europe | Around the World in 80 Trips (Or Less)

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Venice to Turkey 06

Day 06, May 09, Zadar, Croatia

This morning we wake up in Zadar, Croatia with clear skies. We feared rain for during the night we went through a fairly wet storm.

It’s going to be a short day in port as we hear the All Aboard will be 1:30 PM.

Breakfast at 7 AM, then to our room to gear up to get off the ship. Another couple that speculated traveling with us didn’t respond so we go off the ship around 8:30. It costs us €20 to get to Old Town via taxi and off we go.

Old Town is an interesting walk among buildings several thousand years old and streets, some in amazingly good condition.

We come across a tower, that for €5, you can climb! So up we go. Very interesting views from the top after 203 steps up one way steps. We take several breaks, primarily to let other tourists go the opposite direction.

Once back down, we head to the end of Old Town where we find Pozdrav Suncu, or the “Greeting to the Sun”, a modern circle of solar panels where we find young people doing cartwheels and headstands, for what purpose is not clear.

Then, next to that, we visit another modern structure, “Morske Ordulje”, the “Sea Organ”. These simple looking concrete steps at the sea’s edge are built such that when the waves crash against them, they produce deep notes that reverberate into tunes. Quite the unique place where we sit for a while and enjoy the different melodies as ships go by and create different rhythms.

After a while here, we stroll back into Old Town and meander back through the ancient streets. There are festive parties preparing for a marathon type street race to occur tomorrow. We stop at an outdoor cafe and enjoy some cold water and a couple glasses of local wines that we have never tasted before.

As we stroll again towards the gathering of taxis, we indulge our cameras a few more random photos. For some that have asked, we are traveling with cell phones only this trip after our successes a few months ago! Elee is using the Samsung Galaxy S23 Pro and I am using the newest iPhone 17 Pro. My images are better than hers but they are all good! We step inside a small church for a moment but don’t choose to pay the tithing to go all the way in. As I arrive at the taxi spot, I pull out the card our taxi driver, Tomaslav Toric, gave us, he is there and spots us just as I spot his car! So with no waiting, Tomas takes us back to the ship. He earns himself a tip for that!

We walk the final half mile to get on the ship and go to our stateroom. A bit of rest and we head out to find a bite to eat. We go to the “Local Bar” and have chili and salad. Then it’s off to explore more of the ship. Watching the cart racing, taking a stroll around the decks, the “Galaxy Pavilion”, a glowing arcade, the “Observation Deck”, and many other things on the ship. I even spot a set of umbrellas that you only get to use by paying approximately €400 Euros per day!

Then to kick back and relax in the “Penrose Atrium”, watching trivia shows. Before we know it, it’s time for dinner. Tonight we dine in the “Commodore Room”, another main restaurant. The food was just okay.

After dinner we secure seats for some music and a silly game show that Elee enters. She doesn’t win but everyone has fun!

Time to call it a night.

Venice to Turkey 01

Day 01, 02 & 03, Travel Days!

Our good friend Tony takes us to the airport for an overnight flight. We’re starting out here at LAX, on the largest airliner I’ve ever been in my life! There are two full tiers of people. Two sets of staircases to access the upper tier, one in the front of the plane and one in back! There are also two jetways attached to the plane! It is also our first time on Lufthansa Airlines. A lot of firsts already.

We get settled in our seats and await takeoff which is one of the smoothest ever! Then we are handed menus on the plane! When the food comes, it has metal utensils and acrylic drinking glasses! Well, you can’t have everything!

10.5 hours in the air for the first leg to Munchen (Munich), Germany. I take a sleeping pill and manage several hours sleep. When I awake, breakfast of eggs and spinach are served. Landing in Munich to change from Lufthansa to Dolomiti Air is uneventful. We first have to go through immigration control and convince the guards that we will promise to leave and go home in a month! We ride a bus and load the plane on the tarmac.

It is now Day 02. The one hour flight goes by fast and we land in Turin, Italy. We retrieve our luggage and our friend Scott is there to pick us up. He is driving a tiny rental car and it’s cramped but not uncomfortable. Less than an hour later we are stopping at a local winery where Scott knows the proprietor and our wine tasting has begun. We get to Scott and Manuela’s house at the base of a church and we see why they drive such a tiny car. The roads are tight and the corners are many! We have arrived in Chiaverano, Italy, about an hour north of Turin!

Scott and Manuela take us to a favorite restaurant where we indulge in seafood and pasta. Back at their house, we taste grappa and other aperitifs before turning in for the night. They have allotted an entire apartment on the downstairs level to us!

Northern Lights Tour Day 18

Day 18, Feb 15, 2025, The Trip Home

We arise at 6:30 AM for the trip home. One last breakfast in the hotel. I’ll miss the breakfast buffets! We take our bags to the train station, which happens to be right outside the hotel. A 25 minute train ride takes us right into the airport. We check our bags and walk to the gate. Soon we are on the first plane to Kopenhagn (Copenhagen) and it’s an uneventful flight. We have aisle and window seats. Our monkey in the middle friend is from Kopenhagn and heading home after cross country skiing for a week.

