Month: October 2018

I It was a 3 hour flight to Iceland from Germany, but we passed through 2 time zones to get there. Our driver was in no rush to get to the hotel. Robbin and Ron sat in the front seat with him and they talked all the way. We rushed to the restaurant where the driver told us to go, and had fish and chips for about $20.00 each. It was tasty, very tasty, but I think we could have gotten it for half that in the USA.
By then it was time for us to meet our bus for a chance to see the Northern Lights. It was a nice ride into the country in the dark. We made one stop at a nice large hunting lodge turned hospitality center. I am sure it belonged to Gray Line. There were 12 busses there. Of course they had drinks (I heard the coffee was $4.00per cup. They also had sweets. There were tables and chairs. There were also sofas and overstuffed chairs. It was nothing like we expected. We thought we would travel to one place and if we did not see lights, we would look somewhere else. Not so. Our tour left at 8 pm. Our body time was already 10 pm. It was rather boring at the lodge. Several of our group were seen napping on the couches. It was cloudy outside, so I felt like if we did see lights, it might be for just 3 or 5 minutes. An announcement was made at 10 pm saying the clouds were expected to lift in 30 minutes. We waited impatiently. Ten o’clock is our midnight. They made one more announcement that we would get another announcement at 11 pm (that’s 1 am for us.) At 11 pm, the announcement was to scrap the lights for today. Happily we climbed aboard the bus, and the snoring symphony began. I can’t remember anything after getting on the bus. Tomorrow our tour begins at 8 am.

The temperature was 40 something and there was NO wind. Perfect weather conditions for travel. Our first stop was a geo-thermal hot springs called the Secret Lagoon. See pictures below. It was cold outside but once you got inside it was warm. Actually if you were very close to one of the springs, it was extremely hot. There were over a million gallons of water in this lagoon. And it recirculates every 30 hours, it was amazing. When we looked into the water, we could see the minerals floating all around us.

  

   

Our next stop was to see a geyser.  It spouts about every 6 minutes. Iceland still has volcanoes. Remember the explosion of one in 2000? We were in Spain and the flights were all grounded. Fortunately for us, we were staying an extra week.

Then we went to Gulfoss Water falls. It was pretty, but it was also cloudy. Actually there were two waterfalls, but because of the fog and steam, you could hardly see the second one.  To see it, you will have to enlarge the photo and look just above the second one and also look a little to the left.

Our next stop was at the tech tonic plate, where Europe is separating from  North America.  Of course, if you do not believe in evolution, then neither do you believe the world is milllions of years old.  Therefore, we prefer to believe that Noah’s flood would be a more accurate reason for the shifting.  The commentator already said that during a recent earthquake, it shifted about 3 feet from where it was before the earthquake. It was hard to get photos of both North America and European split.  Here are some scenery shots.  Even though it is winter in Iceland, the lakes and mountains and sky colors made for a beautiful landscape.

Our last morning was spent just browsing town and going to see a Lutheran Church.  This monument of Leif Erickson was given to Iceland from the United States on the occasion of their 1000 birthday.  It stands in front of the church. The last picture is of Maria and Gerard standing in front of the Lutheran Church.

  

All in all this was an outstanding trip with enough free time and a mix of tours and hop on hop off rides. I am seriously considering doing it again in 2019.  I plan to change one hotel because I did not like the location.  Other than that, it will stay the same.  I hope some of you would like to join us in 2019.  It is not too early to start thinking about it.

Again, thanks for reading and I hope I have given you a spectacular ride along with us.

Sue Biggs, Custom Holidays

 

Up at 5:15 am to have breakfast and catch a shuttle to the airport at 6:30 am. After several delays with getting the shuttle to arrive, we piled into taxis and headed for the airport at 7:15 am. We made it in time for our flight.

We arrived in Berlin before 11:00 am and went straight to the hotel. Fall has certainly arrived in Germany, with lots of leaves already on the ground. We headed out for our hop on hop off tour shortly before noon. We all added more clothes, but for me it was not enough.  When we were in the wind it was downright cold.  Because I was uncomfortable, I did not take many photos.

We hopped on the bus and took a turn around the city seeing the Brandenburg Gare, the Reigstag (Parliment) building, the monument to the Jews murdered by the Nazis,  and parts of the Berlin Wall.

