travel
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2014: A Year of Travel and Food in Review
More Details: 2014: A Year of Travel and Food in ReviewWell, 2014 is now for the history books. Lots happened in this crazy world of ours and, likely, lots in each of our worlds. My year started planning my big trips for the year: Iceland and doing the Camino de Santiago in Spain (the latter with Trekking for Kids, a charity I am involved with…
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Iceland’s South Shore: The Dyrhólaey Peninsula and Vik
More Details: Iceland’s South Shore: The Dyrhólaey Peninsula and VikThe south shore of Iceland is a popular route for visitors to the island. One can do a day trek from Reykjavik (though, arguably, a long day) to see the major sights along the ring road on the south (e.g., waterfalls, glaciers, black sandy beaches). The south shore deserves more than one write-up so I…
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Hallgrímskirkja Church: The Young Icon of Reykjavik
More Details: Hallgrímskirkja Church: The Young Icon of ReykjavikHallgrímskirkja Church in the heart of Reykjavik is a “young” building. It was completed in 1986 but took close to 40 years to erect. Its design, driving up in a pointed way to the sky with its tower, reflects on the landscape of the island country with its lava flows. The structure is not the…
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On the Camino de Santiago: Day 5 from Boente to Salceda
More Details: On the Camino de Santiago: Day 5 from Boente to SalcedaDay 5 would have us walk about 19 km (12 miles) in around a 4.5 hour period, leaving Boente to head to our next overnight stop in Salceda. The group left together every morning and, generally, stayed in proximity of each other but a few of us would generally spend part of the morning walking…
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An Unplanned Stop in a Rural Cemetery in Moldova
More Details: An Unplanned Stop in a Rural Cemetery in MoldovaCemeteries always have a draw. Not quite sure if it is purely the inclination to the morbid or something else but, when I drove past this cemetery in Moldova (on my way back to Chisinau after visiting Soroca in the north) and noticed the colorful and unique crosses, I went back to get a quick walk…
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A Stroll around Reykjavik
More Details: A Stroll around ReykjavikOne of the pluses of going to Iceland, besides witnessing the magnificent statement nature makes there, is enjoying visiting somewhere that is manageable in size. One can cross the island in one day from coast to coast thanks for a great ring road that is in pretty good condition (especially, when one considers the climate). …
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On the Camino de Santiago: Day 4 from Palas del Rei to Boente
More Details: On the Camino de Santiago: Day 4 from Palas del Rei to BoenteAfter a great dinner in Palas del Rei and a nice comfortable stay overnight, we left the town on Day 4 to head to Boente, a tiny town and our next overnight. On this day, I would walk 21 km (about 13 miles) in around 5 hours to get to my destination. But we would…
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I Have a Mission for You: in Santa Barbara!
More Details: I Have a Mission for You: in Santa Barbara!Among the many beautiful things to enjoy in Santa Barbara, California, one of my favorite ones is the Old Mission. Its architecture, its setting, its history all make it a neat place to visit but what I like the most is that it is still in use by the monks and the locals; in other…
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On the Camino de Santiago: Day 3 from Portomarín to Palas del Rei
More Details: On the Camino de Santiago: Day 3 from Portomarín to Palas del ReiI enjoyed our night in Portomarín as the town had a nice location along the Miño River – and we enjoyed sitting at a bar the night before with a nice wine enjoying the awesome weather. So I was rested and ready for Day 3. We left the hotel (and our luggage, which was picked…
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Postcards from Iceland: Dalvík
More Details: Postcards from Iceland: DalvíkDalvík, in the north of Iceland right at around 12 o’clock, is a small town of about 1,400 inhabitants on the western side of the Eyjafjörður fjord. We drove through this fishing town on the way to our base in Akureyri as we rounded the peninsula where Dalvík sits on route 76 going east after…
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Along the Camino: Charming O Cebreiro
More Details: Along the Camino: Charming O CebreiroAs I mentioned in a prior post, I started the Camino de Santiago around kilometer 110 in Sarria due to time constraints. However, the group that organized the trek, Trekking for Kids, knew from a prior trek that O Cebreiro was a town we could not missed. So on our way to start our Camino,…
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Landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico – A Great View!
More Details: Landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico – A Great View!I moved to the Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico, when I was two years old and lived there until I finished high school. During my many trips back to the island, I have always enjoyed the landing in San Juan as I get a great view no matter on which side of the airplane I…