For some reason, these wouldn´t go with the text, so see below to hear more about our adventures!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Pictures from Mexico
For some reason, these wouldn´t go with the text, so see below to hear more about our adventures!
Mexico, Murals and Mole
Robyn here. . .this is my last blog entry. From now on, Peter will be reporting to you on France, Madagascar and Tanzania. It is our last night on this side of the world for the next month and a half and that feels a little weird. . .we already feel that we´ve been on the road for a while!
Mexico City has been a good last stop in the Americas. We´ve been able to rest, do some laundry, eat some good food, and get adjusted to a city vibe before we hit Paris. Mexico City, we are told, is the largest city in the world--over 20 million people and (one policeman told us) 400 museums! No wonder we didn´t get to everything we wanted to do! What we did do, though, was great. We took in the humongous Anthropology museum, saw a comprehensive number of Diego Rivera murals, visited the National Palace, rode on the impressive subway, saw Frida Kahlo´s house, took in the Mexican National symphony, and were ferried through the canals of Xochimilco on the Mexican version of a booze cruise. We´ve sampled mole, chilaquiles, flautas, tacos, fajitas, tostadas, horchata, and beer (Mexico´s number one export, we´ve learned). (And , Peter reminds, don´t forget the hot fudge sundae we had last night!) So, it´s been a good visit. And, Mexican people have been very nice to us! Shortly before we left the U.S., I read an article that reported the results of a worldwide survey of people´s happiness in different countries. Mexico topped the list as having the happiest citizens. . .nothing we´ve seen would argue otherwise!
Now, a few words from Pedro (he is practicing blogging for his upcoming stint as blogger-in-chief):
Well, thanks Robyn. It is great to finally be here at WCOTW, strongest blog signal covering all the hemispheres. Anyhow, I just thought the readers should know a little something more about our symphony trip. We first went to the "Palace of Fine Arts¨yesterday afternoon in search of more murals. There were a few, but not as many as we hoped for. We ended up returning a bit later to catch a tour of the theater space , which contains an exquisite stained glass piece on the ceiling and a , get this, curtain made of crystal. The stained glass depicted Apollo surrounded the nine muses. The curtain was crafted by Tiffany in New York. It weighs 22 tons and depicts the valley in which Mex City sits. Both are unbelievably stunning. I almost cried. Most beautiful theater I´ve ever seen. So I made sure we went back. That same night. We saw the symphony play a stunning rendition of some Strauss piece that evoked the alpine spirit. We both were totally captivated. Never mind that due to that tricky daylight savings thing we had arrived an hour late and missed half of it. Back to you, R.
Gracias, amigo, and gracias to you, faithful readers. It has been a pleasure to write to you of our travels through latin america and I will miss the writing, but I know that I leave you in Peter´s capable hands!
Adios!
xoxoxo, r&p
Mexico City has been a good last stop in the Americas. We´ve been able to rest, do some laundry, eat some good food, and get adjusted to a city vibe before we hit Paris. Mexico City, we are told, is the largest city in the world--over 20 million people and (one policeman told us) 400 museums! No wonder we didn´t get to everything we wanted to do! What we did do, though, was great. We took in the humongous Anthropology museum, saw a comprehensive number of Diego Rivera murals, visited the National Palace, rode on the impressive subway, saw Frida Kahlo´s house, took in the Mexican National symphony, and were ferried through the canals of Xochimilco on the Mexican version of a booze cruise. We´ve sampled mole, chilaquiles, flautas, tacos, fajitas, tostadas, horchata, and beer (Mexico´s number one export, we´ve learned). (And , Peter reminds, don´t forget the hot fudge sundae we had last night!) So, it´s been a good visit. And, Mexican people have been very nice to us! Shortly before we left the U.S., I read an article that reported the results of a worldwide survey of people´s happiness in different countries. Mexico topped the list as having the happiest citizens. . .nothing we´ve seen would argue otherwise!
