Our 2025 European Vacation was exceptional, with some countries repeat visits and some to areas we had not visited yet, but yearned to. The two top “new adventures” were Sicily and Vienna, Austria. I do have to say that after returning to Italy for the fourth time, in all our travels, Italy is my #1 Favorite, hands down. We spent incredable time in Florence, and the Piedmont Area Wine Country. The one location that suprised both myself and Marsha, was our week in Bordeaux, France. Don’t get me wrong, Bordeaux is rated the best wine region in the world for good reason, the wine country, vinyards and wines are spectacular. But, we stayed in the center of the town, which I feel was a mistake, But, more on that in a bit.

Our “Big Bird” KLM Flight from Panama to Amsterdam

Streets of Panama in Old Town and Marsha with her friend / co-worker

We started our adventure flying from Belize City to Panama City, where we spent the night in a very classy hotel. The next day, as we didn’t leave until the evening, we met up with our friend %%%% for a tour of the sites in Old Panama. We fly to Panama because of the direct flights from there to Amsterdam, the first leg of our trip. As I always say, flights across “the pond” are very long, and if you can, do as we do and upgrade to Business Class, you will be happy you did. Before I get into Amsterdam particulars, I will say that we have been there before, and it was not Marsha’s top choice. This time, she pretty much fell in love with this awesome city.

Watching our flight in “real time” in Business Class and Marsha relaxing in her “cubicle”

Our flight to Amsterdam was pure joy, with comfort electronic adjustments turning our seats into beds. Large smart tv, sound systems, and generous meals and cocktails all the way. The other key here is that we slept for hours on this flight, and arrived in Amstardam pretty much rested.

Our housboat Air bnb was awesome

Pic’s of doing some “window shopping”, also on our sunset Champagne River Cruise, also we dined at a famous restaurant outside, and just when our dinner came, so did the heavy rain ! Marsha was a trouper 🙂

In our last trip to France, I rented an unusual “Air BNB”, a houseboat, on the main canal below the Eiffel Tower. This time in Amstardam I rented another houseboat, in one of the best neighborhoods, on the main canal. It was totally modern inside, lots of room, and the plus was a outside deck where we got to enjoy coffee or wine, and watch the boats go by. There was so much to see and do on foot, that we hardly ever used public transportation. Of course, we did have to return to our favorite outdoor bar on the canal, in a different location. The one thing we did differently was to take a Evening Champagne River Cruise, that included some excellent snacks. I hignly suggest this if you visit Amsterdam.

Crusing in our Citron Tour, and our dinner at Five Star, “La Dome:, and of course, The Eiffel Tower.

From Amsterdam, we traveled via KLM Airlines to Paris and checked into our BNB, which was quite nice. We were only in Paris for two days, but made the most of our time. The previous visit it was raining most of our stay, so we passed on visiting the Eiffel Tower. This time the weather was excellent and I talked Marsha into taking the special pass to the very top of the tower, for a glass on Champagne together. She agreed, but I have to admit, reaching the top, it took a bit for her to step away from the wall to the edge and look down. Actually, it took her downing that Champagne.

The other special thing we did was take a tour of the city in a Classic Citron, with our private driver. I also higly recomend doing this, as everywhere we went, tourists took photo’s of us, and we basically “Photo Bombed” their pics. A highlight for Marsha was circling the Arc de Triomphe ( in French), and stopping for a photo of us, stanting up in through the roof of the Citron. I was planning to take marsha to the Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffle Tower for a romantic dinner, but checking reviews decided not. Instead I took her to a famous French restaurant, LeDuc known for it’s massive seafood platters, featuring oysters !Need I say, that we ate probably twenty each, along wit crab and other seafood, with Champagne. Well worth the experience, LeDuc is very elegant dining, with warm wood walls, reminisant of days of old. It opened in 1967, and is considered one of the best restaurants serving raw seafood. Also, very well populated by celebs.

Photo with four of us, and a bottle of wine, we were treated to a taste of a fifty + year old bottle of Bordfeaux wine, something even the employees of the winery had never tasted.

