Photocard of the Day: Isle of Wight, UK

Isle of Wight.

Miscellania

Sometimes some of the best places you visit are based on a specific point of interest.

Drawing inspiration from one place, monument, etc that you are dying to see can ultimately bring you to a country you might not have visited otherwise. And that would be a shame.

So, in effect, here are some points of inspiration of mine.

1. Machu Picchu, Peru. This hidden away “vacation home” of ancient Inca kings scrapes against the clouds in the most magnificent way.

Machu Picchu.

 2. The Great Wall of China. This elaborate defensive barrier was built in northern China as early as the 5th century BC, spanning roughly five miles. Contrary to belief, it cannot been from the moon.

The Great Wall of China.

 

3.  The Grand Canyon, Arizona. There is something truly grand about the Grand Canyon–maybe its the winding Colorado River carving the canyon walls or the fact that it has been doing it for two billion years now. That’s dedication.

The Grand Canyon.

Photocard of the Day: Santorini, Greece

Santorini at night.

The Outback: Australia

With such a diverse landscape and wildlife, Australia is ripe for exploring.

Popular for kangaroos, Fosters beer, and the Outback (and no not the restaurant), travelers flock Australia with uninhibited abandon.

The former British colony for prisoners settled in the late 18th century mixed with local indigenous peoples has created a unique history and culture.

So here’s the rundown…

1. Sunbathe at Bondi Beach. It is Australia’s most famous beach, and little could deny that attribution. With aquamarine waters, soft white sand, and plenty of surfers, this beach is perfect for a little R&R. If you are feeling adventurous and like to surf, head to the south end of the beach, known for its strong rip current.

Bondi Beach

2. Drink Fosters or eat a pie-floater. Fosters is the beer of choice in Australia, so while there, try it out.  While on the subject of trying new things, eat a pie-floater. It is a meat pie sitting in thick green pea soup with or without tomato sauce, mint sauce, or malt vinegar depending on your preference. Harry’s Cafe de Wheels is known for serving pie-floaters and currently listed on Australia’s Historic Trust Register.

Pie-floater.

3. Tour the Australian Outback. Places in the Northern Territory like Alice Springs, Kakadu, and Kings Canyon that showcase the barren, but unbelievably beautiful landscape. They are lands without horizon. Travel either by bus, horse, or all-terrain vehicle to this remarkable environment.

The Australian Outback.

4. See some of the oldest rock art in the world done by Aboriginal Australians. Visit Ubirr Rock in the Arnhem Land to see some especially stunning rock art. The art in the caves has been painted and continuous repainted since 40,000 BCE. Some are 2,000 years old.

Aboriginal rock art

5. Visit Flinders Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island, off the southern coast of Australia. Home to koalas, goannas, platypus, and of course kangaroos, etc this wildlife conservation site is one way to see a wide variety of animals in their natural habitat. Plus who would go to Australia and not see a kangaroo? Unheard of. 🙂

Kangaroo in the wild

To effectively see the real Australia, one must be out in the wild of it.

As Barry Humphries said, “Australia is an outdoor country. People only go inside to use the toliet.”

So do as Barry Humphries says and be outdoors in all of Australia’s splendor…and only go inside to use the bathroom. 😉

Photocard of the Day: Hill of Crosses, Lithuania

This Lithuanian pilgrimage site is home to thousands of crosses, crucifixes, statues, rosaries, and other items brought by Catholic pilgrims since the 1800s.

Cairo: Where Ancient Meets Modern

Modern Cairo.

Cairo, Egypt is a land of old and new, sarcophagi and skycrapers. Rich in culture, food, and thousands of years of history make Cairo a place not to be missed.

It is also home to the Giza pyramids, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.

The last of the Seven Wonders of the World, Giza Pyramids

In a nutshell, Cairo is a trip of a lifetime. Go discover it!

1. Shop around Khan el-Khalili bazaar. For Egyptians and tourists alike, this souk contains items of a wide and ecletic origin. Clothes, all kinds of food, live animals, and an array of  jewelry are among some of the standard fare. This souk dates back to 1382.

Khan el-Khalili bazaar.

