7 11, 2016

Travel Missteps: Static Cling Terror

By |November 7th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |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

18 07, 2016

Travel Missteps: Late to the Party

By |July 18th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

My last full day of my G Adventures Mayan Encounter Tour was a free day. I had already been to Playa Del Carmen before, and so wanted to see Chichen Itza as I had missed that on my last trip. The problem was, many of my tour-mates had already seen it earlier in their own trips. So I was the only one who wanted to go. No problem! My tour guide arranged for me to join a day trip to see it. And both she and I explained to that tour company that I needed to be back by 5PM

2 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 2 – Khufu, Khafre, & Menkaure

By |March 2nd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 2 – Khufu, Khafre, & Menkaure One thing people always warn you is that the size of the pyramids make them seem like they are close enough to walk to...but they really aren't. Which is why we had hopped back into the van near Khufu's pyramid, and drove past Khafre. I strained to see it as we drove by. A short time later we were in front of Menkaure's Pyramid,

1 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 1 – Great Pyramids of Giza

By |March 1st, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 1 – Great Pyramids of Giza Elizabeth and I woke up early, and took turns taking showers. We got most of our belongings ready and then headed down to breakfast. To my dismay the potatoes were out. I tried to get attention of the staff and failed, so stuck with bread, butter, and those donut-esque little balls that I had previously. After a while they finally did bring some potatoes and

24 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 6 – Starting the Tour

By |February 24th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 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 6 – Starting the Tour Upon entering my hotel room I noted that none of my friend Elizabeth's luggage was in the room. I figured she left her bags at the front desk and had gone out sight seeing. So took a shower and then I crawled into bed, and slept until 5:30 PM. When I woke up and Elizabeth still hadn't returned I got a bad feeling that the front desk

5 01, 2015

Travel Missteps: La Befana

By |January 5th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Walking through Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy I hear the unmistakable cackling laugh of a witch! I turned towards a nearby stall and spy hundreds of flying witches hanging from the roof. Big ones, small ones. Some like an old woman, while others looked like a creepy old hag warts and all! Some even were animatronic whose eyes glowed red (and made the cackling laughter that caught my ear.) But surely this must be a mistake? For its not Halloween time, but after so soon after Christmas!  I was confused but had no one to ask about this strange sight,

8 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Its Smaller on the Outside

By |March 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I was on my last afternoon in Ireland, and had a lot of euro coins left over. Knowing that my bank won't exchange coins, was buying random souvenirs as gifts. One of the last items I bought was a small county flag of Dublin, Ireland. I had seen them around while traveling and they reminded me of the flags of the different contrade of Siena. But when I returned home and open the package, I found that this 7 euro flag, was not a small flag.  But it was actually the size of a traditional flag (about the size of a

22 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Volcano Snow Globe

By |February 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |2 Comments

My latest snow globe souvenir is a unique find. While on my last full day in Costa Rica, my group asked our tour leader Randy where the best place to buy souvenirs was. He knew that we would be getting into San Jose really late and since most of us had an early flight the next day would not be able to get anything. So on the way back Randy had the van stop at a large and fancy store. He said it was usually frequented by the all-inclusive hotels and so would have the best selection of souvenirs, however

8 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: My First Snow Globe

By |February 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

As I often travel during the colder, wetter, and snowier months, snow globes make a great souvenir for me to capture the memory of my travel experiences. It was New Year’s Day 2006 and I was standing under the awning of a small little shop right on the edge of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. I was with my mother and we were waiting for my father and little sister to return so we could board the vaporetto back to our hotel. It was alternating between rain and snow that day, and so we ducked into the shop to

20 01, 2014

Travel Missteps: In the Dark of the Night

By |January 20th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

"Now stay here, turn off your engines, and be quite! I'm going to see if the coast is clear." "Can we get arrested for this?" "No, not likely. This isn't the states. Possibly a bribe, that's all." We waited quietly in the dark while we watched one of the golf carts slowly make its way onto the unlit runway. Its little front lights getting dimmer as it blended into the darkness. Minutes went by but it seemed like an eternity to my excited and frightened mind. Then the golf cart came back. Our guide motioned for us to come over