My husband Dave and I have been blessed to travel to many of the world’s most exciting and interesting destinations. In fact, the love of travel and the desire to share such wonderful experiences is the principal reason I become a travel agent. While we have only recently begun PhotoBloging, we are happy to share some highlights with you in hopes of inspiring and educating fellow travelers.
Please feel free to peruse the following and even download files. If I can be of further assistance don’t hesitate to contact me by email or calling toll free 844-458-3553.
Panama Canal Christmas 2015
A Warm & Wonderful Christmas
We have been doing something Special for Christmas/New Years the last couple of years. Which means something special for my birthday — which falls on December 28th. The Panama Canal cruise had been on our Bucket List for several years — and everything just fell into place to do it for Christmas 2015. Silversea is very luxurious as well as all-inclusive. Many of my river cruise clients love Silversea, so I wanted to experience it. They did not disappoint, we had a great 17 day cruise.
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Vietnam, Cambodia and Mekong Delta
Luelle and Dave Robinson – Curious Tourists!
Dave and I were curious about this part of the world. So in December of 2014 we jumped at the opportunity to take this Uniworld cruise and land tour. As usual, Uniworld did not disappoint.
Here are some photos and notes from our trip in no particular order. Some temple photos are included along the way but there are a lot more at the end, along with daily itineraries, menus, etc. We started in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.
After two days we boarded our ship and began our journey on the Mekong River. We sailed up and down the Mekong around Phnom Penh, the capital, before driving by bus through the countryside to Siem Reap. Again we stayed in a 5 star hotel and visited several temples including the sites used in the movie, Lara Croft Tomb Raider.
We then flew to Hanoi and toured the famous Hanoi Hilton, home of John McCain after being shot down in the the Vietnam War. Finally we stayed an extra 3 days in Hong Kong on our way home. We hope you enjoy…
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French River Cruise
Old World River Cruise through France!
Actually this blog will cover two cruises on French Rivers. First we did the Bordeaux Cruise on the River Royale. That meant flying non-stop from our Dulles airport to Paris and then to Bordeaux. An alternative would have been flying to Paris and then getting the train down to Bordeaux.
After the Bordeaux cruise, we flew to Marseilles for the Burgundy and Provence cruise. Once again, the train would have been an option. Uniworld cruises always include transfers to and from the airport. It’s nice to get off the plane and be met by a smiling Uniworld person who directs you straight to the bus and straight to the ship. Same thing when you leave. They deliver you straight to the Airport, handling the bags both ways. It’s nice to not have to think about catching the right train or tram or taxi. But usually you will want to do something either before or after your cruise. Many folks on this trip are doing a few nights in Paris before or after their cruise. Then you have a lot of options, plane, train, or rental car. If you’re interested, Luelle knows the connections and has some opinions about the best way to avoid jet lag and arrive rested
This map shows these two cruise locations in France.
The Bordeaux cruise goes up two rivers which join in the estuary, the Dordogne and the Garonne. The Burgundy and Provence cruise goes up the Rhone River from Marseille to Lyon.
Here’s the River Royale docked in Bordeaux.
Here’s the Catherine at her inaugural cruise just 5 weeks ago.
Final voyage was aboard the Magnifique! S.S. Catherine.
Ship Facts
Inauguration: 2014
Length: 443 ft
Width: 37.5 ft
Voltage: 110/220 volts
Guests: 159
Staff: 57
Royal Suite: 1 (410 sq ft)
Suites: 5 (305 sq ft)
Categories 1 – 3 Staterooms: 61 (194 sq ft)
Categories 4 – 5 Staterooms: 13 (162 sq ft) Camargue Deck:
• All Suites and Category 1 staterooms and have full open-air balconies that with the touch of a button raises the glass to create a completely enclosed conservatory.
• Suites and the Royale Suite also offer the option for triple accommodations.
• Category 2 staterooms on this deck have French balconies.
Avignon Deck: Staterooms have French balconies.
To view pictures of our Bordeaux Cruise click here.
To view pictures of our Burgundy and Provence Cruise click here.
Douro River, All The Way To Spain
Peacefully Delicious
The Douro River Valley and wine region is huge. We sailed for most of three days and never stopped seeing terraced vineyards.
Here are some photos.
Vineyard Terraces used to all run with the elevation contour lines. Now with mechanization, they run any direction that maximizes the use of the land.
From the Black and White collection at the museum
Crushing the grapes the old fashioned way. The larger wineries have machines to do this, but many mid to small sized wineries still do it this way.
