Travel History: save it for your children

 

The Chain Bridge Budapest 

Let's explore why people, especially me, like to travel. I was born in the Midwest and raised to the age of 14 when we moved to California. From Illinois my family took many trips primarily to the East coast as a preteen. We went to New York several times, plus Boston and Washington D.C.. Each winter we would spend a week in Hot Springs, Arkansas. A vivid memory was a trip out to the National Parks in Colorado. I liked traveling except for the fact it was always me in the backseat feeling car sick. Lots of shorts trips in California is easy.

When we got married we both were in college working as apartment managers to pay the rent.  Travel was visiting our parents. Then came two girls to the family and we started taking road trips with them in the back seat feeling car sick. And, other trips to the East Coast. 

We made a list in those days. If we ever had the money we would go to____.  After forty years of work we had enough to travel and we packed up and went. First it was Scotland renting a car and covering much of the country.  We  have taken road trips through seven countries. Then we had a new style. Before going it alone we began booking tours. The tour helped us get a little of the language and the "vibe" and then we drove.

Then one day I had an idea -good or bad - we would take our four grandchildren anywhere they wanted to go  as a twelfth birthday gift. That was a dangerous gift. The first one took us to Paris and Normandy. The second brought us to five counties in Southern Africa on safari.  Number three chose Scotland and, as her sister had been to Paris, so was she.  Number four chose Tuscany and you guessed it - Paris. They gave us way more than they got.

Interspaced with their trips we took our own to Europe, just because. We traded our pensions for plane tickets. Given mobility problems we may be done, although we spent three weeks in Norway last month and I am in a wheelchair. Maybe not completely  done.

The Louvre: Winged Victory

So you have seen photos in textbooks or in National Geographic, but thought you would never see it. This may be Monet's "Water Lilies" (Orangerie, Paris) or "The Birth of Venus" (The Uffizi in Florence) or "Guernica" (The Prado in Madrid) (None of which are in  the Louvre.)

You stroll in and turn a corner that there it is! You would not have seen it if you had not gone to the museum.

Visit the museums.

 

Have you ever been in Denmark?

There was a discussion of what countries we have been in. I list them above with the exception of Norway which I need to add. Now, our flight to Norway included a for a long planned layover in Copenhagen. We never left the airport. Can we claim Denmark? We booked the flight on purpose and visited the lounge and toured the airport (beautiful). Hmmmm. While we almost always fly non-stop, I had a short layover in Detroit returning from Paris once but I don't claim Detroit for a number of reasons. We had a layover in Atlanta on or way to Spain. I have been to Atlanta several times on other trips. Can I count that one? 

Some say that I cannot count Denmark. I say the six hours is enough to count it. We had a good time even if it was only in the airport.

 

St. Canice Kilkenny, Ireland: Is President Obama Irish?

St. Canice is a  cathedral in Kilkenny Ireland. It has a old safety tower and is surrounded by a cemetery. It is historic and the church balances the budget by having tours. It is high on a hill, but not a bad walk from the center of the city.

NOW, the other reason to visit. There is lots of talk about President Obama being a child of an African father, but little mention of his Irish mother, Ann Dunham. 

Family members of his are buried at Canice and they are pointed out on the tour. 

 

The Chobe River Delta, Botswana

Everyone seems to like a photo of the sun going down. We were in a tent camp (read glamping) in Botswana and looking over the Chobe River and National Park. We were having wine and cheese in the back of a safari rover (read glamping) and I took this photo. What struck me was the lone tree out in the savannah. This is not unique as there many single trees dotting the land.  

 

Outline of a Road Trip: Italy plus four other countries

         Taking a Road Scholar tour helps you with some language and customs. We started in Rome and took the train to Florence and Venice. That was nearly ten days. Then we were on our own. I had reserved a car in Verona so we took a milk train from Venice and got in a new Mercedes at Verona and stayed a couple of days. Verona was one of the best visits of the trip. We got an early start and traveled along Lake Garda to Bolzano. From there we drove east to the heart of the dolomites. We stayed three days at La Villa a town focused on hiking and skiing the strange sandstone mountains. From there we traveled to Innsbruck, Austria for a short visit. Across Austria we took a side trip into Bavaria. We returned there some years later for an extended visit. We stayed in the lovely city of Feldkirch, Austria and then it was Liechtenstein where I got lost. I did not know there are two cities in the small country. The cities look beautiful even in the rain.  Next it was down nearly the whole of Switzerland. (There is a rumor that there are mountains there, but mostly we saw fog .) We emerged at Lake Como for a wonderful stay. It gave us a chance to see what all the hype is about. Como lives up to it. On the road back to Verona we stopped at Sirmione a fortress on Lake Garda. Back to Verona and a good night sleep, we flew to Paris and returned to San Francisco. The Dolomites will stay with me forever as it has long been a goal. I know most folks don't have a month to travel, but we have them and as we age we don't want to waste them.

Photo by Marietta McLellan

Between Islands Western Norway

This is an example of why someone would take a small ship through the fjords and islands along the west coast of Norway. Center is a very narrow bridge linking two islands that were long cut off from one another. This photo was taken toward evening (during the nearly 24-hour daylight ). Besides getting to know some of the people from Norway (and around the world) this was the primary entertainment board the ship.