Travel Missteps - Lili on the Loose

2 01, 2017

Travel Missteps: Running Around the World

By Lili|January 2nd, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2016, Disney, Disney World, Epcot, fireworks, Florida, Food and Wine Festival, IllumiNations, Magical Weekend, Orlando, Walt Disney World, World Showcase|0 Comments

I thought it would be a brilliant plan. After work, I'd run over to Epcot for their Food and Wine festival and get some dinner. Earlier that day I was able to get a discounted conference ticket ($75) for Epcot, a steep admission just to get dinner. I was also able to snag some last minute fast passes, one for Turtle Talk, another for Mission Space, and lastly one for the premium viewing spot for "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth". It would be the first time going to Epcot (or Disney World for that matter) since I was 4 years old.

19 12, 2016

Travel Missteps: Sinking Venice

By Lili|December 19th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2005, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Europe, flooding, Italy, lagoon, New Years Eve, rain, Trafalger, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Venice, Venice Lagoon, weather|0 Comments

Visiting Italy in the off season had its benefits. Venice wasn't crowded on that New Years Eve. There weren't annoying pidgins accosting anyone. And since it wasn't hot, the lagoon water didn't smell. But, I did find it odd that these weird tables were stacked all around the city. I wondered if it was for some New Years tradition that I wasn't aware of. But in the off season you have to deal with poor weather. I certainly got my money's worth out of my new rain boots and jacket. Here you can see St. Mark's Square! Except...the rain and

5 12, 2016

Travel Missteps: Best Job in the World

By Lili|December 5th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2011, Christmas, Christmas in Germany 2011, Christmas Market, Europe, Frankfurt, Germany, pretzels|0 Comments

The Christmas Markets of Germany are magical places full of Christmas cheer and goodwill....Or at least it is for the visitors. For the vendors? Not so much. Mouthwatering Pretzels at the Frankfurt Christmas Market. On the last day of the Frankfurt Christmas Market a few years ago, my family was delighted to find good deals as many stalls had discounts on their products. While we shopped we worked up a good appetite and saw these amazing German pretzels. While we looked them over, my little sister made small talk with the owner. "This market is so magical! You

21 11, 2016

Travel Missteps: Border Clans of Scotland

By Lili|November 21st, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Armstrong, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Border Clan, Clan, Edinburgh, Family, Scotland, Scottish Clan, Tartan, UK, United Kingdom|0 Comments

Our motto: "I remained Unvanquished". It is a rare privilege to be able to visit the homeland of your ancestors. I've been able to visit England, Ireland, and Scotland to see the countrysides of where they lived. I thought I new a lot about my Armstrong ancestors from going to the Scottish Military Tattoo Festival every year in Estes Park, CO. I knew our motto, what our crest and tartan looked like. I had learned the old story of how a warrior rescued his clan's King when he fell in battle, picking him up and getting him

7 11, 2016

Travel Missteps: Static Cling Terror

By Lili|November 7th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2005, 2006, All in the family 2005/2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, bus, Bus Tour, Europe, Florence, group, Italy, micro beads, neck pillow, static cling, styrofoam, tour group, Trafalgar, Tuscany|0 Comments

Source Do you know what that is? No? Consider yourself lucky. What those are, are little styrofoam balls called Micro-Beads and they are found in a lot of those travel neck pillows that people have. I discovered what was inside mine the hard way on a tour of Italy. I think it was halfway through the trip, somewhere around Florence or Tuscany when it happened. I remember my black neck pillow had fallen to the floor and gotten stuck. I was late getting off the bus, so I tugged as hard as I could, and it still wasn't

24 10, 2016

Travel Missteps: The Dueling Grounds of Bath, England

By Lili|October 24th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Bath, druid, druid tree, duel, dueling grounds, duelist, England, Europe, Garrick's Head pub, ghost, Ghost Tour, holly, holly bush, holly tree, ley lines, poltergeist, roman, roman bath, royal crescent, Royal Victoria Park, skeptics, The Gravel Walk, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, United Kingdom|1 Comment

Source I always was a strange kid. I loved reading about magic and ghosts, so when my family was in England I begged to do a ghost tour. My parents figured the poltergeist tours of London and Edinburg might be a little too intense for my sister and I, so instead my mother found a walking ghost tour of Bath. It was a fairly tame tour, starting out right before dusk and telling us the history of the town, from Roman times up to Victorian times. He told us about druids and ley lines, and how the

10 10, 2016

Travel Missteps: Trapped in Prayer

By Lili|October 10th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2015, Africa, Cairo, Call to Prayer, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Islamic Cairo, Khan el Khalili, Lamp, market, Middle East, Muslim, prayer, Souq, Star Lamp, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

I only had a few minutes before my group was going to leave. And I really really wanted a star lamp. I mean really, being in a Middle Eastern Souq/Market just screams buying a lamp. So I was determined to get one during my visit to Khan el Khalili, the large market in the heart of Islamic Cairo. But, all the other shops had lamps that were much too big. And I knew I was going to have to carry on whatever I bought. So right as I was about to leave, when I spied the perfect smallish star lamp

26 09, 2016

Travel Missteps: Earthquake in Japan

By Lili|September 26th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, Asia, Chino, Earthquake, Japan, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, Tokyo|0 Comments

As a high school student going to Japan I wasn't really worried about natural disasters. Sure I had known about earthquakes, and this was years before the horrific earthquake and tsunami of 2011. I was mainly worried if I had enough spending money, and was just so excited about the trip in general. Being from Colorado, we rarely get earthquakes, and when we do they are so minor it hardly registers beyond a few pictures on the walls rattling. Thankfully, for me, the earthquake I experienced in Japan was very minor. On our last night in Tokyo, my roommate and

12 09, 2016

Travel Missteps: The Pickpocket

By Lili|September 12th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Europe, first trip abroad 2002, France, metro, Paris, Pickpocket, scam|0 Comments

The Paris Metro - efficient and beautifully decorated in Art Nouveau style and my first experience with Metros/Subways. It was also how I figured out I had an excellent sense of direction. I became the navigator for my family, directing us to the right Metro stops and platforms. But on our way to the department store, La Samaritaine, something strange happened. A woman and a young boy were standing close to us on the Metro. I didn't pay them much mind, until I notice the boy was coughing a lot. I actually moved a bit away from them. The woman then said in

29 08, 2016

Travel Missteps: ¿cómo se dice “Hangover”?

By Lili|August 29th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2012, bar, Central America, Costa Rica, Costa Rica & Orlando Adventure, Costa Rica Adventure 2012, drinking, hangover, Orlando Adventure 2012, San Jose, security|0 Comments

The first night's hotel. Wonderfully big beds! My first night in Costa Rica was in a 5 star hotel because my original hotel was overbooked. Fluffy big beds, clean sheets, fresh flowers in the room, AC; that hotel was heaven. The breakfast was amazing and the hotel's decor natural but also stylishly modern. Weird Egyptian themed hotel room art in Costa Rica. My last night, was in the original hotel...was quite the opposite. For one, the room was strangely decorated in an Egyptian motif. The beds small and uncomfortable. I also drew the short straw and got