New Book: The Joy is in the Journey

My new book, The Joy is in the Journey, is now available at Amazon. As the name implies, the book chronicles travels and travails by Dan (that's me) and the Lady Adventurer (Debbie). I hope you like it.

Click here for the paperback edition.

Click here for the Kindle edition.

2019 Cape Town to Singapore

Cape Town

Travel doesn’t get much bigger than this. Consider the numbers:

-2 years planning
-2 years saving money (mostly by hiding money from ourselves)
-2 years saving vacation time
-1.5 years since the last big trip
-46 long hours travel time to get to Cape Town
-2 buses and 1 train between London - Heathrow terminals in Monty Python fashion (you take the #2 bus to get from Terminal Four to Terminal 2, then the #3 bus to get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 4; you can’t just go directly to the terminal of your choice because the buses don’t go those ways...)
-3 inches of leg room on the 11.5 hour flight from London to Cape Town
-18 Billion Dollars in fees

Cape Town, S.A.

The city wraps around iconic Table Mountain, and a few others. The scenic Cape of Good Hope is also nearby. What a spectacular location. After two days, we are left wanting more. Although explorer Batholomew Diaz originally named the area the ‘Cape of Storms,’ the weather is absolutely fine for us.
Even though the population is well above four million, Cape Town seems small and cozy. Much of it is walkable, including the fun and exciting V(ictoria) and A(lbert) Waterfront area.

Early in our first morning, as I am completing my run, there’s a lunar eclipse. It’s occurring just as it is getting light, and as the moon setting. A few others are about. I take a photo or two.

The Aerial Cableway gondola takes us to the top of Table Mountain. Lady Adventurer and I walk all around and ogle the incredible 360 degree views. The flora (unique flowers and other plants) and fauna (lizards, birds, and one cute hyrax) are interesting as well. By the way, a hyrax is a small, furry mammal that seems like a rodent, but is more closely related to elephants. Really. You can look it up.

Cape Town view from Table Mountain

Cape Point (aka Good Hope) is about a 45 minute dive from Cape Town proper. It’s where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. We spot some wild baboons as we approach. The Cape also requires mechanical means for ascent; in this case, a funicular. Here the views from the base of the lighthouse are nearly as wonderful as those from Table Mountain.

Cape of Good Hope

After fish and chips in Simon’s Town, we see Jackass Penguins (yes, that’s the correct name – you can look it up), at Boulders Beach.

Our Tours by Locals guide, Brenda made it all interesting and fun. If there will be any place along the way to which we’d like to return, Cape Town would be it.

As we begin sailing toward Port Elizabeth, we catch sight of a seal, and then a whale.

Speaking of Cruise Critic, we meet several like-minded people at a meet-up, and then join a trivia team. We sure be having fun.


Addo Elephant Park / Port Elizabeth, S.A.

Addo is a South African National Park, and it’s full of wildlife, especially elephants. The park was founded a few decades ago with 11 elephants; now they’re up to around 700. From our all-terrain vehicle (that held about 25 people), we see a large herd of perhaps 100. That is one huge herd. They are tons of fun, literally and figuratively.

Addo Elephant Park

Along the way, we see warthogs (that are surprisingly fun to watch), two kinds of antelope, virtual zebras (their actual name), two tortoises (a large one and a small one), and one hyena.


East London, S.A.

Not much happening here. The neighborhood isn’t so great for walking, but we do make it over to a nice area called Orient Beach. They are setting up for an Ironman triathlon, and it’s quite the Big Deal. Our walk becomes more challenging again when the cool rain begins to soak us. By the way, they do need it here in this part of the world.


Valley of 1,000 Hills, Durban, S.A.

Durban itself seems a little dismal, but the cloudy, misty, rainy weather doesn’t help. We mostly just drive through on our way to the tourist attraction.

We’re viewing the crocodiles, lizards, and snakes in the Reptile Exhibit within the Valley of 1,000 Hills, and I think, ‘These crocs are impressive, but this is no better than a zoo.’ I am even more disillusioned as we’re herded into the gift shop for an hour of captivity. Lady Adventurer informs me that she is feeling like-minded.

Then the Zulu show and dancing began. It is pretty darn entertaining. I feel better now, thanks.

Zulu Warrior Princess (right) and some tourist (left)

After the show, we are invited to visit the Zulu village that consists of several small huts. Before we cross the threshold of one of them, a villager mentions that the King is inside. I ask if it's still okay to visit, and I am assured that I'm welcome. Not knowing how best to address a Zulu King, I say the only thing I can think of: "Hello, King!" He just stays quiet. But I think I struck the right tone of deference and respect for a Head of State, don't you?

I do find it interesting that the Comrades Marathon comes through this way. Maybe I’ll return and run that race in the future.

As we return to the ship, there’s another Zulu dancing show onboard. Thinking it would be more of the same, we nevertheless reluctantly find seats to watch this one. It wasn’t the same. The jumping and tumbling are nearly unbelievable.

In the evening, we dine on kudu, springbok, ostrich, and crocodile. It beats the other way around.


Hluhluwe Game Reserve, Richards Bay, S.A.

What’s the difference between a zoo, a game reserve, and a national park? Not much. Maybe size.

Hluhluwe is pretty big, but it is entirely fenced in, as was Addo. So it’s more of a game reserve than a national park in my estimation. It does provide a way for tourists to see the large animals in something like their native habitats, and for better or worse, allows concentrated management of that game.

Lady Adventurer and I climb into the Land Rover with eight of our best friends. It’s raining, and we have ponchos. Lady A., sitting in the back, gets somewhat more wet than us lucky ones.

