Bell's Travel Company

30/10/2023

We arrived at the ship around 430 pm and just enough time to land in our room and then the safety briefing in the Panorama Lounge. Everyone was bleary eyed. Most guests had flown in from the States that day. At least I’d had one day head start ! Then dinner tables were divided by group colors so we sat with four folks from “red” group…
Day # 2 - Mâcon ! What a delightful city ! We did a wonderful walking tour and then had the afternoon at leisure ( I had an extensive walk in the afternoon along the lovely boardwalk. Here’s some pics of the boat and Mâcon ! It was beautiful weather ..

29/10/2023

Day 6 was the day we went to the airport to fly home — but I got up early and had a lovely walk and saw the sun rise over the magnificent mountains that surround Sedona ! And then we had a great photo stop at my rock — Bell Rock !!!

And another lovely leg stretch en route to PHX ( where the temps were triple digits ! )

29/10/2023

Day 5 of Great Trains and Grand Canyons was a day of leisure ! Done went to town for shopping and cafes, quite a few had booked massages at the spa at the hotel ( which they said were wonderful !) . Caryl and I did some hiking, but it was very hot so the afternoon was swimming and sunning. The final / farewell dinner was amazing at Blazing M Ranch !!! I shot a gun ( target practice ) for the first time in my life!!! I love new experiences 😉

29/10/2023

Day 4 of Great Trains and Grand Canyons - first stop Montezuma National Monument… then to the amazing little town of Jerome ! Way up on the hill and everything in town seems to be on the historic registry. Then, the Verde Canyon railroad. Very picturesque and an open air car for enjoying the breeze and for really good photos. Our bartender Ciara was just a little bundle of energy and made it fun. The charcuterie lunch was perfect !

29/10/2023

Day 3 of Great Trains and Grand Canyons —-

A great train ride on the Grand Canyon Railroad! We saw a jackrabbit, a prairie dog snd several groupings of Pronghorns from the train. Then some great time at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon !!! We were so fortunate to have an absolutely perfect day of weather !! Did a great amount of hiking around the Rim. And were nearly stampeded by a group of teenager Big Horn Sheep ! We initially thought they were a group of ill behaved youths but were delighted to see they were wild animals with pointy horns . Also Desert view national park & Black Barts for a fun filled dinner experience !! 😂😂😂. # premierworlddiscovery

17/10/2023

Day 2 of Great Trains and Grand Canyons ! What a lovely day ! Beautiful Sedona Trolley which toured us up to a Chapel in the mountains and Airport Mesa. Then some wandering time in Tlaquepaque.. lunch in Sedona ( delicious fish tacos !!!) and a pink Jeep tour ! Then a wonderful dip in the pool and an early night ! A great day tomorrow is in store and I need my rest !

16/10/2023

Beautiful property in the lovely town of Sedona !!! Poco Diablo — just a small devil !!!

16/10/2023

Day 1 of Great Trains and Grand Canyons — pickup at the airport in Phoenix and arrived in Scottsdale for a variety of lunch options. We went for the Baja tacos of course! My Seattle clothes suddenly seem very hot ….

15/03/2023

Hello friends and fellow travelers! We are all looking forward to summer now that the time change has happened in the U.S.! Do you have all of your flights confirmed for any summertime travel? If not, I highly advise you contact your travel advisor, as fares are rising quickly. Sometimes it's nice to dream BEYOND this summer... Fall cruising in the Caribbean? Our friends at Princess have a Lucky St. Patrick's day incentive going on right now. Check it out, and let me know if I can help with any questions!

Travel Agency, full service. Specializing in Cruises, Land packages and Train Travel, name your adv

28/02/2023

https://www.asta.org/travelerServices/why-use-a-travel-advisor

When I opened up my own company as a Travel Advisor, many people asked... Really? Does anyone use Travel Advisors anymore ? Don't they just do everything on Expedia? There's a lot of moving parts to travel these days. Just ask anyone who was affected by the Southwest issues this past summer. Having one person to have your back in that kind of a situation relieves all the stress of a vacation that didn't go exactly as planned. Sometimes just finding the right vacation package can be overwhelming, as there's a lot of options. A travel advisor can help you navigate to find the right fit. Let's chat !

21/02/2023

Dreaming about getting away this spring or summer? Cruising in Europe has always been good value for money, but with all these inclusions offered by the beautiful new ships of Virgin, you don't want to let this one slip by!!!!
20 different restaurants, none of them require "extra fees". Really.

Call for me details and I'd love to help with booking.

Voyage Details

13/02/2023

Hello all: I had a great time at the Travel and Adventure Show in DC last weekend, and met with some very interesting suppliers. I really enjoyed meeting Atlas Ocean Voyages that do high-end voyages through the Drake Passage and guests can walk on the ice of Antartica. I've been thinking about Alaska a lot these days, as I know it will be a busy season up there. Anyone interested in cruising to Alaska? Maybe I can help you put together a land tour? Many people only have limited vacation time, in which case, a cruise is a perfect fit. Looking to see more of Alaska than just Southeast and you have 2 weeks vacation? Then let's talk about a cruise tour to see the interior of Alaska, AND then a lovely cruise at the end.

Right now I'm organizing a Northern Lights tour for a client that wants to see Alaska in December / January next winter. It will include 2 cities, a train journey, and a dog sledding experience. Wow! So many great experiences in this big state during the winter as well. Obviously, that's not the time for the cruise ships, but for those looking for a more adventurous experience (and the Northern Lights!), please reach out and I can put together a package for you.

