vacation – Page 3 – Destination NOW

Icy Strait Point and Juneau

Once again, we are sharing the port with only one other mid sized ship, Silverseas. We each had our own dock, so Icy Strait Point was very peaceful and uncrowded.

My day started early, on the deck with Richard, the naturalist. Although we spotted some porpoises, they only briefly popped out of the water, disappearing before I could capture their image.

Viking offers one free excursion in every port. For THIS port, we got a ticket to the red gondola, which allowed us to go to the top of a mountain and enjoy a panoramic view.

Earlier that day, Jean and I chose what was described in the cruise literature as a “ demanding” hike through the Tongass National Forest. Demanding, like beauty, is definitely in the eye (or feet) of the beholder. It was less than a mile, and although there were a few slight inclines, the hike was mainly flat. But Tess, our guide, made it really special. Not only did she know about wildlife and vegetation, she also took great photos.

Thanks to Tess, we can now look at bear droppings and immediately determine the gender of the bear.

The first pile was deposited by a female, because the ladies STOP to relieve themselves. The males, on the other hand, don’t waste any time. They are “full speed ahead” so their “torpedoes” are scattered all along the trail.

Bet you didn’t know this post was going to be so educational.

But wait…there’s more!

We saw this plant EVERYWHERE.

It looks a lot like Queen Anne’s lace, but it’s not. If you touch it, a substance on the plant reacts with sunlight to produce a somewhat nasty rash. Tess pulled up her sleeve to show us how she came by that knowledge.

At the end of our hike, we were left off by the Hoonah Cannery, near the green “free” gondola, which provides one way to get from one dock to the other.

Or, you can opt to walk along the beautiful nature trail, which was a little longer than our “demanding “ hike.

My reward for taking the road less traveled? I got to watch this eagle hang out on a branch WAY high up in a tree. Yeah, I know. The zoom wasn’t great, so I had to crop the photo a lot, but you get the idea. That bad boy was swiveling his head and looking every bit as regal as the one on our dollar bill.

Eagles are plentiful in Juneau. One guide estimated there are about 30,000 eagles in Juneau alone, which makes them as common as a sea gull. Still, seeing this guy on the nature walk was really special to me.

Did you know that Southern Alaska gets a LOT of rain? We sure didn’t. Brett, our guide in Juneau, told us the area averages only about 30 sunny days per YEAR!

I’m so glad we took full advantage of the great weather in the other ports. Another difference when we got to Juneau— we also are no longer one of only two ships visiting the area. Take a look at Juneau’s harbor. The enormous cruise ships — Princess, Norwegian, Crystal, Holland America all docked at the port. We were moored in the bay and took a tender in to the port.

We lucked out with the morning weather for our “hike” with Brett in the Eagle Crest ski resort. This “hike” was only about a fourth of a mile long, but at least we got to see lots of wild flowers.

Jean and I were concerned about being late for our helicopter ride to the Herbert Glacier, so we got off the bus and walked the mile into town, arriving with enough time to grab lunch in a waterfront restaurant.

Although it rained during our ride and while we were in the glacier, it still was a pretty spectacular experience. I got to sit up front with Tom, the pilot.

The colors were brilliant.

We were cautioned to only walk on the ice, not the snowy patches, because you didn’t know what the snow was covering. It could be a 20 foot hole!

I’m signing off with two last now and then photos— taken 50 years apart.

The LAST time we spent more than a week together was in my first apartment in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. (I stuck this shot in especially for Tom, Jean’s husband, who didn’t know us way back then.)

Those are the only photos I have from the pre-cell phone, film era.

Valdez and Skagway

Sometimes I’m delighted when the weather report is wrong, and that was clearly the case when we visited Valdez. The probability of rain was pegged at an unambiguous 100%. Luckily, the only thing that was 100% was the inaccuracy of that report!

Jean and I decided to forgo the recommended visits to the museums and convention center, opting instead to walk to a viewing platform in what turned out to be a rather futile attempt to see some wildlife.

Because both of us are “map challenged”, we checked with a local guide to make sure we were heading in the right direction. His tone of voice when he told us the viewing platform was a MILE AND A HALF away clearly expressed his doubt in our ability to go the distance. (What the hell? TWICE in two days?! Are we looking particularly decrepit??)

We learned from the lovely ladies at the cute little visitors’ center that we were a few weeks ahead of the bears, but we thoroughly enjoyed the 3 mile walk (round trip) under the cloudy, but rain free skies.