Going thru the locks. The ships are built as wide and long as the locks will allow with about a foot of clearance on each side.
Click HERE to go under this bridge with us
Slate and Schist rock formation. The slate cracks, either naturally or helped along with dynamite, and allows the water and roots of the grapevines to go to tremendous depths. The rain from the 9 wet months goes down through broken plates of slate and stores in intermediary layers of soil. Then during the dry summer the water is fed slowly up through the roots to the vines as much as a hundred feet above.
Slate “boards” that look like wood but really are stone.
The wineries like to host dinner parties. We went to this one.
Returning to the ship after the dinner party.
Our bus ride from Lisbon up to Porto (where we will start our cruise up the Douro River) gave us a good view of the Portugal countryside. It isn’t like the central San Joaquin Valley because there are trees everywhere (pine & eucalyptus mainly). Nor is it like Virginia because only the trees are green … under the trees everything is brown.
Perhaps the landscape that I’m familiar with that this is most like is the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California.
Along the way we stopped at a restaurant. A Christening was happening at the same time … so we lunched in the same room with the celebrating parents …and helped them celebrate. Portugal seem more laid back that way.
We also stopped along the way at Coumbria University … founded in 1290 and toured the library and spoke with some students. Pretty interesting how the preserve the old books from insects. Bats. Yes, a colony of about 50 bats live in the library behind the books. They fly around at night and eat all the insects. Of course the tables must be covered each night and cleanup duty has been happening every morning for hundreds of years. Tradition. The reason given is that they can’t fumigate the old paper. They also shut the library down if humidity gets over 69%. Seemed strange to an Air Conditioning Contractor … but hey, this is Europe, they do things differently here.
Porto is at the mouth of the Douro River and is most famous for being the port from which wine from the Douro valley is shipped to the rest of the world. They are most famous for Port wine but grow all varieties. Tomorrow we head up river. Here are some photos of Porto.
Typical river boat with a load of wine. They are not used anymore since the advent of the highway and trucks but they served well for hundreds of years. Note the standing platform for the Tiller operator.
Here’s a more modern version. This is the Queen Isabel, our home for the next 7 days. Those are wine warehouses behind the ship.
The famous bridge between Porto and Gaia. It was built by a protege of Eiffel who built the tower. Cars travel the lower platform and trains the upper. Pedestrians can go on both.
Cathedral. Every city has one. Bigger cities have many. This is Porto’s largest.
Observing the tiles in the Train Station. Portuguese have always had a fascination with tile, using them to protect buildings from humidity. Early versions didn’t have fired glazes but when this technique was learned from China, many buildings got a facelift in the 19th and early 20th century.
Busy street and a smaller church
The lock is supposed to mean the new marriage will be permanent. The divorce rate in Portugal is the same as elsewhere, both in and out of the church. But it’s a nice tradition.
The Imperial McDonalds ??? Ubiquitous.
Today we toured two castles and the coastline around Lisbon. The Castles were a study in contrasts. One was a summer castle, the other was year round. One was build four hundred years earlier than the other … and one had a much warmer feel than the other. In the process we learned a lot about the Portuguese royalty & royalty in general … not something we are familiar with in America. Here are photos of the two castles.
The Queluz Palace was used by the royal family until the end of the monarchy. It is still used for government functions and can be rented for weddings or corporate events. The interior was inspired by the French castle of Versailles and was actually designed by the same designer.
The Sintra Palace was built 400 years earlier. It is about 20 miles outside of Lisbon at about 1800 feet elevation in a micro-climate that makes it an ideal summer retreat from the heat. It was also used as an escape from the plagues that went through Europe in the middle ages. The floors & ceilings are wood which gives the warmer feeling of this palace compared to the marble and plaster and tile of the Queluz Palace.
Another shot of the dining room of the Sintra summer palace. I could see having a meal there. Could you? (That’s not a sit down table. It’s a buffet table and otherwise used for displaying objects) (Note: Most of the furniture was gone from both of these castles. When Napoleon was invading the country, the royal family left to Brazil for 14 years, until things cooled down … taking a lot of the furniture with them. Napoleon took the rest.
The Kitchen of the Sintra Palace. Here two complete cows could be roasted. Coals from the fireplaces would be placed under the super sized skewers and turned until done. The Palace and the town have recently been named a UN World Heritage Site.
