We were returning to California on Japan Airlines and our connection was in Japan. Because of the scheduling, we found ourselves with a 10 hour layover in Narita. Rather than spending all that time at the airport with nothing to do, we decided to see if we could pick up a one day tour of the area. We checked at the information desk and found no short tours available. Speaking only English, we were a little nervous about leaving the airport without a guide but decided to give it a try. We hit the ATM and got some Yen, managed [View Full Entry]

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Again with Bransby and Jessica we left Singapore on a late flight and arrived in Darwin after midnight. We caught a cab to our hotel on the Esplanade, checked in and right to bed. In our original plan, we were going to rent a car and do our touring on our own. At the last minute we decided it might be better to join a commercial tour to see Kakadu Park. As I will explain later, it turned out to be an excellent idea. Even though we went to bed late, we were up at an early hour to meet out [View Full Entry]

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After a day in Singapore to do laundry and relax, we left for our next side trip with Jessica and her husband Bransby to the beautiful Island of Bali. We had a late flight and arrived in Denpasar quite late. We were met by our driver, gathered our luggage and headed for our hotel upcountry toward Ubud. After about a 40 minute drive, we arrived at our destination, the resort hotel Komaneka at Tanggayuda. We signed in and were led through the garden to our villas. With the darkness, we could not see much but upon entering our room we were [View Full Entry]

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Our first side trip from Singapore was to visit Bangkok. We were met at the airport by our driver Mr. Boonya and our first stop was at the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace covers an area of about 60 acres. The palace compound can be divided into three sections: the Outer Palace, the Middle Palace, and the Inner Palace. The Outer Palace includes the Royal Temple (Wat Phra Kaeo) and some administrative offices. Wat Phra Kaeo has no resident monks but it is one of the richest artistic sites in Thailand. It houses the Emerald Buddha -- a Buddha carved in [View Full Entry]

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Our Granddaughter and her husband had been living in Singapore for almost two years and we decided it would be nice to visit with them as our vacation trip for 2007. We were a little slow in making our decision and by the time we got our new passports and reservations, we had to schedule our trip for March 2008. Leaving from San Francisco, we arrived in Singapore via Hong Kong around midnight. A driver was waiting for us and we were taken from the airport to our Granddaughter's home. After hugs and kisses, meeting their dog Boomer (a labradoodle) we [View Full Entry]

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We arrive in Civitavecchia and the end of our cruise. From here we go to Rome for a couple of days before heading home to California. The cruise line assigns disembarking time based on a variety of things. Making early flights takes priority and it goes on from there. We had signed up with Princess for a tour of Rome so we were assigned a fairly early time. Our bags were picked up around midnight the night before docking and we are informed that they will be placed on a truck for delivery to our hotel in Rome. We did not [View Full Entry]

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Driving toward our destination, we could see the city in the distance with the top of the tower rising above. Due to congestion in the city, tour buses must park outside the city in a parking lot and the passengers then walk. When we pulled in, there were more than 15 buses already parked with others coming behind us. The walk to the tower city is about one mile winding through city streets. I am not sure just what I expected the Tower of Pisa to be but it was not what I expected. Other than the crowd, the first thing [View Full Entry]

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The ship docked at Livorno but our tour for today is a trip to Florence. As we headed east toward the hills of Tuscany, the countryside along our drive was covered with many farms growing nursery stock. We could see rows and rows of shrubs formed into different shapes. Then there would be rows and rows of trees of different heights in containers. It was quite a different sight. Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Florence lies on the [View Full Entry]

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Today we anchored at Cannes and had to take a tender into the dock. Called “Cane Harbor” by the Romans because of the abundance of reeds in the nearby marshes Cannes today is the center of the French Riviera. We did a tour to Monaco and Monte Carlo. Although less than a square mile in size, Monaco is a sovereign state. In 1308, Genoa sold this tiny principality to the Grimaldi family, which still rules it. We went to the Palace but because the Prince was in residence, we could not tour. We were able to watch the changing of the [View Full Entry]

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Today we were in Barcelona, Spain. What a neat city. Has a lot of old buildings and narrow streets like most places in Europe but they have also modernized and have some beautiful wide streets with walk areas in the middle and vendor stalls. Like most of the cities we have visited, big mode of transportation is motor scooters. Actually with the narrow streets and lack of parking, you can not blame the people for their choice. Quoting from the Princess daily guide, “Although it is one of Spain’s most lively and dynamic cities, Barcelona is really not Spanish at all. [View Full Entry]

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