We stopped for lunch and rest rooms and appeared to be half frozen.  We needed to have lunch inside.  I found a place that sold a local favorite, currywurst.  It looked pitiful but locals were buying it, so we did too, with some modifications. No curry for me.  So, they take this longer than normal hot dog (for lack of a better word) and deep fry it in about an inch of oil.  They put it on a paper napkin that is on a plate. Then they cut it into bite sized pieces. Next they smother it in a tangy catsup.  I mean smother.  Then they sprinkle (bordering on pouring) curry powder on the concoction. Next they stick a small (2 1/2 inches long) fork in one piece and serve it with French fries. It was either pretty good or we were really hungry.  Those who had curry said it was good.

By now we are thawed out, but everyone was ready to go back to the hotel for a rest.  Ron was not feeling too good, but I knew if we quit this early we would not go out later. Robbin and Cathy did, and Gerard and Maria went out for a little while.   I really enjoyed the sauna.

Our second day in Berlin, took us to the same places, but this time, we were better prepared for the weather.  We got off the bus and took pictures and read a lot of commentary. Sandra was not feeling chipper so she decided to stick around the hotel. We thought we would be back around 4 but we did not make it back until 6 pm.

Let me remind you that East Germany was Communist, and West Germany was free for many years.

Brandenburg Gate was in East Germany. It was built in the 18th century as a symbol of peace and entry into Berlin.  During the Cold War, it was a symbol of a divided city.  In the same vein, when the Wall came down, it was a symbol of reunification.  The first 3 pictures are of the Brandenburg Gate.

  

We found a silver general and had our pictures taken with him.  Notice the background.  It looks almost unreal.

Notice the very nice man hole covers below, in Berlin.

The next few pics are in front of the Parliment Building.

We were so impressed with the Monument to the Murdered Jews in Germany. There are at least a thousand boxes all the size of a grave.  No two are placed the same way and I doubt any are exactly the same height. Some are placed flush with the ground and some are taller than a man. It was a very moving place. The first picture was taken from the bus.  This monument took up a whole, large city block.

      

We also visited some places around the wall. The first picture shows the unfinished wall.  The second shows “no man’s land” where it was suicide to be caught in that area. It was probably 15 to 20 feet wide. It also shows some of the wrought iron used to reinforce the wall.  We were surprised to see how much of the wall is still standing after 30 years.

This post comes to you after we have returned home.  I would still like to add a post about Iceland, hopefully tomorrow.

That’s it for today.  Early to bed for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have some catching up to do.  I forgot my I-pad on the second day of Vienna.  Carol is not too much into museums so she elected to stay back and enjoy the state gardens just outside our hotel doors.   Actually that was a beautiful garden, but I wish she would have gone with us to see the free gardens at Schönbrunn Palace.  They were exquisite and occupied very much land. Maria remarked a couple of times that the property was much more than a private garden, it was a whole country.

We thought we would visit the palace as soon as we arrived.  Not!!  We had to get our tickets validated and then had to wait 45 minutes for our allotted time to go into the palace.  No pictures inside. It was a personal audio tour.  The palace was magnificent.  Here are some pictures I got from the internet

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The last picture will give you a look at the whole room, if you can find it on the internet.  It is a gorgeous room.

Here are some facts about Schönbrunn Palace. It has 3 milllion plus visitors every year. The state owns it now, and took it over when there was no longer a monarchy in 1918.   It has 1,441 rooms. It began as a hunting lodge. In 1745 it was the summer palace occupied by the Imperial Family during the summer months.  Maria Theresa was the Empress who had 11 girls and 4 boys in 16 years.  She finally completed the castle in 1770 and she died in 1780. It was not occupied until Franz II, who became Franz I, was preparing for an expo and finished the remodeling in 1819. The palace is virtually the same since then.  Franz Joseph became Emoeror in 1848 at age 18 and he reigned until his death in 1916.  The last emporer was Charles I, who was the grand nephew of Franz Joseph. The monarchy collapsed in 1918.  (I hope I got all the facts straight.)

The next day we traveled to Germany. Thanks for visiting today.

I have to tell another story from yesterday.  My senior citizen friends will appreciate it.  My younger friends will just roll their eyes.  I also need to preface the story with this fact. . . I have been to several conferences over the years and the speakers mention that someone 15 years older than you are, are considered old in your eyes. So before you go any further, determine in your mind if this a a correct statement.

In Bratislava, I went into a visitors center to ask directions.  She gave them to me.  I reported them to Ron, and he questioned, my report.  So, I told him to go in and check for himself.   When he came out, he had the funniest grin on his face. “When I asked the gal directions, she said, As I told the old lady. . .”  We do not think of ourselves as old. Mature, yes, but old. NO!  Old is past 90.

Our day in Vienna was filled with information, looking at enormous buildings and beautiful gardens and fountains.  We also saw about 15-20 river boat cruisers docked on the Danube.  In case you do not know or have not heard, riverboat cruising in Europe is HUGE!  Steps travelled today, 13,295.

