THE FUNDAMENTALS OF MEMORIES #1

A memorable meal in a stunning location with an ideal dining partner is an 

excellent way to make a lasting travel-related memory.

Though the shot is not my usual standard when posting, this is on the fantail of the MSY Wind Surf in the Adriatic Sea. The hills in the distance are the heel of the Italian Boot. My wife is to my right.

The chef on board made it a requirement that the meals somehow reflected the locale, up to and including visits to local farmer's markets at each port. Obviously the Mediterranean is rich in local fare.

It is one of dozens of meals I can easily recall from our travels around the world, several from that trip alone. They aren't all in such exotic places, they just have to be special in some way.

(One such "opposite end of the spectrum" is of stopping with my wife at the In'n'Out Burger in Barstow. Just a perfect confluence of experience becoming memorable. And a damned good burger.)

Memories of our travels are the primary reason we do it. Learning about a place, and enjoying all it has to offer are fundamental to building a foundation of understanding and appreciation for this incredible world we're born into.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA - SUNSET SUPPER

Among the best memories any of us has are mealtimes in a special place or at a special time.

They may be meals with family, at a family get-together. Or at a rendezvous that is a shared indulgence. It may be meeting friends for dinner at the nearby Chili's, or at a fine dining spot a world away. It might be at a Lolo on a Caribbean beach, or the local coffee house just up the street.

What often makes the difference is the family and/or friends.

As I look back at a lifetime of very happy experiences in some very exotic locations -- and more than a few just up the street -- I cannot help but be pleased that so many involved the people we treasure in our lives. It's a shared adventure, these lives of ours. And shared adventures require shared memories.

Aboard the MSY Wind Surf. Dinner with our Australian friends on the fantail at the Wind Rose restaurant, enjoying the sunset over the distant coastline of the Italian boot.

Rovinj

The view astern, down the starboard side of the MSY Wind Surf, looking back at the wonderfully picturesque Croatian town of Rovinj, along the Dalmatian Coast.

circa 2011

Pic of the Day: An Evening on the Sea

We travel once a year or so with our friends Ray and Vicky Stone from Perth, Australia. We've shared numerous adventures with them on three continents, but we also enjoy the occasional quiet evening in memorable surroundings.

Among our more spectacular dinners was this one on the fantail of the MSY Wind Surf as she sailed along the Salento Peninsula (the heel of Italy's boot). The sunset, the cool breeze and a soft Mediterranean haze set the mood properly for the meal itself, which was expertly prepared and served.

I often advocate finding the local diner and just grabbing an amazing burger. But there's plenty of room at the other end of the culinary spectrum.

Pic of the Day: Missing Messina

A woman gets a few last late-afternoon photographs of the Sicilian city of Messina as the MSY Wind Surf departs for Sorrento. 

Allons-y!

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." 
                           - Robert Louis Stevenson

Just a few days ago I posted my 2012 Year End review, and what a fun year it was. But now, as with ever First of January, I find myself looking forward not back. 

Off Again....

The new year holds a lot of promise, and I genuinely plan on taking advantage of the opportunities that come my way. We already have three major trips on the drawing boards (well, one is solid and the other two are well into the planning and reservation stage). Unlike 2012, 2013 is going to be more of an intercontinental effort, filled with new countries and destinations. It's always fun to plans such adventures, because when it comes to exploring new territory you're in the position of having to rely upon the advice of others to make sure you don't get tripped up -- and if you are, how best to respond to it.

One of the biggest plans of 2013 is to continue to expand the brand of the Thumbnail Traveler. Not only do we have this blog page -- which is rapidly gaining traction, and I have all of you to thank for that -- but there is a Twitter feed (@thumbnailtravel), a Facebook page (Thumbnail Traveler) and soon to come, a fully illustrated website dedicated to destination guides, galleries and links to other reference sites for -- at the start -- thirty global destinations. We figure that should go live by late February,. so keep your eyes peeled here for updates. 

