It was really dull and dreary yesterday morning, and far colder than “normal” (whatever that means now) at -18°C (0°F). But some days, it’s much easier to put things into perspective than others. While a couple of nieces and many friends are preparing for Hurricane Sandy to hit… …I...

I don’t shoot much video, but did shoot a half-dozen during the trip, of things that still photos don’t do justice to. Here are the 3 musical ones: First, a machine that actuals plays several violins, from the collection at Siegfried’s Mechanisches Musikkabinett (Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum) at...

Cathy and I are both still a bit jet-lagged and not completely over the colds we picked up a couple of weeks ago, but when I saw sunshine being reported for Skagway for a few days, we decided that a road trip would be a great way to celebrate...

Our holiday ended yesterday with a 21-hour journey back home to the Yukon. I always pray for clear skies when flying over the Arctic, and I did get a couple of hours of good weather this time. The day began late, and at 09:00 I watched a bit of...

On Monday, our last full day in Europe, we took a 7-hour coach tour into the countryside around Amsterdam with Key Tours to see windmills and wooden shoe and cheese-making places. It turned out to be an excellent choice. The view out our hotel room overlooking the canal Prinsengracht...

On Sunday morning, we had to leave the River Queen, and we had set a 10:00 am pickup for a taxi to take us to the Hotel Pulitzer for two nights. We were talking to the Hotel Manager on the River Queen as we were saying our last good-byes,...

On our final cruise day, we sailed along a series of canals to reach Amsterdam, then took a couple of Uniworld tours, one official and one unofficial. During the night we passed a great deal of industrial activity, including this nuclear plant. I didn’t see this, but the photo...

We’re nearing the end of our cruise on the River Queen – a fact that most are trying to ignore. On Saturday, I woke up at 03:20 am and looked out our stateroom window just as we were passing under a huge bridge in a large city. Although I...

We docked at Koblenz very early Thursday morning, and spent the day exploring the city as well as nearby Marksburg Castle and the massive Ehrenbreitstein Fortress that looms over the city. This was the view from our stateroom at 7:20am as we were about to go for breakfast. This...

I enjoyed my walk around Bernkastel on Tuesday night but was looking foward to seeing it in the daylight too. The medieval center of town is wonderful. Some of the buildings have quite a tilt to them, especially this skinny one. Today was a day of funny signs, starting...