davesaari

Pat and Dave’s Mediterranean Moments – PART 4: Athens and Classic Greece

December 3, 2025December 3, 2025 by davesaari

Welcome back for the concluding Part 4 of this travelogue series. Part 3 ended as we returned from our first tours of Athens for our final night abord the Viking Neptune, anchored in the Port of Piraeus. Here’s the final map of the journey, showing the places I’ll describe in this narrative.

Now let’s continue the story …

Athens, Greece (Sunday, November 9, 2025): Before we left the ship, I took one last photo of the port.

After breakfast, Pat and I and some 25 or so fellow travelers departed by bus for what the Viking itinerary called “The Full Acropolis Experience.” Before I describe that, here’s some very abbreviated history. Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for some 5,000 years. It became the leading city of ancient Greece in the first millennium BCE. The Acropolis (roughly translated as “high city”) sits on a rocky outcropping overlooking the city. Ancient Greeks built several impressive temples and monuments there, including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike, in the fifth century BCE. Over the following centuries, Athens fell under the control of various empires, including the Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Latins, Venetians, Florentines, and eventually the Ottomans, in the 15^th century.

The Ottomans had little interest in ancient Greek cultural sites and began using the Parthenon as a storage site for gunpowder. During a siege by Venice in 1687, the Temple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans and its materials used to fortify the Parthenon. Then, a Venetian mortar shell hit the gunpowder cache in the Parthenon, causing an explosion that severely damaged the structure. The Venetians briefly occupied the city before abandoning it once again to the Ottomans. Significant portions of the remaining structure were looted during the following years, and Athens lost much of its wealth and power. During the 18^th century, the city began to regain its stature, but the ruling Ottomans still had no interest in ancient Greek culture.

Enter one Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, a rather shady British nobleman who became ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1798. Lord Elgin cut a controversial deal with the Ottomans under which he had about half the surviving Parthenon sculptures, as well as sculptures from the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Propylaea, removed and shipped to Britain in order to establish a private museum on his personal estate. However, the ship laden with these treasures sank in a storm off a Greek island shortly after sailing, and much of the cargo was lost. Elgin mounted a costly recovery effort, eventually bringing all of his booty back to England, but he incurred so much debt that he was forced to sell the entire collection to the British Museum in London in 1816, where they are proudly displayed to this day as the “Elgin Marbles.” (As a side note, Pat and I saw the impressive display at the British Museum back in 2016 during a Rick Steves tour of London, where our guide defended Elgin’s acquisition as a noble effort to save them from looting under the Ottomans, with no mention of his less-than-honorable intentions.)

In 1983, the Greek government formally asked the British government to return the collection to Greece and listed the dispute with UNESCO, but the British government and the British Museum declined UNESCO’s offer of mediation. In 2021, UNESCO called upon the British government to resolve the issue at the intergovernmental level, but so far nothing has been resolved. A large part of the British argument for retaining the collection has been that the Greeks had no suitable place to properly display them and did not have the capability to properly maintain them. Which finally brings me to the first stop on our “Full Acropolis Experience” tour – The Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The Acropolis Museum is a beautiful, modern structure located a short walk from the Acropolis hill. It was completed in 2009 to replace an older museum and to house all of the artifacts found on the Acropolis, specifically including the missing pieces of the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Temple of Athena Nike, and Propylaea that now reside in London. Here is a photo of one portion of the Parthenon display, with some of the original pieces alongside plaster models of the pieces that will hopefully be returned by the British Museum someday:

One of the Parthenon Statue Segments — Museum of the Acropolis

It was hard not to believe that the original marbles belong here, in Greece, next to the Acropolis, and not in a London museum, no matter how hard the British may try to justify past ethical lapses.

Moving on, the museum is also chock full of other gorgeous artifacts from the Acropolis, such as those below. (Unfortunately, I only managed to get these few photos due to the congestion, but hopefully you can get a feel for the place.)

After the museum tour, our group walked up the hill to the Acropolis itself to marvel at the 3,000-year-old structures as well as stunning views of Athens and its surroundings. Since I’ve already written more words than I had originally intended, I’ll simply show the photos, which as we all know are worth a thousand words each.

View from Acropolis Hill, including Theater of Dionysus and Museum of the Acropolis

View of the Herodion Odeon from the Acropolis

Following the Complete Acropolis Experience, our bus transported us to a hotel called the NJV Athens Plaza, where we would spend the next days while completing our tour of Classic Greece. The hotel is conveniently located in the well-known Plaka District of Athens, next to Syntagma Square, a popular and busy square which is also adjacent to an Athens Metro stop and the Hellenic Parliament Building. There are also multitudes of nearby shops, restaurants, museums, and other interesting sites in the vicinity, some of which I’ll describe below.

After we checked into the hotel, I strolled over to the Hellenic Parliament building to watch the hourly changing of the guard ceremony, a fascinating ritual in which two Evzone (Presidential Guard) sentries stationed outside the building are replaced by fresh troops. The Presidential Guard is an elite ceremonial unit founded in 1868 to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Parliament. The elaborate uniforms and the ceremony’s choreography trace back to Greek resistance fighters who battled the Ottoman occupation; their shoes include hobnails designed for traction in the snowy, mountainous regions of Greece, and the “pompoms” on the toes are said to have once concealed knives for defending against their enemies. Here’s an edited video of the ceremony that I took while watching (unfortunately my vantage point was not directly in front since I arrived too late for a prime, central viewing spot) and some photos I took afterward.

Changing of the Guard

Memorials at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Hellenic Parliament and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Interestingly, when we passed by the Parliament the following Tuesday, the guards were wearing different uniforms as seen below, which I later learned were the cold-weather version rather than the ceremonial version worn on Sundays.

I checked out the area around the square before returning to the hotel, telling Pat I’d found a good place for a quick dinner. However, by the time we got back there it had closed, so we wandered around for a half hour before deciding on a nice outdoor dining spot for some tasty Greek pizza.

Corinth, Epidaurus and Mycenae, Greece (Monday, November 10, 2025): At 7:30 Monday morning, we departed for a bus tour of ancient sites on the Peloponnese Peninsula. We stopped along the way near Corinth, where we saw a 4-mile-long canal that connects the Ionian Sea with the Aegean Sea, cutting through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth, which separates the peninsula from the Greek mainland. The first attempt to build a canal there was made by Roman Emperor Nero in 67 AD, but an actual canal was not completed until 1881. Since it is much too small for modern ships, it has little commercial value today, but tourists like me love to see it anyway.

After the canal, we traveled on to Epidaurus, where we visited the Sanctuary of Asclepius, a famed healing center of ancient Greece where early physicians learned much about the human body and how to treat the ailments of the time. Many Greek physicians (possibly including Hippocrates?) learned their trade at the sanctuary, named for Asclepius the Healer, said to be a son of the god Apollo and reportedly born in Epidaurus. The site includes an impressive Odeon, or theater, which is still used for performances today due in large part to its excellent acoustics, as well as a museum displaying many artifacts from the sanctuary.

After Epidaurus, we stopped for lunch at a family-owned restaurant before driving on to Mycenae, which was one of the major centers of Greek civilization in the second millennium BCE. It was a military stronghold, an acropolis, that dominated much of southern Greece, Crete, the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia. Multiple grave sites have been found in the surrounding area as seen in the photo below, and archaeological exploration is ongoing.

We climbed up the hill and passed through the Lion Gate to view the foundations of Agamemnon’s Palace, the Tomb of Agamemnon, and the Treasury of Atreus. I was especially impressed by the precise masonry work in which enormous stones were fitted together precisely to create the impregnable walls of the fortress. The fact that such works could be built 3,000 years ago is a tribute to ancient Greek technology. Once again, I’ll try to let the photos do the talking …

The Lion Gate — Entrance to the Fortress at Mycenae

Our final point of interest was a huge underground chamber nearby, perhaps a tomb built for one of the noble inhabitants of the palace. Once again, what impressed me was the massive scale of the construction.

The return trip was slowed by brutal traffic as we neared Athens, and we didn’t make it back to the hotel until 5:30 PM. Pat wasn’t interested in any dinner, so after a brief rest, I ventured out into the square to take in the ambience as well as some very non-Greek food (the details of which I will only mention in private to anyone who presses me for details).

Delphi, Greece (Tuesday, November 11, 2025): We departed the hotel at 7:15 for another bus trip, this time to the site of the ancient Oracle at Delphi. Fans of the Greek classics know that the Oracle was responsible for all sorts of tragedies, as various protagonists went to learn their fates and then spent years trying in vain to prevent them from occurring. Luckily, no such tragedy has befallen us, as the Oracle was not in during our visit. Her place of business was beautiful, however – yet another example of the amazing architectural achievements of the ancient Greeks.

The site, in the shadow of Mt. Parnassus, was originally sacred to Gaia, the Earth goddess, but later became a temple to Apollo, who, in some myths, killed Gaia’s serpent child, Python, to claim the site from her. Our first point of interest was a replica placed at the location of the Omphalos, or “navel of the world,” believed by the ancient Greeks to be the center of the world, discovered by two eagles dispatched by Zeus.

Replica of the “Navel of the World” at Delphi

From there, we climbed up the hill to see the entrance to the Temple where the Oracle received visitors, the magnificent theater, and the site of an ancient race track where chariot races were held, not to mention spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.

Overlook of Theater and Scenic Surroundings

Massive Blocks with Ancient Inscriptions

After touring the site, we proceeded to the adjacent Delphi Archaeological Museum, where we saw the original Omphalos along with many other ancient artifacts.

Original Omphalos at Delphi Archaeological Museum

Display of Artifacts at Delphi Archaeological Museum

Column Base at Delphi Archaeological Museum

After a very filling lunch at another family-owned restaurant, the Omphalos Tavern, we headed back toward Athens. The return trip took even longer than Monday’s trip as traffic approaching from the northwest was even more brutal, and we didn’t make it back to the hotel until after 8 PM, making for quite a long day. We again dined at a restaurant near the hotel, enjoying actual Greek fare this time.

Athens, Greece (Wednesday, November 11, 2025): All of the organized Viking activities were over at this point, leaving us a day to wander about Athens at our leisure. We began the day by wandering around the Plaka District; the sites we saw included some ruins uncovered during excavation for the Metro system, Hadrian’s Arch, the ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Panathenaic Stadium (site of the first modern Olympics in 1896), the Zappion Exhibition and Congress Hall, and the National Gardens.

Hadrian’s Arch and View of Acropolis Hill

1848 Century Hermitage for Gardener, now a Children’s Library

Exhibition and Congress Hall Near National Gardens

Acropolis Hill Viewed from Exhibition and Congress Hall Grounds

Acropolis Hill Viewed from Walkway Near National Gardens

After that, we visited the nearby Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, which we were inspired to do by our earlier visit to the Archimedes Museum in Olympus as well as general awe at the technological achievements we’d seen over the past days. The museum had many impressive exhibits about ancient Greek inventions – such as an early computer, a hydraulic pump, an endless screw, a machine for creating enlarged or reduced copies of objects, even wine-serving robots! – as well as an extensive collection of ancient musical instruments.

Ancient Hydraulic Fire Pump

Ancient Hydraulic Endless Screw

Replicas of Ancient Wine-Serving Robots — 3rd Century BCE

Ancient Instrument

We then had a lunch of pita sandwiches at a small bistro before continuing to wander through the Plaka District, encountering various interesting buildings and other sites along the way.

We capped off the day with our final Greek meal at the nearby Ella Restaurant before returning to the hotel at 8 PM for an early night’s sleep.

Final Thoughts: We got up Thursday morning at 3 AM, had our final included breakfast, and sleepily boarded a shuttle van which delivered us to the Athens International Airport. After a 29-hour trip (from wake-up in Greece to crash in our condo, including layovers in London and Chicago along the way), we returned safely back to our Minneapolis home. Since our return, I’ve been reflecting on the outstanding experience we had on the trip and appreciating how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy so many such experiences during our Golden Years of retirement. At the same time, having returned from the birthplace of democracy to a nation whose founders took their inspiration from the ancient Greeks, I feel somewhat depressed by the efforts underway by the current US administration to rewrite history, to retreat from the ideals set forth by those founders, and to undo the progress we as an immigrant nation have made over nearly 250 years to better define and more fully achieve those ideals. But the trip also helped me put the current situation in perspective. The first, though imperfect, democracy was established in ancient Athens starting in 507 BCE, 2532 years ago. Over the subsequent millennia, there have been many setbacks and steps forward throughout the world, yet the dream of democracy still persists. Now is not the time to give up hope. I urge all my readers to stay strong and help turn the tide in the right direction again.

