Our son and his girlfriend chartered a catamaran in Tortola and invited us along. The bedroom was a bit cozy and the toilets, which cannot accept toilet paper, reminded us we were ‘roughing it’. But a boat in the Caribbean? How rough a week is that? We started our visit in White Bay on Jost Van Dyke Island at the Soggy Dollar bar, which sells colorful t-shirts and serves a famous rum…
Growing up near Niagara Falls, New York, I have always taken for granted that water sometimes creates a waterfall. It might even be massive, as the one on the Niagara river. But Karen and I heard tales of a waterfall that is over a mile across and higher than the one I know so well. It just happens to be near the confluence of the Iguazu and Parana rivers, where Brazil, Argentina…
While on a trip to Lake Como, we decided to take a tour up the lake from our base in the city of Como. We talked with a guide we had used for a quick city tour. She recommended a fast boat up to Villa de Balbianello, a state preserve of Italy which has been a location for various films, and a short visit to Bellagio. She got our attention by telling…
Several years ago, while living and working in Germany, friends invited me to visit Paris with them over a weekend. They had been; I had not. On the drive over from Wiesbaden we talked about many things. Somehow the best pecan pie came up in conversation. For me it was on a Delta airlines flight out of Atlanta. The secret was bourbon. Anyway, Gwen suggested I needed a new challenge. Bill, who…
A friend told us about a restaurant in the lower level of the Balmoral Hotel on Prince’s Street in the new old part of Edinburgh. We found it interesting that parts of Edinburgh, as a city, can be traced back to around 1100. About the time William the Conqueror came across the English Channel (1088). We stayed in the Old City on the Royal Mile, which runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood,…