Across the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong, is Macau, a bit of a loosely attached appendix to mainland China’s south coast. After a visit to Hong Kong, we took a one hour Fast Ferry ride there for a week long visit.
Legendary Langkawi
The Desert Castles of Jordan
From Amman, Jordan there are many interesting day trips to make, following ancient routes that, except for the roads’ surface, have not changed locations over the centuries.
The Kings’ Highway follows ancient trade routes, connecting north and south of the country. It is believed that the Three Wise Men followed at least part of this very same route on their way to Bethlehem. Moses used it to lead his people to Canaan… The Bible refers to it by name.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Just recently Nico, my 12 year old grandson, and I flew to Amman, Jordan. I had been briefly to Jordan before - to visit Petra. This time we would explore more of this ancient country and learn much more about its history. While the current Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is relatively new, formed in 1949, the country has ancient roots…
The Story of St. Nicolaas - around the world.
This time a different story… Not our physical travels to a special place on earth, but a story of tradition and customs as it traveled around the world and through time. Because the weekend of this blog post is St. Nicolaas Day, I’d like to share with you the story of how St. Nicolaas became Santa Claus, the origins of a celebration that traveled from Turkey to Spain throughout Europe and to the new world…
Historic Thompsons Mills, Oregon
Among Literary Ghosts in Salamanca and Extremadura, Spain
Spain offers many wonderful hiking trails. But Kees found it sometimes difficult that he did not speak Spanish, especially when hiking in more remote regions. Along the Camino the Santiago you can get by with English, but elsewhere our Spanish was limited to “una serveza por favour!” So we found a school that teaches Spanish at all levels., in groups or to individuals. The city of Salamanca was recommended because of the pure Spanish spoken in this area. And we were happy to have a good reason to spend some time in this glorious city.
