Bulls, Sangria, Art, Food……What does this country not have?

For more on Spain please see Running of the Bulls-Pamplona
I have had the opportunity to visit Spain a few different times in my life and it really never gets old. I have been around different parts of it and the people are always friendly and talkative. They have perfected the siesta and also how to stay awake all night partying and still get up and go to work in the morning. Football is pretty much life here as people from every major and minor city eat and breathe it when their club teams play.
Barcelona was one of my first stops in this great city. Their nightlife is among one of the craziest yet calm I have ever seen. Calm in that with how many drunk people running around, I did not see any fights at all, and everyone was friendly. I had a chance to take a jaunt around the town on Las Ramblas street to see all the shops. I did go into a sex museum, but they are all around Europe, and I have been to many of them. They seem to be very proud of Christopher Columbus as they have a huge statue of him right on the water. A visit to La Sagrada Familia and the National Palace rounded out my day here. At night I went to a rather large dinner and of course with Flamenco dancing. I was of course dragged up on stage to embarrass myself as I looked like something out of Steve Urkel dancing. Now I am usually more cautious about where I sit so people cannot drag me up to make a fool out of myself dancing…

I had a chance to stop in a place I have always wanted to go and that was the University of Salamanca in Salamanca. This is the fourth oldest operated university in Europe and was started in the 1200’s. It has seen its share of ups and downs with the Inquisition and also the colonization of the New World. A notable professor is Miguel Cervantes who taught there and a notable alum is Hernan Cortes who was a Conquistador for the Spanish during its exploration days. Walking around there I felt lost in time as many of the buildings have been replaced over the years but it still makes you wonder about the thousands of people and the history constructed in its walls. I also had another uh oh moment. As I was walking, one of my sandals broke so I was running around the university with no shoes on at all. Until I found a shop that sold sandals…except….they were girls sandals, but the ground was so hot I had to get them. No wonder why people were looking at me in the church…..

Madrid is hands down my favorite Spanish city. They have so much to do there and so much food and alcohol, it was a wonder I am still alive. You literally walk ten feet and BAAAAM. Another place to get food. I spent my time there wandering around the city eating and also looking at museums. I had the chance to visit Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen Art Museums. I love seeing art, and these museums did not disappoint at all. I think this is the single longest day in my life I have spent in art museums, but it was well worth it, as I got to see Guernica by Picasso and narrowly missed my other painting as I was running out of time which is The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch. Then I went to the National Palace there and strolled around there (nothing exciting), and of course I spent the nights drinking away on the streets….oh yea and almost getting mugged…….

In the heart of Europe lies a town like no other…..

Slovenia is truly a hidden gem in Europe. My first time here was the summer of 2010, then I liked it so much I went back the following year in 2011. Will I go back…most definitely!!!! It is not a well known country to many people that travel, but I like it that way….

I would not say that Ljubljana is the most exciting city around. Actually in my opinion is only good for an afternoon stop to get something to eat (like Mexican food) and just lounge around. As a matter of fact I have only spent a few hours at a time in the capital city as once you have seen it once, that is all you need. However it does have a nice quiet feel to it…..

The real gem of Slovenia in my opinion is Bled, which I simply fell in love with as will anyone that goes there. First of all, I have stayed pretty much in the best budget accommodation of all time here. The place is called Jazz Hostel and Apartments. It is one of the cleanest places I have ever been too, and the owner (seen in the picture below) named Jani is one of the best people I have met and really takes care of his guest.

The info for booking this place is here:  Jazz Apartments and Hostel. There is a really nice quiet bar around the corner called George Best Bar and it is a nice out of the way place for people that want a quiet drink or ten….

There is probably one of my favorite restaurants there that I have eaten at probably more than any other restaurant in my travels, and the name of that is Gostilna Murka. I sent one of my students dads who was working there to eat and he loved it. The website for this little place (near the Jazz Hostel) is Gostilna Murka . Their Beef and Barley Soup is to die for as well as any of their dishes. I promise you will not be disappointed.

