World Travel Adventures -Unhook Now...for Life!

Please Enjoy Our Life-Changing World Travel Adventures

2015-09-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

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Our popular world travel adventures blog has been accepted by "Best Travel Blogs"! Please enjoy our life-changing adventures for the past 2 years in 153 wonderful places in 51 countries. See more places by selecting them from the “BLOG ARCHIVE” down on the right. Bookmark this now so you can come back and enjoy more in the future.

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Wayne & Pat Dunlap

Pat says: “Choosing to run away with my husband and best friend has been the most rewarding lifestyle change one can make. It's brought us closer together.”

Treat yourself and see many more photos (some winners of awards) of our worldwide travel adventures, click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets

Our Popular Life-Style Change and How-to World Travel Book is Receiving 5-star Reviews!

2015-09-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

Escape your 9 to 5 routines, have more adventure and romance, change your life, and afford your travel dreams! You deserve this book!

Plan Your Escape Now - 5-Star Ratings on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble! “It gets people exploring possibilities they never thought of.”

Former Economics professor and experienced traveler (100 countries) tells of 100′s of cost-saving tips revealing proven secrets the travel industry does not want you to know! Learn how to get the best deals on airfare and hotels. Spend less and do more!

Experienced and beginner travelers say Plan Your Escape is a comprehensive how-to travel book and starts the thinking of a positive life-style change – see 5-star Reader Reviews. Give yourself, friends, and family the gift of travel. For additional information, click on: Life-Style Change & World Travel Book - "Plan Your Escape"

Buy this popular selling book on Amazon.com (also available as e-book), click here: Plan Your Escape: Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home

We shatter common misconceptions about travel revealing proven secrets the travel industry does not want you to know. From experienced travelers who have visited 100 countries and island groups, we also show you how to:

• Discover 100's of cost-saving and bargain-finding strategies so powerful we were able to travel the world for 2 years for less than $100/day for a couple, which we could never have afforded otherwise
• Fall in love all over again - how to bring you closer to your partner and how to get a reluctant partner to travel
• Great for the experienced or beginner traveler for trips or living elsewhere for 1-2 weeks or longer like several months
• Comprehensive packing checklists for women and men - take less and have more
• Reduce stress with step-by-step five-month planning and preparation checklists
• Stay safe and healthy, avoid travel scams
• Save time and money with hidden secrets from the best Internet travel websites and apps
• And much more on how to: Choose your destination, Plan your trip, Handle money & credit cards, Stay in touch cheaply with friends and family, Pay your bills online, Rent your home, Set up a travel blog, and Take photos like a pro
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For additional information, click on: Life-Style Change & World Travel Book - "Plan Your Escape"

See the Dunlaps' Travel Adventures in the News!

2014-09-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

WomensRadio ‘The Gathering Road’ - Radio show, January 24, 2012 - “How to Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Stay Home!”

The Del Mar Times, Rancho Santa Fe Review, Carmel Valley News, and Solana Beach Sun – Front full page LifeStyles featured story, January 19, 2012 - “Planning Your Escape: Del Mar Residents Share Secrets”

The Coast News – Front page featured story, January 12, 2012 - “2 year Adventure Results in New Book”

North County Times – Front page Local section, December 13, 2011 - “After 51 Countries, Del Mar Couple Still Planning Their Next Escape”

Del Mar Times Editor’s posting on ‘A Photo a Day’ – January 12, 2012 - “DON’T WAIT ‘TIL SOMEDAY”

Published Travel Tips & Advice:

inBed.me Travel Tips - January 20, 2012 - "Meet Wayne & Pat Dunlap: Career-Break Enthusiasts and Members of the Travelers' Century Club"

Mint.com mintlife – December 15, 2011 - “5 Little-Known Ways to Save on International Travel”

San Diego Reader ‘Gather No Moss’ travel section – January 12, 2012 - “Greek Island Hopping: A How-to”

Seen soon on TV:

• The Colette G TV Show - Channel 19 in San Diego

Upcoming Special Appearances:

• Warwick’s ‘Weekendswith Locals' book signing in LaJolla, California - March 11, 2012 Noon to 2pm - The Country's OldestFamily-Owned & Operated Bookstore!
• Meet, Plan, Go! career break experts – guest speakers, annual meeting in San Diego – October, 2012

Reykjavik, Iceland

2011-09-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

Reykjavik, Iceland (7/6-7/8/2011) – Land of the midnight sun, Iceland is a unique place with unique people. It is about the size of Kentucky with a small population of 319,000 (about 60% living in and around its capital city, Reykjavik). Old town Reykjavik is nice to walk around with lots of restaurants. It is not a marketing ploy when they say that some of the best looking people in the world live in Iceland. The Vikings who settled this country kidnapped beautiful women from their raids along the way. Beauties with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes walk the streets everywhere. Because of its isolation for almost 1,000 years, every Icelander can trace their heritage back to the original Viking settlers. Their language is one of the purest in the world and they can read 600 year-old documents. It is fun sitting and listening to Icelanders talk imaging Vikings 100’s of years ago talking the same way. A majority of the people also speak English. The names of streets and places here are fun having a huge number of letters (e.g. street: Skolavordustigur, church: Hallgrimskirkja). During our summertime visit, it never got dark at night. Think about that… 24 hours of light (during the winter they get just 4 hours of natural light). We watched the sunset at 11:45 pm. It is better described as a sun ‘dip’ because it rises a few hours later never getting dark. We like trying the unique foods of every country we visit and Iceland provided a chance to try whale meat from a small restaurant named “Moby Dick on a Stick”. Not exactly politically correct and not something we crave doing again, whale meat looks like and has the consistency of beef with some fish and liver taste thrown in. We also had some wonderful lobster soup and Icelandic cod. One day we took the classic “Golden Circle Tour” visiting the striking waterfall, Gullfoss, and Geysir geothermal field where hot springs bubble up from holes in the lava and a natural geyser shoots into the air every few minutes. We also viewed the interesting geothermal plant that supplies their heated water and energy and beautiful Pingvellir National Park, a spiritual place for Icelanders where much of their historical events took place and is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of our best memories of Iceland are our visits to the natural hot pools everyday of our 3-day stay. They have different temperatures you can sit in as well as stream baths. Our favorite was Laugardalslaug (got to love the names). This also included a visit on our way to the airport to the famous Blue Lagoon located in the middle of a barren lava field where warm water comes up from the earth. Iceland and its people’s uniqueness can be better understood by describing its landscape. Most of the countryside is covered by mossy lava rocks formed by volcanic eruptions that have occurred on the average of every 5 years for the past 1,000 years. They had another small eruption the day we left making it 3 in the last 3 years. Iceland is located on the separating American and European titanic plates. They experience small earthquakes every day and Iceland is one of the three places on earth with natural geysers. Throughout the country you can see stream rising from the ground. Although 10% of Iceland is covered by glaciers (one is the largest in Europe), due to the warming effect of the Atlantic Gulf Stream its climate is surprisingly mild for being located as far north as it is. In amazing engineering achievement, they heat their buildings and generate their electricity with natural forming hot water. Piped in from a distant geothermal plant, fresh water is heated by extremely hot steam coming from deep in the earth. Icelandair allows flight stopovers in Iceland for no additional airfare costs. Do treat yourself to a visit of this unique place and people. Next stop… Home! San Diego, California, USA. Treat yourself and see many more photos (some winners of awards) of our worldwide travel adventures, click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets Our book “Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home”) reveals secrets how you can unhook from your routines and travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple! – to order and sign up for FREE travel tips, go to www.PlanYourEscapeNow.com

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Paris, France

2011-09-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Paris, France (6/30-7/5/2011) – Paris! Let’s say it again, romantic Paris! Pat says, “Falling in love in Paris all over again” – Paris must be good because all she had was me, I think. We stayed with our friend Tom in a large apartment in the up-and-coming Bastille area surrounded by classic French cafes and stores. With a bit of walking and using the comprehensive metro system, we could visit all of Paris within minutes. Besides visiting the famous sights listed below (see the extra photos), we had a chance to ‘live’ Paris enjoying breakfasts of coffee and croissants purchased fresh each morning at the corner shop, stopping for drinks and lunch and people watching at outside cafes, buying dinner at the Sunday Marche Bastille open market, lunch in the small picturesque winding streets of the Latin Quarter, wandering the famous Champs Elysees and the neighboring parks, viewing the lively parade for Carnaval Tropical de Paris, strolling along the Seine River and streets of Paris at night, taking a boat ride along the Seine, going to the Paris’ summer arcade where we rode the ferris wheel for wonderful views of Paris, watching the performers at the Pompidou and young lovers be affectionate everywhere in the city, seeing the interesting exhibit of medals of European orders, and a visit to Montmartre (the center of Paris’ golden age in the 1880’s) and its gleaming white Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. At Montmartre having lunch at an outside café on artsy place di Tertre, we probably sat where Picasso told Dali that melted watches would never catch on. Paris is truly one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, filled with history and remaining influential in the areas of culture, art, fashion, food, and design. Located in the north or France on the Seine River, Paris is one of the largest cities in the world with 2.2 million people living in the dense central city and almost 12 million people living in the metropolitan area. A large part of Paris is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Paris has the second highest number of Michelin-restaurants in the world (after Tokyo) and contains numerous iconic landmarks that are the world's most visited tourist sights such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, Moulin Rouge, Lido, etc. with 45 million tourists annually. Next stop… Reykjavik, Iceland. Treat yourself and see many more photos (some winners of awards) of our worldwide travel adventures, click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets Our book “Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home”) reveals secrets how you can unhook from your routines and travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple! – to order and sign up for FREE travel tips, go to www.PlanYourEscapeNow.com

Channel Islands - Jersey & Guernsey

2011-09-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

Channel Islands - Jersey & Guernsey (6/26-29/2011) – Friendship is the theme that dominated our visit to the Channel Islands. We went to see our friends Noelia, who was our perfect host and showed us around this beautiful island for 4 days, and Annelise, who came over from London to see us. We met Noelia and Annelise in Iguazu Falls in Argentina and the four of us are travel/life-changing kindred spirits – we ‘get’ each other. With our host, Noelia, we toured this island visiting such places as the beautiful Beauport Bay, the silky sandy beach of St. Brelade’s Bay, Gorey Bay, St. Juan’s Beach – a surfers’ paradise, and then having dinner watching the glorious sunset on the west side of the island. Small castles and fortifications from centuries of occupiers surround the island. The countryside is beautiful. We also took a day trip by ferry to the neighboring island of Guernsey, famous for the setting of the book “Potato Peel Pie Society” about the harsh German occupation during WWII. Located in the English Channel about 40 miles northwest of France, the Channel Islands are self governing and although closely linked to the United Kingdom for foreign policy and defense, they are considered a separate jurisdiction. We visited two of the four Channel Islands starting with Jersey. With a population of about 90,000, Jersey is a beautiful island and is famous for it modest climate, offshore finance, the Jersey Cow, and creamy dairy products (the ice cream is great!). About 30% of population is concentrated in Jersey’s capital, Saint Helier, where we stayed arriving by ferry from France. Saint Helier is a pretty town with flowers everywhere and all quite British. It is large enough to act like a small city but small enough that a lot of people know each other. We wandered the shopping areas, open market, and had lunches of crab sandwiches and fish and chips – all quite British. Because of no capital gains tax and other benefits, offshore finance is huge here creating high earnings and with Jersey’s mild climate, it is a sought out place to live and housing prices have sky rocketed. Some history… The island of Jersey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy once prominent in both France and England. These islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. With slave labor they built massive defenses against possible invasion that never came. Next stop… Paris, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home”) coming out in mid October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Mont Saint Michel & Saint Malo, France

