Today we woke up earlier than usual. Sunday is a very important day of worship for the residents of Lalibela, and the procession of people heading to the church for services is an awe-inspiring sight. Our hotel knows that tourists like to watch the processional, so they had breakfast prepared early for us. Hailu came to pick us up at…
These aren’t necessarily “plans” however they are all amazing events I just may find myself at. – DIRECT AMSTERDAM TO LONDON TRAIN TO START RUNNING APRIL 30 The direct train from Amsterdam to London will officially start running on April 30th, NS and Eurostar announced on Tuesday. The direct connection from Rotterdam to London will follow on May 18th. Tickets go on sale…
We woke up early, had breakfast at our hotel, and then met our guide, Haliu. We rode into town in a tuk-tuk while he gave us the history of the churches. – There are 13 churches. They are divided into groups. There’s the northern cluster, which we were going to visit in the morning. In the afternoon, we would explore…
Today we fly to Lalibela, to see the famous rock churches tomorrow. Along the drive from the airport to our hotel, at large crowd of people were marching in our direction. It was a funeral procession. When someone from these villages passes away, the entire community mourns. I discreetly managed to get a video of the procession from inside the…
Mark’s main interest in life is food. He is a big-time foodie, spending nearly every evening watching cooking videos, thumbing through cookbooks, and perusing cooking blogs. When we go into a bookstore, he visits one section and one section only: the cookbooks. There is a travel video blogger named Mark Wiens who makes videos which are a perfect mix of…
Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya after Nairobi, and it’s on the coast. There’s city stuff to do, and beach stuff to do. In all of the guidebooks that I had read, they recommended staying at a beach hotel and NOT in the city proper, as there are potential safety issues for tourists. Diani Beach was the recommended…
An oral history of Jethro Tull, put together by Ian Anderson, with commentary from the dozens of band members who have come and gone over the years. The book is in coffee table format, with big, excellent photos throughout. It’s a chronological account, with lots of artifacts from the early days. Jethro Tull was my favorite band in high school. …
Our first full day in Nairobi was a memorable one. We woke up early, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and then Uber’ed it to another hotel, the Kenya Comfort Suites, in downtown Nairobi. It was the meeting point for our tour. On tap this day was a tour of the Giraffe Center, followed by the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. About seven…
Our departure day finally arrived. Our visas were in order (I had taken care of that online, through the e-visa program), our bags were all packed, Mittens was safely nestled into her hospital cage (see the last post), and we were ready to go. It’s a very long flight to Nairobi: 14½ hours. I had selected our seats for the…
I’m in Amsterdam, up to my neck in Dutch vocabulary, learning the language. Although free time this trip isn’t plentiful, I did manage to slide in several engagements. Stopped by the Poezenboot today after class to say hi to my feline (and human) friends. Took some nice pics of the kitties and sent them over. SEE ALSO: ALL ABOARD THE…
I love the summer, especially in New York. During a heatwave, when temps soar above 90 degrees and everyone starts whining, I’m in my glory. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel this way if I was still working and I had to descend into the steaming, crowded pit of commuter filth (i.e. the subway) every day, but as a retiree, summer in…
My cats, Mittens and Glitter, are the perfect models when it comes to testing out my new iPhone 11 Pro camera.
More reasons to love Puerto Vallarta