Day: August 3, 2026
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Shanghai
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At 7 a.m. we headed to the train station which was very modern and clean. We traveled about 190 miles per hour. It took about six hours for the trip to Shanghai. Shanghai is very different from Beijing. It looks more like a European city. That is because the English, French, and…
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Beijing, Day Four
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Today we toured the Arts District. Mr. Wong picked us up to go there. Artists congregated there during the Cultural Revolution. The art is all Modern, and there is a lot of kitschy stuff. But it was interesting. Getting there we seemed to pass through the business district with the high-end hotels. Very modern.…
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Beijing, Day Three
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Everyone goes to the park on Sunday morning. We were no exception. After breakfast we headed to Jingshan Park. The park is a historic, 57-acre imperial park located directly north of the Forbidden City. It was originally an imperial garden for the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and served as the backyard to the Forbidden…
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Beijing, Day Two
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Today was the Great Wall Day. The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made architectural project in the world, stretching over 13,171 miles across 15 northern Chinese provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, this immense system of fortifications winding over mountains and deserts stands as an…
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Beijing
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Day One We arrived in Beijing and were taken to our business hotel. We can’t even brush our teeth with the tap water. Each room has a pot to boil water in for that purpose, or to drink if you want to cool it, or use to make tea. We each get one…
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Prague, Old Town
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Our tour of the Old Town started with the Charles Bridge. There are 30 sculptures of saints and other important people. The two most visited are St. Wenceslaus, the Duke of Bohemia and patron of the city, and St. John of Nepomuk. If you touch his statue it is supposed to bring…
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Prague, Lesser Town
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Budapest to Prague It was a six-hour trip Prague. The journey took us through the towns of Bratislava in Slovakia; Brno in the Czech Republic and Kutna Hora were we stopped to see the Bone Church. We could not take pictures, but the inside was built with the bones of people. Creepy. We…
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Hungary
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Budapest Budapest is the union of two cities and straddles the banks of the Danube River. Buda, with its traditional hillside, is on one side, and modern Pest on the other. The Chain Bridge unites them. We began in Pest, where we saw the National Opera House and historic Heroes’ Square. The…
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Croatia
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Before we docked, we were serenaded with a Tamburica Band. I got a picture of one of the musicians with a Tamburica. It is a stringed instrument believed to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia. We drove through Vukovar to get to Osijek is the fourth largest city and is located where the…
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Serbia
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En route to Serbia, we traveled through the Iron Gate, one of Europe’s most dramatic natural wonders. The narrow gorges that slice through the Carpathian Mountains to the north and Balkan Mountains to the south are spectacular. The towering white limestone cliffs draped with forest hide ancient remains. On the Serbian side, Trajan’s…
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Bulgaria
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Our river boat, The Lif, was very long and different from the ocean cruise ship. The name means Life. In Norse mythology, Lif and the male Lifthrasir are two mortals who are foretold that by hiding in the forest of Hodmimir, they will survive Ragnarok—the end of the world, when Heidal…
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Bucharest
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On our first day in Bucharest, we toured the city. We started at Piata Constitutiei, one of the largest public squares in Bucharest with the Palace of Parliament. It is the heaviest building on Earth and the world’s second-largest administrative building after the Pentagon. Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu commissioned it in 1984 as the “House of the Republic.”…
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Transylvania, Day Two
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Brasov to Bucharest In the morning, left for Bran Castle–Dracula’s Castle– a national landmark and legendary fortress. Built between 1377 and 1388 by King Louis I of Hungary. it was to be a fortress against the northern expansion of the Ottomans into Transylvania. In 1388 the castle was completed and…
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Transylvania
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Bucharest to Brasov We arrived in Bucharest, Romania, about 3 pm. We got to the hotel, unpacked, and ventured out to find dinner. Walking a long block along a busy street, we crossed and saw a small Bistro. We entered and were ushered into a booth. It was family run, and the…