Italy 2014

PictureDuomo in Milan
In the summer of 2014 we traveled to Milan, Verona and Brescia in Italy for our summer vacation.  The major reason for this vacation was to hear opera in the Arena in Verona.  This arena, constructed about 1900 years ago is still used for concerts of all sorts.  We had visited Verona several years ago on a trip primarily to Venice and promised ourselves that we would return during a summer so we could hear an outdoor opera.


The flight into Italy started out on a bad note -- we got to the MBS airport (Midland, Bay City, Saginaw -- located in Freeland, MI) for out 8:30 a.m. flight only to have the flight cancelled.  We were originally scheduled to delay by a day, but were able to work with the agent to get a flight out that night -- on a different route through Frankfurt Germany and get into Milan the late afternoon of the day we were supposed to land -- so that we did not lose even a single day in our hotel.


We were able to figure out how to take the train from the airport to the center of Milan.  Relatively easy trip.  The central train station in Milan is only a few blocks from the Hotel Michelangelo where we stayed.  There is also a subway station at the train station, so it was convenient to travel to sites we wanted to see (or to La Scala for the opera) if we did not feel like walking.

Ireland 2022

We traveled to Ireland in 2022 on a hiking trip to the Kenmare region with Road Scholar. It was out first hiking trip. And I think we learned a lot about Ireland and about ourselves.

First of all, the group was 1 6 other hikers, plus a leader and a bus driver for a total of 18. That was about the right size for us. I’m not sure that we would want to have more than this on a tour.

Secondly, we liked hiking, both the physicality and the mental challenge of cooperating with others.

Mostly, I thought it was a great country to visit because the people were friendly and the land was beautiful!

Festival oh Holiday Lights 2015, Pennsylvania

visited with the Drozd's and went to Festival with them and grandkids.