Category: Port of Call

Pena Palace is a common post card picture from Portugal.  The bright yellow and red palace located high in the mountains is located just outside of Sintra, a quaint village an easy day trip from the capital.  On the day we visited Sintra we were unable to visit Pena Palace due to a recent storm…

“God wills, man dreams, the work is born.” -Fernando Pessoa  Pessoa is recognized as one of Portugal’s most influential poets.  The line above is often quoted as having been inspired by the long and storied history of the country as it lead the way to the discovery of the rest of the world, a fact…

Singapore is an an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia.  With a population of 6.04 million people, English as their language of commerce, and an economy that ranks high in the world, it is a sumptuous and welcoming country with a robust tourist trade. The weather is sunny and warm, the landscape lush and…

Midway into our cruise, we participated in an excursion that remains our favourite.  It did not offer the iconic landmarks or symbols of this diverse society or definitively explain its history and culture as most of our other excursions did.  What it did was allow us to really interact with the people of this island….

Before setting off on our Indonesian adventure I did a fair amount of research, as I usually do, about our destination.  Ken however, relied on his existing knowledge of the region and helped direct our choices to ensure that we hit all of the important sites.  Following are two of his favourites. The most visited…

We spent a mere two days on the island of Bali in December.  Although the lure of beautiful beaches and calm resorts was strong, we chose instead to discover more about the history of this island during two full-day excursions. Our first day explored the eastern side of the island from the port of Denpasar,…

Located on the island of Java, Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia.  In 2025 the population was estimated at 11,634,100.  I’m sure we met most of them on the road during our tour. We arrived in the crowded, dirty, wet and impoverished port.  By our standards the area surrounding it would be considered slums….

We have all seen pictures of Komodo dragons.  They are the stuff of legends – dinosaurs that still walk among us!  When we had the opportunity to visit Komodo National Park, and perhaps see a dragon or two in person, we leapt at the chance. The only way to access the park is on a…

From Tuscany it is a short drive into the neighbouring  Umbria, a region characterized by hills, mountains, valleys and historical towns.  Our day trip there included a visit to two of these towns; Orvieta and Assisi, along with stunning vistas of the Italian countryside. This 11 hour excursion was also booked with Ciao Florence tours. Our…