Seniors Seek Adventure in Split, Croatia

In one of my recent travel magazines, I discovered that Split is one of the fastest developing tourism cities in all of Europe. This senior found Split to be an awesome city full of excitement and ancient history.  Get your coffee and let’s head for Split, Croatia this morning.

Split, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, was founded on old Roman ruins on a peninsula that juts out from the Croatian coast. It is indeed a modern city on ancient roots.

The everlasting youthful spirit of Split, with approximately 200,000 residents, lives within its warm Mediterranean temperature and has done so for 1700 years. Tall archways and symmetrical lines heighten the magnetism of the main spectacular square.

One of the favored tourist destinations in Split is the famed Split green market, where senior visitors can feel the spirit of the city. This area is often called the heart of Split, and it inspires an abundance of various types of flavors, aromas, and colors.

 Seniors Start With Roman Ruins

TripAdvisor advises that you start off at Diocletian’s Palace and Mausoleum, considered to be one of the most imposing Roman ruins and the main attraction in Split. The ruins are some of the most valuable surviving buildings of the Roman era along the blue Adriatic coast.

It is in this  quarter of Split that houses numerous shops, cafes, restaurants and apartments, located in the old buildings along a host of narrow streets of the palace and fortress. Add the Grgur Ninski Statue and the Cathedral and Bell Tower of St. Domnius to your must see list.

The 13th century cathedral hosts the emperor’s mausoleum. The former Roman temple of Jupiter now serves as a baptistery. It took ten years to construct and it still stands firm today and is a World Heritage Site selected by UNESCO.

Seniors Enjoy The Split Summer Festival

Perhaps time your visit for the Split Summer Festival with theater, music and dance all over the city. It is the prime annual event attracting visitors from all over the world. For seniors who enjoy hiking, Split is surrounded by mountains with well marked trails.

Lonely Planet adds that Split (Spalato in Italian) is a great place to see Dalmatian life as it’s really lived. Always buzzing, this exuberant city has just the right balance of tradition and modernity. Split’s residents are literally living in a Roman palace and senior visitors will have the same feeling.

So put Split in your pocket, visit with your travel  agent and learn how easily senior travelers can make this exciting trip. -jeb

 

Seniors Get Wet in Daintree Rainforest

Senior travelers, did you know that there was a rainforest in Australia?  Yes, Cape Tribulation is home to the oldest surviving rainforest in the world, the 135 million year old Daintree Rainforest in Tropical North Queensland.

It’s a place where the most ancient of wonders meet as the World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef merge together. You can link the two by foot along the choice of rainforest walks or if you’re after some adventure try jungle surfing or sea kayaking.

Senior visitors will find Daintree is straight north of Cairns on the east coast of Australia where along the coastline north of the Daintree River, a tropical rainforest grows right down to the edge of the sea.

 Seniors Discover Animals Found No Where Else

The Daintree Rainforest is home to a wide range of animals, and like Madagascar, some not found anywhere else on the planet. Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park, features fresh mountain water cascading over round granite boulders.

Senior botanists can study unique flora and fauna including the Boyd’s Forest Dragon. A short stroll along walking tracks and swinging cable bridges brings you to panoramic views over the Gorge. It’s neat that one can visit two World Heritage Sites in just one day that includes the Great Barrier Reef.

Stroll along pristine Thornton’s Beach away from the crowds. The Daintree is home to diverse wildlife species including the Cassowary, Kingfishers, Sunbirds, the Ulysses butterfly and Australia’s largest reptile, the Saltwater Crocodile.

Cape Tribulation is where the rainforest meets the reef. Stroll along the Kulki Boardwalk and enjoy the views over magical beaches. There are tours that travel north along the Bloomfield Track to Stingray Bay and Cowie Beach with their unique mangrove systems and tidal pools. Most of the surrounding areas are national parks that feature an array of unique and native plant and wildlife.

 Daintree Discovery Center Welcomes Senior Visitors

Bloomfield Falls is another special place, with indigenous rock art is present near the falls. Easily accessible by short walking tracks, and guides can explain how the local people lived in this area. Check out the tours that leave regularly from Port Douglas, traveling to the Daintree National Park, Cape Tribulation and the Bloomfield Track.