Since today was a day of comparisons, here is another comparison that was new to us. The difference between a Caravelle and a Galleon. They both had specific jobs to do. Here are some photos from the hand paintings on the walls of the Sintra Palace
Caravelles had 3 masts and 3 triangular sails and a crew of about 30 men. They were very maneuverable and were easy to sail. They were the main tool of the explorer and did most of the first exploration work such as down the coasts of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and around Cape Horn and up around South America. These were not treasure ships, but were often used to protect Treasure Ships.
Galleons were the “Treasure Ships” that were loaded down with silk, spices, jewels, gold and silver from the New World that were such choice targets of pirates. These ships had square sails and were much larger and required a larger crew of over 100. They were armed with cannons but were not very maneuverable. That’s why they were usually accompanied by Caravelles and travelled in convoys.
A modern comparison would be: Caravelles were pick up trucks … Galleons were the 18 Wheelers that really carried the cargo.
Sofia, our guide, today was knowledgeable and very expressive. The guides have all been very good and really make the tours worthwhile. There is no way we could have learned all that she told us through a tour book.
Is there anything that cant be made out of cork? Probably not. With the modern methods of veneering … very thin layers of cork (a few thousandths of an inch) can be laminated onto hard or soft surfaces. So just about anything that can be made can have a layer of cork applied to it … and get a whole new fashionable look. These are in the shops in Sintra.
Cabo da Roca is the furthest west part of Europe. It also happens to be at the same lattitude as Washington DC. It is on the coast on the way back from Sintra to Lisbon
Maintenance is a problem when you have a lot of 200 to 1200 year old castles and palaces to preserve and show to the public. This photo looks like it might be on a shack in backwoods Appalachia. But it’s on the National Palace. And there are a hundred more doors and 400 more windows in need of the same kind of work. This is where austerity demanded by the bailouts has cut the renovation budget to just about zero.
Lisboners may not have the budget to repair their castles … but they know how to go to the beach! This is fairly cold water (Atlantic) at the mouth of the Tagus River. Most people are just sun bathing, with the kids and some brave should out in the water.
We lunched in Sintra. This was a dish for two with prawns and monkfish in a soup with rice on the side. Excellent. I dont know if dunking that bread in the soup would have been acceptable at a royal banquet but I didn’t see any culture police … and it sure was good!
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Haarlem, Netherlands & The Corrie Ten Boom House (The Hiding Place)
Day Trip And The Hiding Place
At the end of our trip along the Danube from Bucharest to Vienna, we stopped in Amsterdam for a few days before returning home. Actually we jetted right past home and went to California for our twice annual family reunion at Shaver Lake in the Sierra Nevada outside of Fresno.
From the train between Amsterdam and Haarlem. I thought the contrast of the factory smokestacks and the windmills was worth a photo. There are lots of windmills in the Netherlands. Some old ones still work and many new ones like these.
One day we went on a 20 minute train ride to Haarlem. It is a much smaller city than Amsterdam. A very clean and nice walking town. We had lunch outside in the square and walked around the town.
Lunch in the Haarlem City Square. You can share with the pigeons.
It was interesting seeing how the bicyclists observed (or not) the walking only streets. The conservative bikers got off and walked their bikes. Some younger ones zoomed along dodging pedestrians. The mildly rebellious stood on one pedal and pushed the bike like a scooter. Interesting. What would you or I do?
This is the Ten Boom house just as it was used in the Dutch Resistance as a hiding and smuggling station for Jews in WWII. The watch shop is still operating on the ground floor with living quarters above. You can see the one bicyclist obeying the walking only street signs. Like most, but not all.
We could see that boating around on the many canals would be fun. We thought of our friends Steve and Debbie. I’m sure they’ll be on Netherlands canals one of these days.
One thing we wanted to see in Haarlem was the Corrie Ten Boom house and museum. The Ten Boom family had been part of the Dutch Resistance in World War II. They hid and transported many Jews and others who were being hunted by the Nazi regime. Over 800 people went thru their house before they were caught and sent to concentration camps.
She is stepping out of the hiding place thru a cutaway that was added later. An architect was retained to make a false wall with a space behind it. When the Nazis came, there were several in the hiding place. They remained quiet for 47 hours and finally escaped through the roof. Can you see the entrance? The Nazis couldn’t either.
Corrie was the only one of the family to survive the camps and spent the next 40 years speaking and writing about her experience. The movie “The Hiding Place” is about their experiences hiding Jews from the Nazis and in the camps after their capture. The original house with the Hiding Place is open as a museum. The downstairs is still the Ten Boom Watchmakers store, which was papa Ten Boom’s occupation.
