Begin/end the day in: Paris, FR / Phoenix, AZ, US Transportation: Paris to Phoenix via London on BA. BA in-flight service was a bit better than the last time we did the LHR-PHX route. One certainly wouldn’t confuse the service with that you find on Hawaiian, but better than before. Main events: Fly to Phoenix. …
This is my first time in Venice and like almost everyone I was aware of the canals, but I’d never really thought about how the environ impacts day-to-day life. After board my first Vaperetto—the city bus operated totally by boat—it occurred to me that almost everything is transported by water. If you call the fire …
Today we decided to head west through Belgium to the Dutch lowlands in search of some of those endless fields of blooming bulbs. Alas, either our timing or course was less than perfect for we saw but two multi-hector examples. No worries, though, it was a great day. I will confess to moderately in love …
If it’s spring in Holland, there must be tulips. Read More »
In addition to all Dutch things that grow, Floriade draws exhibitors from around the world. Hands down, the best foreign exhibit this year was the Spanish Pavilion. To begin, the building itself was drop-dead gorgeous and once inside, there were a collection of ten kiosks highlighting the diverse agricultural regions of Spain. My favorite display …
The central event for this trip was Floriade, the once per decade horticulture show the Dutch put on, and that was Friday’s destination. This year’s six month exhibition is being hosted in Venlo, near the eastern border of the Netherlands and about 45 minutes north of our hotel in Maastricht. It’s always an incredible collection …
The end of day 2 here and already time is just slipping away. It’s been a chilly, blustery first couple of days in Germany and the Benelux, but that was to be expected. The big surprise of Wednesday was actually seeing our bags arrive in Dusseldorf. Our connection at DFW wound up being really tight—like …
2230 and we’re just about packed and ready to. Not bad! A whole 13 hours ’til we’re wheels up. Seemed to take a bit longer to get all the ducks in a row this time around, but there were a lot of extra-curiclular activities going on the past couple of weeks. Anyway, once the door’s …
Just about set for the Grand Departure, Euro 2012 version. Read More »
Still playing with the best way to do the Dalmatian coast/islands. The plan has been to dump the car in Split; take the ferry to Korcula and spend a couple of days there and then do a bus/ferry trip to Dubrovnik. This is OK, but there’s an issue of getting rid of the car on arrival in …
Planning for Euro 2012 is just about wrapped up. In retrospect, we probably should have done all the transportation stuff first, but that didn’t happen and now we’re working on a little complexity with getting from Split to Dubrobnick via either Hvar or Korcula. It’ll all get and it’s starting to pretty exciting. This year, …
The “Euro 2012 – Return to Floriade” trip planning is underway. Destinations for sojourn include Düsseldorf, Venlo, NL for Floriade 2012, Maastricht, Verona, Venice, a big chunk of Croatia, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Naples, Rome and Paris. I never seem to have enough time for contemporary blogging, so this year I’m going to at least try …