Living La Vida Loca

A Global Adventure

Travel

  • Down the Atlantic Coast of South America

    Looking back on our cruise around South America, I really experienced it as a series of highlights interspersed with times to simply relax and be pampered. Silversea admittedly is a “luxury’ travel line and going in we knew that more than the basics would be covered. It’s not every day in real life that we… Read more

  • All Aboard! The Cruise Begins and Montevideo

    Setting Sail The transition onto the Silversea ship (Silver Whisper) could not have gone better. The cruise line has this down to a well-oiled machine – from transferring bags directly to your onboard suite, to registering you via passport, to distributing your ship access card. We’d booked a deluxe veranda (that was the only option… Read more

  • Back to Buenos Aires: Theatre, Old Friend & Jewish Roots

    The flight back from Iguazu to Buenos Aires was short and uneventful, and we were glad to have another afternoon and almost full day to explore Buenos Aires. The one thing we had been able to do before heading to Iguazu was a visit to El Ateneo Grand Splendid – an incredible bookstore and cafe… Read more

  • Exploring South America: Buenos Aires and Iguazú Falls

    Combining a brief land tour and a few days post-cruise, this entire trip will be nearly a month long, but we’re packing a lot of sightseeing into it. In the past. we’ve explored a few countries in South America – Colombia and Ecuador along with the Galapagos islands off of Ecuador. This will be our… Read more

  • On to Paro…Then the Long Way Home

    We had wonderful weather with incredible views of the snowcapped mountains beyond the valley that we wound our way through as we headed to Paro. Paro is where Bhutan’s only international airport is, and the district has many sacred sites worth visiting. Our first stop was Ta Dzong, originally built as watchtower, it now houses… Read more

  • Beyond Thimphu: Bhutan’s Countryside

    I thought that some personal observations might be in order now that we’d had a bit of time in Bhutan… This is a very beautiful, picturesque and well-maintained country. The streets and highways are well-maintained and clean (juxtapose Kathmandu), and the strict control over tourism volume definitely has allowed the government to establish clear guidelines… Read more

  • Thimphu: Where Administration and Religion Unite

    Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan, clearly reflects all key aspects of fairly uniform daily life through literature, religious practices and customs, national dress code, monastic practices, music, dance, and media. Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan and the vast majority of the country’s population practices Buddhism. The state religion has long been supported financially by the government… Read more

  • On to Bhutan

    We bid farewell to Kathmandu and to two of our travel mates – Tara and Claudia – who were heading home. We had quite an adventure getting to the airport and getting to our departure gate. First, our van was delayed as the first driver bailed out because he didn’t want to attempt driving up… Read more

  • The Road Back to Kathmandu

    We had to take a bit of a detour 😬 when trying to head back to the city we started in. Because of significant rainfall, all flights from Chitwan back to Kathmandu were cancelled. As a collective we opted to hire a van to drive us rather than stay another night in Chitwan as some… Read more

  • Into The Jungle – for Real!

    I would be terribly remiss to not introduce two Nepalese women I met while traveling – thanks to Laura’s connections and existing friendships. Shova is a young woman who was engaged to help our fellow traveler, Tara, so that navigating the crazy and potholed streets of Kathmandu along with rough terrain in Chitwan was not… Read more