Reset search
Spring of 2025 Adventure
  • Sonia Gelman
  • Boris Gelman

Spring of 2025 Adventure

A 54-day adventure by Sonia & Boris Read more
FollowInsightsCalendarShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Trip start
    March 29, 2025
    Spring of 2025 Adventure
    Flight over NYC
    The dinner

    The Beginning

    March 29 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    Our Uber ride was right on time. The flight to NYC was on time. All good until the landing in LGA. We were almost on the ground when the plane took off and started to climb up. We were told that the wind was too strong to land. Two more attempts did not do anything and we were told we are flying to Long Island airport instead.
    We landed in Long Island McArthur airport one hours later then scheduled time for LGA.
    We were offered to get off in LI, but the luggage will go to LGA or stay on the plane for later departure to LGA. We decided on later.
    We took off about an hour later and after a very short flight landed at LGA.
    With all these we arrived in NYC only slightly over 2 hours late.
    We took taxi to our hotel and met our son-in-law. Dropped our luggage in the room and walked 3 block to Indian restaurant for a delicious dinner.
    Then back to the hotel for a good night rest.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    Our Daughter's Building
    7,200 pounds (3,300 kg)9 ft high and 9000 pounds

    NYC Day 2

    March 30 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    We had early wake-up today. Boris forgot to turn his alarm from yesterday off.
    The good part is our daughter’s apartment is across from our hotel. We crossed Broadway and went for good breakfast at her place.
    After breakfast, back to our hotel to get ready for the day.
    By 10:00AM we were at the National Nature and Science museum. This was our first time at this museum. We spent good three hours and just scratched the surface.
    After museum we walked back to the hotel so Boris could rest and I went for a walk.
    After light dinner, we took a bus to see Alvin Alley ballet. Excellent dancing, but weird contemporary art. Still enjoyable.

    Tomorrow is a big day. Did not decide on what to do in the morning. It is supposed to rain all day, but in the evening is Gala.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    1With LarisaWith MidoriWho can resist chocolate!

    NYC Day 3

    March 31 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Today right after breakfast we walked to 72nd street to take subway to Ground Zero. Boris never been there.
    We walked all over and then walked towards Chinatown. Had a great lunch and it was about time to head back to the hotel.
    Our problem is that we need to find subway with an elevator. To do so, we had to take bus to the subway station with an elevator and then subway to our hotel.
    Unfortunately, we hopped on the wrong bus. Soon enough we realized the mistake and transferred on the correct one.
    We got off the bus and now we had to find an elevator. Google maps showed we had to walk a block, but Boris spotted elevator on the corner. We took it down. That elevator took us to a different line. No problem, we just have to transfer to our line on 42st. Well, it was not easy. The walk was probably close to a mile, but we did it and got to the hotel around 3pm. Time to clean ourselves and get ready for the evening.
    At 5:30PM we took an Uber to Essex hotel to the Gala, celebrating the 33rd anniversary of Midori and Friends organization.
    For 33 years, Midori and Friends, founded by violin virtuoso Midori, invested in over 320,000 students in NYC by providing tuition free music education program. She was only 21 when the organization was formed.
    Our Daugherty is executive director of the organization. In addition to all her everyday work, she is the organizer of every detail the event.
    There were Broadway performers, very talented young musicians and excellent speakers including Midori.
    Amazing evening and very proud of my daughter.
    We got back to our hotel under pouring rain.
    Time to rest.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    NYC Day 4.

    April 1 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    Day four in NYC started with a sunny, cold and windy day.
    In the morning we went to the Central Park. It is only 4 blocks from our hotel. We loved that park was pretty empty, the trees and flowers started to bloom.
    In the afternoon, our daughter came to our hotel and we spend few hours together.
    At 6:00PM we meet with our niece and younger generation went to see a show and we went to see Sunset Boulevard show.
    It was ok, but the singing was wonderful.
    We met after show and took subway back to our hotel.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    Ceiling of the post office
    The hall of post office

