Happy May Day Everyone! I’m ready for my next travel trip. Heading out west and before you get excited for me, my travel is not to an exotic location; however I will be traveling to a mind stimulating location on Saturday, May 2, 2009. I’m traveling to see and hear Mr. Warren Buffett at the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting at the Qwest Center in beautiful Omaha, Nebraska. Let me set the stage. Warren Buffett is the second richest man in the world according to Forbes.com. He owns a number of companies that include: MidAmerican Energy Holdings, GEICO, Nebraska Furniture Ma [View Full Entry]

---

---

Post Script Entry - April 20, 2009 Twenty days back from Europe and I finally take time to clean up my travel blog. That is, after cleaning up the drakesmart travel blog (journals and pictures). Reflections of my travels: 1. Going green was a lot of hard work. I mean blogging on two blogs. Timely blogging is dependent on internet access. While internet access was plentiful, the cost was not what I expected. Next time, I will look into getting a pass for 30 days that will take me all the way through Europe. I did not send any post cards [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 19 "Monday day Monday", how does that song go? Leah and I went to bed around 1 am. We had a fun night packing, she more than me. Leah got to see how I pack, throw everything in a pile and work out of it. And after pile 1, pile 2 and pile 3. How did I accumulate so much stuff? I only bought a few things? I vow to pack less next year. I say that laughing. Up at 6 am and we have to leave at 10 am. After breakfast, Leah went to the sea and I went [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 18 - Sunday It's Sunday and one-half of the group is now on the way back to Iowa. It's raining and we are not about to stay put in the hotel. Susan, Leah, Donna and I set out at 9:30 for Old Town to find the farmer's market, flea market, see castle hill and be back at the hotel by 1 pm for the trip to the perfume factory. We made it to the farmer's market and marveled at the vibrant colors of the produce, wondering "where are they growing this stuff?" We shopped for a bit and then found [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 16-17 Saturday/Sunday My final series of entries. Hooray! I’m going to re-write this disclaimer. “Dammit Jim, I’m a nurse not a writer/editor.” For those who are reading the travel journal, I hope my notes and short stories have been amusing. I told everyone, this year it’s all about technology and no more paper. How appropriate as this class is about sustaining our environment. With all good intentions, I have tried to do the best job in writing and editing. So not to make any excuses, and I do have some, please accept my apologies for any s [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 16 - Friday We ended day 15 in Venice with a group dinner. Today, we head off to Nice via Milan. The day was long, but thank goodness for Milan. So what if it is only a two hour stop. As Dr. Meyer would say "better 2 hours than no stop at all". Luggi parked the green machine in front of the Milan castle. We have two hours to explore the city. We walked as a group to the Galleria in search of a bathroom and something to eat. Both were accomplished at McDonalds. Okay, so we ate at McDonalds. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 15 - Thursday This is what I’ve been waiting for, Venice. And if you do not know by now, this is the reason why I came on this trip this year. Thanks Dr. Meyer for making my dream come true. I have today with me Rick Steeves guidebook and his audio podcast of Venice. I plan to explore Venice with Rick, soak up the sun, buy some treasures. The next two days is all about "me". We arrived Wednesday night about 7 pm. As soon as we checked in, 15 minutes wait time and off we went on a city [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 14- Wednesday The days are ticking down and I have to prepare myself to come back to reality. Wednesday we left Germany for Venice. The snow on Tuesday left the Alps of Austria and Germany picturesque. It reminded me of Christmas snow then I thought of driving in it and the pleasure of the snow quickly vanished. We did our usual stop at the Auto Plaza and had some great food. We also took a two-hour stop in Salzburg. I call this stop, “looking for Maria”. You know from the Sound of Music. Take a couple of minutes and view [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 13 - Tuesday Today I took the day off from the group. They are on their way to Fussen to see the Neuschwanstein (Disney Castle) by way of Dachu (Concentration Camp). I've been there three times, so today I plan on spending the day in Munich with Marlene, Rich and Bill. We left at 9 am by foot to the tram station to find our way to Nymphenburg Palace, home of mad King Ludwig (his parents). Read more about the Palace at [url=http://www.inyourpocket.com/germany/munich/sightseeing/palaces/venue/22741-nymphenburg_palace.html]. On our way there, snow began falling. It was absolu [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 12 - Monday night at the Hofbrauhaus Munich is a great city, but over the years, we have swooped in at night, programs in the day, Hofbrauhaus at night then out the next day. This year, it was different. We got in late, a quick change and off to the Hofbrauhaus. We had 3 hours there. So what is the Hofbrauhaus? It is a large beer hall with good old fashion German food and beer. The best part of the Hofbrauhaus is the good times we have every year and watching Dr. Meyer conduct the orchestra. So here’s the longstory [View Full Entry]

---

---