Just a few facts about Vienna. . .

It has some of the most pure water of any place in the world. It comes from the Alps and travels a nice distance for about 36 hours. When it finally arrives it needs no treatment.  It is good water.

There are 7-8 million people living in Vienna.  In Vienna, 50% of the property is green space.  They have several huge parks in the city.  Since the people live in apartments, they need that space to enjoy nature.

The reason so many musicians come from Austria during the 17th to 19th century was because there were very many noble people and they had lots of parties in their palaces where they needed orchestras.  It was always live (no C.D.’s during then) and the children needed music teachers also. As I understand it, that was a well paying job to have.

  

The first picture is a museum, the second is Mozart in a park. Notice the flowers shaped like a treble clef. The third picture is a fall scene in one of the parks and the last is a floral clock with the Kersalon in the background.

Woe is me. Yesreday a young woman in her 20’s called me “an old lady” and today was not much better. About 9:00 pm we were sitting having ice cream and a young man, probably in his 20’s drove up on his scooter (you know the kind. It has a running board and you put one foot on it and the other you propel yourself forward by swiping your other foot on the ground.) He sat down at the edge of the open air restaurant and took out his sketch pad.  As we were leaving he handed the sketch of me to me.  I was unnerved.  It looked just like me, AND just like an old lady. Moral of the 2 stories. . .  Keep away from 20 something people, or you will forget you’re just 39 at heart.

Thanks for sharing our day.

 

 

 

Today, Tuesday was a travel day.

We left Budapest at 9:41 am by train and arrived in Bratislava about 12:30 pm. We caught a really nice boat (we had front two rows) to Vienna about 4:00 pm and arrived about 6:00 pm.  We dumped our stuff and went out on the town until about 9:00 pm and arrived back to the hotel exhausted.

The temperature is becoming more and more fall like. We are also seeing a lot of Golden leaves.

On the train. We met some Aussies that were going to Prague, and had a nice conversation.  They were traveling for about 30 days.  Did you know that people in different countries often are on vacation for 4-5-6 weeks at a time? Their vacation time is structured differently from ours.

On the boat.

Gerard at the front of the boat.  Nice pic taken by some Japanese friends.

We saw these neat shanties along the Danube River. The top picture is at a distance and the second is zoomed in.  They are fishing cabins, or shacks.  Notice the water drum on the second photo.  I would think we saw about 100 of these tiny buildings.

 

This is a castle wall, with the castle pretty much in ruins.  We also passed by the wall that separated Slovakia from Austria. It was not in good repai either, but with the EU they are probably good with the wall falling down.

A great day was had by all. Three got ice cream after a fish dinner. It was some of the best ice cream ever eaten.  Maria and Gerard may still be out exploring. We can’t keep up with them.  Most of our days have started about 9:30 am and that seems to work well for us.

we just have one more week and this marvelous trip comes to an end.  Thanks for reading today.

 

 

 

Two full days in Budapest, but we did not get to do it all. Actually, we could have stayed longer in all the cities. However, this tour was designed to just get an overview of our stops.

We stopped first at the John Calvin statue. He played a very important part in church history. Then we went to the famous marketplace of Budapest. It has everything from souvenirs to vegetables to meat, coffee, and mostly paprika in all degrees of sweet and hot. Several bought some. I bought some beautifully colored beans, After I paid, he said they were not dried so they do not need to cook as long.  I hope they do not spoil before we get home.

Ron and I made our way to the train station to buy our tickets for tomorrow to Bratislava, Slovakia. Ron decided to walk, then we decided to take a taxi, then we changed our minds and decided to take the metro. In the end , we took a taxi. Would you believe we got in a taxi without a meter? Yep, we did. Here are 2 pictures of the train station. Most of the buildings in Budapest are humongous. The train station is no exception. Put both pictures together to get the size.  The circle down from the peak is a clock.

All 8 had agreed to meet at 2 for our lunch. Maria and Gerard did not show so we wrote a note telling them whew we would be and left it on the pedestal of John Calvin’s statue.  I found one rock and something else to anchor it down.  Maria and Gerard never showed up at the restaurant. After lunch we went back and found the note on the ground, but the anchors were still in place. I would like to know if any passers-by read the on foot

After a short rest the 6 of us lit out again. This time in search of Independence Square and Ronald Reagan.  We found him. See pictures below. Notice the church in the background.