Okay, that’s it for our monumental Mediterranean Empires tour. I hope you enjoyed the read and will come back in the future for more of my travelogue series.

Pat and Dave’s Mediterranean Moments – PART 3: Corfu, Olympia, Santorini, Athens

November 27, 2025November 27, 2025 by davesaari

Welcome back for Part 3 of this travelogue series. Part 2 concluded as we sailed away from Kotor, Montenegro, down the Adriatic Sea toward Greece. Here’s a map showing the places I’ll describe in this part of the travelogue: Corfu, Olympia, Santorini, and Athens, all in Greece.

Now let’s continue the story …

Corfu, Greece (Wednesday, November 5, 2025): After sailing overnight from Kotor, we docked in the Corfu Cruise Port Terminal on the island of Corfu (known as Kérkira in the Greek Language) at about 8 AM on Wednesday. Here’s a map showing the Island and our docking port:

Our shore excursion began with a bus trip through the countryside to the Kanoni viewpoint, a popular lookout spot high above the harbor of Corfu Town named for the old cannon facing the sea. From there, we had beautiful views of the Straits of Corfu and the Greek mainland in the distance. The most famous island near Corfu town is called Mouse Island, supposedly for its mouse-like shape; the island is famous for its Byzantine church and connection to the Odyssey legend. Closer to shore sits the 17^th century Vlacherna Monastery, situated nearby on a separate islet connected to the mainland by a causeway.

The bus then delivered us to the Corfu Town marina. Across the water we could see the Old Fortress, built by the Venetians in the 15^th century on a site originally fortified by the Byzantines in the 12^th century. The fortress was isolated from the mainland by a large moat and was used for successful defense of the city during multiple sieges by the Ottomans in the 16^th century. The fortress has two towers, or peaks, which gave rise to the name of the Island – the Byzantine Greek word “Koryfó,” meaning “city of the peaks,” refers to the two peaks of the old fortress.

We then had a brief walking tour before setting off on our own to explore the city. Here are some of the sights we saw.

“,,, a Church I Passed Along the Way …” (with apologies to The Mamas and Papas)

Of particular interest to me was the so-called New Fortress. It was built after the first major Ottoman siege of 1537 to provide additional fortification for the city, beginning in the mid-1570s. We were told that it was open to the public for tours, so we spent about an hour wandering around its periphery trying to find the entrance, but when we finally found the ticket booth, it turned out to be closed for renovations.

We still enjoyed the outing, however, which carried us through a good portion of the city before we returned to the marina to catch a Viking shuttle bus back to our ship. Here’s a final look at the Straits of Corfu as the ship sailed off for our next destination.

Olympia, Greece (Thursday, November 6, 2025): On Thursday morning the ship docked at the port in Kotakolon, on the northwestern edge of the Peloponnese Peninsula. Kotakolon serves as the main port for access to the ancient site of Olympia. Here’s a map showing Corfu, Kotakolon, and the ancient site:

From the port, we departed for a 20-mile, 40-minute bus ride to the ancient site of Olympia, where the original Olympic Games were held every four years from 776 BCE until they were abolished in 393 AD by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, who banned pagan festivals like the Olympics as part of his efforts to suppress paganism and promote Christianity.

We spent a couple of hours on an extensive tour of the site, which was definitely among the highlights of the trip. I’ve included photos to try and portray the vast extent of the site and the amazing degree to which the ancient ruins have survived for up to 2,800 years. ’ll also pass along some of the interesting tidbits we learned from our local guide:

The Olympic athletes were all male and competed in the nude, slathered with oil and covered in dust, with the aim of paying tribute to the god Zeus. Women were banned under penalty of death, except for the priestess of Demeter, goddess of fertility, who had a reviewing stand next to the stadium altar. One exception to the death rule was Kallipateira of Rhodes — she disguised herself as a male trainer to watch her son compete but, when caught, was pardoned because her father, brothers, and son were all Olympic champions.
There were, however, separate competitions for unmarried women known as the Heraia Games, in honor of the goddess Hera, in which the participants raced a shorter course at the Olympic stadium while clad in costumes with short skirts.
During the celebration of the games, the Olympic truce (ekecheiría) was announced so that athletes and religious pilgrims could travel from their cities to the games in safety.
The prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns.

The Prytaneion — Seat of Dignitaries and Site of Celebratory Feasts

Site of the Running Stadium with Viewing Stand

The path to the stadium is lined with bronze statues known as Zanes, which were paid for by athletes who cheated during the games. Known as the walk of shame, the walls feature inscriptions by the miscreants including their names and the misdeeds for which they were being punished, such as bribery, lying about their city-state, or other acts against the integrity of the games. The display was a reminder to all athletes entering the stadium of the importance of honesty and integrity.

After our tour of the Olympics site, we strolled into the nearby town of Olympia for lunch and a brief stop at a small museum dedicated to Archimedes. Photos were prohibited, so I can’t show any of the exhibits, but they were quite impressive, detailing many of the Greek genius’s inventions and relating the sad story of his death at the hands of a Roman soldier during the siege of Syracuse in 212 BCE, despite Roman orders to spare his life. (NOTE: We later went to a much larger ancient technology museum in Athens that also featured Archimedes; I’ll describe that in Part 4.)

After the shore excursion, we were driven back to the ship for departure shortly after 3 PM. I took this photo of the Port as the ship was preparing to depart:

Santorini, Greece (Friday, November 7, 2025): On Friday morning around 9 AM, the Neptune dropped anchor in the waters off the island of Santorini, or Thi̕ra in Greek. Santorini in its present form was created by an enormous volcanic eruption circa 1600 BCE. The eruption destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with subsequent earthquakes and tsunamis. What remained behind is a partial caldera, the hollow that remains after a volcano disgorges its contents. Here’s a map of the island showing its configuration and the Neptune’s anchor point.

For our shore excursion, we boarded a tender boat operated by the local Greek authorities, which deposited us on shore. We then boarded a bus for a zig-zagging trip up the steep slope to the rim of the caldera and the capital city of Fira and then on to the village of Oia (pronounced “ee-ya”). In Oia, we had a brief walking tour before heading off for exploration on our own and lunch at a nice café, where we had lamb and Moussaka accompanied by an excellent Santorini wine. The village is known for its beautiful vistas, cliffside whitewashed buildings, blue-domed churches, and stunning sunsets over the caldera. (Unfortunately, the overcast skies hampered the views and we had to leave before dark so did not see the sunset. Such is life …)

View from Oia — Caldera Basin and Viking Neptune at Anchor

A Couple of Gentlemen Enjoying the Vibe in Oia

Earthquakes caused by a nearby underwater volcano have damaged some buildings over the years, such as this house we saw as we wandered around.

As in many Greek towns, cats are to be seen all over the place. Donkeys are also still used to transport goods from the harbor below, and we were lucky enough to encounter some during our stroll along the main pedestrian street.

Cat Roaming the Main Pedestrian Street of Oia

I was particularly taken by the remains of a castle on the edge of the village and naturally had to clamber around taking photos.

Once it was time to return to the ship, we took a very steep cable car ride down to the harbor below Oia. Two other tourists who rode in the same cable car with us seemed scared nearly witless, but to me it was a suitable thrill to cap off a thrilling day.

In the harbor, we caught another tender boat that returned us to the Viking Neptune. Here are a photo I took from the tender and one final look back at the harbor and Oia as the Neptune began to sail away shortly after 5 PM.

Athens, Greece (Saturday, November 8, 2025): Our ship arrived in the port of Piraeus, the largest of three ports serving the capital city of Athens, at 8 AM Saturday morning. Shortly after, we left for a half-day shore excursion to the city of Athens during which we saw the major sights out the bus windows before stopping for a thorough tour of the National Archaeological Museum. I’ve included some photos from the museum below. (I didn’t get any good photos from the bus, but don’t worry – you’ll see plenty more of Athens coming up in Part 4.)

National Archaeological Museum in Athens

After returning to the ship, we set off again by bus back into Athens for a very enjoyable tour of the city on E-bikes, along with some 18 fellow Viking passengers (all senior citizens like us). For the most part, our ride followed spacious pedestrian boulevards, though we did need to intermingle with cars in a few areas. While a couple of the wobblier riders had spills and suffered minor scrapes along the way, nobody was seriously injured. The main difficulty was starting to ride again after our various stopping points because we had to ride so slowly, often dodging among hordes of pedestrians and motorbikes. Pat and I were unscathed, although her bike died about halfway through. Luckily, our guide, a fit young man some thirty or forty years younger, traded bikes with her and pedaled manually up some of the steepest hills. Here are some photos of the spectacular scenery we encountered during the ride.

E-Bike Tour Near Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Site of Ancient Agora Viewed During E-Bike Tour

Site of Ancient Cemetery Viewed During E-Bike Tour

The E-Bikers with Acropolis Hill in Background

Then it was back to the ship again via the Viking shuttle bus.

Okay, that’s it for Part 3. I hope you enjoyed the read and will come back for Part 4, which will cover the post-cruise extension in Athens including the most famous sites of Classic Greek culture.

Stay tuned …

Pat and Dave’s Mediterranean Moments – PART 2: Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro

November 22, 2025 by davesaari

Welcome back for Part 2 of this travelogue series. Part 1 concluded in Venice, Italy, as we had returned to our ship after a brief jaunt into the city to begin the Ocean Cruise portion of the trip. (I’m not going to spend time discussing the ship, the Viking Neptune, since it is nearly identical in layout and features to the Viking Star, on which we sailed previously in 2023. I described that ship extensively in “Pat and Dave’s Tremendous Tropical Trek, Part 1,” so readers interested in learning about Viking Ocean Cruise ships can click on this link.)

Here is a portion of the overall journey map showing the places I’ll describe in this part of the travelogue: Koper Slovenia, Zadar and Dubrovnik, Croatia, and Kotor, Montenegro.

Now let’s continue the story …

Koper, Slovenia (Saturday, November 1, 2025): After sailing overnight from Venice, we docked in Koper harbor on Saturday morning and departed for our shore excursion to the Old Town. Koper is the fifth largest city in Slovenia and the main urban center of the Slovene coast. The Port of Koper is the country’s only container port, a major contributor to the local economy and a popular destination for Mediterranean cruise lines. It was originally built on an island (Goat Island) by Roman settlers around 500 AD. Land reclaimed from the ocean in modern times now connects the city directly to the mainland. The city was a trading partner with Venice as early as 932 AD and eventually became a capital city of the Venetian Republic in 1278. After the fall of Venice, Koper became part of the Austrian empire in the late 18^th century, then was assigned to Italy after World War I and to Yugoslavia after World War II. Slovenia became an independent country in 1991 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

On our walking tour, we strolled through the Old Town where we saw some remnants of the old city walls, and a mix of old and new buildings, and many shops and restaurants.

Street Decoration Depicting the Old City

This photo is of the Prešeren Square, including the Muda Gate (completed in 1516), and the Da Ponte Fountain (1666), modeled after the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

The tour ended at the main square, still known as Tito Square. Our guide explained that Tito, despite his many years as a dictator, is recognized by city residents as the man who saved their parents and grandparents from “slavery” under the Austrian Empire. The main buildings in the square are the Praetorian Palace and the Koper Cathedral.

The Praetorian Palace is a 15th-century Venetian Gothic structure. It was built on the site of an earlier municipal hall that was destroyed during a major revolt in 1348, and an incomplete replacement building that was destroyed in 1380 when the city was sacked and burned in 1380 by raiders from Genoa. It currently houses the Koper city government and a wedding hall.

The 12^th century Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in the Romanesque style, with three naves, each with an apse. Changes and additions continued until 1392, including the Gothic western facade. After an earthquake in 1460, the facade was redesigned in 1488, with the addition of Renaissance elements.

