2013 Russia & Ukraine River Cruise

       For our anniversary trip this year we flew to St. Petersburg Russia and took a river cruise on the Volga river to Moscow with several stop along the way at interesting sights.  We then spent several days in Moscow seeing all the sights we had heard about during the Cold War period.  We then flew on to Kiev in the Ukraine, which is now separated from Russia and is now independent.   It was a very educational trip and we would recommend it to everyone.  The churches, museums and palaces are all very ornate and simply beautiful.

2013 World Cruise

      For our winter we decided to take a World Cruise on a Holland America ship the Amsterdam. We left Jan 5th and returned May 1st..  We made 46 ports of call in 28 different countries or territories. Leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, we went thru Columbia, Panama, Peru, Chile before heading across the Pacific for Island stops on Easter Isl.,Petcairns, Moorea,Bora-Bora,and Rotonga.  We spent a week in 5 towns in New Zealand and then 10 days visiting 7 cities in Austrailia.  We stopped in several towns in Indonesia and the Phillipines before our stop in Hong Kong. We visited Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thialand in South East Asia. We stopped in Sri Lanka and the Seychelles before heading to South Africa West coast to visit 1 city and then around the Cape of Good Hope to visit 2 more South African cities and on to Namibia on the East coast. We headed back across the Atlantic making to more island stop before arriving in Brazil for 2 ports of call.  Our last stops were in French Guiana  and St Lucia before our return to Ft. Lauderdale.

2012 Alaska Inside Passage Cruise

       Our annniversary trip was our 2nd cruise to Alaska, but with many new stops from our previous trip. We left  Seattle for Ketchikan and then some scenic cruising thru the Tracy Arm before a stop in Juneau.   We had a stop at Ice Poitnt Strait and the small town of Hoonah on a beautiful day. We continued on to Anchorage for a rainy day and then on to Homer and Kodiak with their fishing history.  We cruised the Hubbard Glacier area again and proceeded to the picturesque town of Sitka.  Our final port stop was Victoria, B.C. and more great weather. Then we headed back to Seattle and home. According to the captain, we had found the best weather of the summer in Alaska on our trip, according to the captain.

2012 Netherlands -Belgium

        In April we took a river boat cruise in Belgium and the Netherlands to see the local sites and attend the Floriade World Horticultural Expo held every 10 years.  We started in Antwerp, Belgium and made our way thru the town of Ghent. Then to Rotterdam and the UNESCO site in Kinderdijk for the windmills. We stopped in Amsterdam to see the world largest flower auction in progress, and the Kuekenhof Flower Park.  We cruised up to Hoorn and Enkuizen for the sites before returning to spend our last days in Amsterdam.

2012 Chile -Argentina -Brazil

       Our second winter vacation was for 18 days seeing more sights of South America. Our land tour started in Santiago, Chile to a winery and on to Puero Montt for a Chilean rodeo and Petrohue Falls. Then we drove across the Andes Mountains to the German town of Bariloche, Argentina into the Patagonia region with a stop at a cattle ranch. Then on to Buenos Aires to see the sights of the big city before heading to Iguassu Falls a UNESCO site.  We then flew to Rio de Janeiro for a couple days of sight seeing and relaxing before heading home. 

2012 Peru

       Winter vacation had a trip to visit Peru for 16 days to see some of the Inca Indians and their many UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  We spent 2 days in Lima seeing the city sites before flying to Cuzco, the capital of the Inca world.  We moved thru the villages in the Sacred Valley of Urubamba with it's temples and terraced farm lands, before heading to Machu Picchu  the legendary "Lost City of the Incas".  We saw many Inca archaeological sites and the colorful clothing worn by the local people.  Then it was on to Lake Titicaca to see the cultural center of the Andrean people, where the Uros Indians still live on floating reed Islands. The whole trip was an exposure to completely different cultures than our own.

2011 South Africa

        In December we found ourselves headed to South Africa for a 21 day tour and photo safari. We started in Johannesburg to see local historic sites, before flying North to Victoria Falls  and our first trip to the Chobe game preserve in Botswana. Then we toured the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, one of the natural wonders of the world.  Our next tour was of the Kruger Park for another game drive for wildlife. We then made our way thru the Winelands to Capetown to see the most scenic parts of South Africa.

2011 France

          Our anniversary trip this year was to France, starting out in Paris and moving North to the town of Caen to see the Normandy beach areas, then to the West coast towns to see medieval castles, then thru the Cognac region and the wine country of Bordeaux. We stopped in Toulouse area to see a Roman amphitheater and temple. Our trip continued to the South to the French Riviera and all its sites before following the path of Napoleon to the North thru the scenic Lyon area to retun to Paris for several days of sightseeing thru all the museums and historic sites.

2011 Eastern Europe

        Spring of 2011 found us flying into Berlin, Germany and starting a bus tour thru Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. We saw a lot of World War II history including famous concentration camps, a lot of old castles churches and buildings, and heard the history of these countries that be behind the iron curtain. On a bus trip like this, you get to see a lot of the local countryside while driving between stops.

2010  Israel & Egypt

       In the fall of 2010, we flew to Israel to start our land and boat tour of the holy land for 21 days.  In Israel we visited the sites we have heard about since we were children, such as Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea and many others.  Then on to Cairo, Egypt and the Nile River to see the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, Valley of the Kings ( Tombs of the Pharaohs of Egypt), and the Temples of Philae, Hours, Edfu, Karnak and Luxor.   Every day of this trip was filled with the facinating history of ancient civilization.

      

2010 North Altantic Cruise

       We flew into Amsterdam, Holland and boarded our cruise ship the Eurodam in the Holland America Lines for our cruise thru the North Atlantic and back to the U.S.  We had stops in Scotland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and back to New York City.

2010 South America / Antartica

      We spent our winter on a 70 day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale with stops in Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama and then thru the Panama Canal. Then down the West coast of South America with stops in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina before we rounded Cape Horn an headed to Antartica for 4 days of cruising thru the area.  Next we headed back up the East Coast of South America with stops iat Falkland Islands, Argentina, Urugray, Brazil, a cruise up the Amazon River, French Guiana, Barbados, and Puerto Rico before coming back to Ft. Lauderdale.

Blog Site

Follow us on our travel adventures by clicking here on llwahlund.wordpress.com   At the top of the blog page is the most current entries,  at the bottom of the blog page click on older posts to see older blogs articles.