Giza (Cairo), Egypt and the Giza Plateau   Good morning. We have a full day of activities today. The itinerary calls for a 09:00 pickup and ride to the pyramids, and lunch at the 9 Pyramids Lounge on the Giza Plateau with views of the nine pyramids. The Giza Plateau is a large limestone plateau just outside of Giza (Cairo) which has the most recognizable iconic monuments of the ancient civilization. It is located on the west bank of the Nile.   For centuries the people in the

Amman, Jordan > Cairo, Egypt   Travel Day. Fun Fact Time! What was the first city to be called the city of ‘brotherly love”? Turns it was Amman! In the 3rd century BCE, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Greek ruler of Egypt, conquered Amman (then called Rabbath Ammon). After doing so he renamed the city Philadelphia or “brotherly love” after himself. The idea was to solidify his control over the area and to “Hellenize” it. It remained known as Philadelphia until the 7th century wh

Amman, Jordan   Our first full day in Amman. Amman is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the capital and largest city in Jordan with somewhere between five and six million people. Jordan itself, as a country, is relatively new. The area now known as Jordon became a British protectorate after World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It wasn’t until 1946 that Jordan gained independence and officially became known as the Hashemite Kingdom

Milano, Italia > Amman, Jordan   Travel day. Today is the official first day of our Jordan & Egypt excursion. The next sixteen days should be very interesting. Last time I was in Jordan was 1970, yes that is right fifty-six years ago. Then I was just a high school graduate on a summer romp. I wore cut-off jeans, T-shirt and boots. Just roamed through the desert to the south of Amman and the Dead Sea. The deepest we got into Jordan was Basira. However, that is a totally differ

Torino, Italy   January 6th is Epiphany and it is a public holiday in Italy. In theory this is the day the magi visit Mary & Joesph and the baby Jesus. However, again it is a marketing thing. Depending on which calendar or church you follow it can fall on different days. Here in Catholic Italy, it is January 6th.   Italians don’t really have Santa Claus. Babbo Natale, or Santa Claus, is a 19th century marketing campaign. It really has nothing to do with Christmas, except of c

Torino, Italy   Ali booked a ride on the Frecciarossa 9611 at 06:50 for Roma Termini. She had to be at school by noon so it should work out just fine. Hard to believe but I was up early enough to see her off. Still not sleeping all night. Seems to be getting better, however.   Again, the day was simply spent packing and getting ready to go. We went to the Borello Supermercato and got a few things for dinner. We stopped by and visited the Serra, Pietro and the girls. There was

Torino, Italy   It is beginning to be annoying. While I continue to feel better each day, this cold, flu or sinus condition just won’t leave me alone. I was up early again this morning, about 02:30. Again, tried as I might, I couldn’t go back to sleep.   We have an appointment for a wine tasting class at 11:00. Harry V & Ali went out this morning; we just chilled in the apartment. Just before 11:00 we left to go to the vine tasting. We are going to Culture Liquida, a small sh

Torino, Italy   This cold, flu or sinus condition really isn’t working out for me. I woke up about 03:00. Tried as I might, I couldn’t get back to sleep. Part of it is undoubtedly jet lag. We had made an agreement to meet Pietro, Serra and the girls at Torteria 40 on Via Giuseppe Mazzini. It is just a couple blocks over and one of the best places in Torino for a cappuccino and brioche.   Harry V & Ali went out for an early morning walk. There isn’t anything to do in Torino at

Malpensa Airport (Milan, Italy) – Torino, Italy   This is probably the officially first day of the 2026 travel season. We started with cappuccino and brioche in the restaurant at the hotel, it is included in our room because of our status with Marriott. I also had some fresh fruit and yogurt to start the day. After breakfast we went back to the room, finished packing up and headed down to the lobby.   Harry V and Ali were right on time at 08:30. Malpensa, like SFO, has been u

Sonoma, CA – SFO – Munich, DE – Milan, Italy   The last day of 2025 and the beginning of the 2026 travel year. The morning starts out with the goal of spending the night in Torino. We have a two-bedroom apartment in Piazza Maria Teressa in Torino for the next week. The plan is to meet up with Harry V in Munich and then fly together to Milano, where we will meet up with Ali. We have arranged a car to take us from Malpensa to the apartment in Torino.   The day begins with a 09:

