Nomadic Texan

“This post is sponsored by Lexington Law”

I can’t tell you how many credit cards I have applied for to gain miles recently. I always try and take advantage of every card with 50,000 or more flight miles offered in exchange for flight miles. I wouldn’t be able to secure these cards if my credit wasn’t superb and above average. If you need better credit, I would recommend you contact a “>credit repair company as soon as possible. Credit card companies do not like to award these types of promotions unless they are fairly certain you will follow through and uphold your obligations. However, if you feel like your credit has been damaged through no fault of your own, you may want to look into a credit dispute lawyer in Denver or wherever you are located, so you can go over with them the issues you are having and see if they can help you out.

John Lennon Wall Prague

In the past four years I have secured enough miles, by applying and being approved for over eight personal and business cards to travel substantially. This has enabled me to have made round trips to Japan for myself and my son, round trips to Belgium for my wife and myself, an upcoming round trip for my wife and myself to Paris and then Brussels, a round trip for myself to Barcelona and originally a round trip to Cuenca Ecuador for my wife and myself and still have over 325,000 miles available. As a write this blog post, I just had a business card approved for another 70,000 miles which will bring my totals to over 400,000 miles total, if I don’t feel the urge to use some for a spur of the moment week to Europe, Asia, South America or some other luxury travel destinations.

One of the ways I manage to use the minimum amount of miles each time is to look carefully at the award chart from my flight company and see if I am flexible if the miles used will be reduced by changing the date of departure from Texas or the departure date from my intended destination. This insures I don’t waste my miles. A great example is this upcoming trip that will use 70,000 to 80,000 miles less because I moved my departure date back from Texas five days and my return date I pushed three days. This is for both my wife and myself, so we in essence saved enough miles to make another round trip to Europe by optimizing our mileage usage. We originally were looking at 140,000 to 160,000 miles round trip to Brussels.

Pastries at Vienna Christmas Market

Additionally, I always gravitate to Credit cards with no International fees, as we tend to travel almost exclusively abroad. My first trip a travel blogger in 2012 was unbelievable and the fees associated with my credit card that was originally obtained for travel in the US were astronomical. I will caution you and ask you to be observant. If you use your cards at restaurants, ATMs or for transportation please be vigilant and make sure you validate you charges fairly often. My wife and I were in Bratislava Slovakia and we used her Debit card for cash. Immediately Chase Bank notified us that there was suspicious activity on her card and a $600.00 charge was canceled thank goodness.

When traveling I would rather use my credit cards for purchases than to carry a giant wad of cash. That’s just asking for trouble in my honest opinion. I would also tell you that it is imperative you make contact with your credit card companies and inform them of your planned schedule, countries and major cities to be visited.

Flavors of Gouda Cumin, Truffle, Walnut, Cayenne, LoFat Plain, all from Kinderdijk, Netherlands

When I first started collecting miles I was employed and only captured the personal expenditures during a fiscal year. Probably not that much to write home about, but certainly helped me establish my account. Slowly but surely I have been amassing miles in order to hopefully one day hit the million mile mark with my flight account. Certain benefits will become available at that point and flying can become extremely fun again, not the arduous process it is currently. I am excited to hit that plateau one day and begin again. Every time they alter or change the rules I jump on the advantageous items and hold off on those that would impede my progress.

I will never forget losing 68,000 miles because I was inactive. I would have already been very close to achieving this goal of a million mile flyer. In those days one could not achieve miles unless you were actually flying. Now just having the credit card, making purchases with it will land you a massive amount of miles over time, especially if you have extraordinary expenses like teeth or medical surgeries. These have helped my get my miles collection nearer my goal. Alas it’s been at a substantial cost from the events of my life, both medically and dental wise. Recently I have expanded to other airlines and started attaining miles from them. Truthfully though the best way to accumulate miles is to have a card that can be used for any and all flight miles programs. My favorite method though is and has been lately, to sign up for the personal and business cards offering large amounts of miles dedicated to my account.

Experienced in home and pet care?
You can travel the world without paying for hotels. Here’s how…
Exchange your experience in home and pet care for free accommodation by housesitting for home and pet owners all over the world. Yes really, it is possible. If you love animals, you’ll have a wide range of opportunities to visit new locations and live like a local in someone’s home. Yes, really! However, you may still need travel insurance for your trip. With this in mind, you may wish to visit the one sure website.

