We have arrived! Early departure from Montreal on a very cramped charter air plane but we arrived no worse for wear. Quick shuttle to the hotel, ordered 2 cervezas and put our pedicured toes in the Pacific. Ahhhhhhh. Our first few days were filled with hot sunny weather during the day, and warm moist evenings. Hair styling has been a challenge. But long beach filled days, margaritas, daquiris, cervezas, mai tais, pina colada's have made us forget about the bad hair days. Meals have lots of mexican food...we've made it a goal to eat refried beans at almost every meal. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Saturday we took a local bus (an adventure in itself) downtown for some shopping at the markets, a bit of sight seeing along the boardwalk and a mexican lunch. We checked out ... read more

Hello Happy People! Here I am in Vienna; the last stop on my big holiday. By this point in the trip the cold I had woken up with back in Prague is taking its’ toll and I'm really not feeling well. I'm certain I did not get as much out of my Vienna stop as I would have if I had been feeling better. All things considered, I think I got a taste of the city. Dinner in the Vienna Woods where we sample the Heurigen (wine from the last grape harvest), a visit to Schonbrunn Palace and it’s gardens, a city tour with a stop St. Stephens Cathedral, it seems like so much already. But, no, there’s more. Shopping, where I bought nothing. I’m afraid my only souvenir from Vienna is the rubber ducky I ... read more

Hello Friends, Just the trip from Berlin to Prague was an eventful one. We made a lunch stop in the beautiful city of Dresden before heading for the Czech Republic boarder crossing. Upon arrival at the boarder we heard that an accident just on the other side had closed the highway. Rather than wait we turned the bus around and headed for another boarder crossing. This ride took us through narrow and winding roads in the Eastern German countryside. It was an added treat to our journey. Now that I’ve been to Prague I understand why it’s one of the most visited cities in the world. It is a postcard picture from every angle. Our city tour takes us to the Hradcany Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. Then a walk through the city’s Jewish quarters before ... read more

My latest travel adventure takes me to Lucerne, Switzerland . I seem to be destined to see all of Europe in the clouds and rain. This weekend was no different. But despite the weather Lucerne still gets high marks. And since tourist season has finally started in Europe there are lots more interesting people to meet along the way. I made friends from Canada, Australia and Dubai. Lucerne is surrounded by mountains and water which make it one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. My first day was mostly getting aquainted with the city and what it had to offer. I ended the day on a steam-ship cruise on Lake Lucerne. The next day started with a walking tour of the old city where we saw the Chapel Bridge with it’s the 17th century ... read more

Easter is a 4 day weekend in Germany so I took advantage of having an extra day off and headed for Amsterdam in The Netherlands. It’s a city filled with canals (165), bikes (600,000) and tulips (sorry, too many to count). I arrived in Amsterdam by train on Good Friday a few hours before the tour group I was meeting was due to arrive so I headed for the Van Gogh Museum. The museum has the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world as well as works by other artists. I bought myself a poster in the gift shop. url=http://www.vangoghmuseum.com/collection/catalog/vglpainting.asp?ARTID=50&LANGID=0&SEL=1&PERIOD=3&SORT= (The Yellow House, 1888) I figured this would be my Amsterdam souvenir as opposed to tacky wooden shoes or windmills. ;-) I met with the group just in time for dinner and then ... read more