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Vietnam and Malaysia: Chaotic Scooter Culture, Vibrant Markets, and Rickety River Bridges
Let it be known that we did not die when we rode, perched in the front baskets of trishaw bicycles, through the middle – and I mean the middle – of Central Saigon traffic. I thought I might be a goner when my driver stuck his bike – I mean he stuck ME, since I was on the front of the bike – into the middle of an intersection, where waves of scooters revved, impatiently waiting to zoom across from three different directions. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, but they must have stopped for me, or I wouldn’t be writing this now, would I? Millions of small…
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Australia Easter: Convicts, Conquests, and Light in the Darkness
I’m having my own Sunrise Service here at sea, waiting for the sun’s rays to peek over the horizon any minute – I’m sure the captain up on the bridge is on the lookout as well. Padre plans to check out the passenger-led service later this morning, but you know Padres. They assess the ministering, just like teachers critique the teaching when they become the students. So I’m staying here to do my own Easter thing, and I’m sure I’ll hear all about it later. Padre has great fun attending the various offerings on board – yesterday, he went to one on men’s mental health (seriously) but he came back…
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Darwin, Australia: Crocodiles, Cyclones, Bombs, and Snakes – Oh My!
Darwin, Australia: It started with a romantic Fanny Bay beach walk, until I found out that saltwater crocodiles crawl over rocks there. Oh, and the bombs. Oh, and the cyclones and snakes. Let’s just call this the Death to Humans Day. Before I get to all that, an important discovery: A new favorite pool! In my last post I said the Sanctuary pool was behind a pay wall – not true (so don’t believe everything you read on the internet…). Anyway, What I thought was the private pool is actually the adults-only Lotus Pool, just steps from our room. Very peaceful and almost empty, except for a man floating on…
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Diamond Princess Dilemma: What to Do Onboard for Six Sea Days?
Today is Day 6, and we’re not bored yet. Not even close. One of the best things I’ve amused myself with so far was the Goldilocks Swimming Pool Challenge. It started at 5:30 am and Padre wasn’t invited, since he’s a morning snoozer. We’re opposites in many ways; I’m up at the crack of dawn or before, he sleeps ‘til 8; I’m usually in bed reading by 8 pm (or earlier, no joke). He’s up ‘til midnight watching sports, news, and bad movies. He’s more of an introvert than me in some ways but handles crowds fine, but I dislike crowds and crave quiet. And our opposing preferences usually work…
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Diamond Princess: How to Find Your Cabin, Coffee, Chocolate….and a Fave Sparkling Swimming Pool
So first things first: Where ARE we? Not in the world, mind you; we know we’re in the Coral Sea sailing along the Great Barrier Reef and on to Darwin (see map). No, it’s more basic than that. Where are we on this ship, and which way to breakfast? You know, the important stuff. So we’re learning school stuff (map locations), ship stuff (the best places to eat, sun, swim), and people stuff (new friends!). And so far, we’re miserable failures when it comes to avoiding all the fabulous food everywhere, including chocolate on the pillow each night. Who knows, maybe tomorrow we’ll stick to the salads – there’s always…
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Sydney, Australia: The Bus to Bondi Beach and Beyond
Sydney Touring Day 3 An almost free bus tour – sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? It was true, though; approximately $14 U.S. for transportation costs, and the tip was up to us, for an excellent three-hour tour. Our tour guide Martin drove the big rig as he narrated our ride out of Sydney proper to beaches, lookouts, ocean cliffs, far-flung Eastern suburbs, and more incredible views, which seem to be absolutely everywhere. I wonder if Sydneysiders yawn about all this gorgeousness after awhile; I really hope not. We began the day in Hyde Park, part of the City’s green parkland corridor running right through the heart of…