We continued on to St. Stephen’s Basilica onfoot. The church took 54 years to build and was finished in 1905.  It had 3 architects working on it. It is absolutely gorgeous on the inside. It is named for the first king of Hungary. See below. I could not upload the picture I took of the inside. Then we walked back to our hotel arriving about 7:00 pm, exhausted as always.

Here is one more picture of the Parliment building. It is the third largest in the world after Buenos Aires and London.  One more bit of trivia. Hungary has produced many famous people and scientists. FYI. The rubric’s Cube comes from Hungary and the current best record for solving the puzzle is 5.6 seconds. Can you remember how long it took you? Did you ever even solve the puzzle?

May I back up to Athens? I need to tell you a story about what happened to Carol in Athens.  Remember she did not go to the Acropolis with the rest of us? Late afternoon, she decided to go next door to John’s Hot Dog stand and get some nourishment. Her choice sounded good, but after the first bite, she knew it was not to her liking,  so she wrapped it up and deposited her hot dog in the small trash receptacle nearby. No longer had she done it, when she noticed a small kitten that looked hungry.  So she did what any cat lover would do,  she retrieved the hot dog for the feline. To her surprise, when she went back to the table where she had been sitting, there was a shinny Euro on the table.  Her guess was that a gentleman passing by, saw her digging in the trash, and left a coin on the table for the pitiful homeless lady.  We all got a big laugh about her escapade for the day.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. The time has just flown by.  We will be arriving home next Tuesday. We have seen and done a lot.  Actually, the more you see and do, the more you realize there is so much more to see and do.

Thanks for tuning in today.

Yesterday,  Saturday, was a different day. We got a shuttle at 11:00 am to take us from Athens town to the country and the beach. It was a pleasant ride through the country. Our beach resort was beautiful. Right on the Aegean Sea. All of us took some time to walk around the grounds and explore the hotel. Of course, Carol and I had a massage. Then dinner started at 7:30 pm. We had a very nice buffet and called it a day.

We chose this hotel because it was near the airport and it would give us a different look of Greece. It had none of the hustle and bustle of the big city. It was also off season, so the hotel was not very full

Today, Sunday, it was up at 5:00 am to arrive at the airport by 6:15 so we could be on time for our 8:20 am departure. Arrival was at 9:20 into Budapest. (2 hr flight and one time zone change.)

Our hotel is very old and the Nazis used it during WWII. However it is very well kept and it is very near tons of things.

Budapest is a beautiful city. Actually our guide said it was the second most beautiful city in the world. I always wonder what the first is, don’t you?

Below are pictures of the Parliment building in Pest. I have a night picture of the Castle, but I could not get it to upload. The Castle and the Parliment building are separated by the Danube River.

I have a picture of Sandra at this “Hero’’s Square,” but I could not get it to upload.

This is the Parliment Building.

I have a picture of me at this fountain, but I could not get it to upload.

How about this picture, Renee and Mike?

Thanks for coming along today.  We are all bushed again tonight.

Continue reading “Budapest, Hungary”

Breakfast first and then a shuttle from the hotel to the bottom of the Acropolis.  Time to begin the ascent! (Carol elected to stay back today.  She saw it from a distance yesterday, and decided the climb was not for her.)

It is a hard climb for younger people but for those with grey hair, it is a beast.  However, as the saying goes, we aren’t getting any younger. There are plenty of places to stop and rest, which we utilized.

What a scene! The Acropolis is the hill and the temple built to the goddess Athenia is The Parthenon.  Acropolis means “top of a rocky hill.”  This one is 512 feet high. It has a gently slopping path upward.  Those are the worst kind. Then as you get closer to the top, there are steps.  Today there was a nice breeze and overcast.  Our pictures came out great and we did not suffer from scorching heat.  There are other ruins on the Acropolis, not just the Parthenon.

    

The Parthenon is amazing. It only took about 10 years to build at a cost of (2010 cost of silver) $9,765,966.08. That is 469 silver talents.  One talent is about 85 pounds and each talent is valued at $20,822.9554.  It has a limestone foundation and the columns are made from marble. Just a bit of trivia for you.

Below is Hadrian’s Wall.  He said you have not learned until you have studied in Athens. ( or something like that.)

The Parthenon was a fortress, a temple, and a place for retreat when the Greeks came under attack. It was also built to hold a large statue of the patroness god of the city, Athenia. After the Ottoman conquest, it was turned into a mosque in the early 1460’s.  On September 26, 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.  Below. My friends are really studying the information on the boards. How is this Derrick?

   

Today there was quite a bit of scaffolding as they are in constant restoration. Actually, we were remarking about how much money this destination makes in a day. If The Taj Mahal gets 40,000 visitors a day, The Acropolis surely gets 50 or 60 thousand a day, and adults pay 20€ .  It seems like this one destination could support the government, which has had financial problems for years.  Below.  We could not pass up taking pictures of these tiny dandelions.

