2011

DECEMBER 2010/JANUARY 2011

MOROCCO

Rachel and I signed up for a tour of Morocco with Friendly Planet.  We were scheduled to leave on December 28, but a massive snow storm caused our flight to be cancelled, and we didn't get into Casablanca until the afternoon of New Year's Eve, and then with none of our luggage!  I would get my bag back about 5 days later, but Rachel wouldn't have hers until after receiving her insurance check about 6 months later!

CASABLANCA

 

We may not have had any clothes to change into for New Year's Eve, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful and fun evening!

     RABAT

Many of the highlights of the trip surrounded food!  Meals were not only delicious, but they were often a cultural even in themselves.

    VOLUBIUS

Volubius is an ancient city of Roman ruins.  It was a brief stop on our way from Rabat to Fes.
 

    MARRAKESH

This is some of our group exploring Djemaa el-Fna, the main square of Marrakesh that becomes an adventure in eating at night!  Everyone was a lot more daring than I was.  I ordered some chicken which turned out not to be very good!  Below is Rachel eating some brains!  Above is Rachel, Sarah and Andrew Schmitt, Vernon Fuentes and his girlfriend (forgot her name) and me! 

JANUARY

GEORGIA

ATLANTA

ITMI Symposium was in Atlanta this year; I had arranged a home exchange with a woman in Atlanta, so I thought I would go a few days early to visit with friends -- Cynthia Paulisick,  Marie Wilkins, and an old student, Clint Carruth.  Atlanta was in the middle of one of the worst ice storms, and when I got to the Atlanta airport I learned that the house was inaccessible because of the ice; I was able to add a few days on to my time in the hotel, the Crowne Plaza Ravinia. It was expensive, but at least it was available!  

Within the day the weather turned beautiful, and we spent the day at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. 

I am not sure what I am measuring here, but I am 5 foot 2!

Special events at Symposium included a trip to the Atlanta Aquarium.

One of our FAM tours at the end of Symposium took us to "Gone with the Wind" country,

One of the highlights of Symposium was the final reception at Coca-Cola.  

FEBRUARY

ARIZONA

TUCSON

Dad visited Aunt Selma and Uncle Saul about twice a year, so this year we talked him into going for a longer visit.  He rented an apartment for a month, and I spent a few days with him.  We went to the Dessert Museum and had a very enjoyable few days with him as well as Aunt Selma and Uncle Saulie and a brief visit with my cousin Ronnie as well.

AUGUST

CALIFORNIA

I did another home exchange with a couple who have a home in Guerneville, California in wine country.  Since they stayed in my place for two weeks and I had the same time in California, I invited Susan for one week and my sister Jeanne for the other.  That made for two very different weeks and a great deal of fun with each of them.  

Travel companions: Susan Cohen, Jeanne Brenner Schnell, Anne O'Dea, Randy Warren, SueEllen O'Brien.
 
SAN FRANCISCO

Susan and I began our trip to California and Jeanne and I ended our trip there as well.  Since Jeanne had never been to San Francisco before, we did more of the typical tourist things, including a trip to Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, and .

Susan quacks on the Duck Tour of San Francisco

Jeanne and I took a pedicab to the boat to Alcatraz!  

We had a great visit to the Japanese Gardens as well as a delicious snack!

On a previous trip to San Francisco Randy took me to Tommy Toy's, a remarkable Asian restaurant where we indulged in their lobster tasting menu.  Unfortunately, the restaurant has since closed its doors!

SAUSILITO

My friend and tour guide colleague, Anne O'Dea, lives with her husband on a houseboat in Sausilito, and she invited Susan and me to stay there.  It was a great experience living on a houseboat for a day; Anne actually lives on the same pier as Ted Bravos, the director of ITMI, but a knock on his door revealed no one at home!

This was our home in Sausilito thanks to Anne O'Dea!

GUERNEVILLE

It was Lazy Bear Weekend in Guerneville, an annual event that attracts hundred of large, hairy gay men!  What fun!