2011-09-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Mont Saint Michel & Saint Malo, France (6/24-25/2011) – We have enjoyed the sand castles of Mont Saint Michel built on the beach for contests. Actually visiting Mont Saint Michel and climbing its hundreds of steps through its iconic winding medieval streets goes beyond any depiction made of sand. Mont Saint Michel is a UNESCO World Heritage site located on a small rocky island just off the coast of the northern French region of Normandy. It is best known for the spectacular and well-preserved Norman Benedictine Abbey of Saint Michel at its peak, surrounded by the winding streets and convoluted architecture of the medieval town that dates back over a 1,000 years. Coming early in the season is wise because (only) about 4,000 people were here and the small winding streets were packed. Hard to image what the 10,000/day in the summer would be like. Saint Malo, an hour’s drive from Mont Saint Michel is a small walled coastal town in Brittany, France. Once the feared base of pirates, heavily fortified against Norman (English) attack, today's Saint Malo is one of the top tourist draws in Brittany. It has a long sandy beach that is popular with visitors. Its walled city (intramuros) was almost destroyed (80%) in WWII but now beautifully reconstructed. Some history… In addition to the unique setting and amazing medieval architecture, Mont Saint Michel holds a dear place in the hearts of the French people. During the Hundred Years' War, the English occuplied most of France and made repeated assaults on Mont Saint Michel, but were unable to seize it. Even the Germans in WWII did not occupy it because of its exposed postion. So, this small place has always remained French. In its past history, the wealth and influence of the abbey concerned people so Mont Saint Michel was closed and converted into a prison. Much of the beautifications were lost during this timeframe. The prison was finally closed in 1863. Next stop… Channel Islands - Jersey & Guernsey. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home”) coming out in mid-October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Champagne Capital - Reims, France

2011-09-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

Champagne Capital - Reims, France (6/22-23/2011) – More champagne (good for Pat) and more history (good for Wayne). Reims is located in the north of France famous in French history for its spectacular gothic cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where all the kings of France for a 1,000 years from Louis the Pious in 815 to Charles X in 1815 were crowned. The most famous event was the coronation of Charles VII with Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) at his side in 1429. Reims is also the main city of the champagne area and home to major producers such as Pommery, Mumm, and Taittinger. We visited the beautiful modern “castle” of Pommery where we toured some of their 11 miles of cellars (caves) where they have 20 million bottles getting ready for enjoyment. Their champagne was excellent. Reims has some tree-lined pedestrian-only streets with charming French cafes pouring out into the street centered on the Sube Fountain with its golden statue of Winged Victory on Pl Drouet d’Erion. We saw Woody Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris” here and after seeing it we walked out into “the movie set” and had dinner at a French café – way too cool! We also attended an amazing special event (Reve de Couleurs) one night where they had a lightshow on the front of the famous Cathedral. The colors coordinated with the detailed facets of the church were astonishing. Do see the extra photos. Most of the old houses in Reims were destroyed during WWI and the city was extensively rebuilt in the 1920's in an Art Deco style. Next stop… Mont Saint Michel & Saint Malo, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Champagne Route, France

2011-09-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

Champagne Route, France (6/19-22/2011) – This time of year is a great time to come to France’s Champaign Route (Route du Champagne) although we did have some rainy times a few days. Free tastings were available in the southern Cote Des Blancs area, famous for its champagnes made of chardonnay grapes. Free tastings were difficult to find in the northern pinot noir champagne area of Valle De La Marne but the views of the beautiful countryside and wine villages overlooking the Marne River were stunning. On the way to Reims, we drove through the Montagne De Reims area having a free tasting (and convinced to purchase a bottle) and a picnic of French pastries. We visited small Champagne producing villages around Epernay and Reims such as Oger, Cramant, Avize, Vertus, Mardeuil, Venteuil, Reuil, Villlers, Chatillon, Damery, Cumiers, Dizy, Mutigny, Ay, Avenay, Louvois, Verzenay, and Rilly La Montagne. Staying in or near the villages of the Champagne area was not as fun as in the other French wine regions we visited (Alsace and Burgundy) because nothing was going on in the smaller villages. Even restaurants were extremely limited so we stayed each night in Epernay, the nearby centrally located capital of the Champagne area with many good restaurants. One night they had a music festival with bands playing throughout the city – great fun. The Champagne Route is located in northeast France surrounding Epernay. A number of the world’s most famous brands are produced and cellared in the miles of tunnels dug through the chalk below Epernay. Notable brands include Moet & Chandon (18 miles of cellars), Mercer (11 miles of cellars with one ¾ mile long and one of the world’s largest wooden barrels with a capacity of 200,000 bottles), and De Castellane. In Epernay, we toured and had tastings at the cellars of Moet & Chandon (makers of Don Perignon champagne) and the Mercier (most popular brand in France). Moet is proud of its brand name exporting 80% of its production and Mercier is proud of its marketing. Champagne is sparkling wine made of pinot noir, pinot meunier, and/or chardonnay grapes. The cellars (caves) carved out of white chalk (this area was under ocean millions of years ago) are essential for making Champagne providing a cool temperature (50 degrees Fahrenheit), high humidity (90%), and darkness. The making of champagne was discovered somewhat by accident in the 17^th century by a monk with a now famous name – Don Perignon. He was making wine for the abby Saint Peter of Hautvillers and one year was very cold and the fermentation stopped yielding just grape juice that would spoil if something was not done. By placing the corked bottles in a warmer but cool place, the second fermentation occurred creating this unique sparking brut (extra dry) wine. The process was improved and additional sugar and wines added at the end to create sweeter Champagne (in order of sweetest: extra-sec, sec, and demi-sec). To remove sediment the millions of bottles produced were slowly turned daily by hand. Now a machine turns a large lot of them all at once several times a day. Next stop… Champagne Capital - Reims, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Chablis, Dijon, & Vezelay, France

2011-08-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Chablis, Dijon, & Vezelay - Burgundy, France (6/15&19/2011) – We had a great time getting an introduction to the Chablis wine growing area in no other place than the town of Chablis. Chablis wine is made of Chardonnay grapes made with great destination and the wines are good. We came to Chablis during their Sunday market and picked out a picnic of cheese, roosted chicken, bread, and wine and had a picnic in the beautiful wine fields of Chablis. We started our visit to Burgundy in the large city of Dijon and ended in the small hilltop town of Vezelay with a visit to Chablis. Dijon is known overseas for its mustard (named after the town). It is the capital of the eastern French region of Burgundy (Bourgogne). Having avoided being devastated by bombing in WWII, it is one of France’s beautiful cities. Going through some upgrading now (so much street construction is going on you can’t drive through town), Dijon is a showcase of past greatness when for some time it was the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy from the 11^th to 15^th centuries. Burgundy rivaled France itself during the 14th and 15th centuries, when the dukes controlled a large part of what is now northeastern France, western Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The dukes were great patrons of the arts leaving a lasting mark on Dijon’s with sculptures and architecture. The owl (la chouette) is the icon of Dijon and we followed the trail of owls on the street on a historical walking tour and had lunch at Place Francois Rude, the center focus of old town. We also had fun visiting Moutarde Maille, the makers of Grey Poupon, tasting mustards on tap and the Palais des Ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne (say that fast), where the Dukes ruled. Vezelay (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is a small town on top of a high hill. Its main claim to fame is as the home of a stupendous early Gothic cathedral (Basilique St-Madeleine), which is widely considered one of the greatest in Burgundy. We had a chance to listen to the monks singing prayers. Vezelay was the meet up place in 1190 for the Third Crusade. Next stop… Champagne Route, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Burgundy Wine Country, France

2011-08-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Burgundy Wine Road (Cote d’Or), France (6/16-19/2011) – Burgundy is very French and very charming! The towns and villages look like all the quaint photos you have seen complete with centuries of history. The wines here are legendary for good reasons… they are wonderful! Growing predominantly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, they have perfected wine making over centuries knowing within yards what vineyards make the best wines. While driving through the Cote d’Or we stopped for free wine tastings at many places (some famous) and learned that Pinot Noir can taste very different made with grapes grown on the other side of a stonewall. We also learned that the years 2005 and 2009 were good years for wines from Burgundy. We continued our French eating fest with a picnic in a park with bread, cheese, and other treats purchased in an open market. Some regional classics like beef bourguignon and cassolette d’escargots, followed with a cheese plate made a delicious dinner into an event. One night we had a dinner of French pastries, chocolates, and wine – yes, we were bad but it was good! With no reservations, we found rooms for each night in interesting places such a classic French square over a bar or in the garden of a 300-year old French manor house on the edge of town. Tourist information centers were very helpful. For several days we drove through the wine villages of Cote d-Or (Golden Hillside) with names such as Marsannay-la-Cote, Fixin, Vosne-Romanee, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot with it amazing 12^th-century wine chateau, Pommard, Auxey-Duresses, St-Romain, and Volnay. Our favorites were Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune. Beaune is beautiful (and, OK, here it is again… charming) with many wineries (great place to taste wines) and excellent examples of typical regional architecture. They have a place (Patriarch Pere et Fils) here to taste wines that has 3 million bottles stored in 2 miles of cellars under this town – you think they take wine seriously? We visited the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune that operated as a hospital for the poor from 1443 to 1971. It is truly an amazing place with a beautiful glazed tile roof built after the Hundred Year War that left Beaune devastated and 75% of its inhabitants destitute. Next stop… Chablis, Dijon, & Vezelay - Burgundy, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Alsace Wine Villages, France

2011-08-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Alsace Wine Villages (Route du Vin D’Alsace), France (6/12-14/2011) – Cute, cute, and then more cute! (Pat says cuter than cute.) Do view all the extra photos. The Alsatian Vineyard Route is primarily a rural route that includes 67 medieval towns and wine producing villages situated on the slopes of the Massif des Vosges (foothills). Mostly perfectly preserved, each village with its red tile roofs, abundant flowers and geraniums, medieval half-timbered architecture, and a pretty church rising up out of the middle is compressed within tiny defined boundaries surrounded by fields of crops, mostly vineyards. They have names such as Obernai, Riquewihr, and Colmar (our favorites) and Ribeauville, Kaysersberg, Barr, Dambach-la-Ville, and Bergheim. Each village is surrounded by wineries (caves) that offer free wine tasting and are famous for their Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir wines. We stopped in for several tastings. We particularly liked the Alsace Pinot Gris. The French Alsace wines are specifically designed to pair with the foods of the Alsace area. Alsace is also home to some of the best beers in the world like Kronenbourg, Kanterbrau, and Fischer. Alsace is the smallest region in France but possesses the largest number of five-star chefs per inhabitant. And we continued our French food fest. One interesting dish is the tarte flambee, the Alsatian equivalent of pizza but much different. Traditionally, it is made of a thin layer of dough, covered with creme fraiche (light fresh cheese), cheese, onions, and bacon and then baked very quickly in an extremely hot oven so that it gets crispy. We also loved the macaroons! We had no difficulty finding places to stay the night without reservations. One night we stayed in a maison (a house surrounded by a vineyard) where we could see a small castle on the hill and we had breakfast overlooking the vineyards and the wine village - more romantic points for Wayne. We visited the 12^th century castle Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg and the Le Mont-Ste-Odile convent in the mountains. We enjoyed the ride through the pine forests on the way. We ended our Alsace stay with a day visit to Colmar, a large town. We loved our boat ride through the canals of Petite Venice, wandering more beautiful streets, and having the police escort us to our hostel because the streets were difficult to navigate. Alsace is bordered on the east by the Rhine River (also forming the natural border between France and Germany). Through its history it has changed hands between Germany and France on several occasions. The local culture is distinct. Alsatians have a very deep attachment to France even if the French Government has not always reciprocated. During WWI, all Alsatian men were sent by the Germans to the Russian front. Some boys managed to escape before being sent there and went to Paris to enroll in the French army. This came at a dire price as the family of those "malgre nous" would often be killed or sent to concentration camps. Next stop… Chablis, Dijon, & Vezelay - Burgundy, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Strasbourg, France

2011-08-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Strasbourg (Alsace), France (6/9-12/2011) – We have arrived! We love Strasbourg. After over 2 months of touring Eastern Europe with the Slavic diet of meat and more meat, we ate! Strasbourg is a gastronomer’s dream and birthplace of pate de foie gras! The French food was so good… escargot in garlic and butter, onion pie, fish with roasted sauerkraut, perfectly prepared salmon, salads with fresh vegetables, cheeses, and foie gras with just a hint of dressing not to overwhelm their taste, and the wonderful crusty bread. And we could go on. The escargot was so good that the first night Pat wanted to take some home and smear some over her body and lick it off (kind of kinky – you have to be here to fully understand). Strasbourg is one of France’s greatest cities and the capital of the Alsace region. It is famous for its beautiful historical center (Grande Ile) that was the first city center to be classified entirely as a UNESCO World Heritage Site – be sure to view the extra photos on this beautiful city!. The Cathedrale Notre Dame, built between 1176 and 1439, is one of the finest architectural highlights of France. It is a unique example of a mix of roman and gothic architecture and has the peculiarity of having only one tower. The area we enjoyed most is Petite France with its beautiful canals and half-timbered townhouses leaning over narrow cobblestone streets. We enjoyed Strasbourg so much we stayed 3 days getting a chance to live it. We spent a lazy Sunday like residents having lunch in the leafy courtyard of the most photographed building in Strasbourg (Maison Des Tanneurs), strolled through the weekend markets and a French art show, and marched in a Gay Rights parade (we made sure we did it hand in hand). Because of its central location in Europe, Strasbourg was chosen as the seat of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Ombudsman, the Eurocorps, the European Audiovisual Observatory and, most famously, the European Parliament, which also holds sessions in Brussels. We viewed these and traveled through the locks in Petite France on our water tour leaving at Palais des Rohans. The tourist office in Place de la Cathedrale is great for getting maps and information to explore the our Next stop… Alsace Wine Villages (Route du Vin D’Alsace), France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Salzburg, Austria

