On the side of the road near Innsbruck Austria

Not sure what it is or where it is, but it is interesting. Next time.

 

Sirmione, Italy

    Someone on television said to an employee that they were very valuable and deserved a vacation. The employee was given a family trip anywhere in the world.

    I thought about that. Where would I like to take my family on a trip? What have I seen that I would like to share with them? There are many places, but I think my grandchildren would really like Northern Italy. I would like to show them Verona, the Dolomites, and the lakes. Sirmione is a tourist town on Lake Largo, but I think the kids would find it cool -- I did. It is an ancient place of amusement without the rides.

 

AIRPORT SECURITY - Notes

CDG AIRPORT, PARIS FRANCE

     As I had polio when I was a child I wear leg braces of one form or another. I also have a vascular graft (Dacron) in my chest. The buzzers go off a good deal at security. I carry a card, but I almost always must submit to a wanding or a full pat down. I am used to it.

     I see others at airport security being very upset by being held up for a few minutes. Not me. I do what I have to do and welcome the sniffer dogs which I think are wonderful.

     I hold a grudge against guy who put a bomb in his shoe, although at my age I am not required to remove my shoes. But, I am glad that everyone else on the plane has had to go through security, It makes me safer. My going through security makes others safer.

     Now a word about masking and doing what the flight attendants tell you to do. Actually, two words: "do it".

 

The River at Bolzano Italy

Bolzano is a city in the South Tyrol province of north Italy, set in a valley amid hilly vineyards. It's a gateway to the Dolomites mountain range in the Italian Alps. In the medieval city center, the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology features the Neolithic mummy called Ötzi. (copied from Wikipedia)This a a great visit and was a good stop on the way from Verona to Innsbruck via the Dolomites. Explored the area for a week.

 

The Grand Gallery at The Grand Theatre Tracy California

 An occasional gathering to talk art at the Grand Gallery. Great place.

Peter's Bridge, Verona Italy

Verona is on a curve in the river and has some lovely bridges to walk over.

Our B&B was just across "Ponte Pietro" Peter's Bridge

in a remodeled monastery.  

 

Granada, Spain: religous procession

We were having lunch when we heard music playing.  Our B&B hotel was near one of the cathedrals as was the café. And, the crowd grew as the parade came by. A celebration of a saint's day or other event.

Granada is an easily walkable city with a fine central area and market, 

Two cathedrals act as bookends to the area, Both are worth a visit.

While we came to visit The Alhambra, we actually stayed several days to see the city.

 

Coming into Paris from the U.S.A.

On the back of the seat. It looks like Dublin is near Hong Kong?

 

A favorite photo from Paris

This is not just any Coke. It is a Coke from Printemps Haussmann Department Store

under the huge stained glass ceiling of their restaurant.

An American in Paris; she is 19 now. 

 

One of my favorite photos from South Africa

 

We studied the racial and political issues of South Africa,

but when it came to a photo, this one became a favorite.

Woodcarving Artist in Zambian Village

In one of the more traditional villages, we stopped to look around, talk to artists, and purchase some art.  What a great experience. Talking about creativity across continents, races, and genders. Art is a common language.
 

Top of the lift in La Villa, Italy (Dolomites, Italian Alps)

 If you are going to Milan or Verona or even Venice, renting a car and driving through Bolzano (see the Ice Man) and turn East into the Dolomites. You will be glad you did. Unique and beautiful these rugged peaks are amazing and the people ("Laden") are wonderful too. They generally speak Italian and German, but there are plenty of Laden and English speakers too. No need to speak the language, just enjoy this place. It was the top of my Bucket List and worth every moment.

Venice. Italy

Rialto Bridge in background

Across the Grand Canal

Venice is a lovely visit. We would suggest that you get up early and go for a walk - possibly through the Ghetto - then back to hotel or B&B for brunch. Spend the afternoon resting or watching the water or taking in a museum -but leave the sidewalks to tourists off the cruise ships (Cruise ships are being kept from Venice proper now.) In the evening when all of the tourists are back on the ships is a great time to take a long walk along the canals and have a late dinner. Most of the shops will be closed, but other than glass, you do not need to buy anything.