Had it not been for the rain, the park would have included stunning scenic beauty. As it is, we concentrate instead on keeping dry and warm. It does help when we spot some occasional wildlife. We see some giraffes munching on tree branches, a couple white rhinos, a nyala (another type of antelope), and hippos that are (thank goodness) a mile away.

White Rhino at Hluhluwe Game Reserve

Giraffe at Hluhluwe Game Reserve

All this is pretty cool. But we actually wish it was a little warmer. Not to mention dryer.


Maputo, Mozambique

The largest and capital city of this sprawling country on the eastern coast of Africa, Maputo has a storied history, and we learn about it during our city tour. We visit the world-famous train station, and extensive craft market, a pretty nifty natural history museum, and a fortress used to protect and sustain the slave trade.

We witness some extreme poverty, but also visit an opulent hotel in a rich area for a nice lunch. There seems to be a large income gap between rich and poor here, and it’s perpetuated by a corrupt government.

Moputo, Mozambique

Moputo, Mozambique

Some Days at Sea

The moon, Venus and Jupiter, early morning

The itinerary has been keeping us quite busy, so Lady Adventurer and I are happy to have some time to relax. We’re making friends and having lots of fun playing trivia and attending lectures. But mostly sitting down at tables with strangers and sharing stories for our two-plus-hour long dinners. Sharing extremely slow food with friends like this is the way life is supposed to be.

Debbie and me, Tom and Nancy Mackenzie, Lore and Fred Waechter

Nosy Be, Madagascar

I am sweating like a pig. I am not sure how much pigs sweat, but let’s just say it’s a lot. The thing is, it’s only been a few minutes since I’ve arrived here in Nosy Be by boat. Nosy Be is a province and also an island. The place we’re at is in the N.B. province, but it’s an island off the nearly main island of Nosy Be, which is itself an island off the coast of the really-main island of Madagascar.  Madagascar, of course, is an island off the coast of Africa.

Back to the perspiration. From the beach, we’d climbed directly into the Lokobe Natural Reserve jungle with eight shipmates and a couple guides. The air is still and the humidity is stifling. But Dan and Lady A. abide.

Right away, there’s wildlife galore. We see chameleons (three types), geckos, snakes (including a python and a good-sized boa), and lemurs. We had been excited about the spotting the latter, but here in their natural habitat, they were a little hard to see, high in the trees. Although we walk for an hour, we don’t get real far, since the going is tough. It is amazing how much wildlife there is in this small area.

Lokobe NP, Nosy Be, Madagascar

Nosy Be, Madagascar

Afterwards, we boat over to a small village of about 100 inhabitants for fruit and soft drinks. Some ladies sing and dance, and the kids are cute.


Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Sounds exotic, no? Doesn’t that name conjure thoughts of a busy, bustling port city, alien and strange to typical Americans like us, you’d be on track. On the one hand, there isn’t a whole lot for tourists to see and do. But on the other, Dar really is a good place to be an explorer. Lady Adventurer and I do like to think of ourselves as such, so we’re going for it.

With no organized tour, we set out on our own. We’re walking with another couple from the ship, and you can say that we stick out a little on these crowded, dusty streets. We find the National Museum and enter with only a minor mishap: trying to ‘tailgate’ our way in by following some tour-bus groups, we are busted, and required to pay five U.S. dollars each. I am then actually busted again for trying to pay with a slightly torn ten dollar bill. You can’t get away with anything around here.

The museum is mildly interesting, with nice exhibits on petroglyphs and also hominid archaeology. The four of us then walk another block or two to the National Botanical Garden, where there were some green plants and trees. Of interest here, however, were the couple monkeys scampering around until they jumped over the wall to cross the street into the city proper.


Zanzibar, Tanzania

If Dar sounded like an exotic, far-away place, what can we say about Zanzibar?

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous province of Tanzania. It’s also an island (that has a couple other names as well) and a city. This is beginning to sound familiar. But lookyahere: the country of Tanzania is made up of said province of Zanzibar as well as the mainland portion of the country, which used to be called Tanganyika. Bet you didn’t know THAT.

Jozani Forest is a national park in these parts. Today it appears to be overrun with tourists, as their small buses struggle to get around one another on the narrow, winding, dusty, dirt-roads. I remark that there appear to be more people than monkeys, and it seems appropriate because we haven’t seen any of the tree-dweller types, even though that’s why we came.

After several hours of trekking through the forest and mangroves, we finally begin to see some black monkeys. They’re fun to watch. Even though it’s now time to leave, our guide Hussein isn’t satisfied. He wants to show us the rare Red Colubus monkeys that the park is known for.

After another hour (overtime for Hussein) of driving and hiking, we finally do encounter a troop of the famous red monkeys. You can look it up if you like, but troop is indeed the correct term for a grouping of monkeys.

Red Colubus Monkey in Josani Forest, Zanzibar, Tanzania

It was worth the effort. The troop is in the tree above us, and also in several nearby. They’re only a few feet away! They make quite a ruckus, and are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Well, maybe about the same.


Amboseli National Park, Kenya, NOT

It’s the Third of February, and we’re traveling east towards the Seychelles, at great speed. Yup, we’re really moving. The thing is, this is the day that we were supposed to be spending in Mombasa, Kenya. It’s also the day that Lady Adventurer and I were to fly from Mombasa to Amboseli National Park for that one-day safari.

Said safari was going to be the epic highlight of this here entire epic trip. We’d been considering it from the very beginning, and were looking forward to it with great anticipation. We figured this would be our only-ever chance to take a real-life safari in the Serengeti area of Africa. But oh, it was gonna cost us: about a grand apiece, all told. That’s what we spend for some entire vacations.