There is a national park(Triglav) in the area of Bled that is a great day out to go and explore. If you like hiking and canoeing, then this place is for you. The water will be cold year round, but the water is so fresh, that you can stick your head in the stream and drink from it (trust me I did it plenty of times). There is also a bridge that you can jump off of if that is what you like into the water which is a lot of fun. At the end of the day if you book with the right group, then they load your car on the train and you get a free train ride in the car back to Bled….

What I simply like about Bled is the peace and tranquility. If you want a nice night out, you can do that. If you want to find a club, I am sure you can do that. If you want to sit on a café and relax you can do that. We even jumped the fence to the Olympic Training Center for the National Track and Field Team, and of course I WON. There is nothing that you cannot find here, and the whole town is very easy to walk around. The whole town is situated around a lake with an island in the middle and you can rent your own boat and go to the island or take a little taxi boat for a nominal price. Once you get on the island where they have a lot of weddings, you can walk around and visit the church or just relax. The steps going up to the castle are very steep as legend has it that everyone that gets married there must carry their wife up. I tried a few steps with a friend and gave up…..but I will never give up on going back to Bled….

Another lost gem in Europe…..Free Wi-Fi connections in the park?

We came from Moldova in a car from Transnistria which was very tricky, but we were able to get through the border checkpoint with no hassle. I was with my friend Steve and Lucian and we arranged to stay with a guy named Igor who was a friend of Lucian.

I have heard from all kinds of people that Moldova is a dump and there is nothing to do there. I guess those people had only been to the country side and that is what they saw of this country, but in Chisinau it was the exact opposite.  City vs. Country…

I saw Chisinau as a thriving city with so much to see and do. There were monuments everywhere to go and look at as well as a very good museum (didn’t make it in here). It is a city which you can walk around and get free Wi-Fi wherever you go…including three connections in different parks. The food was absolutely fabulous as they take a lot of the Romanian food and put their own twist on it.

At any time you can go to a bar at any park (seems to be a theme in eastern Europe) and have a drink and just sit and relax and talk. The women here are drop dead gorgeous and are some of the most beautiful in Europe in my opinion.

However the bus station is a very depressing place…

Would I go back here? Sure!!! The US dollar goes a long way here and with all the food and alcohol you can drink, this is anyone’s paradise……Thank You Igor for letting us stay in your house…Ill be sure to return!!!!!!!

Probably the cheapest of the Scandinavian Countries….and it is still expensive….

Stepping off the boat from the Silja Line after a hard night of drinking and messing up my knee running into a plexi glass on the ship, we got to Finland.
I was impressed of how clean everything was here. The city center is situated in such a way that you can walk around and do everything you need too (including trying a billion ATMs for money). I walked around with some friends and went to the Temppeliaukio Church which is built directly into the rocks. We did some sightseeing of statues in a park and checked out all of the sculptures.
The most interesting thing about here is how many people were drinking all odd hours of the day. I had been to a bunch of countries, but I saw people at 9 in the morning in local bars just downing cocktails. It was also fun to see the lady with all the cats training them to do things as well as the Rastafarian Superman who I have been told is still there to this date balancing on his rope.
I imagine I will get back there to see more of this country as one of my dear friends lives there and I want him to show me around next time….better save my euros…..

A lost country on the rise….
Any of us who grew up in the 1990’s, knew what happened in Kosovo. They had a long standing rivalry with the Serbians and when Yugoslavia broke apart, when push came to shove, Kosovo go their independence. Serbia wanted this land because this is where a battle called The Battle of Kosovo was in which the Serbians held back the Ottomans (so it holds sentimental value and a part of Serbian identity). This country is still disputed by Serbia and other countries; however they seem to be doing nicely. Mostly a predominant Muslim population like Albania, they have a long way to go to get to the standards of the rest of Europe….but they are trying….
My buddy Steve and I took a bus to the city of Prizren from Skopje, Macedonia.  I even got to smoke a cigarette with the bus driver in front of the bus!!!! When we got to Prizren, we found our hotel and were so tired that we passed out for a solid 12 hours. When we woke up we took a walk around the city, up to the old fortress and just hung out. It was nice to see how clean the city was and how people are really trying to bring tourists in for income….