2011-08-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Salzburg, Austria (6/6-8/2011) – Visiting beautiful Salzburg was like an elegant desert after our visits to Budapest, Prague, and Krakow. This small city with a population of only 150,000 is bigger than life famous for being Mozart’s birthplace, the setting of the “Sound of Music” movie, Europe’s largest intact medieval castles and flowers ever where! We had so much fun reliving the movie by taking The Sounds of Music Tour and doing the Sound of Salzburg Dinner Show. Because of this we will probably burst out in songs composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein for some time to come. Many of the sites we visited in Salzburg can be referenced by songs in the movie. Please view the extra photos to see these wonderful spots. We took the photo of the beautiful Mirabell Gardens, Pegasus Fountain, and Hohensalzburg Fortress (Castle) from the “Do-Re-Mi” steps. We also visited the Leopoldskron Palace made famous in the boat turnover scene, the glass gazebo at Hellbrunn Palace where Rolf and Liesl sang “Sixteen, Going on Seventeen” and Maria and the Captain sang “Something Good”, and the Salzburg Lake District where the unforgettable “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music” song was recorded. In nearby Mondsee, we visited the Cathedral where Maria’s wedding scene was filmed. Of course, we did visit other places such as Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg Cathedral, St. Peter’s Cemetery, and the fascinating Getreidegasse street made famous with its old wrought-iron signs that describe the stores below. Check out the photo of the medieval McDonalds sign. We enjoyed our visit to the huge 1,000-seat Augustiner Braustubl brewery beer hall. They serve one kind of beer (theirs) and we had fish roasted on a stick. Immediately surrounding the old town are green belts giving Salzburg a rural feel. People use their bikes a lot in Salzburg with special bike lanes throughout the city. Some history… The name Salzburg literally means "Salt Castle" deriving its name from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach River, which were subject to a toll in the 8th century. Salzburg has been the capital of an independent state from the early 14th century until 1805. It was ruled by prince-archbishops, who became rich by the salt mines located in the south of the city. In designing this beautiful Baroque city, architects were imported from Italy and other European countries. Austria is a Roman Catholic German-speaking country with a population of about 8 million. It is the center of the once large multiethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire with its imperial capital in Vienna. This empire stretched eastwards from present-day Austria through much of east-central and south-central Europe. It included the entire territories of modern day Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and portions of Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Poland and Italy. From the start of the 20th century, the political history of Austria has been closely linked to the misfortunes of modern German history, mainly the First and Second World Wars and their terrible aftermath. The modern republic of Austria came into being in 1918 as a result of its defeat in World War I. Following an annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938, Austria more or less functioned as a part of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Thus, a large proportion of the population supported Hitler and Austria's incorporation into Germany. Austrian soldiers also fought in the Wehrmacht. The Allies heavily bombed Austrian cities. A treaty signed in 1955 ended the Allied and Soviet occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade future unification with Germany. A constitutional law declared the country's "perpetual neutrality", a condition for Soviet military withdrawal, and thus saved Austria from Germany's fate of a divided nation. A prosperous country, Austria is one of the most popular summer and winter holiday destinations in Europe and has the tourist industry to match it. Next stop… Strasbourg (Alsace), France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Cesky Krumlov & Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

2011-07-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

Cesky Krumlov & Kutna Hora, Czech Republic (6/5-6/2011) -- Cesky Krumlov, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (you can tell we like these), is a beautiful town of 14,600 inhabitants located in Southern Bohemia. Like Prague, Cesky Krumlov is situated on the Vltava River and is full of cafes and bars in Baroque buildings, features a spectacular castle (the second largest in the Czech Republic), 700 years of history, and an old-town square. The town's appearance has changed little since the 18th century and the buildings have been well maintained and beautifully restored. Tourists outnumber the local population in the summer. Kutná Hora was a silver mining town in medieval times and once the second largest populated Czech city. Today it is home to about 21,000 people. The historical town center, including the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The highlight (or maybe weird-light) of our visit to Kutna Hora was the Kostnice Ossuary, a church chapel that contains the human bones of about 40,000 people decorating the church and piled high in four 10-foot high pyramids. Do check out the extra photos. Here’s the story… In 1278, an abbot brought back soil from the Holy Land and sprinkled it on the ground. The burial ground was considered holy and became extremely popular. The cemetery grew large during the plague of the 14^th century and the Hussite wars in the 15^th century. Some of cemetery was abolished and the bones stacked up around the church. In 1870, a wood carver, Frantisek Rint made the “decorations” with the human bones. The powerful Schwarzenberg family bought the property and you can see their coat of arms as well as a large chandelier done in human bones. Next stop… Salzburg, Austria. See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Prague, Czech Republic

2011-07-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Prague, Czech Republic (6/2-5/2011) – Prague is a charming and beautiful city to wander and explore day and night. Almost undamaged by WWII, the medieval old town and 9^th-century castle (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) make up one of the most beautiful places we have visited. It’s definitely a ‘discovered’ tourist destination with crowds of people sometimes making it difficult to walk in the areas of the main sites. For more than ten centuries this historic capital of Bohemia has amazed people with its countless spires, bridges, cathedrals, gold-tipped towers and church domes. Prague is also a modern and vibrant city full of energy. The beer in the Czech Republic is considered by many as the best in the world (this was confirmed by Germans we met along the way) and Czechs are the heaviest beer drinkers in the world. We could hear them partying every night. They are also one of the most atheist people in the world. Wonder if there is any connection? Probably the years of communist rule had more to do with the later. We wandered past the statues on the 14^th-century Charles Bridge to explore Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle complex in the world according to Guinness World Records. It does look like a fairly tale castle overlooking the city and is picture perfectly lit at night. We arrived at the castle just in time watch the changing of the Presidential Guard. Also in the castle is the huge St. Vitus Cathedral. We stayed in Old Town (Stare mesto). Wandering the streets of Old Town is so fun and interesting that you barely notice you are walking. It’s a good thing because people walk very slowly here. The main Old Town square is wonderful and has an Astronomical Clock (Orloj) that is absolutely amazing for its time. Today, the hourly attraction of a few turns of figures in the clock is one of the most overrated attractions in Europe. In New Town (Nove mesto), the main attraction is Wenceslas Square with cafes and stores. We enjoyed a Hollywood movie here (“Pirates of the Caribbean”) – how many of these “Pirates” are they going to make? You must view the extra photos of this beautiful city. Some history… Prague was founded in the 9th century, and soon became the seat of Bohemian kings, some of whom ruled as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The city thrived under the rule of Charles IV in the 14^th century and many of the city's most important attractions date back to that time. The city went under Habsburg rule and became the capital of a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1918, after World War I, Prague became the capital of Czechoslovakia. A poor relationship with the German minority (20% of the overall population) was a particular problem that was capitalized on by Hitler and used as "rationale" to annex Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of WWII. After World War II, Czechoslovakia expelled most of its 2.5 million German population by force as well as many of the ethnic Hungarians. The nation escaped the massive air bombardments and invasions that leveled most of the historic neighboring cities in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Belarus. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face". The country fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and remained so by force until 1989 when the Communist government was deposed in a peaceful “Velvet Revolution”. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two countries and Prague became capital city of the new Czech Republic. Next stop… Kutna Hora & Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Wroclaw, Poland

2011-07-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wroclaw, Poland (5/31-6/1/2011) – Wroclaw bills itself as the “new Krakow” and with good reason because it is pretty and well set up for tourism that is just starting to come. The large number of students here gives it vitality and insures a substantial number of restaurants and clubs. One of the most unique things about this city is the 170 small metal Gnomes of Wroclaw that are scattered around the city and gnome hunting is a popular sport here (we found 15 in the downtown area). Artists protesting the communist rule started putting the gnomes around the city and now businesses add them for fun. The main old town square (Rynek – one of the largest in Europe) with its wonderful Town Hall is a delight to wander with its beautifully restored German-style Gothic and baroque architecture. Here we visited St. Elizabeth’s Church (found 4 gnomes here) and several more beautiful churches and cathedrals after a nice walk to nearby Cathedral Island (Ostow Tumski) along the Odra River. Wroclaw has the 4^th most bridges of all European cities. Another remarkable attraction in Wroclaw is the Panorama of Radawicka, a very large 360 degree painting of the 1794 Battle of Raclawice where a Polish army with local peasants defeated a larger Russian army. The Panorama is beautiful and is a source of pride for Poles because it was the last major victory in Polish history before being partitioned up among neighboring nations. Some history… Prior to WWII, Wroclaw was the German city of Breslau, capital of the German province of Prussian Lower Silesia. It became Polish territory after WWII when the Soviets moved the German/Polish border westward. Declared a “Fortress City” by the Germans near the end of WWII Wroclaw was the site of one of the most devastating assaults of the war. For 80 days the Soviet army shelled the city almost completely to ruins. In the 60’s, Wroclaw was beautifully restored. Poland experienced its golden age from the 14th to the 16th century extending its rule from the Baltic to the Black and Adriatic seas. In the 16th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the largest country in Europe. However, the 17th century was troubled times for Poland being invaded by the Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Transylvanians, Swedes, and the French. Various sections of Poland were occupied by its neighbors (Russia, Prussia and Austria) in three coordinated "partitions" between 1772 and 1795. After the last partition and a failed uprising, Poland ceased to exist as a country for 123 years. Poland returned to the map of Europe at the end of WWI, officially regaining its independence in 1918. Soon after, the newly-reborn country got into territorial disputes with Czechoslovakia, the new Soviet Russia with which it fought a war, and the Weimar Germany, which strongly resented the annexation of portions of it's eastern Prussian territories. This put Poland in a precarious position of having potential enemies on all three sides setting up what happened at the start of WWII when Germany and the USSR invaded and partitioned Poland. Concentration camps were established near Krakow, including Plaszow and Auschwitz where millions were murdered including 3 million Polish Jews. Due to WWII, Poland had about 20% of its population killed, nearly all its major cities destroyed with its capital Warsaw 80% destroyed, 10 million Poles relocated, the Polish economy was in ruins, and the country was forced to become a Soviet satellite country. In 1980, the anti-communist trade union "Solidarity" became a strong force of opposition to the government, organizing labor strikes, and demanding freedom of press and democratic representation. This inspired a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions throughout the Warsaw Pact block. The Polish Communist Government collapsed in 1989. Next stop… Prague, Czech Republic. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T00:39:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4^th OF JULY! For the third year in a row we find ourselves away from our friends and country on July 4^th. We hope that all our friends in the USA enjoy this inspiring and fun day. We also wish the very best for all our new friends we have made during this amazing 2-year adventure visiting 50 countries around the world. Still having fun in Paris, France… Wayne & Pat