The adjacent 177-foot Bell Tower was originally part of a Roman fortification. I jumped at the chance to pay eight Euros (with senior discount!) to climb 204 steps to a platform at the 140-foot level, where I enjoyed beautiful panoramic vistas of the city and the Adriatic Sea. On the way up, I saw the oldest functioning bell in Slovenia, which was cast in Venice in 1333, though I couldn’t get a good picture of it due to the protective grating.

Koper and Adriatic Sea Viewed from Bell Tower

After I joined Pat in the square again (she had no interest in climbing the tower due to her acrophobia), we went back to the Cathedral to hear a beautiful organ concert. Here’s a video clip for your visual and aural enjoyment, and as a close to this segment about Koper.

The Cathedral Organ Concert

Zadar, Croatia (Sunday, November 2, 2025): On Sunday, our ship docked in the harbor of Zadar. Zadar was originally built on an Island with a moat separating the walled city from the mainland. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia, dating to prehistoric times. Zadar was laid out as a settlement by an ethnic confederation of Mediterranean and Indo-European people known as Liburnia in the 9^th century BCE. I found this interesting list of historical affiliations on Wikipedia:

Liburnia (9th century BC – 59 BC)
Roman Empire (59 BC – 476)
Byzantine Empire (476–800)
Carolingian Empire (800–812)
Byzantine Empire (812 – 10th century)
Kingdom of Croatia (10th century – 1202)
Republic of Venice (1202–1358)
Kingdom of Croatia (1358–1409)
Republic of Venice (1409–1797)
Austrian Empire Habsburg monarchy (1797–1804)
Austrian Empire Austrian Empire (1804–1805)
Napoleonic Italy (1806–1809)
France Illyrian Provinces (1809–1813)
Austrian Empire Austrian Empire late Austria-Hungary (1813–1918)
Kingdom of Italy (1918–1946)
Italy (1946–1947)
Yugoslavia (1947–1991)
Croatia (1991–present)

Our shore excursion began at the modern pier, which has two unique and innovative features. The first is a large representation of the solar system, lit at night by solar-powered lights, which we unfortunately did not see since we sailed away before dark. It consists of true-scaled discs representing the sun and the planets, as shown in these photos.

Close-up of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

The second feature is the “sea organ,” consisting of tubes embedded in the concrete and extending into the sea, such that the wave action of the water creates lovely, soothing sounds.

Sea Organ on Zadar Pier

From the pier, we walked through a scenic park into the main city and on to the nearby Old City.

Old Building Now Used for Government Offices

Orthodox Church — Note Distinctive Cross

The Cathedral of St. Anastasia was originally built as a basilica in the 4^th and 5^th centuries. Much of the currently standing three-nave building was constructed in the Romanesque style during the 12^th and 13^th centuries. The cathedral was heavily damaged during a siege of Zadar by the Venetians and Crusaders in 1202. For the entire 13^th century, the building was under repair. It was reconsecrated in 1285, although the new building was not completed until 1324.

The tour ended at the ruins of the ancient Roman forum, after which we returned to the ship, which sailed off for the next stop shortly after 3 PM.

Dubrovnik, Croatia (Monday, November 3, 2025): Dubrovnik is a spectacular, walled city near the southernmost border of Croatia and Montenegro. The city dates to approximately the 7^th century, when the town known as Ragusa was founded by refugees from Epidaurum, an ancient Greek city under Roman rule at the time. Ragusa was a protectorate of the Byzantine Empire and later part of the Republic of Venice. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, Dubrovnik ruled itself as a free state. As the capital of the maritime Republic of Ragusa, it achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries, as it became notable for its wealth and skilled diplomacy. During this time, the city was governed by a series of Rectors elected to one-month terms by the noblemen who ruled over the city.

Dubrovnik was almost destroyed in a devastating earthquake in 1667 but was rebuilt. More damage was sustained in 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence, when Dubrovnik was besieged and shelled by the Yugoslav People’s Army for seven months. However, extensive repair and restoration work in the 1990s and early 2000s completely restored the old wall and the damaged buildings. Known as “The Queen of the Adriatic,” Dubrovnik is one of the most popular destinations in the Adriatic and in Europe.

Our shore excursion on Monday was a walking tour of the Old Town. Access to the walled Old Town is via the Pile Gate, built in 1537. The gate has a drawbridge, since the entire Old Town was originally surrounded by a moat.

Naturally, we went to see a Cathedral. Construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption was begun in 1671 and completed in 1713.

The Franciscan Church and Monastery is a religious complex featuring a historic church, a tranquil cloister, a library with over 70,000 manuscripts, and one of Europe’s oldest continuously operating pharmacies, dating back to 1317. The monastery is a significant cultural and historical landmark, showcasing a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque architectural styles.

The Jesuit staircase, similar in appearance to the Spanish Steps in Rome, is a popular tourist destination, in part because the infamous “Walk of Shame” scene in Game of Thrones was filmed there. We saw many GOT souvenir shops throughout Dubrovnik.

The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Baroque-style church, is located at the top of the Jesuit staircase, next to the Jesuit college. It was built between 1699 and 1725.

The Old Town harbor was the original access point for seagoing vessels. During the plagues in Europe, the city officials required that all new arrivals had to stay in isolation from the city to determine whether or not they were sick. Not knowing what duration might be most appropriate, they settled on an isolation period of forty days, or “quaranta” in Italian. Henceforth, a protective stay in isolation became known as “quarantine.”

Dubrovnik Harbor — Across from Quarantine Building

After the tour, we roamed all around the city and traversed the inner periphery of the city walls. Public access to the walls is available at a cost of 40 Euros per person. Given the overcast skies, which limited visibility and most likely obscured what would have been spectacular views on a sunny day, we elected to forego that activity. Here are some of the memorable sights from our wandering.

One of the things we saw was a ritual in which a man throws out grain for the local birds every day at noon. The birds begin gathering on the rooftops shortly beforehand and descend on the booty in a frenzy when the man appears. I found it quite fascinating, but Pat was creeped out by the Hitchcockian scene.

The Daily Noon Bird Feeding

Eventually we returned to the ship, docked at the cruise ship pier, where I took a few photos.

The ship sailed off for the next destination shortly after 8 PM.

Kotor, Montenegro (Tuesday, November 4, 2025): Kotor is a medieval city, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, nestled between limestone cliffs and a bay. For our shore excursion, we walked with a local guide through Kotor’s network of cobblestone streets. In the main square, we viewed the Venetian walls that surround the city. Constructed in 1420, they have been reinforced through the centuries and are well-preserved today.

We visited the 12th-century Romanesque Cathedral of St. Tryphon, a remarkable repository of 14th-century frescoes and valuable artifacts. Over the centuries, the building has suffered earthquake damage—as evidenced by its mismatched towers, one of which was rebuilt with meager funds after a tremor. It was particularly interesting because of the Byzantine and Orthodox influences on the architecture, although it is a Roman Catholic church.

Next, we visited the city’s Maritime Museum, which houses many artifacts of Kotor’s history.

After the tour, we walked along the city walls and enjoyed the spectacular views of the mountainous terrine and the ruins of ancient Roman and Venetian structures and fortifications. Not only was the sky clear and sunny, but access to the walls was free, so this compensated somewhat for missing the wall walk in Dubrovnik.

Access to Kotor from the Adriatic requires a sail of some 20 miles through a winding passage as illustrated in these maps.

Given the limited access to Kotor harbor, the ship dropped anchor in the bay and we used the Viking Neptune’s tender boats to go into town for our excursion and to return to the ship. I took this photo and video from the ship as the last tender returned. (This is one major difference between the Neptune and the Star – the Star had no tender boats.)

Tender Boat Being Lifted to Storage Bay

And, for a finale, here are a couple of photos as the ship sailed away from its anchor point in the bay.

Okay, that’s it for Part 2. I hope you enjoyed the read and will come back to read future installments:

Part 3 will cover the rest of the Ocean Cruise, with shore excursions in Greece (Corfu, Olympia, and Santorini).
Part 4 will cover the post-cruise extension in Greece.

Stay tuned …

Pat and Dave’s Mediterranean Moments – PART 1: Overview and Italy

November 18, 2025 by davesaari

Preamble

Here comes another in my ongoing series of travelogues documenting our domestic and international travel experiences. Since the fall of 2018, I’ve produced fourteen of these travelogues (see INDEX). As past readers will know, the domestic travelogues have been road trips (either with the RV we formerly owned or with one of our two our electric cars) while the international travels have mostly been with the Viking River Cruise or Viking Ocean Cruise lines. We took our first Viking River Cruise on the Danube River back in 2018 (before I started blogging about our travels), as a direct result of watching hundreds of TV ads prior to episodes of the dramas we love to watch on PBS. We were so impressed with Viking that we’ve now taken four more cruises: Switzerland to Paris via the Rhine and Mosel (River Cruise), Ft. Lauderdale to the Panama Canal and back (Ocean Cruise), Spain, Portugal, and the Douro River (River Cruise), and most recently, another Ocean Cruise which is the subject of this travelogue. With that, let’s get to it.

The Itinerary

The Ocean Cruise portion of the trip was entitled “Empires of the Mediterranean,” and we also booked a pre-cruise extension in the Italian Lakes region and a post-cruise extension in Greece. Here’s a map of the journey indicating the various places we visited along the way.

Part 1 of the travelogue (the one you’re now reading) covers the pre-cruise extension in Italy. So, let’s get started …

Stresa (Tuesday, October 28 – Friday, October 31, 2025): Our flight from the US landed at Milan Malpensa International Airport shortly before eight AM Tuesday morning, where we were met by Viking representatives and dispatched along with some twenty other Viking guests for a thirty-mile chartered bus trip to our first destination, the town of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore. The hotel we’d been booked into, the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees, was indeed quite grand as you can see in these photos:

Some Classic Sculptures in the Hotel (and one Neo-Classic?)

The Hotel is named for the Borromean Islands (Iles Borromees) and is well-known as the place where Ernest Hemingway stayed while on a ten-day pass from the Milan hospital where he was convalescing from war wounds in 1918. The hotel, the city of Stresa, and Lake Maggiore feature prominently in his novel A farewell to Arms, published a decade later, and he subsequently returned to the hotel many times. The Hemingway Suite (room 105, next to the room he stayed in), and the Hemingway Bar still commemorate the world-famous author.

We arrived at the hotel around ten AM local time Tuesday, then strolled around the scenic town while waiting for our room to be available. Once we eventually checked into the room in the early afternoon, I crashed due to exhaustion from no sleep during the previous 24-hours. Pat was in much better shape, having managed several hours of sleep on the flight. Once I came to again, we went out for another stroll around town, enjoying some gelato and stopping for a few items at a small grocery store along the way.

Lake Maggiore view (our Grand Hotel on the left, Isola Bella on the right)

Borromeo Islands (Wednesday, October 29, 2025): On Wednesday, we traveled by boat with a local tour guide to the three nearby Borromean Islands. Interestingly, the islands do not have any piers or docks – the boats simply slide up onto the rocks until they are far enough out of the water to stay put.

The islands are named for the House of Borromeo, an Italian noble family that started as merchants around 1300 and became bankers in Milan after 1370. The family accumulated wealth and power over the years, acquiring the islands in the early 16^th century and eventually establishing a quasi-state in the Lake Maggiore region. We learned that in each subsequent generation of the family, the first-born son inherited the title and properties of the father, the second born entered the church hierarchy, and the third served in the military. (Daughters had to marry well, of course.) The most famous of the second born was Charles II Borromeo, who served as Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584, was made a cardinal in 1560, and was canonized in 1610, in large part due to his reverence for “humilitat,” or pious humility, and for his reforms to the Catholic church. When Napolean invaded Milan in 1797, all lands and privileges of the Borromean State were revoked except for the Borromean Islands. Interestingly, Napoleon and wife Josephine were frequent guests at the Palazzo Borromeo, described below.