Alas. No Kenya, no Mombasa, no Amboseli, no safari. The reason? The heightened threat of terrorism, as per warnings from the U.S. State Department and other countries. Instead, we’re leaving East Africa a day early to travel east across the Indian Ocean. To make up for the lost day and port, we will now spend two days instead of one in the Seychelles. I suppose things could be worse than spending and additional day in paradise. It probably beats becoming a hostage or being killed in a random explosion.


More Sea Days

With a couple exceptions, my early morning runs have consisted of running in circles on the deck, or running on the fitness center treadmill. Usually some of each. Since it’s frequently dark when I start, I often see the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter, as well as the Southern Cross. I see them this day, but something else as well…

It’s 4:20 AM, but it feels earlier because of the time change; we’re heading east, and we have crossed into a new time zone. Passengers and crew are often few and far-between at this hour, but that’s not the case today. A Super Bowl party is going on in Horizons Lounge, where I go to get my pre-run coffee.  The TV is on, the sound is turned up, and there are a couple dozen people watching. After the outdoor portion of my run, I move onto the treadmill for more, where I watch the fourth quarter.

Valentines Day

Praslin and Mahe, Seychelles

Due to the missed port of Mombasa, we are stopping at two islands in the Seychelles, rather than one. The first is Praslin. Since this stop had been unplanned, Oceania came up with some things to do. Lady Adventurer stays behind, whilst fearless Dan goes on a snorkeling expedition. He is loaded on to the tender boat, transferred to Praslin, unloaded, then loaded onto a snorkeling boat, and finally transferred and unloaded at Coco Island for the snork.

After over ninety minutes of transfers and travel, Dan thinks said snorkeling had better be truly great here; it could’ve been done on Praslin, as we transferred through. Alas. It isn’t. The coral is mostly bleached and dead-looking. There are some fish and some sea urchins, but that’s about it. An hour or so is spent in the water (which is quite comfortable, temperature-wise), all the way back to the Nautica. Even though the snork leaves much to be desired, the island scenery is marvelous. The Seychelles – all that we can see - are beauties.

Our second day in the Seychelles is spent on the island of Mahe, the chain’s largest, and home of the capital city, Victoria. Lady Adventurer and I are in the botanical garden, and like everything else in the Seychelles, it’s very lush, tropical, beautiful, and bountiful. Earlier, we’d been to a tea factory and several other vantage points around the island that provided marvelous views. Add the Seychelles to the short list of places that are worth a return visit.

Mahe, Seychelles

Still More Days at Sea

We are headed for the Maldives. It will take us well over two days of sailing. As we cross the Equator, King Neptune, several mermaids, and a Pirate encourage passengers to kiss a fish, and then get dunked by ice water. I’m not sure I understand why they’re doing this, but it seems like a stupid, but funny activity.

That interrupted the Dominoes game we had going with Nancy and Tom Mackenzie. We’ve made many good friends on board, and more all the time. But we’re closest with Tom and Nancy. Champagne party tomorrow, anyone?

around the Maldives

Male, Maldives

We’re walking along the shore of this island-city. By island-city, I mean that the entire island is one city, with no room to spare. It’s crowded, dirty, stinky (from exhaust and pollution), and motorbikes are everywhere. Like everything else here, the sidewalk is crowded, and we have to continually get out of the way of folks walking the opposite way to avoid being pushed into the water. We see a walking tour group crossing the street, and they have to stop traffic to do it. We take our lives in our hands to cross facing them at the same time – it’s seemingly the only way. We arrive at a square with a flag and some buildings. There’s a bit of grass here. The buildings include a mosque. Pigeons are everywhere. This is as good as it gets here in Male. On the way back, Lady Adventurer notices a sign saying, ‘no spitting,’ and thinks, spitting is the least of their problems here.

Back on board, it seems that one nearby island is used for burning trash, so even being anchored here isn’t pleasant. There’s garbage in the water too.

The rest of the Maldives may be better, although not much, based on what we’ve seen from the ship.  Snorkeling and diving are big here. And some of the (probably far-away) islands are supposed to have nice beaches.

Prior to this trip, we didn’t know much about the Seychelles or the Maldives. Now we do. Similarities: they’re both island chains in the Indian Ocean. Differences: the Seychelles are paradise. Lady A. had considered writing a letter of complaint to the King of the Maldives, but then changed her mind, since, ‘the islands will all be underwater in a few years, anyway.’

Male, Maldives - one big city

Columbo, Sri Lanka

This here main Buddhist temple (Ganguramaya) truly is something to behold. Classic and ornate Buddhist art is everywhere, and tourists and worshipers alike appear display proper reverence. In fact, it appears that Sri Lankans in general are a gracious people.

Prior to the temple, we’d visited the national museum and a national landmark shrine.

Buddhist Temple, Columbo, Sri Lanka

Although Sri Lanka people are great, there seems to be too many of them. Sounds like the Maldives again, doesn’t it? One additional problem here: the Chinese are building everything. High-rises are going up all over, and there’s a major infrastructure project to reclaim hundreds of acres of land adjacent to the sea. We’ve seen this time and again: huge investments from the Chinese that these poor countries can never repay. The bounty will be in terms of natural and human resources.


Phuket, Thailand

Arrival into Phuket, Thailand

Phuket (pronounced ‘pooket’) proper is about 6 miles away. Since we didn’t manage to get onto our regularly scheduled tour (the ship was late due to high wind and currents), we’re walking along the busy roadside outside the port area. We’re nearly killed by crazy drivers who wizz by, and we take our lives in our hands as we cross the road. We do get to a small beach, where there are some fishermen and some inexplicable cages about. They may have been for crabs. The rest is street food and other shacks. Some of the food smells great, but there are plenty of bad smells to be had as well.

Our ship has come in

It’s unfortunate that we were not able to get over to the iconic beaches of Phuket. They’re also famous for the disaster of the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the place.


