Vic Balshaw
Major General
Come next Monday morning Hil and I will be off on our wanders again, first stop a couple of nights in Los Angelis before taking a flight to New York where we have a packed schedule of shows, and seeing the sights. This time I'm hoping for a day in the 'Intrepid' and the associated exhibits. We then take Amtrak to Boston where we pick up a tour group which over a number of days winds its way up the coast to Novas Scotia and Prince Edward Island before backtracking an alternate route to Boston.
It's then onward by air to Nashville where we pick up our second tour group which again over a number of days takes us into the deep south and yes, this includes 'Graceland', SWMBO insists. On this tour we end up in New Orleans for a couple of days. From here we rely on Amtrak again, taking an overnighter back up north to Newark where we will flip across the Atlantic to Frankfurt and a couple of nights sipping the waters of the Octoberfest and pigging out on……….well I've just mentioned it.
While in Frankfurt were doing a day outing to Rothenburg, it will be a long day out, but I believe well worth it. It's then on to Lisbon, Portugal where again we connect with our third tour group which will take us over 11 days, up to Porto and then on a river cruise up the Rio Douro (River of Gold) which will actually take us into Salamanca in Spain. The cruise then returns slowly to Porto where we will fly down to Faro and Albufeira on the Algarve for a few days rest on the beach. After this we start the trek home, flying via Frankfurt to Bangkok where we will lay over for a few days to help get the internal clocks back in order before the final leg back to Canberra. So with luck we should make it back in time for Halloween at the end of October.
It's then onward by air to Nashville where we pick up our second tour group which again over a number of days takes us into the deep south and yes, this includes 'Graceland', SWMBO insists. On this tour we end up in New Orleans for a couple of days. From here we rely on Amtrak again, taking an overnighter back up north to Newark where we will flip across the Atlantic to Frankfurt and a couple of nights sipping the waters of the Octoberfest and pigging out on……….well I've just mentioned it.
While in Frankfurt were doing a day outing to Rothenburg, it will be a long day out, but I believe well worth it. It's then on to Lisbon, Portugal where again we connect with our third tour group which will take us over 11 days, up to Porto and then on a river cruise up the Rio Douro (River of Gold) which will actually take us into Salamanca in Spain. The cruise then returns slowly to Porto where we will fly down to Faro and Albufeira on the Algarve for a few days rest on the beach. After this we start the trek home, flying via Frankfurt to Bangkok where we will lay over for a few days to help get the internal clocks back in order before the final leg back to Canberra. So with luck we should make it back in time for Halloween at the end of October.
