Sue's & Linda's great adventure

Photos: Chacabuco

suziqtn — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 05:17:00 GMT

We took the famous Carretera Austral which runs from Puerto Montt to the Simpson River Reserve and then onto Coyhaique (co hike a).

Photos: Chongqing

suziqtn — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 02:24:00 GMT

Home to pandas, beautiful gardens and factories. In order to improve the air quality around Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, many of the factories were moved from Beijing to the area around Chongqing.

Photos: Xian

suziqtn — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 05:11:00 GMT

The reason Xian is most famous is for the discovery of the Terra Cotta Army in 1974.

Photos: Shibaozhai

suziqtn — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 11:28:00 GMT

At the top of Shibaozhai is a three-storied hall dedicated to Manjusri built during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor (1850–1861), called the Purple Rain Pavilion. In the year 1819, the nine-story pavilion was constructed adjacent to the cliff to aid people in getting to the top of the hill.

Photos: Three Gorges Dam

suziqtn — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 04:53:00 GMT

This is the largest in the world. Quite massive.

Photos: Jingzhou

suziqtn — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 10:10:00 GMT

There's a beautiful museum here and a great school.

Photos: Tiananmen Square

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 11:22:00 GMT

Near the Forbidden City

Photos: Great Wall

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 09:19:00 GMT

The Great Wall goes for several thousand miles and was unified during the Qin Dynasty about 221 BC. Take note, Donald Trump, it didn't keep the thundering hoards out.

Photos: The Forbidden City

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 02:45:00 GMT

This complex was finished in 1420. It's located in Central Beijing.

Photos: Beijing

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 02:42:00 GMT

We visited the Ming Tombs, the Great Wall, Old Town and the Forbidden City. We also saw the Bird's Nest from the 2008 Olympics.

Photos: Old Town Beijing

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 02:16:00 GMT

Alleyways, called hutong, weave across central Beijing in the old city. This is the only place where people actually own their homes.

Photos: A Tea House in Beijing

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 02:07:00 GMT

How can you not LOVE this stuff?

Photos: The Ming Tombs

suziqtn — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 01:21:00 GMT

Located about 12 miles NW of Beijing, this is the site of the burial of 13 of the 16 emperors.

Photos: Shanghai

suziqtn — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 04:02:00 GMT

Shanghai sits of the banks of the Huangpu and Yangtze rivers on the SE coast of China. It is the country's most populous and vibrant city.

Sue & Phyllis go to China

suziqtn — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 03:56:00 GMT

In October, 2018, my Colorado neighbor, Phyllis, and I went to China. We flew to Shanghai, a beautiful city, then cruised the Yangtze river and the Three Gorges region on Viking, flew to Chongqing where we saw the pandas and went to Xian to admire the terra cotta warriors. From there we flew to Beijing and visited the Ming Tombs and climbed the Great Wall (puff, puff). Great fun.

Photos: China

suziqtn — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 03:51:00 GMT

This shows the itinerary we followed and the group with whom I traveled.

Sue & Phyllis go to China

suziqtn — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 03:45:00 GMT

The hardy people of the Falkland Islands

suziqtn — Tue, 6 Feb 2018 04:48:00 GMT

The Falklands are very remote and the weather is very windy and cold, so the people are pretty hardy and self-sufficient. He’d told a story about how he had his pregnant girlfriend on the back of his bike. (Before the war in 1982, there weren’t any roads there and they road off into the hinterlands which are full of potholes.) He said you often don’t see potholes (I’m talking 3’ deep or more) and he saw one too late to avoid it, so he decided the best thing to do would be to just gun it and hope he could jump the bike over it. He did. Then he said he realized the bike didn’t feel quite the same. It seemed lighter, somehow. He looked behind him and his girlfriend wasn’t there. So, he turned around, and, sure enough, there she was in the pothole. He said, “are you okay?” And, in typical Falkland Island woman fashion, she said, “yes, just help me get out of here.” Pretty funny.

Entertainment on ship

suziqtn — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 07:01:00 GMT

In general, the entertainment was quite good. We saw:

The Singers and Dancers of the Zaandam:

Variations

Rock Legends

Classique

Dance

The Indonesian Crew Show (we loved the 1000 hands)

Tango Passion (superb)

Naki Ataman (pianist -- superb)

Around the World With

Andy Bunger (amazing -- many instruments)

Luke Burrage (juggler -- very funny and good)

Francisco Yglesia (harpist)

A Variety Show featuring Luke and Francisco

Emperors of Soul (first time we saw them, we weren't impressed, but second time they were great, especially the man who sang Try a Little Tenderness)

Andrew Diessner (tenor)

Joe Devlin (magician)

X-Over Duo (classically trained, theoretically singing non-opera)

Movies:

Encounters at the End of the World (depressing as it shows the mess being made at McMurdo Base, in particular)

The Mountain Between Us

The Lost City of Z

Frozen Planet Live: A Visual and Musical Journey

Mahjong Women

suziqtn — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 04:10:00 GMT

Linda was going to learn Mahjong while on the trip and the other Linda and Evi both wanted to learn as well. One day we were playing in the game room. At the end of the 2nd hand, something came up that I wanted to mention to the 3 of them. After I finished, a man who was with a foursome playing bridge came over to our table, got right in my face and in a very loud voice said, "you are yelling and we are trying to place bridge. You need to hold your voice down."

When we finished the next round and were leaving because we wanted to go to a presentation, I went over to his table and said, "I apologize if I was talking too loud, but I'm deaf in this ear and didn't realize it; however, I also play bridge and if you can't concentrate well enough to filter out a little noise, then perhaps you should quit playing."

As I was walking out, his wife screamed out, "you're a bitch,just like all the women who play Mahjong."

I kept on going, but Evi, god bless her, turned around and said, "you win, you're the nastiest."

I've never had such an experience on a trip before.