Venice and my Cruise around the Med - May 2008

I went on a Cruise in May. I wanted to explore Europe a bit, but also wanted to have a relaxing week....it was fantastic! Italy, Greece, Turkey and Croatia was where the ship docked. It was an amazing adventure and had a great time - and even relaxed......

Started off in Venice.....



2nd Stop - GREECE
Olympia, Greece
Where the Olympics started.....



TURKEY
Hagia Sofia - Istanbul Blue Mosque - Itanbul



Cruise Photos

So, I guess it was windy, but seriously, why bother??



LAST STOP - CROATIA
Dubrovnik, Croatia

Thinking about family

Here are some photos that make me laugh, and make me miss the family. I don't have favorites, but today I've been looking at photos of Winston. He giggles and smiles at everything. He has a fantastic personality for a 2 year old. I will have to upload the video from Disney last year, which his personality at the Disney character breakfast was hilariously cute.

EASTER SNOW

Happy Easter. I love Easter. Always been my favorite holiday, though this is the second year in a row where I've not spend Easter with family. Sad.

Anyways - it is SNOWING in London! No White Christmas, but we have a snowy Easter.

Welcome Thomas Stonewall Jackson...

On March 1, in Michigan, little Thomas Stonewall Jackson was born....and he's just perfect.

Feb - travel plans

So I'll be traveling home the last day of the month to go see baby #222, ok, just #6, but seems like #222 - no idea if boy or girl, but everyone thinks it will be a girl, so they even out. Also - making a little detour to Orlando.....to take a little risk in life.

And just booked a cruise for May - off to Greece, Turkey and Croatia....seems like a nice cruise.

Home for the Holidays

Top 10 things I loved about going home.

10. Jersey Giant!!!!! If you've been to mid-Michigan, you know what I am talking about - they make the best subs on earth.

9. The 4 corners of Okemos - well, it is kind of 3 now, or 2. At least my malt shop is still there.

8. The M Den. It really is a little piece of heaven walking into the store for me. It sells everything imaginable (almost literally) with a Michigan logo on it. My 6 year old niece, who says she 'hates Michigan Wolverines', went in, and enjoyed it only because they sold a few Michigan State items.

7. The Christmas Light town. So it costs $5, and you have to get there a bit early, and it isn't as great as 2 years ago, but, still amazing. Watching the children's eyes widen every time they saw Santa was wonderful.

6. The Melting Pot in Troy - even with the 40MPH winds and icy road conditions, and not actually easily being able to identify the location.......the ultimate Fondue dinner is just amazing!

5. Twelve Oaks Mall and Somerset Mall. Excited about a mall? Heck yeah.......now of course I did have to go to about 20 stored to find the boots I wanted.

4. Sleding (or Sledging as the Brits would say).

3. Snowball fights.

2. New York City at Christmas time. I ended my trip in NYC, and it really is the best city on earth, especially at the holidays.

1. Seeing the kid's faces on Christmas morning - I need kids of my own, so I can cherish this even more.



Me and Winston



Joshua and Winston



Me and Jonathan

September: Travel with an 8 year old and business trip to Asia

Seems like so much is going on, I can barely keep up since June. For 10 days in early September, I traveled with an 8 year old around England - similar to my Apr-May holiday (but with a kid)! Now I am the Hong Kong airport. Nearing ready to board my flight back to the UK (can't wait for another 12.5 hours)!! So Asia was a blast. Singapore had so much great food and shopping. Hong Kong is a hazy but fantastic city. If I had to chose between the two, Singapore was so clean, safe, and just so much to love. On the other hand, Hong Kong had much more to do and I wish I had more time here. As for working in each, Hong Kong is a much bigger office, and met up with some of my old co-workers from back in the day. Singapore felt a bit like Zurich.

Anyways, I'll try to post a few photos at some stage. Here is one of my favourite photos of Joshua being Joshua at Stonehenge.

Wimbledon Day 3

I did go on Day 1, but it rained a lot, and I didn't take many photos, but saw Roddick, Henin and Henman play....but here is Day 3 - Wednesday - (sorry almost all photos are shaky - I was having trouble today)
Upon entering, I literally ran into Roger.....Roger!!!!!

Then Marcos....who still has so much potential.

Then Lleyton who looks a bit possessed (aww....I still like him)...

.and RAFA!!!!! Who like ran after this....

Then Thomas (he was super duper nice)

Juan Carlos (always nice)

Then Venus (she was not nice as normal)

Then Max (always super super nice)

Then Justine - who I didn't want to even take a picture of, but she is #1 in the world...

