Amsterdam by small boat

     Amsterdam has great museums and is a very walk-able central city. People will tell you to go right of the bridge when coming from the train station as going left will take you to the red-light district. Either way seemed fine to me as Ann Frank's House and Rembrandt's House are to the left and the red-light district is not so bad. However, I suggest that you contact "Those Dam Boat Guys" and take a small boat tour (max of eight people) of the city by canal. It is well worth it and run by ex-pats who speak English and love Amsterdam. Seems much better than the big tour boats with all the people wearing earphones.

California Coast near Redondo Beach

Administrative Square in Liechtenstein

Looks like the folks in Liechtenstein are fair weather people, but it was a weekend and

everything was closed at the seat of government. The only people dumb enough to be

out in the rain were me (black umbrella), someone with a red umbrella, and

 Marietta McLellan who took this photo. 

I am surprised by the date. It does not seem that

long ago we were there.

Rouen, Normandy, France

     Rouen is a lovely city with interesting places to visit. There is a great Joan of Arc Museum and the place where she was killed. There is a modern cathedral near her place of death. The larger cathedral has an evening light show. There are wonderful shops and cafes. 

     You need to be careful in places at night as some are not well lighted and you can trip and fall - first hand knowledge.

     The photo above is one that I needed to show. It is the side of a public building. Those are bullet holes and marks left from the fierce battles of World War II. They have been left as a reminder of the touch of war on the city. It was not a light touch.

     This is a wonderful city and worth a visit. It sits proudly on the Seine River not that far from Paris.

Doge's Palace, Venice

The Doge was like the mayor/governor of Venice and received a palace that was fit for someone of power. In the palace there is the world's largest oil painting and some marvelous globes pointing to Venice's domination of the sea. However, the first thing you see and your walk in up the stairs is this gilded ceiling. If you were a trade partner or possible enemy, you would have to be impressed.

We recommend seeing Saint Mark's Cathedral and the square, but do not miss the Doge's palace or the Fenice Opera House.

San Pellegrino Mineral Water

 Como

S. Pellegrino

     San Pellegrino is an Italian natural mineral water bottled in San Pellegrino Terme in the Province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy.  I know Bergamo fairly well having been there three times. But, it is a long story.
      To be brief, we were staying at Lake Como near Lecco and left to fly to Paris out of Verona. We got most of the way to the airport when I realized I left our passports in the safe back at Lake Como. We turned around and drove back and after getting the passports headed back to Verona again.
It is actually a lovely drive, and as I kept mainly to rural roads and off the highway, We saw Bergamo and Lombardy close up three times.

Barcelona's Erotic Museum

     You hear a good deal about the sex trade and sex museum(s) in Amsterdam. Indeed, in the Red Light District there is plenty of advertising in shop windows, In Barcelona the Erotic Museum is on Las Ramblas across from the big food market and uses point of sale advertising with a Marilyn Monroe look-alike waving to folks from the second floor. It is more low key than Amsterdam, but no less straight to the point. Europe has a different attitude than the US about this.