We then got another bus to the capital Pristina. This city was heavily damaged by the war with Serbia, but it seems to be built up nicely and parts of it are very new. We took a walk down the boulevard and noticed how this was just like any other ex Yugoslavia country. We got to see the George Bush and Bill Clinton Streets (go figure they intersect each other), as well as the Bill Clinton Statue. This was a nice easy day for us and our hotel was beautiful and spacious. I reckon ill get back there in time to see how well it has been built up as there is plenty of stuff to do in the country

The untouched beauty of the world…
The first time I ever heard of the Seychelles Islands is when my grandma used to tell me stories about how it was the greatest place in the world because of its isolation. In Fall of 2013, I decided to test what she said as our school in Egypt had a week off for October Break.
I had the great luck of going with friends from Cairo as well as friends from Abu Dhabi and Dubai that I taught with in Venezuela. Now the hard part was to find accommodation for all of us. CHECK. I found a villa that had five bedrooms for ten people that cost us a whopping 250 dollars for seven nights each person!!!! Are you kidding me? On the Seychelles? Not sure how I found it, but it was a great place, and we were able to save a heap of money going to the store and buying our own food. CNN and National Geographic have ranked two of the beaches on the Islands among the top ten in the world and this is the truth….
Here are pictures of the cooking extravaganzas we put on in the villa:

We were also able to rent cars and take them around the Island. We would drive for a little bit, then go to a beach, then drive and go to a beach. The water was pristine and clear and the waves were just enough so you won’t get drowned by them. We were also lucky enough to have a bar about a mile from our villa so we spent a lot of time down there at the nice beach…..

Pictures of around the Island:

Pictures of the different beaches:

Excursions are the part of the trip which cost us a lot of money. We had to pick up boats from one island to the other. We ended up hitting a National Park with heaps of the infamous Coconuts as well as some pretty beaches. We then went to the Island of La Digue, which is always ranked as one of the top beaches in the world!!!! That ranking proves accurate as the formations in the rocks are beautiful and each cove is surrounded by big rocks so you can have enough privacy to swim without a billion people around….

This was a trip that was amongst my favorite for a few reasons. Being around friends out of a working environment was great. We all chipped in and made great food. Finally the scenery was beautiful. I just wish we could of spend more than a week there. But it looks like I will have to get back again….

Food, Food, Food, DMZ, Food, Food, Food, Shrines, Food, Food, Food

Did I mention that I love Korean food? Well I love any Asian food in general, but Korea strikes me as some of the best food because it is spicy and they use a lot of meat in their dishes….

Seoul is one of the cleanest big cities I have ever been too in the world and there is just heaps to do. You can pop into a bar any night of the week and there is always something to do. On Itaewon Street which is where all the expats go, there is loads of different types of restaurants to eat at…

Since I was younger, I always wanted to visit the DMZ on the border of North and South Korea. I finally got my chance being in Seoul and have not regretted my decision. We took a tour bus to the zone and had to sign a waiver with the US Army incase anything happened to us. We went to the structure where the North and South sit down to meet!! I was literally feet away from the border of North Korea. We went around the rest of the area throughout the day and got a chance to see Kaesong Dong which is the propaganda village situated on the border with the South. Incidentally it has the largest flagpole in the world.  We also took a trip to Dorasan Station where there is now a train between North and South Korea for workers.  I ended up getting a stamp here in my passport, which since has gotten me questioned in other countries.  I had a great time touring this area and would do it again and again…

A trip to Seoul is not complete without a trip to Lotte World, a cruise down the river, and also a visit to the 2002 World Cup Stadium either!!!