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Sydney, Australia: Ferries, Free Walking Tours, and Flinder’s Cat
The Harbor City just might steal this Seattle girl’s heart, and trust me the Emerald City is no slouch when it comes to scenic beauty. Back home, I’d still be bundled in the puffer coat and wool socks right now, but here I’m rocking my Judy Dench Best Exotic Marigold Hotel linen pants (Goodwill, $1) and clutching the sunscreen bottle closely (don’t leave home without it, our hotel attendant admonished us first thing). This just might be my favorite cruise port yet; what’s not to like? Just steps from our hotel’s front door, the Sydney Opera House’s white sails and the Harbor Bridge hover over little ferryboats puttering back and…
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Waikiki: Three Days On the Quiet End, and a Trip Down Memory Lane
It was one of those 1970’s low-ceilinged lounge cabarets; murky dark, smoky, packed. My teacher buddies kept calling for more rounds of syrupy-sweet Chi Chis with umbrellas, and sure – why not? So what if I was pregnant at the time? Hey, this was 1979; no one cared about that yet. Bad lounge singers marched out in cop/construction worker/cowboy/Indian chief outfits to belt out a brand new song we’d never heard before: Y – – -M – – -C – – -A- – -!!!! We rose to our tipsy feet, cheering them on – more Chi Chi’s, please! That bad behavior happened on my first visit to Waikiki almost 40…
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Oahu: How to Take Great Photos in Paradise, No Experience Required
Update: When visited Honolulu in 2019, arriving by cruise ship this time, we took this same photo tour and it was wonderful! See 2019 photos and info here. If you want to go right to the most exciting part of this post, check out the info about our first encounter with an automated Japanese toilet, which we’re still giggling about..…too much information on that later. We think the newfangled toilet discovery is just the first of many oddities (odd to us, anyway) that we’ll discover now that our two-month journey is finally underway. One problem, though – we did a bang-up job getting ready for this trip, but because we…
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Plan, Pack, and Don’t Forget the Relationship
This ship is about to sail. In T-minus two days we toss our bags on the local airport shuttle, and off we go! The months of trip planning had me thinking about travel challenges, and the time when Padre yelled at me on our honeymoon in Ireland. We’d been married two weeks; what do you know about your partner at that stage in the relationship, really? Not much. Now, I’ve lived with the guy for decades and know he’s not a yeller; that’s only if he’s really frustrated, and I’m talking too fast/interrupting him mid-sentence due to stress/panic/exhaustion, or we are working on a complicated problem with lots of unknowns.…
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Cruise Ships: Favorite Hideouts and Hangouts Onboard
Would these lovers ever see each other again? Was her heart broken, or his? Would she make it up the gangplank before the ship pulled away from the dock? We only learned the answer to that last question (darn), as we played a favorite game in one of our favorite spots on board, called Will They Make It? The game goes like this: After returning from shore excursions, we like to park ourselves by windows looking down on returning passengers hurrying back to the ship. Inevitably, everyone makes it back (you’ll hear the announcements if someone doesn’t) but sometimes there’s drama. In this particular instance, a taxi careened down the…
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Russia by Cruise Ship: Tours, Kitsch, and Safety Questions