Krakow, Poland

2011-07-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Krakow, Poland (5/27-30/2011) – Krakow can be summed up with the words “effortless beauty” filled with good restaurants and clubs, monuments, and many old churches and beautiful buildings. Pedestrian only zones run throughout the old city making it a delight to wander and have lunch or dinner outside. The hundreds of restaurants and clubs make Krakow a lively place day and night. Because Krakow escaped major damage during WWII, the architecture is old, not rebuilt like many other cities in Europe. Krakow was Poland’s historic capital and its historic Old City (Stare Miasto) and Wawel castle hill are listed as USESCO World Heritage sites. Krakow’s old town main square (Rynek Glowny) is the largest medieval town square in Europe. Here you can listen to the Trumpet Signal (Hejnal Mariacki) every hour playing the warning that is suddenly cut off in memory of a trumpeter shot and killed by a Tatar arrow in 1241. Located in the main square is the beautiful 14^th-century Gothic cathedral of St. Mary’s, the 16^th-century Renaissance Cloth Hall where you can now purchase souvenirs, the Town Hall Tower, and scores of outdoor restaurants. The Wawel Castle is a source of pride for the Polish people having 43 of their kings rule from here over a period of 500 years during Poland’s golden period (see the next blog post for some Polish history). There was a food and wine festival going on when we visited. Polish food is hearty and we felt it in our stomachs having filled up on pierogi (dumplings filled with cheese, potato, meat, cabbage, and/or mushrooms), bigos (sauerkraut stew with a variety of meats), gotabki (stuffed cabbage), and kielbasa (Polish sausages). The Krakow Film Festival was also going on so being the movie buffs we are we took in a couple of films. They were pretty edgy. We also took a day trip to the surprisingly interesting Wieliczka Salt Mines, another USESCO site. Years ago food was preserved with salt so salt was extremely valuable. For hundreds of years, they mined this massive salt deposit creating a hundred miles of tunnels on nine different floors to a depth of nearly 1,000 feet. What is incredible is that the miners and artisans crafted huge chambers (some made into churches and dinning halls), statues, and reliefs all craved out of the rock salt. Krakow is also the site for the setting of the Steven Spielberg’s film “Schindler’s List” with Schindler’s factory walking distance from Krakow’s old town. Some history… Through trade with other parts of Europe, Krakow became a wealthy city. In 1038, Kazimierz the Restorer of the Piast Dynasty made it the capital of Poland. Krakow was almost entirely destroyed by Tatars in 1241 and then rebuilt to a design that remains largely unchanged to today. Becoming a center of science and the arts, the 16th century was Krakow's golden age. In 1569, Poland was united with Lithuania and as a result government activity started to move to Warsaw that became Poland’s capitol in 1609. Krakow is now considered the cultural capital of Poland. A huge sense of pride for residents of Krakow is when the Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, was made Pope John Paul II in 1978. See our next blog post for more Poland’s history. Krakow is now Poland's second largest city, with a population 756,000 (1.4 million including surrounding communities) of Poland’s 38 million. Next stop… Wroclaw, Poland. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

High Tatras (Zdiar), Slovakia

2011-06-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

High Tatras (Zdiar), Slovakia (5/25-26/2011) – What a wonderful break from the big cities! After several rides on a train and buses we landed at the little village of Zdiar in the beautiful Bela Valley of the Tatra Mountains that divide Slovakia and Poland. Zdiar is so small we missed the bus stop and were dropped off a mile up the road. Fortunately it was downhill to roll our bags to get back. The village was founded at the beginning of the 17th century. Most of the population was farmers, shepherds, and miners. Today, with 1,307 inhabitants, it is attractive for skiing and beautiful hiking. We relaxed at our very laid back hostel, the Ginger Monkey, that is an original goral (mountain people) house. These houses are characterized by painted ornamentation, especially around the windows. We went on the 2-hour river walk along a pretty river, across the local ski resort, and back through the village. The small homes and pensions are very charming! Some history… Since 10th century, Slovakia became a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, which, after 1867, formed a union with the Austrian Empire and became the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. After WWI, in 1918, the Slovaks joined the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following WWII, Czechoslovakia became a communist country. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully in 1993, known as Velvet Divorce, and Slovakia became an independent country. Slovakia experienced more difficulty in developing a modern market economy and remains one of the poorer countries in Europe but now it boasts one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Next stop… Krakow, Poland. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Budapest, Hungary

2011-06-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Budapest, Hungary (5/21-24/2011) – What a beautiful and enjoyable city! Budapest is considered one of the “Golden Triangle” of Eastern European cities also consisting of Prague and Krakow (more on these in future blog posts). It is the capital city of Hungary with a population about 1.7 million of Hungary’s 10 million. We stayed on the Pest side where the majority of the things to do here are located including easy access to the Buda Castle Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After our overnight sleeper train ride from Transylvania to Budapest (sounds like a Agatha Christie novel), we got right into exploring Budapest. Please take the time to indulge yourself with the extra photos of this city. Budapest is actually two cities (Buda and Pest) divided by the Danube River and famous for its attractive mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and baroque architecture built in the past 150 years made designed to look old. Walking around the city is just a pure joy. We fully appreciated this by walking down the Andrassy ut boulevard (another UNESCO World Heritage Site) to the City Park (Varosliget) to spend the afternoon enjoying one the great things to do in here… go “bathing”. Budapest is a famous spa city. The baths are the last vestige of Turkish culture left over from their occupation of the city. All baths are built around hot springs complemented with several steam baths, saunas, and massage services. We had a wonderful afternoon at the Szechenyl Baths, the largest spa in Europe built in 1909 in the City Park. A fun part was the circular outside pool where they turn on the large jets and you speed float around and around bumping into other fun-loving people. Another great place was the stunning Opera House, one of the most beautiful in the world where we enjoyed a mini-opera performance. On the Dunube River, we were thrilled by the famous skyline of Buda backed by the pretty leafy Buda hills. We crossed the historical Chain Bridge (Szechenyi lanchid) to visit Buda’s neogothic Matthias Church (Matyas templom), Royal Palace (Kiralyi palota), and Fisherman’s Bastion (Halaszbastya). We also took a day trip for a 2-hour ferry trip up the Dunube River passing Hungary’s Parliament Building (Orszaghaz) to the pretty village of Szentendre. Pat enjoyed the overly cute shops. Here we visited the amazing Skanzen open-air village museum where they have moved 274 century-or-two year-old buildings (houses barns, churches, workshops, etc.) from all over Hungary and reconstructed them in villages and farms with authentic furniture. Back in Pest, we got caught in a rainstorm at Budapest’s most famous site, the St. Stephen’s Basilica (Szent Istvan Bazilika) built and named in honor of Hungary’s first king. His mummified right hand is kept in the chapel. Hungarians revere their first king that started Hungary’s golden period of one of the greatest empires in Europe. St. Stephen Basilica’s 300 foot high dome can be seen from most anywhere in the city and inside is decorated with beautiful mosaics. Some history of Hungary…The Romans were replaced around 900 by the Magyars, who went on to found the kingdom of Hungary. The kingdom lasted (interrepted by the Mongols in 1241) until 1541, when Budapest fell to the Ottomans and stayed in the hands of the Turks until 1686 when the Austrian Habsburgs conquered the town. After the Hungarian revolution, the great Compromise of 1867 made Budapest the united capital of the Hungarian half of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Hungary was on the losing side of WWI and WWII when Budapest sustained substantial damage in a terrible three-month siege. A total of 400,000 Jews in the area were murdered by the Nazis and their Nyilas sympathizers. After WWII, a hardline Communist government was established. In 1956, the revolution against communist rule only ended when the Soviets sent in the tanks as they felt Hungary slipping out of their influence and control. Today Budapest is by far the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city in Hungary and is deservedly popular with tourists. Next stop…High Tatras (Zdiar), Slovakia. See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Transylvania - Dracula's Castle, Peles Palace, Rasnov, & Sighisoara

2011-06-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

Bran (Dracula’s) Castle, Peles Palace, Rasnov, and Sighisoara, Romania (5/17-20/2011) -- We know you want to hear about Dracula’s Castle. If you want to continue to hold onto any mystical (or creepy) myths, please do not read any further. Here goes the truth… Vlad Tepes (the person the myth of Count Dracula is based on never lived at what is now named Dracula’s Castle and is it not sure he ever visited this castle. The true name of it is Bran Castle and it was a defensive castle perched on a hill with whitewashed turrets built. It is more like a castle in a fairy tale than the spine-chilling image conjured up by its fabled reputation. See the extra photos to see for yourself. Inside are several well-preserved floors of small rooms connected by windy dark wooden stairways. Sorry, no vampires – more about the legion of Dracula later in this blog post. A little known fact is that Bran (Dracula’s) Castle is now owned by an American architect being the last descendent of the monarchy. Much more impressive is Peles Castle, located in the neighboring town of Sinaia. Peles is actually a palace and one of the most beautiful places in Romania. Built as the summer residence of Romania’s first king (Carol I) in 1883, Peles is a modern neo-Renaissance palace being the first palace in Europe to have electricity, central heating, and even a central vacuum-cleaning system. The 170 rooms are decorated with over 2,000 pieces of art. We also visited the Rasnov Fortress that has huge historical significance but was not exciting to us. On the way to Budapest, we stopped at the small medieval fortified city of Sighişoara located on the Tarnava River that has more to identify itself to Dracula because Vlad Tepes was born here. Saxons (German craftsmen and merchants) were invited here by the King of Hungary during the 12th century to settle and defend the frontier from Turkish invasion. Sighisora’s landmark is the Clock Tower build in 1360 in Sighisoara Citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dating back to the 12th century. We did have lunch at Casa Vlad Dracul where Vlad Tepes was born. OK, here is what you were waiting for: THE LEGOND OF DRACULA was started in 1897 with Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and has led to many horror films based on Count Dracula and blood-sucking vampires. Sorry, it’s all a MYTH. Vlad Tepes did have a reputation of cruelty killing hundreds of thousands of people during his reign. Impalement was one method that was particularly gruesome. A long pole was stuck through a victim’s body from bottom to top and they died a horrible painful death taking hours, sometimes days to die. He and his father did belong to the Order of the Dragon and his father was nicknamed “Dracul” meaning “Devil”. Next stop…Budapest, Hungary. See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Brasov, Transylvania, Romania

2011-06-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

Brasov, Transylvania, Romania (5/16-20/2011) – Welcome to Transylvania, the land of Dracula!! Arriving in a deluge of rain and thunder, it was hard to remember that the story of Dracula is just a legion. Did we hear werewolves or was it dogs howling at the thunder? The sun came out the next day for us to explore this charming red-roofed medieval city. Brasov, with its pronounced Saxon background, has one of the prettiest town centers (Piata Sfatului) we have visited on this trip so far. On the end of the square is Brasov’s main sight, the gothic Black Church (Biserica Neagra). Dating back to 1477, it is said to be one of the largest Gothic churches in Southern Europe. Named ‘Black” because of a fire, it is now restored now and displays 180 old Turkish rugs given to the church over the centuries by Ottoman merchants. The bell in the clock tower is the largest in Romania. We walked down Strada Sforii (Rope Street), a four-foot wide street claimed to be the narrowest in Europe – see the extra photos and you be the judge. In the old Schei District, we lit candles in the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, Transylvania’s first Orthodox church finished in 1564. Our ride up the cable car (Telecabina Tampa) and short hike to the Terasa Belvedere lookout point gave us a wonderful view of Brasov as well as a lovely rest in the forest with spring flowers. Brasov makes an excellent base to explore other main sights in the area (i.e. Sighisoara, Bran (Dracula’s) Castle, Peles Palace, and Rasnov). We describe these places, along with the legion of Dracula, in our next blog post. Transylvania is the largest and probably best-known region of Romania. Even though we may associate the name with tales of bloodthirsty vampires (it played host to Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula"), Transylvania is actually known as one of the most beautiful natural regions in Europe circled by the Carpathian Mountains. There are about 100 castles and fortresses and about 70 fortified churches built between the 13th and 15th centuries, seven of which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some history… Transylvania was an integral part of Kingdom of Hungary (950-1526), an independent Transylvanian Principality (1526-1690), and from 1868 it was part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire that used Romania as a buffer against constant Turkish invasion. After World War I Transylvania became part of Greater Romania and after WWII, a strict communist government was set up. The 1989 revolution finally ended the communist rule but corruption has slowed Romania’s economic potential. Romania with a population of 22 million is one of the most recent members of the European Union. Next stop…Bran (Dracula’s) Castle, Peles Palace, Rasnov, and Sighisoara, Romania. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Black Sea (Varna), Bulgaria