Our first visit was to Isola Bella (the Beautiful Island), named for Isabella D-Adda, wife of Charles III Borromeo (not the Saint). He began building the Palazzo there in honor of Isabella in 1632. After a pause due to plague in Milan, the palace and the adjoining gardens were completed by his heirs in 1671. Later additions and a new northern facade were finished by Vitaliano X Borromeo in the 20th century, so the palace complex is considered to have been fully completed in its present form in 1959, at which time it was opened to the public. The palace and gardens are absolutely stunning as you can see in the photos below. One ironic aspect is the family crest, prominently emblazoned throughout the palace, including the word “humilitat.” We found it hard to swallow the notion that this ostentatious display of wealth was supposed to inspire humility.

Next, our boat took us to Isola dei Pescatori (Fisherman’s Island), which is now the only inhabited Borromean Island. It is named for its fishing village, which had a population of 208 in 1971, but also includes many shops and restaurants to serve the tourist trade. We enjoyed an excellent lunch of local fish at a restaurant called Chez Manuel.

Promenade on Fisherman’s Island (nearly empty in off-season)

The final visit of the day was to the one known as either Isola Superiore (Big Island) or Isola Madre (Mother Island), the largest of the three. As early as the ninth century, it included a church and a cemetery, and olives were cultivated there. In 1501, Lancillotto Borromeo introduced cultivation of citrus fruits using plants brought from Liguria and a gardener to tend them. He also began construction of the family residence on the island, which was extended in Renaissance style in the 1580s by Renato I Borromeo.

However, the main attraction is the extensive English style botanical gardens, begun in the late eighteenth century. The gardens contain impressive collections of cypress, rhododendron, camellia, wisteria, pampas grass, dogwood, magnolia, maple, and even bamboo and palm trees, all of which have adapted beautifully to the microclimate of Lake Maggiore. There are also large numbers of freely roaming parrots, peacocks, pheasants, and other birds.

“Walk of the Dead” on Site of Ancient Cemetery

Ancient Boat Replica (our guide called it a Kayak)

By the time we were ready for dinner, the overcast skies we’d had during most of the day had turned into a steady rain, but we donned rain gear and headed back into town for dinner at a nice place called Ristorante Pizzeria Mamma Mia.

Como and Bellagio (Thursday, October 30, 2025): On Thursday morning, we boarded a bus for a trip to the city of Como, located at the southwestern tip of Lake Como (whose shape reminds me of a running man). We spent a brief time in Como, where we strolled along the main street, visited the cathedral, and stopped for a tasty gelato. I would have loved to ride on a neat looking funicular, but there wasn’t enough time, as the boat was due to leave for Bellagio shortly.

The church is described as the last Gothic cathedral built in Italy. Construction began in 1396 (on the site of the earlier Romanesque cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria Maggiore) ten years after the foundation of the Milan Cathedral. Construction work did not finish until 1770 with the completion of the Rococo cupola. The imposing west front was built between 1457 and 1498 and features a rose window and a portal between two statues of Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger, natives of Como.

After the brief stop in Como, we boarded a boat for a trip to Bellagio, located at the midpoint of the two “legs” of the lake. The boat zigged and zagged from one side to the other for close-up looks at some of the impressive villas along the shorelines and for a fleeting view of a lovely waterfall on the east side of the left “leg.”

George Clooney’s Villa — under renovation

In Bellagio, known as the “Pearl of Lake Como,” we strolled through the town and visited a nice park with impressive views of the lake before stopping at a food truck for some pita wraps.

On the way back, the boat made a more direct route to Como, where we boarded the bus again for our return to Stresa. That evening, our group of travelers enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant in Stresa.

Venice (Friday, October 31, 2025): We departed the hotel in Stresa at 8:25 AM for a seven-hour bus trip to the port terminal at Fusina, located across the Venetian Lagoon from the island city of Venice. After boarding our cruise ship, the Viking Neptune, and checking into our stateroom, we departed again for a ferry trip across the lagoon to visit the city. Unfortunately, it was after four PM by the time we reached the Viking destination dock in Venice, leaving time for only a very brief visit before returning to the ship again. At least we did manage to see some of the most iconic sights in Venice during that time, including the Bridge of Sighs, the Doge’s Palace, and San Marco square before strolling through some of the busy, crowded streets in the vicinity. Of particular interest to me was the Renaissance era (1493-1499) Clock Tower in San Marco Square, with its astronomical clock, changing Roman numerals, and automated figures who ring the bell every hour.

San Marco Square, Doge’s Palace, and Bridge of Sighs

Okay, that’s it for Part 1. I hope you enjoyed the read and will come back to read future installments:

Parts 2 and 3 will cover the Ocean Cruise, with shore excursions in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece (Corfu, Olympia, and Santorini).
Part 4 will cover the post-cruise extension in Greece.

Stay tuned …

The Saaris’ Summer Sanctuary – PART 2

October 19, 2025 by davesaari

This is the second and final part of a travel blog installment describing some of the places we visited during the summer season of 2025. Part 1 covered some interesting sites near our cabin on Lake Superior’s North Shore (the titular Summer Sanctuary) as well as several places along the shore that we visited during June of 2025. In this post, I’ll describe some additional places along the shore and in our great neighbor nation to the north over the course of the summer season (my generous definition of summer extends into the first week of October).

Near the Summer Sanctuary: I forgot to add this tidbit to Part 1. On August 25^th, for the first time ever in my life, I encountered a pelican swimming in Lake Superior just off the mouth of Durfee Creek near the cabin. It was very calm as I approached, gently paddling out into the lake until it was out of view.

Gooseberry Falls State Park: Gooseberry, located 40 miles northeast of Duluth, MN, on Highway 61, is the most-visited of the eight state parks along the North Shore.

We stop there at least once every year on the way to or from the Summer Sanctuary. There is free access to the visitor center and the multiple trails on both sides of the Gooseberry River. There are two free EV chargers located in the parking lot, and for the first time in my experience when I stopped by on September 18, both chargers were being used. A sign of progress? Pat took these photos and video when she visited the falls on May 31 – they illustrate exactly why visitors love to stop there to hike the various trails and admire the scenery.

Probably the Most Popular View of the Lower Falls

Devil’s Kettle: This interesting natural phenomenon is located on the Brule River within the Judge C.R. Magney State Park, located on Highway 61 four miles southwest of Hovland, MN.

The Devil’s Kettle is a place where roughly half of the river disappears into a hole in the rocks while the rest of it flows on to a beautiful waterfall. I’ve read various stories about people trying, unsuccessfully, to find the outlet for the missing half of the river by putting various substances in the water. Wherever it may go, it’s a fascinating sight to see, after a hike of roughly a mile from the trailhead. Pat took these photos there on July 6^th.

The Devil’s Kettle and Brule River Waterfall

Kadunce River: The Kadunce River State Wayside is located just past Colvill, MN, on Highway 61.

From there, a 0.9-mile spur trail follows alongside the river to a bridge that is part of the Superior Hiking Trail. We have walked along that trail dozens of times over the years. It begins at essentially the same elevation as the river, but then climbs steadily until the river can only be seen in glimpses flowing far below the trail through the adjacent canyon. At the upstream end of a series of some seven or eight waterfalls, however, the trail is again essentially at the same elevation as the river. The walk is quite enjoyable, passing through scenic woods, listening to the birds, glimpsing the river periodically, and then emerging next to a beautiful waterfall at what we call “decision point.” (If you want to hear the backstory for that, I’ll be happy to regale you in person with an epic tale, or you could read the book Snowman, whose climactic scene was inspired by the very tale I’m talking about.) At any rate, Pat took the photo and video below on August 11^th.

One of Many Waterfalls on the Kadunce River

Magnetic Rock: The Magnetic Rock Trailhead is located 47.6 miles from Grand Marais, MN, on the Gunflint Trail. From there, a 3-mile trail passes through a diverse landscape – over bare and/or lichen covered rocks, through open meadows, through thickly forested areas – to a monolithic rock protruding from the earth.

The rock contains so much iron that it can distort a compass needle to give a false indication of true north. We’ve probably walked this trail ten times or more over the past thirty-five years. The surrounding vegetation was severely damaged by fire in 2007, and we saw it begin to regenerate very quickly over the subsequent years until it is now almost at its pre-fire condition. There are still charred remnants of trees visible in some areas, though they are not readily noticeable. If the timing and climatic conditions are right, you can find quite a few blueberries along the trail. This year we went there with son Brian and his dog, Pippin, on July 1^st, and there were no berries. Pippin nearly got heat stroke, so Brian stopped about halfway along and helped his pet back to the trailhead, but Pat and I made it all the way to the rock and back in two and a half hours. Here are some photos.

Rocky Surface Near Start of Magnetic Rock Trail

A Friendly Denizen of the Magnetic Rock Trail

The Magnetic Rock (I’m examining the artifact pictured below)

Magnet Left Behind by a Previous Visitor

Pigeon River High Falls Overlook: The Grand Portage State Park, located on Highway 61 about a mile from the US-Canada border, is jointly operated by the State of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

It includes a very easy, paved walking path from the Visitor Center to the High Falls Overlook. The High Falls can also be reached from the Canadian side of the border, but the view isn’t as good from there. The State Park is only a 36-mile drive from the Summer Sanctuary, so we manage to visit once or more every year. This year, we visited on August 2^nd.

That’s a Lot of Water …

Pincushion Mountain: The Pincushion Mountain Overlook is accessible via a three-mile drive from Grand Marais up the Gunflint Trail. From the parking lot at the overlook, there are multiple trails that lead to Pincushion Mountain, which we have walked many times over the years. This year, we walked on the Superior Hiking Trail for 4.5 miles to the Pincushion Summit on September 20^th. While there, a friendly hiker snapped our picture, with Five Mile Rock on Lake Superior barely visible in the background.

Heading Toward Pincushion Mountain on the Superior Hiking Trail

Lake Agnes and Lutsen Mountains: This was our last hike of the season, on October 10^th. After driving southeast on Highway 61 to the Caribou Trail near Lutsen, MN, then north about 3.2 miles to a trailhead for the Superior Hiking Trail, we embarked on a 2 ½ mile round trip hike to a campground on Lake Agnes.

The hike started out with a steep, rocky climb to a short spur trail which led to what is known as White Sky Rock, an outcropping that provides a spectacular view of Caribou Lake.

After taking in the view from White Sky, we returned to the Superior Hiking Trail and headed west to Lake Agnes. The trail was surprisingly diverse – sometimes rugged and rocky, sometimes easy; sometimes forested, sometimes surrounded by steep bluffs and rock outcroppings.

Superior Hiking Tral Heading Toward Lake Agnes

The trail hugged the northern shore of Lake Agnes as we headed to The East Lake Agnes Camp, where I had camped once (with son Brian, brother-in-law Andy, and nephews Chris and Dan) some fifteen years ago, at which point we turned around and headed back to our car parked at the Caribou Trail trailhead. I would rate this hike among the best we’ve ever had on the North Shore due to the diversity I mentioned above.

Panorama of Lake Agnes from Superior Hiking Trail

After the hike, we took a short drive to Lutsen Mountains to ride the gondola up to top of Moose Mountain, where we enjoyed the beautiful views.

7th Hole at the Superior National Golf Course (in case any readers are golfers)

Canada: We also made a few forays into Canada, as we usually do each year. (We like the fact that our Summer Sanctuary is so close to our northern neighbor, so that if we ever decide we can no longer tolerate the disgusting manner in which the current United States Government “leaders” are dragging the country, we can quickly escape to a place where we feel safer and more welcome. Not that I wish to inject politics into my travel blogs, but sometimes it’s just hard to cope.)

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Marina: Pat and I made our annual summer visit to Thunder Bay, Ontario, on August 8^th this year. Thunder Bay is located 75 miles northeast of the Summer Sanctuary via MN Highway 61 and Canadian Highway 61.

As usual, we went to the Algoma and Bay “Finntown” neighborhood to visit the Finnish Bookstore, the Finnport shop, and the Cheese Encounter store. Unfortunately, the Hoito Hose Restaurant reconstruction has ground to a halt, with only a large foundation waiting sadly for a future recreation of the iconic landmark following its total destruction in a fire several years ago. We continue to wait with hope in our hearts. We also stopped at the Thunder Bay Marina for a nice lunch at the Bight Restaurant and a stroll around Marina Park.