After a once-in-a-lifetime visit to St. Petersburg last year, I was surprised that so many Americans asked me if I felt safe there. Sure I did, except in their subway, where I kept my eye on a clever Russian supposedly reading a book, who was also slyly eying Padre’s pocket. Thievery is rampant in the St. Petersburg subway, our guide warned us. But did I feel safe in Russia everywhere else? Absolutely. St. Petersburg’s travel industry adores tourists, especially our cash. I guarantee that your tour bus will stop at least once at an elaborate souvenir store filled with glowing shelves of tourist kitsch, all just for you, and you’ll…
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Australia: Weather Catastrophes, Surfers, Malcontents, and More
Our March 2018 journey began as a struggle between competing travel bucket lists. I voted for Southeast Asia and the Far East; Padre was stuck on Australia due to what he calls the ‘Steve Irwin’ effect. Irwin, a wildly popular critter-wrangling TV star who died from a stingray attack, made the “G’day Mate!” Aussie attitude about life seem pretty darn cool. (We found a rare compromise cruise; see trip itinerary here.) For me, it had to do with the past. In 1992 we spent two amazing weeks in New Zealand, and I somehow adopted this silly notion that we’d done Down Under already. Kiwi and Aussie cultures share many things…
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Great Big Beautiful World
We don’t have to leave home to see the great big beautiful world. No one does. The beautiful world embraces us: The landscapes we live in, the skies overhead, and right at our feet, in the royal purple winter crocuses that peek above the frozen soil here in the Pacific Northwest. The sun and moon rise and set every day in sometimes-stunning shows, free to all, wherever our feet are planted on this glorious earthly globe. So why does everyone get amped up about snapping the perfect photo of a sunset while on a cruise, myself included? It’s not like we haven’t seen one before, but it’s suddenly magical when…
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Why Travel? Come Home to the Same Place, Only Better
Ok that’s a puzzler: What does T.S. Eliot mean by that? As an Eliot-besotted English major back in the day, I analyzed the original poem where this quote is from and it’s not about travel, unless you mean travel to the inner recesses of your soul or a search for the meaning of existence. (If you like poetry, it’s a masterpiece worth musing over: Little Gidding) Despite that, I don’t think Eliot would mind that so many preachers, therapists, life coaches, and travellers find this quote motivational. In the larger work, Eliot challenges us to consider how all beginnings and endings on our life journeys transform us in meaningful ways,…
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Traveller’s Tales: Just Say WOW
What travel experiences have left you speechless? We were awestruck last year while touring St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Art Museum, which used to be Peter the Great’s Winter Palace. We just kept saying ‘wow’. During my studies of the 1917 Russian Revolution, I watched film footage of Red soldiers fiercely storming up the staircase pictured here. To walk up those same steps myself? Definitely a ‘wow’ moment. And then there was the art. Ibn Battuta, our inspirational quote author, left home at age 21 to complete a pilgrimage to Mecca. He loved travel so much that he didn’t come back for 29 years. When he returned he wrote A Gift to Those…
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Vietnam and Malaysia: What War Leaves Behind
Catfish and Mandala, by Andrew X. Phan, 1999. 342 pgs. ★★★★★ Five stars for a tale that every American who remembers the Vietnam War and its aftermath will appreciate. ★★★★ Four stars for page-turning narrative, occasionally too raw and real for some. I’ve read many titles in the growing canon of Vietnam War books, and hoped to visit Vietnam someday for many reasons, not the least of which had to do with my profession. Early in my career as an English teacher, I welcomed a handful of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugee students into my classroom. I was drawn to their stories and struggles, and couldn’t imagine what they must have endured…
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Travel: Well, Why Not?
