Tag: culture
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Hawai’i–The Big Island
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One year we went to Hawai’i a week early to explore the Big Island on our way to Kaua’i. We landed in Kona/Kailua, rented a car, and found our way to our hotel on the beach in Kailua. Already, the island of Hawai’i has a different feel from Kaua’i. The Big…
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Nepali Coast–West Side
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The Napali Coast is a 17-mile stretch of Kauai’s West Coast with stunning beaches, sea cliffs, and waterfalls. Napali Coast unfolds as a 16-mile stretch of awe-inspiring beauty on the island of Kaua’i, extending from the remote Polihale Beach in the southwest to Ke’e Beach on the north shore. This…
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The Coconut Coast
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I will start here since this is where we stay–half way between the rugged beauty of the North Shore and the nearly perpetual sun of the South Shore. The royal coconut coast on the East side, has beautiful white sand beaches backed by a mountain range with the magnificent Mt.…
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Kaua’i–The Garden Isle
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Nearly thirty years ago, we took our first trip to Kaua’i and fell in love with the island. Having gone there yearly since that first trip, Kapa’a has become our home away from home. Geologically, Kaua’i is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is the fourth largest. It contains the wettest spot…
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Kotor
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After leaving the island and returning to Perast, we went on to Kotor. A UNESCO world heritage site, the well preserved medieval walled town of Kotor sits at the foot of Mt. Lovćen at the southern end of the Boka Bay in Kotor Bay. Kotor’s fortifications grew up St John’s Hill from…
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Perast
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Perast was our first destination. We had a short walking tour of the historic old town. First we saw the Church of St. John the Baptist, located in the western part of the town. It was first mentioned in documents in 1595 when one of its church bells was made. At Perast…
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Montenegro
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Montenegro, situated along the Adriatic coast, is a small country with a millennia-long past. Its history spans ancient Illyrian tribes and Roman takeovers to medieval rulers and Ottoman exploits, creating a dynamic patchwork quilt of ethnicities, beliefs, and political upheavals. Our destination in Montenegro was the town of Igalo in the…
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Dubrovnik
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Pearl of the Adriatic Dubrovnik Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is celebrated as one of the globe’s most impeccably preserved medieval cities. Once a formidable rival to Venice in trade, its grandeur is evident in its vast stone walls, constructed between the 11th and 17th centuries, which encircle…
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Sipan
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Once part of the Republic of Ragusa, Sipan is the biggest island of Elaaphiti group and has two small settlements. Wealthy Ragusa families built their summer palaces and villas on this island. Its history dates at least from the 1370s when the island’s name was first mentioned in historical documents.…
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Šibenik
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Šibenik is a historic town in central Dalmatia. Sibenik is the oldest Slavic town on the Croatian coast, possibly dating from the 11th century, although Croats had reached the surrounding area a few centuries earlier. The town intermittently switched between Croatian and Venetian rule over the following few centuries, with…
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Korcula Island and Town
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Korcula is the sixth largest island in the Aegean Sea; mountains run the length of it, rising to 1,800 ft. It has been inhabited since prehistoric times. According to legend, Korcula’s Old Town was founded by Trojan prince Antenor, who also founded the city of Padua in Italy. The island was named…
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Hvar–Hvar Town and Stari Grad
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Our next island was Hvar. We docked in ‘Stari Grad and motored to Hvar Town first. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Hvar Town–a center of Adriatic civilization for thousands of years–was besieged by pirates. The people sought protection from the Venetians that led to a new ear of…
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Split
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Split is the second largest city in Croatia and the largest in Dalmatia. Centered around the Roman Palace of Emperor Diocletian, Split dates back to the 4th century C.E. When Diocletian abdicated in 305 C.E., he had already completed a lavish palace in Salona, now Split, in his native Dalmatia. It is a walled…
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Smiljan and Zadar
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The highway from Plitvice Lakes runs along the mountains, diving Croatia. In early times the mountains kept the Ottomans on the east side of the mountains and the Venetians on the West. Our next stop was Nikola Tesla’s home in Smiljan. There we saw the church where his father was an orthodox priest,…
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Zagreb
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We started in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital and largest city. Zagreb lies in the northern part of the country along the Sava River. It is on the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountains, foothills of the Dinaric Alps, close to the border with Slovenia. Zagreb’s history dates to Roman times. In 1094…
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Bethlehem
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Bethlehem is a West Bank City about five miles south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills. This is the town of Jesus’ birth. Tradition locates the site of his birth in a cave under the Church of the Nativity. St. Helena, Constantine’s mother, had a church built over the cave about 326 CE,…
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The Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Tabgha
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The Sea of Galilee is not a sea but a freshwater lake in northeast Israel. At 656 ft. below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth. It is fed mainly by the Jordan River which runs through it. Much of Jesus’ ministry occurred on its shores. And…
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Mt. Scopus and Herodium
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There is so many archeological sites in the area that date back thousands of years. Mt Scopus stands about 2,700 ft above sea level northeast of Jerusalem. Because of its height and location, it was called Lookout Mountain. It has been a strategic location as a base to attack Jerusalem…
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Judean Desert and Biet Sahur
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While the distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem across the desert is only about 70 mile, scholars suspect that the route Mary and Joseph took was closer to ninety miles. Part of that route went through the Judean Desert. We headed to the desert before sunrise. As I looked at the…
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A Day in Singapore
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Our trip to Bhutan took us through Singapore. We had about 22 hours there, an evening and 2/3 of the next day. We made the most of it taking the hop on hop off buses and spending much of the off time at the Botanical Garden. Singapore is an island nation. It…