http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Howie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Howie en-us Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:48:13 +0000 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:48:13 +0000 So in midJuly 2009 we spent one week in Ireland enough to just scratch the surface but what a wonderful country Evi and Howie Melanie Gadi and my brother Joel and his daughter Stephanie were packed somewhat comfortably in a small minivan traveling along the narrow country roads of Ireland for a week. We formed a triangle connecting Dublin Cork and Galway and got a very good feel fo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-419239.html Hello friends Evi and I just returned home from a 10 day excursion in America's largest state Alaska. Starting from Fairbanks we worked our way south for 3 days through Denali the nation's largest national park towards Anchorage and eventually our ship in Whittier. Alaska is truly the land of wide open spaces. Few paved roads automobiles noise urban stress. Beaucoup bears moose eagles http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-197469.html Sierra Beauty CalifornianbspNorth America raquonbspUnited States raquonbspCalifornia raquonbspYosemite By HowieJuly 11th 2007Howard RachelsonHello again it's been a while. So my friend Joel and I took a road trip from Marin county eastward to Yosemite then across the Tioga Pass to the eastern side of the Sierra mountains. There we saw the mysterious beauty of Mono Lake and the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/blog-179851.html So I flew from Miami up to New York City especially for a reunion of my college fraternity brothers Penn State Phi Sigma Delta. It was unbelievable to be in the presence of some guys I haven't seen for years and years. I also took lots of photos of course so I hope you enjoy them. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/blog-119161.html Well it's been eight months since we returned from our big trip so I keenly anticipated a two week jaunt to the east coast one week in Florida home of my brother Carl and his family and friends then another week in New York city for a reunion of my college fraternity Penn State Phi Sigma Delta.Miami is sooo beautiful tropical colorful exotic and sensual. The temperature in early Janua http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/blog-117587.html So I flew back from Athens to Philadelphia on the news of the ill health of Gilda formerly married to my late father Norman. Spent time with family and friends while awaiting news from the health front which terminated unfortunately with loss of life a funeral and family togetherness.Evi flew from Athens to Basel spent time with her parents and friends awaiting news from the western hemisph http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Pennsylvania/Philadelphia/blog-57341.html Hello AllWe flew from Tel Aviv to Athens and were enchanted by the beauty of Athens a huuuuge city stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions. It's relatively flat with a few large hills. Most impressive is the Acropolis which means city on high land topped by the Parthenon. Because of the recent Olympics Athens has been modernized new subway system more organized and high http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-55408.html Hello again. Since last speaking with you from Eilat southernmost point in Israel we began driving north through the Negev desert stopping in Mitzpe Ramon a city that sits on the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the Ramon crater a deep bowl in the desert whose rocks contain fish fossils since the crater was underneath the sea millions of years ago. Then we drove towards Beer Sheva and sp http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-53425.html Hello friends and neighbors. I know it's been a while since the last blog written from Basel. Now it's time to bring you up to date. We have been in Israel for a week so far we visited our old stomping grounds in Herzliya then drove southward towards the warmth of the spring sun to the Negev the Arava and Eilat. Wersquoll be here two more weeks mostly in Jerusalem next blogEverybody http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-51569.html OK since we've returned from South Africa we are back in the winter zone of Basel but now it's the beginning of the end of winter because Fasnacht is upon us. Running annually since perhaps the 11th century Fasnacht is the beginning of the fasting season of lent although the Swiss are primarily nonCatholic. The festival which begins the Monday after Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday is marked by http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-West/Basel/blog-45454.html Hello friends and neighbors. We are on the last leg of our 5 week travels in Africa. Our organized tour ended in Cape Town where we stayed with friends and friends of friends. Cape Town reminds us so much of San Francisco because of the Mediterranean climate landscape and trendy life style. Of all South Africa Cape Town is the most modern first worldly cosmopolitan in style. After abou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-42399.html Hello since we spoke to you last we ended our two week guided tour through this most interesting and beautiful country. We've spent the past week in Cape Town which reminds us of the landscape and climate of the San Francisco Bay Area. We've also been staying with friends in their homes so don't feel so much like outsiders or tourists and we've met so many nice peopleDuring the dark days o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-40350.html Hello Friends.Since last speaking with you we visited the St. Lucia wildlife water system fed by 5 rivers which flow into the Indian Ocean causing a great meeting ground for wildlife birds hippos crocodiles and humans all converge to create this World Heritage site.Then we went to Durban a beautifully located city with waterside attractions and high rise hotels along the beach with a larg http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-39003.html After 2 months of pure winter in Evi's home country we experienced a magic conversion winter to summer in 11 hours. We left Switzerland for London spent 3 days with Melanie who is exhilarated by her new job house roommates and lifestyle then flew to South Africa in 11 hours arriving in the middle of summerWe stayed in Johannesburg with a lovely family both parents are artists who live http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-37958.html Around December 25 on the first day of Chanukah and Christmas God's gift to the inhabitants of Switzerland was a big dusting of snow opening all the ski lifts in the country giving us the opportunity to travel down to Leysin where we lived in the 70's when I taught at the Leysin American School and Evi worked as assistant to the registrar of the American College. Although Leysin has only abo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-33295.html So we took off for a few days taking advantage of EasyJet's easy web booking system and inexpensive flights from Basel within 2 hours we were in the beautiful laid back elegant artistic musical tasty welldressed city of Barcelona. Because of our Servas contacts we stayed in the home of a woman about Evi's age who teaches French to adults sponsored by the government. Barcelona is a wa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-31933.html Hello everybody The falling temperatures have announced the arrival of winter. Average temps 0 degrees C 32 F for the past week but lately it has warmed up to 10 degrees 50 F. It's often been cloudy so when it's sunny we like to take a walk all over this interesting town of Basel. Yesterday we walked to France just across the border 30 minutes on foot to St. Louis.Basel is an underr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-30140.html It's been slowly and gracefully turning from autumn to winter. Since we've lived in California so long we were not really used to the cold weather. Now it's 0 degrees Centigrade 32 Fahrenheit and really feels like winter. We are living in a small cozy comfortable apartment in the center of downtown Basel. We step outside of our building into the midst of shoppers restaurants cafes boo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-West/Basel/blog-28768.html OK so Evi and I flew from Basel to Nice on EasyJet 100 Swiss Francs round trip per person 75 a 50 minute flight compared with 250 Francs and 8 hours by train. We went to visit Howie's high school friend Terri Isaacman from Harrisburg who lives with her husband Brian in a house in TransEnProvence which serves also as a bed and breakfast about 30 miles north of San Tropez. The weather http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-27187.html Dear FriendsAfter flying on October 11 from San Francisco to Zurich we spent two weeks with Evi's parents Nelly and Edi in Basel and also brother JeanClaude plus cousins and friends in Zurich.Evi and I flew from Basel on October 23 from Basel to Tel Avivarriving at 245 in the morning. The airport was bustling like it wasmidday. Israel is a 24hour country. People dogs car alarms can http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-26400.html