-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
One of the first things I did once we arrived in Los Angeles and sort of settled in was to head to the local public library. I wanted to keep up the reading streak I’ve been on since we’ve been traveling, so I picked up five books that looked interesting and started reading. I’m a…
Before I dive into the delicious food we ate in São Paulo, I want to give a quick book update. Since the last book exchange I completed in Buenos Aires, I finished reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann. The writing is very engaging and methodical without being too overwhelming. What I really appreciated was that…
In our original plan to visit Israel, our flight was set to return to São Paulo, Brazil. So, after two weeks in Greece, we decided to keep that part of our plan intact. Our flight included a long and not particularly interesting layover in Rome. It was raining so we missed out on sightseeing opportunities.…
As is the case whenever we visit a capital city, one of the first things I check is whether we can book a tour of the National Library. Unfortunately, tours were unavailable. Then I searched for the Jewish Museum. As luck would have it, the museum is closed until this summer for renovations. (It’s just…
One of the privileges of long-term travel is having opportunities to not only visit new places, but to also visit friends and family who live far away for an extended period of time. Since we both have Israeli roots, we wanted to take the opportunity to spend six weeks in Israel after traveling through Latin…
Though Uruguay has a significant Jewish population, there isn’t very much in the way of Jewish tourism. In Montevideo, we found a Holocaust memorial on the rambla (promenade), a statue to Albert Einstein, and a square named after former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. There are many synagogues and community centers, but touring them isn’t…
What people outside of the “Southern cone” of South America may not know is that Uruguay has some of the most beautiful and sought-after beaches on the continent. With that in mind, we made it a priority to visit as many seaside towns as we could. Since we spent nearly 3 weeks in Montevideo, we…
After a few fun days in Colonia del Sacramento, we hopped on a bus to the capital city of Montevideo. Because we were staying in the city for 2.5 weeks, we took our time exploring and learning about Uruguayan culture. The day we arrived was also the beginning of Carnaval, which is an incredibly unique…
Long time readers may remember that the last book I exchanged in Bocas del Toro was The Years with Laura Díaz by Carlos Fuentes. Initially I enjoyed the book, but after 120 pages, I wasn’t engaged by the characters or the plot. I don’t believe in being forced to read a book I don’t like.…
After we completed our house sitting gig through Trusted Housesitters in San Isidro, we returned to the Palermo neighborhood. Due to complex logistics (like 18-hour bus rides) and high costs, we decided to forgo exploring other parts of Argentina that we wanted to see. (We’ll be back.) Instead, we cut our time in Argentina in…
After three short weeks in southeastern Brazil, we flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Yahm was especially excited to visit Buenos Aires because of its literary culture and, to be very honest, the musical Evita. She knew that people had mixed feelings about the city, but was still curious to experience it herself. Adam, on the…
After Adam and I visited the Palácio Tiradentes, we walked to the Fundação Biblioteca Nacional (FBN) (National Library of Brazil). Not only is Brazil’s national library a UNESCO world heritage site, but it’s also the largest library in Latin America and the 7th largest library in the world! The library offers free daily tours in English…
The last stop on our southeastern Brazil tour was Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in the country. Rio’s vibe differs dramatically from São Paulo. While São Paulo has endless urbanity that is fun but not pretty, Rio is a mosaic of neighborhoods stitched together between the mountains and ocean, forming a beautiful cityscape.…
As I mentioned in the last post in this corner, my goal was to eat more traditional Brazilian food once we left the diverse urbanity of São Paulo. One of the first things I got my hands on in Ubatuba was a fruit that was recommended to us by Adam’s cousins: jabuticaba. This fruit has…
While we were in São Paulo, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit the Museo Judaico de São Paulo (Jewish Museum). The museum itself is housed in a former synagogue, Beth-El Temple, dating back to 1928 and consists of four floors. The ground floor has a permanent exhibit called “The Jewish Life” that portrays the…
Our journey to São Paulo began with an intensely long travel day. We flew out of Cartagena to Bogotá, which took one hour and change. Our connection in Bogotá was an hour, but we managed to quickly go through security (again) and run to the gate just in time. The longest leg of the journey…
Rather than detail all of our culinary experiences for every city we’ve visited since Salento, I’ve decided to do a highlights post instead. Part of the reason for this is that we don’t eat at restaurants three times a day. In fact, the meal we eat at restaurants most often is lunch. We’ve discovered that…
In our post about Medellín, we shared how an eight-hour bus ride became a 13-hour ride due to factors beyond our control. Our next stop on our Colombian journey was from Medellín to Cartagena. Normally the overland route takes 11-12 hours, so even if things don’t go wrong, that would have been a very long…
Arriving in Salento was a breath of fresh air for both of us. As much as we enjoy urban areas, small town life brings out the best in us. Our shoulders relax, our sleep improves, and we become friendlier and chattier than normal. I also find comfort in having fewer choices. The pressure of picking…
During our stay in Bogotá, we had a chance to visit two libraries. As we planned our time in the city, I knew I wanted to visit the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia (National Library of Colombia). I didn’t bother getting in touch for a tour ahead of time largely due to my experience at the…
After nearly three months of traveling through Central America, it was time to step foot on the South American continent. What better introduction to this land mass neither one of us has ever visited than Colombia. Our first stop was Bogotá. Not only is Bogotá Colombia’s capital and largest city, it is also home to…
When we visited Guatemala and Costa Rica, we didn’t spend much time in their respective capital cities, so I didn’t get a chance to visit their national libraries. However, since we had to circle back to Panamá City to leave the country, I was determined to visit the library. National Libraries are fascinating places because…
