I've mentioned my favorite way to travel (by cruise ship), and other travel opportunities I take. Now it's your turn.
Where do you like to travel?
What means? Do you like to cruise, travel by car or air? Do you like to go camping for your vacation? Maybe stay home?
I'd like to hear from you!
Monte
Monday, July 23, 2012
Who's Monte?
Hi - I'm Monte! Monte Carlo, to be exact. I was named in the city of Monte Carlo, my first cruise port of call back in 2006. Since then, I've traveled to 35 countries, 56 different ports of call, and sailed on seven different cruise ships!
I love to travel, especially on cruises. Mostly, I travel with my porters, Tricia and Jim, whom I allow to carry my baggage.
Cruising isn't the only form of travel I do. I visit professional organizations, too. I've been to six different Society for Technical Communication (STC) annual conferences, countless Northeast Ohio STC (NEO STC) meetings and Socials, and too many board (bored) meetings to count. NEO STC considers me their mascot - I like to let them think that, since I get special treatment.
Tricia often consults me during STC conferences. I help keep her sane there.
I also allow Tricia and Jim to travel domestically with me. Michigan is my favorite travel state. It's right next door to Ohio, and only ~2 hours to the border. I've been up & down that state, from Detroit all the way up to Copper Harbor in the Keweenaw Peninsula - as far North as you can go. What do I love about Michigan? Its State Parks, National Lakeshores, sandy 450 ft. dunes, beautiful lighthouse, the Mighty Mac Bridge, the Soo Locks, the UP, the endless forests, the pristine shorelines of Lake Superior, its clean, clean air up there, and fun in Frankenmuth!
I love to travel, especially on cruises. Mostly, I travel with my porters, Tricia and Jim, whom I allow to carry my baggage.
Cruising isn't the only form of travel I do. I visit professional organizations, too. I've been to six different Society for Technical Communication (STC) annual conferences, countless Northeast Ohio STC (NEO STC) meetings and Socials, and too many board (bored) meetings to count. NEO STC considers me their mascot - I like to let them think that, since I get special treatment.
Tricia often consults me during STC conferences. I help keep her sane there.
I also allow Tricia and Jim to travel domestically with me. Michigan is my favorite travel state. It's right next door to Ohio, and only ~2 hours to the border. I've been up & down that state, from Detroit all the way up to Copper Harbor in the Keweenaw Peninsula - as far North as you can go. What do I love about Michigan? Its State Parks, National Lakeshores, sandy 450 ft. dunes, beautiful lighthouse, the Mighty Mac Bridge, the Soo Locks, the UP, the endless forests, the pristine shorelines of Lake Superior, its clean, clean air up there, and fun in Frankenmuth!
I'll be posting more about my travels as I can. I just wanted to introduce myself! Hi!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Peterhof Palace - St. Petersburg, Russia
13 July 2011 - on our Baltic/ Scandinavian/ Russian cruise on Emerald Princess.
Had to get up really early today to meet our tour at 7:15am to visit Peterhof Palace. Princess warned us about the crowds at Peterhof, and they were right! It takes 90 minutes to get to the palace, mostly due to traffic in the city. Really only ~18 miles from St. Petersburg.
After all that time on the bus, naturally, the whole group had to use the restrooms. You'd think, with 10,000 visitors a day, they'd have large, modern, restroom facilities - maybe like at Blosssom. But NO. Seems the same bathrooms as when the palace was built. OK - after they invented plumbing. I hear there were only 5 stalls in the women's room. Took about an hour out of our day for just this break! Crazy.
Anyway, the palace was IMPRESSIVE! Countless wood carvings, covered in gold leaf, and so many domes on the roof, statue figures, ballrooms, throne rooms, dressing rooms, you name it, just dripping in gold. No wonder gold's so expensive today, huh?
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but we bought a set of postcards that just don't do the place justice. I walked into so many rooms totally overwhelmed. My jaw just dropped!
Tricia and Jim had to wear protective covers on their shoes - boy, did they look silly! But it protected all those gorgeous inlaid wood floors.
Outside the palace were massive fountain gardens - also dripping in gold. You can see down the canal that leads from the fountains all the way to the Gulf of Finland. Impressively huge land.
So many tourists - pains they are - just stand in front of everything while someone takes their photos. Really hard to get pictures without some stranger in it. Oh well.
They warned us about pickpockets there, too. In Russia, your pockets are not your own!
Had to get up really early today to meet our tour at 7:15am to visit Peterhof Palace. Princess warned us about the crowds at Peterhof, and they were right! It takes 90 minutes to get to the palace, mostly due to traffic in the city. Really only ~18 miles from St. Petersburg.
After all that time on the bus, naturally, the whole group had to use the restrooms. You'd think, with 10,000 visitors a day, they'd have large, modern, restroom facilities - maybe like at Blosssom. But NO. Seems the same bathrooms as when the palace was built. OK - after they invented plumbing. I hear there were only 5 stalls in the women's room. Took about an hour out of our day for just this break! Crazy.
Anyway, the palace was IMPRESSIVE! Countless wood carvings, covered in gold leaf, and so many domes on the roof, statue figures, ballrooms, throne rooms, dressing rooms, you name it, just dripping in gold. No wonder gold's so expensive today, huh?
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but we bought a set of postcards that just don't do the place justice. I walked into so many rooms totally overwhelmed. My jaw just dropped!
Tricia and Jim had to wear protective covers on their shoes - boy, did they look silly! But it protected all those gorgeous inlaid wood floors.
Outside the palace were massive fountain gardens - also dripping in gold. You can see down the canal that leads from the fountains all the way to the Gulf of Finland. Impressively huge land.
So many tourists - pains they are - just stand in front of everything while someone takes their photos. Really hard to get pictures without some stranger in it. Oh well.
They warned us about pickpockets there, too. In Russia, your pockets are not your own!
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