David and Julie's ongoing adventures around the world – Corporate refugees – homeless, unemployed and usually sleeping in steerage

Wandering around the World again, on a ship again – 2023

Leaving in a 128 day cruise around the world.

Overall we have had a wonderful time, but the cruise has had its challenges. We have missed ports in Madagascar, East London S.A., Brest France for weather. Dakar Senegal and Le Havre France for civil unrest.

We are home now. 128 days on the cruise and two in Ft Lauderdale before we left. Here are some stats:

We visited 57 Ports , 30 Countries and 4 Continets and cruised 35, 651 Nautical miles or 39,875 land miles. Consumed 31,248 bottles of Wine and Champaign, 200,606 lbs fresh Vegetables, 173,903 lbs fresh fruit , 40,905 fresh eggs, 133,293 soft drinks , 200,000 lbs meat ( beef, pork, lamb ,veal and poultry), 56,306 lbs seafood, 7,793 tea bags , 3,277 bags of coffee and 200,000 in foreign currency was exchanged. Despite that David lost 7-8 pounds.

We also traveled with the Jayhawk, Fred the stuffed turtle and Ginger the talking hamster. Yes, we are strange. Take a read if you want. I need to do some editing but I have some other things to do.

It’s in reverse order but that’s just the way I roll. Cheers

Last pool party on the 11th. Sad but happy eyes!

We had one more event. The last formal night. So we dressed up a bit.

Buy me a drink sailor? Close to a wardrobe malfunction

We aren’t done yet. Six days at sea and two more parties. We had a barn dance and crazy us had brought our boots.

Last port. We have some euro to spend. We are at Praia da Vitoria. Pretty much traveled out some fun things though. Spent the euro on cookies and gave them to the cabin guys.

This is not paint. It’s tile. They did this in most of the downtown.

The rooster told us to get the hell out of his spot. So it was we left the last port.

Two ports to go. Have to admit we are tired but let’s give it a shot. We stopped at Ponta Delgada. Got off the ship, not sure what to do so we grabbed a cab with Lydia and Sheryl. Guy took us to see the sights. We couldn’t see the lakes because of fog, but he took us to Furnas where we had one of the most amazing and interesting meals of my life.

Portuguese stew also known as Cozido a portuguesa. In Furnas it is cooked for 5-7 hours in the ground at the hot springs. It was so good. I’m not a big red meat eater but this, wow.

Bad angle but you get the idea how they bury it to cook

Julie is too hot, too hot for the hot springs

I’m confused, which pineapple is upside down? At the Pineapple plantation.

We had two Sea days on our way to the Azores. So what do you do, have a pajama party. With some PG to almost R rated bed time stories.

With Yolanda, my sister from another mother

This sounded kind of hokey but turned out to be good fun

Next to Cobh or Cork. This was the last stop of the Titanic, oops. Like Belfast they claim some of the Titanic story. Maritime disasters are good for business i guess. Kind of like Leavenworth Kansas known for the Federal Pen/Military stockade they say, “Do a little time in Leavenworth.”

The pier where the boats to the Titanic departed

The Titanic was docked on the outside of the harbor beyond the island with the fort. Like tenders today, the doomed, I mean passengers, were taken to the ship.

The Zuiderdam near the infamous pier. Will we make it home?

We did. Yes, surprise surprise we went to the island fort. Good fun actually. It was also used as a prison until the early 2000s.

When Julie is really bad, she is really good

I like abandoned things. Seems like they could be used for something

It looks like a moth is hitching a ride on this butterfly

The famous, “Deck of Cards” houses. Love the colors.

As we leave Ireland we had one long time rumor turn out to be true.

The ship headed to Dublin although we ported aways off. The land of Oscar

Wilde, “Work is the curse of the drinking class.” We stayed in the port city of Dun Laoghaire. Didn’t get our gears shifted fast enough in the morning, so we decided to pass on the train to Dublin.

Walked around and found a fun pub.

Sports fans are universal. They were all yelling at the TVs during the local football(soccer) match.

Had a local beer. I’m not much of a beer drinker but it was tasty

Oban was next on the agenda. Supposed to have great seafood so we had lunch at Coast. Outstanding.

Great food! Julie had mussels and I had the halibut.

Julie must be a trusted name in Scotland

I love these old buildings. Most are hotels now

The detail in the iron and stone work is great

Off to Portree. On a previous visit we managed to go uphill, both ways. Dad I apologize for mocking you many years ago. Didn’t do a lot of things here just walked around the town.

Julie had challenges with Drivers Ed back in the day. Its, amusing

We are getting pretty tired at this point. Had a beer in a pub and called it a day.

We left Norway and headed for Scotland. That evening we had the Orange party in honor of the Dutch King. While we aren’t subjects, who am I to turn down a party.

Headed to Norway really warm in Oslo as well. We had a total of five stops so they are going to run together here. It got cold after Oslo.

Great street art in Bergen.Norway is expensive, but fab people and wonderful times.

I really like that as we went hiking in Eidford

There was some snow on the ground. A bunch of crew members, all from S.E. Asia, had their first snowball fight.

Fred and Ginger came along as well. Really pretty area.

Tried to Zoom into Terry and Garys wedding reception

If kissing a moose is wrong, I don’t want to be right

Munch, “The Scream” museum. We didn’t go in

Sailed on to Copenhagen. We hooked up with our wine tasting buds, Lydia, Sheryl, Leon and Jan. Good times.We did consume four bottles of wine at lunch. Most of my pics are out of focus…

Robert Wadlow figure. My mom went to High School with him in Alton Illinois

Not Sheryl or Lydia but the little Mermaid

Next day to the Tulip gardens of Keukenhof. Just amazing. I wondered how we could spend multiple hours looking at flowers. The Tulips only bloom for about six weeks. In previous visits the timing or weather was off. Not this time. I understand now.

Ala Tiny Tim, I am tip toeing through the Tulips

The planning that goes into this. All are hand planted.

A marvelous place. Really enjoyed it. One of the highlights of the trip.

We sailed on to Amsterdam to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Holland America. We had an overnight, which we love.

We clean up well. Julie, David, John, Marina,Peter, Ellen, Michael, Cheri

Our good looking wife’s. Julie, Cheri and Ellen

Peter doing his late night talk show host impersonation.

Belgium was next on the agenda. Took the train to Brugge. For chocolates of course and what else we could find. Brought some back home and they survived the heat of Florida on the drive home.

33 years of Corporate America, I know torture

The ship did a nice job and found another port on short notice. Dover in the UK and the famous White Cliffs. Plus a great, Blakes, pub.

Fred, Ginger and the Jayhawk at Blakes of Dover

Nothing like a few pints at an English Pub

Sound reflector from WW I, until radar came about

These sound reflectors were ingenuous. Germany was using Zeppelin’s to drop bombs on the UK. Visual means only gave about 10-12 minutes warning, not enough. With a device that slowly moved in front of the reflector, the operator could hear the Zeppelins from as far away as sound could travel. Giving a 60 minutes warning. The English continued to use these until radar took over in the late 1930s. Pretty amazing.

Next stop was to be Le Havre France. A lot of people had planned over nights in Paris. Others to Normandy and Mont St Michelle. The port was cancelled because of civil unrest and strikes in France.

So a sea day and then to Portland UK and the real Stonehenge.

The path the sun follows on the solstice.

Off to the University town of Salisbury. Really pretty place

The waste of war in the Cathedral, only 19

We were supposed to go to Brest France. Weather was too bad and the ship couldn’t get in the harbor.

Next stop was A Coruna Spain. Very different from the other place we have been in Spain. With Ellen and Peter we went to the second century Roman light House. Still in use and a lot of the original is incorporated in it. Fun to climb but the Romans were a bit shorter then us so there are a lot of steps.

The doors. I guess the light house keeper was little lonely

This guy looks like Ichabod Crane – Peter

Luckily we would see the real thing.

In Lisbon Michael set up some pickle ball games with locals he knows. After our humiliation in Tonga, we did much better here. Good fun and a break from churches, museums and Palaces.

David looking like he knows what he is doing. Wrong, lol

I have lost golf balls in the weeds, but Pickle Balls?

We were in Cadiz for Easter. I have a video of a procession but its to big to load. When I get home with better internet I will try again.

Malaga Spain. On the coast and beautiful. We wanted to go to the Picasso museum but it was Easter Weekend. The lines were so long so we drank instead.