Communing with Tai Chi Masters in Marina Park

Kakabeka Falls, Ontario: This 130-foot-high waterfall on the Kaministiquia River is a fairly frequent stop for us when we venture up north to Thunder Bay, but this year Pat didn’t go there at all, and I only made one quick stop with my frequent golf partner after we played at the nearby Whitewater Golf Club on July 15^th. I always feel a thrill when observing the awesome power of the thunderous water, and perhaps readers will feel the same way as they check out the following.

Kakabeka Falls from North Side Viewing Platform

Kakabeka Falls from North Side of River

Through the Mist from Downstream Viewing Platform

Winnipeg, Manitoba: As our final foray of the season, we decided to visit Winnipeg, Manitoba, departing from Minneapolis on October 4 and returning to the cabin on October 7. We’ve discussed going to check out Winnipeg several times over the years, but had never seemed to make it happen until this year, when we deiced to emulate the marketers from Nike and “just do it.”

We stayed at an impressive place called the Fort Garry Hotel, Spa, and Conference Centre, built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1913 as one of Canada’s grand railway hotels. While there were a few quirky aspects of the place, like an elevator that occasionally decided to do something other than what you had in mind, it was very conveniently located near the places we wanted to visit.

First, a bit of history. The confluence of the Assiniboine River and the Red River, known as The Forks, is located within the city of Winnipeg. The Forks was a focal point for canoe river routes travelled by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years before the arrival of European traders and settlers. Populated by First Nations peoples, the area was used for camps, hunting, fishing, trading, and (further north) agriculture. The rivers linked the Assiniboine, Ojibway, Anishinaabe, Mandan, Sioux, Cree, Lakota, and others for trade and knowledge sharing.

The Red River flows north from the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail Rivers near Wahpeton, ND, and Breckenridge, MN and empties into to Lake Winnipeg, which then drains into Hudson Bay via the Nelson River. This made The Forks a natural place for the indigenous people to supply firs to the Hudson’s Bay Company which, along with British colonialists, laid claim to the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin, including what is now Winnipeg, in the late 17th century. However, French traders worked the area for the rival Montreal-based North West Company decades before the first English traders arrived in about 1767. During these years, various French and British forts were built in the area to facilitate operations of the rival fur companies.

In 1811, Scottish aristocrat and humanitarian Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, received a grant of 116,000 square miles in the basins of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers from the Hudson’s Bay Company, which he named Assiniboia, and established an agricultural settlement populated by displaced Scottish Highland families and retired Hudson’s Bay Company workers. The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement) was founded in 1812 and built Fort Douglas a short distance upriver from Fort Gibraltar, the area headquarters of the North West Company. The two fur companies fought several battles for control of the area until the Hudson’s Bay company succeeded in forcing a merger in 1821. Fort Gibraltar was taken over as the Hudson’s Bay Company headquarters in 1822 and renamed Fort Garry. During this period, the Métis, an ethnic group descended from the mixing of indigenous Canadians and European traders, began settling in the Red River Valley. As their numbers grew, the Métis instituted a rebellion against the new federal government imposed by Canadian Confederation in 1867 and eventually established a provisional government under Luis Riel in 1869. During these turbulent times, the Catholic Church beefed up its presence in the area; a Cathedral was bult and the so-called “grey nuns” established hospitals which remain today. Eventually, Riel agreed to have the Red River Settlement join the newly formed Province of Manitoba, and Winnipeg was formally incorporated in 1873. Fort Garry was demolished in the early 1880s to make way for Winnipeg’s Main Street, although the fort’s gate was retained. The site was designated as a National Historic Site in 1924 and stands a mere stone’s throw away from the Fort Garry Hotel.

Wow, that was confusing! Sorry I couldn’t condense all that to a more cogent description, but the point of it all was to explain how Winnipeg’s history has resulted in a fascinating collection of various ethnic groups and interesting historical sites. In the two days we spent exploring Winnipeg by foot, we visited The Forks Historic Harbor, The Forks National Historic Site, the French Quarter, the Upper Fort Garry National Historic Site, the Forks Market, the CN Stage and Field, and the Winnipeg Railroad Station, all of which are shown in the photos below.

The Fork: Red River on Left and Assiniboine River on Right

An Old Map at the Upper Fort Garry National Historic Site

I’ve saved one more Winnipeg site for last – the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. We spent about five hours touring the museum (including lunch at the cafeteria), and if we had stayed another day in Winnipeg we would have gone back again. The building is architecturally stunning, both inside and out, spanning seven floors with multiple display rooms of various shapes and sizes. The floors are linked by angled walkways in a central column. The walkways have translucent alabaster walls. One of the docents told me the idea was that you emerge from the darkness into the light. At the time, I took that to mean from the metaphorical darkness of human wrongs into the light of understanding. The displays documented some of the worst episodes in history – such as the Holocaust and antisemitism in Canada and elsewhere, the forced internment of Japanese Canadian citizens during World War II, discrimination against indigenous Canadians – while highlighting the important steps that have been taken to advance human rights throughout history.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Peace Park — View from Across Red River

Main Floor Gallery with Human Rights Timeline

The museum’s Visitor Guide includes this statement:

“This national museum invites you to reflect on human rights in Canada and around the world. It’s a place for people to explore the idea that respect and understanding of human rights can serve as a positive force for change in the world.”

And we certainly did reflect, for a long time after we left the site. I was reminded of the famous quotation paraphrased by Martin Luther King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The museum showed that to be true, and in these times when so-called populists are doing their utmost to bend it back the other way, it gave me some hope to cling to.

On that note, that’s it for this blog installment. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for our upcoming Viking Ocean Cruise, which I’ll hopefully post by the end of November.

The Saaris’ Summer Sanctuary – PART 1

October 14, 2025 by davesaari

Readers of this travel blog series may recall that it was born back in 2018 when, at the urging of family members, I began documenting a 10,200-mile RV trip. Since then, I’ve documented a total of thirteen domestic and international trips. Next up will be our fourth trip with Viking Cruise Lines, this time starting at Lake Como, Italy, and ending in Athens, Greece. As I was looking over the list recently, it dawned on me that I have neglected a major aspect of our travel experiences. We are most fortunate to be able to spend most of our summers at our cabin on Minnesota’s beautiful North Shore of Lake Superior, and we regularly visit various points of interest along and near the magnificent lake. So, purely in the interest of furthering readers’ knowledge of excellent travel destinations, I decided to write a travel blog installment describing some of the places we visited during the summer and early fall of 2025. Which I will now proceed to do …

Sites Near the Cabin: Our peaceful cabin (which I’ve now dubbed The Saaris’ Summer Sanctuary) is located on Minnesota Highway 61, also known as the Voyageur Highway, some 5.6 miles east of the harbor in Grand Marais, MN. I’ll describe three nearby features that we frequently visit by strolling down a path from the cabin and crossing the highway. Readers interested in checking out these features can travel by car or kayak to a public access point denoted on the satellite image below as the Durfee Creek Watercraft Campsite. (I may seem friendly on these blog posts, but I will not be charitable to anyone dropping in at the cabin for an unannounced look-see.)

On the satellite image, I’ve hand sketched a line labeled Paul’s Creek. You won’t find such a creek on any map, although Google Maps indicates a nonexistent, unnamed creek that supposedly flows into Lake Superior somewhat to the east of the actual, unnamed creek. I gave it the unofficial name of Paul’s Creek in honor of my late father, who enjoyed constructing makeshift footbridges across the creek bed. For most of the year, this little stream is barely a trickle, but after a significant rainfall it can look quite impressive. Here are some photos of the waterfall on the north side of Highway 61 and its subsequent discharge point into Lake Superior.

Paul’s Creek on June 21, 2025

Paul’s Creek Waterfall on September 13, 2025

Paul’s Creek Discharge on September 13, 2025

Paul’s Creek Discharge on September 16, 2025

A few hundred yards to the east there is a much larger stream known as Durfee Creek, which flows steadily year-round but also becomes engorged after a rainfall. The most interesting aspect of Durfee Creek is its discharge into Lake Superior, which can change dramatically from day to day depending on the volume of water flow in the creek as well as a particular day’s wave action on the Lake.

I’ve sketched in another interesting feature to the east of Durfee Creek, which I call “The Seam.” Along this stretch of Lake Superior, the billion-year-old bedrock which forms the shoreline is generally covered over with stones, most of which are flat and really fun to skip along the surface of the Lake on calm days. Here’s a photo looking eastward showing a typical configuration of these stones. However, the wave action routinely spreads the rocks around in many different ways, so that the shoreline can look completely different from one day to the next.

Sometimes, the waves remove most or all of the covering stones to reveal the bedrock. When that happens, you can see The Seam. I’m not a geologist, but to me it looks like a place where the rock cracked open in ancient times, and lava flowed from below to fill in the gap. I absolutely love the days when The Seam reveals itself for my enjoyment.

Stones Covering Bedrock on August 29, 2024

Bedrock and Seam Exposed, August 25, 2025

These three features of the ever-changing Lake Superior shoreline near our Summer Sanctuary have thrilled me for nearly fifty years and never fail to make the summer months especially rewarding.

A Lapse in Attentiveness: Unfortunately, there was one aspect of the summer that was not a positive. For the first time in nearly sixty years of driving back and forth on Highway 61, I hit a deer. It was all my own fault. It was a sunny afternoon in May and I was returning from a trip to Duluth with son Brian. As we neared Two Harbors, he began yelling “Whoa! Whoa!” Not expecting to see deer at that time of day, I had failed to notice four of the critters ambling across the highway. I slammed on the brakes and almost managed to stop in time, but I caught the lead deer’s hindquarters with the right front bumper of the car. I imagined him laughing at me as he loped off into the woods.

While the damage appeared minimal, it still required a trip to the Tesla Repair Center in Eden Prairie. I dropped it off there on May 29 and had to leave it there until June 12, leaving us with only one car for a couple of weeks. As a big promoter of electric vehicles, I have to admit that the paucity of repair facilities is one downside of Tesla ownership. (I guess that’s an example of what Brian calls a first world problem.)

Kitchi Gammi Park: Pat and I stopped at this nice park on the east end of Duluth on our way back to the Summer Sanctuary on June 2, after dropping the damaged car at the repair shop. The park was recently renovated, improving the access drive and adding rest rooms, picnic tables, and children’s play areas. Here are a few photos.

Temperance River: Temperance River State Park, located along Highway 61 between Schroeder and Tofte, is one of eight state parks along the North Shore.

The river owes its name to the fact that it is the only river on Minnesota’s North Shore that has no bar at its mouth. We stopped there on June 2 and spent an hour or so on the hiking trails both upstream and downstream of the highway. The upstream part of the river canyon is extremely rugged, with multiple potholes initially gouged out of the bedrock some 10,000 years ago by powerful torrents of glacial meltwater.

The downstream portion becomes more serene as rapids give way to the gentle river mouth, with no bar as promised by the river’s name.

Temperance River Downstream of Highway 61

Hiking Path Near Mouth of Temperance River

Onion River: The Onion River Trailhead starts at the Ray Berglund State Wayside, located along Highway 61 between Tofte and Lutsen. We drove there from the Summer Sanctuary on June 22 and walked alongside the Onion River for about three quarters of a mile to a bridge where the Gitchi-Gami State Snowmobile Trail crosses the river. The walk through the forest is peaceful and scenic, with limited views of river, until reaching the Onion River Falls, which were flowing very nicely on the day of our visit.

Onion River Waterfall

Onion River Seen from State Trail Bridge

Caribou Falls: This is another nice place to stop when driving to or from the Summer Sanctuary, located between Little Marais and Taconite Harbor along Highway 61. The State Wayside has a nicely paved parking lot and a rest room (handy for those days when too much Dr. Pepper is causing a bloated bladder). A trail heads north from the parking lot to the Caribou Falls. Here are some photos from June 30, when Pat and I stopped for the 1.3-mile hike and were rewarded with a spectacular view of the falls from an excellent access stairway.

The Caribou Falls

OK, that’s it for Part 1. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Part 2, in which I’ll cover several more highlights from the summer season.