There is so many temples here (as in most of Asia), that it almost makes your head spin. They are all very well preserved and very clean. Some of them are hundreds of years old and have been basically rebuilt after various fires.

I enjoyed my time here immensely. I just wish I had more of it as I was on a short holiday from my work in Japan so I decided to go here. This is also a place that I would love to live and work in one day so I keep my eye on it very closely. You never know…..

The country where my ancestors come from…I finally get here!!!
Portugal has long been talked about in my family. It is where my great grandparents immigrated to the United States from. I had long been raised on eating Portuguese style food and it is still some of my favorites that I still cook.
I had the opportunity to spend about a week here just milling around and seeing the sites of the country. I stayed around Lisbon and the surrounding areas, then made my way up to Porto (as I love port wine), but too much of it will definitely make you stare at death in the face in the morning.
Lisbon was a city that I simply fell in love with!!! I didn’t think it was as crazy with nightlife as it was, but there was always something going on there. The Beaches are amazing and just walking around the city and taking busses, gave me an idea about how life is here….
I went on a day trip to different castles around the outskirts of Lisbon as well as Obidos which is a famous walled city as I got to walk around the walls for a bit. The highlight of the day is going to Fatima, which in the early 1900’s a child was said to have a vision of the Virgin Mary. This city is one of the most famous pilgrimage sites in Europe as it receives about 5 million Pilgrims a year.

It just happened that while we were in Lisbon that they were having the finals of the World Cup. Our guide told us that at the Bull Fighting stadium that they would have a 3D big screen TV to watch the game and all it cost us was 1 Euro to get in!!!! This was exciting as I was really rooting for Spain in this one vs. the Netherlands. It so happened that Spain won and I was excited as all hell…

We drove up North to Porto which is famous for making and the originator or Port Wine. We first stopped at a winery and I bought as many bottles as I could handle in my bag. After we got checked into our accommodation, I went out and about to see the nightlife which was chilled out and fun. We went to a place that served these massive jugs of mixed drinks and I think everyone drank a little too much. The next day, we went around the city and just checked everything out. I must of walked about 10 kilometers that whole day, going to museums, sitting in the park and just chilling out. That night I went out with a few people to sing Karaoke as I knew our time in Portugal was coming to an end…..

One of the more developed Central American countries-and cheap…
PANAMA. When that name is said, two things usually come to mind. The Panama Canal, and raiding and busting Manuel Noriega in the late 90’s.
Well I am here to say to you that a lot has changed since then, including the country being on the US Dollar and a very lucrative tourist industry. Condos have gone up all over the coast and many Americans spend sometimes half the year over there on retirement.

I stayed in Panama City when I first got there for a few days in a hostel and met some great people. We sat around and had beers and talked about traveling. It was definitely a great experience. We did a lot of walking around the city just looking and checking things out.

I then took a mini bus to a place called Rio Hato, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Why did I go there? My mom’s uncle is one of those Americans who live over there for half the year. I had gotten in touch with him and his wife on facebook and they invited me to stay for a few days with them. I rode this bus and got off at this little stop and then got in back of a random truck to take me to the condo they were staying at. I must tell you that they have a pretty nice layout as they have their own pool and it is very quiet. We basically sat around and took walks on the beach, made food, drank wine, and just pretty much lounged around. I had a blast catching up with him and his wife and could of relaxed and stayed there a while more.

When I got back to Panama, I decided that I wanted to jump and have a boat tour of the Panama Canal. I was really impressed with it. We jumped on a good size boat and went up and down and saw baby alligators and all kinds of wild life. We had lunch in a nice boat on the water then took kayaks up and down the tributaries to a small waterfall. Let’s just say after that I was very stinky and sweaty and I had to hop on a plane to get back to Maracaibo to teach the next day……

A sad history that is looking up…

Northern Ireland was absolutely astonishing. The capital Belfast is by far my favorite city in the UK next to Edinburgh. There is plenty of stuff to do around there and the restaurants are amazing. I went to the newly opened Titanic Museum (as Belfast is where it was built). It was an awe inspiring museum with the history of the Titanic in video and pictures. It is definitely a place to be visited. We took a black cab tour of the murals and neighborhoods of Belfast. It was sad to hear the history of the political fights between the Catholics and Protestants and how even now some neighborhoods have to be closed up at night because of violence.
I will most definitely visit here again and looked at taking a strictly Black Cab Tour to see all of the murals. As you can see below they are beautiful and hold a strong message to them…….