Sadly, when most people hear of Valdez, the Exxon Oil Spill immediately comes to mind, so let me give you an alternative image for this lovely area.

The balance of the day was spent enjoying Viking’s incredible spa. All guests can take advantage of the sauna, steam room, snow cave, whirlpool, cold plunge pool and hot tub at no additional charge. I decided to “detoxify” the way the Scandinavians do, so dutifully sat in the sauna, spent about 20 seconds in the snow cave, followed by the steam room, before experiencing the whirlpool. I’m not sure I was “ detoxified” or even what that is supposed to feel like, but I DID very much enjoy the experience.

On Sunday, we spent the morning on one of Viking’s included Skagway tours—a very beautiful bus ride to White Pass Summit.

Although Valdez had a bear deficit, we spotted one on our Skagway excursion . He was outside the range of my iPhone and by the time I got my camera zoomed out, all I got was a butt shot. That’s okay. The image of him sauntering through the rocks was permanently imprinted on our brains. It was truly thrilling.

I did much better photographing Skagway’s more stationary subjects. It’s hard to believe that beautiful flowers bloom between rocks in this cold climate.

Our bus driver//guide saved us from horrible selfies.

We weren’t all that impressed with the town of Skagway.

The lure of craft beer, tee shirts, and gold mining memorabilia wasn’t strong enough to keep us from the ship’s outside hot tub. Hard to believe that there are over 900 guests on this cruise. We had the hot tub completely to ourselves.

Here’s to long term friendships. We’ve been doing the pool scene for more than a half a century, and I have the photo to prove it!

Anchorage and Seward

Jean’s and my Alaskan adventure is off to a fantastic start. Our direct flight from Newark to Anchorage was exactly what we hoped it would be—uneventful. Best part: the seat between us was unoccupied, which, for an 8 hour flight is a real bonus.

We spent the night at the Historic Anchorage Hotel, chosen because of its proximity to the train station. When I asked the 30-something woman at the front desk for directions to the train station, she said “it’s either a short cab ride or an ARDUOUS walk to the train station and you need to be there an hour before your 6:45AM departure.” Well, the last thing Jean and I wanted at 5:45 AM was anything that could even remotely be described as arduous. That morning, when I spotted the taxi outside our hotel, I told the 60-something driver we wanted to go to the train station. She pointed to a building in the distance and said, “ There it is”. Talk about an “ah ha moment”! The young clerk looked at us and saw two feeble old ladies incapable of walking very far. The taxi driver, who was closer to our age, saw two competent, healthy women perfectly capable of handling our luggage the .4 mile (I googled it) between hotel and station. And we did. So there, young desk clerk!

And what a train ride it was. Absolutely spectacular! We opted for the gold dome service, which was $129 more expensive than the adventure class, but it was SO worth it.

Not only do you get an almost 360 degree view, you also get a fantastic sit down breakfast, with a choice of four entrees, and access to a viewing platform that allows you to take “glass-free” photos.

Who knew? Those innocent looking mud flats are actually quite dangerous. The volcanic soil acts like quicksand, then turns into a concrete- like substance, trapping the unwary.

We saw our first glacier on our train ride.

Yet another welcome surprise—the train and Viking coordinated delivery of our luggage, so we were able to walk from the train to the ship unimpeded.

Check in was a breeze. Viking allowed us to print a boarding pass before we left home, so we were aboard the ship in a matter of minutes.

We quickly made an early dinner reservation at the Chef’s Table, one of Viking’s two specialty restaurants, for our first night on board.

Maybe we shouldn’t have had that glass of Prosecco before dinner…

It is a 5 course, fixed menu with every entree paired with a complimentary wine. Obey, our waiter from Zimbabwe, described each course and explained that the accompanying wine heightens the dining experience.

I won’t bore you with too many food photos, but I HAD to show one example of how beautifully the courses are presented.

We had an early morning departure for Wednesday’s Kenai (pronounced KEEN-eye) Fiords cruise so we were in bed by 8 PM.

Most of Wednesday was overcast and chilly, but we didn’t mind because we were dressed appropriately.

We saw humpbacks and orcas,

sea lions, puffins, otters and bald eagles.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to capture the whales breaching, but I got a lot of good tail shots.