Entry door to the Hiding Place
It was interesting reading reviews in Trip Advisor before we went. Some people felt that the message was too evangelistic for them … and some Jewish visitors felt their history was being exploited. With our particular tour guide, we saw no validity for either of those complaints. There were some Jewish people on the tour and they seemed pleased and added some commentary. The message by the volunteer tour guide was simply what these people did and that they risked their lives to follow Jesus teaching to help people and resist evil.
This is what you see in the alley. It will tell you what time the next tour in your language will be.
One example that she shared was that Papa Ten Boom, the watchmaker, would have been allowed to stay in his home because he was over 80 years old. The only requirement was that he must promise not to smuggle any more Jews. He said, “If someone comes to me and needs my help, I will help them” The SS officer said, “OK then, You go with the rest of them.” and he was loaded onto the train to the camps. With the harsh treatment he was dead in two weeks. People of any faith can recognize that as the actions of true faith, not a faith of convenience.
One other example that would test anyone’s faith came later when Corrie was speaking and sharing her testimony and a man came out of the audience. She recognized him as the guard who had beat her and her sister in the concentration camps. He had become a Christian and had found forgiveness from God, but was now asking for her forgiveness. She prayed and said, “God, I can’t do this. You need to help me.” And he did. Isn’t that what God is about. Doing the impossible.
Tours are an hour long and limited to 25 people due to the tight quarters.
There are no reservations so the first thing to do is go to the house and a sign will say when the next tour in your language will be. Then go about 50 yards to the city square for lunch or go walk along the canals.
In the Ten Boom Living Room. Our tour guide, on the stool was a volunteer who did an excellent job explaining the part that Corrie and this house played in the Dutch Resistance in WW II
There is no admission fee, but Corrie’s books are for sale in the dining room and donations are accepted. When you are in Amsterdam for a few days, a short train trip down to Haarlem and the Corrie Ten Boom museum is definitely worthwhile.
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Wien aka Vienna
Art and History
We’ve been here twice before. So the basic tours were not too attractive. We went on some of them anyway and found this city a lot the same …. But also continually
Looking across the Danube to the New City of Vienna.
changing and interesting enough to justify another look, especially at another time of year. Last time we were here was the “Christmas Markets” cruise.
We skipped the Vienna Mozart Concert, having been there last time … but were able to tell a few folks with back problems that the chairs are hard and packed in tight. (for photos, see previous blog & albums)
Church right across the street from where the River Ships dock.
This is truly a case where the people in charge are resting on laurels of previous generations and they dont care much for the comfort of the consumer… they figure it was good enough in the 1800’s … it’’s good enough for today. And there’s no competition … yet. Since every single person complained of the hard chairs and tight quarters … I’ll bet a place with good accoustics and comfortable chairs would do very well here.
Gustav Klimpt exhibition at the Belvedere Palace.
His art was a departure from the type of works popular in the late 1800’s in Europe … bringing a greater sensuality to his works and forgoing all depth perspective except on the subject. The conservative art critics were harsh and unaccepting of this new style.
Headquarters of the Secession movement of modern artists started by Gustav Klempt … still in use today.
So Klimpt withdrew from the Artists Union and became the leader of the Secession movement of European Artists from the Snobbish Circle of Artists of the 19th century. Historians consider him the father of Modern Art. See the famous Art Nouveau building that still houses his Association
“The Kiss” was Klempt’s first piece of this style that caused an uproar in European Art Circles.
Another example of Klempt’s “Golden Period”
Some facts we learned about him: He avoided the social scene & stayed to himself & never gave interviews. He travelled only for art inspiration, one of which were early Christian Mosaics. He worked hard, morning till nite … His only social outlet was his artist’s secessionst group which he continued with his whole life. And his female models… With whom he fathered 14 children. He never married, but had one life long companion, who historians think was possibly lesbian.
There are several more examples of his work in the Photo Album. Pull down “Photos” on the banner menu and then choose Vienna 2012. Some of these works have recently sold for over $50,000,000.00 apiece!
Prince Eugene.
Physically weak and unattractive, Eugene was rejected by the French for military service, but he was determined on a military career, so he moved to Austria and became their most famous and undefeated General.
Prince Eugene of Savoy, Austria’s ugly but undefeated general.
He was never defeated by the Turks, even when confronted with much larger armies. Turns out he was a military genius, gathering his captains the night before and making plans and alternate plans. In battle, he would start in one direction, then after the Turks had ordered their counter attack, he would have the Austrian army completely change directions. And with these tactics, his forces were never defeated. “Blessed are the Flexible…..”
