The word “Brazil” has many connotations for me – world-known beaches, the best national soccer team, and 1980s telenovelas with enough twists and turns to bring the whole of the USSR to a standstill. But the most important part of Brazil is its music – samba, bossa nova, samba-reggae. While […]
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“Mohammed! Mohammed! Cairo is burning!” We are in the middle of the international terminal of the O’Hare airport, staring transfixed at the multiple TV screens showing fire and mayhem on the streets of Cairo. Victor is holding a phone, with the faint voice of Mohammed, our hired Egyptian guide, on […]
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After the fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris earlier this year, I saw so many people on social media lamenting that they did not get to see Notre Dame before it was destroyed. The lesson, of course, is that we should live now and not put off visiting […]
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The only Peruvian animal I heard of before going to Peru was llama, also known as alpaca, which later turned out were two completely different, albeit related animals. So I guess I really didn’t know anything. So when Victor mentioned that we were going to see condors fly through the Colca canyon and were going to visit an animal sanctuary, I got pretty excited. Even though I had absolutely no idea what I was going to see. That’s just the kind of person that I am.
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I love planning trips. Everything needs to be accounted for – which destinations to visit and for how long; the logistics of getting from one place to another; how long the days are according to sunrise and sunset and how much sightseeing can be stuffed into each day; how holidays […]
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