Galleries

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of the country of Malaysia.  Known previously as Malaya, the country was colonized first by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally by the British.  In World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese.  It became independent after WWII.  In 1963 Malaya joined with Singapore, changing its name to Malaysia, adding the "si" for Singapore.  However, the confederation lasted only two years because of resistance to the potential influence of Singapore's majority Chinese population.

Corfu and Albania face each other across a narrow channel.  Ferries carry tourists back and forth from Corfu several times a day.  Albania is perhaps the least-developed country for tourism in all of Europe.  For many years Albania was the poorest country in Europe.  Prices are half the costs in Corfu.  This makes Albania attractive for tourists.  The Albanian landscape is very mountainous, so the tourist industry is promoting the country’s undisturbed natural attractions for adventure tourists.

At every Viking port, several different excursions with local guides are offered.  We didn’t want to visit another winery or cattle farm.  So we chose a city tour which included a tango performance.  Our local tour guide began by acknowledging that Uruguay is not a tourist “destination”...

As we traveled across the Denali Highway, the 105 mile dirt road through this incredible wilderness, with higher elevation came fresh snow.

Christmas Eve in Portugal Sometimes small personal interactions with local residents can color a whole experience of a visit to a foreign country. This happened to me today. My friend Bill and I took the morning excursion from the Viking River Cruise boat. . .

Welcome to a quick visual tour of Abu Dhabi. All of the photos below were taken in the course of a two hour bus tour of downtown Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the seven member confederation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

For the third year in a row, Susan and I attended the conference Middle Eastern Nurses Uniting in Human Caring. This year’s title was Human Caring in a Time of World Crisis, a theme chosen almost a year ago, before the most recent war between Israel and Gaza, before the hideous executions by ISIS, most recently of a Jordanian pilot burned alive. . . 

Ireland had always been on my “bucket list.”  So I’m ecstatic to have gotten the opportunity to visit, even without long prior planning.