http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Everette/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Everette en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:20:13 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:20:13 +0000 Hi EverybodyA few belated notes about Chernobyl. The tourbus ride from Kiev was about 1.5 hrs about 28 people mostly Brits were on the bus. The Brits were in Ukraine for World Cup Soccer England lost. The tour began at Hotel Rusa fitting start. The Chernobyl disaster occurred Apr 23 1986 when a safety test went wrong. Radiation from fallout was at least 100 times that of Nagasaki and Hir http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/blog-446264.html Hi EverybodyI am going to get Walt to write a summary of his visit to Chernobyl later. This is a very old computer. I am having to hit most keys more than once. I apologize in advance for errors. I do not always have time to proofread my entries. I know the when to use there and their. I cannot tell you why I sometimes type the wrong letters. I have had to go back repeatedly on this blog a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-445421.html Hi EverybodyI started this blog in Kiev and am finishing it in Warsaw. Before I finish telling you about Kiev I want to tell you what happened to us on the train. We left Kiev on Monday morning at 930 and rode the train until 1 AM. For many miles we just enjoyed the scenery which consisted of beautiful orange and yellow folliage and farmland. On the farms we could see piles of pumpkins and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/blog-444086.html Hi EverybodyWalt and I enjoyed our overnight train ride from Odessa to Kiev. Before boarding the train we were approached by a nice young Ukranian woman. She asked us to watch her baby while she went to the restroom. Later she explained that she was an internet bride. She met a man from Arkansas married him has had 2 sons and is visiting Ukraine for the first time in 10 years. We enjoyed http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ukraine/Kiev/blog-443796.html Hi EverybodyYesterday we took a bus from Odessa Ukraine to Chisinau the capital of the poorest country in Europe. Moldova is in SE Europe between Romania and Ukraine. It is a scenic country full of green rolling hills and river valleys. The earth is so dark that it looks black. Moldova is known for its wonderful wine. This weekend there is a wine festival in Chisinau. We passed many vin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-442997.html Hi EverybodyThings have improved since my last blog. Yesterday was a beautiful day The rain disappeared and the city warmed up. We were able to spend the day in the Old Town section of Odessa. We walked to the Odessa Opera and Ballet House. Nearby was a cluster of museums Literature Museum and an Archaeological Museum. There were many monuments and parks in this area. We saw a statue of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ukraine/Odessa/blog-442271.html Hi EverybodyBefore I talk about the Ukraine I want to say again how wonderful the people in the Republic of Georgia are. They constantly tried to give us things and do kind things for us. They would throw money back in our purse hand pocket etc. At the hotel they would bring us fruit sweets etc. They would say things like I love you It was very touching. Georgia and Armenia are t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ukraine/Odessa/blog-441723.html I finally found a computer that would allow me to actually see the pictures before posting. I am sorry if you got this message twice. Today I had a problem in that the language was in Georgian. It took me awhile to figure out what to do.Everette http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Armenia/West/Yerevan/blog-441407.html Hi EverybodyWow We are having a great adventure. If the rest of the trip goes sour Armenia and Georgia will make it worth while. We left Tibilisi Georgia yesterday by marshrutka a privately owned minibus. This is the way that people in many countries of the world travel. We used them in Central America and found that they are the main form of transportation in this part of Eastern Europe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Armenia/West/Yerevan/blog-441016.html Hi EverybodyAfter writing yesterday's entry I was surprised to go outside and find that the temperature had dropped at least 10 degrees and it was raining. We decided to take a cab back to our hotel. By the time we got back it was dark. I stayed in for the rest of the evening. Walt ventured out to the nearby shops. He thought he would bring me back a small .25 L bottle of wine similar to w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-440363.html Hi EverybodyWalt and I had a long journey 27 hr. to get to Tbilisi. We had to wait 7 hr. in Istanbul for the daily flight 1130 PM to Tbilisi. Needless to say we were pretty tired by the time we arrived. We were immediately impressed with the friendliness of the people and the beauty of the city. The terminal and subway station were brand new and modern in every way. The metro had not o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi-District/Tbilisi/blog-440142.html Hi Everybody From Panama City we flew to Flores Guatemala a town on an island surrounded by the waters of Lake Peten Itza. It once had huge Mayan pyramids but they were destroyed by the Spaniards in the 1600's. Today the town has many buildings painted in bright colors. The town only has one paved roads. The other one lane roads may have once been paved but today they are only dirt and http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-District/Belize-City/blog-391097.html Hi EverybodyToday is our last day in Panama. The airport is 15 miles out of town. We decided to move to a resort type hotel in that area since we have a very early flight tomorrow. Our hotel has several pools that are connected and a very tropical atmosphere. We went by the airport to check on our flight. I bought a few craft items there. They are my first purchases in this country. Guatem http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-City/blog-390055.html Hi EverybodyFridayWe enjoyed our time in Jaco Costa Rica. Our hotel was first class and located right on the beach. It had a nice casino and restaurant. We were able to travel from Jaco to the capital city San Jose by a comfortable van. We traveled over mountains with curvy roads and had spectacular views. We saw farming on terraces coffee farms a winery many different fruit trees. Be http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Chiriqui/David/blog-389454.html Hi EverybodyTo me Costa Rica is a step above the other Central American countries. The government years ago realized that their greatest asset was the natural beauty of the country. Today one fourth of the national land is in national parks and other protected areas. Throughout the country I have observed bins for recycling plastic glass and aluminum. I have not seen as much litter here http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Guanacaste/blog-388740.html Hi EverybodyWe arrived in Costa Rica yesterday and found it to be a beautiful country. The tourism industry is better developed here. It is a great place to visit. This morning I took a Canopy Tour. I went several miles outside of Jaco the beach town where we are staying. A tractor pulled a wagon with about 25 people in it to the top of a nearby mountain. The views of the Los Suenos Reso http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-388504.html Hi EverybodyGranada reminds me of Antigua even though it is not as modern. People here are very laid back. In the afternoon they pull out their wicker chairs and rattan rockers. They sit in front of their apartments or homes on the sidewalk and visit with neighbors. The flowers foliage and birds are beautiful I love sitting in our hotel courtyard and watching the birds fly in for food an http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Granada/blog-388186.html Hi EverybodyI guess you figured out in the last blog that I meant the buildings in San Salvador were old and in bad shape. We left San Salvador and headed for Tegucigalpa. On our way morth to this city we decided that we really did not want to go there. We asked the bus driver if we could get off before the road split north. He agreed and let us off on a road near a small town. We walked do http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/blog-387759.html Hi EverybodyIt has been hard to find things that I wanted to take pictures of in San Salvador. Most peoples are very unattractive and in bad shape. I took most of these in the Central Park area. I apologize for you having to get so many updates from the blog. We are heading out this afternoon for Tegucigalpa Honduras. I called and tried to make us a hotel reservation but the lady didnt spe http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/San-Salvador/blog-387373.html Hi EverybodyI am going to try to upload some of my Central American photos. We arrived in San Salvador last night. It is the capital city of El Salvador and is densely populated. One and a half million people live in the city with half that number living in shantytowns surrounding the city. There are not enough jobs to support that population. This causes a large amount of petty crime. We g http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/blog-387317.html