2016 - 2014 Travels

Day 1, 2 Ho Chi Minh City. Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, War Remnants Museum, and a City tour.      

Day 3 Mekong Delta Homestay, Traveling south by private bus for about three hours to Cai Be and explore the waterways of the Mekong Delta, visiting the Cai Be Floating Market.  

Day 4 Ho Chi Minh City and then overnight sleeper train to Nha Trang.

Day 5, 6 Nha Trang, idyllic coastal town.

Day 7 Quy Nhon City Nha Trang - Po Nagar Cham Tower.

Day 8, 9, 10 Hoi An, ancient Town. My Lai Memorial visit and bicycle outing.
Day 11, 12 Hue. crossing the Hai Van Pass and a visit to the Imperial Citadel, also Royal tomb, Motorbike trip including lunch, Perfume river cruise and Thien Mu Pagoda.

Day 13 Dong Hoi Vinh Moc Tunnels Entrance.

Day 14 Farm Stay, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park visiting the Phong Cave first, then a cruise up the Son River towards the Thien Duong Cave (Paradise Cave). Overnight sleeper train to Hanoi. 

Day 15 Hanoi - Water puppet show, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and Museum, One Pillar Pagoda. Day 16 Mai Chau   which is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by verdant mountains and emerald rice paddies, the night in a local stilt-house homestay in the village of Poom Coong.  

Day 17 Hanoi.

Day 18 Halong Bay and overnight on boat.

Day 19, 20 Hanoi.

Link to PICTURE ALBUM.

A 5 week trip through Great Britain -
(England, Wales and Scotland). 
30 days by car and 5 days in London. Pictures 

We went for two weeks visiting friends and neighbors in Florida. Our trip was from the Orlando area to Naples and Marco Island.  Pictures 

This year we went again for the month of January to Puerto Vallarta, our escape from the Chicago winter. We stayed in the Romantic Zone, right on the beach and all our favorite places. Pictures 

(Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon)
Our Fall 2 week trip. We started this circle trip by flying to Las Vegas, renting a car, and driving the circle visiting five parks in Utah and Grand Canyon North & South in Arizona.  PICTURES 

This was a trip to visit Finland with the children, to let them one more time see their mothers country. Seija and I traveled first to Copenhagen for 4 days then to Helsinki where we all met up. After 4 days in Helsinki we traveled, by car, to Punkalaidun. Seija stayed there while Erik, Ari and I went on a tour biking the Finnish Archipelago.After returning to Punkalaidun we drove up to the Lakelands (Punkaharju) where we rented a cabin for a week. At the end we returned to Punkalaidun and attended the Pentinmaki Family reunion (over 100 attended). We went back to Helsinki where everybody went their own way, Ari - Iceland, Erik and Sarah - Helsinki,  Seija and I Estonia.   Pictures 

We made a two weeks trip to Seattle and Oregon. Visiting Astoria, Lewis & Clark sites, then driving down the coast to Coos Bay with several stops. In Coos Bay Seija visited second cousins, they found each other through Ancestry.com.  Pictures 

This year we went again for one month to our favorite Mexican place - Puerto Vallarta. We stayed in a hotel at the beach in the Romantic Zone. It was again a perfect time to get away from the Chicago winter. Pictures

Rome - Umbria - Tuscany - Carrara - Lucca - Pisa - Cinque Terre - Parma - Venice - Rome.
A 4 week adventure by car.  Driving from Rome to Umbria (5 nights) then to Greve in Chianti Tuscany (7 nights) visiting Tuscan hill towns on to Lucca (3 nights) and La Spezia (3 nights) to visit Pisa, Carrara and Cinque Terre then to Parma and Venice for 3 nights each. Returning to Rome for a weeks stay.  PICTURES

In April 2014 we went on a rail - drive trip of Netherland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany.

We flew to Amsterdam from there by train to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brugge, Brussels, Luxembourg and Trier. From Trier we drove to Heidelberg, Rothenburg ob de Tauber and Munich. We returned from Munich after 4 weeks.  PICTURES

Our Winter Break 2014 we spent in Puerto Vallarta.  PICTURES