Guess what, we went to another fort, lol. Took the HO/Ho bus

They like their cats. This one had some attitude

Next stop Morocco. One of the highlights of the trip.

We left Marrakech to catch up with the ship in Casablanca. We didn’t go but people said, “Ricks Cafe” was just a big tourist trap. Tangiers was next. Pretty city but on to Spain.

We ended up playing Fireball twister in the van.

After Essaouira we climbed on to the Marrakech express and headed that way. I had mentioned earlier we were trying to find places my dad landed and kept currency.

Dad landed in Marrakech. Able to tie some currency back to its home.

The concubines of the Zuiderdam, and their pimp, at the concubines section of the Palace

Enjoyed Marrakech, needed more time. Really want to go back. Lydia had been on an 18 day tour, we will look into that.

We left Agadir and went to the amazing town of Essaouira. We stayed in a

former “Palace” that they told us was older than our country. Several movies have filmed here. Orson Wells, “O Phila” and “Game of Thrones” season three.

The gang at the fort. Some of season 3 of Game of Thrones was shot here. Lydia,Julie,David,Sheryl,Tim, Kathy

The fish market was fun, The catch just came in

Lydia, like the rest of us, had the amazing Moroccan dish, Tagine Kefka. Served steaming

We got off the ship in Agadir. Met our guide and driver and went to the market.

A few other things:

In our native garb. I hope we aren’t being culturally inappropriate.

Pool party.Lydia,Anna,Sheryl,Roxanne,Julie, Kathy

Two stops in the Canary islands. Pretty places. Morocco our next stop wants them. The islands want to stay with the Spanish.

The other stop was Tenerife. We had been able to join a three day, two night overland in Morocco and had to get a few things.

Wonderful Spanish architecture. I love the veranda.

Of course they have a cannon.

I tried to merge the old with the new. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t.

Looking down from the mountains on Arrecife. We took a ships tour because we had a free one, Normally we avoid those like the plague. Slowest person, and some barely can move dictates the pace. Cute town were we would have lunch.

On the water, a beautiful day.

Taking picture of people taking pictures of surfers

Our next planned port was Dakar in Senegal. While we were able to dock, there was civil unrest about a trial. Military Jets and helicopters flew over head in the morning. A warship escorted us out of the harbor as we left. In the morning the Captain decided all onshore visits would be cancelled.

When your tour gets canceled because of civil unrest, what do you do? FIREBALL! Tim, Kathy, Julie, Trevan, David, Sheryl, Dan, Roxanne, Lydia

A bummer. I had a personal connection because my dad landed in Dakar after an 11 and 3/4s hours flight from Brazil. He was on his way to a final destination in Italy, during WW II.

My dad kept currency from every where they landed. Couldn’t find a spot on shore to photo, but that issue would be solved quickly.

We missed one of the horrible places on earth unfortunately. The docks where the slaves were loaded on ships and sent to the new world.

The battle of the visas at Banjul, “The Gambia.” The US and The Gambia are having a political snit and we were told we had to pay $150 each for a visa. Even if we didn’t get off the ship. Ellen set something up so lets go.

Here we met our guide who introduced himself as, “Dan the man with a plan.” Turned into a great day because of Dan!

Julie at the Batik factory. She’s a natural

The market in Banjul. As you can see a former British colony.

You can guess what they sell here, lol

Colorful Fishing boats

These boats will go out for a week or so

I guess the world needs more lawyers, lol.

The Police band was good and provided a nice farewell. Had a great time in Gambia

On to the Ivory Coast. We went to a town that was on the Unesco world heritage list. It was a little beat up.

At the Kings Palace. At least the King doesn’t live an extravagant lifestyle here.

Some fun art work near the abandoned French lighthouse.

Light House is losing the battle to the elements

We went to a museum which had been the French Colonial Governors house.

The Kings second in command showed us around.

Something a little different. Through some careful maneuvering the Captain put us directly on the spot there the Equator meets the Prime Meridian.

You could walk 25 feet and be off by a degree. At this point the ship was in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Everyone was impressed that the ship staff took the time to do this. There is supposed to be a buoy at this point. An international consortium place it there in 10,000 ft? of water.

Takoradi, Ghana was next.

Didn’t do a lot. Went to the market via the shuttle bus. To be honest the place is a little run down. The people are nice and friendly.

I couldn’t do this.

Street scenes.

This lady has a corner on the shoe market. Another had every kind of TV remote ever made.

This is a real market, not like some of the ones set up for tourists. Country is trying to get better.

Next stop was Luanda Angola.

David was a little under the weather with a noro virus. Didn’t report and self isolated for a while. Julie had to carry on.

At the port

I think she missed me.

A gift to the President. I wonder what did coke want in return?

House made of Iron. Supposedly designed by Charles Eiffel. Had to be hot in the summer!

Walvis Bay was our second stop in Namibia. A larger port and town. It has really grown since we were her in 2016.

We climbed to the top of Sand Dune 7. Not as difficult as it looks.

We were with Peter and Ellen who found the tour guide. he was great.

The Jayhawk enjoyed the view.

To get down you just “moon walk” down the hill as fast as you can. We were tired of sand, lol.

Earlier we saw lots of Flamingos. Good fun.

Handsome creatures, would look good on my front lawn!

Next port was Luderitz in Namibia. A former German colony known as South West Africa. South Africa controlled it under a league of nations mandate. They became in independent in 1994. I could fill the whole site with photos from Kolmannskop a former wealthy diamond town. However her are a few:

Once the richest place in the world. The diamonds ran out and people just left. Last resident in 1954. Abandoned since then but a great spot for photos.

The desert takes back it’s own

Great place to visit, if you like ruins. Good fun

As we left South Africa, a wonderful sunset

Wonderful colors

Fourth Stop was Cape Town a wonderful city. We had an over night which is nice, lets you do a few things off the ship and not be watching the time.

Second day we went wine tasting, ok drinking on the wine train out in Franschhoek. What a wonderful day, with good friends!

With our new friends Lydia, Leon, Sheryl,Jan, Julie and I

Really fun and creative art at one of the wineries.

Yes, we did partake in the fine product of the Western Cape.

Area was settled by the French Huguenots and maintains the French feel.

Silly things in town.

First day in Cape Town

We finally made it to the top of Table Mountain. During our previous visits it had been covered by clouds. Great views.

Figured this was a good place for the Jayhawk. The winds had really started to pick up and,

Here comes the clouds. It was pretty awesome to watch, then the temperature dropped and the Gondolas were a swaying on the way down.

Later on seeing the clouds roll in from the beach area. My sister would have enjoyed this. Her masters thesis had something to do with clouds

Third Stop was Port Elizabeth. We ended up at mall near the beach. Went for a walk on the beach. Kind of lazy day.

We didn’t get a bigger one.

Second stop was East London. Bad weather kept us out of the port.

First stop was Durban. I worked with a woman from there. Pinged her any ideas, but she doesn’t use Linked-in more than I lol. Hired a cab to take us around.

This Peacock was strutting his stuff around the bird park.

Had lunch at a fun place on Florida Ave. Some of Durban seems run down, but this area is like every party/restaurant district in the world.

On to Maputo in Mozambique. A place that is rebuilding its self after many years of Civil War. Also seeing the influence of China starting here.

Stairway to Heaven? Nice church.

One way to deal with the statutes of former important people. Put it on the ground in an old fort. Nice visit.

The bridge China built to connect the harbor. I’m sure they want nothing in return.

Our stop at Madagascar didn’t happen. Typhoon Freddie made it impossible to stop. Disappointed but of course a tragedy for the residents.

Reunion island is an over seas possession of France. We enjoyed it.

Very French feel in architecture and colors.

Somebody who was important, back in the day.

Some interesting Art

Julie with “Anni” one of our favorite servers on board. Her first cruise, its been fun watching her get out of her shell.

Who knew they played pickle ball in 1895 on Reunion.

Of course you have to have cannons if you are an island possession.

On to Mauritius followed by Reunion Island.

We kind of messed up Mauritius. Should have gone outside of the city but we stayed in Port Louis. It was hot and humid. Not our best day.

Their famous colorful umbrella street

Fun statue in a nice park. Should have done better, perhaps we will make it back.

Next was eight days at sea. A long stretch but some good things on the ship.

They had a great house band in the Rolling Stone lounge. Kept the place hopping with all genres.

Hollywood night party. Im some kind of country musician and Julie is my muse.

With our new friends Lydia and Sheryl on their balcony.

Finished Australia at Fremantle. Kind of a bummer for a couple of reasons.

