At Black Rock in Maui, at sunset you can watch a show where locals climb the black rocks, present an offering and then jump off the cliff into the ocean. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.
I'm always so interested in how our landscapes have changed over time. How you can see the the strata in layers of sedimentary rocks. But I often forget the force of water behind the creation of so many amazing travel destinations. This infographic by HighTide Technologies helps show some of the most amazing ones!
The Banco Central de Costa Rica has multiple museums in its subterranean location underneath the Plaza de la Cultura in San Jose, Costa Rica. On the ground level is the pair "museums" of Museo Numismático and Casa de Moneda (while deeper down is the Museo del Oro Precolombino). These top two museums features the historical use of currency in Costa Rica and its oldest pieces are from 1516. You'll see coins, banknotes, and tokens from private companies as well as proofs, dies, and a printing press. Here are a few from the collection: This interesting set with the die used to make them
While exploring the small island of Flores, Guatemala I spied this large wooden painting featuring Guatemala's state bird, the Resplendent Quetzal. As I had a smaller wooden painting from Costa Rica, I thought this would be a good addition to my collection! Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.
I don't know how many times I heard the joke about Nic Cage trying to steal the Declaration of Independence while touring the National Archives. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.
I was glad when one of my other group members said they had scheduled a taxi to the airport for 150 EGP, because I too only had 150 EGP left! And I didn't want to have to pull out more EGP on my last afternoon. But to my dismay no one at the hotel would schedule me a taxi for that price. They wanted around 350-400 EGP. I tried to plead my case, that my "friend" just got a taxi for 150 EGP! They just pointed outside and said, "Try your luck outside then if you don't have the money!"
I was lucky to have a gorgeous morning in Alexandria before storm clouds came in. While seeing the Citadel of Qaitbay I spotted this loan fisherman, who was so still and clam despite the waves breaking on the stones in front of him. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.
I took many photos in Egypt. Each tomb and temple fascinated me. Especially the hieroglyphs that adorn the walls. Here are some of my favorites from Philae Temple near Aswan, Egypt. A cartouche. A depiction of Isis, who the temple is dedicated to. A pharaoh giving offerings to Osiris. Horus surrounded by lotus flowers. Isis giving the sign of life to the pharaoh. Many of the faces were defaced by early christians, it was pleasing to see these three still with such good detail. A lion and flowers on one of the smaller side temples.
While the open-air museum at Memphis is known for the colossal statue of Ramses II there are two great deception of the Pharaoh wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt on the grounds. The first is found next to the garden area. The second is found among the rows of broken statues. Museum Monday is an every other week series about museum news, objects, and reviews.
Custom cartouche necklaces. The most common souvenir in Egypt. You'll find hotels, your Nile cruise ship, and numerous shops selling these to you. They also take 24-48 hours to make and return. The first step is deciding what it should say. For me my first name is too boring, so I decided to go with initials (yes...I have that many middle names...). After that you'll choose the cartouche (you'll see tons of styles), what metal the cartouche and the letters should be. (Its hard to tell but the cartouche is silver, while the letters are gold.) And you can also choose if