Español Nicaragüense Es Pura Deacachimba
My First Post in Spanish “Sabes qué,” me dijo el guia nicaragüense, “eres el primer gringo que conozco que habla español muy bien.” Estabámos en la cima del Volcán Telica, a cien metros del cráter, y no podía creer lo que acababa de eschuchar. Antes de visitar Nicaragua, no podía […]
Volcano Day: Up We Go
In 2014, Victor was in Panama and his favorite story was visiting Embera village and watching a pet toucan wash himself in a small outdoor sink. Victor turned on the faucet to wash his hands and the bird flew right in and started splashing around and trying to awkwardly fit […]
Volcano Day: Down We Go
The way it usually goes is like this: Victor plans the itinerary, and I book the transportation and accommodations. One thing about Victor is he is meticulous, detail-oriented, and thorough. He doesn’t make mistakes, he doesn’t forget small details, he doesn’t just leave off details from the itinerary for no […]
Skipping Managua. Part II. Leon
One week after visiting Granada, we drove into its long-time rival – Leon. Like Granada, Leon is set in a breathtaking location. Approaching the city from the north, we counted at least six volcanoes on the horizon, all part of the Cordillera de Maribios. As we got closer to the […]
Skipping Managua. Part I. Granada
One of the apparent trends in our travels is that capital cities in Central America do not get a lot of love from us. That’s just a fact. In Guatemala, upon arrival, we left its capital, Guatemala City, by jumping into a taxi and riding away without ever seeing it. […]
Raiding and Pillaging through Norway
I am looking at the fjord There is salmon in the sea My baby says she’s bored She is not in love with me Before visiting Norway, we watched Conan O’Brien’s new travel show, Conan Must Go, where Conan travels the world to meet his fans. In the first episode […]
Poutine Must Go!
After living and working in Wisconsin for over a decade, it is tough for me to say what I am about to say. Here we go… Canada has the best cheese curds. Yes, I said it. Please do not cancel me, Wisconsinites! One of the categories on this blog is […]
The Very Berry Norway
As we traveled through the countryside, we were constantly distracted by the gorgeous views of mountains, herds of peacefully grazing animals, and fields of vibrantly blooming… potatoes. “Look! Potatoes! That’s all potatoes!” Victor would exclaim pointing out of the car window, “So many potatoes…” I nodded along as he kept […]
Taxco: The Silver Capital of the World
Thursday evening. I am sitting in a conference room of an office building in Chicago patiently waiting for the plaintiff’s counsel to finish the examination of a witness and conclude the deposition that has been dragging on for too long. And then in what seems to be in the blink […]
It Takes a Norwegian Village
It was late evening by the time we arrived at our Airbnb in a tiny hamlet by Galdhøpiggen, the tallest mountain in Norway. We were tired from the long day and were relieved to finally reach the isolated farm that we would call our home for the next few days. […]
The Norwegian Grocery List
As I mentioned in the previous post, restaurants in Norway are very expensive and Norwegians cook most meals at home. We followed suit. This meant a lot of grocery store trips to the point where we knew the standard Coop Prix and Bunnpris store layouts by heart. In smaller towns […]