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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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🇨🇳 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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🇰🇷 Incheon: Throwing Elbows for Korean Skincare
Beautiful sunset last night. And then the Incheon Bridge (the longest in Korea) put on a light show. Incheon observation: I have never seen as many densely clustered high-rise apartment buildings as there are here in Incheon/Seoul. The population density is unreal. South Korea is about the same size as Indiana, yet it has more…
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🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea: Shopping and a Protest
We are in South Korea today. Well technically, we are docked in Incheon, which is about an hour and a half west of Seoul. So, we’re taking the herd bus to Seoul this am. It’s a drop and do your own thing bus, though. No tour. Huzzah. Because my main focus for today is shopping. …
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🇯🇵 A Full Day in Tokyo: A Watch, a Knife, and a Tea Ceremony
Oh, it’s been a DAY. Buckle up! Slept for 10 glorious hours last night. Like some kind of teenager. Feeling much more human today. We only had one full day in Tokyo before boarding our ship, so I wanted to maximize our time. Tokyo is the largest city on earth – 37 million people in…
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🇷🇴 Bucharest: A Herd Free Last Day
I booked an extra day in Bucharest, so we’ve broken free of the herd – on our own today! Switching Hotels We’re switching hotels this morning. Not sure when/if I’ll be in Bucharest again, and I wanted to stay at the famous spy hotel, the Intercontinental Athénée. During much of WWII, Romania remained unoccupied and diplomatically…
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🇭🇺 A Food Tour of Budapest: You Only Think You’re Full
Today’s activity: A food tour of Budapest with our charming local guide, Dorá. If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I’m a firm believer that one of the best ways to get to know a country is by experiencing its food and (especially) drinks. Whenever we visit a new-to-us…
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🇹🇷 First Impressions of Istanbul: Cats, Smoke, and Perfume
We just returned home from a 2-1/2 week trip to Eastern Europe. We spent a couple of days in Istanbul, a few days in Budapest, then on to a Danube River cruise – our first ever. Lots to unpack. I will share my travelogues and photos over the next few weeks. As usual, I will…
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Never Go On Trips With Anyone You Do Not Love
I have a travel mantra – words I live by. It’s a quote by Ernest Hemingway from his memoir, A Movable Feast. He wrote it after a disastrous trip he took with his good friend, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I believe these to be ten of the most important words ever written about travel: Travel isn’t…
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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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🇫🇷 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…
The Flask Half Full
Because the best stories rarely make it into the brochure.