Marbella Beach at Sunset

Join a housesitting network, get verified and police checked, and then apply, it’s as easy as that. Tell the home and pet owner how and why you would make a good housesitter, tell them about your pet care experience, any particular breed of cat, dog or horse that you have known well. If you love gardening or don’t mind turning your hand to a few household chores, all that information is great to help you build your housesitter profile online. If you are chosen you’ll have a wonderful opportunity to explore a new location, with your host as a guide before they leave for their holiday. With multiple pages and web articles such as befreela exame article and guides on youtube, there is little excuse to not go out and start exploring!

Eiffel Tower at sunset, Paris

Why join a managed Housesitting and Petsitting network?
By joining a managed network you secure the opportunity of free accommodation and flying private with jet card programs like Jettly in a wide range of locations. And in exchange for free petsitting you enter into a collaborative relationship with the homeowner which often leads to making new friends in new places and a deeper discovery of your new location.

Many of the travelling housesitters on HouseSitMatch.com share their stories via the blog telling of their experiences of the pets they have cherished and cared for, the fantastic travel experiences or discovering new locations from a new perspective. It can be a wonderful escape to sample life in a new country, visiting some extraordinary places while staying in a comfortable home rather than an anonymous inner city hotel or hostel environment.

St Paul’s Cathedral, London from the South Bank

Client Testimonial, Dianne and Mike (Travelloafers)
If you are considering house sitting, we highly recommend HouseSit Match. Lamia has guided us through every step of the way making the signup process easy. We’ve already had a wonderful experience house sitting in the UK and are looking forward to more all over the UK and Europe in the near future! 5 stars all around!

Dianne and Mike, travelling housesitters and digital nomads from Canada
(aka The Travel Loafers)

Dianne and Mike Housesitting near Oxford, England

Why should petsitters and housesitters get checked and verified?
It builds trust online if other members of a network can see that you are visibly checked have a current and clear police and background check! HouseSitMatch enables members to get checked online wherever they are in the world, they can then display these checks against each profile. Homeowners feel more confident approaching a housesitter who has taken the trouble and time to ensure these details are dealt with. They feel they can go on holiday with peace of mind knowing that an experienced person they have chosen as a pet sitter who is looking after everything at home while they are away is checked with a clear record. If homeowners want to check deeper, then they may want to use an online police check qld service, depending on where they are based, so they can be as thorough as possible for their safety.

Building a good housesitter reputation online.
To build a good reputation online you start with the checks, then with each completed housesit you gather a new homeowner review. To ensure a fair approach and a balanced perspective, HousesitMatch asks housesitters also to review their homeowners so all members must build their own reputations online.

Are there any costs?
Yes, there is a small membership fee starting as low as 49 per year. By joining this housesitting network you can secure access to checked free petsitters all year round. By joining as a Premium member for 79 per year the HouseSitMatch admin staff can help you at every step.

Who are these petsitters and why will they want to housesit for free?
Most of the petsitters who join HouseSitMatch are looking to spend time in a new location and to exchange their experience for free accommodation while they discover a new location. Many of the petsitters are retired professionals wanting to travel on a fixed income. For them, your petsitting assignment is a working holiday.

Client testimonial – Nina, Pet owner
This company have been excellent from start to finish in finding a House-Sitter for us in Andalucía (Spain). They have checked up at all stages and also after the event. This gives us confidence in using the system.

Nina – petowner in Andalucia, Spain
Check out all the HousesitMatch testimonials on Trustpilot.

Do you need a house or petsitter? Get in touch. House-sitting can be a win-win for both parties, free house and petsitting, and the experienced and checked sitters get free accommodation! Register as either housesitter or homeowner now with a 20% off introductory offer using coupon code PERFECT20. To find a house pet-sitter go to www.HousesitMatch.com.

***This blog post was sponsored by Housesitmatch.com. and restitution was made.

We had an early start from the ship and after a fairly long bus ride, we arrived in Salzburg and started our walking tour through this fabulous historic city. Along the way we encountered the Bristol Hotel. There are approximately 200 hotels around the world with the name Bristol. Some are extravagantly decorated and some are average. The hotel first associated with Bristol name was the Place Vendome in Paris. It closed and a Hotel Le Bristol Paris opened in close proximity to the original. It’s currently located near Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore’ and is one of Paris’ 5-star hotels.

