Copenhagen, Denmark

Hi Folks,
Dianne and I arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday, August 20. We left Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, August 19. We had to fly to Newark, change planes and then fly to Copenhagen. We arrived at the Marriott at 8:30 AM, and were told our room would be ready by 4 PM. Being the sophisticated travelers that we are, Dianne and I slept in the lobby of the hotel.

This made the general manager very happy to see how comfortable his guests were, so he made sure our room was ready by noon. We were so exhausted that Dianne slept for 16 hours and I slept for 14 hours. Travel is so exciting.

The time was such a blur, all I can tell you is that when we awoke at 6 PM on Thursday, we rented bikes and went to Tivoli Gardens. It's like a funky Disneyland with restaurants and rides set in the middle of Copenhagen.

That's a photo of me and in the background is a stage where a ballet performance was taking place. Dianne refused to be in the photo because she didn't put on her makeup.

From our hotel I could see two of the rides at Tivoli. The one on the left takes people up and spins them around at the end of a long chain. The one on the right takes people up like an elevator, and then drops them like a cable broke. Some of the other rides turned my stomach just watching.

Friday we board our ship, the Oceania Nautica, for our Baltic cruise. First stop, Germany; the homeland of the Jews. Oh wait, that's Israel.
Rennie

Lou Ville, Kentucky

Since my wife's nephew is going to medical school in Louisville, Kentucky, and met his future wife there, (also a medical student) they decided to have their wedding there. Not exactly the vacation destination, unless you want to see how bats are made. (Baseball bats, not flying rodents.)

First thing to know is the town is NOT pronounced Louisville. It could be looeyville, looavull, louville or anything like the photo I've attached. Just not Louis Ville.

I found this draft in 2014, but it was written in 2012.

Family Camp 2014

Hi Folks,
From August 2 to August 9 I get to have a real vacation. Each summer I take my children, their spouses, and my four grandchildren to a family camp on the University of California  campus in Santa Barbara.

The children have their activities, carnival, games, adventures, all supervised by college age counselors. The parents have their activities; hiking, swimming, surfing, biking, golf, tennis, wine tasting, softball and more.

I got to read two books, write for an Internet project I'm launching and still spend time with my kids and grandkids.

A week after I get home, Dianne will drag me off to Europe again. This time it's a Baltic cruise. I will go into the horrible details in another post.

As the motto for the Family Vacation Center in Santa Barbara says, "It's the best vacation since having children." And it's true. If you want more information, visit
http://www.familyvacationcenter.com/

Rennie

reply to Giovanni

October 5, 2013
Reply to Giovanni,
Our educated and certified guide was a wealth of information on how land in Israel was purchased. His name is Ron Beer; ron_beer@yahoo.com
Rennie


Hi! In 2007, after your trip to Israel you wrote: "Starting around 1880, Jews from other parts of the world, as they were being persecuted and expelled, went to the United States and Israel. With money from wealthy Jewish families, like the Rothchilds, Montefiore, Hirsh and Turra, Jews PURCHASED land around Metula and established kibbutzim.". Where did you get this information? I am a Turra from Italy and I am trying to track down some of my Jewish origin...Thank you so much if you can help me. Best regards, Giovanni

Las Vegas Fiasco

Recently I planned a trip to visit my grandchildren in Lost Wages (Las Vegas for those too young to get the joke). I responded to a special from one of those online coupon companies; BuyWithMe, which is now out of business, (thank goodness), where I purchased a luxury bus ride on Lux Bus Service from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (which is also now out of business, thank goodness).

Since I did this once before, on Megabus (another company that later went out of business on this route), I knew what to expect: A 5 hour relaxing trip to Sin City where I could read, watch a movie, or just nap, without paying any attention to the road or the speedometer. Best of all I did not have to endure the humiliation and degradation of going through airport screening. Now that they have the full body scanner, I know that next will be the full body cavity search.

Back on point; I was to arrive at a pick up point near the airport for the Lux Bus pick up on a Saturday morning at 8 am. I arrived at 7:45 AM, and there was no bus waiting then, or at 8 am or 15 minutes later. I started my phone calls and tried to see what I could find out on my lap top computer. Unfortunately, I could not get an Internet connection so I had to call my wife at 8 am on a Saturday morning. This is not a good idea. Do NOT call my wife early on a weekend morning, but this was an emergency. Did I miss the bus? What could have happened?

What my wife was able to find out after she got on the computer at home was that Lux Bus Service suspended travel, meaning they too were going out of business. I spent 30 minutes driving to the bus pick up point, wasted another 45 minutes trying to find out why my bus was not there, and now had the choice of not going at all or driving 5 hours on my own. AND, it's not like this bus service didn't have my contact information to let me know that they were suspending service. They had already confirmed my seat by email and had my cell phone number too. They just had no class.