Our next location was Bourdeaux by train. I will say, we aklways enjoy our train trips in Europe, always comfortable, on time, with food and beverages on board. It’s a great way to see the countryside, especially in this case, Paris to Bordeaux. Getting back to my statement on where we stayed, we did have an excellent BNB in the town of Bordeaaux, however it wasn’t what I expected. I envisioned a quaint smell town with shops, wine bars, restaurants, and couples strolling the streets, arm in arm. What I got was a big city like town, and we had to explore to finally find a “square” where these things were found.

However, I had hired a private Wine Guide for three days to take us to the very best and most famous Vineyard/Wineries in Bourdeaux, and she wasn’t dissapointing. The countryside was breathtaking, rolling hills of grape vines being picked. Small old villages that have worshiped their grape vines for centuries. We sipped / tasted the best Bordeaux had to offer, met vineyard owners, Sommeliers, of which I am one, which produced some great discussions, area history, and more.

My experience tasting wine the three weeks we were in Italy brought me back to my days in the wine buisness in Oregon, when I took the course to become a Level One Sommelier. Back then I learned that there were two kinds of wine, and in fact, two kinds of wine “drinker/tasters”. In italy for the most part, when you order a glass or bottle of good wine, you are poured between 1/4 to 1/3rd of the glass of wine. That’s because Italians and the French appreciate their wines, and take time to sip, taste and enjoy them with food, noteing how they complement their dish. There are exceptions, like during our stay in Alba, Italy, (coming up), where I learned the famous wine, Borola, is their “Drinking, party wine” 🙂 Borola is almost always poured to the top of the glass and tossed back frequently. This is of course the way much of the earths population “drinks wine”.

I know…..SNOB 🙂

Ahhhh…Sicily, what an adventure.

The two Figure / figurenes, were purchased by us, and are now decorating our home. Don’t ask how much it cost to insure and ship to Belize ? 🙂

First pic is from our condo balcony.

Our next exciting destination was Sicily, which we both were looking forward to. We flew into Catania and rented a vehicle for our week there, something suggested by many on YouTube. This I will tell you was not such a good idea.We drove from the airport to our condo in Taormina, where I quickly learned the error of our decision. The highway to Taormina was excellent, until we needed to read the signs in Italian for whech lane was cash :). And then the driving almost straight up winding, narrow, two way streets to the to of the mountain that is Taormina. Forget “Google Maps” when it comes to directions to a apartment on these streets, as we got close, but one street above our apartment street. I found a place to “park”, something not really available here, while Marsha walked down to fing our “Host” below. We actually were lucky, as I was right in front of the “parking lot” for the condo, which was on the roof of our condo !

The condo was spectacular, with a patio with a Sea View, and great place to relax with a bottle of wine or morning cafe. We did have to walk up one flight of stairs, something we try not to by finding condo’s with elevators, but in this case the view was well worth it. Everything in this hilltop destination is walkable, some “up’s and down’s, but not drastic. The first evening we went to dinner in the host’s parents restaurant, and enjoyed a traditional Sicilian dinner, with local wine from the Volcano Vineyards, which was quite good.

Their beaches have a great setup for “sea rescue.”

We spent quite a bit of time just in the village, exploring cafes, local foods, and of course, shopping. We discovered a local store, not you usual “tourist trap”, with exotic gifts, especially statues. Marsha fell in love with a Pelican, I fell for a local symbol of Sicily. We were good and didn’t purchase on the spot, however we did return a couple days later to make the purchase. Trust me, they weren’t cheap, and we really couldn’t “pack” the with us, are we were spending the six weeks out of “carry on” baggage. We had to trust shipping from Sicily to Belize, which also was not cheap, but we felt necessary. They both arrived about a month later when we were home, and in great condition.