Once we arrived in Bocas del Toro and settled into our Bed & Breakfast, we headed into town to do some exploring. Besides getting lunch (more on that later), I had two primary goals: visit the local public library and exchange the book I had purchased in Costa Rica. The National Library of Panamá lists…
After our time in Boquete, we traveled to Bocas del Toro, an archipelago on the Caribbean Sea famous for its beautiful beaches, mangroves, and wildlife. The archipelago consists of six islands. We stayed on two, Isla de Colón and Isla Bastimentos, and visited a third, Isla Carenero. To get to the islands, though, we needed…
Following a fun urban week in Panamà City, we headed north on Pan-American Highway 1 to the town of Boquete (pron: bow-KEH-teh). This town in Panamà’s Chiriquí Province, has approximately 22,000 residents, half of which are expats. Because the town is in the Highlands, which range from 3,300-9,200 ft (1,000-2,800 m) above sea level, the…
After six days in Panamá City, we moved onto Boquete for cooler weather and another dog/house-sitting gig. We’ll share more about the town and our four-legged buddy Oscar in a general post, but for now, I’ll share about Jewish culture and the library/book scene. For those who don’t know Adam and I, we’re not particularly…
It’s been just over two months since we left the United States to begin our Grand Latin American Tour. I’ve realized that I can’t plan everything in detail because you have to go with the flow. You might think you’ll love a place but the reality may be different and you need to give yourself…
After spending just over a month in Costa Rica, it was time to travel to our next destination: Panamá. Since all international flights into the country land in Panamá City, we decided to spend a few days there before traveling to the highlands for our pet sitting gig. So far, we have generally avoided large…
In my mind, good food doesn’t have to be complicated. One of my favorite girl dinner meals (IFYKYK) is a big bowl of boiled potatoes mixed with olive oil, salt, a fresh herb or two, and garlic. Simplicity is the key to making good ingredients shine. At the same time, I grew up in a…
After almost three weeks in the Tamarindo area, it was time to explore more of the country. Since we had already purchased our out-going flight before we landed (for visa purposes) and didn’t want to change it, we knew our geographical range would be limited. So we decided to continue exploring northwestern Costa Rica. Perhaps…
Another week and a half of house sitting means another week and a half of random observations! In our last post, we mentioned that we were pet sitting three dogs named Malo, Nano, and Pachuco. Often, on our morning walks, we would be accompanied by two neighborhood dogs. We nicknamed them Betty, a cute (but…
One of the fruits that I really wanted to try during our stay in Costa Rica was guava. I wasn’t a fan in the past, but we tried some guava jam and it was so yummy. When I saw it at a local vegetable & fruit stand, I bought two for both of us to…
From Monteverde, we headed northwest to the town of Tamarindo. After spending time in the mountains, we were curious to visit the coast. Yahm was especially excited to experience the Pacific Ocean in all its warm glory. Growing up in Los Angeles, the Pacific hovers in the 58-68° F (13-16° C) range, but along Costa…
In my post about Monteverde, I shared that there isn’t really a culture of reading in Costa Rica. It’s understandable: after a long day of hard work in the heat and humidity, who has the headspace to curl up with a book? So often, our environment dictates culture. Still, I was curious about what libraries…
While we stayed in the Monteverde area, we happened to find the Biblioteca Publica Interactiva Santa Elena tucked away into a corner of a shopping center. I was so excited to see a library! I took a photo and began looking at the books on display, just outside the main door. A very friendly librarian,…
Thank you to those who participated in our social media and website polls! The majority of you guessed right on our next destination: Costa Rica! Pura vida is the local expression here and is often used as a salutatory greeting. It means pure life or simple life in Spanish. As soon as we landed in…
As you’ve read from the main post, we spent most of our time in Rio Dulce at the Hotel Kangaroo y Restaurante. Since the owners are Mexican and Canadian (or Australian? it’s unclear), the food served is mostly Mexican or Mexican-inspired. I didn’t take photos of everything because I wanted to make sure to unplug…
After too short a stay in Flores, we headed on to Rio Dulce. Rio Dulce is the name of the river in the eastern part of Guatemala, near the border with Belize and Honduras. One end of the river is Lago de Izabel, while the other end merges with the Caribbean Sea. Of all the…
You may have noticed that I’ve really enjoyed the food in Guatemala so far. What I appreciate the most is the modesty of it all: simple ingredients are well-seasoned and thrown onto a grill or in a pot and cooked until perfecto. Flores, though, has a particular flair that reminded us of both New Orleans…
From Lake Atitlán, we traveled by shuttle bus to Guatemala City where we stayed for the night. Early the next morning, we flew to the Department (Guatemala’s version of states) of Petén. Petén is the largest department in Guatemala by area, but one of its least populated. It consists mostly of dense rainforest and agricultural…
As soon as we dropped off our luggage at Casa Llemo in San Pedro de Laguna, we walked into town in search of lunch. Since I have a sensitive stomach, my anxiety over potentially getting sick often makes me think twice about where we eat. At the same time, I also want to eat as…
After a few days in Antigua, we took a shuttle bus to Lago de Atitlàn, or Lake Atitlàn. Since the lake is located in the Guatemalan highlands, our shuttle had to climb quite a bit. The curves are so sharp that cars, shuttles, and chicken buses honk to warn each other that they are coming.…
As we awoke in Guatemala City (shout out to Mariana’s Petit Hotel for excellent service and homey vibes), we started our day with a desayuno tipico, a typical Guatemalan breakfast. We then waited for our shuttle bus to take us to Antigua, approximately a two-hour ride. We noticed that hotel & hostel operators, including our…
One of the great joys in my life is eating. I love talking about food, shopping for food, learning about foodways, and, obviously, eating. It’s a little tricky loving food so much when you have gluten and dairy allergies, but it’s amazing what you can live without. (I don’t miss pizza. It’s fine; Adam eats…
Traveling While Introverted 