Langkawi and Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia

We’re in the queue. It’s been an hour and a half, and we’re only just now getting into the cable-car gondola. It will take us to the top of 950-meter Mount Machincang, but here’s the thing. Since we’ve only got four hours allotted for the tour, and since we spent a good portion of time driving here as well as stopping to look at roadside monkeys, and since we will still need to stop at the all-important rice museum on the way back, there is no time for getting out of the cable-car to look around at the top. It seems that we’d have to get in yet ANOTHER QUEUE to wait for a car to take us back down. So it’s just stay in the car all the way up and all the way down.

Not that the rice museum in any way redeemed this tour, but I can still say that I like the Langkawi area; it’s quite scenic and very pristine – a wonderful part of Malaysia.

Now we’re climbing stairs. There are a lot of stairs (I believe the number is 270), and they’re quite steep. What is the destination this time, you ask? Kuala Lumpur’s famous Batu Caves. Now you would like to know what a Batu Cave is. Let me tell you: it’s really something. The entire route up, into and through, down, up again and back is one big Hindu religious shrine; the symbols are all around. The religious stuff would be interesting enough, but the location is like, wow. And don’t even get me started about the monkeys that are terrorizing everyone as they climb up and down into the caves.

Batu Caves,  Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia

 Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia

After ogling the caves, we visit the new King’s Palace, some colonial buildings, and the Thean Hou Temple. This is a Chinese Temple that’s very red. Extremely red.

Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malaysia turns out to be a pretty cool place. The only fly in the ointment, besides too many visitors to the cable-car, is the air pollution. It was awful in Port Klang, our starting point for the morning. I am told that it originates across the Strait of Malacca from Indonesia. I understand completely: bad things nearly always come from other places.


Singapore, Singapore

Combine Vegas, Disney World, Tokyo, and Dubai, sprinkle it with some Hong Kong, and you might come close to Singapore. It’s impossible to capture this place in photos; the wow factor here is just not possible to describe.

We have drinks with Tom and Nancy at the top of ‘The Hotel.’ There are lots of hotels here, but only one ‘Hotel.’ The very top of The Hotel tops three towers and provides 360 degree views of this fantastical city. The infinity pool here is something to behold as well: want to swim with nothing underneath but 58 stories of air? This is your chance.

Having a drink with Nancy and Tom Mackenzie at the top of 'The Hotel'

From The Hotel, we can view our next destinations. The four of us walk, take various elevators and trams to get to Sun park, and the domed Flower Garden and Cloud Forest. Each venue is more fantastical than the last.

Flower Garden, Singapore

Singapore seems boundless. How the heck do they do it?


Goodbye

After 30 days on the Oceania Nautilus, it’s time to say goodbye. We have certainly had a wonderful time, and we’d likely do it all again if we could. I say likely, because the experience was not absolutely perfect. Some of the excursions left a great deal to be desired, the food - although still excellent - didn’t seem to be quite up to Oceania’s exclusive standard, and of course there were the missed and late arrivals to various ports of call.

But one of the best parts is that we met so many fine people. On a 30-day voyage with about 650 passengers, you’re bound to get to know some of them pretty well. Tom and Nancy are a case in point – we seem to have a lot in common with them, and we’ll miss them. Same for several others.

One more thing about doing it all again: we did go ahead and book a future cruise. Maybe that one will be slightly more perfect.

Until Next Time

Further reading and information:

To see my running blog about this trip, click here.

I even have something in my environmental blog, Don't Poop in the Pool - to see that, click here.

2018 Hocking Hills

This is our third of three mini/weekend trips for the summer. This time, Lady Adventurer and I traveled with daughter and son-in-law Veronica and Barry Dancer, and of course their kids, Malcolm and Vincent. Just like last year, we stayed in a cabin in the Hocking Hills area of southern Ohio.

It was a beautiful cabin called, 'Outside Inn.' The kids loved it, and we celebrated Malcolm's eighth birthday. Mostly, we went for the hiking and the sights. For hiking, there was:

Clear Creek Metropark: Lady A and I arrived early, so we hiked the Fern trail there. It was more difficult than anticipated, but a nice walk in the woods.

Hiking Clear Creek

Hiking Clear Creek

Cantwell Cliffs: This was a fairly spectacular hike in and around some steep rock cliffs, which included two amphitheater formations, complete with waterfalls. The hiking was extremely difficult, but everyone, including the kidlets did fine.

Cantwell Cliffs Hike

Cantwell Cliffs Hike

Cantwell Cliffs Hike

Rockbridge: This park was also close to our cabin. Veronica, Debbie and I were the only ones to brave the two-mile trail. The rock bridge itself was pretty cool. Yes, you could walk above it, but although we could go nearby, we weren't able to walk completely underneath.

Rockbridge

Rockbridge

The campfire was a highlight, as always.

We had hoped to see some stars, and possibly even experience the new John Glenn Astronomy park, but it rained Friday night, and it was cloudy most of the remaining time. It finally became clear as we were getting ready to go. Debbie saw a shooting star!

2018 Wild Wonderful West Virginia

This is the second of three mini-vacations for the year. The primary reason for this one? Hiking!

We had to plan around the expected rain and thunderstorms, and for once, it worked out. We drove straight down to Canaan Valley State Park, encountering awful traffic on the way, and did that hike first. We stayed closer to our home base of Morgantown on Saturday, the second day. That second bit of hiking was in nearby Coopers Rock State Forest. Here's the rundown. Or walkdown, if you will.

We stumbled out of the car after that awful five and a half hour drive through terrible traffic. Got right on the ski-lift and rode to the top of the mountain. Our two and a half mile hike would be back down to the car via the Bald Knob Trail.

Chair Lift

When we emerged from the chairlift, I thought we'd be at the top of Bald Knob. But although we were high up - it had been a long ride - we had to hike further to get to 'the knob.'

