Miami to Panama City - March 16, 2024 - Panama Canal, Fuerte Amador, Balboa

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June 6, 2025 - Potsdam - Berlin Trip - Day 3

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Today's adventure took us to Potsdam by train.  Upon arriving, we walked to Sanssouci Palace Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  I am going to preface my tour details with some information about Frederick the Great as this will provide context for this complex. Frederick II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great was born January 24, 1712, the son of the authoritarian King Frederick William I and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. His childhood was marked by conflict with his father, who despised Frederick's love of French culture, philosophy, and the arts, preferring military discipline.   Frederick's interests in arts and philosophy conflicted with his father's militaristic and authoritarian views. The relationship between father and son became strained and a t 18 years old, Frederick tried to flee Prussia to England with his friend Hans Hermann von Katte.   The escape plot was discovered, and both Frederick and Katte were arrested. Fred...
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June 7, 2025 - Potsdam - Berlin Trip - Day 4

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Today during our early hotel breakfast before taking a train back down to the Potsdam area, I almost choked on my croissant when suddenly standing before me (+ Connie, Richard and Christine) was my old Basel and UCSF buddy Christoph Rochlitz and his wife Sabine, who had driven 9+ hours up from Basel to surprise us (while still limping 5 weeks after his total knee replacement)! The Herrmanns were complicit in this secret ambush, as Christoph and Sabine were going to join us on our planned boat trip later in the day.   Needless to say we spent a couple of hours catching up with each other.   After breakfast it was decided that Chris and I would drive with Christoph and Sabine to Potsdam, while Christine and Richard retraced our train trip from yesterday and we would all meet at the marina in Potsdam. As our boat trip wasn't scheduled until 1:30 PM, at Christoph's suggestion we went to visit the iconic Tempelhof Airfield, one of Berlin's most historically significant and com...
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At Sea - Norwegian Mainland to the Svalbard Archipelago - Day 12 - July 13, 2023

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We woke up this morning to dense fog which followed us until late afternoon as we sailed north in the Barents Sea heading for the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Both the air and water temperatures had dropped by at least 15F since we left Norway's mainland and passed from the warmer Gulf Stream current into a cold arm of the south flowing Arctic current. We passed by Bear Island which is supposed to have lots of nesting birds, but the fog was too dense to even see the island.  It is the southern most island of the Norwegian Svalbard Archipelago which  was discovered in 1596 by Dutch Explorers and named after a polar bear they saw swimming nearby. "Despite its remote location and barren nature, the island has seen commercial activities in past centuries, such as coal mining, fishing and whaling. However, no settlements have lasted more than a few years, and Bear Island is now uninhabited except for personnel working at the island's meteorological station Herwigh...
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