http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Chazlin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Chazlin en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:07:49 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:07:49 +0000 Irsquom not sure whether it was because I lived 3 years in Alaska from 19511954 or because my sister was born there at Elmendorf Air Force Base in 1953 or that it was one of my Dadrsquos favorite places but we felt a calling to visit this wilderness area on its 50th anniversary of becoming a state. So the 4 of us Chuck and I and my sister Patti and my brother in law Butch all came to Alask http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-433619.html We knew we were back in Scotland as we followed the ldquoBonnie Banksrdquo of Loch Lomond and made our first stop near Glencoe. Here in the Scottish Highlands we listened to a bagpiper play ldquoAmazing Gracerdquo and our new favorite song with a haunting story line ldquoYou take the High Road and Irsquoll take the Low Roadrdquo. It was a beautiful crisp day and it turned out to b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Edinburgh/blog-418881.html This was our first bus tour and we were wondering how we would like it. We wanted to take a comprehensive tour of Great Britain but we didnrsquot want to negotiate the roads on the left side and deal with the heavy traffic and numerous roundabouts throughout the country. We studied options coming up with Globus one of the top three rated United Kingdom tour companies. The timing and length of t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Llangollen/blog-417541.html Our 10 day cruise was almost over Our last port of the cruise was also our first port in England. The Isle of Portland on Englandrsquos southern coast is known for its limestone and deep water port. But this day we were off to Abbotsbury famous for its sub tropical gardens and swannery. It was a perfect day for a walk with rhododendrons and hydrangeas in full bloom colorful pheasants and beau http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-416862.html Scotland and Ireland have always been on our ldquomust seerdquo list and now we had to pinch ourselves because we were finally here. Our introduction to Scotland was the port of Portree on the Isle of Skye in the western Inner Hebrides. As we disembarked the ship we were welcomed by a Scotsman in full regalia playing the bagpipes. We were then whisked off to the west side of the island across http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-416632.html Iceland is one of those places that seems far removed from the beaten track. As we flew the red eye north from New York over snowy Greenland the brilliant orange sun began to rise over the horizon at 330 am. This is in fact the land of the midnight sun with only 4 hours of darkness this time of year. Our Iceland Air stewardess was dressed in a 1960s style outfit complete with a pill box hat a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-415120.html We arrived back in New England where the autumn leaves continued to impress us with their brilliant colors. This last segment of our road trip started with a 10 day whirlwind of visits with friends in the BostonNew York area. While at our timeshare on Cape Cod we traveled to Marblehead Ma. north of Boston to see our cruise friends in their lovely home of 34 years. It was an unexpected surprise http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-341333.html Bonjour Merci beau coup Tres Bien We were practicing our French as we crossed back into Canada. Our first stop was Montreal in the province of Quebec. Our highrise hotel was located in the downtown area where we walked and walked along with a young cosmopolitan population lots of packed sidewalk cafes small ethnic grocery stores and upscale brownstones. When it was too far to walk we l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/blog-335109.html Crossing back into the U.S. we traveled to Hyde Park New York located in the Hudson Valley region. We chose this town because it was home to the Culinary Institute of America. The ldquoother CIArdquo is the training ground for aspiring chefs and is located on a traditional New England style college campus. We had made reservations at 3 of the 5 restaurants with students rotating into all http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-328516.html Welcome to Canada Thatrsquos what the sign said at the border and after wandering around downtown Detroit for 45 minutes we finally located the tunnel that would take us under the Detroit River to Windsor Canada. I said ldquoletrsquos take a picture of the signrdquo. That didnrsquot go over with the border patrol agent who said ldquoput that camera awayrdquo He warmed up af http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/blog-328506.html After 2 weeks on the road wersquore ready for our next stop a weeks timeshare in northern Michigan at the small resort town of Boyne Falls. A 2 bedroom condo complete with kitchen Jacuzzi and a view of the woods awaits us. We settle in and catch up on sleep laundry emails phone calls prescriptions and oil changes. We even do some of our own cooking. Early in the week we were excited to ge http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-323204.html We kicked off our 76 day road trip in Las Vegas with the Cher show at Caesars Palace. This 60 year old diva still puts on a great show with her husky voice and her more than 10 elaborate costume changes. The huge screens behind her showcased her amazing 40 year career. I remember how excited I was to receive my 1st Sonny Cher album from my parents on my 16th birthday in 1967. The nostalgia conti http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-323194.html After 5 fun filled days crossing the Atlantic there was a buzz around the ship that we would be arriving in Bermuda a full day early. The Captain confirmed this and announced that we would be docked next to our sister ship the Mariner. Everyone was excited about the extra time and especially about the prospect of visiting the Mariner. We had spent 54 days on her in lsquo01lsquo02 on her inau http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Bermuda/Hamilton/blog-275105.html Our primary reason for choosing this last segment of the lsquo08 World Cruise was to see our shipboard family and to enjoy life onboard during the many ldquosea daysrdquo. Wersquove fine tuned our schedule up at 815 breakfast in the main dining room ldquoCompass Roserdquo at 845 with our favorite waiters and the daily update and ldquoVords of Visdomrdquo at 900 from our Norweg http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-275097.html After two days at sea on the Voyager Captain Dag came on the intercom and shared with us the problem hersquod been facing since we left Athens. With oil prices at an all time high of 115 a barrel the oil originally earmarked for our transatlantic crossing to Ft. Lauderdale had been sold to someone else at a higher price. It appeared that the only oil available in the Mediterranean was in Gibra http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sardinia/Cagliari/blog-274785.html It was embarkation day and time to pack up and travel to the port of Pireaus Greece to board the Voyager. We were so excited to see our favorite ship docked in the harbor and to greet our shipboard family. After 403 days on Regent ships everything was so familiar. We noticed changes like flat screen TVs in the suites and new furniture on Pool Deck. We know where everything goes in our suite and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Malta/Malta/blog-274568.html After booking the last segment of the 2008 World Cruise from Athens to Ft. Lauderdale on our favorite ship the Voyager we started looking for a flight to Athens. We couldn't believe our luck when we found a flight on Ireland's national airline Aer Lingus for 369 with a 4 hour layover in Dublin. Although we were in economy we had our own personal TV screen with plenty of movies to choose from http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-268566.html After more than 30 years living in Southern California wersquod never visited Napa Valley and had only spent two nights in San Francisco. So it was high time to do both Thinking that a wine cruise might be the best way to introduce us to the wine country six of us decided to do just that. We then booked the Radisson Fishermanrsquos Wharf with our gold points on both sides of our wine week http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-253180.html We compliment cruising with extensive driving trips this one being 45 days to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. On our way to our first time share near Coeur drsquoAlene Idaho we visited friends and family and saw some of the most awe inspiring mountains including Mt. Shasta Mt. St. Helens Mt. Hood and our favorite Mt. Rainier. We also attended a Shakespeare play at the outdoor http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Idaho/Coeur-d-Alene/blog-253039.html What is the worldrsquos oldest operating outdoor theater that enjoys nightly viewing from deck chairs and sometimes is flooded by the changing tides Itrsquos Sun Pictures in Broome Western Australia. The theater is also in the flight path of the local airport for an extra added thrill to your movie. Broome is about as outback as you can get a cross between red rock formations of Mars and the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-250758.html