Travel - Lili on the Loose

28 01, 2016

Breathtaking Crystal Maiden at Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Cave

By Lili|January 28th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Travel|Tags: 2013, Actun Tunichil Muknal, ATM Cave, Belize, Cave, Cave of the Crystal Sepulcher, Caves, Central America, climb, Crystal Maiden, dark, hike, Mayan, Mayan Encounter 2013, Mayan Sacrifice, Mayans, pottery, San Ignacio, Stone Sepulcher, Travel Thursday, Xibalba|0 Comments

One of the most breathtaking experiences I have ever had while traveling was when I visited Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM). The name means “Cave of the Crystal Sepulcher” but it could be more accurately described as the physical embodiment of Xibalba, the Mayan underworld. This is a cave system in Belize, where you can see actual Mayan sacrifices and offerings to the gods. It is believed the Mayans first found the cave around 300-600 AD, but didn’t move into the further reaches until 700-900 AD. Beyond seeing ceramic or stone pots and plates you will also see skeletons. They are

27 01, 2016

New Blog Series – Travelogue

By Lili|January 27th, 2016|Categories: Blogging, Travelogue|Tags: Blog, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, meta, new series|0 Comments

Hi all! Starting next week I'll be posting 6 days a week for the foreseeable future. Beyond the Travel Misstep Mondays, Museum Mondays, Travel Tip Thursdays, Photo Fridays, and Souvenir Saturdays (and the occasional Local Tuesday and Food & Drink Wednesday) I'll be filling in Monday-Saturday posts that don't have a scheduled blog post with a new temporary blog series. I'll be sharing in detail my daily trip notes from my most recent trip to Egypt in a Diary/Travelogue style. This has turned out to be a much larger undertaking and so I'm not sure yet if I'll ever go

25 01, 2016

Museum Monday: Art Deco Cartier Sakura Bracelet

By Lili|January 25th, 2016|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century, cartier, Colorado, DAM, Denver, Denver Art Museum, diamonds, emerald, museum, North America, onyx, ruby, sakura, USA|0 Comments

The Denver Art Museum had an exhibit in 2015 called Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century which I was lucky enough to see in its last few days. The exhibit was laid out in early work, then geometric patterns, and then art deco. After that were 3 themed sections on India, Egypt and the far east. After that was beautiful work on mystery clocks, tutti frutti designs, and jaguar designs. Next you had a chance to learn more about the workshop and process in creating the designs as well as the artwork to create these gorgeous works of art. Then you had more

23 01, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Pressed Flower Art

By Lili|January 23rd, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2004, Asia, Chino, dried flowers, flowers, Grandmother, host family, Japan, Nagano, Pressed flowers, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, Suwa|0 Comments

When I visited Japan I stayed with a host family. One afternoon we drove up into the mountains near Suwa and visited my host Grandparents. After being introduced to dinner (a live chicken) and being very tired to the point I couldn't keep my eyes open I took a nap. When I woke up, the Grandmother had been told I liked art, and so beckoned me to sit next to her. As a hobby she made beautiful art with pressed flowers and presented to me a little framed piece of paper on my own. She helped me pick flowers out of

22 01, 2016

Glassy Blue Ice Spikes from Chihuly

By Lili|January 22nd, 2016|Categories: Art, Attractions & Sights, Local, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2014, Blue, Botanical Garden, chihuly, Colorado, Denver, Denver Botanical Gardens, glass, North America, Photo Friday, USA|0 Comments

In 2014, the Denver Botanical Gardens hosted an exhibit of Chihuly glass artwork. This was one of the first pieces, a massive glass sculpture of hundreds of blue spikes. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

18 01, 2016

Travel Missteps: Don’t Look Under the Ledge

By Lili|January 18th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2010, 2013, beach, Belize, boat, California, Caribbean, Caye Caulker, Central America, fear, fish, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, grouper, island, Little Maho Bay, Maho, Mayan Encounter 2013, Mermaid, Michigan, ocean, paradise, snorkel, snorkeling, St. John, St. John 2010, The Little Mermaid, underwater photography, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, USVI, water|0 Comments

As a young child, my favorite movie was The Little Mermaid. I loved swimming and spent my childhood on the beaches of California and the Great Lakes of Michigan pretending to be a mermaid. On my first trip to St. John USVI, it was my first time snorkeling in years and I was excited to try out my new equipment and underwater camera. I swam out to a rocky outcropping near Little Maho Bay Beach and got a little snap happy as I hadn't expected the water to be so clear or to see so many fish so close to the

15 01, 2016

Purple Seahorse at Toronto Aquarium

By Lili|January 15th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, aquarium, Canada, North America, Photo Friday, purple, Ripley's Aquarium, seahorse, Toronto, work trip, Yea! Sports|0 Comments

This is actually a pretty tiny seahorse in a large bubble-like aquarium. It was hard to spot the seahorses hiding amongst the seaweed at the Toronto Aquarium. Read about my review here. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

14 01, 2016

Omikuji: Fortune Telling at Japanese Temples & Shrines

By Lili|January 14th, 2016|Categories: Activities, Travel|Tags: 2004, Asakusa, Asakusa Temple, Asia, Buddhist, curse, fate, fortune, fortune telling, good luck, Harajuku, Japan, lottery, Omikuji, sccared lot, Sensō-ji, Shinto, Shrine, Sister Cities Japan 2004, Temple, Tokyo, Travel Thursday|0 Comments

If you find yourself at a Japanese temple or shrine make sure to have your fortune told! Called Omikuji are essentially a sacred lot, where you randomly draw a stick that will tell you your fortune. But beware, these fortunes can foretell a bad fate! After you have paid, you will shake, spin, or rotate a container full of numbered sticks. It is important to make sure you wish for a good fortune at this point! Once you pull the stick out, find the corresponding fortune in the numbered drawers. Then return your stick. Now it is time to read your

11 01, 2016

Museum Monday: Triceratops Horridus at the Smithsonian

By Lili|January 11th, 2016|Categories: Dinosaurs, Museums, Travel|Tags: 2013, DC, museum, Museum Madness, National Museum of Natural History, North America, Smithsonian, triceratops, USA, Washington DC|0 Comments

In the summer of 2013 I was able to visit many of the wonderful free museums of Washington, DC. One of my favorite was the Natural History museum, mainly because of their large Triceratops fossil. Triceratops are my favorite dinosaur, but before this trip I had never seen the fossils of the body! All the ones I had seen before were the head only. So it was a treat to see this exhibit. Sadly, in 2014 the Fossil Hall is undergoing renovations until 2019...which is a long time away from now. They do have a smaller exhibit elsewhere in the

9 01, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Moon Art

By Lili|January 9th, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: art, canvas, moon, North America, North Pacific Coast 2012, Oregon, painting, Portland, Portland Saturday Market, USA|0 Comments

In 2012 I headed to Seattle & Portland for a short trip. But I was lucky enough to be able to wander through Portland's Saturday Market before I left. One stall had this amazing artist that had a lot of surreal pantings of trees and moons. I could only afford (and carry on) a small piece but was glad of my purchase. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.