Peter and Ellen at the “Pinnacle’s” outside of Fremantle. It was a bummer because we went for star gazing, one of the best in the world, and it was cold and cloudy.

The geology was interesting. The other bummer was we hit and killed a kangaroo on the way home. The van had a kangaroo “catcher” on the front so there wasn’t much damage. The roo on the other hand went flying over the van. Sad.

We went sand boarding, earlier in the day when the sun was out, lol

This would be a great street name for Margaritaville.

The buildings are pretty.

Colorful buildings.

This wraps it up from Australia. Such a fun country.

Next stop was Kangaroo Island and the amazing Flinders Chase.

No editing, natural colors.

Same as above

The natural world is amazing. Nature can be stoic and beautiful at the same time. Professor Dort would have enjoyed these. Shortly after I posted this I found out Professor Dort had just passed away at 99. The impact a teacher can have on you years/decades later is remarkable.

You know us, we had to do some wine tasting in a great place like Australia.

Fun wineries in the Yarrow Valley

Nice interior and tasty wines.

Fred and Ginger had a little too much

Truth in advertising, lol, I can buy it.

Next fun spot in Australia was Tasmania. Wonderful place. We went on an Ecco cruise out of Port Author.

Happy crab fishermen

We ended up in a pod of hundreds of dolphins. Good fun.

Cold but worth it!

Then went to Hobart where we ran into the Australian wooden boat show.

This was also the start of the Super Bowl. We watched the first half on the ship. Things didn’t look too good, down 10 and Mahomes was hurt. So we went and looked at the magnificent boats.

Enjoyed the craft and the fun times at the pier. Then…..

KC kicked the winning FG as we walked back on to the ship. So we broke out the Moonshine on board.

After New Zealand we headed to the land down under. Arrived in the magnificent Sydney Harbor.

Famous Sydney Bay bridge with climbers waving at us.

Everyone has seen the Opera House, so i tried something different here.

The Cue Ball cover up doesn’t look good on birds either, lol. Friendly guy

10 am start for a Super Bowl party, hell yes! Didn’t know at the time but I would love the outcome.

The single best piece of sword fish I have ever had. Top ten meals of my life. Love.fish in Sydney harbor. Makes my mouth water even today.

Our trip to Manly beach was interrupted. How dare they.

Our friend Peter trying to escape the pickle ball court? Yeah right lol.

We had four stops in New Zealand, one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Sunrise in Gisborne, which is recognized as the first in the world each day.

Stopped at Wellington and my favorite shoe store in the world.

I added the white and blue shoes to the “The Shoes” I bought in 2019. Hand made in Brazil.

It’s New Zealand to of course there are friendly animals that keep us warm. And taste good.

In Tauranga we climbed, ok hiked, to the top of MT Maunganui.

Great view from the top.

It was a sweaty day, but a great hike. Finished up with some coffee and pastries on the water front.

Fun town with a sense of humor. Really enjoyed it and New Zealand!

Our next stop was Tonga, For something very different our friend Peter had contacted pickle ball players there and the set up some games. Yikes, they brought their island champions and beat us like a rented mule.

Julie looking good.

They pickled our best player in the first game. These folks look like, and move like NFL players. 280 pounders that move like ballerinas. And that’s just the women, lol. We didn’t, lol.

They were wonderful hosts, picked us up at the dock and brought a truck full of coconuts for refreshments. Good fun and great people. It was funny people would show up, play a couple of games, then go back to work. One of the best days of the trip.

The Police band and dancers bid us farewell from Tonga.

David came down with a mild case of Covid. In an abundance of caution I decided to get tested. With all the ancient fossils on board, I didn’t want to be responsible for sending one to meet their maker. Five days in isolation, even though I felt fine. So I missed Tahiti, Moorea and Raiatea. Julie only took a few pics.

Hey, it’s a beach and Palm tree. Work with me, lol

We had 8 sea days before we arrived at the first of the French Polynesia Islands, Nuku Hiva. A little off the beaten path but we had fun.

Julie was checking out the qualifications of the islands statue, lol.

We really enjoyed the simple things on the island. The colors of the wheel barrow and the house.

The wooden ceiling in the cathedral. Really like the effect.

Getting ready to cross the Pacific Ocean.

We have been playing tag with the Volendam since the start. They will head south as the 75 day, grand South America.

The bridge of the Americas as we leave the canal

Julie and our white water guide. Did a wonderful job, a lot of fun

Leaving Puerto Limon and white water rafting. Good times, really couldn’t get any pics from the trip.

We landed at Falmouth Jamaica. Have been there many times so we just walked around the port and played Pickle-ball on the ship. Here are our traveling companions. The Jayhawk, Ginger the talking hamster and Fred. Yes, we are strange

My sister Donna, and the mutt joined us in spirit.

Wandering around the world again – on a ship. – 2019

Next stop was Amsterdam, arriving on the Amsterdam and we were welcomed warmly. We also had a special event scheduled for the evening. We were able to go to a private event at The Rijksmeseum. They had 21 Rembrandts on display and plenty of entertainment and wine.

Next to Brugge in Belgium. Teamed up with Ellen and Peter and took the train. This is an example of how the ship tours take advantage of the old and those with limited mobility. We hustled over to the train station and bought round trip tickets for 5e each. The ship charged $80 for a short bus ride to the same train.

Brugge is famous for their chocolate. Can’t disagree.

Life size bust of a famous chocolatier.

Pretty creative ways to sell chocolate. Machine parts and tools.

A little food porn. A caprese waffle. It was really good. Add a Belgium beer and it made a great lunch.

Good time with good friends. Ellen taught Julie how to take a proper selfie. She has created a monster. Pretty city and even if the weather was a little bad a good time was had by all.

After Porto we sailed for a day to Cherbourg. We were tired and have been to Normandy before to pay our respects to our D-Day soldiers. We slept in and just wondered around town.

The President of Holland America was on for a few days. He had an open mike question/answer session. Time to ask questions about strategy, the future of the company? Nope, we had a woman complain because we ran out of walnuts. Wine I could see but walnuts?

In honor of Orlando, here are walnuts in Cherbourg.

Had so much fun with those two we did it again in Porto. Famous for its port wine. The weather turned cold.

We took a boat ride on the river.

They love their bridges.

Went to the Calem port winery. I wasn’t aware they made white port.

Tasting port in Porto. It was very good.

As usual Fred had too much and turned “turtle.”

Lisbon a city in a country we had not been before. Had a great day. Teamed up with Brian and Sandy and hired a Tuktuk. A great decision.

We joined the great Artists, Kings, Navigators and Writers of Portugal.

Another Lisbon fortress.

This fortress in the bay is where they keep political prisoners, when they have them. One of the best days of the entire trip.

Next stop is Cadiz. Nice town where we bought fun belts from a street vendor.

Next we went to Barcelona. We have been there before but love it. If I was to move from the US, this would be my first choice.

We went to the famous chocolate shop in El Gotic.

We had the tasty chocolate with the pastry. Um good.

We beat some of our shipmates to the shop. Enjoying the taste while they were out in the cold. 😉

All was forgiven at the sail away party.

Peter, Sandy, us, Frank. Philimena and Brian.

Our first stop in Europe was Naples. We had been there before so we took a trip to the isle of Capri. My dad talked about taking leave there during WW II. Very pretty and expensive.

This is the last place we took a ships tour. the experience was shall we say lacking. Glad we went anyway.

21 days to go. The time has flown by. We were concerned it would drag, but it hasn’t. We finish with eight consecutive sea days. That will be a challenge.

On a sad note we visited Columbo Shri Lanka about two weeks before the terrorist bombings. People starting to rebuild after years of civil war.

Wonderful market in Columbo.

A sign from the past when it was a British colony.

Cold, wet rainy day in Cherbourg. Trying to get the courage to go of the ship. We did.

Looking back at Singapore.

Laser light show in the park. Magnificent!

Followed by the water show in the harbor.

From the Singapore flyer.

The Singapore eight minus us.

Cheri, Michael, Peter, Ellen, Sandy and Brian.

Heading home on the amazing subway they have.

60 years ago this was a relatively poor place still recovering from WW II.

Palace wars. The King of Tonga vs the Sultan of Oman.

Tonga

Oman – guess who has petro dollars.

Going through the Suez canal.

It’s two lanes in a couple of places so you end up with southbound ships looking like they are aground in the desert.

Or the swing bridge.