Not everyone was as fascinated by the wildlife. While I was outside, trying to get the perfect shot, Jean photographed this woman taking what our Dutch table mates described as a “very expensive nap”. But she wasn’t the only entertaining Homo sapiens on the cruise.

We all loved watching this young man groovin to music only he could hear. What was he listening to, we all wanted to know. Beyoncé ( Jean asked…)

All in all, it was a tremendous first day.

We had heard about the Seward Mountain Marathon, so expected to see crowds of people after we got off the ship at 2 PM, but nope. We walked from the dock to the cruise terminal without seeing many people at all.

Thursday in Valdez, will be a “self guided” tour, so Jean and I decided to stay up late, to enjoy the fantastic music (and dance) on the deck, by the pool.

Alaska Bound

My lifelong friend, Jean and I will be experiencing our 49th state —also known as “Seward’s big icebox“ — for the first time, via a cruise on Viking’s Orion.

We are flying to Anchorage a day early, taking Alaska Railroad’s Coastal Classic train to Seward.

Because of the 4 hour time difference, I expect our 6:45 AM departure will feel like 10:45 AM to us. After what has been billed as an exceptionally beautiful train ride, we will arrive in Seward at 11:20 AM, and will be able to board the ship. Our cabin won’t be ready until 2, but in the meantime we will be able to have lunch and familiarize ourselves with the ship.

Helpful hint for future cruisers: don’t wait too long to book your excursions. I booked in March for a July cruise, and I wasn’t able to get the bear viewing tour I wanted. I had made the mistake of waiting till Viking opened their bookings.

Many of the Viking offerings had already been filled by the time I was allowed to book, although I still had my choice of times for the included (free) offerings. Bookings are staggered, with the most expensive cabins booking first. Not a problem. I simply booked directly with port vendors.

Although we will arrive in Seward early enough to take the Kenai Fjord cruise, I decided it would be better to board the ship and save the cruise for our second day in port. In my younger days, I would have tried to cram everything in.

I liked the fact that Alaska Shore Excursions knew the times Viking would depart from each port. That prevented us from living my nightmare—returning from an excursion just in time to watch the ship slowly disappear on the horizon.

Although Alaska Shore Excursions had offerings for Juneau, by March all the ones I wanted were filled. Fortunately, Juneau Adventure Tours had availability for one of their helicopter tours to a glacier.

I hope you’ll join Jean and me on this adventure.

Sarlat

I loved Sarlat so much, I decided to skip Saturday’s optional trip to Rocamadouer so I could experience the market and spend an unstructured day in this delightful medieval town.

On our first day, we had a guided tour during which we learned Sarlat was founded in the 800’s by Benedictine monks who chose the location because of its water supply.

Back in those days the church was all powerful, so the abbot ruled the city until he was accidentally killed by one of the monks. He had the misfortune to be standing right behind the actual target, who ducked at exactly the right minute. Then this war happened, that war happened, the rich got richer…and here we are today, viewing a statue that looks a whole lot like Mick Jagger. (Actually that’s not exactly what the guide said, but it’s about all I remember.)

In addition to being market day, Saturday is also the day that you can take a glass elevator to the top of what was once a cathedral, but has since been repurposed into an indoor market.

We weren’t able to get out of the glass elevator, but that’s okay because we still had a panoramic view. We saw a whole lot of rooftops and the nearby church — yes another one, close by, because a town can never have too many churches.

One of our days in Sarlat was spent visiting the nearby Lascaux Caves. The original cave, which dates back more than 25,000 years, was closed off because carbon dioxide from tourists’ breath was endangering the cave paintings. Instead, replicas have been built, and Lascaux 4, the one we toured, has been faithfully reproduced BUT, it is even better, because of the added museum which has a multimedia show.

Our guide explained that these artists were thought to use sticks with horsehairs for paint brushes, moss as sponges, and tubes from which they spit pigment —a precursor of spray paint?

We had a delightful lunch in Uzerche, where Laetitia took this group photo.

We also visited Commarque Castle, which is slowly being restored by the son of the former mayor, who was killed when the son was a year old because of the mayor’s activities with the resistance.

Although much of the castle is in ruins, you can still climb up and visit the restored section, so of course, I did.

Time to move on. Next stop, Carcassone.

Tirana, Albania

2020 was supposed to be Mike’s and my biggest travel year ever. It feels like a lifetime ago that we booked trips to Croatia, Germany, Japan and Egypt. We (more likely the optimist of this twosome) were so confident that covid would be over in several months that we didn’t take a cash refund. Instead we opted for travel credits with bonus incentives.

