Next stop was the then Western Samoa (now just Samoa), and first cab off the rank was the legendary Aggie Greys Hotel in the capital Apia. The hotels been there since 1933. Its eponymous founder was a very well known local figure on whom the character Bloody Mary in the movie South Pacific is believed to have been based. She only passed away in 1988 at the ripe old age of 91. The ever reliable Wik Read on...
Monday – guess what we did? Yes, spent ALL day in the great outdoors. We probably arrived at the Esterro Llano State Park around 10, and left at 5:15. It was a cool drizzly/misty day, but we managed without putting the umbrella up 99% of the time.
We found a whopping SIX new birds for us – which is astounding with the diminishing returns of already finding so many. And we chatted with people Read on...
From Trieste, two hours on the motorway brought us to within sight of the island. Unfortunately for the truckers beside us, who must stay in the lane, a mysterious cause had them at in a line several kilometres long.
We parked in a large facility with a parkade for cars and a surface lot for buses. With strict instructions from Manka to stay together, we congregated on a floating platform and Read on...
From Statista: The the Tour de France, kicks off next week, running from July 1 - July 24. Its touted as one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and according to statistics by Mdiamtrie, attracted a television audience of 150 million viewers across Europe in 2021. But how popular is it on a basis?
Data from Statistas Global Consumer Survey shows that one stereotype does hold true: the Read on...
The last leg of our travels is in the Algarve sharing a Villa with 4 other couples who have been friends for many years. Its a beautiful Villa with all the amenities for our group including a large outdoor pool, fully equipped gym, theatre room and a large kitchen with a counter big enough seat 10 people. It was a wonderful experience with lots of shared meals and good conversation. Being able to Read on...
Peter the Great was designing the city as another Amsterdam & Venice with canals instead of streets. Initially, there were only about ten bridges constructed in the city, mainly across ditches and minor creeks. By Peters plans, in the summer months, the citizens were supposed to move around in boats, and in the winter months when the water froze to move in sledges. However, after Peters death, new Read on...
OK, all of you chardonnay sippers out there, beware! We can all use a little bit more wine knowledge than we already think we have. Do you need it to enjoy wine? No. But would you like to be slightly more knowledgeable than your average Two Buck Chuck neighbor or friend who seems like a Here are some wine basics: It takes about 2.8 pounds of grapes to make one bottle of wine. Over 21 million peop Read on...
7:30 - 6:30pm with many many short breaks, 30mins on first decent next to river, 30mins at Ibn Azal Baxo, 120mins at Refugio Bachimaa and 20mins along pipeline.
Described as the most difficult day of the GR11, according to the cicerone guidebook, with the highest point of the trail, we were nervous but eager to go this morning. A ‘lovely warm up hill climb to the Ibn dero Brazato got our hearts Read on...
So we to our garage around 1am today. Sunday was a long travel day. I was up by 6am we were off the ship around 8:30am and at the Seattle airport by 9am. The Seattle airport was packed. When I say packed I mean historically crowded. The locals were freaking out about it. Ive been in this airport four or five times and Ive never seen it like this EVER. However, there were probably 4 ships that cam Read on...
This is probably my longest blog post but wow! What a week! Not sure how I feel about Kentucky now haha.
Sunday: Early morning to Mammoth Caves national park which is about 30 miles away. Beautiful weather on the surface- high of 70* and sunny. The caves of course do not have weather- they are around 55* year round. Copper and I found a few trails around the visitor center which went by natural e Read on...