Helsinki, with the highest urban standard of living in the world, is, not surprisingly, one of the most livable cities in the world. It is refreshingly clean; the architecture is magnificent; the city is very walkable and friendly to tourists. With its metropolitan area population of 1.25 million people it is the third largest municipality […]

The latest adventure is heading toward the closing chapter. After spending the last 2 days touring in Columbia, we will be heading out for Aruba, St. Bart’s and then Fort Lauderdale, where we will disembark. For some reason or other the cruise lines refer to this as “debarking” the ship rather than disembarking, but I […]

Located on the western bank of the Guayas River, Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city (pop 2.7 million) and its main port. It was founded in 1538 by Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana. The city suffered a series of attacks and looting by French and English pirates over the years. By the 19th century Ecuador won […]

Lima, is a coastal city and the capital of Peru. It is home to over 10 million people and is the 3rd largest city in the Americas, behind only Sao Paulo and Mexico City. About one third of Peru’s population lives in the Lima Metropolitan area. And like much of South America, the population is […]

Iquique, a town of 181,000 people, is located in northern Chile on the Pacific coast. Originally part of Peru, it had a large Chilean population. But as a result of the War of the Pacific (1879—1883) Peru ceded it to Chile where is has remained since.   The town developed rapidly with the discovery of […]

Paris, France—November 3 through November 8, 2017   We got the chance to take a quick trip over to Paris including a side trip to Lyon to celebrate the 21st birthday of our niece who is studying in Lyon. Paris is as beautiful and cosmopolitan as ever, with its classic architecture, museums, cafes and restaurants. […]

Thursday was a fine day in New York. The weather was great and the city was full of people taking in the sights. There is an excellent retrospective of the photographs (like the one  shown below) of Irving Penn at the Met to mark the centennial of his birth. The exhibit includes a guided tour […]

Now that the weather is turning nicer New Yorkers are back to leissurely (by New York standards) walks around the city. Here are some shots from a recent walk around the High Line.

Just back from a quick trip to New York, where we went to see the show “Beautiful” about Carole King. Just tremendous.   The Christmas Tree is lit up; getting around 5th Avenue is a nightmare now that Trump tower is serving as the White House North. Speaking of Trump, we had lunch with friends […]