No2ndhome - Tom Marshall

My wife and I retired to Naples Florida knowing that we would not stay there during the summer. Our plan is to go to different place each year, one that suits our criteria. We have rented for at least three months in: IRELAND, AUATRALIA/NEW ZEALAND,SLOVENIA, ESTONIA, MEXICO, CARMEL, Ca. (3 times) and presently ANNAPOLIS, Md.

I have published four books about this lifestyle: (They are the basis for my blogs, and are at Amazon.com)
OUR SUMMER IN SLOVENIA
OUR SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND
OUR SUMMER IN ESTONIA
OUR SUMMER IN CARMEL(due Sept. 08)

I am woking on a book to explain the benefits, financially, and as a lifestyle, of NOT HAVING A SECOND HOME,...it will be titled

THE WORLD IS OUR SECOND HOME

You are invited to visit my free website for more information and review my work. I would welcome your ideas about my book.

WWW.MARSHALLPUBLICATIONS.COM

Private Message Subscribe Blog Map

Blog Comments Search Blogs First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: July 29th 2008
Last Login: November 29th 2008

Blog Entries: 23
Photos: 40

TB Code: [blogger=84183]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by No2ndhome, order by Date newest first.

By No2ndhome
November 29th 2008

CRISSCROSSING AUSTRALIA-KALGOORLIE(Extracted from Our Summer in Australia and New Zealand Amazon.com)

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Kalgoorlie

KALGOORLIE PIT
The world's largest trucks go down into this open mine and don't come up again until they are worn out

(Extracted from Our Summer in Australia and New Zealand Amazon.com) Having left the Indian Pacific cross country train at Kalgoorlie, before its final overnight run to Perth, we began day four of our journey back and forth across Australia, with a closer look at the town that epitomizes Australia's former Wild West. The story begins with an 1892 gold strike in Coolgardie, about 25 miles from present day Kalgoorlie, to which thousands of gold crazed prospectors rushed. Thus when rumors circulated in 1893 that another "find" had been discovered somewhere to the east, about 50 out-of-luck " [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
November 22nd 2008

GOLF SLOVENIA-PART ONE

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled

DRIVING RANGE
SPECTACULAR VIEW OF THE ALPS

When Elysee and I contemplate where in the world we might spend the summer, golf is consideration. Not that we are accomplished golfer, far from that. But we enjoy the pastime, and travel with our clubs. We look for a playable course at a reasonable price, and were delighted to find just such a combination minutes outside the village of Bled, that we were strongly considering for a summer-long stay. Bled Golf and Country Club is the oldest course in Slovenia, est. 1937, and the home of several annual tournaments.Even though it is surrounded by the Karavanke portion of the Alps, [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
November 17th 2008

ESTONIA-A SINGING NATION--PART TWO

Europe » Estonia » Tallinn

Soviet Era Song Festival
Note Pix of Lenin, people mostly in red, and red bannered stand for party officials

(Excerpted from Our Summer in Estonia Amazon.com) Estonia's association as a singing nation began in the city of Tartu, home of Tartu University, in June, 1869. The inspiration for a national song festival came from Johann Voldemar Jannsen, a leader of a movement known as the National Awakening a mid-19th century period, when Estonia's long suppressed people set about discovering and creating a national identity. Jannsen founded the first Estonian newspaper. His name sounds German, because when serfdom was abolished, many Estonians took their Baltic German master's name. who, in Jannsen's c [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
November 7th 2008

TRAIN ACROSS AUSTRALIA-DAY FOUR

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Kalgoorlie

CROSSING THE NULLARBOR
Leaving Cook to cross the desolate Nullarbor plain.

The conductor had given us a stern warning not to wander too far while in Cook, for once the refueling was complete the train would be leaving for it journey across the Nullarbor, and you don't want to be stranded in the middle of the outback. The Nullarbor (Latin in a way null being none arbor trees...i.e. treeless) is akin to California's Death Valley, but much larger in size. The Indian Pacific travels through this 160,000 square mile arid and treeless plain on the longest straight stretch of rail line in the world; not the slightest deviation for 286 miles. For [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
October 29th 2008

LJUBLJANA-A DAY TRIP PART THREE

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana

FISH MARKET
A DOZEN STALLS ALL SELLING MUCH THE SAME VERY FRESH PRODUCT

It was a lovely Saturday in June. The Capital was alive with shoppers and day trippers, enjoying the spring-like weather. We visited St. Nicolas Cathedral c.1461, which is immensely Baroque and had hosted Napoleon, all the Austrian emperors, Tsar Alexander and Pope Paul II. During Saturdays much of the town is devoted to marketing, and large portions are set aside for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The markets are loosely organized by product: flowers, fish, produce, clothing and so forth. During our saunter we found the Parliament building, an unimposing structure, a delightful Opera/Ball [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
October 19th 2008

