Greece

Greece is a country in southeastern Europe. Greece has the twelfth longest coast line in the world at 8,498 miles in length. Approximately 14 thousand islands are part of this country, and only 227 of them are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is mountains.

Modern Greece has its roots in the civilization of ancient Greece. It is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, including both tragedy and comedy. The ancient Olympic Games were celebrated every four years by the Greeks; they were abolished in 394 AD by the Emperor.The Modern Greek state was established in 1830, following a victorious uprising against Ottoman rule.

Athens, Greece capital, is home of The Acropolis, built in the fifth century BC, the Acropolis Temple, the Parthenon, Temple of Athena and Erechtheum are considered the greatest architectural accomplishment of classical Greece. Ancient Agora located below the Acropolis, was the commercial and civic center. People used these buildings for a wide range of political, educational, philosophical, theatrical, and athletic purposes.

Other interesting places to go to are the amphitheater of Epidaurus, the reconstructed palace at Knossos and the Ionian Islands.

Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such. With a population of 763,800 residents, located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the boundaries of the Old City. Jerusalem is also considered as the holy city to the three of the major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Visiting Jerusalem during Holy Week (a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus death and resurrection) is a whole different experience, within the old city, in an area of ​​half a square mile, one can find some of the most sacred places in the world: the Holy Sepulchre and the Via Dolorosa, worship by Christians; the Western Wall, holiest site for Jews, and the Temple Mount, the most important sites in Islam after Mecca and Medina. These divine and human wealth are protected by the beautiful white stone walls, almost five miles of defenses eight feet wide and twelve high, topped by 34 towers. This strength is perforated by eight holes; doors throughout the centuries have allowed the pilgrims to approach their gods. One of them, The Damascus Gate, that dates from 1537, also called in Arabic “Bab Al Hamoud”, means "gate of the column," referring to a monolith Roman victory that in the past stood in the square outside. The most controversial of all the doors is, precisely, the one that remains sealed, the Golden Gate, which many refer to as the Eternal Life Gate or Gate of Mercy, located on the east wall of the citadel, facing the place where the sun raises. According to Jewish tradition, this is the door through which the Messiah will enter Jerusalem when he returns. The door dates from the seventh century, the first Islamic period of Jerusalem, but remains sealed since 1541. The passage of time has seen the old citadel of Jerusalem changed hands and face, but one thing remains unchanged: the belief of thousands of Christian pilgrims, Jews and Muslims to cross the wall by any of its doors and enter in places that blanket, is a way of approaching God.

The status of the city now days, and especially its holy places, remains as an issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli government has approved building plans in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in order to expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, while prominent Islamic leaders have made claims that Jews have no historical connection to Jerusalem, alleging that the 2,500-year old Western Wall was constructed as part of a mosque.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, it is also known as the “Paris of south America”. It is the second largest city in South America. It was founded more than 400 years ago, but it was virtually created at the end of the 19^th century. With the beef boom of the 1880s, the city’s Hispanic colonial buildings were leveled and replaced in the image of Paris. It was time of tremendous wealth. The center of the city is where all happens. It starts with the Florida walkway, and has other recognize avenues life Avenida Santa Fe, where all the boutiques are located, La Plaza San Martin, where a statue commemorates one of the only heroes of Argentine history. Other good places to shop at are at Avenida Cordoba. The presidential house is called Casa Rosada, for the tint of its masonry. It stands in the Plaza de Mayo. San Telmo, one of the oldest neighborhoods, where you will find tango bars and antiques shops, with a 19^th century architecture. This city counts with a subway system, which is the first subway ever build in a Spanish speaking country. It was inaugurated in 1913, and it is a high-yield system providing access to various parts of the city.

French Guiana

The French Guiana is located in northern South America. It is a French colony that has 220 miles of coastline. Since European colonization in the 17^th century this territory has been held by France, and when slavery was abolish African American slaves, brought in to work the plantations, were replaced by indentured laborers from other parts of the French Empire. In 1946 it became and overseas department of France, and in the 1960s a satellite space exploration center was established at Kourou, which brought jobs and urban development. There are different native groups in the rainforest areas, and communities of Noir Marrons, descendant of African Slaves.