 

Verona Italy Airport

We flew to CDG from Verona. After leaving our rental car we asked where we should get off of the tram and the agent said to get off by the "big woman". Actually she was hard to find until we realized that "she" was a billboard. Nice airport and nice people. They did ask me why I was not wearing my leg brace at security. I was in their computer having arrived at Rome. My brace was in my suitcase as my leg was bothered by it after a long road trip.
 

Calgary, Alberta, Canada Airport

The things that were noteworthy about the Calgary Airport, upon landing with Horizon Airlines, were the volunteers in cowboy hats that welcomed us and directed us on the way we should go. What a change. And, the place is clean and well kept. The boarding area is especially nice and the food service was excellent and not super expensive. (PDX in Portland, by the way does not let vendors charge more at the airport than they do in the city.) Calgary is also a nice city and the gateway to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper.
 

London Heathrow Airport

Heathrow has always been in the process of building or rebuilding when we have been there. It is likely that way all of the time as it is very busy. 

When traveling into the city you have a couple of choices. We took the rapid train once. It took us to Paddington Station and then we caught a cab to our hotel. More restful. Another time we took the Underground directly to our hotel stop. We had to carry luggage up some stairs, but it was less expensive.

At the airport, make sure you stop at Harrod's Store there (as well as one near Piccadilly). The shop at Heathrow was an outlet store and there were some bargains.

Border troubles in Livingstone Zambia

Second look: We were flying out of the Livingstone Airport in Zambia with our grandson. He was twelve at the time. We had a list of items that we needed to get through security with him. We passed this list to his parents and they said it was all set. That was a mistake. In Paris they needed his birth certificate and we had to call the U.S. and have a photograph of it sent to us in Paris. Made a copy. OK. In Zambia they wanted copies of his parents passports. We were led from the very pretty terminal to a concrete block building. In a room that resembled scenes from some movie about Nazi prison camps, we struggled to get copies texted to us of needed documents. This was a strain as the time for our flight grew closer and closer.

I will say that our grandson was very much the cool and calmer of the three of us. He knew we would not get stuck in Zambia or worse. 

Since that day, we have made sure we had all the right credentials.
 

Airports - one man's experience

At last count, we have been to over 35 airports in the course of our travels. Some of have been great places to stop, wait and even shop. Some have been somewhat like Dante's hell.

For example CDG in France and Heathrow in England are actually nice places to catch up on gifts for home. Other places, like Detroit and Chicago O'Hare are places to land and  go elsewhere.

Our home airports are SFO San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose,  and Sacramento. As we also have a second place in Portland, you will often find us at PDX.  All of these airports are, at least for us, places that we like or feel comfortable in. Some airports have been where we landed and then left from another. We cannot be fair by basing things on a single landing experience.

Other airports on our list have been seen multiple times ( like Dublin, JFK, and Atlanta.) and are busy places. I have had good experiences in Verona Italy, Livingstone Zambia, and Munich which make me like them based on one time.

Not to stretch this too far, I will focus on stories about a few where we had memorable adventures.

 

Airplanes mean airports

 Let us talk airports in the coming days.

HOP! or WOW

I have tried to remember if it was HOP! or WOW airlines out of Paris to Edinburgh. I know I have taken both at times, but it may be that I am trying to forget. It is difficult to adjust to either regional airline when you get off of  trans-Atlantic Air France. Neither are more than bare bones. However, they do the job. 

I have been trying to check if WOW s still flying. 
 

Horizon Airlines

We have a nephew who is a Captain flying for Horizon Airlines, but felt the same way before he joined them. We like this subsidiary of Alaska Airlines a good deal. They even have a free beverage service between Sacramento and Portland which is a quick flight. More importantly we can depend on them.