If you remember that mid 70s song, “Convoy” we had one as we went through the Suez canal. Had spot #1. If you look behind us you can see ships that where breathing our diesel.

“Rust bucket this is Amsterdam lady. Looks like we got us a convoy.”

Bridge over the canal

Good news, the pirates didn’t get us. Our supply ship didn’t make it to Oman so we are running out of things like – gasp- wine.

The holy land from Mt. Nebo where Moses first saw it.

Dead Sea mud treatment.

If it is good enough for Cleopatra

Floating in the Dead Sea. You can’t sink.

I forgot my book. Is pretty amazing how your skin feels after you wash the mud off.

Something you don’t see very often. A French aircraft carrier leaving the Suez canal. That is sand blowing in the background.

Cue the Indiana Jones music. The Treasury building from the gorge at Petra. It is magnificent.The indentations you see to the right are the steps they used to climb to where they carved. Sorry it won’t straighten.

One more from Petra. These are all tombs that were carved out of the rock. We really liked Jordan and plan to come back. Cheers for now.

The Treasury at Petra.

Julie and the good looking soldier on duty at Petra.

On our way to Oman. As we left Mumbai we found this letter.

Here is something you don’t see on your average cruise. Yep, we had a piracy response drill today. Go sit in the hallway.

A few scenes from Mumbai.

If you don’t want to climb the many steep steps to the Temple on Elephanta island, there are people who will carry you.

This is one of the lunch box guys. I need to straighten him. Internet is slow. In the morning they go to your home for the ingredients to make it. They take it to a kitchens for cooking. Then deliver it to your office. Reverse the process, except for cooking to return the lunch box to your home. They do this for 1.5M meals a day. The meal passes through different people, many of which can’t read or write. They perform at a six sigma level. One mistake every 16M meals.

A cow wondering through the market.

The massive out door hand laundry of Dhobi Ghat. 7,000 people do laundry for hotels, homes etc. They don’t write a single thing down and don’t make mistakes. Harvard business school has studied this. Like the lunch guys many of these people are illiterate. Something else to watch.

The temple on Elaphanta was carved out of solid rock, over a period of 200 years.

Family of four on their motor bike. Law requires the driver to have a helmet.

Mumbai is amazing. Loud, polluted, insane traffic. Glad we hired a cab to drive us to a lot of places. Modern skyscrapers, Victorian Britsh buildings, incredible wealth and horrible poverty.

Close with the Gateway to India. Built to celebrate the arrival King George the VI and Queen Mary in 1911. When the last English troops left in 1948 it was closed. Welcome to come back as friends. Cheers for now.

We are at the halfway point of the cruise. Quite surprised at how quickly it has gone. Have left Indonesia and are on our way to Singapore.

Next was the island of Java. We took the bus and the 1907 train to the amazing temple of Borobudur. Unlike Easter Island I was not aware of this as a kid. It was restored from 1973 to 1983 with work still going on. I became interested in this after seeing it on the TV show, “The Amazing Race.”

The temple in the background.

At the top level. We walked around three times and reached Nirvana. Fab place.

We have found enlightenment.

The man himself.

The 1907 train. It runs on teak wood, not coal. Smelled good.

This guy was working hard in the rice paddy as we went by on the train.

Went to Bali. This is the second time we have been there, both times on a cruise ship. I would like to come back for a few days to a week. It is beautiful and as a Hindu spot, in a Muslim nation, it is quite the party place.

We went to the beach and this guy joined us. “Where’s my beer?”

My telecom and IT friends will appreciate this installation on Bali. They have good internet.

Stopped at Komodo island and were fortunate enough to see a total of eight dragons.

They seem to be well fed, as they showed little interest in us, lol.

This guy seemed to take an interest in Julie. There are three male dragons for every one female. Good choice on his part.

They can out run a human. If you are ever chased by one you need to climb a tree or zig zag. They don’t handle quick changes of direction well. Their saliva has 65 different bacteria that that will kill mammals from a single bite. It may take five or six days for the animal to die. The dragons have an amazing sense of smell. They can smell a dead animal up to five ks away. They smell through their tongues.

One of the guest entertainers who said she was singing the song the Captain wouldn’t allow. The theme to, “Titanic” the life jacket was a nice touch as she poured water on her head and said, “help I’m drowning.”

We have left Darwin, and the land down under, for Indonesia. Off to perhaps see the Kommado dragons. All of Australia was hot but considering the weather we missed at home we won’t complain. It’s felt good to run on the upper deck and work up a sweat.

Lizell, one of our favorite cocktail servers. Australia night, nice outfit.

Went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. About an hour and half fast ferry to the reef from Cairns.

Brown bass feeding frenzy at the reef. Good fun

In Townsville they have the spirit. The surf lifestyle.

The fifth Army Air Corp memorial in Townsville. The USA and the Aussies have stood together in every conflict starting with WW II.

Well Mate, we are in the land down under. It’s been hot here, measurably more than New Zealand. We spent two days in Sydney. A great city. Along with Barcelona this is a place I could live.

The iconic bay bridge. Eight lanes of traffic along with two rail lines.

Two Sydney symbols. The bridge and the Opera house.

Sailing away from Sydney. Sunset and the bridge. Cheers…

In Auckland NZ we went wine tasting. We were joined by Wild Bill from Oklahoma, a recently retired Marine Corps Lt. Colonel. We think he may miss the Corps a bit. He led us on a flanking maneuver of the winery. This was after our amphibious approach from a local ferry. The winery is on one of the barrier islands.

View from the upper deck of the winery, looking back on the City of Auckland.

The “Mud Brick” winery. Great place and good wine.

We are 45 days into the cruise. The time is flying bye. Having a good time. Left Sydney and on our way to Townsville and then the Great Barrier reef for snorkeling.

The five days to Easter Island were different. We didn’t see another ship or an airplane during that time. The internet went out, gasp. and we even lost TV for a few nights. Felt like we were in the middle of freaking no where. Other than the last five minutes of the KU/KSU game in Lawrence we haven’t watched TV. Don’t miss it.

Looks like the streak has ended. It was fun while it lasted for 14 years.

We recruited some new Jayhawk fans in Picton NZ. Pipers raising money for orphans.

I have no idea what my copilot was up to the cockpit of old Kiwi air force two seat recon plane.

Julie with the Mori who joined is in Auckland. The taught us the “Haki” the All Blacks do before their rugby matches.

We had to say goodbye to our new Canadian friends, they got off the ship in Auckland. They are going to spend a month in New Zealand and then onto other places.

It was our pleasure dodging cyclones, rouge waves, and old Japanese torpedos with you four. BTW the winds on the last night you were on the ship topped out at 77mph.

This will hurt your eyes. Avoid if hung over. Fat Tuesday party on the ship.

“Dude, where’s my Wednesday?” Crossed the international date line and Tuesday went to Thursday. We gained a day five years ago going the other way so at least we are even now.

A little out of order from Peru.

In honor of the Super Bowl. We went to the temple of the Moon, in Peru, built by the Moche people. They would select warriors to fight each other. The winner didn’t kill the loser he took control of him. The losers were tied together, see pic, and walked up a ramp. They were given some kind of hallucinogenic and then beheaded. (some Chiefs fans wanted to do that to their former defensive coach LOL)
The Moche predated the Incas.

Currently in Arica Chile. Getting ready for five days at sea on our way to Easter Island. Cheers

We are sailing away from Tahiti. The weather turned on us a bit. A tropical down pour wiped out half of the day at Papeete. The evening was supposed to be a lot of food trucks down by the pier. Only one showed up and people who went were mentioning four inch deep water. On the ship one of the doors to the top deck wouldn’t close and water was pouring in. “Edmund Fitzgerald “anyone?

The 80s called, they want their sign back. Papeete

We weren’t able to get to Moorea. The winds were at gale force and the opening in the reef is pretty small. The Captain cancelled and we moved on to Bora Bora. I was little bummed because I had a photo safari scheduled oh well.

The ship tried to make up for by getting to Bora Bora early. They set up tendering to the island to start on Sunday evening. One problem, it was Sunday evening. Everything was closed. Our highlight was looking in closed shop windows. Morale was down and the bars on board were quiet.

Using a shell for his boat horn.

The weather finally did what was supposed to and we had a great day. Jet boat ride with a boat driver who flunked out of kamikaze school. He was great. Aggressive but not reckless. A great entertainer we had a blast. Part of the trip was a snorkeling stop.

The water is so blue and warm. We received water shoes as a Christmas gift. Thanks Dan. These thing are great. The act like small flippers so swimming was so much easier.

