"Back From Our Second European Trip" riorich55's Profile

4 Countries in 18 Days

NOTE: A link to a video done by a casual VT member. He posted in a forum question and since it might be deleted I've asked if I can post the link here. The Video is entitled "Around the World in Six Minutes"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlkBpar-ksY

So at the end of 2011 I had 80,000 American Airlines points so it was time to plan another trip to Europe. Looked at the dates and times and was able to secure 2 round trip tickets to London and back between the period of April 27 and May 15. So with the flights scheduled before the new year it was time to start planning that second trip.

Sue said we needed to get back to Paris and see more of what we hadn't seen the first time around. OK, one destination planned. We both agreed we needed to add Italy and Spain to our agenda this time and since we had to fly in and out of London Heathrow we might as well spend a few days there again as well.

We thought we might get to see a little of the South of France, but that didn't seem to fit in too well with the timeframe we had selected. So the final itinerary was Paris for 4 days, fly to Rome, Rome for 3 days, train to Florence for 1 day, trains to Riomaggiore for 1 day, trains to Stresa, Italy for 3 days, train to Milan and fly to Barcelona for 4 days, fly to London for 2 days and then back home. A combination of some big cities at both ends of the trip and a little more laid back in smaller cities for 4 days in the middle. Worked out to be a nice combination.

Now to work on all those new tips and add all those new pictures.

The Wedding of the Year - 2012

The Newlyweds

Another year - Another Wedding of the Year. This time our middle son, Greg married his sweetheart Amy on October 20, 2012 and now Sue and I have our first daughter-in-law to go along with our son-in-law as our family continues to grow. This wedding was a bit more traditional taking place in St Andrews Catholic Church just down the block from my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs. After the wedding the bridal party which consisted of our 2 other sons as groomsmen took off for some wedding pictures around Chicago and Wrigley Field.

After the wedding the newlyweds headed off for a week of fun and sun in the Caribbean on the island of St Lucia. As I talked to Greg upon his return he wants to win the lotto so he can travel and enjoy more things around the world. Yes another traveler in the family.

The Wedding of the Year - 2011

Joe and Jen

For all my close VT friends they've heard me talking about my daughter, Jennifer's upcoming wedding to my now son-in-law Joe over the past year. Well on September 24, 2011 in a beautiful outdoor ceremony Jen and Joe became husband and wife the first of our four children to get married. And as any good child of a VT member they honeymooned for a couple of weeks in Italy.

UPDATE: Now married for over a year and just bought their first home about 2 miles from where we live.

We Had A Great Time at the VT Chicago Weekend

VT Group Celebrates Start of the Chicago Meeting

On June 17 and 18, 2011 several Chicago VT members hosted a Weekend Extravaganza in my home town of Chicago. Actual and Virtual attendees did everything from a baseball game, to walking tours, a boat tour, free concerts, comedy club, bar hopping for the younger members and of course PIZZA.

The picture above was our group at the meeting point on Friday night. We had additional members join us for the fun events on Saturday. I think everybody had a great time and our notorious finicky weather held out for us in great fashion with temperatures in the 70's and 80's with no rain.

Here are a couple of videos I put together for the pre event.

Everybody is Coming to Chicago - Part 1
Everybody is Coming to Chicago - Part 2
Everybody is Coming to Chicago - Part 3
Friday Night at Millennium Park
Saturday Night at Adobo Grill

Yes, We Really Did Leave Our Hearts There!!

Sue and Rich Enjoying Their Trip

In 2010 I spent a lot of the year traveling with my job on a couple of projects, but the advantage of all that business travel is of course saving up those airline miles and hotel points for a personal vacation. After the project ended in mid-October we took some time for ourselves and went west to California in late October and early November. We saw some sights we had seen before but still love (the Golden Gate Bridge) and some new memories to last us a lifetime (the Wine Country and Yosemite). We were fortunate enough to have 11 days of free time (I know the rest of the world doesn't even get out of low gear 11 days into their Holidays) to explore and once again go crazy filming video and taking pictures (I think we are almost at 1200 pictures including the VT hotel and food pictures).

SIDENOTE: My 2nd son got engaged in the San Francisco area in June, 2011 on a vacation there. My son and my future daughter-in-law took a picture in this exact spot also.

The pages I have started so far include: California, - Sausalito, Healdsburg, Geyserville, Calistoga, Fairfield, Napa, Saint Helana, Glen Ellen, Sonoma, Lodi, Mariposa, Yosemite National Park, and of course San Francisco

Anyway, the picture above sums up what I always think when I leave San Francisco. Sue has been here only once before with me on a business trip and while I spent many days in the bay area in the 80's and 90's on business, I hadn't been back since 1996.

GATEWAY TO MY EUROPEAN VIDEOS

Sue Flying in the Alps

I'm like a new kid with a toy with the camcorder I bought before our trip to Europe last year and the IMac Computer I purchased after the trip. Here are the videos I have created thus far of our European adventures complete with approved music.