    NYC Day 5

    April 2 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    Today Boris went to NJ to visit his older sister. Her daughter drove him to NJ and back to NYC. So nice of her. Meanwhile, I met with Larisa and we took subway to her office. Then we went to the biggest post offices with zip code 10001.
    Great lunch followed by long walk.
    After that, I took subway to the hotel and Larisa went back to work.
    In the evening we all went to Italian restaurant for a dinner. Larisa is flying home (South Carolina) tomorrow.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    NYC Day 6

    April 3 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

    This morning started off with the rain, so we took a bus to Metropolitan Museum. You can never get tired of this beautiful museum. So much to see and learn.
    After we left museum, we walked through Central Park to the West Side, had wonderful lunch and back to the hotel.
    I spend a little time packing and then walked to supermarket to get some food for tomorrow morning.
    At 5:30PM we left hotel and took bus to 52 street to attend a show. We are seeing Cabaret show. As soon as we entered theatre, our phone camera was covered with a big sticker. No photos anywhere.
    The show was fantastic, we loved it.
    After the show, we took a bus back to the hotel. Tomorrow is a day of travel.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Goodbye NYC. Hello Florida.

    April 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    I decided to try Carmel Limo service instead of uber or taxi. It was less expensive and reviews mostly good. It did not disappointed us. The roomy car came 5 min early to our hotel. Everything fitted nicely. The car was comfortable and clean.
    We arrived at LGA with plenty of time. The flight was uneventful, which is good.
    We arrived at our AirBnB only one mile from the airport. One small hick up. Our check in suitcase had brocken wheel. Not good. Fortunately, we are close to the mall. We took Uber to have a dinner and then walked to TJMax to get a new suitcase.
    Last night before boarding the ship.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    Our patio
    Evening on the veranda.

    Boarding HAL.

    April 5 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    We left our accommodation at 11:00AM and were able to board the ship as soon as we arrived. It is a bigger ship than we aver took, but for us it is a transportation to Europe.
    Today is a busy day of unpacking and getting to know the ship.
    After dinner I went for 2 miles walk. We sailed at 8:30PM instead of 5:00PM due to the medical emergency.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Somewhere in the Atlantic.

    April 6 in Bermuda ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Our crossing to Europe has began. For two days we will be crossing ocean on the way to Bermuda. The weather is perfect. We are keeping busy by walking on the deck around the ship, going to a lectures, wine testing, painting classes for Boris, concerts and of course eating. Entertainment is pretty good, so we are not bored.Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    176 Years Old LighthouseOur Ship

    Bermuda for a Day

    April 8 in Bermuda ⋅ 🌬 70 °F

    After two days at sea, we arrived in Bermuda at 8:30AM. Yesterday I booked Bermudaful Island Tour in Viator. We were debating between going to the beach or the tour. The tour won, it will be easier for Boris.

    In 1609, the English Virginia Company, which had established Jamestown in Virginia two years earlier, permanently settled Bermuda in the aftermath of a hurricane, when the crew and passengers of Sea Venture steered the ship onto the surrounding reef to prevent it from sinking, then landed ashore. All 150 people on the ship and a dog survived.

    Today’s tour was just drive around the island with few stops for pictures and a lunch break.

    It was pretty windy and the water in the ocean is not very warm, so the tour probably was a good choice. The most amazing is the colour of the water and astronomical prices for everything.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Crossing Atlantic Ocean

    April 14, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 52 °F

    Today is our 6th out of 7 days crossing ocean days. Can’t wait to see the land.
    Every day is pretty much the same, except Passover celebration on the 12th of April.
    The ship did a marvellous job serving 70 people for the first Seder.
    Other than this, the days consist of eating (surprisingly good food), walking, going to the lectures and watching the shows.
    The weather is getting noticeably colder, but still somewhat sunny.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Falmouth, UK

    April 16 in England

    Today’s weather promised to be sunny and beautiful! So, what is better than spending a day outside in a beautiful English garden?

    We took a tender boat to the shore, than shuttle and proceeded to walk for another 15 min to take public transportation to Trebah garden.

    Trebah is positioned in a stunning valley. The park is over 200 years old.

