European Riverboats

 

This is a longboat on the Danube River.

We have also been on one in the Seine.

You likely have seen advertisements for very big boats.

The reason why we have enjoyed the smaller ones is that there are fewer

people traveling and thus we also get to know the staff better.

This particular "Select" boat only had two groups touring on it.

Note: Our boat in this photo is docked in Slovakia.

Motorcycles in European Cities

    The streets are often narrow in European cities. And even if you can navigate the oneway traffic you are stuck with finding a place to park. I have seen whole streets packed with motorcycles as it is a popular mode of travel. This photo shows a few parked, but look closely, there is a car at the end - middle frame.

Close up and far away

From far away these looked like giant musrooms.

With a longer lens it turns out to be hippos in South African Reserve.

 

Hiking in the Dolomites: WInter Olympics

 

Photo of my wife taking a photo of me along a path in the Dolomites.

The building is a warming hut and we were in one of the passes.

Note the mountain in back.

Sirmione, Lake Garda, Italy

On our way from Lecco to Verona our guidebook suggested a stop at Sirmione which is north and east of Milan.

Lake Garda is the largest of the three major lakes in northern Italy.

Sirmione is a fortress and community on spit out in the lake.

I had never heard of it, but that is what guidebooks are for.

This is a worthwhile stop.

 

Winter Olympics: Lake Como

If you are going to the Winter Olympics in Milan you are not far from one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe. I might say the world but I have not seen them all and I have spent lots of time at Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border in the United States. Yet Como is a great visit as you see Bellagio and all of the small villages clinging to the mountains around it.

 

 

Winter Olympics

You can also get into the Dolomites via Innsbruck.

Photo here is of the Ski Jump left from the Olympics there.