Hiking to Bald Knob

Hiking up to Bald Knob

On the Bald Knob trail

It turned out to be about halfway 'down' the trail, and that first part wasn't bad at all. The second half was. It was a steep, knee-buckling and quad-killing hike. Yet it was spectacular at the mountain-top lookouts, as well as all the way down. Even though our legs, and Lady Adventurer's feet, were killing us, we absolutely loved this hike.

Dinner at the Canaan Valley Park Lodge was tasty, and a nice treat for our hard work.

Saturday would be our easy day, I said. I think that I lost some credibility with the Lady Adventurer and Hiker Extraordinaire after about five miles on the trails. But like Canaan Valley, Coopers Rock park was spectacularly scenic. We hiked the Raven's Rock Trail (there was a great lookout), the Rock City Trail (this is a lot like our ledges trail), and also a few shorter ones.

Ravens Rock

Ravens Rock

The woods were great, and the lookouts on the Cheat River Gorge were, well, gorgeous.

We loved this little hiking trip. We will be back.

Also, see my running blog post about this trip.

2018 Whitefish Point and Paradise, Michigan

Lady Adventurer and I spent the weekend in Wonderful Whitefish Point, Michigan. It's also known as Paradise, and for good reason. The trip was for the purpose of running the Whitefish Point Marathon. The report is therefore located in my running blog. Check it out!

Whitefish Point Marathon Race Report

2018 Panama City Beach

Our friends Iris and Mike Zielinski and Linda and Bob Rafalski would be staying for the entire month of February. Would that Lady Adventurer and I could do the same. Alas. I have to save my vacation days for next year's long trip. Our consolation prize is to spend only three days in PCB, after a two-day drive down, and followed by a two-day trip back. It would have to do.

The fourteen to fifteen-hour drive is arduous when you're in a hurry. And when it's dark. And raining. But our plan was to get there fast so we could take it slow. (That's where we want to go, way down to PCB.)

We went to St. Andrews State Park, Historic St. Andrews (it's within Panama City), ate some good seafood and relaxed. But mostly, we spent time with our friends. Mike and Iris' friends Jerrol and Vicki also visited, and the eight of us had a lot of fun. Among the most memorable moments were Iris borrowing duct tape, and then the next thing we see is a mirror attached to a stick reaching over from the next door balcony. Of course we made faces at it. And then there was the towel incident. Debbie told me the towel I hung to dry on the balcony railing would fall. When she did see it appear to fly away, she immediately sent me downstairs by the pool to retrieve it. I looked up when I couldn't find it down there, only to see Iris holding it on her balcony. For some reason, everyone (except the towel retrieval person) found this hilarious.

Their place is called Beachside Resort, and the Rafalskis and Zielinskis got the monthly 'Snowbird' rate. Lady Adventurer and I stayed at a Fairfield Inn, because, I'm Gold for Life (with Marriott), you know. The Fairfield was fine, although not on a beach, whereas their place is built for the beach and the pool.

Beachside Resort is really neat. Our friends' rooms each had two bedrooms and a tiny kitchen: just what you need for a month. The pool is heated, so just bobbing the day away is an attractive option. We also walked the beach, because the beach must be walked. The lanais face the ocean and pool, and also afford great views of the sunsets. Spending a month here, in my opinion, is the best way to be a snowbird.

Lady Adventurer and I had a blast during this whirlwind trip. We will return.

2017 Iberia

Iberia describes the peninsula that includes the countries of Spain and Portugal, as well as Andorra, Gibraltar and a small section of France. The term isn’t used as often now as in the past, but it’s appropriate for this trip of ours in which we explored much of Spain and Portugal.

I have been to both countries previously, on business trips, but this time it would be for fun, and it would also be along with my Lady Adventurer wife, Debbie.


Madrid

It was hit the ground running as we arrived. The flights went well, we found our ride, and we were able to get checked into the hotel even though it was still morning. All this enabled our plan to visit the Prado to materialize.

The Prado is one of the great art museums in the world. We walked through Retiro Park to get there. Fellow Trafalgar travelers Don and Clara, whom we’d met at the airport, came with us. Retiro itself was interesting. It’s a large, well-manicured city park that was full of people of all sorts on a Saturday afternoon. It must be the thing to do for local families. I would run here the next morning.

The Prado lived up to its reputation. Of course we didn’t have as much time as necessary to do it justice, but we saw wonderful European paintings from the 15th through the 19th centuries. We especially liked those of Goya and Velazquez.

The food in Madrid was great, and it would get even get better as this Spain leg went on. Tapas galore.

And faithful readers of these posts will attest to my consistent concern about this matter. I apologize for the repetition, but it simply must be said once again. As much as I love Europe, and especially Europeans, why in the world can’t they build a shower that doesn’t make the bathroom floor completely wet? And please explain why coffee isn’t available early in the morning – when it’s needed? Needed badly? Okay, enough complaining. Back to fun stuff.


Toledo

Toledo

This medieval walled city is about an hour from Madrid. We went as a day trip. The old town is located on a high hill. We took six escalators to get to the top. It’s a good thing we had a guide to lead us through, since the streets, walkways and alleys were a jumbled, confusing tangle.

It was a fun walkabout. And yes, there was a reference to Toledo, Ohio. We actually found a street by that name.

Yes it's Toledo, but which one?

Cordoba

The Mezquita, the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, is fairly fantastical. It was built in the eighth century as a mosque. This is notable because it was only a very short time after Islam became a religion. It started out large enough to hold 5,000 worshipers, but was soon expanded enough to hold 20,000. Hundreds of years later, as the Christians pushed the Moors out, they converted the huge building to a cathedral.

