Silver Anniversary Voyage Blog June 11, Day 10: Roma After breakfast in the hotel, we crossed the plaza to the Pantheon and saw its interior for the 3rd time in our lives and each time saw something different and were lifted to a higher level. The structure, the...

I just watched, with great sadness, a report on CNN about the occupation of Maloula, the Christian community I have visiting and wrote about in The Last Page. ISIS took over Maloula in late, 2013, something I did not know, (though I had been monitoring that...

The Christian Faith and Politics: A Holy Alliance Will you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag and our country. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible,...

New Zealand Journal Day 9 After breakfast we spent the morning and part of the afternoon on a harbor nature cruise gratis per one of the managers of the cruise. When she learned we were guests in Akaroa she insisted Sandi and I, along with Jackie Bone, be her guests....

New Zealand Journal Day 8 We awoke to another day of perfect fall weather and checked out of The Settles, one of the nicest lodgings Sandi and I have had in years traveling abroad. The manager even changed a hundred dollars for me and gave me the best rate yet: $100...

New Zealand Journal Day 6 We arose at 6 a.m. to a stunning sunrise in Napier, Hawkes Bay. After a light breakfast, compliments of Te Pania our lovely hotel, we packed for the long 4/5 hour drive to Wellington. Along the way south on State Hwy 2 the Ruahine Mountain...

We departed Taupo after a splendid stay at the Hilton overlooking the town and mammoth lake. The drive was easy, a straight shot on Hwy 5 into Napier, an art decor seaport on the Pacific. Descending from the mountains onto the coastal plain, the scenery along the way...

New Zealand, Day 4, February 23 After a fabulous breakfast, we departed Rotorua. The one hour drive to Taupo was marked by frequent thermal vapor sitings, lush countryside, sculptured hills from the Jurrasic glacial period (like one sees in northern Scotland), herds...