Random thoughts from the sea
Days 73-75, 2025 European Odyssey Tuesday to Thursday, Sept. 9-11, 2025; Portland, England, and Bilbao, Spain. My lack of port planning is starting to catch up with me. I spent time in the spring planning the Northern Europe part of this odyssey, but figured I would plan the second half
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Days 70-71, 2025 European Odyssey Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6-7, 2025; Dover, England, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Jo: “This is the best meal I’ve ever had!” Waitress: “In Amsterdam?” Jo: “I think this whole year!” Waitress: “Wow!” Little did she know that this year I have eaten in foodie cities from Lima
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Day 65, 2025 European Odyssey Monday, Sept. 1, 2025; Liverpool, England. How could I let a light rain shower discourage me from going ashore in Liverpool when sailors aboard the world’s second-tallest tall ship were climbing the rigging to the top of their masts right in front of me. Somewhat
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Days 42-43, 2025 European Odyssey Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9-10, 2025; Dover, England, and Rotterdam, Netherlands. An astounding 300 million people – one out of every 27 people living on earth – are not living in the country of their birth, the United Nations reports. Immigration is a highly politicized
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Days 36-39, 2025 European Odyssey Sunday to Wednesday, Aug. 3-6, 2025; Wales and Inverness, Scotland, I am beginning to see why tourists might quip “ABC!” Another Bloody Castle! Estimates for the number of castles in the British Isles vary, but it’s in the thousands, depending on your definition. Generally, castles
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Days 28-29, 2025 European Odyssey Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27, 2025; Dover, England, and Rotterdam, Netherlands. When I say there are only a few repeat ports on my summer back-to-back cruises in Northern Europe, I’m not counting Dover and Rotterdam. We visit each city four times because they are the
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Days 31 and 32, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure Sunday and Monday, June 11-12, 2023; Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Dover, England. Capt. Friso warned us Sunday night that we might have heavy fog in Dover this morning, and he proved correct. My first view of the white cliffs was of a white
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Day 24, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure Sunday, June 4, 2023; Liverpool, England. Today was museum day for me, and it started with the Beatles, of course. After all, we’re in Liverpool, and while the mythical Liver birds on top of the Royal Liver Building might be the icon of the
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Day 21, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure Thursday, June 1, 2023; Falmouth, England. I wish I had a week to see Cornwall. Or at least two more days. It’s a somewhat wild county, with coasts both on the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. If you are a fan of British
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Day 19, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure Tuesday, May 30, 2023; Portland/Weymouth, England. One of the beauties of travel is that once you are exposed to a new place or event, it pops up again and again. Perhaps it is because of familiarity, like when you buy a new car, you
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