2. Cruise down the Nile River on a traditional Egyptian felucca. Famous for making life possible in the barren desert, the Nile is a great vantage point to view Cairo in all of its glory. You can pretend that you are an Egyptian pharaoh, gazing at your kingdom. Relaxation at its finest.

Felucca ride down the Nile.

3. Eat koshari, a typical Egyptian dish. Made of lentils, rice, macaroni, chick peas, garlic,  tomatoes, and spices, this is Egypt’s version street food. It is very inexpensive and found all over Cairo. Your tastebuds won’t know what hit it.

Koshari, Egypt's version of chili.

4.  Smoke shisha and drink Arabic coffee at a coffeehouse. Shisha is flavored tobacco that is smoked from a waterpipe.  It is popular among the young and old here in Egypt. Try flavors like apple, peppermint, or grape. Arabic coffee is like espresso, and served like espresso in those tiny cups. However they pack a punch, heavily spiced with cardamom and others.

Smoking shisha.

5. Visit the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx at Giza. Better yet, take a camel ride around them too. See a testament to history and engineering by exploring these glorious structures. Learn about the pharoah’s final burial places. Take in the hieroglyphs, the desert sands, then go to McDonalds, which is located on the street next to the Sphinx. Just kidding, do not go to McDonalds while in Egypt. But do take a picture of it. 😉

Giza Pyramids.

Cairo is a treasure. With its ancient artifacts, food, mummies,  and shisha, it is a place out of a storybook.

Yet, it is increasingly modernizing with the influx of McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and skyscrapers–a sight to behold too.

A true diamond in the rough of the desert, Cairo’s history in versatility makes it a place high above the rest.

Photocard of the Day: Snoqualmie Falls, Washington

Fisherman at Snoqualmie Falls, Washington.

Rome: The Eternal City

Typical piazza in Rome.

 Would you like to be surrounded by thousands of years of history, heaps of gelato and other fabulous food, and the sing-song words of the Italian language?

Yes, please.

Ah, Rome. If I could leave the drab weather that is plaguing Connecticut and teleport myself back to sunny and warm Rome, I would do it in a heartbeat. Any place in Italy would do actually.

Plus the gelato here just is not the same. I swear. They call it gelato, but it just isn’t. Take my word for it, I have eaten massive amounts here and there.

Italian food generally is something to jump up and down for like a crazy person. I like to say that my friends and I ate my way through Rome when we visited in November 2009. Oh, and the history and culture wasn’t too shabby either. 😉

So when in Rome….

1. Eat. I am aware that this seems redundant and quite obvious. But, don’t count your calories, points, fat grams, or ask them not to put cheese on your pizza. I HIGHLY suggest gelato from a gelateria; yes that is my sweet tooth, or more like sweet teeth, talking. Pizza, lasagna, tortellini, bruschetta–eat all of it! I actually lost weight in Rome. Their food is usually made from natural ingredients, and the amount of walking you do helps you stay on track. We walked all of Rome–you can actually walk across the city in about two hours. Wear good shoes though, it is an old city, cobbled and uneven, and you could end up limping with a sprained ankle around the Colosseum and the Vatican museums like I did.

Admiring the masterpiece of my chocolate gelato before inhaling it.

Milan-style chicken with balsamic vinegar and rosemary potatoes.

2. Go to Vatican City. Besides being the number one place of holiness for Catholics, and the seat of Pope and the Holy See, Vatican City has museums that house some of the most beautiful religious art, like Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. St. Peter’s Basilica is also located in its confines, a famous and esteemed basilica where the Pope often celebrates mass. Not Catholic or even religious? Vatican City is technically its own sovereign state. The Renaissance art and Roman architecture are reasons enough. Plus you can say that you were in the Pope’s presence. Vatican City is  a must-see.

St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Inside St. Peter's Basilca, Vatican City.

3. Climb the Spanish Steps. It’s good exercise. The Roman version of the Stairmaster. You can pretend that you are in “Roman Holiday” like Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn did in the film. Being Rome’s principal place to people-watch, the Steps are also home to the Trinita dei Monti, the church atop the Steps. The surrounding piazza is Rome’s fashion district. If you can afford Chanel or Versace, do some shopping! If not, there are plenty of less expensive stores to busy yourself with also in the vicinity.

