Looking Back at 2022

 

After two years of COVID lockdown and no international vacations, 2022 turned out be banner year for travelling.  In February, Joe and I cruised the Caribbean visiting Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, and my favorite Caribbean nation, St. Kitts.  In June, Aaron and I cruised from Montreal to Boston.  During that cruise, I fell in love with the charm of Quebec City, Canada.  We also visited Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor Maine.  Unfortunately, we both came home with COVID. 

 In September, I embarked on my longest trip to date – 24 days in Europe.  The first week of vacation was a cruise out of Venice which stopped in Kotor Montenegro, Crete and Santorini Greece, and Bari Italy before returning to Venice.  Joe and I parted ways in Venice and I took a bus to Ljubljana Slovenia where I started a solo adventure through Europe.  In Slovenia, I took a day trip to beautiful Lake Bled.  Next up, I spent a few days in Budapest, a city which magically lights up at night.  From Budapest, I went on to Vienna Austria, Bratislava Slovakia and the quirky but fun Prague Czechia.  From Prague, I traveled to Berlin Germany and Luxembourg City before spending four amazing days in Paris.  Aside from experiencing the charm of Paris, I took side trips to Normandy and Mont St. Michel France.  During the time I spent alone, I really missed my family and friends.  But the trip reassured me that I am able to travel solo.  Hopefully the next four months of travel will be as enjoyable as my 2022 travels.

Trunk Bay (St. John), US Virgin Islands (my favorite beach in the world)

St. Kitts (and Nevis) - my favorite Caribbean island nation

Beautiful Quebec City (Quebec), Canada

Quaint Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island), Canada

Sunrise over the Grand Canal:  Venice, Italy

Picturesque Perast, Montenegro

Breakfast with Joe in Chania (Crete), Greece

Breathtaking Oia (Santorini), Greece

Scenic Slovenian Alps on Lake Bled

Hungarian Parlaiment Building at Night, Budapest

St. Vitus Cathedral and Prague Castle, Czechia

Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany

Tranquil Vianden, Luxembourg

Spectacular Paris, France

With Aaron at Shawn & Nate's Wedding (New Jersey)







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Postcards from Portugal

Image
Picturesque Harbors When and Where:            04/2023 – Lisbon, Sintra 76 th Country Visited; 33 rd European Country Visited Interesting Facts: -         There are 250 million Portuguese speakers around the world; most live in Brazil. -         Mainland Europe’s westernmost point is located in Portugal. -         Portugal is a popular place to live for retirees due to the low cost of living. Some days don’t go as planned.   My visit to Portugal was a case in point. The cruise was scheduled to arrive in Lisbon at 10am on April 10.   The night before arrival, Guest Services contacted me and asked me to surrender my passport for inspection in Lisbon.   I was one of a handful of passengers who were offboarding in Lisbon.   My plan was to take an evening flight to Madrid where I would stay for two days, then...
Read more

Postcards from Morocco

Image
Where Old Meets New in Africa When and Where:            04/2023 – Agadir, Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Asilah 75 th Country Visited; 12 th African Country Visited Interesting Facts: -         The highest ski resort in Africa is in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.   -         Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as a country. -         Although overwhelmingly Muslim, there are thriving Christian and Jewish communities in Morocco.   April has turned out to be a hectic month and I have not been able to keep up with my blog.   Unlike other legs of this journey, now that I am in Europe, we are in port nearly every day.   But I am committed to keeping up with the blog. Simply put, Morocco is an amazing country!   There is a diversity and richness of culture that goes back many cen...
Read more

Postcards from The Canary Islands

Image
 Spanish Autonomous Territory When and Where:            04/2023 – Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Arrecife (Lanzarote)   Interesting Facts: -         -  Christopher Columbus used the Canary Islands as a stopover on the way to the Americas. -         -  The world’s worst ever aviation disaster happened on Tenarife in 1977 when two 747’s collided on a foggy runway killing 583 people.   Some adventures are less active than others.  Earlier this week, the Zuiderdam visited two of the Canary Islands: Tenerife and Lanzarote.  Unlike most ports of call, I had two chill days with no excursions planned.  Both islands were beautiful and very European-influenced, despite being off the coast of Africa.  On Sunday, I visited Santa Cruz, the largest city on the island of Tenerife.   Santa Cruz is one of two national capitals of The Canary Islands.   As I step...
Read more