Jan. 26, 2016: Naples to Florence Having passed the midpoint of our tour at approximately midnight last night, we get up early this morning and start packing for the next leg. The policeman is at home, and we communicate with him via the translator app on his phone (if you think WE finally had access… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 15
Jan. 25, 2016: Sorrento and Naples As it turns out, this is a day to be played by ear. We’d originally entertained thoughts of visiting Herculaneum, another ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius. But for various reasons, we decide against it, and so it leaves us with a free day. My recommendation is that we hop… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 14
Jan. 24, 2016: Pompeii This morning, having recovered from our bumpy-bed, goosebump temperature night, we proceed to the station and hop on a train to Pompei, a modern city that’s a short walk away from the ruined ancient city with the confusingly similar name: Pompeii. En route, we pass the first campground we’ve seen in… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 13
Jan. 22, 2016: Rome/ Vatican City Today’s destination is the Vatican, which though smack dab in the middle of Rome, is officially both a city of its own and a country of its own. We take a bus this time, a bus so inhumanly jammed with passengers that there’s no way we can squeeze in… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 11
Jan. 21. 2016: Rome Today’s destination is the Roman Forum. But we have to walk a couple of miles to get there, and we have plenty of occasion to take in the splendor of The Eternal City. One thing we are amazed by is the way ancient ruins are casually interspersed among bustling contemporary buildings,… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 10
January 20, 2016: Pisa to Rome When I go into the kitchen this morning, I see right away what Alessandro and his guest were whipping up so noisily last night. On the table, in a huge baking pan, is a crumb cake with about a third of it missing. Beside it is a note :… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 9
Jan. 19, 2016: Cinque Terra and Pisa Cinque Terra (“five lands”) is a group of five somewhat isolated mountainous villages on the coast of Italy. Their history dates back about 1000 years. They’re a UNESCO World Heritage site. And they’re only about an hour’s train ride from Pisa. So we set off to the station… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 8
January 17, 2016: Marseille We don’t have high expectations for the second-largest city in France. We hear that it’s dirty and high-crime (though still lower crime than most major U.S. cities) and there isn’t really much there here. So it isn’t on our must-see list, but it does provide a convenient place to break up… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 6
Jan. 15, 2016: Paris Eiffel Tower? Notre Dame? The Louvre? Well sure, these and many other attractions are on the must-see list when visiting Paris for the first time. But none of them is at the top of our list. To get to the top, we have to go underground. Our first priority is to… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 4
Jan 14, 2016: Versailles We sleep in much later than we’d expected, past 10 o’clock, which amounts to about 12 hours and is really snoozing overtime for a chronic burn-the-candle-at-both-ends-and-in-the-middle chap such as myself. But we needed it. And once we get going, we feel gratefully rested to tackle our half-day, as opposed to full… Read More Dennis and Kimberly’s Excellent and Epic European Adventure, Day 3
May 21, 2008: Kailua Kimberly’s homecoming day, or rather homegoing day. We decided to spend the entire day, or as much of it as we could, in Kailua, just a few miles north of Honolulu, where the poor girl once was forced to spend three years of her childhood. Kailua, she assured us, has the… Read More D, K and Z in Hawaii, Day 5
May 20, 2008: Polynesian Cultural Center As a rule, we shy away from guided tours. We prefer exploring at our own pace and, whenever possible, in our own space, rather than in the company of an elbow-bumping horde being shuffled around by a guide with a rote spiel. But when it came to the Polynesian… Read More D, K and Z in Hawaii, Day 4
May 19, 2008: Pearl Harbor and King Kamehameha How can you take a trip to Oahu and not see Pearl Harbor? It occurred to us that it might have been especially worthwhile to go there next Monday, which happens to be Memorial Day. Odds are some special activities will take place that day. But we… Read More D, K and Z in Hawaii, Day 3
Aug. 21, 2006: Tokyo A long day with an early start. Accompanied only by Yukari this time, we caught a train to spend a day in Tokyo. We had considered using the famous Shinkansen, known as “The Bullet Train”, but we learned that the fare would be 4500 yen (over 40 dollars) per person EACH… Read More D, K and Z in Japan, Day 7
Aug. 20, 2006: Arakawa and Nagatoro We all (minus Keisuke) piled into the van and headed for the hills, not very far away, to spend a Sunday at the Ara River (Arakawa). On the way, we spotted a line of about 75 people on the sidewalk in front of a small restaurant, waiting patiently in… Read More D, K and Z in Japan, Day 6
