The Greeks affected the whole world with their ideas, foremost among them the concept of democratic rule. Greece gave rise to philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Greek architecture was adopted first by the Romans, but later around the world, including the columns seen in US government buildings in Washington DC. The Greek language gave rise to words in science, religion, and history that have been adopted by other countries’ languages around the world.
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
I experienced wildlife in India that I had imagined could only be experienced on an African safari.
Why have a German reunion in Salt Lake City? In 1969, I traveled to Kiel, Germany, for a “junior year abroad” at the Christian-Albrechts University. I ended up staying out of the US for three and a half years, during which time, besides living in Germany, I spent significant time in Sweden, Afghanistan, and India. I returned home at the end of 1972, after the Vietnam draft had been abolished...
A couple of decades ago, my wife Susan and I worked as entertainers on cruise ships. Often the entertainers sat together at mealtimes. A common observation was that the job of being a comedian was the most difficult of all the entertainers. Having to be funny for ten or fifteen minutes before a group of elderly strangers (as well as having to avoid any jokes that might be interpreted as obscene, irreligious, or politically incorrect) was difficult indeed...
Following our two weeks in Germany and Sweden, we flew into Oslo, Norway, one day early before the flight to join our Hurtigruten cruise around the Svalbard island chain. Upon the recommendation of my old friend Per (who is Norwegian but lives in Germany), we . . .
It is a great privilege and blessing to be able to visit Portugal twice within three months, first in December on a Viking River Cruise tour, and second in March on a Go Ahead Travels tour to Spain and Morocco commencing in Lisbon, Portugal...
Saudi Arabia could become a great destination for tourists at some point in the future. They just aren’t there yet.