Raymond & Rhonda Merritt Pictures Page

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April 2014, HIGHLANDS, NORTH CAROLINA

Our trip to Highlands, North Carolina, with Mike and Elizabeth

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AUGUST 2013, BALTIC SEA

In August 2013 we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark and boarded the Emerald Princess for a trip around the Baltic Sea.

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Click here for Oslo, Norway Pictures

Click here for Aarhus, Denmark Pictures

Click here for Berlin, Germany Pictures

Click here for Tallinn, Estonia Pictures

NOTE: The next gallery is St. Petersburg, Russia. We were there for two perfect, and enjoyable, days. One thing I wanted to do was confirm or deny something I was told long, long ago -- probably in grade school -- and that is that there are two things you will not find in Russia as a result of the Communist Revolution. They are: (1) neon signs, because they are symbols of western decadence (associated with bars, etc.), and (2) grass on private lawns, because that is a symbol of western extravagance, and Russians were told that Americans have a lower class that tend their grass and that no Russian citizen should ever have to lower himself to tend the lawn of another Russian citizen.

I found both of these (well, the "lower class" part is debatable) to be true. We saw a few neon signs and they were on side streets in the windows of restaurants and they were also obviously post-glasnost, and we saw no grass to be tended in the lawns of private homes or apartment buildings -- only in public or government squares and the estates of the palaces of antiquity. Check the pictures of St. Petersburg and you will see no billboards, garish Times-Square-like locations, and precious little landscaping.

Whomever taught me this -- I forgot where I learned it -- was mostly correct. Raymond Merritt, 2013.

Click here for the St. Petersburg, Russia Pictures

Click here for Helsinki, Finland Pictures

Click here for Stockholm, Sweden Pictures

JANUARY 2010, THE MEDITERRANEAN

In January of 2010 we flew to Barcelona, Spain and boarded the Norwegian Cruiselines Ship Jade for a trip around the Mediterranean Sea.

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Click here for the Rome Pictures

Click here for the Turkey Ismir Pictures

Click here for the Turkey Ephesus Pictures

NOTE: The next five galleries were taken in Egypt. We took an excursion to Cairo and the Pyramids. This was no ordinary excursion. the convoy consisted of five busses, one of which was empty in case any of the other four broke down. One bus -- our bus -- did break down and we had to switch to the spare bus. We also traveled with a carload of armed security guards who carried AK-47s and I assume were prepared to use them.

This was the trip of a lifetime, and, based on the events in Egypt at this writing (September, 2013) it could be many years before Americans once again venture to the pyramids. If I look at the itinerary of our ship, The Norwegian Jade, Egypt is no longer included.

Click here for the Egypt Alexandria Pictures

Click here for the Egypt Pyramids & Sphinx Pictures

Click here for the Egypt Memphis Pictures

Click here for the Egypt Memphis Step Pyramid Pictures

Click here for the Egypt From The Bus Pictures

Click here for the Malta Pictures

APRIL 2010, LAS VEGAS

Trip to Las Vegas with The Balestras

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OCTOBER 2010, ASHEVILLE

Our trip to Asheville, North Carolina

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DECEMBER 2010, ARKANSAS

Rhonda's trip to Lindsey's in Arkansas

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JULY 2010, DONNA'S PARTY

Donna McNulty's birthday party in Tallahassee, Florida

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OCTOBER, 2009, NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS

In October of 2009 we went to Nassau out of Jacksonville Florida aboard Carnival (The Kmart Cruise Line). We went with friends and we went for no other reason than to dance, dance, dance.

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OCTOBER 2008, CHARLESTON, SC

Trip to Charleston, South Carolina with the Hoods

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