Travel Fun with Carol and JB
We have been in Mugello now for 10 days. Mugello is an area of Tuscany, a very well-known region of Italy. The regional capital of Tuscany is Florence. The Mugello tourist magazine says Mugello is “In the heart of Tuscany.”
We have started our Italy tours. We are outside the city area of Vicchio. Other important city areas nearby in Mugello are Borgo San Lorenzo and Dicomano, both of which we have visited either to shop at the street or super markets, buy art supplies, or go to the doctor.
Piazzale Michelangelo is a famous square in honor of Michelangelo Buonarroti. It has a fabulous panoramic view of Florence, Italy, and is a popular place overlooking the city for tourists to visit. If you go up the hill, you can find easy parking at the Catedral. It was built in 1869 and designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi.
We visit St Petersburg, and cruise to Moscow. This is the beginning of our two week river cruise on the Uniworld River Victoria, a fantastic river boat that carries about 200 passengers, and has an all-Russian crew. We started in St Petersburg and went north on the Neva and Volga rivers, through many locks, to Moscow. We give you our impressions of places we visit and tell you fun stuff about what we did.
It was tough for us to do this blog for St Petersburg Russia to Moscow Blog while we were on the cruise ship. The Internet connection was spotty on the Uniworld River Victoria. Apparently it was a satellite connection, which was slow, and certainly we could only use it while we were moored at a dock.
In Russia today, or maybe just on a cruise ship, they don’t have a way to give you a consistent connection. At best we could connect for a few minutes at a time.
Day to Day Travel Diary In this Day to Day Travel Diary, we summarize things that happen when we visit places or have things to say. Some days we are just traveling or sitting around. But about half the time, we are in a new place, taking pictures and learning new things. Whenever it is… Continue reading April, 2013
There is something special about «Le Marché» in France. Many countries have open-air street markets where local growers bring their vegetables.
Bakers, butchers, growers, cheese merchants and other vendors all bring their wares. Sometimes regular storefront-type resellers sell standard merchandise – sweaters, hats or umbrellas.
There is something special about «Le Marché» in France. Many countries have open-air street markets where local growers bring their vegetables.
Bakers, butchers, growers, cheese merchants and other vendors all bring their wares. Sometimes regular storefront-type resellers sell standard merchandise – sweaters, hats or umbrellas.
Troglodyte Dwelling 55,000 Years Old Hi all, It’s important to remember when reading this that we said we’d come here and probably do NOTHING for the first month – what with retiring and being exhausted from the move and packing and all. This is being written at the end of Week 2, and it hasn’t… Continue reading La Roque St-Christophe
South of France – Traveling with Dogs to Marminiac, France Hi all, This is about our going to the south of France, and our first week there, after 3 days of traveling and a few days of unwinding. We’ve been here for 7 days now. We left the US last Saturday morning (Sept 29) and… Continue reading South of France – the First Few Days
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Tour Rocamadour, a Holy Town Built into the Rock Our only destination for today is Rocamadour. (Full slideshow is at the bottom.) I was still on crutches trying to get my feet healed up, and when I saw where we were headed my heart sank. It was Carol and I, and my older sister. (Click… Continue reading Rocamadour in Lot, France
Tour France with Carol and JB – Getting Started We have traveled to places all over the world. We used to run a software company and were fortunate enough to be able to take time off to travel. Last year we retired in September. The idea for this trip started back in July of 2011,… Continue reading Tour France – Introduction
Egypt Gas Prices and Tipping in Egypt Just a quick word about gas prices. Gas here in Greece is about 1.59 Euros per liter. Let’s calculate that in dollars per gallon: 1.59 Euros per liter x 1.3 = $2.07 per liter x 3.785 liters/gal = $7.83 per gallon. So Americans should stop complaining about $3.00… Continue reading Observations – Gas Prices and Tipping
