Ireland
December, 2019
Ireland had always been on my “bucket list.” So I’m ecstatic to have gotten the opportunity to visit, even without long prior planning.
Galleries
Dallas Smith's Blog
Jordan: Amman and Petra
June 2012
We left our group tour in Turkey to begin a private tour in Jordan, via a two-hour flight from Istanbul to Amman. As expected, there was a gentleman holding a sign with our names as soon as we entered the Amman airport immigration hall. After purchasing a visa, changing some money, having our passports stamped, and collecting our luggage, we were introduced to our driver, Mazen, who would be our companion throughout our travels during our short four-day sojourn in Jordan. . .
Images from Yemen
March, 2019
Here are some photos I took at the Yemeni Museum in my recent visit to Rehovot, Israel. I was lucky enough to have a guided museum tour conducted by an Israeli man of Yemeni extraction. Jews from Yemen started to immigrate to Israel as early[…]
Shimizu
Viewing Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji was an impressive site as our ship approached the Shimizu harbor. Mount Fuji is Japan's highest mountain, an active volcano in a perfect conical form.
Welcome to Portugal
December, 2016
Once again as I arrive in Europe, I’m overwhelmed with the long rich awareness of history and the rich culture. This is the first time I’ve visited Portugal. Susan and I are traveling with our friends and regular travel companions, Bill and Linn, from Georgia...
Three-Port-Blog
I write this blog with the Ukraine war present as a disturbing cloud on the mood of our pleasant cruise. As I mentioned in my previous blog, the cruise schedule is very busy in the upcoming weeks in the Mediterranean. In fact, we will be in port on seven consecutive days, including two days (and one night) in Venice. So my upcoming blogs will combine several ports, with as many photos as the ship’s internet will enable.
Beijing, China
The Forbidden City and the Great Wall
We began our China tour in the capital city of Beijing. Though Beijing is a city of 21 million people, it is very clean and efficient...much above my expectations which were colored by my experience of the crowded cities in India. We toured the famous Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on our first day, and on the second day we toured a section of the Great Wall of China.