Travel Journal
Relaying the experience of a journey…
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More Than Just Where a Treaty Was Signed: Charming Maastricht
More Details: More Than Just Where a Treaty Was Signed: Charming MaastrichtThe charming town of Maastricht sits in the “tear drop” southeastern corner of The Netherlands by the Meuse River (“Maas” in Dutch, hence the town name). a stone’s throw from Belgium and a hard ball kick from Germany, as it were. The town is known these days more because of the European union project since…
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Top 8 Climbs for a Great City View in Europe
More Details: Top 8 Climbs for a Great City View in EuropeThere are so many ways to see and experience a city. But one of my top ways to get to “know” a city is by getting up high and looking down at it. Of course, this is not hard to do as there are usually man-made or natural high points. While I like getting a…
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Great Drive Series – Frankfurt to Maastricht
More Details: Great Drive Series – Frankfurt to MaastrichtAmong the many ways to travel and explore, few things beat driving around yourself, whether it be Tuscany, New Zealand or across the U.S., there is a freedom that comes with being on your own, able to stop at will for a photo, to rest or… to relief yourself (yes, I said it …). I…
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Love Shopping? I Have a Grand Bazaar for You
More Details: Love Shopping? I Have a Grand Bazaar for YouThis is one of the neatest places to go in Istanbul if you like to shop and haggle, and even if not, it is still quite impressive by its sheer scale in size and offerings. You can almost picture business going on here for centuries! The bazaar is huge – it is a veritable maze…
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Out, Up, and Down in Chile’s Valparaíso
More Details: Out, Up, and Down in Chile’s ValparaísoChile is truly an amazing country. Nature, in and of itself, offers a myriad different possibilities from the Atacama Desert and the salt lakes in the north to the fjords and glaciers down in Patagonia. But Chile’s urban areas offer some incredible sights and experiences. And Valparaíso may take the cake as its character is…
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Jewels of Istanbul: Its Mosques
More Details: Jewels of Istanbul: Its MosquesDuring my 5-day visit to Istanbul, I had ample time to walk around, often aimlessly, to get to know the city. While some sights were on the must-see list (like the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace), I also “discovered” places not on my list. I quickly developed an interest in entering the many mosques…
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Manila Relaxation
More Details: Manila RelaxationI love to travel and explore new places. I enjoy it a lot. But I also like to relax and do not much of anything worth writing about. Yes, I have been known to cram a lot into a trip when I set my mind to it (like my Croatia/Bosnia & Herzegovina/Montenegro chaser to my…
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Exploring Mount Nebo, Jordan
More Details: Exploring Mount Nebo, JordanMount Nebo, Jordan is located on an area north of the Dead Sea that sits high on a ridge. According to the Bible, Mount Nebo is the place where Moses was allowed to see the Promised Land he would never enter (after guiding his people out of Egypt for 40 years!). Exploring Mount Nebo is…
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Photo of the Week – Kayaking in Maine
More Details: Photo of the Week – Kayaking in MaineMany years ago, I visited friends who lived in Maine. She was a high school classmate of mine and we decided one day that she took off work to do something adventurous because -alas- we had delusions of grandeur. We decided to rent kayaks and do some exploring. However, the kayak rental place was too…
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A Survivor Story: Manila’s Story
More Details: A Survivor Story: Manila’s StoryAs I headed to Manila for my very short visit, it dawned on me I actually knew little of the city’s history outside of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and the story ever since them (and even that, superficially only). I had a notion of World War II impacting it through names like Corregidor and Bataan,…
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Four Decades of the Panama Canal
More Details: Four Decades of the Panama CanalI have been to Panama a few times in my life as I have relatives who live there. During those visits I have enjoyed Panama City itself, traveled to see El Valle, been to the beaches near Coronado, visited isolated populations on ecotourism visits, spent time on the beautiful island of Contadora (in the Pearl…
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My Top 5 Inflight Pet Peeves
More Details: My Top 5 Inflight Pet PeevesAs I flew back from a recent trip, having experienced a few random annoyances, my mind immediately sought to mentally catalog all my pet peeves about flying (I did have nine hours to kill…). A few months ago I shared my hotel pet peeves. I greatly enjoyed hearing from you on your own hotel pet peeves,…