PARAGLIDING IN THE SWISS ALPS

POST CARDS FROM PARIS PART 1

POST CARDS FROM PARIS PART 2

A DAY AT VERSAILLES

BIKING THROUGH PARIS

GOING UP TO SCHILTHORN

GOLDEN PASS TRAIN RIDE FROM LAUTERBRUNNEN TO LUCERNE

AND A BONUS VT MEETING VIDEO VT LUNCHEON MEETING IN NOVEMBER, 2009 - TAKING PICTURES OF OUR FOOD

OK, where to start? Travel background. I didn't do too much traveling as a kid, but we did the East Coast Historical Car Tour and did get out to the Rockies, but most of the other family vacations were is nearby midwest locations. With my own family we did the East Coast Historical Car Tour, got up to Toronto, down to visit Mickey in Orlando and did some midwest trips. I did a lot more business trips across the United States and at one time did an around the country 2 week tour where I did a presentation in the morning in one city, hopped on a plane and did another presentation the next morning in another city (It was actually quite an adventure and I only missed one flight).

Being associated with VT since Nov, 2007, I have been visiting a number of other members sites and have been absolutely enthralled at the places everyone has visited and the experiences they have had. It has been really fun getting to know everyone virtually and in person at several Chicago VT meetings. In April, 2008 Sue and I met DABS aka Kristi and husband Dave,, Yooperprof aka Chet, and MJB123 aka Martin.

Where Have I Been Since I Started With VT?

2008 - Short Business Trips: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, St. Louis, Missouri, Kenosha, Wisconsin, Pompano Beach, Florida.

First European Trip with my bride of 33 years to London, Paris, Versailles, Bern , Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Lucerne.

2009 - Business Trips to Kansas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. Wedding in Las Vegas (not ours) and although not an official out of town trip saw a Freedom '89 Multi Media (Dance, Opera Singer, Jazz Pianist, Rock Band) Polish Concert in Millennium Park in Downtown Chicago). The guest of honor that night was Lech Walesa former leader of the Solidarity Movement, Past President of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize Winner.

One Week Vacation to Charleston, South Carolina and Asheville (Waynesville), North Carolina.

There's More to Iowa Then Corn and Pigs

A Man Doing Some Thinking

Am I discovering more art in unusual places or is it just because I wasn't really an art lover until a couple of years ago? Anyway, whatever the answer is I'm really enjoying going to different towns to see what type of culture they have. And believe it or not if you look hard enough you will find at least a little bit of culture sometimes in the tiniest of towns.

Not that Des Moines (where this picture was taken) is a really tiny town, but I'm sure most people think of Iowa as just a vast area of corn and soy bean fields and just an overwhelming amount of hogs and pigs. While that is true, Iowa is also very hilly in spots (including Des Moines) and if you just venture outside of your own comfort zone you may be amazed at what you can find.

Besides the California pages Here are some of the others I am currently working on from numerous business trips during 2010 some of them not very big tourist attractions at all but may be of interest if you happen to be wanting to try something different then the norm.

Kankakee, Illinois - About 60 miles south of Chicago off Interstate 57 heading toward Champaign, Illinois and other parts in Southern Illinois.

South Dakota - Wide open spaces, where the buffalo do roam and the deer and the antelope do play.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Big enough of a SD city to rate its own page.

Cedarburg, Wisconsin - 25 miles north of Milwaukee. Nice weekend town for some shopping.

Hammond, Indiana -VT Top 15 member DABS real hometown

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Just a quick 2 hour trip from our house and the home of the most sexiest building in the world rated by VT members.

Louisville, Kentucky - Home of the Kentucky Derby and Colonel Sanders.

Fort Wayne, Indiana - Former home to a really nice Abraham Lincoln Museum which unfortunately closed its doors in 2008.

Oyster Bay, New York - Home of the 26th President of the United States and my 2nd Favorite U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt. (Abraham Lincoln will always be my Favorite U.S. President)

Cold Spring, New York - Home of the West Point Foundry which made most of the heavy guns for use by the Union Troops in the American Civil War.

Danbury, Connecticut - Didn't get to explore the area but did stay here and have a hotel and restaurant review.

Coloma, Michigan - Just a quick 20 minute stop at an Apple Cider Bar. ALERT - Cute Kid Pictures.

New York State

Hudson River Valley Near West Point

Toward the end of April, 2010 I got a chance to head to New York for 4 days of meetings and training. This was a last minute trip and I didn't book my flight until the Thursday before I left on Sunday morning. Rather then pay the crazy fares for a mid afternoon flight from Chicago to New York on a Sunday afternoon (Even if I'm not picking up the bill I don't like to get ripped off) I caught a 6:00 a.m. flight and was in my rental car by 9:15 a.m. (New York time) for a trip to the home of my 2nd favorite U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt. (Abe Lincoln from my home state of Illinois is and will always be #1). I spent a picture perfect morning and early afternoon in Oyster Bay, New York and then tooled around in Long Island and then headed up to Danbury, Connecticut where my hotel was at.

I wasn't sure how long I was going to be staying or if we had anything scheduled for Friday morning, so I didn't book a return flight home until 5:10 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Fortunately for me we finished all our work on Thursday and that left me most of the day Friday to head up to the Hudson River Valley area in New York on yet another picture perfect day. And yes, I took lots and lots of pictures and videos which I will share.