Cayenne, the capital, has some interesting colonial buildings like The Musee Departemental, which has a mix of historical and archeological artifacts, and the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur De Cayenne.

Other interesting places to go in the French Guiana are: Kaw Marshes, 40 miles southeast of Cayenne, is an area of forest, rich birdlife and inhabited. Montsinery, 27 miles southwest of Cayenne, a botanical hiking trail leads to the Annamite Penal Colony, where deported indo-chineese were detained. And Cacao, a village south of Cayenne, is inhabited by a Hmong community.

Park City, Utah

Park City, Utah was originally settled by a Mormon apostle, Parley Pratt, in 1860. The pioneer set out to discover new parts of Salt Lake City and embarked on a wondrous new town, Park city. The town immediately flourished due to its large amount of gold and silver located underneath its mountains. The silver mine of Park City opened in 1870 and is still available for tours today. I personally have had the opportunity to visit Park City and took the tour of the silver mine. We took an elevator hundreds of feet underground and were told ghost stories about past miners who have died while working in the mine. In recent years Park City has become known for other things more touristy than mining. One main attraction is the Sundance Film Festival. Every year, for two weeks in January, celebrities gather in Park City to enjoy a film festival put on by non-profit organizations. All films selected for the festival are independent films. I had the opportunity to visit Park City during the festival and enjoyed every moment of it. Festival activities include celebrity watching, movie watching, and nightlife beyond imaginable. Sundance Film Festival only happens for two weeks a year and the celebrities all leave the town after the festival is over. For anyone who wishes to visit Park City during less crowded weekends, I recommend going to the world famous Ski Resorts, Park City Mountain Resort. Park City Mountain Resort is open year round and offers skiing or snowboarding in the winter and hiking or mountain biking in the summer. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to visit Park City twice already and I cannot wait for a chance to go back again.

Seville, Spain

Seville, the cultural and financial capital of Spain is situated in the south by the Guadalquivir River. It is more than 2000 years old. It was known as Hipalis during Roman times. It was conquered by Arabs during the VIII century. That is why it counts with different monuments like La Giralda, an 800 year old tower, built as the minaret (slender tower, usually build by Muslims, with a balcony to go and pray) of the cathedral. Now days it is considered to have the best view of Seville.

Other monuments that most tourists go to are the Alcazar which took 500 years to be built, the Torre del Oro and the Town Hall. The Town Hall was built in the 16^th century. Other places to visit in Seville are The Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, the Palace of the Countess of Lebrija, the Parque de Maria Luisa and the Alcazar Gardens.

Seville has two main festivals Semana Santa (Holly Week) and La Feria de Sevilla (Seville Fair). The first one is recognized internationally because of the beautiful procession and the second one is a week of dancing, drinking and socializing. During the fair women wear the traditional flamenco dresses.

One thing you don’t wanna miss if you visit Seville is to watch the flamenco dancers and the gypsy street performers and to try the tapas, small dishes usually eat as appetizers.

Panama

Panama is situated between Colombia and Costa Rica, is the southernmost country in Central America. It was part of Colombia and in the early XIX with the help of the United States it seceded from Colombia. Afterwards the US army corps of Engineers built the Panama Channel and in 1977 the Panama Channel was given back to Panama.

When I went to Panama a year and a half ago I was really amazed by the Panama Channel and by how pretty the city is, but what really called my attention was to see the mix of two different cultures. In one hand you see grocery stores, small towns and people that are pretty similar to how they are in Colombia. In the other hand you see the downtown with high rise buildings; you see the channel with all of the visitor’s attractions and tours to go around, and the roads that are similar to the ones in the US. So I was really amazed by this contrast of cultures is like they built their own culture taking a little bit of both. Definitely what I liked the most was to visit the Panama Canal, I was amazed by the how it works and the fact that its been working for almost a century its pretty amazing to me.

I liked Panama a lot, the beaches are beautiful, the city is very fun and shopping is super cheap!

