Travel - Lili on the Loose

11 04, 2016

Travel Missteps: Part of the Family

By Lili|April 11th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, England, Family, Punks, Restaurant, The Shambles, UK, United Kingdom, York, York Minster|1 Comment

As I mentioned perviously, my first trip abroad we didn’t have a watch, and so our eating schedules were off. We’d eat breakfast at noon, and then get hungry for dinner around midnight. On our second trip abroad, this time to England & Scotland we made sure to plan mealtimes better. After spending the day wandering York and taking in sights, like The Shambles and York Minster, we were hungry. So we happened upon a small homey restaurant near dinnertime we stepped in and took a seat. The owners, a cute old couple, were regaling friends with stories and laughter.

8 04, 2016

Precious Cargo Chihuly

By Lili|April 8th, 2016|Categories: Art, Attractions & Sights, Local, Travel|Tags: 2014, boat, Botanical Garden, chihuly, Colorado, Denver, Denver Botanical Gardens, glass, North America, Photo Friday, USA, water|0 Comments

So many colorful glass spheres at the Denver Botanical Garden's Chihuly exhibit. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

7 04, 2016

Gondola Ride in Venice, Italy

By Lili|April 7th, 2016|Categories: Activities, Travel|Tags: 2006, All in the family 2005/2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Christmas, door, Europe, Gondola, Gondola Ride, gondolier, Italy, New Year's Day, New Years Eve, Photo Essay, ride, Travel Thursday, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Venice, Venice Lagoon|1 Comment

On a cold rainy (and a little snowy) New Years Day I found myself in a actual Venetian Gondola. I was being serenaded by a man with an accordion. And while it was rainy, it was also magical. We were the only boats out that morning, and due to the cold the typical "smelly water" was nowhere to be smelled. It was amazing gliding through the side canals, under bridges. The few other tourists we saw took our photos like they were the paparazzi. If you make it to Venice you must take a ride in a gondola, no matter the

6 04, 2016

March 2016 Recap

By Lili|April 6th, 2016|Categories: Blog Recaps and Roundups, Travel|Tags: 2016, Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, books, gaming, horse, horse back riding, House of Cards, Jessica Jones, JFK, Las Vegas, Leon the Professional, Lucifer, Magic Show, monthly recap, Mortal Error, movies, Neon Museum, Nevada, North America, Penn & Teller, reading list, recap, Red Rock Canyon, The Americans, The Big Short, The Blacklist, tv, USA, Vegas Checklist, watchlist, West Wing|0 Comments

Some of my favorite Travel Bloggers do a monthly re-cap of what occurred in the last month. True to form (I fell in love with this blog due to their detailed expense reports) Living the Dream details out their income reports and business plans. Twenty-Something Travel always has some great blogs that they've read or written in other places. And Adventurous Kate gives a summary of everything she did and was up to over the course of the month. I had generally shied away from doing a monthly re-cap because I wasn't like those other bloggers where I was traveling

4 04, 2016

Museum Monday: Evening at the Nubian Museum

By Lili|April 4th, 2016|Categories: Museums, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Christian, Cross, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Lion, Middle East, Mummies, Mummy, Nubian Museum, Photo Essay, Ramses II, Shawabti, Temple, Temple of Gerf Hussein, UNESCO, Ushabti|0 Comments

Ramses II statue from the Temple of Gerf Hussein surveys the main exhibition hall. Traveling in Egypt, you become accustom to expect everything to be rather old and dusty. From the markets to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, things are not well labeled and lighting is almost non existent. So when visiting the Nubian Museum it was a pleasant surprise to find a modern museum! Finished in 1997 with UNESCO's help, it covers the history of Nubia, the area from Aswan and into Sudan, from pre-history all the way up to its more recent Islamic past to the

2 04, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: German Steiff Triceratops

By Lili|April 2nd, 2016|Categories: Dinosaurs, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2011, Christmas Eve, Christmas in Germany 2011, Europe, Germany, Munich, plush, Steiff, stuffed animal, Teddy Bear, toy, triceratops|0 Comments

One souvenir on my checklist from Germany was a real Teddy Bear made by Steiff, one of the first makers of the modern Teddy Bear. I have a few old and antique Teddy Bears, and figured one directly from Germany would be a great addition to the collection. But while in Munich I stopped into a toy store...on Christmas Eve of all days! It was absolute chaos. I dodged and dived between rambunctious children. Just as I was about to give up and turn around I saw the Steiff section and decided to have a look. But I had walked

28 03, 2016

Travel Missteps: The Best Bar That I Never Went To

By Lili|March 28th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, Angie Angie Cafe arte, ankle, Antigua, bar, bookstore, cafe, Café No Sé, Central America, directions, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Guatemala, injury, joke, language, lost, Mayan Encounter 2013, ruins, Santa Clara, spanish, translations|0 Comments

After my strange “tour” of the Santa Clara ruins, I met a member of my G Adventures group, Tony. I relayed to him what had happened, and he offered to come with me as we went to find something to do that night. I really wanted to check out a bar that someone had recommended called Café No Sé. It is supposed to be a great ex-pat bar where all the travelers go. It was described as a bit bohemian with live music, and so sounded like a lot of fun. So we set off. I pride myself on my

25 03, 2016

In the Footsteps of Saint Pishoy

By Lili|March 25th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Coptic, Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox monastery, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Middle East, Monastery of Saint Pishoy, Natrun, Photo Friday, Saint Pishoy, saints, Wadi El Natrun|0 Comments

The kindly priests at the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt gave us a tour and told us the stories of their local saints. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

24 03, 2016

Alfombras during Semana Santa in Antigua, Guatemala

By Lili|March 24th, 2016|Categories: Events, Travel|Tags: 2013, Alfombras, Ancient, Antigua, Antigua Guatemala Cathedral, Catedral de San José, Central America, church, earthquakes, Easter, Guatemala, Holy Week, Mayan, Mayan Encounter 2013, Roman Catholic, ruins, Santiago Cathedral, Semana Santa, Travel Thursday, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

Visiting Antigua, Guatemala right before Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week) was great. I got to see the floats being made, as well as the unique tradition of Alfombras, colored sawdust carpets! These are made on the streets and pathways that will be taken when the models of Jesus and the stations of the cross are performed.This one was in the main Antigua Guatemala Cathedral and featured a beautiful fuchsia sawdust Alfombras in front of a statue of Jesus. In addition offerings of mangos, cantaloupe, corn, oranges, and pineapple helped to complete the display. And then fresh flowers lined the walkway. Some will be made

21 03, 2016

Museum Monday: Antinous as Dionysus

By Lili|March 21st, 2016|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: 2005, Alexandria, All in the family 2005/2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Antinous, Dionysus, Europe, Hadrian, Italy, Roman Emperor, Rome, The Vatican, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vatican City, Vatican Museum|0 Comments

Antinous was a lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian who drowned in Alexandria in October 130 AD. After his death Hadrian commemorated him with many different statues and elevated Antinous to an almost god-like hero/deity. This version shows Antinous as Dionysus an Roman god of wine and ritual madness. It is on display at the Vatican Museum. Museum Monday is an every other week series about museum news, objects, and reviews.