2011-06-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

Varna, Bulgaria (5/13-15/2011) – Welcome to the Black Sea resort city of Varna, Bulgaria’s third largest city. Pretty calm during mid-May but Varna has a notorious nightlife during the summer season. The beaches are nice but even nicer for us was strolling through beautiful Primorski Park that runs along the beach for miles. We stayed near the gold-topped Assumption of the Holy Cathedral and Varna’s Opera Theatre and strolled the pedestrian walkway to the beach and park every day. Pat loves the corn with the wonderful Bulgarian spices while Wayne opted for the creamy ice cream – yum! A couple of highlights on Varna Beach were watching a music video being made with bikini models and having a fish lunch on the beach. We also visited the rather sparse Varna Archaeological Museum that exhibits the Gold of Varna, the oldest gold treasure in the world dating back 6,200 years ago. They are also proud to show man-made tools dating back to 10,000 B.C. demonstrating how long Bulgaria has been inhabited. A highlight of our stay was our day trip to Sveti Konstantin about 7 miles north from downtown Varna. The sandy beaches were lovely and there are many upscale hotels in the resort offering mineral water spa services. Wayne found a natural hot spring pouring into the sea and blissfully laid in it while the sea rocked him asleep. With little access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Black Sea has half the salt of the ocean. It is not known for sure how the turquoise blue waters of the Black Sea got its name. Two explanations by historians are: 1) ancient Greeks called it “inhospitable” because of storms and unfriendly people and 2) the Turks word for north is “kara” (meaning black) differentiating this sea from the southern Mediterranean Sea. Next stop…Transylvania (Brasov/Bran/Signisoara), Romania). See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

2011-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (5/11-12/2011) – Veliko Tarnovo is picturesque university city in northern Bulgaria surrounded by the Yantra River that beautifully curves around it forming delightful cliffs where swallows dive down to the river bottom. It was the capital of the medieval Bulgarian Empire from 1185 to 1396 and because Bulgaria was one of the first European nations to unify, Veliko Tarnovo was considered by some ancient historians to be the third most important city after Rome and Constantinople at that time. A main sight is the medieval castle (Tsarevets Fortress) that at one time walled 400 houses and 18 churches. They executed their convicted prisoners by pushing them off a cliff – that should teach them. A beautifully renovated church (Patriarch’s Church of the Ascension) sits at the top of the castle grounds with modern interpretations of Byzantine art. A walk through old town along the well-preserved Gurko Street with its collection of traditional renaissance houses was a pleasure. We passed the Asenevs Monument (Four Bulgarian Kings Monument) for kings Assen, Petar, Ivan Shshman, and Kaloyan. We stayed at Bulgaria’s #1 voted hostel (Hostel Mostel) that was very nice with a large room, double bed, nice ensuite bathroom, great location, free good Wi-Fi Internet, free breakfast and dinner with a beer, great helpful English-speaking staff, garden, free pick-up from the bus/train station, comfortable meeting rooms, and get this… only $42/night! Got to love Bulgarian prices. Next stop…Varna, Bulgaria. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2011-06-02T01:44:00.000-07:00

Plovdiv, Bulgaria (5/10/2011) – Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest city is a good stopover when traveling across Bulgaria. The downtown is scenic (maybe the most attractive in Bulgaria) with a nice shopping promenade (Knyaz Aleksandar Batemberg) sided by interesting architecture, a fascinating well-preserved car-free old town with 18^th-century wood-shuttered revival-style Bulgarian homes, 2000-year old Roman amphitheater, and many beautiful parks. Many of Bulgaria’s most famous artists lived in Plovdiv. Influenced by the 500-year Turkish occupation and proximity to Greece, Bulgaria cuisine is good featuring plenty of spices and fresh produce. We had a wonderful Bulgarian dinner of mish mash (eggs, cheese, and red peppers) and Kavarna (tender chicken dish baked with garlic, onions, pepper, and mushrooms) in the courtyard of a family-run National Revival house (the Alafrangue) in old Plovdiv. We also met a lady in our hostel who was traveling with a black kitty cat that had a Bulgarian passport. Next stop…Veliko Tanova, Bulgaria. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Sofia, Bulgaria

2011-05-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sofia, Bulgaria (5/8-9/2011) – Sofia’s downtown is attractive with large and small green parks with large trees at almost every turn. For you Oz fans, they literarily have yellow brick roads here that run along the center of the city. Sofia, with a population of 1.4 million of Bulgaria’s 7 million, is Bulgaria’s largest and capital city. The main sight is the gold-domed Russian-style Orthodox Aleksander Nevski Church in the center of the city. It is huge – the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans claiming to be able to hold 7,000 people. Down the street we witnessed two back-to-back weddings at the small Sveta Sofia Church. We also were lucky to see the “United Buddy Bears” exhibit that has been shown all around the world. About 120 of these 6-foot bears representing many of the countries recognized by the UN are painted by different artists on behalf of their country. They stand hand in hand in a circle to promote peace and understanding among of the nations of the world. Pretty cool! We stayed in the very nice Red House B&B, a mansion that was once home to one of Bulgaria’s most famous sculptors. It is now a cultural center for debates with seven rooms for rent. Matching the name, we had red satin sheets. A highlight of our visit here was our day trip to the amazing Rila Monastery, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded in 927, this monastery has benefited from generous donations for centuries and was restored several times. This monastery is truly one of the wonders of Bulgaria and is still working as a monastery with 300 monk rooms on four levels. The paintings are amazing with 1,200 brilliant murals in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin and hundreds more around the halls. Some history… Sofia was founded around 2,500 years ago. In succeeding centuries, Bulgarian and the Byzantine Empires dominated southeast Europe. By the end of the 14th century the region was then ruled for 500 years by the Ottoman Turks. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878 largely due to the intervention of Russia and Romania. Russia lost 200,000 men liberating Bulgaria from the Ottomans and many more in WWII against the Germans. Many statues and large monuments and churches have been built to honor the Russians. Recent history has been tough on Bulgaria. After a series of brutal Balkan wars, Bulgaria had the further misfortune to be on the losing side in both World Wars. It then in 1946 fell under communist domination in the Soviet sphere of influence. Bulgaria held its first multi-party election in 1989. Bulgaria remains the poorest member of the European Union with issues such as a weak judiciary system, a moderate level of corruption in the local government, large budget deficit, a poor road infrastructure, and a high unemployment rate. Having said that, we have enjoyed our stay in Bulgaria and looked forward to our next stop…Plovdiv, Bulgaria. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

2011-05-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (5/6-7/2011) – Welcome to the home of Alexander the Great and Mother Teresa (who lived here until she was 18). Although Ohrid is the most popular designation in Macedonia with its beautiful lake and old town, we did not have time to go to the south. So Skopje, Macedonia’s capital, with one-third of the country’s 2 million population was our introduction to this historic country. Overlooked by the city fort (Tvrdina Kale), downtown Skopje has a contemporary pedestrian street with cafes, shops, and modern malls as well as an old Turkish bazaar area (Carsija) divided by the 15^th-century Stone Bridge (Kamen Most) that crosses the Vardar River. We enjoy old town areas best so that is where we spent most of our time. At our hostel, we met up with an artist from New York who was studying Byzantine art and touring old Orthodox churches and monasteries. He invited us to join him for a drive through the country to the beautifully frescoed Church of Sveti Andrej by the tranquil Lake Matka beneath the steep Treska Canyon. We are glad we did because Macedonia is a beautiful country. Being the movie bluffs we are, we took in a Hollywood movie (“Limitless’ – pretty good) at night in English with local subtitles. Get this… $7.50 for two tickets and a box of popcorn in a nice theater. One can live large in these countries. Some history… In 14th century, Skopje became the capital of the Empire of Serbia, which at that time was one of the largest and strongest countries in Europe. Then the Ottomans ruled Macedonia for 500 years and built a large number of mosques and other buildings. After Macedonia was liberated from the Turks in the early 20th century, it became a part of Kingdom of Serbia and then a republic of the Yugoslav Federation, with Skopje as the capital. The 1963 earthquake destroyed 75% of the buildings in this city in just a few seconds. After that, a big rebuilding project began with limited success to make Skopje the model city of the socialist world. Next stop…Sofia, Bulgaria. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Prizren, Kosovo

2011-05-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

Prizren, Kosovo (5/5/2011) – Welcome to Kosovo… the youngest nation in the world. Kosovo blew us away! Everywhere we went there was new construction (new homes and businesses), modern equipment and cars, and well dressed people. For a country described in travel books as the weakest economy in Europe, something is happening in southern Kosovo. We visited Prizren, a surprisingly pretty city along a river with a very nice pedestrian street, Roman-built castle (Kalaja) overlooking the city, and a 15^th century Ottoman bridge centered around the Ottoman Sinan Pasha Mosque. We arrived on Durgevan, a Gipsy holiday. The main street and stone piazza square (Shadervan) were packed with young people and they partied until late at night. Some history… In the 12^th century Kosovo was the heart of the Serbian Empire. The Turks defeated the Serbs in 1389 and the area became part of the Ottoman Empire for the next 500 years. Kosovo’s about 2-million population is over 90% Albanian and largely secular Muslim showing little evidence of traditional attire. After a lengthy and often violent dispute with Serbia, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and has been recognized by almost half of the world’s countries including the U.S. Because of the UN-sanctioned U.S. assistance, a major street in Kosovo’s capital city, Pristina, is named “Bil Klinton Boulevard”. Next stop…Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Shkodra & Lake Koman, Albania

2011-05-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

Shkodra and Lake Koman, Albania (5/4—5/2011) – Shkodra (also, Shkoder) was our first stop in Albania. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe founded about 2,000 years ago. After being badly damaged in a 1979 earthquake, most of the old town has been replaced with ‘modern’ buildings. Shkodra is in the north of Albania and it appears to not receive very much tourism because maps, restaurants, etc. are lacking. They do have a nice short pedestrian street they are proud of. Although Albania, with a population of 3.6 million, is a poor country by European standards, the people in Albania are very friendly stopping to help you. There are numerous rebuilt mosques and churches around but a majority of Albanians have become agnostic or atheists after communist rule after WWII. In 1992, a democracy was established and Albania is still dealing with corruption and a dilapidated infrastructure. An unusual story about Albania is that they built and installed about 60,000 5-ton concrete bunkers buried all over Albania when they feared possible Soviet invasion in the 1950’s. Now these crumbling bunkers dot the countryside and many Albanians can admit to losing their virginity in one (love does conquer all). We had a very unusual transit to our next designation (Kosovo) on an older ferry (with diesel engines like in the movie “African Queen”) across Lake Koman that is one of the most beautiful ferry rides in southern Europe – somewhat like the Norwegian Fjords. The three minibus transfers not knowing for sure where we were headed made the day exciting. We first started at 6am with a 2-hour minibus trip to Koman (basically a dock with two small restaurants) to catch our ferry. After the peaceful and scenic ferry ride along Lake Koman to Fierze, we were met by a small minibus where the passengers and ferry crew crowded in and were transported to Bajran Curri where we met by another minibus. Not speaking English, we were ‘assured’ by thumbs up that we were going in the right direction. By the way, they took very good care of us by flagging down a local woman when we arrived to make sure we safely got to our hotel in next stop which was…Prizren, Kosovo. See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Budva/Kotor/Ulcinj, Montenegro

2011-05-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Budva/Kotor/Ulcinj, Montenegro, (5/1--3/2011) – Well, we arrived at sunny Montenegro and unfortunately it rained on us for a couple of days. There was some break in the rain to enjoy the Montenegrin coast – see the extra photos to enjoy the beauty. Staying in Budva, we also visited Kotor, Ulcinj, Perast, and took a bus ride down the coast past Sveti Stefan. The coastal area around Budva is called the Budvanska Riviera and it is beautiful. Budva is a beach town with a small beautiful Venetian-style old town (Stari Grad) that is fun to wander. During the summer, Budva turns into a party town along the beach. Just north in the stunning Bay of Kotor we visited a much larger walled old town, Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This beautiful city was started in the 9^th century and its labyrinthine marbled lanes and small squares are now developed with shops and restaurants. We loved wandering these walled old towns that wind around revealing eye-candy scenes at every turn. On the way south to Albania, we passed picturesque Sveti Stefan, a 15^th century walled city on an island that has been turned into a city luxury hotel that was a favorite of the rich and famous until the recent Yugoslavian civil war. We also stopped in Ulcinj in southern Montenegro. Ulcinj is now known for having one of the largest beaches in Montenegro but in the past it was a pirate’s lair and center of African slave trade. We walked up the old castle and had wonderful views of the beautiful Montenegrin coastline and had breakfast with new friends we met. Montenegro with a population of less than one million was the only republic of the former Yugoslavia that supported Serbia during the 1990’s civil war and gained a peaceful independence by referendum in 2006. Next stop…Shkodra and Lake Koman, Albania. See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2011-05-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, (4/29—30/2011) – Going to Mostar, we had a beautiful bus ride passing lakes, mountains, rivers, and mountain villages of Herzegovina. Mostar is a small picturesque old town on the pretty Neretva River with narrow cobblestone streets and quant shops and restaurants. Having been an ancient East-West center of commerce, Mostar is symbolized by its famous medieval bridge (Stari Most) originally built as an architectural wonder by the Ottomans in 1566 and rebuilt after the recent 1992-95 war. Young divers jump from the top of the bridge. They pour cold water over themselves to lower their body temperature before diving because the river water is so cold the shock can stop your heart. The worst bombing of the recent Yugoslavian war reduced this amazing little city to rubble with its famous bridge and all but one of its 23 Ottoman-ear mosques destroyed. Much has been painstakingly rebuilt and beautifully lit at night making this pretty UNESCO World Heritage city a fun place to visit. We stayed at the charming Kriva Cuprija Hotel, named after the delightful Crooked Bridge. We fell to sleep at night listening to the river flow by. Unfortunately, a short walk out of old town reveals burned-out buildings, evidence of mankind’s temptation by war to solve our problems. Hiring a car and driver, we visited several nearby attractions. First, one of the best waterfalls in all of Europe – the beautiful Kravice Waterfall, a semicircle 360 feet wide of 80-foot waterfalls. We then visited Pocitelj, a Ottoman-era fortress village and Blagaj, a middle age city located at the source of the green Buna River coming out of a cave in the cliffs. This river is said to be one of the coldest rivers in the world. It is also the location of the Tekija House, a 15^th-century monastery built on the side of the cliff. Please treat yourself to the extra photos of these places. Next stop…Budva/Kotor/Ulcinj, Montenegro. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

