2016 Vietnam (Intrepid tour)

Best of Vietnam (Intrepid) October 2016 20 day trip and 4 extra days in Saigon and Hanoi 

Day 1, 2 Ho Chi Minh City. Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, War Remnants Museum, and a City tour.       Day 3 Mekong Delta Homestay, Traveling south by private bus for about three hours to Cai Be and explore the waterways of the Mekong Delta, visiting the Cai Be Floating Market.       Day 4 Ho Chi Minh City and then overnight sleeper train to Nha Trang.

Day 5, 6 Nha Trang, idyllic coastal town.    Day 7 Quy Nhon City Nha Trang - Po Nagar Cham Tower.     Day 8, 9, 10 Hoi An, ancient Town. My Lai Memorial visit and bicycle outing.

Day 11, 12 Hue. crossing the Hai Van Pass and a visit to the Imperial Citadel, also Royal tomb, Motorbike trip including lunch, Perfume river cruise and Thien Mu Pagoda.

Day 13 Dong Hoi Vinh Moc Tunnels Entrance.     Day 14 Farm Stay, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park visiting the Phong Cave first, then a cruise up the Son River towards the Thien Duong Cave (Paradise Cave).    Overnight sleeper train to Hanoi.      Day 15 Hanoi - Water puppet show, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and Museum, One Pillar Pagoda.     Day 16 Mai Chau   which is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by verdant mountains and emerald rice paddies, the night in a local stilt-house homestay in the village of Poom Coong.   Day 17 Hanoi.     Day 18 Halong Bay and overnight on boat.     Day 19, 20 Hanoi.
Link to PICTURE ALBUM.

2016 Great Britain Trip

A 5 week trip through Great Britain - (England, Wales and Scotland). 30 days by car and 5 days in London.
Pictures

2016 March Florida

March 2016 we went for two weeks visiting friends and neighbors in Florida. Our trip was from the Orlando area to Naples and Marco Island.  Pictures

2016 January Puerto Vallarta Mexico

This year we went again for the month of January to Puerto Vallarta, our escape from the Chicago winter. We stayed in the Romantic Zone, right on the beach and all our favorite places. Pictures

2015 National Parks Utah - Arizona. (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon)

Our Fall 2 week trip. We started this circle trip by flying to Las Vegas, renting a car, and driving the circle visiting five parks in Utah and Grand Canyon North & South in Arizona.
PICTURES

2015 Copenhagen, Denmark - Finland - Tallin, Estonia

Family re-union

Biking

This was a trip to visit Finland with the children, to let them one more time see their mothers country. Seija and I traveled first to Copenhagen for 4 days then to Helsinki where we all met up. After 4 days in Helsinki we traveled, by car, to Punkalaidun. Seija stayed there while Erik, Ari and I went on a tour biking the Finnish Archipelago.After returning to Punkalaidun we drove up to the Lakelands (Punkaharju) where we rented a cabin for a week. At the end we returned to Punkalaidun and attended the Pentinmaki Family reunion (over 100 attended). We went back to Helsinki where everybody went their own way, Ari - Iceland, Erik and Sarah - Helsinki,  Seija and I Estonia.   PICTURES

Copenhagen

Finland - the family

Finland

Tallin - Estonia

2015 March Seattle & Oregon

We made a two weeks trip to Seattle and Oregon. Visiting Astoria, Lewis & Clark sites, then driving down the coast to Coos Bay with several stops. In Coos Bay Seija visited second cousins, they found each other through Ancestry.com.  Pictures

2015 January- February Puerto Vallarta Mexico

This year we went again for one month to our favorite Mexican place - Puerto Vallarta. We stayed in a hotel at the beach in the Romantic Zone. It was again a perfect time to get away from the Chicago winter. Pictures!

2014 Italy. Rome - Umbria - Tuscany - Carrara - Lucca - Pisa - Cinque Terre - Parma - Venice - Rome.

A 4 week adventure by car.  PICTURES

Driving from Rome to Umbria (5 nights) then to Greve in Chianti Tuscany (7 nights) visiting Tuscan hill towns on to Lucca (3 nights) and La Spezia (3 nights) to visit Pisa, Carrara and Cinque Terre then to Parma and Venice for 3 nights each. Returning to Rome for a weeks stay.

2014 Netherland - Belgium - Luxembourg - Germany

In April 2014 we went on a rail - drive trip of Netherland, Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany.

We flew to Amsterdam from there by train to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brugge, Brugge, Brussels, Luxembourg and Trier. From Trier we drove to Heidelberg, Rothenburg ob de Tauber and Munich. We returned from Munich after 4 weeks.  PICTURES

2014 Winter Puerto Vallarta

Our Winter Break 2014 we spent in Puerto Vallarta.  PICTURES

2013 India - Kathmandu, Nepal

In October we went on an organized 15 day trip with smarTours to India and Kathmandu, Nepal. The trip included visits to New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Khajuraho, Varanasi and then Kathmandu.    Pictures

2013 Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal

In mid April we flew to Barcelona, explored the city for 4 days and then by train to Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Tarifa, then by Bus  to Gibraltar, by Ferry to Tangier and on by bus to Ronda, Seville and finally to Lisbon for the final 5 days. We spent a total of 30 days on this trip before returning via Philadelphia to Chicago. PICTURES

2013 Hawaii and Seattle

January - February we spent 10 days in Seattle and then we flew to Hawaii, first the Big Island for one week and Oahu for another week. Back to Seattle for a few days and then Chicago.  PICTURES

2012 October - November, Santiago Chile to Rio de Janeiro Brazil

We finally decided to visit Northern Argentina. After planning and changing the trip we decided on Chile to Rio.