    Throughout its history Trebah Garden has been developed by various families, with a number of visionary plantsmen. Trebah has been blessed by some golden periods of ownership over the years – such as the one it is currently thriving under.

    It is a beautiful, 26 acre Cornish valley garden, its micro-climate provides a sub-tropical paradise and the view down and out over the River Helford.

    We really enjoyed this garden, although it was not an easy task to navigate it with a wheelchair. We walked to Trebah beach which was used in 1944 by US troops to prepare for D day.

    After two hours of beauty, we stopped at the cafe and had real English scones with delish tea.

    We took a bus back to the town and then to Pendennis Castle.

    Pendennis Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII between 1540 and 1542 to protect against invasion from France and Roman Empire.

    After spending couple hours there, we walked back to the tender port.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Portland, UK. Jurassic Coast.

    April 17 in England ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    Again, we were extremely lucky today. The weather was perfect. I booked a tours to see famous Jurassic Coast. It dates back to 180 million years.
    We took a shuttle from the port and met our guide.
    Portland is famous for their limestone. Many buildings, including buildings of great importance were constructed with Portland stone, including The Palace of Westminster, The Tower of London and even parts of Buckingham Palace. United Nations building in NYC was also build from this stone.

    We passed Chesil Beach. It is 18 miles in length, roughly 160 metres wide and rises to 12 metres in height. It is the largest beach in the UK and without it Portland really would be an island!

    We continue driving toward Dorchester, stopped at the Royal Chocolate Store that supplies chocolate to the best stores and Royal Family. South of Dorchester, King Charles is building a town. It is very pleasing and very expensive to have an apartment. Tenants cannot change anything in their apartments.
    We continue to Jurassic Coast to see gorgeous landscape.

    We passed villages where there were only few inches between our van and the windows of very old tiny houses while driving in a narrow streets.

    We stoped in Corfe town that looked like it could be a village in Disney. The town has remnants of the castle built in XI century.

    We then drove to beautiful very touristy town Waymouth where we offered to stay for 1.5 hours and then proceed to the cruise ship. After walking for a while, we decided to take a cruise ship shuttle instead of waiting for our tour to go back.

    We had a delicious very late lunch at Dutch Cafe on the ship and then well deserved spa.
    The day ended with the show and going to bed at 9:00PM.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    On the train
    Train stationCathedralInside the CathedralThe oldest restaurant in France. Build in 1345

    Le Havre/Rouen

    April 18 in France ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    Another beautiful day. We took taxi from La Havre port to train station and train to Rouen.
    It is about one hour on the train.
    From the train station we walked to the old part of the town. A visit to Old Rouen and its medieval streets transported us to another era.
    Our first stop was Notre-Dame Cathedral. It is a Gothic style, we marveled at the church’s façade. The closer we got, the more we could appreciate the extraordinary architectural work.

    Built between the 12th and 16th centuries, it’s sure to impress: it’s the tallest cathedral in France! Made famous by the works of Monet.

    The inside was not as impessive, but still beautiful.

    Then we admired an ancient clock located on pedestrian cobblestone street. The mechanism which dates from 1389 is one of the oldest in France. It was possible to climb 157 steps in the tower, but I did not want to leave Boris all by himself on the street.

    At this point, we met a woman from our ship. She is from Rouen, but leave in DC at the moment. She suggested to us few restaurants for lunch. I remembered only one name.

    Our next destination was market. Behind the market is the church and a little park where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. The church which is dedicated to her is here and it couldn't be more of a contrast from the cathedral. The church was commissioned in 1969 and completed ten years later.

    Right across the church is restaurant build in 1345 the inspired Julia Child to learn French food.

    Now it was time for lunch, we google the location of restaurant she suggested. It was about 10 min walk. But when we got there, the place was closed until April 25. We stopped at the close by place and had our lunch, then walked back to the old area of the town. We met this French woman again. She told us there are two locations of this restaurant. We went to the wrong one. Oh well. It is just a food.

