over 50 female – Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

Puerto Rico

My flight from Houston to San Juan was delayed by 8 hours as the copilot did not present for work. United Airlines provided a $250USD credit for accommodation but I have requested it for a future flight credit. Once on the flight at 8am I arrived in San Juan without a hitch.

As I have been to all 50 States of the United States I am now trying to tick off the territories. Although Puerto Rico is on my list because I love salsa dancing and this is another must go to place for latino dancing. An example of this is the local bus has “loud” salsa music playing. As I mention in the clip, the bus fare is very cheap, 75cents US but there is an election coming up and all fares have been scrapped until August for everyone. So free bus rides!! First off I did the free walking tour with Old San Juan Free Walking Tour and if you get Carmen you will get the best tour guide in Puerto Rico. You will even get a salsa dance class with her. She is fabulous. She also does private tours Explora Daily Tours. Th e weather was great, 32degrees, felt like 38degrees. I find it amusing that I am often the oldest in most events I go to (I am not that old) and everyone was always checking I was ok. Mainly because they were sweltering in the humidity and heat. I was fine. They do not realise that Sydney heat is exactly the same in summer.

I went searching for sea turtles at Escambron Beach. I was hoping I might see some turtles come up to the sand but these turtles remain in the water and you can only see them snorkling but I was not prepared. It was pouring with rain. I was so drenched I could have gone into the water though. I caught the bus, free of course and walked through the Luis Munoz Rivera Park.

The highlight of the Puerto Rico was a kayaking bioluminescence tour with Eco Action Tours. I was prepared for disappointment as I was warned that I may not see much luminescence as it was close to the full moon. However, it was an enchanting experience kayaking in the dark, seeing the flickering of fireflies and the splash of the luminescent water. Once again I was the oldest and the organisers were impressed with me keeping up with the “young” ones. I gave up long ago reacting indignantly. I am pretty lucky I am able to travel and do things no matter what my age. I did have a tandem kayak and Dee was my partner and she was pretty strong. I will say I was the steering and control strength of the team. It was wonderful to have met Dee on the Host a Sister Facebook site.

I stayed in the Condado area which is a bit pricey but I stayed in one of the cheaper style apartments La Mona Loiza. Very clean in a great area with easy transport, lots of restaurants bars and cafes and a 24 hour supermarket 2 minute walk. My room was at the front so on the road and Puerto Ricans drive with their car windows down and their music “loud” so it is noisy but nothing that earplugs didn’t fix. There is a wonderful community library right out the front.

I finished off the trip with looking for dancing at La Placita where there are so many dance venues to choose from. This area is a market through the day and then opens up to dancing at night but true to latino style does not start until 10pm. This video above was just around 10pm so still very early.

Mexico

Had a wonderful day in Tijuana with a walking tour through Border Tours. I first tried to do this tour 6 years ago when on my roadtrip but when I parked my car at San Ysidro at the USA/Mexico border I actually cancelled as I found the area so seedy I got worried and did not go ahead with the tour. I was concerned about leaving my rental car with all my belongings for my roadtrip in this area. This time a friend dropped me off at San Ysidro. Border Tours met me and the other clients at the front of McDonalds, they provided us details of the tour guide who would meet us at the Mexican border and then walked us to the USA side of the border entrance.

Once through immigration we were met by the tour guide, Carlos, at the Mexican border and were escorted by local bus to downtown. We were taken through some wonderful markets and food venues. Of course the famous home of caesar salad.

But the best was the Tequila. What a shame I cannot take the Mescal home to Australia

Prague

I took a train from Berlin to Prague. This is my only cross country train I have taken ever on my travels. Wasn’t sure what to expect on a 5.5 hour trip in a compartment with 5 other strangers. What a wonderful trip it was with people from Germany, East Germany, Israel, USA, England and me from Australia. The scenery was beautiful, there were many people who did not have seats, mostly young backpackers. I was so thankful I had prepurchased my seat. The young people were having a hoot of a time, singing songs like Sweet Home Alabama and Country Road. It was quite contagious and I even joined in. The closest I will ever get to karaoke. Although the young people were quite inebriated and the song list did not stretch much further than those two songs.

