http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Pam/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Pam en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:44:42 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:44:42 BST We should arrive in Venice in time for dinner Ron said as we left Corfu on our early morning flight to Milan. True to his word we stepped off the train in the Venice station at 530 found a room and were exploring the city by 630. Just enough time to see the city the canals the square and the harbor before heading off to dinner. It has been several years since we visited this charming http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-304179.html For 2 decades we have sat on the island of Corfu and wondered about the little country of Albania just a short ferry trip across the Adriatic. Now that it is finally allowing visitors we decided to take the day trip and check it out. Before going we read Tony Wheeler's account of it in his book entitiled Bad Lands. What a strange little country it is We were only able to visit the coasta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Albania/South/Sarand-/blog-299039.html You never know who you might run into when traveling. But to meet up with friends on the little Greek island of Paros would seem to be statistically impossible. They were heading south on the ferry and we were heading north. But our paths managed to cross on the same day in Paros. It was fun to share dinner and travel stories while making plans for future destinations.The best part of Paros http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Pelopennese/Nafplion/blog-289572.html Astyapalea was delightful and Amorgos was as beautiful as ever. We are continuing our travels through the islands and these two stops were especially nice. Both islands are a bit off the beaten path and exhibit a more traditional Greek life style. Astyapalea is shaped like a butterfly and has a fabulous castle ruin above the town of Pera Yialos where we stayed. We hiked up to the Chora and wa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Amorgos/blog-283366.html Island hopping through the Greek islands it's a dirty job but someone has to do it We are struggling through this task with our first stop in Rhodes. It remains pretty much the same from visit to visit. This stop was most pleasant with lovely spring weather and reduced tourist crowds. The Old Town is charming and the New Town seems to be growing. We did all of the standard tourist stops to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Rhodes/blog-280414.html Tucson got gobs of rain and Mt. Lemmon turned white. This is always a wonderful sight in the desert. The saguaros are plumped up with water and the desert is green and beautiful. But best of all the mountains surrounding the city are covered with snow. It is just lovelyThe rain has continued to follow us on our trip west but it hasn't been too bad. Our first week in Tucson was spent hikin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Tucson/blog-243895.html It takes some nice weather some exploring and some time to see all that Maui has to offer. In the past this wasn't one of our favorite Hawaiian islands. With our first soggy week of weather we were still feeling a bit down on the island. The past 2 weeks of lovely weather and cool activities has changed all that and now Maui is looking rather MarvelousThe major attitude change started wit http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Maui/blog-227670.html We're always ready for an adventure so we traveled almost 6000 miles to experience a FL style hurricane in Hawaii Here in Maui it's called a Kona Low and did it ever pack a punch. The locals are saying that it was the worse storm that they have had in 30 years A Kona Low is basically the reversal of the jet stream and causes some horrific weather systems. This one proceed to travel over http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Maui/blog-224342.html After 8 gallons of paint numerous shopping trips and 6 weeks of clean up and remodel work on the condo the 5 days we spent in St. Thomas and St. Johns was pure heaven The flights were good the hotel was beautiful the weather was lovely and the water was divine. On top of all that we were there with friends who knew the islands well. We got to see the places that the average tourists mis http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/US-Virgin-Islands/Saint-Thomas/blog-209210.html Crossing the border from Portugal to Spain must have been very traumatic for my camera. When we arrived in Sevilla it started acting like an impressionistic artist and then it just died This is the first time I have ever traveled without one and it has been a new experience both good and bad. Sorry that your view of the sights will now be limited to my meager descriptions. Seville was as ple http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-177085.html Located in the middle of the southern coast of Portugal in the area known as the Algarve is the little beach town of Albuferia. While this town often gets a bad rap in the various travel guides we find the old town to be delightful. With the official greeter shown in the first photo who couldn't be ready to relax and adopt his laid back attitude. Albuferia is especially nice if you plan a tr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Albufeira/blog-167623.html Sunny SarasotanbspNorth America raquonbspUnited States raquonbspFlorida raquonbspSarasota By PamMay 31st 2007Pamela Monroe Wow Where did the last 3 months go We have been way too busy for retired people. We returned to Sarasota in mid Feburary and bought a condo in May. We are once again home owners and I'm not sure how both of us feel about that. It was a deal that we just coul http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Sarasota/blog-157112.html Aloha and Happy Valentine's Day We are enjoying our last few days of sunshine before heading back to the cold on the Mainland. We have tried to make the best of our unexpected and extended stay in Honolulu. I thought some news and some photos would prove that we are back in business. As you can see I had a very nice Valentine's Day. Not only did I get this beautiful Lei I also received tic http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Oahu/blog-129192.html Mele Kalikimaka is how you say Merry Christmas in Hawaii is the first line of a Hawaiian Christmas carol which we have heard A LOT I could sing it for you but I won't. What I will do is show and tell you how beautiful Kaua'i is. During our first week here while we had a rental car we explored the island and visited all the major spots. We have been very pleased with everything we have se http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Kauai/blog-108991.html Many people think we're crazy but we love Tucson It's a hard thing to explain so we're going to do it photo essay style. We have included some of our favorite hikes drives and U of A sport activities. We also did another Stone's Bigger Bang concert in Phoenix. Ron rated it at number 4 of the 4 we saw. I put it at number 3. The next night we went to the Suns and the Mavs game. It was r http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Tucson/blog-99343.html The format of the blog has changed again Be sure to hit the Next Page button at the bottom of the page to get all the photos and info. I hope that they are done with all the changes It was like speed dating with the National Parks. With only one spare day left we managed to see Arches at sunrise hit Monument Valley for lunch and end with the Grand Canyon at sunset. Previous vis http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-96744.html So we left Florida on Oct. 2 and started our drive north and west. Our plan was to see family and friends see the fall leaves and see various National Parks along the way enroute to Tucson Arizona. Well we saw the family and friends in Indiana and in Wyoming. Then we saw the leaves the parks and to our surprise we also saw SNOWYellowstone was BEAUTIFUL in white. However we did mis http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wyoming/Yellowstone-National-Park/blog-95813.html Run 26.2 miles up to Kleine Scheidegg It's killer just to walk it. But thousands of runners have done just that each year for the past 14 years. It was an amazing thing to watch. This year the race was held on Sept. 9 and it was a beautiful sunny cool day. Just perfect for a long race.We were at the start in Interlaken and watched as over 1000 runners passed us on their way to Bonnigen http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-92773.html Unspunnen is a Swiss Festival that takes place every 12 years. This year was the 200 anniversary of the event. It began as a way to unite the various Cantons when Switzerland became a unified country. The festival runs for 3 days and includes a variety of activities. There are fantastic fireworks flag throwing Alphorn and jodeling competitions Swiss wrestling matches stone tossing contes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-92760.html If I could design the perfect place on earth it would be the Berner Oberland area WITH NICE WEATHER It has everything we dearly love beautiful lakes miles and miles of hiking trails spectacular mountains quaint villages with charming chalets beautiful gardens and delightful people. We love being there and this time we had the luxury of spending an entire month in the area.We usually sta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-86368.html