History of Egypt The history of Egypt spans thousands of years. It is not reasonable to describe Egyptian history in one page, however I include this summary here to put into perspective how long sophisticated civilization has existed prior to the meager 200 years of the United States. The period of history that is of interest… Continue reading History of Egypt, a Brief Summary by JB
Thursday, December 30, 2010 Thursday starts at 8:30 with a trip to Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of the mainland part of Greece named Attica, and about a 70 minute drive from our hotel. It probably usually takes longer but 75-year-old Nicholas thinks nothing of driving 120 kph (75 mph) on windy coastal roads, weaving… Continue reading Cape Sounion, Acropolis Museum
Visiting the Ancient Archeological Sites Pidaurus and Mycenae Wednesday, December 29 Carol here: Today we head west to the Peloponnese on our way to Mycenae, another ancient capital of Greece. We pass over the Corinth Canal – a VERY thin gorge dug so boats don’t have to go around the land mass. Then it’s on… Continue reading Epidaurus, Mycenae
Sunday, June 10 Webpage Under Construction. This was an optional tour. We got there and it was barely drizzling – we were looking at the monument outside. 1481 ft tall – in memory of the number of days of WWII. Then it started to pour. We went inside. Dioramas: Teardrops falling from the ceiling The… Continue reading Moscow Museum of the Patriotic War
We’re at Catherine Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia. Any of the river cruises to tour in Russia in St. Petersburg are going to include a visit to Catherine Palace. Usually things start early. We’ve been setting the alarm for 6am so we can get up, get showered (so nice for the other guests) and down to breakfast which starts at 6:30. We start with a trip to the outskirts to Catherine Palace, located in the little town of Pushkin. During WWII, the Nazis never made it into St Petersburg…
Visit to Kirilov – Goritsky, Russion Orthodox Church and Monastery This trip is primarily focused on the major Russian cities of St Petersburg and Moscow. The little towns in between hold varying degrees of interest for folks. At this point, many guests are starting to get a bit tired of seeing and hearing about churches… Continue reading St Petersburg Russian Monastery in Kirilov-Goritsky
Carol and JB Visit Yaroslavl Wednesday, June 6 On Wednesday we’re headed for Yaroslavl, Russia – a town of about 630,000 inhabitants founded in 1010. The town was not destroyed in World War II although the Nazis came within 100 miles. The town is about 200 miles square – about 4 hours from Moscow by… Continue reading Yaroslavl, a Wonderful Russian Town
We have finally settled into somewhat of a basic schedule on our cruise ship, traveling in Russia, which means, of course, that we start eating bacon at about 6:30 am. Carol closed the cruise ship room safe a little too quickly when programming it, and our normal combination for such things would not open the safe. I would tell you the combination, but then I would have to kill you. So she put in “xxxxx” and closed the door. Apparently you are supposed to press the button that says “Enter” first. This caused a national emergency …
The tour in Russia starts, flying through Canada & Germany. On our way to tour in Russia, our original flight from LAX to Toronto was going to arrive late, leaving us only 30 minutes to clear Canadian customs and get to our next flight. So we got on an earlier Air Canada flight that gave us a couple hours of a layover – so we’d be sure to get on the flight to Frankfurt. On the Air Canada flight, we both watched the new Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Air Canada has very nice flight attendants…
St Petersburg Russia – Arrival and First Impressions Our first impressions of both St Petersburg Russia, and the Uniworld River Victoria are great! Breakfast again is the buffet, with fantastic eggs, bacon, roasted vegetables, bacon, cereals, smoothies, bacon, yogurt and granola shots, fruits, cheeses & meats, herring with capers and onions and bacon on the… Continue reading St Petersburg Russia on the Neva River
You’ll remember we did the Hermitage Museum in the morning. Well, if you are going to tour in Russia or tour Saint Petersburg, you have to go to the Peterhof Palace and the Peterhof Fountains. The Uniworld river cruise ship River Victoria kitchen provided us with a box lunch to take with us, and we boarded a Russian hydrofoil (image from zdship.ru), which leaves from a dock near the Hermitage. It is a quick trip out of town to the the Peterhof Palace. The tour in Russia to the Peterhof Palace Gardens and the Peterhof Fountains let you see some of the most amazing sights.