Small unknown country of Ex Yugoslavia….
I have had the opportunity to go to this quaint little country twice and I must say that I was very impressed. First of all don’t mind that this country didn’t exactly exist until after 2006 as it was joined with Serbia to form Serbia-Montenegro (which were the last remaining of the ex Yugoslav countries). I think they have gotten off to a good start of being governed on their own. Their split with Serbia was a peaceful one. What makes Montenegro so nice is their beautiful coastline and scenery. If you have ever been to Croatia, it has much of the same culture except that it is quieter than Croatia. I had the chance to stay in Budva for a night and I feel in love with this little city. They have a bar/nightclub district which is absolutely lovely with many beautiful women (some as tall as me). I stayed in a nice little guesthouse called Saki Guesthouse which I would recommend to anyone.  The Bay of Kotor is a nice place to spend a morning or afternoon as the city is walled up and is really worth a look.   I plan one day to get more inland to the capital of Podgorica, however I don’t think anything will beat Budva……

Hands down best country in the Middle East…

I took a trip here with a friend Mike, over Easter Weekend of 2013. Hell, it was only an hour long flight from Egypt and I have heard so many good things about it.

Seems like all people have heard about Lebanon is from the news in the 80’s and 90’s. Let me tell you, that was one of the most beautiful countries. You tend to think of countries from the Middle East as sandy and desert, but Lebanon fell into that Fertile Crescent very nice. Obviously their flag has a cedar tree on it, because a lot of the country is covered in these trees.

I booked a bunch of day trips as one of my friends I taught with in Venezuela lived and worked there and she knew a company that her school uses. I would highly recommend this company as they will tailor your every need and are very understanding. The companies name is:

Byblos and Beyond

We didn’t get into Beirut until the night, and quickly went around to get some food. Low and Behold we found a pizza place with PORK HAM!!! Normally people wouldn’t think anything of this, but in Egypt, you cannot just pop into a restaurant and order pork. So of course we got a few beers and also some pork pizza and were very happy!!!!!

We left Beirut along the coastal road towards Jeita Grottoes, visited the upper and lower galleries with its beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. We continued to Balaa to enjoy a short hike to reach Baatara Natural Bridges. As you can see from the pictures below this is a beautiful waterfall that falls into a hole that goes to the depths of the earth!!!The rest of the day was spent in Byblos, one of the oldest cities in the world that has been continuously inhabited. We walked along the old fishing port, visited the churches, mosque, the Crusader Castle and took a stroll through the old souk and saw the bar area of the city.

Today we headed towards Baalbak. This city is on the border with Syria so it is often prone to violence.   As we were driving along, we couldn’t help but notice all the camps with Syrian refugees in them from the war. It brought some sadness to our eyes to see this right in front of us. Our first stop was Anjar which is the only Umayyad Site in Lebanon. As I was taking pictures, I was nearly trampled by a roving band of Goats. From here we head to Ksara wineries to enjoy the visit of the caves followed by a wine tasting. I think I got about ten bottles of wine here and really loved this little winery. After lunch we headed toward Baalbak!!! I have been to a lot of Roman Ruins in my life, but this is one of the best preserved and untouched I have ever seen. As you can tell by the pictures, because of the violence with Syria, there was not a lot of people there so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves!!!! Before going back to Beirut, we got a chance to see the biggest stone in the world that a guy turned into a tourist attraction after this big hole was used as a dump. Really great guy!!!