Fast forward three and a half years. I’m now working my way through those credits, beginning with this trip to Eastern Europe, which starts with OAT’s pre-trip to Tirana, Albania.

One of the many reasons I enjoy traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) is the ability to customize my trip. I figure if I’m going to subject my body and my money to a cross Atlantic flight, I’m going to stay for as long as I can, so in addition to the pre-trip, I decided to fly in a day early to get acclimated.

So far, everything has gone smoothly, starting with a great experience on Austrian Air. Passport control at Tirana’s airport was incredibly efficient. You scan your passport, which opens a gate, then get your picture taken, which opens a second gate and you’re DONE. It was so FAST. But the time I gained at passport control, I lost in bumper to bumper traffic on the way to the Oxford hotel. It took over an hour to go 11 miles, making me feel like I was back in Houston, Texas. The timing actually worked out fine, because by the time I got to the hotel, I only had to wait about 10 minutes for my room to be ready.

The room is small, but lovely, with a shower that makes the standard size in cruises look huge by comparison. I suspect I’ll be missing Mike even more than usual tomorrow morning, because when we traveled, he always showered first, figuring out how the fixtures worked, and setting the temperature just right for me. (It’s always those little things that do you in when you lose your spouse).

Take a look—no need for a bidet in this bathroom. All you have to do is swivel and lift your butt. That is, if you can figure out which faucet turns on which of the two shower heads. Yes, tomorrow will indeed be interesting because there’s not a lot of room for error. Fortunately we learned the ‘towel on the shower floor’ trick because I’ll bet that marble makes the floor extremely slippery when wet! I just hope that floor drain isn’t clogged!

But enough bathroom humor. What about the town, you ask? I remember Laura, our guide in Patagonia telling us, “There’s no such thing as bad weather; only inappropriate clothing choices.” Fortunately, I packed appropriately, and checked the weather so I wasn’t daunted by the rain. It also helps that the Oxford is perfectly located—right across from a mall ( where I bought 3 liters of water for less than $1), close to ATMS, cafes and restaurants, squares and sights. I love the art on the sides of buildings.

Wonder which of these books would be banned in America?

This is a very strange image. What is the artist trying to say?

I was surprised that George W Bush had a major street named after him in Tirana. I recall the people in Africa revered him because of his involvement during the AIDS crisis. But Albania? Clearly he has his admirers—and some detractors— who covered his name with stickers.

Tirana is full of surprises—here’s another: The Italian Institute of Culture building. I know from experience that Albanians make fantastic Italian food. My favorite Italian restaurant is run by Albanians. Clearly there is a bond between those two countries that I will explore with my guide when I meet him tomorrow.

What’s with that zig-zaggy structure in front of the building? Is it a picnic table? A runway? An altar for sacrificing virgins?

This area was once part of the Ottoman Empire, so I was not surprised when I passed a mosque just in time for the call to prayer. If you want to check out the weather and share in the mosque experience, here’s the YouTube link. I wasn’t successful uploading the video to WordPress. Maybe this will work. https://youtube.com/shorts/RXIjSq3ElqM?si=BxfwMJnXN6hBMHFd

On the MAIN trip, which starts on Sunday, we will travel to Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, ending up in Slovenia. My friend Augusta will be joining me in Dubrovnik for the main trip. She frequently traveled with Mike and me in the past, prompting one of our fellow travelers to dub Mike “the man who travels with two wives”.

Below is a visual of our journey through some of the former Yugoslavian countries.

Tomorrow or Wednesday, I will connect with the 6 travelers that opted for the pre-trip, then on Sunday, we will join with the remaining 9 travelers in our group of 16.

What’s YOUR Travel Style?

Do you prefer organized tours or would you rather choose your own itinerary and pace? There are definite advantages to both modes of travel, and I enjoy each. I’ve discovered that the key to maximizing pleasure is to understand exactly WHY you are taking the trip. Is your goal to see as many sights as possible? Or do you hanker for a slower pace, enjoying the companionship of a few close friends?

Lucky me—I’ve been able to do both types of trips to Sicily, so I can compare and contrast. You see, in 2017, my husband and I took an Overseas Adventure Trip (OAT), spending 16 days based in Palermo, Mazara, Piazza Armerina, Ragusa, and Catania.