My compartment friends all wished each other safe travels, I got a Bolt from the station to my hotel. I was thrilled my German SIM card still worked in Czech Republic. Got to my hotel, and was horrified to find that there was no air conditioning. It was 38 degrees outside and my room is a small box and was hotter than outside. I cannot believe I did not do any research for this hotel. I presumed that as it was 4 star that it would have air conditioning. I had a look at moving to another hotel but nothing was in the area I wanted to be in and I have to say in this case you get what you pay for. I did get a fan when I requested one and I can open my window, although I have set up a bunch of objects as obstacles in case someone tries to climb through my window. The hotel assures me it is safe but the window is in a courtyard, carpark area. Ah well, all part of travel. I was to go to either Budapest or Prague and chose this city because of the cheaper flight I could get to London but also because this city was hardly affected by WWII and so all the buildings are intact and not rebuilt as in other cities.

I went on a walking tour of the Prague Palace and highly recommend the company 1 .2. Tours. The pictures speak for themselves. This city is magnificent. But something which was a surprise for everyone on the tour is the “Echo Circle”. You stand in the middle fo the sculpture circle and you only have to whisper and it echoes straight back at you. It is funny watching how everyone reacts. There is a photo below.

I did a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter and Old Town.

One thing which has frightened me is the speed of the escalators at the train station. I thought that it was me forgetting what they are like but I heard other people around me speaking about their fear. Tell me what you think. Scary escalator. Although the stations are built quite artistically.

One of my favourite spots is the Wallenstein Palace grounds which is also the home of parliament senate buildings with pretty walking park and fountains. There is a Dripstone Wall of grotesque art which is only open to the public during April to October.

Berlin

I don’t normally have an expectation of a city before arriving as I have learned that there is so much more to a place than the tourists and media portray and we all see things differently. So many people tell me that Munich is a much better city. Bavaria is more what you expect Germany to be like. I did come to Berlin for the Berlin Wall and WWII history. People have described Berlin as “a dirty city” but I like my friend’s description “a grunge city”. That makes it sound more bohemian than slummy. There is a beautiful park, Tiergarten which is twice the size of Hyde Park in London and 2/3 the size of New York’s Central Park.

I did the tourist things visiting parts of the Berlin Wall which remain standing, Check Point Charlie, the border of the East/West Berlin, Brandenburg Gate, cathedrals, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Part of the Berlin Wall covered in disgusting chewing gum

The spot where Hitler and his wife Eva allegedly committed suicide has been filled with concrete, buried, never to become a “memorial” is now a carpark and a small grass area with a sandpit.

I went to Potsdam and did a horse and carriage ride around the perimiter of the palace grounds. I didn’t do enough research on this and at 10 Euro, it was ok, but you could not get off to take pictures. I would recommend a hop on hop off for this area.

I walked around a lot of Berlin and there is so much good food here. Great cafes, restaurants and I bought precooked zuchinni fritters, schnitzel and a few nights had these delicious foods instead of going out for dinner.

A surprise event was CSD, Christopher Street Day Gay Pride Parade held in various European cities. There are so many young people in Berlin!! This day attracts around 1 million people from around Germany. Celebration of all LGBTQ+. In comparison to with my beloved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this is more a rally rather than a entertaining celebration but with no less colourful characters.

I stayed in the Grimm’s Hotel am Potsdamer Plaza which is a themed hotel and I got the Hansel & Gretel room. I didn’t realise this when I booked it though. It is located on the one of the canals which connect to the Spree River. There are lovely parks along the canal and on a sunny day you will find people sunbathing, playing bocce in the bocce courts, table tennis tables, sand pits, play equipment, skate park, basketball rings and I loved seeing people enjoying all parts of the park. It is very close to transport to get you around Berlin easily.

The bear is the symbol on the Berlin’s coat of arms and these art sculptures around the city promote tolerance and peace amongst the world’s many different religions and cultural groups. Here are just a few.