The Hotel Bristol in Salzburg was constructed originally in 1619 with Archbishop Paris Lodron planting the first block of it’s foundation. After it was completed it served as the residence of many noble families. Over the centuries it was redone by several individuals until it attained it’s present design in the 19th century. In the 1890’s the hotel was taken over by the city of Salzburg and was supplied with electricity. The hotel became known as the “Electric Hotel” and helped supply electricity to a portion of Old Quarter.

Bristol Hotel, Salzburg Austria

Over the years many movie stars, government officials and illustrious men and women have stayed at this hotel. Approximately 74 years ago the Hubner family assumed custody of the hotel and it is run by their third generation today. One of a very few privately held hotels in Salzburg under their exclusive management.

Most people are reminded of the movie “The Sound of Music”, a story about the Von Trapp Austrian family when they hear Salzburg. It was filmed in distinct locations around the city including the Mirabell Palace and Gardens and St. Peters Monastery, Cementary and Catacombs, along with the Leopoldskron Palace. The cast and ensemble all stayed at the Bristol Hotel during the filming in 1965, in Mozart’s home town!

***Portions of our cruise were sponsored by Viking River Cruises. All opinions, as always, are those of my own.

As a young man growing up, I learned to love music at an early age. My father was a journalist and reviewed musical acts that came to our small town of Arlington Texas. My first concert was at the age of eleven, when we saw Louis Armstrong. My father favored Jazz and when he was sent an autographed photo of Lionel Hampton and me (I got the opportunity when I met him at The Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center), my father was in heaven.

Home of the Vienna Boys Choir, This plaque and Ribbons Designates a National Historical Marker in Austria. It was located inside the Hofburg Palace.

In my early teens I heard classical music emanate from my father’s record player and I was hooked immediately. I listened to Bach, Brahms, Vivaldi, Wagner, Chopin, Strauss, Beethoven and Mozart from an early age. Through the years I learned how much classical music was composed or finalized in Vienna, Austria and I vowed, if ever given the chance, I would visit Vienna. When I noticed that the Danube Waltz Cruise from Viking River Cruises passed through Vienna, there was no doubt which cruise we would take.

Vienna Residence Orchestra,  Palais Auersperg, Viennese Palace

While in Budapest, we mentioned we were interested in attending the Classical concert in the Viennese Palace the evening we arrived in Vienna. Thank goodness, as the available tickets were limited and some of our new “Viking” friends warned us not to wait and to purchase our tickets quickly . I would advise you purchase your tickets as soon as you are settled in for your cruise. Otherwise you take the chance of not witnessing an enchanting and memorable evening performance. It was an “Optional Excursion”, but well worth the nominal cost.

Karlsplatz Station, formerly of the Viennese Stadtbahn, Designed by Otto Wagner

We arrived in the port of Vienna around 6:00 AM. Given we had a full day ahead of us, we ate breakfast early and prepared for our Shore Excursion: “Vienna City Tour”. We started by touring the Ringstrasse by bus. This is a large circular boulevard, which replaced the city walls built in the 13th century around the city for protection. Sometime in 1857 a decision was made to convert the wall into a boulevard intended to showcase the the grandeur and glory of the Habsburg Empire. The idea originated with Napolean III in Paris. As a consequence, all the nobility and plutocracy hurried and built garish and ornate structures along the boulevard, each trying to outdo the other. This resulted in a plethora of outstanding and opulent properties that remain gorgeous to this day.

Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna, Museum of Natural History

Austrian Parliament Building

I personally love architecture and the examples scattered along the Ringstrasse throughout the city, at times took my breath away. Some of the essence of this period’s architecture can be seen in the Vienna State Opera, Academy of Fine Arts, Palace of Justice and the Austrian Parliament Building. We concluded the bus tour and were dropped at the Habsburg Palace, a huge complex used primarily as the residence and office of the President of Austria. It is one of the most gorgeous complexes I have ever seen. It also houses the world famous beautiful Lipazzan horses. If you are fortunate, you might visit during a training session. They were resting during our visit.

