Tag: Journey

Introduction to Christmas Markets

Inspired by our December 2024 trip to see Alpine Christmas Markets, we recently updated our website to include our first winter trip to Europe. It was in 2015 and we had an incredible experience on Trafalgar’s German Christmas Markets tour. We saw markets in historic medieval cities and others nestled in modern business districts. Visiting Rothenburg, Nürnberg, Dresden, and Berlin we learned not just about holiday traditions, but what life was like in post-WWII East Germany. From the food to the sites, this trip was arguably one of our most impactful since we’ve made multiple trips back to see these festive markets and hope to see more in the future.

Pictures from Frankfurt, Dresden, and Berlin.

Journey to Alpine Christmas Markets

December 2024 saw us embark on our third adventure to visit European Christmas Markets.  We joined Insight Vacations Alpine Christmas Markets tour visiting Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France.  Some of the cities we were experiencing for a second time (first time in Summer 2017 on an Uniworld Cruise Castles Along the Rhine) while others were inaugural visits.

We met some wonderful people from Australia and the US.  Ate some tasty local specialties.  Learned about Christmas traditions in the countries we toured.  Visited beautiful historical cities.  Overall, a spectacular adventure!

Our journey is now live on the website.  Check it out!

A Tour of the Emerald Isle

It has been almost 10 years since we visited Ireland on a Brendan Vacations guided tour.  We enjoyed a 9 day clockwise route of the entire island (including Northern Ireland) beginning and ending in Dublin.  We tasted whiskey, kissed a castle, encountered a cattle traffic jam, walked in the footsteps of “Giants”, experienced “The Titanic” before its ill-fated journey, and so much more.

The Journeys page now includes “Ireland 2014“.  Enjoy!

Bonjour – Merci – Au Revior:  3 simple words made our trip to France amazing!

A trip we had planned to take in 2020 finally happened in June 2023.  We spent 2 weeks (re)visiting sites in Paris, meeting new people on our Insight Tour to Normandy & the Loire Valley, and ending with 2 “magical” days at Disneyland Paris.

In 2003 we had the opportunity to visit Paris, France for a week (it was our first international trip).  James worked for part of the week and Julie enjoyed the sites with a few other spouses.  Fast forward, 20 years later, and we visited some of the same sites and areas we experienced the first time.  The difference between these 2 adventures – we are older and a bit braver with our willingness to seek out our own excursions.  This trip we experienced both ends of the spectrum with both self-guided and pre-planned travel.

On our own:  Visited several Paris sites, figured out how to take the train to and from Vernon (Giverny) to see Claude Monet’s house and gardens, rode the Metro across the city several times including a trip to Versailles (we never accidently went the wrong direction!), and rode the RER to Disneyland Paris toting our suitcases.

On the tour:  Coach ride to several well known sites North and West of Paris.  Rouen, Omaha Beach, Mont-St-Michel, Chateau de Chenonceau, and Chartres to name a few.  Without the coach tour, we probably would not have seen the beautiful country side or learned about the history of this area.

The website now includes this trip, our daily activities, and a smattering of pictures. 

Apprécier (Enjoy)!

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