Faroe Islands!

Lake Sørvágsvatn, Faroe Islands.  (Photo posted on reddit by u/Sakemeister)

Our grand odyssey through the Faroe Islands and Scotland begins in the Faroe Islands which is a North Atlantic archipelago located 320 kilometers (200 miles) north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. Between 1035 and 1814, the Faroes were part of the Hereditary Kingdom of Norway. In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the islands, along with two other Norwegian island possessions: Greenland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948.

Faroe Islands & Scotland! Overview.

Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
(Photo by Drianmcdonald. Licensed under CC BY 4.0)

I have a BIG trip coming up and I am so excited!  I started planning this trip more than two years ago.  It originated with a desire to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, another of my life long dreams.  As so often happens, going to Scotland for the Tattoo was just the tip of the iceberg.  Before long, a short visit to Scotland turned into a five week long odyssey covering the islands and highlands that the country is so famous for.   Not to mention, a side trip to the Faroe Islands which are technically a part of Denmark.  Accompanying me on this trip is my ever intrepid travel partner, Pat, whom I have not traveled with since we explored Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia back in 2015.  She's getting up in the years (85 years young this year) and I don't know how many more trips she can do so I want this one to be a special one for both of us so I've taken more time than usual planning it!

Lebanon!

Lebanon is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus is west across the Mediterranean Sea.  Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.

Five Days in St. Petersburg.

Image from The Telegraph (Telegraph Travel)

O
f all the places in Russia that I am looking forward to visiting, St. Petersburg tops the list.  I have been wanting to come visit this historic city for as long as I can remember and believe it or not, I had a chance to come to Saint Petersburg back in 1996 when I came to Moscow for a work assignment.  It would've been very easy for me to extend my stay to include a few days in Saint Petersburg.  But just about a day after arriving into Moscow, I came down with a bad stomach flu and while I was able to fight through it to do my work, it pretty much took all the desire out of me to travel to Saint Petersburg.  I have regretted that decision ever since so the five days that we will be there will be five days of dreams come true for me.  And I'm going to savor every single minute of it!