Addergoole, Ireland: Titanic adventures in small town Ireland
Fourteen people now known as the Addergoole Fourteen traveled from this parish by horse-drawn trap and sidecar to Castlebar railway station. They boarded the 8:23 am steam train for a nine hour journey to Queenstown, in County Cork, to embark on a voyage aboard the largest, most luxurious ship the world had seen–the unsinkable RMS Titanic.
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Switzerland’s Lavaux: A votre sante!
In the 11th century, Benedictine and Cistercian monks began planting vines and building retaining walls on the steep sun-drenched hillsides of the Lavaux region on the north shore of Lake Geneva. Today’s nearly 2000 acres of terraces in French-speaking southwest is Switzerland’s major wine-producing region and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Barging in Alsace Lorraine aboard European Waterways’ Le Panache
We booked a barge trip that began and ended in Strasbourg, capital of the Alsace region of eastern France. This beautiful area between the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest bears a strong German influence because its nationality and language switched back and forth depending on the outcome of a variety of wars.
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Rostock, Germany
Rostock’s historic Old Town has been meticulously restored, and what was once the Hanseatic League’s coastal defense area , Warnemunde, is now delightful seaside resort.
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Lübeck, Germany
“This is Lübeck–where you find surprising places.” our guide, Jan Kruijswijk, told us as we walked along a winding alley and peeked through one of Lübeck’s 90 or so little arches and passageways.
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Ultimate farm to fork in the Great Outdoors: Outaouais in Québec, Canada
The Outaouais region is about a two hour drive from Montréal. This agricultural area in the southwestern part of the province is bordered by the Laurentian Mountains and Canada’s capital city, Ottawa.
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Hip and historic Montréal
Montréal is the largest city in Québec, the second largest city in Canada, and the second largest French-speaking city in the world. How did we make the most of four days in the city?
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The Panama Canal aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth
The first thing we noticed when we entered the Grand Lobby of Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was the sweeping staircase and impressive two-story marquetry mural of a cruise liner. The exotic veneers and Art Deco details reminded us of our pre-cruise stay aboard the legendary Queen Mary, which was renowned for its exotic woods from throughout the British empire.
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Montréal to Boston: A Canada/New England cruise aboard Holland America’s Maasdam
Montréal is the cultural capital and largest city in Québec, second largest city in Canada, and the second largest French-speaking city in the world. It’s either the first or last port, depending on the sailing, which creates a great opportunity for an extended stay.
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Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice
It is said that when the Vikings first saw Iceland–with volcanoes, black lava fields, sulfurous steam, and bubbling mud pools– they thought they had discovered the entrance to the Netherworld.
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Wonderful Copenhagen
The capital of the world’s oldest kingdom is a world of wonders– tales of kings and queens, Vikings, and a mermaid, with a fortress, castles, palaces, and crown jewels. The largest of the Scandinavian cities, once the capital of an empire that included Norway and Southern Sweden, cosmopolitan Copenhagen, or “merchants’ harbor”, is a city as enchanting as the fairy tales inspired here.
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Paradise found: a Caribbean cruise aboard Holland America’s Noordam
Palm trees, tropical breezes, and cerulean seas beckoned…
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Canada and New England cruise: Coastal Gems with the Jewel of the Sea
The ever-changing kaleidoscope of crimson, amber and gold of autumn is something we don’t like to miss. When Royal Caribbean offered a foliage season cruise along our Atlantic coastline on the Jewel of the Sea with the convenience of sailing roundtrip from Boston, we booked a stateroom right away.
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Holland America’s Mediterranean
Our Western Mediterranean cruise began in Rome, center of the empire that once controlled the entire area, and sailed westward to Lisbon, capital of Portugal, whose 15th and 16th century navigators helped build an overseas empire.
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Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg was established and ruled not by royalty but by the wealthy merchants of the medieval trade monopoly known as the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic merchant guilds began their alliance in the 12th century to protect members on their trading voyages.
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Mt. Nokogiri aerial ropeway and the Buddhist temple Nihonji
About 70% of Japan is covered by forested mountains. We took the aerial ropeway up Mt. Nokogiri, in Chiba’s city of Kyonan, and enjoyed a spectacular view of Tokyo Bay. This was a stone quarry in the Edo period, and for over a thousand years monks trained here.
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A lunch of the morning’s catch at Banya in Awa-gun
For a meal of the morning’s catch we tried Banya in the Tokyo Bay fishing village Awa-gun. We thoroughly enjoyed the assortment of...
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Ryugujo Spa Hotel Mikazuki
Japan is known for its communal bathing in its hot springs. This destination spa just outside Tokyo is a popular one for good reason.
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Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and Omotesando Road, Chiba, Japan
Chiba is a microcosm of traditional Japan that is easily accessed from Tokyo or the airport. From traditional shops in centuries-old buildings to ancient temples, it’s a place of serenity, excitement, and cultural immersion just outside the bustling city.
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Tokyo: tradition meets the future
Tokyo, its capital since 1868, is on the island of Honshu in the Japan archipelago, bordered by Chiba and Saitama prefectures and Tokyo Bay.
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