When we came back from our vacation in Manila early this year we made plans with long-time friends to get together in the summer but it was already the second of July and still raining.  Late in the afternoon Sunday when I logged on the internet among the incoming e- mail was from a travel agency offering a last-minute cultural cruise to three countries.  Eddie was excited because the ports of call of the ship are near historical sites we...

Eddie and I were just married when we stopped off for two days in Cairo before coming to The Netherlands. My cousin was then with the Philippine Embassy there. The two-day stay was too short. We were only able to visit the pyramid of King Cheops and the Cairo museum.  Someday, we told ourselves when Eddie retires and our children are of age we will return to Egypt.

Last  May 31, forty-seven years later we joined the Nile...

Last year, I wrote the MN Travelogue entitled “Acquapendente’s Festa dei Pugnaloni – A Unique and Unforgettable Experience with an Italian Family and Community”.  I described then the beautiful wall-size mosaics of flower petals and leaves in Acquapendente’s  pugnaloni art competition, commemorating the miracle of the Madonna del Fiore (Madonna of the Flower) that led to the liberation of the town from the German emperor Frederic I Barbarossa in the 12th century.  I am compelled to write this sequel after...

Before going to Aklan during this Philippine vacation, we visited the Bicol region and Palawan.  We were joined by Danny and Cindy’s sons, Chip and Kitt, and granddaughter Kaye in Bicol.  Chip and Cherry’s toddler Carl was also with us.  Carl was a constant source of laughter for us, with...

Our mother was from the province of Aklan on the island of Panay, Philippines. She and other relatives from the province used to tell us that the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, the capital of Aklan, is very special and unique. I did not truly appreciate how awesome the...

America the Beautiful: The American West
July 2 – 11, 2011
Wilfredo (Sonny) Valenzuela Mon 1st August 2011The American West is beautiful.  During our recent tour of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, we enjoyed magnificent views of colorful canyons, swift-flowing rivers, cascading... More

Normandy Beaches, Mont St.Michel, St.Mere Eglise, and the Cliffs of Etretat
By Orquidia Valenzuela Flores Posted Fri 3rd June 2011D-Day Invasion, Normandy is commemorated in Europe every year on the 6th of June. The American, French, Canadian British and other allied countries’ soldiers who fought gallantly and... More

Acquapendente’s Festa dei Pugnaloni – A Unique and Unforgettable Experience with an Italian Family and Community
By Wilfredo (Sonny) Valenzuela Sun 29th May 2011Ever since Luca and I met and became close friends four years ago, he has been telling me about his hometown Acquapendente in Italy’s Lazio region near its... More

Landtour: Netherlands-Germany-Belgium-France
Cindy Rivera ValenzuelaTue 14th September 2010Of the 19 brothers, sisters, cousins and friends who went on an exhilarating Italian trip of a lifetime, seven of us --- Ito and Kate, Sonny, Annie, Bettina, Danny and... More

Land Tour of Italy: Tuscany Region, Rome and Pompeii
June 7 – 13, 2010
Wilfredo (Sonny) ValenzuelaTue 20th July 2010When the family started discussing a potential tour of Italy last November, I contacted my good friend Luca del Segato immediately. Luca told me three years ago, when he... More