Today on the last full day we are here, we headed south!!! We left Beirut along the coastal road towards Tyre. We visited the 2 sites of Tyre, the ancient Phoenician City(which had some great Byzantine and Roman sites) and the legendary birth-place of Europa and Elissa(which is on the ocean and gives us another lovely glimpse of Roman Ruins.) In the afternoon, we went to Sidon being the 3rd largest city in Lebanon. We walked around this lovely city and saw the sea castle with some amazing views as well as went through the Souk, where subsequently I was photographed by two Lebanese girls for their school project.

The last day we had a flight out in the afternoon but managed to do a little shopping and walk around Beirut before we left. My impression of Lebanon was better than before I got there. I firmly believe they take care of their sites very good. The cities are very clean as they care about tourism greatly. I also believe they have the best food in the Middle East. I plan to go back here one day to see more of the famous nightlife and eat some more delicious food!!!!

Would spend all summer there….but damn expensive!!!

My time in Denmark was a memorable one. It was plagued with a lot of Carlsberg Beer and expensive food. I stayed in a guesthouse type accommodation on the outskirts of Copenhagen. It looked more like a military barracks to me as it had an old tank near out quarters as well as very interesting beds.

Copenhagen itself is a brilliant city with so many things to do. It is a clean city like most Scandinavian Countries with a relatively low crime rate and many people riding their bicycles. I had a chance to jaunt around the city, go swimming, and of course go to the Carlsberg Brewery (which is one of my favorite beers.)

Ill never forget my trip to the world famous Christiania which is a famous hippie commune pretty much set right in the middle of Copenhagen. In this place they refer to themselves as an autonomous region and have their own laws. Smoking Marijuana is allowed but any other hard drugs are not allowed. Oh yea and do not even think about taking pictures, as one of my friends tried it and some guy smashed his camera…..

Please visit the below link for information and pictures of Christiania:

Christiania

This is definitely a place I WANT to return to, but it is very expensive and I try to live on a somewhat shoe string budget. But chances are that I will get back there again……

Need to see way more of this country!!!! Soon Enough….
Living in Venezuela for 3 years warranted at least one visit to Colombia. Well one visit is all I got. You know the old saying that if you live close to somewhere; you always put off going there. This is exactly what I did with Colombia. I would always say, yea I am gonna go there next week etc etc.
Well at least I got there one time!!!! I actually fell in love with it. I went with some friends from Maracaibo that I taught with as we took a taxi to the border, then picked up a van at the Colombian border. I remember my relief as I crossed over to the Colombian side and was able to take my money out of my underwear and put it in my pockets!!! That was how safe I felt over there.
Half of my friends went to a surf camp for a few days in which they stayed in little posadas, and half of us spent time in and around Santa Marta. This was a quaint little town with a big history to it. They had places to dance, to eat, to sit at the beach, and to drink(probably too much of this).
Will I get back to Colombia? Most definitely as I fell in love with this country, but too many other countries got in the way of me going back there….hmmmmm sounds like a copout!!!!

 Belarus-The gem of the former Soviet Union-WHERE NOONE GOES!!!

I am happy that I got the opportunity to visit Belarus on my trip coming back from Russia in 2006. If you talk to people that travel, they will tell you that they probably have not been to Belarus.

A few things that I liked about it was: there was a lot of history there, it was clean, and no one spoke English. With that said, I found Minsk to be an awfully clean and interesting city (even though it was raining like hell when we were there), I had the chance to go out and look around. Did you know that Lee Harvey Oswald lived there? I didn’t know either until I got there. Everything was also dirty cheap!!!! The money is in high denominations, so I looked like a millionaire!!!!

We also had the chance to visit the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial which was awe inspiring (also one of the ugliest monuments according the various sources.)

Would I go back again? (the border to get into Poland was 7 hours long, so I will never go overland) Hell Yea as I am a junkie for Soviet style cities and countries. Once they loosen up their visa restrictions, I will go back again, and again, and again……

Land of Chocolate and Beer!!! So why didn’t I get much of either?

