Galleries

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. . .

Singapore is a very small country located at the bottom of the Malaysian peninsula.  It has no natural resources.  Alli its food has to be imported.  As a financial center and trading center, Singapore is extremely successful.  Its citizens enjoy one of the highest median incomes in the world.  Singapore's citizens are 70% of Chinese ancestry.  Other ethnic groups include Malays, Indians, Thais, and more.  Enjoy the photo gallery of Singapore's rich urban landscape.

Welcome to a quick visual tour of Abu Dhabi. All of the photos below were taken in the course of a two hour bus tour of downtown Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the seven member confederation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Saudi Arabia could become a great destination for tourists at some point in the future.  They just aren’t there yet.

Susan and I had such a good time in our six weeks in Mumbai, that we plan to come again in November for another six weeks. Following a description of our time in Mumbai, this blog introduces the amazing sculptures of Khajuraho...erotic sculptures unique in the world.

I’ll never forget a conversation that occurred in Norway some years ago as Susan and I met retired hospital architect, Knut Bergsland, to tour his hospital in Trondheim, Norway.  Knut  said, “Welcome to Norway.  You should know that as long as you are in Norway, if you have any medical problem, you can go straight to the hospital, where you will be treated without charge.  We don’t care if you’re Norwegian or a foreigner, with or without a visa, all will receive treatments free of charge.” 

Shinto is Japan's "native" religion, dating back at least two thousand years.  The Shinto temples in Kyoto date from the eighth century, when Kyoto was the most powerful city in Japan.

Four years ago, Susan and I toured Jordan for the first time. Through the internet, I hired a driver/tour guide based on an ad from a Jordan tour company. This driver, Mazen, met us at the airport holding a sign with our names on it. Spending hours together with him in the car that first year, we became close friends with Mazen. We have hired him as our tour guide during our three subsequent Jordan visits. Mazen has invited us to his house twice for dinner with him and his wife. Both he and his wife speak enough English to get to know each other well enough to cement our friendship. . .