April 29 - 30, 2008 ANDORRA LA VELLA We had no idea what to expect here as, quite frankly, we had never heard of it before. We kind of threw a dart at the map the day before and this is where it landed. This is a very small “ Country” ( Principality ) between Spain and France. One of those places similar to Monte Carlo and Luxembourg. The big business here is tourists and it's a tax haven so there are lots of big banks, accountants and lawyers. One interesting fact we learned was that this is the place to [View Full Entry]

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April 26 - 28, 2008 BARCELONA, Spain We arrived here Saturday afternoon and took the “almost mandatory” city tour bus to get an overview of the city. This is a very nice place and quite different from Madrid. The city is about 3 million people but doesn't feel that big. The big difference here is the fact that they are on the sea with a very busy port and the usual waterfront activities. The city is nestled into the mountains and goes down to the sea. The city was inhabited in Roman times and has been growing ever since. With a [View Full Entry]

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April 25, 26, 2008 VALENCIA / PLAYA VORAMAR, Spain We enjoyed the drive through the Spanish countryside to Valencia and on to Playa Voramar ( an hour north of Valencia. This is beautiful country with great views of the Mediteranean, the mountains, thousands of vineyards, orange ( famous Valencia Oranges ) and olive groves as well as other fruit and vegetable gardens. Playa Voramar is a beautiful place with a great beach. One of the nicest beaches we've ever seen. We were a little early as some of the facilities are just opening for the season. It is evident here that [View Full Entry]

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April 21 - 25, 2008 MADRID, Spain Arrived here this afternnon ( Monday ) and took a short walk around the very large shopping district close to our hotel in the old center of the city. Madrid looks like a very modern, very clean, city with some of the old city architecture we expected in Europe. Spending Euros here is going to be interesting as our dollar is not to strong here. ( about $1.60 to buy a Euro ). Tuesday morning was a quiet morning and in the afternoon we took the “city tour” by Hop on Hop Off”, open [View Full Entry]

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April 17 - 21 BUDAPEST, Hungary April 17 Arrived here late afternoon after the less than 2 hour flight from Kyiv. Our hotel is close to the center of town so we took a short walk about and had a very good typical Hungarian dinner in a small local restaurant. April 18, 2008 Today we took the local “City Tour“ bus to get a feel for the city. This is a “Hop on - Hop off” bus that operates all day throughout a set route. ( Exactly what Kiev needs ). This was a very good way to see the city [View Full Entry]

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April 14 - 16, 2008 KyiV, Ukraine We arrived in Kyiv on Monday noon and took the afternoon to visit the center of the city close to our hotel. We were a little surprised at how modern a city Kyiv is. There is a lot of new construction including some very large, and modern, high rises. They have a very good “metro “ system, too much traffic, like most big cities, a reasonably good ( albeit expensive )selection of accommodation and all the conveniences you would expect. Tuesday we took a long ( 6 hours ) walk to visit a very [View Full Entry]

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April 16, 2008 TURKEY General comments Turkey is a wonderful place to visit. There is a lot to do and a lot to see. The countryside we saw is beautiful, and varied, from almost desert to the beautiful mountains, the Mediterranean and Aegean coast and the very exciting city of Istanbul and the smaller cities and towns we visited. We never visited the eastern side of Turkey or the Black Sea area and we are told it is also a very interesting and different experience. I suspect that that part of the country is a little less developed and poorer than [View Full Entry]

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April 13 - 14, 2008 PAMUKKALE, Turkey We were picked up this morning by our guide for the day for our visits to Hieropolis, Pamukkale and the ancient city of Aphrodisias. The sites of the city of Hieropolis and the Hot springs and mineral baths of Pamukkale are actually one very large site that includes a very large ancient city and the old and new mineral baths of Pamukalle. The city of Hieropolis was a very important site and has everything a major city would have wanted. Shopping centers, Roman Baths, Stadium, Theatre etc. There is also a very large cemetery [View Full Entry]

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April 11, 2008 DALYAN, TLOS, Turkey Today we went to Dalyan and enjoyed a very nice riverboat ride from the town to the coast with a stop at the ancient city of Caunos. This is another very interesting site and at one time was home to many thousands of people. The city site is now several kilometers up the old river’s path from the coast but in its’ time it was an important port city before the river silted in. The riverboat took us to the coast and one of the most popular beaches in this part of Turkey. This is [View Full Entry]

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April 9 - 10, 2008 CIRALI to KAS, Turkey Today we were picked up by our guide / driver for the day trip to Kas on the coast. On our way to Kas we visited the small city of Demre and visited some interesting rock tombs and another ancient city complete with temple, amphitheater and the usual other facilities. The tombs are carved into caves on the side of a small mountain and have very beautiful “facades” on the face of the rocks to cover the front of the tombs. Our next stop was the Church of St Nicholas. YUP!!! The [View Full Entry]

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