Christmas Ornaments From Around the World

An Update

I wrote an article for the blog back in 2011 about the ornaments I collect when I travel.  I bought my first foreign ornaments when we were stationed in the Philippines back in 1980.  And since then I have made it a point to collect an ornament for the tree wherever we travel.  I updated the article in 2016.  Since we took several trips this year and I have purchased more ornaments, I  thought I would do just a quick update.  If you would like to read the original article and the update you can click on this link. http://havelistwilltravel.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-ornaments-from-around-world.html

Here are the ornaments from this years travels.

In March we traveled to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.  In Vietnam I bought this hat ornament, which is also a bell.


While in Cambodia, we were in a car driving up to Kulen Mountain near Angor Wat.  We stopped at a gas station and about 6 children surrounded the car wanting us to buy paper origami birds.  When I saw the red and green one I immediately thought - Christmas Ornament.  The little girl I bought it from was quite happy.

This little green elephant was my ornament from Laos.  While in Luang Probang, Laos, we visited an elephant sanctuary.  We were able to feed, wash and ride the elephants that day.  I knew that when I found an ornament for the tree, it had to be an elephant.







In September we traveled to Italy to celebrate our 50th anniversary.  We started in the north and worked our way south all the way to Sicily.  I bought quite a few ornaments along the way.  Here are my Italian ornaments

The ceramic tree on the left is from Varenna, on Lake Como.

The glass ball with the hearts on the right is from Murano, Italy.  Murano is famous for its glass blowing.



The ceramic ball below is from Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast.  We stayed in Sorrento and took a drive down the coast returning by boat.

The mouse-above on the left-is from the island of Capri.  It is also a bell.  The 3 legged woman is the symbol of Sicily.  We bought her in Taormina, Italy.  Her 3 legs represent the 3 islands that make up Sicily.

Our travels in 2018 will bring us more ornaments for our tree.  Merry Christmas, and Happy Travels to everyone in 2018!

An Update on our Lives

I haven't posted anything for awhile.  We returned from Italy in late September and I did post the trip report from that trip.  Now it is Christmas and it occurred to me that my blog is a bit out of date.  I need to at least make an effort to get things current, even though I am no longer sure that anyone is actually reading this.  Still, if someone were to stumble across the blog and decide to view it, things should be up to date, shouldn't they?

So, with that in mind, I plan to post an update to my Christmas decorations and add pictures of the ones I have bought since that posting, and that will be coming.

And to update you on some of our upcoming trips.  Our next trip will be in February when we will fly to Iceland for 8 nights, with the hope of seeing the northern lights.  If you check my current list, you will see that is on the list.  Of course, there is no guarantee that we will actually see the lights, there is a chance that we will not see them, they are illusive, or so I have been told.  If we don't,
then we will have to try again, maybe in Norway next time, who knows.  

Then in March I will be going on an 11 night cruise with a friend.  George is staying home for this trip.  We will be stopping in several places in the Caribbean with the highlight being 2 stops in Cuba, Havana and Cienfuegos.  Checking off another destination on my list. And adding 3 new countries to my list - Cuba, Jamaica and the Grand Caymans.

In May, George and I will fly to St. Petersburg, Russia and do a 14 day river cruise to Moscow.  From there we will fly to Warsaw, Poland and meet up with our Scottish friends, Myra and Malcolm.  We will spend 2 weeks exploring Poland with them.  So checking off Russia on my list and adding 2 more countries.  

And we also plan to do a Panama Canal trip in the fall, although that is not yet booked.

Sadie

One of the reasons we are doing so many trips so close together is that this year we lost both of our dogs.  Sadie came down with cancer in February, just before our trip to Vietnam.  We lost her fairly quickly after the diagnosis, she wasn't getting better and we could tell she was in pain.  Baxter missed her, as did we.  Baxter was diabetic, mostly blind and mostly deaf.  But he still got around and was enjoying going for walks.  He was almost 14 years old and we knew we wouldn't have him long. We had a trip planned for Italy in September, and I worried about leaving him.  The trip was to celebrate our 50th anniversary, something we planned ahead for and didn't feel we could change. A neighbor took good care of him, and he was doing good when we got home.  But in October he all of a sudden couldn't walk and so we had to say good-bye.  Loving our animals as we do, that is always the hard part, saying good-bye.  We have decided to wait awhile before getting another dog.  So without any animals we have decided to get some big trips taken care of.  Then next October we plan to get another dog.  I can't imagine my life without one.  Right now though, we are still grieving for Baxter and Sadie.  They were the best!

Baxter

So, life goes on.  We look forward to the holidays.  Our tree is up and our house is decorated.  Then we look forward to the travels we have planned.  To anyone who is reading this, Happy Holidays and I hope 2018 is a good year for you.

We  just got home from Italy

While I don't post as often as I used to, we are still traveling.  We just took a 24 day trip through Italy, starting in the north at Lake Como and working our way all the way to Sicily.  If you would like to read about our adventures and look at the pictures, go to the side panel - Trip Reports and you will find the Italy trip at the bottom of the list.  Or you can click the link below and it will take you there. 

https://havelistwilltravel.blogspot.com/p/italy-trip-augustseptember-2017-today.html

Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Trip

We just returned home from a 24 day trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.  It was a great trip.  As usual, my husband wrote Trip Reports home to family and friends.  I always take those reports and put them together into one long report, add pictures, and post them under the heading on the side of this blog - Trip Reports of Trips We Have Taken.   If you go to the link below you can read all about our latest adventure.

 http://havelistwilltravel.blogspot.com/p/thursday-16-march-we-beat-chickens-up.html