One amazing aspect of this is that those early Christians who were generally not known for their consideration of other cultural institutions, chose to convert the building rather than raze it completely. They were evidently as impressed with the structure as everyone is these days.

And it is definitely impressive. The cathedral part shows of a plethora of architectural styles, as things changed over the centuries. Parts of the mosque were mostly left alone. There are hundreds of marble pillars everywhere. Our local guide made us as impressed as she was.


Sevilla

Sevilla Plaza Espana

According to Rick Steves, “Flamboyant Sevilla thrums with flamenco music, sizzles in the summer heat, and pulses with the passion of Don Juan and Carmen… Sevilla has soul. It’s a wonderful-to-be-alive kind of place.” I couldn’t agree more.

On our way to Sevilla, we stopped at Pueto Lapice. This was a famous haunt of Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha. And they sure let you know about it with various statues and other various figures and figurines about the village.

Once within Sevilla for good, we did the tapas thing once again, but this time it was with the group, and of gourmet quality. We walked around the old town a lot, and saw the various sights. One highlight was their famous cathedral. It’s where Christopher Columbus is buried. Well not quite. For one thing, there was some controversy about whether it’s really him, but it appears that there’s now DNA proof of that. The other thing is that he’s not exactly in the ground, but hoisted up above by some big templar-esque statues.

The Trafalgar ‘Be My Guest’ dinner was definitely another of the highlights of the trip. Tour Director Jay Mathieson arranged for a visit and dinner at Basilippo, a family olive farm and world-class olive oil processing facility. We learned a lot about olive oil and had a great dinner. The best part was listening to the proprietor speak so passionately about his craft.

Olive Oil Farm

Olive Oil Farm

Ole! Yet another highlight came an hour or so later, at the El Patio Flamenco show. I am probably not the first to say this, but you can quote me just the same. If you haven’t seen flamenco, you haven’t been to Spain. It was passionate, fiery and fun. There were ole’s galore throughout the night.


Granada

It was fun walking around this medieval town with our Australian friends Ian, Marg, Barry and Rhonda. We did the tapas thing once again; this is one of the last places where you can get a free tapa when you order a drink. Most importantly, we learned a new term: ‘chock-a-block’, meaning, crammed full of people or things. And this small town is certainly choc-a-block with people, cars, squares and more people.

Granada is really all about the Alhambra. Another medieval icon, this thousand year-old Moorish palace and fortress complex is huge, and mostly preserved. The intricate work on the ceilings and walls is fantastic, but the most impressive part was the gardens. There were acres and acres of flowers, manicured hedges and fountains. As much as we enjoyed this attraction, we were upset when we later learned that one of our fellow travelers was pick-pocketed for about 2,000 Euros.


Gaudix and Valencia

En route to Valencia, we drove the scenic coastal road, and made a stop in Gaudix. Gaudix is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the home of cave-dwelling troglodytes. We got to visit one such family, walking through several rooms of their underground home. It was all pretty cool.

Valencia is the home of oranges, paella, El Cid and the famous tomato food fight. It’s also the location of the ultra-modern complex known as the City Arts and Sciences. Recently completed, this group of museums and exposition centers are dazzling to the eye. And the scale is huge. Lady Adventurer pointed out that a row of large ceramic fixtures – really just a design of some kind – looked like a bunch of urinals for giants.

Valencia (1)

Valencia (2) - for giants

We had some horchata, which is Spanish tigernut milk. It tasted like a cross between almond milk and potato juice, but was very sweet. Another drink, sangria, is big here, as it was in Granada and Sevilla. The Spaniards don’t drink our variety, but so many tourists do, that it’s very common. The locals drink a version made with only the red wine, fruit and lemon soda, called tinto de verano. We tried some of that as well. Not bad.

The truly authentic Valencia paella also wasn’t bad, but there’s no seafood involved; just chicken, rabbit and snails. The one we tried omitted the rabbit and snails. We still want to try seafood paella, but Debbie still insists that my version is best, no matter what.

Whilst traipsing through the old town area (Valencia is over 1,000 years old), Lady Adventurer tripped over some uneven bricks and hurt her knee. She was in pain afterwards. I joked that she hadn’t had enough sangria, but she wasn’t in a laughing mood.

Lady Adventurer just before the fall

Peñiscola, Barcelona and Montserrat

Peniscola, where El Cid Beach Scene was filmed

Along the way from Valencia to Barcelona, we stopped in scenic Peñiscola (Lady Adventurer was the only one I know of who joked about the name) for lunch as well as a walk along the Mediterranean beach and up to the ancient castle of the 'Spanish Pope', used in the film El Cid.

We were fortunate that the Lady Adventurer’s injured knee was a little better. She could get around without too much pain, although stairs were a problem. There weren’t too many of those, as we drove, and then walked around Barcelona.

The streets and walkways were filled with people. Some were normal tourists like us, but many were in town because of the upcoming (in just two days) Catalan referendum for independence. There were hundreds of tractors clogging everything up. It seems that the farmers, along with the vast majority of other Catalans, wanted to protest, and lobby in favor of a yes vote. Catalan independence flags were everywhere, including on the tractors.

Tractors and Flags in independent-minded Barcelona

Sagrada Familia (1)

The primary sight to see in Barcelona is the Gaudi masterpiece, Sagrada Familia. We saw the outside one day, and the inside the next. Well over 130 years in the making thus far, this fantastical church with its spires and mixture of styles, will not be done for years to come; they say ten more, but by the looks of it, I have my doubts. In any case, it must be seen to be believed. And it begs the question (about Gaudi, and the other architects that came before and after): what were they thinking?

Sagrada Familia (2) - notice the hang-gliding Jesus

Montserrat is a monastery and small village built into a mountain that is so jagged, it looks as though it too was designed by Gaudi. We saw the clouds below us; all the views were spectacular.

