If they gave awards for the country’s best, Scotland would win the following: Our Scottish holiday started with the beat of a bass drum leading a 45-member pipe band in their colorful red and black kilts in the 2023 Pipe Band World Championships. It was quite by accident that we discovered this was happening in Glasgow after we landed there for our two-day rest between the end of our Ireland tour and the beginning of our Scotland tour. But we snapped up two tickets to the Friday Continue Reading
What I’ll remember most about Ireland
When someone mentions Ireland, what do you think of? Green countryside? Red-hair? Celtic dancers? Potatoes? I’ve just completed a 14 day trip with CIE Tours that included Northern Ireland in addition to the Republic of Ireland and what will I recall the most? The storytelling and humor, no question. The line between the two is often blurred, and Irish whiskey is only occasionally involved. The stories, emotional but also humorously uplifting, and the jokes, casual and natural, captured Continue Reading
Escaping the heat, Part 1
I just recently returned from a seven-day cruise with my friend, Kathy. It took us from Boston to Montreal via the St Lawrence Seaway. As a result, I have produced Pam’s Cruise Rules. 1. Unless you are a high-stakes gambler, fly into your departure port the day ahead of time. Sure, the hotel is expensive, but not as costly as potentially missing the cruise. No one wants to hear “your upcoming flight has been delayed” knowing you'd miss a connecting flight. We had gambled, booked a red-eye, Continue Reading
Rose Parade
From the Hare Krishnas beating their drums to the fleet of horns-a-blaring, lights-a-flashing tow trucks, the 2022 Rose Parade was everything I could have imagined. To be clear, the Hare Krishnas, followed by the Jesus Saves group, were not official entries. And there was little chance my soul would be saved that day with what I muttered when the alarm sounded at 4:30. However, they did provide some pre-parade distraction along the route while we waited. The tow-trucks however, were the Continue Reading