Cape Tribulation was named by legendary explorer Captain Cook when the Endeavour struck a reef to the north of the area. The Cape features some truly stunning scenery with long stretches of pristine beaches set against the picturesque backdrop of Thornton Peak and Mount Sorrow.

The Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia. The Daintree Discovery Center celebrated its 21st birthday in June 2010 with the arrival of its 1 millionth visitor. So you see, it is not to be missed. An easy drive from Cairns or Port Douglas, visitors will find the Rainforest exhilarating and memorable. It’s going on my travel bucket list.  jeb

Seniors Retire in Ecuador

CNN Money has been looking for great places for seniors to retire. One of those spots is in Ecuador. In recent years, Cuenca, Ecuador (population 30,000 and 275 miles south of Quito), has become a favorite retirement destination. Cuenca offers temperate weather, beautiful architecture, and modern health care, all for a fraction of the cost of living in the U.S., and the national currency is the U.S. dollar.

Opening-home-price figure, $75,000, is not a typo. Health care and property taxes are dirt-cheap. Sell your winter clothes, seniors…and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime in the Land of Eternal Spring. Every cliché you’ve heard about living large on little, on even a retiree’s budget, is true in Ecuador writes International Living.

Senior citizens can live comfortably on social security and live well. I have spent time in Ecuador and loved most everything I encountered. Of all of the cities in Ecuador, Cuenca is arguably the most charming with its cobblestone streets, old-world cathedrals, colonial parks and urban rivers. It is the third largest city in the country with a population of a 500,000.

Why Cuenca? Seniors Ask

Cuenca is currently home to a few thousand expat retirees, mostly from the U.S. and Canada. New arrivals can choose from one of the many new condo developments or spring for a landscaped historic estate for $300,000.Ecuador is a local food paradise with a variety of lush produce that grows year round in small farms surrounding Cuenca.

What does Cuenca Ecuador have to do with The American Dream? Short Answer: everything really associated with quality of life is more abundantly available in the very best cities of Latin America with Cuenca, Ecuador a crown jewel among them. If you are even a tiny bit interested in a major move like this, read on as they highlight the Big Three Pros of Cuenca including a video entitled “Living in Cuenca.”

My Editor, My Wife, reads all these  blogs very carefully and most often notes that “We have to check this place out.”  I’m confident that Cuenca will be included next. Cuenca is a World Heritage Site and that’s enough, in itself , to merit a visit.

Viva Tropical notes that Cuenca is the city of choice for those people who dream of living smack in the middle of Paris, Barcelona, or Sienna (or even Manhattan or San Francisco, for that matter)… within walking distance of historical, beautiful architecture, culture, and food — at a price that’s affordable for someone needing more living space than a studio apartment.

And “nota bene:” the people in Cuenca are welcoming of Americans and happy to help make them part of the community. Many are fluent in English and the city has plenty of English-language bookstores, store owners, and people willing to accommodate non-Spanish speaking travelers and expats.

Enjoy your time in Cuenca.  I know we would.  jeb

Seniors Enjoy Dunkirk

Dunkirk, a commune in northern France, lies only 6.2 miles from the Belgian border. Why the name, seniors ask? The name of Dunkirk derives from West Flemish “dun(e)” and “kerke” (church)= Flemish: “Church of the Dunes”.

Until the middle of the 20th century the city was situated in the French Flemish area. Today the local Flemish dialect, a variety of the Dutch Language, can still be found but has been largely replaced by French. The town was besieged and sacked six times during the Middle Ages.

The third port of France and the first seaport of the North Sea, it is a haven, a tourist destination of unusual beauty with 600 acres of preserved sand dunes. Dunkirk has a ferry connection with Dover in England and is the liveliest of the three big English Channel ports, plus it’s a university town with fewer empty shops than central Calais and busy streets that out hustle modest Boulogne.

It has an appealing, boat-filled inner harbor, the Bassin du Commerce, and an attractive beachfront suburb, Malo-les-Bains, from whose vast sandy beach the evacuation of Allied troops took place in 1940. Here you will find many interesting specs on Dunkirk.