Montserrat

We had our final farewell dinner in Barcelona. Time to say goodbye to all our new friends, our fellow travelers for the past nine days. It was a good group; we all seemed to enjoy each others company immensely. And Jay had been wonderful as well. We’ll miss them all.

But now it was time to head to Lisbon. As we departed the hotel on Sunday morning, October 1st, the Catalans were massing to vote across the street. The national government was trying to prevent the voting entirely, so we were wondering how this would turn out.

Our Spanish Wonder Group

Lisbon

As mentioned, I’d been here before, and I’d seen some of these same sights, but I wanted to have the Lady Adventurer join the fun. The really good news is that we will be spending a great deal of time in this lovely city: three nights on our own at the Marriott, then two at the Turim Marques at the beginning of the Trafalgar tour, and finally one night at the Turim Avenida Avenida Liberdade as we return before departing back to the States.

Moorish Castle in Sintra, near Lisbon

Lady Adventurer and I did indeed go on an adventure. It was planes, trains and automobiles, without the planes and automobiles, but with autobuses. The goal? A grand tour of and around Sintra, Cabo da Roca and Cascais, all on public transportation, for a low 15 euros each. We walked to the train station and rode out to Sintra, where we picked up the crowded 434 bus that travels the area, picking up and dropping off people from all the attractions. And there are some pretty great attractions there; the scenery from the 1,000 year old Moorish Castle and the Disney-esque Pena palace is spectacular. Even with the bus transportation, there were huge hills to climb to get to some of these places. Too bad we didn’t have time for all of the palaces and castles. Next it was the 403 bus over to Cabo da Roca, the easternmost tip of Europe. The sea cliffs there are stunning. After that it was back on the next 403 bus to Cascais. Cascais is a very old-fashioned beach town for the rich and famous. It’s cool, even though a bit long in the tooth. Now it was time to get on a train to take us back to Lisbon. This train was hot – not at all comfortable like the one out to Sintra in the morning. As we arrived, we couldn’t find a taxi, so I had the bright idea to take the metro back to the Marriott. Normally a good idea (because they’re fast and efficient), it didn’t work out so well this time, because we had an extremely long walk after getting off at the wrong station. Lady Adventurer wound up with a record number of steps for the day.

Pena Palace in Sintra

Cabo da Roca

Did I mention that it’s been hot in Lisbon? 31 to 33 every day. It’s also dry; not humid, but if you’re in the sun for any length of time, you feel it. Especially when you’re setting step records.

We took it a little easier after that long day in and around Sintra. Yet we did see about all there is to see in Lisbon:
- We followed Rick Steves’ suggested walking tour of the Bairro Alto neighborhood, starting with a ride on a funicular. We explored the Baixa area (the main square) a little as well, and had some good seafood at a tiny authentic restaurant. I know it was authentic, because they were tying bibs on the locals who talked in.
- We explored the Parque das Nacoes, the ultra modern part of Lisbon. Built for the 1998 World Expo that celebrated the 500th anniversary of Vasco Da Gama’s voyage to India, this is also where I used to work during my previous visits. The park is built along the wide bay section of the Tagus River; the architecture, scale and size of everything is surreal.
- We did the Alfama thing, which is to say we got lost in the tangle of streets just below the picturesque hilltop castle in Lisbon. Had a nice lunch up there, and then worked our way down to the Fado Museum. Earlier, I mentioned that you haven’t seen Spain until you’ve experienced Flamenco. The same can be said for Portugal and Fado. But Fado isn’t a dance, it’s soulful singing, mostly by women accompanied by men with Spanish guitars. We didn’t get our dose of Fado late at night in a bar like you’re supposed to; but the museum visit was the next best thing.
- We saw the sights in Belem: the Monastery of Jeronimos with its Manueline Architecture, the Tower of Belem, the Monument to the Discoveries; not to mention the Golden-Gateish 25th of April Bridge and the huge Rio-esque statue of Christ that sits across the river. On top of all that, there was a 10K race starting and finishing just in front of the monastery for us to try to get around. Too bad I missed it.

One more thought about the Lisbon I love. The Marriott not in the best location, but it is, by my own estimation, 100,000,000 times better than any of the hotels Trafalgar gives us on their tours. Those are okay, but they’re not Marriotts.

Alfama in Lisbon

The Algarve

Algarve - Armacao de Pera lunc

The Algarve is the huge beach area of Portugal. It makes up the 100-mile southern coast of the country, and it’s where all the Europeans go to hit the beach these days. It’s very Mediterranean-like in many ways, although technically it’s on the Atlantic Ocean.

On our way down from Lisbon, we drove along the scenic coast, stopped at Setubal to see their market (it was just a bunch of fish), and also at a Lusitano stud ranch (Solar do Monte Negro), where we had our ‘Be My Guest’ Lunch. Lady Adventurer and I are not horse people, but it was good to hear of the passion these folks put into their avocation. The family has run the ranch for over 300 years, but there was an interruption as the property was confiscated during a communist revolution in 1974. They were able to buy it all back a few years later, and they’re still looking for the remains of the breeding stock, which had been distributed around the country. The traditional chicken and other food they served in their country home was very good.

We stayed at a beach town called Armacao de Pera. It’s about in the middle of the Algarve, and the Holiday Inn sure is nice. After all the on-the-go touring, it felt good to relax, if only for a short while.

Western Algarve area

The western end of the Algarve, including the southwest corner of Portugal, Cape St. Vincent and Lagos, is all pretty spectacular. The eastern side, including the walled city of Faro, was nice as well. The Chapel of St. Lawrence in Almansil with its mosaic walls made up of thousands of blue tiles was an unexpected highlight.

