Galleries

Musings about Detroit, the Kahlo/Rivera exhibit, the Detroit Symphony, and the Mayo Clinic.

Malta is nicknamed the “navel of the Mediterranean” since it is in approximately the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  Its location has made Malta the object of conquest, starting with the Phoenicians, and followed by the Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, the Knights of St. John, French, and finally the British in 1813-1974, when Malta became an independent neutral country. 

How much of Istanbul can one see in a short two-day visit?  Actually, quite a bit, when logging over 20,000 steps/day on my FitBit.  When we first planned our Viking River Cruise, I told our friends Bill and Linn, who were traveling with us, that we would be so close to Istanbul while visiting the Balkan countries, that we must add it on to our trip.  And so, following our Danube River cruise, we flew from Budapest to Turkey, arriving in Istanbul the evening before Election Day. . .

I’ve visited Stockholm, Sweden, over a dozen times during the last forty years, for weeks or months at a time, I’m once again reminded of why it is one of my favorite cities in the world, and indeed, why I love Sweden in general...

My father was a Superior Court judge in Columbus, Georgia. His legal philosophy was ahead of his time. He believed that “victimless crimes” were contrary to freedom and the intent of our constitutional founders. His theory of law was that the force of government should only be used to protect people and property, not to incarcerate people for what they do willingly in their private homes. Thus, he believed that prostitution and drugs should be legal. He came close to losing an election when his opponent claimed Judge Smith was “soft on drug dealers.” (He was!) . . .

Stockholm is one of my favorite cities in the world.  It is very beautiful, the historic capital of Sweden.  I've visited Stockholm over a dozen times, enough to learn a respectable fluency in the Swedish language (which is much easier than German).  It's also home to dear old friends.  Seeing them was the goal of this visit.  I share insights comparing the Swedish and American healthcare and political systems.

Flying from Beijing to Shanghai, Susan and I boarded the Viking cruise ship Yi-Dun.  We had the pleasure of a Shanghai city tour in which we viewed an ancient garden containing ornate buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. 

The skyline of Shanghai is impressive, containing the world's third tallest building, the Shanghai Tower with 128 floors, at 2073 feet high.  (The world's tallest building is Dubai's Burj Khalifa at 2722 feet high.  The second highest is the Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 2227 feet.)--source Wikipedia

Departing Los Angeles and three days at sea, our first port of call of our world cruise was Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of the Baja California (Lower California) peninsula.  The word “cabo” means “cape” in Spanish, referring here to the termination of the Baja Peninsula.  It is a famous tourist destination, famous for its Marlin fishing competition and as a destination for partying American college kids on Spring Break.  It is known for its dramatic stone formations in it harbor, which includes a dramatic stone archway...