April 8, 2026 Today we visited Rothenburg, a small town that still retains its medieval character. The Romanticists were charmed by this little town that was untouched by the industrial revolution of the time and insisted that it be preserved as it was. On the way, we drove along the "Romantic" route named for the movement that romanticized the past at a time when so many things were changing. Once in Rothenberg, we had a quick tour starting with the medieval wall that still

April 7, 2026 Today we had a long bus ride to Heidelberg. There was an accident so traffic was slow. The scenery was beautiful on the way and the charming town was worth the wait. They even had a tactile map that people who are visually impaired could use to discover the town. After a brief city tour, we had lunch with students from the Heidelberg University. Our student was a native German from Southern Germany who was studying anthropology with a particular interest in Lati

April 6, 2026 Today, we visited the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. It was a fun tour as our guide was a local actor who took on the role of an Englishman who "spied" on the construction of the Prussian Fortress built to ward off the advancing French. He wrote a book that caused great consternation with the Prussian military because it revealed too many details about the fortress. He involved the tour group with his "spying" and it was a fun way to learn about the fortress. You can

April 5, 2026 We travelled along the Moselle River to Cochem. The highlight of today's excursion was a visit to the Reichsburg Castle. The tour of the inside was amazing. There were beautiful ceilings and such interesting details in each room. There was a bust of Louis Ravené, who purchased and renovated the castle in 1868. The castle even had secret passages which could be opened with a little button on the floor. From the castle, we had a splendid view of Cochem and the Mos

April 4, 2026 We toured the city of Trier today. It's population of around 100,000 is about the same as it was when it was a capital city of the Emperor Constantine in the Roman empire. Electoral Palace with Constantin Basilica behind. The Basilica was heated by fireplaces which produced heat below platforms and warmed the entire building. Church of Our Lady Trier Cathedral, the oldest church in Germany. The purple building, the Palais Walderdorff, is where Napoleon stood on

April 3, 2026 After enjoying a beautiful sunrise, we bid farewell to the our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile, and traveled to meet the river boat in Trier. On the way, we stopped in Reim to see the Reims Cathedral. The stained glass was stunning. The details within the panes were exquisite. We next stopped at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg dedicated to fallen American soldiers who fought in World War II. Soon after leaving Luxembourg, we reached Trier and boarded

April 2, 2026 Today we did a panoramic city tour with Viking. The highlight was a stop at the newly restored Notre Dame after the disastrous fire in 2019. We were lucky and lines were short so we were able to go inside. We then rode to Giverny to see the house and gardens of Monet. They were beautiful and filled with spring blooms.

April 1, 2026 Today we had a tour of the Louvre. We had initially had a 3 hour tour with Project Expedition, but they cancelled on us. Since it was last minute, we were only able to do a 1 hour tour through the hotel. It was very rushed which was disappointing, but was happy to be able to see the museum. We met the guide at a meeting place. We entered the Louvre area through a covered hall which gave good cover from the rain. We waited there a bit until closer to our meeting

March 31, 2026 We walked from the hotel to the Arc de Triomphe to our first stop on the Big Bus tour of Paris. We decided to stay on the whole time to get an overview of the city. After driving down the Champ de Elysee, we passed by the Grand Palais. Built in 1900 for the Universal Expedition in Paris, it boasts one of the largest glass roofs in the world. A statue of Charles De Gaulle, the leader of the French Resistance that fought the Nazis and later became France's first

April 30, 2026 We explored the area around the hotel today after making the switch for our booked room for the extra night to the room with Viking. Here is the view from our new room. Today we explored the area around the hotel. I had thought this metallic structure was some a sculpture or monument. It turns out that it is actually student housing! The Irene Joliot-Curie Student Residence stands out as an excellent example of contemporary French architecture by the way it mak

March 29, 2026 We arrived in Paris today. Here is a night view of the Eiffel Tower from our hotel room.

July 27, 2025 Eldfell is on the far left of the town of Heimaey. The rocky outcrop at the left of the harbor was form by the lava from the eruption. Notice how if they had not stopped the lava flow, it could have completely blocked the harbor. In 1973, Heimaey fought a gripping battle with the Eldfell (Hill of Fire) volcano. It caught the people of Heimaey by surprise as the local volcano Helgafell had long been dormant. However, that fateful night in January, a new fissure

July 26, 2025 Today we said farewell to Reykjavik as we began our Northwest Passage cruise on Seabourn Venture. We sailed around the Reykjanes Peninsula where the volcano is erupting, but it was still light out and overcast and the peninsula was quite far away, so no lava was seen. Although Brent and I had no luck seeing the volcano, our Image Master photographer, Max Unterharnscheidt had been to the Blue Lagoon area where the volcano was erupting and got some truly amazing p

July 25, 2025 Today, we walked in the opposite direction to explore downtown Reykjavik. Here I am in front of the hotel (the Exeter) before we began our walk. Our first stop was the Settlement House. They built this unique museum atop the excavation of an early Viking settlement in Reykjavik. After learning the history of the early Vikings, we then traveled forward in time to see Reykjavik's growth throughout the years. After the Settlement House, we made our way to Iceland'

July 24, 2025 We had intended to start the day with a helicopter tour of the erupting volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula. However, it was too windy and our flight was canceled. Instead we explored the Old Harbor area near our hotel. We kept with the volcano mindset and began with the Lava Show, a unique experience where they heat up real lava to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It flows down a tube and the experts demonstrate its different properties. The man in the silver suit heat

July 23, 2025 Our plane flight to Reykjavik on Icelandair was without incident. Our seats were spacious and service was friendly. We had some lovely views as we flew over Greenland. We had to wait a bit for our taxi to the Exeter hotel. We had been hoping to see the volcano erupting, but there was no lava flow when we drove by. It was dying down, although there were still stops and starts to it. We could see the steam caused by the heat though. While we waited for our hotel

May 5, 2023 We explored our final port without an excursion. We met up with our friends Sumi, Craig, Kelly and Polly after getting off the shuttle and set off in search of limpets for Brent, cork shoes for Craig, and glasses frames for Kelly. We began our day with breakfast in the Pinnacle as our ship sailed into port. Once in town, it was fun to see the colorful chickens and roosters roaming free in the streets. The cobblestone streets were laid out in patterns and set off b

May 4, 2023 At Ponta Delgado, we set off on our final Cruise Specialist excursion to the Furnas Village hot springs. We boarded the bus in the morning and enjoyed the sights as we first drove to the town of Ribeira Grande. We enjoyed our brief time looking around the town and enjoying the delicious Portuguese custard pastry, pastel de Belem. After about 30 minutes to explore, we got back on the bus and headed to the tea factory. There was a beautiful rainbow in the sky as we

May 2 to 3, 2023 There were two days at sea before we reached our last destination before crossing the Atlantic. On the first night, we enjoyed an Irish dinner at the Pinnacle. The first course was boxty - potato pancakes with caviar and aged cheddar cheese sauce and chive oil. Next, we enjoyed a carrot soup with a barley wafer and smoked honey foam. The fish course was fresh scallops in a whiskey and bacon bouillon. There was an Irish Coffee Granita to cleanse our palate. Th

May 1, 2023 We enjoyed the peaceful drive through the beautiful Cork countryside. We stopped at Charles Fort which was built in the 17th century and is one of Ireland's largest fortifications. It had amazing views. We also had fun poking around the colorful town of Kinsale. We had some time to enjoy an Irish scone. There was a vendor selling spoofy paintings of famous artists, including The Scream that we saw in Olso. We had time to explore Cobh when we returned and enjoy a d