Now, a few words from Pedro (he is practicing blogging for his upcoming stint as blogger-in-chief):
Well, thanks Robyn. It is great to finally be here at WCOTW, strongest blog signal covering all the hemispheres. Anyhow, I just thought the readers should know a little something more about our symphony trip. We first went to the "Palace of Fine Arts¨yesterday afternoon in search of more murals. There were a few, but not as many as we hoped for. We ended up returning a bit later to catch a tour of the theater space , which contains an exquisite stained glass piece on the ceiling and a , get this, curtain made of crystal. The stained glass depicted Apollo surrounded the nine muses. The curtain was crafted by Tiffany in New York. It weighs 22 tons and depicts the valley in which Mex City sits. Both are unbelievably stunning. I almost cried. Most beautiful theater I´ve ever seen. So I made sure we went back. That same night. We saw the symphony play a stunning rendition of some Strauss piece that evoked the alpine spirit. We both were totally captivated. Never mind that due to that tricky daylight savings thing we had arrived an hour late and missed half of it. Back to you, R.
Gracias, amigo, and gracias to you, faithful readers. It has been a pleasure to write to you of our travels through latin america and I will miss the writing, but I know that I leave you in Peter´s capable hands!
Adios!
xoxoxo, r&p
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Things Lost while Travelling. . .
We have now been on the road for about six weeks and tomorrow will mark the halfway point of our trip. We were noticing that our bags seem much lighter. At first, I was hoping that I´d just become that much stronger; however, I think that the truth is just that we´ve lost a lot of stuff! Here´s some of what we´ve lost so far. . .I´m sure we´ll lose even more as we journey through Europe and Africa!
xoxo, r
- Peter started it off by losing his cell phone cord in Monterrico
- I followed his example by losing my glasses case
- We both lost our lambas
- I lost my PJ bottoms
- Peter lost a t-shirt
- I lost a bra (luckily I had two others!)
- You know already that I lost the camera cord
- Collectively, we think (hope!) we lost ten-pounds
- The clasp to my bikini broke
- Two pairs of Peter´s flip flops have broken
- Any romantic memories we may have had about chicken buses are long gone
- My lunch (twice--yuck!)
- A pair of earrings
- 900 quetzales
- Our freakishly pale Seattle skin color
- Our snootiness about people who vacation in, GASP, the first world
- Any illusion we had that we are "young travellers"
- Our passing interest in "what Honduras might have to offer"
xoxo, r
Photos, finally!
We are in Mexico City and found a camera-computer-connector wire! Yay! Here are some photos of what we´ve been doing these last few weeks. . .enjoy!
From top to bottom, the photos are: Us with our SCUBA instructor Graham (we thought we were tan until we met him!), us swimming in hot spring waterfalls on the Rio Dulce, Us in front of the catamaran in which we sailed down the Rio Dulce, me relaxing with a book on the boat, Peter eating breakfast on the front porch of our bungalow in Utila, Honduras.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Of Boats, Border Crossings and Scuba Adventures!
Hello again! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated things--we have not been in the most web-friendly territory lately. And, to make things worse, I lost my camera-computer connector wire (I think I left it on the boat--aargh!), so no pictures this time--just lots of news!
When I last wrote, Peter and I were getting ready to board a 4-day catamaran cruise up and down the Rio Dulce. In short, it was wonderful! We were two of four passengers aboard the 46-foot Sirenas, which sailed first to Lake Izabal, where we had the pleasure of swimming in cascading hot springs. Then, we travelled down the river, through a canyon, to the city of Livingston. Finally, we sailed back to Rio Dulce. The best parts of the cruise were the times when we were just sailing, motors off, in the sun, laying in the hammocks that hung over the water reading our novels. Other boats would go past and we would wave, wondering if this is how the Kennedys feel. . .We had a wonderful crew, who sailed the boat, cooked all our meals, and entertained us with stories of pirates. Aside from some rough weather one night it was lovely and so relaxing!
The end of our cruise down the Rio Dulce marked the end of our planned Latin America itinerary. While we have been on the road, we had heard good things about the Bay Islands of Honduras, so we thought we'd check them out. It took us 1.5 days of traveling from Guatemala to reach the island of Utila, from where I now write. First, we had to cross the border and travel a few more hours to the city of San Pedro Sula. Then, we got on another bus to the coastal city of La Ceiba. We had a slight snafu of communication with the bus attendant, so we bought tickets thinking that the bus was leaving right away, when in fact it left about 2 hours later than we thought. This made for a late arrival in La Ceiba, where we had to stay overnight and wait for the morning ferry to Utila.