Pat and Dave’s Winter Warmup – PART 3: Road Trip Home

April 20, 2025April 20, 2025 by davesaari

Part 2 of this travel blog series described the places of interest we saw in and around Green Valley, AZ. This final installment describes the fun stuff we did as we drove back home to Minneapolis. As a reminder, here is a map of the overall journey, including the main points of interest covered in this installment:

Grand Canyon West: We departed from the Canoa Ranch Golf Resort at 8:30 AM on Friday, March 28, heading northwest toward Kingman, AZ, where we stayed the night. On Saturday morning, we drove north toward Grand Canyon West, the recreation area owned and operated by the Hualapai native American tribe and best known for the Skywalk, which is billed as “a horseshoe-shaped bridge made of glass allowing visitors to walk 4,000 ft above the canyon floor.” (More about that language later.)

After driving for some 40 or 50 miles through dry scrubland which seemed to be used almost exclusively for cattle grazing, we were quite surprised to find ourselves driving past Joshua trees, then what appeared to be thriving orchards growing nut trees of some sort, perhaps walnuts. As we continued in a northeasterly direction toward Grand Canyon West, the Joshua trees became more and more abundant, until they completely dominated the landscape. Road signage informed us that we were in the Arizona Joshua Tree Forest, which seemed to me to have many more Joshua trees than the more well-known Joshua Tree National Park located 230 miles to the southwest in California. We stopped at a nice little nature preserve where we admired the trees and other desert flora and also learned something about the Hualapai tribe.

View from an Overlook in the Arizona Joshua Tree Forest

Nature Preserve in the Arizona Joshua Tree Forest

Map of Former Hualapai Territorial Homelands (Current Hualapai reservation approximate outline is shown in yellow)

We arrived at Grand Canyon West at about 12:30 to find the huge parking lot something like 10% occupied by vehicles. We strolled over to the Visitor Center, where the electronic tickets I’d purchased the day before were scanned and we boarded a bus to take us a few miles north to Eagle Point, the first of two stops near the canyon rim. Its name derives from the huge natural rock formation resembling an eagle with outspread wings. Once there, I scanned my ticket to enter the famous Skywalk, while Pat wandered around nearby – she was too much of a chicken to go on the Skywalk.

Marketing Photo of Skywalk by Hualapai Tribe

After the Skywalk, we walked along the canyon rim and then along a loop trail that passed by several types of traditional native American dwellings and structures. Pat and I both felt that the Hualapai tribe has done a very nice job of providing educational materials honoring the cultures of their own and other neighboring tribes.

Eagle Point Marker in front of Eagle Rock Formation

The Eagle’s Head is in the Middle, the Wings Outspread to Either Side

Dwelling Structure on Eagle Point Loop Trail

We then boarded the bus again for a short drive to the second stop, Guano Point. This name came about as a result of a bat cave discovered by boaters on the Colorado River in the 1930s. They successfully sold their dream of riches from guano mining to the U.S. Guano Corporation, who constructed a tramway system to extract guano from the cave to the canyon rim at what became known as Guano Point, as well as roads to transport the valuable shit to market. The cave’s guano supply, having been vastly exaggerated by the original discoverers, ran out in 1959. To add insult to injury, a U.S Air Force Top Gun wannabe wiped out the tram cable while hot dogging in the canyon some years later. Presently, the tramway structures have been left intact as a monument to man’s attempt to mine the Canyon, and the roads built by the mine operators are now used for Grand Canyon West tourism buses. At any rate, we disembarked at Guano Point, had a nice lunch of pulled pork and coleslaw, and walked around the site with our mouths agape as we took in the stunning views.

As we were leaving the recreation area, the Visitor Center had become jam-packed with people and the number of cars in the parking lot had probably quadrupled or more. This bore out the advice we had heard that the busiest times were between about 1 and 4 PM.

Before I move on to our subsequent points of interest, let me say a few words about the Skywalk and the recreation area in general. Perhaps you will have noticed from the words I quoted above that the Hualapai do not actually state that the Skywalk overhangs the Grand Canyon, although I suspect most people think it does – until they actually visit the place. You’ll notice from the pictures above that the Skywalk, while in fact some 4,000 feet higher than the Colorado River, does not actually extend beyond the canyon rim. Once I thought realistically about it, I realized that it would probably be impossible to construct such a structure – it would need to be extremely long, would probably cost billions, and would probably cause irreparable damage to the natural beauty of the canyon. The Skywalk does provide beautiful views of the canyon from an entirely safe vantage point, actually much safer than walking near the canyon rim, and does provide a feeling of being suspended in the air. It’s a great marketing “hook” and probably is the primary reason that many people go to the recreation area. In fact, it’s what hooked me.

At first, I was a bit annoyed by this discovery, but the sheer beauty of the rugged overlooks at Eagle Point and Guano Point were well worth the price of admission. Our experience at Grand Canyon West was much more intimate than our visits to the Grand Canyon National Park. The crowds were smaller, there were no CCC-built walls along the rim, leaving a much more natural view, and the vistas were as spectacular as anything at the National Park. If anyone asks me which of the two places to visit, I’d say go see both. They each offer something a bit different and very rewarding. Oh, and I failed to mention that the Hualapai recreation area also has a zipline for the adventurous, which both Pat and I were too chicken to try.

I’ll add one final note regarding the Hualapai tribe and their great success in drawing tourist dollars to their reservation. I learned that Guano Point is sacred to the Hualapai for a very poignant reason. In 1874, the U.S. military forced the Hualapai people to march from their traditional lands in western Arizona to a relocation camp at La Paz, on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This journey was physically demanding and resulted in many deaths due to disease and lack of resources. Many Hualapai weren’t able to escape the “Long Walk to La Paz.” These tribespeople, called the lost souls, jumped off the canyon edge to their deaths at what is now called Guano Point rather than be captured by the military. The tribe was eventually given their own reservation, a small portion of their ancestral homeland, and allowed to return. I find it very hard to begrudge a people so resilient as to have reestablished themselves once again and discovered a way to thrive in the modern world. Far from feeling “fleeced” by the slight deception regarding the Skywalk, I’m thrilled that Pat and I got to experience this special place.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area and St. George, UT: After leaving Grand Canyon West, we drove to the Hoover Dam Lodge, overlooking Lake Mead, to spend the night. On Sunday, March 30, we drove to Richfield, UT, via St. George. Rather than take the faster freeway route through the Las Vegas area, we drove through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, using my priceless Senior National Parks Pass for free entry. We didn’t actually stop anywhere except at St. George to charge the car, but we thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely drive (pulling over frequently to let impatient drivers speed past) and the beautiful scenery around Lake Mead, which we have visited several times during previous travel adventures. The mountain passes following the Virgin River into St. George are also absolutely gorgeous, so that Sunday’s travels were among our most enjoyable of the entire trip.

Lake Mead View from Hoover Dam Lodge Trail

So, why aren’t there more pictures? Since I did most of the driving, I couldn’t be taking pictures, and Pat doesn’t like to take pictures out the car windows because they usually turn out to be disappointing. Sorry.

Capitol Reef National Park: After spending Sunday night at a hotel in Richfield, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park, the 29^th National Park we’ve visited so far and the only one in Utah that we hadn’t visited previously. The park takes its name from white domes of Navajo Sandstone that resemble the dome of the U.S. Capitol building, and a formidable ridge of rocky cliffs that early Mormon settlers, who settled in a town they named Fruita due to the fruit orchards they established there, likened to a “reef.” Per the National Park Service brochure:

“Capitol Reef’s defining geologic feature is a wrinkle in Earth’s crust, extending nearly 100 miles from Thousand Lake Mountain to Lake Powell. It was created over time by three gradual yet powerful processes: deposition, uplift, and erosion. The result is a classic example of a monocline, or one-sided fold, in the otherwise horizontal rock layers.”

This “wrinkle” is known as the Waterpocket Fold, and it created a land of fascinating and spectacular scenery. The National Park is very large, comprising nearly a quarter million acres. The maps below show the entire extent of the park and the portion that we explored over several hours.

We drove into the park on Highway 24 from the west and stopped at the Visitor Center to watch the National Park Service video overview, then drove 8 miles south along the Scenic Drive until the pavement ended. Along the way, we stopped to hike along the Grand Wash trail and then stopped at multiple overlooks along the rest of the Scenic Drive. I was jumping in and out of the car like a jackrabbit and snapping pictures like a crazed documentarian, and Pat was doing her best to put up with my antics. After the tenth or twelfth stop, she suggested that maybe she could drive and I could just gawk out the windows.

View of Capitol Reef from Scenic Drive Overlook

The new knees are great, but … I couldn’t make it up to the cozy resting spot

With Pat at the wheel, we returned to the Visitor Center area and stopped to explore a walkway with views of a cliff containing ancient petroglyphs.

We then headed east again on Highway 24, and I contented myself with window gawking until we made one last stop at the eastern entrance to the park before heading on toward our next hotel in Green Valley, UT. Incidentally, we passed by those Capitol dome-like mounds along the way, but I failed to get a decent photo from the car, so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

Glenwood Springs, CO: Our original plan for Tuesday was to drive from Green Valley to Golden, CO, for our next night’s stay. However, weather reports indicated that a heavy snow storm was developing in the Vail Pass, complete with avalanche warnings. The prospect of battling the elements as we navigated the high altitude crossing through Colorado ski country was a bit unsettling, so we changed plans and booked a hotel in a cute little town called Glenwood Springs instead. We got there around lunchtime and spent a couple of hours walking around before checking into our Holiday Inn. We had lunch at the Colorado Hotel, a grand old place founded in 1893 and now included on the National Trust’s list of Historic Hotels of America, before wandering off to the nearby railroad station and passing by an impressive Hot Spring and Spa.

The Colorado River flows through Glenwood Springs

Interior of Glenwood Springs Railroad Station

Wind Cave National Park: On Wednesday, we resumed our eastward journey along I70, passing through the remnants of the storm in the Vail Pass and beyond. We passed a number of snowplows clearing the shoulders and experienced a few spots where the road was still icy, but by the time we reached the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel through the Continental Divide (11,132 feet elevation) all was clear. We drove on to a hotel with a destination charger that we had stayed at last October in Wheatland, WY, then drove on into South Dakota on Thursday morning and visited Wind Cave National Park. Unfortunately, all the cave tours were sold out for weeks in advance – we should have made on-line reservations before leaving Green Valley, but didn’t have enough foresight for that. As a result, our visit to the National Park (number 30 on our list) was limited to the Visitor Center, a short hike along a trail near the center, and a brief jaunt along a portion of the scenic drive. At least we saw some interesting rocks and some friendly animals. We’ll have to go back there some time to see the cave, which is said to be the seventh longest cave in the world with 154.2 miles of explored cave passageways (as of 2021) and the third longest cave in the United States. The cave was discovered in 1881 by a pair of brothers due to the sound of a strong wind blowing out of the hole (it blows in or out depending on the atmospheric pressure) and subsequently developed for tourism.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial: Since we were so close to this iconic piece of Americana, we had to stop and check it out. Unfortunately, the temperature was falling precipitously and the wind was rising, so, lacking appropriate cold weather wear, we didn’t spend a whole lot of time checking it out. There are some nice trails there, but they were closed due to the weather and we were too cold to go on them anyway. We did sit by a fireplace to watch a nice video and have some refreshments before leaving, though. One neat thing: it cost us only $5 to enter and park the car (half-price for seniors), and our ticket is valid for an entire year, so if we make it back out that way during better weather, we’ll stop in again.

Entrance to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial

An array of U.S. State and Territorial Flags leads to the viewing area

In better weather, we could have walked up a trail for a closer view

Badlands National Park: Afterspending Thursday night in Rapid City, SD, we drove to Badlands National Park, which brought our total number of National Parks to 31 so far. As you see on the map above, we failed to avoid Wall Drug as I had planned, but the only reasons we went there were: 1) to charge the car, and 2) to get on the road that enters Badlands from the north. I’ll admit that we did go inside – to use the rest rooms, not to bathe in the kitsch. At any rate, after surviving Wall Drug, we drove south to the park entrance.

