To view the northern lights, my wife, Carolyn, and I took a 12-day/12-night round-trip “Norwegian Coastal Voyage” out of Bergen aboard the MS Trollfjord of Hurtigruten (Bellevue, WA; 866/552-0371, www.hurtigruten.com), Nov. 20-Dec. 1, 2014. The sky show and the beauty of coastal Norway did not disappoint.
Drug cartels in the west-central- Mexico state of Jalisco fought back against government forces attempting to dismantle their groups in May, burning buildings and cars and shooting down an army helicopter, killing three soldiers.
(Second of two parts)
Last month I related the first part of my experiences during a 6-month European tour in 2014. Today I am continuing my story.
Next on my program was a tour of Ireland, a country through which my late wife, Flory, and I had bicycled by ourselves many years ago.
Bill Reed continues his account of traveling with his wife, Betty, through Australia’s Kimberley region.
In the Mediterranean’s largest recorded loss of life from a migrant ship incident, at least 800 people died on a ship holding African migrants heading from Libya to Europe on April 19 when it capsized after crashing into a merchant ship attempting to assist it. The captain of the migrant ship has been charged in Italy with manslaughter.
On April 24, 14 migrants, part of a group of more than 50 traveling on foot through Turkey and Greece from Somalia and Afghanistan, were struck by a train and killed in Macedonia.
(First of two parts)
To celebrate my upcoming 90th birthday on Dec. 26, 2014, I traveled to Europe for six months. My journey started in Florida on March 14, 2014, and I returned to Seattle on Sept. 9. Even my rollator, a 4-wheeled walker, did not impede my travels!
You’re probably wondering what I did during those six months.
8-day, 7-night cruise on Po River aboard Uniworld’s River Countess with wine expert Bill Traverso, Sept. 13-20, 2015. Highlights: City tour of Venice/medieval walled city of Padua or canal-filled Chioggia/pasta-making workshop in Bologna or art tour in Ferrara/Po Delta Nature Reserve or Ravenna, home to 1,500-year-old mosaics/in Verona, ancient Roman amphitheater. Cabin, $3,649 ppdo or $5,074 single. Food & Wine Trails (Santa Rosa, CA; 800/367-5348, http://foodandwinetrails.com).
Gunmen from the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab invaded the campus of Garissa University College in Garissa, northeastern Kenya, on April 2, killing 148 people and wounding at least 75.
The gunmen took more than 500 students hostage, then released Muslim students but kept Christian ones. Authorities reported that the four gunmen involved in the attack were killed, two of them by police before the hostages were taken. Most of the hostages were saved.
