European Cruise - La Rochelle

The is the "stopping off" point for Bordeaux Wine country, so what else to do except take a a tour of the countryside and visit a vineyard.

After a ride around the countryside we ended up at Chateau Loudenne.

Wine in storage and some of their award winning wines.

Shot of the Vineyard grounds! The countryside is gorgeous.

Local farmer in the village of Gironde.

Veux Port in La Rochelle with its defensive towels. This shot shows only two of the three towers that was used to defend the city.

A view of the port from the village with the Tower of Saint Nicolas, the third defensive tower in the background.

Walkway with Saint-Nicolas Tower in the background.

One of the many side streets we walked.

The Cathedral of Saint Louis; constructed in 1742 and completed in 1762. It looks as though the cathedral isn't being used and is in a pretty bad state!

One of two light houses built in 1852; this one located in town and the other on in the port. Apparently both are still use today to guide sailors into the port.

European Cruise - Bilbao, Spain

This stop was one of the highlights for me because I have always wanted to see the Guggenheim Museum. Although the building is beautiful, many of the galleries were closed for new exhibition. But I am happy I finally got there.

The Bay of Biscay on the way into the port serving Bilbao. I have seen wind turbines although Europe ports. One is not likely to see these when entering any USA ports!

All streets lead to the Museum!

Close-up of the Museum.

Pedestrian bridge across the rive Nervion.

Peggy & Jenny by the river.

Teatro Arriaga, the opera house of Bilbao.

I love exploring the side streets in the places we visit.

European Cruise - Lisbon

This visit was the second time I visited Lisbon. My first was in about 1958 when I was in the USAF stationed in Rhein Main AFB just outside Frankfurt, Germany. So I was very excited about seeing Lisbon and seeing if I could takes some pictures of places I had visited before.

This is a picture I took in 1958, but I was certain that I would not be able to take another one similar to this picture. I just don't think the women in Lisbon today move products as they did in the '50's.

I was hoping that I could find this church, but I didn't. That was very naive of me!

Lisbon in 1958!

Lisbon in 2011!

Entrance to Saint George Castle.

View from Saint George Castle.

View inside Saint George Castle.

Church of Santa Maria Maior. Check out the information on this Cathedral. The construction started in 1150; over three hundred years before Columbus even thought of sailing!

I love this shot of one of the side streets. After walking around the many small side streets I can appreciate while the Smart Car is parked in front of this apartment.

If one isn't careful as they walk in the Rossio Square he could easily trip!

European Cruise - Cadiz, Spain

So last year I started posting our European trip but just didn’t get too far, primarily because I was just too busy. But the other and maybe the real reason was I just enjoyed looking at our daughter's posting of the same trip and I new I couldn’t complete with that. But like she says, my approach is different; different for sure!

Anyway I have already posted our visit to Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga and Casablanca. You can go to previous posts to check out those visits. As you can see by our itinerary, today we will visit Cadiz, which is the gateway to Seville. We elected to stay in Cadiz and not go to Seville.

Plaza de San Antonio named in 1669 after in inauguration of the San Antonio Church in the same year. Prior to this the Plaza was called Campo de la Jara. Along with Plaza de San Juan de Dios, Plaza de San Antonio is and has been one of the most important squares in the city.

The picture turn out a little better with the rain shower we had just before arriving in the square.

One of the many narrow streets leading to the Plaza de San Antonio.

Plaza de San Juan de Dios

Don't you think that it looks as though these cruise ships are parked on the street?

I love this building and walkway under the building.

Isn't this a lovely sign for a restaurant? I noticed many signs for other places as well. Really adds a lot to this beautiful city.

I like this picture for a number of reasons: one I took a similar picture in China so many years ago. With the narrow streets these motocycles would really come in handy.

One more narrow road in the city!

So you can now see why we decided to stay in Cadiz. Yes, Seville would have been a great place to visit with its history, museums, and World Heritage Sites, but maybe another time.

AARP TaxAide Program

I’m Back! I stop blogging last year because I couldn’t find the time with traveling and then, since November, having to get prepared for AARP TaxAide Volunteer Tax Program that I participate in and have for about ten years. It is a great program, even if I have to say so myself.

I serve as a Tax Counselor at the Glens Falls Senior Center as part of the AARP/IRS TaxAide Program. AARP Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest free, volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service. It is available to taxpayers with low- and middle-income with special attention given to those age 60 and older.

The TaxAide program was started in 1968 with four preparers serving about 100 clients. In 2008, the latest information available, there were 32,000 volunteers serving in 7000 sites; these counselors assisted seniors in the filing of over 2.2 million Federal Tax Returns. Of course, we also do the State returns as well.

Our site has about ten counselors; we did about 725 Federal & State Returns last year. We file all returns electronically, except those few that cannot be filed electronically. Now my question is: How much money do you think we have saved the IRS over the years? First, they no longer have to have personnel to serve these clients and secondly, how much are we saving IRS because they are not dealing with paper. I think it is hugh!

A word about our counselors; the most important aspect about this program. We are mostly retired. All are great to work with and give of their time freely. They are good people! I’m amazed at the number of people who donate their time each year to help seniors get their returns prepared especially the leaders in our region who almost work full-time in this program as volunteers. They are great people and wonderful to work with!

Casablanca2011

Casablanca, located on the Atlantic Ocean, is the largest city in Morocco with a population of approximately three million. Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. Many americans, born before 1942, when they hear Casablanca, think about the film Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart. I admit, that if it isn’t my first thought it is my second, so we had to go see Rick’s Cafe where a lot of the action took place in the film. But then we found out that the film was shot in Tangiers and some entrepreneur built the bar after the film was made: as my granddaughter might say, “bummer”!

The Hassan II Mosque is the largest mosque in the country and the 2nd largest in the world after the Grand Mosque of Mecca. As many as 25,000 worship can worship at one time and another 80,000 can be accommodated on the grounds. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 690 ft.

Another shot of the Mosque.

Rick's Cafe. Looks good doesn't it?

The post office built around 1918.

Close-up of the Post office. Beautiful mosaic on the front entrance.

Some of the local beauties with the lovely Jenny!

Local market with the Medina Mosque in the background.

Malaga2011

Yeah, I know I didn’t know where it was also! I had to look it up. Malaga is located on the coast in the southern part of Spain; it is one of the oldest cities in the western world. Founded in the 8th century BC by the Phoenicians; its claim to fame: Pablo Picasso was born here in 1881.

Now that is about all I going to say about Malaga (you can go to the web site and get much more), since we spent our day in Mijas a beautiful resort village, with its white-washed homes, located about an hour from Malaga.

These beautiful white wash buildings in Mijas, located in the Sierras de Mijas mountains, was what I was attracted to when we saw all the information about our trip. It looked so beautiful and reminded me of scenes we saw years ago in the Mediterranean.

A side street in the village. I read somewhere that an ordinance existed that prevented any structure in the village that wasn't "White"!

I loved the informational signs!

The Immaculate Conception Church is set in a beautiful gardens, beside the famous bullring at the top of the old part of the village with breathtaking views down the mountain to the sea.

The Grotto of the Virgin de la Pena on the cliffs overlooking the valley; in fact "Pena" means Cliffs in Spanish. There is a interesting legend about this chapel, so check it out!