Europe by sea and land...........

 Today (April 11), is world Parkinson's Day.  According to the Parkinson's Foundation nearly one million people in the US are living with Parkinson's.  Globally the number of cases is around 10 million.  I've been living with Parkinson's for around two years and feel very fortunate that in my case so far, the progression has been very slow.  I'm grateful for the support of Beth, family and friends and continue to work diligently to live with Parkinson's and not let it control me.

We've loved the vagabond (Sarah calls it gypsy) lifestyle and fully believe that for us travel is so much, including therapeutic.  It's time to head out on another adventure.  

It will start in Ft. Lauderdale with a cruise (Celebrity Equinox)) that will take us to Lisbon, Portugal by way of Bermuda, the Azores and Porto, Portugal.  Beth’s brother (Steve) and sister in law (Marilyn) will be with us on the cruise.  We'll have four days in Lisbon before getting on the Norwegian Star for another cruise that will take us to Southampton, England.  We'll then spend some time on land in London, Amsterdam and Paris before heading to Barcelona.  In Barcelona we pick up the Norwegian Pearl for back to back cruises that will end in Athens, Greece in early June.  

There will be great adventures along the way and even an opportunity to catch up with some friends in Paris (Ed and Judy, we look forward to seeing you).  I'm not taking the laptop (we're traveling very light), but I will document our trip as time and connectivity allow.  Gotta keep moving!   

Springtime in New York...............at least the calendar said it was spring!

A beautiful day for baseball.......just don't look at the thermometer!

At this time of year, you can almost feel the state of Florida sinking a bit under the weight of the millions of people who make their way to our beaches and theme parks.  Out here on Anna Maria Island visitors from up north are so happy.  They tend to walk mindlessly down the middle of the road, ignoring the traffic and the third degree burns on skin that hadn't seen the light of day in several months.  We're happy to have them and their dollars, especially since their stay is short and they leave their money behind.

Beth and I had somewhat of a different "spring break".  Over the Easter weekend we flew to Binghamton, New York to spend four days with Ben and his sweet dog Allie.  While the calendar said it was late March/early April, and that spring was officially here, it didn't quite feel like springtime..........at least the type of spring we're accustomed to enjoying, but we had a wonderful few days.

We flew from Orlando directly to Binghamton on Avelo Airlines.  Avelo is one of the many low cost carriers that are out there these days.  They currently offer non-stop service to and from Binghamton twice a week.  They currently have service to 44 destinations and have announced expanded service that will be starting soon.  The planes were clean, the flight attendants were courteous, and we made it safely and reasonably on time both on our flight up and back.  No complaints about Avelo, just don't expect too much more than a smile.  If you want something to drink (even water) buy it before you get on board!  

We had to drive to Orlando for the early morning flight, so we made the best of it by going up a day early and roaming around Disney Springs for a few hours.  Disney Springs is a mix of restaurants, shops and entertainment that is located on the Walt Disney World property.  The beauty of Disney Springs is that parking is free and there is no admission fee.  There are plenty of choices of places to eat, shop and keep yourself busy and entertained for a while.  We enjoy visiting Disney Springs whenever we have a chance.

Disney Springs  

As is always the case with visiting Ben, we knew we'd be kept busy and have fun.  He picked us up at the very small airport and we were off on our first adventure.  We enjoyed a nice "southern style" breakfast and headed for Syracuse, which is just a little over an hour from Binghamton.  Springtime means baseball, and it was opening weekend for the Syracuse Mets, the Triple A farm club of the New York Mets.  The gametime temperature was 44 degrees.  Thankfully it was a sunny day and there was no wind, which although it still wasn't truly baseball weather, it wasn't uncomfortable and we ended up staying the entire game.

Syracuse Mets

After the game we made the short drive to Syracuse's Destiny Mall.  The mall is one of the ten largest malls in the United States.  Unlike many malls, it seemed to be doing a very brisk business, in part thanks to the fact that it is as much an "entertainment destination" as a "shopping destination", with plenty of restaurants and entertainment options including bowling, escape rooms, a trampoline park, a ropes course, a indoor go-cart track and much more. 

We arrived in Binghamton around 10:30 AM and didn't check into our hotel room until around 9:00 PM.  Just the kind of day we were expecting, fun and full of adventure.