Krakow Poland

This is the first city where verbal language skills are minimal. I speak several languages but do not cover the Eastern Block countries. Thank goodness for Google translate. I find that it makes a big difference if you learn to say “thank you” in the relevant language. Some people speak a little English, not always enough to assist without Google translate. But, I felt safe in Krakow. People do try to help regardless. After my trip to Auschwitz Birkenau and the Salt Mines, I did a Macabre walking tour, a Jewish Ghetto walking tour and today I went to a few places I had accumulated. I am disappointed I didn’t get to Pope John Paul II’s birth place but that might be for another trip. I went to Schindler’s Factory, which is a very informative and fascinating museum. If you have watched the movie “Schindler’s List” you will understand some of what this factory was for. It is one of the good stories of the Holocaust. It is one of the best museums I have been to. There are windows set up with film of what you would have experienced looking out your window during that horrific time. Much more which is best experienced.

I then walked to the Jewish Square of Heroes to the empty chairs of Krakow.The Eros Bendato sculpture which symbolises how you can lose your head over love.

A walk along the Vistula River, through the main square of Old Town, Rynek Glowny Plaza, Stare Miasto, St Mary’s Basilica, Wawel Royal Castle and Planty. There are lots of restaurants and places to people watch and you an also have a horse and cart ride around the town.

Cyprus

Well another gem. I came here for 7 days and stayed 3 weeks and only leaving because I have some other places to get to. I have been looking for an “Under the Tuscan sun” or my own “Shirley Valentine” place and this is it! My hotel apartment with views of the Mediterranean and the sound of crashing waves, lying next to the pool,walking down to the beach, or sunning on my sunbed I didn’t want to do much more than this. The food is delicious, I didn’t experience any bad food, the people are friendly, the bus transport is easy to get around. I actually didn’t do as much touristy things as I normally do as it was just lovely to enjoy where I was staying. The Helios Bay Hotel is a family run place which has lots of Greek heart. I walked through the 5 star resorts nearby, they are lovely and modern but cannot compare to the family style hospitality of Helios. I found it difficult to leave to do much exploring.

I did manage to explore the Tomb of the Kings which is a short bus ride down the road from my hotel.

I hired a car for 2 days to do some of the areas which are accessible by public transport but can take up to 2 hours in different directions. So I had 2 full days of exploring the changing landscape. A trip of 3 hours took me 7 hours as I was forever stopping to take photos but I have added just a sample here.

This spot is Aphrodite Rock. There is a legend that if you swim around the rock you will have eternal youth. I don’t want eternal youth, now if you can guarantee eternal mature age with my energy minus the aches and pains, maybe. Note the sign to drive on the left. The only place I have seen a sign such as this is in Australia on the Great Ocean Road where there are many right hand drive tourists who do not remember to drive on the left.

Famagusta is in the Turkish occupied zone of Cyprus. This is so hard to understand that Turkey are the only place who identify the North of Cyprus as part of Turkey. There is a UN peace keeping force in the area, there is a border check when crossing into Famagusta. I was on an organised tour as I wasn’t even sure if my travel insurance covered me for anything in this zone. At the border our passports were collected and then returned by a Turkish Government offical who remained with our tour as an “escort”. Interesting how the people live “normally” on this side, there are lovely restaurants, shopping malls, boutiques, same as any other area but it left a bad taste in my mouth. St Nicolas Cathedral is now used as a mosque and is relatively free of any icons other than prayer mats throughout. The houses which were abandoned are a constant reminder of the invasion of 1974.

Some of the ruins of the Salamis Ancient City

I did much more exploring than expected as all I wanted to do in this beautiful island was just lie next to the pool or enjoy a beach or stroll the promenade in Chloraka, a much less touristy and less commercial area than Paphos itself.

Salt Mines of Wieliczka Poland

A bus ride from Krakow takes you to this fascinating salt mine discovered in the 1300s and is now UNESCO Heritage listed. The tour takes you down to the first level of 320 steps or 40 flights of stairs. The mines have caverns and corridors hand carved out dating back to the 1300s. There are 240 km of corridors and the tour of 2 hours only incorporates 2% of the salt mine.
There are beautiful statues carved out of salt and chandeliers made of wood and salt crystal.