2011-05-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, (4/26—28/2011) – Sarajevo is an interesting place -- East meets West! Within minutes, you can walk from eastern Ottoman cobbled streets with mosques and open oriental-style markets (Bascarsija) to western 19^th century Austrian/Hungarian building and smooth stone paved streets. We stayed in the middle of old town having dinners in quant restaurants and lunch at the famous Pivnica HS brewery that makes the popular Sarajevsko beer (pivo). We had breakfast of coffee and burek (a meat and cheese pastry) and fed the pigeons at Pigeon Square around the Sebilj Fountain with the Čaršijska mosque in the background. Sarajevo’s main post office is one the most beautiful we have ever been in. See the extra photos of Sarajevo. History abounds here in this city of 400,000 people of Bosnia’s 4-million population! It is the place where the Western and Eastern Roman Empire split and where the people of the Roman Catholic west, Eastern Orthodox east, and the Ottoman south met, lived and warred. In Sarajevo’s old town at the Latin Bridge is where the assassination of the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, happened in 1914 plunging the world into WWI. Much more recently (1992-95), it is shame that this pretty city, that hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and served as a model where Muslims, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians, and Jews lived and worked within blocks of each other, burst into one of the worst modern day war sieges and three bloody years of ethno-religious civil strife. After independence was declared in 1992, the Bosnian Serbs supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas together to form a "greater Serbia." Muslim Bosniaks and Croats resisted resulting in Sarajevo being surrounded and shelled daily for years. This caused production to plummet by 80% and unemployment to soar. Although you can still see the explosion marked buildings everywhere, Sarajevo is largely rebuilt and is an interesting place to explore. While Pat shopped the bazaars, Wayne visited the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum and sniper ally. Being surrounded and cut off, residents of Sarajevo tried running supplies into the city. Many were shot along sniper alley. They dug a 2,400-foot tunnel under the UN-declared safe zone of the airport where they brought in food and weapons. You have to bend over to walk along the tunnel. The war ended in a negotiated truce and today there are two governments that govern Bosnia and many issues remain unresolved. Next stop…Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Belgrade, Serbia

2011-05-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Belgrade, Serbia, (4/24—25/2011) – Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia with a population of 1.7 million of Serbia’s 7.5 million. Even though ruled by the Turks for 500 years, Belgrade today is very much a western European city. The people here are friendly, proud of their heritage, and most speak English. Unfortunate recent historical events cast this nation as villains in a civil war marred by ethnic cleaning – more about that later. We stayed in the old town (Stari Grad) near the Belgrade’s main pedestrian-only street (Knez Mihailova). The first night we had dinner at Sladarska, the cobblestoned old bohemian part of town where some of Belgrade’s most famous writers, poets, and actors spent their time writing and debating at the turn of the 20^th century. Today Sladarska is filled with atmospheric restaurants serving Serbian cuisine with roving Roma bands playing old Belgrade music providing a unique ambience. Serbs are proud of their food, which is heavy on grilled meats and sausages, local cheeses, and bread. Salads are primarily tomato, cucumber, and onion or cabbage. The food is pretty much the same at most the restaurants and like most the countries in this area, it is our belief that we are not visiting here for the food. We also visited Sveti Sava (the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world), the Kalemegdan Citadel where 115 battles have been fought during the many past centuries, and the Palace of Princess Ljubica. See the extra photos on all these things we did. OK history bluffs… I have always been curious about the recent civil war and split up of Yugoslavia into 7 countries that started 20 years ago. Here is an edited excerpt from Wikitravel about what happened before the civil war: “Serbia’s long history dates back to the 4^th century BC with many clashes between east and west occurring here. Ottoman Turks ruled for 500 years until 1815. The 1914 Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by an ethnic Serb high school student precipitated WWI. In its aftermath in 1918, victorious Serbia gathered all south Slav lands (Croatia, Slovenia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro) into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The country's name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Invasion and occupation by Germany and Italy in 1941 was resisted by the Yugoslav Army, commanded by Lt. General Dragoljub Mihajlović and communist led guerilla (partisans) who eventually started fighting each other as well as the invaders. The partisans, commanded by Field-Marshal Josip Broz Tito emerged victorious and formed a provisional government that abolished the monarchy and proclaimed a republic in 1946 after a dubious referendum. At the end of the war, nearly all ethnic Germans left the country. Although pro-Communist, Tito's new government successfully steered its own delicate path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades.” Because Serbia put Yugoslavia together and controlled the army, they attempted to keep it together when the different countries started declaring independence – hence the civil wars and the unfortunate ethnic cleansing directed by an increasingly unpopular president. The wars against Croatia and Bosnia were the worst because they had significant Serbian populations and Serbia had a popular opinion to create a “greater Serbia” that included areas around Serbia that had large populations of Serbs. Now two decades later, most of the Serbs we spoke to in Belgrade want to put all this in the past and join whole heartedly their place as a peaceful cooperative European nation. We left Serbia with a feeling that they will be successful. Next stop…Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Ljubljana, Slovenia

2011-04-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

Ljubljana, Slovenia, (4/21—23/2011) – Make believe for a moment and you can easily imagine you are in a fairly-tale city when wandering the old town of Slovenia’s largest and capital city. With friendly people, a beautiful tree-line river, castle on a hill, lovely squares and Baroque buildings with a pink Franciscan Church, and cafes spilling out everywhere into the pedestrian only streets of old town, Ljublijana (pronounced “lyoob-ly-AH-nah”) is a wonderful destination. T-shirts here spell the county sLOVEnia. Known for Dragon and Triple Bridges, Ljubljana’s charms go beyond beautiful architecture by being one of the smallest capital cities in Europe. Its 50,000 university students add excitement and vitality with sidewalk cafes everywhere in the old town. People here buy their food in the open market and eat and socialize in the outside cafes in the exquisitely lit old town. Lovely! We had great 72-degree weather so please view the extra photos. Our visit to the castle included a 3D movie about the whole area that was interesting. We had lunch (local trout with spinach, carrots, and potatoes with a local beer) near the old Town Hall outside an old inn (Sokol) where the servers dress in period outfits. We took the glass covered boat trip up the Ljubljanica River and visited the Metelkova area, a former army barracks that students took over and turned into an artsy bohemian subculture. In Ljubljana’s central park (Park Trvoli), we had a wonderful peaceful Spring picnic surrounded by flowers and trees. On the way back we ran into a teenage girl march wanting Justin Bieber to come to Sovenia. Ljubljana took its present form under the Austrian Habsburgs and is now the capital of Slovenia’s 2 million people recently gaining their independence in 1991. With more than half the country covered in forest, Slovenia is one of the greenest countries in the world. Next stop…Belgrade, Serbia. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Lake Bled, Sovenia

2011-04-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

Bled, Slovenia, (4/19—20/2011) – Picture postcard is the best way to describe Bled – do check out the extra photos. Back by some of the highest peaks of the Julian Alps with its turquoise water, white swans, 1,000-year old medieval castle high on a rocky cliff, and baroque church built on an island in the lake, everywhere you turn you see a beautiful view. Bled was made famous for being the finest spa town in the Austrian Empire and more recently is the site for the 2011 World Rowing Championship. We climbed the very tall tree-lined cliff to Bled Castle and had a trout lunch overlooking spectacular Lake Bled. On the way back Pat fed the Swans and ducks. We also took a boat that is slowly rowed to the island in the middle of the lake to visit the Church of Assumption. Many weddings take place here and it is a tradition for the groom to carry his bride up the 99 steps to the church. After climbing the steps, I wondered what the bride does for the groom. We took a short bus ride over to the pretty town of Radovljica where in their old town square (Linhartov trg) they have wonderfully resorted manor houses with painted murals. We visited the 500-year old Lectar family house and their workshop/museum where they still make gingerbread items just like they have been doing for 200 years. They make many in the shape of hearts that are given (never eaten) to love ones. We also enjoyed a traditional Slovene meal in their period-decorated restaurant. Bled is a wonderful place to visit and it is no wonder that it is Slovenia’s most popular destination. Next stop… Ljubljana, Slovenia. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Venice, Italy

2011-04-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

Venice, Italy, (4/16—18/2011) – OH BOY!! – my favorite city in world. Please view the extra photos on this wonderful beautiful city – Pat says romantic! Built on 118 small islands in a lagoon, Venice has about 150 canals, more than 400 bridges, and no cars (the world’s only pedestrian city!). People get around by walking or taking boats and the famous gondolas. The Venetians ruled a large part of the Mediterranean Sea with their peak of power in the 1300’s and Napoleon ending their independence in 1797. They accumulated great wealth and gave the world this amazing city. Marco Polo left Venice in 1271 for his 20 years of travel – he has a few more years on us. This is our third time coming to Venice so we spent 2 days just wandering gorgeous canal to canal and bridge to bridge admiring the unique architecture and eating remarkable Italian food – we love the pasta in Italy. It is easy (and fun) to get lost in this city and we had a romantic full moon to explore the city at night. Of course we had to have $10 glasses of wine listening to the romantic music in San Marco Piazza and have lunch at the Rialto Bridge along the Grand Canal – Venice has become much more expensive than the last time we were here 12 years ago. Even so, everyone should put lovely Venice on the top of their travel wish lists. Next stop…Bled, Slovenia. See many more photos of this place and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Spain ( Canary Islands, Cadiz, Malaga, & Valencia)

2011-04-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

Spain (Canary Islands, Cadiz, Malaga, and Valencia) (4/11--16/2011) – After 7 days at sea on our trans-Atlantic Ocean crossing on a Royal Caribbean cruise, our ship made four stops in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea along the Spanish coast before reaching Barcelona. We first made landfall at Tenerife, the largest of the seven Canary Islands about 100 miles off Morocco. The Canary Islands are a territory of Spain with a population of 2.1 million, hosting about 5 million tourists (many British) every year coming for the sunny black-sand beaches, resorts, lively nightlife, and the second largest Carnival in the world. Tenerife is also a diverse island with forests, mountains, and a volcano. We took a bus to the old harbor of Puerto de La Cruz, had lunch in the central Compostelana Plaza, and walked on the black sand beach of Playa Jardin (see photos). The ocean water was still a bit cool this early in the season. Our next stop, picturesque Cadiz is said to be one of the oldest cities in western Europe founded about 3,000 years ago. Columbus departed from here on two voyages of discovery of the Americas. Cadiz became the wealthiest port in Western Europe from the gold and silver imports. We had visited Cadiz before on our journeys (see blog post #11), so we took a ferry to Puerto de Santa Maria, an old fishing town. The next day we stopped at Malaga (see photos). What a beautiful city! It was lovely to walk around its upscale shops, restaurants, and apartments in a beautiful old historical quarter. There is a wonderful park promenade running along the town that we walked to the local beach (Playa de la Malagueta). This is the kind of place we could live in. In additional to all this, Malaga is famous for being the birthplace of Picasso and its Moorish castles (Castillo de Gibralfaro and Alcazaba). Our final stop on our cruise was Valencia (see photos), the third largest city in Spain and birthplace of the Spanish dish paella! Valencia hosted the 2007 and 2010 America’s Cup sailing race. We wandered the Valencia’s attractive old town visiting the central food market, cathedral, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site, La Lonja (the old silk market (see photos). Next stop… Venice, Italy. See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Trans-Atlantic Royal Caribbean Cruise & Bahamas