    We would spend more time in Rouen, but battery in Boris’s wheelchair motor run out of power. We walked back to train station and returned to our ship. Not too bad, 17K steps for today.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Dover/Canterbury

    April 19 in England ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    Another day without rain!
    We opted to go to Canterbury from Dover.

    Canterbury is a city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; It lies on the River Stour.

    We left very early before shuttles to town were available. We took taxi to the bus station and then got on bus 15. In 40 minutes we were in the center of Canterbury.

    Our first stop was Canterbury Cathedral.

    Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is one of the oldest Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage.
    The oldest part of the Cathedral was built 950 years ago and more resent part was built 450 year ago. It is a masterpiece of stained glass windows.

    We then walked the cobblestone streets of the town and enjoyed the architecture. We walked along the river, which was very pleasant. We returned to the center of the town, had lunch and slowly walked towards bus stop to return to Dover.

    In Dover we walked few streets and decided to proceed towards cruise ship terminal. Well, again the motor on the wheelchair told us “No More. I am tired”

    We took taxi to the terminal and finished evening with dinner and packing. The end of the cruise is tomorrow.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    End of Cruise/Brussels

    April 20 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    By 8:00AM we were out of the ship. We took taxi to Rotterdam Central train station. It is very close to the cruise ship terminal, bus taxi drivers charge arm and leg for 7 min drive.
    Oh well, not much we could do.

    The train came on time, but there was a problem along the way and we arrive in Brussels 30 min late. Not a problem for us.
    We had lunch at the train station since we had to wait for the apartment to be cleaned. Around 1:00PM, the owner of the apartment called me and told the place is ready.
    Ten min later we were at the building and Laurent met us and explained everything.
    The place is very clean, modern and beautiful.

    A little later we went to get some food for breakfast. We were pretty tired and it was raining, so we decided to rest and start exploring tomorrow. We went around the corner for sushi and then back to “home”.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    The Grand Place

    Brussels, Day 1

    April 21 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    We started our day with walk from our apartment to the Grand Place. It was about 25-30 min walk.

    The Grand-Place is considered as one of the most beautiful places of the world. The Grand-Place of Brussels was registered on the World Heritage List of the UNESCO in 1998.

    Not far from the Grand Place we walked to see symbol of the Brussels….Manneken Pis. (Peeing Boy).

    Everything in the city was closed, except churches and Chocolate Museum. We stopped at the Chocolate Museum. It was interesting.

    Then we went to St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral.

    A stunning cathedral. The inctricate level of detail on the building, both inside and out, is absolutely breathtaking.

    After Cathedral, we walked to the Royal Gallery and had late lunch.

    In the way back to apartment, we stopped at few places to marvel the architecture and take some pictures.

    After few hour of rest we went for another walk and had a very interesting dinner.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    2

    Brussels. Day 2

    April 22 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Another sunny day today. Our plan was to go to Ghent, unfortunately today is railroad workers decided to go on strike. No Ghent today. Also, we did not want to spend a day in the museum. Boris wanted to see Mini-Europe. It is a 1:25 scale of the most famous landmarks in Europe.
    We spent few hours at this place. Very well done attraction.
    One observation: transportation is not easy to navigate with a wheelchair. Metro is difficult, buses, trams and trains are challenging.
    After we came back to the apartment and had over an hour conversation with the owner and rest, we ventured back to the city.
    Hope to go to Ghent tomorrow.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Bruges, Belgium

    April 24 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    We are meeting my dear friend from our days in school today. We have not seen each other since 1979. She lives in Mons, Belgium since 1989.

    After navigating Belgium train system (nothing is a wheelchair accessible) again, we arrived Bruges. Our friend and her husband drove a car. What a pleasure to see old friend. Felt like 46 years of separation did not happened.

    Communication was a little difficult since she speaks Russia and French and her husband speaks French and little English. But we managed.

    We spent a day of walking around, looking at old and new buildings. It was pretty cold, but after yummy lunch with local 🍺 we got much warmer.

    We returned back to Brussels around 6:00PM pretty tired.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Brussels, Belgium.