Senior History Buffs Drawn to Dunkirk

Dunkirk is one of the few places in Europe that seamlessly combines a wealth of history with fabulous boutique shops, hypermarkets, delightful restaurants, a stunning golf course and miles of sweeping sandy beaches.

Dunkirk has a number of restored buildings that are worth visiting, including the 15th-century church of St-Éloi, the Flemish Hôtel de Ville and the medieval red-brick belfry, the town’s main feature. Dunkerque has not one, but two belfries classified as World Heritage Sites. The Port Museum has a rich collection of maritime history of the territory.

A little history: During World War II, more than 300,000 Allied troops who were cut off from retreat on land by the German breakthrough to the French Channel ports were evacuated (May 26–June 4, 1940) from Dunkirk. The retreat was carried out by all kinds of available British craft, some manned by civilian volunteers, and was protected by the Royal Air Force. It is considered one of the epic actions of naval history.

 Seven hundred hectares of dunes,15 kilometers of beaches, and a recognized sailing resort make the Flanders coast an increasingly popular seaside resort for senior tourists who can find quality activities and entertainment all year round.

And food. Thanks to it’s proximity to the sea, the food in Dunkirk is an interesting fusion of Flemish cuisine and seafood. I’d recommend the Moules-frites with a bottle of local beer or some chilled white wine that make for a popular meal enjoyed by many locals. I’ll depart today with a “full wiki” on Dunkirk, with pertinent information for senior visitors. Enjoy the site as well as the city. jeb

Fast Car Seniors Land In Modena

Modena (pop. 177,000), in north central Italy, sits on the Panaro River. Modena is known all over the world, for its fine wine, excellent dining, and is one of the wealthiest and most progressive city in Italy.

Forty-eight miles of bicycling roads, sixteen movie theaters and twenty-five vast libraries are just a few of the points that make Modena a senior travelers hotspot.

Modena is best known as “the Capital of Engines” or “Super Car Capital” in Italy. It is home to Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari. Sports cars are in evidence in Modena, but modern automobiles won’t be your focus as you stroll through the heart of the old city.

Head first to the pulsating Piazza Grande, a busy plaza ringed with the Modena Cathedral, one of the main attractions of Modena. The Ghirlandina Tower also referred to as the Torre Della Ghirlandina is the famous bell tower of the Cathedral of Modena.

Seniors Go For the Food

Great Italian food: The top 20 Michelin-Starred Cities in the World are in Italy and Modena ranks number twelve. One of the 50 Best Restaurants in the world is Osteria Francescana. Voted fourth best in the world by Restaurant Magazine, Italian Chef Massimo Bottura was Awarded the “Nobel Prize” of Gastronomy.

 Modena is an amazing city. It still shows the signs of the main eras through which it developed in the Middle Age, the Renaissance and the Baroque period. An old Etruscan settlement, the city was the site of a Roman colony called Mutina, founded in early 2BC.

The Enzo Ferrari Museum is near Modena. Well-known worldwide for such icons as Enzo Ferrari and Luciano Pavarotti, and gastronomical products such as tortellini, Lambrusco wine, Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar, Modena has become a rich, advanced city in Europe.

Senior visitors will enjoy 27 attractions. The town center has wide arcaded streets and large squares, and the old fortifications have given place to beautiful avenues and gardens.

Modena is also famed for its artistic and cultural treasures such as the Cathedral, the Ducal Palace, the Palace of Museums, and the Este Gallery.

Seniors Enjoy Affluent City

The Biblioteca Estense houses historical volumes and 3000 manuscripts. Do some strolling in this affluent city and World Heritage Site and you’ll find a lively medieval center, thick with market stalls, vibrant piazzas and impressive palazzi.

Balsamic vinegar is the prize of Modena. The Balsamic Vinegars of Modena originate strictly from grapes of vines found in the province of Modena. This special vinegar is added to a multitude of Italian dishes and has a taste like no other.