Currently I’m traveling with three good friends, who planned everything, and are willing to do all the driving. Not surprisingly, this trip is far less structured than the OAT trip. Although we will be based in different cities: Ortigia, Modica, Enna, Palermo and Taormina, we will be covering similar ground.

Our first two days were somewhat grueling, with an overnight flight to Rome, followed by an afternoon flight to Catania, and a 45 minute ride to our first hotel, Algila Ortigia Charme Hotel, our home for three nights.

They say you can’t get a bad meal in Italy. Well, Sally and I accomplished the impossible, with TWO bad meals—a dinner on our first night and lunch on the second. Breakfasts, on the other hand, were at the hotel and were fantastic!

The world’s worst pizza. Fortunately, Sally was able to see the humor of the experience

We finally wised up and avoided the places around tourist attractions. All meals henceforth were at restaurants down little side streets and THAT is where the food exceeded expectations.

Karen and Diane on left, Sally and me on right

Also on Via Cavour was an abundance of little shops. We discovered Sebastian’s shop, in which he was selling various flavors of ‘cello. After sampling several, Diane and I, slightly drunk by then, purchased limoncello and almondcello.

Of course, we had to make purchases here. A magnet for me and a mobile for Diane and Karen

Although we did see the normal Ortigia sites, over our three night stay, it was at a much slower pace than when Mike and I visited. For our OAT trip, we only spent a half a day in Ortigia, and saw the same attractions. Of course, we didn’t spend as much time being lost and confused, because we had a guide. We also didn’t sleep as late either.

I am grateful to Sally, Diane and Karen for including me on this trip—my first since Mike died. It is comforting to be among good friends while I process my loss.

Leaving Northern Ireland

On our return to the Republic of Ireland, we made one last stop in Northern Ireland, to the walled city of Derry, where we visited the Museum of Free Derry for a history lesson.

On January 30,1972, inspired by the civil rights marches and peace protests that occurred in the USA, about 15,000 Catholics staged a march to call attention to the discrimination they were experiencing. British soldiers shot indiscriminately into the crowd, killing 14 unarmed protesters. The day after what became known as Bloody Sunday, 2,000 men joined the IRA, which up until that time had not been very active.

Although attempts were made to portray the peaceful marchers as terrorists, a film crew was there, recorded what actually happened, and smuggled the film out (in their underwear!) to the Republic of Ireland where it was broadcast around the world. Despite the visual evidence to the contrary, the false narrative that some march participants were terrorists persisted until 2016, when an inquiry finally revealed the truth. The result was a long overdue apology by Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron. An excellent video in the Museum shows the huge emotional impact that historic apology had on the people of Derry. Sadly, the guilty soldiers still have not been brought to justice.

While on the Black Cab tour in Belfast, our driver showed us the size of rubber bullets that were used for crowd control. These were fired on Bloody Sunday, and contributed to the injuries many protestors suffered. Can you imagine being hit by one of these?

We couldn’t leave Derry without touring its city walls, and learning about its history, most of which I promptly forgot. Of course, the wall had the requisite cannons, strategically interspersed.

Our border crossing into the Republic of Ireland was seamless. No check points, no guards, no showing of passports, just a change of currency, back to the Euro. Ireland has sworn that it will never have a border dividing it again. Boris Johnson declared the Irish Sea will be the border, but many wonder exactly how that will work post Brexit. No one quite knows.

And now for a little perspective: the population of Northern Ireland is a wee bit under 2 million. The population of The Republic of Ireland is almost 5 million. Compare that to the population on NYC, which is over 8 million, and you can understand why much of this glorious island is comprised of rolling green hills and picturesque landscapes, perfect for raising sheep.

Which brings me to the next subject: the Irish Diaspora. We all know that millions of Irish left during the potato famine, but I never knew that many lost their homes when they were evicted.

This beautiful castle was built by John Adair, who evicted 244 of his Irish tenants because he thought raising sheep would be more profitable than allowing his tenants to continue farming. By the way, the Irish became tenants on their own land, after Oliver Cromwell conquered them, and seized their property so he could use the land as payment to his soldiers.

Adair was the first of three owners of Glenveagh. The third, Henry McIlhenny, was an Irish American. His grandfather, John McIlhenny settled in Philadelphia, where he became very wealthy from his invention—the coin operated gas meter. Henry was an art aficionado, who donated his family’s extensive collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His generosity extended to Ireland, when he donated the castle and its gardens as a gift to the nation. It is now a national park.

