the Amalfi coast before reversing the trip in time to drop in on a castle she spotted ... read more
Maggie and Salma in Venice
Hostel - Bedroom 2.
Hostel - Living Room.

Europe » Italy » Campania » Mount Vesuvius January 2nd 2022

Maggie and friends Salma and Diego climbed above the clouds to the top of Mount Vesuvius today. The sun was bright, and the views spectacular! Mount Vesuvius is the only still active volcano (though currently dormant) in Europe. They then traveled to the ruins of Pompeii, which Maggie described as "soooo cool." :-) Today was a "carpe diem" day, she felt, where they really made the most of the time they have in Naples. She has a day trip to Venice tomorrow, and is thinking about trying to get to the Amalfi Coast on 1/4, if she can work out the logistics of getting her next required COVID test before boarding the ship on 1/5. Speaking of ship, Maggie got her first look at her home for the next 4 months tonight - the MV Odyssey ... read more
Atop Mount Vesuvius.
Diego and Salma.
Pompeii Ruins.

Europe » Italy » Campania » Naples December 31st 2021

We FaceTimed with Maggie this morning, and it was so good to see her! She called from the hostel where she and her friends are staying - a cute little apartment-like place a few blocks from the coast. She can see rooftop gardens, the sea and in the distance a mountain from the communal balcony. Maggie is traveling with 3 other Semester at Sea (SAS) passengers - Bella from Pittsburgh, Salma from Connecticut and they met Meadow from Maine at the hostel. The four have decided to tour around Naples (and Venice on 1/3) together before they board the ship next week. Last night they went out on the town with some other hostel residents, and this afternoon plan to eat a proper first meal at a Naples cafe (pizza, anyone?) as well as do some ... read more
Steps to Hostel.
Naples Coast.
Naples Castle.

Europe » Italy » Campania » Naples December 30th 2021

Hooray! Maggie has successfully made it to Naples, Italy, and is staying at a hostel very near the port where she will embark on the Semester at Sea ship on January 5. In the meantime, she'll be touring around Naples, with a day-trip to Venice, between now and then with her two new friends and shipmates, Bella and Salma.... read more
Flight from Istanbul to Naples

North America » United States » Virginia » Arlington December 29th 2021

After months of preparation and anticipation, not to mention some serious last-minute shopping and COVID testing, Maggie's big adventure finally began! We dropped her off at Dulles Airport at about 7:30pm on 12/29, the five of us waving goodby as she made her way through security. We won't see her again for more than 150 days, but we know she'll have an amazing time on this life-changing trip. We'll be posting updates to this blog for everyone as we get them from Maggie, so stay tuned for photos, stories and more for the next five months!... read more

Europe » France » Île-de-France June 26th 2019

As this was a travel day for us, and we were only operating on 4 hours of sleep, not much sightseeing to report on this time. But, we did accumulate some random thoughts about Paris that we wanted to record and share: This is one of the cleanest cities we've ever seen. Rarely, if ever, did we see trash lying about, despite the millions of tourists passing through. It was very impressive. We could not believe how many people smoked. Everywhere we went, people smoked. The foyer to our apartment building reeked of it. It's sad to see such a sophisticated culture and people in so many ways still addicted to such a horrible habit. Most of the French people we encountered were quite nice, not condescending at all, and happy to help us in English ... read more

Europe » France » Île-de-France June 25th 2019

Our last day in Paris! We split up for the first time, with Todd, Maggie and Sean getting up and out early to head to see San Chapelle, an ancient church with gorgeous stained glass. Marcia, Tommy and Billy met up with them at Shakespeare & Company, the quaint, fairy-talesque book store that Maggie had discovered on her student trip to Paris a couple of years ago. It sits almost directly across the river from Notre Dame, which unfortunately we could not get too close to as they have closed off most of the area after the fire in April. We strolled around the left bank, souvenir shopping and with Billy looking for enormous fish in the Siene, which we later learned were Wels Catfish. We meandered through many shops and picturesque Paris cobblestone streets, finally ... read more
Notre Dame
Father & Sons
Michelle

Europe » France » Île-de-France June 24th 2019

After two days of hoofing it for many, many hours, we opted to take a double decker bus tour of the city so we could get a feel for the different sites and neighborhoods without exhausting ourselves in the heat. Almost everyone we met commented on the unusual heat wave timed perfectly with our stay. Lovely. The bus tour was fun, and we hopped off spontaneously at the Paris Opera House - a grandiose building definitely suited for kings and princesses, including Todd and Maggie! It was fun to imagine high society and royalty dressed in their finest garb roaming the grand staircases, marble foyers and gilded ballroom. We were surprised by how small the actual theatre seating area was, but every part of the opera house was so luxurious what it lacked in size it ... read more
Maggie's Balcony
Magic Bubbles Ride
Mona Lisa

Europe » France June 23rd 2019

Despite our late night, we were up and out early to meet our guide for our journey to Versailles. After considering a potential metro path, we opted to use another Uber van as time was tight. We arrived just in time to meet our group, gathering at a quaint souvenir shop in the heart of town. We then trekked to a train station that was about 4 stops from where we had originated! But the train ride was fun and soon enough we were disembarking in the town of Versailles, turned a corner, and viewed the awe-inspiring behemoth of a home for Louis XIV, with its gilded golden gates, ornate everything, and famed Hall of Mirrors. After spending almost 45 minutes in the first room alone, Todd graciously agreed to amble through the rest of the ... read more
St Germaine Chateau.
St Germaine Overlook
Train to Versailles




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