All Blog Posts (896)

Did anyone have issues with shortness of breath at the high altitudes visiting Jungfraujoch or walking down Grandmother's walk?

We live at sea level in NC, USA and are in reasonable shape, but are 81 and 78, so just wondering?

Don

Prague

We to Prague first and stayed at the Opera property. We found the land lady exceptionally helpful and she was a joy. Lots of walking and decent food. We found that if you got off the main tourist beats the prices went down and the quality went up (both in Prague and Budapest). The entire town of Prague is a feast for the eyes. Budapest was quite a bit warmer and we stayed across from the synagogue. The place around this property abounded with lots of local eateries and things to…

Today was our final full day in Spain, so we checked out of our wonderful apartment, bid Jaun a fond farewell, and drove down to the Costa del Sol to Nerja.  This was a town with a sea view we had dreamed about, and we had read about paella on the beach in Nerja at a beach shack called Ayo's. …

Today we took off on a lengthy journey, but one we really wanted to do regardless of the weather.  We went to Ronda, Spain's home of bullfighting and the town which is split by lovely bridges over a steep gorge. It is indeed on of the loveliest towns we saw, even in gray weather.  The old town has a charm unlike any other, and the parks and outlooks, as well as the hikes, were soooo much fun!  We drove into town and parked in a lot that was well marked, with signage easy to understand about…

Today proved to be the first day of a rainy weekend--it forced us to cancel our room in Gibraltar and reschedule our plans. We were a little disappointed, but knew there was so much to see closer to home.  And the day began with sunshine, as you will see.  The next day, Sunday, was our planned trip to Ronda.  We ended up doing that on Monday the 12th--it just would not quit raining once it started!  Oh well, it's still vacation!  

Today we visited Alcala la Real, which was highly…

We purchased tickets online for the Alhambra, although we could easily have purchased them on our prior day in Granada www.alhambradegranada.org/en/ ;.  But we wanted to arrive early and chose that time block and we had an early palace tour.  What gardens!  What beauty!  What views!  We drove there, parked in the main parking lot adjacent to the ticket office and…

So, I was not meant to be a blogger.

It is 4 years after the trip. But I still have great memories. This was the only city in which we stayed in a hotel because we were only going to be there 2 days. We stayed near the Porta Nuova train station to make getting to Rome next easier.

Turin has a terrible reputation with travelers, so I was very pleasantly surprised when we got there. The bus we took from the airport drove through some neighborhoods that would uphold the…

A quote from the book "Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History Making Race Around the World."



"It turned out that she (Elizabeth Bisland) loved to travel. Travel she had discovered, was a delightful means of gratifying the intelligent curiosity that Dr. Johnson had called the root of all wisdom and culture. "I go to bed exhaustedly happy," she wrote in her notebook, "and wake up expectantly smiling."

Sounds like…

In July 1973 Eleanor and I took our first trip to Europe.  It was called the Free Lance Tour.  Included were several days in four cities : London, Vienna, Rome and Paris.  In each city you were on your own except for a 1/2 day optional bus tour with glimpses of the major sites.  We tried the 1/2 tour once, only to realize that it was a waste of time.  The rest of the trip we spent pretty much on our own deciding where to go and when.  One of the memories that sticks out in my…

Fairy Tale - A True Story  (April 22, 2004)



This really happened. It seemed like a fairy tale. But it is a true story. It was during our Swiss Heartland Untour in 2004. We had decided to spend the day in Brienz. It was a beautiful sunny day. The lady in the Tourist Information Office suggested that we take a walk in the older section of town. The streets were empty. We had the scenery all to ourselves. At the corner of Krummgasse and Oberdorfstrasse, the voices of a ladies choir…

We had a lovely drive to Seville, I know I keep harping about the roads (and we did get lost a time or two) but they are nice, well marked, and in good repair.  We passed through areas where we saw cork oak trees-some looked like they had just been harvested.  Once we got into Seville, we did get seriously lost, and ended up in a residents only zone, where we got a ticket.  (It came later in the mail after we got home, along with a notice from Hertz--they photo your license plate.  Even…

Cordoba!

Today we had planned a drive up to Cordoba.  We wanted to visit the Mezquita and I had tickets for the noon horse show at the Royal Stables in Cordoba, founded in 1570.  Being Kentuckians, we can only go so long without a horse or a bourbon!  Anyway, we got up early and got to Cordoba with no problems.  (Let it be noted that I have and used both a Garmin and Google maps on this trip, as well as paper maps, and we still got turned around sometimes.  A fact of life,…

We decided it would be fun to drive around in the local country and explore the villages of Rute and Iznajar.  Juan, our wonderful landlord, had furnished us with grapes from the vine in the courtyard.  It was time to cut the vines back and he saved us some of the most delicious, sweet white grapes.  We took them on every picnic!  Anyway, armed with our maps and Garmin, we set off for Iznajar, driving the most spectacular scenery roads along the way.  They were harvesting some olives at one…

We met with Alexandra this morning and had a wonderful time chatting with her in the courtyard of our apartment.  It is delightful, with grape arbor, lemon trees, decorative pots, and laundry.  It all feels so homey, and even though Juan speaks very little English, and we very little Spanish, somehow we communicated-- sometimes through Alexandra.  I think Juan even talks too fast for her!!  She gave us maps and all kinds of pointers, as well as her personal recommendations…

Day One In Andalucia

We arrived in Malaga on time and ready to explore, and were met at the gate by our driver, who turned out to be Alexandra, Maria's assistant.  She helped us to handle all the details of car rental and then carefully drove us almost two hours to our chosen Untours rental, Posada Real in Priego de Cordoba.  We decided on the village location because we wanted to be close to shops and restaurants, and we were entirely satisfied with our decision.  Priego is a…

First of all, Barcelona is a great place to visit, and we had our usual wonderful experience with Untours.  Our transportation from the airport was seamless, although we had to wait a couple of hours before we could get into the apartment.  Even when we got in, we had to wait for the cleaning staff to finish, so it was after noon when we were finally able to settle in and take a little rest.

My husband and I stayed in the Catalunya Suites for two weeks, and the location…

I would like to visit Paris with my adult son.  Have other moms done this, and do you have any tips?  Thanks.

Just returned from another happy visit to Quebec.  For any Louise Penny (Three Pines mysteries) fans, the Bury Your Dead tour from Tours Voir Quebec is an excellent walking tour that includes a slice of yummy sugar pie.

We are planning a sampler trip to Ticino, Switzerland and Salzburg, Austria May 2016.  Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.  We spent two weeks in the Heartland of Switzerland two years ago and loved it.

It is special moments like this that make travel truly enjoyable and memorable.  I posted this several years ago.  But it is worthwhile posting again in view of the fact that Untours is now offering trips to the British Isles.

"While driving through the Cotswolds in England in 1997, we came across two young Japanese girls in Burford who were at the Tourist Information Office trying to get a bus to Bourton-On-The-Water. There were…