Touring the grounds of Glenveagh with a naturalist, who demonstrated the depth of the bogs, and explained why the people sacrificed in the bogs were so well preserved.

I had originally planned to write a bit about Donegal, but that will have to wait for a future post, because I have run out of time.

Three Glorious Days in Dublin

Spending our last night in Dublin at the Castle Vaults Pub was a wise decision indeed. I had my best sleep yet, and am feeling grand this morning.

I’ve either been too busy or too tired to write, so this is a stream of consciousness, unproof-read post, hastily done before we board our coach to Belfast.

The Belvedere Hotel is perfectly located, close to a HOHO stop, and within walking distance of all the sights, but away from the madness of Temple Bar. Although it has great WiFi, I was glad that I had purchased the Aíralo eSim, because I used it frequently while walking around Dublin. My sense of direction is legendary, and I soon discovered my travel buddy, Janet’s, is equally bad. Fortunately, Aíralo has been working great and it has helped us to avoid wrong turns more than once.

About the HOHO: in an earlier post, I talked about the three different Dublin options, and my research pointed me in the direction of Do Dublin, the green bus. It was the perfect choice for us. We spent our jet lagged arrival day hopping on, and didn’t hop off till the end of the route. It gave us exactly what we needed, a very helpful overview of Dublin’s most important sights, and it was over just when we were ready for lunch. The Parnell Pub was recommended by the driver who picked me up at the airport, and he didn’t steer us wrong. The soup of the day was wonderful and the bread was out of this world, but the chicken wings could have been skipped. Best of all, the price was right—only 11 Euros.

Our HOHO ticket included two freebies. We used the ticket to The Little Museum on our jet lag day. It is located in a Georgian House, near St. Stephen’s Green, and is packed with memorabilia, including a room devoted to the band U2.

I’m not a fan, so instead, here’s the model of Admiral Nelson’s column, which was blown up in the ‘60s.

It was replaced by the Spire, affectionately dubbed by the locals “the stiffy by the Liffey” or “the stiletto in the ghetto”. I didn’t find the Spire visually pleasing, so haven’t included a photo. The nick names, however, should give you a really good idea of what the Spire looks like!

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Trinity area, until it was time for the early bird special at a restaurant recommended by my blogging buddy, over at Aging Gracefully My Ass. Thank you, AGMA.

This was NOT false advertising. The food WAS great, the service friendly, and their Early Bird Special offered excellent options. Luckily, we went with the 2 course option because their portions were so generous, we were unable to finish them. In fact, weliked this restaurant so much, we actually toyed with returning, but Dublin offers far too many attractive alternatives.

The other freebie that came with the Do Dublin HOHO was the “Paddy Liddy Walking Tour”. Here in Ireland, though, it is called the PAT Liddy Walking Tour. And yes, there really IS a Pat Liddy, who is now in his 80’s. We saved that for our second day in Dublin and we were SO glad we did. Jim, our tour guide was AMAZING! He knew so much about the history of Dublin, and walked us around to spots we never would have found on our own.

Here’s Jim, standing in front of a Clery’s department Store, which will be reopening in October. He’s explaining that, back in the day, the favorite Friday night meeting spot for his contemporaries, was under the Clery clock at at 7 PM. (The clock is that black thing on the building, right behind his head). If, by 7:30, your date hadn’t shown up, that meant you were being stood up. Sometimes, though,when you looked around, there were members of the opposite gender who shared a similar fate, which presented an opportunity to make a new friend and possibly experience a Hollywood ending.

As you walk through Dublin, be sure to look down occasionally. You’ll see plaques like this one, which shows Viking artifacts that were taken from the ground below. When I did 23 and me, and discovered that I had Viking ancestry, I had assumed that it was from a “rape, pillage and plunder” Viking excursion into Ireland. Maybe not. Apparently, the Vikings had a trading settlement in Dublin.

I couldn’t get a good shot of the Music Hall where Handel’s Messiah debuted. Every year, since 1772, it is played on April 13 at 1 PM to commemorate its first concert. During COVID, on that date and time, one of the area residents placed her speakers in her open window to keep up the tradition. Can’t you just hear the hallelujah chorus blasting through the neighborhood? That must have lifted the spirits of her neighbors at a time when spirits definitely needed to be lifted.

