Travel
Places to roam
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Vietnam, Fall 2023 ~ Travel
We traveled to Vietnam as part of our 2023 “The Magnificent Mekong” river cruise with Viking. As a result, we were beholden to their itinerary, and saw Saigon, Hanoi and a few villages in the Mekong River delta only. This was a great introduction to the country, and left me wanting to come back another time to visit some of the other picturesque regions on the South China Sea coast and up north in the misty mountains. Vietnam delighted with us with food, of course, and interesting tidbits of history from the late 20th century. It is one of the rapidly growing countries in Southeast Asia, and so it was…
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Cambodia, Fall 2023 ~ Travel
Cambodia was delightful, both urban Phnom Penh and more rural areas surrounding Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat temples are located. We loved meeting local people, and were blown away by their warmth, friendliness and hospitality. Cambodia is a devoutly Buddhist country, and there are thousands of temples. The temples are gilded in gold and red, with tall columns supporting ornately tiled roofs with curled up cornices. Each temple complex is filled with ornate stupas and seven-headed nagas – snake beasts representing the rainbow, and it’s magical powers to connect earth to heaven. We found Cambodia to be cleaner than Vietnam, and busy streets and markets a little bit easier to…
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Portugal, Summer 2023 ~ Travel
Our trip to Portugal in June/July of 2023 was planned to coincide with our friends Scott and Diane move into their newly refurbished villa in Alcobaça, near Nazare on the Atlantic coast. They moved to Portugal for retirement, and it felt really neat to experience alongside them the joy of finally making it into their new home after a more than 8-month remodel and wait. I designed our trip to start in Lisbon, where we land, and then work our way north via Sintra’s fairytale castles, to Nazare’s Silver Coast, to Porto and the Douro River Valley to enjoy the lush countryside, and treat Michael to his favorite port wine.…
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Mexico City, Winter 2023 ~ Travel
Mexico City (Cuidad de Mexico, or CDMX) has it all: The architecture… The food… The history…
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Nice, Spring 2022 ~ Travel
An early spring visit to Nice, located in the south of the Provence region in France. Our Airbnb looked out on the Mediterranean Sea and the famous Salyea courtyard with flower and vegetable markets. A short stroll down the embankment took us to famous waterfront hotels, and through beautiful squares to famous shopping districts of the newer Nice. Castle Hill separates the popular waterfront promenade from the old Port Lympia on eastern side of town. There is a very small and kind of rickety mid 20th century elevator that can take you up to the top of the hill, and a very pleasant switchback walk back down on the western…
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Ireland, Spring 2022 ~ Travel
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Dublin, Spring 2022 ~ Travel
Travel to Ireland in mid Spring and you might just enjoy all 4 seasons on the daily. Luckily, we managed to escape the rain with remarkable skill (maybe because we are from the Pacific NW and got a nose for it?) and enjoy an incredible amount of sunshine and warmth. We spent our first two days in Dublin, getting over jetlag, taking in all the culture, and sampling some pretty incredible cooking. Our Airbnb on Grafton Street overlooked Trinity College, walking distance to the famous Trinity College Library and the Book of Kells exhibit. On the opposite end of Grafton St, our very first tourist stop was Stephen’s Green. Dublin…
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Venice, Summer 2021 ~ Travel
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Galveston, Summer 2021 ~ Travel
Galveston Island truly does have lots to offer, whether one just wants to hang by the beach, explore the beautiful historic downtown, take in the bayou living, enjoy colorful southern architecture, or simply load up on delicious seafood for the rest of times. We did all of it, in less than 3 days! One of Galveston’s most important roles in America’s history was being the site of Juneteenth, or June 19th, the day in 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, when Union Army general Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3, proclaiming and enforcing freedom of enslaved people of Texas. You see, enforcing is the key…
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SE Utah, Spring 2021 ~ Travel
We broke free! This was our first major family trip after over a year of pandemic isolation, and we were quite thrilled. Of course we picked a camper trailer trip for a reason, still trying to stay fairly isolated from hotels and crowds, avoid air travel and spend time outdoors. We had done a fairly extensive canyon trip 7 or 8 years prior, visiting Zion, Bryce, Antelope and Grand Canyon parks in a great loop that started and ended in Las Vegas, with a rented RV. This time we returned to the red rock country by driving over 18 hours through eastern Oregon and Idaho, by way of Salt Lake…