2011-04-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

Trans-Atlantic Royal Caribbean cruise Miami to Barcelona, Miami’s South Beach, and the Bahamas (3/31–4/16/2011) – Starting in Miami, Florida, we stayed in America’s top rated hostel in the middle of trendy South Miami Beach. Hey young men out there… there are 2 young women for every young man staying in these hostels all around the world! We had dinner at the fun romantic Espanola Street and spent a day on South Miami’s spectacular beach during spring break – can’t help but notice those college hard bodies at play. See our earlier blog post #9 for more about Miami’s South Beach. On our first day on Royal Caribbean’s 3,000-passenger Liberty of the Seas cruise ship we stopped at Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas (see photos). Nassau was a pirate’s port in the early 1700’s under the leadership of famous pirates like Blackbeard. Today it has about 80% of the Bahamas’ 330,000 population and because it is easy walking distance from the many large cruise ships, it is now ‘pirating’ tourist dollars by its 20 expensive jewelry shops. Listening to Calypso music, we got out of town on a sailboat for a snorkeling trip to the warm waters of Spruce Cay reef. Swimming among the colorful corals, tropical fish, and a Loggerhead sea turtle was invigorating. So was spring break at Senior Frogs (see photos) watching the dancing -- a very fun stop before boarding the ship for our 7-day crossing the Atlantic to Europe. The trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise was great – 14 days on a 5-star cruise ship for less then it costs to fly to Europe. You should see the photos of the professional ice skating show at sea! Don’t tell them but we liked it so much we went back for a second night. Next stops…Spain (Canary Islands, Cadiz, Malaga, and Valencia). See many more photos of these places and all our worldwide travel adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Travel the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in September on how you, too, can travel the world!

Our Worldwide Adventure Continues! The next four months…

2011-03-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

PLEASE HELP US AND GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS ON YOUR GOOD EXPERIENCES IN THESE PLACES WE PLAN TO VISIT… Planning to visit about 20 countries, we start from MIAMI on April 1^st (no fooling around) by taking a trans-Atlantic cruise to Barcelona. Then we plan to go to VENICE on the way to travels through EASTERN EUROPE – PRAGUE, KRAKOW, BUDAPEST, BUCHAREST, SALZBURG, TRANSYLVANIA, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Transiting through MUNICH, we then plan to rent a car and explore the wine districts of FRANCE – Champaign District, Loire Valley, and Alsace & Lorraine. On the way to visit our friends in JERSEY (Channel Islands) we plan to explore Brittany followed by a stay in PARIS with our friend, Tom. We plan to return home to San Diego in July. See Many More Photos Of All Our Worldwide Travel Adventures, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG... www.UnhookNow.com

Niagara Falls, New York, USA

2010-08-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Niagara Falls, New York, USA (7/12-14/2010) – Niagara Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America supplying 20% of the fresh water in America! Niagara Falls is actually three falls with the largest with 90% of the water (Horseshoe Falls) on the Canadian side. The smaller American and Bridal Veil Falls on the American side, which we visited both day and night (see photos). We took the world famous ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat ride right up to the base of all three falls with exciting mist spraying in our faces (see photos). While Wayne was busy taking photos, Pat had a special talk with the young park ranger and learned that they get about several suicides a month (some successful). We also visited the Niagara Falls IMAX Theatre seeing incredible reenacted stories of people in barrels that have gone over the falls and of a young boy who survived wearing a life vest. Niagara Falls straddle the border between the USA and Canada with about 14 million visitors viewing it each year. There are dozens of taller waterfalls in the world, but in terms of sheer volume Niagara Falls are unbeatable. The falls are very wide and more than 750,000 gallons of water plummet over the crest every second in high flow (June, July, & August). The larger Horseshoe Falls are about 2,500 feet wide and drop about 167 feet. The American Falls are 1,060 feet wide with a maximum height of about 176 feet that varies because of the presence of giant boulders at its base. Glaciers created Niagara Falls about 10,000 years ago at the same time the North American Great Lakes were created. The Niagara River drains four of the five Great Lakes before emptying into Lake Ontario. Along the way we dropped in for a visit at the Corning Glass Center -- a beautiful showcase for the entire process and history of glass making (see photo). We also stayed overnight on Times Square in New York City (see photos). Next stop… San Diego, California, USA. SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Crete, Greece (Smaller Villages)

2010-08-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Crete, Greece – smaller villages (Georgioupoli & Matala) (6/23 -- 7/11/2010) -- Taking a bus from the beautiful Venetian city of Rethymno (see previous blog post), we were dropped off at the very uninspiring bus stop of Georgioupoli. Pat almost did not get off the bus. Four days later it was hard to get her back on the bus. The charms of this quaint former fishing village quickly grow on you. Starting a recent transition from fishing village to vacation resort, Georgioupoli still offers benefits of both. In additions to it many good tavernas (restaurants), nice affordable accommodations, a great very long beach, and old eucalyptus trees with a small river that flows into the sea create a unique ambiance (see photos). Here we found a bit of paradise sitting on a beautiful sunny beach looking out at clear blue water (see photos) followed by a wonderful dinner in town… OK, life is good! It took four different buses to visit our next small village (Matala in southern Crete) but we were so glad we did! Matala is famous for its beautiful setting, beautiful beach between rocks (see photos) as well as being a former hippy haven where in the 60’s hippies lived in caves (see photo) that were former Roman tombs. The laid back feeling and the local tavernas (restaurants) on the beach are ideal for romantic and carefree nights. Wayne took a hike to Red Beach that involves a climb over a hilltop to arrive a beautiful beach that is bathing suit optional – that explained his slightly pink bottom. An advanced people, now named Minoans, came to Crete in 3400 BC developing unprecedented artistic, engineering, and cultural achievements. Around 1450 BC, the Minoans were wiped out by earthquakes and possibly a giant tsunami caused by the massive volcanic eruption of Santorini. More modern history are showed today by the beautiful Venetian towns and fortifications (see photos in previous blog post). The Venetian ruled supreme from 1204 until 1669 when they were succeeded by the Turks who ruled Crete until very recently (except for a brutal occupation by the Nazi Germans in WWII). In 1988, Crete became an independent country, followed by its union with Greece. Next stop… Niagara Falls, New York, USA. SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Crete, Greece (Large Towns)

2010-08-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Crete, Greece – large towns (6/23--7/11/2010) – Wonderful island! We planned to be in Crete a week and stayed 2 ½ weeks. Home to hundreds of beaches, beautiful coastlines, great food, hospitable people, and one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Crete claims to host almost 25% of all of Greece’s tourism. It is the largest and most populous (pop: 650,000), and diverse of the Greek Islands. The people of Crete are proud and warm and maintain their culture and customs, particularly their strong musical tradition. After a 10-hour overnight ferry crossing from Rhodes, we landed in Crete at the city of Sitia early in the morning. Sitia looked just OK so we hopped on a bus to Agios Nikolaos, a touristic but attractive Greek village. It has a small beautiful picturesque lake (Voulismeni) that is encircled by tiny fishing boats and restaurants (see photos). The charm of this town makes it fun place to visit, especially because we stayed at the Du Lac Hotel with a balcony overlooking the lake (see photos). The lovely views day and night and the Cretan music and smells of food making their way up to our room from the lakeside restaurants were worth the stay. We took a day trip to Elounda and found a little taverna on the water and Wayne had a seafood plate with fried sardines, calamari, and mackerel (see photo). Pat had a Greek salad and they served hot bead with melted bits of cheese with eggplant dip. The beaches in this area are just OK so off we went to Rethymno. What an absolutely beautiful town (and beach a few minutes walk away)! The delightful Venetian-Ottoman quarter of Rethymno is a maze of narrow streets with romantic tavernas (restaurants) and shops (see photos). Pat strolled trance-like through the streets viewing shop after shop of colorful shoes, dresses, dining sets, etc. – a woman’s delight! Having an early dinner at the Old Venetian Harbor was a bit magical (see photo). Even more magic materialized that night when we attended a wine festival in Rethymno’s central park (see photo). Drinking Cretan wine (some are pretty good) and sampling local made cheeses under a full moon… OK, life is good. Sad to leave Rethymno but glad to visit our next place… Chania is another beautiful former Venetian city with a large beautiful harbor used in filming the movie “Zorba the Greek” (see photos – can you tell?). The beaches were a little further away but an easy 20-minute bus ride got us to one of our favorite beaches with a rock lined cove (see photo). The town was wonderful to wander with romantic restaurants serving great Cretan and Greek food (see photos). Next places… Crete, Greece (small towns). SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Rhodes, Greece

2010-08-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Rhodes, Greece (6/19-22/2010) – The Greek island of Rhodes is a wonderful jewel – you must get here (really, come here)! We spent 3 days wandering the near magical Old City day and night and enjoying the beautiful beaches each day (see photos). The streets of the Old Town are full of beautiful shops and restaurants (see photos). We found time to eat as much Greek food that we could (yum!). Rhodes, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe with a population of about 80,000 across the island. It has been famous since antiquity as the site of Colossus of Rhodes (see photo of probable site), one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, which stood at the harbor entrance. Completed in 282 BC, the Colossus represented their sun god Helios (appropriate because Rhodes is the sunniest island in the Aegean). It did not last long when a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC, badly damaging the city and toppling the Colossus.For the next eight centuries it lay in ruins until it was sold to a Jewish merchant, reputed to require 900 camels to haul it away. The island of Rhodes has been inhabited since about 4000 BC and is at a crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Its position in major Aegean Sea routes has given Rhodes a very rich history (once Rhodes ruled the Aegean Sea) and has given the city and the island many different identities, cultures, architectures, and languages over its long history. The current Old City (see photos) was built by the Knights Hospitallers when they established their headquarters on Rhodes in 1307. The cobblestone Avenue of the Knights (Ipaton Street) is where the knights lived near the main entrance to the city at the Marine Gate (see photos). The Knights remained on Rhodes for the next two centuries until finally pushed out by the Ottomans after a 6-month siege by 200,000 Turks. Nearly four centuries later the Italians gained control after WWI and tore down most of the evidence of the Ottoman Turks giving Rhodes the Crusader appearance it has today. We stayed in the quiet Jewish Quarter in the Old City with a 5-minute walk to the major areas of Old Town through quant cobblestoned lanes (see photo). During our days we visited 3 beaches – the well-developed Faliraki Beach, the famous Lindos Beach, and the local Aquarium Beach (see photos). At Lindos, we believe that we ate at the same Taverna (restaurant) that we did on our honeymoon 22 years ago (romantic points for Wayne). There are many more tavernas and sun beds now. Next places… Crete, Greece (large towns). SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Marmaris & Gulet Blue Cruise to Fethiye, Turkey

2010-08-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

Marmaris & Gulet Blue Cruise to Fethiye, Turkey (6/12-19/2010) – Now off to Turkey’s Turquoise Coast! Our second Blue Cruise started in Marmaris. Situated on a bay, backed by pretty pine clad mountains, Marmaris’ old fishing town marina homes are now attractive restaurants – a beautiful place (see photos). Just behind the marina promenade is lively Bar Street where the young dance until dawn at sophisticated discos. The first day we took a tour to Turtle Beach, Dalyan village, King Rock Tombs, and mud baths (see photos). At the mud baths, we had silly fun with our new friends from Australia. Turtle Beach is one of the very few patches of sandy beaches along this Aegean coastline and loggerhead sea turtles come here to lay their eggs. It seems that the only sandy beach in the area also attracts the human species. Carved in the mountain, the King Rock Tombs are about 2,500 years old and look like the rock tombs of Petra. This Gulet cruise had a stop at the town of Fethiye (see photos) that dates back to around 500BC. An earthquake destroyed much of the town in the 1950’s and it has been rebuilt into a modern yachting harbor. We cruised the Fethiye Gulf (see photos) and Yassica and Domuz Islands and stopped and overnighted in beautiful bays with names such as Göcek, Ag Limani, Kizilkuyruk, Bedri Rahmi, and Cleopatra (where she was rumored to bathe – according to legend, Cleopatra sure got around these parts). We drank raki, which is anisette (like Greek Oyzo but stronger), the traditional Turkish way, over ice and diluted with water. Next stop… Rhodes, Greece. SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Gulet Blue Cruise & Bodrum, Turkey

