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🇯🇵 Yokohama Frühlingsfest: A German Walks into a Biergarten in Japan
Lots of folks are disembarking the ship in a hurry and heading straight to the airport for flights home. I don’t need that kind of stress in my life, so we have an extra day in Yokohama. The taxi situation at the cruise port in Tokyo was so efficient. Truly impressive. And then our taxi…
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🛳️ One Last Day at Sea: How to Spend Your Regent Bucks
We are at sea again – our last at sea day – steaming back toward Tokyo. We got a drum send-off in Kagoshima yesterday. It was very enthusiastic. 🥁 We need to get our lives together today and jenga all of our purchases into our suitcases. I always pack an empty duffel bag in case…
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🌋 Mt. Sakurajima: Between Eruptions
We are docked in Kagoshima today – the southernmost tip of the Japanese archipelago. Extremely windy today, but the sun is out – a good laundry hanging forecast. Kagoshima is home to Japan’s most active volcano, Mt. Sakurajima. Her last major eruption was only about three weeks ago. Dammit. I would have loved to photograph…
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🌊 The Ocean: I Am the Captain Now
We’re crossing the East China Sea today on our way back to Japan. Mother Nature apparently decided we’d had enough pleasant cruising and cranked the ocean up to: washing machine. Gale-force winds, steadily building seas, and absolutely zero chance anyone was reading by the pool under a cozy blanket today. The ship’s library, on the…
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🇨🇳 Shanghai: Jade, Tea, and a Whole Lot of Capitalism
As an American, I almost didn’t want to be impressed with Shanghai, but dammit, this is an impressive place. I booked a guide for us so we could maximize our time here. Because I don’t want to spend time figuring stuff out. I want to get straight to the stuff. Our guide, Sunny, took us…
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🛳️ At Sea: En Route to Shanghai, China
At sea days on board the ship are quickly becoming days I look forward to. It’s a nice change of pace – a chance to sleep in, read a book, and just take the day as it comes. I’ve discovered one of the restaurants on board has Swedish pancakes and lingonberries for breakfast. This is…
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🛳️ A Day at Sea: Sportsing on the Lido Deck
Sometime around 2am, our ship went through the Strait of Kanmon, a narrow waterway separating Japan’s Honshu and Kyushu islands. And, courtesy of some lingering jet lag, I was awake for it. So, I got up and snapped a photo as we passed under the bridge. The iPhone 17 Pro Max handles low light remarkably…
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🇧🇬 Vidin, Bulgaria: Tracksuits, Roses, and an Underground Communist Toilet
Good morning from Vidin, in the extreme northwestern part of Bulgaria, on the border with Romania. What to say about Vidin? If someone were to design a travel brochure for Bulgaria, Vidin isn’t going to make the cover. Hell, I’m not sure Vidin would make page six. Vidin is one of Bulgaria’s oldest cities –…
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🍷 🛳️ What to Drink on a Cruise: A Sip-by-Sip Guide to Mediterranean Drinks Culture
Cruising is a double-edged sword. One of the things I like most about cruising (well, the two cruises I’ve been on, anyway) is also one of the things I like least. Cruising give you an opportunity to see many different places, and you only have to unpack once. Huge plus for me. But (and it’s…
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🛳️ Trip Reflections: Cruising the Mediterranean in the Hellscape of Summer
I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean, I knew it was going to be hot. But I didn’t think it would be Vatican hot (for reference, this is approximately two degrees less than the surface of the sun, and my new metric for unbearable heat). I cannot stand being hot. I’m Nordic –…
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🇮🇹 Our Chill Day on the Med: No Heat, No Hassle
We are docked off the coast of Porto Cervo, Sardinia this morning. Neither one of us were in the mood to be hot today, so we decided to stay on the ship for a chill day. Plus, it’s a tender day, and I’m not a fan of that sweltering, bobbing lifeboat. So, the day: Anna…
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🇮🇹 Mamma Mia, It’s Hot in Florence
Sheeeeeee’s BACK!! She’s not 100%, but Anna has turned the corner. Ciao to the ick!! And just in time for us to nearly die of heatstroke in Florence. It was 101 degrees today. There is no deodorant that can get you through that kind of heat. Took a bus from the port of Livorno to…