There is so much to enjoy in Modena and senior tourists flock to the region all year long. jeb

Seniors Visit Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay is called Alaska’s Greatest Treasure and awaits senior citizens’ visits. 1000 years in the making, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve – a World Heritage Site in the United States – is a 3.3 million acre treasure of natural wonders and wildlife near Juneau, Alaska: magnificent glaciers, towering snow-capped mountains, abundant birds and wildlife and mile after mile of pristine coastline.

There are an estimated 100,000 glaciers in the state, covering three percent of the landscape, creating most of its rivers and home to 16 active tidewater glaciers. Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is located in the southernmost spur of the towering St. Elias Mountain Range, the site of the largest permanent snow fields in the world outside of the polar ice caps.

Commonly-sighted wildlife include whales, black bears, mountain goats, Steller sea lions, tufted puffins and hundreds of bald eagles. Glacier Bay National Park is a terrestrial and marine sanctuary. This huge World Heritage Site is one of the world’s largest international protected areas.

If you’ve ever dreamed of the ice age and wondered how our planet might have looked as it emerged from the grip of massive glaciers, pondered how a river of ice could carve mountains into flour, or wanted to watch the birth of an iceberg, then Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is the place for you.

Glacier-Crowned Maritime Wilderness Intices Seniors

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve commands a glacier-crowned, maritime wilderness that stretches northward from Alaska’s inside passage to the Alsek River, encircling a magnificent saltwater bay.

The Park derives its name and much of its biological and cultural significance from this great bay, which harbors spectacular tidewater glaciers and a unique assemblage of marine and terrestrial life.

The Bay proper opens to the north off Icy Strait and branches for over 60 miles through increasingly deforested mountains to terminate in bare rock and glacial ice. The heart of the present Park, Glacier Bay was hidden under a vast ice sheet when the earliest Europeans paused briefly to chart the adjacent waters in the late 18th century.

Glacier Bay is the most active glacial calving area in coastal Alaska, and senior visitors are almost guaranteed to be in for a great show on your visit.

In case you aren’t familiar with the term, calving is the process by which huge chunks of ice break off from the face of glaciers, plunging into the waters below, and no place in Alaska has better spots to view active calving than does Glacier Bay.

While the park has no roads, it is not difficult to get to and over 430,000 people visit it each year. The Park is open all year, but services during the winter are extremely limited. July and August are the most popular months for a visit as the whales have arrived, are breaching, playing and feeding and the flowers are in full bloom.

Enjoy your adventure. jeb

Seniors Stop In Helsingør

 And for good reason.  Senior travelers want to take in Hamlet’s Home Town of Helsinore (The City by the Sea). Referred to in English as “Helsingoer“, it is a “Place To Go in 2014″ according to New York Times of 52 places to visit around the world this year.

The Times highlights the new Maritime Museum of Denmark, recently opened and designed by famous architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group. The city itself has 35,000+ inhabitants and the Helsingør Municipality boasts 60,000+.

Helsingør is the home of famed Kronborg Castle, a World Heritage Site and the resting place of Holger the Dane. Legend has it, that if Denmark is attacked, Holger the Dane will rise from his resting place and defend Denmark.

Hamlet has been performed in the courtyard at Kronborg Castle many times and each year it welcomes over 200,000 visitors from all over the world. It was built between 1574 and 1585 by Frederick II in Dutch Renaissance style to replace an earlier fortress.

 Where Will Senior Travelers Find Helsingor?

The city lies on the northeast coast of Sjaelland, an hour’s train ride from Copenhagen. Helsingør is now a commercial and administrative centre with port facilities, varied and mostly small-scale manufacturing, and tourism. Across the Oresund is Helsingborg, Sweden, which can be reached by a short ferry ride.

GoNomad will take senior visitors to Helsingor’s front door with visitor information and suggestions of what to see and do.  Helsingør is full of pedestrian oriented historic streets, just made for ambling along. They contain a delightful collection of half-timbered houses, Gothic churches and a medieval cloister, interspersed with interesting shops and good cafés.

 Helsingør is an historical place with richly colored, well preserved architecture and cobblestone streets. It has  small-town charm with big city benefits. While the city is quite expansive, most sights of interest – besides the technical museum – lies within the compact city centre, so walking is really the best way to get around.

