CRUISING THE EASTERN DANUBE 2008 The perfect way to experience Eastern Europe is from the river that runs through it. The Danube River is one of the world’s mightiest rivers—1,727 miles in length and over two miles wide in some areas. The second-longest river in Europe, it begins in Germany’s Black Forest and meanders through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Romania before emptying into the Black Sea. Cruise lines have only recently expanded their itineraries to include these former Eastern Bloc countries—previously accessed only by spies during [View Full Entry]

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ITALY: Rome, Florence, Pisa, Tuscany, Venice... March, 2008... Bella Italia! Italy is a place that most people yearn to visit at some time in their lives, and although Bill and I had visited Rome and Venice before, we eagerly accompanied our friends Ed and Charlotte on their first visit to this rich, exuberant culture. We wanted to travel with a spirit of adventure instead of having everything be structured, controlled, and predictable, so we consulted with a company called Italy Source to help us plan our independent travel. They helped us custom-design our trip and arranged museum res [View Full Entry]

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8-night South America Cruise January, 2008 It was winter in the States, and a cruise in the southern hemisphere seemed inviting, so we chose an 8-night itinerary on Royal Caribbean International’s Splendour of the Seas. Skirting the eastern coast of South America, we visited Brazil, Argentina, and a tiny country tucked between those two massive neighbors, Uruguay. A 10-hour overnight flight on Continental, upgraded to Business Class, bought us to Sao Paulo, Brazil, at 11 o’clock the next morning, January 5, 2008. A representative of Royal Caribbean International met us a [View Full Entry]

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Catalina Island Birthday September 26 - October 4, 2007 Warm memories and cherished experiences describe our visit to the west coast to celebrate Bill’s 70th birthday with family and friends. Our trip began in Burbank with a visit with dear friend Martin, whom we met on our African safari. Many famous people live in Burbank, and Martin is acquainted with most of them, as his veterinary practice was located right in the heart of the entertainment industry in “beautiful downtown Burbank.” Much of Burbank's economy is based on the entertainment industry. While Hollywo [View Full Entry]

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In Search of the Big Five: June, 2007 This unbelievable trip began long before we touched down in Kilimanjaro Airport, Tanzania, on June 15, 2007. Getting ready for Africa was unlike anything else we have ever done in our travels because of the options available, the decisions that had to be made, and the preparations involved. First, since we wanted to see as many wild animals as possible, we chose Tanzania and Kenya as our destinations. Then there were the innumerable options of when to go, length, price, itinerary, quality of accommodations, amenities, etc. A 10-12 day safari can [View Full Entry]

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May 12, 2007 We arrived in Baltimore late evening and took a cab to our downtown hotel, the Sheraton City Centre. May 13, 2007 We spent the morning and part of the afternoon exploring Baltimore’s magnificent Inner Harbor, which was within walking distance of our hotel. Our first stop was the USS Constellation, the last all-sail warship built by the US Navy and the only naval vessel active during the Civil War still afloat. We toured all the decks, and Bill was asked to hoist the flag on the spar deck. Next was the incredible National Aquarium, an amazing collection [View Full Entry]

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PARIS, FRANCE August 1-8, 2006 Tuesday, August 1, 2006 After spending the first part of our vacation in Dubai, the hotel’s Lexus cab took us to the Dubai airport for our noon flight to Paris on Air France. We arrived around 5 p.m. and took a cab to our hotel, the charming Grand Hotel Leveque, in the heart of Rue Cler on the Left Bank. Rue Cler is a pedestrian, cobblestone market-street right out of a picturebook. What a great hotel...superb location, immaculate, friendly, pleasant, on a bustling and colorful pedestrian street. The street is full of bakeries, wine shops, [View Full Entry]

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DUBAI 2006 Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29 We departed from Houston on our 9-hour overnight flight on a Continental 777 to Paris. Bill and I each got about 4 hours of sleep on the comfortable Business/First Class seats that recline to nearly 180 degrees. Arriving at Charles deGaulle airport at 11 a.m., CDG did not impress us with its lack of signage, confusion, slowness, general dirty surroundings, lack of chairs at the gate, and finally, the 10-minute shuttle from the gate to the airplane. The old terminal is over-crowded, but the new terminal is not yet ready, so we [View Full Entry]

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ALASKA CRUISE August 5 - 12, 2005 Bill, Linda, Ed, Charlotte Day 1, Friday The four of us left early in the morning for the airport, arriving in plenty of time to enjoy an hour or so in the President’s Club before boarding our Continental flight to Seattle. Unfortunately, when we got to Seattle, we discovered that our connecting flight to Anchorage on Air Alaska had been cancelled and that the airline was trying to book the passengers on other flights. We were lucky to get on a flight that left two hours later and would just barely allow us to [View Full Entry]

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WEST COAST WHIRLWIND Spring Break, March 11 - 20, 2005 We had a marvelous but whirlwind trip to California and Oregon during spring break! First, we spent three and a half days with Bill and Shirley and our handsome grandsons, enjoying their gorgeous new landscaping, several meals at the Club, touring the Battleship Midway in San Diego, taking the boys for haircuts and a movie, going to Mass, touring model homes in the area, and just playing with Will and Henry. On Tuesday, March 15, we drove up to Guadalupe, California, to see Cousin Larue, stopping at Buellton for its famous [View Full Entry]

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