All the statues are created by miners. The floors are salt tiles. The lakes inside the cavern are spectacular and have a higher salt content than the Red Sea. So you really would float easily.

The highest chamber is 36m high and has been used for bungee jumping.

Chapel built in 1800 took 70 years to carve. Floor tiles are made of salt100m below ground. Chandelier wood
andsalt crystal.
Miners create all the statues
Highest chamber is 36m high
They use it for bungee jumping

Auschwitz

You can ask why would you go to this place of horrific history, you can go to pay respects, to learn of history or not go. I have been drawn to visit this place for quite a long time. I have watched many Holocaust documentaries, movies, visited resistance museums. Nothing compares to walking this place. Can you try to imagine walking to a gas chamber thinking you were going to have a shower, being separated from your children, husband, parents. Being experimented on because you are a twin or just because they could do whatever their sick minds decided to do back in the 1940s. There are not enough words to explain what it feels like walking through Auschwitz Birkenau. It is not for everyone. After leaving this death museum, I am finding it more and more difficult to process what went on there. Hug the people you love and be grateful for our freedom.

Loch Ness and Scottish Highlands

I am not one for organised tours but I found this tour of Scotland which incorporates a few spots I wanted to explore. I do not have a car for this trip and doing all possible by rail or bus. Timberbush Loch Ness Glencoe and Highlands tour is 12 hours in a coach and I got to see some of the famed scenery of this beautiful country, with the best tour bus driver guide, Jamie, and a very reasonable $100AuD (£55). Jamie had a music playlist which included music that matched the emotion of the stories and places we passed through. Lots of photo stops with great commentary. We passed the Kelpies in Falkirk. 30 metre stainless steel sculptures. Read about Duke and Baron

Passed by Doune Castle the setting for Outlander, Game of Thrones and Monty Python and Stirling Castle childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots.

So much to see but cannot do it all. Our first stop was Kilmahog, known as the gateway to the highlands to meet a couple of famous Highland Coos, Hamish and Honey.

We passed through the areas of the children of the mist from the Macgregor Clan, the cemetery with Rob Roy, then to Crieff, the birthplace of Ewan Macgregor. The highlands are very popular for hikers.

Glencoe is in scenes from Harry Potter and James Bond, Skyfall. There is so much history and so many sad stories such as the massacre of Glencoe. There is so much beauty also in this wild craggy land. Lochs are lakes and Bens are mountains. We stopped at Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, and part of the Three Sisters. (not to be confused with the Three Sisters of the Blue Mountains of Australia).

Fort Augustus is the gateway to Loch Ness.

And then we were on a boat on Loch Ness looking for “Nessie”. The boat was a good way to travel on the Loch and get some photos of the Urquhart Castle ruins.

We found this crazy Dutchman, going for a swim, looking for Nessie. The water temperature was 5C 41F. It was the closest we got to the Loch Ness monster.

Drove through Inverness

Our final stop for the day was the cute town of Pitlochry.

I had to take a pic of this in Pitlochry

It was a very enjoyable trip, although long, well worth doing. Left Edinburgh at 8am and arrived back at 8:30pm. I ended the day with a lovely minestrone at Vittoria on the Bridge.

Walked to Princes Square to get a bus back to my hotel and cannot walk without taking some snaps.

Edinburgh Castle magestically looking over the town

Stonehenge

Just spent an hour in a most magical place.I was fortunate to get a ticket for the Special Circle Experience which limits 30 people onto the sacred site. I wasn’t expecting anything like the energy I felt. I was asked by a couple of my wiccan friends to send some affirmations and I was overwhelmed. Stonehenge a manmade circle of stones and the world’s most famous prehistoric structure. It is still a place of worship where the eqonox and solstice are celebrated to this day. There were people from USA and me and we all felt something. Some people were fascinated by the archaeological information, others sat and meditated or walked around in awe. I did all. I am a member of the English Heritage and this experience cost £38. I would return.