This week’s Wish You Were Here post comes from Cynthia of CynthiaOrd.com, Thoughts on Tourism, People and the Earth. Cynthia is fascinated with travel and tourism as an industry and its impacts. She likes to visit unlikely places and see how many people she can convince to go there. Be sure to check out her blog and follow her on twitter at @cynthiaord. When visiting Uzbekistan, save your stacks of cym for Khiva. Cym is the local currency of Uzbekistan, and depending if you go formal or black market, the exchange is about 2,400 cym per U.S. dollar. Once you turn in your dollars for Continue Reading
Barcelona Wishes You Were Here
Despite the extra pounds of luggage wearing on me and the engulfing heat, I knew instantly I could only love Barcelona. After checking into my hostel, complete with a shower right in the middle of the room, the quirks of Barcelona began to spread out on to the table. The first sight I had to see, one that is synonymous with the city, was La Sagrada Familia. That day, Antoni Gaudi’s creation looked as though it was melting in the Spanish sun. Rising from the subway, I was put off but the snaking line to get in to see La Sagrada Familia. After pondering whether to go inside, I did for I Continue Reading
Italy’s Stiletto Wishes You Were Here
Heading south from Otranto, I follow the SP358, the road in Puglia that hugs the coast down to the point of no return in Italy. The howling of crickets and the sound of the breeze out the car window creates an enchanting song. I have always had images in my mind of what the very point of Italy’s boot heel would look like. Almost like my El Dorado, I have high hopes as the path to this Promised Land continues to wind. Tiny coves with beaches only further my excitement. So far removed for any Italy I have known up to this point, I continue to head south, imagining what it would be like to Continue Reading
Lessons on Achieving From Prehistoric Humans in Ireland
Reasons to travel usually boil down to wanting to see this, a need to experience that. Many travelers want to meet people different from what they know, find meaning in foreign languages, sample tastes palettes have never tickled or simply to get away, to feel displaced. Until I set foot on the Brú Na Bóinne site in Ireland, I didn’t realize I had cast aside and neglected one major reason we should all travel. Located in County Meath, Brú Na Bóinne is composed of three main prehistoric sites, Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. On my visit, only Newgrange was open for viewing. I usually resist Continue Reading
La Tomatina in Buñol, Spain Wishes You Were Here
As I casually walk down an innocent side street in Buñol, Spain, an older man looks at me. His eyes seem to be seeing targets. He is carrying a bucket full of tomatoes. One by one, he hoists them at me. A familiar scene, like dodge ball in junior high, this is not going to end well. Just as it was in junior high, I know tomato throwing is not my sport. In the town of Buñol, Spain, just beyond Valencia, the festival of La Tomatina is put on every year, much to the amusement of backpackers the world over. Considered the world’s biggest food fight, La Tomatina supposedly began in the 1940s Continue Reading
Sardinia, Italy Wishes You Were Here
On every traveler’s lifeline, there are points where you believe you have found a place that is all yours. You don’t know this will be the result when you board that plane, train or bus. That is to be expected, the beginnings for surprise. Sardinia is my place, or at least, it was. A Catch 22 lies with calling a place your own for there is always time, season and position working against you. A second visit to Sardinia I suspect wouldn’t have the same effect as the first. The first time I fell for Sardinia probably came while watching the wind blow through cliff-hanging shrubs. The sea was Continue Reading
Taormina, Sicily Wishes You Were Here
On the streets of Taormina, I stumble over the clutter of antique shops spilling out into the streets. The clutter is not limited to objects, but also people. Taormina is not the sort of place you come to for anonymity, but rather to see and be seen. Throughout history, writers, artists, aristocrats, royalty and celebrities have vacationed in this resort town on Sicily’s northeastern coast. Despite all of the activity in late summer, the shine of Taormina, right down to the glaring sun off of those sliver antique candleholders is endearing to say the least. I make my way to the town’s Continue Reading