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Author: Chris

Vatican City: The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

Vatican City: The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

Tauck arranged for our group to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel after hours.  This had the great advantage of not needing to deal with huge crowds, estimated at 25,000 people per day.  The pictures below are ones I took in the Vatican Museums.  The first is the ceiling in the Gallery of Maps.  The ceiling has paintings depicting the history of the Catholic Church and the lives of saints. The next two pictures are paintings found in…

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Vatican City: St. Peter’s Basilica

Vatican City: St. Peter’s Basilica

We traveled with Tauck on their Sicily, the Amalfi Coast and Rome Southbound tour in June of 2018. Since we opted for the southbound tour, we flew into Rome and arrived a day early. High on our list was seeing St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.  These are all part of the Vatican City, a city state established in 1929 with an agreement between the Holy See and the government of Italy called the Lateran Pacts. …

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Vancouver, Butchart Gardens and the British Columbia Parliament

Vancouver, Butchart Gardens and the British Columbia Parliament

When our cruise ended, we debarked in Vancouver.  On our first day there, we took a “hop on – hop off” bus to see some of the sites.  The first picture below is of Canada Place which is located on the waterfront in Vancouver.  It is owned by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and is the site of educational exhibits, traditional Canadian experiences and special celebrations.  It served as the Canada Pavilion for Expo 86, the year Canada Place opened….

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Ketchikan

Ketchikan

Ketchikan, our next port of call, is located on an island.  Ketchikan is known for salmon, totem poles and its proximity to Misty Fjords National Monument.   The average rainfall is 162 inches per year – residents call it “liquid sunshine.” When we first visited Alaska in 2006, we took a shore excursion to Misty Fjords.  We traveled by boat and then took a float plane back to the harbor where we would return to our ship.  We saw some beautiful…

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A Helicopter and Float Plane

A Helicopter and Float Plane

Our next port of call was Juneau, Alaska.  Juneau is the only state capital in the United States that is not accessible by road.  It is only accessible by water or air.  Juneau was once home to three of the largest gold mines in the world.  The mines are now closed and Juneau is home to over 30,000 people.  With an area of over 3,200 square miles, it is the third largest municipality (by area) in the world. We arrived…

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White Pass Railroad to the Yukon Territory

White Pass Railroad to the Yukon Territory

Our next port of call was Skagwag, Alaska.  Skagwag is an old mining town.  Reports of gold in the Yukon Territory first spread in 1896.  Gold seekers came to Skagway around 1897 – Skagway served as the starting point for their search.  The existing routes – Chilkoot Pass and later the White Pass – were very rugged. We took a journey along the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway.  The route was carved out in 1898.  It is an international…

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Cruising Among Glaciers

Cruising Among Glaciers

The next day we would leave Copper River and head to Whittier where we would board our cruise ship, the Coral Princess.  There are lots of different opinions on the kind of cabin you may want to book for your cruise.  Some people spend very little time in their cabin and plan to enjoy the public spaces.  These people may opt for a less expensive, inside cabin.  We decided to book a mini suite which included a small sitting area…

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Copper River Area and Prince William Sound

Copper River Area and Prince William Sound

Since this was our second trip to Alaska, we wanted to do something a little different on this trip.  One of the changes we made was adding Copper River to our land tour which took us deeper into Alaska.  We stayed at the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge near the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest national park in the United States.  Copper River is home to Copper River red salmon. We took a largely unpaved road to the lodge…

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Anchorage, Mt. McKinley Area and Denali

Anchorage, Mt. McKinley Area and Denali

We went on a land tour and cruise in Alaska in June of 2012.  This was our second trip to Alaska.  We did the tour through Princess Cruises primarily because of the excursions they offered and the hotels they have built as accommodations for the land portion of the trip.  Obviously quite a bit of time has passed since we did this trip.  We were not impressed with the food on board, but did like the hotels, our cabin on…

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Liechtenstein and Neuschwanstein Castle

Liechtenstein and Neuschwanstein Castle

Today we would visit Vaduz, Liechtenstein which is Liechtenstein’s capital.  Liechtenstein is only 64 square miles making it the fourth smallest country in Europe.  The residents enjoy a high standard of living.  There is less than 2% unemployment. As we approached Vaduz, we saw the Vaduz Castle.  It is the palace of the Prince of Liechtenstein – his official home.  It was acquired by the family in the 1700’s.  The latest restoration occurred in the early 1900’s.  There is a…

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