This was the backyard of our house for two weeks:

HEALDSBURG

On one of our many winery adventures, we traveled a new way -- on a Segway!  We toured three wineries and enjoyed wine along the way, although we definitely kept it light considering we were balancing on our Segways in between wineries.

HELENA

Although we went to a lot of small towns, too many to list, I didn't want to leave out Helena because this is where Susan and I took our obligatory cooking class!  We went to the Culinary Institute of America for our class, where we learned how to cook Vietnamese rolls (funny...since we were on our way to Vietnam in the fall) and some other goodies.  The highlight of the cooking class was Susan falling asleep in the front row!

CALISTOGA

Jeanne and I went to Calistoga where we went to one of the oldest spas -- Dr. Wilkinson's.  Jeanne had a mud bath, but I wasn't allowed to take one since I have high blood pressure!  The baths and massage were great, but Jeanne wasn't that thrilled with the mud.

NAPA VALLEY

Jeanne and I met up with Randy Warren, an old friend from high school (and boyfriend), and his wife, Suki, and took a marvelous wine tour of Napa Valley!  I don't remember the second half of the tour, however, since we were treated "first class" all the way!

Suki and Randy on our 90+ wine tour!  Now you can see why I don't remember the rest of the day. 

ARMSTRONG REDWOODS  (Guerneville)

Susan and I tried to go to Muir Woods, but we have up after not being able to find any parking within 2 miles.  Jeanne and I discovered Armstrong Redwoods just a few miles from our house in Guerneville!

I rented a car for the two weeks, and we made a lot of side trips, including one to the beach with both Susan and then Jeanne.  Here was our ride in California!  I never realized that the guy in back looks like he is in pain!

Finally, here is a photo, not one I would usually share, but it is fun to remember the good times!

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

EASTERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA

2011 was my fourth and fifth time on this tour; and it was greatly improved over last year!  Actually, I was only going to do one tour, and that was after asking for a second chance since my first year was not very successful.  A month before my one tour my supervisor, Jean, called and asked me to do two, and I was glad that I agreed!

I never take "selfies"!  I have no idea why I took this picture of myself in the back of the coach!  But here I am on board the bus!  (Must have been during a city tour!)

This year Cosmos added an optional excursion to Erabliere du Chemin de Roy, a typical Quebecois breakfast and tour of the sugar shack!  It was great fun and good food!

The Prime Minister of Great Britain was visiting Ottawa while we were there, and we were lucky to witness a welcoming ceremony at the War Memorial.  

OCTOBER

Susan and I took our first Gate 1 tour, 15-day Cambodia and Vietnam.  The tour was surprisingly affordable, especially since most of the long-distance travel was by air.  We flew Korean Air, which was very nice.  Some guests began their journey in Bangkok; there were about 10 of us in Cambodia, and then, the rest of the group joined us in Ho Chi Minh City.  

CAMBODIA

PHNOM PENH

We met our tour director, Adam, after a slight delay in his finding us at the airport.

Our hotel in Phnom Penh was nice, although we were there for less than 8 hours before we left the next morning!

 Cambodia had suffered from terrible flooding right before we arrived, but it was amazing not only how they continued on, but also how they invited us into their lives.  We stopped at a family home where they were living on a platform, but they welcomed us with open arms!

Finally, on our way to Siem Reap, we stopped at a "happy house,' or rest stop.  People were selling a variety of insects to eat, and Jamie was one of those brave enough to try dome fried crickets.  Only Adam ate a fried tarantula!

SIEM REAP

We stayed in a lovely hotel in Siem Reap, the Sandovi Angkor, and we were able to enjoy dinner and a short walk around town.  The next morning we met our new tour director, Mr. Mony, and we visited Angkor Thom, the Ta Phnom Temple (famous for being the site of Raiders of the Lost Ark), and Angor Wat, one of the wonders of the world.  The next day we visited Tonie Sap, where we were able to take a ride on ox-carts!

Mr. Mony gives us some background information.  The look on Susan's face sort of sums it all up!

This was one of the sites used for filming Raiders of the Lost Ark (Phnom Thom)

Angor Wat was truly mangificent!

