bird - ilivetotravel's travel log

As I think of 2013, I recall the many neat experiences at home and away. Looking through my photos is a great way to bring back the memories. I’d thought I’d share with you some of my most memorable moments from 2013 via photos – some of which have been shared before in other posts and some have not – in no particular order. Hope you like them!

#1 When I first saw Mt. Kilimanjaro

Not necessarily a great photo from a technique standpoint but pretty “momentous”. I landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport around midnight. When I woke up the next day at my hotel, someone told me that if I went outside to the local road, I could see Kilimanjaro, which I was about to climb. Neat to see it but even neater to run into two little locals on their way to school! A moment I will always treasure.

#2 At Uhuru Peak in Mt. Kilimanjaro

I have shared a lot of pictures I love through my prior posts about hiking Kilimanjaro (start with the Day 1 summary if you want to see them all!). So to keep this post manageable, to go along with my first sighting of the mountain in #1, I’d thought I’d then include me by the new sign at Uhuru Peak (the highest point in Mt. Kilimanjaro). This photo is special as I brought my family along for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

#3 Ancient ruins

I shared this photo in an earlier post about my visit to Jerash, Jordan but it remains one of my favorite pictures for the year so it deserves inclusion here. Seeing Jerash – a complete unknown to me until that point – was a great discovery in 2013.

Columns, temple, artemis, jerash, jordan, history, roman ruins, travel, photo

Beautiful columns in the Temple of Artemis

#4 Monumental Petra

Everyone has seen the same picture of the Treasury in Petra and that is because there is not much space to back away from it. But there are plenty of other angles to photograph this incredible “carving”. This is one of my favorites. I had been to Petra before but seeing how well this photo turned out back at home made me happy!

#5 Twins?

While touring Jordan, after a long day at Petra, the group went out for dinner. Yes, we were all a little tired. One of our fellow travelers pointed out how our guide and I were not only dressed alike but were in the same pose – and snap! the picture was taken. We were laughing when we realized this was all true and the photo captured that moment so well!

#6 Kid in Mt. Nebo

Exploring Jordan was incredible: lots of history, incredible nature, etc. But the people is what really made the difference: warm and friendly and the smile on this kid’s face captures well how we were made to feel welcome by everyone.

#7 Food, food, food

I summarized my year in food and drinks in an earlier post but this plate deserves inclusion here. It is from a lunch I had in Mardaba, Jordan but I’ve enjoyed great food this year from Manila to Miami, from Jordan to Minneapolis, from Washington, D.C. to Mt. Kilimanjaro! Oh, and don’t forget Tampa and Atlanta!

#8 DragonCon’s parade in Atlanta

DragonCon is an interesting event held in Atlanta every year. I went with friends to see the parade and enjoyed seeing all the characters that walked along. This is one of my favorite pictures from that parade (others here).

#9, 10 and 11 Africa and the great outdoors!

In addition to hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, my Tanzania experience included doing a safari the right way (4 days, not just a one drive in-and-out as I had done a few years before due to limited time while on a business trip). These images capture well my favorite moments from that experience!

#12 An amazing construction scene

Driving around the neighborhood next to mine in Atlanta, I ran into this scene! What an incredible sight. The house was being lifted so it can sit higher on the ground due to being in a flood plain.

#13 Stormy sky in Atlanta

My hometown provided another of the most memorable photos I took on 2013: stormy skies over Buckhead.

#14 and 15 Pictures of this traveler

During my trip to Jordan, a few pictures of me were taken by fellow travelers. I like these two (which clearly were taken on the same day…) in particular because they show how happy I was at the time. The second one has me with my faithful companion: no, not the donkey but my camera!

#16 Sunset over the Dead Sea with a couple of love birds

To close this post, I will re-share one of my favorite photos ever from 2013 taken by me as the sun set over the Dead Sea from our hotel in Jordan (the Movenpick resort – awesome). I was lucky these two birds were waiting for me on that palm tree to capture the moment!

sunset, Jordan, Dead Sea, birds, palm tree, golden, travel, photo, Olympus

Is this a sunset scene or what??!!

I hope 2014 brings you many memorable moments, whether you capture them on a photo or not!

Distances in Australia are enormous and, perhaps, they feel more so because there are a lot of vast empty lands in the middle (as opposed to us in the US where we have Kansas in the middle!). Yet my trip to Melbourne from Sydney felt short indeed as it does not require traversing the country. I wanted to get a good feel for Melbourne and no better way than visiting people who actually live there.

