vagabonds
bill Joined: January 3rd 2009
Logged in: February 13th 2012
Logged in: February 13th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Honolulu Zoo
After landing at the airport in Honolulu, we picked up our rental car and proceeded to our destination. We headed east from Honolulu and drove the winding road which took us along the coast to Waimanalo where we had rented a place on the beach for our stay in Hawaii. There was no AC but one didn't need it as the breezes blowing in from the sea were quite sufficient. The scenery along the beach could have been on a postcard as it was spectacular. The road going to Waimanalo was the scenic route, Hwy 72, which winds around the coast past Diamond head, Koko Head. and the Halona Blowhole. Our first day was spent at the Honolulu Zoo which is one of the most attractive zoos we've ever visited. It is the only zoo in ... read more
B-29 bomber at SD Air & Space Museum
Rapid City is a city with a population of close to 70,000. It's located in the western part of the state not far from the Wyoming border. There are a lot of attractions within a 50 mile radius of this small city. First of all, there is the South Dakota Air & Space Museum which is located adjacent to Ellsworth Air Force Base. This facility is located a few miles to the northeast of the city. This museum has over two dozen aircraft sitting outside and they date from the second world war through the cold war era. There are additional exhibits inside along with a gift shop. The small town of Wall is located about fifty miles east of Rapid City on Interstate 90. It is best known for the famous Wall Drug. This place ... read more
Moss Mansion
We drove west from Deadwood to Billings, Montana which is about a 300 mile drive one way. Billings is a city of about 110,000 and there really isn't much to see there. Our main reason for driving over there was to see the Little Bighorn Battlefield which is located about 60 miles east of the city. Anyway, we decided to see what Billings looked like since we were so close. We went to the local zoo which isn't much to brag about. It contained a grizzly bear and a tiger along with some other smaller animals. It does contain a wolverine and that is the first time that I've ever seen one of the ferocious little animals. There were a number of ducks waddling around and we saw a few squirrels running throughout the zoo. There ... read more
Quebec City in winter
We flew into Montreal and took the train to Quebec City. It was a few days prior to Christmas and the area was blanketed with snow. We had planned on spending Christmas and New Years with family members, both from Quebec and the states, so we rented a large two bedroom apartment off of Rue Ste-Jean. Temperatures dropped and climbed, however they hovered at several degrees below zero Celsius and sometimes made it to the zero mark and above. Quebec City is a cold place in winter. At the end of December, family members left for the states so we moved to another smaller apartment with one bedroom. We watched as the weather played havoc with airline schedules in the northeast part of the U.S. It even snowed in parts of the southeast where it doesn't ... read more
Magicians Pyramid
We took a cruise to Mexico and stopped at Progreso and Cozumel. From Progreso we took a tour to the Mayan ruins at Uxmal. These ruins date from the tenth century AD and are considered one of the most complex and beautiful expressions of Puuc architecture. Puuc means "hilly country" and is the name given to the hills nearby. The tallest structure, Magicians Pyramid, rises to an astounding 115 feet and is also known as Pyramid of the Dwarf. A couple of other significant structures are the Nunnary Quadrangle and Governor's Palace. We had previously been to Chichen Itza, which are spectacular, but found these ruins to be on an equal with those. ... read more
If Walmart ever started a cruise line, one of it's ships would, no doubt, look like Carnival's Ecstasy which runs out of Galveston, Texas. It makes four and five day cruises and goes to Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico. During the five day cruise you have a full day at sea after leaving Galveston and another full day at sea after leaving Mexico on the way back. My wife and I recently took a cruise on the Ecstasy. While on the cruise, we learned that the ship is being transferred to New Orleans and another Carnival ship is replacing it in Galveston. While on the outside of the terminal, we watched people as they piled out of cars, vans, and pickups. To begin with, we travel a lot so we have learned to travel light. We had ... read more
Hundertwasser's art
Vienna is the capital of Austria and has a population of about 1,700,000 people. Friedensreich Hundertwasser was born in Vienna in 1928 and died in 2000. By the end of the 20th century, he was arguably the best-known living artist in Austria. The common themes in his work are a rejection of the straight line, bright colors, organic forms, a blending of humans with nature, and a strong individualism. Although he first achieved notoriety for his colorful paintings, he is more known for his architectural designs, which incorporate natural features of the landscape and use of irregular forms in his building design. He rejected standard architecture and thought that the design of a building should be influenced by the tenants. Hundertwasser is also known for his performance art and has appeared nude in public in order ... read more
Heroes' Square
Hungary formed a dual monarchy with Austria in 1867 and the Austria-Hungarian empire lasted until the end of World War I when it was dissolved. Both countries were allied with Germany during this war. In World War II, Hungary entered the war on the side of Germany. The Soviet Union defeated its armies and occupied the country toward the end of the war. In 1956 the Hungarians revolted against Communist rule in Budapest and the Soviets brutally suppressed it. Communist rule lasted until 1989 when the Soviet Union imploded. The last Russian soldiers finally left in 1991. Budapest is the capital and largest city in Hungary. It is actually two cities, Buda and Pest, and the Danube River divides them. The latest census showed that there were over 1,700,000 people in Budapest. Today it is a ... read more
Changing of he guard at Prague Castle
Prague is the largest city in the Czech Republic and contains about 1,300,000 people. A popular tourist attraction in the city is Prague Castle and its history dates back over a thousand years. It is the largest coherent castle complex in the world and comprises an area of about 70,000 square meters. There are uniformed guards at the castle and the changing of the guard takes place every hour on the hour. At 12:00 noon, there is a special flag ceremony which takes place with the changing of the guard. During the second world war, the Germans invaded what was then the country of Czechoslovakia. During the occupation, Prague Castle was the headquarters of the Nazi administration of the country. The deputy director to the officer in charge was Reinhard Heydrich. He was later assassinated when ... read more
Rock Church in Helsinki
Helsinki, which sits on the Gulf of Finland, is the capital and largest city in the country with a population of almost 600,000 people. The official languages of the country are Finnish and Swedish and all of the street signs are in both languages. We arrived in the city on a cold, dark afternoon from Prague and were due to fly out the following morning. Helsinki had just experienced a heavy snowfall and the forests and fields on the way from the airport to our hotel were blanketed in white. We took a short tour of the city while there. The highlight of our tour was the Rock Church which is built inside of a massive block of natural granite. ... read more