It’s snowing in Copenhagen. We have about an hour until boarding. By the time we board, it’s snowing harder. The top of the plane and the windows are covered in snow! We board and are delayed an hour at the gate. Suddenly there is something happening, something is pouring on the plane. Rusty red fluids run down over the windows. It turns out we are being de-iced. I guess that means we will be taking off soon. It’s a strange situation though.

Sure enough, we taxi and take off within minutes after the deicing. The 11 hours ticks away and I try to sleep, in vain. I chat with my seat mate who lives in Greenland. She is on her way to Santa Barbara to do some kind of Marine Research. I have paid extra for extra leg room. That leg room turns out to be a little bit of space in a high traffic area. I have to be constantly aware of all the Passengers AND Flight Attendants to avoid being stepped on! Be aware of paying for extra leg room, especially on SAS Airlines!

Several movies later and we arrive in Los Angeles. A shuttle ride home and we have a bite to eat before going to bed. Now it’s time for a new adventure! Stay tuned!

Northern Lights Tour Day 17

Day 17, Feb 14, 2025, Valentines Day in Oslo, Norway!

We sleep in to 7:45 AM. Breakfast in the Buffet and then out to visit the Munch Museum and see the painting, The Scream. Along with hundreds of paintings by Edvard Munch. The museum happens to be a block from our hotel! Those stainless steel tracks on the floor are what robots read and follow! Scandinavia is very big on robots!

A huge museum consisting of 13 floors. We see 2 of the 3 versions of The Scream available. They show one every half hour. Our time is limited so we leave before the 3rd version comes out. Edvard Munch is a very eclectic artist. He had varying points of view in his work that changed as his life changed. On the way back to the hotel, we walk over the Opera House, literally. Up a ramp to the roof and down the other side. Stunning views of the fjord harbor on the way keep our cameras healthy!

Back at the hotel we relax for half an hour. We go down to the lobby to wait for our next adventure. Soon, Lilibet (Helene) walks in and greets us. She was a High School classmate of Elee. She takes us through the railroad terminal outside of our hotel. We board a train to Frognerseteren at the top of a mountain. This is where we meet her husband Wilheim (Vilem) for lunch. Vilem has spent his morning skiing. In past years, I would have liked to join him. But all is well and Lilibet and Vilem are perfect hosts as we dine on delicious lunches.

They take us around parts of the city and drop us off at the Palace. From there we walk leisurely through the Palace Gardens on the way back toward our hotel. We are approached at one point by some college students with video equipment. They asked if we would pose for a video. We do it happily and I give them a Blog Card. They seem to be happy to contact me and we’ll see if they do!

We stop and spend time in a French Cafe for a glass of wine and go back to our hotel. We watch some TV. Then we head out to the train station where we familiarize ourselves with our route in the morning. We go into a gastropub for dinner where a local motorcycle club mostly fills the room!

Back in the hotel, we finalize our luggage for the morning and turn in. See you tomorrow!

Northern Lights Tour Day 16

Day 16, Feb 13, 2025, Oslo, Norway

We sleep in to 8:00 AM today. Down at the breakfast buffet, something is missing. Where are the Black Currants to put in my Yogurt? They must be here someplace. But, alas, they are nowhere to be found! Oh well, there’s some dried fruits to toss in so I settle for that. The coffee machine is one of the best though. Only a couple days left to get good European coffee so I enjoy 2 cups!

We board the bus at 10:00 AM. Mikael sits to the back of the bus as we have a local Tour Guide today. The local Guide speaks very good English and has a great sense of humor. She guides us around the city and describes everything we see.

She takes us to a park, Frognerparken Vigelandsparken, where a famous artist, Gustav Vigeland, carved thousands of sculptures, mostly of naked subjects. We are told that he never explained his subjects as he was telling a more esoteric story. He was basically unknown to the outside world because he refused to allow his sculptures to be outside of this specific park.

Then she takes us up a hill to a ski jump. It’s very impressive. Too bad we didn’t have enough time to ride the simulator at the top.

She shows us a beautiful building which started as an apartment building. What a grand place to live! But, like governments will, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the apartment building as their offices. Beautiful building.

We visit the Natural History Museum and see some interesting Viking memorabilia. Viking history is very violent yet interesting.

Then we stroll through the city leisurely and stop at Olivia’s Bar and have lunch. Comical trolls greet our cameras on the sidewalks. The waitress in Olivias Bar, Rikke, is amicable. It turns out that she was in the Norwegian Marines and worked with dogs. She was impressed with our story of dogsledding a week earlier.

We arrive at the Thon Hotel Opera around 4:00 PM and take a nap. On the way in, there is an interesting statue sitting on a bench and we just know he wants to chat! Inside, we find a naked lady hugging the Invisible Man! At 6:30 PM, we join our group for a farewell dinner and wish each other well. This is the end of the Tour for most. I’m sure we’ll stay in touch with some of the group. Hugs abound as we all bid farewell!

Then it’s off to our room for the evening. Finding English speaking TV is a challenge in the evenings. We settle on a Portugal/Romania soccer game where we don’t need sound. Romania seems to dominate the first half. But Portugal comes back to tie in the second half. It’s a 1-1 Match and it goes into Overtime. Alas, it’s almost Midnight and we can’t stay awake to see the end.

Off goes the TV and we go to sleep.