Then Maria - how on earth did I take such an ugly photo? She is really pretty - I don't get how I got this....

I also saw Safin, Rochus, Jaime Murray, Bogdanovic, Jelena, Amelie, Mahut, and many others, but photos are worse than the ones above.... :( Then rain stopped - and as for matches on Day 3 - I had Court 1 tickets. And due to the rain, only 1 match fully completed before 8pm. Serena played Molick. Molick has so much promise, yet blew it - again!

Serena won....

Roger Federer -- He CLOSES his eyes??? He's so not human - he's just too perfect of a player. Love his warm-up outfit...uhm...yeah...

Wimbledon

Not sure you can call this 'traveling' as I only have to go two short tube stops. For those of you who know me well, this is my dream. Even if it rains. Even if no play is allowed. No matter what happens, I am so super stoked! If worse comes to worse, I will get myself some strawberries and cream, sit with my umbrella and enjoy!

Anyways, I'll write about my time at a later date.

Go Roger? 5 in a row? Or shall we root for Rafa?

May 2007 - Time with the Family....and Tigger

Well, in May, I did travel back to the States for a week to go to the "Happiest Place on Earth"....no no not Utah folks, but Disney World. I went with my five neices and nephews, aged 17 months to 10.5 years. Not to bore with any of the details, here are a few pictures of the Tripp's..trip.....

Here is the family from a few months back, cute, eh??


Me and Tigger....a bit scary..


Winston is such a cutie!!


Everyone loves pooh....


Cinderella's Castle

Reflections of April Holiday

First and foremost, let's start off with the crazy signs. Please note that these are prevelent here. That is what is odd. I thought they were funny the first time, but I guess, these are just the normal hazzard signs.....


Ok, so I guess this is like our Danger of Electrocution, but this is a far funny sign and you have to love the picture. I was so excited when I saw this, and then we saw it like everywhere. Heck, there is even one on my street.

Tank Crossing? Were we on restricted grounds??? The better sign was the NO TANKS ALLOWED going into a town, but we missed it. Guess I need to start driving through more military areas in the states to take pictures of the signs.

I just don't get it? Is this an angle or what? Haven't seen anything like it. I will not of course mention the person who thought it was number of steps.....how can there be more steps going up than down on the same stairway???

And the classic.....please do not drive off cliff.

Some brief reflections of the trip
- Northern Ireland is beautiful and a place I would like to explore further
- Renting a car in Europe is not the same as renting a car in the US, and nothing redeeming about the experience really other than the cars did not blow up while we were driving them
- In really rural areas of Ireland, it is near impossible to understand the English spoken
- Sometimes maps mislead and take us down horrifically narrow roads meant for one yugo-sized car and a driver who has no fear
- Money never really goes as far as you'd like, no matter what currency is being used
- Trying 'local' food isn't always the best and at times is darn right scary
- When a person is in the street, you really should try better to avoid hitting her. And when a NUN is in the street, you should try harder!! Thankfully, we did not hit anyone.....but there was that rather scary incident with the woman who leaped back into her car......hee hee.
- Always remember that people in some places lie to make more money - ok, most people in most places, lie to make money
- You do not really need a souvenir from every single place you go (or do you)?
- Scotland is worthy of an entire week to explore further
- When you see about a million houses and castles in a two-week period, you become a bit unimpressed. Like - Bantry House became so tiny and small (and it was pretty darn large at the time) after you explore other places. And after about 20 Castles, Mansions, Palaces, you really start to not even care to see another one. But if someone gave me a castle - I'd go live in it....no complaints
- Sometimes cool looking places on the outside, have nothing to offer inside
- Smoking bans are one of the best things in the world!
- I cannot believe how many sightseeing tours exist. Even in small towns. What the???
- Seeing a Premiership Football game live is pretty awesome, and also darn right scary at the fanatism involved (and this coming from someone who is rather fanatical about a certain college team - GO BLUE)!!
- Driving on the other side of the road isn't all that difficult with practice. It is just the practice that was difficult for others.
- Look for deals. Best things in terms of experience or money were Stonehenge (the Stone Circle Access) and the Great British Heritage Pass. Some things you just don't find out in the guidebooks so research is best.
- Don't wait to pray for your own safety after you see a horrific accident that took the lives of 3 people!!
- I found it interesting that in most places in Ireland (even rather remote) the workers were all middle eastern yet Irish. While it is hard to understand the Irish in some places of Ireland...this was even more fun.
- Tour bus drivers must all take the same course in really horrific joke making.
- Trying to do a million things in one day, sometimes proves impossible.
- Even if a road exists on the map, sometimes you just cannot locate it in reality....
- 15 days may be a little too long to continually try to do a million and one things each day.
- When the sign says 'do not drink the water' - DO NOT DRINK THE WATER!!!!


