New England, Finale of our Autumn Cruise

 

Portland, Maine

We heard from family that Portland had a great food scene, so we signed up for a food tour. It seems, Portland’s waterfront was revitalized in the 1990’s which made it a tourist destination.  Now they have multiple James Beard award winning restaurants and bakeries.  We have done several food tours and this one from Maine Foodie Tours was very good because the food was great, and the guide gave us a great overview of the community and its history along with many stories regarding the local food scene. Besides the places below, we stopped at the Harbor Fish Market which is the source for many of the restaurants.  It had an amazing selection.  I had no idea how many different types of oysters there are either.

Maritime Provinces, Part 2 of our Autumn Cruise

 

  

Corner Brook, Newfoundland Island

We are now on the island of Newfoundland which is part of the Newfoundland and Labrador province of Canada.  It is supposed to be warming up some for us, but there is a steady rain outside that is ruining that fact.  On top of that, Jeff and I have an ATV adventure scheduled which warned us to dress warmly and in layers.  They are true ATVs so windshield and roof and holds 6 people but no doors so brr.  Happily, we dressed pretty well except we both had wet, cold hands at the end.  We also had helmets to wear which helped keep your head warm and dry.  Yes, I know that is not the reason for the helmet, but it was for our trip.  We drive around town some (town population 19,500) and see the James Cook monument.  Seems he first learned to navigate and became a cartographer here while mapping the area in much detail.  After a stop at the ATV shop for a comfort break, we are on our way to the trails.  

Quebec Provence, Part 1 of our Autumn Cruise

 Montreal

We got in on a Saturday afternoon after a taxi ride that took for EVER - longest ride in a long time due to traffic. Our hotel is kind of close to the old town and close to a food hall called Time Out Market which is part of an international chain we discovered in Capetown, SA.  We dump our luggage and headed for the food hall.  Turns out it is in a shopping mall called Eaton Center.  After a nice Spanish meal we wanderd the shopping center some and then headed out in the cold (40s and windy) to old town.  After a longer than expected walk we are in the old town area.  Unfortunately, some of the roads are being rebuilt so areas aren't that accessible, but we still find shops to explore.  Starts to look like rain so we head to a bar/restaurant for a drink while the rain passes.  It is now dark outside so time for another selfie!  Back to the hotel where we eat dinner and head to bed.  Next day we have a food tour with Secret Food Tours planned. 

Adriatic Cruise – Croatia and Slovenia

 

We are sailing on a small cruise ship – Windstar’s Wind Spirit with 2 other couples.  The cruise is called the Adriatic Icons and Venetian Treasures.  As we are visiting the different ports I come to understand why the Veneitan Treasures part – most if not all of these towns were under Veneitan rule at one time.  We will visit:  Rovijn, Zadar, Hvar, Dubrovnik and Korcula Croatia and Piran Slovenia with one day at sea too.  We are big fans of Windstar cruises and have sailed on several of their ships before including the Wind Spirit in French Polynesia (Tahiti) in November 2021.

Italian Alps

 

When the door of our plane opens at the Venice airport we are immediately hit with heat; something we had not felt in quite a while.  We went from mid 60 degree, cloudy weather to mid 90s sunny; what a change!  We wandered around the airport for a bit before we found the car rental lot (naturally on top of a parking garage), got our vehicle for the next week and reminded ourselves to drive on the right-hand side of the road.  And off we go.  We are heading for a shopping mall – we need another outfit or 2 each geared to 90-degree weather.  True to form when you need clothing nothing seems right, but in the end we each get something and then the adventure starts.  We are heading north of Venice to a small town in the  Veneto region which is a wine region specializing in sparkling wine.  Did I say small?  We are staying in a Bed and Breakfast called Villa Toderini and yes there is a fancy house associated with it, but that’s not where the rooms are; we are in a newer building.  The website has some directions, but we find ourselves circling around this small town when suddenly I see a sign for it and we turn.  Still not sure we are in the correct place till I notice the door says Agritourism on it.  We are warmly greeted and shown our room for the next 2 nights.  Room is nice and is actually 2 stories with a twin bed and a chest of drawers up the stairs. 