A little later in the year -- perhaps February or March -- we're preparing a handful of videos for Youtube (and elsewhere). Yep, we're goin' MultiMedia here at the Thumbnail Traveler!!! You can see the first beta test by using the link down below. It's just the first round. Future iterations will include voiceover descriptions and actual video of sites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNTx2F-IVg

CURRENT PLANS

Obviously, since the entire content of the Thumbnail Traveler sites is dependent upon travel, we're going to be on the road for a number of times during the year. There will be a handful of the short-duration overnights up into such areas as the California deserts. Not only a return to Joshua Tree, but I'd also like to log some time photographing the area near the Salton Sea, and up through the Death Valley. A friend hipped me to some interesting statuary out near Joshua Tree that I'd like to explore a bit, working in a similar vein to the night shots of The Last Supper statues in Rhyolite, Nevada. If you haven't seen the exposures I'm describing, check them out using the link down at the bottom of this column. They're truly stunning works.

The more formalized trips for the year are, as noted, taking shape. In February we're journeying up to perhaps our second most frequented destination in the world, and that is Las Vegas. We get there two to three times a year and usually find quite a bit to keep us occupied. This trip promises nothing different, with side trips into Red Rock Canyon, the town of Goodsprings, and possibly a run up to the Hoover Dam. I've worked around the first two, and still have a couple of old archived shots of the dam which I would love to augment. Side trips to and from also remain a possibility, but whether that means the Death Valley, or the aptly-named Devil's Playground is anybody's guess at this point.

The second major trip of the year -- a weeklong road journey to the beautiful city of Santa Fe, New Mexico and back -- offers quite a few side trips and entertainments. I'm looking forward to posting a few thoughts and ideas, as well as revisiting some sites (sights) I for which wish I had a more extensive archive. I tend to doubt this will include the Petrified Forest, but almost certainly will involve Meteor Crater, The Painted Desert and general Route 66 holdovers along the way. Santa Fe is a wonderfully art-oriented town, and ought to offer more than a handful of ideas and photo ops in and of itself. There's nothing like going walkabout in a place like that -- educational and also a real chance to get away from the world and lose myself in a destination.

The Wind Surf

The last and final planned journey for 2013 is a return visit to our friends at Windstar Cruise Lines for a voyage between Stockholm and Edinburgh. With the exception of a few nights in London, virtually all destinations on this particular trip will be new to both myself and our travel companions. This is the one which will knock out at least a couple of our NOW list items, particularly a visit to Loch Ness in Scotland. Standing on the shores of that great lake has long been a dream of mine, so it's about time I made it happen. As I've noted many, many times in the past, this is the sort of thing you have to plan and do, versus merely dream about it. And since this will also involve a visit to Copenhagen and Norwegian fjords, 2013 will not only satisfy formal NOW list checks, but also a handful of "I've always wanted to"s along the way. (Still trying to figure out if I can get my ass over to Stonehenge while we're in England, but this might be pushing a bit too hard given the time allotted.)

So 2013 appears to be shaping up nicely. I'll be adding more than a handful of new galleries to my various websites, and certainly a lot of new entries here at the Blog. It's going to be a fun (and hopefully adventurous) year -- and I'd be honored if you came along for the ride.

Happy New Year.

Rhyolite Sculptures

http://www.rhyolitesite.com/statues.html

Other Thumbnail Traveler web sites

http://www.barbergallery.net

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thumbnail-Traveler/342013912536224?fref=ts

Discovering Windstar

As of this posting, I have just returned from an extended and extensive vacation in Europe. During that voyage -- three weeks, four countries and some 14 destinations -- I had the chance to observe quite a range of travel-related activities and performances of both specific companies, as well as less-defined groups such as cities and towns, and even individuals. This is the first of several columns  reviewing what I found.


A few columns ago I discussed my position that in the word of hospitality and travel services, it's the small things, the seemingly insignificant things, which can make the greatest difference in the experience of a guest. When one discovers a company or service which echoes that idea, I feel it's essential to pass the information along.

The MSY Wind Surf anchored off Rovinj, Croatia

Until now, my wife and I could be described, at best, as "casual" cruisers. Three previous experiences…two aboard Carnival ships, and a single Royal Caribbean...had left us with happy but unenthusiastic reviews. We had a good time, but figured if we wanted a big hotel with shows and a casino we could find better examples in Las Vegas. Windstar has, frankly, utterly changed our minds.

In fact, Windstar has completely changed my assessment of cruising as a whole, and converted me to their way of thinking. Cruising done right, or as the company's advertising line points out, they are "180 Degrees from Ordinary".