Orlando

I had been in Orlando about five times in my life and I love it. It is a very fun city, the thing I like the most about going to Orlando are the different parks. Disney world is awesome, they have 5 different parks and each one has a lot of different attractions. My favorite one is Epcot Center this park has a road around the most recognized cultures of the world, they have a little Eiffel tower for France and they have a pagoda for Japan. The park icon is the Spaceship Earth, looking like a giant golf ball it is an attraction that takes you through human history. When I was a little kid I used to love Magic Kingdom, they have all kind of attractions for little kids and they also have attractions for adults like the Splash Mountain, the Space Mountain and big thunder mountain railroad.

Other park that I like a lot is Sea World, even though all the controversy about how bad this kind of parks are for wild animals, I enjoy watching the shows and I think this kind of parks could help people to get concerned about the life of the marine animals. I love the whale show it is pretty cool to see the interaction between humans and this giant animals.

I also had been in Island of Adventure and Universal Studios, they are both very fun parks, they are more about exiting things, the first one has a lot of roller coasters, and the second one is all about attractions based on movies, pretty similar to Universal Studios here in California.  

New York

I remember last year when I got out of the train station and look up to the sky and I found myself in a jungle, a jungle of buildings; I was in New York. I got there early in the morning, and even though it was spring, it was very cold. For the first time in my life I took a subway and it was quite an experience. I and my best friend went to New York for spring break last year, we stayed for a week and we had an amazing time. When we got there we first took the subway to the hotel. When we got out of the train the first thing we noticed was that the hotel was two blocks away from the Empire State, it was awesome. The first day we went to Times Square and we walked around Central Park, both of them are very cool places in different ways. The next couple of days it was raining so we went to the NBC tour at the Rockefeller center, to MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art), to the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, to The Metropolitan Museum of art, to the Guggenheim Museum and to Madame Tussauds. We were trying to avoid the rain so we really used our time in going to as many places as we could and even though it could sound like we went to every place we missed a lot of tours and museums in NY. Every day we ate at different places we would walk around the streets and pick a place and every single one of them had good food, it was awesome, you can find all types of different cuisines that go from Indian food to French food.

When the weather was finally good we went to the Statue of Liberty and the last floor of the Empire State .We also walked around little Italy, Soho and China town. We went to The Top of the Rock which is the last floor at the Rockefeller Center, it has the most amazing view, in one side you can see the central park and on the other side you can see the Empire State and all of the other buildings in Manhattan.

New York is a beautiful city, I think it kind of has like three different environments; you can go underground in the subway, on the ground and walk through its buildings watching the New Yorkers running from place to place, or you can enjoy the peace that the high rise buildings give. It is really an amazing city; I don’t have enough words to describe how awesome it is!!

Russia

The Maslenitsa, a Russian festival that begins at the end of the winter, also known as the Butter week, is a traditional celebration that has pagan origins and in Soviet times was celebrated almost secretly, but after the fall of communism in 1991 it received official endorsement. There are different events during the Butter week, the big parties are held on Saturday and Sunday to accommodate work schedules, Thursday is Cleansing Day, Sunday is Forgiveness Day and Monday morning is teeth-cleaning. This is just one of the reasons to visit Russia.

Moscow, Russia’s capital contains a great variety of impressive soviet era buildings along with modern scycrapers at the Moscow business center. There are different important place in Russia like the Tretyakiv gallery established in 1856 and The Trinity Lavra of St Serguis a monastery founded in 1345 and home of over 300 monks.

Saint Petersburg, Russia’s former capital is the second biggest city in the country and is the most norther city in the world with over a million people. The historic center of Saint Petersburg and related groups of monument are considered world heritage.

Besides its important cities, other popular destinations include Kamchatka with its volcanoes and geysers, Karelia with its lakes and rocks and Dombay an amazing sky resort.

Ica, Peru

Ica is located in the southwest of Peru. It is the region that covers most of Peru’s coast desert and it was also the home of regional cultures from the Antique Peru. From Lima (Peru’s capital) is a five hour journey by car to get to Ica. A few minutes away from the main road is the Pacific Ocean, the blue side of the desert.