After stopping at the entry gate and showing my Senior Parks Pass, we headed southeastward through the park to the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. We had somewhat of a repeat of the Capitol Reef experience – jackrabbit Dave, Pat growing impatient until she took over driving, and Dave gawking and taking crummy pictures through the car windows. At the Visitor Center, we watched a video (of course) and perused the exhibits before heading off to the east toward Sioux Falls. If I can sum up the park in one simple statement, I’ll use a quote from the video, which was something like: “Badlands is a geologist’s wonderland.” As is sort of becoming a pattern with these travel blogs, I’m running out of gas, and you probably are, too, so I’ll just finish off with pictures.

View of Badlands National Park from Scenic Drive Overlook

Bison have a beautiful Home on the Range

Okay, that’s a wrap for Pat and Dave’s Winter Warmup. After a night in Sioux Falls, we arrived safe and sound back home in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 5. We once again enjoyed traveling to the beautiful southwestern United States, visiting some familiar locales and some new ones, each and every one interesting and enjoyable. I hope readers enjoyed sharing the adventure with me!

Our next planned travel adventure (no doubt to be documented in yet another travel blog series) will be in October and November of 2025, when we go on a Viking Ocean Cruise with pre- and post-cruise extensions. This time, Viking will be escorting us from Baveno, Italy to Athens, Greece.

Thanks for reading! Bon voyage, until next time …

Pat and Dave’s Winter Warmup – PART 2: Green Valley and Surroundings

April 15, 2025April 18, 2025 by davesaari

Part 1 of this travel blog series told of our decision to head south to escape the Minnesota winter and described our travels to Green Valley, AZ. We arrived at the Canoa Ranch Golf Resort at 7:30 PM on February 17. We spent a total of five weeks at the resort, and except for about ten days during which first I and then Pat came down with rather severe upper respiratory ailments (the first real illnesses we’ve experienced in about five years), we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. During that time, at least during the times that I wasn’t out golfing at one or another of the many courses in the area, Pat and I visited a number of interesting places in the surrounding area. Here’s a map of the main places we visited:

This installment describes these places, in no particular order. So, without further ado, here goes.

Canoa Ranch Golf Resort: The resort has a total of 98 rooms located in about eight buildings distributed around the site. Our accommodations, which we had reserved five months in advance, consisted of a nicely furnished suite complete with a kitchen, living area, bedroom, shower and bath, multiple storage closets, and a laundry closet with washer and dryer. A balcony accessible via sliding doors from both the living room and bedroom overlooked the ninth hole of the golf course and provided impressive views of the mountains to the south and east. A full-time housekeeping staff provided daily refresh service if desired (we rarely used that) and once-weekly thorough cleaning (on Thursday afternoons in our case). Free breakfast was provided daily in the main resort building, only a short walk from our building. Outdoor parking was available in front of our building, and the staff even marked off a parking spot for us with access to an electric outlet for charging our EV.

View from Neighbor’s Balcony (Photo by Jared Sour)

A Javelina checked me out one evening as I was plugging in the EV

And maybe the same guy visited our neighbor in the back yard? (Photo by Jared Sour)

Golf Courses: I spent a fair amount of my time playing golf, primarily at the course owned by the resort. I played a total of seven 18-hole rounds at the Canoa Ranch Golf Course, one round at the San Ignacio Golf Course, one 18- and one 9-hole round at the Haven Golf Course, and one 9-hole round at the Torres Blancas Golf Course. The Torres Blancas outing was intended to be 18 holes, but I abandoned ship after 9 because the wind was blowing so fiercely on the particular day I tried it. With that one exception, the weather was quite nice, with temperatures ranging from the upper 70s to mid-90s with little or no wind on the days I played. (My Gunflint Hills Senior League partner Steve, who joined me for a couple of rounds as he was visiting relatives in the area, found the 90+ degree afternoon temperature at Canoa Ranch excessively debilitating after escaping the frigid Grand Marais winter, but managed the mid-70s morning temperatures at Haven much better.)

Canoa Ranch was my favorite of the lot, with beautiful mountain views and interesting hole layouts. San Ignacio was in slightly better condition, especially the sand traps (which were almost unplayable at Canoa Ranch), but had a much more noticeable housing-development vibe. It also cost more and I was only reluctantly allowed on the course in my blue jeans (and was told not to wear denim if I ever came back). Although I had procured some non-denim pants in anticipation of this classist and outdated policy, I instead opted not to show up there again and instead played happily in blue jeans at the other courses. Torres Blancas was also a nice course, where I would have played again except for time lost due to my bout of illness. Haven was rather uninteresting compared to the others and suffered from many wet spots due to a leaky watering system, but was the easiest in terms of scoring.

Here are some photos to provide a flavor for the two nicest courses:

Canoa Hills Trails Park: This site is essentially a golf course that has gone on to its version of Valhalla. Once the site of the Canoa Hills Golf Course, it was purchased by Pima County and turned into a very nice walking park when the course developers went belly up. Pat and I went there a couple of times and walked around on the former cart paths, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Madera Canyon Park: Madera Canyon is a recreation area within the Coronado National Forest, owned and operated by the National Forest Service, which includes several picnic areas and hiking trails. Pat and I spent an afternoon hiking and driving around there, although we only managed a mile and a half or so on one of the trails before turning back, as it became steeper and rockier as we went along. We enjoyed seeing some large bluebirds and some friendly deer during our meanderings.

La Posada Central Park: This park is a part of La Posada, a retirement community on the eastern side of Green Valley, located next to some large pecan orchards. It contained an interesting collection of art works scattered throughout the well-groomed grounds, and even had a fun little mini-golf course along with a supply of putters and balls. (I had a much better score there than at Canoa Ranch or San Ignacio.) As a bonus, there was a very nice coffee shop in the mall next to the park called Posada Java — I had a hot chocolate on our first visit and a milk shake the second time while Pat had lattes.

Titan Missile Museum: Located just off of I19 about halfway between Green Valley and Sahuarita, this place turned out to be an impressive surprise. It was established as a museum after the Titan II ICBMs (which stood in continuous, ready-to-launch condition from 1963 to 1987) were deactivated as part of the US missile modernization effort leading up to the SALT II treaty negotiations. The museum was chock full of interesting exhibits explaining the history of the Titan II missile program, and the missile in its silo and the adjacent underground launch control room have been maintained in a non-functional condition for educational purposes. We took an exceptionally informative tour of the underground facilities, including a simulated launch of the missile. I was lucky enough to sit at the command control station and act out the process of coordinating with a second volunteer at a nearby station to send the missile screaming toward its target, presumably somewhere in the USSR. “My God, we just destroyed the world,” I said to him safter the demonstration was over. I felt a sense of awe as I realized in a visceral sense how close the world was to the so-called mutually assured destruction (MAD) that loomed constantly during the cold war.

Deactivated Titan II Missile in its Silo

Historic Canoa Ranch: Located just to the east across I19 from our resort, this 4,800-acre site is owned and maintained by Pima County and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a portion of a site originally known as the San Ignacio de la Canoa Grant, given to Tomas and Ignacio Ortiz in 1821, shortly after Mexican independence from Spain. The Canoa Ranch functioned as a working cattle ranch from 1820 until 1970, and is still well-maintained and a popular site for public tours. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail also runs through the site – in 1775 de Anza led an expedition of settlers and soldiers from the nearby Presidio of Tubac to San Francisco Bay and established the famous Presidio of San Francisco. The site also includes a lovely lake that supports a myriad of waterfowl and plants. One interesting factoid is that the site was used for filming several scenes in the 1970s TV series Petrocelli, the discovery of which prompted me to begin watching the old series. (So far, I’ve watched 13 episodes of Season 1 on YouTube – a nice respite from my other lawyer-show obsession, Perry Mason.)

Petrocelli Exhibit at Historic Canoa Ranch

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO): This facility, operated by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution, is located near and on top of Mount Hopkins in the Santa Rita Mountains. The observatory on top of the mountain, visible from our balcony at the resort, is the site of the 6.5-meter MMT telescope, while the facility near the base of the mountain is the site of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) gamma-ray observatory.

Pat and I attended a lecture by the FLWO director, given at the Green Valley West Social Center, at which we learned many fascinating details about the observatory. For example, the original telescope was built in 1979 using six 1.8-meter mirrors, the largest that could be made at that time, to create an effective telescope diameter of 4.5 meters. This unique construction was the source of the telescope’s name – the Multiple Mirror Telescope or MMT. Innovative mirror construction technology developed at the University of Arizona allowed the six mirrors to be replaced by a single, 6.5-m mirror in 1998, and a novel deformable secondary mirror was added in 2002, providing the ability to make corrections for atmospheric interference. The combination of the large mirror, the high altitude, the dark skies in the area, and the adaptable mirror make the MMT one of the premier ground-based telescopes in the entire world, providing image quality comparable to space-based telescopes such as the James Webb.

Enthused by the lecture, we signed up for a tour of the VERITAS observatory. Tours of the MMT on top of the mountain are currently unavailable due to the logistics of transporting visitors along the narrow mountain road, but the VERITAS tour seemed like the next best thing. Unfortunately, our tickets were for a day when Pat was suffering from the above-mentioned malaise, so I went on my own. The tour was fascinating and absolutely perfect, except for one small detail – I found the other tourists to be very annoying, what with talking while the guide was explaining things and then asking questions which he had already answered in detail. I suppose that’s why people call me a curmudgeon.

Anyway, how about some pictures?

Tubac: This town, about 15 miles down I19 from the resort, is a popular tourist destination with lots of restaurants, galleries, and shops. We ate at a well-known Mexican place called Elvira’s, which lived up to its reputation, before strolling through the town and to the Tubac Presidio Historic Park, the home of the first fort (established in 1752), the first European settlement, the first American mining community, and the first printing of a newspaper in Arizona. Returning north on I19, we passed through a border checkpoint staffed by dozens of border agents and boasting about thirty or forty fancy looking Government vehicles. Agents stationed on each side of the three traffic lanes prominently displayed their holstered weapons while casting surly looks into the vehicles crawling along the freeway. Ferocious looking dogs were also in evidence, but we didn’t see anyone actually being stopped. Pat and I were flabbergasted by the scale of the thing, just about thirty miles north of the border crossing at Nogales. Did they think they were preventing people from sneaking past the Mexican border and then hitchhiking rides on the freeway? It struck us as a massive waste of resources, all for show.

OK, I’ll stop grousing now and offer more pictures.

Tumacácori National Historic Park: This place, located about four miles south of Tubac on I19, is at a cultural crossroads in the Santa Cruz River valley, where O’odham, Yaqui, and Apache people met and mingled with European Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries, settlers, and soldiers, sometimes in conflict and sometimes in cooperation. We watched an excellent video describing the history, and one of the most poignant moments was when an O’odham speaker said something like “Of course we welcomed the Europeans when they came, but eventually visitors can overstay their welcome.”

A Jesuit mission was established on the site in 1691 by Father Eusibio Kino, who worked tirelessly to gain the trust of the native peoples, many of whom adapted his Christian teachings to their own religious beliefs to create a sort of hybrid religion that is still practiced today. A Franciscan mission was built on the site in the late 18^th century after the Jesuits fell out of favor with the Spanish, and its ruins are what sit on the site today.

The ruins and the museum on site contain many excellent artifacts and interesting information about the various native and European cultures. I was especially impressed by the beautiful basketry work by the O’odham people.

Franciscan Mission Ruins at Tumacacori National Historic Park

Dos Cabezas Wineworks: This place is located in Sonoita and can be reached by means of lovely drives in either of two manners: 1) heading south on I19 toward Nogales, then northeast on Highway 82 to Sonoita, or 2) heading north on I19 to Sahuarita, then east to Highway 83 and south to Sonoita. In order to maximize the scenic experience, we made the trip into a loop, going there on the southerly route and returning on the northerly one.

The wine works is also known as Pronghorn Pizza, as they serve a menu of delicious pizzas as well as Arizona wines from the Dos Cabezas wineries, a defunct one near Sonoita and an active one in Willcox, AZ. To go with the pizza, I opted for the wine tasting menu, which included a souvenir glass and five selections of the local wines, while Pat stuck with water, still feeling the effects of her illness. We enjoyed the experience so much that we bought two bottles of wine, which we eventually shared with our condo neighbors on their balcony at the resort.