The Spanish Steps from the Piazza di Spagna.

 4. Make a wish at the eternally beautiful Trevi Fountain. Cliché yes, but you are in Rome. It is one of those things that you just have to do while there. Do it with a gelato in hand. Or not. (Look forward to at least one more gelato reference before the end of this post!) Either way lore has it that good luck will be bestowed on the thrower, and that they will come back to Rome. Who does not like that idea?

Trevi Fountain!

5. And finally wander through the Colosseum, where ancient Romans got their kicks watching gladiators duke it out with each other and hosts of animals. Surprisingly very intact, the Colosseum is a marvel of engineering. Take pictures of mock dueling with your friends or pay some euros to take a picture with a man dressed up as a gladiator outside of the Colosseum. Whatever makes you happy. Take a tour of the Colosseum and explore the colorful history of ancient Rome….with some gelato. :-)Visit the nearby Roman Forum for even further exploration.

The Colosseum at night.

There you have it. With all the expansive history, food, and culture, Rome is truly eternal in every way.

The Roman empire has forever left its mark on the world and but Rome leaves an equally similar mark on all of its visitors and inhabitants.

Go there and experience it all.

With some gelato!

Enjoy!

Photocard of the Day:Viva Las Vegas!

The Las Vegas skyline

For those of you who want to create your own version of The Hangover, or just need to let loose, Vegas is the place to go.

With casinos, hotels, clubs, restaurants and shows galore, it is a twenty-something’s dream.

Fingers crossed that you don’t wake up to a tiger sitting  in your bathroom though.

Gamble at casinos like Caesar’s Palace, the Bellagio, or the Venetian; see shows like the Cirque du Soleil, Barry Manilow, or one of the many Vegas showgirl shows.

The lights of Vegas blinding you? Take a day trip to the another Nevada gem, the Grand Canyon, and view the Colorado River‘s neverending work on the canyon.

 Whatever you do, remember what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. 😉

London: The City

The London skyline

As English author and poet Samuel Johnson put it, “By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.”

I can attest to his view when I experienced London for the weekend October 2009.

It is one of world’s oldest cities–a former outpost of the Roman empire–and has seen as well as shaped life in its 2,000 year history.

London, home to fish and chips, the British monarchy, Roman beginnings, and often a blood-stained past, is a city full of life that should not be missed.

1. Go to a London pub. Any one will do. I went to a couple and they are great in their own unique way. Pubs are where Londoners, and most British, let their hair down, relax and have a good time. I liked The Crown near Piccadilly Circus. It was a great place to hang out and meet some of the locals, who helped me with my ale choices and even treated me to a sampler–so I could try “real English ale.” They also imparted great tips on where to go, etc. Another pub that is cool in its own right is The Ten Bells, where Jack the Ripper supposedly grabbed a drink. The walls in the pub have designs on them from Victorian times.

The Ten Bells

2. Another must is the Tower of London. In its 900 year history it has functioned as a fortess, a royal palace, a prison, a place of torture, a treasury, an armoury, and the Royal Mint. It now houses the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and is a historic monument. Visit the Tower and learn more about what life was like in London.

The Yeoman Warder or Beefeater explaining the Tower's turbulent history.

3. Buckingham Palace, home to the British monarchy, is a London staple. Check out where Queen Elizabeth calls home at times and visit the Queen’s Gallery, an impressive art collection. You will know when she is home when the flag on top of the building is raised. If visiting during the summer months, watch the Changing of the Guard, which occurs every day, and where the queen’s favorite songs are played by the guard and a ceremony of marching takes place. During colder months it happens every other day.

The front of Buckingham Palace.

The changing of the guard, Buckingham Palace.

 4. Go to Green Park and veg out. It is the perfect spot for picnics, people-watching, or resting weary feet. It is a royal park and located next to Buckingham Palace.

Green Park.

5.  Eat some of the best curry around at restaurants and take outs on Brick Lane, home to the Bengladeshi community. With the influx of immigrants, London has become a global food center. Curry from Brick Lane rivals those only from Bengladesh itself.

Brick Lane sign, English and Bengla.

While spending time in London, it will show all the life the world has to offer. London’s vast and gory history is an attestation to this.

Enjoy! 🙂