Wow! A big curve ball on our very first day! On this trip,  Elizabeth and I will join 20 others to follow the footsteps of the apostle Paul. We start in Athens, cruise to Turkey and the Greek Isles, and finish in Rome in time for Pope Leo’s first public reception.   But before meeting the others in Athens on Wednesday, May 14th, Elizabeth and I planned to fly first to Rome, then take a train south to Naples, and then head down to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. On the way to Sorrento, we were to visit Pompeii, which sits in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 79…

Another Trip – Italy, Greece and Turkey – May 10th Elizabeth and I are about to embark on another adventure – this time to Southern Italy, Athens, the Greek Isles and Ephesus in Turkey. But first, we were in Chapel Hill to attend Carter’s graduation. He graduated yesterday with a Master’s Degree from UNC’s School of Information and Library Science. So, another Franklin joins the Tar Heel Community! I want to take a moment to comment on how important it is to stay flexible and “roll with the punches” when traveling. When we headed down to Chapel Hill on Thursday, I got hit by a 36-hour intestinal virus. I felt…

You never know where you will find your New Year's Resolution...

Saturday, August 24th – Calgary, Alberta  As with most of my Backroads trips, I try to add some days at the end or beginning of the trip to see more of the region – I started with Calgary.  Calgary, my entry into and exit out of Canada on this trip, started out as a fort in 1875 to protect the fur trade and was named Fort Calgary in 1876 after Calgary on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. It officially became a city in 1884, with a population of 4,000.  It is now the largest city in Alberta with approximately 1.4 million people, located just east of the Rocky Mountains. Known…