My friends in Melbourne lived in a penthouse pretty much in the central business district of town, enjoying a view of the Yarra river and the Crown casino. I think my friend Matt chose this apartment for a reason…

Melbourne, Australia, CBD, Crown casino, Yarra river, travel, photography

The view from the pad!

The next morning after my arrival I made my first stop the information center in Federation Square, a relatively new and modern square next to the Flinders train station by the river. There I found way more information than I needed but that would have been very helpful had I decided to spend 2 months in Victoria, the state where Melbourne is… I wish I had had all that time!

Flinders Train Station

The information office was very well organized and the folks there were extremely helpful. My first objective was to see the Great Ocean Road that heads out west from outside Melbourne by the ocean so I scheduled it for the following day.

The Great Ocean Road and my first helicopter ride to see the 12 Apostles

The tour on the Great Ocean Road ends at the Twelve Apostles which are remnants from the mainland that water has eroded over time so they look like massive columns of rock coming out of the water, no longer connected to land. The number 12 is just used ’cause it sounds cool but now there are <>12 (I don’t even remember how many they said). In fact, 2 days before I went, one collapsed so I missed ever seeing it – well, I saw it in a pile of rocks. Hence, it is safer to say <> 12 since the number could change any day!

Twelve Apostles, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Australia, photo, travel, Canon EOS Rebel

The Twelve Apostles (well, some of them)

I decided that a neat way to see the apostles was to get in a helicopter for a 15 minutes and fly around. I had NEVER been in a helicopter so the exhilaration went beyond seeing the Twelve Apostles. I soon found out how hard it was to admire the view and take pictures at the same time while trying to look around fellow passengers and also not blocking their own view!

Great Ocean Road, Twelve Apostles, Melbourne, Australia, helicopter, travel, photo

An apostle as seen from the helicopter! Great vantage point!

Wildlife along the Great Ocean Road

An unexpected surprise in the drive along the Great Ocean Road was seeing kangaroos, koalas and birds.

Koala, Australia, Great Ocean Road, wildlife, Canon EOS Rebel

Koala in the wild – asleep!

Australia, wildlife, bird, colorful, Great Ocean Road, Canon EOS Rebel, photo, travel

One colorful Australian bird along the Great Ocean Road

Using the free city bus is a great idea

After booking the Great Ocean Road tour, I took advantage of the free bus the city has for tourists to hop on and hop off at the various important sights in the city. Taking a bus is a great way to orient oneself in a new city, to see some places that one may have decided “check, don’t need to come here”, and to actually get off and visit places that seem interesting or make a note to come back another time. With this, I discovered the Victoria Market which sold just about everything but, unfortunately, as closing right as I got there. I did manage to get a couple of souvenirs and fruits and made my way back to the city center proper.

I did not get to visit the art gallery in Federation Square which I was hoping to see but got to see the Immigration Museum where I gained a good understanding of the Australian immigrants’ story. What a long-ass and possibly horrible journey to make it to Oz through the roaring 40s!!

Some food was enjoyed too

Other things I did was enjoy chocolate at the chocolate stores in the Arcades (the city center has this beautiful arcades from early last century with shops and that’s where this chocolate shops are). I also, based on my friends’ recommendations, enjoyed great soup from a little chain store called Blue Bag – the red lentil soup was excellent.

Witnessing a sports match – with all that it entails…

On my final night in Melbourne (and Australia), I got to go to a football/soccer match at the MCG between Australia and Japan. It was great to be able to watch such a match with the local crowd though that required being careful on leaving as we had to walk through a minefield of a kind… Let’s just say, there seems to have been over-drinking during the match 🙂 I got to try one of the famous meat pies during the match which was good but by the time we were done with the match, I was hungry again – should have had 2! That’s when I tried vegemite – on the salty side but the butter made it better.

I can help but compare…

Anyway, I have struggled in my mind to compare the cities of Sydney and Melbourne but can’t find a way to properly explain how they felt. Sydney has the harbor right there which was more in your face than Melbourne‘s proximity to the ocean. Sydney felt fast-paced, Melbourne more laidback. I enjoyed them both and feel like I need to go back to keep studying what makes them different – how conveneeeeenient! 🙂