ESTONIA-THE SINGING NATION-PART ONE

Europe » Estonia » Tallinn

SONG FESTIVAL GROUNDS
tHE STAGE CAN HOLD 25,000 PERFORMERS, GROUNDS 500,000

excerpted from Our Summer in Estonia see my profile for more information) Worldwide there are many well known and highly regarded musical festivals. They take different forms. Some, for example, celebrate a prolific and renowned composer, such as Wagner or Mozart. Others represent a style of music such as opera at Spoleto and jazz at Monterey. What's more, these festivals endure as commercial successes, filling hotels and cafes with tourists. But I don't know of another festival as unique as the Estonian Song Festival, unique for several reasons. The first reason is its frequency, being hel [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
October 14th 2008

TRAIN ACROSS AUSTRALIA-DAY THREE ON THE INDIAN PACIFIC TRAIN

Oceania » Australia

GOLF AT COOK
IN ITS "HEYDAY" IT COST $3 FOR NINE HOLES, IN 115 DEGREE TEMP.

After travelling all night from Adelaide we were awakened at 7am in time to prepare for entering the metropolis of Cook; population two. Cook was a town of 300 as recently as 1998; its sole purpose to service the National Railroad. The town boasts a school, swimming pool, hospital, post office and railroad service yards. It even has a golf course without a single blade of grass; a true links course with packed sand greens. The hospital had so little business that amid concerns about being closed by the government, people stopping over on the railroad were encouraged to "...get crook [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
October 7th 2008

LJUBLJANA DAY TRIP- PART TWO

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana

THREE BRIDGES SQUARE
Many styles converge at tis lovely square

The photo shows many structures competing in the center of the capital, three bridges converge, and three architectural styles are seen; Art Deco in the distance, Italian Rococo on the left and French Empire. A delightful, compact city square. Just a little more of Ljubljana's fascinating history. The ancient Romans established a military camp named Emona that by the 6th century AD had developed in the town Julia Aemona. The site of present day Ljubljana has been occupied continuously for well over 2000 years. Ljubljana is not only the political capital of Slovenia it is the cultural, econo [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
October 4th 2008

ESTONIA-RENT A USED CAR AND SAVE $$$

Europe » Estonia » Tallinn

USED '92 FORD MONDEO
Our three month rental outside the apartment, Elysee looking on.

Keeping with the ethical code of this site I want to emphasize I am not endorsinfg any agency or similar business, but recommending a better approach to renting a car, especially for a long visit. Continuing my story about spending the summer in Estonia (see my profile and web site) I want to discuss how I address the need for a rental car during our entire summer. For our first summer abroad, in Kinsale Ireland, I rented a car from a well known US auto agency. Was I naive? With all the added fees I ended up paying over $4,000 for [View Full Entry]

By No2ndhome
October 1st 2008

TRAIN ACROSS AUSTRALIA-- DAY TWO

Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Adelaide

Between Broken Hill and Adelaide
Not much to see as we passed through barren plains

Leaving Broken Hill mid-morning out train passed through mile after mile of flat bush country devoid of habitation and enterprise. After turning south towards Adelaide there is sufficient annual rainfall to allow viable agriculture. For the last 200 miles you pass through large wheat farms of 3000 acres or more, grazing cattle and many vineyards. We are in the state of South Australia, and Adelaide is proud to have been the first to seriously develop a wine making industry. Today South Australia leads all other states in wine production. Adelaide also leads Australia in automobile manufacturin [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » No2ndhome

No2ndhome | Tom Marshall | Travel Blog

No2ndhome - Tom Marshall

Blogs & Travel Journals

CRISSCROSSING AUSTRALIA-KALGOORLIE(Extracted from Our Summer in Australia and New Zealand Amazon.com)

GOLF SLOVENIA-PART ONE

ESTONIA-A SINGING NATION--PART TWO

TRAIN ACROSS AUSTRALIA-DAY FOUR

LJUBLJANA-A DAY TRIP PART THREE

ESTONIA-THE SINGING NATION-PART ONE

TRAIN ACROSS AUSTRALIA-DAY THREE ON THE INDIAN PACIFIC TRAIN

LJUBLJANA DAY TRIP- PART TWO

ESTONIA-RENT A USED CAR AND SAVE $$$

TRAIN ACROSS AUSTRALIA-- DAY TWO