Heldenplatz in front of the Hofburg Palace, most notably remembered for Adolf Hitler’s ceremonial announcement of the Austrian Anschluss, to Nazi Germany on 15 March 1938. It was held on these steps.

As we began the walking tour we entered the massive, historical and decorative complex of the Hofburg Palace. I couldn’t take enough photos fast enough. One could spend an entire day enjoying the art, the various buildings and courtyards. The construction began in the thirteenth century  and the palace has housed some of the most powerful people in European and Austrian history.

A gate from the 19th wing of the Hofburg Palace, to the complex center.

The complex was started in the 13th century when the Swiss Wing was constructed. Through the centuries each potentate of the Austrian-Hungarian empire attempted to outdo the prior monarch with larger and more ornate buildings and trim. Included are statues dedicated to themselves in many cases and again each new statue reflected a larger persona. In the 19th and 20th centuries the Festsaal – Festival Hall Wing, St. Michael’s Wing, Neue Burg Wing, Corps de Logis and the Palm House or Butterfly House were added, making it the second largest former palace complex behind only the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest Romania and slightly larger than the Louvre Palace in Paris.

A Vienna taxi for hire.

As we exited the Hofburg Palace and continued our walking tour we strolled down a street with shops like Gucci, Cartier, Versace, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. I thought we were back on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Thank goodness there wasn’t time to shop! We continued through the Historic Center of Vienna and were given time to grab a cup of Viennese coffee and a strudel. We chose a location near to us and turned out to be a wonderful break. Aida’s is a chain in Vienna and I personally highly recommend you give it a try, if you visit Vienna.

Aida is a coffee house chain in Vienna with wonderful Viennese coffees and pastries. Try the Strudel, we did!

After the quick coffee, we had time to either explore St. Stephens Cathedral or take a quick walk through the small Christmas Market next to the Cathedral. We obviously opted for the Christmas Markets, but I did catch a glimpse of the Cathedral and took a photo for posterity. The roof tiles are gorgeous and the exterior is amazing. On my next visit to Vienna I will definitely enter and photograph the Cathedral. I love design and architecture of European Cathedrals. One of my favorite objects to photograph.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna

The last portion of the tour was basically to let us know where the Christmas Markets were. We spent a few minutes scanning the booths and registering our coordinates in the city. After the morning tour we returned to the ship for lunch. The afternoon gave us options to come back to the Christmas Markets, tour the Farmers’ Market with Chef de Cuisine Martin, or participate in an Optional Excursion: Schonbrunn Palace. Guess which one we chose? I would venture to say that most of you would say the Farmers’ Market or the Schonbrunn Palace. You would be incorrect. There were more and different wooden laser spoons waiting and we needed to add to Kim’s collection, so we came back to the Christmas Market. After all Vienna is one of the best Christmas Markets in Europe and had more booths than we could see.

Our new friends from the Boston area, Gail and Richard Douglas opted for the Schonbrunn Palace and once again Gail came through with a wonderful photograph for my blog. Thank you kindly young lady for your continual contributions.

Schonbrunn Palace, Photographed by Gail Douglas

Additionally we had the Optional Excursion: Classical Concert that night and it gave us more flexibility. Interpretation: we could get back to the ship, eat our early seating dinner and have sufficient time to dress for the concert and be mesmerized by one of the world’s best chamber orchestras, Wiener Residenzorchester. I was super excited to actually hear Mozart and Strauss in a venue, in Vienna with all the history associated with this city. The sculptures in the Palais Auersperg were extraordinary, as witnessed below.  Highlights of the concert for me were the Ouverture “Le Nozze di Figaro” (Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro” by W.A. Mozart and The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss.

A Sculpture in the Palais Auersperg

We left the concert after a long day fully energized by the Concertos and Arias of Mozart and Strauss. What I didn’t realize ahead of time was that we would have brief ballet and opera experiences at the concert. If you remember the photo at the beginning of the stage, you wouldn’t really think any ballet act could perform. Not only did were we entertained with excellent ballet, but a Pas de deux occurred with leaps, etc. I feared for the dancers safety at times, but they performed with nary an incident. We went back to the ship and turned in headed to our next ports in Austria, satisfied that we had tasted Vienna and would have exquisite memories of this grand city, until we returned again.

***Portions of our cruise were sponsored by Viking River Cruises. All opinions, as always, are those of my own.