2010-07-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Gulet Blue Cruise of the Gokova Gulf & Bodrum, Turkey (6/3-12/2010) – This is a wonderful relaxing experience! On board a Turkish Gulet boat, sailing, snorkeling, swimming, sunbathing, eating, socializing with fellow passengers, and relaxing are the major activities (see photos). Many nights as an alternative to our cabin, we slept outside on the deck falling asleep under a blanket of stars (the milky way is amazing!) waking in the morning to gentle waves lapping the beautiful pine covered hills of the Gulf of Gokova of southern Turkey (see photos). Our days consisted of eating simple but well-prepared Turkish meals and lots of swims in secluded beautiful coves (see photos). We visited the famous Cleopatra Beach (Karacasogut on Sedir Island) with its beautiful clear water and very special kind of sand that can only be found in some places of northern Africa. According to the myth, Roman Marc Antonius brought this sand from Egypt by sea making this beach for his rendezvous with Cleopatra. (I wonder… what did Cleopatra have that such powerful men could not resist?) We stopped and/or stayed overnight (see photos) at gorgeous rocky pine covered islands of Karaada and Orak, and bays of Alakisla, Tuzla, Ballisu, Pabuc, Haremtem, Pabucburnu, and Longoz (where we walked through the forest), as well as Cati Lagoon and English Harbor (name comes from the WWII where the ships of the English Navy were hiding here). Our gulet boat (the ‘Onat’ -- see photos) was about 70 feet long with 8 double cabins with simple ensuite showers and toilets (functional but definitely not luxury). About 2/3 of the 18 passengers were Turkish and it was very interesting to get an introduction to Turkish music, dance, food, and hospitality. The Turkish passengers gave us gifts at the end of the week. Before we started our Blue Cruise from Bodrum, we stayed a couple of days wandering the seaside promenade of neighboring Gumbet (see photo). Today, Bodrum is an international center of tourism and yachting (see photos). Throughout history, Bodrum was home to many civilizations. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was in Bodrum -- the ruins of the Mausoleum of King Mausolus ruling from here in 377 BC. It was a temple-like structure decorated with reliefs and statuary on a massive base. It stood for 1,700 years and was finally destroyed by earthquakes. The word "mausoleum" is derived from this tomb. Also, the beautifully restored Crusader Bodrum Castle (Castle of Saint Peter – see photos) is the landmark of the city having a history going back to the medieval centuries. Today it houses the world's largest underwater archaeology museum of ancient artifacts brought up from sunken ships. Next stop… Marmaris & Gulet Blue Cruise to Fethiye, Turkey. SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Sea of Galilee & Golen Heights, Israel

2010-07-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Sea of Galilee & Golen Heights, Israel (5/29-31/2010) – The Sea of Galilee(actually a fresh water lake) is a resort vacation destination, historical place for modern Zionism, and an important pilgrimage site for devout Christians. According to Christian tradition, Jesus performed much of his ministry and several of his miracles are said to have occurred here including his walking on water, calming a storm, and his feeding five thousand people multiplying fish and bread in Tabgha (see photos). One of Jesus' most famous teaching episodes, the Sermon on the Mount, that included the Lord’s Prayer and the “Blessed are” phrases, is supposed to have been given on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee (at Mount of Beatitudes – see photos). Jesus recruited four of his apostles from the shores of lake Galilee: Simon, Andrew, John, and James. In more recent Israeli history the Sea of Galilee is the place of early Jewish settlements. In 1909 Jewish pioneers built their first cooperative farming village (kibbutz) here that was the cradle of the Kibbutz culture of early Zionism. The Galilee region provides about 15% of Israel's water supply (extremely important in this very water scarce region). The Israelis have developed the Hula Valley (see photo) into a major agricultural producing area. We stayed in Tiberias, the largest town on the lake. Not the prettiest or very well set up for tourism, Tiberias does have a small waterfront promenade and hot springs just south of the town. Driving around the lake was nice although we must admit that there are much more beautiful lakes in the world (we are spoiled). We did visit the revered Christian sites (see photos) of the Mount of Beatitudes and Tabgha (Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes) and Mensa Christi (Christ’s Table) in the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter). On the way to the Golan Heights, we enjoyed taking a walk back through time in the city of Safed (Tzfat) where traditional Hasidic Jews live in the older area called the Synagogue Quarter (see photos) near the Artist’s Quarter. Safed is a spiritual center of Israel with many important works of Jewish religious law written here. We also drove by Megiddo (Armageddon) where the Bible’s book of Revelation predicts the last great battle on Earth will be fought when the forces of good triumph over the forces of evil. Arriving in June, we missed the beautiful spring flowers in the Golen Heights. We did drive through the area of the Tel Dan and Banias Nature Reserves, the cute flowered Alpine-styled mountain ski town of Neve Ativ (see photo), and the historic Nimrod’s Fortress (revered by the Israelis – see photo). We greatly enjoyed our lunch at the ‘Witch’s Cauldron & the Milkman’ restaurant (you must see the photos). The Golan Heights remains a highly contested land straddling the borders of Syria and Israel. Israel has controlled most of the Golan Heights since the Six Day War in 1967, annexing it in 1981 for security reasons. We stayed in Kiryat Shmona in northern Galilee that just recently in 2006 had scores of rockets from Lebanon hit it. Abandoned tanks (see photo) remind you about the recent wars that have taken place here. The United Nations, United States, European Union, and United Kingdom among other nations and organizations consider the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory occupied by Israel. A majority of the population here is Druze, an independent people mostly involved in farm work. Kept secret from outsiders, the Druze religion is an offshoot of Islam but very different the major branches (Sunni and Shiite). We visited the Druze villages of Mejdal Shams and Mas'ada (see photo). Next stop… Bodrum & Gokova Gulf Gulet, Blue Cruise, Turkey SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Nazareth, Israel (Jesus's home)

2010-07-12T02:39:00.000-07:00

Nazareth, Israel (Jesus’ home) (5/28/2010) – Nazareth is an interesting city to visit. As well as being place for Christian pilgrimages, it is the largest Arab city in Israel (70% Muslim) and the major cultural and commercial center for Israel’s Arab community. Staying at a special place, the Faurzi Azar Inn (see photos) in Nazareth’s Old City, made it even more special. The Faurzi Azar Inn is a renovated old Arab mansion. With good luck, we got the last room that was set up for a large family or group. We felt like special guests because it was the former master bedroom with a beautifully painted high ceiling. We joined their special walking tour of Nazareth through its narrow cobblestoned streets being introduced to shop owners. Wayne was offered breakfast from some shop owners– it was good (see photo). We were taken to exclusive caves where the Christians lived under the city when prosecuted by the Romans as well as the beautiful exclusive St. George Greek Orthodox Church (see photos). In the New Testament, Nazareth is described as the childhood home of Jesus with many shrines commemorating biblical events. We visited Nazareth’s most recognizable site and one of the Christians most holy sites, the Basilica of the Annunciation (see photo), built over Mary’s home where Christians believe the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the future birth of her son Jesus (image her surprise). Above the Basilica, the Church of the Annunciation is the largest Christian church building in the Middle East. Adding to the confusion, the Eastern Orthodox Church constructed St. Gabriel's Church at an alternative site for the Annunciation at the site of a freshwater spring, today known as Mary's Well. Because Christians believe that Mary actually used this well (it was the only one in town at that time), the water is believed by both Christians and Muslims to have healing properties. They line up to fill their bottles (see photos). We also visited the austere Christian Synagogue Church (see photo) believed to be the site of the synagogue where Jesus preached. There are also a number of mosques in Nazareth, the oldest of which is the White Mosque (see photo) located in the center of Nazareth's exotic old market (Souq – see photo). Nazareth was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Soon after, Nazareth capitulated to Israeli troops. Next stop… Sea of Galilee & Golen Heights, Israel. SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Zichron Yaacov, Israel (wine country)

2010-07-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Zichron Yaacov (Wine Country), Israel (5/27/2010) – We stopped for a day in one of the most charming places in Israel. The center of one of Israel’s premier wine producing areas, the small town of Zichron Yaacov (population 18,500) draws many tourists attracted to its picturesque setting and historic city center with its wonderfully restored main street (Hameyasdim Street) of original 19^th century homes. This is one of the quaintest streets in Israel lined with charming restaurants, coffeehouses, and boutiques selling locally-made crafts, jewelry, and antiques (see photos). Founded in 1882 by Romanian Jews, Zichron Yaacov was one of Palestine’s first Zionist settlements. It is here that in 1885 Baron de Rothschild helped to establish the first winery in Israel, the Carmel-Mizrahi Winery that is now the largest winery in Israel. We visited the reservation-only Carmel Winery and the manager was kind to let us taste a few wines – very nice. We stayed in an Israeli Zimmer (see photos) next to the main street. Zimmers are few-unit guesthouses that people have added to their homes and can be very nice. Next stop… Nazareth, Israel (home of Jesus). SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4th OF JULY! Again we find ourselves away from our friends and country on July 4th. We hope that all our friends in the US enjoy this inspiring and fun day. We also wish the very best for all our new friends we have made during this amazing adventure visiting 32 countries around the world. In Crete (Greece) still having fun… Wayne & Pat

Haifa & Akko, Israel

2010-06-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Haifa and Akko (Acre), Israel (5/25-27/2010) – Haifa -- home of the breathtaking Baha’i Gardens and much more! Exploring Haifa is an adventure in of itself. A cable car that goes up and down Mount Carmel, the Carmelit, is Israel's only subway with a single track, six stations, and two trains. It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the world's shortest metro line. Taking the Carmelit cable car up to the top of Mount Carmel, we walked along Carmel’s Louis Promenade for the lovely views of Haifa (see photos) to Haifa’s most striking feature, the 18 terraces of the Baha’i Gardens with its beautiful slash of color and green running the entire length of Mount Carmel (see photos). The photos would be even more striking if the shinning golden dome was not covered for reconstruction. In 1909 Haifa became central to the Baha’i Faith, when the remains of their prophet, the Babb, were moved to Akko (Acre) and the beautiful shrine and gardens, now an UNESCO World Heritage Site, were built on Mount Carmel. Haifa is also important to the Baha’is because it is near here in Akko where the Ottomans had imprisoned the founder of the religion, Baha’u’llah. While in prison for 25 years, he wrote many documents that are the foundation of the Baha’i Faith now claiming 5 million followers worldwide, predominately in India. Just below the Baha’i Gardens, we had lunch in the German Colony established by the Christian Templers in 1869. The British expelled the remaining Germans during WWII and the lovely restored street is now a premier shopping and dining area. Later we visited the attractive Stella Maris Church and hiked down to Elijah's Cave (see photos), both related to prophet, Elijah, who lived in this area and is holly to Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Druze. Haifa, now Israel’s third largest city, built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, has a history dating back to Biblical times. Over the centuries, it has been conquered and ruled by the Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders under Richard the Lionhearted, Ottomans, French, Egyptians, and the British. Two days after the British left in April 1948, Jewish armed forces took control of Haifa. This lead to the displacement of a majority of Haifa's Arab population. With the large immigration of Jews, especially recently from Russia, the population in the area now just over 1 million, is about 75% Jewish. In 2006, during the conflict with Lebanon, 93 Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa, killing eleven civilians. In spite of that, Haifa serves as a model of Arab/Jewish cooperation working side by side and it plays an important role in Israel's economy. It is Israel’s most important seaport and has several high-tech parks and two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion (with Nobel Prize winning professors). Haifa also boasts a nice beach area and seaside promenade, which we could not stay away from (see photo of Dado Beach). We also drove north and visited the historic Old City of Akko (also known as Acre from the days of the Knights Templar Crusaders) that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and another one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in Israel dating back to the 19^th century BC. It was interesting to wander the ancient restored massive sea wall, narrow winding cobblestoned alleys, Venice Square & fishermen’s harbor, and the El Jazzar Mosque (see photos). The soug (market) offered a unique place stop for a falafel pita sandwich. Blessed to have seen so many ancient cities, we were excited to get on our way to our Next stop… Zichron Yaacov (Wine Country), Israel. SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS ON THIS PLACE AND ALL OUR OTHER WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL ADVENTURES, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets/ (Note: on flickr, select any set of photos and then you can click “Slideshow” to easily view the photos.) ALSO, PLEASE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS FOLLOW OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.unhooknow.com