Carol and JB Visit the Hermitage Museum Hermitage Museum in the morning. I can’t really do anything to actually touch this glorious place in a n email, but we’ll try. The main building is the imperial winter palace. The building itself it magnificent and art inside is just dessert. I took pictures of some of… Continue reading Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Kizhi Island Cruise Stop Amazing Wooden Russian Christian Orthodox Churches Today is a visit to the small island called Kizhi Island in the middle of Lake Onega. Here there is a small village which is actually an open-air museum featuring an authentic peasant village and churches made of wood with no nails. Again, it’s raining,… Continue reading Kizhi Island on the Volga River
Sunday, June 10 This optional excursion to the famous Moscow Circus was the last official adventure of the cruise – and we signed up. Not only do we love circuses, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see one of the best in the world. We boarded our buses at 5:30 in the afternoon… Continue reading Moscow: The Moscow Circus
Saturday, June 9 Webpage Under Construction. Inside the Kremlin: 1. Started outside and walked in on of the gates 2. Museum – where the crown jewels are kept 3. Building where Putin works – only 2 guards 4. Big bell. Garden 5. Then we had time on our own. Tomb of unknown soldiers 6. Had… Continue reading Moscow: Inside Kremlin and Metro
Friday, June 8 Webpage Under Construction Today, we tour the Kremlin. First, some fun facts. 1. It’s 70 acres – the size of a medieval Russian own. It’s in the shape of a triangle. The walls were wooden. It’s bordered by two rivers. The top of the mountain is Red Square. 2. The first stone… Continue reading Moscow: Kremlin and Gum Store
Carol and JB have Dinner with the Captain We were delighted to be invited to have dinner (along with another couple) with our Captain on our last night of sailing. Our Captain spoke no English, but we had our Cruise Manager, Lena, and our Ship Hotel Manager, Alexander, also at the table to translate. We… Continue reading Dinner with the Captain on the River Cruise
We still have a couple more entries to make, but getting back in the groove here at home has taken up our time. We want to write a word about our travel agent, Vivienne Seymore: We have worked with Vivienne for about 10 years, as far as I can remember. She gets all our flights… Continue reading Epilogue about the Blog, and a word about our Travel Agent
Just a quick word about gas prices. Gas here in Greece is about 1.59 Euros per liter. Let’s calculate that in dollars per gallon: 1.59 Euros per liter x 1.3 = $2.07 per liter x 3.785 liters/gal = $7.83 per gallon. So Americans should stop complaining about $4.00 per gallon (around October 2012)!! —– And… Continue reading Observations – Gas Prices and Tipping
Walk Old Greece at the Oracle of Delphi Tuesday, December 28, 2010 Today we visit the Oracle at Delphi – to ask our questions and learn the future. I was fascinated with the whole oracle concept when I learned about it in school – and now we get to actually go there! What fun! We’re… Continue reading The Oracle at Delphi
Athens’ Major Sites on the Acropolis Monday, December 27 Whereas we were touring Egypt in a 10-seat van, in Athens, Greece, it’s a Mercedes sedan. Oh bummer. Out at 10:00 am, which is a lot nicer than 6:00 or 7:30. We were greeted by our Greek guide, Matthew. We all know what “Athens” is, and most… Continue reading Athens, Acropolis & the Parthenon
Cruise Greek Islands Sunday, December 26, 2010 Remember that this is Boxing Day, a national holiday (the day Father Christmas comes and brings the presents in the Greek Orthodox world) and most everything is closed. It was supposed to be a “day at leisure” but we had an opportunity to take a one day cruise… Continue reading Day Off? No – Cruise 3 Islands!
Saturday, December 25, 2010 We’re up early for a quick trip to the airport and our flight to Athens. Pretty uneventful. At the Athens airport, we’re met by our driver, Nicholas, who grabs our luggage and ushers us out to our chariot for the week – a Mercedes-Benz taxi. Not as roomy as the van… Continue reading Christmas Day, Fly to Athens
The Drive to Alexandria Goes Awry Friday, December 24, 2010 Early blast off today, to beat the traffic and make it all the way to Alexandria. Marwa and Malak met us at 6:30 and we were off to the north, back through Giza. This time there was absolutely no traffic at all. We could cruise… Continue reading Alexandria – Oops! Lunch & shopping
Luxor Area and the Tombs of the Egyptian Kings and Queens Thursday, December 23, 2010 In the morning we take the “included” Luxor Hilton buffet breakfast. No kidding around in this hotel. Definitely 5-star. On the road at 7:30, we are headed to the Valley of the Kings. If you remember that the Luxor area was… Continue reading Valleys of Kings and Queens
Karnak, Luxor, and a quick day at the Temples Wednesday, December 22, 2010 We are sort of tired of Cairo (just kidding), so it is time to fly somewhere else. How about Luxor? At 6 in the morning, the trip to the airport is about 20 minutes – basically following the yellow line down the… Continue reading Luxor Flight and East Bank Temples
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 Breakfast: we have not mentioned this so far. There are really maybe only 3 ways for us to have breakfast. (1) Go outside and probably pay a couple-three dollars for some coffee and roll, (2) eat some fruit and leftovers with room coffee, probably the best choice, or (3) the lazy hurry-up… Continue reading Cairo Museum, Citadel and Churches
Monday, December 20, 2010 We started today meeting our guide Marwa and headed off for the Giza pyramids. Giza is a part of Cairo – like a suburb next door. (Side note: If you want to see any of these pictures better, just click to enlarge.) This was our first real experience with the amazing… Continue reading Pyramids at Giza and more
