Ever wonder why people choose what they do with their time everyday?  I cannot help but wonder why The Bird Man, as we cleverly called him, packs his little bag full of sugar coated bread and shuffles to the tourist infested Notre Dame plaza in the heart of Paris (it took us a while to figure out the secret as to why all the birds went to him instead of us – SUGAR).  He does not have to endure the crowds, the walk and the large amount of bird poop.  I, like all the people before and after me, inched my way through the crowd to get a lesson on how to have birds land on me.  If you go to Paris you will seem him there in the summer.  He is always there!

As I look at the photos I remember that it was fun, different and it made me laugh almost like a child would.  Everyone that has encountered this frail man has to have smiled and had some joy in their heart.  That must be why!  He has accomplished with one small, very simple act what some people will not do in a lifetime.

Sipping Champagne in Portofino.  The countryside and drive to Portofino nestled on Italy’s northwest coast is just out of a romantic movie. It is no wonder that many famous people and Hollywood stars have visited this picturesque old fishing village.  Once there you can walk up a narrow pathway to a cliff on the water passing villas and great views of the marina and town square.

Going up towards the Portofino promontory you will also see the church and castle of Saint George, and further along the way you can see Brown Castle and it’s beautiful garden. For more walking and great views the Portofino Natural Park   provides a network of paths heading towards the mountain or halfway down the coast.

After a long walk and many photographs take a chair at one of the cafes on the marina and enjoy a meal or a bellini.  The Bellini at Splendido was the best we ever had, and we are self proclaimed experts in the field of bellini’s.  The fresh peach blend topped with Veuve Clicquot champagne was well worth the thirty dollars! The yachts floating in and the colorful homes on the waterfront make this an ideal place to relax and soak in the town of Portofino.

A British farmer built an entire mock castle behind a screen of hay bales and lived there concealed for four years to evade planning regulations. To read the rest of this article from the UK Daily Mail along with pictures, click read more

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Africa Safari in Botswana. Sometimes you get one of those chances to experience something in life that you may never get again. For me, one of these experiences was visiting Chobe Game Lodge in Chobe National Park in Botswana. I have been to several great spots in Africa, but I would have to say that this one was my favorite.

We started in a small six person boat, which felt like a row boat. This was really very cool, until we saw our first hippo and croc from a little to close in the comfort zone. Hippos are actually the most dangerous animals in Africa that you can see on safari, and are responsible for more fatalities than even lions. If you get close – they get mean. Fortunately we were able to steer clear from their proximity, but we got great photos of both hippos and crocs first hand. From the boat we also were able to witness an elephant coming down for water and actually crossing the river, which is in the picture below. We watched this elephant for what seemed like 5 minutes, but turned out to be closer to an hour. We got a little too close and he became a bit agitated with us (ears flapping and feet stomping like a four year old), but fortunately we were safe and dry in our small aluminum sardine can of a rowboat.

After the elephant we adventured onward to some deep marshy waters, where we just nervously waited for that inevitable ‘THUMP’ bumping into a 12 foot croc which we couldn’t see through the marsh. We did see plenty of crocs (some from a few feet away), but a highlight was that we came around a corner and came across a huge monitor lizard. These look cool in the zoo, but downright scary in nature, but again fortunately we were safely in our thin aluminum dingy, that we named the ‘minnow’. It was actually more like a guppy.

After about four hours doing the safari by boat, we headed back to the Chobe Lodge for a meal equivalent to anything I have had in Italy or France. What a day, but that was only half of it, as after lunch we were heading out in the land rovers for the land safari. Stay tuned!

Here is a video clip I found on the effects of spending too much time on airplanes.

Here are some great pictures I found on Digg of the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany. This was built by King Ludwig of Bavaria (the mad king) and only lived there a short time before he died.  Click read more for the link to see the photos.

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Just when I was getting used to the idea that a euro should cost $1.20, our dollar plummets 20 percent, and now a euro costs $1.50. Don’t expect our dollar to recover anytime soon because, frankly, we’re not as rich as we think we are.  Want some great ideas on how we can make our money go further in Europe, click read more below for 20 great suggestions

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Here is an interesting map I found with all languages associated with the European countries.  Click Read more below to see.

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Ah, Sedona – The crystal city (not Oz). Home of the great vortex (whatever that means). If you don’t know what the significance of the vortex is (like us), pack your mountain bike, hiking shoes, and crystals. Don’t worry if you forget your crystals, you will have plenty of opportunity to buy some at any store in town. The top things we found to do there:

1.) Hike at the red rock visitor center
2.) Book a pink jeep tour in town
3.) Mountain bike (or hike) submarine rock
4.) Go to Oak Creek Canyon
5.) Go to Telaqupaque for high end art and eclectic shopping

CHOICE HOTEL: Junipine Resort ($$), L’Auberge de Sedona ($$)
CHOICE FOOD SPOT: L’Auberge resort, Dal & Deluca

If you like to mountain bike, Sedona has some of the best trails we have ever found at all skill levels.

Airline food. The very mention of those two words is enough to provoke a strong — and usually negative — reaction from any passenger.  Here is an interesting article from CNN, just click read more.

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