DISNEY IS NEXT......not sure I will document that in the blog....what would it be 'today, we met Mickey and rode Dumbo'....(secretly of course, I will be having as much fun as the 4-10 year olds - I doubt the 1 year old will care much)!!!!

Day 12 - 15: Our lessons in History - Southern England

I rejoined the travel on Tuesday, which was Day 12. We've been traveling around England, so I have not been online yet. I will post pictures and write more shortly. First and foremost, this leg of the journey is our lessons in History. It is interesting how little I actually learned in European History. However, I think I am done looking at castles, ruins, buildings, mansions, palaces, for awhile. Glad I did it, but now need to go to something different. And now, I do not need to explore England much.....can concentrate on London.....

Here are the highlights:
Day 12:
Dover Castle
Dover is beautiful. Cool cliffs, cool buildings, and one awesome Castle.


Leads Caslte
Really awesome, and so understated in the travel guide. We were not anticipating such a cool place. I will write about the maze and how two young british kids helped us cheat our way through. Fun to meet cute young kids with awesome accents, with no values around cheating...

The Castle


Seriously - What the?? Albino Peacock? Remember the peacocks from hell in West Jordan and the one that jumped on my car?...erg!



The Maze from Hell. Honestly we were really close, but these two little kids were on the top of the maze and they just told us to cheat. They were cute 'we cheated....just go around...go down....go through the scary tunnel.....go past the scary face...up the stairs and you will find us'. I love kids!!


Day 13:
Hastings and the Great Battle of 1066
We find it interesting that such a historical significant battle as the Battle of Hastings has not been made into a motion picture. Maybe because it would be rather boring, but it is such a significant part of British history. The only thing that would have made this better would have been seeing the reinactment which only occurs once a year.

not sure where all the photos of this are? Did I confuse this with something else? probably.........oh well....it was a hill...there was a battle....that's it.

Brighton: The Pavilion and the Pier
The Pavilion is really awesome, however, it is odd to be in Brighton - a semi-sad looking beach town, which probably is fun over the summer, but reminds me of the not so good beaches and lame piers in California that just do not match up to Santa Monica or San Diego.



Day 14:
Stonehenge
We had the special Stone Circle access. We went at 630am and got to touch the stones and walk around for an hour with very few people there. It was really unbelivable. Yes, it is a pile of rocks, but it was a lot of fun. Also, there was a he-she there doing some sort of ceremony. Depending on who you ask, this person was thought to be many genders (maybe a woman - which I thought but she had smoked for 40 years straight, or a man, or a man becoming a woman, really we were uncertain). The reason for our fascination was really the fact that we were told we could NOT smoke, and here this person was doing a special ritual ceremony, basically smoking. Not putting down anything here, but it was rather odd, and he or she or whatever, was odd. Ok well, I have a LOT and I mean a LOT of photos of Stonehenge. Some awesome, some ok. I will put up the OKs for now until I decide which of the awesomes to show to the viewing public.

A Stone just my size!!




First - The he/she. Not a good shot at all. But.....I just thought it was a great shot with the No Admittance sign and this person. (even though I was there as well)!

Bath
The Roman Baths. This was actually a really cool site. It amazes me what still exists. I guess coming from America where our history is rather limited, I am rather shocked at how much has been maintained throughout Europe over the centuries. NOTE: The water they allow you to taste is absolutely nasty. They say if you drink 5L a day you can be cured of any illness. I'd die from drinking 5L of that. Seriously. I could barely handle two sips.





Blenheim Palace
Birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. I went a bit overboard on the merchandise. My little nephew is named Winston Churchill (no I kid you not)!! Blenheim Palace is on something like 2100 Acres, which is insane. I am still amazed at all of the open space in Europe. It is kind of nice to still see small towns and undeveloped areas.




Day 15:
Stratford-on-Avon
Birthplace of the great William Shakespere. A rather quant little town, however, nothing all that exciting either. I rather enjoyed it, but would not be a place I'd highly recommend unless going on a historical site trip. I am a huge Shakespere fan, so it was fascinating, but again, nothing like to set it apart from all of the other places we have visited so far on this journey.

The home......people have been coming there since 50 years after his death. Just that fact, is rather impressive!


My travels are done! I survived and actually have a ton more energy than when I started and feel fantastic!