One more Athens detail, and that is, Athens boasts of the birthplace of democracy.

Let me tell you about this 4 star hotel.  See the picture? The mirror is too tall for short people unless you stand 6 feet away.  See the hair dryer’s short cord? You can’t look in the mirror and dry your hair.  There is no box of Kleenex in the room.  No wash clothes, which is normal. . . But they have a system that allows you to call the USA for free and you can even take the phone with you while you’re out and about the hotel and use it as a GPS. Go figure!

We closed up early today about 4:30 pm.  I think everyone was tired from the long day yesterday.  Tomorrow we move to the beach area, putting us closer to the airport for our Sunday morning early departure.  Isn’t Greece known for its beaches?  We try to include everything.

Thanks for joining us today.

 

 

 

Yes,  I know Paradise was spelled incorrectly yesterday.  What happened to spell check!

Yesterday was a travel day.  We left the hotel at 9:00 am and made a connection in Doha, Qatar.  Actually I had never heard of the country until our itinerary routed us through there. I still do not know much about the country, but they have a beautiful airport, with not many people in it.  Our second flight probably had fewer than 100 guests. We are amazed at how these flights can fly with so few people.  I would presume  the government subsidizes the airlines.  Excellent service each time we have flown in the Middle East.  And, the airports have been immaculately clean.  We will see if we notice the same in Europe.

When we arrived at the hotel at 7:00 pm, we learned that all 4 of our reservations were cancelled and they only had 3 rooms left for the night. Reason: the credit card was invalid.  Really? They took it for the 3 rooms  now. After about an hour they found Ron and me a hotel across the street for just that one night, then we would move to the original hotel. We took a taxi because to get across the street we had to cross underground.  I did not think I could drag my suitcase up and down steps.  In the morning, we decided to do the steps and Ron would make 2 trips.  Fortunately, they had a ramp so I wheeled mine all the way.  We had breakfast at our original hotel and decided to depart at 9:30 am.  Upon asking directions we were informed there was a strike today and the sightseeing bus was not operating and the Acropolis was closed.  We wasted a long time trying to discover what to do. Finally, we decided to go ahead and use our hop off hop on bus ticket.  It was an informative ride. At 1:15 pm we took a walking tour that was supposed to last 1 hour 45 minutes.  It lasted 2 hours 45 minutes.  That is a long walk.  Our guide was interesting for the first hour and then she became boring, according to me. We did take at least 30 minutes to see the changing of the guard at the prime minister’s  palace.

We were tired by then but it was too early to call it a day. We decided to go back to the hotel drop off some things and get a gyro in the neighborhood.  Our newest and best friend was the bellman.  He suggested we take a 7 (hah) minute walk to the metro station, go 2 stops, and walk down a certain street until we found lots of restaurants and better gyros than in the hotel neighborhood.

So, off we went.  It took longer than 7 minutes, then try to picture 8 old folks trying to use the machine that spits out tickets.  Quite comical. Hope you are not standing I line behind them.  Did I mention, neither of us know any Greek words.

We found a restaurant and had some really good gyros.  Gerard asked for lamb and Greeks don’t make them with lamb. We were stuffed, but some still got a gelato.

We traced our way back through the streets, the metro, and the walk back to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel a little before 9:00 pm absolutely beat.

Changing of the guard in Athens

This map shows Doha to Athens. It does not include Oman to Doha.

One of the ancient buildings of Athens, with Carol riding on the sightseeing bus.

Ron and I and Maria and Gerard in a selfie. We are on the top side of the bus.

Carol enjoying her gyro. It ended up all over her face!

Can you believe this pile of food? Tons of French fries, a gyro club sandwich, and a chefs salad.  Can you even believe Robbin and Cathy ate almost all of it? Actually we were all pretty hungry.  We have just been eating 2 meals a day for the most part.

That’s it for Wednesday and Thursday.  I hope you enjoyed our day, without the tired feet and sore legs.

Very relaxing day today.  Get up when you want, leisurely breakfast, off to sit under an umbrella. . .

here are a few shots from today. Beautiful flowers

all around. Inside flowers. A centerpiece of orchids. The bread table. Yum yum   Double hibiscus and others You can see, no weight loss!Beautiful sunrise.

We went into town for 2 hours today and had some treats.

Tomorrow is a travel day.  We travel from Muscat, Oman to Athens, Greece with a stopover in Qatar.

i hope you can come with us the next time.