The pace on Easter Sunday was a little less frantic, but very enjoyable.  Based on a recommendation from Ben's friend, we attended an Easter Service at New Life Ministries Church.  It was a very nice service and reminded all of us of the church (Pathway Church) that we attended in Burleson during the 20+ years that we lived there.

We were invited to join Moriah and Andrew for a really nice traditional Easter meal that was delicious. We enjoyed the food and visiting with both of them at the game on Saturday and again for lunch on Sunday!

The campground where Ben works opens for the season the first weekend of May.  They're busy getting preparing for the opening and have made significant improvements that I'm sure the guests will enjoy.  Ben had been keeping us posted with pictures and videos of the progress and it was nice to see be able to enjoy walking around the campground and seeing it firsthand.  They're excited for the season to start and we're sure it's going to be a good one.

Binghamton Jellystone Park

Ben had to work Monday which gave us time to explore a little more around the Binghamton area, which is made up of several small towns and communities (Endwell, Endicott, Johnson City, Vestal and a few others).  It also gave us the opportunity to spend a bit of time with Allie who has the most amazing ability to spread morsels of love (dog hair) in copious amounts. 

Ben and Allie!

Ben was able to take Tuesday off and we had a very special day planned.  The small village of Cooperstown is about an hour and a half from where Ben lives.  Cooperstown's Main Street looks like it's  right out of a Norman Rockwell picture.........incredibly charming.  It is also the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Ben and I enjoyed visiting it a few years ago and were excited to make a return visit.  Beth is a really good sport about our goofy sports passions and while she's a little less passionate, she does enjoy taking part in some of the activities.

As you would imagine, much of Cooperstown is dedicated to baseball with themed shops and restaurants.  We shopped a bit and had lunch at the Doubleday Cafe before spending a few hours in the Hall of Fame.  The Hall of Fame is fantastic.  We spent about three hours roaming the three floors of exhibits and admiring the plaques of the 346 people who are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  Even if you have only a slight interest in baseball, Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame are well worth visiting if you're in the area.  Depending on how big of a baseball geek you may be, I would recommend a minimum of two hours for the Hall of Fame.

Doubleday Field......just a few steps away from the Doubleday Cafe!

Sign on one of the many baseball memorabilia shops in Cooperstown

Watch out for flying bats in the Hall of Fame

The first class enshrined into the Hall of Fame.  Clockwise from the top right:  Christy Matthewson, Honus Wagner, Walter Perry, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb in the center.

Statue in front of Doubleday Field.  It's title is "The Sandlot".  The young boy is barefoot and wearing overalls...............

A few weeks ago, my niece Ashley sent me this picture of the 1934 Pierce Junior High Baseball Team.  The young boy on the left front row is my dad.  I've been told he was a heck of a player..........we're thinking he was the youngest on the team and that they ran out of uniforms.  If you look closely, he's barefoot and wearing overalls...........I guess he made it to Cooperstown.........well done Dad!

Cooperstown NY

Doubleday Cafe

Baseball Hall of Fame

We flew up on Saturday morning.  It was a whirlwind four days and it seemed like we were heading back to the airport in the blink of an eye.  We love our children, grandchildren and grand dogs but with Ben and Allie in New York and Sarah, Joey, James, Emma and Scooter in California, seeing them often is a challenge and the time always goes by much too quickly.  

 

Christmas in February...........Family fun at Walt Disney World and Anna Maria Island!

 

Disney Days!

With Ben in upstate New York, Sarah, Joey, James and Emma in California and Beth and I wandering around, the logistics of getting us all together are pretty challenging.  Thankfully Beth is an expert at both planning and executing a plan, and she figured out a way to not only make it happen, but to turn it into a Christmas gift at the same time.

When we celebrated Christmas in California, our gifts to everyone were Disney themed and culminated with the announcement that "we're going to Disney World"!  Of course, for planning purposes Ben, Sarah and Joey were in on it, but James and Emma seemed both surprised and super excited about their first visit to the Kingdom of the Mouse.

We're going to Disney World!
We wore our matching shirts on Day 1 of our Disney Adventure.  They were actually pretty useful in helping us keep track of one another.