From the port in Pisco you can go by boat to Ballestas Island, a group of small islands that are the habitat for different marine animals. Another attraction of the area is Tambo Colorado, an Inca settlement considered one of the best preserved archaeological sites in Peru.

Nearby, from the airport in Ica, planes can be taken for a 45 minutes away stop to admire the Nazca Lines. The Nazca Lines are unique in the world; they are geoglyphs that scholars believed were made by the Nazca culture. There are hundreds of individual figures which complexity goes from lines to stylized monkeys, spiders, fish, lizards, hummingbird and sharks.

La Huacachina, a lagoon surrounded by palms located 3 miles away from Ica is considered an oasis in the desert, where extreme sports can be practiced.

If you want to find out more about Ica go to http://www.perutravels.net/

The Bahamas

The Bahamas is a group of 700 islands and cays located in the Atlantic Ocean by the Caribbean. It is the most prosperous country in the Caribbean. The Bahamas relies on tourism to generate most of its economic activity.

From going to the beach and enjoying its crystals waters, to going partying during the nights there are all sort of activities that you could enjoyed in this islands. For example: snorkeling, hiking and horseback riding. What could be better that watching the underwater wildlife, laying by the beach or simply going around the tropical habitats of these islands?

Depending on which island you want to go, there are different resorts; all of them include different activities for tourists. Nassau, Bahamas’s capital, located at Providence Island is home of The Atlantis resort, one of the biggest resorts in the world, among all of the things to do in the island, this resort has a dolphin cay, water parks, marine habitat and different activities that go from golfing to climbing a rock. At the Grand Bahama Island you can enjoy the different ecotours or cultural tours or you can also go shopping at Port Lucaya Marketplace, where you can find some duty-free stores.

This is a place just to go and relax, have a nice vacation and escape from the stressful life of the city.

Egypt

As some of you may have heard, Egypt has been in the news for the last month. Hosni Mubarak’s regimen for the last 29 years had oppressed Egyptians. Since January25th, a revolution has been the reason why the eyes of the world are on Egypt. Hosni Mubarak’s regimen is over, and the country is struggling to recover and organize.

Egypt is recognized as being one of the first empires in the world and for its pyramids. Egypt was founded by the king Menes in 3150 BC.  There are about 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. They are considered one of the biggest monumental structures in the world and the question about how they were built is a mystery; most people make up stories and myths about it. The most recognized ones are the ones in Giza outside of Cairo, Egypt’s capital. The pyramid of Khufu is the largest Egyptian pyramid and it is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still in existence. Cairo is the largest city in Africa and The Nile, the longest river in the world, goes by this city.

I have yet to make a trip to any part of Egypt. If you have been please share with us your experiences.

The Three Gorges Dam

I chose to talk about the Three Gorges Dam in this week’s blog because I like engineering challenges, and this place represents one of the biggest engineering challenges since the Panama Channel was built, 100 years ago. Last week by searching around big engineering projects I found this one. I knew it existed, but I didn’t know how important it was. I did some research and I want to share with you guys some interesting facts I found about it.

The Three Gorges Dam is located in China and is consider one of the modern wonders of the world. It is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station and it took 10 years to be constructed. The construction began in 1996, and it was expected to take 19 years to be finished. The two main reasons why it was build were:

1.       To control the flooding caused by the Yangtze River.

and

2.       To generate electricity.

The idea of constructing a dam by the Yangtze River started in 1919. Engineers and scientist have been studying this idea since 1957, but with all of the economical, social and political problems in China during the last century. It was very hard for china to work in this project.

Today it is a reality. The dam is finished and the hydroelectric is working. The dam wall is about 2,335 meters long and 185 meters high. The project used 28,000,000 m^3 of concrete, 463,000 tons of steel, and moved about 134,000,000 m^3 of earth.

The construction began in 1994 and the first part was finished in 2003. After the hydroelectric began to work in 2003, the water level of the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area raised more than 100 meters.