Sicily as does Italy enjoy some spectacular beaches, and we decided to hit the beach one fine day. To do this we had to walk down to the Tram Station, and ride down fairle close to the beach. When I say close, I mean we had to walk a good distance from the station down sone steps yo the beach. As it was lunch time we got a table in a beachfront outdoor restaurant and enjoyed the view, Aperol Spritz’s and lunch. Marsha investigated the beach, I just “people watched” and sipped my cocktails,

One of the main reasons we rented a car was to drive to the Volcano, and enjoy the m any vineyards and wineries at its base. It was about an hours drive there, but after our “adventure” driving to Taoramina, I made a different decision….Helicopter Tour of the Mt Etna Volcano. It was a short drive to the helo port, where we boarded the modern helocopter with one other couple. Was it worth the price ? Absolutely ! We cruised over the entire area, spent more time than advertised over the volcano, and I mean close ! Actually so close that we asked if it was legal to fly that close, and he said “Well, I;m the only helocopter up here, so who will report me “? :).

Our last day we decided to spend a day, actually on one of the best beaches, Isola Bella, which we had seen from the highway. Yes, I actually drove there as they had parking. We had made reservations with the resort for “Beach Cabana” directly on the beach, which included our own beach loungers. There was a button in the cabana we used to call the wait staff, for food and cocktails. Did we ever frrl like “Lux Travelers” :).

Anyone who has visited the island of Sicily will tell you, returning for a longer stay is a must. I toyally agree, as there is so much to experience, like “The Godfather Tour” 🙂

Attended a concert in the old Roman Colleseum in Toaramina, Sicily…I Italian 🙂

Our next flight took us to the beautiful city of Florence, Italy, one of our favorites, with it;s famous Art Museums, restaurants and exhibits. I was really looking forward to spending quality time in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, holding the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy. Then there is the pasta’s, wines, bakeries and sandwich shops. Our BNB was great, especially the old elevator.

Ahhhh…Florence

We actually did a “Get Your Guide” Tour of the Egyptian Museum, which proved to be the best I have experienced, with lots of mummies, charriots, sarcofagus’s and so much more. It was an excellent thing to have a guide for, because you get lots of “inside scoup”. This visit has encouraged me to look at a trip to Egypt sometine in the next couple years.

We had planned to take the train down to Cinque Terre on the coast for a day trip, but decided to spend the time walking the streets of Florence instead, and I’m happy we did.

Next we hit the train to Bologna, where we would spend a day, and then rent a car for our trip and five days in Alba, for our Northern Wine Adventure. We both decided tgat we could have spent more time in Bologna becasue it was just so historically enriching, and the food blew us away. Famous sights we visited were the Piazza Maggiore, Statue of Neptune, the famous towere of Florence, built in the 11th century.

So we went to our car rental company, Stix, to pick up our car, which in Europe isn’t always what you reserved, as the website says, this vehicle or siniliar”?. In this case, I was pleased because they gave me a convertible Mercedes-Benz, EQS Sedan. We cruised the countryside to our destination town Alba, known for it’s wineries, pasta, and the Home of Nutella. Just envision cruising rolling hills, filled with vineyards and homes on our way to the Winery / Vineyard Air BNB which we would call our home for the next five days. marsha had Google Naps live as she programed the name of the winery, which gave us a detailed map, As we continued on a small, getting smaller winding road getting higher and higher, with massive “dropdowns” on both sides, I found that I was holding my breath. Thsi didn’t look good. We came to the pinnacle of the hill which ended in a “trail” doun to the lower valley. I said “not” ! This could not be the way to the “upscale BNB” we had booked.

Rented our Mercedes, Drove from Florence to Alba, in Piedmonte Wine Country, to our Vineyard BNB, Mia Cara, Winery / Resort. As you can see, we ate very well, with their vineyard wine as well.

I proceeded to make mini turns, harrowing turns, back and forth until I turned the full-size Mercedes around and we headed back to town to start over. What we discoverd was that the roar and trail were the original way to get to the vineyard, and they have tried to get Google Maps to upgrade to show rout on the new paved road. We found the new road and driving to the Vineyard BNB was much better. We checked into our balcony room with great views of the vineyards, and inquired where the nearest best restaurant was located, telling them we did not want another experience like getting here.

