Category: Trips to Europe
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Istanbul’s Cats, Turkish Carpets, and Towers
After our Blue Mosque visit during our Istanbul Tour in January, Laura and I were off to our next destination, a “cultural experience” at the Istanbul Handicraft Center, where we would see a demonstration on Turkish rug making. We had been warned to avoid “smooth talking rug merchants,” that the rug merchant sales pitch was…
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Monumental Mosques and Busy Bazaars in Istanbul
On January 15th, Laura and I left Virginia and headed to Istanbul. The city had been our list of places to visit for a long time, and some expiring “rewards” points from student trips we had led to Europe made it possible for us to see the city for the first time. After 20 hours…
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The Eagle’s Nest and Eating in Austria and Germany
The night of July 4th, thunderstorms rolled through Munich, and the forecast for our trip to the Eagle’s Nest and Salzburg did not look good. When the next day arrived, we lucked out with the weather as the storms seemed to be spent. Preparing for a long day away from the hotel, we once again…
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Biking and Bussing in Munich and Nuremberg
On July 3, we got to sleep in until after 8am to partially recover from our late Parisian nights. At ten, we left for the airport to fly to our next destination: Munich. Somehow, our Tour Manager, Peter, snagged a first class seat. From our peasant seats, the meals he and his fellow first classers…
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Late Nights at Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower in Paris
On July 1st, we arrived in Paris around 5pm following our Normandy tour. We headed to our hotel, which was right on the Seine River. The view from our room on the 27th floor was amazing. After checking in, we had about 45 minutes before we left for dinner. The Eiffel Tower was under a…
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Following the D-Day Invasions at Portsmouth and Normandy
On June 30th, we left London, heading south to the Portsmouth area of England, one of the staging grounds for the D-Day invasions. There, we would visit their D-Day museum before heading across the channel. The museum not only provided a narrative explaining what happened at each of the landing beaches targeted by the American,…
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London Towers and Showers
Way back in the innocent, pre-Covid days of 2019, Laura and I planned a student tour of Europe that would trace the path of the American armies during World War II. By February of 2020, we had a group of students and parents who were all set to go, but then: Covid. Reluctantly, we postponed…
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Roman Ruins and Catholic Cathedrals in Pompeii and Rome
On July 2nd, our Italian tour group left Sorrento for Pompeii. We would tour the ruins of Pompeii and then proceed to Rome, our final destination on the ten-day trip. Pompeii is located away from the coast, which meant returning to the heat of the interior after the breezy days in Sorrento and Capri. Even…
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Living the Life on the Italian Coast
On June 29th, our Euro travel group started the next portion of the Italian tour, to Sorrento and Capri. The combination of our early tour of the Academia and highway traffic caused us to miss the stop at Orvieto on the long journey south from Florence. On the lengthy drive, the travelers found a variety…