Travel
Taking you on a journey with me.
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Stockholm to Montenegro – August 26-27
To get to the small country of Montenegro, where we would spend a week hiking, we first flew into Stockholm for a 24-hour layover. In Stockholm we participated in a Nordic food and drink tour. One very memorable part of the tour was the Swedish licorice. Evidently the Swedes love their sour/bitter licorice. Most of our group spit it out immediately. Those of us who did not wished we had. But we loved Stockholm. We then flew into Split, and had a driver take us south along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia to Dubrovnik, where we would meet our hiking group. Along the way, we stopped in the towns of…
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“The People We Meet” – Days 5 to 9 from Basque Trip
8.15.23 Dear James, Here is the second installment of “The People We Meet” from my Basque Trip. It covers Days 5 to 9. Day 5 – The Pyrenees – The Englishman. On day 5 we took a taxi from Biarritz to Saint Jean Pied de Port, the starting spot for the French Camino. From there, a pilgrim can hike 33 days to Santiago de Compostela, home of Saint James’ remains. Pete and I would only hike to Pamplona, Spain, home of “The Running of the Bulls.” On that first day as we hiked over the top of the French Pyrenees into Spain, we met an Englishman who had been the…
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Basque Trip – June 25th to 30th – Cycling the French Pyrenees and Rioja Region
On Sunday, June 25th, Pete and I took a train from beautiful San Sebastián to meet our Backroads Group at the Biarritz Train Station in France. This would begin the French Pyrenees part of our cycling trip. We would still be in Basque country, but we would now be in France. After a short shuttle to a beautiful picnic spot, we cycled 16 miles along the rugged Atlantic Coast to the sunny Bay of Biscay and St-Jean-de-Luz. After a swim in the Bay of Biscay and a stroll through town to take in a local festival (celebrating Saint John), I met up with our group for a dinner in our hotel (Grand Hôtel Thalasso…
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Basque Trip – Days 9 and 10, San Sebastián
After spending time in Pamplona, we headed to San Sebastián by bus. our first activity in town was to walk along Playa de la Concha, the largest and most prominent of San Sebastian’s three beaches. We then settled in for a refreshing “Tinto de Verano”, a mix of red wine and lemon-lime soda, and lunch at a restaurant on the promenade overlooking the beach. Later, I went swimming and even swam out to one of the floating docks, just as the protagonist did at the end of “The Sun Also Rises”. At the end of the day we had a private intro tour of San Sebastian that included lots of…
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Walking the Camino – Days 5-8
The second chapter of my 2023 Basque trip consists of walking the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James). For centuries Pilgrims have been taking this walk from various points in Europe to Santiago de Compastella, a town tucked away in Northwestern Spain, where St. James’s remains are thought to be buried. My good friend Pete Keane and I would spend three days walking the French Camino or the “French Way”, which starts in the small village of Saint Jean Pie-de-Port. Our destination – Pamplona. Before starting our hike we met in the seaside village of Biarritz, France for a day. Biarritz is known as the “queen of beaches and the beach of kings” after Empress Eugenie…
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Basque Trip June 16-18, 2023
After flying into Madrid and taking a short flight to Bilbao, I settled into the Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, located just across the street from the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, which I visited in the afternoon. The inside of the Guggenheim is as beautiful and unusual as the outside. Without a doubt it is the most kinetic museum I have ever visited. It is just plain fun to walk and explore. The art is a bonus because the building itself is a masterpiece. Designed by Canadian American architect Frank Gehry, the building is groundbreaking architecturally and launched Frank Gehry’s career. In his 90’s, he is still designing. Later in the trip, I will be staying…
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Last South Africa Post – It’s All About the Animals – Sunday, May 14
As I sit here in Brookline, Massachusetts on Mothers Day, recovering from jet lag and a 36-hour intestinal bug that Elizabeth claims is from eating a pepper steak pie at a road stand along the Garden Route between Knysna and Cape Town, I decided to focus my last post on something Phil Liggett kept repeating during our Safari. Phil, who was the heart and sole behind why this trip was put together, kept saying over and over again, “It’s all about the animals.” And as we spent more time with these exotic and extraordinary creatures, I began to understand why he kept repeating that mantra. Phil Liggett, known as the…
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South Africa – Settlers Drift Lodge, May 9th and 10th
Tuesday morning, we boarded two boats that took us up the Bushman River to our final destination at Kariega Game Reserve – Settlers Drift Lodge. When we arrived, we were greeted by friendly staff who offered cool lemon scented towels and a delicious beverage. This was standard operating procedure each time we arrived back at our accommodation, whether after a bike ride, a Jeep safari or after any other event. Unlike River Lodge, located on the Bushman River, Settlers Drift, like Ukhozi Lodge, is perched on a ridge. It and its nine villas overlook the Bushman River and small valley. To get to our villa we had to walk a…
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Dodging Elephant Dung in South Africa – River Lodge, May 7th and 8th
As I cycled on my third day through the bush of South Africa, our group found huge piles of fresh elephant dung dotting our path. I gleefully began dodging these as if I were biking an obstacle course. Without thinking I yelled to no person in particular, “How many people can say they dodged elephant dung while on a mountain bike!” The riders around me laughed and gave me a thumbs up. Another unique experience among so many we would have on this trip. And so began our second day at River Lodge – our second stop in Kariega Reserve. We had arrived here after a wonderful stay at Ukhozi…
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South Africa – Ukhozi Lodge, May 5th and 6th
We took a very early flight on Friday from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, also known as Gquberha- see map. We met our group at noon at Port Elizabeth Airport. After a two hour drive we arrived at Kariega Reserve and our lodging for the next two nights – the Ukhozi Lodge. During our drive to Kariega we were able to catch up with our dear friends, the Hoffman’s, who were entirely responsible for convincing Elizabeth to go on this once in a lifetime trip. When we arrived, we checked in to our cabins, which were beautiful. They also sit on a bluff overlooking a small valley that is absolutely…