This bustling city was almost totally rebuild in 1945, a mix of old and new. The gothic cultural center The famous "palm Tree" landmark for the royal promenade. The holy cross church home to "Chopin's" Heart in a column, plus hommage to "Copernicus" and the solar system. The not so OLD, "old town". Construction everywhere, but a fun city and GREAT food.

On the way to the city of Vilnuis a stop at the Hill of Crosses is a Must. The beautiful old town Gediminas Tower, St Anne's s church, the Jewish quarter so many treats at every corner. Trakai Castle home to the Lithuanian dukes is a must.

This lovely city which is now renamed the "Little Paris of the North". So much to see and your feet will be worn out. From the delightful old town to the lovely "House of Blackheads". The city is filled with Gothic and Baroque churches, and lovely river that leads to the ocean. The Lively Central market located in Zepplin hangers. This city is a MUST return.

Tallin, a lovely friendly town on the Baltic and home of the "singing revolution" that eventually led to withdrawal of Russian occupation and contributed to the collapse of the USSR dominance. With so much to see I had to pace myself. The Seaplane harbor museum The once secretive KGB spying center located on the top floor of a hotel. Lovely Old town. The Russian Orthodox cathedral and other churches, plus Petr the great summer palace. Lovely city.

Visited Milan for a quick 3 days; stayed downtown/city center where most of the sights are within walking distance, but lots of crowds and crossing the street in challenging, here goes the highlights; Sempine park.. large and lots to see and the Arco della... can be viewed from the park Sforzesco Castle.. Huge Bridge of mermaids..in the park Milan Cathedral/Dumo... the mother of all cathedrals simply Incredible, defiantly the crown jewel. Visit the museum to see the originals. Outside the Dumo a lovely covered shopping plaza.

For years I have been thinking of visiting this country with a mysterious past located on the beautiful Ionian peninsula, so after a year of planning I was on my way. This hidden gem that is yet to be discovered by tourists has great food, cheap prices, lovely beaches and tons of archaeological sights, old and new. I entered Albania through the city of Shkoder which is located between Lake Shkoder and the Albanian alps. Since we were driving through, we made a stop at the highest point in town and walked around the ruins of the castle of Rozafa. Great views of the area. We then drove further south and entered the capital city of Tirana. Booked a terrific stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, located about a 37 minute walk to the town center. So much to see: The tunnels, The Pyramid, Bunkart 1&2, city square, House of Leaves, interesting architecture , churches even a piece of the Berlin wall and the Dajti Express Cable Car which was amazing - The longest cable car in Europe with great views of the city. So much to see. After a few days in Tirana, I was headed to the beach town of Himare by way of Vlore and Zvernec Island., a monastery in the middle of nowhere. The drive through the mountains was interesting with some breathtaking views. Himare is a small beach town on the coast. We stayed in the lovely REA Boutique Hotel, which is a small 8 room very modern hotel on the water. The town is very easy to navigate, and we decided to walk to the castle ruins (lots of castle ruins in Albania). At the top, great views but not much else around. A few days in Himare, and we were off again, heading to Gjirokastra, a town with many hills and stone houses, plus a castle. before finally ending in Berat, our final destination. Berat is a lovely town surrounded by mountains and located on a river. The town is very picturesque. We stayed in the first independent hotel in Albania and had to make a morning climb up and down. We visited Mosques and the only castle in Albania that people actually still live in. We visited the Osum canyon and got to swim in some very cold water, saw waterfalls and even stopped at the Brides Hole. Visiting the Berat castle was interesting and the wife went to a cooking class with people who lived in the castle. The daily climb to my hotel room was great exercise. On the way back to Tirana following 3 exciting days in Berat, we stopped at the Karavast Lagoon, the largest in the country, and had in interesting lunch at a fish only all you can eat for one price restaurant. Put Albania on your list; it was a wonderful country and dealing with Tour Albania was nothing short of a lovely country waiting to be discovered. Highly recommend you deal with "Visit Albania Tour Operator", TOP NOTCH outfit.

In my counting quest to visit all the Balkan countries, Podgorica, Montenegro was next on my list. Even though the city was totally destroyed during WW II and is often considered uninteresting, I planned a 3 night visit. Arriving at the small airport outside the city, it was a step back into the 1970's. I used https://g.co/kgs/9kS86S for a quick airport pickup( great outfit to deal with) and stayed at the lovely “Hilton Podgorica Crna Gora ”. My first impression of the city was very positive, lots of trees parks, light traffic and very walk able. Day #1 visited the amazing and heart warming “Ostrog Orthodox Monastery” this amazing place is situated against an almost vertical background, high up in the large rock of Ostroška Greda about a 1 hr drive from town, it is dedicated to Saint Basil of Ostrog, who we got to see his tomb. Following a lovely lunch in the mountains we went to the other Niagara falls/surprising lovely and fun. Day #2 With a population of around 200.000 this capital city has a lot to offer, we wondered old town, various squares I discovered the city by going to “Old Ribnica River Bridge and following the path along the river and eventually getting to the “Millennium Bridge” which connects both sides of the city. We then walked to the lovely Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ” before making our walk back to our starting point and I even got a haircut. Day #3 just discovered more of the city and its “brutalist” architecture, small shops, restaurants and wonderful people. Give this lovely little city a chance, following our visit to Podgorcia we opted for private transportation with https://g.co/kgs/9kS86S yet again to take us to Albania.

