The tsunami tragedy is still fresh in the minds and hearts of the people of Thailand, where the popular resort island of Phuket was practically obliterated because of it. Nestled in the protection of the Gulf of Thailand, the sleepy island of Koh Samui survived unscathed. It is the second largest island of Thailand after…
Continue reading →Cruise ships always seem to have an emphasis on food and as the ships are provisioned at ports around the world, local cuisine can be featured with all the natural and fresh ingredients available. In Asia, where their spices were once the currency that inspired world exploration, the resources are vast and exotic. Recently I…
Continue reading →When Dean and I visited the behemoth Takashimaya department store in Singapore, as wide-eyed tourists we were an easy target for Ruben, the young Nespresso Club trainee. He showed us their coffee machines and taught us how to make the perfect cup of coffee in the manner, he explained, in which every Asian aspired to…
Continue reading →Singapore has been described as “Asia for beginners” because it is too safe, too clean, too air-conditioned. Having never been to Asia, I will take that at it’s word. It is all that and more. The people are polite and cordial, English is commonly spoken, the economy is strong (translate that to mean “expensive”), and…
Continue reading →Air travel has certainly changed since my first flight to Paris with my sister on that long ago summer trip to Europe. We are all too familiar now with heightened security, the impending danger of liquids, gels, shoes, and belts. But even onboard, the changes seem dramatic. The second leg of our trip, a twelve-hour…
Continue reading →Bags packed……check. At the airport……check. Passed security…..check. Waiting to board…..
Continue reading →Shoes. That’s what really separates the men from the women. And we girls love them….shoes, that is. The travel experts advise taking a maximum of three pairs of shoes on any trip. One for walking, a pair of sandals for warm weather, and a pair of reasonable dress shoes, whatever that means. That’s like being forced…
Continue reading →My first taste of real travel was when my sister and I spent 6 weeks in Europe one summer during college. I was 21, Marsha was 18. We were lucky to go. Looking back, my parents were selective visionaries for things that ended up really counting in my life and for which I am forever…
Continue reading →We just received our final travel documents…again. We still have the documents from the original six-month version of our trip that were already in the mail at the time it was cancelled. This new official document is actually more of a book, about 120 pages spiral bound. It is the bible for our cruise, tailored…
Continue reading →I’ve been having this subliminal fear that our trip could be thwarted again, that the ship would not be repaired on schedule or have enough time to make the long, slow journey from San Juan to Singapore. Do the math. 11,900 miles at about 16 or 17 knots per hour. That’s about 28 days without…
Continue reading →