Thanks to some vacation days for the adults and school holidays for James and Emma, the dates were set and plans were in place for an early February visit to Disney.  We'd be together for eight fun filled days and nights, split evenly between Disney and Anna Maria Island.

Having grown up in central Florida, Beth and I were certainly no strangers to Disney World.  We've been numerous times, dating all the way back to just shortly after the Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971.  A lot has changed over the years as Disney has expanded, grown and developed the roughly 47 miles of what was once Central Florida swamp and cow pastures.

Ben, who was still working remotely at the time, was able to fly in a week early so we could celebrate his birthday together before meeting Sarah, Joey, James and Emma in Orlando.  Flying cross country with a seven and a four-year-old isn't easy, but they survived the flights and after a good nights rest we were ready to start the first of our three consecutive days at Disney World.

Day 1-The Magic Kingdom

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Lake Beuna Vista, which was conveniently located about 10-15 minutes away from the theme park entrances.  We've become big fans of the IHG hotel group in recent years because of their points programs, as well as the options of properties located both in the US and abroad.  This hotel certainly met our needs and would be one we would recommend or use again if we find ourselves back in the area.

Beth and Sarah had meticulously and strategically mapped out a game plan for us (if you go to Disney without a game plan, you've messed up already).  There are so many ticketing and "add on options" you can get a headache trying to decipher them.  Without going into a lot of detail, we purchased tickets that would give us admission to one park per day for three days.  The only "add on" we purchased for everyone was the "Lightening Lane" passes for the Magic Kingdom.  These "Lightening Lane" passes shorten the line on select attractions but have very specific terms as to how you can use them.  Again, Beth had a good plan on how to use them.  It's way too complicated to explain in the blog but email me if you're interested (my email address is in the bio) and we can attempt to explain what worked for us.

About 20-30 minutes before we were scheduled to leave the hotel Emma came bursting through the door.  She had a huge smile on her face and loudly proclaimed "today is the day", and what a day it was!  Although the hotel provided scheduled transportation to and from the various parks, we decided that would limit our times and options too much, so we drove.  

A first timer and an old timer enjoying the opening ceremony in front of Cinderella's Castle.

A word about Disney World.........."it ain't cheap"!  Tickets are expensive, the "add ons" can "add up" quickly, souvenir prices are through the roof, and parking is $30 per day!  There are a multitude of "add on's" that for a "small fee" will let you stay late, skip the line (at least shorten the line), etc.  But wait, there is a bit of good news!  You can bring your own food into the park and food prices are for the most part reasonable (similar to sports events and concerts).  

If you stay on a "Disney Property", you can get in early, but our hotel was offsite.  So, when the gates opened, we joined the huddled mass of people making their way up Main Street USA to Cinderella's Castle where we were welcomed by none other than Mickey, Minnie and a host of other Disney characters.

In addition to Beth and Sarah's research and planning, Ben had been to Disney World a couple of weeks prior to our trip and was helpful in both the planning and execution of our strategy.  The park was already busy as Mouseketeers of all ages made their way towards various rides and attractions.   First up for us was Big Thunder Mountain Railway.  Although the park had only been opened a few minutes, and it wasn't listed as an exceptionally busy day, the line was already close to an hour long.  If you go to Disney World you will stand in line............it's just something you'll have to deal with as best as you can...........snacks help!

Hanging with Chip and Dale...........

meeting a real princess..........

flying around with Peter Pan and Uncle Ben

We made the most out of our first day of the Disney Theme Park Trifecta (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and EPCOT).  We came, we saw, we conquered!  Still smiling and talking to each other, we didn't make our way back to the car until around 10:00 PM.  It was a fantastic day.  James and Emma fell asleep in the car on the short drive back to the hotel and none of us had to be rocked to sleep that night!

Day 2-Hollywood Studios

 Just like day one at the Magic Kingdom, we were up and out of the hotel early.  We joined the huddled mass of Mouseketeers and quickly made our way down Hollywood Boulevard once the ropes dropped.  Our first destination was the Star War's Galaxy's Edge attraction.  Although there was a line already in place, the wait wasn't terrible and even if you're not a huge Star War's fan, it's really well done, and worth checking out.

Like Father, Like Son........both are big Star Wars fans!