The Three gorges dam blew my mind and I hope it sparks interest in your minds as well.

If you would like to see videos about The Three Gorges Dam visit this links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsVb1lmVmiY&feature=related

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/discovery-atlas-china-revealed-three-gorges-dam.html

Paris

Paris: “La ville plupart romantique du monde.” This city is recognized worldwide for having the Eiffel tower, the Musée du Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and numerous other important places that were built hundreds of years ago and make this city one of the most visited cities in the world.

Paris is located in northern France and is considered one of the world’s major global cities. The earliest archaeological signs of permanent settlement in Paris date back around 4200 BC. The Eiffel tower, one of the most recognized places in Paris, was built between 1887 and 1889 by Gustave Eiffel. It was inaugurated as the entrance arch of the Exposition Universelle, a world fair that celebrated the one hundred year anniversary of the French revolution. The Eiffel tower was going to be demolished 20 years after it was inaugurated, but the city allowed the tower to remain after the expiration of the permit because it proved value for communication purposes. Today it is the most visited paid monument in the world; more than 200 million people have visited it. Paris has one of the world’s biggest museums, the Louvre Museum, which is the most visited art museum in the world and is considered a historic monument. Its artwork includes the Mona Lisa, which is Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous painting. Paris is also known for its fashion industry. Every year there are different fashion events. An example is the Paris Fashion week. Attending this event are recognized designers like Marc Jacobs, Valentino and Stella McCartney to show their collections to the world.

Paris is the most romantic city in the world. It is full of diversity and I recommend it as a must go place.

Cartagena, Colombia

For my second blog I would like to tell you guys a little bit about Cartagena, Colombia. I’m from Medellin, Colombia and I love my country. Cartagena is one of my favorite places to go to in Colombia, and I would like to recommend it to anyone that wants to go anywhere in South America. This city is right by the Caribbean Sea and is not very big but it has a lot of history. One of its most famous places is “La ciudad Amurallada” (Walled City), it has a colonial architecture that takes you back to the 1600’s. This historic place was built somewhere between 1533 and 1717. The wall was built, because the increasing fame and wealth of the prosperous city turned it into an attractive site for pirates and corsairs. This place is one of the reasons why Cartagena is the most visited city in Colombia. Another historic place is “El Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas.” It was built in the XVII century by Spain to protect themselves from other countries that wanted to invade Colombia, during this time period Spain owned Colombia. When I visited it, I quickly noticed that the image I had of a castle and this place was totally different. Unlike most castles it has a different architecture (for those of you that don’t know what Castillo means, it is the Spanish word for castle).

Besides all of the historic places in this city there are also other places such as “Playa Blanca”, “Las Islas del Rosario”, “Baru” and “Bocachica.”  These islands are all less than 30 minutes away from the port. There you can enjoy the magic of a natural environment and sit at their beaches and relax.

I hope that with this short description of Cartagena all of you get intrigued by it and maybe add it to your list of places you want to visit in your future.

My Idea

My idea with this blog is to talk about different places around the world that I find very interesting. Some of them might be very popular with very high tourism rates and some of them might be places that most people don’t know about.

I come from another country and have been living here for just one year. I am from Colombia and one of my favorite things to do is to travel. If someone invites me on a trip it is so hard for me to say no, but sometimes I have to. I have never been overseas, but I would love to sometime soon.

I hope all of you enjoy my blogs every week and hope to hear opinions about the places I talk about, especially if you have been there. As a tourist I think that something that makes a trip more fun is to hear different opinions and advice regarding the place you’re going to. When you go to a place you have never been to, it is really hard to know where to go or what to do. Usually people get lost and lose a lot of time trying to find what the best things to do are. That is why getting advice is always good; it makes it easier to get around.  I know that travel agencies can help you a lot in this matter, but even though they plan your trip, you still have to be on their schedule. So I personally prefer to plan a trip on my own and just enjoy the places that people recommend me the most.  It is also important to know where you should not go, that way you don’t get a bad surprise.

To end, I would like to invite you all on this journey with me, hope everyone enjoys it!