Icy Strait Point was built for cruise ships; the port is built around the restored Hoonah Packing Company Cannery complex. The port is small but very well laid out with a few trails to walk, but the best thing to do is walk the beach and whale watch (instead of spending $$ on a whale watching excursion) do this as soon as you arrive. Below is a picture of a whale feeding 50 feet from shore, ignore the expensive tours and just follow the whale. Take the free shuttle to the tiny town of Hoonah, make your way to the local library (FREE internet) and stop to have lunch at Mary’s Inn (see below, you overlook the water and great scenery), ask the waitress for what is fresh. Walk the 1 mile back to the port,  tour the fishing dock and the coastline, great opportunities to watch bald eagles in their natural habitat.  Great way to spend a day and take in the atmosphere.

I arrive at Juneau on a cloudy day with a tad of a drizzle (but before long, the sun starts to shine); suggest you ride the cruise ship shuttle to downtown as the walk is easy but lengthy. The downtown area is easy to navigate. For Juneau I embarked on a bucket list item: landing on a glacier and dog sledding, as well as trying a tad of mushing on the glacier. I booked my adventure with Coastal (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g31020-d1793946-r280020257-Coastal_Helicopters-Juneau_Alaska.html) and cannot say enough great things about this once in a lifetime experience. The vastness of landing on the Herbert Glacier is a one of a kind experience! Then getting a chance to interact with the lovely dogs before embarking on a mushing ride along the glacier field is special. The helicopter ride makes the experience that much more unique. Another checkmark off the bucket list.

My final Alaska stop and it was superb. Starting the day I had no plan but after assessing the situation booked a fun local area tour with sourdough tours (http://www.aksourdoughtours.com/)the tour was about 2 hrs and gave you a wonderful orientation of the city, Totem Park and a few other places; we were also given FREE tickets to the “Dolly Museum” (well worth the visit) as part of the package. Following our sourdough city fun, we booked on of the most amazing adventures with “Promech Air” ( know known as Taquan Air to do a misty Fjords fly tour in a sea plane and a landing inside the Fjords on a lake…. a MUST for any visitor, yes it is pricey but a lifetime memory. Following the seaplane adventure we were not done yet and did our town walk visiting Creek street and stop at Dolly’s Museum(history and fun) and braved the 384 steps on Front Street, this is a fun port.

OK, I have been to St Martin/St Maarten many times, went to the nice beaches, watched airplanes land of Maho beach and toured the island on a boat so what is next? Did a little research and discovered a Yoda/Star Wars museum downtown, perhaps this was an overrated tourist trap so I decided to stop in while walking around town, Wow I was blown away. I am a fan of some science fiction movies and a huge fan of the Star Wars trilogy(episodes 4-6) but I never expected to see an amazing display of a variety of Science fiction characters, collections, pictures, film clips I could go on and on. This place is amazing, even if you are not a scifi fan you need to drop in and visit the museum, Very well laid out and the displays are awesome. The owners Nick and Gloria are wonderful people filled with knowledge. Defiantly will have to make a return trip.

“I AM BACK” and once again Hollywood Beach, Florida was to host and collect more of my money. On this trip, which was for 10 days, I was joined by two of my daughters. Booked a “small” casa/apt which was 24 steps from the Broadwalk but directly in front of a public parking lot which made things interesting throughout the stay. Our first trip highlight was meeting up with our friends from past years, Gloria and Wiley Slaughter... it was wonderful seeing them after all this time. We enjoyed dinner with them at our favorite hangout Taverna Opa. The next day we met back up for a stroll, a little shopping and lunch on the famous Los Olas Boulevard and then took the Hop on Hop off water taxi. The water taxi cruised the Inter-coastal waterway, and we got to see Millionaire's Row of waterfront homes - a great day and fun times with good friends. Wish we had more time so we could get off at the many stops and discover the surroundings... guess another trip needs to be planned. Besides our nightly walks on the lovely fun Broadwalk, we added a few new restaurants to our list. From Peruvian cuisine at (http://pachamankarestaurant.com/) to Good BBQ(https://www.joesgrills.com/). Spending time with our daughters, Josephine and Janine, was special. My daily visit to the Margaritaville Resort Flowrider took its toll on my body, but the ocean and constant cool breeze made the trip wonderful. “I WILL BE BACK”.