A hike and some questions

Columbus was a traveler so I think it’s appropriate that I add a bit to my blog on Columbus Day. Nevermind that it was celebrated the day before yesterday, Oct 12 is, to me, Columbus Day.

Randy and I went on a four mile hike today, up Marshall Gulch Trail (on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona, where we have a small cabin) and back on the Aspen Trail. This was the site of the origination of the Aspen Fire of 2003 that burned 84,750 acres (343 km2) and destroyed 340 homes and businesses in Summerhaven, the town at the top of Mt. Lemmon.

I don't know what these are, but I love them, they flower at my cabin every year, all summer long.

The forest is recovering, and it is encouraging to see all the new growth. Some of the pine tree seedlings are four feet tall, which is pretty good for eight years! New oak trees, new aspen trees, and several species of pine and fir (I get my coniferous trees mixed up).

And I couldn't resist this group of mushrooms (probably not edible by humans) being devoured by some unknown insect.

So what does this have to do with our cruise, you may well ask. Randy and I talk a lot when we hike; the longer the hike, the more we converse! So we were talking about the cruise, which is coming up in only 216 days, one hour and 43 minutes (as I write this). We’re stopping in a lot of places (41), by far the majority(27) are places we’ve never been before. So we’re hoping for help! Do you have any ideas for what we absolutely can’t miss in any of the following cities? The ones with asterisks are places we have been before, but that doesn’t mean we know the absolute most wonderful things to see and do in those cities.

Sydney*

Darwin*

Singapore*

Kuala Lumpur* (but it’s been 45 years since I’ve been here)

Penang

Mumbai

Dubai

Salalah (Oman)

Luxor/Karnak (Safaga)

Aqaba (Jordan)

Suez Canal

Alexandria

Mykonos

Istanbul

Anzac Cove

Athens

Venice (2 nights)

Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Naples

Rome

Livorno

Cannes

Barcelona

Lisbon*

Paris*

London*

Bergen*

Shetland Island

Reykjavik

Halifax

NY (2 nights)* (we’ll at least go see a play here)

St Thomas*

Aruba*

Panama Canal*

Puntarenas

Los Angeles*

Honolulu*

Papeete

Pago Pago

Auckland*

Bay of Islands*

So please think about it, and email me (if you don’t know my email, use pamelamryan@yahoo.com) with ideas or add a comment on this blog. We’d love to hear any and all ideas, remarks, comments, observations, thoughts, opinions, views, feelings, sentiments, prospects, or viewpoints on any and/or all of the cities above.