Adventures and Tribulations of Intrepid Travelers!
Travel Journal
Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibits - History Excursion
The story of the Titanic is a schoolhouse staple and one of the great cautionary tales of hubris. It has spawned countless books, award-winning documentaries and memorable movies, notably the Oscar-winning blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, with its memorable image of the couple standing with arms outstretched on the ship's bow.
As our Excursion left for Denver, I was tempted to think I knew all there is to know about the doomed liner, which sank on its maiden voyage 97 years ago this month. What possibly could be left to learn? Apparently, quite a bit. The RMS Titanic Inc., the sole entity that can legally recover objects from the site of the shipwreck, has brought its mobile exhibit, "Titanic: Treasures From the Deep," to us. Read More ... Watch the Promo Video
Travel Journal
Body Worlds 2 - Nature & Science Excursion
An exhibition of human corpses is offering a new opportunity for life after death that's as easy as filling out a simple form.
Then you have to die, of course.
Body Worlds, a controversial yet wildly popular traveling exhibit of real human bodies and body parts, has been raising eyebrows since it was first displayed in 1996. Nearly 20 million people have since visited one of its three touring editions. Body World 2 is an exhibition of human bodies and organs that have been plastinated. Plastination is an invention of Dr. Gunther von Hagens which stops the decomposition process and preserves human bodies.
An exhibit of dead bodies coming to the Denver Nature and Science Museum sounds like a road trip is in order. The students are up for another Excursion weekend. It wasn't exactly what we expected, its part scientific, part artistic, part educational and part voyeuristic. Read More ... Watch the Video
Travel Journal
Cultural Encounter to Mexico - Travel Study Expedition
106 million folks and ….. us!
Current mood: anxious
We are about to venture from city to coast to investigate Mexico’s ancient civilizations and visit the hidden Mexico in the outback of the Sierra Madres. We will begin in Mexico City, the former heart of the Aztec Empire. Climb the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacán. We then continue to the sun-drenched landscapes of the Sierra Madres and the Pacific coast of Puerto Vallarta. Read More .... Watch the Digital Story
Travel Journal
Inspiring Impressionism - Art & Culture Excursion
To my mind,” Paul Cézanne observed, “one does not put oneself in place of the past, one only adds a new link.”
Even the most revolutionary artistic movements are grounded in older traditions. Although the Impressionists’ work seemed a daring rejection of what came before, they did find inspiration in artists from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century. Some revered those Old Masters, some rejected the traditions of the past, and others took their lessons and re-invented them to reflect modern life.
This extraordinary exhibition requires yet another Excursion to Denver to see Impressionist works right next to the Old Master works that inspired them. Read More ... Watch the Promo Video
Travel Journal
Mexico: El Mundo Maya - Travel Study Expedition
Where The Past Is Always Present_
The Mystical Temples, Rainforest and Rainbow Reefs of the Riviera Maya_
10 Day Expedition
Its almost time …. Mexico, land of diversity — tourist resorts and awe-inspiring ancient cities. Our Intrepid travlers are about to experience the warmth and generosity of the Mexican people. On our journey we will know the everyday food, customs and traditions of Mexican life and take step back to a time of pagan mysticism. Colonial cities, Mayan temples, traditional cultures, rainforest reserves, dazzling coral reefs – our Encounter Expedition across the tropical 200-kilometer long coastline located on the eastern tip of the Yucatán peninsula, has it all. an abundance of history, culture and nature. Few places on earth cause as much amazement as the Riviera Maya. Read More ... Watch the Digital Story
Travel Journal
Mama Mia! Here I Go Again To The Buell Theatre - Art & Culture Excursion
A Cultural Weekend Excursion as we trooped off to Denver for an evening of dinner at the Opera House and theatre at the Buell. Although I've see Mamma Mia! four times, I always enjoy this play. Its fun and energetic. Mostly, Mamma Mia! is a play that is more a tribute to the music of ABBA than anything else. The songs really stay with you, evidence by the Colby College choir sitting in the Mezzanine level singing in fine voice throughout the play. Its not distracting because the rest of the audience is singing along too, even Shuman. Of course I sat in the Orchestra section, hate climbing the stairs to the next level.
The story, which has its funny moments, is based on a daughter, Sophie, trying to find her true father to give her away at her wedding with Sky. Turns out that the mother, Donna had a summer of love with three men in a short time and the father could be any one of them. So Sophie surreptitiously invites all three men to the wedding. They all show up at Donna and Sophie's Greek island not knowing that one of them could have fathered Sophie during that summer adventure with Donna 20 years ago and to the chagrin of Donna, all three of them want to give Sophie away. Read More ... Watch the Video Promo
Travel Journal
A Mighty Wind For A Lofty Pursuit - Adventure Excursion
On this Adventure Excursion, I step to the edge, I stand and look down, fold my arms across my chest and with no time to mess around, I laugh to myself and … FREE FALL …. into the upward rushing air from below. I'm precariously dangling horizontally in midair over what appears to be a patchwork of extra thick cage wire in a transparent vertical wind tunnel. I'm not asleep; it's not a dream, not a nightmare and I'm not attached to anything. I'm actually flying — hovering in the air surrounded by sheer walls of torrential air - hanging motionless and speeding faster than I've ever moved in my life, all in one moment, all in a single frame of time. Read More .... Watch the Video Promo
Travel Journal
Attend the tale of
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Art & Culture Excursion
For this Cultural Excursion we traveled to Denver's Buell Theatre to catch what has been described as maybe the most dark and horrifying musical ever written, Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
Why, you ask? Who wouldn't drive four hours to watch a tuneless, well-crafted musical with morbidly fascinating characters, and far-reaching moral issues — BESIDES, "Sweeney Todd" is about a man who slits people's throats and bakes them into meat pies. Who wouldn't want to watch?
How can a show like that NOT be terribly interesting? It may not suit everyone's tastes (Hahahahhahha!!!!!!), but it is definitely twisted and certainly revels in creepiness. You like dark meat? You'll like Sweeney Todd. Read More ... Watch the Video Promo
Travel Journal
And Now For Something Completely Different - Art & Culture Excursion
SPAMALOT
Rave critical reviews, sell-out run, copious awards and gushing praises of those lucky few who have seen, "Ni," experienced Monty Python's "Spamalot." Its time for another Cultural Weekend Excursion to Denver to see the play so "lovingly ripped off from the motion picture "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the warped take on King Arthur's quest to find the "blasted cup that God the All-knowing has somehow, curiously misplaced."
It's Monty Python as I remember it, only slightly altered for a live, stage production. Albeit, at times some of the music reminded me of Mel Brooks' The Producers, except with the Pythonesque silliness. Not completely true to the movie, there are a few extra's that give a wink, a nod, and a nudge – say no more – snippets from the Python TV series and movies. There is an incorporation of the film's trademark animation played on the curtain and scenery. Read More ... Watch the Video Promo