Speaking of the 80s, we went to “Bloody Marys” which is supposed to be the spot on the island. Maybe before the year 2000. Clearly living off of its past. They list the “Celbs” that have been there. A lot we have never heard off and others who are no longer up right.

“Flat Stanley ” is traveling with us. Julie has posted some of these at the KUAA site.

Fred is with us as well. He started in China, ended up in Jackson Hole and has been all around the states and Mexico. The stories he could tell – lol.

Back to Bora Bora. It was a major base for the US in WW II. They still have about 60 old US naval guns rusting away in the hills.

We found a much better place, the “Bora Bora Beach Club.” Great food new friends from north of the border. Another Dave and Julie and Martin and Lynn. Wonderful evening. Located on the water, great views.

These two Rays went swimming by as we had dinner.

Sun setting on Bora Bora from the Beach club. This is one stop we will go back to with more time.

The day ended up with a bus ride with a lot of the younger employees on the ship. They had been having fun all day. Everyone was singing on the bus. The driver got into it and was flashing the dome lights like a Disco.

Valentines Day. They have one of the Balls tonight.

We have been at sea for 10 days and on land for three and a half hours. We have two more before we get to Tahiti. We did decide to get an internet package from the ship, so I am posting this from the back deck. It is struggling a bit with pics so I will post those tonight when most people are asleep.

A few stats. Out of 1300 passengers about 200 are over 90. There are about 150 people under the age go 65. Average age on board is 78. Yep were the young ones LOL. Rumor has it one passenger left us for that great cruise ship in the sky.

Update from 2-13

Pitcairn island was our stop today. Along with being one of the most remote places on the planet, it has the smallest population of any inhabited place on the globe.

Pitcairn is famous for being the place that the sailors who took HMS Bounty, went to hide and live. In the waters nearby is what little remains of the Bounty. It was burned by the sailors after they stripped it of anything of value.

The town is named Adamstown, after John Adams the last of the mutineers who died in 1805.

This stop was a little different. Because of the size of our vessel and the number of people on board, we couldn’t go ashore. The locals came aboard to sell any number of their local wares. The Government of course got involved. For $10 a stamp, they stamped your passport with the Pitcairn stamp. We also sent a few postcards. It will be a while before they show up. The next Royal mail ship doesn’t arrive until March. Tee shirts and local carveings were part of the engine of commerce.. I bought a hat from a direct decendant of Fletcher Christian who led the mutiny. The island is well know for it’s honey. The Queen of England is a fan.

This is one of five designated “dark spaces” for star gazing on earth. The power goes off at 10:00 PM making it a great place for star gazing. They currently have around 50 residents. The school has three children in attendance. Two more are coming via the next supply ship. They were happy to see us for another reason. Our ship had supplies of chocolate and wine for them.

If you are interested they are looking for new settlers. Land is free. The island is very lush and pretty. A bit tough to get to. I couldn’t live there but some would enjoy it. Glad we were able to meet these hardy folks

The area on the left third of the pic is the “road” to Adamstown. Know as the, “Hill of difficulty.” I wonder if they have a “Pit of misery?”

Speaking of mutiny we almost had one over the inability of many guests to go to Easter Island. For many, including me, this was one of the main reasons to take the first part of the trip. The seas were very rough at the “port.” It was a tender location so everyone had to come over on the ships small boats.

Sunrise at Easter Island

About one PM I didn’t like our chances based on our number but suddenly it was called and we got in line. That boat was bouncing all over the place but the crew did an exceptional job of getting people on without injury. To be honest many of these people have serious moblity issues so the process was very slow.

Many people did not get off the ship. Hence the potential for a near mutiny. People going in stopped about 4 pm, with many in line. The Captain had to make a difficult decision but the waves were bad and that’s why he gets the big bucks. In addition he had to get people back from the island. He was quite firm when he said, “tendering in the dark is not an option.”

We got on the island and our seven and half hour tour was compressed to about three hours. We got see the things I wanted see. The quarry where the Moai were sculpted. Some of which were in process of being made when work suddenly stopped. The location where 15 have been erected on their platform is amazing. It helped that our guide/driver is a reincarnated Kamikaze pilot.

15 Moai by the Ocean

This incomplete one is still in the quarry. Work just stopped.

Wandering around the world – Africa, 2016

Besides the big guys and girls, we saw a lot of amazing smaller ones as well.

The colors on these two lizards are awesome.

The leopard turtle out for a stroll.

If you are into karma and reincarnation, well this dung beetle must not have lived a good human life. Pretty amazing watching this little guy push his ball of dung around. As part of the eco system he is fertilizing the grass.

The warthog is so ugly its cute. Also the nickname for this airplane. One you hope never comes looking for you.

A jackal out looking for something to eat. Saw lots of hyenas at night. A couple were stalking the perimeter of our bush dinner under the stars.

I have been working on the momma Cheetah.

A few more creatures and such. Here is a handsome male lion.

At first glance this looks like a three headed Giraffe. They, and the other guy, all walked in front of us. The coloring and detail on the single is amazing.

In Cape Town and a few other places they have these picture frames. Make your own postcard. Great idea.

Sounds like a good idea for a chain restaurant. Cape Town

The birds were a pleasant surprise. The colors and their faces. I understand now why people seek them out.Enjoy

How about some more from Africa?

Giraffe family out for a stroll. Little baby with them. When a giraffe is born it drops about 10 feet to the ground. The drop severs the umbilical cord and kick starts the baby, like we do with a slap on the behind. Or to quote Rodney Dangerfield, ” when I was born the doctor took a look at me and slapped my mother.”

Here is a strange thing to find in a dusty fishing village on the shore of Lake Victoria. It’s a private school, surviving on a shoe string budget. A family from Kansas was so impressed with what they were doing they donated money to build a new classroom.

We were introduced to TIAB, or This Is Africa Baby. A sidewalk made out of bags of cement. Water and sand, needed to make cement, are about 20 feet away. TIAB and smile.

At the fishing village, looking at some of the days catch. These birds are scavengers waiting their turn. Its funny to see them standing next to a three or four year old kid.

TIAB again. A human depth indicator. I don’t think the divining rod was really needed. He didn’t wash away so we went for it.

Good times, will add more.

Lawrence Lions – roar.

We had a fruitful early evening drive game drive. Part of a pride and the sun suddenly cooperated and gave us great light. Momma wasn’t too concerned when we got pretty close.

Here are her three cubs. Old enough that they will survive on their own.

Up up and away in my beautiful ballon. At the top of Julie’s bucket list, besides marrying George Clooney, was a ballon trip over the Serengeti plain. Still no George but we did the balloon and had a blast.

Some of the Flying Jayhawks, getting ready to fly….

It’s a blast to look down on the world. I can see why small drones with cameras are so popular. We flew over a heard of Cape Buffalo and got them all fired up and running.

Looking down on a Vulture and her chick in a nest.

After the flight the tradition is to celebrate with Champagne. Our pilot Mohammed.

Followed by a wonderful Serengeti breakfast.

Elephants. They are a target of poachers. Their number is down by 60%, in Tanzania, over the last ten years. The company that our safari went through is a vocal, and in other ways, opponent of poachers. While we were there one of their helicopter pilots was murdered by poachers. Heavy involvement of organized crime as ivory brings in more than gold.

These two guys had a disagreement. Third one came along to break it up.

We really got lucky to see this Cheetah. One of our sharp eyed traveling companions thought she saw a Simba(lion). Turned out to be a Cheetah and her cub in the grass.

Mom was kind enough to get up and move. This magnificent animal liked to pose. Perhaps a bit of a ham.

If you look her cub is so young it still has some of the down on her body. I think we can all relate to mom making us move when we didn’t want to.

We have just left the Ngorongoro crater which is one of the most amazing places on earth. A volcanic mountain that collapsed when it erupted a zillion years ago.

We have good internet and are trying to catch up. Got up at 4 am for a hot air ballon ride over the Serengeti. Will post those in a bit. We have some down time right now and into the evening.

Some more animals…

Baboon, look at his eyes. We had to roll up the windows in the car because they like to reach in and steal food.

One of my favorites is the Zebra, or a horse designed by a committee. This one looks proud as he gazes over the horizon. I didn’t tell him that his cousin is on my living room floor.

These two are grooming each other.

Grey crowned crane, the national bird of Uganda, or proof the good lord has a sense of humor.

A group of female lions sunning themselves. “Hey, why don’t we get an antelope, fresh spring water, sound track to the “Lion King” and see if the boys want to come over?”