During my first major trip abroad with my grandma in the summer of 03, our first stop after England was Belgium. This place is literally the Beer and Chocolate Capital of the world. However because I was with her, I really did not get to try any of it at all. We first stopped in Bruges which is one of the most beautiful quaint towns I have been in for an afternoon stop. The tapestries were lovely and I wanted to spend more time there…..

After that we stayed the night over in Brussels which I was very impressed with. The city was clean and people were friendly. I did a bit of a jaunt walking around the city center and seeing all of the sites including the PEEING BOY Fountain. The food there was lovely as it was a mix of all the different cultures found in the area.

Will I go back? Hell Yea!!! I want to go on a Monastery Beer Tour as Well as a Chocolate Tour!!! Will my body let me do it? I guarantee you it will someday verrrrryyyy soon….

Ghent Belgium in December 2024

Hands down best country in South America!!!!

For Otavalo to the Equator in 2023, please click here

For more pictures on Ecuador, please go to the Galapagos Post

This is my favorite country in South American that I have ever traveled too.  You can pretty much do everything here-Islands, Mountains, City, and Jungle.  The food is extravagant-Fish, Empanadas, Shrimp…you name it.  I had a chance here to stay with a local family for most of my time (except the Galapagos Islands) as a friend of mine from El Paso was from there and he was visiting his family at the time.

We were in striking distance of the city center-Foch Plaza.  Ill mention the food again because it was amazing and I probably put on about ten pounds while I was there:

Then there was the amazing sites in Quito, Ecuador, including going outside the city to a small hot springs (went there two times) called Papallacta. Quito had so much to do as there were many old Mission Style Churches as well as markets to go and visit:

Then you have the awesome Teleferico which takes you up to the top of the city as you can look down and go to the carnival and play with llamas!!!

No trip is complete until you go to Ecuador to the Equator (or close to it anyways) with two other Texans on Christmas day!!!!

And then there is always Great friends to hang out with….So now you know why this is my favorite country in South America…

Small territory, Big History…

At just .17 square miles, Vatican City is amongst the smaller states in the world.  But it was not always like this.  My students always ask me “Why is Vatican City so small, but they control so much?”  Of course I go into my long history starting just after the fall of the Roman Empire and it lasts forever, and they find out it was not always that small, as they found out that the Papal States were much bigger headed by the Pope, then after the Pope had no territory, then finally Il Duce gave the present day Vatican to the Pope…

I have been there twice.  On the first time in 2003 in which it was very dead and not alot of people.  Then the second time in 2005 and as I arrived there was people everywhere.  I found out that Pope Benedict XVI was speaking, so I got to see him speak which made me very excited.

St. Peters Basilica is the most awe inspiring church in the world.  There is so much to see there and it is usually crammed with tourists.  But I have always loved every single bit of it and always find something new to look at:

The other part is obviously the Sistine Chapel and also the Vatican Museum.  They usually do not let you take pictures in there but I was able to sneak a few low quality ones…

Peru-The Land of 1000’s of things to do….

For more information please see the section:  Machu Picchu Trek which is the trek to Machu Picchu, Cuzco, and surrounding areas

I must admit that most of my time I spent in Peru was doing the Machu Picchu, spending time in Cuzco and also the surrounding areas.  I really had no interest to see anything else, but i stopped in Lima anyway for a few days just to check it out.  And what I found was a great city that I would some day love to live in.

I stayed in a simple Hostel here which was a nice place and of course didnt meet any of my dorm mates as I was always out and about.  I took my time walking around the city checking things out (I stayed in the Miraflores section) which is the safest….

I went around on a city tour to museums, street festivals, and just seeing different things.  I also ate some very good food which reminded me of the food of Ecuador.  Met some people on my day tour, and then went out with them to a night club at night.  Unfortunately I had to cut the night short in order to make my flight the next early morning :(.  Will i go back here….OH HELL YEA!!!  MAYBE EVEN TO LIVE…