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.
After a long transit from Reno via Los Angeles to Tokyo, we boarded the Viking Orion and enjoyed our first excursion in Japan.
How much of Istanbul can one see in a short two-day visit? Actually, quite a bit, when logging over 20,000 steps/day on my FitBit. When we first planned our Viking River Cruise, I told our friends Bill and Linn, who were traveling with us, that we would be so close to Istanbul while visiting the Balkan countries, that we must add it on to our trip. And so, following our Danube River cruise, we flew from Budapest to Turkey, arriving in Istanbul the evening before Election Day. . .
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.
The Pyramids were constructed between 2600-2500 BC. That means that they are the oldest manmade structures in the world.
Susan and I had such a good time in our six weeks in Mumbai, that we plan to come again in November for another six weeks. Following a description of our time in Mumbai, this blog introduces the amazing sculptures of Khajuraho...erotic sculptures unique in the world.
The Greeks affected the whole world with their ideas, foremost among them the concept of democratic rule. Greece gave rise to philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Greek architecture was adopted first by the Romans, but later around the world, including the columns seen in US government buildings in Washington DC. The Greek language gave rise to words in science, religion, and history that have been adopted by other countries’ languages around the world.
Hiroshima is a beautiful city. Its present beauty hides the hideous past, in which Hiroshima was the first target of a nuclear weapon. Its Nuclear Memorial and Museum preserve the disturbing images which every current leader of a nuclear power should be obliged to visit.
Approximately one month ago, Houston, Texas was inundated by the storm surge caused by hurricane Harvey. In an unprecedented series of Atlantic hurricanes, Harvey was followed in quick succession by hurricane Irma which struck Florida, hurricane Maria which devastated Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, . . .