Mariscos Chihuahua Restaurant: I have to include a mention of this place because I’ve been enamored with it ever since we first discovered it on an RV trip back in 2018. We visited again several times while staying at a Tucson RV park in 2020, and naturally I had to go back again on this trip when we visited some places in Tucson. Faithful readers will guess what I ordered: Camarones Rellenos – shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. I talked it up so much with our condo neighbors that they also tried it and gave their thumbs up as well.

Tucson Botanical Gardens: While in Tucson, we also visited the Botanical Gardens, which offer a marvelous display of desert flora native to Arizona and other places with similar climates, such as various South American countries. Since I’ve been blathering on for quite a bit, I’ll refrain from further commentary and just go with pictures.

Tucson Botanical Gardens Artwork — Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil

Giant South American Moth at Tucson Botanical Gardens

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: This is the last place I want to talk about, located adjacent to Saguaro National Park West. According to the museum map, the 21-acre museum includes two miles of walking paths through various habitats, 230 animal species, 1200 types of plants and 56,000 individual specimens, comprehensive regional mineral collections, and world-class art exhibitions. We spent several hours strolling along the winding paths through the exhibits, which include:

Warden aquarium
Reptile, invertebrate, and amphibian hall
Earth sciences center and cave
Ancient Arizona and Sonorosaurus
Mountain Woodland
Desert Grassland
Desert Loop Trail
Cat Canyon
Riparian Corridor
Birds of the Sonoran desert
Life underground
Hummingbird aviary

We visited a majority, but not all, of the exhibits and were delighted by the variety of flora and fauna we were able to see, including real live (animatronic) dinosaurs! Not only that, but we had a great lunch, including the most amazing hot dog I’ve ever eaten.

Mountain Lion Exhibit at Sonoran Desert Museum (he’s sleeping)

Grey Wolf Exhibit at Sonoran Desert Museum

These Guys are Pretty Feisty

That could have been me …

Okay, that’s it for Part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3, in which I’ll describe the interesting places we visited during our road trip back to Minneapolis.

Pat and Dave’s Winter Warmup – PART 1: Overview and Starting Out

April 8, 2025 by davesaari

While we truly love our homes in the great state of Minnesota, a condominium in Minneapolis and a cabin in Grand Marais, we love them a lot less during the winter than the other three seasons. By the time February rolls around, we’re usually tired of the snow and ice and cold weather, so we start looking for a getaway to someplace a bit more hospitable to human habitation. This year, we hit on the idea of trying an extended stay in one place as well as a bit of a road trip. In fact, the extended stay idea was implanted in our brains by some friendly upstairs condo neighbors who have taken to spending time every February and March at a resort in Green Valley, AZ. This implantation occurred in April of last year as they regaled us with tales of the lovely accommodations and the many fun things to do in the area. They explained that a long-term stay (more than 30 days) qualifies a guest for a reduced rate, as the short-term hospitality taxes and fees are waived. Pat was sold on the idea rather quickly, and suggested that I take charge of getting us a reservation for February and March of 2025.

“So, what’s this place called?” I asked. “The Canoa Ranch Golf Resort,” our neighbors replied, and provided me with the contact information I’d need to make said reservation. Upon hearing the word “Golf,” I immediately agreed to take charge. “I’ll get right on it, dear,” I told Pat.

Fast forward to September 20. I was at the cabin in Grand Marais while Pat was back at the condo, and I suddenly realized that I had not yet “gotten right on it,” having forgotten to call for the promised reservation. After a bit of telephone tag, I finally managed to complete my assigned task, although due to my procrastination no rooms were available until February 21. Better late than never, I told myself, while trying to craft the proper words to gently break the news to Pat.

Luckily, we had a great fall travel season, as documented in my earlier blog posts, Pat and Dave’s Nifty Na t ional Park Lark and Pat and Dave’s Intrepid Iberian Interlude, which helped us to forgive my less-than-stellar performance in securing the Canoa Ranch Resort reservation.

First off, here’s a map of our overall journey, to set the stage for this narrative:

We had planned to depart on February 18 and spend four days driving to Green Valley, but a big snowstorm hit the Midwest, causing us to delay our departure and shorten our travel time to three days. Fittingly, as we rolled out of the condo parking garage in our EV on Wednesday, February 19, it was a bone-chilling negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

It felt good to be heading to warmer climes, as the high temperature hadn’t reached positive figures for two solid days. However, as we drove south to our first overnight in Olathe, KS, in suburban Kansas City, it didn’t warm up at all. When we resumed our journey on Thursday morning, we had to scrape snow and ice off the car and the thermometer read negative nine. We passed a herd of about 100 cows standing in groups on both sides of the highway as we departed Olathe. “Are those cows even moving?” I asked Pat. “I don’t think so,” she said, studying the miserable-looking, immobile beasts. “Maybe they’re all frozen solid.”

It didn’t get much warmer until we passed through the Texas panhandle, and when we reached our second night’s hotel in Tucumcari, NM, it was still only about 20 degrees. During the second day of driving, it finally began to warm up, reaching into the 50’s by the time we reached Willcox, AZ, and finally into the 70’s as we rolled into the Canoa Ranch Golf Resort at 7:30 PM. I won’t say much about the drive to Green Valley, since all we did was drive, charge the EV, eat, and sleep, but I will offer this photo of the lovely sunset we encountered near Amarillo, TX, on Thursday evening.

I’ll be writing two more installments for this adventure. Part 2 will cover the five weeks we spent in the Green Valley area, and Part 3 will describe the beautiful places we visited on our way back to Minneapolis. But first, I want to say a few words about our EV. (Those readers who are tired of my EV proselytizing can just skip the rest of this installment and come back for Part 2 in a few days.)

Some of my prior posts have provided detailed information about traveling with an electric car, because I want to help readers to understand the real-world aspects of joining what I like to call the EV Universe. In those posts, I have been effusive in my praise of the specific brand of car that we drive, but for now I’m merely calling it an EV. Why? The overriding reason that we have purchased two EVs and no longer drive a gasoline powered car at all is our desire to do something to help stem the tide of global climate change. Electric cars are the future, and I have tried to provide useful information to readers based on our real-world experience. Unfortunately, one individual (whose name I shall not mention), after becoming the world’s richest man by successfully developing the US electric car industry, has now revealed himself to be an unspeakably disgusting, corrupt man who doesn’t even believe in the mission of the EV Universe – he merely exploited a market opportunity to amass enormous wealth and power which he is now using in an attempt to destroy the very soul of our great nation. Many people now say we should get rid of our EVs as a protest against this man. But as a fervent believer in the goal of the EV Universe, I urge readers not to abandon your EVs. Fellow owners of American-made EVs, please keep driving your zero-emission vehicles. Join the mass protests against the man, put a protest sign on your car, urge your members of Congress to send him packing, but don’t let him destroy both the EV dream and the US Government.

Okay, I’ll calm down now and provide some information about our EV that will hopefully be of interest. It was quite obvious during our drive from Minneapolis to Green Valley and back again that the performance of the car was noticeably reduced when the temperature was low and was very good when the temperature was high. So, I decided to compare the car’s efficiency during the drives between our charging stops (based on my records of actual miles driven and energy added during each charging session) with the air temperatures at the various charging locations as documented by the Weather Underground website. Here’s what I came up with:

Although there is significant scatter in the data due to other variables that affect performance (terrain, wind, driving speed, heating or air conditioning usage, etc.), it is clear that the actual efficiency was lower than the EPA rating at low temperatures and higher than the EPA rating at high temperatures. This bears out the general wisdom I have heard that EVs are good warm-weather cars and not-so-good cold weather cars. To put this data in perspective, I also spent a little time trying to find a comparable analysis for a gasoline-powered car. For the most part, I could only find general statements about the temperature impact, but I did find this interesting chart posted on the Fuelly.com website by the owner of a 2009 Honda Fit 1.5 RS CVT:

The Honda owner is clearly one who takes measures to maximize fuel economy, since his calculated 55 MPG vastly exceeds the 31 MPG EPA rating for that car, but the interesting aspect of the above chart is that is shows a decrease in efficiency for the gas-powered car at lower temperatures that is comparable to what I found for our EV. It also shows a decrease in efficiency at elevated temperatures, which the EV data does not show. While a comparison of calculations by two individuals for two cars is not in any way a sound scientific analysis, this interesting anecdotal data shows that the temperature impact for the EV efficiency is no greater than that for the gas-powered car.

Okay, that’s enough for Part 1. Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3, which will feature more pictures and less pontificating.

A Once Proud Tesla Owner’s Lament

March 7, 2025 by davesaari

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, most people in the United States – even a few Republicans – still respected science and engineering and the earnest, hard-working people who studied and practiced in those fields. A seemingly brilliant and altruistic engineer named Elon Musk was well along in his admirable quest to build a world-class electric car company. With its high-tech American-built cars and extensive nationwide charging network, Tesla was the absolute best choice for anyone interested in abandoning an eco-unfriendly gasoline-powered car in favor of an EV capable of long-distance travel. When we purchased a 2020 Tesla Model Y in January of 2021, the shining, stylized “T” on the front of the car felt like a badge of honor. At that time, we still had an ICE (internal combustion engine) car for backup, but we primarily used the Tesla for the next several years.

Three years and 45,000 zero-emission miles later, we were still in love with our Tesla. Our youngest son’s fourteen-year-old Toyota Corolla was on its last legs and had to be replaced, so we transferred our backup ICE car to him, having decided to replace it with a second EV. Reviewing our needs at that time, it was clear that Tesla was still the best EV choice for us, with its advanced features, long range, and charging network needed for travel between Minneapolis and Grand Marais as well as for long distance travel around the US. In addition, the 2023 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had expanded the number of EVs eligible for Federal tax credits, and we believed that a 2024 Tesla Model 3 would meet the tax credit criteria. With enthusiasm, we purchased our second Tesla and began driving it all over the US – to the Great Smokey Mountains, back and forth to Grand Marais, to National Parks and Monuments in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota.

However, even before buying the second car, black clouds had begun to gather. First, the formerly brilliant Musk had seemingly lost his mind with the purchase and wreckage of Twitter. Second, while the Model 3 was eventually added to the list of eligible IRA vehicles, since we hadn’t waited until the pronouncement was official, we got no tax credit. Finally, Musk has devolved even further into a completely despicable being, buying the presidency for Donald Trump and eagerly seizing upon his so-called mandate to destroy the US Government. His Gulf of Mexico sized ego seems to have driven him to abandon all pretense of what I had misinterpreted as altruism in favor of enriching himself to a level never seen before in human history. Instead of the man who created an eco-friendly American EV industry, he’ll now be forever known as the man who seized the opportunity to loot government coffers while pretending to champion “efficiency.” (Sometimes as I toss and turn at night, I dream that co-President Trump will become annoyed with playing second fiddle to Musk. After all, he has his own foray into Corruptocurrency to worry about. Perhaps he’ll send Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to arrest his former ally on some sort of presumably Trumped-up charges …)

But I digress. Given these tragic turns of events, that shining, stylized “T” has now become a scarlet letter of shame. So, what’s a once-proud Tesla owner to do? I hear many competing voices in my head. “Sell the cars? Donate them to Trump sycophants? Torch them in a grand, public display? Drive them off the rim of the Grand Canyon, ala Thelma and Louise? Replace them with VWs, Hyundais, Porsches, Volvos, or some other alternative?” Pat seems ready for one of those options, but none of them seems right to me.

I remind myself that there are many good, hard-working people still employed by the evil Muskrat, still working to produce high-quality, eco-friendly EVs. Surely many, if not most, of those people actually believe in the EV mission, even though Musk clearly doesn’t. Shouldn’t I still try to support them rather than abandoning ship and letting Musk have the last laugh?

So, I’ve at long last come up with a plan. I still love both cars and am proud to be driving zero emission vehicles (by now up to a total of more than 65,000 miles). I have purchased two bumper stickers which I will prominently display on both cars:

If people stop to engage me in conversation about these signs, I’ll text them a link to this diatribe. Although, if they seem to be Trumpites or Muskmen, I’ll probably rickroll them instead.