02/02/2023

I’m heading to DC ( the other Washington !) for a travel conference ! Looking forward to catching up with great friends as well !! Travel and Adventure show all day Saturday and Sunday !

24/01/2023

The Alhambra in Grenada was indeed an amazing day of discovery. Mainly because I’m also a knitter and find the beautiful tile work an inspiration for many a sweater/ scarf / hat. Here’s a lot of pictures of the glorious works in an around the Alhambra. Notice in the patterns how there is a repairing and interlocking pattern and how the individual tile pieces are actually the same shape. Okay .. I’m really into this !!

24/01/2023

Flamencan Dance in Granada !

23/01/2023

A wonderful trip in AVE ( Spain’s high speed train… second largest in the world !!!) to Granada !! We found our way to visitor info and then got a map and settled upon a hotel in the central part of town. Since it was so reasonable we decided to spend 2 nights, and dedicate ourselves to the Alhambra the next day ( Monday ) . Tonight was for Flamencan dance in a cave !!!

23/01/2023

Another video of the flamencan dance in the cave of Granada !

21/01/2023

Oh the beautiful Alcazaba of Malaga ! It was almost left in ruins at one point but over the last 40 years a lot of restoration and now it’s a huge tourist venue. Built during the Arabic times between 11-14 Century. The Nazari family.

19/01/2023

I feel like Michael and I were treated to an Architectural walking tour thanks to the wealth of knowledge from Chichola and Javier !! Both grew up in Malaga and extremely well versed in every aspect of Malaga culture and history. Fernando Guerrero Strachan was a famous architect around the turn of the century. He studied under Gaudi and the beauty of the buildings is incredible. A lot of them were originally built for the wealthy families of Malaga but since then have either been subdivided or made into government offices. In those days the coveted view was of the mountains, so it was the servants that had views of the ocean. Funny how lifestyles have changed! If you notice a reddish color on some buildings — that’s from a very curious recent weather phenomenon in Malaga. Rainstorms are picking up sand from Northern Africa and blasting it on the buildings when the rains arrive in Malaga. Happened for the first time in 2022 but they are predicting more, caused by climate change. It’s extremely difficult to remove without destroying the outside of the building, as power washing will remove the paint as well.

18/01/2023

Malaga has changed a bit since the 1980s ! A lot of development along the waterfront. The beach used to just be rocks and now there is sand, a lovely boardwalk and a lively port area with restaurants, shops and live musicians. A lovely park with ‘surprise’ games for the kids.

18/01/2023

The trains in Spain are an amazing way to travel! We took the train from Toledo to Madrid and then a high speed to Malaga. It was almost 200 km / hour and barely a jiggle. Delightful and relaxing to watch the orchards of olive trees whiz by as you relax in comfort! Come on US.. why can’t we have this ?

13/01/2023

So there seems to be a whole complex of Natural walking trails around the country of Spain. Michael and I decided we will make it our retirement goal to do at least some of them. ( maybe all of them !). Most of the towns are about 5-7 hours apart so just requires strong legs a good backpack and some planning of hotels ! And I would recommend the off season because even now in January it gets warm on the trail ! Check out the views from our wander on the Natural trails on Tuesday

12/01/2023

Since we had big rains on Sunday the Tagus River was running quickly during our walk on Tuesday ! So cool to watch

12/01/2023

On Sunday, after they had been predicting rain for days… we really got a huge downfall! It was noisy on the terra-cotta roof tiles ! And we discovered the cobblestone streets are a little tricky to navigate when it’s wet. Yesterday ( Tuesday ) the sun came out and it was glorious and warm. We went heading in a new direction .. along the Tagus but away from the lower city of Toledo. What a treat ! We saw the Teatro Roja, and many placards about the Barco de Pasaje. It’s an old pier where the priests used to run boats to bring people to and from the city. Looks like a locks system as well. Pretty cool to see the old buildings ! Check it out !

11/01/2023

This will be the first of several posts in Toledo. As you may know Toledo is a wonderful
mix of different peoples ( Muslims, Visigoths, Jews and Christians ) but what fascinates me the most walking around this walled city is the doors !!! They are all amazing .. and different! And if you’ve ever seen my own front door… it seems it may have been designed in Spain ! Here’s a few of my favs

07/01/2023

We just celebrated Los Tres Magos here in Spain ! What a lovely celebration of the three kings that came to Bethlehem bearing gifts ! Because of this they have parades, and the children receive most of their gifts on January 6th ! And on the floats the kings toss candies to the kids ! But then they have to rush home, clean their shoes and place them by the door for Balthasar Gaspar and Melchior to find the shoes so they can leave gifts !

03/01/2023

We had our first Menu del Dia experience yesterday ! Literally means The Daily Fare and varies from 12-19 Euros per person. Ours was 15Euros and we had a choice of 4-5 items for the first course and 4-5 items for the second course. It includes wine/beer/water and bread and dessert! A very full meal ! Most Spanish go for this meal around 2pm ( we went around 3 pm ) and we went to Angel de las Estrellas, a cute little spot near the main entrance of the walled city.

02/01/2023

The Air Bnb is an absolute delight ! As our host explained — it’s very authentic ! It’s Spanish, but also takes from times of the Arabic’s and the lower level dates back to Roman times !

31/12/2022

Well our first day in Toledo we covered a lot of ground ! We discovered that Cafe Delfin is the closest restaurant to our ‘home’. We recognized a lot of places from our time here in 2018 but thankfully we don’t have to squeeze everything into 3 days ! Here’s a few photos of our first day !

30/12/2022

Arrived in Toledo about 815 pm last night and ventured out today !