Castle Hotels - Abbey Glen, Ashford, Lough Rynn

Abbey Glen

We have booked a one-night package stay at a castle hotel in Clifden which is near the western coast. When we get there our room is not ready yet and we are hungry, we check out the bar area and enjoy a midafternoon light snack.  We figure we need food in us because our package starts with a history of the castle presentation with free prosecco at 6:30pm.  Before we get there, we wonder if this really is an old castle - yes, it is.  While we are here, we debate if there are any additions to the original buildings and decide we don't want to know.  Our room is on the second floor right next to the main staircase, so I am pretty sure we were in the original building. 

Westport - Wild Atlantic Way

 This is our next stop after our first castle stay in Abbey Glen.  Our route here starts with a scenic drive on the upper sky road leaving the town of Clifden.  It is another one lane road, but oh the views it gave us were fantastic and my favorites.  I have decided I prefer a landscape with a gentle drop off into the sea versus the steep cliffs although that is what you hear about in write ups for Ireland.  We are still following the "Wild Atlantic Way" road signs and we do stop at one of the scenic viewpoints.  It was quite pretty, and we were there probably a half hour or more.  We would have stayed longer but had to get to our next spot-sigh.  I liked how you could see so many small islands.  The tide was out so you also saw some beach areas.  On our way to this spot we had seen a group of people windsurfing and a couple of small boats.  At our spot is a local horse who is happy to have the people around him.

Galway - Wild Atlantic Coast

We have been looking forward to this portion of our trip as our daughter is joining us for a few days.  She flew into Dublin and explored that city before catching the train out to Galway where we picked her up.  That first afternoon, we had a wonderful meal at Kai Restaurant and spent some time exploring Galway including the Spanish Arch and the Latin Quarter.  We start to walk along the seapint promenade to Salthill and its promenade but it is too windy and cold for us so cut the walk short. Then off to a very nice AirBnB in Kinvara about 30 minutes from Galway.  

Limerack

 

Our next stop was a small town just outside of Limerick called Bunratty as in the castle Bunratty.  On our way to Bunratty we stopped in Ennis at the ruins of a friary and then in Limerick to see King John's Castle.

Wild Atlantic Coast - Ring of Skellig

 

Skellig Michael - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Skellig Michael is a pair of Islands 7.2 miles off shore.  Greater Skellig is known for the Gaelic monastery built between the 6th and 7th century.  In our travels, we have been amazed at the great lengths monks will go to seek isolation. (Check out our post for the Meteora Monastery for another example. 

Wild Atlantic Coast - Ring of Kerry

 

Round of Golf one afternoon

We are staying in Killarney in an apartment for a week as there is a lot to do in the area as well as time to cook a little, wash some clothes etc.  (Haircut for me) Killarney is very walkable and full of tourists in the area we are staying in close to the Killarney National Park.  The majority of which are from the USA, but also many Irish, English, German and Italian tourists too. It’s a cute town and we enjoy exploring it on our first day. 

Ireland’s Ancient East - Cork Ireland

 

We drove from Waterford to Cork on a rainy day with a stop in between at a country restaurant.  I actually went without a jacket a little bit on our last day in Waterford, but the wind and the rain meant it was again a chilly day when we left for Cork.  If the weather had been nice, we were going to stop along the coast, but dropped that idea and just enjoyed our lunch at Ballymaloe.

Ireland’s Ancient East - Waterford

View from our room

 It’s time to head for Ireland’s Ancient East so we pick up a rental car and start on our way.  We will visit:

• #3 of National Geographic’s Top Ten Gardens
• The Viking Triangle
• Waterford’s Copper Coast

Dublin

Can you see the harp?  A harp is a symbol of Ireland

We drive back to Belfast in a light rain where we return the car and then wait for a bus to take us to Dublin city center.  The weather turns worse, so we are very glad to be passengers on the 3-hour drive to downtown Dublin.   Happily, when we arrive the weather has cleared.  We had not completely unpacked since we left Belfast so it was time to discover some of our clothes.  

Antrim coast of Northern Ireland

 

We are driving to our next destination and yes on the other side of the road.   (My first time)  We picked up a car at the airport on the outskirts of Belfast, so an easy start.   All was well until we hit the streets of Londonderry/Derry with cars parked on both sides and a narrow track between.  The locals were far more comfortable with the space than I was as I carefully drove where I didn’t think the car would fit. Then I missed a turn repeatedly and had to go back through the narrowest parts again and again.

