So the one night we don't have insomnia is the one night we cruise by the super cool Golubac Castle; around 4:30am unfortunately; but honestly if I had remembered we were doing that I would have set an alarm as it's quite impressive! Morning excursion to the archeological Mesolithic (I don't know what's more fun, googling it or saying it - Me-so-lithic LOL) of Lepinski Vir. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepenski_Vir). Let's face it, Wiki will explain it far better than I will, but suffice to say the highlight was seeing 3 complete skeletons that were in 3 different positions; one laying flat out, one in a sitting position and one who had fallen asleep beside a fire (they guess). SUPER cool! We had a nice walk down a hill, and as the group were meandering to the site I ... read more

We had a good orientation with Hendrik our Cruise Director the night before, and a lovely dinner where we started meeting some of our fellow ship mates. Some had been on the cruise for a week already; starting in Nuremburg, and we had a collection of Canadian, American, Taiwanese, Australian, Kiwi and Indian, a great group totalling 120. Met all the staff (also very multi-cultural) and felt right at home. We realized that the Avalon Cruise isn’t just about the cabins, the meals, the incredible staff, excursions etc. but also the little attention to detail. The turn down service nightly with (a different) chocolate on our pillow; the international newsletters that Hendrik made every day for the different countries on board with the latest news, the maitre’d checking in on our food requirements nightly and ensuring ... read more

Slept through the night (which was a blessing in disguise) got up, showered and off to breakfast. I remember mentioning to Hippie I need to do my OCD organize thing - and he was questioning why? We are heading on a coach for a city tour in the morning, nothing to organize really. Good point, I thought, let's eat! So we had a delicious breakfast, then joined the group to head off on our city tour. Being as this was my third trip to Budapest, I knew I would be familiar with the sites, but always interesting to see it from a different set of eyes, and looking forward to seeing it with Hippie as well. The usual suspects were on the list, Hero Square, Buda Castle, Chain Bridge, St. Stephen's Basically, Vaci street and more. ... read more

So, here I sit on September 1st, trying to convince myself that summer is not over. Who am I kidding, it was over about 10 days ago, when a friend of mine conveniently pointed out the fallen leaves on our afternoon walk. To which I called him a foul name and told him he was on crack. D.E.N.I.A.L. Let's be honest here; I live in Alberta, Canada, and while it is one of the best places on earth to be a citizen of, our weather is not, well, tropical by any standards. Sigh. good thing I love my friends SO much! So here I sit in my brand new condo, that I *OWN*! I finally grew up at the tender age of 42 (best year ever) and bought a condo. I might have had a birthday ... read more

April 17th (I wrote this before I found out about Opie, so figured it needed to be posted to my dear followers) Yay! Our bike riding excursion to the coffee plantation and the smaller villages was today! Yipee - exercise in the hot blistering sun at 3,500 feet elevation! woot-woot! And once again I booked this! We had breakfast, then walked up to meet OldTown Outfitters and walked a few blocks to get our bikes. Larry’s bike wheel was semi flat and asked to have it filled. The guy couldn’t fill it (kept pssstttttt slowly) and said Gee I have to get you a new bike as your tire is flat. (you think?) Renting bikes in any developing nation is always entertaining; this was not the worst or the best vehicle, however it would do. I ... read more