Can you beat that? I am leaving for Sydney with my nephew who is migrating to Australia. Thought it would be sweet to travel with him and bid our farewells there. I chose not to bring a lot of stuff as I know he would need my baggage allowance for all the stuff he wanted to bring. And he wanted to bring so much! We were asked to shell out as much as US $400 for the excess baggage. I looked at my nephew and he did not look like he was about to part with some of his books and CDs. We stepped out of line and rearranged our baggage, handcarrying some of the books (dear me....) and tried again. We settled on the additional fee of US $200. And I told my nephew I'd ... read more

Just out of Israel, we changed buses and drove towards Cairo.Our new Globus Tour Director took over from David (sob.....) and her first encounter with Steven was not very pleasant. As she led us to our bus with a cracked windshield on the right corner, Steven joked if she caused that crack. She was a little bit on the chubby side and didn't receive the joke, and the laughs it drew, very kindly. For that reason, I will not be mentioning her name here. After all, she was indeed a very competent guide. Maybe just a little too sensitive. The Best Hotel Ever The Hotel Mena Oberoi in Cairo, Egypt stunned us back to our senses. In a five star luxury way! We are indeed in Egypt.........as the luxury hotel was located right smack in an ... read more

Coming to Istanbul was a very pleasant surprise. Straddling both Europe and Asia, we motored through rural landscapes to the Turkish border till we reached Turkey's small European foothold to Istanbul. Founded by the Greeks as Byzantium more than 2,500 years ago, renamed Constantinople in the year 330 when Constantine the Great made it the capital of the Roman Empire. After the Ottoman conquest, this Byzantine city along the Bosphorous was renamed Istanbul in the 15th century. Geographically, Istanbul remains the gateway between East and West, Orient and Occident, Christian and Islamic worlds, Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It was very cold and windy when we got here. Despite the chill, we were game enough to board a small boat and cruise the Bosphorous Canal. I still remember our Turkish guide, Ahmed. I remember some of ... read more

Has anyone been to Bulgaria? Well, our traveling group didn't cover much ground in Bulgaria but what I remember about this trip is how well we started it. Coming from more than a week's travel around Greece, we drove from Thessalonika towards Bulgaria. Our introduction to Bulgaria was a visit to the impressive, awesome Rila Monastery. The pictures do not do justice to the lovely sights of Rila Monastery. Do please remember that I was then still using a non-digital camera. Just point and shoot, no reviews permitted. If one gets a double exposure, tough luck. The Monastery of St. John of Rila I am not into antiquities. I am not even a collector of anything. I never formed any attachment to material things and a piece of art for me, is really something best preserved ... read more