More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Such a delay submitting my writings on our last few days in Paris.  I’ve been hobbled by a thumb surgery and previous attempts have been more challenging than my typical clumsy writings.  Thanks for your patience. If […]

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Patient readers,  We all have the same amount of time each day, so I’ve never completely understood the phrase “ I didn’t have time”;  of course I had time.  Twentyfour hours, just like everyone else.  Or “I didn’t

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Dear Readers:  we are now safely back home and completely overwhelmed with mundane tasks followed by a big storm and power outage.  Please forgive the late blog post/travel reporting. Even though Grindelwald Switzerland to Strasbourg France takes

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Dear Readers:  we are now safely back home and completely overwhelmed with mundane tasks followed by a big storm and power outage.  Please forgive the late blog post/travel reporting. Switzerland: Interlaken & Grindelwald – Part 2 The

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Dear Readers:  we are now safely back home and completely overwhelmed with mundane tasks followed by a big storm and power outage.  Please forgive the late blog post/travel reporting. Switzerland: Interlaken & Grindelwald – Part 1 It’s

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Colds slowed us down for a few days and then having so much fun consumed more time.  As a result, I have fallen behind in my updates.  We left Germany to spend Christmas in Switzerland and are

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Colds slowed us down for a few days and then having so much fun consumed more time.  As a result, I have fallen behind in my updates.  We left Germany to spend Christmas in Switzerland and are

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Verona & Innsbruck To get to Verona, we need to return to Bologna and change trains again.  First thing in the morning I check the train status on both of the train apps I use in Italy. 

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Modena The final day of driving reminds us why we’re glad to be returning the car.  Navigating into the Florence airport car return is dodgy and we end up missing a couple of turns.  Fortunately we left

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. San Gimagnano, Siena, & Volterra Now begins our drive across Tuscany to San Gimagnano with a brief stop in Siena, where driving seemed like a bumper car ride.  It was very tough to navigate, even using both

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Castiglione del Lago:  Pablo’s Place, Montepulciano, and Assisi When we started planning our time in Tuscany we had intended to stay in Montepulciano.   After booking.com showed a few locations, Hotel Boutique Castiglione seemed the most appealing,

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Florence: Birthplace of the Renaissance  After dropping the rental car in Salerno, we enjoy one more stroll along the Piazza, then head to the train depot.  We’re on a high speed train to Florence, about a 4

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Matera: Not on many Americans’ itinerary, but should be! Salerno is the place we rented our first car in Italy.  Our train from Naples arrived before the car was ready, so we explored the Piazza and found

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Thankful for Sorrento After leaving Luca’s Mailboxes Etc. store in Rome, we got to the train heading to Sorrento.  It seemed crowded, but everything was crowded in Rome.  The train ticket app said platform 10, but the

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. When in Rome…. We leave our nest in Split and arrive at their airport, which is immaculate and seems brand new, yet eerily desolate.  The gate attendant required we check our bags into Rome, which caused me

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. A Few Nights in Split We actually stayed one night in Split before our side trip to Bosnia.  We liked it so much we decided to stay 4 more nights before leaving Croatia.   We found Heritage

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We have moved on to Italy even though I have yet to make my final report on Split, Croatia, which I will get to soon – hopefully.  I have more time to write when

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Plitvice Lakes National Park: Impressions by guest writer Tom Byrne.  Specifics by me. What does it mean to “experience” something? Making the choice to walk the trails of Plitvice National Park was a thoroughly enchanting one. The

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Zadar and Oregon-ish Weather In Zadar our lodging is a little one bedroom apartment, which is cozy and feels like home.  A break in the rain turns in to a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon.  Exploring the waterfront,

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Five Night Side Trip to Bosnia: A Schengen Course Correction Nearly a year ago we started planning this trip.  Not practiced at using air miles, we engaged a travel agent to help us book our flights.  With

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. The Lovely Island of Korcula Our ferry from Dubrovnik is nearly empty, which bodes well for our desire to avoid crowds.  The price for this, however, could be fewer restaurants and shops open, especially since we’re staying