Just like common house cats, they get up and change positions for no good reason. I bet she would like a belly rub. Any takers?

The toughest animal to find, the Leopard. A good distance away and even with a 300MM zoom it is not perfect. Caught him climbing up the tree and if you enlarge the picture he has his spots.

Last we have the Hippo. This animal kills the most humans of all of them. They are uncomfortable, on the land, where they go to feed. If you get between them and their water source, heaven help you.

Hello from Tanzania. How about some animals and other things?

Hungary giraffe’s.

Two of about 60 female Impala’s that all have the same male. Jokes on him, he doesn’t get a chance to eat much and after about a month another male will over power him and take the females.

Friendly Elephant, chomping away on his lunch.

One of our Land Cruisers got stuck in a dry river bed and we tried to push it out with the other one. Didn’t work and we were delayed. We didn’t complain other wise we would have missed Simba.

If you look to her right you will see some of her five cubs. She was moving them along. Later I will post a video where she is carry the weakest one on her mouth. Odds are only two or three will survive.

Finish with a type of stork, look at the colors on face.

Greetings from Arusha Tanzania. We spent the 27th traveling from Cape Town, to JoBerg, to Nairobi Kenya, to Kilimanjaro Tanzania and by car to Arusha. As luck would have it our bag with 80% of our safari clothing didn’t make it. The tour company has all hands on deck looking for it. At this point I am looking at wearing a Tux on our game drives. That might be fun for 10 minutes or so. Looks like we are going to have to make a decision to go back to Kilimanjaro to go shopping.

We spent 17 nights on a Cunard liner, the Queen Elizabeth. It was an interesting time and we had fun. We won’t go back on a Cunard ship. We were quite aware that crowd would be elderly and English. They were. An English woman and her vivacious 78 year old mother in law said, “blimey this feels like a wax museum.” I give these people credit for getting out and living but I’m not ready to join that club yet. The food, service and ship were all exceptional. One real was positive was the portion size of the food, reasonable and just enough that you didn’t feel stuffed when you left.

They didn’t have near the activities that we have found on other ships. They did have a ships choir, we didn’t join to save the glass wear on board. The formal nights were fun. We brought along the proper clothing, see above, and enjoyed dressing for the occasion. Julie caused a minor stir when she wore a bright pink sequined dress with her six inch heels. Some of the English ladies, with glasses on the end of their noses, were looking down their noses at her. The husbands seemed to appreciate it. Live and learn so we toned it down. We did feel like guests at your stuffy aunts home.

One formal night. We were told that we made a handsome couple.

The highlight for me was when I was knocked unconscious and suffered a minor concussion. We were four wheeling in the Namibian desert and tearing around like the old TV series, “Rat Patrol.” The driver hit a huge bump and, despite a tight seatbelt, I smashed the top of my head against the roof of the Land Rover. Out like a light. The fun part, since I wasn’t hurt to badly, is I was shooting a video as it happened. I will post it on you tube and link it. It’s funny to see the video spinning around, going dark and Julie say, “David are you ok?”

Here is one of the hills we flew down.

The offending Land Rover.

A day later one of the other people in the car asked me, “if the driver wanted compensation for the damage I did to his roof.”

To finish up with the cruise, the ship had some interesting characters. A mother and daughter from DC on their 35th consecutive Cunard world cruise. We met a real life version of Mrs, Thurston Howell III(Lovey), down to the glasses and white gloves she wore all the time. She was up shaking to 70s disco music. She had to be around 80.

Good for her.

We did a drive-by, okay a sail-bye of St Helena island. Abba sang, “At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender…” St. Helena is where the Brits dropped him off. It is one of the most remote places on the earth, more than 2,000 miles from any significant land mass. We looked at visiting it during the world trip. At that time it was a three week round trip on a Royal mail ship. They are to open an airport sometime in 2016 and hope to attract more visitors. About 1,100 people live here and it part of the UK.

We have found out that piracy is alive and well on the high seas. Blackbeard and his gold? Nope, on ship internet. It is expensive and slow. Tis the main reason we haven’t updated as much as we would like to have. To my old telephone friends, this makes LD calls of the 80s seem cheap.

Most of the start of our journey is at sea. This particular cruise does not have many stops, despite the length of the journey.

We are on an English ship from the Cunard line. Even though we have shared history and culture, we aren’t the same people. Not just the way people say things, although we have started using “lovely and Que.” a lot. Julie and I have been nicknamed the young fit Americans. That may give you an idea of the average age on board.

We have interesting dinning mates. This ship is assigned seating at a fixed time. I much prefer an open seating plan, so you can meet more people. An English couple and he is quite a bit older. Retired pilot from the RAF and a former British defense attache to several countries. On the subject of some the worlds challenges he mentioned the Cuban missile crisis. He was on the runway, fueled, carrying two nuclear weapons with an attack plan of the Russian Baltic naval base at Kalingrad, former Prussian City of Koenigsberg. It was very close to happening.

Our journey started from Southampton where we joined the Queen Elizabeth. The weather was a little bad and we bounced around the Bay of Biscay for a couple of days. To paraphrase Dean Wormer from Animal House, “Jet lagged and seasick is no way to go through life son.”

First stop was Maderia, an island of Portugal. Famous for their wines. Lot’s of fun. Rode the hop on hop off bus. Took the gondola to the top of the island. Those crafty Austrians have figured out how to sell ski equipment to temperate islands. Amazing views

They have old fashion wooden toboggans that you ride down. Two guys run down the hill with you to control the speed. We didn’t ride but it was fun to watch. By chance we saw our dinning mates getting into one for the ride down. Howard Hughes, not kidding and Penny – Moneypenny.

Did I say wine, of course we had to have a tasting and purchase what little is allowed back on the ship. Alcohol is another form of piracy on a ship.

Julie at the Maderia winery. Who would have guessed.

Will update with some pics soon. Internet is struggling with them.

Heading to the UK on January 8th. We will depart on a cruise from Southampton that will end at Cape Town South Africa on 1-27. We have stops at Madeira Portugal, Gran Canaria Spain, St Helena Island, Walvis Bay Nambia and on to Cape Town.

After a day in Cape Town we fly to Nairobi Kenya and on to Kilimanjaro airport.From there bus to Arusha Tanzania. Her is a photo of the map of our travels.

First stop: Tarangire National Park – birds and elephants.

Second stop: Ngorongoro conservation area and Ngorgongoro Crater.

Third stop: Oldupai Gorge thought to be the birth place of man. Then hope to see the large migrations of herds of animals. We have a hot air ballon ride over the animals set up.

Fourth stop is the western Serengeti more animals and stay over night in a tented camp.

Wandering around the world. Year long trip – under repair. 2013-2014.

We’ve been every where.

(OK not even close)

With apologies to Johnny Cash and others.

Idea stolen from our friends at the Bar J Chuck-wagon In Jackson Hole Wyoming.

Some stats from our trip. We left the US on 4-17-13 and returned on 4-17-14. We travelled aproximently 76,000 miles in total. 38 countries and six continents. Somewhere between 220 to 250 individual cities, towns and villages. We slept in 73 different beds and spent almost 60 days at sea. We flew 42 times on scheduled air flights, from a six seat Cessna to a Boeing 777. We flew on nineteen different airlines and rode with nine different European rail companies.

We’ve been everywhere, man.

Crossed the desert’s bare, man.

We’ve breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I’ve had my share, man.

We’ve been everywhere.

We’ve, in order, been to:

Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium,

Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland,

Sweden, Germany, Norway, Luxembourg, Czech Rep,

Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Greece,

Israel, Turkey, Italy, China,

Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

We’ve been everywhere, man.

Crossed the desert’s bare, man.

We’ve breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I’ve had my share, man.

We’ve been everywhere.

We’ve been to:

Borneo (Malaysia), Singapore, Indonesia, Australia,

New Zealand, Fiji, Argentina, Uruguay,

UK (Falklands), Antarctica, Chile, Peru,

Ecuador, Mexico, and the good old USA,

We’ve been everywhere, man.

Crossed the desert’s bare, man.

We’ve breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I’ve had my share, man.

We’ve been everywhere.

We’ve traveled on:

American, Iberia, Euro Rail, Transavia, Holland America

SAS, Aegean, Olympic, Alitalia, China Southern

China Eastern, Vietnam, Bangkok Airlines, Asia (agony) Air,

Malaysian (dodged a bullet), Silver Seas Virgin Australia, The Naked Bus, Air New Zealand, Fiji Air, LAN, Cruz del Sur Bus Lines, Tame, Aeromexico, home on American,

We’ve been everywhere, man.