Trip Map

We flew to Santiago, Chile and then trekked to the Northern part of Chile to San Pedro de Atacama, over the Andes to Salta Argentina, exploring the are and the Train in the Clouds. Then on across Northern Argentina to Iguazu (all by bus). From Iguazu by plane to Rio de Janeiro and then back home. All together 35 days.
Link to Blog HERE   Link to Pictures HERE

At the Brazilian Falls

2012 June, Whitefish, Montana and Glacier National Park

A three week road trip from Chicago to Whitefish, Montana. Stayed in Erik's home and visited Glacier National Park several days including the surrounding areas. Pictures HERE

2012 Jan.- Feb. Santiago, Chile

We spent the winter, 4 weeks, in an apartment in the center of Santiago, Chile. From there we explored the city and nearby Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Pictures are HERE.

2011 October, Croatia and Slovenia

September -October 2011 we traveled with Grand Circle to Croatia and Slovenia, it included side trips to Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. We left two days earlier to spent extra time in Dubrovnik and two extra days at the end to visit Ljubljana Slovenia.
Blog and Pictures.

Dubrovnik

Bled, Slovenia

2011 April - May East and North Germany

This time we wanted to see Hamburg again and the former East Germany now Eastern Germany. We had plane tickets Chicago to Frankfurt (stand-by thanks to Ari), We were put in Business class on the first plane out April 12 and arrived April 13 in Frankfurt. From there we toke the train to Wurzburg, Bamberg, Leipzig, Wittenberg, Dresden, Meissen, Berlin, Hamburg, .......    We of course had a German Rail Pass for 6 travel days, but with the extra stops we added we paid for some short trips and did not use the card.    Picture Meinhard and Seija at the Swinger in Dresden.     See Pictures or Blog

2011 January- February Puerto Vallarta Mexico

This year we went again for one month to our favorite Mexican place - Puerto Vallarta. We rented an apartment one block off the beach in the Romantic Zone. It was a perfect time to get away from Chicago weather. Pictures!

2010 September - October Egypt and Jordan.

Egypt is a land of superlatives: the largest and most ancient temple complexes in the world ... the grandest, most inspiring pyramids ... the priceless treasure of Tutankhamun ... and some of the friendliest, most welcoming people. Explored the kaleidoscopic city that is Cairo and  Pyramids of Giza. And sailed for seven nights along the Nile, where daily riverside life unfolds as it has for countless centuries, and where time stands still in glorious temples. 

Continue our trip with 7 days in Jordan including a stay in Amman and a visit to 2,000 year-old Petra, considered by many to be the eighth wonder of the world. Also Mount Nebo and Wadi Rum National Park.
Pictures Jordan and Egypt.

2010 Summer - Seattle, Cabo San Lucas, Vancouver

Early July we flew to Seattle stayed one day then off toCabo San Lucas for five days to stay with friends. Back to Seattle (Ballard) to visit with Erik and Ari. Erik spent most the time in Europe (Biking, climbing) so we had his car and townhouse. Made side trips to Leawenworth WA, Vancouver BC and had relatives visit us in Ballard. Great 4 weeks on the West Coast. Pictures from Cabo San Lucas, Vancouver BC and Ballard Seattle.

2010 Argentina South Patagonia

We decided to spent the Winter of 2010 in Argentina and travel around the country.
We arrived in Buenos Aires January 11 after three days we flew to Puerto Madryn and stayed six days to visit Peninsula Valdez, Punta Tombo and Gaimen. Then on to Sarmiento (Petrified Forest) and Perito Moreno (Cave de los Manos). Of course we planned and went RT 40, on a bus, from Perito Moreno to El Chalten, a great experience. We stayed in El Chalten and El Calafate to see all the glaciers and mountains / parks. Up South by plane to Bariloche, Nequen (Dinosaur finds) and then by bus to Mendoza. After a week in Mendoza by bus back to Buenos Aires and a week in the city. Link to our BLOG is HERE, and Pictures only HERE.

2009 Turkey and Greece

In May and June of 2009 we went on a two week Tour of Turkey with SmarTours after flying on our own to Istanbul and then meeting up with the Tour group. After the tour we went to explore Greece for an additional 3 weeks on our own. In Greece we traveled by Ferry to Rhodes, Santorini, Naxos and then back to Athens. We made notes on a Blog from our trip Click Here. 

2009 Colombia

On January 29th I flew to Bogota, Colombia, to meet Helmut for our 33 days trip around Colombia. We wanted to follow the route we did 42 years ago and also see where Ari went the year before. Our trip was not as tourists in secluded hotels we traveled by bus and stayed in local hotels or hostels. This way we met many local people and many travelers from all over the world exploring Colombia, most of the from Europe and in the late 20. We visited Bogota, San Augustin, Pasto, Popayan, Silvia, Cali, Cartagena, Taganga, La Guajira (Cabo de la Vela), San Gil and back to Bogota. A Link to our Blog we wrote while in Colombia. Pictures here.

2008 Argentina and New Zealand

2008 November - Melbourne Austarlia and New Zealand, a five week trip. The first 4 days in Melbourne then over to Aukland, New Zealand, where we rented a car and traveled the North and South Islands ending up in Christchurch to fly back to Auckland and then Chicago.

Pictures from the trip.

2008 January / February - Buenos Aires Argentina. We rented an apartment in the center of Buenos Aires (Las Canitas) where we stayed for 4 weeks. Ari visited for two weeks, he was traveling in South America and friends from the Chicago area stayed with us for two weeks.

Pictures from this trip.