Fortunately, I made the trip to Las Vegas safely; had a wonderful visit with my grandchildren; and got home safely. A five hour drive is not all that different from driving to the airport for 45 minutes; parking and getting to the terminal at least an hour ahead of time; taking a 50 minute flight; waiting for the luggage on the other end for 20 minutes; and then getting a ride out of the airport. When all that time is added up, it's about 4 hours to fly, or 5 hours to drive. The advantages are: I do not have to leave my pocket knife in my checked-in luggage; I can take my personal fork in the car with me; I don't have to wait to get my luggage back when I land; and most importantly I do not have to go through the humiliating experience of passing through airport security. 

Airport Security is a Joke

I traveled to and from Las Vegas from the Burbank, CA airport to visit my daughter's family and my grandsons this past Father’s Day. I had a great time there enjoying a cabana at the J.W. Marriott in Summerlin and the "Greatest Show on Earth" at the UNLV stadium.

However, air travel security is a joke. Las Vegas has the new X-ray scanners, and I got to experience that. I was told to remove my wallet and hold it in my hand and raise my arms above my head. Fine. While I hate the intrusive searches just to take a plane, it was better than driving 5 hours, as long as there were no traffic problems.

When I got out of the X-ray machine the TSA person went through every compartment of my wallet. What the heck can I use from my wallet to take down a plane? This seems so ridiculous.

However, I see the complete joke of security when Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi can travel all over the United States with only a college student ID and other people’s expired boarding passes. I become even more enraged when I see on the Internet as a sweet little 6-year-old girl is frisked, and as a baby is given a pat-down while being held stomach-down by its mother. And then there is the crying young woman who said the intrusive body search she had to endure in Dallas made her feel violated. Of course it did.

You don’t see the airport screeners for Israel airlines going through people’s diapers. This happened to 95 year old Lena Reppert who suffers from leukemia and has to wear an adult diaper in her wheelchair. For Israel the screeners are well trained and interview people who they might suspect. They know what to look for and have the best airline security in the world. Meanwhile we have TSA staff that are needlessly thorough instead of smart and leave us neither free nor safe, just annoyed. I think next time I will drive to Las Vegas or take a bus.

Rennie

China trip summary

Many folks have commented they loved the humor in Part 1 and Part 2 of the China trip, however, it was just too long. So I have created a summary. Obviously, if you want the details, you can scroll down and read the whole story. I have received great comments, like "very funny," "hysterical," and "really got a kick out of it" on my cartoon video: "Rennie does not want to go to China." But you have to click on the link to see it:http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7442923/

Day 1 in Shanghai: Lot's of tall new buildings. Arrived at the hotel and cab driver left with our luggage. Wanted us to pay the meter fare when he came back. We got our luggage and laughed at him.
Day 2 in Shanghai: Went to the Jewish Museum and the 2010 Expo. If you don't like someone, send them to the Expo. Drivers here are crazy. Traffic lights, lanes, one way streets, cross walks, and sidewalks are only suggestions. As a pedestrian, on a one way street or sidewalk you can be hit from any direction at night by electric scooters none of which use their headlights.
Day 3 in Shanghai: Tour started. Went to Shanghai Museum and silk carpet factory. Didn't buy anything.
Day 4: Took bus to Suzhou, pronounced Sue Joe. Went to the Master-of-the-Fishing-Nets-Garden-Home-and-Tourist-Destination. Dianne bought silk paintings.
Next was a silk spinning factory. Dianne bought silk scarves.
Day 5: Got on the riverboat for a 4 day trip on the Yangtze River.
Day 6: First stop, The Three Gorges Dam. Amazing structure and potential ecological disaster. No one drinks the tap water in China, not even the Chinese.
Day 7: We took an excursion up the Shennong Stream. Dianne purchased porcelain shoes.
Day 8: Shore excursion to the Ghost City of Fengdu. Saw a wonderful example of a Chinglish sign: "Beacuse (sic) being under constrction (sic) cause inconvenience to you, invite respectively forgiving." Dianne bought a wooden face mask.
Day 9: Arrived in Chongqing (pronounced Chung King) Saw the pandas. Wow! They are like big cuddly koala bears on drugs. Dianne bought an umbrella.
Day 10: Arrived in Guilin and took a ride on the Li River. I bought post cards. Dianne bought four wood carvings, an old watch, vase, bracelet, other stuff, a partridge in a pear tree, and a suitcase to hold it all. We learned how to get ripped off by the vendors even when you negotiate the prices.
Day 11: Arrived in Xi'an. (pronounced She Ann) Visited a tea plantation. Dianne bought a tea strainer and Osmanthas tea. Dianne bought all sorts of things like Tiger Balm and silk gift bags.
Day 12: Walked on the ancient city wall of Xi'an and visited the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. I purchased a jade chop. (You will have to ask me what that is.)
Day 13: Saw the Terra Cotta Warriors. Very exciting. I bought a book and Dianne bought miniature Warrior figures.
Day 14: Beijing: Went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Nothing to buy.
Day 15: Went to the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall and a cloisonne factory. I purchased a collapsible walking stick and Dianne bought cloisonne jewelry.
Day 16: Visited the Summer Palace and a pearl factory. Dianne bought two pearl necklaces. Most of what Dianne purchased were for gifts, and if didn't say that I would be in a lot of pain. Tell her you think this was funny. PLEASE!
Day 17: From Beijing left for home, Whoopee.