The Vienna Ferris Wheel
has been a landmark for nearly 100 years. It takes 20 minutes to make the complete circle and the cabins carry 15 people.
The Vienna Ferris Wheel. Each car holds 15 people and the cycle takes 20 minutes.
People have done unique things in those 20 minutes … have a meal, get married… ??
The National Library
The National Library houses one of the largest collections in the world … Over 8 million volumes …many of which are very old, even a large papyrus collection. To access these old books you must be a certified academic and can only read the books in a special reading room and wear gloves.
One of 70 posters marketing Austrian Tourism in the early 20th century.
There was an exhibit of austrian tourism posters from 1900 – 1970. After that, television and other media replaced the poster, but it was interesting to see the development of the number one method of tourism marketing in the first half of the 20th century.
Our guide had a masters degree in art history, and was a good story teller. On tours like this the local guides make or break the value of the tour. Uniworld does a good job of selecting their local guides.
Here our guide is doing a sound check before we head into town … with the earpiece that we have in one ear … so that we dont have to stay tightly bunched and they dont have to shout.
Most had advanced degrees and were passionate about their city and country. Stuff that’s pretty hard to get from just a guidebook. In asking this Vienna guide about all the graffiti, she said it was mainly just youths, not so much gangs, like in some US cities. She said that the authorities dont do much about petty crimes because they dont want to be seen as “harsh” Even the ordinance requiring dog owners to clean up their dog poop … the city refused to enforce … until a mother got tired of it and got 145,000 signatures. Only then would the city begin to enforce the law. All for not wanting to be seen as harsh & authoritarian. Perhaps understandable after a heavy dosage of harshness under Hitler and Communism …. Interesting.
In addition “George” our keyboardist, Local talent came on board when we were in towns for the evening.
On Board Entertainment.
The on board entertainment is at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the big Ocean Cruise ships. Where they have lots of options every night, the river cruise ships usually have a keyboardist who plays every afternoon and evening. Except when special local folklore groups come on board and play. Most people come on river cruises for the destinations rather than the entertainment and after the tours and free time roaming, dont need a lot of entertaining. There are also special lecturers on topics of interest … like our History professor who gave a great lecture on the war(s) in the Balkans including the recent Kosovo war. She used the metaphor of making a stew, using many ingredients, mixed in over time, with lot’s of stirring, and pressure. It was a good overview of 1500 years of history of this area. One fact that was new to me was that the Turkish Sultans maintained a level of religeous tolerance.
The subway is easy to use and is perhaps the cleanest we’ve been in.
They didn’t even want full conversion to Islam … because the Christians and Jews were taxed higher and had to do the less desirable jobs. Like defend the frontier and fight in the Sultan’s army. So changing religons became for some a matter of expedience that would change with the many regime changes this crossroads area has seen over the centuries. Our historian suggested that the “corruption” that Eastern European countries are known for is an extension of the people’s skill at working outside normal channels that they have developed in order to survive the many changes over these many centuries.
Dining.
Like the Entertainment, the dining is limited. There are no specialty restaurants like on the big ships. But the food onboard Uniworld ships has been excellent. Our chef on the River Princess was from Portugal and had trained in France and Italy. He favored Italy and it showed in his offerings.
George and Lianna, two doctors from Rumania. She was the official doctor. He and I were protecting our wives from pirates. … And having a good holiday!
Perhaps the best thing about the dining room is that it’s the place where you meet people from all over the world. This trip we met a lot of people from Australia, Canada and England, as well as from lots of places in the US. We met the the ship’s doctors, who we shared several dinners and bus rides with. Lianna was an internist from Rumania as the official doctor on board. Her husband George was also a doctor, a psychiatrist who came along … kind of like me. We joked that in both our cases, Uniworld was getting two for the price of one …. And that George could fix us if the tour got stressfull.
A trip to downtown Vienna wouldn’t be complete without a look at St Stephen’s Cathedral. It’s over 1000 years old … and eternally now in maintenance and cleaning on the exterior.
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Click a link to view more of Luelle and Dave’s travels:
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Paddle Wheel Cruising Middle America
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Hungary is Horse Country
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Hall Of Terror: A “Must See” for Communist Sympathizers
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Tito And The Yugoslavian Experiment
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Croatian Countryside & Belgrade, The Capital
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The Communist Era And It’s Aftermath
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Danube Sailing from Bulgaria, between Serbia and Romania
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Istanbul to Vienna, Istanbul, Turkey
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Along The Danube, Duernstein, Melk, Linz, Salzburg …..
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