At the age of 24, close to Shackleton’s age, I caught the travel bug. I’ve been infected ever since. At that moment I stood stunned by King Tutankhamen’s golden death mask, oddly alone with it for a moment during the 1978 King Tut exhibit in Seattle, Washington. Our busload of students had scrambled ahead, leaving me to stare in silent wonder at this glowing ancient treasure. A pauper-poor schoolteacher at the time, I remember thinking, “I’ve just GOT to get to Egypt someday, somehow.” I still haven’t been to Egypt; odds are I’ll make it, though. It’s on the top of my travel bucket list, and we’ve hesitated only because of…
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Japan: Samurai Swords, Wind-Up Birds, and Clever Cats
Our penchant for travel might just be an excuse to read. Before departure day we scour second-hand stores, download travel guides, and track down hard-to-find titles through online sources. Some ‘free’ travel titles come with an Amazon Unlimited subscription, $10/month – lots of Lonely Planet guides there, FYI. We read relentlessly before departure day, then tuck a few books (light ones) in the luggage and load up the rest on I-Pads. Our March 2018 journey includes several days at sea, days I’ll be curled up with a good book in one of the delightful hideaways scattered around our cruise ship. (A future blog post in the making, right there.)…
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Venice, Italy: Water Taxi Ride
How to get ourselves (and our luggage) from our cruise ship to our hotel, in a city without streets? Our destination: The lovely Hotel Concordia, steps from San Marco Square in the heart of Venice. I had reserved a water taxi for six. We waited for our launch, concerned, as small boats zipped in and out in front of us and waves rocked the dock beneath our feet. The tiny launch that finally pulled up was a moving target, and I worried she might sink once six robust Americans with suitcases climbed aboard. Then we pulled out, and…… Ah, Venice. We instantly fell hard for this ancient, sinking city, as…
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Rome’s Colosseum: Bread, Circuses, and Christians (maybe)
We joke that Padre, standing in THAT place in Rome’s ancient Colosseum, would soon be toast, considering his chosen profession. Just a light snack for the snarling lions bearing down upon him, all while the raucous crowd cheers on his imminent demise. History supports some of that scenario, but not all. The picture we have of cowering Christians huddled in fear as prowling lions stalked them is more a Hollywood invention than Roman reality, although it may have happened; we just don’t know for sure. At times in Rome’s early history, Christians were persecuted, of course, but beheading, not shredding-by-lion, may have been a more likely fate (think: Apostle Paul).…
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Cruise Critic Guide: The Godfather, the Roll Call, and Us
It all started with Bill’s Valentine’s gift. Bill adores reruns of old Godfather films for some reason. Me, not so much. Bleeding dying bodies riddled with bullets give me nightmares. Bill’s my guy, though, so in the spirit of love I presented him with a homemade gift certificate for a cruise shore excursion. When our cruise ship docked in the port city of Catania, Sicily, we’d visit the iconic Godfather filming sites in person. Great gift, right? Only one problem: I didn’t actually book the tour in February: Lots of time before our September cruise, I thought. When I tried to book the tour in July, oops: Booked solid. Uh…
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Key West, Florida: Make the Most of Eight Hours on Shore
Key West has always been known as a hard drinking town, ever since Ernest Hemingway threw back dry martinis at Sloppy Joes, or Capt.Tony’s Saloon, or both. (The bar debate rages to this day.) When ships dock in Key West, revelers walk off the boat to find themselves smack in the middle of the world-famous Duval Crawl, where several landmark watering holes are lined up within walking distance: Sloppy Joe’s, Capt.Tony’s, Hogsbreath, The Green Parrot, The Bull and Whistle, Margaritaville, Smokin’ Tuna, Rick’s, Irish Kevin’s……and so, so many more. If downing drinks is your primary Key West objective, have at it: you’ve come to the perfect place. With eight…
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Cruise vs. Independent Travel? Both!
Even though we’re experienced travelers, we’re rather new to cruising. We avoided cruises for years after I spent a miserable seasick night on a cruise ship in the 1990s. Wasn’t fond of the herd mentality thing either, on a 700-passenger Epirotiki cruise ship (how quaint, considering today’s monster cruise ships). I did appreciate how easy it was to get from one Greek island to the next, especially with 25 high school students along for the fun. Back then, we were still young enough to happily haul our bags, drive our own car, and survive near-travel disasters, such as almost missing the last night train out of Lucerne, Switzerland because we…
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The Epic Journey, With Maps
We refer to it as The Epic Journey, although it’s not ‘epic’ in the classical sense, celebrating heroic feats of a legendary hero and all that. (One family member I know says Bill is her hero, so maybe that counts?) No, it went epic when it morphed from a ‘short’ three-week cruise, to a meandering two-month cruise/land tour/transpacific cruise multi-staged journey. All because I loathed the thought of an outrageously expensive one-way Tokyo-Seattle flight to get us home after the three-week trip. I discovered we could cruise home via the Bering Sea, cabin steward, covered spa pool, and fine dining available during the entire crossing. Infinitely better than cramming ourselves…