James trying to figure out the secret code so he could get to the stash of Star Wars goodies

Chilling with Olaf

Enjoying the Disney Magic at Hollywood Studios

Size wise, Hollywood Studio's is slightly larger than the Magic Kingdom, although to me it seems smaller and more compact.  There are plenty of shows and attractions for kids of all ages, including the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Tower of Terror, Beauty and the Beast and so much more.  My favorite moment of the day was seeing Emma's face light up at the For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration when her hero's, Anna and Elsa appeared live and in person on the stage!  It was a magical moment in a day filled with magical moments for all of us.

Emma loves Anna and Elsa!

Satisfied with a great time at Hollywood Studios, we made our way back to the hotel for a little swimming and hot tub time!  Worn, weary but happy for another magical day. 

Day 3-EPCOT

They did it!  The weather folks got it right..........rain, wind and chilly conditions, just as predicted.  But thankfully you can't judge the day by the weather!  In spite of the elements, and the fact that we had spent close to 24 of the past 48 hours at the parks, we had another funtastic day.

That raingear sure came in handy!

Group hug with Elsa!

Our third and final Disney day was made up of many rides including Test Track, Frozen Ever After (located in the Norway section of World Showcase) and Guardians of the Galaxy (a reverse launch roller coaster that Beth, Ben, Emma and I opted out of, but James, Joey and Sarah loved it).  Our EPCOT visit created many more magical memories.

We didn't get an opportunity to visit Animal Kingdom on this particular adventure.  Three parks in three consecutive days was about all we could handle on this visit.  Our legs were a little worn out, but our brains were filled with incredible memories from our Disney adventure.  

We had four more memory making days of adventure ahead of us on Anna Maria Island before Sarah, Joey, James and Emma made their way back to California and Ben made his way back to New York, by way of a few days of meetings and visiting friends in Texas.

Emma, James, Joey and Sarah learning about Manatees at the TECO Manatee Viewing Center
 in Apollo Beach

Cooler temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico had brought Manatees into the warm water of the TECO Power Plant.  It was estimated that there were around 800 manatees there on the day of our visit.

TECO Manatee Viewing Center

Emma and James got to meet and play with their cousin Layla at Rossi Park on the Bradenton Riverwalk..........

They love their Funcle Ben...........

Californians enjoying Anna Maria Island

Emma and James with NaNa!

It was a fabulous Christmas in February!  

 

  

 

Buenos Aires, Argentina

2024 Tango World Champions!

We've now completed our 22-day Antartica adventure and are back in Florida.  It was an amazing journey that took us to so many special places.  Our time in Antartica was certainly the highlight, but there were many other special moments along the way.  Our final port of call was the sprawling city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Close to four million people call the city of Buenos Aires home.  If you include the surrounding metro area that number increases to over 17 million people.  On the world stage Buenos Aires is considered an "Alpha City", meaning it plays a significant role in the international economic community.

Alpha, Beta and Gamma Cities

In recent years Argentina has had some struggles both economically and politically.  As the largest, and capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires has been at the center of much of the news regarding these struggles. In addition to what we had read/heard from the media, the Cruise Director on the Oosterdam (who we had really enjoyed), wasn't very helpful.  Unfortunately, he had been the victim of a mugging in Buenos Aires in the past.  According to him it happened in the middle of the day and in a very popular city park that was full of families at the time of the incident.  While I can certainly understand the trauma this caused, I think he went well beyond reason sharing his story and warning us about the dangers that we were going to encounter.  It seemed that some people even changed their plans after hearing his port talk.  We even joked that we should probably exit the port with a white flag and our hands in the air!  

Great architecture near the city center

The Flower Sculpture in the Plaza de Lac Naciones Unidas.  The flower opens during the day and closes at night.  Unfortunately, it was recently damaged when a storm with hurricane strength winds hit Buenos Aires.  The storm also damaged the port area.

The open air market near the Plaza de Mayo was busy with locals and tourists.

The Casa Rosada (The Pink House) is Argentina's Government House.  It is located on the Plaza Mayo and is the site for both protests and celebrations.  The biggest celebration in recent years (and possibly ever) was when Argentina won the World Cup in 2022.

