2026 FIFA World Cup: Hogwarts vs. Narnia

Those who follow this blog know I am a big soccer fan and try to attend games in every country I visit.  This fact is even listed in my section of “About Us” on this website.  So, it won’t surprise anyone that attending the World Cup this summer was on […]

Travels with My Mother: Uzbekistan Episode

During the pandemic, our favorite show on Netflix was Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father.  In this series (filmed in pre-COVID times), the British comedian Jack Whitehall travels the world with his elderly, curmudgeonly father, Michael, who detests travel and the exotic destinations Jack takes him to.  The show is […]

Monterrey, Mountains, and Unexpected Mexico

For those of you following along, I mentioned how our tickets to Monterrey had been canceled twice, and it was becoming increasingly unclear whether the universe really did not want us visiting this part of Mexico or whether Viva Aerobus was only pretending to offer flights there. Well, we finally […]

In the Saddle: Conquering Cerro de la Silla

Its image is everywhere — on labels of tostadas and tortillas, wall murals, and even in the logo of the local baseball team. It’s the symbol of the city. The most recognizable landmark.  It is as iconic as Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf or Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Cerro de la […]

São Paulo: Hate At First Sight

“Skip São Paulo. It’s just a concrete jungle. Nothing to see there,” was the advice I received while planning a trip to Brazil. Nonsense. We are big city people. We love architecture, museums, and restaurants. Big cities have this never-ending energy and are always full of activities and things to […]

Tour de World

By Victor / June 15, 2021

When we travel, we generally rely on all modes of transportation available to us. Through the years, we flew on domestic Brazilian and Peruvian airlines, took overnight trains in India and Egypt, rode subways in Mexico City and Barcelona, and bounced in packed minivans in Jamaica and Guatemala. We also […]

NAKED BATH JAPANESE GIRLS

By Julia / June 8, 2021

It’s always interesting for me to see which of our posts get more traction and which barely get a trickle of visitors.  I often find it to be completely unpredictable when some of my own favorite posts fly under the radar (example 1, 2, 3) while uninspired 20-minute write-ups are getting […]

There Is Always Room for More: Exploring Japanese Cuisine. Part II

By Julia / May 30, 2021

My last post was all noodles – soba, udon, ramen, but there is so much more to Japanese culinary traditions.  To expand our food horizons, we visited Dotombori Street in Osaka.  The name “Dotombori” refers both to the Dotombori Canal and to Dotombori Street, which runs parallel to the canal’s […]

Welcome to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Coffee Capital of the United States

By Victor / May 21, 2021

For many people, Milwaukee is and has always been the U.S. beer capital. The stereotype is understandable given the city’s history, but a little bit outdated.  Milwaukee’s breweries thrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and for a time, the city was home to the four largest breweries in […]

Eating Our Way Through Japan

By Julia / May 14, 2021

The first and only thing I used to think of any time anyone said the words “Japanese” and “food” in the same sentence was “sushi”.   I was faintly aware of noodles and tempura but have never been a big fan of either.  Sushi, on the other hand, has been my […]

Jamaica: The World’s Highest Coffee

By Victor / May 6, 2021

Last month, we did something irresponsible. Are you ready? We paid $15 for a cup of coffee. Yes, frugal backpackers who run this blog did that. Before you judge us for the splurge, all I can say is that we did it in the fancy, four-story Starbucks on Chicago’s Magnificent […]

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