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Pearl of the Adriatic Sea : Dubrovnik, Croatia Flying from Athens to Dubrovnik, we met some fellow travelers from USA.  In “It’s a Small World” news, they are from Portland and Cannon Beach!  We share travel plans

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Some Final Thoughts About Traveling in Greece 1. If you are visiting Greek islands, you will be getting on and off ferries, you might want to consider Carry-On-Only.  You have to be able to lift your things,

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Nafplio & last night in Athens We continue from Mystras, my feet aching for a non-castle day.  We arrive in Nafplio to our boutique hotel, Gambello Luxury Suites.  Our room is on the 3rd floor, which actually

More pics and videos on Facebook page.  You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Monemvasia & Mystras:  Castle Climbing! Driving from Kalamata to Monemvasia is uneventful.  We approach the island castle over a 400 meter tombolo, essentially a “bridge” formed by sediment.  We drive as far as allowed and get lucky

More pics and videos on Facebook page. You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Kalamata:  More Connections We leave Nafpaktos and cross the Charilaos Trikoupis bridge from mainland Greece to the Peloponnese region, which is an engineering marvel.  It opened one day before the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, on 12 August

More pics and videos on Facebook page. You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Nafpaktos: Old Friends & New The day after our drive from Meteora to Nafpaktos, we prepare to meet an old friend of Tom’s.  Back in 1978, Tom stayed in Nafpaktos for a month with Maria and her

More pics and videos on Facebook page. You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Magnificent Meteora We are up early to hoof it to Avis, a 15 minute walk away.  Mind you, we’re lugging our suitcases, so this is when we’re very happy to have carry-on only.  Tom doesn’t complain about

More pics and videos on Facebook page. You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. A short time in Athens After our lovely, slow ferry from Naxos to Athens we were in for a drastic change of pace.  This city is bustling!  Granted, we arrived on a Saturday afternoon but the port

More pics and videos on Facebook page. You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Athens and City of the Sun I haven’t told you much about our flight from JFK to Athens.  My usual tactic to any airline flight is to select a window seat for Tom and an aisle seat

More Greek island pics and videos on Facebook page. You can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Naxos is great! We arrive on Naxos in the afternoon and easily find our transfer.  He’s waiting with a sign with Tom’s name on it.  FYI, neither Tom nor I had ever used transfer services,

More Greek island pics on Facebook page. NOTE:  Tom has a story in this blog post, he’s a great writer, so please read through.  Please visit the Facebook page for photos & videos. WordPress is giving me more challenge than I expected.  Meanwhile, you can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Amorgos

More Greek island pics here. NOTE:  Please bear with me as I continue to work out the kinks of WordPress on an iPad.  Hoping I can figure out how to load some video as well. Meanwhile, you can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Milos Highlights We arrive in Adamas, the primary

More Greek island pics here. NOTE:  Please bear with me as I continue to work out the kinks of WordPress on an iPad. Meanwhile, you can view my first posts here at the BLOG page. Santorini Highlights We explored the three primary towns of Oia, Fira, & Imerovigli, but also through Firostefani & Akrotiri. Our

The only suitcases we checked, little swag bags for the flight crew.

Helpful Tech This has been a long trip to plan with multiple modes of transportation.  We used a travel agent to book our air to and from Europe using air miles, but I booked all the rest.  Yes, it’s been time consuming, I love planning and it’s in my wheelhouse. Fortunately for me, there are

Jumping for joy in Sedona earlier this year.

More details on our quest to find the bags that we could carry plenty of clothing while not requiring us to check bags.  This post will discuss suitcase and bag selection.  Many of my choices are recommendations from the Travel Fashion Girl website/blog which I highly recommend.  They aren’t exclusive to Carry-On-Only, but much of

This three month trip to Europe will be our longest venture away from home.  As a result, we’re investigating various tactics and products to support such a long trip.  An additional challenge is to keep everything in light, Carry-On-Only suitcases.  So I’ve decided to discuss some of the approaches we’re trying out.  I’ll let you

60 Days and Counting Just writing that title gave me a rush of adrenaline.  It’s been seven months since Tom and I decided to take this trip to Europe.  There have been both discoveries and disappointments. One discovery that much of Europe is in the Schengen Area, a group of countries that allow unrestricted movement