The ferry ride to Utila was very rough and about an hour long. I count it as a personal accomplishment that I did not get seasick (Peter didn't either--yay!). Once we got off the boat, we were bombarded by promoters from the different dive schools on the island. We managed to fend them off, though, and find a beautiful bungalow on the beach. Both of us were trepidatious about diving, so we decided to take it slow and go on a snorkel expedition to look for whale sharks instead. We didn't find a whale shark, but we had a great time snorkeling. Most of the rest of the time we've spent here just sitting on our porch, snorkeling, napping, or being at the beach. We've also met some fellow travellers here that we've spent some evenings with. Nonetheless, we decided that it would be silly to come to Utila and NOT at least try diving (Utila is apparently one of the best, and cheapest, places to dive in the world. . .I did not know this until I got here:) ). So, today, Peter and I actually went scuba diving! It was pretty incredible. . .tons of beautiful fishes and coral. I felt like I was in an amazing aquarium and then I realized that I was the little plastic guy at the bottom blowing bubbles! We had a great instructor who made us feel very safe as well, so that was helpful.
Tomorrow we leave Utila and head toward Mexico City. Depending on the route we take, we may go through San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico or we may spend more time in and around Mexico City. I am really hoping I can get a replacement wire there and upload some pictures soon! We will then fly to Paris on the 27th of April and from that point on, Peter will take over writing the blog so that you can hear his impressions of all of the places that will be new to him.
Lots of Love and Happy Passover!
Robyn & Peter
When I last wrote, Peter and I were getting ready to board a 4-day catamaran cruise up and down the Rio Dulce. In short, it was wonderful! We were two of four passengers aboard the 46-foot Sirenas, which sailed first to Lake Izabal, where we had the pleasure of swimming in cascading hot springs. Then, we travelled down the river, through a canyon, to the city of Livingston. Finally, we sailed back to Rio Dulce. The best parts of the cruise were the times when we were just sailing, motors off, in the sun, laying in the hammocks that hung over the water reading our novels. Other boats would go past and we would wave, wondering if this is how the Kennedys feel. . .We had a wonderful crew, who sailed the boat, cooked all our meals, and entertained us with stories of pirates. Aside from some rough weather one night it was lovely and so relaxing!
The end of our cruise down the Rio Dulce marked the end of our planned Latin America itinerary. While we have been on the road, we had heard good things about the Bay Islands of Honduras, so we thought we'd check them out. It took us 1.5 days of traveling from Guatemala to reach the island of Utila, from where I now write. First, we had to cross the border and travel a few more hours to the city of San Pedro Sula. Then, we got on another bus to the coastal city of La Ceiba. We had a slight snafu of communication with the bus attendant, so we bought tickets thinking that the bus was leaving right away, when in fact it left about 2 hours later than we thought. This made for a late arrival in La Ceiba, where we had to stay overnight and wait for the morning ferry to Utila.
The ferry ride to Utila was very rough and about an hour long. I count it as a personal accomplishment that I did not get seasick (Peter didn't either--yay!). Once we got off the boat, we were bombarded by promoters from the different dive schools on the island. We managed to fend them off, though, and find a beautiful bungalow on the beach. Both of us were trepidatious about diving, so we decided to take it slow and go on a snorkel expedition to look for whale sharks instead. We didn't find a whale shark, but we had a great time snorkeling. Most of the rest of the time we've spent here just sitting on our porch, snorkeling, napping, or being at the beach. We've also met some fellow travellers here that we've spent some evenings with. Nonetheless, we decided that it would be silly to come to Utila and NOT at least try diving (Utila is apparently one of the best, and cheapest, places to dive in the world. . .I did not know this until I got here:) ). So, today, Peter and I actually went scuba diving! It was pretty incredible. . .tons of beautiful fishes and coral. I felt like I was in an amazing aquarium and then I realized that I was the little plastic guy at the bottom blowing bubbles! We had a great instructor who made us feel very safe as well, so that was helpful.
Tomorrow we leave Utila and head toward Mexico City. Depending on the route we take, we may go through San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico or we may spend more time in and around Mexico City. I am really hoping I can get a replacement wire there and upload some pictures soon! We will then fly to Paris on the 27th of April and from that point on, Peter will take over writing the blog so that you can hear his impressions of all of the places that will be new to him.
Lots of Love and Happy Passover!
Robyn & Peter
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