Buenos Dios All,

It is finally time to change course in my travel blog, from my adventures of building a new home in Belize, back to traveling the world. Finally, our house is completed, and my 3rd book about Belize, “Building your new home in Belize, the Good, Bad and Ugly, is in processing for release.

Finally, the time has come when I can actually leave my home because there are no contractors or workers doing shit, finally!

Please check out the photo’s I include various countries and experiences. They are there to give a small “taste” of the blog posts ahead.

And so it begins. Wife Marsha worked hard on our itinerary, this is the cover page below.

         Our 30-day Itinerary for Europe, June 2019 

My wife Marsha and I have been planning our European vacation for the past six months or more, for a 30 day trip across Europe. She made all the travel plans, flights, trains, bus tours, and hotels, and I made all the Air BnB reservations, wine excursions, dinner reservations, etc. Some will say that the most exciting part of a vacation is in planning. I say the most exciting part is the doing, and the successful ending, and not running out of money!

          Train Station, Milan Italy, we had just exited this “Bullet Train”

I will be taking you on a wild ride, not by country, but by city/town/village location. The experiences we had in every country add up to a wealth of knowledge that I want to pass on to you. Our successes and some “fails” with hotels and Air BnB choices, will offer you the experience you can only get from being there. For instance, when a listing says an apartment is a short 10-minute walk from a train station or only four flights of stairs. But, it provides a top floor balcony with stunning views.

The Famous Rialto Bridge, Venice Italy, the city I call, “Stairstepper Heaven”?

What they don’t tell you, is that 10-minute walk, carrying all your bags in 90-degree heat, up and down stairs to 5 bridges over canals will kill you. Add to that your iPhone GPS won’t pick up satellites because the pathways are 3 ft wide and five stories high, so you are lost. When you get to the apartment building, and maybe are met by someone, the stairways are dark, narrow, and hot. Climb four flights of stairs, carrying 100 lbs of luggage in 90-degree heat, and tell me you want to climb another fifteen steps to a rooftop view, in the sun.

Everyone should know the story of David (statue by Michelangelo), who killed the giant with slingshot and stone. Like they say, “it took big ones” 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, these were minute issues of a fantastic 30 days in heaven, but trust me, no trip is perfect, especially to Europe.

The “Ladies” on South Beach Miami, Florida

So, we were off leaving on a hopper flight from Placencia, Belize to Belize City, to catch our flight to Miami Beach, Florida. We would spend the afternoon and night there, then catch out British Airways Flight to London, then on to our first destination, Dublin Ireland.

A Pirate Size Margarita on South Beach, Miami, my first “Pub” on the crawl 🙂

I’m not going to talk much about my Belize flights, other than I love the new Belikin Beer bar in Goldson Airport in Belize City. In one happy word, draft!

The flight to Miami is about two hours on American Airlines, and with our upgraded seats, my legs didn’t cramp or fall off. The booze service was quite nice, and the time passed rather quickly as my wife and I giggled over what was to come.

Wife Marsha and I at a private Champagne Tasting, in Champagne Region, France

Arriving at Miami International was a not so bad experience, quickly moving through customs and grabbing a cab to Miami South Beach. Yep! That’s right, our hotel was on South Beach Miami, the “sin city” of Florida. I hadn’t been here for over twenty years or more and was anxious to see the changes. It wasn’t long before I got an eye full of flesh, prompting the question, “did these ladies forget to get dressed this morning”? And, the term “junk in the trunk, under a see-thru dress” constantly passed through my mind.

Everyone should recognize this, but wait till you hear where our BNB was located.

I started my trip with my first “pub” right on South Beach, a super Cuban Cafè on the boardwalk.  What else would a Pirate order than a mega size Margarita and a Corona sticking in it upside down?

In the morning, like early, I boarded my British Airways Flight to London, not my final destination, just to change planes to Dublin, my first actual European destination.

Nothing quite like a 10 PM Romantic Cruise on a gondola in Venice, Italy

My blogs will continue from the next one about Dublin to all the cities in Ireland I visited. Then they will proceed on to Scotland, England, France, Germany, and then Italy. On the journey, I will experience with you, Temple Bar of Dublin, as well as the Guinness Factory. Onward on the journey, you will join me on a Game of Thrones Tour, Outlander Tour in Scotland, a stay at the Waldorf Historia in London, a private tour of Stonehedge, the Pouve in Paris, private tour and tasting at Dom Perignon in Champagne. These are just some of the experiences, and I have not even touched a week in Italy, or festival in Munich.

Tasting awesome wines in Monticello, Italy, with my “little tasting glass”

So, hand on to your seats, “like” this blog to get the upcoming blogs, and learn what it’s like to do Europe in 30 Days, and then there are the 80 pubs on a mighty crawl.

Chao,

Gary (The Pirate)