Photo Feature

My wife and I felt welcomed to Estonia during our visit in July ’08. Although the smallest of the Baltic nations, it offers a feast of attractions: unspoiled islands; dark forests; green marshlands and bogs; towering castles and fortresses; seaside villages, and a cosmopolitan capital featuring medieval splendor. There are also hundreds of manor houses in Estonia, survivors of the more than 1,000 built by Swedish and German nobles over seven centuries.

Often built in grandiose style, they include stables, cow sheds, bridges and pavilions. After serving as a Cistercian monastery in...

On Holland America Line’s 2009 around-the-world cruise aboard the ms Rotterdam, we were lucky with the weather and on April 28 were able to stop at ST. HELENA, one of the most remote places in the world. We had a wonderful time. Among our visits was Napoleon’s tomb.

The Emperor of France ended his days as a prisoner on the island in 1821, and his grave is still there — but he is not; in 1861 the bones were moved to Paris. Our last stop was at Fort Jacob, which is not much — the usual gun emplacements but with a great view. Local residents watched visitors finish the 699-step ascent...

My wife, Karen, and I visited Mongolia on an eight-day optional pre-trip in July 2010 prior to taking Overseas Adventure Travel’s 22-day “Imperial China” tour. On the site of the ancient Mongolian capital of Karakorum, our group of six visited the Erdene Zuu Monastery. Its walls contain 108 stupas. A stone turtle marks one edge of the former capital. As I recall, there was no charge to enter the monastery walls, but just inside is a gift shop where you pay about $2 each in order to visit the actual monastery buildings.

When we first arrived, I noticed three golden eagles tethered...