Mission Accomplished

30 July 2022UncategorizedPaul Kiser

We successfully completed our trip to Europe! It was an amazing adventure and I’m in the process of working through all the photos and videos I took. Over the next several weeks I’ll be remaking this site to post the memories and thoughts of the three weeks we spent in Europe.

Disney Returns to Greece, Adds Messina

18 March 2019UncategorizedPaul Kiser

The 2020 Disney Magic’s 12-night cruise in the Mediterranean is notable for the return to Greece for the first time in five years. This cruise will also add a new port for Disney in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Messina will be the first stop on the voyage after leaving port in Rome. The city’s main resources are its seaports (commercial and military shipyards), cruise tourism, commerce, and agriculture (wine production and cultivating lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges, and olives).

The three ports of call in Greece that follow the Messina, Itally stop, are the island of Santorini, Piraeus (Athens,) and the island of Mykonos.

Time in Europe

15 March 2019UncategorizedEurope, European Time Zones, Rome, Time, Time ZonePaul Kiser

A Timely Discussion?

[JUNE 2022 UPDATE: The European Union did not end changing the clock on and off Daylight Saving Time in 2021. It is unclear when, or if, the clock change ritual will end.]

The difference in time zones between Pacific Standard/Daylight Time (PST/PDT) and European time is not as simple as knowing the time zone. For our cruise, Spain, France, and Italy will be plus nine hours (+9) and Greece will be plus ten hours (+10) from PDT.

However, Europe currently switches from standard time to daylight saving time three weeks later than the United States. In addition, the European Union (EU) has voted to end switching from ‘Summer’ time and ‘Winter’ time. This change was supposed to take place this year but has been postponed until 2021. If the law is not postponed or rescinded, it will require that each country decide whether or not to be on Summer or Winter time for the entire year.

It is likely that most countries will choose to stay on Summer time, or Daylight Saving Time all year because the latitude of most European countries is roughly the same as Canada. To stay on Winter time during the Summer would result in sunrise between 3 and 4 AM for most countries in June and sunset between 7 and 8 PM.