    April 25 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Today’s plan was to take train to Antwerp, but when I woke up, I could not face another day dealing with the train. Instead, we walked to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts.
    Excellent museum with many paintings of Peter Paul Rubens and other masters from 15-20 centuries.
    After this museum, we were very hungry. We took a break for lunch and continued to Musical Instruments Museum. Its collection of 9000 (not all in display) very impressive.

    By then we were tired of the museums. We slowly walked back to the apartment, rested and went for a walk in the evening. Tomorrow is travel day.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    From Brussels to Paris

    April 26 in France ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    By 10:00AM we were ready to go to the train station. We took an Uber and arrived in 15 min. We had to go up to the platform, but the elevator did not work. Running back and forth from elevator to the train office with the luggage, wheelchair and Boris, we finally found a help to get us up on the platform.
    In a little more than an hour we were in Paris.
    Taxi driver wanted 40 euros to get us to our hotel which is less than 3 miles from the station. No way. We walked across the street and took an Uber.

    Now in a tiny room in Hyatt Regency Paris hotel, we left everything and walked to the nearby restaurant to have late lunch.
    After little rest, we walked to Arc de Triumph, then the length of Ave des Champ-Elysees.
    We tuned back to our hotel and call it a day.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure

    Paris, France

    April 27 in France ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    This is my third time in Paris, but we decided to take an overview included tour since it would be easier for Boris.
    Basically it was an overview tour with few stops.

    After we returned back to the hotel, we assembled a wheelchair and walked toward Musee Jacquemart Andree. This museum was recommended by our tour guide.

    The Musée is a private museum. The museum was created from the private home of Édouard André (1833–1894) and Nélie Jacquemart (1841–1912) to display the art they collected during their lives.

    Every year, this very rich couple would travel in Italy, amassing one of the finest collections of Italian art in France. When Edouard André died, Nélie Jacquemart completed the decoration of the Italian Museum and travelled in the Orient to add more precious works to the collection. Faithful to the plan agreed with her husband, she bequeathed the mansion and its collections to the Institut de France as a museum, and it opened to the public in 1913.
    The collection is stunning. It includes many famous paintings including Rembrandt and Caravaggio.

    After museum, we slowly walk back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we have to be up before 6:00AM.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    Marc Chagall Windows

    Paris to Raims to Luximbourg to the Boat

    April 28 in France ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We left Paris in three big tour buses around 8:30AM. Monday morning traffic in Pars is horrendous. In addition to cars, busses and trucks, there are motorcycles driving around and between cars.

    We drove toward Champagne region to city of Raim. We visited Notre-Dame de Reims. The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was the traditional location for the coronation of the kings of France. It was built
    1211–1345.

    Some of the best-known windows in the cathedral are modern. These are the three windows made by Marc Chagall.

    We had an hour of free time after visit to Cathedral. The weather was incredible, so we went for a walk while most of the group went to eat lunch.

    Back on the bus, we drove toward Luxembourg to visit American Military Cemetery. Very moving experience.

    Back on the bus for the last leg of the bus trip to Trier to board our boat.    Read more

  • Spring of 2025 Adventure
    2

    Trier and Bernkastel, Germany

    April 29 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Trier is a southwestern German city in the Moselle wine region, near the Luxembourg border. Founded by the Romans, it contains several well-preserved Roman structures like the Porta Nigra gate, the ruins of Roman baths, an amphitheater just outside the center and a stone bridge over the Moselle River.

    The Electoral Palace in Trier, was the residence of the Archbishops and Electors of Trier from the 16th century until the late 18th century. It now houses various offices of the federal government and often hosts classical music concerts.

    We had a walking tour of the town and then some free time when we tasted ice cream and did some touring on our own. The most famous person of this town is Karl Marks. There is even a statue of him.

    After lunch and a little rest while the boat was moving toward Bernkastel, where it docked, we went for a walk in the charming town.

    It is well-known for its winegrowing. The town is a state-recognized health resort. The town is about 3000 years old.

    By 7:00PM we returned to our boat, had dinner and went to sleep. Unfortunately, I got sick and was running the fever. Hopefully will be better tomorrow.    Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice