Sydney Opera House One of the perks of being an airline pilot is having time off. I was able to accomplish all of my flying in the first 10 days of the month, leaving the entire rest of the month off for exploring the world. Oana and I decided to go to Australia. We flew on United on a 787 in Economy Plus to Melbourne, and then flew up to Sydney on a ZED fare on Qantas. ZED is an acronym for Zonal Employee Discount. Also called an ID90 because it is a fare that is discounted roughly 90%. We ended up paying about $30USD each to fly to Sydney from Melbourne. Sydney is known for two things. One i ..read more

Korcula Tower at night We stopped in Korcula Croatia during our cruise on the Kraljica Jelena from Sail Croatia. We loved this island, probably one of the most favorite ones we visited. While its a touristy town, it seems to cater very well to the tourists that visit, and doesn’t resent them like many of the other places we’ve visited. Everyone here made us feel welcome and we really enjoyed this small town and the entire island. Oana kayaking in Korcula Todd kayaking in Korcula We did a kayaking tour while we were here. It was a fun experience and relatively easy, since we didn’t really get ..read more

Hvar Croatia We stopped at Hvar Croatia and had a great time. Hvar is one of the oldest towns in Croatia, if not the oldest. Its a natural harbor, but very small. You can see the boats have to dock side by side in order to fit. They say that there can be as many as 12 boats tide together. For us, our boat is in the furthest row and the 5th ship, so we had to cross 4 other ships to get to ours. Fortunately the ships are easy to cross, and the passageways are pretty much all lined up. Kraljica Jelena anchored in Hvar Croatia Getting into town wasn’t easy, since we weren’t docked initially. Becau ..read more

Stari Grad Croatia We decided to do a 7 day Yacht cruise with Sail Croatia and one of our stops was a town called Stari Grad. Its rumored to be the first settlement of Europeans, dating back 3,500 years. Originally settled by greeks, Stari Grad is a port town, with shops and an unseemly number of churches. There are more churches per capita than any other place on the planet. Stari Grad Croatia One of the cool things we got to do while in Stari Grad was do some wine tasting. There is a local vineyard called Hora. We got to taste a number of different wines, as well as breads, olive oil, and ot ..read more

Arya in Braavos Oana in Braavos Braavos – Game of Thrones We decided to take a trip to Croatia, and started by flying into Split. The main industry in Split is tourism, and it has been boosted because it was one of the locations where they filmed numerous Game of Thrones episodes. Particularly, the entire city of Braavos was actually a small castle (which is really more like an apartment complex) located just 30 minutes north of Split in the town of Sibenik. As you can see in the above picture, Oana is standing in the same place a young women is walking down some stairs while Arya is in the ..read more

Many years ago, I was introduced to Molly Brown through the musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  My children were very young at the time and they loved the musical.  They chanted the Belly Up to the Bar Boys song for days after watching the musical performed at the Tuacahn Amphitheater in St George, Utah.  Most people might know of Molly Brown from the Debbie Reynolds rendition in The Unsinkable Molly Brown film from 1964.   Molly Brown was an actual person and this past week I had the opportunity to visit her Denver home.  This historical lady that impacted all ..read more

Buy a round trip ticket for the Funicular to Brunate Take the funicular to the top (about 1,500 feet from where you started) Stroll up to the Volta Lighthouse. Lighthouse of Brunate The “stroll” up to the lighthouse is more like a 30 – 45 minute endurance walk up the steep streets and paths to the top of the mountain where you will be rewarded with amazing panoramic views of Lake Como, the Alps, and the surrounding villages for many miles.  Remember to admire the homes along the way.  We saw one with a hanging swimming pool! Views from the Lighthouse of Brunate The lighthouse (Faro ..read more

Villa Carlotta Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo is a nice stop while visiting Lake Como.  The ferry from Como stops right in front of the Villa Carlotta and it stops in Tremezzo which is a 5 minute walk.  The villa was built in 1690 and it gets its name from Carlotta, the daughter of Princess Marianna the wife of Prince Albert of Prussia from the middle of the 19th century.  The villa was a wedding gift to Carlotta.  There is an entrance fee at Villa Carlotta which gives you access to the villa museum, the Italian garden and the botanical gardens.  The villa hosts a var ..read more

Villa del Balbianello Visiting Villa del Balbianello in Lenno is just a ferry ride or water taxi ride away from  from Como.  Once arriving in Lenno walk over to the group water taxi station to catch a ride to Villa del Barbianello. We waited about 20 minutes for the boat which seats 12 and we were numbers 13 and 14 so we had to wait for the next one which took about 15 minutes. Upon arriving at the Villa del Balbianello dock, we purchased tickets for the garden only since it was an hour wait for a tour of the interior of the buildings.  This tour would have taken about another 4 ..read more

San Francisco is known for its architecture, art, technology, and many other things, but did you know about the beaches?  Yes, the City by the Bay has beautiful beaches.  If you start on the Coastal Trail and head toward Lands End, you will come across several beaches.  China Beach has a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the ocean side — most people only see the Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz Island or Fisherman’s Wharf.   San Francisco’s China Beach Continue on the Coastal Trail and you will come upon Mile Rock Beach.  Yes, there are rocks and yes, it’s a b ..read more