Crossed the desert’s bare, man.

We’ve breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I’ve had my share, man.

We’ve been everywhere.

We’ve been on:

Jets, Props, Cars, Ferries, Cruise Ships,

Canoes, Kayaks, Ox Carts, Donkeys,

Elephants, Reed boats, Pedacabs, Gondolas,

Tuk Tuks, Dune Buggies, Sand Boards, Cable Cars,

Bungy Platform, Four Wheel Drives, Trams,

Buses, Children’s Railroad, Canopy Walks, Funiculars.

We’ve been everywhere, man.

Crossed the desert’s bare, man.

We’ve breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I’ve had my share, man.

We’ve been everywhere.

This is our last update from the road. Where did the time go? Day 365 of our trip around the world. Tomorrow we fly home.

After a couple of days of flopping around, like beached whales, at our hotel we got back with the program. Time to finish strong. Put on our big boy/girl travel pants and got back in exploration mode.

Mexico City has proved to be a pleasant surprise. We are staying in the Centro district with a lot of fun bars and places to eat.

We took a trip to the pyramids at Teotihuacan. They were amazing. This is the pyramid of the Sun. We climbed to the top. This was a temple unlike the Egyptians’ pyramids that were tombs. During the summer solstice this pyramid is in perfect alignment with the great pyramid of Giza.

The next is from the wonderful temple of the “Feathered Serpent.” The Spanish missed this so it wasn’t destroyed. These people vanished around 750 ad. We don’t know who built all of this. The Toltecs and the Aztec’s saw this as a sacred place but never lived here.

I like this guy, may be my next profile picture. The complex is something. We really enjoyed our visit.

In Mexico city at Chapultepec castle. Events here in 1847 led to one of the most memorable lines in American musical history. “From the halls of Montezuma…………. “

Interesting way to sell healthcare in Mexico City.

A couple of pieces of Aztec art. The Spanish missed these otherwise they would have been destroyed like most everything else.

It is time to wrap this up. Traveling for a year has been more than we ever thought it would be. We worked hard as well as being blessed and lucky to able to do this journey. Lucky to have friends like all of you. People who supported us, like Julie’s dad, even though I’m sure he thought we are crazy.

Friends like Ann Gutierrez DePinto who suggested we find the clock tower in Rouen France. What a great day. Ray Ford and Pat Ford, who suggested La Boca in Praha (fabulous Sangria). Gerrie Jakobs and Michael Tobin for sharing their home and introducing us to their friends in Rome. Anna-Lisa Kanner for setting us up with great cruises and a fascinating tour in China. Julie A. Rudd and Patrick Ennis who joined us in Santorini, and took care of our cat for the year. And too many others to mention!

You have seen a lot of pictures of us in shorts, tee shirts, travel pants and the like. Here are a couple in resort wear. If you want to know what a year of walking three and half hours a day does for you, check out Julie’s legs.

Just in case you forgot, or don’t know here is us.

Thanks for coming along with us. We’ve appreciated all of your comments / feedback here and on the website. You made the trip complete. We will always be in your debt. — with Julie

We are a little behind. Have some good stuff from Ecuador. In the rain forrest and head waters of the Amazon. For some reason pictures load really slow at our hotel in Mexico City.

We go back to Chicago on 4-17. I may not be able to post any until we get there.

30 days to go until we head back to Chicago. Where did the last 11 months go?

Peru

We were scheduled to go to Machu Picchu. The day before it rained and it was supposed to rain on our day as well. We did the only thing we could think of to appease the Inca sun god. We made a sacrifice – not that kind I have no interest to spend the rest of my life in a Peruvian jail. A fine glass of vino tinto was offered up.

We took the train over. Rain and clouds.

A couple of hours later the rain stopped and sun came out. The vino tinto did not die in vain.

The classic Machu Picchu shot. What a magnificent place. It is just stunning. One of our top ten days of the trip.

One of the lawn mowers taking a nap.

Speaking of naps, this tired, tiny trekker made me smile. Mom gave ok.

Julie in her best, “buy me a drink Inca?”, pose. After three hours the rain came back. I guess we need a whole bottle for the entire day.

There is a lot of disagreement as to what Machu Picchu was. The Spanish never found it, so it wasn’t destroyed. The current view is it was a center of intelligence and learning. This photo has the religious portion on the left, science and technology on the right and an assembly/athletic field in the middle.

The Inca’s loved their terraces. They built them for three reasons. Agriculture, aesthetics and religious. Look at the left for some good ones.

The temple of the Sun god. Can’t leave him out after he delivered:).

The now closed Inca Bridge.

The last four are just general views and I tossed in a B/W from when before the sun came out.

What a great place. Glad we went and it is highly recommended. Very well run, they only allow 2,500 visitors a day. It is low season right now and we never felt crowded. If all of Peru was run like M/P the country would be like Singapore.

Greetings from Cusco Peru. Here is part of our journey on the “Gringo trail.”

This male Sea Lion has eight females. Slacker, most have around 16 females. The ladies get the last laugh. During mating season, Jan-Mar he can’t leave to eat otherwise the females take off and look for a better mate. At Islas Ballestas.

We went sand boarding and dune buggy riding in Huacachina. Anyone remember the 1960s TV show Rat Patrol? We bounced around the dunes like they did in search of Field Marshal Rommel. I took about a 50 yard tumble, while sand boarding, down a dune. Still picking sand out of my ears.

Our next stop was Nazca and flight over the famous Nazca lines.

Like Julie, this Cessna was made in Wichita.

The lines are a mystery. Thought to be 1,000 to 1,500 years old. Can’t see them from the ground. It wasn’t until air flights in the 1920’s that people realized they were there. Most likely a religious meaning to the Nazca people.

The ancient aliens crowd thinks this one is an airfield. A hummingbird is next to the “runway.” The second picture is the hands.

We will finish up with a visit to Colca Canyon. Twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and the home of the magnificent Andean Condor.

The first is an adult, you can tell by the black feathers and white circle. The second is a youth, his coloring hasn’t changed. The youth was kind enough fly right by me.

Closing with a canyon shot. What a wonderful place. Tomorrow we go to the Sacred Valley and after an overnight we go to Machu Picchu on Thursday. —

We have had amazing luck with the weather during our journey. In all we have lost about 10 days to it since we left in April.

Nancy was a leader in the Beaux Arts movement in the late 1890s and it shows. The magficanit St Stanislaus Place and square are amazing. These people have it pretty well living in such a beautiful city.

We had a great time at Ft. Hackenberg which was the largest fortress on the Maginot line. Julie had been starting to to suffer fortress fatigue but enjoyed this. Unlike most museums, things still function here.

We also took a trip to Luxembourg. To be correct Luxembourg is not a country. It is the only Grand Duchy that remains. They are, per capita, the richest people on the planet. – Perhaps a Grand Duchy is a good thing.

The turret still works. The video is to large for the website. The guide told us it was unfortunate that we visited on Wednesday. They don’t fire the guns on Wednesdays. – Don’t quit your day job. She did say the German Nuclear plant was within range.

From this site we could see Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. If you look carefully at the middle top, you will see the next fort in the line. The forts were to provide cross fire on the open ground, with tanks and troops to provide support. None of the trees were around when the forts were in use.

If you look at the bottom right of the gun, you will see a small opening. That was for the gun crew to use to drop grenades on enemy soldiers who might be near the gun.

We got to ride the 1934 train to the guns. The fort has 10 KM’s of tunnels or about 6 miles. We rode for three miles.

The only time the fort saw combat was the Germans using some of the back guns against the Americans in 1944. It took a direct attack, from the right on battery 8 to drive the Germans back. You can see the damage the American guns put on the fortress.

There are arguments around the Maginot line. In some ways it did it’s job. The Germans never breached it, did not attack directly just went around. It was also an ungodly expense that may have weakened the entire French defense strategy. Our guide, a French woman had an interesting point, ” In 1870 the Germans broke through at Sedan. In 1914 the Germans broke through at Sedan. In 1940 the Germans broke through at Sedan. You would think we could have figured this one out.”

Fun place. Hard to find but a great tour for 2.5 hours for a very reasonable 9E each.

Nancy was a leader in the Beaux Arts movement in the late 1890s and it shows. The second picture is the magnificent Palace Stanislas square. The third picture is an old aquarium from that time period. These people have it pretty well living in such a beautiful city.

