ClickThe Alhambra is a place that it seems all Spaniards are proud of. Every Spaniard to whom we mentioned our visit to the Alhambra was excited for us and bursting with pride. I visited about 42 years ago and things have changed a bit. Now you need to get tickets ahead of time, and it […]
Point of Interest
Barca
ClickCruise Update The cruise ended in Barcelona. For us. Which is a good thing. Not that we didn’t enjoy it, we had a fine time. The night after they left the ship ran into some serious seas. A “rogue” wave hit the port bow deck three (where our cabin was), and knocked out the windows […]
Salvador
ClickSalvador de Bahia is the third largest city in Brazil. In 1776, it was the largest and richest city in America, much larger than Boston and New York. Being the center of the slave trade, as well as the main port for Brazilian silver and gold really helped. We debarked independently of a tour and […]
Botero Redux
Click“President Sleeping” Ferdinand Botero Turns out that Ferdinand Botero, the artist with who’s sculptures we had been so enamored with in Medellin, made extensive donations of his works and his personal collection to the National Bank of Colombia. The collection contains works from many of the greats of the 20th century, as well as nearly […]
Museo del Oro (Gold Museum)
ClickOne of the chief attractions in Bogota is the Gold Museum. We find it interesting how the central banks of all of the south american countries have taken on cultural pride. They all have museums of money. In Colombia, they also have the largest collection of gold artifacts. This is a beautiful museum,very well done, […]
Villa de Leyva
ClickWhat do you get when you have a town located away from major trade routes in a high altitude valley of semi-desert terrain, and with no mineral deposits nearby to exploit. A town that has undergone little development in the last 400 years. As a consequence, it is one of the few towns in […]
Secret Paradise Lost
ClickParaiso Secreto! Secret Paradise! Everything we would want to relax and get away. Look at this pool: Here is what it looked like: Alas, our dreams weren’t quite met. We set out from Cartagena, following the instructions to the letter. The boat stopped at Playa Blanca and let some people off. Then it […]
Cartagena
ClickWe loved Cartagena! Once we got to it. Didn’t really like overnighting in the Bogota airport. Cartagena is a modern port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. At its core is the walled Old Town, with 16th-century plazas, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. The climate is tropical – hot and humid. It is also is a […]
Cusco Wouldn’t Let Go
ClickWe came up the 5 hour trip to Cusco from Puno on one of the luxury buses. As we drove into the city over miles of rocky dirt road I remember thinking to myself that this seems more like every other Peruvian city than the cultural capital of the world (which they tout in signs […]
Machu Picchu
ClickAguas Calientes is the gateway town to Machu Picchu. It is the only way to get there unless you are willing to walk the Inca Trail. It is claimed that the only way to Aguas Calientes is the train, and there are no cars in town. This may be the case, but somehow they did […]