Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas Ports of Call: Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel Our first port of call (officially – we made an emergency stop at Cozumel to unload a passenger with a medical emergency) was Roatan. The beautiful island off the coast of Honduras is our favorite place …
Sea Days John and I took advantage of my gap in contracts and grabbed a last-minute deal on Royal Caribbean – a 7-night cruise out of Galveston in a porthole room. Over the years, we’ve cruised a lot on Royal Caribbean and its sister line, Celebrity, so have earned our …
El Valle (A side note – We were in El Valle from Dec. 16-23. We returned home on Christmas Day, and it took a while to get sorted, Christmas stuff done, et.) A $40 cab ride from Nueva Gorgona brought us into the mountain town of El Valle. If you …
The book in question is entitled “Cold Comfort Farm” by Stella Gibson. It was published in the 1930’s, and I had never heard of it or the author (who was quite popular in her day) before my friend Liam handed me his copy during our visit to his home in …
Nueva Gorgona/ Coronado Its only $5 per person to take the bus from Panama City to Coronado (and then a $5-7 cab ride to the hotel) – or a $55 taxi. We chose the more convenient and less environmentally friendly transport. Nueva Gorgona was resettled from Gorgona, a town that …
Panama City Panama City sits on the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, the engineering feat that allows for modern commerce. But long before the canal, it was the coordinating point for Spain’s forays into South America, bringing back gold silver and precious gems plundered from the Incas and shipped …
Madrid Madrid is – quite literally – the center of Spain. It is the second largest city in Europe- both by population of 3.7 million (largest is Berlin) and size at 604 sq. km (largest is Paris). The area has been settled since Celtic times, followed by the now familiar …
Communidad de Leon et Castille: Salamanca Our transportation options from Merida were a 6-hour train with a change, or a 4-hour direct bus. We went with the bus. Which was comfortable, no issues with storing the guitar below, and the bus even had a working toilet! (In our travels, this has …
Communidad de Extremadura: Merida There was no direct route from Huelva to Merida (unless you hired a car), so an evening train to Seville, a night in a lovely hotel near the train station, and a train on to Merida in the morning. Our brief layover in Seville allowed me …
Communidad de Andalusia: Huelva Portugal has an extensive train system. Spain has an extensive train system. It turns out the two rarely connect, so the bus was the best option for the return to Spain. Huelva, Faro’s “sister city”, sits close to the Spanish coast just over the border from …