The ship's lounge area

As I write this piece, it's sunrise in the Adriatic Sea, a portion of the Mediterranean which divides the eastern coast of the Italian Peninsula and the west coast of Croatia. Just after sunrise.

I'm aboard the MSY Wind Surf, the flagship of the small Windstar fleet of sailing ships which cruise exotic ports throughout the world. Today we're slowly making our way down the Dalmatian Coast, headed for the island and town of Korcula. No one seems to know, precisely, how it is pronounced...core-chew'-la, or kor'-coo-la, or, well, you get the picture...but it promises to be a hot, humid and utterly beautiful day.

It's early, and the vast majority of passengers are still sleeping ir just now rising to start assembling their day. Ahead of the rush, the ship's staff are putting cups and plate on the breakfast tables, assembling and arranging silverware, and generally making things hospitable for the 250 or so passengers who will come seeking their breakfast in about an hour. But at the moment it's just me, the crew, and one or two other passengers who have arisen early to sit in the dawn light to enjoy the view.

Wind Surf off Italy

It's our second morning aboard the Surf, and already the ship and her staff have endeared themselves to us in a way no other cruise ship has been able. The crew are not only friendly, but genuinely seem to be enjoying themselves. A smile, a laugh, a friendly good morning delivered without being intrusive. 

The Concierge Desk

There is a personal touch here that is lacking on the larger ships  -- no disrespect to the crews of the vast Holland America, Cunard or Royal Caribbean vessels which plow these same seas (though usually visitng only the larger ports). You cannot get to know 2500 passengers in a week, the passenger count on the smallest of those leviathans of the sea, while it's a manageable feat if your guest count is 250. The Wind Surf accommodates a little over 300 guests by comparison with the giants, while her smaller sisters -- the Wind Star and the Wind Spirit -- are just over half that. Some people prefer the anonymity and grandeur of the bigger ships, but we quickly discovered that it adds so much more to the sense of relaxation to look up at a voice and see that it's Steven or Adam or Riz or One asking the question, and they, in turn, know your name.

In the morning as she prepares for her day

An example of this attentiveness occurred yesterday morning, while the ship was just rising from its sleep. I was on the Star Deck, the uppermost of the ship's six passenger levels. The Veranda, the ship's general seating semi-buffet restaurant, officially opens for service at 8am -- or roughly an hour from the time I woke, showered and went to the upper decks in search of a quiet moment away from our cabin so as not to disturb my wife's sleep. As expected, I found only a couple of other passengers watching the sunrise while the early-morning crew set about their tasks of readying the ship for the day. Despite the early hour, and despite the various tasks of preparing for the meal, Kada, a thin, slightly shy gentleman with a broad smile, took the time to come out to the deck to ask the three interloping guests (including myself) if we would like a cup of coffee, bringing it quickly and cheerily wishing us a good morning. I cannot imagine this would happen on a ship the size of the Voyager of the Seas.

Then there's the overall expansiveness of the ship. A regular objection of traveling on the smaller cruise ships -- smaller being relative given the Surf's 600+ feet -- is the fear that you will feel cramped and put-out. Even though we were perhaps 20% below the full load of the Wind Surf - she can handle 320 passengers - my sense is that the common spaces of the ship would still feel open and airy if she were at capacity. It's possible to walk through some of the larger rooms in the ship encountering only a few people. Crowds do not exist on board the Wind Surf. We may gather together for a show or presentation, but at no time is there a feeling of herding, a sensation you can sometimes get in the formalized mealtimes of the larger vessels. We ate when we wanted, in the restaurants we preferred (two require reservations, but this was easily accomplished). And at no time was the wait more than a minute or two for a seat. I find the insistence upon calling the Wind Surf a "yacht" to be more marketing than reality, but there's no question the guests are treated as individuals and such accommodation certainly warrants a degree of conceit.

The Wind Surf with Mount Vesuvio on the background

I will write more thoughts on the Surf in a later column, but for now I'll leave off with a note I wrote yesterday (Note: two weeks ago as of the actual posting date) as I sat sipping at the cup of coffee Kada had so thoughtfully brought to my little table:

"The Dalmatian Coast continues to drift by in the distance. The sun is just a little bit higher than it was when I started. A cool breeze blows back from the bow of the Wind Surf a a cup of coffee beckons my attention. I'll detail more about the creature comforts of this beautiful ship, but for now it's time for me to enjoy them."