Senior Historians Drawn to Helsingor

Senior visitors will fall in love with the castles, museums, churches, woods and golden, clean beaches. A walk through the old town’s ancient cobbled streets with the beautiful bourgeois houses is an unforgettable experience. Senior visitors will see timber-framed houses and restored cobbled by-ways.

There are specialty shops everywhere that sell various and sundry items, but wine and cheese seem to be the most popular. Some of the narrow alleyways are almost like little tunnels passing between the rouge-colored masonry of the side walls.

Centrally located are The Church of St. Mary and the Carmelite Monastery,  a great example of late medieval architecture. It has cathedral ceilings and an organ that is a replica of the one played there from 1660 to 1668 by the resident organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude, who greatly influenced the younger composers of his time.

Make your plans for a visit to Helsingør when you are in Denmark.   jeb

Seniors Discover Kraków’s Popularity

Recently rated as the #15 most popular city in the world, seniors are off to visit Kraków. So why have I not visited Kraków already for this blog? Honestly, Je ne sais pas! Also known as Cracow, Kraków is one of the oldest cities in Poland. To the Polish people it’s known as “The Gem of Poland” and “Slavic Rome”.

The word is quickly getting out that this medieval city is home to an eclectic and creative atmosphere that tourists crave. So let’s explore Kraków a bit and see why seniors are finding that there is much to see and do in this beautiful capital city.

The main market square, or Rynek Glowny, dates back to before 1300, is the oldest and largest medieval square in Europe and is a World Heritage Site. On any afternoon in the market square you’re likely to find folks just like you sipping cappuccinos and babcias, gossiping over tea, tourists bartering for amber jewelry, and pigeons soaring into the wide sky overhead.

Most senior tourists are lured by a magical atmosphere and the architectural beauty of this city. In Kraków, you can see a medieval cathedral, Renaissance castle , Baroque churches, Art Nouveau Theater and a host of other monuments.

In Europe, Kraków is a “perfect vacation destination.” Loaded with history, Kraków is ancient, with evidence showing settlements there since thousands of years BC. Legend has it that it was built on the cave of a dragon whom the mythical King Krak had slain.

 A Great Senior European Vacation

Most of the cities that sustained massive bombing damage like Kraków were rebuilt in the same decade. Kraków is a big exception to this in spite of its central location during the conflict. In other words, the central part of Kraków still abounds with historic buildings and churches, and its design in general makes it one of the most pleasant town centers in all of Europe. On top of all of this, Kraków is one of the cheapest major cities on the continent.

Pedestrian only zones run throughout the Kraków’s old city making it a delight to wander and have lunch or dinner outside watching other tourists stroll by. The hundreds of restaurants and clubs make it a lively city both day and night. The cultural depth of the city is easily revealed by the range of its festival calendar, with annual standouts like the Street Theatre Festival, Jewish Culture Festival and the Kraków Film Festival.

The 13th century merchants’ town is home to Europe’s largest market square and offers numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with magnificent interiors, 14th century fortifications, ancient synagogues, Jagiellonian University and the Gothic cathedral where the kings of Poland were buried.

Kraków is considered one of the top ten most beautiful cities in Europe.  jeb

Condé Nast Loves Siena For a Senior Visit

Condé Nast has selected the top cities in the world to visit and Siena, Italy (70,000 residents) ranks among the best.  A step back in Medieval Tuscany, it’s world famous historic center is a World Heritage Site. One of Italy’s most visited senior tourist attractions, Siena is about 30 miles south of Florence.

Siena is a “hill town” first settled in the time of the Etruscans dating back to 900–400 BC. One of the most beautiful cities of Tuscany, it is set on three hills linked by a maze of winding alleys and steep steps. The Piazzo del Campo, a stunning paved square, stands at the heart of the city, overlooked by the magnificent Duomo.

Siena is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, which lends a bustling, vibrant atmosphere to this historic place. Siena is the embodiment of a medieval city. Its inhabitants pursued their rivalry with Florence right into the area of urban planning.