Algarve town of Faro

Chapel of St. Lawrence in Almansil

We started to get to know our fellow travelers, once again. They’re mostly the same type: folks mostly our age (that is to say old people), just finding their way through life. **That phrase, just an old person finding his/her way through life, was conceived by Lady Adventurer to describe someone who had initially irritated her, before she thought better of it. It’s now become our mantra to describe anyone and everyone.

Lunch in the Algarve with our friends Jan and Paula (not the old people!)

Evora

This is a nice, medieval walled city with a cathedral, white-washed buildings, squares and lots of cobblestones. After driving up here and touring the city (and seeing the chapel of the bones, in which the interior walls were entirely covered with bones, and was pretty cool), we did what anyone else would do in the same situation: take an optional tour to a different medieval walled city with a cathedral, white-washed buildings, squares and lots of cobblestones.

Monsaraz - check out the guy with his olive oil

Monsaraz

This option took us to Monsaraz, which is ‘deep in the Alentejo area’. This particular medieval walled city with a cathedral, white-washed buildings, squares and lots of cobblestones was outstanding, and very much worth the trip. Monsaraz is a hilltop town with 50 residents, and the whitewashed buildings with a 360 degree panoramic view was sublime. This was yet another highlight of this entire trip.

Another memorable moment came the following morning when I got very badly lost during my run. But you will need to read my running blog to hear more about that one.


Viseu

On the way between Evora and Viseu, we stopped in Castello de Vide, in order to walk around this charming hilltop medieval walled city with a cathedral, white-washed buildings, squares and lots of cobblestones. We also stopped at an ancient Roman artifact: the bones of a 2000-year-old block building. Lady Adventurer would like to buy it and then flip it.

The wine and food pairing dinner at a charming Insua Manor, an old manor house, was great. We’ve been enjoying the company of several of our traveling companions, including some Americans with much in common, Jan Simpson and Paula Touhey, and several Canadians (Keith, Tacey, Gary and Jill, to name a few) and Aussies.

Insua Manor

Insua Manor Dinner - that was a pretty big table

And have I mentioned the heat in Portugal? I suppose I have, but I’ll do it again. We’ve been here for ten days now, and it’s been 30 or slightly above for each and every one of them. And there’s never a cloud in the sky. They have been experiencing a severe drought, and the landscape shows it. Now that we’re in the north, there’s some hope that things will cool just a bit.

Porto and the Douro Valley

Douro Valley

We drove through the Douro Valley on the way up to Porto. And what a drive that is. This has to be the most scenic wine country in the world. It’s where they make port and other wines. The terracing is nearly unbelievable. It’s hard to imagine how they get to all those places to pick the grapes.

The beachside dinner, walking tour and on our own time in the thriving river and port town of Porto were great. We tasted some fancy port wine, had a nice lunch and rode the funicular on the way back from town.

The Douro river cruise was slightly disappointing (crowded and didn’t go real far), but the second dinner on the brightly lit-up river was really great.

Porto

Porto

The Road to Fatima

On the way from Porto to the Fatima area, there were several stops of interest:
- The historic and scenic university city of Coimbra
- The convent home and castle of the Knights of Templar in Tomar (they were quite prosperous and powerful, until ultimately double-crossed, hunted down and killed by the king of France)
- The monastery at Batalha, which celebrates Portugal’s nationhood and independence from Spain

We stayed at the Eurostars Oasis Plaza Hotel in Figueira da Foz. This is important enough to mention because:
a) it was a last-minute substitution, since we weren’t able to stay in super-crowded Fatima
b) it was on the beach… a beach that we never saw, since it was dark when we arrived, and dark when we left
c) it was by far the nicest hotel – they were supposed to be four and five star, but this was the only real five star



Fatima and Beyond

The date was Friday, October 13, 2017. Fatima was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the date of the third appearance of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children. And we were there. There were a few other people to commemorate the occasion as well. Oh, did I say a few? I meant a few million. Really. The funny thing is that I was here on May 13, 2007, the 90th anniversary of the date of the first appearance. That was also a crowded occasion.

There were a few folks in Fatima

The Lady Adventurer and I, along with Jan, Paula, Keith, Tacey, Gary and Jill, did our best to navigate around and through the throngs. We wound up spending the time with coffee, sandwiches and beer at a couple cafes.


On to Lisbon

After that memorable stop in Fatima, we made a couple more stops: hilltop Nasarre overlooking the beach town, and also most-scenic-of-all walled city of Obidos. Both were great. In fact, we would have been happy to spend a whole lot more time in Obidos.

Nazarre

Obidos

We finally made it back to Lisbon. Said goodbye to all our friends, as well as to our great Travel Director, Alex, at the farewell dinner.

Our Portugal Group

A few thoughts and lessons learnt:

1) Group tours have their advantages and disadvantages. Wake-up call at 6:30; Breakfast and bags out at 7:00; bus departs at 8:00; comfort and coffee stop at 9:30; sightseeing with local specialist at 11; and so on. That kind of strict timeline discipline allows everyone to stick to a tight schedule, and to see so very much. And you simply could not see and do all this stuff on your own in these time frames. Some things, like the Alhambra, could hardly be done individually at all. Still, this kind of life does wear one down. Trafalgar (and Cosmos, for that matter) is a good bargain, all things considered.
2) A little kindness, consideration and concern for others goes a long way. This is true regarding the fellow tour group members as well as with communication and transactions with locals. The other travelers are like family, only more so. Some can irritate the heck out of you, but when you understand that you absolutely have to get along with them for the whole trip, you wind up cutting some slack. It takes some extra effort to be more kind than usual. But the rewards all around make it worthwhile. A smile goes a real long way.
3) As Mark Twain - and I - like to say, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

For information about my running adventures in Iberia, see my running blog.