The photo above is from a Horizon flight to PDX from Sacramento International Airport which shows Crater Lake in Oregon. It is the third landmark flown over out of Sacramento. The first is Sutter Buttes and the second is Mount Shasta. It is a very pretty flight up the Sacramento Valley over the Siskiyous and then up the Willamette Valley. Six hundred pretty miles (during the day and without fog).

 

Delta Flights

This photo is of the seat back screen showing the plane

over Iceland and on the way to Greenland.

     We have flown Delta serval times. Most often they have been the carrier on the second part of a two part flight from Europe. We have flown a partner airline and then on Delta. We did this through Detroit and also through Atlanta. I cannot be totally fair to Delta, but I try not to fly them as they do not compare well to the European carriers.  We prefer non-stop flights. Will share details of trials at Detroit in future. 

 

AIRLINK Airway over Botswana

 

We flew Airlink from Johannesburg South Africa to Kasane, Botswana and then took another flight from Livingstone, Zambia back,  In the photo you can see a large dry lake below. Airlink is a partner to South African Airlines which following COVID is in bankruptcy.  The airport in Livingstone is very nice, but we had some trouble with passport control which I will discuss later. Enough to say, my grandson was calm and collected even if threaten to be left behind in Zambia. 

Southwest Airlines

Southwest plane flying over Northern California

     I have flown Southwest several times as it was the best bet for my destination. Phoenix, Portland, and La Vegas come to mind. Each time I have flown them, I have been apprehensive of the way they board in groups. Each time it was not a problem and I enjoyed the flight. They have a good group of staff who make you feel welcomed. The seat pitch is a little short for me, but all-in-all they get an "A".

 

Jet blue SFO

     After taking off from San Francisco, the plane often turns and actually flies over our home in the Central Valley of California.  We do not notice the flights as they are so high, but we can see them. especially at night. Jet Blue takes this route from SFO to Boston Logan and to New York.

      Jet Blue is a great and economical way to fly across the USA. The seats a good and the service friendly.  The low cost makes it a bargain. I will say that the roughly five hour flight to Boston brought us in later than I would like and Logan is tough to get round. My last flight to Boston was for a professional conference at Harvard Medical School and my wife went along. She enjoyed herself in the city while I worked.

     The photo above is of the East Bay in California at take off.

Lufthansa Lounge at JFK

Shaky photo of New York leaving JFK airport

The business class lounge at JFK for Lufthansa is very nice. When we were there it was not busy.

The best part of the lounges for me is that they are not noisy or hectic.

They give you time to relax before your flight.

 

Virgin Atlantic SFO to London Heathrow and return

    We have been very impressed with Virgin Atlantic Airlines. We flew them from San Francisco to London and back as it is a non-stop flight. The service was excellent, and even if flying economy, things went very well. Economy was nearly equal to Premium on other carriers. We give Virgin's flight an "A". 
 

Lufthansa Airlines

We flew to Prague and stayed five days and then took a ship down the Danube and back. This included a tour of five capital cities ending in Munich. We stayed in Munich for another five days. The trip was a total of three weeks in Central Europe and included visits in five countries.

Ordinarily we would fly Air France, but we got a deal on Lufthansa for Premium with a stop in Frankfurt. As it happens we were given Business Class tickets because of miles. This gave us lounge access in San Francisco and in Frankfurt. The Lufthansa Lounge in SFO is great. The Lounge in Frankfurt was comfortable, but we did not have loads of time to enjoy it. Food was nice and German wines were excellent.

Our return flight was Premium on Lufthansa and was not as good as Air France's, but nice. However, once they see Paris, you know, they cannot stay on the farm... we are now Business/First Class flyers.

 

Air France

Our choice for international travel is Air France. We have flown it many times both to Europe and to Africa by A380 (which they no longer fly). We go Premium Economy and like the two seats together at the window. Food service is from Business Class and even the little bag of goodies is nice. While the seats do not lie flat, they are comfortable with a pillow and blanket provided. The crew is great. We especially like the waiting area at CGD Airport in Paris. It is not a lounge, but almost as good. 

We have flown Business Class to Germany on Lufthansa and will report on that.