Alaska -Sept 1-7, part 2 We were on the Holland America’s ship Westerdam from August 31 through Sept 7, 2008. The last day we received the ship’s log. We went a total of 2016 NM (nautical miles). Seattle to Glacier Bay National Park our average speed was 22.6 knots. From there to Juneau we went a piddling 11.7 knots. Looking at the weather reported in the log, “Overcast” for five days, “sunny” for one day, and “cloudy” for one day. Our trip was the last one of the season, and is cheaper because of the weather. During the summer you get [View Full Entry]

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Heading for Alaska August 27 I flew from Atlanta to Los Angeles. I was supposed to go on to Portland, but our plane was too full, so I spent a short night in a hotel in LA and flew on early the next morning. I took the MAX, the Portland light rail, to my friend’s condo. My friend, Mariana, called me with the idea of taking an Alaskan cruise, at the end of the summer. “Let’s get the discount for the last cruise.” Her aqua aerobics partner was a travel agent and recommended Holland America. I know nothing about cruises, so [View Full Entry]

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FLORENCE, ITALY Last February 27 2008, we arrived in Florence, Italy. (Yes, I'm writing this blog in July 2008, but maybe you really DO want to hear about Florence. This evening, my sister and I ate Little Azio pizza, at home in Atlanta, that reminded me of the wonderful pizza that Linell, Dai and I ate in Florence; so I'm finally finishing the blog. I hope you enjoy it.) After a week in Paris we took a night train to Florence. There was some mix up with that part of the trip. I advised Dai to reserve a sleeper for us, [View Full Entry]

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PARIS, FRANCE After 6 days in London, we took the Eurostar train to Paris. It is really amazing to be able to travel from London to Paris in less than 3 hours, no stops, no transfers, no airports far from the city center. When we arrived at the Gare du Nord, we went to the tourist information booth, where a very pleasant man got us ready for Paris. We got a bus-metro pass and found out the exact location of our hotel. It was on the Left Bank, only a few blocks from Notre Dame. We checked in and then walked [View Full Entry]

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The Little, Yellow Duck, Quack, and Her/His Travels We have been carrying a little, yellow, stuffed, toy duck with us on our travels. My daughter-in-law, is working as a nanny to pay for her artist studio. She cares for two children, a boy and a girl. The girl’s teacher gave each student a small, soft duck and asked them to have the duck travel around and come back home in April. As you have probably guessed, I am carrying the duck on my travels. I took it to the John Campbell Folk School in December to my week long class on [View Full Entry]

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Some more London Photos-- London was wonderful, so I want to show you more of the pictures. [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in London by bus from Cardiff, Wales, with my friend, Dai. We took the tube (also known as the underground or subway) to our hotel in Bayswater, the Royal Court Apartments. Linell was flying in from Shanghai and was to meet us there on January 15. As often happens, her plane was delayed by bad weather so she was several hours late. Linell sent Dai and me her report on our trip. I have her permission to use it for the next 3 blogs--one on each city, London, Paris and Florence. Here it is sent to us from China [View Full Entry]

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January Trip to Cardiff, Wales My short trip to Wales began January 13, 2008 after the Delta TransAtlantic flight, Atlanta-London. It was the start of a month in Europe with two friends from China, Dai Lejuan and Linell Davis. Dai is doing research for her Ph.D. at Cardiff University in Wales. Linell is on her long winter vacation (the Lunar New Year break) from her job as a professor in Nanjing. We have been planning this trip for about six months, when we learned that Dai would be in Europe. We are all meeting in London on January 15. Since I’m [View Full Entry]

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I don't believe it! I have visited all these countries. Visited Countries Map [View Full Entry]

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FAMILY REUNION IN LEWES DELAWARE. Not quite all of my family got together for not quite a week at the beach. I love family gatherings, formal and informal. (Also, apparently with all your help, all my blogs are back online and all is well in the technical world for the time being. I will make my own back up again. Thanks to everyone who helped.) I just got back last night from Philadelphia. I've been traveling with my sister around Phila. and then spent a week at Lewes, Delaware at a Teller family reunion. It was wonderful. I've avoided organizing any [View Full Entry]

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