In October 2008, we returned to the US and worked to finish our stories for this chapter of our lives. Below is summary of our travels, followed by links to our stories. We hope you enjoy them.
After 8+ months in the USA, we were happy to be 'back on the road' and returned to Europe!
Preparing to leave this time was much easier than when we left last year. In mid-May, we learned that we were free to travel again, so we began research for the trip as we were finalizing all the needed doctor visits, making arrangements to store our trailer home, visiting friends, even doing a bit of campaigning for our favorite candidates.
On to Europe, First Stop Italy
On June 13, we flew to Phoenix for a weekend with Hilarie and on June 15, we flew from Phoenix to Philadelphia via Las Vegas and continued on to Venice (Venezia) on June 16, arriving on the morning of June 17. The airport is on the mainland so we traveled by bus across the causeway to Venice and then walked through the narrow streets, over stepped bridges that span the many canals, to our hotel. After checking in and leaving our stuff, we began exploring - first to find lunch, then to buy a new Italian Sim card for our mobile phone.
After a few days visiting the canals and renaisance buildings of Venezia, we moved on to Firenza (Florence) and its wonderful renaissance art and buildings, Pisa and the 'Leaning Tower', and a walk through the villages of the Cinque Terre, before arriving in Roma, where we spent the month of July exploring this most venerable European city and savoring urban living.
In early August, we took the train to Naples, which became our basecamp for visiting Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii and the ancient sites below Mt. Vesuvius.
Links to the stories of our travels in Italy are just below.
On to Hungary
In mid-August we traveled to Hungary, a country we knew little about because it was 'behind the Iron Curtain' for so long. We spent a weekend near Budapest with a friend we met during our travels last year, who had urged us to come. We then moved into the city to visit and learn about its wonderful history. Trips to Pecs, in the south, and Estergom, a former capitol east of Budapest, rounded out our visit.
Links to the stories of our travels in Hungary are just below.
Scandanavia - Sweden and Norway
In early September, we traveled to Scandinavia, a new region for us. Our first stop was Stockholm, Sweden, where we met up with a friend from Albuquerque. After a few days in the Swedish capitol we flew to Bergen, Norway, a historic city surrounded by the dramatic scenery of the fjords. A boat trip through the fjords, followed by a steep train ride up out of a fjord, and a mainline train brought us to Oslo.
Back to the US
Italy
Hungary
Scandinavia
We have now returned to the US and are working to catch up on writing stories for this website. We will be updating this page and posting stories of our travels as we complete them, so stop back every now and then. We hope you enjoy them.
Click here to go to our 'Searching the World for People Friendly Cities' page.
Click here to go to our PioneerWest homepage.