Category: Themes

Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Wandering

Argentina Beyond Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires may be the largest city in Argentina and the most European in all of the Americas, but Argentina is a huge country and there is a whole lot more to it than just Buenos Aires. I can’t claim to have seen much of Argentina outside its principle city....

Nature / South America

Esta es Buenos Aires también

This is Buenos Aires as well. Over by the waterfront is Buenos Aires’ business district. While the gleaming, modern chrome-and-glass skyscrapers don’t have the same charm as the old-world European architecture of the more residential areas, this district is very clean. It has wide, tree-lined boulevards. Every part I saw...

Dining / History / Logistics / South America

Buenos Aires: the most European city in the Americas

The first image in this set is the street I stayed on while I was in Buenos Aires. Throughout many of the neighborhoods of “old” Buenos Aires, the main arterial roads are all standard asphalt. But nearly all of the side streets are narrow cobblestone. Everywhere you look, there are...

Active / Activities / Bucket List / History / South America

Learning Tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina

I’ve read that dance is a conversation between body and soul. Sometimes that conversation comes in whispers, other times in shouts. Tango is like those passionate cries that make the neighbors blush. Tango is very much a conversation… and a sexy one, at that. The entire conversation takes place strictly with body...

Africa / Laid-back / Middle East / Off-the-beaten-path

Humongous market bazaar in downtown Cairo

As part of my off-the-beaten-path sightseeing tour, Islam and I (and José, an American we met along the way) all went wandering through a gigantic open-air market bazaar in downtown Cairo. Many parts of this place were just like in the movies. Especially after dark, when it took on a...

Africa / Bucket List / Middle East / Modes of Transport

Is THIS more like the Egypt you were expecting?

The desert has a certain beauty to it. Perhaps that’s because I grew up in New Mexico. So I know how to appreciate the desert. One of the things that surprises many visitors is the openness, friendliness, and tolerance of Egyptians. My new friend Islam showed me some of the...

Africa / Bucket List / Middle East

This is not the Egypt you’re looking for…

Many parts of Cairo defy Americans’ stereotypical expectations of what Egypt should look like. You don’t see pyramids, camels, the Sahara Desert. or any of the other stuff that comes so readily to mind. In fact, some parts of Cairo look downright tropical. The Cairo waterfront, on the banks of...

Dining / Europe / Laid-back / Modes of Transport / Wandering

Oh, if only Switzerland were tropical…

On my way to Cairo, Egypt I enjoyed a nine hour layover in Zürich, Switzerland. The duration was deliberate. I had never been to Switzerland and wanted to get out of the airport and go see the place. Zürich is lovely! Oh how I wish the climate suited me better....

Activities / Africa / Bucket List / Facts & Trivia / History / Laid-back / Middle East

Egyptian National Museum, part 3 – Statues

The statues that were carved in ancient Egypt ranged from tiny (small enough to stand three of them on a coin) to enormous. All of them were incredibly detailed. Far more detailed than I was expecting. They are also far more well-preserved than I expected. Of course some are broken...

Africa / Facts & Trivia / History / Laid-back / Middle East

Egyptian National Museum, part 2 – Mummies

Probably 90% of the people who go to the Egyptian Museum go there to see the mummies and the most famous mummy of all: King Tut. I got to see both. Photos of everything in the King Tut room is strictly forbidden, however I did get one cool photo that...