March 4 - March 20, 2025 Traveled to magical Colombia. Enjoyed it culture, it's beaches, warm people and delicous food. And all was awesome! Cartagena has a population of 1,080,000 and the historic centre was busy with people and tourists everywhere. Many were European and hopefully the American people will visit soon, due the low cost of everything. It was a warm, sunny day when we arrived, 87 degrees and stayed at Casa Torres, in a large a/c room, where breakfast is included in the cost of the room in historic centre. The Walled historic centre is an UNESCO site, went to the Cathedral and did lots of walking. Especially, liked the Getsmani district, art is everywhere, painted on the walls, artists art works are on display colorful flags flying overhead and lots of resaurants and cafes. Did a walk to the nearby city beach and is very windy, but a delightful breeze. Had dinner a few times at a very authentic restaurant that lots of Colombian people are there for dinner, too. Went to Santa Marta by bus which took 4 hours to arrive in historic centre. Stayed at Masaya Santa Marta, which had three plunging pools and a rooftop restaurant. Lovely place with a delicious breakfast, which was selected from their menus, lots of selections from yogurt with granola, fruits and nuts, cheese omelets and coffee throughout the day. It was a short walk to the beach, had a nice breeze and the Caribbean ocean was warm and calm. Very hot, sunny, 90 degree temperature, had to stay under a tree for shade. The population of Santa Marta is 555,030. Liked Santa Marta very much, which has a fantastic restaurant district. Our favorite Ikaro on Calle 19 #3-60, near the Parque de los Novios and is the heart of the eating scene and a nite time scene with Salsa music and dancing. Took the bus from Santa Marta to Palomino, has a populatio of 4,200 where we stayed for five days at Casa Colibri, Carrera 6 #2A, fill up on their delicious breakfast, coffee, tea all day long, along with purified water. A lovely place owned by an English speaking Belgium couple. Joaquim (Joe) is a wonderful host, ask him anything about the area and knows it well, since the couple have been in Palomino since 2019. Palomino is known as the "hippie town"of Colombia with lots of restaurants, individual owned shops and a nearby beach. We always walked the more nature-filled dirt road, quiet and pleasant with indigenous people walking along it, too. The Kogi people are an indigenous group that live in northern Colombia, descendants of pre-Columbian Tairona civilization, who live in the isolated mountains of the Sierra Nevada mountains and along the river. I looked forward seeing them on the dirt road and photographing them. The area where the river meets the ocean, is the quieter part of the beach area and less people, trees are there for shade, along with the breeze. One has to be a surfer or a strong swimmer to venture into the ocean, which has a strong current, but I did make it in, very time I went to the beach! It was a very enriching visit to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, enjoyed it all, loved it all! There are still more towns along the way to visit, so perhaps, we are due for another visit! Viva Colombia!

October 4 - October 17, 2024 Traveled to Croatia, to my father's homeland. Arrived in Split, which is the second largest city in Croatia. Stayed in a lovely, modern apartment with balcony, which was walkable to everything and in Old Town. Walked to the ruins of the Palace of Diocletian, built 295-305 ce, remains of the royal residences, fortifcations and churches. The Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Split has a scenic waterfront, where cruise ships port, along with yachts. We got the 11:00 am free park bus to go to Marjan Forest Park, is near the center of Split and called the "lungs of the city". Marjan offers the most beautiful views of Split, the sea and the islands. After 3 days here, we took the 11:15 ferry to the island of Hvar, took 1 1/2 hour ride on the Adriatic Sea, is the cleanest oceans water in all of Europe. Stayed on Hvar for 5 days. Lots of steep hills and steps throughout the town on the coast of Croatia, since many of the homes are built in the mountains, which is mostly limestone. Hvar has an Old Town where we stayed and a waterfront and three nearby beaches to walk to. The longest walk to a beach was two miles each way and a scenic trail along the ocean cliffs with homes built that had spectacular views. Lots of walking, everyday and enjoyable. Pokonji Dol Beach is rocky, but has beach chairs or one can put down a beach towel along a walkway. The Adriatic Sea is crystal clear with shades of turquoise. Our hotel owner drove us up to the top of a mountain where we visited The Fort (Fortica Fortress), since the walk up to this area consists of stairs and trails to very high, steep levels, knew going downhill would be easier. This site of an ancient settlement dates from before 500 BC and the Fortess was bulit at the beginning of the 16th century and rebuilt in 1579. Stunning views and windy, the day we went to visit. Evening events of music played in the town square. Went to two other beaches, where we both swam in the Adriatic, has a high salt concentration which contributes to its blue colour and one of the cleanest seas in the world. The sea is also very theraputic, containing over 80 minerals and elements perfect balance to relax and heal. The sea was prescribed as a cure in the ancient times, one of the reasons you see Croatians along the coastline swimming and where iron railings are built into the rocks with steps, to get into the sea. After five, sunny, warm days on Hvar we took the 3 1/2 hour ferry ride to Durbrovnik, along the coast and stopped at two islands for tourists to depart and pickup others. We stayed in Old Town, in a baroque, fancy style hotel, charming and suits Dubrovnik's famous City Walls and is an UNESCO World Heritage site. The walls were constructed during the 13th - 17th centuries, where tourists can walk on the path of the walls, takes about 2 hours to do. One can also take a cable car to the top, which is the highest mountain in Durbrovnik. Another historical feature is Rector's Palace, is a Gothic-Renaissance structure, where lots of tourists gather. Most of Game of Thorns was filmed here and no sets had to be built. Lots of Game of Thorns store around, selling items. All of Old Town Durbrovnik is busy and crowded with tourists, even in our visit of the off-season. We took a local bus, three stops to visit the abandoned resort Kupari, which is known as Croatia's gravyeard, now lies in war-torn ruins, severely damaged during the Croatian War of Independence and abandoned ever since. It consists of 448 acreas, onces housed 9 hotels, including the Grand Hotel and Tito's Mansion, sits on the bay, with a sandy beach that locals and tourists still visit. Investors are still in courts to redevelop this area for the past 30 years, with nothing being done. We found the area to be haunting and beautiful. After our stay in Dubrovnik we took a bus along the coast back to Split, a four hour ride for our last day in Split. Lovely, beautiful, peaceful Croatia, we have our memories that will be long remembered and where I felt a strong kinship with Croatia.