Kansas City, MO, - San Carlos, CA – Sonoma, CA   There has been silence for the past eight days or so. It has not been due to the Christmas Holiday or anything exciting. It has been due to the fact that influenza has hit the Kansas City Falks. Harry IV took Rochelle to emergency care and it was officially diagnosed as having influenza. On the 22nd I started coughing and just couldn’t stop.   So, on the night of the 23d, Harry IV and Mary, took me to the emergency clinic. They

Kansas City, MO, USA   Sunday. Today is the shortest day of the year – the Winter Solstice. Sunrise here in Kansas City was 7:34 and Sunset was 17:00; 9 hours and 26 minutes of “daylight”. Interestingly, Antartica, whence we just came, will have twenty-four hours of daylight. Iceland, where we were last year, will have four hours and seven minutes of daylight today. Well from now the days up here in the northern hemisphere start to get longer.   It may or may not seem obvious

Kansas City, MO, USA   Saturday. Up at 05:00. Had a good night’s sleep. Worked on the blog while waiting for other people to get their lazy asses out of bed. At 07:30 decided to go to Starbucks for a tea and sandwich. Then changed that to go to Messengers to get Mary one of their really good cinnamon rolls.   I drove down Main Street towards Messengers, stopped at Starbucks and got myself a tea. Then continued down Main until Grand. Started down Grand before I realized that i

Kansas City, MO, USA   Friday. Good news, nothing planned for day, except taking the grandchildren to Scheels in Overland Park for some shopping. They don’t need Christmas when their grandparents are around. Several thousand dollars later we are leaving the store. Now, they want lunch. We finally settle on Spin Piazza. I let them do that and sat in the car. I had no interest in piazza.   After lunch Mary, Harry V and George head out to do a little Christmas shopping for the f

Kansas City, MO, USA   Thursday. Early this morning I did some scouting for Harry V. He is going to meet Ali in Roma for Valentine’s Day, and Ali’s birthday which is a few days after Valentine’s Day. We fondly remember the Il Giardino di Albino is Roma near Piazza Barberini. The front of the restaurant looks like nothing. It is only about 3 meters wide. You can only see two tables.   When you walk in you still can’t see anything other than the two tables and the podium for th

Kansas City, MO, USA   Wednesday. It is cold but it is neither raining no snowing. Again, not much going on today. The cleaners will be at the house from 11:00 to 13:00. Then the chef stops by and prepares dinner. They have a chef prepare them three dinners a week, in a normal week. Tonight, she is just preparing fajitas, cilantro lime rice, ranchero beans, chimichurri steak with simmer sauce, pollo asada, Smokey chili shrimp, pico de gallo, guacamole, all served with tortill

Kansas City, MO, USA   Tuesday and our first entire day in Kansas City. Nothing special going on today. I was scheduled to drive Grace to Columbia, Missouri but Riya’s, Graces friend, mom decided to let her take the car. Much easier on me. I did pick-up Starbucks for Oliver, George & Grace this morning. I hung out at the house while Mary had a few video calls to make.   I did pick-up dinner from Pizza Tascio out on Waldo. It is a six-store chain here in KC. This one is new an

Santiago, Chile > Kansas City, MO, USA   Travel Day(s). It all starts with an 08:00 tour of the Maipo Valley. Our flight isn’t until 22:50 tonight so rather than spend the day in the hotel it was decided we should take a day trip to the Maipo Valley. The region is particularly famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon wines, but we aren’t going wine tasting. We are going for the history and apparently stunning scenery in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.   The valley is about an

Santiago, Chile   Mary had closed the drapes last night, apparently in an effort to reduce the music from the area below our window. This kept the sun at bay, and when I woke up at 05:30 it was dark in the room.  I showered and got dressed then went down to the restaurant just off the lobby for breakfast. Simply a cappuccino and brioche, and a cappuccino to go for Mary.   I arrived back in the room just before it went 08:00. We are to meet Susan and Richard in the lobby at 09

Puerto Williams > Puerto Arenas > Santiago, Chile   Up at and them at 05:40. We are supposed to be in the Arts Café ready to go at 06:05. We got there with sufficient time for me to order a cappuccino and grab one of the pint-sized blueberry muffins. 6:05 came and went. Apparently there was some issue with the off loading of the luggage. Finally, about 06:30 we are loaded into the buses and head for the airport.   07:00 we arrive at the airport. Now the departure time on our