MARGARET MORSE'S SECOND TIMERS TOUR TO ISRAEL--A FRIEND'S REACTION

Received this from friends Rob and I met on our Margaret Morse Tour of Israel a few years ago.  I can't say enough good things about the tour.  But put Israel in the search box of Third Age Traveler for a glimpse of how great it was.  Our friends went on the Second Timers Tour, and I want to pass on their feelings about that: 

"Just a quick note to say we have just returned from Margaret Morse’s Second Timers Tour. It was EXCEPTIONAL! Knocked the socks off the first tour and that one was wonderful. All the stars were aligned: fabulous tour guide, much improved hotels, restaurants, parties, perfect weather and outstanding itinerary. So glad we went. We highly recommend you consider it in your list of future travel experiences!"

FLORIDA'S HOMOSASSA SPRINGS

This is a guest post from one of TAT's readers.  I really enjoyed this, and wanted to share with you.  I think you’ll enjoy it too.  Remember you, too, have a standing invitation to share your vacations with us.

Follow this link to get more information on Homosassa Springs

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What if you're adventurous??????

Just came back from turning a sour weekend into a good one.  Went from the funeral of a friend in Ocala, Florida on Saturday to a neat experience of reliving the past by visiting Homosassa Springs in Central Florida, one of the first attractions my parents introduced Florida to me when I was 12. 

For a mere $13.00 ($10 with AARP) each person gets to go on a scenic boat ride on the crystal clear springs of Homosassa and view the "real Florida" as it was when the first explorers came to our land.  There are hundreds of species of beautiful birds, including 5 foot high gorgeous flamingos and many 14 foot toothy alligators. We walked boardwalk about a mile long through a thoughtfully put together theme park with "open" cages filled with Florida key deer, fox, the "blue" wolfs of North Carolina soon to work their way down to Florida, and huge bobcats. There’s a reptile house, and the oldest hippo (53 years) inside the United States.  I believe his name was "Lou."

They also have a rehabilitative center for manatees, "the Florida sea cow, or mermaid," and two of the biggest manatees I have ever seen in my life.

Throughout the park are a good number of clean restrooms for us older walkabouts with ice cold water running through the fountains.  There are several rest areas that sell ice cream and drinks and snacks and at prices that won't send you to having to use your credit cards just to get some refreshment. 

 Another thing, when you park your car, guess what, they don’t charge you $15.00 for them only  to slap you in the face and say they are not responsible for your vehicle.

Right next door we stayed in the beautiful Oasis Hotel that was as clean as the theme park (not connected), with a beautiful pool, bar, and restaurant. The room with nice furnishings included your coffee pot, refrigerator, microwave, and plenty of hot water for---are you ready - ? - including tax $65.00 per night.

I have to warn you in advance, however, there are not many hotels in the area, and although this hotel appears to have at least 200 rooms in it, I would recommend booking in advance as far as you can.  We stepped right into a room on a Saturday with no prior reservations, and around us were several "good old" 1960's type MO-tels that were $32- 38 per night each.

In morning we went across the street to the Sunrise Café, and for a mere $16 had a super "Platter" breakfast that stuffed the two of us. 

What a refreshing way to see the real Florida.  We enjoyed it and maybe one day after my description someone else may take a look at it too. 

This was originally written to a grand friend who travels a lot herself with her husband and I thought after writing it to her I might share with the rest of my friends as well.

Everybody out there take care of each other.

FRIDAY'S FOTO



Our friend Diane's photo of Old Faithful, that most famous Yellowstone Park geyser
really makes us want to head out West ASAP



CRUISING THE BALTICS AND SCANDANAVIA

I had never considered guest posts before, but I get some wonderful emails, and it is time to open up Third Age Traveler to others who love to see the world.  I find more people email me than use the comment link at the bottom of each post, and there is so much to share. 

This cruise sounds fabulous to me.  So does her next one!  Sharon's advice is well worth considering, and PLEASE note what she says about dealing in the different currencies.  We were beginning to see that off and on during our last trip to Europe, and as the idea of a credit card chip becomes more and more prevalent, our U.S. banks will have to adjust.

Thanks, Sharon, for sharing your trip with all of us.

Please tell me what you think of the guest post idea.

If you would like to be a guest poster, please send me your post.

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Wendy
My sister & I sailed on Royal Caribbean "Jewel of the Seas" departing Harwich, England on July 26.  We flew from Miami on British Air and it was a pleasure.  British Air is a great airline which great service and can you believe really good food.  We were a little concerned having to fly into and out of Heathrow because of the Olympics and the intended strike by immigration personnel due to begin the day we were to arrive, but the strike was cancelled and going through immigration and customs was a piece of cake.

We have sailed on the Jewel of the Seas before.  We had a balcony cabin in the front of the ship but the seas were like glass all the way and the Captain said it was the best Baltic cruise so far this season.  We did notice a change in RCCL over when we were on one of their ships last summer to Alaska.  No lobster and pot roast???  We could see a cut in quality, I am very sorry to say.  My sister and I are both Emerald Status with RCCL so we have sailed with them a lot.  The entertainment was good and the theater big enough to hold the crowd.  But there was only one Production Show with the RCCL singers and dancers.  It was called City of Dreams and was spectacular.  We had seen it before and it was just as good the second time around.  The singers and dancers were a new group to this ship having boarded at our first port in Copenhagen so I don't know if that had anything to do with the reduced number of production shows or not.

The activities on the ship during the day were pretty poor to say the least.  But to be fair, once we left England we had only one day cruising and then a port, one day cruising and a port and then 4 ports right in a row so there weren't many sea days.

This was a 12 day cruise and our ports were Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia for 2 days; Tallinn, Estonia; Gothenburg, Sweden and back to Harwich.  We have never been to the Baltics before and really enjoyed the ports.  We have done a river cruise of Russia starting in Moscow and ending in St. Petersburg but one never gets tired of St. Petersburg.  All of the counties were beautiful, clean and full of history and architecture.  Sailing into Stockholm through the archipelago with its 24,000 islands and islets was breathtaking.

We toured many of the castles and mid-evil forts in different ports and they were all wonderful.  We visited a 100 year old non-working Vodka distillery and had a taste testing of 5 different Vodkas while we were in Estonia.  I was very surprised to find out that Estonian and Finnish Vodka is as good as good Russia Vodka.  Another fact that I learned is that Absolute Vodka is made in Sweden and Smirnoff is actually made in the US even though it is marketed as Russia Vodka and of the 5 we tasted, Smirnoff was the absolute worst.

One word of caution, on this cruise we dealt with US Dollars, English Pound Sterling, Euros, Swedish Kronor and Estonia Kroon.  Visa or MasterCard is accepted BUT most places only will accept a credit card with a chip embedded in it with a pin number that you must than enter into their credit card machine.  US banks do not yet have this system/technology and therefore US credit cards do not have the chip and many establishments will not accept US cards as they can't process them with the new machines they have.  If you intent to use your credit card, ask if the establishment will accept it before you buy that meal or glass of wine.

We are home for about 3 weeks and then are off on another cruise.  This one is on Princess, a transatlantic, and sails out of Copenhagen to Oslo, Norway; Kristiansand, Norway; Glasgow, Scotland; Dublin, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Reykjavik, Iceland; Qaqortoq, Greenland and ending up in NYC.

Sharon