I took the opportunity to take some photos while the weather was good.
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Arrival in Doha, Qatar
It was a day where nearly everything went wrong… I was woken up by a flight attendant for ‘my meal’. However it was obviously someone else’s meal because nothing on the tray was what I requested. Next I accidentally got on the wrong bus. I went from T5 to T2 which wasn’t terribly long, however…
Houston to Doha, Qatar
I’m off to Doha, Qatar today. I’m flying on British Airways to London and then Qatar Airways to Qatar. Surprisingly enough the queue at TSA was very short even though the government shutdown means they are working without getting paid. The British Airways flight is a nice Boeing 787-9 which is good because my eyes…
New York to Houston
The drive to Buffalo was uneventful. I went to Duff’s for wings before leaving…. hot, extra crispy. They were good, but not really special. I almost got 40,000 miles for getting in a little later, but I didn’t get bumped on the first flight. Small airplane to Newark. They offered a $800 voucher to be…
Houston to New York…
The annual Christmas pilgrimage… I’m flying into Buffalo because the rental car is cheaper and there were more options to get back to Houston. I volunteered for a later flight and bid the maximum 40,000 miles, I doubt I’ll be bumped, but if I do it will be worth it…. this round trip ticket was…
Germany and Czech Republic- Day 10 [Return from Germany]
Early start today. 0700 flight to Amsterdam. I checked out of the hotel, paid for the parking, drove to a petrol station, filled the rental car with diesel and drove back to the airport. I had no problem finding the rental car return, I think. I left the car in the parking lot with a…
Germany and Czech Republic – Day 9 [Munich, Germany]
I drove on the Autobahn from my hotel near the hotel to Wolfrathausen. In the evening I decided to park at a Park & Ride and take the metro to the Christmas Market in downtown Munich. The Christmas Market was not huge, but had a good selection of crafts, Christmas ornaments, food and of course…
Germany and Czech Republic Day 8 [Prague, Czech Republic to Munich, Germany]
My last day to explore Prague… I checked out of the hotel at around 0800 (sunrise) and left my luggage at the hotel. I walked to Charles Bridge first to take photos since the only other time I visited I didn’t make it across the bridge before I lost light. I walked to the Astronomical…
Germany and Czech Republic Day 7 [Prague, Czech Republic]
I woke up early this morning…. I was hoping for a sunrise… I should have known better. I hiked up the hill to get to a viewpoint on the lower part of the Prague Castle to try and take a picture of Prague with a sunrise. Light eventually got better, but no colors and then…
Germany and Czech Republic Day 6 [Prague, Czech Republic]
This morning I got a little later start than I wanted to… I started the morning by visiting the Prague Castle. I went to almost all of the areas except one before it closed. I did however go up in the south tower of St Vitus’ church at around 3PM and stayed for the sunset….
Germany and Czech Republic Day 5 [Kralupy to Prague, Czech Republic]
This afternoon I took the train from Kralupy to Prague. I attempted to find an ATM machine, but the ones near the train station wanted 125 CZK fee… I ordered and Uber to take me to my hotel. I’m staying at the Augustine Hotel… part of the Luxury Collection (SPG / Marriott). It is luxurious……
Germany and Czech Republic Day 4 [Hameln, Germany to Kralupy, Czech Republic]
I spent most of the day riding in a van on the autobahn. Luckily I have T-Mobile and was able to send emails and read some news along the way. The hotel I stayed at was SPORT HOTEL (which actually also has a hostel as well). The rooms were basic with very thin wooden doors,…
Germany and Czech Republic Day 3 [Hameln, Germany]
Today didn’t allow for much sight seeing. I did have a German lunch – chicken schnitzel. And I also had a German dinner with pork and beef tenderloin. I also tried Eier punch with my dessert.
Germany and Czech Republic – Day 2 [Amsterdam to Hannover to Hameln]
I arrived early on my flight from Houston, so I didn’t need to rush through the Schipol airport. My flight to Hannover was on a puddle jumper, but I was only on it for about 45 minutes. After arriving I got my luggage and walked to the train station… where you would expect to find…
Germany and Czech Republic- Day 1
I’m flying on KLM through Amsterdam to Hannover, Germany. After arriving in Hannover I will take a train for an hour until I reach Hameln, Germany. Eventually I’ll arrive in Prague, Czech Republic before taking a long train to Wolfrathausen, Germany and flying back from Munich, Germany. As you can see the seat makes you…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 18 [Departure from Auckland, New Zealand]
I woke up this morning, had a wonderful breakfast in the morning at the hotel and wandered down Queen Street for a bit. I found a shop with $10NZD shirts and bought a couple. They had a hilarious ‘Fake News’ game on sale. I missed the Christmas parade and took the SkyBus to the airport….
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 17 [Day 11 of Cruise – Auckland, New Zealand]
Unfortunately it’s time to disembark. The cruise was great with the exception of one tour. I dragged my bags for 20 minutes to the Sheraton. I walked back to the Queens wharf to find the tour guide. The tour visited many of the places I already had seen already walking to the tour. After the…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 16 [Day 10 of Cruise – Tauranga, New Zealand]
It appeared that it would be another chilly and rainy day. I had reservations to tour the Hobbiton Movie Set at 12:30, so it was a bit of a struggle to find things to do in the rain. I did find a small aviation museum near the airport. Like all aviation museums they had a…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 15 [Day 9 of Cruise – Sea Day]
I spent part of today resting, and part of it going through a few photos from Sydney. Tonight was the fancy formal dinner complete with prime rib and lobster. The lobster was fantastic. My prime rib was also good. For the starter I had French onion soup. For dessert I had baked Alaska and creme…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 14 [Day 8 of Cruise – Napier, New Zealand]
I woke up this morning to a cold, windy and rainy morning. I was nearly covered in Gore-Tex from head to toe when I left the ship in the morning (my Red Wing boots are waterproof, but not Gore-Tex unlike my pants, coat (with a hood), and gloves. Mysteriously the rain let up almost immediately…