Belfast

 

Hi y'a (common greeting from people in Belfast).  We arrived in Belfast in the middle of the afternoon after over 24 hours of travelling.  We had ridden on 2 busses, flown on 3 airplanes and experienced a very long layover in Johannesburg to get here from Victoria Falls.  Wandering into our new hotel room was a relief.  We had a couple of things we needed to accomplish that evening:  unpack, start washing clothes and find some food (no food service at the hotel).  Oh, and one other important thing:  chill and relax after our busy couple of weeks in South Africa.  We did get the first load of laundry done and then went out for food.  We were aiming for a nearby Marks and Spencer (a department store with good grocery store we first used in England) to pick up something to heat up in our little kitchenette.  Oops we got turned around and showed up right after they closed.  Along the way we went past a restaurant that smelled good and I suddenly was hungry.  We ate there, right?  Wrong. We had not yet showered and felt grubby so ashamed to say we got takeout from the nearby McDonalds with a promise to eat better tomorrow.

Victoria Falls

 Victoria Falls is a town and one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It is not the widest nor the deepest waterfall rather it is the combination of width and depth/height of the falls that makes it so special.  We would spend 2 nights in a lovely truly old hotel where you could hear the falls and see the mist from them.  Our rooms were in the former stables building, but still quite quaint and old.  For example, our bathroom had a true clawfoot tub in it.  This hotel is on the Zimbabwean side of the falls so a new country for us.  We wandered around the hotel some, it is truly an old Victorian era British hotel.  As we wandered the hallways, we saw pictures from when the Royal family visited, lots of old travel posters pushing South Africa and relics and skulls.  We would have tea on the terrace the next afternoon.  There were also gorgeous murals around the bar named after Dr Livingstone the European founder of Victoria Falls. Then it was time for our Zambezi River cruise.  

Joburg aka “The City of Gold” aka Johannesburg

Just like its many names, Johannesburg has many different faces.  

South Africa Safari - Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge

Murray drove us to Sabi Sabi.  It was almost like another bush drive as we drove on single track dirt roads with animals in sight, including these zebras.

South Africa Safari - Lion Sands, Kruger National Park

We spent 4 nights in the bush of South Africa.  The first 2 nights we stayed inside of Kruger National Park at Lion Sands and the second 2 nights in Sabi Sabi at the Bush Lodge.  Both are quite nice, but Lion Sands was better for the room and maybe Sabi Sabi wins the view.   Between the 2 lodges we saw all 5 of the big 5 and many other animals and learned a lot about the bush and how its natives survive.  (Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros, Elephant, Water Buffalo)

Cape Peninsula

 

Today our tour group is exploring the Cape Peninsula.  Not a safari, but we did find wildlife, a bit of history and scenic beauty.

Cape Town, South Africa

Next stop on our South Africa adventure - Cape Town also known as the Mother City. 

Franschhoek South Africa

Table Top Mtn

Cape Town at last

After many months of anticipation and a 15 hour flight, we were greeted by a wonderful sunset over Table Top Mountain above Cape Town South Africa.   Our ride then drove us a little over an hour to our hotel in Franschhoek, South Africa.

Where are the Jays going in Summer of 2024

 

It all started with Carol wanting to go on an African Safari.  South Africa and Zimbabwe were selected as it gives us both "Africa's Big 5" as well as touring Cape Town, the story of Nelson Mandela, Cape of Good Hope  and a visit to the Wine lands.  

Moon Rising over Paris

The Moon devoured the Sun as we looked on in glee

Last fall, one of my college friends who lives in Paris, TX invited us all to her house for the weekend and the viewing of the solar eclipse since she was in the path of totality. When I say us all, I am referring to a core group of friends from college and most of us accepted so it was college reunion and solar eclipse all rolled together! The Trapp Bed and Breakfast only for an elite few was engaged. Our stay came with several meals, swag bags, solar eclipse cookies, choice of prime viewing spots, tours of town - walking, driving and trolley.  The Bed and Breakfast accepted guests on Friday evening and Saturday.