Here’s a trip report I wrote on Anne and my travel business site that I’m including here too. – Tim “One of the best ships we have sailed on!” was our opinion after sailing on Holland America’s newest ship, the Nieuw Statendam, in the Western Caribbean in December 2019. While we enjoyed our last Holland America cruise Eurodam in 2017, the …
Thirty years ago Anne and I took a magical honeymoon trip through Canada. First visiting Banff and the Canadian Rockies, then taking a train to Vancouver to see the sights of that area. Thirty years later we recreated parts of that trip through the wonderful Rocky Mountaineer – a luxury train trip in Western Canada and so much more. The journey not …
I took a break from blogging for much of 2017 as I focused on my travel business (shared with my wife Anne) and other activities. In 2018 I intend to start blogging again (more book reviews to come). But this post is about travel: In my 15th year as a travel agent I enjoyed planning vacations for clients and doing …
Travel Weekly selected me along with 24 other agents for a weekend “familiarization (fam)” trip to Mexico City . I had been to Mexico many times before – each visit was at a coastal destination (Cozumel, Cancun, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, etc). On this trip I learned that Mexico City has its own treasures – you don’t have to …
“Me??? In a hot air balloon???” I’m not sure about this!” I said to myself when I was given the opportunity to experience my first hot air balloon ride ever above the Teotihuacán Pyramids just north of Mexico City. As a child I always had a fear of heights. In my years as a travel agent I had pretty much …
I finally got to see it. Last month I took the picture at the left of Dealey Plaza, the site of the Kennedy assassination 50 years ago today. Though I was only seven years old when JFK was killed, I have had a fascination with the event over the years. I remember staying up late on a school night in …
We heard a flapping noise outside our stateroom early in the morning – what could it be? Swans! We were so close we could touch them! After a hearty breakfast we went on a four hour tour of Germany’s Black Forest. We enjoyed a hike in the mountains. Though the temperatures were cold it felt good to hike in nature …
It was a cold, misty morning as we arrived in Kehl, Germany. We were soon on a tour bus to Stasbourg, France – a short distance away on the other side of the Rhine River. Our Viking tour guide took us on a two hour walking tour of this old city – founded by the Romans in 12 B.C. We …
I opened our stateroom window to see this sunrise over the Rhine River. We were ready for another day of seeing castles, German towns, and cathedrals! Most of the day we were in Heidelberg. Here we are shown in front of the old castle, “considered the most magnificent castle ruin in Germany” according to our guide. Our Viking guide, a …
Today we visited one of the best preserved fortresses overlooking the Rhine – Marksburg Castle. The castle, high on a hill, is over 700 years old. Its location made it difficult for attackers to reach it over the years, hence it had far less damage than other Rhine castles. Viking River Cruises arranged for an excellent guide to show us …