We had visited Buenos Aires twice before.  While it had been a few years back we had very fond memories from those visits, and were curious as to what we would find.  We booked a three-hour city highlight tour once we were off the ship ($30 per person) that we really enjoyed.  The tour covered many of the main tourist sites near the city center, some of which we had enjoyed previously.  It was a Sunday afternoon, and the city was very lively, really clean, and everyone was very friendly.

La Boca is a very colorful working-class neighborhood.  It's known as the birthplace of the Tango.

Food and drink were plentiful.  We found some amazing empanadas.....they didn't last long enough to get a picture. 

Colorful buildings and colorful murals!

Argentina is known for its great meat.  There was plenty on the grill in La Boca!

Yes, with any big city you have to be vigilant (and I'm not saying our cruise director wasn't). I have no doubt that the trauma of what happened to him is real, but to stereotype the whole city as an unsafe combat zone was very unfair!  If you find yourself in Buenos Aires, be safe but get out there and enjoy this dynamic alpha city! 

 

Montevideo, Uruguay

Plaza Independencia-Montevideo's main plaza

It's a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Montevideo, Uruguay, but why drive when you can go by ship?  We departed Punta del Este as the sun was starting to set, cruised slowly overnight and arrived in Montevideo shortly after the sun had risen.  We were no longer cruising in the Atlantic Ocean but on the Rio de la Plata. Depending on the source of information, the Rio de la Plata is referred to as a river, an estuary, a gulf or a marginal sea.  For this blog we'll go with what is most common, which is that it is a river.  It's not real long, only 180 miles long, but at its widest, it's over 140 miles wide, which makes it the widest river in the world. 

Montevideo is the capital and largest city in Uruguay.  Around 1.4 million people call Montevideo home, which is roughly one third of the country's population.  Since 2005 Montevideo has held the distinction of being the highest rated city for quality of life in Latin America, according to the Mercer Quality of Living Report.  It doesn't take long to see how Montevideo earned this lofty ranking.  

The city is busy, but not too busy, and very clean, safe and easy to navigate.  The port is located near the city center and just a short walk from Sarandi Pedestrian Street.  We were off the ship early and enjoyed an early morning stroll along the pedestrian street before many of the shops and restaurants opened.  From the main plaza (Plaza Independencia) we headed toward the promenade along Rambla Gran Bretana.  The promenade was busy with walkers, joggers and bikers enjoying the sunshine and great views of the Rio de la Plata.  Our walk took us as far as Playa Ramirez (beach) and to the edge of Parque Rodo, a large city park named after Jose Rodo, a Uruguayan writer.  We walked through a small section of the park stopping frequently to enjoy watching the families and people of all ages laughing, talking and generally just having a grand time. 

The Sarandi Pedestrian Street was still a bit sleepy on a Saturday morning 

Plaza Zabala

Plaza Constitucion

Along the Rambla Gran Bretana

Not our usual place to stop, but this McDonalds was conveniently located with a great beach view (Playa Ramirez)

We enjoyed the riverside walk on the way out, so we mostly retraced our steps on the way back.  Thankfully, we turned up a different street a few blocks earlier on our way back.  We passed a busy neighborhood cafe named Bar 36 that was serving up what looked and smelled delicious.  We walked past,  but quickly made a U turn and took one of the last outdoor tables.  The menu was all in Spanish,  and our friendly server spoke about as much English as we do Spanish.  We quickly worked things out and had a couple of amazing local sandwiches called Chivitos, which happen to be the National Dish of Uruguay.  We got one with beef and one with chicken.  Both were filled with ham, mozzarella, tomatoes, and a fried egg.  They were both really tasty, but we agreed that the beef one was our favorite and that we could have done without the egg.

Bar 36-We were lucky to get a table!

Chivito's and Sangria-Lunch of Champions!

Bar 36

With full bellies, we slowly made our way back towards the ship.  We stopped to spend some time in the Plaza Independencia, Plaza Constitucion and Plaza Zabala reminiscing about our previous visit to Montevideo,  as well as expressing our gratitude to be back in such a wonderful city.  A Traveling Idiots Life is a pretty good life!

By Saturday afternoon things had become a bit more lively.  We were told because this area was a business district many of the shops and restaurants would not open on a Saturday, which happens to be when we were visiting.