Galleries

Our third Viking port of call was Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  As usual, several excursion choices were offered.  We chose one entitled “Walk in the Clouds.”  We boarded a bus for an hour’s drive from the coast up to the highlands of the central valley running through the country.  Our Costa Rican tour guide spoke for the whole hour as we traveled, providing many details about his country.  I remain very interested in Costa Rica, having heard that it is a popular destination for retired Americans wishing to relocate to a foreign country less expensive than the US and having a great climate.  I’m happy to continue to live in Reno, but we might want to visit Costa Rica again for a more in-depth visit...

Currently in the midst of my seventeenth visit to India, I am often asked: Why? Why do I travel to India year after year? This blog will describe my series of India visits and answer why I love traveling to India again and again.

The accompanying photo gallery features flowers and foods. India is celebrating the Diwali holiday, a festival of lights and flowers. Diwali wreaths are shown, specially made for the Diwali holiday.

Zen Buddhism came to Japan from India in the 13th century.  There was no direct conflict with Shintoism, so many temples honor both religions.  The Kyoto Zen Buddhist complex was financed by the Shogun, the richest and most powerful man in Kyoto at that time.

Stockholm is one of my favorite cities in the world.  It is very beautiful, the historic capital of Sweden.  I've visited Stockholm over a dozen times, enough to learn a respectable fluency in the Swedish language (which is much easier than German).  It's also home to dear old friends.  Seeing them was the goal of this visit.  I share insights comparing the Swedish and American healthcare and political systems.

I write my blogs to give my readers the vicarious pleasure of sharing my experiences via text and photos.  During this first week in Kenya, I've taken hundreds of photos.  I'll post the best ones, including shots of the various species of animals inhabiting Kenya's rich environment. 

Be sure to click on individual photos in the gallery for fullscreen display!   Enjoy!

How much can a tourist learn about a country in five days? First impressions count. One can draw conclusions from even a short visit that merit more research perhaps through a future visit. Having just spent five days in Bhutan. . .

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. . .

This blog was written during our ten-day visit to Israel.  My wife Susan’s sister Aliza has lived in Israel for decades.  In our thirty-five years of marriage, Susan and I have visited Israel at least a dozen times.  Israel is a dynamic society of high-achieving hard-working people.