Yes, I did get “out classed” at the winery / resort, by a Ferrari :). Pic’s are in the town of Alba, where we fell in love with the town, wine, food, and the White Truffles 🙂

The vineyard resort manager recommended a restaurant in a small village close by that proved to be so excellent we dined there mukltiple times. The old stone restaurant had excellent staff who assisted with food aqnd wine pairings, with obvious knowledge of vino produced in the area, especially Barbaresco, Borolo, Barbara D’Alba and more.

We actually fell in love with the small village of Alba, known as the City of 100 Towers, with obvious history with the Roman Empire. It’s known as a “Foodies and Wine Premier Destination, and I totally agree.Something else it’s known for is White Truffles, with stores in the center featuring these delightful underground jewels. Not only did we enjoy pasta covered with fresh truffle slices multiple times, I also purchased a White Truffle and “babied it” for the next month before arriving back in Belize. I followed a daily routine to keep it’s integrity, and it worked.

We will be returning to Alba and the Piedmonte Area, I am certain.

Below, in Turin, where our BNB was in a pretty old building, as you can see by the elevator. However, it was pretty nice, with a balcony.

Our next destination was Turin, Italy, a beautiful ancient city with something we were both excited to visit, the Museo Egizio. This elegant Baroque Palace is the home of the Egyptian Museum, the oldest museum in the world, dedicated to Egyptian civilization. I’m extremely happy that Marsha booked a tour with a very knowledgable guide, as her depth of knowledge proved invaluable to us. This museum is massive, and she took us to the most important pieces, from sarcophagus’s, to mummies, statues, burrial items, to stone carvings / hieroglyphs and much more. In fact, one of the King Mummies was the oldest and most preserved anywhere. This museum is a must see if you are touring northern Italy.

Our 1st meal in Turin was “fast food”: at their “M**Bun” 🙂

Visiting Turin and the Egyptain Museum had made me determined to visit Egypt in the near future.

From Turin, we flew to Munich, one of my favorite places, for the Oktoberfest. where we would spend four days of “Beer and Pig Knuckle / Pretzel Heaven”. In the past, we have really enjoyed Munich, its arts and experiences, which we still love, but Oktoberfest will be pretty much over for us now. The first day, we visited the grounds on a tour, with a guaranteed seat at a table in one of the famous tents, the Shottenhamel Tent, for 6 hours. This is very hard to do if you plan to attend. The best tents and tables are rarely open to tourists, but with careful planning, you can still enjoy Oktoberfest Munich.

Also in Munich we took a tour, which I have to admit I was hesitant to do, the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was a view of the past, that reminded me of just how discusting the human race can become, and how an entire race can blindly follow an idology, which almost destroyed the world. I don’t think I will ever understand how a human being could do the things I say and heard about, and I don’t think I should. I didn’t take many photo’s becasue I just couldn’t, but I will post some. All I can saw is this period in time was trully the defination of “horror”.

Our main issue was the increased massive crowds allowed in, which by the way, enterence has no fee, your fee is getting beer tents. This year there were over one million visitors per day, breaking records, and forcing police to close the gates to the event at 9 PM. It was really “nuts to butts” everywhere, with a million quite enebriated people, bumping into each other. You had to watch every step becasue of all the “vomit piles” ! Not to enjoyable to us, although 30 years ago I probably would have enjoyed it.

Those days are over 🙂

Our tour to Hitlers “Eagles Nest” high in the Alps, was interesting, with exception of being clouded in :(. You can see the Golden Elevator, fireplace given to Hitler by Sweden, and “The Tunnel to elevator”.

We next took the Railjet Train to Salzburg, Austria, 1st Class for three days in this historic and beautiful city. We checked into the Raddison Blue Hotel in center of town and began exploring on foot. One of the most exciting and troubling plans was a day tour to Hitlers Eagle’s Nest” fortress high in the Alps. We left on a bus early in the morning for the hour plus trip up to the pinnacle of the mountain the Eagles Nest was built. It was quite stunning, and the amazing road built by the “SS” was still in great shape. We arrived at the “let off “ spot, where we entered the massive tunnel to the “Golden Elevator” that took us to the fortress. It was very weird knowing that as we rode up the elevator, Hitler and his Generals had done the same, but actually only a few times. Althouge Hitler had “quarters” built in the Nest, he never slept there, because he was so afraid of heights. He just had meeting with his staff there.

