Duluth, Georgia. Not exactly on my bucket list, but there is a reason for my second visit to this northeast suburb of Atlanta. The Gas South Arena played host to this year’s SEC Gymnastics Championships and it was the perfect place for my March stop in the Year of Travel.
Living a great story, south of the border. February’s stop in the Year of Travel took me to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, some 45 miles south of Cancún on the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula. Why Playa del Carmen? Mostly because I wanted to try something new, and Playa fit the bill. It wasn’t too difficult to get to, I’ve never been to a beach in Mexico (I had only previously been to a few border towns – Nuevo Laredo, Agua Prieta, and Nogales), and it seemed like a good place for a few days of relaxation in the sun. After suffering through one of the worst colds I’ve ever had in the couple of weeks leading up to the trip, the warm temperatures, humidity, and vitamin D were all a welcome respite from the relative cold of New England.
While my vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico this week is mainly focused on relaxing in the sun, I also wanted to do something other than just lay around while I’m here. Fortunately, my hotel has a tour desk where you can book half- and full-day tours and it didn’t take long for me to decide that I wanted to do a half-day tour to Tulum. I’m not much of a history buff, but the pictures I had seen looked intriguing and I wanted to see this well-known historical site in person.
Live a great story. That’s my motto for 2023; to have a great story to tell about how I spent the 365 days of 2023. And how can I tell a great story without a lot of travel? Back in 2018, I did a “Year of Travel”, where I traveled somewhere every month of the year. I’m planning to make 2023 another Year of Travel and my first stop was none other than America’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida.
I didn’t realize how much I missed home until I walked through the door this afternoon. It was a very long day, and I’m thankful to be home and unpacked and finally resting. I was at Flughafen Wien (Vienna Airport) at 4:30 this morning and was able to bypass the long check-in line and access the lounges in Vienna and Amsterdam, thanks to flying first/business class on this trip.
Am I ready to go home? Yes. But was I also ready to enjoy one last day in Austria? Yes, again. Vacation is definitely winding down and today I headed back to Vienna.
I did the most touristy thing there is to do in the Wachau Valley today: I visited Melk Abbey. Melk Abbey is a Benedictine abbey founded in 1089 and is one of the most popular attractions in Austria.
I kind of picked up where I left off on yesterday’s adventure this morning. I drove back to Spitz on the northern side of the Danube, took a ferry across the river, visited Aggstein Castle, and then drove back along the south side of the river, stopping along the way to visit a few of the small villages dotted along the river.
Today I spent the day exploring the area between Dürnstein and Spitz. I had planned to do more, but it was hard not to stop in each little village to wander around and take pictures.
For me, vacation is all about having those “I can’t believe this is real” moments. Moments that happen just once when you visit a place for the first time. Today was full of those moments as I walked all over Dürnstein, Unterloiben, and Oberloiben. Technically, Unterloiben and Oberloiben are both part of Dürnstein, but they are separate villages a couple of miles away. I had a walking map for Dürnstein with a few suggested routes. Of course, I picked the longest route at 9km (5.5mi), but a wrong turn had me extend that a bit. And it’s about a half mile each way from my hotel into town. So I did a LOT of walking.
Traveling with Laura 