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📸 🇹🇷 Photo Essay: Istanbul, Türkiye (and a few closing thoughts on the city)
We were on the ground in Istanbul for less than 48 hours. There was A LOT to absorb – overstimulating is probably the right word. I felt like I was taking pictures of everything and nothing at the same time. And as much as the photographer in me wants to be using my Leica or…
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🇹🇷 How Much Can You Cram Into a Single Day in Istanbul? Buckle Up.
We covered a LOT of ground today. (Fair warning – this is going to be a longer post than usual.) Super grateful to our guide, Necdet, for shepherding us through his beautiful (but chaotic) city. Spent most of the day crowd surfing through the must-sees of Istanbul: the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Blue…
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🇲🇨 Heat Exhaustion in Monaco: The Ick Wins Again
Woke up to this view today – a whole country draped over the side of a mountain. Damn, I thought Saint Tropez had a lot of luxury mega yachts. Monte Carlo: hold my spritz. Had breakfast on our balcony this am (Anna ate toast and jam!) and watched these massive yachts come and go. Do…
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🇫🇷 How to Enjoy Saint-Tropez When You’re Sick. Hint: You Can’t
Anna made a valiant attempt at rallying today. But whatever ick this is refuses to let go of her. Anna really wanted to see Saint Tropez. So we slathered on the sunscreen, and made our way down to board the tender. Pro tip: if you’re already feeling kind of green, bobbing up and down on…
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🛳️ A Day at Sea, Part II: Released from Isolation
Thankful for a day at sea today, as Anna is recovering slowly from the ickiest of icks. Knock on wood, no more symptoms, so we’ve been released from isolation. She’s still pretty green around the gills, though, so we’re doing a lot of resting and reading. And watching bad movies in our room. Btw, Aquaman?…
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🇮🇹 Wandering Without a Plan in Carloforte, Sardinia
FYI ladies (of a certain age): hot flashes and Mediterranean heat are not compatible. I am melting. I’m sticking to my vacation linens. Tendering to Shore Had to tender from the ship to the town of Carloforte this morning. Not a fan of tendering. They use the ship’s lifeboats. So you’re trapped in an “I…
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🇹🇳 A Day in Tunis: Extreme Heat, Street Cats, and High Pressure Rug Sales
Weather report: I have no words for how HOT it is here. So much sweating. Good grief, there was an awful lot of blind trust going on today. A bit of a cluster trying to hook up with our tour guide after we got off the ship. The (somewhat coordinated) rendezvous involved Anna and I…
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🇮🇹 Erice, Sicily: Cats, Granita, and a Sweater?
Today’s activity: exploring the historic mountain village of Erice, which is located on the top of Mount Erice in Sicily. Ken just asked me: did you climb up that mountain? Sometimes, I think he doesn’t even know me. Did I climb a mountain?!? Please. I got on an air conditioned bus to the top. Weather…
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🇮🇹 A Food Tour of Naples: There’s Something Wrong With This Water
I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it: one of the best ways to learn about a place is through their food and drink. You can explore a place all you want, but without a guide, you aren’t likely to zero in on the true local flavors and experiences. To this end, I…
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🇮🇹 Shopping in Rome & Cruise Embarkation
Weather report from Rome: Had some time to kill before our transfer to the cruise port. So we got up super early and did wind sprints up and down the Spanish steps. Just kidding. We went shopping in Rome. Anna and I both loooovvve perfumes – we always try to find the ones we can’t…
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🇮🇹 Ciao Roma: Kicking Off Our Mother-Daughter Mediterranean Cruise
Ciao Roma! Annaliese and I are in Rome in advance of a mother-daughter Mediterranean cruise. We’re celebrating Anna finishing her masters degree, and joining the ranks of employed people. Fair warning: It’s going to be HOT on this trip. It’s the Mediterranean in June. And I’m hot flashing. So I will be complaining about the…
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📸 🇱🇹 Photo Essay: Lithuania
I take a lot of pictures when we travel. A LOT of pictures. Probably approaching an annoying amount of pictures. But when I post them, I try to curate. I choose the top 10-15 photos that represent the day and edit them. Because no one wants to see 113 un-edited vacation photos. No one. After our…