Well, the good news is that we're back in Honolulu, and all is well.  Started off in New York City. Hotel said there was a set $70 cost of the taxi ride to JFK Airport.  Well, when you add the toll charges and tip, it was up to $90.  That in itself was okay.  So we checked in for our 1PM departure time, which was ticketed more than three months ago.  After we picked up our tickets, we went to the excellent Alaska Airline lounge and was beginning a leisurely breakfast when we found out that we needed to board the plane at 11:05, which was less than half an hour away.  We never got any notice for this change.  We came extra early to be safe, and it turned out that we only barely made this flight. Some photos. Bloody Mary and champagne in Alaska Air lounge. Here is about when we learned we had only a few minutes rather than a couple of hours in the lounge.  Our plane. Goodbye Manhattan from air. Then noticed the plane we were on was the  Boeing 737 MAX  9, the one that lost a door i

Didn't do much yesterday, as it was threatening to rain all day.  As  I had two cans of Foster's beer, my big decision was whether to have a MacDonald's burger or Popeye's chicken, both establishments located across the street from the hotel.  Decided on MacDonald's for a quarter pounder with cheese and fries for $12.  Only a five-minute walk.  Began to rain as I arrived back at the Marriott Marquis. Have nice view of Times Square.  It's possible that this might well have been my most enjoyable lunch of this entire trip. As at 3PM this was to be my dinner tonight.  Added a Lay's potato chip bag with a second can. This is a very large can of beer at 25.4 ounces, or 750 ml.  A typical bottle of wine is the same size. Checked out of the Marriott Marquis and there is a $70 taxi price to JFK Airport. Some thoughts on our around the world adventure. Will take 53 days. Honolulu to Tokyo to Singapore to Munich to Copenhagen to Amsterdam by air. Three cruises. 7-day

Another short flight today, from Copenhagen to Amsterdam on KLM.  By the way, for those planning on a European trip, keep in mind that they don't all use Euros.  The exceptions are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and Denmark, where it is about 7 Danish Kroner to the U.S. dollar.  Also keep in mind that Norway is not a member of the EU and it is nearly 11 Norwegian Kroner to the U.S. dollar.  Sweden and Iceland use the Krona. The airline lounge was okay, with hard liquor, wines and beers available in the morning.  Neither our Munich nor Copenhagen hotel executive clubs, for example, offered any kind of spirits beyond wine and beer.  We were the only one there for a long while. As we approached Amsterdam, saw tulip fields. One of the advantages of living in Scandinavia is the lack of severe natural disasters.  Sure, a few hurricanes have managed to survive all the up to this far north causing some damage.  Take tsunamis, for example. Only a 2% chance of a