April 11, 2026 It’s a sunny cold day in Chicago! We started the day with a Mob and Crime bus tour. The most interesting fact was that Chicago was founded in 1857 and just three years later it was considered the most dangerous city in the world!!! The city’s Northside and Southside neighborhood were run …
Chicago ~ Skysctapers and More
April 10,2026 The rain has stopped but it’s really cold in Chicago this morning. I went on a walkabout to catch the sunrise on the bean and it was only 37 degrees with lots of the famous winds. I layered up but it was cold. I manage to get pictures of the original start of …
Off to Chicago
April 8&9, 2026 On Wednesday afternoon we left New Orleans by train headed to Chicago a bit over 900 miles on an Amtrak super liner train. What that means it’s a double decker train with roomettes that provide a place to sit and then converts into bunk for sleeping. The space is about the size …
New Orleans – Algiers Point
April 8, 2026 During our visit to New Orleans we have been staying in a quaint little house (feature picture) in Algiers Point New Orleans’ second oldest neighborhood. Algiers Point is separated from the French Quarter by the Mississippi River. It is a quiet friendly little neighborhood of about 2400 people. Walking back and forth …
New Orleans – City Park and Cooking School
April 7, 2026 It is a beautiful day in New Orleans! The sun is shinning so we are headed to City Park via the cable cars. It took us almost an hour to get from the French Quarter to City Park but it was so worth is once we got to the park. City Park …
New Orleans – Floats, Voodoo , Ghosts and More
April 6, 2026 It has stopped raining and although it is still overcast it is time to go adventuring. We hopped on the ferry to head into the city with our first stop being Madi Gras World. This is where the floats for the Madi Gras parade are created and stored. The large statues that …
New Orleans Easter Parade
April 5, 2026 New Orleans is the first stop on my America trip. My friends Kim, Ernie and I will be traveling across America by trains followed by a road trip to explore their home state of Florida. We are staying in a house in Algiers Point that is just across the Mississippi from the …
Italy – Morano and Burano
July 22, 2025 We are going to Murano and Burano today! On our way to Murano we passed by the “Building Bridges” Sculpture!! I had read about it and was really happy to see it, an unexpected treat. Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon about one mile from …
Italy – Gondola Ride in Venice
July 21,2025 According to our guide yesterday, gondola rides are considered a tacky tourist thing but we did it anyway! I booked us on one that early one and one that went into the small canals so we would not be part of the gondola conga line. It was so much fun!!! At one point …
Italy – Exploring Venice
June 20, 2025 We are off to explore the incredible city of Venice! Venice is Europe’s best-preserved big city. This car-free urban wonderland of a hundred islands—laced together by 400 bridges and 2,000 alleys—survives on the artificial respirator of tourism. We bought our day passes for the local ferry and boarded a boat to take …