March 31, 2025

MANAUS, BRAZIL

Sunday March 16, 2025 ten of us flew from Recife to Fortaleza then onto Manaus, Brazil. It took roughly 6 hours with layover time. In Manaus it turned out that we had all booked the same hotel - so our van driver, who was part of the services  of 8 of ours tour, took us all to the St Paul Hotel. Above was in Lobby at checkin - then we all met shortly after to walk and get dinner and see their famous  Opera House. We ate at the Opera House Restaurant right across the street from the park and the most known building in Manaus. In above L to R - Gary, Callie, Scott, Me, Christy, Anna, Sara,Cherie, Jimbo and Bob. Gary & Christy going on a fancier boat next day.

By Pat Patrick July 14, 2026
I really enjoyed my first trip to Thailand! On our final morning here we went to try breakfast at this spot, down the road, we had been hearing rave reviews on, King Of Bread . The hype was correct, the breakfast was delicious and they had some unique choices. I had eggs benedict on a croissant, in lieu of the standard english muffin and Bosco had it on Milk Bread, which was equally tasty.
By Pat Patrick July 14, 2026
We love having authentic experiences with locals to really get a chance to see how they live and thrive in the Ports we visit. So when I found a cooking class, by a local woman offered in her home, we were excited to book. Um ( our teacher) picked us and brought us back to our hotel along with the family of 4 from Sydney, Australia, that had also signed up for this afternoon class. Um's house, which has a lovely open air kitchen, garden and dining area, was about a 30 minute drive and turned out to be on the beach, right next to the Grandparent Rocks.
By Pat Patrick July 14, 2026
The nightlife scene doesn't really get going till after 11pm and goes till 5 am in the Chaweng section of Koh Samui . We made our way over to the club district, and one of the hot spots called the ArkBar a little past 10pm to have some dinner, while watching the beach fire shows.