Cathedrals, Historic Squares and Horse Races Draw Seniors

Senior visitors generally head off to visit the top attraction in Siena which is the Cathedral. This grand cathedral, built in the 1200s, has marvelous marble floors. Right behind is the Bilioteca Piccolomini one of the cathedral’s great treasures.

In the center of Siena is the enormous, scallop-shaped Piazza del Campo, one of the greatest squares in the world. It is still the city’s symbolic and physical heart. Crafted like a sloping scallop shell, the Campo was first laid out in the 1100s on the site of the Roman forum. The herringbone brick pavement is divided by white marble lines into nine sections representing the city’s medieval ruling body, the Council of Nine.

For senior horse enthusiasts, the heart of the city is Piazza del Campo, where the Palio Horse Races are held every July 2nd and August 16th. Ten horses and their colorfully clad riders represent ten of Siena’s 17 districts, but before the race – which is just three brutal laps – there is a lengthy ceremony and procession celebrating Siena’s medieval past.

And senior oenophiles, vineyards take up much of the space between Florence and Siena, where the famed Chianti wine was first born. To the south of Siena is the Brunello region, home to another of the country’s most acclaimed wines. Siena College attracts students from all over the world. It’s a great place to study the language and may include a family home stay as well.

In many ways Siena hasn’t changed much in 800 years. And that’s a good thing. Go Italy lists the ten top cities to visit in Tuscany and Siena ranks right in there just after Florence. In the countryside outside of Siena, Senior travelers will find small villages, medieval hill towns, grape vines, and olive trees. So now we have some idea why Siena rates so high among favored tourists attractions in the world. jeb

Seniors Are Back on Spain’s North Shore

Not long ago I wrote a travel blog on Cádiz that lies on Spain’s south shore. Now senior travelers are invited to  northern Spain to check out the town of Santander.

Santander is the capital and largest city in the Cantabria region tucked between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Bay of Biscay in what is commonly known as “Green Spain = España Verde”.


Santander is an elegant city with an historic quarter that includes a group of majestic buildings situated against an incredible natural backdrop of sea and mountains. Its marine and commercial tradition is linked to a century old history of tourism, which has its main attractions in the well-known El Sardinero Beach, the Promenade and the La Magdalena Peninsula.

Spanish Citizens Flock to Santander

Santander with a population of 180,000 is best known for its natural surroundings, and is renowned for its quality of life and mild year round climate. The city’s cultural life is intensified during the summer months and is a favorite destination for Spanish citizens. Santander has a particular mixture of ingredients in its gastronomy that senior visitors enjoy.

The region of Cantabria has been inhabited since ancient times, as evidenced by cave paintings and prehistoric remains. Santander dates to about the time of the Roman Empire and around 1000 B.C. the Romans first gave Cantabria the name Cantabro.

In 1941 fire destroyed the greater part of the medieval town center and sadly gutted the city’s Romanesque cathedral. Today the #1 attraction in Santander has to be the Playa de Langre,  said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in northern Spain. Twelve beaches attract senior tourists from around the world where they enjoy the enticing combination of beautiful yellow-sand beaches and great tapas bars.

Attention Senior Hikers and Bikers

Ready for a little walk? Wander around the Peninsula de la Magdalena, a picturesque wooded park set around a summer palace built for the Spanish King Alfonso XIII in 1912 (and now part of a university). Would you prefer a bicycle? A good option is to rent a bike and ride along the cycleway around the coast.

Rated highly for tourism are the Santander Cathedral and the nearby Plaza Porticada, a porticoed square surrounded by public buildings; Magdalena Palace (1909) which the city of Santander built as a summer holiday residence for the Spanish royal family; the Gran Casino del Sardinero (1916); the Faro del Cabo Mayor, the majestic lighthouse which presides over the entrance to the Bay of Santander; the ‘Small Palace on the Quay’; the Banco de Santander building.

The cultural wealth of the Cantabrian capital is enriched with the passage of the Pilgrim’s Road to Santiago de Compostela and the neighboring Altamira Caves, both of which have been declared World Heritage Sites. The caves are considered the “Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art” and contain some of the most important cave paintings of Quaternary art.

Adiós y tiene unas buenas vacaciones. jeb