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2022 Fall Semester Trip

#15 - Our first two weeks on the MSC Sinfonia cruise ship

11/30/2022

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We boarded the cruise ship in Venice, ready to embark on a 30-day cruising adventure from Venice to Capetown.  This first half of the cruise included ports in Croatia, Greece, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and 8 days at sea between ports.

Highlights:
1. Family Learning Hour each evening before dinner
2. Cruise dining options
3. Learning to play bridge
4. Visits to new countries for Erik, Greece and Saudi Arabia

Lowlights:
1. Lack of all-you-can-eat soft-serve ice cream
2. Single-use internet option

(click below-right to read more)

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#14 - A triumphant return to Slovenia and some days in Venice

11/15/2022

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Back in 1995 when Tera and I were dating, we took a summer trip with Tera's family to Europe and on the way north driving from Italy to Austria, we took a short detour into Slovenia.  We spent about 30 minutes in the country (much to Tera's mothers dismay, since she feared for our safety due to the ongoing war in Bosnia).  We wanted a fuller experience, so we returned to Slovenia for a few days, before going to Venice prior to our cruise adventure.

Highlights:
1. Piran seaside town in Slovenia - 
2. Beautiful Slovenian countryside views
3. Skocjan caves
4. Venice in all its glory
5. Dinner with an old friend

Lowlights:
1. Construction noise in the airbnb in Venice

​(click below-right to read more)
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#13 - 5 nights in Bologna, Italy

11/9/2022

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We returned from Eastern Europe and spent 5 nights in Bologna, Italy, without a rented car.  It was public transportation on the efficient and effective trains of Italy for our next few days of Bologna sightseeing and Italian day-trips.

Highlights:
1. Visiting the city-state of San Marino
2. Pasta-making class in Bologna
3. Walking the pilgrimage trek of San Luca
4. Seeing the mosiacs of Ravenna
5. Airbnb within a 2-minute walk of the train station

Lowlights:
1. Free (not worth it) walking tour of Bologna
2. Last-minute change of Evgeny Kissin concert program

(click below-right to read more)

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#12 - Five new countries visited in Eastern Europe!

11/8/2022

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We flew down to make North Macedonia and Bulgaria our base for 11 days of travelling through countries of south-eastern Europe and the former Yugoslavia.  We visited North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania.  We enjoyed them all, and would definitely return to this area of the world in future travels.
 
Highlights:
1. City of Skopje, with all it’s countless statues and colorful old bazaar and ecletic mix of architecture.
2. Multi-church going day in Sofia, Bulgaria
3. (3) Hikes in new places
4. (5) New countries to tick off our list
 
Lowlights:
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1. Getting car towed in Sofia
2. Following google maps to our doom

(Click below-right for more)

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    Fall Semester 2022

    Here we go again!  Our 8 Suitcases have been whittled down to 4 suitcases as we take a four month world trip with our two youngest kids, Megan and Jacob.  From Canada to Europe to islands in the Indian Ocean and finally to South Africa, from Sep to Dec 2022, here are our travels and experiences.

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  • 2023 Travels and More
  • 2022 Fall Semester
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  • Nathan Piano