TONIE SAP

Our last stop in Cambodia was a remarkable two-part journey.  First our bus drove us to a remote village where we stomped through some mud and water and got on ox-carts that would take us to Tonie Sap, or Great Lake.  There, we boarded a bus that took us to the floating villages on the lake, including a stop where we got to see how the people live on the lake.  Again, the people live such remarkably simple lives amid great poverty, and all we saw were waves and smiles.  Seeing the children was especially awesome, including those at the floating school!

The ox-cart ride to Tonie Sap

VIETNAM

Our tour continued to Vietnam where we picked up the rest of the group and met our tour director for the rest of the trip, Tuyen. Our time in Vietnam was greatly impacted by the continuous rain and the flooding.  When I got home people said they were sorry about all of the rain, but I wasn't.  In a strange way it added to the atmosphere and made the experience a very interesting one!

HO CHI MINH CITY

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) with enough time to walk around and have a wonderful dinner at the Lemongrass Restaurant.  The biggest challenge was learning how to cross the street!  You have to walk confidently and at a quick pace -- don't run and don't stop.  The scooters see you and judge their distance and speed to miss you!  The next morning we had our optional excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels, the site where the Viet Cong hid out in the tunnels and captured Americans were tortured.  A frightening but interesting experience!

Ronald is giving us a lecture on the Cu Chi Tunnels, with a lot of controversy to follow! 

 
DANANG

We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Danang, a name that not only brought back memories of news reports of the war, but also of the TV show, China Beach.  We drove through Danang, with a picture stop at China Beach.  You can see that the rains continued through the north.

HOI AN

We continued our drive north to Hoi An where the rains and the floods made it a unique experience!  After the tour many people commented that it was "too bad" the weather was so bad, but I found it only added to the experience, putting Vietnam in an atmosphere that conjured up past memories and some great photos!

Susan and I always find a cooking class on our travels, and Vietnam was no exception.  In fact, I think we took a couple of classes by the time we finished our tour.  We were supposed to take a cooking class on a boat, but the rain made that impossible.  So, I rode on a scooter and Susan on a bike, through the rain, first to the market and then to a cooking school, where, coincidentally, we ran into our group who were having a food demonstration!

I was smart: there was no way I was going to ride a bike, let alone in this rain!  What fun on the scooter with our chef!

The bike ride to the market was so difficult, they did have to call in another scooter for the ride back to town.

Cooking class

HUE

From Hoi An we continued to travel north to Hue. We stayed in a lovely hotel, Huong Giang.  The first night the water came above the gardens in back of the hotel restaurant, which served great food!  Here is our room:

That night we took a cyclo ride to the Citadel for a fabulous dinner, where the food became art!

Those are delicious spring rolls in the carrot chicken!

The other highlight of our stay in Hue was a boat trip on the Perfume River with a stop on Hen Islet; unfortunately, the floods halted our visit after a brief walk, but the way the locals greeted us made even the short visit fabulous!

Ronald helps Susan off the boat!

A warm welcome!

HALONG BAY

 We took a flight to Hanoi and continued to travel by coach to Halong Bay, famous for its rock formations; it reminded me a little bit of Portugal, and later, the rocks around Capri reminded me of Halong Bay!  Our one-day visit included a boat tour around the bay and a short time at the beach!

Susan and me in Halong Bay

 
HAIPHONG

On our coach drive to Hanoi, we stopped on Haiphong for lunch.  It was one of the few beautiful days, with sunshine, and, for the first time, color!  The flowers, including bicycles decorated with them, made for some beautiful photographs.

HANOI

The final stop on our tour was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.  Our visit included a tour of the Museum of Ethnology, Hoan Kiem Lake, and a water puppet show.  At the lake, one of the highlights was speaking with locals, one of whom was fascinated touching a "white" person for the first time!  Here is Joan making that connection with this woman, whose teeth were blackened from chewing betel nut.

Our farewell dinner was composed of a wide variety of Vietnamese food that we had enjoyed the last two weeks.  As much as I enjoyed the food, I was also looking forward to some good old American fare when we got home.  We made a lot of new friends, some of whom we continue to keep in touch with on Facebook!

Pat, Delores, and Jamie