Although it is famous for the views from Eagles Nest, this was our “view”. Very appropriate.

Salzburg borders Germany and lies below the Alps, offering super views. It was established in 696 AD by the Roman Empire and was known as Luvavum. Salzburg is the city of Mozart, with his homes, apartments ( for his Mistresses), and “candy likeness” everywhere. We chose to visit the Mirabell Palace and Gardens, which were spectacular. With so many sights to visit and things to day, we decided against the “famous” thing to do, the “Sound of Music Tour”, and instead toured the Fortress Hohensalzburg which overlooks the town. I was totally impressed with this massive fortress, built with stone.

I am so happy with my wife, Marsha, who wanted to enjoy some classical music in this historic hub of just that. She booked us a 5-Star Dinner at the top of the fortress one evening that was stunning, sitting at a window seat, with views of the city below. But Wait! It didn’t end there; after dinner, we were escorted to the “music room,” where we enjoyed a very small audience and a beautiful concert by four extremely talented musicians who enveloped the room with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I wish I could let you feel the emotion and “goosebumps” the concert brought, however, I was too busy enjoying the music, and “Champagne” 🙂

Promises given…Promises Kept- Marsha gets an hour tour of Salzburg in a horse and carriage.

Next, we boarded the 1st Class railcar, on the Railjet High Speed Train, to Vienna, truly a city of music. We checked into our beautiful Airbnb in the historic 18th-century part of town. We had researched things to see and do, and I believe we filled up our four full days in Viena. We visited the Schaumburg Palace on a guided tour, which was excellent, again getting the “inside scoup” on it’s history and the royalty that lived there. We also had Reserve Tickets for the Musikverin Golden Hall for a classical event that included Opera singers. Again, wife Marsha scored friont row, balcony seats, which were in my opinion, best in the house.

One of Austria’s famous wines is Grüner Veltliner, a white wine with flavors of berries, fruit, and citrus. We were introduced to this wine many years ago by the first producing vineyard in Oregon, Russel Winery in Roseburg, Oregon. We were both excited to do an all-day wine tour here in Austria, and we weren’t disappointed. It was a beautiful day, leaves were changing color after being harvested, and the countryside was gorgeous. We visited five different vineyards, tasting all the wines they produced, including their Grüner, and were surprised by how different the terroir makes Grüner taste compared to that produced in Oregon.

We also visited a antique carriage museum, as well as an evening spectacular loght show in a Cathedral

As you could expect, I did in fact empty most tasting glasses, but there were a few that both Marsha and I did use the “spit bucket”.

In Vienna, we were staying near an old and famous square that featured a “Horse Fountain” in the center, and guess what were lined up on one side, yess, horse drawn carriages. Marsha scored another tour of the town in one.

As our six week Europe Tour was coming to a close, we enjoyed one last evening dinner in one of the classiest restaurants I have enjoyed. One of their specials was a personel favorite, “Pig Knuckle” which Marsha and I shared with a most excellent bottle of wine.

After we finished dinner, which by the way, included a local artest singing classic tunes, the waiter came to our table and asked if we would like a shot of “house produces” Schnop’s. Of course we said yes, and he brought a custom decantor they had made just for this. The shot of Schnop’s was delicious, as was the second, at no charge. I could have stayed all nite.

The next morning we flew to Amsterdam, where we connected again on our Business Class flight back to Panama City, and the home to Belize.

I do hope that I have inspired my readers who have never been to Europe, to plan a trip and go. There is so much of the world besides your country, great food, wines, history and people. On this trip we ne so many great people and learned so much. Travel, Travel Travel…..while you can.

Our next great adventure is already planned, a week in Japan, followed by a 29 day cruise on the Holland America Nordam of Australia and New Zealand, their “Holiday Cruise”.

Guess I will be updating my PADI Diving Certificate for the Great Barrier Reef.

Until we meet again,

The Pirate…..Gary