Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Scotland. The years the suitcases never got unpacked.
City Bus Tours – A Valuable Tool for Slow Travel
Say what you will. As slow travel veterans, we have come to appreciate this staple of city tourism. We arrive in a city determined to know it — to…
Guatemala, Slow Travel
Slow travel demands flexibility. For example, earlier this year we had planned to stay in Oaxaca, Mexico, for a few months, get some work done and…
Mexico 2013, Travel through Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Oaxaca, Chiapas
The first week we rented a car to explore the Yucatan Peninsula.
Slow Travel Finds Sardines on the Beach in Crucita
Early October, another beautiful morning at our tranquil Ecuadorian beach house. But our view of the consistently blue Pacific had changed. Large…
Slow Travel #59, A Birthday to Remember
On November 17, 2012, I turned 59. It was a beautiful morning in Cuenca, Ecuador. We had a simple breakfast, then around ten took the 25-cent bus…
Thanksgiving 2012, Ecuador, Cuenca, Cajas, Guayaquil
Ours was a nontraditional Thanksgiving. After three months of slow travel in Ecuador, we prepared for a full day of travel and exploration and…
Side Road Trip from Iguazú: San Ignacio
We landed in Puerto Iguazú on Friday morning with a planned Saturday trip to the Iguazú Falls on Saturday but the forecast of rain changed…
A Mindful Seven Months of Slow Travel
We spent February in Key West, Florida, a place full of history and interesting people. Then we left the country for arty San Miguel de Allende,…
Scotland – Part 3, Isle of Skye and South
Heading southwest, the path from Dornoch through Dingwall, Gorstan, and Kyle of Lochalsh to the Isle of Skye; then Invergarry, Fort William, Glen…
Scotland – Part 2, Central and Northwest
After our week in Edinburgh, we rented a car for a road trip and while we had a general direction in mind, we basically went where the road took us…
Scotland – Part 4, Glasgow and Newcastle
After our week in Edinburgh, we rented a car for a road trip and while we had a general direction in mind, we basically went where the road took us…
Scotland – Part 1, Edinburgh
Scotland… Bagpipes and kilts; green hills dissolving into the sea; William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Bonnie Prince Charlie; kings and queens…
Go to Mexico City
One consistent travel recommendation we have received from seasoned travelers, expats and locals since arriving in San Miguel is, “you must go to…
Semana Santa in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
In 2010 and again this year we found ourselves in Catholic-dominated countries with strong Holy Week traditions dating back centuries. Although…
Quema de los Judas, Easter Morning Tradition in San Miguel de Allende
The large crowd gathered after church; lent is over, spring is here, it is time for some fun. Young and old gathered for Quema de los Judas…
San Miguel de Allende, a Quick Look
Located about 274 km (170 mi) NW of Mexico City at an elevation of 6,500 feet, San Miguel de Allende (SMA) has an excellent climate, warm and…
Los ninos y la primavera – The children and spring!
Celebrate! For the Spring Equinox, the children of San Miguel paraded through the city as animals, butterflies, frogs, bees and countless characters…
Two Nights in San Miguel de Allende
We arrived in San Miguel de Allende on March 6. Our month in Key West was ending and we had debated options — Ecuador someday, Chile, Oaxaca, a…
Settling into to Granada, Spain
3/25/2010 “How lazily the sun goes down in Granada, it hides beneath the water, it conceals in the Alhambra!” Ernest Hemingway, American novelist….
Málaga, Spain
3/24/2010 Our plane landed in Málaga, Spain on March 19, since then we have traveled to Ronda, Cadiz, Tarifa, and Gibraltar and now back to our…
Woman Brutalized by Barbary Ape (Husband Watched)
The Rock of Gibraltar. One minute you are driving in Spain and the next, passing through British customs. The history is long and storied, and…
Tarifa
Tarifa offers a historical and beautiful setting with Morocco a short 10km across the Strait of Gibraltar, a gateway between the Atlantic and the…
Cádiz, Spain
The map at left shows the relative location of Cádiz while on the map to the right you can see its unique position on a peninsula with the old city…
London, Málaga, Ronda
We arrived in Málaga (Spain) on Friday, March 19, 2010, at around 4pm (local time) after missing our scheduled connection in London the previous…
Learning Spanish, Making Friends
One goal of immersing ourselves in the Buenos Aires culture was to learn as much Spanish as possible. We began by placing a Craigslist ad for a…
Hasta Luego Buenos Aires
On Wednesday June 15, 2011, we left Buenos Aires on one of the first flights to the United States out of the capital after the eruption of the…
The Disappeared in Argentina
By Betsy Blondin Siempre con las madresAlways with the mothers Every Thursday afternoon for more than 30 years, mothers and grandmothers of “the…
Road Trip: Iguazú National Park
Iguazú Falls is on every must-do list for Argentina for good reason. Listed among the elite waterfalls of the world, it is often compared to…
Teatro Colón
On a beautiful late fall evening in May we experienced a concert at the world-famous Teatro Colón. Considered one of the top five accoustical venues…
Marta Minujín, “Tower of Babel”
The promotional piece to the left is for Marta Minujín’s latest artistic creation, Torre de Babel (Tower of Babel) 2011, celebrating Buenos Aires’…
Semana Santa in Granada 2010
As we enter the Holy Week 2011, we take a look back at Semana Santa in Granada, Spain, 2010. We are told there will be celebrations here in Buenos…
Zoológico Buenos Aires!
The Buenos Aires Zoo is said to be the oldest zoo in Latin America. It has a mostly recognizable and diverse cast of characters… Located…
Boca
The bright red bridge against the beautiful blue sky caught my eye in the evening as we walked to the bus stop for the short ride back to our…
Evita Peron
It is impossible not to notice the imagery, graffiti, and references to María Eva Duarte de Perón in Buenos Aires. When we visited the Casa Rosada,…
Parks, Parks, Everywhere a Park
In this massive city filled with active avenues, cars, buses and people, there are an amazing number of parks and plazas. Our apartment is located…
Plácido Domingo Alfresca
Last night we joined the estimated 125,000 people gathered at the Obelisk located at the interesection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio for a…
Casa Rosada on a Beautiful Sunday in March
Sunday morning we were out of the apartment around 11 headed for the Green Subte Line on Santa Fe about eight blocks away for a long postponed visit…
MALBA
We visited the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) today. The mission statement from the MALBA Web site: “Its main objectives are…
Four-Day Holiday Weekend
This is a brand new four-day holiday weekend for Argentina in conjunction Carnival. To kick it off, we spent a quiet Saturday catching up on some…
Top 5 Annoyances in Buenos Aires
For the most part I will let this article in the Argentina Independent explain but I do have some comments (see below). But first, since we are…
Busy Thursday in Buenos Aires
The plot thickens as we enter our third week in Buenos Aires. Up bright and early, by 7:30 am we were out of the house making our way to the bus…
Drinking Liberally
Last night we met with a local group of interesting expats for drinks. Some of you may know there is a U.S.-based group called Drinking Liberally….
Our 1st Apartment in Buenos Aires
The plot thickens as we enter our third week in Buenos Aires. Up bright and early, by 7:30 am we were out of the house making our way to the bus…
Arriving in Buenos Aires!
Buenos Aires is the 11th largest city in the world, home to about 15 million. It was a huge relief to get off the plane after an 11-hour red-eye….