October 11, 2024
Bilbao, Spain well worth the wait for me!

I have wanted to see Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in person, ever since I read about it years ago! It did not disappoint and I can totally see why it put Bilbao on the tourist map. The whole river's edge neighborhood benefited from it's installation. The Zubizuri or "white bridge" in Basque, by Santiago Calatrava was erected in 1997, the same time the Guggenheim was under constructed.

Below is a look around town. A fabulous start to this amazing adventure. Absolute Perfection for our first visited port! Amazing sites, yummy food, lots of fun and laughs & plenty of new friends to share it all with, Excelente!

We just relaxed on the Island of Koh Chang, Thailand. It's one of the largest Thai Islands in the Gulf of Thailand and it has a dense, steep jungle & National Park covering the interior of the Island, which extends off shore, to coral reefs. The coast line is dotted with beaches and villages. This was a tender port, so we decided to stay on the Island for 3 nights, to be able to experience the nightlife. Turns out, it is low season, so nightlife was pretty sleepy. However, we did find a new favorite night time activity! Any Guesses?!?

Wat Bang Kung Temple was a quick stop along the way to the Train Markets . What makes this unique is the Temple is completely enclosed by roots of four giant trees (a banyan, bodhi and others). From the outside, it looks like nature has swallowed the building. Inside the chapel is a golden Buddha image, that locals still visit to pray. It was quite active during our short visit there. The Temple dates back over 250 years and survived the Burmese invasion.

