Travel Stories, Cruise Reviews, and Cultural Adventures

Honolulu's Waikiki Beach hotels are introducing new hygiene measures.  The major brands are all developing programs to insure that people who brave the world of travel are as safe and protected as possible in these stressful times. ROAD TRIPPING HAZARDS ARE LESSENED BY CONSCIENTIOUS HOTEL PROTOCOL STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER and hotel marketing departments Hotels are raising their sanitation standards to meet COVID-19. Closets will be disinfected in many

After a closure of nearly three months, Yusupov Palace is again open. Its opulent rooms and appointments reflect the grandeur of royalty...

St. Petersburg's architecture reflects its glory days as a city in Imperial Russia. The Hermitage Museum is home to one of the world's...

Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved of any city in the world. Tourism opens up there this week. A stunning 19th Century...

The view from Channel Islands Hampton Inn is one of a lovely marina, offering spectacular sunsets.  The hotel is open for business, minus...

Lake Atitlan offers beauty, culture and an insight into ancient ways of doing things. This woman is washing for her family. These young...

A favorite breakfast of one perfectly over-easy egg on European grain bread, fruit, cheese, coffee -- yogurt and walnuts on their way --...

This produce stand in Bangkok also offered beautiful flowers for our hotel room -- and fruit for a midnight snack.  This array of Dutch...

The 2020 season at Oregon Shakespeare Festival includes ten promising productions in three venues. Here, the Allen Elizabethan Theatre...

Lovely hotels are part of the allure of Palm Springs, here the pool area of the Hilton Palm Springs in the heart of downtown. MORE LAID...

Bohemian Bus Beautiful represents a delightful retro-inspired alternative to traditional hotels and hostelries. CONVERTED BUS PROVIDES...

If the Amalfi Coast calls you, Naples is where you'll likely land first, via airplane or ship. Then on to Positano, or perhaps charming...

New Year's Eve lights are spectacular in Bangkok, from the beautiful hotels and a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River. Times Square in...

When in Tuscany one Christmas, we took a vineyards and wine making tour. These lovely casks are in a Greve winery. A Cuban Christmas...

+ Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in Yorkshire is the largest of  its kind in Europe, a vast ruin  open to the sky. We visited with...

As artfully designed Blue Pepper opens for the evening, Cookie pauses with staff to survey the Amsterdam restaurant. Awaiting the first...

Trained historians and knowledgeable graduate students and professionals lead interested tourists to a series of both well    known and...

Remembering the days of yore, Christene "Cookie" Meyers checks out the John and Yoko suite at Amsterdam Hilton.  BEATLES FANS VISIT...

Autumn arrives in the northern hemisphere. Here, Norway's  gentle slopes and hills resemble parts of Montana. FIND BEAUTY IN THE...

Viewing the New York skyline from the water aboard Hornblower makes for a splendid evening. Lady Liberty aglow viewed from  a Hornblower...