Photo Essay - Lili on the Loose

2 06, 2016

Dueling Dragons Queue Theming

By Lili|June 2nd, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2012, Champion, Chinese Fireball, coaster, dragon, Florida, flying car, Flying Hippogriff, Ford Anglia, goblet of fire, Hagrid's Hut, Harry Potter, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Hungarian Horntail, Islands of Adventure, line, Ministry of Magic, Movie, North America, Orlando, Orlando Adventure 2012, Photo Essay, queue, roller coaster, Theme Park, Travel Thursday, Triwizard, triwizard cup, triwizard tournament, Universal Studios, USA, Witches, Wizarding World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Wizards|0 Comments

I'm afraid of heights. While sometimes I will test this fear, one thing I just cannot handle is very fast roller coasters, or ones that make you go upside down. But when visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter I decided I had to see the Triwizard Tournament Dragon Challenge theming for the Dueling Dragon coasters, even if I wasn't going to ride it. On my second day I had early admission so I entered the queue and slowly walked through it, waving others past me. First you'll see the banners for the 4 champions. As you walk you'll see the

25 04, 2016

Travel Missteps: Minutes in Pompeii

By Lili|April 25th, 2016|Categories: Photography, Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, ancient city, ancient civilization, Europe, history, in a rush, Italy, museum, Photo Essay, Pompeii, ruins, rush, tour, Trafalger, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

I love ancient history, and have poured over history books and documentaries since I was a child. So when my family planned a trip to Italy, I knew I HAD to see Pompeii. I had been fascinated with this town ever since I saw a carbonized baked bread in a school book. The fact that life changed so suddenly and this town was erased from history in mere hours was shocking. But unfortunately I found out we'd only have a short amount of time at Pompeii, likely less than 30 minutes. Since I had just completed a semester on Italian Art

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

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

13 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 2 – Bent Pyramid

By Lili|February 13th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Bent Pyramid, Black Pyramid, Dahshur, Dashur, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Giza, Hetepheres I, Middle East, Mohsen, Pharaoh, Photo Essay, Pyramid, Queen Hetepheres I, Red Pyramid, Sidekick, Sneferu|2 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 2 - the Bent Pyramid It was only a few minutes drive from the Red Pyramid to the Bent Pyramid. Mohsen and I bumped into another Egyptian Sidekick and his charges (Hugo and Cristina) and we were joined by a bored guard on his cell phone. The 5 of us (and the guard) were the only people in sight. In the distance you can see the ruins of the Black

17 12, 2015

The Martian and Me

By Lili|December 17th, 2015|Categories: Books, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: 2015, Africa, airplane, Andy Weir, Aswan, Book, Cruise, desert, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, kindle, Luxor, Mark Watney, Mars, matt damon, Middle East, Movie, Photo Essay, Reading, Red Desert, Saqqara, The Martian, Travel Thursday, UNESCO World Heritage Site|2 Comments

Source “Mars is a barren wasteland and I am completely alone here. I already knew that, of course. But there’s a difference between knowing it and really experiencing it.” -Mark Watney in The Martian by Andy Weir Egyptian Desert as seen from a Nile cruise. I remember the days before I had my Kindle. Stacks of books taking up space in my bags. I could easily go through 5-7 books per trip. And god help me if I had only brought a few in a series...and it finished on a cliffhanger! I remember many frustrating trips

3 12, 2015

Egypt: Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ships, & Submarines

By Lili|December 3rd, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Review|Tags: 2015, Africa, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Egyptian Sidekick, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Memphis Tours, Middle East, Photo Essay, transportation|1 Comment

I thought it would be fun to count all the ways I traveled on my 2.5 week trip to Egypt! Planes: 8 Trains: 3 Taxis: 8 Vans: 17 Shuttles: 3 Private Cars: 4 Trams: 5 Boats: 4 Ships: 1 Submarines: 0 (sadly didn't get to go on this one, as I had to cancel my day trip to Sharm) Horse Carriages: 4 Camels: 1 And a whole lot of walking, one time swimming, a handful of elevators, and a few people movers.

5 10, 2015

Museum Monday: Poison in Detail

By Lili|October 5th, 2015|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: Colorado, Denver, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, DMNS, exhibit, Fantasy, museum, North America, Photo Essay, Poison, The Power of Poison, USA|0 Comments

As I wrote before in my review, I loved The Power of Poison exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Here are some of the exhibits models and artifacts in more detail. A blow dart gun, and the pot to brew & dip the tips in poison. There is something so intriguing on massive ancient tomes. I really enjoyed the faux magnification of various plants and animals in the forest area. It was very eye catching. An actual "Mad" Hatter's mercury laced hat. So many Beautiful, but Toxic Butterflies! Snow White's area was beautifully decorated and felt like

31 12, 2012