During our tour, Jim walked us through the Temple Bar area. Prior to coming to Dublin, I had mistakenly thought there was ONE bar, called Temple. Nope, it is the name of the land, formerly owned by a guy named Temple, and the “Bar” part was shortened from the “Barricades”, which were built along the Liffey River.

I was horrified to see that the hotel I had booked for my return trip to Dublin was in “ party central”, right next to a Hard Rock Cafe. After listening to Jim’s description of what the area was like on most weekends, I decided to look elsewhere, so at the end of the tour, I asked Jim for hotel recommendations. Well,that question turned into a delightful 2 hour lunch with our wonderful, fascinating guide at his favorite pub. At the end, we followed his recommendation to visit the National Portrait Gallery, before heading back to the hotel for the official start of our OAT trip.

There are 11 of us on the tour: 3 couples and 5 singles. We had an opportunity to converse over our welcome dinner, and I feel very lucky to have joined such an interesting and congenial group. I’m looking forward to getting to know them better over the next two weeks.

We started our final day in Dublin with a brief tour of the city. It wasn’t as in depth as the Pat Liddy walking tour, and because there was only a slight overlap, I was glad we were able to do both. As you can see from the photo of the Oscar Wilde statue atop this blog, we were blessed with fantastic weather.

Our next stop was a tour of the fascinating, multi media EPIC Museum.

This beautiful sculpture shows the evolution of transportation from the early ships to modern aircraft

Recognize any Irish Americans in this collage?

There is so much more to say about this fascinating city, but I’ll end this post by saying I’m so very glad I’ll be returning to Dublin in 2 weeks!

Royal Air Maroc: Better Than a Magic Carpet!

My love affair with Morocco continues, but that will be a post for another day. Being a woman of my word, I will instead use this post to make good on my promise to report back on our experiences with Royal Air Maroc.

Faithful readers will recall that we flew business class TO Morocco, so that we could stretch out in the lay-flat seats and catch a few zzzz’s. We didn’t want to be totally exhausted when we arrived in Casablanca. As reported, business class was a luxurious experience with several unexpected bonuses.

Because our flight from Casablanca was scheduled to depart around 1 PM, we decided coach would be just fine for our return flight. And it was.

It is entirely possible that our experience was impacted by Covid, and when travel returns to normal, flights will once again be full. But not today. Mike and I had the row to ourselves, thoroughly enjoying having an empty seat between us. We didn’t feel cramped, the seats were comfy, but not as plush as business, and there was plenty of room in the overhead bins. The passenger in front of us had the entire row, so he was able to stretch out across all three seats.

Okay, so this was the first time I’d seen this really cool window feature. Instead of having a shade, there is a little button below the window that gradually lightens or darkens the pane, so you can be shielded from the sun’s brightness and heat, and still see outside.

Lunch was rather good. The orzo was sprinkled with cinnamon, the chicken had a delicious sauce and best of all, the wine was free! The second “meal” was not so good. In fact, it is as pretty pathetic and there was no accompanying wine to ease the pain. So, in addition to a guaranteed seat to yourself that has an almost infinite number of adjustments, you get much better food (and drink) in business class.

The seat back entertainment in coach and business is identical. Even if it were different, that would not have been a selling point for me because with my iPhone and iPad, this girl is all set. I keep the flight map on the screen so I can watch our progress, while bopping in my seat to my favorite music or reading a book on one of my I-thingies. Fortunately the seats have outlets, so I can recharge if the need arises. It doesn’t take much to make me very happy, and yes, wine helps.

In business class, we received a little bag with hand and face cream, lip balm, ear plugs, eye mask, a comb and socks. But guess what? People in economy also got a goodie bag. It only contained socks and an eye mask, (neither of which I EVER use) but still, that’s more than other airlines do for us folks in steerage.

Because of my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, we were able to use the Pearl Lounge at the very uncrowded Casablanca Airport, so our airport wait was quite comfortable.

Bottom line: Air Maroc worked out really well for us. We were able to fly at reasonable times. Those on the Air France return flight had to get up at 3:30 AM, and had a “box” breakfast. We got up at 8 AM, had a delicious buffet breakfast, and because our flight was non-stop, arrived at JFK about 15 minutes after the Air France Flight. Others on our trip had their flights changed multiple times. Ours did not. Best of all for OAT travelers, another member of our group was able to fly Royal Air Maroc and have the arrangements made by OAT, because of their code share with American Airlines. That would definitely been our preference! I must have had a new OAT rep, who was unaware of that option.

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