Both of these places would be stunning in the fall. If you like to bicycle or motorcycle this area would be great. Interesting places to stop and winding uncrowded roads to be on.

The last photo is a couple from Finland, we talked to, on a six week tour of Europe. Julie looked at the saddle bags and backpack and is now thankful for what she thought was a small suitcase. Bye for now.

While walking Metz we came upon this monument. Julie thought it looked like a Jayhawk and we read about the U.S. liberation of Metz.

Some of the “Iron Men” rest here at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Monument. We found a Kansan and thanked him for his sacrifice. This is the largest American WWII Cemetery in Europe

I’m not Jewish but I think it is ok to leave a couple of stones for this gentlemen. I would guess its been a long time, if ever, he had a visitor.

The Cemetery is a tranquil place for reflection. It is off the beaten path and does not get a lot of visitors. It is unfortunate but understandable. An American had not signed the guest book for several days. There was not another visitor during the hour or so we were there.

The last photo is of the L’Ossuaire at the French Cemetery in Verdun. In it are the remains of an estimated 130,000 unknown French and German soldiers from the battle. Insanity from a previous war.

The American Battle Monuments Commission does a great maintaining the American sites.

A special treat today. Some of the most fun we have had on our trip is when we meet or see interesting or unique people. The conversation may only last a minute or two, but the memory is priceless. Plus we have pictures.

Today we went to the French city of Verdun. It was the site of one of the most horrific battles of WW I. At a battle site we saw this today.

I took a quick picture and walked to the other side of the road for another. The driver, with a wonderful Australian accent, “asked me if I spoke English,” and we had a brief conversation. He and his wife had been driving across Europe for about 700 kilometers. I asked about the car he said it was a 1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. I mentioned that we are traveling around the world and he said, ” I did the same thing during 73/74.”

He asked me if I knew where the L’Ossuaire was. I told him to follow the road and it was around the bend. He was kind enough to take a photo with Julie and he was off. Everyone once in a while you meet someone who for a moment makes you feel like the most important person in the world.

He made a good day great. Many thanks whoever you are.

The period clothing, driving gloves, his gracious personality, hats and his lovely wife were the perfect compliment for such a unique Automobile.

Back in February Ann Gutierrez DePinto, posted a picture of the Clock Tower of Rouen France. She mentioned she would like to have her morning coffee here. I told Ann we would try to find it. Ann the first one is me saluting you with a morning coffee from that exact spot. David and Julie’s trip around the world believes in providing good customer service.

The second picture is the clock tower with better light.

Rouen was the longtime capital of Normandy. During the Normandy invasion in 1944 the U.S. Eighth Air force had a bad night. While trying to hit some legit targets they missed and creamed the ancient Cathedral of the Kings and the palace now the Hall of Justice. Both of which continue under repair for the last 68 years and counting. I took this one of the outside in B/W because color didn’t do the fire damage justice after 68 years. I’m sure the locals prefer freedom and a crunched Cathedral to what they had before.

One other special thing in Rouen. We were sitting in the Cathedral when the organist started to practice. It was a wonderful treat to hear baroque organ music, while sitting in a gothic Cathedral.

The day before we took a trip to Fontainebleau palace outside of Paris. We have been suffering from palace fatigue, strange place to go right, but we had one of the great days of the trip. The palace has 1,900 rooms but we didn’t go into a single one.

We picked up a picnic lunch and sat down on the grounds and enjoyed the day. Very few people nearby , so we played some music from my Ipad, started with U2’s,”It’s a beautiful day” and spent time reading our e-books. Great fun on an amazing day.

Most of our updates from Europe have been fun and light hearted. Europe has had it’s times when darkness and evil have taken center stage. Todays post is along those lines.

During our last full day in Amsterdam we visited the Dutch resistance museum and the Anne Frank house. It was a moving experience. In the Frank house you see how people hid from a terrible evil in a couple of rooms no larger than a 1970s US college dorm room. Unable to make any noise during the day time for fear of being discovered by the workers two floors down. It didn’t matter as they were all betrayed and only her father survived the camps.

The Frank house doesn’t allow pictures but the first two from the Dutch resistance speak volumes.

While in Berlin we saw the memorial to the Holocaust. I struggle to put into words the feelings I had.

The next photo combines the darkness of the Berlin wall with the evil remnants of the Nazi Gestapo (secret police) Headquarters. The red bricks are what remains of the basement areas. The building was considered “fixable” after the war, but the U.S., knowing what it stood for, tore it down and left the site vacant. There is a small museum on the site now.

The last picture renews my hope in mankind. A piece of the Berlin wall turned into art, in front of the general area where Adolf Hitler met his maker. It wasn’t worth the time to find the parking lot where his bunker was.

A lot of us here had fathers or grandfathers who fought this evil. They climbed into B-17s, B-24s, fought on the land/sea or they tended to and healed the wounds that many suffered. As we come up on U.S. Independence day take a moment to reflect on those whose actions maintain our freedoms.

Light and breezy comes back next update.

First of all I would like to thank Julie for 28 wonderful years today. It’s fun to celebrate our anniversary in the most beautiful city in the world, Paris. I out kicked my coverage on this one.

Today was an interesting one. The sun finally came out and it was a fabulous day. On the metro we saw great street theatre. A female pickpocket got caught with her hand in another’s woman’s purse. There was yelling and shouting. At the next stop the pick pocket and her male partner went flying through the air as the pissed off woman pushed them off the train.

We followed that with a visit to the grave site of our favorite deceased French actress, Valeire Quenessenn. Julie and Pat you know her as Lina.

Heading back home we came upon a French Army celebration of what we think was graduation from the military academy.

Finished up with a wonderful dinner of Seabass and are now sharing a fine bottle of wine. The last photo is from one of our two terraces.

Some highlights from our White nights cruise of the Baltic

1. Tallinn Estonia, could be a setting for a fairy tale.

2. St. Petersburg Russia, Catherine the Great’s summer palace.

3. Typical nice Russia housing. I will stay in the USA.

4. Interior of the Yusopov Palace in St, Petersburg. They were richer than the Czar. Had to hit the road because of the revolution. Their only grand-daughter lives a simple middle class life in Greece.

5. Suomenlinna island fortress in Helsinki. UNESCO world heritage site that is a park, great places to eat and drink and look at 300 years of forts.

6. Changing of the guard outside the Royal palace in Stockholm. We saw it on a Sunday and they added a 35 minute concert from the regimental band. Good fun

7/8 David and Julie at the former Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. Campy but a good time. US customs will enjoy the 1950s Soviet stamp they put in my passport.

8. Thank goodness this is just an historical footnote today. Will add some albums.

Well we really enjoyed Amsterdam. Note: This post is rated pg-13. If you are easily offended you may not want to continue. Amsterdam was a change of pace. While they have fine museums they never really went in for monuments and palaces. As the canal boat guide said, “they just like to make money.” Note things were noticeably more expensive than Spain.

We stayed in the Pipj, know as the Pipe, area. Urban and a little gritty. If you know Chicago it is like the Wicker Park area. Fun area great bars and restaurants. Property values have tripled over the last 10 years. It also has some temptations.

The Heineken Experience was fun. The “be the beer” ride was cheesy but a good time. They threw in a couple of cold ones.

Next is the Atlantis Coffee shop. Amsterdam coffee shops only serve green leafy stuff. They fly a Bob Marley flag. If you haven’t figured it out yet I can’t help you.

The next was a surprise. We had heard about the infamous Red Light District but had no idea a smaller version was around the corner. I went for a run around 11 am, turned the corner and it was red lights and lots of waving. It seemed like a lot of commerce was going on. We will let you wonder if we visited the last two.

Temptations aside Amsterdam is great. If you like to ride a bike you would be in hog heaven. They are every where. Lots of bike lanes and they seem to rule the roost. Will follow with more before we go quiet for 10 days or so on a cruise.

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the—— David and Julie lol. After 7 perfect days and nights in Madrid we travelled on to Cordoba Spain. The weather went down hill quickly, turned cold and wet. We still are having a good time. The is the land of good $2 bottles of wine and outstanding topas. The good news is with the smaller Spanish portions and all the walking we have done, the winter(okMexico) pounds are starting to go way.

In closing enjoy these three who realize it is always good to have friends who look out for you and help keep you warm. In the dry moat outside the walls of Cordoba.

We left Chicago on April 17th 2013. Off for a year of travel.